blackwood, mounted with gold, and upon it are two gold shields bearing the monograms of the Mayoress and the contractor, very prettily worked in enamel of different colours.
"The Mayor (Mr. J. C. Stewart) in acknowledging the gift on behalf of the Mayoress, said,—'Mr. Munro, I thank you very sincerely for the high compliment you have paid to Mrs. Stewatt and to me as the Mayor of Melbourne in inviting her to perform the interesting and pleasant ceremonial duty of laying the foundation-stone of the new Prince's Bridge; for your expressions of personal respect and good wishes as to her birthday, with which your invitation is accompanied, and for the handsome present you have made to her, which will be treasured as an heir-loom by us. It is gratifying to know that, apart from the personal considerations which have influenced you, your selection meets with the concurrence and approval of the Government and of the Municipal Bodies interested in the work; and I need scarcely add that in the circumstances it affords the Mayoress the greatest pleasure to comply with your request. I may be pardoned for expressing my individual opinion that the duty could scarcely have been more appropriately entrusted to anyone else. My wife was born in this city, almost in view of the present site, and here her life has been spent while the bridge, when completed, will be wholly within Melbourne. It seems to me, therefore, to be only in harmony with the policy, according to which the laws of this Colony are made and administered, and which aims at securing the pride of place to our native products, that the honours of the occasion should be conferred on the first native-born Mayoress of Melbourne. For the first ten years in the history of the Colony, viz., from 1835 to 1845, the provision for crossing the river was by punt only. The first bridge, which was of wood, and placed a little higher up the river than the site of this bridge, was like the previous punts, private property. It was commenced on the 9th June, 1845, and with its approaches cost the company for which it was built £400, but to the unfortunate contractor, Mr. Alexander Sutherland, £500. Tolls were charged for its use until the opening of the Prince's Bridge, which was built as a free bridge, at the public cost, by the Government of New South Wales, of which this colony, then the district of Port Philip, formed part. The estimate and vote for the work was £10,000, but the actual cost approached nearer to £15,000. The choice of its design was chiefly that of the Superintendent of the District, afterwards the first Governor of this colony, Charles Joseph Latrobe, Esq. It was a single arch of stone, 150ft. in span, less by 50ft. than the Grosvenor-bridge at Chester, of which it was nearly a fac simile, but still one of the largest stone arches then existing, and of very light, graceful, and artistic appearance. Its materials were local basalt and granite. The superintendent of the work was Mr. David Lennox, and the builder was Mr. Patrick Reed, who, like Mr. Sutherland, complained that the price received did not repay him his expenditure. The foundation-stone was laid, and the bridge, in honour of His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, was named 'Prince's Bridge,' by Mr. Latrobe, on 20th March, 1846, and was opened by that gentleman on 15th November, 1850, amidst the enthusiastic rejoicings of the inhabitants at the news received two days previously of the passing of the Act of the Imperial Parliament, authorizing the separation of the district from New South Wales, and its erection into the Colony of Victoria. The City of Melbourne, then included the present Cities of South Melbourne and Fitzroy, the Boroughs of Port Melbourne and Hotham, and parts of the City of Collingwood and of the Boroughs of St. Kilda and Brunswick.
"'I fervently hope that, under the Divine Providence, the work may, in your enterprising and able hands, be completed without loss of life or property, and I do not doubt but that the association of your name with this great national and local undertaking, will recall memories only as pleasing as that of the ceremony in which we are now engaged.' (Cheers.)
"The Mayor then placed in a cavity in the stone a bottle containing a parchment recording the event, copies of the local newspapers, and several coins of the realm. The Town Clerk read the inscription on the parchment, which was as follows:—
"'The foundation stone of this bridge over the Yarra Yarra River at Melbourne, built (instead of a former structure of stone, but of smaller dimensions), at the joint expense of the Government of Victoria, the Corporation of the City of Melbourne, and the Corporations of the Cities of South Melbourne and
