Current Topics AT HOME AND ABROAD.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXIII, Issue 42, 14 February 1896, Page 1

Current Topics AT HOME AND ABROAD.

THE OLD, OLD BTOBY.

Undeb the heading cf "A much-married man," the Otago Daily Times has the following particulars of a rev gentleman who made come noise in Dunedin and elsewhere a few years ago. Becent exposures of several notorious characters already chronicled in these columns hat well nigh extinguished the no-popery lecturing business in the States. Even the rabid A.M.P. will have nothing to do with ex-priests and go-called escaped nuns. In the colonies, Bpeaking generally, respectable citizens now hold aloof from people of the Hammond class. The lives of our priests and religious and laity give the lie to monstrous assertions of itinerant vilifiers. Sensible people, as a rule, take people as they find them, and not as others find them for them. Even those who are prepared to swallow the filthy mouthings of cunning scoundrels mußt expierence some disgust and feel that they have been more than once " taken in " when they read the paragraph to which we refer. Here it is. Some of our readers will, no Joubr, cut it out and keep it by them :— " American papers to hand," says the Otago Daily Times, "chronicle the arrest at 8t Louis (La), on December 11, of the Rev William Hammond, who, in 1888, held the position of evangelist at the Tabernacle in Dunedin, and who Wrfs not only well known here and in Oamaru, but also in other partß of New Zealand and Australia. The man appears to have had a very chequered career, and, according to the Globe Democrat, he is now charged with having committed almost every crime in the calendar. Born at La Chute, Canada, he was brought up as a farmer, but his wife dying he married a Mrs Brockway, the widow of a wealthy physician of Frankyln Falls (N.H.). He was made the pastor of the Freewill Baptist Church, and after swindling his wife out of 3000dols, and the people of the town out of several thousands more, be took to wanderiDg all over the globe. He was married in California, twice married in Melbourne, and twice in New Zealand, all of his wives dying. He practised alternately as a preacher of the Gospel and as a physician, and rendered himself notorious by his attacks on the Catholic 'Jhurch, giving out that at one time he waB a priest. He was succeeded at the Tabernacle here by Mr Floyd, Hie lust wife was a Dunedin girl, whom he met in Melbourne, and recognised as one of his former congregation. This wife died in Jamaica, and the two children which were born are also believed to be dead.

A MISSIONARY PBISONBB.

MANT Btories are told about the late Cardinal Melchers. For instance, he obtained from the Pope the extraordinary privilege of attaching the indulgences of the Via Comcis to a cross, to b 6 gained at any time, even in the case of those in perfect health, by the recitation of certain prayers. Few stones about this Cbristinn hero of our own times are more interesting and touching than the account of his life in the prison of the Khngelpiitz, Archbishop Melchers, of Cologne, who, after his death, has been honoured, by Imperial permission, with a public funeral whs taken from his palace and imprisoned in 1874. His people, in thousands, reciting the raaary and other prayer?, accompanied their Father as Commißsary Klose and bis soldiers led him to the common gaol. The distinguished prisoner had to consort with convicts of all kinds, who slept and worked together. The general occupation was the making of strawbottomed chairs. In the offical l'st of prisoners to this day is the name, " Paul Melchers, straw -plater." The Archbishop, however, had little manual labour to perform. His fellow-prisoncis voluntarily dividtd his allottd tHsk of work between them, aod in return received from the saintly Archbishop instruction and spiritual consolation. His eight mouths incarceration became a fruitful ami lasting eight months' mission. Numerous conversions resulted from the imprisonment of this modern Confessor of the Faith.

THE DEEPEST WATER IN IHE WORLD.

The Atlantic r ad io give way to the North Pacific, and now the oifti Pacific gives way to tbe Sou' i i Pacific. A dpi p sea eouudirg North of Porto Rn>o I registeiod 27,3J6 feet. A sounding: in the ocean ' near the Japanese coast reached 27,930 feet The Penguin whicb, according to the Naval and Military Record, has

completed a surveying cruise, made a Bounding south of the Friendly Islands which attained the depth of 29,400 feet 1 The wire snapped, before the bottom was reached, at a depth of five and a half miles less three hundied and Bixty feet. To give our readers an idea of the ocean at this point, if Mt Cook, our highest New Zealand mountain, were placed on the floor of tbe ocean bed and another Monnt Cook piled on top, a hill of over a thousand yards could be placed above the two mountains and a ship could still pass over tbe spot in safety.

A LITERABY BUFFOON.

The Dunedin Evening Star gives an extraot from the London Telegraph concerning the health of the Pope, which, for far-fetched absurdity, indeed, down-right stupidity, cannot be surpassed. The Pope, we are told, has the " sincerest sympathy " of this London friend of our Dunedin contemporary. His Holiness caught a cold and suffered from hoarseness. This hoarseness was caused by the difficulty of holding converse with Irish bishops on their visit ad limina ! He said Irish Bishops did not understand Italian, the Pope did not speak Hibernian, recourse had, therefore, to be had to Latin I In the attempt to get his stubborn Italian lips to pronounce the classic language with a brogue Leo XIII. got hoarse— htnce a Consistory had to be postponed. Want of copy does not excuse patent asinity. Leo XIII. never repeats himself, as the Telegraph asserted. He is a most deliberate speaker, easily followed, and readily understood. The literary buffoon whose utterly puerile effort is reproduced at the antipodes, made an unwise selection when he directed his shaft against the most elegent Latiniat of the age, and an able body of men who are in the very forefront of classicists.

THB BLIND CHAPLAIN'S PBAYEB.

Many prayers have been offered m Europe aDd tie colonies for peace io connection with the Venezuela difficulty. Few in breviiy andjimpreßsiveneei nearly equal the opening prayer of the blind chaplain of the United States Congress. " Grant," he said, " we beseech Thee, that we may be saved from imbuing oar hands in each other's blood, Let the spirit of justice and magnanimity prevail among the rulers of both nations, and among the kindred people of the two lands." The c v .aplain well deserved the coogratu]ntion of the senators and the unusual distinction of having the full invocation inscribed on the record of the House.

SPELLING REFOKM.

In the short letter of 'Tax" to the edi'or in last issue reference was made to misspelled words in some of the competition anecdotes. Those who fear they were guiliy culprits in the eyes of " Tax " may take comfort in the thought that Professor E*rle believes a lot of time is wasted in acquiring a habit of conventional spelling. He would allow a man to spell in any way so long as he made himself understood. Difference in spelling should, in hia idea, amount to about as much as difference in handwriting. So long as writing is readily intelligible, it matters little how the letters are formed and blended. Spelling, according to Earle and Dr Abbot also, Bhould be allowed moderate latitude and a certain liberty of individual tact.

ACADEMIC SUCCESS.

The well-written, very interesting, altoge her carefully compiled bi-aanaal Alma Mater, gives the reader an idea of the completeness of staff, and excellence of arrangements of the Jesuit College at Riverview, Sydney. The " Public and University Examination Record," Bbowa the excellent results of wisely directed training. Not only did all the candidates for March and November junior and senior public examination pass, but in no instance did a Rirerview boy secure a mere pass. '• First class Honours," " Second class Honours," University Medals, Cooper Scholarship, Watt Exhibition— These are distinctions to be found up and down the detailed report, Ono of the candidates, Mr E. H. Kelly— the winner of the Watt (three years) Exhibition (Ist year £30, 2nd year £40, 3rd year £50) obtained A'b or First Class Honours in five out of his ten subjects. Mr B. P. McEvoy won the Cjoper Scholarship for classics (£SO), The 14 lads presented for junior public exam, all passed, generally

with high honours. Sjven of the 14 also qualified for matriculation. Two obtained University Medals for first places in Latin and GreekWe have mentioned a few of the many distinctions obtained by tbe students. Uniformly excellent results presuppose thoroughness in system. It is gratifying to note the continued progress of Catholic colleges in Australasia. ErTdo'ive teaching as ehown by brilliant public results is a decided protest against the generjl injustice to Catholics in the matter of education.

ODDS AND ENDS.

A COBEESPONDENT in Australia is desirous of obtaining items in connecioti with ex-priestr. Here is an «xtract from ihe Boston Pilot that will give him pleasure :—": — " Father Leon Bouland, a priest well known in New England, who left the Cburch seven years ago for the Protestant Episcopal communion, made his retraction of heresy and profeshion of faith in the hands of the Very Rev William O'Brien, 8 J,, Provincial of the Jesuits. He is now making a retreat, and hopes thereafter to be restored to the exercise of his priestly powers, and to minister to American Catholics of French origin, repairing by his leal and virtue the scandal which his defection had caused. While separated from the Church, Father Bculand was made much of by Episcopalians, and employed in various positions of trust. His experience of the dissensions among Protestants seems to have rectified bit mind, convincing him of the need of a supreme, infallible teaching voice in the Church, A few weeks ago, ' stricken with remorse, 1 ' as be pots it, ' for the rash and unintelligible step' he had taken, he applied to Mgr Satolli to ba received back to the bosom of the Church. His Excellency gave the case into the hands of Father Pardow, and satisfied with the distinguished Jesuit's report, authorised him to receive Father Boland's retraction, and admit him to the Sacraments. Father Boland, in his statement of the case, says : — ' It had been Btated that after leaving the Church I married. This I declare to be absolutely false. I retract fully and unreservedly the letttr I wrote to the Sovereigh Pontiff, Leo XIII., on April 12, 1888, in which I stated ruy so-called " Reasons for leaving the Church of Rome." These rrasons wnrr all false. I have met with treat kind, ness on t're part of Episcipi'iin", Cnngregationa ipt , and othir no. Ontholics, at '1 1 hope th it my return to tho Church w.l' cause Borne of them, at leant, to conp'der tho ground un wbicn ituy stand and t l eir adherence 'o * i 'Lurch which I nave tested practically for seven years acid found wanting. "

Mr John Morley, a 1 a meeting in Newcastle-on-Tyne, said : - "The Irish cause has nine lives and more." A defeat, with Mr Morley, does not spell ruin.

Tbe hero of the 310 mile sick call ride turns up aga ; n. A wrier in tbe Antigonish (N.S.) Casket, referring to the famous ride of Father Begley across the Texas prairies, says :— " We bavd heard of the ac'uiil riding only ; wa know nothing of Us after tfE-cts upon brave Father Begley. A friend of mind lells me he once, agr at many yearß ago, rode 70 miles for a doctor. Up to that time he thought he never could get enough riding, but he has never cared to Bit in a saddle since, His feet were sore for 12 months afterwards. After bearing his btory I can better appreciate the magnitude of Father Begley 's performance."

A number if '.he collu rs were discussing traic prosp cts in a Yorkshire inn when one of their n-imber, kiown to h's pals as the Cockney, with a scowl at bin vit d vis, "a man fr*e G'eeca," thu« delivered himself : " Tell y^u what, macs, we'd 'aye pit nty woik and good wag''B in this Eus^Un lif less tic/chmaa cjm'd south." To thin the Glaswegian made a c ingirig retort. The men sprang to their fee', and once more tbe Thistle and the Rose wrestled. At lengih, during a pause in tbe fight, the Cockney remarked, " Well, 1 be a great fool to be foightin' on this ere bubjeck, for I'm Irish I am." " Are you ?" replied his opponent. " Toat bates all, for I'm Irish, too,"

Most of tbe churches in Pans were crowded long bifore the hour or the miiinight Mass last Uhns'mas. At St Eustache, St Roch, and a few old churches the familiar straino of AdamVs ' Ntiii " were heard ; but for these had bieJ substi uted in many other churches a new Christmas hymn composed by M. Rou6seau, organist of St Clotildo, in the Faubourg St Germain This is a very simp'e song, set to plain music, an 1 is intended to illustrate btt er than more elaborate compositions of the kind the story of Bethlehem. On Christmas Day tha c'.urches of the Madelsine, bt Augustin, th" Triniie and St Rooh, as well as Nocre Dame, were well attended.

The picturesque and historic Church of Notre Dame des V.ctoirep, in the Hue de la Licence, Brussels, ia about to be restored. It wae founded early in the fourteenth century by the Guild of Croßsbowme", and contains s< veral ancient monuments, notably those of Counts Kgmont and Hoorn, *ho are represented on their way to execution. The statues of these pairiotic noblemen are eiill to be seen on the square oppoite the Hotel de Ville, the very Bite of the spot where they v»ere done to death.

Here is a profitab'e item for the "new woman's "consideration:—"The Queen of Portugal is setting a noble example to her subjects by devoting herself to the study of medicine. She ia skilled in botany and familiar with the nnrvels of tbe microscope, and is confident that har appearance as a careful student, and no more s fastidious than a Sister of Charity, will widen the sphere of usefulness of her sex. She is a better educated woman than most of the uppci class in her kingdom, and speaks fluently French, English, Spanish and Italian."

A shrewd old farmer, full of fun and mischief, once overreached a jeweller in some transaction, and the jeweller complained of the way in which he bad been treated. " Well, I'll tell you what I'll do with you," said the farmer ; " I'll sell you my live stock at half-a-crown a head, and I'll let you come and count them yourself." The bargain was struck, and the day was appointed to count and hand over the stock. The grasping jeweller and bis assistants in due course arrived at the farm. They totalled up horses, cattle, sheep, hogs and the rest. The jeweller then asked when he would remove the stocK. " Bide a wee, bide a wee," said the keen old farmer, " You haven't seen them all yet." He then led the party close op to a dozen beehives, overturne 1 one of the hives with his foot and amid the yells of the flying party, tbe farmer was heard shouting :—: — " Count now, you rascals."

The new Rector of the American College, Rome, is the Rev William H. O'Connell, one of the younger priests of tbe Arch-diocese of Boston. He waß an alumnus of the College where he is now Rector. Father O'Conuell was ordained in 1884. After his retnrn to America he did parochial work in a couple of parishes, His masterly lectures laßt year at the Plattsburg Summer School gave him great prominence. He is a polished speaker and an enthusiast in educational matters,

Mr Thomas Alva Edison, with a view to coming war, has turned his attention to the mnnufacture of new life-destroying machines. Eke ricity, of course, is to pKy ;ti important part in the new inventions. He can with a few men, control a machine by which water, charged wi h 5000 volts, cau be made more deadly than bullets. Report has it that be has invented electric cables to draw round a beleagured city, dealing deata to all who touch them ; also guns for firing dynamite, balloons for dropping infernal machines, and other destructive appliances which will revolutionise modern warfare.

Ridiculous answers to easy questions are frequently to be met with in newspapers. Reader?, amueed for the moment, hare generally a feeling that the ben trovato e'eooent is not wanting. " Decidedly amusing, but really too good to be true," is often the verdict. Oqc sometimes, however, comes across answers that illustrate the saying i\ at truth is occasionally stranger than fiction. The Western, Mail of England, as we learn from the London Tablet, gives iti readers a case in point :—": — " Boys were advertised for as if to fill a certain post, and out of the deluge of replies, all in the handwriting of the applicants, eight were selected for an examination by a Goverument officiai. Tbe ages of the lads ranged from 13^ years to 15 yexrs 11 months; not one had been to school for less than eight yuars ; o"e was in the sixth staniari on leaving school, five in the seventh ; the others are not spjcified ; all of them were bright lookiDg. intelligent lads. The examination was merely a simple test of elementary knowledge in the four subjects of handwriting, spelling, arithmetic and geography. One was marked " fairly good " in handwriting, three were " good " in spelling, all were " weak " or with " practically no knowledge " in arithmetic ; the beßt in geography was " fairly good." But it may be argued (says the Western Mail) that the questions were too far advanced for boys of the above age. In rep'y we may Bay that we have seen both the questions and the answers, and can vouch for the simplicity of the former, not in fome, but in all caeee. Indeed, the absolutely elementary character of the examination may be inferred from the fact that the candidates were examined only in four subjects. The fact is, incredible ! as it may appear, the boys showei a want of knowledge and training simply astounding in lads of their age and advantages. Below are given two of the questions set in geography, with tbe answers of one ot the boys, which are a fair speoimsn of most of the others :— Describe the position of tlie following seaports : Question Answer New York ... In West of England Hamburg . . .In South of Scotland, Melbourne . . .In South America. Alexandria . . . Lies near the coast of Eogland Of what country is each of the folloicing the capital : Question Answer Belgrade . , . Russia Madrid . . . Italy. Athens . . . New Zealand or France. Amete;d*m . . . America. Brussels . . . Ireland.

The other questions were quite on a level. _\>r instance, in arithmetic a simple sum in reduotion of so many tons to pounds proved too hard for theße lads ; and as to the orthography or spelling of most of them, it was in a shocking gtate."

His Eminence Cardinal Vaughan was celebrant at the Nuptial Mass on the occasion of the marriage of Mr John Dillon, M.P., and Miss Mathew at the Bromptoa Oratory.

The Irith, Catholic, December 21, announces that Mr Ettas Lekove, b jourg Dublin Jew, hag been received into the Church by Rev Fiir-er farthogu B.ig.uy C.P., at Mount Argus, Harold's Orrso.

There is another vscarcy in the Sacred College. The death is announced of Paul Melchers, Cardinal, and formerly Archbishop of Cologne, in his eighty-second year. His Eminence deceased was one of the victims of the Kulturkampf, having opposed the lawp, in 1874, »nd having been sent to imprisonment for his resistance. On his release the resolute prelate continued in his course of defiance, and at length the Geiman Court for Ecclesiastical Affairs resorted to the extreme measure of deposing him from his see. But, in the meantime, Archbishop Melchers had left his country and maiotained his attitude at Limburg, in Holland, close to the Prussian frontier. He persisted io conducting the business of his diocese from that place of •elf-choien banishment, and drew down upon himself a further ■entence of thirty day's imprisonment. This, of course, the Prussian Government could not carry out as be was beyond its jurisdiction, but the police ingerted the judgment in the Hue and Ciy as if he were an ordinary criminal. Subsequently, when the Kulturkampf lost Borne of its fury, negotiations were opened for his recall or the appointment of another prelate in his place, but the Archbishop quietly treated the proceeding as an attempt to carry out a brutum fulmen, refusing to look upon his see &s vacant. In 1885, at the expresi desire of hie Holiness Leo XIII he resigned the archbishopric and in the Consistory of the 27th of July of that year was elevated to

the purple, taking the title of St Stephen of the Ca j ian Mount. He Was a member of the Ecclesiastical Congregations of the Propaganda, of the Propaganda for the Affairß of the Oriental Rite, of the Index, of Sacred Ritep, and of Indulgences and Sacred Relics. He was Protector of the Cbnreh and Confraternity of St Maria in Camposantoof the Germans and Flemings. He was born at Munster on the 6th of January, 1873, and Mgr Philip Kremen'z, Bishop of Treves, succeeded him in his old diocese in 1885. His residence haa since been in Home, where he passed away regretted — 11 I.P.

Sheridan Le Fanu's poem of " Shamus O'Brien," the brave boy of '98, who escaped from the gallows to be so oitm murdered at recitations, has been adopted for operatic treatment by Dr Villiers Stanford, and will be produced early in the ensuing spring. Among the artiste* engaged to appear in it is Mr F uawig, than whom none can better render " The boys oi Wexford."

Rider Ha?gard's improbable South African yarns stand a chance of being eclipsed by a strange story told by Reuter's corres; ondent at Cape Coast : — An extraordinary atory has been broiu'ht from 'he Keranza country by Ciptnin LI D. Larymore, cf the Gold Cofcst Constabulary, who haa just returned from service there, The rrgioD beyond 'he Koraczas to the north-east ia as yet unexplored by white men ; but tbe native caravans are constantly passing through the district, which is declared by those who have visited it to be inhabited by a race of white men living in caves. All accounts asree in stating that these cive-dwellers have light hair and blue eyes ; and a Mohammedan priest and Hadji, who had seen them, told Cap am Larymore that they were a strong and fearless bat exclusive race, and did all in their power to prevent strangers from passing through their territory.

The late Cardinal Melchers," says the Roman corespondent of tho London Tablet, " was well-known abroad for the sprcial faculty of blessmg crucifixeß which he possessed. He hid asked Pma IX for

the faculty of blessing crucifixes with the Papal blessing in artioolo mortis, and with the indulgences of the Station! of the Cros§, with the provision that the latter might be gained at all times and places. Piub IX, misunderstanding his petition had granted it, but when informed of its real nature did not revoke it." The late Bishop of Dunedin, Dr Moran, we may add, during bis long illnefs had one of those specially bleßsed crucifixes constantly by him. It was bleseed and indulgenced by Cardinal Melchers, and brought from Rome by Rev Father O'Neill, of Milton .

The body of the la'e Cardinal Melcbers was received by thej whole of the Catholic clergy and a vast crowd at Cologne, where i was buried in accordance with the Cardinal's wish and by permission of the Emperor,

A good story is told ia a north countryjpaper of a Lancashire factory-inspector's visit to a mill. The manager telephoned {through the mill, and all children illegally employed were bidden in various out-of-the-way places. While crossing the yard the inspector hap. pened to observe some fingers protruding from a case, and, on raising the lid, he aaw a ourly-he.ded lad crouching down. Ha asked ijbim why he was there ; upon which the fellow replied : " Shut th 1 mouth, mon, and put t'lid down. Doesn't ta know th' inspector's about!"

What became of Henry VHl'a bequest fo^MaaP. A cor dent in a Home paper writeß : « Henry VIII . the English King.jwho proclaimed himßelf the head of the Church by law^atablished.finjhii ast will and Testament left £600 per annum for Masses to bejsaid or his soul, as recorded in Miss Agnes Strickland's history. Bix hnndred pounds of old Harry's time was of greater<value-than.the;aame is now ; but be that as it may, the question I desire to ask is, what has been done with the trust funds of the self-appointed head of the Church 1 The present Archbishop of Oanterbury,«,the Hon and Moat Rev Edward White Benson, receives £15,000 sterling per annum for his services. He is pretty well paid, and no doubt will leave a handsome sum to be disposed of by his executors, but it is not probable

that he will imitate the ' Dsfooder of the Faith. 1 Does Henry's bequest form part of the £15,000 paid annually to hia Grace, or what haa been done with it ?"