OUR MELBOURNE LETTER.

Evening Star, Issue 3904, 28 August 1875, Page 3

OUR MELBOURNE LETTER.

Melbourne, August 21. "We are in thfl days of fiascos. From the Ministers down to the Mayor our public men seem determined to get laughed at, and " verily they lh.ave their reward." The unexpected turn by which Messrs Kerry, Woods, Grant and Co. have become " H.M. Ministers" was brought about by the malcontent Free Traders, who would not support MrKerferd and walked out of tiie House to avoid supporting Mr Berry. Between the two stools they have had the usual fall and bad it severely. Universal verdict - '* Bight seived." The currents of popular opinion have varied in the most amusing ma'nner. Homeric laughter greeted the announcement of mew Ministers, prophecies of their immediate downfall followed; then came a reaction : kncwinir ones shook their heads and hinted that the Cabinet was to be let alone till it had done the " dirty work" of imposing fresh taxes, and was thee to be ignominiously kicked out; and now again since the Chief Secretary has spoken vaticinations arc repeated. Mr Gatehouse i' the Mayor. On dit that he is one of the so-called '" Sunday-Freedom" agitators. Be that as it may, he and a committee of the City Council took on themselves to let the Town flail to an actor named Fairclough for the purpose of giving a Sunday evening entertainment. A deputation of ratepayers waited on. him to remonstrate against such an outrage on the feelings of the great mass of burgesses, but the Mayor treated them in a very hawshty fashion. Had he been a Minister of the Crown, such a tone to a deputation would have overthrown the Government; but as a njiayor cannot be unseated on a vote of want of confidence, Mr Gatehouse will enjoy the r»*mainder of his term Even Robert Lowe never went so far out of his way to annoy people as did this municipal person when he said that he had ordered the actor not to read " a'ny immoral parts of the Bible." The practical part of the affadr is however rather of the co mic order. A case was submitted by the counsel's opinion as to whether the lotting of the Hull for Fiiirclough's entertainJ nent was illegal, and llr Higinbotham gave an 'opinion that it was net, basing the dictum on the probability that aoi English Act (21, Geo. 111, c. 49) is not in force here. On the other hand, the Sabbath Observance Society submitted a case to Mir Wrixon, who holds that the Act is in force, and that by inference the Mayor, Aldermen, Councillors, and burgesses are liable to the penalty of keeping a "disorderly house." The two opinions, though opposed as to the force of the Act, do not necessarily clash in the practical result. The Mayor and Corporation may ir.ot bn liable for letting, but Mr Fairclough tna y possibly be liable for performing. Either way the society seem to nave a good chance of success. Talking of Fairclough reminds me of Shakspeare, and talking of Slhakspeare reminds me of Mr Wilks's essay, qno'ed in one of your issues MrWilks undertakes to show that was a Komanib'fr, and cites the character of Shylock to show that -hakspeare despised Jews. If Mr WvJks were an authority one might be surprised at him, but he is an American. His scholarship is worth as much as \merican scholarship usually is (Mr Majsh always excepted), whereof Professor Anthona Gieekand Noah Webstor's dictionary may stand for the "shocking examples." Surely Mr Wilks was joking when ie spoke about the " proverbial" character of the women of a certain raoe ; or else, which is perh "*ps more likely, he is ignorant of facts that L*e ought ts\ have learned from an hour's reading of "Oiriental Travel," or five minutes'conversation with even Mark L'wain. I Another joke! When Mr Ireland heard ' that i*n attorney had been made Minister of Justice, his indignation was immense—not for himself, of course—not that bis claims had been passed by—but "for his brethren and companions' sake" he would by no means say " Peace be within thee " to the Cabinet. The Bar had been insulted ! So he, as Q. 0., called a raeeting of the Bar, and one member responded to the call. But Mr Ireland was not the re, and he gave an explanation by letter in the papers, mort suo; and it ended in this, th:it for the future he would see and advise clients without the intervention of an attorney. The Romanists will not be quiet. We have another abduction case. A Mr Geoghegan, a " priest" at Kyneton, stole a little girl who was entitled to Borne property, and when her guardian claimed her, set up a defence which, while admitting all the facts, was no defence at all of his own action, and cast an imputation on the moral character of the guardian. The latter said that the imputation was false as well as slanderous. The counsel for the guardian (Mr Wobb) spoke very plainly; indeed in open. Court about the probable action of Protestants if these violent courses go unchecked, and the Judge, so far from rebuki'bg him, was very severe upon the Romanists in the case. And not the least too severe in vie w of the facts. The

Bates's case has been complicated by the appearance of a man who calls himself father of the stolen children. He has been brought up for neglecting tehm, but at whoae instigation, how he was found out, or how much of fact there is in the alleged relationship doea not appear. It seems t» be nobody's business to investigate that, 80 the children remain, just as I predicted, in the clutches of the " tf. J." It were much to be wished that we could pet a little light on some dark subjects, e.g. , literary and art criticism in our morning papers.

erhaps we might then understand why Miss Christian (so much, and so deservedly a favorite in New Zealand) has never had justice done to her, and is misrepresented on all possible occasions ; while Another lady, veTy respectable in her place, but not fit to hold a candle to the fermer, is " cracked no " mercilessly. Tho performance of "Elijah" gave occasion for one of these absurd exhibitions in the columns of a leading paper. Miss Christian happened to be ill and unable to sing ; the fact of her absence was mentioned, without explanation or direct comment, but the extravagant laudation of somebody else in the next sentence was evidently intended to be significant of a comparison.

Mdlle. De Murska draws increasing audiences at the Town Hall, despite high prices. I have not yet had an opportunity of hearing her. The faults in our new Public Picture Gallery, on which I commented a little while ago, are becoming very generally talked about. The room is badly shaped, badly lighted (there is too much light), and extravagantly expensive.

The "Fifth Exhibition of tho Victorian Academy of Arts" is open. I speut a considerable time in it, and my impression on troing away was : "what a number of nice frames!" I do not want to "disparage native industry," but certainly there is little else but the industry of the workmen to praise - in the majority of cases. There are about four fair landseapes in oil, three or four more have good bit 3 in them: an "Angel of Peace," rather pretty, and decidedly pre-l.taphaelite ; a " Minstrel," with beautifully-! ainted flesh and hair, and execrable accessories ; and all the rest of the eighty-three ——, what a sad waste of oil and canvas ! For example, a pair of elbows, composed of no known material, about 18in thick, and terminating below in mathematical points, are the chief representatives of one of Tennyson's most lovely creations. It is time there is the semblance of a female face above them, a female ferm behind them, and a spectral shield in front of them ; but all these are merely subordinate — the painter's " idea" was evidently elbows. If any of you New Zealandera want to know how very extraordinary the scenery of your adopted land maybe made to look in a picture, they may know by hurrying across and looking at some of these paintings. lam sure if I thought you possessed anything so hideous in reality, it would effectually deter me from ever coming near you. I would actually go Home overland rather than pass you byin a sailing vessel. Of the niuety-eight water-colors, I have marked even fewer as "good" in my catalogue than of the oils. But there is one picture by an amateur — a barrister, I believe—that really is excellent. The motif is a river at Milford Sound. Can you not send us some pictures next year to r»use Victoria talent—if we have any '!