NEWS OF THE WEEK.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume IV, Issue 191, 24 November 1876, Page 12

NEWS OF THE WEEK.

The visit of the Cardinal Prefect of the Propaganda to Dublin,, where he was received and attended upon by all the respect and enthusiasm due to his high position and personal virtues, forms one of the events of the epoch in Ireland. In. reading of the celebration of the Holy Sacrifice by his Eminence in the pro-Cathedral, Marlborough-streefc, on the 17th September last, our thoughts naturally revert to the times when the like sacred rites were performed by fugitive priests in the distant recesses of Irish mountains or some other obscure places chosen because of their facilities for concealment. Truly " the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church."

Tapley says, in the ' Advocate,' some of the grand dames who make the lawn in front of the grand stand at Memington a show ground for brilliant dresses were in dire distress owing to the nonarrival of their garments from Paris. In order to get the very latest fashions the orders were delayed till the last moment. The much coveted fine feathers for the fine birds did not catch the mail steamer, and the disappointed ones were compelled to put up with the work of colonial artistes. And, oh horror ! three Governors were to be present. To make matters worse, the mail steamer with the dresses on board was telegraphed off Cape Borda on Monday last, the day before the Cup. The wife of a liberal landowner residing not a hundred miles from Sunbury is said to have sent to the telegraph office to see if her dress could not be sent over by wire, and to have offered five hundred pounds to have it delivered in Melbourne on Tuesday morning. But it didn't come, and the poor woman had nothing to wear. No. 2 Brajtch, H.A.C.8.5., situated at Ballarafc, has decided on being known as ot. Michael's Branch, in honor of his Lordship the Bishop of their diocese, whose patron Saint is the great Archangel, and who during his short residence in the colony has gained a wide-spread and ardent popularity. His Excellency the Governor of New South Wales, in a speech lately delivered by him at Albany, on the question of Australian Federation, spoke as follows : — " Take for example the question of defence. Any danger to Australia must come from without. An attack on any part would affect the whole, and, like a chain, the strength of the whole is no greater than that of its weakest link. The true policy under the conditions is as obvious here now as it was in England at the time of the Heptarchy, viz., the substitution for petty, isolated schemes of defence of a union which will facilitate the concentration, upon the shortest possible notice, of the whole fighting force of the country upon any threatened point. Look again at the recent growth of questions affecting national as well as international interests, such as the various mail services, ocean telegraphs, the exploration and settlement of continuous territory, general immigration, and the introduction of Chinese. These, and similar subjects of a general character, will assuredly before long need to be considered and treated from a continental rather than a provincial point of view."

We are sorry to learn that Mr. Owen Laverty, of Hyde, has been unfortunately drowned in the Taieri. The accident appears to have been the result of restive conduct on the parb of one of the horses which were drawing a dray that the deceased was driving across the river.

So many canards, says the 'Hangitikei Advocate' (a Wellington paper) have appeared from time to time in various papers throughout the colony respecting veritable moas having been seen, that we feel no small amount of diffidence in stating that we believe a young bird of this race "was seen lately in the Pavaekaretu Block, Mr. G-eorge Slight, who is working with Mr. Campbell in the block/5 saw a young bird about four feet and a "half high, with a long hooked bill and very small wings. He and his mate, Mr. S. Hunt,, gave chase, but the bird got away from them. Mr. Campbell having been told of the circumstance, went up next morning to the place where the bird had been seen, and in some rather soft mud saw the footprints of the bird, and on measuring found that each of the three toes exceeded the length of his own foot — by no means a short one — and were partially -webbed. The bird did not fly, but ran very swiftly. When walking, its ga-ifc somewhat resembles that of a Cochin rooster. We shall most probably hear more of this in the course of a few days, as it is intended to follow up the pursuit. Close upon £700 have been collected in the arch-diocese of Melbourne for the persecuted clergy of Germany. We learn with regret that a member of the family of our respected fellow- townsman, Mr. G-ollar, met with an accident which was attended with serious consequences. On Monday last, a daughter of the gentleman referred to, while returning from the Ocean Beach, unfortunately fell from a cab and fractured her right wrist. The Melbourne 'Advocate' of the 11th. inst. has the following : — "His Lordship the Right Key. Dr. Moran, Bishop of Dunedin,. administrator of the diocese of Auckland, New Zaaland, arrived in Melbourne by the s.s. Ringarooma on Sunday morning. His

Lordship celebrated Mass in St. Francis' Church, Lonsdale-street, at 9 o'clock, and in the evening preached and gave Benediction of the .Blessed Sacrament in the same church. The Bishop became the guest of his Grace the Archbishop at the Palace on the Eastern Hill. On Wednesday his Lordship left by the mid-day train tor bandhurst, and was to return to Melbourne on Friday. During his stay in town the Bishop visited the Convent of Mercy in Fitzroy, and the Convent of the Good Shepherd at Abbotsford. Dr. Moran, on leaving Melbourne, will proceed to Sydney en route for Batfiurst, New South Wales, where his Lordship is to preach at the opening of a new Catholic College. The report of the Victoria Educational Department for 1875 bears conclusive testimony to the inefficiency of the State system ot schools in the colony alluded to. It further flatly contradicts the reports spread in some quarters as to the growing tendency of Catholic parents to avail themselves of secular instruction for their - children.

We understand that the rumored disagreement between Messrs. Moody and Sankey is void of foundation. The calumny orio-ina^ed with an American infidel publication. As we inserted in our columns the report alluded to, we consider it but right to publish its denial. l

The ' Invercargill Weekly Times' seems to consider the progress of the Southland metropolis confirmed by the visits paid to rnu I De Murska and tb -e Simonsen Opera Troupe. If, like Inebes, music has not called the town in question into existence, it would from this appear, at least, to have established the perfection thereof. r

We have been much struct in looking over our foreign exchanges at the present universality of warlike movements or expectations. Besides those in Europe, that are so prominent a topic, several exist of minor importance ; amongst which are to be found fighting between the Boers of the Transvaal and the Kaffira, and a threatened attack on the Christians of the Lebanon by the Druses • i. ■■ ™ v ? eral of a Child of MarT took P ] ace on Monday, the 6th ti'n^ *S. elbourne - Th e members of the Sodality, to the number or 100, attended, attired in mourning and wearing their medals. On arriving at the cemetery they assumed their white veils, and, tour ot them acting as pall-bearers, moved forward in procession to the graye, chanting the Litany of the Blessed Virgin, as well as a hymn for the repose of their departed sister's soul. At the conclusion of the religious ceremonies prescribed by the Church when the coffin was lowered into its resting place, before it was Jf^T 1 * carth > *hey placed a quantity of flowers upon it. On the Wednesday following, a Requiem Mass was offered for the soul ot the deceased, at which the members of the Association were present.

We understand that St. Joseph's Branch, H.A.C.8.5., Dunedin have declined to accept for the present, or at least until the quarter terminates, the resignation of their Secretary, Mr. John Cantwell. -they have acted thus in consideration of the energy and zeal shown in their cause by the gentleman in question, and as a mark of their respect for him personally, and in recognition of hie valuable services.