%MAINII-3tfc KAUFOfyv ^0FCA1IF0% :\WE UNIVERS/A \avaan-^" ^amih^ JO^ %0i EUNIVER% ^lOSANCElfJV. o %a3AINrt-mV ^OFCA1IFO% <§fc •* — \.% ^AflvaaiH^ ^OFCAIIFO/?/ y <9AaVH8ll^ LIBRARY^. ^UIBRARYtf/ s til j r- ' ^ AWEUNIVER% ojiivojo^ ^ojnvjjo^ ^TiiaoNvsoi^ ^IQS-ANGElfr o e? %a3AiNn.3v\> FCALIFO/?^ ^OKALIFOftfc AWEUNIVERto uivaan '^ywa^ •..tfK.Akirnrr .\C.I!DDADV/l. .vC.IIDDAnVi^ 0%, ^OFCALIF0% 2? WH! WtfUNIVERS/A ^AavaaiB^ ^jmsqi^ "^maim-iv^ ^lOS-ANGElfo* %HA1NI1-3V^ : m IKS/A rS ^lOSANGEl£j> o %a3AIMBV 'O ^tllBRARY^. ^OJITVOJO^ ^Of-CALIF0«to ^vtUBRARYQr ^OJITVDJO^ .^.OFCAllF0% a# %MAiNiHtfr ^amih^ y 0Aavaan# «%. ^UIBRARYOc, ,AWEUNIVER^ : 0fcfc ^OFCAllFOfy^ M - 9 - -o&UBRARY^ <&UIBRARY0,r BY THE GOLDEN GATE BY THE GOLDEN GATB or San Francisco THE QUEEN CITY OF THE PACIFIC COAST f WITH SCENES and INCI^ DENTS CHARACTERISTIC of its LIFE By JOSEPH CAREY, UD. A Member of the American Historical Association * ALBANY, N. Y. THE ALBANY DIOCESAN PRESS 1902 Copyright, iqo2 by THE ALBANY DIOCESAN PRESS W3 J IB 7d 190 1 in the prices paid for articles of consumption and service rendered is quite remarkable. When Bayard Taylor visited San Francisco in 1849 ne paid the sum of two dollars to a Mexican porter to carry his trunk from the ship to the Plaza or Portsmouth Square. Here in an adobe building, he tells us, he had his lodging. His bed, in a loft, and his three meals per day, consisting of beefsteak, bread and coffee, cost him thirty-five dollars a week. From other sources we learn that, if you FROM STREETS TO A CANNON 125 kept house, you had to pay fifty cents per pound for potatoes, — one might weigh a pound. Apples were sold at fifty cents a piece, dried apples at seventy-five cents a pound. Fresh beef cost fifty cents a pound, milk was a dollar a quart, hens brought six dollars a piece, eggs nine dollars a dozen, and butter brought down from Oregon, was sold at the rate of two dollars and fifty cents per pound. Flour was in demand at fifty dollars a barrel, and a basket of greens would readily bring eight dollars. A cow cost two hundred dollars. A tin coffee pot was worth five dollars, and a small cooking stove was valued at one hundred dollars. A cook commanded three hundred dollars a month, a clerk two hundred dollars a month, and a carpenter received twelve dol- lars a day. Lumber sold for four hundred dollars per thousand feet, and for a small dwelling house you had to pay a rental of five hundred dollars per month. It must be remembered that people were pouring into San Francisco from all parts of the world in search of gold, that there were few if any persons to till the ground, and that many of 126 BY THE GOLDEN GATE the articles in demand for life's necessities were brought either across the Isthmus of Panama or around by Cape Horn. In con- sequence the cost of living was necessarily high. To-day you can live as cheaply in San Francisco or any other city of Califor- nia, as Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, or San Diego, as in any eastern city or town. Rooms with board can be secured at the Palace Hotel, corner of Market street and New Montgomery, at the rate of three dol- lars and a half per day up to five dollars. Without board you can obtain a room for the sum of one dollar and a half up to three dollars. The Grand Hotel, the annex to the Palace, and just across the street, offers the same rates as the Palace. The Lick House, the corner of Montgomery and Sutter streets, will take you for three dollars up to five per day. The Occidental, cor- ner of Montgomery and Bush streets charges also from three dollars up to five per day for board and room. The Califor- nia Hotel, an imposing structure, on Bush street, supplies rooms at the rate of one dol- lar per day and upwards. The Baldwin, FROM STREETS TO A CANNON 127 corner of Market and Powell streets, charges for board and room at the rate of two dol- lars and a half up to five per day; and the Russ House receives guests, giving room and board at the rate of one dollar and a half up to two dollars and a half per day — this hotel is situated on the corner of Montgom- ery and Pine streets. There are many other hotels where the traveller can be made com- fortable at a moderate cost. It is the same with many private houses which are open for guests. In the latter a parlor and bed- room with the luxury of a bath may be had for two dollars per day. A single room can be secured for a dollar a day. In such a case you can obtain your meals at one of the numerous restaurants for which San Francisco is noted. There are the restau- rants at the Palace, the California and other prominent hotels, the Maison Doree in Kearney street, Westerfeldt's in Market street, and the Cafe in the Call Building on the top floor of the tower, from which you have a commanding view of the city in all directions. Good servants can be had at the rate of thirty dollars per month, especially 128 BY THE GOLDEN GATE the much abused Chinese, who cook and do the laundry work, and wait on the table, and render a willing service. I recall the faithfulness of the Chinaman " Fred," who tried to please his employer, and also the fidelity and zeal of " Max," the Dane, or Mads Christensen. Max was an ideal waiter. He had been only nine months in the United States, and yet he had learned sufficient of the English language to under- stand what was said to him and to express himself clearly. It is an example of persist- ence; and Max had the qualities which, in a young man, are bound to lead to success. In addition to the other great buildings you cannot fail to notice the New City Hall, a magnificent pile including the Hall of Records to the east of the main structure. The location is somewhat central, being op- posite Eighth street, just north of Market street, and bounded by Park avenue, Lar- kin and McAllister streets. The plot of ground on which it is erected has an area of six and three-quarters acres and is tri- angular in shape. The front is eight hun- dred feet in length, the Larkin street side FROM STREETS TO A CANNON 129 five hundred and fifty feet, and the McAllis- ter side six hundred and fifty feet long. While the architecture is difficult to de- scribe, as being of any particular order, yet it may be said that it is partly classical, partly of the renaissance style and that it has a suggestion of the Byzantine period, which is seen in so many buildings of a pub- lic character. Nothing, however, could be more dignified than this great and imposing structure, which is traversed by a main cor- ridor crossed by a central one with two others, one in the east and the other in the west. These corridors which give you a sense of amplitude, are paved with Vermont marble. It has one chief dome, three hun- dred feet above the base, which is sur- mounted by a colossal figure with a torch in the uplifted right hand, a goddess of liberty. On another section of the Hall is a small tower with a flag staff, then a lower dome with a flag staff, the dome being supported by pillars with Corinthian capitals. Flowers were in bloom in the court-yards the day when I visited the building, and they gave an artistic appearance to the granite-founda- 130 BY THE GOLDEN GATE tions. The upper courses of the Hall are made of stucco in imitation of granite. The building, which was begun in 1870, was completed in 1895. What it cost is hard to tell. I questioned several persons in re- gard to it, but received different answers, ranging all the way from five millions of dollars up to thirteen millions. San Fran- cisco, however, may well be proud of the white edifice, in which are located most of the offices relating to the business of the city. But we must not depart from these precincts until we have examined the monu- mental group in the New City Hall Square on the south side or front. The monument is circular in form and is crowned with a figure of a woman, representing California, in bronze. She wears a chaplet made of olive leaves, and holds a wand in her right hand, and in her left a large disk bordered with stars, while a bear is seen standing on her right side. No doubt Bruin has refer- ence to the famous bear flag which had been raised on the Plaza in 1846, when California declared herself independent of Mexico, and which in the same year gave place to the FROM STREETS TO A CANNON 131 Stars and Stripes. Around the monumen- tal figure of California are subjects in bronze. First of all there is an overland wagon drawn by oxen, with pioneers ac- companying it. Secondly an Indian wig- wam with hunters and Indians representing the year 1850. In the third scene we have a buffalo hunt, the hunter holding a lasso in his hand, and then there is the dying buf- falo. Succeeding this we have a domestic scene — fruits and wheat — and a reaper in 1848. We then note bronze-medallions of Sutter, James Lick, Fremont, Drake, the American Flag, and Serra. Moreover on this central monument we have the names of Stockton, Castro, Vallejo. Marshall, Sloat, Larkin, Cabrillo-Portalo. Then the date, " Erected A. D. 1894. Dedicated to the City of San Francisco by James Lick." The scenes on the four monuments around the central one are — First, the find- ing of gold in " '49 " — three miners. Sec- ond, a figure with an oar. Third, Early Days. Indian with bow and arrow. Pio- neer with saddle and lasso. A Franciscan preaching. Fourth, a figure crowned with 132 BY THE GOLDEN GATE wheat, apples in right hand, and the Horn of plenty with various fruits in the left hand. The monument bears this inscription, near the base — Whyte and De Rome, Founders. Frank Appersberger, Sculptor. In front of this most interesting monu- ment is a cannon that has a history. Near the head of this instrument of destruction is the legend, Pluribus nee Impar. On the body of the cannon we read Le Prince De Conde. Ultima Ratio Regum. Louis Charles De Bourbon — Comte D'Eu., Due D'Aumale. A Douay — Par T. Berenger, Commissionaire. Des Fontes Le 23 Mars, 1754. The cannon is made of bronze, has a coat of arms, and is otherwise ornamented. It has two handles in the shape of dragons. It is twelve feet long. But it has another inscription in which we are deeply inter- ested. This is in English, and reads as fol- lows : " Captured at Santiago De Cuba, July 17, 1898, by the Fifth Army Corps, U. S. Army, Commanded by Major General William R. Shafter, and presented by him to the FROM STREETS TO A CANNON 133 City of San Francisco, California, in trust for the Native Sons of the Golden West, and (accepted as a token of the valor and patriotism of the Army of the United States." While I was reading the inscriptions and making - measurements an open two-seated carriage was driven up to the curbstone, about four o'clock in the afternoon. From this a gentleman in a business suit, about sixty years of age, alighted and approached me. He was a man of pleasing address. He said to me, " You seem to be interested in this cannon." " I am," was the reply. Then he be- gan to pace it and to examine it, and said, " It is just twelve feet long." He thought that possibly it came into the hands of the Spaniards during the Napoleonic wars, and that it at length found its way over to Cuba to help in enslaving the people of that island. As I was attracted to my informant, I ven- tured to ask him whom I had the pleasure of addressing. Imagine my astonishment and delight when he said modestly — " I am Gen- eral Shatter." I said to him, " I am glad to meet one so brave and who has helped to 134 BY THE GOLDEN GATE add new lustre to our Flag." He replied that " he considered it a privilege to have had a share in the liberation of Cuba, and that our beloved nation was on the march to still greater glory." Finding out where I came from, and that I lived near Ballston Spa, he said, " You must know my son-in- law, William H. McKittrick." I replied that I did, that I knew him when he was a boy, and that he and his family were my parishioners, when I was Rector of Christ Church, Ballston Spa, twenty-eight years ago. Said he, " William distinguished him- self in the Cuban War. He is now a Cap- tain and Assistant Adjutant-General, and it was he who was the first to hoist the Flag over Santiago." The General having cour- teously invited me to call on him, soon after bade me good-bye. It was a chance meet- ing, but full of interest, especially under the circumstances. Here was the hero who had captured the cannon and who had won lau- rels for himself and for his country. Mc- Kittrick also comes of a patriotic family, his father having laid his life on the altar of his country in the Civil War; and after FROM STREETS TO A CANNON 135 the elder McKittrick is named the Grand Army Post of Ballston Spa, N. Y. — Post McKittrick. General Shafter was as mod- est on the day when I met him by the can- non as he was brave at Santiago. While the Republic has such worthy sons she has noth- ing to fear. Her mission is one of peace to her own people in all the States and Ter- ritories of the Union, and in all our Colonial possessions; and the motto of every citizen should be Non sibi sed Patrice. For every churchman it ought to be Non sibi sed Ec- clesice. CHAPTER VII CHINAMEN OF SAN FRANCISCO THEIR CALLINGS AND CHARACTERISTICS A Visit to Chinatown — Its Boundaries — A Terra In- cognita — Fond of Mongrels — My Licensed Guide — The Study of the Signs — Men of All Callings — Picture of the Chinaman — Devoid of Humour — Confucius — Great Men from Good Mothers — Con- fucius to Women — Mormonism and Mohamme- danism — How to Regenerate China — Slaves of the Lamp — Chinamen Impassive — Aroused to Wrath — How They Dress — The Queue — " Pidgin " English — Payment of Debts — Bankrupt Law — Suicide. When in the City of the Golden Gate you will not fail to visit the Chinese Quarter, or " Chinatown," as it is popularly called. Just as in an Oriental city like Jerusalem or Constantinople you find different national- ities or races living- apart from each other, so here in San Francisco you have " Little China " in the heart of Anglo-Saxon civili- sation. It is as if you had unfolded to your wondering- eyes in a dream some town from 136 CHINAMEN OF SAN FRANCISCO 137 the banks of the Pearl River, the Yangtse- Kiang, or the Hwangho or Yellow River; and it seems strange indeed that, without the trouble or expense and danger of crossing the waters of the Pacific, you can by a short walk from the midst of the teeming life of an American City, be ushered into streets that are foreign in appearance and where scenes that are unfamiliar to the eye attract your attention on every hand. With the exception of the houses, which, as a rule, take on a European or an American style of architecture, you might imagine that you were in Canton or some other Chinese city. The life is truly Asiatic and Mongolian in its character and in its display as well as in its customs. The home of the sons of the Flowery Kingdom in San Francisco is in the north-eastern section of the city, and may be said to be in one of the best portions of the metropolis of the West, sheltered as it is from the winds of the Pacific by the hills which are back of it, and with a com- manding view of the Bay and its islands and the magnificent landscapes to the east, valleys and hills running up to the heights 138 BY THE GOLDEN GATE of the Sierras. The locality is bounded by- Jackson, Pacific, Dupont, Commercial, and Sacramento streets, and embraces some eight squares; and within this space, crowded together, are the twenty-five or thirty thousand Chinese who form a part of the population of the city. There are China- men here and there in other parts of San Francisco, but nearly all live here in this quarter which we are now approaching. Here there are the homes of the people who came from the land of Confucius, here the famous shops, the theatres, the Joss-houses where heathen worship is maintained. As soon then as you set foot within the area described you feel that you are in a strictly foreign country; and if this is your first visit, the place is to you a sort of terra incog- nita. You will need a guide to take you through its labyrinths and point out to you its hidden recesses and explain the strange sights and interpret for you the language which sounds so oddly to your ears. If you have not some man to conduct you, a dragoman or courier, you will be likely to make mistakes as ludicrous as that re- CHINAMEN OF SAN FRANCISCO 139 lated of an English woman. Sir Henry Howarth, the author of the " History of the Mongols," a learned and laborious work, was out dining one evening. It fell to his lot at his host's house to escort a lady to the dinner table; and she, having a confused idea of the great man's theme, surprised him somewhat by the abrupt question, " I understand, Sir Henry, that you are fond of dogs. Are you not? I am too." " Dogs, madam? I really must plead guiltless. I know nothing at all of them! " " Indeed," his fair questioner replied; "and they told me you had written a famous history of mongrels ! " It is best then always to take a guide, and you will have no trouble in finding one, who will charge you from two to three dollars an hour. If you go with a small party, which is best, all can share the expense. It will take about three hours to explore the town thoroughly and study the life. The writer went through Chinatown on two evenings at an interval of a few days, and saw this Asiatic Quarter of San Francisco to great advantage. The first time was with a licensed guide of long ex- 140 BY THE GOLDEN GATE perience, and the second time it was under the direction of a police-detective. Some five friends were in the party; and we started on our tour of exploration about half past nine o'clock at night. The night is the best time in which to study the life, for then you can see the Chinese in their houses and at their amusements, as well as many others who still are at work; for some of the Chinese artisans toil for sixteen hours a day, and long into the hours of the night. Here among them are no strikes for fewer hours, but patient toil, as it were in a tread- mill, without a murmur. My licensed guide was Henry Gehrt. a man about fifty-five years old, of German parentage. He had been in the business for twenty-seven years, and he maintained an office on Sacramento Street. His badge was No. 60. All guides must wear badges according to law. As we went hither and thither we met occasion- ally groups of sight-seers, among them some of our friends, members of the Convention, Bishops, and clerical and lay deputies, who felt this was a rare opportunity to study heathendom; and I am sure all went away CHINAMEN OF SAN FRANCISCO 141 from this strange spot thanking God for our noble Anglo-Saxon civilisation, as well as for the knowledge of His Revelation. The houses, I observed, are three, and sometimes four stories high, with balconies and windows, which give them a decidedly Oriental appearance. On most of them were signs displayed in the Chinese language. You also see scrolls by the doors of the private houses and on the shops. The signs are a study in their bright colours and their mythological and fantastic adornments. Yellow is the predominant colour, and the dragon is in evidence everywhere. This emblem of the Celestial Empire is repre- sented in gorgeous array and with a profu- sion of ornament. A splendid dragon is the sign and trade mark of " Sing Fat and Co.," who keep a Chinese and Japanese Ba- zaar on Dupont Street. On their card they give this warning, " Beware of firms in- fringing on our name; " and it seems as if the dragon on the sign would avenge any invasion of their rights. The signs are a study, and if you are ignorant of the lan- guage, you ask your learned guide to inter- 142 BY THE GOLDEN GATE pret them for you. He will tell you that Hop Wo does business here as a grocer, that Shun Wo is the butcher, that Shan Tong is the tea-merchant, that Tin Yuk is the apothecary, and that Wo-Ki sells bric-a- brac. Some of the signs, your guide will tell you, are not the real names of the men who do business, that they are only mottoes. Wung Wo Shang indicates to you that per- petual concord begets wealth. Hip Wo speaks to you of brotherly love and har- mony. Tin Yuk means a jewel from Heaven, Wa Yun is the fountain of flowers, while Man Li suggests thousands of profits. Other of the signs relate to the muse. They do not at all reveal the business carried on within. The butcher, for example, has over his shop such elegant phrases as Great Con- cord, Constant Faith. Abounding Virtue. There are many pawn-brokers who ply their vocation assiduously. They tell you of their honest purpose after this fashion : " Let each have his due pawn-brokers," and, " Hon- est profit pawn-brokers." In the Chinese restaurant, to which we will go later, you will be edified by such sentiments as these. — CHINAMEN OF SAN FRANCISCO 143 The Almond-Flower Chamber, Chamber of the Odours of Distant Lands, Garden of the Golden Valley, Fragrant Tea-Chamber. The apothecary induces you to enter his store with inviting signs of this character: Benevolence and Longevity Hall, Hall of Everlasting Spring, Hall of Joyful Relief, Hall for Multiplying Years. Surely if the American druggist would exhibit such sen- tences as these over his shop he would never suffer for want of customers. All are in pursuit of length of years and health; and I think the Chinese pharmacist shows his great wisdom in offering to all who are suf- fering from the ills to which flesh is heir a panacea for their ailments. It takes the fancy, it is a pleasing conceit for the mind, and the mere thought that you are entering Longevity Hall gives you fresh courage! You will find here in Chinatown men of all callings, the labourer who is ready to bear any burden you lay on him, the artisan who is skilled in his work, the grocer, the clothes' dealer, the merchant, the apothecary, the doctor, the tinsmith, the furniture- maker, the engraver, the goldsmith, the 144 BY THE GOLDEN GATE maker of paper-shrines for idols, the barber, the clairvoyant, the fortune-teller, and all others of every calling which is useful and brings profit to him who pursues it. But we are deeply interested in the men whom we meet. At first view they all seem to look alike, you can hardly distinguish one from another. The)'' are a study. Look on their solemn faces, sphinx-like in their re- pose and imperturbability. They are a riddle to you. You rarely ever hear them laugh. They are like a landscape beneath skies which are wanting in the sparkling sun- beams. They seem to you as if they had continual sorrow of heart, as if some wrong of past ages had set its seal on their features. The Chinaman has very little sense of the ludicrous, and he is lacking in the elements of intellectual sprightliness and vivacity which lead a Frenchman or an American to appreciate and enjoy a sally of wit, a bon mot, or a joke. Life indeed is better, and a man can bear his burdens with more ease if he has a sense of humour. Some of the great characters in history have often come out of the depths with triumph by reason of CHINAMEN OF SAN FRANCISCO 145 the spirit within them which could perceive the flash of wit and apply its medicine to the wounds of the heart. I think it may be said, as a rule, that the Asiatic has not the power to appreciate wit and humour like the old Greek or the Teuton or the Celt. He is not wanting in his love of the beautiful, in his appreciation of poetry, in the vision which perceives the flowers blooming by the waters in the desert, and in the hearing which catches the sound of the harmonies of his palm-trees and lotus flowers, but in the sense or faculty to seize on mirth and appropriate her to his service in burden-bearing he is sadly deficient. He is but a child in this re- spect. While the Chinaman has inventive faculties and keen intellect and wonderful imitative powers, yet in other respects he is behind the progressive races of the world. He has made little advance for thousands of years. His isolation, his narrow sphere, his simple life, and his religion even, which, while some of its maxims and tenets are ad- mirable, still is lacking in the knowledge of the true God and in lofty ideals, have had a marked effect upon his thoughts and habits 146 BY THE GOLDEN GATE and pursuits. His great teacher, Confucius, who flourished five centuries before the Christian era and who spoke some sublime truths, was nevertheless ignorant of a Reve- lation from heaven and inferior in his grasp of religious truth to such sages of Greece as Socrates and Plato. In his system also woman is practically a slave. She is simply the minister of man, and therefore unable^ rear up children, sons who would reflect the greatness of soul of a noble motherhood. It has often been remarked that great men have had great mothers. I think experience and observation will bear out this statement. Glance over the pages of history, and emi- nent examples will rise up before the view. Whence spring the Samuels and the Davids, whence a Leonidas and a Markos Bozzaris, whence the Scipios and the Gracchi, whence the Augustines and the Chrysostoms, whence the Alfreds and the Gladstones, whence the Washingtons and the Lincolns, whence the Seaburys and the Doanes, and many an- other? Are they not all hewn from the quar- ries of a noble motherhood? Are they not sprung from the fountain of a womanhood CHINAMEN OF SAN FRANCISCO 147 whose living streams are clear as crystal and sweet and refreshing? The first Chavah, Eve, is rightly styled the mother of all liv- ing; and a generation or race of men to be living, active, noble in achievement, dis- tinguished in virtues, must issue from a well-spring which vitalises and beautifies and magnifies the spirit and the intellect, as Engannim waters her gardens, and Engedi nourishes her acacias and lotus-plants, and Enshemesh reflects the sun's golden beams the livelong day. But what, you ask, are the exact teachings of the sage Confucius, who influences Chinese society even to this day, with regard to woman ? Hear him : " Moreover, that you have not in this life been born a male is owing to your amount of wickedness, heaped up in a previous state of existence, having been both deep and weighty ; you would not then desire to adorn virtue, to heap up good actions, and learn to do well ! So that you now have been hopelessly born a female! And if you do not this second time specially amend your faults, this amount of wickedness of yours will be getting both deeper and weightier, 148 BY THE GOLDEN GATE so that it is to be feared in the next state of existence, even if you should wish for a male's body, yet it will be very difficult to get it." Again another saying of Confu- cius is : " You must know that for a woman to be without talent is a virtue on her part." With such teaching then ever before them, do you wonder that Chinese women do not excel in virtue, and that they are the mothers of a race of men who are prac- tically like standing water instead of a flow- ing fountain to refresh the waste places of human life? The teachings of Mormon- ism and Mohammedanism with regard to woman also degrade her and rob her of the beautiful crown which her Maker has put upon her head; and hence it is that such peoples are not virile and progressive like the nations where woman is looked upon as man's helpmeet, where she stands upon his right hand as a queen. The Mormons are better in many respects than their faith; and if the first generation was hardy and ag- gressive and brave in subduing the desert and changing Rocky Mountain wastes into a blooming garden, it was because they had CHINAMEN OF SAN FRANCISCO 149 been trained in the school of Christianity and had imbibed lessons of wisdom at the fountain of a pure faith and inherited from Christian fathers and mothers those qual- ities which are stamped on the soul through upright living and a creed that is formu- lated in true doctrine. But Mormonism is dying out, and woman in Utah is receiving the rightful place assigned her by her Creator in the work of building up the race and perpetuating the virtues and forces of a true manhood. The followers of Moham- med are still numerous and powerful, and the Religion of the Koran has shown great vitality for centuries. The nobility of char- acter, however, which has manifested itself in such lives as that of Saladin the Great is the product of other causes than the spe- cific teachings and views of Islam respecting domestic life and the position and office of woman. The destinies of men have been determined often by their environments. We must also bear in mind that from time to time, under the sway of the Crescent, dif- ferent sections of the civilised world have been brought under the rule of the Sultans, 150 BY THE GOLDEN GATE and all that was good and noble in the lives of peoples newly incorporated into the faith of the Arabian Prophet has contributed in no small degree to the strength of a system which has in its own bosom the seeds of decay and which will ultimately become effete and pass away. Mohammed Ali, the founder of the present Khedivial house of Egypt, had in his veins old Macedonian blood, and his views respecting marriage and domestic life, as well as the traditions of his. family in his old home at Kavala, had much to do with the development of his character and his brilliant career; and hence neither he nor others like him in the Turkish Empire can be singled out to prove that a religion which looks upon woman as an in- ferior being to man is excellent in its tend- encies and produces a noble fruitage. What Napoleon once said with respect to France, that she needed good mothers, is true as re- gards China. Where woman is held in honour and where the domestic virtues are woven into a beautiful chaplet of spring- time blossoms to bedeck her brow, there you will find good and great men. Our own CHINAMEN OF SAN FRANCISCO 151 nation is an example of this. To regenerate China then, to improve the morals of China- town in San Francisco, or Chinatown in New York where there are between seven and eight thousand sons and daughters of the Flowery Kingdom, you must create pure homes, and to do this you must first of all sweeten them with the precepts of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Confucius will fail you. The Son of God will reform you and save you ! Such thoughts and reflections as these naturally sprang up in my mind in my walks through Chinatown. I saw its people on every hand. Sometimes they were in twos, again in groups of a half a dozen or more. They scarcely noticed us as we walked by them; they showed no curiosity to observe us, but went on their way as though intent on one object. They moved about like automatons, as if they were a piece of machinery: and such as were at work in shops heeded us not even when we stood over them and watched them as they handled their tools. It was work. work. They were doing their masters' bidding like the genii of the lamp; 152 BY THE GOLDEN GATE and in the glare of the light in which they wrought on their bench or at their stand the workers in gold and silver, the makers of ornaments and jewelry, were like some strange beings from another world. They work to the point of endurance. They have their amusements, their holidays, as the Chi- nese New Year which comes in February, their processions from time to time, but their great indulgence is in the use of opium. Once or twice a month the ordinary labourer or workman gives himself up to its seduc- tive charms, to its power more fatal to his manhood than intoxicating drinks taken to excess. The Chinaman is so stolid and im- passive that it is hard to arouse his wrath. He will bear insults without a murmur for a long time, but in the end he will be stung into madness and he will give force to all his pent up fires of hate that have slumbered like a volcano. He may wait long without having punished his oppressor, but he will bide his time. So it was with the Boxers in China whose story is so painfully fresh in the memories of the great legations of the world in Pekin. CHINAMEN OF SAN FRANCISCO 153 The men and women of Chinatown dress very nearly like each other; though you do not meet many women. The Chinaman wears a blouse of blue cotton material or other cheap, manufactured goods. This is without a collar, and is usually hooked over the breast. There are no buttons. Wealthy Chinamen, and there are many such, indulge in richer garments. As a rule they have adopted the American felt hat of a brownish colour. The shoe has the invariable wooden sole with uppers of cotton or some kind of ordinary cloth. The hair is the object of their chief attention, however, in the mak- ing up of their toilet. It is worn in a queue or pigtail fashion as it is commonly styled. It is their glory, however, this long, black, glossy braid. It is the Chinaman's distin- guishing badge. It gives him dignity in the presence of his countrymen. If cut off he feels dishonoured. He can never go back to the home of his ancestors, but must re- main in exile. He wears this mark of his nationality either hanging down his back or else coiled about the head. When at work the latter style is preferred, as it is then out 154 BY THE GOLDEN GATE of the way of his movements. Some of the men whom you meet have fine intellectual heads. The merchants and scholars whom I saw answer to this description. As a rule they can all read and write. They have a love of knowledge to a certain point, and a book is prized by them. The great desire of the Chinamen who reach our shores is to learn the English language. They know it gives them an advantage. It is the avenue to success. Sometimes they will become members of an American Mission or Bible- class in order to learn the language. They still, however, have their mental reserva- tions with regard to their native Joss-houses and worship. But they are not singular in this respect. Mohammedans and Jews in the East allow their children to attend schools where English is taught, because with the knowledge of this they can the more readily find employment among tour- ists and in places of exchange. This is par- ticularly true in Egypt and in Syria. But the Chinaman in his attempt to learn the Anglo-Saxon tongue finds great difficulties. Very many speak only what is called CHINAMEN OF SAN FRANCISCO 155 " Pidgin " or " Pigeon " English, that is Business English. Business on the lips of the new learner becomes " Pidgin." They like to end a word with ee as " muchee," and they find it next to impossible to frame the letter R. For example the word rice be- comes lice in a Chinaman's mouth, and a Christian is a Chlistian, while an American is turned into an Amelican. Of course this does not apply to the educated Chinaman who is polished and gifted in speech as is the case with any well-trained Chinese clergyman or such as minister Wu Ting- Fang in Washington. All debts among the Chinese are paid once a year, that is when their New Year comes around in our month of February. There are three ways in which they may cancel their debts. First, they pay them in money, if they are able, when accounts are cast up between creditor and debtor. If in the sec- ond place they are unable to pay what they owe they assign all their goods and effects to their creditors, and then the debtor gets a clean bill and so starts out anew with a clear conscience for another year. This in 156 BY THE GOLDEN GATE few words is the Chinese " Bankrupt Law." But, in the third place, if a man has no as- sets, if he be entirely impoverished, and can- not pay his debts, he considers it a matter of honour to kill himself. Death pays all debts for him, settles all scores, and he is not looked upon with aversion or execrated. Even Chinese women have resorted to this extreme method of settling their accounts. But what of their settlement with their Maker who gave them life, who holds all men responsible for that gift, who expects us to use the boon aright? A Chinaman does not value life with the same feeling and estimate as an Anglo-Saxon. Should he fail in any great purpose, should he meet with defeat in some cherished plan, he will seek refuge in the bosom of the grave; he will voluntarily return to his ancestors whom he has worshipped as gods. In the late war between China and Japan, in which China was vanquished, some of her generals committed suicide. It presents, alas, a de- generate side of human nature. It is most pathetic. Better far to live under the smart of defeat and bear its shame, carry the cross, CHINAMEN OF SAN FRANCISCO 157 endure the stings of conscience, and meet the frowns of the world, than flee from the path of duty, than dishonour our manhood. The greatest victory is to conquer one's proud heart, and to suffer, and do God's will. The teachings of Christ show us the value of life, tell us how to live, how to die, how to win the divine approbation. To Him we bow and not to Confucius. CHAPTER VIII A CHINESE NEWSPAPER, LITTLE FEET, AND AN OPIUM JOINT In Chinatown — A Chinese Editor — His Views of Chinese Life — A Daily Paper and the Way in Which it is Printed — A Night School — The Mission of the English Language — A Widow and Her Children — A Pair of Small Shoes — Binding of the Feet and Custom — Mrs. Wu Ting-Fang on Small Feet — Maimed and Veiled Women — The Shulamite's Feet — An Opium-joint — A Wretched Chinaman — Fascination of Opium — History and Cultivation of the Poppy — The East India Company and the Opium War — An Opium Farmer — How the Old Man Smoked — De Quincey and His Experiences — " I Will Sleep No More." As my guide and 1 went forth to visit the places of interest in Chinatown, we directed our steps first of all to the Chinese news- paper office. This is located at No. 804 Sac- ramento street, corner of Dupont street. On being ushered in I met with a cordial wel- come from the managing editor, Mr. Ng Poon Chew, who, before I bade him good-bye, ex- 158 AN OPIUM- JOINT 159 changed cards with me. He, I learned, is a Christian minister and is the pastor of a Chinese church in Los Angeles. His literary attainments and business capacity peculiarly fit him for his work on the Chinese paper, and he is held in high esteem by Chinamen generally. He is a man about four feet five inches in stature, and possibly forty years old. It is hard, however, to tell a China- man's age, and so he may be five or ten years older. He is what you would call a hand- some man, with a fine head and a beaming countenance. He showed great warmth in his greeting — and this was the more remark- able as the Chinaman is generally cool and impassive. He was dressed in the Chinese fashion with the traditional queue hanging down behind. He presented altogether a stri- king appearance, and you would single him out from a crowd as a man of more than ordinary cultivation and ability. He talked English fluently, and it was a pleasure to listen to him. He has well defined views regarding China and other countries. When questioned about the Flowery Kingdom, he said that the people were very conservative, 160 BY THE GOLDEN GATE that they do not wish for change, and that Chinese women dress as they did thousands of years ago. He remarked, however, that there is a younger generation of Chinamen who long for a change and for reform in methods, I suppose after the manner of the so-called " Young Turks " in the Sultan's dominions. They would like the improve- ments of European and American life, and would shake off the trammels of the past to a large extent, just as Japan has shaken off the sleep of centuries and is marching to- wards greatness among the strong nations of the world. With the modern appliances and advances in civilisation and armies well drilled like those of England or the United States of America, and with great war-ships well manned, they would be able to meet the world and to defend themselves and repel every invader from their country. He says the Chinese have good memories, that they will never forget the manner in which opium came to them, and the opium war of 1839. When he was a child he was taught to pray to a wooden god, and he had to rise as early as 3 : 30 a. m. to go to school to study the AN OPIUM- JOINT 161 teachings of Confucius. As the custom is to go so early in the morning to school, the children sometimes drop to sleep by the way as they are hastening on. Chinamen will tell you that they have the religion which is best for them. This is the doctrine of Con- fucius ; but Confucius, while a great scholar, was not a saint. He taught men " to im- prove their pocket," but did not teach them much about their soul. In order to see the real effect of the teachings of Confucius, you must go to China. Confucius may make men whom you may admire, but he cannot make men whom you can respect. The re- ligion of Confucius is dreary and is lacking in the warmth and blessing which come from a belief in the Bible. It is most certainly refreshing to hear this learned Chinaman talking and giving his impressions and opinions about matters of such vital importance. Ng Poon Chew, at my request, gave me the business card of the newspaper. This states that the paper, which is published daily in Chinese, is called " Chung Sai Yat Po," and that it has the largest circulation of any Chinese paper pub- 1 62 BY THE GOLDEN GATE lished outside of the Chinese Empire. The card further tells us that " this paper is the organ of the commercial element in America and is the best medium for Chinese trade." In addition to the daily issue of the news- paper, " English and Chinese Job Printing " is done in the office. The work of interpret- ing the English and Chinese languages is carried on here. Mr. Ng Poon Chew spoke with evident pride about his paper, and in- formed me that he gave a daily account of the proceedings of the General Convention, then in session in Trinity Church, San Fran- cisco, in the " Chung S'ai Yat Po." The editing of a Chinese newspaper is no easy matter. The printing of the paper is difficult and requires great skill and patience. There are, for example, forty thousand word- signs, all different, in the Chinese language, and to represent these signs there must be separate, movable type-pieces. It is said that it takes a long period of time to distribute the type and lay out " the case." The type- setter must know the word by sight to tell its meaning, otherwise he will make serious blunders. Then it is a hard matter to find AN OPIUM- JOINT 163 intelligent typesetters. The editor, too, must be a man of business. The paper is watched by spies of the Chinese Government, and if the editor expresses himself in any manner antagonistic to the Emperor or the Dowager Empress or any of the viceroys of the prov- inces, his head would be cut off if he ever ventured to set foot in China. There is another obstacle in the way of a Chinese newspaper of liberal views, like the " Chung Sai Yat Po." It cannot get its type from China, as the Government is opposed to every reform paper. The type for such a journal is cast in a Japanese foundry in Yokohama. It is said that about ten thousand word-signs are used in the printing of the newspaper. The type-case is usually long, for the purpose of allowing all the type-pieces to be spread out. The type runs up and down in a col- umn, and you read from right to left as in Hebrew or other Shemitic languages. The characters are as old in form as the days of Confucius. The " Chung Sai Yat Po " has a very large circulation and finds its way to the islands of the Pacific Ocean and into China. 1 64 BY THE GOLDEN GATE From the newspaper office we wended our way to a little Baptist mission chapel for the Chinese. There were about forty persons congregated here, among them some ten or twelve Americans who were teaching the Chinese the English language. This night school is popular with young, ambitious Chinamen, for when they learn our language it is much easier for them to obtain work in stores and offices, and even as house serv- ants. The books used had the Chinese words on one page and the English sentences op- posite. Sometimes converts to Christianity are made through the medium of the night school, but it takes time and patience to win a Chinaman from the religion of Confucius. It is worth the labour, however. The difficul- ties in the mastery of English are a great barrier to conversions. Nevertheless they do occur. A Chinaman is readily reached through his own language. Hence the im- portance of raising up native teachers of the Gospel who can speak to the hearts as well as to the understanding of their countrymen. As we observed in the foregoing chapter, in the Orient, as in Syria and Egypt, Jews AN OPIUM- JOINT 165 and Mohammedans sometimes allow their children to attend the English schools, and to a large extent from a worldly motive. The Syrian or Arab who can speak English is in demand as a dragoman, an accountant, an office clerk in the bazaar, or a camp-serv- ant or boatman. Indeed a great revolution is now taking place all through the East. Nearly all the young Egyptians can talk English, and this is the first step towards their conversion to the faith of the Gospel. When they are able to read the books of the Christians in the English, they are led to look favourably on the Church. They catch the spirit of belief in Jesus Christ from the Christian tourist. They lose the narrowness and bigotry which the mosque or the syna- gogue fosters, and in time they examine the claims of a religion which has built up the great nations of Europe and America. The future has in store great developments for the Church in Palestine and the old land of the Pharaohs through the agency of the Eng- lish schools, and I believe the readiest way in which to convert the Chinese people, whether in Chinatown in San Francisco, or in China 166 BY THE GOLDEN GATE itself, is to teach them our language and give them access to the Holy Scriptures in our noble tongue. Our Church schools in China are doing a great work in this respect. So is St. John's College in Shanghai. They should all be liberally supported with offer- ings from America, and what we sow in this generation will be reaped in the next, a splen- did harvest for Christ and His Church! After leaving the night school our guide conducted us up narrow stairs to the rooms occupied by a Chinese woman. She was a widow with four children, daughters, and rather petite in form, and lacking the physi- cal development and beauty of the Caucasian race. They seemed shy and timid, for Chi- nese women are not accustomed to the so- ciety of men. In fact there is among them no such home-life as we are familiar with. Thev were dressed in a measure after the fashion of our girls, and had long, black hair. The mother said a few sentences in broken English, and welcomed us with an air of sincerity, though not a little embarrassed. Slie was a woman of about forty years, and from the expression of her face had evi- AN OPIUM- JOINT 167 dently met with trials. Brought over to San Francisco from Canton when a young girl, she had married Shan Tong with all the ceremony and merry-making which charac- terise a Chinese wedding, with its processions and feasting and the noise of its firecrackers; but some four or five years ago death claimed her husband, and she was left to do battle alone, while he was laid to rest in the Chinese burying-ground at the west end of Laurel Hill Cemetery. But she did not suf- fer from want, for Chinamen are kind to the needy of their own race. Among the objects which excited our curiosity were the tiny shoes of the small-footed woman. These were not quite three inches in length, and looked as if they were more suited for a doll's feet than for a full grown woman's. Yes, here was the evidence of a barbarous custom which deprives a human being of one of nature's good gifts, so necessary to our comfort and happiness. Think what you would be, if, through infirmity, you were not at liberty to go hither and thither at will like the young hart or gazelle! We grieve naturally if our children's feet are deformed 1 68 BY THE GOLDEN GATE or misshapen at birth, but what a crime it is to destroy the form and strength of the foot as God has made it! It is true that the Manchu women in China rejoice in the feet which the beneficent Creator has given them. The Dowager Empress — of whom we have read so much of late, and who rules China with an iron rod, has feet like any other woman; but millions of her countrywomen have been robbed of nature's endowment through a foolish and wicked custom which has prevailed in China from time imme- morial. The feet are bound when the child is born, and they are never allowed to grow as God designed, as the flower expands into beauty from the bud. Chinese women realise that it is foolish, that it is a deformity, but it is the " custom," and custom prevails. It is like the laws of the Medes and Persians which alter not. Women are powerless under it. It is in vain to a large extent that they oppose it. There is in China an Anti-foot- binding League, which receives the support of men of prominence. Even centuries ago imperial edicts were issued against it, but custom still rules. It was Montaigne who de- AN OPIUM- JOINT 169 clared that " custom " ought to be followed simply because it is custom. A poor reason indeed. There should be a better argument for the doing of what is contrary to reason and nature. Nature is a wise mother, and she bestows on us no member of the body that is unnecessary. The thought of her fostering care was well expressed by the old Greeks who lived an out-door life, in their personifi- cation of Mother Earth under the creation of their Demeter, perfect in form and beauti- ful in expression and noble in action. This is far above the conceptions of nature or of a presiding genius over our lives, taking into account social order and marriage vows, which we find in Chinese literature or my- thology. It is not difficult to perceive the reason why the Greeks, who rule the realms of philosophy and art and literature to-day, after the lapse of many centuries, are the superior people. Well does that master-mind, Shakespeare, characterise evil custom : " That monster, custom, who all sense doth eat, Of habits devil." But a better day is coming for Chinese women. Wherever Christianity has touched i jo BY THE GOLDEN GATE them in the past they have been uplifted and benefited. The sun seems now to rise in greater effulgence on the Kingdom of the Yellow Dragon. The wretched custom of dwarfing and destroying the feet of a child whose misfortune, according to Confucius, it is to be born a female, is giving way under pressure from contact with the enlightened nations of the world. The teachings of the Christian Church are having their salutary effect and Chinamen are beginning to learn the value of a woman's life from the Biblical standpoint, and the daughters of the Flowery Kingdom will, as time goes on, become more and more like the polished corners of the Temple, or the Caryatides supporting the entablature of the Erechtheum at Athens. It is Madame \Yu Ting-Fang, wife of the Chi- nese Minister at Washington, who has re- cently returned from a visit to her old home, who says : " The first penetrating influence of exterior civilisation on the customs of my country has touched the conditions of women. The emancipation of woman in China means, first of all, the liberation of her feet, and this is coming. Indeed, it has AN OPIUM- JOINT 171 already come in a measure, for the style in feet has changed. Wee bits of feet, those no longer than an infant's, are no longer the fashion. When I went back home I found that the rigid binding and forcing back of the feet was largely a thing of the past. China, with other nations, has come to re- gard that practice as barbarous, but the small feet, those that enable a woman to walk a little and do not inconvenience her in getting about the house, are still favoured by the Chinese ladies." The custom of binding and destroying the feet, no doubt, arose from the low views en- tained by Chinese sages concerning woman, and from a lack of confidence in her sense of honour and virtue. She must be maimed so that she cannot go about at will, so she shall be completely under the eye of her husband, held as it were in fetters. It is a sad comment on Chinese domestic moral- ity, it fosters the very evil it seeks to cure, it destroys all home life in the best sense. The veiled women of the East are very much in the same position. If a stranger, out of curiosity or by accident, look on the face of a 172 BY THE GOLDEN GATE Mohammedan wife, it might lead to her re- pudiation by her jealous husband, or the offender might be punished for his innocent glance. The writer recalls how at Hebron, in Palestine, he was cautioned by the drago- man, when going up a narrow street to the Mosque of Machpelah, where he had to pass veiled women, not to look at them or to seem to notice them, as the men were very fanat- ical and might do violence to an unwary tourist. The Chinese women of small feet, or rather no feet at all, walk, or attempt to walk, in a peculiar way. It is as if one were on stilts. The feet are nothing but stumps, while the ankles are large, almost unnatural in their development. It is indeed a great deformity. The feet are shrunken to less size than an infant's; but they have not the beauty of a baby's feet, which have in them great possibilities and a world of suggestion and romance and poetry. If the Chinese cus- tom had prevailed among the ancient He- brew people, think you that King Solomon in singing of the graces of the Shulamite, who represents the Church mystically, would ever have exclaimed, — " How beautiful are AN OPIUM- JOINT 173 thy feet with shoes, O prince's daughter!" We should have lost, moreover, much that is noble in art, and the poetic creations of Greek sculptors would never have delighted the eye nor enchained the fancy. In our perambulations about Chinatown, we must next visit an opium-joint. This mysterious place was situated in a long, ram- bling building through which we had to move cautiously so as not to stumble into some pit or dangerous hole or trap-door. Here were no electric lights to drive away the gloom, here no gas-jets to show us where we were treading, nothing but an occasional lamp dimly burning. Yet we went on as if drawn by a magic spell. At last we were ushered into a room poorly furnished. It was not more than twelve feet square, and in the corner was an apology for a bed. On this was stretched an old man whose face was sunken, whose eyes were lusterless, whose hand was long and thin and bony, and whose voice was attenuated and pitched in a falsetto key. The guide said that this old Chinaman was sixty-eight years of age, and that he had had a life of varied experience. He was a 174 BY THE GOLDEN GATE miner by profession, but had spent all his earnings long ago, and was now an object of charity as well as of pity. Indeed he was the very embodiment of misery, a wretched, woebegone, human being! He had lost one arm in an accident during his mining days. Chinamen in the thirst for gold had mining claims as well as Anglo-Saxons. This de- sire for the precious metal seems to be uni- versal. All men more or less love gold ; and for its acquisition they will undergo great hardship, face peril, risk their lives. This aged Chinaman for whom there was no fu- ture except to join his ancestors in another life, was now a pauper notwithstanding all his quest for the treasures of the mines; and his chief solace, if it be comfort indeed to have the senses benumbed periodically, or daily, and then wake up to the consciousness of loss and with a feeling of despair betimes, was in his opium pipe, which he smoked fifty times a day at the cost of half a dollar, the offering of charity, the dole received from his pitying countrymen or the interested trav- eller who might come to his forlorn abode. But what a fascination the opium drug has AN OPIUM-JOINT 175 for the Chinaman, and not for him alone, but for children of other races — for men and women who, when under its spell, will sell honour and sacrifice all that is dear in life, and even forego the prospect and the blessed hope of entering at last into the bliss of the heavenly world ! But what is opium, what its parentage and history? The Greeks will tell you it is their opion or opos, the juice of the poppy, and the botanist will point out the magic flower for you as the Papaver Somniferum, whose home was originally in the north of Europe and in Western Asia; but now, just as the tribes of the earth have spread out into many lands, so has the poppy which has brought much misery as well as blessing to men, found its way into various quarters of the globe, particularly those countries which are favoured with sunny skies. It is cultivated in Turkey, India, Persia, Egypt, Algeria and Australia, as well as in China. I now recall vividly the beautiful poppy fields at Assiut, Esneh and Kenneh, by the banks of the Nile, in which such sub- tle powers were sleeping potent for ill or good as employed by man for deadening his 176 BY THE GOLDEN GATE faculties or soothing pain in reasonable meas- ure. These flowers were of the reddish kind. In China they have the white, red and purple varieties, which, as you gaze on them, seem to set the fields aglow with fire and attract your gaze as if you were enchained to the spot by an unseen power. The seeds are sown in November and December, in rows which are eighteen inches apart, and four-fifths of the opium used in China is the home-product, though it was not so formerly. In March or April the poppy flowers accord- ing to the climate, the soil, and the location. The opium is garnered in April or May, and prepared for the market. The Chinese mer- chant values most of all the Shense drug, while the Ynnan and the Szechuen drugs take next rank. The opium is generally made into flat cakes and wrapped up in folds of white paper. It is said that it was intro- duced into China in the reign of Taitsu, be- tween the years a. d. 1280 and 1295; but it is worthy of note that up to the year 1736 it was imported only in small quantities and employed simply for its medicinal properties, as a cure for diarrhoea, dysentery, and fevers, AN OPIUM-JOINT 177 hemorrhage and other ills. It was in the year 1757 that the monopoly of the cultiva- tion of the poppy in India passed into the hands of the East India Company through the victory of Lord Clive over the Great Mogul of Bengal at Plassey; and from this time the importation of the drug into China became a matter of great profit financially. In 1773 the whole quantity imported was only two hundred chests. In 1776 it had increased to one thousand chests, while in 1790 it leaped up to four thousand and fifty- four chests. The Chinese Emperor, Keak- ing, becoming alarmed at its growing use and its pernicious effect when eaten or smoked, forbade its importation, and passed laws punishing persons who made use of it otherwise than medicinally, and the extreme penalty was sometimes transportation, and sometimes death. Yet the trade increased, and in the decade between 1820 and 1830 the importation was as high as sixteen thou- sand, eight hundred and seventy-seven chests. The evil became so great that in 1839 a royal proclamation was put forth threaten- ing English opium ships with confiscation if 178 BY THE GOLDEN GATE they did not keep out of Chinese waters. This was not heeded, and then Lin, the Chi- nese Commissioner, gave orders to destroy twenty thousand, two hundred and ninety- one chests of opium, each containing- 149 1-3 pounds, the valuation of which was $10,- 000,000. Still the work of smuggling went on and the result was what is known as the Opium War, which was ended in 1842 by the treaty of Nanking. China was forced by Great Britain to pay $21,000,000 indem- nity, to cede in perpetuity to England the city of Hong Kong, and to give free access to British ships entering the ports of Can- ton, Amoy, Foochoofoo, Ningpo and Shang- hai. The importation of opium from India is still carried on — but the quantity is not so great as formerly, owing to the cultivation of the plant in China. The Hong Kong government has an opium farm, for which to-day it receives a rental of $15,500 per month. The farmer sells on an average from eight to ten tins of opium daily, the tins being worth about $150 each. His entire receipts from his sales of the drug are about $45,000 per month. This opium farmer is AN OPIUM- JOINT 179 well known to be the largest smuggler of opium into China; and not without reason does Lord Charles Beresford, in his book " The Break-up of China," say : " Thus, in- directly the Hong Kong government derives a revenue by fostering an illegitimate trade with a neighbouring and friendly Power, which cannot be said to redound to the credit of the British Government. It is in direct opposition to the sentiments and tradition of the laws of the British Empire." It was here in Chinatown, in San Francisco, that I was brought face to face with the havoc that is made through the opium trade and the use of the pernicious drug in eating and smoking. I was told that Europeans and Americans sometimes sought the opium- joints for the purpose of indulgence in the vice of smoking. Even women were known to make use of it in this way. The old man whom I visited was lying on his left side, with his head slightly raised on a hard pil- low covered with faded leather. He took the pipe in his right hand, the other, as I have already said, having been cut off in the mines. Then he laid down the pipe by his side with 180 BY THE GOLDEN GATE the stem near his mouth. The next move- ment was to take a kind of long rod, called a dipper, with a sharp end and a little flat- tened. This he dipped in the opium which had the consistency of thick molasses. He twisted the dipper round and then held the drop which adhered to it over the lamp, which was near him. He wound the dipper round and round until the opium was roasted and had a brown colour. He then thrust the end of the dipper with the prepared drug into the opening of the pipe, which was somewhat after the Turkish style with its long stem. He next held the bowl of the pipe over the lamp until the opium frizzled. Then putting the stem of the pipe in his mouth he inhaled the smoke, and almost im- mediately exhaled it through the mouth and nostrils. While smoking he removed the opium, going through the same process as before, and it all took about fifteen minutes. What the old man's feelings were he did not tell us, but he seemed very contented, as if then he cared for nothing, as if he had no concern for the world and its trials. But one must read the graphic pages of Thomas De AN OPIUM- JOINT 181 Quincey in his " Confessions of an English Opium Eater," in order to know what are the joys and what the torments of him who is addicted to the use of the pernicious drug. It was while De Quincey was in Oxford that he came under its tyranny. At first taken to allay neuralgic pain, and then resorted to as a remedy on all occasions of even the slight- est suffering, it wove its chain around him like a merciless master who puts his servant in bonds. But though given to its use all his life afterwards, in later years he took it moderately. Still he was its slave. A man of marvellous genius, a master of the Eng- lish tongue, he had not full mastery of his own appetite; and one of such talent, bound Andromeda-like to the rock of his vice, ready to be devoured in the sea of his perplexity by what is worse than the dragon of the story, he deserves our pity, nay, even our tears. He tells us how he was troubled with tumultuous dreams and visions, how he was a participant in battles, strifes; and how agonies seized his soul, and sudden alarms came upon him, and tempests, and light and darkness; how he saw forms of loved ones 1 82 BY THE GOLDEN GATE who vanished in a moment; how he heard "everlasting farewells;" and sighs as if wrung from the caves of hell reverberated again and again with " everlasting fare- wells." " And I awoke in struggles, and cried aloud, " I will sleep no more ! ' CHAPTER IX MUSIC, GAMBLING, EATING, THEATRE-GOING In Chinatown — A Musician's Shop — A Secret So- ciety — Gambling Houses — "The Heathen Chinee" — Fortune-telling — The Knife in the Fan-Case — A Boarding House — A Lesson for Landlords — A Kitchen — A Goldsmith's Shop — The Restaurant — Origin of the Tea-Plant — What a Chinaman Eats — The Tobacco or Opium Pipe — A Safe with Eight Locks — The Theatre — Women by Themselves — The Play — The Stage — The Actors — The Orches- tra and the Music — The Audience — A Death on the Stage — The Theatre a Gathering Place — No Women Actors — A Wise Provision — Temptations — Real Acting — Men the Same Everywhere. The reader will now accompany us to a musician's shop in our wanderings through Chinatown. This is located in a basement and is a room .about fifteen feet wide and some twenty feet deep. This son of Jubal from the Flowery Kingdom was about fifty- five years old and a very good-natured man. 183 1 84 BY THE GOLDEN GATE He received us with a smile, and when he was requested by the guide to play for us he sat down before an instrument somewhat like the American piano, called Yong Chum. The music was of a plaintive character, and was lacking in the melody of a Broadwood or a Steinway. Then he played on another instrument which resembled a bandore or banjo and was named Sent Yim. After- wards he took up a Chinese flute and played a tune, which was out of the ordinary and was withal of a cheerful nature. He then showed us something that was striking and peculiar — a Chinese fiddle with two strings. The bow strings were moved beneath the fiddle strings. The music was by no means such as to charm one, and you could not for a moment imagine that you were listening to a maestro playing on a Cremona. The Chinese, while they have a reputation for philosophy after the example of their great men, like Confucius and Mencius, and while there are poets of merit among them like Su and Lin, yet can not be said to excel in musical composition and rendering. The tune with which our Chinese friend sought GAMBLING AND THE THEATRE 185 to entertain us on his fiddle was, " A Hot Time in the Old Town To-night." He thought this would be agreeable to our American ears. Meanwhile I glanced around this music-room and among other things I saw, and which interested me, were several effigies of men, characters in Chinese history. Some were no doubt true to life while others were caricatures of the persons whom they represented. It might be styled an Eden Musee. Leaving the musician's, after giving him a suitable fee for entertaining us, we turned our footsteps towards the Chee Rung Tong. This is a Chinese secret society. The Chi- nese are wont to associate themselves to- gether, even if they do not mingle much with men of other nations. They have their gatherings for social purposes and for im- provement and pastime, and, like the Anglo- Saxon and the Latin races, they have their mystic signs and passwords. Of course we were not permitted to enter the Chee Kung Tong Hall, however much we desired to cross its mysterious threshold. The door was well guarded, and Chinamen passing in 1 86 BY THE GOLDEN GATE had to give assurance that they were entitled to the privilege. On the night when the de- tective from Police Headquarters accom- panied us we made an attempt to enter a Chinese gambling house. The entrance even to this was well guarded; although the sen- tinel unwittingly left the door open for a moment as a Chinaman w r as passing in. The detective seeing his opportunity went in boldly and bade us to follow him. In a few moments all was confusion. We heard hur- rying feet in the adjoining room, and then excited men appeared at the head of the pas- sage way and waved their arms to and fro while they talked rapidly in high tones. Out- side already some fifty men had collected together, and these were also talking and gesticulating wildly. The detective then said to us that it would be wise to retreat and leave the place lest we might meet with vio- lence. We did so, but the uproar among the Chinese did not subside for some time. We pitied the poor sentinel who had allowed us to slip in, for we knew that he w r ould be severely punished after our departure. The Chinese are noted for their gambling pro- GAMBLING AND THE THEATRE 187 pensities, and there are many gambling houses in Chinatown. This vice is one of their great pastimes, and whenever they are not engaged in business they devote them- selves either to gambling, the amusements of the theatre, the pleasures of the restau- rant, or the seductive charms of the opium pipe. Later in my saunterings I went into a kind of restaurant, where I saw a number of Chinese men and boys playing cards and dominoes and dice. They went on with the games as if they were oblivious to us. I noticed there were Chinese coins of small value on the tables, and some of the players were apparently winning while others were losing. The latter, however, gave no indi- cation that they were in the least degree dis- appointed. Of course, as a rule they play after their own fashion, having their own games and methods. Minister Wu, of Washington, when asked recently if he liked our American games, replied that he did not understand any of them. No doubt this is true of the majority of Chinamen in the United States. In thinking of the Chinese 1 88 BY THE GOLDEN GATE and gambling one always recalls Bret Harte's " Plain Language From Truthful James of Table Mountain," popularly known as " The Heathen Chinee," one of the best humorous poems in the English lan- guage. You can fairly see the merry eyes of the author of the " Argonauts of '49 " dancing with pleasure as he describes the game of cards between " Truthful James,'* " Bill Nye " and " Ah Sin." " Which we had a small game, And Ah Sin took a hand; It was euchre : the same He did not understand; But he smiled as he sat by the table With a smile that was childlike and bland. " Yet the cards they were stacked In a way that I grieve, And my feelings were shocked At the state of Nye's sleeve, Which was stuffed full of aces and bowers, And the same with intent to deceive. " But the hands that were played By that heathen Chinee, And the points that he made. Were quite frightful to see — Till at last he put down the right bower, Which the same Nye had dealt unto me. GAMBLING AND THE THEATRE 189 " Then I looked up at Nye, And he gazed upon me : And he rose with a sigh, And said, 'Can this be? We are ruined by Chinee cheap labour ' — And he went for that heathen Chinee." There are all kinds of jugglers in China- town and among them are numerous fortune- tellers. This kind of pastime is as old as the human race, and you find the man who undertakes to reveal to you the secrets of the future among all peoples. The Orien- tals are always ready to listen to the " neby " or the necromancer or the fakir or the wan- dering minstrel, who improvises for you and sings for you the good things which are in store for you. We see this tendency among our own people who would have their des- tiny pointed out by means of a pack of cards, by the reading of the palm of the hand, in the grounds in the tea-cup, and by other signs. It was with some interest then that we glanced at the mystic words and signs which adorned the entrance to Sam Wong Yung's fortune-teller's place. Passing on, we next visited a hardware shop, where you could purchase various 190 BY THE GOLDEN GATE kinds of Chinese cutlery. Among- other things that attracted my attention was a simple-looking Chinese fan, apparently folded up. On examining it I found that inside of the fan-case was a sharp knife or blade like a wide dagger. This could be car- ried in an unsuspecting manner into the midst of a company of men, and in a mo- ment, if you had in your breast the wicked spirit of revenge, your enemy could be wel- tering in his life blood at your feet. It sug- gested all kinds of tragedies, and no doubt its invention had behind it some treacherous impulse. .The writer ventured to purchase it, but he hastens to announce to his friends that his purposes are good and innocent. Though in the same category as the sword or dagger hidden in a walking-stick or a concealed weapon, this bloodthirsty knife will repose harmlessly in its fan-case like a sleeping babe in his cradle. A Chinese boarding house next claimed our inspection. It was rather a forbidding place, but no doubt the Chinaman was well content with its accommodations. It was a long, rambling structure, and it seemed to GAMBLING AND THE THEATRE 191 me as if I were going through an under- ground passage in walking from room to room. The various halls were narrow, in- deed so narrow that two persons meeting in them could not without difficulty pass each other. The beds, which brought a dollar a month, were one above another in tiers or recesses in the walls. Generally a curtain of a reddish hue depended in front of them. They reminded one of the berths in a ship or of the repositories of the dead in the Ro- man Catacombs. Two hundred and twenty- five persons were lodged in this dark, mys- terious labyrinth. In another house there were five hundred and fifty people lodged in seventy-five rooms. Possibly the owners of tenement houses in our large cities, who crowd men and women into a narrow space and through unpitying agents reap a rich harvest regardless of the sufferings of their fellow-beings, have been taking lessons from the landlords of Chinatown. I said to my- self, as I went to and fro through these nar- row passages, dimly lighted with a lamp, and the lights were few and far between, if a fire should break out, at midnight, when 192 BY THE GOLDEN GATE all are wrapt in slumber, what a holocaust would be here! And whose would the sin and the shame be? There are good and ample fire-appliances for the protection of the city, but the poor Chinamen hemmed in, as in a dark prison-house, would surely be suffocated by smoke or be consumed in the flames. When the old theatre was burned down, twenty-five men, and probably more, perished, although there were means of es- cape from this building. I was told that the wood from which the largest hotel in China- town, its Palace hotel so to speak, was con- structed in the early days, was brought around Cape Horn, and cost $350 per thou- sand feet. This was before saw-mills were erected in the forests among the foot-hills and on the slopes of the Sierras. The kitchen of the big boarding house was a nov- elty. It was nothing in any respect like the well-appointed kitchens of our hotels with their great ranges and open fire-places where meats may be roasted slowly on the turn- spit. On one side of the kitchen there was a kind of stone-parapet about two feet and a half high, and on the top of this there were GAMBLING AND THE THEATRE 193 eight fire-places. As the Chinamen cook their own food there might be as many as eight men here at one time. I asked the guide if they ever quarreled. His answer was significant. "No! and it would be difficult to bring eight men of any other na- tionality together in such close proximity without differences arising and contentions taking place; but the Chinamen never trouble each other." There was only one man cooking at such a late hour as that in which we visited the kitchen, about half- past ten o'clock at night. He used charcoal, and as the coals were fanned the fire looked like that of a forge in a blacksmith's shop. On our way to the Chinese Restaurant we stepped into a goldsmith's shop. There were a few customers present, and the pro- prietor waited on them with great diligence. At benches like writing desks, on which were tools of various descriptions, were seated some half a dozen workmen who were busily engaged. They never looked up while we stood by and examined their work, which was of a high order. The fila- gree-work was beautiful and artistic. There 194 BY THE GOLDEN GATE were numerous personal ornaments, some of solid gold, others plaited. The bracelets which they were making «might fittingly adorn the neck of a queen. I learned that these skilled men worked sixteen hours a day on moderate wages. Their work went into first-class Chinese bric-a-brac stores and into the jewelry stores of the merchants who supply the rich and cultured with their or- naments. But it is time that we visit the restaurant. This is located in a stately building and is one of the first class. It overlooks the old Plaza, though you enter from the street one block west of the Plaza. You ascend broad stairs, and then you find yourself in a wide room or dining hall in two sections. Here are tables round and square, and here you are waited on by the sons of the Fiery Fly- ing Dragon clad in well-made tunics, some- times of silk material. As your eye studies the figure before you, the dress and the physiognomy, you do not fail to notice the long pigtail, the Chinaman's glory, as a woman's delight is her long hair. The tea, which is fragrant, is served to you out of GAMBLING AND THE THEATRE 195 dainty cups, China cups, an evidence that the tea-drinking of Americans and Europeans is derived from the Celestial Empire. The tea- plant is said, by a pretty legend, to have been formed from the eyelids of Buddha Dharma, which, in his generosity, he cut off for the benefit of men. If you wish for sweetmeats they will be served in a most tempting way. You can also have chicken, rice, and veg- etables, and fruits, after the Chinese fashion. You can eat with your fingers if you like, or use knives and forks, or, if you desire to play the Chinaman, with the chop-sticks. In Chinatown the men and the women do not eat together. This is also the custom of China, and hence there is not what we look upon as an essential element of home-life — father and mother and children and guests, if there be such, gathered in a pleasant din- ing-room with the flow of edifying conver- sation and the exchange of courtesies. Con- fucius never talked when he ate, and his dis- ciples affect his taciturnity at their meals. Though in scholastic times, in European in- stitutions and in religious communities, men kept silence at their meals, yet the hours 196 BY THE GOLDEN GATE were enlivened by one who read for the edi- fication of all. The interchange of thought, however, — the spoken word one with an- other, at the family table, is the better way. Silence may be golden, but speech is more golden if seasoned with wisdom; and even the pleasant jest and the bon mot have their office and exercise a salutary influence on character and conduct. The food of Chinamen generally is very simple. Rice is the staple article of con- sumption. They like fruits and use them moderately. They eat things too, which would be most repulsive to the epicurean taste of an Anglo-Saxon. Even lizards and rats and young dogs they will not refuse. But these things are prepared in a manner to tempt the appetite. After you have par- taken of your repast in the Chinese Restau- rant, if you request it, tobacco pipes will be brought in, and your waiter will fill and light them for you and your friends. You can even, with a certain degree of caution, indulge in the opium pipe, the joy of the Chinaman. As you draw on this pipe and take long draughts you lapse into a strange state, all your ills seem to vanish, and you become indifferent to the world. The beg- GAMBLING AND THE THEATRE 197 gar in imagination becomes a millionaire, and for the time he feels that he is in the midst of courtly splendours. But, ah! When one awakes from his dream the pleas- ures are turned into ashes, and the glory- fades as the fires of the pipe die. Sic transit gloria mundi! On the walls of the restaur- ant were various Chinese decorations. The inevitable lantern was in evidence. Here also were tablets with sentences in the language of the Celestials. But there was one thing that struck me forcibly as I examined the various objects in the rooms. In the rear half of the restaurant, on the north side of the room, stood a Chinese safe, somewhat in fashion like our ordinary American safe. It was not, however, secured with the com- bination lock with which we are all familiar. It shut like a cupboard, and had eight locks on a chain as it were. Every lock repre- sented a man whose money or whose valu- ables were in the safe. Each of the eight men had a key for his own lock, different from all the other seven. When the safe is to be opened all the eight men must be pres- ent. Is this a comment on the honesty of 1 98 BY THE GOLDEN GATE the Chinaman? Is this indicative of their lack of confidence in each other? And yet as a house-servant the Chinaman is trusty and faithful and honest. He is also silent as to what transpires in his master's house and at his employer's table. The writer has conversed with people who have had China- men in their service, he has also visited the homes of gentlemen where only Chinese servants are employed in domestic work, and all bear testimony to their excellence and faithfulness and honesty. No visit to Chinatown would be complete without an inspection of its theatre and a study of the audience. Here you see the Celestials en masse, you behold them in their amusements. Let us repair then to the Jack- son Street Theatre. The building- was once a hotel, now it is a place of pastime; and singularly under the same roof is a small Joss-House. — for the Chinaman couples his amusements with his religion. It rather re- minds one of those buildings in Christian lands, which, while used for religious serv- ices, yet have kitchens and places for theatri- cal shows and amusements under the same GAMBLING AND THE THEATRE 199 roof. But the play has already begun. In- deed it began at six o'clock — and it is now nearly eleven p. m. It will, however, con- tinue till midnight. This is the rule; for the Chinaman does nothing by halves, and he takes his amusement in a large quantity at a time. The theatre had galleries on three sides and these were packed with men and women as well as the main floor. There were altogether a thousand persons present, and it was indeed a strange sight to look into their faces, dressed alike as they were, and all seemingly looking alike. The women were seated in the west gallery on the right hand of the stage by themselves. This is an Eastern custom which Asiatic nations gen- erally observe. Even in their religious as- semblies the women sit apart. The custom arose primarily from the idea that woman is inferior to man. In the Jewish temple as well as in the synagogue, the sexes were separated. It is so to-day in most syna- gogues. Among the Mohammedans, too, woman is ruled out and is kept apart; and so strong is custom it even affected the Christian church in Oriental lands in the 200 BY THE GOLDEN GATE early days. You see a trace of it still in the East in church-arrangements. A Chinese play takes a number of weeks or even months in which to complete it. It may be founded on domestic life or on some historic scene. Sometimes the history of a province of the Chinese Empire is the theme. The plays are mostly comedy. There are no grand tragedies like those of the old Greek poets. The Chinese have had no such writers as Sophocles or Euripides, no such creators of plays as Shakespeare, and they have no such actors as a Garrick or an Irv- ing. We were invited to seats on the stage — which had no curtains, everything being done openly. In order to reach the stage the guide conducted us down the passage- way or aisle through the midst of the audi- ence. Then we ascended a platform at the end of the stage and went behind it into a long room where the actors were putting on costumes of a fantastic shape and painting their faces with bright coloured pigments. Some of them also put on masks that would frighten a person should he meet the wear- ers suddenly. The majority of the masks GAMBLING AND THE THEATRE 201 were caricatures of the human face and were comical in expression. We felt quite at home on the stage at once; for here, seated on either side with the actors in the midst of the company, were many of our friends lay and clerical, men and women, looking on in wonder at the strange performance. An orchestra of six or seven members was here on the back part of the stage — and the music ! It consisted of the beating of drums, the sounding of gongs and other outlandish noises. Now and then above the din you could catch the sound of a clarionet and the feeble strains of a banjo. It was indeed pandemonium ! Yet above all the noise and confusion you could hear the high pitched voices of the actors as they shouted and ges- ticulated. The audience, I noticed, was most attentive and decorous. They were evidently well pleased with the play; and what was quite remarkable they seemed to have neither ears nor eyes for their visitors. Of course they must have seen us, but with an indifference that almost bordered on con- tempt they paid no attention to us. In the play one of the actors died on the 202 BY THE GOLDEN GATE stage, but the death had nothing of the tragic or heroic in it. After a brief interval he rose up and walked off amid the merri- ment of the audience. Many Chinamen come here to spend their evening. The admission is fifty cents, which entitles one to a seat. As the play runs through six hours at a time, they feel that they get the worth of their money. They meet their friends there also; and although they are not very demonstrative towards each other, like the warm blooded races of Italy and Greece and Northern Eu- rope and the United States, yet they are very happy in the presence of men of their own race and nation. The theatre is about the only place where they can meet on com- mon ground, at least in large bodies, and then, as we have already intimated, the thea- tre is something more than a place of amusement in their eyes. Their forefathers liked such plays, and they believe that the spirits of the dead are in a certain sense present to share in the enjoyments of men in the body. Only men and boys act on the Chinese GAMBLING AND THE THEATRE 203 stage. There are no women, though the female sex is personated. This has its ad- vantages. Woman is kept out of harm; she is not subject to the indignities and tempta- tions which beset her among other peoples who employ her services. Of course there are good and virtuous women on the stage — very many, I trust! But it will be admitted that the life of an actress is one of trial. She must of necessity be brought into inter- course with an element whose moral ideals are not the loftiest, and she must have un- usual strength of character to preserve her integrity. She can do it! I believe that men and women can resist temptation in all spheres, in all vocations of life; I have great faith in humanity, especially when sus- tained by divine helps; but we must not sub- ject the bow to too much tension lest it break. The personating of characters which have in them a spice of wickedness, the tak- ing of the part in a play which represents the downfall of a virtuous person, the setting forth of the passions of love and hatred, must in time produce a powerful effect on the mind of a young woman, and there is 204 BY THE GOLDEN GATE danger that the neophyte on the stage will be contaminated with the base things of life before strength of character is developed. The Chinese are to be commended in this respect, whatever their motive in excluding their women from the stage. The reproduc- tion of Greek plays, in some of our universi- ties, where only men take the parts, shows what could be done among us on the stage, and successfully. The Chinese actors whom I saw, exhibited a great deal of human nature in their acting. There was the full display of the human passions; and they entered into their work with zest as if it were real life. Some of the men in the audience were smoking cigars, others cigarettes. The Asiatic has a fond- ness for cigarettes. You see the men of the East smoking everywhere, whether in Syria, or Egypt, or Nubia, or Arabia. And is it not true that men are much the same the world over, in their pastimes and pursuits, their loves and their pleasures? CHAPTER X THE JOSS-HOUSE, CHINESE IMMIGRATION AND CHINESE THEOLOGY In Chinatown — Conception of God — The Joss House — Chinese Mottoes — The Joss a Chinaman — Greek and Egyptian Ideas of God — Different Types of Madonnas — Chinese Worship and Machine Prayers — The Joss-House and the Christian Church — Chinese Immigration — Chinamen in the United States — A Plague Spot — Fire Crackers and Incense Sticks — The Lion and the Hen — The Man with Tears of Blood — Filial Piety — The Joss — Origin of the World — Creation of Man — Spirits of the Dead — Ancestral Rites — The Chinese Em- peror — What Might Have Been — The Hand of God. Our study of Chinatown and the civilisa- tion of the country of the Yellow Dragon, as seen in the City of the Golden Gate, has thus far brought us in contact with the social and business life of the Chinese and their amusements ; but we are now to visit one of their temples of worship, the Joss-House. And here the real man will be revealed; fcr 205 206 BY THE GOLDEN GATE it is in religious services and ceremonies and beliefs that we get a true knowledge of a race or a nation. The conception of God which you have is the key to your char- acter. If your views of Deity are low and ignoble you will not achieve any greatness in the world; but if on the other hand you invest the Being Whom you worship with noble attributes and look upon Him as just and holy, a God of mercy and judgment, your breast will be animated with grand thoughts and lofty ideals will impel you to the performance of heroic deeds. The word Joss, which we use for a Chinese idol or god, seems to be derived from the Por- tugese, Dios, or rather it is the Pidgin Eng- lish of Dios. A Joss-House then is a Chinese idol or god-house. We are now standing before such a place of worship. This is on the corner of Kearney and Pine Streets, and is built of brick, and as we look up we see that it is three stories high. There is a marble slab over the entrance with an inscription which tells us that this building is the Sze-Yap Asylum. Let us enter. The lower story, we find, is given up to business THE JOSS-HOUSE 207 of one kind or another connected with the Sze-Yap Immigration Society. This, we note, is richly adorned with valuable tapes- tries and silken hangings, and the rich colours attract the eye at once. If you wish to sit down you can, and enjoy the novelty of the scene. For here are easy chairs which invite you to rest. In your inspection of the place you venture to peer into the room back of this, and you perceive at once that there is the lounging place of the estab- lishment. You see men on couches perfectly at ease and undisturbed by your presence, smoking cigarettes or opium, the China- man's delight. If you desire to penetrate further into the building you will come to the kitchen where the dainty dishes of the Chinese are cooked; but you retreat and ascend a staircase in the southeast corner of the first room, and soon you are in the Joss- House proper. This second story is de- voted exclusively to religious purposes. The room to which you are now introduced is about thirty feet square, and as you look around you perceive the hangings on the walls and the rich decorations of the ceiling. 208 BY THE GOLDEN GATE Here are placards on the walls, which, your guide will tell you, if you are not conversant with the Chinese tongue, bear on them sen- tences from the writings of Confucius, Mencius, and others, with exhortations to do nothing against integrity or virtue, to ven- erate ancestors and to be careful not to in- jure one's reputation in the eyes of Ameri- cans ; — all of which is most excellent advice, and worthy of the attention of men every- where. You then cast your eyes on the gilded spears, and standards and battle-axes standing in the corners of the Temple, and as you look up you almost covet the great Chinese lanterns suspended from the ceiling. Your eyes are finallv directed to the altar, near which, and on it, are flowers artificial and natural. At the rear in a kind of a niche in the Joss or god. The figure of this deity was like a noble Chinaman, well- dressed, with a moustache, and having in his eyes a far-away expression. He wore a tufted crown, which made him look some- what war-like. It is but natural that this Joss should be a blind man. The Greek gods and goddesses have Greek counte- THE JOSS-HOUSE 209 nances. The idolatrous nations fashion their deities after their own likeness. And what are these but deified human beings ? It is so in Greek and Roman mythology. The Egyptian Osiris is an Egyptian. It is true that some of the ancients outside of Hebrew Revelation had a better conception of God than others. Even in Egypt where birds and beasts and creeping things received divine honors there were scholars and poets who had an exalted idea of the Deity, as wit- ness the Poems of Pentaur. This is true also of some of the Greek Poets who had a deep insight into divine things. It is not a little interesting to note also that artists of different nations paint the Madonna after the style of their own women. Very few of the pictures in the great art galleries are after the style of face which you see in the Orient. Hence there are Dutch Madonnas, and Italian and French and English types. There were no worshippers in the Joss- House at the hour when I visited it. Wor- ship is not a prominent feature of Chinese religious life. The good Chinaman comes once a year at least, perhaps oftener, and 210 BY THE GOLDEN GATE burns a bit of perforated paper before his Joss, in order to show that he is not forget- ful of his deity. This bit of paper is about six inches long and two inches wide. He also puts printed or written papers in a machine which is run like a clock. Well, this is an easy way to say prayers. And are there not many prayers offered, not merely by Chinamen, that are machine prayers, soulless, heartless, meaningless, and faith- less, and which bring no answer? But how simple, how beautiful, how sublime, the golden Prayer which the Divine Master taught His disciples ! Lord, teach us how to pray. If the noble Liturgy of the Church is properly rendered, — for it is the expan- sion of the Lord's Prayer, — there will be no machine-praying, and the answer to prayer will be rich and abundant. The contrast be- tween the worship of the Joss and the wor- ship of the true God in a Christian Church is striking and affords reflection. The former is of the earth earthy, the latter transports the devout worshipper to the throne of the Most High. There is no fear that the religion of the Joss-House will ever THE JOSS-HOUSE 211 usurp the religion of the Christian altar. Men have expressed the fear that if the Chinese came in overwhelming numbers to America they would endanger the Christian faith by their idolatry. But would this be true? Has Christianity anything to dread? What impression has the Joss-House made all these years on the life of San Francisco outside of Chinatown ? None whatever, ex- cept to make the reflecting man value the Christian faith with its elevating influences and its blessed hopes all the more. It is a mistake then to exclude Chinamen from our shores on the ground that they will do harm to Christianity. On the contrary the Church will do them good. The Gospel is the leaven which will be the salvation of heathen men. Did it not go forth into the Gentile world on its glorious mission, and did it not convert many nations in the first ages? Has it lost its potency to-day? No! It is as powerful as ever to win men from their idols and their evil lives. The question of Chinese immigration is a large one. It has its social and its political aspects. It is found all along the Pacific coast that China- 212 BY THE GOLDEN GATE men make good and faithful servants. The outcry against them as competing with white laborers and artisans is more the result of political agitation for political purposes than good judgment. Where they have been dis- placed on farms, in mills, in warehouses, in domestic life, white men and women have not been found to take their places and do the work which they can do so well. Under the Geary Act immigration has been re- stricted and the numbers of the Chinese in the United States have been gradually de- creasing. In the year 1854 there were only 3.000 Chinese in the City of San Francisco ; but even then there was agitation against them. It was Governor Bigler who called them "coolies," and this term they repudiated with the same abhorrence which the negro or black man has for the term " nigger." They kept on increasing, however, until in 1875 there were in the whole State of Cali- fornia 130,000. Of this number 30,000 were in San Francisco. To-day there are only about 46,000 in California and there are not more than thirty thousand of these in the City of San Francisco. There are only THE JOSS-HOUSE 213 110,000 Chinese altogether in the United States proper. Even the most ardent ex- clusionist can see from this that there is nothing to dread as to an overwhelming in- flux that will threaten the integrity and existence of our civilisation. The labour- question and the race-question and the inter- national question, aroused by the presence of the Chinese within our borders, will from time to time cause agitation and provoke discussion and heated debate and evoke oratory of one kind or another ; but the ques- tion which should be uppermost in the minds of wise statesmen is how shall they be as- similated to our life? How shall we make them Christians? The answer will be the best solution of the whole matter, if it has in mind the spiritual interests of the China- man and of all other heathen on our shores. There is indeed a plague spot in Chinatown, the social fester, which can and ought to be removed. But this is true of American San Francisco as well as of Chinatown. What, we may ask, are the men and women of as beautiful a city as ever sat on Bay or Lake or Sea-Shore or River, doing for its 214 BY THE GOLDEN GATE purgation, for its release from moral de- filement and " garments spotted with the flesh? " This indeed is one of the searching questions to be asked of any other City, such as New York, Chicago, St. Louis, London, Paris, Cairo, Constantinople, as well as San Francisco. Among the other noticeable things in the Joss-House were two immense lanterns, as much for ornament as for utility. Then I saw a big drum and a bell, used in some of the processions of the Temple; for the Chinese take special delight in noises, indeed the more noise the better satisfied they are. During my visit some of the Joss-LIouse attendants were shooting off fire crackers ; and I was told that this was an acceptable offering to the Chinese god. One who was selling small, slender incense sticks, said that you could burn them to drive away the devil, an excellent purpose certainly. He also said they were good to keep moths away. Doubtless in the Chinese mind there is a connection between moths and evil spirits; but you smile at all such puerilities. They belong to the childhood of the world and not to the beginning of the THE JOSS-HOUSE 215 twentieth century. Amon? other creatures which they venerate are chickens and lions. They invest the lion with divine attributes on account of his majesty and power. But the chicken? Well, it is a gentle creature. It is the embodiment of motherhood and it speaks of care, not only to the Chinaman's understanding, but to ours also. The Divine Teacher, greater than Confucius, said : " How often would I have gathered thy children together as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings ! " Will China, now waking out of the sleep of centuries, allow Him to gather her children together under the wings of His Cross ? " And ye would not." Oh, what pathos in these few words ! But doubtless they will. Many during the war of the Boxers were " gath- ered " unto Him, emulating the zeal and courage and faith of the martyrs of the early days of the Church. As the hen is sacred in the eyes of the Chinaman, sacred as the peacock to Juno or the ibis to the Egyptians, they swear by her head, and an oath thus taken may not be broken. One of the images which I saw in the 216 BY THE GOLDEN GATE Joss-House was pointed out as the God of the Door; and how suggestive this title and this office! Another figure, on the right side of the altar, which attracted my atten- tion particularly was that of Toi Sin. He was dressed somewhat like a mandarin, and his head was bared, while tears as of blood were on his cheeks. He lived some three hundred years after the Advent of Christ; and owing to his disobedience to his parents, for which he was punished in his conscience, and otherwise, he grieved himself to death and wept tears of blood. His image, I was told, is placed in all Temples as a warning to children. It is a forceful lesson, and it is a timely warning. The one thing that is characteristic of a Chinaman is his filial piety. This filial piety was admired in all ages. It was inculcated in the old Hebrew Law and enforced with weighty considerations. It was a virtue among the Greeks as well as other peoples of the Gentile world; and I wonder not that when the heroes who captured Troy saw /Eneas carry- ing his aged father Anchises on his shoulders and leading his son, the puer Ascanius, by THE JOSS-HOUSE 217 the hand, out of the burning city, they cheered him and allowed him to escape with his precious burden. A Chinaman is taught by precept and example to venerate his parents and to give them divine honors after death. Should a Chinese child be dis- obedient he would be punished severely by the bamboo or other instrument, and he would bring on himself the wrath of all his family. This strong sense of filial piety has done more for the stability and perpetuity of the Chinese Empire than ought else. It is a great element of strength and it leads to respect for customs and to the observance of maxims. Especially are burial places held in sacred esteem, and as they contain the ashes of the fathers they must not be dis- turbed or desecrated. In this respect we might emulate the Chinese, for they are a perfect illustration of the old precept, " Honour thy father and thy mother," which, in a busy, independent age. there is danger of forgetting. But we look with no little interest on the Joss above the altar, the Chinese god. His name is Kwan Kung, and I am informed that he was born about 2i8 BY THE GOLDEN GATE two hundred years after the beginning of the Christian era. Such is the person who is worshipped here. That he may not be hungry food is placed before him at times, and also water to drink. It is a poor, weak human god after all, a dying, dead man. How different the Creator of the ends of the earth, Who fainteth not neither is weary ! The Chinese have no conception of the true God. They cannot conceive of the beauty and power and compassion of Jesus Christ until they are brought into the light of the Gospel. But what is Chinese theology? What do they teach about the origin of the world and man and his destiny. The schol- ars tell us that the world was formed by the duel powers Yang and Yin, who were in turn influenced by their own creations. First the heavens were brought into being, then the earth. From the co-operation of Yang and Yin the four seasons were pro- duced, and the seasons gave birth to the fruits and flowers of the earth. The dual principles also brought forth fire and water, and the sun and moon and stars were origi- THE JOSS-HOUSE 219 nated. The idea of a Creator in the Biblical sense is far removed from the Chinese mind. Their first man, named Pwanku, after his appearance, was set to work to mould the Chaos out of which he was born. He had also to chisel out the earth which was to be his abode. Behind him through the clefts made by his chisel and mallet are sun and moon and stars, and at his right hand, as companions, may be seen the Dragon, the Tortoise and the Phcenix as well as the Uni- corn. His labours extend over a period of eighteen thousand vears. He grew in stature at the rate of six feet every day, and when his work was finished he died. The moun- tains were formed from his head, his breath produced the wind, and the moisture of his lips the clouds. His voice is the thunder, his limbs are the four poles, his veins the rivers, his sinews the wave-like motions of the earth, his flesh the fields, his beard the stars, his skin and hair herbs and trees, his teeth bones, his marrow metals, rocks and precious stones, his sweat rain, and the in- sects clinging to his body become men and 220 BY THE GOLDEN GATE women. Ah, how applicable the memorable line of Horace ! Parturiunt montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. In regard to the spirits of the dead the Chinese believe that they linger still in the places which were their homes while alive on earth, and that they can be moved to pleasure or pain by what they see or hear. These spirits of the departed are delighted with offerings rendered to them and take umbrage at neglect. Believing also that the spirits can help or injure men they pray to them and make offerings to them. From this we can understand the meaning and object of ancestral rites. In these rites they honour and assist the dead as if they were alive still. Food, clothing and money are offered, as they believe they eat and drink and have need of the things of this life. Even theatrical exhibitions and musical en- tertainments are provided on the presump- tion that they are gratified with what pleased them while in the body. Now as all past generations are to be provided for, the Chinese Pantheon contains myriads of be- THE JOSS-HOUSE 221 ings to be worshipped. But think, what a burden it becomes to the poor man who tries conscientiously to do his duty to the de- parted ! Now this ancestral worship leads to the deduction that it is an unfilial thing not to marry and beget sons by whom the line of descendants may be continued. Otherwise the line would cease, and the spirits would have none to care for them or worship them. The Chinese view of rulers or Kings is also striking. According to the belief prev- alent regarding government, Heaven and Earth were without speech. These created man who should represent them. This man is none other than the Emperor their vice- gerent. He is constituted ruler over all people. This accounts for three things; first, the superiority which the Chinese em- perors assume over the kings and rulers of other countries ; secondly, for the long-lived empire of China, it being rebellion against Heaven to lift up one's self against the Em- peror ; and in the third place it explains to us why divine honours are paid to him. He is a sacred person. He is in a certain sense a 222 BY THE GOLDEN GATE god. The view is similar to that entertained by the Roman Emperors, who, in inscriptions and on coins employed the term Deus, and at times exacted divine honours. As we turn from the Joss-House and walk away from this bit- of heathendom in the heart of an active, stirring, prosperous, great American city with its Christian civilisation and its Christian Churches and its Christian homes, w r e cannot but ask ourselves what would have been the history of the Pacific States, of California with its nearly eight hundred miles of coast, if the Chinese had settled here centuries ago? If they had been navi- gators and colonizers like the Phoenicians of old, like the Greeks and Romans, if they had had a Columbus, a Balboa, a Cabrillo, a Drake, the whole history of the country west of the Rocky Mountains might have been totally different. Millions of Chinamen in- stead of thousands might now be in pos- session of that great region of our land, and great cities like Canton and Fuchau, Pekin and Tientsin, might rise up on the view in- stead of San Diego and Los Angeles, Sac- ramento and San Francisco, with their idol- THE JOSS-HOUSE 223 atry and peculiar life and customs. An- other question may be asked here by way of speculation. What would have been the effect of Chinese occupation of the Pacific coast on the Indians of all the region west of the Rocky Mountains? Would the fol- lowers of Confucius have incorporated them into their nationality, supplanted them, or caused them to vanish out of sight? What problems these for the ethnologist! Doubt- less there would have been intermarriages of the races with new generations of comming- led blood. And what would have been the result of this ? There is a story which I have read somewhere, that long years ago a Chi- nese junk was driven by the winds to the shores of California, and that a Chinese mer- chant on board took an Indian maiden to wife and bore her home to the Flowery Kingdom, and that from this marriage was descended the famous statesman Li Hung Chang. But whatever the fortunes of the Indians, or the Chinese in their appropria- tion of the Pacific coast, it would not have been so advantageous to civilisation, to the progress of humanity. It would have been 224 BY THE GOLDEN GATE loss, and a hindrance to the Anglo-Saxon race destined now to rule the world and to break down every barrier and to set up the standard of the Cross everywhere for the glory of the true God. His hand is apparent in it all. He directs the great movements of history for the welfare of mankind, and He controls the destinies of nations for the ad- vancement of His Kingdom ! CHAPTER XI THE GENERAL CONVENTION OF I9OI First Services — Drake's Chaplain — Flavel Scott Mines — Bishop Kip — Growth of the Church in Cali- fornia — The General Convention in San Francisco — A Western Sermon — Personnel of the Conven- tion — Distinguished Names — Subjects Debated — Missions of the Church — Apportionment Plan — The Woman's Auxiliary — The United Offering — Missionary Meeting in Mechanics' Pavilion — Col- lege Reunions — Zealous Men — A Dramatic Scene — Closing Service — Object Lesson — A Revelation to California — Examples of the Church's Train- ing — Mrs. Twing — John I. Thompson — Golden Gate of Paradise. As we turn away from Chinatown, with its Oriental customs and its peculiar life and its religion, we naturally give ourselves up to reflection on the mission and character of the Christian Church. While we recognise the good that is done by " all who profess and call themselves Christians," and thank God for every good work done in the name 225 226 BY THE GOLDEN GATE and for the sake of Jesus Christ, we may more especially consider the development of the Episcopal Church, pure and Apostolic in its origin, on the Pacific coast. We must ever keep in mind the services held in this region as far back as the year 1579, by Chaplain Francis Fletcher, under Admiral Drake, when the old Prayer Book of the Church of England was used on the shores of the Golden Gate, a fact commemorated, as we have already noted in a previous chapter, by the Prayer Book Cross erected by the late George W. Childs, of Philadelphia, in Gold- en Gate Park. This was prophetic of bright days to come. Time would roll on and bring its marvellous changes, but the truth of God would remain the same, and the Church would still flourish and the liturgy of our forefathers would hold its place in the affec- tions of the people of all ranks, as at this clay. Drake and Fletcher could hardly have realised, however, that the good seed which they then sowed, though it might remain hidden from view for many generations, would in time spring up and yield a glorious harvest. We are not unmindful, of course, of THE CONVENTION 227 the labours and teachings of the Franciscans among the California Indians ; but when this order of things passed away and the Anglo- Saxon succeeded the Spaniard and the Mexi- can, it was but natural that the old Church which had made Great Britain what it was and is, aye, and moulded our civilisation on this continent, should seek a foothold in the beautiful lands by the Pacific and on the slopes of the Sierras. Many of the Church's sons were among the thousands who sought California in quest of gold, and these Argo- nauts she would follow whithersoever they went. They must not be left alone to wrestle with the temptations which would beset them far away from home and the hallowing in- fluences of sacred institutions and religious services. Hence it is that we behold that zealous missionary of the Church, the Rev. Flavel Scott Mines, going forth to seek out Christ's sheep in San Francisco and else- where, and to gather them into the fold of the Good Shepherd. His history is most in- teresting and instructive. He was the son of Rev. John Mines, D.D., a Presbyterian clergyman of Virginia, and was born in 228 BY THE GOLDEN GATE Leesburg, Va., on the 31st of December, 181 1. In 1830 he was graduated from Princeton Theological Seminary, and soon after he became pastor of the Laight Street Presbyterian Church, New York city, where he served with distinction until he resigned his charge in 184 1. In 1842 he took orders in the Church, of which to the day of his death he was a loyal son. Reasons for becoming a churchman and the motives which impelled him are set forth in a striking and graphic manner in his monumental book, " A Presbyterian Clergyman Looking For the Church," a work of marked ability and of great utility. It had a large sale in his day, and it is still sought after as a book of permanent value. It is a strong plea for Apostolic Order and Liturgical Worship, and it is safe to say that it has been instrumental in leading many an inquirer into the " old paths " and the Faith as " once delivered to the Saints." The Rev. Mr. Mines, after his ordination, became as- sistant minister in St. George's Church, New York city, under Rev. Dr. James Milnor. From here he went to the Danish West THE CONVENTION 229 Indies and became Rector of St. Paul's Parish, Fredericksted, St. Croix, about forty miles square and embracing almost half of the island. Owing to failing health he re- turned,- after many arduous labours, to the United States, and became Rector of St. Luke's Church, Rossville, Staten Island. He went finally to San Francisco, where he preached for the first time on July 8th, 1849, in the midst of the gold excitement, and on July 22nd of this same year, became the founder of Trinity Parish, where his hon- oured name is still held in grateful remem- brance, not merely by some of the twenty- two original members, who still live, but by their children and grandchildren. The first Trinity Church was located on the northeast corner of Post and Powell Streets. It was a modest building, which, in 1867, gave place to an edifice, Gothic in design, costing $85,- 000. A few years ago the present Trinity Church was erected on the northeast corner of Bush and Gough Streets, with ample grounds for parish buildings. This sacred edifice is one of the finest and largest churches on the Pacific coast, and is a combination of 230 BY THE GOLDEN GATE Spanish and Byzantine styles of architecture. It was designed by A. Paige Brown, who was the architect of the California building at the Columbian Exposition, in Chicago, and also of the new Bethesda Church, Sara- toga Springs, N. Y. I have thus dwelt with particularity on the Rev. Flavel Scott Mines's life and work, because Trinity Parish is the mother of all the other Parishes in Cali- fornia, and because here in this new edifice, where there is a tablet to his memory, and where he is buried, the General Convention was held in 1901, a council of the Church which will ever be memorable. It is well also to rescue from oblivion the memory of a man who laid the foundations of the Church in California on the enduring prin- ciples of the ancient creeds. May we not learn also from the facts of his life, which show how faithful and accomplished he was, that the men who are to be heralds of the Cross in new fields are to be the ablest and the best equipped that the Church can fur- nish? Other early missionaries of the Church who may be named here are the Rev. Dr. Ver Mehr, who arrived in San Fran- THE CONVENTION 231 cisco in September, 1849, an d in 1850 founded Grace Parish ; and Rev. John Mor- gan, who organised Christ Church Parish in 1853; and Rev. Dr. Christopher B. Wyatt, who succeeded Mines in Trinity Church. There is another also whose name is inter- woven in the history of the Church's mission in California. It is that of Right Rev. Will- iam Ingraham Kip, D.D., LL.D., who was consecrated first Bishop of California, Octo- ber 28, 1853. Few, if any, of his day, were better fitted in scholarship, zeal, and other gifts and qualifications for his work than he, who is the famous author of " The Double Witness of the Church," a book which has largely moulded the faith and practice of the churchmen of this generatiion. Bishop Kip's immortal work and Mines's incomparable volume deserve to be ranked together, and though they differ widely in their manner of presenting the Old Faith, yet are they one in purpose. Is it not a litle singular, or is it not rather a happy coincidence, that the two foremost pioneers of the Church's work in California should thus be the authors of works which are fit to take rank with 232 BY THE GOLDEN GATE the Apologiai of the early Christian writers or the " Apologia pro Ecclesia Anglicana " of Bishop Jewell ? Mines went to his rest in 1852, just in the prime of life, while Kip was spared to the Church until 1893, witnessing its great in- crease and reaping the abundant harvest from that early sowing. The growth is seen to-day in the three dioceses in the State. California, the parent diocese, with San Francisco as its chief city, Right Rev. Will- iam Ford Nichols, D.D., Bishop, has its eighty-one clergymen, with its eighty-six parishes and missions, and 8,585 communi- cants. Los Angeles, Right Rev. Joseph Horsfall Johnson, D.D., Bishop, has its forty-nine clergy, with its fifty-six parishes and missions, and 4,577 communicants; while Sacramento, Right Rev. William Hall Moreland, D.D., Bishop, has thirty-four clergymen with seventy parishes and mis- sions, and a list of 2,556 communicants. All this, however, is not the full evidence of the strength of the Church on the Pacific coast. There are the church schools and hospitals and other agencies for good, and there are THE CONVENTION 233 the blessed influences which the Church, with her stability and order and work, is exerting among the people. The results arising from the presence of the members of the General Convention will be gratifying. Everywhere throughout the State of California this au- gust body was hailed with a glad welcome, and San Francisco and her suburban towns did everything possible to make churchmen feel at home. The attendance at services was large, and a deep and an abiding interest was enkindled. It was said by the press and by leading citizens, that while many bodies had met in San Francisco from all parts of the land, none had ever surpassed in standard that of the Convention or even equalled it in dignity, scholarship, eloquence and other noted characteristics. The newspapers of the city, such as the Daily Call and the Chron- icle, gave up large space to the services, de- bates and other features of the Convention, and they were always complimentary in their comments on individuals as well as on recep- tions and sermons and addresses. The key- note of the Convention was struck by the Right Rev. Benjamin Wistar Morris, D.D., 234 BY THE GOLDEN GATE Bishop of Oregon, in his sermon based on St. Luke, chapter v, verse 4 : — " Now when He had left speaking, He said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught." The discourse was in every sense what the venerable prelate had said it would be, a " Western " one, and it was a powerful plea setting forth the urgent necessity of extending and supporting the Church in her missionary efforts in the Pa- cific coast States. The attendance of members in the House of Deputies was unusually large, and while some familiar faces were missed, like Dean Hoffman, of the General Theological Semi- nary; Rev. Dr. Morgan Dix, of Trinity Parish, New York; Rev. Dr. Edward A. Renouf, of Keene, N. H. ; Rev. Dr. W. W. BattershalL of Albany, N. Y. ; Mr. Spencer Trask, of Yaddo, Saratoga Springs, N. Y. ; Mr. Louis Hasbrouck, of Ogdensburgh, N. Y. ; Mr. G. P. Keese, of Cooperstown, N. Y. ; and Judge Robert Earl, of Herkimer, N. Y., yet the personnel of the Convention was up to the usual standard. The new deputies, clerical and lay, felt at home at once, and THE CONVENTION 235 some of them made good reputations for themselves in debate and in committee-work. It would seem invidious, perhaps, to single out any one deputy more than another, when all excelled, yet the names of some of the representative clergymen and laymen of the Church may justly be mentioned, as for ex- ample, Rev. Dr. John S. Lindsay, of Boston, Mass., the distinguished and well-balanced President of the House; Rev. Dr. Arthur Lawrence, of Stockbridge, Mass. ; Rev. Dr. Reese F. Alsop, of Brooklyn, N. Y. ; Rev. Dr. J. Houston Eccleston, of Baltimore, Md. ; Rev. Dr. Samuel D. McConnell, of Brook- lyn, N. Y. ; Rev. Dr. J. S. Hodges, of Balti- more, Md. ; Rev. Dr. George Hodges, of Cambridge, Mass. ; Rev. Dr. Cameron Mann, of Kansas City, Mo. ; Rev. Dr. James W. Ashton, of Olean, N. Y. ; Rev. Dr. Robert J. Nevin, of Rome, Italy; Rev. Dr. John Fulton, of The Church Standard, Philadel- phia, Pa. ; Rev. Dr. William B. Bodine, of Philadelphia, Pa. ; Rev. Dr. Charles S. Olm- stead, of Bala, Pa. ; Rev. Dr. George Mc- Clellan Fiske, of Providence, R. I. ; Rev. Dr. Edgar A. Enos, of Troy, N. Y. ; Rev. Dr. 236 BY THE GOLDEN GATE J. Lewis Parks and Rev. Dr. William M. Grosvenor of New York; Rev. Dr. R. M. Kirby, of Potsdam, N. Y. ; Rev. Dr. John H. Egar, of Rome, N. Y. ; Rev. Dr. George D. Silliman, of Stockport, N. Y. ; Rev. Dr. John Brainard, of Auburn, N. Y. ; Rev. Dr. H. Martyn Hart, of Denver, Col. ; Rev. Dr. Edwin S. Lines, of New Haven, Conn ; Rev. Dr. Daniel C. Roberts, of Concord, N. H. ; Rev. Dr. Alfred B. Baker, of Princeton, N. J. ; Rev. George S. Bennitt, of Jersey City, N. J. ; Rev. Dr. J. Isham Bliss, of Bur- lington, Vt. ; Rev. John Henry Hopkins, of Chicago, 111. ; Rev. Dr. Campbell Fair, of Omaha, Neb.; Rev. John Williams, of Omaha, Neb. ; Rev. Dr. Frederick W. Clam- pett, of San Francisco, Cal ; Rev. R. G. Foute, of San Francisco, Cal. ; Rev. Dr. Angus Crawford, of Alexandria Seminary, Va. ; Rev. Dr. Randolph H. McKim, of Washington, D. C. ; Rev. Dr. Frederick P. Davenport, of Memphis, Tenn. ; Rev. Dr. Alex. Mackay-Smith, of Washington, D. C. ; Rev. Henry B. Restarick. of San Diego, Cal. ; Rev. B. W. R. Tayler, of Los Angeles, Cal.; Rev. Dr. David H. Greer, of New THE CONVENTION 237 York; Rev. Dr. William R. Huntington, of New York ; Rev. Dr. Beverly D. Tucker, of Norfolk, Va. ; Rev. Dr. Carl E. Grammer, of Norfolk, Va. ; Rev. Dr. William T. Man- ning, of Nashville, Tenn. ; Rev. Frederick A. De Rosset, of Cairo, 111. ; Rev. Richard P. Williams, of Washington, D. C. ; Rev. Dr. Henry W. Nelson, of Geneva, N. Y. ; Rev. Dr. John Kershaw, of Charleston, S. C. ; Rev. Dr. Herman C. Duncan, of Alexandria, La. ; Rev. Dr. John K. Mason, of Louisville, Ky. ; Rev. Dr. Walter R. Gardner, of Algoma, Wis. ; Rev. Dr. George C. Hall, of Wilmington, Del; Rev. J. L. MoKim, of Milford, Del. ; Rev. Dr. Henry L. Jones, of Wilkesbarre, Pa. ; Rev. Dr. George C. Foley, of Williamsport, Pa. ; Rev. Dr. Storrs 0. Seymour, of Litchfield, Conn. ; Rev. Dr. Charles E. Craik, of Louisville, Ky. ; Rev. C. S. Lefringwell, of Bar Har- bour, Me.; Rev. Dr. Rufus W. Clark, of Detroit, Mich. ; Rev. Dr. Lucius Waterman, of Claremont, N. H. ; Rev. Dr. Henry H. Oberly, of Elizabeth, N. J. ; Rev. Julian E. Ingle, of Henderson, N. C. ; Rev. Dr. Charles L. Hutchins, of Concord, Mass., 238 BY THE GOLDEN GATE the efficient Secretary, always patient and courteous ; Rev. Dr. Henry Anstice, of Phila- delphia, Pa. ; Rev. Edward W. Worthing- ton, of Cleveland, Ohio, and Rev. William C. Prout. of Herkimer, N. Y., Assistant Secretaries; Mr. George M. Darrow, of Murfreesboro, Tenn. ; Dr. William Seward Webb, of Shelburne, Vt. ; Mr. Henry E. Pellew, of Washington, D. C. ; Mr. Linden H. Morehouse, of Milwaukee, Wis, of The Young Churchman Co. ; Judge James M. Woolworth, of Omaha, Neb. ; Mr. Burton Mansfield, of New Haven, Conn. ; Hon. Cortlandt Parker, of Newark, N. J. ; Judge Charles Andrews, of Syracuse, N. Y. ; Mr. John I. Thompson, of Troy, N. Y. ; Mr. Leslie Pell-Clarke, of Springfield Centre, N. Y. ; Hon. George R. Fairbanks, of Fer- nandina, Fla. ; Judge L. Bradford Prince, of Santa Fe, N. M. ; Hon. Francis A. Lewis, of Philadelphia, Pa. ; Hon. Francis L. Stetson, of New York; Mr. George C. Thomas, of Philadelphia, Pa., Treasurer of the Board of Missions ; Hon. W. Bayard Cutting, of New York ; Judge John H. Stiness, of Providence, R. I. ; Hon. Joseph Packard, of Baltimore, THE CONVENTION 239 Md. ; Hon. Charles G. Saunders, of Law- rence, Mass. ; Hon. Arthur J. C. Sowdon, and Hon. Robert Treat Paine, of Boston, Mass; Mr. William B. Hooper, of San Francisco; Mr. Henry P. Baldwin, of De- troit, Mich. ; Mr. Francis J. McMaster, of St. Louis, Mo.; Mr. William H. Lightner, of St. Paul, Minn. ; Mr. Richard H. Battle, of Raleigh, N. C. ; Hon. G. S. Gadsden, of Charleston, S. C. ; Mr. George Truesdell, of Washington, D. C. ; Mr. George M. Mar- shall, of Salt Lake City, Utah; and Mr, Joseph Wilmer, of Alexandria Seminary, Va. There is one other name which must not be omitted, that of Mr. J. Pierpont Mor- gan, of New York city, who, notwithstand- ing his vast business interests, was in his seat from the opening of the Convention until the closing session, watching all the debates and deliberations with the deepest interest, and serving on various important committees. Many of the members of the Convention, too, were deeply indebted to him for a gracious hospitality dispensed by him in his magnificent temporary home on California Avenue. 240 BY THE GOLDEN GATE To name the Bishops who in one way and another made their presence felt in their own House, in the Board of Missions and else- where, at meetings and in services, it would be necessary to speak of all who were in at- tendance on the Convention. Those who were specially active, however, were Bishop William Croswell Doane, of Albany; Bishop Henry Codman Potter, of New York; Bishop Daniel Sylvester Tuttle. of Missouri; Bishop Benjamin Wistar Morris, of Oregon ; Bishop Thomas Underwood Dudley, of Kentucky; Bishop Ozi William Whitaker, of Pennsylvania ; Bishop Cort- landt Whitehead, of Pittsburg; Bishop John Scarborough, of New Jersey ; Bishop George Franklin Seymour, of Springfield ; Bishop William David Walker, of Western New York; Bishop Leighton Coleman, of Dela- ware; Bishop Samuel David Ferguson, of Cape Palmas ; Bishop Ellison Capers, of South Carolina ; Bishop Theodore Nevin Morrison, of Iowa; Bishop Lewis William Burton, of Lexington ; Bishop Sidney Cat- liri Partridge, of Kyoto; Bishop Peter Trimble Rowe, of Alaska ; Bishop William THE CONVENTION 241 Frederick Taylor, of Quincy; Bishop Will- iam Crane Gray, of Southern Florida; Bishop Ethelbert Talbot, of Central Penn- sylvania; Bishop James Steptoe Johnston, of Western Texas; Bishop Anson Rogers Graves, of Laramie; Bishop Edward Rob- ert Atwill, of West Missouri ; Bishop Will- iam N. McVickar, of Rhode Island; Bishop William Lawrence, of Massachusetts Bishop Arthur C. A. Hall, of Vermont Bishop William Andrew Leonard, of Ohio Bishop James Dow Morrison, of Duluth Bishop Henry Yates Satterlee, of Washing- ton ; Bishop Charles C. Grafton, of Fond du Lac; Bishop Abiel Leonard, of Salt Lake; Bishop Isaac Lea Nicholson, of Milwaukee; Bishop Cleland Kinlock Nelson, of Georgia, and Bishop Thomas F. Gailor, of Tennessee. It is needless to say that Right Rev. Dr. Will- iam Ford Nichols, of California, who was the host of the Convention, was prominent in all gatherings, and that his guiding hand was seen in all the admirable arrangements made for meetings and services. He was ably seconded by Bishop Johnson, of Los Angeles, and Bishop Moreland, of Sacra- 242 BY THE GOLDEN GATE mento. Some faces were sadly missed, as for example, Bishop Niles, of New Hamp- shire; Bishop Huntington, of Central New York; Bishop Worthington, of Nebraska; Bishop Spaulding, of Colorado ; and the Pre- siding Bishop, Right Rev. Thomas March Clark, of Rhode Island. The Secretary of the House of Bishops, Rev. Dr. Samuel Hart, of Middletown, Conn., was a conspic- uous figure in the Convention, and he and his assistants, Rev. Dr. George F. Nelson, of New York, and Rev. Thomas J. Packard, of Washington, were often seen in the House of Deputies, bearing official messages. In addition to the regular business of the Convention, there were discussions of a high order on such matters as Amendments to the Constitution, the enactment of New Canons, Admission of New Dioceses, Marriage and Divorce, and Marginal Readings in the Bi- ble. The Report of the Commission on Mar- ginal Readings was finally adopted, with some modifications, after an animated de- bate, to the great satisfaction of many who felt the need of such a help in reading the Holy Scriptures. At times the THE CONVENTION 243 speakers, both lay and clerical, rose to heights of fervid oratory, and it was an education to listen to men who were thoroughly versed in the themes which they handled. The Mis- sions of the Church were not neglected in the midst of the exciting debates of the Conven- tion, and an important step was taken when the Board resolved to adopt the Apportion- ment Plan, by which each diocese and mis- sionary jurisdiction would be called on to raise a definite sum of money. This, it was felt, would relieve the Board from the bur- den of indebtedness, and would enable the Church to originate new work. No more earnest advocates of this plan could be found in the meetings of the two Houses of Con- vention as the Board of Missions, than in Bishop Brewer of Montana and Mr. George C. Thomas, the Treasurer. Their words were forcible and their manner magnetic. Bishop Doane's eloquent advocacy of the measure also led to happy results. In this chapter on the Triennial Council of the Church held in San Francisco, we must not omit to make mention of the United Offering of the Woman's Auxiliary to the 244 BY THE GOLDEN GATE Board of Missions. The women of the Church specially devoted to its missionary- work had been gradually increasing their forces and activities and offerings. When they last met, in the city of Washington, D. C, three years before, they presented the goodly sum of $83,000; but now in San Francisco they were to surpass their previous efforts. They were to show forth the fruits of more earnest labours and richer giving. They established their headquarters at 1609 Sutter street, in a commodious dwelling house, not far from Trinity Church, where the Convention was in session. Here vari- ous rooms were fitted up with handiwork and other products of missionary labour from the numerous fields where the Church, in obedi- ence to her Lord's command, is engaged in sowing beside all waters ; and no one could walk through these artistic chambers adorn- ed with the work of the Indians of Alaska and the dwellers of the South Seas, the con- verts of India, of China and Japan, as well as Mexico and other regions, without being filled with admiration. Various dio- ceses also of the Church exhibited pictures THE CONVENTION 245 of sacred edifices showing different styles of architecture. There were also photographs of noted missionaries, pioneer bishops and other clergy in the collection. Here indeed was an object lesson, and in all these works was manifested a spirit of enterprise most commendable. Different countries were thus brought together in such a way as to make the student of Missions realise the fact that the Church had indeed gone into all lands and that the Gentiles were walking in the light of Him Who is the life of men. While there were important meetings held by the Auxiliary, and special services were arranged for its members, the greatest interest natu- rally centered in the service held in Grace Church on Thursday, October 3rd, when the United Offering for the three years ended, was laid on the Altar of God. Six clergymen gathered the alms, and bearing them to the chancel, they were received in the large gold Basin which some years ago was presented to the American Church by the Church of England. This Alms Basin is three feet in diameter, and is an object of great interest as well as value. It is used only at grand func- 246 BY THE GOLDEN GATE tions, such as the meetings of the General Convention. It was an occasion of great re- joicing as well as a cause for devout gratitude when the magnificent sum of one hundred and four thousand dollars was reverently placed on the Altar. Behind all this was the love which made the large offering possible, behind it too the devotion which at this most significant and inspiring service, led fully a thousand faithful women to draw nigh to their divine Lord in that blessed Eucharist which quickens the soul into newness of life. The sermon at the service of the United Of- fering was preached by Right Rev. Dr. Nich- ols, Bishop of California, from St. Luke, chapter ii, verses 22-24, an d was one 0I re ~ markable power, rehearsing the righteous acts and noble deeds wrought by women in all ages. One of the most noted meetings during the sessions of the Convention was held in Mechanics' Pavilion, on the evening of Tues- day, October 8th. It was probably the great- est gathering ever brought together on the Pacific coast in the interest of Missions or of Religion. There were not less than seven THE CONVENTION 247 thousand persons present during the evening in the great hall, whose arches rang from time to time with applause at the sentiments of the speakers, and echoed and re-echoed the stir- ring missionary hymns sung by the vast mul- titude as led by the vested choirs of the vari- ous parishes in San Francisco. It is said that this enthusiastic gathering of all ranks was equalled only by the thousands who had assembled here only a short time before to pay honours to the memory of President Mc- Kinley, whom the people loved. Bishop Doane of Albany presided with his accus- tomed tact and force, and, after suitable de- votions, introduced the four speakers. The first of those who addressed the assemblage was the Right Rev. Edgar Jacob, D.D., the Lord Bishop of Newcastle, who represented the Archbishop of Canterbury. He said that there were four methods of spreading the Gospel in obedience to the command of the Master, " Go, make disciples of all people of the earth." These are the evangelistic, the educational, the medical, and the mag- netic. Of this last he said, " It is that the society should attract the individual. The in- 248 BY THE GOLDEN GATE fluence of the individual must be followed by the influence of the society." Bishop Potter of New York followed in his usual happy vein. Then came the eloquent Bishop of Kyoto, Right Rev. Dr. Sidney C. Par- tridge, and after him Burton Mansfield, rep- resenting the laity, who spoke about " Re- quickened Faith as necessary to all." During the last week of the Convention there were some special reunions of colleges and theological seminaries. Among the most interesting of these, that of the Philadelphia Divinity School, with Bishop Whitaker pre- siding, may be mentioned, and also that of St. Stephen's College, Annandale, with its first Warden, Bishop Seymour, at the head of the table. Bishop Dudley honoured the gathering of alumni at this banquet, in the Occidental Hotel, with his presence, and Warden Lawrence T. Cole was a prominent figure. The Convention attracted to San Fran- cisco several well-known clergymen who, al- though not deputies, were nevertheless deep- ly interested listeners, in the galleries and on the floor of the House, during the sessions, THE CONVENTION 249 and were also participants in services and missionary gatherings. Among these was the Rev. Dr. Lawrence T. Cole, the energetic Warden of St. Stephen's College, Annan- dale, N. Y., of whom we have already spo- ken. There was also in attendance the Rev. A. Burtis Hunter, Principal of St. Augus- tine's School for Coloured Students, in Ra- leigh, N. C. In this Church Institute Rev. Mr. Hunter and his excellent wife are doing a grand work for the negro people of the South, on lines somewhat similar to those followed by Booker T. Washington at Tus- keegee. We also noticed at the Convention and Missionary Services the Rev. William Wilmerding Moir, B.D., the zealous mis- sionary at Lake Placid, N. Y., in the Dio- cese of Albany. His Missions, which have been phenomenal in their growth, are St. Eustace-by-the-Lakes and St. Hubert's-at- Newman. Under his sowing beside all wa- ters, the Adirondack wilderness, in the field committed to him, is blossoming as the rose. Never was missionary more inde- fatigable and self-denying than he, and his rich reward now is in the possession of the 250 BY THE GOLDEN GATE confidence and love of his flock. It shows what a true and beautiful life can accomplish for the Divine Master and for the souls of perishing men, when the apostolic injunction is observed to the letter, — " Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus." This is indeed the true spirit in all mission- ary labours; and, thank God, it animates the Church in all its fulness, as evidenced here in San Francisco in the devising - of methods for the extension of the Gospel of the Kingdom ! During the last hour of the final session of the Convention, Rev. Dr. William R. Hunt- ington, Rector of Grace Church, New York city, a man whom every one who knows him respects and honours for his learning, his eloquence, his integrity, his character as a man, his devotion as a Clergyman to the Church, and his love for his Divine Master, created a sensation by a speech which he made. Indeed it was dramatic in its character, and it made a pro- found impression on all who heard it. As he spoke, a deep silence came over the members of the House. As is well known, Dr. Hunt- THE CONVENTION 251 ington has for years advocated an amend- ment to Article X of the Constitution by which there should be given to the Bishops of the Church the spiritual oversight of con- gregations not in communion with the Church, allowing the Bishops to provide services for them other than those of the Book of Common Prayer. This subject was debated at length, and at last, to harmonise all interests, a Committee of Conference was appointed from both Houses. Finally the Committee reported two resolutions for adoption, — the first, that Article X of the Constitution is to be so interpreted as not restricting the authority of the Bishops, act- ing under the Canons of the General Con- vention, to provide special forms of wor- ship ; and the second, that the Bishops have the right to take under their spiritual over- sight congregations of Christian people not in union with the Church, and that the use of the Book of Common Prayer is not obliga- tory for such congregations, but no such congregations shall be admitted into union with a Diocesan Convention until organised as a Parish and making use of the Book of 252 BY THE GOLDEN GATE Common Prayer. The first was adopted, and the second lost. Dr. Huntington then arose and moved a reconsideration of the vote on the Report of the Committee of Con- ference. Having made his motion, he said, with evident feeling and pathos in his voice : " I may perhaps be allowed in advocating this motion to say a single word of a per- sonal character, or partially of a personal character. I desire to say that I entertain the same faith in the final victory of the principles which I have had the honour to advocate in three previous Conventions that I ever have entertained. Individuals may rebuke me because of too great persistency and because of too much presumption. Great measures, if I may be pardoned in using a political phrase, may be turned down for the time. They cannot be turned down for all time. You have chosen your course for the present with reference to the great question of the opening century. I acquiesce. I re- sign to younger hands the torch. I surren- der the leadership which has been graciously accorded me by many clerical and lay mem- bers of this House. The measure I advo- THE CONVENTION 253 cated has been known as the iridescent dream. I remember who they were who said, we shall see what will become of his dream. In time they saw. But for the present it is otherwise. The Chicago-Lambeth platform has been turned down, and what I hope I may characterise without offence as the Ox- ford-Milwaukee platform is for the time in the ascendant. I accept the fact. My ' iri- descent dream ' shall disturb their dreams no more. I recall a saying of my old friend Father Fidele, whom we used to know in our college days as James Kent Stone. When he went over to Rome he wrote a book with the title, ' The Invitation Heeded,' and the best thing in it was this : ' I thank heaven that I have reached a Church where there is no longer any nervousness about the General Convention.' There is no probability, sir, of my heeding the invitation that he heeded, but henceforth I share his peace." The mo- tion to reconsider the vote by which the first resolution of the Committee of Conference was adopted, was lost; and then Dr. Hunt- ington retired from the House. Soon after the Bishops sent to the Deputies in Message 254 BY THE GOLDEN GATE 93, the same Resolutions as having been adopted by them, and asking the House of Deputies to concur. The motion prevailed by a large vote, and the victory came for the good Doctor, who thought he was defeated for the present, much sooner than he had ex- pected. The closing service of the Convention, on Thursday afternoon, October the 17th, was a memorable one. The imposing array of Bishops in their robes, the presence of the House of clerical and lay deputies, and the hundreds of San Francisco's citizens who thronged Trinity Church, together with the inspiring hymns and the reading of the Pas- toral Letter by Bishop Dudley, who used his voice with great effect, made a lasting im- pression on all present. With the solemn benediction by Bishop Tuttle at 6: 30 p. m., the great Council of 1901 was a thing of the past, but though its sessions were ended and become a matter of history, its effect could not be undervalued. It was a great advant- age to the churchmen from all parts of the land to meet in San Francisco. In their jour- neyings from the East and other portions of THE CONVENTION 255 the country between the Atlantic Ocean and the Rocky Mountains they had an oppor- tunity of studying the far West, and they realised more than ever how great is the ex- tent of the country, how inexhaustible its resources ; and they were stirred up to greater missionary activity and more lib- eral giving. The wide domain between the Rocky Mountains and the Sierras and the rich valleys of California bordering on the Pacific Ocean, inviting enterprising agri- culturalists from all sides, were indeed an object lesson. The civilisation of the West too is the civilisation of the East, and the Church, with her adaptability, is as much at home by the Golden Gate as in New York or Boston or Philadelphia. The Convention will help the Church in California. Its influ- ences have gone out among the people in healing streams. Its character and work were a revelation to the populations by the Pacific ; and already men who knew but little about the strength of our great American Church, its order, its catholicity, its aims, have been greatly enlightened and drawn to its services. They realise more and more what a mighty 256 BY THE GOLDEN GATE agency it is for good, how it promotes all that is best in our civilisation, and how it adds to the stability of the institutions of the land. The character of the men and women whom the Church trains for citizenship and usefulness in the world is seen in two beau- tiful lives whose labours were finished, in God's Providence, by the waters of the Gold- en Gate. Mrs. Mary Abbott Emery Twing, of New York, widow of the late Rev. Dr. Twing, for many years Secretary of the Board of Missions, had travelled across the continent to be present at the meetings of the Woman's Auxiliary, of which she had been the first active Secretary. But sickness came, and after a few days she was cut down like a flower. She was a woman of a lovely character, devoted to the service of her di- vine Master like the Marys of old, and was a type of the tens of thousands of the Church's faithful daughters throughout the land. As she has left a holy example of missionary zeal and labour, so her good works follow her. The other life of which we speak is also an eminent example of love THE CONVENTION 257 for God's Church, of faithfulness and good works. John I. Thompson, one of the most esteemed citizens of Troy, N. Y., though hardly in a condition physically to make the long journey to San Francisco, yet felt it his duty to be in his seat in the Convention. So he counted not his life dear unto himself, but with that sense of duty and spirit of self- sacrifice which always had characterised him he was found in his place at the opening and organising of the Convention, in Trinity Church, and answered the roll call. Expos- ures by the way had made inroads on his health and gradually he lost his strength until death finally claimed him on the evening of Wednesday, October the 16th. The next day the Convention passed the fol- lowing resolution : " Resolved, That the members of this Convention have heard, with deep regret, of the death of Mr. John I. Thompson, a lay deputy of the diocese of Albany, and they hereby express their warm and tender sympathy for his family in their sore bereavement." But what a deathbed was his! What a testimony to the power of a living faith in Christ! He died as he had 258 BY THE GOLDEN GATE lived, a truly Christian man, illustrating the power of that Gospel which the General Convention is pledged to propagate and de- fend. With him, in the Palace Hotel, were those whom he loved best of all, his devoted wife, who had accompanied him, and his faithful son, who had hastened from the dis- tant East to the chamber of sickness; with him too betimes the Bishop of Albany, whose tender words and loving ministrations were an unspeakable comfort to him; with him also his beloved Rector, Dr. Edgar A. Enos, of his dear St. Paul's Church, to break for him the bread of life and press the cup of salvation to his lips, and pray for him as he walked through the valley of the shadow of death, and to commend his departing soul to God. He knew he was going away from earthly scenes, and with faith and hope, he leaned on the arms of his Lord. Trained from his childhood in the ways of the divine life, and having walked like the holy men of old in the paths of righteousness, he had no fear as his feet touched the Dark River. He was ready to launch his soul's bark on the ocean of eternity. Methinks I see his purified THE CONVENTION 259 spirit passing out through the Golden Gate yonder, but to sail over a sea more calm than the Pacific. It is eventide now, but " at evening time it shall be light ; " and the light of God's eternal city is shed across his path- way as the Divine Pilot guides him through the Golden Gate of Paradise to the harbour of peace ! CHAPTER XII THROUGH THE CITY TO THE GOLDEN GATE A Well Equipped Fire Department — Destructive Fires — Scene at the Call Office — Loyalty to the Flag — The Blind Man and Bobby Burns — Street Scenes and Places of Interest — Market Street System — Mission Dolores — Effect of Pictures — Franciscan Missionaries — A Quaint Building — The Mosque a Model — The Presidio — The Spanish and American Reservation — Tents — Cemetery — The Cliff House — Sutro Baths — Museum — Seal Rocks — Farallones — Golden Gate — What it Recalls — Golden Poppy — John C. Fremont — Drake and the Golden Hind — A Convenient Harbour — First to Enter — With the Indians — Child of Destiny — A Vision of Greatness — Queen of the Golden Gate. Our walks hither and thither in San Fran- cisco will lead us to many interesting places, and at times into the midst of exciting scenes. There is an onward sweep of the current of humanity, which is exhilarating in a high degree ; there is activity on all sides; and you soon catch the spirit of the 260 THROUGH THE CITY 261 place. Men have a purpose in view, some- thing to accomplish; and there is the entire absence of lethargy; there are no drones in the great hive. You realise that you are in a city of distances as well as surprises; and wherever you go you find some object or locality or happening that calls for comment. Hark! there is the fire alarm. The engines and hose-carts and fire ladders, with other apparatus, pass you as in the twinkling of an eye; and so skillful are the fire-laddies, and so well equipped is the department, that the devouring flames rarely ever make head- way. They are quickly mastered. But it was not always so. There was a period about fifty years ago when great and destruc- tive fires succeeded one another like a deluge and wiped out large portions of the growing city. There was then a woful lack of water, which is now most abundant, and the fire engines were very primitive in character and inadequate to the needs of the place. To- day every precaution is taken to guard against fire, and the great business blocks and the miles and miles of handsome homes are well protected. 262 BY THE GOLDEN GATE I visited the central department, and it was most interesting to note the ap- pliances of other days. It almost excited a smile to see the simple hand engines and old fire-extinguishers. On the walls of the " Curiosity-Shop " where these mementoes of other days were exhibited, not far from the Chinese quarter, were photo- graphs of the members of the department, of past years; and among the faces were some of the most distinguished citizens of San Francisco. All honour to the men who protect our homes thus, who respond quickly to the fire bell which startles the ear in mid- night hours, who risk their lives for the sake of others, who evince such hardihood and perform acts which are truly heroic ! Some old inhabitant, if you question him, will go back to the past and tell you in graphic lan- guage about the disastrous fires which have swept over the city laying large portions of it again and again in ashes. The first, which was of consequence occurred in December 1849. Then the loss was estimated to be a million of dollars. On May 4th 1850 there was another fire which was a heavy blow to THROUGH THE CITY 263 the business interests of the town. A third fire broke out in June 14th, 1850, and still another on September 17th, 1850, causing great loss. But, as the climax, came on May 3rd, 1 85 1, what is known as "the great fire." At the time the chief engineer and many of the firemen were in Sacramento, and this greatly crippled the service. The fire- fiend held carnival for twenty-four hours, and property, valued at twenty millions of dollars, was consumed, while many of the people perished in the flames. On Sunday, June 22nd, 1851, there was still another ruinous fire which raged among the homes on the hillsides and in the residence-districts generally. This was accompanied with a most pathetic inci- dent. While the flames were raging around the Plaza, a man who was very sick was carried on his bed into the midst of the open place, and there while a shower of flame was rained on him and smoke blinded his eyes his spirit passed to his eternal home in the Heavens. But al- though San Francisco had met with all these losses in rapid succession, partly the result 264 BY THE GOLDEN GATE of incendiarism and partly by reason of a lack of fire equipment, yet the people, brave- hearted and unconquerable, rebuilt their city on broader and safer lines; and the San Francisco of to-day, so attractive and pros- perous and beautiful, may be said to have risen Phcenix-like out of her ashes. So it is that evils are overruled for good in God's Providence, and the fine gold comes out of the fire of discipline, tried and precious! Our walks now will lead us up through the city to the Mission Dolores, the Presidio, and the Golden Gate. But as we proceed up Market Street we take note of some features of the life of San Francisco. Behold, here is an eager group of men and boys in front of The Call office. They are scanning the bulletin of the day's news from all parts of the world, which will be published in to- morrow's Call or in the Chronicle on the north side of the street. In the early part of my sojourn in this city by the Golden Gate I was impressed with this aspect of life here. It was on Thursday the 3rd day of October that I saw a crowd of men of various ages, and boys also, reaching out into THROUGH THE CITY 265 the street, besieging the bulletin board of The Call, at the corner of Market and Third Streets. Why are they so deeply absorbed and why so interested? They are reading the news of the victory of Mr. J. Pierpont Morgan's Columbia over Sir Thomas Lip- ton's Shamrock m the great yacht race in New York waters, in the cup contest. Had this international race taken place outside of their own Golden Gate, on the broad Pacific, they could not have evinced greater enthusiasm and pride at the result. The pulse of San Francisco is quickened and the heart thrilled at American success on the Atlantic seaboard as much as Boston or New York is elated when it triumphs. Distance is nothing. It is America from Sandy Hook to the Golden Gate. The one thing that impresses you here in San Francisco is the intense patriotism of the people, and your own heart is warmed as you see the evidences of loyalty to the flag. I could not but be touched too at the devotion which the people everywhere displayed to the memory of President McKinley. Even in Chinatown a deep sentiment prevailed, and his draped por- 266 BY THE GOLDEN GATE trait with his benignant countenance might be seen in houses and stores and in other conspicuous places. As you walk leisurely along you will see on the sidewalk, on the south side of the street, west of the Palace Hotel and opposite No. 981, a newstand with American flags decorating its roof; and you will be in- terested in the man who stands in his shel- tered place behind the counter on which are the daily papers. It is George M. Drum, a blind man. Poor Drum, a man about fifty years old, lost his eyesight in a premature explosion of giant powder, in a quarry near Ocean View, on the 3rd of November 1895. Yet he takes his misfortune cheerfully. He is chatty and witty and somewhat of a poet and is the author of a highly imaginative story about a " Bottomless Lake " and a "Haunted Cavern " in which that strange character, Joaquin Murietta, well known in all California mining camps fifty years ago, figures. This Joaquin Murietta has also been the theme of the " Poet of the Sierras," Joaquin Miller. Indeed it was from this " Joaquin " that Miller has taken his name THROUGH THE CITY 267 Joaquin, being otherwise called Cincinnatus Heine Miller. It was my custom to pur- chase The Call and The Chronicle each morning from Mr. Drum ; and on the second time that I saw him he said, " I wish to shake hands with you ; I know you." " Who am I ? " I asked, with no little surprise. Said he, " You are Bobby Burns." " Bobby Burns! " I exclaimed; and, thinking only of the Ayrshire poet, I said, " Burns is dead ! " " Oh," he said, " there is a man here in San Francisco, whom I call Bobby Burns, and I thought that you were he." So the mystery was explained; and I could not but reflect that many other things which puzzle us are just as easy of solution when we have the proper key to them. If your walk is extended into the evening through the brilliantly lighted streets, which electricity makes almost as bright as day, you will meet here and there detachments of the Salvation Army and the American Vol- unteers; then you will see a group of men around some temperance lecturer or street orator. You will also hear the voice of some fakir selling his fakes or wares, or some 268 BY THE GOLDEN GATE juggler who is delighting his audience with his tricks of legerdemain. If you desire to make purchases of silver articles or gold ornaments you will go to Hammersmith and Field's at No. 36 Kear- ney Street; and if you wish to spend an hour pleasantly and profitably among books on all subjects, you will visit No. 1149 Market Street or 704 Mission Street. Here you will learn that books on California, whether old or new, are in great demand. Indeed all books relating to the Golden State are eagerly sought for; and if you chance to have any such you will be reluctant to part with them. They increase in value year by year. The Club life of San Francisco is an important element; and it will be an easy matter for you to find admittance to the Pacific Union Club, the Cosmos Club, or the Bohemian Club, if you have the indorsement of a member. A letter of introduction or commendation from a clergyman or some well-known public man will secure for you the Open Sesame at any time; and here you can pass an hour pleasantly and meet the foremost THROUGH THE CITY 269 men of the city, physicians, clergymen, lawyers, merchants, and army officers. But we hasten on now to the old Mission Dolores. Let us board the street car which leads to its door. Meanwhile we have an opportunity to study what is called the Market Street system. Ru- mour hath it that the street railways will soon pass into the hands of a syn- dicate with capitalists from Baltimore at the head of it. The estimated value of the vari- ous lines is said to be over fourteen millions of dollars. These cars are excellent in serv- ice, and they climb up the hills of San Fran- cisco with perfect ease. You feel, on some of the lines, as ascent is so steep, that the car is about to stand on end, and you cling to your seat lest you lose your balance; but you are perfectly safe. They will take you in every direction as they run through all principal streets and out to Golden Gate Park and the Cliff House as well as to distant points in the suburbs of San Francisco. Away back in the early days of the city the Mission was reached by a plank road from the shores of the Bay; but now you ride to 270 BY THE GOLDEN GATE its doors in comfort. The Mission Dolores located in the western part of the city will always be a place of special interest. It car- ries you back to 1776, the same year in which the American Colonies declared them- selves to be free and independent of Great Britain. The Mission was founded under the supervision of Padre Miguel Jose Serra Junipero, a native of the island of Majorca, who was born on Nov. 24th, 171 3. At the age of 16 years he joined the order of St. Francis of Assisi, and in 1750 he went as a missionary to the city of Mexico. It was in 1769 that he arrived in San Diego and estab- lished its Mission. Proceeding up the coast he founded other Missions, and his desire was to name one in honour of the founder of his order. Said he to Don Jose de Gal- vez, the leader of the expedition from Mexico to California, " Is St. Francis to have no Mission?" The answer was, "Let him show us his port, and he shall have one." In consequence of this the San Francisco Mis- sion was established. The solemn mass which marked its foundation was celebrated by Padres Palou, Cambon, Nocedal and THROUGH THE CITY 271 Pena; and on the occasion firearms were discharged as a token of thanks to God, and also for the purpose of attracting the Indians, though it was difficult for them to under- stand it. The Indians were hard to win at San Francisco, but a piece of cloth, with the image of " Our Lady de Los Dolores," on it, was exhibited to them and it produced a marvellous effect. Pictures seem to have a peculiar attraction for the savage mind. In the Church of Guadaloupe, Mexico, you may see a large painting of the Mexican Virgin with Indians crowding around her. The effect of pictures is well illustrated by a scene in the ninth century, as when, in answer to the request of Bogoris, King of the Bulgarians, the Emperor Michael, of Constantinople, sent to him a painter to decorate the hall of his palace with subjects of a terrible character. It was Methodius, the monk, who was despatched to the Bul- garian court on this mission, and he took for his theme the Last Judgment as being the most terrible of all scenes. The representa- tion of hell so alarmed the king that he cast aside his idols, and many of his subjects 272 BY THE GOLDEN GATE were converted. The Franciscans in their work both in Mexico and in California un- derstood well the value of pictures in con- vincing the untutored mind. Hence it was the custom to have pictures of heaven and hell on the walls of the Missions. They were better than sermons. The name of the Mis- sion here was at first, simply San Francisco de Asis. Then in time Dolores, was added to indicate its locality, because it was west of a Laguna bordered with " Weeping Wil- lows " or because three Indians had been seen weeping in its vicinity. Naturally the title of the Virgin would be applied to the Mission, — Nuestra Senora de Los Dolores, " Our Lady of Sorrows." In this Mission, as well as in the others ,the Indians were in a certain sense slaves, as the Fathers con- trolled all their movements. The religious instruction was of the simplest character. The life of the convert also was somewhat childlike, in marked contrast with his ex- perience in his savage condition. His break- fast consisted of a kind of gruel made of corn, called Atole. The dinner was Pozoli, and the supper the same as breakfast. The THROUGH THE CITY 273 Christian Indians lived in adobe huts — of which the Padres kept the keys. Some of the Missions were noted for their wealth. For example, as you may read in the Annals of San Francisco, the Mission Dolores, in its palmiest days, about the year 1825, pos- sessed 76,000 head of cattle, 950 tame horses, 2,000 breeding mares, 84 stud of choice breed, 820 mules, 79,000 sheep, 2,000 hogs, 456 yoke of working oxen, 18,000 bushels of wheat and barley, $35,000 in mer- chandise and $25,000 in specie. Such prosperity in time was fatal to the Missions. The spiritual life was deadened, and in time it might be said that Ichabod was written on them. The glory has departed. The early Francis- cans were men of deep, religious fervour, self-denying and godly. They did a splendid work among the Indians in Cali- fornia. Father Junipero was a saintly man, full of labour, enduring hardships for Christ's sake, and he is worthy of being ranked with the saints of old. Padre Palou was a man of like character, and there were others who caught the inspiration of his life. 274 BY THE GOLDEN GATE When Junipero knew that his pilgrimage was about ended he wrote a farewell letter to his Franciscans; and then, on the 28th of August, 1784, having bade good-bye to his fellow-labourer, Padre Palou, he closed his eyes in the last sleep, and was laid to rest at San Carlos. The lives of such men make a bright spot in the early history of California; and as most of its towns and cities have San or Santa as a part of their names it is well to recall the fact that the word Saint was not unmeaning on the lips of those Franciscan Missionaries who la- boured on these shores and taught the ignor- ant savage the way of life. On the day when Doctor Ashton and I visited the Mis- sion Dolores we were deeply impressed with what we saw. There stood the old building, partly overshadowed by the new edifice erected recently just north of it. Yonder were the hills, north and south and west, which from the first had looked down upon it ; but the old gardens and olive trees which had surrounded it for many years were gone, and instead the eye fell on blocks of com- fortable houses and streets suggestive of the THROUGH THE CITY 275 new life which had taken place of the old. The bull-fights which used to take place near this spot on Sunday afternoons are things of the past happily, and the gay, moving throngs, with picturesque costume of Spanish make and Mexican hue, have forever van- ished. The old graveyard with its high walls on the south side of the Church re- mains. Tall grass bends over the prostrate tombstones, a willow tree serves as a mourn- ing sentinel here and there, while the odours of flowers, emblems of undying hopes, are wafted to us on the balmy air as we stand, with memories of the past rushing on the mind, and gaze silently on the scene. The building looks very quaint in the midst of the modern life which surrounds it. It is a monument of by-gone days with its adobe walls and tiled roof. Its front has in it a suggestion of an Egyptian temple. Its archi- tecture is Spanish and Mexican and old Cali- fornian combined. You can not fail to carry away its picture in your memory, for with- out any effort on your part it is photographed on your mind for the remainder of your days. These old Mission buildings of California 276 BY THE GOLDEN GATE and of Mexico too are all very similar in their construction. Some have the tower which reminds you of the Minaret of a mosque. I fancy, as the idea of the Mission building with its rectangular grounds, gen- erally walled, came from Spain, that the mosque, with its square enclosure and houses for its attendants, was its model. The Moors of Spain have left their impress behind them in architecture as well as in other things. They borrowed from Con- stantinople, and the City of the Golden Horn has extended its influence in one way and an- other over all the civilised world. But Do- lores is crumbling, and its services, still held, and its " Bells," of which Bret Harte sang so sweetly years ago, can not arrest its decay. In it is seen " the dying glow of Spanish glory," which once, like a cimeter, flashed forth here. Yet, though a building fall and a nation be uprooted, " the Church of Jesus constant will remain," shedding its glory on generation after generation and beautifying the human race ! Let us now pursue our walk in a north- westerly direction to the Presidio. The de- THROUGH THE CITY 277 scendants of the old Spanish families in San Francisco pronounce the word still in the Castilian way, with the vowels long, and the full continental sound is given. This makes the name very musical as it is syllabled on their lips. What is the Presidio ? This was originally the Military Post of the Spaniards, but it is now the Military Reservation of the United States. We are carried back to the old Spanish days as we tread the well kept walks of this garrisoned post. It was on Sept. 17, 1776, as we learn that it was estab- lished. There were four of these Presidios in California, one at San Diego, the second at Santa Barbara, the third at Monterey, and the fourth here by the waters of the Golden Gate. They were built on the lines of a square, three hundred feet long on each side, and the walls were made of adobes formed of ashes and earth. Within this enclosure were the necessary buildings, of the simplest construction, such as the Commandante's house, the barracks, the store house, the shops and the jail. The government build- ings as a rule were whitewashed. The chief object of the Presidios was to give protec- 278 BY THE GOLDEN GATE tion to the Missionaries and guard them against the Indians. The full complement of soldiers in each Presidio was two hundred and fifty — but the number rarely reached as high as this. The soldiers in those early days were not, as a rule, of the highest stand- ing. Many of them were from the dregs of the Mexican army, and among them were men sometimes who had committed crime and were in a measure in banishment. There could be no greater contrast pos- sible than that between the Presidio of Spanish days and the Presidio of the present time, both as to the place and the personnel of the officers and men of the garrison. As you look around you now your eyes rest on wide and handsome parade grounds, on beau- tiful gardens where flowers bloom in lux- uriance, on groups of the Monterey Cypress, on neatly trimmed hedges, on walks in many places bordered with cannon balls, on at- tractive buildings which have a homelike as- pect with vines climbing the walls, on bar- racks where the soldiers are made com- fortable. The Presidio looks like a settle- ment in itself, and is very picturesque. I THROUGH THE CITY jyg will not soon forget the beautiful, balmy afternoon, when I walked through the grounds on my way to the hills above the ocean. Here everything was suggestive of forethought, of care, of order, of dignity. The Reservation stretched out on every hand and over to the shore of the Bay northward where it has a water frontage of at least a mile and a half. In all its area it embraces a landscape, varied and undulating, of one thousand, five hundred and forty-two acres. It is a noble park in itself and well may the nation be proud of it. The Presidio was first occupied by United States troops in 1847, on March 4th, when the sword was trembling in the weak hands of Spain. On November 6th, 1850, President Millard Fill- more set these grounds apart forever as a Military Reservation. As I walked on, be- fore me to the west, rose hundreds of tents in which were soldiers, some of whom had returned from the Philippine Islands, and others of them were soon to embark for the Orient. Yonder too is the cemetery, where, as on Arlington Heights above the Potomac, sleep the Nation's dead; and 28o BY THE GOLDEN GATE " There Honour comes, a pilgrim gray, To bless the turf that wraps their clay." After your visit to the Presidio you will naturally desire to go to the Cliff House, that world renowned resort on Point Lobos south of the Golden Gate, and about seven miles distant from the City Hall. Thou- sands frequent this favoured spot annually, and especially on Saturday afternoons is it thronged. You can reach the Cliff either by the street cars going by Golden Gate Park, or by the electric railway which skirts the rocky heights of the Golden Gate. This last was our route, and the return journey was by the street railway. A Mr. Black and a Mr. Norton, two of San Francisco's pros- perous business-men, were going thither "also, and, seeing that we were strangers, they with true California courtesy gave us much information and showed us favours which we valued highly. As we sped westward, on our right was Fort Point just rising above tide water with its granite and brick walls and strong fortifications and powerful guns guarding the entrance to the Bay of San Francisco. THROUGH THE CITY 281 Close by the Cliff House, and north of it, are the famous Sutro Baths, always well patronised; and the lofty, vaulted building in which they are located impresses you greatly as you enter it. It stands on the shore of the sea, reaching out into the deep ; and the waters, which fill the swimming pools of various depths, flow in from old ocean in all their virgin purity. Here you will find all the best equipments and con- veniences of a bath house. After bathing you may ascend to a long gallery of the building, where is a museum with a valuable collection of Indian relics and stuffed animals and archaeological specimens, and even mum- mies from old Egypt in their well pre- served cases. The view from the heights above the Cliff House is magnificent. Al- most at your feet, about two hundred and fifty yards from the shore, are the Seal Rocks rising up in their hoary forms from the sea and against whose sides the waves dash from time to time in rythmical cadence. Here are hundreds of sea-lions, young and old, basking in the sun or disporting them- 282 BY THE GOLDEN GATE selves in the waters, and ever and anon you hear their roaring, reminding you that here is nature's grand aquarium. As you look northward you see the rocky shores of the ocean for miles, while to the south your eyes rest on a receding beach ; and in a direct line some twenty miles westward are the Farallones or Needles, a group of seven islands consisting of barren rocks, the largest of which, comprising some two acres in area, has a spring of pure water and is surmounted by a lighthouse. Here too are vast numbers of sea-lions and wild birds of the sea, which make these islets their home, nothing daunted by the billows which roll over them in wind and storm. Surely it is a picture of the steadfast soul in the midst of commotions, when the waves of the sea of human passions " are mighty and rage horribly ! " As you look out toward the Farallones, as lights and shadows fall on them, you almost imagine that they are ships from distant shores ploughing their way to the Golden Gate. But what of the Golden Gate, on which our eyes now THROUGH THE CITY 283 rest? The name naturally recalls to mind the " Golden Gate " in the wall of Theo- dosius, in Constantinople, with its three arches and twin, marble towers, now indeed walled up to prevent the fulfillment of a prophecy that the Christian Conqueror who is to take the city will enter through it. A similar belief prevails concerning the Golden Gate of the Temple Area in Jerusalem, which is also effectually barred. But whoever named it doubtless had in mind the " Golden Horn," that noble right arm of the Bos- phorus, embracing Stamboul and its suburbs for five miles up to the " Sweet Waters of Europe." There are indeed some corre- spondences between the two. As the wealth of the Orient flows into the Golden Horn, the harbour of Constantinople for many cen- turies, so the riches of commerce, the pro- ducts of great states west of the Rocky Mountains, and the treasures of the Pacific, pass through the Golden Gate. The Golden Gate too is about five miles in length, al- though at its entrance it is a little over a mile wide and widens out as you sail into 284 BY THE GOLDEN GATE the great Bay of which it is the outlet. This is located in latitude 37 ° 48' north and in longitude 122 24' 32" west of Greenwich, and has a depth of thirty feet on the bar while inside of its mouth it ranges from sixty to one hundred feet. The shores are a strik- ing feature, and on the south side range from three hundred to four hundred feet in height, while on the north the hills, in places, attain an altitude of two thousand feet; and these adamantine walls, witnesses of many a stirring event in the history of California, are clothed in green in spring-time, while in autumn they are brown, and from the dis- tance resemble huge lions, couchant, guard- ians of the Gate. But who gave it its name, and why is it so called? These were my questions. Among the residents of San Francisco, whom I asked, was a Sefiora whose countenance plainly indicated her Spanish descent, and she said it took its name from the Golden Poppy of California. This was the Gateway to the land of the Golden Poppy. The Poppy is called Chry- seis at times, after one of the characters of Homer; and it is also known by the Spanish THROUGH THE CITY 285 name, especially in the early days, Caliz de Oro, Chalice of Gold. Another designation, used by the poets, is Copa de Oro, Cup of Gold; while in Indian legends it has some- times been styled, " Fire-Flower " and " Great Spirit Flower." It was the belief among the Indians, when they saw the peo- ple flocking for gold from all directions, that the petals of the " Great Spirit Flower," dropping year after year into the earth, had been turned into yellow gold. The Golden Poppy, the State Flower of California, blooms in great profusion and with marvel- lous beauty on hillside in plain and valley, in field and garden, by lake and river, from the Sierras to the shores of the Pacific, and it is especially abundant on the hills which skirt the shores of the Golden Gate. In- deed in spring time these are one mass of gold; and hence it would not require much imagination to coin the magic name by which the gateway to one of the grandest Bays in the world is known. An old Cali- fornian song well describes the beauty and luxuriance of this suggestive Flower. 286 BY THE GOLDEN GATE " O'er the foothills, through the meadows, Midst the canons' lights and shadows, Spreading with their amber glow, Lo, the golden poppies grow ! Golden poppies, deep and hollow, Golden poppies, rich and mellow, Radiant in their robes of yellow, Lo, the golden poppies grow ! " The honour of having named the Gate, however, is generally conceded to General John C. Fremont. In his " Memoirs " he says : " To this Gate I gave the name of Chrysopylae or Golden Gate, for the same reasons that the harbour of Byzantium (Con- stantinople) was named the Golden Horn (Chrysoceras)." It has been hinted never- theless that Sir Francis Drake gave it its appellation ; and if this be so the euphonious name would be suggested by his ship in which he sailed along this coast, the Golden Hind. At first the ship bore the name of Pelican, but at Cape Virgins, at the entrance to the Straits of Magellan, Drake changed it to the Golden Hind, in honour of his patron Sir Christopher Hatton, on whose coat of arms was a Golden Hind. Not with- out interest do we follow the fortunes of this THROUGH THE CITY 287 ship. When finally she was moored in her English port after her voyages, and was put out of commission as unseaworthy, and fell into decay, though guarded with care, John Davis, the English navigator, had a chair made out of her timbers, which he presented to the University of Oxford, still guarded sacredly in the Bodleian Library. No wonder that Cowley, while sitting in it, wrote his stirring lines, and apostrophised it as "Great Relic!" How noble this thought. " The straits of time too narrow are for thee — Launch forth into an undiscovered sea, And steer the endless course of vast eternity; Take for thy sail, this verse, and for thy pilot, me ! " Had we stood on these lofty shores by the Golden Gate in the early summer of 1579 we would have descried the Golden Hind ploughing the waters of the Pacific north- ward. Her course was as far north as lati- tude 42 on June 3rd. Owing, however, to the cold weather Drake returned southward to find a " convenient and fit harbour " for rest and refitting of the vessel ; and, as one of the narrators of the voyage writes, " It 288 BY THE GOLDEN. GATE pleased God to send us into a fair and good bay, with a good wind to enter the same." Was this what is known as Drake's Bay or popularly as Jack's Bay, southeast of Point los Reyes, or was it the Bay of San Francisco? Justin Winsor, in his Narrative and Critical History of America, and Hu- bert Howe Bancroft, in his History of Cali- fornia, discuss this matter in an exhaustive manner; and the reader after sifting all the evidence afforded, will still be free to form his own judgment. Some writers, wishing to give the glory to the Spaniards, arrive at conclusions hastily, though of course a name like that of Bancroft carries great weight and his arguments deserve the highest considera- tion. The question then is, Was the Golden Hind the first ship to cross the bar and pass through the Golden Gate, in the name of Queen Elizabeth of England? Or was it Juan Bautista de Ayala's ship, San Carlos, in August, 1775, in the name of Charles III. of Spain? , It seems to the writer that a man of Drake's discernment and perception and ex- perience would not be likely to pass by the THROUGH THE CITY 289 Golden Gate without seeing it and entering it. True, it may have been veiled in fog, such as you may see the trade winds driving into the Bay to-day often in the afternoon, but there are many hours when the Gate is clear and when it could hardly escape the notice of an experienced seaman. The in- tercourse of Drake with the Indians who crowned him as king, the services used on these shores out of the old Book of Common Prayer by " Master Fletcher," the Golden Hind's chaplain, the naming of the country Albion from its white cliffs in honour of Britain's ancient title, and the taking pos- session of it in the Queen's name, and many other interesting things, are all told in the old narratives, as you may find the story in Hakluyt's Collection; and most edifying is it, opening up a new world and making a romantic chapter in the early history of Cali- fornia. The centuries have rolled on since that time: California has become one of the brightest jewels in the crown of the Re- public ; San Francisco has been born and has attained greatness never dreamed of by those pioneers who laid her foundations, and 290 BY THE GOLDEN GATE before her is a grand career owing to her position and character. She is the child of destiny, with her sceptre extended over the seas which bind to her the great Orient. When John C. Calhoun was Secretary of State he laid his ringer on the map where San Francisco stands now, and said : " There, when this Bay comes into our possession, will spring up the great rival of New York." Give San Francisco a history as long as that of New York, and then see what mighty force she will develop. Has she not at her feet all the great States which stretch out beyond the Rocky Mountains ? Has she not the homage of all the Pacific coast lands with their untold wealth? And are not her perpetuity and greatness assured ? " Who- ever," says Sir Walter Raleigh, " commands the sea commands the trade of the world, and .whoever commands the trade of the world commands the riches of the world, and consequently the world itself." True is it that San Francisco commands the riches of Alaska, the commerce of China and Japan, the wealth of the Sandwich Islands and of the Philippine Archipelago as well as the THROUGH THE CITY 291 products of the South Seas, and what more can she desire? Her cup, a golden cup, is full to overflowing ; and I see the years com- ing, in the visions of the future, when the city will cover, like a jewelled robe, the whole Peninsula as far south as San Jose and will embrace within her government the flourish- ing towns upon the beautiful shores of her great Bay. Yes, Alameda and Oakland, Berkeley and Benicia, Vallejo and Saucelito, and the villages as far north as San Rafael with all their rich fruitage, will sparkle in her diadem, and teeming millions will be en- rolled within her borders rejoicing in her prosperity and her grandeur. All the ad- vantages of Tyre and Corinth and Alex- andria, of the ancient world, are her heritage without the elements of decay which led to their downfall; and if she but hold fast the principles of righteousness, which are the best bulwarks of a city or state, she will con- tinue to reign as a queen to latest genera- tions, sitting on her exalted throne by the Golden Gate! 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