and a just and universal legislation, guided by the constitution, and by the advice of history and experience, to provide governments for these expanding millions; not dilatorily and factiously, but with a great and generous liberality, a liberality to which Providence will be always kind, because it is the very brother and friend of Providence; and by obeying the great laws of events, becomes itself a law. And now, when the necessity of adopting a broad and liberal system of colonization has forced itself upon the attention even of the most reluctant and bigoted admirers of narrow limits, the force of the national legislation is wasted in the hateful strife of faction. Instead of providing, with a paternal care, for our new colonies on the Pacific, to confirm and strengthen them in affection and respect for the mother country the leaders of faction are consuming week after week in profitless recrimination. Let us turn away from this wretched strife, and refresh our eyes and our hearts with new indications of the vigor and the power of our name and our laws; let us see how beautifully and peacefully they can expand themselves in new and untried regions. The empire of freedom has now within its geographical boundaries every element of power; a hardy and enlightened ruling race, of the best blood of the human family. The American people, proper, spreading rapidly over a continent to which the Creator has given every natural advantage; of vast, but not sterile nor wasteful extent, lying between two mighty oceans, far removed on the one hand from the barbarism of Asia, and on the other from the old tyranny of Europe. On the North boundless forests, affording the materials of structure and habitation, whose removal leaves such fields as produce the best and healthiest food of man: out of these, rivers gathering their floods and flowing toward the South, East and West, navigable almost from their sources to the sea. In the South, rich plains producing every luxury in such abundance, that the meanest and the poorest may possess and enjoy them. In the West a land mountainous and rude, but teeming with the precious metals, with silver and with gold. In the East, nourishing a population qualified by industry and sagacity for every handicraft, and with an ingenuity and enterprise which converts the very stones beneath its feet into subsistence and riches; there is nothing wanting in this great, this select and wonderful region, to supply everything that is needed for the densest, and the most numerous and civilized population. It is not broken by impassable ranges of mountains, nor by sandy, illimitable deserts: from one part to another the traveller passes easily, and with safety. He may sail through the land, from end to end, by natural and artificial streams; he may traverse it, driven swiftly along, with the speed of an eagle, by the force of machinery. From place to place, over prodigious distances, he may send messages with the speed of lightning. The people of this continent have a common law, a single code or constitution, which makes every man the friend, the fellow, and the equal of all others of his nation. No country so favorable has been inhabited by the human race: none of such extent, and of so useful and delightful a variety. No people so free have ever been so numerous and powerful; they have but one language, and in that language is embodied every thing that is useful or important to be learned. Such a people, feeling their own destiny, must become the proudest, and the most dignified, the least jealous, and the most contented and happy among nations. The thoughts of a citizen, in such a nation, should be too grand and general for local heat and prejudice. Let him think of his country and her destiny, and he cannot fail to be magnanimous in his thoughts. There is a narrow and unphilosophical, an unbending spirit, among a certain class of legislators, which is astonished and offended at every turn in affairs, and sees a crisis in every difficulty. Let us make up our minds to it, and quietly take up with this proposition, that as in the youth of an active and ambitious man, so in the first century of a rising and powerful state, every moment is a crisis. The day is critical, the year, the age, the century is critical, legislation is all critical; new forms of opinion are continually springing into life; new powers are rising on all sides of us, new necessities, new exigencies; our legislation must consequently take its departure from certain grand and simple principles such as suffice for the government of Empires, and the rule of | multiplying millions. The liberty and equality of the American people, and of those of their race who blend with them and with their children, man for man; that is our first principle. A solid and efficient governmental organization, wherever men enough are met together to form a town, a county, a municipality, then a state; and for the rapid fusion of states into the one great Empire of freemen, maintaining, at the same time, with a most jealous care, the liberty, and sovereignty of the members, by granting them their separate honors; by honoring their equality in the council of the nations Here are points of departure for liberal legislation; from which, if we rightly take our observation and measure our course, we shall not be misled by those novel false lights which have appeared in the Southern horizon, Balance of Power, Extension by Conquest. To doubt the expansive power of the American governmental system, is to doubt the existence of any universal principles of government; nay, it is to doubt the universality and efficiency of the moral law itself, from which that system, together with the law of nations, is immediately derived. True it is, the importance and weight of each particular state is somewhat lessened as the number of all increases; but the efficiency of the principles which govern all and each, is neither changed nor diminished. That law of gravitation which controls the revolution of two planets with their satellites, and harmoniously regulates their times, and subordinates each body to the common centre, rules with greater power, and with equal facility the movements of an entire system. When the principle of the movement is universal, the number of the bodies whose motion is regulated by it, may be indefinitely increased, and thereby there is no confusion, but only a greater stability. The new State which is asking admission into the Union requires only a formality to become one of us; it is our jealousy only which delays its admission, and not any other reason; if jealousy be a reason: we cannot, constitutionally, lay political conditions upon California; we can exact nothing from her that she will be bound to fulfil. She does not ask to be admitted to the North or to the South, but to the confederacy of the whole. Were it possible for us to make certain political stipulations, to exact certain promises, to force into her Constitution certain provisions, for our sake or for her sake, it might be sound policy to keep her ambassadors waiting in the antechamber, with their hats in their hands, for the sake of humiliation; or to mortify their friends in the House or in the Senate. It was not to insult the South that she incorporated into her Constitution a provision against the holding of negroes in bondage; but wholly to exclude the negro from her limits, and make every inch of her soil a possession for that free and energetic race who are deriving wealth from it. The higher the grade of industry and intelligence brought in immediate contact with the earth's surface, the more willingly and rapidly it yields food and clothing, and comfort, to its cultivators; and, therefore, it is, the new State of California, (for we insist on calling it a State, as it has the natural members and properties of a State) has legislated for the exclusion of the inferior races. No sooner had the gold region of the Pacific coast become a part of the American territory, it began to be occupied by American citizens; their numbers increased with extreme rapidity; but they found themselves subject to the uncertain and oppressive operation of laws written in a language which they did not understand, and founded on principles which they did not recognize. The native judges of the country were not fitted either by talent or education to arbitrate their differences, or confirm them in their private rights. "There was not a single volume," says Mr. King, containing the laws of the country, as far as I know, or believe, in the whole territory, except, perhaps in the Governor's office at Monterey." The American citizens, the masters of the soil, already more numerous than the native population, found themselves without protection in their lives and property, saving by a rude military justice, and the force of public morals. Titles to property could not be with certainty established, and were necessarily taken without a possibility of ascertaining their validity. Without charters, or any legal right of organization, towns and cities were grow ing up with all their municipal necessities | beacon, a light-house, or a fortification on of police, of taxation, and the protection of the whole coast." life and property. At the custom-house, duties were exacted by the general government, to a large amount, in return for which, the people themselves received none of the benefits of the government which exacted them. "In obedience, therefore, to the extraordinary exigencies of their condition, the people of the city of San Francisco and of other communities elected members to form a legislature, and clothed them with full powers to pass laws." "There are no docks for the repair of mercantile vessels nearer than New York, a distance of some 20,000 miles by sea."4 "All these things, together with the proper regulation of the gold region, the quicksilver mines, the survey and disposition of the public lands, the adjustment of land titles,-the establishment of a mint, and of marine hospitals, required the immediate formation of a more perfect civil government than California then had, and the fostering care of Congress and the executive. To Their laws and liberties they did not derive from charters, they had them in their minds and in their hearts; they were In a single year California had become trained citizens; they knew how to orga- a state of great commercial importance; nize a State. They were already, de facto, of equal, if not superior importance to any members of a State; they had no grada- of those which have recently been admitted tions to pass through, they were not pioneers, into the Union as States. Her citizens, backwoodsmen, or barbarians. Other therefore, with unexampled unanimity and territories had been, at first, slowly and promptitude, resolved upon the only course, sparsely peopled, by a few hunters and which lay open to them the immediate farmers who penetrated the wilderness or formation of a State Government. traversed the prairies in search of game or have waited the action of a Congress paa new home, and when thus gradually ralyzed by a balance of factions, would have their population warranted it, a govern- shown a degree of patience and pusillaniment was provided for them. They, how-mity on their part unworthy of a people ever, had no foreign commerce, nor anything beyond the ordinary pursuits of agriculture and the various branches of business which usually accompany it, to induce immigration within their borders. Several years were required to give them sufficient population and wealth to place them in a condition to require, or enable them to support a State government.' "Not so with California; the discovery of the vast metallic and mineral wealth in her mountains, had already attracted to her in the space of twelve months, more than 100,000 people. An extensive commeree had sprung up with China, the ports of Mexico on the Pacific, Chili and Austrillia. Hundreds of vessels from the Atlantie ports of the Union, freighted with our manufacturers and agricultural products, and filled with our fellow-citizens had arrived, or were on their passage round Cape Horn; so that, in the month of June last, there were more than 300 sea-going vessels in the port of San Francisco." "California has a border on the Pacific of more than 10 degrees of latitude, and several important harbors which have never been surveyed; nor is there a buoy, a whose greatest glory, in the eyes of the world, is, the capacity which they exhibit for prompt, and efficient, and permanent, civil organization. They did not do this however, until they perceived that they would be subjected to ruinous delays had they to wait on the action of Congress. In regard to that question which was, shaking the Union to its centre," and had thus far deprived them of a regularly organized civil government, "they believed that they had an undefeasible right to decide for themselves, if not as a chartered State, then, as individual citizens, and in maintenance of that very doctrine which is so jealously maintained by the South. Was it for them to suppress any portion of their Constitution? To sneak it out and make a secret of it, with the intention of sneaking it in, after their reception into the brotherhood of States? It had been argued and established, say the friends of Mr. Calhoun, in the celebrated resolutions of 1847, concocted by that much lamented statesman, "that it is a fundamental principle in our political creed, that a people in forming a Constitution, have the unconditional right to form and adopt the government which they think best calculated to secure their even, we have only the testimony of newsliberty, prosperity and happiness." President Polk, in his message of 1848, declares that "whether Congress shall legislate or not, the people of the acquired territories, when assembled in Convention to form State Constitutions, will possess the sole and exclusive power to determine for themselves, whether slavery shall or shall not exist within their limits."* Mr. King states that the date of his arrival at San Francisco was on the morning of the fourth of June. General Riley's proclamation, calling a convention to form a State Government, was dated the day previous to his arrival. Mr. King declares that he had no secret instructions, verbal or written, from the President, or any one else, what to say to the people of California on the subject of slavery. There was no party organization; there could be no secret influences: the people were ripe for the formation of a Constitution, and when the question of slavery was submitted to them by those who were opposed to it, a vast majority was found to be inimical to its admission. All the influence of which we find any testimony that it was exerted by Mr. King, was such as his age and experience, as a practical legislator, entitled and compelled him to exert, with or without executive instructions; that is, to advise a reduction to order of the chaotic Society of California, and to begin that work, which it was the first and paramount duty of the people to perform, the organization of their society for the protection of life and property,-to show their capacity for self-government, and to test themselves in that particular, before they should apply for admission into the Union. "The Convention," says Mr. King, was sitting 130 miles from the place where I was; my illness was a sufficient proof that I did not, and could not, had I been disposed, exercise any influence on the Convention; nor had I anything to do with selecting or bringing out candidates." In a word, it is understood that Mr. King did not exercise any political or party influence: all that he did exert was advisatory, and for this, papers. A very large portion of this lucid and important report consists of a geographical and economical description of California. It may be interesting to the reader to learn, from this authority, that the population of California in 1802 did not reach a total of 17,000; and that in 1839 it fell short of 24,000; of which 18,000 were converted Indians. In 1838 began the emigration from the United States, and in 1846, Colonel Fremont found it not difficult to raise an army of 500 fighting men. At the close of the war with Mexico there were estimated from ten to fifteen thousand Mexicans and Californians, exclusive of Indians. The emigration of American citizens in 1849 was estimated at 80,000; of foreigners, 20,000. Thus, it appears that California is, strictly, an American State; more so, than several other States of the Union. It is impossible to ascertain the number of Indians who occupy the surrounding territory. Of these, the remains of their villages at the feet of the mountains, show that they were once a numerous population. Americans who penetrate too far into the interior, not unfrequently fall in with hostile tribes; and a number have been killed by them. Emigration parties have been frequently attacked. These hostile tribes chiefly occupy the mountains, and range over the deserts of the interior. Mr. King says that the small parties of Indians which he met, scattered through the lower portions of the footholds of the Sierra Nevada, seem to be almost of the lowest grade of human beings, living on roots and acorns, with occasional fish and game. These, he says, have never pretended to hold any interest in the soil, and have not the slightest inclination to cultivate it. They were too indolent to be profitably employed. He supposes that they will disappear from the face of the earth, as the settlements of the whites extend over the country; but that, at present, a very considerable military force will be necessary to protect the emigrants in the northern and southern portions of the territory. Mr. King's description of the geographical peculiarities of California and the sea which borders it, are extremely inter- | the whole length of the gold region between esting; but to give even an abstract of it and the Sierra Neva, some twenty them would expand this article beyond the miles in width, but it has not been surveylimits which are assigned to it: a few par- ed, nor accurately described. ticulars is all that we are able to extract. The forests of California, west of the Sierra Nevada, and below latitude 49, consist only of some scattering groves of oak on the vallies and along the borders of the streams; and of "red-wood," on the ridges, and in the gorges of the hills. With these exceptions, and a dwarfish shrubbery upon the hills, which can be used as fuel, the whole territory presents a grassy surface, varied with wild oaks, which grow in the valleys most luxuriantly. As the summer advances, this slender vegetation perishes, and the country becomes hot and desert-like. About the middle of each day, a cold, cutting wind begins to blow from the mountains, loaded with vapor; which, with the dry heats, render the climate at San Francisco, more uncomfortable in summer than in winter. A few miles inland, however, the climate is moderate and delightful. The best climate of California prevails in the vallies, along the coast range. On the vast plain of the Sacramento and San Joaquin, the sea breeze loses its influence, and the alternations of heat and cold are intense and afflictive to the stranger, the thermometer frequently ranging much higher than is known on the Atlantic coast of the same latitude. A few months of acclimation, however, reconciles the stranger to the climate of California, and he pronounces that of the vallies which are situated between the great plain of Sacramento and the coast range of hill, "as healthful and pleasant, as it is possible for any climate to be, which possesses sufficient heat to mature the cereal grains and edible roots of the temperate zone." The seasons, as in tropical latitudes, are divided into wet and dry, and will excite no surprise in the inhabitant of a southern State: the winters being extremely mild. The soil of the vallies which are situated parallel to the coast-range, and those which extend eastward, in all directions among the hills, is deep and black, and of unsurpassed fertility. There is said to be a rich belt of well ered and watered country extending Mr. King represents that he considers the plain of Sacramento and San Joaquin covers an area of between fifty and sixty thousand square miles; and capable, under a proper system of cultivation, of supporting a population equal to that of Ohio or New York at the present time. It is, of course, to be understood that a system of irrigation would have to be adopted for this region, during the hot months. Under the head of products, the report observes that the Californians were a pastoral people, and that grains enough for home consumption only, were obtained by the cultivation of the soil. Formerly there was a very great exportation of hides, but the destruction of cattle for their skins and tallow has now ceased, in consequence of the demand for beef; and the increase of population, and consequent demand for food, is so rapid, it is computed that the entire stock of cattle, supposed to be about half a million head, will be absorbed before 1854. The supply of beef will then be of necessity from the Atlantic States of the Union. No other country," says Mr. King, "has the means of supplying so great a demand. By the regular increase of her population, at the present rate, California will require 100,000 head of beef cattle per annum from some quarter, to supply the wants of her people." This demand cannot be met by the salt provision commonly put up for mariners. It is found that the use of this food during the dry season produces destructive diseases. There is no climate, says the Report, where flesh meat and vegetables are more essential to human health. To meet this vast demand for live-stock, sheep and cattle will be driven from NewMexico, and from the western states, and after grazing for a time upon the rich pastures of California, after their journey, they will become acceptable food. In regard to the cultivation of grains, Mr. King argues from evidence which he considers sufficient, that in the rich alluvial vallies of California, every species of vegetable food may be produced, excepting perhaps, the maize, or Indian Corn; and without that irrigation which is essential |