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AT HOME AND ABROAD
Sunday, October 31st, was a red-letter day in the history of the Catholics of Victoria, and both priests and people may be pardonably proud of the magnificent structure which was on that day solemnly consecrated to God. It is admittedly the noblest building of the kind in the southern hemisphere and is a standing monument alike to the zeal and devotion of the priests and to the faith and generosity of the people. The work of erecting this noble pile has extended over a period of forty years, and including internal decorations, the enormous sum of £200,000 has been spent upon it. A striking illustration of the self-sacrificing spirit which has made this great work possible was afforded when, a few years ago, Archbishop Carr asked for £, 50,000 to push on the undertaking, and at a time when wealthy Anglicans were soliciting aid in England for local church works the poor but devoted Catholic people subscribed the whole of that great sum. With the exception of the spires which yet remain to crown the work the great cathedral is now practically completed. Of the general architectural features of the structure we have given full details in another column. We would only add here that the internal decorations are of an equally co3tly and imposing character. Describing the sanctuary, chapels, and altars, the special reporter of the Sydney Freeman says : '• There are six side-chapels,lviz., Sacred Heart of Jesus', Ladye's, St. Joseph's. St. Brigid's, Mortuary, and Children's, the first-named being by far the largest. Very handsome altars have been erected in these chapels." Money has not been spared in furnishing the High Altar. There are six massive burnished brass candlesticks, jewelled, and richly carved, in which pure wax candles (when lighted) symbolise the H'ht of faith. Ten ornamental burnished brass vases fill the spaces' between the candlesticks. A inasbive crucifix of the same material and workmanship as the vas^s stands four feet high, and has a most imposing appearance. The figure of our Lord is of silver, washed with aluminium. The total cost of these splendid ornaments of the High Altar was about £220. With one or two exceptions, the whole of the altar plate, in gold, silver, and brass, has been made by Messrs. T. Gaunt and Co., of Melbourne. It includes a large monstrance in gold and silver weighing nearly 100oz., and made from special designs submitted by the firm, two solid gold chalices and patenas, one perfectly plain, the bowl being polished like a mirror, the foot and stem dead gold, forming a pleasing contrast ; the other richly chased, both being made from special designs furnished by the Very Rev. Dean M'Kenna ; three perfectly plain, polished silver chalices and patenas, with engraved cross and I.H.S. ; two silver ciboriums, brass vases, and candlesticks, and also three large standing lamps about 6it in height, and weighing over 1201 b each, made of beautifully carved and fluted pillars, surmounted with spear heads." As to the grand ceremony, by which this splendid pile was specially dedicated to the service of Gol, it can only be said that it was something altogether unique in the history of the Australian Church. The imposing procession of 20 bishops and nearly 200 priests, headed by a prince of the Church in his rich scarlet robes, the magnificent gathering of thousands of the laity, including leading representatives of every department of the public life of the great city, the grand ceremony, the glorious music, the eloquent sermon, the glowing enthusiasm of the people, all combined to form a scene which must have made an ineffaceable impression on the minds of all who beheld it. It is hard to say who is most deserving of congratulation on this great occae i 0U) the people, in having as their head such a saintly, gifted, and altogether loveable Archbishop, or Archbishop Carr himself, in having a people who have so nobly co-operated with him in this • great work. It is certain, at least, that the completion of this noble pile has added a fresh lustre to the already brilliant episcopate of the Archbishop, and we are sure it is the earnest prayer not only of his own flock, but of the faithful throughout the colonies, that he may be long spared to enjoy the fruits of his labour and to defend
AN IMPOSING CBBEMONY.
and vindicate the Church of which he is so 'vorthy and 80 distinguished a representative.
CONVERTS TO CATHOLICITY.
An attempt is often made by non-Catholics to pooh-pooh the great Homeward movement which has been so marked a feature of recent years and to declare that whatever may have been the case in the days of Newman and Manning the alleged movement is now purely imaginary. Indeed, in their more sanguine moments, some of them, like the Rev. E. S. Hughes, boldly declare that the movement is in the other direction. Facts, however, are stubborn things, and the facts in this case are beyond dispute. The Paulist Fathers of America keep a quarterly record of converts to the Catholic faith from Protestantism and the record for the last three months shows that the stream of converts still flows steadily into the Church. In the list are noted the following : — A daughter of Joaquin Miller, the poet of the Sierras, now in Alaska, who wa baptized into the Catholic communion in Guelph, Ontario, where she has been a student in a convent ; the late Rev. John Trevor Still, Vicar of the Anglican Church in Kenn, Essex, England, who waa baptised on his deathbed by a Franciscan friar, in July last ; Miss Edith Howard Hodges, of London, a member of the Church of England, who was received into the Catholic Church by the Rev. Father Galway, S.J. ; Canon Grigson, a clergyman of the Church of England, at Brisbane, Queensland ; Mr. Thomas Atkinson, of Ryton, England, received by Canon Wrennal ; the Rev. A. St. Loger Weatall, curate of St. Saviour's Church, who was received into the Catholic Church, together with his wife an>l children, by the Rev. Father Hampton, S.J., and whose renunciation of the faith of his fathers created a sensation in England ; Mrs. Gwilt Jolly, wife of a well known English artist ; Lady Lodor, mother of Gerald Loder, senior member for Brighton, England ; the Rev. John N. L. Clarke, curate of St. John's Church. Cape Colony, South Africa, and Mrs. Sarah Margaret Le Verrier, at Swindon, England. In addition to those mentioned who were members of the Anglican communion, appear the following : — Mr«. D. L. Parrish, her daughters, Millie, Louise and Isabel, and her bister, Mi-^s Sallie Cooper, of St. Louis, all of whom were Presb3'terians, were received into the Catholic faith by Archbishop Knin ; Mine. Eeine A. Conrad, of Chicago, and Miss Caney, of New York, who were baptised in Paris by the Very Rev. Father Osmond, Superior of St. Joseph's Church there ; Mrs. Stollhofen, wife of Dr. Paul iS. Stollhofen, formerly of Princeton University ; Mrs. Caulfield, of iNew York, and Mrs. Sarah Grey, of San Francisco, who were baptised by the Rev. Father Wyman, Superior of the Paulista in that city. This record, be it remembered, is confined to prominent converts and takes no account of the hundreds of men and women in the humbler walks of life who are being constantly received into the Church. In the face of the above facts it would be as sensible to deny that the sun is in the heavens as to question the fact of the movement towards Rome.
A MELBOURNE CHALLENGE.
It will be remembered that two or three weeks ago a London cable appeared in the daily papers in which it was stated that Cardinal Vaughan had reported to the Pope that converts were being received into the Catholic Church in England at the rate of 700 a month. The truth of this statement has been questioned by an Anglican clergyman, Rev. E. S. Hughes, who, in the columns of the Melbourne A rgvsi, makes a confused attempt to prove from statistics the incorrectness of the Cardinal's estimate. " Far from there being: any trend to Rome," he says, " the blue books of the Registrar. General prove the reverse to be the case. In 18-41 the Roman Catholics -were 26 per cent, of the whole population of Great Britain, and in 1891 they had fallen to 16 per cent." The explanation of this statement, even assuming it to be true, is very simple It is to be found in the fact that Mr. Hughes, by a curious blunder t includes Ireland under Great Britain, and then takes no account whatever of the great Irish exodus in the sad years of famine in Ireland. According to Mulhall over a million died of famine in Ireland from 184 G to 1850, and according to the same authority the
migration from Ireland to America and the British colonies from lE4O to 1888 numbered 4,661,000. That fact alone accounts for the apparent drop in the relative proportion of Catholics to the rest of the population if Ireland be taken into the calculation. As a matter of fact, however, the Cardinal's statement referred only to England, and there was no reason at all why Ireland should have been brought into the question. Mr. Hughes' letter was promptly taken up by the Rev. Father O'Doherty, who, after showing the hopeless confusion in which the writer gets involved in his " statistics," concludes by making the following challenge :—": — " The Anglican Bishop of Ballarat once disputed Cardinal Vaughan's testimony on this same subject of Anglican converts to Catholicism. I took the liberty of proposing that we should count heads, beginning with I the clerical converts, subject only to such conditions as would ensure the genuine charaoter of each convert, whether to Anglicanism or Catholicism. On the same conditions I propose to name 25 genuine clerical converts for every one Mr. Hughes can name. If I fail to name 25 for his one I shall contribute £~>o to any non -sectarian charity you, Sir, may mention, and if he fails to name one for every 25 I name, then I take leave to propose that he pay £50 to a like charity. When we have got through the list of clerical converts we can take up the lay list." Mr. Hughes replied in a very lengthy communication, but carefully ignored Father O'Doherty's very awkward offer. In the course of his letter he remarked that " one very significant feature of ' converts to Rome ' is the paucity of intellect shown amongst them since 1870." Whereupon Father O'Doherty makes the following additional challenge :—": — " I leave fair-minded men to draw their own conclusions from his unwillingness to have a practical solution of the convert difficulty by counting heads. But I am anxious to give him another chance. Many of the converts from Anglicanism do not come up to his high intellectual standard. Well, I undertake to subscribe £50 to any .tton-sect&rian charity you, sir, may mention, if he can name one teligious or theological work, written, compiled, or edited by a clerical convert from Catholicism for every fifty such works that I shall name by converts from Anglicanism. This should be an easy task to one who can refer so jauntily to all the great authorities on statistics. Further, I shall give the sum mentioned if he can prove one pecuniary sacrifice to the amount of £5, by clerical converts from Catholicism, for every pecuniary sacrifice to the amount of £1000 that I shall prove for clerical converts ifrom Anglicanism. When we are done with the clerical list, I am quite willing to take up the lay list, and contrast the literary work and heroic sacrifices of lay converts to Catholicism wiih those of converts to Anglicanism. I trust Mr. Hughes will agree with me that this puts the whole matter into a nutshell." Father O'Doherty certainly offers very heavy odds, and if the Anglican representative has any confidence at all in his position he has a splendid opportunity for showit. We are very much afraid, however, that Mr. Hughes will content himself with a vain and useless juggling with " statistics," and that Father O'Doherty's plain and practical challenge will be discreetly ignored.
THE PHARMACY BILL.
The Pharmacy Bill, which is being introduced by the Hon. W. C. Walker, is a measure of considerable interest to the general public. The main object of the Bill appears to be to provide for the establishment of a Pharmaceutical Society for the colony, and to introduce a number of restrictive provisions which shall make admission to the ranks of the registered chemists a matter of greater difficulty than it is at present. By section 4 all persons who at the commencement of this Act are duly registered as pharmaceutical chemists under "The Pharmacy Act, 18S0," and all persons who thereafter are duly registered as pharmaceutical chemists under this Act, are declared to be a body corporate under the name of " The Pharmaceutical Society of New Zealand." The affairs of the Society are to be managed and controlled by a board, to be elected under the provisions of this Act, and to be called " The Pharmacy Board of New Zealand," and the existing Pharmacy Board is to be deemed the first board appointed under this Act. It is the duty of the board from time to time to cause the names of all duly qualified persons to be registered in a book to be kept by the board for that purpose, and to be called "The Pharmaceutical Register of New Zealand," and if any registered chemist is convicted of any offence vhich in the opinion of a majority of all the members of the Board renders him unfit to be on the register, the Board has power to remove his name therefrom. Hitherto the only qualification required of a candidate for admission as a registered chemist was that he should have passed the prescribed examinations in materia medica, botany, chemistry and pharmacy, but for the future no candidate will be admitted unless he has in addition served for at least three years under articles of apprenticeship as the apprentice of a registered chemist keeping open Bhop for the compounding and dispensing of prescriptions. This will press hardly on candidates who are now studying for chemists, but allowance is made for them to the extent of providing that apprenticeship shall not be necessary in the case of any
person who passes the prescribed examinations on or before the first of July, 1899. The provision requiring apprenticeship is obviously intended to restrict the number of applicants for registration as chemists and to make the calling as far as possible "a close borough." We note that the Premier has expressed serious doubts as to the possibility of getting the measure through this session, but its promoters are very determined, and even if it fails to pass this session it is practically certain that next session at least it will find a place upon the Statute Book.
SELECTING CROWN LANDS: HOW TO GO ABOUT IT.
The present land laws of New Zealand are the outcome of a genuine attempt to carry out the principle of " the land for the people," and there can be little doubt that, under the "free selection" system the acquirement of land is made as easy as legislation can possibly make it for even the poorest settler. Would-be settlers are, however, often in a difficulty and are sometimes prevented from taking advantage of the system by ignorance or doubt as to the regulations and formalities to be complied with in order to bring them into the position of being actual applicants for the land. On this point the last number of the Labour Journal just to hand has an interesting article, in which plain practical directions are given to intending selectors as to the proper way to go about the work of selecting the land. As the matter is one of very practical interest to many we reproduce the most important of the directions given :—l.: — 1. Apply to the Commissioner of Crown Lands either at Auckland, Napier, New Plymouth, Wellington, Nelson, Blenheim, Hokitika, Christchurch , Dunedin, or Invercargill for a " Land Guide " for the district in which the land is required. This will be given or sent free. The Commissioner will also show maps of all land in the market. 2. (a.) Turn up the first two sheets of the " Land Guide," where will be found particulars of the different systems of acquiring land, and decide which system will suit you. (J.) Then search further in the " Land Guide " for land available under that system, (c.) Note carefully the block and section number and the district and area of the land you require. 3. Inquire personally or by letter from the Commissioner of Crown Lands for the provincial district in which such land is situated as to whether or not such land is still available, and ask for a map showing the position and description of the land ; also ask for a form of application for such land. These will all be supplied without charge. 4. Make all possible inquiries as to the suitability of the land required, and also, if possible, see it personally. This is strongly urged, as disappointment and money may perhaps be saved by so doing. .">. Having finally fixed upon suitable land, make application for it at once (on the form mentioned in paragraph 3, above) to the Commissioner of Crown Lands for the provincial district in which the land is situated, but be sure that your name is plainly written in full thereon, and that the declaration required has been made before a Justice of the Peace, and also that the agreement at the back of the form, to the effect that you will pay the deposit as required therein, has been signed. The application will be treated as informal without the agreement or declaration. 6. Inquire on the day after putting in your application, or on the day after which the land is first opened for sale, as to whether you are or are not the only applicant. If you are the only applicant, either attend personally or by your agent at the next meeting of the Land Board after your application has been made to the Commissioner, as it will then be dealt with. If you are not the only applicant, appear personally or by your agent at the Land Office on the day fixed for the ballot, when you can draw for choice. At this stage of the proceedings you must be prepared to pay the necessary deposit ; and if you omit or are unable to do so your application will be incomplete, and the Land Board may proceed to grant the land to another applicant without further notice. The date and time of the meeting of the Land Board can be ascertained on application to the Commisbioner. 7. The amount of the deposit can be ascertained by referring to the first few pages of the " Land Guide," under the heading of the system on which the land you apply for is to be sold or leased ; and all other necessary particulars will be found therein.
ODDS AXD ENDS.
Mb. T. D. Sullivan, noting that the Dublin Independent asks for a new song for popular use in the coming centennial of '<JS, says :— " I think it a great pity that there is not in the Irish bookmarket a selection from the songs of Robert Dwyer Joyce in a neat and handy volume, price not more than one shilling — for at any* thing beyond that price I believe there iB no chance of a paying sale for an Irish nationalist publication. Joyce sought to utilise the old, imperfect, and somotimes worse than rude folk songs of Ireland as Burns had availed of the gems and gold embedded in a similar stratum of Scottish literature. He took a number of little known compositions, the output of a rough time, the work of uncultured, though in many cases poetically gifted, men, and shaping them, polishing them, and fitting them in with brilliant work of hie
own, he gave them to a not too appreciative public." It is only too true (remarks the Boston Pilot) that Dr. Joyce's national ballads failed to receive their due appreciation either here or at home. His epic poems, " Deirdre " and " Blandid," were welcomed by the best minds of America as valuable contributions to literature ; but unfortunately this is not an age in which epic poetry has any place. We doubt that if Milton, were he alive and writing to-day, could market "Paradise Lost" to any better pecuniary result than was obtained for the original work. As for the astonishing price paid to Moore for " Lalla Rookh," there is not a publisher on either side of the Atlantic who would pay one- tenth of the sum (15,000 dols.) advanced, be it remembered, to him ere he had penned a single line of the great poem. If Ireland wants a new national poem the demand comes in a bad time for poetry production. But what need is there of a better poem than "God save Ireland,' 1 a swinging, ringing, splendid song, written by Mr. Sullivan himself, to an air with which every American is acquainted, " Tramp, tramp, tramp, the boys are marching " ? The fact that the song was written to commemorate a particular event does not militate against its general applicability. America's national anthem, " The star-spangled banner," was written during the bombardment of Fort McHenry, but its sentiment belongs to the whole nation and for all time.
An Address to the Cardinal Archbishop and Bishops of the Catholic Church in England has just been received from the Tenth Eucharistic International Congress now sitting at Paray-le-Monial. It is signed in the name of all the members of the Congress by his Eminence Cardinal Perraud, the Archbishop of Besangon, the Bishops of Liege, Nevers, and Annecy. The Address expresses the warmest sympathy with the Bishops and the Catholic Church in England, and in spirit associates all the members of the Congress with the efforts that are being made to bring the English people into union with the Apostolic See. During the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament that took place during the night of Thursday and Friday special prayers were offered up to the Sacred Heart to implore a special blessing on the Archconfraternity recently instituted by the Holy Father for the conversion of England, and confided to thedirecttion of the venerable Society of St. Sulpice. The Congress appeals along with the English Bishops, clergy, aad faithful, to the Heart that has so loved men to pour out such graces upon England that the Catholic life and the Catholic institutions of Englands' glorious past may revive and nourish once more. The Congress has besought Blessed Margaret Marie and the Venerable P. de la Colombiere to become intercessors with Our Lord in behalf of a cause which the Holy Father and the whole Catholic body have so much at heart.
Several of the French Bishops (says the Catholic He view) have issued letters to their clergy ordering the " Te Deurn " to be sung in thanksgiving for the happy accomplishment of an alliance between France and Russia. In treating of such a topic there is naturally a good deal of sameness amongst their utterances, but still a few expressions may be quoted to show how unanimous is the feeiingin France on the matter of the alliance. Mgr. de Cabrieres, Bibhop of Montpelier, points out that the long years of labour of the army and navy during the last 27 years of peace has not been in vain. If the army had not shown itself so strong at Chalons, and the navy had not excited such admiration at Cronstadtand Toulon, and if the country had not shown so much confidence, in its chiefs and soldiers, the great Russian Empire with its many millions would never have even desired to enter into a treaty of alliance with France. This alliance, however, would serve other and greater interests than those which were merely political, for Providence goes further than men in the works which it aids and crowns with success. In the Pastoral Letter addressed to his clergy by Mgr. Beguinot, Bishop of Nimes, his lordship says : " Our French souls have thrilled with patriotic and joyful emotion on learning of the great diplomatic events which have transformed the friendly sympathy between Rus«ia and France into a compact of alliance so close between the two allied peoples, that it is full of effective guarantees for the future of peace. Therefore. the realization of noble designs, the success of which asserts itself amidst the events of recent days, glorious for the country aud the assurance that this alliance puts an end to a dangerous isolation, and gives back to France the place she is entitled to in the Council of Nations, cannot leave our hearts indifferent. What more touching than that solemn attestation of the will of two great peoples, proclaiming themselves friends and allies in the face of the world by an unanimous outburst of popular enthusintm, the sincerity of which is unquestionable "
Harold Frederic, the novelist, who is London correspondent to several of the great American dailies, gave the following account of the recent commemoration at Ebbsfleet. The narrative has the striking head-line, *' More than Half- Way to Rome " :—": — " Were any sign needed of the great increase of late years in the power and prestige of the Roman Catholic Church in England it would be afforded by tbe striking scenes, enacted this w eek on the Kentish
coast. In the early daya of Victoria and even at a much later date there would have been a violent ' No Popery ' cry at the mere idea of an open air procession headed by two Cardinals and seventeen bishops in full canonicals. Yet such a parade took place, not only unmolested, but greeted with all the signs of reverence and respect last Tuesday, at Ebbefleet, near Minster, on the spot, now about half a mile inland, where St. Augustine and his monks ianded some thirteen centuries back. Hard by is a cross marking the place where Augustine held a conference with Ethelbert. Cardinal Vaughan delivered an address which was a striking proof of the diplomatic ability of this churchman. The fact that the Anglican bishops, a short time back, had made a pilgrimage to the same place, with a similar object, created a delicate situation in which a less able man might have stumbled. But it would be difficult for the most rabid Anglican to trace any disrespect in his uttered words or in the manner of the speaker, who yet surrendered none of his claims as a Prince of the Church. While claiming many added thousands to his flock of late years, Cardinal Vaughan summed up the present situation tersely by saying that multitudes had so far swung around that they were more than half way to Rome. Anyone watching the drift of religious practice in England knows this to be the case. The cry of •No Popery 1 ' i 9 heard no more in the land, indeed, the very word |is dead. It waa by special desire of the Pope that the eminent French litterateur and member of the Academy, Cardinal Perraud, Bishop of Autun, was present at the Augustinian celebrations there. The reason for the presence of the most eloquent of French churchmen was that it was to Autun that Augustine retired after his first visit to England. It was a curious sight last Wednesday to see two Cardinals piloted around Canterbury Cathedral by the Anglican Dean, Canon Farrar. Times have changed indeed since the days of Cardinal Wiseman, and it is not without reason that the English Catholic leaders claim that the larger ' Oxford Movement ' has in very truth set in."'
It is natural for whales, big and little, to spout, and we were not* therefore, surprised (says the Catholic Times) to learn that threats couched in language alarming — for its bombast — were made against the Catholic pilgrims to Canterbury inletters addressed by Lieutenant •> Colonel Whale to Lord Salisbury and the Mayor of Canterbury , The following is the thrilling language which was used by this fire-eater : " I mean to be there with a large number of earnest Protestants, I hope, and raise the cry of 'No Popery,' and have copies in my hand of Sections 29 and 26 of Act 10, George IV., Cap* 7, forbidding the presence in England of Jesuits, and forbidding processions of Roman Catholics who ' wear the habits of their Order save within the usual places of worship of the Roman Catholio religion, etc' respectively. All Governments since the Reformation who have tried to advance Popery in our beloved land have fallen, and that speedily." We suppose the dreadful Lieutenant-Colonel was " there," with his band of earnest Protestants, but his second thoughts appear to have been more peaceable than his first, for his threats proved vain and empty. Was it that like the immortal Bob Acres his courage oozed out through the palms of hia hands ?
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New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXV, Issue 29, 19 November 1897, Page 1
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4,862Current Topics New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXV, Issue 29, 19 November 1897, Page 1
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