Courier (Hobart, Tas. : 1840 - 1859), Saturday 4 November 1854, page 2


VICTORIA.

WE have, by the City of Hobart, papers to Thursday, from which we glean the following :—

The price of gold remains at £3 18s per ounce. As usual with the precious metal m a fluctuating market, there have been very few transactions. The fall in the rates of exchange is still one of the secrets of the bank parlours, but the effect on the gold market is

already felt.

The Customs revenue for the week ending the 28th October was £11,959. The returns, however, being invariably made up to the last day of the month, we defer publication of the detail until Monday's

issue.

There had been another fire, damage, &c. not ascertained, at the stores of Messrs. Mandelick, Brothers & Co., Elizabeth street.

Miss Goddard, a tragic actress of English celebrity, and Mr. Caple, a gentleman whose histrionic powers have been favourably acknowledged in the principal provincial towns of the mother-country, have arrived in Melbourne, and are engaged to appear at the

Theatre.

Mr. James Harrison has been returned to the Legislative Council, unopposed, for Geelong.

His Excellency Sir Charles Hotham, in consequence of the general and uniform good conduct and deport-ment of the American citizens on the gold-fields, has been pleased to extend his executive clemency by releasing John Kelly (an American citizen), now undergoing confinement in jail for a violation of the

license laws.

Four persons in charge as ringleaders in the late riots at Balaarat have been released after a hearing by the Bench.

Mrs. Chisholm arrived at Sandhurst on the 28th ultimo.

At the Geelong meeting on the Convict Prevention business the parties (about 4000) did up the following resolution :—"That it is the opinion of this meeting, that it is a gross abuse of Her Majesty's prerogative to compel this colony to be the receptacle of the crime of Great Britain, and that we now pledge our-selves to use every exertion and extreme means to remove a system fraught with every moral and social evil." The rest were a mere echo of the Melbourne

resolutions.

Messrs. Stubbs & Son sold yesterday at Raleigh's Wharf-Duchess slates £12 to £12 12s per thousand ; countesses, £9 10s per ditto ; viscountesses £7 per ditto ; and at their rooms, Queen-street, were sold— Damaged hops 3d per lb ; ladies' boots 3s per pair ; jams 30s per dozen ; pickles 9s 6d per dozen ; mus-tard 9s.per dozen ; bloaters 3s 3d per tin ; bacon 6½d per lb ; iron boilers 12s to 13s per 4 and 5 gallon pots ; saucepans 1s 9d to 2s 3d ; small axes 2s 3d to 2s 8d each ; coopers' hammers 1¾d per lb ; bag trucks 38s each ; matches 3s 6d per dozen fancy boxes ; cigars 5s 6d a box ; ground coffee 3½d per lb ; peppermint 1s 6d per gallon : shoe brushes 3s 6d per set ; port wine in bond 9s 6d per case ; sets of harness £5 10s each ; haimes 3s per pair ; beef, damaged, 23s per tierce ; weighing machines 37s 6d to 45s each.

Campbellfield Steam Mills.—Fine flour £36 per ton ; seconds £34 ditto ; bran 4s 6d per 20 lbs ; sharps 5s per 20 lbs ; wheat, good sample, 15s 6d.

Mr. Annand's crotchetty motion about Indepen-dence, Royal Blood, Hereditary Principles, and other absurdities, was negatived by the Council. It was only seconded to preserve it from " ridicule."

Miss Catherine Hayes had attracted large audiences and was exceedingly well received. The Argus, usually so chary of lengthened notices, bestows con-siderable space upon a criticism of the performances in general, and assumes for the heterogeneous society of Melbourne a little superiority over New South Wales. The society of Melbourne, says the writer, has for a principal ingredient a class who have fresh in their recollection the merits of such artists as Jenny Lind, Grisi, and Viardot Garcia. This is the case to a far greater extent than in Sydney, where the population is mainly composed of older colonists, who generally have not had such an opportunity of instituting comparisons ; but in the face of an audience capable of criticism, the Swan of Erin comes from her trial with unruffled plumage.

The article thus concludes :—

"We should have mentioned earlier that Miss Hayes was dressed with very great taste and splen-dour. The wavy masses of her beautiful auburn hair were entwined with a very elegant wreath of bright-coloured artificial flowers. Her dress was of a rich watered silk, and both her neck and arms abso-lutely blazed with diamonds of great brilliancy, and evidently of considerable value. Her first appear-ance in Melbourne was a complete success ; and we have no doubt that here, as in Sydney, the enthusiasm which she creates will but increase at each of her appearances in public."

GEELONG CIRCUIT COUHT.—Lascelles v. Mercer.— This was an action brought to recover damages for an alleged slander, uttered by the defendant on the 22nd October, 1852. John Henry Mercer, the de-fendant, stated, that in October, 1852, he had some conversation with Mr. Stowels concerning Mr. Las-celles ; in consequence of this conversation, had an interview with Mr. La Trobe, Captain Lonsdale, the

late Colonial Secretary, being present ; in the course of that interview, witness did say that Mr. Lascelles

had sold his situation as Justice of the Peace in Van Diemen's Land ; he certainly said that Mr. Lascelles, being somewhat perplexed in pecuniary matters, was in the habit of paying his debts by bills of exchange, and that when be accepted such bills he usually observed "thank God, that is settled ;" considered that he was justified in making such remarks to the Lieutenant-Governor, as Mr. Lascelles was about to hold an important situation in the Legislative Assem-bly as Sergeant-at-Arms, and considered the honour of the House, of which he was a member, was in-volved ; he said to Mr. Stowels that certain rumours were current about town to the prejudice of Mr. Las-celles' character. Mr. Dawson, for the defendant, considered that the plaintiff's counsel was travelling out of his course. The plaintiff had endeavoured in vain to fix the slander upon Captain Lonsdale ; he then turned round upon Mr. Mercer, and failing in this, as in the former instance, was now endeavouring to fix it upon a third party. The Judge said that a nonsuit must be recorded, as plaintiff's case had broken

down. A nonsuit was accordingly entered.—Geelong

Advertiser.

FUNERAL OF THE LATE JOHN STEPHEN, ESQ.—The deceased had been about fourteen years in this colony, having imigrated from Sydney. He was a brother of the present Sir Alfred Stephen, Chief Justice in that country. He was the earliest created alderman for the city of Melbourne, and had retained his rank from the time our Municipal Corporation was first instituted. He has represented in that Council the burgesses of Bourke and Gipps' wards ; and was an alderman of the former ward at the time of his death. His funeral, which took place yesterday, was attended by several members of the legal profession, the present Mayor, the Ex-Mayor, a goodly number of Freemasons, of which fraternity the deceased was one of the oldest members in the colony, Messrs. John Matthew Smith, Peter Davis, George Hayward, Alderman Clowes, Councillors Vaughan, Walsh, and Lane, and the heads of the various public departments of the Cor-poration. The Town Clerk, Mr. Kerr, did not join in the funeral cortege. The hearse moved from the private residence of the deceased, at St. Kilda, precisely at two o'clock, and was met by the mourners, assembled on Prince's Bridge, abont three. The procession then moved in the direction of the new cemetery, where the body was interred according to the rites of the Church of England. We may add that the deceased was in his fifty-fourth year ; and that he leaves a widow, with two children, to lament his loss. Mr. John Stephen was well known as a Police Court practi-tioner in Melbourne ; and it is in the remembrance of some of our oldest citizens that he was generally regarded as the "Tormentor of the Bench."