Colonial.

Lyttelton Times, Volume X, Issue 600, 4 August 1858, Page 5

Colonial.

NEW SOUTH WALES. Public collections in behalf of the alleged sufferers at Donegal were going on vigorously throughout the colony. The following paragraphs are extracted from the Sydney papers. The Chukch Consiixebed as a SociAt Institution. —On Tuesday last, in this journal, we published a lecture on the above subject, delivered hy the Goyernor-GeiieraJLpn the previous evening, before the members and friends of the Young Men's Christian. Association. The lecture has excited a good deal of attention anddiscussion. Many of the sentiments which it contained were new to colonial readers. It Indicated deep thought and earnest conviction, and was naturally accepted as an evidence of his Excellency's interest in the walfare of our young' men, and not less in the social and religious institutions of the country.

Horses fok India. —The Admiral Boxer which left our port on the Bth instant, for Bombay, took 149 troop horses on account of the hon. the East India Company, and will be the last ship despatched, unless further orders are received from' the Governor-General of India. Three of the Company's officers—Mr. Surgeon Barton, Captain Whish,. R.A., and Lieutenant Kennally returned by this vessel, with the remainder of the military and native attendants who arrived here by the VVanata transport in February. Colonel Scobie and Major Grant, we believe, will leave by one of the early mail steamers. Colonel Bobbins has also completed his shipments from Melbourne, and may be expected here in a few days to remain for a short time, prior to his departure for Calcutta. The total number of horses shipped from this port has been 547 by Colonel Robbins to Calcutta, and 628 .by Colonel Scobie to Bombay—including,' however, the shipments from Melbourne, Hobart'Town, and Swan River, about 2,200 will have been shipped in all. We are sorry to hear that the experience of these officers has not been such as to lead them to form a favorable opinion of the capabilities of the colonies for the supply of cavalry horses, the number of suitable stock offered has not met their expectations, whilst the prices demanded and the high cost of fodder has rendered the purchases costly to the Indian Government. The advantages to the colonies must be considerable, as over £100,000 has been expended in the payments for horses and forage alone.

The Chinese Poll Tax.—Alluding to the proposed imposition of a £10 tax on every Chinaman immigrating to this colony from the Celestial Empire, the * Border Post' observes : Mr. Cowper has incurred some odium by departing from his original proposition of fixing the capitation-tax at £3 per head; and he has been charged with insincerity in imposing what is considered a prohibitory tax, whilst declaring at the same time that the Government did not intend to exclude the Chinese from the colony. Chinese immigration is either an evil, or it is not. If it be an evil, the least that can be done is to stop it, by following the precedent afforded by the legislatures of the neighbouring colonies. If it be not an evil, then we contend it is nothing less thau robbery and injustice to impose a special tax on the Chinese. To strike am >- dium course and to compound for the sins laid to the door of our Celestial visitors, by exacting from them a pecuniary payment of £10 per head, is a kind of political profligacy which cannot be too severely deprecated. St. Philip's Chttcch".—We are authorised to state that the incumbency of St. Philip's parish, vacant by the death of Archdeacon Cowper, has been conferred upon his son, the Rev. W. M. Cowper. M.A., and also that the Lord Bishop of the Diocese has nominated him to the office and title of Dean of Sydney.

The Eet.-.Mr. Binney.—The English friends of this gentleman will be glad to hear of his improved, health. He has spent eleven weeks in this colony, and has preached repeatedly to overwhelming congregations. His visit to Moreton Bay was attended with the happiest' results; and he also touched at Newcastle and Maitland on his -return. Considerable respect has been paid to the rev. gentleman by the elite of our city, and also by the clergy and members of other denominations as well as his own. Mr. and Mvs. Binney leave in the Emeu for Melbourne. After a short stay there, they go on to Adelaide; afterwards cross over to. Tasmania ; and subsequently return to Sydney. Here they remain a few weeks, and finally will proceed to England, via India, by one of the mail steamers. Some expectation was entertained that this remarkable preacher might be induced to remain in Sydney for a fewyears, and efforts in that direction were made, but, we need scarcely say, to no purpose. The Pitcairn Islanders.—The following is an extract from a letter written by the chaplain of H.M. ship Iris to Mr. Alfred Roberts of this city, with reference to a present of books forwarded from Sydney, to the descendants of the Bounty Mutineers, at Norfolk Island:— " The school is thriving, and the books I am very glad to say, have been arranged, labelled, catalogued, and are now being lent out to all who want them : they have set apart a room as a library, and fitted it up with shelves and presses, the schoolmaster, Simon Young, acting as Librarian. I looked over the books, and if they had only a little stronger binding, might bo considered quite a model little library." It is further stated, that the general condition ol' the Islanders is much improved since their removal. They appear to havo advanced in wealth, energy, and cheerfulness, and in spito of tho failure of their first crops, they are in possession of ample supplies of food.