Irish News

New Zealand Tablet, 22 December 1910, Page 2113

Irish News

ARMAGH—Sympathy with the Holy Father The following telegram was sent by his Eminence Cardinal Logue to his Holiness theJPope: —' Most Holy Father, —The Chapter and clergy of the archdiocese Of Armagh, taking occasion from a meeting held under the presidency of the Cardinal-Archbishop, most humbly pray your Holiness to accept the testimony of their filial affection and obedience. With all their hearts and energy they protest against the unheard-of audacity which has lately led the anti-Christian Syndic of Rome to heap injuries and insults on the sacred person of Christ's Vicar.' The following is the translation of a telegram received by his Eminence on October 28, in reply to the telegram transmitted to the Sovereign Pontiff on the previous day: — ' The Holy Father received with great joy the expression of filial devotion and obedience which your Eminence has recently transmitted in your own name and that of the Chapter and clergy of your archdiocese. He returns most ample thanks, and with most tender affection imparts to all, as a pledge of heavenly favors, the Apostolic Benediction. —Cardinal Merry del Val.' Cardinal Logue's Welcome Home The affectionate regard in which his Eminence Cardinal Logue is held throughout the great archdiocese of Armagh, over which he presides so worthily, was amply proved by the warm greeting with which he was received on his return from Canada, where, as is well known, he took a prominent part in the Eucharistic Congress. On reaching the Primatial City he met with a most enthusiastic ovation from a large gathering of his faithful people, and later in the day was presented with an address of welcome, couched in affectionate terms, from the clergy and laity of the cathedral parish. His Eminence delivered an interesting reply. In the Armagh Synod Hall his Eminence was presented with a handsome motor-car and an address from the clergy of the archdiocese. Replying to the address, which was read by Monsignor Byrne, Dungannon, his Eminence said their welcome was one which called forth the deepest gratitude on his part. DUBLIN— National University The first presentation of degrees by the National University of Ireland took place on October 30 in the Aula Maxima of the old buildings in Earlsfort Terrace, formerly occupied by the Royal University. In the unavoidable absence of the Chancellor, his Grace the Most Rev. Dr. Walsh, Archbishop of Dublin, Sir Christopher Nixon, M.D., presided. In the course of his speech he said that the occasion was a historic one. It might, he said, be taken to be the starting point of the University's intellectual advance along the path which had been mapped out for it; the centre from which it was to be hoped many and varied avenues of human knowledge would reach the confines of their country. At last they were able to say that the inestimable boon of University education had, after a long period of stress and storm, been brought within the reach of every class in the community. Referring to the work done by the Statutory Commission in framing their statutes and regulations, he said that was no light task. Anyone who took the trouble of studying the matter must regard the work that had been done by the Commission as one of Titanic magnitude, involving the highest legal and technical knowledge, a monument of the ability of the distinguished men who were appointed to carry out the work of organisation. In individualising the names of two members of the Commission, who for keenness of judgment, marvellous power of concentration, and untiring industry could scarcely be surpassed, he referred to his Grace the Chancellor and to that veteran repository of legal lore, Lord Chief Baron Palles. All his colleagues on the Senate felt how much they were indebted to the members of the commission for their labors in hastening the progress of their work; and on the part of the Senate he was glad to be the medium of expressing to the Commissioners their grateful recognition and appreciation of their services. Having referred in detail to the satisfactory work of the year, Sir Christopher Nixon said the Senate had at its disposal £40,000 to-provide a site, buildings, and the equipment of the new National University; the buildings of which, according to the report of the Robertson Commission, were to be on an adequate and impressive scale, and such as should command respect and inspire enthusiasm. It was obvious to everyone that the paltry sum of £40,000 represented not a fifth part of what was required to make the National University worthy of its name, worthy of comparison with the ancient University with which it was in keen, but, he trusted, friendly, competition. Before the Robertson Commission, in the evidence given by the Chief Baron, it was stated that it would require an expenditure of £250,000 by Trinity College to bring up the education in science alone to the level of modern requirements. No one recognised more fully than he did the advantage of halls of residence for students, and the great advantage that was likely to accrue from the free communication of students •with each other. But he would venture to claim as an

important consideration in connection with University life that the Metropolis of Ireland, in which the University was to be located, should have as to its site and as regards its structural character something more imposing than a training college, an insurance office,, or a bank. No more patriotic work could be done by the county councils than to raise adequate funds for the provision of a thoroughly equipped building which would represent a monument worthy of the country and worthy of the object it was its destiny to accomplish. A Golden Jubilee The golden jubilee in the priesthood of the Right Rev. Dr. Donnelly, Bishop of Canea, was celebrated on November 2. Two years ago his silver jubilee as a prelate was appropriately honored. The Study of Irish Speaking at a meeting of supporters of the Abbey Theatre, held in Pembroke House, the residence of the Lord Chancellor, Mr. Justice Ross said that he as a Commissioner of National Education had been against the pupils wasting their time, as he thought, in Gaelic studies, but he was now of opinion that the study should and ought to be encouraged in every shape and form. He felt anxious to make amends. LONGFORD—The Temperance Movement The Right Rev. ,Dr. Hoare, Bishop of Ardagh, on October 26 opened a bazaar organised with a view to liquidating a debt of £3OO due on the Longford Temperance Hall. In the course of an able address he said the Irish people had, without any boasting, secured the reputation of being good Catholics. Father Bernard Vaughan, a keen, strong-minded Englishman, described Irish Catholics as models. But if they were going to hand on to future generations that which they inherited as an heirloom, it . must be by fostering religion in their families and schools. An ideal he set before them was that of Temperance. Their hall was built to be a gymnasium and barrack-yard in which they might learn how to become soldiers of Temperance. Why, he urged, could they not adopt the gentle art of boycotting meant, of course, without violence towards the drunkard who disgraced them at market and fair and football match, or in his home? LOUTH—lrish Nuns Home from Portugal During the past few days (writes the Drogheda correspondent of the Freeman's Journal under date October 29) two Irish nuns of the Third Order of St. Dominic arrived in Drogheda from Portugal, whence they had been expelled by the Revolutionary authorities. One is Mother Patrick Maguire, a native of Mayne, Clogherhead. Coming from an old and highly-respected Catholic familv, she entered when quite young the Sienna Convent, Drogheda, where she served her novitiate, and forty years ago she left Drogheda for Lisbon. The other is Sister Antonius McCabe, who is a native of Dublin. She joined the Dominican Convent at Lisbon twenty-three years ago. Both Sisters are staying with Mrs. Byrne, West street, Drogheda, who is a first cousin of Mother Patrick. To-day I had an interview with the ladies. The ladies belonged ■ to the Convent of St. Jane, Aveiro, which is some six or seven hours railway journey from Lisbon, and that being so Mother Patrick said they escaped all the fury of the Republican soldiery at the outbreak of the Revolution. A day or two after the hoisting of the Republican flag a decree was brought to the Convent of St. Jane telling the Sisters to clear out of the place in twenty-four hours, and the officers were coming to take an inventory of everything to be found in the convent. Friends of the convent were coming in and out, and they advised the Sisters to remain as they were and that nothing would happen them. In neighboring convents the decree of expulsion was put into execution without delay, and the Mother Prioress of St Janes, fearing the worst, had ordered the Sisters to be ready to go. Mother Patrick said the twenty-four hours' notice was not put up when the Republicans took possession of the convent, and the nuns were directly under serious penalties, to doff the habit of their Order and don secular clothes. This they did, and at the same time they were warned against using any kind of religious rites within the convent walls. At this time police were on duty outside the convent, and the public came freely within the walls of the institution. The next move on the part of the Republicans was to hold an inquiry at the convent There each nun was separately examined. AH particulars of their homes, ages, and religious life, were asked at length and written down. Finding that they would have to leave their convent, upon which the seals of the Republic had now been fixed at the door, the lay Sisters, being Portuguese began to eave one by one, to their homes, or to go and live with their friends. . Mother and Sister Antonius were almost the last to leave the convent. GENERAL Poultry and Rabbits Upwards of fifty tons a day of poultry »d rabbits from the southern and south-eastern districts of Ireland W TM n Lt"I g ° ? ber across Channel aboard London and. North-Western steamers from the North Wall to Holyhead. The dead poultry were almost all taken by

the British metropolis, whilst the rabbits found ready sale in provincial towns. Small Holdings Ulster is pre-eminently the province of small holdings. Altogether it had last year only 19,673 holdings exceeding 50 acres in extent, whereas it contains 161,649 holdings of an extent above 1 and not exceeding 50 acres. Moreover, of these the greater number are between 5 and 30 acres in area. On the other hand, Munster is- pre-eminently the province of holdings between 30 and 200 acres. In 1909, of its total number of holdings exceeding one acre, viz., 114,602, no less than 54,997 were of a size above 30 and not exceeding 200 acres. Further, it may be noted that * among these holdings the proportion not only of those above 50 acres, but of those exceeding 100 acres is area is, when compared with the other provinces, relatively large. In Leinster there is no such predominance of small or large holdings, but every class is well represented. Leinster has, however, the largest number of holdings, exceeding . 200 acres. In Connaught the most striking feature is the contrast, marked even more strongly than in Ulster, between the large number of holdings from 5 to 30 acres in extent, and the small number between 30 and 100 acres. To the former class belong more than two-thirds of the total number of holdings in Connaught exceeding one acre, whereas of holdings from 30 to 100 acres there is a much smaller proportion than in any other of the provinces. On the other hand, Connaught has the largest number of holdings ' above 500 acres.' No Danger of Persecution A man who is only prepared to obey those laws which suit him is not a good citizen. If every man in the community were to follow such a course the result would be anarchy. The Orangemen, according to the cable reports of their bluster, will not submit to Home Rule, and will resist it by force. Their loyalty is to be depended on only so long as laws are passed in conformity with their wishes. According to that theory any section of the community which feels itself dealt with in a harsh manner by legislation has a perfect right to rise in rebellion. The absurdity of such a contention needs no refutation. The Orangemen have sinned grievously in the past, and they imagine that they will have to suffer for their misdeeds. They can make their minds easy on the subject, for as Mr. Lloyd ■George said at Bangor last week, there was not the slightest danger of a persecution of Protestants by Catholics. These were not the days of religious persecution. The Ulstermen, remembering the past persecution of Catholics, were now afraid of the Catholics' vindictiveness, but no one knowing Ireland and the Catholics had the faintest doubt that they would govern as a nation and not as sectionists.' Lord Aberdeen has also assured us that there would be no interference with the religious beliefs of the Protestant population in the event of Home Rule .The Irish Viceroy says:—'After a continuous residence in Ireland for several years, watching her affairs and meeting with her people of every class and creed, I am profoundly impressed concerning the absolute baselessness of grounds for alarm about the consequence of Home Rule.' The-Irreconcilables The strength of the new movement amongst the Conservatives in fayor of Home Rule has startled some members of the party who were wont to bring their utterances on Home Rule to a close with (says the Catholic Times of November 5) solemn threats dear to the Orangemen. Mr Long repeated, to the delight of the Grand Orange Lodge, Belfast, the usual cry of 'No, never!' last week, only to Ch i ai l g^ lt • l i lto '/ W f U > hardl y ever >' when he discovered what 1 acinous and so many members of the party had been writing and saying. 'I should not have referred to the re-opening of this great question in the simple phrase ii« V £' r w Mr - ng , in T the Times > ' if l h ad known all that had taken place.' It may be that when he becomes more fully acquainted with the views both of leading men and the rank and file in the party to which he belongs he may see his way to alter the 'Hardly ever also At any rate Mr. Long cannot now put back the hands of the clock He cannot seriously deny that a great impetus has been given to the Home Rule cause by the sympathy which prominent Conservatives are giving to it, nor can he persuade colleagues of his in the foremost ranks of the party that the man who is opposing it is not trusting to a forlorn hope Of Lord Hugh Cecil the same may be said. He may see the futility of his ' Never.'