WELLINGTON.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XII, Issue 6, 30 May 1884, Page 17

WELLINGTON.

(From our own correspondent.)

May 26. The Eev. Father T. G. Dawson, a new priest at this mission, and a* present resident at the Hill street presbytery, preached at eleven o'clock Mass at St. Mary of the Angels yesterday. The rev. preacher took for his text the words of St. Peter in the Epistle of the day "Be prudent, and watch in prayer." He graphically described the expulsion of Satan and the other angels from Paradise for their pride and refusal to serve God, who then, in their hatred to God, tempted man, whom they knew to be God's creature, and destined to fill their lost place in heaven. It was not God that tempted us, He but allowed ns ta be tempted. He permitted us to be tried, for, »s gold is tried by fire, so are we tried in the fire of temptation and tribulation. But though God did not prevent us from being tempted by the evil one, he ordained, that the powers of darkness were not to prevail against us ; strength was given us to resist — that strength lay in prayer. Prayer was the weapon by which we were enabled, with the Divine assistance, to resist the machinations of Satan, his works and pomps. Jesus Christ, by bis own life on this earth, exemplified that our life was to be one of struggle and suffering if we would win the great reward of a crown in bis heavenly kingdom. The crown had to be well and lawfully won. St. Peter,- when he wrote the words of the text, spoke sadly from experience. He and the other disciples had been admonished by our Divine Saviour in the Garden of Getbsemane in similar terms. Temptation proved our fidelity to God. It was better to -be tempted and saved than not tempted and lost. In graceful and eloquent terms he pointed ont the efficacy of prayer, and concluded by exhorting all to rely on the Divine aid in their hours of temptation and trial. > A retreat for the clergy of the Wellington district was held at St. Mary's Cathedral, Hill street, commencing on the 7th instant, at which a large number of the priests of the Diocese were present. We have got rather mixed up in our Queen's Birthday holiday here. A few weeks ago it was pointed out that, as the 'Frisco mail left here on Saturday, the 24th, it would be very inconvenient for business people to observe that day as the holiday, and it was suggested that the holiday should be kept on Monday, the, 26th instead. The City Council fell in with this suggestion, and the citizens were invited by that body to observe the 26th as the annual holiday. The Harbour Board, on the other hand, determined to observe the 24th. It was endeavoured to reconcile these august bodies, so that a general holiday might be observed on the same day, i.e. the 26th, but the Harbour Board declined to give way. The fact that Her Majesty requested the 28th June to be kept in her honor, instead of the 24th May, and that the Banks, Post and Telegraph offices could only keep the original date, caused an amount of uncertainty and confusion as to which day should be observed as the holiday. Eventually it was decided that everyone should keep the holiday as seemed best. Between the diverse arrangements our annual holiday has been a failure. The Nero Zealand Times, the creation of Sir Julius Vogel, and launched by him to back up his policy and also with the pretentions of becoming a colonial " thunderer," now turns on that astute politician and financier, like the fabled bird that fouls its own nest, and assails him in no unmeasured terms. Sir Julius just now is the bete noir of the limes. It at first became troubled when it was announced that he was anxious to again enter the political arena ; it next became jubilant when it was reported that Sir Julius was not on any electoral roll in the Colony. When this report turned out to be fallacious, it commenced to throw cold water on him and speak in ominous terms of the fate which would befal New Zealand should he again enter Parliament. From passive resistance it turned to attack. The editor, in a recent article on the " situation," says that Sir Julius now shows signs of senility, etc., and that he cannot for long be a power in the Colony, as being over fif ty years old and not physically strong, and " an oak does not bear transplanting at fifty." He misquotes the epigram of the illustrious Henry Grattan on the Bubject. Perhaps it might interest the erudite editor to be informed that it was not of himself, as the editor states, but of his famous rival, the patriotic Henry Flood, that Grattan spoke, when he remarked of that great orator's ill success in the English Parliament, that lie was "an oak too great and too old to bear transplanting at fifty." The comparison between Sir Julius and the talented Henry Flood if flattering to the former is a little too far-fetched. The Times never justified the high anticipations of its founder and friends ; it has not been any more than a mere local organ, of a weak, vacillating tone. It has of late been unfortunate in its choice of editors, and continual change does not seem to be an improvement. Mr. Fitzgerald, M.H.R., is spoken of as the next editor, who is abcut to supplant Dr. Newman. The Times gives birth to a weekly edition yclept the New Zealand Mail, which it cracks up ad vauseam and endeavours to make believe is an independent " weekly " of the highest literary calibre in the Colony. Canterbury Times and Otago Witness, henceforth hide your diminished heads when the Mail appears on the scene 1 Of the treatment of Irish subjects by the Times and Mail more anon. We are to have a cause celelre here shortly, and already our quid' nuncs are on the gui vive f or the development of it, as it is said that many things will come to light as to the manner in which the Government Insurance Department has been managed under the Luckie-£im< Thorne regime. Mr. George Thome, iunr., whose income and perquisites when published last year created such an amount of astonishment throughout the Colony, and no doubt caused tbe mouths of a good many bard-working pressmen to water and hunger for the flesh-pots of Egypt, has been recently suspended by his quondam. friend and colleague, the Commissioner, Mr. Luckie, and he is now about bringing an action against that gentleman for £4000 damages for wrongful dismissal. This is a nice prospect for tbe policy-holders who have long looked on askance at the tall expendi.

ture of the department in the way of salaries. The affair has created an amount of surprise, as Luckie' and Thorne were known to be on the best of terms, and their arrangements mutually satisfactory. The strongest bar, perhaps, that could be got together in New Zealand, is retained on behalf ef Thorne. The political situation is the question of the hour here just now, if one might judge from the amount of correspondence daily appearing in the local Press. The Premier's recent address at the Theatre Royal here opened the political flood-gates, and, since then, every plank of his platform has been in turn assailed oe defended by several of our local celebrities, wise- acres, and would-be politicians, each of whom has, of conrse, a " policy " of his own, and a nostrum to drive away the gaunt figure of deficit. The coming general election is already scented from afar off by these gentlemen as the battle by the war-horse anxious to participate therein. It is remarkable what a host of political teachers arise on the eve of a general election, who strive to show that they see their way to set everything right, to sweep clean the augean stable of politics.