Notes

New Zealand Tablet, 14 October 1909, Page 1622

Notes

A Wonderful Boy Brother Snowball, the high priest of the Melboxirne Orange fraternity, said the other day: 'A Catholic boy, whom I met in the country, told me it was the priests who kept the people of the respective churches apart, because their desire was to keep the people in the dark and their hands in the people's pockets.' Upon which the Bulletin comments : 'Itis a great pity Snowball can't produce that boy. He is evidently a thoughtful youth with a high brow and a luminous eye — an animal of large discourse looking, before and after.' «The Life and Soul of the Congress' ' Age,' says a writer, ' is a matter of feeling, not of years'; and if that be so, our venerable Cardinal is still apparently a young man. , ' Age cannot wither him, nor custom stale His infinite variety.' According to ' Colleen,' who contributes the wellwritten ' Woman's Page ' to the Sydney Freeman, the extraordinary vitality of "the Cardinal- was one of the most striking and outstanding features of the Congress. * ' The serious side of the Congress,' she says, ' began on Monday morning with its first session at the Cardinal's Hall. It was a terrible morning, heavy rain, and the wind blowing from all the -corners of the heavens at once. But 'twould take much .more than this to damp the ardor of the Congressionists, and they, were there, men and women, in full force, to hear, the papers read and discussed. The chief topic of conversation afterwards and at the conversazione in the evening was the extraordinary vitality of our grand old Cardinal. He is the life-'and soul of the -Congress. Not ,the smallest item escapes him, rr'om turning the " Au»ora Australia" in his addresß of welcome, into " Lights of Heaven," a happy omen for the Congress; to having a quip at Mr. John Meagher in his" speech in support of Mr. J. E. Redmond on the Irish Question.. The smile which beamed from his Eminence and lighted, up his - countenance whilst this particular paper was being read, was* evidence in itself of the subject under discussion. I think a deaf man would have been

able to guess the subject matter. It was like a child in possession of its favorite toy, and nothing more in the world to wish for. Out at St. John's in the afternoon it was just the same. He kepf the ball rolling, breaking forth with a witticism just at the' right moment; or paying a well-merited compliment to the Rector. He was always on the gui vive. And at night: taking his place as a Prince of the Church and welcoming the highest in the land,' ■ • The Cardinal and the Holland System The suggestion made ,by. Cardinal' Moran that the system which had been tested in Holland might be made the basis of a new education system for New South Wales "and the other colonies naturally evoked some comment' in the Sydney press. Even- before the matter had- reached the discussion stage in the Congress, two of the Sydney dailies had articles on the proposal; and,- speaking at> the Congress session It eld at the Sacred Heart Convent, Rose Bay, on Wednesday of Congress week, his Eminence briefly but pertinently replied to the criticisms that had appeared? * Yesterday (he said) matter which was only presented for consideration appeared in the papers, t and they found two daily papers finding fault with it. He would not , enter into the details of the arguments which they had advanced. Under four headings he would simply refer to them. Firstly, fault was found in the matter of money, which it would be hard to find to, carry on the schools under this programme. These critics forgot that a~ fortnight ago the present Minister for Education had found fault with some words of his, pronounced at Haberfield. The Minister said that the State never considered money when . the object was to meet the requirements of the children of New South Wales. . - " *■ Secondly, ' it .would be multiplying the schools unnecessarily in New South -Wales.' There was not the smallest foundation for that statement, because in New South Wales the system would only be granted to those whose principles were not consistent with the present system. -Catholics declared that the present system was inconsistent ."with their principles, and they carried on their schools 1 so. far with complete success, while other denominations had not ventured in their footsteps. Jews and -Catholics would be the only ones to avail themselves of the present system. Thirdly, under the ..proposed, programme the standard of teaching would be elevated, because there would not be any payment to schools nob coming up to the standard. Ifc would, therefore, be for the Government to elevate the standard in the schools. # Finally, the State should be independent of all religious systems. He believed in that theory. They had 365 religions in New South Wales, and their good friends might bring in another new religion, and call it' ' the- Sir Henry Parkes religion,' without creed or- morality — a new venture of religion in connection with the secular system. ( He merely referred to the only difficulties which had been ' presented. It was the desire of all Catholics that any system presented might be considered during Congress" for the purpose of elevating the standard of education and conciliating those who were opposed to them in carrying on tho Catholic schools.