prayer wherein a proportion of the members worshipped. O n reaching the intersection of Bourke Street they turned eastward, and viâ Lonsdale and Elizabeth Streets, drew up Before St. Francis', where the well-known and well-esteemed R o m a n Catholic Pastor (Father Geoghegan) was to deliver a panegyric on the Apostle of the " Island of Saints." O n this occasion the solemn ceremony of High Mass was celebrated for thefirsttime in Port Phillip. T h e building was crowded, the banners were carried in and placed near the altar, and the event was very imposing. T h e reverend preacher acquitted himself in a manner that added another green wreath to his reputation as the best pulpit orator then, and for m a n y a year thereafter, in the colony. At the conclusion of the service the Society re-formed in procession, and returning to the Exchange dispersed. This attendance at a R o m a n Catholic Church gave m u c h offence to a number of the m e m b e r s belonging to other religious communions, and increased a secession which for a time threatened to imperil the existence of the Fraternity ; but the remaining members, putting their shoulders together, m a d e a strong rally and prevented a break up. T h e attendance at St. Francis' was a well-meant mistake, and never intended as alleged, to introduce any element savouring of sectarianism. A n angry and recriminatory correspondence followed in the newspapers, and no impartial person, cognizant of the circumstances under which the Society was founded, and the broad un-denominational basis of its Constitution, can even palliate the extreme injudiciousness of the implied infringement of neutrality involved in the attendance at a place of worship not religiously recognized by a section of the members, w h o actually comprised the real originators, and were the most socially influential of the body.
T h e first President having retired, was succeeded by the Rev. P. B. Geoghegan, another mistake, which heated instead of cooled the religious ferment. His well-known liberality of sentiment and popularity with all classes helped him, in some measure, to steer the Institution through this early and formidable difficulty. But m u c h of its prestige had departed, and I doubt if it was ever afterwards thoroughly recovered. Geoghegan retained office during a year blotched by extreme bigotry and bad feeling, and the blunder in question was worked to m u c h advantage by a n u m b e r of active pettyfogging fanatics, possessed, however, of just sufficient method in their madness, to use the event as a means of furthering the interests of their party in the electioneering conflicts of 1843.
Through an infatuated obstinacy, utterly indefensible, and for which the reverend President must be held in no small degree responsible, the mistake of the previous year was repeated in 1844, by an anniversary celebration in every way similar to the first. T h e procession was m o r e numerous, there was a second visit to St. Francis' Church, and another High Mass, at which some Protestant amateur vocalists assisted the then small choir. T h e preacher of the St. Patrick panegyric was the Rev. Daniel M'Evey, and his text, Ecclesiasticus, chap, xliv., verses 1, 14 and 18. At the annual election the Rev. M r . Geoghegan declined re-election as President, and in so doing appreciated the wisdom of the adage "Better late than never." His original election was, under the circumstances, an indiscretion, for placing a priest at the head of an Institution in the throes of sectarian dissension was simply adding fuel to flame. Geoghegan must have been temporarily bereft of his natural tact and caution when he accepted the position; but, having done so, he was unwilling to publicly acknowledge the error by resignation, so he held on until the fitting opportunity, w h e n he might H e was not pressed to gracefully and quietly be extinguished by what is termed effluxion of time. remain, and his successor was M r . John Robert Murphy, an influential brewer, and a m e m b e r of the Independent Church. In some respects there could not be a better selection, for M r . M u r p h y was well k n o w n and universally respected, was in a good position, and a favourite with all classes, but he sadly lacked certain qualifications indispensably necessary for the head of an Irish Society. Though by no means resembling the proverbial lamb in temper, and capable enough of readily flaring up when provoked, he was deficient in the b u m p of repressiveness, sometimes so useful in controlling certain undisciplined forces which are wont to try it on in Irish gatherings. In fact he was like a m a n ready and willing, and able to fight when a quarrel is thrust on him, yet w h o is not desirous of seeking a position which m a y at any m o m e n t precipitate him head-foremost into a mélée. His reign of office was one of comparative inactivity, for the Society sank into a condition of languor, which merged into absolute hibernation. In the beginning of 1845, it was a question whether the
