each of whom had made sure of marrying
her. But the "nuggetter" cut them all
out. He displayed his bag of nuggets; and,
next morning, showed his bundle of ten-pound
Australian notes; and, after a brawl,
a fight, and a drunken row of a few
hours, he married the girl, and took her to
furnished lodgings, nominally at only five
guineas a week, but the people were sure of
getting double or treble that sum out of the
newly married pair. The lodgings were very
little better than those of the house they had
left; but in a better street, and they had a
room all to themselves—a priceless advantage
at this time, in Melbourne.

Here the digger began to lead a life surpassing
anything he had ever seen in a dream.
He was not a "new chum," but an old
colonist—a Vandemonian; and some said he
had had a free passage to Van Diemen,
on account of unlawfully digging for gold
in pockets at home. But perhaps this was
only said by unsuccessful diggers of both
countries. He had many old friends who
came to renew his acquaintance, and to make
merry on this festive occasion, and many
new chums were also admitted to the orgies.
In short, his object was to treat everybody
who came near him, and would drink;
and neither he, nor his wife, nor any of
their circle, were ever sober from the day
of their wedding. They ate, they drank, they
smoked, they shouted, they brawled—they
made riot half the night—they slept half the
morning; and about noon they drove about
the town in open carriages, for each of which
they paid two pounds per hour. First, there
was the carriage with the bride and bridegroom,
and a male and female friend—the
woman being dressed in the most expensive
satins and silks, and flying ribbons, and the
men in scarlet mining shirts, with short pipes
in their mouths. Two other carriages followed,
full of parasite friends and associates, several
of whom had been "engaged" for the occasion
to amuse the company during the drive,
and in the evening especially. They comprised
fiddlers, dancers, ventriloquists, and
sailors who could sing jolly songs; while the
clown from the circus, in his clown's dress, sat
in a fourth carriage, the back seat of which
he had entirely to himself, partly as a mark
of honour, and partly to give him room to
perform an occasional antic or gesticulation
as the procession rattled through the streets.

When the bride was sober enough to walk
pretty well, she would go out shopping; and
no silk nor satin that cost less than a guinea a
yard was good enough for "the likes of her."
As soon as she could get a new dress made
up, she sallied out to market, and bought fish
in red velvet, and went to the butcher's in
lavender satin, or pale China crape. All this
the writer has seen. How the lady dressed
in the evening he does not know.

At last, the money was all gone, having
lasted not quite a fortnight. The digger had
come down to Melbourne with a good deal,
but "somehow or another," he said, scratching
his head, " there was an end on 't. But
what matters?" He has now gone back to
the diggings, and his wife has no place to go
to. A common occurrence, all these mad
weddings, believe me.

CORPORATION DREAMS.

I HAD been dining at the Mansion
House. The dinner was gorgeous. For
four ecstatic hours, we ate and drank. I felt
all turtle and venison; and, when I put on
my hat, I pulled it off again as if it were a
dish-cover. Chance directed my uncertain
steps down into the kitchen of His Civic
Majesty. It was a large hall, crammed full
of riches, like the robbers' cave in Gil Blas;
only they were not cold, and stony, and
indigestible riches; but riches warm, melting,
and inviting, like the Lord Mayor's hospitality.
Abundance was rolled up like a drunken
man in every corner, and Plenty was
stretched at full length upon the floor, as if,
surfeited, it had fallen prostrate. As for
Want, there would have been no room for
her whereon to place her shoeless feet, had
she dared to present herself.

My heart was as full as a fresh-brewed
loving cup, and I sat down opposite to the
fire to enjoy its social companionship. Involuntarily
I drew back my chair; for strange
faces glowered at me with their red-hot
eyes. I raised the poker by way of Riot Act
to disperse the unruly mob; but the sight
of it only seemed to stir them into greater
rebellion. The faces put their glowing heads
together and scowled defiance as if they would
wish to wither me into a cinder.

My eyes soon grew accustomed to the
sight; and, one by one, the faces passed
before me, as in procession. Some looked
fierce and vindictive. Others cast up their
eyes calmly and piteously; wishing, before
they wasted away, to appeal against the
indignity that was consuming them. In the
hollow features of one face I thought I could
trace the expression of complaining poverty.
Looking more intently, I fancied I could read
the following story: "I am one of those who
have paid for some of the good things you
have been eating and drinking to-day. I
have paid, for years, a penny upon every ton
of coals that has come into the City of London;
and I feel the hardship the more, now, as
I do not live in the City of London, or even
near it, but thirty miles away from it. This
is too bad, and this it is that makes me
burn with indignation." Then, giving a long
hiss, the face turned black, and vanished.

Other faces advanced, and all of them had
a large black "1d." stamped upon their grimy
brows. Each face contained a petition against
the same wrong. I could spell it out as easily
as if it had been printed in a Blue Book.

Then, more faces defiled in front of the