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Hawke's Bay Weekly Times, Volume 2, Issue 82, 27 July 1868, Page 182

The of Molyneux, in Otago, and that of Havelock, in the Peloriis Sound, Marlborough, have been closed. The; appointment of,Dr. Haasfc as Provincial Geologist for the province of Canterbury' has been determined by the '-Government. . ,

Cattle in Eubote.—The total number of cattle in the various European states amounts to not less than 94,700,000 head, at an average value of £8 pet head.

A merchant examining jai hogshead of hardware, on comparing it with the invoice, found; it all right,-, exceptva‘" hammer - less than the invoice. “Och! don’t be troubled,” said the Irish . porter; “sure the nagu-i took.it to open ; the hogshead with.” i; ;•: The r rutaenui river, Wanganui, has not been the last right-years as jit -was a t the end* of last week Itijliterallyflowedfromhanktobraej.and considerable portions; of low-lying territory" along 1: itB-mprgin were' hovered with

':: ; Thq;'Paris,: "special of, the Nelson Examiner, under, date April 18, vriitesasfoliqws:—TbePrincelmperial il now beginhihg to be considered of some and liia inovements attract great; attention.; 'On Wednesday, he left,Paris for ..Brest,-where ; there, is to Jbe. a grand nautical review, held in his honor. He, will'be gone some seven or eight days. The Prince’s first communion, which has so long been ; a subject of popular curiosity/ is' now definitely; fixed :to take place on Sunday, the sth May, at the chapel of the Tuileries. The Jewish sago wisely remarked that there was nothing new under the sun, and an incident, connected with *the event I have just mentioned/adds another corroboration to the time-honored maxim. The book in which the Prince Imperial will read his prayers on the day of his first communion, is not one of the vulgar prayer-books escaped from the prolific presses of Ganne or Alfred Mamme. It is a charming manuscript, ordered by his Imperial Highness, and written expressly for this occasion by a very clever artist, M. Lean La Roue, paleograper to the city of Paris. This manuscript, executed in the style of the Middle Ages, is not yet quite finished. It contains about 127 pages, and comprises the usual prayers of the Catholic liturgy, that is to say, the morning' and evening prayers, and a few special orisons; the whole is in French. The writing employed in the text is the pure round French, in which the letters, almost, perpendicular, are as easily read as the printed characters. These letters, it is well-known were greatly in use during the twelfth century. Among the most remarkable pages I may mention the first, which bear for title, “ Litre de Premiere Communion de S. A. L. Le Prince Imperiat .” The capital of the first word is a curiosity of art j it contains an N smaller than itself, id which are inclosed the two letters L and E—initials of Louisa Eugene Napoleon. The page in which the mass commences deserves especial mention; the frame is in gold foliage entwined with silver. At the end of the book are left several white pages, on which the*Prince may write down his thoughts or ideas on this important religions ceremony. This precious book is to be hound by Madame Andrieux in blue levant morocco, with a large silver cross on each side, and silver clasps, each hearing email Gothic crosses. It is to be regretted that this excellent imitation of ancient art will not be shown to the public, as it oould not fail to be universally admired.

Oub Queen’s Name.—lt is probable that not not one in throe readers wfil remember our present Queen under the name which she bore as a girl. Alexandria sounds to most English ears a little strange and harsh, for the English ear has never grown familiar with the name. Yet Alexandrine was meant by George the Fourth to be the future title of our English Queen, the future and fashionable name in noble and gentle houses. Says Miss Murray—“ It was believed that the Duke of Kent wished to name his child Elizabeth, that being a popular name with the English people ; but the Prince Regent, who was not kind to his brothers, gave notice that he should stand in person as one godfather, and that the Emperor of Russia was to be another. At the ceremony of baptism, when asked by the Archbishop of Canterbury to name the infant, the Prince Regent gave only the name of Alexandrina; the Duke requested one other name might be added—‘Give her the mother’s also, then; but’ he added, ‘it cannot preceed that of the Emperor.’ The Queen on lieir accession, commanded that she should be proclaimed as Victoria only.”—-For which wise act we give her Majesty, many thanks. Victoria is a new name also, but it is' a name of fame and beauty, and we have taken to it with an easy love. Amongst the famous people remembered by Miss Murray are Lord and Lady Eldon, whose parsimonious habits have been the subject of a thousand tales. “I remember,” says, the writer, “ an amusing story which Was told me as an instance of this. At the conclusion of a week’s visit, in a large house, Lady Scott came down to her hostess, with arms extended, carrying a huge number of towels. * Madam, look here!’she said. ‘ I think it my duty to make you aware of; the'extravagance of your housemaids; day after day I have locked up useless towels that have been put into mine and Sir William’s rooms; yet they were always replaced. Look at all this linen ma’am!—towel upon towel, and during all this , week one has served us both!”.’ Another droll.story is told of Lord Eldon:—“ It once hap; pened that Lord Eldon and the Archbishop of Canterbury dined with the King. The former J be<»me WtKer communicative and merry over his port. :' At last he said, *lt is. a curiousjfact, that your Maj esty’s, Arch* bishop and your Majesty’s Lord Chancellor both married their wives clandestinely! I had some, excuse; .for- Bessie Surtees was the prettiest girl in all Newcastle; but MraSuttonwasalwaysthesamepumpkinfaced thing she is; at present!’ The King Was much amused,. and; told the story to the -Princesses! Among the odds and ends, now lyinginMissMurray’smemory is a story told her by one. of LorS/Eldon’s daughters/ that Lady Eldba ahdvhers'elf hacl; only ;one;thp,nnri Reooilectionßfromi 1803, to/1837, : witli-a conclusionm 1868; By the Hori.' Amelm Murray., c v-i ' 4;

ImebisonmenteobDebt.— Amongstthe heavy mass of petitions which are. to;,bp presented to the Houae pf Representatives, one of great iihportancie to the tnereantile community : at’ large ' comes' .from Canterbury. It is-the Imprisonment' for ; Debt Petition/ 'sighed by , a Ifrge number; of Christchurch ; Legislature ; fr>; throw; aside the obnoxious clause in the Resident Magistrates Amendment Act of: the last session, which protects from punishment debtors for an amount less than. £lO..

We Quite Agree with Him.: —The Bulletin’s Acapulco correspondent says that “ a wealthy Frenchman in Mexico committed suicide, and declined to givo any reason for the rash act.” We like that Frenchman’s spirit .'and feel, as he does. "Wait till we. commit suicide, and then ask. for a reason, if you dare. Once we are dead, we must stand on our rights. No man shall have reasons from our cold corpus.—San Francisco News Letter. Pleasant Fellow Passengers. —“ We have it from reliable authorty,” says the Bendigo Advertiser, “ that the conduct of some of onr late townsmen, who were passengers for England, surpassed anything out of pandemonium. From the starting of the .vessel from Hobson’s Bay until her arrival in London, a steady course of drunkenness and insubordination appears to have reigned; supreme among them. Nothing hut insult and gross conduct was evinced towards the whole ship’s company from the captain down , to the steward The, captain, indeed, was at last obliged to remove.his table from among them, and dine separately with the remaining passengers. They even w;ent bo far as to summons the captain Upon the ship’s arrival in England, for aUeged inattention during the passage. The magistrate, however, showed - his good sense by honorably acquitting. him ; and to crown the whole affair, the captain declared on oath, that out of. six individuals .who sailed from Bendigo, an average of two were in a state of delirium tremens during the whole voyage.”

A Fortunate Maori Chief.— Tho despatches of his Excellency Sir George. Bowen to his Grace the Duke of Buckingham are ! rather interesting in some respects. For instance, in reference to his visit to the Thames Gold-field, he narrates the following : —“ There is one.peculiar and very interesting and suggestive fact connected with the town'of Shortland, viz., that it is rising on ground- belonging , to the influential Maori chief Tapari. He declines to sell his land ; preferring, with a view to its rapid increase in value, to let it in lots on building leases. But he has made liberal gifts of sites for churches for the'Anglicans, the Roman Catholics, the Presbyterians, and the other principal Christian communions ; as also for a public hospital, a cemetery, a park, and other public purposes. He employs Europeans to lay out roads and streets, and to construct drains, culverts, and the like.; -In short, he appeared to me, on the one hand, as capable of maintaining his just rights, and, on the other, as desirous to improve his property, as any English landlord. Taipari’s income, from rents .and mining licenses, is already at the rate of nearly 4000 sterling yearly. He had caused a commodious house, in the linglish style, to be built for himself on a slope commanding a beautiful prospect over the sea and the rising town. Taipari’s example, and the knowledge of the wealth he is acquiring by allowing the. colonists to occupy his land on equitable terms, are beginning to exercise a beneficial influence over many of his Maori countrymen who have hitherto lived iti sullen, and hostile isolation.