CHRISTCHURCH.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XI, Issue 6, 1 June 1883, Page 16

CHRISTCHURCH.

(From our own correspondent.)

May, 28, 1883. Thkbe is often, as is well known, a pretty considerable difference between the utterances of a candidate for parliamentary honours and those of the same gentleman when he considers himself fixed in his seat ; or perhaps has some troublesome constituents whom he cannot afford to alienate, and yet finds it difficult to conciliate. Ido not happen to have at hand the speeches addressed by Mr. O'Callaghan last year, when seeking the suffrages of the electors of Lincoln and ' its neighbourhood, but lam very sure that the attitude he assumed "**" in the matter of Catholic claims re education was such as to draw foith the approval of fair-minded and justice-loving men. A change has, however, come o'er the dream of the hon. gentleman : he has just addressed a meeting of bis constituents at Prebbleton, and in so doing seems to have got the wrong side of them in more ways than t>ne, so much so that the mover and seconder of the vote of thanks to him have thought it desirable to publish an explanation that they did so simply as an act of courtesy to their member, bat that they do not agree with his views respecting the nationalisation of the land, etc, and that they also believe those views not to be those of the majority of his constituents. However, this does not so much concern I Catholics generally, as does Mr. O'Callaghan's explanation of his I reasons for voting in favour of Mr. Pyke's Education Amendment I Act last session. True, he says, that he voted for the bill simply as a I matter of justice, and to satisfy those who were discontented, but he I expressly states that, as introduced, the bill, in his opinion, went I farther than it should by placing denominational schools in the same position as Government schools. * He was only in favour of a capita* I tion grant to children who passed the inspector from one standard to another, and he voted for the bill in the hope that this would be put to fights in Committee. He accepted the Educational Act as it stood, I would be very sorry if any danger occurred to the existing system, I and if he thought that by voting as he did, he would in any way I shake it, he would not have so voted. He did not wish any return of I the former system, under which they had suffered and groaned ; and I then the exceedingly liberal gentleman— who, be it remembered, is I still a clergyman of the Church of England, although he does not I appear to hold a living— expressed his conviction that people Bhould I be allowed to worship a man, a monkey, a blue-bottle, or anything I else they please. Catholics will do well to keep a strict eye on the I doings of so unstable and eccentric a champion of their cause, t Mr. Pearson's speech at Ohoka, in which he said he thought it might be well to give Catholics £20,000 or £30,000, "to allay their I strong feeling " (I am at a loss to know why he draws the line here, I considering they pay some £70,000 or so annually for the blessings I of secular instruction), has aroused the ire of the good Protestant I lion, and in particular that of the redoubtable theologian and controversialist, Mr. Alfred Saunders, late M.H.E. for Cheviot, and once I upon a time, I believe, Superintendent of Nelson, who addressed a I letter to the Prest by way of criticism, which for depth of erudition, I brilliancy of imagination, breadth of thought, keen historical reI search, and general accuracy and profundity is positively marvellous I and unapproachable. I was so overwhelmed by the consciousness I (which suddenly burst on me after the perusal of this wondrous effusion) of my shameful ignorance and deficiencies, especially in the matter of Reformation history, that I almost made up my mind to address a humble enquiry, as to what would be the lowest terms on which the distinguished author might be induced to impart a few fragments of his invaluable lore to a miserable ignoramus. Seriously, I did at first think of answering this immensely ludicrous " comedy of errors," but refrained, thinking so ignorant and contemptible an exhibition of spiteful bigotry must surely prove its own antidote. I am the more glad that I kept silence, as Mr. Saunders has been more than answered —in fact, has been utterly routed and exposed by a writer who, under the name of " Rathkealensis," has often written admirable letters to the daily journals (or to the TABLET, also, I fancy), and has in the present instance devoted much time and trouble towards the enlightenment of this self-constituted Protestant historian, who amongst other unfounded charges against the " Church of Rome," accuses her of burning Servetus and his books! It is a pity that the letter with the reply canrrtt be published in every Pmj testant newspaper in the Colony ; they might open the eyes of matfy well- meaning but ignorant people, who firmly take for gospel the facts of the infallible Mr* Saunders. The Queen's Birthday was kept with the usual loyalty, or perhaps the usual avidity with which an opportunity for holiday-making is seized in our city. The miserable weather having spoiled much of the merry-making, the Volunteers had skirmishing and battalion drill at New Brighton, and in the evening the Artillery Corps had a fairly successful/^ in the Drill-shed. The electric light at Lyttelton is only a very partial success so far, and the system is on two months' trial by the Harbour Board.

On Friday Meßsrs. Milner and Thompson exhibited outside their premises one of Messrs. Siemens' new electric arc lamps, the light produced being very brilliant, soft, and steady. The remains of the poor lost boy Lilly were found on Friday by a shepherd named Keogh, about half a mile from where Lilly's companion, Mason, was discovered, and about 20 feet from where Mr. Lilly and the search parties had passed. From the position of the body, it would seem that the poor child lay down utterly exhausted, and never moved afterwards. An inquest was held on Saturday at the Clarendon. The Canterbury Catholic Literary Society, to which reference is so often made in your columns, and which has grown out of the Society formerly known as the " Catholic Young Men's Society," is daily showing healthy signs of stability and progress. The members finding their present rooms — the rooms of the old Presbytery, looked upon by us as a relic of the past — too small, are about to remove into larger and more convenient premises in Madras street. In their new abode we shall wish them all the success that their persevering efforts so thoroughly deserve, and express a sincere hope that before long still larger and more important rooms will be needed. It is quite certain that if our young men were aware of the really intellectual treats that from time to time are offered at the Society's meetings, not one of them gifted with a taste for mental culture would fail to join the ranks of its members. Many old colonists are passing from our midst. Yesterday week the remains of the late Mrs. Pope, of Lyttelton, were carried to their last resting-place. An immense concourse of people testified their regard and respect by following the body to the grave. Like her late husband, whose death was reported in your journal only a short time ago, Mrs. Pope was greatly esteemed by all who knew her. She was a kind and true jfri end, a loving wife, a wise and prudent mother, and a devoted and unchanging child of the one true Church. The Feast of Corpus Christi, happening to fall on a public holiday, was not observed in any special manner, but the congregations at all the Masses and at Vespers were very large. — Yesterday — Sunday within the Octave of Corpus Christi — was celebrated with even more than usual solemnity. After last Mass the Blessed Sacrament was exposed, and the adoration was devoutly and constantly kept up throughout the afternoon until Vespers, when followed a sermon on the Blessed Eucharist by the paush prieal, and the solemn procession round the interior of the church. — To-day the parish priest commenced his third series of novenas, or what may be termed, his third crusade against intemperance, and there is every reason to hope for a large addition to the temperance cause at the termination of this crusade. — As announced yesterday, the devotions of the Month of May will terminate on Thursday with sermon, Act of Consecration to the Blessed Virgin, and Benediction of the Most Blessed Sacrament. Yesterday (Sunday) week, a petition stating some of the grievances to which Catholics are subjected by the system of in* struction — it would be a sad misnomer to term it education — adopted in this Colony, was most eagerly Rigned by the large congregation attending the Church of the Most Blessed Sacrament. Outside the chief entrance, tables were placed, at which presided Messrs. Perceval, Loughnan, O'Connor, Sheath, O'Neill, etc., and yet many persons were obliged to postpone signing the petition until later on in the week. The parish priest — who is, lam happy to report, fairly recovered from his severe indisposition, although obliged to take some little care of himself — at all the Masses and at Vespers, referred to the petition, and consequently to the system of instruction upheld by Government. In scathing terms he denounced it as cruel, despicable, unjust, etc., and pointed out some of the inevitable results, •which mu-<t leave an indelible blot on the legislation of the Colony. " Are Catholics," he asked, "to remain with their tongues in their cheeks, and rapturously gaze in silent contemplation on unheard-of insult and robbery ? We are not of yesterday, nor the day before, and yet we are told we must relinquish our cause. What right," he continues, "has any man or section of men, not divinely accredited to teach religion, what right has the one or the other to rob Catholics, not only of hundreds of thousands of pounds, but to strive by every means to rob them of the grandest inheritance ever given to man, the gift of Holy Faith ? This cruel system slams the school door in the face of God, and tells man he has no hope beyond the stars. It would fain stifle the Catholic conscience in the education of youth, and have us believe that we should feel proud to be permitted to control and maintain buildings that do not ornament, but desecrate the land. And who are those who would fain be termed the solons of our day? It cannot be denied that the Honourable House is chequered with a few noble minds indeed, but beyond these, to what are we treated in the effusions of the rest ? ' I say, and I say ' . . . for oratory, and hackneyed clap-trap assertions for syllogistic reasoning. Who has given the State the right to educate the child ? Has the right come to it from the natural law? The newly-born babe — physically, morally, and intellectually the weakest of creatures — emphatically says 'No,' and points to the State's tender heart, and Mount Taygetus in the days of Lycurgus! Perhaps the State wou'd claim adivine right. But unerring authority declares that no Buch right is given it, and claims for every Christian child a Christian education. And," continued the parish priest, " what shall I Bay cf the corrupt and corrupting portion of the Press in New Zealand, that with sleek servility and fulsome alulation, immolates itself on the altar cf this godless and revolutionary system? The Press, too, it rawst be admitted, justly claCtns some honourable men, and now ancfagain their manly pens fearlessly proclaim truths which cannot be gainsayed ; but all th« while, too, what insensate contradictions do we see. We are told that we should be contented to be permitted to pace the plains of Canterbury or the sunny slopes of Nelson ; that we aie the children of the handmaid Agar, whilst our direct line is traceable to Sara ; that we should bury in oblivion every recollection, though it should nerve the arm for the hour of need " (here the parish priest evidently alluded to the recent lecture of the Hon. Mr. Bromby) ; " and lo ! in the very same articles in which sermonizing maics the heart grow Bick, we are unblushingly insulted in our in-

telligences, ia our humanity, in our nationality, to such a degree that fires well-nigh spent must be rekindled unless we have been drugged by the flowery diction and rounded periods of our pseudo friends. Most If you have signed the petition, and some are yet to sign it, not because of what I say, but because you hate felt, and keenly do feel, the cruel injustice done you on the question of education. Tou have suffered in the past, and most of you, thank Gcd, have borne the galling yoke bravely ; you will suffer in the future, for we know not the day of certain triumph, and therefore be prepared, leave nothing undone, strain every nerve on the vital question. Stand together in one grand phalanx ; join not the camp of the enemy, where are to be found the renegade, who on the hustings is ashamed to give an account of the faith that is in him ; the devotee of the godless school, who, by diseased imagination, proclaims its usurped merits ; and the hypocrite, who, with his lips, sets forth the justness of the Catholic cause, and by his action and puree, supports godless and non-Catholic schools." The c ffect of the parish priest'B most stirring, eloquent, and unanswerable remarks may be best told from the fact that the entire congregation for half an hour remained standing, Father Ginaty having, from his place in the sanctury, turned to address them as soon as the officiating priest concluded the last gospel. It was easy to see that their thoughts were intently concentrated on the great cause he so ably advocated." " The cause," he added, " is a sacred one, struggling on bravely, for you ask not for a favour, but for justice. Be true to the principles of the f Church to which you are rendering allegiance ; show to the world that you acknowledge the one Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church to be the Divinely accredited teacher, and the preserver of the deposits of faith and morals — that Church which will never submit to the dismembering of the minds of her children, any more than did the true mother deliver up her child to the sword of Solomon."