and established one which he likes better. He has destroyed Mexico as an independent country, and turned it into a French province. He has steadily adhered to his purpose-a purpose which he kept constantly declaring was the very farthest from his thoughts. Whether, in the long run, he is likely to succeed, and to establish in the new world a permanent monarchical government; what effect the intervention will probably have on Mexico herself; and, last but not least, how it should be regarded by the government of the United States, are questions which we propose to consider at some future time.

MINERAL WEALTH OF THE UNITED STATES.

IRON, COPPER, LEAD, GOLD And silver.

VAST as is the mineral wealth of the United States at this moment, it does not appear to have been of much interest to the early settlers. This, perhaps, is not surprising, since the more direct family wants were then so pressing that they had no time to bestow upon the production of those metals which conduce more to the advancement of large societies of men. It has only been of late years that the necessary labor and capital could be applied to the development of our great mineral deposits, which now dazzle the eyes of adventurers, and attract capital. Iron, coal, copper, lead, gold and silver, are distributed in rich profusion in all sections of the country, and the annual production increases with great rapidity. Some discoveries, however, were made in the early times, particularly of iron. There were iron works in Virginia in 1705; and in New York in 1732, six furnaces and nineteen forges were in operation. In 1702 there was a shot furnace at Plymouth, and in 1715 there were furnaces in Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, causing, by the way, so great displeasure to the Imperial Parliament, that in 1750 it forbade the erection of rolling mills. In 1651 General WINTHROP obtained a license for working "lead, copper or tin, or any materials." Under this license an argentiferous lead mine was worked at Middletown. In 1742 this same mine was reopened and found to be in a good state of preservation. In 1709, copper mines were worked at Simsbury, Connecticut, and in 1719 a mine of this metal was worked in Bellville, New Jersey, and still others in Lancaster County, Pa. The copper mines of Lake Superior were known in 1660 to the Jesuit missionaries, and the lead mines of the upper Mississippi were discovered in 1700, and were worked in 1780, by DUBUQUE, a French miner, whose name remains in the locality. The only coal mines worked in those early days were some on the James River, twelve miles above Richmond. The precious metals were altogether unknown, and dependence of the country upon Great Britain for the supply of iron was such, that little attention was paid to our own mines of that metal.

IRON.

After the year 1750, the working of iron was limited to the production of pig iron, for export to the mother country; and in 1771, about 7,251 tons were shipped hither. Our necessities during the revolutionary war created a demand, and gave a great impulse to production, so that iron

and lead ores were sought for with great eagerness. Subsequently the mining interest was increased rapidly, being developed by new inventions, and strengthened by accumulated capital. In 1810, the production was 54,000 tons of charcoal iron; in 1830, 165,000 tons; in 1840, 315,000 tons; in 1850, 564,755 tons; in 1860, 854,981 tons.

Up to 1840 charcoal had been the only fuel used in the manufacture of iron, and while it made, as compared with coke, a greatly superior quality, the general demands of the trade required a cheaper iron. In the year alluded to, a great change was produced by the introduction of anthracite coal for smelting purposes.

Three elements are essential in the production of pig-iron-ores, fuel to reduce them, and a suitable flux to aid the process by melting with and removing the earthy impurities of the ore, in a fiery, flamy, glossy cinder. Limestone is the flux most used, and, in our country, coal, limestone and iron ore, are generally found in close proximity. We have not space here to describe the several ores, but may state briefly they are hematities, magnetic and specular ores, the red oxides of the secondary rocks, and the carbonites. The first is the favorite, and three-fourths of all the iron of the United States is made from the first three varieties.

Up to 1840 the charcoal furnaces seldom made more than 4 tons per day. Since then larger furnaces, the use of hot blast, and more efficient blowing machinery, have raised the product to 10 or 12 tons per 24 hours. The development of this industry is now such, that it will probably go on doubling every ten years. The general tendency of circumstances in Great Britain is to raise the cost of coal and ore and labor, and to enhance the cost of the iron. While in the United States, owing to the great abundance of the ores, the improved means of transportation, and other circumstances, the cost is being reduced. The difference in price between the two countries will, before long, be in favor of the United States, and England may have to pay back for a portion of that iron of which she has hitherto been so prodigal.

COPPER.

Notwithstanding the great importance of the copper mines at present, it is only of very recent date in the history of the country, that this industry has been much pressed. Most of the States have more or less ore, but few of them have it in sufficient abundance to pay for working. The Simsbury mine, of Connecticut, was worked from 1709 to about 1750, when it was purchased by the State for a prison, and was worked sixty years by the convicts without much profit; another mine was opened at Bristol, Connecticut, in 1836, and gave 1,800 tons of ore, 18@20 per cent. copper, up to 1857, when it was abandoned. In New Jersey many mines have been worked and abandoned from insufficient supply of ores. leading ones were the Flemington mine, the Schuyler mine at Believille, the Bridgewater mine near Somerville, a mine near New Brunswick, and the Franklin mine. There were also mines in Pennsylvania, in Maryland, in New Hampshire. In Virginia ores are found near Manassas Gap, and in Carroll, Floyd and Grayson Counties, ores were discovered in 1852, giving 20 per cent of copper, and from one to two million pounds of ores per annum were sent over the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad from 1855 to

1860.

The

In Tennessee there is an important copper region in Polk, extending to

Gilmore County, Georgia, and about fourteen companies existed in the region, making 13,000 tons, giving 20 per cent copper, worth $1,300,000. There were several other important companies, owned mostly in New Orleans.

West of the Alleghanies the only valuable copper mines are those of Lake Superior. The existence of the copper in those regions was known to the Jesuits as early as 1659, and reports of the copper were received from time to time, until in 1819, Gen. Cass and Mr. SCHOOLCROFT visited the region, and reported upon the great mass of copper upon the Ontonagon. It was not until the ratification of a treaty with the Chippewa Indians, in 1842, that white traders visited the region, and about that time the reports of the State Geologist of Michigan drew attention to the vast mineral resources of the section. In 1844 great excitement prevailed on the subject, and an immense number of mining locations were issued at Washington, mostly for the neighborhood of Keweenaw Point. Since then the mining business has gradually consolidated, until now it is mostly confined to three districts-the first, Keweenaw Point; the second, about Portage Lake; and the third, near the Ontonagon River. The magnitude of the business in that region at present, is indicated in the following statement of the product of the Lake Superior Copper Mines for 1863:

These figures show a decrease on the production of 1862 of 413 tons,

4,104.55 2,439.29

2,004.67

...

8,548.53

which is confined entirely to the Ontonagon District; the Portage Lake and Keweenaw Districts showing an increase.

The following table will give, in round numbers, as nearly correct as possible to obtain, the amount of rough copper produced by the mines of Lake Superior since the first attempt to develop its richness by regular mining:

Lead like copper has been discovered in most of the Eastern States, but not in sufficient abundance or richness to pay for working to advantage. In Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania mines have been worked, but the great dependence for home supply has been on the prolific mines of Missouri and Wisconsin, which have given, since 1832, a large annual supply. This, however, culminated in the year 1846, or about the time of the gold discoveries of California, those discoveries drawing off the miners to the more dazzling region. The eastern States have experienced a greatly increased demand for lead during the last twenty years, since the introduction of the Croton water in New York city. That event was followed by similar enterprises in most cities of the Union, and, as a consequence, by a very marked increase in the demand for lead pipe. This demand was in addition to the growth of the regular demand for other purposes naturally attending the growth of a wealthy population.

The following table will show the decline in the payment on importations of lead consequent upon the prosecution of the Wisconsin mines, up to the time of the renewed demand for water works, which could be supplied only from abroad, mostly from England and Spain:

As a consequence of this increased demand, the prices naturally rose. During the last two years, however, they have been further excited by the depreciation of the paper currency. The following shows the highest and lowest prices, and the duties in each of several years:

The gold interest of the United States, which has now become one of the most important of the world, laid dormant three hundred years after the discovery of this country. Notwithstanding the cupidity of the pioneers, and the long distress of the settlers, the metals eluded their grasp until almost every other portion of the continent was settled. Suddenly, however, the glitter of gold attracted all to the hitherto neglected spot, for it was the most remote and inaccessible region that contained the desired metals in greatest abundance. Nearly all of the States of the Union contained more or less of this precious metal, but not in such quantities as to reward sufficiently the miner for his labor. Very early discoveries were made in North Carolina and Georgia; and in 1842, in Habersham County, there were also discovered various mining utensils and vestiges of huts, which had evidently been constructed by civilized men, but buried there for several centuries. It was supposed they belonged to DE SOTO'S party, which passed through the region in the sixteenth century on their way from Florida to the Mississippi river. Gold was discovered in Virginia in 1746. It is mentioned in South Carolina in 1802. The mines in those States were gradually developed until branch mints were established in 1838. Up to 1820, but $43,689 of native gold had found the United States mint. From that period, up to 1862, Virginia, Alabama, Georgia and North Carolina, had contributed $17,862,233 to the precious metals of the world.

The formations of the United States in which gold mines are worked, follow the Appalachians, and are productive chiefly on the eastern ranges. The extreme northern gold mines on this range are in Canada East, upon the Chaudiere river and its tributories. Gold has also been found in Vermont.

The most important gold region of the United States, and perhaps of the world, is that of California. Its development has not only largely multiplied the precious gold productions of the globe, but it has been the means of rapidly opening to the use of civilized nations, large territory of productive lands (which were before an unprofitable wilderness), founding new States, stimulating industry, enlarging the commerce of the