It is suggested that there is a complete excuse for
the conduct of the Duke of Edinburgh which has so irritated the Australians. The Prince was told on arrival at Melbourne that he was the guest of the colony, that money had been voted to pay his expenses, and may easily have imagined that in a country so gener- ous he was not expected to pay anybody, furrier and jeweller in- cluded. The explanation is, at all events, a possible one, though in such cases a few words of inquiry are advisable, and we record it with pleasure. The Anglo-Indians are not quite so loyal as the Australians—aristocracies never are loyal—and it will be well if Lord Mayo settles clearly what is and what is not to be paid on the account of his Royal visitor, so as to prevent the possibility of a misunderstanding, which in Calcutta would be much more serious than at Melbourne.
