LIBRARY 
 
 OK THH 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. 
 
 GIKT OF* 
 
 Accessions No . 
 
 JAM JRP5 
 
 CLiss No 
 
*-!* 
 
 / 
 
 - i 
 
 
THE 
 
 SLEEPING PRINCESS 
 CALIFORNIA 
 
 BY 
 
 ALICE EDWARDS PRATT 
 
 ILLUSTRATED BY E. MABEL DILLAWAY 
 
 WILLIAM DOXEY 
 SAN FRANCISCO 
 
COPYRIGHT, 1892 
 BY 
 
 ALICE EDWARDS PRATT 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 Subject. 
 Title-page. 
 
 (SENTINEL MOUNTAINS BEFORE DAWN, WITH MARIPOSA LILY AND PF.XT- 
 STEMON.) 
 
 Through sunny leagues her empire stretched away. 
 
 (NAPA VALLEY, LOOKING SOUTH FROM LOGAN POINT.) 
 
 Here wooded to the peak, there crowned with snow." 
 
 (MOUNT SHASTA.) 
 Its placid sapphire lakes, and living streams." 
 
 (ARROW LAKE, KING S RIVER CANYON.) 
 (BRANCH OF KING S RIVER, AT LILLIS.) 
 
 Its serrate wall of ice and granite. 
 
 (PORTION OF THE EAST WALL OF KING S RIVER CANYON.) 
 
 ;t Of harbors crowded with the laden fleets." 
 
 (WHARVES AT SAN FRANCISCO.) 
 Her feathery redwoods changed to mansions grand." 
 
 (REDWOODS, SANTA CRUZ MOUNTAINS, AND THE HOPKINS RESIDENCE, SAN 
 FRANCISCO.) 
 
 Before her sight fair halls of learning rose." 
 
 (LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY.) 
 (PORTION OF QUADRANGLE AT STANFORD UNIVERSITY.) 
 
Subject. 
 
 Writ on her fields in tongues of poppy flame." 
 
 " The yucca tall 
 
 Its snowy campanile bore aloft." 
 
 (ESCHSCHOI.TZIA, IN NAPA VALLEY.) 
 
 (YuccA WHIPPLEI, SIERRAS.) 
 
 " The torrents wove white bridal veils of mist." 
 
 (BRIDAL VEIL FALLS, YOSEMITE VALLEY.) 
 
 "The ocean sobbed that he so long delayed." 
 
 (CYPRESS POINT, MONTEREY COAST.) 
 
 "Cities dot her rich domain." 
 
 (SPRING STREET, Los ANGELES.) 
 
 (SAN FRAXCISCO, FROM CALIFORNIA STREET HILL.) 
 
 From mines and fields and vineyards numberless. 
 
 (VINEYARDS IN NAPA VALLEY AND THE GOLDEN GATE.) 
 
 "Her smitten rocks yield gold and silver streams." 
 (HYDRAULIC MINING.) 
 
 And Wisdom rule the State with peaceful sway." 
 
 (STATE CAPITOL, SACRAMENTO.) 
 
 - The temple, crowned with upward-pointing spire." 
 (FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, SAN FRANCISCO.) 
 

BUT half a century ago she lay 
 All mutely beautiful, in rich attire, 
 The sleeping Princess, California. 
 Not yet had come the voice, not yet the touch, 
 That was to thrill her waking soul with joy ; 
 Not yet her virgin lips had felt the kiss 
 That was to bring her full, ecstatic life. 
 We see her now, as white man first beheld 
 Her lavish splendor, prophecy of wealth 
 Untold to come in her inheritance. 
 
Through 
 
 sunny t leagues her empire stretched away, 
 
 Domain as fair as king e er looked upon : 
 
 Its valleys filled with tremulous oaten seas 
 Broken by rainbow crests of flower foam ; 
 Its foot-hill slopes, soft-rounded, overgrown 
 \Yith dimpled pastures such as wild bees love : 
 Its rugged mountain monarchs, range on range. 
 
Here wooded to the peak, there crowned with snow ; 
 
Its placid sapphire lakes, 
 
 and living streams ; 
 
Forests of redwood, fir, sequoia, pine, 
 And groves of lordly oak; its serrate wall 
 Of ice and granite. 
 
 California slept, 
 
 But not a dreamless sleep. Her spirit waked. 
 Through Morpheus gates of horn fair visions trooped, 
 To whisper to her of the days to come, 
 
Of harbors r*~ _ 
 
 crowded with the laden fleets 
 
 Of every nation under heaven ; of vast 
 And rich young cities that, with rhythmic pulse, 
 Diastole and systole, sent streams 
 Of knowledge and of power through all the land, 
 And in return drew back into themselves 
 The strength and wealth of mountain, plain, and sea. 
 
With vapor shod, or winged with lightnings fleet, 
 Her couriers went forth ; and in their train 
 Rode sturdy life and growth, culture and power. 
 She dreamed of coffers filled with shining coin, 
 Of dusky miners working the fat veins 
 Of solid sunlight in the depths of earth. 
 She saw broad acres, tickled by the plough, 
 Laugh out in rippling waves of golden grain. 
 She heard the markets of the world demand 
 Oil from her presses, and send up a shout 
 Of triumph as her sparkling vintage poured 
 Its amber and its crimson. 
 
Now her pride, 
 
 Her feathery redwoods, changed to mansions grand 
 Her giant firs and cedars skimmed the seas. 
 
Before her sight v fair halls of learning rose, 
 Thronged by the sons and daughters of the West, 
 Who fain would read the runes that God has carved 
 On rock and star and flower and heart of man. 
 
Then she became, in bounteous autumn days, 
 The goddess Ceres, with inverted horn 
 Showering upon the earth fruit, flower, and grain, 
 And wearing on her brows an olive crown. 
 
 Over her lips, as dreaming thus she lay. 
 Smiles happy smiles like hovering shadows played; 
 And listening elves of earth and sea and sky 
 Heard her soft breathing, read her visions true, 
 And in their mystic language strove to tell 
 The world her story, that the Prince might hear, 
 The Prince who was to wake the Sleeping Fair 
 And claim her, with her goodly royal dower. 
 
Writ on her fields in tongues of poppy flame, 
 
 Her name The Golden One appeared. 
 Or twas 
 
 In buttercup and mariposa traced, 
 ( ,^ Or whispered where 
 
 ^jg \ the mustard groves 
 
 stretched on 
 O er laughing 
 roods. 
 
 With azure bells and pearl, 
 The pentstemon and manzanita rang 
 
 Their sweetest elfin chimes ; and, emblem fair 
 Of strength and purity, the yucca tall 
 Its snowy campanile bore aloft. 
 Nemophike the modest beauty praised 
 Of maiden eyes, sweet mirror of the 
 
 heavens. 
 From tree-top and from shady covert, 
 
 lark 
 And linnet poured gay madrigals of song. 
 
The torrents wove white bridal veils of mist, 
 
 To hint the nuptials that the Prince shoujd Jknow ; 
 
The ocean sobbed that he so long delayed. 
 
 Yet still fair California s hills and vales 
 The idle Indian trod ; and Mexico, 
 Though indolently coveting her wealth, 
 Knew not the Princess heart. She slumbered on. 
 
Lured by reputed treasure, those had come 
 Whose only aim was to enrich themselves. 
 Plunderers, they, who found, perchance, the gold, 
 But never with their self-dimmed eyes divined 
 The greater treasure, California s soul. 
 But one glad morning all the sprites of earth 
 And heaven broke forth in hymeneal sweet. 
 The Prince had seen the Sleeping One, had loved, 
 Not the rich yellow metal of her mines, 
 But her fair self, whose virgin heart he saw. 
 His kiss, the pledge of fealty for aye, 
 The free-born Manhood of the Atlantic shore 
 Bestowed in rapture, and she waked in joy. 
 
Four are the circling decades 
 
 that have poured 
 Their blessings in her lap 
 
 since that glad hour, 
 And, lo ! to-day her dreams 
 
 are coming true. 
 No warp and woof of fancy, 
 
 but firm fact 
 
 Their texture. 
 I 
 
 Cities dot her rich domain 
 
 From sea-girt west 
 
 to snow-crowned eastern wall. 
 
The treasures of the past are in her hands ; 
 The life-blood of to-day leaps in her veins. 
 From Berkeley s Hills and Palo Alto s Plains 
 Incense of learning rises, sweet and strong. 
 
 Within her ports the fleets of nations wait 
 To carry thence her ore and grain and wine. 
 From mines and fields and vineyards numberless. 
 
 0? THE ^ 
 
 TJ HIVBHSITT: 
 
 ^4?. 
 
 ".rro 1 
 
Her orchards bow with their abundant fruit ; 
 Her smitten rocks yield gold and silver streams; 
 Each gracious boon that Nature offers man 
 As guerdon for his toil may here be won. 
 
 O happy Prince, with such a blest estate ! 
 Wedded to one who counts it joy to yield 
 Herself and all her wealth to his control! 
 
His eager manhood burned with high resolve 
 And purpose noble, when he wooed and won 
 This Princess California. With a heart 
 Thrilled with an honest love, he sought her own. 
 Her future rests with him. All breathlessly 
 We wait to see if he accepts the trust 
 As from the Giver of all perfect gifts, 
 His but to use for noble purposes. 
 
 O you who sow and reap these sun-kissed fields, 
 Tillers of California s soil, to you we speak, 
 To you who ve won the Princess Beautiful ! 
 Blinded by power, filled with thirst for gain, 
 Will you degrade her wealth to selfish ends ? 
 
Labor is in your hands a magic wand. 
 
 Oh! will you wave it only to produce 
 
 The mart of commerce and the wheel of trade ? 
 
 Soil not the pure and trusting heart that now 
 
 Is in your keeping. Stain it not with crime, 
 
 Nor fill these valleys with the revelry 
 
 Of Bacchus or the strife of Mars. 
 
 No lot so blest as his who works with God 
 
 In seed-time and in harvest, casting in 
 
 The grain, and then, with humble prayer of faith, 
 
 Waiting for God to send his blessing down, 
 
 Partner in labor with the King of kings. 
 
* 
 
 Forget not that it all belongs to him, 
 The soil and all its lavish harvest yield, 
 And use it for the Giver. Then, indeed, 
 This land shall bud and blossom as the rose, 
 Science shall harness all the powers of earth, 
 And Wisdom rule the State with peaceful sway 
 
Culture shall smile, 
 
 and Liberty shall f shout; 
 While side by side with mill and mart shall rise 
 
 The temple, cro^oed^ith upward-pointing spire. 
 
YC 14432 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY 
 

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