THE OTOGO DAILY TIMES MONDAY, DECEMBER 17, 1900

Otago Daily Times, Issue 11918, 17 December 1900, Page 4

THE OTOGO DAILY TIMES MONDAY, DECEMBER 17, 1900

"Ye shall hallow the fiftieth year

.. A jubilo shall that fiftieth year be unto you." Fi% years have gone by since "tho Pilgrim Fathers of Canterbury landed at Port Victoria (now Lyttelton), and were welcomed by Sir George Grey, as Governor of the colony, and Bishop Selwyn, the ecclesiastical guardian of the young settlement. To-day, in the last week save one of the century, the few suvvivors of that adventurous band, with their sons and their sons' sons, and with thousands who have, in various ways, been added to the community, will hallow the fiftieth year and hold their festiv.il of jubilee. Not quite in the Mosaic fashion, it is true. If a final •" c " has been added to the word since the publication of the Author-

ised Version, the " jubile" has lost a good deal of its original import. The doors of the Christchurch Gaol will not be fluiij, open this morning, nor will those people who have mortgaged their lands during the half-century return to their old possessions without the formality of monetary redemption. Social arrangements have become mor..or less complicated since the days of tkc Book of Leviticus, and the good people of Canterbury will not be expected to obey the rigid letter of the old " jubile " ordinances. The spirit at least they can honour. "Ye shall not oppress one another ; ye shall do my statutes, and keep my judgments, and do them; and ye shall dwell in the !anci in safety."

An Otago reader, studying the early history of the Canterbury settlement, is at once struck by the peculiar likeness to the records of the " making " of his own province. Of course, there is a general sameness about all pioneer work, and all schemes of colonisation :' there is the same eager purpose, and the same type of heroic souls " that ever with a frolic welcome took the thunder and the sunshine, and opposed free hearts, free foreheads." But between the first ideal, so to speak, of Canterbury and the first ideal of Otago there was a special similarity ; and the likeness extended to the partial failure of the ideals. What was the desire, the dream, of the promoters of both these colonising projects? To build up a special community—in the old sense, a peculiar people—whose fealty and relationship, should be exclusively to one fatherland and to one Church. Both were essentially religious undertakings,—• both, it must be added, essentially sectarian. May it not be further added that the degree of failure to which both had to submit (as regards this special ideal) was the seed of a nobler and more complete success? We need say nothing about the early principle of Otago colonisation: it was the subject of a hundred articles and sermons and speeches at the time of our own jubilee in 1898. Otago was to be a carefully guarded sanctuary of the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland. Canterbury, in like fashion, was for all time to be the peculiar possession of the Church of England. These things were not to be; free British colonisation cannot, in the long run, be bounded by special ecclesiastical horizons; but no unprejudiced person will question the incalculable value of the work done by the originating and abidingly predominant churches in the two provinces. To-day Christchurch is, to an unusual degree, a city of all the denominations, but its atmosphere is still pregnant with the traditional sentiment of Anglicanism, and its streets and spires whisper, to the imaginative ear, of bygone churchmen and ecclesiastical associations. The busy man of to-day, as he passes through the streets, may not pause to reflect that those- streets took their names not so much from English towns as from English dioceses (for that was the special idea), and it is likely enough that only a small proportion of those who crowd to Sumner on holidays are aware of the fact that Dr Sumner was the Archbishop of Canterbury at the time of the birth of the New Zealand Canterbury. None the less does the primary ecclesiastical spirit still count for much in the life and sentiment of the province, and (blended with a more liberal atmosphere) it is a possession which only the sciolist will belittle. On the first Sunday after the arrival of the first ship at Lyttelton Bishop Selwyn " celebrated the Holy Communion in a loft over a goods store, reached by a loelder, the seats being extemporised by resting planks on sugar-barrels." Mutatis mutandis.—Anglicanism for Presbyterians: Bishop Selwyn for the Rev. Thomas Burns, —how close is the resemblance to the records of the first Otago services! The exclusiveuess has gone, with all its doubtful influences, but the general spirit of that early religious devotion—the primary zeal for godliness—still abides, amid whatever enmities and obstacles.

It was not merely in their special Anglicanism, but in their optimistic views of the potentialities of carefully selected human nature, so to speak, that the promoters of the Canterbury settlement displayed a" somewhat pathetic lack of insight and foresight. AYe said just now that the Christchurch Gaol would net open its gates in honour of the jubilee,—but if the hopes of the founders of the settlement had been realised there would never have been need of a. gaol from one end of the province to the other. It was to be " a pattern colony." To quote the words of Dr Jackson, who was Bishop-designate of Lyttelton in 1850 (though he npver entered upon the duties of the office): " Are we to reproduce an epitome of all that is best and most noble in the mother country? All that is most noble, most enduring, all that has contributed most to the honour and aggrandisement of the magnificent empire in which it has pleased Almighty God to cast our lot? Are the future generations of New Canterbury to be, net like the future generations of old England, but better? Are our race of peasantry to be launched on a career of tranquil expansion and comprehensive culture, in whose homes crime is to be, comparatively speaking, extinct? Are we to have a noble, and gallant race of gentry fulfilling all their duties as unto God, and not unto man? Are all our governors to rule as under the direct eye of Him, the Judge of all men, to whom they must one day give an account of the deeds done in the body? ... At the close of a century will the future Bancroft, the future'lrving, who shall write the history of the rise and progress of the Canterbury colony, be able to speak of us as having fulfilled these bright and happy omens? Precious, if it is so, will be the memory of the present generation of Canterbury settlers, and dear the simplest memorials of their adventures! " This was indeed the ideal of the statesmen and bishops who were the nursing-fathers of the New Canterbury,—and may we not well term it pathetic? And yet — though this Paradisical state of society was never realised, —though Canterbury has had its full share of human imperfection, and even of crime,—though the dawn of the twentieth century sees that blissful dream of happiness and innocence no nearer than did the middle of the nineteenth, —still the work of the fathers of Canterbury has been splendidly justified, and the fifty years' r«-.

Cord of the province affords just ground for provincial pride. Provincialism is largely a thing of the past so far as regards practical politics, but it still lives as a powerful and salutary sentiment; and it will live, for the children will nourish it, if only for their fathers' and mothers' sakes. We congratulate the people of Canterbury upon this day's festival and all that it imports. We .associate .ourselves with them in honouring the memory of theii noble deed, —Godley, Moorhouse, Harper, Fitzgerald, Yon Haast, and many another leal patriot of the past,—as well as the worthy survivors of the early clays, such as Hall, Rclleston, Jacobs, Bowen, —and we wish the province God-speed in its future course.

There was no luck of heartiness about the welcome which Punediu offered on Saturday to. the first party of Otago and Southland volunteers who, having honourably and gallantly performed the duty they had cheerfully and loyally undertaken, and having completed their service in .South Africa, have returned to the colony and the district that sent them forth-. The reception was not overdone : it was " a welcome not of foolish adulatio.u, ,but. the welcome of honest pride and affectionate gratitude for those who have so nobly done their duty.' Colonel Webb reminded the gathering in the Agricultural Hall that he had predicted, when the Otago members of the first contingent went away, that they would do their duty. He was, as everyone now knows, perfectly right. They have done ■ their ■ duty devotedly, fearlessly, tvncbmplainingly, often enduring the severest hardships and suffering the greatest trials. But they have, as Colonel .Webb truly said, not only done their duty: " they have brought credit and honour upon, the colony to which they belong, not only on account of their bravery "and the way they did their duty; but • because of the magnificent way they adapted themselves to the various positions which they found themselves in on all occasions." The Mayor, in whose stirring speech the sentiments of the people of Dunedin wore fully expressed, appropriately quoted the high testimony which Lord Roberts has given to the value of the services of the colonial troops. Who, it may be asked, could have dared to hope, when the first Jvow Zealand contingent was leaving our shores, that i^ would win such unstinted commendation from the Field-marshal of the Imperial army? Indeed, as Colonel Webb implied when he said on Saturday that the men whom Dunedin was then affectionately welcoming back did not receive "much of a send-off," the seriousness of the work that was before them was not realised at the time they went away. The war had not then begun, and, though the prospect of peace was anything but hopeful, it was felt there was a faint chance that Mr Kruger might accept the demands of the Imperial Government because they were reasonable, ■ or, if his obstinacy would prevent him from conceding that, because it would be suicidal on his part tp offer an armed resistance ,to the suzerain Power. At any rate, though Colonel W/ebb believed, when the men chosen from Otngo for the first contingent left Dunedin, that they would do their duty, it was the firmly held opinion of a considerable section of the public that there -would be no active service, or very little, for them to see. The war which Great Britain wished to avert came' about, however; it has lasted longer than it was believed it would last; and it has been a much more serious affair than it was ever anticipated it would be. The Otago and Southland men who arrived in Dunedin on Saturday morning were in the thick of the fighting right along the main line of advance of the British army. They shared in the honours as well as in the trials of the memorable march to Kimberley—one of trie greatest achievements of the Imperial forces iv the war; they had so thoroughly " proved " themselves at Colesberg that when the Kimherley relief column, composed as it was of picked men, was formed they were among the first chosen for it, and from that time forward they continued to merit the high praises of their commanding officers. The gratitude of an entire Empire is theirs; their own colony is honoured in them. In this is the explanation of the contrast between their "send-off" and their welcome. They went away loyal volunteers, full of courage and pluck, but absolutely " green " soldiers; they have come back with their "blushing honours thick upon them," tried soldiers of acknowledged resourcefulness, and of proved gallantry. The colony is proud and delighted to receive 1 +.hem back.

On Monday, December 18. last year it was our unpleasant duty to nnnonnce the repulse of General Buller, which, following on the Stormberg disaster nnd the reverse at Atagersfontein, made the closing weeks of the year a somewhat gloomy period. To-day we give some details of another reVorse, but, fortunately, not so serious as any of those referred to. General Clements was driven from his position, near Krueersdorr), and though, luckily, the number of killed and wounded is not very large, there are no less than 563 men missing, having presumably been taken prisoners. The Boers are etill very active, and De Wet appears to be once again breaking through the British cordon, while Louis Botha is reported to be about the Vaal River, where the Boers have destroyed portion of the railway. On the western frontier of the Transvaal General Mctlmen appears to be clearing the country, and the death is reported of General Lemner, who, with De la Eey, commanded the Boers who were being hunter by our fourth and fifth contingents.

A Wellington telegram states that the Government have communicated with the Secretary of State for '.he Colonies asking when the letters patent for the extension of the boundaries of the co'ony will be issued.

The mining flppeal case Spencer ami others V. the Enterprise Gold Dredging Company was resumed at the Supreme Court before 1113 Honoi Sir Justice Williams on Saturday morning. During the sitting evidence was given by George Parker, Thomas Snaders, William Henry Cutten, IV Sawyer, Nathaniel Paterson, Charles Stephen Reeves, and W. T. Talboys,. The taking of evidence was concluded at 1.45 p.m.. and the court then adjourned. The argument of the cose was allowed to stand over until the. next century, as it cannot be taken until attcr the Supreme Court vacation.

The hospital returns for the past week are: Remaining from previous week, 97; admitted during the week, 21; discharged, 22; deaths (Margaret Stubbs, Lottie Frame, Angus M'Queeu, and Peter Russell), 4-; —total remaining in the institution, 92.

Our Alexandra correspondent telegraphs: — "A case of diphtheria, was reported here on Saturday. It is perhaiis fortunate that the school closed on Thursday fot the summer holidays."

At St. John's Church, Koslyn, yesterday the Rev. C. S. Bowden announced that he had received a cutting from an English newsjjaper conveying the sad news of the death by

drowning of the Rev. W. C. Coates, who had been for some years in charge of St. Mary's, Mornington, and wns afterwards vicar, of Queenstown. The rev. gentleman on returning to England was appointed vicar of Densford, Hampshire.

The Masonic service held at St. Matthew's Church yesterday afternoon was well attended, both by the Masons and by the public, a. large number of Masons coming up from Port Chalmers specially for the occasion. The principal ceremony was the baptism of the infant son of the R.AV.M. of Lodge Celtic, No. 177, S.C. liro. John Craig, the District Grand Lodges, 8.C.. S.C, and N.Z.C., with their respective D.U.M.'s, W.Bro. T. S. Graham, "VV. Bvo. J.-Gore, and the Rev. W. Ronaldson, P.G.S., marched in procession from the schoolroom to the elmrch, followed by the subordinate lodges. The preacher was the Rev. W. Curzon-Sig-gers, who dealt fully with the duties of a Mason, and shoved how high in Christianity a, good Mason stood. He whs ably assisted in the fen-ice by the Rev. AY. Ronaldson, P.G.S. The Masonic Choir was present, and rendered the usual Masonic hymns in a satisfactory manner. The collection, taken up in aid of a distressed member of Lodge Olago, No. 844, E.G., came to a substantial sum.

1 A stack of oats valued at £20. belonging to Mr W. Hitclion, of Adam's Flat, wns burned to the ground on Thursday afternoon. It is supposed the fire originated through sparks from some scrub that had been burning on the

commonage adjoining.

The prizes for attendance at the Timnru Main School wero being given to the infants (reports tins Herald) when the name of

"Shoppy Bennett" was called out. " Slicppy," said the head master, "is a mnst constant attendant. He had, during the year, the misfortune to meet with an accident on the wharf, but this did not prevent him from going to school. How did he manage it? He got other boys to wheel him to school in a perambulator till he was again able to walk. 1 think," concluded the master, " that Sheppy well deserves his prize." Those present evidently thought so too, for as the fair-haired, sturdy, little chap, standing not as high as the' table, came eagerly forward to get his prize lie was applauded to the echo.

On Thursday evening Bishop Ncvill held a confirmation service in St. John's Church, Milcon, when 16 candidates —six boys and ten girls—were presented by the vicar, the Rev. J. C. Small". The Bishop's address was based on Revelation ii. 8-10, and was of a most instructive and helpful nature. There was a large congregation, who followed both the service and the address with the closest attention. There were no cases for bearing at the City Police Court on Saturday morning.

Our Wakalinu correspondent writes:—"At a numerously-attended social hold at the Arrow Athenaeum on Friday night Dr M'Brearty, who acted for the past nina months as locum tenens for Dr Thomson at the Arrow Hospital, was presented with several valuable mementoes as a token of esteem and goodwill by the residents of the Arrow district. During his stay at Arrow town Dr 'M'Brearty proved himself a clever and eminently successful surgeon and physician, gaining as such the confidence and admiration of the patients under his charge and of the general public, while his bonhomie and affable manner endeared him to all who came in contact with him. It is not 100 much to say that Dr M'Brearty carries away with him the heartiest good wishes of the residents of the district for his welfare and success in life."

R. P. sends 5s for the Mrs Thomas' East fund and 5s for tha Mrs Edwards fund.

The entertainment given in the Choral Hall in nid of the prize fund and the Swimming Club of the Albany street School was repeated on Saturday evening, and attracted a very fair amount of patronage. The "May Festival," in which Georgina Meredith. Ivy Hood, May Norden, Emily Donald, Ruby Bewley, May Bowdcn, Percy Turner, Cecil Bennett, Harold Hunter, Harold Bowden, and a number of other children took part, was admirably performed, a pretty maypole dance being given under the direction of Mis? Haig. Several of the children also gave songs and recitations, and aisbted "in the presentation of tableaux. Physical drill was also engaged in by the School Cadets. A comic recitation was given by Mr ,1. W. Butler, an exhibition of boxing by Masters Alexander and Frank Hanna, the former also going through club-swinging exercises, and vocal solos by Misses M'Dowell and Dunsmuir. The accompanists wero Mra M'Leven and Miss Platts.

At the Princess Theatre on Saturday night the Roscius Dramatic and Operatic Society gave a performance of Mr Sydney Grundy's farcical comedy "A Pair of Spectacles." There was a fair attendance. The comedy was exceedingly wclJ played, and although there were one or two shortcomings they did not in any way detract from the general merit of the play, and the audience were able to follow it with interest. Miss Laura Hanlon, Mis* Mary Blimey, Mi 3?. Birkett, mid Mr D. Campbell sustained the principal characters very creditably. As a mark of appreciation, both ladies were presented with beautiful flora! bouquets at the close of the last act. The performance was under the patronage nf the returned troopers, and the theatre had been appropriately decorated with flags for the occasion by Mr ,T. F. Kirby. The back of the circle wns hung with code flags, while the front of it was festooned with red. white, and blue bunting. The orchestral stalls were, also draped with flags, the Union Jack in'the centre, and national flags were suspended at the 6ide of the proscenium.

Sales of gram and produce will be held today as follows:—Messrs D. Reid and Co., at 10 a.m.; Messrs Dalgety and Co , at 10.30 a.m • Messrs A. Moritzaon mid Co., at 10.45 a.m. Messrs James Samson aiul Co. will sell household furniture, tea, etc., at their rooms to-morrow.

The annun.l break-up and distribution of prizes at the High street School will take place to-morrow—the lower standards at 1.30 and the upper standards at 2.30.

Mr D. M. Spedding will sell alarm clocks, vases, albarts, etc.. to-morrow afternoon. On Wednesday he will sell safes, weighing machines, etc., at Messrs Scoular Eros.' stores.

Messrs Park, Reynolds, and Co. will hold a clearing sale of genera] merchandise, wines, etc., Jr. the estate of the late Mi V. G. Neill, Princes street south, on Wednesday next. They will sell hcusaholcl furniture at their rooms tomorrow.

Mr J. A. Duthie will sell by auction on Thursday, 20th inst., on the claim, the pontoons, housing, etc., of the Kiverbank dredge. Applications arc invited foi tho position of master of Uic Golden Gravel dredge. A notice to intending competitors at tho Druids' sports appears in our advertising columns.

Tenders are invited for the cartage of dredging machinery from Wcddcrbuni or Frankton to the Golden Standard Dreclßing Co.'s claim 011 the Chitha Hirer.

For the Christmas and New. Year' Trade Hynms, jeweller tfnd watchmaker, U Princes street, is now showing a choice and varied assortment or new goods suitable for presents. Novelties in all departments. Call and inspect.—Advt.

0. and T. Young, jewellers, Princes street, having enlarged their premises are this year making a specially huge display of goods suitable for Christmas and New Year presents. They guarantee excellent quality and good value.—Advt.

Carter and Co., Dunodin and Invorcargill— spcci.nl bargains in all departments during this month. Special and exttnordinniy job purchases. Call early on Carter and Co.—Advt. Who is Peter Dick V—The most reliable Watchmaker and Jeweller, opposite Coffee Palace, Moray place, Duncdin. Charges strictly moderate.—Advt.

A GOOD COUGH MEDICINE. It speaks well. for Chamberlain's Cough Remedy when druggists use it in their own

families in preference to any other. "I have

sold Chamberlain's Cough Remedy for the past five years with, complete satisfaction to myself and customers," says Druggist ."/. Goldsmith, Van Etten, N.Y. "I lmvo always used it in my own family both for ordinary coughs and colds and for the cough following la grippe, and find it very efficacious." For sale by all dealers. Price Is 6d

Cornsaeks, twine, machine oil. and other farm necessaries arc procurable from NIMMO & Blaik at lowest current rates.