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New Zealand Herald, Volume VIII, Issue 2254, 17 April 1871, Page 2

Our Gorommdel and Port Albert letters arc beld over, as well as several letters to the Editor and a quantity of local matter. The transfer-books of the Caledonian Goldmining Company will be closed until noon tomorrow, when a dividend of £12 per share will be payable to the shareholders. The time of allocation of the shares in the John O'Groats Gold-mining Company has been extended to Wednesday next, when the shares will be allocated. No applications will be entertained after noon to-day. The sale of tho buildings in the Albert J Barracks has been postponed. Notice is given that James Innes of Maketu has filed a declaration of insolvency. J. R. Home of tke Duke of Marlborough Hotel gives uoLice that he intends to apply for a transfer to James Palmer. A meeting of the Volunteer Ball Committee will be held in the Drill-shed this evening, at seven o'clock. "We learn by letters received yesterday by the mail that I). Nathan, Esq., will be b passenger from England by the Nevada. The anniversary services in connection with the Wellealey-street Baptist Chapel were held yesterday. The Rev. P. H. Cornford preached in the morning, and the Kev. J. J. Lewis in the evening. The anniversary tea meeting ia connection with this place of worßhip Trill be held to-morrow evening. The police have received notice that a horse was stolen from the stable of Isaac Col, of Papakura, on the 14th instant. The Iio«« . waß branded B.C. on the near Ehoulder. A tall ran was seen leading the same horse through Otaliuhu later in the same day. i The regular monthly meeting of Lodge Wuitematn, No. 689, will be held this evening at the Masonic Hotel. A meeting of the shareholders of the Una Quartz Crushing and Gold Mining Company is fixed for the 4th May. A nes»ro concert, given by the members of the Naval Brigade, will tike place at the ' Parnell Hall to-night, in aid of ihe funds of the corps. The following arrests have been made by tho police:—James Healy, for obscene laii;ua<*e • Alfred Booth, for attempting: to rescue a prisoner, and for obstructing the police m the discharge of their duties; Saiuucl Dnon • and Samuel Fruzer, for stealing a dozen of shirts, the properly of Mr. Loveioek, draper; 1 and Henry Adey and Thomas Jackson, tor breaking six panes of glass the property of John Murphy, of Abercrombie-street,

The friends or MV. J. M. Why (latelv con-sie.-t.ed with Mr. Alfred Bnekhind's establishment) intend giving him a farewell dinner on Friday evening next, previous to his departure for the South. The movement originated with some of his country frieuds, and has been wavmly taken up by many in town, an 1, doubtlo-s. the dinner at. Mr. tiogers' Criterion Hotel will be well uttendrd by gentlemen both from town and country, Mr. Joseph May, Depntv-Supoi intendent, will preside. State of Her Majesty's Oaol, Auckland, for the weekending loth April, IS7L:—On remand, 3 males; awaiting trial, 5 males; sentenced to penal servitude, 40 males; sentenced to hard labour, SO males, 22 females ; senteu.-c.l to imprisonment, 3 males ; default of bail. 3 males, 2 females ; debtors, 3 males ; received during the week, 12 males, 2 fer.iul s; discharged"during the week, S males, 7 females; tolal iu gaol, 152 males, 24 females. The Times, in a review of " The arts in the middle ag-s," by l J aul Lacrojx, b.-tter known as the " Bibliophile Jacob." has the following : —When we say that of all the wind instruments we much prefer the bajnipe, and of all grinding i strutnents the hurdy-gurdy, bo!h "when pinied by itinerant musicians who will not move on, our 'eaders will say at once " Pass lightly ov.-r the oh ipter on musical instruments ;" but before we move on we must say that.it is a wicked story to say that Scotchmen are the only nation who aiore the bagpipe, for we have met. with our darling instrument in all lands. In .Sweden, in Greece, in Italy, unions the mountains of the Uartz. and though last, not least, in Spain. Yes ! of all bagpipes, commend us to a Spanish one; just us, of all hurdy-gurdies, one from beats all the hurdy-gurdies in the world. And yet wo mu.-t linger one moment over that woodcut on page 210 which represents a psaltery of the ninth century, ami a psaltery, too, "" to make a prolonged sound." Luckily i'or all lovers of music this psaltery, with its prolonged sound, disappeared in the tenth century, possibly along with the saekbut and dulcimer, and other mstrumen's whic'i went up to make all tho-e " kinds of music" at the crash of which Shadrach, Mesheeh, and Abednego refused to fail down and worship the golden image! Yes, the psaltery disappeared. Tl'.e world was not worthy of it. How lucky that we have got the picture of it, and of a psalterizer, or player on the psaltery, who reminds us of nothing so much as one of Mr. Lear's pleasant figures on his " Book of Nor.senee." Yes, here we have our psalterizer on a pair of bed-steps, scantily clad iu his night-gown b.-ire-leiwed, as though he was siuging one of Dr. Walt's hymns before seeking hisTdowny couch. His "hair is parted over his pensive brow, and his arms are thrown affectionately arount his psaltery, as though to defend it"aaaiest all comers. The instrument itself has ten strings ; perhaps the woodcut, may be meant to be a delineation of ]">avid singing to an instrument of ten strings. If so .David's harp was more a gridiron than anything else, only as gridirons usually have their handles in the middle, this psaltery has its handle on the side. We would not have been ten rooms off that psalterizer for anything in tint ninth century night. Little sleep should we have had till he had done his devotion on the psaltery. Under date of March 15, the following Paris telegram appears : —" Br the new compulsory law everyb dy serves cotnpnlsoriiy three years in the regulars, and afterwards in the reserves." The new Bridge at Wanganui is rapidly advancing towards completion, it will be one of the handsomest structures iu the colony. Ithas been designed by Stephenson of New-castleon-Tyne, on the" lattice-snider principle, The length"will be 610 feet, with a 5 feet span, with space opening (upon a swing) of 40 teet. The Conractor is Mr. Henry McNeil, who i, well known in this province as the builder of Punmure Bridge, .Auckland Wharf extension, and the contractor for other provincial works. Mr. James Carlaw, uiso well known here, has the superintendenoy of the iron won.. The work of both kinds is highly credi.abie. An Englishman can hardly be a gentleman, unless he enjoys one or other of these advantages ; and perhaps the surest w?.y tog'v -him good manners is to m-»ke a lord of hit i, or rather of his grandfither or grear-graiidf.:ber. la the third generation, si.-arcely sooner, he will be polished into simplicity and elegance, aud his deportment will be all the better for the homely material out of which i r is wrought and refined. The Marquis of Lansdowne, for instance, would have been a very commonplace man in the common ranks of tile ; but it, has done him good to be a nobleman. Not that his tact is quite perfect. In going up to breakfast he made me precede him ; in rctu-ning to the library, lie did the s>ime. although I drew back, till lie impelled me up the fi.st stair, with gentle persistence. By insisting upon it, he shewed his sense of condescension much more than if, when he saw me unwilling to take precedence, he had passed forward, as if the point were not worth either assenting or yielding. Heaven knows, it was in no humility that I would have trodden behind him. But he- is a kind old man ; and I am willing to . believeo of the Knglish aristocracy gene- j rally that they are kind, and of beautiful I deportment; fo* certainly there never can have been mortals in a position more advantageous for becoming so. I hope there will come a | time when we shall be so; aud I already know ! a few Americans whose noble and delicate ' manners may compare well with any I have j seen. —Nathaniel Hawthorne. Several enquiries having been made of us \ respecting the vulue sterling of a " milliard " j of francs, mentioned in the telegrams received ! by the mail, we may state that a milliard is ; a thousand million. As France is therefore ; to pay five milliards, her fine will amount to £200,000,000. | The return cricket match between the i Peripatetic team and the Incognita team was to have come off on Saturday morning, but ; on account of the unfavourable state of the , weather the match was postponed. , As an instance of the glut of fish iu the market on Saturday, we may mention that I eclmappei'3 were so plentiful in the early j morning that they were selling for twelve a ; shilling. As the morning advanced, the . various vendors of the fish, finding the supply was too large for the demaud, threw them imo the harbour by the hundred, and as the tide returned at noon, lurge numbers of bundles : floated back. We observed a man on the • wharf sending a dog into 1 lie water for mere j pastime to bring them out. as they floated by, j and this dog deposited no less than thirty fish ! on the steps, all of them b'dng perfectly fresh. | And yet, would it be believed, they remained there for more than an hour, no one attempting to remove them. So much for the great want and distress said to eiist in Auckland, when some thirty, clean, wholesome, and palatable fish, each one -everal pounds in weight, have to go begging. A meeting of the creditors of George Evans, bankrupt, is fixed for the 22nd inst. The importance of fine and cultivated manners cannot be over-estimated. Such cultivation is to be obtained bj association with those who are cultivated, aud wc should properly consider the importance of securing such associations for our children. Behuviour is allimportant. Po.ture should be studied. An awkward man is graceful when he is asleep, or when he is hard m. w ,, r k. When our mind is occupied we naturally assume a proper position. Great power lies in tho voice. One man, by his tones, can auimnte a regiment, while another has no following power. There is an immense difference between u hearty and genial manner. The vouth of America generally uppwir hurried and ill at ease, vet no life is so short but there is always lime for • courtesy. Perfect self-command is the best manners. The example of the qmiker is commendable. They, when sitting down at meals, spend a minute or two in silent prayer. Such a coursfc prevents laughter und unseemly conversation, and gives them an opportunity to f-tart their conversation anew from advantageous grounds. Manners urs great revealers of secrets. The changes in one's experience are manifest in their countenances, even if we are not subtle to understand them.—Emerson.