A LETTER FROM FATHER CASSIDY.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XVII, Issue 30, 15 November 1889, Page 5

A LETTER FROM FATHER CASSIDY.

St. Cirthage's, Lismore, N.S.W., October 10, 1889. I FEEL confident that many of your readers will be gl^rl to know that mj slf >>ni rev. f r i- ml have airived saf ly in our new bom s. We left Wellington on Saturday, Sep ember 21, hy theTekapo ; many fnend« came to see us aboard snd t&y faiewell. When Jthiiikof all the incidents ot that memorable voyage I fe>l emotions of gra itude and joy, thaukegiving and sorrow, miner k-enlv to tbe summit. It was a d .rk, but nleasaut night, when the Tekapo left liprm wrings, and in a few minutes shut out, probably for evei, from our eyes the dim lights of windy Wellington, with nil her glories and her boasts, her worthies and unworthies, her pillars of fire by night, her pillars of cloud by day, ber great and l.ttle men, and all tbe rest tbat make her what she is. On through the darkuess the good ship made her way, and now and again the silei cc of tbe night was broken by tbe voice of the popular skipper, the weli-known a*id deservedly-honoured Captain Anderson. We strolled over the a most deserted deck, bade many a faiewel!, and prayed many a fervent prayer for our friends resting under the Bha<iow of Egmont, or near those streaks of light just hidden from our viow. Separation always stirs up melancholy, and we then feel the full force of a spring-tide of sorrow. But who does not feel pensive who looks beyond the suiface or penetiates tbe dim misty future. To describe all tbe ups and downs of a sea voyage, the outs and ms of prosperity, the odds and ends if adversity, the brght and gloomy clouds, the crew and passengers, the calm and stormy sea, and now the gjod ship careered over the ocean would be out of place and untntere«tiug, so that we may say tnat it was the most enjoyable of voyages, a better f-hip, a kinder citw, a moie considerate captain, a more social crowd of goodhearttd passenger*, could not be found or desired. We arrived in Sydney early on Thursday, and enjoyed the harbour bights in the soft light ot the mornißg. The Caidinal received us very ki dly, and pressed us tc partake of his generous hospitality, which we did. We had a stroll round the city, visited the numerous chuiches, called on Borne of our clerical acquaintances, and met every were with warmbeaited kindness. We bad heaid great things of Sidney, and much comment and boas h ab> ut the magnificence of her nob'e harbour, and though we have been up tbe Meisey and the Thames, the Clyrit and tbe Garronne, though we have often ploughed into the famous harbour of Cherbourg by night and day, and have slumbered in the gentle moonlight of the Bay of Naples, and have scei the great harbours of New York and Corruuua, Falmouth and Havre, we have seen nothing tbat equals or even can compare with this noble sheet of water that would make a fit entiance into heaven itself.

During our stay iv Sydney we officiated at the Cathedral, and enjoyed some pleasant conversations with his Eminence, whose affability, kindness and paternal consideration quite feurpassed all our expectations. Having iceeived orders from our new Bishop to proceed North, we left Sidney by the s.s. Tonikifor Lismore, arriving theie after a pleasant two day's trip along the coast. At Lismoie we found our old friend Very Rev. J. L. Ahearce, formerly ot Waipawa. who welcomed us with all the kindness his broad nature and noble heart were capable of. Father Ahcarne has been here twelve months in the capacity of vicar-general, administrator, diocesan examiner of tbe clergy, and consultor. His courteous and considerate bearing, bis chanty to the poor and ailiicted, his eloquence ag a preacher, aiid his zeal as a fcterling priesi of the Irish school, h.ive made him quite a favourite. S nee our coming he has been transfemd to the iinp<>itant parish of Casino and I have been appointed to succeed him ,v Libmore.

Lismore is a pretty town ou the banks of the Richmond, and some eighty miles from its mouth. It has grown very rapidly and situated as it is in the centre ot a magnificent atrelch of com rywiih a splendid climate, and unsurpassed soil, it must soon develop into the laigest town on the east coast of N.B.W. It is to be connected with Sydney in a few months by rail. But having this .splendid river ah its natural outlet the necessity ot railway connection is not felt. Steamers of six and seven hundred tons, barques and schooners come up the river all the way to Lismore. There are fleets of river steamers that ply up and down tbe river to its mouth by the dozen daily. There are villages all along the river, great sugar mills, and the scenery is striking and tuctureeque The principal produce is sugar cane, and the quantity exported lrom the Richmond may be calculate d when one sugar mill last year exported thirty thousand tons. The large steamer's Toniki, Ooraki, Kxetra, are kept busy bringing; the sugar to Sydney, while a flc t of schooners and barques carry away to all parts, iron bark, hardwood, and cedar which giow in the surrounding forests. The climate here is splendid and reminds me very much of Spain. Tbe cloudless bky, the dry balmy atmosphere, the rich foliage, the orange groves and vineyards vividly recwll Andalusi i or Castille. This locality is admirably adapted for producing all sorts of tropical fruit, and oranges ; pine apples and bananas grow in great quantities around every well-attended homestead. At Lismure the Bishop, Right Rrv. Dr. Doyle, chi. fly resides. He has been the apostle and founder of the important diocese he now rules over with the calm wisdom, the scrupulous care and paternal kindness that character lse this great servant of God. If patient resignation under the hardest trials of necessary life, if unceasing effjrts to spread and preserve the faith if dauntless courage in the face of the most trying ecclesiastic difficulties, if a broad practical intelligence, a keen knowledge of his people's wants and troubles, and the ways of the world, of a kmi and noble heart ever ready to do an act of kindness to suffering humanity constitute tbe character of a great bishop — then Dr. Doyle is certainly a Bishop after God's owt heart. No wonder he is universally respected and loved by all classes and creeds, by his priests and by his people. He is constantly riding around his diocese and Tvorkit>g harder than any priest in the country. He does not seun to believe that a stereotyped sermon at the laying of the foundation stone or the usual aspirations at the opening of a little church or the

changeless homily at confirmation seivicea should constitute the episcopal duties.

We have splendid Bchools at Lismore, a large convent of the good Sisters of the Presentation, a pretty presbytery ami church. Fither down ihe river aod cosily an uated in the pretty village utreer, shining out pirtureeque mii the sugar cane p antatiua, we find the churches of St. Bridget, Sivan'n Bay ; St. Pa Tick's Nardell ; M-. Columkillu's, Broadwater; and St. Fiaocis', Ballina; built by the c.ei^yof our apostolic Bisbop. Crossing over some thirty miles of country going south, we reach the Ulirenc.} uiver, and at the pretty town of Kockymouth we insta'kd, on last Sunday, tbe lata venerable pastor of Kaikoura as its new P.P. None could wish for a more romantic, picturesque, or pretty town thau Rockymouth, where the eutrgetic aud popular Father P. W. Ahem now resides. It is tlie spot jvhicn a pott or philosopher, a smut or an angel would long fur. It is a place whtre all the charm 9of sea ami land, lake and liver, bay and island, lorest and flower, are strikingly mixed together, forming a piciure that should satisfy anyone. TheC aience at Rockymouth is more than a mile across, here and there it wiiens into bays and inlets, forming pretty wooded islands, where we find tha orange giove »nd the banana plantations, to ag in enjoy aad admire. From Kockymouth to the city of Graf ton is about forty miles. Large steamers ot a thousand tons go all ihe way to Graf too. The sail up up the river in one of tic favvift passenger boats, where the aun la peeping through the orange groves and dancing over thn sugar canes in ihe gi ntle light of tbe morning, cinriot be surpassed, I have been up the Whine aud the Hudson, tbe Douro and the Foyle, the Loire and the Backwater, but the Clarenjeis adorned with <t beauty that is not equalled by any of thtm.

There is a splendid convent at Grafion under the care of the Sisters of Mercy, two fine brick churches, one ou the north bank and the other on the south bank of the river, anil it commodious presbytery tog ther with a fine quasi-episcopal palace very picturebqueiy situated on the liver's bank.

We bad a very enthusiastic nueting here last night, when Sir Thomas Qrattan E monde gave one ot bis hitrhly inteiesting and popular lectures on Ireland's wrongs and sorrows. He is a calm, pejsuasive, and placing lecturer, ana well able for the great work entrusted to him. During his stay at Lismore be has endeared himself t_, ever} one by bis winning manners, hie polished style, tbe unremitting anxiety ho displays for the welfare of the cause he has at heart, and the v osteuta ious digni y that makts him wort iy of his noble name and race. Bishop Doyle »ai on the pUttoiui and made a bnlliaut speech — the ficquent cheers being the be^t pro f of its being so. Nearly £300 were immediately subscribed. The Cai'iohcs here are in good cncuinatauces, and theic is a piospeniy about the locality that one do L s not meet witn in New Zealand. lam accompanying Sir Thomas to-morrow to Coraki, where be adilresaea another meeting, and t ion we go North together, a distance of eighty miles, to lectuie at the Tweed. This will be bis last kcture till he crosses over wiih his distinguished colleague-* to wake up the slumbering patriotism of " the laud of the Moa and Maori."

I was almost forgetting to tell you that I had the consolation »'f receiving last week a veiy kind letter from our Holy Father the Pope with bis special blesbiog tor my old flock under tne hhadow of Vlonnt Kgraont, a handsome subsidy for that impoverished mission, and an affix ior myself that you will dibcover below.

We were delighted to s^e by the cables that the Most Rev, Dr. Moran letuincd in good health to his diocese, and has the prayer of thu four New Zealand uriebts> who now labour by the shorts ot the Kichmond and Clarence that God may brighten the evening of his life. A.X. Cass-idy, Adm., D.D,