Speak gently; let thy words be kind; They may descend like balm ; Speak gently; words will nothing cost, And thou shalt amply be repaid, Speak gently to the humble poor, And strung with tender chords. Speak gently to the erring one, Speak gently; for thou canst not tell -S. S. T. WHIRLEY'S GULLEY; The spot where the Gold was first discovered; Forest Creek Ranges, Mount Alexander. N the spring of 1851, news reached this country that Gold had been found in Australia. When we read now of the abundance of gold found there, we seem to pay too little attention to the fact, that the precious metal has been found in nearly all parts of the world at some period of its history. The Egyptians and Hebrews evidently possessed it in abundance. Darius, of Persia, and Croesus, of Lydia, drew tribute of gold and silver from their subjects. The ancients obtained it from Africa-from the mines of Nubia and Ethiopia probably. The Romans conquered Britain in their search for gold. The Austrians and Russians dug deep into the mines of Sweden, Norway, Hungary, and Siberia, blasted rocks, and turned aside rivers, so that they might get rich at once. In the fifteenth century, Columbus discovered the" Golden American;" and in the sixteenth, Pizarro conquered Peru, Cortez overcame the great Montezuma, of Mexico, and the Spaniards got drunk and debased, and finally ruined themselves, with the riches found in the New World. In 1844, Sir Roderick Murchison, in his address to the Geographical Society, predicted the presence of gold in Australia, and a Mr. Smith having read the report, was induced to make search for gold. He succeeded, and offered to reveal the place of its discovery to the Colenial A uthorities for a reward of £500 This was declined, and it remained for a Mr. Hargreaves, in 1851, to re-make the discovery and get the Government reward. Mount Alexander was not only the earliest, but the most satisfactory of the gold-diggings. It was here, in 1852, that a twenty-pound nugget was found. The whole district abounds with gold; either lying loose in the sand and gravel, or buried in the clay. Mount Alexander is situated about forty miles from Melbourne and Geelong. During the last few years, however, the surface has been worked so well, that much more labour is now generally necessary to secure gold than before. SALAN, THE SUSPECTED BOY. Millenki had just been arrested for stealing, and he was now sentenced to imprisonment in consequence of his guilt. Salan knew him immediately; and as Millenki was hurried along rapidly his eyes caught a glimpse of Salan, and the wicked man knew the pale-looking boy. Salan soon found out the history of the prisoner's recent life. One day, when he had recovered sufficiently to walk all over the town, he went to the prison and asked leave to talk with Millenki. The prison keeper told him it was against the rules for anybody to enter the cell of a prisoner. Salan replied, "I don't want to talk with the prisoner unless somebody is with me. If you will allow me to go to his door and talk through the grating it will be all I wish. You can stand by and hear all that is said." Salan was delighted to think that he could talk wi h Millenki, his old employer, though he knew that he had not been kindly treated by him ever since he had been in his employment. I will relate to you some of their conversation. "Do you remember me ?" said Salan to the prisoner, who was bound in strong and heavy chains. 66 Remember you," replied Millenki; "I have great reason to remember you. I have done you great injury, and I am heartily ashamed of it." "It is true you have,” replied Salan; "you used to treat me unkindly when I was a little apprentice in your service, and your wife gave me poor food to eat-seldom did either of you speak a kind word to me, though my parents were both dead. But I don't treasure up an evil thought against you. I would never have left you if it had not been for your unkindness." The tears began to start from Millenki's eyes, and then he said, "I have not mentioned the greatest injury I have ever committed against you." "Tell me what it is," replied Salan " and I will forgive you freely." "Oh," said Millenki, "it is the injury that has brought me here. When my barn burned down the night you left, I suspected it was you who had set fire to it, and that you had escaped in order to avoid punishment. I immediately took your money and began to build a splendid new barn with it. I thought that the money would almost if not quite build a new dwelling house too. So I employed an architect to make out the estimates and draw the plan. He told me that the house would cost just five thousand dollars. I would therefore need one thousand dollars more than the amount of your money, after having paid for the building of the barn. I knew not how to get it, or where to get it. I might have worked a year or two, and gained it that way; but I thought that was a very troublesome way to make only that amount of money. I resolved to gain it as quickly as I could, even though I did it by dishonesty. I knew a rich nobleman living in a castle some six miles off, and that he had a great deal of money in his possession. I laid my plans to steal some of it, but all my schemes failed. I was caught in the very act, and you see what I have come to. Not more than two weeks had passed, after my wife and I had suspected you of setting my barn on fire, before the guilty person was arrested. He confessed the deed, and said that neither you nor anybody else except himself had anything to do with it. My conscience then smote me |