r part, stood up manfully,
and witnessed a good confession. They refused to accept this phantom of
liberty which a party of vagabonds brought to them. The conquerors,
however, could afford to be magnanimous in the midst of so much good
eating, and no vengeance was inflicted upon unarmed men. But when the
prefect of the missions was shipped off to Manilla, the war was at an
end, for there was no means of defense, or, rather, it was changed from
a war against priests to one against the cattle.

Thus was California conquered and annexed to the United States of
Mexico in the year 1825, and the laws and constitution of that republic
extended over it. But it is an abuse of words to say that any law
existed from that time onward. The confusion produced by the irruption
of this horde of vagabonds continued uninterrupted, and it involved, in
one chaotic mass, law, order, and every public and private right. The
history of the country is inexplicable, and its public archives are a
mass of such gross irregularities, and show such a total disregard of
all law, that they are little better than the Sibylline leaves.

AMERICAN CONQUEST OF CALIFORNIA.

The party that raised the "bear flag" met with no opposition. The party
that landed from the shipping, and took possession of Monterey and San
Francisco, were alike successful. But when a small party of American
soldiers, under General Kearney, entered the country from the west, the
_rancheros_ took the alarm, and rushed forth on their fleet horses to
defend their private property from spoliation, for they had no idea of
regular soldiers disconnected from robbery and cattle-stealing! The
Californians fought bravely, and hemmed in the little army of Americans
until they were in a suffering condition for provisions, and until the
dreaded hunters and trappers, and draughts from the shipping, routed
the herdsmen and released the beleaguered force. This is all there was
that looked like war in the American acquisition of this most valuable
territory.

Not only was there this similarity in respect to the inadequate means
by which Mexico and California were acquired, but there is also a
striking similarity in the fact of the immediate discovery of
inexhaustible mines of precious metals, that gave importance to an
otherwise comparatively insignificant conquest. Though so many
centuries apart, each produced the same effect upon the political
affairs of nations by suddenly furnishing the worl