MELBOURNE AS IT WAS, AND AS IT IS.

Otago Witness, Issue 360, 23 October 1858, Page 1

MELBOURNE AS IT WAS, AND AS IT IS.

The following interesting sketch of Melbourne (says the Port Louis Commercial Gazette) is from the pen of " Our own correspondent:"—

" The golden eit|r of Victoria— how different to what it was six years ago ! Then everything betokened disorder, confusion, and misery. The streets were unpaved, undrained, and unlighted, the roads were quagmires, houses were scarce, rents were enormous, prices were fabulous, extortion was the order of the day. Comfort was not to be had for love or money. Men, women, and children, were huddlpd together in squalid wretchedness in dirty canvas tents. Hundreds of people, night after night, stood exposed to the drenching rain, homeless and shelterless. But now what a change has come ever the spirit of its dream ! From a straggling and irregularly built town, Melbourne has become— say what Sydney likes to the contrary — the metropolis of the Southern Hemisphere. Its growth has been wonderful, and affords another illustration of the colonizing powers of the great Anglo-Saxon race. Shops and public buildings of considerable splendour and architectural pretensions have everywhere risen into existence. The streets are as well flagged and lighted as those of London. Gas has been introduced into the Houses of Parliament, the theatres, the hotels, the churches, and many private establishments. Cabs, carts, carriages, and vehicles of every description are cpnstantly whirling hither and thither through every vein and artery of the bustling city. Collins street reminds one of Cheapside. There people are to be seen in hundreds and in thousands, humming, buzzing, and swarming, like a mighty hive of bees. After the dullness and monotony of Adelaide, this air of animation and universal motion was to me what a refreshing draught is to the weary and thirsty traveller. The warm blood danced joyously through my veins, and I felt that I was absolutely once more alive. ' " The mail for England closes to-day, and the Post Office is beseiged by throngs. Melbourne is hot with excitement. Boys of all sorts, sizes, and colours, ply their noisy craft of runners,' and cries of Sumry for England,' 'Argus, Argus,' 'Herald, Herald,' ' Age, Age,' resound on all sides. Here and there, in every principal street, you discover men presiding over small tables, provided with pens, ink, and paper, where, for a nominal consideration, you can write letters or address newspapers, with perfect confidence that they will be duly forwarded to the Post Office. Further on you are much amused to observe, at short distances, fellows who remind you of the illustrious Samuel Weller, as he is depicted by that inimitable artist Phiz, in the character of ' Boots.' The stock-in-trade of these men consists of three blushes, a bottle of blacking, and a resting log for what is called the polishing process. • Want your boots cleaned, -Sir f Make 'em look like patent leather in a minit, and the charge is only sixpence.' This is the style of invitation the passer-by constantly receives and frequently accepts. From the number of men enrolled in the shoe-black brigade, I should imagine the trade to be a very thriving one.

"What a place this Melbourne is for meeting old faces ! Within these last two hours I have been hailed by men from London, Mauritius, South Africa, Adelaide, and elsewhere. How hearty is the shake of the hand 5 How absolutely English you feel ! Verily, Melbourne is a great loadstone. It attracts people from every part of the globe. ' Come along, old fellow, 1 says an old friend I have not seen for years, « let us have some tiffin at the Criterion.' We get to this hotel at half-past 1 p.m. The dining-room is very large— a fountain is playing in its centre — three hundred people are feeding — the fare is varied and excellent — the wines Al, and the attendance unexceptionable. I am delighted with it. What a decent lot of fellows they seem ! How well they dress, how fast they talk, how fresh and healthy they look ! There was one thing that tickled my fancy not a little. It was the manner in which each man squared his account. I have always been accustomed on these occasions to say, • Waiter, what is to pay V But at the Criterion such a question could only be asked by a very, very 'new chum. 1 The old hands know what they have had, and see by the carte what the figure is. You will notice them take out half-a-crown or five shillings, as the case may be, place it on the counter, and walk out without saying a word. The conductor of the establishment says that it answers people's purpose to be honest when they are properly dealt with, and instead of sustaining a loss by the system, he has been a great gainer, because the time saved is equal to the wages of a dozen waiters. Everything here is done on the same scale. If you ask for a nobbier of brandy, they bring you the decanter. Under such circumstances a man must indeed be a beast who would lake any undue advantage of the confidence teposed in him.

"There are three very good theatres in Melbourne, viz., the Royal, the Princess's, and the Olympic. The Royal is the Drury lane of the colony. Then there are all sorts of exhibitions, and last there is Cremorne. " Amongst the various public buildings I visited during my Jpief stay in Melbourne, none pleased me better than the Public Library. This is worthy of the capital of Victoria. It stands at the top of Swanston street— on the left-hand side—and when the facade is finished, will have a most imposing appearance. You enter a large hall supported by Corinthian columns, and paved with tessellated marble. You ascend a fine broad staircase, and are in the Library— a really splendid apartment, diffused with that soft and studious light which ground glass so beautifully affords. The arrangement of the books, 8000 in number, is excellent. You can get at what you want in a minute. The books are all bound in calf and gold, and are of the best and latest editions. The accommodation is very superior. In fact, a nobleman's library would not furnish you with better. I was quite enchanted with the place. I visited it several times, and on no occasion saw less than 50 cr 60 persons present. To the honour of the Legislature be it said, they voted £5000 for books last year, and another £5000 for the same purpose this year; beside* which the munificent sum of £20,000 has been granted for adding another wing to the structure. * This is legislating in a national spirit, and will well repay the large outlay which has been made. The average attendance at the Library, which is open free of charge to the public from ten o'clock in the morning till nine o'clock in the evening, is 200 daily. The selection of books, which is admirable, is entrusted to Mr. Bernard, the Colonial Agent in England. They are supplied by Mr. J. J. Guiliaume, of Chester square, and delivered free in Melbourne at London prices.

" I paid a visit to both Houses o{ Parliament, the exterior of which is not yet completed. The decorations of the interior are very gorgeous, but too theatrical to please me. This remark appliee especially to the Legislative Council, which bear* a greater resemblance to a temple of art than to a deliberative assembly. Even in golden Victoria I was quits unprepared for such a display of costly splendour. When all is finished the outlay will not fall very far short of a million sterling.

" Tn the House of Assembly I heard Ebden, O'Shanassy, Duffy, Blair, and others of lesser note. Ebden is the Treasurer—rather a fine-looking man, and the exact image of his father at the Cape. His style of oratory is anything but brilliant: When making the financial statement he talked a great deal about ' on the- one hand' and 'on the other hand' — he laid great stress upon the 'tuppences' and the 'tenpencies' and his speech was plentifully interlarded with such words as ' opportoonity,' ' free institootions,' and the like.

" I was disappointed with Duffy. He is a small, spare, bilious-looking man, with a rather rueful countenance ; but he has a fine, dark, piercing eye, which flashes with warmth and intelligence. His voice is thin and shrill, but he speaks rapidly, earnestly, and to the purpose. From the little I saw of him, however, he did not seem to have muoh weight with the House. O'Shanassy is a big, bushy, stout- look ing gentleman. He speaks with great fluency, and you see at once he is an old— hand at djjbate. His manner is not the m4EH polished in the world, but there is neverthelesjß?certain brusqueness about him which is by no means displeasing. He is one of the leading men, and possesses great influence. From all I could learn, it would appear that Michie, the AdvocateGeneral, is the great gun of the Assembly. I never had an opportunity of hearing him.

" The suburbs of Melbourne, such as Collingwood, Brighton, Richmond, and St. Kiida, have more than kept pace with the progress of the city. Some of the villas, and many of the terraces that stud these favourite places of resort, would not discredit any of the suburbs of London. The railways are in full play to various parts of the country, and the punctuality .with which the trains start fi om the stations is not surpassed in any part of the world. This adds greatly to the convenience of the dwellers out of town. In a few years the ' iron horse' may be expected to be seen travelling over every part of this plucky and go-head colony. Some people shrug their shoulders and think th« place is much too fast, and prophecy all sorts of misfortunes as the penalty of colonial extravagance. But I |hare in none of these doleful predictions. I have faith in the development of the resources of the country, and the indomitable energy and perseverance of the people. The constant infusion of new and first-rate blood is doing great things for Victoria."

Horne — Home! — To be at home is the wish of, the seaman on stormy sea« and lonely watch. Home is the wish of the soldier, and tender visions mingle with the troubled dreams of trench and tented field. "Where the palm-tree waves its graceful plumes, and birds of jewelled lustre flash and flicker among gorgeous flowers, the exile sits staring upon vacancy ; a far-away home lies on his heart ; and, borne on the wings of fancy over intervening seas and lands, he has swept away home, and hears the lark singing over his father's fields, and sees his fair-haired boy-brother, with a light foot and childhood's glee, chasing the butterfly by his native stream. And in his best hours," home, his owo sinless home, a home with his Father above thai sky, will be the wish of every Christian man. He looks around him, the world is full of suffering j he is distressed by its sorrows and vexed with ita sins. He looks within him ; he finds much of his own corruption to grieve for. In the language of a heart repelled, grieved, and vexed, he often turns' his eyes upwards, saying, " I would not live here always. No, not for all the gold of the world's mines — not for all the pearls of her seas— not for all the pleasures of her flashing, frothy cvp — not for all the crowns of her kingdoms — would I live here always." Like a bird about to migrate to those sunny lands where no winter sheds her snows or strips the grove, or binds the dancing streams, he will often in spirit be pluming his wing for the hour of his flight to glory. — Guthrie. Owls look wiser than eagles, and many & sheepskin passes for chamois. The last excuse for Crinoline is that the " weaker reosels " need much hooping.