baskets, &c. The average, I am told, has been 16 dollars per day for each man engaged, and the deeper the soil is dug the richer it becomes. One man obtained over 30 dollars in one washingsay 15 minutes. I was told by an old miner that not more than onehalf of the gold is secured in the present rude careless way of working. With a proper machine and the use of quicksilver, double the amount could be taken from the same soil. The largest amount taken by one person in one day was 200 dollars. The pieces are of an extraordinary size, the largest weighing half an ounce. The mountains have been explored on every side, and gold found in every creek. It is the opinion of all, that 30,000 or 40,000 persons could be profitably employed on the ground now explored. Nor is gold the only mineral discovered here. Platina has been found in one place in some considerable quantity; and very extensive mines of silver ore have recently been discovered within five miles of the saw-mill, and are said to be very rich. Iron is also abundant, and will pay about 85 per cent." As the wonders of the "gold diggings" became known, the most ungovernable excitement seized the minds of mankind, and the rush thither from all parts of the world was unparalleled. The whole coasts of South America, the colonists of Australia and New Zealand, the Spaniards from Luconia, Malays and Chinese precipitated themselves on to the desired spot. In England ships were fitted out for emigrants, and by joint-stock speculators by scores, companies were formed, many tradesmen sold their goods and embarked as adventurers for the new El Dorado. In the United States the insanity was more irrepressible. Strange to say, the people of these States are further from their own province than almost any other of the emigrating nations. The nearest route from New York is down to the Isthmus (30 days), across to Chagres, and thence to San Francisco, (3700 miles), but this is at the best a journey of some months; although there is no difficulty in getting to the Isthmus, there are no conveyances beyond, and there the adventurer is stopped in mid course in a deadly region. The next course is round Cape Horn (17,000 miles); this is a voyage of seven months. The other course is across the deserts; but this route of 2000 miles from the frontier point can be performed only by stages of 15 miles a day, and is, in fact, not practicable for parties of more than ten or a dozen, so that an adventurer starting from London would get to California in less time and for less money than one from New York. Nevertheless, ships in hundreds were shortly to be seen flying down the coast of South America on the double voyage; and it is computed that the immediate emigration to the auriferous province will not fall short of 50,000 persons. Thus Divine Providence turns the avarice of mankind to the most beneficent purposes, and peoples desert places, and brings strange lands under the blessings of civilization. The MINISTRY, as it stood at the Opening of the Session of Parliament, November 18th, 1847. IN THE CABINET. First Lord of the Admiralty Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Woods and Forests Commander-in-Chief. Right Hon. Lord John Russell. Right Hon. Earl of Auckland. Right Hon. Sir John Cam Hobhouse. Right Hon. H. Labouchere *. Right Hon. T. B. Macaulay. Most Hon. Marquis of Clanricarde. {Right Hon. Viscount Morpeth (Earl of Carlisle). NOT IN THE CABINET. Master-General of the Ordnance Vice-President of the Board of Trade Secretary at War Chief Secretary for Ireland. Attorney-General Solicitor-General HOUSEHOLD APPOINTMENTS. Changes during the Year.-Earl Granville, Paymaster of the Forces, in the room of the Right Hon. T. B. Macaulay, resigned, and Vice-President of the Board of Trade, in the room of the Right Hon. Thos. M. Gibson, resigned. Sir J. Romily, Kt., Solicitor-General, in the room of Sir David Dundas, Kt., resigned. Right Hon. W. G. Hayter, Judge-Advocate General, in the room of Right Hon. Charles Buller, appointed First Commissioner for Administration of the Poor Laws (since deceased). IRELAND.-Right Hon. James Henry Monahan, Attorney-General, in the room of Right Hon. Richard Moore, now a Justice of the Queen's Bench. John Hatchell, Esq., Solicitor-General, in the room of James Henry Monahan, Esq., now AttorneyGeneral. Bedfordshire. Bucks. SHERIFFS FOR THE YEAR 1848. Thomas Abbott Green, of Pavenham, esq. John Hopkins, of Tidmarsh, esq. William Lowndes, of the Bury, in Chesham, esq. John Moyer Heathcote, of Connington Castle, esq. Henry Brooke of the Grange, esq. Sir Robert Burdett, of Foremark, bart. John Gooden, of Over Compton, esq. Sir William Eden, of Windlestone Hall, bart. Beale Blackwell Colvin, of Mangham's Hall, Waltham Holy Cross, esq. William Capel, of the Grove, Painswick, esq. Robert Maulkin Lingwood, of Lystone House, esq. William Parker, of Ware Park, esq. John Ashley Warre, of West Cliffe, St. Lawrence, Thanet, esq. Henry Freeman Coleman, of Evington Hall, esq. Richard Ellison, of Sudbrooke Holme, esq. Edward Harris Phillips, of Trosnant Cottage, esq. Wyrley Birch, of Wretham, esq. Leicestershire Lincolnshire . Monmouthshire Northamptonshire Northumberland. Rutlandshire. . Shropshire The Hon. Henry Hely Hutchinson, of Lois Weedon. ·{ Robert Holden, of Nuttall Temple, esq. Matthew Piers Watt Boulton, of Great Tew, esq. The Hon. Charles George Noel, commonly called Lord William Henry Francis Plowden, of Plowden, esq. Southampton, County of John Wood, of Theddon Grange, Alton, esq. Suffolk Chas Andrew Lord Huntingfield, of Haveningham Hall. Sir Sotherton Branthwayt Peckham Micklethwait, of Thomas Dilke, of Maxtoke Castle, esq. Earl of Thanet, Hereditary. J. H. C. Wyndham, of the College, Salisbury, esq. WALES. Sir Harry Dent Goring, of Trysglwyn, bart. Sir William Henry Clerke, of Mertyn, bart. Thomas William Booker, of Velindra, esq. Glamorganshire. Montgomeryshire Merionethshire Pembrokeshire Radnorshire . Hugh Jones, of Gwernddelwa, esq. Elected by the LIVERY of London. London and Middlesex.Jacob E. Goodhart, esq. IRELAND. Charles M'Garrell, of Magheramourne House, Larne, esq. Samuel Elliot, of Racrogue, Carlow, esq. James Cowan, of Barn Cottage, Carrickfergus, esq. Richard Fox, of White Park, Killeshandra, esq. Henry Stewart Burton, of Carrigaholt Castle, Kilkee, esq. Benjamin Geale Humfrey, of Cavanacor, Lifford, esq. James Mathews, of Mount Hanover, Drogheda, esq. Charles Barry Baldwin, of Parliament Street, London, esq. Francis Goold, of Dromada, Limerick, esq. Henry Maunsell, of Limerick, esq. John Stevenson, of Fortwilliam, Tobbermore, esq. James Kirkwood, of Hughestown, Carrick-on-Shannon, esq. BIRTHS. 1848. JANUARY. BIRTHS. 5. At Pau, Basses Pyrénées, the Lady Kilmaine, of a daughter. In St. Michael's Grove, Brompton, the lady of Alfred Sidney Wigan, esq., a son. 6. At Southampton, the lady of Lieut.Colonel Malet, a daughter. At Lamphey Park, Pembroke, the lady of Lewis Mathias, esq., a daughter. 7. In Pelham-place, Brompton, the lady of T. Irwin, esq., a son. At Earlham Lodge, Norwich, Mrs. John Gurney, a son. 8. In Eccleston-square, the lady of Capt. H. G. Hamilton, R. N., a daughter. The lady of William Longman, esq., of Hyde Park-square, a daughter. 9. At Hanover, the Princess Royal, a daughter. At Stanford Court, Worcestershire, the Lady Winnington, a son and heir. At Dane End, Herts, the lady of H. E. Surtees, esq., a daughter. At Bath, the lady of George H. Skelton, esq., a daughter. 10. In Russell-square, the lady of James Russell, esq., Q. C., a daughter. 12. At Denston Hall, Suffolk, the Lady Keane, a daughter. 14. At Chichester, the lady of Capt. Johnson, Coldstream Guards, a daughter. 16. At Dittisham, the Lady Henry Kerr, a daughter. 17. The lady of F. Fowell Buxton, esq., a daughter. At Courtland House, West Clifton, the lady of F. Elton, esq., a son. 18. At Loxwood House, Sussex, the lady of John King, esq., a daughter. 19. At Torquay, the Hon. Mrs. T. C. Skeffington, a son. 20. In Bryanston-square, the lady of Edward Dawson esq., of Whatton Hall, Leicestershire, a son. 21. In Eaton-square, the Viscountess Adare, a daughter. At Kilbrittain Castle, co. Cork, the lady of Capt. Alcock Stowell, a daughter. 22. At Moffat House, the Hon. Mrs. Hope Johnstone, a son. 23. In Berkeley-square, the Lady Elizabeth Lawley, a daughter. At Whitehall, Devon, the lady of Stanley Lowe, esq., a son. 8. At Highden, Sussex, the lady of Sir Harry Dent Goring, bart., a daughter. At Lincoln, the lady of G. T. W. Sibthorp, esq., a son. At Witton Park, Lancashire, the lady of H. M. Feilden, esq., a son. 10. At Neville House, Brighton, the lady of Alexander Donovan, esq., of Framfield-place, Sussex, a daughter. |