ving, discharging their
human freight, that needed food, houses, and outfits for the mines,
giving an impetus to property of all kinds that was amazing for its
rapidity. The next afternoon after the day of my arrival I had signed an
agreement and paid one hundred dollars on account for a lot and
one-story house for $3,000--$1,400 more in fifteen days, and the balance
in six months. Upon the arrival of my goods ten days later I paid the
second installment and took possession. Well, how came I to take a
responsibility so far beyond my first intended investment? Just here I
rise to remark: For effective purposes one must not be unduly sensitive
or overmodest in writing autobiography--for, being the events and
memoirs of his life, written by himself, the ever-present pronoun "I"
dances in such lively attendance and in such profusion on the pages that
whatever pride he may have in the events they chronicle is somewhat
abashed at its repetition.

Addison truly says: "There is no passion which steals into the heart
more imperceptible and covers itself under more disguises than pride."
Still, if in such memoirs there be found landmarks of precept or example
that will smooth the ruggedness of Youth's pathway, the success of its
mission should disarm invidious criticism. For the great merit of
history or biography is not alone the events they chronicle, but the
value of the thought they inspire. Previous to purchasing the property I
had calculated the costs of alteration and estimated the income. In
twenty days, after an expenditure of $200 for improvements, I found
myself receiving a rental of $500 per month from the property, besides a
store for the firm. Anyone without mechanical knowledge with time and
opportunity to seek information from others may have done the same, but
in this case there was neither time nor opportunity; it required quick
perception and prompt action. The trade my mother insisted I should
learn enabled me to do this. Get a trade, boys, if you have to live on
bread and apples while attaining it. It is a good foundation to build
higher. Don't crowd the waiters. If they are content, give them a
chance. We received a warm welcome from the Governor and other officials
of the colony, which was cheering. We had no complaint as to business
patronage in the State of California, but there was ever present that
spectre of oath denial and disfranchisement; the disheartening
consciousness that while our existence was