WELLINGTON.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume IV, Issue 184, 6 October 1876, Page 12

WELLINGTON.

(from our own correspondent.) fou will, I am sure, have received news of the death of Father Petit Jean before this reaches you, but you may not have received so detailed an account as the following. Father Petit Jean, after tiaving been at confession on the eveninsr of Thursday the 21st inst. shortly before five o'clock, was engaged in prayer at the foot of the altar in the cathedral, the church of -which he was administrator, when he was observed to fall suddenly. A Mr. Frost, who happened to be in the church at the time, immediately went .to his assistance, and raised him up, when he said, " I was asleep." Mr. Frosb said, " Father, you are sinking fast," and he answered, " I am." These were his last words. The Bishop at that instant entered the church, and seeing his condition at once anointed him, and in a few minutes after, when Dr. Grace arrived, life was extinct. The whole time did not extend over ten minutes. He had been for a long time suffering from an advanced organic disease of the heart, and had not recovered from a severe fit of illness by which he was prostrated last winter, but is he appeared strong and still fulfilled his duties with the same zeal, attention, and fervor which characterised his whole life, no one expected his death would occur for many years to come. But so he died at the foot of the altar which he had so long adorned with his virtues, and in communion with his Maker, for whom he had labored throughout his whole life with the zeal, fervency, and ardour of the most selfdenying, the most patient, the most heroic of missionary priests. Never did a man cross the equator whose virtues were more manifold. Ido not think he was wanting in any of the cardinal virtues which go to adorn a human being. He was a scholar of the highest order, yet simple as a child, in humility, patience, perseverance, piety, and zeal for the spread of his religion, charity, and love of the poor, he had no superior and not many equals. And still he was so gentle, so delightful in his conversation, that even though he was reproving, it scarcely could be called reproof. It may be truly said that " He was gentle, and the matter so mix in him, That nature might stand up and sny, this 13 a man." or more applicable — a saint. His only fault was, if it could b« called a fault, that he gave indiscriminately to the deserving and the unworthy. No matter who complained, his pitying, generous, noble heart was ever ready to relieve distress. Such a man was he, whom every Catholic in Wellington now mourns, mourns with a deep heartfelt sorrow that will not be soon forgotten. On Sunday morning, at 11 o'clock, Requiem Mass was offered for the repose of his soul. The Bishop as celebrant was assisted by Fathers O'Keilly, Zardin, Kearney, and M'Guinness. The altar was draped in black. The remains of the beloved deceased were layed out in a coffin in front of the altar. His hands were clasped as if in prayer, and there was a benign serenity on his features. A cross of lilies in a circle of roses was placed at his feet, and the lid of his coffin bore the following inscription :—": — " Of your charity, ■nrnv for the vepose of the soul of John Babtict Petit Jean, priest of the"Society of Mary. Born 30th March. 1811 : died 21 <^ S^e-nber, 187fi. Aged 65 years." After mass, the Bishop in a black velvet cope and accompanied by the other clergymen assembled around the coffin and. prayed. The most touching scene then occurred. Of all who had assisted at mass, few left without going up to take a farewell look and pray beside the coffin, while their tears flowed freely. Three o'clock was the hour appointed for the funeral to leave the cathedral. The church by that time was crowded toexcess, not alone with Catholics, but with many of the leading merchants of the city. At three o'clock, the Bishop, vested in cope and mitre, entered, accompanied by the other clergymen and the Marist Brothers, and the office for the dead was sung. The Bishop • then ascended the pulpit and preached the following. FUNERAL ORATION. "My dearly-beloved brethren, — I must in the first place claim your indulgence on the present occasion. You may easily imagine that it is no easy matter for me to speak, in the presence of his dear and holy remains, of him whom we have assembled to honor. It is difficult to speak in an adequate manner of a man who has left behind him in this world a record of such a life as he has, and is now gone to pass a glorious life in another world. It is difficult tosatisfy you upon bis virtues. No words of mine would be adequate, and I will, therefore, content myself with a few plain remarks,, leaving your sympathies to supply what is unsaid. I will, therefore, begin by saying that that great servant of God had, through his whole life, followed the instructions of St. Paul, ' Labor as a soldier of God.' You have in these words the life of the man in whose honor we are assembled. He has been a soldier of Jesus-

Cnrißt, he has worked for Jesus Christ at all times and in all places, under all circumstances, through difficulty and trial, in adversity and prosperity, in every manner he worked strenuously and indefatigably as a true and zealous soldier of Jesus Christ. He came of a race distinguished by every virtue which adorns humanity, and of a family "(many of whom I have known personally) crowned with the virtues which were so distinctively characteristic of himself. Born in a village a few miles from Lyons, in the department of the Rhone, he was educated in every virtue until he entered college, where he soon showed abilities equal to men who have since made their mark in the world, and proved their superior in the practice of virtue. After having prepared himself intellectually for the highest positions in his own country, he heard of the mission to those benighted islands of the South Seas. Renouncing his country, his friends, and every other tie which bound him, for the pure love of God, he consecrated himself to the warfare of Jesus Christ, and came to this country, where he landed at the Bay of Islands early in the year 1840. From this place he wrote a letter ■to his brother-in-law in France, which clearly showed the pangs of grief which he felt in parting from all he loved. • I took your letters,' he says, ' and retired into the poor chapel of St. Francis Xavier, and wept like Joseph over his brethren.' Those words show how deeply he felt his voluntary exile, but it was all for the love of God, and though he suffered hunger and privation, and ■worse than all, the calumny of those who differed from him, he accepted it all with humility and patience, as was proved by his reply to his sister whea asking did he suffer much. ' When I turn my eyes,' he says, ' to China, and contemplate the tortures which the missionaries have to undergo on the rack, I answer Ido not ; but if you would call suffering to sleep out among the ferns, and on the sea-shore with the spray sprinkling over me, then I suffer ; but what is it to the suffering of others.' After years of toil and labor of this kind among the native population, when Bishop Viard was consecrated Bishop of Wellington in 1850, he accompanied him. Since then no one need tell his story. Many of you have since been baptised by him, many of you united by him in the ties of matrimony, and many of you have reaped the benefit of his instructions. After leaving the confessional late on Saturday night, he did not retire to rest until long after midnight, but prepared the discourse with which he instructed you on Sunday morning. Yet he would be at his place at early mass. He carried on his work heedless of the opinions of men, except to save their souls. He was an indefatigable student. The extent of his researches were marvellous, as an examination of his notes will show ; not of useless readings, but of the highest class literature, such as would tend to enable him to fulfil his duties the more faithfully, and fit him the better for the labor of his love. What shall I say of his faith ? So simple, so ardent, that it enabled him to see God and His divine mercy in all things. For instance, he once saw a Maori woman weeping and tearing her face until blood covered it, and he asked why she did so ; she answered she had lost one who was dear to her, and that true love was not satisfied with tears, it required blood. He was so struck with her reply that he said, 'Jesus Christ did so love the world that He came down from Heaven to shed His blood for us." Thus faith lifted him above the world; he was eternally in communion with his Maker, and it yielded him fruits of wisdom, for when consulted, his opinion was always wise and discreet. He was the most unselfish of men, his self-abnegation was only second to his faith. He was persevering, patient, in fact, his patience was niE'rvellous, for when he was often needlessly disturbed in the midst of his work, he never exhibited the least impatience, and though he sometimes reproved, it was in gentle kindly tones as a father to his children." The Bishop concluded with a most earnest exhortation to all present to bring now to his feet garlands, not of perishable flowers, but of firm resolutions, to try to imitate the life of him who had been to them so long a most glorious model, and detailed the circumstances under which he died. While speaking of the deceased's virtues, his Lordship was evidently so much moved, that it was with a great effort he was able to suppress his emotions. At about four o'clock, the procession formed as had been already arranged. It was headed by a cross-bearer, and followed by the Artillery Band playing the " Dead March in Saul." Then came the Hibernian Society, followed by the Catholic Young Men's Society, dressed in their respective regalias in crape, and giving Mthe procession an aspect of great prominence. The two societies nearly 100 men. The carriages containing the clergy the Bishop, on whose carriage was borne a cross, came next in order, and was followed by the coffin borne on men's shoulders. The pall-bearers being Hon. Dr. Grace, M.L.C., Dr. Doyle, Walter Johnstcn, Esq., M.H.R , J. O'Shea, Esq., C. O'Neil, Esq., and S. Cimeno, Esq. The Mayor and a large number of the leading men of the city followed, after which came the great concourse of people who took part in the procession. It was intended that children attending the Marist .Brothers' and nuns' schools should also walk in the funeral, but through the weather turning out most unfavorable, this idea had to be relinquished. The forenoon of the day was cold and showery, and at 12 o'clock rain fell in torrents. At 2.30, however, it cleared up, and very fortunately remained so until about six o'clock, with the exception of an occasional shower. At that time the procession was returning from the Roman Catholic cemetery where the body had been interred. Besides those who took part in the procession, along the whole route, which lay through the principal thoroughfares, the streets were crowded on both sides, so that no less than two -thirds of the people of Wellington could have taken part in the funeral, notwithstanding the inclemency of the weather. Had it been a fine day, such as would enable the people in the country districts to come in, the largest concourse of people which had ever assembled in this city would have followed to the grave the remains of one of the purest, the noblest, and the b3st of men. He's gone, but tha good he has done is not all buried with him. He has sown seeds of virtue and of truth, which still

live, and will long continue to keep his memory fresh in the recollection of the flock over which he watched with such diligence. May he rest in peace. Amen. Hmibnico.