PUBLIC MEETING OF CATHOLICS.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5377, 21 June 1878, Page 7

PUBLIC MEETING OF CATHOLICS.

A public meeting o£ tlio Catholics of Te Airo, and oil others interested, was held in the Catholic Church, Bouloott-atreet, immediately after vespers on the 16th June, for the purpose of taking' steps to raise the necessary funds to build a new school-house in Dixonstreet for the female children of the Te Aro District. There' was a _ crowded attendance. ■ The' chair was 1 occupied by the Right Rev. Bishop Redwood ; and the Rev. Father O’Reilly, the Hoa. Dr. Grace, Mr. C. O'Neil], Mr. F- Buckley, and the members of the Church Committee, also occupied seats within the altar rails.

The Right Rev. Bishop Redwood opened the proceedings. He said : Ladies and gentlemen,—Before I come to propose the resolution to this meeting which it has fallen to my lot to propose, I must in a few words explain the objects of the meeting. Of course, my dear friends, you all know, by means of the public press and by other sources of information, that this meeting has been convened for the especial purpose of adopting means to provide a better schoolroom for the nuns in this part of Wellington ; and, of course, this evening it will not he necessary for me, or I think for any other speaker, to go into the question of the principles of education. We are all agreed upon that point. All Catholics are agreed—if they are worthy of tho name of Catholics, they are agreed upon this : that we are determined to have schools of our own, because wo know that it is necessary that religion should be the guardian, that religion should be the directress, that it should be the support, and that it should be the sanctification of any true education ; and secondly, all the Catholics of New Zealand, I may say, are determined to make efforts to havo schools of their own. (Applause.) I need not dwell on that. ■ The Catholics of this city have proved that to he their determination by the noble building which they erected not long ago a little from this spot—a building which I must say is a credit to their Catholic spirit and their true love of education. But, as I before said, it is unnecessary for me to dwell on that point. I will come immediately to the resolution which I have to propose to this meeting ; it is os follows, —That there is a great want of schools in Te Aro conducted by the nuns, the present house being in very had repair and unsuited for a school. It will be very easy for me to point out to you the truth of this resolution. I will invite you to come down any day you choose—say a good wet day; come with me to that school any day or any hour you like, and you will be immediately convinced that there is a very great want of schools in Te Aro conducted by the nuns. The schools are crowded simply because the number of children has outgrown the space at disposal. You will find buildings that are only a substitute for a school, buildings that were not erected originally for a school, and therefore quite inadequate to the real Wants of a school. They are, as you must naturally conclude, a drawback to the progress of the school, a drawback to the progress of education, and at the same time a drawback to the health of your children, which is of : course a most important consideration. By breathing the air any day in that school you will be convinced of the urgent necessity that exists for increasing the school accommodation in the district of Te Aro, and the object of our meeting : here to-night is to devise means to accomplish that very desirable end. It is of course a stem necessity, if we intend to have Catholic schools, to fight our battle firmly, in spite of every opposition ; if we intend to communicate to our children a downright solid and efficient education, we must take the means that will enable us to do it. You cannot go from 'Wa'lirgton to London without adopting the means ; neither can yon impart education, and make your children equal to those around them, unless you take the means whereby to do it. In the first place, you must . provide sufficient school accommodation, in order to ensure the health and efficiency of the ‘ children in their studies. For all these reasons it is quite necessary to have a larger school, a more spacious school, better ventilated, and fit for the purpose. ■ It is needless to dwell any further on this'great necessity ; and we have these words, “ Conducted by the nuns.” These words ought to convey a great deal to your minds, and ought to arouse your thankfulness and.gratitude. The nuns have been unspairingin their efforts, and their patience has been beyond all praise.' They have come day after day,and year after year, mail weathers, and they have spent hours and hours in a building where the atmosphere was almost heated from its overcrowded state. Despite this, they have striven hard to maintain the efficiency of the school, and they have done all this without a murmur, without a complaint, until the children have grown so numerous that it is impossible to go on any longer, and therefore they appeal to the Catholics of Wellington to build them a school worthy of their devotion. (Applause.) They have received little or nothing hitherto. They have built, almost at their own expense, the magnificent school in the other part ol: Wellington, and now they appeal to you here to furnish them with a school in which they will he enabled to pursue their labors with still greater results, with greater efficiency, and with has danger to their health and the health of the children entrusted to their care. And certainly this part of Wellington is more interested than the other, because the greatest number of children are on this side of the city. There is a tliriving Catholic population in Te Aro; that population is rapidly increasing, and that increase renders it necessary to provide a larger amount of accommodation for the children of the district ; and therefore, when these nuns appeal to you, as they do now, and show to you clearly that they cannot go on any longer in the present building, after the exhibition of so much patience and devotion, I am certain they will not appeal to you iu vain. Therefore there is ill these words, “ conducted by the nuns,” a great deal ; you cannot have too great thankfulness or gratitude for those devoted persons, who have labored so many years in this wretched building without a murmur or complaint, and to the great benefit of your children, bringing them up in piety and knowledge, and breathing into them a spirit oil true virtue, not altogether by instruction, but particularly by example. These words, ** conducted by tho nuns,” must go down to you directly. The present schoolhouse is in very bad repair, and therefore the necessity is shown for proposing this resolution, —-That there Is a great want of schools in Te Aro conducted by the nuns. I feel convinced that when yon consider this resolution you will he fully aware of its importance, and the necessity that exists for taking the most efficient and practical means to provide proper schools for these good and devoted sisters. (Applause.) The Rev. Father O’Reilly ; My Lord, ladies and gentlemen,—l have listened with great interest to what his Lordship has said, and I agree with every word in his speech to you to-night; The education of your children iij of the highest importance. A number of gentleman have contributed already towards these excellent ladies’ wants, and the same course 1 have no doubt will be pursued by others who have not yet put down their names. It is unnecessary for me to occupy your time at any greater length, as his Lordship has left no stone unturned. (Applause.) The resolution was then put to the meeting, and carried unanimously amid loud applause. • Mr. P. Booklet ; On every occasion _ on which I have had the pleasure ol addressing you on matters of this sort, the resolution I have proposed has been a practical one. On the last occasion X appeared before you I moved that a subscription list be opened, and I understand that is the nature of the resolution I have to propose to-night. I do not think that after what you have heard from his Lordship it is necessary for me to excite you to the' state of mind of tho man who was present at a charity sermon, and who became so excited at the discourse that he put his hands into the pockets of his neighbor and pulled the money out. (Laughter.; I will not ask yon to adopt that course, but to put jonr hands into your pockets, take your own money out, and contribute it in aid of schools for children who havo the high privilege of being educated by ladies so devoted to the task as our Sisters of Mercy are. Tills subscription will, I believe, not be confined to our own people, but the generous people of Wellington will assist, as they havo never failed to do, and I believe that the seal and energy which tho ladies displayed on former occasions will be again exerted in eon- ' tributing towards tho erection of an educa- . tlional establishment that will be a credit to the colony. X do not think, ladies and gentlemen, that I heed occupy your time with any f arther remarks, but I will now ask you generously to subscribe in aid of , a cause the benefit of which we can all perceive. I beg to move that a subscription list bo now opened. Mr. Alex, McDonald : I have great pleasure in seconding the resolution. Tho erection of these' schools will be a woik that will ha useful, not merely for a year or two, hut for many years to come, filiere are many young men and women here who may not tako any interest in this matter

now, but they should not forget that the school will be of great advantage to them when they have families around them. '. . The resolution was then put and carried. The Hon. Dr. Grace : My Lord, ladies and gentlemen,—l am - reminded to-night of a very striking story told by Hepwoith Dixon in his book upon New America. In crossing the whole of that‘vast republic and comparing it with other countries in Europe, he said the one thing more amusing than any other was this. It was before the construction of the trans-continental railway, and he was therefore travelling by stages from the Eastern to the Western States. It was a most dangerous track, both on account of tho Indians and particular obstructions of nature, and very few people were willing to incur the dangers of it. When the coach came to start, Mr. Dixon found, sitting on the box, a big, long-legged, rosy-cheeked, shaggy-haired miner. As they bumped and rattled along from day to day the time seemed very dull to Dixon, but the miner was never dull; he was perpetually swinging about on the box, and singing “ The wearing of the green.” Hepworth Dixon goes on to say :—“ There is nothing new in that, but what amused me was this ; This miner had a bottle of whisky with him, and he perpetually pressed me to take some, I told him I was very much obliged, but I had got some of my own. He was not happy, because I would not take any. We had about five days to complete. our journey, when the cork came out of my bottle, and when I told this to the miner, his expression was, “ Thanks be to God for that; you will have to accept some of mine.” Hepworth Dixon then says : —“ There is this characteristic of the Irish—they are longing to give away something. I seriously suspect that he took the cork out of my battle for the pleasure of making me accept something from him.” Ladies and gentlemen, your race all over the world are constantly giving. It is characteristic of Irishmen to give favors to others everywhere ; but when they come to confer favors on themselves in their corporate capacity as Catholics, then they are liberal indeed ; and the truth of that is to be observed all the world over. So it has been in this country, and so it will continue to be to tho end of time; but I know perfectly well that Catholics in general, but Irishmen in particular, like to he asked. They may say you are always coming, and there may be a little grumbling when they are asked to subscribe, hut secretly they would like to be giving something. If that he so in general cases, how much more so now. As a mere economic principle you should give iu this instance. Any useful working citizen in this State is estimated to be worth £lB5 for his productiveness. Any man or woman who is able to work is worth that amount. That is my opinion, though of course it is subject to qualification, but not very much. I can assure you that the miserable shanty in which the school it at present conducted has cost £IOOO, in the loss of two such valuable lives as those of two sisters who died through the misery and wretchedness of that building. I have no doubt whatever that we are losing in one direction if we appear to save in tho other. It is certain that if tho sisters are obliged to go down and teach in that school day after day, with no comfort, rest, or convenience, those two who have already gone from our midst will not be the only ones likely to go. As an economic principle, then, I say that it lays you to subscribe to this work, because a lighly educated woman who is competent to instruct your children is, on a purely commercial basis, worth £SOO cash. It pays you hand over fist to erect a proper building to conduct that school in. But, ladies and gentlemen, there is something beyond that ; there is something beyond even the cost of the lives that are sacrificed by the miserable provision that is afforded to them in the performance of their duty. There is a fact we must never forget: you must never forget that you, as Catholics, are essentially a missionary people ; you must never forget that, before the world, the great task devolves upon you of propagating Catholicism all over the universe, and that by the will of Divine Providence the hand of the Irish people is the means of propagating Catholicity. (Applause.) Do you suppose that you, as a race, have received this extraordinary faith that has excited the literati of Europe, do you suppose you have received such a gift to waste it in indifference, apathy, and sloth ? No. Such a gift involves a wonderful responsibility, and it is your imperative duty to be equal to the large and important mission to which you are devoted as a Catholic people. But, my Lord, ladies and gentlemen, there is still more. You have to demonstrate, therefore, in the face of the civilised world, what you as Irish people are capable of doing. Are we as a people to have to say we are oppressed here, lowered there ? Are we to say that by legislation we have suffered, and that people have suffered by their surroundings ? Aro we, when free as mountain air, to neglect the capacity for advancement, for progress and greatness, which are inherent in the Irish race ? No. Ours is, indeed, a manycolored task—a task of love ; it is one which we will revel over in secret, declare openly, teach our children, and endeavor to instil into their nature the love of Catholicity in the first place, the love of Ireland in the second. What would signify to us the finest condition, the greatest prosperity, the most unlimited wealth, if we saw our children growing up other than Catholics? I know in my own case that my father’s bones would turn in their tomb if at the fiftieth generation one descendant neglected the Catholic Church. What ! are we not the proud descendants of a proud people ? We have resisted oppression from century to century, growing closer and closer in our bond of union, establishing ourselves and increasing in every part of the globe, and bursting on society and paralysing the world by our extraordinary progress. Is it not so, and has not such been our mission ? Look at America, at the Argentine Republic, at the Peruvian Republic, at India, Australia ; go even to Africa, or where yon will, and you will find the Irish people, I believe by a special dispensation of Divine Providence, doing acts of personal devotion towards their mother Church, and advancing the interests of that Church by a large-hearted liberality that is perfectly characteristic of the country to which they owe their origin. I am glad to see some ladies present to-night, but I should have been pleased to see a great many more. I hope that some of those who are present will offer to collect money for this noble purpose. Let us not forget the minutiae of the undertaking—those details that are necessary for the practical success of onr enterprise. Let no one suppose in the case of tho smallest child that his or her cooperation is not of tho first importance. No. It is by united action, by a uniformity of ideas, and by mutual sympathy and co-operation, that we do succeed, and shall continue to succeed. I trust therefore, laying aside for the nonce that natural sprit of retirement that characterises the sex, that several ladies will arrange, if not publicly declared, to make an effort to supplement the systematic effort which will be made by the committee. Already I may say that money has been most liberally subscribed, and I feel sore that if any uniformity of effort is made in this direction, we shall speedily see erected a thoroughly good school building, without taxing the liberality of anybody, that will not only be a credit to the parish, hut intrinsically valuable to your children. With your own experience, ladies and gentlemen, you can value the inculcation of docility upon girls, and the advantage that will result to your family from your daughters learning to comport themselves in that decorous manner which is known to pervade all schools conducted by tho Sisters. None of you can fail to remember that what brightens the success of all races is due to the virtue and the domestic qualities of the women. (Applause.) It is, an undisputed fact all tho world over that the morality of Irishwomen is a by-word —a substitute for perfection. Their morality is unanimously admitted by all classes of society, and as springing necessarily from that results the increase of the race of those people whose women are moral. So much is that the case that the whole future greatness of that race depends upon tho domestic virtues and the morality of your women. If so, is it not a judicious expenditure of money to provide, at a very small coat, such an education for your female children as will secure for them that excellence in virtue that pre-eminently distinguishes the women of Ireland ? (Loud applause.) Dr. Grace then formally moved that the following gentlemen be requested to act as a committee to obtain subscriptions Messrs. A. Macdonald, Sandbrook, Mulcahy, P. McOomisky, J. Curry, H. Bracken, John McOomisky, J. Coogan, J. Shaw, D. T. Toohill, J, Robinson, W. Davis, J. Cook, and J. Smith. Mr. Charles O’Neill, C.E. : It is a very great pleasure to me, indeed, to second tho resolution which has been so ably proposed by the Hon. Dr. Grace, and X feel perfectly satisfied that it requires no exertion on my part: to urge upon those who aro going to take an interest in canvassing the great importance of proceeding earnestly iu the work. There could not be a nobler or greater work than that of raising up schools for tho poor nuns to educate the i children in, and for ono reason stronger than another, the fact told us by Dr. Grace that two nuns actually suffered death from the

effects of teaching in the vitiated atmosphere of that school. His Lordship has shown you what the State schools are, and it behoves us earnestly, one and all, to canvas eagerly to raise such a sum of money as will put up a school that the Catholics may be proud of. We are placed in a difficulty by the Legislature and by the majority of tho people in the colony, hut with combination and earnestness on our own part we will show them that wo aro independent, and tho time will come, and not before long, when you will force the Legislature to do you justice. I have no doubt that in going round many who do not belong to the Catholic Church will liberally subscribe for so good a cause as education. There are many not so bigoted as to refuse. Speaking of bigotry reminds me of a very good story that happened to a Frenchman in Te Aro. Early in the morning he was caught in tho act of talcing a very big glass of whisky. “ Mac, are you a teetotaller ?” said tho friend who discovered him. “Of course I am, but not a bigoted one.” (Laughter.) The resolutian was then put, and carried unanimously. A list of subscriptions was then read out. The following amongst other suras were announced :—Bishop Redwood, £SO ; Hon. Dr. Grace, £55; Mr. P. Buckley, £SO; Rev. Father Kerrigan, £3O. A subscription list was immediately opened in the Church, and The Chairman subsequently announced that the subscriptions,including what had previously been readout, amounted t0£530 2s. He had to express his thankfulness for the liberality displayed on this occasion, and he trusted that before long they would see a school provided for the Sisters in Te Aro that would be a credit to all concerned. On the motion of Mr. Charles O'Neil), a cordial vote of thanks was passed to Bishop Redwood tor presiding so ably. The proceedings then terminated.