OUR MELBOURNE LETTER.

Evening Star, Issue 4136, 30 May 1876, Page 2

OUR MELBOURNE LETTER.

May 12. Another public address, by a very different man, for a very different object .and of a very ’different nature, was, even more widely appreciated, though not in itself calculated to do' much good. This was a lecture by Sir Charles Duffy on .his recent travels in Europe. Plenty of amusing ihei--dent, bits of French in profusion, and a few suggestions about'city tree-planting' Were mingled with a few grayer matters, and sent his hearers away almost as much pleased with the way they hbd managed’ to while away the evening as if they had been ih th£ Legislative Assembly gallery.. The proceeds were to be given to the training Up of young j esuijts. Whether suggested by this.public re-app«>arance, dr. whether Sipon certain information I know not, but ' Pnneh’ professes to foreshadow, thq disappearance of Mr Berry from , the post of V“ popular* leader in the political I aiid his replaoemenb by Duffy. Gertainly the Berry lot are falling very low, ■ Their politicall“ demons in various; country places - proved such utter £ulur& i that theygavo up,attempts to organise them]

his other blunders are worth more’to ifim than any . successes he could gain at tea%ie6tinigß or street processions. His great difficulty ''' .i threatens to- arise in insist" bn" <r umnal''FafliathShts"W" the ‘ ‘ new plank in the platform iriftfeon they stand’’—the one^bm^^tiB > the ihen ISrfiwex* • pect to go into PatliMiSßbt. But those who dire in "don’t like the notion of~ some fann-a-yekr,b6hifi[ to . : Ben: rumors to which. it would be tidtum mdre pointedly tosefexs, ShairiMWfi a tt#yeaba'Sgb, . with-womanhbbd hbodatffiage, maybe incunedSblbbk:vcpJlr Beriy%protwsali»theras as a new plank. Perhaps yorir rdadettlrtoay accuseme pbors/inasmtich os stodc uiihk nor obyious cry '’tfecoapl! andappeal ad rnistrjcprtifm. amJmoliged $> thupk - write, and the mimetiolawpfotu , -imtur»»hxis far assimilatels my style to whit li<SK®fEßplhte. Who ban touch pitch iwtf be ;r r : '■k'*' 33 ’ Considemble ihteresthasbbeii what is generally a very- dull annual Address of thb". Cnainnan/ Ghatnernf Commerce'. MQ: dfefifehy,. tloretiring officii deolt in a . way with our politics, f the .incidence ot Upd onr. national book-depepibg; ondi inadb.l|cigsisllS I a very lighti ami private yonpi tb“ me- . i dicals’’ wnp inflicted ife; ; jiß the | University—and the eobner it is altered the | hetbefr. The first away j almbat all Jconi i Boaid, and to confided its. members toVmir ] tW '] Theservant of aoln- ‘ tion. Another' awstal ifi t abon,liC disappear—the soda icrystal other wordSj <” day.” A is adver- ; tised. totbeiV’ say I. r • v The allatteutioa,„A|i li amateur choir has given two performances of “Samson”.>{bf course, muoh>imtttilat«feJßr ii , *'buts”), and the chbrbsds 'woreiony &e i- whde, good exc^6nl'? »| httle^ : andnowandthenreflUy pvenfl wml- ?! interesting.to talk about.' it has been their “main lino” the island. They have quiokemea > their speed of travelling .to somatmngliko } i twenty miles ah‘ ■rtfhichMbime tiic J mortality bf hoifeea hais been; •’ frightfuL The engines Sebm'lto be chiefly employedshards of these . np : ww if ‘ for that reason they would for soxhe.othee. ■<; Yon can’t think Jibw nice it is to read about —infact/it must be altogether deGghtfid to ' hve in Tasmania—so ieng SB you nrenettUft ;■ a horse b T *4’^ j f or . a to*fsm*t*r* i - derived of ypur , ‘ P ol^l the West . Ck>ast abßOirjbing ■ accommodation., jarerpvernv-- .; two or three boats falling . close together in their for./thb Bluff, whilst the West haa not been &vored . dUring all time. As-a k thisrapidsuccesaionbfßteaihera/thtle^is yery Httib fpr toe to’ The snßbSf- . inon of .events is efioukh : is Q kMßk i a newspaper ; i sanity, or ml inventioh;:. Xmokily ferothe ’ j umveree in genbriil, and forme in-partmniaii' there are murderers dnd i meirt at and‘4he«foi« about, Totten about, ind othei?irishWtfe i • dealt with.: Sifilivan,; of Nblsbfi i SpPF Iphg mitou|shiag; in Sflfetjttoside of Melbourne- Gaol, ■ thbngbt ItWre/he i ■ ‘ —like-Steme ? s-«tarling—-waited to-get-but. He was merely “ awaitmgkh dpportubiMf’jEo ! be conveyed ta New ZeaUnd, : lmths hfibSd : lain how a, long time ih tt&t opportunity seemed mbly Mphed fora Aniccw carpus got i<v; andK*teined hxs release on a technuud pßtoit. fHe went to Wedderbnrn, where bis wife ifiued and where he had eoihe mppeiiv; wife/ taking forgrknted 1 imppwse UxuAie was certaimy hanged pr, 3 in some sense * * civilly ” dead, had married-eomebody else, and when Snllivan piesentefl himself '*‘ sChmbody else”and sbe did instantly 4( gbtto> and bar the door. ” Aftpt sundry trins in ah erratic manner to 'thwW' tion off lus scent the fox ran^th 1 i again-' ’Appearing at : ejected a tenant freto»% cottage on his S ground and installed himself. Butpublio I bbinion "was; too itroh& lor 1 Kiito httle bbys representedit t6 hMvSy forciMy by showers: Of hijg. ! so that the hardened viyain had to fortify his cottage and 'barricade hinmpff : against : threatened assaults of a morew; peipptod ; nature; as well .as against the Driting. i'i should suspeot thbt by tiiis tiine found out that even Melbourne GAfillaiwi* preferable wßHwiom for a majj Hh. his jeincomstafices/ißPtbere.' ai leist froto attacks, visa vrelllrod, Immieff oomparatiyely pense to himself, '.ctvVX'X.^q: As for the_ members of Parliament, two" to them are at ATWey were always amusing men, and just now they are more-lb than bvbr;•-* f shpuld ’illSS&mk' Goppiii toSght toake a'creat 1 lustfiotvby/bfiiragibg Mr'Lbiigfiidrb’and^^' nights —dnrmgtbe stone-wallers. Ni^fctwMr-B^y behaviour of this premoue trio in ! the Souse - one '''t ’ 7 -

from whom, the sacodd-named,.character was sketched, wehave only to identify the first ; and third. ( It is not .a diffionl,t task. The broad shoulders; ''thxok- J set frame, and. rigorous , table : thumping of Mr .Monro r leavdnodbubt ad to his Doing “thestrdngeat,” and the reat w .self-ißvident. “Mob” is not ; in the pre&eht proceedings. • Messrs Long- : mote-and Monro are the principal characters on the'stage. > They are directors of a coal company, and the “pit” isdimewhere in New Sooth Wales. (How happy a stroke : of frimldsby’s‘iraß .“the National School belqw”—sp fit'iromits subterranean character hud igOeooS associations to shadow forth '“tKFfrtte ihtentadd meaning of these presents I”) This coal company has been mis- ; managed, and the quarrel is, whose fault is it? *.*lt’s yours,” says Gob j “ A‘o it’s yours,” replies Chittaboo ; then Cob becomes agitated and thumps the table after his maimer—“leaping upon the altar he has ■- made,” like a priest: of Baal, and, also like them, he fills the .;air with frantic screechings, which, when put together, form the sentence, “ It’s a lie.”-And then of course; ’-’Ghittabob follows suit, and there is a universe shindy. All this occurred at a meeting • of shareholders, and is duly reported in the public papers. But the * Age’keeps a discreet is but a storm in a tea-pot. But it well illustrates the sort of men who yell * * protection, ” treat our father# £ land as an alien and hostile country, and advocate “mob” rule—in fact, though they dare not do it in name. People who cthnot manage their own business affairs, who trick and ,Intrigue with subordinated behind the backs of their colleagues, and who are so unbridled in temper as well as so coarse in nature that they cannot speak eveh in business meeting without violating the rules of decency are the chosen idols of ; the masses. But do not think that we are ! “.sinners above all the Galileans ” : in all J counties it is the scum that floats on the i tpp bf the, political broth. Its end in all < pasps is to be skimmed off and thrown away, 1 that the rich and valuable, portion may be ] Itftpure.. I daresay you in New Zealand i —perhaps even in Dunedin—have Cob, Mob, 1 and Chittabob of your own. ( * Slowly the Stevenson case goes on. The •i reason is that, the proceedings are now going ] ph'in' a righteous way,. So long as the department was violating all right t and Constitutional law nothing could exceed e 'its jubilant activity; now that all its detes- 1 table proceedings have failed, and it is being 1 compelled to prove the accused guilty be- c 'forepndishing him nothing can exceed its j sloth. The first real step is to be taken to- i 'day by brmgihg the parties before a real 1 ti Justice. . , I " Since bis‘ resignation Mr Brough Smyth t has been,the subject of several paragraphs, t and allot them turn out to be if not abso- j lutely unfounded, at any rate much exagge- c "ratea;::aß(i*;distorted" ' Can' it be that they were put fonvard as “feelers” to see s public opinion would oppose his re-, i instateinent? JS.g ;i it was hinted that his ( re-occupation of ms old room at the Mines ; e Department was for business purposes,; a and then came a rumor that the N.S.W. | i Government had offered him an appointment; c Similarin character to his late post here but I with a higher salary . Both have been con- a dfcradicted. The long-talked of and much-: t needed absorption of the Mining Depart- -c ment in the Ldnds and Law Offices is being; a cpqsidered by the Cabinet, and will probably c be accomplished next year. Let us hope with a thp disappearance of the costly imposture a I {fertile source of corruption in political life t - may likewise vanish. j We are just now enjoying the most deli- s ciouS weather. Cool bracing air, sharp even- t ings aqd mornings, and bright sunshine i during' the day, with either a calm or a c gentle breeze in the atmosphere, are all that u even a Sybarite could wish for. Yet colds t and scarlet fever are not only prevalent but 1 seem.to be increasing. We need some Tyndall to come with bis lamp—truly more wonderful than Aladdin’s—to tell us what is the matter and how to mend it.