CANTERBURY CATHOLIC LITERARY SOCIETY.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XI, Issue 5, 25 May 1883, Page 16

CANTERBURY CATHOLIC LITERARY SOCIETY.

Christchurch, May 19. . Afteb passing of minutes and other routine business at the weekly meeting of the Society on May 14, a motion of Mr. O'Sullivan's, to the effect that a box be placed in the rooms into which queries may be put ; this box to be opened weekly and the questions answered if possible by tbe council of the Society, was discussed and agreed to. A motion by Mr. Oakes that had reference to the procuring of more suitable rooms, was next pioceeded with. After an animated discussion it was resolved that the offer of rooms at the corner of Madras and Lichfield streets .be accepted, and also that a committee be appointed to see to the necessary furniture and repairs, etc. The President thought the rooms would be ready for the annual meeting which takes place on tbe second Monday in June. As the entertainments ; -provided by the council for the Society during some previous nights were confined to lectures, papers, and debates, it was deemed advisable to change to lighter fare on this occasion. Accordingly the programme for the above evening consisted in a day at the -Police Court, something similar to that reported in the Tablet some' time since. Mr. Perceval occupied 'the magisterial chair on -thia occasion and discharged the onerous and responsible functions pertaining thereto with a dignity and a gravity that would not ill*become the " beak " who graces Bow street or the Mansion House with his presence. Mr. Baxter made an excellent Clerk of the Court. The first case was that of a man, stated by the constable, Mr. Kennedy, to have been found at midnight embracing a lamp-post and addressing the flickering gas jet, which he mistook foi the moon, as " Thou goddess of the night," and other poetical terms. The police described him to be a vagrant and, worse still, a poet as they had every reason to suspect that he was the man who was the indirect cause of the suicide of three editors in San Francisco, who found life to be unbearable in consequence of the " inundations " of poetry which he poured in on them every week. They concluded, also, that the prisoner had the wild and unsettled looks of a man about to start a newspaper, and unless restrained might be the cause of driving the gentlemen who inspire our evening " busters " to do the same rash act. The prisoner was duly lectured on the enormity of his offence, and the pernicious effect on the community at large, and ordered to gaol for a long period.. The next was a civil case in which the plaintiff, Mr. Gegan, sued Mr. O'Sullivan for damages in consequence of being bitten by defendant's dog. Mr. Maskell was counsel for complainant, and in the course of a very able address, exaggerated the injuries -received by his client to such a degree that it was impossible to imagine that there was any of the complainant left to come into court, whilst the dog ani his owner were such ferocious monsters that killing first and hanging afterwards would be exceedingly mild treatment for them. The complainant deposed that on returning to town one night about twelve o'clock he was suddenly attacked with the "land fever," just as he was passing defendant's residence. He then and there called on him tr> enquire if he had on sale a city section for thirty shillings ; but, instead of receiving civility, he was advised to go to sultry country where blankets are not required, save by Queens.*

landers ; the defendant making use of some i very unpoetical language, not to be found in religious books, and finally set on his dog Caesar to him. The constable deposed that at the. hour named he heard shouts and a disturbance, and, after waiting until the fight was over, according to the, police regulations, he proceeded in that direction, meeting on the way complainant, with a dog attached, whom he arrested for stealing .the brute. The defendant, in the course of a very humorous speech, pat in several pleas. ,He denied that he, was possessed of a dog with; such a classical name as Caesar ; he considered he was justified in "setting, on' I ! his, dog to any person prowling around his place at unseasonable hours.' He, also .stated that the dog never attacked anyone save doubtful characters ; the last persons whom he operated on,, were a half-pay Marshal in the Salvation Army, a Chinaman who had a taste for. fowl raising, a, book-agent who wanW to sell a V Tale of a Gooseberry," a novel in twelve volumes, a census taker, and a sanitary inspector. . Messers. Hall, Sullivan, ,and Milner gave evidence both, for plaintiff and. defendant. If a man wants to .candidly understand, himself, the. best way would be to take promiscuously a number of bis neighbours . and enquire of them concerning hip. good qualities or little weaknesses. One set of witnesses in this case testified that the .complainant was a man of unblemished character, unsullied reputation, as pure as the driven snow, and untainted as the gently falling dew — in fact, nothing more nor less than a second edition of George Washington. . But, alas, for the unanimity of human judges, for another class of witnesses, now came forw.ard who said the complainant was exactly the , reverse, a man of irregular habits, and doubtful integrity, 3 whom you might entrust any amount of property, providing there was nothing more movable than real: estate. Mr. Maskell replied, and quoted several cases of a similar nature "" from Blackstone and Euclid, St. Lawrence and Mark Twain, etc. Mr. Perceval summed up in a lucid and able manner, and then delivered a most ridiculous judgment, which, perhaps, was not . more so than happens in reality in out-of-the-way places at Home, where the great unpaid are lords of all they survey, and. are free from the criticism of, the .healthy public opinion of these colonies. The entertainment was very amusing, and kept the audiense laughing all the time.