MISCELLANEOUS.

Inangahua Times, Volume VIII, Issue 1275, 25 July 1883, Page 2

MISCELLANEOUS.

The refusal of the Mayor of Melbourne to allow Mr Bromby the use of the Town Hall for the delivery of one of his inflammatory lectures, is applauded by the Argus and the Age. The latter journal remarks that " Irishmen are not the only persons in Victoria attached to their mother country, and while we are willing to permit that a great deal of mischievous nonsense should be aired in private rooms, there are thousands in every great town who will not sit by calmly to hear England denounced, the Queen abused, and rebellion preached." It is worthy of notice that the Mayor of Melbourne refused the use of the Town Hall to Mr Bromby, notwithstanding the fact that the Town Clerk had promised the use of it to Mt Bromby. According to Sir George Grey, New Zealand is the most lord-ridden country in the world. He stated the other evening in the House that if Great Britain were to be represented by Peers in proportion to its population, on the same lines that the people of this Colony are represented in- the Legislative Council, the House of Lords would consist of no less than four thousand members. We are in truth ago ahead people in this part of the world. The majority of the British Peers have had hereditary honors thrust upon them through their having descended from men who performed deeds of valor or robbery, as the case may be, in the "Bad old times." Hut here we manufacture our lords in a single day. If we continue to pursue the course we have been following of late, the Council will soon be numerically stronger than the House. Should Sir George Grey's Constitution Act Amendment Bill pass into law it will effectually put an end to our lord making. Before, however, this change comes about, public opinion must pro nounee itself in favor of the step in advance. As Cornelius O'Dowd remarks — "The glow of patriotism is never rightly warm, nor is the metal of party truly malleable, without a strong blast

of Public Opinion." My own mind is made up on the subject; but I am afraid the bulk of the people of the Colony have not yet given the matter much consideration. The question of the abolition of the Legislative Council should form a plank in the Liberal platform at the next general elections. An ancient life of St Patrick in Latin has recently been brought to light in a manuscript in the Royal Library, Brussels, which formerly belonged to an Irish monastery at Wurzburg. This life, it seems, much resembles the account of St Patrick extant in the manuscript known as the Book of Armagh, ascribed to the ninth century, and of which portions have been published in the " Faosimilies of National MSS. of Ireland, edited by Mr John T. Gilbert, F. S. A." The initial part of the life of St. Patrick, which has long been missing from the Book of Armagh, ig, we understand, extant in the Brussels manuscript, 1 which T vill shortly be published by the Bollandists. A French observer recently based predictions of the weather upon the twinkling of the stars, and now M. Montegny, a Belgian astronomer', announces that stars scintillate more during auroras than at other times. He also discovered that the scintillations increase simultaneously with the magnetic perturbations of the magrietograph. This would seem that during magnetic storms, and also preceding an atmospheric storm, air is in a state of unusual agitation. ' The population of the Colony on 81st Decemher last, exclusive of Maories, was estimated at 517,707. The increase by births in excess of deaths was 13, 808, and by excess of immigraton over emigration 3489. Thereturns of births, deaths, and marriages were respectively 3732, 11-19, and 7-07. Referring to the decimal returns, we .find the maximum per 1000 of births wafc iv 1878, when it reached 41 -98 ; tnajHSimuto of deaths in 1875, when it stooff'at 15* 92 ; and the maximum of marriages in 1875, when it was B'lhfc-*-in each case per 1000. The of the chief Provincial DiswraH !Btood on 81st December as folk)*^^Auckland, 105,004; WellifcgiA, •64,938: Canterbury, 118,850; oss — total for the North IsJlw^J&Oi, 474 ; total for the South Isl*n*£Bi3 l 6»8. The last American oensustthojfc how remarkably women have entered in the domains of labor other than the domestic, which so many contend is the only sphere they are meant for. Nearly one-third Of the professional artists in the United States are women, thoir precise number being 2061. Of 1100 authors, 320 are women. There are 75 female lawyers, and 105 women have climbed into the pulpit Female physicians number 2432 ; barbers, 2902; and printers, &c M 3456. Of 80,000 professional musician**- 18,000 are women, There are 52,000 female tailors, against 81,000 males; and 154,875 female teachers,* against 7^B, 335 males. There are a few dentists and a few commercial travellers of the female persuasion. Of 12,808 journalists, 288 are women ; and as correspondents and reporters female- scribes have advanced in certaiftjlines to the front rank. The Otago Daily Times says : — Wo have been favoured with the perusal of a private letter from a West Coast lady who had the pleasure of meeting Bishop Suter after his return quite recently from a tour through Palestine, England, and other countries. The Bishop was full of reminiscences of his travels in various lands, and his conversation was in consequence both instructive and entertaining. Among other things he related that while he was staying with Canon Farrarin London he was requested to preach the annual sermon on the anniversary of the accession of Queen Elizabeth. So he went at night to Westminister Abbey, and there by the light of a solitary lantern wrote his sermon on the Queen's tomb. For two hours he was quite alone in the vast abbey, surrounded by mute memorials of the celebrated dead. The eflect of isolation in such a place was to produce sensations never to be forgotten. The Bishop brought out a novelty in visiting cards which is really good. The little square pasteboard appeai-s perfectly plain and white, like an ordinary visiting-card, but when held up to the light shows a beautifullytaken photograph of the person, whose name is neatly engraved in one corner. The South Australian Register writes: — "What does the annexation of au island by any of the Australian colonies mean ? It means simply that [ so much the greater area of land will be opened up by the pioneers of civilisation, and prepared for the future occupation of the Anglo-Saxon race. It means tH»t the farmer, .^the planter, the grazier, an^ the miner will to some slight extent utilise the resources oi the new country; that the missionaries will be protected and encouraged ir. their efforts to Christianise and civilise the natives ; and that the lawles traffick ing and kidnapping which is now indulged in by the off-scourings of the colonial population in the Pacific will be put a stop to. It means, in fact, thai as regards these islands some degree oi law and order will take the place oi" anarchy and savagery. The Aborigines' Protection Society may sneeringly point out that the contact of colonials with the native races of the Pacifio has hitherto been of little benefit to the latter. But what is the reason of that ? It is not simply because colonial Governments have no jurisdiction over any miscreants who may leave Australian ports to kindnap or maltreat the islanders ■?" Mother Swan's Worm Syrup. Infallible, tasteless, harmless, cathartic ; for foverislmess, restlessness, worms* constipation, Is. at druggists. Moses* Moss & Co., Sydney, General Agonts.'

In reply to a dueston put by Mr Shaw without notice, the Colonial Treasurer said it was the intention of the Government to bring down a Bill this session to provide for the arrest and punishment of fugitive husbands who have deserted their wives in New Zealand. In asking the Defence Minister in the House if he would instruct the police authorities to "prevent James Carey and the other Phoenix Park murderers and informers from landing here," Mr Bracken said he thought we should do our utmost to keep these sort of characters out of New Zealand, for while we were all loyal and sincerely attached to the old country we did not want to make these colonies a receptacle for the filthy dregs of the mother country. (Hear, hear.) Mr Bryce, in reply, said he was afraid there was no power in law to do what was here suggested. The hon. member for Danedin Central was, he was aware, of opinion that he, Mr Bryce, was an autocratic character, but really this was too much for him (laughter). At London public dinners of late it has ceased to be fashionable to rise to atyj toast except that of the Queen. Ldtfd Aberdeen incidentally explained at 'the British Orphan Asylum dinner the real reason for the change in society mannera He stated that the Prince of Wales discouraged rising to any toast save that of the Queen. At the Mansion House dinner the other aight, the toast of " the Prince of Wales and the rest of the Royal Pamilv'^was received by the company ; sitting", although the Duke of Edinburgh was at the table. An extraordinary notice of motion has been tabled by Mr J. R. Whyte, M.H.R. relative to the slander upon Ui ; Btyce in Rusden's « History of JSTeV Zealand.' It is as follows :— * That the House will on a future day resolve itself into committee of the whole to consider an address to the * Governor to cause a sufficient sum to X sb& placed tkpbfr the Estimates for the jajupoai of protecuting Mr Rusden, *|^K''of the T>oofc called ' The HisNew Nealand,' for publishing wjbat in the opinion of this House, is a gross libel on the character of the Native Minister.* j V^Lijts and Buoa— Beetles, insects, rSftfjfcWft ants, bed-bugs, < rats, mice, goplwfjl^ jack-rabbits, cleared out by v« Rough'on Bata." 7i<L Moses, Moss f& Co., Sydney, General Agents. Drowsiness, billiousness, pains and aches, and ague, Hop-Bitters always cures. Read. )