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Dr. John Dumore Lang addressed the gold diggers at the Turon, in 1851, and the following extract is from his An Historical and Statistical Account of New South Wales, from the founding of the colony in 1788 to the present day, Vol. II, (Fourth Ed.); Sampson Low, Marston Low, Low & Searle, London, 1875.
pp. 520-523.
“ADDRESS TO THE GOLD-MINERS OF 1851.
“To the Scotch and North of Ireland Presbyterians, and to the Protestants generally, at the Gold-Mines of Australia.
“ ‘Fellow Countrymen and Christian Friends, - The allwise beneficent Creator has been pleased, in His good providence, to disclose to the inhabitants of this colony, and through them to the whole civilized world, the existence of an extensive auriferous region or gold-field, in this portion of our Western interior; and, as might naturally be expected, daily-increasing multitudes of persons of all classes have been attracted to the spot. Now, as God does nothing in vain, but has uniformly high and holy ends in all His works and ways, we are bound to conclude that the gold which has thus been mixed up in such large quantities with the soil of our land, has been so placed that it might be searched for, and turned to account for the purposes of man. We cannot, therefore, allow ourselves to suppose that there can be anything either inherently evil in the mere search for gold, or essentially demoralizing in the processes which that search implies. On the contrary, we can only regard it as a matter to be decided by every intelligent man for himself, whether he shall remain in the occupation he has hitherto pursued, or betake himself to this new branch of industry which the good providence of God has opened up in our land. There is no credit to be assumed by the man who, in the exercise of common prudence, remains in the pursuit or occupation to which he has been accustomed, because he believes it to be in his own interest to do so: there is no blame to be attached to the man who, for precisely the same reason, abandons his former employment and betakes himself to the mines.’
“ ‘That in other countries and ages the search for gold has served to call forth into frightful exhibition the worst passions of our nature, and led to the perpetration of crimes and cruelties, from the bare recital of which humanity recoils, cannot be denied; and the circumstance has induced many well-meaning people to suppose that there must be something inherently evil - something essentially demoralizing - in the process. The atrocities perpetrated by the Spaniards of the sixteenth century in Mexico and Peru, in their accursed thirst for gold, are known and read of all men; and the scenes of riot, robbery, and fire-raising - of famine, pestilence, and death - which have more recently characterized the search for gold in California, have only served to strengthen this idea. But there is no analogy between either of these cases and the discovery of the auriferous regions of Australia. Divine providence has, with marvellous wisdom and beneficence, kept back that discovery until this community had acquired the requisite strength and consistency to enable it to sustain the shock which this announcement would inevitably occasion - till food and clothing, and all the other necessaries and appliances of life, could be procured with facility; and till a numerous and reputable free immigrant population, who had come out to the colony with far different objects, had settled in the land. In these circumstances, we are warranted to cherish the hope that the search for gold in Australia will continue to be pursued as quietly and peacefully as any other description of honest industry, and that no such scenes will be enacted here as have entailed an immorality of infamy upon the Spaniards of Mexico and Peru, or been exhibited in a modified form even in California.’
“ ‘Certain parties have all along, indeed, been raising a hue and cry about the necessity for increased protection for person and property in these regions; anticipating all manner of outrage, of violence and crime among the labourers at the mines. Such persons seem to regard their fellow-men, if at all of a humbler class in society than themselves, as ‘natural brute beasts,’ who understand no argument but that of force, and who are only to be treated like sheep and cattle. Perhaps, however, they are merely desirous that the Local Government may have some excuse for creating additional and unnecessary offices for themselves or their friends at the public expense. I confess, however, I have much greater confidence in the influence of order in a mixed community, than in any number of bayonets or batons. Remember then, I entreat you, what the Lord Jesus says to His disciples (for He still says precisely the same to real Christians of whatever denomination) : ‘Ye are the salt of the earth,’ or ye are those whose peculiar function it is to preserve the mass of society from corruption. Ye are the light of the world - that is, ye are those whose honourable office it is to illumine its intellectual and moral darkness. The fact that the exciting process of gold-mining is actually pursued in this colony by a numerous, but peaceful and orderly, community of intelligent and Christian men, among whom the usual accompaniments of gold-mining in other countries are nowhere seen, - this fact will do more to distinguish our land in the estimation of the whole civilized world, than even the discovery of gold itself.’
“Having then described the arrangements which had been made by the ecclesiastical body to which I belonged for the dispensation of the ordinances of religion among the members of their communion at the mines, and recommended to the miners the minister who was to be stationed at the Turon for a time, the address was resumed as follows : -
“ ‘Having thus accredited to you a messenger of the churches under the superintendence of the Synod of New South Wales, it is perhaps unnecessary for me to anticipate his proper work, in reminding you of your duty to God, to your neighbour, and to your country. Permit me, however, to offer a single word of exhortation on each of these topics.
“ ‘In regard, therefore, to your duty to God, let me entreat you to Remember the Sabbath-day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour and do all thy work; but the seventh is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thous shalt not do any work. The observance of the Christian Sabbath is, in all circumstances, but especially in such circumstances as those in which you are at present placed in these gold-mines, the badge of your discipleship, the touchstone of your Christian profession.
“ ‘As to your duty to men, let me entreat you to be just in all your dealings with those whom you come in contact; be kindly-affectioned towards them; be courteous. So shall others, seeing your good works, be led to glorify your Heavenly Father.
“ ‘Your adopted country also expects you to do your duty to her in the peculiar circumstances in which you are placed. Be assured that Australia will soon date her existence, as a great nation - second, I trust, to none, in all that is calculated to exalt and ennoble our common humanity - from the discovery of gold in this territory. The political significance of this wonderful discovery cannot be misunderstood; neither can its bearing on all our destinies be mistaken. Within one short week from the day on which certain conspirators against the liberties of this land left the Legislative Council, after perpetrating an act of the grossest injustice towards its people, He who sits in the heavens and laughs at the impotent combinations of unprincipled men, had disclosed the existence of an extensive auriferous region in our midst, as the divinely appointed means of ensuring, not merely political liberty, but national existence and a brilliant and glorious future for Australia. * [Footnote - * The Legislative Council of the period had passed an Electoral Act, by which a large proportion of the colonists were virtually disfranchised. It was prorogued with a view to its dissolution on the 3rd of May, 1851: the gold discovery was announced in Sydney on the 6th. - Our bane and antidote were thus both before us within the course of one short week.] The star of our freedom then arose in the east, and multitudes will ere long come forth from our fatherland to worship the present deity. In such circumstances, our duty to our country is simply to act in all things as becomes the founders of a great nation, to show that we are not unworthy of the liberty we claim - that we are not unfit for the independence that awaits us.
“ ‘Finally, brethren, farewell. May the Lord bless and prosper you in all the labour of your hands; and while you are searching for the gold that perisheth, let me entreat you to Seek first for the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all other things shall be added unto you.
“ ‘JOHN DUNMORE LANG, D.D.,
“ ‘Moderator of the Synod of New South Wales.
“ ‘Sofala, Turon River, 5th Oct. 1851.’ “
Read Lang’s Biography
Lang’s Parliamentary Career
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