DUNEDIN CATHOLIC LITERARY SOCIETY.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XX, Issue 44, 19 August 1892, Page 20

DUNEDIN CATHOLIC LITERARY SOCIETY.

The usual weekly meeting of the above Society was held on Wednesday evening, August 10. The president (Father Lynch) occupied the chair. Ihe attendance of members was g:>od. Father Murphy was present during the evening. Mr J. J. Connor read a paper on the " Early Days of the Australian Goldfieldp." The essayist prefaced hie remarks by referring to the benefits to be derived from literary and. debating societies. Ho congratulated the members on having such a nourishing association in their midst and urged on th"tn to make good use of their time* The gold, Mr Connor went on to say, was discovered ia Australia in 1851. The excitement which ensued on the first gold discovery becoming known among the colonists was intense. Men of every age and calling and even children were intoxicated with the prevailing excitement. At that time fortunes in many cases were made in a few hours and men were known to go raving mad on suddenly becoming possessed of fabulous wealth. Naturally as the result of the immense amount of gold found in Australia the men who were fortunate on the goldfields gave themselves up to every kind of excess and indulgence. Thefmarveilous richness of the ground often enabled vast numbers of these men to renew their fortunes, but the time came when this was more difficult to do, aad it was a commoa spectacle to sse men working as scavengers who a short time previously had been masters of immense fortunes. He said the great rush to Mount Alexandra and Forest Creek took place in the earliest history of thu goldfields, and shortly afterwards the famous Bendigo was discovered. Then followed a whole catalogue of discoveries, all proving themselves to contain wonderful deposits. So great was the excitement about tuis time that the city of Melbourne was almost deserted by its population. However, in the midst of all this wealth, gome who had j abandoned their business in the city were miserably disappointed. He said in the famous Golden perhaps the richest field opened up in Australia— the gold was found on the surface of the ground. About this time licences had to be taken out by diggers for the privilege of searching for gold, aad many are the stories told about tho miners in their efforts to evado it. Mr Connor related an incident that happened in 3ippsland when he and his partners followed the surveyers through that place. He also pointed out the danger there was for young Catholic men who cut the silken bonds of family unioD, and went to eeek their fortuues on the diggings. Knee he came to New Zealand aU his old macs had become rich men, as shortly after he left Australia very wonderful finds toDk place. The lecturer succeadel in keeping the members interested, and appropriate anecdotes and recitations were interspersed throughout. Mr James Eager, in moving a vote of thanks to Mr Connor for his excellent contribution, was Btruckwith the lacid manner in which the paper was written. He derived much benefit from it, and w£s sure the members appreciated it. Mr P. Hally seconded the vote of thanks and expressed the pleasure with which he listened to the preface of the paper. As a rule young meu do not realise the benefit of being members of debating societiea. Messrs Fergueson, Kennedy and Mooaey also spoke to the motion , which was carried uminmously. Father Lynch, in conveying the vote of thanks to Mr Connor, referred to the pleasing manner ia which the subject was treate i, and the easy style in which it was written. He taanked him for the excellent advice cont.ined in the paper, and expressed a hope that Mr Connor would favour the members agun with another contribution. Mr Connor thanked the members for their kind feeling and complimentary remaiks, and said bojs coming from the Christian Brothers' schools bad the foundation for a good education, and the beet way to build on it was to join a society such as the one he waj addressing. Messrs Mooney and Hally contributed readings dm ing the evening. The usual compliment to the chairman terminated the meeting. Mr P. Hally's paper—" The Catholic Church and its relation to Socialism "—will be read and commented on on August 24. It was decided to have a debate in a short time, when the subj ct " Should Home Kule be granted to Scotland " will be discussed. Mr H. F. Mooney will take the aflhmative and Mr P. Halley the negative 6ide of the question.