LYTTELTON.

Colonist, Volume II, Issue 188, 9 August 1859, Page 3

LYTTELTON.

Ox ■ Thursday, evening, a -public meeting of the members^ of the Church of England in the parish of Lytteilon was held according to advertisement, for the'p.nvpose''of considering the 'subject of the representation of the parish of Lyttelton in the approaching Diocesan Synod. The Hey. F. Kobwlcs took the chair, about eight o'clock, and opened the meeting with prayer. He then stated what the object of the meeting was, and pointed out how great necessity existed'that such persons should be chosen as would have both time to attend the meetings, and the ability to lake part in the proceedings of the Synod, to the advantage of : tlie church in this parish and the diocese generally. ' He also; mentioned that this meeting was for the information. of ,thq ; members of the church, that they might become aware of the gentlemen who would be prepared to accept a seat in the Synod ; but that1 the "election Would" "not necessarily be confined to'tbose persons who might be nominated ; for it was open t.o an}'.parishioner to vote for any one whom he preferred up to the last day of voting, viz., the last day of' the present month. Mr. Ward then stated that Mr. J. W. Hamilton, who was unavoidably absant from the meeting, had authorised, him to announce that he (Mr. Hamilton) would be glad to serve as a member of the Synod, if chosen as representative of Lyttelton. As much of the work cut out for the first Synod would consist in providing for the construction of and transaction of business of f'n Jure Synods, Mr. Hamilton, from his general knowledge of Church matteis and his experience in deliberative assemblies, would be found a most useful member. Mr. Bayfield propose I Dr. Donald as a candida'e. Th'tit gemtaman had been acquainted with the position of Church matters in this settlement from it 3 foundation, and with the proceedings of the Chinch Property Trust from the constitution of that 5 body. He must therefore have .in unusual amount of experience, which in the proceedings of the Synod would be turned to account. No other name being mentioned, Dr. Donald addressed a few words to tl'e meeting explanatory of the views which he held on the ques!ion4 which would come befoie the Syuod. Feeling himself to he peculiarly well acquainted with 'ihurch matters ever si.ice the foundation of the settlement, and knowin? what important subjects would be brought lief .re the notice of the first Synod, he professed himself leally anxious to become a member of that body. On some observations from Mr. Ward ?s to the desirability of placing the church prope -ty handed o\e.* by the &s<ociation under the manage•tnent of tho same body that was to manage the church estate in the rest of the diocese, Dr. Donald added that his pi imary consideration would be that the property now held by the Church Property Trustees should continue to be devoted to the game trusts as now, at any rate within the Province of Canterbury; to relieve the present trustees of their responsibilities would certainly require .an act of the legislature. The business of the meeting was then at an end, and the Rev. Chairman dismissed those present with prayer. — Times, July 16. , - The weather which has prevailed so far through 'the winter has been of the finest description. Weave being uv.vjni^ensed for the rain of Jast winter 'by the-fine dry character of the present. These has been some rsvn ,&& some f.obt, but an unusual amount.of warm ssunsiinno bos been interspersed 'among the wintry tl'us. A n > a consequence, the roads are everywhere in excellent condition, even those which are under ie})i.ir; r.nd field and garden j operations are particularly fonvaid. — Ibid.

A quarry of .freestone,.of quality equal to that known as Quail Island stone, has been commenced upon Mr. Vigor's land at Governor's Bay. It will be brought into use in tli-Q erection-of the new church in that locality.— -Ibid. The "Masons of this province celebrated yesterday a festival of the highest order among those which are peculiar to the craft. It had been for some tims expected that by ihe assistance at homo of Captain Simeon, and oilier well known and influential brethren, a patent wrmld be obtained from the Grand Lodge of England for the constitution of a Provincial Grand Lodge in this province. Mainly through the exertions of the gentlemen alluded to, the patent has bi-en obtained at this period, when Masonry has existed but eight years in the country, a fact unprecedented, we believe, , in the history of the order. In the patent constituting the Grand Lodge, the Hon. J. C. W. Russell was appointed Provincial Grand Master, and a large part of the interest, yesterday was centred in his installation to his chair of office. The hrethivn met at 11 a.m. at the Freemason's Hail, belonging to the Lodge of Unanimity in this town, and thence in about haJf-an-hour proceeded to church in procession ; a band preceding, and then the members of the Lodges of Unanimity, Saint Augustine and Southern Cross, followed two and two; then the members of the Grand Lodge, and the P. G. Al. hist. Full service was performed in^ church, the Yen. Oct. Matthias, Archdeacon of Akaroa, Grand Chaplain, officiating, and preaching a eennon adapted to the occasion. Afser service the brethren returned in procession to the lodge, where all the ceremonies pertaining to the consecration of the Grand Lodge, and the installation of the Grand Master were gone through in due order. This portion of the day's proceedings occupied the time until about half-past three o'clock iv the afternoon; and the brethren adjourned till four o'clock,' when they assembled at the store of Brother A. J. Alport, in Norwich 1 Quay, where a banquet was prepared for them in the style for which Brother Thomas Gee is so celebrated. Mere the ceremonies which pertain to banqueting, whether among Freemasons or among Englishmen in general, were duly observed, and , the brethren, numbering upwards of sixty, retired lat an early hour, well pleased that the interests of Masonry had received so great an advancement during this auspicious day. We may mention that the greatest drawback to the pleasantness of the day lay in the fac; that a heavy rain had fallen on Monday, a»d that a sharp frost succeeded during the night. The frozen mud at first was hard enough to bear the foot without soiling it, but as the sun came out and the frost thawed, the mud dissolved and left the streets in a filthy mess ■which seriously interfered with the comfort .91 [those who took part in the procession.— Times July 20. On Saturday last, the staff of the Lyttelton, Times had a dinner at Sumner, in honor of their employers, on which occasion a few gentlemen, ot connected with the -establishment were present, amongst whom were his Honor the Superintendent, Dr. Murphy, and Messrs. Campbell,- Beeby, T. B. Keelc»,; J. Willis, and R. Davis. The dinner was well served, and reflected great credit on the host, Mr. Day, for its excellency. The chair was taken by Mr. A. T. Brad well, and the vice- ■ chair by Mr. Lucas.— lbid. ■ A commission has been appointed for the purpose of making inquires into and reporting upon the condition of vessels carrying Provincial Government immigrants to this port, and to investigate complaints made by passengers. The commission consists of ihe Provincial Secretary, the Immigration Officer, Messrs. <J. Hall, R.M., and C. Ward, J.P. The commission sat for the first time yesterday, to enquire into the discipline and behavior on the part of the officers, crow, and passengers on hoard the Cameo during her voyage, respecting which some unpleasant rumors have gone abroad. We understand that the commission was unable at this sitting to proceed far with the investigation.— Times, July 23. Shock op Earthquake.—On Sunday, at sunset, three distinct shocks of an earthquake were felt in the Mount Gambicr district. The duration of the shocks was thirty seconds. The direction was from north and south. Houses were shaken, but no damage done. The atmosphere was calm at the time.— Maryborough Advertiser, June 20. "CUTENKSS" OF A YANKEE PaINTEB.—- A pefson who kept an inn by the roadside went'to a painter, wlio for a time, had set tip his easel in a town not a hundred miles from Lake Ontario, and inquired for what'sum the painter would paint him a. bear for a signboard. It was to be a "real good one,"' that would attract customers —"Fifteen, dollars," replied the painter.—" That's too much," said the. iuukeeper ; '* Tom Larkins will do it for ten."—The painter cogitated for a-moment. He did not like that his rival should get a commission in preference to himself, although-it was only for a signboard. "Is it to be a wild one or a tamo .one?"'he inquired.—*'A wild one, to be sure," —" With a chain or without one ?" cgain asked the painter. —" Without a chain," was the reply. —"Well, I will-paint you a wild bear without a chain for ten dollars." The bargain was struck, the painter set to. work, and in due time sent home the signboard, on which he had painted a huge brown bear of a most ferocious aspect. The signboard was the admiration of all the neighhorhooi, and drew plenty of customers to the inn j and the inn-keeper knew not whether to congratulate himself most upon being in possession of such a sign, or on having secured it for the small sum of ten dollars. Time slipped on, his barrels emptied and his pockets filled. Everything went on thrivingly" for three weeks, when one night there arose one of those violent storms of rain and wind, thunder and lightning,' which, are so common in North America, and which pass over with almost as much rapidity as they rise. When the innkeeper awoke next morning, the sun was shining, the birds singing, all traces of the storm liad passed away. He looked up anxiously to ascertain that his sign was safe. There it was sure enough, swinging to and fro as usual, but the bear had disappeared. The innkeeper could hardly believe his eyea; full of anger and surprise he ran to the painter and related what had happened. The painter looked up coolly from his work, " Was it a wild bear or a tame one?" —"A wild bear."-—• "Was it chained or wot?"— " I guess not."— '"Then,'' cried the painter triumphantly, "how could you expect a wild bear to remain in such a Btonn as that of last night without a chain?'1 the innkeeper had nothing to say against so conclusive an argument, and finally agreed to give the painter fifteen dollars .to paint him a wild bear with a chain that would not take to the woods in the next storm. For the benefit of our unprofessional readers, it may be necessary: to mention that the roguish painter had painted the first bear-in water colors, whicri had been washed away by the rain; the second bear was painted in oil colors, and was therefore able to withstand the weather. ■•:. As You Abe. —Down East there, .-resided;a certain M.D. One very cold night he was roused from his slumbers by a very loud knocking at the door. After some hesitation he went to the window, and asked, "Who's there?" "A friend/ "What do you want?" "To stay here all night." " Stay there then," was the benevolent reply. The Army.—The total number of desertions from the ranks of the army last year (1858) amounted to 20,360, the total number of enlistments to 91,971, and the total number of recruits remaining in the ranks on the 31st of December to 42,234. There were 2,007 desertions from the cavalry, 14,862 from the infantry, 2,000 from the Royal Artillery, 148 from the Engineers, 524 ftom the Military Train, 5 from the Medical Stair Corps, 3 from the Colonial Corps, 2 from the Armourers 1 Corps, and 800 from tbe East ludia Company.