Loacl nad General.

The MtrsEUM.-r-This' institution will be during the whole of next week. On (the following week it will, together with the new statuary room, be again thrown open to the public. : The Mayor of Chbistchurch. — His Honor Judge Gresson administered, yesterday, 'the,; customary oath, as a Justice of the jlfeace, tdE. B. Bishop, Esq., Mayor of Christfchanih'.'.; I ' Concert. — The music to the Opera " Maritana " was repeated last night by the amateur icompany under the direction of Mr Parker, and went off very successfully. The low price charged for admission had the effect of draw;ing, together an audience equal in number to jthat of Monday night, and one and all seemed imuch pleased with the musical treat presented to them.. ! Departure of Old Friends. — The passengers by the ship Lady Jocelyn were escorted/to the vessel, yesterday afternoon, by a, large number of colonists. Amongst the ipassengers by this vessel are the Hon. John ;Hall, late Colonial Secretary, Mr Charles :Reed, an old settler of Canterbury, like Mr jHall, and Mr J. G-. Ruddenklau, who has 'started on a voyage ,to Fatherland. The 'friends of the passengers proceeded to LytteltQjauby the 3.15 p.m. train, and in about half !aL Jioutf after its -ariival they : pi % oceeded on board ;tte s.s. Gazelle, and were conveyed t'c tne Lady Jocelyn. '^Captain M'Lellan, with : his iSfecustomed courtesy, brought his pas; sengerifsafely to the ship, and the return jour- \ ney 'was accomplished without any con tretemps. Unfortunately, Captain Jenkins wa3 unavoidafely'P.reyented. from receiving his visitors, but : this'\dttty was ably, and courteously undertake'ja, by the Chief Ofßcorv: The vessel is decidedly one of .the best that has ever viflitod .New Zealand .ports, and those who took passage by the lady Jocelyn, expressed tben&blires in very unmistakeable.-term3 of the exceptional accommodation provided. The fripnda of the passengers hadlittle more than half-an-hour loft them to remain.on board, arid on the* departure of the Gazelle in time to catch the 6 p.m. train, cheers were lustily given, and responded to from the ship quite as heartily. Captain Jenkins takes home the largestcargo of wooVand flax that has ever left Lyttolton xn one bottom. The whole of thicargo was; stowed . away between, the 6th of January j^n&ttie 24th February ,_which speak* highly fdjf ajJ'ithose connected,^with/ the com: mani.of^theVvessel. We sincerely tryst thai Captain /Jenkins will have a egeedy^ joyagc md that his passengers will have' as niucli reason tp.be pleased with the accomniodaiio: afforded as their expressions of yesterday lei them to anticipate. Messrs Miles and C<> are the agents for the Lady Jocelyn, and tw members of the firm, Messrs Murray- Aynslc and T M. .Ha3sal, accompanied the passen gera and their friends to the good ship yesterday afternoon. The Lady Jocelyn is no* ready for sea, and will sail with the first fawind.

Pic-Nic.-^-Qn Wednesday last the employes at Mr Wagstaffi's coach factory, Whately Boad, accompanied by their friends, took part in a pic-nic to Sumner. About forty ladies and gentlemen assembled at the works at half -past nine o'clock, and were conveyed to Sumner in four large traps. Dinnerand tea were served alfresco, and the intervals were filled in . with various sports and dancing, which were evidently much enjoyed. . The party returned to town about eight o'clock, and spent the evening in dancing at Mr Wagstaff's residence, thereby makihg, a most enjoyable terminatipn to a pleasant day. i Acclimatisation. — The birds which were sent out from England in the Charlotte'CHadstone arrived yesterday by the Phcebe from Dunedin; under the care of Mr R. Bills, and were also accompanied by Mr Deans, the curator of the Otago Society. Every arrangement was made for the speedy transit of the birds' to the gardens, which was accomplished in a most successful manner, thanks to the assistance so promptly rendered to the society by Mr Packard, the Station master at Lyttelton, and the agent in port, Mr J. Carder. The condition of the birds is quite equal to former shipments under the care, of Mr Bills. The list comprises 7Opartridges, 100 blackbirds, some thrushes, 135 linnets and redpoles, 50 starlings, a-f e w larks, 36 rooks, some hedge sparrows, 100 yellow hammers, chaffinches, goldfinches, bramble finches (605 finches in all), mandarin dusks, gold and silver pheasants, and a pair i [of the beautiful currassows, valued in England at £50, which will doubtless prove a great attraction and ornament to the gardens, and Ultimately a valuable bird for sport and ;faod. Mr Bills speaks in high terms of the assistance rendered him by the captain . and 'officers of the Charlotte Gladstone. The voyage was, however, of an especially trying character, one great drawback being the scarcity of water, owing to the breakage of ■the condenser, and the large number of emigrants, chiefly consisting of Mr Brogden's, navvies, a class found to be undesirable as fellow-passengers with birds ; in fact, some bf the ornamental water-fowl are reported as having 'been stolen and eaten by some of the -emigrants on board. Up to the time of the vessel putting in at the papg for water, very few losses had occurred. The Society is under great obligation to the btago society f6r the assistance rendered in the transhipment, which has altogether been a great' success: Thanks are also due to Mr J. R. Hill, of Ohristchurch, who was at Dunedin at the time, and also returned in the Phoebe. As in all previous shipments, a large proportion bf the birds landed are cocks. The distribution of the bh-ds has been left to a committee of three, which will meet in the gardens to-day to decide on the distribution and liberation of this large stock of feathered immigrants. The first batch will be liberated to-day. ■-'■■:■'■ . ■ ; Dbamatic Authors. — The Orchestra has the following on the prospects of dramatic authors :—^" Whether or not a first-class play !(says 'Babil and Bijou) is worth £40J000 in lthe : packets of Mr Boucioault, there is ho doubt of the enormous, value to the author of ;a successful play in France. A French paper 'tots up the amounts which ' Rabagas ' must have produced M. Sardou. The piece was performed 238 times, and the receipts amounted in all to 596,574 f, or an average of 2506 f 61c each. The writer received 1 12 per cent, or 71,588 f ; the ' author's tickets ' at th 6 Vaudeville represent a sum of 108 f daily, of which one half are taken by a contractor, who.sellß them to the public, and the price paid for them amounts to a further sum of 12,852 f; M. Sardou alsoTeceived various premiums, for example, on the presentation of his play, for the hundredth performance, &c, which may be set down at a further sum o£ 20,000 f, making a total- of 104,440 f, besides which there is the amount for which the right of publishing the work was sold to the theatrical bookseller. As it has already gone through more than a : dozen editions, and the terra 3 usually obtained by M. Savdo'u are onc-iiuli the' profits, this must also represent a considerable amount. The conclusion at which one may arrive is, that the play has produced to its author a capital sufficient to return an income of 6000 f (£240) a year." The Maetin's Bat Settlement. — The Neio Zealaud Herald, of a recent date, says ; — As has been remarked by a very great ptiilosopher, •it takes all sorts of people to make a world ; but we could never imagine why a number of men risked all sorts of perils and suffered the most awful hardships that they might be permitted to settle down at the foot of a glacier and grow turnips. This, too,' when! there are millions of fertile acres in the colony which may bo cultivated under climates the most genial .in £he world. Theße settlers go to Martin's Bay, and their. VESselis wrecked. They land, and live upon; fish and pipis. '--A steamer comes and brings them flour. They eat the flour, and then commence to starve.- The steamer comes again ; this time with no flour, but with tea and tobacco. The settlers express no desire to leave the place by the steamer, but prefer to dig up and subsist upon the seed potatoes which they set —in; the ground. for a crop., They are . ; starving, once more. There's a sailing craft comes from Hokitika with provisions. •. ■■. Still the Bottlers express no deßire to leave.' 'They have another starve. . Then, after a, time, some three or , four walk up to the top of the glacier, which is about a mile long. They go to Queens- , town, travelling at the rate of -Btf miles a' day, . ascending mountains,, descending, ravines, and: risking their necks- every foot of rock and ice and snow they stop on or over. When they arrive they telegraph to Dunedin. By-(ind-by they get the supplies they asked foi and then have another starve. Then a good minister comes to Auckland and lectures am l preaches on behalf of settlers in order tr raise money for their relief. He has raised money, and he will "relieve them, but whec the money is eaten up, there is just anothei starve to face. The question being asked now is "Is Martin's Bay a settlement foi lunatics ?" and to this we are unable to raturn any reply. •

. Well Done, Maori ! — Does the following indicate an advance in Maori civilisation or a movement tending to & return to barbarism ? A Hawke's Bay paper says : — We have seen a circular advising the creditors of Te Hapuku that he is now able to pay all claims against him in full, together with interest to date. The bulk of insolvents will think that Te Hapuku ought to be looked.af ter. Shakspeke in Germany. — A correspondent of the London Spectator extols the German representations of the drama, and particularly those of Shakspere and Moliere. In a small but pretty township called Libenstein, surrounded by villas, there is a theatre where three evenings a week plays by the best authors are performed. In seven evenings, he witnessed seven different plays by Lessing, Schiller, and the two dramatists above named. "The best performance," he observes, was " Much about Nothing," "and I am convinced'that if "Shakspere could' be played like that in London, our managers would have no cauae to make their usual complaint that the good. things do not draw full i houses, or to appeal to the lower side of human nature by producing the wretched plays that run: night after night through a whole season at many of our best theatres. Lost Educational Opportunities. — The Attorney-General, in addressing recently a meeting at Liverpool, made a few remarks which are worth treasuring by young rnea : — " One woi'd to those of the audience who were still young, and who had still their life before them. Though he had not lived to consider himself quite an old man, he had lived long enough to know the immeasurable value of those years of youth which so many wasted. They brought with them, no doubt, often delightful memories. Defeats had then no bitterness, and there was no sadness in success,,but they brought with them too often, and to too many of us, the saddest of all memories— the memory of opportunities neglected and of wasted time. He knew ■ well bhat very few men were ever made wise by th« Bxperience of others, but if he could impress upon one single young man how bitterly, how very he would regret, when he came fco be fifty years of age, the hours he had wasted at school, and if, making him feel that, he (the Attorney -General): could lead him practically to act upon the feeling, he should not have come ; to Liverpool in vain/ ' Ultka Centbnarism.—^TTnder the : title " Authenticated Longevity," the Toronto Globe has the following statement : — A most remarkable case of longevity is furnished by a correspondent in Glengarry. 1 -A woman named Ann Campbell died in Kehyon; county of Glengarry, on the 18bh of September; ab the age of 130 years." She was born in Scot-i hind, in the parish of Bracadale, in the Skye, in the year 1742. ' When 30 years of age she engaged) as chief ' dairymaid with Mr John Murray, Grißhbrnish, and remained in that family for a period of 50 years. When her services were no longer required by Captain D. Murray, who " succeeded his father in the estate of Grishornish, she left the Murray family and engaged with Mr Nicholson, Ardmore, in the same employment; and continued in his family for the following seven years. She was then in her 87th year,', and at the advanced age she emigrated to . Canada, where she passed the remaining 43 years of her life; Our correspondent relates that of late years she became the wonder of the flection of coun^ try in which she lived, add was .constantly 1 visited by the : curiously • disposed; of 'her adopted country, ! as well as from the ! neighbouring Republic. He also asserts that she was never Bick until her death, never tasted medicine of any kind, was quite active and lively until within two .days of her decease: She was in the full possession of her faculties |to the very last.- In proof of her activity, she states that she milked 12 cows every day last summer. Her illness at the time of her death I was short, and seemingly without pain. Her speech left her only 2 i hours before her death. She died without a struggle." The Eastern Question and the Will of Peter the Great.— A copy of the will of Peter the Great (says the Bristol Mercury) has lately been printed by one of our weekly contemporaries. In it the Russian monarch points out the course to be.pursued by his successors for the extension of the Russian Empire and the subjugation of Europe. Nothing could have been more fortunate for a clear understanding of the present crisis in the Eastern question. That will throw a broad glare of light on the audacious conduct of the present Emperor of Russia. It plucks aside the flimsy veil with which his pretensions are covered, and sets before us in their true colours the real] grounds on. which he has acted. . After a careful perusal of it, it appears very evident that he is endeavouring to carry out the designs of. his great.* predecessor. A '. few; <of the .paragraphs .ire'" worthy, re-: printing at this "'"juncture."" In "clause nine he says: "Do ..all. in your power,: to ap-proach-closely ■ Constantinople and India. Remember that he who rules over these "countries-is- the real 'sovereign of the world. JKeep up continued wars with Turkey and Persia. Establish dockyards in the Red . Sea. Gradually obtain the command of this sea as well as of the Baltic." In clause ten he says :" Carefully seek the alliance of Austria. Make her- believe that you will second her in her . projects for dominion over--1 Germany, and secondly stir up the jealousy of other princes against her, and manage' so that each be disposed to claim the assistance r of' Russia,"and exercise over each a sort of ■■ protection,' which ; will lead the way to future : domination over 'them." These two clauses i need no comment. In clause twelve he says: "Above all, recall around you the schismatic Greeks who are spread over Hungary and 1 Poland; become their centres and support ; 1 hold universal dominion over them by a Jiind of sacerdotal rule j by this you will have many friends among your enemies." With • <uch instructions to posterity, it is useless to 1 iffect ignorance as to the fixed present and ulterior designs of Russia upon Turkey. Thej ! point unquestionably to dismemberment and » appropriation.

y; ,- : Amhbioan Railways. — The San Francisa News latter says : — Nearly every phrase con nected with a railway differs in America fron those in England. The " guard" is called ii America " conductor ;" " luggage" is stylet " baggage ;" " carriage" becomes " car ;" "tak< your seat 9" is transformed to " all aboard ;' the "rails" are called "tracks;" the "sta tion" is termed the " depftb " — pronounce( depot ; and so on, ad infinitwm. If you wan moreover, to be. understood An .travelling ji America, you must always pronounce " route 1 as though it was spelt " rout." ,'- -; .i ;'■ { t \ ; A Stbangb Cbbemoity.t— The other day a St. George's, Bloomsbury, London, there, wer joined together in .holy ihatrimony ! a perfect! deaf and dumb bridegroom and a deaf an< dumb bride. Neither, however, was born dea and dumb. - The clergyman read the servic very slowly aloud, for the benefit of the con gregation, and, at the same time, with ; a cod siderable amount of gesticulation, by mean of the, deaf and dumb alphabet upon hi fingers, for the enlightenment of the happ; o|ouple. The bride and bridegroom took thei allotted parts in the service by means of thei fingers, and ho jreal difficulty occurred excep in those 'parts wh'erev under ordinary circuni stances,! ;the haridß^of, the two persons woul bjive been' -Joined/- ■'< ( A -little amusement wo caused by the inability of -the bride to explai that a certain gentleman who had been pu forward by, those -officiating was ; not -the on she had herself chosen for her partner ; bu the clergyman soon came to the'relief of th distressed bride.- In the more- interestin parts especially. concerning the bride au bridegroom, the -gestures were of. that lovin description that' no inowledge of the dum alphabet was required. by the congregation i order to interpret them aright. : Mathematics of MAEEiAGB.^-:Tq.;peop of a statistical rather than a sontimental turj the mathematics of marriage in different coui tries may jjrove an attractive theme of, mcd tation. It is found that young men'froi fifteen to twenty years of age matry ybut women averaging two or - three years ■ old* than themselves, but if they delay marriag until they are twenty to twenty-five years ol their spouses . average: a;■ year ; young?*; itha themselves; and thenceforward 'this .diffe once steadily increases, till in, extreme old a{ on the bridegroom's part it is apt toboeno mous. The inclination of octogenarians •• wed misses in their teens is an every day o currouce ; but it is amusing to find in tl love-matches of boys that the statistics bei I out 'the satires of Thackeray l 'and : Balza I Again, the husbands of young women ag< twenty and under average; a little above t wen five years, and the inequality of age diminish thenceforward, till • for women who ha reached thirty the respective ages are cqua after 'thirty-five years , women, like men, mar i those younger than themselves, the dispfdpb tion increasing with the age, till at fifty-fi it averages nine years. The greatest numb of marriages for men take place between t ages of twenty and twenty -five in Englan between twenty-five and thirtyin France, ar between thirty and thirty-five in Italy ai Belgium.' Finally, in Hungary, the number individuals who marry is 72 in a 1000, in ea year ; in England it is 64 ; in Denmark, 5 in France, 57 ; the city of Paris showing 6 in the Netherlands, 53 ; , in Belgium, 43 ; Norway, 38. Widowers ' indulge in seco marriage three or four times as often widows. For example, in; England (land Mraßardell) there.are 60 marriageß pf wido era against 2V of widows j in Belgium tin are 48 to 16 ; in 1 ranee, ,40' to, 12. ;- Old- JS Weller's paternal advice, to "beware of t widows," ought surely to be supplemented a maxim to beware oi widowers. New Yobk Ladies. — A New York letl to the St Louia Globe says :— " The number ladies driving their own turn-outs through t park is constantly, increasing. .At one ti ladies driving without gentlemen made the selves the subject of remark, but now it is < nobby thing to do. They drive either phaetons or buggies, and sometimes' in' lij English waggons, with aliveriedJohnThon perched placidly on the back seat.* Some the ladies handle the reins with great si while others, again, pull and flaw at tn horse's mouth until the poor beast is, nen distracted. This class,' I am Happy i» c form a small minority k Now York girls, a general thing, are used to "driving," s managing a horse is , nothing . for th dashing ideas of 'things. Many them could guide a > locomotive withou thought of; feaif ,as % .'concerning; the ape I must confess to a, weakness.^ for 'Niew. VT girls. They can paddle r their ' ; own ' jgano^es there ; is, any; -necessity 'for it, . or '^ o&\ just' dainty drid frightened at a ripple' on the', tr as though they did not know a boat-h from a jews-harp. They suit themselves circumstances. . You meet , them on Broadi in the morning, or in the avenue ! in the af noon, and view their, elegant clothes! and if lish ways with envy, wishing you, had b born rich rather than handsome. * But, b your simplicity, many of them would be pr of your wealth. The only difference is t know how to make the , most ofv^he.-le They tuni and return" their' old silks^stra ■ Kussian leather belt around their' waist, dai a portempnnaie on one side of it and-ija.; umbrella 6n the other, put^pnjaLbat^m of two featheri and a jbifc ofc iMe^^hict their. . experienced fingers get j ust^ the expression,, draw pa, tbeir^, ,^iiree-buttp,] dollar, gloves, hold . their., heatls aip^ take .1 steps » and walk up .ioyfn,- looting. though they only, wanted; a chance.lipt over a million or so to some less fortui person. These are .the majority. wealthy minority have not a bit more si or could not order a lunch at Delmon: , with a more blase air. They have not 1 ! to read much ; what with making their cl . ing and promenading and going to the the'i i their time is pretty well occupied. How( I they manage to know a little of most ci ' thing; they observe a great deal, tl I quickly, and have a very knowing waj talking."

Hams? ACfAiK.^rrThe Qtag&Daily Feb. 25 hasv'.thej;follosriiig jf^We Have reoeived full particulars of the attempted escape from the. gaol which ,we;mentioned in our issue of yesterday* ;J The who made the attempt was the nbtorious.Cyrus Haley, whose trial fpr.areon and,fpr ; attempting to shoot Mr RusselV.ofAucKlaja^^cited so much attontion. y PwinftjijQj ilj-health, Haley has been Bmploy^l^clerkT. for some time past, and about half -past' seven o'clock on Sunday morning he .wen^.tpthe front door of the gaol for bhe purpbße*6£ shaking the office mats. Warder Hagan ,(^hp. 'is "one: of ; the oldest ,and most Bfßcient officers of tie gaol) was in charge of bhe gate, and was standing on the'dopr-Step. Haley was saying something about the shaking of other mats, when he suddenly threw a handful of pepper into the warderVeyes, "and ran off across the road. Hagan closely pursued him, and succeeded in apprehending him it ?the junction, of Cumberland- and-Stuart streets. Mr Orbell, who happened to be in Cumberland street at the time, was called upon by the warder, and rendered every assistance . Btaleyi no doubt, calculated upon haying a rery good opportunity, for escape on Sunday morning, when there are so few, pebple^about it so early an hour^ Had Hagan not closed bis eyes when he observed the movement of ihe prisoner's hand, he would certainly have seen blinded. Throwing pepper is an old cavourite game among the London swellmobji md chevaliers d'inditstrie in Great Britain and j fchecolonies. •; .-.'.-I