WELLINGTON.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XII, Issue 4, 16 May 1884, Page 16

WELLINGTON.

(From our own correspondent.) The ordinary monthly meeting of the WeHington^JJnih^f the Irish National League was held at the Boulcott street room. n« Monday evening, 28th April. The President was WlFdlS? Correspondence was read from up-country residents, for information astoestablshing sub-branches in their localities. A di sSon ™ the advisability of having Mr. J. E. Redmond's lectures Smted Fand distributed among all classes, so as to disseminate a knowfe<£e7f the present programme of Irish politics, was postponed toasutaMuenfc meeting About 30 names were given in as proposed foSb?rsnip, and were duly enrolled as members of the fcanch, JjS the formal business had been disposed of, Mr. Devine, by r^JS read a paper on "The Rise and Fall of the Irish LegielativTEde' pendence." He said he had chosen this subject for a paper ScauM besides being one of the most important epochs in IrishhiaS and one with which all Irishmen ought to be familia? m*nv h!SZ were to be learned from it which, in the present juncture T of Irish afhirs, were invaluable, and principally that of the necessity of union amongst all classes of Irishmen/ The claim of Sid for national autonomy or legislative independence, was no whim of yesterday, no new cry inspired by the revolutionary or communistic tendencies of the age. Through seven weary centuries the struggle of the Irish for their nationality was a record of ennobled heroifm and sanctified suffering. England during all that l*r period Tad in some form or other asserted her sway, but Ireland SLf suffering and stoic endurance, unparalleled in ancient or modern history struggled for the preservation of her nationality and her faith No other country so long stood such a severe trial against a dominant alien race What protest was more emphatic than that by wh£h Ireland refused to succumb to extinction or accept the condition of a province? The paper, then, at considerable length, showed the condition of the moribund Anjlo-Irish Parliament, tlfe causerwhich led to, and the orujin and growth of the movement which even. kingdom with her own king, lords, and commons, and with the absolute right to make her own laws in her own old Pariia. ment House in College Green. The aspirations of a downtrodden people were at length realized, a brighter east then illumined the horizon than had for centuries past, and Ireland entered upon a path of progrew and prosperity unprecedented and unsucceeded in her history. The day that had broken in such splendour, was however doomed soon to become overclouded and «nd in strife and gloom. The paper then dwelt with the disoandment of the Volunteers the opposition to the complete emancipation of the Roman Catholics CaatWiS, aC K lna X ?n K 8^ f Pitt ', the En / lißh **»*«■. ™<i *«■ tool Castlereigb, by which the people were firstgoaded into rebellion and then pilfered of their Parliament, whereby their last state became worse than their first. At the conclasion of the paper, the President dwelt on the precedent set by Mr. Devine, in so courteously preparine such a valuable paper for their instruction on one of the many important events in their history, and hinted others would emulate the example set, and concluded by moving that a vote of thanks to Mr. Devine be recorded. Mr. James O'Shea followed in a similar Btrain. He hoped that the Branch would make an effort to have such papers collected and published for distribution not only among Irishmen, but more especially among our English and Scotch fellow colonists, who were very ignorant indeed of our history, and whose enlightenment upon the subject could not fail to arrest their sympathy for our cause. Considerable interest is being taken by the members in the success of the Branch, and great efforts are being made to make it a medium of co-operation among all Irishmen here *v PP BSSo,*8 SSo,*i o ,* deß * rnctive fiw that we have been visited with, since the dreadful conflagration of June, 1879, when the Opera House, Wesleyan Church, and over a dozen other buildings were completely aestroyed, occurred on the morning of Friday, the 9th, about daybreak. On that morning a fire, the origin of which is at present enveloped m mystery, broke oat in or near the schoolroom attached to St John's Presbyterian Church, Willis street, and before two hours had elapsed the schoolroom, as well.as the church itself, were burned to the very piles. Scarcely anything was saved, &o rapid was the progress of the fire. The adjacent buildings Suffered more or less damage, gome of them having actually become alight, but fortunately the flames were extinguished before the fell demon had gained sufficient possession of them. The church destroyed was a very ornamental structure, and formed a prominent feature in the view of the city from almost every vantage ground. It was the kirk of a lar^e and respectable section of our community, and was •' ministered " by the Bey. J. Paterson, a not at all narrow-minded divine. It is noticed here that fires always came by seasons, that is to say, never singly. The same morning as that on which the church was destroyed another fire occurred somewhat earlier, by which a pipe and tile factory had a narrow escape from destruction. Since these there have been other alarms sounded, and altogether the Fire Brigade have had a lively time of it for a few days. Our water supply has been so very limited f#r some time past, that a fire now causes more than ordinary alarm. Echo answers when are we to have the lonepromised Wanui-o-mata water supply, for the City Council have so often erred m their prediction* on the subject. An extraordinary affair is alleged to have occurred here recently. Two boys, aged 14 and 15 respectively, and who bad been educated as Catholics in the Marist Brothers' Schools, are said to have, contrary to their expressed wish, been subjected by their father, who is a Jew. to the; painful and dangerous ceremony of circumcision. The operation is said to have been practised at a boarding-house on the Terrace, known as York House, rooms in which, it is known, were specially fitted up for the occasion, so that the anticipated screams and moans of the poor children could not be heard outside. When it was reported to the Her. Father McNamara that the horrible

proceeding was about to take place, he at once took steps to ascertain the truthfulness of the report Matters were evidently arranged with a view to secrecy, as nothing very definite could be learnt. Sufficient information was, however, obtained to lead to the name of one of the medical men retained to be present at the dangerous ceremony being known. This gentleman, when waited upon and the matter explained to him, at once stated he would not attend. Letters were sent to the several other medical men in town informing them of the proposed act of perversion, and requesting them uot to participate therein. It was endeavonred to take legal stops to prevent such a cruel proceeding from being effected, but apparently our law was inoperative in such an emergency. Letters were written to both the local papers by all of the Cathedral priests, enquiring for information as to whether the operation had really or was likely to take place as arranged, and if an operation so dangerous to human life could have been carried out in tbe absence of a medical man. The letters were refused insertion by both papers, on the plea that they were not of any public interest. Two rabbis about this time arrived from the south, it was said for the purpose of performing the ceremony of circumcision, but the local rabbi denied that such was the case. It is now impossible to say that the ceremony has as a fact actually taken place, but in the face of all the circumstances there is the strongest reasons for believing that it has. It seems former attempts had been made by the father of the boys to have the ceremony carried out. For the more secret performance of it he had the boys some time ago removed to Christchurch, but he there failed either to get a medical man or even a room in which to have it effected, so he had to bring them back to Wellington again, and it was only in York House, it appears, he could obtain tbe necessary rooms. The mother of the boys was a Catholic, and the father allowed them to be baptist^and brought up in their mother's faith. About two years ago he got a divorce from his wife, and in his evidence stated that the children were Catholics, and that he intended them to continue as such. The boys were placed at tbe Marist Brothers' School, and were very good Catholic boys. It fills one with horror to think that children thus arrived at the age of reason, and desirous of remaining in tbe faith in which they have been brought up, should be subjected to such a dangerous operation, and, worse still, converted to Judaism. Surely the law ought to afford some . protection under circumstances of so painful a nature as are here detailed. Suppose, in the absence of a medical man, there had been a misadventure in the ceremony, how would the English law deal with the rabbi, or other persons officiating. A petition addressed to each House of the Legislature for presentation during the ensuing sitting of Parliament, and similar to that signed by the Catholics in other places, was signed by all the Catholics of this district on Sunday the 4th. The special evening devotions for the month of May were com. menced at both the Cathedral and St. Mary of the Angels on the eve of May-day, and since then have been well attended by the pious members of the congregation. The altar of our Blessed Lady in St. Mary of the Angela has been beautifully decorated for the occasion— the work of the Children of Mary.