DESCRIPTIVE SKETCH OF VICTORIA   

Atlas Page 44
By James Smith

MELBOURNE - THE SUBURBS   2....

Quitting the park by way of Swan Street, and following it lip in a westerly, direction, the visitor passes through the suburb of Burnley, which had no existence ten years ago, and turning down Cremorne Street, reaches the site of the once famous gardens which bore that name, and were created by Mr. James Ellis, the founder of the still more famous place of popular entertainment similarly denominated in Chelsea. They afterwards passed into the hands of Mr. George Coppin, who is understood to have expended forty thousand pounds in the erection of a theatre, the construction and stocking of a menagerie, the formation of an artificial lake, a maze, a dancing pavilion, fountains, grottoes, bowling alleys, and in the execution of other improvements; but the experiment was not a successful one, and in 1864 the grounds, containing fourteen acres, were occupied in part as a private lunatic asylum and in part as nursery gardens. Quite recently they were purchased by a syndicate and cut tip into building allotments. At the earlier period spoken of, small steamers used to convey passengers from Melbourne to Richmond and Cremorne; but the river has been so contaminated by the sewage it receives during a circuitous course of twelve miles, that boating upon its surface is attended with danger to the health of those who engage in it.

One of the largest railway stations outside Melbourne has been erected at a high level in Swan Street, Richmond, involving an outlay of nearly one hundred thousand pounds, and the traffic on the three double lines is so great that the trains average one a minute from early morning until midnight.

The main thoroughfare, the Bridge Road, is reached through Lennox Street, and following it in an easterly direction for some distance, the Town Hall, which contains a free library and the customary municipal offices, comes into view. It is in the Lombardo-Gothic style, with a slender campanile, surmounted by a spire rising from the centre, a balustraded parapet, and a mansard roof crowning each of the, wings, which are arcaded on the ground floor.

The expansion of the suburbs is well marked in the district separated from Richmond by the river. South Yarra was always a favourite place of residence with well-to-do citizens, and the detached residences with which it was dotted were surrounded by spacious gardens and open fields. But the latter have disappeared, and are nearly all built over. From the foot of the hill at which Toorak may be said to commence, the road winds through a district chiefly occupied by gentlemen’s houses standing in the midst of ample pleasure grounds maintained in perfect order and adorned with conservatories, ferneries, tennis-lawns, shrubberies and flowery parterres of considerable beauty. Some of these demesnes embrace an area of from ten to fifty acres, and as the average value of the land in this neighbourhood is certainly not less than a thousand pounds, sterling an acre, it affords some criterion of the wealth of the owners of these luxurious residences. Many of them are decorated and furnished expensively and with refined taste; a Toorak mansion contains one of the finest collections of pictures by modern artists to be met with in Victoria.

Near the summit of the hill, on the left-hand side of the road, stands the house which gave its name to the district, and which for many years was the hired Government House of the colony, being first used for that purpose by Sir Charles Hotham in 1854. It was not too small for the vice-regal hospitalities of those early days, when "society," consisting of the official classes and a few opulent people, was limited in number; and the garden parties of the period were pleasanter, in the opinion of those who remember them, than the larger gatherings of the present day. Moreover, the view from the summit of the tower in the old Government House embraced a wide range of country, and it was part of the entertainment to climb to its summit and enjoy the prospect. To-day the prospect comprehends a much greater variety of objects. Conspicuous in the foreground are the spire and tower of St. John’s Church rising out of a mass of foliage, and to, the right and left are the embowered mansions of wealthy merchants, land owners, and "wool kings," who have established themselves in this beautiful neighbourhood during the last five-and-twenty years. The lofty spire of Christ Church, South Yarra, marks the summit of a hill in that direction, and the eye ranges over the whole of the southern suburbs of Melbourne, the Bay, the City itself, and is carried onward to Mount Macedon and the Plenty Ranges.

South Yarra and Toorak form part of the city of Prahran, one of the wealthiest and most progressive of the suburban municipalities. The estimated value of the ratable property within its boundaries is five millions sterling, which is nearly one half that of the metropolis, and there are also nearly half as many dwelling-houses. The Town Hall, which stands on the north side of Chapel Street, is a handsome structure erected at a cost of fifteen thousand pounds sterling. It contains one of the largest free libraries in the neighbourhood of Melbourne, and an assembly room together with the usual offices. But the requirements of the population demand a much larger edifice, and this is about to be erected from part of the proceeds of a municipal loan. The four leading business highways —Chapel Street, High Street, and the Commercial and Dandenong Roads —are in every way worthy of so prosperous and populous a suburb, and a large retail trade is localised in them. Prahran has several fine churches —notably that of St. Matthew, which has been recently erected, belonging to the Anglican denomination —a convenient market, and a pleasant recreation ground containing twenty-three acres.

The Commercial Road leads to a group of charitable institutions healthily situated in a spacious reserve on the left-hand side of that thoroughfare; on the other side lies the Fawkner Park, covering an area of one hundred and two acres. The Alfred Hospital is named after the Duke of Edinburgh, who laid its foundation stone. It presents a striking facade of red and white brick surmounted by a tower and with two semi-detached wings. Its grounds adjoin those of the Asylum for the Blind, a large blue stone building with no architectural pretensions, containing about one hundred and twenty, inmates; and at no great distance is the Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb, which shelters eighty-five deaf mutes. Both these charitable homes are placed under the control of the Rev. W. Moss, whose efforts are directed to the twofold object of rendering them self-supporting as far as practicable and at the same time diminishing the painful sense of bereavement experienced by the inmate The blind are taught music and wickerwork, and the deaf and dumb the various employments for ‘which they may exhibit a special aptitude,’ the result being that the average cost of each person in both asylums does not exceed forty-five pounds a year.

Between the grounds of these institutions, and well sheltered by trees, is the reserve upon which the Wesley College has been built. It is one of the largest of the public schools in or around Melbourne, standing third on the list as regards the number of scholars, the Scotch College heading it with two hundred and ninety-nine, the Church of England Grammar School taking the second place with two hundred and seventeen, and the Wesley College coming third with an attendance of one hundred and fifty.

Crossing the St. Kilda Road, which skirts the west side of the college grounds as well as those of the charitable institutions, the visitor finds himself in Albert Park, which embraces an area of five hundred and seventy acres, planted with various kinds of pines, and with elm trees in clumps and avenues. It also contains an extensive natural lagoon, deepened and widened so as to admit of boating and yachting on its surface, and this is dotted with artificial islands. The great extent of this reserve; its open spaces for cricket, football, polo or lacrosse; its pleasant drives, and its nearness to the sea, combine to render it a very, popular place of resort on Saturday afternoons; and among the numerous lungs of Melbourne and its suburbs this is probably the most valuable from a hygienic point of view; while its area is so extensive, that after three full-sized cricket grounds have been carved off for the special use of as many clubs a large area still remains. The surroundings of this fine and capacious pleasure ground have marked it out as the future Hyde Park or Bois de Boulogne of the southern suburbs of Melbourne, and in 1885 steps were taken for the establishment of something corresponding to Rotten Row. The movement was instituted and warmly supported by Lady Loch, and the result was that on Friday afternoons during the summer months the carriage drive in Albert Park became a fashionable rendezvous where might be seen the best horses and the best appointed equipages which the city and its environs could turn out, and a large gathering of equestrians, as well as of spectators on foot —a band of music adding to the other attractions of the scene.

Albert Park is bounded on the south side by the borough of St. Kilda, which was erected into a municipality in the year 1857. Since then its population has not increased proportionately to that of Prahran or of South Melbourne, being less than that of the more distant borough of Brighton, and numbering less than five thousand two hundred. It contains many handsome residences, some of which, owing to the undulating character of the ground, command extensive sea views, even although remote from the beach. The esplanade curves round from Fitzroy Street, the southern boundary of the park, to Carlisle Street, and the business portion’s of the borough contain some excellent shops. The Town Hall, at the junction of Grey and Barkly Streets, is a primitive edifice erected in 1858, but it is shortly to be replaced by a structure worthier of a suburb inhabited chiefly by the well-to-do classes of society. There is a recreation ground of sixteen acres, and a skating rink recently established attests the popularity of a northern diversion pursued under artificial conditions in southern latitudes.

At Point Ormond —better known as the Red Bluff, which marks the commencement of the boundary line between St. Kilda and North Elwood —is a reserve but recently rescued from public sale and desecration; it contains the graves of many of the pioneers of the colony who arrived before the year 1840, and who, under the influence of a sentiment akin to that expressed in "The Last Song of Sappho," seem to have chosen this lovely and romantic spot for sepulture:

Sound on, thou dark unslumbering sea!
My dirge is in thy moan;
My spirit finds response in thee,
To its own ceaseless cry "Alone, alone!"

St. Kilda is liberally supplied with churches, one of the handsomest of these being that dedicated to All Saints. Commenced in 1858, it comprises three aisles of equal heights and dimensions, a choir, sanctuary, and transepts. Its architectural style is the Early English or geometrical period of Gothic, the material employed being blue stone with freestone dressings. Internally, it presents a still handsomer aspect. The arch separating the chancel from the main body of the building rests upon columns of polished granite, with enriched capitals. An unusually large choir, fifty-four feet by twenty-three, is divided from the nave by a dwarf wall of freestone, and contains a stone pulpit richly sculptured, choir stalls, and an altar of polished oak beautifully carved and panelled and set in a graceful framework of decorative stone. The sanctuary, which is apsidal in form, is enriched with five stained glass windows, and the fittings and ornamentation of the church are in keeping with the general character of its architecture. St. Kilda enjoys the advantage of two lines of railway communication with Melbourne. One of these has its terminus in Fitzroy Street within a few minutes walk from the beach; and the other, the Brighton line, has two stations —the first in Windsor and the second in the Balaclava Road —which supply the inhabitants of East St. Kilda with the means of frequent and ready access to the metropolis. Many private houses of a superior character, standing in pleasure grounds, have been erected in the immediate vicinity of this line of rail; as also in the Dandenong, Alma, Inkerman, Balaclava and Orrong Roads, which form part of the district of East St. Kilda. The Glen Eira Road, which runs parallel with the four first-named thoroughfares, terminates at its eastern extremity in the Caulfield racecourse, which lies close to a station on the Gippsland line. Originally a sandy waste, with a shallow mere in the centre, this popular ground promises to become a powerful competitor for public favour with Flemington. By judicious planting, and by the conversion of the mere into a lake, the natural attractions of the place have been greatly enhanced. The course is popular with racing men and jockeys because of the soft nature of the soil, and on that account a preference is shewn for it where steeplechases are concerned.

Returning by way of the Tooronga, Malvern and Commercial Roads to the Albert Park, a ridge is traversed upon the slopes of which have been erected some of the largest residences in the vicinity of Melbourne, commanding prospects combining the architectural monuments of the city, the broad expanse of the Bay, with the shipping in the harbour and the distant mountain ranges; with villas encircled by gardens and shrubberies serving as a pretty foreground.

At the western extremity of the park, a broad thorough-fare named the Albert Road, in honour of the Prince of Wales and his illustrious father, marks the commencement of South Melbourne, the most populous, as well as the oldest of the suburbs, numbering, as it does, thirty-three thousand five hundred inhabitants, a figure which exceeds that of the population of Brisbane, Hobart, Dunedin, or Wellington; while the estimated value of the ratable property within its boundaries exceeds three millions sterling. In the early days of Melbourne it was a green eminence upon which was bestowed the name of Emerald Hill on account of the freshness of its verdure; but this designation has been recently changed for the one it now bears. Its sponsor, who still lives, has seen the grassy slopes upon which Captain Lonsdale pastured his sheep, transformed into a large and prosperous suburb, crowned at its highest point by, a town hall erected at a cost of thirty thousand pounds, which occupies a site sufficiently detached to admit of its fine proportions and handsome architecture being seen to the best advantage.

Two large orphanages, administered by the Roman Catholic Society of St. Vincent de Paul —one for boys, the other for girls —fulfil the beneficent objects to which the life of the great philanthropist was devoted; while all Academy of Music contains one of the best concert halls to be met with in the vicinity of Melbourne. Branch establishments of the leading banks and insurance companies of the colony attest the commercial importance of the city, and its numerous places of worship provide accommodation for the members of all denominations. A Chinese joss house is one of the sights of the place; in structure and decoration, both externally and internally, it is thoroughly Oriental, and offers a striking contrast to its surroundings. On the arrival of the new year, according to the Chinese method of computation, it is the scene of Ceremonials in which a display of fireworks and the discordant din of musical instruments painful to the ears of Western people, play an important part.

Most of the streets in South Melbourne run at right angles to Each other, and the principal thoroughfares, which are as broad as those of the metropolis, are lined with shops that compare favourably with those of the latter. In the centre of South Melbourne are some handsome crescents filled with terraces and detached private residences enclosing two public gardens or recreation grounds which are admirably kept. In the one is a bowling green with its kiosk-like pavilion, and in the other some fine tennis courts, the whole set in a framework of flowers and shrubs. A market-house of ample dimensions, a spacious riding school, a masonic hall a cricket ground in the Albert Park —second in importance only to that of the Melbourne Cricket Club in the Yarra Park —and one of the largest. gasometers in the world, are also among the features of this suburb. These advantages are enhanced by the railway which runs through its very centre, and which has two stations for the convenience of the inhabitants, who are thus brought within from four to seven minutes distance of Melbourne.

At the foot of the hill on the north and east sides a hundred acres of what was originally swamp land are in process of reclamation, and are being rapidly, covered by timber yards, sawmills, rope-walks, bonded stores, iron and brass foundries, breweries, engineering establishments and manufactories of every description; these afford employment to many thousands of workmen residing for the most part in South Melbourne or in Port Melbourne.

Quitting South Melbourne by way of the Albert Road, and reaching the borders of the Government House domain —forming part of a reserve of two hundred and thirty-five acres —the visitor will notice, at the corner of the Domain Road, the fine collegiate edifice with its central tower and cloister, its handsome memorial chapel, and its extensive play and pleasure grounds which constitutes, with its roomy appurtenances, the Church of England Grammar School. Founded in the year 1854, it numbers about two hundred and twenty scholars on its rolls, and, like the Scotch College, has played an important part in preparing for a career of public usefulness many of the men who now fill prominent positions in the political, professional, and mercantile life of Victoria.

Entering the domain by a gate facing the Grammar School, and turning to the left on reaching the South Yarra drive, the visitor presently finds himself in the vicinity of the Observatory, stationed on, a pleasant knoll, and screened to some extent from the dust of the St. Kilda Road by plantations of trees. The first institution of the kind was established at Williamstown in 1853, and a meteorological observatory had also been founded on the Flagstaff Hill, where Professor Neumayer pursued his patient investigations with gratifying success. In 1863 both these institutions were combined under one roof, and the present site was selected as the initial point of the trigonometrical survey of the colony. The Governor and the Treasurer lent their zealous assistance to the cause of astronomical science, and the Legislature appropriated the sum of ten thousand pounds to the purchase of what was then, with a single exception, the largest telescope in the world, the Mirror being four feet in diameter. The Observatory is in communication by electric telegraph with a number of meteorological stations along the coast and inland, as well as with those of the other colonies; and the Government Astronomer is thus enabled to prepare and issue for publication in the Melbourne morning papers a weather forecast for the next twenty-four hours. The true time is likewise indicated daily at noon by means of signals, and is despatched from the Observatory by telegraph to all parts of Victoria.

The grounds of the Observatory almost adjoin the Botanical Garden. These cover an area of about one hundred acres. For landscape purposes, nothing could be better than the natural configuration of the ground. Two slopes, the one having an easterly and he other a westerly, aspect, dip down into a valley sufficiently broad to admit of a lake of eight acres spreading its glassy mirror to the sky. Sedgy islands afford a sequestered covert and congenial nesting-place for black and white swans and numerous varieties of water fowl; but at the same time it is lamentable to add that, from motives which are altogether inscrutable, these are being continually destroyed by poison. Originally, these gardens were under the control of Baron von Mueller, one of the finest of living botanists; but in 1873 he was relieved of the responsibility in order that he might dedicate himself exclusively to those scientific pursuits with which his name is so honourably associated. The management of the place then devolved upon Mr. W. R. Guilfoyle, F.L.S., who applied himself with the utmost enthusiasm, and with an artistic perception of the beautiful, to remodel the gardens in accordance with the principles of the best English landscape gardening, so as to present a cultivated wildness in some parts and in others a harmonious combination of artificial forms and contrasted colours, the result being a success as honourable to the director as it is gratifying to the tens of thousands of persons who visit a spot so easily accessible from Melbourne by road, or footpath, or river. At the same time, Mr. Guilfoyle has not forgotten that these gardens are intended to subserve the interests of science as well as to minister to the enjoyment of the public, and he has therefore kept both these objects in view while executing his plans. Upon spacious green lawns, as soft and pleasant to the foot as a three pile carpet, are classified groups of plants and, numerous examples of the flora of Australasia, and of the temperate and sub-tropical regions of the globe. In fact, the botany of the greater part of the world may be studied in the gardens by characteristic specimens, labelled with their scientific and ordinary appellations and that of their native habitat. There are, fern-tree gullies moist and shadowy as those upon the distant mountainsides, with trickling rills maintaining a tangled undergrowth in perpetual verdure. The winding pathway through these is three hundred yards long, and is over-arched by hundreds of native tree-ferns; while the rugged trunks of the trees which support a loftier cloister overhead are thickly studded with elkhorn, staghorn, and other epiphytal ferns. And there are sylvan walks sufficiently quiet and secluded, where students may muse and philosophers moralise.

The great charm of the gardens is their apparently endless extent, and next to that the variety of views and vistas they, present owing to the irregularities and undulations of their surface. There is no sense of "circumscription or confine," no sameness, no repetitions of a prospect, or disappointments upon reaching an eminence. The place is full of agreeable surprises, and there are so many different coigns of vantage that a long afternoon may be spent in their discovery and enjoyment. In the spring, summer and autumn, the gardens exhibit a wealth of colour which gain additional brilliancy and lustre by contrast with the bronze, copper- coloured, and grey-green foliage of many of the exotic trees planted in the immediate vicinity of the variegated parterres; and these of course vary in splendour according, to the condition of the atmosphere, the position of the sun and the hour of the day, glooming and glowing in correspondence with the mutable aspects of the sky.

From the summit of the hill, near the western or St. Kilda Road entrance, a tolerably comprehensive view is obtained of this picturesque demesne. To the right is, the western lawn, beautified with groups of ornamental and coloured foliage plants, of dwarf Australian flowering shrubs, with clusters of trees representing upwards of twenty natural orders, with plants of medicinal value and with the camellia ground. Beyond this, and looking over the Victoria Regia house, the eye rests upon the eastern lawn, in which are some fine groups of Queensland plants, the ornamental bedding grounds, numerous typical specimens of American trees and shrubs, groups of Queensland plants, and a superb array of mesembryanthemums, the metallic lustre of which is perfectly dazzling in the full blaze of the sun. Immediately in front of the spectator, and sloping down to the smaller lake, is the buffalo-grass lawn, with a house for cacti at one end, and a rustic summer house, constructed principally of native woods, at the other. This lawn is chequered by groups of pittosporums, of tropical foliage plants and ornamental shrubs; while the island in the centre of the lake is planted with ferns, palm-lilies, Danubian reeds and plume-grasses. Beyond this, lies the great lake, containing half a dozen islands planted chiefly with the common swamp ti-tree; and on the other side an embankment covered with pine-trees and palm-lilies separates this sheet of water and its miniature archipelago from the river, along the banks of which is an umbrageous walk from end to end of the northern boundary of the gardens.

The director’s residence is situated within the gardens, and for an enthusiast who is really fond of his work and who likes to live in the centre of it or for one who is never weary of the charm of foliage and the beauty of landscape and, the sight and smell of flowers, no more delightful dwelling need be wished. In front of it lie the lawn and shrubbery. The fluctuating outline of this charming little nook, which is also accessible to the public, is defined by a compact mass of ornamental trees and shrubs, and the lawn is dotted with azaleas, camellias and other flowering plants, presenting at most periods, of the year superb combinations of colour, while in the summer, to those who love to lie in indolent and listening repose, the buzz and hum of insect life keep tip a drowsy murmur in the ear:

The hawk moth poised
Above the roses, thrusts its slender trunk
Into their honeyed depths; on gauzy
The long, green dragon fly, in gleaming mail,
Keeps darting zigzag, hovering to and fro;
Hot bees are bustling in the flowers; with soft
And aimless flutter, painted butterflies
Hang drifting here and there like floating leaves,
Or resting on a weed to spread their wings.
All nature seems in quiet happiness
To live and move.

The more distant prospect from the numerous eminences within the limits of the gardens is full of variety, Government House constituting a prominent object; while the winding river, the Yarra Park, the north-eastern suburbs, Studley Park, the principal architectural monuments of Melbourne and the distant ranges to the north, combine to present a succession of interesting landscapes, as the point of observation is shifted from time to time. There are four conservatories. One of these contains a fine specimen of the gigantic water-lily; another is devoted to tropical exotics, including a large collection of crotons and other foliage plants; while a third is reserved for cacti, and a fourth is applied to the cultivation of the more tender of the plants which, possess an economic values such as the mango, the bread-fruit, the sugar-cane, coffee and chocolate trees and cinnamon. A medicinal garden for the propagation of plants of therapeutic value, and an area dedicated to the growth of such as supply the raw material for textile fabrics, or are serviceable to the dyer, or can be utilised as articles of food, are by no means the least important features of this attractive institution, which also includes a laboratory, in which experiments are carried on for ascertaining the economic uses and products of numbers of the plants in cultivation. The results of these have been sent to exhibitions in various parts of the world, and an active interchange of seeds and plants is maintained with kindred institutions in other countries, so that —whether regarded in their utilitarian, aesthetic, educational, or recreative aspects —these gardens may be regarded as one of the soundest and most remunerative investments of the public money which have been made by the Government of Victoria. Their popularity is attested by the many thousands of visitors who resort to them on public holidays.

All the great cities of Australia, by an instinct as artistic as it is wise, have made excellent provision for botanic gardens. Sydney led the way, and the example has been universally followed. In no, instance, has any public money been grudged for the adornment and maintenance of these delightful retreats. The different cities vie with one another in the care they take of this portion of their public property. In no two cases do the sites resemble each other and each great botanic garden has its specialties. That of Melbourne, as now improved, yields to none as to its amplitude, its educational value, or its adaptation to cultivate the tastes of a city population.

The Domain immediately adjoining, comprising an area of one hundred and fifty-two acres, and the grounds of Government House, covering sixty-one acres, are likewise under the management of the director of the Botanical Gardens. The vice-regal residence occupies an exceptionally fine site on the crown of a hill, and commands a most varied and extensive prospect, embracing the City and its suburbs, the Bay, and a horizontal circle girdled for the most part by mountain ranges in its erection motives of economy dictated the employment of brick and stucco instead of stone —a serious disadvantage for a building of a palatial character. It is in the Italian style, with lofty, campanile rising at the point of junction between the mass of the pile and its handsome ballroom.

Seen from a distance, Government House presents an unattractive appearance, because the unadorned upper storeys only are visible; but a nearer view corrects the first unfavourable impression, for the handsome loggia in the east facade, another on the west, serving as a conservatory on the ground floor, an arcade running along the side of the ball-room, a terraced garden in front of the latter, and three effectively treated porticoes, agreeably break the formality of the leading architectural lines, and lend picturesqueness of detail to an otherwise bald elevation. Internally, the building is both spacious and commodious, the various apartments lofty and well-proportioned, and the architectural features of the entrance hall, the chief corridor, and the principal rooms are elegant and harmonious.

As it was thought necessary and found convenient to separate the private portions of the house from the public reception rooms, which are planned on a scale of greater magnitude than the former, the design is more spread out than is strictly consistent with the canons of good taste. The edifice is three storeys high, without reckoning the basement. The reception rooms are placed on the ground floor, and comprise a ball-room and a music gallery one hundred and forty feet by fifty-five, with a contiguous supper-room one hundred and five feet by twenty-one, a state dining-room sixty-nine feet by thirty-five, and a state drawing-room sixty-six feet by thirty, which opens into a conservatory. This suite of apartments is approached by a grand entrance gallery or corridor eighty-eight feet by twenty, with a roomy vestibule and a large enclosed porch.

The entrance to the ballroom is at the western extremity of the building, under a lofty porte cochere. Adjoining the state apartments are an audience-room and rooms for the Governor’s private secretary and aides-de-camp. The private house, which is entered by a separate portico, contains on the ground floor a dining-room thirty-four feet by twenty-one, a drawing-room and a boudoir fifty-three feet by twenty, a library twenty-four feet by twenty, billiard and smoking rooms thirty-five feet by twenty-seven, together with the usual subordinate apartments and offices. The upper floors contain suites of rooms for guests and the sleeping apartments of the household. The stables and outhouses have been designed on a scale of magnitude corn mensurate with that of the establishment to which they belong. Government House, ever since its occupation by Sir Henry Brougham and Lady Loch, has been the centre of the social life of the metropolis of Victoria, and has been the scene of a succession of hospitable entertainments, planned with a liberality and presided over with a grace and courtesy which have heightened their charm and enhanced their value as a means of fusing together the somewhat heterogeneous elements of society in a new country. No movement calculated to prove of advantage to the religious, moral, intellectual, or economic of the colony has progress ever failed to elicit their cordial co-operation and support, and the Governor and Lady Loch have exhibited a special interest in art, music, the drama, literature and science. No stranger honourably identified with either has visited the colony without receiving some gratifying assurance that intellectual superiority or artistic skill of any kind, associated with personal worth, meets with a prompt and graceful recognition at Government House; while the influence of vice-regal example, in this and many other respects, has had a beneficial effect upon the whole of Victorian society, which naturally takes its tone from that which is the colonial substitute for a Court.

Melbourne, originally the name of a modest village in the county of Derbyshire, in England, has by colonial transplantation been promoted to rank in the gazetteers of the future as one of the great cities of the world. It owes this destiny to the fact that it was the place from which Lord Melbourne derived his title as a baron of the realm, for as he was Prime Minister of Great Britain when the city was founded in 1836, the infant metropolis honoured itself by adopting his titular name. He played a not unimportant part in the politics of his day. William the Fourth called him the " great gentleman," and her Majesty Queen Victoria has gracefully acknowledged that to his wise counsels and loyal assistance she was under deep obligations in her earlier days for qualifying her for discharging the duties devolving on her as the constitutional sovereign of a free people. He little thought when filling so distinguished a position as the practical governor of an empire and the political teacher of a queen whose reign as to last for more than half a century, that his own name would be preserved less by the niche he filled in English history than by the fact that he had lent it to a remote and then almost unknown settlement sixteen thousand miles from the heart of the Empire.

In 1836 the nascent township on the banks of the Yarra was known as Beargrass, and comprised only thirteen buildings, namely, three weatherboard, two slate, and eight turf huts. At that time it did not appear as if any man would gain much prestige by having so insignificant a place named after him. Not even the most sanguine of prophets could then have anticipated what those thirteen huts were to grow to, but there are men still living who have watched the development. From the description given above, it will be seen how completely Melbourne realises all the ideas associated with a great metropolis. It is already a city of public palaces, magnificent warehouses, splendid shops and private mansions. It has all the institutions of charity, of commerce, of education and of art. Everything that the old world delights in the new world has imported, and the young city prides itself in being abreast of the old cities in everything that characterises the civilisation of our epoch. Standing at the head of a great bay, in a position geographically central for drawing to it the commerce of a whole colony, without any possible rival in Victoria itself, and advantageously posted so as to compete for the commerce of the interior of Australia, with railways extending to every portion of the colony and all centring in itself, it must ever be the heart of a great country, receiving the life of the community and radiating it again through all the various arteries of traffic. The more Australia grows, the more Melbourne grows. It has sent its sons and distributed its capital over every other colony of the group. Its interests are far as well as near, and it is in touch with the development of Australasian resources from King George’s Sound to the Gulf of Carpentaria, and from Dunedin to the Northwest Cape. The site of Melbourne admits of indefinite expansion. Nothing cramps it in, and having been originally laid out with wide streets and ample reserves, that type of city formation will cling to all its extensions. If the Melbourne of to-day is a marvel compared with the Melbourne of 1836, the Melbourne of half a century hence will be a marvel compared with the Melbourne of to-day.

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