CHRISTCHURCH.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume X, Issue 509, 12 January 1883, Page 11

CHRISTCHURCH.

(From oar Own Correspondent.)

January 8, 1883. The opening of tbe new graving dock was of course the the principal event of last week, bo far as our LYTTKLTON neighbourhood is concerned. Tou have already festivities, been well posted up in the ceremonies which took place on the occasion. How the N Z.S.U.'s ship Hurunui was selected to be the first to enter tbe dock ; how she broke the blue ribbon stretched across itsentranee (pieces of this were eagerly seized by the crowd, as mementos of the great event), and amidst tremendous cheering, his Excellency, Sir James Pendergast, the acting Governor, surrounded by a group of distinguished visitors, declared the dock open. Captain Haselwood, of the fiurunui, was presented by his Excellency with a gold pencil case, in honour of the occasion. The banquet was laid in the large export shed on the Gladstone wharf, and was extremely well served, the caterer being Mr. Bnggey, of Colombo street, and bis energies must have been tasked to supply the wants of no less than 750 guests. People who are in the habit of attending public banquets are no doubt too well broken-in to be hypercritical, and pass over with equanimity such slight anomalies as the eating of trifle with salt spoons, and jelly with knives (the last really a Herculean task, one would think) but is it a positive necessity that people should get so disgustingly and hopelessly drunk as they usually do on those occasions, and certainly did on that day ? The chairman was understood to make a strong protest regarding such conduct, though I cannot be quite sure whether he did, as all speeches were perfectly inaudible in the long building, excepting close to the speaker. Some small excuse may possibly be made for the delinquents, owing to the dreariness of tbe time occupied by the speeches, many of which were absurdly and unnecessarily long, and also to the remarkable lut of wines provided by the generous hosts, —numbering (including champagne, liqueurs, etc.,) no less than 30 varieties, according to the menu card. It is whispered that not less than 750 bottles were drunk, a fair allowance certainly. The following day I met one of the guests looking altogether dilapidated and woe-begone ; he informed me that he was feeling very unwell, adding with an air of plaintive innocence, that '* the Lyttelton water always disagreed with him." No doubt, and I suspect a good many others made the same discovery. An English paper says that "a Commission con - home sisting of the Roman Catholic Bishop of Clifton, AND fobeion thp Very Rev. Canon Bewick, and the Very Rev. items. Monsignor Gadd, appointed by the Bishops at their recent synod in London, is now meeting periodically at the Archbishop's house, Westminister, for the consideration of a new calendar of saints and a new English martyrology, one of the objects in view being to reinstate in the love and veneration of English Roman Catholics the Saxon saints to whom so many of the fanes of England were, in the olden times, dedicated. Various manuscripts were read and considered at the first meeting of the Commission, some of them having been written by the members of the Commission themselves. Resolutions as to the future action of the Commission were agreed to and the results of its labours are eagerly awaited by English Catholics." — Some excitement has been caused in Paris by the expulsion of the Sisters of St. Vincent de Paul from a building where they kept a girls 1 school. The Municipality claim the house as public property, while the Sisters maintain that it was bequeathed to them nearly 200 years ago by a lady, on condition that prayers in perpetuity should be offered up for her by the girls attending the schools. — A statue of St. Francis, the work of the late celebrated sculptor Dupre, Jjas been unveiled at Assist, in presence of the Bishop of Perugia, and a large number of ecclesiastical and lay spectators. — A journal writes in indignant terms of the disgusting profanity of the Salvation Army, " dancing, bellowing, shrieking, with flags and trumpets ; to intensify the rowdyism, brazen young females capering with tambourines, while the future male degeneration was represented by yelping boys." This rabble is allowed to carry on its proceedings perfectly unchecked in most parts of England at least. In India, the authorities appear to possess a little common sense, for the " missionaries " who have recently favoured Bombay with their presence, were there arrested for street processions, and were fined for being members of an unlawful assembly. Furthermore, as they declined to pay they were sent to prison. After their release the processions were discontinued. — A Home paper says : — " In our issue of the 14th inst. (October) it was our pleasing duty to record the success of the students of St. Mary's College, Dundalk, at the first arts examination of the Royal University. All presented on that occasion — five in number — passed successfully. From the results before us of the late matriculation examination, at which over 600 competed, we have still greater reason to congratulate the fathers and students of the Marist College, for of seven candidates presented, all past, and in the list of exhibitions we find two of them, — viz,, Mr. J. H. Mulkern, who obtained ninth, and Mr. D.Kennedy, twenty-sixth place. Another has won Becond place, with first-class honours in French. Mr. Mulkern bad first class honours in Latin, while second-class honours in French and English have also been obtained. Since the opening of the Royal University last year 21 students have been sent from St. Mary's College to the different examinations, and it is gratifying to be able to state that there has not yet been a single failure, In other examinations the students prepared in this college have also obtained marked distinction. In July last, Master W. Kerr went directly from the college to the Medical Preliminary in connection with the College of Surgeons. He passed in first class, having obtained the sixth place in all Ireland." The Mr. D. Kennedy referred to above, is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Duncan Kennedy, well-known and much respected residents of Papanni, and their friends will cordially share in their pleasure at their son's success. In a certain rural district some distance from this AN ANGLICAN city, an Anglican Clergyman is in the habit of adfckction. ministering " the sacrament " once in three months.

A Sunday or two back, on arriving at the church-— whether the infrequency of this duty caused it to vanish it from his mind, or whether the heavy burden on his overworked shoulders proved altogether intolerable does not appear,— he found he had quite forgotten to bring the necessaries for this august rite. A. hasty visit was paid to a neighbouring college, and at length a piece of material between a duster and a dish-cloth, and a wineglass, (to serve as cnp) were unearthed, and the triumphant parson returned to his post. The churchwarden or vestryman, or whatever he is termed, had the decency and good feeling to suggest that under the circumstances, it would be better to postpone the ceremony, adding that he himself certainly would not " stay." The matter was, however, speedily settled by an intimation that the leading lady of the parish was present and had expressed her intention to " stay," and the edifying and seemly function was proceeded with. And this is the Church of England around whose piteous and pitiful dreariness and godless* ness the poet Keble in his "Christian Year," threw so tender and beautiful a radiance and halo of romance in his gentle, graceful, and delicate poesy. He talks of " the dear feast of Jesus dying, upon that altar ever-flying, white angels prostrate fall" ; and again of « the dread altar." "Holy lamps were blazing, perfumed waters quivering bright," while " stoled priests minister at them," and " the floor was by knees of sinners worn." — But even he would hesitate, and fail to transform with poetic magic such a scene as the above, and these people have the audacity to claim that the system which presents such desetsration is yet the Holy Catholic Church. The Horticultural Society's exhibition of carnations, vabieties. picotees, and other flowers and fruits took place on Tuesday, the number of exhibits being unusually small, though their quality was admirable. — The Papanui residents have held a meeting of ratepayers for the purpose of considering the desirability of forming their village and its immediate neighbourhood into a town district. An amendment was however carried providing that " the necessary steps be taken to increase the representation of the Road Board."— New Year's Day sports were held at Papanui and Lancaster Park, the former proving the most attractive, as a very large crowd of visitors attended. The Lyttelton Regatta also took place, and the C. J. C. Summer meeting was held, but the number of visitors at the latter was but small. — At the recent conference of the delegates from the various teachers' institutes, convened for the purpose ef forming aN. Z. Educational Institute, Mr. D. White, one of the Otago delegates said that "unceasing watchfulness in observing any changes in the Education Act was a matter of vital importance. This could best be secured by federation, and he therefore hoped the primary object of the conference would be achieved (cheer 6 ) :" Catholics must be on their guard, and must not relax an iota of their vigilance and exertions. — At the inquest touching the death of a man named Samuel Massar, who was locked up drunk in a cell by the police, and found dead next morning, Dr. Symes gave a most revolting description of the condition of the lock-up, a visit to which he said had made him extremely sick. There is, it appears, a double flooring, and though the upper one is scrubbed and kept scrupulously clean the condition of the lower one is undescribably filthy. Considering that the cell is about 9ft, 6in. by 7ft 6in., and that there is only one grating of about 12 inches, it is not difficult to imagine the state of the aumosphere when three or more drunken men are locked up. Dr. Symes, whilst acquitting the police of all blame, earnestly recommended that the matter should be speedily remedied. So far, however, it seems that nothing has been done by the authorities. — Last Sunday, Solemn Exposition of the Most Blessed Sacrament took place after High Mass, and throughout the afternoon the church was thronged by reverent worshippers adoring their Divine Lord. In the evening the sacred building was most inconveniently crowded, as there could not have been fewer than 1,500 persona present. The parish priest preached the sermon, and after vespers and benediction a procession took place round the interior of the church. The devotion and reverence of the immense congregation were most edifying. On the feast of the Circumcision, Masses were said at 6, 8, and 10 a.m. and in the evening, vespers and benediction, the sermon being preached by the Rev. Father Morrissey,— On the feast of theiEpiphany, Masses were said at 6 and 8 a.m., and solemn High Mass was sung at 10 a.m., vespers, sermon, and benediction in the evening. — So many rumours have been current that the Rev. Father Binsfield has suffered a more or less serious relapse, that I am glad to say on what I believe to be good authority, that although the Rev. Father has undoubtedly suffered severely, he is surely, if slowly, on the way to recovery.