San Andreas independent., 1858-09-18

nv" ihE ANNUAL ADDRESS DrIIvrprn
lceisco, TO- ON THE NINTH DAY OF sEprrsarp
Ao'o, BY FREDERICK P. TRACY.
1nr. fresadent and MemJe7s Of tie Soc;et,, q,
tSuego'naa ftoneers-"P will renew at Cher.
Sousg .ne marvels of Egypt" said the prca,
h"Po'eon ana that saying just now. inscri-
De. upon the pedestal of his statue standing
GI'u ui'use the new and massive Notifications Of
eioourg startles England as menace OF
"af. England may rest in quiet There will
a,.enpt 10 renew the marvels of Bona
pa.'e egyptian campaign. But both Napo-
Icons may have dreamed that. in the gigantic
iuoies OF Cherbourg, they might rival the
grandeur and the strength of the pyramids,
ana IN its sculptures, the glorious beauties of
nemnon and the Sphinx. And truly, the vast
dead marvcls of Egypts architecture may be
rivaled. Other tombs and temples may be
hewn in the rocks other columns and obe-
lisks may rise in beauty; other sphinxes NAV
In silence propose their eternal riddles to other
lands; and other pyramids may lift their
mountain forms over the hushed plains crouch
ing at their feet. Greater marvels even than
Egypt ever saw may be born of necessity and
science, and not Cherbourg alone, but this and
other lands may yet behold them
little more than ten years ago, California
lay In the Incidence and silence of that Sum-
mer MONDAY in which she had been basking
for ages. few idle villages slept by the
shores OF her bays; few squallid ranches
dotted the interior with patches of wretched
cultivation. There were herds of cattle in
her valleys. but they were almost valueless for
want of market. There were churches. but
their Ginning bells woke only the echoes of a
vast solitude. The sun ripened only the har-
Vaqf nf xriIA t- H. Ill
ofprey made their lairs in security close by
the abodes of men, Seldom did merchant
ship spread her white wings in the ofing: sell
dom did the vaquero, in his solitary rounds
hear the dip of the oar upon our rivers. ST.
lence, deep and everlasting, broofed over all
the land, and the lone oaks on the hills appear
ed like sentinels keeping guard around the
sleeping camp of nature.
Look around you! Ten years only have
passed since the first gold was discovered in
this Territory. How brief is that ten years in
the history of d natonl Yet what do you now
behold Our vote for President of the United
States, in 1856, was about 10000 represent
ing population of 50O,0 900. The taxable
property of the State is listed Mt about $780,
100000. Our annual exports, exclusive of
gold, amount to at least $l2, ,0OO, ,OOO OF gold
itself, we have produced since the beginning
of l848, not less than 100000, ,OOO And we
now have more than 100000 acres of land in
closed for farming purposes. Truly the will
derness and the solitary place have been made
glad and the desert has rejoiced and blossom
ed as the rose. From the point of observa-
ton that we occupy to-day, as from some
mountain top, we look far down the vale of
peace where this wide river of our prosperity
varAS fha Acto
ture; and hope that, when the mist and shad-
ow shall be lifted from that future, we may
find that California has been floating onward
towards wealth, and power, and high renown.
x x x
But who, in the far distant ages, shall
proudly declare that his ancestors " came with
the pioneers at the first settlement of Cali
forniaR The answer to the question depends
upon what kistcry shall record Of you. IT,
with unbending wills, and earnest, honest
hearts, you apply yourselves to build up Cali
fornia in all that can make her great and
well governed State; if you Danish the evil
from amongst you, and establish the good and
true; if you make the liberty of the citizen,
and equal justice between all men to be the
permanent law; if you drive out corrup-
ton and fraud if you establish industry and
good morals as the condition of social or po-
lltical eminence; if. in word, you lay the
foundations of this State so deep in justice
and truth and adaptation to the wants of
the coming ages that the State shall endure in
prosperity as monument of your enterprise,
wisdom and patriotism, then will the genera
tons yet unknown, rise up to honor your
names, and the historian who writes in centu-
ries yet to be, viii proudly record how the pi-
oneers of California-men suited to so great a
work-founded an empire and stamped it with
the seal of their own great thoughts and pur-
poses.
congratulate you, Pioneers of California,
on the proud position you occupy.
You are living, you are dwelling
In grand and awful time,
In an age ages telling
To be living is sublime.
You are presiding at the birth of a nation
you shape its destinies and mould its future
according to your own will. Your works will
speak for you in the coming ages. If you
make California glorious, you will be immor-
tai if you make her base and vile, she vii
return her shame on your heads.
1t was my lot in ls4S to witness the revolu.
ton that overturned the throne of France, ano
drove Louis Philippe into exile, and though
it the fortune of lifetime to be present at thu
downfall of a great Government. But how
much moro is the blood of mbition stirred by
the thought that one is present and an actol
in the erection of an Empire-of an Empire
that for centuries to come is to sit the undis
puted mistress of these vast seas that spreat
themselves at our feet.
Pioneers, the men who come after you vii
rule only the hour in which they live. Yor
are the masters Of the approaching centuries
They come bending like slaves at your feet
and wait to know your pleasure. 1t is yours
if YOU will to fill those centuries with the glory
OF California, and your own high renown. Al
that you do in these early plastic times of the
State, will remain stamped upon her forever
and yet sit here, masters, while the monument'
of your own immortal fame are being built.
Pioneers of California, the eyes of the world
are fixed upon this young State-they ART
Fixed upon you. A great trust is committed tt
your hands by the events that have made yot
Pioneers. Take care that you discharge tha
trust with honor to yourselves, and so tha
California may achieve the glorious destiny
that is her due. Take care that you SO con
duct the youth of this State that centurie.
hereafter your descendants may say proudly o
of their ancestor: He came in with the Pic
neers.
0rEAD Er aov-ENrx,