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New Zealand Herald, Volume IV, Issue 1124, 21 June 1867, Page 4

Yesterday being tlie 30th anniversary of tlie accession of Her Majesty Queen Victoria to the throne, the various vessels in harbour were dressed out in their bunting, &e., and a royal salute was fired at noon from Fort Britomart and H.M.S.S. Brisk. Inquiry into Wrecks.—An official enquiry into the recent loss of the barque Torquil, near the North Cape, was held yesterday at the Custom House, before li. S. MoKellar, Esq., Collector of Customs, and Captain C. Williams, late of s.s. Alexandra, nautical assessor. The captain, second mate, carpenter, and a passenger were examined, but the decision of course withheld. A Provincial Government Gazette was published yesterday evening, and will be found in full in another part of this paper. Amongst other matter it contains the half-yearly tenders of the Provincial Government, accepted, and otherwise. Saxon and Jew.—A very interesting lecture was given last evening m the large room of the Young Men's Christian Association. His Honor the Superintendent in the chair. The subject was " The unfolding of Prophecy concerning Saxon and Jew." The theory propounded was that several passages in the prophetic books of the Old Testament tended to show that a new nation or race would be raised up as the chosen people of God, and a comparison of various records was relied upon to show which of all the extant nations or races that is. The weather being so inclement the attendance was thin. It should be said that the lecturer gave considerable interest to the subject by the accuratencss with which he discovered literary parallels and he was throughout consecutive and intelligible. lilt it atom:. —In our report of Tuesday's proceedings in the Provincial Council, in some observations by Mr. Stark upon tlie motion of Mr. Wynn for an inquiry into the conduct of the Harbour-master and Pilot of the Manukau, the words of Captain Wing was substituted for those of Captain Croft. It should read, Capt. Croft might say, " save me from my I friends, &c." Snip T.iubanga.—All accounts against this vessel are to be forwarded in duplicate to Mr. T. Macky, not later than"" noon on Saturday next. Provincial Council.—The Council met yesterday at the usual hour. In reply to a question by Captain Cooper, the Provincial Secretary said that the Government did not intend, during the present short session, to send down any bill relating to the sale of North Shore liesorves. The resolutions relating to the construction of a dry dock in Auckland harbour were passed in an amended form, to the effect that his Honor should ask the Assembly to pass a measure empowering the Provincial Government to borrow money, the Act to be submitted for approval by the Provincial Council before being brought into operation. The City Board Act 1863 Amendment Act passed through all its stages without opposition. Northern Division.—The nomination of a candidate to represent the electoral district of the Northern Division in the House of Bepresentatives, is to take place at the Pilot Station, Flagstaff, North Shore, on Monday next, the 24th instant, and the poll, if necessary, is to be taken on Monday, the Ist proximo. Newton Liteeaey Association. —A debate will take place in this institution this evening, commencing at 8 o'clock, on the important subject—" -Responsible Government in the Provincial Council; is it expedient P" Dr. Kidd, L.L.8., president of the association, will occupy the chair ; and as the subject is just now possessed of considerable interest, and admits of a wide field of discussion is likely to be not a little instructive.

Episcopalian Diocesan Synod.—The Svnn/I met yesterday in the Cathedral Library and a good deal of important business was disposed of which will be found reported in another column' Police.—lSo less than twelve persons were' punished for drunkenness at the Police Court yesterday, and Mary N ewson was lined 40s and the costs, for breaking a pane of glass in the window of a building occupied by Mr. .J. Smith Pheenological llall.—A lecture will be' delivered at the above place, at 7.30 this evening.—Subject: ''The Brain the active agent of the Mmd. & _ Re Malcolm Nicol's Estate.—All claims in this estate are to be sent in to the office of Mr. J. T. Garlick by noon, on Monday the 21th mst., and all accounts due are requested to be set', led at an early date. Collegiate School.—The presentation of prizes to the scholars will be made this morning at half pasf eleven o'clock. W. Vickeey's Estate.—A meeting of the creditors in this estate will be held this dav, at one o clock, at the oflice of J. E. IVTacdonald. . Singing.—A class for elementary instruction m vocal music on Hullah's famous system is to be opened this evening, in the rooms of tho iounj; Men's Christian Association. A popular class for tlie practice of part music 'will be also opened at tho same place. As a knowledge of music contributes so much to amusement, we have every reason to believe that, these classes will become popular, and mora especially as the charge <£01- admission is extremnlv moderate. Poet Waikato and Raglan.—The p.s. Princo Alfred will continue her trips to the above port* leaving Auckland at about midnight on Mondav next, the 24th inst. Bueied Alhte.—A most extraordinary in. stance of the preservation of live without sustenance for a lengthened period has lately occurred in Saxony. On the Bth December two brothers named "Muschter were engaged in digging a well, when the earth fell in and completely buried them. A third brother went down immediately, but was not able to discover the slightest sound. Some miners were then set to work, and dug for some days, but without success ; and it was so generally believed that the poor fellows could not possibly be alive, that orders had been given that, unless the relations insisted on proceeding further, tho well should be filled up, and a monument to the memory of the Muschters erected over it. Eight days had already elapsed since the accident, _ but the mother of the entombed would not give up all hope, and some fresh hands began to work again, though only in the expectation of finding the corpses. To their astonishment, however, they suddenly heard from below the words, "Do not strike so hard." A conversa* tion commenced, the work was pushed forward with renewed diligence, and at length crowned with success. On the 19th December after they had been eleven days and four hours in thia condition, the two Muschters were rescued and brought to the surface. The earth that had fallen in had left a kind of cave above them. Their only sustenance during this long period had been the water that oozed through the earth, and a little tobacco they had chewed. They had a watch with them, which they had wound up regularly, and were therefora able to keep an account of the time of their burial. At first they lighted lucifer matches to see the time, but when these were all used they felt the hands. They heard the conversation above them respecting the filling up the well, and shouted, but could not make themselves heard. They also sung hymns together, and the people at the surface heard them. Human Affieiiatives.—People who agree with everything that is said in their hearing are the most uninteresting and tiresome of companions. It is impossible, of course, to argue with them, and as argument is the spice of conversa= tion, nothing can be more " stale, fiat and unprofitable," than a icte-a-ietc with one of these everlasting assenters. Wo would rather talk with the most dogmatic dissenter that ever refused to believe the evidence of mathematical demonstration, than with a fellow who responds to your every assertion with a "just so," " of course," "no doubt of it," " very true," and the like commonplace impediments to rational controversy. It is pleasant to have a proposition questioned—a fact denied. It puts a man to his mettle, quickens his faculties, brings out his mental fighting qualities, if he has any. He defends his position as a matter of pride, and even if defeated and "floored" by his opponent, he consoles himself with the idea that he made a pretty stiff fight of it. But what can you do with an incarnate affirmative ? To a person whose temperament is combative he is a wet blanket of the chilliest kind. His perpetual " yes " operates upon an energetic mind like the constant dropping of water, for an indefinite period, upon tho coronal region. It is stupefying, depressing, horrifying. Give us for a companion a person of gladiatorial intellect—a pugnacious, truculent, obstinate, unconvincible embodiment of negation in preference to tho creature who won't contest a point under any circumstances. Dipsomania or Tnntsr-Madness.—Medical men on the other side of the Atlantic seem to have arrived at the conclusion that the periodical desire for strong drink which sometimes beset individuals otherwise moral an:l exemplary, is a species of paroxysmal mania beyond the control of the patient. It is quite certain that there are thousands of eases of remittent drunkenness, which present the specific symptoms of disease. Tho periodical drunkard is not an habitual dramdrinker ; but at particular times he appears to be attacked with a thirst-madness which deprives him of the power of volition, and hurries him into the most terrible excesses. During tho intervals between the paroxysm he may be a perfectly sober man. for many weeks or even months he may have steadily refused to taste a drop of liquor; may, indeed, have felt no inclination for it, but on the contrary, regarded it with disgust; and yet when the fit comes on, the raging thirst for alcohol utterly paralyzes his conscience and his will. A man in this condition is a monomanic, and should be treated as one. If put under proper restraint at the commencement of this furore, the dipsomaniac, in nine cases out of ten, might be tided over hia difficulty in the course of a week or ten days, and a perseverance in this course at each recurrence o£ the hallucination, would probably eventuate in a complete cure. It is not eiisy to persuade the world that all drunkenness is not voluntary. The law does not recognise dipsomania. It treats all inebriates alike, i his we believe to be pijust; though it is hard to say where the line should be drawn between free-will, and that excess which proceeds from an uncontrollable mania. Negro Preachers. —"The negro preacher 3 with whom 1 have come in contact astonished me by their amount oi'sreneral informatibn. All of them had fine nipmories. As very few of I them know how to read or write, they must depend on their memories entirely. I have known these preachers to \isit soldiers, and request them to read chapters in the Bible. In the sermon on the j-ablmlh I have heard tiiem quote these chapters almost verbatim. Now and then a soldier, loving sport, would select passages containing the word of God from Shakspeare, Bryon, &c., and read them to the negro preacher as if out of the Bible. One Sabbath an old preacher'was speaking on the love of country. He exhorted his hearers to stand fast; and in "de language of de propliet Isaiali, '.Let all de ends thou aimest at be dv country's, dy God s, and truth's." If you don't mind discommand, you il be in a bad way ; if you don't mind de Government, you'll have to cut stick mighty fast. JJen when yoiuare away in de swamps, surrounded by nothing but the water and ;de bushes, you U cry out as did de prophet Jeremiah—him dat did weep'de most of all de prophets-lie s de one dat did wail outde Lamentations—' Farewell, along farewell to all my greatness; dis am de state 01 man.' " —Good li'orJs.