Current Topics AT HOME AND ABROAD.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XV, Issue 28, 4 November 1887, Page 1

Current Topics AT HOME AND ABROAD.

The tumultuous demands made during the past week or two for work by the London unemployed, naturally draw attention to the state of things that collects in great cities a vast labouring population. That the matter is a grave evil many things point out to us. The conclusions, for example, arrived at by Dr. Fothergill and xepl ined by him at the late meeting of the British Association of themselves alone make this evident. A falling-off in the ethnic conditionß of the race is a misfortune than which no heavier one can afflict any nation, and, occurring, as we are told it does.jin the centres of population by which the state of the country generally is most powerfully affected, its evil influence must be felt in even an aggravated form. That Dr. Fothergill is right in his conclusions nnhappily there are proofs that must strike us all as most convincing The growth alone of an abominable vice, not only in English cities' but also in those of France, and possibly, if the matter were investigated, in those of other countries as well, serves to show very clearly that "some abnormal force is at work creating depraved and revolting tastes and desires that betray decline in the scale of humanity, and a departure from natuial instincts. The crowded life of the cities, therefore, stands condemned as tending to the destruction of all that is honourable to the people, and as likely to bring the nation down, not only in its relation to foreign States, but in its own internal character and constitution as a part of the great human family. We need not a 1 lude to what is also manifest, that the [people gathered together in thick masses are more liable to be stirred up to a resistance of whatever they may feel to rest painfully or unjustly upon them. This may or may not be an evil as the circumstances of the caae determine. If there be real grievances and if agitation be tue only measure that can bring about their relief, then it is manifest that agitation is the right course to take, and that the more energetically and quickly it is employed the batter. Bat if the inconveniences or privations experienced be inevitable and such as agitation can provide no remedy for, the facilities afforded for it owing to the presence of numbers and the influence of demagogues and anarchic leaders are much to be deplored. What, however, requires careful consideratioa is the causes which bring the labouring masses into the citie3 and lodge them there insufficiently provided with the means of earning a livelihood. Ona of these causes has been given as the spread of education among the rural population, which makes them ambitious of finding some other method of life than the monotonous and lowly plodding with which their forerunners were conteut. But other things there doubtless are that conduce to the sameends. There is, for instance, the extensive employment of machinery apphei to agricultural processes. It is, we know, the decision of political economy, against which it would subject any man to a charge of gross ignorance were he to protest, that the labour thus liberated is provided for in other spheres. But it may still be permitted to enquire where thoso spheres are situate!, and whether they supply the labourer with as wholesome work as that to which he was accustomed in the cornfield or the meadow Do they, to any appreciable degTee, in fact, promote the immigration to the cities that is now pronounced, and which certainly seems proved, to be followed by such deplorable consequences ? It may be heresy in the eyes of the political economist, but it still seems to be an opinion not wholly unworthy of maintenance that it might be esteemed a noble work to preserve the race on a level with their higher standard, even though in risking a decrease in the commercial pro'uee of the country,: rather) than to promote its deterioration in producing a Iditional wealth for the capitalist. Nor is there any safety to be toun-l hn- the wealthy classes in the fact thta the workmen crowded together in the cities become, as Dr. Fotnergiil says, of a lower type, 'i he fact, indeed, that it is so may, perhaps, be brought forward to account to sjme extent for the tumultuous doings of the London unemployed, for an enfeebled physical frame is less capable of enduring hardship or deprivation With patience, or of restraining anger, than is one of superior powers. The safety, no less than the welfare and honour of the realm, depends on maintaining the people

THE UNEMPLOYED.

at the highest standard to which they are capable of attaining. People, then, who are congratulating themselves, as certain writer! in Tory newspapers are now doing, at the failure of an experiment made in small farming in England, and at the proof, which they erroneously conclude it gives that farming on a large scale alone will pay, are enjoying a fool's paradise, and basing their hopes on what, if it were true, must prove the destruction of the nation's honourable standing. Large farms worked by machinery for the most part must necessarily drive the people out of the country into the towns, and the crowded towns, as Dr. Fothergill tells us, and as we see from other sources, are the centres of the nation's ruin. Whatever temporary alleviation may be found, therefore, of the condition of the unemployed, nothing can effectnally remedy it but wholesome labour in the country, and this, we may add, can only be provided by the creation of a peasant proprietory. If riots in London could do anything towards bringing this home to the conviction of influential men, they would be a matter for congratulation rather than for regret.

AN INVOLUNTARY PROMISE.

SiaKOB Cbispi, it is reported, in speaking recently of the great advantages likely to result from the newly formed alliance between Italy and Germany haa again promised that the independence of the Papacy shall be respected. The question, nevertheless, is one that hardly rests on the decision of Signor Crispi or his Government. The position of the Pope is such that its independence mast necessarily be acknowledged, and no attempt to make it subject to any particular power can be permitted by the other States of the world. If it were possible to destroy the Papacy, that might be done with the consent of other States, and some there are that, perhaps, would gladly give their consent. But the impossibility of such an undertaking only becomes more apparent as time goes by, and B hows how, even under circumstances that might appear unfavourable, the strength of the Papacy grows, and its life and vigour become more evident. No power now that does not labour under insano hallucinations could attempt such a task. When, indeed, we contemplate the chances of its being undertaken, it is to those wild revolutionary forces we look which, though they struggle, and not without some appearance o* eventual success, beneath the surface, have not as yet attained effective strength. When they break forth and gain the upper hand, among their first attempts will ba that of the destruction alluded to but, as it will be the attempt of insanity alone, it will have' a suitable end. More sane powers, whatever their hostility may be, must curb their will and content themselves with inflicting such humiliations and embarrassments as lie open to them. A hostile Government may, for instance, set up the Qairinal vainly to rival the Vatican, or it may deprive the Church of the full control of her own resources, as in the case of the property of Propaganda, but it dare not menace the independence of the Pope, or do more than partially impede and annoy him in communicating freely with the Catholic world without. What would be done were the Pope made dependent on any Government would be the appointment of that power as the Pope's substitute. The Catholic people in every part of the world would be made more or less the allies and subjects oE that power, whatever might be the dispositions of the several Governmentstowards it and its position would be one of unexampled pre-eminence. That Italy is not prepared to aspire to such a place we may readily believe, and, therefore, we may accept Signor Crispi's reported promise as Bincere. What remains to be seen, however, ia whether, now that it seems sufficiently proved that the Papacy is indestructible, that, in fact, the more it is opposed and hampered, the stronger it becomes, those powers which at one time may have admitted the dream that, if perchance it could not be completely destroyed, it might be broken so as to become helpless and unworthy of consideration, will perceive the incongruity and unfitness of permitting it still to occupy a place out of character with its attributes and universal influence, or, whether, while they admit its importance and court its support and aid, they will think it right to see without remonstrance or attempted amendment the indignities offered to it. As to Signor Crispi's promise, then, he promises to concede that which he knows he must concede, whether ha or his Government like it or not. The gratitude deserved by him is, therefore, very trifling,

IHISHMEN ABROAD.

An article in Harper's Magazine for September gives a v i_, attractive picture of a ccuntiy which for the mo. 1 we are not accustomed to consider as noted for the features that the writer describes. He gives a description of splendid cities and of citizens as remarkable for their refined and cultured Ustes, as for the luxury in which they live and the lavisbness of their expenditure. It is the boast of the people of Santiago, he tells us, that their cily can supply everything thatifl to be found in London or Paris, and he describe their clubs, reading rooms, libraries, picture galleries, and all the equipments of civilisation abundantly possessed by them, as not to be surpassed by anything the recognised capitals of the civilised world can show. — In Chili also we are told men of Irish birth have made theT race famous and the names of families founded by them are among the most honourable in the state. General O'Higgins was the first president and the leader under whom the republic was established, and general Patrick Lynch is the commander in chief of the army to-day.—" The Custom House " says the writer, " is being torn away to give place to ft magnificent monument to Arthur Pratt, an Irish hero of the atruggle. His reckless courage made him the ideal of all that is great and noble in the mind of the Chillanos, who have erected a monument to his memory in nearly every town. Streets and Bhops, saloons mines, opera-bouses, and even lotteries are named in his honour, and the greatest national tribute is to destroy the old Custom House in order to erect his monument in the most conspicuous place in the principal city." Irishmen also seem to vie with the people of Spanish descent in the magnificence of their dweliings.which is a characteristic of the country, and, in particular, we are told of one adventurous son of the race, who, having discovered an extremely rich silver mine, erected a palace at unlimited expence, and, having spent in regal style all h s wealth, leturned to the mountains in search of a renewa l of fan!.*, — Bui if an Irishman i« among the princpal spendthrifts of the connuy. an Iri hman is also ami ngst its chief benefactors. "Tierp i«," adds the wiiter, ''a strong similarity between the Chillanos and the Irish. Both have the s.<m • wit and reckless courage the same love of country and patriotic pride. Wherever a Chillano goes he carries his opitii >n that there never was and never can be a better land than that in which he was borr\ and, although he may be a refu-< cor an exile, he will fight in defence of Chili at the drop of the hat. There is something refreshing in bi-i patriotism, even if it be the mo^t airogant varity. Many of the leading men of Chili arc ;md Inve been of Irish descent. Barney O Higgins was the hb mi.ir—th' Gior_'c W'a hingt-in— of the KepuVic, and Patrick Lyuoa »ai fie for mo*t soldier of Chili in the hie war. Ihe O'Learvs ami McGarns and other Chillano-lii,h families are prominent in politics and war aid trade. There is a sympathetic bond between the <- v i;unr,>ck and the con Ijr, and nowheie in South America does the Irish emigr-.nt so prosperously thuve."

prodigious !

What a tremendously old man the Rev. Dr. Stuart expects to be ! Why, Methuselah was a joke t3 what he means.to attain to, and even the Wandering Jew is hardly deseiving of consideration in comparison with the Doctor's coming plight. The Doctor, speaking at the Presbyterian Synod tke other day, is reported as saying that he '• looked forward to seeing the Presbyterian Church the one Church of New Zealand and he would gladly welcome Bishop Moran and Bishop Nevill into it." Well might the Synod laugh, as it is reported they did, at the innocent conceit, for never did a guileless heart express a more simple desire. Alas! that nngel posted with the filming sword at Eden' 8 gates cut off the only chance that man, after his fall, had of living for ever,and even a strong Presbyterianism can hardly make ud for the loss of the fruit that escaped the primeval bite, by conferring immortality on the sinners who cherish it. But as to the arrival of Bishop Moran and Bishop Nevill across the threshold cf the Kirk— since that cannot possibly take place, the Doctor knows the old proverb about Mohammed and the mountain ; and could he himself do better than act upon it? Let him, however, look in upon Dr Nevill on his way to St. Joseph's Cathedral, for once he gets theie be will not caie to turn back again. The earnest and genial-natured man who enters the Catholic Church recognises the homo that, even when he knew nothing; of its existence, formed the object cf his longings. We can well understand, however, that prudent Presbyterians should be desirous to welcome Catholic theologians c f good repute to their Kirk. D,. Stuart has given us an explanation. Men reared in the Catholic religion, he says, gave to Scotland her first national confession — which naturally the Presbyterians look upon as an exceeding quod. But if such Catholics as Calvin and Knox— who, before tbev were reformers, were Catholics of excessively evil reputation— cojM pio^uce a venerable work, what might not Catholics do who had preserved their respectability 1 As a revision of the Presby. t rian Confession of Faith is looked for, then we can quite understand low good Catholics might b^ si.ujiht for to conduct it and to amend what bad Catholics had originally tiamed. But we are af r.iid the search must prove fruitless.— ln any case decent Presbyterians of the present day should be qualified without Aid to improve upon the work

of the false and perjured fathers of their sect. — As to the grounds again on which Dr. Stuart bne« hig hopes of Jiving to s-e all New^ Zealand united to the Kirk.— lt by no means follows that becaus^ half of his congregation, as he says, originally belonged to otheS denominations that all Nfw Zealand should go and do as they haver donp. Other denominations in Dunedin have lived in the middle of a Scotch Presbyterian population, intensely bigoted and bringing their prejudices to bear against the members of all other denominations. There were strong temptations then for the members of such denominations to join the Presbyterian Church and Dr. Stuart as the principal and the most deservedly popular Minister of the Presbyterian body naturally profited most by the change that people found it advantageous to make. Conversions like these do not form a basis on which to found a valid j ldgraent. One chaaca and one only has the Kirk of becoming the only Church of New Zealand. Let it surpass the Anglican communion in its liberality. The Church of England remains a national church, at least in name, because it recognises as its members all men of all opinions who choose to confess themselves as bucu. Let the Kirk in its new articles of faith claim to be the Church of all other denominations, whether they will recognise it or not. Under such circumstances the Doctor, dnring the term of bis natural life may, indeed, witness the fulfilment of his aspirations, but otherwise it is to be feared that notwithstanding his good intentions, and wha f ever rr-ay be the lease of his life obtained by him, he must depart unsatisfied. And, verily, it would be a malevolent will that would desire for the Doctor a pilgrimage protracted beyond that of tha Wandering Jew without even the prospect of termination at the end of the world, for doomsday itself will see no Buch enlargement of the Kirk as the Doctor predicts.

evangelical EXTREMES.

There is Mr. A. C. Begg, who ought to know better —and who, judging at leist by what hj himself tells us, does know a great deal — which, indeed, we should never have guessed had he not told us calumniating the mem )ry of the fathers of the Kirk. He gave the ■ynod to understand the other day that the douce aud godly men had worn neither boots nor breeches, an 1 hid cut a mighty queer figure, as we mu,t bjlieve, witni i the sacred precincts. Boots and braces, he said, werj an innovation — but, fortuuately, an allowable one— and. of course, if there were originally no braces neither could there have been auy breeches— and so our pjint is proved. Mr. Begg, however, is som^.vh it mixed in his mind, as we gather, and has been so much confounded, and turned inside out and upside down by the miserable md <nch >,y humming and drumming, as he calls it. of a depraved organ set up. like theimuj;of Nab ichoJonosor, in the First Church, eh.it between the rum jlin,' au 1 rush'n_j in his head and the commotion and tumult in his conscience he does not very well know what he is saying or doing, or what \ c is or where he is at all — and that is a m;itter that we should keep in view when we deal with Mr. Begg, for he very often says things that he ought not to say, and that Christian ehprity would be vtry glad to find some excuse for. Mr. Begg, then, all dnveu distracted by this most damnable organ , and, perhaps — Lord save us I — most damning instrument of Satan and feeling like a baby attacked by a gander, or an old lady confronted by a cow, has been guilty of leprebenting the douce elders of the Presbyterian Kirk in its inception as if they had been no better than a lot of unshod Highlanders. Unbreecbed, of course, Highlanders are by their very nature and raison d' etre, and a bare-legged condition is in the name itself,^ But when a sinful organ, as we said, goes on playing a voluntary, ofl an involuntary, as it seems to be in Mr. Begg's case, and interrupts^ the godly ruminations of a coul that scorns harmony, winding up, to make the matter woi>e, with a waliz, chaos is evidently come again, at least internally, and the accountabihiy of the individual has departed. Mr. Begg's piety is of a different kind from that jubilant exultation of the spirit that breaks forth, for example, not only in music but in dancing, and which distinguishes the Evangelical sect instructed, and probably quite as fully instructed, out of the same Bible from which Mr. Begg takes his spiritual notions, and which sect now interests the wojld of religion at the Glory Hole in BrightonThere may be music in Mr. Begg's soul, but he does not hke it to come into his ears, especially on the Sabbath, and when it does so it naturally suggests to him undiluted Popery. Popery, says Mr. Begg, has been reformed cff the face of the earth from time to time, and yet it always, as we see, comes back. A fact that might suggest to this godly elder a similarity between nature that will come back however you expel it and Popery which cannot be reformed out of existence — since both nature and Popery being tu,i-> God man in vain fights against them. But we have here the Evangelical extremes. Mr. Begg on one hand stopping his ears against the organ and hummed and drummed by it into almost a complete state of imbecility, and on the other Inn 1 the dancing girls of t'je Glory Hole shouting their wild hynj'is, ' Hie devil is mad and I am glad,' etc., and falling in frenzy on fie gtmmd. And bLtween the two i is impossible for us to cio )=e Piji hip*, however, a little mixture of the gaiety and enthusiasm of the one with the solidity and gravity of the other would be an improvement :md form a kind of SplfitaSl

half-and-half that might prove more wholesome. If Mr. Begg ever recovers from bis dazed condition ,gets th« buzzing out of his brains, and, ficst of all, re-habilitates the pristine elders of the Kirk, whose memory he has so grossly aspersed, perhaps he may consider the Blatter favourably. There is decidedly room for improvement in his condition, and it seems as likely to come from the Glory Hole as from anywhere else.

The corruption of the age seems to be turning the minds 0 f thoughtful men towards the great remedies that of old purified the world and which still in a considerable degree maintain it pure: — The following passage from Good Words, a well-known Protestant periodical, is significant of this :— " We need a new Mariolatry, and voices again to cry to a sensual aje, Hail Mary I for it will mean, when reason nses it, Hail Modesty 1 Hail Purity ! Hail watchful Motherhood 1 Hail patient, heroic endurance 1 Of this worship we are sadly deficient, who interest ourselves in the temple, and who mimost think that lewdness is not lewd when ' swathed 'in sentimental French."

Among the interesting events oE the late session of the Imperial Parliament was the reappearance in the House of that fine old gentleman the O'Gorman Mahoa who waa first elected a member fiftyseven years ago. Warm greetings were bestowed on the veteran as he entered, not only by the leaders of the Opposition to which he belongs, but also by Mr. Smith and Mr. Balfour, chiefs of the Government party.

Among the scenes that characterised the close of the late session of the House of Commons, was the suspension of Mr. Graham, Member for Lanarkshire, for a slighting reference made by him to the House of Lords, and for which he declared his conscience would not allow kirn to apologise. At the same sitting Mr. Harringlon also was suspended for refusing to obey the Speaker, who told him to resume hi a seat, during a debate in which he had taken a rather warm part : He replied passionately : " I will not resume 017 seat. You have been watching to pounce upon me ever since I rose. I claim my right to ■peak." He was then named, and Mr. Smith morel for his suspension, eliciting from the Parnellites ir >nical laughter, and cries of " Hear tke bookseller," in allusion to Mr. Smith's proprietorship of the railway bookstalls. And so the fun went on.

The report of the Committee of Council on Education for 1886-7 bears strong testimony to the services rendered by Catholic schools in England. While free education is given in these schools to a number of children which equals that of the children so educated in all the other schools in the country combined— their expenditure is the lowest, and, at the same time, their percentage of passes stands highest, amounting to 88.06. This is a state of things that Catholics may well rejoice in, and which must put the opponents of their gchools to shame.

A curious petition is that of those Maoris who prar that Parliament will pardon certain members of their tribes who have lately committed murder on suspicion of witchcraft. When we recollect, nevertheless, how comparatively short a period has elapsed since the laws of Great Britain sanctioned the punishment of witches, we mast admit that after all there is do very great extravagance in the opinion put forward by our less civilised neighbours to the effect that there is nothing in the code of New Zealand to provide for the punishment of those who put to death persons guilty of the practice alluded to. The persecution of the wilches must remain as a blot on the founders of British society as it exists to-day, and on the memory of some who are boasted of as having been very far in advance, indeed, of anyone to be found among the Maoris.

One of the greatest contsmplated works of the period, that is the Manchester snip canal may now be looked upon as fairly set on foot. Ai a meeting of the company held on August 29, it was announced that the difficulties connected with capital, and which, if not surmounted by the 6th August must have resulted in a lapse of the powers granted by Acts of Parliament, had been obviated through the kindness of Messrs. Baring Brothers and N. M. Rothschild. The contract of Mr. T. M. Walker had been accepted for the completion of the canal in four years from the commencement of the works at a cost of £5,750,000. No extraordinary difficulties in carrying out the work were expected to arise.

The returns of the Intermediate Examinations for the year in Ireland give, as usual, a good record of the Catholic schools, by which fifty-eight per cent, of the money prizes were taken. The pupils of the Jesuits and of the Christian Brothers particularly distinguished themselves— the latter carrying off especially all the medals given in Celtic. The pupils of the nuns' schools did not present themselves in any considerable numbers foT examination, Irish parents, for the most part, not holding advanced views on the education of women,

Mb. Gladstone^ proposing the health of the Queen at a jubilee tr«at recently giveu by him to all the parishioners of Hawarden of the sanae age as her Majesty and upwards, testified warmly to her Majesty's.personal character, as well as to the great .benefits derived by the country from the wholesome and powerful influence she exsrcised. Among the rest he stated as the result of knowledge which be had had exceptional means of gaining that the Royal assent had been given by her to the great Liberal Bills passed during her reign, not gru Igingly, or as a duty whose performance she was unable to avoid, but willingly and in such a manner as made her the prime benefactor of the country. He added that the constitution had been observed by the Queen in a manner more perfect than had ever been known in the time of any other Sovereign. — And no doubt Mr. Gladstone while he spoke cherished the reasonable hope that he might live to witness the consent of her Majesty given with equal willingness to the greatest of all the Liberal measures of the century — tie emancipation of Ireland. The Queen by letting her goodwill in this respect b» known would indeed secure on the part of the Irish people the prayers that Mr. Gladstone claimed as her due from all her subjects, and to which he heartily recommended her. And, even although the celebration of her Majesty's jubilee may have been postponed by the Irish people for a year or two, it neel be none the less ardent when at length it takes place.

It appears that, according to the old saying, there is method in the madness of the Chief Secretary for Ireland. Mr. Balfour, as credibly reported, owes his devotion to the cause of the Irish landlords to the fact that he himself sails in the same boat with them, and is also an evictor, and a consumer of the fruit of other men's toil. On his estates in Scotland, however, it is not the small tenant at will who has suffered, but men of a higher class, and whose substance was worthy of consumption in whatever manner it might be obtained. In fifteen years Mr. Balfour managed to become the better by a sum of £50,000, being the capital of scientific agriculturists who were so unskilled in the ways of the crafty, unscrupulous, landlord as to expend it on his land. Asa matter of course, then, the right honourable gentleman has a soft place in his heart for his Irish brothera, now more or less in misfortune, and naturally looks upon coercion as the heaven-sent discipline against which it is mortal sin to complain. There is even some reason to suppose that Mr. Balfour would also willingly see the introduction of the machine gun, so strong is that touch of nature that makes the whole world kin — the touch of a common interest, that is, which unites him to the evictors of Ireland.

It is stated in the French Press that the reports made to the Holy Father by Mgr. Persico of the religious condition of Ireland will affect the establishment of diplomatic relations between Hi ß Holines9 and the English Government' It is further stated that bis Excellency 's report will quite counteract the mischievous attempts made to misrepresent the Irish priesthood and people, his Excellency being delighted with all he has seen of a country abounding not only in patriotism.but in religious zeal.fidelity to Rome, and the practice of all good works. The Irish priests as well as their people have secured his highest admiration, and his personal experience has fully convinced him as to the false witness borne tit Rome by certain Englishmen, who even accused the Irish priests of being members of secret societies. All this is rumoured in France and it would seem with much appearance of truth.

Evangelicalism, as a religious crend, appears to be on its latt legs in Europe generally. The Qlasgon Mail tells us, for example, of the Church of Calvin at Geneva that it has no longer a confession of faith or standardsjof any kind, and that the people select their own favourite preacher and, becoming what our contemporary calls " church tramps," follow him about from church to church — no pastor having any fixed pulpit any more than a fixed creed. " Many of the pastors," says the Mail, " are far from being orthodox, and so it happens that from the same pulpit the most contradictory doctrines are promulgated. The hearers do not know what to believe, and many of them end in believing nothing," Mr. Spurgton, meantime f utteis a bitter complaint concerning the statejof the Evangelical sects in England. Some ministers, he says, are making infidels. The efficacy of prayer is derided by them, the inspiration of Holy Writ is denied. "Itis a common thing," says Mr. Spurgeon, "to hear work-ing-men excuse their wickedness by the statement that there is no hell — ' the parson says so.' Meeting houses are empty. The places which the Gospel filled the new nonsense has emptied." But this is exactly the state of things that Catholic theologians foretold as to happen when the Reformation was inaugurated, and frjm which prediction |their successors have never since departed . Matt i s will go from bad to worse — though, perhaps, with some spasmodic reaction now and then, and the world which has renounced the (.buchof God sooner or later mast become completly atheistic.

We aru a great people, sirs, a very great people, a pcup'e whosfi graßp is oa tLe windpipe of tho raputable world, so th..t k,i fear a*

being throttled by us they must speak as we command them. Such ie the tenour of the testimony borne, for example, by Mr Goldwin Smith, who writes from far off Winnipeg to tell the London Times how Canadian legislators in private repudiate the sympathy that in public they had bestowed on the Irish cause. And as to the United Stateß, they are wholly in the hands of the Irish voter— nay, even those editors of American papers who are genuiue Americans are as fartking candles before the face of the Irish members of their staff, and tremble lest a breath may extinguish them. Good siri, long ere the material victory of Erin has been won, her moral, or, perhaps, her immoral, conquest is secure, and the noble Anglo-Saxon— the candid and true-hearted son, par excellence, of some superior Adam— of some ape, maybe, who enjoyed, par exemple, the privilege of wearing two tails as a badge of exaltation, no longer can call his soul his own. For, if the devil be the father «f lies, and the grasp of the oppressing Irishman upon the throat of the Anglo-Saxon can compel that deponent to lie like biases, saving your presence, — where on earth, or off the earth rather, can he possibly expect to go to? Mr. Goldwin Smith, then, may strike his blow at Ireland, but he needs must foul the Anglo-Saxon nest, in which he himself abides. An Anglo-Saxon world, terrorised by the Irish, vote, is in a pitiable plight. Did not the cowardice of bribing the barbarians betray the degradation of Rome ? But did not the barbarians, so conciliated, become the fathers of a greater civilisation than Rome had ever dreamt of 1 Adsit omen.

But (here is still balm in Gilead for Mr. Gold win Smith. There is the balmy memory of a time, he tells us, when the Irish of New Tork illtw ated the negroes and were shot down to the number of 1000, by the indignant, noble, Anglo-Saxon, and buried by him with the burial of a dog. Mr. Goldwin Smith plainly implies that the time is opportune for a repetition of the kind in Ireland, and, neces■arily, on a larger scale. It might be remembered once more there that " nits will make lice," and women and children might be again included in the general slaughter. And if Mr. Goldwin Smith were employed imsuch a'shambles with shovel and mattock.giving the burial of a dog that his soul especially delights in, he would evidently be in his proper sphere. Meantime this impotent, gory-rage, even more than the general condition of unmitigated lying to which Mr. Smith pictures the Anglo-Saxon race as being rednced, betrays a condition of utter degradation. It is that, however, of the Times and the party it represent! as well as of Mr. Goldwin Smith himself.

We have received from the Hon. Secretary of the Irish National League at Kumara the sum of £32 6s for transmission to Dublin. The sinews of war, we have no doubt, will be most welcome during the present crisis, and it is well that New Zealand does not show herself indifferent in assisting to supply them. Kumara has not by any means merited the lowest place among those who have been constant in aiding the good cause.

Thr proclamation of a meeting to be held at Ballycoree on September 4th resulted in a marked victory for the people. Several of the National members went down from Dublin to Ennis, where some 20,000 people were assembled, and while the police and military were watching the Ballycoree race-course, on which no one appeared, gathered their meeting together in the outskirts of the town. The troops, on discovering their mistake and arriving at the place where the meeting was being held, were quietly allowed by the assembly to pass through their ranks, and no excuse was given by which a blow could be struck or a shot fired. This patience and selfe-restrainr are maddening the party who now place all their hopes in the machine guns, and their rage is betrayed in every kind of wild and contradictory statements — in which the people and their leaders are in one breath branded with cowardice, and in the next accused of open rebellion and bloodthirsty recklessness.

Rough on Piles.— Why suffer piles? immediate relief and complete cure guaranteed. Ask for " Rough on Piles." Sure cure for itching, protruding, bleeding, or any form of piles. From the emigration returns up to (the end of July, ju9t issued, it appears that within the seven months 55,338 persons left Ireland, as compared with 40,446 in the same month of 1886. Of these 49,830 went to the United States. During the same months 15,050 Scotch entered the United States and 59,467 English, against 9,105 Scotch during the same months in 1886, aud 44,579 English. The emigration of this year to the United States, therefore, stands thus :— Irish... ... ... ... 49,830 Scotch ...- ... ... 15,050 English ... ... ... 59,467 To British korth America the total of the nations since January has been : — Irish... ... ... ... 2,568 Scotch ... ... ... 2,688 English ... ... ... 15,924 To Australia, again, r the emigration has been for the same period :—: — Irish... ' ... ... ... 2,fi88 Scotch ... ... ... 2,097 iCuglMi .. ... ... 13,254 This re' urn is i^u d >>y Mi. Gtiffen, of the Board of Trade.