The Nelson Evening Mail. MONDAY, JUNE 23, 1879.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XIV, Issue 148, 23 June 1879, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. MONDAY, JUNE 23, 1879.

We publish elsewhere an item of news that will have carried bitter grief to the heart of Eugenic, ex-empress of the French, and terrible disappointment to the Imperialist party in Trance, who were very sanguine that at no distant day they should see upon the throne the Prince Imperial, who, we are told by a telegram received shortly before going to press, has fallen a victim to the assegai of a Zulu. Wonderful indeed, and melancholy as wonderful, is the change that has come over the circumstances and prospects of the Bonaparte family since the rash declaration of war against Germany just nine years a<*o. The following brief sketch of the young Irince is from "Men of the Time":— "Napoleon (Prince Imperial of France), Eugene Louis Jean Joseph, son of the emperor Napoleon 111. and the empress Eugenic, was born March 16, 1856. Tor some time great fears were entertained, on account of the delicacy of his health, which improved considerably iv the summer of 1867. In 1870, he accompanied his father to the seat of warf and was present, on Aug. 2, at the capture of Saarbruckr, when the emperor telegraphed to the empress at Paris the memorable dispatch : " Louis has just received his baptism of fire. He showed admirable coolness, and was not at all affected, A division of General Prossard have captured the heights which overlook the left bank at Saarbruck. The Prussians made but a short resistance. We were in the front rank, but the bullets and cannon-balls fell at our feet. Louis has kept a bullet which fell quite close to him. Some of the soldiers wept at seeing him so cahn. We have only lost one officer and ten men killed." After the disastrous defeat at Sedan, the young prince raa d e his escape to Belgium, and crossing from Ostend to Dovor on Sept. 6, proceeded to Hastings, where he was joined by the empress three days later He has since resided with his illustrious parents at Chislehurst." It will be interesting to many of our readers to learn what the Wesleyans in Wellington are doing towards replacing their fine church which was burned down yesterday week. We therefore make the following extracts from speeches made at a meeting held last Thursday for the purpose of considering what steps, should be taken:— The Chairman said the trustees were in a difficulty. A building on the same site must bp of brick or concrete, and this would cost £10,000 or/ £12,000. (No, no.) Then, again, some of the leading members of the congregation said if the church were built of brick they would never enter it, and they could not afford to lose these people. He remembered when the brick church was throwu down by an earthquake in 1848, for he was shipwrecked at the time, and had suffered all the horrors of earthquakes at sea. The trustees could not say whether the present site would be used or not, unless the Council relaxed the stringency of the building regulations.— Mr Wilkinson said it would have been better if the trustees had decided what they were going to do. lie thought a good many people were not aware that they had had a brick church thrown down, and tbi3 was the reason why a brick church was so strongly objected to. He would only give his donation conditionally upon the new building uot being a brick one, for he would not feel secure in such a building. It was all very well for people who were comparatively uew-comera to aneer at the idea of earthquakes; but he knew what they were, and he considered it was nonsense to suppose that there would not be any more earthquakes here. — Mr Helyer spoke strongly in favor of the old site, and said if it were decided to have the church there he might double his promised subscription if things went well with him. He ridiculed the idea of a brick church being dangerous. .lie said there were brick buildings all over Wellington occupied for six (lays of the week by people working for the "bread that perisheth," and yet people thought it would be unsafe to go into the house of God for a few hours a week for the purpose of worship. He had conversed with practical men, and from what he had heard he believed a brick church could be had for the same money as a wooden one would cost He said the old church had been rotten tn places. style of church would suit him, but let them keep to the same site.— The Rev Mr Williams said he had predicted that morning that they would have the best lovefeast that evening they had ever experienced, and it had certainly been a very practical one. He was glad to find that his reputation as a prophet had not been damaged, for, including the conditional amounts, £840 12s had been promised. (Applause.) He thought now they might fairly go to the public and ask for help in this time of need, and he felt sure there was such a feeling of sympathy abroad that they would not ask in vain. An Auckland telegram says:— At Onehunga the chief Rewi walked forward armiu -arm with the Governor, and said to the bystanders—" I do this in order to show that the Governor and I are now one." •--" "H"~7. LLI. J!iU? '^_J ■ r ■■ _-_^-.. c^ fc