Current Topics AT HOME AND ABROAD.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXI, Issue 45, 9 March 1894, Page 1

Current Topics AT HOME AND ABROAD.

At the time at which we write there seems to be no longer any doubt that Mr Gladstone is on the point of resigning, or has actnally resigned hia place as Prime Minister. The infirmity of old age takiDg the shape principally of a failure of the eyes and the formation of cataract, has led to the step in question. So terminates, in a manner that must command the sympathy of every true-hearted man, a career whose record will remain an ornament upon the brightest page of the country's history, and which adds in no light degree to its glory. Mr Gladstone, however, though he resigns the PremierBbip, will continue to bold office— and necessarily there is no thought of his retiring from Parliament. The question, meantime, is, who is to replace him? Lord Bosebery is spoken of— has, indeed, been spoken of (or some time, but the advanced members of the Liberal Party have entered an objection against the leadership of a Prime Minister who is not a member of the House of Commons. The strife before the Party, moreover, now embraces an attack upon tha House of Lords, and there is the utmost need that it should be strongly and wisely led. Mr Gladstone, himself, has sounded the note of the onslaught. In accepting the amendments made by the Lords to the Parish Councils Bill, be declared that the measure had been mutilated and destroyed. He accepted it only, he said, lest the last national work done by the Government should be totally lost. The time had come, he added, when, after 50 years patient endurance of it, the mischievous influence of the Dpper Chamber must be brought to an end. The declaration, as a matter of course, hap been met with a shout of defiance. Mr Balfour and Lord Randolph Churchill have been foremost in lifting, with contemptuous security, the gauntlet thrown down. The country, they p*otes% has confidence in the Peers, and recognises them as of untold usefulness in the past and of absolute necessity for the future. And it is natural thnt the Lords should over-rate the position that they hold in the ey< s of the people. As an instance of the false view taken of the situation by their supporters and most probibly by themselves, we may, in passing, refer to what followed Mr G'adstone'e speech at Edinburgh on their rejection of the Home Rule Bill. His denunciations, it was claimed, had fallen flat, because the struggle whs not immediately taken up by the whole conntry, arisen hotly iv arms They f >rgot that an agieement hal been come to that a time was now to be set apart for English legislation. They overlooked the f»ct that the action towards this legislation of the Peers, which had been clearly foreseen, would be necessary to arouse the English people — as distinct from the people of Bcotland, Wales and Ireland — to a full seme of what they had to deal with in the Upper Chamber. In any caae, however, it is natural that the Peer should mistake his p sition. The saying that an Englishman dearly loves a lord has become proverbial. A title commands among Englishmen a respect that it is hard to account for, and that has no foundation in reason. In this regard the most matter of fact and prosaic of peoples reaches an extreme of mawkish sentimentality. If, indeed, we accept the matter as a homage paid to the past, in may seam in some way comprehensible. If the nobility betaken as representing the great old traditions of the country, well aod goo 1. la that light no one can refuse them the homage paid. As a matter of facr, however, they represent at least their vast maj >rity— notning of the kind. The heirs of the time-honoured ho»*es have died ouf, and their places are filled by men who have no descent outside the pages o^the " Peerage." The whole *ff air, in a word, is " make-believe." Yet by this sham, even taken individually, the ordinary English mi ad is dazzled. The relief is that the sensible Englishman probably keeps this romance of bis for social occasions. What, fortunately, seems doubtful i?, that, when there is a question of things of greater importance, when be takes calm council with himself and perceives the weal or woe of the country and the nation to be at stake, he will be equally humble or complaisant. This, then, is perhaps a po-nt on which the nobility build in vaio. They are used to social obsequiousness, to bowing and •craping and flattering attentions, and they possibly rely too much on

WHO SUCCEEDS ?

such demonstrations, not perceiving that wbeie the stem realities of life are concerne 1 they can ha?e no weight. The Lord?, nevertheless, have a very real power in their oossession. They have the power of enormous wealth, which is aim ist omnipotent. Thare are besides in their favour the strength gained from immemorial station and the dislike to and suspicion of radical change that is a common churacteristic of sensible and moderate people. To make little of the forces to be encountered is not a wise step on entering a conflict, and in attackiog the House of Lords it must be admitted that there is a massive fortress to aorm and capture. The question, therefore, as to who ii to succeed Mr Gladstone is ons of great importance. The old chief* tain retires on the verge of a contest no less momentous than the moßt notable of those that were ably led and valiantly won by him. It is little wander if we inquire with anxiety who is to take hit place ?

GBEA.T PRETENBIOKB

Thebe was a meeting on the proposed by-law in prevention of sreet-preachiog in Dunedin on Friday evening. The " unco quid " were there in great number?, thongh not altogether unmixed. At least we should say that Sir Robert Stout, who was present, and who, as usual, counted for a good many, was hardly to be reckoned one, or any other number, of such pious folk. Every one seemed to say what was expected of him, and no one said anything very startling. The Rev Mr Gibb explained that what he had lately stated concerning Dunedin was qai'e true, but that he had not meant to say that Dunedin was worse than any other city, and that no doubt may be a source of consolation for our citizens. Sodom And Gomorrha perhaps would have been justified in holding up their heads if it were admitted that Admah, Zeboim, and Zjar were as bad as they were. Sir Robert Stout, as a matter of course, had something beyond the dimensions of the present to deal with. His stupendous mind, as usual, expanded to embrace what was universal. Sir Robert expressed a fear lest some one should be baulked in bit mission who bad a message to deliver to the world. How wonld it be, he asked in dismay, if someone who had a message to deliver to the world could not get a hall in which to speak it out? The question is momentous beyond even the repe'iticn of echo, and necesearily saddles the Ci f y Coaacil with an awful responsibility. But that comes of having to do with a seer of Sir Robert Stout's penetrating view. Who but one whose eye was fixed on the man* the giant, of the future could discern, a raeesmger to the world perched on a tub in the snadow of Cargill's monument. And could not Sir R >bert also if he would give us a foretaste of the message? Wby, meantime, does Sir Robert throw a doubt on the present proprietors and trustees of our citr halls? Surely tbeee gentlemen might rightfully disclaim any desire to stand between the world and its reception of its message. A descent from the consideration of a message to the world to the mere question of temperance, eeeme, in some degree, to border on bathos; but we are not unused to that where Sir Robert Utout is concerned. A man, however high may be his mental stature, cannot be always on the mountain top, but must drop down occasionally to the level of his surroundings. In short, we mast admit that Sir Robert Stout, appearing at leist to advocate a bawling of temper* ance charlatans at the street corners, was pretty wjII in his right place, as, always having power tj oh)ose a better, be has chosen it for himself. Mr A. O. Beg< made usa of an argument whose pertinence is not quite plain. Street-preaching, be said in effect, had been permitted at the time of the gold rush, when people arrived here from Australia in great numbers ; but now, when the town wai law-abidiDg, an attempt was made to prevent it. What ? Compare the time when the ungodly were coming in raw, within the reach, for the first time in their lives, of the gospel, with the present, when, for ever so many yearp, the preachers nave bad them at their meroy. Mr A. C. Begg was either mucking bis audienoe or making light of the power of the " unaided Word." Again, Mr Begg made a oom* parison that, if not exactly new, teemed, nnder the ciro^mstances particularly suggestive. He compared the tflorts of the opponents of temperance to " the feeble attempts made by Mr* Partington to sweep back the tide of the Atlantic with ber broom." The comparison, we admit, is appropriate. The Atlantic tide against Mrs Partiogtoo ; cold water against the tipplers. But surely Mr Begg

will let them have their cold water fresh, It would not be altogether ont of keeping with what we understand of the gentleman's deposition, nevertheless, if he were to insist on salting it for their use. Finally, the Rev Mr Saandera quoted Mazzini as an exponent of liberty. The rev gentleman held out for breaking the by-law if it were passed. «« They were only asking for liberty," he said, "and Mazrini said liberty was permission to do what was right "—that is what Mazzini thought right, the assassination, for example, of people whom he desired to remove. Street-preaching, baaed on the tenet 8 ot Mtzzini, notwithstanding Mr Saunders' explanation that he did not intend to advocate anarchy, might undoubtedly lead, if not quite to the deliverance of a message to the world, to something of a lively nature. In the connection alluded to the message to the world has long lince been delivered, and not without sinister effects. Who it was that sent the message and commissioned the messengers we need hardly say. Let us hope that our street-preachcre, if they gain their point, may have a less malignant inspiration.

A ROMANTIC PAJPER.

The paper of which some weeks ago the cable brought as news as having been read by Miss Shaw at the Colonial Institute, reads something like a fairy tale of the future. A land, not flowing, indeed, with milk and honey, but rich in gold and precious stones, covered in the North with sugar-plantations and rice-fields and all the rich productions of the tropics, and, in the South, clad with vineyards that yield wine.B of the rarest and finest kinds— a nobly democratic South and an aristocratic North. Miss Shaw, nevertheless, does not reckon her aristocrat as necessarily a man of birth. On the contrary, he is to be a development of the white workingman raised to the higher etate by the acquisition of property and the need of employing coloured labour. Miss Shaw looks to th« developments of history to bring this about in spite of all the powers that now stud against it, including the labour party— with whiob, by the way, history has only now come in contact, aad of whose effect upon it there is as yet no experience. Experience, however, counts for little to Miss Shaw. When these developments have come to paw, she says, limits can scarcely ba set to the addition that will be made to the wealth of the world — wealth, she tells as— that is, we conclude, wealth hidden in the soil — or are we to read for " modern " future?— is the distinctively modern characteristic of Australia. The picture is certainly An inviting one, and we can well understand the cheers with which the fair reader was every now and than Applauded. We can understand them all the better since we are told that Miss Shaw excels sb a reader, and, on this occasion, read " with many elocutionary graces," also that ehe looked remarkably nice " in « black dress setting off her good figure." Her theme, however, was vsry engaging, and it is impossible to avoid the wiab that it may prove true. We are not so besottedly attached to democratic notions as to take offence at the idea of an aristocratic colony benevolently and with mutual benefit employing a community of coloured labourers. The worst of it ia that it all seems so very far away in a distant future. Why, in fact, has not greater progress been made towards its fulfilment? All these rich capabilities of Northern Australia were known and boasted of a quarter of a century ago. There was talk then of their development by means of coloured labour, and an attempt at a beginning had been made. The white labourer was there too, to acquire property — if he could — and therewith the qualities to make of him an aristocrat. Why, then, has progress delayed so long, or what prospect is there that a true beginning ia now at leDgth about to be made ? Why is the white labourer still • landless person, swearing at every thought of an aristocracy, and looking upon the coloured man not as bis servant but as his rival, and the cause of bia complete impoverishment ? Why, in short, are the developments of nietory so slow? Nay, why does history develop, as in this case, if Miss Shaw be right it must, in a course different altogether from that in which it haß set out 1 Miss Shaw, moreover, has discovered ancestors for the "future rustic" of Australia— that have hardly been visible to the naked eye of every one who has had experience of that country. " The work* man who is determined to beter his condition and to leave his family in a happier position than that to which be himsslf wa9 born, but who does not intend to cease to be a workman ; and the gentleman who is prepared to accept manual labour, but who does not intend for that to cease to be a gentleman." With these individuals Miss Shaw seems to have teen intimate, and she found in them tbe " foundations of a very valuaole s iciety of tbe future." How many weeks altogether, by the way, was the young lady in the colonies, and how many years were those of us who are old settlers here before we bean to leave off being " new chums " and to understand the surroundngs? Another notable discovery made by Mise Shaw during her hurried flight through the country was that tbeie.was a want of young unmarTied women. Consequently the recommends that girls should accompany their brothers who emigrate :— " Many and many an English girl who, unlrss she marries, has no other prospect at home than to be a governess or a telegraph clerk would, I believe, be glad to go out under the safe guardianship of her brother, sharing his hardships, mitigating tbe first loneliness of the great wrencb, which is tbe cause

perhaps of more of the recklessness of yoang Englishmen abroad than has ever been admitted, and taking her part in that moat entertaining of natural interest?, the creation of a home." Bat it ib only f&ir to warn the English girl that the home will be created for her brother's wife, and that the probabilities are that she will remain a maiden aunt. Yoang unmarried women, indeed 1 As if the colonies were not chock fall of them— and of others coming on to take their p'aceß when they are elderly and old unmarried women. Are we not all crjing out— What on earth are we to do with oar girls ? Here Misß Shaw's romancing takes a mischievous turn. Bat as we have said, we c«n understand the cheers that at frequent interrals accompanied Alias Shaw's reading. Her tale bore some traces of the I' Arabian Nights— and was very interesting to those who favour imaginative productions. Colonial magnates also who were present were " tickled " by the importance conferred personally upon them— and possibly the treatment of the theme tended towards the promotion of some of tbeir speculations, directly financial, or relating to the coloured labour question, or to something else by which an honest penny could be turned. And then, we say again, Mies Shaw read very well and looked very nice. Everything present, in a word, combined to make the occasion agreeable, and, if plain and prosaic matter of fact was absent, its want helped towarrs the general effect.

A WORD TOR OURSELVES.

We do not care to blow oar own trumpet. It would, however, be a vain affectation on onr part were we to refrain from echoing a trumpet blown in oar favour, and in whose blast we find encouragement and renewed vigour. We are proud, therefore, to quote the following passages from the letter of a rev subscriber in another colony, which has just been received by us :— "By all meani continue to send me your valuable and ably conducted paper. Its admirable defence of everything Catholic and able advocacy of religious education, aad, in fact, of everything affecting the social and material advancement of the Irish in New Zealand entitles your paper to the support of every Irishman worthy of the name. I hope its circulation will continue to increase among Catholics whose grievances on education it so brilliantly and consistently voices. The amount of good it has done, and will continne to do, can be estimated only by the incalculable amount of harm done by virulent antiCatholic and anti-Irish papers which are so extensively supported and read by Catholics. Trusting your valuable paper will be more generously supported and more extensively read.— l remain, etc." We quote this letter for our readers in New Zealand, because we believe that it will please them to find their sentiments shared by a competent witness beyond the boundaries. We quote it also in order to impress upon them the desirableness of their giving us their aid in carrying out the kind aspirations of our rev correspondent. It would be vain for us to appeal directly to those who are not our subscribers. They would not ccc our appeal, and consequently we could expect no response from them. To those, however, who do take our paper, we appeal for the aid they can give as by laying oar claims before their non-subscribing friends, and pleading our cause with them— the cause, moreover, of religion, of Catholic education, and of justice towards and a fair understanding of matters connected with Ireland and her people. We have abundant thanks and gratitude for those who have so long supported us. They have placed us under obligations of which we are very sensible. At the same time, on the testimony of a reliable witness, as may be seen, we are authorised in asserting that we, in turn, have deserved well of them. We have al\ through kept in view the object for which the N.Z. Tablet was founded— that, namely of the defence of faith and fatherland, and the promotion, so far as possible, of the interests— spiritual first, but then temporal— of Catholic and IrJßh settlers. We have held steadily on from the first without faltering, and our rev correspondent furnishes our readers with a teat by which they may prove the results achieved by as. That a good deal more support might be accorded to us by the Catholics of the Colony, meantime, is undeniable, and, if the importance of a Catholic newspaper— nay, the absolute necessity for its publication were more widely realiied', our circulation would be largely increased. To argue this point,' however, would be a waste of argument. Those whom it would be necessary to convince, as we have said, would not be at hand to hear. Our hope, therefore, we say again, lies in those who are our readers' and in the efforts they may make in aid of us amoßg their Catholic friends and neighbours. Let them^ake aB a theme those words of our rev correspondent :— "The amount or good it (the Tablet) has done, and will continue to do, can be estimated only by the incalculable amouot of barm done by virnlent anti-Catholic and ami-Irian papers, which are so extensively supported and read by Catholics." Surely, we nesd suggest to no intelligent man the plea to be based on these words. We relj-, therefore, on our readers to make, on our behalf, the best of them. In conclusion, wa have to return onr sincere thanks to our rev correspondent for the good example he has ( set our readers, and the very important assistance he has given us.

ODDS AMD ENDS

Among the more auspicious events of the season not the least has been the opening of another section of the Midland railway. The terminus ia now at Jackson's, where a train from Hokitika arrived on Friday. The occasion, it need hardly be said, was onf of great rejoicing. The preeenoe of several visitors from Australia was betides hailed as a happy earnest of the future. Tht Hon. Mr. Ward, who was the chief speaker at a luncheon giveD, and who had come with the Australian delegates to the Poital Convention, in three of Mr Cassidy's coaches, predicted great things as to tbe prMpectt of the West Coast. Even when its alluvial gold was exhausted, h« Mid, the Coast woald see do evil days. With much valuable land, enormous timber and mineral resources, and with a certainty of 20 tourists instead of one as now, there was prosperity before it. Meantime we congratulate our West Ooast friends on tbe advance that has been completed. We hail with great pleasure an event that has practically brought them into a closer neighbourhood with up, Ws heartily second the aspiration of one of the ■peakers that the Premier and the Hon Mr McKenzie will do all in their power to remove the obstructions to the completion of the line. The appointment of Lord Bosebery as the successor of Mr Gladstone gives tbe Statesman in question and all that concerns him a very particular interest for us. A sketch of his character, therefore, which we have found] in a recent number of the Revve des Deux Monde* seeing to the purpose. The writer represents him as being all things to all men : — He is very pleasiug to the Queen ; be is not less sympathetic to Mr John Burns. The extreme members of tbe workingmen'i party have confidence in him, as going to the very end of tbe people's demands. Has he not had himself suspected of socialism—a thing that was still very fashionable some six months ago? He it— what is mighty funny— Lord Salisbury's candidate for the headship of the Liberal Party when Mr Gladstone is no longer there, and— what is still funnier — it is probable that the Liberals will accept Lord Saliibury's candidate. What other Minister would they have pardoned, aa they have him, for tbs fall-back from Bangkok,

One of the Irish judges has recently m»de an expression of perfectly abominable sentiments. Such an utterance ia glaringly inconsistent with the spirit of the tinoeß. Alluding tbe other day to a case tried by him at Ktlrueh in which a girl had been prosecuted for obtaining finery otherwise than by direct payment. " Women," said his Honour, " are the ruin of the country. Nothing pleases women nowadays but these extraordinary fashions, compiising parasolp, corsets, petticoatp, feathere, and all this ludncous beadgear which brings ruin on pareuts and husbands " What can our fair reaiers think of the condition of their sisters in Ireland, forced as they are to live within earshot of a ju ige like ihat t A traveller named Lummis who has recently published a book describing his experience among tbe ladians of New Mtxico, tells a shocking ta'e of practises existing among tbe Pueblo Indians, by which the Passion of the Saviour is h >rribly caricatured. Church and State combine in an attempt to pieveut them. "The Order/ says the writer, " which ten years ago numbeied thousands, and had a branch in every village, has now dwindled down to a handful of associates, and its public processions were in 1888 held in only three towns of the territory. . . . The iden'ity of the Brothers, from fear of tbe condemnation of the ecclesiastic >1 authorities, is kept a profound secret, and their heads and faces are shrouded in a hood or sack. Tbeir flagellations pdvately administered every Friday in Lent, and publicly in tbe processions in Holy week, culminate on Good Friday in a representation of the Crucifixion carried oat with such realism tbat the death of Ibe victims is by no means rare." " These deluded fanatics," adds the writer, " so far from beiog men of good live?, are principally habitual criminals who think by these Lenten exercises to expiate the sins of the whole year'" The case seems to touch on that of the devils who believe aad tremble. The Rev John 3. Vaughaa in the Dublin Review tor January, quotes the researches of a Spanish savant, the Augustinian Father H. del Val, as showing from independent sources the accuracy and historical value of the Mosaic writings. Father del Val says that there is nothing wonderful ia the fact that no reference is found in the records or monuments of the a^e to the plagnes of Egypt, at,

in accrediting him with the advantages and beauties of the bufferState 1 The other day he bad only to show himself to put an end to tbe coal strike, which was thought interminable — bat of which, in reality, the Government, the Prese, the public, tbe owners, the miners — everyone, in short, was tired. His is something of the luck of Pompey, who was called Great for hiving put tbe finishing touch to tbe victories of other men. la Parliament, he has a right to say anything. No one tries to return bis blows. They take him with a kind of tenderness, '• Dear little fellow 1 bow straight he strikes t how strong he strikes 1 what spirit he has!" Tbe dear little fellow is nearly forty-five years old. No matter, Lord R>Bebery is a "young Minister." Some men know bow to keep all the privileges of the spoiled child till their first grey hair comes. The writer, nevertheless, ascribes to Lord Hosebery admirable qualities — intelligence, talent, information, exceptional culture, enduring yontbfulnesa — all that completely equips the man and the Peer. The want he seems to suggest is, however, a great one— that, namely, of earnestness— or even of sincerity.

The election of Canon Keller as dlgnhsimus by the clergy of the diocese of Cloyne, in tbeir nomination of candidates for tbe vacant Bee, has caused some indignation in certain quarters, It is pointed oat that Canon Keller was somewhat too closely identified with the National movement ; and, indeed, few of us have forgotten his imprisonment for taking the part of the tenants on the Ponsonby estate. It is pointed out, therefore, that it would be very highly appreciated if tbe Pope would set aside the choice made by the clergy, and appoint either of the other two ecclesiastics named, or what wonld be still better, if his Holiness would pass over all three. and make an independent appointment. The determination of certain parties to interfere between Borne and Ireland, is, in fact, irrepressible. The right, nevertheless, of a people to protest against the appointment of a Bishop displeasing to them, was acknowledged a short time ago fey Cardinal fiampolla in the case of Malta. We may be convinced tbat tbe Pope will make no exception of an Irish diocew.

with one exception, they were not of* supernatural kind, but only ordinary and not unfrequent events miraculously multiplied and intensified. The one exception is the death of the first-born, and of this the writer speaks as follows :— " We learn that, on Min-Phtak'a death, soon after these evils hai come upon the country, he was not succeeded by bis eldest but by his second son. This is especially worthy of notice, since archaeological history stales that the eldMt son of this monarch had been already associated with him on the throne of Egypt even in his father's life-lime. In fact, a colossal statue preserved in the Mußeutn of Berlin represents Pharaoh Mm Phtab accompanied by bit first born, who bears, like his father, the royal insignia with this inscription— Repa Seps associated with the throne. How is it that this royal son, wbo BhareJ the kingly powtr with his father during his life-time should, on his father's death, bare resigned it in favour of his younger brother? Arcb geological science has been unable to assign any reason whatsoever. For a Incid [ explanation we must turn to tbe author of Exodus. Moses has left it on record in the following passage :—": — " And it came to pass at midnight the Lord slew every first-born in the land of Egypt, from tbe first-born of Pharaoh, who sat oa his throne, nnto the first-born of ihe captive woman tbit was in the prison, and all the first-born of cattl", (XII 29)." For our own part, we should like to ask Father del Val whether silence concerning all the other plagues might no be explained by the silence maintained concerning that adduced f If archie >1, gy has nothing to tell of this remarkable death, may we not rationally cone ude that silence, for some special reaton, was enjoited on the annalists of tbe time, the disasters being possibly regarded as disgraceful to tbe reigning bouse ? Oar conjecture, how* ever, we give for what it is worth. We see, meantime, bow tbe directions regarding the manner in which the so-called " Higher Criticism " should be met, lately issued ia tbe Pope's Encyclical, had been anticipated by the Spanish savant. A French correspondent of the London Times acquaints ns with tbe character of tbe Sofas of *horn we have recently beard as coming into conflict with English and French troops in West Africa. They are bands of marauders, we are told, subject to a potentate named

Bamory, who commands the right bank of the Niger. They are recruited from all the tribes in the regions round about- their practice being, when a town or district is conquered, to enlist all the men belonging to it who are fit for their purposes. The others are sold as ■laves. The correspondent ia question compares them to the desper. ado« of medi»val times :— " They represent, indeed, nothing else than those bands of maiauders, mercenaries, and rollers who devastated Europs before the 16th century, and under pretext of religious wars pillaged and killed Papists and Huguenots alike. Foreigners belonging to no country, they dashed impetuously along the high-roads, Bowing terror and desolation— pitiless conqoerors. . . . Religion Msuredly counts for nothing in the calculations of these terrible conqaerers. They are Mussulmans, it is true, but very lukewarm ; in none of th« villages through which we passed bad the mosque remained standing. Nevertheless the Sofa chiefs feel certain hypocrisies incumbent upon them. They do not omit the morning and evening salaams, and when anyone oilers them a gla<s of rum or absinthe in public they decline it with horrified gestures, but it is to aik for it with all the more insistance in secret— under a pretext of sicknesi, or for their horse, which ' has the colic '! " " Such," concludes the correspondent, " are the black reiters whom the English soldiers are about to fight on the borders of Sierra Leone. They have perpetrated the same crimes on the territory of this colony as in French territory, and they are about to be unearthed by the Eng nh troops with the same energy that oar Senegal troops have displayed against them. That is a piece of intelligence which can only be received with the greatest satisfaction alike in France, ia Senegal, and in the French Soudan. England will have deserved well of civilisation and of humanity when, in her turn, she shall have rid the regions of the Upper Niger of this scourge which ruins them." A writer in the Dublin Review who reviews a book recently published, entitled " The Australian Commonwealth," writes as follows referring to the godless schools:-" We remark that the secular instruction is supposed to include general religious teaching aa distinguished from dogmatic or polemical theology. We should much like to know how much actual Christianity tbat 'general religious teaching' represents." Why, of course, none at all. Not a single morsel.

The Sydney Bulletin has been dealing with the education question. Here is a sample of our gay contemporary's arguments :— " As earth comes before Heaven, the State must have first call on the citizen. It aims to make him a good man while he lives, and the Church has quite enough to do to make him a good angel when he dies If the Boman Catholic Hierarchy would only accept this logical theory of the division of labour, the citizen would make the best of both worlds, which is admittedly the object of both religion and philosophy." There is, nevertheless, nothing logic il in the matter. Our flippant friend argues from false premises, and bis conditions aho are necessarily false. This stuff, however, though more foolish in expres•ion, is as sound and sensible as the arguments to a similar effect urged in graver quarters.

This year, 1894, occurs the golden jubilee of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. It was fifty years ago, in the year 1844, that the Apostleship of Prayer, by which the devotion has been spread abroad all over the world, was founded in the Jesuit College of Vals ia France. " Working energetically under the ' Aoostlesbip ' there are at the present moment," says the Irish Messenger, " 51,437 ' Local Centres,' and 43 •Central National Directorates,' of which 16 are situated in Europe, 4 in Asia, 4 in Oceamca, 2 in Africa, 6 in North America, and 11 in South America. The whole work is hallowed with the special bles■ings of the Holy See, urgently recommended by our Holy Father L«o XIII , enriched with endless indulgences, guarded by a Cardinal Protector in Borne, directed by a Director-General, arid approved by the Bishops of the Universal Caurch."

The crime of infanticide, of which also we have recently heard a good deal from Melbourne, appears to be universal among English speaking communities at the present day. A letter under date January 5 from the Anglican Dean of Cape Town, published in the Cape limes, gives a shocking account of things in the colony referred to. The Dean quotes the testimony lately given officially by the Medical Officer of He. lth, from which the Cape Time* hal inferred that, of numerous deaths of infants recorded, infanticide was probably the explanation. "At tbiß Cbristmastide," adds the Dean, " the hearts of most of our fellow-citiz>ns yearn for the joys of young children, and thrill with profound pity for the woes uf the little ones. I am verily persuaded that besides and beyond the horrible revelation of the appalling percentage of known and recorded infantile deaths there are scores of babes born whose births are concealed, and whose deaths are not revealed. Magistrates, policemen, medical men, nurses, midwives, undertakers, Dight men, and many others conld prove whether lam right or wrong. When tho sea gives up its dead when the earth yields up her slain, thousands upon thousands of murdered holy innocents shall arise from hidden graves, and I feel bum that a frightful percentage of slaughtered babes is going on in our near neighbourhood,"

We learn from our excellent contemporary, the W.A. Record, tb*t theCbristian Brothers have arrive! in Penh. On Wednesday afternoon, January 31, the Most Rev Dr Gibney blessed and handed over their college to them. His Lordstnp informed those present that he had handed the place over entirely to the Brothers and was no longer the owner of it. He was sure he echoed the sentiments of all present in wishing success to the new undertaking, and he was confident that the Brothers would not disappoint their most Banguine expectations. He referred to the fact that it would be three years on the morrow that St Bridget's was first opened with only 13 children and placed under patronage of the Patroness of Ireland. To-dny the Sisteri have an attendance of nearly 300 childreD, and the school obtained the highest merit grant at the recent Government examinations. The Rev Bro T. A. O'Brien thanked his LordBhip and all present for their attendance. He would thank bis Lordship ia a special manner for having attended to giv* his own blessing, and the blessing of the Holy Church to the good work which they were about to start, and he hoped that at somt not distant date, the Brothers would prove themselves worthy of some small share of the many kind things said of them by hia Lordship and the gentlemen who had Bpoken. He referred to the successes of the Brothers elsewhere, and hoped that in the near futnre their new establishment ia this rising city of Perth, would add new laurels to the successes of the Institute to which it was his privilege to belong

Our contemporary the Wellington Press has changed hands and sides. Our contemporary is now going in for everything connected with the people, who are to profit immensely by its snpport and advocacy. Some room for improvement there undoubtedly was in oar contemporary. Let us hopa it bids fair to be well supplied.

But it would seem that there is division among the " unco quid," themselves concerning this matter— that is, street preaching in Dunedin. The Gospel, it would appear, preached or sung on Sunday by the Rev Mr Ready outside the City Hall, is not in harmony with the Gospel similarly treated by the Rev Mr Floyd inside the hall- Hence Mr Floyd calls out and denounces the crying in, the streets an a " nuisance." What then can we expect of the common mob or even of the City Council ? Men of celestial minds themselves hare ears to be offended by the preaching of the " Word." What would you have of the ungodly 1

The row at the capping ceremonies every year in Dunedin has, we learn, cost £50. That is the figure by which the difference was split the other day at the meeting in Dunedin of the University Senate. The extremes mentioned were respectively £80 and £20 but the decision of the ChancelLr was quoted as £50. Meantime the row in ;the Senate was probably a matter of love and not of money. It began with Professor Sale who accused Dr Salmond of doing something which we were not permitted completely to hear. Dr Salmond, in fact flared up at onca and (aid he didn't, but that it was a concoction of Professor Sales own " conscience." That, we conclude, is the latest philosophy of the lie. It proceeds from the conscience. Dr Fitchett attempted to intervene as a peace maker— nobly taking the blame on his own shoulders. Bat it was in vain. Dr Salmood again dared Professor Sale to repeat his remark in public, and vowed he would not tolerate it. We remain, however in a atate of uncertainty. Professor Sih did cot accept the challenge' and the doubt is as to whether it would have been an affair of gloves' or a round or two ■• without a muffia." The Hon Dr Grace by the' way, subsequently referred to the inferior feeling and freedom of students in the old country, where, nevertheless, we have seen some cantrips also played by such— as preserving them from excesses like those under consideration. We should like to know whether dons at Home are likewise under-fed and sparely exercised. A motion, meantime, has been passed to prevent undue fuu and frolic in future* and the expense, indf ed, was excessive. The aotborities of the looal colleges are henceforth to make arrangements for the ceremonies.

In political and financial circles in Rome, it is generally anticipated that there will be an enforced reduction of the interest on Italian loans, although it is probable that the foreign bond-holderg will be exempt from the reduction. Siould the contemplated plan be carried out, it will furniih the Government with thiee or four million lire, or from £120 000, to £160,000.

Glasgow is likely to see an innovation shortly in the shape of a Sunday Parliamentary Debating Society, and after the style of the Parliamentary Associ ttions p >pular all over 'he coon fry. Mr Oeorge Kay is taking up the ma ter. Business people, not to mention many Nationalists, would be glad of this pleasant and educative means of ending the Sabbath Day.

M. Dupny is a man whom fortune has singularly favoured. It is not many years ago since the President of the Chamber of Deputies was a village schoolmaster. Having vacated the desk for the platform his rise has been rapid. Ha is not a brilliant orator nor a demagogue of the Clemenceau type, but be holds an irreproachable name, has a hard head, and is a master of rojtine which will terre him admirably as President of the Republic one of these days. Profeisor Marshall, of Owen's College, af ier climbing Scaw Fell, on Sunday, December 31, tumbled over a precipice about fifty feet high and was killed. By bis death science is bareft of one of her moat illustrious sons.