WELLINGTON.

Lyttelton Times, Volume I, Issue 50, 20 December 1851, Page 6

WELLINGTON.

A meeting of members of the New Zealand Society was held on Nov. 28th, his Excellency Sir George Grey presiding. The meeting was very numerously attended, and considerable interest was exhibited, in consequence of the report that gold had been found in. the Upper Hutt district.

The following gentlemen were elected members ; —Rev. R. Taylor, M.A., Wanganui ; Mr. V. Smith ; and Mr. J. Roy, C.E. Lieut. Paul, 65th Regt. was proposed for election.

The following donations were made to the Society :—a collection of ores and minerals from Adelaide, South Australia, by Mr. J. H. Wallace; specimens of ores, &c, chiefly from Cornwall, by Mr. G. Hare; a specimen of the Troclms linperialis, from Kapiti, by Captain Deck ; a collection of fossil shells, from Wairarapa, by Mr. S. E. Grimstone ; and an engraving of the Moko (Notornis Maniellii), by Mr. W. Man tell. The Secretary announced that the Council had purchased from W. Man tell, Esq., his cabinet of minerals, containing upwards of 500 specimens, for the sum of fifty pounds, and that it had been deposited in the house which the Society was permitted to occupy for a lib'-ary and museum. The specimens from the Hutt were tested at the meeting, but not the slightest truce of gold was perceptible. At the opening of the Criminal Sittings on Dec. 1, Mr. Justice Chapman, after making a few remarks on the case to be sent to the Grand Jury, said that two cases were expected from Canterbury, so that it. would be necessary, as on a previous occasion, to adjourn the Grand Jury for a fortnight, giving them a second notice when their attendance would be required. He would also take that opportunity of making a few observations on the state of crime in the district; on referring back to a statement he had made to a former Grand Jury, it would be found that the average yearly number of criminals tried in that court was twenty-one for the five years ending with 1848. At that time the population of the Southern Province certainly did not exceed 10,000 persons. The settlements of Canterbury and Otago were not then formed, and the settlement of Nelson was not then so large as it was at present. But although the business of the Civil Court had materially increased, not from any spirit of litigation, but arising out of a more prosperous state of circumstances in the community, crime had diminished in a still greater ratio, the number of persons tried in this settlement during the present year was only six, and the whole amount of crime ft?r the Southern Province was only sixteen. If the amount of crime had increased in proportion to the amount of population, the average number would have been forty, and he considered the fact indicated a considerable degree of general prosperity. He might also allude to another circumstance. A very large amount of the military had been discharged and absorbed in the population of the settlement; he believed that in the selection that had been made by the officers, certainly the best and steadiest men were retained iii the regiment. It might have been expected that an increase of crime might have boon occasioned under these circumstances, but the result shewed how a man's character altered and improved by taking a stake in the country. He mentioned this as very creditable to these men, many of whom had proved to be ; excellent labourers, and of those believed not to

have been the best men in the regiment, very few were found in this Court charged with crime. The Wanganui races had taken place, the weather proving very favourable, and great numbers of visitors assembling from all parts of *..the district. The Produce Stakes were won Vbasily by Mr. Cameron's Tom Brown. The twinner of the Wanganui Stakes was Lieut. ITrafford's JSTaenae. Mr. J. M. Taylor's Bullet Eye was an easy winner in the contest for the Scurry Stakes, having the advantage of a rider of only about four stone, and light weight for the other horses not being procurable. The run -^i'or the Ladies Purse, in which Mr. Skipwith's Old Jos was first, concluded the first day's proceedings. Lieut. Trafford's mare Naenae won the hurdle race on the second day, taking all her leaps in beautiful style, the owner riding her. The Grazier's Purse and Consolation Stakes were gained respectively by Tom Brown and Mr. Wintringbam's Bosjesman, after which followed the Maori race, in which Ruaka was successful, and the Maori hurdle race, won by Slipper. On . Sunday, Dec. 7th, the ceremony of the consecration of the Roman Catholic Church, recently erected at Thorndon, was performed by the Bishop attended by his Priests, with all the imposing rites peculiar to that faith. The Church is situated on the rising ground immediately behind Thorndon Flat, and forms one of a collection of buildings devoted to the uses of the Roman Catholic faith, the other buildings being schools for children of both sexes, the bishop's residence, and a nunnery. The church, which is very substantially framed of timber, consists of a nave and aisles separated by arches, with a chancel containing the high altar. At the south-eastern angle of the building is a square tower covered with a temporary sloping roof, but which will ultimately be raised, we believe, to the height of sixty feet, and be surmounted by a spire of the height of thirty feet, the whole being ninety feet in height. The interior of the building also, which at present is roughly framed and lined with wood, will be plastered, with pillars and arches separating the nave from the aisles, the upper or clere story pieced with windows, the chapels on either side the high alta; enclosed with carved wooden tracery, and the whole building lengthened towards the western end to the extent of twentyfive feet. The building is in the pointed style, with a triple window at the eastern end, and is capable of containing six hundred persons. At the west end a temporary gallery has been placed in which is a small but well-toned organ. A great number of persons were collected (very many from motives of curiosity and a desire to witness a ceremony new to them) on the occasion, and it is computed that between six and seven hundred persons were within the building. Of the Acolytes five were Maories, one of them bore the train of the bishop, and towards the conclusion of the ceremony, a Maori hymn was sung by the natives, of whom, we understand, there were about eighty converts to the Roman Catholic faith. The consecration, including the celebration of mass, occupied rather more than four hours.