Lynchburg daily Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1852-1861, 1858-08-23
aailg Niraiaiau.
From the London Tmes.)
Tho Fraser River Gold Mines and the
Government of British Caledonia.


stituted between the rush to frnsor's River, dc.
scribed by our San Francisco correspondent, and
the Crusades, which carried so large portion of
the population Of Europe to die On tho burning
sands Of Palestine! Let us present our readers
with two scenes---a mcdnyal and a modern one.
At Clermont Ferrand PErER the HERMIT has con
cluded his discourse; cries arc heard in every
quarter, 1t ia the will Of God it is the will of
God y Every ono assumes the cross, and the
crowd dsperse to prepare for conquerng underline
walls of tho earthly asare passage to tho heavenly
Jerusalem. What elevation Of motive, what faith
what enthusiasm! Compare with this tho picture
drawn hy our correspondent. steamer cnlculn
tel to carry GOO persons is laden with l,Goo,
There in hardly standing room on the deck. II is
almost impossible to fight your way from one part
OF the vessel to the other Tho passengers nre not
knights and barons. but tradosmon who hnvo
"vacuatcd" without paying tho 'jobbers" who
supply them with goods--"i "iohbcrs' who aro in
debt to the wholesale houses that employ thum--
tenants who have "ahsquntulatcd" without
dcigning to remember the existence of their un-
fortunate landlords, and loafcrs Of all the known
varieties They sock in their overloaded vessel
n land where innumcrable labors trials and
dangers await thcm--wher they have To con
front the alternative of starvation, drowning or
death by tho hands of the Indians. besides such
minor inconyonienccs as persons OF the class we
have described may be supposed capable of caus-
ing to each other in tho shape Of robbery. murder
the lesser OWLS Of cowhding. and my amount
Of difficulties" likely to obtain the speedies aud
most fatal solution. Nor does tho end elevate tho
means. Their object is of the earth cnrhy wealth
in its rnwost aud rudest form gold the one thing
for which they hear to live or dare to die. Surely,
in the comparison the Crusaders have the surcri-
ority in every point. And vet. 40 lttlc have IDEAL
ronlnutc and sentimental considerations to do
with tho current Of human affairs, that while tho
Crusadcs remain II monument of abort've and oh
,cctlc-s folly intalto those who embarked III them.
and leaving their chief result tingu of Asntic
fcrocity ON European barharsn, thecxodus Of Snn
Francisco notwithstanding tho questionable elo-
mcnts Of which it is composed, and the groyelling
and material end IL has in Wow, Is sure. through
whatever phases of suffering, OF hardship. and of
crime, to work out the progress Of happiness and
civilization, and add another to the many con-
quests over naturc which tho present age has wit
messed
The present emigration from San Francisco TO
Frnsers River differs in this respect from the pro-
yious exodus 10 California and Australia--thnt il
s composed of men who are perfectly familiar
with tho kind of life in which they are entering
thoroughly aware of what they noed. and excel
lent Judges of the capabilities of the region for tho
production Of gold The clement Of uncertainty
is very much diminished. IL thu diggings of Fra
ser's River arc pronounced rich, it is on the au-
thority of the very best practical Judges in tho
world. On that point there seems for
doubt; nay, it is very probabe--though our expo-
rienced correspondent declines to vouch for the
truth of the report that fhr away from the rivers,
Mt the Of the great chain of mountains, arc to
be found hill dggings surprising in richness any
thing that has yct been worked. This would on
" be in accordance with the experience Of Cafor-
mia, and. indeel, with the reasonable presumption
that gold found in the beds Of rivers hns been car
ried down from largo deposits at their sources.
and that such deposits may we'll exist where there
t.t. Al L.
is therefore very probable that as the ,igt ings on
the Fraser have drained CALIFORNIA; No the hill
diggings may drain the Fraser, and thus an enor-
nous field be opened To the enterprise of tho Eas
tern States of the Union and Of Europe.
The iniudicious attempt oi Governor DOUGLAS to
inorce the exclusive rights Of trade granted to the
Hudsons Bay Company, ns onr correspondent sup
poses under their charter, which does not extend
to the east Of the Rocky Mountains. but under II
license granted in pursuance Of an Act OF Parlia-
ment passed twenty years ago, and the vast impor-
tance which the new colony is evidently destined
to assume, clearly show the wisdom Of tho course
pursued by Government in Mt once putting al end
to the dominion Of the Company, and placing the
district of New Columbia under tho direct govern
ment Of the Crown. 1t is gratifying to see with
how much readiness the moderate requisition Of q
license fec Of Cl per month has been complied
with and in how fair and reasonable II spirit oven
the assertion of the Company monopoly of trade
has been met by tho mining population. Not
withstanding his claim of monopoly tho Governor
is. it appears. personally popular. The truth is
the human mind has no room for two absorbing
passions at tho same time, and the feyerish an-
xiety for gold has for n time driven out
The nyetcrate propensity 10 take rise out
OF the Britishers. That this, however, can
not last long, reminded by the spirited
exploit Of Captain DODGE; properly 30 called
This enlightened mnn, having satisfied HIM
aaf Nv NH irol u
great bend Of Fraser River is south of the
49th parallel of latitude, of which used to hear
much in tho days of tho Oregon Treaty,
and therefore in American territory, claimed to
60 there, and challenged the Capt. of Her Majes
tys ship Satellite to fire into aud sink the schoo-
ner and all hands lshe had lOO miners on board)
if he disapprovod the proceeding. This, to use
the Captains fgurative expression "knocked the
English officer cold" and the dodge Of DoDGE sue
ceeded We are also happy to observe that only
one fatal collision had taken place between tho
Indians and the diggers, and that the officers of
the lIudson's Bay Company Ind influence enough
to stay the feud before any more fatal consequent
ces occurred We apprehond however that this
absence of violence is mainly due to the fact that
higher up on the river thesuperiority OF physical
force is decidedly on the part of tho Indians, and
that the white men are too few and too weak to
venture on that summary manner Of dealing with
the rights Of the Aborigines which has kipdled
such bloody and desolatipg wars on every from
tier of the United States, and which has just led
to a severe and sanguinary defeat of the regular
troops Of the Union in the Territory of Oregon
All these things show us very clearly that no
time is to be lost il we would protect our flag
from insult at the hands of adyenturers who spec
ulate with good reason on our moderation and UNI
willingness to shed blood and prevent what would
be equally dangerous and disgraceful to us--a
war Of determination between the miners and
the Indians We hope therefore. that orders have
already been sent out to give up at once the
futile and exasperatng claim to nonopo-