The Washington times., 1901-11-05
FOREIGN TOPICS.

Cafth was not the centre of the universe.
nor immovable, but that it moves sven
with diurnal motion. this being consid-
cred "a proposition absurd and false in
philosophy and erroneous in faith" Sen
tence was pronounced on June z. 1888 50
that the master great works have been
forbidden to the faithful 26S years. The
whole proceeding was strange and irregu-
lar POPE Urban VIII did not sign the
condemnation; Copernicus d47S-15i9, Il
priest taught the same doctrine; and
kepler Q57l-1630, by his planetary laws,
had founded the new astronomy. Calico
d5ta-l642 only confirmed what they had
taught. The year that he died Newton
was born III a land where no inGuisition
could stay enquiry. Moreover, in Eng
land, the Copernican theory created no
religious alarm. Milton writes something
proudly in his Liberty of Unlicensed
Printing, referring to his visit to Italy,
When | have sat among their learned
men, for that honor l had. and bin
counted happy to be born in such place
of Philosophic freedom, was brought; that
this il was that dampt as they supposed
England was. while themselves did
nothing but bemoan the servii CONDITION
into which lerning amongst them the
giory of Italian wits; that nothing had
been there writt'n now these many years
but fat;ery and fustian. There 1t was
Calico grown old, a prisner to the lnqui-
sition. for thinking in Astronomy other
wise than the Franciscan and Dominican
iiceusers thought More imperishable
than the marble monument in Santa
Croce are these two books now liberated
from the Index"
There are two things that a Norwegian
loves with all his heart-the German
Emperor and his pony. Go where you
will now in Norway and you must hear
the Emperor's praise. At lovely Stalheim,
where the grandeur of the naerodal Cthe
narrow valley) defies the adjectives even
of tho man who makes guide-books for
the "enraptured tourist it is not of the
view that innkeepers speak, but of VIII
liam of Germany and the roads he is
building there for his own comfort and
for Norway's profit. Five thousand
pounds is the latest donation for this
purpose. and not content with this or
with the road to Stalhoim that f5.o01
has made. he is now planning a detour
to cheat the avalanches.
y report has just been made to the
British Government by Lieut.. Col. NJ.
Glare Garsia. C. b, Inspector General of
Military Prisons, in which the writer de-
clares that the accommodation in military
prisons in England during the past gear
has been seriously strained. THE actual
number of committals in England during
| 1900 was 1857, as compared with 1854 in
1893 Not only was every military prison
kept full, but some were overcrowded,
| notwithstanding the occupation of every
provost and barrack cell in the country,
| and Notwithstanding the transfer or COM
initial direct to criminal prisons in Eng
land and Wales of no less than 1886 mill
| tary offenders In the month of October
there We're nearly 600 soldiers (since in
creased to ZOO who were TO return to the
colors undergoing hard labor imprisOn-
| ment in civil prisons for purely military
| offences. This number was inclusive of
| 400 soldiers under sentences Of discharge
| from the army in addition to imprison-
Tnent. all being subjected to the same re-
| gime as offenders against the criminal
law.
In closing Colonel Garsia alludes TO the
| fact that he has repeatedly called atten-
| tion to the necessity of providing more
accommodation for military offenders.
| made on the subject-proposas which
| have teen approved-and says: These
| proposals Will. 1t is believed. provide suf-
| ficient accommodation in military penal
| establishments for all soldiers sentenced
| at home stations to Imprisonment for
| breaches of discipline and thus obviate
| the necessity for committing such Of
| tenders to criminal prisons.
Telegraphic advices from Simla to var
! lous points in Europe show that tran
| guilty continues to reign throughout At
! gllanistan, while recent disturbing Rus
| sian advices upon the same subject, re-
| produced in these columns last week have
| been much modified by semi-official utter
ances of the Russian Foreign Office. 1t
| is now declared in St Petersburg that
| neither England nor Russia has exercised
! much influence lately in Kabul, and that
! during recent years the Indian Govern
| ment had paid no subsidy to the Ameer.
| With regard to Ishak Kahn, the late
| Ameer's brother. residing in Samarkand.
| there is believed to be no danger likely to
| arise from that quarter. for 1t is said that
/ Ishak is quite reconciled to his present
| position, for he has no money and his
| followers are gradually dwindling while
| there is a sufficient Russian garrison at
| the place to put down any possible up
rising
The Russian semi-official press also ex-
| plains the projected visit of the Russian
| Minister of War to the Afghan frontier.
/ intelligence of which was recently pub
| lished by Paris paper. on receipt of ad-
| vices from its correspondent in St Peters
| burg. The journey of General Kuropot-
! kin It is declared, was arranged FOR long
| before the death of the Ameer, and is
| simply one of inspection. He will visit
| Merv and Askabad, and probably kushk,
where important military post was re-
| Gently established. II is also declared
| that no troops have recently been sent
| from the Caucasus to Central Asia.
| In opposition to free acceptance of
| these Russian views Is the fact testified
| to last summer. when rumOrs of the
Ameers serious Illness were rife. that
| considerable bodies of Russian troops
| have recently been sent into Turkestan,
| down the Volga to Astrakhan and from
lPetrovsk, on the northeastern Caspian
| coast. According to trustworthy reports
received at the end of September there
| were then $500 troops in Turkestan and
| on the Afghan and Persian frontiers, and
| that more than half of that number had
| been gradually arriving during the month
| at Tashkent. Samarkand. and at various
| military posts in Ferghana- Still. sew
| eral foreign correspondents in st. Peters
| burg have assured their papers that they
| learn ''on the highest authority" that at
| the present moment Russia has not more
| than 1900 men and less than thirty guns
| within striking distance Of the Afghan
| frontier.
| According to private advices based upon
Italian official forecasts and personal OBJ
| servations, the present Italian vintage is
| said to surpass any for several years
back Especially in Tuscany. in the
| nei-hborhood of Florence and Carmig-
nano, the yield Of grapes has been far in
excess OF the most sanguine expectations
| on the part of the growers. The quality,
too. is reported to be excellent. as, from
| the absence of disease and the frequency
| of rain which is often so much needed in
| the carly days to develop the fruit, the
vines have had every chance, so that the
yield of such well-known Italian wines
as Chianti, Lagrima Cristi, Baralo, Bar
| bera, and Capri will be both abundant and
| of unusual flavor Similar reports come
| from the south-from Gala bria, Sicily and
| the wine-growing districts in the vicinity
| of Naples. which produce a peculiarly
favored grape of their own-and, al