NOTES AND COMMENTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXIII, Issue 10155, 11 June 1896, Page 4

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

A cable message from Sydney conveys the news of the death of Major-General John Soame Richardson, C.8., late commander of the New South Wales forces. Deceased was just sixty years of age. Ha entered the army in 1354, and in the next year be served with the 72nd Highlanders in the Crimean war, and was present it the and fall of Sebaatopol, for which h.i received a medal with clasp, and the Tmkish war medal. In the Now Zealand war of 1860-61, he served with the first battalion of die l'ith Regiment of Foot in the Taranaki district, and in the Waikato campaign of 1863 and 1864 General Richardson, who hold? the Mew Zealand war medal, became captain in 1863, and, retiring from the Imperial service, was in 1865 appointed to the command of the military forces of New South Waies, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel, becoming colonel in 1876, and major-general in 1885, when he commanded the New South Wales contingent despatched to co-operate with the British forces in the Soudan campaign, being created (J. 8., mentioned in despatches, and receiving the Egyptian medal with clasp and the Khedive's »tar in recognition of his services.

If the views of all (he various writers who have expressed themselves in public print recently are to be accepted (says the American Literary Digest), almost everything connected with religious life and worship at the present time shows signs of degeneration and decay. One argues strenuously that spirituality is fading out of the life of the church membership ; and another sees reason for the belief that faith in the efficacy of prayer 13 declining, and multitudes of men have riseu up to assert that faith in the- Bible as the inspired work of Gnl is fast dying out of the world. And now comes a writer bewailing the decline ; of church music, and later yet a voice is heard declaring that churchbuilding is becoming a lost) art. This voice is lifted up in the columns of the Evangelist, and ib speaks as follows : - 'Architects are plenty, bub those who can design, erect, and decorate a house of worship inspired by and giving expression to the spirit of worship in the beauty of holiness are few. Without,, the allabsorbing, soul-inspiring ideal of the artist which possesses, controls, and directs his mind, his heart, and his hand, and simply finds expression on the canvas or in the marble, the result will be a more or less commonplace picture or statue, and will never move our hearts. It is nob deft handling of the brush or chisel which stirs men's hearts, but the soul inspiration of the artist winch thereby makes us feel its power. So, too, of churches. The Egyp tian temples were designed by priests, who found, amid the darkness of heathendom, the best and noblesb expressions of their heart-longings in the beautiful temple to the only God they knew. So with the Greeks. The erection of a temple or a statue of a god involved in its conception and execution the highest form of the expression of worship of which they had any conception. The Gothic cathedrals are more the expression of religious sentiment in the days of their building than of the artistic feeling of the period. If we are to have great churches which will awe us by their dignity and grandeur, charm us by their beauty and sentiment, inspire us by their salf-eridenc religious inspiration, they must beconceired, designed, built, and decorated by those >° inspired by the spirit of worship and so saturated in mind and heart with the beauty of holiness that the house of worship shall be but the expression of aa all-absorbing devotion which finds expression in its own way, and will neither down at the bidding of utilitarian motives nor permit an expression of coarseness, vulgar display, or fantastic picturesqueness.'

Marquis Yamagata, the commander o! the Japanese army in the recent war with China, is small of stature and spare of figure, as are the majority of his countrymen. He has a high forehead, and bear* upon his face the stamp of intellectuality and energy of a peculiar and commanding kind. His hair is thin and gray, and silver streaks appear in his moustache. He is very unassuming for one who has gained the title of the 'Little Corpcrsl' ot Japan. But he is more than Napoleon was to the French, for he has the lore of

jumanity in his heart. He is now in the tixty-tbird year of his age, and he has been in the Japanese army ever since his boyhood. He was the second in command in the array in 1868, at the time of the Restoration, as it) lias been called in history, w hen the movement for the overthrow of' the Tycoon by the present Emperor was itarted.

The Cumberland Argus publishes the Allowing pretty little story about the Premier of New South VValess:—' There is undoubtedly a fino big heart under the spacious vest which surrounds the Premier 3 New South Wales. When Mr. Reid, in tnß turmoil of the last general election, came to Parramatta to speak a word for Mr. O'Reilly, the carriage in which he was rushed to the train by " human horses" ran over * child, which turned out to be the progeny of a local celebrity, Maurice BolmiJ. Now Maurice had been the one disturbing element at the Premier's meeting, bawling out inane questions, and familiarly addressing the Premier as ••tieorge, ould man," and it looked like a' judgment on the father, the accident the son met with. However, the next morning Mr. Powell O'Reilly received a letter fro© the Premier, referring to the running orer incident of the previous evening, expressing his sorrow, and requesting the member for t'urramatta to make all inquiries as to the child's condition, and what was necassary lot its comfort. Such a thoughtful act, in the midst of the sea of worry and anxiety which was overwhelming the Premier at the elections—when really the Premier was carrying the country on his shoulders ~ .psrtks eloquently tor the goodness of heart of George Keid. But it did nob end there. The Premier sent for Maurice, and ascertaining that he was in poor circumstances, made it a personal matter to get him some constant employment. Maurice has ever since been on the job the Premier was the

. ■• .is of him getting, and has earned a SiUering character from the officer he is wriinj; under. The noisy Hibernian declares with much warmth that ha is as ardent a protectionist as ever; but his eloquence runs riot when he tries to do justice to the nobleness of George Reid'c character as a man and a brother.'

The defeat inflicted by the Egyptian iroous upon the Dervishesat Firkehappears to have been a very important one. A large number of prisoners were taken, and some d! the Khalifa's best fighting men wore .'.«). The Egyptian troops bohaved splendidly. Owing to anarchist outrages martial law has been proclaimed in Barcelona The Shah of Persia has remitted the taxes on bread and me.it. He has also announced his intention of maintaining frier ily relations with the Powers constituting the Triple Alliance. The German Emperor has intimated to the French Pre.-iJent his regret at the death of M. Jules Simon. Mr. Chamberlain says the ;ommercial union of all parts of the British Empire would be the first decisive step towards realising the most inspiring idea v. British statesmanship.