of the matter.

In addition to its Mawworms, of which it was afflicted with an
appreciable number of specimens, the city of Melbourne would appear
to have had other drawbacks at this period. According to R. H. Horne,
local society was somewhat curiously constituted. "There is an
attempt," he says, "at the nucleus of a 'court circle'; and if the
Home Government think fit to make a few more Australian knights and
baronets there may be good hopes for the enlargement of the enchanted
hoop. The Melbourne 'Almack's' is to be complimented on the moral
courage with which its directors have resisted the claims for
admission of some of the wealthy unwashed and other unsuitables. Money
is not quite everything, even in Melbourne."

There were further strictures on the morals of Victoria, as compared
with those of New South Wales:

"The haunts of villainy in Sydney are not surpassed by those
in Melbourne; but, with regard to drunkenness and
prostitution, the latter place is far worse than Sydney. The
Theatre Royal contains within itself four separate
drinking-bars. The Cafe de Paris, in the same building, has
two bars. In the theatre itself there is a drinking public
every night, especially when the house is crowded. Between
every act it is the custom of the audience to rush out for a
nobbler of brandy. The only exceptions are the occupants of
the dress-circle, more especially when the Governor is
present."

By the way, the "List of Beverages" shows that, in proof of her
popularity, a "Lola Montez Appetiser," consisting of "Old Tom, ginger,
lemon and hot water," was offered to patrons.

Alcohol was not alone among the objects at which "Orion" Horne tilted.
He also disapproved of cricket. "The mania," he says, "for bats and
balls in the boiling sun during last summer exceeded all rational
excitement. The newspapers caught the epidemic, and, while scarcely
noticing other far more useful games, they devoted columns upon
columns to minute accounts of the matches of a hundred different
clubs. The very walls of Melbourne became infected. On the return of
the Victorians from Sydney, a reporter for the _Herald_ designated
them 'the laurelled warriors.' If there is no great harm in this, the
thing has been carried too far."

It is just as well, perhaps, for Horne's peace of mind that the
present day value attached to "Ashes" had not arisen, and that an
Australian XI did not vis