ST. MARY'S SCHOOLS, NELSON.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume II, Issue 93, 6 February 1875, Page 10

ST. MARY'S SCHOOLS, NELSON.

Tflß twenty-fifth anniversary of the above-named schools was celebrated on Tuesday, the 19th inst. Tea was partaken of at five p.m., and in the evening Bishop Redwoad distributed the prizes to the successful scholars, in the presence of a large number of visitors. In distributing the prizes bis Lordship the Bishop said : My dear children : It is a great pleasure to me to distribute these prizes to you to-day. It is a great pleasure also to me to congratulate you upon your success at the end of this year. What makes the special worth of these prizes is not the intrinsic value of each one, but the whole sum of the efforts which they suppose on your part. They suppose continued efforts, and a will which has been strengthened so as to compete day after day, and week after week, so as, at last, to obtain the well-earned reward of true industry and true assiduity for youx different lessons, and, finally, the reward which is due to perseverence in study ; and I may remark that perseverence in study is frequently the hardest of all kinds of perseverance. I have, therefore, to congratulate you on your success, but what marks still more the worth of these prizes is that they look forward to the future. You look to me to-day like a tree which is just beginning to bud or blossom, and what makes the beauty of the tree is not the blushing honors it bears upon it, but to the mind rather than to the sense, the beauty of a tree in blossom consists in the promise of its fruit, and to-day I see in you promise of great fruit in future, j I feel a deep interest in you because I know you are the hope of a part of this flourishing colony. You are to contribute to the best of your ability to make New Zealand great, and its greatness will depend upon the cultivation of its mind by sound instruction. What forms a nation, what raises a man to a high pitch, what keeps a nation at a high pitch, and what, when a nation has fallen, lifts it and places it on a high pinnacle ? Good and true men and education ! (Applause.) Education takes a man as he comes forward like a germ beginning to bud forth, and brings out all his faculties. These faculties have to be developed by sound instruction. Man has also a will, and that will has to be strengthened by good sound prudent discipline. Men has, too, a higher faculty — he has his conscience, and this conscience is formed by teaching him what is right and what is wrong, until he becomes at length what is called a conscientious man. The tree begins to put forth its branches, and very soon is covered with precious fruits. And now I have only to exhort you to continue to persevere as you have been doing, and, to encourage you to persevere, I say yo\i have one great motive iv the ability with which you are taught. You have a master who is able to teach you, and who is devoted to you, and one whom this town may congratulate for all his efforts in the instruction of youth. You have also a pastor who directs these schools, who will never be forgotten in Nelson, and who will leave a mark in this part of New Zealand. You have, in the Bisters, persons who have left their country and made all kinds of eacrificea for your sakes, who are able and willing to teach you, and who have consecrated all their efforts to promote your welfare. You have also another eucouragemeut, that is the presence here this evening of those gentlemeu who have come to assist in rewarding you tox your labors. You have the presence of Mr Simmons,, the dis-

tinguished head of the Nelson College — a College which stands in the very first rank of the educational establishments — and he comes to honor with his presence the rewarding of your labors ; he comes to point out to you, as it were, the higher grade of instruction to which you are to inspire, so that afterwards you may have influence in the country. I may avail myself of this opportunity to congratulate this learned gentleman on the fairness, liberality, and broadness of mind he has displayed in conducting that establishment, and he deserves the graditude of all classes in the Colony for his generosity, true liberality, and broadness of view. (Applause). I have also to congratulate another gentleman — Mr Broad. I cannot say too much in his praise, for I know he has done all in his power to promote education wherever he has been, and hence, I Bay, he comes here to-day to meet you, and as it were, to take part in your little triumphs, and to tell you that next year even those who now, after competing with great effort, had nearly reached the goal of success will, by perseverance, do so then. I hope to have again the pleasure of presenting, these well earned rewards. (Applause.) And now I have only to invoke upon you the blessing of the Almighty who has been called the G-od of Sciences. He is eternal truth, and His object is to convey that truth to men, and therefore I leave you under his blessing. I invoke the blessing of Heaven upon all those who contribute to education, and I hope you will continue to persevere in your exertions, and bo at last become a credit to those who have educated you ; the joy and consolation of your parents, and a credit to yourselves, by the great and lasting influence you will have in society. (Applause). Mr. Lowther Broad said he would, with his Lordship's permission, say a few words. It was a remarkable fact that, during the time he had resided in Nelson, each year, when they had met to distribute the prizes, there had been some singular event which had made the presentation notable. On the first occasion there was the arrival of the Sisters of the Convent. That was a great event, and it had been productive of very great results. In the following year they had congratulated themselves on the almost miraculous improvement which had taken place in both the boys' and girls' schools. And now there was another remarkable event — the presence of one of St. Mary's boys as Bishop of the Church. (Prolonged applause.) Nothing he could say would express what all who belonged to the Church felt when they thought of this. They were all willing to pay his Lordship the most willing obedience, and to offer him their most hearty affection, as he was an honor not only to the Church but also to the town of Nelson. (Applause.) From the presence of the Bishop he might paint a moral and adorn a tale. His Lordship was for the boys especially a notable example of what they might attain to by virtue and industry, and he thought there could be no doubt that Bishop Redwood would not have occupied his present position, had he not been in a singular manner possessed of great ability and most eminent virtues. (Applause.) If any small efforts of his (Mr. Broad's) own I had hitherto had even a small effect in promoting the cause of education, he was far more than rapoid, and so long as he continued to live in this town it would be his duty year by year to offer some small rewards to both schools for progress in particular departments. Before concluding he desired not only as a member of the Church, . but also as a resident of the City of Nelson, to endorse every word that had fallen from his Lordship's mouth with regard to their dear friend Father Gurin. They could never speak of him in too high terms of praise, they loved him too much for words to express the extent of their love. (Loud applause.) The Rev. Father Gurin said he was happy to remind them that there was amongst them one gentleman— Captain Eough — who had been making the greatest exertions towards promoting the education of the young. He had gone to the trouble of visiting all the schools, and had encouraged education by every means in his power. That day was to him one of especial interest. It was twenty-five years since the schools had been established, and he wanted to mark the circumstance by something tangible, and he was glad therefore to know that they had with them their worthy Bishop, who would give a little importance to the occasion. In order that the event might be remembered he had announced that a pic-nic would be held on the following day (Wednesday), and all the scholars and their friends j were invited to attend. He exhorted the children to attend school j regularly, and to study not only in school but at homo also. They I could see the result of labor and perseverance in school everywhere. They had bad in their school several boys and girls who had been remarkable in their after lives. They had a striking instance of this in their worthy Bishop. Captain Bough said that having been so kindly mentioned by his evcellent friend old Father Garin, ho would ein> be op. j portunity of saying a few words about the schools , - ,; visited | during the last few years. They knew that Nelson wab everywhere | highly spoked of for its elementary schools as well as for its College. j Perhaps the elementary schools were not quite so good as they were ; apt to flatter themselves they were. In fact their elementary schools ! were by no meaks up to the standard he hoped they would reaciTin j f uture years, and this was owing chiefly to the irregular attendance of the scholars, and sometimes to the fact that boys of twelve or fourteen years of age, who had already learned a great deal, and were likely to learn a great deal more, were taken away from school and set to I work. He reminded parents that their children would lose a groat ! deal if regular attendance at school were not insisted upon. He ; thought that every child should go to school until it was fourteen j years of age at least, and, in his opinion, it was very discouraging to a j schoolmaster to see his most promising pupils taken from it at an early ■ age, and when they would be capable of receiving much more instruc- : tiou. Mosfc of the Nelson schools -were creditable to their teachers. To him it had been a great pleasure to examine both the boys and girls attending Sfc. Mary's Schools. Many of the branches of educa- ; tion taught at that establishment were very much better uderstood than in former years, particularly the geography of New Zealand. The reading of the pupils wrs excellent, their writing was very fair, aud as to their manners he could hardly speak too highly.

He iras sure that both their morals and their manners .would be very much improved by being under the care of the estimable ladies ■whose duty it was to teach them — (applause) — and the scholars could not too highly appreciate their efforts. He asked them to be diligent in their studies and obedient to their teachers, and concluded by calling upon them to give three cheers for Father Garin and the other teachers. The cheers were given heartily. A similar conplinient was also paid to his Lordship, Mr. Richards, the Master of the boys' school, thanked all the visitors who, by their attendance, gave eclat to the distribution of the prizes. The prizes had all been fairly and honestly won by these whose names were attached to them, and he was sure the winners would appreciate the prizes all the more because they had been, presented by his Lordship. The boys had conducted themselves well, and had shown their affection for Father Garin and himself by presenting them with little tokens of their esteem. He mentioned, this to show that the position between teacher and pupils was properly adjusted, and that they were not likely to have any mishaps in consequence of that want of harmony of feeling which exists in soms schools. The boys' progress had answered his expectations, and average talent had done its work through the years. Mr. F. C. Simmons said that Father Garin had done him the honor of asking him to say a few words, although he hardly knew what remained to be said. He, however, would do so as his reverend and esteemed friend had requested him, because Father Garin was a man who must bo obeyed. Everybody in Nelson must be thoroughly aware how much they owed to Father Garin. As far as he (Mr. Simmons) had seen, Father Garin was a model Christian man. He himself had had the honor of acting at a public board with the reverend gentleman, and he never heard him say anything that was not kind and charitable to all men. His Lordship had been kind enough to speak in flattering terms of the Nelson College. He (Mr. Simmons) was a little proud of the College, and could, assure them that as long as he had anything to do with that institution there would be thorough fair play shown to everybody, whoever thay might be. They would never here the slightest vestige of a word of disrespect to their creed. (Applause) . One of his best and ablest pupils had been a Roman Catholic named Daniel O'Connor, and he was happy to say that that young man had passed crediably a most atringent Civil Sendee examination. He hoped his Lordship would continue to have confidence in the Nelson College. He had given a prize to the best English lady scholar, and, with the Sisters' kind permission, he would do the same next year. (Applause) . He had had long experience as a teacher, and would say that he had never seen such good discipline in any school as in St. Mary's Girls' School. (Applause). This terniinfited the proceedings.