to wrapper and advertisements. It is excellently
printed, and would look as well as its London
namesake, if the drawings were as good and as
well engraved.

The resemblance ends with the appeal to the
eye. A brief perusal of the contents assures
you of the fact that you are in the midst of
Kangaroo politics, Kangaroo ideas, and Kangaroo
society. Half the satire is hopelessly
incomprehensible; but it seems calculated to give
considerable annoyance in a good-natured way,
which is of course the great object in view.
That portion which we can understand includes
a great deal of good and fair hitting, and is
vivacious, to say the least of it. The topics
treated are almost entirely local, being mainly
confined to Melbourne; extending occasionally
to other parts of Victoria; but treating Adelaide
and Sydney for the most part with silent
contempt. Those places may have their Punches
for all we know; but if so, those periodicals are
unknown to fame; and it was certainly reserved
for Melbourne—the youngest and most flourishing
of the Australian colonies—to lead the way
in this luxury of civilisation.

And Melbourne surely contains elements of
comedy peculiar to itself. Other colonies have
generally progressed by degrees, and as they have
grown prosperous, have grown older and more
sedate: They have worked their way, in fact,
and learned the discretion which comes from
long and perhaps difficult experience. But
Melbourne came suddenly into its wealth, before it
knew what to do with it, and has ever since been
conducting itself very much like a sailor on
shore. It became prosperous before it had time
to get prudent; it became populous while still
in its hot youth. There are of course many
persons in Melbourne who occupy their natural
positions, such as they would occupy in any part
of the world—the members of the professions,
for instance, and others, who have the voice which
they have a right to exercise in the administration
of public affairs. But, on the other hand,
there are crowds of diggers and successful
adventurers of all kinds, who form a little aristocracy
of their own, and who have bullied or bought
their way into prominent positions. Until a few
months ago, every man had a vote, and any man
who could get votes enough might enter parliament.
The consequence was, the legislature became
swamped with ruffianism, and government
was rendered impossible. In order to put a check
upon the popular exuberance, the present parliament
has just passed a law, compelling nothing
less than a property qualification on the part of
the candidate, and an education test on the part
of the voter. The property qualification merely
means the deposit of a small sum of money,
sufficient to act as a check on the imagination of the
casual costermonger, or the promiscuous loafer;
the educational test simply provides that the
voter shall be able to write his name. There are
some other provisions, such as the enforcement
of certain residence in a place before voting;
and the change altogether is expected to be of a
very salutary character. The "educational test"
alone, it is said, will disfranchise thousands of
persons who will not take the trouble to qualify
for the register. At present many of the
conditions of society are sufficiently startling to a
stranger. The owners of many of the handsomest
houses and equipages in Melbourne are men
belonging to the lowest class, who have made
their fortunes at the diggings: while scions of
great families in England, and men who have
taken honours at universities, are found driving
cabs, serving in the police, or following the
profession of tavern waiters. A recent writer
on Melbourne tells us that the family with
whom she was staying had a gardener who bore
one of the most illustrious names in this country,
who, from the "superiority" of his manners
and appearance, evidently had a right to it, and
who sent in his little bill in a style of official
elegance worthy of a first lord of the treasury!

The whole system, in fact—political, commercial,
and social—is made up of such strange
elements as to afford a favourable field for a
satirical journal; and the Melbourne Punch
makes the most of the opportunity. A few
illustrations will best establish the fact; we will
begin with politics. The first that attract our
attention are some mild hits in the form of
"Answers to Correspondents". The first
probably refers to some newly arrived "swell" who
ventured to complain of not being received with
proper attention:

"R. B.—Titular dignity is not sufficiently
regarded out here; and the inferior order of Irish
may be considered vulgar. We cannot
understand why the governor, the two Houses of
Parliament, the judges, the bishops, the sheriff, the
Collingwood volunteer band, the bar, and the
rest of the community, were not on the pier to
receive you upon the occasion to which you
refer."

When a wit of the period was taken to see the
first reformed House of Commons, his only
remark was that he had never seen such a collection
of shocking bad hats in the whole course of
his life. The Melbourne legislature seem to be
equally unadorned, to judge from the following:

"0. T.—The members of the Legislative
Council are not all well attired men; but it
would be better for you to leave your next
message in full dress. Even general postmen
are not ashamed to do it!"

The following appears to allude to no less a
person than the premier:

"J. O'S.—The doctor may forgive you; but
we cannot. If your colleagues will not let you
speak out in the cabinet, that is no reason why
you should be riotous in the house. Resign."

The kind of conduct imputed to the premier
seems to be not unknown among his subordinates.
Since the date of this little hint, there
has been a fracas in the refreshment-room of the
house, which has caused the retirement of an