SHIPPING INTELLIGENCE.

totS^aP 115 ™8 evenin K'G- 17 : to-morrow •niSSS* 1* :. ™« zoning, 5.58; SUN-MSB: To morrow morning, 6.18 MOON'S AGE : Full moon, 2nd April, 10.58 a.m.

PORT OF AUCKLAND.

iw„ •t, . ARRIVALS, manan Rennie, schooner, from the Fiiis Saucy Lass, schooner, from Napier

DEPARTURES.

ft™™, VeW'Mu, for Kaipara Jiowena, s.s., for Russell

The bug Thomas and Henry and the steamer Rowena took their departures for ivaipara and Euspell respectively last even ing. The Wave has cleared out for Sydtoey via Wangaroa, with 100,000 feet balk timber, passengers: Mrs McKenzie, two children, Miss Smith. ' The Elirt cleared for Lyttelton to-day With a cargo of of timber, etc. The schooner Saucy Lass arrived to-day w™ a cargo as per imports. ?^ Marion Penny arrived to-day from feuva. She left there on March 11. and Ka davu on the 13th, and experienced bad weather and contrary wind& on the passage. Srasr •Drew' jack ' Ear"s'

IMPORTS.

tJt ! IC7l C 7 from Napier: 120 hides, Ireland ; 50 bushels maize, 140 bags wheat, 10 bushels maize, 4 pigs, D. H. MeKenrie. 9nnn Mamn Renny : 556 bags maiy.e, and -WOO cocoanuts, G. W, Binney.

EXPORTS.

.ler Phrt, for Lyttelton : 45,788 ft. tfhite Pine, D H. McKenzie; 80 doors, 6 pgs n eo'n2 ooo ft' dressed timber > Holdship & : 200 doors, 12 pgs window sashes, 000 ft. architraves, Union Sash and Door Company; -i crates crockery, Bloom.

COMMERCIAL.

There was a fair attendance to-day at Messrs. B. Tonka and Co.'s sale of teas, &c. Twenty kegs of fine Nelson fresh butter in bnme sold at Is s£d. ; good salt ditto, at Is. 2d. ; teas (on account of whom it may concern), Is. sd. to 2s. 2*d. About 40 cases of Nelson apples sold at 4-} d.

CHIEF POST-OFFICE, AUCKLAND.

Mails will Closk as Under :— .For Thames, to-morrow, at 6.30 a.m. and 5.30 p m. For Coromandel, to-morrow, at 0.30 p m. For Taranaki and Southern provinces, per Phoebe. this day, at 5 p.m. For Tauianga, per Murray, to-morrow, at 4 p m For Opotiki, per Fanny Kelly, to-morrow, at 5 p m For Gisborne, per Julius Vogel, on Wednesday next, at 4 p.m. ' For Waiwera and Warkworth, per Lady Bowen, on JpThursday Dext, at 10 a.m. For the undermentioned! places, per Wellington, on Tuesday, 7th April, as under :— For India, China, Mediterranean Ports, and Continent of Europe, at 9 a m For Taranaki and Southern provinces, ar 10 am For the Australian Colonies, and United King dom, via Southampton, at 10 a m For the United Kingdom, via Brindisi. and late letters for Southern provinces and Melbourne, at 10.30 a m For newspapers, at 8 a m For money orders, and registered letters, on Monday, 6th April, at 5 p m For tHe .undermentioned places, per Mongol, on Monday,kl3th March, as under :- For Fiji.Sandwich Islands.United States of America, Canada, British Columbia, Central and South America, and British and Foreign West Indies at 10.30 a.m. ' For the United Kingdom and Continent of Europe. via San Francisco, at 10.30 a.m. Letters bearing late fee will be received until 11 am ,-_,.■ For money orders, registered letters, and news papers, at 9.30 a m (Signed) 8. B. Bise, Chief Postmaster.

DEATH

jAWa^oYajl?C ra t $• Pi*** of ins father, IS^M^ cflfe beloved son of Robert please 9 ' "ged 12m°n"is. Thames papers

The Evening Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News and the Morning News.

TUESDAY, MARCH 31, 1874.

For the cause that lacks assistance, Fbr the wrong that needs resistance, For the future in the distance, And «i« eood that we can do

~. —___. _,_„__ _.;.. _,- .;__ | Occasionally when a curious leader has appeared in the Cross we have heard it re marked that the Gross is getting into its dotage. But of all the leaders that have appeared in that paper for years we commend our readers to one which heads the leading columns to-day. As a specimen of literary drivel we cannot say that we have ever met its equal. What it aims at or intends, it is not given to man to know, for every statement is so qualified and neutralised that we defy the ingenuity of man to discover what is the belief of its writer. And after reading from its begin ning to its end there is not a man in Auck land that would tell us what are the parti cular views as distinguished from any other views, which the writer may happen to enter tain. It ism one respect a change from a previous leader which was given with an air of buoyancy and flippant nonchalance which appeared to indicate a certain independence of thought ■ but under the lash of our criti cism the writer cringes and whines and holds back and guards his statements with a cowardly timidity that is ludicrous in the extreme. It begins by complimenting the Teachers' Association on having profited by the "friendly criticism," we presume, of the Cross, and the altered "tone" of thef r deliberations, whereas there has been no alteration in any form on the part of the Association ; but our contemporary has been tumbled off his high horse, on which he had been so gallantly riding, and having found that the teachers wer not left defenceless has begun to snivel. The alteration is not in the teachers but in their critic, and the teachers might well retort the compliment on the altered " tone " of our contemporary and his defer ential treatment of the teachers, were it not that such beating about. the bush is so dis tasteful to persons imbued with the vigorous spirit of the age. But' the funniest part of it is that the writer apparently afraid to grapple with the Star never once mentions this paper, but in a sneaking cowardly way quotes whole paragraphs of our receiu article. And approaching us something in the way in which a cat comes up, purring and sideways, and by zig zags, he speaks thusly:— Few bodies have had more need to pray to be saved from their friends than the teachers generally to be preserved from the well-meant but singularly intemperate advocacy to which they have lately been treated. We cannot, of course, make more than a guess at the authorship of the singular effusions to which we refer, but should fancy them the offspring of the hatred, temper, and imperfect reasoning powers of some second-class teacher who had not been treated by his school committee with the reverence which he reasonably expects from his pupils. That his language, when he scolds, is vulgar, his logic, when he attempts to reason, of the loosest and most inconclusive type, is not perhaps remarkable; but it certainly reflects little credit upon the Asso ciation of which he is, we hope, an un worthy member. The singularly oily patronage to which the teachers are here treated after we had thrashed the writer for his previous imper tinence is on a par with the supercilious tone assumed toward the wrfijer of our articles. It is of course with a purpose tha t the Cross attributes our articles to another pen than that of the leader-writer of the Star, and in order that he may not be beat ing the air we would for once say that the statements made are the statements of this journal, and have proceeded from the pen of the Editor, who, without any undue pretentiousness, has no hesitation in com paring his literary ability and character with those of the manufacturer of the literary shoddy that appeared in [' the leading column of this morning's Cross. In concluding this portion of the subject we would recommend the writer to abandon this supercilious air, or if he won't we shall make him. If his writing showed his ability to treat of matters literary, his utterances mieht be treated with respect, but such a feeble, pointless, bloodless treat ment of subjects that are occupying the thoughts of men could never command the smallest deference. Why does not the writer fling it out like a man? Why does he not say as he means, and say it out as if he wasn't afraid ? People don't want a sedative when they take up a news paper and glance at its leading article. They want distinct and defined views, not self neutralising muddle. In fine if this sort of stuff appears often in the Cross we shall oftener hear the statement before referred to, that "the Cross is in its dotage."

'.r We recently contended, in reply to an article in the Cross with reference to the relations of school teachers towards local I committees and the Central Board, that the "complexion" of appointments would be given by the body making those appoint ments. Our contemporary had held that far more would depend on the body holding the final right of confirming and. annulling the]

appointments. It is in the following fashion that the Cross this morning, in referring to ohr arguments, endeavours to bewilder with words without knowledge t-* It is asserted —-we ha,d almost said calmly, but he asserts nothing calmly—that we were wi'oiag in saying that '' the confirming or disallowing body must inevitably hold the reins of power." In illustration of this he says—Look at the Governor ! look at the Queen ! Has the Governor or the Assembly, the Queen or the Parliament, the reins of power ? We answer at once neither the one nor the other so far as appointments are con cerned, but the Executive, which is held to represent the Queen or the Queen's represen tative, although practically elected by Par liament. We do not hesitate to say that the mind that dictated that paragraph is incapable of com ing straight to an argument and grappling with it. We were speaking of the com plexion or character of our laws when we compared the influences of %he originating and confirming bodies In the business of legislation. We were making no reference whatever to the matter " so far as appointments are con cerned," and the mind that gave that twist to our argument is, we assert, utterly incapable of following an argument honestly. What we stated was that the character of our laws isnotderived from the Governor who confirms or vetoes, but from the legislature which moulds them in detail, and so the character of our scholastic appointments would be derived not from the body that would simply hold the power of confirming or rejecting, but from the body that originally examined, selected, and made the appointment. Both in making laws, and in the appointment of teachers, the right of the confirming and re jecting power would be but rarely exercised ; and the " complexion" or character of the product is given by the original creating power. This we say apart from the question for the present of whether the appointment of school teachers should proceed from below or from above. But we simply refer to the matter as an illustration of the incapacity for argument of the writer who, while allowing the merest drivel to proceed from his pen, has the unpardonable audacity to talk of "looseness of logic."

We feel confident that his Excellency con gratulates himself on the accident—shall we call it?—by which he dropped into our harbour in the quiet of a Sunday morning. , The more exuberant of us were quite pre pared to inflict upon him the burden of our 1 loyalty, and our trumpets would have brayed, [ and our little children would perhaps have lectured him on social ethics as >in the South, and our larger children would have surrounded him with that j fulsome and sickening flattery which in some way does not seem consonant ' with the feelings of the present Viceroy. From all this he has been delivered by pro vidential interposition, and let us hope that during the time of the stay in Auckland of 3 tho Vice-regal party a contrast may be . afforded to that painful effort to paj atten tions which has, from whatever cause, been 3 inseparably associated with Vice-regal pro f cessions in the past. We wonder if it could , be possible for a few months to pass with out a concert or a bazaar, or a lottery, or » something else " under the distinguished - patronage of his Excellency and Lady Fer gusson." We wonder if it could be possible ; for the vice-regal party to be left to the quiet of domestic life amid the oaks and lawns of Government House. They have by accident or good fortune escaped the Mayor and Cor poration over the silt basins, and the Sunday school children somewhere else, and we wonder if the unities could be preserved throughout, and if they could be allowed to go walking and shopping and driving like ordinary people, without the everlasting digito monstrari, and without being bored with attentions which are supposed to be excused by their being in tended for the Queen. If this could be so we are sure that the visit to Auckland would be embalmed in very pleasant associa tions in the Governor's household, and that instead of the loyalty of Auckland being doubted, the courtesy and thoughtfulness shown would be accepted as the most im pressive because the most delicate tribute of respect for the representative of majesty. We can hardly hope however that his Excellency will not be asked to formally open the silt-basins, or place the first stone in the foundation of the graving-dock that is to be, or drive the first pile for the new slaughter-house, or lend his presence at a charity concert, or inaugurate the season of the Young Men's Christian Association, or take part in many another event in which either a few more shillings may be made by exhibiting the Governor, or honor may <be reflected upon committees and managers by their being witnessed basking in vice-regal glory. We can hardly hope for this, but we shall be interested in noting who or what institution will be the first to intrude, and so open the flood-gates of importunity. Since our reference on Saturday last to the memorial for the remission of the sentence on Mr. Dornwell we have heard nothing further of that document. We think the matter has been allowed to quietly drop, and hope the unfair attempt has not been made to entrap His Excellency and place him in the false position of countenancing the belief that there is one law for the rich and another for the poor. We need not say that we are the first in any effort to soothe unmerited suffer ing, and if Mr Dornwell's family or circum stances suffered in his being obliged to fulfil the very moderate terms of punishment imposed on him, we should not be found on the side of those desiring the stringent execution of the law. But, in this case the punishment falls solely on the individual that has merited it, and we trust it will have a good effect on Mr Dorn well himself in teaching him to restrain that "irritable temper" and "momentary outbursts of passion and hot blood" which the memorial admits. If the me- Imorial has not been yet presented to his Excellency we trust that it will not, and if it has we trust the public will be informed what value his Excellency set on the plea for pardon contained in the rea sons advanced—-namely, that Mr Dornwell is the head of a large wholesale and retail establishment, and carries on an extensive business in Auckland. As we have said, we are sincerely sorry that Mr Dornwell has placed himself in this position, but doubly sorry should we be if anything were done to en courage the idea that justice is not even handed. A correspondent writes to us as follows : —"Sir, —Some time since in paying an account for advertisement at the Cross office, and complaining of the cost as compared with the charge for the same advertisement in the Star, I was met by the rejoinder, and ' so we should, having a .larger circulation than the Star.' Sir, as I have been often assured, and it is generally believed that your paper haa a much larger circulation than that journal, I would suggest that you should put the matter to the test, and satisfy the public. I also observe, and chiefly in this morning's Cross, that that paper affects ! to ignore your existence,* and while replying

to your articles —as formerly when appropriating your telegrams — declines to mention the Star by name. Being an admirer of your manly outspoken paper I would very much like that you would, in justice to yourself, place this in its-proper light before the public—l am, &c, Pas. In reply to the foregoing T7e would add I j that in reference to the Cross's not Hu£* lon" I ing the Star by name, we learn it is because they are afraid to grapple with us, believing that by keeping us thus at arm's length they can slip aside from an ugly hug. We certainly were not aware that any one connected with that journal would have had the daring to compare circulations. We believe the circulation of the Star is about three times that of the Daily Southern Cross, but we are quite prepared to risk fifty or a hundred pounds on the question as to whether the circulation of our contemporary is as much as one half of the circulation of the Evening Star. Will our correspondent suggest the means by which the matter may be tested, and we are willing to place a cheque for the amount in his or any other hands as stakes. In a spirit of fairness we have much plea sure in giving insertion to the following let ter from Dr. Cruickshank, having reference to the death of Mrs Southgate :—"Green law, Matakana, March 21, 1874. To the Editor : Sir,—lt was only last night that I obtained a copy of the Star, of date March 10. In that paper I observe a paragraph by a nameless correspondent reflecting on my character in the most unjustifiable manner. A plain statement of facts will be sufficient to exonerate me with all disinterested per sons. About three months ago I was affected "vyith a very severe attack of acute rheuma tism, which reduced my strength to such a degree that I was not able to take the slightest exercise for many weeks. As soon as able I went to the Hot Springs, and from them I derrved great benefit. On the even ing of the day when I was sent for to visit Mrs Southgate 1 was returning from the Kawau, where I had for some days ex perienced the kindness and hospitality of Sir George Grey. The day was very hot, and the boat in which I was brought over was, cm account of the tide, unable to get up the river. I had consequently a good long way to travel before I reached home, which T did after considerable difficulty about sun set. I think I had not been in my house half an hour when Mr Palmer came to re quest me to visit Mrs Southgate. I ex plained to Mr Palmer where T had been, how utterly exhausted I was with the journey, and how impossible it would be for me to go to Mahurangi that night. I said more—l told him that it would be death to me to attempt it. I also explained to Mr Palmer—what he very well knew— that Dr. Smith, who lived much nearer to Southgate's than I did, would, no doubt, readily attend. Mr Palmer then tooi his leave. I may further state, in my ownjus tification, that when I came to New Zealand, nearly fourteen years ago, I never intended to practise my profession. All my neigh bours were well aware of the fact, and 1 only departed from that determination when I was in unusually good health, and at the urgent solicitation of near friends. _Now, when lam almost always infirm in health, and approaching very near upon my 70fch year, I think that I am entitled to take rest for the remaining small portion of my life. There are two remarks in your correspond ent's letter which require to be corrected. The first is "That Dr. Smith has lately been called in to some of Dr. Cruicksbank's patients." This cannot be true, because I have no patients, and do not desire to have any. The second remark by your corres pondent is a still more unjustifiable one, be cause it is utterly devoid of truth. It is that I am in receipt of Government salary. Up to this present moment I have never received one penny from Government for any purpose whatever. My character in my own neighbourhood is sufficiently well known. To those who know me not I have thought it necessary to offer the above ex planation of the very bitter and undeserved assault you and your correspondents have made upon my character and conduct. If Mr Palmer is one of your correspondents (I have good reason to think he is) I can well understand how he has concealed facts such as I have pointed out, and which he was perfectly well aware of, and why he has been led on to say of me things which he must havefknown were not true. Mr Palmer knows that at his unsuccessful attempts to gain Provincial Council honors at the late election I heartily supported the interests of Mr Moat. Before I conclude allow me very gently to hint to you the propriety of making yourself better informed in matters relating to private character forwarded to you by nameless correspondents, many of whom, thinking themselves safe from de tection, do not hesitate to stab their innocent victims from behind.—l am, &c, Alex. Cbuickshakk, J.P. A meeting of the officers and members of the Auckland Volunteers will be held this evening in the Drill-shed, Princes-street, at eight o'clock, for the purpose of considering the reception of the representatives on their return from Napier. A meeting of the officers and members of the Auckland Volunteers and others in terested in giving a fitting reception to our representatives on their return will be held this evening at eight o'clock in the Drill shed. We are exceedingly sorry to learn that the Choral Society do not intend to give any concert on the evening of Good Friday. We are sure that had they announced a number of selections from the oratorios so successfully performed during the year an overflowing attendance would have been the result. The works of our great composers of sacred music, to be rendered at all successfully, must be accompanied by a full band. A mere vocal performance, unless afforded by a very high order of talent indeed, such as we cannot expect in Auckland, must prove a failure. We are sure that some of the subscribers to the Choral Society will feel disappointed at the absence of what, we beSieve, nearly every one would prefer to any other class of entertainment on that evening. Possibly, however, the com mittee have been guided by the opinion that the majority of the people will desire to spend the day that commemorates our Lord's crucifixion in the church, or in the quiet of their own homes. This is no doubt to a great extent true, but the performance of portions of the grand musical compositions that have made passages in sacred history so expressive and deeply touching would have been quite inkeepingwiththespiritof the day. A number of young ladies just budding from sweet seventeen into blooming women will be initialed into the sisterhood of Good Templarism this evening at the Fraternal Home Lodge, in the Temperance Hall, Albert-street. The admission of sisters was i surely one of Burnaud's " happy thoughts," and it has been remarkably effective in its I operations. The lodges are becoming specially interesting to young ladies, who (according to the report of the W.C.T. of the Pioneers) learn the signs and wonders of the order with extraordinary quickness. We learn that no less than twenty-three engage ments have taken place between the sexes of the various Auckland lodges within the last six weeks. These facts speak volumes in favour of Templarism, and form possibly the secret charm of the raystio association,

At themeeting of the Good Samaritan Lodge ' last evening the following resolution was , unanimously agreed to relative to the Good . Templar's Prayer," which appeared in our : paper on the 2Gth inst. We have been fur- • nished with a copy by Mr 0. Lewis, W.S. : " That this lodge deeply deplores the publi cation of the document purporting to be a Good Templar's Prayer, which was published in the Evening Star of the 26th inst., as the •« employed therein tends to the in langua^v, - _ '~* T. It not only tries to jury of the 1.0.v*.- n { the order in lower a prominent member -. profanes the estimation of his brethren, bUD t . the name of Almighty God. This locigo considers the document in question an attack : upon the noble order of which we are mem- , bers, and therefore each lodge is, in our opinion, in duty bound to repudiate it, and further, as some of the dealers in intoxicat ing liquors in Auckland have had the pseudo prayer printed and circulated for the pur pose of casting odium upon the order, it be hoves all Good Templars to express their de testation of the said document, and to aid in the expulsion of its author from the roll of membership of the 1.0.G.T-" The lodge voted a special permission to have the fore going resolution published. The following interesting letter from a passenger by the Hylton Castle we publish with pleasure :—" Sir, —I notice in your re port of the arrival of the Hylton Castle, on Saturday, a few remarks concerning the in dividual that played the Highland bagpipe on the poop. I therefore most respectfully beg to inform you that my name is not Mac pherson, but Robert Smith. But although I happen to be Smith, I am certainly as true a native of the Highlands of Scotland as any Mac there. Am a real descendant of the Gow Croum, i.e., in Gaelic, Crocket Black Smith, who fought with the Clan McPherson at the battle of the Inches of Perth. The chief of the above clan having an opportunity of witnessing his brave actions, cried out in the English language, " Well done, Smith." Henceforth, I suppose, sprung the Smiths of the North of Scotland. As I have had occasion to write you, sir, would you kindly allow me space to say a few words on the kindness that both my companion and I received from the officers and crew of the Hylton Castle on our voyage out. We had six ewes and four hounds under our charge, and I am very glad to say that they all are just looking as well as they could have been had they been still in their native country. I may also say that the six ewes has six lambs, all doing well. The Captain was as careful looking after their welfare as he could have been had they been his own stock. Captain Scott is a thorough gentleman, and every inch a sailor. He is certainly the proper sort of a man to have charge of a vessel. None of your poop ornaments, but the man that can do his part aloft, and want his sleep for a month if business requires it. All on board have both our best wishes, and I hope that they and their good vessel may be long spared to brave the dangers of the deep. By giving publicity to the above you will oblige R. Smith.—The Hylton Castle, March 30th, 1874." The following suggestion possesses the merit of originality : Sir, —Great success has attended our cricketers and riflemen, and I hope the glory that rests on their banners will long continue to shine. But it has been said that our agricultural and manufacturing interests are not so forward. Now, while in the way, would it not be well to try con clusions with our more Southern neighbours in these respects, for as the poet tells us, Life is earnest, life is real, So this much is not the goal; Let us then as we go onward, Whack them well upon the whole. And, Mr. Editor, let it be yours (when our husbandmen and artizans come back with the spoils) to see whose duty it is to have them set upon a rail and carried high all round.—l am, &c, Common Play. At St. George's Church, Thames, on Sunday, the Rev. V. Lush, during the morning dis course, took occasion to refer to the proper observancebf Friday next, being Good Friday. He said no one more fully recognised than he did the civil and religious liberty of.every man, but he thought it would be an outrage upon religion for anj member of the Church of England to give up the day to feasting and festivity. Last year, he observed, as the bell was tolling for morning service, the members of a temperance lodge were assem bling close by to the lively strains of drum and fife, for the purpose of marching to Parawai to give themselves up to festivity and levity. With the members of other religious bodies he had nothing to do, but he earnestly protested against the members of that church celebrating the saddest and most solemn day in the whole year in such a manner. They should spend the day as they would that of the anniversary .of the loss of some near and dear friend. Surely holidays were not so few but that a society which was working: in the cause of temper ance could find some other day on which to hold a festival. He felt it to be his duty to urge on parents in the Church, who might have children belonging to some Band of Hope, not to allow their children to misspend Good Friday by taking part in such festivi ties as those at Parawai last year. He urged on all the necessity of spending the day like St. Peter—at the foot of the Cross.—Adver tiser. | ..'•.'.'_ The Cross to-day casts a very offensive and j quite undeserved slight upon our amateur I vocalists, who are, we undertake to say, *quite equal and in many respects superior to the ordinary class of professional talent visit ing this city. Some really good Auckland vocalists were announced to sing at the.Pon sonby concert last evening, yet the Cross treats them thus cavalierly:—"At eight o'clock the concert began, and as it had been announced that Miss Lizzie Carandini would sing, a number of persons who had not attended the soiree went to the concert for the purpose of hearing her. * * The con cert was as successful as amateur concerts usually are, and when the performers deserved applause they got it." We can state positively that no reporter from the Cross was present during last evening's concert, and we shall be fully borne out by the opinion of those present when we add that the success of the concert was ! entirely due to local talent, particularly to the singing of Miss Leaf, which compared very favourably with the professional aid which, if we are to believe the Cross, formed the sole attrac tion. It is too much the practice to decry everything local and adulate -anything coming from abroad, but such a direct insult to gentlemen and ladies who have exerted themselves, and most successfully, in every charitable cause, as that contained in the Cross, has never yet appeared in print, and we think it shouldjbe resented by all lovers of music in the city. The anniversary of the Mount Eden Sun day-school was held yesterday, and was largely attended. Tea was laid at half-past six p.m., and a public meeting took place afterwards. The Rev. P. H. Cornford (pre sident)^ Messrs. Battley, Seabrook, Wells, ' and Ewington addressed the meeting. The annual report was read by Mr F. Brooks shewing that the cause was progressing. The choir, under the leadership of C. Bloomfield, added considerably to the evening's enjoyl ment. Fiom the report it appeared that £33 odd had been received during the year and expended in books' and repairs to the i building. I

Our Waikato telegrams announce that the great kingite meeting has been a failure. The kingites are disappointed at the non-attend ance of the friendlies, and the time has, therefore, been spent in feasting, war dances, and other amusements of the good old Maori type. The natives have learned by this time that they are pretty well fleeced at these meetings by sellers of rum, and by the presents they are called on to contribute to the general stock, and they are therefore in clined to inquire what are the actual advantages derived from the journey. The meeting will probably conclude in a day or two without having arrived at any very : '■iiat conclusion either favourable or import. - nake ha. adverse to tn& X „ . __- . , ~. „ made by a We understand that*,- Mjmd £ st number of gentlemen in Aug*-. -v ° the Government for losses caused i*,, interruption last year of negotiations for tho purchase of land in the Lake district have been settled on condition that the proposed purchases may still be completed, and the land acquired by the Government. Amongst the blocks handed over to the Provincial Government lately are 220,000 acres in the Taupo district held on a long lease, the natives positively refusing to sell. The land is, we believe, generally of an inferior quality. A private moonlight trip on board the steamer Golden Crown has been.arianged for this evening, under the direction of a committee consisting of the following gentle men :—Messrs. J. B. Russell, David Hean, William Bell. Arthur Heather, Adam Brock (hon. sec), E. Bennett, T. H. Ivey, George Dacre, William Cochrane, H. B. Morton, and A. G. Millar. The members of the Auckland Harmonic Society will enliven the trip with musical selections. The sale of pews in Plymouth Church, Brooklyn—the Rev. Henry Ward Beecher's —took place on January 6, in the church. The prices of the pews were marked on each, ranging from $120 to $20. The auction was to secure the privilege of choice. The prices bid for choices ranged from $400 to $11, so that the sums given for both pews and choices ranged from $520 to $31. The aggre gate was $59,470 against |u0,232 last year. In the telegraph office at Nekon a young lady has for some time past been employed a 3 clerk, and during last week she has been joined by two young ladies from this city— where they were trained in the telegraph office—as operators. We hope they will 1 prove (the opinion of cynical bachelors to ! the contrary notwithstanding) that " A i woman keeps a secret." ' We notice that a soiree will be held in the Whau Presbyterian Church on Wednesday evening next, when the memorial obelisk to the late esteemed and lamented Rev. D. Hamilton will be unveiled. The very Rev. James Hill, of the Thames, will perform the unveiling ceremony, and other ministers and _ friends will take part in the proceedings. The friends of the Mount Eden Sunday - 1 school held a very pleasant anniversary soiree last evening—Rev Mr Cornford in the chair. The report and balance-sheet shewed that the school is in a favourable, though not in a wealthy condition. The meeting was 1 addressed by Messrs Ewington, Seabrook, ! Battley, and Wells, and the choir, under - the leadership of Mr Bloomfield, sang several 1 selections of psalmody. ' We hardly know why so many love letters ' should be found about the streets, or how it is that they are invariably brought to the Star, but possibly the loss of these precious treasures may be accounted for in some measure by the fact that the inside ot -a waistcoat next the heart, although superior to a breeches pocket from a romantic point of view, is not nearly so safe. We have t'o -1 day had left at our office a tender epistle 1 from a young lady at Tauranga owning the : initials of M. W. to F. M. G., a young gentleman in Auckland, who may procure it by applying at the Star office. If he is at all a likely looking young fellow we shall also have great pleasure in assisting him when he " asks mother" for her consent and crowning blessing. The letter awaits its i owner. The fourth annual meeting of the Waiuku 1 Institute was held on the 25th instant—Mr | Alexander in the chair. Mr Moore's (the ' treasurer) report showed an income by sub-' scriptions of £14 13s, and expenditure in pur -1 chase of books of £9 9s 3d; binding, £4 7s 6d ; working expenses, 6s 4d. Mr Campbell's 1 (the librarian) report recorded 22 annual | subscribers, and half-yearly and quarterly subscriptions equal to 6 more. 834 volumes had been issued during the year—an average ' of 32 per annual reader. 70 volumes had been 1 added, 43 by purchase and 27 by Provincial • Council grant; 35 volumes had been bound. 1 The library contains of history and biography '. 96v01s ; science, travels, and politics, 57 vols; ■ literature and poetry, 77 vols* ; magazines, ---18 vols. ; and fiction, 210 vols.; also, journals of both Houses of Parliament and of the Provincial Council, General Government • papers, Hansards, and Provincial Gazette, \ The librarian complained of the books haying ; been carelessly handled by the readers, thus entailing too heavy an expense for binding. - He reported that an elocution class in con ' nection with the Institute did their first and ■ five months session last winter, maintaining 1 a good attendance and with satisfactory results ; and that Mr Hull had presented the Institute with specimens of coal, iron stone, and fire-clay from Mr Foote's property, and that the Committee would be happy to receive further specimens of our natural wealth. In the conversation on the report Mr. Marshall thought . the annual subscription (ten shillings) to the library too high, and that lowering it to 5s or 2s 6d would increase the number of readers. Others thought the subscription moderate,' even low. It was, however, resolved to ask the members at a meeting to be held in April whether a second subscriber from one house hold should not be taken at a lower annual rate. The report,, on the motion of Mr. Holland, seconded by Mr. Marshall, was adopted, and the following office-bearers and committee for the next twelve months elected :—E. Hamlin, Esq., president; Mr G. H. Selby, treasurer ; Mr A. Cambell, librarian ; and Messrs. Alexander R. Craig,' Adams, and S. Barriball members of the committee. The Vivian Comique Company closed their short season at the Prince of Wales Theatre last night. . The attendance has been very good considering the opposition elsewhere. Mr Vivian and Miss Melville appeared in the comedietta of " Who Speaks First," which was played with much spirit. In the song of "How my Heart Beats,". Miss Melville received considerable applause, while Mr Mason in his laughter-provoking song and dances set the risible faculties of I the audience, into play by the clever render ing of his nigger melodies. This company purpose giving an entertainment at the Onehunga Institute to-morrow evening, when a large attendance may be relied on.

I The Engineer and City Band will play in front of the Supreme Court to-morrow even ing at half-past seven. Programme—March. 'Father come Home," S. Jones ; CavatiniL from the opera of Lombardi,.Verdi; Qua drille, "Echoes of the Opera," H. Pearson • serio-comic fantasia, " Echoes of the Night, " J. Rivere ; Valses, « Juliet," Coote ; Polka Mazurka; " Queen of the Ball," A.S Hill • V Uod Save the Queen,",

—v" -• • 'nm^^__^ f The Rev. Mr Dean t """^^^nl and lately of We]]i nB CT%°<Uf to the charge of the y^4!N congregation at InvL "^ve £%1 period of Mr Dean's inW- DwS ton,extending over gß** SI of the Methodist congr* J- ears- thebfil in a degree which faK 10?Wel3 expectations foimed nsorUfaC3 efforts of the formel p^toOj the , c West on the deaft « 1 child of Minnie Garlick£ ° k evening, and the jury a f ter „T d JeA lhat the child died by TO L^% r: by pressure upon the wiidS^S « J such pressure was applffkHSS evidence to show," g wLWI gently added-" As Z fS I*1 for*:?* the jury that a copy of Xi would be guly-forwarded to the«.Si dent Magistrate, Dea< The Boyal Volunteers, No. 1 . their weekly parade very cre'diSH evening in the Drill-shed. U We notice that a vocal ami ;«■*.« concert will be given to-mom™ "^i ladies and gentlemen formin* iCI * I St Andrew's Presbyterian C&JJ*, in the entertainment. mll^ | The subscription-box for conttw I aid of the funds of the N J^J School was opened this afternoon £xil Owen and Rattray and found tn ,X "I sum of £2 5s Id. t0 «**§ As will be seen in our police run * I day the unfortunate girl, MnniefKj I charged with the murder of her inh, \> and committed for trial. The p^ , J very simple rustic appearance, andSffl is not over-sharp. She nut questions to any of the witnesses J maintained the same expresaonlessdemL! I as she exhibited at the^nquestTeS* though utterly carelesa of her destiny or J conscious of her position. She came UP England it seems by the Woodlark 3 months ago with a batch of immigrant? 31 so to speak in her native simplicity TO]-I on the voyage she became acquainted Jl a sailor named Charles-Letty, who seduce H and then deserted her, but againstwkmsi 1 uttered no complaint. The sconndrel wh - effected this simple creature's ruin is M following his occupation as a seaman onloj the Rover, and who may now be carousW ' at Napier, while the hapless victim of hi passion awaits her fate within the walls 0 prison. The heartless, bloodstained, sed J may escape the iron hand of justice anl triumph in his infamous victory over a uqJf friendless girl :— l Yet, sure not all the sin and crime belong '■ To her who feels and suffersfor thewrong, i Nor shall the. wicked always go unpunished.^

ARRIVAL OF THE SCHOOLER MAW PENNY PROM KANDAVU.

THE MACGREGOE AELOAT,

The schooner Marion Penny, signalled laJ evening, came into harbour early this mott • ing after a very rough passage from tk ] Fijis. Captain Hughes reports having W, - Levuka on the 2nd March, Suva on the 1!| and Kandavu on the 13th instant, arrival at Kandavu on the 12th found til the s.s. Mftcgregor had floated off the rtf three days before. It appears that the mail of-war Pearl had continued trying to get ft vessel off for some days after the Star of ft I South left, but broke all her strongest waipi without doing any good. Meanwhile % tons of sugar, a large proportion of her coilH and a quantity of other cargo wsß taken out and thrown overboard, |f there being no means of landing it. Aboil 1 the 7th the steamer began to give indication! 1 of lying loosely on the ground, and on the I Bth she floated off by herself, the Ms having gone back to Levuka. After she I came off the.reef the Macgregor was tods 1 into a safe anchorage and anchored in GaloiLlj Bay, where she lay when the Marion Kernf left. She has a large hole about twelve feet long by three feet broad in one of herforrol compartments, which is consequently full o! water, but otherwise she is uninjured. Sh will be temporarily repaired as well as the circumstance will permit, and will the! proceed to Sydney to be docked. We lean from one of the passengers of the Marioi Renny that a letter received in Suva fromtk Chief Secretary, Mr Thurston, shortly befoit the schooner's departure conveyed tl( intelligence that the annexation schemed been negatived by the king and leadi^ chiefs assembled at Bau. There were tote fresh elections, and Mr Thurston has offeredjp himself to the Savu constituency.

SERIOUS ACCIDENT.

Yesterday afternoon, about three o'clock's. serious accident occurred in Parnell by which fc four persons were seriously injured. Doctol: Wright's pony and chaise were standing m the doctor's yard, with his two children on ■ the seat waiting for their father to come oat The doctor's groom was standing close M but as the pony is usually a ■ very quie'?n||p was not keeping a hold upon the rami | Suddenly, without any apparent ca*|| the animal started off out of 'J yard, and before the groom cW»| stop him turned the corner to B-j right and galloped down towards *| chanics' Bay. The groom had managed.' jump into the vehicle as it turned out off ; yard and made an effort to seize the ret i Before he could do so the chaise ran lies* against the fence on the right, near .- Brett's house, and the occupants werel; thrown out, the man being pitched * over the fence and receiving severe ij juries to his limbs. He was una- to rise, and had to be conveyed to a W"' | close by. The two children were W^W heavily into the road, and their tender D»J S0 were much cut and bruised from the con mm sion with the hard metal. One of the mwm ones had more than one of her front w St knocked out. , Meanwhile the pony, »^ m madder than ever, ran down the street, • 1... after going a short distance turned ana f. ] back. Just before reaching the ao ,_ .-.;. yard he frightened a horse which was' m ing near Mr Brett's house attached to a m aud the animal (a grey mare) ptafe^J I then severely kicked a little boy ■ Francis Perrot, who was holding ' ium,o fa 1 pony was secured at his O^J^rM I sufferers were attended to by Vt Wr»S; | Dr Dyer, into whose residence close jj h boy Perrot was conveyed. The i» .. fo | badly kicked in the groin, but wa a* | walk home. It was feared at first m groom's leg was broken, but such | stand is not the case. The children are jj cut about, but not dangerously hurs.

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IMPORTANT DECISI.

JUSTICE DONE T<? MB T. CX

. ' . f/ijinatK" 1 We take the followingtaporta?** j ß tbe from the Eerald respecting the cna ownership of the 'Waugapoa saw -^erf a sitting of the Supreme Court m on Tuesday, in the matter of Wft,s -

iftti tfrMHttrg i*ab, TTOfli)Air t MaeoC si i«m.



50 000 :FEET TIMBEE FOR SALE, AT MY YARDS, GOVERNMENT WHARF, ONEHUNGA. .'. JAMES W. WALLER. IE &PEIL NUMBEE OF THE VYTERIAN CROBCE NEWS ; IS NOW PUBLISHED. ice — Threepence. f the Publishers, Messrs Upton & Co. ROOK & BRIDGMAN LATE R. HOBBS), - • L' ■ ■ ening up, and have to arrive CASTLE, HYLTON CASTLE, rER ALLAN, arid CM" CASTLE, nd Choice Assortment of WINTER DRAPERY OODS DEPARTMENT, 'fully invite attention. "C '-t to their own order from es they are prepared se of at ' i ••*'.' ERATIVE RATES. i n future advertisement. X & BRIDGMAN -'AIL Drapers; Clothiers, &a APERY WAREHOUSE, Army and Navy Hotel,) r-smEET, Auckland. FROM THE RETAIL. ' JOSGRAVE & CO. eir Retail Business in Queen-streeJ;. Goods will be held TO-MORROW, ' h, and will continue until the entire *&-.-^.v ; . ■..;;■ , of . 0^ "■ "■■ ', V® 0 landing THIRTY THOUSAND &» -, c ,RTH °f DRAPERY ard MEN'S -~., .■ • purchased by Mr Cobgrave from the «t^ ' French Manufacturers, which will be "H iV J# w ■'•'.■■■ ' l i&f A iCEDENTBPIjY LOW PRICES. , *** % <s*^ U'Hi , h? JAfti'T'.i ;kUf be given dttlngt&e Sale. , i