WELLINGTON.

Lyttelton Times, Volume II, Issue 89, 18 September 1852, Page 5

WELLINGTON.

By the "Mainford'' we have Wellington Papers'to the 4th instant. On the 27th August, Mr. Robinson and Mr. Mc'Kenzie appeared to receive judgment, the former for writing;, the latter for publishing, a letter reflecting upon a decision of Judge Stephen, full particulars of which we published on tlie 21st August. The Independent says, "Mr Justice Stephen occupied two hours in delivering his judgment, and, answering the numerous objections which the Counsel for the defendants—Dr. Evans and Mr. King—had urged against the mode of proceding in the present case, maintaining from numerous authorities, which he quoted, that the course he had adopted was perfectly legal, and was of the most lenient character.

The sentence of the court was, that in the case of Mr. Robinson he should pay a fine of £20, and find bail himself in £100 and two sureties of £50 each, to be of good behaviour for twelve calendar months, and to be imprisoned until such bail be given, and such fine paid. In the case of Mr. Mc'Kenzie, that he should find bail himself in £100, and two sureties of £50 each, to be of good behaviour for twelve months, and to be imprisoned until such bail has been tendered and accepted. Both defendants have been sent to gaol.

On one occasion during the proceedings an expression of feeling in favour of the defendants was widely manifested by the persons present in Court, when Mr. Justice Stephen ordered the Sheriff to take them all into custody, and observed that the inhabitants of Australia, convicts as they were, or were said to be, knew how to behave themselves with more decency than the people of this colony, at least so far as he had seen of them."

Our contemporary is waiting for the official report of the judgment, ere proceeding to detailed observation thereon, "or so much of it, at least, as may be vouchsafed to us from the written notes; for we doubt considerably whether any body will dare to give us all those extemporaneous flights, garnished with so many flowers of rhetoric, with which the audience were regaled, though not all of them persuaded or captivated, during the delivery. The tabla is prepared, and the dissecting knife is ready, and we are only waiting for the subject, in order to begin that demonstration which the public are expecting, not merely in the interest of science, but likewise, with a view to the indulgence of a liberal and enlightened taste in this department of anatomy. We trust, therefore, that when the Spectator publishes this, it will not omit any oL' the sneers which were thrown out against the Counsel employed by the defendants ; nor, especially, that little episode in which one of them thought it necessary to vindicate himself from a charge of "discourtesy," by an appeal, adverecundiam, to the previous conduct and declarations of the Judge himself. We look for all tins, and a great deal more, to be faithfully and impartially reported ; and, when we have got it, we trust that we shall be able to deal with-it in a manner that shall be entirely satisfactory, not merely to the parties concerned, but likewise to the most impartial spectators in other colonies, and even in that 'mother country,'of which we generally hear so much, when the most atrocious injustice is about to be inflicted on her children. Ut course, we shall have the one solitary case (that of Martin before Lord Chancellor Brougham), which is the only one pretended to be produced, in anwer to the "challenge of Counsel, ostentatiously paraded; though it had no more to do

■with Ins Honor's conclusion than had those passages of his autobiography, with which he favoured us, and the substance of which was that all his successive migrations had been undertakeu by him * solely with a view to a change of air !' It might, at the same time, save a great deal of/trouble, if we cpuld be told, upon authority who was intended by the ' needy, adventurer,' whom the Judge described so graphically, when he fixed his eyes so steadily upon one learned gentlemen, whom the majority of the persons present supposed to be alluded to. It is very proper that this inquiry should be satisfied; though we do not imagine that Dr. Evans will think it at all necessary to parade his autobiography, in order to recommend himself, for the Irst time, to the good opinion of the people of Port Nicholson. , ; ,We cannot dwell, however, upon things so perfectly disagreeable as those which we have bfsen compelled to advert to. If a grave lawyer should think fit to stand upon his head, or to dance upon a tight rope, at the Britannia Salocih, we should not feel more painful emotions than we did on a recent occasion. But we forbear, and ask the public to deal kindly and compassionately towards a Judge, for the sake —not of the man, but of the sanctity of the office which he sustains." A large meeting was held on the 28th of August to consider the decisions. Resolutions were passsd, affirming that the "arbitrary proceedings in the Supreme Court are calculated to shake public confidence in its decisions, and to bring it into contempt." A Committee was appointed to " collect information and to prepare a report of the proceedings," and that a subscription list be opened to pay the fines and to indemnify the bail in the case of Thomas Mc'Kenzie." Sixty-two pounds were at once subscribed to the Indemnity Fund, and sixtythree subscriptions, limited to 2s. 6d., to liquidate the fines; An adjourned meeting took place on the 3rd instant, to receive the report of the Committee which was read, but has not yet been published. 153 persons had subscribed 2s. 6d. each towards the fines, and the Indemnity Fund had reached £ 106. Messrs. Robinson and Mc'Kenzie would be liberated from gaol in a day or two. • The following letter from the Rev. W. B. Clarke, the Government Geologist at Sydney, appears in the papers:—• St, Leonards, New South Wales, 7th July, 1852. " I have long been impressed with the persuasion that New Zealand must contain a.portion of those more ancient formations which in this country are found to be auriferous. Everything in the physical geography of these countries induces my conclusion, and 1 am not at all put out of conceit with it by the circumstances attending a late alleged discovery of gold and subsequent disappointment. "Since my return I have had given to me for examination some specimens of quartz, from, I believe, the vicinity of Wellington. One of these is very ferruginous, and on applying the file to the surface, three or four patches of gold made their appearance ; so that I have positive proof of the auriferous character of some of your rocks. I doubt not that search, properly.conducted, in the granite and slate regions will be rewarded. "W. B. Claukk."