KING DAVID'S FRIEND.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XIX, Issue 51, 25 September 1891, Page 23

KING DAVID'S FRIEND.

♦■ (Walter BESiNT, m S nFrinci-co Sunday Call.) UHAI'IKIi I.

" Havk you got your letters by this mail, Lonsd. n / " " No, I t.aven'l, my sjn. I never do get any let'ers. 1 have left off expecting letters." His churn, wl.o was a now armal, looked surprised. " Why, man, I haveibeen here fifteen years — think of that 1 think of that. Fifteen years. It I weie a coolie, deal an 1 buiie 1 fifteen ytars ago, my gr<i\e trodden lev^l with ihe ground, I couldn't be more forgotten. ' '' But you've got frkn'is at home. You must have ptople " "I have. There's my elder brother, the liig — I've got !lm Aud thi re sre cousins by the d< zens, first anJ second, ami second once lemoved. And I bai a father, but he i 3 <l.:al , pooi o\l rrmi 1 Fnerda? Plenty of fiiuuds. As for friendships— well. But once I had a true fneml. We outdi i David and Jonathan. So farad I kno>v, David never — but, lien, Jonathan died j o rig, and, periapt, there were y ascage«. Ours was a divine, an ideal fuendahip — no two friends were more s>; because jou tee m t c Lighi r plums of friendth p what one gives the other h;s gut to accept. The world doeßu't understand this, fur there :s po fr eudship in basing, fu.d we are most y business mi v ; theiefure there are no fnendj." " 1 dint understand. " "No more do I now. It w. s magnificent, but it wa-^n'i business Well, as I sari, I had a tiuo fiitnd once— a ruoic than pal, a cloher than brothir. Where is that tiu" fru-nd now ? ' " When you go home igain " " lJhever shall tro home a n '«in, son^v. This i-j my home. "Vei} thaukfu'l 1 uu^ht to be to \ aye such a home. What mo rwi ■> mm deeiie ? From ten tv four the h . Ithful labuin of ( hi> uilic . Hon.e to this elegant ratiriinou atfi/e. A stroll un thu shore til ! 1 1 - 1 > * - fix or :o. Dinmr — the fiacst thmer m the .voil 1, wA \ thu '>^t claret in the world. No promotion, <_VL j n to pgitate thj i '.'."

" You will get promotion some day. You must. Oh, it is shameful." " You will, my boy. As for me, what does it mattei ? I draw two hundred rupees a month. 1 am a junior in the Audit Office. We live in this agreeable mansion of three rooma and a verandah. Its walla :ri made of packing cases, and its roof is made of the tin which formula lined ihoao casts. II ia auuouuded by a lovely compound containing three ragged bananas and a prickly pear, and it is furnished sumptuously. Behold ! Style, Second Empire, for the most part." The speaker, a man with a countenance still ruddy spite of his tropical experience, and a big brown beard, a large-limbed man, lay back in his chair, and replaced bis pipe between his lips. He Bpoke bitterly, but his face was not bitter, and his eyeß were as kindly as fuiy Silver KiDg or Lord of Nitrate boom could be. The other was a young man of one and twenty, just beginning his career in the same splendid service which had taken away the elder man's youth. The united resources of this mess were Blender ; and when the rent of twenty rupees a month had been paid, and the wages of their one servant and the dhobie aud the claret (which was dear at sixpence the bottle) and the whiskey and the stringy beef and skinny chicken which graced their board, there was really very little left for the minor luxuries. Yet, in la^ds where twice a year there falls no shude on i\t>y side of rock or hou=e, the minor luxuries are lo most the fcimplsst necessities. Ouo th ■ two sides of t ie room were two small bedrooms ; in each, a bed, a mjtquito-curtain, an arm-wire, a chair and a washi'and. The room in front opened upon a small verandah. " Well, my boy," Longden went on, " you shall have better luck ; you Bluill get promoted early ; you shall leave me and mess with other promoti >ns ; chief clerk presently, in your department ; acting head of a depaitment ; senr off to some other co.ony aj head ; Colonial Secretary sumewnere else ; Lieutenant Governor, C.M.O. ; Governor K.C.M.G. Heart up, sonny. The world is -11 b fore you." The younger mm was a little disconctrted at this outburst; when one is twenty it is hard to unierstand that a man of five and thirty, winch seems an age so ndvaoce i, and a man woo has " stuck " in his upward flight, and one whj is iuvanably cheerful ami apparently content' d, should ever have had ambitions. Lun^den'd case was Tti' re arc plenty of. sbady Eiiglistmi n who git takt n ou in the colony in obscure branches of the Go\ernrm nt seivieea witu nevi l v eh nice or a hope of promotion, 1 but for a young mao to be actually sent out by the Colonial Office at tie age uf twenty to begn, as he should, vu'h his foot on the lowest rung, and then be left there, is not com aon. After fifteen years he remained a juni >r in his department ; he drew, it is true, two hundred nnl forty pounds ,i year, or double his original pay, but he had been passed by all his cuntemp and now remained stuck fast, apparently f jrgotttn. It w^s said that there was some scandal about him which no d in the way of his promotion — something he had done. What that wai did not take a defiuite form. Heie, however, was the f -ct. An English gen lem in of g)od t imily, left in the lower brave! es of tli ■ cAo aal s rvice, five and thiity years <f age pij«M sped of every qaali*"y 'hat ahuu'.u ommau'l succ's 1 . What did it mean ? 1 ! tu' ( 's b >mc n.ws ir> th ' Comtnticial special," sa 1 the young fillow. "Wi ve s,ot a n'W Uj'.Ltnor. Hi com '3 oat next mail. Htie's the- [ ap r." He teased it over. Thmc was a iialf cjlumu has'ily printed with a summary of the month. L ngikn glmcel i own the paragraphs. Suddeuly le c t >ppcd, sit up and dropped the paper. '■ Good Loid 1 " he cne i . '' Wnat is it ? " adki'd his compir.ion. L)ng!en sprang to his dc l , thou ha s'epped out upon the little ver.tn ''»h bef jie the c )tt u>e an 1 h • ;i;i to walk up an 1 down with aa eiii'igi worthy of his native land i i ai tast wind. P f e--ently Longden cam ■ bmk an 1 ;ook. up the piper and read slowly a s cond time the piMgriph th it ha Ijt irtled 1 lm. "Sir Heiny O.vrston Da ik Id, K. J.K, \> t'lo u'wU uppoi'i •>. 1 G ivernor. St iitnr> Uunk Id, the elde-i. bou ul Ma jo uetal Dunkeld, K.A., wag elucatdat Iriaity (!■ l'e^e, Carabnu^ , where la obtained a firs -cla^s and a fellowship ;n h> } r 187.3. JIo was called to tliJ bar in 1877. II « i 1 m i-11 nu .f Jjamm for *l.c borough of Ches'er on the Coi.seiv.i ivo •-vie Lorn IS7D to ISS2. IL) km then appointo i L (juten.int-Uovi raoi uf Pe'iang. In I SB I he was made Giv riii rof the L^u.Vii'l lalan Is. fc?i r Henry is beii'vel to possess great administrative ahiliius. He v personally popular. He is said to joss '^a gn-at charm of nuni r, <nd his sympathies with any religions nd puiltntr 'pic tv iveimnt are wt-11 known." " Good Lonl ! " &ai 1 !,o. gden, o'ic ■ mere. "Anl lan assistant elt ik in his audi, office. chapter ii Us steppetl out agivi upon the veiauda, Th ■ a a bre< z ■ had -pi a '/ up ; th mi was it frctiud ; he drew a lo'-f; breath and looked w\' i to the daiki tss. U:s memory went biek seventeen years. A niorL.nij came back to him ; he saw what happened, not as he caw it

then, an actor on the scene, but as be saw it now from the outside, he as the audience. Tbe actors were two spectres of the past, young men both ; the face of one was radiant, hia eyes and cheeks flushed, his lip trembling. The other was also flushed, but his eyes were dropped, his head hung, his voice faltered. 41 Jack," he murmured, " I cannot let you do it. No friend can expect such a thing of another." h f Wb y." said Jack-Longden's name, in fact, was Jack, but it wls fifteen years since he bad been called by his Christian name, and he had almost forgotten it—" Why, man, what's the good of being friends if we can't stand by each other. Look here, it's a terribls mess." "It is, indeed. To me it is ruin— everything— everything is lost' including— including— Eva. Good God ! Who is to tell her ? " " Well, Harry, sooner than Eva should suffer— sooner than you should suffer— l would suffer myself. Now, lock here— l've done this thing— you know-not you at all— not you at all." He laid his hand upon his friend's. 11 No, no— l cannot. Think of the consequences " " There will be a bit of a shindy. I dare say it will blow over. My prig of an elder brother will groan and say he always knew— but you will be happy, old man, and-and so— what is the use of being friends, and sworn friends, too, if we are not to bear the burdens of each other ?" The other protested, but weakly and with tears and self-accusa-tions ;it was 100 great a sacrifice. He had been a fool and a wretch ; he must take the consequences. Tnen Jack remarked that there was another person to consider, namely, a certain Eva. Above all things she was to be kept from the unhappiness which would fall upon her if sbe knew. Then the other man gave way. But he made a condition-so much grace was left to him. He sat down and be wrote at a headlong speed a certain little narrative. This he signed, dated, read through, folded, and gave to his friend, ° Jack," he said, " I will accept your sacrifice on one condition. Here is a complete confession of the whole business. Take it. Do what you like with it. If you suffer from the consequences, reveal it ; lam altogether in your hands. If at any time in the future you can advance yourself by means of that paper, use it. You have the right to use it." 11 He certainly said that," murmured the audience. "He said it and I have the paper still, and he is Governor and I am a junior in his Audit Office." Then ha looked again and he saw a girl. She turned her eyes from one to the other in astonishment. A very beautiful girl she was. At the sight of her the audience caught his breath. 11 Why," she said, " what is the matter with you both ?" " Eva," cried the man, whose burden was to be transferred, bnt said no more. " Eva," said Jack, •• I am sorfy you have come at this moment • but you may aa well hear the truth at ooce." ' « Truth ? What truth ?" She looked quickly, not at Jack, but at the other. "The truth is," said Jack, « that a very disgraceful thing has been found out and that one of us is going to say good-bye- most 4ikely for ever.' ' <( What is it, Harry ?" She caught him by th« arm. 41 Why do you look like this ?" -'Because he is my friend, Eva. I have shamed him. It is I who have done this disgraceful thing, You had better go now both of " Yes, he said that," murmured tbe audience. And they went away and left the guilty man. And there was an end of everything. The guilty man folded the confession, and placed it in bis pocketbook. Well," he said, "I would hay« done more than that for Evas Bake, not to B peak of Harry. I don't suppose she will ever know hat I have done it or why. Now we must face the footlights. The scene disappeared, and the black night returned: Longden was on the verandab again looking out into the darkness ; he heard the gentle lapping of the water on the coral reef and the knell of the bell-buoy toiling oat at B ea beyond the harbour ; and the filhaos mourned and sighed ia the fresh sea-breeze. wJZ 68 '" w?^ gd u eD| <<he was £i g hteeQ and he believed in friendship. What did the other man believe in ? " And he remembered how the thing which he had assumed was really a much more serious thing than he had believed-in fact a thing which stains, a thing which will not wash off ; a thing for which he was immediately sent home to hi 3 father who refused to receive him ; for which, in fact, he waa bundled off to a small clerkship in a dyant colony, with no farewella except from his elder brother, tW prig, who informed him that it was never too late to build up a new character on the ruins of one which bad been destroyed. " When Jonathan died," Longden murmured, «■ David wept and lamented. Suppose Jonathan had disappeared in disgrace only to be recovered when David was king over Israel."

He went to bif room and to his bed in the dark. But he ilept little, and when be awoke in the morning it wu with an uneasy sense of haying become King David, and of having found his old friend Jonathan adding up the accounts in the chief steward's chamber, and of being embarrassed by the discovery. CHAPTER III* The monotony of life praised so highly was rudely broken by this strange event. The colony was bo limited as to eiee, tbe officials so few in number, that the Governor would certainly know something about svery one in the service. There was not the least doubt but King David would discover Jonathan. Henry Overston Dankeld, king, wonld discover his old friend, John Lorimer Longden, among the scribes of the palace. What would the king say ? Would he call for s purple robe, and wrap it round that scribe and send him forth upon a white horse richly caparisoned, with a trumpeter proclaiming the honours done by order of tne king 1 Or should Jonathan begin it i Should he bow himself down upon the ground saying, #l O king, live forever, I am Jonathan, friend of the youth, and I am held down in low estate by reason of a certain thing V How would that do f Longden pondered the subject long and doubtf ally. What would happen 1 As for the confession he had it still. The paper lay among other papers in a desk. There was a letter from his father casting him off ; one from his brother preaching a funeral sermon as to a condemned criminal. There w«s a portrait of a girl— the> Era for whose sake his friend had consented ; there was another ot his friend himself, a gallant youth, and some letters from thatfriend r written before the fatal transfer— none after ; and some verses written in praise of Eva, dancing—they were after Herrick. "If at any time in the future you can advance yourself by using that paper, use it." The words returned agaio and again. How should he oh it ? He might place the paper in the bands of the Governor and leave the matter to him. He might go to him and say : "I am yow old friend. We know what we know, but we trust each other. What I have done, I have done." So thinking, his heart grew soft to that old friend ; he Baid to himself that he must have suffered from thinking of what had been done ; but that for Eva's sake— doubtless now his wife- the thing was well done. He would do it again whatever happened. With the rest of the world, with the Acting Governor, the Bishop. tbe Colonel Commandant, the Legislative Council, and the heads of department, he went down to the quay—he did not stand with these illustrious persons, but well behind them in the crowd— to receive the Governor. *wmto His Excellency Sir Henry Dunkeld, K.0.M.G., came ashore in the Harbourmaster's launch, with an awning and crew of six sto«t negroes. He was accompanitd by his wife, his daughter, a child of ten, his daughter's governess, and his aid-de«camp. Oh, yes ; Jack Longden knew him at once. And Lady Dankeld too— Eva, of course. Then he had married Eva. There she was' and after seventeen years a lovely woman still. Of course he would have recognised her, too, at once. His heart became very soft watch' ing these old frienda of his you^h. His Excellency drew near. Jack leaned forward a little an 4 lifted his hat, not with the idea of catching his eyes at all j bat the Governor saw him— saw him-and he stopped suddenly, turned white "It is nothing," he said, recovering quickly. " Thfl heart— a sudden faintness. Let us go on." The procession went on. But the Governor looked back once more into the crowd. For he had setn, after seventeen years' standing among the common people, the old friend of his youth, by whose act and deed he himself was what he was and where he was. •" He recognised me," said Jonathan, striding away. "He caught my eye and he knew me. I saw him change colour and stop Strange meeting after so many yeara 1 He will send for me tomorrow, and we shall have a talk. Of course he will trust me still. Should I send him that paper ? I think not." So while the new Governor entertained the Legislative Council mnn iJTif- ' ° d^ T*. "" ? dinner in his Cabin and contentedly ZZ ! i C £ me l« beef . his sour claret and water and congratulated himself on the beauty and the happiness of the wife for whose sake he had taken this burden upon himSSf. In the mom! lh!;Tn e ?v, V??* "S the landing aad the recognition, he understood that in the latter there was surprise or dismay, terror-but not a Kd Ja; ' ceaßed t0 feel qaite 80 warml7 toward hia old ( Concluded in our nexf).

t f no 7 el *y of ***** mechanism is a real horse race in the theatre Leaning back in his comfortable box seat, the Parisian playgoer can now witness a contest between horses ridden by expert iockevs The races take place on the etage. The horaes must, of necessity, remain pretty much in the same pace all the time. The race effect ia given by strong rolla of endless matting, which are made to undtr the stage. When the movement commences the horses are forced to move their feet to maintain their footing. They are gradually urged into a full gallop by the jockeys. Behind them is a ?i. P \ noram ' ° f the LoD & chai apß racecourse, and to the spectators tha horses appear to cover the course from start to finish,

(Continued from page 7 ) earnest thankfulness, that God and our Blessed Lady have been pleased to restore you to health and strength, and brought yon back in safety to take np the arduous duties of our Episcopate. During your long abssnce, it has been with greatest pleasure we heard from time to time, from your respected Vicar-General, the Very Bey. B. Cummin gs, S.M., of yoar movements amongst the great cities of the c^'and new world, and we recognise that your ostensible object of seeking renewed hoalth was made subßerv ient to the promotion of the spiritual welfare of your diocese. We can but faintly imagine what must have been your Lordship's delight and pleasure at tho gracious reception acoorded to you by his Holiness on yoar visit ad limina apottolorum, and at the receipt of the kindly mark of his approval in the beautiful gift he bestowed upon you. How true it is, your Lordship, that the Catholic heart ever beats with loyalty and devotion to the illustrious occupant of the pontifical chair, but never more. so than it does now to the gifted and learned Leo XIII., a true pontifex maximut, whose voice is now heard penetrating every nook and corner of this great world, making every heart throb with gratitude and thankfulness for tbe noble Encyclical Latter, that gives the true solution to the vast problem of the labour question, which is now agitating the human mind, and it is to us a great gratification that the aims and objects of the society, we have the honour to belong, to fulfil in its entirety the conditions the Holy Father has been pleased to lay down for tbe institutions of societies which he commends to the fostering care of His venerable prelacy throughout the world, as one of the means to the solution of this great problem in this age of scepticism and indiflerentism, when the powers of the evil one seem to be uniting and concentrating to wrest from the fold of the one true church, her children and young men. Catholic socities thus sustained must be a powerful means tv protect and preserve them. It has also been your Lordship's happy lot to visit tbe dear land of cur birth— Erin " The first flower of the e%rtb, The first gem of tbe sea," the one spot that our hearts cling to with almost as passionate love and devotion as it does to our Holy Faith. Our faith and nationality are indeed inseparable. Your Lordship, in conclusion, we place ourselves at your feet and humbly beg your blessing, assuring you of our earnest deeire to meet your approval and support— Wo are, etc., James Curtain, President, W. O'Bhaughneßsy, Secretary, St. Patrick's branch, Christchurch ; Samuel Haughey, James Murphy, St. John's, Leeston ; T. J. Boebuck, J. Duncan, St. Patrick's, Bangiora. Addreßs from the members of the Canterbury Catholic Liteiary Society, to tbe Bight Bey J. J. Grimes, S.M., D.D., Bishop of Chript. chuich :— "My Lord— We, tbe members of the Canteibury Catholic Literary Society, joj fully avail ourselves of this opportunity to offer our heartfelt congratulations to your Lordship on your safe return to your See and on your perfect restoration to hsalth. We have from time to time gladly received intelligence of tbe efforts you hae« been making to , advance the spiritual needs of your devoted children in this far distant diocese, and knowing the great interest your Lordship has always taken in our society, wa bail with delight your presence again amongst us after your prolonged absence. It is with pleasure we have to inform your Lordship of our continued and steady progress. Not alone have we maintained the posit ioa we were in at your departure but we have added considerably to our members and to our means of instruction and amusement. The sociity is established for the purpose of promoting the spiritual and mental improvement of its members by means of its library and of evening meetings, at which lectures, debates, reading?, games and other suitable entertainments are provided. It would not be juit on our part to conclude ! this brief address without making special mention of the great assiitance which we have received from our devoted chaplain, the Bey Father Marnane and oar distinguished president, Mr W. B. Perceval. Permit us to tender your Lordship a hearty welcome on your safe arrival amongst us, and asking yoar Lordgbip's blessing on our society. We beg to subscribe ourselves on behalf of the society, your devoted children— E. O'Connor, B. P. C larkson, John C. Chase, vice-presidents. E. M. Carr, hon. sec, Christchurcb, 17 September, 1891." On Friday morning bis Lordship Dr Grimes, accompanied by the Very Bey Administrator and several prießts, paid a visit to the Marist Brothers' school, where he was received by the Bey Brother Joseph and presented with tbe following address : — 14 My Lord,— Words but feebly express tbe happiness we feel on seeing you in our midst once more and tendering your Lordship a most cordial welcome. During your absei.ee we have besought God Almighty to restore your Lordship's health and to send you safely y back to your affectionate and Borrowing children. In your return we recognise the realisation of our hopes. We desire to express our appreciation of the interest your Lordship evioced in our welfare and kind remembrance at a time when so many important duties engaged your whole attention. We tender your Lordship the expression of oar respectful homage, and we fervently pray that God

may blesß you with many years of faithful eervioi amoagst your devoted flock. Begging your Lordship's blessing." A programme of musio and recitations was then gone through in a very creditable manner, after which Dr Grimes feelingly replied and ended in giving the school a holiday. Ho then visited the convent schools, where the following address was refcd by Miss Nellie McEvedy :— "My Lord,— lt is with feelings of deepest love and reverence that we cordially welcome your Lordship and tender you our sincere congratulations on yoar restoration to health and safe return to you diocese. Dnring your absence we have not been unmindful of our duty towards you. Faithful to our promise, we have daily sung the ' Aye Maris Stella,' and besought Almighty God, through the intercession of our Blessed Mother, to bring yon safely through the perils of land and sea. We pray that you may be long spared to guide us and beg yonr Lordsbip'd blessing." Miss lea then presented him on behalf of the pupils with a Boman mitre of cloth of gold embroidered with gold and silver ropurl. The crosses are of raised work with imitation of preoioua stones, rubies, emeralds and brilliants, the rays of real gold spangles. All the materials wert purchased in Lyons, France. The design is of ivy sprays gracefully bending towards the centre cross. It has been both designed and worked by the Sisters of Notre Dime des Missions and presenttd to His Lordship by the boarders and high school pupils who subscribed towards the materials. The mitre is enclosed in a box beautifully padded and lined with moii£. His Lordship's crest on the lid cf the box is also hand printed by the Sisters: The pupils address is on porcelain written in church text on a shield beautifully illuminated and set in a frame of olivt green plusb. His Lordship's coat of arms is paintsd on vellum which is inserted in the frame work. The address from the Children of Mary is in the same Btyle but differs in the design which is a Ecroll and floral painting. In the afternoon Hia Lordship accompanied by many of the clergy attended an entertainment which was given in his honour by the boarders at the Convent school: The room was well filled by the parents aud friends of tbe pupils. The programme was divided into two parts ; tbe first being an historical drama dealing with the troublous times of Queen Elizabeth, entitled " Isabel de Lisle," tbe latter consisting of selections from the oratorio-cantata which hap been composed in honour of the proto-martyr of Oceania, the Blessed Peter Chanel. The staging of the drama waß excellent, and many of the scenes were extremely pretty, whilst the dresses of the perform srs were triumphs of the milliners' art and gave the audience an excellent idea of the fashions prevailing among tbe fair daughters of England during the days of " good Queen Bess." In consequence of the number of lady performers and difficulty in reading the small print of the programme*, it wes not easy to follow very closely the parts of the various young artisa ; therefore, any criticism of their acting would be scarcely fair. Tbe whole was good throughout and reflected much credit on tbe good Sisters for the excellent training of their pupils, whose enunciation was exceedingly clear, and who were thoroughly well up iq the text, not having made a stumble from bsginning to end. A few of them even distinguished themselves by a more than average appreciation of the historical characters whom they represented. In tbe intervals between the acts musical selections were rendered by tbe pupils In a manner which displayed the excallence of their edu* cation in this particular branch. It is perhaps invidious to make distinction where all were good, but I may be permitted to make special mention of Miss M. Loader, who saema to have a faculty for excelling in everything — piano, harp, organ, or on the stage. The second part, consisting of tbe oratorio-cantata, was sung excellently, and tbe musical accompaniment played in first-class Btyle. The whole wound up with a tableau vivanl representing the Blessed Peter Chanel rising upwards to heaven accompanied by angels, and in the distance natives of those islands for whom he had given bis life. It was certainly one of the prettiest tableaux that I have ever seen, an opinion wbich was not confined to me alone. At the conclusion his Lordship thanked tfce performers and complimented them on the excellence of tbe entertainment, wbich had impressed him more than any similar one be had ever seen. Many persons, including diatiDguißbed members of tbe episcopacy, were very much opposed to the stage, but if plays were put on and acted in the manner of that one they had now witnessed, he did not see tbe slightest barm in it. la conclusion, he asked that tbe pupils might be allowed to take their Qsual holidays, beginning that day instead of waiting until the customary time. Sjlemn High Mass, coram epitcopo, was sung at eleven o'clock at the pro-Cathedral on Sunday, the music being Haydn's Imperial (No 3), with instrumental accompaniment. Tbe Very Bey Father Cummings was celebrant, Bey Father Bell deacon, and Bey Father Marnane sub deacon ; Bey Fathers Aubrey and Goutenoire assisted at the throne. The Bey Father Bell, 8.M., preached an impressive sermon from the gospel of the day to a very large congregation. At vespers there was an immense congregation, when his Lord* ship preached from the text, " Thou art Peter, and upon this rook

I will build my Church." Before commencing his discourse be took occasion to thank bis people, both clergy and laity, for what they had done in hit absence, and also for the reception they had accorded him; He also spoke of what he had done for the benefit of the dioceM during his stay in Europe. He bad brought ont one priest, who bad great experience in mission work at Home, anl had made arrangement! for others to follow in a short time. He bad also made effort! to Mcore the services of some of the Marist Brothers to take Charge of the schools in other pirts of the diocese, bat in consequence of the numerous requests made for assistance on that Order and the high appreciation of their success as teachers, he was not able to get as many as be required. His Lordship then spoke on the question of education. The training of children he considered to be the greatest responsibility of the ruler of a diocese, and he bad deter* mined to leave no means an ried for giving a sound Catholic education to the children of bis flock, for on this depended their position as good members of the family, the State, and the Church. He mentioned that he had very much at heart the establishment of a seminary for educating students for the priesthood. At present he had not his plans fully matured, but when be saw his way clear he would lay his ideas before bis people. He referred to the good work done at Mount Magdala, where there are 74 penitents under the care of 14 Sisters, which he had visited on the previous day, and where he was entertained with a programme of songs of welcome and a cantata. He hoped that the day would come when an enlightment Government would assist institutions of this kind, which had done so much in helping the State to perform its functions. His Lordship then preached briefly on the foregoing text, showing how Peter was selected for the first Head of the Church, and the promise made by our Lord that the gates of Hell should not prevail against it, which was as true to-day as it was two thousand years ago when it waß uttered. Tnese words were spoken to a poor, nneducated, uncouth fisherman, a lump of clay, the very dregs of society. People then laughed at such a prophecy, but their presence there that night was one of the proofs of the fulfilment of the words of our Divine Lord. He then spoke of the present occupant of the Obair of Peter, whom he designated the grand old man of the Vatican, and before pronouncing the Papal Benediction he hoped that if there were any non-Catholics present they would not refuse to receive the blessing of His Holiness. A child would ask the blessing of its parent and he himself would gladly receive the blessing of a good and venerable old man, no matter what bis religious opinions were. In like maner, he hoped those who were not of his faith would not refuse the blessing of bis Holiness.