VISIT OF THE BISHOP OF DUNEDIN TO THE CONVENT SCHOOLS.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume V, Issue 257, 5 April 1878, Page 13

VISIT OF THE BISHOP OF DUNEDIN TO THE CONVENT SCHOOLS.

On Friday, 29th ult., His Lordship Eight Rev. Dr. Moran, paid a visit to the schools attached to the Dominican Convent. As soon aB His Lordship had entered the Infant School, a young lady, of very diminutive stature advanced and read distinctly, and in a most naive manner, the following address ;—; — " To Our Bishop. " Your Lordship's little children are all, oh ! so glad that you are come home again, We wish you a welcome that all our voices put together would not he strong enough to say ; it is such a hearty welcome home. • "Your Lordship's Smallest Children o£ the " Junior School, St. Dominic's Seminary." " Auld Lang Syne " was played as a duet by two of the little children with a delicacy of touch and brilliancy of execution really remarkable in such juvenile performers, and " Birdie's Ball " was rendered in. a manner to rival the birdies themselves. His Lordship thanked the little children, and promised to visit them again. He \then repaired to the Select Senior Class Boom, where over one hundred young ladies were arranged in order to receive him. As soon as his Lordship was seated, a young lady, a nonCatholic pupil, advanced from the midst of her companions and read the following address, very pleasingly, and with much feeling :—: — , " To the Lord Bishop of Dunedin. "My Lord, — With very great joy we hail your return to your diocese. All the giil« wish to tell you how truly they rejoice that your health is improved. Though to miss your kind, encouraging glance, and that feeling of security that grows from the consciousness of your fatherly vigilance, was blank and dreary enough, yet to know you were benefiting bithe Springs, and the prospect of your returning to us really invigorlted, counterbalanced this loneliness. " We did not ask thfc Nuns' permission to address you to-day, simply because we wish you^ and our dear sisters to understand how entirely the sentiments we express are our own, and we were resolved to seize an opportunity for\which we have been long Watching, to express our sincere gratitude for the interest you take in our advancement. You are the children's father ; your presence does not make us fear. _ No matter what our religion is, Gentile or Hebrew, our confidence in you is the same. \We do not know why this is : but we all agree in this that we come to greet you now, just as children welcome home their father. I "Another thing we wisl^to say, it is this : we understand and appreciate the self-sacrificing interest, the kind care, the laborious efforts of the dear Sisters to make 1 us what we ought to be, and, indeed, we may deplore that we are nor what we should be. We thank the -Sisters most earnestly, and we wish to console them for the trouble we have given hitherto, by expressing to-day our determined resolution to correspond in the future with their and your efforts to fit us for whatever sphere of life we are destined to occupy. We know well that all our affectionate, and grateful feelings would not have much value in your eyes unaccompanied by this sincere resolve; Thanking God for your safe and happy return. " We are, My Lord, " Your affectionate and grateful Children, "IThe Pupils of St. Dominic's Seminary." His Lordship, who appeared much moved, replied in the following terms : — / My Dear Children,-i-It gives me great pleasure to find myself once more amongst you,|and I sincerely thank you for this Address and the sentiments it expresses. Even in a literary point of view the Address is excellent, ana the manner in which you express your feelings shows a high degrea of culture of head as well as heart. There is no part of this Address iwhich gives me so much satisfaction as that in which you give expression to your appreciation of the exertions of the sisters to promote ybur best interests, and of your resolution to correspond with their efforts in your behalf, and profit by their teaching and example. You are 1 pleased to say that no matter what your religion, your confidence an me is the same, and that you all regard me as a Father. Comingjfrom you, my dear children, who belong to various religious denpininations, this is high praise indeed, and I assure you I value it highly. What you imply in this does me, I must say, no more than jusmoe. In my dealings with you I have always tried to act impartially and free from every bias of prejudice, and I feel I can say, in all (tfruth, that in my treatment of you I have never allowed the question Af religion to sway me in the least. Ido not think I have many prejudices, and I am quite certain I have been actuated in your regatd by principles of justicej ustice alone, and by an anxious desire to promote the best interests of everyone of you without distinction. Again I lleg to thank you for this very beautiful address. At the conclusion of the bishop's reply, the young ladies 6truck up the •' Marche aux Flambeaux," in a brilliant arrangement on two pianos. The rendering of this piece showed masterly instruction. ,' A vocal duet "Friendship" was then siing in a sweet and cultivated manner. His Lordship expressed his pleasure at improvement observable in those branches and thanked the young ladies. He then proceeded, accompanied by the Rev. Fathers jLarkin and O'Leary, to fr. Joseph's Schools, where they were entertained by a series of vocal, instrumental, and recitative exhibitions which were highly creditable. We especially noticed the intelligent and Humourous way in which a very young child recited " How to cure a! cough." A piece of Latin, spoken in a clear, fluent, and correct style, earned special commendation. We may here observe that the advantage of a knowledge of Latin and music is given to the young lady pupil teachers, together with a sound training in all the branches of an English education, -with a view to fit them for the requirements of any school, the charge of which may hereafter be confided to them. The musical performances were certainly above the average ; the vocal ducts, choruses, etc., were quite a treat. The rendering of the National Anthem— "God defend New Zealand "—deserves special pr«u?.

During the proceedings, the following address waslread in a very agreeable manner :—: — . " My Lord, — We humbly beg you to accept the. expression of our sincere joy to see you again in the midst of your Catholic children of Dunedin. We would wish to welcome you in a manner suited to your exalted dignity, and expressive of our sincere rejoicing. But we are only poor little children, and though we may feel very deeply and truly, wo can do but little to show how hearty is our ■welcome Only one little flower-bud have we to offer your Lordship, and that is that we shall strive to become good children and true "Catholics, so that' you. who are fighting our battle so intrepidly with " the powers that be," may never have reason to giieve over our unworfchiness or ingratitude. " We offer to God most fervent thanks for having preserved your Lordship from all perils of land and sea, and for the improvement in your health so much desired by your faithfnl people. " May Almighty Providence spare you over us for many happy Plycars to come, may He rain down on you His choicest favours as \ reward for your zealous labours and noble self-sacrifice, and may He not let you go away from us for a long time, so earnestly Pray, 6 3 " My Lord, your humbly devoted children the pupils " of St. Joseph's Schools." The Bishop thanked the children very briefly, and in the course of his answer said he was quite certain no one could rejoice more than they did to see him again amongst them. At the conclusion of these very interesting proceedings, a child advanced and placed in the Bishop's hand a purse containing tea sovereigns, the offering, she said, of her companions towards the erection of the new Cathedral. , We are informed that the Catholic children have already, from their " private resources" and through their abstemiousness from " lollies," contributed a sum ampunting close to £40 for the same object. If this is the spirit of the"' Catholic children, we infer that the Catholic parents, without whose sympathy and approval such a spirit could not exist, intend to take an active part in the movement which has for its object the raising to the Divine worship an edifice which will do honour to the Catholic congregation of the city. It was arranged that the Dram&tic and Musical Fete, prepared m the Select School, should be adjourned till the arrival of the Bishop of Brisbane. r