Current Topics

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXI, Issue 42, 16 February 1894, Page 1

Current Topics

AT HOME AND ABROAD.

A monastery of the Vincentian Fathers has recently been opened at Aehfleld, near Sydney. The Cardinal Archbishop, who presided on the occasion, made eloquent allusion to the labours and devotion of St Vincent de Paul, among the rest recalling how the Sainl had sent his bods to Ireland when under Oromweilian tyranny the people of that land were pouring oat their lives in loyalty to the throne and their religion. His Eminence gave as the cause for bis anxiety that the Fatbera should come to Sydney, his belief that Australia would be a great stronghold of religion and a great centre of enlightenment and Christian liberty, and that the sons of St Vincent would help in working out thiß destiny. The Cardinal testified also to the labours of the Fathers in other colonies. The Bishop of Maitland likewise spoke in high terms of the merits of the Vinoentian Fathers, whom he said, he had known since he was 10 years old, and to whom he owed a lasting debt aB haviog in a certain sense prepared him for the sacred ministry. The Most Rev Dr Higgins, Auxiliary Bishop of Sydney, supported what the Cardinal Archbishop had said as to the labours of the Fathers in the Australian colonies. He referred to their impendirg departure to give a mission in Wellington — by which within a few days New Zealand would be added te their fisld of missionary labour The Most Rev Dr Delaney, who has recently b3en appointed coadjutor Bishop of Hobart continues to meet everywhere iv Tasmania, with a cordial welcome. la replying, the other day to an address presented to him at Launceston, the Bishop expressed the diffidence he had felt at finding bimsolf appointed as a member of a hierarchy which, like that of the Australian colonies bad always been of such eminence. He also expressed the eonsolatijn experienced by him in being placed under the guidance of the venerable Archbishop Murphy, who, he said even before he set his foot upon Tasmanian Boil, had grown oil in reputation as an Apostolic Bishop and of whose consistent truthfulness to his noble antecedents his present flock were witnesses. Our contemporary the Oiago Daily Times, then, stands self* confessed, an organ of tha Onurch of Eaglaad. " A town," says our contemporary in an editorial note, " becomes a city when it acquires a cathedral, Duuedin has hitherto only been a city by Act of Parliament, which is a very different thing." Our contemporary, as will ba teen, ignores St Joseph's Cithedral, which nevertheless, to say the least of it, remains as conspicuous as St Paul's, even under its advanced conditions, is likely to become. According to our good contemporary, meantime, the city is quite a modern institution. If his doctrine be t*ue, the reign of Henry VIII., at the earliest, was the date at which the city was introduced into England. No Catholic church, as our contemporary implies, is a cathedral, In Catholic England, therefore, there was no city. There ip, besides, a good deal more implied by our contemporary — that, for example, the Church of England is the State Church and tikes precedence of the other Protestant Beets — as well as of the Catholic Church. The claim, in fact, is one that could only be made by a newspaper acknowledging itself the organ of the Church of England, and as such we must in future consider oar contemporary. The wisdom of the Tories, in trying, as they did, to force a dissolution of Parliament on the question of the Home Bale Bill is now apparent. They foresaw what must otherwise be the result, and exerted themselves to prevent it. Their hope was to obtain a majority in the House of Commons, and so keep back the English legislation that mast bring the Lords into a contest with the English masses, Their failure — owing to the firmness of Mr Gladstone and his party, has placed them in an evil plight. Tbe fatuousness of tha Lords could be overcome by no considerations, and they have, to all intents and purposes, run amuck with regard to the Parish Councils Bill. A meeting to be held at Portsmouth, we are told, nnder tbe . auspices of (he Liberal Federation, will begin the popular agitation. ' Where it will eventually end is not very doubtful. Knowing their

ODDS AND ENDS.

Peer?, and knowing the temper of the masses with which they had to deal— no wonder the Tories were at their wits' end. Fortunately the foresight of Mr Gladstone and bis supporters was sufficient for tbt occasion. The Wellington correspondent of the Otago Daily Times reports an intended visit of the Premier to the principal Native centres. The Minister's design ib to bring the Maories over to favourable views with respect to the sale of their lands. The object is one in which the Government deserves support. There is oertainly no more to urge ia favour of a Maori than of a European monopoly— aod neither Native chief nor imported grandee should be allowed to stand in the way of settlement. The compulsory Jsale of land where it is needed for bona Resettlement is a necessity that admits of no contradiction. The Btrong-minded woman continues to find an extreme illustration in the person of Mademoiselle Louise Michel. That interesting specimen of the feminine gender is full of admiration for the feat of Vaillant in the Chamber of Deputies. I' is, she Bays, just what aha herself would do if the occasion demanded and she got th« chance. At the same time, she say a she would not wilfully hurt a fly. Made* moiselle Michel incidentally recalls her incessant firing in 1871— adding that she is a very good shot — from which we may conclude that as a rale she saw that her bullet had founi its billet. On the whole, perhaps, even the cruel urcbin who wilfully pulls the legs and wings off his fly is to be preferred. Aa we might expect, Mademoiselle Michel has no sympathy whatever for religion, She admits the sincerity of Count de Mun, but condemns him as relying on religious legends. What is wanted, t>be says, is *' ihe legend written io blood — the legend of EUvachol and others like him." The strong-minded woman, in short, as we see, is capable of a viy pretty development. The conversion of three more Anglican cleigymen to Catholicism is announced as raising the number of those converted, in consequence of the Lincoln judgment, to 14. It seems natural, indeed, to expect that the decision in question should open the ey> s of sincere men, and show them the falsity of their positio >. The position of the Anglican ritualist, however, includes so mu^.h that is inconsistent and illogical, that the opening of bis eyes should be a difficult matter. That such has taken place in the cases reported is all the more a subject for rejoicing. Our contemporary the Napier Daily Telegraph seems to take a mighty poor view of things in general — and, of course, of some things in particular. Our contemporary, for example, in his istue of the 3rd inst., ex^rps-ses himself in a perfectly Draconian manner with regard to criminals. He fi ids that thera is something to be said for a plan, wbici he recalls, of executing them all, indilariminately and right away. Our con'omporary goes on to deal more especially with those who use foul language — assuring us that, if all the colonists so transgressing wjra sent to gaol, there would not ba accommodation for one out of a thousand. Next, our contemporary belabours the education system of the Cjlony which, he says, is not, and has never been, in a very satisfactory state. He reserves some compliments for the inspector, and winds up by a reference to that question lately thrashed out in the Duaedin dailiei— with regard to some peninsula or another — some place in Ru«tia, if we understand aright, where they get petroleum. But does not our contemporary spell the word wrong f As well as we recollect the heading o! letters in the Dunedin papers had the word "Apsheron," not " Aspheron," as our c >n temporary gives it. That, however, is a minor detail. Apart from all chances of typographical errors— or editorial slips so accounted for — one way may be as good as another of spelling a foreign word that nobody knows how to pionounce, or nteii ever make use of. What we note as worthy of remark in our contemporary's mournful paragraphs, is the testimony borne by him to the moral condition of a population trained in secular schools. He calls them a " foul-tounged multitude." Pessimistic though oar content* porary'o views may be, they are possibly fair enough. One of the smartest tricks we have heard of for some time Is that reported of a certain Evangelical lady engaged in an attempt to turn Catholics in Borne from the error of their ways. The means adopted for this end, we need hardly say, include a moderate expenditure of money. The fee, for example, bestowed at one place of worship on those who attend thtre is one lira each, which, we are told, the starv.

ing Italian who yields to the temptation pockets with the remark, Mt is an ugly trade." To provide for this payment, meantime, or some other of the kind, an Evangelical lady was recently observed offering for sale, at four francß each, tickets for admission to a Macs to b« celebrated by the Pope at St Peter's. On occasions of the kind a certain number of tickets are ibaued free, and of theae the en'erprising Evangelist had managed to monopolise a bundle. How sbe got bold of them is not recorded, but, judging from her method of using them, her Bcruples were not likely to be very keec. Her smartness, nevertheless, deserves a word of wonder. Democracy has plans that seem strangely like those of despotism. The new Press law proposed for France, for example, is of such a kind. Under it the journalist would be liable to arrest on the worn of an official— a juge d'inttruction — and must submit to imprisonment until this judge had read his writings and issued instructions to bring him before a jnry. The judge, therefore, would have arbitrary powers and might keep the writer a prisoner so long as it pleased him. The power, proposed has been aptly compared to that of the fottre de caefcet, by which in old times men were committed to the Butile. It it reported that a prediction of Mazzini's exists, in which it il declared that Signor Crispi will be the last Minister of the Italian monarchy. It is not believed, however, that Mazzini had any intention of figuring as a prophet. The interpretation is that, knowing Signor Crispi, he was aware ot wh*t that etateman's design in accepting office would be, and of the capacity he possessed for successfully carrying out his intention. But with Siggnor Crispi as the successful leader of a coup d'etat or the President of an Italian Republic, the position of the Pope would be most precarious. The Papacy has no worse enemy, or none who has exhibited towards the Pope more inso- J lence or contempt, A sign of the times is a growth of intemperance among the French peasantry. This is not to be understood of an excess in drinking wine, but of dram drinking in a much worse form. The matter has come under the notice of the Catholic hierarchy, who are taking steps to combat it. It is noted as wot thy of remark with respect to the outbreak in Sicily, that Signor Crispi, who is called upon to repress it, is himself a Sicilian, and was the revolutionist who acted as Garibaldi's righthand man in the island. We have already referred to the sufferings that have led to the insurrection of the people. The horrors, indeed, told of the working of children in the mines, are almost too harrowing to repeat. Meantime, measures are proposed for reducing the expense of the army, on which the hope of misgovernment is based, by making the condition of the soldier worse even than it is. Already he is miserably fed, and a reduction in his supply of f<.od is spoken of ac necessary, A peasantry driven by starvation to revolt will be Btiangely kept down by an army in a somewhat similar plight. Bat a Sicilian revolutionist suppressing revolution in Sicily is another inconsistent phenomenon, A very notable letter is ihat written to the Liverpool Catholic Times by the Anglican clergyman who is known as Father Ignatius, and who, under such a title, has long occupied a remarkable and not Very comprehensible place in the Church of England. Father Ignatius recognises and gives tbankß for the work of the Holy Ghost in inspiring the Pope to issue his Encyclical on Holy Scripture. He contrasts with the action of the Pope that of Protestants, including Anglican?, whom, however, he names separately. These, he says, are defaming the Scriptures and doing their u'noost to destroy all faith in them. " Would to God," he exclaims, " that our Archbishop of CanUrbury might follow the Pope's example ! " He adds a complaint that simultaneously with the issue of the Pope's letter the Bampton Lecturer of the English Church issues a fresh attack on Scripture, and another prominent divine suggests that freedom shall be allowed to Anglican clergymen to deny the creeds they are called upon to recite. But cannot Father Ignatius see that Rome is the guardian of the troth, and that, apart from her guidance, there is no surety ? A Pro* ttstant Archbishop of Canterbury can only be a blind leader of the blind, and not seeing the way before him be necessarily moves with timidity. The Pope sees the path and faithfully points it out. Advice given by a prominent divine in America, that is the Ret Charles A. Briggp, D.D., whose difference with the Presbytery has recently occasioned some sensation, varies from the spirit shown by Father Ignatius. It is, neverthelce, much in keeping with the general tone of the more advanced Protestantism. Dr Briggs deals with th« teaching to be given in the Sunday bcooolp, the international lessons for 1894, to be used in most of them. '• They," he says, "cover gronud which, more than any other, cornea into relation wiih modern Biblical criticism." " The lessons for the first half of the year," he explains, " are in the books of Genesis and Exodus ; for the •ccond half of the year in t/>e Gospels. Tnese come in contact with the Lower Criticism, ihe Higher Criticism, Historical Criticism, and Biblical Theology." Dr Briggs thus sums up his opinion as to the nature of the teaching required :— " Those who teach without taking account of modern Biblical criticism teach a mass of material which Will bave to the unlearned in a few years to the accompaniment of

sad and hitter experiences." But bo is the Bible treated in the honse of its frieads, and this is the and arrived at by those who had adopted it as the sole rule of faith. The Higher and the Lower Criticisms, it seems, are considered a higher rule— a rule, in fact, that rules the rule. An American Bishop named Doane, who writes in the North American Review in virulent opposition to all thought of giving State aid to Catholic schools, and who exhibits, besides a general bigotry, a very particular jealousy, is, nevertheless, obliged to bear testimony to the worth of the Catholic Church. He necessarily accuses her of many short-comings. "In epite of these," he says, " she is to every intelligent mind an ancient and venerable portion of the Christian Church, and in her discharge of her ecclesiastical and religious du'iea is to be protected and respected, teaching otber Christians many lessons of devotion, consistency, and courage, which we should do well to learn. Bjsides this she is a factor in the lives of thousands of people, citizens of our country, who ar« kept from evil living by her ministrations and control ; and when we consider the fact that the enormous majority of the crowded poor belong to her communion, that perhaps the most turbulent element in our citizenship owes at least a faint and nominal allegiance to her authority, that without the control of her priesthood, we Bhould be powerless to deal, except by brute force, with great masses of the workingmen of America ; we must certainly be ready to eecure to her every opportunity for doing the legitimate work of a great Christian Church." An anecdote related in the Life of Sir Richard Burton, lately published by his widow, seems to suggest that in training children some heed Bhould be given to the nature of the particular "kids." Otherwise, at least, results seem doubtful. Sir Richard told the following story, the children being three— a girl and two boya :— j " Our father and mother had not much idea of managing their children ; it was like the old tale of the hen that hatched dncklinga. By way of a wholesome and moral lesson of self-command and self-denial our mother took us past the pastry cook's windows, and bade us look at all the good things in the window, during which we fixed our ardent affections upon a tray of apple puffs. Then she said, ' Now, my dears, let us go away, it is so good for little children to restrain themselves.' Upon this we three deviletß turned flashing eyes and burning cheeks upon our moralising mother, broke the windows with our fists, clawed out the tray of apple puffs, and bolted leaving poor mother, a sadder and a wiser woman to pay the damages of her lawless brood's proceedings." M. Rene Bazin, a writer in the Revue des Deux Mondes, who hai lately visited Italy gives a melancholy account of his experiences. Some he found a city disfigured by a vain attempt at modernimtion, and surrounded by a pestilential desert that could not be cultivated, but defied the Italian Government as it had defied the Popes. Of Naples he gives a still more gloomy picture, describing the miser j of the people displaced by the improvements of the town, and deprived of a hovel, as of means of earning even a wretched living. As for the peasantry— the lowlanders are leaving the conntry, and the monntaineers of the Abruzzi, brought down to labonr in their stead on the great estates, are treated as if they were slaves. In the south vast tracts are depopulated. As many as 80,000 men have emigrated thence in one year. As an instance of the condition ot the workmen, M. Bazin gives the case of those engaged at Reggio in distilling bergamot. They go to bed at 5 p.m. ris* at 10 and work all night through until 3 p.m. next day. For this their daily pay is one shilling. Pepper pods dipped in oil, and black bread are their food. Verily great is the hononr due by the Italian people to the memory of Garibaldi. The Thames Star of the 3rd inst, in commenting on a case in which a school master has been discharged for dishonest dealing in connection with the infection of his school expresses an apparently well founded opinion that the whole system of inspection of the public schools is weak. Our contemporary wants to know why it is that " the scholars of oar primary schools Bucceed in passing the fifth and even the aixth standards when they are absolutely ignorant upon matters with which children in the third standard should be thoroughly acquainted." He gives as an instance an examination held in his office of fifteen lads, applicants for a situation, who had gained eithßr Fifth or Sixth Standard certificates— but whose attempt at spelling— even quits common words— was ludicrous. Oar contemporary gives a goodly list of the mistakes made. "We coold, ha conclude?, " give numerous other instances as we have kept the specimens as curios, but these ftw should suffice to convince our readers that there mast be something very radically wrong when Buch lads are turned out of school as the possessors of Fifth or Sixth Standard certificates." " The whole system ot examination," he adds, " appears to be a hollow farce." And this can be said of the famons system on which our Battlers look as capable of placing their children in the van of the educated world. There is, nevtrthelese, much to suggest that the crushing taxation borne by the colony for the purpose is throw! away. Even in the " three R's " the scholars seem deficient.

Great are the exigencies of a particular Hoe in politics. Our contemporary the Otago Daily Times, for example, finds himself obligtd to play the part of the woman famed in story as sticking, even to death, to her assertion that it was a pair of scissors and not a knife that had made a certain cnt. In going down for tte third and last time in the pond into which her angry husband had flung her, she put up her hand and made, with her linger and tnumb, the eigu of cutting with scissors. Our contemporary the Otago Daily 'limei feebly, though possibly not finally, repeats in effect that the return of the population to New Zealand is not to be attributed to the merite of the present Government, but to the foresight of the late Sir Harry Atkinson, who had predicted that so it would be. Sir Harry Atkinson, nevertheless, not, however, we admif, with the malice that made Nero fiddle while Rome was burning, jested at an exodua cmuged by bad government, for which ne himae'f wac, in a great part, accountable. The return that the Daily Times is forced to recognise is a consequence, not of Sir Harry's prediction, but of a better and more promising state of thingß. It may be all very well for a foolish woman to drown with an obstinate cry at the end of her fiogers, but a sensible editor should know better than that.