WELLINGTON.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XVII, Issue 4, 17 May 1889, Page 18

WELLINGTON.

(From our own Correspondent.)

May 11, 188». The professors and etudents of our great seat of learning, St. Patrick' Coil' ge to wit, are to be congratulated on the imm. use success of tueir first attempt at a public concert. Infinite pains were taken that this effort should be worthy of the promoter*, as well as of the institution which they represent, and it is with pUa^ure I add that ihe Tesult justified expectations. The proceeds of the concert will be devoted to tne piocunng instruments f ir tl c College bind, which has 90 often chimed iiway tbe hours for music-loving Wellingtonijinn. On Ibe evening of May 1, the Thpatre Royal was comfoitably filed in every part to enjoy the rtndering of the following programme: — lnet 1 u mental seltcaon, " Hecolltctions of Don zetti," College Brass B.nrt; part song. "Iron Founder,-," choir; so g, "Twenty years aeo," Mr. E. J. Hill ; song," Kathteen Mavourneen,' Mrs. Paisons (encore, •• Thou art so near") ; selection.*' Maritara," College orchestra ; song, " Terence's farewell to Kathleen," Mies M'Oean (encore, " Last Rose of Summer ") ; cornet solo, " Minstrel B >y," Mr Cimino ; recitation, " Tbe R-ception," Mr. W. J. Hay bitle (encore " Bill Jinks'), comic song, " I took it," ,vr. D. Lyon (encore, " Quite another colour now ") ; selection, " Notre chere Alsace," College Brass Band ; pirt sung, " Tramp o'er Moss and Fell " choir ; c ong, " Mistress Prue," Mr. E. L. Widdop ; song, " Should he upbraid," Mrs. Parsons ; selection, '• The Bohemian girl, " College orchesira ; Sony, " Molly Asthore." Miss McCarthy ; t ianoforte solo, " Norma," Miss O'Diiscoll ; Finale, "God difend New Zealan V b-ass band, orchestra, and chorus. Mr. m Dam acted as leadtr of the choius, while Messis. Cimino and Tr well conducted the brass band and the orchefctra, respectively. Pianoforte accompaniments were supplied by Mi. Raymond.

It is handy necessary to give yiur readers any details of the arrival, recepim, aud sweaiing-ia of Lord Oaslow. The weatner was all that could be desired ; a brilliant eun rose from a cloudless -k_\ ; the teat, which even at ihis season of the year would have made many feel uncomfortable, was tempered by a light, steady brttze. The vessels in port and tbe principal buildings in town were gay with many-colourei fl*gs, among which I noticed the national flig of Ireland floating proudly from a flagstaff on a building on Latnbton Qjay. The procession, nearly a mile ia length, was led by the St. Patuck s College btudents, walking four abreast, and headed by ther fine band. It was a magn fie nt spectacle, and Lord Onslow must have been imp'essed favouianly with the people and country he has come to govern. The impressive ceremony of administering the o<iths was p lformed in lroat of the Government Buildings, where a commodious platform had been erected for the occasion. Beside the high dignitaries immediately concerned, the Countess of Onslcw, with Viscount Cranley and her daughters, Lady A'kmson and Mrs. Duthie. wife of Mr. Juo. Duthie, Mayor of Wellington, graced the proceedings with their presence. The Vice-Regal party attended the Haimonic Society's subscription concert in the evening. Toe advent of Lord Onslow in New Zjaland marks an era in the country's pro-perity which is woith noting. The exports of the Colony for the first quarter of 1889, according to official returns, amount to the value of £3,417,734, and if this should be the average for each quarter of the year, then the i xp>rt trade of New Zealand would reach ih • enormous total of £14,000 000, being an increase of £6 000,000 over lasi year's export trade. The people of New Zealand are not making history aa the people in older countries are, but there 'is no doub of the tact that at present they are making r-.pul strides towards w.al h and prosperity, and this, too, under a system of Governm nt which England at preseut refuses to grant to Ireland, the population of which is twenty times as numeious a* that of New Zealand.

I have read somewh/Te that a London editor advertised for a leader-wntpr who cjiild write three, original arucles every week on the present pha>e of the Irish qu'stion, and faile i to get such a rara avis. The lush questi >n baa been treated in mauuscript and from th platform fiotu all sttndpoints, and h; indeed (I say it with, all humility') wou'd be agtnius, wno could make a sp ecb or write aa article uiigi. a! in ;ill its details 0:1 the Iru-h question; and so, if there is v en tain o.vtiitness and want ot origin-mty in the speeches t some of our members at National L'a»ue meetings, it can hardly be wondered at.

Tue social meeting of the Wellingr >n branch I.N.L. wag held on Monday, 6th ins ant, in the Marist Biothers' sehojl bu.ldings at 8 p.m. Although the beating accommodation wi-i a'most double what it hap hitherto been, it wa9 birely en m^h for the au aencc ; aud the newly-dected officers must have fd!t the importance of their positions considerably. Mr Devme, preside it, took, tbe chair, and delivered a short inaugural address, in the course of which ne thank -d the members for having confeired up >n him the honour of the preßidency,of the Wellington V ranch, and s<ud its affairs wouM receive his beat attention. The branch was to be commended on ttv; good work it had done in remitting Home so large a sum as £250, and for the%e happy reunions of his countrymen and c juntry women. He trusted that the branch would give the Irish delegates now in Austral'a the grand reception they deserved when they visited the Empire city, t specially as one of their number was tha true Irishman and brave patriot, John Dillon. As he saw that the progr imnce would fully occupy the evenii g he would not make a long speech, but would call the attention to the great impetus given to the Home Rule movement by the collapse of thit portion of the Parnell Commission dealing with the forged letters, an 1 upon which that lying pamphlet, " Parnellism and Crime,' was based. Henferredto tbe villanous means resorted to in order to incriminate Mr. Pan ell and his party. The light now thrown on the matter, together with the ruthless coercion policy 4^ the Government, toas loused the indignation of all the. English peop'e outside the Tory party and their allies, the Liberal-Unionists. Tne enthus>a^tic recepiion tnven to Wilaaru O'Brien at Manchester, while a warrant was hanging over his he id, the reception given to Parnel], and other recent affairs lnvc shown tha^ the tide baa certainly turned.

Coercion is acknowledged to be a failure, and will never again ba renewed. The Irish people will withstand everything, for they knowthat the democracy of Bugland, Scotland, and Wales are willing to help them. - In a comparatively short time the Tories and LiberalUnionists will have to face the constituencies, when the indignation aroused by their coercive treatment of Ireland will rise up against them, and will sweep them and every obstacle away that would hinder the reconciliation of England and Ireland. The programme, which was more than usually attractive, was as follows : — Beading, national (selected). Mr. Healy ; soag, "Bd me Good-bye," Miss O'Driscoll ; recitation, *' Mary Queen of Scots," Mr. W. Scanlan; song,- "Good-bye at the Door,' Miss Rjss ; recitation " Orange and Green " (by requPß ), Mr. Walsh ; song. " Kate O'Shane, .Miss Macdonald ; address on L >ve,of Country, Mr. Fleming ; song, " I'll take Theu home again, K-tthleen," Miss Hewitt (encorr, " Barney, take m- home ') ; recitation, " Funtenoy," Mr. B. J Dennefiy ; song, " Killaruey," Miss McCarthy ; song, "You'll remember me," Mr. Ross ; recitati n, " Bingen on the Rhine," Mr. S. Ross. Miss O'Driscoll presided at the pinno with her usual grace and precision, and Messrs. Fleming ana Wa sh were the concert committee. In the cjurse of his address, Mr. Fleming, Vice- President, took occasion to tbank the Branch for electing him befoie ro many more deserving men to his present position in the League. He touched upon tbe leading facts of the movement now going on, and referred to history to pr>-ve the tenacity with which his countrymen, through good and ill, had preserved iheir independance of spirit, and refused every concession which did not recognise Irish nationality as a final settlement. Mr. Buhan proposed a vote of t banks to those ladies and gentlemen who assisted at the concert, and made the evening pass so pleasantly. Mr. O'D >a seconded the vote of thanks, and attributed the success and popularity of tbe Irish National League in Wellii gton to tbe willingness with which these talented ladies and gentlemen gave their service to the cause. Hi referred to the visit of the delegates, and said that the Earl of Kintore, who came out as Governorelect of S-mth Australia, met with a grand reception, but that of his fellow passenger, " Honest John Dillon," was a grander one.— The social meeting was far and away the most successful and numerously attended ever held by the Wellington Branch, and the impartial observer must have Cjme to the conclusion that there was something more than the mere love of amusement animating those who crowded the hall, every national sentiment uttered by the different speakers being applauded to the echo. Too much praise cannot be bestowed upou Brother Mark and the other good Marist Brothers for granting the use of their flue hall, besides giving their valuable assistance end advice to ihe officers of the brauco.