CHRISTCHURCH.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XVI, Issue 17, 17 August 1888, Page 5

CHRISTCHURCH.

(From our own Correspondent.) Dubikq the past week it has been rain, rain, rain in Christcburch* The whole city is saturated. The squares and parks, and all grassgrown spots are in a deplorable state of sponginess. The streets along which the trams pass are like mud canals. The dreary and ceaseless drip, drip, from verandahs and trees, and the melancholy chirp of the jmJf'Baturated, perishing sparrows in their retreat under the eaves are becoming most depressing. For a long time we revelled in fine days,and were delighted that theiclimate of Christcharch waßnot like the climate ol other cities. Our congratulations in this respect were premature. Our climate is not a whit better than that of Dunedin or Invercargill. We have to hare our due quantity of rain, and mist, and mud. The difference this year is, that instead of what is called winter weather bemg judiciously spread over four months, we are getting it all crammed into one month. The effect of this arrangement was pleasant enough in June and July, but it is only now that we are beginning to experience its disadvantages. In future if a plebiscite were taken in Chnstchurch as to the manner in which we would take our allotted quota of moisture, I think the general verdict would be in favour of taking it in instalments. Towards the southern end of the Bast Belt the ground becomes very swampy in wet weather. There is evidently a fall towards the south. On Friday night, owing, I Buppose, to some defect in the drainage, the Bast Belt became so much flooded that it was impassable by twelve o'clock. Some ladies and gentlemen returning to their homes on the Belt, after witnessing the performance of the " Mikado," were obliged to wade throngh a wide stream of water, nearly three feet deep. The grounds around the church, the Bishop's house, the Brothers' residence and the boy's school are in a fearful state. If the rain continues much longer, a fleet of canoes or half-a-dozen suspension bridges will be an absolute necessity at the corner of Barbadoes street. The boys' play, ground especially is in a very bad state ; it is "« a mad pond. As there is no shed or covered|place in which the children may obtain recreation, Jit is manifest that the state of the play-ground must be a very great inconvenience to the pupils and their teachers. A few loads of gravel around the school would be a great improvement and would add very materially to the comfort of the children and of the Brothers. Several Catholics in Ohriatcharch possess horses and carts, and would, no doubt, if asked to do so, be only too pleased to cart a few loads of gravel from the sand hills for the improvement of the Bchool grounds ; by doing so they would at very small cost perform a real act of charity. The Brothers are very rttinng and are not at all self-assertive. They are very silent upon we subject of their own claims. The fact of their being bo should make the people all the more ready to recognise them. lam quite sure that if the people could only see the uncomfortable Btate of affairs •round the Brothers' house and the school arising from the want of a few loads of gravel there would soon be plenty to volunteer to supply the defect in the way in which I have suggested. The social and musical event of the week has, of course, been the production of " The Mikado " at the Theatre Royal by a company of amateurs. It is generally conceded that Gilbert and Sullivan's quaint and pretty opera has never been better played in this city than it was played last week by the amateurs. The opera was well mounted, the chorus well drilled and most efficient, bath in regard to the acting and singing. Some of the principals were capital, and by the excellence of their interpretation of the characters which they represented would have done credit to any company. This waa especially true of Mr. Benson's interpretation of Ko-Ko. This gentleman, it is true, modelled his conception of the Lord High Executioner exactly upon that of Mr. Vernon, whom he in no small degree resembles, but his histrionic ability was none the less wonderful because his Ko-Ko was a copy. Very, very few persons indeed could succeed in playing the part of Ko-Ko as Mr. Benson did, even if they had Mr. Vernon as a model before their eyes from one year's end to the other. Mr. Pickering possesses the physique to enable him to give to Poo-Bah all the magnificent pomposity of demeanor which is becoming to the bearer of a dozen or so of titles, and the noble descendant of a " protoplasmal, primordial globule." These two, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Bishop of Titipoo, etc.. and the Executioner, with the " Three Little Maids," especially Yum- Yum, are the central figures of the opera. Upon their representatives the whole, or nearly the whole, weight falls. Nanki-Poois, of course, an important character, but a failure in that part is not nearly so disastrous as failure would have been in the case of Poo« Bah or Ko-Ko. Mr. Izard was the Narfki-Poo, and he was not a great success. Perhaps it is that we expect too much from Mr. Izard from bis reputation is a singer. However, he made Nanki-Poo a very tame, stiff, and unanimated lover indeed. Miss Spensley charmed everybody. She was bo delightfully fresh, vivacious?, and natural. She made a most winsome little Japanese maid, and one could readily sympathise witb the agonieß which Ko-Ko endured in seeing her appropriated by "another." Ko-Ko's dress or over garment waa very magnificent. It was of cardinal plußh embroidered in gold raised work, with the fishes, and long-billed, long-legged birds so dear to the heart of the artistic Japanese decorator. Pooh-Bah's robe was of white and the Japanese designs upon it were hand-painted. Altogether the opera has been a great success. On each night that it was played numbers of people were iurned away. I never saw a theatre so packed as was the Royal on Friday night. Though the rain was pouring in torrents, up siaira and down stairs every available inch of standing room was occupied. In the stalls ladies and several gentlemen were obliged to stand throughout the entire performance. I Baid before Father Ginaty understands the art of extracting the money from people's pockets, and he does. He can and always will get mosey for his asylum where others had failed, no matter for what object thsy sought it.

I was courteously given for perusal the essays upon Home Bole lor which Mr. Bobert Lonargan offered prizes a week or two ago to the members of the Literary Society. These essays were judged by the Brothers. The first prize waa awarded to Mr. Kennedy, whose well-known literary ability has made him a prominent member of the Society. This is not the first time that Mr. Kennedy has taken first-class honours in this line. The second prize was given to Mr. Obase, and the third to Mr. McManaway . There were five competitors altogether ; of the remaining two, one wrote against Home Bule, and the other, though he took the sensible view of the question, evidently took too literally the Bbakesperian motto, for his essay to have a chance of being placed. He put all hi* pro* and cons in favour of Home Bule on four small pages. His little essay was brightly written, and displayed evidence of thought but be must give more arguments in proof of his assertions next lime. There is no doubt whatever that Mr. Kennedy's paper was a long way the best of the five. Toe writer evidently possesses a close acquaintance with the history of his country. He writes of the wrongs of Ireland, not in the slap-dash manner peculiar to the essayist who possesses but shallow knowledge of what he is writing about. Mr. Kennedy has all the facts concerning poor Ireland's muidered glory and base betrayal at his fingers' ends. Mr. Kennedy possesses unusual capacity for writing. He expresses his ideas clearly and tersely, and takes a firm and vigorous grasp of his subject. If his studies were properly directed, be would most certainly become a great support to the Irish cause and an able advocate of any subject which he would take up. In his essay upon Home Bule thero are indications that his reading upon political subjects has not been sufficiently wide to allow him to deal with such a question in the manner which his natural ability would otherwise enable him to do. This is apparent from the first proposition of his essay. According to Mr. Kennedy, the Irish people base their claim for Home Bule upon " the well-know n axiom of political economy that every civilised nation has a right to legislate for its own local wants and requirements." The manner in which this proposition was formulated by Mr. Kennedy was one of the weak parts of the essay. It is not an axiom of political economy at all, Political economy, of course, concerns itself with no such subject as this, which is purely a question of general jurisprudence or of constitutional rights. The proposition being so wrongly stated, one would not expect to find it supported by argument, and It was not so supported except by vague generalities. In other places through the essay Mr. Kennedy makes the Ba me mistake, that of confusing political economy with political Bcience, of which, of course, political ecooomy is only a branch, which doea not touch at all upon the righto of nations. Mr, Kennedy shows such promise, is such an enthusiastic supporter of what is right, and is evidently such an ardent lover of bis country, that it is to be regretted that he should lack accurate knowledge upon these points. Therefore, in the friendliest spirit, and because I am impressed with his ability and earnestness, I would suggest to him a wider study of what, in another part of his essay, he aptly terms political philosophy. Having got away from this first proposition, and having to deal with matters not of sociology, but of purely Irish history, Mr. Kennedy was much more at home, and proved himself a master of his subject. More particularly was this the case in showing " that the rule of the British Parliament has been a complete failure." Noone but must have grieved at what that rule has been- There is just one more fault that I have to find with this essay, and that is that it is a little too historical, and not sufficiently sociological. I trust that Mr. Kennedy will understand that these hints are not given in a ceusorious spirit, but quite the reverse. It is because I admire bo much the talent and patriotism displayed in his paper that I would like to see him do full justice to the undoubted ability which he possesses. Mr. Chase's paper, which was awarded second prise, ia also a very creditable production. Mr. Chase does not make out so strong a case for Ireland as Mr, Kennedy, but his essay is nicely written and displays much thought. His language is occasionally a little ornate, but he is often truly eloquent. And he ia decidedly gallant, for he prophe sies that a day will come in the history of Ireland when Erin's fair daughters will be wooed by the princes of the world. This should encourage all attractive young Irishwomen to become Home Rulers. But I have my doubts about the prophecy coming true. Princes, like other wooers, prefer a more substantial! dowry than freedom with theii brides. Mr. Chase iB somewhat of a dreamer, but he dreams pleasantly. The anti-Home Buler was, as h6 deserved to be, nowhere in the competition. He evidently felt that he had taken up a bad case, and so lost heart, floundered hopelessly, and made no defence. Altogether the Society is to be congratulated upon the possession of members who upon short notice can produce papers of the stamp of those which Mr. Lonargan'B prizes have called forth. Apropos of these prizes and the Literary Society I see that the Vice- President has been calling me to " order " for some statements and strictures made by me in reference to the Society a week or two ago. In regard to the first statement of the Vice- President, I beg to say that I was evidently quite correct in saying that the prizea were to be given by Mr. Robert Lonargan ; for as a fact these prizes have been paid by that gentleman out of bis own pocket. Therefore there is no more to be said on that head. As to the rest of the Vice-Presi-dent's statements, they go to confirm what I eaid — namely, that the national spirit was at a low ebb in the Society ; and I will go further now and say that, judging by the Vice- President's letter, it would be much lower still were it not for the efforts of Mr. Robert Lonargan to fan the almost dead spark of nationality in the Society into flame. I was aware that in times past the Society bad not been distinguished by national fervour, but I did not think that matters were quite so bad as the Vice -President makes them out. Apparently once upon a time, daring the glorious days when the Society had the distinguished honour to number among its members an editor, three legal gentlemen and twe doctors, the Society, with a condescension almost equalling the great Pooh-Bah's recognition of the three little " persons," did actually discuss Home Rule. The consequences were aB disaetious as if a keg of dynamite had exploded

w^nJSl •* °*tt«;™<wratic circle of legal jonrnaliste and medical lummariej. One of these gentlemen, who must hare pcasesaed very 2f "tt'W* M* thoroughly sound P AngkSaxoJ 2 "E&y^iZ?™* 11 * 01111 ™*? from th « ™>™ before the debate was flnished, another resigned at the next meeting, and soon the SPSS* VM ° f th , 6 l %*** nd medical P-foB«on vinfi So X JStetJ i- 8 ! Ss?f? - - thei t* P reßenca at fc °c meetings of the Literary Society. The Society itself suffered as severely as its members from Si^Si!!S^i 3rtll ?2? 88 * iolltaly glimpße ol the BQ "»^£ It nearly collapsed through that one discussion upen Home Rule. KftSr'i ll^ " ißßCWcel y *<> bewSnderedthaVthe £«° e9 " on hM not been a popular one with the Society. Now lo.7^rat« e . r^ b °, pe f better lime8 ' Thß Bociet y i 8 its Wm 3 a** the da ? 18 not far dißtant » l b °Pe. when its members rmLa?^ro« IBmayed ant i-Irish sentiments even though they !^>H a m f°lT cx f l ** BOarceß than Christchurch legal or medical £5SSf?* W T elI - read l'i»nmen should be above being terrorised by SnL fh*S« ■"?• P° Biti^ ely vmm my critic ' from P^Boaal expeJ «£S£! SKSS^ I^ all B 0 Boperior t0 the Oalt