The Nelson Evening Mail. FRIDAY, JUNE 26, 1868.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume III, Issue 149, 26 June 1868, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. FRIDAY, JUNE 26, 1868.

The ceremony of laying the foundation stone of the new Anglican Church, under the dedication of All Saints, to be erected in Vanguard-street, for the western parish, took place this afternoon, in the presence of a very large concourse of spectators, representing almost every denomination. A platform had been raised in front of the stone, from which an excellent view of the proceedings could be obtained, and the site of the future church was gaily decked with flags and evergreens. Shortly after 2 o'clock, a procession, consisting of the Churchwardens, Messrs Lowe and Thornton, the Vestry, and the Building Committee : — the Revs. G. H. Johnstone and R. J. Thorpe, and Messrs Beit, Brown, Burnett, Braithwaite, Darby, Elson, Goulstone, Lowe, Thornton, and Watkins. and closed by the Right Rev. the Bishop with his Chaplain and Clergy, left the Oddfellows' Hall, and proceeded to the site of the new church, where the proceedings immediately commenced, the Rev. R. J. Thorpe, Minister of the parish, presenting to his Lordship the plans of the building, with a request for the laying of the foundation stone. A hymn, * Christ is our corner-stone ' was then sung by the choir of the parish, accompanied oa the harmonium, and after some versicles and responses had been read, the 84th Pslalm, ' Quam dilecta tabernacula,' was said by the Rev. G. H. Johnstone. Other prayers followed, and the 127th Psalm, 'Nisi Dominus,' having been said by the Rev. C. 0. Mules, one of the Bishop's Chaplains, the inscription was read, and the Bishop having stated that pieces of the current coin of the realm, together with copies of the three local journals, were deposited with it, his Lordship proceeded to lay the stone, which was then lowered into its proper position, and the ceremony was concluded. A hymn ' This stone to Thee in faith we lay' was sung, and the Bishop addressed the congregation, with especial reference to the peculiar circumstances under which the church was being erected, and during the singing of another hymn, a collection was made, the ceremonial concluding with the usual benediction. We are precluded from offering a longer description of the ceremony, which was not brought to a conclusion until after our usual time of going to press. Notice has been given by the Government that all existing contracts for interprovincial steam services will terminate in September next. A specimen of tweed, from the establishment of the Geelong Woollen Cloth Manufacturing Company, has been exhibited to us, of remarkably fine quality, and which will bear very favorable comparison with home-manufactured goods of this description. We hear that these colonial manufactures have received much encouragement, the demand being very great in the Australian markets. At the Resident Magistrate's Court yesterday, Augustus Yelverton was charged under the Vagrancy Act, 1866, with being an idle and disorderly person, -—having been five times convicted of drunkenness during the past six months — and was sentenced to 14 days' imprisonment with haril labor. The concert to be given this evening at the Provincial Hall, in aid of tbe new Anglican Church for the Western Parish, is likely to prove a decided success, a very large number of tickets having already been disposed of. The vocal portion of the programme (amongst which figures a new and exquisite song by the great composer of the day, Gounod, which was an established favorite at all the concerts during the last London season) is entirely sacred, and has been judiciously varied by secular instrumental pieces to be given by amateur performers, who have kindly volunteered their services on the occasion. A Dunedin telegram in the Lyttelton Times, under date of the 18th inst., says that at a public meeting at Balclutha on the preceding day, Major Richardson spoke for an hour and three quarters on

the political aspect of New Zealand, especially with reference to Provincial institutions. He gave an historical review to show that the original intention of the framers of the Constitution was, that Provincial institutions should be temporary, aud should be succeeded by locally governed districts, receiving one-third of their land revenue for public works. The time had now come, he continued, for abolishiug Provincial institutions, but not for abolishiug Provincial boundaries, which he would retain if possible. Separation was never more impossible than now ; if it were possible, he would rather accept it than have the colony cut up into petty, divided, powerless States. The General Government, instead of having been aggressive, had been nomitrally indifferent to its duties to the colony in this mutter. He advocated : — lst, the abolition of Provincial Legislatures ; 2nd, nominated Superintendents, with an elective council of twelve members, and quarterly meetings ; 3rd, that a portion of the consolidated reveuue, in proportion to the population, be given to each province ; 4th, that the land revenue be allocated in the proportion of one-third for immigration, one-third for trunk roads, and one-third for the District Road Boards ; sth, that separate accounts be kept for the different funds ; 6th, that the provinces be divided iuto counties and road districts. The Evening Post notices with satisfaction that the members of the Central Fire Brigade in Wellington have initiated the use of plates bearing the name of the brigade, which are to be seen nailed on the front of each member's residence, and apparently claims originality for this arrangement, which, however, we may remark, was adopted in this city some months ago, the idea being, be believe, borrowed from Dunedin. The Southern Cross of the 20th instant says that the Commissioner of Police has taken his departure from Auckland for the Thames district in consequence of the number of stickiug-up cases which have lately occurred in that locality; also to see if it is necessary to place more police upon duty. A very successful 'bazaar was held in Adelaide during the first week in June, in aid of the Church which is being erected by the Wesieyan body in memory of the late Rev. D. J. Draper, formerly Chairman of the Adelaide District, and who, it will be remembered, was lost in the * London ' on his return to Australia. The Acting-Governor, Lieut, Col. Hamley, was present at the opening of the bazaar, and delivered a speech, in which he alluded to the labors of the lamented minister after whom the church is to be named, and to his heroic conduct on board the 'London.' £1,000 was realised by the undertaking, and this without the aid of raffles and "postoffices. The church will be a very handsome edifice, in the First Pointed style of Gothic architecture. By a singular and noteworthy coincidence the London Times of the 27th of April contained in parallel columns the telegram forwarded from Sydney by his Excellency the Earl of Belmore via Galle, to his Grace the Duke of Buckingham, Secretary for the Colonies, announcing the attempted assassination of H.R.H. the Duke of Edinburgh on the 12th of March, and the telegram received at the Foreign Office from her Majesty's Agent and Consul General in Egypt, announcing the death of King Theodorus, and the conclusion of the war in Abyssinia. In the leading article in the same paper in reference to the attempt on the Prince's life, we find the following passage : — ' The Australians have welcomed with abundant loyalty and hospitality the son of their Queen, but the feeling for the Duke of Edinburgh in good health and spirits will be weak in comparison with that he will excite when the colonists hear of him as lying wounded and helpless under the bullet of an assassin.' How fully these anticipations were realised we need not call to the recollection of our headers. The experiment of holding District Courts seems to be acknowledged to be a failure, since the Wellington Independent states that it is the intention of the Government to abolish the sittings of these courts in the provinces of Marlborough, Wellington, and Hawke's Bay, and to increase the jurisdiction of the Resident Magistrates to £100. Tho Sydney Government is advertising for a gentleman to fill the office of Lands Title Commissioner. The salary offered is £700 per annum.

Immediately after the adoption of Mr Gladstone's resolutions with respect to the disendowment of the Irish Protestant Church, Mr Whitbread, member for Bedford, moved resolutions to withdraw the annual parliamentary grant of £30,000, voted in aid of the support of the Roman Catholic Ecclesiastical {College of Maynooth, and also the whole amount of the Regiutn Donum, or Royal State Aid Grant (£40,000), voted yearly in support of the clergymen of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland since the period of the legislative union with England and that the resolution should take the form of law immediately on the disestablishment of the Protestant Episcopal Church in Ireland. The motion was agreed to. The trial of President Johnson drags along heavily, a great portion of the time being taken up in attempts to baffle any evidence favorable to him. The Herald Washington correspondent of 15th April says:— All over town this evening a change of opinion seems to have taken place, and the acquittal ot the President appears to be the prevailing impression. The way opinion changes on this question is quite wonderful. Ex-President Davis's bonds have been renewed and the accused is to appear at the next term of the court on being duly notified. The judge announced that Chief Justice Chase would be prepared to try the case immediately after the impeachment trial closes. The day of trial has been fixed for the 3rd June. The Panama Star of the 24th of May, says that a revolution had taken place in the capital, and President Juarez was flying to the Texan frontier with 7,000,000 dollars in his possession. The coal and iron districts in England are just now suffering from strikes, and a complete prostration of trade. The 'black country' is no longer illumined by its accustomed cyciopean fires, and in South Lancashire disputes have arisen between the colliers and their employers, which have ended in extensive strikes. The cost of guarding the Fenian prisoners daring the 10 weeks they remained in Warwick Gaol was £521 165., including a sum of £1*73 ios. for extra pay to the police.

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