Colonial Notes.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XIX, Issue 21, 20 February 1891, Page 2

Colonial Notes.

Yesterday morning (says the Wellington Post of the 9th inst) his Grace Archbishop Redwood proceeded to the Lower Hutt for the purpose of opening the Catholic school in that place, which is to be ia charge of three Sisters of Mercy. The weather was most auspicious for the ceremony. His Grace, accompanied by the Vicar- General, the Very Rev. Father Macnamara, arrived by the morning train in time to attend Mass at 11 o'clock. The Vicar was the celebrant, and an eloquent address was given by the Archbishop on the duties of parents to their children. After the morning service his Grace proceeded to bless the school and declared it open. He was received by the Sisters and presented with an address by the children. His Grace attended vespers in the evening, and again preached a most eloquent sermon. An efficient choir, under the leadership of Mr. B. P. Bunny, sang very creditably at both sex vices, and was materially assisted by Mrs. McClean, of the Hutt, and Miss McClean, of Wellington, who in the evening gave a very beautiful rendering of Gounod's " There is a Gr°en Hill Far Away." His Grace and the Vicar were the guests of the Very Rev. Father Lane, the parish priest. The Hon. Dr. Grace, M.L.C, (says the Wellington Post of February 11), presided over a representative meeting of the Catholic residents of the city, held in the Alarist Brothers' schoolroom, Boulcott strei t, last evening, its object being to decide upon the best way in which honour could be done to the Rev. Father Kerrigan, parißh priest, who is on the eve of leaving to take charge of the Blenheim ture. It was resolved that the testimonial should take the form of a purse ot sovereigns and an illuminated address. A committee was appointed to draft the address, and it was decided that the draft should be submitted at a meetiog of proposed subscribers to be held in the schoolroom, Boulcott street, at 3 o'clock on Sunday afternoon. Father Kerrigan'^ successor will be the Rev. Father Devoy, S.M., who is at present Vice- Rector of St. Patrick's College. The Rev. Father Devoy's acceptance of the cure of Te Aro parish (say the Post of February 11) necessitates his relinquishment of the office of Vice- Rector of St. Patrick's College, which he has held for the last six years. Those who are familiar with the internal working of the College will not need to be told that Fatner Devoy has been extremely popular with the students, ant has entered into their personal joys and sorrows with characteristic sympathy. As, however bis new dutiep will not tike him away from the immediate neighbourhood of the Cjllege, he will continue to show interest in everything connected with its welfare. The change will take placa early next month, when the Rev. Father Lewis, now parißh priest at Blenheim, will take Father Devoy's place, with the title of Procurator. The Rev. Father Holley, who lately returned from Europe, has also joined the College staff. According to the Melbourne correspondent of a Sydney daily wb.3 recently heard Bishop Higgins and the Anglican Primate preaching in Melbourne (says the Freeman's Journal), the Bishop is a far better preacher than Dr. Smith. Ihe correspondent says, after some disparaging comments on the Primate's sermon : " Impressiveness the sermon did not possess. On the other baud, Dr. Higgins selected simple but elegant language in which to convey his ideas, which were bright and full of life, and when the Bishop had done, [ you fnuDd that he had bet you thinking, and told you some new things of God and yourself. Dr. Smith's style was dtiff and a trifle aggressive ; Dr. Iliggina'a waa free and fervid." Poor old Chiniquy bids fair to fill a penniless grave, owing to tho roguery cf a couple of English booksellers. Ana rogues they must be who even lay thievish haDda on a bundle of lies. " ' Father ' Chiniquy," says the (Iraaf linnet Advertiser, "writes to Dominus (Stoffol) Mullur, Cipe Town, umong other things, that two English booksellers asked to be allowed to uublish his books on condition that they paid him a fraction of the profits. One of them nerer

paid him anything ; the other said he had found out that the law did not prohibit the reprint of American books, and co would not ?u 7 • '? ,* n y' hlD X" He considered this hard on him in hie old days (he is 81), when he wished to make some provision for his family." Meantime we learn that even in bis dotage the good old " Pastor " continues true to himself. Will not some of his admirers in New Seaiand cry to make up to him the loss he has sustained ? It should not be very costly to do so. Prom all aides complaints are heard of the ravages among the native birds and ground game worked by the ferrets and other Te * m . in brought into the Colony to destroy the rabbits. With the rabbits, it seems, they live on the best possible terms. It only remains for them now to attack the lambs, which no doubt they will do all in good time, to complete the sum of their usefulness, and crown the wisdom that suggested their introduction. They may possibly wait, however, until they have finished the birds— but that, it would seem, will not be very long. Here is a little more testimony as to the fruits of Secularism. We take it from the contributions of a writer who signs himself " Autolycus to the Carrier Miner of February 4, a paper published at Broken Hill :— "Most of our young men and maidens nowadays (Bays the writer) have to pass through the mill of the State schools ; but has the superficial education they receive any effect in refining and improving any save the very few ? I think the careful observer will be compelled to answer, sadly and reluctantly, • No. 1 He will find the young men, in the majority of instances, more devoted to swilling beer and indulging in beastly obscenity and horrid blasphemy, or attending pme fights, than to the perusal of Shakespeare or Milton, or any of the masters of our literatnre. And the young girls he will find given up to the inanities of London. Journals and Family Readers, and quite incapable of conversing on or taking an intelligent interest m the vital questions of the hour. Ido not say there are not excepturns, but they are, like angels' visits, few and far between. We do advance, but very slowly ; and the real education of the people has not yet begun. —But when is it going to begin ? for that is the important question. Secularism holds the ground, and the determination U tnat, be the consequences what they may, it shall continue to do so. Distinction is claimed for Wanganui as the fertile source of genius. It hag teemed, it appears, with Premiers and chimpion shots. A contemporary explains the matter as follows :-" Three times it has been represented by the Premier of the colony— first by Sir William Vox, then by Sir Julius Vogel, and now by Mr. Ballance. Four times • 7i, B a£ r^ Ced f £ e cham Pion shot of the colony-Lieutenaut Owen in 1883, Private Churton in 1884, Sergeant Remmington in 1886, and Private Krnse m 1891." Well, the champion shots at least were direct i° I* 6 ";. aim and hit their mark. What about the Premiers ? Did Sir William Fox and Sir Julius Vogel really propose nothing better to themselves than what they attained ? The future must answer for Mr. Ballance. The Sydney Freeman's Journal of February 7. gives us the following account of the arrival in Australia of the Very Rev. Vincent Urogan, UP., ex-Provincial of the Passionists in England, who is now visiting the colonies :-" Father Vincent was met at Melbourne and accompanied to Sydney by the Tery Rev. Alphonsus O'Neill, C P Superior of the Passionists in Australia, and on the arrival of the Uroya in the harbour a number of members of the Order and lay friends went on board to welcome the visitor. The reception party included Father Patrick, C.P., Father Marcellus, C P. (in charge of the Retreat at Goulburn), Father Coleman, 0.P., and Messrs. Hardmim, Dolman, Gallagher, and lames Rubie, the lay gentlemen representing the parishioners of St. Brigid's Marrickville. Father Vincent is one of the best known members of the Passionist order at home, and apart from having held high positions in England and Ireland he has attained a singular reputation for his success in winning over converts to the Catholic Church. Father Vincent had the holy privilege of receiving Mr. CharleßSantley, the eminent musical artist into me Onurch, and it is no secret that the warmest friendship has existed between the priest and the einger since that happy event. On th« voyage out from England " the popular Passioniat" more than justified the name given to him and won his way into the hearts of all on board, children and all. The passage out from London was a singularly pleasant one, and Father Vincent celebrated Mass in the music saloon every Sunday morning. On Sunday last, the last dey of the I?K ag X maßSes , Were celebrate d, one by Father Vincent, and the other by Father Alphonsus. Father Vincent is in the enjoyment of perfect health, and bis Australian experiences give promise of being of a most gratifying character. It is proposed to establish a n«vitimte or training-house in connection with the Order in the Moss Vale district, and the initiation of this work will engage Father Vincent's attention during his stay in Australia." The Auckland Herald gives the following as an example of the consequences resulting from the overwork required of teachers in the public schools :-•• Not very many weeks ago one of the best teachers under our Board of Education resigne-i on account of illness brought on by overwork. Two months afterwards she was in her grave. The young lady was as distinctly killed by the system as if the Board had compelled h*r to drink an ounce of prussic acid."— As to the fruits or tnis fatal slavery reaped among the children, we see elsewhere what our contemporary has to say. Where both teachers and pupils are concerned, therefore, the mischievous folly of the system is apparent. J > Reports have reached Dunedin that the men who went hence to wlL 011 w 1 , r u n , Wa T in Taßm «iia «c in evil plight. The X H if u B / D t 8h^ lterle3B> and the y are expand to the weather. Food of all kinds, besides, is so dear that their wages, 8s a day, are insufficient for their support. Men who have gone, therefore, with ,

the hope of providing for their families find themselves cruelly disappointed, and all they can look forward to is the first chance of returning — in a worse condition than they were when they so rashly went away.