ideal ; but here was its first great romance of utilitar-
ianism. This was no island of ^gina to be peopled
by transforming ants into men ; but here men were to
be made monarchs ; mind was to be emancipated, and
thought left to its unfoldings, such as never had yet
been done under the sun. Here, martyrs and heroes,
unsainted and unsung, amidst strugglings and suffer-
ings, were to achieve glorious things for the race.
Digging in the dirt, selling rum, tobacco, flour, and bacon, hammering out mining machinery, assaying gold and the like, seem dull and prosaic occupations enough when compared with the tilts and tournaments of knight-errantry, the pious enthusiasm of crusaders, and the thrilling deeds on the battle-fields ; neverthe- less the poetry and romance are here for all who pre- fer reality to fantasy. Here, weather-beaten and bearded diggers are unearthing primeval treasures which shall revolutionize commerce and society ; they are bringing to light brilliant gold wherewith to buy happiness; and these ministering towns and cities which spring up on every side as if by magic, are the marts of their servitors who feed and clothe their occupants. Gold-getting, however, is not an end but a means ; it is only an incentive or impulse in the great plan of jjrogress. The romance of it is found in the strange developments, the wonderful events, the grand display of that force which brings order out of chaos, and places under subjection to the whole, tempers op- pugnant and apparently ungovernable, with the least personal restraint possible.
By the prudish and pharisaical tliis anomalous life and society may be regarded with abhorrence ; by the social philosopher and lover of the race, it will be studied as one of the most interesting and instructive pages of history. In older societies impurities sink to the bottom or gather in slimy corners; but when the stream of progress, in an ungovernable torrent, forced a new channel westward, filth and purity were stirred up together, and its waters became thick with passion
