Current Topics

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XVII, Issue 26, 18 October 1889, Page 1

Current Topics

AT HOME AND ABROAD.

, . The following article which appeared as a leader OKHXBOUa in the Ctago Daily Txmet of Thursday the 10th inst., testimony, deserves the thanks of the Catholic community, not only for the appreciation expressed of tbe merits of tbe Most Rev. Dr. Moran, but also for tbe generous testimony borne to their own worth. With one expression only in the whole deader can we find fault, that is the epithet " astute," applied, but evidently by a printer's error, to his Holiness the Pope. The article runs as sollows :— Bishop Moran has assuredly every reason to be pleased with the reception given him by his people on the occasion of bis return from Europe. Indeed it is impossible not to admire the affecionate fervour which characterises the relations of the Bishop with his flock. One need not be a Roman Catholic ia order to appreciate the simple-hearted faithfulness of the Roman Catholic community in Dunedin to their religiop and their religious directors, or the stern independence of their action upon questions which, like that of education, appeal to their religions conscience. In these days of widespread indifferentism and unsericuEnes?, such loyalty is worthy of notice acd honour. In welcoming Bishop Moran back from his visit ad limina apottolorum, the Roman Catholic community are not without the sympathy and acquiescense of the general public. The Bisbop said, indeed, at the close of his speech on Tuesday night, that he knew the reception was given, " not to the man, " but to the bishop." Yet, despite this modest disclaimer, it is quite obvious that a very strong personal sentiment had its share in making the demonstration a success. We gladly lake the opportunity of acknowledging that this persocal sentiment of .liking and respect is well deserved. Dr. Moran has not made himself a very prominent figure in the general life of Dunedin — it would have been hardly possible for him to do so — but he baa been agood citizen, and has displayed admirable qualities of mind and heart under somewhat difficult circumstances. Moreover, living a life of apostolic simplicity and self-denial, he has won the respect which a career of real Christian consistency never falls to elicit. As many years must elapse before the Bishop visits Europe again* we cannot express any more suitable hope than that such a future visit may be in store for him. That in time to come as in time past his labours will be pursued with happiness and usefulness we make no doubt. Tbe B.thop delivered a touching and interesting address at tbe Cathedral on Tuesday evening, though of course the bulk of what he said only appeals specially to the members of his flock The Bishop's visit to tbe land of bis biitb has doubtless had the effect of intensifying, if that were possible, his interett in tha popular bopts of Ireland, and of enabling him to form an accurate idea of tbe present condition of that country. He tells his countrymen that when at Rome he conversed with the Pope upon tbe subject of Ireland , and certainly Leo. XIII could listen to no more fervent champion of those patriotic aspirations which are cherished as warmly 12,000 miles from the land which inspires them as in that land itself. The Bishop was naturally somewhat reticent in his allution to the Pope's sentiments, which, however, seem to partake of general interest and benevolence towards the Irith people raihsr than to indicate adhesion to any particular policy. It is not surprising that the Pope should have evinced a lively interest in tbe progress of Roman Catholicism at this end of the world. The astute head of the Church of Rome iB hardly likely to be ignorant of tbe prospective importance of the Australasian colonies, or to neglect any opportunity of encouraging his "children" beneath the Southern Cross. In conclusion, we notice with cordial pleasure the promotion conferred upon that popular ecclesiastic, who wiil henceforth be known as Monsignor Coleman,

The cantrips lately cut by the evangelist, Sullivan, A TBAGIO faeos. in Christchurch and its vicinity, ridiculous though they were, and in some degree well deserved by the peoplehffected by them, are, nevertheless, in a certain sense to be deplored. The people in question, who are ever ready to condemn

in unmeasured terms, and without scruple aa to truth or falsehood, those who differ from their own particular views of what the Christian life and doctrine should be, are evidently easy to takefn. All that seems necessary to catch their fancy and obtain their support is a fluency in the expression of the opinions V ! ]h they consider essential to salvation. For among those who rej V&" • office of good works and place tbeir reliance on faith alone, rer ' i^ijil very apt to degenerate into a mere matter of opinion, and a yi&T* or two committed to memory and repeated upon all posii 0 , ffviasions stands for an indication of a conversion of the heart, a* v^!?n, sometime! leads to the deception of the individual himself. a of things very naturally makes the way plain fo r °™ lpeiifnr,* and Sullivan, or Clam pet t, was by no means the first '\ <c only one whom we have seen take advantage of it here & . .r Zealand. Other adventurers of the same class, however, bad n y regard for their lasting interests than bad this superficial scamp, whose sole object appears to have been that of replenishing his means for a course of dissipation. Notwithstanding tbe exposure that had been made of him he was still able to draw congregations together and to edify them with tbe nnction of his prayers and preaching, and he might have gone on doing so to tbe cud, and departed hence with a character to fall back upon elsewhere, had not the force of old habit been too much for him. Other imposters, with a view to future imposition, laugh at their dupes in their sleeves, snd go on making a profit of them. Sullivan laughed at his dupes to their faces, and lost his opportunity. He went boldly and openly under their very noseß on the spree, and spent the money given to support the preaching of the Word, in dissipation before the eyes of tbe people who had given it to him. Hard, indeed, must be the heart that does not feel for many a -confiding Evangelical whose idol, so to speak, has committed suicide, leaving confusion and shame and doubt to fill his place.— And yet we say there is something to deplore in this event that mingles 'tragedy with screaming farce. Many imposters and many hypocrites indeed, are still left, and, so long as they can manage their particular public, will remain undetected. Had Sullivan's defalcation or escapade served to detect them, some useful end might follow from it. But tbeir profession will still be received as the true utterances of regenerate hearts, acd things will prosper with them as before An exposure of tbe true nature of all religion, meantime, is what many people will feel inclined to look on this event as being, and it will set at complete ease many whose consciences still felt some qualms at their leading a Godless existence. Were the effects to be & general exposure of hypocrisy, the evil might, perhaps, be in some degree atoned for by the resulting good. But we are likely to witness the evil only without cny good results, and the end, therefore, will be an unmitigated gain to tbe cause of irreligion.

It is a pity this writer of notes in our contemtempebed porary the Dunedin Evening Star seems affected with satan. in some degree after the manner of the famous

Mr. Dick, in respect to the bead of King Charles I. If the writer for bis part could only manage to keep the devil oat of what he has to say the improvement would be marked. We mnstt however, take things as we find them, and, on the whole, devil and all as it is, worse notes than the following have been penned :— " In these days of irreverence and impiety it is rt freshing to see such a welcome as Bishop Moran has just received from his flock. It wai so hearty, so full of genuine enthusiasm, that the right reverend, or most reverend (we are not well up in ecclesiastical titles, but wo dislike to hear ' a chief pastor '—a successor of the Galilean fishermen — addressed as ' your Lordship ' ; and as a matter of fact there are no lord bishops in the colonies, except by courtesy) — the wel* come, we say, was so overwhelming that Dr. Aloran was compelled to regard it as given to tbe bishop rather than the man. But tbe man is evidently as much loved as the bishop ; and though we confess our sense of tbe fitness of things is somewhat offended to bear imperfect human beings lauded as if they were demigods, we are quite Bure that Dr. Moran will take no harm from the loving adula* tion of his faithful people. A man who is «o devoted to hii calling has no time to think about himself. Bishop Moran dewrvet a heilty welcome. An old English bishop o cc asked who was the moit

diligent bishop in all England. Latimer, th<«i whom a better man never • succeeded the apostles,' answered bis own question. It was the devil, he said. This uoeaintly bishop ihad, to be sate, a large diocese ; and as he bad, or was supposed to have, all the other bishops working against him, he had need to be busy. But could the good old bishop who asked the question, and who soon went through the flames to heaven, have been favoured witL a glimpse into futurity — could he in vision have soen the fair city of Dnnedin rising like a dream of beauty, as Dr. Macgregor expressed it, and Dr. Moran taking his rounds in his diocese — he might, indeed, have been still of opinion that the devil was the most diligent bishop in England, bot he would have seen that he had met with his match in New Zealand. Long may he live— Dr. Moran, not the blackamore gentleman eulogised by Latimer — to receive the affection and affectionate congratulations of his devoted flock."

Coercion having failed to put an end to the as. OUT of date, pirations of the Irish people and their struggle to

obtain justice, softer methods seem now to be gain* ing favour. We find, for example, Lord Randolph Churchill adrocating the establishment of a peasant proprietory at the coat of about one hundred millions of money, and also some diminished form of local Government. We also find the E irl of Carnarvon proposing to secure the contentment of Ireland by satisfying the demand cf the priesthood lor higher eduo*tion. Such are the sugar-plums with which it is hoped to appease what is evidently looked upon as the miud of a childish people. Bat does not Lord Lytton, ia some one or other of his novels, dwell at some length on sugar-plums and their uses, explaining how, delightful as they seem at one period of a man's existence, at another they have become tasteless to him. These sugar-plums, too, of these more moderate Tories have come too late. The time was-, no doubt, and not bo very long ago either, when the establishment of a peasant proprietory would have gone a far way towards satisfying the desires of the Irish people. Under the evils of rack-rents, End their consequence, eviction, and when there was no other prospect of relit f, even a partial meaiure of justice might well have been welcomed with joy, and the pledges given and the obligations incurred could not afterwards be broken or departed from. The priesthood, too, seeing the opportunity held out to them of iaising the status of their people> while they not only preserved their faith, but conferred upon religion the great general benefit of adding to its defenders and upholders a faithful Catholic nation, enlightened and versed in all the learning of the day, might bave been misled from the purtuit of a full measure of justice, and so fettered as to be unable to lift their voices in its advocacy. But that time is gone by. Ihese proffered sugar-plums are come too late, and the palate of neither priesthood nor people can be pleased by them. Ihe Irish peasant looks forward with a steadfast hope to a proprietorship accompanied by a right to elect the men who shall make his own laws in his own Parliament. The Irish priesthood sees in the near future a native legislature making the education of a Catholic people thoroughly Catholic, and, in all other respects, legislating wisely for the good of the nation. Neither peasant nor priest can return to his former state of mind, nor can he compromise his manhood by accepting a bribe, aud even an insufficient bribe, to desist from the stiuggle until he has carried it to a fortunate conclusion. But, if the peasantry and the priesthood were to accept these offjrs, what are the chances that the promises made to them could be fulfilled? Is the British tax-payer williug to take upen him the risk of this enormous burden of one hundred millions of money ? For on him the burden must fall were the Irish peasant to fail in discharging so tremendous an obligation, as fail in all probability he would. We do not believe that any Government would dare in all sobriety to make such a proposal to the people of Great Britain. Hut, if ttiey did, their immediate downfall mustensue. Are the Tory Government prepared to anger their supporters by proposing to endow a Catholic university and Catholic High Schools out of the public funds? They will certainly think twico about it. But if they decide in the affirmative we may, for instance, accept their decision as proving tbeir true disposition towards the loyalists of Ireland, as they call them. This decision would quite as surely alienate this party from them as would their adoption of Home Role. But the Tories are probably wiser. They will not take a step that they must know would drive their paitisans from their side, while it would not appease their opponents even by an infinitesimal fraction. There are, therefore, only the two courses open. Coercion is the one and Homo Rule is the other. And if the Tories are prudent, they will recognise this in the failure of Coercion, and, even if it be only to make tne best of a bad bargain, they will accept Home Eule. Softer methods, then, may now seem desirable to them, bat they are impossible for them to employ.

Pbimrosery it seems, though it stands far apart QUEEE RESULTS, from poverty a d mast bold ererything connected

with it in sovereign contempt, still bears some likeness to it. It also, for example, brings strange bed-fellows together. There, for example, is Mr. Ward, son of the late famous Dr<

Ward, who was one of the most eminent of the Oxford converts and a truly devout son of Holy Church. Mr. Ward, we believe, also baa pretensions to devotion as a Catcolic, at least when Primrosery does not stand in the way. But when there is a question of Primrose dames, and the rights of landlordism, and all else that is exclusive or fashionable, should not some allowance be made and even Catholicism itself give way ? Mr. Ward certainly seems to think so, if report •peak true, for we have it on the authority of a correspondent of the Liverpool Catholic Times that he opened a Primrose meeting the other day by inviting a Protestant minister who was present to invoke God's blessing upon their labours. Ittt as, nevertheless, give Mr. Ward the benefit of a possible doubt. Did he, therefore, think, aB well he might, that any kind of a blessing at all was good enough for snch an assembly. One of the distinguishing features, however, of the anti-Irish movement is the inconsistent conduct that it has exhibited on the part of Catholics. We all, for instance, know the vagaries of Mr, Edwin de Lisle, culminating in bis express desire to see the Irish bishops stretched on the plaok bed. Bat this is only what we need expect. The Irish cause is exceptionally the cause of the poor, and, of all the obligations that devolve upon the Catholic, none is more pressing and, indeed, aB a rule, none is more carefully fulfilled than that of caring for the poor. When a devout Catholic, then, opposes the cause of the poor, we may well expect to witness much that is otherwise abnormal on his part. Mr. Ward, bending his knee in the house of Rimmon is but acting consistently with the inconsistency that has made him a member of a Primrope habita. tion. Primrosery will mo9t probably be fjund to have done a good deal of injury to the Catholic cause in England. And in all probability it was not for nothing that it was condemned by the Bishop cf Nottingham. Evil communication or the society of strange bed-fellows still corrupts good manners.