Some, no doubt, may be interested in opposing such an inquiry. We have little expectation that the Manchester men will accede to any such reasonable proposal; for, as we have already said, we regard this outcry of theirs for wild and sweeping reform simply as a ruse to withdraw the attention of the public from the disastrous effects of their lauded commercial system. Lord John Russell and his immediate Liberal followers would probably oppose such an inquiry as impious, because casting a doubt on the infallibility of Whig tradition. But we are convinced that sensible and moderate men, of every shade of opinion, would rejoice to see this vexed question brought to something like a practical test; so that, whatever policy England may pursue for the future, it shall at least have for its object that of promoting the welfare and the happiness of the people.
Printed by William Blackwood & Sons, Edinburgh.
Printed by William Blackwood & Sons, Edinburgh.
Printed by William Blackwood & Sons, Edinburgh.
1.Notes on the Distribution of Gold throughout the World.London:James Wyld, 1851.
1.Notes on the Distribution of Gold throughout the World.London:James Wyld, 1851.
2.An Historical Inquiry into the Production and Consumption of the Precious Metals.ByWilliam Jacob, Esq., F.R.S. London: 1851.
2.An Historical Inquiry into the Production and Consumption of the Precious Metals.ByWilliam Jacob, Esq., F.R.S. London: 1851.
3.California: its Past History, its Present Position, its Future Prospects, p. 77.
3.California: its Past History, its Present Position, its Future Prospects, p. 77.
4. We leave our readers to form their own opinion of the following passage from Mr Theodore Johnson’s “Sights in the Gold Region:”—Speaking of thePadresof the old mission of San Francisco Dolores, he says, “That these priests were cognisant of the abundance of the precious metal at that period is now well known; but they were members of the extraordinary society of the Jesuits, which, jealous of its all-pervading influence, and dreading the effect of a large Protestant emigration to the western as well as to the eastern shores of America, applied its powerful injunctions of secresy to the members of the order; and their faithful obedience, during so long a period, is another proof both of the strength and the danger of their organisation.”—(Second Edition, p. 104.)
4. We leave our readers to form their own opinion of the following passage from Mr Theodore Johnson’s “Sights in the Gold Region:”—Speaking of thePadresof the old mission of San Francisco Dolores, he says, “That these priests were cognisant of the abundance of the precious metal at that period is now well known; but they were members of the extraordinary society of the Jesuits, which, jealous of its all-pervading influence, and dreading the effect of a large Protestant emigration to the western as well as to the eastern shores of America, applied its powerful injunctions of secresy to the members of the order; and their faithful obedience, during so long a period, is another proof both of the strength and the danger of their organisation.”—(Second Edition, p. 104.)
5. Reports of British Association for 1849—Appendix, p. 63.
5. Reports of British Association for 1849—Appendix, p. 63.
6.Jacob, i. chap. x.passim.
6.Jacob, i. chap. x.passim.
7. Murchison—Reports of British Association, 1849, (Appendix, pp. 61, 62.)
7. Murchison—Reports of British Association, 1849, (Appendix, pp. 61, 62.)
8. “In the Temeswar Bannat the washings were performed exclusively by the gypsies, who display great skill in finding it. They dig chiefly on thebanksof the river Nera, where more gold is found than in the bottom of the stream.”—Jacob, i. p. 245.
8. “In the Temeswar Bannat the washings were performed exclusively by the gypsies, who display great skill in finding it. They dig chiefly on thebanksof the river Nera, where more gold is found than in the bottom of the stream.”—Jacob, i. p. 245.
9.A Ride over the Rocky Mountains.By the Hon.Henry J. Coke, p. 359.
9.A Ride over the Rocky Mountains.By the Hon.Henry J. Coke, p. 359.
10.Sights in the Gold Region, and Scenes by the Way.ByTheodore J. Johnson. Second Edition. New York, 1850.
10.Sights in the Gold Region, and Scenes by the Way.ByTheodore J. Johnson. Second Edition. New York, 1850.
11. Quoted byJacob, vol. i. pp. 56, 57.
11. Quoted byJacob, vol. i. pp. 56, 57.
12.The Mormons, or Latter-Day Saints, (a cotemporary history,) p. 227. London, 1851.
12.The Mormons, or Latter-Day Saints, (a cotemporary history,) p. 227. London, 1851.
13.Jacob, i. p. 246, note.
13.Jacob, i. p. 246, note.
14.Jacob, ii. pp. 263, 264, note.
14.Jacob, ii. pp. 263, 264, note.
15. A pood is 36 lb. Russian, of which 100 are about 90 English avoirdupois; and a solotnik, 1–96th of a Russian pound, or about 65½ troy grains.
15. A pood is 36 lb. Russian, of which 100 are about 90 English avoirdupois; and a solotnik, 1–96th of a Russian pound, or about 65½ troy grains.
16.Rose,Reise nach dem Ural, &c., chaps. ii. iv. viii. Berlin, 1842.
16.Rose,Reise nach dem Ural, &c., chaps. ii. iv. viii. Berlin, 1842.
17. CompareWyld, p. 26, withJacob, ii. pp. 62, 167.
17. CompareWyld, p. 26, withJacob, ii. pp. 62, 167.
18.Jacob, i. p. 56. In copying the above extract from Diodorus, we inserted the wordquartzin brackets after his word “marble,” under the impression that the old Egyptian mines were, like the similar ones in California, really situated in veins of quartz, and not of marble. We have since communicated with a gentleman who, about twenty years ago, accompanied M. Linant, a French engineer in the service of Mehemet Ali, to examine these mines, and he informs us that the gold was really found inquartz veinstraversing a black slaty rock. The locality, as may be seen in Sharpe’sChronology and Geography of Ancient Egypt, plate 10, is in the Eastern Desert, about the middle of the great bend of the Nile, and about the 21st parallel. The samples of rock brought down by M. Linant were considered rich enough to justify the despatch of a body of miners, who were subsequently attacked by the natives, and forced to abandon the place. A strong government would overcome this difficulty; and modern modes of crushing and extraction might possibly render the mines more productive than ever. A very interesting account of these mines is to be found in a work by Quatremere de Quincy—“Notice des Pays voisins de l’Egypte.”
18.Jacob, i. p. 56. In copying the above extract from Diodorus, we inserted the wordquartzin brackets after his word “marble,” under the impression that the old Egyptian mines were, like the similar ones in California, really situated in veins of quartz, and not of marble. We have since communicated with a gentleman who, about twenty years ago, accompanied M. Linant, a French engineer in the service of Mehemet Ali, to examine these mines, and he informs us that the gold was really found inquartz veinstraversing a black slaty rock. The locality, as may be seen in Sharpe’sChronology and Geography of Ancient Egypt, plate 10, is in the Eastern Desert, about the middle of the great bend of the Nile, and about the 21st parallel. The samples of rock brought down by M. Linant were considered rich enough to justify the despatch of a body of miners, who were subsequently attacked by the natives, and forced to abandon the place. A strong government would overcome this difficulty; and modern modes of crushing and extraction might possibly render the mines more productive than ever. A very interesting account of these mines is to be found in a work by Quatremere de Quincy—“Notice des Pays voisins de l’Egypte.”
19.Ibid.p. 247.
19.Ibid.p. 247.
20.Fournet,Etudes sur les Depôts Metallifers, p. 167.
20.Fournet,Etudes sur les Depôts Metallifers, p. 167.
21. The reader will be interested by satisfying himself of this fact, so peculiar to Victoria, and so favourable to it as a place of settlement. He will find it pictured before his eye in the newly-published small and cheap, but beautifully executed,School Physical Atlasof Mr Keith Johnston.
21. The reader will be interested by satisfying himself of this fact, so peculiar to Victoria, and so favourable to it as a place of settlement. He will find it pictured before his eye in the newly-published small and cheap, but beautifully executed,School Physical Atlasof Mr Keith Johnston.
22.Jacob, i. p. 55.
22.Jacob, i. p. 55.
23.Ibid.ii. p. 267.
23.Ibid.ii. p. 267.
24.Fournet, p. 169.
24.Fournet, p. 169.
25. Cortes invaded Mexico in 1519; Pizarro landed in Peru in 1527; and Potosi was discovered in 1545.
25. Cortes invaded Mexico in 1519; Pizarro landed in Peru in 1527; and Potosi was discovered in 1545.
26.Rose,Reise nach dem Ural, i. 555–7.
26.Rose,Reise nach dem Ural, i. 555–7.
27. To some of our readers this remark may call to mind the beautiful process of Mr Lee Pattinson, of Newcastle, for refining lead, by which so much more silver is now extracted from all our lead ores, and brought to market.
27. To some of our readers this remark may call to mind the beautiful process of Mr Lee Pattinson, of Newcastle, for refining lead, by which so much more silver is now extracted from all our lead ores, and brought to market.
28.Commercial Dictionary, edit. 1847, p. 1056.
28.Commercial Dictionary, edit. 1847, p. 1056.
29. Quoted inJohnston’sNotes on North America, vol. ii. pp. 216, 217.
29. Quoted inJohnston’sNotes on North America, vol. ii. pp. 216, 217.
30.The Life and Letters of Barthold George Niebuhr, with Essays on his Character and Influence.By the ChevalierBunsenand ProfessorsBrandisandLoeball. In 2 vols.
30.The Life and Letters of Barthold George Niebuhr, with Essays on his Character and Influence.By the ChevalierBunsenand ProfessorsBrandisandLoeball. In 2 vols.
31. Every one remembers that Goethe’s last words are said to have been, “More Light;” and perhaps what has occurred in the text may be supposed a plagiarism from those words. But, in fact, nothing is more common than the craving and demand for light a little before death. Let any consult his own sad experience in the last moments of those whose gradual close he has watched and tended. What more frequent than a prayer to open the shutters and let in the sun? What complaint more repeated, and more touching, than “that it is growing dark?” I once knew a sufferer—who did not then seem in immediate danger—suddenly order the sick room to be lit up as if for a gala. When this was told to the physician, he said gravely, “No worse sign.”
31. Every one remembers that Goethe’s last words are said to have been, “More Light;” and perhaps what has occurred in the text may be supposed a plagiarism from those words. But, in fact, nothing is more common than the craving and demand for light a little before death. Let any consult his own sad experience in the last moments of those whose gradual close he has watched and tended. What more frequent than a prayer to open the shutters and let in the sun? What complaint more repeated, and more touching, than “that it is growing dark?” I once knew a sufferer—who did not then seem in immediate danger—suddenly order the sick room to be lit up as if for a gala. When this was told to the physician, he said gravely, “No worse sign.”
32.Claret and Olives, from the Garonne to the Rhone.ByAngus B. Reach. London: 1852.
32.Claret and Olives, from the Garonne to the Rhone.ByAngus B. Reach. London: 1852.
33. Mr Spackman, in hisAnalysis of the Occupations of the People, states the whole number of persons employed in manufactures of every kind at 1,440,908; the totalannual value of their production in 1841, at£187,184,292Whereof, for the Home Trade,£128,600,000For the Foreign Trade,58,584,292187,184,292
33. Mr Spackman, in hisAnalysis of the Occupations of the People, states the whole number of persons employed in manufactures of every kind at 1,440,908; the total
TRANSCRIBER’S NOTESSilently corrected obvious typographical errors and variations in spelling.Retained archaic, non-standard, and uncertain spellings as printed.
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