REMINISCENCES OF TRAVEL.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XIX, Issue 20, 13 February 1891, Page 15

REMINISCENCES OF TRAVEL.

(Thames Advertiser, February 5 )

In St. George s Hall last night the Rev. Father Golden, formerly parish priest at the Thamas, delivered a pleasant l>cture, in which he gave reminiscences of his travels through Europe aad America, i'he Rev, Fa'ber O'Reilly occupied the chair, anl there was a large and an appreciative audience.

Though not whit is called a fluent sp^ak'r Father GjMen give? proofs to hts audience of baing whit thi fl lent speikor seldom is — a man of considerable insight and imagination. Hts discourse is that of a man who not only aces, but who ha? a talent for placing himself in intelligent sympathy witb whit he sees. He is evidently one of thosi wh j see more than the surface of thiogs. Ilenc; his last night's lecture was really interesting. Fam >us plac '8 and psrsins were described without any pretenc; of rhetoric, yet with a vividness which enabled the listener to realisa their essentia' chi acterlstics This excellent talent was especially exemplifui in wiat he told his hearers concerning the Emperor of Braz 1 and his eff )rts to put down slavery, anl in his apparently uns'udied contract be ween '•thi pride, pomp, and circumstance" of loyalty in England ami royalty in New Z 'aland as observed by him^ulf wuen hi aud M >nsignor McDjn-ild feasted on bread an i potatots under a peach tree with King Tawniao, and on peaches knocked fiom the branches overhead by the royal walking-3tick. When he visited Westmm=t r Abbay Father Golden was invre-sjd with what seemed to him to be the want of harmony between the modern monum3nts and the character of the place, while the other monuments and tombs weie what they should be—" Gothic, oli, beautiful to look at, venerable " In Paris amongst the myriads who flocked to seethe great Exhibition, he was impressed with the fact that the French are an exceedingly orderly people, for in the greatest multitude no mm tried to elbow or push in fr^nt of his nughbour. This talent tor getting at what is essential and worthy of note was shown in the lecturer's brief description of what ha saw from the dome of St. IVter's ; at Naples ; at Florence ; in Cork harbour ; in the eastern and sontnern States of America; on the praniis, and in San Joaquin Valley, California ; and alio in Lis description of the mid-A lauiic temp, ots experienced by the steamship Critic which took him from Liverpool to New York, where a cousin of Father O'ReiHy's, the Hon. John Quinn, rendered him many kindly serv.ces. But we must stop, as our space forbids details. In the course of the evening Mrs. Jo}o read, clearly and sympathetically, some passages from " The Bard of Gouganbara," a p< em by tne Xcv t Father Golden, who, to judge by sjtne of th^ lines r -a Iby Mr-.. Joyce, would sepm to hive as true an eye for nature as he his tor the salient sigh's within the " busy h-\untj of men." Oj the motion of Mr. O'Sullivan, seconded by Mr. Twohill, a hearty vote of thanks was accorded to Father G jlden and to Mia. Joyce : anl a sim lar complnnan* to the C lairmia closed the proceedings.