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New Zealand Tablet, Volume IX, Issue 454, 23 December 1881, Page 15

Ik our leader of last week we made one statement that, we are happy to say, bids fair to prove inaccurate ; it was that Mb Lordship the Bishop of the "Diocese could hardly be expected in Dunedin before February at the earliest. We now, however, learn by means of letters received via Suez from Borne, that in all probability the Bishop would hare been prepared to leave Italy for New Zealand via Brindisi by the mail that left this month, so as to arrive in Dunedin in January. This intelligence will be of importance to the committees and gentlemen everywhere throughout the diocese now making preparations to welcome his Lordship, and •will serve to Bhow them the necessity that exists for eaergetic action, so that their plans may not be disarranged by the Bishop's arriving more speedily than bad been expected. Thk Wellington Evening Post reports the following :—Bißhop: — Bißhop Redwood made a few remarks during the distribution of prizes at the Convent School yesterday, which will commend themselves to every parent in the community. After complimenting the pupils on their proficiency in all the branches of instruction in the school, he said he had to make a few observations which would, peihaps, run counter to their ideas of acquiring a knowledge of German, French, fancj needlework, and fine things of the kind ; but the subject on which he desired to speak was, to his mind, of more importance than all the rest. He hoped the young ladies would complete their education at home, and perfect themselves in household work, for it was a thing which would last for a lifetime, This could not be taught in a coa*

vent. There were thousands of things to be done at home which were necessary for domestic happiness, therefore he hoped when the young ladies were told to do household work they would be delighted to do so. It would stand them in good stead throughout a lifetime, and they would not only be able to bear themselves with propriety and elegance in society, but they would be able to render those with whom they would live through life comfortable, happy, and contented. This he defied them to do unless they had a proper knowledge of household work. Even if they became the highest ladies in the land, and never had to soil their fingers, it was still necessary that they should be able to see that those under them did their duty. Nothing could be more important"[than this in a colony like New Zealand, where it was so difficult to get gcod servants. Half of the mistresses had to teach their servants how to go about their work, and if a mistress was ignorant of it herself, what misery there would be in the house ! Therefore, he hoped the pupils would learn to cook and do laundry work, etc. He warned them not to despise those who had such knowledge, and endeavoured to show that other accomplishments were enhanced by the possession of such acquirements. His Lordship concluded :: — '• Don't think what you acquire here is all the education necessary. The greater part must be learnt in your homes. If you hearken to what I say, and carry out in your lives what I recommend, you will be a credit to yourselves and a joy to the homes in which you live." The following paragraph is not without interest for settlers in this colony : — The London Economist says that while the advantages of New Zealand are, in point of climate and soil, incontestably superior to those of Canada, yet, as the former owes to England a debt involving an annual payment of lOdol. 50c. per head, while Canada has to pay but 12dol. 70c. per head annually to England, the verdict of the London Stock Exchange in putting Canada four per cents, ten per cent, higher than New Zealand fours is sound. The JScono?nist considers Canada's power of borrowing far from exhausted. ANOTHKR resort to the time-honoured tactics of the English Government of Ireland has been had in a fresh issue of circulars offering rewards for secret information concerning persons guilty of sedition. This constantly recurring encouragement of the loathsome trade of the informer is one of the chief blots upon the English Government in Ireland, and one that justifies that country's deepest resentment. Four children belonging to the same family lately died of diphtheria at Kumara. The gentlemen reported by the police for taking part in sweeps at the Hutt races are to be proceeded against immediately. Has the Hon. Mr. Dick's spirit been revived by hi 3 re-election so that be again rejoiceth like a giant to run his course ? Is Mr. Dick meantime going to do anything towards the removal of the scandal in his own moral town of Dunedinto which we lately drew his attention? We shall put him in mind of it now and then, and perhaps he may wake up by-and-bye to a sense of his duty in this respect. Negotiations concerning the Panama Canal are still proceeding between the United States and England. Mr. Blame refers to the growth of American interests in the Pacific ; to the solicitude of England to control the Suez Canal, and asserts that the United States' control of the Isthmus would ensure neutrality for the canal. Wb would again recommend our readers who are desirous of spending a, pleasant holiday without incurriug the fatigue and expense of a long journey, to visit the Caledonian Society's Grounds on Boxing Day, on which occasion the Dunedin Branch of the H.A.C.B, Society offers a programme complete in every (particular. We understand the leading professional athletic competitors are entered fox the principal events, and close contests may, therefore, be looked forward to. In addition to a first-class Briss Band, Mr. Caughlan, the Irish piper, will play on his favourite instrument a choice selection of Irish music. We hope to see a large attendance, in order to assist the Hibernian Society in their laudable efforts to encourage manly exercises by holding — and giving liberal prizes in — these annual spoits. St. Joseph's School, Dunedin, will re-open on January 23rd, and the Dominican Convent High School on January 30th. If it is found possible to complete the arrangements in time the Dominican Sisters will also open their school at Invercargill on January 23 rd. Thk Government of the United States have conferred upon Mrs. Garfield the privilege of a fee postage for her letters. The agitation against the Jews is increasing in Russia and Q-ermany. It is further considered likely to spread to other European countries — and yet the civilisation of the age is loudly boasted of ! Military officers commanding in Ireland are about to be vested "with magisterial powers. It will be no wonder if men in Ireland turn longing eyes towards the Panama Canal. They will, at all events, have some satisfaction in the assurance that whatever "England may undertake in the way of diplomacy the Government of the States need only continue firm to obtain all theyclaim. With Ireland disturbed and disaffected England dare not go to war — and especially with America. Upon such a step would attend a second fontenoy.

We learn with regret of a severe accident which has befallen Mr. M'Caughan in Victoria. The gentleman in question, it seems, was driving a spirited horse the other day, when it took fright sod overturned the buggy, causing its driver's leg to be broken. On the 14th met. a Chinaman was killed by a fall of earth in his claim at the Round Hill, near Riverton. A man named Henry Boyce was crushed to death at Wairau, on the 15th inst., beneath some wool-bales that fell on him from an overturned dray. An undertaking is on foot in London for the purpose of raising a fund for the relief of some class or classes of Irishwomen unknown Is it, by chance, in aid of starving landladies that her Most Gracious Majesty the Queen has contributed her £200 1 And why have the empty stomachs of the genteeler classes seemed more deserving of royal commiseration than those of the lower orders, among whom there has always been an abundance of hungry women left totally unprovided for, and even expected rather to enjoy their condition, or at least to sustain it without complaint ? The " grand old gardener and his wife " might well make inquiry in some such tone as this. Reports as to the Pope's intended departure from Rome still continue rife. We neither attribute any special importance to them nor wholly regard them as untrue. It seems not impossible the,, Holy Father may before long decide that the Vatican can no longer affiwrd him a safe shelter, and seek a refuge elsewhere. But if he leaves Rome we shall most undoubtedly soon behold the spectacle of King Humbert tumbled head-foremost and without ceremony over the walls, to range the world among the ex-kings. It is, meanwhile, a strange anomaly to see the usurper of the Pope's throne capable only or maintaining his reign within the shadow of the monarch dethroned. A la.d named Radcliffe wounded himself dangerously with a gun near Christchurch on Saturday. The Orange Slaughtering Company of tfew South Wales are about to make arrangements by which their frozen meat will be received in England in cooling chambers, and distributed through the larger towns. Mb. Man son, an American tourist, ascended Tongariro on the 14th inst. He describes the volcano as a geyser that throws streams of boiling mud 500 feet high. The gentleman in question has been the first white man allowed by the Maoris to ascend their sacred mountain, and the concession is reg urded as important. An old man named Andrew Burns was killed at Mahurangi, Auckland, by the fall of a burning tree, one day last week. On Sunday, at St. Joseph's church, Duuedin, the prayers of the congregation for the repose of his soul were asked for. R.I.P. A child was poisoned by eating matches at Auckland on Saturday. The forces in Ireland are about to be increased bj a body of 1000 men, who have belonged to the army reserve. They are to be employed as night-patrols. A man named Markland was killed at Ellerslie on the 15th by the bolting of a horse which he was harnessing. ' ■ Who longs to be a fanatic? The opportunity now lies open to him — purchased at a considerable cost to the colony, and all the display at Parihaka. It was for this our Minister of war was appointed, and Te Whiti driven out. Mr Bryce, the other day, speaking after his expiatory dinner at Wan?anui, and, no doubt, himself full of the inspiration of good cheer, is reported of as follows :— " Alluding to the cause of the trouble on the coast, he quoted Buckle as to the efjteqt of scenery upon the character, and said he believed the scenery of the coast was the great cause of religious frenzy. He instanced Te Huia, author of Hauhauism ; Motu, the author of another superstition ; and several others, together with Te Whiti, all living under the shadow of Mount Egtnont." Here, then, we have a valuable tract of land thrown open to us with the gift of prophecy in its mountain shadows. Those of us who desire to leave a famous progeny behind us, the founders of sects hitherto unheard of, would do well to set up their tents there immediately. Who knows how their " uncouth, ' nide, names" might become renowned hereafter ? The Government should certainly set a higher price upon the land. But was there^br Jthe way, any suspicion of the mountain's influence over Mr Brycc Vimself while he sojourned within its shadows, when, for example, he posed so gallantly upoa his white horse— become a beagfc of history 1 Something of frenzy there certainly was in his grand idea of destroying the crops — but that was a frenzy, we should say, most irreligious, and even somewhat immoral. In conclusion, have we at last discovered the means of producing the man who cannot be made, but, strange to say, must be born— that is the poet ? For does not hi 9 eye also roll in a " fine frenzy ?" — but a frenzy that, alas, often inclines as well to the irreligious side. The Hon. Mr. Oliver is dead bent on education, it seems, and pines to see it, in its highest deg) cc, extended through the masses J He told the young ladies breaking up at the High School the other day that the best servants his wife and he had ever - had between them had been menials with a taste of the " larnin 1 ." And now in every genteel home in the city it is held for a gospel truth that «

knowledge of the parts of speech gives a housemaid a wonderful advantage over the dust, and the command of the rule of three makes a cook as well acquainted with the timbre of an iron pot as the Hon. Mr. Oliver is himself— and that is saying a good deal. THBHon.Mr. Oliver, however, said something else also that need not be quite so much bruited about just at present. He said the time was coming when secondary education was to be made free to the whole colony. This, nevertheless, cannot be done without enormous expense, and when the indebtedness of New Zealand is being availed of England to turn the tide of desirable emigration towards other shores than ours, it is hardly prudent to keep proclaiming all the money we mean to spend presently on a system that can be very well dispensed with. A free system of secondary education would, moreover, give us a population for the most part possessed of a smattering of dozens of subjects of no possible use to them, but rather distracting to the mind, and injurious to the brain, as well as to settled habits of study. It seems, however, to be determined by many of our legislators that the colony is to be made the field for a trial of all sorts of experiments, and probably there is nothing for us to do but " grin and bear it." Drilling is reported to be going on at night among the people in various parts of Ireland in connection with the land agitation. The Imperial Government are about to send out an officer of the Royal Engineers to report as to the means of defending colonial harbours. The Chicago Convention have raised a fund of 250,000d015. for the purpose of assisting the Irish people to attain national independence^ — peaceably, we hope. The Irish Ladies' Land League has been suppressed and declared illegal, and we shall no doubt immediately hear of the arrests of ladies. The organ of the League — United Ireland — has been seized, and all that remained of its staff arrested. Times are still evidently somewhat stirring in Ireland, and no one can say when they shall be anything else, but if the people could only be driven to insurrection all would speedily be arranged in a manner most satisfactory. Cannon against frieze and corduroy would be an admirable remedy. The Cromwell Argui reports of an expectation of valuable mineral discoveries near the Nevis head waters. A young- man named Robert Millar met his death at Mosgiel the other day by the accidental discharge of a rifle, which he was carrying. —A seaman named Gunn was drowned last week by falling into the sea from the steamer Penguin near Akaroa. At the meeting of the Otago Land Board on Wednesday the following applications were declined — thatof Messrs. Manson & Aitcbeson for the management of the recreation reserve in the township of Heriot; and that of Mr. Mattbew Griffith for a yearly license to occupy portion of blocks V. ana VI., in the township of Waip&hi, and also the imsurveyed portions between Eefford street *md the river. The following applications were granted — that of Messrs. H. S. and E. Chapman to purchase 57 acres, block 11., Girnmerburn (at 40s per acre) ; that of T. J. Pearce to purchase under agricultuial lease, sections 7, 8, and 54. block 1., Lower Hawea ; that of John Stewart, to purchase on def rred payments section 24, block I, Crook->ton Certificates of application for gold-mining leases ware approved as follows — D. Duusrauir and others, section 1, block 111., St. Bathans ; H. S. Jones, executor of the late L. S. Busch, pection 17, block 1. Naseby : V. R. Manning, section 4, bJock IV , Waipori ; H. Eckhold, section 72, block IV., Waipori. Transfers were sanctioued to licenses 105, 126, 135, 1 10, 99 and SS to Messrs Guthrie aud Larnach, subject to all rents due being paid up. On the application of Adam Landels, it was resolved to offer for sale as soon as the plans are sent in, that portion of section 8 and 9. block 12, Waipahi, not included in the peat reserve. Saw mill license was granted to Messrs Herbert. Howat & Co., for one year from January 1, 1882, over 100 acres block VI [I, Glenkenich, at 4s per acre payable in advance. Tin application of Messrs Lxmb, Drummond and Scott to have reserve at Mirie Creek, Pomahaka, section 1 , block IX, subdivided into 20 acre allotments and sold by auction was referred to ranger for report. The application to abscut themselves from their sections ou Messrs Borthwick and Hertslctt was granted. Messrs. Mills, Dick and Co.'s, Otago Almanac aud Directory for 1882 is quite up to the mark of the former numbers of the work. Its reputation for furnishing exact and useful information is safficiently established to make it unnecessary for us to enter upon any lengthened criticism of it. The Irish Australian Almanac, issued at the office of our excellent contemporary, the Melbourne Advocate, is to band, and, as usual, contains an immense amount of useful and interesting information on Catholic and National subject 0 , as well as a good and indispensable calendar. i Messks. Nimmo axd Blaib have issued a pretty sheet-almanac, 'with the picture of a child cugaged on a hard sum.