AFFAIRS OF THE WEEK.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XV, Issue 27, 28 October 1887, Page 17

AFFAIRS OF THE WEEK.

HE Home news of the week has been of a more than usually stirring nature. The results of th« Liberal Conference at Nottingham seem to hare been that panic and utter desperation have been spread abroad through the Tory ranks. Such accusations as. for example, that Mr. Gladstone

was trying by his language to excite bloodshed, and that his state was such as to make his remaining at large a danger to the country, show to what extremes his opponent! hare been driven. And their motive is, of coarse, sheer fright. Bat the Tories have brought upon themselves all that is now happening to them. They refused, while the sands were still running in the glass, according to the famous saying, as well for them as for the Irish landlords, to come to a reasonable settlement of a matter that will ba settled, and reasonably settled, in spite of them ; and now they richly deserve that with this Irish question which they so obstinately barred there should be joined great questions that immediately affect the democracy of Great Britain. Nothing can be more feeble than the objection that Mr. Gladstone, by promising to take up the subject of disestablishment has attempted to bribe the people of Great Britain to support his Irish projects. If the people can be so bribed, it is a plain proof that the subject referred to is one that imperatively demands immediate treatment. The people must judge of the institutions which they will support, and if by such an unanimous consent as this objection implies they have already condemned establishment, it is oppressive to force it upon them. But, had the Tories such an object in view, as we may well believe they had, their folly in adopting a course that has resulted in arousing the resolution of tf*e people, on whose apathy alone they could reckon, has been extreme. The arrest of Mr. Wilfrid Blunt, again, for persevering in taking part in a proclaimed meeting at Woodford, is an event of no light importance in the struggle of the day. Mr. Blunt, as a prominent Englishman, and an English Catholic, we may add, will command an attention in England that no Irish agitator could hope for, and the manner in which he has been dealt with will open many eyes that must otherwise have remained closed.

In their desperation, then, the Tories seem to hare committed themselves to courses at home that cannot fail to tell heavily against them, and we may probably conclude, if only from the jubilant tone of the French Press over the matter, that the agreement come to abroad concerning the evacuation of the New Hebrides and the passage of the Suez Canal, with all that depends on it, has also been an excessive blunder on their part.

We are glad to learn that the new Catholic church of St. Leonard 'a in the course of erection for some time past, is now ready to be opened. It is creditable to the Catholics of this charming suburb that they are the first of any religious denomination to crown with seriousness of religion this bright, lovely, Bpot by the erection of a place o* worship. The church, which occupies a prominent position on one of the slopes over Burkes, is a pretty structure 42 feet long and 24 feet wide. It has porch and vestry, sanctuary, choir-loft, and all the other church appurtenances quite complete. The new church, which is to be dedicated to St: Leonard of Port Maurice, will be opened on Snnday November 6, the first Sunday in the month, by the Most Rev. Dr. Moran, the local clergy, and the rector of the district, Bey. W, Burke. There will be Pontifical High Mass, sermon, and the usual dedication ceremonies. A special train, in connection with the solemn ceremony, will run from Dunedin at 10.45. This train stops at Pelichet Bay to take up passengers, and will return to Dunedin at 1.15, at the termination of the function.

On Tuesday evening three Dominican nuns reached their destination in Dunedin after a voyage by the Orient line to Melbourne whence, accompanied by the Most Rev. Dr. Moran, they arrived at the Bluff in the s.s. Wairarapa on Monday morning, The ladies spent the ensuing day and night at the convent of their order in Invercargill, coming north with the Bishop on Tuesday. The arrival of the good nuns among us is a happy event, not only because they come to reinforce the religious order which has now for many years been engaged in doing most effectual work ia the diocese of Dunedin* but also because they may be hailed as the first fruits of the enterprise of the Mother Mary Gabriel in establishing the Dominican Noviciate for foreign missions at Drumcondra near Dublin. The nuns will thus from the first possess advantages of a training for the colony which their predecessors obtained only after arriving in New Zealand and doubtleßfl they will know how to make the best possible mm oi

Si?J!™ dd f ant u ReS< Thl ' 8 enl argement, therefore, of our staff of religious teachers may be looked on as auspicious in several rupee" and we are happy to give them a hearty welcome, in which we are convinced our readers will sincerely join with us.

ordinary fortnightly meeting of the Dunedin branch of the Hibernian Society was held on Tuesday evening at St. Joseph's schoolroom. The balance sheet for the past quarter showed the branch to be making good progress, over 20 new members having latelyjoined. One candidate was initiated and two proposed for membership. The sick fund now amounts to over £500. The secretary. Brother Cunningham, was granted leave of absence to visit the West Coast on business It was resolved to hold the 14th annual sports on Boxing-day, and it was suggested as a source of extra attraction that a hurling match between town and country players should take place. The Secretary reported that the tickets for a concert in aid of an invalid brother were being disposed of rapidly. After further business of a routine nature, the meeting closed in the usual manner.

A discovery of natuial gas made in the province of Wellington and which is pronounced fit for all the coarser purposes that gas is' wed for, is a little clouded by calculahons that have recently been published concerning the gas districts of the United States. An awful example is quoted from China, where, it is said, a whole territory was exploded, and a like fate is predicted for the country of which ttttsburg is the [centre. Towmjand fields will disappear, they say, with sudden commotion, and a lake will fill the vast abyss. If such be truly the prospect opened by utilising such discoveries it may be as well to let the Wellington treasure-trove exhaust itself without interference. The mysteries contained by the bowels of the earth in the North Island have already manifested themselves in a somewhat ominous fashion, and discretion in this instance may prove the better part of industry, as well as generally of valour. But then, be it also •aid, there is every reason to suspect that the impending fate of the American gas districts may be an invention of the smarter journalism not wholly unknown in the States.

We (Sydney' Nation) are pleased to note that the Marist Brothers at St. Joseph's College, Hunter's Hill, have been exceedingly Buccesslul in this year's University Public examinations, having passed all the boys (viz. 5), sent for the Senior Examination: It was intended to have sent up more, but the altering of the date of the examination from November, as it used to be, to September, this year, somewhat interfered with the work of other intended candidates. It may not be generally known that there is now no High School for boys at St. Patrick's, Sydney ; that branch having been transferred, some time back, to St. Mary'b. Three of the boys attending the latter school were successful in the Senior Examination.

We often hear of the benefits of the Press. We receive an illustration of its dangers, in rather a round-about way, but which, if it be not quite terrible, is certainly amusing. Some time ago the Cooktown Independent, a newspaper published iv a remote and tropical town in Queensland, threatened all kinds of awful things against the the French in the Pacific, the very least of which was the seizure of New Caledonia, which as a settlement of incurable convicts would doubtless be a brilliant acquisition, if it were only for the sake of putting Australian settlers in mind of old times. The Neo- Caledonien took over the thunderbolts, which, in some way or another, were conveyed to Noumea, and in turn transmitted them to France, where they Beem to have taken due effect. The Petit Marseillais, therefore, pnblishes a warlike article in reply, and calls upon the Republican Government to establish New Caledonia as a naval and military ■tation of the first rank. But since the famous ]day on which the Skibbereen Eagle threatened the Czar of Russia, and, by fixing its eyd upon him, made that potentate quail in his jack boots Czar Nicholas alwajr s wore them, ;at least in Punch — nothing has been beard of like this. Did our remote editor indeed, ruminating per. spiringly among his mangroves and mosquitos, and chiefly concerned to get rid of the superflous heat as best he might, realise what he was doing f It is a tour de force that should be answered for which creates a French fortress to menace our settlements in these seas. The Cooktown Independent is indeed a power in the hemisphere.

At the great demonstration of the London Radicals, held in Trafalgar Square, on August 27th. to denounce the proclamation of the League, a resolution condemning the measure as an iniquitous interference with the right of combination, was moved by the Hon. Hamilton Bromby, of Tasmania. Our readers will remember that aome few years ago, Mr. Bromby visited New Zealand, delivering in several plaecs an extremely powerful lecture on Irish history. As the Irish question had not then secured any share of the interest or support since accorded to it in the Colony. Mr. Bromby deserved all the credit due to a courageous pioneer, and as such, should be remembered among us. We are happy to see that hes istill boldly adhering to the course on which he entered, motu proprio, with such spirit and ability.

Mr. Chamberlain is then gone at last to take up his duties as President of the Oaaadiaa Fisheries Comraisjion. Bat what was the meaning of his tour ia Ulster made previous to his departure? By a common consent aad as we indeed ourselves perceived when the appointment was first announced here his acceptance of the position was due to the necessity he was under of escaping from the predicament in which he could no longer continue his career as a Liberal Unionist, and dare not openly join the Tories. Has his Ulster campaign heen undertaken to make the way srmob-i for him on his return and will he come back as a full fledged follower of Lord Salisbury. Tbere is not much good now in his returning in any other character for as a consistent Liberal he can never again put in an appearance. , .

According to the report of the Echo de la France Catholique the New Hebrides appear to be islands that possess many valuable features, but the qnestion of whose permanent fertility seems doubtful. Among the indigenous products are several kinds of fruit, and . those' of the tropics and of southern Europe are considered likely to succeed there. The recognised native quadruped appears to be a curious combination of two animals that elsewhere are considered least alike— that is the pig and the deer, if, at least, we may judge by the name of cochon-cerf given to it by the French. The dogs of the islands, which were probably introduced from Europe, have, strange to say, lost their power of barking, and, perhaps, this may be a case for the consideration of the Darwinists. Are the brutes, par hasardi about to develop a taste for talking and is their conversation destined to be held in French, in English.or the native tongue. The 'Vagabond ' who is the master of all sciences, as well as of everything else that can be known, might perhaps, investigate the matter with profit on his next visit to the islands, and some of the rSverends might give him as exact information on the subject as they apparently have given him or others connected with their mission. The islands, however, cannot become a place of general European settlement. The fever which prevails, owing to miasma arising from the soil, although not fatal in itself, puts an end to that. The precautions necessary to its probable avoidance are, we are told, the iollowing. — An airy dwelling, raised as high as possible from the ground ; a regular life free from all excess, especially in strong liquors ; a change of clothes when wet by the rain ; freedom from exposure to the noonday sun, and no attempt when fasting to break the soil for cultivation. But ordinary colonists could never subject themselves to such a discipline as this. The water also, no matter how clear it may seem, is dangerous to drink. The islands, then, would hardly even be suitable for settlements of the recidivists, unless death from sickness wer substituted for the guillotine.