Diocese of Auckland.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXV, Issue 25, 22 October 1897, Page 19

Diocese of Auckland.

CFrom our own correspondent.)

Thursday, 14th October, 1897. At St. Patrick's Cathedral, last Sunday afternoon, the renewal of baotismal vows by the children of the parish took place. The ceremony was most impressive, the procession comprising the children, alfcir boy^, the orp'iam, neat 'y attired in umform dress, f rcn St. Mary'a, and the sodalities of the Children of Mercy and the Guard of Honour. The reading of the avowal was entrusted to Miss Nora Rist. who performed her duty ici a moat excellent manner. The sing-in}? of the children was really splendid, and reflected great credit upon the good Sisters of Mercy. The boys were under the direction of Bro. Leo, of the Marist Bros. Father Croke addressed the assemblage in plun and homely language that must have left a lasting impression upon their young' mind*. Father Buckley grave Benediction, after which the proceedings terminated. In the evening they again assembled and formed part of the procession around the Cathedral, subsequently kneeling around the altar rails, each bearing a lighted candle, and singing a hymn to our Blessed Lady. Then they repeated after Father Croke a number of resolutions to pursue quiet and holy lives, and calling upon our Lord to bless them and theirs. It was a great sight, and could not fail to impress those, old as well as young, who beheld it. His Grace Arohbishop Redwood is expected this week in Auckland, en route to Melbourne, there to take part in the grand opening of St. Patrick's Cathedral. His Lordship Dr. Lenihan accompanies His Grace from this city to Victoria. It is thought that His Grace will preach next Sunday evening at St. Patrick's, Auckland. From the English College at "Valladolid in Spain, where Dr. Lenihan completed his theological studies, a handsome present has been sent to him upon his elevation to the episcopacy. It consists of a chalice, paten, cruets and plate and bell, all silver gilt and chased. In the auditorium of the college has been placed a beautiful painting of their former student, who. fourteen years after leaving the institution, has been raised to the dignity of Bishop af Auckland. The remarkably well executed address that was presented to the Bishop at the Thames was the handiwork of Miss Fortune, a niece of the Very Rev. Father O'Reilly, P.P., Thames. Father Croke performed an arduous day's work last Sunday in having preached four times, and addressed a public meeting of the paiishioners as well in the afternoon. His disci ursa at Vespers was devoted to a clear exp isition of Catholic theology upon the Sacrament of Matrimony, and to a trench nt criticism of the w riter •' Colonus" upon '• Lcg.il Bondage," to whic'i I referred in my last communication. St Patrick's parishioners have taken the Iviitiatory step} to reduce the residue of the d.bt upon the pi'roch'al presbytery. It is the solitary t'ebt of the cathedial pa-i h, and shoull easily bu wipr-' 1 <'\ t. The new hall in St. Benedict's parish is now a settled thing. It will be large and commodious. i)()lt. in extent and is to be erected upon a freehold section close to the splendid parish church. The Young Men's Club of St. Benedict's is engaged upon a very meritorious work. By means of regul ir enteitaiiiment-. they succeed in assisting towards the p lytnent of the haavy inttro^t due upon the church debt. For young people no better w:.y of commencing lifecould be chosen. No class of impostor fares so well for a time as the srpposed religious one. This week w tnessetl one of these u entry brought to light. A full-blown Evangelist was h<\ So too were Chiniquy and Biddy O'Gorman. The gentlem.m under notic carried on high jinks in the conventicles, and in the private homes of the '• psalmsingers." The latter i-i the walks ol'o 1 ' trade and commerce are just a smart a* you cm Id find anywhere. To have them, yon w u'd requm to gut up e.!il,v "in the morning. But when tho Bible aiid P al-n bookn are tntn-d out. with the indi-pt.n-.able tirade a/auist Rome thrown in. they b. ',-oinc a- pliable a; a plate of porridge, and as subser\ie:it a- ado a mat. Alter enjoying v rui'ly good time, ard paying himself out, the last of the Evangelist was run to earth tor iort'ery. and ili.-oo\ ered by a gentleman-in-blue following the lowlj ojcnp.ition of crie.wr upon a local steamer. All the same the nc-xi itinerant •• mis.4ont-r " will have them agaui. The bi'-yt linir va-on was rpenel l.i^t Saturday afternoon by a precession of bit. ycli-t 1 -. dressed in all fa-hions and colours. It would be impossible ti exp ( tthat such a y olden opportunity would be 10-4 for displaying the Irishman in all the i>i..jpsty ot his tatters and rag«. The yahoo so droned styled his get-up "the wild lii^hman." it n sembled more the/nirang-mUang. and to s;>y that Irishmen dress, ever did dress, like it. is a scanaalou-> and malignant lie. M^ The verdict of the jury concerning tho alarming and fatal at the railway crossing, when thne lives were lost. aid several persons mutilated, has gi\en general dissatisfaction The Press is unanimous in condemning it. A circus tent wa-* pitched in clo^e proximity to the cros^in", and at the time that hundreds wire pouring out of it. and parsing over the tails in vehicles and on foot, a train going at the rate of fhe miles an hour was in the dirk ne-s. whirled over the crossing. What was to prevent tho authorities' ordering this particular tram to slacken its pace at this spot .' Or to have erected barriers there while the train was in tia-i-it? TLe whole sad business might easily have been avoided. Ihe

whitewashing- decision of those duly appointed to inquire into it, but adds another proof of the inutility of coroner's juries. They are an excrescence. Vigorous protests were entered against the bartering of a portion of the Albert Park to the Government for a site for a police barracks. The protestor succeeded in preventing the alienation, but 'tis a pity that protests were not years ago entered, because the vandals then laid hands upon the most beautiful sites in the park, which in its entirety is none too large. An Auckland pressman has just returned from the Old Country, whither he went to witness the Record jubilations, etc. He has travelled much and has seen many and great things. To an educated man this trip should have been elevating and instructive. Old notions and prejudices ought to have melted. But not so. He is now furnishing his readers with his observations. In a cockney theatre he listened to a song " We take off our hats to the Queen," to which a man sitting near him vehemently cried out •' No I" This unsettled and aroused all the latent patriotism of the Aucklander, who mildly remonstrated, but the man cut him short by saying he was an American citizen. Crossing the Atlantic he related to a lot of Americans the incident referred to when the "ignorant, rude man " was voted to have been an Irishman. The whole of the silly story is put in print for no other reason than to slander and vilify the Irish. What show can they expect in his columns. The two extremes, beer and water have, metaphorically speaking, within the last week, thrown themselves upon one another's necks. The out-and-outers of the water-drinkers besought the aid of the moderate parsons of the '' establishment " who in turn approached the mighty men on the beer side concerning the entire closing of the pubs on Sunday. The men of beer were gushingly magnanimous in reply, and said, '• Of course we shall, and if there be anythingelse you could suggest to us come along with it, and we shall attend to it." Result and effect : Last Sunday the bars of the city closed down, and the old soakers, to come within the law, tramped three miles to a suburban tavern to wet their whistles. For the four weeks ending on last Saturday, 17,900 tons of inward cargo, and 11,600 tons of outward cargo passed over the Auckland wharves. On Monday last alone 5,000 tons of cargo were landed on the wharves. These are ocular demonstrations of the progress of the city on the Waitemata.