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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume II, Issue 271, 15 November 1867, Page 2

The outward Suez Mail, per Otago, closes at 7 o'clock this evening. On Wednesday afternoon St Michael's Church, Waimea-west, was consecrated by the Eight Rev. Bishop Suter, assisted by the Rev. Messrs Tudor, Tripp, Towgood, Lewis, Ewald, Moules, and Thorpe, who all took part in the service. An impressive sermon, appropriate to the occasion, was preached by the Bishop from 2 Cor. iii. 11th aud following verses. The welltrained choir, of the church sang several hymns during the service, and a collection towards the fabric fund was made, amounting to upwards of £14. A large congregation, which filled thd church, was present. This building is one of the prettiest ecclesiastical structures in the colony, and reflects much credit on the zeal, taste, and liberality of those who have been instrumental in its erection. Previous to the service, which commenced at 3 o'clock, Mrs Blundell entertaiued a large party at luncheon at Staplegrove, amongst whom we noticed his Lordship the Bishop and Mrs Suter, with the clergy already mentioned, Sir William and Lady Forbes, Lieutenant-Colonel Richmond, Mr and Mrs A. J. Richmond, Hon. Mr and Mrs Morse, and Miss Monro, Mr and Mrs Brunner, Mrs and Miss Huddieston, Mr and Mrs H. H. Stafford, Mr aud Mrs Turner (Wakapuaka), Dr and Mrs Cotterell, Mrs A. Monro, Misses Greenwood^ Thorpe, Wood, Braithwaite, Baillie, aud many others, a large number of whom had come from Nelson to be present on this auspicious occasion. On Thursday the Bishop laid the foundation stone of St. Alban's Church at Appleby, with the usual ceremonies, in the presence of a large "assemblage of members- of the Anglican Church, and a collection was made amounting to £23 16s 3d. The members of the Volunteer Artillery Corps will be glad to learn that the cloth, etc., for their uniforms, arrived yesterday evening' by the Otago from Melbourne. We may therefore hope to see the corps taking their part in the review on Boxing day. A detachment has been told off from the company for gun practice with the Armstrong gun lent by the Wakapuaka Company, and commenced drill on Monday last. At the Eesident Magistrate's Court yesterday morning, John Simmonds, a seaman belonging to the schooner Augusta, was charged with stealing at the late fire a smoking cap and parcel of sewing silk, the property of Messrs Black, Campbell, and Black. It appeared from the evidence that after the fire, the goods from the complainants' warehouse were removed to the Bank of New Zealand yard, where the prisoner was then working . in their employ. From information received, Sergeant Nash went on board the Augusta, and found the articles in the prisoner's bunk, with other property to which his

claim was more than doubtful. The prisoner was sentenced to three months' imprisonment with hard labor. The Nelson Spring Assizes will commence to-morrow, the 16th instant, before his Honor Mr Justice Richmond. The following criminal cases are set do-wu for trial :— Robert Wilson, murder; James Regan, indecent assault; Ripeue Para-ma- _ tia, assault ; James Campbell, forgery ; James Thompsou and John Anderson, escaping from custody; Francis Duncan, perjury; William Chambers, larceny; Johu Smith, larceny; A. B. W. Goidsmidt, 'horsestealing. We understand that there are at present nine civil cases for trial, for some of which Messrs Travers and Connolly hold briefs. We understand that the entertainment in support of the Temperance Movement which was given a, short time since with such success at Stoke, is to be repeated at the School-room, Spring 1 Grove, on Saturday evening. The firing for three handsome prizes presented to the No. 1 City Rifles by Messrs Edward, M'Tavish, and Catley commenced at the City Butts this afternoon at 1 o'clock. The weather which at first threatened to be inauspicious, has been all that could be desired. We shall give the result in our next issue. In reference to some letters and reports on the" postponement of the review, we are authorised by the Hon. Major Morse to state that he sanctioned the postponement at the request of two of the^officers of. the City Companies, who thought that most of the Voluuteers would be too tired with their exertions at the fire on the previous night to complete the required preliminary drill for trooping the new colors, which is a vety complicated military manoeuvre, and one which they, had not previously learned. We are further requested to state that there is no foundation whatever for the unauthorised report that another color had been ordered from Australia, and that no intention has been entertained by anyone to present auy other color than that now prepared for the Cadets. H.R.H. the Duke of Edinburgh who, as we stated recently, has arrived at Adelaide, did not visit Mauritius, stating, as is alleged, as a reason for declining the iuvitatiou offered him, that he wasauxious to spend Christmas with his Excellency Sir George Grey in New Zealaad. This however would seem impossible, if the Prince's visit to Australia is prolonged, as it at present bids fair to be, beyond the limits originally proposed; and at auy rate it seems highly probable that Sir George Bowen will have assumed the Government of this colouy before the date of the royal visit. Despatches, it seems, were received by the return Panama steamer from Sydney both by Sir George Grey and Mr Stafford (both of whom are personally known to Sir G. Bowen) to the effect that the appointment had been received by the last Suez mail, with an intimation that the commission and instructions -would be forwarded by the Pauama mail of the Ist October; and that meauwhile he was desired to malce his preparations for quitting Queeuslaud as soon as convenient after that commission was received. Sir George Bowen further states that he hopes to reach Wellington either by a' man-of-war or by an ordinary mail steamer before Christmas-day. The Evening Post of the 6th states that the Government have at last commenced to make some arrangements for the reception of H.R.H. the Duke of Edinburgh, who is expected to arrive here about January. As a preliminary step it is intended, to increase the accommodation of Government-house by the erection of a large and commodious ballroom. We mentioned some days since that a complimentary benefit had been tendered to' Miss Annie Merton by several iufluentiai gentlemen in this city, which, in consequence of the late fire, was postponed. This, we perceive, will take place this (Friday) evening, at the Oddfellows'Hall, under the patronage of his Honor the Superintendent, the Speaker, and Members of the Provincial Council, with the Officers of the various Volunteer Corps. Miss Annie Merton will be assisted on this occasion by several well-known amateurs, in addition to the professional talent at present in the city, and the entertainment, which will be of a'miscellaneous character, and under the skilful management of Mr W. H. Newton, may. be expected to prove, a brilliant; success. -Amongst the varied 'items of the programme we find the ' closet scene' from Hamlet, the comedy A -Cosy Couple, and

a ' sketch,' in which Miss Annie Merton. is announced to sustain six different characters, with a very attractive musical interlude. The No. 2 City Cadets competed on Wednesday for the Government prize rifle. Lieutenant W. Nicholson was the successful competitor, with a score of 44, followed by Private G-. Nicholson 39, Private W. Adams 36, Ensign Wither 31, Private G-. Moore 30. The shooting was exceedingly good, considering that this company is at present the most juvenile of the Cadet Battalion.The Wellington papers announce the death by drowning of Mr Fyffe, a member of the Canterbury Provincial Council.