The New-Zealander.

New Zealander, Volume 7, Issue 587, 29 November 1851, Page 2

The New-Zealander.

Be just and fear not. Let nil tho ends tliou aims't at, be thy Country's, Thy God's, and Truth's.

The Haven reached our port yesterday evening, being the first of what we trust may prove a series of prosperous visits. She did not arrive sufficiently early to enable us to obtain our usual files through the Post Office, but, by the kindness of Captain Bowden, we are placed in possesof a number of Sydney papers, including the latest, that of the 19th instant. We compile the substance of the most interesting intelligence, necessarily postponing fuller accounts until our next. English news to the Ist of August had been received at Sydney via Melbourne. Parliament was to be prorogued by the Queen in person on the Bth of August. The business in both Houses was being rapidly brought to a close. The Ecclesiastical Titles Bill had been read a third time in the House of Lords and passed. The speech of (the Roman Catholic) Lord Beaumont, in strenuous support of the measure, had excited great attention. Ten Peers had recorded a Protest against the Bill. The previous stage of the second reading had been carried by a majority of 265 to 38. The Jewish Disabilities Question had occupied the House of Commons. Alderman Salomons (the newly elected Member for Greenwich) took his seat, and retained it, though the Speaker ordered him to withdraw. After some confusion, and a discussion, (in the courso of which Mr. BETIIELL earnestly argued that a Jew should be permitted to take the oath in that form which ho deemed most binding on his conscience) the House voted, by a majority of 231 to 81, that Mr. Salomons be ordered to withdraw, which he only did, however, when he was "touched on the arm by the Serjeant-at-Arms." On a subsequent day Lord John Russell moved a resolution declaring that Mr. Salomons was not entitled to sit or vote in the House until he should take the oath in the form appointed by law. Mr. Betiiell proposed an amendment, but it was lost by a majority oi 118 to 91. A further vote refused a claim to have the caso argued at the bar of the House, and the Times, of J uly 30, says, "As far as the action of the Legislature is concerned, the case of Jewish emancipation is closed for tho present session." A conversation in the House of Commons elicited only too plainly tho want of disposition in tho Government to take any vigorous steps for the establishment of Steam Communication between Kngland and Australasia. The CHANCELLOR of tho Exchequer admitted that nothing practical had been founded on the report of Lord Jocelyn's Committee, and urged

the expcnsivonoss of the scheme as a formidable objection. But the Australian Gold JS'eius had not yet reached him : its arrival would be likely to present the matter in an aspect which might quicken even v w ir Charles Wood's sluggishness. A Bill had been passed to enable Scottish landlords to borrow money on their estates for the purpose of promoting emigration amongst their distressed tenantry. The Great Kxhibition continued to draw crowds. On the 30th of July the number of visitors was 58,332, making* the total number since the opening- 3,124,125. The Queen's visit to the Lord Mayor and Corporation, in. celebration of the Great Exhibition, had taken place on the 9th of July with all magnificence, and passed off amidst the warmest enthusiasm. There was a gorgeous ceremonial; then " dancing under difficulties," the crowd being so great, and a supper worthy of a London Corporation ! Her Majesty had given a grand State Ball, at Buckingham Palace, on the 14th of July. At the latest dates she was at Osborne, where it was expected the Royal Family would reside for the most part until after Prince Albert's birth-day, the 26th of August, when they might probably go to Scotland. Amongst the recent deaths were, General J. S. Wood, Lieutenant of the Tower ; the Earl of Charleville, General Sir R. Siteaff, Part., Colonel of the 36th Rcgt ; Colonel R. Thompson, of the Royal Engineers ; — and we add, with a regret in which every lover of literature will participate, Dr. Moiß, of Musselburgh, the wellknown " Delta" of BlackwoocVs Magazine.

We have from Sydney intelligence of the elections for the city in the room of Dr. Lang. On the 18th instant Mr. Campbell was returned by a majority of no less than 769, — th© numbers being, Campbell 1306, Young 537. William Bradley, Esq., had been appointed by the Governor-General an unofficial member of Council, in the room of the late Mr. A. LongmoßE. We transfer to another column Mr. Lloyd's latest " Gold Circular," giving a summary of the progress in the Gold fields of both New South YValos and Victoria. We also copy the last market-note of the Herald, it will be seen that Flour had fallen still more, the quotations being £12 per ton for fine, and £10 for seconds.

By the Overland Mail, we yesterday received Wellington journals to the Ist inst. The Governor-in -Chief and Lady Grey had left Wellington on the 3rd of October on a visit to Otaki; The matter most immediately engaging local attention was a Protest of certain inhabitants of the Hutt against the formation of Ihe District into a Municipality. Their objections are, for the most pail, substantially similar to those with which we have recently had to grapple here ; with the additional allegation, however, that " as there are no Public Lands for sale in the Hutt," the offer of one third of the proceeds of Land Sales for the use of the Corporation is delusive, *' as it is evident that this proportion would merely furnish us with the third of nothing — an amount so infintesimally small and imperceivable that we cannot, after close investigation, determine the amount of such pioceeds," The Independent of course t exults in this movement ; but the Spectator, aided by evidently well-informed correspondents, throws considerable light on the character I of the Protest and the mode in which it was gotten up. It appears that the very first paragraph states a demonstrable untruth, as it declares that the signers were not aware that a meeting of settlers had been called to consider the subject, whereas several of them weie notoriously present at the very Committee meet- ! ing at which the day and hour for holding it j were fixed. Out of two hundred and six Hutt settlers whose names are on the Jury List, only fifty are found attached to the document. It likewise contains the names of some twentyfive " who hold no land in the Valley and are not even known by name;" while several names are those of boys under age. Moreover, the Protest was not adopted at a Public Meeting, but privately concocted and hawked about for signatures. In shoit, the whole affair seems to have been done after a fashion of get- j ting up Protests, Remonstrances, and Memorials, of which, we regret to say, we have had some experience in our own locality. In the Supreme Court an application had been made for a rule nisi, with a view of setting aside the verdict in the trial under the Customs Ordinance (Joseph v. Carkeek), of which we copied a report in our number of the sth inst. The application was refused by Mr. Justice Chapman, whose Judgment refers rather elaborately to various points connected with the operation of the Ordinance. Though it is of considerable length, we shall give it in extenso in a future issue. The Wellington Horticultural and Botanic Society had held a General Meeting to receive the report of a Committee appointed to revise its rules so as to render its operations more effective, — it being rightly considered that " two or three annual exhibitions are but an insignificant part of the Society's duty," An application had been made to the Government for a Crown Grant for the land appropriated to the Society in the Karori road •• the reply expressed the Governor-in-Ciiief's regret that he could not accede to a request which implied the granting of a public reserve to a private Society ; but added, " His Excellency will immediately proclaim the land in question as a reserve for a Botanical Garden, and place it in the hands of the Trustees named in your letter, to be held, (if such a couise shall meet the views of the Society) by them, in trust, for any Municipal Corporation to be hereafter established in Wellington." We may observe here an indication not only of Sir George Grey's constant desire to advance scientific puisuils in the colony, but also of the comprehensiveness of the plan he has formed for extending to the people, in things small and great, the privileges of local self-management through Municipal Institutions. The price of Flour in the Wellington Market on November Ist is quoted at £30 per ton. Btead, 6d. the 2lb. loaf. Intelligence from Canterbury to the 1 8th of October had reached Wellington. It included nothing of interest beyond what the papers brought by the Duke of Porllund have already enabled us to lay before our leaders. Theie was no news of any kind from Nelson or

Otago. We aie almost led to wonder what has become of Otago, it is so long since we heard any satisfactoiy infoimaUon either fioin or of the " Pilgrim Fatheis."

SERMONS on thi: SAisiivrn. — We mentioned in our last, that il was intended by the Ministers connected with the Auckland Branch of the Evangelical .Alliance to deliver Sermons on the subject of Sabbath Observance. We uve informed that the following are the names of the Ministers and their respective topics for to-morrow, and the ensuing week:— I.— The Perpetual Obligation of the Sabbath. Rev. J. Inglis. 2.— The Sabbatli a Privilege. Rev. J. 11. Fi.r/rciiKß. 3. — The Most Common Modes of Sabbath Profanation. Ivcv. T. lirjDDi.i:. 4. — The Temptation and Dangers of Sabbath Profanation, liev. A. Rkit>. s.— The Well-Kept Sabbatli. Rev. A. MacDOXALI). 6. —The Influence of the Sabbath upon Religion, liev. R. Ward.

Each Minister is to deliver his Discourse in his own Place of Worship at the Morning Service, and an exchange of pulpits will take place in the evening, and at the week night services. Tho subject will also be brought forward at some of the chapels in the country. / We cannot but wish great success to tin's eflbffc in a cause the impoitanee of which cannot be exaggerated,—regarding it not' only in those purely religious aspects which it does not come immediately within our province to enlarge on, but even in a secular point of -view. Sabbath Observance han iu> unspeakably groat .id vantages to man us, a physical and social being as well as a moral ; and its profanation (unhappily too common) is fraught with evils to the individual, to families, and°to the Stale, which may well engage the anxious attention of every well-wisher to his country and li is kind. We had intended to say more on this view of the subject, but a pressure of other matter obliges us to content ourselves for the present with thus directing special notice to the forth-coming Discourses, which we trubt will be well attended, and productive oi serious thought and action on behalf of their noble object.

Mrs. John Bell's Concert. — The Musical Entertainment announced by Mrs. Bull took place on Thursday evening at the Mechanics' Institute. It was under the patronage of His Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor and Mrs. Wynyard, who were present, — with a number of the principal residents of the town and neighbourhood, the whole forming an audience which filled the llall to overflowing. We should have been surprised and disappointed if it had been otherwise, as Mrs. Bell's performance is distinguished by a sustained excellence which must render it highly attractive even to those who, here at the antipodes, retain lively reminiscences of the most fascinating feasts of u sweet so unds" which they were wont to enjoy at home. We deem it no exaggeration to say that, in the great metropolis itself, her claim to a place in the front, rank ofperformers might be successfully maintained. We were still more impressed on this occasion than when we last heard Mrs. Bell, not only by her brilliancy of execution, but by the taste and expression with which it was combined, — an union which is often sadly wanting in Uorid executants, whose dash-aioay facility in running over the keys may cause the hearers to wonder, but does not make them feel, — the sentiment of the music being nearly or wholly lost. Mrs. Bell's playing is singularly free from this defect : even in the most rapid passages each note has its distinctness, and the whole its full expressiveness. It, would not be easy to fix upon any particular piece as the most meritorious of her performances on Thursday evening, a uniformity of excellence having been very much the character of them all ; but we were especially pleased with the lovely " Nbn piu mesta" with llkrz's sparkling variations, and the overture to " Fra Diavolo." This, (perhaps the most popular of Amber's overtures), was loudly encored. A considerable portion of the music was performed on Alexander's Patent Harmonium, the capabilities of which fine instrument — constituting in itself no mean substitute for a complete Orchestra— were brought out with, great effect under Mrs. Bell's skilful touch. The remaining parts of the Concert passed off very pleasingly ; a Comic Medley, in which some of the London exhibitions were humorously satirized, gratified the audience so much as to elicit a hearty call for a repetition of it. We may add that the advertised programme was faithfully adhered to, without any omission or alteration. On the whole we cannot doubt that the general feeling was one of entire satisfaction with the evening's entertainment, and that Mrs. Bell's re-ap-pearance at any future time would be greeted' with a very cordial welcome.

Peaceable persons passing through some of our principal streets, have in several instances lately been annoyed by the noisy and turbulent conduct of boys, who evidently think that the more troublesome they are to others, the better " fun" it is for themselves. On Wednesday night last,, one of these candidates for the lock-up, dressed himself up in some hideous disguise, and suddenly, with a yell, rushed put from a corner on two ladies, one of whom, being in delicate health, was so much frightened as to be for some timo distressingly ill in consequence of the shock. If the parents and guardians of these heroes cannot or will not restrain them from being public nuisances, surely the Local Authorities should take the matter in hand. One or two telling examples would probably be sufficient. We have also to note that during yesterday there were two risks of conflagration in the town, — one from a fire which broke out in a room in Queen-street, the other from a chimney taking fire in High-street. This is one of the matters in which the representations formerly intended for the Government must now be addressed to the Common Council ; and we trust that that Body will see it an urgent dirto to directits earliest attention to the subject of precautions against fire. No responsibility devolVes upon the Corporation more directly and immediately than this.

Kesidunt Magistrates Court.— A charge, brought by a Native named TkMano against Mr. Charles 13. Coopbii, occupied some time and attention in this Court during the last few days. Tb Mano (who had been engaged by Mr. Cooper to carry his baggage to Kaipariv, while he was out on the service of collecting the Census Returns) swore that, on the 16th of October, Mr. C. had fired a gun loaded with shot at him, arid that some of the shot struck him on the thigh, the marks of which still remained. On the information being laid, a warrant was issued, under which Mr. Cooimsr. was arrested on the 21st inst.; but he was liberated on bail, being bound to appear in the Court on the 24th. In two instances th<p case was subsequently adjourned, in consequence of the non-appearance of the Native at the appointed hours, Mr. Coomcr and his bail being in each case bound over in renewed recognizances. On Wednesday last the investigation terminated in the dismissal of the charge, as no evidence confirmatory of that given by TJS Mano was adduced, and the portion of his charge which referred to the marks of alleged gun-shot wounds was contradicted by the testimony of Dr. Daviks, who stated that the marks were not from such wounds but from the disease called Land Scurvy. Mr. AniiAiiAM appeared in the case as counsel for Mr. Cooper.

Sui'EBME Coukt. — We learn with mucli gratification that the Criminal Session of the Supreme Court Oxed for Monday next will afford another

evidence of the usually peaceable character of this district, no case having occurred within the last three months of too serious gravity to be dealt with in the Resident Magistrate's Court. Although there is no prisionev for trial, however, it will of course be necessary that the gentlemen summoned on the Grand Jury should be in attendance at the appointed hour (ten o'clock on Monday morning).