The Lyttelton Times. SATURDAY, August 16, 1851. JOURNAL OF THE WEEK.

Lyttelton Times, Volume I, Issue 32, 16 August 1851, Page 5

The Lyttelton Times.

SATURDAY, August 16, 1851. JOURNAL OF THE WEEK.

The "Labuan," from Gravesend April -8, arrived late in the evening of Monday, with 137 passengers. The English news she brings will be found in another place. The great event of the week is the unmistakeable demonstration of public feelingon Thursday, in favour of local government for Canterbury—its erection' into a separate province. The absence of all opposition, and the hearty reception given to the various sentiments uttered and resolutions proposed, sufficiently indicate the opinion of the Canterbury settlers on the question. Had the meeting taken place earlier in the week, we could have embodied our report of them in this paper. As it is, we do so to the utmost of our limits,—the remainder of the report of the Lyttelton meeting will be published in a supplement on Tuesday next. The Christchurch meeting, of which we have been favoured with notes, is necessarily reserved for our next number. In the press of so much matter of stirring interest we find it impossible to give anything like an adequate account of the Public Dinner at the Mitre Hotel on Thursday evening. We shall not attempt it, further than to say, that such a display, in a colony eight months old, was absolutely astonishins- The dinner exhibited a profusion of dishes, chief of all, that prince of English dishes, a magnificent baron of beef, literally as well cooked as at the London Tavern, and served a great deal hotter than we ever recollect at a public dinner in England. The exertions of Mr.Compton to make the guests comfortable, and of Mr. Taylor, the contractor for the building, to finish the room in time, have entitled them to the especial thanks of their fellow colonists. Their example communicated itself to every workman in the establishment, speaking the unanimous and hearty good-will of all in the public cause. If we have space we shall publish an account of the toasts. &c. in our Tuesday's supplement.