Benevolent. — The secretary of the Benevo lent Aid' Society begs to acknowledge the foi-. lowing subscriptions — f rom Mr G. Gould, £20; Rev. F. G. Brittan, £2 2s. Theatre Royal. — Last night's perfor mances at. the, theatre deserved a very much better house. "Leap Year " was presented jin a very creditable manner, most of the parts l.being J well sustained. The farce of the ;" Wandering Minstrel " was exceedingly amusing, Mr Howard as Jem Baggs keeping ; the audience in roars of laughter. ".Ambi tion " iB on the bill for this evening. The P6LiCE.—iTh.e Hon. Colonel Brett ha , given notice of his intention to move the fol lowing resolution- in .the Provincial Council on Wednesday next : — "That this House con siders it inexpedient for Inspector Pender to '. retain his present appointment attached to the police force at Clmstchurch." Colonel Brett has also given notice of his intention to ask the. Government • whether they intend' to : station a constable in the Courtenay district. Popular Amusement and Entertain ment Association. — A meeting of the Com-  mittee was held at 4 p.m. yesterday. Present —Messrs Wynn Williams (chairman), MiteheilY and' Bird. Letters were received from Mrs Alabaster and Mr G. F. Hewlings, Kaiapoi, expressing their regret that they could not ! take part in the entertainment on Mondays Three competitors for Mr Wynn Williams' .prizes for recitations sent in their names, but it was decided that the competi tion should, be postponed until further names are received. /The programme for Monday's entertainment was arranged, and the com mittee adjourned. The Melanesian Mission. — "Anglo- Australian" in the European Mail says : — The authorities of Merton College, Oxford, have voted £100 for a memorial to the lamented Bishop Patteson. It is likely that the Eev. Robert Henry Codrington,' M. A. late: Fellow of Wadham College, Oxford, will ,be the sue- , cessor of Dr Patteson; He took his B.A. degree in 1852. when he was third class in classics, and, having been ordained in 1856 by Bishop Wilberforce, served for some years the curacy of St. Peter's-in-the-East, Oxford. In 1859 he went out to New Zealand as chaplain at Nelson, and has. been actively engaged in colonial work ever since. 1 s Lyttelton Winter Readings. 