MELBOURNE.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XX, Issue 1112, 8 July 1863, Page 2

MELBOURNE.

£fbom the correspondent OF THE ' DAIJ y -June 20th, \^'' The crisis to which things political have ?„ p' r been tending has at last arrived, and the O'.Sh- '' Ministry has heard its death-knell—a majoritv' 16 having been recorded against it. To sorrier defeat is unexpected. People had almost reco n , themselves to the prospect that O'Shanassy and't' would outlive the present session, though i t v universally believed that their ultimate expuil"* from office was a mere matter of time. Last ■ the House was crowded to witness the great par'' fight. Actively had the Government workfT'! whip in all their supporters, and no effort had h« - spared to influence the waverers to cast in their h with the Ministry; as sedulously, and as experie has proved, more successfully, were the Oppo;j t ;,! forces marshalled for the struggle. The battle ' short, sharp, and decisive, and when it was knr through the House that a majority of it; negatived the resolution, loud cheers followed t i. announcement. The 'Age' thus describes t' affair:— " Mr. Duffy at length delivered his historv of land question, shrieking out denunciation of Lis'f,,," and on the whole, a very complete confe-siun of ji" failure, general and particular, of his model mowC a failure for which he, Mr. Duffy, was not for it was the measure of the whole House. If {j r Duffy is destined to immortality in the oratorical elegant extracts, it will certainly not ' w . from the speech of last night; for it is 'hard imagine a weaker effort, or on the whole a rnw pitiable exhibition of a statesman in difficult v. 'i';,. motion was that the House should go into eominit' to consider resolutions for restoring the fi assessment of stock. Mr. Snodgrass oppos proposition from the pastoral point of viw Mr. Brooke on a broader political ground, the latter speaker, the Land Minister rece ; severe censure, particularly for his attempt to overboard the arbitrations, which was tharat: as the grossest possible act of repudiation, half-past ten the House went to a division, a: resolution, amidst loud cheers, was negative majority of 42 to 26. Amongst the supporters'.'! the Government, whose names, will be found with the majority, were Messrs. Cohen, Iliginbothan:. Kirk, M'Culloch, M'Donald, Orkney, Kiddell, ,J. I Smith, W. C. Smith, and Tucker. On the other hand, in the minority were the once professing liberals—Aspinall, Cathie, Humffrav, Kyte, Loader, and Mackay;—Cathie, Loader and Mackay. the erst redoubtable orators of the Convention. Thus for a second time has a mighty O'Shannassy Administration fallen." Who the " coming man" is to be is not yet known. After the crushing defeat the Government Have sustained, they cannot well remain in office, unless the President of Land and Works is thrown overboard. The coming week will enlighten us as to our future Government; canards of all kinds are of course flying about, but on these little reliance can be placed. The news of the decisive blow that has been struck at Tataraimaka has been received here with great satisfaction, as it is felt that action of this kind is about the only way to satisfactorily settle the Maori difficulty. The libel case between M'Gregor and M'Bean. to which I alluded in my last, has resulted in a verdict for the plaintiff, the damages being estimated at £1500. In the obituary of the week appears the name of Colonel Farquharson, who has officiated since November, 1856, as Usher of the Black Rod. Hiillness has been of a very lingering character, and his demise was not altogether unexpected. He was buried in the New Cemetery yesterday. His successor is not yet known, though Mr. Palmer, the Sergeant-at-Arms is spoken of. The success of the first Wroeite meeting was so unequivocal in a pecuniary sense, that the promoters were encouraged to get up another one of the same kind. This was held at the Princess' Theatre on Wednesday evening, and notwithstanding the prices were doubled and trebled, the building was quite filled. The pantomimic scenes and speeches gone through on the first occasion were again gone through on this, only (owing, perhaps, to the punishment inflicted on the publisher of the Wrodte pamphlet) on a much milder scale; and when the audience left the theatre they no doubt were highly edified with what they had witnessed. It is uo rr than probable that this will be the last of those disgraceful meetings, as it is currently reported that proceedings are about to be instituted against Dr. Milton and Allan Stewart for having been concerned in the publication and diffusion of the Wroeite " Revelations."

The P. and 0. Company deserve great credit tor the punctual manner in which they have deliverer the Australian mails, and it is a great pity the) should have laid themselves open to censure for the non-delivery of nearly one-half of the heavier portion of the mail. Last mail, as it was an exceptional case, this was overlooked, with the exception ot :1 little grumbling; but when it occurs the very mail, it really deserves to be taken notice of. ( - )u,r 170 packages have this month been left behind ;inJ booksellers are at their wits'-end to satisfy grumblings of their customers. A frequent repetition of this annoyance will precipitate some ilirtereiii regulations for our mail service. An addition will shortly be made to the fleet on the Australian station, H.M. ships Esk ami Cur:W 0S being on their way here. The latter Avill he t' ll flag-ship, under the command of Sir William W '' H " man, a relative of the well-known Cardinal of tlu same name. The Echuca extension is now fairly coin»v , «-' t - ■ and a considerable number of navvies, &c., ' lIV ,lt work on different parts of the line. I regret to that frequent disputes on the subject of wages considerably impeding the progress of the An extension of time has been granted to the eon tractors, on account of the delay in issuing l ' K necessary plans. I am afraid the Collingwood gold diggings, aftei all, will come to an untimely end. A dispute h'l- - between the contractors and the directors. .i' u the former will most probably throw up their umlci taking, in which case operations will be suspem sine die. The inquiry into the cause of the death of Chinese doctor has shown that death arose f ll suffocation through inhaling the fumes of cat '- 1011 acid gas. A valedictory breakfast was given to Mi. yesterday, who is about leaving for England m Roxburgh Castle. As one of the most honoi.i > j public men we have, Mr. Eolfe lias earned opinions for himself, and his departure is lookei as a serious loss to the colony. It is believed that stay in England will not be of a perrnanont natur