urage the development of the mines, and no greater latitude in
exploration could be desired than was thus sanctioned by the highest
tribunal of the State. It was not long, however, before a cry came
up from private proprietors against the invasion of their possessions
which the decision had permitted; and the court was compelled to put
some limitation upon the enjoyment by the citizen of this right of
the State. Accordingly, within two years afterwards, in Stoakes vs.
Barrett, (5 Cal., 37,) it held that although the State was the owner
of the gold and silver found in the lands of private individuals as
well as in the public lands, "yet to authorize an invasion of private
property in order to enjoy a public franchise would require more
specific legislation than any yet resorted to."

The spirit to invade other people's lands, to which
the original decision gave increased force against the intention of
its authors, could not be as easily repressed as it was raised in the
crowd of adventurers, who filled the mining regions. Accordingly, long
before I went on the bench, the right to dig for the precious metals
on the lands of private individuals was stoutly asserted under an
assumed license of the State. And afterwards, in the case of Biddle
Boggs vs. The Merced Mining Co., which came before the court in 1859,
where the plaintiff claimed under a patent of the United States,
issued upon the confirmation of a Mexican grant, the existence of this
license was earnestly maintained by parties having no connection with
the government, nor any claim of title to the land. Its existence was,
however, repudiated by the court, and speaking for it in that case I
said: "There is gold in limited quantities scattered through large and
valuable districts, where the land is held in private proprietorship,
and under this pretended license the whole might be invaded, and, for
all useful purposes, destroyed, no matter how little remunerative the
product of the mining. The entry might be made at all seasons, whether
the land was under cultivation or not, and without reference to its
condition, whether covered with orchards, vineyards, gardens, or
otherwise. Under such a state of things, the proprietor would never be
secure in his possessions, and without security there would be little
development, for the incentive to improvement would be wanting. What
value would there be to a title in one man, with a right of invasion
in the whole world? And w