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Hawke's Bay Times, Issue 1620, 16 October 1874, Page 394

It is proposed to form and agricultural and pastoral society at Poverty Bay, Mrs J. F. E. Wright, of Goathurst farm, Wellington, died on the 27th ult. Major Durie, another old resident, has died at Wanganui, aged 70. The name of Mr Morrison, an old Taranaki resident, is also amongst the list of deaths at Wanganui. M. Jules Favre has been made a happy man. He has been married to a very intelligent lady, the proprietor of the well-known Protestant Ladies' Academy in Versailles. The ex-Foreign Secretary has no excuse now against retiring into private life. The state of Fiji finances may be assumed from the fact that in a Levukan Court recently when the harbor-master in a case for sailiug without a licence, upon being pressed to state his reason for having initiated the proceeding, Captain Hedstroni candidly stated that his instructions were to " sue the beggars : every one of them. We want our screws.' A late Melbourne Age says : —Between nine and ten o'clock last evening a woman named Frances Wilcox made an attempt to commit suicide by jumping into the Yarra near the Queen's Wharf. Some sailors on board the steamer Edina saw the occurrence, and one of them threw a rope, to the woman, which she, nothing loth, caught hold of, and was safely brought to terra Jirma, and conveyed to the watchhouse. Mr A. J. Richmond, M.H.R., has addressed his constituents at Waiiuea, Nelson, and spoke in favor of the abolition of the provinces. The meeting was very poorly attended. Mr Barnicoat, Speaker of the Provincial Council, iu moving a vote of confidence in Mr Richmond, said the electors desired to reserve their opinion on the provincial question till informed of the character and probable cost of the institution to follow the one in existence. A magnificent addition (says the sew Zealand Herald) has been made to the Auckland Supreme Court Library.. This comprises between 600 and 700 volume of law and general literature. These include the whole of the works of Lord Brougham, the speeches of Erskine, Grattan, Pluuket, and Curran, the Statutes of the Irish Parliament, old reports (printed in red' and black ink), digests, precedents, 'sc., &c. Air jthese works are beautiful j specimens of typography, mid excellent as oxa'mpjes of solid and durable binding. TJiiß parcel of books cost £4OO. I

HOME GOSSIP. We quote the following interesting |&nis from Messrs John FlapteflU Co.’s •‘t Anglo-Indian Commercial Advejffijjeffffff i 31st July:— i; We are in thpjthidst of a fearful squabble | about the restoration of'St. Paul’s GatKed- i ral. Outsiders look coolly om buf tlib blood of various architects is boiling*wsh t indignation. A long while 'agoj.,it was decided that St. Paul's ; inust be restored, ~ abd Mr Burges was selected to carry out the work. Mr Burges is an eminent man* whoso work, hitherto, has been chiefly remarkable for. elaborate ornamentation and gorgeous coloring. It was not possible, when the' appointment became known, to prevent jealousies; but the Profession has broken out into a perfect fever of disapprobation. The fight lies between two committees, one friendly to Mr Burges, and the other hostile. Mr Burges’s enemies declare that ho is not the right man in the right place, and they accuse him of disregarding “ the legacy of suggestions and designs left by Sir Christopher Wren,” and of substituting a costly plan of his own, instead. The complication is, much increased by the fact that Wren appears to have left no particular designs—at least, they are not forthcoming. The dispute is of a very technical character, and the uninitiated would be bold indeed to pronounce an opinion. One thing is certain, St, Paul’s will not be restored on wrong principles without a desperate protest. The storm raised is already so violent, that there is a talk of invoking the intervention of Parliament. Our readers already know of the consternation created by Mr Buskin’s refusal of the Architects* Gold Medal for 1874. His explanatory reply, which has at length been received, only makes things worse. The aggrieved Society decline to publish the letter; but the substance of it has leaked out, and as might be expected, it is both diverting and characteristic. “I can conceive,” says Mr Buskin, “of ho body Of persons under heaven wlfo can •have any right to award a medal, still less of any individual who is entitled to receive it; but had you invited mo to come and mourn over the decay of English architecture, I should have accepted forthwith 1 ” If Mr Buskin’s candour has exasperated his professional brethren, it has charmed his admirers. He evidently thinks more about the work than the reward, and his audacious protest will perhaps be of use in arresting the fashion of “ mutual admiration" in which Englishmen delight. Altogether the architects are having a storiny time of it. While-they are admonished by Mr Buskin, and split up into fractions on the vexed question of the decorations of St. Paul’s, a distinguished member of their body, Mr E. W. Pugin, has been quarrelling with the well-known painter, Mr Herbert, about the building of a house. Mr Pugin lost his temper and condescended to write some scurrilous letters in which he called his quondam friend “ a viper,” “ a humbug,” and “ a cur." In Franco there would have been a duel; but in our prosaic country this miserable wrangle could only end in the Central Criminal Court. To the surprise of many people it was decided that the letters were not libellous, and Mr Pugin came off the victor. But it was a barren triumph, and Mr Pugin is not to be congratulated. The case was rendered unusually interesting by the presence of Mr Gladstone in the witness box, in the capacity of “ our mutual friend.” Prince Bismarck began his holiday at Kissingen .with rather a stirring episode. He was quietly taking a morning drive, on 13th July, when he was shot at and slightly wounded in the wrist. There is no doubt in the world that he had the narrowest escape, and that be was on tlio very edge of doom. The young man who made the attempt is arrested, and he turns out to be a religious fanatic who desired to avenge the wrongs of the Old Catholics, A bullet is not the most agreeable prescription for an invalid, especially when he is suffering from nervous derangements, But of course the man of blood and iron bore himself bravely. He had gone through a similar ordeal once before, at Berlin, and it is said that on that occasion he went on smoking as calmly as if nothing had happened. As a rule, indeed, there is nothing to find fault with in the deportment of eminent individuals who have been picked out by the assassin. The Third Napoleon, after he had been fired at, used to sit his horse unmoved; and when danger has threatened, Queen Victoria has proved herself as brave as anybody. Nobody, perhaps, will be much astonished at the attempt on the life of Bismarck, There has been nothing conciliatory about his statesmanship, his blunt frankness has procured him in? numerable enemies, and his crusade against the Church has roused the deepest indignation. If wo remember rightly, he himself confessed not long since, in a curiously explosive statement, that lie was the best hated man in Europe. When the people of Kissingen warmly congratulated him on his escape, he remarked that it was “ the cause ” and not his person that was attacked; and at the same time he expressed his readiness to die at any moment for “ the unity and freedom of the great Fatherland.” The tragic death of the Flying Man has furnished a ghastly subject for talk, and has more than satisfied the wildest cravings for a sensation. In spite of its horror, it is a drama in which everybody feels interested, and if the poor victim was bent on notoriety he has earned it with a vengeance. It has always been a standing ambition with the “ forked animal ” to leave the solid earth q,nd cleave the air like a bird. Various, experiments have been made in this direction, some of them attended with a half success; but the latest venture has ended in a violent and fatal manner. Mr De Groof, a Belgian, was one of- those mad enthusiasts who desire to fly, and he constructed himself a machine with silken wings stretched on a bamboo frame, which ho hoped would enable him to descend with safety from a great height. As his apparatus would not take him up, he invoked the aid of Mr Simmons, a well-known aeronaut, in order that the earlier half of the perilous journey might be made by balloon. The flrst adventure was all right, but the risks were extravagant. On Thursday, Bth July, the daring feat was repeated, the start taking place from Cremorne Gardens. The balloon, with the flying apparatus attached, mounted to a height of 4,000 feet; but when the connecting cord was cut, the Flying Man came down to earth, not like the bird he aspired to imitate, but like a lump of lead. The absolute fall was from a height of about 300 feet, and his death was, ‘ of course, instantaneous. The tragedy was followed by a prolonged inquiry, and the investigation showed that, although Mr Do Groof had the utmost confidence in his machine, he was a rash enthusiast, ready at any moment to face destruction. The event has made a deep impression, and again we have raised the subject whether' such foolhardy exhibitions ought to bo'permitted. The problem is a difficult due' to

decide, as Englishmen have an intense dislike of anything like over-control, or interference with personal liberty. Jpl'ie present month of July will for fever be memorable to Mr Albert Grant. brought him the extremes of felicity t,and:.d|Bpair. Fate has alternately smiled ||ndf|pwaed, but the frowns prevail. At the of the month he publicly |han||||'over Leicester Square to the public, anqlaht the presentation he managed to gather around him a goodly assembly, *who received the munificent gift with protestations of thankfulness. He had converted a disgraceful plot of ground into a smiling garden, and with magical speed he’changed l •illimitable Rubbish for flowers, grass, and shrubs, that looked as if they had been born, there.' There were four busts of eminent men who in ‘former times had lived in the Square, and in the midst a statue of the national Poet. Mr Grant’s satisfaction was all the greater because there were rumors that the ceremony might not pass without interrup- • tions. But everything went off well; the public has taken kindly to the Square, and morning, noon, and night it is filled with admiring crowds. A fortnight later came the crash of doom, and it was settled that Mr Albeit Grant could no longer write M.P. after his name. All along there had been a doubt' whether his election for Kidderminster, on January last, would stand. His seat had been won with extraordinary ease in a couple of days, and he had given it out as the purest election on record. It was generally supposed that a great deal of money had been spent, and the doubt led to an inquiry, The upshot is that Mr Justice Mellor has decided against him, and ordered him to pay the costs. The whole inquiry hinged on a princely “ entertainment” to be given to the electors after the victory. This entertainment that was to have been so delightful and to include half the population of Kidderminster, has proved, the great stumbling block, and recoils on the unhappy head of Mr Albert Grant. Various seats have been vacated of late through corruption and bribery ; but somehow, Mr Grant’s rejection has a singularly vivid interest for society. In:the death of the Viscountess Amberley, after a short illness, brought on by watching over*a child ill. with diphtheria, society loses one of its brightest ornaments. Her ladyship was pot only beloved in her own circle, but lent her bright intellectual powers to the aid of all that could further the interests of humanity, and was the benefactress of the world at large. Mrs Crawshay, who was with her at Rome only recently, has publicly borne testimony to her high qualities, her “ keen interest in politics, her thorough knowledge of subjects on which women are mostly superficial,"andher “ gifts of public speaking and of. a masculine intelligence not incompatible with a womanly tenderness of heart.” She adds : “Not alone have her family sustained a sad loss; the world is the poorer of a noblewoman.” From a private source we learn the following respecting her ladyship’s last restingplace; After her death, some trees were cut down behind the house at Ravenscroft, where she died on Sunday, and there she was buried on Tuesday, without, any ceremony of any kind. The village carpenter made the coffin.