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DAWN AND THE DONS 99 Californians were not only masters of this enchanted land, but were

freed from

the irksomeness

of uncon-

genial toil, and the inevitable result was a racial aristocracy, an inferior race subjected by peaceful means to the rule of a few adventurous invaders. Be it said to the credit of the Spaniard that his rule was benign. Through the medium of the Missions, harmonious relations between these untutored natives and their self appointed masters were maintained, and Aristotle’s ideal aristocracy, where a small minority, morally and intellectually superior, governed a large majority of inferiors, became a fact. Racially, the line was marked and definite. There was no slavery, nor was there any servile relation, but there was a dependent class that relieved the Spaniard of every form of labor that was not congenial to his taste. The relationship may be glimpsed from a statement

made by the wife of General Vallejo when asked by Torres what could be found to do for so many servants as he saw about her home. She replied, “Each one of my children, boy or girl, has a servant who has no other

duty but to care for him or her. I have two servants for myself. Four or five grind the corn for the tortillas, for here we entertain so many guests that three grinders are