DIGGER'S BRIDE.
THE law of supply and demand is at fault, or the demand for wives in Australia would be supplied more effectively. The value entertained for woman, it has been said, measures the civilization
of a country ; and by that rule, the Diggings ought just now to exemplify the height of chivalry. There, women are valued so highly that families well to do cannot afford to keep maid-servants ; and she who went out with the humble expectations of serving in the nursery of another, finds herself at the head of her own. The grades of society are reversed, not less strongly on the female than on the male side. The only precedent for the Diggings of Aus- tralia is Holland, which Andrew Marvel satirized; when the na- tive contended for his country with the fish, when dike-building was the most patriotic work of fortification, and when " to invent a shovel" was to "be a magistrate." So in New Holland, to wield a spade is to be a dignitary. The navvie is the lord of the soil; and the workhouse orphan-girl, who goes out for what she can find, finds herself suddenly advanced to be a lady of the land. The moralist may look at the change, and study the chemistry of social distinction with a sad wisdom. Many an accomplished woman in this country, fit to adorn and enjoy life, sinks into a premature grave, joyless and unknown. The kitchen-wench, who would hesitate to speak on equal terms even with the menial of the two-pair back, tee,omes a great lady. Her wedding is a rough magnificence ; her dress is satin, and she will not wear any shawl unless it be a "real " one and worth ten guineas at least. And there is a distinction in this. Let the lady of some great digger appear in English society, trundling about her gold as dust under her feet, and she will not be regarded with contempt. What has been added to her that has been wanting in the other ? Nothing but the ob- vious gold.
What is it that makes her so prized in Australia P Nothing but her rarity. So dull is human appreciation, that it cannot value
the picture of an angel, painted by hands finer than those of Ra- phael, unless there be a framework of common gold ; nor can it in- deed appreciate angels after their visits have ceased to be few and far between.
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