MELBOURNE.

Otago Witness, Issue 658, 9 July 1864, Page 3

MELBOURNE.

(FROM THB DAIIiT TIMES OOBKBBPONBEHT.)

Mrlbodrne, 25th June. The funeral of the late Hon. ltiehard Heales took place on Thursday last, and although the ceremony was nominally a private one, the attendance of persons of all grades anxious to testify their respect for the departed Minister, was as large as tb amount ia point of fact into a public demonstration. For eight and forty hours previously to the time appointed for the ceremony, every available vehicle to be obtained on hire had been engaged to take part in it, and the procession of carriages, horsemen, and persom on foot was so long that when the bearse was entering the gates of the cemetery the last- portion of the cortege was about a mile behind. The remains of the deceased Minister were removed from hi 3 late residence at Hsternwick at noon. The funeral procession then comprised a hearse and three mourning coaches, containing the father, the sons, and other relatives of the deceased. The coffin, containing the remains, was taken into the Congre-" gational Church, Oma street, St Kilda, of which Mr Hea'e9 was a member An appropriate fune« ral service— in which the Rer. A. Goßman, the pastor of the church, the Rev. W. Poole, of the Union Church, OoulfleM, the Rev. J. Dare, Wesleyan Minister, and the Rev. J. fiallantyne, Presbyterian minister, took part — was then performed. By the last-named clergyman, an exceedingly impressive address was made to the crowded assembly present upon the occasion.

At the close oftha service the coffin was replaced in the hparsa, th • mourners resumed their places in the coaches, and the procession took its course towards Melbourne, the place of interment being the Melbourne General Cemetery, situated at the very opposite extremity of the city boundaries, and thus necessitating a journey of about six miles from St Kilda. Throughout ' the whole Hue of route the sidewalks were crowded with spectators, and in the streets of the city through which the cortege passed, every window from

which a glimpse of it could be obtained, had its full complement of occupants. Persons carious as to the exact number of carriages following ia the procession counted 2)7 of them, besides 40 gentlemen on horseback and 660 on fait The bulk of these additions to tbe original procession together with the various public bodies, fell in at a short distance from Prince's Bridge, and the order observed was then as follows {— ' Two Undertaker's Assistants, on horseback. The Medical Attendants - (Dr Madden and Dr Robertson) ia carriages. Mourning Coach, with the Officiating Minister*. Members of Melbourne and Suburban Lodges of Oddfellows, on foot. Clergy of rarious Denominations. Undertaker. Four Mutes. THB HJBA3SB (drawn by four horses). Three Mourniag Coaches, containing the Family and Belatives of the Deceased. Carriage conveying the Chief Secretary and ; the Minister of Railway*. ! Carnage convoying the Attorney-Qeqeral and j the Minister of Justice. i Carriage conveying the Minister of Public I Works and the Minister ot Wines. Carnage conveying the Minister of Customs and the Treasurer. The Governor's carriage, i conveying His Excellency Sir Charles Darling aud his aide-de-camp. ' < The President and Members of the Legislative . Council, in carriages. The Speaker and Members of the Legislative Assembly, in carriages. Officers of the Department of Laud and Works and other Members of the Civil Service, on foot, four abreast, ,. headed by— . Tbe Surveyor-General, The Inspector-General of Public Work* * The Assistant-Commissioner of Lands and Surrey, • Bn( * '* The Assistant-Commissioner jot Roads? ftnd Bridges. ' l| -' The Mayor and Corporation of the City of Melbourne, in carriages. *■ < ' v The Mayor and Corporation of St, Kiida. ~ The Mayor and Corporation of Prahran. The Mayor and Corporation ot Brunswick. * The Chairman and Members of the Pentridge Road Board. • - The Mayor and Corporation of Fifzroy. ' Members of the Total Abstinence Society, on foot. Committee and Officers of the Melbourne Permanent Buiidingand Investment Society. ' Carriages. Horsemen, Carriages. , It will be seen that the Government took part in the oaremony. The eight Cabinet Ministers acted as pall bearers on the removal of the coffin from the hearse at the cemetery. The service at tae grave was performed by the Very Rev. Dean Macartney, assisted by the fier. E. Puckle.- » An additional service, peculiar to the Order of Oddfellows, was subsequently gone through, the officiating member or the Order being Mr Langton. of the Australia Felix Lodge, of which Mr Heales j was the treasurer. I should have mentioned that the shops and offices, in the line of route, ynn almost, without exception, closed in the afternoon of the funeral,, ana that, no business was transacted at the Government offices after 12 o'clock at noon. . ■ ' «-

at noon. . ■ ' «- An interesting series of le'ters upon 'the Coleny of West Australia has appeared in late numbers of the Argus newspaper: the proprietors of that journal having despatched a member of the reporting staff thither as a special correspondent, with instructions to consider and report upon the nature and bearing of the convict question in that colony, with respect to this branch of his inquiry, fie draws the following general conclusions of a practical nature :—lst, that Western 'Aus'traliii is unfitted for a penal settlement, bedauae the labor market there is fully supplied, and'tha*, therefore, if Great Britain persists ia sending her convicts thither, " they mv t . starve, steal, or leave the place;" and he adds that, " wfee iv their* generation," they* accept the latter alternative. 2nd. He urges that "decisive action is required on the. * part of the eastern colonies to stop West Australia 1 * penal career." The anti-transportation movemei.tr ha 9 now been well ventilated here, and 'the'"Victorian public seem to be' alive' to the Vast evils that are likely to result from the continuance of the practice on the part of the Imperial Cfojfern* ment in shipping off the concentrated rascality of Great Britain to any part of this island continent. A strong memorial has been prepared by the committee of the Anti-Transportation, Society for transmission to Mr Cardwell, the new Secretary of State for the Colonies, by the outgoing mail, and it is to be hoped that that demand will be found to have greater weight at homi than previous remonstrances of a eimilar ' character have had. , m - : , j. It is said tbat considerable difficulty is likely to be experienced by the M'Coiloeh Cabinet in filling up the vacancy caused by the lamented decease of the late Minister of Lands aud Survey. Among the names mentioned as likely to succeed the late hon. gentleman are those of Mr' Cohen,' the member for East Melbourne, andMr Gillies; tk member for Ballarat, both perhaps possessing abilities rather above the average of those of .the ordinary run of members of the late AttemblT, but both new to office and scarcely to 6e put' id comparison with the late Minuter with respect to oapaoity for o.Hoe. - ' . ; ' * •< "n '. The four ruffians charged with the outrage' tod attempted robbery at the Fiteroy Bank underwent a final examination at the Police .Court on Wednesday. They fully ''comim^ for, trial, and there is very little doubt as to tuo identity «f the whole of the gang. • -• ■• ,~t

A contemporary tells us of the sad case of a man who was shipwrecked, and, east upon an. uninhabited island, without a shilling'in his pocket ! - ' " Don't you think my son resembles me,?" inquired an apothecary, as he introduced his creasy-: faced boy to the witty Dr. H. 3 .«. $& » repHSi the doctor, pretending to scan the physiognomy* of each ; " yes, I think I see your, liniments in^his countenance." ,' - -',;«. „^<^.> A celebrated Oxford, scholar," wao;profes«ltrab' indifference to music^ wag once askeS T wtlfi?Sili thought of anorchestra which" hafflj&n : c p<Sffi«p ing a grand overture ; 'he ; wpUe^' r'tlmr 'tlmt > WoWi was impressed/ by the wond<irMrco|acfaencia ] & . the fiddlers elbows." J , ' -\