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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume III, Issue 145, 22 June 1868, Page 2

Telegraphic communication having been suspended with till the stations since Saturday night, no information has been j received relative to the despatch of the j Suez Mail for thisph-.ee, from Wellington, / but ifc wil) probably arrive by the Egmont to-raorrow. The Members of the Provincial Council celebrated the termination of the Session by dining togeiher at the Nelson Hotel, on Saturday evening. Tho entertainment was strictly confined to the members of the legislative body, but avo understand that the repast did great credit to tho culinary resources of Mr M'Gee's establishment, and thafc Vug evening was spent vevy agreeably. In connection with this dinner we may mention a circumstance which we are sure that our readers will appreciate, as being highly characteristic of tbe peculiar proclivities of a member of that august assembly who has invested himself with a most unenviable notoriety during the past session. It appears that the members of the Council were desirous of showing the usual courtesy to the representatives of the Fourth Estate by inviting them to their dinner, but oa this fact being intimated to Mr. Donne, he nnnouueed his intention, in such aa event, to absent himself. The crder, therefore, to avoid any unpleasantness, the invitations to the Press were not issued. Aitai- diuner. Mr Home proposed 'The Press,' tind our readers will be somewhat astonished to learn that the individual who presented himself — to the intense amusement of tiie company — to ■respond to the toast, was no other thau our pugnacious frieud Mr Donne I It has been suggested, aud with much truth, that Mr Donue's reminiscences iu connection with the Press are not of that happy character, wh>ch should render a recurrence to to them pleasant or satisfactory. An examination of the pupils attending the Richmond Boys' School took place on Thursday and Friday last, when the Rev. W. Lewis examined the boys in geography, history, English grammar, reading, writing, aud English composition, and w T e understand that he has reported to the Richmond Committee of Education very favorably of the excellent tone pervading the whole school, and of the admirable discipliuo which the master, Mr. Harrington, has maintained. The examination proved satisfactorily that the boys are receiving a souud elementary education, and, at its conclusion, prizes were awarded to the successful pupils. A similar examination was also held by the Iley. W. Lewis, in compliance with ihe wishes of the Richmond and Appleby Committees, at the latter place on Wednesday last, when 15 boys and 3 girls were presented for examination,- who acquitted themselves very creditably, and prizes were forwarded to the most proficient. The members of the Penal Commission will, we understand, meet at Nelson during the present week, to decide upon their final report. Mr O'Neill, M.H.R., arrived from Auckland by the Airedale yesterday, aud his Honor Mr Justice Johnston and Mr Haughton, M.H.R., are expected here by the Egmont iron/ the South. The news lately roceived from the Thames Goldfields seems to have proved very attractive to the raining population ou the West Coast, the John Penn having taken no less than 120 passengers for Auckland on her trip previous to that on which she is now engaged. 60 diggers also left yesterday morning by this steamer for the same destination.

We learn from a passenger by tke Ken- , nedy, that £a man named Kelly has beeu arrested by the Westport Police, ou suspioion of being connected with three others iu a robbery which took place on the West. Const ahout eighteen months or two years ago. This man is said to be a brother of tho notorious Kelly, who was executed for tho Maungatapu murder, aud the sain-? man whoso escape from the Aucklaud Stockade attracted so much atten tiou. Tiie ceremony of -blessing' the new hell of St Mary's took place yesterday morning itnmodiaieiy after Hi<*h Mass, during which the I-iev. Father Cliureyre delivered | a discourse explanatory of the rite and deducing tho practice of specially blessing ali objects devoted to the service of God from the days of Moses down through the early ages of the Christian Church to the present day. The bell, which was suspended immediately in front of the hio*h altar ca a frame decorated with wreaths of flowers, was dedicated after the rite prescribed in the Pontifical, to St. Michael the Archangel, the sponsors, Countess de Lapasture and H. Redwood, Esq., giviug the name. The ceremony, ! which was rather a lengthy, one, aud at which the Rev. Fathers Garin and Chareyre both officiated, was witnessed by a large congregation, including a considerable number uf Protestants. We find that we were in error ia stating that no similar ceremony had takeu place in this colony, a.s a beli was blessed at Dunedin some two years ago. Tho Auckland Free Press, a penny morning paper, conducted by Mr Creighton, came to an untimely end on Thursday last, after a brief existence of four' weeks and ahalf. The Bank of Australasia shipped from Auckland, per barque Novelty, for Sydney, 1515 ounces Thames gold, 600 ounces of which were brought up from the Thames by the steamer Tauranga. The same steamer also brought up 300 ounces from the branch Bank of New Zealand. The Sydney Herald of Jnne 6th, says the Magellan Cloud left Fiji on the Slst May, and brings news that Thakombau was defeated by the rebels. With respect to the native war therefore some error has apparently occurred, the intelligence received by the schooner Jeanie Duncan via Lyttelton, being to the effect that the j King had been victorious over the mountain natives, but Mr Thurston, the acting j English Consul, who was direct from the I spot, was on board tiie Magellan Cloud as she was getting under weigh, and stated that Thakombau had been beaten back, the rebels having gained the advantage. The Launceston Times of the Ist inst. says : — Several persons are still prosecuting the search for alluvial gold at Man- *' gana with varying success. Small parcels of the precious metal continue to find their way to towu, and we have been gratified by inspecting one lot which was received by Messrs Smith and Poole, ou Friday last, comprising nuggets from half a penuyweight to one aad a half ounces. This is encouraging, and with the increased yield from the Quartz Company's reef, reported a few days since, ought to stimulate to increased effort on the part of our mining population. The Clermont escort murder, which has been long before the public, has culminated in the cjxecution on the Ist of June, of Griffin, whose position in society as a Police Magistrate, independent of the atrocity of the deed, has given the tragedy a notoriety almost unparalleled in tbe history of the colonies. Griffin protested his innocence to the last, but aftor the execution it transpired that he had confessed to Grant, a warder of thc gaol, that he committed the murder. The missing valise with the Bank notes were found near Mr Ottley's on information given by Griffin to the turnkey. Griffin said 3730 notes were in the valise, which leaves only 16 unaccounted for * the notes are not yet counted. Griffin made au oral statement to the turnkey; the supposed object was to induce the turnkey to aid his escape and share the plunder ; he said Power awoke while he was rifling the notes, and fired a revolver, the shot passed through Griffin's beard; Griffin then shot Power through the head. Cahill, who bad been ill, and sleeping against a tree, woke with the report, and aimed a revolver at Griffin, who immediately shot him in the stomach, Cahill falling forward, shot himself with his own revolver through the head. He said the doctor ought to have found the ball in Cahill' s stomach. Two anecdotes concerning Mr Disraeli

have lately gono the round of the clubs, which, true or false, so exactly illustrate his position, and the public and acknowledged view of that position, that we cannot forbear to qnote them. ' They may say what they like of me,' Mr Disraeli is reported to have said, talking to an old friend the other day : ' they may say what they like of me, but there are two things they cannot say. They cannot say I have ceased to be Jew, and they cannot say I have ceased to be a Radical.' Mr Disraeli has been compared to the fly-leaf between the Old and New Testament, neither Jew nor Christian.