The Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR O'CLOCK P.M Resurrexi. MONDAY, MARCH 10, 1879.

Thames Star, Volume X, Issue 3138, 10 March 1879, Page 2

The Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR O'CLOCK P.M Resurrexi. MONDAY, MARCH 10, 1879.

It is with extreme regret that we have to state that Mr Hopcraft is much worse to-day. Drs Payne, Kilgour and Gilbert have been in attendance, but have little hope of a favorable termination. Mr McCullough telegraphed as soon as the unfavorable symptoms showed themselves! for Drs Hooper or Goldboro' to come at once, and these gentlemen are expected by the Eotomahana this evening. ;The rheumatism which had been so painful in the joints seems to have flown to the brain, causing conjestibn which, after the weakening effects of ten days of severe pain, is telling upon; his constitution. [Since writing the above we have the painful news to add that Mr Hopcraft expired at 3.15 this afternoon. He passed away very quietly, apparently without any pain.]

The complimentary concert to F. A. Pulleine, Esq., previous to his..departiire from the Thames, is advertised to take place at the Academy of Music to-morrow evening. Mr Pulleine has claims upon the public and his numerous friends, for he has always assisted at entertainments for charitable purposes or other deserving objects, and we feel sure that the occasion now being offered the many who are under obligations to Mr Pulleine will willingly take advantage of it to testify their gratitude and good feeling. [Owing to circumstances which have arisen since this notice was written, the concert is postponed until aomev future occasion, which will be duly announced.] The young shots of No. 1 Scottish fired for prizes on Saturday;! ranges~ 200, 400 and 500 yards. The prizes were given by Messrs Hyman, Brownlow, McGregor, Heron, and Buttle. The first prize was a pair of shoes, to be made to ■order by Mr Hyman. The following are [the winning; score&:<—Vol. iFugill, 48; Corporal Burns, 45; Mayo, 44; T. Bax ter, 42; Cowaa, 37 ; Sergeant Burns, 37. | No. 2 Company also fired for prizes at the| same ranges. Vol. Lawlor (the present! holder of the company's belt) was topi with a fine score of 52, the other princi- 1 pal scores were—Grey, 49 ; -White, 48; jj Puckey, 47; Penk, 47. = | The members of the Cemetery Com- \ mittee have another pleasure in store for \ them, one of the sweets of office, in the | shape of a Court case at the suit of their f gardener or care-taker, for the sum of £91 6s. This is another of the results of I divided authority, and would not have! arisen but that, the local bodies who. havei hitherfo? diefyayed thWcpst of keeping cemeteries, have fallen out, and some of! them feel disposed to discontinue their! contribution for that purpose. I We learn that Major Murray is in com-| muni cation with Lieutenant Whitaker of| the Hamilton Cavalry regarding the ad-| visibility of having a review at Hamilton! during the Easter holiday i of the Waikatof and Thames Volunteers. As soon as an| affirmative reply is received from Mr| Whitaker, a meeting of officers command-1 ing corps will be held here to arrange! matters. It is expected the Government will pay the cost of transit of the Thames men, and from the general feeling expressed we should anticipate a large muster, and a pleasant and instructive trip. His Worship the Mayor requests us to acknowledge the receipt of a cheque for £1 Is from E. F. Tizard; Esq., for the

HKaitangata Fund. The Mayor is a memSber of the general committee recently ■appointed at Dunedin to raise subscriptions, and will be happy to receive and gforward any offerings for the''widows and ■orphans of the poor Kaitangata colliers. H Ok Saturday afternoon a cart loaded fiwith timber and drawn by two horses was Bgoing up Upper Albert street. When |lnear the top of the road the horses Jjjmanaged to turn head down hill, andl down the steep incline, andl ■pulled up in Pollen street. It is fortunate | Sno damage was done. * ! 11. At St. George's Church yesterday the j if Bey. V. Lush announced that next Sun-! fcday morning the Bishop of Auckland! Bwould preach here for the benefit of the! ]§ Hospital, and in the evening hold a con-1 nfirmation service. We understand thatjjj Shis Lordship intends, after visiting the ■Thames, to proceed overland to the East ||Coast settlements. M When the news of the Thames man— ■Gordon—winning the Carbine Belt was ■known in town on Saturday evening, the ■excitement was intense, quite a crowd of ■persons being collected from the Bank of SNew Zealand corner to Mr Lawless', conijgratulating each other on the success of lithe Thames arms, and several congratu||latory telegrams-were despatched. Three jEof these were—"Three cheers for the ißcolor," " Preparations being made to tear athe legs off Gordon," and " Bully fora Ifyou Jimmy. We'll get four gingers tol Bcarry you from the wharf." We simplyi Squote these to illustrate the exuberant! f|delight which reigned when the welcomes was known. We understand! Itbat a movement is on the tapis to givel M" our boys " a luncheon or a ball on theiri here. 1 i A BUMOtTB was current in town on| IThursday (says the Bay of Plenty Times)! ilo, the effect that Dr Stoddard, of Eati-f f bati, had found specimens of valuable! I auriferous quartz on his land, about two! I miles from the Uritara Store. The re-| i port has not yet been confirmed. |

The following is the weekly state ofjHii sick in the Thames. Goldfield Hospitallpi from 2ndio Bth Marpht^B79:—StatisticalPa NoaoWyVr-Zymotic dileases—remainedlfv 4, discharged one, remaining 3; cousti-Mii tutibnal^remained 1, died 1; local— re-mv mained 4, discharged 1, remaining 3;Sr developmental--remained 2, remaining 2 ;flc violent—remained 3,admitted 1, retnainedla 4. Totals—remained 14, admitted 1, dis-Hc charged 2, died' 1, remaining 12; out-He patients, 38. Mr Aitken, dispenser,!' wishes us to acknowledge the receipt of aHparcel of books from Mr Henderson,*] Mackay street, for the use of the hos-Rc pital. ll It is rumoured on good authority thatfl' Sir William Fitzherbert has seceded toH 1 the ranks of the Opposition, and Mrll Bunny is reported to have done likewise.6 Messrs Sauuders, Wakefield, and Bartonß are also enemies, as is also the new mem-H ber for the Waitaki. The position of theH Government is viewed as rather preca-H rious. Could they appeal to the countryfi they would obtain a large majority.—Greyg River Argus. " .<■■ -'"\ t \" - ; H The Glasgow people propose to get upH an immenso lottery of £6,000,000, bne-B half of which? is to be devoted to the suf-S ferers by the failure of the City of Glas-g gow Bank, and the other moiety to beH divided in money prizes amongst then subscribers. An eminent lawyer has beenH commissioned to devise a scheme by whichH the Acts against gambling in the oldgj country may be evaded in this instance 5 Should the scheme mature, we are certainn a large number of shares will be disposed! of in the colonies, as the chance of reapingH say, £100,000 in one prize, would be irre-flj sistable. '* ■■■'- B Eefeebing to the proposed testimonial! to Mr Woolcock, M.H.R., the New! Zealander makes the following remarks : —" All this..; .■jstwell{enough, but there is thia-eyil feature among some;' of our professional politiciansiwhichideser^ea tioriv They devote the 5 whole of their time to political affairs, and the State does not pay them a sufficient sum annually to ensure their comfort and decency; and this lack has to be obtained by the testimonial business, which is growing and becoming a great nuisance. The men we mean do nothing during the recess but live on feeding on the expectancy of getting something by-and-bye. Let the House distinguish between the members who work during the recess and those who do not, and pay them proportionally." Pbinck Gagarin recently lost at rouge et-noir his immense estate, his jewellery, and everything, even to the carriage anil borses-, that waited him- at .the dodr.i When he got to the door he remembered I that he hadn't staked the harness, went! back, staked that, luck changed, and won! back everything, and broke the bank! beside. 1 The litigation in connection with the! Ifailure of the Tipperary Bank waa re-fi sumed before the Irish Chancellor. This! Case has been in litigation for 30 years,! and it was stated that one witness was! under examination for four and a half! years, and that one council's speech lasted! nine months. A conservation took place! between the Lord Chancellor and Mr! Serjeant Sherlock, and the case was again! adjourned. / • HO 'W-. .:;--:: ; ; '/,~'m The young King of Spain has just! completed his twenty-first year (he "camel of age" when he ascended the throne! four years ago), and can scarcely look! back upon the past twelve months with! pleasure. " Uneasy lies the head that! wears' a crown'"is a- very' hackneyed | phrase, but singularly true in the case of a Alphonso XII. During the past year hei has been married, has become a widower,! and as narrowly escaped the bullet of an! assassin; H The following were the concluding re-! marks made by Governor Bowen in his! Breply8 reply to the address presented to him at! the,ceremony of laying the foundation! stone of the Melbourne 'International! Exhibition:—lt has been already said! that the idea of holding au international! exhibition was originally the happy inspi-! ration of the late Prince Consort—the! " silent father of our kings to be." Let!

|fus hope that the opening of the Mela bourne International Exhibition may be gig raced by the presence of his, son—the gheir of England and of the British SEmpire. . It is well known that the sue jlcess of the recent Exhibition at Paris || was due in no slight degree to the perHsonal tact and energy of the Prince of MWales; that His Royal Highness paid ■special attention to the contributions from Bthe colonies; and that he is animated by 9a desire to visit in person, should high greasons of State permit it, our AustralaHsian Colonies, as he has already visited ■India and Canada. Meanwhile, I am Rproud, on the eve of my departure from ■that Australasia which I love so well, and Hiu which I have spent nearly twenty fflyears —the best, the happiest, and, I atrusfc, not the least useful years of my ■life—as Governor successively of the ggreat colonies of Queensland, New Zea gland, and Victoria, to inaugurate, at the ■request of the commissioners, the construction of the noble building destined ■to hold the Melbourne International Exahibition. That building will be completed ■under the auspices of my distinguished ■successor* the Marquis of Normanby. I pray that this exhibition buildling, together with the railways and the Ivarious other public works, commenced ■during my administration in Queensland, iin New Zealand, and in Victoria, may 1 realise the expectations of the Govern■ments and Parliaments which sanctioned athem, and endure through the great Ifuture of Australasia as sources of perijmanent and ever-increasing prosperity. U At a club election a country member of ■Parliament was very anxious about the adSmission of a brother M.P., who was howlever, as severely pilled as Captain ■Burnaby's chief on the Khiva road. The gproposer was indignant, and was foolish Benough to show his irritation —he thought Ethat being " a representative of the people |jwas a sufficient guarantee of eligibility," I&c. "My dear fellow," said an influential Hcommitteeman, " don't you make any ■mistake. You were elected because you awere a gentleman—the club couldn't help ■it if you became a member of Parliament ■afterwards."—JEgles in the Australa«sian. i The Dunedin Star tells the following iirreligious story :—" On Saturday eventing, in one of our suburban municipalities, la concert under the auspices of a religious I body was being given in a building which! lis used for meetings and entertainments! | of various descriptions; and two small! I boys of a musical turn of mind, being! I unable to raise sufficient money to pays I for their admission, determined on enjoy-i ling the expected treat on the cheap.! jgEnowing the facilities which the building |

[in question offers to anyone having their |laudablo object in view, they quietly approached it, and . softly raising the windows from the outside, they were immediately in a position to hear all that was going on. Just at that moment the revered clergyman was opening the proceeding with prayer, and, after listening a few minutes, one' boy turned to the other, and, in an injured tone and with an expression of disgust said to the other, ' What a sell, Bill; this ain't no concert —it's something to do with the Boad Board!" They slammed the window down and withdrew abruptly. Possibly the chairman had been referring to the ' broad road' and the ' narrow road' of which we read." The annual meeting of the Church of England and Presbyterian Church Pastoral .Aid Society was held in the Assembly hall* Melbourne, the Bishop of Melbourne presiding. The annual report and balance-sheet showed that the society was extending its operations, but that increased assistance was required to enable it to carry out its objects as fully as was desired. During the course of the proceedings an interesting discussion took place on a suggestion by the Rev. C Stong, that Presbyterian and Church of England clergymen' should, say, once a year exchange churches, and preach for the benefit of the society. The suggestion was opposed by Canon Handfield, on the ground of its being contrary to the principles of the Church of England, and the Bishop of Melbourne, while expressing his desire to see a reunion of all Protestant Christians based upon, an enlarged intellectual outlook and a warmer feeling of sympathy, admitted that the Church of England in Victoria must preserve the practice of the mother church in England.. ; As showing the view held by itotain sections of the Bench upon Lord Beaconsfield's policy, the Eappel says:—"We long ago described Lord Beacbnsfiel's policy as an adventurous policy, and events tend to prove we were right. This policy a good deal resembles that of Napoleon 111. It is a theatrical policy. The annexation of Cyprus, the practical seizure of Syria and Egypt, the protectorate of the Ottoman Empire, the railway from

the Mediterranean to India, the Afghan war, and other startling events continually cropping up, divert attention from home affairs. One cannot help being reminded of the campaigns of China, Beyrout, the Crimea, and Mexico. Is not* the English Ministry trying on the Imperial systems of Government P No doubt England is a very powerful nation, but she seems to have too many irons in the fire. Lord Beaconsfield may find out that it does not do for nations, any more than individuals, to hunt several hares at a time." Hemi Matbnoa, of Ngatitoa, a brother of the.Hon. Wi Parata, has addressed a letter to the Waka Maori, in which he asks, among other things, why no Maori is made a Bishop P He says:—" First we are instructed in Christianity, and having acquired knowledge therein, some of us were made ministers, and have now officiated as ministers for more than twenty years. We were next instructed in the law, and before we were fully able to master its intricacies some of us were dragged forward to be made members of Parliament, Ministers of the Government, and, magistrates. Now, I ask, why are some of us raised, to prominent positions in the Government and not in the Church P In other words/ why do the Church appointments with respect to us Maoris abruptly, cease when we attain to the position of ordinary ministers? Why is there no Maori Bishop, since the natives of these islands have for a considerable time past embraced Christianity p Let it not be said because a man is a Maori he is unfit to be a Bishop." Fatheb Hennebebey is still wander• ing round the Colony. A Gisborne paper says:—" Father Henneberry's anecdote of the "thundering big sinner," which he gave last night during his discourse, was a very indifferent imitation of an expression once used by Boatswain Smith— and old reformed man-o'-warsmen,; who used to pfeach to the sailors at Wapping, near the London Docks. In his discpurse

he addressed the old " salts "as whopping sinners. The difference between the two stories is, that the former is vulgar.; the latter witty;' but both irreverent, and quite out of place in the pulpit. Mr T. Bryant desires us to offer an explanation with regard to a rebuke he met with last evening from the Rev. Father Henne berry. Mr Bryant had received an injury to his leg on the evening of the fire. Anxious to hear the preacher, he seated himself at the Western wall end of the Church, and rested his leg by putting it on the form where there were no sitters, when he was told to sit upright. Mr Bryant says, as he has always been known to have due regard to decency and proper observances) he felt greatly annoyed. Two friends of mine (says iEgles) were at the Melbourne Telegraph office one day; last week, and having despatched a telegram on their own account they were accosted by a gentleman who wore his front hair showing under his hat in a dishevelled fringe. There Was an appealing look in his eyes as he said, "Shend a telegram to Sydney for me—trying to write it—half hour." The good Samaritans acceded, when he dictated the following to his wife in Sydney :—" lam drunk. Spent the money. Send me money and I will come back." ?' Have you any cash to pay for the message P'' inquired his benefactors. "With a dipsomaniacal wink he produced a £5 note and discharged his liability. I hardly know whether to admire more the candour of his confession or the generous offer to sell himself to his own wife at the price of a passage ticket. In a recent issue (says the Australasian) we had some comments on the outspoken and manly article contributed by the Rev. &. F. Cross to the Melbourne Review, on the Modern Pulpit, in which the want of originality and of mental courage on the part of the clergy was rather trenchantly exposed. The Rev. Archdeacon Innes has been speaking in a somewhat similar strain, as we see by a report of his remarks in the Hamilton Spectator. The rev. gentleman had nothing to say of the attitude of the clergy to modern thought which was so ably dwelt upon by Mr Cross, but he made, a scathing protest against the imbecile twaddle that is served up by the clergy at tea meetings and such gatherings, and by the conductors of religious newspapers The result of all this is, said Mr Innes that " the hard-headed world begins to laugh at us as weak mollycodlingg, fed on literary! pa p." There is a good deal of truth in this, and it is well to see a consciousness of it is beginning to work in the minds of the clergy. Mr Innes quoted specimens of the drivel that is

talked at those social and religious gatherings, and that is printed in religious newspapers. In reference to a ridiculous story given in one of these journals,, he justly said that foisting such nonsense on the belief of readers!

"damages them as to their power of discriminating truth from falsehood when they come to deal with graver subjects. It makes the educated world laugh at us as soft-headed." Both the clergymen whose exposures we have referred to of the unmanly, emasculated character of the clergy, as shown by their utterances, substantially re-echo against the church the complaint made against Christian thought many centuries ago by Celsus, and since repeated by Mr Mai hew Arnold, charging it with a "want of intellectual seriousness." This is, indeed, the source of all the deficiencies alleged against tho churches of the present day. They seem utterly unable to understand or to share

the serious sense of responsibility with which truth is by the outside world sought in all quarters and by all available means ; they have, in fact, other objects with which they consider this absolute devotion to truth is incompatible. And hence they stand isolated from the intellectual life of the age and the moral consciousness of the generation,

hence it is that they look with distrust and alarm on the work of scientific discovery, and, to a great extent, limit their efforts tolhe production of the characterless platitudes, only varied by feeble jocosity, which Mr Innes so warmly denounces.