MELBOURNE TOWN TALK.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1967, 11 October 1888, Page 2

MELBOURNE TOWN TALK.

(From our ow» Correspondent.)

I gave It as ray opinion some few weeks ag->, that it was both unjast and nujnatifiable for the Government to t-y and pass the new Tariff, prior to the Eleotoral Bill. The latter deals with redlatrlbu'lon of Beats on the plea that the country ia no*, proporly repreßaokd In Parllumnt, nnd li- Is only common senae to «ay, " Get tho colony properly represented first, and then put forth tho the alterations of datlea." Goveruimni howevef didn't see It m this Hgtr, and the consequence has bsen a b»d dßfea*. on their Budget propan Ua followed by the withdrawal of aacre, lam glad they drew In their horns, for looking Impartially at the Opposition, 1 ©ally do nob see how they could form a better ministry than our present GilliesDeftkin one. Tha Stook T\x (particulars of which are no doubt known to all my I readers), was tie most dangerous rock ahead, for the Government and the one thst held them back. As pointed out by my friend Patterson, the member for Oastlemalne, an increase, of stick duties m Ylotoria clearly raises the Federal question, and it is bat right that bj momentous a subject should be submitted to the commonly for its approval ; therefore I say to both sld> s of the House, II Gentlemen hurry up the Eleotoral Bill, so that the true feeljnga of the country may be made known."

I don't know why Parliament should remind me of the weather, bnt it does. Perhaps becao.Be In both oases, as Mr Elton eaya m " Dorothy"—

" Whether it's oold, or whether it's 'ot, We've got to weather it whether or not." Tha real reason, however, now I on me to think of it, la because I went one day laHt week straight from Parliament House to the Observatory, In order to have a ohat with my friend, Mr Mcerlin, oar esteemed " olerk of the weather." I wont to Bee what kind of a winter we had been having; now that spring— jocund, smiling spring — is upon us onoe again, I found my friend deep In the dreadful mysteries of preparing a wea 1 her chart, but he dropped his pen at-, my request, and fell into conversation." " Its been tho driest, nvldeat winter we've had for ten ye*ra," eald he. 11 There has ben two inches lobb rain during our three months of winter than has been the average for eight or nine yeara. The average rainfall during a "Victorian winter is 5 52 ; tho fall during last was only 3 70— almost a couple of inches leaa that the average. The temperature haa been higher, too. The average was 49 7. whilst the general average is only 491." A mild winter generally means « hot summer here m Melbourne, so I am afraid thia summer we shall get it hot and strong, Ja»t now, however, thlngß are at their beat In Melbourne, and tha weather is most enjoyable, though ohaogoable Swallows, Bunflowers, and scarlet are all coming on at the same tim j— the first m the air, the seoond la the garden, and the third on our womenfolks. The fl >wer-shops begin to make abraveahow, what with cimelllae, narolsaus, jonquils, marigolds, lovely white llllea, and others of our e»rly flowers ; whilst every j tok-a.dandy about town wears a sprig of boronla, that sweateßt of all sweet-smelling fbwereta. Certainly the spring time m this city of oara ia lovely ; but I shudder when I think of the coming summer, with its sinister attendant train of typhoid, diphtheria, scarlet fever and other aymotlo horrors of the kind*

I feel care most of my readers have heard of Rlohard Blrnle, M.A., who for many years past haa been * well-known figure In literary Melbourne. Well, the poor old man died last week, and those who knew him have to regret the loaa of perhaps the moat erudite, polished, learned, and onltured gentleman aouth of .UuUlna. Poor old Birnle ! I knew him ao well, and loved him, aa many others did, for his learning, bin wit, and his wonderful oonveraation. He was a aon of Sir Richard Blrnle, odnoafcad at Trinity College, Cambridge, and admitted to the Inner Temple aa a barrister. He was Intimate with many of the most noted men of the day, Including Maoready, Dfokem, Bolwer, and a hoat of other eelebritles, He came oat first as Advo-cate-General to Western Australia, thenoe gravl'atlng to Melbourne, He waa the sola writer of thoae olever essays which appeared fortnightly m the Australasian, and for eighteen yeara oarried them on without a break. He was thus known, though not by nam«, to a large oirole of readers ; bat his wonderful individuality and genius oould only be known to his friends. He was a scholar m she truest sense of the word, living In a little Intellectual world of his own, his habits simple, hla expenditure modest. He lived to 80, and almost to the laat his masaive intellect and .wonderful memory remained un> touohed. Of classical lore he was a perfect encyclopedia ; m the realms of philosophy, literature, and art he had no equal, and allied to this waa an experience of life, a fund of anecdote, a knowledge of men and events, that made him the best talker, the moat brilliant conversationalist, and the clearest reaioner among us. Alas ! a month ago his intelleot grew cloudy, and a failing body soon followed a failing mind. He gradually sank, and passed away calmly to thoae realms where

. . . transplanted human work Will bloom to profit otherwhere. Requiescat m pact ! A true scholar and a gentleman has gone from among as.

" T would thou were't ao honest a man," Bald Hamlet to Polonlua, speaking of fishermen; but our experience In Melbourne teaohes as differently from that of the noble Dane, for all have good cause of oomplalnt enough against those poitsoniers who aupply our blty with fish. To say that it is always doar and bad and meagre is not to do full juitloe to the eubjeot. for It 1b worse than that, and if it were not for the Chinamen half the people would not get a taste of this wholesome diet, It is high time something was done, for surely no other big olty m the world is so badly supplied us ours. Our coast swarms with plenty of good edible fish, and yet the price is bo high here and m the country generally, that rjraotioolly it (a quite out of the reach of the working man and the poorer olasses altogether. However, a step Id the tight direction has been taken at last, and I hope for all our Bikes that something will oome of it. A large publlo meeting was held last week by some iuQaential gentle men, at which it Was proposed to float a large company for the proper carrying out of the industry; The oompany is to be on the mutual principle, bo that everybody connected with it should benefit—producers, consumers, and the publlo generally. It la an excellent Idea, and I hope m time will herald a new era m our fish supply. It is something wretohad as thlogo are now, that fish should be considered quite as a luxury, With a climate suoh as onrs, half the year at least it should be our staple diet.

There la little doubt that the presenoe of a few intelligent «nd energetlo Victorians m the British Hoasa of Oommona would oonatitate a more efficient safeguard of our interests than the offiolat and, therefore, necessarily guarded repreieatatloo of half a dczaa Agents- General. It is, then, moat gratifyiog to read that the s^nnqal meeting of the " W«st Denbighshire Liberal Aaßopiation," unanimously aooepted the decision of the Oounoll m aeleotlng Mt G, W. Taylor a* the Liberal candidate. So unvarying has been the allegiance of this constituency that Mr Taylor's eleotion may be regarded as » foregone conclusion, and Melbourne may look forward with latiofaotion to having a shrewd and vigilant champion In the Supreme GoqocH of the Empire,