AUCKLAND, THURSDAY, DEC, 29, 1804.

New Zealand Herald, Volume II, Issue 353, 29 December 1864, Page 4

AUCKLAND, THURSDAY, DEC, 29, 1804.

THE SACKING OF MR. MEIKLEJOIIN'i HOUSE BY SEVENTEEN ARMEI MAORIES. We are now in possession, of fuller particular respecting the outrage at Matakana, winch w reported in yesterday's Hebald. It appear that tlie occurrence did not happen, as w naturally supposed it did, on Christmas D&j but actually on Thursday last, and was reporte to his Excellency at the Kawau at once. H took no steps, it seems, in the matter until th ' Wonga Wonga' happened to come to the islan where he spends his time in looking after th safety and welfare of the Queen's subject amongst the beauties of the Eawau.

Seventeen natives armed to the teeth not one of them being escaped reebl prisoners from -Hawaii, but Northern Natives— came to Mr Meiklejohn's house, in open daylight, and presenting their arms at the inma^ es> threatening them with instant deatlj. if they resisted., commenced the work 0 f plunder. At this time Captain C ame across to Jus son s house, of Unarmed, not thinking iJiat anything of this kind was going od, and remonstrated with Natives, but in vain.

Dliey then proceeded with the work of plunder, md father and son retired for assistance, and laying armed themselves and a few other Eurojeans, returned -with the laudable purpose of •etaking their property by force of arms. They •eturned, however, too late. Now, we ask the Government of New Zealand —How long is this state of things to continue ? Ire the inhabitants of the North to live under lie law of the tomahawk, or under the protec;ion of the Queen ? The time has come when here must be no more sliilly shallying in this natter. Either troops must bo at once despatched to protect the Northern settlers in ,he quiet possession of their homes, or tho Northern settlel-s must take the matter into Jieir own hands, and without fear and hesitation defend their lives and property, from Maori nsolence and Maori aggression, with the rifle. Hie settlers of the North must at ohce organise for self dcfence, and arm themselves to enforce respect to the law which the Government is too weak to Uphold. When such an aggression as that committed by the Natives on Thursday last is attempted, it must bo resisted with arms, and should the natives succeed in attacking and plundering a settler's house, where no resistance can be made at the time, the plundering party must be followed up by a band of armed settlers, and the plunder be recapturedi The settlers of the North hnve stood by patiently long enough, looking to the Government of the country to protect them, their lives and their property, The Government has shown itself unable or unwilling to do so, and tho timo has now arrived when the settlers must take the matter into their own hands, and, when attacked, act in their defence as did the early American settlers against the marauding Indians. How much the settlers of Pakiri, mid Mahurangi, have had to put up with Maori violence, has never yet been published—bid is, ■nevertheless, mor'e shame to them Jor their present supineness, be it said, well known to the Government. These settlers have for months past lived under the perpetual dread of the tomahawk. They have been continually subjected to petty plunderings, and when resistance has been made the tomahawk or tho pistol has been resorted 10. It is well for the New Zealamler to explain away the presentation of a pistol to Mrs. Snnkey as merely that of a tobacco pipe pointed at but this was no solitary case, wns one in fact of many others which were purposely suppressed lest it should be thought that the settlers were desirous of fomenting strife. W c are aware ourselves of several occurrences of this nature which wo may now mention. In one case a Maori entered the house of a settler at Matakana, and not leaving it when ordered, very coolly, where he then sat, drew out a pistol and levelled it at the head of the owner of the house, threatening to shoot him if he attempted to turn him out before he felt inclined to go of his own accord* In another ease a settler, having had his place plundered, went up to the Maori encampment to see the chief. While there, and in conversation with the chief, an insolent Maori rushed up, tomahawk in hand, and flourishing it about his head, demanded, " What the devil do you want here ?" Within a short time since a settler, wading through Little Omnlia Hiver with some "papers in his hand, was stopped .by an armed native, whocame down from Tawliiti's pah close by, and was actually not; allowed to proceed until the papers he carried had been examined ! This is but a sample of the kind of life the settlers of these districts have been leading during the last four mouths, since tho escape of the prisoners from the Kawau. Can we wonder if they have now come to the Resolution of asking Government assistance once more, and, that being refused—or, as on former occasions, shelved —of themselves taking their own defence into their own hands. The settlers of Matakana and Mahurangi are able, if they once take it into hand, to drive Tawliiti, and 1 [emJira of Mahurangi, and their people iiito the sea. A large public meeting of the settlers has been held since the outrage and a final appeal lias been made to the Governor, the alternative Tesolved upon, (and let the settlers allow no Government persuasions to induce them tc forego this resolve) is to organise means for defending themselves and punishing aggression. The first step to be taken by the Government is the occupation of the Tamahunga pah, lately vacated. This pah re-occupied by the natives, and the whole country side may be kept by them in inerjuietude, and insecurity, and an immense sacrifice of life occasioned in driving them out of the position. It ought to be at once occupied, and a man of wai (the ' Sandfly,' for instance, which lias beet ordered to the South, could have fulfilled the duty admirably) be kept cruising about these harbors. The determination of the settlers, a; evinced at the meeting of, we believe, Monday last, is unequivocal. " Either the Government " must afford adequate protection to themselves "and their families, or they will take the matterintc '"their own hands." Let them keeptothisresolve Let them arm and organise. Lfit them proVid< places of refuge for the women and children and let them defend themselves and property though war be the result. We must not see tin inhabitants of a district sacrificed for a sentiment. This action of the settlers is a pressure whicl the Governor cannot evade. The time for inde cision is past, and if the war in the Nortl assume the character of a settler's war —a wa: of extermination, it will be governmental shoi't comings and neglect of duty which wil have caused it. The time for curing the sore with a poultice of sugar ani flour has passed away, and yet th latest action we hear of the present Well Government having taken was the promise, sen through the Governor to Tawliiti, that two tons o flour and one of sugar should be scut down t< his and Honiara's place, to " make thing pleasant." Since writing the above, the ' Wonga Wonga has arrived from Kawau. As our readers ari awaro, she left here on Tuesday afternoon at I o'clock, having oh board the Hon. Mr. Mantell Mr. Kogan, and the Eev. Mr. Thatcher, Hi Excellency's Private Secretary, who had bcei sent for by Sir George to take action in tli matter of the outrage at Matakana. She arrivei at Kawau that night, and the nert inoriinj these gentlemen, unaccompanied by the Governor Srocecded in the ' AVonga Wonga" to Omahi ay. The steamer itself could not £0 far Up but they went ashore in the boats, and remaincf j there a short time. What they did, aiid vim ( they saw is writteti probably in the archives 6 tb.e Native Office, but is not for vulgar eyes no ears. Those who took them there say that the s saw Natives lurking in the bushes and engagei in watching the movements of the party. Th 1 'Wonga Wonga' arrived in town last nigh 3 about 9 o'clock. She brings back the Gorerno Sir George Grey, in addition to Messrs. Mantel] Ifogan and Thatcher.

The subject of speedily locating the large number of immigrants, that hare recently | arrived in this port, in the interior of the country according to the original intention of Government, is one of such great importance that we again press it upon the attention both of the General and Provincial Governments. For some time past many of them have been fed at the public expense, and no adequate return has been obtained for that expense. But the present economical loss by any such arrangement, however important it may bo in our heavily taxed community, is a minor consideration compared to others. The loss of their labour in the country, the loss of their presence on the waste lands, and the subtraction therefore from the produce of the colony, the loss accruing from their absence if they are looked upon as so'many securities for the maintenance of peace in the districts in which ; they might be

>lancd, the'deterioration of character which must t t least bo endangered, and is becomiug visible, j >y leading an idle life at the expense of ■ tlic GrO- c ernment, are all of very great importance and t lemand serious attention. Mr. eld doubtless t tatcd an important truth, wlien he spoke of the t ast importance of roads, both as aiders of the t pecdy settlement of a country and of its being - :ept in a state of peace. The sooner, then, i hese Cape, Scotch, English, and Irish cmi- j rants, brought out on certain conditions, are f ruployed as far as possible in accordance with < hose conditions, the better it will be for all con- t erned, and as a part of the programme was to 1 mploy them in road-making and on other 1 üblic works, nothing, but the most absolute 1 eeesssity should hinder the practical carry-- i ag oi\t of the plan, by employing s hem in making good passable roads ( a the Waikato, so that the district can be i raversed in every possible direction. Every 1 liain of good road made, with a margin of learing on each side of it, is, in point of fact, an ucrease to our forces, and also materially de- • reases the advantages of any . enemy that may t, tempt to break, the .peace in the district. And lie number of immigrants that have already rrived, if employed upon such very important fork, would soon make a large portion of the .istricts it was thought desirable should first be cttled, so intersected with roads, that the liance of Maori risings would every day be nore and more remote, and the basis of peace ic more and more secure. And although it is, of course, of importanco rliere these people arc settled, yet it is of much ;reater importance that the thing should bo Lone quickly, even tit. the risk of the very best ilace hot being selected, rather than the matter iiould be left in abeyance. Tlicy would at liice be turned to profitable account, and be put n the track of their future life. We would :lso counsel liberality in giving assistance to trovide seed and other matters of necessity in lie first instance, so as to insure, as far as possi)lc, the speedy and entire success of the chcme, that we may have a body of lersons settled on the soil, producing rom it [more than enough to supply their >wn wants, creating trade, calling into •eqnisition the usual machinery of business and lommerce, and so not, only having profitable miployment themselves, but causing cmploylient to others who are engaged in supplying heir wants. We should thus have a reciprocity of H'liefits, more money spent on agricultural proluce, would be spent in the colony, to be circuated again and again among our own people nstead of being carried from this colony to Australia, Chili, or California. Tt is by a conitant and persevering attention to this view of lie matter, that wc must guide ouy action, and shape our course ; for we insure by it a further idvnntage. Increased population at remunera,ive employment, means increased revenue from taxation ; and this means a greater distribution }f the burdens of the state over a greater num- | jer of people, and so decreases the burdens laid I dii each individual. The weight of taxation will hus bo less felt, inasmuch as many more persons assist in bearing it. Hcnce, we sec the wheels within wheels " in connexion with this subject. The state of society in every country is a complex machine. Every part requires [•onstant attention. Want of precaution and care in what to an ignorant person may seem to be a trivial matter, may cause the whole machinery to become out of order, and totally incapable of performing the work for which it was designed. Unskilfulness may also, on the Other hand, consume a vast deal of fuel and power, without adequate results. And in political and social machinery the same rules hold good. Means adapted to certain ends, may become, in the hands of the iguorant and unskilful, powerful engines to frustrate the very ends aimed at. Now, our immigrants are a nodal and political motive power. As that power is applied, so will the result be beneficial or injurious. It may be so used that it will readily combine its power with existing lorces directed to the advancing of the colony in material and political progress; or it may be applied in such a manner, that it will act in opposition to our present machinery, and prove a aead weight, a hindrance, to our advancement. This result will also be practically attained by simply allowing the force to which we have alluded to remain dormant. For not to help is to hinder. It were an unprofitable speculation to spend money on machinery, to get a powerful engine, eapablc of doing most essential serviec if only used, and to waste the fuel in simplj constantly getting up steam, to be blown oft at the safety-valve, instead of economised and applied to the purpose for which it was designed. As wc alluded, when writing on this topic the other day, to the Provincial Government, we dc so now again, for every argument we have xisec! is virtually applicable fo it as well as to tlx General Government. We shall constantly repeat, a.S long as necessary, that the great business of the Provincial Government is to consti uct roads and bridges throughout the entire lengtl and breadth of this Province. For all practical purposes unused land is of no real value to us while it is in that state, u.ud land without roads and bridges must per force remain in its wile state. The north can neverbepopulated.ns it mighi stud would be were it rendered habitable bj tiic construction of roads, and the peace of the North will ilever be secured until population i: thrown into it—that is until roads are iiiad( through it. The one will necessarily follow as 'i consequence of the other. The motto, therefore of every Provincial Government should b< Pond Construction, and it should be one of th< best, evidences to which a Superintendent car point as to the good he has effected during his tenure of office) that he .has causec the formation of so inany miles of per manent road, and the construction o: so many bridges, with the consequent- opening up to profitable cultivation of such an area o territory. This will redpund riiorc to his honor more to his renown, and will tend to leave hi mark more certainly on the Province than an; other acts in which lie can be engaged. And i eminent Eomnns thought it a high honour ti have it said of them that they had constructet any particular road through a previously road less district, so it may be an object worthy o the ambition of our Superintendents to deservi similar praise of their countrymen for simila advantages conferred upon the Province. « — At the l'isk of' i>ecolning tedious by continua reference to a particular subject, we must agai] refer to the matter of steam subsidy to th North. It would seem as though a cotcmpc rary had received a brief to advocate the claii: of steam upon the public purse, so persistent i he in advocating that which even his own coi respondents from the Northern districts tell hir they neither require, nor can as yet use, the sei vices of a steamer upon their coast. It is nothing but the most utter ignorance c the requirements of the North, or, otherwise an entire abandonment of rectitude to subserv the purposes of interested parties, that ca influence; and cause this|continued demand upo the public purse for the purpose of subsidisin a steamer where it has been proved by actus and lengthened experiments that a steamer : not required —where the very character of th work to be performed reduces a steamer to tL level of sailing vessels subject to the caprice < the winds. In placing a steamer upon an berth, it is sought to render the passage swi and certain. This is the advantage of steal over canvas. Is there any one, are there an i two settlements in the North between which an ' Auckland there exists a traffic iu passengers an goods sufficient to require the services of suc'i steamer as the ' Wonga Wonga,' or which ma be developed to such an extent by the placir of a steamer on the line P There is not-. In ord<

then tliat she may obtain sufficient cargo and passengers, she must take every settlement ilong the coast in her route, and even then there is not the trade to supply her. But if there wore, what is the consequence ? One of j two evils. Supposing the Bay of Islands her Furthest destination —but why not Mongonui ? —then she has the following harbours to call n at; namely, Wangarei, Mangawai, Matakana, Mahurangi, Wade, and, it seems also, Kawau. 31ie must, then, either blow her whistle at jither of these places, and be away again before lie echo has well died out, and so be Useless as a | neans of transport, except between either extreme port, or slid must remain at either of ;hese places a sufficient time to suit the requirenents of the settlers. If she does the former, she fulfils the condition of steam, makes a juick and certain passage, but fails as a public iccommodation—if the latter, she is so long upon ;hc route, that sailing vessels from the Bay, Wangarei, Mangawai, and perhaps even Ma:akana, could arrive in town sooner, or quite as >0011 as she would. Tiie Council has refused to grant this subsidy to the 'Wonga Wonga,' and the Council is perfectly right. The Council in so doing would be squandering the public money entrusted to its charge. The Northern settlers are asking the Council for bread, and this would be giving hem a stone. They want roads to open up the interior of these districts, and instead of roads t is proposed to give them a steamer jetween Auckland and the entrance )f their several harbours. It is proposed ;o give them direct steam communication part )f the way, while in the other part they have lot even common highways to enable them to 'each the steamer. Ask any country settler in hese districts what is wanted to render them jrosperous, and he will tell you —" Branch ' roads radiating to the common centre —the ' head of the navigation in each district." Give hese, and then it will be time to talk of a iteamer. The country settlers will be induced ;o grow produce for sale, for they will then be Lble to bring it to the water, and a steamer will lave no need to sponge upon the public purse, or there will be traffic for two or three steamers >n the coast. If we turn to the letter of a Mahurangi correspondent of the Weekly Neivs, which was republished in the Southern Cross of yesterday, vc shall find that this is the opinion of the settlers in that district:—l can hear of but ' little Government works going on in the ' North ;—are we never to have good commu- ' nication with Auckland ? We want no ' steamers till the back blocks are settled, ' which will not be till proper roads are ' made." " Wo want no steamers till the back blocks ' arc settled, which will not be till proper roads ' arc made." Can anything be plainer than .liis ? It is exactly what we have been insisting ipon all along. It is exactly what plain common sense points out as the right course. Roads, :oads, roads —is the cry of the North —is, and must be, the cry of all new districts. It is not i trunk road, such as the so-called Great North Road, that these districts require, but it is the formation of good practicable roads in every district, radiating to the head of the river navigation. If these were commenced to-morrow, it would be two or perhaps three years before oven the services of a steamer would be required ; but the work would be set afoot —lands now neglected would be brought into cultivation —and soon, as the population and produce increased, the traffic of one or two districts would warrant the enterprise of laying on a steamer between there and Auckland, and that, too, without subsidy. We have steadily set our.face against this proposed subsidy of steam to the North as unjust on principle, and as a monstrous absurdity when viewed commercially. We have but one object in view, the public service. TVe bring singlemindedness of purpose into the advocacy of the cause we maintain. This is not the first occasion on which we have had to combat the purposes of a eotemporary. Besults have shown who was right 011 the flour question, when one journal endeavoured to keep up the price of the staff of life—the other pointed out the certainty that the then high value was purely a fictitious one maintained by the speculators of Australia. TFe had then, as we have now, none but the public interests lo serve, and, as in that case, time has proved that we were as correct as we were honest in drawing our conclusion ; so will time in this instance prove both our honesty and our foresight .

Tjte Monthly Summary of the New Zealand Herald for transmission to Europe will be published on Saturday next, and will contain the full news, political and domestic, of the past month, together with the full particulars of the late Maori outrage in the By leaving addresses at the office of the paper in Wyndliam street, Copies frill be forwarded to any part of tlie world.. In answer to several applications, we take this opportunity of again stating that we have no intention of raising the cheap price at which the JLehald is publ'slied—ten shillings per quarter—preferring as we do, a still further extended circulation to immediate profit.

Dahiji'o BcjiGLARV at Newton.—A very daring outrage was committed on Friday niglit or Saturday morning last, at tlie Glasgow store, Newton, lcept by Sir. Fihnerty. [During the niglit, which our readers will rcmembeT vfas marked by a continual succession of peals of thunder, Mrs. Finnerty woke up and aroused her liusband, telling him. that she thought she heard footsteps in the house. Mr. Finnerty. however, only laughed at the idea, but Mrs. Finnerty was so convinccd that she got out of bed with the intention of striking a light, but her courage failed her, and she got into bed again, and nothing more occurred to alarm either of them; Oh wfikitig in the morning, about five o'clock, Mr. Finnerty liastily slipped oil his clothes and proceeded down stairs to ascertain if their had been any cause for his wife's suspicions, and to his astonishment found the shop, door open, and the place i'ansti.ckcd, several sides of bacon, a largo number of Christmas goods made up in parcels had all been carried oft"; the till had been broken open, and all the silver it contained, only two shillings luckily, was abstracted, the copper money was found scattered on the road outside as though thrown away in disgust. On returning upstairs he then discovered that the robbers had actually been in his bedroom during the night, and had abstracted the watches hanging over his own and his wife's head, and ransacking the pockets of his clothes, as was done lately in the case of the burglary at Mr. Morrin's house. Mrs. Finnerty is particularly wakeful, and it is extraordinary how men can have been able to move about a room in this way, in which people were sleeping, as has now been twice done. Is it possible that the sleepers are first subjected to the influence of chloroform, or cother ? Nothing else, however,|of any value but the watches, was stolen from the bed-room. The police have been on the alert, but have not as yet, we believe, succeeded in capturing the thieves.

It is to be hoped that in the following instance " digestion may wait upon good appetite —-In the Sydenham, Times appears following letter; —" A neighbour of mine," writes a correspondent, " has had for some time past two remarkably fine specimens of the cassowary on his premises. On Wednesday last a carpenter who was repairing their house left a large basket of tools while he went indoors to fetch something. On his return he missed a chisel, and supposing some one from the house had taken it he was going back, when the male cassowary approached and at one gulp bolted a screw dri\ or and gimlet which were lying on the floor. The carpenter was terrified; he thought the bird was animated by some supernatural power, which appeared all the more likely as it did not seem any the worse for its repast."

To Builders and Caepentehs.—Mr. Koala will receive tenders until noonof the sth January . for the erection of a building for the Bank of Auckland at Onehunga, and until noon of the following day for the erection of a three-storied brick building in Upper Queen-street. Tenders for the building of culverts and fittings on the road between Kororarika and Man-of-War's Bay, will be received at the office of the Superintendent until noon of Saturday the 28th January next. Plans may be seeri either at the office or at Capt. Bolger's, Eussell. Auckland Hospital.—Tlie time for receiving tenders for tlie erection of the above building has, we perceive,been extended, until Wednesday, the 4th proximo. To Owners of Vessels.—Tenders will bs received until noon this day for the supply of a vessel to take about 200 tons of Commissariat Stores to Port Waikato. A steamer will be preferred, and the vessel will be required to load at one'e. Northern Association. —A meeting of the Council of this Association was held yesterday afternoon at the Chamber of Commerce. For full particulars of the business thus transacted we refer our readers to the report in another part of the paper. Auckland Harmonic Society.—Tlie usual practice will be held this evening in the Schoolroom of St. Matthew's Church, at half-past 1 o'clock precisely. The piece for this occasion will be " Richard Cceur de Lion." Previously to separating for the evening, the Annual Meeting of Members will be held for the purpose of receiving the Report of the Committee and a statement of accounts.

FruNiTUKE ; Sale.—We notice that Mr. Samuel Cochrane has a very extensive sale of handsome furniture on hand this morning, at the residence of the Acting Commissary General Maule, at Parnell. Tlie furniture is of a very choice description, and there are besides, a piano, a basket carriage, a choice lot of saddlery, and a quantity of plate to be disposed of. The sale will commence at half-past 10 o'clock, on the premises, next door to the Windsor Castle hotel.

The Sandfly.—ln our notice of the passage of the Sandfly, bound to Manukau, a printer's error occurs —the word ' Wanganui'was used instead of "Wangarei. Depasturing Licenses.—The following notice is issued by the Commissioner of Crown Lands, Charles Esq. : Depasturing lieenaes will be issued to all persons being occupants of land under crown grants ; or in the ease of pensioners, natives, or half-castes by permission of the Crown, applying for such license on or before the Ist January, 18(35. The licenses will be issued on payment of a fee of 10s. 6d. for each. Auckland Horticultural Society.—The annual general meeting of the members of this Society will be held at the office, next the Masonic hotel, Princes-street, to-morrow evening, at seven o'clock. A Provincial Government Gazette was ! published on Saturday last, and contains a notification that the district of Mahurangi has ceased to be a district under the Highways Act, also that two new districts, the upper and lowef Mahurangi districts, have been formed. There is a schedule of a large number of lots of country land to be sold on the 23 rcl January next : there are also several notices to mariners, and other matters of iesser interest. Mr. Cochrane's Land Sale. —Yesterday Mr.

Samuel Cochrane lield. a sale of landed property, &c., at his mart, Fort-street, which was well attended, and passed off very satisfactorily. A freehold house and allotment in William-street, Auckland, went for £312 10s ; the good-will and interest of two allotments in W akefield-street, £19, with one pound per week rent ;■ and a farm of 218 acres in the parish of Awitu, County of Eden, together with the house thereon, realized £157 10s. At two o'clock, Mr. Cochrane held a sale of Hobart Town timber, palings, shingles, &e.; it was but very poorly attended, and therefore unsatisfactory prices were obtained. An inquest was held yesterday at Palmer s Royal Hotel, before Dr. Pliilson, coroner, on the body of a man named Joseph Lambert, who was found floating near the ship ' Ida Ziegler,' early on Tuesday morning last. The' jury returned an open verdict. Mr. Merrett attended before the Coroner yesterday to explain in reference to the inquest held the day before on the body of Thomas Matheson, that he received no intimation or warning from Constable Hoare when or where the inquest would, be held, as incorrectly stated by that official, and that so far from there being any want of kind assistance on board the 'Egniont' the officers and men from the captain down vied with each other in providing the' necessary requirements : —Blankets, hot water, stimulants, &c., and were most patient and enduring in their efforts in friction and manipulation of the unfortunate deceased. Civil Cases This Day—There are upwards of thirty civil cases set down for hearing at the Resident Magistrate's Court this day. Judg ment will be given in re Frasi v. Graham. Police Court.—Four drunkards yesteraay were ordered to pay the ordinary fine or receive the usual quantum of imprisonment. A charge of a breach of the Impounding Act, preferred against Peter Stewart, was dismissed, there being no evidence to substantiate the ofIn the Police Court, yesterday, Richard Dum* fteys, the Auckland Jack Sheppara, was fully committed to take his trial on the following charges .• —1. Robbery from Mr. King s house; 2. Escape from the Mount Eden Stockade. 3. Assault on Alfred Boone ; and 4. Robbery with violence on Sarah Lawrence. The Resident Magistrate strongly condemned the negligence of the jailor, and hoped that a proper surveillance would be placed on the prisoner lor the

future. T Stealing a Watch at Melßouexe.—James Lawler wns brought up under warrant froni Melbourne, before his Worship, yesterday, and ordered to be conveyed to Melbourne upon tlie first opportunity, to take his trial at that place for stealing a watch from one Jolin Xheedj. Disobedience to Lawful Commands.—-A. charge of this nature was preferred by Laptaw Christien of the German brig ' Eeihersteig, against Frederick Thompson, a seaman attached to that vessel, which however was dismissed, in consequence of the case having been brought forward without the cognizance oi tiie German Consul. . , The Theatres.—'The Christmas pantomme at tlie Prince of Theatre last night largely attended, and the performances ■' went well. Many of the hitches observable on the first night of representation are no longer appa rent, and all worked smoothly. The scenery was especially applauded. To-night a new drama, in three acts, entitled " The Pride of the Market," will be presented for the first time, con eluding of course with " Harlequin Graceful." Mr. Fawcett's new edition ot ".fuss m Boots," with that talented gentleman as tue hero, Master Tom, proved sufficiently attractive to draw a good house yesterday evening, mewing duett between Mr. Fawcett and i - Dunn drew down rounds of applause. 1 local hits are very telling. Mr. Fawcett s ™ up as Puss is in itself worthy ot a visit, ana wliole affair is a great success.