SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC.

West Coast Times, Issue 788, 2 April 1868, Page 6

SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC.

The month that has elapsed since we penned our last Summary, has been the most eventful in the annals of Westland. Incidents of thrilling interest to the nation at large, or of the highest importance to our own community, have literally crowded upon us. The most exciting event of the month has been the attempted assassination of His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh at Sydney. The first news of a reliable nature reached us on Sunday, tho 22nd ult., by telegram, and the terms of the message were so vague, as to lead us to suppose that the Prince had been actually murdered. Manifestations of the most profound grief for His Eoyal Highness, and of the most intense horror at the enormity of the crime, were plainly visible on every countenance. No event could have filled the mind with more painful emotion than did the supposed murder of the Saylor Prince. On the following day, however, f|ie Rangitoto brought the satisfactory

intelligence that the Prince, although shot at, was not killed. The revulsion in the public feeling was very great, and a heartfelt "Thank God" burst from thousands of loyal lips, as the joyous news was disseminated through the town. The excitement was intense, and the enthusiastic loyalty of the citizens developed itself in every conceivable mannerOn the night of the reception of the welcome intelligence of the Duke's providential escape, the town was paraded by a band ; a huge bonfire was lighted in the Municipal reserve ; the national anthem was sung by the Philharmonic Society, upwards of two thousand" persons joining in the chorus ; rockets were let up, and every form of rejoicing available at so short a notice, resorted to. The Town Council adjourned their sitting after passing a resolution ordering a general holiday ; and on the day of the holiday one of the most extraordinary manifestations of loyalty ever exhibited in the colonies was made. A notice had been issued calling upon all loyal citizens to wear the distinguishing badge of loyalty, viz., blue, or the red, white, and blue. At an early hour in the morning the Duke of Edinburgh Theatre was densely packed with a company numbering nearly 2,000 persons. The 'Mayor occupied the chair. Loyal resolutions were passed without a dissentient voice, and amidst the most clamorous applause. An address to His Eoyal Highness was ordered to be transmitted, signed by the Chairman, and a point of enthusiasm was reached which has seldom been equalled. Shortly after the meeting terminated, a procession was formed of citizens wearing the loyal badge, who walked, to the number cf 3,000, through the principal streets encompassed by spectators decked with the same insignia. The cheering throughout the line of march was deafening. A large number of diggers from the country added much to the inipressiveness of the demonstration. In the evening the town was illuminated, and fireworks were discharged. Last Sunday was appointed a day of General Thanksgiving to Almighty God for the Prince's deliverance, and the various churches, of all denominations, were thronged with earnest and devout audiences. S'nce the publication of our last summary, the harmony and good will with which, under equal laws, all classes of the community had hitherto lived together, has been seriously disturbed by the machinatioas of a seditious priest named Father Larkin, and a Mr Manning, who were the proprietors or conductors of a Fenian newspaper called the "-New Zealand Celt." Stimulated by the inflammatory appeals of that journal, a section of our Irish fellow- colonists determined to erect a cross to the memory of. the three men executed at Manchester who were designated Irish patriots and martyrs. Application was made to the Town Council, the Trustees of the Cemetery, for a space of ground on which the memorial cross might be setup, and on this being refused, a procession was organised, which walked the streets with great parade and ceremony on Sun- i day the Sth ult. The persons joining it wore green sashes ; it was accompanied by banners and bands of music j Father Larkin walked with it in full canonicals ; it carried a cross, and on its reaching the Cemetery and finding its gates closed ngainst them, the leaders effected a forcible entry and carried ' out their design. An address was delivered by Father Larkin, which is held to contain treasonable and seditious language, and out of the whole of these circumstances a series of Crown prosecutions has arisen — no fewer than seven persons being under examination on a charge of riot, for having been leaders in a procession for effecting an illegal purpose — and two of thorn — Father Larkin and Mr Manning, being indicted on a separate charge of seditious libel. The prisoners were brought up on Saturday last and remanded until yesterday — the case occupying the Court during the whole day and not being completed, there was a further remand until this morning. The Volunteer Movement which originated out of the open defiance of the law just narrn+od, has made rapid strides both in Hold 1 ' :i and also in the surrounding township. A meeting of gentlemen willing to serve on a volunteer corps was .called on the evening of the 11th ultimo, and in little more than a week " The Ist Westland Rifles" was wn fait accompli. Since then it has gone on steadily drilling, and its members have now attained considerable proficiency. A very few days elapsed when No. 2 Company was enrolled, and shortly afterwards a company of volunteer cavalry, under the title of the Westland Light Horse, was formed ; and a volunteer naval brigade is in process of formation. From Kanieri and other, outlying townships we have received information of the iutention toemroi companies of volunteevs?, so that the movement is ramifying in all directions. A Jai-gc number of the men enrolled have already been familiarised with the use of arms and accustomed to drill, and this circumstance has helped grcatty to advance the movement. On Monday, the Rangitoto, from Wellington, brought arms and ammunition from the Government Arsenal there, and they were at once distributed amongst the meu of the lat Eifle Company. These mustered in full force, and it M*as surprising to see the facility and regularity with which" they fell into working order and manipulated their pieces.

Another army of Volunteers has been on very active service in town during the past week. From information received by the authorities on Friday last, it was deemed expedient to swear in a number of special constables, and in an incredibly shorttime no less than 640 responded to the call and were duly enrolled. They were then divided into six companies, to each of which a certain district of the town was allotted. Since that time the town has been patroEed throughout the night by strong bodies of specials. Their services have also been called into requisition in guarding the lock-up and court house, and in forming escorts for the prisoners to and from the Court. Their number has within the last day or two been increased to upwards of 1200. A very singular spectacle is presented during the present proceedings in the Court, by a large mass of men upwards of a thousand on active duty, as if the town were in a state of seige. We have the satisfaction, however, of knowing that the precautionary steps which have been taken, and the strong aud impressive demonstration the government have been enabled to make, have held in check the enemies of law and order in this County, and given a new ap- ' plication to the adage "prevention is better tluurcure." The first monumental column erected in Westland, and known as the Dobson memorial, has been completed. It is erected to the memory of those early West Coast explorers, George Dobson, Henry Whitcombe/ Charles Townsend, and Charlton Howitt, who all lost their lives through untoward accident or murder. Mr William Shaw, Mayor of Hokitika, has been gazetted a Justice of the Peace for the Colony of New Zealand. The Westland District Court (Criminal Sittings) was formally opened on the 17th ult., but being St. Patrick's Day, which is observed as a holiday in the colonies,, the Court immediately adjourned until the following day. The calendar was a veiy light one. The Criminal Sittings terminated on the 21st, since which lime the sittings have been under the Bankruptcy Act. ' Tho Queensland Rush has ended in a signal failure, and our disappointed diggers are fast returning to a field where — if there are not monster nuggets yet discovered — handsome returns can be realised for the expenditure of labor combined with slight capital.