ST. ANDREW'S LITERARY INSTITUTE.

Otago Witness, Issue 2319, 11 August 1898, Page 61

ST. ANDREW'S LITERARY INSTITUTE.

The second lecture on "The Choir Invisible " was given by the Rev. Dr Waddell, in connection with St. Andrew's LiteraryInstitute at the Walker st. Hall on Monday night, and notwithstanding the cold, wet weather the hull was crowded. The lecture consisted of an analysis of the character of Mrs Falconer, and Dv Waddell said that she was not only one of the most beautiful characters in the book, but Avas also one of the finest creations in modern fiction. The keynote of her character lay in the words " They are the women who have missed happiness and know it, but having failed of affection give themselves to duty." He defined duly as that determinate moral claim which dictates a certain line of action as right in contradiction to self-pleasing. He then proceeded to show how Mrs Falconer's action illustrated this principle of duty in three directions — first, in her relation to the daily routine which her marriage involved her m ; secondly, in relation to her husband ; and thirdly, in her relation to John Gray. Her marriage was a loveless one, yet she never permitted herself to speak of her troubles to others. The leeUirer showed how, in spite of her unhappiness, she remained true to the claims and obligations which her marriage imposed upon her. He contrasted Mr Allen's treatment of Mrs Falconer with the solution of this problem offered in certain othev works of fiction— notably, in ''The New Antigone," by Dr Barry; "I Forbid the Banns/ by Frankford Moore; "The Children of Danaus," by Mona Caird ; and two novels by Grant Allen. The tendency, and sometimes the teaching, of these books was, he pointed out, that marriage has a civil contract founded on love, and that when love was dead on either side the bond should be cancelled and both enter into a new relationship. "The Choir Invisible," he said, has one of the strongest counterblasts blown against this theory, and for that reason he deemed it a privilege to call attention to the book. He also referred to modern legislation in the 'direction of opening the door wider to divorce, and said that this was a reactionary, and tended to bring back the race to the low levels from which it had painfully olimbed up. S=2"2ES2SE3S^SESKS2S2ffiZS

The Maoris at Parihaka intend obtaining a water supply service to the village. It is estimated the work will cost £200. The latest cU&covcry in medical science is Townend's celebrated Cinnamon Cure for consumption and kindred diseases of the air passages, coughs, colds, loss of voice, bronchitis, bronchial asthma, whooping ( cough, croup, influenza, pleurisy, pneumonia, and catarrh* Sold eYei-y^Uer^ Price, 2s 6d.-»

The total area under the various crops in Victoria is 3,260,312 acres.

A woman named Constance Smith was fined £5 and costs for taking tlie custody of a child without being licensed under the Infant Life Protection Acfc. Counsel for defence raised the question whether the court could deal with the case summarily, and the point was reserved for the Supreme Court. A further charge of having wilfully neglected ths child Fas fiartly heard and adjourned.

Mr W. Cowie, senior mail clerk in the Dunedin Po&t Office, has been promoted from

the second to the first -grade of the fifth class uncbr the classification scheme. The promotion, which carries with it an increase of salary, is well deserved. Sergeant-major Haslain, of Auckland, has been awarded a silver medal and an annuity o£ £10, dating from <Uh May, 1897 i (inclusive), for long and highly meritorious services in the NeAV Zealand war, 181-6. It ia 28 years since he applied lor it*