Page 104 - La Société canadienne d'histoire de l'Église catholique - Rapport 1961

The most puzzling was the Edin.burgh Revkw, because in a11 this
tiine, it contained no reference to ~he situation in France. When con-
traated wilh most other English publications of the day, which wrote
at Ieast oeeaeionally on France, the absence 01 comment in this one
becoines conspicuous. One might on ly suggest ihat thjs silence jmplied
lack of concern, or perhaps total endorsement of the French govern-
mental measures.
The ailence 01 ihe Chrch Qmrterly Rmiew mufit be noted as well.
The wording of a briei passage in a book review facilitates speculation
that its Anglican-inspired ediiorship disapprovcd of the anti-religioue
measurcs exhibited by thr Third Repnblic. This was the main thought
expressed on that occasion : "We do not care to examine whether the
new mcasure is directed against Jesuits, Jansenists or Gallicane, Domini-
cans or Oratorians, Luthcrens or Calvinists; the principle which has
inspired it is the only point about wbich we are concerned, sud we
exclaim for the hundredth time, vous voulez iire libres et vous ne 5ai3er
pas être j~sks.'~')
However, the prevalent attiludc of the Anglicans behind ihij Qmr-
terly, from historically inhcrent theological ronsideration t~is~à-t~is
Lhs
Church of Rome, may have been B key factor in its lack of comment.('"'
The remaining two heraldo which were con~idered arnoiig thc press
in Britain, ~he Sadurday Re;ieul and The Timer, were journals of a
different timbre. A wcckly and a daily respcctively, both wrote abun-
dandy and almost conatantly on French evenis. The Timea had a per-
manent correspondent in Paris. end carrid his despatches in ever y issue.
Editorial comment appeared irregularly. presumably when the occasion
warranted. In contrast, ~he diotinrtjon of the Saiurday Review was in
its short ar~icles, where divers comrnents on many aepects of French
life were aired.
In rcspect to the situation in France, both The Times and the
Saturday Review sharcd very similar vicws. Both were enthusiastie
toward the Republic, in which they fiaw the fulfillmeiit of individual
liberties. They did not favour Catholicism or the Catholics : "English-
men at large havc no love for Popery, and still less lor Jesuitism."luB)
In a very narrow pense, their initial attitude was akin to that of the
French anticlericale.
The Tùnes and the Saturday Revkiu wrotc under the banner of
liberaliain, which served as thc basic principle for their ceneure or their
defence of the adversaries in France. In this spirit, they directed their

{aii Beview of G. Compayré, Histoire critique des doctrines de 1'Education en
France depuif Ic ~eirième siècle, in C.Q.R., VI11 (July 1879) p. 503.
irJI 11 ig interesting ta note thai Lhe Englieh Church Union on behalf of twdm
bishaps, 2500 clernymen and 15,800 of &a Anglican laity seni a letier to
Cardinal Guibert and al1 tbe Caiholice of France, expressing their "warmest
sympatby" and "indignalion with wbich they were inspired by the perseca tion
to which thc Rcligious Orders [werel . . . suhjected in France". English text
of ibis mmsage and the reply by Cardinsl Guibert are prinied in the Tablet,
LVI (November Xi and X', 1880) pp. 654, and 6811. mspectjvely.
'B3) Editorial, The Timei, July 1, 1880.