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Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 18, Issue 1152, 21 October 1871, Page 2

Of probabilities a London correspond dent; writes : —" You will see England as well as Ireland without an Established Church ; .you may see England without a House of Lords and without a monarchy. It is not unlikely that you will see an Irirdi Parliament assembled in Dublin." A late Wellington Independent reports :—A well-attended meeting of the Wellington Philosophical Society was held in the Maori House on Saturday evening, when the president, Mr Travers, read a nrost interesting paper on the traditions of Ihe Maoris and their value as evidence in the investi gationofthe history of the race, and especially regarding the date and incidents of their original migration to New Zealand. Mr Travers considers that when carefully weighed their traditions prove to be contradic ory and fallacious, and that while Sir George Grey, especially, has done good work in collecting the Maori traditions, inquirers into this subject must be on their guard against accepting his works as being in any sense historical records. Dr Hector, chairman, regretted that a very valuable paper on the subject by Mr J. T. Thomson, which was read before the Otago Institute in December last, was received too late lor publication in the third volume of the transactions, as it threw much light on the discussion from another point of view. He was glad, however, to ob serve that the author of the paper was present, and hoped that he would favor the society with some comments. Mr Thompson said he was not prepared to go into the subject He had studied it from a different stand-point from that taken by Mr Travers, the evidence he had collected being of an ethnological and not a historical character. He had no doubt that certain natives of Tndia, the natives of Madagascar, and the Maori race, came all from the same stock. As to the travelling in canoes, he knew one tribe in India that voyage for many hundred miles in canoes. He, however, begged to refer members to his paper, which he understood would appear in the forthcoming volume. Captain, Hutcon remarked on the birds which tradition asserts the Maoris to have introduced, and thought that the only one of them which was at all likely to have b.een, brought from the Pacific Islands was the green parroquet. Dr Hector drew attention to the interesting circumstances, that the Maoris had not only distinct names for all native objects, even to minute plants, but that the same names were common to every part of the inland, and he thought that this was adverse to the idea taught by the traditions that the Maoris as we now find them had spread slowly by natural increase from a few canoe loads of original settlers. He thought it far more probable that after the whole country was sparsely populated by a huuting and fishing race, the natives in favored localities became crowded and powerful, and spread rapidly by conquest, so that they dominated over all the other* natives, and impressed on every part of New Zealancj the same names for natural objects, and no, doubt to some extent the "same traditions Mr Travers said that o.n this occasion he had confined himself to the cjiscussion of the evidence of the era in which the Maoris arrived in the country, and believed that the proof that it was only 350 years ago \vas quite insufficient.

The South African diamond-fields continue to be very productive, and by the last mail several important find* were reported. As spring approached it was expected that large numbers of additional diggers would leave the clonies for the fields. The present population was estimated at 34,000 persons, of whom no Jess than 30,000 were Europeans. A contemporary states that in coiir nection with the recent laying of ths foundation stone of a Wessleyan Chapel at Nottingham, a document was specially prepared for the benefit of i '- Macau, lay's New Zealander." In the cys£ underneath the stone, laid by Sir F. Lycett, among other matters, was enclosed a post-card, bearing on the address side the following :- "Tq Macaulay's Ne*v Zealander, or any other person it may interest, in or about a.d. 2960," and on the other the following inscription, " Greeting ! In this, a.d. 1871. We, Lace Manufacturers of Nottingham, whose produo tions are placed under this memorial stone, to interest the future antiquary, are paying to our workmen an average of J£4 per week each man; a new Levers' twist-inachine costs us about i-600 ; the price of cotton vam ranges from Is 6d (No. 50) to 20s (No. 150) per lb. ; the price of silk, prepared, from 16s to 50s per lb. There are about 4,000 machines engaged full time, that is, twelve to twenty hours per day, in the production of lace* and edging of various kinds, and plain am| fancy nets." At York assizes, Ma the w Cook was. tried for the murder of his wife in thay city. The prisoner had committed what Mr Justice Mel lor truly described as. an outrageous murder; and the only defence that could be set up was that he had indulged in drinking so deep and prolonged as to have unsettled his reason. The jury admitted the plea of delirium tremens in excuse for the murder, and found the prisoner not guilty on the ground of insanity. Cook escapes the gallows, but he will be immured for life at Broadmooi. Eliza Towers, aged 29, Mary Shaw, 28, and Mary M'Cauber, 23, were charged with attempting to commit suicide at the New Gravel-lane swivel bridge over the London Dock. A police-constable has been fay some time past stationed on. the bridge day and night, and on the Old Gravel-lane bridge over the same dock, to prevent women in a state of intoxication conb mitting suicide. The prisoners alj. came to the same bridge on Saturday night, and were getting over the raiL iugs with the intention of drowning themselves. They were stopped by a police constable, who took them into custody. The prisoners were prostitutes. They were all intoxicated, and each admitted she had had a drop too much and did not know what she was about, They were seveiely lectured by the magistrate on their wickedness and folly, and were remanded for a v eek, It is said that a tent i;s to be erected in the grounds of Inverary where the Rev. Dr. Guthrie will preach dining the royal visit, when the Queen will be present. The rev. doctor is undeistood to be unwilling to preach in the parish church, an<| the Queen has a State difficulty in attending a Free Church. Reports of storms on the 19ih of August reach us fi'pm several parts of the south of England, but probably the heaviest was in South Wales. It burst forth at Newport, Monmothshire, at half-past two o'clock, and continued for bix hours. Hailstones of extraordinary dimensions fell, and considetable damage was done to the buildings. It Cardiff about four A station was struck by a, meteoric stone, and some damage was done, but, fortunately, no one was injured. Front Bristol the storm is described one of the most severe that has been expert enced for many years. Torrents pi rain, which fell have seriously damaged the corn. At Plymouth there was a very heavy fall of rain. Near Holnestpaik, Dorsetshire, the property of Mr ErleDrax, M.P., 100 trees in an orchard were completely blown down, as were also forty trees in another orchard. Large trees were uprooted and removed to considerable distances. Several Jess.

The London correspondent of the Scotsman has the following :—lt is whispered that certain remarks in both Houses of Parliament, and some observations which have recently appeared in a newspaper, having reference to the retired life led by the Sovereign, have produced an effect on the nervous system of Her Majesty, and that her departure for Scotland lias been the result of medical advice. •'•* Pippins and Cheese to Come," was ithe title of a. lecture delivered on the €th iby Mr Robert Gillies to the members of the JCnox Church Young Men's Association. Mr Reith occupied the chair. The lecture referred to the trials of the early settlers of Otago, and how in the words of Shak>sp@a ; re " pippins and cheese" became their subsequent reward. The lecturer exhibited a copy of the first paper published in ithe province, called the Otago News, printed on December 13, 1848, just nine months after the arrival of the first settlei's. It belonged to a Mr Graham, and passed through the usual struggles of a first attempt. The powers of that clay once tried to suppress it, and withdrew their subscription of forty copies because the editor spoke liis mind. The settlers, however, rallied round the editor and presented hiin with a purse of eighty sovereigns. The journal died on reaching its 91st number, the editor stating it did not pay, and soon after poor Graham died too.. Tn the year 1849 the population of the province amounted to J 0 souls, of ?,vhom only 439 were above 15 years of age. According to an official return the number of stock was horses 35 ; jpattle, 367 ; sheep, 2,430 ; poultry, 593, all told. Laborers' wages were 3s to 3s 6d per day. The revenue for the year was .£909 10s 7d; the expenses, £695 4s 9d, leaving a balance to the following year's account of .£214 5s 10dj thus in those days they lived within their means. The lecturer humorously described the condition of the settlement in the winter months at {that early date, and the efforts made to get from one part of the town to the jother. At that period the settlers had to grind their own corn. He read an .advertisement of a settler at Portoibello bay, offej ing the use of his steel hand mill ac the rate of Is per bushel, ,ihe parties using the mill to take the corn there and grind it thenisolves. The lecturer stated that many a time had he ground his corn before getting his supper, an .operation which he expected must of the young men of 1871 would object to. In alluding to the means for public worship he read a notice informing the members of the Church of England in Dunedin that on "Sunday, Feb, 15, 1 859, they would meet for the first time for public worship at the gaol, Dunedin." In concluding he said " pippins and cheese" were now being enjoyed by many of the early settlers, and he believed the same reward was before the young men of the present day, whom he advised to stick to Otago and make it their home. He did not believe the province was used up as some v-oiild make out, and though fortunes could not now be rapidly made, there were still " pippins and cheese " to be had with industry and perseverance.