END OF THE SESSION.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XIX, Issue 51, 25 September 1891, Page 17

END OF THE SESSION.

suppose the present session of Parliament will be brought to a close in a few days. People will ask themselves what has been the result of this session, and we fear the answer will be — very little indeed. The present session will oe remarkable for the numerous attempts made to enact fads and foolish theories ; and the failures to do so in consequence of the wise and firm attitude of the Legislative Council. No doubt an effort will be made to extract political influence from these failures, and the country will be stumped by orators invoking the vengeance of the peoplo on the heads of the Legislative Councillors, because they have stood between faddists and the interests of the people, which these faddists Were endeavouring to wreck. It is evident Ministers are sulky because they have failed to have their own way as regards freeholds and the one man vote, and have abandoned two of the Bills rather than allow freeholds, and a property qualification in the franchise. As soon as the country fully understands the import of this silly policy, sympathy for the present Ministry will become, we fancy, very cold. There can be no doubt, we think, that every man in the country who really understands anything about political and social questions will ask, What does the Ministry mean ? Is it that for the future no one is to be allowed to settle as a freeholder on public lands, and that the possession of property is to be a positive disqualification for the exercise of the franchise. The country will never approve of such a policy as this, and if it did the well-being of the country would soon come to an end. There is a wide difference between handing over tens of thousands of acres to individuals or syndicates and pc mitting cultivators to have freeholds of moderate quantities of land, and also a wide difference between forbidding men from having a voice^in the legislation of the country and forbidding freeholders to vote. It does seem very unwise at this time of the day to declare, by legislation, that the men of the past have been fools and robbers, and that a penniless scamp shall possess the same voting power as the most experienced, wisest, and most virtuous men in the State. These propositions need only to be stated in plain, distinct terms to carry with them the approbation of all reasonable men. We Catholics have a special grievance against the present Parliament during the present session. A Bill was brought in having for its object to give us and some others an instalment of justice on the education question, and it was rejected by a considerable majority. Parliament, which is supposed to represent the country and to act justly as between man and man and class and class, thinks it consistent with justice and sound policy to insult religion and perpetuate the plunder of eighty or ninety thousand of its citizens — thinks it fair^ just, and reputable to take the money of Catholics, paid for purposes of education, and spend it on godless schools, to the injury and disobliging of the very men who pay it. This is an extraordinary state of things, of which Parliament as such is not ashamed. It is only in a demoralised democracy that such injustice and tyranny could be possible in the nineteenth century. England — even England with her monarchy

and aristocracy — would blush to think herself capable of such injustice and meanness. We are glad, however, to perceive that it is not all utter darkness, and that a glimmer of light begins to appear. The haughty and obstinate attitude with which Mr Edwards has been treated seems to undergo a little change for the better. Ministers are to consider whether some help should not be given him to defend himself before the Privy Council. Well, this is something, and is showing some deference to public opinion, which certainly does not sanction the treatment to which he has been subjected. But Ministers Would do still better were they to compensate him for the losses he has sustained in consequence of their action in his regard.

Mr J. R. Cox M.P., arrived at Wellington from Auckland on the morning of the 16th inst., and was received by Dr. Cahill and some other gentlemen. On Saturday evening he delivered a lecture in aid of the evicted tenants. The Hon. Dr. Grace presided and he and the Hon. Mr Buckley headed the subscription list, each with a handsome donation. Among the prizes in the Dominican Nuns art-union, which are not mentioned on the tickets, we may notice especially a handsome and valuable musical toy presented by Messrs C. Begg and Co.; an occasional chair, exquisitely worked in beads and wool, and representing, on the back, King David playing the harp, and on the seat a ruined «bbey with a bridge and river ; and a beautiful cosy richly ornatnunted with poonah painting. There are also some others, each being of considerable value, and in every instance the prize is worth the price of many tickets. No shabby or inferior article is included in the list: WE record with deep regret the death of Miss Katie O'Driscoll, daughter of our esteemed fellow colonist, Mr Thomas O'Driscoll, of Timaru, which occurred, after a fortnight's illness, on Tuesday, the 15th inst, in the twentieth year of her age. Deceased, at her own request, had accompanied a favourite teacher last Christmas from the Convent of the Sacred Heart at Timaru, where she was at school, to the house of the Order at Roeebay, near Sydney. She was making good progress in completing her studies, and was expected to return home at the end of the year. The body has been laid in the cemetery of the convent — the first to be buried there. Mr and Mrs O'DrißColl have the sympathy of many friends in their affliction.— R.I.P, The arrival at Rome of a large pilgrimage of French workingmen is announced: The pilgrims thanked the Pope for his late encyclical, and in replying his Holiness repeated his warning againßt Socialism ; A r STATB of uneasiness and mutual distrust still seems to characterise European Governments. It is difficult to see how there can be any other outcome than war. A statement that may have something of a particularly sinister signification for these colonies is to the effect that the Russian and French fleets will take no part in a demonstration to be made in Chinese waters by the fleets of England, Italy, Germany, and the United States. If this points at a disposition oa tho part of France and liussia to include China in their alliance, we canuot afford to be indifferent to it. China, thanks to the ill-judged assistance of England, possesses rather a strong naval force, and its joining in an attack on these colonies wonld be •an additional feature by no means desirable. Patriotism necessarily obliges us to believe that the Britigh fleet, more particularly with the aid of the ships recently arrived at Sydney, is sufficient for all possible requirements. Still an ungrounded sentiment of security may bo worse than one of groundless alarm. "We may hope that all this big and bitter talk will pass away without results, but blustering and mutual defiance among fully armed and well prepared peoples cannot be regarded as tending to preserve the peace, especially when they appear to become more aggravated every day. THE Rome correspondent of the Pilot of August 15, writes a 9 follows :— One journal of some authority, L'Orient, makes out that the travels of tua Emperor William at the preseat moment in Protestant countries have as their chief object to sustain the King of Italy and to prevent that the Conclave shall be held outside of Rome, by refusing to recognise a Pope who would not be an Italian I In such a case he would be prevented from entering the Vatican and placed under tho surveillance of the Catholic nation?. When one calls to mind the events surrounding the election of Leo XIII:, and how a conspiracy had been formed by Bismarck, Cnspi, and others, to create if possible confusion in tho Church, one may well expect that Borne attempt will ba made to interfere with the liberty of the future — may it be a distant future— Conclave- "

Mb JohnDeasy, M.P., was married on Wednesday morning, (says the Irish Catholic of August 8\ in Newbridge, to Miss Tynan, of Carlo w. The ceremony was performed by Ray. Father Tynan, nncle of the bride.

We take the following paragraph from the Rome correspondence of the Pilot of August 8 :— " After half a century of sarvice to the students of the Irish Cillc^o at Home, the Moat Rev Tobias Kirby, titular Archbishop of JTphesua, aal rector of that institution, resigns his rectorship. Mgr Kirby is well known, not only in Rome, where he has lived so many years, but to every Irish visitor, lay or ecclesiastic, who has come for many years past to tbe Eternal City from Ireland, America, Africa, or Australia. In every possible case he has striven to render the visits of his fellow-countrymen to Rome profitable to them, spiritually and intellectually. Now, after lengthened service, he resigns his position, feeling that the weight of years presses heavily upon him. A fellow-stndent of Leo XIII in college, he is five years older than the Pontiff. Whenever he visited the Vatican, it was evident to all that the Pope had not forgotten the friend of hi 9 youth, and, a few years ngo, Leo XIII had too essay written in college by Mgr Kirby, in a compatition in which the future Pontiff was victorious, printed at his expense, considering that Mgr. Kirby's production deserved permanence and publication. The aged rector will be succeeded, for the time being, by the Rev Michael Kelly, who has the respect of Mgr. Kirby and the esteem and affection of the students. Tho retired rector will continue to live at the Irish College."

" Mbs Besant and Colonel Olcott," says tie Liverpool Catholic Times, " have just been holding forth, with the object of ' booming ' Theosophy. The Society, they tell us, has now one hundred and twenty-five branches in India, fifty-three in the United States, thirty .three in Europe, twenty-two in Ceylon, seven in Australia, and three in the West Indies. It has resolved to divide the ashes of Madame Blavatsky into three parts, and to deposit one of these at Madras, another in London, and the third in New York."-^lt would appear, then, that it is not only the Catholic community who venerate relicp. Whether the divided remains of Madame Blavatsky will be the cause of a miracle, or even the third part of one, at any of tho favoured centres, remains to be seen.

A certain Herr Beyschlag (says the Liverpool Cztlwlic Times), a leading member of the Prussian Evangelical League, has dealt the memory of Db'llinger a hard blow. At the instance of the late Herr Lutz, Prime Minister of Bavaria, Eollinger, a little while before his death, drew up a document showing that the Redemptorists are, as an Order, entirely different from the Jesuits, and that the decree expelling them might very Bafely and properly be revoked. Such was the mot d'ordre of the authorities at the time. Herr Beyschlag publishes a letter from the same Lutz to Dol'inger, dated the 4th September* 1889, in which the Prime Minister reminds the schismatical divine that in the days of the Kulturkampf he discovered a perfect affinity between the Redemptorists and Jesuits. Lufz, thinking the hour had come for a volte face, urged Dollinger to pave the way, and Doilinger obeyed as a pliant tool. If, then, we are to believe Herr Beyschlag, the unhappy Dollinger was nothing more or less than a time-server.

The Phoenix biscuits and confectionery stand at the top of the list, and the Pfaoeaix jams and preserves are in their own way by no means inferior to them. The goods supplied by the City Boot Palace continue to meet with general approval. Cheapness combined with excellence of quality ia the rule of the establishment. Messrs A. and T. Inglis George St. Dunedin, are now offering their bargain-parcels, which claim special attention. A trial is all thatis needed to ensure the complete satisfaction of purchasers. Mr R. Dunne, Rosa's Buildings, Octagon, Dunedio, is always prepared to execute in first clans syle all cooitnissions entrusted to him by amaturs or artists in picture framing, drawing boards or easels, and other matters connected with the trade. Mr D. Dawson, Exchange Court, Dunedm, may be consulted with advantage by all those who are interested in the repair of clocks o r watches, or in renewing or altering their jewellery. As a practica tradesman he is thoroughly efficient. 1 Misses A. and E. Watkins, 62 Princes St. should be callea on by ladies desirous of having their children neatly and fashionably dressed. Ladies will alßo find their own wants in several respects well provided for by the firm. Mrs Dreaver, George St. , Dunedin, invites ladies to inspect her stock especially provided for summer wear. The most fashionable taste cannot fail to be satitfied by these good?. I In these countries we are greatly astonished when we hear that a man or woman has paFsed beyond the age of a hundred in the possession cf physical health and full mental powers. But such phenomena are altogether thrown into the shade by the news that aman who is not only a contenarian, but, in addition, an octogenarian, that ia to say one hundred and eighty years old, is alive and well at the present moment. The announcement of the existence of this marvellous being, strange to say, does not come from the United States, the land or wonders, but from the Eepublic of San Salvador. He lives in Bogota and his name is Miguel Solis. His age is said to be well attested by various documents. He always takes cold food and fasts twice a month, and to this regimen he attributes his extraordinary longevity,