Page:California Inter Pocula.djvu/73

 States,

California might  then  have  belonged ;  or  even  Mexico herself might  have  awakened  from  her  lethargy,  and gathered from  this  new-bom  El  Dorado  sufficient  gold wherewith to  satisfy  her  creditors. In such  a  case how different  would  have  been  the  appearance,  for better or  worse,  of  the  hills  and  valleys  of  the  golden state.

Morever, without  the  gold  of  California  to  counter- balance that which  England  found  in  Australia,  where would have  been  the  commerce  of  the  United  States  ? Where would  have  been  our  credit  during  the  war  for the union,  when  even  with  California  gold,  poured  in- to New York  at  the  rate  of  three  or  four  millions  a month,  the  federal  promises  to  pay  fell  to  one-third  of their  face  ? The vital  sustenance  of  that  war  was  Cal- ifornia gold and  Nevada  silver,  without  which  foreign occupation in  the  Pacific  States  was  possible,  and  for- eign domination, with  abolition  of  Monroe  doctrines and the  like,  extremely  probable.

In conclusion,  it  is  hardly  necessary  for  me  to  state that there  is  as  yet  no  sufficient  evidence  of  any  knowl- edge by white  men  of  the  existence  of  gold  in  the Sierra foothills,  prior  to  the  discovery  at  the  Coloma saw-mill on  the  24th  of  January,  1848. Even were  it not  so ;  if,  for  instance,  as  in  the  case  of  America  and the Northmen,  the  existence  of  the  continent  had  been once known,  and  the  knowledge  lost  or  forgotten,  to Columbus,  none  the  less,  would  belong  the  honor  of  dis- covery. So with  Marshall. There may  have  been some who  thought  of  gold,  or  talked  of  gold,  or  even handled gold  before  January  1848;  but,  none  the  less, to James  Marshall  belongs  the  honor  of  its  discovery, if indeed,  it  can  be  called  an  honor. The difference  in the  merit  of  the  two  discoveries,  not  to  mention  their relative importance,  as  to  which,  of  course,  there  can be no  comparison,  is  that  in  the  one  case  Columbus  be- lieved in a  new  world  and  sought  it,  while  Marshall stumbled on  his  discovery  by  the  merest  accident.