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Thames Star, Volume VIII, Issue 2850, 3 April 1878, Page 2

At the E.M. Court this morning one miserable looking individual pleaded guilty to insobriety, and was fined 10s and costs, with the usual alternative. This was all the business. Mr A. J. Alloin, J.F., occupied the Bench.

A sitting of the District Court will be held to-morrow at 10 a.m. at the Court House, Grahamstown. The principal business will ':e bankruptcy.

Lobd Derby is described by the London correspondent of the Sydney Morning Herald, as 1" one of the weakest and most timid men who ever held portfolio."

In referring to the newspaper stamped wrapper it was stated in yesterday's issue that the price charged was 6s 8d for the paper, printing, &c, of 543. The sum should hare been 2s 6d.

The. usual fortnightly meeting of the members of the Prince of Wales Lodge, No. 20, P.A.F.S. will be held at the lodgo room this evening, after which a presentation will be made to Bro. Douglas, P.M.

The directors of the Alburnia Company met on Monday, and, out of the gold obtained during the last month, declared a dividend of 5s per scrip share, absorbing £2000, besides carrying forward a sum of £350. The dividend is payable at the secreta.y's office on Friday next. i

" Oystrb3 is in," as we hare had occasion to remark before, and Mr Drew of the Cafe" Royal, Queen's JHolel, intimates to his customers that oyster suppers may bo had every evening. Those who remember the pleasaut petit soupers at this well-known restaurant last season will not require to be told that Mr Drew can manipulate oysters in different ways and divers manners ihat caunot fail to tickle the palate of the most fastidious epicure.

In the shop of Mr T. Lawless is now exhibited a beautiful wool picture, handsomely framed. The size is about three f~et by two feet, and the scene depicted is a rural one —horses at a watering trough, a man in the guise of a sportsman, a woman engaged in some slight domestic duty, with fowls picking about. In the background is a gateway. The perspective is excellent considering the materials to work upon, and the tout ensemble is really charming. The picture is the woi-k of Mrs W. J. W. Addey of the Ladies' College, and is now "for sale."

Some doubt exists, says the Herald, r 3 to when the meeting between Tawhiro and the Premier and Native Minister, about which so much has been srJd, will take place. Maoris cannot be bound to a day and an hour. The company has to gather to tl.e centre of the island from Muriwhem.v. in the North to Wellingtonin tin Sor th, and from Mokau in the West to Mab'a in the East. Food has also to be Rathered, in the proper proportions of beef, pork, and mataitai, which merns food from the sea, as shark, pipis, and so forth. Te Whroro, who acts as the medium of communication between the K:ngites and the Government; scut yesterday to the Premier a letter he had received from Tawhiao, stating what they were doing to prepare for the treetiog. It is possible, therefore, that the Kingitcs will not be ready to receive Sir George Grey till ihe beginning of next week. We understand that Sir George will proceed to the Kawau today, where he will have a day or two of complete rest.

A Ballabat paper is responsible for the follow: ig grim joke :—A witty member of tL? Cml Service, residing ia the

Bn lid vat district, made arrangements with a friend some time ago Io join him in a walking tour linou<_'li Victoria and Tasmania hi Jnntiary, 1878. Neither gentleman, however, kept the engagement, and lust week llio civil servant received a note from his frierul, in which the latter stated I'll lit a dangerous i'lness had prevented his l'ultilling his appointment. Our civil servant, who hnd.only'kept his office by tho morrst ehauco in the world during tho recent dismi.sals, replied, "Dear G , don't apologise for not meeting me at Metbou-no as n«;reed upon, for, like yourself, Idd not keep t yst. Tbo cause was somewhat similar in both oases ; you were in danger of dying, and I was wi"}ia an ace of bejug Beiried."

Ik those days of ecclesiastical criticism, says tho Herald, when men are yearning for terseness in pulpit discourses, it is refreshing to hear, now and then, from the sacred desk, utterances at once incisive, crisp, and epigrammatic. Such an instance occurred the other day, not a hundred miles from Farnell. The preacher selected for his theme the parable of " The Pharisee and the Publican; " after an exordium on the case of the Publican, who had nothing to say for himself, and for whom nobody else had anything to say, he took the Pharisee in hand. After exhausting the vocabulary of censure upon that historical personage, the rev. gentleman remarked " that there was one redeeming feature in his character, 'he gave tithes' to the church, Vof all that he possessed.' He was afraid, taking that characteristic as a standard, that there were few Pharisees in Parnelll" A. couple of sanctuary " casuals," who had dropped into a back seat, thereupon fell into an earnest diipute, sotto voce, as to whether the sentiment was to be regarded as sultry in iti character, or, on the other hand, one of those exhibitions of Christian charity on the part of the venerable orator which did honour at once to himself and his profession. .