CHRISTCHURCH.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XIX, Issue 33, 15 May 1891, Page 19

CHRISTCHURCH.

(From an Occasional Correspondent.) Since I last wrote to the Tablet spring warmed into summer, and summer has again cooled into autumn. The nor'- westers have departed and the biting sou'-eas'ers have come in their place. Daring these months no very startling even's have occurred here. Affairs in the City of the Plains have gone on in the old jog-trot way. The new Ministry is not making itself popular. The dismissal of several old and tried Government servants has not been regarded by ihe public as a as a stroke of genius oq the part of Ministers. For my own part I must gay lihinkit would have shown better taste and better judgment on the part of ihe new Ministry to have displayed a little less haste in raising the duit about the big wooden building by issuing so many " walking licketa " at bo very early a date in their reign. I have no doubt but that it is qjite true that there ia in the employ of the Government many a full-fed over-paid civil servant who could, without loss to his country, ba dethroned from his revolving stool before a government desk, and relegated to a sphere in which his energies would be more reproductive, but some how these iargj silaried men are seldom retrenched. Too smaller fry are more frequently made the victims. Such two penny half penny economical flashes in the pan indicate weakness rather than strength on the part of any Ministry. The country ia not going to be rescued from national perdition by the saving of a clerk's salary here and there. If the Ministry, as the saviours of their country, wish to ' hi'eb. their waggon to the star that is destined to ascond," they will have to strike out in some other direction. However, when the new Government settles •teadily to work, perhaps tbe uuJoubted Ulents which so miny of its members possess will become more apparent than they have done yet. If Westland's own Bicbard can stand all the banqueting which ha is receiving on the Coa9t without having that massive head of his turned, be is a very wonderful man. I should like to see the people's Dick in the Houss next session in order to observe what effect his new honours have had upon him. I do not fancy that they will have developed the very small grain of humility which the shaggy-headed West Coast legislator might have been once supposed to possess. In former Farliamenta, wh^nthe Housj was si tiag K'rr, of Motueka, a fat gigauticmm who never sp ,ke, used to sit with his eyes wide open gtarmg with unbounded aimiratioa a r Mr. Saddon dunug otk of the latter gentleman's grand oratorical performances. If tha Motueka man were still in the House, hia eyes would grow like saucers at beholding his old friend upon the Government benches, and his brain would have become perfectly bewildered in trying to guess how the noble Richard got there. However, he is there, and whatever other people may thi ik.of New Zealand, the Hon. R. Seddon nas good reason to think it the "'fi ipst country in the world." If ever a man on this planet had a fiae time of it Mr. Saddon is certainly having that kmi of a time now. The election of the various Licensing Committees in Christchurch and suburbs haacau-iad more excitement lately. Sydenham.it is to be hoped, will become r generated now since the prohibitionists have got into power. Idj not linagiue that it will be found that the model Borough will at the end (f the next th^ej years ba a whit more entitle 1 to adopt the lily as its emblem ihin it ia at present. Drunkenness is of course a great evil, but there is more fathered upon the sale of drink than what h*B any light to tie parentage. Tjur drunken man often works less diabolical evil to bis followers than his sober brother. The Riv. L. M. Issit, if he be earnest in seeking to regenerate mankind, can find in Chriatc^urch city and suburbs even blacker spots than rirunktnnesa upon our social system which require erasing. Bat Mr. Issit, like all faddists, can only see with one eye, and not very clearly with that. Human nature is very muc'a tne same now that it was two thousand years ago, yet it is not against intempiranci that the strongest danuncia'ious of the Gospel are levelled. But now-a-days the 8 rvant is wiser than the Mister. It seems to me that among many of our religious social reformers fanaticism is at par and sincerity at a discount. In a remarkably able sermon preached by him last Sunday, Bishcp Julius, rt-ieiring to the temp< ranee questi. n, declared himself oppoped to the plaifoim ol the Piohibnoinsts. He ad\coatid compensation to these who had embaiked their money in hotel and kindred business s. U;-on this subject, as upon all ot'rer social questions upon which he his sj oken since his a. rival here, the Bishop proved hioiself to be a s^ns bie, wide-minded, just man. Bishop Julius is not the kind of divine to believe that it is for the loudvoiced shouters in tbia world that the door of heaven will swing most easily inward on its hinges. His views on all things are broad, and he has always the courage to express them. He does not shape his

sermon so that it nuy "go down " with his congregation. Wiiat he honestly thinks he openly says, quite regardless of whether such independence of spirit should fill the episcopal coffers or not. The lamentable spectacle of the squabble which is going on between the two sections of the once united but now wholly disintegrated Irish party is one which must deeply pain all friends of poop Ireland. It almost seems that it is her melancholy and everlasting doom to ever have the knife most deeply plunged into her heart by some trusted band. One day last week the Rev. Father Cummings showed me a beautiful banner made by the nuns. It is the banner of the lately beatified South Sea martyr. The banner is made of rich crimson brocade and is bordered with heavy gold fringe. The centre piece which is band-painted, shows the figures of the martyred saint and two angels, one of whom bears in its hand a club and the other a tomahawk. These implements are emblematical of the martyrdom of the saint. The design and the execution of the banner reflect graat credit upon the artistic taste of the Sisters. I have recently heard some account of the dear old friend and pastor of a great many early Canterbury Catholics. I mean Father Binsfield. He is located at Meanee, in Hawke's Bay. He is a professor in the college for the training of young men for the priesthood. An abler man and a kinder one the young men at Meanee could not have had for their guide. The trne heart of a friend and a Christian gentleman be?ts beneath the clerical robe of this dear old faithful servant of his Lord, and there are none in Canterbury who ever knew him who will not be pleased to hear that he is well and happy. On Sunday morning Mrs. P. Burke, the wife of the proprietor of Burkes Hotel, passed away. The deceased lady bad been ill for many months with chest complaint, which has now ended fatally. She was a big-hearted, open-handed, Irishwoman. She was a genuine type of the cheerful giver, and is sincerely mourned by the whole Catholic community. At eleven o'clock Mass on Sunday Father Cummings referred to her death, and said that she was never heard to grumble or to complain of " bad times " when asked to give. She will be buried on Tuesday next. For her husband and little children profound sympathy is felt in their bereavement by all who knew them, and who knew the generous woman who has just gone from among us. The long talked of Brothers' house ia at last about to become an accomplished fact, and it is high time that it should be so. In fact the house ought to have been built before the Brothers came here* It was somewhat of a disgnce to the parish to have ever housed the. Brothers in the old shanty which they have so long inhabitedEveryone in the pariah haa recognised this. But sympathy with the Krot ne's will not pay architect's fees and supply building materials a (1 aj»v thai, .ill persons have at last an opportunity of doiog more than sympathise with the Brothers, it is to ba hoped that they will do so. I: must be remembered that Father Cummings haa not a regiment of good fainps atteniing npoa him, to raise buildings without the aid of prosaic but necessary coin. On Sunday afternoon the foundation-stone of the Brothers' monastery was laid by Father Cummings, who premised the ceremony with a very able apoech, in which he described the advantages of a Christian education, and eulogised the great teaching ability of the Marist Brothers. There was a large concourse of people present. The various religious societies were present upon the platform. After Father Cumaaings' address a collection was made, after which the stone was well and truly laid, in the customary fashiiu. Father Cummings took care to inform any intenlin? thief who might be present that the contents of the traditional bottle were not worth stealing. There were, he said, no coins, but only a few religious medals and some documents in the bottle. As these are not negotiable it is possible that the entombed pickle bottle with its contents will be left to requiescat in pace. The building, which has a concrete foundation, ihas a frontage of 49 feet, with a depth of 35 feet. It stands about fifty feet back from the street. It will be a two storied building and will have a verandah all around. On the ground floor there will be a parlour, a sp cious hall, study, dining-room, kitchen, scullery and 9tore room. On the upper floor there will be the chapel, dormitories, and Superior's room. The architect is Mr Whitelaw, the contractor Mr Hugh Fergusson. Th. accepted tender was for £746, but I imagine the noose when finished will coat considerably more than that. The house when completed will be a handsome and commodious one. Truly, aa Father Cummipgs rrmarkpd, the Brothers have bepn lonsj suffering and patient in uncompl imngly putting up with their uncomfortable lodgirg*, >w that \h>> work is fairly be^un, it ia to be hoped that the peowlii will come forward and emphasise their sympathy with thnr ca^ i • order that the burden of debt may not Ion? hang over the Biotheis' house. The building will be situated between the old presbytery and the school. For some time past the ladies of the parish have been making a vigorous canvass in order to raise as much money as possible before the Brothers' house was commenced. Their efforts have been very successful. They have collected over £300. This sum, with that collected yesterday (£l2 6s), will give a total of more than half the

cost. This is not a bad start. The next best thing will be a good finish. A preacher of a charity eermon once acting npun the principle that brevity is the soul of wit, condensed his discourse very much, bat made it to the point. He told his hearers to remember that they who gave to the poor lent to the Lord, and if they liked the security to down with the dust. The Brothers are poor enough in all conscience to be able to offer the same scriptural security, so it is to be hoped that the faithful of Christchurch will, as soon as possible, 41 down with tbe dust," and lighten the minds of Father Cummings and Brother Joseph by allow. ng no one to have a lien over the house. If Queen's weather prevail on the 24th of May, Father Lemenant will succeed in raking in a few dollars through the medium of the Lancaster Park sports.