NEWS OF THE WEEK.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume IV, Issue 190, 17 November 1876, Page 11

NEWS OF THE WEEK.

The Most Bey. the Lord Bishop of Dunedin celebrated Mass in St. Francis's Church, Melbourne, on. the sth inst,, and preached there on the evening of the flame day after Vespers. At the date of the letter from -which we derive our information it was his Lordship's intention to visit Geelong and Ballarat, and thence to proceed to Bathurst, where we presume hehas'by this time arrived. The grand function in which his Lordship is to perform a part will take place in the last-named town on Sunday next, the 19th inst., and as it is not the Bishop's intention to make a. longer stay in New South Wales than is necessary for the fulfillment of the purpose for which his Lordship left Dunedin, he may be expected to return home in the beginning of December. > His Holiness the Pope, with the gracious and all-embracing consideration which has ever been so distinguishing and beautiful a trait in his character, has caused to be forwarded to Dunedin an exquisite work of art, which came addressed as "A Gift from Pius IX. for the Dominican Convent." It is intended by the Sisters to offer thi3 precious donation of the Holy Father's as a prize in the forthcoming art-union, where it will no doubt form an attraction more powerful in itself than all the other prizes taken together, notwithstanding the high value to be borne by some of them.' W? see by the correspondence column of the Sydney ' Freeman's Journal' that tbe high class education given by tho Sisters of tbe Order of St. Domiuic, and for which tbe Order in question is f imous all over tbe world, is so fully appreciated by the inhabitants of Tamwortb, N.S.W., that tbe schools are not large enough to accommodate all those children whose parents are anxious to obtain for them the benefit of the instruction imparted by the pious nuns. The improvement shown by their pupils since the Sisters undertook the management of the Catholic Schools iv the locality alluded to is said to be wonderful. At the last annual competitive examination in Paris for places in the higher schools, out of eighty vacancies the pupils of the Christian Brothers' obtained sixty six, while thoso of the lay schools secured only fourteen. The "Wanganui ' Weekly Herald ' accounts for tbe action of the Belfast 'News Letter,' with regard to the statements of Messrs. Grant and Scotland, by ascribing it to the desire of the journal in question to prevent Protestant emigration from Ireland, in furtherance of the ascendancy policy of which that newspaper is so doughty a champion. Rehearsals of the music to be performed at the opening of the organ in St. Joseph's Church, Dunedin, have been re-commenced. Tickets for the performance will speedily be issued, and as the num. ber will be limited, persons desirous of securing places will do well to be on the alert. We very much regret to learn that Mr. John Cantwell, the energetic and talented Secretary of the H.A.C.8.5., has been obliged to resign his position owing to severe illness. Mr. Cantwell ia suffering from an attack in the lungs, and has been adrised by bis medical attendant to refrain, for some time from all exertion. IMb. O. Cummins, our much respected travollin* agent has, we perceive, been cau-ed considerable inconvenience and annoyance from what seems to us to bo at least, over-zeal and want of courtesy in tho police of Lawrence. Mr. Cummins, it appears, was ignorant of the fact that besides the ordinary hawker's license held by him it was further necessary that he should be provided with a business license, and in consequence of hisrery pardonable neglect to furnish himself with this requisite he has been brought into court and fined. Of itself this is not much, but when in addition a respectable man is violently ridden after and loudly inqu'red for on the roads by a member of the police foive, to the injury of his character, and served with a summons at a time that obliges him to haU on his journey for a week at a considerable expense, while a civil warning might have saved a'l such proceedings, ho appca s to hare just grounds for complaint. Wb very much regret that our limited space has prevented us from inserting in our columns, " Hidden Springs," the lecture lately delivered iv Sydney by his Grace Archbishop Vaughan. It is well worthy of perusal, and vie hope that, in common with other utterances of the learned prelate in question, it will be issued in pamphlet form, so as to be accessible to all who may desie to possess it. Meantime, its exposure of Freemasonry called forth a storm of invective and » .'crimination intended to cover tho able lecturer with confusion ; but, as tbe said storm was raited by a pitching over again of the empty rubbish that is frequently discharged against the Cbfurcli, it is needless to say th it it fa led to produce an effect. The Archbishop, however, thought it necessary to call upon the Freemasons to establish certain charges brought against him by on© Dr. Wanzir Beg, claiming to be

their mouthpiece, and his Grace's letter has been replied to by Mr Thos. Robert Bon, Deputy Provincial Grand Master, S'.C, who denies the responsibility of his society for the attack of Dr. Beg, and expresses himself in very different language from that made use of by thia person. In concluding his letter, Mr. Robertson writes as follows :— ' Having felt constrained to say so much, I must in a spirit of candour say a word more, and that is, that I for one, at .any rate, hare implicit conßdence m the patriotism and loyalty of Dr. Vaughan and all other Imperial and colonial Roman Catholic gentlemen, and I ask Dr. Vaughan to accept a sincere assurance that British Freemasonry has no secret or political object— its only aim and object being to promote the exercise of benevolence and brotherly love." We have no doubt that the A-rchbishop would gladly credit this assurance if ifc were possible for him to do so ; but, unfortunately, this is not in his power, for he too well know* the contrary to be the truth. His Grace, however, fully believing that the gentleman who thus addresses h:m is ignorant of the real nature of the society to which he is so unhappy as to belong, will certainly deplore that, like too many others so honorable a man should blindly lend the aid of his influence and example to a nefarious system. Thosb good folk who, a little time ago, so warmly congratulated themselves on Spam's being " thrown open to the Gospel," as they expressed it, were they not incapable of being taught even by tLe universal monitor experience, might learn a lesson which would moderate their high-flown expectations, from the failure of the Protestant propaganda in Italy, where Baptists, Wesleyans, Unitarians, and all the rest of them, rightly named legion, have met with ample proofs of the impotence of the systems they advocate. There are unfortunately, many unbelievers in Italy as elsewhere at the present ctay ; but their infidelity takes a different turn, and cannot be diverted into Protestant channels. The ' Illustrated New Zealand Herald/ for November, contains as usual, several capital engravings— a view of Mount Aspiring, Westland, and a skirmish between troopers and the natives of Queensland are particularly worthy of notice. i i Y B^ egr^ t0 c&7 thafc the re P° rtß fc hat reach us relating to the health of his Eminence Cardinal Antonelli continue far from reassuring. ±iis Eminence s death would, no donbt, be a severe affliction to the Holy father, to whom the illustrious minister lias proved himself so i ruly faithful, and m whose fortunes he has so constantly shared We learn, from private sources, that the opinion put forward with such confidence by certain statesmen, respecting the peace of Jiurope, is by no means ahared in uniformly by persons in London wiio are in a position to form an accurate judgment upon the present situation ; on the contrary, remarkable changes are looked forward to and strange surmises hinted at, to which it wuuld not be prudent to give publicity for th» time being. The tickets for the Art Union to be held in aid of the Dunedin Conventual buildings have not yet been issued, owing- to the necessity of awaiting the arrival of the pictures ordered from Europe It is, however, expected that this difficulty will speedily be obviated • and meantime persons disposed to help on the good work by gifts ot works of art, or subscriptions in money would lend valuable assistance by sending in their contributions to the Lady Superior of the Dominican Convent between the present time and Christinas