CHURCH MUSIN

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VIII, Issue 216, 8 September 1873, Page 2

CHURCH MUSIN

To the Editor op the Nelson Evening Mail. Sir— l fear that few of those who attend, our various churches sufficiently™ appreciate the importance of the services rendered by the choirs, or recognise to what extent they labor under an obligation to those who conduct the musical portions of the service, thereby adding largely both to- its cheerfulness and solemnity, lam therefore induced to ask you to give publication to the following extract from a letter received by me from a friend who was passing through Nelson on Sunday week and who, I may say, is admitted to be an, excellent judge of the subject on which he writes. He says : — " I can scarcely express to you how gratified and surprised I was with the service in Christ Church on Sunday evening. I had no idea that you possessed musical talent of so high an order. I have seldom heard that anthem "In Judah is God known," which js so familiar to all who have been in the habit, of .attending the English . cathedrals, sung in better taste, or with greater effeet, while the chanting of the Psalms was perfect. Being myself something of an enthusiast in the matter of Church music, .the only wonder to me is that with such flne voices to take the lead, the congregation who attend your chnrch can rest satisfied with anything short of a- fall cathedral service.. 1 In Wellington they cannot come near you in vocal power, nor have I ever heard in Auckland or Christchurch anything superior to that anthem, the recollection of which forms one of the most pleasing of my reminiscences of my. harried visit to Nelson. I cannot see what, is to prevent your following the good exaniple ! set fy these two latter places in the reproduction in the antipodes of the beautiful services of our Church in the grand old cathedral style." .'. t "> It may be satisfactory to the members of the choir alluded to to leArn that their services are not entirely thrown away, and in; this belief I have ventured to trespass upon your, good nature to the extent of inviting you to give publicity to the above. ■ „_,, : -, .... „.,, r , „ ... .... .-.- '. latai.&c.,' ■- „ , , Cantate. Nelson, September 8.

Major Finn-more, qt Wanganui, has had his commission in the New Zealand Militia cancelled. ; ■ : Upwards of 12,000 shares in the New Insurance Company have be_n applied for in Wellington. It seems that the G-fiyerni-tent iiave .determined to import a new Inspector of Postoffices, and that the Hon. John Hall has been requested, in 'conjunction with the authorities of the English Postal Department, ts select suitable person, to fill the office. No intimation has yet been received as to the person selected, but it: is expected that he will be sent bii. - immediately. — Post. ....... In the course of the debate on the East and West Coast steam communication in

the House, last night, Mr Vogel incidentally remarked that a subsidy would be asked for the provision of steam communication on the Waikato, in the interests of peace. We should be pleased to know in what way a steamer will subserve the purpose intended. — Herald. The manager of the Bank of New Zealand, at Grahamstown, has been charged, under the Quartz Crushing-ma-chine Regulation and Inspection Act with neglecting to use the register provided by the Government for entering gold, and was fined £5, the Magistrate saying that he had no option. The manager appeals on the ground that the register supplied bj. .the Inspector had no columns for pennyweights and grains. The Bank of New Zealand is in communication with the Government with a view to an alteration of the register. Opinion is very decided in Christchurch and amongst country cricketers on the point that every effort should be made to secure a visit from the English Eleven, who are shortly to arrive in Melbourne. Signs of civilization are on tbe increase in the wilds of the Lyell district. Mr Louis Parisini has lately brought thither from Nelson a choice selection of shrubs, a swarm of bees, some pheasants, over a hundred varieties of fruit trees, a quantity of strawberries, and a supply of the celebrated Early Rose potatoes. On Wednesday last the body of Mr J. L. Neave was found on the beach at Picton, by a boy named Clemens. An inquest was held on the following day before J. Allen, Esq., coroner, when from the evidence it would appear that deceased had been drinking at a house on the Wairau road on Tuesday evening. He was taken to his own premises, and it is supposed he afterwards left them and fell into the Creek in Kent- street, and there being considerable water in it at the time, caused by the recent rains, his body was washed down to the beach. Otago Steam Subsidy. — We are not alone in the opinion we have expressed in reference to the subsidising of a steamer for the purpose of extending the Dunedin trade to the West Coast,as appears from the following extract from the Auckland Herald : — Otago merchants, not content with pushing their " bagmen " into every hole and corner qf the Middle and North Island?, must now have a Government subs idised steamer to transport their sales to the doors of purchasers. It can only be with that object in view that Mr Macandrew brought forward a resolution that the House do go into committee today to consider the advisability of placing a sum of £2500 on the Estimates as a subsidy for steam communication between the East and West Coasts of the Middle Island. Mr Macau drew very coolly remarks that he is only moderate in in his demands, as that sum would not cover expenses; but that as Otago — meaning thereby Otago merchants-: — desires to push its trade to the West Coast, and intends to do so by running a steamer the circuit of the island, if the Government would grant tbe sum asked, the Otago Provincial Council would supplement that amount. Naturally Nelson members objected that the colony should be taxed for such a purpose, snd at the same time Otago be thus provided with the means to deprive them of. a trade peculiarly their own. Otago, however, as usual, had its own way, and the resolution was carried — upon what grounds we shall be curious to learn. Archdeacon Slattery, of Geelong, has enlisted 500 of his congregation under the temperanoe banner, he having previously taken the pledge himself. i^— _— — ___— _____ ________ «____— MMM^

A Chicago paper says ;:— u The Windy beard of -Eohaa himself, and all his succedaneous bags of atmosphere, beswept our segment of earth from long: ere dawn of yesterday through a bitter 24 hours of extreme winterness and physical and spiritual shiveringa." Four members of the Middlesex Bicycle Club left London on the 2nd ult. on bicycleß for the extreme north of Scotland. They reached Wick at 6_o'clock p.m. on ; * the 17th, and after some refreshment proceedod on to John o'Groata' House tho same evening; the entire distance covered being about 800 miles, or an average of 60 miles per day.

Wedding cards in Denver consist of tbe " jack of diamonds " and the " quean of hearts," with the names of the contracting parties on each. If the bride's motherj-in-law is living "the ten of clubs" is _leo enclosed, The zealous advocates of temperance at Sale contemplate, according to the Gipps Land Times, extreme measures to accomplish their purpoee. It is stated that they repudiate the bread made from brewer's yeast and intend importing a baker from Melbourne who will satisfy tender consciences by selling bread made from aerated flour. It is reported that a ukase has gone forth from the chief of the Templars that members of that body must no longer eat the bread made with yesst. " Some time ago," writes the Warnambool Standard, " Messrs Batemap, Smith, " and Co.', as agents for the patentees cf a new process ; for preserved fresh potatoes, sent four cases of potatoes preserved by th6 process' to Captain Shinnerj of the steamship Northumberland, asking him to open, one of the cases at the Cape, another when crossing'the line, a tirrdin the English Channel, and to land tbe fourth in England for exhibition for consumption. We have seen s a telegram from Captain Shinner, whoso vessel arrived in England after a voyage of 76 days, dated August 4, stating that the cases were all opened in very good condition. The new process has thus stood a very fair test, giving hope that a lar^e trade may be done in supplying outward-bound ships, and also India and other countries." One of the popular fallacies of the day is that the man who canDot look you in the eyes when you are talking to him is at heart a coward, or, in truth, a scoundrel, and the man who meets you with a steady straightforward glance, and watches every look and gesture while you are talking, is a brave and open-hearted fellow. This is one of ihe notions of r omancists that has passed into everyday philosophy as fact. According to the novelist the thief is the man who avoids your eye; the consciously guilty man is one -whose eyes cannot look a man straight in the face ; and the man who intends to do you wrong is the one who becomes agitated whenever you look straight at him. In fact, all this is nonsense. The purest, bravest, kindest man in the world may cot bo able to look another man in the eye. In many cases it is the over-sensitive man that avoids your glance, and the brazen, thief that looks at you with steady glance. The handling of the eyes in this particular is entirely, a physical matter. A. mad. may be good and brave, and more sensitive, may be, physically speaking, incapable of looking a man in. the eye, and from inherited inclination disinclined to do so. The following i. from a Victorian pacer: .—"There is an upright and sensible judge over the border. A wild beasi named McKinnon, nearly beat, dragged, and kicked his wife to- death, Wagga way, and a stupid jury found him guilty, but in the teeth of the evidence, recommended him to mercy as he had " provocation." Judge Macfarlane was equal to the occasion, and the Wagga Wagga Express reports him as follows :— " After siating that the fellow had been convicted upon the clearest evidence of as barbarous, brutal and. ferocious assault as he ever knew, and without one wprci of provocation — a delicious hint, of the value ol which it. is to be hoped that-the-- '-twelve intelligent .cpyptrymen,' were sensible, His Honbr closed thus : — ' Sentences have been passed that made one blush for the administration of justice. With God's blessing I will do my duty to put a stop to outrages of this. .kind, lbe sentence of the Court is lhafybu'be imprisoned in Goulb.urn gaol for the term of two yeats, and be there kept to hard labor during that time.' " '".._." "Cure for" Small-pox. — This" loathsqme disease is liable at any time to break out among us,. and. we cannot be: too' careful, and should avail ourselves of all known remedies to effect a cure or prevent our taking it. A correspondent of the Stockton (Gai) _7_raZ_Tgives the following as. a cure for small-pox. Cut this out for future reference :— -"I herewith append a receipt which has beecf used to my knowledge in hundreds of cases. It will prevent or cure small-pox, even though the pittingß are filling. When Jenner discovered *be cow-pox in England, the world of science hurled an avalanche of fame ononis head ; but when the most scientific school of medicine in the world — that of Parishpublished this receipt as a panacea for small-pox, it passed unheeded. It is unfailing as late, and conquers in- every instance.'- It is -'perfectly ■ harmless when taken by a.weU person. : , It: will also cure Bca.let' fever. Here is the receipt as I have used it, and cured many children of scarlet fever. „; Here it : is aslhay'e used it to cure small-pox, when learned physicians said the patients must die : — Sulphate of zinc, one grain . fo_>glove (digitalis), one grain; one-half a teaspoonful of sugar, mix with two tablespoonfols of water. When the above has been thoroughly mixed add four ounces of water. Take a teaspoonful every hour. Either disease will disappear in twelve hours. For a child,, smaller doses according to age. If countries jyonld compel . physician* to use this there would- be no need of pesthouses. If you value advice and experience, use this for that terrible scourge."