The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1899-12-21


viouslY acquainted only with poverty
often led to indulgence in vices from
which the newly made lord had before
been protected by want of means, OPP
portunity or temptation. I am quite
certain it brought to the surface every
hidden eccentricity of thought or man.
ner. There was much of coarseness,
much of reckless expenditure, much OF
wickedness, if you will; but there was
very little of pretentious vulgarity
Manual labor was better remunerated,
and, therefore, more respected than
ever before, and, as a consequence. no
body was ashamed of any kind of hon
est work. The very insecurity Of the
titles by which fortunes were held, and
the facility with which they were
made and lost, rendered the lucky man
OF to-day considerate of the unfortunate
whose place he might occupy to-mor-
row. Besides, what shall we aristo-
Gratis do? 1t is hard to shake" the
friend who knew us when we peddled
potatoes or drove a cart. For myself,
In my heart 1 have no sympathy for
those who have come to grief. The dis
reputable person who in early days
made money and lost it again, has long
since, very properly, been dispatched to
limbo; for surely there is nothing
Which so excites the just Indignation of
true republicans as a low origin. But
some inferior persons who acquired
fortunes in the fall of 40 and the
spring of 90 managed to keep tbenl-
nay, even to use them wifi considerable
liberality; educating their children, aid
ing the less fortunate, encouraging
laudable enterprise, patronizing the
arts. The statute of limitations has
run in favor of these. But whether we
forgive them or not, their children will
buy pedigrees, ard we won't Dc here
to point to the small beginnings of their
fathers. -
The earlier of the foreign residents,
pioneers of the first class, were gentle
men; Suffer, Reading, Larkin, Stearns,
Murphy, Hensley, Bidwell Marsh,
Yount and others "a few of whom still
tarry, but most have preceded US to
another shore) were all agreeable and
notably polite companions. AS indi-
viduals, they differed widely in ac-
quirements and natural capacity. But
If some had been denied an early cult
walton, such had acquired certain pol
ish by contact with the native Califor-
mans, many of whom retained the high
bred courtesy of the caballeros of the
time of the conquest. Now a sensual
and materialistic generation, which be-
longs to its belongings, and upon whom
the upholsterer and man milliner have
a lifelong lien, is apt to confound lux
urious indulgence with true refinement
Such generation can hardly comprehend
that elegance and beauty may as well
be nourished by diet of tortillas and
ola podrida as by pate de foie gras
and bourgogne. But better than tesse-
lated pavement or Turkish rug is an
earthen floor and content Herewith.
Surely, there was as much genuine hos
pitality, as much kindliness and sim
pHcity, grace and dignity among the
Spanish American ladies of California
as could be found in the same number
elsewhere. Physically the equal of any
man on earth, the ranchero reigned at
the head of his dependents and neo-
phyte Indians-a chief. He had the air
Of self respect and self reliance, which.
as observed by Macaulay, distinguishes
the man accustomed to be surrounded
by interiors, whom he advises, governs
and holds in subsection. Whatever his
faults, he had many virtues, which the
pioneers of our own race, those who
fought and conquered his, were the
first to recognize and praise. =
THE AMERICANS IN THE NORTH.
After the secularization of the mis-
sions, the Indians were settled upon the
haciendas from Sonoma to San Diego;
their rancherias furnished the vauuero
and farm Ia and tho in 1;x,e<7
in cheerful subordination to the supe-
rior race. But it required a complex
society and more energetic people to
develop the resources of the region they
occupied; Spaniard and Indian must
give way to the citizens of the United
States of the North. Already and be-
fore the change of flag at Monterey,
the enterprising and sagacious-the
wise men OF the East-had anticipated
a prosperity for California, and had
even projected schemes for the estab-
llshment of colony upon the margin
OF the great bay where nature had in
dicated the site of the coming metropo-
lis. Doubtless, as the teeming produc-
tiveness OF our soil and the charms of
our varied climate became known, a
very considerable population would
nave been drawn to this coast. But
the almost boundless extent and ex-
haustless wealth of the Valley of the
Mississippi were open to the European
and Eastern settlers, and our fruitful
soil and climate of themselves alone
would have induced comparatively few
TO tempt the mysterious dangers of the
unknown region" that lay between. 1t
was the apparent design of Divine
Providence that a great population
should be suddenly massed upon the
Pacific Coast, thus thanking the desert
plains and mountains of the interior
some extraordinary reward must be
held out to the enterprise of the world :
some, too, of the almost insuperabIe OBJ
stacles to the support of vast armies
OF immigration must be removed
Hence, the preparation by the Latter
Day Saints of a resting place-where
the pilgrim caravans to the land of
gold might be refreshed and supplied
surely, nothing less than the desire to
eVade religious persecution would have
lnouced that singular people to pitch
their tents in the desert valley of the
Great salt Lake. Hence. too. the dis
covery of gold in California. These are
instances among many in the history
Oh mankind where great designs have
oeen accomplished through the instru-
mentality OF agents themselves. seeking
some other object, or ignorant of the
momentous character of the events in
which they took part. All, thew who
came to Christianize the Indians were
Few; those who rushed hither to snatch
the glittering prize, gold, were legion.
Parthians and Modes and dwellers in
MeSODOta mia