MISCELLANEOUS.

Inangahua Times, Volume VIII, Issue 1277, 28 May 1883, Page 2

MISCELLANEOUS.

Mr Price, E.M., has had his leave of absence extended till the 7th of June. His health has not improved since leaving Gisborne. Clara Stephenson, Charles Burford and Co., recently received a benefit at ackay, Queensland, from the local amateurs. The burial-place of those whoperished in the ill-fated Tararua at Fortrose is now securely fenced, and each group of graves neatly enclosed with a post and picket fence. 'There are three groups with somewhere about 20 in each, and all numbered. The Cape Argus informs its readers that the heir to the earldom of Stamford and Warrington has for many years resided at Wynberg, near Capetown, " not in the aristocratic quarter of that delightful village, but in a tworoomed cottage on the flats." He is a clergyman, has been married three times, and his present wife is a Hottentot. Professor Nordenskiold has sent in a claim to the Dutch Ambassador of Stockholm for the reward of 25,000 guidon, which the Dutch Government in 1596 offered to any one who should succeed in reaching the Pacific Ocean by way of the North-east Passage.. Professor Nordenskiold is of opinion, that, having successfully accomplished his passage on the late Vega expedifciox, he is entitled to this honorary reward. The Langtrys are again before the public by the fact that Miss Agnes Langtry, sister of the Lily's husband, sent from England to chaperone her through the United States when Mrs Labouchere gave up the task, eloped an March 31st with a Toronto young man named Stone, and was niarrkd at the Church of All Saints, at Drum-

mondville, in Toronto. The Lily, once more desolate, is very an^ry with her sister, and shocked at what she calls her want of propriety ; hut the fact is .Agnes was sensible in not missing .the opportunity to get a good hushand. John Brown, servant of the Queen, died at Windsor Castle on March 27th. A London dispatch says he was sent from Windsor to Lady Florence Dixie's to inquire into all the circumstances of the outrage said to have been committed upon her, and what with the inclemency of the weather and the mystification which her ladyship plunged him into, he took to his bed and died. The Queen is deeply afflicted over the loss of her servant, and the whole Press speaks of him "With great respect, and at as great length as if he had been a Cabinet Minister. The public expression which her Majesty gave of her grief ■was somewhat extraordinary. He had served 84 years in the Royal household. Brown is said to have died worth a million. Mr Rusden's "History of New Zealand" is likely to cause some trouble in hign places. The Chief Justice has heen arraigned in a way that calls for an explanation. The following references in the index of the book will show the nature of the •charges that have been lodged against him • — « Summons a nocturnal meeting of the Executive Council, 400 ; signs a threatening proclamation against Te Whiti, 401 ; is knighted, 413 ; he com■pletes his handiwork by signing a bill of attainder, 471. The questons arises, How did Mr Eusden procure his information, and is it accurate ? To the first <iueston the answer will be that Sir Arthur Gordon gave the historian the information, when the latter was staying at Government House during the session of 1881, As to the accuracy it will probably be found that where there is a good deal of hearsay in the matter, the work is full of error, as we have shown in the ease of Mr Byrce ; "but in matters upon which the official records speak, we have no doubt sufficient care has been taken to arrive at the truth. Did, then, the Chief ■Justice, as Acting Governor, call " a nocturnal meeting" in order to anticipate the Governor who was approaching the shores of New Zealand 1 This is a fact that could easily be ascertained. The clerk of the Executive Council would have had to be present, and Sir Arthur Gordon, upon his arrival, would! have been immediately informed of the fact. The charge is a -very grave one indeed, and unless it "be met the Chief Justice may hide his diminished head. The Rusden •' History,' compromises a number of public men, and is likely to produce a very unplesant impression in England. — ' Wauganui Herald.' There seems to have been some fastidiousness (says the Law Journal) about names at the Kilmainham Courthouse, it may be as well to point out that the position in which Mr James Carey figures in not technically that of an informer. An informer is a person who, generally for reward, accuses others and not himself. Mr James Carey holds the much lower step in the ladder of baseness, in that "he accuses his own confederates, impartially including himself in the •charge. In times gone by he would have been called an approver, or prover — a person who, if he succeeded in convicting his accomplices was entitled to acquittal ; but who, if his accomplices were acquitted was immediately hanged. Nowadays he is properly called Queen's evidence, and is allowed to step from the dock into the witness box in the hope that his life will be spared. It has happened before now that Queen's evidence at the trial refused to repeat what they told the magistrate, whereupon they may be put on their trial, and convicted on their own confession. Although the admission as witnesses of 'approvers' who were entitled to an acquittal as of right has been abondoned for the use of Queen's evidence, who are only entitled to favor out of grace, it is still usual to give Queen's evidence a free pardon, on the analogy of the previous practice ; but this will depend on the hopes which have been held out to them on behalf of the Crown.