THE VISITING PRELATES.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CV, Issue 12423, 12 February 1901, Page 2

THE VISITING PRELATES.

.. CONVERSAZIONE AT THE. ARTf, GALLERY.-' ",...-, ; -- ( : A most successful conversazione was held at the Art Gallery last evening to welcome the'Archbishops of Melbourne and .Wellington, the Bishop of Dunedin, and other Roman Catholic clergy, who visited ..Christchurch in connection withkhe laying of-the foundation stone of the Cathedral. The room off Durham Street, in which the concert Was held, was crowded tc excess. Light refreshments were served by Messrs.. Freeman, Limited, during the interval in the main gallery, which had been tastefully laid out as a drawing-room. An, excellent, programma of vocal and instrumental music was contributed by tho;Misses K. Young,. Mpir, L. Cook, Pender and M'Guimiessy Mrs Pidgeon, and'Messrs E. M'Namara and C. Read, and Mr H. Hayward gave a-recita-tion. Nearly every item was encored. At)-the close of the programme Bishop Grimes thanked all those who had assisted in entertaining the visitors,- and She also thanked the Prelates for having come to take part in the proceedings in connection with the laying of the- foimdatio-n stone of the,Cathedral. '

Mr E. O'Connor, on behalf of the committee, formally presented- Archbishop Canwith the address which had been read at the reception on Saturday iiight, but had only been completed that day. Archbishop Carr, in returning thanks for the presentation, which he considered reflected the very highest credit on the artist, gave some interesting particulars of the work of illuminated manuscripts an the earliest days of Irish history, when the greater portion of such work had been done by the monks. He was glad to see that the art was being cultivated to such an extent in a- new country, and it was as well that the young people should be taught to cultivate a taste for the artistic. He felt extremely grateful to them for the 'address, which he would always cherish. Concluding, his Grace said the importance-soci-ally of such gatherings as the present one could scarcely be overestimated. Archbishop Redwood also expressed his pleasure at being present at such a successful gathering, and lie wished to tender bis personal thanks to the performers. ' The occasion which had brought them together in Christchurch was one which would 1 long be remembered,, and he congrjs|tula|ed them on the fine style of had) been chosen for the Cat^|gi|||;| r / . Bishop Verdon said, ;'aS|ia||||w ;, Zealand Bishop, he must congratulate v |'ha Catholics of Christchurch on the success which so far had attended their efforts to secure a Cathedral which would be to the credit of New Zealand. They had learned a good deal from Bishop Grimes, to whose determination and preserverance the success was due. • The 'address had been illuminated by Mr A. H. Hart in a very artistic manner, and was handsomely bound in the form of an album. On the front page was a sketch in colours of the new Cathedral/ while the next two pages were occupied by the address, and on the fourth was the crest of the Archbishop. The album was enclosed in a massive casket, inlaid with various New Zealand woods by Mr Jewell.