A MELBOURNE LETTER.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XI, Issue 41, 8 February 1884, Page 17

A MELBOURNE LETTER.

(From an occasional correspondent.) Jan. 28, 1884. The death of the Hon. J. G. Francis at QueensclifE on Friday evening last removes from the world's stage one of the ablest and most popular of our colonial statesmen. As will be seen from the biographical notice that appeared in Saturday's Age, Mr. Francis came to the Colony in 1854, and since that time he has been constantly before the public both as a successful man of business, and as a politician. Though Catholics can scarcely agree with Mr. Francis in his support of the justly detested Education Act, which is viewed by the Catholics of Victoria as an intolerate grievance, yet we can reflect with kindly feelings on the disinterested support he gave to the O'Logblen Government, and on the great benefit we derived from his (wise and dispassionate councils, when party feeing ran high, and when Badical impetuosity led by the professed organ of Liberalism threatened to wreck the Parliamentary institution of Victoria. The funeral ofthe deceasad gentleman took place at the Melbourne Cemetery yesterday, and though it was publicly announced that it would be a private one, the assemblage, comprising as it did many of the leading men of Victoria, was one of the largest yet seen in the Melbourne Cemetery. The news that Ireland's tribute to Mr. Charles Stuart Pamela amounting to upwards of £38,000, had been publicly presented in Dublin, and that Mr. Parnell's speech on the occasion was in keeping with his past career, has provoked another howl of bigotry and intolerance from the Age. That extremely " liberal organ," which threatened separation, if not open insurrection, when the attempts of the Radicals to destroy the constitution of Victoria were withstood, is sorely exercised because of the " disloyal " attempts of Mr. Parnell and his colleagues, to obtain constitutional redress for the grievances of the people of Ireland. The futile attempt of the Press of Victoria to prevent the Messrs. Redmond from getting a hearing in Victoria is well remembered, as is the prominent part taken in the matter by the Age, first ' charging Ireland's representatives with connivance at murder, and then appealing to the worat passions of the people, to shut their mouths and thus prevent them from replying to or refuting the charge. The " elephantine " playfulness of the Age's leader on the " Paruell tribute," can scarcely occasion any alarm to the Irish people of the colony, as the article in question, like most of the attacks on the Irish people, is like " Tommy's drum," which was found when cut open to be " full of nothing." Collections to the Parnell Tribute are coming in freely from the different parts of the colony, and it is anticipated that by the Ist of February a large sum will be realized. It is to be hoped, however, that the suggestion made in last week's Advocate— viz., to prolong the date of closing the Fund to March, will be cairied out, as there are a number of people in the colony who have not yet had an opportunity of subscribing to the " Fund." There was a very instructive debate at the meeting of St. Patrick's Branch of the Victorian Catholic Young Men's Society on Thursday evening last. The subject being "Was-novel reading beneficial to the community or not." Those who spoke in the affirmative argue tbat the effect of reading the works of such writers as Dickens, Bulwer Lytton, Scott, and others must have a beneficial effect ; while it was noticeable that with very few exceptions Irish novels were singularlypure and moral in their tone. It was argued in opposition to this that, though the writers quoted were pure and moral i.i their tone, the tendency of modern readers went rather to another class of novels.' The towns and citie3 were flooded with chpap literature, and even the newspapers of the day pandered to the vile taste of the multitude. It would be idle to attempt to judge by the mere heading what a newspaper or periodical contained, as it was notorious that even the worst of these periodicals professed a high and noble object in publishing the vilest matter. The arguments of those opposed to novelreading appeared to be irresistible, for the vote against novel-reading was carried by a large majority.