The Lyttelton Times.

Lyttelton Times, Volume IV, Issue 180, 17 June 1854, Page 7

The Lyttelton Times.

, June 17, 1854. "" Whatever tends to throw light upon the question of the management and disposal of Waste Land has a peculiar interest for new colonies, in which this public property forms so valuable a resource.; The means also of promoting immigration of . labour necessarily connects itself with this subject. A plan for combining these two objects, which appears to possess much novelty, has been proposed by a writer, at Sydney, and has attracted considerable attention there, the pamphlet having reached a second edition, and having been referred, to a Committee of the Chamber of Commerce of that city, to be maturely considered, and reported upon. The scheme to which w3 allude proposes to apply the proceeds of land sales to the promotion of Immigration, but not in the ordinary way, viz. by the Government receiving the money for land, and remitting it to England to defray the cost of passages out, but by making each purchaser of Crown Land pay for the importation of a proportionate number of labourers who shall have already arrived in the colony. In short, it may be described as a plan for purchasing land with men.instead of money. How this is to be effected we will now proceed to explain.—lt is proposed that every person, —man, woman, or child,—arriving from the United Kingdom should receive a remission ticket, representing a value of from £10 to £15, or about the average cost of a steerage passage to the colony. Previous to the landing of any passenger, an officer of Government is to goon board and' issue to every person a remission ticket. These tickets are to be transferable, and to entitle the holders, whenever presented at the Land-office, to their value in land. One feature in the plan, which the author considers essential to its success, is that these tickets, or land scrip, should be the only medium for the purchase of waste land, whether country, suburban, or town lots. At land sales, consequently, no money is to be taken by Government, the land scrip being the only legal tender. Hence every person wishing to purchase crown land mustfirst provide himself with the necessary amount of land scrip or remission tickets, and in that way must pay the passages of so many immigrants, either by purchasing scrip from those who have imported them, or byimporting them himself. Thus to obtain, for instance, a 50 acre section at £2 an acre, land scrip to the amount of the passage money of about five adults must be obtained. Such is a briefoutline of the plan. We shall be curious to see what report the Sydney Chamber of Commerce makesuponits merits, and whether it is considered sufficiently feasible to be brought before the Legislative Council of that colony. It strikes us that the whole of the proceeds of the sale of Waste Lands could hardly be spared for the purpose of immigration alone, as here proposed. It Would seem also to admit of question whether a ticket of the same a alue should be issued to children as to adults. These, however, are matters of detail, which might not affect the principle of the plan, which is to relieve the Government of all the expense, trouble, and responsibility connected with the selection and transmission of emigrants.

The columns of a newspaper are totally unfit to be made the medium for polemical discussion. The subjects treated of and

the newspaper itself are alike sufferers. ; The public have a right to expect a certain amount of information of a political and social nature in a public journal not exclusively devoted to religious subjects, and they have just cause for complaint when they^ find its space filled up with the abstract opinions of individuals on Church dogmas and ceremonials, to the exclusion of subjects of more general interest. We know that even in our own Church there are many men who are never satisfied to allow their neighbours to worship the God of their fathers after the manner of their fathers, without objecting to the style of this man's surplice, or the times of that man's devotions; hut when their consciences urge them thus to meddle and interfere in the most private affairs of those around them, we think it only fair .that they should publish their reflections on- their own account, and discover for themselves how many people will take the trouble to read them. It is true we have lately published several letters touching in some degree upon the subject of Church discipline, for this reason, howeyer, that they bore iipon a practical question now of great interest to the public at large, that of Education^ Our readers willfind three long letters in columns to-day, on Saints' days and Holy days which, we think, will be enough for them for some time. What " His Grace the Lord Primate of Armagh," and Bishop Gobat, have to do v.ith the subject, we are at a loss to conjecture. We should be almost inclined to susp ct that oar correspondent was an Orangeman, who wished to introduce his party fights here, and to give " a heavy blow" to his opponents. We hoped that the subject might have been calmly discussed. But we have found, as is usually the case, that upon this slight skirmish, the absolute dogmatists have smelt the battle from afar, and have come down upon us with a pile of letters, every one diametrically opposed to the other, but each purporting to be written by some one who knows by inspiration that he alone is right, while all around him are wrong. TWe, too, placed in the chair of editorial infallibity, consider that we have a prescriptive right to our opinion : and we feel very much inclined to pronounce the disputants all wrong together. We have no ambition for the fame of the Recokd, no sympathy with its to us seemingly uncharitable strain and at times irreverence of style. We do hot like to see religious \ profession dragged ostentatiously into the very midst of secular business, and must therefore decline being made the vehicle of any such discussions, even at the risk of being told that we are not " under convictions" or " of serious Evangelical principles." (It. is difficult for the mere profane to be well up in the technical language of . the Elect; the) must pardon an) mistake in their vernacular.) We are sure that most of our readers will join in our dislike to see such matters handled in the irreverent and angry manner which too often characterise the polemical disputant. We have been induced to make these remarks by the intolerant tone of several of the communications sent to us. But we wish it to be clearly understood that we reserve to ourselves the right of inserting letters on topics such as those alluded to above, whenever they are of interest to the public at large, and are couched in moderate and conciliatory language.

The " Despatch" and the " Tory" arrived here on the 13th inst. Mr. Swinbourne brings his usual miscellaneous cargo, and by the " Tory" we receive an importation of 1050 ■ sheep, 75 head of cattle, and 9 horses. The latter vessel brings Sydney papers to the 20th of May. English intelligence, extracted from these papers, to the

10th of March, will be found in another portion of our paper. The war question rapidly approaches its anticipated climax : in fact, if the following despatch, given at the end of a long list of telegraphic and olhei notices from the continent and the seat of war, be from London, as its contents would indicate, war has been declared by the French Government. The despatch run as follows : — " March 13. By Triton we have the following: Lieut. Pritchard has been reprimanded for running ashore the Prussian ship " Celeste"—the loss to Government estimated at £10.000. The French steamer had arrived with a declaration of war." The date, "March 13," is probably a misprint for the lOth, this being the 'date of the latest telegraphic despatch brought out by the " Madras." The Czar is represented as " wavering at the eleventh hour." Under the head of "Latest News," we learn that the Emperor Nicholas had forwarded counter-proposals to the courts of London, and Paris, but as they contained no more favourable terms than previous overtures, they were at once rejected. The design of the Czar to separate Austria from the Western Powers had also failed. Other accounts state that Russia had again attempted to coerce Sweden and Norway ; these powers have, however, declared their determination to remain neutral, being fully prepared for the consequences that may result from this opposition to the will of the Czar. The pre2>arations in France are represented as actively proceeding. Marshal de St. Armand was to le.ive for Turkey on the 9th of March, after an interview with Lord Raglan; the troops forming part of the expeditionary army were proceeding to Toulon for embarkation. A Greek insurrection has broken out in Thessaly, the insurgents beating the Turks in several engagements. It is stated that active measures have been taken by King Otho, in conjunction with the Western powers, for its suppression, the combined squadron intercepting the communication of the rebels with the sea. The names of the Marquis of Londonderry, the Bishop of Salisbury, and Sir John Con way, equerry and major-domo of the Duchess of Kent's house, previous to Her Majesty's .accession, appear in the obituary for the month.

Steam Excursion pkoji Sydney to New Zealand:—The steam-ship "Emu", the pioneer of the Australasian Pacific Mail Steam packets Go's line, is advertised to sailfor Auckland, Wellington, and Nelson, 10 days after her arrival in Sydney, and to return to Sydney from Auckland, via Nelson and. Wellington, after staying a day or two in each of the above New Zealand ports. The "Emu" is of 1660 tcnsVegister and 300 horse power. This port is not included in the present prospectus, but we trust the day is not far distant when our Australian neighbours will think us worthy their notice.

At the Resident Magistrate's Court on Tuesday, Patrick James Looney, remanded last week for further evidence, on a charge of stealing two £l notes from the person of Wm.Kush,was committed to take his trial at the next sitting of the Supreme Court. Maiden' Session".—Notices were, given to the Jurors and others summoned to attend the 'nst meeting of the Supreme Court at Wellington that their services would not be required, there being no case, either criminal or civil, for trial. Steamer Nexson.—Private letters from Taranaki state that the "Nelson" called there on Sunday-, the 21st of May, and proceeded early the following day on her route to Auckland.— Well ing tan SpecitUor.

To the Editor of the LyHelton Tunes. Sir,—lf your correspondent who styles himself " Another Member of the Church of England," is what he professes to he, he can have no difficulty in finding proof sufficient that in the "proper observance of Holy days the very essence or purity of the Christian Religion is concerned." I would however again refer him to the 13th Canon, j which emphatically says:— " All manner of persons within the Church of England shall from henceforth celebrate and j keep the Lord's day, commonly called Sunday, J and other holy days, according to God's will j and pleasure,'and the orders of the Church of | England prescribed in that behalf — that is, in hearing the word of God read and taught, in private and public prayers, in acknowledging ( their offences to God, and amendment of the same, in reconciling themselves charitably to their neighbours where displeasure hath been, in oftentimes receiving the Communion of the body and blood of Christ, in visiting the poor andsick, using all godly and sober conversation." To a member of the Church of England this Canon of his Church, clearly setting forth the intention of Holy days, should afford proof enough; but, if unmindful of that which ought'to cany force with it, perhaps he will not disregard the injunction of St. Paul: "to remember them "which have the rule over us, which have spoken to us the^word of God, whose faith we are to follow considering the end of their conversation." '"''.; The intention of the Church of England in its celebration of these days, is to perpetuate the remembrance of those which have spoken to us the word of God, namely, the Apostles and Evangelists; and the object of our church is simply to set before its members their examples and patterns. If we are to deny the propriety of observing these days, as well may we deny the duty of observing the Lord's day, Christmas day, Ascension day, and so forth, since the authority which exists for the one exists for the other also. . ; ' The intention of our church is clearly expressed; there is nothing left to our option—hence the order, after the Nicene Creed to the Curate, " to declare unto the people what Holy days are, in the week following, to be observed." let us turn to our Prayer Book; for what purpose do we there find Collects for these days ? Why, in the Calendar, are special portions of Scripture appointed to be used, if not for our instruction in godliness, and for our edification ? But " Another Member of the Church of England/'^!) whose questions strongly incline me to believe in his near alliance to "A Parent " from the great similarity in their Church of Englandisms, proceeds to ask whether I consider it a proper observance of these days to compel children tp attend the Church Service, " wfrich compulsion," he adds, " myself and others have foolishly thought would have the effect not only of wearying them with the forms of the Church of England, but what is worse, of breeding a spirit of irreverence, and a consequent aversion even for religion itself." Certainly no really sincere member of the Church of England can for a moment think that any one holding such opinions could do so otherwise than foolishly. Are children generally so eager for instruction? are they so fond of school life as to prefer its dry and monotonous duties to their out-door amusements ? Is there no compulsion in the' observance of these duties ? Is there no compulsion in their after attention to the claims of business? Yet does this breed aversion to learning ? does it make them illiterate, or regardless of what is incumbent upon them in life ? So neither does attention, albeit compulsory, to Christian forms and ceremonies, and to the teaching of the church, make the youth

when grown into the man, the,more irreverent or irreligious. But what school boy ever dreams of objecting to the rules and regulations of his school? unless, indeed, he has some unwise parent who instils into his infant mind the principle of insubordination, and why should he become weary of the Church Service because he is required at a good Church of England School, to attend his church some '24; days in the course ;of the year; so far from being weary, his attention and interest is more likely to be, aroused by the animated history the preacher may afford him of the life of the Apostle, in remembrance of whom they are assembled. The experience of those who have been privileged to attend the daily service of our church, which, alas, is here, denied to many of us, goes far to disprove the "foolish" thought of your correspondent; they can testify that in the place of irreverence and aversion, a tendency to love and Christian contentedness is the growing sentiment—riot that sort of external godliness, which is too frequently shewn by the gloomy countenance and the continual practice of an irreverent use of Holy names and sanctified conversation, but the unseen belief in the perpetual presence of God—of One overruling all his thoughts and actions and guiding him in all his works. This is the teaching of the Church of England, and whether a child attains to it by compujsory means or not is immaterial. One thing we know, that without coercion the natural heart of youth tends to rebellion, and we also know that in early times it was said : " Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.'? ' ' : If charity did not forbid the thought one might be tempted to the conclusion that the ''foolishness ''evinced by your correspondent " Another Member of the Church of England," is a lamentable evidence that the rod of correction had been too frequently withheld in his youth. ; I am, Mr. Editor, Your obedient servant, A Member o:f the Chttrch of England. [The aboye^ letter arrived too late for last week Js-jmbUcation.]

To the Editor of the Lyttelton Times. Sik, —-Permit me to offer a few remarks on the subject of holidays and recreation at schools. "A Member of the Church of England" asks what reasonable man can object to the period devoted to relaxation on Wednesdays ? I know many don't like their children to lose three hours of instruction on Wednesdays and Saints 5 days, as well as on Saturdays; five hours in winter and five and a half in summer is the time devoted to school business ; let us add one hour in the evening to prepare the lessons for the following day, and eight hours for sleep:, there are yet nine hours and a half in winter and ten in summer for washing, dressing, meals, and recreation. What reasonable man can say that is insufficient, together with the half holiday on Saturdays ? But the Holy days observed at Christchurch Grammar School will not be approved of, if introduced into the Lyttelton Grammar School, or I am much mistaken. The observance of Saints' days and many other matters which for so many years fell into disuse in our church, are looked upori by the majority of the present generation as novelties. They are a part and parcel of a system introduced by a section of the church known as the tractarian party. The highest authorities in the church are opposed to those ultra opinions on ecclesiastical affairs, particularly to the dissemination of them in educational establishments : this may be gathered from the fact that the

College of St. Colomba, near Dublin,^ institution similar to the intended college a£ Christchureh, of which the Grammar School is the germ, has lost the patronage and the pecuniary support of His Grace the Lord Primate of Armagh, and this must be considered a heavy blow to the fractional " high church" party in Ireland. The college of St. Colomba was under the superintendence of the Rev. George Williams, a member cf Oxford University, and of undoubtedly rare scholastic attainments ; it was strongly suspected that the religious education afforded to the pupils savoured too much of the modern innovation upon the simplicity of the reformed faith to be palatable to the tastes of an overwhelming majority of Irish Protestants. This, however, might have been only a matter of suspicion, and as long as his Grace continued his patronage and his support, St. Columba might have flourished. Mr. Williams, as " Warden" of the College, having added his signature to the celebrated " protest" against Bishop Gobat, the Primate addressed a letter to him, requesting him to resign his superintendence of the College, in which letter the following passage occurs :— " I haye always looked with hopefulness to the establishment of this college as a means under the Divine blessing on the system, of effecting an improvement in classical education in this country, but when it now appears before the public that the warden takes a lead in a fresh agitation of the English church, and prominently unites himself with those who are well known to be persons of ultra opinions on ecclesiastical affairs, I am not aware of any mode but one by which I can free the college from the imputation of being an institution in which the views of this section of the church are inculcated, views which for my own part I disapprove of and which therefore I cannot allow it to be supposed that I lend any assistance in propagating." Hi§ Grace, in another letter to the, Warden, says,— i( Soon after the first establishment of the college, a suspicion was very generally prevalent thaj; it was in some degree connected with the party in the Church whose extreme opinions were just then attracting much notice and creating much uneasiness, and from whose ranks so many have seceded to the Church of Home." The resignation of the Archbishop of Armagh, a prelate so unobtrusive and so deservedly respected, must be looked upon as a marked discouragement of such extreme views as are held by the tractarian party. His Grace contributed from his own private income since the year 1850, £5,642 to the establishment and maintenance of this college, and with his usual generosity provided the necessary funds to meet the current expenses at the close of the year. An address approving of Bishop Gobat's proceedings at Jerusalem has been forwarded to him, signed by the Archbishops of Canterbury and of York, and by the Lord Primate of Ireland, and by the Archbishop of Dublin, it is therefore to be inferred thet they are all opposed to that party in the Church which signed the " Protest. " There is at present a movement in the rig^ht direction. The Provincial Goverrimen-; has stepped forward to promote education, and the Provincial Council has granted funds for the purpose. In Lyttelton some few disapprove of the schools being taken from under the charge of the officiating clergymen ; there are others who have no scruples on this ground. It is riot long since Mr. Toomath, the former teacher of the boys' school, was required by the officiating clergymen to take the children under his charge to the Saints' day's service, which he refused to do, and on an appeal to many of their parents, their I wishes were against such attendance, and it

is generally believed that the inhabitants of Lyttelton lost the services of one of the best of masters in consequence. In making this statement I do not mean to draw any comparison between Mr. Toomath, and the present master, whom I have heard highly spoken of. In another quarter opposition of a most decided character has sprung up. After His Honor the Superintendent walked to Governor's Bay to engage a school-house, and make other arrangements for opening a school there, his proffered aid was rejected, and why ? because it was not to be under the charge of a clergyman who attends one Sunday in each month for the performance of Divine Service. This opposition is easily accounted for: the chief mover in it is one of the High Church party. It will be very sad indeed if the opposition- of the few will prevent the education of the many who reside in the neighbourhood of Governor's Bay. The Government should not be deterred from the performance of their duty by any discouragement of the kind without giving a fair trial to a good school with a superior master. I am, Sir, your obedient servant, No Puseyite.

To the Editor of the Lyttelton Times. Sir, —I must request the favour of your again giving me room for one or two remarks on the " Sainta' day" question, which I feel compelled to make in answer to the strictures of the Rev. H. Jacobs, which appeared in your last week's paper. In the first place, he accuses me of sophistry, which I think I may more fairly retort upon him, for it is clear that he has gained an apparent advantage by the very unfairness he attempts to fix on me. This lies in the meaning he has given to the word " concerned," which he uses in a very different sense from that in which it is employed by the writer whose opinions I previously commented upon. When a person says, " that in the proper observance of the Saints' days or Holydays, the very essence or purity of the Christian religion is concerned," what meaning can attach to it but that the essence of the Christian religion is involved or in some measure at stake in this obseivance, and I asked, and still ask, the writerfor theproofs of this position. Mr. Jacobs has certainly not given them, and I have not seen anything to shake me in my opinion that the essence of the Christian religion is neither involved nor at stake by the observance or non-observance of the Saints' days. I will further add that I suppose from the analogy he uses, Mr. Jacobs wishes it to be inferred that as a man by frequently standing on his head would be placed beyond the pale of humanity, so a man by not keeping the Saints' days would be put out of the pale of salvation. With regard to the attendance of children on Church Services, I conceive this to be entirely a question of degree, and Mr. Jacobs' argument leaves the matter exactly where it was. It may be very proper that children should attend the services on Sundays, but it by no means follows that it is ether necessary or wise that they should be ccmpelled to be present either on Saints' da/ or daily services, and according to Mr. Jaiobs' theory, if at one time why not at the other ? Again, it may be very right to impose some restrictions upon children, but if yoi impose too many, you will most certainty " encourage a spirit of rebellion against all authority." Thtt the Saints' days agreeably diversify " the -egular routine of every day work, which s a thing above all others agreeable to juveiile taste," I have no doubt. Juvenile tase will put up with much for an extra half holiday. But I doubt if children gain an; £Q Ore reverence for our Church

services by their attendance on those days, and I also doubt if they make any better progress in their learning, religious or secular, and which doubts Mr. Jacobs (as he confesses in the beginning of his letter) knows is shared by very many with Your obedient Servant, Another Member of the Chubch of England.

To the Editor of the Lyttellon Times. Sir, —In reference to your leading article of last week, it will perhaps be interesting to your readers to learn the exact produce of the wool-clip of 1853-4. The number of bales is 1,017, and of these about 950 have been shipped. I believe this statement to be accurate, as I have it from a source I can rely on. : * I am, Sir, Your obedient Servant, J. S.

To the Editor of the Lyttelton Time s. Sib, —I sometime ago read in a number ofPiinch the following verses, which I enclose for insertion in your next Saturday's paper. Whether the charges therein contained are alike applicable to the bakers in this province, as to those resident in the metropolis of England, I will leave your readers to determine. For myself I deny the charges, and remain, Yours truly, A Baker. « THE BAKER. " Who is it, in an idle hour, Grinds up gome beans both cheap and sour To mix them with his wheaten flour ? The Baker ! v Who if a trifling rise in price Occurs in corn, will not be nice, But in the bread will charge it twice ? 4The Baker! " Who, when the corn is ' down again,' Is such a thorough rogue in grain, * The rise in bread still to maintain ? The Baker i " Who is it, when we send a pie, Will child-like take a straw and try To suck it of the syrup dry ? The Baker! " Who- is it, when we trust some ribs Of beef to bake, a portion cribs, And hides the fault by wicked fibs ? The Baker ? " Who, if we miss a piece of fat, Has always got an answer pat, And lays it on a neighbour's cat ? The Baker! *' Who from rice pudding, with a cnp, Extracts the custard—every sup— And says the fire has dried it up? The Baker! « Who, the unpleasant truth to state, Cheats us at such a fearful rate, That every loaf is short in weight? The Baker!"