The New-Zealander.

New Zealander, Volume 7, Issue 542, 25 June 1851, Page 2

The New-Zealander.

He just and fear not. Let all the ends thou aims't at, be thy Country's, Thy God's, and Truth's.

By the arrival of the 3Joa, we are placed in possession of English news to the 23rd of February, portions of which are of general and stirring interest. To name those of most public importance at once, —we have accounts of the meeting- of Parliament, and the piopositions brought forward by Government respecting the Papal Aggression, and the Financial Arrangements of the year, which were expected; and, we have moreover, accounts of the Resignation of Lord John Russell's Ministry, which certainly were not expected, —at all events fiom such a cause as a defeat upon a Franchise Vote, moved by no more influential a member than Mr. Locke King, —which, however, is the only reason that appears on the surface for this decisive step. Having thus briefly announced these leading events, we proceed to notice, more in detail, the principal features of the intelligence before us. On the 4th of February, the Queen opened the Session of Parliament in peison, and with the usual formalities. The following is a copy of

Her Majlsty's Speech. " My Lords and Gentlemen,— " It is with great satisfaction that X again meet my Parliament, and iesort to your advice and assistance in the consideration of measures which affect the welfare of our country. •• I continue to maintain the relations of peace and amity with Foreign Powers. It has been my endedvour to induce the Status of Germany to cairy into full effect the piovisions. of the tieaty with Denmark, which was concluded at Beihn in the month of July of last

year. I a:n much gratified in being able to inform you that the German Confederation and the Government of Denmark are now engaged in fulfilling the stipulations of that treaty, and theieby putting an end to hostilities which at one time appeared lull of danger to the peace of Europe. '• 1 trust the affahs of Germany may be arranged by mutual agieetnent in such a manner as to picserve the strength of the Confederation, and to maintain the freedom of its separate States " I hivp concluded with the King of Sardinia articles additional to the treaty of September, 1841, and I have dnectcd th.it those ai tides shall be laid before you. " The Government of Brazil has taken new, and I hope, efficient, measures for the suppressiou of the atrocious tiaffic in slaves. " Gkntlicmkn of thk House of Commons,— " I have directed the estimates of the year to be prepared and laid befoie you without delay. They hay been framed with a due regard to economy and to the necessities of the public service. "My Lords and Gentlemen, — " Notwithstanding the large reductions of taxation which have been effected in late years, the receipts of the revenue have been satisfactory. "The state of the commerce and manufactures of the United Kingdom has been such as to afford general employment to the labouring classes. " I have to lament, however, the difficulties which are still felt by that important body among my people who are owners and occupieis of land. " But it is my confident hope that the prosperous condition of other classes of my subjects will have a favourable effect in diminishing those difficulties, and promoting the interests of agriculture. " Jhe recent assumption of ceitain ecclesiastical titles conferred by a Foieign Power has excited strong feelings in this coutmy, and large bodies of my subjects have presented addresses to me, expressing attachment to the Throne, and piaying that such assumptions should he resisted. I have assuied them of my resosolution to maintain the rights of my Crown and the independence of the Nation, against all encioachment from wlmtever quarter it may proceed. I have at the same time expressed my earnest desiie and firm determination, under God's blessing, to maintain unimpaired the religious liberty which is so justly piized by the ! people of this country. •' It will be for you to consider the measure which will be laid befoie you on this subject. | *» The administration of justice in the several departments of Law and Equity will, no doubt, receive the serious attention of Parliament: and I feel confident that the measures which may be submitted to you with a view of impioving that administration will be discussed with that mature deliberation which important changes in the highest Courts of Judicature in the Kingdom imperatively demand. " A measure will be laid before you providing for the establishment of a system of registration of deeds and instiuments relating to the transfer of property. This measure is the result of inquiries whirh I have caused to be made into the practicability of adopting a system of registration calculated to give seouiity to titles to diminish the causes of litigation to which they have hitherto been liable, and to reduce the c ost of transfers. " To combine the progress of improvement with the stability of our institutions will, I am confident, be your constant care. We may esteem ourselves fortunate that we can pursue without disturbance the course of calm and peaceable amelioration ; and we have every cause to be thankful to Almighty God for the measure of tranquility and happiness which has been vouchsafed to us." Important as various parts of the Address undoubtedly were, in relation both to the Foreign and the Domestic affairs of the countty, it would seem that other topics of interest were, for the moment, almost lost sight of in the solicitude to learn the terms in which the Papal Aggression would be referred to. Without the House, intense excitement was displayed : " the weather being fine, many thousands assembled along the line of route to give Her Majesty a right loyal reception ; at certain places, the cry of ' No Popery,' became almost a roar." But within, the effect of the delivery of the paragraph appears to have been subdued by a feeling akin to disappointment. i The Times thus describes it, — When the paragraph relative to the Papal Aggression was commenced, there was a geneial and suppressed cry of " Hush !" ; and the most intense interest was evinced. We think that a slight sensation of disappointment was felt throughout the body of the House \shen this paragraph was read, and there were some who, drinking in every tone of her Majesty's voice at this instant, thought she was conscious of this disappointment and sympathised with it. The impression may have been the overwrought lancy of the moment but we own that when Her Majesty closed the paragraph with the words " It will be far you to consider the measure which will he laid before you ou this subject," we shared the belief that her Majesty would have been glad to have announced a more definite conclusion It was also noticeable that the Queen, raising her voice, uttered with her marked emphasis, her resolution " to maintain the right of my Crown and the independence of the nation against all encroachment from whatever quarter it may proceed." The rest of the speech fell from the royal lips almost unheeded. The Address in the House of Lords was moved by Lord Effingiiam, and seconded by ' Lord Ckemorne, in brief speeches, which were, as usual on such occasions, little more than an echo of the speech from the Throne. Lord Stanley and the Duke of Richmond followed, mingling demands for agricultural protection with denunciations of Papal Aggression.... The Marquis of Lansdowne agreed in the latter sentiments, but dissented from the former. Perhaps, the most observable speech was that of Lord Camoys, who declared that he was a Roman Catholic, but that he was also an Englishman, holding dear the rights and liberties of England. He pronounced " the policy of the late hierarchical introductions most erroneous, — founded on the most entire ignorance of the religious condition of the people of this country".. . .After a few remarks from Lord Roden, who thought the Royal Speech should have contained stronger expressions respecting the Protestant religion, the Address was unanimously agreed to. In the House of Commons, the Marquis of Kildaee moved the Address in " half a dozen sentences," and Mr. Peto seconded it Mr. Roebuck treated the Papal Aggiession with ridicule, and characterized the agitation respecting it as " a disgiaceful revival of the

[ ancient Puritanic bigotry of the country.". . . . Mr. C, Anstey, (who had just before given notice of a Bill for the entire repeal of the Penal acts applying to Roman Catholics,) yet blamed the Vatican for issuing the rescript in question. ....Lord John Russell vindicated his famous letter, the strongest terms in which, he said, referred to a party within his own church. He had been assured, however, by Roman Catholic piiests and laymen, that they did not approve of the conduct of the Pope ; and he believed that the Government measures would be satisfactory to the loyal members of that body. His lordship also expressed his continued confidence in the good effects of free trade, observing that no government, whatever were their convictions, could in the present state of public opinion, impose a five shilling duty on corn.. . After a long discussion, in which several other hon. gentlemen disburdened their consciences by giving vent to their opinions, without however proposing any amendment to the Address, the motion was agreed to. The anxiously awaited measure on the Papal question was speedily brought forward by Lord John Russerl. It is not a long Bill, but it abounds in technicalities, which would prove embarrassing, rather than explanatory to the geneial reader. Instead therefore of copying it (at least in our present number) we prefer to avail ourselves of the clear and sufficiently full summary in the Times '• At length the public has become acquainted with the Ministerial measure on the subject of the Papal briefIt is intitled a bill to prevent the asbumption of certain ecclesiastical titles in respect of places in the United Kingdom. It consists of four sections, and occupies about half one of our columns. The first section recites the 24th section of the Emancipation Act, by which it was enacted that persons other than those authorized by law assuming the title of any achbishopric or bishoplic in England or Ireland should forfeit one hundred pounds. It then recites that it may be doubted whether this extends to the assumption of a title from any place in England or Ireland not being the see of any bishop or archbishop recognised by law ; but the attempt to establish, under colour of authority from the See of Rome or otherwise, such pretended sees, is illegal and void, and the assumption of ecclesiastical titles! in respect thereof is inconsistent with the rights intended to be protected by tbe Emancipation Act ; and that it is expedient to pievent the assumption of such titles. It is then enacted, but not declared, that any person assuming such titles shall forfeit one hundred pounds for each offence, to be recovered by the Attorney-Gen-eral. The second section makes void all deeds executed under such piohibited titles. The thiid section enacts that where any property is given for the endowment of any aichbishopric, bishopric, or deanery, designated as of any place in the United Kingdom except those of the Established Church, or referrihg to the maintenance of any such prohibited sees, or vested in any person by a prohibited title, or in any chaplain or subordinate of such person, or in any person described in reference to such person, it shall without office found vest in Her Majesty, to be disposed of under the sign manual. The fourth section requiies all persons liable to penalties under the act to answer notwithstanding such liability. A debate, prolonged through the most part of three nights, took place on the preliminary motion for leave to bring in the Bill. We have not yet received a full report of the whole discussion, but we cannot now attempt to follow the speakers through the voluminous quantity that has reached us ; — especially remembering that all this profuse expenditure of oratory occurred at the very threshold of the. Bill's progress. Suffice it to say that leave was given to introduce the measure, by 1 a majority of 395 votes over 63. Still the tenor of the observations of not a few in the majority went to show that they wished its enactments modified, — some desiring lo see them made mote stringent, — some to see them relaxed. Out of doors also, the Bill did not seem to afford anything like general satisfaction. Its extension to Ireland (as proposed by Lord J. Russell) would doubtless prove a point of strong contention. The second reading was appointed for the 28th of February; but it is impossible to say how far the " Ministerial Crisis" which occurred in the interval might have interfered with this and other arrangements. The Chancellor of the Exchequer had brought forward his Budget, the substance of which may be thus briefly stated. He calculated that for the year ending April 5, 1852, he might expect a surplus of £1,892,000. He proposed to repeal the window -tax ; but at the same time to impose a tax on houses of the annual value of £20 and upwards, which he estimated would raise about £1,555,000, bringing the actual loss by the plan down to £700,000, and still leaving £1,189,000 of the surplus to be applied to other reductions. He accordingly proposed a reduction of the duty on foreign timber ; a repeal of that on foreign agricultural seeds ; a reduction and equalization of the duties on foreign and colonial coffee, as well as on chicory ; and a transfer to theStateof the charge forpauper lunatics. Moreover, adding to his remaining surplus another half-year's produce of lhe not yet extinguished 1 window-tax, Sir Charles Wood expected to have about £1,000,000 to devote towards the I liquidation of the National Debt. On the other hand, however, he deemed it indispensable to retain the Income Tax for three years longer, according to its present mode of assessment, (continuing the exemption of Ireland) ; and also to retain the stamp-duties in Ireland. The scheme on the whole was not likely to be popular, and the renewal of the Income Tax without modification, would especially excite ' opposition. Mr. D'lsraeli had led on the " country party" to an attack on the commercial policy of Government, which, although it did not

issue in an actual defeat of Ministers, yet arrayed so powerful a minoiity against them, as, we suspect, must have had no inconsiderable share in precipitating their resignation. Ihe Resolution which he proposed asserted the existence of severe distress amongst the owners and occupiers of land, and the duty of Ministers to intioduce without delay effectual measures of lelief. After two nights debate, the motion was negatived,— -but only by a majority of 14, the numbers being, For it, 267; Against, 28 1 . Such a narrow escape in so full a house must have been felt by Ministers as a heavy discouragement. The ostensible cause of their resignation, however, was a defeat by 1 00 votes over 52, on a motion by Mr. Locke King for extending the franchise to occupiers of tenements of the annual value of £10. The abstract of the debate which is before us would scarcely convey the impression that it so vitally involved the existence of the Administration. However, on the next night, (Friday, February 21st), Lord John Russell with sufficient significance intimated the fact in these words— " Sir, I have to request that the order of the day, (for Committee of Ways and Means on the Income Tax) shall be postponed to Monday. On Monday next I shall state the reaeons to the House why I have made this request." Our intelligence does not include that Monday -, but the Times came out with the distinct announcement of the resignation of Ministers. It was stated that the Queen had *' sent for" both Lord Stanley and Lord Clarendon, — statesmen, we need not say, of widely different views on some important questions.. . But it is plain that as yet we have not heard the whole of the case ; and we shall not be at all surprised if the next papers should report Lord John Russell's reinstatement in office ; and if this " crisis" should be found to have passed over as various other " Ministerial crises" have passed of late years. Amongst the incidental proceedings, we can notice only a few of the principal. Almost countless petitions had been presented against the Papal Aggression In reply to questions, the Chancellor of the Exchequer had stated that tenders for the establishment of steam communication with Australia had just been received, which he had had scarcely time to glance over, but which, so far as he could judge, " were not at all of a satisfactory character." He added that, although various other proposals had been made, the Singapore line was thought the most advantageous. .. .Lord John Russell had announced his intention to re-introduce a Bill for the abolition of the Irish Vice-Royalty. . . .Lord Minto had given an explicit contradiction to the report that during his residence at Rome he had concurred in, or even heard of the intention of establishing a Roman Catholic hierarchy in England Lord Palmerston had staled that Government had made efforts for the rescue of the Hungarian Refugees from the captivity in which they were held by the Turks, but had not been successful. The South Nottinghamshire election had issued in the return of Mr. Barrow, a retired attorney, by a majority of eleven over Lord Newark, son of Earl Manvers, the numbers being, Barrow, 1493; Newark, 1482.... The Falkirk District of Burghs had chosen Mr. BAißD^'a liberal Conservative," leaving Mr. Loch, the Whig candidate, in a minority of 55. Money was becoming rather dearer, and a rumour prevailed that the Bank of England Directors intended to advance the rate of discount at their meeting on the 20th of February. They did not do so however, and the market became more buoyant. Consols closed -for money and account at the same price, 96| to §, but they were down for money as low as 96^. Mr. Sloan n, the barrister, and his wife, had been tried on the charge of cruelty to their servant girl, which we mentioned in our last. The Court decided that, a<s the girl was sixteen or seventeen years old, the first two counts of the indictment, (which described her as of "tender age) could not be proved. The prisoners pleaded guilty on the other counts, and Mr. Justice Coleriogf, after addressing them in terms of seveie reprehension, sentenced them to be severally imprisoned for two years.

The intelligence from the New South Wales Gold Field continues substantially of the same character as that which had previously reached us, consisting chiefly of accounts of the numbers rushing to the scene of temptation, and the very varying fortunes which they experienced there. The Herald of the 4th inst. states that a gentleman just arrived in town estimated that on one preceding day he passed on the road nearly eighteen hundred persons, "of whom," it is added, "probably onetenth will be rewarded for theii toil, and ninetenths miserably disappointed." A few had undoubtedly been very successful. One lucky Scotchman, named HbNDKRsoN had hit upon the largest piece yet discovered ; it weighed upwards of forty-six ounces, and sold for £282 35. ; and some others had realized from £2 to £5 or £6 per day. But hundreds did not obtain as much as Avould pay for their provisions. As a Mr. Formes, a storekeeper at Bathurst, stated in a letter to his Mother, it was " a positive fact that where one person was lucky and found £20 or £30 in one lump, fifty persons were only earning 10s. per day,

and forty-nine scarcely earning their rations." There is no point on which the accounts concur move fully than on this entire uncertainty as to success. The Summerfield Creek at which the gold had almost been exclusively found was already thronged and nearly dug up. One writer says, "In the course of a week more there will not be a foot of ground un worked within the space I speak of," adding that if plenty of gold be not shortly discovered elsewhere in the district, " hundreds of miserable wretches will be sent back to Sydney starving." To the same effect is a dispatch from Mr. Hardy, (Commissioner of Crown Lands) mentioned by the Herald, in which it is stated that "it is impossible any more persons can find enployment at Sumraerhill Creek, and that those already there will be inclined to resist the intrusion of new-comers." The weather had also become exceedingly severe, and was causing much misery, many having gone without any kind of preparation against its rigour. No attempt had yet been made to collect the license fees, but the Commissioner had left Bathurst for the puipose. It was complained that thirty shillings a month was too high ; but surely, as the Herald observes, " if the miners cannot procure sufficient gold to afford to pay, for piotection and by-way of royalty, one shilling a day, the sooner they turn their attention to some other avocation the better." Crime in various forms was already appearing. One or two bold cases of horse- stealing had occurred, which were quite in the Californian style of dashing thievery. A report had prevailed that a Mr. Michael McCabk, a Bathurst publican, who was digging at Ophir, had been murdered by a fellow-digger \ but we are gratified to learn from the tree Press, that it was wholly without foundation. Who can tell however, how soon such rumours may unhappily be realized in such a scene as Ophir even now presents'? In the Goulbourn, Maitland, and other districts, anxious search for gold was carried forward, and rewards were offered to the first discoverer of it. Mr. Hargraves had been appointed by the Government a " Prospector," and was to search in some of the districts. The Government had ordered a payment of £500 to that gentleman, as a reward for the information given by him respecting the Bathurst gold-field. He had also been appointed a Commissioner of Crown Lands. The Police Courts in Sydney had experienced no small increase of business from the numerous cases of servants striving to escape from their employers, and sailors from their ships, that they might be " off to the diggings." The demands for flour had been less active. Mr. F. L. S. Merewether had been appointed Postmaster-General, with a salary augmented from £600 to £800 per annum. He was also to have a seat both in the Legislative and Executive Council In the Central Criminal Court, on the 6th instant, Messrs. Kjejip and Fairfax were found guilty of inserting in the Herald, a libel on Mr. Thurlow, the Mayor of Sydney. Sentence was to be delivered next day.... Mr. George Hill's piosecution of Mr. Parkes, for an alleged libel in the Empire, had been given up on an explanation by the defendant.

Necessarily reserving for a less crowded number, much of the Foreign, and Colonial, as well as Home intelligence now in our hands, we confine ourselves to noting two or thiee particulars. France was again in a very agitated state. The Assembly had rejected the President's Dotation Bill — General CHANGARNir-u^who had supported the Dotation of last year, being one of its most earnest opponents. It had been proposed to make up the deficiency by an extra legislative contribution, but Louis Napoleon had declined this. The Legitimists were believed to have completed a coalition with the Mountain on the condition of an uncompromising resistance to every attempt to prolong the President's power. The latest accounts from Paris, (Feb. 2l) states — " We are hastening rather more rapidly than was expected towards the 'solution.' " News from the Cape to the middle of April have been received at Sydney. The Kafir war continued — success for the most part attending the British troops, but not so decisively as to afford much prospect of a speedy termination of the disturbances. The troops had suffered much from forced marches during intense heat, and with an insufficient supply of water. A serious defection had taken place in the Cape Mounted Rifles, — a regiment, the loyalty of which had never before been tainted. We have so frequently been disappointed by seemingly authenticated statements of the safety of Sir John Franklin that we can no longer receive, except with a depressing intermingling of fear, even the most sanguine re ports on the subject, Still, the following statement, which we find in the Adelaide Observer of the 10th of May, is at least Avorth consideration :— « The Captain of the Maid of Erin which arrived here yesterday from liobarb Town, lepoits on the authority of Mr. Evans, a respectable officer of the Customs there, that a vessel had airived immediately previous to the ,^Maid of Erin's sailing on the 25th April, biingingthe following intelligence, which was fully believed to be correct : The arrival (not named) was from California, and on her passage had spoken a vessel fiom Baliia bound to

California, which had touched at Valpaiaiso. At tint port she learned that Sir John Fianklin had not only effected the North-West Passage, but had _ actually touched there in one of his ships before rounding Cape Horn on his return to England. 'I he ne.st arrival fiom Britain mny therefore bung us a full confirmation of the joyful tidings

The Lecture on " Gold and Gold Finders, n delivered by Augustus B. Aijraiiaji, Esq., i the Hall of the Mechanics' Institute on Friday evening, having excited much interest, both from the attractiveness of its subject-matter, and the agreeable manner in which the Lecturer's views were conveyed, we are happy to avail ourselves of the learned gentleman's kind permission to insert the substance of it in our columns.

I feel strangely like — in fact, despite my subject, I am " A gentleman in difficulties." It is a serious thing to have raised great expecta< tions. " Mr. A. is going to give a Lecture on Gold," says one ! " Has he ever been in California V asks another. " Be sure, he's last from Bathurst," ciies a bystander ; whilst a fourth, with knowing nods and shrugs, has discovered " There's something very Caucasian about his name, if not his look, and depend on't the gentleman knows all about it." All agree to go and hear him, and accordingly there has been, judging from appeaiances, a pretty strong movement on this evening's digging. But, alas ! " All that glitters is not gold," and at the outset I have strong fears that many will be doomed to disappointment. The truth may as well be told at the fiistas last, and so let me at once declare that, of all practical precise infotmation as to knowledge of the wonderful things of San Francisco and Bathurst, I am profoundly ignorant ; and although by profession one of those, who, if the play be true, " can take provoking gold on either hand, and put it up," with shame I must confess, if shame there be, that in that respect at least I have utterly failed. A more distinct explanation of my difficulty is, liowl ever, due to you, though you yourselves are somewhat to blame. Having been honoured by your election as a member of this Institute, I was anxious to pay my footing in proper coin. A Lecture, I was told, was indispensable—nothing but paper being current here. Most perversely, alas! for the weakness of our common natuie, the all-absorbing subject of the day had fairly possessed me, and in an evil hour I entered upon labours which have since proved, I fear, little likely to be profitable either to you or to myself. Believe me, I have not been idle, as far as hunting, and searching, and digging into every volume upon which, in this thiuly-booked country, I could lay my hands. True I have secured many fine specimens, but the unconscionable demands upon one's time, which, go where we will we cannot spare, for discharging and procuring those wherewithals indispensable for existence, have piohibited altogether any skilled workmanship or pohah. I present my labours before you, then, in their rough, virgin state, -without stamp or mark to give thpm currency. I cannot help myself, so put your own value upon them, and I only beg you will not be too haid with me. Let us at once, then, to our subject, " Yellow, glittering, precious Gold." But how am Ito to treat it?— In what shape to mould it ? Some principle, some test, some standaid is wanting by which we may judge what is Gold. Whether it be precious, and what fine Gold ! Shall we deal with it alchymically, chemically, physically, lexicographically, geologically, geographically, historically, politically, commercially, poetically, morally, and even religiously,— yes religiously ! and here, Gentlemen, I am happy to say, I was not obliged to pause to bethink myself whether the rules of your Institute would permit a reference to the woid of that wisdom which •< cannot be gotten for gold, neither shall silver be weighed for the price thereof," which "cannot U valued with the gold of Opbir, with the precious onyx, or the sapphire. The gold and the crystal cannot equal it, and the exchange of it shall not be for jewels of fine gold." I must be permitted to say that, having taken part, some few years ago, in the establishmentof sin Institution in one of our English cities, upon principles similar to your own, despite the sneers and ridicule with which it was met by some, it is to me matter of no small satisfaction that you do not, as is the case with the generality of Mechanics' Institutes, mention religion in your rules, simply to negative all reference to it amongst you. I congratulate you on not having banished a religious tone from your lectures and discussions, when they seem to invite it; that you do not compel your members to bang up their religion with their cloaks, at the door, befoie ciossing yonr threshhold, but that you have the manliness honestly to avow that you would have all things done to the glory of God. Literature and science will be but superficially viewpd, if cur investigation and lllubtiations be not aided with the real light and knowledge afforded by the pages of the Bible; and whilst no lecture need be a sermon, every subject can and ought to be discussed m a Christian bpiiit. The question recuis, " What is Gold?" According to Johnson, very superlative, i. c. " the heaviest, the most dense, the most simple, the most ductile, and most fixed of all bodies ;" and if we consulted Mr. Gundrv, or any modern chemist, he would, no douM, add the the most malleable, the most ductile, the best conductor of heat, and perhaps the mobt beautiful of metals ; and perhaps tell us, in learned language, its chemical symbol— • An (aurum)— its equivalent, or the proportion in which it combines with other elementary subotances, 99.41, its specific gravity, 19.26, or next to platinum the hta viest of metals. All this is very interesting in its proper place, especially the beauty and glitter, to such ladies, if any there be, who have a taste for trinkets and jewellery, but it is beside oar present purpose, for neither the Dictionary nor Chemistry say a word about its value. If we turn to the poet or moralist, we shall fare no better. We shall find much about gold, as a commodity, including all riches, gain, and objects of desire ; but in the same breath as much of dispraise as commendation. The following precious bit, fiom dear old Bruton, will beautifully and sufficiently illustrate this, the tyrranous and intoxicating influences which it exercises : — " Gold, of all other, is a most delirious object ; a sweet light a goodly lustre it hath ; and we had rat he i see it than the bun Sweet and pleasant in getting, m keeping, it seasons all our labours ; intolerable pains we >ai»e for it, base employments, endure li'ttei flounts and taunts, long jouine\s, heavy burdens; all are made light and easie by this hope of e;ain. The sight of gold n fresbeth our spirits and ravisbetli our heaits, as that Babylonian raiment and golden wedge did Achan iv the camp ; the very sight and hearing sets on fire his houl with desire ot it. It will msike a man lun to the Antipodes, or t.u-ry at home and turn parasite, lye, flatter, pios'itute himself, swear and bear false witness ; he will venture his body, kill a king, inuithei his father, and usU his own soul to come at it. " All our labours, studies, endeavours, vows, prayers and wishes, are to get it, how to compass it. I Ins is the great goddess we adore and wot ship ; this is the sole object of our desire, if we have it, as we think, we are made for ever thrice happy, princes, lords, &c. If we lose it, we are dull, heavy, dejected, discontent,

niiserab'c, desperate and mad, Our e&tate ebbs and flows with on i commodity ; and as we aic endowed or enriched, so fire we beloved and esteemed : it lasts no longer than our wealth ; when that is gone, and the object removed, fart-well friendship as long as bounty, good cheer, and rewards, were to be hoped, fiiencte enough ; they were tied to thee by theteelli, and would follow tliec as crows do a carcass; but, when thy goods are gone and spent, the lamp of their love is out ; and thoti shalt be conteimicd, scorned, bated, inpued. " Lucians Timon, when he lived in piospeiity, was the sole spectacle of Qnece, only admired; who but I'inion ? Every body lo\ed, honouied, fippl mdc I him ; each man offered him his service, and sought to be kiu to him • but when bis cold was spent, his fair possessions gone, farewell. Timon ; none so ugly, none so deformed, so odious an object as Timon ; no man so lidiculous on a sudden they gave him a penny to buy a i ope ; no man would know him. 'Tit, the general humour of the woild. " A golden apple sets altogether by the ears, as if a inanow-bonc or hony-comb weie flung amongst bears. Jf onr pleasures be into ruptod we can toleiate it ; our bodies hurt, we can put it up and be reeon« cilcd ; but touch our commodities, wj are most impatient; fair becomes foul, the traces are tinned to Harpyes, friendly salutations to bitter imprecations, mutual feastmgs to plotting villauies, minings and couutenniningb ; good words to satyiesa'id invectives ; we revile c contia; nought buf his imperfections are in our eyes ; he is a base knave, a moustcr, a caterpillar, a viper, an hogrubbcr, &c. "Ambition tyranizeth over our sools, and in defect crucifies as much ; as if a man by negligence, ill husbandry, improvidence, piodigality. waste and consume his gooih and fortunes, beggary follows, and melancholy: he becomes <m abject, odiou», and worse than an liiiidel, in notpioviding for his family." We cannot accept the world's judgment. It also is nothing to our purpose. Will the Holy Writings assist us — they tepra with allusions to gold 1 Most true it is that in the Scriptures many excellent epithets are applied to it, noting its diversity as well as compaiative excellency; but we believe we may affirm that Scripture, though it may speak of the compara'ivp goodness of gold, and as being' much desired by men, affirms nothing as to its intrinsic value. We mean that it does not directly designategold as " precious" in the same sense, i.e., to man, or in, God's right in reference to man, as ir does " the precious fruits of the earth." And as «c read in the blessing of Joseph, " the precious things of heaven, the precious fruits brought forth by the sun, and the precious things put forth by the moon, and the precious things of the earth and the fulness thereof," or in fact, as it does anything produced- by man's labour, even as jewels or polished stones. The Jews, as well as otheis, divided all their pbysiches into three sorts, calling 1 all the minerals Silaas, or still! vegetative things, Geiminatus, or budding; and the living things, Virum, or quick ; and it is to the Uvo last only, the vegetable and animal kingdoms, as we venture to think, that the words of Ilosea are applicable. " I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth ; and the earth sball bear the corn, and the wine r acdtheoil; and they shall hear Jezi eel. And I will sow her unto me in the earth." God heareth. "Ha that planteth the ear, shall he not hear !" God is the only cause of fertility. He regartleth — giveth his influence and blessing, whether he useth reasonable or unreasonable creatures as his instruments. But when, he is angry, and bis face turned away, sending famine and sore pestilence, then note the difference of thelanguage. We read in Deut. xxvin., 20, " And the heaven that is over thy head shall be brass, and the earth that is under thee shall be iron." The metals, then, would not seem to be blessed as theother classes of things natural ; and Scripture, as well as lexicography, and morals, and chemistry appear to fail us in proving the true essential value of gold. Alchemy and Political Economy remain, and let us now see whether they will assist us. Some may smile at our classing these together ; but in. the enquiry we are upon, viz., the coreting of gold 'for its own sake as compared with the fruits of honest and steady industry, there may be more analogy in the operations and professions of the alchemist and economist than many may be inclined to suppose. True, the one works in his closet, the other on the wide stage of the world ; the one is selfish and secret in Ins woxk, the other piofessedly disinterested, open, liberal, and legaidful of our common humanity ; but still, whether as regards individuals or nations, both systems miserably fail, and disappoint even their professoi's, wnen man the creature affects the office of Cieator, and strives to reliove himself and others from labour, the common lot of mankind. Be assured it is as impossible to hatch gold, as they do eggs m Egypt, amidst the furnace of woildly stri'e and dealing, as it is in the furnace of the alchemist. "Ex nilnlo nilnl fit." " Nihil dat quod non babefc," are universally true. Men ea-ily admit this as regards the labours of the alchemist, and now a days only laugh at the unintelhble presumptuous verbiage in which he was want to wrap ihe theory of his ait. Indeed you may scarcely listen with patience to the following recital of the discovery of the unknown i emote matter which the alchemist says forms gold : •' It is of the one patt, A humid exhalation, which we call Mnteria hqmda, or the unctuous water ; On the upper part a cett.un crass and viscous Portion ot earth ; both which concorporate Do make the elementary matter ot gold ; Which is not yet propna matcna. But common to all metal-, and all stones ; For where it is forsaken of that moistuie And hath more dryness, it becomes a stone ;— Where it retains more of the humid fatness, It burns to sulphur, or to quicksilver, Who arc the parents of all other metals. Nor can this remote matter suddenly Progress so from extreme unto extreme, As to grow goiJ, and leap o'er all the means. Nature doth fust oeget the imperfect, then Proceeds she to the perfect. Ot that airy And oily water, meitury is engendered ; Sulphur of the fat and eailhy part ; Both do act and suffer. But these too Make the rest ductile, malleable, extensive, And even in gold they are ; lor we do lind Seeds of them, by our fire, and gold in them ; And can pi oduc c the species of each metal More perfect thence than nature dotu in earth.' Every one will be disposed to admit that the alchemist may find seeds of gold— but depend on't they are none of his making. . In Political Economy, however, (we speak ot its abu*e) men have more t.mh, and many so magnify Us opeiations, that if they do not deny, they at tunes at least appear disposed to forget the truth that "man proposeth and God disposeth." , Examples which we shall presently give, and which 1 will come borne to us, will at once illustrate our subject and our meaning. But let me first explain a few terms, to make the subject ck-aier. The most humble housewife in this city must have learnt, from the events ot the last few weeks, some slight lesson in political economy. I would extend it a little Anther, with the infliction oi as little technical jargon as possible. The price (i.e., money puce) and the real value of a thing are two distinct things to any one individual, m reference to his wants and the cost of Ins possession. V'ou all, I believe, know that Ea»Kind has selected the metal gold as us standard of value, whilst Fiance, Russia, and Spam ha/c adopted silver. This is done by their respectively " hung the [lice" in their lespec-

tive countries of the given metal so selected ; i.e., they require that eveiy sovereign shall contain, whetbei gold be plentiful or scaiee, sin invariable fixed quantity, which a man must give for twenty shillings' worth of silver, or any other commodity wlnc-h the public may value at twenty shillings. The very fact of this fixedness of price, at all seasons, proves that it is nn aibitrary rule, and that instead of ascertaining and fixing 1 the value of the thing called gold, it in reality only fixes Us pi ice, and thus Minply m this wny, because it rendeisthe price of eveiylhmg else, especially necessaries of life, constantly fluctuating, i.e., confoiming to the real value of gold, which, like everything else, is valuable accouling to its scaicity or abundance, and the labour bestowed upon it. Political economy, then, does not fix the intrinsic value of gold, which stands »s it did when fresh from creation ; and its fictitious value depends entirely on the oulering of events, as it seems best to a wise and all-seeing Providence. i Our examples, 1 lepcat, will illustrate our meaning. As many as have watched the course of events in England within the last few years, will remember how the disciples of Political Economy stood bewildered and j amazed amidst the extmordmary events occurring j around them. The triumph of Free Trade and Railroads was dimmed and well nigh maimed by the unexpected appearance of famine and panic coming closely in the rear. Industry stood parahzed, and all efforts to revive it, checked by the operation of a fettered currency, viz., the fixed price of gold, sternly refusing to adjust itself to the increasing wants and necessities of the community. Geneial confusion was imminent — the wisest and best of England's politicians seeing no solution to the difficulties— the reign of gold appeared to be at an end, and the substitution of a paper currency absolutely necessniy, When all at once, a whisper from the Far West tells of .stores of gold perfectly inexhaustible—each arrival confirms the intelligence, and Jo ! the mines of California, by affotding the supply den ed by the. law of man, became the safety valve, not only of England, but of all Europe. Immediately industry assumes itq sway — whilst the wild and lawless spirits that had agitated society in the Old World, with its surplus population, aie drained off in numbers unprecedented to those now fields of adventure. This, in its turn, raised fears for the further rapid colonization of Australasia. The Returns published by the English Government for the first quaiter of 1850, whilst they showed a well sustained emigration to the United. States, exhibited, as compared with the same quaiter for three years previously, a falling ofl'in the emigration to the Australian Colonies of full five-eights, the number in 1849 being 8,627, whilst iv 1850 it was only 3,488. The stiearn of emigration appeared to be turned, and far-seeing men in England shod" their beads at the apparently checked prospects cf New Zealand in competition with the brilliant attractions of San Francisco and the New World ; but again the calculations of the wise man are baffled, and the Old Woild is destined to be startled by the announcement we have just heard ; and another evidence is afFoided how man's perseverance iv exalting the creature into an object of great desire is overruled to the furtherance of God's mighty designs. But time presses, and wo must deal with the subject moi c practically, and, if we can, bring it home to individuals Every one knows what it is to ask change for a sovereign ; and from what has been said, it will be understood, that instead of saying " give me change," it is the same thing to say " Give me the price of a sovereign," viz., twenty shillings in silver. Now a sovereign by law must contain 5 dwt. S\ grains, or 123J grains of gold, which every one is bound to sell for twenty shillings silver. Hence if 1 have a j pound of gold containing 5,760 grains, I shall have exactly £46 14s. 6d., which divided by twelve, the number of ounces in a pound, gives the sum of £3 175. 10£ d. per ounce as the price of gold. To know the fixed price of a thing is to know its value in money; but the real value of money to an individual depends upon his wants, and the cost of supplying those wants. The profits of labour then afford us the only true standard by which to judge of the value of gold. For instance, we can easily calculate what would be the lot of a man, say an industrious clerk — we'll call him Jenkins, if you please—who should find, on his neat garden al Pentonville, a bar of gold. After recovering fiom his astonishment he would quietly get into an omnibus and drive to the Mint, where he would sell or exchange it for coin, that is, the authorities, being satisfied of his respectability, would give him, at the above rate per ounce, the sum of £<l(i 14s. 6d. A man, under such circumstances, would indeed have found a prize, because no one knowing of his luck, and his baker and butcher charging him the same price as before, the whole of the amount, after deducting the omnibus hire, and the labour of picking up, would be so much clear gain to him, applicable for any objects which ho or his affectionate spouse may have previously in vain hoped to piocure — unless, indeed, as might not be impossible, his luck turned his brain or led him into the commission of extravagant follies. But suppose the same gentleman amidst the multitudes now thronging the golden valley at Bathurst — his position will be found to be very different. In the first place, he has forsaken his old habits of life, given up regular and steady employment, and joined the countless throng hurrying 1 into the same field of labour, where his chance of profit and its amount is lessened exactly in proportion to the numbers that are competitois with him. The world is going on in his absence, and when he retuins to his old sphere of duty (if he ever should), all things are changed, and he finds his own place filled up. But we aie going on a littlo too fast. The real question is — What lias been his fortune in the meantime ? Has he gained any advantages commensurate with his risks ? What have his butcher and baker been saying to him ? He cannot shake them off with his old habits. Good, amiable people, they rejoice in his good prospects — they are so unselfish as not to interfere with his new pursuit. He will meet with no competition from them — indeed he knows they will wait upon him, and with fatherly care provide tor his wants. But unfortunately there are a thousand other Jenkinses in the field, all insisting upon the same services fi om his friends — and, low-minded people as they are, offering bribes in the shape of higher pi ices one against the other, until at length the kind-hearted butcher and baker themselves become alarmed, lest their stock being oxhausted amidst these pressing demands, and their occupation gone, they themselves sbould be driven to the diggings for a living. In their turn, and for their own protection, prices are raised still higher, until at last 'poor Mr. Jenkins, to his cost, discoveis that he is " buying his gold too dear." For let us suppose him to find his pound weight as before, pure as you please. What is be to do 1 He cannot get into the omnibus and go to the mint. Besides, he is hungry, and cold, and thirsty, and ragged — nay, perhaps sick. These wants must bo supplied at any cost. But who is to give him change for his gold? If he talks of Mint prices, he's only laughed at — he has got it by the lump, and he finds he must part with it by the lump. He misses sadly the delicate mint scales ! ITow roughly the people handle the precious metal ! They would facem, indeed, almost indiffeieut to its possession — ia fact, it is gettintr dangerous to be seen with any — unpleasant rumours are abioad as to jobberies, nay niuider. You cannot earmark tJio gold either, and its &o easily made a wny with. Poor Mr. Jenkins ! what is> he to do ? It's no good

talking about sending the gold to Sydney, for tbe cost and danger of cniriage is 100 great, and he cannot go himself. TJipii freights to England have risen because ships cannot go. There's no help for it — he must take what ho can get. And what is that? The ever-vary-ing price or value of the metal at the mines, in the shape of bare necessaries of life, or what are esteemed there as such; and he proves, to his own disgust and dismay, the truth of tht Proverbs— " A fool and his money are soon parted." " Ready money will away." And " The more you heap, the worse you cheap." We have said nothing as to the state of society at the gold mines. Facts hare spoken and will speak for themselves, and too loudly. Extravagant expectations lead to extiavagant speculation and expenditure. All are infected, and they stand confessed a province of gamblers. Mono can resist — all must go with the stream. Extiaordmary riches must be met by extraordinary gains. " Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we dio," is the motto of the gold hunter's existence. Colossal fortunes to the few who gain and secure prizes m the golden lottery, there may be ; but as certainly there is ruin to the many, who perish in the stiife. " Piety and fear. Religion to the gods, peace, justice, truth, Domestic awe, might rest and neighbourhood, Jnsti action, manners, mysteries and trades, Degrees, observances, customs and laws Decline to their confounding contraries, And yet confusiou live !" Proving " How quietly nature falls into revolt When fold becomes her object, When, like the bee tolling from every flower The viituous sweets — [honey, Our thighs packed with wax, our mouths with We bring it to the hive, and like the bees, Arc miudcr'd for our pains." But, unlike the bee, without respect or sympathy, and none to chronicle our fate. For all this, theie may be some, we trust not many here who are eager to venture even from this place. They judge of the future of New Zealand from their own slight experience of tbe past ; they are impatient and restless, and peevishly meet advice with the English saying, "They can't be all their days trotting on a cabbage leaf," — forgetting the good old Scotch proverbs, " Mair haste, tbe waur speed ;" and that " Credit keeps the crown of the causey." It may not avail to point out to auch the inducements held out to them to remain in New Zealand, and they may only laugh when we point to the riches of her soil and seas. Our subject warns us against exaggeration ; but if ever there was a time when, so far as human foresight can judge, New Zealand appeared to be about to lealize all that her position and natural resources promise, it is this moment. Her wealth in flax and timber j r ou all know; and but a (ew days since the means of realizing the former by the labour even of our children, was explained in this Institute, and placed within the reach of all. Now a market, a vast and increasing market, is opened for her produce of every kind. The one great desideratum is now supplied— brought home to onr very doora; and it is possible that this faot will even at once work more for New Zealand that gold may procure for Australia. The effect in the long run cannot be questioned. New Zea- i land does not need a panegyrist in any part of the world. It has been well said, uWe see a fair land j by description, when we see it not." It is the subject of the day dreams of thousands in England ; but— and there has been " a but," which is now in great part removed. It ia known there emphatically as the country of small farms ; and that its resources are not underrated will be proved by the following from a recent writer on j physical geography. j «' In Europe the Continent is richer than the Islands ; at Uhe Antipodes the Islands are richer than the continent. New Zealand, the last colony of England, promises to be one of the noblebt of the British possessions. It may either be regarded as one island fifteen hundred miles>, or as three, divided by boisterous channels and lashed everywhere by a roaring ocean. It has remarkable advantages for colonization —a fertile soil, boundless forests, beds of minerals, and picturesque beauty. The mountains in its interior have all the grandeur of the Alps with more than their forest clothing, and (more picturesque than all) with the volcano which is wanting to the supremacy of the Alps, It has tablelands for the agriculturist, sites on a luxuriant coast ior cities, fine harbours for commeice, copious rivers for communication and mountains of from twelve to fourtren thousand feet high to irrigate the soil and supply the heated regions with the luxury of perpetual ice. The climate seems to be healthy ; and the country, by its boldness, storms> varying temperature and even by the roughness of the billows j which toss for ever on its shore, appears destined for the school of Englishmen and English constitutions." j There are perhaps only two countries in the world which can be mentioned in comparison with these islands, and with which they have many points of lesemblance. " England, " says Lord Chancellor Fortescue, speaking in the middle of the 15th century, in his Treatise de Laudibus Legum Anglias, "is a country so fertile, that comparing it acre for acre, it gires place to no other country. It almost produces things spontaneous, without man's labour or toil. Tht fields, the plains, groves, woodlands, all sorts of lands, spring and prosper there so quick, they are so luxuriant, that even uncultivated spots of land often bring in more profit to the occupant, than those which are manured and tilled ; though those too are very fruitful in plentiful crops of corn."—" There are neither wolves, bears, nor lions in England." The other country is Palestine itself, whose serene and clear atmosphere, fertility of soil and rich and varied beauties, hare been the theme of every writer — " a land of hills and valleys, and drinketh of the rain of heaven." But if New Zealand can share with England, or rather with Ireland, in ireedom from noxious animals and reptiles of all kinds, it can further claim exception from those scorching winds which in the Holy Land, as well as Australia, " need a covert from the heat, or the shadow of a great rock" — turning " their moisture into the drought of summer." lie must be more than fastidious who complains that his lot has fallen to him in New Zealand. But perhaps agriculture has no charms for him ; Content ia not his true philosopher's stone ; and he will not acknowledge that " no alchemy is equal to savings." From such an one we can only hope better things, and beg him to reflect more on the delights and profit of agriculture. Let him listen to the following by an old writer : — " Observe," says he, " how the husbandman is directly subordinate to the Providence of God. All honest callings are subordinate to God, but yet the subordination is not so clearly seen, nor the blessing of God appeareth not so well in any other trade as in husbandry, for after that he hath cast the seed into the ground • he lieth down and hleepeth night and day, it springeth up, and he knoweth not how, for the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself, first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear.' " Even the beathen, when they went to plongb in the morning, laid on one of their hands upon the stilts of the plough, and they lifted up the other hand to Ceres, the goddets of corn ; and if those who now till, instead of having their minds fixed upon the earth, like the oxen which labour the ground, had hearts to look up to God, — O beatos Agricolas, oh, how happy weie those qusbandmen !

There are fir© tbings which commend husbandry in the Scriptures, saya the same old writer we have quoted— Ist. The antiquity of it. " There was not a man to till the ground." He is the first man that is missed. It is neither the lawyer nor the physician, much less the gold-finder, but only the husbandman. 2ndly. The innocency of it. It was commanded to Adam in Paradise ; and Christ calleth his Father a husbandman. "I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman." Srdly. In the delight of it. Uzzia, the king, is called " Vir Agri," because he delighted so much in husbandry. 4tlily. For profit. Eccles. v. 9.—" The profit of the eai th is for all : the king himself is served by the field." And lastly. Tbis calling is most clearly seen to be suborbinate to God's providence, and therefore the Lord is called the husbandman's God, which teacheth and instructeth him. What shall we say more ! " O thrice, thrice happy he, who shuns the cares Of city troubles and ot state affairs j And, serving Ceres, tills with his own team, His own free land, left by his friends to him ! Never pale Envy's poisony heads do kiss To gnaw his heart : nor Vulture Avarice : (saps His fields' bounds, bound his thoughts : he never For nectar, poison mixed in silver cups ; Neither in golden platters doth he lick For sweet ambrosia, deadly aisenic; His hand's his bowl (better than plate or glass) The silver brook his sweetest hippocrass : Milk, cheese and fruit (fruits of his own endeavour) Drest withont dressing hath he ready ever. False counsellors (concealers of the law) Turncoat iittorneys that with both hands draw ; Sly pettifoggers, wranglers at the bar, Proud purse leeches, harpies of Westminster, With feigned chiding, and foul jarring noise, Break not his brain, nor interrupt his joys; [rows But cheerful birds chirping him sweet good morWith natuie's music do beguile his sorrows; Teaching the fragrant forests day by day The diapason of their heavenly lay." Only one -word, in conclusion, to such of the less dependent of my bearers who may have at any time had misgivings as to the fortune of this country ; who have been impatient at many wants, especially as affecting their children's condition aud prosperity, which have hitherto appeared difficult of realization. We say to them, despise not the day of small things ; and in the eloquent words of the Principal of Ilaileybury College, bid them look forth with faith for the supply of all things needful, relying on honest industry and the fertility of the soil of their adopted home : " God prepared more," says the writer I quote, "than mere sustenance for the poor when he endowed the soil with its surprisingand still undeveloped productiveness. Wo are indebted to the ground on which we tread for the arts which adorn and the learning which ennobles, as well as for the food which sustains human life. If God had thrown such barrenness into the earth, that it would yield only enough to support those who tilled it, you may all perceive that every man must have laboured at agriculture for himself; there being no overplus of produce whice the toil of one individual could procure for another. Thus, if you examine with any carefulness, you must necessarily discover that the sole reason why this company of men can devote themselves to the business of legislation, and that to the study of jurisprudence ; why we may erect schools and univcisities, and so set apart individuals who shall employ themselves on the instructions of their fellows ; why we can have armies to defend the poor man's Cot tage and the rich man's palace, and navies to prosecute commerce, and preacheis to stand up in our cities and villages pointing numbers to Jesus of Nazareth— that the alone practical reason of all this must be sought in the fertility of the soil: for if the soil were not fertile enough to yield more than the tiller requires for himself, every man must he a husbandman, and none could follow any other avocation. So that by an arrangement which appears the more wonderful the moieit is pondered, God hath literally wrought into the soil of this globe a provision for the varied wants, physical, and moral, and intellectual, of the race whose generations possess successively its provinces. That which made wealth possible was equally a preparation for the well-being of poverty. '•And though you may trace, with a curious accuracy, the rise and progress of sciences ; and map down the steps of the march of civilization ; and show how in the advancings of a nation, the talented and enterprisiag have carried on crusades against ignorance and barbarism ; we can still bring you back to the dust out of which you were made, and bid you find in its particles the elements of tlie results on which your admiration is poured, and tie you down with the rigonr of a mathematical demonstration, to the marvellous though half-forgotton fact, that God invested the ground with the power of ministering to man's many necessities — so that the arts by which the com*, forts of a population are multiplied, and the laws by which their rights are upheld, and the schools in which their minds are disciplined, and the churches in which their souls are instructed— all these may be referred to one and the same grand ordinance; all ascribed to that fruitfulness of the ear'h by which God, of his goodness^ has prepared for tho poor,"