THE LATE BISHOP VIARD,

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1207, 11 June 1872, Page 2

THE LATE BISHOP VIARD,

[WELLINGTON INDEPENDENT, JUNE 4.] We feel sure that everyone of our readers will hear with regret the announce^ ment of the death of Bishop Viard, which took place yesterday afternoon, about half-past two o'clock. Although the goo 4 Bishop's death was not unexpected it occurred rather suddenly at the hour above v stated. Up till 12 o'clock there were no other signs of the impending dissolution than had been apparent during the two or three days preceding,- but a sudden' attack gave warning that the end was near. -Up to the last moment the -Bishop was conscious and exhorted those around him to prayer. His Lordship the Right Reverend Phillip Joseph Yiard was bora? in 1809 in the city of Lyons, and' was educated in the first ecclesiastical college in the diocese of L'Argentieres, province of Lyons; and afterwards went through! his course of theology in the great Semi--nary of StTreiueus, at Lyons. He was

ordained priest in 1834, and after performing the duties of pastor for several years in different parishes of the diocese of Lyons, he joined the Society of St Mary, in order to devote himself to tbe apostolic labor connected with foreign missions, leaving for New Zealand in 1839, and landing in December of the same year at the Bay of Islands. He then proceeded to Tauranga, and from there went to Wallace's Island, one of the South Sea group, where he labored^ for some time before going, to New Caledonia, where he spent eighteen months. In 1846 he was appointed by his Holiness the Pope to be coadjutor to Bishop Pompalier, and was consecrated Bishop by Archbishop Polding. He resided for many years in Auckland,, and was finally, appointed to the Bishopric of tris didcese of Wellington, iir which district he has discharged the pastoral duties attaching to his office for the past twenty-two years. The first sighs of physical decay manifested themselves when Bishop Yiard was in Rome, attending the sittings of the (Ecumenical Council of 1869-70, in the proceedings of which important assembly he took a very active part. Before leaving Rome he was made aware that the attack upon his system was of a serious cbaracr ter, all the organs of the chest being affected. There is little doubt that tbe exposure and vicissitude inseparable from a residence at New Caledonia at the, period of the Bishop's missionary labors at that place laid the germs of the disease to which he has succumbed, the privations endured by the setters at New Caledonia being trying in the extreme. For months at a time they and the missionaries had to depend for means of subsistence upon such food as the natives were enabled to furnish in consequence of the infrequent visits of trading -vessels, and these hardships assisted in breaking down a constitution unusually robust. The ailments from which the Bishop suffered have been pain- ' ful and severe for a period extending over two years, and during the last few days of existence he bore his affliction With heroic patience and resignation, seeking strength and consolation in the sacraments of his church. During the evening thejody was removed to \the cathedral, where it will lay in state. - : A later date says :—"St. Mary's Cathe dral was yesterday thronged by. visitors anxious to obtain a last view of all t&it is mortal of Bishop Viard. The bocj^was laid out in the Bishop's robes, and placed at the Communion rail in the central aisle, The stillness qf 1 death pervaded the^hbly edifice, and with the illumined circlet surrounding the corse, the grandeur of the handsome sanctuary, and the devotions of the patient watchers, members of the flock of the departed Bishop, the scene was most solemn and impressive. Communication was had with Bishop Moran, of Dunedin, yesterday, and. it has been arranged that he shall perform the funeral rites over the remains at the burial, but the steamboats being all at unsuitable places, Dr Moran cannot possibly reach Wellington before Friday. The Nebraska is the first boat to leave Port Chalmers, and as she does not, sail till Thursday, it will in all probability be Saturday morning bef&re she arrives in Wellington harbor. The funeral procession will leave the Cathedral and pass along the Terrace to the Roman Catholic Chapel at the. Te An) end of , the city, where service will be held and prayers offered up by the R^ev. fathe? O'Reilly, and the returti to the Qathgdxal will be along Willis' street. The body will remain in state at the Cathedral to--day, and in the evening will be placed in a double leaden coffin and sealed. .