Year: 1869

In recounting what I may safely call
the dream Of my life, do not propose to
speculate on the origin of dreams IN gen
eraL Whether those mysterious agencies
knswn under the names of mesmerisn,
odic force, or animal magnetism which are
said to- hold certain teInperaments zen
rapport" with each other, influencing the
sleeping thoughts and everyday actions of
life, had anything to do with my particular
case, l will not pretend to say; others
must Judge If what happened was attrib-
utable to such causes, or if it was merely a
series of curious condolences. All /
know is, that ct Lucerne, some years ago,
dreamed a,dream which, heralding as it
did the most important epoch in my ca
reer, and fOreshadowing my subsequent
fate, am fully justified in looking upon
as a most unnlstakable portent, and the
remarkable circumstances under which it
occurred leave it very open question
whether 1t was the result of mere chance,
or whether there are not, indeed, certain
unknown and unmeasured influences at
work surely but silently around the web of
every human existence. --


When, at the age of eighteen, l was on
the point of commencing college educa-
ton, my father died, and to the surprise of
every one, instead of leaving Inc a hand
some independence, it was found his assets
were next to mil" 1t was an ordinary
case, supposed affluence proved to have
been absolute poverty, fair position only
upheld, until the desperate struggle with
overwhelming odds to keep up appear
ances was put an end to by death. Natur-
ally, my plans and prospects went with
the wreck; must abandon every scheme
of ambition which had ever nursed, and
must earn my bread. So instead of go-
ing to Oxford, l went into a merchants s
counting g-house.


| should not perhaps have realized so
tangibly this change of fortune, had it not
been accompanied by misery which, to
an earnest disposition at the outset of life,
is almost overwhelming. had formed an
attachment to the only daughter of the
tutor in whose house l was living, whilst
being prepared for my Alma Mater 1t
could scarcely be called an engagement,
inasmuch as, although our parents were
not averse to the affair, they yet reason
ably maintained that we were too Young,
and it had been settled that if, at the ex-
piration of five years, we were still both
of the same mind, no objection should be
offered to our union. My father quite ap-
proved of my marrying early, saying that,
as my prospects were good, if l could find
"a girl whom really loved, it mattered lit
tie whether she had money or not, and
the Rev. Hugh Mollett saw in the alliance
all that he could wish for his portionless
daughter. Beyond an occasional visit on
my part, no communication was TO be per-
mitted, and all parties seemed quite salts
fled with this arrangement, which had
been arrived at just as | was about to
leave my tutors house, and when my ia
theirs sudden death shattered the whole
fabric.


Many long months elapsed, and still the
grief and disappointment, consequent
chiefly, as have limited, upon the termi-
nation which was thus put to my love-af-
fair, were unsubdued. Mollett, who was a
sufferer financially by my family troubles,
naturally insisted that the slight inter
course proposed should be, together with
our future plans entirely cancelled. He
argued, reasonably, that my prospects now
no longer warranted the contemplation OF
matrimony; it was a great question
whether | should be able even to keep
myself, much less wife and family. He
was deaf to all my appeals and avowals
of answering fidelity; and gave me
no credit for the determination which
declared, if he would only give me the
time, of yet being able in some degree TO
retrieve my lost fortunes. If he would
only, urged, allow me still to look for
ward to the possession of his daughter
hand, / should have motive for exertion
which nothing else could supply. In a
word, / used every argument which my
sincere affection for Bertha prompted, and
which can be imagined as coming from a
lad in the passionate enthusiasm of his
first love.


After much correspondence, my letters
were at last returned unopened. / was
wild, mad with my sorrow | scraped
together what little money could, and in
a fit of desperation one morning, shipped
myself as steeage passenger on board q
vessel bound for the AntipodeS My re-
cent, employment as a merchants clerk
had taken me a great deal amongst the
docks; was continually witnessing the
departure of the Australian liners. l had
frequently speculated on tine prospect;
which new country offered to men of
energy and enterprise in my situation, and
now that the only tie which could MAKE
England dear to me was entirely broken
determined to quit her forever, unless
should be able to return and take up the
position to which, from my earliest days
l had been taught to belive l was enti
tied.


Fortune smiled on all my efforts in the
new country, not that especially courted
or deserved her favOrs, for was Indifferent
as to how matters went with me for Ions
while after leaving London, Yet every
thing I touched literally turned to gold
Making my way to the diggings, became
most successful adventurer, coming day
after day upon vast quantities of the
precious ore, and realizing, in a few
months, more than many bad done il
twice the number of years. Like many
things in this world, my indifference as L
whether / found the gold or not seemed L
he the reason for my meeting with it every
where. My fame as finder spread
bringing with tits consequent dangersan(
narrow escapes, the cupidity and lawlesi
state of society in these regions, obliginl
every one to defend with his life the re
suits of his industry or good luck. Grea
gain had really not been my Origina
thought in going up there, but imagineC
that any merely intellectual, or monoton
ously routine.like existence in city
would not half so effectually distract my
mind from its settled grief and disappOint
Inent as the wild and adventurous life


must necessarily lead in the gold-fields.


Sound, however, that this was only partial
ly the case. / never forgot my sorrow
but as my wealth increased, by degrees


clung TO that, not with any miserly inten
uOni Dut DtChuSc ~ sttulcu to opch ti
prospect of my SOME day returning 4
England rich man; and if did Sc
might not still make Bertha AIollett my
wife? | could not entirely repress tn
latent hope, and yet dared not indulge il
it; nevertheless, 1t would sometimes asser
ITSELF and indirectly 1t undoubtedly ha'
an influence on my future plans.


spent several years as digger, payin
periodical visits to Melbourne, where


iurned the nuggets and dust to the hes
account Then grew weary of the wor
and the life, my health was not good, an
finally determined to settle in Melbourn,
and, If possible. by judicious oommereis
speculation, complete the fortune of whic
had already laid more than a good four
dation. Ny old luelt did mot foFsal1e m'
my ventures were everywhere successful