instructed in gardening, and the girls in needlework. The mission was ultimately abandoned in consequence of the proximity of a white population, and the evil influences so communicated. The parents of the children also kept hanging about the place, and as the striplings grew up, occasionally induced them to desert the establishment, and relapse into the wild and barbarous condition, from which attempts had been made to reclaim them. Though the Rev. Mr. Ham left Melbourne for Sydney, in the course of time several of his sons, after attaining to man's estate, cast their future lot in Melbourne. Two of them now constitute the well-known firm of auctioneers, Messrs. C. J. and T. Ham, of Swanston Street. The "C. J." who first saw Melbourne with his father, when an interesting five-year-old urchin, is the same gentleman who so efficiently and popularly filled the important and honourable office of Mayor of Melbourne, in the year of Grace, A. D., 1882.
For two or three years no organised effort was made to secure ministerial assistance for the denomination. The Rev. W . P. Scott arrived in the province, and he, Mr. John Lush, and other lay preachers officiated in Collins Street Chapel, whilst Mr. Mouritz continued his services in Fitzroy.
On the 20th October, 1850, a second Baptist Church was opened in the Mechanics' Institute, by the Rev. Mr. Scott. It was based on what was known as the Communion Principle. There used to be two Sabbath services, viz, at 11 a.m. and 6 p.m.
Mr. Lush was a very acceptable preacher, and as such was attached to the Collins Street Chapel for several years, and by degrees Baptist Churches were founded at Prahran, Kew, Brighton, Geelong, and other places.
In 1881 there were 47 registered Baptist ministers in Victoria, with 77 houses of worship, capable of accommodating 13,400 persons, and usually attended by 7325—the approximate annual services numbering 8238. Mr. Hayter's Statistics for 1886-7 are as follow: —Registered ministers, 47; churches and other buildings used for public worship, 95 —affording accommodation for 13,850 worshippers; number of services, 8777 —the average attendance being 8672; total population, 23,314.
The Jews.
The first Jewish arrival in Port Phillip was Mr. Solomon, soon after the Batman-cum-Fawkner occupation. Coming from Launceston he settled down on the banks of the Saltwater River, where a crossing-place, "Solomon's Ford," was named after him. The first Jewish shopkeepers in Melbourne were Messrs. D. and S. Benjamin, Harris and Marks, Moses Lazarus, and Isaac Lazarus Lincoln. The last-named went, in a few years after, with his family, to California, and, in returning to the colony, all were drowned save the eldest son. The first baby Jew born in Victoria was a son of Mr. S. Benjamin, and the first Jewess, the daughter of Mr. Michael Cashmore. The first medical attendant upon the Jews was Dr. Arthur O'Mullane, a physician of much skill, and an affability that made him a special favourite; and Mr. Edward Hart was his first patient. The first Jewess deceased was Miss Davis, whose father kept the Royal Exchange Hotel, Collins Street, on the site of the present Bank of New South Wales; she was buried at a small Jewish Cemetery at Merri Creek—the only corpse interred there, for the place was soon abandoned in consequence of its being in the heart of a stone quarry. Until the arrival of the Rev. Mr. Rintel, the first Rabbi in 1849, no person was duly qualified to administer the ceremony of circumcision; and the first recipient of the rite was the son of Mr. A. H . Hart. During the ministry of Rabbi Rintel in the colony, he officiated individually at the rite of circumcision twelve hundred and fifty times. Likewise, there was no such thing as "Kosher Meat" eaten by the Port Phillip Jews until the Rev. Mr. Rintel appeared, for there was no person authorised to prepare it. They had Passover cake, but even this needful had to be imported from Sydney. Mr. Michael Cashmore was the first Jew elected to the Town Council of Melbourne. He presented the settlement with ten children in his time, and was a hale and hearty citizen to the time of his death.
For the following historical sketch I am indebted to an honored member of the Jewish Faith, and one of the most respected of our citizens:—
"Far away from the centres of Judaism in the Old World, and removed by leagues of land and sea, by change of climate, thought and habit, from the 'Home' the flame of Judaism yet burns brightly in
