staken ideas of comforts, with your love of
coal-fire and raw beef-steak, together with your severe notions of what
is proper or improper, you would soon spoil the place, and render it as
stiff and gloomy as any sectarian village of the United States, with its
nine banks, eighteen chapels, its one "a-b-c" school, and its immense
stone jail, very considerately made large enough to contain its whole
population.

The governor was General Morreno, an old soldier, of the genuine
Castilian stock; proud of his blood, proud of his daughters, of himself,
of his dignitaries, proud of everything--but withal, he was benevolence
and hospitality personified. His house was open to all (that is to say,
all who could boast of having white blood), and the time passed there in
continual fiestas, in which pleasure succeeded to pleasure, music to
dancing; courting with the eyes to courting with the lips, just as
lemonade succeeded to wine, and creams to grapes and peaches. But
unhappily, nature made a mistake in our conformation, and, alas! man
must repose from pleasure as he does from labour. It is a great pity,
for life is short, and repose is so much time lost; at least so thought
I at eighteen.

Monterey is a very ancient city; it was founded in the seventeenth
century by some Portuguese Jesuits, who established a mission there. To
the Jesuits succeeded the Franciscans, who were a good, lenient, lazy,
and kind-hearted set of fellows, funny, yet moral, thundering against
vice and love, and yet giving light penances and entire absolution.
These Franciscans were shown out of doors by the government of Mexico,
who wished to possess their wealth. It was unfortunate, as for the kind,
hospitable, and generous monks, the government substituted agents and
officers from the interior, who, not possessing any ties at Monterey,
cared little for the happiness of the inhabitants. The consequence is,
that the Californians are heartily tired of these agents of extortion;
they have a natural antipathy against custom-house officers; and, above
all, they do not like the idea of giving their dollars to carry on the
expenses of the Mexican wars, in which they feel no interest. Some
morning (and they have already very nearly succeeded in so doing) they
will haul down the Mexican flag from the presidio, drive away the
commissaries and custom-house receivers, declare their independence of
Mexico, and open their ports to all nations.

Monterey contains about