GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXV, Issue 9124, 4 August 1888, Page 2 (Supplement)

GENERAL NEWS.

THE PILGRIMAGE TO I ON' A.

The annual pilgrimage of Scotch p Catholics to lona, in honour of St. Cnl" 0 , the patron saint of the diocese ol the Isles, set outon June 3 undermost'■ • ' able conditions of weather. The ste*-° Ur " Grenadier, specially chartered for " l Y'!* £,, - r casion, left Oban at six o'clock with* than 800 persons on board, anion., ! being MonsignorPersico, Archbishop J? 1 of St. Andrews and Edinburgh ' p''! 1 " 1 McDonald, of Argyll and the Isles', g'"" McDonald, of Aberdeen, the Ve'rv 'iv'' 1 Prior Leo, and monks from Fort Airr u r"'' Rev. Lord Archibald Douglas, Sir°p" tu V Kerr, and Lady Lovatt and family. U ' l A PRESENT FROM THE PITCAIKN IsnANuj;.,. Captain .John Lewthwaite, of ilarvin', has just returned to England, bri.i'n"' with him a present for the Queen in •/V"' inhabitants of Pitcairn Island. \ '. Lewthwaite is master of the Cairn,,- M - ' Glasgow, and on his homeward voyage l'ir f Vancouver Island he called at I'itoairii '* tf found that the descendants of the aiuiir of the Bounty had received papers cut ' ing particulars of the Queen's .he,"'"" They said they were anxious to maggd' Majesty a Jubilee present, and in Si',. T senee of anything more valuable, they ijfU" ded to send some straw hats of their i;--.-"!' fact tire. They also sent other goods of straw, which they manipulate ujtT'" great deal of skill. The presents v handed to Captain Lewthwaitu oy.\p-\' ' the governor of the island, and m*.,,, !•' one of the mutineers. The boxCuiituir.';,'-". the presents has been lodged with t| )fe v ir-.-of Peekham-rye, who acts as nuvt.- • ... V " islanders, to forward to the Queen. tC> are now one hundred and twelve * " the island, two-thirds being women, Th'-' use no strong drink, tobacco, or njos V" Some time ago a harmonium was i&k*n fl I to them, and Captain Lewthwaite sav« o '."* woman plays it remarkably well. "" ' s

A FORTUNATE MI'SIOIAN. ' The official connection of Sir ,1 i„ » Stainer, as organist of St. Paul's lath*,;-'' has ceased. The fatuous compter or niiiny anthems, chorales, and cantata-; however, to be congratulated. John >r, .... ' born in 1840, was a chorister in ftt. i', lU r' choir from 1847 to 185(3. From there lwent, at the age of sixteen, to he. Miena.;'* College, Tenbury—which Sir ]•"; t; , • Gore Ouseley had just founded for lu-.-u;,,-. > ing of church musicians—as urga::i.-t . -1 , at the early age of 19 received th-eano,; ' , of organist to Magdalen College. As Examiner in Music to our three I ";.;,,.,, si ties Dr. Stainer has long held tin- firmost position as a scietnilic and uccwi. ' plislied musician. He now retires from dscene of active labour, having we<idcu * I lady who is said to be the happy pu.-.-L-.-.-j" 1 of a hundred thousand pounds. i<:. ~ Martin, who has long been the deputy. ; organist, receives the otiicial nppoiij ; .:i>:'.; at St. Paul's. , MOBILISATION OF THE VOLCNTKEKS. The improvements in the onratmation rthe volunteer forces, foreshadowed by >!•* Stanhope at the commencement ,'r the session, have already made considerable nro- ' gress, and the formation of the v Sum.— brigades has now been delinitelv dvci<M . upon, and will come into efleet almost j-.. mediately. A letter is about lobe h-i.-d 1 to the officers selected to command i; stating the intention of Her Ma —v - (Government to confer upon volunteer forces an organisation which will enable them to occupy, in time of great nation;;! emergency, that position in lie defence ui the country which they patriotically aspire to fill, and which Her Majesty's (iovernmeuc confidently rely upon them to Lake. .MUSiCAL KXliiHTs. Sir Charles Hallo, one of the new knisrhr.-, was born in 181!) at Hagen, in Westphalia. He was driven to England by the revolution of IS-IS, and in 1857 inaugurate d.? orchestral concerts at Mane!a-or, which led to the formation of the fa l .iOUS Hit lit' Band. His exquisite pianoforte interpretations of classical music— e.-oeeki!lv of Beethoven and of Mendelssohn's hitlerare world-famous. Sir .John ,Stainer, the other musical knight, was born in IM'I. am! was at seven years of '4"c a churi.-ter in St. Paul's. He subsequently became organist of Magdalen College. Oxford. taking the appointment, at St.' Paul's In ' 1&72. In 1866 he had succeeded Dr. F.ivey as organist to the University of Oxivvin ISS2 he became inspector of music m dm elementary schools in succession to Dr. Ilullah. Besides being one of the tn--i gifted organists of his time, he is a successful composer of church music. lie ha; edited a series of music primers. A MATTER OF I'KrJCt: DKXCK. What would be the position of Cardinal Manning, asks the Echo, if. as son;.- peonie are anticipating, in the event of life peer* being created, he should be made a member of the House of Lords? A cardinal i.- a prince, and the College of Cardinals was in the days of the temporal power the royal family of Papal Rome, and although from the point of view of the Established Church the cardinal archiepiscopal pretensionare irregular and schismatieal, the dignity of the cardlate is recognised by th.public law of Europe. When the hoy;.! Commission on the Housing of the Poor was issued, Mr. Gladstone recommended that Cardinal Manning's name should be inserted in the commission immediately after that of the Prince of Wales : Lord Salisbury indeed willingly yielded precedence to tie spiritual prince. It would be impossible (says the London correspondent <■;' the Manchester Guardian) to go back from the decision thus arrived at; and vet if the principle were strictly carried out", it would give the Cardinal precedence over the Arch bishop of Canterbury. THE REV. It. R. HA WE IS ON" "EGBERT ELSM EKE. " On one Sunday morning lately at Sr. James's, Marylebone, the Rev. H. K. Haweis spoke on ''Robert Elsmere.'' lie said he objected both to the wholesale rejection of the Christian creed by the iictitious Robert Elsmere and the holesale acceptance of it by Mr. Gladstone ; and remarked that all agitations, social, political, religious, and scientific, were ridiculous, and they resembled the pendulum of a clock which swayed from side to side. Robert Elsmere, he maintained, was an unwilling witness against himself. Elsmere disclaimed all belief in the supernatural and the miraculous, and yet believed in Ho-1 and in prayer ; and the man who admitted the presence of God recognised the super natural, and when he prayed, as Elsmere prayed, he admitted the possibility of the miraculous. What was wanted was a restatement, a redefinition of Christianity, but not the abolition of the belief in the supernatural or the miraculous, for depend upon it that belief would have to be brought back in some form or another. Mr. Haweis concluded his address by saying that he intended to endeavour to point out the medium between Mr. Gladstone and Mrs. Ward as reflected in " Robert Elsmere and that he would accordingly give at address on the divinity of Christ. A NEW ATTRACTION" AT NIAGARA. The Queen's birthday was celebrated by [ the opening of the Queen Victoria Park, on the Canadian side of Niagara rail-. From the Clifton House up the river for t wo miles miles an elegant park has been created!. Hie mills, the vulvar residences in the swamp-, and the crumbling banks have been displaced by every sort of beautiful and substantial structures and devices of landscape art. Henceforth tourists will not only be much more gratified with their visit to this wonderful spot than has been the case hitherto, but they will find the official charges more moderate than the former charge?. The work has been begun and completed within a year, at. a cost of nearly £100.000. FATAL DEVOTION TO A WIFE AND DA COMTEK. During the strong gale which blew lately in the Channel a fishing boat, the Lovie, of Teignmouth, was capsized oil' the Eddystone. Her perilous position was observed by the crew of another fishing boat, which bore down upon the Lovie, but there was no small boat on either of the fishing vessels, so the crew could not be taken oil. A rope was passed by which the Lovie was taken in tow, but this snapped, and shortly afterwards the Lovie filled with water and capsized. As she did so her mast tore the mainsail of the other boat. So dangerously close did they come to each other that one of the crew of the Lovie, George Brown, jumped clean oil her into the see. * 10 captain, Henry Brown, not related George Brown, had his wife and daughter on board, and would not desert them. I be Lovie settled down in the stern, the master and his wife clinging to the bowsprit. I' lo crew of the other boat, the Mary Jane, made every effort to take them off, but the bovie disappeared, carrying the captain and bes U'ita Aud duuiriitAP u'itL