THURSDAY, DECEMBER 31, 1891.

Auckland Star, Volume XXII, Issue 309, 31 December 1891, Page 4

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 31, 1891.

Within a few hours the year 1891 will be numbered among the ceor.s of the past. It has not been a year distinguished by great wars or other occurrence ot world-wide moment; upon the whole it has been a year o f peace and average prosperity. But every year is fraught enough with tragedy, and each human heart has its own record of joy and sorrow which counts for more to it than the setting up and throwing down of kingsIn Auckiand, the year that is waning has been exceptionally fatal in the removal 0! well-known faces from our streets. Sir Frederick Whitaker and Mr C. A. Harris, who for half-a-csntury were conspicuous figures on Queen- ; street, are gone, aisn Messrs G. P. Pierce and Edward Isaacs, vhose years of residence here were shorter, but whose faces were scarcely less familiar to Auckland citizens. The Rev. Peter Mason, Mi John White, Rev. J. Macky, Mr John Mason, and others whose names will be readily recalled, " fill up a formidable . roll. Abroad, the universal gleaner has been equally busy. Mr Bradlaugh, Charles Stuart Parnell, the Hon. Cecil Raikes, and the Hon. W. H. Smith, leader of the House of Commons, are among the notable ones of earth who have been called to render up an account of their stewardship to the All-Wise Judge. Strange contrasts of enlightenment and barbarism' present themselves as we surrey the" field of human action. In Russia, we have seen the arm of Government, which ought to protect peaceful subjects, stretched forth to

cruelly persecute and Oppress ati ancient race. Even iri China ths Government have put forth theiif strength—under pressure from foreign Powers, it is true—"to quell an out* break of ignorant fanaticism against the Christians, and to punish the authors of, the outrages that have been per* pet/ated there "upon missionaries. But in Russia the horrors of famine are even now being intensified by the .wanton; * cruelties of Governmental oppression, and millions of inoffensive human beings are groaning beneath the double load of starvation and pet* secution. ■.'-.,■

The year has witnessed one of the most remarkable pilgrimages id modern times, bearing testimony to the unshaken faith of millions of and their fervent love for that Messiah who more than eighteen hundred years' ago walked our earth ; 600,000 people journeyed to Treves to see a garment* which vague tradition connects witri His sacred person;

Nor are the strivings after betre* things confined to such displays o( emotional religion. The bygone yeat? has seen the noble sum of j/*roo,oocr rapidly subscribed to test General Booth's scheme for the elevation of the submerged masses in great cities, and philanthropic effort was never mors active in other directions.

May wenot also ascribe to a healthier moral tone the universal condemnation which fell upon the first subject in the realm, for his connection with a cardplaying scandal, which half a century ago'would have been accounted an ordinary and blameless incident in the life and amusements of men moving in the higher circles of society. The nation has given another proof that it will not tolerate open vice in its public men by the deposition of. the Irish leader, who paid the penalty of sin with his life.

The sadness of the latter incident Is deepened by the rupture it entailed in a party firmly welded together to secure an enlargement of the liberties and an improvement in the condition of a country whose population has decreased half a million within the last decade. Pitiful, indeed, was it to sefi men like Parnell and Dillon, who had suffered together, widely estranged in the closing months of a. life which had previously been ennobled by patriotic effort in the cause of the weak. s

Of other incidents which have stirred the Old World we may enumerate the visits paid by the French fleet to Cronstadt and Spithead, the magnificent reception of the German Emperor in England, the awful Utopia disaster, by which six hundred human beings were suddenly, plunged into a watery grave. .

Nearer home, we have seen the greatest minds in Australasia gathered together for the purpose of giving expression to the aspirations of the people after unity. And though then* labours seem for the present to t>6 fruitless, we cannot doubt that a sub* stantial advance has been made towards the removal of artificial barriers between people of the samg race, inheriting the same and .striving alter the same ends.

. In our own colony, a Ministry contented with a " do-nothing policy " has yielded to one which is at least honestly striving to govern according to the principle of " the greatest good to the greatest number.'' And whether by their action or in spite of it, the closing year sees population flocking to our shores, a growing feeling of confidence and increasing prosperity. The year closes under the happiest auspices and with brighter promises than any of the last five that have come and gone. May it be a'bright and happy New Year to all our readers is our earnest wish.