South Australian Register (Adelaide, SA : 1839 - 1900), Wednesday 14 December 1859, page 3


TUNGKILLO.—MEETING OF RATEPAYERS.

A meeting of ratepayers of the District of Tungkillo was held on Monday last, for the purpose of adopting a rate. Mr. A. B. MURRAY. J.P., Chairman of the District

Council, was unanimously called to the chair. The balance-sheet for tha past half-year was produced, which, with the auditors' report, was adopted without dissent. Mr. ALLEN, as agent for the Hon. J. Baker, proposed, and Mr. John HOBBS seconded, "That a rate for the present year be levied at 6d. in the pound on the yearly assessed value of the property in the district." Carried unanimously. A vote of thanks to the Chairman terminated the business for which the meeting was specially called. Immediately after the conclusion of the above meeting a few—say from twenty to thirty—of the electors of the electoral district of Gumeracha, resident in the Hundred of Tungkillo, met, under the presidency of Mr. A. B. Murray, to have a ' bit of a yarn' about who are the best persons to represent the district in the House of Assembly after the next election. Mr. John Godlee opened the proceedings by rcommending his neighbours to vote for and support Messrs. A. Hay and the Hon. A. Blyth at the next election, provided— 1st. That the said Messrs. Blyth and Hay offer themselves as candidates; 2nd. That the Messrs. Blyth and Hay will use their best endeavours to render the exchange of roads in the country districts less expensive and troublesome ; and 3rd. That Messrs. Hay and Blyth will (without binding themselves by a pledge to the electors) promise to use their best endeavours to reform the laws as at present existing, by which a vin-dictive or malicious creditor cau carry a suit for a small amount into the Supreme Court, and thereby almost or quite ruin an honest debtor, although the Local Courts are fully empowered to give the creditor ample justice at less expense to the debtor. Mr. Kendell, Mr. Fisher, and others fully concurred in Mr. Godlee's opinion. The CHAIRMAN expressed his opinion on the subject of law retorm more fully than any of the previous speakers, saying that he wished the Real (Torren's) Pro-perty Act might be made compulsory on all sales and mortgages of land, urging in favour of his argument that many if not most of the lawyers were money-lenders, on their own account or on commission for other parties, and that the heavier the expenses on loan transactions the more grist came to the lawyer's mill. The worthy Chairman also hinted that the exclusion of lawyers altogether from the Local Courts would be a decided benefit to the community, and that the three gentlemen learned in the law sitting on the bench of the Supreme Court ought to be sufficient to decide upon all legal points without calling upon or listening to the opinions of their brethren at the Bar.

COXGREGATIOXAL CllAPKL, UuNDLE-STEKKT. —The annual tea meeting, iu connection with the above place of worship, was held on Tuesday evening, the 13th last., and was very nutcerously attended, from 160 to 200 persons being present. The tea was a most excellent one, and was the more relished by the exceedingly kind attention paid to the guests by the ladies who presided at tbe respective tables, and the lively flow of conver sation which prevailed throaghcut. The tea being over and the preparations completed for the public meeting, the Kev. F. VV. Cox took the chair, and commenced the proceedings by giving out a hymn, wUch having beca sung and a prayer offered, he explained the reason why he, the pastor of the Church, presided on that occasion. A gentleman, he said, who from his long connection with their chapel was particularly fitted to fill tho chair, and who had been ubsent from the colony for some period, was expected to have occupied the chair thit evening, but not having yet returned he, of course, could not preside. He hod, however, sent a sort of a ieprc« seutativc. Having beard that it was the practice north of the Tweed of all ministers to preside at the anniver saries of their chapel*, he hot] followed their example that evening, and he did nut ihiuk i-. was a bad plan cither. With referenco to himself aud his congregation, he would say that they had spent a year hi unmixed I harmony. There had been nothing iu the slightest degree like discord between them. There had been some increase in the number of members nud the congregation. Their church had been decorated and made more suitable as a place of worship. The succtus of tiie last year was c'lcering to bis own heart, although he was not satisfied with the results. He trusted there would be a larger spiritual increase in the next year. Since their lost anniversary they had adopted that experiment which some had looked upon with tremor. They had abolished seat-rent, and supported the minister and chapel by voluntary subscriptions. And the result had shown that the confidence they had placed in tho experiment had Hut been mispUced. There had been a greater amount of the necessary means for sustaining the Church ; aud it was gratifying to him as pastor, and it must be to those present, as well as to those who had charge of the monetary matters of that place, to know that fact. After touchingly alluding to the loss their denomination in England had sustained by the removal by death of --no of its oldest and most respected ministers, the Uev. John Angcll James, the rev. geutlera&u concluded by calling upon the Uev. James Lyall to address the assembly. After corgratulating them upon the progress of the Church, he mide«oine interesting remarks upon tho fol lowing topic:— 'The relation oetween freely giving to the cause of God and the advancement of personal piety.' He said that the effects of the revivals in the mother country and in America had been lo make persons give much more liberally than they formerly did. Now if any good cause were brought forward it was always freely supported. The Chairman said that ho ex pected the R';v. Mr. Palmer, of Glenelg, would have next spoken, but from some cause, un avoidable he supposed it must be, for he had received a letter from him that afternoon promising to be present, he was prevented from coming. Hu also mentioned that tbe lijvg. Messrs. Butters and Stow had been there early in the evening, but were unable to stny, and that the Kev. Mr. Evan wjs unable to b.- prcdciu in uonsequeucc of a slight indisposition. He theii called upon the Uev. C. Man then pe to speak upou the next subject — 'Tbo relation of the }oung to tho Church.' He thought that the young shruld attend the Church, ub it added to its symmetry and beauty. It would uot do to have either old or middle-aged persons, nctive though they might be ; they wanted the tire and energy of youth if they wanted to beautify their Churches. They looked to the young as the hope of the Church; they looked to them to take the places of tbe old men who died away. Looking at the young people of South Australia, he did uot think there was much to congratu late them on that point. He thought if the young were more encouraged theie would not bo so many outside the Church. (Apolause.) The Kev. M. Wilson next addressed the meeting upon the toplo— 'The manlfcsta

rion of spiritual life in social and commercial relatlon ihip,' after which the Chairman announced that a col ectiou would take place. Mr. Barclay one of the Deicons of the Church, stated thai the object of the ?ollectiitn was to wipe off a debt incurred in making lome recent improvements to the chapel. The coilec ion having been made, the Rev. Mr. Drane spoke upjD ' The cultivation of the ffithetic— how far lu.vful under 1 spiritual dispensation? how far da the good and the jeutiful go together ?' AndtlioHv. G. Sicnehouse raude some excellent observations on'Tiue glory of a nation's life more in its goodness tbau in iU greatness.' l'he Bev. C. D. Witt then moved a vote of thanks to the ladies for their admirable provision that evening, which was seconded by Jlr. W. K. Thomas, aud carried tern. con. The proceedings concluded with the doxology and the benediction. GAWLER INSTITUTE.— The concert given ut Ihe Oddfellows' Hall, Gawler Town, ou Monday evening last, iu celebration of the. tecond annivcr.suiy ot the Gawler Institute, was a great Ruecess. The ut tendance tvus so numerous us to necessitate tho sddiiiun of mure accommodation than had been provided fur the holders of tickets to the reserved seats. The vocal performers were Mrs. Perryman, Miss Rowe, Mr. Daniel, aud Mr. Oehlman; the instrumentalists included the Meesrs. Schrader, Rowe, Waite, and the other members of the Brunswick Band. The orchestral arrangements were under the direction or Herr Linger, who also presided at the piano. The performances commenced with on overture by Adam, the elaborate passages of which were executed with to much spirit and precision as to convince the audience, at the very comnu'iicomtiit, that the bund was fully compotent to the performance uf compositions of a high order, Miss Rowe followed with a very pretty ballad, "I've loved thee long," which she sung with considerable effect, and which was further heightened by the introduction of a tastefully executed cadenza. The young and accomplished vocalist was warmly ap-plauded. The first part of the programme included several other pieces of sterling merit, amongst which may be mentioned as specially deserving commendation for the spirited manner in which it was rendered, Balfe's celebrated buffo duet from the "Siege of Rochelle," "Well, if I may speak." This was sung by Mrs. Perryman and Mr. Daniel with so much of the scherzandissimo style as to fairly rouse the sympathies of the entire auditory. The same remark applies also to Marten's [Martini's] trio, "Vadasi via di qua," which was sung in the second part by Miss Rowe, Mrs. Perryman, and Mr. Daniel. Both of these spirited compositions were encored. The first part of the entertainment was concluded with "The Song of Australia." Lithographed copies of the words and music had been presented to each person in the hall at the commencement of the concert, but the audience were scarcely prepared for the musical treat which its perform-ance presented. Herr Linger, being himself the com-poser of the air, and having the arrangements of tbe concert under his control, appears to have determined to add to his fame as a contrapuntist on the occasion. The song was accordingly arranged and sung as follows: - Verse 1, soprano solo, by Miss Rowe; verses 2 and 4, quartette, by Miss Rowe, Mrs. Perryman, Mr. Oehlman, and Mr. Daniel; verse 3, tenor solo, by Mr Oehlman; and verse 5, in chorus, with full band accompaniment. The effect was inspiring. The audience frequently gave indications of this during the performance of the song; and at its close their suppressed feelings broke forth in the most vehement applause. No-thing short of a repetition of the whole would satisfy them. At a later period in the evening the air was presented to the audience under other forms, as ar-ranged by Herr Linger. These were a fantasia for the pianoforte, which was executed by Miss Rowe in as bril-liant a style as could possibly be expected, seeing that the instrument was a cottage piano of second-rate tone, and which was evidently out of tune; and a somewhat novel arrangement for the full band of the national airs of various countries. The latter commenced with Old England's 'God save the Queen,' followed by the re-cognised national anthems of Prussia, Russia, France, Italy, Holstein, Austria, Holland, and Belgium, with our own, 'There is a Land,' as the finale. In the last, as in the first, the audience rose en masse and re-mained standing during its performance. Our readers are intimately acquainted with the words of the song, and as the music may now be obtained by the public, we have no doubt but that in a very short time the air will be heard throughout the settled districts of the colony from Mount Gambier to Mount Remarkable. Its structure is so simple that any person having a know-ledge of the first rudiments of music may read it almost at sight ; whilst at the same time, if it be performed as it ought to be— con gusto, e con energia , e con entusiasmo —it will not fail to produce a lasting impression upon the mind. In addition to the compositions already referred to, the second part of tbe programme included Verdi's magnificent Overture to Nebuchadnezzar, per formed bv the band : a ballad. ' Rpamiful -tar ' hv Mm.

rerryman; a due; lor the cornopean aud piano, em -racing some of the most celebrated airs of ' La Son lambula,' by the Messrs. Schrader and Linger; and ikeltou's fine soug of 'The sailor's grave,' by Mr. Daniel. These were all, without exception, rendered rery effectively by the several performer*. The songs fere both encored. For the farmer. Mrs. Perryman inbstituted, 'I'd be a gipsy, m«rry aud free;' and Mr. Daniel made a sudden transition from ' grave to gay' -y giving, in place of '* The tailor's grave,' a spirited ittle song, in which tbe invitation, ' Kiis me quick and ;n,' waa frequently referred to in a style which pleased .he audience amazingly. We may mention, in con tusion, thkt Heir Linger was specially complimented more than oace by a call by name, and that the talented somposer bowed hia acknowledgments, 'as in duty tound.' The performances were over a few minute* lefore 11 o'clock. Tub Railways.— The following is an ab stract of the returns for the week ending December 3, 1858:— Port line— Passengen, 4,770; receipts. £219 Ds. 3d.; goods, 1,047} tons; receipts, £133 10j. Id. Total receipts, £355 19s. 6d. Northern line— Passen-gers, 1,31'); receipts, £219 3s. 41; goods, 1,368} tons; receipts, £353 Is. id. Total receipts, £802 4s. 6d. General total, £958 3s. 1 d. The following is an ab stract of the receipts for the week en dug December 10, 1859:— Port line— Passenger', 6,033; receipt', £240 2?. 7d.; goods, 1.780; tons; receipts, £U3 4*. 41. Total receipts, £358 8». lid. Northern linePassen gen, 1,251; receipts, £245 10s. «.; good?, 951} tons; receipts, £262 Is. 6d. Total receipts, £497 lls. lOd. General total, £856 18s. 9d. ®- Messrs. TowuBend, Botting, &, K&£ request us to call attention to their Sale or i,100 Sheep. Tbis Day. at the Mart, at 13 o'clock. sjg' Mr. Charles Jenkins requests us to call special attention to the sale of Mr. McDonald's Hones, this day, at the Shut Bazaar, Grenfell-itieet. The sale will commcaca at 11 o'clock slurp,