VICTORIA.

Southland Times, Volume 2, Issue 92, 22 September 1863, Page 3

VICTORIA.

, (FIIOM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)" Melbourne, Tuesday 15th Sep. Ex• NiJyilp -NiJiiliFU is a. most appropriate motto just now for all the various geniuses in this city known as "Reporters," " Own Correspondents &c," for such a paucity of matter has rarely tasked the ingenuity of the multifarious scribes, compelled to furnish Pabulum for the different Metropolitan and Provincial journals, and to appease tho3e insatiable " Devils " whose name is legion, and whose cry is " Copy." But if it be a puzzle to provide for local appetites, how trebly difficu.t is it to select from the barren record of passing events here anything of interest to readei 8 in so comparatively remote a region. As mentioned in my last, we have exchanged the " Barldy " for the ".Darling'" regime, which has, however, excited but little permanent interest, beyond the various addressss from i the different public bodies, bath lay and I religious, presented to the late Governor, and which, "for number and sincerity, were unequalled in the annals of colonial Government. . Sir Charles was duly installed on .Friday last, a platform being erected for the purpose outside the Treasury. Owing to the celerity of His Excellency, the escort troops, consisting of the Melbourne troop of light cavalr.Vj and a guard of honor from the artillery here (the other troops being off to Auckland) arrived too late—the temporary residence of the Governor being only a few yaids from the spot, and having to be introduced to the Judges and the members of the Executive Council prior to the ceremony, he had anticipated the arrangements by arriving at the Treasury half-an-hour in advance. The oaths were administered by Sir William Stawell the Chief Justice, and repeated by His Excellency in a very firm and impressive tone, audible at a considerable distance; after which, addresses of congratulation from the two Houses, (who by the way made one, and that a very tame affair, do for both Upper and Lower) and the Mayor and Corporation, were presented and responded to, -when the proceedings terminated, and the crowd, amounting to probably five thousand persons dispersed, rather disappuinted that Sir Charl<s did not as an Irishman present expressed it,!" discoorse tbeboys a thrifle." As a spectacle, there was little to attract attention with the exception of the Speaker of the Legislative Assemby, whose glittering array and the nondescript costume of his Sergeant-at-arms, with the mace, evoked considerable laughter. His Excellency looked exceedingly well in his Windsor un.fjrm and Order of the Bath, and was tolerably well received, though not much enthusiasm wasexhibited. Oneof the byestanders bawled out a most emphatic admonition to him to "Beware of O'Shanassy and his mob," but whether it reached the Vice-regal ear, is impossible to say ; no doubt Sir Henry did not omit to " coach" his sue- ' ccssor well up in the charcter of the "strange bedfellows" with which universal suffrage sometimes compels Victorian Governors to become acquainted. Lady and Miss Darling, together with the suite, were accommodated with seats hi a bay-window fitted up for the occasion. The ladies were plainly dressed, almost to dowdiness, and it i ■ quite clear that the belles-of Melbourne will not have to derive their fashions from Government House, the prestige of which under the new order of things, is likely to be woefully diminished. Having thus assumed the reins of Government at half-past four o'clock. His Excellency proceeded to the "Legislative Council Chamber for the purpose of proroguing Parliament; by soiue mistake he and General Chute, wfao accompanied him were ushered in at the wrong end, viz., below the bar; rather an .inauspicious omen, ;ind for a minute or two. Sir Charles appeared to be rather confused at the elegaace of the Victorian House of Lords, taking in turn the seats of the Chairman of Committees, and Clerk of the Parliament, until being conducted into the Viceregal Chair, overshadowed by the Royal canopy, he appeared to quite recover his self-possession, and having selected a fitting pen, after some halfdozen trials, with which to affix his sign manual, desired in a very official tone, the attendance of the gentlemen of the Legislative Assembly. That body having put in an appearance, he proceeded to sign the various Bills presented for that purpose, and to deliver the usual speech provided by the Ministry for the occasion, which he did with uncommon emphasis, and having declared the Parliament prorogued until Thursday, the 10th October next, h nved to the assembled Senators and retired. Enclosed is a copy of the speech, in case any of your readers may feel interested, it contains a list of the various bills huddled, or rather galloped, through last session, and a motley lot they are —the promoters of the several other measures in abeyance, having to be coiitent in the mean time, with the assurance of the several ministers to whose departments they belong, that " he will call the attention of his colleagues to it during the recess." The unfortunate Land Bill has been smothered without a regret from any one, with the -exception of the "Sir Forcible Feeble," who does the editorial for the " Penny Trumpet,' and imagines his Pegasus to be a full blooded Arabian, when it move 1 resembles a broken down tinker's donkey worth j nst It-s price —a farthing a leg. Our" theatrical .world will shortly receive I an addition in the persons of Mr and Mrs Charles Kean, who, with a niece and one or two other actors, sailed in the Champion of the Seas, from Liverpool, on the 7th July, and are hourly expected. That they will prove any great attraction is doubtful, us both the lady and gentleman are pauses, having been on the stage upwards of thirty i years. Of the talent of the former, no one j who recollects her as Ellen Tree can for a j moment doubt; but as for her husband he never was an actor, except in a mechanical sense, not being possessed of a spark of original genius, and had not his name been Kean, and he petted by the aristocracy, his pretensions to be a first-class tragedian would never have been tolerated, nor will they be here by audiences familiar with the beauties of Brooke. Of course the usual disgusting parade of agency, and monster placards will be liberally resorted to, but the humbug is too transparent, and people have neither time nor money to waste just now upon dramatic vanities. As an abiding mark of esteem and respedt for the late Governor, ministers have commissioned Mr Thomas Clark, a local artist, to paint a portrait of Sir Henry, to be placed in the Houses of Parliament, at a cost of three hundred guineas. This gentleman's paintings (some of which were exhibited at the late Exhibition) are much admired, and lie was selected at his late Excellency's own sugsestion. The " Act to Prevent the Adulteration of Articles of Pood and Drink," which has received the Royal assent, and comes into force on the Ist of November next, will be carried out in the most stringent manner, extensive alterations and additions having been made at the Government Laboratory, with a view to a speedy and searching analysis in every case. By a specialty in this Act, the onus of proof as to the genuineness of the article impeached is thrown upon the party offering it for sale, and on a second conviction the name and address, together with the particulars of the charge made, and penalty inflicted, are to be published at the expense of the offender, and in some newspaper circulating in the locality where the matter occurred. (The return Fancy Dress Ball to his worship the Mayor, promisesto be a more brilliant affair than even its predecessor ; a most influential list of stewards having been published, including several

members' of the Ministry, Sir "F. Murphy, Sir. Redmond Barry, Justice Williarna, and upwards of fifty other leading -gentlemen. It is fixed for the 29th instant, and as the prices are one guinea for gentlemen, and half a ditto for ladies, will, doubtless be tolerably select, Avhich was hardly the case last time, as several couples figured in the list of guests as "Mr and Mrs-^ ," whose marital relations to each other, were to use a Colonial 1 phrase of a most * tishey 1 description— on I dit— that if the member for Creswick, Mr Prazer, is present, an extra police man will be placed on duty ; both our Police Magistrates, Messrs Hackett and Sturt being on the Committee of Management. The Chief Secretary held the usual Whitebait Dinner at the clo^e of the Session, on Friday evening, at Scott's Hotel, Collinsstreet west, when a numerous party met to rejoice over their temporary release from Parliamentaryfatigues,noropresentativeof the Press being a guest, it" must remain wrapped in obscurity as to what species of Colonial Tittlebat did duty for '* the Orthodox White- ; bait," and in what lively kind of liquor Mr { Heales pledged his Bibulous Colleagues, un- ] less some future David Blair shall discover j these " Lost Secrets of History.'' After several postponements, the trial of the directors of the infamous Provident Institute, is permanently fixed by the Judges to take place on the Ist October next. It is feared that the escape of the arch-criminal, John Porter, to Calko, will render any conviction very difficult ; in the meantime, a further dividend of half a crown in the pound is about to be paid to the depositors. The sale of the surplus effects of the late Governor, took place at Toora-k on Friday last, when the house and grounds were crowded by the gentry anxious to obtain a souvenir of the late occupant, a desire which, coupled with the persuasive eloquence of our "George Robins,'* Mr Thomas Stubbs, had the effect of producing excellent prices. Sir Henry does not appear to rely much upon the resources of Port Louis, as he has over one hundred ton 3of cases for transport to the .Mauritius, packers from an eminent house in town, having been engaged for some day's past in .preparing his goods for shipment. A young man named Henry C. Styles, clerk to Watson and Sons, of this city, was nlaced in the dock at the City Court, on Friday 1 ist. charged with embezzlement, of mon y and goods to the extent of over LIOOO ; his depredations had extended over a period of six months, and part of the property was discovered at 'us lodgings ; he was ultimately remanded until to-morrow (Wednesday), for the production of witnesses. The glorious uncertainty of the law was fully illustrated in the Supreme Court on Thursday, when on a motion for a new trial, in Ilodgkinson v Ckmgh, the former verdict was upset and the plaintiff nonsuited, on th? ground that the evidence did not legally prove that Clough personal/;/ authorised Slattery, the detective to make the arrest ; although, as the Court remarked, "there was ; abundant evidence that he was ready and willing, and anxious, to have done so, if it had not already, and elsewhere, been done without his instrumentality." By this quirk of Old Father Antic, the Law, the unfortunate plaintiff will have to pny the costs, amounting to some £600. lie is not, however, daunted, and intends proceeding at the next session for "malicious prosecution," before trying the perjury issue. Professor M'Coy lias been appointed one of the Inspectors of Plsuro- pneumonia, vice C. b. Griffith's, Esq.,'deceased. His Honor Mr Justice Molesworth gave | judgment on Saturday in the matter of the I appeal of Edward Butler, late of Collinsstreet, licensed victualler, an insolvent, from , the decision oi the Chief Commissioner of Insolvent Estates, wholly refusing the insolvent his certificate. His Honor reversed the judgment of tho Court below, and granted it at the cxpiiation of twelve months, tho suspension being t n account of the insolvent not having kept proper account books — a thing, by the way, which not one publican in a hundred over thinks of doing. The Presbyterians in the Western District are greatly scandalised jusfc now at an innovation which has taken place at the church of that denomiiwrion at Cohic, near Geelong, where the congregation, discarding the " preI centor and pitch-pipe" of olden time, have I purchased an harmonium, to the great cul c- | tation of themselves and their pastor, the i Rev. Hugh Blair, and the manifest improvement of their psalmody. Great opposition is manifested to this march-of-intcllect movement by some of the old-school religionists, who, like the Cameronians, regard it as a worshipping of God by machinery; though, as it is adopted by all other Christian sects, and the use of instruments in Divine worship is justified by the examples of scripture from the time of David downwards. It is difficult to understand why so admirable an adjunct to devotional feeling as the swelling organ should have been so permanently and persistently placed under the ban of th? conscript Fathers of the Scottish Church. Meanwhile, Are presume, the Prcsbytsry will look up these unorthodox melodists. The Julia Farmer, mentioned lnst week, has arrived safely in Sydney with 215 alpacas on board, the sole survivors of 600 originally shipped, being- tne first instalment of 1500 ! contracted for by Farmer and Co. of Lima, to be sent to Melbourne. The above have arrived in good health, and do not appear to have suffered much in the voyage. The importance of this movement to the future export trado of Victoria can hardly be overrated. By the last mail, intelligence was received that Mr William Westgarth, formerly of this city, but who had become bankrupt in London, as the English branch of the late firm of Westgarth, Ross, and Spowers, of Melbourne, had received his dischai ge from the Court oi Bankruptcy, the Commissioner fully acquitting tho bankrupt of the charges of improper dealing brought against him by the official assignee, Mr Linklater, thereby endorsing the opinion expressed at a full meeting of Mr Wesrgarth's creditors, held a few clays previously. The Prahran adultery case was resumed yesterday before the City Coroner, when the wife of Dr Keene positively denied upon oath the statements made by her husband, also the discovery by himself and friends of herself in bed with Mr Lcthenby, whom however she admitted having kissed. She also swore that the evidence of Green, McMeckan, and Black wood's clerk as to his having at her request accompanied her home and slept with her was equally false. The Bench, however, considered the adulteryproved, and cancelled the order for allowance, but on the application of Mr Aspinall consented to state a case for the consideration of the Supreme Court. The learned gentleman in his address dwelt most severely upon the unmanly conduct of the witness Green, who, it also transpired, had given a false Christian name on his examination, and the doctor himself, who had previously sworn that his wife came to the colony against his express desire, was compelled to admit the authenticity of two letters written by him requesting her to come out. So for the present ends this most disreputable affair. After many delays, the estate of Mr P. A. C. O'Farreli, the well-known Roman Catholic attorney, was yesterday finally sequestrated by order ot Mr Justice Molesworth. The returns from Oineo not having come to hand, it is yet unknown how the Eastern Province election has terminated, and whether Mr Pinnock's majority of five over Mr Hanna is lessened or augmented. In the Supreme Court yesterday Mr Fellows obtained a rule for leave to appeal to the Privy Council against the decision as to the taxation of the bill of costs of Hancock and Duffett against the Provident Institute, of which the former gentleman was the founder, and, in conjunction with Porter, the chief cause of its ruin.