The Press. — London, England, 1857-01-03 00:00:00

18 in a close compilation. The information they give should have been embodied in the narra tive. These defects, however, are, we 1 clicve, not so much inherent in the author himself as generated by the nature of the work he has undertaken to perform. He appears to have much talent for lucid narration, and to be by no means deficient in reflective power. But both have been marred by the rapidity with which it was necessary for him to write to bring down the history to so late a period. He who thinks in a hurry ruins his reflective faculties, as certainly as he who eats in a ;furry ruins his digestive organs. We, of course, can only speak of books as we find them, but the writers of such as these hardly get fair play. The style of their performances must be leniently judged, as we have no right to expect more than a bare record of facts. This volume embraces, as will be seen, all the most interes+ing events of the forty years' peace. The Roman Catholic Emancipation Act, the Reform Bill, th. Repeal of the Corn Laws, the Revolutions of 1$ Is, the Great Ex hibition, and the Russian War,—all these are treated in business-like style, and the earlier ones with commendable perspicuity. California, In-doors and Out. By Eliza W, Farnham. London : Sampson Low and Son. CALIFORNIA presents an exhaustless theme for tourists and travellers. its variety of life, its extraordinary characters, and its social aspects, seem always fresh, just as Spain ever imparts some literary vivacity to the dullest tourist who ever slept in a posadu or smoked a cigaretta in the native country of Gil Bias. This American work before us is remarkable, even in Californian literature, for "the expe riences "of its writer. Its commencement is most startling : There are few more difficult and disagreeable tasks than the vindication of one's-self against charges and accusa tions so vague that i is impossible to put them into a form in which yea will be yea to them, and nay, nay. I had determined, in writing this little volume upon California, to give no heed to the vulgar slanders that heralded my emigration hither, and to obtrude no relation of the trials that attended the wearisome voyage. The one came from a coarse, but perhaps, in many minds, an honest misapprehension of one of the best endeavours of my life ; the others grew, m my case, as they have in thousands of similar ones, out of the oppor tunity possessed by a brutal and tyrannical nature, to indulge itself in paining and wounding to the utmost one which it could neither assimilate nor approach. A strong-minded woman !" cry some of our readers ; and certainly Mrs. Farnham hail to endure much, by her own account. The cap tain of the ship and the authoress did not agree. At. Valparaiso the captain refused to take a servant of Mrs. Farnham without a passport ; altercation seems to have ensued ; the lady said that she would go on shore to get one from the consul, and off she went, leaving on board her two children and their governess, " Miss Sampson" (happy designa tion) ! Let the authoress tell what fol lowed : I passed hastily down the ship's side, and we pulled ashore. We stopped but a moment at the consulate, but long enough to get a note to the intendente and learn that the miscreant had no authority whatever to demand any paper, and that the very moment before going into the boat to go off, he had promised Mr. Samuels faithfully to do nothing to annoy us in regard to this matter. At the intendente's office, which was directly in our way hack, we were told that the captain had said that he hated me, and meant to play this trick upon me ; and although the gentlemanly official assured me, in broken English, that I had no business with a passport for the woman, he gave me a slip of paper written hastily upon, which pro cured it for inc at an office two or three doors from his own ; and when I had paid all and borrowed three or four dollars front the gentlemen who accompanied me, I had a sine le shilling left in my pocket. In twenty-five minutes from the time we landed we were again on the mole, with all that was required. In an hoar and fifteen minutes from the time we left the ship's aid we were well out in the harbour in a four-oared boat, Pulling around the point, whither, the men at the water side informed us, the ship had proceeded. I could not altogether repress a certain heart-chill when I saw she haul left tier moorings in that short space of time; hut Lieut. E— was so firm in the belief that he had only shoved out of sight to startle and annoy me, and I felt the dread that struck me to be so nearly an impossibility, that until we cleared the point, and looked full out to sea, I did not really doubt that a few minutes more wonld place me beside my children. At this moment I can see that vessel as she looked in the distance. as plainly as these black lines on the white page before me—her grey sails and ropes, her paler spars 0 , ;- Act, the Refori Laws, the Rev , hibition, and treated in bus ones with con . California, In Farnham. r Son. , it CALIFORNIA pr tourists and t extraordinary i:' aspects, seem 3., imparts sorm tourist who e .•• a cigaretta in .'-- This America even in Cali . riences " of it most startlin There are few the vindication c Lions so vague tt . e • in which yea wi determined, in v to give no heed ' emigration hitht t ic that attended th ' r The one can minds, an lion endeavours of i they have in the tunity possesse .1. indulge itself it % . which it could t • A strong-r readers ; ani endure mire tain of the agree. At I • take a sell • passport ; i the lady sa get one fn. leaving on k governess, ' tion) ! Le , lowed : I passed ha .... ~ \ ashore. We i long enough t the miscreant paper, and th boat to go off, do nothing to At the lntei back, we were me, and mean k f. th e gentlemat • that I had no gave me a ell cured it for own ; and wlt dollars front t single shillini were l'i again t s.e. of t • la , , boor and fiftt aid ~ we were Pulling arottr side informe altogether re left 'ter moot E— was a , out of sight that struck r :1 we cleared tl ; i . " really doubt beside my el .. .:, At this m the distance page before THE PRESS. and yards, her black hull, already partially hidden from my view, are all fixed fur ever in my memory. She stood before my straining sight, a phantom vanishing so swiftly and surely, with the fresh, steady breeze filling her hol lowed sails, that the hope with which I first caught sight of her died out of my heart in a moment, and a sickening, terrible conviction that she was gone, settled down upon me like the chill of death. Beside that dreadful vision, I only remember catching the blank look of the faces about me, until we were again on the mole. I did not faint, for 1 am strong and rest). ' lute by nature; but my faculties seemed stunned and scattered, and only when I found myself again on my feet, destitute, in a city of strangers , did they regather to my aid. It seems now like a horrible dream, that return to the shore ; and the landing and meeting people face to face, like the awakening to a worse reality. What a scene Captain Marryat would have made out of that " bit of life " ! Who will say that the world is cruel when this strong minded lady fell in with so many good Samaritans ? I had advanced but a few steps on the mole, when we were met by an elderly gentleman of the same party to which Lieut. E— belonged. We had experienced his kind regard for our comfort, both at St. Catherine's and this place; and when, looking into my blanched face, he gathered from that gentleman, in half a dozen words, the fast that the ship had sailed with my children, his quickly suffused eyes and cordial grasp of the hand removed in a moment the suffocating restraint upon my feelings ; and as he drew my hand into his arm, and said, " You must go down and see our consul ; he is a very kind, considerate person, and yours is absent," the stifling sensation about the heart left me, and tears came to my relief. I found the English consul all that Mr. T— had assured me that h e was—sympathetic, manly, practical. He told him where he would find a quiet house for we to stop in ; put an ounce into my hand to provide for my immediate wants, and assured me that, although T was in a strange city, I was among a people who would not only not let me suffer but would spare me even the apprehension of it. I never saw this good gentleman after; but his name, face, and manner are preserved in my memory, and will never be forgotten. His reception of a stranger in my condition amid not have been kinder or more judicious. But I was not left to the painful desolation of a hotel. Tn less than an hour I was under the hospitable roof of the excellent clergyman whot.n I have before named, and by noon of the next day I was furnished with a wardrobe, bountiful enough to have supplied me for a six months' voyage. Surely the prompt liberality of those generous people could not have been excelled. Houses were opened to me and money supplied for my wants, and I was assured that my passage should be secured in the first vessel in which I could be comfortably accommodated, if the ship which had left tue did not put back—a belief which several persons did not abandon till the third day. 1 never en tertained it, and yet when they talked of its being so cruel and extraordinary a step, and said, again and again, that surely he never would go on, carrying little children away from their only parent to a country like California, I could not help hoping a little, and my eyes were often searching the distant waters for the gladdening sight. But she did not return, and I thank heaven that I knew too well the hard nature which commanded her to be disappointed thereat. We have read all sorts of pamphlets and proposals about " emigration," but the Blue books contain no such " circular " as the ollowing. We commend it to attention:- - - - New York, February 2nd, 1849. The death of my husband, Thomas J. Farnham, Esq., at San Francisco, in September last, renders it expedient that I should visit California during the coming season. Having a desire to accomplish some greater good by my journey thither than to give the necessary attention to my private affairs, and believing that the presence of women would be one of the surest cheeks upon many of the evils that are apprehended there, I desire to ask attention to the following sketch of a plan for organising a party of such persons to emigrate to that country. Among the many privations and deteriorating influences to which the thousands who are flocking thither will he subjtated, one of the greatest is the absence of woman, with all her kindly cares and powers, so peculiarly comer votive to man under such circumstances. It would exceed the limits of this circular to hint at the benefits that would flow to the growing population of that wonderful region, from the introduction among them of intelligent, virtuous, and efficient women. Of such only it is proposed to make up this company. It is believed that there are hundreds, if not thousands, of such females in our country who are not bound by any tie that would hold them here, who might, by going thither, have the satisfac- tion of employing themselves greatly to the benefit and advantage of those who are there, and at the same time of serving their own interest more effectually than by follow. ing any employment that offera to them here. It is proposed that the company shall consist of persons not under twenty.five years of age, who shall bring from their clergyman, or some authority of the town where they reside, satisfactory testimonials of education, character, capacity, etc.. and who can contribute the sum of two hundred and fitly dollars, to defray the expenses of the voyage, make suitable provision for their accommodation after reaching San Francisco, until they shall be able to enter upon some occupation for their support, and create a fund to be held in reserve for the relief of any who may be ill, or otherwise need aid before they are able to provide for themselves. It is believed that such an arrangement, with one hun dred or one hundred and thirty persons, would enable the company to purchase or charter a vessel, and fit it up with SATURDAY, everything necessary to comfort on the voyage, and that the combination of all for the support of each would give such security, both as to health, person, and character, as would remove all reasonable hesitation from the minds of those who may be disposed and able to join such a mission. It is intended that the party shall include six or eight respectable married men and their families. Those who desire further information will receive it by calling on the subscriber at ELIZA W. FARNHAM. We are bound to add that several distinguished American gentlemen public l y approved of the plan. In justice to the authoress we shall cite their recommendation : We, the undersigned, having been made acquainted with the plan proposed by Mrs. Farnham, in the above circular, hereby express our approbation of the saute, and recommend her to those who may be disposed to unite with her in it, as worthy the trust and confidence necessary to its successful conduct. lion. J. W. Edmonds, Judge Freeman Hunt, Esq. Superior Court. Thomas C. Doremus, Esq. Hon. W.'l'. McCoun, late Vice- W. C. Bryant, Esq. Chancellor. Shepherd Knapp, Hon. 11. F. Butler, late li. S. Rev. George Potts, D.D. Attorney. Rev. Henry W. Beecher. Hon. H. Greeley. Miss Cath'ne Sedgwick. Isaac T. Ilopper, Esq. Mrs. C. M. Kirkland. To which she appends this statement of - " results" : I was ill two months following the publication of this paper, and the time set for sailing was too soon after my recovery to permit persons. who wished to avail themselves of this plan, to make their preparations. Only three ladies, of more than two hundred who communicated with me, came out in my cluipany. Two of these have returned with the means of living comfortably the rest of their days, and with unstained reputations, anti the third is at this timo a member of my family. The book is certainly readable, though ex tremely odd. It seems like such a volume as might be composed from the rapid talk of a vehement, clever, and projecting " advocate of " the rights of woman. We should have pre- ferred the matter presented to us in the pages of a novel, with less literary cant and less affected enthusiasm about authors. She preaches long and often in the following strains : The beautiful proportions of the moral nature will bo gradually broken down, as the surface of the stone is hollowed, and its original form in part destroyed by the unceasing friction. And magnificent as is nature here, grand as is the scale of her operations, and lavish as she is cf all that can furnish material comfort, or external con solations, there will, I fear, be little in the social and moral life of the country for many years to invite those whose natures expose them to sufferings from these causes. And yet only in the presence of women is to be found the efficient remedy for these great evils. The martyr women ot California will one day have an honourable place assigned them, when history shall fill her noblest office and truthfully interpret the motives that lead to noble actions. For they come regardless of the trials and dan gers that await them; every steamer sends its precious freight throughout the length and breadth of our borders. The home, holiest and purest nursery of what is good in the heart, springs up everywhere before woman. In town and country, canon and ravine, on mountain and in valley, the sacred temple rises at the bidding of this true mission ary ot love and purity. Her presence is the guarantee for the hest manifestation of his nature of which man is capable, amid the influences which here surround him ; and bad as it often is. we may rest assured that without her it would be inconceivably worse. There is no country in the world where the highest attributes of the female character are more indispensable to the social weal than in California; for nowhere else have the indomitable energies, the quick desires, and the wide-reaching purposes of the Saxon nature been sub mitted to so severe a test of their self regulating power. And she gives a specimen of how others preach in California. She went to a Methodist chapel, and was thus edified: — When the prayer was closed, he announced his text in the words, " Now abideth faith, hope, charity," etc. Ile said that no doubt the text was familiar to most of his hearers ; that they had often heard it preached from — so often, that may be they would think there couldn't be any new sermon made on it. He knew it was true ; it had been preached on a great many times, but for all that he considered it one of the texts that would bear frequent examination. His sermon, though pronounced in the language of an illiterate man, did nut lack good common sense or moral tone. "Is our souls sot heavenward ?" he exclaimed ; " it' they be, we shall move on the road to it ; but some folks, talking of going to heaven and hoping to get there, is like a man at home in the old States saying he hoped to get to Kelly/ern!, while all the time he sot still:' The conclusion of her work records hopes which we fear have already been disap pointed : This is the commencement of an era of improvement in California, which will lift her out of some of her many degradations. The State will not again become the parsdise it has been for rogues and shameless men. The election of this year, it is hoped and expected, will result in the actual choosing of a set of officers by the people, not only in San Francisco, but throughout the State; for the 111.