AN ENTHUSIASTIC RECEPTION.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXVIII, Issue 14, 5 April 1900, Page 18

AN ENTHUSIASTIC RECEPTION.

Akteh an absence of close on a year his Lordship the Right Rev. Dr. Verdon arrived in Dunedin on Wednesday evening, and was accorded a moat enthusiastic reception. His Lordship arrived at the Bluff on the same morning by the Zea^andia, from Melbourne, and came overland from Invercargill to Dunedin. On the evening- prior to his departure for Europe his Lordship held a reception in St. Joseph's Hall, when a large number of the clergy and a repre«entat,ivp gathering of the laity were present to bid him good-bye, and wish him a happy and pleasant trip and a safe return. On the following day when he left for Sydney en route to Europe his Lordship was accorded a hearty • send-off ' by the clergy, laity, and school children, who had assembled at the wharf to renew the good wishes made the evening before. Since then his Lordship has travelled in many parts of the British Isles and the Continent, engaged in advancing the spiritual welfare of his flock,.but during that time he, as he informed us in a letter a few months ago, had seen no place which he liked so well aa these fertile isles of the Antipodes, or any priests or people whoae zeal and piety could exceed those of his own diocese. And if his Lordship held his priests and people in loving remembrance these were not in turn unmindful of the debt of gratitude and love which they owed to their Bishop. The smallest item of news regarding his travels during his absence was eagerly read, and many were the inquiries made regarding his Lordship's health by anxious members of his flock. When it was announced a few weeks ago that Bishop Verdon would arrive here by a definite date, a meeting of the clergy and laity was held in St. Joseph's Hall for the purpose of taking steps to raise funds for a presentation to his Lordship, and the enthusiastic and generous manner in whioh the matter was taken in hand at the time, and the liberal way in which the appeal had been met since then, showed in a practical and tangible manner the esteem in which the Bishop of Dunedin is held by his flock. It was also decided that his Lordship should be received at the railway station by the clergy and laity, who would then march in procession to the Cathedral.