CHAPTER XVIII.

EXTRACTS FROM A CIRCULAR ADDRESSED TO CALIFORNIANS, --AND FROM SEVERAL OF HIS PRIVATE LETTERS.

In his Address to the "CITIZENS OF CALIFORNIA", dated at the City of New York, May 28, 1850, which he had printed in circular form and distributed among his acquaintance and friends in California, then engaged in inaugurating a State Constitution and Government, Mr. IDE makes an earnest appeal to their patriotism, magnanimity and self-respect. It is too long for insertion entire here; yet it is too characteristic of the man--who had been charged (by men of so high standing, we are informed, as to require some attention by way of refutation), with want of fealty to his own paternal government. We therefore give the few extracts from it that follow:

"Do you still hesitate to secure the appointment from among yourselves, by your own free suffrage, of such servants as may be employed among you for the general benefit? * * * Will you still linger, that your country's dearest interests may be longer merged beneath the party strifes of a far-off people, who have little knowledge of, and less interest in the prosperity of your own homes?"

"It does not become your humble servant to recount his services, nor to ask anything, individually, at your hands. He was not introduced into a responsible position by any contrivance of his own. But amid confusion and want of order, he chose to stand--to die--by a fixed resolve, rather than to prolong--to forfeit existence, by the degradation of the spirit of FREEMEN--the profanation of the Temple of Liberty.

"When the voice of the half-lingering sons of Freedom, by united acclamation, uplifted that rude ensign of Unity and Equity--then were broken the manacles of usurpation: then, as it were, was a NATION born! By no premeditated conspiracy was it designed; by no stealthy fraud was it sustained; by no unhallowed ambition was it propelled. It shrunk not from the performance of duty from fear of the consequences. The heart of every freeman was given to it; the peaceable citizen received its protection. The vile usurper of the authority of Mexico and of your rights fled from the first touch of its constancy: yet designing artifice and insatiable avarice quaked, and plotted its ruin. It bowed in respect to the 'Father of Liberty'; yet it enveloped its dignity amid the folds of the parental robe. It is now reported back to you for safe keeping.

"Which of your towns or villages did not surrender to your citizens, for the establishment of your own independent sovereignty? When the last act of the drama was 'played',--the taking of De Angelos--it was a proper expression of your sovereignty.

"Will any of your opponents (if there may be any), instance the taking of Monterey? So did that honorable Commodore [Stockton] frankly acknowledge, that he found no other government than yours in the country; adding, 'to you, sooner or later, must the country be surrendered.' Neither was there a vestige of Mexican authority found afterwards in your whole country; especially within any comeatable distance of your constituted authority: for Mexico had ceased for a long time to maintain her authority among you. You have never, in an organized capacity or otherwise, alienated your sovereignty. Your whole country was possessed a name and an identity; with laws, customs and usages long established, and peculiar to the interests of its citizens, which cannot be changed to the slightest diminution of the properly vested rights of the former inhabitants, without the grossest violation of common justice and national law.

"Mexico never claimed to exercise a property right in your soil, your mines or your unoccupied lands. She never sought to enrich herself by selling 'acres' not her own--all were the rightful inheritance of the citizens. She gave, in compliance with such laws and usages as still constitute a part of your personal property-rights, those lands to such citizens (or strangers as might desire citizenship) as were pleased, in accordance with their vested rights in those laws and usages, to ask for the same. Nor were those laws and usages subject to change or alteration by the Mexican government, being founded in the nature and fitness of things--on the self-evident fact, that the earth is the common heritage of MAN, to be acquired by possession and USE, instead of arrogance, force or fraud.

"What of the 'Fifteen Millions'? Mexico could not, under any circumstances, have sold you. Had the strongest governmental ties, cemented by the most amicable relations, have existed, the bare conception of the thought of such falsehood would have been a sufficient quitclaim and transfer to you of INDEPENDENCE. Will any Californian sacrifice his interest in the AMERICAN NAME ?--his exhiliarating hope in the proper extension of equal liberty, which can only be based on a proper regard for the just rights of individuals; of individuals associated in communities; of individuals composing the densely inhabited district, or the sparcely peopled desert; of individuals composing a sectional State, delegate, or 'Confederate' government? INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS! for the want of a clear and comprehensive knowledge of which, THE AMERICAN UNION, even now, hangs trembling, like the scathed leaf to the fruitless bough, amid the frosts of winter!

"Mexico received no money on account of your dependence.

Let not your country now pay tribute to a distant and dissimilar land, whose people neither know nor regard your interests. What interest have you in the quarrels of Mexico? Or, what interest had Mexico in the matter of disposing of your sovereignty? Are you to be bought and sold 'like sheep in the shambles'?

"Rather encourage the settlement of your own country, and reward your own patriots, who pledged their lives for the support of your common liberties; and give those Ranchos, and the 100 varas of mining lands to such as ask for them, as all your sons have the right to claim and receive, according to long, and well established law and usage;--and thus encourage your sons to protect, defend, enrich, beautify and populate your OWN country--your children's HOME!"

In a letter to one of his brothers dated at Sonoma, June 25, 1847, Mr. IDE, gives the following account of the habits and mode of life of the native inhabitants of the land, as he then found them:

I have a hundred Indians to employ and to clothe: and one half of them are now unemployed. Their labor is to cultivate the soil, to ditch, fence, build and improve the same lands over which their fathers have spent their lives in idleness and nakedness for thousands of years. They have hitherto increased beyond the ability of the country, by its natural productions, to support them. They have, apparently, never cultivated the smallest plant, tree or shrub. They have subsisted on fish, scorns, roots, clover and many other kinds of grass--berries, and the flesh of the elk, deer, antelope, rabbit and smaller quadrupeds--and quails, which are very numerous.

They live, in the rainy season, in conical tents, about 10 feet in diameter, covered with thatched mash of leaves, sticks, reeds or rushes. They make floats or rafts [balsies] of bull-rushes [tula]. The women wear an apron, or bunch of willow bark, like a mop, which is made fast about the hips by a cord of the same material, and extends downward from a foot to 18 inches, in a profuse pile of strings before and behind.

The men are entirely naked, except they sometimes throw an antelope skin over their shoulders. They still exist, as in former times, in small tribes [Ranchorees] of from 100 to 4 or 500 men, speaking different dialects, and are frequently enemies to each other. They look to the white man who owns the land they inhabit as their 'Great Chief,' and expect him to defend them from the attacks of their neighbors, and also from their natural enemy, the Grizzly Bear, whose flesh they refuse to eat--for the reason, as they believe, that he was once human, but became beastly in consequence of his disposition to eat human flesh.

In the time of the year for clover, (of which California produces spontaineously 12 different kinds), they resort to the most favored spots, and dwell in booths made of bushes. In the season for fish they dwell in thick willow groves, on the low banks of the rivers, and sleep in beds of sand. In time of oats-harvest the squaws gather large quantities by swinging a basket made of the bark of roots against the tops of the ripe grain, a part of which falls into the basket. In time of acorns, the squaws gather immense quantities, which they put in store-houses made of small sticks interwoven with willow bark, which they keep for winter use. These acorns are their corn, which is pounded, sifted, and made into various kinds of bread.

These Indians are required by a law of California to clothe themselves, and their services belong to the man who furnishes them with the means for clothing, till all arrears are paid. We generally employ the boys, and when they prove faithful we clothe their fathers, who only work in the wheat harvest. The word of the landholder is the Indian's law; but the owner is not to do him any injustice. He is the Indian's governor, and may punish him according to certain rules: but he cannot sell him, or take away his children without his consent.

These Indians are voracious eaters. They have nothing to sell that will command spiritous liquors, and consequently, they are not drunkards; but they are "the slaves of tobacco"!

I have given you this concise history of the natives of the land, in part for the purpose of explaining my own situation. I have now two*15* farms which I have purchased and paid for. The first is situated at the bead of steamboat navigation on the Sacramento River, which I selected as the most favored site for a "city of the Sacramento valley", on account of its beauty, and the sandy nature of its soil, which renders it dry and free from mud in the winter, and green and fertile in the summer--on account, also, (and more especially), of the vast amount of pine timber in the valleys above, on the River, which can be most conveniently sawed there, and of the fertility of the Upper Valley, which must be supplied from some point near this by land-carriage.

But it is not yet time to talk of building cities, where families are from five to ten miles apart!

We have before us another letter from JUDGE IDE, to a nephew of his, in his off-hand racy, and familiar style, from which we give a few extracts, showing how Indians can be civilized by kind treatment, easier than by the "shotgun"; and how "Lynch-law" has been organized, and how it has operated in times past. It was written to a young man who, in 1861, enlisted in Captain AUSTIN'S company of Sharpshooters in the war of the great Rebellion, and was killed in the battle at Yorktown, Va., April 5, 1862. This letter was in answer to his inquiries respecting California, as a place for his future residence.

"Monroeville, April 20, 1851.

"Not having room enough in the "Main Sheet," I put up a "jib", just to finish my story, and sign my name on.

"The Indians that come from the Mountains say that they could not live with their mountain companions, unless they would join them to steal horses and cattle; so they came down to live with our Indians, that we might know that they were good men. They say that they have often seen us while we were hunting in the mountains, and were afraid of us; so they hid in the thick bushes: but after we were gone, they went back to their house, and found that we took nothing away with us, nor did we injure anything of theirs; therefore we were friends and good men. They say that their companions laugh at them, and call them cowards.

"They asked us to let them see us shoot, and went off a hundred yards and set up a cane in the ground, and said they wanted to see if we could cut it down so far off. So William took his rifle and cut their cane down with a ball. This pleased them much--giving us to understand that they would not join the mountain Indians, but would fight for us, and work for us, and-- wál-o-men kï-nnör bö-hok hörnen--i. e., they would live with us, on hire, a long time.

"Now dont be alarmed about the 'Indian difficulties'. We have not been in the least terrified. I have, alone, chased a hundred of them: but now the leaders of the war party are dead, and many of their followers are crippled, and I think they will not again disturb us.

"But I must close: this is Court-day, and as I am one of the Associate Justices, it is somewhat necessary that I should attend. I suppose that some of the nabobs of your country will be I 'horrified' to hear, that such a person as myself should be 'dubbed' with the title of 'JUDGE'; but strange things happen in California. It is undoubtedly very improper; but so it is, and we must put up with it the best way we can.

"Well, we must 'live and learn.' Judge Lynch was becoming very popular in the northern mines, and men were quite often hung. Stealing the value of twenty dollars is now made, by legislative enactment, grand larceny, and grand larceny is punished by hanging.-- And further: a jury of twelve qualified voters are made 'judges of the law and of the facts'; so there is not much for Judge Lynch to do, but just call the Court to order, by appointing the officers--as it is impossible, in such a floating population as we have here, that any local officers should exist.

"It is thought that the new law, called the 'hanging law', is beginning to restore order by establishing disorder.

How that is to be brought about we shall soon see. The hanging goes on bravely, and none appear to be hung amiss. When they come to the hanging point they confess more than is laid to their charge. But this is an unsocial subject. * * * [He then gives an account of his financial, farming and mechanical operations, and closes with]

"Fare-thee-well. Love to all who inquire for

"WILLIAM B. IDE.

"JOHN S. M. IDE, Claremont, N. H."

"Ide's Rancho, July 23, 1851.

"I am very lonely. James and Daniel are absent on an expedition against the Indians, who are becoming very troublesome to white people.

"At my nearest neighbor's at the east, across the Sacramento, about one mile distant, a man named James McKenney was shot while lying asleep in his bed, on the 17th inst., at 10 o'clock at night, and died on the 19th. The arrow entered the lower part of the abdomen, a little forward of the left hip joint, and ranged so as to lodge the point of the arrow against the inside of the pelvis. The only remedy decided upon by the attending physician, was to cut open the body, take out the entrails, wash them, sew them up and put them back, after having removed every foreign substance; --then sew up the body, and cover the wounded part with some light, adhesive plaster to exclude the air and water--then battle constantly with cold water, and apply glysters, as they did for two days; and if these operations could not save the man, there was no remedy. A surgeon was also called, who said it 'was too nice a job for him': but I was in hopes he would recover, as he was free from pain. This is the fifth man who has fallen by the Indian's arrow, this summer, within a short distance of my house--four of them died and one recovered. Three Indian thieves have been shot by white men, within the same distance and time.

"The Indians are gathering together from all quarters at a place east of the River, about six miles north of my house, as we are told by a man who came down last evening--in numbers aggregating some 7 to 10 hundred men, women and children. Another man reports having seen 150 or 200, on their way thither from the south of this. All these are understood to be valley Indians, who have for three or four years been friendly to the settlers; but the conduct of the foreign miners has been such toward them, in common with that of the Mountain Indians (their enemies), that little or no dependence can be placed on their friendship. If they become enemies, they will be far more dangerous than the Mountain Indians, as they know all about our business, occupation, &c., and where they can most successfully lie in wait for us.

"James and Daniel have been gone five days. I heard from them two days ago. They had had a battle, but owing to their party having got divided, only five of the men were engaged in it. They had the advantage of a good piece of ground, where they could charge on the Indians with their horses. The fight lasted an hour or more. It was difficult to say how many opposed them --probably from 50 to 100. They were quite sanguine in the attack--came up knife in hand; but soon took to the bush. Our men brought off one prisoner, and received a slight scratch of an arrow.

"A few weeks ago we had another battle, in which the Indians were beaten, with the loss of 8 or 10 killed, and 15 or 20 wounded. But the most ludicrous was the 'war' declared expressly against myself, by a Rancherio of Indians, living on the low hills back of my farm.-- This war was contrived and headed, if not declared, by one of my neighbor Shareid's buckeries [horse-riders]. He ran away from his employer and joined the aforesaid Rancho of Indians, and made known his plan. He said that two men should go down to my place--find me,-- go close up and shoot me; but he would not go, because I should know him. Others would not go, for the same reason. At length two Indians were found who did not know him they intended to kill, and very safely concluded that I did not know them. After having taken the necessary directions they set off. * * * Our heroes came down, and finding a man encamped near my house, they shot two arrows into his back and fled. Learning their mistake, a few days after they sent five others who said they knew me, and would kill me sure. So they came, and were discovered by my little Indian boys, who gave the alarm. I was not at home; but Daniel and Lemuel (being all the white folks at hand), armed for the fight and went out--but the Indians had fled. The next night, between daylight and dark, they came again. So Lemuel, Daniel and Thomas Crafton*16* took the field--and, sure enough, this time they got into a fight. Lemuel and Tommy lost all relish for the fun when the arrows began to whiz, and fell back in the rear, and took shelter behind Daniel, holding on to his clothes, in order to prevent his dodging away from before them; but Daniel succeeded in wounding one of the enemy, and in inducing Lemuel to fire his gun, which be did without taking aim, and Thomas fired his in like manner, without effect, except to encourage the enemy, who, (taking advantage as they supposed of unloaded guns), rushed on to the charge with knife in hand; but Daniel had his gun loaded again, and Lemuel and Tommy, seeing the Indians were about to lay hold of them, took their former place in the read, and so disturbed Daniel, that he missed his aim, threw down his rifle, shook off the boys at his back, and sprang forward upon the enemy--drawing his revolver, he put it right to them, discharging his five shots so suddenly, that the hindmost one of the retreating enemy felt the searching influence of the little weapon on his naked knife, before he had time to finish his triumphant hurrang !-- Thus ended that war.

"The boys, seeing the Indians turn their backs, did not pursue, but returned to the house, one fourth of a mile from their "glorious field of battle." The next morning the Indians were all gone. They were all wounded, to say the least--either in body or mind."

"Monroeville, Colusi Co., Cal., Nov. 9, 1851.

"DEAR BROTHER:

"I am seated in the office of the County Clerk of Colusi county, where I am at present, by virtue of the elective franchise been made Judge of the county Court, civil and criminal, President of the Commissioners' Court or court of Sessions for said county, and Judge of Probate; and, by appointment duly recorded, I am made the County Clerk--Clerk of the District Court, (9th district) Clerk of the County Court and of the court of Sessions, Clerk of the Probate Court, county Recorder and county Auditor. These several offices at present limit my official duties: but I suppose I shall, just to accommodate our floating population, be compelled to serve as 'Treasurer, Deputy Sheriff, Dep. County Surveyor'--and very probably as Coroner and Justice of the Peace--and, possibly, as Dep. Notary Public.

"This account may excite some surprise; but I will explain: nine-tenths of our population are here to-day, and, to-morrow--are somewhere else. Our county is about 75 miles in extent on the Sacramento River, and about 30 miles wide. Our population are like birds of passage, except their migrations are not exactly periodical.

All the circumstances which make it difficult to obtain responsible and permanent county officers combine to make these officers necessary. At present ten individuals pay more than three-fourths of the taxes paid within the county, and comprise nearly all its permanent residents. These men, as a general thing, reside on their Ranchos, to attend to their private affairs, and are the only residents of the county who are able to give the requisite bonds. At the polls the non-residents (when they unite). have the elections as they please; and the usual result is, that transient, irresponsible persons are elected, and bonds of the like character are filed. Last year the 'sovereign people' elected for County Judge, (who is by law the acceptor or rejector of all official bonds), a dissipated lawyer who, of course, accepted such bonds as came to hand; and the administration of public affairs, financially, went on swimmingly for a few months--all the offices were promptly filed--bonds filed, and gin, brandy and wine-bottles and glasses occupied the place of stationery. The records of the courts became unintelligible to sober people; not a court of any kind, except justice of the peace courts, was held within the county, (except the Court of Sessions, and that was uniformly conducted by the Senior Justice, while the presiding Judge was otherwise employed.)

"The 'property-holders', as we are called here, refused to pay their taxes, on the ground of the insufficiency of the official bonds; and the good Host at the county seat became tired of his boarding customer in the post of County Judge. Next followed a proclamation from the Governor, ordering the election of a person to fill the office of Judge. Judge ---- resigned, and the election resulted in the choice of one of the 'property-holders', [your brother]. And a further result was, that LEGAL bonds are required, which transient persons cannot procure.

"Another provision of the law is, that all public offices, except that of justice of the peace, shall be kept open at the county seat, from 10 o'clock until 12, and from 1 to 4, each day, except Sundays, new-years, Christmas and election-days; and none of the county offices, separately, will pay a person who can furnish the requisite bonds, for keeping these office hours. But ten or twelve county offices, combined, will serve to amuse for awhile the present incumbent--and will also interest him not a little to keep down expenses; or at least to prevent profligacy in the public expenditure.

"Thus and so are my public duties explained. Monroeville is in the heart of the largest valley in California, about 20 miles from my lower Rancho. It is surrounded by rich and fertile lands on all sides, extending far and wide. The little valley of the Connecticut affords no such scenery. It may be said to surpass ours in beauty. The hills, the valleys, the mountains are there contiguous, and are seen and contemplated at one circumscribed view; but here at Monroeville is one ex-, tended view of fertile, alluvial intervale bottom. In the distance beyond, arise the indistinct hills, and further on are successive ranges of mountains, towering one above another, until the lofty forests are seen capped by ever-present snows--which in winter rush down to the verge of the hills and invigorate the grateful breezes; while Flora paints the earth at our feet. The wild geese have come from the north to feed upon our valleys, and the bears have come from the mountains to feed upon the grapes that entwine the trees along the streams of the valleys. The antelope still bounds upon the plains; the deer scud amid the foliage of the leafy trees, and the elk herd in the valleys between the hills. Such are the rural scenes on this 'Pacific Slope.'

"But now for the 'dark side of the picture.'--No Church-bell calls together its solemn assemblies! In fine, nothing but the rude haunts of dissipation supply the place of schools, academies and colleges. Ox-teams and mules make up the locomotive power, in the main. But improvements are being made. We have already passed some of the evils attendant, more or less, upon all newly organized governments: still there is nothing very flattering in the civil and political prospects before us, and less in the moral aspect ahead. Nearly all the enterprise of the country serves to corrupt and demoralize our transient population. 'Transient' in that one word much is lost: but as it respects morals, much is gained--as, when nothing but vice is learned and promoted In a community, the oftener that community is changed the better.

"Last night while the rain was pattering against,-- not the window, but against--the rawhide hung up to keep the storm out of my sleeping-room, a good old man whom I had known for two or three months past, came to my door and awoke me from a quiet sleep-- saying, 'Judge, I must leave you; I am going home: here are the books you gave me. I have recorded but one case therein: I must resign the Justiceship: where shall I lay the books and papers? the stage is waiting.' On he table, I replied. 'Good-bye, Judge', said he-- Good-bye, dear Sir, and may peace and prosperity go with you, said I. Sad were the reflections of the hours that followed! My peace was indeed gone! The blear contrast was full before my mind--while in my ears sounded the harsh and tumultuous voices of the scholars of intemperance and crime, as they at that moment issued from their gaming haunts, pistol and knife in hand--screaming vengeance unearthly! But while the noise gradually died away in the distance, as the weaker party fled, long were the hours that intervened, e'er the morning light gave other scenes to enliven the sleepless mind. But I will content myself as well as I can, until April, 1853, when I shall (if I live), be free again. And, in the mean time I hope to improve my mind somewhat by the study of Law. I haven't a very high regard for lawyers, generally. Nevertheless I can study their books by way of amusement, and, perhaps, qualify myself -a little better for my present employment.

"About thirty days ago sentence of death was passed upon a horse-thief tried before the Criminal Court of Colusi County. This morning was laid upon my table an Order of Commutation from the Governor, to fifteen years service in the State's Prison. The same man is charged with highway robbery, and will in all probability be brought up by writ of habeus corpus for trial again at Colusi."

"Monroeville, Dec. 3, 1851.

"Last year the whole interior of Colusi county fell a prey to lawless marauders and thieves, to suppress which 'lynch-law' was resorted to, to supply the defects of such systems of law as were, in the exigencies of the case, imported from, and alone applicable to, other communities--differing as widely from ours as light from darkness.

"And again: the attempt to remedy this second evil of hanging through the impulse of passion, instead of the former tardy imported system, by organizing government among ourselves, has given rise to another serious evil. The salaries of officers, it was thought, should be such as would pay our best men for their services--especially, as ordinary men frequently obtain in the mines a great remuneration for their labor. So, the offices became more lucrative than the mines. And as all American citizens were allowed to vote in our Democratic State, on the first day of their arrival here, the whole business of legislation, and the execution of our laws, became a matter of speculation, and was forthwith, in most counties, seized by the hordes of Eastern fortune-hunters, who failed not to apply the power thus obtained to their own advantage. There are thousands of worthless men seeking office for its emolument, who have not the slightest interest in the welfare of the country: and the consequence is, that the resident citizens are ruined by taxes, besides being saddled with debts. All our adjoining counties are in debt, some twenty to fifty thousand dollars. But we are better off. Since I have been elected to the office of County Judge, I have abated, in a great measure, these evils in our county. I have declared the proceedings of former officers illegal, and have withheld payment of sallaries; and, so far as I know, or have reason to believe, I am sustained by legal men in the courts above. By these means, and a rigid economy in county expenses, our county is out of debt."

"Monroeville, January, 17, 1852.

"I am engaged at the county seat, and have not been home for three months. I have the whole management of our county affairs. I hold two Courts per month, besides Justice Courts. I have consented to serve my county as their Probate and County Judge, and Presiding Judge of the Court of Sessions, that I may have it in my power to counteract that system of speculation in public affairs that has nearly ruined some of the counties. Ours is the only county in the State that is not in debt more than three-fold its yearly revenue.-- The scale of taxation is the same throughout the State, and I hope to save over one thousand dollars of our yearly public revenue for some public utility. I am regarded with all that respect I can desire--all classes pay due deference to their Judge; but I have few confidential friends, and no adviser in whom I can confide."

We are in possession of a large package of Mr. IDE'S letters to his friends, from which additional and equally interesting extracts might be made. And yet we have made greater use of these, even, than we should have done, had we not been dependent on them, chiefly, for information respecting his business affairs, and his official duties. By correspondence and other means, the Editor has sought access to the contemporary public workers of 'Governor' IDE, and others who were among his personal acquaintance; and he has done so, only to be assured that almost all of them have, with him, "passed that bourne from whence no traveler returns." Under these circumstances, (it being now about twenty-eight years since his decease) these letters are our only available resource for the due performance of this part of our duty.

At the time, (about two years ago), when we commenced our labors on this work--and, indeed, not until some eighty pages of it were in type--we knew nothing of the existence of the Wambough Letter, which occupies so large a portion of these pages. Our friends will therefore please excuse our seeming missuse of a few of those pages, by refering in them to events which are amply discussed in said Letter.

But it is useless for us to undertake to enumerate, and apologise for, all the discrepancies and blunders, (typographical or otherwise) that some of our quicksighted criticising friends may discover. If we were to do so, the only honorable course would be to shoulder them all, by informing them that the EDITOR, alone, is responsible for them, so far as the compilation of the material, setting the type, reading and correcting the proof-slips, and making the type ready for the press, is concerned: and, if he was inclined to study out an apology or excuse for any short-coming of duty in these several employments, the only one he could offer would be, that the frosts of eighty-five winters may have somewhat impaired his mental and physical capability for such employment.

As this little book is intended as a memorial offering to the memory of a beloved Father, by his only surviving Son and Daughter,* and by his two surviving Brothers, to be placed in the hands of so many of his other relatives and their friends as may obtain copies of it, but a small edition of will be printed: it being, in a degree, devoted to a subject, as its title imports, in which the general reader was not expected to feel much interest. Yet, could he become well aware of the fact, that it contains many "Scraps of California History never before published", the case might be different.