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Southland Times, Issue 889, 27 January 1868, Page 2

From the volunteer notice published in another column, it will be observed that, it is important that every member df tbecdrps should thoroughly Understand that the orders now published will be Strictly enforced. We would also nautron the public jfrom passing over the practice grouad The erection of the butts having been completed, ; the shooting -for practice will be constant, and the , public should be Very particular in approaching j the field. Wo understand that two shooting matches ace in contemplation, one between the regulars and the honorary members, and another between the Invercarijill and the liiverton volunteers. - -"■' ■•■*"■ ' " ■'■'" ~ We have been requested ifo again call public attention to the meeting which takes place to-night, relative to the management of the hospital. If the inhabitants of the province are desirous that the institution should remain under their own immediate control, it is absolutely necessary that a good attendance should be secured t'\is evening, so that the business— receiving i report of committee for past year, and electing i ! new board of management — for which the meeting ; i has been convened, may be proceeded with and . affairs put Tn working trim for another year^ I otherwise there is every probability that the : existing committee will simply retire from the • management-, and the establishment will, conse- | quently, again como v der the authority of the Frovineid Government. OF course if the public a-e satisfied that su<Ji ? a relapse should occur we have iV6 fault to find, and no doubt the committee will.be. very willing to get so easily out of a po-ition which must have entailed upon most of them a considerable deal of trouble and annoyance. Speaking of a preacher who, wo learn, is likely soon to visit Invercargill, . the "Dunedin Eoening News says : — " One* second subsequently to the j opening of the lips of Mr Earl> ft sensible listener irresistably concludes thai he or she is in the presence of a gentleman whoso oratorical talent is of a very high order. Strength— vast strength of mind beams from his lip,\ gli-tens in his oye, heaves in his expansive eliast, finda^ a vehicle. in every gesture, and in nltitude of limS and feature finds its most eloquent interpretation. Yes, . strength- of mind finds an interpretation in all that Mr Earl says, and iD all that Mr Earl does. He is terribly in earnest when he paints the torture of hell fire; and Mr Earl is sincerely in earnest when he affectionately paint* the nfever'-.' dying glories of heaven. Uis language is simple and his ideas are grand* His rhetoric Is graphic, and his illustrations are suited for all capacities^ He i 3 notamanof riddles. He revels in eloquent, earnest and sincere simplicity. Ho loves the Christ whose gospel he preaches, and secondary only, to his love for the Saviour is his love for the saved. Look at his varying attitudes when describing the temptation of Eve and the fall of Adam. Dissent iis 3-ou may from some ininute theories enunrintcd by Mr Earl, jtill you must in all candour confess that he is the beau ideal of a great and of a good Christian interpreter of God's laws an I of Moses' traditions. Let no man — let no woman — let no boy — let no girl fail to hear 'him— not oncci not twice or ihrice, but often. If th.* purest Euglish, wed to the subli-" mest ideas are worthy of homage, then is Mr Earl worthy of the homnge of all professing Christendom. He is a correct thinker, because"" he is a correct speaker ; and, without having had any positive assurance of the. fact, I would ; venture to assert that Mr.Earl has been a frequent and a correct writer. Conversation has made him a reading man, reading has made, him a full man, and writing has made Mr Earl a scrupulously correct man. He is par excellence an instructor. He teaches as few' teachers can teach. The first lesson gives you the pith of his wisdom. He plunges at once into his subject. Superstition and ignorance melt away before the touch of his eloquence, -and he snatches the YeiT-df darkness and tears it from the face of doubt and from the vision of error. His voice" has a 'light- and has a shade much in the same way as the face of nature— -now wears an aspect of hopeful sunshine, and next moment is "sicklied, o'er with theiiale cast " of some thoughtful cloud. His gdsture is a kind of silent dictionary, which conveys a signification more ' eloquent ..'than ~is the actual spoken language of inferior men. No tinu is wasted by Mr Earl in dead language quotations. He gives you living English, and with it ho gives his heart and his soul. 'He is a man " take him for all in all " we are not likely to see his like soon again in New Zealand. .Mr Earl grows more popular every Sunday. : His discourse last Sunday was magnificent. Mr Earl's chief attribute is his great plainness. You never .leave him with confused ideas. . He is a splendid interpreter ot Scriptures. All his illustrations are pregnant with a most fascinating interest. Hi 3 academical acquirements are elicited in order to simplify, not to complicate Script uro. His voice is occasionally sonorous, oc. casiona'ly as plaintive as the voice of an JEolian harp. His, description of Eve's temptation was vivid, graphic, and impressive. His, narrative of the progress and consequences of an American tornado was a spectacle from which Christian or actor could alike derive a most instructive lesson. Altogether, Mr Earl's discourse may be pronounced eminently successful, and his triumph is the natural consequence of a union of great natural powers to a high academical education. , The Dalit) Times, 23rd January, says :— " A ; letter has been received from ftfr Young, speaking hopefully of his prospects in respect to the Kail way. He i? in treaty with a coutractor to make an estimate? of the cost of the works immediately on receipt of Mr Pnterson's specifications, and he is also initiating arrangements in ! inspect to providing the money. The arrangement depends upon the ;vork being undertaken by a responsible contractor, so that Mr Young wa3 in reality awaiting the elaborate plans, &c , provided by Mr Paterson, . an 1 which, we believe, went Home two or throe mails sinco." His Honor the Superintendent of Taranaki was recently elected a member of the Provincial Council of that province. He is reported to have said : — In consenting to be nominated to the Provincial Council, he had been actuated by the wish to simplify tho form of Government and a-similatc it to local institutions in other parts. He had always been acces-ible to the public on tho smallest matters. He thought, however, that if he had a eeat in the Provincial Council some time might be saved, and some difficulties avoided. Hr was in favor of tho simplification of the form of government, and economy as far as possible, but he would not be led away so far by the cry for the latter as to risk the efficiency oi" the government, and place the province in

Our filuff correspondent, writing under date, 25th .Fan., says : — About 0.15 list night, a shock of an earthquake was folt iiere; the vibration continued for ab>utsix second*, and scorned to be travelling in a N.W. direction. : ." .• , " Most of our readers," says the WaJcatip Mail "axo, aware that .several efforts ha vo been made to bottom the 'Arrow Flat, and that great* .expense has been incurred by various parties in those attempts, but (hut, hitherto, they have not proved-suycessful. - We arc informed (hat Mr Warden BroaJ wroto some time since to the Provincial Government, and earnestly recommended that a set of boring rods should be procured, to be lent to miners wh«» might wish to prospect the Arrow' and o\ her flats in the neighborhood. The Government, acting jrt this valuable suggestion, have ordered the rods, and we understand that a party of miners is prepared, inainediately on their arrival, to begin work on Arrow Flnt. The most- sanguine hopes are enterlajno J of success. We have received the following from the Director of Meteorological Stations: — "Martend:uV, Jinuary 25th.— A smarfshoek of earthquake "was felt here last evening at five minutes past six. TherS was no perceptible noise. The vibration continued for nearly a minute. The barometer had been perfectly steady for three days at 30091 inches. It has since fallen slightly. The weather at the time was fine, but slightly overcast with cirrus and cirro-stratus ; a dead calm, temperature 70 dag, humidity 79deg # It wlli be in the me:nory of bur-ivaders that it was reported that a miner named Anthony was missing from "Bgndigo. Gully, Dunstan district, under suspicious; circumstancesV We . take the following ad Jitional information from the Dunstan 2'hnes, 15th January : — " On Monday last all the miners ol* the Gully left work to make further researches; the boat belonging; to the Rocky Foint Ferry was taken possession of, by permission of Mr Bateman, the owner, and, being well manned, wa9 floated down the Clutha to within a short (]istancc_pf Cromwell, and the banks of the stream were carefully examined in search of the b>sy of the missing man, but no success attended the undertaking. Sergeant Cassels rode aiong the river side in sight of the boat, but the mysteryis still not cleared up. One affair had created m uiy stningc aurmi-es in the locality, and very naturally k><>. The missing man had a favorite d »•», a terrier, and the animal was also a favorite amongst the miners generally,. and since Anthony h:s been missing, 'I ha dog has been fed by several o r the residents in the Gully. However, at the b g.nning of last week, the animal was found strangled on a terra.fo about two hundred vans frum the Gaily — the strangling evidently was n t pcrn«.tr»'eii where the carcase of the animal was found, from distinctive proofs^ that she do.', aft r bein^ sirm^leJ. had hem trailed along th ; grou'i; 1 .. Some surmise that a murder hu« been committed, ay.i that the dog w<:s strangled, lest . h ; should scent out the body of his master. However, all such surmises are wild, and time only caa explain tlio non-appearance of poor An:lto:i} "'

- ii' "•■ :i -iiiiiiif-T-^__:" danger "6f 4 state bi anarchy. The condition of Uie people was on the whoW better than that of the Maories. With regard to the prospects of the province he believed they were reaily at their lowvst point, and that they had a solid basis of i'uturo prosperity, for noboJy who u-oJhiseyf s ] could doubt that the district would in time be j occupied by a thriving agricultural population j Ho did Aot say tint people would make their j ifortuncs, but they would bo well o!F. He consilered the present form of government too- com plicated, . and that thero was no . sufficient link between the Provincial and Colonial Govern ments. It was impossible to foresee what the : : position of the Province would be in twelve or even six months hence. With regard to any changes which might take place in the form o: I Government, ha thought that no sudden alteration should be made, but that such gradual moJi . fications should be introduced as to adapt the form of government to the peoplo's requirements. He would limit the power of the Provincial' Councils to local matters; and would also limit their legislative power. This would tend to make the : laws of the colony more uniform. The main function of the Provincial Council should be to discuss local matter*, but measures of any importance or magnitude should be finally male law By the General Assembly. An experiment was now being made in Westland, by the result of which we should bo able to judge of the utility of this mode of government, ; but eveu if this experiment tailed, tliis system should not be condemned, as the nature of the population of Westland should be taken into consideration. He merely wished to say further that he bad consented to enter tlu Provincial Council as an experiment. : Some small incongruities must necessarily occur, biit he tlldught on the whole it might be pro luctive of some good. At all times he reserved to himself the right of resigning his seat at any future time, in case the experiment did not answer his expectations. A Wellington contemporary, of Jan 7, has the following: — Much uncertainty prevails with reference to the time of Sir George Grey's departure from the] colony for England. Hitherto it has been definitely understood that his Excellency would arrive' from Auckland to-day and leave by the Mataura to-morroWj but his intention it seems likely, is vow abandoned. By the latest Auckland advices we learn that he returned to Auckland from Ohinemuri and the Upper Thames On the 24th ult. The Sturt went np the Ohinemuri stream nearly as far as Te Hira's house, but that chief did not show himself. His Excellency made ah attempt. to. get the country thrown open to the diggings, but without success. .On Saturday week ho was waited upon by a deputation of members of the Provincial Council, who presented him with ' the far«well address lately passed by that body. The same afternoon Sir George left for Kawau in the Sturt, and was ,-tp return to Auckland on the following Monday. Sir George Grey loves to shroud his, intentions in mystery, but in this case we imagine that he cannot make his mind up what to do. It is now known that the Duke of Edinburgh will not reach New Zealand before the Bth of March, and hence -. Sir George Bowen, our new Governor, does not leave Sydney till the Feburary Panama steamer. This may possibly have induced Sir George Grey f " pnti n ff h" drtpm.tima from "K"ft«au for some time longer. .' The Wellington Independent of the 12th inst., referring to the results of prospecting for gold in the Province, says :—" The following notes rektive to the Makara locality have been furnished to us by a gentleman of considerable experience of gold-mining in- the Australian colonies and New Zealand : — " Having read one or two of Mr Grove's mosb elaborate-looking reports, respecting ,his efforts to discover payable gold' in Ihe neighborhood of Makara, and "having an "afternoon afmy disposal, I started in company with a couple of companions whom I was fortunate enough to entice into accompanying me With fbut ; a I.dim idea as to thei. exact route that led to this problematical Ophir, we managed to get as far as South Makara, where we met a eon of Mr Monaghon's, who, it turned out, had but a few moments before returned from the place. He informed us that he had been one of Grove's party since it l - ad been organised, and had shared the labor of prospecting the various gullies figuring so pompously in the reports to the Superintendent; that they could get no 'more than a poor; color wherever they had tried ; that so far his share of the proceeds had been an infinitesimal one ; and- that as Grove was about to transfer'his efforts to a remoter part of the coast, he had come to the conclusion to give it up, which account, by the way, contrasts somewhat unfavorably with Mr Grove's report. The young man very kindly volunteered to guide us to the foot of the spur, and instructed us ns to the rest of the way, but expressed his doubts of our being able to reach thoro that, night, as it was then, about' dark, which surmise eventually proved correct. We ascended the hill and followed the track as well as the fast waning light would permit ; but not having the powers of the^Red Man in that respect, we "had- to confess ourselves beateni and seek a camp for the night. "We accordingly tumbled j3own the first gullyT-for no. other word so well describes the process — unti we came' tp watcrj'and there on a rugged projection of the hill we made ourselves comfortable for the night, still thinking that we were, some- ] where on the same creek— as Mr Grove's party. In the morning we ran. the creek., down to tho sea, when it proved that we had dropped into theWiiireka — the locality, I believe, which gave the first indications of gold in the province. On the whole], I cannot say th-at I was favorably impressed with ihe auriferous appearance of the country.' Although in some respects bearing a sort ' of general re3«3inblahije to the bed rock of Gabriel's Gully — a sort of: metainorphic shale — yet, when examined closely, it does not confirm tho first impi ession. The fearful depression experienced by the settlements in the Auckland province ~: is thus pictured by the Tuaranga Recorder : — "The truth must ba told. The fact is now staring us in the face, that our crisis has come j that our hour of trial, long predicted, has arrived. The principal part, nearly all our military settlers hive left us for other fields of employment Dissappointed in the opportunity of occupying their lands, unable to find subsistence during an indefinite period of time of which no one can predict the, termination, when the wished . forsecurity of possession can be obtained, they have sold their allotments at, in - some instances, fabulously low prices, and retired from the field in despair. Every vessel which leaves the harbor* ,

I arricß away many of our best men, and those who cannot leave, long to follow. It is weft known that there have been instances of saleij of fifty acres of land at £6, anl many at £10 being Vdipcctively at tho rate of 4s and not quite 2i Od per acre. Tub consequence is that all business is omil-tey prostrate, the stores aro, without purchasers, «ome are abandoned, art! the bjacllis deserted. A quiet Sunday sjtafco of affairs p*erails, and ca?B3 of severe priva- io^ an I suffering arenow known* to exist." " From the New Zealand Gasstte, oftho 6t'i inst. we learn that his Excellency the Governor notifies to the "Superintendents of the several provinces, that 'the following pieces of wasto land are required for purposes s— A wUth of acha : n of land on eachsich of the Una irom the Bluff to Nelson, vm Dune<iin and Christchurch ; a width of a eh in of land on each side of the lino, in the Province of Marlboroiigh ; and fchd same from: Cook Strain along tho line in the ' Province? of Wellington, Hawke'a Bay, and Auckland. \-_