Here and There

New Zealand Tablet, Volume L, Issue 42, 25 October 1923, Page 37

Here and There

: A Notable ■Centenary.—The town- of Casena in Ro* magna, has (says the Boston Pilot) just ~ finished observing the centenary ;of the death of her most illustrious son, Pius VII. One hundred years ago on August 20, Pius VII; died, after living through eight of the most stirring decades : in European history. Many less notable men have had of late their memories recalled and their deeds praised in the secular press on 3 the occasion of their centenaries. Considering the T heroic part that Pius VII, played in one of the greatest dramas of European history, just a short century ago, it seems strange that the press, which has a keen eye for centenaries has allowed the centenary of Pius VII., the vidtim and the victor of Napoleon, to pass practically unnoticed. ';. r " -r. ;/:'. „.; Sufferings of German Nuns—A Cologne message, under date September 6,- to an, American exchange, says:—"The Vicar-General of the archdiocese of Cologne has just published .a - report on the condition of • the Catholic Sisterhoods in that diocese, based on an exhaustive investigation of more than three years. The report is significant of the sufferings- which these noble women have undergone. In part it •is as follows: "In the Cologne archdiocese there are 10,700 Sisters engaged in the instruction of girls, in the care of orphans and of the sick and the needy, and in the contemplative life. The examination conducted occupied a period of three years and a half, from 1918 to the middle of 1922. In that time no less than 339 nuns died from tuberculosis, while 514 were under medical care for tuberculosis and hundreds of others were suspected of being tubercular. What do these figures prove? From the Prussian statistics of 1920 it was shown that of every 10,000 inhabitants 16.3 died of tuberculosis. Based on these figures the number of nuns who died each year from tuberculosis was 88. Of those who died, no less than 24 per cent, were, under 30 years of age. Another 45 per cent, died before they were 40 years of age? In three years as much as the total personnel of ten large hospitals died." One German newspaper commented on the statistics as follows: "And what is the cause of the death of so many nuns? The general heroism of their lives! The need and the starvation of people: after the war and the armistice! The monasteries and charitable establishments suffered the greatest need of all. Those who labored for charity overworked themselves. The needs of the orphans, the invalids, the poor and the sick were incessant. The Sisters sacrificed themselves. They denied themselves in order to give to their foster children. Many a fervid orator would do well to take example from the silent sufferings of these Sisters, which inspire us and Jay a great debt upon us. We must, if we ever can, repay that debt."

The Story of the Pugins.— The overthrow of Classicism and the establishment of the revived Gothic style in architecture, which took place in the middle of last century, was largely the result of the labors of the Pugins (says the Edinburgh Catholic Herald). The mightiest of them was Augustus Welby Pugin, who will always be remembered for his wonderful architectural designs, measured drawings, and books on architecture. His motto throughout his short life—he died in his fortieth year— "Ornamented construction, not constructed ornament," a motto of which he gave practical illustration— the splendid Southward Cathedral and the exquisite Maynooth College Chapel, in both of which he was the designer and builder. Augustus Charles Pugin, known; as the elder Pugin, was born in France in 1762. He is the author of Examples of Gothic Architecture. He married Miss Catherine Welby, and in 1812, in -Stone Street, Bedford Square, London, Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin was born. Augustus Welby Pugin - was. educated at the Blue Coat School, but later left the steady J office of his illustrious father and went to seaAfter reaching the position of commander of a trading schooner he forsook the-; sea and rejoined his father. At the age of 19 years he married a Miss Garnet, but she died shortly afterwards. Two years later he married Miss Burton, but she died, and he married for the third time in 1848. His third wife was a Miss Knill,.who survived him. i He was a great architect and artist, placing for the benefit of i|he future the Pugin idea, which, materialised, means lightness,- delicacy, and perfect symmetry, without '- superabundant;; ornamentation. He .became a convert to the

Catholic Churci, and for ithe -remaining years of his life he lived like.a saint in tranquillity and happiness. After - a life of happy industry, adventure/ and diversity of intellectual application, he died on February 14, 1852. ; __ From the Grip of the Bandits.— Michael J McHugh and Rev. Daniel Ward, of St. Columban’s Mission, Han . Yang, China, who were reported kidnapped by bandits at Tsao Tsi, Hupeh, and who returned in safety to their mission after being in the custody of the' bandits for less than twenty-four, hours, were, attached to the American branch of the Chinese Mission Society, St. Columbans, Nebraska, U.S.A., before sailing for China (says the Irish Catholic for September 8). Father McHugh came from Ireland in 1918, and had been one of- the founders of the society in the United States, He sailed for China with ” a band of, other missionaries in July , 1920, and since then his missionary work in China has been crowned with splendid success. His first mission was at -Tsai Tien, where in 1921 he was responsible for the conversion of some 300 Chinese members of the Protestant mission there. Later he was transferred to Tsao Tsi,-his present mission. Rev. Father Ward worked as a priest in the diocese of Buffalo,. N Y., for some years before joining St. Columban’s Society. He was assistant at , St. Mary’s of the Cataract, Niagara Falls, N.Y., for some time previous to his departure for China, in November, 1921. He was immediately assigned’ the same mission field as Father McHugh at 'Tsao Tsi, and has been in great part responsible for the wonderful development of that mission, particularly , along educational lines. Tsao Tsi is a city of over 20,000 people, about 100 miles north of Han Yang, the Columban Mission headquarters. It is the centre of a very thickly populated district with 15 or 20 mission stations, which are attended by Father McHugh and Father Ward. - The Shrine of St. Anne de Beaupre.—The cornerstone of the new Basilica at the Shrine of St. Anne de Beaupre/ Canada, has been solemnly laid in the presence of a crowd estimated at 15,000 persons. Pontifical Mass, celebrated by the Right Rev. A. 0. Gagnon, of the diocese of Sherbrooke, opened the ceremonies. The prelate wore ancient vestments presented to Canada in 1666 by Anne of Austria. A chalice used in the celebration of the Mass was one that was first used in 1660. Eight cures were reported among the crowds attending the ceremonies at the Shrine.. Among them was that of Stephen Motherway, world war veteran of Springfield, Mass. He has gone on crutches since he was wounded during the war. He left his crutches at the Shrine. ~ Ireland s Last Land Court. —It is a curious historic coincidence that the very last court of the Land Commission for fixing fair rents should have been held in this town last week (says a Dublin exchange for September 8). The first Land Commission Court was held in Claremorris when the presiding Commissioners were Mr. John George McCarthy, Mr. Haughton, and Mr. O’Shaughnessy, of Ballinasloe. The second and next sitting, was in Tuam by the same court. And up to last week, sometimes •'every day. in- the year, Land Commission Courts sat all over Ireland, ” for nearly fifty years, millions of money in the shape of rent and thousands if not millions in the nature, of costs and expenses were spent on the experiment which is now scrapped. What Gladstone begun Hogan finished. To-day there is no such thing as a judicial tenant of agriculturalland. The occupant of a farm or holding still paying rent is practically the owner and the terms of the purchasewill afterwards be fixed. .All the. law books written and published are now useless lumber, mere curiosities of legal? literature. And so things pass, men and measures have their day and disappear, the only thing enduring is the ever fertile land of Ireland, a great - and grand - heritage for her people if they only , use it right and put it to good use. It is a splendid property, for a people to possess but, it is a terrible responsibility- if given the' talent they do not. use it to the best advantage and make-.it bear, that fruit God intended it to produce. Mr. William F. Stubbs V 8.L., was the Commissioner who sat-in- the last land case? and Mr. R. Jasper Kelly, State represented the tenants. N v *.., r 'v--