THE NEW GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS, CHRISTCHURCH.

Lyttelton Times, Volume IX, Issue 541, 9 January 1858, Page 5

THE NEW GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS, CHRISTCHURCH.

Wednesday ia^wiob^erved'atClii: iitchurch as a holiday r qn ?/ tne occasion of,, laying the. foundation, stbnq of, the aboye^bujldings. r '-, ',', ' ftroWan 1-early, Kgur in the "morning the site of the ceremony was''conspicuous from a great distance over f Plains.;, a tall, mast upwards of fifty feet* In "Wight was "profusely decorated with flags, and a great variety of streamers a^d pennons were^ateo1 disposed about' the' JBite,'' wWch:'is' trfie'highest in "Chrisfcchdrch'. THe general'mass' of 'rich ; colouf, a very goti d fea- ' MrS fronvall parts' of'the town, was eminently pleasing and picturesque from the road near the Chuw/hV 5 aM°the^Royal; -'JO* 1 approaching 1 'the grotffiSf^ <&i the intention of the several arrange-' mfetttif" became more distinct, it '-was Evident, that |«uch care and thought had been bestowed upon o'thenv T.he preparations"1 were designed *B#e^ec.uted in nigh furtißtic>tyle. ; J '\iU^ / ' 4TKe I sit'e'^as'-ettc'losed'by'arail-barrier^ the apri^Tltif' of '° which1 we're continued; vp1 twelve ftef- snU^afriedN swallow-tailed pennons. The, general outlines of the plan of the edifice weie indicated by poies, about'^enfe'et apart, each1 'carrying •a pennon. ' The entrance porch was indicated by the pennon poles being higher than thc/^est/and carrying two festoons of flowers, and foliage. The, Council^Chamber en - itrance and future clock tower wasfshown by the ldfty ; '• this was surroundedbyfour shorter masts ;each forty" feet high,-? carrying large swallow-tailed' pennons, blue and white; at'their'summits. The fcehtral mai«t borethe Union Jack, with the flag of New; Zealand below,'''and long strings -of .ships' colours; most kindly lent1 for the 'occasion' by the! captains of the ships Gleritanner, Oriental, and Bosworth, drooped and fluttered in all-ilirec-tions tothe "grouud;' ' The swallow-tailed pennons, defining-the ground, in all cases carried the heraldic- colours, party;per pale;—argent and gules; -argent.and azure, or and azure, or and vert, argent and vert, &c., alternately, and were suspended by proper coloured; twisted bands to staves.! By thisi arrarigementj had the-weather been calm, the effect of colours drooping tbthe mast Would have been entirely avoided n but -the day was so far propitious that a fine sea breeze' kept all the flags in motion and materially enhanced the animation of the scene. There was acommbdious enclosed arid covered gallery raised in tiers and 'provided with seats for' the ladies.; ■> The colours here were pink and white, and; the decorations1 were well/studied! Boaquetsl"df- flowers assisted to prombte/"the'1 gen«rHlfeffect ift 'the ■ wlible' composition. ;Alibgether the arrangements were the most artistic that have ever been seen here, and appeared to givw(gre4t}satisfaictroni; :;" -i - ■ • -Chei^rocesSidn formed at the^Hiirch: in the order of procession which had been arranged; arid> wlifoh we 'published in' bur last |:the band coming'1 firat/^and^the 1 Sup^rtritendeht bringing ap the reair^There'w'eriß a large number of the clergy present, a- considerable of the roll 'of justices, and twenty-two members, of the Provincial;; "The order'of' manjh led; by Oxford Tefrace7 ftisiereford Street,: Cathedral; Squaref CsJoj3ibq^ thei Market Place, across thel River by'the Papanui Bridge, : to (Durham Street. Qnrarriviflg atjithe. .entrance to the building, a halt was called, and the two lines separating to the right\and left, his, Honor the Saperihtenderit advanced between the ranks to. the barrier, where he was received by the Architects, Messrs. Moontfort and Luck, and conducted by them to the stoner at fhe triangle. The procession": followed and arranged itself to the south and east side of the stone; the Bishop of'Christchurchjandthe Clergy, occupying an; advanced position. A Psalm was then read and a prayer appointed the occasion offered byj the' Bishop, tHe stone having been raised by a block, ai^tackle,.:^^. . ,-... ; .:.^!,;, „;, 'The" Provincial Secretary then read the following inspription :— 7 ;. ,■'. ,-, '■'■'■■"" ' '"'"" Die-Eplpliariiaß, , JLnnOjKedemptiohis hostr« [' ' ,■-■•■■^.•s ,::,,-,V:;-i XDCCChVIU, ' '"'""'/ '\. ""' Victoriaß, Dei gratia Britanniarum reginae, ■ :J ''■■'-"—-■ ±xi,': >^- ■■■-'' :' l'? ,?;<•:?;:,{' .[-o-.r, ..AJEdififiii^' -:.-..Ai :-.■-.'■■■•■■ .'": .h Hujus Provincial,sumpta-; ; •: < = In* Cnrise swsj.atque(Edium Publicarura u»um: V"'""" ■'"""■' ' • Er'igendi, '] \ " '•" " *.".:> ■ „,: Hoc angulare futjdamentum posuit •' V ' 'iVirhohofabiHs '■' " ' . '■■' ■'-.■.'- • Gulielmus Sefton rMd6rh6use, •' • • Rrovinciae Cantuariensis api^d Novam Zelandiam .>=-' 'i-i--'<" i Superin'teridens'alter.- * ; i ■"*.■ Hoc et omne consilium nostrum : Dirigat atque secundet Deus. .1: i;,': -'(Or, in English): M On the feast of the Epiphany, in the year of our L0rd?185.8,.. $n the.2lstyear.qf Victoria* by the God QufeQii of Great Brit^in,7« rilr; liarai Seft'on*^toorhbuse. Esquire, second, Siipeiri' in,tendent. of Province-of in, J^w>2eiaana,^aia fthefoundatidiac^ner^^^ an edifice to be erecteti at the expense of this BjrqTincei.sfbr.!iit!i* 1 ierviceT of its : Council Public Offices. This and Ml our undertaTcsngs mayG^ai4r«ecUindlpospe^VUKlH'iaL .X . The inscription" was :writt«n on vellum, and the icrbll was tiien placed* in a glass flask, arid deposited iertlie carity of, the^loww stone by ■'^.f^e]^hi^^^^fiM^7witt|?'i^ i«o'ryj iki&idj^,»: *«irytordditabldi piece; of work by Mr. Neeve of Christchnrch, wan thfen: pre-1 abated to his Honor jby !n |y|r..s^onnJ(fq!rU .His Honor then pvoceeded ,£t) : lere,lsthe-.niortar, and, tbp.»^!jo;bpin^^owered, : accepted tjiemaU.with he set an^ r! The plumb *nd level were then presented' and applied, and the stone waa declared tpi.be, properly laid. The baodj immgdjateiy *t^u^k up f . ? Kulo Britannia,,' and a salute' of nine'guns was fired under th«J '< *^penn|e^donce of Mr. Ballard. ' '

His Honor the Superintendent" tlien stepped forward. He said that the duty had fallen upon 'him} by of. the- office i which had been conferred upon him in the state, of joining in the celebration of ah impbrtant event, tlie laying the. foundation stone ; of,the /principal public building of the province, and of taking an important, part.therein. He cOuld not but congratulate alf present apqnthe'unanimity taxiay display^;^'ah^ he was:hearti[y»gVa'd'to see so many of all classes;and opinions agreeing to •rejoice with, one another .on.|a .state occasion. could, he, was convinced, indicate, more 'clearly the satisfactory condition of' the settlement in all its branches, material, social-and political, than the manner in, which" the event of the day had; been conducted "on- the one hand and supported oh the Jother.■"■"He: felt and must confess himself but poorly qualified by nature to perform his part in such .proceedings as the present in the easy and graceful manner which were peculiarly suitable for the occasion ; but he felt the honbur bf'the position which devolved upon him, and - with such a consciousness he knew that,he could.do nothing disgraceful,eitlier to himself or to the occasion. As Supeiinteiident he must feel the greatest interest in the advancement and welfare of the community, and he could show that interest ho more clearly than in being ready at any time to join.ina celebration like the present, and to contribute to the utmost o( his power to innocent social amusements. Though somewhat aside from the- proper course of his observations he "would beg leave to remark upori what had come under' his notice a;very short time; before, some observations of the local press upon the; proceedings of the day. The .'Lytteltota Times' had published a paragraph referring to I theprogrammei.which'he felt called upqn to answer, because, although .apparently humorous,; under-a disguise of fun he thought there, was a mischievous meaning.* ; . The, .editor ojf the 'Lyttelton Times' .had written an article in which he thought, fit to insinuate that they were setting the. General Government at defiance, by.. displaying1 the numerical force of the j provincial officers. He thought thialwas a very uncalled for remark, inasmuch as nothing had been contemplated in .arranging; the order of the procession at all derogatory to the General Government. He would take occasion to say, knd was rather pleased; to have an opportunity bf making the admission, that so far from setjiing., the General {Government at defiance he wag determined to do all in his power to.mainlain the supremacy bf the G.eneral Governmerit. ifHear, hear.) But in all local concerns he' that they, were perfectly justified ,'inj managing matters.jtheir py;n '■■ way^ provided they did not transgress the limits of their proper.position.. :r He would now conclude by cordially,thanking the ladie,s,for their,kindness in being-present on ;the occasion. Every gentle-" man, was, he was sure, highly gratified at the compliment which the ladies had paid them by honouring the ceremony with their presence. ? The. band then played God Save the Queen, three Vhearty cheers Vere given, and the ceremony,; was concluded..: - : -

: We cannot altogether pass over the allusion to the ' Lyttelton Times' in his Honor's speech. We confess that we were not prepared for the honour done us by so much notice on such an occasion."; When we joke agaih-we must endeavour to make our meaHihg intelligible to all. ' The-cerembny of laying the fbi;ridation stone of the proposed Forester's Court came off immediately after' the; conclusion* of; the' above proceedings. The Foresters had walked in procession with their banriew behind the.^Government procession; and left the ground, headed by the band, when the rest dispersed. The site of the proposed edifice is on the bank of the river Avon and fronts upon the, intersection of two streets between theraarket-placeand the' Bricks.' Mr. E. J. Wakefield laid the stone, apologising for the want of the proper ceremony on the qc- r casion, caused by the shortness bf the-time fori preparation, lMr. Wood ford, also addressed the assemblage pointing; out the praise worthy,,obr jects of the society and the advance which-it had made in this province to the present time. After the forms were gone through^ the procession paraded through the town: for an .hour or

I A Bad i Tenant EjECTEn.-^-lii^the engagement which took place between the French "and the Arabs at the Col de lft Monzaia, in Algeira, [ 17; year s; of the,Bth battalion of Foot jChasseurs, was struck -by a ; ;bajl in the ej'e, whicji penetrated-the head, and J remained there in spite of all efforts to extracts it. Since then M. Uhnch, whb: fiaa risen to ithe grade of Colonel; has suffered greatly from &he presence of the,,.ball,^particularly when fobliged; to ride.pn' hoi^fsbaqk... A few months fback, the inconvenience having-greatly increased,, lie'wjts sent>by his medical advisers to lAllevard't A watering place in the Isere. About %en days ago* he had a slight attack-of- apoplexy, which shook; him greatly, and a few mights afterwards,.,he was awakened frpni, his sleep ;6yrab! senß# of ?sttnocatibni r'-lJuTiipjng up, po found that the ball had by-degrees WorkedIts way down, and had at last fallen/fr^m the jupperpartof the mouth into hik^hrbai By jviolent efforts he succeeded 'in dislodging it, and he is now doing well.. Tho'ball, though ! Siminisbed^by corrosion,;was;found to weigh j ■25 grammas (about four-fifths of an ounce).— \Galignani,— - „ _ ; A Kemabkabliß FtBBCI>r-A correspondent At Aldinga informs,us that on, Wednesday, las^t he saw a fleece weighing exactly•; 11 lbs., without a particle of sand or dirt, taken off a twoyear old wether, belonging to Mr. Thomas Culley, of Aldinga. The utaple is exceedingly ftno and long.— Adelaide Register,

Protis Gamblees.—One of the most amusing instances of external piety we'rementber to "have witnessed ; was in a, Madrid club, where,every, night, towards 12!o'clbck, a :rouge-etrrioir table opens. Occasionally it'hag happened that'when the game was'at'the' hottest; the table strewn with gold and notes, eagerness to be read oh the flushed countenances that craned over the green' cloth,'there was'h'eard in th^ street without the tinkle of the bell tliat'arinpiinces the; passage of the Host. Instantly the'game was suspended, the gamblers knelt iipbii their; chairs: or on the floor, and crossed themselves and mumbled a'few^ prayers while the consecrateU wafer passed on its way to'sbTne:dying'man's bedside. The sound of the. bell and qf the steps, of the piripsts grew 'fainter,''arid as'it1 died away the" gamblers resumed their Beats,'again grasped their gold, and stretched their necks', and once more it was " Rouge gagne et la couleur."-^-Bldckwood's Magazine for^ "Sejpt." „„ ._ . . The''best defence of "lying that we ever read is the remark of Charles 'Lambj related f- by Leigh Hunt, that "truth was precious, and not to be wasted on,everybody ?"