NEWS OF THE WEEK.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume IV, Issue 189, 10 November 1876, Page 11

NEWS OF THE WEEK.

We have not inserted in our columns a certain telegram via San Francisco, which reports that the Pope is suffering from severe illness ,• for, although there is nothing improbable in the matter on first sight, reflection reminds us that the "wish is father to the thought" in many instances, and nowhere more fully than in affairs which com era the welfare of the Holy Father. That a man of eighty-four years should be ailing is in nothing astonishing, but there is much food for surprise in the knowledge that up to the present he has continued hale and healthy, notwithstanding the heavy cares that have distinguished his pontificate, the afflictions visited upon the Church, and the humiliation and imprisonment which in his own person he has endured. We see the finger of God plainly evident in the strength with which our Holy Father has borne the sorrows of his long life, and if now, he is about to casb them off and enter into his reward, it is the like mercy that makes provision for him. We cannot grieve for him, but rather for the universal flock to whom he has been so faithful a chief pastor. We, however, hope that the hour -of his departure may still be deferred until the dark clouds that overhang the Church have been dispersed; so that, as he has sorrowed in her troubles, he may rejoice in her triumph ; and to this ■end we ore sure that all true Catholics will join in our prayers, for they must indeed be dull and cold of heart who do not feel a throb of

enthusiasm at the bare name of our saintly Father. Pope Pius the Ninth. r

We observe that a mosb successful concert was lately given in Bathurst, N.S.W., in aid of the Catholic Orphanage, which is under the care of the Sisters of Mercy in that town. We are unable in this week's issue of our journal to give any report of the proceedings of the Convention, held in Dunedin on the Bth inst., or of the Grand Hibernian Pic-nic on the 9th, as the occurrence of the holiday obliges us to go to press a day earlier than it is our custom. We trust, however, that next week we shall be able to chronicle the events of the fete at Burnside in a manner altogether glowing and replete with satisfaction. The admirable effects of the Christian Brothers' influence over their pupils was again borne evidence to on Sunday last, when a number of youths, who had been under their instruction for some time, made their first communion at St. Joseph's Church, Dunedin. A movement has been set on foot in Naseby, with the object of getting up a race meeting to be held in the vicinity this season. The eleventh annual show of the Timaru Agricultural and Pastoral Association was held in the town alluded to on the Ist inst. Owing to the increased facilities for travelling, a greater number of persons visited the exhibition than had done so in any previous year.

At a fishing expedition lately undertaken by the Maoris in the North, it was insisted upon that the females of the party should all go in clean garments, as to their negligence in that particular was attributable the ill-success of a former transaction of the like nature. The damage done by the late fire at Blenheim is estimated to amount to £15,000.

Collections are being made in N.S.W., as well as in Victoria, in aid of the persecuted clergy in Q-ermany.

Various critics have taken it upon them to criticise Archbishop Vaughan's already famous lecture on " Hidden Springs." We fancy, however, that it will have to cross the Equator before it can find an opponent worthy of it in point of learning or genius. His Grace is certainly one of the leading intellects of the present day, and Australasian Catholics may well congratulate themselves on the acquisition of so splendid a champion. Where but in the Catholic Church can men be found of such eminence, who yefc content themselves with comparatively obscure positions in furtherance of their cause ?

It will be seen from the San Francisco Mail telegrams that the persecution, which Catholic missionaries in China foretold last year, is now being fiercely carried out. We doubt if there has ever been a time when the Church was more the object of hatred and malice than she is at present in all the countries of the world, whether civilized or barbarous. Her triumph will, however, be all the brighter when the appointed hour comes.

The art exhibition now open in the" gallery of the Normal School, Moray Place, will be found well to repay a visit. The pictures on view are, many of them, admirable as works of art, while they are most valuable illustrations of the exquisite scenery of New Zealand. Amongst the more "remarkable we noticed certain by Messrs. Chevalier, Raworth, Gully, and Hoyte, that are quite beyond all praise ; and we are puzzled which to admire the most. Mr. Hoyte's "Shakespeare's Head" and "Rolleston Ranges," Mr. Gully's "Waimea Plains" and "Entrance to Milford Sound," or Mr. Raworth' s "Mount Earnslaw" and "Storm on Humboldt Ranges." These three gentlemen are particularly happy in their delineation of atmospheric effects, and it would be hard to say whether is most excellent — the clear air of the first mentioned, the sultry sky of the second, or the sunset light and confused snow-drift of the third. Our much admired acquaintance, Mr. Power, exhibits only two smaller works, both extremely good in their way ; the one a cabinet portrait of His Lordship the Bishop of Dunedin, and the other a sketch in oils of the Water of Leith. There are besides some very creditable amateur efforts, and many more productions of considerable artistic merit than our space allows us to describe.

We are glad to hear that the services of Mr. P. Barry, late Senior-constable,|have been recognised by his appointment to the rank of Sergeant. Sergeant Barry has been a member of the police force for fourteen years, during which time he has deserved the uninterrupted approbation of his superior officers, and has gained for himself many friends. The greater part of his time of service has been spent by him in Southland, where the intelligence of his promotion will be hailed with pleasure by numerous persons who hold him in high respect. We have further to announce that Constable Q-eria has been advanced to the position of Senior Constable.*

: Castle Garden, the emigration depot at New York, which was I recently destroyed by fire, was probably the largest establishment of j the kind in the world. It has in the course of a number of years I been the temporary home of millions who have poured into the j United States from every quarter of the globe. Here the emigrant was received on his arrival, and registered. He was then passed over to a " booker" — that is a clerk of the Bail way Association, whose duty it was to ascertain the destination of each passenger, and furnish him with a printed slip, upon which was marked the number of tickets wanted, and their cost in currency. Directly opposite the railway counter were the desks of the exchange brokers, who, being also under the control of the Government Commissioners, made purchases and sales of foreign and domestic money at current rates. In the Garden were clerks employed to write letters for emigrants about to start for far-away places ; a telegraph office, bath-room, restaurant, and everything that could conduce to their comfort. All these arrangements will, doubtless, soon be again in working order, and probably the only emigrants who will seriously suffer from the destruction of Castle Garden, will be the one hundred and twenty steerage passengers who had just been landed by the steamer Celtic when th» fire broke out, and who had at a moment's notice to relinquish the shelter and forego the repose they were about to enjoy after the fatigue and discomfiture of the voyage. — 'Echo.'