Life, diary and letters of Oscar Lovell Shafter, associate justice, Supreme Court of California, January 1, 1864, to December 31, 1868

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AN

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LIFE

DIARY AND LETTERS

OF

Oscar Lovell Shafter

Associate Justice Supreme Court of California
January i, 1864, to December ji, 1868

Edited for Emma Shafter-Howard
by Flora Haines Loughead

£ ^aug^tcr's Crtbutc to a f at^cr'g jftemor?

All things hasten to decay ; all fall, all
perish. Man dieth, iron consumeth, wood
decayeth, towns crumble, strong walls
fall down, the rose wither eth away ; the
war horse waxeth feeble, gay trappings
grow old; all the works of man' s hands
perish. Thus are we taught that all die,
both clerk and lay ; and short would be
the fame of any after death if their his-
tory did not endure, by being written in
the book of the clerk. — Master Wace,
His Chronicles of the Norman Conquest.

San Francisco:

The Blair-Murdock Company

1915

Copyright, 1 9 1 5
by Emma Shafter-Howard

NEW YC

PUBLIC LIB 1.

£954? j

'OR, LEI D j

TILDEN FOl »NS !

19

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- . 1

IN CHURCH

In Memoriam, Oscar Lovell Shafter
October 19, 1812— January 23, 1873

"A Sower went forth to sow, — "

We heard the parable read,
And we saw the picture glow

Above the minister s head.

The deepening twilight fell

Over the Sower s way, —
And the story went on to tell

Of what he had done that day.

He had scattered wide the seed
With careful, generous hand,

And earnest thought of the need
Of harvest rich for the land.

Some fell on ground dry and cold,
And the birds had gleaned a part;

Some will yield a hundredfold
In many a softened heart.

The darkness comes on apace, —
To the picture I strain my eyes;

And it seems, for a little space,
The Sower has touched the skies.

H. P. Stearns,
[ »i ]

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

I. A Man Among Men i

II. Fugitive Records of Early Life 19

III. The Call to California 31

IV. A Busy Year in Exile 55
V. Fragmentary Records of After Years 175

VI. Miscellaneous 236

VII. Last Honors 275

[v]

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PLATE PAGB

I. Portrait of Judge Shaffer, Frontispiece Title

II. Memorial Window in First Unitarian Church,

Oakland, California ix

III. Wilmington, Vermont. Shaffer home and grove

on the high ground in the middle distance 32

IV. Sarah Riddle Shafter, wife of Oscar LovellShafter,

from old Daguerreotype 82

V. Mary, Hugh and Emma Shafter, from old Da-
guerreotype 130

VI. Emma Shafter, at seventeen, from old Daguerre-
otype 178

VII. Shipwreck on Coast, near Sir Francis Drake's

landing-place, Shafter Ranch 202

VIII. Glimpse of Oakland home of Emma Shafter-
Howard on ground given her by her father in
1864 218

IX. Vista down Oakland street, before Oscar Lovell
Shafter property. Emma Shafter-Howard's
home in foreground, with wistaria in bloom 246

X. In the Bosom of the Hills, Punta de los Reyes

Rancho, Marin County, California 292

[ vii J

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THE NEW YORK
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ASTOR, LEN6X
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— — — ^m^ i ^ ■ ■ *-». r ■ » ■ m a ■ ■

From the original

drawing by Donald McDonald

of Boston, Alass.

TABLET BENEATH MEMORIAL WINDOW

"THE SOWER"

THE CHANCEL WINDOW

IN MEMORIAM

OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

BORN OCTOBER I 9, I 8 I 2 DIED JANUARY 23, I 873

BY HIS CHILDREN

The kingdom of Heaven

is likened unto a man which soweth

good seed in his field.

— Matthew xiii : 24.

[ « J

I

A MAN AMONG MEN

NO MAN lives for himself alone. The influence of
every individual life, for weal or for woe, goes
down through the generations. When feeble, or
purposeless, or base, it soon becomes so atten-
uated by admixture with the universal current that it merges
with it and is lost to sight; and it is well that it should be so.
In other cases it rushes onward, a vital force, gathering
strength from union with kindred forces, and bearing human-
ity forward upon its bosom. And again it is well for the race.
The history of every new State reflects the character of
her leaders. The California of to-day, in no small degree,
owes the eminent rank she has attained to a little group of
men who planted their standards, in pioneer times, high
above the greed of gain, the mire of dishonest politics, the
dissipation and vice that were corrupting society, and rallied
about them the forces that made for education, for righteous-
ness and for progress. The first immigration to California
had been composed, in large part, of men of courage and of
character. The first few years sped by, the avenues of travel
were cleared, actual assurances had gone abroad of vast
fortunes acquired in the "diggings," most of the home-
loving Argonauts, successful or unsuccessful, had returned
to their families, leaving behind them the minority, many
of whom were wanderers or wastrels, and the riff-raff of the
world rushed in.

Fortunate it was for California that simultaneously a tide
of immigration of a different order set in. Together with

[i]

LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

the early miners returning with wives and children to the
State they had learned to love, there came men of means,
men of brains, men of purpose, allured by testimony to the
State's rich resources, her favored climate, her great com-
mercial advantages, her attractions for the home-builder.
Arriving at San Francisco, they found a city where chaos
reigned, where the quiet pleasures of home were almost un-
known or forgotten, where prosperity expressed itself in lav-
ish display, and where a general disposition prevailed to defy
authority and to follow the lead of unbridled license.

Unquestionably this contact was a benefit to both. Some
strait-laced puritan notions of human depravity went down
before the undoubted generosity and the kindness, the open
hospitality and sympathies of the lawless element. The new-
comers were broader men for the meeting, yet they did not
compromise with the legions of evil. A little inoculation with
a realizing sense of human brotherhood breeds wisdom as
well as tolerance. They undertook no crusade. They did not
harangue men on the street corners, or mount lecture plat-
forms to expound their principles. They went about their sev-
eral vocations; they acted, they lived. By the still but over-
powering force of example they won their victor}7. It was not
the victory of a day, of a week, a month, or a year, but a con-
quest slowly gained, by steady advance, year after year. It is
not yet complete, but so near have we come to the goal that
those of open vision may glimpse the shining heights.

Among these men who helped to lay the solid foundations
upon which the new social structure was to rest, was Oscar
Lovell Shafter, a New England lawyer of quiet ways and
scholarly tastes. The true measure of a man's influence in this
world rarely can be determined until it is reviewed through
the perspective of years, and posterity has rendered its verdict.
By this test Judge Shafter looms among the men of his time,
a solitary and impressive figure, isolated by his very virtues
from those who stood nearest to him in life. He was friendly

[2]

OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

and companionable, gentle and kind — yet a man of sin-
gular contradictions, shy and retiring by disposition, modest,
reverent, yet who scored brilliant victories in the harsh con-
flict of the courts. In his fidelity to principle he would have
gone triumphantly to the martyr's stake, but he could be
smitten to the heart by the defection of a friend, and crushed
to the earth by the loss of a little child, — a strange personal-
ity to be uprooted from New England traditions and plunged
into the thick of the stormy battle of contending elements in
San Francisco in the early eighteen-fifties, and to emerge tran-
quil, uncontaminated, untroubled.

In the course of an Admission Day address, delivered in
Monterey in 1908, John F. Davis made the following perti-
nent remarks :

"It is indefensible that in the face of incidents in our his-
tory such as these, sons and daughters of California should be
ignorant of the lives and experiences of their fathers and of
those who preceded them on this Coast. The history of these
experiences is part of the history of the nation, and the record
of the achievements of the empire-builders of this Coast is
one that inspires civic pride and a reverence for their mem-

ories."

The data from which such history should be written is scant
and is fast vanishing. Much of it has been destroyed by a
somewhat memorable fire that for a few days laid San Fran-
cisco low. It should be regarded as an imperative duty for all
those who possess such data to bring it forward, that men of
the future may know their obligations to the men of the past.

In the case of Judge Shaffer reverent hands have preserved
the records of his life. The most of this is written by himself,
in the form of diary entries and a voluminous family corre-
spondence. While much of this is purely personal, pervading
it is an unconscious unfolding of his aims, his disposition and
character, and it delineates the writer as no abstract descrip-
tion, written by another, ever could. Moreover, the two com-
bine to present a series of pictures of the times in which they

[3]

LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

were written, singularly vivid and intimate, and all the more
realistic because drawn unconsciously. While now and then, in
the process of editing, references to people and places and top-
ics of no general interest have been excluded, and over-much
dwelling upon the great sorrows of his life has been avoided,
it has not been necessary to delete a line or a word for any
other cause. How much family correspondence could stand
this test?

Oscar Lovell Shafter was born at Athens, Vermont, Octo-
ber 19, 18 12. He came of a plain farmer ancestry, but the
men of his blood were patriots to the core. His paternal
grandfather, James Shafter, fought at Bunker Hill, Benning-
ton and Saratoga, and for twenty-five years afterward served
as a member of the Vermont Legislature. His own father,
William Shafter, was a member of the Vermont Constitu-
tional Convention of 1836, was County Judge for several
years, and a member of the State Legislature. His mother,
whose maiden name was Mary Lovell, a woman of superior
mind and character, and described as of majestic mien, died
of consumption when Oscar was a boy of fourteen, leaving
her memory forever enshrined in his heart. Throughout his
life he never could command his emotions when he referred to
her. The father, despite his political service, led the tranquil,
hardworking life of a New England farmer, cultivating a
small tract of land, milking his cows, gardening, caring for
his stock, and preparing his own supply of wood for winter.
He had seven children, who lived to maturity, two daughters
and five sons. When Oscar, the eldest, expressed a wish for a
college education, he met with opposition from his father, but
through his mother's persuasion he finally was permitted to
begin his preparatory studies at Wilbraham Academy, Mas-
sachusetts, and he was graduated from Wesleyan University
at Middletown, Connecticut, in 1834. Immediately after
graduation he began his law studies in a private office in Ver-
mont, but, dissatisfied with this manner of fitting himself for

[4]

OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

his chosen profession, he entered Harvard Law School, where
he completed his law studies under Judge Story, and com-
menced the practice of his profession at Wilmington, Ver-
mont, in 1836. He advanced rapidly to the front rank of his
profession, was elected to the State Legislature, and against
his will became the chosen candidate of the Liberty party,
with which he was affiliated, for Member of Congress, Gov-
ernor, and United States Senator. Years afterward, when his
father was nominated to a high office, the son, then in San
Francisco, wrote him jestingly, saying,

"I am inclined to think if we had among us more facility
of character, that we might some of us come to preferment;
but as it is, it is some distinction to be pursued with nomina-
tions to high positions."

In 1840 Mr. Shafter married Miss Sarah Riddle. Eleven
children were the issue of this marriage, ten daughters and
one son.

So successful was he in his New England practice, that his
reputation reached the law firm of Halleck, Peachy, Billings
& Park, then leading the bar of San Francisco, and over-
whelmed with the labor attendant upon the litigation with
which they were flooded. Through Mr. Trenor W. Park, its
junior member, who had known Mr. Shafter personally in
Vermont, a call was sent him to become their assistant, at a
salary munificent even for those days. This offer was accepted.
He came to California in 1854, and from that date until
1 864 was known as the most diligent lawyer in San Francisco,
as well as one of the most brilliant and successful. Nine
months after his arrival the firm was dissolved, and the firm
of Shafter & Park, which grew out of its disruption, soon
changing to C. H. S. Williams, Shafter & Park, and later to
Shafter, Park & Shafter, to Shaffers, Trenor W. Park & Hey-
denfeldt; Shafters & Heydenfeldt; Shaffers, Heydenfeldt &
Goold; Shafters & Goold; and lastly to Shafters, Goold &
Dwindle, for a time commanded the leading practice of the

[5]

LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

city. In January, 1864, he took his seat as Associate Justice
of the Supreme Court of California, drawing the ten years'
term, holding this position until the last of December, 1867,
when he resigned on account of failing health, and after
vainly trying to recuperate in this country, went abroad for
change of scene and climate, but failed to rally, and departed
this life in Florence, Italy, January 23, 1873.

Throughout his life Judge Shafter took the deepest inter-
est in education, and his views on this subject leaped the nar-
row barriers of his time and placed him abreast of the fore-
most educators of this our day. He felt the most intense con-
cern regarding the mental training and character building of
his own children, and supplemented the teachings of the
schools to which they were sent, by original methods of his
own, aimed at the development of their perceptive powers
and their reasoning faculties. To this end he devised various
plans for impressing great facts upon their minds. When they
were little children, gathered about his knee in their old Ver-
mont home, he improvised an orrery to illustrate the opera-
tion of our solar system, using apples, oranges and nuts, on
knitting needles, to represent the various planets and the sun,
thus making clear to them the causes of the varying seasons,
the operation of centripetal and centrifugal forces and the
force of gravitation, and incidentally explaining the meanings
of latitude and longitude. And always, from this beginning,
he led the young minds on to the thought of the infinite, the
idea of the great universe of which our little planetary system
is but an infinitesimal part, — from the finite to the infinite,
from the tiny grain of sand to a comprehension, in so far as
the little folks could grasp it, of the vast systems of worlds
upon worlds, revolving through space, the laws controlling
them, the inevitable operation of cause and effect. To him the
sum of all knowledge was the comprehension of relations, the
great generalizations that opened out from an understanding
of the concrete object in hand. This he called the New Alpha-

[6]

OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

bet, the A, B and C in the education of the child. As with the
vast material forces of the universe, so with the progress of
the human race. Above all other studies he enjoined the read-
ing of history upon his children, and reading on a plan which
would join one epoch with another and illuminate cause and
effect. Yet he always insisted that no hasty conclusions should
be drawn, but that these should be approached slowly and
with caution, giving due weight to every viewpoint. Even
music, an art which he loved as few men do, he admonished
them should be studied with strict reference to its mathemat-
ical laws. In a sense, he ever was laying before his children
the mathematics of the universe. And, always, passing from
the small concrete fact or substance to the vast, illimitable
generalization, he drew them back to make application to life
of all their learning, for all the art that could be taught, he
argued, and all the science, were of the greater use in so far
as they taught the highest art of all, the art of life. The ever-
lasting goal was life itself, the alphabet the fundamentals.

There were many who, on a merely formal acquaintance,
called Judge Shafter austere, distant, a man who held himself
above others. He was one of the simplest of men, a democrat
by nature, abhorring arrogance, never pretending to aristoc-
racy, aspiring to none. To him a man was a man inasmuch as
he developed the best that was in him, and put that best into
his own life. He loved the country, rural tasks and occupa-
tions. A grove of trees which he had planted with his own
hands on the outskirts of Wilmington, Vermont, the old fam-
ily home, but now not far from the center of the town, after
his death was bought back from the man who had acquired it,
and presented to the town for a public park, as a fitting me-
morial to her father, by Mrs. Emma Shafter Howard, his
name being chiseled on a great boulder lying among the trees.

During the whole of his busy life at the bar and on the
bench, Judge Shaffer's dearest ambition was to retire to his
Point Reyes ranch or ranches (Punta de los Reyes ranchos),

[7]

LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

there to resume the life of a farmer. He planned to build a
home at Olema, where in the Centennial year of the republic
a group of the Sequoia gigantea, one alone of which has sur-
vived, was planted to mark the building spot he selected. The
fact that his ranchos embraced the landing-place of Sir Fran-
cis Drake, the first Anglo-Saxon to place foot upon the west-
ern shore of this continent, invested the tract with deep inter-
est to him. He loved, during his visits there, to roam about,
bestowing appropriate names upon various geographical fea-
tures, and the nomenclature of California has been enriched
thereby. Many years before the cry "Back to the land!" went
up the country over, this far-sighted patriot determined that
he would do all in his power to influence his own descendants
to seek this healthful field for their activities, and he acquired
this fertile tract for their benefit, desiring that it should be
handed down to his descendants as their home.

Two descriptions of Judge Shafter, as he appeared in his
prime, furnished by disinterested writers, have been handed
down. The following is an extract from San Francisco Corre-
spondence which appeared in the Pacific Methodist, a Stock-
ton paper, during the spring of 1856. "Candor," the anony-
mous correspondent, is supposed to have been the late Judge
Shattuck.

"SAN FRANCISCO CORRESPONDENCE

"Well, as I expected when I last addressed you, I have
been another week around the courts and among the lawyers.
To say that I have caught none of them exercising low cun-
ning and resorting to tricks to carry their ends, that noble
minds would despise, would perhaps be saying too much, and
were I to say it some of your readers might question my vera-
city. But this I will say, that I have found some members of
the profession that fill my idea of legal examples and whose
characters I think may be safely studied. I hope, however,
that neither you nor your readers will suppose that those I at-
tempt to describe are the only worthy ones or the most worthy

[8]

OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

of the class, but simply infer from it that it has so happened
that I have become better acquainted with them than with
others, and I assure you that when acquaintance will justify
it, and I find better examples of the legal profession, I will
point them out to you.

"Among the prominent lawyers here, one whom I will call
Mr. S. holds and fills a distinguished place by common con-
sent, but he is possessed of some qualities and peculiar traits
of character that all San Franciscans do not know; qualities
which are points in his character and serve to make him what
he is, a man of note.

"As he is prominent, a few words of his history may be
proper. He is a native of New England, I believe of the State
of Vermont, commenced his academical studies with Dr. Fisk
in his seminary, and removed to the Wesleyan University,
Middletown, Conn., when the Doctor became President of that
institution. Here he graduated with honor and soon after en-
tered upon his professional career and became a prominent
lawyer of New England. He came to California in 1854,
since which time he has been assiduously and successfully at-
tending to his professional duties. He has a brother here, like-
wise of some eminence, known among those who do not know
the Christian name of the brothers, as 'Long-Headed S,'
while the one I am depicting, in contradistinction to his
brother, is sometimes called the 'Round-Headed S.'

"There is nothing in the personal appearance of Mr. S. to
mark him as a man of might. He is about the usual height
(less than six feet), well proportioned, with considerable ro-
tundity of person, a full, honest face and a very sound head.
His bearing is modest and unpretending, his dress plain and
never costly, and his general demeanor such as would cause
people meeting him in the country to imagine a plain, unpre-
tending, but substantial and independent farmer before them.
He is now in the prime of manhood and approaching the
zenith of his power. Very few minds are better trained or
more full of useful knowledge than his appears to be. But few
lawyers, I learn, who attend to their profession laboriously,
have much music in their souls. Yet he is said to be an ama-

[9]

LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

teur musician of no mean pretensions, if not of the first order.
Sings delightfully and plays the piano to the charm and ad-
miration of the ladies! I mention this quality or cultivated
taste, not because a man could not be a man without it, but be-
cause it is said to be singular for a drudge in his profession to
take time to cultivate it and that not many of the profession
have a taste for it. Withal my observation has led me to be-
lieve that as a general rule a man who excels in music is fam-
ous in nothing else. But Mr. S. seems as profound in general
knowledge as in music, and intimately acquainted with the in-
tricacies of his profession. At the bar he seems always pre-
pared for his case and fortified by legal authorities. Cool and
collected in his thoughts, he is never caught 'napping' — never
driven from his propriety by an exhibition of temper, nor in
the excitement of debate and legal contest with men whose
minds are not fashioned in so noble a mold as his own, does
their unprofessional course for a moment betray him into for-
getfulness that he is a gentleman.

"To his client he is true as steel, but faithfulness to his
cause, nor love of professional success, nor desire of present
fame, ever tempt him to press a point before a court that in
his judgment should not be sustained, or to misstate facts to
the jury, or to wrest those that do not suit him from their
proper meaning, or to make more out of them than they will
fairly justify. On the other hand, his object seems to be to
elicit truth, and if that truth supports his cause, he can make
as much of it as any other man. If plainly against him, he
strives not to make a stand, but abandons his case. His man-
ner of argument is as worthy of imitation as the principle by
which he seems governed in his profession. When I say 'man-
ner' I mean it to apply to the argument, and not to the man or
his action. He does not swell and strut and look intensely
wise, and put himself in an attitude of oratory, nor pronounce
a long and studied preface, but begins with his subject, makes
his points so prominent that they seem to 'stick out,' illustrates
them happily and forcibly, fortifies them with some of the
strongest authorities bearing upon them, and when he gets
through he quits. No effort at display, no thought of himself

[.10]

OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

and reputation, no effort to say smart or witty things, no re-
tort upon the ill-nature of his adversary, no departure from
the subject, no seeming desire to succeed in his cause, but to
appearance, being strongly impressed with the truth of cer-
tain principles and absorbed in their importance, forgetful
of everything else, he elucidates, fortifies and enforces those
principles with as much precision and chasteness of speech,
elegance of diction, logical argument and legal acumen, as
one can ever expect to meet with in extemporaneous de-
bate. Not an idle word, or a low, vulgar word, or a word
not full of meaning, is used by him, and where there are many
words nearly synonymous, yet with shades of difference, with
remarkable facility and without a moment's hesitation, he se-
lects and uses the one best calculated to explain his meaning
with as unerring accuracy as though he had run through the
entire dictionary to select the best possible word for each par-
ticular place.

"His voice is full and manly and his manner solemn and
impressive; hence whenever he has a case involving important
points he is eloquent without aiming at it, and seemingly with-
out knowing it himself. An eloquence not wrought out by say-
ing things in a pretty manner, or tragical things in a tragical
manner, or great and sublime things in an ostentatious man-
ner, or fanciful things in a theatrical manner, but lost to art
by being hurried in his subject, his simple, chaste words, terse
verses, forcible and often masterly reasoning, make him elo-
quent. It is the eloquence of ideas that hang in sparkling clus-
ters along speech, and not the soaring on high sounding words
in quest of an idea; the eloquence of the subject, and not of
action or of oratorical display. I like it. Indeed I am enrap-
tured with it. An idea shoots forth and upward, sparkling and
shining like a skyrocket. I gaze at it, but while I look upon it
in its upward course and ere it loses any of its force and bril-
liancy, another still more bright demands my admiration, and
so continually there is a gem before me to work upon and ad-
mire, and all this brilliant display of rockets, seemingly with-
out any fireworks, or any suitable apparatus to send them
forth, all arising from the purity and strength of his diction,

LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

and the force and sublimity of his logic. I have seen other
lawyers that would bring more books into court, or quote au-
thorities with more facility than he without the book, but it
has not been my fortune in these two weeks to meet one pos-
sessed of a more logical mind, chaste thought or stronger ex-
pression than he, nor one who seemed better to know how to
apply the law and to draw proper distinction between cases,
or one that was more courteous and gentlemanly and fair in
his professional intercourse, or that made less pretensions to
show himself off. I think him a model lawyer, or if all law-
yers or a majority are like him, the prejudice which has ex-
isted against them as a class is most unjust.

"I am happy to say that I learn he is as exemplary in his
private walk as in his professional life. When not engaged at
his office he spends his evenings at home and gives joy to the
family circle, — never visits gambling or drinking houses nor
engages in blackguard or obscene conversation. He indulges
in no extravagances, pays his bills punctually, attends church
on Sunday, and is in every sense a good citizen. Thus have I
sketched the character of one lawyer. I hope no part of it is
false and extravagant. Of course I could not have personal
knowledge of it all, but have tried to inform myself correctly,
and believe it true to the letter.

"His mind is his own and every one may not be blessed
with the same capacity, but in those traits of character which
serve to ennoble him, that is, his courteous demeanor at the
bar and his refusal to press a bad cause for the sake of the
present victory, are qualities that all may imitate. So also the
unspotted character that makes the good citizen, all may fol-
low, and thereby add to their own character and roll away the
reproach that has in some instances rested on the profession.

"I write for their benefit, not to praise Mr. S., for he needs
it not, nor will he heed it. If I have interpreted him aright it
will not act upon his sanity nor do him the least injury, and if
by holding him up as a living example, worthy of the imita-
tion of others in the qualities portrayed, any should be in-
duced to follow the pattern, he will certainly excuse the liberty
and I be compensated for my trouble.

[12]

OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

"Should I have further intercourse with lawyers, and find
others more worthy, or possessing qualities different from his
but worthy of imitation, you shall have another sketch.

"Candor."

"P. S. I thought when I commenced that I should give the
name of Mr. S. or I should not have alluded to his history.
But the name might shock his modesty and would not much
improve the pattern I have drawn. I therefore withhold it."

In an early edition of "Bench and Bar in California," by
Oscar T. Shuck, a characterization less eulogistic, but keen in
its analysis, appears. It reads as follows:

"Under a severe and solemn exterior was concealed in Os-
car L. Shafter a great vein of humor. He was a man whom
the light-hearted and gay would avoid, not knowing him, but
he was as fond of a joke, and loved to tell or hear a good
story, as much as anybody. However, he was certainly of a
reflective, philosophical cast of mind. He was particularly
familiar with English literature. In conversation he was flow-
ing, happy, kind, genial, informed. Especially at home, at
night, when he would talk about the poets, or upon any topic
which he might pick up as a theme of discourse, he would be
listened to with the same close attention which the profession-
al lecturer exacts and appreciates. In the treatment of all sub-
jects he was comprehensive. He surveyed and took in the
whole theme. He was fond of philosophizing on all current
questions that presented novel points. He dealt in principles;
and it was from rigid application of principles and broad gen-
eralization that he arrived at his conclusions. Before a jury
his style was a little stilted. In equity he was ornate, pleasing,
finished, forcible. While his methods at the Bar — his investi-
gation, his preparation, his presentation — were the admira-
tion of his associates and of the judiciary, it must yet be re-
corded that his judicial career was a disappointment to the
profession — that is, his judicial successes were not commen-
surate with his triumphs at the Bar. In January, 1864, nearly
ten years after his arrival in California, he took his seat, the

[13]

LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

elect of the people, on the Supreme Bench of the State, as As-
sociate Justice. His decisions are comprised within eleven vol-
umes of the Reports, Volumes 24 to 34 inclusive.

"During that period Judge Shafter wrote one hundred and
seventy opinions, with numerous supplementary opinions,
some of them lengthy and elaborate, and several dissenting
opinions.*

"His decisions, in their conclusions, have been rarely ques-
tioned. The late John W. Dwindle declared that 'they pre-
sented constantly the ruling presence of that faculty which
combines the similar and rejects the dissimilar, and descends
from the general to the specific' Judge Shafter was elected
for a term of ten years, but, after serving four years, he was
constrained, by a consciousness of failing powers, to resign.

"Some time after the death of Judge Shafter, the Hon.
Charles K. Field, an eminent lawyer of Vermont, died in that
State. In a notice of Mr. Field by a Vermont journal, allusion
was made to James McM. Shafter as 'the last of that genera-
tion of men composed of the Bradleys, the Kelloggs, the Shaf-
ters and the Fields, who for more than half a century gave
eminence to the Bar of Windham County, and whose names
will always shine in the galaxy of Vermont's distinguished
men.' "

This, coming to the eye of Mr. James McM. Shafter, in
San Francisco, drew from him a fervent and affecting re-
sponse, eulogizing these great barristers who claimed Ver-
mont as their birthplace, in the course of which he said:

"Of my brother I cannot permit myself to speak — at least,
not as his memory deserves. He was a scholar from his youth
and a ripe and good one; not perhaps possessed of the high-
est and keenest perception, he had the higher possession of a
solidarity of judgment and such extraordinary powers of ab-
straction, concentration, and generalization, as are rarely ex-
hibited in the same person. After he had gone through his ex-
amination of a question, it was his habit to call me into his
room, and go over his process and conclusion with me. Al-

*See list at end of book.

[Hi

OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

most invariably, at least to my vision, the 'hay, wood and
stubble of false doctrine' had disappeared as in fire, and noth-
ing but the imperishable monument of truth and justice re-
mained.

"If my brother and myself have done any good in our day
and generation (I may speak for both), we acknowledge that
we are indebted to the parents God gave us, and to the
schools and moral and social influences of our early home,
which taught us to live honestly, soberly and industriously,
and if we could not ourselves become great, in the language
of the Vermont constitution, to honor those only 'most noted
for wisdom and virtue.' It has ever been our maxim that it
was not necessary for us to hold office nor even to be happy,
but it was necessary to be right.

"I have a deep abiding hope for the great future of Cali-
fornia. I believe and hope its earth will finally cover me. But
when that day comes (and you admonish me that I am the
last of my generation), I know that my love for Vermont
and the heart upon which it is written will fall into dust to-
gether."

On the occasion of presenting to the Supreme Court of Cal-
ifornia the memorial resolutions of the San Francisco Bar As-
sociation relative to the death of the Hon. John W. Dwindle,
another pathetic tribute to him who had gone before was paid
by this devoted brother:

"My brother, an ex-Justice of this court, smitten by dis-
ease, the result of loyal, inordinate labor in his profession,
died in a foreign land. His prayer for death, if it was the will
of God, rather than life with mental aberration, was not an-
swered. The cup of bitterness was commended to his lips. Un-
happy paradox! outliving the life of all that was himself."

In a brief but brilliant summary of the personal character-
istics of the luminaries of the early California Bar, Mr. Shuck
names Judge Shafter as "a man of massive intellectual
strength and unequaled forensic power in debate."

Most sensitive in his appreciation of genius, quick to recog-
nize the spark of immortal fire which leads the chosen few to

[iSl

LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

lasting fame in art, in music, in oratory, in letters, Judge
Shaffer valued most, in man or woman, that distribution of
mental and moral equipment which he called "balance." No
individual ever was more deeply stirred by the recital of
heroic deeds; a beautiful picture, the soaring thought of
poesy, the divine harmony of a musical composition, rejoiced
his soul; but an all-round development of mind and character,
ruled by reason, he counted more to be desired than excess of
ability in any one direction, almost invariably accompanied by
deficiencies in another. And because this was a distinguishing
trait of New England's best citizenship, while in the West,
and especially in the new Pacific State, the general tendency
was toward splendid achievement on an erratic plan that left
this finer symmetry out of consideration, he welcomed the
fusion of the two elements of population, believing they
would unite to breed superior types of American manhood
and womanhood.

To those who loved Judge Shafter and who were able to
take the measure of his endowments, the loss of such a citizen,
occurring at an age when he could not be considered to have
reached the zenith of his powers or his achievements, was re-
garded as little less than a public calamity. The personal loss
was irreparable, but no great life truly dies. At this writing,
nearly sixty years since he laid down his intellectual sceptre
and patiently bowed his head to the terrible affliction which
led him for years along the darkened way that ended only at
the grave, in one week there has arisen, on the two shores of
this continent, witness to his tender forethought for the com-
ing generations and the stirring of the spirit of public service
which he implanted. From lovely Wilmington amid the Ver-
mont hills, which suddenly has leaped to the position of an
important little factory town, there has come a request, from
the Woman's Improvement Association, for permission to
clear the ground beneath the trees he planted in the park ded-
icated in his name, to place seats and benches there, and fit it

[16]

OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

for the pleasant uses of the busy population and especially for
the children of the community. Simultaneously, in the small
village of Olema, in Marin County, California, the district
school has been moved from an unlovely hollow to grounds
of natural beauty, belonging to the Shafter Ranch and pre-
sented to the district by his heirs, on an eminence commanding
a broad and inspiring prospect; a change which it is hoped
will, by removing the school children from certain lowering
influences common to many pioneer towns, give an uplift to
the growing generation. When the purely material achieve-
ments of a man's life reach so far into the future, what shall
be said of the moral, the spiritual and the intellectual im-
pulses which, stirring the current of human life, go on and
on, breaking only on the shores of infinity?

We pass on now to the diary records and the letters. It has
been thought best to let them tell their own story, with little
comment, except now and then an explanatory paragraph.
People nowadays more and more are demanding to know the
intimate personal character of public men. Judge Shafter was
a man compounded of many elements unusual to be associated
in one person, with love of home and family dominating all
others, and only to be portrayed by the evidence from his own
pen. Aside from the matters of general interest they contain,
the letters present the remarkable spectacle of a man laboring
and leading in one of the highest of the learned professions
on this distant Coast, looked up to and consulted by other men
of learning and distinction, who at the same time is minutely
directing domestic affairs in his distant New England home,
watching over the education of his young children, assisting
in their government and training, and who looks out not only
for the comfortable support of his family, but for their pro-
vision of fuel for the hard winters. Enjoying the balmy sun-
shine of San Francisco bay regions in midwinter, he is filled
with solicitude lest the woodbox at home be not filled to over-
flowing with good, dry wood. Grappling with grave legal

[17]

LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS

problems and handling in masterful fashion causes that in-
volve the salvation or loss of fortunes for his clients, he re-
members the pig, the cow and calf, the horses and colts, away
back in the Vermont village, and wishes he could be there to
help in the heavier work of the soap-making, an annual rite
even among the well-to-do, in down-east homes sixty years
ago.

During the troublous times preceding the War of the Re-
bellion, Mr. Shafter was an ardent Abolitionist, eloquently
advocating the removal of the deep stain upon the national
escutcheon placed there by Slavery. He did not merely ex-
press his sentiments upon this subject in words, but put them
into deeds; aiding fugitive slaves in their escape to free
Canadian soil, the Shafter home in Wilmington being one
of the regular stations on the Underground Railway. If any
one word might be declared to have been the motto on his
banner it would be "Freedom" — the freedom of the indi-
vidual, personally, mentally, spiritually; a freedom that
should be irrespective of worldly standing, of material pos-
sessions, and uncumbered by any restrictions of sex.

Mr. Shafter was the father of eleven children, four of
whom died in infancy; his only son, Hugh Gawn Shafter,
passing away at the age of five years. A young daughter,
Fanny, died in Germany, shortly after her father. His wife,
Sarah Riddle Shafter, departed this life September 22, 1900.
Surviving them are five daughters, Emma Shafter-Howard,
Mary Laurette Shafter Orr, Sarah Maud Shafter Goodrich,
Bertha Stewart Shafter and Eva Riddell Shafter.

[18]

II

FUGITIVE RECORDS OF EARLY LIFE

^A PART from a few schoolboy compositions, remark-
/^L able for their polished diction and elevated senti-
/ — ^ ments, the first personal record of Mr. Shafter's
-^» -^- life is found in a certain "Commonplace Book"
begun October 13, 1833, in Townshend, Vermont, when
he was twenty-one years old. He was a full-fledged lawyer,
but possessed, no doubt, of the ample leisure usually at
the young lawyer's command, when he set down the
following recollections, quaintly interesting in themselves, and
invaluable to an understanding of the circumstances of his
early life. In the third paragraph of the extract printed below,
following a very simple view of a young man's meditations
and preceding the homely account of the home scenes which
preceded his first flight out into the world, there occurs an out-
burst of that eloquence that characterized his public speeches
in after life, and which led friends and associates to regard
him at times as a man inspired.

REMINISCENCES OF A GRADUATE

I find that the recollections of my early life are gradually
growing less and less distinct, as time passes on. I regret this,
but it is the result of the operation of natural laws. I would
gladly do something to preserve the few, half-defaced impres-
sions that remain. It can be done. I will, and that, too, with
all possible despatch, commence transferring them to paper.
When I have them safely delineated in my Commonplace
Book, I can at any moment, by a reference to its pages, recall

[19]

LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

the record of the past to mind. As a preliminary, however, to
this step, I will overhaul my old letters, and present recollec-
tions may be rendered more vivid by this means, perhaps, and
some events of interest, now forgotten, may be recalled. Such
were my reflections and such my determination as I sat one
mild evening in August, 1835, at the door of my office in my
large armchair enjoying the coolness of the vesper breeze. I
proceeded immediately and put my resolution in practice.
Striking a light by a Lucifer match, I went into a back room
(that common receptacle for all the lumber of an office) and
took from an old cobweb-covered trunk a large bundle of let-
ters tied up with a piece of white tape. Returning to the front
room, I hauled my chair up to the center table, and clearing
away the law books, blanks and half-finished briefs with
which it was encumbered, unbound the package, unfolded the
top one, and commenced reading.

The oil burned low in the half-extinguished lamp as I fin-
ished the last letter in the pile. My heart was depressed with
the weight of indescribable emotions. I felt as though I had
been wandering at midnight among tombs, deciphering by the
pale moonlight the half-defaced epitaphs of a bygone genera-
tion which I had known and of which I was the sole survivor.
As I anticipated, the faded colors of the portraiture of the
past were renewed, and in the freshness of life reappeared in
distinct and harmonious combination on the mental canvas.
As I perused and reopened these cherished records of early
friendships, my mind, arrested by a reference to some trans-
action in which I had participated, to some instructor whose
kindness I had experienced or from whose tyranny I had suf-
fered, or by an allusion to the name or fortunes of some early
associate or friend, forgetful of aught beside, would give it-
self up to the control of its thronging associations. The tide
of thought, checked in its onward course, would flow unbid-
den back through the dusty and forgotten channels of the
past, and, borne as it were upon its bosom, through all the
windings and sinuosities of its ancient current, I, in a few un-
numbered moments, would retrace the lengthened voyage of
life, revisit scenes endeared by hallowed recollections, renew

[20]

OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

associations which Death had broken up or distance sus-
pended.

Thought is imperishable! No impression, however slight,
once made upon the mind can ever afterward be effaced.
Memorials graven upon sculptured marble may be worn away
by an imperceptible abrasion, the records of desolation and
ruin written upon the earth's surface by the volcano and the
earthquake, the fierce chronicles of human guilt and of the
Almighty justice, effaced by other changes, may bear no wit-
ness to succeeding generations of the retribution they were de-
signed to commemorate. But the soul unerringly retains all,
even its faintest impressions, in all places, under all circum-
stances and in all time.

Immortal in itself, its most transient reflections, its slight-
est emotions, its briefest and least important speculations, are
all of them indelibly retained. But my intellects have gone
a-wool gathering. 'Tis time to begin the history of events I
design to chronicle.

'Twas in the spring of 1825. I think in the month of May
(the day I am unable to name), but 'twas a very pleasant
day, for I recollect that my poor sick mother had requested
that the windows might be raised so that she might inhale the
balmy air of that ever-welcome season. In compliance with
my mother's request, I took a seat beside the bed on which
she was reclining. She proceeded immediately to inform me
that father had consented that I should be sent to the Wes-
leyan Academy at Wilbraham, Mass. It had ever been my
most earnest wish to obtain an education, a wish that I formed
when quite young, and which, at the period of which I am
speaking, had ripened into determination. I was at this time
in my thirteenth year. My father, a kind, sensible man, but
very practical in all his views, had been averse to my pursuing
the bent of my inclinations. But my own resolution to do
nothing else, of which he became aware, together with the
active influence of my ever dear mother, at length prevailed
upon him and withdrew his opposition. My mother now, with
a smiling face, made known to me his favorable intentions.

"But, mother, when am I going?"

[21]

LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

"As soon as we can get your things ready," she replied.
"And now what do you think you shall want?"

"Well, I don't know, indeed. A suit for every day, and an-
other for Sundays."

'Talking about Sundays, Oscar, let me remind you to re-
member the Sabbath Day and keep it holy. Remember the in-
junction of your mother. Never bring upon yourself the re-
proach of being a breaker of the Lord's Day. Confined to my
room, cut off as it were from communication with the world,
every day afflicted by the same unvaried suffering, yet the
painful monotony of my existence is ever relieved by the holy
influences of the Sabbath. Remember the Lord's Day, my
child, to keep it holy!"

I promised, and the subject of my outfit was renewed. After
ascertaining the extent of my wardrobe, it was at length set-
tled as to how much it would be necessary to augment it.
'T was furthermore arranged that I should go the next morn-
ing in search of Milly Walker, a "woman tailor," and should
I be so fortunate as to find her, bring her home with me to
make up my wardrobe under the supervision of my mother.

Milly Walker, the itinerant tailoress of the parish, was a
prim, demure maiden of five and thirty, very celebrated for
her devout observance of fast days, Saturday nights, and for
her unrivaled skill in cutting down cast-off coats and un-
breeched breeches of fathers and elder brothers, to suit the
less fastidious tastes and smaller limbs of the rising genera-
tion. Having served an apprenticeship of six months with a
tailor in a neighboring village, Milly, provided with a square
rule, goose, shears and other implements of her calling, re-
turned home and immediately began business on her own ac-
count at the age of two and twenty. For five years she went
from house to house, working for twenty-five cents per day,
which day, by the way, for half the year, was understood by
Milly and her provident employers not to expire till nine
o'clock at night. Milly, too, was a wonderful small eater,
and without waiting till the family in whose service she hap-
pened to be engaged had gratified their more substantial appe-
tites, she would beg "to be excused." Milly prided herself on

[22]

OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

her gentility. 'T was her only weakness. Let it be forgotten;
and having obtained the willing consent of her approving
hostess, she would at once resume the work that had been but
for a moment suspended. With these occasional interruptions
arising from the necessities of nature, Milly plied her needle
with the most exemplary industry. Hardly would she raise her
eyes from her work during the livelong day, though she would
often converse in a meek, subdued tone, with the mistress of
the house or with her grown-up daughters, about the good-
ness of God, the lamentable depravity of the human heart,
and the great importance of seeking the salvation of the soul
before it should be everlastingly too late! She was a devout
and holy maiden. The minister ever found in her a warm ad-
mirer, a ready coadjutor in all his plans for promoting the
spiritual welfare of the people. The suit of black which the
young men and women (the "lambs of his flock") annually
presented to him, was ever, at his special request, made by the
hands of the discreet and faithful Milly.

The habit of constant application to her business which I
have ascribed to Milly was a great excellence in the eyes of
her observing and calculating employers, and was the main
reason why she was preferred to Seraphine Williams, her
rival in business in the town where we resided. After having
gone for five years from house to house as an itinerant, Milly
concluded to open a shop; but she relied too much on her rep-
utation, as the event proved. As Milly had rent and board to
pay, she necessarily advanced her prices, a diminution of busi-
ness and profits followed, and she was again under the neces-
sity of going to those who would not come to her. From that
period up to the time that I went in search of her she prose-
cuted her trade in the same primitive manner, and never was
she known to murmur or complain at the bad success which
attended her experiment.

The first glimpse we have of the family life in the home
founded by the successful Vermont attorney is presented in a
letter from Oscar L. Shaffer to his sister Laurette (Mrs.
Wealthy S. Ransom, Galesburg, Michigan) :

[23]

LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

Wilmington, Vt., May 6, 1850.
My Dear Sister:

I have just returned from a long and laborious session of
our County Court, and am now on this rainy yet still blessed
Sabbath enjoying the endearments of my own family, the
quiet of my own home. After the periodical seasons of severe
intellectual drudgery incident to my professional life are
passed, I find that the brain becomes dozy and prone to
dreams, — but the vitality which ebbs from the head floods
invariably to the heart, and it is so now, in a greater degree
than ever before. To this I can assign no other cause than
your late letter to father, which I brought home with me and
which I and Sarah have just finished reading in the hearing
of our children. Emma, now in her eighth summer, under-
stood and enjoyed it rarely. Mary (Laurette), who is half as
old, listened very attentively and laughed repeatedly as
though she was tickled, but on being asked the cause of her
merriment, uniformly broke down in her attempts to give it.
Hugh, who is now in his eleventh month, lay on his back in
his mother's lap, with heels high in air, and if he didn't un-
derstand the letter, he at least added somewhat to the interest
of the occasion. He is just the boy that I have been praying
for these eight years past: straight in the back, deep in the
chest, heavy in what he sits on, clear and full in his eye of
blue-grey, with a head of the size of a half-grown pumpkin,
but so formed and mounted as not to "ring hollow" under
even the highest tests of phrenology. His hair is nut brown,
like that of the uncle from whom he takes his name, and he is
in short one of the best speciments of the gender that I have
ever seen.

By the way, what magic there is in names! "Hugh" is a
word that used to be uttered in our hearing by our mother,
dead long years ago. We uttered it ourselves as far back as
we can either of us well remember. It was one of the home
words in a family now disbanded and scattered. It is one of
the oldest events that memory retains, that a brother an-
swered to the name. Well, years have elapsed since I uttered
it in his hearing and he answered to it in mine. In the mean-

[24]

OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

time I have founded a hearth of my own and have peopled it
with wife and children. But they were all strangers to the old
places — the old names — and the thousand and one old asso-
ciations. The Michigander was often talked of and talked
about in our new circle, but neither he nor any one who bore
his name had ever been talked to there. It had never been
yelled out there by merry voices to one who owned the name
— the responsive yell had not been heard there, — until a few
short months since I applied the name to a little ten-pound im-
mortal, in the hearing of my wife and children, as my father
had done before me, to my babe's uncle, in the hearing of his
wife, our mother, and of you and me, his children. And then,
with a heart swelling with many old memories, I registered it
in the Book. But now there is no name that I pronounce often-
er than "Hugh" — none that I hear uttered half so often. And
latterly it is answered to, and with a power of lungs that
makes all ring again as of old. And I find that I am falling
into a kind of illusion by the operation of this simple cause.
The present, though it is now well nigh high noon with me,
seems like my morning life, and the past, which I have long
been accustomed to look back upon, I find myself looking for-
ward to sometimes, as though it were a part of my future,
giving promise that all my happier experiences would be re-
enjoyed.

You complain that I have not written to you oftener. I
know not what apology to make. Perhaps it's because I hear
from you so often and so fully. I think indeed that that is the
principal if not the only cause of my neglect. I should have
written you when our little Alice died — (she was three and
a half years old) but I could not do it. It was only a few
weeks since that I could so far possess myself as to set her
death over against her life in my family Bible. Emma re-
members her. The other day I was reading aloud that beauti-
ful poem of Mrs. Hemans', "Oh call my brother back to me,"
but substituted "sister" for "brother" wherever the latter
word occurred. I had got about half through it when she be-
gan to cry as though her heart would break. I knew what it
meant.

[25]

LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

May God in his mercy spare to you your children !

We came very near losing Emma this spring. She had a
very sudden and violent attack of lung fever. I sent for Ed-
minston; he saved her, and that was all. At the time Alice
died, Mary would have gone, too, but for him.

I built me a house last summer on my farm of twenty-five
acres, and am spending quite a portion of my earnings, as I
have been for some years past, in improving and adorning,
though as to the last, I have but just commenced upon that.
My professional business is good, and has grown more and
more lucrative every year since I came to this place. At pres-
ent I have all, and more even, than I can attend to personally.
I mean to come out and see you and Hugh and all of yours
and his before many years more. I would make this visit this
summer did my engagements permit. When I do go I shall
take Sarah (that is to say my wife) along with me. She has
set her foot down that she "will see a railroad and ride on it,
too, in a car" before she is much older. Mary is well and so
are her children and her Doctor Edminster. Willy, her boy,
physically is a very fine little fellow, but has got a will as big
as a woodchuck, and though occasionally threatened by those
who own him, cannot be said to be governed by either of
them. Their little girl is a very pretty babe and is getting on
finely.

At Townshend things are doing very well. Father and
Newt are engaged largely in planting the garden, building a
rod of wall, setting out a quince tree, feeding the pig and
suckling the calf. One stands at the head and the other at the
tail, if nothing more is to be done than to pick up a chip.
Father enjoys himself finely, particularly when any of his
young ones are about. His thoughts, years ago, you know,
used to run mainly on "pints of doctrine," but now his mind
is mainly exercised upon politics. He keeps himself in fighting
trim all the while by frequent sparring with Governor Ran-
ney, and an occasional bay'net charge into the bowels of Dea-
con Salisbury, so that in great emergencies like a county or
State convention he is ready to unlimber at short notice with
great power. He is enjoying a green, respectable and happy

[26]

OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

old age. He is as vigorous in body, mind and stomach, for
anything I can see, as ever.

"T* "t* T* "P ^r T^ ^^ T

Tell Hugh that I have a very productive farm — a noble
yoke of four-year-old oxen that would do his eyes good to
see — a cow that makes 400 pounds of superb butter in a year
— a colt of my own raising now three years old, worth $200
— a blood mare of great speed and power that is now with
foal by the best horse in New England — a pair of Suffolk
pigs for which I paid $25 at three months old, and a yardful
of blooded hens; — but, over and above all, a boy at last, per-
fect in structure, rigged out with most remarkable appoint-
ments, hopeful in promise; and that we call him Hugh, in
memory of his uncle and of the old times, places and thoughts
with which his uncle is in my mind identified.

I saw Doctor Ransom at Newfane, and heard of him after-
wards at Townshend. He says there is no section of the coun-
try that has made greater progress in the last twenty years
than Vermont. The advance in health, civilization and refine-
ment has indeed been very great, and the end is not yet.

Your aff. brother,

O. L. Shafter.

In 1852 Mr. Shafter wrote the first letter addressed to one
of his children — the beginning of a family correspondence
faithfully carried on during each period of separation, and to
which we are to be indebted not only for vivid pictures of the
life about him, but for its unconscious portrayal of a wonder-
ful human personality. From the text of the letter following,
evidently it was written while he was in attendance upon the
county court, overwhelming his opponents with a vocabulary
somewhat noted for its elegance, and convincing the Bench
by the force of his irresistible logic. Observe, now, the in-
stant descent to simple language suited to his children's un-
derstanding, and the homely, lovable affairs of home and
daily life, with, once in a while, a large word thrown in to

[27]

LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

whet juvenile curiosity, or to provoke an inquiry into its
meaning:

(Oscar L. Shafter to his daughter Emma.)

Newfane, Oct. 2, 1852.
My Dear Daughter:

This is the first letter, I believe, that I have ever written to
you, but considering the character of my business, and the fre-
quent and somewhat protracted absences from home which it
occasions, it in all probability, if my life and yours are spared,
will not be the last. I have just received your letter of yester-
day's date; it is the first you have ever written me; but I hope
a series will follow, relieving the exhaustion of professional
labor, and strengthening a father's heart with the welcome
proofs of his daughter's love.

I hope that little Maude will be able to walk when I return.
Kiss her for her father, to encourage her in her efforts.

Tell your little brother from his father, that he will prob-
ably not see me coming up the walk for more than a week, but
I shall come home as soon as the judges here tell me I can go.
He must be a good boy, be kind to his sisters, and mind his
mother, drink his milk without crying, and act like a man, so
far as a small boy can be expected to. You must all of you
jump every day, except little Maude, and hold your shoulders
back whether you stand or sit. Tell Mary that she must read
out of some book that she can understand, every day; if she
does not, she will, I am afraid, forget all that she learned at
school last summer. You are the oldest of the children and
must be careful to set a good example before them. You must
be kind to them and try to do them all the good you can. I
hope you are making proficiency in your music, but remember
that, after all, reading, writing and arithmetic and other
branches of solid and useful learning are more important than
the piano.

It is time that you commenced a systematic course of read-
ing. I have bought a large library for the benefit of my chil-
dren, and when I come I will select such books for you as I
think it will be best for you to read.

[28]

OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

Tell your dear mother that I am very much obliged to her

for the note she added to your letter. Tell her that I have had

a hard week of it, but my appetite is good, and that I sleep

well, and respect and love her as wife and my children's

mother.

********

You must keep this, my first letter to you, for it will inter-
est you perhaps in after life, when your father is no longer
with you. The few mementoes of my mother that I have in
my possession are more dear to me than rubies.

Be a good girl and write to me next week some time. Tell
all the news, and particularly about the sick.

Your affectionate father,

O. L. Shafter.

One year later he writes from the State capital, where he
was serving as a member of the Legislature. Enthusiastic
friends were tendering him an unsought distinction, toward
which his attitude frankly is declared in this confidential let-
ter to his wife :

Oscar L. Shafter to his Wife.

MONTPELIER, Vt, Oct. 23, 1853.

Dear Sarah:

I have received Emma's letter and am glad to hear that
you are all well. Kiss the dear ones all round and tell them
that their father bears their names and looks evermore in his
heart of hearts.

To-day is Sunday. The Legislature adjourned over on
Saturday till nine o'clock on Tuesday. Not having time to go
and return in the interval, I concluded not to leave for home
now, but shall on Friday next if the adjournment is suffi-
ciently long to allow of it. The day hangs very heavily on
my hands and the session also. My old habits are violently
broken in upon by the kind of life I am compelled to lead
and by the subjects that claim my attention. I am free to say
that I do not like it.

[29]

LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS

They are still talking about me for United States Senator,
but what will be the upshot of it remains to be determined.
There are many reasons I suppose why I ought to aspire to
so distinguished an honor, but to tell the plain truth I should
prefer not to be elected. An election would involve a violent
change, not to say a permanent one in the plan of life I have
long since marked out for myself, and the advantages to re-
sult from the change are remote and precarious. The whole
matter will probably be determined within a week.

Yours affectionately,

O. L. Shafter.

[30]

Ill

THE CALL TO CALIFORNIA

MR. SHAFTER'S call to San Francisco, to join
the great law firm of Halleck, Peachy, Billings
& Park, in the capacity of an assistant, came
in the year 1854. Although he had disdained
high political preference, the monetary consideration offered
(a salary of $10,000 per year), was too generous for
a thrifty New Englander to ignore. It was for the
sake of his family, and because this offered the chance to put
them forever beyond the reach of want, through one year's
work, that he closed with this engagement, which was to
carry him so far away. The whole world is closely linked
together in these days, but in the early eighteen-fifties, to
reach California, by land or sea, involved a voyage far more
perilous and uncertain, and almost as long in point of time,
as it now requires to encircle the globe. In passing, it may be
observed that all his life Mr. Shafter suffered recurrently
from a serious form of heart trouble, which he apprehended
might end his life suddenly, and this naturally must have
stimulated his desire to leave ample provision for wife and
children. He had no greed for money, as such, no wish to ac-
cumulate riches, and when success in his profession brought
him considerable wealth in after days, he gave with an open
hand.

Loving his native State as he did, and with his heart bound
up in his little family, it was a tragical ordeal for him to tear
himself away from all that was dear to him, to dwell among

[3i]

LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

strangers and to meet the uncertainties of life in a faraway
land.

From Diary of 0. L. Shaffer.
(Note: This entry is made at Wilmington, Vt.)

Oct. 15, 1854. This is my last night with my family, my
last at home. My trunk is packed, all the little details of
preparation are over, my children have said their "good
night," not joyously as usual, but with sobs and tears. The
babe sleeps unconscious of the common grief. For one night
more I sleep beneath the roof which I have reared and which
covers those whose lives are mine. With the morning light
comes the separation of me from mine. Though protracted,
I hope in the mercy of God that it may not be final. My
heart is burdened with a great woe, for my wife and little
ones are inexpressibly dear to me, and the thoughts with
which it struggles are better borne unuttered and in silence.
As I was arranging my trunk, Emma slipt into it a piece
of perforated paper with the following inscription wrought
upon it by her own little hands — "Hope for the best, dear
Father. From Emma."

Thank you my daughter for the monition. The sentiment
shall be my motto in the discouragements, the dangers, the
rivalries and strifes in which my professional engagements
will involve me.

Oscar L. Shaft er to his Wife.

New York, Oct. 19, 1854.
Dear Sarah :

I left Brattleboro on Monday at 4 o'clock P. M., arrived
at New Haven at 9 o'clock and staid there over night; left
in the morning and arrived here at 2 o'clock p. M. I am stop-
ping with Thomas. I sail to-morrow for Panama in the
steamship North Star. She is one of the staunchest and finest
sea-going steamers afloat. She was built by Cornelius Van-
derbilt and is the same in which he made his recent pleasure
trip to Europe, an affair about which so much was said in the

[32]

7C

3 zn

£ ft.

re c

7'

; THE

I PUBLIC LIBRARY

ASTOR, LEN®X
TTLDEN FOUNBATIONS

OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

newspapers. Young Howe came on last night and has taken
passage in the same ship with me. The indications are that
we shall have a safe and pleasant voyage. I have tried to get
a map of our route to send to you but cannot find one con-
taining the whole of it out [side] of an entire Atlas. I have
however found a map of the route across the Isthmus and
send it to you herewith. We land at Aspinwall and go by
Railroad 38 miles and then by mules 1 1 miles to Panama on
the Pacific, thence by the steamer Golden Age to San Fran-
cisco. By the aid of a common school atlas you will be able
to trace our course from the beginning to the close of the
voyage without difficulty.

Lydia asked me to-day at dinner "if I didn't hate to leave?"
I replied to her that / had left already. And it was there that
all my leave-taking was accomplished when I parted with
you, — with my children — and my home. God bless you all
and preserve you until we meet again ! We must cultivate a
resigned and cheerful habit of mind and thought. There are
two sides to almost everything — the light and the dark.
True philosophy requires that the former should be contem-
plated and dwelt upon rather than the latter, for though it be
true that this may not change the current of events, yet it is
also true that it promotes our own contentment and happiness
for the time being. My own purpose is not to become de-
spondent and despairing but to be and remain hopeful, reso-
lute and believing. Will you not, dear Sarah, do the same?

A new arrangement has been made in the steamboat lines
to California. A steamer, and as I suppose, a mail, leaves
weekly instead of once a fortnight as heretofore. There will
be a mail leave here on the 29th inst., and by that mail either
you or Emma or both must write. I shall receive the letter in
one week after my arrival in California.

I send herewith a statement of the funds in my hands.
This statement you may put into the bundle of papers I left
with you. Remember me to Grandpa and Grandma and give
a father's love to all the dear children.

From your affectionate husband,

O. L. S.

[ 33 J

LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

Oscar L. Shaffer to his Wife.

Oct. 24, 1854. At Sea.
Dear Sarah :

According to arrangement we left New York Friday the
20th at 2 o'clock P. M. precisely. Tom, his wife, Miss Green
and Tom's boys, and Mr. Fitch, came down to the wharf to
see us off. There were about 600 passengers found aboard as
the signal was given for unmooring. Many a touching separa-
tion took place on the crowded deck of the steamer that day.
But there was short time given for leave-taking. My own
was acted rather than spoken, I fear. I undertook to send
a verbal message by Lydia to you, but it was so far stifled
in the utterance that I doubt if she understood me.

But the vessel is unmoored, the signal guns are fired, and
the stately craft moves slowly from the dock. Thousands are
collected on the wharves. Words of good cheer are uttered
by friend to friend and handkerchiefs are waving final
adieus. My friends stood by appointment together on the end
of the wharf, and I mounted my hat on my cane and in that
way kept up a welcome communication till it was finally in-
terrupted by the distance. The weather was most delightful
and the auguries all favorable for a speedy and prosperous
voyage. We passed, as you will see by referring to the map,
between Staten and Long Island. The Channel is there about
one mile wide and is defended by Fort Hamilton on Long
Island and Fort La Fayette on Staten Island; both literally
bristle with cannon. It would be very difficult for a hostile
fleet to enter the harbor of New York by that channel. The
chances are that it would be destroyed by the tremendous
crossfire of those fortresses. We took a pilot aboard at New
York who had command of the ship till we were clear of the
channel and well out at sea. He left us about 5 o'clock in a
small boat that came off from the land, and with his depar-
ture all visible relations between us and the shore were ended.

I took a look at the compass and found that the ship was
put upon an almost due south course, and that course she has
steadily kept so far, and will until we reach Aspinwall. You

[34]

OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

will see that this course will take us between the Islands of
Cuba and San Domingo, through what is called the "Wind-
ward Pass." During the night of the 20th the wind began to
freshen from the northeast, and in the morning, on coming
on deck, I found the ship under canvas and going at a great
rate through the water by the combined power of wind and
steam. The sea was very rough, and the vessel rolled and
pitched badly. A large proportion of the passengers were
afflicted with seasickness. I was not exempt from it, and what
is more I didn't expect to be. I cast up my accounts in about
an hour after coming on deck, ate nothing at all during the
day, staid in my berth most of the time flat on my back with
nothing to do but listen to the jar of the machinery, the
creaking of the bulkheads and the roar of waters. At night
I stript and went supperless to bed. Slept well during the
night, but in the morning on coming on deck found that the
wind had increased during the night and the tribulation of
the waters was very considerably augmented. We were cross-
ing the Gulf Stream, which on our line of travel was some
40 miles wide. The current is about 3 miles an hour towards
the northeast, and being opposed by a strong northeast wind,
made the sea broken and exceedingly rough.

To-day is the 22nd — the Sabbath. We are now about in
the latitude of Charleston, South Carolina, and about 400
miles from land. The seasickness begins to leave me; my ap-
petite begins to return. At noon I dined on a sweet potato
and salt; tried to grease it with a little butter, but it was too
rancid for any civilized use except soap-boiling, so gave it up.
Judging from appearances, the cargo of butter will not be
materially lightened during the voyage. Slept well during the
night, though the heat below deck begins to be somewhat
oppressive.

Monday morning: We are well out of the Gulf Stream.
The wind still blows sharply from the northeast; the ship
rolls from side to side as it ascends and descends the mighty
waves. She is still under sail and is rapidly approaching her
port of destination. With me all seasickness is at an end.
Many others are not as fortunate. I think it would have

[35]

LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

followed me up much longer and more seriously but for my
nautical experience in early life. On coming on deck this
morning I noticed a passenger, a German, chained to a stan-
chion. They said that he was delirious during the night and
made proclamation that he was going to Panama by land.
He was a young man, apparently about 25 years old, and
looked quite respectable. They unchained him and took him
down into the steerage. I soon after heard that he had been
living on the Isthmus and was taken down with the Chagres
fever. Last night he died, about dark. I slept up on deck, and
at midnight the poor German was borne past us in silence
by the crew, and without a tear or a prayer was launched
from the stern of the vessel into the deep! He had $500 in
money and two heavy trunks which go into the possession
of the purser of the ship. But I doubt not there are hearts
that will mourn and eyes that will weep for him, who sleeps
his last sleep on the bosom of the Ocean ! A father, a mother,
a brother or a sister perhaps await the fearful tidings, to be
overwhelmed with anguish when it meets them. God be with
them wherever they are and sustain them in their day of trial !
The understanding is that this morning, Tuesday the 24th,
we are a little to the South of Cape Sable, the southernmost
land in Florida, and headed directly for the Windward Pass
between Cuba and St. Domingo. The wind is still in the
northeast, but the sea is comparatively calm. The vessel rides
more steadily than she has done since we left New York.
It has grown quite warm. The sun is higher up than it is
with us in midsummer, but the steady fresh breeze from the
northern ocean relieves the air of all sultriness. I have donned
my summer rig and feel quite comfortable. I bought a port-
able writing desk in New York, large enough to hold my
diary, one-half dozen quires of paper, inkstand, wafers, etc.,
and here I am on the shady side of the deck, seated like a
Turk flat on the deck, writing to you on my new desk. It is
just the thing. I have written so far without stopping, but
feeling a little weary of my somewhat constrained posture,
I don't know how much longer I shall keep on. By the way,
I have already remarked that I slept on deck last night, and

[36]

OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

a glorious night's rest I made of it, too, though I slept but
very little. Howe of Townshend lay on one side of me and a
New Yorker on the other; all were flat on our backs; the air
was as mild and balmy as a Northern June; no dew fell; the
heavens were unclouded. A circle of Germans, accompanied
by a flageolet, were singing the songs of their fatherland.
Friends were sitting or standing in groups about the deck,
talking in suppressed voices or silently communing with their
own hearts and with the great sublimities of the heavens and
the sea. The North Star and the constellation of the Great
Dipper that revolves around it, are well down to the water,
and the luminaries of another firmament are rising in the
South. The vessel speeds on. The groups break up, one by
one, and those that formed them retire to their berths, or,
like me, camp on deck beneath the stars. The watch is set,
and now all are asleep but me. I cannot sleep. I do not desire
it. My spirit finds repose in contemplating what is above me
and beneath me and around, and in that repose the body too
finds all needful rest. My thoughts are with you and our
little ones, and I have great joy in the reflection that your
and their thoughts are with me as I roam. So I dream on,
fancy on or think on till my thoughts are diverted from me
and mine by the midnight obsequies of the dead.

Quite a proportion of the passengers are women and chil-
dren, and the larger proportion of the male passengers is
made up of old Californians who are going back with their
families. There are children of all sorts and sizes on board,
and their gambols and the sound of their merry voices give
much relief to whatever there may be of tedium in the voyage.
There has been a good deal of seasickness among them, and
some of the cases have been quite distressing. There is one
little boy about seven years old who has been afflicted with the
malady ever since we left New York, and with great severity.
He has eaten nothing for days now, and is greatly debilitated.
This afternoon they have brought him on deck and have
made him a bed there, and the little fellow seems greatly
to enjoy the soft tropical breeze that fans him as he reposes

[37]

LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

under the awning. His parents are seated beside him with
faces filled with anxious solicitude.

There are wives aboard who are going unattended and
alone to join their husbands in California. Some of them have
children with them, and now that the seasickness is over with
they seem to be as undaunted and chipper as the rest. There
are three Catholic nuns aboard, and two Catholic priests.
The nuns are called "Sisters of Charity," the order with
which Evangeline connected herself after the conclusion of
her wanderings, as you will remember. The passengers are
mostly young; scarcely one is past middle age. They are well
dressed, and all demean themselves with propriety. I have
seen no disorder as yet on board. One of our voyagers was
also a passenger aboard the ill-fated Arctic. He is an English-
man, and escaped in the boat commanded by Dorian. I have
become acquainted with him, and he has given me a full and
circumstantial account of that heartrending disaster.

Wednesday morning, Oct. 25. Yesterday in the afternoon
the wind shifted to the southeast, and the change was so
far adverse that all sail was immediately taken in. Last night
I slept on deck again with Howe on my left and a long-
legged Hoosier on my right; he had no blanket, and I gave
him the benefit of half my shawl, but it was so warm that
there was little occasion for covering of any kind. The prin-
cipal objection to sleeping on deck is that the seamen rout
you too early in the morning for the purpose of washing
down the decks. During the night the wind blew with con-
siderable force from the southeast, but not with such violence
as to cause any alarm. This morning we are rapidly approach-
ing the Windward Pass, and the second mate thinks we shall
see one of the small islands that lies in the pass before a
great while. The morning is beautiful; just enough of haze
in the atmosphere to temper the heat of the sun, and the
gentle breeze that ruffles without agitating the face of the
sea, does not hinder the ship in its progress. The bell has
just rung to rouse the passengers from their slumbers. Many,
however, have anticipated the summons, and gentlemen and

[38]

OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

ladies are traversing the deck, enjoying the scene and a
morning walk.

We have breakfasted. I filled myself with liver and sauce
and a modicum of unbuttered bread. We have very fine
coffee, and I have found it advisable to consume about four
strong cups of it a day. Tom gave me a bottle of the best
brandy to be found in N. Y., but I find that the strong, rich
coffee hits my infirmities better than the brandy. I have, how-
ever, turned doctor for others, and have prescribed the
brandy in a number of instances and with good results.

Soon after breakfast we saw land to the East. It was a
small island called Maguana, lying in the Windward Pass
between Cuba and San Domingo, and belonging to Great
Britain. We could see the tops of a coast range of mountains
rising apparently about ioo feet above the water. The island
is 25 miles distant. We have now accomplished about one-
half the distance to Aspinwall from New York. The little
boy of whom I have before spoken is on deck again to-day,
and the doctor says he is affected with intermittent fever. He
is looking badly now, — almost deathly. It would indeed be
a sad thing for the child's parents should he die, for he is
all they have, and it would be doubly mournful should he die
at sea, with the inevitable consequence of a watery grave.

I am going to keep on writing until we get to Aspinwall,
and then I shall seal up my multitudinous scribblings and
dispatch them to you.

We have dined. At 4 o'clock p. m. we are passing the
Island of Great Iguana to the East; it is one of the islands
where salt is manufactured for exportation. We can see the
white walls of the salt works as we sail at a distance of 10
miles from the shore, and there are quite a number of ships
lying at the wharves and receiving their cargoes. This island
also belongs to Great Britain and is reckoned as one of the
Bahama chain. Have Emma look out all the places named,
on the map, and trace the ship's course from New York to
Aspinwall with as much precision as possible.

It is now night again. The wind has so far changed that
the ship has been put again under canvas. The heavens are

[39]

LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

partially covered with clouds, but through clearly defined
gaps and rifts in them we can see the moon, now in her first
quarter, and the attendant stars in the deep blue beyond.
We are within the tropics, and the rainy season is about
commencing; we have indeed had two or three light showers
this afternoon, and the indications are that there will be
more rain before morning, but just now everything is fair,
and invites the multitudes on these peopled decks to enjoy-
ment. There are some very fine singers aboard, of whom,
however, I am not one; but still a half dozen of us are
singing, in the center of a large circle, songs of the sea and
of the land, but more especially of the homes that we have
left behind us. The demand among the hearers is greatest
for these songs, and the governing inclination among the
singers is to sing them. Thus with song and jest and tale
and sigh, and maybe now and then with an unbidden tear,
night wears apace. It is now 10 o'clock. The mate has just
pointed out to me the Island of Cuba to the west. I can see
nothing however but a low black bank of cloud apparently
skirting the horizon. To-morrow it will be out of sight.

It is now 1 1 o'clock. The deck is partially deserted. I have
brought up my mattress and pillow and with my friends
have again bivouacked on the deck. About 2 in the morning
(Thursday, Oct. 26), we were awakened by the rain. Grab-
bing our mattresses and duds we rushed with them under
the hurricane deck, — and camping anew, watched the prog-
ress of a tropical storm. The lightning was all but continuous,
and more vivid than any I ever witnessed before, and the
water came down as though all the flood gates above had
been hoisted. But the storm was soon over, and quiet and
repose again settled upon the bosom of the moonlit sea.

After breakfast, where, by the way, as at all other meals,
a man has to all but fight for his living, on coming on deck
I found we were in full view of the island of San Domingo.
It is the second of the West Indies in size, and of commercial
and political importance. That part of it which we can see
is but a pile of mountains rising in height as they recede from
the shore ; the more distant ones are well up in the heavens.

[40]

OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

A gentleman from New Granada informs me that the most
celebrated spot for bull fights in the West Indies is at a point
nearly opposite to where we are now sailing. The history
of San Domingo is very interesting and instructive.

It is a mild, hazy day; now and then we have a dash of
fine, dewy, sunshiny rain — such as we have at home when
we say "the devil is licking his wife." Such weather occurs
ordinarily with us in the month of April.

About 5 o'clock this afternoon we were struck with what
sailors call a "squall," wind accompanied with rain, and
the sea was soon in the wildest commotion.

Friday morning, Oct 27. The wind blew violently all
night, the rain poured down in torrents, and the ship bounded
and pitched about like an unbroken colt.

Saturday morning, Oct. 28. The storm continued all day
yesterday, and everything and everybody on board was made
most uncomfortable. During the day a large sea bird called
a "Booby" came on board, like the prairie winds spoken of
in Evangeline, weary as I suppose with travel. He measured
about 4 feet between the tips of his wings, and was as fero-
cious as an old gander. After resting his wings and thor-
oughly drying and oiling his plumage he left us without even
saying "Good bye," and steered his course for his home on
some one of the now distant islands. This morning the
weather is quite beyond criticism; nothing could be finer.
The sea is as calm as an inland lake, and as we are now but
180 miles from Aspinwall, the prospect of a speedy con-
clusion to the first stage of our passage and the cheering
promise of the morning that the day will be like itself have
put the passengers into the best of humors. We shall prob-
ably arrive at Aspinwall about 9 o'clock in the evening. The
next morning we take the cars to the "Summit" marked on
the back of the card I sent you from New York, and from
there proceed immediately by mules to Panama.

I am compelled now to conclude this somewhat lengthened
letter and put it into the postoffice connected with the ship.
It will be carried to New York by this vessel on its return
trip to that city and you will doubtless receive it before my

[41]

LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

arrival in California. You will not hear from me again until
I reach San Francisco. I shall then send you a long account,
I presume, of adventures by field and flood. I take it for
granted that the steamer which left New York yesterday
bears with it a letter from you or Emma ; if so it will reach
San Francisco about a week after my own arrival. Emma
must keep a full record in her diary of everything that occurs
at home, and as it occurs from day to day, and in that way
she will never lack material for a long letter. How are Mary,
Hugh, the baby, and all of you? A question that I often ask
myself and one which your frequent letters will often answer.
You and the children are in all my plans and in all my
thoughts, and will be till my days are numbered and finished.

From your affectionate husband,

O. L. Shafter.

At Sea, Nov. i, 1854.
My Dear Wife :

We arrived at Aspinwall at 1 o'clock in the morning on
Sunday the 29th day of October, and at daylight the work
of disembarkation commenced. After seeing my own luggage
ashore I went ashore myself, and was at once struck, as
indeed I had been before leaving the ship, with the novelty
of everything around me. Aspinwall is a new town that has
sprung into being in consequence of the discovery of gold in
California. It is built mainly on piles driven into the mud
(the mode in which the piers were built in Lake Michigan,
as you will recollect), and under the houses and around them
the water of the sea has free passage. The foot and carriage
ways are to some extent built in the same manner. The
houses, most of them, are built in the most hasty and unsub-
stantial manner imaginable, and the business of the place is
principally in the hands of foreigners. Aspinwall is in New
Granada, one of the South American republics. It was settled
by immigrants from Spain, and belonged to the Spanish
crown. It was severed from Spain, however, about the year
1820, by a successful rebellion and revolution; since that
time it has been an independent republic. How it is with the

[42]

OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

great body of the people in the country I will not undertake
to say, but at Aspinwall and on the Isthmus generally, nine-
tenths of the native population is made up of a mixed breed,
descendants of the Negro, the Indian, and the Spaniard.
Morally and intellectually they are degraded in the extreme;
physically, they are as fine a race as the world can boast of.
I hardly saw one while on the Isthmus who would not have
been a model for a sculptor; but they are superstitious,
cowardly, treacherous, cruel and revengeful, lazy to a
proverb and living on breadfruit, plantains and bananas and
other spontaneous productions of this teeming clime. They
pass their days in the most indolent inaction. They have no
trades, no arts and no agriculture, and must always be so-
cially inferior and subservient to the stronger races that
have begun to intrude upon them from the North and from
Europe. One of these strong races is the full-blooded free
Negro, from our own country and from the now free British
islands. These Negroes are in all respects superior to the
natives. They know a great deal more generally, understand
business better, are inclined to be industrious, are far more
reliable and trustworthy, and in short are playing pretty
much the same part here that the Armenians are playing in
Western Asia and that the Yankees have so long played at
the South and are now playing almost everywhere : that is
to say, by superior sagacity, enterprise, dexterity and thrift,
getting the control of the active business of the country. The
climate of the Isthmus is unfavorable to the white man, but
is the very one best suited to the constitution of the colored
race, and in 50 years from this time, and perhaps in 25 years,
the British and American Negroes, brought up and trained
in free and Protestant nations, instructed in the laws, cus-
toms and progressive notions for which these nations are
distinguished, and generally invigorated by their long ac-
quaintance and close contact with John Bull and Brother
Jonathan, will have gained the ascendancy over all other
races here. Business will all be in their hands, the wealth
will be theirs, the influence and all the sources of power, and
this state of things will not be confined to the Isthmus nor

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LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

to the State of Granada, but will obtain throughout all the
West Indian islands and all those countries that lie between
or immediately adjacent to the tropics.

Aspinwall is a miserable hole. I stopt at the "St. Nicholas"
— the first hotel in New York bears that name — and acting
on that circumstance in part and partly on the representation
of gentlemen who pretended to know the character of this
Aspinwall St. Nicholas, I, with a large number of other
passengers, put our names on to its books. We called for
breakfast. The landlord yelled to a half dozen of half naked
natives, and they took their fishing tackle and made for the
wharves. In about a half hour they returned with some 20
fish that would weigh perhaps a half pound apiece. Some
very equivocal looking meat was procured from a butcher's
stall over the way, which said stall was made by driving 3
rough poles into the ground about 5 feet high and then 3
poles were lashed to them horizontally with spaces between
them about one foot wide. The meat was cut into strips about
an inch or so in width and from a yard to 10 feet in length
and these strips were woven round among the horizontal
poles above mentioned, and there the stuff hung, exposed to
the rays of an almost vertical sun. I asked the landlord, who
was a native as yellow as saffron and as greasy as a fried
sausage, for some water to wash. He pointed to a back yard
and out I went. The dining room opened directly into this
said yard, and such a scene of brutal aboriginal filth as that
yard exhibited I never witnessed before. It beat my hog
yard all hollow. Broken bottles, decayed vegetables, fishes'
heads and entrails, bones, and every description of rubbish
and offal were collected there in cartloads, and then the
daily rains and the burning suns had reduced the whole to
a mass of the most loathsome and nauseating putridity. The
noxious and revolting stench penetrated the dining room
and every part of the house. But I washed, after a fashion,
and after waiting a while we were summoned to breakfast.

In the first place we were served with the fish, but there
was not enough of them to supply one in ten of the passengers
with a taste even. Then came the meat — they called it beef-

[44]

OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

steak. As soon as the plate struck the table I made a des-
perate lunge at a sizable piece and succeeded in spearing it
with my one-tined fork and transferring it to my plate an
instant in advance of similar attempts by others. Rejoicing
in my supposed good luck, I sliced off a fair-sized and as I
supposed savor}' morsel, and swept it into my mouth with
the voracity of a hungry pike. But that piece of meat I never
swallowed. Immediately after taking it into my mouth I had
occasion to rise suddenly from the table. By two or three
rapid bounds I reached the back yard above named, and all
I have to say is that when I returned I must have weighed
less by a number of pounds. . . . After drinking a
cup of muddy coffee and gnawing a slice of unbuttered bread,
and paying a dollar for the chance, I left the table and the
house, and from that time until the cars left at 10 o'clock
I amused myself by walking round the town observing the
manners and customs of the natives and seeing generally
what was to be seen. At 10 o'clock the train started, and by
5 p. M. we reached the "Summit." The distance is but 38
miles and you will see that our rate of travel must have been
slow. The road is full of short curves, and the grade is gen-
erally very heavy, but when completed it will doubtless be
the great thoroughfare between the Atlantic States and the
Pacific until a railroad shall have been built across the
continent to the North. But I did not regret much the lack
of speed in our transit to the Summit. There wras no lack
of objects to interest the attention. The whole country is in
a state of nature. There is scarcely a trace of any change
wrought by the hand of man. After leaving the seacoast it
is wild, broken, and mountainous, and now, in the rainy
season, is traversed by dashing, roaring brooks, tributaries
of the Chagres River. And all these hills and the ravines and
gullies between them are covered with a dense and gigantic
vegetation far outrivalling, in size and in the depth of its
green, the forest scenery of the North. Though unimproved,
the country is not uninhabited. There are detached houses
all along the line of the road, and villages are not infrequent,
but the houses are such as are built and inhabited by bar-

[45]

LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

barians only. Four rude posts stuck in the ground forming
a square, and the square covered with a roof of thatch, is
the mode in which they are generally constructed. There are
no chimneys, no floors, no apartments, and all the houses and
villages are literally swarming with naked or half-naked
natives.

At the Summit the Railroad ended, and the rest of the
journey to Panama, a distance of 1 1 miles, was to be per-
formed on mules. When we left Aspinwall the expectation
was that we should reach Panama that night; but on reaching
the Summit we met the passengers from San Francisco by
the steamer Golden Gate, who were bound for New York.
They represented the road as being very bad. It was further
currently reported that the banditti with which the road has
been infested at times, had attacked, robbed and killed one
of the passengers. These circumstances, together with the
lateness of the hour, brought us at once to the conclusion
to stop at the Summit over night, and the passengers by the
Golden Gate were compelled to stay there also. That night
no one of the iooo wayfarers that made up our number will
ever forget. Fancy a clearing of say 25 acres in the midst of
a dense tropical forest. In this clearing there are a half dozen
native huts partially inclosed at the sides, and each hut is
supplied with a bar at which every description of bad liquor
is retailed at exorbitant prices. Each hut also spreads a table
covered with stewed monkey, boiled mule, mouldy bread,
and everything else almost that is revolting to the taste and
stomach of a civilized man. There are no sleeping accommo-
dations except what are afforded by the unlighted and un-
ventilated cocklofts of these huts, but all together would not
afford room for 200 persons to lie down. The clearing re-
ferred to, the rains and the tramping of men have turned
into a great mortar-bed. At every step you go half-leg deep
into the adhesive mud, and sometimes up to the knees and
perhaps higher. And here are 1000 whites, men, women and
children, gathered from the four winds and speaking in the
dialects of half the civilized nations of the globe. There are
perhaps, in addition to these, 1000 naked or half-naked

[46]

OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

natives of both sexes and of all ages and sizes, and they
have in charge perhaps iooo mules which they are seeking to
hire out to us for the next day's journey to Panama. In addi-
tion to this motley crew of men and animals, there are vast
flights of turkey buzzards slowly wheeling through the air
or resting for a time with outstretched wings on the topmost
limbs of the gigantic palms that skirt the clearing. These
birds are the scavengers of the Isthmus. The rain is pouring
down in torrents, and the passengers, through the rain and
mud, are pouring from the cars into the huts.

The business of eating was not completed till past mid-
night. The drinking did not stop at all. Such a scene of
bacchanalian and brutal rioting I never witnessed before. The
floors were covered with drunken men or with those who
slept the perturbed and fitful sleep of exhaustion. The women
and children were piled, one top of the other, in the lofts.
As for myself, after eating a little boiled rice, I and my two
friends started for a pile of boards which we discovered in
a back yard. We smoothed and widened the top of the pile
by repacking it, spread our blankets upon it, lay down and
covered up, and if we didn't sleep much we rested quite
comfortably, all things considered. We paid $1.50 for our
supper, and those who lay on the floors in the huts had to
pay $2 for the privilege. We cheated the landlord out of
our lodging by camping out.

By 5 o'clock we were up and breakfasted upon a plumcake
that Howe brought from home with him, and then we were
employed for about two hours in selecting and pricing mules.
In the end, after a deal of higgling and chaffering, we secured
three as promising mules as were to be seen, then mounted,
and took at once to the mule-path that led to Panama. At
least 200 of the passengers had started before us, but we
passed the larger portion of them. Our mules turned out to
be remarkably vigorous and smart. For the last four miles
we ran any number of races, but distanced all competition,
and arrived at Panama at 1 1 130 A. M. in fine spirits. We
stopt at the Louisian Hotel.

[47]

LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

We staid at Panama until the next day, Tuesday the 31st
of October. While there I busied myself in surveying the
town and the country round about. There is very much in
it to interest an untraveled New Englander. The city stands
directly upon the seashore, and is surrounded by a wall built
for the purposes of defense by the Spanish government a
century and a half ago. These defenses are said to have cost
$20,000,000, but are now greatly dilapidated by decay and
neglect. The houses within the walls are all of stone and are
apparently as ancient as the wall. Many of them are now in
ruins, and those that are still inhabited are under the law of
deterioration and decay. There are no buildings in course of
erection and none that are undergoing repairs. Even the
convents and the vast and magnificent cathedrals will soon be
but disjointed piles of stone and mortar. The people within
and without the city have no occupations, no industry. The
country has no resources, and everything invites and presages
the time when a stronger and more vigorous race will sup-
plant the indolent and degraded tribes with which these
regions are now infested.

On Tuesday, Oct. 31st, the passengers were embarked
on board small boats and were carried in them to the steamer
Golden Gate, lying at anchor about 4 miles from shore. The
water was so shallow that the boats could not be brought
within 3 or 4 rods of dry land, and the passengers were
taken to the boats on the backs of the natives. Some of the
passengers — and there were women in the number — dis-
pensed with the services of the natives; some of them tumbled
down in the surf and all of them got pretty thoroughly
drenched with salt water. In a half hour we were all safely
landed, however, on the deck of the Golden Gate. She is one
of the most splendid steamships afloat, and notwithstanding
the number of her passengers there is ample room for
them all.

It is now Sunday, Oct. 5th. We are about 1500 miles to
the north of Panama, and in an hour or two shall drop anchor
in the harbor of Acapulco, staying there about 24 hours to
take on coal and water. We have so far had a most delightful

[48]

OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

voyage. This ocean has in our judgment earned anew its
title to the name it bears. We have for the most of the time
been within sight of shore and are now within a mile of it.

We have had religious services on board to-day, conducted
by two Episcopal clergymen according to the forms of their
church and attended by pretty much all on board. I shall
seal up and dispatch this letter from Acapulco.

You must not infer, from the account I have given of my
tribulations on the Isthmus, that I was very much disturbed
by them, for in fact I was not disturbed or unsettled
by them at all. I in fact enjoyed my ludicrous experiences
there very much. It was very much like a trip into
Texas a-fishing, only a good deal more so. A new country
with its strange and gorgeous scenery, strange forms, naked
or clothed in varied and outlandish costumes, a people whose
manners and customs and entire social life were the opposites
of all that I had been accustomed to, were enough to make
me indifferent to muddy boots, a wet hide and an empty
belly.

I believe that in this long letter I have said nothing to
the little girls or the little boy, but while writing it from time
to time I have looked at their pictures and their mother's,
and as I gazed could almost fancy that you were all present
before me. I need not remind them to be good children,
obedient in all things to their mother, kind and respectful
to their grandparents. Their father lives only in them and
for them, and hopes long before they have ceased to be
children to be reunited to them and their ever dear mother.

From your affectionate husband,

O. L. Siiafter.

At Sea, Nov. — , 1854.
Dear Sarah :

When I closed my last letter we were nearing the port of
Acapulco. It was on Sunday the 5th of November, and we
cast anchor about dark. The harbor is of great interest and
of considerable commercial importance. The coast is rock-
bound and generally unindented with bays and inlets, — so

[49]

LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

much so, indeed, that Acapulco is the first port north of
Panama, a distance of 2000 miles, where vessels can flee for
refuge from the storms that sometimes sweep the Pacific.
The entrance to the harbor is through a rent in the high
mountain range that skirts the sea. The opening is not more
than 15 or 20 rods wide, and leads into a port covering
perhaps 1000 acres and surrounded on all sides by wild,
precipitous mountains that rise to the clouds.

The town of Acapulco is built upon a little slip of com-
paratively level ground lying at the foot of these mountains
and between them and the waters of the bay. The town is
defended towards the sea by a fortress built upon a point of
land to the south. It is built of stone and was erected by the
Spanish government before the Revolution by which Mexico
achieved its independence in 1820. We stopt at Acapulco for
the purpose of taking in coal and water. All the coal con-
sumed by the steamers on this coast is brought from the
Atlantic States and around Cape Horn. There is a large sup-
ply of it at Acapulco, amounting I should think to many
thousand tons.

There are two old hulks in the harbor with just space
enough between them for a steamer to lie. These hulks are
loaded with coal, and from them it is transferred to the
steamer in baskets carried on the backs of the native Indians.
As soon as our ship had been secured in its position between
the hulks, their decks were thronged with 50 or 100 naked
and half-naked Indians, each one armed with his basket of
hide. At it they went, yelling, screaming and howling like
so many fiends, and as I stood and watched them by the
imperfect light of the lanthorns, as they passed in a con-
tinuous line from the hulks to the ship and from the ship
back to the hulks, it required but a slight effort of the imag-
ination to regard them as indeed the imps of one who shall
be nameless.

About 9 o'clock in the evening another death occurred on
board. The man was from Arkansas and died from neglect
and the Panama fever. He was taken on Thursday at the
dinner table, grew worse rapidly and steadily, and died at

[SO]

OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

the time above named, and there were none but strangers
around him in his last moments. He was carried on to the
hurricane deck, and in the morning about break of day his
remains were sent ashore for interment. Such is life!

It was announced that the ship would sail at 8 o'clock,
and at 6 a party of us started in a boat for the shore to
deposit our letters with the American Consul and see the
town. It is built very much in the style of architecture that
prevails at the Isthmus, but the sides of the houses are
generally closed up by a series of small poles lashed together
and standing on end. We visited the market-place and found
ioo to 200 Indian women squatted on their hams, busily
engaged in selling chickens, yams, bread-fruit, bananas, red
peppers, onions, etc. Their stocks were very small but their
prices were very high. I notice the State to which Acapulco
belongs is now in rebellion against the Mexican government
under the leadership of Alvarado.

Santa Anna, the emperor of Mexico, has now a large force
in the mountains to the East, which it is understood is march-
ing or about to march to the attack of this city and the
fortress by which it is defended.

After remaining awhile on shore we returned to the ship.
The signal gun was fired at 8 o'clock and soon all those who
had gone on shore were again on shipboard. At 1 1 o'clock
the anchor was weighed and in a few moments we were out
of the harbor and again afloat upon the open sea.

Wednesday, Nov. 8. From Acapulco so far the voyage
has been delightful. A calm sea, mild and balmy breezes, the
towering summits of the mountains in the distance, full moons
at night floating in deep unfathomable blue, music, reading
and pleasant discourse with very pleasant people, have re-
lieved the voyage so far of its tedium; but still I shall be
glad when it is ended. This morning we were in the latitude
of Cape St. Lucas and now are over 100 miles to the north of
it. We have already left the torrid zone behind us, with its
burning days and glorious nights, and as hour by hour we
progress farther and still farther to the North, the climate
becomes more and more like that to which I have been

[5']

LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

accustomed. However it is not cold enough yet to prevent
my sleeping on the open deck. Since leaving the Isthmus
we have had daily on the dinner table green peas, string
beans, asparagus, etc. This will seem somewhat odd to you
who are about entering upon the rigors of a northern winter.

I have made very pleasant acquaintances on board with
gentlemen and ladies from Vermont and elsewhere, and on
inquiry have found many passengers acquainted with those
whom I have formerly known. I have met with a Mr. Gray
from Cambridge, N. Y., but who formerly resided in
Weston, Vt., who went out in the same ship with Willard
Stark in 1849. You will recollect that Stark went round Cape
Horn. They were together for some time in California, and
he has told me many anecdotes relating to their adventures.

Thursday, Nov. 9. We are now about 1500 miles from
San Francisco, but if nothing befalls us we shall arrive there
on Monday or Tuesday next. Yesterday we met the steamer
John S. Stevens, bound from San Francisco to Panama. She
will touch at Acapulco and will take the letters that I left
there with the American Consul. She passed us about 10
miles to the west, but with the aid of the glasses on board
we could not only see the vessel with great distinctness, but
her flags and passengers. It was greatly regretted by those
who supposed they had friends on board the Stevens, that
the two boats did not come sufficiently near to enable them
to recognize and greet them.

We are out of sight of land now and have been for the
last 24 hours. I forgot to state that when we lay in the harbor
at Acapulco there were 15 or 20 Indian boys swimming
round the ship and calling continually upon the passengers
to throw them a dime; and there were a great many dimes
and not a few buttons thrown into the water. As soon as the
dime would strike the water the boys would dive like a parcel
of ducks, and I didn't notice an instance in which they failed
to secure the dime, and that too before it sunk any consider-
able distance. In the meantime they kept a sharp lookout
for sharks, and it was well they did, for while they were in
the midst of their sport there, a shark about 10 feet long

[52]

OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

made his appearance within a few rods of them; but the
little fellows were seasonably notified and scattered at once
for the heavy chain cables by which the hulks were held to
the anchors. They climbed up these cables with the agility
of monkeys, by putting their toes into the iron links of the
chains. When they had got where they thought themselves
safe they raised a great outcry, for the purpose of frighten-
ing off the shark, I suppose. Anyhow the shark immediately
disappeared, but some one of the passengers, for the purpose
of trying their pluck, threw out a dime in the next moment,
and down the little fellows went headfirst into the sea. One
of their number got the dime and they all clambered back
again up the cables.

While on shore at Acapulco I saw many most beautiful
varieties of coral offered for sale by Indian children, and
most exquisite shellwork wrought into flowers and wreaths
of flowers and into bouquets. Had I been on my return home
instead of my passage out, I should have purchased freely
of these curiosities of nature and art.

My appetite is not very good, but all I mean by that is
that it is not voracious. I do not like their cooking; it is too
much in the Spanish style; everything almost is flavored
with red pepper, onion and garlic. My health so far has
been perfectly firm and my spirits quite as good as I ever
allowed myself to hope they would be; and I find that my
spirits and courage rise as I approach my journey's end, and
I view without dread the arrival of the hour that shall
involve me in the labor and strife that await me.

This afternoon and immediately after dinner, on coming
on deck a cry was raised by the steerage passengers of "A
whale 1 A whale!" And sure enough, only a few rods from
the vessel there was a veritable whale spouting and blowing
and every now and then heaving half his diameter above the
surface of the water. In a few moments three others were
discovered, forming what the whalemen call a "school.'
The whale roams through the ocean as widely and freely
as the buffalo ranges on the land, and both are put upon their
migrations by the same motive: the necessity of providing

[53]

LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS

for their subsistence. The whale preys upon a small fish of
the herring tribe, and when it is exterminated or driven from
one section of the ocean, the whale must seek its game else-
where. The whalemen call it "a change of pasture." The
sight of these monsters of the deep gave great satisfaction
to the passengers, most of whom saw them for the first time.
Ask Hugh if he would not have liked to have been with his
father and seen the great whales which pleased the little boys
and girls so much?

Friday, Nov. 10. It is now noon. The land is again in
sight and it is only some 10 miles off. We have sailed 200
miles in the last 24 hours, and have fallen in with another
school of whales more numerous than the other, and there
is a large vessel some distance ahead and standing directly
across our course, which is understood to be an American
whaler.

Saturday, November 11. At noon to-day we were within
480 miles of San Francisco and the prospect now is that we
shall arrive there Monday morning next. Though the voyage
has been a pleasant one, yet no one will regret its conclusion.

[54]

IV

A BUSY YEAR IN EXILE

jA LMOST from the moment of Mr. Shaffer's arrival
/^L in San Francisco, his professional duties came upon
/ — % him with a rush. He entered upon them with his
-a. A- customary industry, at the moment no doubt
spurred to new zeal by the long period of enforced inaction
on shipboard. Yet he found time to add a new sheet to the
home letter quoted in the preceding chapter, setting down in
vivid language his first impressions of the strange city and
the new life upon which he was entering.

Arrival in San Francisco. First impressions.
(Continuation of foregoing letter.)

Wednesday, Nov. 15.

I am in San Francisco safe and sound and without having
experienced an alarm even on the passage. We arrived here
on Monday the 13th at 5 o'clock P. M., having been on the
way 23 days and 15 hours from New York, one of the short-
est, and I believe they say the shortest passage on record.
Looking back upon the voyage, I simply wonder why it
should have appeared so formidable while in prospect.

I commenced my engagement, or rather entered upon a
fulfillment of it on the day of my arrival. I have been in
the office most of the time, reading at large with a view to
getting hold of whatever there may be peculiar to the law
of this State, and the peculiarities in the practice of its sev-
eral Courts; have further been occupied in the examination
of cases now pending in which the firm is retained, and in

[55]

LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

considering questions of law brought to the notice of the
firm since my arrival. I have explored the city to some extent,
and have obtained some capital bird's eye views from the
top of the Pisgahs in the vicinity of the town; as a specimen
of landscape scenery San Francisco and the country adjacent
is unrivalled.

The harbor or rather bay of San Francisco is the finest
in the world. Its shape, and the situation of the city upon
it you will ascertain by looking at the map. I was received
with great cordiality by Mr. [Trenor W.] Park and his
partners; have been here long enough already to satisfy
myself that their business is immense and immensely lucra-
tive. Park all but insisted upon my living with him, and I
have accordingly gone to his family. It consists of himself,
his wife, little daughter, John Hall, Park's sister who is
teaching school here, and servant. Park has a very pretty
house in the suburbs,* but it is rather small, and my own
accommodations there, though neat, snug and pleasant, yet
are not very roomy. But the office is all that could be desired.
There are four large rooms, and each is fitted and furnished
like a parlor. I stay in the one that is occupied by the library.
I have not got fairly settled yet, but shall get and am getting
into harness with the greatest dispatch possible. Young
Cheney called on me Monday night, and yesterday Dr. Fitch
obliged me with a call. They are both well and each of them
has been quite successful as I understand.

Well, I am here. The goal is reached. I feel as though I
was commencing life anew and that all the probationary steps
to success had to be taken over again. During the 2 or 3
days I have been here I have been introduced to a great
many of the leading men in the city by the politeness of the
gentlemen connected with the firm. There is an immense
bustle, an incalculable hurrying to and fro in the streets. It
surpasses belief almost the wonderful changes that have been
wrought here in a few years on the face of the earth, and
like changes are now actively in progress on all sides. The

*In Tehama St. near Third, on the slope of Rincon Hill, then the most
fashionable residence section of the city.

[56]

OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

population is about 60,000 already, and it is made up of
emigrants from all nations. There are a great many Chinese
in the State and in the city, and with their half shaven heads,
long queues hanging down to their heels and outlandish
dresses, they present an exceedingly whimsical appearance
to newcomers. But the controlling element in the population
is the Yankee. He by his energy and intelligence subordi-
nates everything to himself and impresses upon everything
his own image.

I am very anxious to hear from you, and shall be much
chagrined if the boat that will arrive here on the 22nd does
not bring a letter from you or my dear little daughter Emma.
You must not allow a mail to leave without sending me a
letter. Has Mary got along with her writing so that she can
put in a word to her father? Perhaps she understands writing
enough to put in an entire letter. As for Hugh, he for a year
or two longer cannot be expected to make much more than
his mark, I suppose, but in the meantime he can be a good
boy and mind his mother and grandparents, be kind to his
sisters and remember his father, who in the meantime will
not forget any of you or forget to love you.

From your affectionate husband,

O. L. Shafter.

Extracts from Diary.

November 21, 1854.

Mr. Park requested me to aid him in the hearing of a
motion to dissolve an injunction which had been set down
for to-day. The principles involved an inquiry into the Con-
stitution, Statutes and Judicial Decisions of the State, with
which I could, of course, have but a very limited acquaint-
ance. But I availed myself actively of the opportunity
afforded by the interval, and made all the examinations and
preparations I could. When the time came, I went into Court
satisfied that I was in trim to present the question with
tolerable thoroughness to the Court. I began my argument
and felt on rising far less of tremor and misgiving than I

[57]

LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

had anticipated, and after going on for about half an hour,
the whole hearing and my speech as a part of it, was unex-
pectedly concluded by the adversary counsel abandoning their
motion to dissolve. The Reporters have reported my remarks
in the daily papers, and the injustice they have done me is
not so great as to be altogether intolerable. Well then, the
ice is broken, and I shall probably be less affected by my
habitual diffidence hereafter.

November 22D, 1854.

To-day I have attended Court with a view to see the man-
ner in which business is conducted. The case up was an eject-
ment in which our firm appeared for the defence. Things
went on pretty much as at home; the witnesses swore and
the lawyers maneuvred and talked; the Judge listened and
looked sober and wise as in the land I have left behind me,
but there are few or no spectators. There is more to busy
and attract the crowd outside the Court House than there
is in it.

Oscar L. Shafter to his Wife.

San Francisco, Nov. 23, 1854.
Dear Sarah:

The steamer leaves here day after to-morrow for the
Isthmus. There is no regular mail however, but mindful of
my promise, the spirit of which was to write you by every
opportunity of so doing, I shall send this to New York by
express.

Well, how do you and the dear children and Grandfather
and Grandmother get along? This is a question that I often
ask myself, and it is one that I am expecting will soon be
answered. It is a great consolation to me to know that you
are all together, beneath the same roof, warmed by the same
fire, eating at the same table, and reading and sewing by
the light of the same lamps during the lengthened nights
of a Vermont winter, and all interested by the strongest ties
in each other's happiness and welfare. Is my little son mindful
of his father and of his hopes, so often expressed, that he

[58]

OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

will be a good boy, doing in all things as his mother tells
him to — always pleasant, always kind, and above all things
else, ever speaking the truth? All these things I doubt not
he faithfully remembers and practices, and will continue to
remember and observe through life. And my little girls, the
apples of my eyes, how are they, in their far-off — to me —
mountain home? How earnestly does my heart inquire, is it
well with them — has no evil befallen them since my eyes,
blinded with emotion, saw them last?

Bv the next steamer a letter will come, giving me answers
to these questions and relating all that has transpired for one
and maybe the two weeks ensuing my departure. I await its
arrival with great impatience as you may well imagine. But
hereafter I shall hear from you just once a fortnight, if you
write that often and letters do not miscarry. How do you
and the girls like your colt? I told Barret to make a new
girth for the side-saddle and I presume he has done it.

Shall I talk awhile now about myself and what mine eyes
have seen since my arrival? As I told you in my last I am
boarding with Mr. Park. John Hall boards at the same place
and I am very much obliged to Mr. Park for taking me into
his certainly very pleasant family. I am already fully domicil-
iated and pretty fully domesticated as a member of his house-
hold. My daily routine is already fully established and is as
follows : I get up at half past seven in the morning, breakfast
at 8; then go to work, spending the day at the office or in
court; at 5 o'clock we have dinner; then return to the office,
remain there until half past II, and then go home and go
to bed. When home, at dinner, Mrs. Park and myself and
John take a bout at the piano, singing the songs we used
to sing in the dear land from which we all came. I find the
exercise a great relief, not only in the perplexities incident
necessarily to my position in a country whose laws I am
obliged to rapidly master, but a relief for the sadness induced
by absence from those I love. Do not infer however from this
that I am down in the mouth and go about with my head
bowed down like a bullrush. Nothing like itl I am full of
pluck and full of hope as I can hold, and determined to avail

[59]

LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

myself of all the facilities I enjoy for accomplishing the ends
for which alone I came. The firm is very wealthy and is
doing an immense business — the largest in the city and the
largest in the State.

So far as present surroundings are concerned I find myself
most agreeably situated, and so far as prospects are con-
cerned they promise more than I ever supposed it would be
my lot to enjoy.

Since I have been here, for I began on the morning of
my arrival, I have been in the office at least 15 hours a day,
at work all the time as hard as I can jump. Last Monday I
made my first appearance in court. It was a case of some
$200,000 consequence, to which the City was a party, and
was, to me a newcomer, a case of a good deal of difficulty.
The questions to be argued were questions of law, and I had
only some 24 hours to prepare. The time came. I went in,
began and talked for about half an hour, and talked straight
along, if what I said was not so cunning! And then the
Counsel on the other side intervened and submitted to a non-
suit. I do not however mean to intimate that they did this
in consequence of anything that I had said for it was not
so in fact. They took this step in consequence of their dis-
satisfaction with a decision made by the Court on a prelim-
inary question. My speech, so far as it had progressed, was
reported in the daily papers, and I will send you a copy of
one of them by the next mail. On the 4th of next month I
shall be connected with Mr. Park in the trial of a very im-
portant case before a jury in the District Court.

This is a strange city, filled with a strange population.
Seven times has the city been laid in ashes by fire, and now it
has a population of 60,000 souls, the majority of whom live
in princes' houses and do business in shops and warehouses of
which the oldest and most populous city might well be proud.
The male portion of the population are men in the prime of
life; there are no old men, no cripples and no idlers, for but
the vigorous and active would come to this remote country.
It would not do for any others to come. There is a great deal
of frankness and cordiality among the citizens and denizens

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OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

in their intercourse with each other, and the energy and speed
with which they do things is a marvel. I have heen introduced
to a great many since I have been here and have not yet met
the first man who did not display singular intelligence in dis-
course, and not one who was not a keen and rapid thinker,
and precise and rapid talker. The fact is they are all under
the whip, they are all impelled by the spur; to think is to
speak, and to speak is to act, and to act is to win all or lose
all. The women are beginning to come, wives and daughters,
and the old settlers all say that they bring blessings with
them. Churches have been built and several are now in process
of erection. Sabbath schools have been founded, homes have
been established, and numberless other local changes have
taken place within the last year or two which the old residents
attribute to the advent of women among them. I never was
in a city where more importance was attached to dress, never
indeed, where there was half so much importance attached to
it among men. All the business men are clad in the richest
materials, made in the latest styles, and in their personal hab-
its they are fastidiously neat. I have been told by those who
know that an ill-dressed man is little likely to succeed in busi-
ness, whatever his business may be.

The women appear in the streets clad in the most costly
apparel. Montgomery street in this respect outshines Broad-
way even. Silks of the richest fabric and the most expensive
pattern are uniformly worn in the streets. This is a city of
dust emphatically, and this may account for the fact above
named, as silk is less affected by dust than woolen would be
and the climate is altogether too varied for cotton.

There is a great deal of galloping to and fro on horse-
back; this habit the conquerors have learned from the con-
quered. The Mexicans all but live in the saddle, and there
are no finer saddle horses in the world than here. The moun-
tainous character of the country, and the fact that the roads
are generally bad, explain why traveling on horseback is the
favorite mode of locomotion. * * * *
Your affectionate husband,

O. L. Shafter.

[61]

LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

From Diary.
November 24TH.

Today is Thanksgiving, my first for many years away from
home. I see little so far, however, to distinguish it from
other days I have passed here. The shops are all open, save
the banking houses; even work on the city jobs is not sus-
pended, and there has been but one religious meeting during
the day, so it seems that in a population of 60,000 the dimen-
sions of a single church are ample enough for the accommo-
dation of all those who desire to render public thanks, in
compliance with Governor Bigler's Proclamation. I have not
attended church myself, and ought therefore to refrain per-
haps from criticising others. The pressure of business consti-
tutes my apology for passing the day in the office, yet if I do
not misjudge, I feel grateful to God for his goodness mani-
fested to me and mine during the year which is now past.
Death has not visited my family, or disease, nor has fire
wasted my possessions or desolated the home reared for those
I love. Nor has any calamity befallen me or them, except the
calamity of separation, but that I trust will not be a perma-
nent affliction, and then if we had not been separated, the joy
and ecstacy of reunion would not lie in prospect to gladden
and encourage the heart. Where shall I be and how and when
the next anniversary of this Pilgrim Festival shall arrive?
And how will it be with the wife I adore and with the chil-
dren that I love? Will it be well with us all? But why should
I seek to penetrate the future? I will not interrogate it or in-
quire concerning it, but leave it to reveal to me its own mys-
teries as it develops itself in the present.

November 25TH.

Today has been a busy day with me; drawing papers;
answering questions and examining cases.

One matter that I have looked up presents a question of
much importance, and has interested me greatly. There is a
British man-of-war in the Bay, having in charge the Russian
Bark Sitka as prize of war. There are two Russian prisoners
on board, forming part of the crew of the Sitka at the time

[62]

OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

of her capture on the high seas. A lawyer here from the
South, Edmond Randolph, a nephew of John Randolph of
Roanoke, has started a project of suing an habeas corpus re-
turnable before a local judge for the purpose of testing the
validity of the authority by which these prisoners are held.
He is a fanatic upon the subject of slavery, and avows that
he cares nothing for the prisoners, but starts the above pro-
ceedings for the purpose of embroiling the British Govern-
ment and our own in war. From my examinations, I am per-
fectly satisfied of two things,

First, the Court has no jurisdiction in the premises to
issue, to-wit:

i. None under the customary laws of Nations, for the
deck of a National vessel is part of the territory of the
Nation to which she belongs, and the municipal tri-
bunals of one Nation have no jurisdiction over persons
or property in the territories of another.
2. By the 25th of October, according to the Treaty be-
tween the Government of this country and the Govern-
ment of Great Britain concluded in 1794, each Govern-
ment licenses the other to enter its ports with their pub-
lic ships, attended by their prizes of war, and exempts
them while there from all searches and visits on the
part of the local authorities.

II. I am further satisfied that if the Court has jurisdic-
tion, the authority by which the prisoners are held is legal
under the law of Nations, for

1. There is no doubt but that the Sitka was captured on
the high seas in the prosecution of hostilities between
Great Britain and Russia.

There is no doubt but that that capture was every
way lawful under the laws of war.

She is now under a license in a neutral port, which
license was given by the Sovereign to whom that Port
belongs.

The fact of license is to be presumed from the cir-
cumstance that the entry was not prohibited.

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LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

And as the entry was no violation of neutral rights,
the prize is now as much exempt from our local juris-
diction as though she was riding upon the high seas.
2. The provision of the treaty before cited is an express
license to enter, and therefore, she loses no right apper-
taining on general principles to the National character
of the ship.
The motive of Mr. Randolph in instituting the proceed-
ings deserves and meets from me nothing but reprobation.
His conduct is paralleled only by that of the sacreligious
Ephesian, who for the purpose of indulging his own ambi-
tion destroyed the fairest temple ever reared by human hands.

Oscar L. Shaffer to his daughter Emma.

San Francisco, Dec. 5, 1854.
My Dear Daughter:

. Your letter interested me very much, and the
few lines added by your mother were very, very welcome. I
read it over repeatedly and ever with increasing interest.
Then the little boy not only remembers his father, but dreams
about him and cries on his account when he wakes? Well, I
came very near crying myself when I read it, but tell the dear
little fellow that he must keep up a stout heart, and before a
great many moons his father will come home and put an end
at once to his tears and his dreams. Mary you say is as
"fliety" (flighty) as ever. Well, I trust she will grow less
and less so as she grows older. Little girls cannot be expected
to have so much control of their limbs as those that are older,
and I doubt not that in her case sobriety and all desirable de-
corum of manner will come with years. I am glad that she
has made so much improvement in writing, and hope that by
frequent practice in writing to her father, she will retain and
improve upon what she has already learned.

I am much pleased to hear that Hugh intends to learn all
he can this winter. If he does not eat too much cake and
mince pie, and fills his little sack with potatoes and meat and
brown bread, and moistens his clay with nothing stronger
than milk and cold water, and goes to bed early and gets up

[64]

OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

early, and always has his hands and face washed and his head
combed before breakfast, and goes to school in good season
and studies hard while he is there, and goes right home when
school is over and minds his mother and grandparents in all
respects and is kind to his sisters, I have no doubt but he will
very soon get so that he can read anything, and will be able
even to write long letters to his father, who loves him and
all of you so much.

I trust that you do not fail to write in your Diary every
night before going to bed. Exact compliance with your fath-
er's wishes in this particular will not only be very beneficial
to you, but a great gratification to you and to us all in years
to come. Your Diary, so kept, makes you the historian of
your family, of its joys and its sorrows (and in the provi-
dence of God we have had both) , and of the whole course of
its daily life and the life of each member of it. I hope further
that your resolutions to learn all you can this winter are as
strong as Hugh's at least. He is a little boy and may forget
his good resolutions or fail to act upon them, but you are of
an age now to bear constantly in mind your good resolves,
forgetting them not for a moment even, and of an age to
carry them into effect with unfailing and unflagging con-
stancy and perseverance. Above all you must learn the severer
but pleasant task of being good — good to those right around
you — good to all — good at heart.

Then little Alice has got so that she can laugh when she is
tickled? I am glad to hear that she knows more than when I
left. If she is as bright a baby as I believe her to be, she will
very soon be able to do not only her share of the laughing,
but her part of the tickling also. She will be a great delight to
you all as she grows, and it will be a great delight to me to
hear of all the little proofs she shall give from day to day
that she has got the root of the matter in her. I devoutly
hope, with the rest of you, that this little Alice will live, and
that by one or those blessed illusions by which the hearts of
the sorrowing and stricken are so often visited and comfort-
ed, her lost sisters of the same name will in her be again re-
stored to us. When the babe has got along far enough, you

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LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

must tell her about her father and teach her to lisp his
name.

And now good bye. Love to Mary, Hugh and the baby
and to your dear mother. ... O. L. Shafter.

Oscar L. Shafter to his Father.

San Francisco, Dec. 14, 1854.
Dear Father:

Yesterday we concluded a jury trial of three days'
continuance. The action was for an alleged Assault and Bat-
tery upon the plff., an Irishman, one Larkin, by the defts.,
five in number. The principal was Joseph L. Folsom, one of
the wealthiest men in the City. The damages were laid at
$20,000, and doubtless damages to that amount had been
sustained, for the plff. had his arm and thigh desperately frac-
tured by pistol balls and is badly crippled for life. The plff.
and his associates, on the evening of the 8th of June last
(1854) without any title to the land, attacked and by mere
dint of superior force expelled Folsom's workmen from a
City lot, Folsom being its rightful owner beyond a question.
The workmen, after their forcible expulsion, organized,
armed themselves to the teeth, and at 3 o'clock in the morn-
ing made a descent upon the freebooters, who had in the
meantime entrenched themselves on the premises. On being
summoned to evacuate, they refused, and fired on the word,
those who fired and the persons they fired at being off the lot
and in the public street at the time. This fire was immediately
returned, and the plaintiff by that fire received his injuries.
Folsom defended on the ground that he had no connection
with the affair whatever, alleging that his workmen acted en-
tirely on their own motion. The other defendants defended
on the ground that the first fire came from the plaintiff and
his associates, and that they returned the fire in self-defense,
and further on the ground that they were in the occupancy of
the lot by right when they were dispossessed by strong hand
and therefore that they had the right to expel him from the
land by any amount and kind of violence necessary to secure
that object. There were many points of law and fact present-

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OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

ed in the case besides these. Park and I tried the case and
every inch of ground was contested from first to last. The
case excited a great deal of interest and the courtroom was
crowded throughout the trial. A great many lawyers were in
attendance. My spirits mounted with the occasion if I fell
below it myself. On a foreign shore, among a people who
knew me not and whom I did not know, still with everything
to win and nothing to lose that had been acquired here, I
went into and through the fight with a self-possession and
command of all the resources that were in me, that I never
began to experience when crowing on my own dunghills. I
summed up for the defence in a speech of just three hours,
and all I have to say about it is that I succeeded in satisfying
my employers and theirs. The papers contain a "report" of
my remarks — the longest and the worst I send you. You can
read in 2 minutes what it took me 3 hours to utter; from this
you will be able to judge what kind of justice the report does
me. But the reporters do not condense and mutilate and man-
gle me more than they do all others. All the lawyers are aw-
fully annoyed by the well meant efforts of reporters, but
against such grievances there can be no protection, so the best
way is to laugh over them and be resigned.

I have nothing to occupy my attention but business, and I
have been at it since and including the day of my arrival, at
the rate of 15 hours a day on an average. The amounts in
controversy here are told by "ten thousands" — "hundred
thousands" — and "millions," and the questions involved are
many of them of great interest and difficulty. I went right to
work when I reached the office, to inform myself about all
that was peculiar to the local law; it took me but a short time
to do that. The great body of the law here is the same as it is
in Vt., and in all other States that have adopted the Common
Law of our common mother, Great Britain, and I feel as easy
in harness, and transact business now with as little special
study as I ever did at home. There is an incalculable amount
of litigation in prospect as well as in progress, and going by
Atlantic standards, the rates of professional compensation
are perfectly fabulous. $1,000, $5,000, $20,000 retainers are

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LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

of frequent occurrence in the transactions of the firm with
which I am connected. Park has told me, without solicitation,
that I can come into the firm as soon as Halleck, who is no
lawyer, retires; that he will do so, he thinks, in 6 months.
Peachy is vastly rich, — above business, — engineering for the
U. S. Senate, and will probably withdraw before long. At any
rate at the end of the year I shall come into the firm, or de-
mand and receive a compensation that will be in some proper
proportion to the amounts received by the members of the
firm. I have every reason to believe that I enjoyed their con-
fidence before I came, and it is exceedingly grateful to me to
believe and know that so far all their just expectations at
least have been answered.

About a fortnight since the "Sitka" was brought in here by
a British cruiser as prize of war. * * * As soon as I
heard of it, I was given to understand that the firm would be
employed by the British Consul, and that I must take charge
of the question. The writ was served, but the subordinate
officer in charge of the prize was dunce enough to be up with
his anchor and put to sea. He ought to have kept his anchors
down in justice to his own government, and have boldly chal-
lenged and defied the local jurisdiction. Then Randolph went
into the newspapers with all sorts of nonsense. Others replied
to him, but finding that none of the others had got hold of
the question in its true aspects, I wrote an article for the
Times and Transcript myself, with a request that it should
appear in the editorial columns, and it did. I send you one of
the papers. The editor prefaced some remarks of his own. I
have made a mark where mine begin.

In the changes in the firm that are in prospect I have little
doubt I shall find the opportunity that I am awaiting for Jim.*
He is a better lawyer, a better talker, and a stronger and
more available man than any one belonging to the firm, and
they are all of them quite respectable, and Park is very smart
and efficient, — more so than all the rest put together. I'll
have Jim here in a year or two at the outside.
Your son, O. L. Shafter.

*James McMillan Shafter, a brother.

[68]

OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

San Francisco, Dec. 14, 1854.
My Dear Wife :

The steamer arrived about 2 hours ago from Panama. The
boy has been to the postoffice three times, and has brought
letters at each return for those who are expecting them, but
as yet has brought none from home for me. I have answered
a dozen questions in the meantime, put to me by men in the
office on business matters, and now as I write, apparently
without stopping, I am arrested every now and then at the
end of a word and sometimes right in the middle of one, to
respond to some interrogatory on some point as foreign to
the general trend of my thoughts as can well be imagined.

The Postoffice messenger has just returned with five let-
ters— for himself. And now he is tearing them open like mad,
and as he reads his eyes glisten and his face flushes, and his
lips tremble. I stop and say to him that I think he must be
reading a letter from his sweetheart; he turns to me, and
says, "No, sir. The letter I am reading is from my dear old
mother." A letter from his wife or daughter might move him
as much, if he had them, but I doubt if one written by a mere
sweetheart would. But the letters are not as yet all distrib-
uted— it takes 24 hours to do that — and my belief that you
have not failed to write me remains unshaken.

To my little son I am sending a paper filled with pictures,
and that it may appear more fully that it is intended for him,
I have directed it to him. Mr. Billings bought it, and request-
ed me to send it to "my little boy" with his compliments.
Though it is Hugh's, yet I doubt not he will let his sisters
look at it, if they will only promise him not to injure it. The
next time I write, I shall write to him, I think. How would
he like to have a great long letter from his father? Will he
keep it, and keep it always? I have letters from my mother in
the Library that I would not part with, sooner than I would
forget to remember her. And the first letter that my son shall
write me will be ever preserved in remembrance of him. I
carry that pincushion the girls gave me in my vestpocket; the
pins are not all gone yet, and I intend that some of them, at
least, shall recross the Isthmus with me. I take it out half a

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LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

dozen times a day for the purpose merely of looking at
Hugh's jacket on one side of it. It does me quite as much
good as it does to look at his daguerreotype, and the entire
article is associated further in my mind with the affectionate
regard and filial forethought of my little girls.*

I never liked to write letters very well till since I left home;
but there is no calculating and no expressing the keen yet
quiet pleasure it now gives me. It really seems as if I was
with you again amid the walls of home, talking, laughing,
reading, singing, or sitting with my feet on the wood-box,
keeled back in the rocking chair and quietly munching and
chewing the food of sweet and bitter fancies.

Now when I had written the word "fancies" I started for
dinner. I was off on that important duty about an hour and
have but just returned. Still no letter ! My confidence begins
to abate somewhat; but our messenger, who has just come
from the office, says the letters are not yet all distributed. My
prize may be delayed until the last drawings of the lottery
are reached. But I shall stop writing here until the question
is settled.

It is now Thursday morning. On coming to the office and
asking for letters, I found I was not in luck, and that I was
to have nothing this time for my heavy investments in cher-
ished expectations but a blank — a disappointment to which I
hope I shall not again be subjected. Still, I cannot believe that
you and Emma both failed to write. You must have written,
and the letter has miscarried. On receiving a letter from me
you must write immediately or it may not reach New York
in season for the steamer. Start your letters from Wilming-
ton, if possible, the day after you receive mine. Don't wait
till mine are received before beginning to write; have the
great body of yours written in advance, and then there will
be no mistake. I shall continue to write you every week, un-
less prevented by pressure of business; but if well shall al-
ways write once a week to you or Mr. Davenport or some one

*One side of this little pocket pincushion was covered with a scrap of
the cloth from which a jacket was made which he was accustomed to see
on the little boy.

[70]

OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

else in the village. You cannot get a letter to me oftener than
once a fortnight, and I hope and believe you will not fail to
write on each of the 26 opportunities which the year will
afford.

You are now, I suppose, in the depths of a northern win-
ter. Here we have the climate of the south of Europe, mild
as May in Vermont, not warm enough to debilitate in the
least nor cool enough to require a fire. So far as climate is
concerned, it is the most delightful country on the face of the
globe.

The United States Steamer Susquehanna has been here, but
has now left for New York. She was connected with the ex-
pedition to Japan, and when she left Asia the Macedonia
was in the Chinese seas. As near as I can ascertain, when she
returns it will be by this port.

And now, good bye. In a week I shall speak to you again.
Kiss the dear children all round on my account, and give my
warm regards to father and mother and Mr. D. How are
things in the pig-pen and at the barn?

From your affectionate husband,

O. L. Shafter.

A letter of educational counsel addressed to his daughter
Emma when she was a girl of 12 contains so much that is
sound and sensible for the direction of any young student of
any period that the following quotation is made from it:

Extracts from Letter.

Oscar L. Shafter to his daughter Emma.

San Francisco, Dec. 5, 1855.
For the present you should devote the better portion of
your time to the three elementary branches. You must try,
and try hard, to understand everything in these branches re-
spectively, as you go along. This is the more especially im-
portant in Grammar and Arithmetic. And to get this under-
standing, you will have to rely in the main upon your own
efforts. Don't forget that. Teachers can do no more than aid

[7i]

LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

you in this matter; it must be accomplished, if at all, by your-
self alone.

And now what progress do you make in your music? I have
little fear about that, for you are fond of music, and will
therefore not be likely to neglect it. But you must remember
that "music" comprehends something more than singing and
playing. Music is a science, having its methods and rules, and
unless you are fully acquainted with them, and sing and play
with reference to them, it will be quite impossible for you to
sing and play well.

You will remember what I have said to you on the subject
of reading. The silly stories with which the newspapers are
nowadays filled, and the more silly novels bound in yellow
covers, with which the country is flooded, are calculated only
to dissipate the mind and demoralize the heart. Avoid them
all, my child, now and hereafter, but more particularly, avoid
the yellow covered literature named.

I pointed out to you a course of reading before I left home,
which I desired you to enter upon immediately. With my
earnest wishes in that matter I doubt not you have complied.
You will find historical reading greatly instructive, and you
will soon become so much interested in it that the accruing
pleasure will be infinitely greater than any that can be offered
by false and extravagant romance. In the sober truth of his-
tory you will find things more wonderful than in the wildest
creations of fiction, and a rich harvest of valuable knowledge
that will stand you in stead in all the relations of your after
life. In short, you must avail yourself diligently of all the op-
portunities you enjoy, to acquire every kind of knowledge
that will be serviceable to yourself and others hereafter.

Your affectionate father,

O. L. Shafter.

From Diary.

December 16, 1854.

I have been reading today the life of Lord Mansfield,
Chief Justice of the Court of Kings Bench, England. He was
indeed a great judge and a great man, and in his long judi-

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OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

cial career did more to perfect the Law by adapting it to the
phases presented by an improved civilization than can be
claimed for any other Common Law Judge. What has par-
ticularly interested me is his method of study, adopted when
he first became a student in the Inner Temple, and adhered
to through life. He began with the most general principles of
the Science of Law, and from these proceeded to principles
that were relatively subordinate to them, and so on through
series after series of dependent truths until the final details
had been examined and exhausted. In other words, he began
with a genera, from them proceeded to an examination of the
different species included in each genus, and from them to in-
dividual truths of which those species were severally constitut-
ed. It must be obvious to every one that the memory must be
most powerfully aided by this method of study. The princi-
ples of law, though in one sense their name is legion, yet all
bear relation to each other, and taken together they form a
system, and if once mastered in their relations to each other,
so long as one of these principles is retained by the mind, the
principle of association gives signal aid in recalling the others.
From the predisposition of my own mind, all from a habit
acquired at school, I began and have for the last 15 years
prosecuted all my professional study on the plan above named,
and though my memory is not remarkably tenacious, I have
had no difficulty in remembering all the details of legal truth
when once acquired that can be brought within the scope of
legal principles. When I read a new decision, I always ask
myself, "whereabouts in the system of the Law does the result
ascertained by the case belong?" In the twinkling of an eye
its appropriate place is at once suggested to my thought, and
I put it in its place, and then I stop and look at it there, and
I find by experience that it is very apt to stay there until I
want it, and without watching, too. If my son should conclude
to study law, when the time shall come for him to select a pro-
fession, and if I should not then be alive to advise him as to
the best mode of study, these remarks, if they come under his
observation, will suggest to him the views entertained by his

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LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

father on that subject. Should he become a lawyer I hope he
will become a great one, profoundly versed in the principles of
his profession, well instructed in the cases wherein those prin-
ciples have been applied, and whereby they are illustrated;
familiar with the literature of the Law, and the master of its
history, presenting as it does an embodiment of all true his-
torical results. Laws are but the conclusions to which all pre-
ceding human experience has brought the generation by whom
they are made. I trust also that my boy will not only be a great
lawyer, but a good one, which is the same as saying I trust he
will be a good man, free from all chicanery, honest in his
dealings with Court and jury, and perfectly truthful in all of
his relations to his clients. There is no calling in which a strict
obedience to the maxim that "honesty is the best policy" is
more available. A rogue of an attorney is sure to reveal him-
self in his true character and then there comes at once from
all honest men a revelation of disgust, aversion, and contempt,
and no matter what may be his learning or his talents, a with-
drawal of business inevitably follows the withdrawal of con-
fidence.

A Letter to Little Hugh.

San Francisco, Dec. 18, 1854.
My Dear Son:

When I wrote by the last steamer to your Mother, I told
her that by the next mail I should write to you, and I am now
about to do as I promised. I find it the more pleasant to talk
to you in this way, for the reason that there are no little boys
here for me to play with or talk to. I think there are not many
boys here, or if there are, their mothers keep them at home, I
must believe, for but very few indeed are seen in the streets.
The men who have left their homes and come out to this far
off country, have left their little children behind them to do
chores and look after things in their absence. But I have no
doubt but that they often think about them day and night, and
want very much to see them. There is one little boy, however,
who belongs to the office, with whom I am very well acquaint-
ed, and to whom I have become very much attached. He is

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OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

about ten years old, I should think, and is a very smart and a
very good boy. His business is to run on errands. Every morn-
ing when I come to the office I find Joseph there ready for
any work in his line. He is always neatly dressed, his hair
combed smooth, and his shoes ever shine like glass bottles. He
is a boy too of very pleasant manners; he always makes a re-
spectful bow to the gentlemen who hire him, and to myself,
when we come to the office, and bids us each "good morning."
But besides all this, and over and above it all, he is good to
his mother and his little brothers and sisters. His mother is
a French lady and is a widow. Joseph's father is dead. She is
very poor, and wouldn't have enough for herself and her chil-
dren to eat, drink and wear, did not Joseph help her. He
saves all the money he earns and carries it home, and gives it
to his mother and in that way she and her family get along
quite comfortably. Don't you see that he must be a good boy
when he is so good to his mother and to his brothers and sis-
ters? I think further that he always speaks the truth — at least
I never knew him to do otherwise than tell it just as it is. If
Joseph continues to do and to behave as well as he does now,
there can be little doubt but that he will grow up to be a very
wise, good and worthy man. Joseph speaks French and Eng-
lish too; he learned both languages together. I asked him the
other day if French was not his mother tongue? He said,
'No, sir, but it is my mother's tongue." And he laughed very
heartily, and I confess I was a good deal tickled myself. When
your mother or Emima write me next, you must tell me how
you like Joseph.

I sent you a paper by the last mail filled full of all sorts of
pictures showing how people earn their bread by digging gold
way back among the mountains. The men who dig the gold
are called miners, and when they get their pockets filled with
gold, they come down to this city and sell it to men here who
are called bankers, who give them money for it; and then the
good miners send their money home to their wives and chil-
dren, and the wicked miners go off and spend their money in
gambling and for rum. And then they get drunk on their rum,
and fight in the streets, and sometimes kill each other in their

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drunken brawls. And then the sheriffs take them and put them
into dark prisons, and then they are taken to court and are
tried for murder, and if found guilty they are taken out and
hung by their necks until they are dead. By studying those pic-
tures you will get a very good idea of how the miners live and
carry on their business. I hope you will keep the paper very
carefully until I come home.

I suppose you are going to school this winter and learning
to spell and read. Do you wallow through snow to and from
school and grow hardy and tough? Do you play with your
sled, — you, Mary and Emma, drawing one another about in
the yard, and sliding down hill? I suppose that the drawing
began with the coming of the snow, and the sliding will com-
mence as soon as the crust shall come, I suppose.

There is no snow here. The weather is as mild as summer.
It is very rare that I have a fire in my room. The reason why
it is warmer than in Wilmington is that San Francisco is near-
er the sun, and because it lies on the shore of the great Pacific
Ocean. Emma, who I supose knows all about geography by
this time, will explain this matter to you further. As the
weather is so warm here, we have now grapes, peas and all
kinds of vegetables growing in the gardens, and have them to
eat every day at dinner. Still, in the morning and in the even-
ing it is quite cool, and a greatcoat I find at those hours to be
quite comfortable. You, I suppose, find your greatcoat quite
comfortable at all hours of the day.

The people who have come here from Vermont, and who
have been here some time, say, notwithstanding the weather
is so very pleasant, that they suffer after all as much from the
cold here as they used to at home. But I have been here so
short a time that the chilly weather in the morning and even-
ing does not as yet trouble me much. But if I stay here a great
while, I suppose I shall become as tender as others. If the
weather is more pleasant here than it is in Wilmington, Wil-
mington, on the other hand, is not near as much bothered with
dogs as San Francisco. The city is full of dogs, and there is
not a dog here but what is a barking dog. They don't make
much disturbance in the daytime, but after bedtime it is bow !

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OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

wow ! wow ! all night long. Some of them bark bass, some
bark treble, and some counter, and every whelp, big and lit-
tle, tries to out-yell all the others. For a while after I came
here I couldn't sleep very well on account of the noise they
made, but now I have got so used to it, it operates on me like
a lullaby on your little sister.

Talking of little Alice, how is the little dear? I have not
seen a single baby since I have been here. Does the little girl
grow? And if so, does she grow pretty? Can she laugh? Can
she crow? Does she know you from the others yet? Does she
look like little (Alice) Maud? You must be very good to
her, and if she lives, as we all hope she will, she will soon be
old enough to play with you as did her little sister that is dead
and gone. You must tell your mother the next time she writes
to answer all these questions about the baby, and you must
also have her write something for you to your father. I hope
you remember your promise to take care of your father when
he gets to be an old man. You are all the son your father and
mother have got, and they hope that you will live with them
and be kind to them when their heads have become grey with
many years. They take care of you and your sisters now, while
you are young, and you and they will not fail to remember
and care for them when time shall have done its work on them
and you.

There are fires here about every night. The bells ring, and
the engines turn out and go rattle-ti-bang through the streets.
The boys — what there are of them — run hooting and yelling
beside them, and the dogs join in the race and in the racket.
A few nights ago there was a great fire, and two little children
were burned to death.

Well, my letter is most done, — the first I ever wrote to you ;
but if I live and have the use of my fingers it shall not be the
last. When you get to be a little older, you will answer my
letters, and oh! how much T shall be pleased to receive them,
particularly the first one. You must keep this letter. It is not
very interesting, I know, but then it is my first to you. Put it
in your drawer and keep it, and when you have another from
me, put it with the other, and so on, and you soon will have a

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LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

great pile of them perhaps, and when you get to be a man, and
your father is no longer with you, you will consider them as a
great treasure to you, for the reason that they were written
by him.

Give my love to your sisters and tell them I want to see
them. I often look at your pictures. Do you ever look at mine?
I have no doubt you do, if it isn't so very handsome. Kiss your
mother for

Your affectionate father,

O. L. Shafter.

Diary.
December 22, 1854.

The true life is the life of the heart. The head is nothing,
its ambitions, its achievements even, bring no abiding content;
their highest successes are in this behalf but barren victories
whose proudest trophies soon cease to minister even to the
pride of him who won them. True enjoyment in this, as in the
future life, consists alone in the indulgences of pure and chas-
tened affection.

December 27, 1854.

I am still at work, hammer and tongs. I have no leisure and
I want none. Business, occupation, constant and unremitting,
is with me a moral and mental necessity. I feel here entirely
freed from the disinclination to severe and protracted intel-
lectual exertion that had beset me for some time before I left
home. There I had almost ceased to find any stimulus in the
practice of my profession. The familiarity that I had attained
with the routine of questions ordinarily litigated, and perhaps
the firmly established position that I had secured at our
County Bar, and perhaps may I say among the lawyers of
Vermont, left me with no incentive to exertion except a sim-
ple, unaided desire for farther excellence. Here it is as it was
when my professional career commenced : the residue of com-
petence is to be acquired here, if at all, and the whole of char-
acter and name among this people is to be made as from the
beginning. There is a definite object before me, and to be se-

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OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

cured in the shortest possible time. The importance of that
object, the anxiety I feel and must continue to feel for reunion
with my family, have aroused in me a resolution that knows no
flinching, and awakened an enthusiasm in study and profes-
sional endeavor that is a marvel even to myself. The lawyers
here are free livers and positively dissipated in a majority of
instances, and by consequence are not students. Sharp, quick,
adroit, and voluble, many of them are, but as for being
lawyers, in the New England sense of the term, they are not.
If I could keep my end up with the first lawyers of my State
when at home, why should I doubt as to the rank I shall in the
end attain to here? A sum in the Rule of Three.

Oscar L. Shaffer to his Wife.

San Francisco, December 30, 1854.
Dear Sarah :

Severe and unremitted occupation is my method of keeping
all bad thoughts at bay. Of occupation I have enough, and
could have yet more if my powers of endurance were greater
than they are. I have seen as yet very little of the town, or of
its social life. I have in fact hardly deviated from my regular
line of travel between the office and my boarding place so far
as to explore the geography of the streets immediately adja-
cent. The other night, however, in company with Mr. Billings
I took a turn around among the gambling saloons. There are
a great many of them in the City, and of all grades, from the
low dark cellar where the highest stakes are picayunes, to the
gorgeous palace where a fortune is hazarded on the turn of a
die. The first establishment we visited was the El Dorado, sit-
uated on the Plaza or open Square in the center of the City.
The large room on the first floor was filled with a crowd of
people, there as a general thing obviously for the transaction
of business. They were gathered around fifteen or twenty
gambling tables at which as many different games were in
progress: ecarte at one, monte at another, roulette at a third,
and so on. The merchant from his counting house, the artisan
from his shop, the professional man from his office, the miner

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LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

from the canyons and gulches of the mountains, the bacchanal
from his orgies, and the debauchee from other haunts more
hellish still, the vagrant from the streets, and I don't know but
the Divine from his pulpit; all classes of society, in short,
seemed to be represented in this pandemonium. A band of mu-
sic from an elevated dais was discoursing national airs that
have nerved the hearts of heroes when battling for their coun-
try, or melodies associated in all minds with simple virtuous
content within the walls of home. It was a study to watch the
countenances of the eager gamesters as the play proceeded,
and the games moved rapidly. Not a word was uttered except
by those who presided at the several tables, and they spoke
only to make the regular calls of the game. Cheeks flushed at
one moment with eager hope, wild and pallid with despair the
next! Now and then you would hear a low, half-uttered im-
precation, and the next turn of the game would be followed
perhaps by a muttered howl of gratified avarice and revenge;
the worst passions of degraded men were stirred to their
depths and of all the revolting exhibitions of human depravity
that I ever witnessed it was the worst. We went to four or
five of these gateways to destruction, licensed all of them by
the City Council under the public law, and then left for home
with a disgust and horror so profound that I shall feel little
inclined to enter them again.

The weather so far has been very pleasant here. With the
exception of a slight sprinkle some six weeks since, there has
been no rain since my arrival until today, and it is falling now
in limited quantities only. Business in the mines is pretty much
at a standstill for want of water, and has been for two or three
months, and the suspension of gold washing there has stag-
nated business everywhere in the State. If rain does not come
soon, and in large quantities, it is thought there will be a gen-
eral crash among the merchants and bankers in this City and
elsewhere. Rain is as indispensable to gold-digging here as it
is to a grist mill in August on a small stream in Vermont. But
lawyers are not dependent on the rain, or the sunshine, or the
dews, anywhere ; the prosperity of others advances their busi-
ness, and the embarrassments and bankruptcies of others do

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OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

not diminish it. The Nicaragua Express Line has given notice
that they will carry letters no longer, and the regular mail
leaves but once a fortnight.

The steamer is announced at last! I shall stop until I re-
ceive the letters that I expect so confidently.

Sunday Morning, Dec. 31, 1854.

This morning I got up earlier than usual, and soon after
going below the office boy came to the house with yours and
Emma's of the 19th of November and Emma's of the 29th.
I was most gratified to hear from you and that you were all
well. I was somewhat startled at your narrow escape from a
fire laying the house in ashes at the incoming of a Vermont
winter, and am most grateful that we have been spared that
calamity. It has occurred to me that the stove in the parlor
had better be moved out into the room further than it has
usually stood, or the same mischief may sooner or later be
done there How is it with the wood? I left direc-
tions with Mr. D. and also with your father about that, and
if my directions have been acted on, as I presume they have
been, you will have a shed full of good dry fuel for the winter
and ensuing summer.

I am pleased to hear that Emma has divided her time, al-
lotting so much to music, so much to reading, and another
portion to work — a matter quite as important, in my judg-
ment, as either of the others. It is very desirable that she and
Mary, and will be as much so for little Alice when she is old
enough, should learn all about housekeeping, how to cook and
cook well, and all about making and mending. If they try to
learn, and are good girls, they can be of great service to you,
and a great comfort to me, though I am so far distant from
them. The distance does not diminish my love for them, or
my deep interest in them and in their conduct, and to hear
that they are studious, industrious and obedient, cheers me as
much, and if possible more, in my exile, than it would if I was
with them at home.

I am also pleased that my son takes so much interest in his
father's business. At this rate we shall not be dependent much

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longer upon other people for boys to do our chores and look
after things, for we shall have one of our own. I suppose that
Hugh has had his wheelbarrow laid up nicely for the winter,
and that he has taken care that the hoes, the rakes, the shov-
els, chains and all other tools have been taken care of. He
must keep his eyes open and if he sees anything out of place
he must put it away where it belongs at once. I wrote him a
letter by the last steamer, and it will be received, if nothing
happens, about a week in advance of this, and I hope he will
find something in it to encourage him in his efforts to speak the
truth always, and in his endeavors to be an honest, frank and
manly little boy.

Now kiss all the children for me and remember me to
Mr. D.

Your affectionate husband,

O. L. Shafter.

From Diary.
December 31, 1854.

The steamer arrived last night, bringing two letters from
home ! My family is well, and comfortably situated, and com-
fortably conditioned. There are many men here in California
who have families in the Atlantic States dependent upon their
own unaided exertions for the necessaries of life. Happily for
them and for me, with my own absent household it is widely
different : for which may I and they be duly grateful.

How much one's tone depends upon the circumstances in
which he is placed! To men of a somewhat easy and sluggish
temperament like myself, motives from without are necessary
to arouse them to effort, and to hold them to it, and as cow-
ards in the presence of danger from which they cannot fly be-
come heroes, so under the pressure of extraneous inducements
indolence and inanity are often supplanted by intense mental
activity and the higher modes of moral and intellectual life.

January i, 1855.

Today is the first of the New Year. It has very generally
been observed here as a holiday. Not having been bred to its

[82]

Plati l\ . Sarah Riddle Shafter, wife of Oscar Lovell Shafter
from old Daguerreoi

: . ;'ORK 'J

j BLIC LIBRARY

ASTOR, LEN®X
TILBEH FOUNDATIONS

OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

observance, and having no associations connected with the
day, I have felt no inclination to mingle with the festivities
or sociabilities even with which its coming has been distin-
guished by others, so I have kept in the office during the day,
and am now spending my evening there. The rainy season, so
long delayed, has at last fairly set in, and the hearts of all
classes of business men, but more especially the hearts of the
miners will be greatly rejoiced. Without rains, and copious
ones, the business of gold-washing stands still.

I have been reading Thierry's History of the Norman Con-
querors, and my conclusion is that it has never been written
before. There has been heretofore a prevailing inclination
among Historians to assimilate the political and social con-
ditions of the peoples whose history they have undertaken to
write to their political and social conditions at the time the
books were being written. Tn the past they have been eager to
avoid seeing anything not visible in the present, and in study-
ing the present to close their eyes upon its highest manifesta-
tions unless their counterparts could be detected among the
petrifactions of some earlier age. The reason is obvious. His-
torians heretofore, as a general thing, have written for the eye
of Monarchs, and privileged classes, for Courts, and for those
who frequent them and feed on the patronage which they dis-
pense. They have so fashioned and colored their narratives as
would best flatter the prejudices and subserve the interests of
men in power, to keep the people where they are, beneath,
and rulers where they are, above them. Hence the Historians
of England have failed to notice, or to give proper promi-
nence to many things that distinguish the earlier from the later
period. In their ungovernable bias to invest all the institutions
of their own times with the holiness of age, they have made
the veriest novelties of today antediluvian, and have been sed-
ulous to prove that all exploded or seriously modified ideas of
half- forgotten times constitute all the real verities of the pres-
ent. Opposed to change, they deny that change has ever taken
place. Opposed to progress, they question if the Nations have
made any. Fearing both, they gainsay the truth of history,

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LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

lest their irrational fears should be realized and the highest
and most cherished hopes of man be fulfilled.

The English of today are to a great extent a homogeneous
people; the antagonisms of race, of religion, laws, customs,
literature and tradition, are pretty much at an end. Queen
Victoria "by the Grace of God" rules over an United Church,
over a peerage secure in its titles and possessions, and over a
devoted and loyal people, who no longer know among them-
selves the distinctions of "Norman," "Saxon," "Dane,"
"Pict," "Scot," or "Cambrian." Race no longer rises up
against race, rival dynasties no longer strive for dominion,
the wars of the Roses are ended, the Stuarts, — first Monarchs,
then "pretenders," — their line is extinct. The fires kindled by
religious intolerance have gone out, the Stake has ceased to
claim its victims.

This is the tone and aspect of the present. Is it not most
natural that titled or privileged conservatism should find a
solace for its pride in the belief that the present is all storied
in the past? And is its conclusion an unwise one when it holds
that that belief, if it becomes general, will do much to stay
the hand of popular innovation hereafter?

Thierry, a Frenchman, has not written history with any
reference to the accomplishment of such an end, however. In
his judgment the Conquest by Duke William was something
more than mere "acquisition" or conquest in its feudal sense ;
he regards it as one of the most decisive subjugations of one
Nation by another that can be found in all the records of gen-
eral history. Not accomplished by a single battle, or in a sin-
gle reign, but by battles and sieges, stormings and sackings,
banishments and deaths without number, filling the history of
the country for several ages after the death of Harold on the
field of Hastings. All political disturbances, all social dis-
quiets, all popular movements for greater freedom, and all
endeavor by power and privilege to counteract them, were
mere incidents that attended this work of subjugation in its
progress, and it was not until it had been fully accomplished
that the subjugated race, by reason of its own unsurpassed
vitalities and by the force of numbers, began slowly and im-

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OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

perceptibly to recover the ground that it had lost. This was
quietly yet surely effected under the silent but always invinci-
ble laws of social life. The men of Saxon lineage were strong
and brave, and the Saxon woman was beautiful. In domestic
strifes and on many a foreign field, the bowmen of the con-
quered race had often turned the tide of battle in favor of the
Norman King, and the Norman chivalry, drawn by that in-
stinct which always unites the brave, had learned to know the
Saxon Knights as brothers in arms, and had taught themselves
to believe that the highest meed of successful valor was to be
found not more in the Norman than in the beaming glances
of Saxon womanhood. Under the operation of these social in-
fluences the asperities of race gradually subsided, and even
that remembrance which is the last to be forgotten, the re-
membrance of wrong, faded in the dalliances of rustic or
courtly love, and was finally lost in the holier endearments of
conjugal and parental ties. With this amalgamation of races
and ideas commences the true "present" of English history.

January 5, 1855.

In all time the race has been merciful of its benefactors, the
patriot dead have always been remembered, and honored by
the living. The ancients placed the heroes who had fought
and died for Country among the demi-gods; in the middle
ages men made eminent by patriotic achievement or sacrifices
were placed on the roll of saints, the highest and holiest meed
which could be conferred in the judgment of a superstitious
age. In modern times the reward of patriotic or philan-
thropic endeavor is to be enrolled among the wise and good
by the suffrage of an intelligent and grateful people.

The antipathies of race were perhaps never more strongly
developed than in the conquering Normans, and the Saxon
English whom they had subjugated. No epithet was too vile,
no injustice too atrocious, when deep-seated aversion sought
for an appropriate indulgence. And still these nations were of
the same blood and the same religion, having to a great extent
the same institutions and laws, and the same stamp and grade
of civilization. But one race was conqueror, and the other con-

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LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

quered; the one was master, the other was enslaved; there
was, in short, an inequality in their social conditions and in
that is to be found the cause of the bitter contempt and abid-
ing scorn of the Norman, and of the sullen, vengeful hate that
festered in the heart of his Saxon thrall. And so it is even yet
in all cases of supposed natural antipathy of man to man, or
of men to men; the prejudice lies not in nature, but in antag-
onism, which always has its origin in injustice.

Oscar L. Shaffer to his Wife.

San Francisco, January 14, 1855.
Dear Sarah :

The steamer John L. Stephens arrived last night with the
mails from Panama. It was 1 1 o'clock when I heard her signal
guns from towards the sea, announcing to thousands of ex-
pectant hearts that another invoice of tidings from distant
homes was about to be delivered. And as the loud report came
booming over the waters, and fell upon the ears of the exiles,
what were the thoughts that were awakened, think you? I
judge of theirs by my own. They were thoughts of hope, and
thoughts of fear, hope of weal, and dread of all possible
woe, — sickness, — death, and of more mishaps without num-
ber. And fancy then "spread wide her magical pinions," and
indulged itself in long and vagrant flights, having no intelli-
gent track or bourne, like the course of a bird of passage that
has lost its way in storm and darkness, and flies and flies till,
dizzy with ever increasing uncertainty, it sinks on wavering
wings exhausted to the earth.

I sat at my table for an hour after the swift rider of the
Pacific had announced her coming, lost in a perfect labyrinth
of these chaotic bewrayings, and then, when the clock was on
the stroke of midnight I left the office and started for what I
call my home. When I arrived at my lodgings, the family had
all retired and the customary candle had burnt itself out in
the socket. I however knew the way to my room, and followed
it without any more serious miscarriage than blundering
against a table and barking my shins against the sharp edges

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OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

of a heavy mahogany chair. I slept like a log, as usual, until
roused at 8 o'clock in the morning by a rap at the front door.
I knew very well that it was a rap by the messenger from the
office with letters, so I jumped out of bed, bounded into my
pants, and then by a rapid and adroit bolt to the right
achieved my dressing gown and tumbled headlong down
stairs, rushed to the front door and was rewarded for my
hurry and pains by finding two letters to my address, one from
Emma and yourself, and one from Mr. D. I ran them over in
a moment with a rapid eye to find out simply if all was well
with you and then countermarched slowly back to my room.

It is Sunday, and though the great Dr. Scott from New Or-
leans preaches a dedication sermon in a new and gorgeous
church recently erected, still I shall pass the day where I am
and in writing to you and Mr. D., I think, or somebody else
at home.

The letter that I wrote to my son on the 22nd of Decem-
ber has not yet reached you, but will at farthest in 2 or 3
days. Tell Hugh that the great whales I saw on the Pacific
"spurted water out of their heads just as he has seen them in
pictures," and also that the miners live and dig gold just
as they are represented in the pictures contained in the paper
that I sent him. On this assurance I think he will have great
confidence in the general truth of pictures hereafter. As to
Hugh's keeping his mil tens until I come home, I have my
doubts about the policy of his doing that. I have no doubt
that they are as nice as Emma represents, and I should like
very well to see them or anything else that belongs to him,
but in Vermont this cold winter, mittens are mittens, I know.
They are to be worn and not kept, and I should regret very
much to have him go with cold hands for the sake of pre-
serving his mittens for me to look at on my return. Tell him
then not to spare his mittens or his boots either for his
father's gratification.

In the matter of Emma's staying at home this winter, I
defer entirely to your judgment. Very likely it will be as
well, and may be better, than it would be if she should go to
school. I say it may be better, and so it may be, if she properly

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improves her time. She can learn much about cooking and
housekeeping generally, and then she must have a good deal
of leisure for reading and for writing good long letters to
her father and other relatives and friends, not forgetting
her grandfather Shafter, whose heart will be cheered and
whose youth will be almost renewed by letters from her.
Then she will have time also for writing at length in her
diary from day to day. As she reads the historical and other
wrorks which I have heretofore designated, it would be very
profitable for her to write out at length reflections which the
books have excited in her own mind. Such reflections would
find an appropriate place in her Diary. In reading, she should
attend to Chronology, or dates; it is only by a careful atten-
tion to them that the true relation of historical events can be
determined and retained. I trust that her time this winter,
though spent at home, will not be spent unprofitably, but that
she will acquire valuable accessions of homely truths, and
make perceptible progress in substantial intellectual culture
also.

I am pleased that Mr. Ranney is so well disposed to stand
to the duties connected with his pastoral relation and with
that other relation that has so long existed between him and
myself as personal friends. During the continuance of your
grass widowhood, a bereavement more pregnant with the
quizzical than any other one ill that flesh is heir to, I trust
that he and his very excellent wife will not fail to exercise all
the rights of ancient and ever abiding friendship, to a per-
formance of all its duties. Whatever they may be, they need
no exhortation. As to showing my letters, I leave that of
course entirely to your judgment and discretion. They were
written for you alone and my children. There may be now
and then a "slopping over," which though not altogether
valueless to you or them, might sound like mere sentimental-
ity to strangers or third persons.

I am surprised that Emma should have allowed herself to
be disappointed by the fact that the baby weighed but 16
pounds. Sixteen pounds I conceive to be a very respectable
avoirdupois for a baby but 4 months old, and who for 3 out

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OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

of that 4 has labored under the disadvantage of having no
father. But for that drawback quite likely she might have
come up to the 20 pound notch whereat her over sanguine
sister seems to have placed her.

Don't stint yourself in anything that you may want or
desire for yourself or the children. I am hearty as a buck,
though I continue to work like a beaver. Did I not do this,
I soon should be buried under a mass of papers. Love to all
the children and friends.

Your aff. husband,

O. L. Shafter.
From Diary.
January 21, 1855.

The Nicaragua steamer "Cortes" arrived last night, but
has brought but little news. There seems however to be a
general breakdown in progress among business men through-
out the East; great reduction of wages; dismissal of work-
men in all the industrial establishments of every grade, and
a growing amount of distress and positive suffering among
the poor, aided by the severities of a Northern winter. These
periodical revulsions with which the Atlantic States have
so long been afflicted, have their origin in my judgment in
the credit system, and of that system the most pernicious
feature, the causa causans is the Banks. Strange indeed it is
that those States do not learn wisdom by their bitter expe-
rience !

January 25, 1855.

There was never such weather as we are now enjoying.
We are in midwinter, but the earth is green with an ever
renewed vegetation; the gardens around the city are filled
with glowing promise, the hills and meadows are enameled
with flowers, and all the air is balm. This country was made
for delights, and were not the charm and tie of association
wanting, it appears to me that I would here live and die.
In half a century from this, and most probably in half of
that time, roads of every grade will have been built, churches
founded, and schools of every grade established and en-

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dowed. The "primitive age" through which all communities
have to pass will have transpired, and a higher civilization,
with all its attendant moralities, humanities, and delicate
refinements, will have set in. Art in all its departments will
then lend its embellishments to social and individual life.
There will then be intelligence too that knows no caste,
freedom that knows no slave, justice that tolerates no wrong,
and the sublimity of the sea, the wealth and beauty of earth,
the grandeur of the heavens, and all the accidents of a per-
fect clime, will join in alliance to give a local habitation and
a name to that terrestrial paradise hitherto unknown, except
in the poet's dream.

January 26, 1855.

There is a thing put into my hands by my friends, it is a
book. I have never read it, nor have I ever seen it before.
It at first engages my attention as a material thing merely.
In that regard I examine its exterior, its binding and letter-
ing and gilding. I open it and the paper and the typography
become subjects of inquiry and thought. So far, even, what
a vast range of knowledge is needful in order that I may
understand, appreciate and relish the naked facts that I
have learned. The art of book-binding since books were
first known; the progress of that art through a long suc-
cession of ages terminating in the present. Printing in its
first discovery or invention, printing in all the modes and
styles that have since obtained, the names of the printers
by whom they have been originated or practiced; printing
as connected with the Presses with which it has been carried
on in different Nations, and in the different times, and all
the wonderful improvements that have been made in the
Press considered as a means. These and a thousand other
matters are needful for me to know in order that I may
comprehend what I have already observed in their great
import.

Thought as it first arose in the mind of the inventor; its
slow and labored development in his toiling brain until the
ideal that he was struggling for stood revealed in matured

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OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

conception. Then the protracted and wearisome endeavor
to realize that conception in the material forms; the conflict
with obstacles never ending, or if ended still ever to be
renewed; the fierce exhausting strife with human ignorance
and human passions; the discouragements of penury, the
alternations of hope and despair, and the frequent encoun-
ters of each with the other; the whole biography of the
wonderful men who in spite of such tremendous odds at last
achieved for the ages in which they lived the great triumphs
of modern civilization; how their achievements acted upon
other minds to stimulate them to like endeavor; the effects
produced by their inventions and discoveries upon the times
in which they lived and the mightier consequences that were
developed in ages following; these, yes all this great context
if known to me will invest with marvelous interest, I ween,
the Book considered simply as a material thing. To fully
compass it in that regard, of how very little of general
history can I afford to be ignorant.

But to understand and appreciate and relish the contents
of the Book as I peruse them, the whole range of history,
biography, science, art, and general literature should be
as familiar to me as early lessons. The new production of
human thought stands related to all that thought has orig-
inated, or combined before, and the threads the author has
spun he has woven in a thousand nameless and marvelous
methods into the mighty woof of previously associated ideas.

Oscar L. Shaffer to his daughter Emma.

San Francisco, January 29, 1855.

My Dear Daughter:

I have received your letter by the steamer of to-day. It is
just one month old. I have received all the letters that have
been addressed to me from home — five in all. As none have
miscarried, then, I hope you will feel encouraged, if encour-
agement be indeed necessary, to continue to write by every
mail steamer, an event which happens on the 5th and 20th
of every month. I have also received a letter from father

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LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

to-day bearing even date with yours, and both have pleased
and cheered me greatly. He acknowledges the receipt of the
letter that I inadvertently sent to Wilmington, and which
you forwarded so promptly to him, accompanied, as he
says, with a very nice little letter of your own. You do
very right to keep up a correspondence with your father's
father, for his own children are greatly scattered and theirs
must, so far as practicable, stand in their stead and discharge
their duties.

How glad I am to hear that you are getting on so com-
fortably and cozily at home! No matter, I ween, if the
thermometer stands, as you say, at 28 degrees below zero.
The house is tight, the woodshed full of wood I suppose,
there is pork in the barrel, meal in the tub, wool on your
backs, leather on your feet, and resignation, cheerfulness
and hope in all your hearts. Let the rains beat and the winds
blow then, and all other mere accidents of a Vermont winter
do their worst in the way of endeavor in their line. Still if
sickness and death but spare you, if despondency and re-
pinings do not vainly and irreverently affect you, the true
"lights of home," though they may be dimmed by your
loving father's absence, will not be extinguished. They will
survive that absence and will only burn the brighter after
its conclusion. May God in his goodness grant that fruition !

Your letter not alone assures me of your contentment at
home, but gratifies me more particularly by a disclosure of
the sources from which it flows. Your pleasures are home
pleasures, fireside enjoyments, such as are rarely to be found
outside of the charmed circle of New England life. The
smiles and nameless assiduities of maternal love, the assist-
ance and sympathy of the elder daughter in the details of
household labor, and when that labor is over for the day,
the magic of books, the spell of music, the rarer charm of
light or sober converse, relating to the past, the passing, and
to that which the future promises or threatens, but which is
not as yet revealed; — the names and history of the dead and
lost; the names and welfare of the living and absent; the
prattle of little children sitting in little chairs with faces

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OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

reddened by the genial warmth of glowing fires, the little
boy playing schoolmaster to his own mother and sisters,
spelling book in hand, — the smiles and crowing of the little
babe, youngest born in the household band; and pervading
all and hallowing all, concord that knows no jar, confidence
that knows no distrust, and that mutual love that cannot die!
These, these, my dear little daughter, are the fruitful sources
of the valued enjoyments that you are realizing in the home
that your father built. Do all that you can to render that
home a happy one, happier even than it is. Your own good
conduct, now and hereafter, will have much, very much to
do in promoting peace of mind within its walls.

I was pleased to know that you had a merry Christmas,
and that Santa Claus was so impartial in the distribution of
his annual gifts. The kindhearted old saint did not even
forget little Alice. I wonder how the jolly old fellow came
to know there was such a little girl in existence; she is but
live months old, and how did her name come on his muster
roll? And while he forgot not the babe, I see that he also,
contrary to his general rule, made a gift to the mother. Now
if I had been at home, he would have given her nothing,
as I fully believe, or me either. I conclude that he made
her a gift therefore in a mere freak of compassion.

As to whether I shall return at the end of the year or not,
I can only say that at this present I intend to return when
my year is up. I left home with that intent and I have not
yet changed it. Whether I shall change it or not depends
altogether upon how I feel about it when the year closes.
This is not very definite to be sure, but it is as much so as
my own frame of mind on the subject will admit, now.

I am constantly engaged, and the importance of the
business intrusted to me increases the severity of labor, for
it adds to the anxiety which always accompanies a just sense
of responsibility. But I continue buoyant and hopeful and
resolved, for those I love are always in my thoughts and
connect themselves with all my taskwork.

Your wishes, so filially indulged and so filially expressed,
that we shall all again be happily reunited, finds, my dear

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LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

child, an echo in my own heart and in my own unswerving
hopes. Your words of cheer are also very grateful, for they
are without purchase, and are to me therefore beyond price.
A word of earnest promise from unpractised childhood is
worth more than volumes of what may after all be but
selfish commendation bestowed by others.

You have heard and read a great deal about the "rainy
season." That season set in here 2 or 3 months ago, but
during that time we have had what would be called in the
East a long drought; there has, in fact, been but 2 or 3
days of rain during the whole time. And the old Californians
tell me that in the rainiest specimens of the rainy season,
the rains are occasional only.

Last evening we had a lawyer here from the City of
Mexico, one who it is said stands at the head of his profes-
sion in that city. He is a young man of very elegant manners,
but as he did not speak English I could not form any opinion
of him except upon the representations of others. The con-
quered people of this country are entirely reconciled to the
rule of the conquerors.

My sheet is about filled, but there is yet room for a special
message to your mother. It is short and therefore soon told.
It is simply a message of love. Will the daughter deliver it
from the father to the mother? Hugh has received my letter
to him before this, I suppose. Tell me how he likes the idea
of receiving letters from San Francisco, addressed to himself,
postage paid, and the thing done up with all the honors !
I am glad that he is getting on so well, with his learning,*
and that he is imparting of his abundance to your mother
and to you. Tell little Mary that she must fulfill your
promise that she will write me "a little something" soon.
Kiss and snuggle little Alice on my account, and beat it into
her as soon as possible that she is not a half orphan. Good
bye. O. L. Shafter.

*Alluding to the account sent him of little Hugh's fancy for playing
'schoolmaster" to his mother and sister during the long winter evenings.

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OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

With the death, years since, of every person named in
this and subsequent letters referring to the history of early
litigation in San Francisco, it would seem that the seal of
confidence, enjoined at the time they were written, may
be considered as released, and free quotation be made of
statements set down by a man of such high reliability as
Mr. Shafter. Moreover, in justice to him it should be borne
in mind always that rehearsals of his triumphs were made
in no spirit of self-adulation, but frankly and truthfully, to
cheer and gratify those vitally interested in his success, who
with natural misgivings had seen him abandon a well estab-
lished practice in New England, to commit himself to the
uncertainties of practice among strangers in a faraway com-
munity. That Mr. Shafter himself suffered dreary fore-
bodings and misgivings at first, these records plainly reveal,
and his quiet exultation upon rinding himself equal to the
task set before him, may be likened to the honest jov of the
athlete who measures his strength or ability against for-
midable opponents, and rejoices to find himself capable of
outstripping: them in fair and open contest.

Oscar L. Shafter to his Father.

San Francisco, Jan'y 30, 1855.
Dear Father

You inquire as to my success and assure me that

whatever I tell you under that head will be regarded as
confidential. With that guaranty I shall speak freely. Day
before yesterday I was deputed by my employers to appear
in a commercial case where $85,000 was at stake. Baldwin,
a distinguished lawyer from Alabama, was with me; and
young Emmet, a son of Thos. Addis Emmet of New York,
and General Williams from the same city and a lawyer of
great distinction here and there, were on the other side. The
questions presented were questions of law and were of a char-
acter entirely foreign to Vermont law. All the other gentle-

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LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

men had been bred in commercial communities. Baldwin in-
sisted upon opening on our side and I yielded to him. He
talked about two hours and made a very learned and able
argument. He was followed by Emmet, and he by Williams
on the same side. I closed the discussion in a speech of three-
quarters of an hour. The courtroom was filled with lawyers
throughout the protracted debate of five hours, unbroken
by adjournment. When it was over I gathered up my papers
and came straight back to the office. In a moment Park came
in and told me that it was said by all in the courtroom that
I had made the greatest law argument that had ever been
made in California. Immediately after this Billings made his
appearance looking particularly good natured and genial,
and not only repeated the same thing, but told me that
Baldwin said that my argument was worthy of the Supreme
Court of the United States. I certainly was not expecting
any such commendations, for though I was satisfied in my
own mind that I had talked to the point and somewhat at
least to the purpose, yet I had not comforted my own mind
at all with the idea that I had gone beyond California stand-
ards even.

Well, yesterday was another eventful day with me, for I
then had the honor of making the acquaintance of General
Foote and of crossing weapons with him — Senator Foote
from Mississippi, aforetime known as "hangman Foote."
There was $30,000 involved in the case, and it had been in
contest for the last three weeks in one of the City courts in
one form and another. I feared him, but I fear him no
longer. He is talkative but shallow, a man of no research,
his thoughts are vagrant and he cannot talk on a line. He is
vain, tautological and bombastic. I can name a round half
dozen lawyers in Windham county who would overmatch
him as a lawyer. He has qualities that make him available
in the arena of partisan warfare, but none that fit him for
the forum. I satisfied myself of his true measure at an early
stage of the discussion, and laid myself alongside of him
with as much freedom and assurance as though the news-
papers had not made him notorious.

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OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

A week since I tried that Folsom case, about which I
wrote you, unaided and alone. Park, Beachy and Billings
were absent at Sacramento, electioneering. Halleck had gone
to Mexico. Brosnan, and the celebrated Colonel Baker from
Illinois, were for the plaintiff. Baker was in the Mexican
War and since that has been in Congress. He has been con-
sidered the best jury advocate in this State. It was a heavy
case, — testimony voluminous and complicated, the case
bristling like a hatchet with points of law, and the adversary
counsel determined to make the most of Park's absence. I
argued the case, of course, and to the entire acceptance of
my client. I had one and only one advantage over them,
and that was I knew more law than both of them put to-
gether, and I used that advantage to the utmost against
them and with telling effect upon their case. But the great
strike that I made in that trial was in the cross examination
of one of the plaintiff's witnesses. He swore that while the
fight was in progress he saw Folsom standing in a dark
alley, wrapt in a cloak, apparently watching the course of
the affray. The witness was a new man, kept carefully in
reserve and brought unexpectedly upon the stand, and his
testimony, unless met in some way, was decisive, and if it
could not be discredited out of his own mouth it would
stand, for we had no other means to reach it. I went at him,
and at the end of a two hours' cross examination the perjurer
stood so far revealed that Baker rose and in open Court
withdrew the witness. I have been told that the cross exam-
ination was the most "awful" ever heard in a California
court. I can only say it was successful.

I know one thing, and that is that I can do here what
I could not do at home. I have here but one single aim ; from
that there is nothing to divert my attention, and furthermore
there is nothing that has power over me so far as even to so-
licit it — a kind of savagerious feeling has taken possession of
me that makes me as fearless and bold as a pirate. All my
sentient nature is boxed up, under lock and key, and has no
relations to daily life here, as it had at home. I feel like
one on a tramp, having nothing to do but to tramp until the

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tramp is over, or like a soldier in battle keyed to the last
pitch of pluck by the controlling exigencies of the hour.

But enough of this ! I am satisfied that I am becoming
very rapidly, in the public judgment, the brains of the con-
cern. I may return at the end of the year, after all. I shall
then be worth all that any man ought to be, and I am fol-
lowed with a half developed conviction that I do wrong
in separating myself from my family. But we shall see. If
Jim can go to the U. S. Senate, I think he ought not to
decline. It is not certain that there will be any opening for
him here immediately. Peachy is engineering for the U. S.
Senate as successor to Gwin. Should he succeed, the firm will
probably be dissolved, and I could then on the reorganization
of it secure a position for Jim. Still, it is not clear in my own
mind that it would be advisable for him to be a Senator
even, just now. Should he be, it would of course involve a
sacrifice of his business where he is, and a surrender of all
chances that may await him here. He must decide, if the
alternative should be presented to him

California will not be divided, nor will slavery be intro-
duced. There are many who desire it, many who have not
ceased to scheme for it and to labor for it, but the die is
cast, the tide begins already to turn. Southern men and
Southern ideas begin to wane. Sensible men begin to know
and feel that the State has nothing to hope from the South,
and at last comprehend that its good will be best subserved
by bringing it into harmony with the liberal policy and free
progressive spirit of the North. In 25 years, if no ill betide,
the "primitive age" through which all new communities
have to pass, will have fully transpired as to California, and
then, if there is a terrestrial paradise on the face of the globe,
it will be found here. Then a higher civilization with all its
attendant refinements and humanities will have fully set in.
All the air is balm. The land was made for delights. It is a
land of mountains, and their auguries are always of good,
and it enjoys all the accidents of a perfect clime

Write. Your son,

O. L. Shafter.

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OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

From Diary.
February 6, 1855.

This morning I am going into the trial Junis vs. Senator,
a case of collision between two ships in this harbor in the
year 1850. The case has been tried nine times, and the end
is not yet; it is a heavy case and I hope it will not suffer in
my hands. I have made all the preparations possible, and
must patiently but bravely bide the fortune of war.

(Later) : The jury did not agree.

February 9, 1855.

There is great stagnation in business here; trade is dull;
laborers are here in numbers but they are more numerous
than jobs; the rate of interest is high; taxes are exorbitant;
immigration has pretty much ceased, and the rainy season is
emphatically dry. In consequence, the business of gold-wash-
ing in the mountains is brought completely to a stand, real
estate is depreciating rapidly, but it is still high enough to
allow the good work of depreciation to go on for a long
time to come. Improvidence and unbounded prodigality in
public and private life have hitherto been the order of the
day in commercial circles, and among business men generally
I understand that the work of retrenchment and reform has
been commenced, and the good old maxims of industry and
frugality are coming into vogue, but those who tabernacle
in and around Montgomery Block live and spend and waste
like archdukes. The time may come when even they will
lavish less gold on their backs and bellies.

San Francisco, Feb. 14, 1855.
Mr. E. Goriiam Jr.

My Dear Sir:

It is the "Sabbath of the Lord" — but His rights in it
are not fully recognized here — There are a dozen churches,
more or less, that have been erected for public worship, and
they are all open to-day, still but a very small portion of the
population will be found within their consecrated walls. The
shops are open for the transaction of business, the streets

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are filled with a gay multitude of fashionable idlers, and
to-night the Theatres will be resorted to for the amusement
and excitement they promise. Some progress however has
been made in the work of securing the better observance of
"holy time" — for by ordinance the public gambling hells and
other houses that take hold on death, are required to keep
their outside doors shut on the Sabbath. If you were here
you would be greatly struck with the low standard of re-
ligious life. You may take a New England professor, the
one who among all your acquaintances is the loosest in the
handle, set him down here and he would pass muster for a
miracle of piety. There are a half dozen church members on
my list of acquaintances who are quite constant in their ob-
servance of ordinances, that drink habitually and freely, play
billiards to a late hour on every day and night in the week
and on Saturday nights play until about meeting time Sunday
morning. Ministers, too, as far as I can learn, are like mem-
bers. I have often heard the remark made of this Divine
or the other: "He is a right good fellow." "He'll carry a
bottle of wine under his belt any time." "He is not stuck up
with any old-world notions, I can tell you." But notwith-
standing this state of things in our California Zion, the
tendency is in the right direction, and in a few years parsons
and people will have made such progress that they will be
in conformity to even my standards of holy living.

It is a beautiful day, however its sanctities may be disre-
garded. The rainy season has been most distressingly dry,
and great stagnation in business is the consequence. Yester-
day however it rained in good earnest, cheering the hearts
of men of all classes, particularly the hearts of the miners
whose business for the last three months has been delayed
for want of water. To-day not a cloud is to be seen, the sun
is out in all its glory, the air is pure and balmy as in a May
morning in Vermont, and after finishing this letter I intend
to recreate myself by a stroll through the town and its en-
virons. Speaking of those environs, they embrace all the
points of perfect landscape scenery. I have said this or some-
thing like it in almost every letter I have written home, but

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OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

these scenes are constantly before me, and as I am never
weary of admiring them, so I am never weary of commend-
ing them. There is a great deal of historic interest, too,
connected with many of the localities adjacent to the city.
Two miles to the west towards the ocean stands the presidio,
an old Spanish fort near the Golden Gate, and now tenanted
by a small garrison of United States' soldiers. In the old
time before the Conquest the Mexican government kept 15
or 20 ragamuffins there under a military officer with a title
altogether too large for his business. Two miles to the south
stands the "Mission." The original pioneers in the settle-
ment of California were Jesuit priests from Mexico, and
their object was the conversion and civilization of the Indian
population. The mission above referred to was founded in
the year 1776, and was one of the most prosperous of a
number founded at different points in the country. There are
thousands and thousands of acres, surrounding the mission
buildings, of the most beautiful grazing land in the world,
and before the missions were plundered and broken up by
the Revolutionary factions that were from time to time in the
ascendant in Mexico, these pastures were covered with vast
herds of cattle, mules and horses belonging to the fathers.
A large Indian population was collected around the mission
buildings, and over these converted Indians the priests ex-
ercised, in a patriarchal way, unlimited influence and au-
thority. They tended the herds, they tilled the lands, and
gathered the abundant harvests into ample barns; there was
little foreign commerce to make the priests cruel masters
by making them first rapacious of gain. Every morning the
bells rang out from the tower of the church in the wilder-
ness, calling the simple worshippers to matins, and every
evening calling them to vespers. The priests were many of
them men of great learning, acquired often in the best schools
in Spain, and there is no proof found in any written history
of this country of any abuse on their part of the absolute and
irresponsible authority they exercised over the natives. All
tradition, too, acquits them of any such abuse. Old Califor-
nians, whose memory goes back to those times, speak of the

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missionaries and their administration in terms of unbounded
praise. Their hospitality was without stint, and was ex-
tended to men of all nations in their wanderings through the
country, without any limit in time. The old church is there
still, but the priests that ministered and the dusky neophytes
that worshipped at its altars are scattered. One old monk
alone remains, to ring the bells that still swing in the old
tower and receive at the church door such alms as the
stranger may see fit to give, that masses may still be said
for the forgotten and the dead.

The future of this State, I mean the great future, is un-
mistakable : but for some years to come, the State has got
to suffer, and severely too, for the consequences of its own
undue precocity. Everything has been overdone that relates
to superstructure, and everything has been neglected that
relates to foundation. The result is that the State is top-
heavy. Its cities are too numerous and too large. There are
too many merchants for the miners, too many consumers for
the producers. Immigration has pretty much ceased, and with
this the increased rates of fare from New York have had
much to do. In the heedlessness of the earlier time matters of
general concern were sadly neglected, and the upshot of that
was that all public officers were defaulters or the public
revenues, where they were not stolen outright, were deplor-
ably wasted and misapplied, and now every city is weighed
down with its public debt, and the State even reels and
staggers under its burthens. Its current expenses even are not
defrayed now otherwise than by promises to pay in the shape
of warrants on the Treasury, and they are hawked about to
brokers at a discount of 30%. Real estate in this city contin-
ues to depreciate, and those having much foresight predict
that it will continue to do so for some time to come. A great
deal of property still held at high prices is entirely unpro-
ductive to its owners, and with the enormous taxes and the
high rates of interest is fast eating itself up. When the lowest
point of depression has been reached and the tide begins to
turn, great fortunes will again be made in an hour by those
who are lucky enough to take the tide as it begins to flood.

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OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

There is a great deal of want and suffering here, — I mean in
the city, — for lack of employment, and among those, too,
who never knew what it was to have a wish ungratified be-
fore they left their homes in the East. Some instances of
that kind have come to my notice of a most touching char-
acter. There is a great deal of frankness and cordiality in
social intercourse here, and friend spends money upon his
friend as freely as he would spend it upon himself, but this is
after all a mere surface appearance. There was never a com-
munity where self exalted its horn so much in fact as it does
here. Men talk with their fellows in the streets but for a pur-
pose; they bow and shake hands and laugh and smile, but
ever with reference to a project, and he who should conclude
that it was the result of a feeling of cordiality in exuberance,
would in my judgment be very much mistaken. It is all the
result of refined calculation relating to personal gain or per-
sonal advancement as unerringly as the needle relates to
the pole.

I am getting on very pleasantly and comfortably. I re-
member all my friends. Tell them to remember me. Give my
regards to the managing partner of the firm of "Shafter &
Davenport," and my most cordial respects to all of your
household and name. Will you also do me the favor to an-
swer this? In your careerings about the county you must have
picked up a great many things that will interest me. Let me
have them, and

Oblige yours truly,

O. L. Shafter.

(Mr. E. Gorham, Jr., Wilmington, Vermont.)

Oscar L. Shafter to his Wife.

San Francisco, Feb. 14, 1855.
My Dear Wife:

The steamer has not arrived, and is now overdue. The
mail will leave day after tomorrow, and with my customary
foresight in the matter of writing to you by every mail, I
have concluded to begin now, for fear if I should wait longer
I might in the end be too late.

[ 103 J

LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

Little has transpired since my last letter, personal to my-
self, that would interest you. Work, work, work, makes up
the whole routine of my daily life. The only episodes I know
are the fitful opportunities afforded me for reminiscences of
mingled pleasure and pain by the few brief moments of leis-
ure, which I can now and then snatch from the hurry and din
of business. And those opportunities are never suffered to
pass unimproved. I have your letters and daguerreotypes
locked up in my table drawer, the key of which I always
carry in my pocket, and when the moment of leisure comes, I
take out the pictures or the letters, and settling back in my
chair con over the one or gaze on the others, until the eye
swims and the head becomes dizzy; and then they are re-
turned carefully and silently to their hiding place; the key is
turned and stowed snugly and safely in the bottom of my
pocket until another like opportunity presents itself.

I have not been weighed since my arrival, but I think my
Pacific avoirdupois is greater than my Atlantic. I reason alto-
gether from my waist bands; they certainly have not con-
tracted; most probably they have stretched some; anyhow I
fill them in their largest diameter, and not with bloat, but
with meat as solid and healthy as ever clove to the bones of a
mortal man.

There is no one here to mend my clothes carefully once
a week, whether they require it or not; so, as fast as things
give out or holes come in them, I throw them into my trunk
and invest in new. You perceive that though 10,000 miles
away, I propose to have my occasional mending done at home
notwithstanding. I continue to feed well and to sleep well,
and my health was never better. As for spirits, mine were
never more buoyant. It was 3 months ago yesterday since my
engagement commenced. So one-fourth of my year has al-
ready transpired and the remaining three-fourths will be
very soon added to it. Time would be intolerable if it should
cease to fly.

Yesterday, after business hours were over, I treated my-
self to the recreation of a stroll through the town and its
suburbs. Away out on the edge of the city I met an Episcopal

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OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

clergyman who came out here with me, bringing his wife and
little girl with him. I got very well and almost intimately
acquainted with them on the passage, and was very much
pleased with the unexpected meeting. The gentleman, I
found, was settled at Stockton and down here on a visit to a
friend. He asked me in to see them. I went with them and
spent the most agreeable half hour I have known since my
arrival in California. These people have not realized all their
expectations, but did not say they were disappointed. Neither
of them uttered any repinings or expressed an intention or a
wish to return, but still I could see that after a three months'
trial of the country, the land continued to be a strange one to
them and that they still felt like strangers in it. Their little
girl had thriven amazingly, and I snuggled and kissed her
in remembrance of my own little ones at home.

Things are in a somewhat critical condition at present —
great scarcity of money in a land abounding with gold, and
business generally at a standstill, where there is any amount
of work to be done, and any number of willing hands eager
to do it. Embarrassments in the East have arrested the flow
of capital from that quarter, and in connection with the high
rates of fare have seriously reduced the current immigration.
The hearts of men who had made up their minds to know no
land hereafter but this begin to fail them, and should not
the times change before long, the departures will in my opin-
ion be more numerous than the arrivals. Still, in the long
run, the country will prosper beyond all peradventure. But
there is a question of time involved in the matter, and
with many the solution thereof grievously tarries.

How are you getting on at home? Keeping up your old
acquaintances, I hope, and making them more intimate and
dear I hope also. Your old and fast friends and mine I doubt
not very generally remember what Mr. R. called "the wid-
ows and the orphans." I hope this because I know you would
properly appreciate such attentions. All the hospitalities of
our household you will of course "duly observe and keep" —
for though absent I am so far present in the spirit that every

[io5]

LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

guest and visitor and every one who makes a neighborly call
on you seems like a guest of mine.

Yesterday an old acquaintance of mine at the Cambridge
Law School gave me a call. His name is Fabens, and when I
knew him in 1837 he was regarded as an excellent student
and young man of singular promise. He arrived by the last
steamer, and will engage in the practice of the Law. He has
taken an office in our building and on the same floor with us.
We were somewhat intimate in the East, and that intimacy I
propose to revive. It is a slow and a very grievous job for an
utter stranger here to get into practice, but I shall aid my
old friend so far as may be possible to push his professional
fortunes.

Mr. Park, his wife, daughter, and "servant" will leave on
their visit to the East on the 1st or at farthest by the middle
of April. The note of preparation is already sounded. The
family is to be reduced so that the business of fixing may go
forward without embarrassment. I am about to look for an-
other boarding place. Mr. Park has requested me this even-
ing to board with a Mrs. French, with whom he and his
family boarded before they went to housekeeping. His sis-
ter, who is keeping a school here, as I believe I have before
stated to you, has gone there to board, and he desires me to
go there and look after her during his contemplated absence.
If I can make satisfactory arrangements with Mrs. F. very
likely I shall do as he requests.

How is the baby? A few nights since, as I was reading
a beautiful poem of Edgar A. Poe's, I came across a passage
of exceeding beauty and pathetic beyond measure, which in
the twinkling of an eye brought the baby's little namesakes
before me, that are slumbering in the churchyard. Time was
forgotten, distance was transcended, and the grave yielded
up for a moment the cherished dead. The little girls were
again with me. I saw them as they were in life, except as they
came to me together, and were clothed with the brighter
radiance of heaven. The heart almost stood still as with
closed eyes and suspended breath I dwelt upon and delayed
the grateful illusion. But it tarried not long. The dream was

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OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

soon over, and the painful reality of wasting and bitter be-
reavement was again present with me.

How is my son, and my elder daughters? I ask you though
I shall get the answers before you will get the question. How
is it with them? How is it? There is great emphasis in my
thought as I put this question, too great to be expressed by
any signs or symbols that I can make with my pen. Tell them
to be and to continue to be kind and good to each other, to
their mother and to all. Remember and write by every mail.
Tell the children and believe yourself that my heart is with
them and you.

Ever your affectionate husband,

O. L. Shafter.

A comparison of dates between the preceding letter and
the one which follows offers strange food for reflection. To
Mr. Shafter and his wife there had been born, in succession,
three little daughters, two of whom had passed away in in-
fancy, the name "Alice" having been bestowed upon first
one, then the other, and afterwards upon a third baby girl,
less than three months old when he left home. This repeti-
tion of the name had been according to a singular old New
England custom. Did the spirit of the third little one, set free
from its earthly tenement and joining the bright spirits of
the babes who had gone before, take flight to the lonely and
heartsore father on the far shore of the continent, tarrying
a brief moment to unseal his vision to the radiance of the
Hereafter, before winging its flight to the Eternal arms?

That to the father there came in that moment the pres-
cience of loss, is indicated by the pointed manner in which
he refrains from inquiring about the babe or sending any
message to her, although it is evident that the impression
afterwards wore away.

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LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

Letter from Emma Shafter to her father, not received by
him in San Francisco until March 17th.

Wilmington, Vt., Feb. 13, 1855.
My Dear Father:

Our little Allie is dead. What a change in a few days!
Mother went down to the (photographer's) saloon and had
her photograph taken the day she was buried. The funeral
was here, at our house. The coffin was placed on the centre
table, as was (Alice) Maudy's, and the sofa was where it
was then. And we sat upon it with Grandpa and Grandma
Riddle. Grandpa and Grandma Shafter were here, with Un-
cle Hall and his wife. It was hard to part with her. Father,
it would have been a comfort for us and for you, too, to have
been here. But, Father, we did everything that could be done
for her. Hugh came up to her when she was laying cold and
stiff, and said, see her little bare arms. This miniature is very
natural, and looks exactly as she did when she was asleep. It
will be a great comfort to you. We hope it will not get lost,
for we shall want to see it again. Mother and I are going to
write you a long letter by the next mail, she says.

Good bye, Father.

From your affectionate Daughter,

Emma L. Shafter.

San Francisco, Feb. 19, 1855.
My Dear Wife :

From the Presidio in company with a friend I struck off
toward the "Lone Mountain Cemetery." This habitation of
the dead belongs to a private association and is to be fitted up
after the plan of Mount Auburn and Greenwood. After a
smart walk of about a mile, we arrived on the ground. It is
among the sand hills that have been formed by the action of
the winds. The sand has all been borne from the beach upon
which it has been thrown by the sea in vast quantities for
ages and ages past, and under the mastery of the winds it has
been thrown into a system of hillocks and hills that I cannot
describe better than by applying to them the term billow.

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OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

They are generally covered with a low chaparral of scrub
oaks so dense as to be all but impenetrable and about as high
as one's shoulder. Through the chaparral paths have been
opened in all directions, and when lots have been taken the
brush has been removed, leaving a few only of the more
comely trees by way of ornament. The number of interments
so far has been quite limited. The Cemetery, indeed, was not
opened for them until about 6 months ago, but the great
congregation destined to slumber in its bosom has already
begun to be gathered, and the living here are already pre-
paring the sepulchres in which they are at last to lie down.
There are many beautiful valleys and nooks among the hills,
protected by the surrounding ridges and the thick wood with
which they are covered, from the winds that have grown
strong by their unresisted career across the Pacific, and in
these coveted spots the first graves have been made. I spent
an hour or two in wandering over the grounds, regarding
with delighted eyes the flowers with which the quick sod
was teeming, listening to the familiar notes of the robins that
had sought the jungles of chaparral therein to rear their
young, and to the croaking of a raven that had lit upon the
top of a high post and stood there battling with the wind for
its foothold. Then, from the distance, came the loud and
continued roar of the waves breaking upon the rocky coast.
The Lone Mountain, a high, isolated peak, bounds the Cem-
etery on the south, and adds to the prevailing barrenness and
solitude the impressive contribution of its own peculiar deso-
lation.

From the Cemetery we went about three miles in a south-
east direction to the Old Mission. I went into the old church,
built of sun-dried bricks, about 75 years ago. The construc-
tion is very inartificial and so is the finish, outside and in.
There are a great many pictures on the walls, and though
some have much merit as works of art, yet they generally
were prepared to please the uninstructed taste of the native
Indians. The decorations of the High Altar were obviously
selected and arranged with entire reference to the same pur-
pose. There is a paling running across the church, dividing

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LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

the Altar from the main body of the building and separating
the worshipers from the officiating priests. When I went in
there was a Sabbath School in progress. Two classes were
reciting, or rather being taught orally to say the "Lord's
Prayer." One little Spanish boy pronounced "trespasses"
trespasses, laying the accent on the second syllable, and con-
tinued to do it, after being repeatedly corrected by his tutor,
a young Irish priest. The holy man at length got quite
wrathy and called the little fellow all sorts of bad names.
"Spalpeen" and "a little devil" were the least objectionable.

From the sombre old church I strayed out into the Cath-
olic burying ground adjoining. There is about an acre in the
enclosure; it is a graveyard in a flower garden. I never saw
anything so beautiful. There was little of storied marble,
there were but few traces of the sculptor's art to be seen ; the
monuments were almost all of wood, but tastefully fash-
ioned, and neatly painted and lettered in half the languages
of the globe. Still the flowers, ever dying, still ever renewed,
gave the spot an interest and charm with which all the re-
sources of mere art would fail to invest it. While I was there
a lady dressed in black came into the yard unattended. With
a hurried step she sought a little grave, surrounded with a
white paling and covered with a profusion of flowers. She
knelt beside the grave and wept as though her heart were
breaking. To me the bereaved mother stood revealed. Her
sorrow was too hallowed for a stranger to gaze upon, and
with moistened eye I turned and left the spot. A half hour's
omnibus ride brought me back again to the City, refreshed
and invigorated by my ramble.

Today I have changed my boarding place. I have got into
very pleasant quarters, I think. The single dinner I have
made certainly promises good things in store and yet to come.
There are about 40 boarders; the family is a private one, the
house one of the best residences in the city and very genteelly
furnished. I am taken in and done for at a charge of about
$20 per week. Col. Balie Peyton is there; he is a distin-
guished man from the South. However, his success here as a
lawyer has been quite limited. Miss Park is at the same place.

[no]

OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

There is a piano in the parlor and I hope that my spirits will
now and then be gladdened with music.

February 21, 1855.

You will see by recurring to the date of this letter that I
began it on the 19th. It is now the 2 1st, and the steamer does
not leave until the 1st of March. So you see that I have
taken time by the forelock, and if I have leisure the chances
are that you will have a long letter to read.

1 here is an almost overwhelming stagnation in business
here. Business men are loud in their complaints. There is no
water to wash gold with, and without it gold cannot be pro-
cured. Mining is the interest upon which all other interests
are built, and when that suffers, they all suffer. When that
ends, no other interest can survive. The depreciation in real
estate has been enormous, and the depreciation is still in prog-
ress; the rates of interest are high, and the prevailing de-
clension in profits has at last begun to affect the resources of
the lawyers even. Fares from New York are so high that
those whom the State most needs are compelled to stay at
home, and then the monetary embarrassments in the East
have had their share of influence in breeding like embarrass-
ments here. The prodigality of the people here has been un-
bounded. There is not a city in the world where costly outlay
and luxuriousness has been so general as here. Not only pro-
fessional men and merchants, but those engaged in all de-
partments of common labor have rioted in excesses absolutely
Babylonish. Art and taste have been taxed to the utmost that
appetite and passion might first be aroused and then sated.
A hodcarrier or hand-cart man could not dine except at a
French restaurant and upon not less than six courses, moisten-
ing his clay at that with a bottle of claret, and another of
champagne of the choicest brands. They have nothing of
the cheap "rotgut" of the Atlantic States here, no indeed!
The bootblack at the street corner drinks nothing poorer
than brandy imported from France direct, and that costs
here $10 per gallon. His cigars cost him $150 per thousand,
and he has one in his mouth from morning till night, or, if

[in]

LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

he uses a pipe, it is of Prussian or Austrian sea-foam* and
costs him $75, and in it he burns tobacco such as is used by
the Grand Turk. But I can already see a change and a
marked one, too. Four French Cafes have been closed within
the last fortnight, the theatres are all but deserted, there is
less of horse-breaking in the streets, a great falling off in
feminine cavorting on the pavement during fashionable
hours, and friend doesn't fill the belly and wet the whistle of
friend as often as when I arrived. The fact is that empty
pockets are following a peculiar set of consequences every-
where. It is quite unnecessary to state what they are, — they
will occur to you. Well, the affliction of empty pockets has at
last fallen upon riotous livers of all grades here, and it will
redound in the end greatly to their good, for it will compel
them to practice the good old-fashioned virtues of industry
and frugality, to which 99/100 of them were bred.

February 22, 1855.

It is now Feb. 22, '55. I had written to the end of the last
sentence last evening about 9 o'clock, when Park came in and
announced that the great banking house of Page, Bacon &
Co.t was about to fail and that one of the firm had applied to
him to bring a suit against his associates for a dissolution,
account, and appointment of a receiver.

I fell to work and in two hours the papers were ready, but
I was up all night engaged in the adjustment of collateral

*Meerschaum.

fThis somewhat memorable case inspired a witty couplet that has been
quoted far and wide. During the progress of the trial, a great book, be-
longing to Adams & Co., was found floating in the waters of the bay, where
it had been flung, evidently, to destroy the evidence it contained. In the
office of the Receiver, — General Naglee, — Messrs. Edward Stanly, Park,
Baker and Wilson, of counsel for both sides, met to inspect its contents
together. The volume was so immense that it was laid open on the floor,
and the four counsel knelt around it. Referring, in his argument, to the
spectacle they presented, Governor Stanly improvised :

"Sin, for a fleeting season, bade the State farewell,
And Satan shrieked as on their knees four lawyers fell."

[112]

OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

matters. This morning the papers are to be served, and when
the thing is done and is known, it will crush the very life of
the city out of it. The business of these bankers is extended
all over the State, and half of the floating capital of this
town is in their hands on deposit; but they are going down,
and their failure will prove more disastrous to the city than
any of the fires with which it has sometimes been desolated.
The first effect will be to accelerate the downward tendencies
of real estate. Land in this city is, in my judgment, to be
very cheap.

Today is the birthdav of Washington, and the whole City,
or that part of it made up of Montgomery street, is filled
with people who are gazing, and with great delight apparent-
ly, upon the fire companies who are out in full force and in
full dress, each with its apparatus and distinctive banner and
accompanied with a band of music; they are now marching,
rank by rank, into the capacious portals of the Metropolitan
Theatre, where they are to be addressed by Col. Baker of
Illinois. The day is delightful and the spectacle quite im-
posing.

February 23, 1855.

This morning the City, already staggering under the fail-
ure of Page, Bacon & Co., was told that the great house of
Adams & Co., Wells, Fargo & Co., had suspended. A smart
run was immediately begun upon all the remaining banks
and was kept up during the day. Tt is estimated that a mil-
lion of dollars has been paid out by them today; tomorrow
the work of depletion will be renewed. The City has been in
a perfect hubbub all day; the streets filled with excited multi-
tudes and the police out to guard the suspended banks and
their owners against popular violence. The merchants are
beginning to break, and the faces of all having property to
lose are troubled with fear. The fact is that the millionaires
of S. F. from the start, even until now, have been of the
mushroom order to no inconsiderable extent. Their wealth

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has consisted of figures by which the false and exaggerated
values put upon real estate have been represented. Practically,
their unimproved and unproductive lots are now nothing but
a curse, devouring themselves and their owners by the taxes
which they invite. Let the work of demolition go on, say I,
until all the hollow pomp of unreal wealth is over, and the
boundless and idiotic prodigality of all classes is ended by
that only adequate means — necessity. In the last 48 hours I
have slept but eight. For at least 36 hours of that time I have
been seated at my table drawing complaints to be filed in
Court and other papers connected with the bringing of ac-
tions, and, throughout, have drafted the originals faster
than the copying clerk could copy them.

Well, last night I slept like a log, and on getting up, feel
as clear as a quill. I have had another active day and most
laborious, and in the distance I can see nothing but work.
What is more, I do not fear it nor shrink from it; it will oc-
cupy my thoughts as well as give me a chance to earn my
money.

February 28, 1855.

It is now the 28th day of Feb., '55. It has rained generally
for the last two days, and the saddened and despairing hearts
of thousands are measurably rallied and encouraged thereby.
Things are in a bad plight here from a business point of
view, and though all sorts of devices are resorted to for the
purpose of reinstating credit, demolished and shattered as it
is, yet I think that all effort on that behalf will prove abor-
tive. There is but one course and that is to let the evil develop
its own cure, and that cure, desperate and dishonorable as it
will be, will be found in a general repudiation of all public
debts. To that woful consummation the thing will come at
last. It is a mere question of time, I think, or at least fear.

Before closing this letter permit me to say that I have
taken an account of my shirts and find that I have but five.
My impressions are that when I left home I had about twice

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OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

the number, but as to that I am far from being certain. Will
you relieve me of my doubts on this grave subject?*

Before closing, I must remember my children. Tell Emma
and Mary that your commendations of them and their con-
duct were read with a gratification that they can hardly un-
derstand or appreciate. You say that Emma is a great help
to you in your cares and most pleasant company for you in
your solitude, and that Mary does all she can to aid and re-
lieve you. Tell them that their father is satisfied that they
are both good little girls, which is the highest praise that they
can receive or claim even at the hands of their father.

And Hugh you say is a great consolation to you. Well, tell
him he is a great consolation to me also, and that if he con-
tinues to be a good boy and always speaks the truth, he will
ever continue to be a consolation and a hope to us both. I
thanked Mr. Billings in his name for the paper containing
the pretty pictures that delighted, and I hope instructed him,
and say to him that I will some of these days write him again.

And now good bye. I am well and smart down to this
present, though all the time at work like a beaver. My novi-
tiate is pretty much over; I am so far acquainted with the
local laws, and with the practice of the Courts, that I can
transact all the current business of the office with entire facil-
ity. I am a great deal in Court, and more out of it — in the
office. I do none of the outdoor racing and running, but am
kept steadily pulling in the collar, or, as the case may be,
throwing my weight into the opposite end of the harness.

My dear, dear wife, good bye again. Write — write —
write ! and believe me your most attached husband,
O. L. Shafter.

*Only those familiar with the conditions of the period when these letters
were written, can appreciate how very serious was this question of shirts.
There were no sewing machines in those days, and no shirt factories or
haberdashers where such articles, made of fine material and finished in the
manner to which he had been accustomed, could be bought. During the
long months of preparation, before Mr. Shafter left home, the devoted wife
had made him a dozen and more shirts, with bosoms of fine linen, put
together with the fine, invisible stitches in which the housewives of that
day took pride, and with buttonholes exquisitely wrought by hand. The
disappearance of more than half this supply, in less than five months, was
a little domestic tragedy.

[115]

LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

Diary.

March 7, 1855.

"In the midst of life we are in death." This truth has been
brought home to my mind most impressively by an event of
recent occurrence.

On the 4th inst. I left San Francisco at about 6 o'clock in
the evening on a trip to Marin County to attend the trials of
five cases that were pending in the District Court of that
county. Marin lies north of San Francisco and on the opposite
side of the Bay. The voyage was to be made in a small sail
boat of about three tons burthen. At six o'clock I went on
board. B. R. Bucklew, our client, owned and commanded the
boat. The crew was composed of two men, I the only pas-
senger.

We put off with a fair wind and favorable tide, with the
expectation of reaching the ranch of Mr. Bucklew in three
hours, it being about fifteen miles distant. The boat went mer-
rily over the waves, darting and bounding like a thing of
life. I had anticipated that this flight into the country over
the waters would yield me a great deal of pleasure. After
having been penned up in the city for almost four months,
with my faculties taxed all the while to the utmost, it is not
singular that I should have dwelt upon this promised relaxa-
tion with something of boyish delight.

Night soon overtook us, and I turned in "all standing,"
as the sailors say, that is, with all my clothes on, shoes, over-
coat and hat included. The boat was decked over forward
and aft; the center was open. Bucklew had ordered a new
mattress and blankets for me under the forward deck, and
into this nest I crawled at about seven o'clock in the evening.
The deck was just high enough to allow me to sit up in bed
without striking my head against the timbers. There was con-
siderable freight on board, and I had a Worcester plough
and sundry sections of stovepipe for bed fellows, they being
stowed alongside of my bunk.

I soon dropped asleep, and, as I have since ascertained,
had slept about an hour when I was suddenly awakened by a

[116]

OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

cry from Bucklew, "Look out! Steamer, Sheer! You will run
us down."

In an instant I was out of my hole; the steamer had al-
ready struck the bows of our boat, stove them partially,
whirled the boat alongside by the force of the collision, and
was shooting past us with the speed of a race horse. My first
thought was that we should go under the steamer's wheel,
and I sprang from the boat as far as I could, off into the
water.

From the time I heard the cry until I made the plunge, it
may have been five seconds. As soon as I struck the water I
whirled to grab the gunwale of the boat, and just then re-
ceived a severe blow on the side of my face from a fragment
of the boom which the steamer caught and broke in two as
she was rushing past us. The blow partially stunned me, but
not enough to bewilder me any. With the assistance of one of
the men I got on board. The steamer was stopped in about
ioo yards, and we were hailed by her. Bucklew made a hasty
examination of the boat, and returned the hail, telling the
steamer to go ahead. All that saved us from destruction was
the unusual lowness of the steamer's guard. But for that our
boat would have gone under the wheel and have been dashed
to atoms in a moment. I might possibly have escaped even
in that event, but whether I would or would not, depends
upon whether we were forward of the wheel at the time I
sprang into the water.

The boat we found had been badly sprained, and her seams
opened so far that she leaked a pailful in three minutes. The
boom was broken and one of the rowlocks was lost, so that
to perform the residue of the voyage we had no reliance but
upon a single oar. The tide was already beginning to turn
against us. One of the men was put at the oar, while the
other had his hands full baling. Bucklew steered, and I
stripped off all my clothing and crawled back into my bunk.
I found that the blankets were partially wet with the water
that the boat had shipped at the time of the collision. I lay
there for nine mortal hours "chewing the cud of sweet and
bitter fancies." My face was badly swollen from the effects

[117]

LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

of the blow I had received, my feet were cold, and I could
not so adjust my dark blankets as to prevent a shifting,
crawling shiver from running upward from my cold feet and
off at the top of my head. In about three hours this exposure
developed inflammation of the kidneys and revived at once
the terrible nervous agonies that I experienced about 18
months ago, but I remembered I was in California, and
grinned and bore it in silence.

About five o'clock in the morning we ran the boat ashore
some two miles from Bucklew's home. He sent one of the
hands to the house with my clothing to put a-drying at once,
and with orders to bring down a team. The man was gone
about an hour and a half, when he returned with a span of
horses and a dry suit for me. In a few moments we were in
the wagon and in half an hour we were in the hospitable
mansion of Mr. Bucklew, enjoying the comfort of a roaring
fire. I left my hat in the Bay, and from the landing to the
house I figured in a demolished tarpaulin that I found in the
boat. It was nine o'clock and it was at that hour the Court
was to open, and Bucklew's cases were the first on the docket,
so he started off immediately for San Rafael, the County
Seat, with the understanding that he was to apply for an at-
torney until the next day.

He returned about 1 1 o'clock with the intelligence that the
Court had opened the trial of his first and principal case
when he arrived, and that the adversary counsel had pretty
much concluded his speech, which was on a motion to dis-
solve an injunction. Bucklew made an affidavit disclosing
our misadventures, and my own particular illness, and the
Court concluded to postpone until the next morning, March
6. I had a bad day, a good deal of fever, no appetite, and
intense pains in the region of the kidneys; instead of getting
better I was getting worse, and by ten o'clock at night dis-
missed all hope of being able to appear in Court the next
day. I then directed Bucklew to produce his papers, so that
I might examine them, and determine what course was best
to pursue. I had left on this mission to Marin on a few hours'
notice, and had had no time to ascertain the character of the

[118]

OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

cases to be tried. On looking into the papers I found that his
cases were not ready for trial; that they had been unskillfully
brought, and had been shabbily managed, and a continuance,
instead of being a calamity to him, was the only thing that
would save him. For two hours thereafter I was engaged in
dictating affidavits for a general continuance of all the cases,
and motions and notices of new trials and appeals, in the
event that the continuance should be denied. Then I went to
bed and suffered until morning. Bucklew went to the Court
House after breakfast, and the Court continued all the cases
but two, and they were adjourned to be heard before the
Judge at Chambers on Monday next at San Francisco.

It is now Wednesday the 7th and here I am still at the
home of Mr. Bucklew. Mrs. B. is an excellent woman and a
capital nurse. She has treated me with very great attention.
I am now improving, and tomorrow we shall probably return
to the city. Bucklew is one of the fortunate adventurers, and
is supposed to be worth several hundred thousand dollars.
His ranch here cost him $55,000 in cash. It contains 18
square miles and occupies a valley running from the shore of
the bay back among the mountains. This valley is drained by
a beautiful mountain brook, and is of wonderful fertility
and beauty.

I have had another escape from death almost miraculous,
and it is the third of a series of three. I trust I am not desti-
tute of gratitude to the Giver of all good for this last deliv-
erance; grateful on my own account, for life is a thing that I
yet cherish; grateful, doubly grateful, on account of my wife
and babes. In thinking of my escape I think not of myself,
but my thoughts are busy and blinded by the ever-recurring
contemplation of the woe that would have befallen my loved
ones had a death so sudden, sharp and horrible, befallen me.
I shall give them no account of it until I return home. It
would be neither judicious nor right to do otherwise.

[119]

LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

Oscar L. Shaft er to his Wife.

San Francisco, March 10, 1855.
My Dear Wife :

By the steamer Sonora I received on the 2nd instant yours
and Emma's letters, enclosing one from Mary and another
from my son. Mary's letter and Hugh's were small, but
though short they were sweet to me. How grateful it is to a
man situated as I am to know that wife and children love him
in his exile, and pray for his welfare and his safe return.
Such assurance at once softens the heart and strengthens it,
excites courage and ennobles it. Your letter and Emma's both
gave me great comfort, and they have been read and read
again and again. Details, however minute in themselves,
about family or local matters, fasten the attention almost
beyond belief. You I doubt not can understand, however, the
wonderful eagerness and zest with which that description of
tidings is devoured. The dear little baby is then thriving and
improving, looks like the last little one that bore the same
name, and has eyes like her father ! Well, though she may
never have occasion to value herself very much on that score,
yet certain it is that she is not by reason of it valued any the
less by me. Tell Mary that her letter was most gladly re-
ceived. I had no difficulty in reading it, and tell her that I
saw her in the letter as plainly as I can see her in her daguer-
reotype; and say to her further that I shall answer her letter
soon.

Tell my dear little boy Hugh that I shall remember his
promise to answer the letter I wrote him as soon as he has
learned to write, and that I bear in mind his other promise,
often given, but now renewed, and in writing, too, to take
care of his parents when they have become old and have no
other reliance as a staff whereon to lean but their beloved
children. If he continues to study as hard, and to learn as
fast as Emma says he does now, it will not be long before
he and his father can talk to each other through the great
distance that now divides them.

And now I am prepared to tell you at length what con-
clusions I have arrived at with regard to my stay here. These

[ 120]

OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

conclusions have been reached for the first time within the
last hour. In consequence of certain new aspects which busi-
ness matters have assumed here within the last fortnight, Mr.
Park has concluded to hasten his departure for the East, and
will, in fact, leave with his family on Friday next, March 16,
and by the same steamer that will carry this letter. He has
seen fit to say to me that in all probability, on his return, the
firm as now constituted will be dissolved and a new one
formed out of the old members in part, and that I can go into
the firm if I choose to do it, or remain in my present relation
with a desirable advance on my present salary. Mr. Billings
and I have had a long talk on the subject tonight, and he has
taken occasion to express for himself and for Mr. Peachy
their respect and regard for me as a man and as a lawyer.
He was pleased to say that he expected very much from me,
but was astonished at the rapidity with which I had broken
into business and mastered all that was peculiar to California
Law, and that his anticipations as to my ability and efficiency
were much more than answered. He further said that the
firm could not get along without me, and that I could become
one with them or stand in my present position at an advanced
rate of compensation, but he should personally prefer to have
me become a member of the firm.

The experiment I made then in leaving my business at
home and coming here to seek my fortune has been made,
and the results so far are before me and you. We are alike
interested in them. They are most welcome to me and they
will be to you. I feel and know that these results have been
honestly and courageously earned. Whatever dread I had of
failure or of only partial success, which would be but another
name for discomfiture, is now past; the future begins to re-
veal itself in the assured and realized verities of the present.
I have a competence to achieve for myself and you and ours,
and if life and health are spared I can do it here in a short
time. Great wealth I do not desire, and shall not strive to
attain. All I want is enough, and then I intend to return to
Vermont, to my native county, to the town in which I have
for 1 6 years so pleasantly lived, and spend the residue of my

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LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

days under the vine and the fig tree which my own hands
have planted. You know my strong affection for my family
and for every member of it. You know that I cannot remain
long absent from the spot where my children are buried,
much less leave it forever. For the next 25 years life in this
State is to be turbid and turbulent, full of sharp vicissitudes
and taxed with all sorts of varied and exhausting endeavor.
Should I conclude to make this State my home, I should
make up my mind for a life hereafter of continuous warfare
even down to the day of its conclusion, and I should re-
nounce at once and forever all hope of that quiet and still
enjoyment which my nature loves, and covets because it loves.
Park has advised me to bring my family here, and to have
you all come out when he returns. Were I to make it a mat-
ter of feeling merely, I should not hesitate a moment. But it
will not do to take counsel of feelings. Reason should alone
be consulted. I could never content myself to live here. I
think too much of old friends and of familiar places, and the
associations connected with them have too strong a hold
upon me. With my family in Vermont, old acquaintances
hear of me through my family, and I hear of them through
the same channel; thus I continue to be interested in them
and for them, and they to some extent continue to be inter-
ested in me and for me. With my family here, all this would
be dissolved, and alienation and oblivion would follow. The
motive to return would be weakened, and perhaps would be
displaced or overborne by new and stronger motives, induc-
ing me to remain here for my life — a consummation that now
I do not desire, and I would therefore avoid a step that
would have a direct tendency to make that consummation a
probable event. And then, were you to come out here with
the children, it would take two or three years to get fairly
settled; it would take that time to form a circle of pleasant
acquaintances and friends, and when that desirable object
had been attained after a painful probation among entire
strangers, the signal would be given for a return to a soil
from which our last footsteps would have become obliter-
ated. Saying nothing of the expenses connected with this

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OSCAR LOVELL SHAFrER

double transit, and the greatly increased expenses of living
here, I am satisfied that, considering the youth of our chil-
dren, the uprooting movement would in nowise be beneficial
to them. Having much confidence in the judgment and entire
truthfulness of Mr. Billings, I have submitted the matter to
him for advice, and his conclusions have fortified me in the
belief in the accuracy of my own. The result of the whole is
that I think I had better take my chance here — alone, for
two or three years. Whatever there may be of evil in that
word to you or to me will have to be endured, and the residue
of life I hope and believe will not be the less useful and
happy for the sacrifice.

March 12. The Parks are busily making preparations for
their return. The prospect of revisiting soon the old familiar
places, and of being reunited to their distant kindred, has
apparently made them all happy and glad. I live only in the
hope of enjoying a like pleasure, but I must patiently wait
during all the days of my appointed time.

So far I have drawn nothing from the firm, and
shall hereafter draw nothing except what may be necessary
to pay my current expenses. I spend nothing unnecessarily —
not a cent! I am as tight as a drum and stingy even as a
miser. I never thought myself particularly economical at
home, but I am so here. I have sometimes been a good deal
diverted in studying the change that has taken place in me in
this particular, and have frequently made attempts to divine
its philosophy, and I am satisfied that the explanation is this:
I am here not to enjoy, and with that idea I am possessed
completely. I am here to acquire the means to be enjoyed by
myself and by others hereafter and elsewhere. I know the
present but as a season of labor, and California but as a field
in which that labor is to be performed. Of enjoyment I have
no thought except in connection with my New England
home, and of that my thoughts are full. Into that contempla-
tion the thought of mere personal indulgence does not enter
very largely. It consists, in its sum and substance, in the hope
of advancing and beautifying the spot I call my home, in

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LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

educating, accomplishing and advancing our children, in
making my dwelling the center of a generous hospitality and
the pleasant resort of numerous and earnest friends, and in
promoting the welfare of all around me.

March 14. I have just returned to my boarding place
from the office. It is 11 at night. The slight indisposition of
which I wrote is gone; I am again quite well and feel as
smart as a cricket. Overhead I hear the sound of music in
the sitting room — a room, by the way, into which I very sel-
dom enter. I have no taste for society whatever. Today I
shirked an invitation to dine, with my employers, at Fol-
som's, the great millionaire of San Francisco, and I did so for
the reason that I preferred the silence and the quiet of the
library and the communion of my own thoughts to festive
mirth.

I want you should have your daguerreotype and
those of the children all taken in Mr. Howe's best style, and
send them to me by Mr. Park when he returns. He and his
wife will call on you, and very likely in a few days after their
arrival at Bennington. . . . Continue to write by every
mail, giving me all the news.

I am your affectionate husband,

O. L. Shafter.
From Diary.
March 15, 1855.

This afternoon Park* came into the library, and finding me
alone, put a letter into my hands and asked me to read it and
tell him what I thought of it. I read and found it to be a
challenge from Hamilton Bowie, from Maryland, and late
Treasurer of the City. Park was connected with a prosecu-
tion instituted against him before the Recorder for malfeas-
ance in office, which prosecution was concluded about the
time of my arrival here. About one month ago the matter
was laid before the Grand Jury. The District Attorney ap-
plied to Park to frame an indictment, and he directed me to

*Trenor W. Park.

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OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

draw one. I did so, and it was "found" by the Grand Jury.
Today the case came on for trial and a nolle prosequi was
entered. Thereupon the challenge was written, I suppose.
The note charges Park with having acted maliciously in the
matter. After reading it, I gave Park what he asked for, —
my opinion, — and it was one which I shall never have occa-
sion to regret. I reminded him of the land of his birth,* of
its laws, its principles and its sentiments; of his education, of
his wife, his child, his friends and his God; pointed him to
the grave of infamy into which he might be cast, or the
bloody grave into which he might be guilty of casting a vic-
tim of his own. I told him that his early training left him
without any apology for hesitation even, that the opinions
and sentiments of one-half the nation imperatively required
him to set the senseless "Code of Honor" at defiance, and
that such conduct on his part would command the applause
of a large proportion of the population of this City even
that the sending of the challenge gave him an op-
portunity of showing his own moral courage if he had any,
and of demonstrating his own moral cowardice if he was af-
flicted with that weakness. He replied by saying that he had
put himself unreservedly into the hands of his friends, Bald-
win and Folsom, and that if they said "fight him" he should
do it. I told him that I had a better claim to the title of
"friend" than they; that we were from the same State and
had known each other for many years; that he had relatives
in Vermont whom I knew, and that I could better value their
claims upon him than his friends of yesterday. But it was of
no avail. He still adhered to his resolution to abide by the
decision of those into whose hands he had put himself, and I
abruptly left him. My resolution was taken. I went directly
to the Recorder and put him in possession of the facts. The
police are upon the watch to prevent the meeting. I left the
office at 10 o'clock. Park was there. I have told Charles Lin-
coln of the affair, and he will aid the police in keeping track
of the would-be murderers.

*Vermont.

[I25]

LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

March 16, 1855.

Park, after all, declined the challenge, but upon a mere
figment, of which even the "Code of Honor" takes no notice.
By his most lamentable misjudgment he has proved himself
false to the law of right and the law of honor and can now
claim the protection of neither. Outlawed of both, he can
expect to receive the sympathy and countenance of those who
profess fealty to neither of these rival codes. Today he
embarked with his family for the East. My own heart half
forgives him for the great wrong he has done himself, his
friends and the cause of truth, and my reason even urges
many palliatives of the great error he has committed, but
after all allowances are made, in just and even merciful judg-
ment, his conduct must receive the severest condemnation.

Although Mr. Park wavered in his principles in the heat
of the moment when this challenge was at first received, he
afterwards stood firmly in support of the sentiments ruling
his people and section, and when Colonel Baker, during the
progress of the Adams & Co. insolvency proceedings, lost his
own head and declared that if Park was displeased he (Ba-
ker) stood ready to "fight," Park replied:

"A cheap exhibition of courage, if he meant he was ready
to fight a duel. He knew that a year ago I had announced
that I would not accept or send a challenge. My early educa-
tion taught me to believe this mode of settling difficulties to
be wicked and barbarous. The laws of my native State — the
good old State of Vermont, still dear to me though far from
here — have pronounced dueling a crime. I have not forgot-
ten the instructions of the earliest and best of friends. I have
not lost my respect for the best citizens of my native land.
I am not prepared to abandon long-cherished principles — to
forget obligations of the highest character, in the idle expec-
tation of protecting wounded honor. And I can't say that, if
I were ready to adopt the code the gentleman seems disposed
to consult, — that, if I were ready to die as the fool dieth —
that I feel so much hurt by the gentleman's assault, as to re-

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OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

gard it necessary for my vindication to resort to that mode
of settling controversies. I would inform counsel — I mean
Colonel Baker; his associates, Mr. Wilson and Mr. Aldrich,
have, as is usual with them, conducted this case like gentle-
men, respecting themselves and entitled to the respect of oth-
ers— I inform the counsel, who seems so well to understand
how to blow his own trumpet, that I should not feel greatly
alarmed if any comparison were made between his character
and the character of any of those whom he has assailed.
Who are his associates?"

Oscar L. Shafter to his Wife.

San Francisco, March 17, 1855.
My Dear Wife:

This morning on coming to the office I found letters on
my table, and a parcel which I was satisfied was a daguerreo-
type. I commenced with that — opened the case, laying aside
the accompanying letter — and beheld my wife and babe.
For 10 or 15 minutes I sat steadily contemplating the pic-
ture— the thought never occurred to me but that the babe
was sleeping, and as I gazed upon the infant and my heart
swelled high with a father's pride and a father's joy, and
again as I noticed her likeness to the loved and lost, my heart
failed me at the recollection of past bereavement, and trem-
bled with fear lest it should be again renewed, in the future.
But I turned at length to the letter. The first line — "our lit-
tle Alice is dead" — told me by sharp and sudden revelation
that the pride was but a mockery, the joy but a delusion,
and that the thing feared had already occurred. You have
placed her beside her sisters. There are now three of the
same name and of like countenance that live on earth in our
memories alone and there they will live long. It seems to
me like the same blow, thrice dealt, and not like three
distinct afflictions. We said, and half believed, that the first
Alice was restored to us in the second, and when she too
was snatched from us, and the last was born and named,
both seemed to live again in her, and in her death each of

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LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

the others seem to have again died. The intelligence un-
manned me for the moment and wrung me with a grief
aggravated doubtless by the mood of mind in which I turned
to Emma's letter, and yet more by my isolation here.

In an hour I was obliged to be in court, and have just
returned, it being 3 o'clock p. m., to the hubbub of business
in the office. But I have braced myself up to the duties
of the hour and have met them and discharged them. The
office is now clear. I have tried to fix my attention upon
matters of business now on my table and yet to be transacted,
but have failed. My thoughts are with you; they dwell
upon the past, they explore the future; they anxiously in-
terrogate it concerning residue of evil yet in store; and
baffled and weary, they return and feed upon the channel
of the present. I take the picture again — the clerk of the
library sits with his back towards me — and gaze again
upon the shadow of the shade of the child while living. I
turn to the letters and read them again, slowly read them,
dwelling on every word. I fold them up and lay them aside
and make an effort at repose. The attempt is vain. My
fugitive thoughts are still flying away, bearing me with
them. I hear the labored breathing that awoke you at 4
o'clock in the morning, participate in all the watchings
and anxieties, in all the alternations of hope and fear that
ensued, until the end came. I join in the solemnities of the
funeral, seated by your side. We look at the child for the
last time together, when the services are concluded, and the
emotions of the children that survive, at the death of their
little favorite, but deepen my own, and for the third time
I am by your side in the last obsequies of the tomb.

Express my thanks to Mr. Ranney and Mr. Davenport
for their full and friendly letters, and my deep gratitude
to all those friends who aided and sympathized with you
in your affliction. We cannot forget them or theirs. There
are some intimations in Mr. R.'s letter as to the mode in
which the child was treated that painfully remind me of
former misgivings entertained on like occasions, but I try
to believe that these half-developed convictions have no real

[128]

OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

foundation, and it would now be better for us both if we
could succeed. We have three children left. May God in
his mercy spare them to our affections and our hopes, and
enable us to rear them in His nurture and admonition. Emma
remembers all of the dead. Mary and Hugh remember and
will always remember the last two. We cannot forget. And
their memories will ever be a bond of union among the
surviving children, linking them more nearly to each other
and to us.

I am glad that you sent the daguerreotype, and you will be
glad to hear that it reached me safely. When my stay here,
made more wearisome by this last affliction, shall have ended,
the picture will be restored to you and the children. I was
greatly comforted by the intelligence that father and mother
were with you so providentially, for he could understand
and measurably represent his absent son. I am glad that
you have found yourself able to meet this affliction with
so much fortitude and resignation, and whatever of calamity
may befall during the period of my absence I trust you will
be able to meet and bear it with the like spirit.

I am under circumstances where I cannot stop to mourn.
The luxury of grief is an indulgence from which a stern
and unforgiving necessity debars me. I must meet what is
upon me and before me, how greatly soever the heart may
be burdened, and I am resolved to do it.

********

Be mindful of my request, expressed in my last, to send the
daguerreotypes of the children by Mr. Park. You need not
send your own. I prefer to look upon the mother and the lost
babe, always in connection, as they are represented in the pic-
ture I now have. When the snows are gone you will have a
stone erected at the head of the new grave in all respects like
the other two. . . . We have seen enough to know
that inflammatory diseases affect our children for some reason
with formidable violence. If any of the children are attacked
with any of the complaints above indicated, the most thor-
ough treatment should be resorted to at once. ... In
the contingency named, secure the best medical attendance

[ '29 ]

LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

without delay . . . and when the healer comes, bribe
him with gold to stay until fear has been dispelled or real-
ized. My heart is worn with its frequent and protracted wait-
ings for the early dead. I would try to write on some other
subject than our bereavement, but I cannot. I feel it the more
keenly for the reason that I am alone, — and that you are
alone also, and by reason of the prospect that our separation
is to be protracted. Tell the children that their father lives
but for them and their mother, and knows no ties like those
that bind him to them. They will remember their little sis-
ters that are gone, and be mindful of the mercy by which
they themselves have been spared. When the season for it has
come, let them aid in the floral decoration of their sisters'
graves, and often visit them together. Nothing would interest
and gratify me more than to know that these injunctions
were complied with.

Give my regards to all, but especially to all those who are
kind and good to you.

From your affectionate husband,

O. L. Shafter.

March 22, 1855.
My Dear Wife :

The letter to which this is an addition was written, as it
purports, on the same day that your last was received, and
under great depression of spirit resulting from the most
melancholy news received from home. Since that time I have
been actively employed, and am now measurably composed
and resigned. The visitation is painfully severe, but life is
full of vicissitude, and he who cannot suffer without undue
complainings is but poorly adapted to meet and dismiss the
hours as they go.

I wrote to you in my last to the effect that I had made
up my mind to stay here longer than a year. I meant by
that however nothing more than that such was my then
present purpose. I intend on that question to hold myself
in the hollow of my own hand so long as practicable, and
it is not at all impossible or improbable even that I shall in

[ 130]

Plati V. Mary, Hugh and Emma Shatter
from old Daguerreot) pe

the new yopk

Pl]BLlC LIBRARY

OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

the end determine to return. If at the end of my year I can
invest my funds so as to be perfectly secure and at an eligible
rate of interest, it will be an inducement for me to tarry no
longer. But there is so much of dishonesty and dishonor here
in every lane of life that there is serious risk in trusting any
one. The hard times have induced the exposure of much
that has heretofore been successfully concealed, and have
driven and are driving many, very many, to every descrip-
tion of venality and crime. The whole framework of society,
the entire organization of things here, is distasteful to me.
I am not homesick. I am in no wise discontented, nor am I
affected with any regrets for having come here, except that
I was away when my child died.

If nothing besides, my pecuniary interests will have been
much promoted by my exodus from Vt. Still, when the
hour for my departure shall regularly have arrived, I doubt
not it will be cheerfully welcomed.

Tell my little son that his father often thinks of him
and often looks at his picture in which he is represented as
sitting in a high chair between his sisters Emma and Mary.
He and they must keep their feet dry, throw back their
shoulders, sit up straight, and try every day to see which
can outrun and outjump the other.

And now good bye. I shall write by the next mail.

O. L. Shafter.

San Francisco, March 26, 1855.
My Dear Wife :

Last Saturday Mr. Billings told me that he was afraid I
should hurt myself with hard work, and was so considerate
as to ask me to take a jaunt with him into the country. At 5
o'clock his horses were at the door, and in two hours from
that time we were 23 miles distant from the City, to the south
at San Mateo, a point of land that juts out into the bay of
San Francisco. The day was devoted to music, reading and
wandering. This A. M. we left at 7 A. M. and at 9 P. M. were
again in town. Before this jaunt, I knew very little about
the country from actual observation, but still a great deal

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LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

had been told me of its wonderful fertility and beauty. I am
now abundantly satisfied that there has been no misstate-
ment. The great feature in the landscape scenery here is
the rare combination of all the elements of beauty and
grandeur and sublimity which everywhere surround you.
Take the country that I traversed on the trip above named
as a sample. To the left was the Bay of San Francisco, run-
ning about 40 miles to the south of the City and having an
average breadth of perhaps 10 miles, and its face was as
calm and unruffled as a mirror. On the opposite side of the
Bay and at a distance of 3 or 4 miles from its western shore,
there is a range of wild, rugged mountains, rising sheer
from a fertile plain that extends from their base to the waters
of the Bay, and on one side the formation is substantially
the same with this exception: Along the base of the black,
jagged Sierra, and parallel with it, there are low ranges
called the "foothills." They are easy of ascent, smooth and
round as the head of a monk, arable to their summits, covered
with grass of a most luxuriant green, and then sink gently
down to the level of the magnificent plain that stretches away
to the waters of the Bay. These hills and the plain are a
perfect parterre of flowers. The sun went down and the
wonderful valley was filled with the soft and mellow twilight.
The air was as mild and balmy as the breath of Araby. Thou-
sands of horses and cattle were spread out on the plain
and the foothills. There were few or no fences to limit the
freedom of their range or to show that the all-grasping
Yankee had supplanted the Mexican Ranchero in the land.

The plain and the hillsides were dotted here and there
with oaks whose dark green foliage contrasted most happily
with the lighter hue of the sward. As we whirled on to the
south, we every now and then passed the openings of trans-
verse valleys that penetrated deep into the body of the
Sierra. Into one of these valleys we strayed the next day; it
is called the Canada. There are perhaps a thousand acres,
filled with cattle, watered by a beautiful arroyo (brook)
abounding with salmon trout, surrounded with hills of the
true Titan breed, and the bottom lands of the valley are as

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OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

rich as a garden. It is a place in which to live, die, and be
buried. This is indeed, a glorious country! In the end when
the lawlessness and crime that now mar and dishonor it
shall have passed away and the reign of order and of a
passable righteousness shall have been established, it will
be a land which its native born will never leave for any other
that the sun shines on. But now, society here and the beings
that constitute it, constantly remind one that man and nature
are at war. We had a very pleasant trip indeed, and the
change of scene, relaxation and exercise, brisk as it was,
have done me a great deal of good after my exhaustive
labors.

Before returning I hope to travel through the State pretty
thoroughly. There is a fall of water in the Northern part
which is reported to be 910 feet in height and there are two
mountains rising directly from the plain to the height of
17,000 feet above the level of the sea. Then there is the
Valley of Santa Rosa which is said to far exceed in fertility
and beauty the one which I have described.

I shall see them all before I start for home.

The weather is delightful, and the earth has added mar-
velously to its beauty by the vesture of flowers in which
it has arrayed itself. Business is painfully dull in all the de-
partments except the Law; in that there is no want of
activity. The great proportion of the work is done by four
firms, of which this house is one. The suspension of the
banks and private failures have added greatly to the current
business, and all the business of this firm is now done by
me alone with such incidental aid as I can get out of the
clerks.

{Continuation of foregoing.)

March 28, 1855. The steamer is in, and I am in posses-
sion of your letter. It would be a great affliction for a mail
to come without bringing a letter from you with it. Judging
from what you have written and from what I have read in
the papers, you must have had a winter of almost unpar-
alleled severity, but with "3 cords of wood on hand" and a

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LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

snug house, I think you will not suffer very much, if the wood
is only dry. I hope that you will have the shed proper, and
the false shed in front, packed full of wood in the spring.

Your allusion to our lost babe, her beauty, her good
nature, the fondness of the children for her, and to her
sudden and almost fated death, have brought this last mutual
woe of ours again full before me. I am gratified to know
that you have met and continue to bear this most painful
bereavement with resignation.

The little boy then is fond of reading his book? That is
very encouraging certainly! There is wisdom in books, and
as he has begun to read diligently while so young, he will,

if he keeps on, be wise when he becomes a man I

want to know whether Emma is reading as I advised. What
books has she read, and what ones is she reading now? How
is she getting on with her music? Will she take lessons in the
spring? Does she beat time? Does she study the rules of
music and play with reference to them? Is the piano kept
in tune? Has she begun to give lessons to Mary? Is it not
time to do so? I want Mary and Hugh, when he is old
enough, to learn to sing and play.

I am oppressed almost with the severity of my labors here,
but there is no escape and so I submit to it. I have no time
to write to you except what I steal from sleep. Most of my
letters are written after 1 1 o'clock at night, but I would
write after 4 in the morning before I would allow a mail
to leave without carrying you a letter.

From your most affectionate husband,

O. L. Shafter.

San Francisco, April 12, 1855.
My Dear Wife :

There are two left for us to love and live for, and there
are five dead for whom we must ever mourn. Oh Life! Oh
my heart! Two hours ago a telegraphic dispatch was laid on
my table. I tore it open and learned that our son was dead.
There is hardly any measure of calamity that could have
fallen on me with such weight. I was stunned and dizzied

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OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

by the awful blow, and for the last two hours have lived long
years of common woe. He was my joy, my pride, my hope.
From the hour of his birth my whole future has been filled
with him, my plans have all had reference to him and have
all centred in him. He had learned to identify his own future
with mine — with ours. He had gladly received the inculca-
tion that he was to be to us a staff and stay, when we should
be the waifs and the wrecks of time. He delighted in con-
templating us as leaning on him, and himself as supporting
us. He was intelligent, he was affectionate, he was beautiful.
He was all that parental fondness could desire in an only
son. I was far away from him when he died! I came here
not for myself but for him and his sisters. It was a great
grief for me to leave them, but I hoped and trusted that I
should advance them, and above all, that whatever of evil
fortune I should myself encounter, that I should be permitted
to see them all again. Two of them I shall see no more ! How
often have I pictured to myself the hour of my return — my
children — my son! (I cannot name his name) coming forth
to meet me. But when that hour shall arrive, his wild, filial
welcome will not be heard! I shall meet a broken and dis-
mantled household only — My boy, my boy is dead! Would
that I could have died for him ! I try to master my sorrow —
to resist the tide of feeling that overwhelms me. But I cannot.
It claims indulgence and I am powerless to resist it.

It would be some relief to hear the circumstances con-
nected with his sickness and death. Now and for a fortnight
hereafter I shall only know that "my son is dead," and that
he died on the 15th of March, the day before I heard of the
death of our babe. Day before yesterday, I think, I looked at
his picture. It was open before me for some time and I dwelt
upon it with feelings of a measured fondness and pride. And
again did I look upon the dead, while I supposed I was
looking upon the living. I cannot look upon that daguerreo-
type again. I am overcome with a feeling of dissolution. The
gentlemen connected with the office, hearing of my bereave-
ment, have spoken the customary words of sympathy and
condolence. They have told me to abandon business for a

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LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

time and go whithersoever I will, but my deep grief admits
no ministry and can find no relief, now or hereafter, except
in communion with you. We loved him alike; he was yours
as well as mine. We were from the first fully possessed of
each other's feelings and hopes concerning him. You will
understand my woe, for it is yours; you will comprehend
my feelings, for they are your own. We are in sympathy
with each other, and to that sympathy I turn for solace. In
his last sickness and in its last stages, did he remember me?
Did he speak of me? Did he mention my name? Did he leave
any message for me? Oh! My child! My child! My son!
My son ! My own life is lost to half its ends since he is no
more. Grievously does my heart misgive me that I was not
with him when he died. I pause, and try to feel that I am
resigned, that I may say so to you. I try to feel that "He has
given and He has taken away, and blessed be His name,"
but my heart is unfitted to give welcome to that holy senti-
ment though neither my thought nor my pen shall disown
its claims. The whole life of the child is before me. A thou-
sand little incidents recur to me with which he was con-
nected, illustrating his affections, his intelligence and his
promise. And oh ! how my heart repines and wails at his
early doom. My reason tells me that these repinings are of
no avail and should be stilled, but they possess me and I
cannot forget them, or cease to heed them, or allay them.
Would that I were with you and could lay my aching head
upon your breast, or pillow yours upon mine.

If you are resigned to this affliction, point out to me the
character of your resignation and direct me to its sources, or
if maternal grief is too powerful for restraint or check, tell
me that, and in your heart I shall see the likeness of my
own. Most grievously have we twain been afflicted in our
family. Few have suffered so much as we by the loss of
children, and of the residue of like suffering yet in store we
know not. Emma and Mary alone are left of seven children
born to us in twelve years, and that they are left is of God's
mercy. Long, long will they remember their little brother,
should they live; he was their only brother and therefore

[136]

OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

doubly dear to them. They are but two and each has now
no one to love but the other. Let them constantly bear in
mind that they are as liable to be separated, as was their
little brother while in life to be separated from them, and
but love each other the better for the reason that they are
alone and may at any moment be sundered.

Why should I write further when I cannot allude now to
any other subject than the one which absorbs me — his death?
I have given utterance to much which the heart yearned to
utter, yet it is as full and unsatisfied as if I had not written
at all.

On Saturday I must go to Sacramento. I have to argue a
very difficult and important case involving property to the
amount of $85,000. I have spent much time in the prepara-
tion of the case and had set my heart on arguing it thoroughly
and well; but I have lost all interest in the case and fear
that I shall not be able to rally my thoughts so as to do it
justice. This news I fear will detach me too much from the
dry and stern realities which are before me, and with which
I shall be compelled to grapple. I revolt at them as they lie
in contemplation and would willingly and joyfully renounce
the din of life forever. But I know that these feelings are
all wrong, and hope that I shall be able to overcome them.
I have duties still, wife and children still to unite me to life
and to engage me in its warfare. You are dear to me as the
blood of my life, and my surviving children now claim
for themselves all the love that I once divided between them
and the dead.

Time, that blessed minister to a mind diseased, will ex-
tend to my sorrow its ameliorations as it passes away. Energy,
purpose, design, will reoccupy their old entrenchments within
the heart. But never, oh never! can this last great sorrow
be forgotten. Its proportions contract not as I contemplate it,
but grow more and more vast, and more and yet more clearly
defined. You may forbear to erect any tombstones. When I
return I shall cause a monument to be erected to my children

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LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

who were lovely in their lives and in death were not divided.
.... God bless you, and my dear children that remain.

Your affectionate husband,

O. L. Shafter.

(Continuation of preceding letter.)

April 13. I have passed a fevered and distempered night.
This morning I took a walk through the outskirts of the
town and have just arrived at the office. I find a letter on
my table from father dated March 14. In the body of the
letter he speaks of the death of our babe in connection with
his visit to Wilmington, and adds the following postscript:

"Friday night, 1 6th. Mr. Lovell was here to-night. Says
he left your house Thursday. Hugh had a second attack of
the croup and he left him dangerously sick. I shall wait
before closing this until the Southern mail comes in and will
send the latest news. If I hear nothing I shall hope he is
better.

"Eight o'clock and no news, so I hope he is better but
fear the worst — God bless you!"

I am exhausted — entirely prostrated. My heart is leaden
and my head feels as though it was girt with an iron band.
I have tried to rally — but Oh my son ! my son !

The wide world seems but as the house of death and the
air seems heavy with its damps. I have concluded to start
this afternoon for Sacramento. The case that I spoke of
before the Supreme Court will be heard on Monday, and
change of scene during the interval may aid me in recovering
some degree of tranquillity. I hope father and mother were
again with you at the burial. Write all the details however
sad and mournful they may be.

Your husband,

O. L. Shafter.

San Francisco, April 20, 1855.
My Dear Wife :

On the 13th inst., the day after my last was written, I left
this city for Sacramento to attend the Supreme Court. I

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OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

arrived there the next morning, which was Saturday. On the
next Wednesday my cases were reached and I was employed
in court all day. Last night I returned to this city, and having
finished my more pressing labors for the day, I have con-
cluded to write you by the Express which will leave by the
next steamer. Time hung heavily on my hands while at
Sacramento, and would have hung more heavily still had it
not been for the companionship of Charles Lincoln. He is
a member of the Legislature now in session at Sacramento,
and did all that he could to make my stay there pleasant.
But none but He who knows the heart of man can under-
stand the deep dejection and the all but utter despondency
with which I was overwhelmed. But I will not and ought not
to add to your affliction by recitals of my own. I went into
court, and even when I rose to speak my thoughts were on
the dead; but by an effort which put in requisition all my
powers of self-command, I began and went through, speak-
ing for about two hours. The intensity of my feelings when
I commenced may perhaps have aided me in my argument
on the whole.

While in my room on Sunday I sought to ease my bur-
dened heart by penciling down a few lines in my memoran-
dum book, and I send you a copy of them. I send also the
daguerreotype of Emma, Mary and our little son. I wish you
to send it to Mr. Barrett of Grafton to be reproduced in a

crayon drawing in the highest and best style of his art

I trust that I am resigned in some degree to the great be-
reavement. We always had misgivings that he would die
young, and the fear has been realized. I would not repine. ]
try to submit and to solace my grief with the hope that I
shall see him yet again. The world is full of suffering like
ours, and there are very many whose afflictions have been
greater than any to which we have been subjected. We have
two left; there are many who have none. I trust that we
shall continue to bear patiently the residue of life and its ills,
whatever they may be, and ever cherish a spirit of resigna-
tion and hope. But as long as memory remains the form and
features, the character and promise of our little son, will

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abide with you and me and with his sisters. I cannot trust
myself to write about him. I dare not give indulgence to my
thoughts even. I long to revisit the home in which he died
and to stand beside his grave. Preserve everything that be-
longed to him as a precious relic. Oh ! My son ! My son !

I must stay my year out and intend to do it without flinch-
ing and without relaxation. Everything goes on here pleas-
antly and auspiciously. I am in the confidence of my employ-
ers, and as to the future can do in all respects pretty much as
I like in whatever relates to business arrangements. What I
shall do, I cannot now say, but by his death the motive to
stay is now diminished and the motives to return are greatly
augmented. In any event, this is probably the last winter that
you and the surviving children will spend in Vt. until they
shall have arrived at an age where those fearful maladies
that have proved so fatal to us will no longer endanger
them.

Say to the little girls that they lie near, very near, to the
heart of their father, and he longs to see them, and hopes
to see them yet again. They must improve their time and
endeavor to make all the proficiency possible in their learn-
ing. Have them take a great deal of outdoor exercise, and
keep their feet warm and dry.

My letter is about concluded. I shall bend myself to my
work resolutely and courageously, bearing whatever remains
to be borne, always sustained and soothed by the hope of
being again and speedily reunited to you and to those that
are left of our children.

From your affectionate husband,

O. L. Shafter.

Entry in Diary.
April 23, 1855.

SKETCH OF HUGH G. SHAFTER

He was born on the 15th day of June, A. D. 1849, an^
died on the 15th day of March, 1855. He was a child of
most remarkable promise. In this I am not misled by parental

[ HO]

OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

love. His perceptive faculties were singularly active and vig-
orous, and I never knew a child whose mind was more given
to reflection and who was more successful in mastering the
thronging problems that constantly press upon the atten-
tion of the young.

San Francisco, April 30, 1855.
My Dear Wife:

Yesterday I went with a friend to Oakland on the oppo-
site side of the bay. There are thousands of acres of level
land there and exceedingly fertile, lying between the bay and
the mountains, and it is covered with ancient and gigantic
oaks standing from 40 to 60 feet apart, and the sward be-
neath is covered with a luxuriant growth of grass and flow-
ers. Among these trees the town is built. Every variety of
fruit and flower, including many tropical exotics, grow here
in the greatest perfection, and as to the climate, it is an un-
ending June. Children here do not die young — at least rarely.
The lady with whom I board told me yesterday that their
children were very often sick before they came to this coun-
try, but that since their arrival, now some three years, no one
of them has been unwell even. You can hardly conceive my
anxiety to hear from you, though I anticipate that your let-
ter will bring upon me a return of the feelings with which
the first intelligence overwhelmed me.

The judges of the Supreme Court have done me the honor
to say, behind my back, to Mr. Billings, that the argument
that I recently made before them was the ablest argument
ever made in that court — which commendation you will see
may amount to something or nothing. Yesterday one of the
leading law firms in the city tendered me a partnership with
them at the conclusion of my year.

But all this is to me but "as sounding brass and tinkling
cymbal." Ambition with me is quite extinct. There are cer-
tain economical results which I think it important to secure,
and then my professional career will end. The rest of life will
be spent at home in that only companionship which I value,
the companionship of my wife and remaining children. Give

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LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

to the little girls their father's love. Tell them to remember
the advice and directions I have heretofore given them and
among other things not to be forgotten, tell them not to for-
get to write to me.

Your affectionate husband,

O. L. Shafter.

A pathetic little letter from his daughter Emma, then a
child of 12, but already her mother's dependence, no doubt
had much to do with influencing the lonely man to summon-
ing the remaining members of his family to join him, and
thus preserved to California one who was destined to add
luster to her early history. Added to his intense desire to
rejoin those he so deeply loved, was the ever-present fear
that others of his flock would fall before the stern Mower,
should they remain in the inclement climate which already
had wrought such havoc in the little circle. A previous letter
shows that he had already awakened to the advantages of
the California climate in the rearing of children.

Extracts from letter, Emma Shafter to her Father.

Wilmington, Vt, April 12, 1855.

My Beloved Father :

We were very much surprised that you have
made up your mind to stay longer than one year. We have
been counting the weeks and months that you have been
gone, as they rolled along, and looked forward to the close
of the few more months, and then you would be home. It
does not seem as though we could stay here without you
another winter. It will be so very lonesome. It seems as much
as we could bear to stay through the summer, now little
Hughy has left us. Oh ! it seems so lonesome. For my part
I wish we could go where you are, or you come where we
are. It has been an unusually severe winter here; we have
all had throat difficulties more or less all the time. The air is
very changeable, snow and then rain, and we suppose that is

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OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

what brings on the throat ails. Mother has thought, since
your last letter came, of going on to San Francisco, but does
not want to go contrary to your advice. . . . For two
or three mornings past Mary and I have taken our little and
well-worn sled up in the orchard and slid way down. Hughy
wanted mother to get him a new sled this winter, but he
thought [decided] he had rather she would get him a wagon,
for the baby. The poor little boy — he little thought then that
he would not have a little sister to draw, or that when sum-
mer came he would be lying by the side of her in the church-
yard. Yes, too true, they are lying side by side in the church-
yard.

I would like to know what you are doing now. You do not
know how lonesome we are. There were five of us when you
went away, and now there are only three. It seems too much
like dividing the Spirit, to have you there and us here. . . .

Accept a mine, and a mine, and a mine of love from all of
us. From your affectionate daughter, Emma.

Letter — Oscar L. Shaffer to his Wife.

San Francisco, May 14, 1855.
Dear Sarah :

Again I am compelled to begin a letter to you in advance
of the arrival of the steamer which doubtless bears one from
you to me. It is now 24 days and 6 hours since the mail left
New York, and for the last two days my ears have been
strained to hear from towards the sea the welcome gun an-
nouncing its arrival. The labors of the day are over. The
hum of business is at last silent and its distractions no longer
worry me. The last idler has sauntered from the library and
left me alone. The room is filled with the brilliant light
yielded by the gas burner, and the books, arranged on end
in solemn cases and covering three sides of this sometimes
sanctorum, give to it an air of quiet and learned repose. I
have no other home but this. When engaged in court during
the day, I think of it as the refuge that awaits me when re-
lieved at night, and where the mind is to enjoy whatever of

[M3]

LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

relaxation it can claim from its crowding taskwork. And
here, too, the heart takes note of its own experiences, and in-
vents and tries its various devices for resignation and repose.
I like the spot at this hour of night, for its silence and its
solitude. No one will intrude upon me here and now. I can
take out my letters from home and read them through from
first to last, and there will be no one to interrupt me. I can
get out the daguerreotype and the pin-cushion, and there is
no one to observe me. And if the eye brims and runs over, it
can be quietly dried, and all questionings evaded. In short, I
like this library very much. There is no place in or about
the city that I like so well.

About a month since I bought me a set of heavy dumb-
bells and I exercise with them daily and have derived very
great benefit from the practice. By varying the modes of
playing with them, all the different muscles may be put in
requisition, and smart requisition, too, and all the benefits of
general exercise may be thereby secured.

Last week I was engaged for three days in trying an ac-
tion for false imprisonment, brought by a carpenter on one
of the mail ships against his commander. I was for the de-
fendant, and tried the case alone. On the other side were
ex-Recorder Baker, Judge Duer of New York, and Col.
Balie Peyton, formerly Member of Congress. It was an
awful case of tyranny and barbarity on the part of the cap-
tain, and he was beaten on a verdict of $5,000. The court-
room was crowded from the beginning to the close of the
trial, and the proceedings were listened to with great interest
by the excited multitude. The Captain was determined to
defend the suit, and for three days I did my endeavors in
his behalf, tooth and nail, but it was of no use. His guilt was
too manifest, and the result I have already given you.

It is now six months and one day since I landed, so you
see that I have entered on the last half of my year. The first
half has sped rapidly, and though it has brought much of
sorrow with it, yet so far as mere general enjoyment is con-
cerned, it has been spent quite pleasantly. Since I have been
here I have been as contented as I ever supposed I would be

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OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

and as successful as I ever allowed myself to hope. Still I
look forward anxiously and await the hour when I shall
leave and go to rejoin those I love.

I suppose that the snow has all left you by this time,
though I remember that two years ago tomorrow, I think,* I
left home for Boston on runners, and the snow was then two
feet deep. If spring has fairly and fully revisited you, then
you are enjoying much the same weather as has prevailed
here constantly for the last six months. . . . Write me
if you have a good supply of wood, if you have got a pig, if
father has taken the calf which our little boy lived to see and
name. I hope he has got it. If he has not, do not sell it or
give it away to any one else. Write me all the particulars
about the apple trees, the maples, the gates, the fence, the
state of things at the barn, and Mr. Patch's operations on
the farm. Where has he sowed, and what has he planted?
Are the crops up and how are they doing? How is your colt,
and how is the partnership colt? It would almost renew my
years could I be with you but for an hour amid the familiar
scenes of home, — darkened most sadly, darkened as they are.
But we must not repine at absence, or despond under the in-
fliction of yet greater calamity, for absence we hope will one
day end, and the grave will we know again yield up to us the
treasured dead. With the lost, it is well, and it will be all
well with us when the end shall come, if we so live here as to
find them there. There is no lesson so hard to learn as the
lesson of fortitude and resignation under the higher suffer-
ings of bereavement. Still with the death of children there
are connected thoughts and associations of which all other
death is barren. The lost daughters and the lost son will
never grow old to us; as they were when they died, so will
they always live in our recollections here, and so will they be
revealed to us hereafter. Time hurries on without tarrying,
and each moment as it transpires shortens the period of sep-

*May 16, 1853.

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LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

aration. We wait in the patience of hope and trust for the
consummation to which we hasten.

From your affectionate husband,

O. L. Shafter.

Oscar L. Shafter to his daughter Emma.

San Francisco, May 27, 1855.
Dear Emma :

Your last letter interested me very much. The spelling
was correct and the punctuation generally accurate, and the
matter such as a good daughter, who understood her father's
heart, would be likely to write about in a letter to him. Your
mother then has been engaged upon the annual job of soap-
boiling!* I wish I could have been there to put up the leeches
and to have done the rest of the heavy work for her, but I
take it for true that Mr. M. or some other person was there
to assist her in that particular.

Your allusions to your "well worn sled" and to Hugh's
generous acquiescence in his mother's proposal to have a new
wagon, rather than a new sled, so that his little sister might
have the benefit of it, touched me deeply. But my dear daugh-
ter, they are not divided. They are now together, and in the
Elysian fields to which they have been translated, they, with
their sisters who went before them, wander in happy and
immortal companionship, the brother the eldest in years, but
the youngest in that eternal life upon which they have en-
tered. We who survive them should endeavor so to live that
when our own time shall come, we may be united in the num-
ber of their happy band. We will not mourn then for the
departed as though we were without hope. We cannot, how-
ever, fail to cherish their names, and we must speak often to
each other concerning them. I doubt not they are mindful of
us, and commune with each other concerning us, in their
everlasting habitations.

*In that day and before the establishment of great soap factories every-
where throughout the country, every self-respecting New England house-
keeper annually went through the laborious process of soapmaking at home.

[146]

OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

My own heart has at length learned the lesson of calm
and hopeful resignation.

I am gratified that you are making progress in your music,
and that my dear little Mary is about to commence the study
of it. You must learn something more about the piano than
how to pound it. Learn to play with accuracy and taste, and
to this end you must become familiar with and thoroughly
practised in the rules of music. I should be grievously morti-
fied if, when I returned home, I found you uninstructed in
music as a science. Learn to beat time and to mind all the
rests, for if you do not, it will be embarrassing for any one
to play in concert with you. But you must not give to your
music any undue attention. There are other studies of much
greater consequence as accomplishments, and by reason of
their greater value for the solid instruction they afford. On
this subject you know my sentiments and my anxieties, and I
hope and allow myself to believe that you will faithfully and
industriously follow your father's counsels. You must follow
out the course of historical reading I marked out for you.
Be attentive to dates, for if unmindful of them, the events
of history will be all jumbled up in your mind without order
or connection. Read some every day, even if it be but a chap-
ter or single page even. You need not be in a hurry, but read
regularly, attentively and understandingly. Try and fit your-
self for usefulness, for the life that is before you and all its
manifold duties. Knowledge is essential to usefulness; it is a
condition of personal worth and of personal respectability.
A vain, giggling, misinformed girl is but a reproach to her
parents and but an object of pity or contempt to others. So-
briety of manners, habitual modesty, intelligence and good-
ness of heart, make her an honor to her parents, and com-
mend her to the esteem and favor of all. Cultivate a spirit of
forbearance and gentleness. Try to win the love of all your
associates by kind words and deeds yet more kind, and by
respectful deportment to those who are older than yourself,
win their favor and regard. Repress all arrogance and pride,
and learn to be habitually affable and good-tempered, and
never forget, always, to "speak it just as it is."

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LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

What I say to you, I say also to little Mary. This summer
you will be alone with your mother. Contribute all in your
power to the happiness of her who loves you and who has
done so much for you. Do nothing that will give her a mo-
ment's pain, for every pang that a child inflicts upon its
mother will cost the child a severer one by far when the moth-
er is no more.

When you write in reply to this, you must tell me all about
your school this summer, and your studies. Tell also about
the garden, the fruit trees and the maples, and Mr. Patch's
operations upon the farm.

This is a land of flowers. The climate is so mild that al-
most every description of exotic grows here in entire perfec-
tion. The markets are filled with them, and the very air is
laden with their varied aroma. Every lady in the streets is
furnished with a magnificent bouquet; the dandies wear them
at their buttonholes, and middle-aged gentlemen like myself,
of sober garb and sedate presence, regale their solemn but
appreciative noses with the sweet-scented odors of a thousand
flowers. Pears grow here to the size of small squashes and of
most delicious flavor. Grapes are produced in the greatest
perfection, and the markets are filled with strawberries as
large as hen's eggs. There is no other land like this in the
matter of adaptation to mere physical enjoyment.

From your father,

O. L. Shafter.

Oscar L. Shafter to his brother Hugh Shafter.

San Francisco, May 27, 1855.
Dear Brother :

Having a little leisure on my hands to-day, certain inward
movings prompt me to write to you directly. So far as all
general matters are concerned, I have enjoyed myself very
well in my position here. I have been quite as successful as I
ever allowed myself to hope, and even more so, for I had
ceased to indulge in the youthful folly of day-dreaming for
some years at least before I left home. I have reason to be-

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OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

lieve that I have secured the confidence and regard of the firm
with which I am connected, and they have voluntarily assured
me that at the end of my year I can become a member of the
concern or stand in my present relation at a very desirable
advance on my present salary. I have further had a proposal
from one of the first law firms in the city to enter into part-
nership with them at the end of my year. But what I shall
do I cannot now tell.

Death has made sad inroads upon my family since I left
home.

I was away when my son died. The tidings reached me on
a foreign shore, surrounded by strangers alone, and plunged
in business that could not be escaped or postponed. It is a
blow from which I have not and fear I never shall recover.
I named him after you, and by this familiar device had con-
nected him with my own past and with yours, and he,
through his name, had learned to identify himself with many
of our common associations. He was a little boy of most un-
common promise. In this I am not misled by paternal fond-
ness. His perceptions were remarkably quick, and he was as
affectionate as a dove. . . . He was of an ardent, frank
and impulsive nature, and was largely imbued with rever-
ence. In early infancy we taught him the name of Him who
passeth knowledge, and to say habitually all the traditionary
prayers of childhood. He had in him all the rudiments of
excellent judgment and had been uncommonly successful in
solving the thronging problems that press upon the attention
of the young. With myself he had learned fully to identify
himself; he had blended his own future with mine, and it is
most true that I had blended mine with his. May God in his
mercy grant that that hope may yet be realized. He was a
good little boy, and by his death I am bowed to the very
earth. I write you thus fully, for it eases my heart some, and
I would, with you, whose cherished name he bore, rescue his
transient years from oblivion.

You have never lost children. Five out of seven of mine
sleep side by side in the churchyard. Still, there are consola-

[ H9 ]

LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

tions that connect themselves with the death of children, of
which all other death is barren. We are certain that no ill
can betide them in the world to which they are translated,
and then they never grow old to the parent. He is never with-
out a child. But I will not pursue this subject further. His
death I regard as the great calamity of my life.

This is a most beautiful land, fertile beyond any parallel.
The climate is absolutely a perfect one, and the landscape
scenery is such as the painter's eye most delights to dwell
upon. Had I been born here, or were my father and friends
here, and the graves of my ancestors and my own children,
I do not think I would leave this land for any other on the
globe. There is a great deal of venality and corruption here,
it is true, but the Anglo-Saxon race has never missed fire on
this continent, and it will not here. Society is even now obey-
ing the law of progress. The elements are arranging them-
selves and taking on all the forms of a higher and better
social state. In proof of which I would instance the anti-
gambling bill passed by the last Legislature, and advert to
the fact that a Maine liquor law was defeated by a bare ma-
jority. By another year, that policy which has so wonderfully
exalted itself in the East, will be fully inaugurated here, and
then another great economic leak will be closed, another
source of widespread social evil will be dried up.
I give you all a pressing invitation to write me. There is
nothing that I now like so well as to write to my kindred,
unless it be to be written to by them.

From your affectionate brother,

O. L. Shafter.

Oscar L. Shafter to his Wife.

San Francisco, May 31, 1855.
Dear Sarah :

The "Golden Gate" came in to-night and I am now in re-
ceipt of your and Emma's letters of the 27th of April and
also of a letter from Mr. Davenport. Mr. D. informs me
that you were at Bennington on the 29th. I am glad that you

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OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

concluded to go there, for it has occurred to me that it might
not be convenient for Mr. Park in the hurry of his visit to
go to Wilmington. The reports that you have heard about
Park's fleeing the country, and about his concealment on
board the boat for three days before it left, are all of them
entirely destitute of foundation. Neither he nor Mr. Billings
have done anything unworthy of themselves or that has im-
paired to any degree the respect and confidence of their
friends. I have a personal knowledge of all the facts in the
case, and do not hesitate to say that they do not in my judg-
ment affect to any extent their integrity or honor.

James* in his letter to me manifests every disposition to
emigrate to this country. He is out of sorts with Wisconsin
in all respects and looks to this State as a place of refuge to
be fled to with as little delay as possible. As soon as Park
returns I shall try to make some arrangement in his favor. . .

I am anxious, deeply anxious, to be reunited to my family,
but the time and the place where that most auspicious event
will take place I cannot now determine. When Park returns
I shall probably be better able to make up my mind than now.
Keep up a stout heart, my dear wife, and in the end all will
be well.

Your affectionate husband,

O. L. SHAFTER.

Oscar L. to his brother James McM. Shafter.

San Francisco, June 16, 1855.
Dear Brother:

Your letter of April 9th received. I have delayed answer-
ing it for the purpose of closing up certain negotiations
which I set on foot some time since on your behalf. Hagert
of the firm of Hager & Sharp, t has been appointed by the
Governor to fill a vacancy on the bank of the 4th Judicial
Dist., and he will doubtless be elected Judge by the people

♦James McM. Shafter.
IJudge John S. Hager.
iSolomon A. Sharp.

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LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

next September. Sharp wants a partner, but concludes not to
form a partnership now, lest Hager should fail of an elec-
tion, in which event their former connection would be re-
newed. Sharp is in the same building with us, and the firm of
Hager & Sharp has always done a very fine business. Sharp
is a very clever fellow, has a large outdoor acquaintance, and
has formerly been City Attorney. He understands the art
and mystery of "getting business," as it is called, but is not
very accomplished as a lawyer. The heavy work of the con-
cern has heretofore been done by Hager. The upshot of the
business is that nothing can be done there until after election.
There is a young fellow by the name of E. B. Mastick,*
from Ohio, here, who from small beginnings has worked
himself into a business that yields him, as he says, $800 a
month in cash, and in addition to that enables him to make
a credit business which he does not pretend to value at any-
thing until the money is forthcoming. He is clever, assidu-
ous and honest, but does not know law enough, as he says, to
engage in the conduct of contested cases. He introduced him-
self to me some time since, and suggested his self-imputed
deficiencies and proposed to me to aid him in consultation
and otherwise, as he might have occasion, and for some time
past I have been in the habit of doing it, and have in one
instance tried a case for him, and am associated with him in
another to be tried in a few days. I was informed by a mu-
tual acquaintance a few days since that he wanted a partner
of learning and experience, and I have had a talk with him
on the subject and have named you to him. He is conform-
able, but says that he has been dipping into some real estate
speculations, and he wants to get out of them before he con-
nects himself with any one in business. He says further
that he has no doubt he shall be able to do it, and that, too,
before the steamer of the 1st of July, at which time I shall
probably be able to write you definitely. He will go in with
you on the principle of 'alf and 'alf, if at all, and I think he

*Afterwards Judge E. B. Mastick, after whom Mastick Station, etc., in
Alameda, were named.

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OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

would be a very eligible partner. He thinks that with a com-
petent partner his business could be very much extended.

At the first start Sharp would be the better chance, but in
the long run I should on the whole prefer Mastick, but either
will do. Should I conclude to stay here, a partnership be-
tween you and myself would be the consummation that I
should drive at in the first instance. But my mind is not as yet
fully made up upon the length of my stay, though it probably
will not close with the close of my year. I shall not return,
however, until I make up my mind to abandon the practice
of the law. The death of my children has affected me most
deeply, and for a time I feared that I should not recover
from the blow. But I have not intermitted in business for an
hour, and it is wrell I think that I have not and could not.

I have no doubt but that you will succeed here, and my
only anxiety is to have you start under circumstances that will
save you from a troublesome probation. I shall write you by
the next mail, and at that time, should Mastick have con-
cluded to go in with you, I will give you all needed details.
The "Practice Act" here is substantially the same as in N. Y.
under their new system, and should you come out here I
would advise you to buy the N. Y. Code of 1852, Voorhies'
3rd edition, with Supplement and Notes, and read it thor-
oughly on the way out. The N. Y. Reports are used largely
in the courts. We have the Chancery Jurisdiction in full
blast, though the formal distinctions between law and equity
are abolished, and the equity powers of the courts are habit-
ually invoked.

Your brother,

O. L. Siiafter.

Oscar L. Shafter to his Wife.

San Francisco, June 26, 1855.
My Dear Wife:

I have had a hard day's work, but at the end I have known
the solace of a capital dinner at Mr. Park's. Not a boiled
dinner, it is true, but the next to it in rank. The dinner was

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LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

not of the showy and ambitious type, but plain, substantial
and home-bred, for which reasons I liked it all the better.
We had roast pork, tender and juicy and done to a turn,
green peas and other vegetables, cucumbers and raw onions,
concluding with large and liberal allowances of custard pie.
Day after to-morrow they have a boiled dinner, and they
have obliged me so far as to invite me to aid in the work
of its extermination. Mrs. Park seems to have left Vermont
with even greater regret than when she left it first, and she
quite evidently expects to return as soon as what she regards
as her temporary sojourn here shall be over, say in about two
years. She speaks of you with great respect, and I confess I
was highly flattered by the regard with which you seem to
have excited her. She spoke of your willingness and anxiety
even to follow my fortunes in this distant land, but in that
she could tell me nothing more than I already knew. She
went on to urge me with her woman's zeal and eloquence to
bring you out here at once, to build a house beside her hus-
band's, so that you and she could enjoy all the pleasures of
good neighborhood. For a time she half disordered my judg-
ment by her enticing pictures, and I was more than half in-
clined to speak the word that should bring you and my
daughters to my side. But I have taken time to reflect, and
have reflected on the subject fully, and much as I desire it,
am compelled to believe that it would be injudicious, all
things considered, for me to utter the summons which I
should be so glad to utter, and which you would so gladly
hear.

Park has urged me by all means to dismiss all thought of
returning at the end of my year, but I still remain in doubt
as to what course I shall take in that particular, though the
probability is that I shall not return until a year from next
fall. I came here for a definite purpose and in coming made
a great sacrifice of business prospects at home for prospects
that were opened up to me here, and as my most sanguine
expectations have been more than answered, I feel that I
ought not to prematurely abandon that for which I left my
home and which is now apparently within my reach and al-

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OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

most within my grasp. Should I, however, make up my mind
in the course of the summer to stay longer than one year
from next fall, then and in that event I shall take measures
to have you and the girls come out here at once. I have cal-
culated my own powers of endurance, and cannot subject
myself or family to the wear and tear of a longer and in-
definite separation. At present I shall be compelled to leave
the matter as I have already presented it, hoping that we
shall both be able to make those further sacrifices that cir-
cumstances may seem to demand.

I am in good health, and my spirits do not fail so far as to
disqualify me for a hearty prosecution of the business that I
am in. I do not have to work so hard as I used to, not be-
cause there is not as much to do as ever, but I of course trans-
act business with more facility than I could immediately after
my arrival.

Your affectionate husband,

O. L. Shafter.

From Diary.
June 24, 1855.

I have passed a pleasant Sabbath alone in the library. It
has been with me a day of solemn yet hopeful meditation. I
have read the Bible, a book that I have for many, many long
years sadly neglected, and as I read the feelings and beliefs
of my early youth were revived within me, and the familiar
voice of my Mother seemed to me to utter the words in-
scribed by inspiration, and the forms of the holy men that
taught me once how to live and how to die, seemed to gather
around me. I have frequently of late opened the Scriptures
at random, and in almost every instance the chapter or pas-
sage upon which my eye has first fallen has contained some-
thing strikingly appropriate to my own circumstances and
spiritual wants. Today it fell upon one of the Psalms of Da-
vid, and I read as follows, "Stand in awe and sin not. Com-
mune with thine own heart upon thy bed, and be still. Crawl
not like a worm, stagger not like one in delirium, fly not like
a coward, but stand erect and firm." But stand in awe! How

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LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

much is there to awe the heart of man in the visible of crea-
tion in the earth and in the heavens ! But in the contempla-
tion of himself there may be revealed to him deeper mysteries
and a yet greater glory, visiting him with an awe yet more
profound. But more than all these he should "stand in awe,"
for he standeth ever in the presence of God.

Yet it is not enough that we stand in awe. We must not
sin. Nor will this suffice; the injunction is, "Commune with
thine own heart upon thy bed"; that is, when the interval of
labor is over, the mind has a season of rest. The concluding
words, "be still," express not so much a command as a prom-
ise of calm and heavenly repose to ensue.

Oscar L. Shafter to his brother James McM. Shafter.

San Francisco, June 29, 1855.
Dear Brother:

Mastick has just been in and informed me that he has
concluded to go into partnership with you if you desire it,
and on the terms designated in my last. You had better send
on your books, and Mastick says that he will buy into them,
one-half, if you wish it, or will allow you for the use of them
in account. He is in the way of arranging his private affairs
as he thinks, so that there will be no danger of embarrass-
ment to the business of the firm by any slips in his own mat-
ters. He is understood among his acquaintances to be well
off. I know that he has excellent business capacities and hab-
its, and that he is doing a very good business. There is some
depression in law business just now and all the firms in town
are affected by it more or less. Mastick wishes me to say to
you that his own business has not diminished in amount, but
that his receipts in cash for the last two months have aver-
aged about $600 monthly. He says he has all he can do, and
that if he had a man of the right stamp with him his busi-
ness would be very much increased. And in that I fully
concur.

In view of the circumstances to which you have heretofore
called my attention as affecting the eligibility of further life

[156]

OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

and endeavor in Wisconsin, I am prepared on the whole to
advise you to come out here. During the summer season we
have rather a high and harsh wind from the ocean in the
latter part of the day, and it is generally considered that it is
unfavorable to those who are affected with pulmonary com-
plaints, but should you find it so in your own case, there are
other points in the State every way desirable that are entirely
free from this objection. It is understood that your arrange-
ment with Mastick is to subsist during the pleasure of the
parties. I thought it would be best to put it in that shape, so
that we might be at liberty to go into business with each other
whenever the opportunity shall be fairly presented.
Park and family returned by the last steamer and we are full
of business.

Write by return mail.

Your brother,

O. L. Shafter.

Oscar L. Shafter to his Wife.

San Francisco, July 15, 1855.
Dear Sarah :

Last night I was in court until 12 o'clock, en-
gaged in a cause of great consequence, and feel today some-
what dull and exhausted. Park since his return has made
open war on his enemies at all points, through the papers
and through the courts. Two days ago he was knocked down
in the streets by the brother of one of the men whom he is,
as I think, very properly pursuing, and his face was very
badly bruised. This warfare is leading to all sorts of entan-
glements and complications, and you may be assured that I
have my hands full. I have to be at the head of the battle
one moment and at the rear the next, and am kept constantly
flving from point to point along the line. It is a kind of liti-
gation that I have little taste for, but business is business,
and there is the end of the matter.

I was much concerned to hear of the death of Nelson
Fitch. We were personal friends of long standing and our

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LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

mutual friendship had taken on the quality of steadfastness.
His brother (Dr. Russel Fitch) called on me this morning.
He had received a brief notice of Nelson's death from Mr.
Harris. I was enabled to add somewhat to his information
by reading the short allusion to him contained in the letter
from Emma. He will soon be the last of his father's house,
and the impending evil weighs upon him. He took me down
this morning to see the steamer with which he is connected as
surgeon, the "Uncle Sam." It is a splendid vessel, sweet as a
rose and clean and wholesome as your buttery, and his own
rooms are very pleasant and nice.

There were 45 deaths on board the J. S. Stephens from
the cholera, on her passage up. The fact has leaked out this
morning and there is a good deal of irritation in the public
mind for the reason that none of the papers have noticed the
matter. The silence is doubtless the result of an understand-
ing between the Press and the Steamship companies. Forty-
five burials at sea in the space of only 12 days! Only think
of it. A month since, the dead left their families and friends
in the East and started with high hope for this distant Coast,
but life's fitful dream is over with them now — all over. But
how will it be with the friends that survive to bewail them?
They will expect letters from the wanderers by the steamer
that will leave here tomorrow, but the expected tidings will
not come. They will read instead a list of names of those who
"died at sea," published in some New York paper, and in it
each will find the name of his or her friend. My heart is with
the mourners and bleeds for them before they are apprised
of their own woe.

You asked me some time since if I chewed tobacco. My
answer is that I do. I found after my arrival that I could
work much better with than without it. It doesn't hurt me
any; of that I am entirely confident. You have asked me also
if I wore my beard. My answer to that home thrust is that I
shaved it off soon after my arrival, but about a fortnight
since I stopt shaving, and the evidence of manhood, as it has
been called, now measures about half an inch in length. It is
all natural, too, even to the color. I hate false appearances,

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OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

and above all abominate the trouble of getting them up.
Billings says that about the head I look like a Grizzly bear.
Well, I am about up to my climacteric in years, but I feel
firm and buoyant as when but five and twenty.

Jim will be out here I suppose by September, and as you
will readily believe, I shall be most happy to see him.

I am glad you wrote me so particularly about matters and
things and events at home. I have been almost unconsciously
thinking for the last five minutes how pleasant the kitchen
must look with its coat of whitewash newly laid on. It made
me feel good all over to hear that you had the shed almost
full of wood, and as for that pig, I have taken a great liking
to him and shall continue to feel a lively interest in his wel-
fare until he is fairly in pickle. Tell the children that I con-
tinue to be pleased and refreshed by their pictures. Say to
them that the dumb-bells are two iron balls connected by a
bar of iron about four inches long, and, by the way, I want
you to send to Brattleboro the first thing and get a pair for
the girls. There is nothing like them for developing the
chest. They should take one in each hand and swing them
back and forward half an hour each day. Give my love to
both of them and tell them to be good girls. Give my love
also to Mrs. S., Mrs. F., Mrs. B., Mrs. G., and all the
women, but always with their husband's permission first had
and obtained. But give it to Mrs. R., Mrs. O. S. and Aunt
S., and Mrs. D., whether their husbands consent or not.
Your affectionate husband,

O. L. Shafter.

Diary.

July 20, 1855.

The state of society here does not improve. A few days
since a shameful assault was committed upon the French
Consul, and the Recorder inflicted a fine of only $25.00 on
the offender. Since that there has been a great harvest of
street fights. The sentence referred to was but a public proc-
lamation that any one wishing to indulge in the luxury of
personal vengeance could be gratified at an exceedingly low

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rate of charge, and the work of redressing one's wrongs has
thriven amazingly ever since. These disorders will be bruited
abroad throughout the civilized world, and will add to the
opprobrium already gathered upon the head of this devoted
State. The results will appear in a diminished immigration,
and in a general weakening of all desire to remain, among
those who are now here. The class of emigrants which Cali-
fornia most needs : the hardy, respectable and sober-minded
yeomanry of the Eastern States, will never emigrate to this
country with their families so long as there is nothing where-
with their own heads can be kept whole except by their own
hands. The advantages which this State holds out for the
accumulation of material wealth are well understood, but the
frenzy which the discovery of gold everywhere induced is
over. The world is again restored to reason, equinimity, and
self-command, and the terrible lawlessness which continues
to prevail here exerts a most powerful influence, I think, to
prevent our population increasing.

Captain Joseph L. Folsom died last night at the age of 39
years. He was accounted the wealthiest man in the State, but
his property is all held by titles more or less uncertain. For
the last five years he has been engaged constantly in lawsuits
and broils, worried, vexed, and harried to death. He was a
man of fine intellect, and of great force of character. He was
graduated at West Point, and was one of the first emigrants
to this State. He was a native of N. H., and I understand
has left no relatives but a mother and sister resident in Ohio.

Oscar L. Shaffer to his Wife.

July 28, 1855.
My Dear Wife :

With my general theological opinions you are acquainted;
they have undergone no essential modification, or change.
They are the opinions which the lamented Dr. Channing has
so fully illustrated in his sermons, and of the profitableness
of which his whole life is a beautiful and all but faultless ex-
hibition. Those doctrines reveal God to us as our Father, our

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OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

Father in the highest and profoundest import; they further
inculcate that He has a will concerning us; they give to that
will the authority of law; they recognize human obedience as
a duty, and make certain fixed consequences result from
obedience, and another set of consequences the unchangeable
and inevitable fruit of transgression. They teach us that
the conditions of happiness in the future life are the same as
those of the present; that death is a material change only,
and that the soul enters upon the future life with the same
character it bore when it left this; that in the world to come,
it will advance, if it advances at all, by the same means that it
works out its own character in the world that now is. But
these doctrines further reveal to us that in the progression of
the Eternities of God, the soul will of its own intelligent elec-
tion cease from its warfare against its own highest good, and,
ceasing to do evil, will learn to do well at last. In these views
there are presented most powerful motives to present obedi-
ence. Whatever purification from sin and its contaminations
is accomplished here, but hastens the hour of completed re-
generation hereafter, while every evil act performed here,
every evil thought indulged here, but delays and postpones
the period of redemption. This theory of rewards and pun-
ishments recognizes the great primary truth of human ac-
countability; presents adequate encouragements to virtue, and
discouragements to vice; invests the soul with all needful
powers for the achievement of its own highest good, and by
making the ultimate attainment of that good an universal
truth, vindicates at once the goodness and the wisdom of
God in man's creation. Emma asks, "Why are the young and
beautiful snatched away, and the aged permitted to remain?"
It is a question that has often, very often, been asked before,
and the most satisfactory answer that I have ever heard is,
it is the will of God. We are born to die, and to die is but to
live again; we live here then simply that we may live here-
after, and that final, that higher, better and truer life is sure
to follow life here irrespective of its duration. The little child
whose span is told by months alone is as sure of its immor-
tality as the grown man who dies weary and worn with the

[16. ]

LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

weight of years; the latter dies amid the shadows of evening,
following the endeavor and the exhaustion of a lengthened
day; the former in the dewy freshness and soft effulgence of
the early morning; this is the only difference. God wills it,
and my daughter must reflect that He doeth all things well.
I am more than gratified that you have learned what it is the
end of all trial to teach ; the futility of earthly hopes, and
that all substance, all reality, are beyond the bourne to which
we hasten. Yet life here should not be set down as unimpor-
tant and valueless, for it is one of the appointments of God,
which He has brightened with prospects and ennobled with
duties. They should be cheerfully and faithfully performed.
They press upon us from day to day, we wake to them every
morning, they challenge our attention and our efforts every
moment, and wait patiently upon our slumbers during the
silence and darkness of night; they should be performed
cheerfully, courageously, and in the patience of hope. There
is impiety in saying, "I am weary of life"; while it is contin-
ued it should be cherished and improved. Viewed in its just
relations to that which is to come, its importance is magnified
and its deeper import fully revealed. . . .
Your affectionate husband,

O. L. Shafter.

Letter from Oscar L. Shafter to his Father.

San Francisco, Aug. 16, 1855.
Dear Father:

The mail steamer due on the 13th inst. has not yet ar-
rived, and much solicitude is felt concerning her. I of course
shall receive letters from my family and it may be one from
you also. I am very well bodily, and not diseased in mind, as
I trust — have constant occupation and am surrounded with
agreeable and pleasant friends.

The firm of Halleck, Peachy, Billings & Park was dis-
solved yesterday. The first three gentlemen go on together.
Mr. Park establishes himself under the firm of Shafter &
Park. There was a good deal of hauling and pulling between

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OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

the three and Park with regard to myself. The simple truth
is I have done everything and had charge of everything since
I have been here, and neither could get along very well with-
out me, and for three weeks before the dissolution took place
both sides were moving upon me. I told both sets of solicitors
that by reason of my connection with the firm I had enjoyed
opportunities of becoming acquainted with their joint clients,
and that I could not under any circumstances take service
with either without the consent of all; it was a matter for
them to arrange, and not for me to decide. They tried to
make such an arrangement, but failed, and I found that if I
persisted in "masterly inactivity" it would be productive of
serious embarrassment to them all, and so when they in-
formed me yesterday that I must determine the question. I
did so and concluded to go with Park. Both parties tendered
me a present partnership and on terms of entire equality, but
not being fully settled as to my own plans I declined forming
the connection.

I went with Park for the reason simply that the firm was
dissolved by the action of Mr. Peachy on the ground that
Park, when knocked down in the street some six weeks since,
refused thereafter to waylay his assailant and shoot him in
the streets, and for the further reason that when challenged
to fight a duel some four months since, he declined the chal-
lenge. On many personal grounds it would have suited me
very well to have remained with the three, for they are men
of great amenity of manners, of much talent and cultivation,
and my relations with them have ever been of the most inti-
mate and friendly character. But I approved of the conduct
of Mr. Park in those points whereon he was held recusant
by Mr. Peachy, and couldn't find it in me to desert him when
left at liberty by them all to determine my own action; to
have done so would have been to dishonor the principles in
which I was bred.

The partnership between Park and myself is an ostensible
one merely. He desired it supposing it would be attended
with some consequences favorable to himself in the way of
keeping or getting business and in saving him from a popular

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suspicion of having been discarded by the firm. He pays me
for the residue of my year a liberal sum, in addition to what
I was receiving from the firm, and gives me the privilege at
the end of the year of taking one-half of our joint earnings
instead of my salary for the three months that remain of
my year. At the end of my year I shall have $13,000 here in
cash, which at interest will for another year produce one-
fourth of itself. In view of these advantages I shall probably
remain another year.

There is a growing spirit of turbulence and disorder here.
Murders are almost nightly occurring in this city, and in the
mining regions there is a general carnage all the time in prog-
ress. Sometimes the Indians are the victims, again it is the
poor Chinese, just now it is the Mexicans, and not unfre-
quently the dominant races pitch into each other for the fun
of the thing or to keep their constitutional appetite for in-
justice and havoc, keen. The State election comes off on the
5th of next month. The Democrats have nominated Bigler,
who is understood to be an Anti-Administration man. Their
only opponents are the Know Nothings, a party here most
thoroughly debauched and worthless, made up of mere plun-
der hunters and camp followers by profession. Their conven-
tion is now in session in this city for the purpose of making
county nominations. They have been hard at it for the last
two days and nights, but make little progress. The great
trouble is that all the members of the convention are candi-
dates for office, and no two can vote together without one
voting against himself.

I shall expect to see Jim due in the course of six
weeks. His partner is waiting very impatiently for his arrival.
He is a very fine fellow, doing a very good business indeed,
and I think Jim will like him and the connection very much.

Believe me your affectionate son,

O. L. Shafter.

[164]

OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

Oscar L. Shaft er to his JTife.

San Francisco, Aug. 17, 1855.
My Dear Wife :

This morning I have been tendered a partnership by Lake
& Rose, one of the best firms in the city. Park will pay me
$10,000 for another year, or will go into a partnership, but
I do not intend to drive any stakes at present. Jim will prob-
ably be here in the course of six weeks; it will be a great re-
lief to me to have him here, and I, as well as his partner, am
awaiting his advent with much impatience.

The city and country are full of venality, violence and
blood. The elections for State officers take place on the 5th of
September, and conventions and mass meetings are the order
of the day. The campaign has fairly set in, and has already
developed in conduct the bad passions which it had previously
enkindled.

Hardly a night passes without a murder or some flagrant
assault. In the mines civil war is raging between the Ameri-
cans and Mexicans, and each is apparently endeavoring to
exterminate the other with fire and sword and without respect
to sex or age. But there is no difficulty in getting along if a
man minds his own business and drinks cold water.

About a week since, as I was seated by a window in our
office, writing, an explosion took place on the opposite side
of the street and about 30 feet off. The place where the explo-
sion occurred is kept by a German money lender with an ex-
ceedingly hard face and unpronounceable name. One of his
debtors, a Frenchman, whom he was pressing hard for pay-
ment, went into his office with a carpet bag containing
twenty-five pounds of gunpowder. There were five or six men
in the office and several families in the second and third
stories of the building. The Frenchman told those in the of-
fice that they must leave or he should blow them up. They
supposed that he was merely vaporing, began to laugh at and
banter him, whereupon he laid down his magazine, drew a
revolver, and fired it once directly into the carpet bag. I felt
the concussion and heard the noise of the explosion before it

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LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

had spent its full force on the building, and on looking out
of the window, saw the doors, windows and furniture
hurtling through the air. In an instant those in the office
rushed out into the streets, but as luck would have it no one
was injured except the Frenchman, and he not very seriously.
He is now under arrest. This new way of "paying old debts"
was generally received as a most capital joke — the very best
indeed of the season. And if the building had been blown to
atoms and all in it had been buried in the ruins, it would only
have swollen the tide of popular merriment and applause.
The Frenchman will be prosecuted, I presume, but I have no
hesitation in predicting that he will be "triumphantly ac-
quitted."

Capt. Folsom, one of our clients and the wealthiest man in
California, died a short time since. He was a bachelor of
about 38 years. He came out here before the Conquest as a
Captain in the United States Army, and by a series of for-
tunate speculations in real estate succeeded in dying with the
reputation of being a millionaire — a very questionable success,
you will perhaps think, but it was apparently the only thing
that he lived for, the only distinction that he valued. He had
a magnificent funeral awarded him by his executors, Messrs.
Halleck and Peachy of our firm, — there was nothing want-
ing in the panoply of woe. A whole regiment of mounted ar-
tillery, infantry and cavalry, accompanied with band after
band of martial music, swept by in the procession, led by
General Wool and staff, all in full uniform. The Society of
California Pioneers and the Free Masons with all their
badges and regalia were in line, and a long array of carriages
with horses burdened with the weight of mourning emblems.
But very likely in all the vast parade there was not a solitary
eye that moistened with one solitary tear. They buried him in
Lone Mountain Cemetery, towards the Sea.

Your affectionate husband,

Oscar L. Shafter.

[166]

OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

Letter from Oscar L. Shaffer to his Wife.

San Francisco, Sept. i, 1855.
Dear Sarah:

Yours of the 29th July just received. Mr. Davenport
wrote me by the same mail, and has proposed to buy my
office, Law Library, office furniture, Turnpike stock, and my
interest in our partnership, and I have just finished a letter
to him accepting his offer. I have furthermore directed him
to dispose of the carriages and harnesses and of all our live-
stock for cash, and have sent also a Power of Attorney to
Calvin Park of Bennington authorizing him to execute all
the necessary papers.*

I agree with you that I ought not for any existing reasons
of an economical character to live longer separated from you
and my children, and never contemplated so doing beyond a
single year. I have at length made up my mind to remain
here until my object in coming shall have been secured, and
you may begin at once your preparations for a voyage to
California. I long to have you and my dear daughters with
me beneath the same roof once more. When I was writing
to Park and Davenport I thought I would not have you
bring anything wtih you but your necessary baggage, but on
further reflection I have concluded to have the piano and my
private library sent out via Cape Horn.t Park will be at W.
at an early day to advise and assist you in your arrangements.

Sept. 2, 1855. Mr. Park has persuaded me that it will be
advisable to bring out our furniture. You and Calvin must
determine upon what to bring and what to leave. I would
suggest all the parlor furniture, carpets, beds and bedding,
crockery, chamber furniture, odds and ends, so that we shall
not be under the necessity of buying much here. Eschew
bandboxes and other small pieces; put all of your plunder in

*This action disposed of Mr. Shaffer's law office in Vermont and
effectually severed his business and professional connections with the old
home.

fThis piano, one of the finest instruments of its day, and a most inter-
esting relic, is now at Mrs. Howard's bungalow in Inverness, adjoining
the great Shafter Ranch.

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LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

trunks that you take with you across the Isthmus. I shall
probably buy a lot and build a house, but on that matter
have not as yet fully made up my mind. I shall send the girls
to school here and give them every advantage that the coun-
try affords. Put up their school books in your trunks. Don't
work yourself to death, now, in getting ready to leave, but
get some good woman to help you.

Give my love to the little girls and my warmest regards
to all.

From your affectionate husband,

O. L. Shafter.

It is easy to see whence Mr. Shafter inherited the indom-
itable energy which was one of his marked characteristics, by
the following extract from a letter to his own aged father,
dated San Francisco, Sept. I, 1855 :

"Mary wrote me from Wilmington, and she says that you
work yourself nearly to death. Now, father, there is no need
of your doing so. Do not go after wood in the winter up on
the mountain. Get some one to do it for you. It is as much as
you ought to do to chop it after it is laid down in the yard.
I subscribe fully to your favorite dogma of 'wearing out in-
stead of rusting out,' but it would be best to do neither."

Oscar L. Shafter to his Father.

San Francisco, Sept. 2, 1855.
Dear Father:

I have just received your letter of July 20, with the paper
giving an account of the proceedings at Ludlow. You prob-
ably will not be elected, but I consider your nomination a de-
served compliment, and the mention made of you editorially
entirely merited. I have cut out the notice and shall paste it
in my diary for the benefit of my posterity. I am inclined to
think if we had among us more facility of character, that we
might some of us come to preferment; but as it is, it is some
distinction to be pursued with nominations to high positions.

[168]

OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

Almost everybody drinks here, and when I first came here
I was constantly annoyed with invitations to "take a drink,"
but for a long time past I have been free from such solicita-
tion. I am known as a total abstinence man, without a per-
adventure. On the slavery question I have not lowered my
topsails by a hair. I have never sought controversy, neither
have I shunned it. Peachy is a Virginian and our library is a
place where the Southern lawyers do greatly congregate, and
they are prone to talk upon the one great subject and I have
had very many discussions with them. They are men — every
inch of them — frank, bold, earnest and inclined to be just,
and they appreciate these qualities in others. My closest inti-
macies and warmest friendships are with Southern men. I
find that between myself and them there is on the whole more
of sympathy and general correspondence than between my-
self and the cowardly, time-serving immigrants from the
North. I have tried to make them understand that their best
friends at the North are the original anti-slavery men, and
they are half inclined to believe it. One of them, some little
time since, with a full knowledge of my principles, tendered
me a partnership.

Your affectionate son,

O. L. Shafter.

Oscar L. Shafter to his Wife.

San Francisco, Sept. 15, 1855.
My Dear Sarah:

Yours and Emma's and Mary's letters of the 15th of
August came to hand by the steamer Golden Age, on the
1 2th inst. I shall receive two more letters from you before
mine will reach you containing my summons to you to join
me, with our children, on this distant coast. I have also had
a letter from James, by the last mail, dated at Sheboygan,
Wisconsin, in which he informs me he shall not leave before
the 5th of November. This is very pleasant news to me, for
I now know that you will have the benefit of his escort. You
must all come by way of the Isthmus. The advantages of

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that route over the other are obvious. In the first place the
land transit by the railroad, which is now fully completed,
will be accomplished in a few hours. In the second place
you avoid the Civil War which is in progress on the Nica-
ragua route, and in the third place the Panama route is the
more healthy of the two. In fact there has been no sickness
whatever on that route for the last year, except such as could
be traced to indiscretions or excesses of passengers as its
cause. The steamer "Uncle Sam," belonging to the Nica-
ragua route, came in yesterday. She had lost 1 20 of her pas-
sengers on her passage, by the cholera. The Uncle Sam is
the ship on which Russel Fitch sails as physician. I have to-
day called upon him in his stateroom, and he has given me
an account of the workings of the plague. He is very
much exhausted by the vigils and anxieties to which
he was subjected, and is coming ashore to recuperate. You
must avoid the Nicaragua steamers, and there will be no
danger from the pestilence. Refrain from eating fruit. Eat
and sleep as you eat and sleep at home. Keep your mind
quiet and filled full of hope. Interest yourself in reading and
in writing to your friends. You can leave letters at the Isth-
mus and again at Acapulco. You had better provide yourself
and the girls with everything that you will need for two or
three years in the way of clothing. Such necessaries can be
procured cheaper in the East than here.

If you leave New York on the 5th of November you will
arrive here about the 1st of December, right in the midst of
the rainy season. But though rainy, yet the rain is not con-
tinuous. On the whole that season is more pleasant than the
dry season. The ocean winds and the fogs do not prevail
then, and the temperature is more equable and the air more
balmy.

Do not work yourself to death in getting ready for your
voyage. Call in all the assistance you may need, and thus
diminish your own labors as much as possible. You will have
enough to do even then.

I am in fine health and spirits, and am looking forward to

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OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

the hour when I shall meet you and my children at the water s
edge.

Remember me to father and mother Riddle. For their
manifold kindness to all of us during the last thirteen years
I am deeply grateful, and as some small expression of my
gratitude you may slip into your mother's hand the sum of
one hundred dollars before you leave.

Give my regards to all my old neighbors and friends.

Your affectionate husband,

O. L. Shafter.

With the cholera raging in Pacific waters and on Pacific
Coast passenger steamers, and in view of the many dangers
of sea travel impending in that day, it is not surprising that
this father should view with apprehension and even down-
right alarm, the prolonged journey, by water and by land,
which the young wife was about to undertake, accompanied
by the two who had been spared out of his family of seven
children.

Extracts follow from the last letter written by him to them
before their coming.

San Francisco, Oct. 4, 1855.
Dear Sarah :

.... This is the last letter that you will receive from
me prior to your departure. I shall receive one more from
you prior to your arrival. It will come to hand, if nothing
befalls, on the 12th inst. The interval between that date and
your coming, will be one of deep solicitude. I already begin
to be visited with it, and it must inevitably increase from hour
to hour until I hail you and my daughters and my brother,
from the head of the pier. I shall take my station at that
point. Remember that. I shall be clad in light pants, buff
vest, and snuff-colored frock coat, with a broad-rimmed white
sombrero on my head, and if I recognize your party by the
display of three white handkerchiefs at the stern of the boat
on the upper deck, I shall remove the sombrero aforesaid

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from the head aforesaid and swing it as mortal man never
swung hat before. If you get in in the night, remain on board
until I call for you in the morning.

Buy in New York "Panama in 1855," a book recently
published and which I think will very much add to the interest
of your transit across the Isthmus.

Tell James that I have just seen Mr. Mastick, and he
assures me that he shall write by this mail, directing his
letter to Wilmington. He says that he is overrun with busi-
ness, and is waiting for the arrival of his partner with great
impatience. By the time you arrive here I shall probably have
a house built ready to move into. This however is not abso-
lutely certain.

And now, my dear wife and daughters, Good bye. God
bless you all and save you from whatever of peril you may
be called on to encounter. Give my warmest regards to the
whole town of Wilmington, and tell our friends I live in the
hope of seeing them all again.

Your affectionate husband,

O. L. Shafter.

Oscar L. Shafter to his Father.

November 19, 1855.
Dear Father:

We are now just entering upon the rainy season. I do not
know how it may be with you, but I came here with the
impression that clouds and darkness and mud puddles, and
continuous drizzlings were the order of the day during the
rainy season, but in the matter of that foreboding I have
been most happily disappointed. Of the two seasons, the
rainy is the most pleasant by far, as well as the most profit-
able in every department of occupation, and is, in short,
very much like a New England May, all smiles and tears.

The state of society here is improving, but is still in many
respects most deplorable. Tippling is a prevailing vice among
all classes, and but little has been accomplished as yet in
the way of checking it, and here, more than elsewhere,

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OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

the habit has been the prolific parent of disorder and crime.
On the evening of the iSth inst. the U. S. Marshal was shot
down in the street. Rum was at the bottom of the riot. The
Courts have all adjourned to-day in honor of the Marshal,
rather than in honor of the man. The funeral comes off in
the Church of Dr. , the great slave-holding, wine-
drinking parson from New Orleans, imported by the chivalry
for the purpose of propagating a corrupt and debasing
Christianity. I predict that in his sermon he will fail entirely
to detect and enforce the great moral of this rum murder.
I have hardly seen the inside of the Church since I have been
here. I have tried it in some few instances, but it did me more
hurt than good. Latterly I have numbered myself in the con-
gregation of old Father Taylor, a street preacher. Every
Sunday at 4 o'clock P. M., he and his wife take their station
on the northwest corner of the plaza, and begin to sing the
old songs of Zion that we were familiar with in our youth.
He has one of the most powerful and melodious voices that
I have ever heard, and it is highly cultivated, withal. The
crowd begins immediately to collect, the houseless, the friend-
less, the abandoned, the desperate, the despairing, the curious,
the devout, the sincere, and all who love to worship, or see
others worship in the duty of holiness, come pouring into
Portsmouth Square in answer to the songs of the good old
parson. There are none that need go empty away. He under-
stands the community in which he lives, and all the diversi-
ties of character that enter into it; he knows the avenues to
the human heart, and understands and feels all the truths
that he preaches. His influence is felt along the wharves,
at the Seaman's Bethel, in the plaza, in the prisons and
hospitals, and everywhere in short where human suffering
is to be relieved, and human guilt is to be alarmed or shriven.
1 like him, and have elected him my Minister. He is doing
more good than all the other Ministers in the city put
together.

My notions of this country remain unchanged. It is em-
phatically a great country, there is no other like it, as it has
not one or two or three, but all the conditions of a perfect

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LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS

clime. The idea prevalent at one time that it could never
have an agriculture has been completely exploded. In agri-
culture, in commerce and in all the arts it will, in the end,
be as pre-eminent as it now is in mineral wealth. Its climate
is that of the South of Europe, or of a Vermont June, and
its native born will never be able to live or die away from
here. Your son,

O. L. Shafter.

[174]

V

FRAGMENTARY RECORDS OF AFTER

YEARS

Oscar L. Shaffer to his Father.

San Francisco, Jan'y i, 1856.

DEAR FATHER:
You have already been advised of the safe ar-
rival of James* and my family. James is board-
ing at the "Brannan House," and I, with the
residue of the immigrants, am stopping with Park. We have
very comfortable quarters, and are in all respects very pleas-
antly located. But the daughters of Eve are proverbially
fond of dominion, and men, as sons of Adam, are not alto-
gether free from that passion I must confess; and so, when
our furniture arrives, I think we shall go to keeping house.
Jim "struck out" boldly on his first arrival. I was in court
in a few days after his advent, and found him on his legs,
spinning a yarn with admirable point and most marvellous
volubility. I can see that his partner is very much pleased
with him, though he has as yet said nothing to me on the
subject. Mastick has all along been doing a capital business,
and under Jim's leadership I have no doubt at all but their
business will improve. He seems to be very much pleased
with his condition and prospects.

I and Edward Stanly, formerly Representative in Con-
gress from North Carolina; Park; Judge Hager of the 4th
Dist. Court, and H. M. Nayler, receiver in Alvin Adams

*James McMillan Shafter.

[175]

LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

vs. Haskell & Woods, were all sued a short time since in
an action of false imprisonment, by Jones of the great bank-
ing house of Palmer, Cooper & Co., — claiming damages to
the amount of $100,000. Palmer, Cook & Co. had assets
in their hands belonging to Adams & Co. to the amount of
about half a million. On the 1st of December (1855) Hager
made an order upon them to deliver these assets to Nayler
the receiver. They refused to obey the order, and we pro-
ceeded against Jones for a contempt, and he was committed.
He sued out a writ of Habeas Corpus from the Supreme
Court and on a full hearing he was remanded on the ground
that the imprisonment was lawful, the Court having juris-
diction to make the order which Jones had disobeyed. They
have now sued out a certiorari for the purpose of having the
same question tried over again in a new form and in the
meantime have sued Hager and all the counsel in the case
as before named. The suit is a mere farce and is everywhere
the subject of derision. Park and I appear in the case by
Shafter and Mastick, but the case will never be tried. We
had no further connection with the imprisonment than what
is involved in a discussion of questions judicially presented.
The question of jurisdiction has however been settled by the
Supreme Court in the Habeas Corpus case.

There are three in our firm, and any one of us can take a
case from the stump and carry it through to a conclusion in
the court of last resort, and there is no other firm in the city
of which that can be said, they being generally organized
with reference to a division of labor. We have three clerks,
and all of us are constantly employed, and have to do a good
deal of night work at that. Our business furthermore is
steadily increasing, and it is everywhere admitted, as I am
informed, that we are the first firm in California. I am sound
and hearty as a brick — call on Jim every day almost to see
how he gets along, and he drops in now and then to see Sarah
and the children. I have read the papers you sent by Sarah
with much interest. I subscribe fully to all the commendations
extended to you — your principles and your career. The

[176]

OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

articles will go into my Diary with the others. Keep the Flag
flying to the last! ....

From your son,

O. L. Shafter.

Extract from letter, Oscar L. Shafter to his Father.

March 4, 1856.
We have had a long protracted warfare about the affairs
of Adams & Co. The strife has been exceedingly embittered,
but so far the adversary has been beaten at all points. The
thing is not yet concluded, however, but we can at least see
the beginning of the end. The false imprisonment suit that I
wrote about in my last has been discontinued upon the record
by the party who brought it. We brushed him right up to a
trial, and in California phrase, "he backed down." We are
doing the largest business of any firm in the city, and the
most profitable, but there is work in it, I tell you. Day in and
day out, night in and night out, without a moment's rest or
relaxation, is but the average tenor of our experience, but
this mode of living and breathing will have an end with me
before long. As soon as I get what may be called a reason-
able competence I shall just throw up my hand and come
home.

Diary.

1856.

I go this afternoon to Sacramento to argue our March
cases again before the Supreme Court. A re-argument was
ordered for the benefit of the successor of Judge Murray,
deceased. It is a great case in every sense of the term, the
amount in controversy is large, and the questions involved
are numerous and not free from a show of difficulty. Mc-
Dougal, ex-member of Congress, and Governor Weller are
on the other side, but I have crossed weapons with them
before, and oftener still with their peers, and do not fear
them. Business is good, but the time has come when a man
has to work for his money, and this is a state of things
rather to be desired than deprecated.

[ 177 J

LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

San Francisco, April 4, 1856.
Dear Father:

I do not know whether Emma is intending to write you
by this mail or not, having forgotten to ask her before
leaving for the office this morning; but even if she should,
you perhaps will be inclined to think that a letter from
me is nothing worse than too much of a good thing. Cali-
fornia is now rejoicing through all its borders in consequence
of recent rains. The showers have not been copious enough
to aid the miners materially, but the effect upon crops has
been all that could be desired. This is rapidly becoming an
agricultural state and is destined to be a permanence in agri-
culture as marked as in the business of gold-mining. Already
the importation of provisions is pretty much ended and the
period is not very remote when the products of our soil
will be found in half the markets of the world.

Free soil is beginning at length to exalt its cause in Cali-
fornia. A paper has been established in this city which
advocates that doctrine, and with great boldness and power.
I gave the paper $100 the other day to help it over a sand
bar on which it was in danger of grounding.

The Whig party is annihilated. It is without leaders and
without organization and has all but forgotten its traditions
and name. The Democratic party is hopelessly divided and is
utterly demoralized. The better portion of its membership
is deeply imbued with Republican opinions and there is here
as elsewhere a half developed conviction among the poli-
ticians of the Democratic school, that the days of the Demo-
cratic party as now modeled and directed, are numbered.
This notion I doubt not will be with them a great aid to
virtue.

Jim is with us as you know, and his services are greatly
commended by us all. Our business is still at high flood. My
own function will hereafter be confined in the main to look-
ing after questions of law in the District Courts and to cases
in the Supreme Court. The jury business will be divided up
between Williams, Park, and Jim.

[178]

Plati \ I. Emma Lovell Shatter, at seventeen
troni old Daguerreotype

FUB^C LIBRARY

KrUJS^ ' vox

OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

The children are attending school and seem to enjoy
themselves greatly. Sarah is well, and on the whole is, or
at least maintains that she is, greatly pleased with life in
California. But Jim is more than half persuaded that the
day of our return will not, when it comes, be altogether
unwelcome to her. I am quite certain that it will not be to me.
Do not understand from this that I am ill at ease, however,
for I am not. Still I have an abiding wish to live and die
among kindred and friends in the old ancestral county.

Give my love to mother. We read her letter with great
satisfaction and shall hope to hear from her and you often.

From your son,

O. L. Shafter.

One Sunday, the 4th of May, 1856, little Mary Shafter
undertook to write a letter to her grandfather, but the
cramped little hand soon tired of its enterprise, and after
a few stilted lines she concluded "I must say good by." The
father, seeing the large blank sheet, took up the child's un-
fulfilled task, writing genially as follows:

San Francisco, May, 4, 1856.
Dear Father:

It is Sunday evening. Sarah and Emma are busy writing
letters to relatives and friends. Mary, I see, has run against
her own signature, somewhat prematurely, in attempting to
follow suit, so it has seemed to me good to turn to for a
few moments and help out the letter.

I have just hired a house at $55 per month for one year.
It is new and not quite complete, but we shall be in it in a
week. Jim will board with us, I think. We are getting on
very prosperously and hope we shall be able to return before
a very great while.

The Common Schools in the City are very fine indeed,
and would do credit to any Eastern city. Our children attend
one of them and are making progress that is entirely satis-
factory. The public schools are about all that this City has

[ 179]

LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

to show for the millions that have passed through her treas-
ury, and of them she may, even in the midst of the bank-
ruptcies and vices, well be proud.

There is a great change in progress here for the better.
The great fortunes have been dissipated, and the great
rogues are dead or in exile or in prison, or if at large, with-
ered and writhing under the ban of opinion, and the common
people are now at work laying anew the foundations of the
State. Industry, frugality and honesty begin to be remem-
bered again, as having some proper connection with indi-
vidual and social welfare. This change is further marked by
a growing inclination among the people to terminate the
vassalage of the State to the South, a servitude at once de-
grading and unprofitable. A Republican party has been organ-
ized and I predict that it will carry the State in the next
Presidential election.

I see by the papers that you have had a very severe winter.
Here such winters are unknown. In our vocabulary "wet and
dry" occur where "hot and cold" are spoken at home.

Our business is at full flood, and consists of the heaviest

kind of litigation that the city furnishes

From your son,

O. L. Shafter.

Oscar L. Shafter to his Father.

May 21, 1856.
My Dear Father:

I have a few moments to say a word to you about the very
remarkable events now transpiring here. I shall not attempt
however any recital of what has been done, or of what is
now being done. These particulars you will have fully de-
tailed in the gazettes.

The City is now as gloomy and almost as silent as the city
of the dead. You will be surprised doubtless that the death
of one man by the hand of familiar violence should be at-
tended with indications of regret so prevailing, and of a
grief so earnest and profound. These manifestations are not

[180]

OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

confined to this city, but are everywhere displayed. The secret
of the whole is, the popular belief that in James, King of
Wm., the powers of evil had at last found an antagonist able
to cope with and defeat them. There can be no doubt that he
had fully inaugurated a Revolution that would have resulted
in a complete overthrow of the men and measures with which
this city and State have so long been cursed; but his death
may be proved to be more useful than a longer life, for it has
assured, if it has not already perfected great reform.

All who justify the action of the Vigilance Committee
place the justification upon the familiar ground of Revolu-
tion, and maintain that they have as clear a case for the exer-
cise of that right as can be found in the whole course of gen-
eral history. It is somewhat difficult to conceive a case where
the doctrine of Revolution can have play in a purely popular
government, for it is doubtless true as a general thing that the
ballot supersedes the bayonet; but here the ballot has never
been anything but the veriest illusion. By a system of mingled
violence and fraud the popular will has been habitually
braved and battled by those who had seized upon the Treas-
ury, and all the places of profit and power, and by their
fraudulent arrangements they could indefinitely perpetuate
their own tyrannical ascendancy. The City is now in the
hands of the Revolutionists, for I can call them by no other
name. Order, if not law, is maintained by 3000 bayonets in
the hands of Northern men. The duelist, the bravo and the
street brawler, and what is more, the ideas that they all have
in common, are at a discount. I have not actively partici-
pated in what has transpired, for while seeing and deploring
the evils with which society was afflicted, I could not fully
satisfy myself that a case was presented that would justify
a resort to arms as yet. And again I feared the conse-
quences of a Revolutionary outbreak, but now I am meas-
urably satisfied that these fears will not be realized.

Your son,

O. L. Shafter.

[181]

LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

Diary.

July 3, 1856.

The popular outbreak here has taken on the impress of
Revolution. A requisition has been made upon the General
Government, and I have little doubt that it will be responded
to. There are many minds here that have cherished the
project of an independent "Pacific Empire," and they will
avail themselves of the present state of things to accomplish
this cherished project if there is a fair show for success.
Judge Terry of the Supreme Court is still in the hands of
the Vigilance Committee, and his trial is now progressing
before that body. An effort has been made to compromise
on terms that he should resign and quit the State, and while
this plan was under advisement, it was proposed as part of
the plan that I should be his successor. It is hardly necessary
to say that I peremptorily refused to play the part assigned
me as soon as I heard of it. The office is one which I would
not accept under any circumstances, least of all would I step
into it as a successor of a man who had been driven from it
by popular violence, and for no crime but having forcibly
resisted it. Business in all its departments is very much
affected by the disturbances here, but in the long run it will
be all right. We continue to do well, however, at present,
but hope to do better when the supremacy and regular ad-
ministration of San Francisco shall have been restored.

Oscar L. Shafter to his Father.

July 20, 1856.
Dear Father:

We had a great ratification meeting last night, and en-
dorsed Fremont and Dayton, and the platform to the full.
I have strong hopes that the Republican Ticket will carry
the State. The railroad question will have immense influence.
The people of this state have dwelt upon the subject of an
Atlantic and Pacific Railroad until it has become a kind of
mania with them. It is universally understood that nothing
whatever is to be hoped from the Democratic Party, and

[182]

OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

that everything is to be feared from it so far as the Rail-
road is concerned.

The slavery question also presents itself with growing
prominence to the California mind. The Northern Immi-
grants are an immense majority, and on the somewhat modi-
fied phases which the slavery issue now presents, their views
and resolves are in entire harmony with those of their breth-
ren in the East. Leading Democrats are crying out at last
all over the State, "off with shackles," and the rank and file
shout, "Amen." The great resurrection of the patriotic and
the just, which prophet tongues have predicted for so many
weary years, is being realized at last. Glory to God in the
Highest, peace on earth and good will towards men.

I send you papers containing the proceedings of our meet-
ing last night. The reporters* have made me talk "miser-
ably" for measurably, nonsensically at points and bad Eng-
lish at large. Not satisfied with these atrocities they have
gone farther and have even attacked my good name.t The
Vigilance Committee ought to seize the vandals and send
the whole tribe of them out of the country

From your son,

O. L. SHAFTER.

There must have been great comfort to a stricken sister
when, upon the death of her husband after a long period
of invalidism, the two California brothers hurried to reas-
sure her against material anxieties and ills which otherwise
would have added to the burden of sorrow she was carrying.
The following letter, in several ways, is an exposition of the
character of this remarkable man, so tender in his sympa-
thies, so faithful to all the relationships of life, even to his
solicitude for a stepmother, so enthusiastic in his political
belief, which at that period was fired by the anti-slavery
movement; so uncompromising in his stand for the law,

*Query: Or the printers?

fEvidently referring to name misspelled.

[183]

LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

even when his sympathy was wholly with the local faction
arraigned against it.

Letter from Oscar L. Shafter to his Father.

San Francisco, Sept. i, 1856.
Dear Father:

Yours of July 28th is received, informing me of the
death of Dr. E. I was fully prepared for the intelligence by
the tone of previous letters, and without hesitation assume
all the duties which his death lays me under to my sister and
her children.

Would it not be advisable for her to remove to Town-
shend? If she should, you could render important service
to her in the management of her affairs, and then too she
would be surrounded by her old friends.

Jim and I will forward funds quarterly adequate to all
her wants. Ascertain if you please what amount will be nec-
essary and inform us at an early day.

I am rejoiced to hear that Mother is recovering from her
severe illness, and when you write again hope to hear that
her recovery is complete. Our children and their mother
feel the keenest solicitude on her account and desire to be re-
membered.

Jim has just returned from a business trip to the moun-
tains. We are full of work and are getting a living.

The Fremont fever is on the increase here, and will soon
be quite incurable. The State Convention has just adjourned.
The meeting was numerously attended by the bone and sinew
and was very enthusiastic. The nominations are very judic-
ious and are made from a class of men who have hitherto
stood aloof from politics. With proper effort the State can
be carried for Fremont beyond doubt, and the indications
are that there will be no lack of effort to accomplish that
result.

The Vigilance Committee have adjourned but not dis-
banded. They have yet their organization, their arms and
their Alarm Bell. Jim and I have stood aloof from the

[184]

OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

"Revolution' on principle, not being by any means persuaded
that a case for civil war was presented. But the palliations of
the outbreak are numerous, strong and manifest, and I think.

very likely that permanent good will result from it

From your son,

O. L. Shafter.

O. L. Shafter to his sister Laurette {Mrs. Ransom).

San Francisco, Sept. 19, 1856.
Dear Sister:

I received your letter some three months since, and ought
to have answered it before. I have leisure and will delay
no longer. Since the arrival of my family I have been in the
habit of leaving business and business cares behind me at
the office at nightfall, and passing my evenings at home. I
therefore cannot plead anything in extenuation of my negli-
gence.

Sarah arrived here in December. We boarded with one
of my partners until the 19th of May, when we went to
"keeping house." Sarah and the girls do their own work,
minus the washing, and we are getting on very pleasantly
indeed. Jim went into the partnership I arranged for him.
He struck out right boldly and manfully and successfully
withal, but finding that our own business was more than
we could well manage, he dissolved his partnership with Mr.
Mastick and came in with us for a year at a salary. At the
end of the year and perhaps sooner, our firm will be recon-
structed, and he will have a place in it. Our business is much
larger than that of any other firm in the city, and Jim and
I transact almost the whole of it.* Williams does literally
nothing. Park is very serviceable in getting business, in doing
the outdoor running, and in attending to financial matters,
and is a very available business associate. We have four
clerks, and they are kept constantly employed.

*At this time General Williams was associated with Trenor W. Park and
Mr. Shafter, under the firm name of C. H. S. Williams, Shafters & Park.

[185]

LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

The fever of Revolution begins to abate somewhat in this
City. The Vigilance Committee have withdrawn themselves
somewhat from the public eye, but they have not disbanded,
nor will they do so until all fears of personal consequences
have been dispelled. At present they retain their organiza-
tion, their munitions and arms. There is no evil without its
compensation, and under this general rule it may be expected
that there will be some advantages at least to be set against
the heavy per contra resulting from the late disorders. The
whole country is pervaded with a spirit of lawlessness. Be-
tween this and the Oregon line every highway is beset with
robbers, and so inefficient or impotent is the Executive De-
partment of the Government that no attempt is made to
impede them in their depredations.

We are making a set effort to carry the State for Fremont
and Dayton and with encouraging prospects of success. We
have no slavery here, but the State is and ever has been in
bonds to the slave power since the hour of its birth. It is
edifying to see how deep-seated is the lust of Southern men
for domineering. For that odious peculiarity they are in-
debted to their plantation training, but the days of their
vulgar tyranny are numbered, and I rejoice in the belief

that they will be ended in November

Your affectionate brother,

O. L. Shafter.

Oscar L. Shafter to his Father.

San Francisco, Feb., 1857.
Dear Father:

We want to see you. If you and mother were here I should
be at ease. We could make you very comfortable and I be-
lieve as happy as you could desire. I wish Newt was here
and Mary and Hugh and Sol, — bag and baggage. But I
can do not more than suggest what would suit me — the
issues are with others, of course.

I have just had a regular Readsboro fight before a justice
of the peace. The Evening Bulletin was complained of for

[186]

OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

publishing Mrs. Sickles' confession, and the proprietors re-
tained us to defend them. The prosecution was started by
the bitter enemies of the paper. The Magistrate will decide
the case to-morrow.

Jim's folks are all well and so are mine. The children at
both establishments are thriving nicely and neither Jim nor
I, Julia nor Sarah, are growing old very fast. Boynton of
Jamaica came out with John. We gave him some encourage-
ment that we would hire him in a few months. He wishes to
go into ranch life in preference to encountering the hard-
ships and hazards connected with mining.

It is some time since we have heard from Mary. Tell her
that she must not forget to write me nor to call upon me
when she has occasion.

I see by your last that mother has returned from Mont-
pelier and I hope with improved health. Remember us all
to her. Write, please.

From your son,

O. L. Shafter.

San Francisco, Feb. 17, 1857.
Dear Father:

Mr. Brigham called on me yesterday morning and in-
formed me that he should leave to-morrow for Vermont on
a visit to his friends and I avail myself of the opportunity
afforded by his return to write you a short letter. Our little
Mary has been quite ill with putrid sore throat but is now
quite well and is again attending school with Emma. Sarah
is smart as a cricket and the babe is getting on finely. Jim,
Julia and the boys are all in good health and Julia and boys
are becoming rapidly inured to the peculiarities of California
life. Jim, Park, myself and two others have recently become
the owners of the best cattle ranch in the State, containing

about 50,000 acres. It cost us about . You will readily

find it on the map. It is situated on the "Punta de los
Reyes," a peninsula jutting out into the Pacific just to the
north of San Francisco. It is within three hours' sail of the
City. The sea fogs keep up the feed the year round and as

[187]

LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

you will perceive, it is fenced by the Ocean. Jim and I went
over there about a month since and are entirely satisfied with
our investment. We are having some litigation about the
title but have no doubt as to the result. Judge Heydenfeldt,
who recently retired from the Supreme Bench, is one of the
gentlemen associated with us in the operation. We were
over at the Point about a week on the occasion referred to
and had great sport among the ducks and wild geese. Their
number is told by hundreds of thousands and there is little
for the sportsman to do but load and fire. Corruption and
venality continue to be the order of the day in high places
but there is a public sentiment gradually forming, which
before long will find expression. The State Treasurer is now
under impeachment before the Senate for stealing some
$200,000 of the public funds, and the controller is in the
same limbo for aiding and abetting him. Notwithstanding
public men have deservedly fallen into great disparagement,
and notwithstanding public affairs have become almost hope-
lessly involved, still private men are steadily improving in
habit and character and private affairs are being regulated
more and yet more on the maxims of the East. That the
State will in the end relieve itself from all disasters and
measurably atone for its crimes or those of its people, I
have no doubt. In our business we are still steadily succeed-
ing. We have all that we can conveniently attend to. My own
health and spirits are good and Jim is in good working
order. About a month since I wrote to Mary very fully my
opinion on the subject of her affairs and am satisfied of its
correctness for the reason that it corresponds with yours.
Give our love to mother, Mary and the children. Present
my respects to Judge Roberts and lady and to Mr. Stoddard,
who I understand is now living in Townshend.

From your affectionate son,
O. L. Shafter.

[188]

OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

O. L. Shafter to his Father.

Feb., 1857.
Dear Father:

John* and wife and child arrived safely by the last
steamer. They had a long and somewhat unpleasant passage,
but reported themselves safe and sound. He came in the
nick of time, as we had just got our arrangements completed
for building a couple of houses on our ranch and stood in
need of some reliable man to look after the numerous and
somewhat troublesome details of construction. We had also
on the day previous to his arrival contracted for 20,000
pickets for field fence and his services will be needed in
putting them up. One of the houses referred to is intended
for him. We shall place it near the center of the ranch, the
point most favorable for general oversight. We have a
large number of cows out on lease for a year. The year ex-
pires in November and then we shall select some twenty of
the best cows and start a dairy under his leadership. We shall
also give him a flock of sheep and an assortment of pigs
and fowls to take care of. I think we shall be able to do
very well by him and certainly shall not lack the disposition.

We have just won three great suits in the Supreme Court
— Ridelle et al vs. Baker et als., $20,000; How & Co. vs.
Baker and Paddock, $20,000; Bensley & Perkins vs. The
Mt. Lake Water Co., a million and a half. I send my briefs
in two of the cases. In the Beasley suit you may perhaps
be interested in the questions discussed, for they are of a
character kindred to those so often arising in road cases at
home.

These three decisions in connection with another rendered
in Hunt vs. The City and in which our client recovered
$40,000 about a month since, are worth to us in coined
gold $50,000. This is between you and me.

Your son,

O. L. Shafter.

*John Shafter, a cousin.

[189]

LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

Extract from letter, Oscar L. Shafter to his Father.

San Francisco, Cal., April 20, 1857.

The ranch claims our attention, more and more. A small
steamer of about 20 tons burden is to commence running
between the City and various points on the ranch. This ar-
rangement will serve to enhance the values of the property.
I send herewith a map of our ranches. I have made dots
along the boundaries of each of them.

Letter, Oscar L. Shafter to his Father.

San Francisco, Cal., November, 1857.
Dear Father:

.... The rainy season has set in earlier than usual and
all is activity and hope in the mountains. The crash in the
East is not producing much sensation here. There has been
no run on the banks and no apparent alarm. The amount
of suffering in Eastern cities among the poor the coming
winter must be very great. Here people may starve, but
they cannot freeze.

Our business is good. We have all that we possibly can
do and the work is of the heaviest character transacted in
our courts. The courts, five in number, including those of
the United States, are constantly in session, so there is no
chance for relaxation. With the exception of two days in
the country last spring, I have not had a moment's respite
for the last year. I shave myself by candlelight in the morn-
ing, then take a sharp walk before breakfast, and am at
the office by 8 o'clock, two hours in advance of time — go
home at 5 to dinner, and am down again half the evenings
and stay from 10 to 11 o'clock. . . .

I hope that Park will be able to see you before he returns.
He assured me that he would go to Townshend before his
trip to Europe, if possible. I am inclined to think, however,
that he will not go to Europe at all. His business there was
to effect a loan upon Fremont's Mariposa Ranch, but^ the
recent monetary disturbances must diminish very materially

C 190]

OSCAR LOVELL SIIAFTER

the chances of success. He will return soon, should his Euro-
pean project be abandoned.

And now goodbye. We all love you and hope to see you
again.

From your son,

O. L. SlIAFTER.

Oscar L. Shafter to his Father.

San Francisco, March 19, 1858.
Dear Father:

.... You are seventy-three years old at last. Well, I
am glad to hear as I did by the way of a letter from Lamb
by the last mail, that you are as "cheery as ever." Old age
even has its compensations. I am forty-seven years old my-
self, or shall be in the fall, and consider myself so near
the boundary drawn between the prime of life and what is
already known as its decline, that I can claim a tolerable
insight concerning its states and experiences. And looking
ahead I can see nothing to be dreaded, nothing even that
is uninviting. It is a wise provision that all the parts and
portions of our complex nature grow old together, — head,
heart, frame and senses. To the old man his old wife looks
as attractive I presume as when he led her, a blushing
maiden, to the altar. Fortunately for him the eyes through
which the octogenarian looks at his spouse are as old or
older than she. Old age I think is not to be feared or repined
at. It is as natural as youth, and death itself is as easy and
as natural as life. We think of you with more of filial solici-
tude and regard than I care to detail here.

With vour excellent constitution, never impaired by ex-
cesses, and your resolution not to "rust out but wear out,"
you will, as I most earnestly hope, see many more happy
returns of your birthday.

I have had a long siege at Sacramento before the Su-
preme Court in arguing ten cases that involved among them
a million and a half of money. We shall succeed in all of
them but one, and that is the least important of the ten.

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LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

While I was at Sacramento Jim and Heydenfeldt were in
Marin County trying the "Cattle Case" about which we
have before written you. We beat them. The result makes
about $10,000 difference with us. Heydenfeldt says that
Jim talked about three hours to the jury and beat up the
quarters of the adversary in a way that he never heard
excelled.

We have another daughter. The dear child is not to
blame that I know of for her gender. She is welcome. She
is not another exactly either, but rather stands in the place
of those that we have lost. Sarah is smart, — the babe is
four weeks old. All send love to mother and Mary and her
children and to you.

From your son,

O. L. Shafter.

Oscar L. Shafter to his Father.

San Francisco, March 20, 1858.
Dear Father:

I have now been in California three and one-half years,
and in looking back it seems sometimes as though I had
been here but a day, and again as though I had been here
an age. I do not know how much longer I shall stay. There
is not one man in ten in all California that has made up
his mind definitely, in my judgment, to make it his perma-
nent home; still I am equally well convinced that an im-
mense majority of our population will never know any
other. Men come here, leaving their families behind them,
and with an honest intention to return after a short tarry-
ing. They engage in business, their business gradually ex-
tends and becomes more and more complicated with the
business of others. They invest in real estate, and they are
not ready to leave. They send for their wives and children,
they come, a house is rented or bought. If bought, then a
flower garden is started, a new house erected, a few fruit
trees planted by the wall, young Californians are in due
time born to expectant sires, a circle of acquaintances, that

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OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

has in the meantime been steadily extending, congratulates
you upon the happy event. Long before this you have taken
a pew in the Church to benefit your children and save your-
self from the suspicion of having emigrated from some
heathen clime; you have become interested in the welfare
of that all-prevailing institution, the contribution box; you
have a troublesome misgiving that if you were to leave the
country the Genii of the box might pursue you as a fugitive
from high social duty. In short you have gradually and in-
sensibly become identified with the people among whom
you have been living, and your interests have become inter-
woven with theirs. You have at last, in spite of yourself,
learned to think, and at last to say, "Were it not for the
graves of the dead, and the love I bear the few that sur-
vive, all idea of return would be abandoned forever." But
you have yourself passed through all these mental expe-
riences, I apprehend, and therefore understand them

San Francisco is now, I believe, the best ordered city in
the Union; its municipal affairs are administered with as
much care, prudence and economy, as those of any New
England town. The spirit of violence and disorder has not
only been rebuked, but effectually quelled. A new class of
men has come into notice, and attained to positions of in-
fluence and authority. The "chivalry," as we call the half-
educated, inefficient, swaggering scions of the plantations,
have in this city been unhorsed, and were it not for the
patronage doled out to them from Washington they would
have to take to the highway, to the poorhouse, or starve. It
is here, in short, as it has been everywhere, where Northern
and Southern men have met (outside of Congress) in the
competitions and struggles of real life, the one nerved and
armed by the whole course of early discipline, the other
unfitted for the strife by the same cause.

Your son,

O. L. SlIAFTER.

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LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

Oscar- L. Shafter to his Father.

(Written from San Francisco, bearing no date, but, from
its context, contemporaneous with the Frazer River ex-
citement.)

San Francisco, .

Dear Father:

The State is now in a perfect commotion caused by the
discovery of a new El Dorado at the North. What will
be the upshot of the furore time will determine. Some
18,000 men have left the State during the last month and
the cry is still "they go." It is settled to the satisfaction of
the most incredulous that there is gold on Frazer River,
but in what quantities remains to be determined. We expect
a heavy immigration from the East and from Europe in
consequence of this new allurement. I have written to Genl.
Kellogg by the steamer of to-day. We are in full possession
of Point Reyes Ranch. We have put sheep that cost $2000
onto it, have let portions of it and shall probably let the
remainder of it before long. We are about investing $4000
more in stock to be added to the sheep. Jim leaves to-day
to attend a term of court in an adjacent county. We remain
in good health and are bound to see the old country again.
Don't work more than is good for your health, I pray you.
From mother's letter to Julia I fear that you are too ambi-
tious

From your son,
O. L. Shafter.

Oscar L. Shafter to his Father.

San Francisco, Sept. 19, '58.
Dear Father and Mother:

Three weeks ago I left town on a business trip to our
Point Reyes Ranch and have just returned. It may perhaps
interest you if I were to give you an account of my trip. A
steamer took me from the city to Point San Quentin where
the State Prison is located. This point is on the Bay of San

[ 194]

OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

Pablo about 15 miles from town toward Sacramento. I saw
stranded on the beach a sail boat in which I had a narrow
escape from sudden death the first year I was out here.
The sight of the old hulk lying high and dry upon the sand
set me cogitating, perhaps I should say moralizing upon
the exceeding brittleness of the thread that holds us to
life's possessions and friends. There are about 500 prisoners
at the Point, engaged principally in brick making. The
warden informs me that the number is steadily increasing.
The convicts work in a valley outside of the prison walls
and under the auspices of cannon loaded with grape and
canister. From the Point to San Rafael, a distance of about
three miles, we were carried in a covered wagon drawn by
four California mustangs. We have two saddle horses with
a full set of accoutrements at San Rafael. I found one of
the two in the stable looking very much as though he
had been drawn through a knot hole. The day before I
arrived had been an election day, and this horse had been
used incontinently by an enthusiastic acquaintance in hunting
— voters. I sent accordingly for the other horse that was
about three miles off at pasture, and started early the next
morning on my further travel. Shall I give you a sketch of
the horse and his rider? The horse was a milk-white Indian
pony, small, a little lazy but plucky. All of his appointments
were according to the style of the country, — Mexican saddle,
bridle, lariat and saddle bags. I sported a white hat that
couldn't be jammed, a white woolen coat bought at a slop-
shop, buckskin pants and Mexican spurs on my heels that
would weigh the better part of a pound each. After settling
myself fairly in the saddle, the word was given and en-
forced by a slight touch of the spur and I was off.

The animal struck at once into the country gallop and on
we went at that pace up the valleys and over the "divides"
through a succession of gulches and canvons to the foot of
Tomales Bay, a distance of 16 miles. I was now on our
Berri Ranch of 8 square leagues. The rest of the day was
spent in riding round on this ranch, visiting points upon it
that I had not seen before. The next morning I hired the

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LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

son of old Mexican ranchers to guide me over the mountains
that separate the Berri from the Point Reyes Ranch, to the
camp of a herdsman who with our license had established
himself on a secluded part of the latter Ranch among the
spurs that lead from the mountains referred to and at right
angles with them, down to the shore of the ocean. There
was a driving wind from the sea. The whole country round
about was enveloped in a fog so dense that the eye could
not penetrate it more than a dozen rods. For about two miles
there was a clearly defined trail, but when we broke over the
ridge it branched off into any number of cattle paths neither
of which appeared more plausible than the others. The guide
admitted on close questioning that he had never been to
the camp but maintained that he was familiar with "the
ground."

After we had beat about at a smart pace for about
an hour we heard the bleating of sheep and following the
sound we in a few moments were at the hut of the Nomad.
It was in a deep black canyon, well protected from the
ocean winds, but what had chiefly induced this Cossack of
the Pacific to pitch his tent at that particular spot was a
spring that afforded an ample supply of water for his family
and herds. He was there with his wife and four daughters
and all were employed in looking after his cattle and sheep.

That business is done chiefly on horseback. The cattle, left
to themselves, are inclined to keep together, and the horse-
men divide them into bands and keep them on separate
ranges during the day. At night a signal is given by a yell
or a blast on a horn and the cattle at once all start for the
corral, where they are secure for the night from the attacks
of bears and California lions. The above was the daily
routine of my Tartar friend. After finishing my business we
started back, and a wild scamper we made of it. The young
Mexicano undertook to show off his horsemanship and give
me a telling specimen of the mad riding of his people. Run-
ning horses uphill is not unknown at home, but riding down
hill at an angle of something like 45 degrees on a sharp
gallop and along the edge of precipices at the same rate

[196]

OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

is not customary there. After the great national triumphs
of Buena Vista, Palo Alto, Chucutusco, etc., it touched my
patriotism not to be overcome by one belonging to the con-
quered race on any issue he might be disposed to tender.

Regardless of peril and mindful only of the honor of my
country I kept the nose of my mustang within about two
feet of the hind quarters of the horse of my Mexican ac-
quaintance until we drew rein at the place where we started
out in the morning. The next day I arrived at the principal
Ranch house on the Point Reyes, taking with me a man
whom we had employed as a shepherd to look after our
sheep. The next day I and the man took down a house and
shed and for four days thereafter were employed in moving
the material a distance of about five miles. Then we went
to work and put up the buildings. They are to be occupied
by the shepherd and stand on a part of the Ranch which
we have reserved for sheep. The sheep have improved
greatly since we took them over there. We have leased some
20,000 or 25,000 acres to five different men. They are all of
them men of capital, — sober, industrious, enterprising, and
have their families with them. We have been somewhat
choice in the matter of character in selecting from the nu-
merous applicants for land, and have given the tenants good
and encouraging contracts, deeming that the best policy in
the long run. The ranch is undoubtedly the best grazing
ranch in the State, and is now very valuable and will become
immensely so in time. I was over there about a fortnight
longer than I expected to be when I left home. My linen
came short, and I was compelled to make a shift by turning
a dirty shirt inside out; had I been compelled to stay a week
longer I might have been obliged to make another shift
by turning that shirt the other end up.

I witnessed an interesting spectacle while I was there.
Some men who have some 400 wild horses pasturing on the
ranch, held their annual marking of colts. They employed
3 Indian vaqueros or horsemen. The first step was to drive
the animals, say 100 at a time, into the corral. The next
step was to lasso the colts. This the Indians did from the

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LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

saddle, throwing the riata on the jump and with all the pre-
cision of a rifle bullet. While one threw his riata over the
colt's head, another would catch him by the hind leg while
at full speed, and by skilful twitching the colt would be
speedily thrown, and then followed the branding. The ex-
hibitions of the circus are nothing to the displays of horse-
manship that are witnessed every day on the California
ranches. But the time came for leaving, and I left greatly
invigorated in mind and body by my two weeks' labor, and
arrived at home two days ago, the dirtiest specimen of
humanity that has been seen in San Francisco since the mem-
orable year 1849. I found my family all well. The baby did
not know me, but she recovered the lost idea, however,
without much difficulty.

Emma says she wrote you by the last steamer, and I
suppose told you all the current matters of family interest.

The news of the laying of the Atlantic cable was brought
the other day by the steamer Sonora and was received with
great rejoicings. It is doubtless the greatest news the globe
has heard since it was announced that to "Castile and Aragon
Columbus has given a new world."

But I must bring this long and somewhat rambling letter
to a close

Write often.

From your son,

O. L. Shafter.

San Francisco, Oct. 19, 1858.
Dear Father:

.... In our ranch suit we not only recovered the land
but $4500 for the rents and profits. On the 31st of May last
the sheriff put us in possession of the ranch and also levied
on 400 head of cattle for the payment of the judgment be-
longing to G. P. Richards, one of the defendants. Last Sat-
urday Jim and I went over to attend the sale. We were
advised that Weller, the postmaster here and brother of the
Governor, claimed to own the stock by a conveyance from
Richards, made, we believe, with the design to defeat the

[198]

OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

collection of our judgment. We made up our minds to sell
an undivided half of the cattle only and bought it accord-
ingly at the rate of $15 for a half of each head. We had
live Spaniards mounted on horseback to take possession of
the animals as they were struck off to us, and when the sale
ended we started them at once for Point Reyes, 30 miles
distant. It was a wild scene indeed. Such riding you never
see or hear of in the East. The feats of the circus are tame
in comparison. The vaqueros were everywhere at once —
ahead — on either Hank — in the rear, and all through the
drove at the same time, now chasing a fugitive cow or calf
down a hill on the keen jump at an angle of 45 degrees,
fetching the beast up with the lasso thrown over the head,
and then spearing the captious buck up the hill into the
drove, — yelling, laughing, flying, — on they go again with
the bellowing drove.

Weller will sue us for damages, I suppose. If he should
we shall try hard to beat him; if he beats us we shall have
the cattle wherewith to pay him and then shall get our
execution renewed against Richards. In about a month a
suit will be tried between us and Richards in which we
claim further damages for the use of the Ranch after the
other suit was brought; this use runs through an interval of
13 months, and we expect to recover $13,000.

About two months since a man brought an action against
us for the purpose of collecting a mortgage on our Ranch
of $25,000 given by the person under whom we claim and
before the conveyance to us. The case has been recently de-
termined in our favor. It will go to the Supreme Court, but
we have no fears as to the result. We have two or three
other suits on our hands involving some odds and ends of
controversy of no great amount anyway. Our success in the
principal suit has stirred up the rapacity of about half of
the San Francisco bar and they are hawking at the property
like so many kites, but we don't fear them and so far have
routed them at all points. The title is impregnable in our
judgment.

[ 199]

LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

We are all well. I often wish that you and mother were
out here where we could minister to you in your age. Could
I have my most earnest wish gratified it would be so. Prop-
erty here has taken a start in consequence of the Atlantic
Cable and the Overland mail. It comes and goes twice a
week and the last time beat the steamer from N. Y. by 48
hours. The people here are half frantic with joy. We feel
nearer to our old homes, and a large immigration across the
plains the coming year is a matter now of absolute certainty.

Our business is good and we do not neglect it in conse-
quence of the ranching operations, either. Our home expe-
rience in agricultural operations stands us greatly in stead.
Jim and I have sole charge of the property.

Love to Mother and Mary and her children.

Your son,

O. L. Shafter.

Oscar L. Shafter to his Father.

San Francisco, Dec. 19, 1859.
Dear Father:

Your long letter of the 30th of Oct. ult. is received. Park
arrived here by the steamer of the 5th inst. He brought two
bulls, one a roan Durham 2 years old and full blood, — the
other 9 months old, also pure Durham, color red and white.
He brought also 4 pure French merino rams 7 months old.
The animals all arrived in first rate condition. We kept
them in the city a number of days on exhibition. A great
many went to see them, and the bulls are admitted on all
hands to be the best ever brought to this State. The bulls
and sheep cost us here about $1400. We were offered for
the youngest bull alone $1500, and we declined to take it.
Jim has gone with the animals to the Ranch; he will be
back in a day or two. About a month since we bought 400
ewes for the Ranch. The purchase was made in the vicinity
of the city at a cost of $2000. We chartered a steamer to
take them across the bay, and not having been out of the
city for about six months, I concluded to go with them in

[ 200 ]

OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

person to the Ranch, about 40 miles distant by a route I had
never before traveled.

At the end of the first day's drive and about dusk, we
came across a little run of water which no amount of urging
could induce the sheep to cross. Jo, the assistant I had with
me, worked at them until dark, when we gave it up and
pushed on for a night's lodging to a farmhouse about two
miles further on and situated directly on the ocean. After
a smart canter of 10 or 15 minutes we arrived at the Ranch,
where we were very hospitably received. Fearing that the
wild animals might interfere with the sheep, I hired a couple
of men to go back with lanthorns and "set up with them
over night." By the time they arrived on the ground, it
came on to rain as it never rained before. It was dark as
pitch and the wind blew a perfect hurricane. The lanthorns
went out, and the men, after roaming round in the darkness
until midnight, finding nothing of the sheep, returned to
the house. In the morning we started out bright and early
in pursuit. There were two gulches coming down from the
Coast Range to the shore of the Ocean, which we had to
cross to get on to the ground where the sheep were left,
and down each of these gulches a miniature Mississippi
was pouring like a mill race. Our horses however carried us
across safely. We then scattered, and after beating about
for a time found the flock about a mile from where we left
them.

The next question was what to do with them. To cross
the gulches on the regular trail was out of the question; to
leave them where they were, awaiting the subsidence of the
water —

Note — At this point the very interesting narrative breaks
off, by reason of the loss of the remaining sheets of the
letter; but it has been thought best to print the foregoing,
leaving the reader to imagine the thrilling adventures that
no doubt followed.

[ 201 ]

LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

Oscar L. Shafter to his Father.

San Francisco, March 19, i860.
Dear Father:

Newt's letter with your postscript thereto was received
to-day. We received a Sheboygan paper a few days since
containing a notice that Newt had sold out his interest in
the foundry. He must have admirable business gifts to
have sustained himself in the face of the widespread finan-
cial disasters wherewith the West has been visited. If he
could command presently $8,000 or $10,000 he could use
it to great advantage in this State. The rapid growth and
general prosperity of this Coast has never been so assured
as at the present hour. Since I have been here, now about
five and one-half years, there have been no "expansions"
and "contractions," no "inflations" and "collapsings." Those
terms which I used to hear repeated so often in the East,
are rarely used here and never as applicable to anything
occurring around us. Business here rests in the main upon
cash or bullion, or in so far as it may be done upon credit,
the credit is made to repose upon tangible and available
securities. All enterprises are checked and kept within safe
and reasonable bounds by the constant action of these most
powerful and salutary corrections. There has heretofore been
great prodigality and recklessness in the conduct of public
and private officers, and no lack of venality and corruption.
By these means large state and municipal debts have been
contracted. Within the last few years, however, a great
change has taken place for the better, and the old debts
are in course of liquidation. Had the State started out with
a "Banking System," I believe that the great triumph that
awaits it would have been postponed for a generation.

About a month since we imported a two year old Durham
heifer from Bennington. She cost us here $500. We were
offered $1000 for her on the day she was landed. Every-
body says she is the finest specimen of the Durham breed
ever brought to this Coast. Our sheep are just beginning to
lamb. Off of 1000 ewes we shall have at least 2000 lambs,

[ 202 ]

s.

r.

a- ~S.

Orq

Cfl

N] 1 YORK
; ,U B LIC LIBRARY

ASTOR, LEN#X

Itilden foundations

OSCAR LOVELL SHAFrER

which at 12 months will sell for $10,000. This will give you
some idea of the rate of increase in California sheep hus-
bandry. Our law suit with Postmaster Weller about the
cattle is ended. He gives up beat, not caring, as he says, to
fight us any longer. After a series of tremendous fights we
have beaten our adversaries at all points and what is more
have humbled the strongest and the proudest of them. We
have been for the last two years improving our Ranch by
building houses and fences and have put considerable money
into flocks and herds. Everything had to be bought here
and sent over, even the hay used for horses and working
oxen. The drain has been constant on our resources. Last
year we paid taxes to the amount of $5000 in gold. This
year they will be $3000 more, and they probably will remain
at that point for years to come. But the tide already begins
to turn. Cattle and sheep begin not only to multiply but to
mature. We sold 14 cows the other days for $40 each and
1 17 sheep for $7 each. We have this year plowed and sowed
and planted everything that can be obtained in that way for
consumption on the Ranch. Fruit trees of great variety have
been set out, and in 24 or 36 months we shall have apples
maturing all the year round.* Ranch property, the title to
which has been settled, is rising in value, and if anyone
was to offer us now $400,000 for our real estate we should
undoubtedly decline it. Aside from real estate I am to-day
worth probably $60,000 in cash. They call me here "one of
the fortunate ones." Of a large number of lawyers who came
to this country about the time or since I came, I know of
none who has met with any very marked success except Jim
and myself. I have worked like a dog and have lived as I
lived at home. I could have squandered every dollar I have
made with all the ease in the world, had I allowed my old
anchors to drag. I cannot tell for certain whether I shall
go to Vt. this season or not, until the first of April shall have
come and gone. I intend however on that day to retire from

♦Evidently the writer, not fully informed as to horticultural limitations
in California, expected apples to take on the hahits of oranges !

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LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

the firm and from the practice of law. I never liked it and
have kept myself to it for twenty years by vigorous and
unsparing self-lashings. I shall probably go to San Rafael,
which lies about 16 miles from the City on the other side
of the bay on the direct route to the Ranch, and there build
me a house. I shall assume a general superintendence of
the ranch, and shall also help close out the unfinished law
business of the firm, which will take me, off and on, two
or three years. If my relatives were all here I should desire
no better country, — no better home. If you could be induced
to come here I would spare no effort or sacrifice, my dear
father, to accomplish it.

We own nothing in Montgomery Block.

Miss Benson arrived here on the last steamer safe and
sound. Mr. Boynton was in town to receive her, and the
next day after her arrival they were married. Yesterday they
started for the ranch.

John came to the City the other day at the tail of a drove
of sheep for the butcher. We like him and his wife and boy
and little girl very much. He went back with the Durham
heifer before spoken of, and a very fine Durham cow that
we bought in the City for $100.

Give our love to mother.

Your son,

O. L. Shafter.

{Attached to previous letter.)

April 4, i860.

By inadvertence I failed to send this letter by the steamer
of March 20th. On the first of this month our firm was dis-
solved by mutual consent. Jim and Heydenfeldt keep on to-
gether, and we all co-operate in closing out the business of
the old firm. In some of the new business I shall continue
to share, particularly in the business of the Bensley Water
Co. I have had the personal charge of the Company from
the date of its organization two years ago. Our old contract
with the Company expired on the 1st day of April, on which

[ 204]

OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

day they paid us $20,000 in cash for our two years' service.
A new contract will in all probability be made to which I
and Heydenfeldt and Jim will be parties. I shall have all
the law business that I shall care to attend to for some
time to come, in closing out the old business.

O. L. S.

Letter from Oscar L. Shafter to Henry E. Highton, then a

clerk in his law office.

San Francisco, Sept. 10, i860.
Dear Highton:

I have but a few moments to devote to replying to your
letters. In advising you to keep out of politics I meant no
more than to suggest to you what I consider to be a salu-
tary general rule for practicing lawyers, whether young or
old, to observe. There may be special occasions where on
the whole it might be well to deviate with a view to some
special purpose. Should you make a political speech I have
no doubt that it would be discreet as well as good, that is
to say, promotive of the interests of the Republican party
and of your own as a young and aspiring lawyer. Now you
must yourself judge whether a political speech will or will
not be likely to advance your professional success, which is
the only kind of success, as I take it, which you affect at
present.

With regard to your criticisms on Story, I have often
heard them made before. To a certain extent they are just
and to a certain extent they are not well founded. The law,
it is to be remembered, is not one of the exact sciences, nor
can it ever be made one of them. Could it be, it would be
one of them now, and all of its definitions would be as pre-
cise and demonstrative as those of the mathematicians. As
it stands, however, the definitions of the lawbooks are mere
approximations, and where the approximation is the closest
minds will differ as to what falls within and what falls with-
out the definition. If everything was settled in the law with
mathematical precision so that all questions would receive

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LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

from all minds the same resolution, there would be little
use for lawyers or even for courts. On questions of law
there is no higher degree of certainty attainable than moral
certainty, and it is for that reason that law writers indulge
in discussion, more than they do in emphatic statement.
Please excuse me at this point, and believe me,

Your friend,

O. L. Shafter.

The following curious document is a letter to a young
man in love, who appeals to Mr. Shafter for advice. This
young gentleman, who afterwards became a very prominent
member of the San Francisco bar, was so desperately en-
amored of a beautiful young girl, daughter of a foreign
nobleman who then and afterwards was one of the foremost
and wealthiest of the wholesale merchants of San Francisco,
that he besought Mr. Shafter for advice as to how to con-
duct his wooing so that he might win the object of his
affections. The situation really looked discouraging, for the
suitor was almost literally penniless and briefless, and there
were rivals. The apparent overwhelming odds against the
youthful aspirant, combined with his tragical infatuation
and the undoubted desirability of the maiden, at once en-
listed the elder man's sympathetic nature, and he applied all
his own wit and wisdom to planning a campaign that should
capture the fair lady.

Letter to a young man in love.

San Francisco, Oct. 27, i860.
Dear H.:

I have read the correspondence, herewith enclosed. Look-
ing upon the matters about which we are consulting from
the outside, I hesitate to adopt your conclusion that there
is no reasonable prospect of your wishes ever being accom-
plished. The demeanor of the young lady in her intercourse

[206]

OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

with you, her vindication of you from unjust criticism when
you were not present, etc., etc., seem to me no bad omen.
Women, the oldest and most practised of them even, have
their eccentricities; perhaps I should say rather their pecu-
liarities. They are distinguished for looking one way and
rowing another — particularly in matters relating to the
heart.

The items of conduct on the part of Miss H., set forth
in your letter to me, convince me that she does not regard
you with indifference. Did she look upon you as a negative
rather than a positive quantity, her manner could hardly have
taken on the type, which, according to your statement it
seems to have borne and to bear. She seems to have formed
a high appreciation of your talents, and to have prophesied
for you a brilliant future, and to have spoken thus of you
in the warmth of friendly vindication. In this I apprehend
there was no guile — no mere acting. Do not let the im-
petuosities of a first attachment blind your judgment to the
force of these indications. I attach importance to them so
far at least as to regard them as plenary proofs that you
have engaged and interested her attention. Now I am sat-
isfied that precipitancy of movement should be avoided.
Time is with you probably a condition of success. And there
is another more important still. Begin to realize the noble
visions with which the eyes of the maiden have been visited
for your advantage. Do not defeat her augury, but at once,
under the impulse of a new motive, do her the grace and
the justice too of aiding in its fulfillment. When you shall
have worthily won the professional and social distinctions
that she has foretold for you, she will be proud of them be-
cause she foretold them, and her present interest in you
personally, will be very likely to be deepened. Win her then
by earnest and manly endeavor in the broad and open field
of life, and as one of the choicest of the varied spoils that
attend upon deserved success. There is nothing like pluck.

Your friend,

O. L. Shafter.

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LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

In 1 86 1 Mr. Shafter and his wife made the long-promised
visit to their old home. The trip was a flying one, and a good
portion of his time was spent in attending to various business
and professional duties which carried him through States
east of the Mississippi. The following are snatches of inter-
est culled from letters penned on the way.

Extract from letter from O. L. Shafter, zvritten during his

Eastern trip.

At Sea, July 4, 1861.
Dear H. :

We shall be at Panama to-morrow at about 10 o'clock
A. M., making a somewhat protracted run of fourteen days.
We connect on the other side with the North Star. We have
not encountered the skull and crossbones on this side, and
in view of the well known speed of the Star, have but little
to fear from those piratical emblems on the other. The
voyage so far has been smooth and pleasant.

We have a number of very pleasant people on board. With

Mrs. Fremont and family we are very much pleased

O. L. Shafter.

Oscar L. Shafter to his daughter Emma.

At Sea, July 4, 1861.
My Dear Daughter Emma :

We are now within one day's sail of Panama, and have
so far had a very pleasant voyage We have en-
countered no privateers, and have scarcely seen a sail or a
porpoise to break the monotony of the voyage.

There are only some 40 first class cabin passengers, but
among them are a number of very pleasant people. With
Mrs. Fremont and daughter we have become quite inti-
mately acquainted. Mrs. F. is a very superior woman, one
of the best talkers I ever met, and she is very well instructed
and accomplished. The daughter has been educated entirely

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OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

by the mother, yet there are but few young ladies who are
possessed of so large a fund of genuine and useful knowledge
as she. In the course of our very frequent chats all sorts
of topics have been discussed, historical, scientific, literary
and miscellaneous, and I have been surprised at the fulness
and accuracy of her information. She is about your age. I
trust that you will stubbornly bend your mind to the course
of reading I marked out for you during my absence. I have
been greatly pleased at the relations of love and trust that
exist between the girl and her mother, and with the care she
has for her two little brothers on board. She has charged
herself so far with their education, and gives them from
day to day regular instalments of learning.

We often think of you and the little girls left in your
charge. Sarah is old enough to learn her letters. Teach her
the catechism. Tell her little stories illustrating familiar
truths. Make her mind you always, but do it by kindness

and gentleness, for she has a gentle and pliant nature

O. L. Shafter.

Oscar L. Shafter to a San Francisco friend.

New York, July 15, 1861.
Dear H. :

We arrived here on the 13th of July, after a very pleasant
passage of 22 days and a fraction. This morning we hear of
the capture of 8 prizes by the privateer Sumter near Cuba.
We left Aspinwall on the day the seizures were made. No
doubt is entertained here that the main game that she was
hunting was the California steamer. We were fortunate in

eluding her

Your friend,

O. L. Shafter.

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LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

Oscar L. Shaffer to Mrs. Shafter, who had gone on to

Wilmington, Ft.

Washington, D. C, Sept. 23, 1861.
Dear Sarah :

.... I have some business to transact here, relative to
our City Water Works, which together with the inevitable
sightseeing will detain me here until Thursday. I now expect
to be at Wilmington on Saturday, but possibly may skip over
to Monday. I met Fletcher, Mr. Haight, J. C. Palmer, and
other Californians at St. Louis, and there is a large invoice
of them here at Willard's. Among others I find Mr. Bensley,
and I believe we were both rejoiced to take each other by
the hand. There is a fierce riding to and fro in this metro-
politan town, and the ears are filled with the din of rumbling
wheels. Nobody is dreaming of any present harm at the
hands of Beauregard, but preparations are made as though

a speedy collision was a possible event

O. L. Shafter.

A young attorney, afterwards prominent in law and poli-
tics in San Francisco, at this time was employed in Mr.
Shaffer's office. He was in a sense a protege of the elder
man, and in turn was devoted to his interests and most
jealous of his reputation. During Mr. Shafter's absence he
undertook to keep him advised of the progress of business
in the office. Writing under date of August 10, 1861, he
recapitulates the action taken in a long list of cases, con-
cluding with a matter of some public interest, inasmuch as
it not only involved Mr. Shafter's relations to the munici-
pality, but introduced, as a disturbing factor, the personality
of another man of brilliant ability, a lawyer of note, whose
distinguished career afterwards ended most spectacularly
and pitifully. The full text of this correspondence is pub-
lished, and particular attention should be paid to Mr. Shaf-

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OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

ter's reply, which is another unconscious exposition of his
character. It is notable for its immediate assuming of every
responsibility in the matter, his haste to exonerate a friend
resting under unjust blame; his own readiness to bear the
burden of error, if error had been made; his able defense,
his clever and convincing analysis of the whole situation in
all its bearings, made wholly from memory of events and
without any data to which he could refer; his dignified, not
to say condescending acknowledgment of the favor which
his young informant had undertaken to do, and the delicacy
with which he refrains from denouncing what evidently was
an inexcusable affront, lest he hurt the feelings of the zealous
conveyor of unsavory news.

San Francisco, August 10, 1861.
Mr. Oscar L. Shafter,

My Dear Sir:

********

In the City Slip cases I regret to say that serious dissatis-
faction is felt and freely expressed among respectable and
influential citizens and I should not be surprised if, before
long, it found its way into the newspapers. It has been found,
upon investigation, that various stipulations have been en-
tered into by Mr. Haight which are clearly wrong upon
their face, and that the reports of the referee in several
cases have been based upon these stipulations, thus increas-
ing the judgments over what they should have been by
several thousand dollars. It is claimed that counsel for the
city should have detected these mistakes and also that, before
the argument, they should have examined the Abstract of
the City Slip property and the deeds tendered by the plain-
tiffs in the various actions, to see whether the City would be
reinstated in the precise position she occupied before the
sales were made. The general charge is that the cases have
been neglected, that the same attention has not been paid
to them which would have been paid to the cases of private

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LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

persons paying the same fees. The other day at a meeting of
The Tax Payers' Protective Union, members of the Judiciary
Committee of the Board of Supervisors who were present
by invitation, said that the arrangement with you was that
the argument of the cases in the Supreme Court should be
postponed, if possible, until Norton was on the bench, and
they also stated that if they had had the slightest idea at the
time of making the arrangement, that you would go home
and confide the management of the cases to other hands,
it would never have been made. They relied entirely, as they
said, upon your high character for ability and integrity as
a guarantee that the interests of the City would be protected.

I mention these things, Mr. Shafter, because I think you
ought to know them and because I doubt whether any one
else will state them to you, as frankly and unreservedly as
myself. The fact is that the whole difficulty has arisen out
of the almost universal distrust which the people feel of
Judge Heydenfeldt. They say that he was a bitter Law and
Order man in 1856, and that he is unquestionably a Seces-
sionist now — that he is absolutely vindictive in his hostility
to San Francisco, that he is much too intimate with those
who are trying to injure the City, and that he exercises too
great an influence over the Supreme Court, which is always
wielded in strict subordination to his individual purposes.
This is the substance of the charges against him, and while
it is quite possible that you know them to be false, you can-
not prevent the public from believing them nor from con-
necting yourself to a certain extent with them. For my own
part I have kept my ears open but my tongue still. The
Judge has always treated me as a gentleman and I have seen
nothing in his conduct to justify the slightest suspicion —
except his infidelity to the government and the flag. But as
between you and him, you always have been and always must
be first in my consideration, and it appears to me that it
would be the most highly wrought Quixotism which would
sacrifice you to the unpopularity of a man from whom in
everything except perhaps the single article of honesty, you
are as different as Lincoln is from Jeff Davis. If therefore

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OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

a necessity should arise before your return, which I do not
now anticipate, I shall look exclusively to your interests and
let others take care of themselves.

I suppose you have already heard of the breaking up
of the meeting which the Secession Party attempted to hold
here some three weeks ago, and therefore I shall not attempt,
at this late day, to describe it. Indeed the scene could not
be fairly described except by some such writer as Dr. Russell
or Charles Dickens. I was there in the midst of it, and so
was your brother,* and, although he repudiates any con-
nection with the disturbance, I can answer for it that the
next morning there were few hoarser men in the City of San
Francisco.

Two or three times we were on the brink of a terrible
fight, in which many lives would have been lost, for almost
every man who owned a pistol or a knife had it with him.
The Secessionists in particular were all armed, for I saw
their weapons.

The state of feeling which that meeting illustrated has
been intensified by the news of our repulse at Bull's Run,
and by other events of the war, and I should not be sur-
prised if my prediction that there would be a serious conflict
in this State, were verified much sooner than most people
suppose. You know about how much weight to give to my
opinions, so I shall not mislead you if I say that, notwith-
standing our distance from the scene of active operations and
the comparative apathy which prevails among our citizens,
I expect to see civil war in California within sixty days; to
speak moderately, after the coming election. There are as
many Secessionists here, in proportion to the whole popula-
tion, as there are in the State of Missouri, and they are
of a worse class. They are well armed, as a general thing,
fully organized, and under shrewd and accomplished leaders.
The war is being brought home to these men as well as to us,
by the loss of friends or relations in the ranks of the traitors
and in our own army, and the state of mutual exasperation

•■James McMillan Shafter.

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LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

thus produced, must, as it appears to me, culminate in an
outbreak. If it is to come, all I have to say is the sooner the
better.

In the hope that you are enjoying, as well as circum-
stances permit, a visit which must assuredly have its melan-
choly as well as its pleasant features, and with best respects
to yourself and to Mrs. Shafter, I remain,

Faithfully yours,
H. E. H.

P. S. — Mr. Dam and everybody in the office wish to be
kindly remembered to you.

Reply of Oscar L. Shafter to H. E. H.

Wilmington, Vt., Sept. 29, 1861.
Dear H. :

I left Wilmington about the first of August for the North
and the Far West, and returned to the aforesaid point of
departure last evening. I find two letters from you, the last
of which is dated Aug. 18. I am perfectly astonished at the
strictures which you say "respectable citizens" are making
upon the manner in which the City Slip suits have been
managed by our firm. The criticisms are all of them unjust
to the last degree. In the first place if there has been any
mismanagement no member of the firm is responsible for it
except myself. Neither Judge Heydenfeldt nor my brother
have had anything to do with the matter but to look on.
Down to the time I left I acted in the conduct of the litiga-
tion entirely on my own judgment, concealing neither my
opinions nor any step taken or to be taken, and governed
always and only by my duty to the City.

In the second place, when we came into the cases the
evidence was all in, the stipulations had all been made, and
the case was set down for argument at 10 o'clock on the day
after our retainer. I presented myself before the referee at
the time, and urged a postponement to enable me to look
the case through in all of its details, and further to enable

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OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

me to get a Search of the title upon which Gillespie was then
at work. This application was not entertained by the referee,
and the argument was at once proceeded with.

If there have been mistakes in Mr. Haight's stipulations
whereby too large amounts have been admitted, the mistakes
are clerical ones and may at all times be corrected, and the
question is one of those that may be made under the pro-
ceedings in error now pending. I had no chance to detect
the error before the argument.

How could the Gillespie "Abstract" have been "examined
by counsel before argument" before the Referee, when that
Abstract was not made out until a month or six weeks after
the argument was begun, completed and ended?

As to the deeds back to the City, they were all in the cases
before we came into them, and in the face of a long series
of objections overruled by the Referee, to which ruling ex-
ceptions had been duly taken by the City Atty. and Mr.
Haight. Those exceptions are all preserved, and are all now
involved in the pending motion for a new trial.

You say that it is urged that there was an understanding
that the argument should be postponed if possible in the
Supreme Court until Norton was on the bench. I have done
nothing to defeat or impede that understanding directly or
indirectly. I know that it was the wish of some members of
the Judiciary Committee to delay the cases as much as pos-
sible, but have no recollection of any allusion being made
to Norton. At the date of our retainer it was not known that
Norton would be a candidate. I did nothing before leaving to
give any speed to the litigation, except what was absolutely
necessary in order to make our motion for a new trial avail-
able under the rules.

There was no understanding whatever that I should at-
tend to the cases in person. Mr. Dodge will remember that
I told him I was going home, and that my brother would
look after the cases in my absence. He is as competent as I
am to any professional responsibility, and enjoys the con-
fidence of Mr. Dodge quite as largely, I doubt not. But
I did attend to the cases in person before the Referee, and

[215]

LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

carefully and diligently matured all the papers for a new
trial before I left, and furthermore left memoranda of
argument behind me for the hearing in the 12th Dist. Court
and written advice to be handed to the Board of Supervisors
when it should be called for, and in addition to that had full
and free conversation with Mr. Goold and my brother bear-
ing upon the questions involved. But assuming that it was
understood that I was to attend to the cases in the Supreme
Court in person, I shall doubtless be back in season to do so.
I hope that no harm has come to the City as yet from my
long-deferred pilgrimage to the East. These criticisms are all
baseless and unjust to the last degree. The cases have not
been neglected. I apprehended all the legal possibilities of the
cases as they came to us, and no favorable grounds have
been lost or lessened. I have my own settled convictions with
regard to these cases, derived from direct examination of the
questions and all of the questions which the cases present. I
have a perfectly clear conviction as to the course which will
best subserve the good of the city. We have been employed
to act upon our own judgment as a primary duty, always
claiming and receiving however suggestions from all those
who by reason of their official positions or as taxpayers are
interested in the matter. But I have seen from the first that if
we acted on our own judgment we should have to cross the
judgment of others to some extent, and I cannot believe that
the Judiciary Committee, with all the facts before them, will
fail to acquit us of the neglect which has unadvisedly been
laid to our charge.

Show this letter to James, but to no other person outside
the office. He will talk with the Committee of the Board of
Supervisors if he thinks it advisable.

I am pleased that you have written me so fully and freely
on the matter. I have written you twice or three times since
I saw you, and hope that the letters have been received. I
have enjoyed myself greatly during my absence, but shall be
glad when I am again among you.

Yours Truly,

O. L. Shafter.

[216]

OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

Oscar L. Shafter to his Father.

San Francisco, April 29, 1862.
Dear Father :

■ •••••••

Jim has acquitted himself finely in the Senate as President,
member and man. He has attained to a position of which you
may well be proud as his father, and of which I am proud as
his brother. He is now presiding on the impeachment of
Judge Hardy before the Senate.

Judge Heydenfeldt of our firm has been for some time past
at Sacramento before the Supreme Court. Mr. Goold is at
Washoe managing cases before the Territorial Court and
will not return for a month. Jim has been for months ab-
sorbed in his legislative duties, and with the assistance of two
very competent clerks, I have been and am now working the
local machinery. The courts, however, all adjourn on the first
of May, and early in the month I intend to take my nephew
Willie and have a run to the ranch. . . .

Your son,

O. L. Shafter.

To his brother Hugh, for whom he named his own little
son, Mr. Shafter was deeply attached, and letters that have
been preserved show the bond of brotherly affection un-
broken, through all the vicissitudes of life. Hugh's children,
and their interests, were only less dear to him than his own,
and we find him constantly inquiring and informing himself
to their welfare and their progress, watching their several
careers with solicitude, deploring their misfortunes, rejoic-
ing in their achievements. One of these children was that
William R. Shafter who afterwards became the Commander
of the Department of California; a brave soldier, gallant
comrade, devoted patriot and distinguished officer in the
United States Army. It is to him, "Hugh's boy," that refer-
ence is made in the following letter.

[ 217 ]

LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

Oscar L. Shafter to his sister Laurette.

San Francisco, Sept. 2, 1862.
Dear Sister:

More than a year has passed since I parted with you at
Kalamazoo. I reproach myself for not having written you
before this. My silence has not resulted from any failure of
memory or falling off in brotherly affection, but from a great
diversity of odds and ends that provoke delay in the dis-
charge even of welcome duty. . . . Emma commenced
housekeeping yesterday. I have not seen her yet in her own
home, but I shall call upon her in state to-night. I have lived
in a hired house ever since I have been here, but on the 1st of
November next I shall move into my own, which I am now
building in the very pleasant village of Oakland across the
bay. There, if nothing evil betide, I shall live the rest of my
days. . . .

I saw a short time since a statement in the papers that
Hugh's boy had been wounded in the battle of Fair Oaks.
Mary, in a recent letter, says that he is recovering from the
wound and gives some of the particulars. I would write him
if I only knew where to direct my letter. Tell Hugh to make
known to the young Adjutant that his uncle felt an emotion of
tribal pride, when he heard of his great peril in battle for his
country, and of the bravery with which he met it. God bless
him and the country for which he is fighting ! . . .

Tell Hugh that all is right between him and me, though I
have not seen any specimen of his handwriting for the last
quarter of a century.

Your affectionate brother,

O. R. Shafter.

Oscar L. Shafter to his Father.

San Francisco, September 9, 1862.
Dear Father:

To-day is the nth Anniversary of the admission of Cali-
fornia into the Union; and all the flags are flying, and all
the trained bands are out in honor of the occasion. A whole

[218]

V-

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THE NEW YORK
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FOUNDATIONS

OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

Brigade has just passed Montgomery Block. While we are
thus holding high carnival on our advent into the Union, the
telegraph is in the very act of telling us in its long traveled
whisper across the Continent, that the defenders of the Union
are being scattered, and that the fabric of our Nationality is
just tottering to its fall. And still the grand hallucination that
there is no God, that there is no Divine law, that right and
wrong are but names, that there is no visitation for national
blunders, and retributions for national crime, has hardly be-
gun to be dispelled ! There is nothing so powerful as an idea,
when it has achieved a perfect conquest over men and masses.
It takes generations to establish an idea, and work it into the
very texture of the souls of a people; and when that result
has once been accomplished, it is the work of yet longer ages
to totally eradicate it. It survives the greatest national re-
verses induced by its own falsity. Lost battles, dishonored
banners, perils threatening national life, furnish the very
food on which its insane appetites are fed. The history of the
Pharaohs is now being reproduced; we have been waiting for
the seventh plague, and it has come. A reluctant, half-
hearted assent, a cross between a groan and a scream,
that the people may go, will before long be extorted by
coward fear, to be retracted in a night, however, and then
will come the last disaster, final, overwhelming as that which
the Egyptian atheist and tyrant found in the Red Sea. The
old Abolitionists were the prophets of their time; they saw
the end from the beginning; all of their predictions are being
fulfilled in the great demonstrations of the present hour.
William Lloyd Garrison is shown by events to be the great
thinker of his age, and old John Brown is now revealed as
the only hero that has had pluck enough to invite the common
enemy to battle. Still, notwithstanding all these auguries of
evil, there are signs that the Achan that has debauched our
civilization, that has sat so long at our Counsel boards, that
has half heathenized our Christianity, and that for the last
1 8 months has apparently been the Lieut. Genl. command-

[ 219]

LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

ing the Union armies, is a doomed devil, and that his end
will not long tarry. . . .

Your son,

O. L. Shafter.

Letter written by O. L. Shafter to a friend, upon hearing of

the death of his mother.

San Francisco, Dec. 22, 1862.
Dear H. :

My own mother died in the year 1828, — 35 years ago,
but I cannot, notwithstanding this long interval, think of her
without emotion. I was present when she died, and have
a vivid recollection of all the incidents connected with
the event, and find now, as I have ever found, a melan-
choly pleasure in reviewing and dwelling upon them. Of
that great solace to filial grief you will ever be deprived.
Your mother's enduring wish once more to look upon her
son, even before being reunited to her begotten among the
blessed, is a touching manifestation of the strength of her
maternal love. Every parent, particularly those who are be-
ginning to be stricken in years, hopes that his children will be
with him in his last conflict, and mingle in the train that shall
follow him to his long repose. This hope, though born per-
haps of human infirmity, half dispels the shadows that in
contemplation gather over and around the bed of death.

• • •

O. L. Shafter.

O. L. Shafter to his Father.

San Francisco, February 1, 1863.
Dear Father:

Today is one of the most pleasant of a long series of pleas-
ant days. Peas are three inches high in my garden, lettuce
and all sorts of garden stuffs are coming up, and the buds of
the fruit trees are beginning to swell. The hills and the fields
near and remote, are green with the new grass, and the
weather is as warm and genial as June.

[ 220 ]

OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

I hope that all of us, your children, will not, in the old age
of our common parents, fail in any filial duty. I do not wish
to embitter the rest of my own life by any such failure, nor
to invite retribution at the hands of my own offspring when
my own time shall come. I have arrived at a time of life when
the obligations of filial duty are more fully understood and
felt than at any other, and we can confer no greater favor to
ourselves and to our descendants than by contributing by
every means in our power to our parent's peace and comfort
and general enjoyment in that portion of life that God in His
mercy may be pleased to grant you. In my old age I expect
to have my opinions, my dogmas, my notions, and my habits,
and as I shall be too old to change them, I shall be greatly
annoyed, I know, if I am not allowed to entertain them, free
from complaint and criticism on the part of my young ones.
I shall not then tax their love, or gratitude or forbearance
long, and that of itself will go far to deprive them of all
apology for impatience with their old Father.

I have just received an account of Hugh's family, and
Laurette's William, John and Newton are in the field, and
Gertrude's husband was mortally wounded in battle. Hugh
says that he has contributed two sons to his country, and that
his remaining boy awaits its summons; and that when the
boys have all fallen, the "old man will go himself." . . .

Your son,

O. L. Shafter.

O. L. Shafter to his Father.

San Francisco, July 4, 1863.
Dear Father:

Today is the 4th of July, and great preparations have been
made by the citizens for the celebration of the day. The
French, German, Irish, Mexican, English and Chinese among
us are in the habit of celebrating their National holidays, and
this puts our own people upon their pluck. Were it not for the
spirit of rivalry thus engendered, I fear that the "Glorious
Fourth" would be little glorified here. The people here are

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LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

not deficient, however, in attachment to the Union, but it is
"attachment" as distinguished from devotion. They find their
account in the Union, and therefore they adhere to it. North-
ern men, on intelligent business considerations; Southern men,
who have as a general thing little interest in the business or
property of the Country, because they hope that the Union
can in some way be made subservient to their own particular
madness, to-wit: "niggers."

You will see by the papers that I am the nominee of the
Republican Party for the office of Judge of the Supreme
Court. I have been told that there are many Democrats of
both stripes that will vote for me, and that the full vote of
the Republican Party will be cast for me I have no reason to
doubt. I never engineered for the nomination, nor ever asked
for it, and but one person in the State ever spoke to me upon
the subject before the nomination was made. I have been
applied to since to take the stump, but have peremptorily re-
fused it. Since I have been here I have attended to nothing,
striven for nothing, hoped for nothing, and desired nothing
outside of my profession. Inside of it I have simply worked
like a dog, performing more drudgery, I honestly believe,
during that time, than any other two lawyers in the State.
The people have, or fancy they have hitherto suffered greatly
from incompetent, or dishonest, or partisan Judges, and there
is a general disposition just now to select men for judicial
positions with some reference to their qualifications. I have
no particular assurance in my own mind that I shall be
elected, but that a vote highly complimentary will be given
me I have no doubt. I have never in my life before now seen
the time when I desired or would accept any office that would
withdraw me from, or interfere with the practice of my pro-
fession, but the reasons that have hitherto influenced me have
been to a great degree met and overcome. I am somewhat
weary of the labors and endless solicitudes of practice, and
at the same time am fully persuaded that active employment
is essential to peace of mind and general well being, and fur-
thermore that it is a duty, so on the whole I should have no

[ 222 ]

OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

difficulty in reconciling myself to a seat on the Supreme
Bench, and in a word just now rather affect it. . . .

Your son,

O. L. Shafter.

O. L. Shafter to his Father.

San Francisco, October 21, 1863.
Dear Father:

The Judicial Election is now in progress, and I suppose
there is little doubt as to the result. The vote will be much
smaller than that cast at the last political election. A Judicial
election always occasions less excitement than a political, and
here the opposition at the present is so much discouraged and
disorganized by its September defeat that it will be unable
to make much of a rally.

1 have just finished reading the morning paper. The elec-
tion returns are not all in, but enough have been received to
show that all of the Union candidates have been elected by
large majorities. Our firm will be immediately dissolved, and
I shall busy myself from this time until the first of January
next in closing up business.

This State is prospering beyond all parallel, and in the
next ten years will take high rank in the matter of wealth
and population. The great mass of the people are devotedly
loyal, and their loyalty has its foundations, not more in the
head than in the affections. There is another thing that augurs
well for the cause of good government on this Coast: it is
the general uprising of the people against the politicians. In
fact the ascendency of "party" is here completely overthrown,
and the very name of it has become odious. In this City the
function of the mere politician is completely at an end, and
there is little prospect that the rule of the vulgar, unscrup-
ulous self-seeker will ever be restored. For the last six years
municipal affairs have been managed with a single eye to the
public good, not a dollar has been wasted or embezzled, taxa-
tion has steadily diminished, and individuals and society have
been greatly improved. . . .

O. L. Shafter.
[ 223 ]

LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

Oscar L. Shafter to his brother Hugh.

San Francisco, Jan'y 5, 1864.
Dear Brother:

I have just received a letter from Mary informing me that
Father is very sick and that his life, though not at present
despaired of, will not be long continued. Neither I nor James
can visit him. You can. I hope and believe that you will do
so. His affairs I apprehend are in a somewhat confused state,
and you may be of great service to him and to us all, perhaps,
in arranging them. I cherish no particular expectations for
myself, but I wish to see an equitable division of the property
among those to whom it would be a most desirable acquisi-
tion. If is indebted and is unable to pay, let him at least

in justice to himself and others, account for the last dollar,
and so far as I am concerned, I will for the love I bear him
give him a release in full.*

I had a letter a few days ago from your Bill. t I have kept
the run of him since he entered the army, and am proud of
him. It is a fortunate thing for him that he will lead men into
battle who have something more than a country to save —
viz: a country to win.

To-morrow the first session of our new Supreme Court
commences. On a raffle among the judges I drew the "long
term" of ten years. . . .

Your brother,

O. L. Shafter.

*As the sequel shows, Mr. Shafter's personal interest in the rightful dis-
position of his father's small estate, was to secure to two sisters who most
needed it not only their full share, but the entire amount of his own, as
well.

tGeneral Shafter.

[224]

OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

Oscar L. Shafter to his sister Laurette, written at one of
the stopping places on a long horseback journey which he
took with his wife.

Lake Tahoe, June 28, 1864.
My Dear Sister:

I write from Lake Tahoe, formerly Lake Bigler. The lake
is 118 miles east of Sacramento and on the east side of the
Sierra Nevada Mountains. We, that is, myself and wife, ar-
rived here one week ago to-day, and have led a very active
life ever since. The lake is 30 miles long and of an average
width of 15 miles. It is surrounded on all sides by mountains,
reaching a height of about 2000 feet above the level of the
water. They are robed with perpetual snow about one quar-
ter of the way down from their summits. The lake is of great
depth, and the water is as pure as crystal. The bottom of the
lake is a white sand, and can be seen distinctly from a boat,
where the depth of the water is 100 feet. The lake is teeming
with trout and I believe furnishes the finest angling in the
world. We have been fishing every day since our arrival, ex-
cept Sunday, and have had the best of luck. The scenery is
sublime. I have seen nothing on this Coast, and "it is a land
of beauty and of grandeur, lady," that will compare with it.
We shall remain here a week longer and then return to our
home by the sea. . . .

I have received a letter from Colonel William R., (Shaf-
ter), in which he speaks of your Newton, saying amongst
other things that he would like to get a position as Second
Lieutenant of Cavalry on this Coast. I am acquainted with
General Wright, who is in command on this side of the
Rocky Mountains, but he has recently been relieved and
General McDowell takes his place. As soon as McDowell
arrives I will endeavor to make his acquaintance and secure
the position named, for your son if possible. Whether a
cavalry regiment is to be raised here or not I do not know,
but if there is, it is possible, at least, that I may succeed in
doing something for my nephew. . . .

[225 ]

LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

Mary has written me, giving me a circumstantial account
of father's last days, and expressing a gratitude common to
us all, to Hugh for the final service performed by him at the
deathbed of our venerable parent. . . . Jim and I have ar-
ranged for a monument to be erected to the memory of our
Father and Mother and Aunt Fanny.

My wife, as I have already told you, is with me here. The
trip will do her a great deal of good, and we shall both re-
turn with renovated health and spirits to our accustomed
labors and duties.

The Hotel here is well filled with tourists and successful
miners from Virginia City. Unlike most places of fashionable
resort, the women don't bring their fashions with them, which
adds very much to their own comfort and that of their hus-
bands.

Give my love to all of our common blood, and continue to
regard me always as

Your affectionate brother,

O. L. Shafter.

Extract from letter, Oscar L. Shafter to his sister Laurette.

San Francisco, April 17, 1865.
Dear Sister:

. . . On Saturday last we heard of the assassination of
President Lincoln. The feeling is one of universal horror and
grief. I hope that all danger of a settlement except upon a
basis of absolute justice is now over. . . .

Jim is now at the ranch on business, but will return in a
few days. He is fixing for the U. S. Senate, but I don't think
he will be prepared to put forth that amount and kind of
effort necessary to secure an election. . . .

Your brother,

O. L. Shafter.

[226]

OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

(Regarding the settlement of a father's estate.)

Oscar L. Shaffer to his sister Laurette, Mrs. Wealthy

Ransom.

San Francisco, May 2, 1865..
Dear Sister :

I received yours of March 29 this morning. I see that a
large proportion of those belonging to our tribe in Michigan
are connected with the army, — once militant but now trium-
phant. I have a great solicitude with regard to John and
Newton since I learned through Colonel Bill* of the dan-
gerous service they were on. Those boys, all of them, have
fought in battles that they can well fight over again when
they are old.

Mr. H. will leave for the East to-morrow. He has a
Power of Atty. from me and Jim to act for us in the matter
of father's estate. I am in hopes that the whole thing can be
closed up this summer by the voluntary action of those in-
terested. Neither Jim nor I have received anything from
father except what is named in his will. You and Jim and
Hugh have been advanced about $1500 each, Mary about
$1300, and N. very much more. The advances should be
evened up and the balance of the estate (probably about
$4000) should be divided pro rata. Should N. make good
his indebtedness to the estate, the amount to be divided would
be much greater. I have directed Mr. H. to pay to you one
half of whatever may be coming to me, the other half to be
given to Mary.t

Love to all.

Your brother,

O. L. Shafter.

♦Afterwards General Wm. R. Shafter.

tMr. Shafter's own sister, Mary, widow of Dr. Edminster.

[227 ]

LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

Extract from letter of O. L. Shafter to a San Franciscan
traveling in New England

San Francisco, June n, 1865.
Dear Sir:

James has been at the ranch for the last two weeks and
will be back in a few days, Johnson was down on Wednesday
last. The shearing is going on well, and will be completed
in about a fortnight; there are now six men at work. Logan
has sold out his lease to Crandall, a young man who used to
work for us. James put Logan up to sell as he writes me,
and adds that Logan is by nature and habit an old "itinerant
vagrant." He has done very well however in the matter of
butter-making, and has more than enough on hand to square
all of his accounts with us. Johnson says that the new milk
room works to a charm, in all the adjustments in the inside,
and over and above all in the ventilation and evenness of
temperature the room cannot be surpassed. He notices a
very marked improvement both in the quality and quantity
of the cream. Beef is very low, first quality 6 cents, pork is
1 1 ]/2 cents, and butter has gone up to 45 cents. Creomony
says that beef will be up about the time we want to sell.
Joyce was in a few days since whining because the "coleman"
had not paid him the balance of his oil money. I asked how
they were getting along with the well, and says he, "Jooge
Jooge, they have bin thrying to have me take a share in the
well instead of me money, but Jooge I am thinking they'll
niver fine ile enough to ile me rumatiz." . . .

O. L. Shafter.

From Diary.

With the new burden of judicial duties, the last entries in
the diary are fugitive, fragmentary and far between.

January, 1864. I drew the long term of ten years. About
300 old cases have come to us by descent. I intend to do
my duty before God, however I may fail to do it before man.

[228 ]

OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

The first case on which I wrote an opinion was People vs.
Bruzzo. The decision of the Soldiers' Vote case, Bourland
vs. Hildreth, decided at this term, has been severely criti-
cized, not to say denounced by the Press. I take it easy. I
did not know how that kind and degree of animadversion
would affect me. Judging, however, from the results of this
ordeal, I conclude that I am not particularly thin-skinned.
I am advised that the decision is acceptable to the profession.

April 8, 1864. We are now about half way through the
business of our second term, and have made heavy inroads
with the mass of old business that descended to us from the
old Court House as an inheritance.

The Soldiers' Vote case has been reargued upon an order to
that effect granted at the last term upon petition. It will be
decided the coming vacation.

April 13, 1867. After an interval of two and one half
years it occurs to me to make another entry. Should I wait
much longer, the chasm would become too wide to be
bridged. We are well up with our court business, but not so
far ahead of it as not to find present employment to the full.

Have been with a select party to Cisco, the railroad term-
inus for the present. Cisco will soon cease to be a terminus,
but it will always have claims to the distinction of being the
hyperborean center of the Sierra Nevada. We had sleigh
riding and snow-balling, privileges that we had come to sup-
pose, most regretfully, we should never enjoy again. The
snow regions, to which the railroad furnishes an easy ap-
proach, will be a point of resort, I predict, until the Sierra
shall cease to be "Nevada."*

Nov. 19, 1867. To-day I have made my will. Is it the
last? I wait, trusting in God.

The personal records set down by Judge Shaffer's own
hand here end abruptly. If there were letters written there-
after, they seem to have been purely personal in character
and not to have been preserved. His mind and heart and
soul were given to the high service upon which he entered

♦"Snowy."

[ 229 ]

LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

with a consecrated purpose to dispense justice to his fellow
citizens, irrespective of their rank, riches, or personal
standing.

When the majestic intellect gave way, and in a foreign
land he sought change and healing, there came to him two
touching letters from his associates on the bench, both of
them aging men, themselves succumbing to the infirmities of
advancing years; letters which fortunately have been pre-
served, reaching out the hand of good fellowship to their
stricken comrade, offering a kindly stimulus to the waning
powers, ignoring the character of his malady, striving to
recall the failing memory by chit-chat of familiar scenes and
the old life.

The first of these is from a man sorely afflicted, entitled by
all the laws of physical suffering to a sour misanthropy and
to be sunk in bitter contemplation of his own ails. Yet ob-
serve the gaiety with which he makes merry over them, the
fun and harmless satire, the good cheer of the epistle:

To Oscar L. Shaffer, in Florence, Italy, from J. B. Crockett,
California Supreme Bench.

Dear Sir:

It will, no doubt, surprise you to get a letter from me ; but
I was so much gratified to learn from Mr. H., a day or two
since, that your health is improving, that I concluded to
express my gratification, in a short epistle to you personally.
But I am not sure you will be able to decipher my hiero-
glyphics, as my eyesight has become so bad that I can scarcely
write at all, and am wholly unable to read ordinary print.
About three years ago, one of my eyes began to fail, and in
about a year I lost the sight of it entirely. About one year
ago, the other began to fail in the same way, and is still
gradually growing worse, so that now I get about with diffi-
culty, and am unable to read print, though, as you perceive,
I can still write, after a fashion. The trouble is cataract in

[230]

OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

both eyes, and the oculists assure me that the chances of
relief, by a surgical operation, are largely in my favor. I am
waiting, under their advice, until the proper time arrives to
have the operation performed, which will probably be during
the coming summer. In the meantime you can imagine the
difficulty I experience in the performance of my official duties.
My wife and daughter have to read everything to me, and
generally do the writing, at my dictation. Justice is said to
be blind, but I have found out that it is a very bad thing, for
a Justice to be blind.

As you are aware, only one of your old associates
(Rhodes) remains upon the bench. Curry is practicing law,
and is very well, except that he is seriously threatened with
my trouble — blindness. His eyes are becoming very bad, and
he fears the disease is something worse than cataract. Sawyer
is still writing awfully long opinions, as Judge of the Circuit
Court; and Sanderson is getting rich as the attorney of the
Central Pacific Railroad Co., with a salary of $1000 per
month, and a good practice besides. He often appears in
the Supreme Court, and is as refractory at the bar, as he was
on the bench. You know how he used to "rip and snort
around" in the consultation room, when he got his dander
up, and you can imagine how "riproarious" he is. But after
all, he is a genial, good fellow, and I like him. Rhodes plods
along, after the old fashion — is as pleasant as ever, and at
present is greatly exercised over the fact that he has lately
become a grandfather. Mrs. Barstow has a baby, and we
have dubbed Rhodes "grandpa." This is the last year of his
term, and he is anxiously casting about to see how the chances
look for re-election. He will doubtless be nominated by the
Republicans, and will stand a good chance to be elected; and
particularly if the other party nominates a weak man for
his opponent, as it very likely will. There will be two Judges
to be elected this fall, as the vacancy occasioned by Sander-
son's resignation is also to be filled. The aspirants on the
Democratic side are numerous; the most prominent of whom
are McKee, Take, Seldon, S. Wright, McConnell, Temple
(at present filling Sanderson's place), and I have heard

[ 231 ]

LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

Hoge's name mentioned. There will be a general scramble
for the nominations, and it is altogether doubtful who will
be the lucky "hombre." There is likely to be a lively time in
the Democratic wigwam at the next State convention. Haight
is a candidate for re-election, but is bitterly opposed by the
politicians of his party and particularly by Wallace, who
wishes to succeed Cole as U. S. Senator. Per contra, the
masses, I think, are with Haight, but the politicians will
probably out-general him and defeat his nomination; and
in doing this, they will have the aid of all the railroad cor-
porations, on account of Haight's opposition to railroad sub-
sidies. But perhaps you feel very little interest in California
politics, and I am wearying you with these details.

The crops promise well, and if the season continues favor-
able, will be very abundant. But there is an unprecedented
stagnation in business. Times were never so dull in this
State, and yet money is abundant and interest is lower than
ever before. Ralston tells me that long loans are easily ef-
fected at 8 per cent per annum. But the railroad has broken
down the merchants. It has brought us so near to N. Y. and
Chicago, that our merchants no longer have a monopoly of
the trade. Our markets are filled with Chicago hams, eggs,
butter and poultry, and when a woman wants a silk dress or
a fine bonnet, she sends to N. Y. for it. This is "rough"
on the merchants; but is probably no disadvantage to the
masses.

San Francisco is not growing; but Oakland is going ahead
marvelously. You would scarcely recognize it with its beau-
tifully paved streets, and its numerous new and elegant struc-
tures. The census reports its population at 11,000 and it is
fast becoming one of the most beautiful little cities on the
continent. I wish you were back in it, that we might crack
a few more jokes on the ferryboat. I have some very good
ones in store for you, when we meet. But I must stop, for
fear you may say, "When will this blind man cease to prate?"
But can't you oblige me with a letter in reply? I should
be delighted to hear from you.

[232]

OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

With kind regards to Mrs. Shafter and hoping soon to
hear of your complete restoration to health, I remain

Yours truly,

J. B. Crockett.
At Home, March ist, '71.

From the Hon. John Carrey, Chief Justice of the Supreme
Court of California, to Oscar L. Shafter, Florence, Italy.

San Francisco, April 17, 1871.
Dear Judge:

Mr. H. informs me that he is going East to-morrow, and
that he expects to see you and Mrs. Shafter very soon, I
concluded upon hearing this that I would make him the
bearer of a letter to you from your affectionate uncle, that
you might know from himself over his own sign manual
that you have a place, and a conspicuous place, too, in his
affectionate remembrances. I have often thought, since we
became separated in judicial labors, that I would greatly
prize the privilege of living by your side as a neighbor, and
visiting you often in intellectual and spiritual converse; but
as this is not our privilege I can only substitute in its stead
my recollections of the past. I am gratified to hear that
your malady does not appear to be increasing upon your
strength, and I hope that before very long we shall see you
among us as nearly recovered as one of your age can ever
expect to be. It would be vain to hope that persons of our
age should become entirely rejuvenated, after years of toil
and wear. In my own case I discover the breaking down
by degrees of my physical strength. I am hard of hearing,
and my sight is becoming dim. One of my eyes is so diseased
that I cannot see sufficiently with it to read. This disease is
what the oculists call retinitis, which in plain English is
inflammation of the retina. I have been thus afflicted about
four months and I hardly expect ever to recover entirely
from it. In consequence of this I have to forego reading
very much, which is a deprivation that I very much feel.
However, if I can have the sight of one eye, I shall be for-

[ 233 ]

LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

tunate. I do very little in legal matters. I once in a while
argue a case on brief, but henceforth expect to do very little
of this.

I saw your letter to Judge Crockett, in which you men-
tioned my name kindly. To thus hear from you was refresh-
ing. Judge Crockett, notwithstanding his infirmity of the
eyes, is doing much labor as a judge, and holds his own with
the best of his associates. May he live for many years to
come. He is a man of excellent heart and sense.

I seldom see Rhodes, Ch. J.* He is doing well, and ex-
pects to be returned to the bench after his present term
expires. I suppose he will be nominated at the meeting of
the convention, and will be elected if the Republicans can
accomplish it, but as the election of Judges is at a distant
election, from that of State officers generally, I fear our
people will not turn out in their full strength. We have
hope, and a reasonable hope, of carrying the election for
Governor. We have the Germans with us, it is now sup-
posed. Selby and Newton Booth are talked of for Governor.
Selby leads here, and Booth in the country. Phelpst would
like to be the candidate, but has no chance from present
appearances.

Our prospect for good crops is not flattering. We have
had but a small quantity of rain this winter. Give my kind
regards to Mrs. Shafter, and believe me, as ever,

Yours very truly,

John Currey.

Upon Judge Currey's retirement from practice, an emi-
nent lawyer who had known him long and intimately, paid
him the following tribute:

"The four years of Judge Currey's service on the bench
of the Supreme Court commenced with the January term,
1864, and expired with the October, 1867. He was Chief
Justice of the court during the years 1866 and 1867. With

*Chief Justice.
tTimothy Guy Phelps.

[234]

OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

Sawyer, Sanderson, Rhodes and Shaffer, all of whom were
eminent judges of distinguished reputations, these four years
formed a memorable era in the judicial history of the State,
during which more by far than in any other four years of
its history were produced decisions of importance delivered
in opinions of incalculable value on account of the legal
learning embodied in them, and the admirable and classic

English in which they were expressed In severe

simplicity of diction, directness of logical order, clearness of
expression, aptitude of illustration, and force of argument,
there are those who think Judge Currey not rivalled by any
who came before, served with, or who succeeded him on the
bench."

Oscar T. Shuck, a well-known legal writer and author of
"Bench and Bar," remarks upon Judge Currey's public
career:

"It was stormy and full of disappointments; but in the
retrospect of these years, he is able to say that he has never
bowed himself down before the oppressor, nor subordinated
man's right to liberty and the pursuit of happiness to brute
force of superior might. As a judge, he was honest and just.
With his professional brethren he lived on terms of amity
and friendship. Towards young men of his profession he
was kind and considerate, both at the bar and on the bench,
which many now in full practice gratefully remember."

[235]

VI

MISCELLANEOUS

SELECTIONS made by Judge Shafter, representing
his own philosophy and creed, from the notebook of
Dr. Channing, a writer whom he held in the highest
regard.

'To live — to have spiritual force — is the great thing."
"To look forward, we must gain an eminence."
"God thinks of all beings; so should we A lovely

spirit does spread."

"Every soul has its own warfare, but still we may help

one another."

"There should be faith in the possibility of impressing
others with our own highest views."

"He does not understand self-sacrifice who does not desire
to conceal it."

"Joy comes from having great interests, not from idle-
ness; from great affections, not from selfishness; from self-
sacrifice, for this knits souls; from great hopes."

"The question is, What can be done by an all-consuming
desire to do good, by the action of intense, absorbing love
to our fellow creatures? Can they stand before it?"

"To live in the world, and know the worst of it, and yet
hope and strive for its improvement, — taking courage from
God, — how much nobler than to dream of the millenium in
our closets !"

"We wake up and find ourselves plunged in this myste-
rious stream, always flowing, never beginning, never ending,
and bearing us onward to unknown worlds."

[236]

OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

"May we think of death, not to sadden life, but to learn

the full glory of life We are not wholly of the

earth."

"Shall we weep for those who are done with weeping?"

In view of the warm affection existing between the two
brothers Shafter, both prominent in the early history of San
Francisco and the State of California, partners in law closely
associated for the better part of their lifetime, it seems
fitting here to give space to a brief biographical sketch of the
younger brother, who survived Judge Shafter many years,
passing away generally beloved and regretted.

James McMillan Shafter, brother of Oscar L. Shafter,
was born in Vermont, May 27, 18 16. Graduating from
Wesleyan University at Middletown, Connecticut, he was
admitted to the bar of his native State, and entered upon
the practice of the law. In his early twenties he was elected
to the lower branch of the Vermont Legislature, and in
1842, at the age of 26, became Secretary of State, an office
which he filled with distinction for seven years. In 1849
he went to Sheboygan, Wisconsin, where he remained six
years, becoming a prominent figure in the politics of the
State, being elected to the Wisconsin Assembly in 1851 and
receiving the nomination to Congress from his district in
1852, when, although defeated, he received 1000 more
votes than his party, the Whigs, cast for General Scott, their
Presidential candidate.

In December, 1855, he came to California, and through
an arrangement already made by his brother, at once entered
into a law partnership with E. B. Mastick. Landing from
the steamer in San Francisco at 6 o'clock in the morning, at
10 o'clock of the same day he was at work reforming plead-
ings in an important case!

The duration of his partnership with Mr. Mastick was
short, owing to the fact that his brother's office was overrun

[ 237 ]

LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

with work and needed him, offering him a tempting salary
for his services, so that he entered upon his association with
the firm of C. H. S. Williams, Shafter and Park, within a
few months after his arrival. In 1857, on the withdrawal of
General Williams, a new partnership was formed between
the two Shaffers, T. W. Park and Solomon Heydenfeldt,
under the firm title of Shafters, Park and Heydenfeldt.
Upon Judge Heydenfeldt's retirement, the firm became
Shafter, Park and Shafter.

In 1862-63 Mr. Shafter was State Senator from San Fran-
cisco, became President of the Senate pro tern., and also
presided over the now historical High Court of Impeach-
ment which removed Judge James H. Hardy from the bench
of the Sixteenth Judicial District. He was an influential
member of the Constitutional Convention of the State in
1878, and afterwards was enrolled among the strongest op-
ponents of the instrument framed by that body and ratified
by the people.

Mr. Shafter's long career at the bar was marked by many
brilliant victories, involving the promulgation of several new
legal doctrines which overturned old precedents and were
reaffirmed by the highest courts. In his professional career
as well as his personal life, James McMillan Shafter always
upheld the same high standards of honor which character-
ized his brother.

A man of simple tastes and plain in speech and dress, he
held the same views regarding the dignity and beauty of
labor, and entered with the greatest enthusiasm into the
acquisition and operation of the great Shafter ranches in
Marin County, in which he and his brother made mutual
investment. On the other hand he, also, was a great lover of
music, and at one time was president of the Handel and
Haydn Society of San Francisco.

The following notable tribute was paid to him in the
public print by the Rev. J. H. C. Bonte, an Episcopal cler-

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gyman, for a considerable period secretary of the Board of
Regents of the State University. It was published as a pen
portrait of the eminent bar leader, while making his cele-
brated argument in the contest of Judge Fawcett's seat in
the Constitutional Convention to which allusion has been
made, and which involved the large question as to whether
membership in the convention was an office, in the true sense
of the word. After quoting several of Shaffer's epigram-
matic utterances, Mr. Bonte says:

"I am not giving his argument, but a few flashes. The
action of Shaffer's mind exacts attention. He packs his
speech with solid shot, and he is rapid because he feels that
there is no other way of delivering his enormous cargo. He
is massive in person and in thought, and he walks through
his adversaries' arguments as an elephant through a cane-
brake. As I imagined, he drives his points after the manner
of a piledriver. The course of his argument is like a glacier
— it fills every nook, expands and contracts without break-
ing; it moves on, crushing and pulverizing everything in its
way. An iron will, invulnerable courage, reckless independ-
ence, terrible calmness, intimidating reposefulness, preside
over his reasoning. But he is also gracious, and comes down
to common apprehension. He is versatile and affluent in
thought. He utters sententious argument in brief parenthesis.
He is a philosopher as well as a jurist. He is a humorist, but
his humor is ponderous and elephantine — the gambols of
the lamb in the person of the elephant. Therefore, his
humor crushes. The sportive leaps of the elephant are as
dangerous to man as his wrath. He is modest, but also ag-
gressive; his satire and irony lacerate and enter joints. He
is strong in his personal magnetism. Fortunately, he is genial
and winsome, or men could not live with him. His simplicity
covers him as with a garment of beauty. But the greatest
element of his genius is his impressibility; the age he lives
in and its past touch him on all sides. The ruling traits of
his character are to be found in his practical wisdom — the
art of combining and keeping things in their places — a sense

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LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

of the mutual dependence of parts — the element of man that
corresponds to the law of gravitation in nature. Shafter is
not an orator in the old sense of the term — he is more — he
is a seer. He is not only a jurist — he is more — he is a states-
man."

Brief Biography of General Wm. R. Shafter.

William Rufus Shafter, to whom frequent reference has
been made in this volume, was a nephew of Oscar L. Shafter,
being the son of his brother Hugh, and was born October
1 6, 1835, at Galesburg, Michigan. He was commissioned
1st Lieutenant of the 7th Michigan Infantry, August 22,
1 86 1 , and mustered out August 22, 1862; was appointed
Major of the 19th Michigan Infantry September 5, 1862,
promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel June 5, 1863, and honor-
ably mustered out April 18, 1864. On April 19, 1864, he
was appointed Colonel of the 17th U. S. Colored Infantry,
became Brigadier General by brevet March 15, 1865, was
made Lieutenant-Colonel of the 41st U. S. Infantry July 28,
1866, then Colonel of the 1st U. S. Infantry, March 4,
1879. On March 3, 1897, he became a Brigadier General
in the regular army, and on May 4, 1898, he received the
appointment of Major General of Volunteers, being finally
retired as Brigadier General of the U. S. Regular Army on
October 16, 1899, and advanced to the grade of Major
General on the retired list February 18, 1901. He received
a Medal of Honor for gallant service during the Civil War,
and is distinguished in the history of the country as the leader
of the expeditionary forces to Cuba which effected the sur-
render of Santiago on July 17, 1898. He adopted this State
as his home, and after a brief term of service as Commander
of the Department of California, died November 12, 1906,
at his ranch near Bakersfield, California, finding his last
resting-place at the Presidio of San Francisco.

William K. Taft was related to the Shafters on the Lovell
side, and amusing anecdotes are recounted in the family of

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OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

episodes in which "the two Bills," William R. Shafter and
William Howard Taft, figured, in childhood and youth, with
no visions of the future honors they were to achieve.

Oscar L. Shaffer's views regarding woman's equality.

In days past, when our foremothers shared the labors of
men without sense of recognition of the economic value of
their work, men like my father, whose sense of justice at
least claimed equality of privilege as their due, hoped and
labored to that end. It is not strange that he penned these
words for his own children. He saw the disability of women
in their relation to their own children, as well as to the world,
for want of this due consideration, and anticipated the
struggle for their supremacy as "mothers of men" as well as
equality, and he spoke for them, as now they are speaking
for themselves. Let the women of to-day look well to it that
they can "earn their wage" as partners in human endeavor,
even as those who did so, having no voice, and demand their
hire! E. S. H.

Oscar Lovell Shafter's tribute to his wife, taken from his

diary.

In the struggle for a competence she has given most
efficient cooperation .... utterly free from the least trace
of parsimony or avarice. Orderly in all her arrangements,
and remarkably exact and efficient in carrying them out, she
has been to me an invaluable ally. [Before all, — he would
have said, — she has borne eleven children, and suffered un-
told agonies of loss as well as physical and mental strain.
— E. S. H.]

"She has great simplicity and directness of character. I
cannot recall an instance in which she ever manifested aught
else than the most perfect truthfulness of heart. She is a
capital judge of character, of quick and sharp perceptions,
and of a most excellent understanding. I never knew a
woman of more perfect moral tone, in everything that per-
tains to the affections or the emotions. I know of no one that

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LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

is her superior. She is a most earnest, frank, warm-hearted,
and true-hearted woman. She has, further, great decision of
character, and is endowed with wonderful fortitude, phenom-
enally tested. She is generous, having no love of money for
its own sake. Of an ardent, social nature, she is prone to the
practice of hospitality, active in her sympathies, always ready
to aid in the relief of human suffering. She is free from
arrogance and pride, and makes acquaintances and friends
among the poor with as much pleasure apparently as among
the affluent, and I think with more. She has great reverence.
It is not acquired, but is native to her heart. As a mother,
her children will ever remember her. To them she has ever
been entirely devoted. No specification is needed here of par-
ticulars.

"I say to my children as the sober judgment of their father,
that there never was a mother better than theirs, and never
one who had a stronger claim upon the respect and love of
her offspring.

"And I urge it upon my children, with all the solemnity
of a last injunction, that they never come short in redeeming
the great obligations that they owe her. To me she has been
a most faithful, affectionate and devoted wife, sharing my
hopes and fears, my joys and sorrows, ever by my side,
making her own happiness consist in mine. I love her now
with a firmer and holier love than in the hour of our bridal."

(If an illustration were needed to contrast the narrow
limitations of a "woman's sphere," as measured by achieve-
ment, with the greater opportunities of our day and genera-
tion, is it not this? The longing for equality of appreciation,
honor and influence as measured by the "coin of the life,"
shows a sense of the need of a broadened definition of that
"sphere" in conformity with human progress; and it is a
world language — regardless of sex — a human alphabet.

My earliest recollections are of my father's hospitality to
a pioneer for "woman's rights," after having withstood the
insults of a village mob while speaking.

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OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

It was his wish that his daughters should be so trained to
care for their own material interests, that through action,
vital relations and activities, they could grow into effective
citizenship. It was this prophetic outlook that gave incentive
to the acquisition of landed properties as the basis of a con-
structive family line. — E. S. H.)

The good, old-fashioned habit of keeping a daily journal
or diary, now almost wholly abandoned by a people rushing
madly through life with little inclination to pause or reflect
by the way, was an important function in Mr. Shafter's
eyes. To many the custom was a matter of idle routine, the
book a convenient reference for dates and other useful memo-
randa. To him it held a deeper meaning. It was educative.
It taught habits of order, of reflection, of memory, of ob-
servation. Above all, it meant the riveting of home ties, and
to him that word "home" was the dearest in the language.

At an early age he bought and placed in the hands of his
first-born daughter, a daintily bound book whose fresh, blank
pages were to be devoted to such purposes. And to impress
upon her the full significance of the task upon which she
was entering, he wrote therein what he called a "dedication"
of the little volume to the high uses for which he designed it.
The book was filled in due course of time, and another took
its place, in which another dedication was written by the
father's hand. These books did not begin and end with a
single year, but were continuous journals of observation and
experience, terminating at any time of year when their pages
were filled, whereupon the new book would be opened and
resume the family chronicles. And at intervals, through the
years, when the old book was finished and the new one begun,
a child-like request for a new dedication from the beloved
father, with which he always complied, would be made by
the daughter, even after she had grown to womanhood.

In the belief that others will appreciate the gentle wit and

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wisdom of these fatherly counsels, which exerted so deep an
influence upon the growing girl, keeping pace, in their verbi-
age and substance, with her age, a few are quoted here. If
they shall stimulate any members of the present generation
to a revival of this important old-time custom, and make
them, in their turn, the historians of the circle in which they
move, in their own day and generation, the space they occupy
will have been well employed.

Diary Dedications, written by Oscar L. Shaffer for his

daughter Emma.

Dec. 12, 1853.

I have just finished the first volume of my diary and this
is my first entry in the second volume. I have not much rea-
son to be proud of the appearance which the first volume
presents. Some of the leaves are turned down at the corners,
many of the pages are badly blotted and the handwriting on
the last page is not much if any better than on the first. Yet
I value it highly notwithstanding these defects, for I find in
it a permanent record of my daily life from the time of its
commencement to the present — an interesting memorial of
incidents with which my father and mother, my brother and
sisters and other friends near and dear to me are connected.
But for this memorial, many of these incidents would already
have been forgotten by me, and as time passed on, the residue
would most probably have faded one by one from memory,
till the whole of the time embraced in this memorial would
have become almost if not quite a blank. I think I can write
much better now than I did before I attended Mr. Allen's
writing school and I intend to do my best to keep this book
clean and nice, and by observing strictly the rules taught me
by Mr. Allen, I hope to make steady and creditable improve-
ment in my handwriting. I must also acquire a habit of
observing so that each day I may have something to write
about. I must learn to keep my eyes open that I may see,
my ears that I may hear — and I must accustom myself to
reflect upon what I see and hear so that I can have thoughts,

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meditations and opinions to register in my diary, as well as
mere sights and sounds.

When my childhood shall be ended, when the years of
my youth shall have been numbered, and all the landmarks,
too, that lie between that and old age, shall have been passed
forever — when my now pleasant home shall be the dwelling
place of strangers, and its present inmates slumbering with
the dead, or if living, separated from each other "by mount
and stream and sea," how valuable to me will this record of
myself and them then be! How mournfully pleasant it will
be to review it ! The loved and lost will live again in its
pages and my own bright morning be again revealed. Oh,
that I may so live in all my relations to them — to the world
— and to my own soul, that the review will give me no pang
for harsh and sinful thoughts indulged — for unkind words
uttered — for ungracious and hostile acts performed — for
holy duties disregarded, contemned, neglected.

April 19, 1857.

It is now little more than five years since I began to keep
a diary. I was then about nine years old — I am now in my
fifteenth year. Time has passed very rapidly but my observa-
tions and experiences are to a very great extent recorded in
my diaries. My father's assurances, so frequently given, that
the habit of keeping a diary would be beneficial to me, have
been measurably realized. It has cultivated a habit of ob-
servation, taught me to reflect and aided me greatly in giving
utterance to my thoughts on paper in a proper manner. It
is a great pleasure to me to review what I have written, and
my father and mother value the books I have written more
highly than those of the most distinguished authors in the
library — as they say.

The brief biography of my dear little brother — and the
still briefer annals of two of my sisters — the incidents of
daily life — matters of neighborhood concern — the departure
of my father from our pleasant home to push his, or rather
our fortunes, on this almost foreign shore — the painful ex-
periences of the following year — the welcome summons to

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LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

join him when that, to us, memorable year was ended — the
incidents of our wayfaring and the history of our California
life so far, are all registered in my books. As life passes on
and as the events of the past fade farther and farther into
the distance, the interest and value of my diaries to my
parents and to me will steadily increase — and when old age
comes, should I ever attain it, I shall find in them sad yet
cherished memorials of those who watched over my infancy,
and of whose tenderest solicitudes I have ever been the object.
In commencing this my fourth volume, I have made up
my mind to write it with more care and thought than I have
bestowed on any of the others. I shall expect more of myself
and more will be expected of me by the small community in
which my books will be read, than when I began the work of
authorship.

Diary Dedication.
August 27, 1859.

Seventeen years have now elapsed, my dear daughter,
since your birth, and in one year more according to the laws
under which you live, your minority will have ended. That
year will soon transpire, and through its last days, as a gate-
way, you will pass to the unknown future that lies beyond.
The character of that future has already to some extent
been determined by the course of your past life, and your
habits, occupations and general experiences for the coming
year will have upon it an influence still more intimate and
controlling. The events of to-morrow are affected by the
events of to-day — the year that is now with us projects its
lights or its shadows into that which is to follow, and the
life that now is has to do with that which is to come. Our
years are but successive chapters of one volume and that in
which the history of our infancy and youth is written gen-
erally determines the tenor of all the others. Bear this im-
portant truth in mind, my daughter, during this, to you,
New Year, upon which you have now entered, and regulate
both your outward and your inward life by the deep wisdom
which it teaches. I would have you gain all that learning by

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OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

which the intellect is at once instructed and strengthened, and
all those accomplishments by which grace and beauty are
imparted to the highest intellectual attainments — but over
and beyond all that the most cherished wish of your father's
heart is that those who may travel with you after your
father's companionship is ended may say of you, "She is
amiable"— "She is kind"— "She is good."

Your father,

O. L. Shafter.

Copy of letter sent by Emma Shafter-Howard to her father,

O. L. Shafter.

San Francisco, April 13, 1863.
My Dear Father:

While looking over my diaries the other day, and thinking
how much pleasure and satisfaction I found in their perusal,
the thought occurred to me that they may be objects of per-
haps greater interest to my little boy when he grows up to
manhood. And then the idea came to my mind of beginning
a journal now, reviewing the changes and incidents which
have taken place in my family during the past two years,
and continuing it with the story of his own little life as
interwoven with ours, until he shall be old enough to keep
it himself. On reflection I have concluded to follow out the
idea, and have gone so far as to send you the accompanying
book, with the request that you dedicate it to that purpose
for me. I could not tell you if I was to try, how much I
prize the "dedications" of my books penned by your own
hand, and filled with so many wise and affectionate counsels.
They are in fact the features which make my diaries inval-
uable, and it is my desire that this book shall be dedicated in
like manner.

Your affectionate daughter,

Emma.

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LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

Copy of last Diary "Dedication" written by O. L. Shafter,

for E. S. H.
April, 1863.

The request contained in your note is preferred by you
in the double capacity of mother and daughter, and I respond
to it as the grandfather of your little boy and as your father.
My own son is long since dead, yet to my heart he almost
lives again, in the person of my little grandson. You have
not begun too early to reflect upon your duties to your child,
nor been over hasty in concerting plans for fulfilling them.
The particular plan referred to in your note, is in my judg-
ment eminently judicious. You propose to resume the record
of your own life, first commenced, if I recollect rightly, when
you were about eight years old, and continue it until your
boy shall be old enough to act as the historian of his father's
household. When that time shall have arrived, he will be
thereafter steadily acting upon your views, become a good
penman at a comparatively early age, he will learn to ob-
serve, to reflect, to analyze, to deduce. All the faculties of
his mind will develop and strengthen themselves by these ex-
ercises, observation will become more keen, analysis more
exact, reflection more and more steady and exhaustive, and
the growing reason advancing with a firmer and yet firmer
tread, will insensibly fit itself for the solution of the profound-
est problems. But your plan, if carried out by you and your
son, will have another fruition, if possible still more valuable
to him. It will strengthen attachment to father and mother,
whose beings will become all the more sensibly interblended
with his own. The memory of friends and home will be
made the more tender and vivid, the development of the
affections at large will be encouraged by associations over
which time will have no power, except to hallow them, and
in the ever growing record of his life, will be gathered and
garnered ever growing encouragements to the practice of
virtue. He will write for all the posterity of his own line,
and he will be mindful of that fact moment by moment as
he lives. His diaries will descend as heirlooms to the gen-
erations that shall follow him, and he will resolve at the

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threshold of responsibility that in the truthful autobiography
of the ancestor shall be found proofs alone of honor the
most pure, and of integrity the most lofty and sincere. May
God's blessing rest upon the mother and upon the child is
the prayer of

Your affectionate father,

O. L. Shafter.

(Copied from a school-boy composition, written by Oscar
L. Shafter somewhere about 1825, on the subject, "A Few
Lines Addressed to a Connecticut Clock Pedlar." This re-
fers to one of the characters of that period in New Eng-
land, whose calling and existence have alike passed into
tradition.)

'The clock is indeed an eloquent instructor. The pendu-
lum, by its incessant occupation, gives an instructive example
of industry. The periodical down running recalls to mind
the approaching dissolution of man. The inattention paid to
its constant ticking, shows the folly of loquacity; and the
weights, by their silent but efficient action, demonstrate the
superiority of practice over precept and teach lessons of
modesty and unobtrusive usefulness."

No greater tribute can be paid to a lawyer than for fellow
attorneys of eminence to seek his advice. The following copy
of a letter written to Mr. Stephen J. Field demonstrates that
one subsequently a Justice of the Supreme Court of the
United States profited by Judge Shaffer's counsel before the
latter ascended the Supreme Bench of California, and while
he himself was popularly spoken of as a candidate for the
higher office.

San Francisco, April 2, 1861.
Hon. S. J. Field,
Dear Sir:
My time has been so far occupied since you were at our
office that I have had little leisure to reflect upon, and still

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less to examine the question, to which you have honored me
by calling my attention.

There are two grounds upon which your opinion that a
junior grantee is precluded from impeaching the survey of
an elder grantee, may be justified.

i. Under the Mexican system when a grant was made, it
was always understood, that the grant was to be located by
the government. It mattered not whether the grant was a
float or a grant with boundaries, the process was not per-
fected until the limits had been created in the one case, and
pointed out in the other. This last step in the established
formulary, assisted in the delivery of "judicial possession,"
involving as it did a definite ascertainment of the lands to
be delivered. The officer charged with the duty of perform-
ing this final act, might err, and from accident or design, but
in such case the grantor was remediless. The power of the
government through its functionaries, over the question of
location, pertinent to the jus disponendi and in the exercise
of that right, however capricious or eccentric it might be,
still theoretically there could be no wrong. None to the
grantee, for he took with the full knowledge of the legal
rights and powers of the government and in strict subordina-
tion to them — and none to junior grantees for a like reason
affecting them. Therefore when the reserved power of the
government was exercised in favor of an older grantor and
his position in space was defined, it was not permitted to the
junior grantee to question the correctness of the allotment.
The reason is to be found in the system. It was so because
the system made it so.

Livery of seizin was a feature of the feudal law, and
"judicial possession" is very likely a relic or fragment of
feudality. If two charters of foeffment were made by the
same party, one prior to the other in point of time, the
foeffer could not be compelled to perfect the title under either
by a corporal tradition of the lands for which it called.
Livery could not be claimed as a matter of legal right, and
therefore if lands called for by the junior charter were de-
livered to one holding a senior charter, it was but an inev-

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OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

itable outcome of the system, and at the best presented a
case merely of damage without wrong.

2. The United States holds its California lands by mere
proprietary right. In strictness these lands belong to the
people of the whole country. The people, however, cannot
act upon questions of title to which they are parties except
through the government which represents them.

When the government acts the people act through it.
When the government decides the people decide and all are
supposed not only to acquiesce but to join in the decision. If
the decision involves the location of a prior grant, and if
the location be prejudicial to a junior grantee, he cannot
impugn it, for he is supposed to have aided in making it con-
currently with others — all acting under the forms of a public
law of their own creation.

If the decision relate to the location of a junior grant, it
is true that a prior grantee may question the location not-
withstanding he must be regarded as a party to the location
which he questions. But he can do so for the reason simply,
that the act of 1851 allows him to do it. He is a "third
person" and he is the only one by whom that character can
be claimed.

Smith Case.

1 he law is unconstitutional on the grounds following:

1. It limits the general operation of the general law of
venue. If the act stands the general law as modified by it
reads as follows: "Applicable to everybody except Smith."
On a matter of general concern, legislation of that character
must be regarded as partial rather than "general."

2. The act puts the judge upon the performance of min-
isterial duty — not outside of his office, to be sure, as in the
case of Burgoyne vs. The Supervisors, but inside of his office,
which is worse, and in a case, too, pending before him, which
is worse still.

Houston vs. IFilliams, B Cal. 24.

3. The act requires the judge to make a certain order in
a case pending. That order when made would take on all

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the forms of judicial determination and record. In the very
act of making it, judicial power is wielded — blindly it may
be instead of thoughtfully, but still it is wielded. Dictated to
instead of being invoked, still if the order should be made,
judicial power would be exercised, though exercised in vin-
cul'is. Here, at this point, the essential vice of the act is re-
vealed. The legislature cannot mandate the courts. On
appeal the question must be, was Campbell right in his
refusal to obey a simple legislative command addressed to
him as judge? On mandamus the question might be com-
plexionally different, but in substance it would be the same.
For the purposes of argument it may be conceded that the
legislature might pass a law requiring Smith to be taken by
the sheriff to Placer for trial. The question here is as to the
right of the legislature to make the judicial pozver the blind
instrument of its will in accomplishing that result. This
doubt does not gather upon the result to be achieved, but
upon the means which the legislature has undertaken to use
in order to secure it in this particular instance. Is the judicial
power under the adjustments of the Constitution, subject
in any case to legislative impressment? The statute in ques-
tion is felo de se. In its own contemplations, the act to be
done is to be done judicially, and still the judge, in the part
assigned him, moves but as he is moved upon. The act
makes his official cooperation a necessity to its own adminis-
tration, still his cooperation is but that kind of concert which
you find between the automaton and the hand that conjures it.
"All of which is most respectfully submitted."

O. L. Shafter.

Speech made by Justice O. L. Shafter, on the occasion
of the second annual festival of the Associated Alumni of the
Pacific Coast, held in the "spacious new hall of the College
School,"* at Oakland, California, June 6, 1865. Judge Ed-
ward Tompkins presided over the feast, and among the
prominent men of the day who made eloquent and witty

*Germ and beginning of the great University of California.

[252]

OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

responses to various toasts were Major General McDowell,
Professor C. T. Jackson, celebrated in the medical profes-
sion as the discoverer of ether; Judge Wyche of Washington
Territory, and the Hon. John W. Dwinelle.

The sentiment proposed was "The Judiciary of Califor-
nia,— fearless and independent — they honor the State that
has honored them." In response Judge Shafter said:

"I thank the president, by whom, or at least through
whom, this sentiment, so complimentary to the judicial de-
partment of the government, has been introduced; and I
thank the gentlemen present for the indulgent manner in
which the sentiment has been received by them. If the com-
mendation is deserved, we are obliged, — and if not deserved,
I suppose that we should consider ourselves obliged all the
more emphatically. If there were any indications that the
sentiment commended itself to the ladies — and I am not en-
tirely certain whether there were or not — I confess myself
at a loss to account for it. Our court has not, as yet, made
any demonstration in their favor or otherwise, on the subject
of divorce or breach of promise of marriage. But I may be
permitted to say that when any case, falling under either of
those heads, shall come in due course of business before us,
we shall look to it that he gets his deserts. (Applause.) I
can only regret that my seniors on the bench of which I am
a member are not present to respond to the sentiment in
language more fitting than may occur to my own thought.
But they are detained by the exigencies of public business. I
reflect, however, that if they were present, they would prob-
ably insist that I, as junior member, should, according to
judicial etiquette, go ahead and open the argument. In speak-
ing of myself as junior member, I do not mean to take an
unhandsome advantage of the absence of my associates by
palming myself off as being personally younger than even
the oldest of them, for, sad to say, the only youth that re-
mains to me, either to regret or rejoice in, is official alto-
gether.

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"But speaking of youth, I am reminded that we were all
younger once than we are now. And it is to that fact doubt-
less that a large proportion of what may be called emotional
interest connected with this occasion is to be attributed. The
observances of the day, this hall, the festivities now on foot
within it, stir us as the heart of the Highland chieftain was
stirred as he listened to a song of the Children of the Mist
sung by Annot Lisle in the Castle of Darlinvarach. The
trees of the tribal valleys in which he had once dwelt so
pleasantly with his people, rustled their green leaves in the
song, and the streams were there with the sound of all their
waters. We are affected by a kindred enchantment. Harvard
— dating almost from Plymouth Rock; Yale — that opened
its gates not long after the Charter Oak became historical;
Dartmouth — the educator of the defender of its own charity,
and the defender of yet another foundation deeper, vaster,
and more fraught with human charity than that; Williams —
seated in the American Arcadia — and yet other beautiful
mothers of deserving sons, though absent to the bodily sense,
are present to the soul, and reveal themselves in its mirrors
as distinctly as the loved and lost appeared to view in the
magic glass of Agrippa. Their ideal presence is welcome —
and thrice welcome their virtual presence in the persons of
so many who wear their honors.

"But there is another Alma Mater — here — on the Pacific
Coast. Cisalpine by position, she has in her veins the noblest
of Transalpine blood. Her heart is moved by a great pur-
pose, and the light of assured hope is in her eye at last. She
is already surrounded by a little band of graduates and
disciples. She is but a little older than they. We to-day are
her guests. She gives us audience here in her own hall. God
bless her! May the number of her children be greatly mag-
nified. Gentlemen, let us aid in making more pleasant her
already pleasant places, and in building high the walls of
her future habitation, till in the language of one to whom
I have already alluded, 'It shall meet the sun in its coming,
and parting day linger and play on its summit'

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"I am induced to hazard a word upon the subject of the
general relations of this institution. I cannot speak from the
book, but still on information which I consider reliable. I
believe them to be exactly what I conceive they ought to be.
This college is pledged — but the pledge is not to the past.
A pledge of that character, if given, would fail, as the law-
yers say, for want of parties. This institution is not the thrall
of the mediaeval. It is not the bonded patron of the encyclical.
While it does not disregard the wisdom of past ages, all its
pledges are to the present, and to the future, constantly re-
vealing itself in the present. It is pledged to the freedom of
the reason, and to the absolute freedom of human conscience.
It will seek neither to overawe nor impede either by mere
dogmas, but stands pledged to the highest development of
both, by the best methods; and will use the wisdom of the
past, sacred and profane, together with all the wisdom of the
present, in working out a redemption of the pledge. This
institution is pledged to Christianity. But the pledge, as I
understand it, is not polemical or dogmatic. It is to Chris-
tianity in that most beautiful and exhaustive exhibition of it
contained in the Sermon on the Mount. But, again — and it
is a matter of no little moment, in view of the lessons of the
last four years — this college is pledged to the country — to
the nation as such. The pledge has not been uttered for-
mally, perhaps, but it has been fully manifested by conduct
springing from patriotic impulses. The pledge is to the flag,
and to all the great ideas of which it is the sign. During
the last four weary, but now triumphant years, the national
banner has been kept here, hard up to the truck of the flag-
staff— in storm and sunshine — in victory, and in humiliation
and disaster. We may all well take it for granted that there
will never be a chair within the walls of this institution for
instruction in the science, or rather in the art and mystery of
high treason. It will not be a corrupter of youth. It will not
poison the streams of public virtue, by poisoning the foun-
tains. The youth that will be committed, from generation
to generation, to its care and culture, will be trained to love
their country. They will be taught the maxims and molded

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in the methods of patriotism. And in the hereafter, should
the country be assailed by foreign or domestic foes, in its in-
tegrity, in any of its rights, or in its honor, her sons will have
no ambition to gratify except to be numbered among the
statesmen who shall guide, the heroes who shall defend, and
the martyrs whose glorious privilege it shall be to die for it.
(Cheers.) And should their ideals lead them to any higher
aspirations, it will be to add theirs to the roll of perhaps half
a hundred names that have lived since the time of Adam,
'the few of the immortal names that were not born to die.'

" 'The names of heroes, sages, prophets,

Side by side

Who darkened nations when they died.' "

To that list our country has already had the honor of
contributing two names — that of Washington, and of an-
other whose world-wide obsequies have not yet been com-
pleted. Whose shall be the name of the third? There will
be a third, and a fourth, and a fifth, and so on. But they
will come only with the ages. With the great social up-
heavals corresponding to the geological epochs, marking the
incoming of new and better civilizations. They will appear
whenever there is a Red Sea to be crossed — whenever a
people, having outgrown its Egypt, shall march off in search
of its Canaan. But though we cannot tell whose will be the
name of the third to be added by this country to the roll of
the immortals, yet we can tell what manner of man he must
be. That is deducible from the address to which we have
listened to-day, and is taught by all human observation and
experience. Adopting the analysis of Dr. Channing, he will
be great in intellect, great in action, and greater still in good-
ness. The death of a ruler or leader, great in intellect and
action only, may well be a darkness to his own people, but
to cast the nations in eclipse, greatness in goodness must be
superadded.

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HUMAN PROGRESS

By Hon. Oscar Lovell Shafter

Read before the Associated Alumni of the Pacific Slope, at

the College Hall of the College of California,

on Wednesday, June 7, 1866.

The present age is often spoken of as an age of inquiry;
but it is not that exactly which distinguishes it. The human
mind is ever active. Torpor was not the trouble with it in
the middle ages. There were as many questions asked and
answered then as now. Curiosity was never more eager, nor
the din of controversy louder, nor were conclusions ever more
multiplied. Though relatively dark, those ages were not
dead. Let the questions which then engaged the attention,
not only of the leaders of opinion, but of the masses, be
formally stated, and the number of accredited solutions also,
and it will appear by count, that in the matter of knockings
and apparent openings thereunto, the present age is beaten
at its own game. There were geologists before Werner,
astronomers before Galileo or Copernicus, geographers be-
fore Cellarius, theologians before Martin Luther, writers
upon the great problems of society and government before
Grotius and Puffendorf, mental philosophers before Locke,
and dogmatists upon the subject of investigation before
Bacon determined its laws. Instructed or uninstructed, in the
darkness as in the light, the human mind has ever asserted
its divinity through the great office of thought.

Though inquiry is more active now than it was in the
middle ages, still the objects to which it now addresses itself
are widely different, and the methods of investigation are
diverse altogether. The new direction given to inquiry may
be regarded as the objective point of the change, but its
cause is to be found mainly in the method by which investiga-
tion has in modern times been conducted, and in the recog-
nition of a new tribunal, clothed with the power and affected
with all the responsibilities of judgment in the last resort.

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The mediaeval method was the dogmatic. It was short
and to the purpose. The facts of consciousness, the testimony
of the senses, the voices of the affections, reason, experiment,
observation, experience, general principles, the truth of which
had been established by normal methods in earlier times, all
went for naught. If even known as sources from which in-
formation could be derived, they were never consulted. They
were all alike under ban. The accredited dogmas were re-
garded as axioms, the truth of which no one was permitted
to dispute under pains temporal and eternal. Though there
was controversy, as has been remarked already, it was con-
fined to the true meaning of the dogmatic statements. When
a new point arose which no existing statement exactly fitted,
a new one was deduced from doctrines previously settled.
And so the process went on — one assumption breeding an-
other— to infinity.

This method of getting at truth was not confined to any
one department of inquiry, but was extended over the whole
field of investigation. The result, as might have been fore-
seen, was a series of false judgments, followed by fatalities
proportioned to the magnitude of the question which the false
judgments involved. There was no science, no philosophy —
moral, intellectual, natural, or social — none but the art of
endless wrangling according to Aristotle; no form of tem-
poral authority or influence, either popular or dynastic, free
from the debasements of ecclesiastical supremacy. The idea
of law or established order in the procession of events, was
unknown or ruled down. Everything was treated as excep-
tional, nothing as universal, save theology — and the vice-
gerency through which it aimed at the dominion of the
world.

And how did this estate use the power which it had ac-
quired on no better authority than that of dogmatic inter-
pretation? Having driven the reason from its appointed
watch, it peopled the universe with chimeras. It secured for
ages the degradation of labor by holding that it was a curse
from the beginning and not a merciful judgment in disguise.
By mistaken interpretation it set the form and history of the

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earth awry, and disordered outright the mechanism of the
heavens.

But these conclusions were connected with others different
in character and of larger range. From a dogmatized ex-
igesis of the witch of Endor, came sorcery. Though an entire
illusion, it was attended with all and perhaps more than all
the consequences that would have followed it had it been
a reality. The result of false method in the first instance,
the false judgment was defended and kept on foot by like
method for more than a thousand years of human history —
filling it with every form and degree of crime, misery and
shame. The lawgiver walked in its shadow, and judgment
wallowed in its mire and domestic and social life withered
in its spell.

The ghastly delusion survived the reformation. For more
than two centuries thereafter the history of Protestant
Europe was but a continuation of the mediaeval chapter. The
delusion crossed the Atlantic in the Mayflower — not as
freight in the hold but as a passenger in the cabin, and found
a delusion like itself and of like dogmatic mould, dwelling
in the wigwam of the savage. For the better part of a cen-
tury thereafter colonial life, in one of its aspects, proceeded
on the barbaric level.

Rut there was another dogmatized delusion which pre-
vailed in the middle ages of like character with that just
mentioned though of larger proportions. I allude to satanic
agency. It was one of the leading misjudgments of the times,
and of all the most controlling and disastrous. It was the
most comprehensive. It cast the largest shadow. Practically
there was nothing back of it that could become the subject
of thought or speculation — nothing but vacuity.

The misjudgment was so generic that in a purely syllogistic
age all manner of deductions were sure to be drawn from it,
whether for ends avowedly religious or humane, or for the
lust of gain, or power, or for the gratification of malignity
in pursuit of a single victim or a hecatomb.

This delusion related to no less a question than the present
acting sovereignty of the universe. By a decree as full, as

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precise, and as inflexible as any ever entered in a court of
record, that sovereignty was more than divided. There was
no appeal. Nor was there indeed any disposition to appeal.
The decree accorded with the intellectual condition of the
times.

The dogma was received, not speculatively, but as a real
presence, and the heads and hearts and hands of men were
at once set to work to find out and to give to it the utmost
farthing of its argumentative dues. The harvest of conse-
quences soon began to be gathered, and the field ever stirred
by dogmatic culture continued to yield more and yet more
bountiful returns for forty generations.

To the agency in question was assigned the current admin-
istration of the physical and moral universe. Eruption, earth-
quakes, adverse winds, storms, plagues, pestilence, famine,
disease at large, times and seasons, everything in short, that
was considered abnormal, was attributed to it. Insanity was
by diabolical possession. Every distemper of the passions
was by present diabolical incitement; and so was private
judgment and the individual conscience its fast ally, when-
ever they rose in revolt, or sought to test their common chain
by going behind the dogmatic heats in which it was welded.

Over against this hostile jurisdiction, however, and con-
stituting its counterpoise, was set another — the vicegerency.
The first was supernatural, in presence and malignity, and
for all present purposes was considered as moving and reign-
ing in its own right. The vicegerency was filled with beings
of mortal mould, but they were endowed with supernatural
wisdom and power by a dogmatized commission, and repre-
sented the Deity in all the interests of the world which he
had created. Both the poise and the counterpoise came of
the same method of determining what is and what is not, and
were alike necessary to each other. The wrath of man has
been directed in the main at the vicegerency, and there the
rule has been to lay on and spare not. But the ineradicable
instinct of our nature after balance is such that human scorn
might as well have been directed against the assumption
which made that vicegerency a necessity in order that the

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world might be saved from present anarchy, or from destruc-
tion rather before anarchy could begin.

From the two installations named came first and last, every-
thing by which mediaeval history is most distinguished. The
story may be made to a fill a volume or it may be told in a
word. The human understanding and conscience were laid
aside. The silver cords that connected the human and divine,
were loosed; the golden bowls broken; and the wheels at
the cistern stood still. During the night which followed
there was no industrial progress, for the harvesters were put
on a false issue. There was neither discovery nor invention —
the spirit of both died out in the face of the holding that
both came of intercourse with the fiend. The lever of
Archimedes was broken and the golden fleece of Jason for-
gotten. Had the geometrician or the ancient mariner been
within reach, the one would have been burned with his lever
— certainly if compound — and the other, wrapped in his
commercial spoil. As for the Argo she might have been
sequestered to the "pious uses." The great lines of
philosophic thought started by the old immortals broke
down, for they were of the pit to which they led. Literature
was in its grave. Law awaited its resurrection in the charnel
of Amalfi. The new commandment given by the Redeemer
unto men was wounded about with patristic glosses and buried
alive with an ecclesiastical canon for its headstone. All concep-
tion of the beautiful as distinguished from the sublime and
terrible, was lost. Dante, of the thirteenth century, was the
first poet of our era whose name has become deservedly his-
torical; and his great genius could find expression only in the
wailings of the Inferno. In music there was no mean between
the exaltations of the Laudamus and the despair of the
Miserere. Architecture was patterned after the groves of
the Druidical worship, and painting drew its inspiration from
the catacombs. No human authority was recognized save
the divine right of kings — no supremacy but the Hierarchy.
The physician was a poisoner if the patient died, a necro-
mancer if he lived — and the plague walked in darkness and
wasted at noonday. Cities and whole provinces were periodic-

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ally depopulated. The prescribed cure by means of relics,
pilgrimages to holy wells and shrines, though always used,
always failed. The only recognized remedy for insanity was
exorcism, the only one found was death. The religious ideal
was asceticism — with its wonderful self-sacrifice, and its long
breathed pardlike malignity; its sense of sin which no penance
could allay, strangely coupled with an insensibility to right
and wrong which no appeal could arouse; and to this may
be added its infatuation in saving men by a method which
crushed and destroyed them. Temporal justice was by ordeal,
spiritual justice was by interdict, auto da fe, assassination as
in the case of Henry of Navarre, or massacre like that of St.
Bartholomew.

The gospel was propagated abroad and lost ground was
recovered at home, by crusade — the retreats of the Albi-
genses, and the holiest of the holy mountains, were both
carried by assault. Though the Hierarchy succeeded to some
extent in restraining the lawlessness of the times by dint of
its dogmatic ascendancy, still every victory gained over the
passions of others seemed but to intensify those peculiarly its
own.

But time moved apace. Fortunately there was no vice-
gerency in fact; nor was there, in fact, any such thing as
satanic agency in the sense in which the phrase was used.
There was God on the one hand and man on the other, and
between them unchangeable law — connecting them as with
golden wires. The winds were in the hollow of His hand,
and the waves obeyed Him alone. Seed-time and harvest
were His. The pestilence came of a violation of what He had
appointed. Labor was not a degradation, but a condition on
which the waste places were to be made smooth and the
wilderness to bloom and blossom like the rose. A condition,
also, of all intellectual and moral excellence, including in its
highest range that striving even by which alone the straight
gate can be entered. Neither invention nor discovery were
what they were taken to be. They were divine gifts, and not
preternatural crimes. Nor was private judgment, or its syno-
nym the human reason, what it had the credit of being. Nor

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OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

was the human conscience. Their respective jurisdictions had
been misapprehended. Their relations to each other, and
the normal methods of each had been mistaken — and so as
to their tenacity of life and their undying self-assertion. It
had been assumed that the human head was made only to nod
assents and shake negatives — guiding the conscience correctly
when the dictated conclusion happened to be right and as-
suredly misguiding it when it happened to be wrong.

The great trouble was that the reason, the conscience, the
appetites, the passions, the aesthetic nature of man and the
sentiments, were all cast in dogmatic jumble — and from out
it came the vicegerency and the fiend — twin Pythons from
the mud. The classic dragon fell by the arrow of Apollo,
the day after the God was born, and if modern civilization
had finished its exorcism of the others earlier in its own great
day, it would by so much the more have been a blessing and
a glory to mankind. But it was not so to be. The fiend with
whom St. Anthony struggled in the desert was the false
presence with which the Scotch covenanter fought the fight of
a yielding faith in the Highland cavern after dealing the
blow of grace at the Archbishop of St. Andrews; and the
one whose tempting whispers, to use the language of another,
"Haunted the life of the puritan when away from the council-
board, or off the field of battle."

But the middle ages, bad as they were, were not altogether
waste. The reason shut off on all the great lines of investi-
gation, busied itself on shorter ones which authority failed to
cover. Fatal security! As though the short ones did not
lead into the long ones! On the lower levels of thought,
however, the understanding was left to go in and out accord-
ing to its own laws. From like narrow pastures the con-
science was not altogether excluded, and thus to a limited
extent it was enabled to keep its true relations to the reason
and the life. Nor did the soul of man fail entirely of its
appointed inspiration. It held on to its ideals and brooded
over them though in abnormal mood.

7'he sentiments remained; the pity whose fate it is to bleed,
the charity which cannot weary, the human sympathy that

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cannot die, and the aspirations which at once link and direct
Man to the Creator. The Sermon on the Mount was not
forgotten, though by dogmatic adjustments it became greatly
cramped and perverted. Nor did the spirit of Him by whom
that sermon was preached and lived die out entirely. The
age in short had in it many of the ante-pasts of the present,
as the present has of the highest good that is yet to come.
Happy it is for the world that it is so difficult to destroy it !
However hard it may be to elevate man it is harder still
to degrade him. Take him at the middle distance — the
halfway house between the extremes of lowest heathenism
and the highest Christian civilization, or halfway or any-
where near halfway between the unquestioning slave and the
instructed and balanced freeman, and the smallest fraction
of the power necessary to return him to the earth, would
raise him to. the skies; in the one case the attempt would set
the universe ajar, while in the other it would run with all the
harmonies of God.

But passing from mediaeval times to our own. They are
out of joint. Be it so. Still there never have been times so
sound in the bone, or whose articulations were so perfect as
ours. We are conscious of movement, and from the results
which have thus far been reached, we have come not only
to believe, but to know that the movement is a forward one.

I do not propose to speak at length concerning the char-
acter of this movement. Its results have engaged the atten-
tion of economists, moralists, statesmen and philosophers;
and they have been studied and pored over by all, not as
detached or disconnected events, but as a series, with a view
to determine their causes and law. The movement has al-
ready made large contributions to general history and the
end is not yet. The last of its volumes has neither been writ-
ten nor acted. Differing to a degree from the ancient civiliza-
tions, and from the mediaeval, men have thought it worth
their while, and have even found it necessary to distinguish it
by a name.

The movement is vast in its proportions. There is no
human interest which it does not affect, and none of which

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it is not slowly but surely taking control. Its tendencies so
far as they have been developed, give assurance not merely
of that nearer future which when it shall have transpired will
have only doubled the distance back to Eden, but of that
future at the end of whose unmeasured reach lies all of
earthly weal that man was created to enjoy.

This movement has so far been followed by every form
of material good. Human life has been prolonged and multi-
plied by unwonted bread. The standard of physical comfort
was never so high nor its enjoyment so widely diffused as
now. The vine and the fig tree of hoariest tradition are grow-
ing to fulfillment.

On the field of the ideas the assumptions of the middle
ages have been unsparingly overhauled and most of them
have either been exploded outright, or greatly modified; and
other conclusions, the peculiar product of modern thought,
have been established in their stead. Throughout the physical
universe, the demonstrations of science have supplanted the
vagaries of men. Moreover, scientific conclusions have
widened largely into moral ones, and moral ones on all the
lines of divergence into those that are divine. As matters
now stand, we have scripture penetrating and eradicating
scripture. Revelation appealing to consciousness, and both
sense and consciousness unitedly soliciting revelation. Testi-
mony seeking alliance with testimony, text and context strik-
ing hands, light everywhere uniting and blending with light.
Facts broadening into great political, moral and religious
conclusions; party broadening into country and country into
mankind. These and like conceptions leading on to another,
broader and higher than they — not chance, nor fate, nor
decree, nor the fitfulness and inconsistency of human will,
but to the sublime conception of universal law, with nothing
beyond but the supreme intelligence that created it, and
through which that intelligence rules and reigns.

Nor have these great conclusions of modern times been
unattended with practical consequences. Everything that dis-
tinguishes modern civilization in the overt from the mediaeval
in the overt comes of them. The great industries of the age

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come of them. A great nation has built upon them, and, by
the illustrations of its wonderful history, is at once mastering
the fears and the reluctance of mankind. Other nations are
gradually shifting from off their traditional bases on to them.
Nor has the conception of a universal intelligence among the
people, one of the grandest of the generalizations referred to,
been allowed to rest in idea. Vast educational systems have
been established, and are kept running by social power to
meet the ends of social necessity; and the intelligence so
secured has stood with us, to all the conclusions of peace and
war. The doctrine of human brotherhood, no more clearly
borne out by revelation than by all the evidence bearing upon
the question, more than begins to receive its dues. Of all
the forms in which evil has organized itself there is but one
which has afflicted our history — and that will afflict us no
more. Slavery having lived the life of the Saurian, has died
the death of the Saurian at last, and now lies buried in the
formation to which it belongs. Hereafter the war upon social
interests must, with us, be predatory and guerilla. Evil
thrown upon its resources is one thing; intrenched in Con-
stitution and laws it is quite another. In the one case it is
as Cain without his protecting mask, in the other it is Titan
armed.

We all see and acknowledge the historic change upon
which I have been remarking, and it is but natural that we
should desire to find out not merely its antecedents but its
cause. What is it then that really bridges the chasm between
the present and the mediaeval? My own views upon the
subject have probably been sufficiently indicated already, but
I will venture to proceed with the question nevertheless. The
point is essentially an historical one, and it is in that bearing
only that I propose to discuss it.

The cause is not to be found primarily in the sentiments,
nor in any part of the emotional nature of man. It was from
the unregulated or badly regulated sentient nature that most
of the evils with which the middle ages were afflicted pro-
ceeded. Going no farther back than the age of the puritans :
there was never a style of men more conscientious than they.

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Historians, neither descended from them nor in sympathy
with them, are agreed that they were conscientious and God
fearing. Nor were they unlearned. Few were the fields of
thought which they had not visited, and from which they
had not returned bearing sheaves. Their granaries were full.
Nor did they lack dialectic skill. They knew the arrow of
the Parthian warfare and could fire it from the saddle. The
sling they knew and all the cunning that lies in fence. But
these were more for holiday use. For serious work the
weapons most familiar to their handling were the axe, the
spear and the mace heavily loaded and knotted. Yes! they
understood the use of weapons well enough. The best of
modern Knights Errant who living in their day had chal-
lenged any of their men of mould to a trial of conclusions,
expecting to win by dint of superior skill, would have found
out most likely before he got through that he had mistaken
his man. The earlier reformers were also conscientious men.
They stood apart. They were not distracted like the clergy
of to-day with many things. Childhood then did not go to
Sabbath school, nor did it worry with picnics. Nor did
charity make them the almoners of its bounty, nor did educa-
tion make them the drudges of its systems. Samaritanism
had not half secularized them. Nor in seasons of natural
peril did they go to the front with the first levies — nor with
the three hundred thousand more, and, forgetful of the
proprieties of sacerdotal service, stand between the living
and the dead in the hell of battle. Much less were they moved
to put their names in advance on the roll of the Landstrum
and patiently await the hour when national despair should
summon its age and all that should be left of its youth and
manhood for a last struggle. Their wills were rarely non-
cupative. Their lives indeed were distinguished and select.
They were troubled, but it was mostly with controversy.
They breathed the pure, thin atmosphere of polemical dis-
tinctions, and their consciences became both tender and tou^h
by patient waiting upon the conclusions of sound doctrine.
According to an accredited biography of one of the most dis-
tinguished of them, "the disinterestedness was rare. He had

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no other wish than to establish the opinions which he believed
to be correct." He was a persecutor, however, to the death,
and relentlessly inflicted the martyrdom he was always pre-
pared to suffer. What was the deep-seated trouble with him?
It was not the "wish" spoken of by his biographer, for like
the kindred wish of St. Dominic and Torquemada, it was
entertained in the interests of mercy and love. The wish was
of course antedated by the opinions to which it related. The
formation of his opinions was, or ought to have been, a
purely intellectual process. When that process was com-
pleted, the reason certified the conclusion over to the con-
science which up to that time had lain couchant, and the con-
science gave its answering assurance that it would be morally
wrong if he failed to stand by it and propagate it. Before
the fires could be kindled, however, there was another judg-
ment to be matured in the mind of the thinker. It related to
a question of power, How far can I go in making my opin-
ions the opinions of others? Must I confine myself to teach-
ing and argument, or failing that, may I bring the thing
to the conclusion of violence ? The problem was for the brain
and it solved it. The solution was erroneous, but the error
was not of the heart but of the head acting in false method —
or on wrong conditions of judgment, which comes to the
same thing.

The change in question has been referred to the Reforma-
tion, but that is not ultimate. It has been ascribed in part
to the printing press and the invention of gunpowder; but
copy comes before types, and gunpowder cannot be exploded
before it has been made. Again, the cause of this change
has been found in the revival of learning. But occasion must
not be taken for cause. What induced the revival of learning,
and, when revived, saved it from hierarchal and dynastic
direction, and made it subservient to mankind? Why did this
revival become the herald of a new day, rather than another
voice added to the night?

Nor can the change be ascribed to the passions. The theory
is the ultramontane one. But the passions had little to do in
determining the character of the middle ages except as their

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benighted leader called out to them from the front, they
sending out their answering bay from the rear. They were
the dogs of war, but they did not lead it. The leader and the
led made wild work between them, but the responsibility was
not altogether nor chiefly with the hounds; and who that
considers that history is made primarily by ideas will doubt
it?

The process by which the great revolution was affected
was an intellectual one — sanctioned and aided by the senti-
ments.

There is an apprehension that makes man like a God. It
comes of the reason. Though fallible there is nothing below
omniscience less so than itself. The office of the reason is
to distinguish between truth and falsehood; and in the light
of evidence which it can appreciate, to determine what is.
The Siio remains to it alone. Everything that relates to
source, process, weight, result, belongs to it by appointment.
It stands in the great office of judgment. Its absence is idiocy,
its dethronement insanity. Humanity in the beastliness of
appetite is the one case, in the other humanity walking and
raving in illusion. The natural enemies of the reason are the
appetites and passions; but they are so only when in excess.
It is the office of the reason to restrain them, and to oppose
its conclusions to their clamors when raised in the councils
of the will. To that service it is impelled by its own instincts,
the monitions of the conscience, the aspirations, and to some
extent by the very passions between which and itself the issue
is joined.

All things are of God, but under Him the credit of the
great revolution is due primarily to the reason. It turned its
attention in the first place to the question of its own rights
and lawful jurisdiction; and going back of the holding that
it had neither the one nor the other, it reversed the dogma,
and established the right of private judgment in its stead.
I his result was reached by a process that had no trace of
dogmatism about it, and therein lies the only assurance that
it will never be reversed. It was based upon the conscious-
ness, upon inductions drawn from individual and general

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experience, and upon scripture, the authenticity of which was
wrought out by means of evidence that commended itself to
the understanding. The reason having thus broken its own
chain, acting, as at first, on its own instincts and under the
incitement of the sentiments, proceeded to settle accounts
with its oppressors. It attacked the vicegerency in its in-
trenchments, and badly breached, if it failed to carry and
destroy them. Ever strengthened by scientific discovery, it
attacked the doctrine of satanic agency, and sorcery its off-
shoot, and in the ripeness of its own councils it adjudged
them to be mummeries, and there that matter ended. But
I do not propose to go over the roll of the decisive battles
won by the reason in its prolonged struggle for recognition
as the leading crowning faculty of the soul. It is enough
to say that as all things peculiar to the middle ages came
of wrong judgments, resulting mainly from false method,
so all things that distinguished modern times come of their
reversal by the reason, and of right judgments reached by it
through right methods and entered up by it for the use of
mankind. It is, however, sufficiently exact, and would perhaps
on the whole be quite as just, to say that modern civilization
comes, under God, of the soul in the free council of all its
powers, the reason presiding. It would be but a change rung
upon the idea to say that it came of the human mind in bal-
ance— or of manhood, not fully restored, to be sure, but still
in the process of being restored to its center. Or of the whole
man; whole in thinking and in feeling; thinking and feeling
in right order, and so reaching the result of right action in
matters relating to policy, to morals, to religion and to man-
kind. God is no more in the present than He was in the
middle ages. He knows no change. Christianity encounters
no rival religious system now, and it was impeded by none
then. The only new force in the field, is the human reason
acting in intelligent alliance with the system by which it was
once discredited and disowned.

The view that is presented as to the primordial cause of
the differences between the present age and the mediaeval is
not new — if it had been it probably would not have engaged

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OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

attention on this occasion. Though within the last few years
the argument in favor of the exposition has been better mar-
shalled and more fully illustrated than it ever had been be-
fore, yet it was long since accepted as the true solution of the
greatest of historical problems. In this country the theory,
if it has not won universal credence, has received the assent
at least of the general judgment. The evidence of this is
multiform, but there is one fact which is in itself decisive.
With us all organized procedures, whether governmental or
voluntary, looking to individual or social advancement, are
based upon it. The Scio is everywhere brought to the front;
not for one purpose but for all purposes; not in one connec-
tion alone, but in all connections. The relations of the intel-
lect— enlightened and trained to the exercise of its powers
in right method — to the heart and to the life of man, and to
the growth and development of nations, have come to be
understood and acknowledged. Dogmatisms have very gen-
erally gone to the rear, and, to some extent, have even become
confused with the baggage — and it must be confessed that
the baggage has not always been very vigilantly guarded. No
one now admits that he proposes or wishes to excite a zeal not
according to knowledge. It will be understood, I trust, that
the term knonledge is used here in no narrow sense, but as
comprehending everything that is, and as excluding nothing
except that which is not; and it is entirely manifest that in
this nation, taking it as a whole, an unproved dogma, no
matter what may be the subject to which it relates, is not
counted upon as being any part of its working or available
knowledge. Now and then, to be sure, an individual dulls
the edge of his own husbandry by a short dogmatic run. The
mere politician, indeed, takes a longer run than there is any
apology for. Standing on the last platform of his party he
proclaims continually that — there is nothing like plank. He
does not seem to reflect that there may be timber in the civil
Lebanon uncut as yet — cedars, wherewith the future shall
build platforms broader than any which party has ever stood
on as yet, or can ever be made to stand on.

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Lawyers continue to dogmatize without sensible abate-
ment. But then they have the apology of position. With
them what is writ is writ. But they show after all that they
are in sympathy with their times by persistent strugglings
at the barriers. When off duty they have been known to seek
the springs that bubble and the pastures spread among the
hills.

Physicians rarely dogmatize in council — oftener with their
patients, but rarely with them. On the whole, perhaps, they
may be regarded as unassuming. Their drift is to enquiry,
and the habit is found to bear perceptibly on the ills of mor-
tality. Sangrado is undoubtedly dead.

Divines dogmatize now very little, comparatively. Since
the time of Paley, particularly, the clergy, both at home and
abroad, have shown an ever-growing disposition to deal with
evidence, and, like Paul at Athens, to reason with men of
righteousness and judgment to come. Very many of our col-
leges are under their superintendence, but in their profes-
sorial chairs they do not teach by dogma. There are a few
mathematical and philosophic truths which they assume as
axiomatic, but it is because they are self-evident, or ultimate
atoms, and therefore incapable of resolution; but should they
attempt to add to their number, they would be rebuked by
their own boys ; and should they persist, it is but giving utter-
ance to the simple fact to say that their establishments would
be speedily emptied. Still, what vast ranges do they traverse
with the rising hope of a nation behind them ! But there is
no danger. Let all fear be quieted. The methods of investi-
gation and judgment which they adopt do not lead to un-
belief in the bad sense, but to belief in the best. There was
never an age like this in the number and magnitude of its
intelligent convictions. Infidelity of the malignant type is at
an end. The last atheist died not long after the last magician.
They kept each other in countenance while they lived, and the
blow that finished them came from the same quarter and was
dealt by the same hand. The disposition to believe every-
thing, and the disposition to believe nothing, though arising
from different causes, are both amenable to the same cure.

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OSCAR LOVELL SHAFFER

There is a sin neither to be forgiven nor forgotten. What
it is may be regarded as an open question. But if that form
of evil which has worked the greatest calamity to mankind
is entitled to the distinction, it lies at the door of that system
of procedure by which the poises of our nature are deranged
and destroyed.

As for the American statesman he was never much of a
dogmatizer, and now he has ceased to be one almost alto-
gether. He seems to have concluded from the first that Gov-
ernment should be based upon generic resemblances, and not
upon accidental or forced differences. In view of the lesson
of the last few years, added to the lessons of universal history,
there is not only a disposition manifested to give full swing
to that idea, but to a great extent the thing has been already
accomplished. The great question of whether one man is as
good as another to the intent of right and obligation — to
which truth all the great decisive battles of the world from
Marathon to Gettysburg stand in relation — has been settled
at last. But how? Though under God — yet let it be remem-
bered that

No earthquake reeled, no thunderer stormed,
No fetterless dead o'er the bright sky swarmed;
No voices in heaven were heard.

Though under God acting in the fixed methods of His
providence, still humanly speaking, the conclusion came of
the heads and the hearts of the people moving in balance in
all council — of the average manhood of the nation acting in
balance through all the exigencies of war; in camp — on the
march — in the exchange of bloody conclusions in the field —
in the loathsomeness of prisons — in the despair of slaughter
pens — in hospital service — in the balanced completeness of
national charity — in the intelligence of religious ministration
— in the steadiness of hope always on its center, finding no
undue elation in victory and no discouragement in disaster;
and when the enemy, beaten in the war of his own choosing,
awaited the vengeance which a nation of different drill would
have been sure to deliver — by reason of the fact that that

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same balanced manhood spared them for the sake and for the
use of the principle which victory has established; and further,
for the reason that that same manhood, comprehending at a
glance the whole field of policy and obligation, proceeded at
once to secure to an outcast race the boon which its fidelity and
valor had aided in winning. Conduct like this, leading to
results like these, does not distinguish the history of nations
trained in dogmatic methods, and it never will. There is a
law in the way which man cannot repeal, and is powerless
to resist.

The great conclusion referred to will never be repealed,
for it has become one of the living convictions of a people
who think and feel and act in poise, and who when they have
acted — stand. Won, at the last stage, by the sword against
the sword upraised to resist it, and made holy by sacrifice,
the conclusion named will soon become the central principle
of our organic law if it has not become such already.

The brotherhood of man, constitutionally recognized and
upheld, is the true field of the cloth of gold, and over it alone
can the truce of God ever be made to bend. Thereon, with
us, shall be fashioned the decrees of an evergrowing wisdom.
Thereon shall be matured the judgments, like unto that
which the prophet translated, which may remain to be entered
up, and thence shall be proclaimed the excelsiors of the future.

[274]

VII

LAST HONORS

TRIBUTES TO THE HONORED DEAD

"IN MEMORIAM"

Lines to the Memory of Oscar L. Shafter, who died in Flor-
ence, Italy, and was buried in Oakland, California.

(From the New York Evening Post.)

"Where the west wind blows through the evergreen
trees,
And the fogs go sailing by,
'Mid the lupine blooms and humming bees,
'Tis there I fain would lie.

"These Italian skies are very fair,
Around are mosaics and sculptures rare,

And ruins of temples old;
And here where the Arno's waters flow
The gems of Raphael and Angelo

These princely galleries hold.

"But I'd rather sleep on the western shore,
Where the broad Pacific wave
In solemn music would grandly roar
A requiem o'er my grave."

Then bear him gently across the main,
And away toward the setting sun,

Though we never shall hear that voice again,
And his earthly task is done.

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The eye is quenched that in sympathy glowed
For the wrongs of the struggling one,

And still the hand that so freely bestowed
The aid he denied to none.

But well he'll sleep on the western shore,

Where the broad Pacific wave
In solemn music shall grandly roar

A requiem o'er his grave.

SUPREME COURT MEMORIAL

The following extracts are made from a memorial prepared
by the Supreme Court of California, after Judge Shafter's
death, a special committee having resolved that "a brief bio-
graphical sketch of his life and an analysis of his intellectual
and moral character," would be the most fitting tribute to pay
to the memory of their dead associate.

"It was sometimes said of him, while at the Bar, that he
was slow in the preparation of his cases. This was only an-
other mode of saying that when he encountered a case that
presented elements new to him, he was never satisfied that it
was fully prepared for trial, until he had subjected those
elements to an analysis and classification which enabled him
to master their minutest details.

"So of his decisions as a Judge it was not seldom remarked
that they savored of technical logic. But this was merely
confounding logical analysis with the logic of the books. If
his decisions have any prominent characteristic, it is that they
present constantly the ruling presence of that faculty which
combines the similar and rejects the dissimilar, and descends
from the general to the specific. So that, in truth, his cases
at the bar were not too laboriously prepared, nor his decisions
too elaborately wrought. He merely applied to each the
methods of study which are above described. As a conse-
quence he was very successful at the Bar, and his decisions
from the Bench have been rarely questioned.

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OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

"While at the Bar, no one was more scrupulous than he in
the respect with which he treated the judiciary, both in bear-
ing and in language. He regarded it as the palladium of our
free institutions, and not to be desecrated by thought, word
or deed. And when he came to the Bench, he magnified his
high office in the same spirit and honored his associates there.
No one was more thoroughly imbued than he with that per-
sonality which made him identify with himself the highest
function of the State, and with that impersonality which re-
moved him from every influence except a desire for judicial
truth. . . .

"We have spoken of his strong family affections. He was
also an attached friend. His was not an impulsive nature,
but his feelings were deep and permanent. He was remark-
ably genial in his social relations; he loved the society of
young men, to talk with them, counsel them, encourage them
in their plans and studies. His religious principles were fixed,
and comprehensive enough to embrace all mankind. Exact
in his business, he was yet bounteous and liberal in his bene-
factions. The large sums which he disbursed in this manner
would never have been known, even to those who knew him
best, if they had not been entered, from mere habit, in the
accounts which he kept of all his expenditures. He could not
listen unmoved to the cry of distress, and when it was some-
times urged that the objects of his bounty were probably un-
worthy, he would reply that that responsibility was theirs and
not his. He was an ardent student of nature, and loved to be
a boy again amid mountains, forests, fields and waters. And
on such occasions he showed an apt familiarity with the best
poets of the English language, which caused it to be said
of him that 'he was a learned lawyer of an older school,' —
one whose reading was not of the lawbooks merely, but ex-
tensive, varied and tasteful. His sense of humor was great,
and frequently illumined his logic with a sudden flash of light.
His language was generally elegant in its simplicity, but he
did not reject the word which best expressed his meaning, no
matter what its origin; and the occasional unconscious use

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of quaint expressions showed the extent of his reading among
the older writers of the tongue.

"Such is an imperfect outline of the man, the lawyer and
the judge. It is full of example, of encouragement and of
warning. Of example to those who are content with the re-
wards which belong to personal integrity, professional fidelity
and political consistency. Of encouragement to those who
are willing to win success as the prize of industry and per-
severance. Of warning that there is a price too dear to be
paid for great professional success, high position and abund-
ant wealth; that mind and body when overworked often react
upon themselves and upon each other, and present the sad
spectacle of a noble column riven from capital to base long
before it topples to its fall."

A large assemblage of the Bar was in attendance during
the proceedings, which were conducted with all the impress-
iveness and solemnity due to the memory of the distinguished
deceased.

In the course of Memorial Proceedings in the District Court

of San Francisco, Judge McKinstry paid the following

tribute to Judge Shafter:

"I cordially agree with the gentlemen who have so elo-
quently eulogized the character of the late O. L. Shafter in
their estimate of his eminent talents as an advocate and
services as a Judge. Of course I have had occasion to study
the peculiarities of the more distinguished members of the
bar and of Judge Shafter I observed that his logical arrange-
ment was always happy, the language which clothed his argu-
ment generally if not always appropriate. Ordinarily his
words were the simplest and purest English, but he could
indulge in quaint and sudden turns of expression which re-
called for an instant the latent humor of the man, and were
sometimes wonderfully efficient, presenting a moral demon-
stration in a single picturesque phrase. He was ever prepared
to illustrate his theme by the results of a most extensive and
varied reading. He was, in short, a learned lawyer of an

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OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

older school, whose mind had heen thoroughly trained in the
common law and steeped in its principles, and he resorted to
codes and statutes only to ascertain how far the common law
had been departed from. Yet in a proper way no one was
more progressive than he, none more capable of applying
principles, in themselves unchangeable because based upon
immutable justice, to the complicated relations of our day.
He was a man of independent views and heart. His political
opinions were avowed openly and urged strenuously at a time
when they had been adopted but by a very small minority; his
moderation and magnanimity in the hour of triumph might
well have been imitated by those who had become convinced
of the correctness of such opinions only when their triumph
was imminent. My personal intercourse with Judge Shafter
was always pleasant. I recall his genial manner in private life;
at the Bar his courtly bearing to Bench and counsel.

"He was a most successful man in a worldly sense. He
was successful not only in such sense, but in that he had estab-
lished a distinguished name long before he had ceased an
active participation in the busy scenes of professional life.
It was very sad to hear that his great reputation — a splendid
column — towered towards the last amidst the majestic ruins
of the intellect which had builded it; but his friends may well
believe that this best of memorials will continue to stand —
monumentum aere perenn'uts — while learning and ability shall
be respected in the profession he adorned."

Tribute from a brother lawyer.
In Memoriam.

Oscar L. Shafter, Obiit Jan. 23, 1873, fetalis 61.

We find the chapter has been ended, and "finis" written
at the close, yet ere we shut forever the volume that, in all
our experience of its pages, whether of sunshine, of mirth and
of sweet wisdom, has given us so much good, we return on
the wings of memory and glide slowly over the course again
from the beginning to the end. It is the method of every
thoughtful and grateful heart. Our lives are human books,

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LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

yielding much or little good, and the close of every human
volume bids us think and weigh, and if worthy, speak.

But yesterday he, whose life was a daily record and teacher
of thoughtfulness, of wisdom, of patience, of courtesy, of
gravity and mirthfulness, of singular tenderness, of modest
benevolence and parental love, was here and speaking, and
to-day the record is finished, and the volume closed forever.

For twenty years among us, none ever knew him who did
not gain from him more knowledge of himself, so contagious
was his patient consideration, and so suggestive the fullness
of his wisdom. For two decades he was here, an earnest and
untiring worker in the rugged and arduous way of a profes-
sion of whose long and distant journey no man can know
every step, but traveling over which none ever found more
true, or surer, or more faithful guide.

The way he went was always upward, with firm and eager
step, and where his footsteps stayed their onward march, who
here traveling the same path could say that they could find
him save by looking upward and beyond them?

There came a time when the people knew his wisdom, and
sought him first and with united voice to take the highest
seat in their human temple, where to guide our feet we look
most for wisdom, dignity and truth. It was we that sought
him, and not he any place the people could give.

He did not need us to make him wise and true, or do him
honor. From himself, from his earnest soul, his ceaseless
labor and reverence for wisdom beyond himself, he was most
honored. And raise him, as we half believed we did, he was
himself always at a height above the reach of our poor lever.

But the strength given him had its human limit, and the
large mind that for half a century had never ceased to solve
the problems of human circumstances, has worked its last
lesson, and has been drawn aside (if so it be) into the society
of the great thinkers who have gone before. His tender and
considerate heart has ceased to beat; its deep emotions to
move again only in sympathy with those of the "just men
made perfect."

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OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

The bell tolls and the widow weeps, and children listen in
vain for that voice of affection, and the courts are silent for a
day, and his brethren will not know again his logic or his
philosophic speech. Every man who knew him remembers
him as one wiser and better than himself, and at his new-
made grave utters a requiescat and farewell.

Tribute from him who often has been called the first presi-
dent of the University of California, inasmuch as he was the
first president of the College School, out of which it grew.
The Rev. S. H. Willey, in the wavering hand of extreme
old age, indited the following lines:

Santa Cruz, Cal., Feb. 22, 1873.
My Dear Mrs. Howard:

Let me bring a single leaf of green, in honor of the char-
acter of my valued friend, your father.
With expressions of heartfelt sympathy,

I am, yours,

S. H. Willey.

California was not the only State to deplore Judge Shaffer's
untimely death. From the State of his birth came many ex-
pressions of regret and sympathy. The Bar of Windham
County passed resolutions extolling him, and his portrait
occupies an honored place in its court house. Among all the
letters that came to the afflicted family, none was more prized
than the following testimonial from an aged friend of his
early youth.

Richmond, Virginia, i 106 Dobson St.

Mrs. Howard,
Oakland, Cal.

My Dear Madam :

. . . Your father was the idol of all the people of
Southern Vermont. In intellectual finish he had no peer,
and when he died a great life went out. In Athens, his native

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LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

town, no character was more admired. The letter from the
daughter of the friend of my young life was least expected;
it revived remembrances as nought else could do. I could say
much of his early promise and of the royal life so soon cut
down. I will briefly allude to the schooldays of Mr. Shafter,
and while the lights of his boyhood home were still burning
for him. I was in Middletown, Conn., soon after his grad-
uation, and in conversation with the president of the uni-
versity which was his cherished Alma Mater, and others con-
nected with the institution, I was told much of your father's
distinction in debate, as well as in scholarship. Whenever
it was known he was to address the societies of the college,
students as well as citizens rallied to listen to his eloquence.
Dr. Cummings assured me that no one among the long line
of students there ever reached the high plane, in all the col-
lege work, which was occupied by Oscar L. Shafter.

The first year of your father's residence in California, I
met him in the office of Park & Billings. His greeting was
marked by all the warm attachment of early friendship.
When he made his last visit to Vermont I received a call
from him in company with your grandfather. In that brief
hour we recalled the ties of early days, and when we parted
the handshake and the good-bye were the last forever be-
tween us.

Cordially yours,

S. B. Wells.

MEMORIAL DISCOURSE

Delivered March 31, 1873, in the Independent Presbyterian
Church, Oakland, California, by the Rev. L. Hamilton.

Once in a decade or two of years, we see a life come to a
close which has concentrated in itself the progressive thought
and experience of the time. The great world-history going
on without has its parallel in that which goes on in a single
breast. The man measures the time. The features of its
progress daguerreotype themselves essentially in his mind and
heart. Beginning by force of circumstances in something that

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OSCAR LOVELL SH AFTER

is crudest, he ends by force of inherent truthfulness and grasp
of thought in that which is ripest. The brilliant but ephem-
eral blossoms of spring are soon cast; the more sober but
more lasting beauty of summer follows; this changes again
into the rich ripeness of autumn — then winter garners the
whole growth of the seasons.

Such a life is a beacon of progress to common minds. If
one falls under our observation we slight God's good provi-
dence if we neglect to study it. We can see in it if we will, not
only where we are, but where we shall be. It is a prophecy
of what is coming. In it we see ruling tendencies reach their
accomplishment. The forces that are moving in the great
complex man we call society, run their course and come to
their last result in this individual man. The average man of
the future, when humanity has grown tall enough to see as
broadly as he sees, will stand where he stood when we last
beheld him. He throws light on the questions we debate most
in our parlors and shops and lyceums. We see the decision
of many of them reached in him, or at least the discussion
carried so far as to point the way to their decision. We need
not repeat the experiment he has made. We can foresee in
him how it will result. The thought of men can step forward
to an advanced position over the ground which he has con-
quered.

We should not be over-hasty, indeed, in falling into the
lead of great minds, however great they may be. We should
be mindful of the fact that the greatest thinkers in the whole
history of thought have been the greatest errorists. So they
were honest in purpose we need not reproach their errors.
To think in advance of other minds, is to help forward human
progress, even if the thinking be mingled with error. To state
a great error with power in an unexplored field of thought
often leads to the great undiscovered truth that lies directly
over against that error. It is only a little more roundabout
way to the good thing that humanity needs. So we welcome
great honest thinkers, whatever the track their minds take.
We need not therefore welcome their mistakes. Their mighty
conceptions may be but centaurs and hippogrilfs; there may

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be nothing real in nature answering to them. They may be
the exceptional outgrowths from the idiosyncrasies of the
thinker. They may be the abnormal vagaries of a wrenched
and distorted intellect. They may be the voice of God. We
should wait for the verification of the true test — the common
consent of minds great enough to grasp the subject. Watch
the judicial mind as it comes in contact with the question at
issue, the temper calm, the method wise, the process slow and
careful, the conclusion deferred until all the evidence is in.
When you see this higher order of thinkers, under diverse
circumstances and influences, strike off from the old beaten
path at different points of departure, and with singular
unanimity take some new road that leads to a common con-
clusion, it is safe for you to predict that the many will soon
turn into their course of direction. It may not lie exactly
along the line of absolute truth, but it is more nearly parallel
to that line than the old track. Humanity never again takes
its onward march along the old road. A few stragglers may
stumble on in that way for a time, but their thinning number
soon find the loneliness intolerable.

Eminent among this higher order of minds stood the late
Judge Shafter. He was a type of the time. He ran through
the progress of the age in his own experience. He began in
the crudest thought; that he ended in the most advanced I
am not competent to say, but that he had reached a point far
in advance of the multitude, there is abundant testimony
more conclusive than mine. Hence the special public value of
his life. Few examples will better repay our study. I should
not be excused if I failed to use the occasion to gather up
some of its rich suggestions.

My object is not panegyric. The Bench, the Bar, and the
Pulpit have united in his eulogy. I fear I should weaken what
has been said with power, by any additions I might attempt
to make. Nor will I attempt an exhaustive analysis of his
character. It would be too presuming in me. I leave that to
more familiar and skilful hands. My object is rather to turn
your attention toward those phases of his many-sided thought
and experience which look towards our work as a Christian

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OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

congregation and our want as Christian men and women
seeking after the truth of God.

... In religious faith and connection he was a Methodist.
. . . At about fourteen he was placed at a Methodist Acad-
emy at Wilbraham, Mass. It was during his several years of
study at this institution that he was caught in a whirlwind of
religious excitement — as he would describe it afterwards, —
"was struck, with conviction," "went forward to the anxious
seat," "had great wrestlings with the spirit," and "got con-
verted." For six months his zeal knew no abatement. He
was "instant in prayer and exhortation, in season and out of
season," prompt at class-meeting, and was pointed out as a
model. But his inner life did not run smoothly. He suffered
torturing doubts. He felt that his religion was artificial — a
striving after moods, feelings, fervors, raptures. Somewhat
abruptly he came to the conclusion that he was not being
honest with himself or with others. He went straight to the
Church and said so, and that he could go no further with it.
I lenceforth he would be true to himself if his soul was lost
for it! If any religion wanted him to be less than that, so
much the worse for the religion. His coming to this State
in 1854, the immediate recognition of his abilities, his law
partnerships with the first legal talent of the State, his firm
stand as an anti-slavery man when the name of "Black Re-
publican" was a reproach, his self-consistent adherence to
this stand through all the exciting scenes that followed, his
gradual rise into the notice and confidence of the people, his
election to the Supreme Bench of the State in 1863, his un-
impeachable and unsuspected integrity as well as ability in
that position for four years, then the sudden failure of his
health compelling his resignation, his efforts for recovery,
the long wavering of his friends between hope and fear — the
hope growing fainter, the fear verging towards sad certainty
— till the final word Hashed under the sea from a foreign city
telling us that the end had come and the great soul had taken
its place among the immortals — all this has been made as
household matters to you by the public press.

It falls not in with my purpose to dwell longer in detail

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LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

upon the events of his life. I have now to speak of Judge
Shafter's religion.

Like the Prophet, he had sought to know "the righteous-
ness of the Lord" — had asked "Wherewith shall I come be-
fore the Lord and bow myself before the high God?" The
spirit of "technical" religion, busy in our day as in the day of
the Prophet, with its arbitrary rules and tests and exactions,
had told him that it must be with some special sacrifice, some
self-mortification of the reason, some unquestioning beliefs
that commended not themselves to his judgment, some spe-
cial experience, coming in mystery and fed by a faith that
he dare not criticise. He had thought long and earnestly,
with the simple desire to know the truth. He had come to the
same conclusion with the Prophet: "He hath showed thee,
O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee
but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with
thy God." Here is the universal religion, good for all ages,
for all races and ranks of men. We may assure ourselves that
it will stand good while the world stands. . . . To walk in
justice, mercy and humility before God . . . makes the
Christian. Judge Shafter believed this. To say that some
special belief or mystical experience must be added, he held
as the cant of a technical faith. Justice, Mercy and Humility
are the rock. The conceits of formalists and pietists are the
ever changing mists that hang over it, sometimes, as seen
from the dim distance, mimicking the rock in form and ap-
pearance, but never attaining its stability — ever disappointing
as you approach and attempt to find firm foothold thereon.
He never returned to the bosom of the Methodist Church.
And why? Was it because of prejudices? These were rather
in favor of the church. The memory of his revered mother,
his dearest educational associations, some of his most intimate
friends, drew him towards her communion. Was it from
personal hostility to religion? He was a devout worshipper
of God. As his writings abundantly showed, he was what the
church would call "a man of prayer." At every piece of good
news or instance of unusual prosperity there is a heartfelt
expression of thankfulness to the divine source of blessing.

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OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

When sad tidings came, or calamity befell, he turned to his
closet, his Bible, and his God for strength and comfort. And
no puritan with his catechism was more diligent in the family
than he in inculcating the great truths of religion, reverence
towards God and love to man. This never ceased till disease
broke his strength. The world may have given him little
credit for his religion. He did not wear it on the outside for
show. It was in the heart, in the honest doing of the thing
given him to do, and in quiet deeds of goodness to men. The
church sometimes called him an infidel. His piety did not
run in the channel of her ceremonies or bear the stamp of
her dogmas.

It was for none of the causes suggested that he declined
returning to the bosom of his mother's church. It was be-
cause as an honest man he could not. He loved the truth;
he was seeking the truth; he was ready to receive it wherever
he could find it; he was ready to do whatever it exacted of
him; but he could not find the truth in its highest and purest
form in the church. The love of truth kept him out of the
church. She exacts much, as he believed, that God does not
exact. She teaches, along with much that is good, some
things that are an offense to reason and a dishonor to God.
His great mind could stop short of no other conclusion. And
the Methodist Church is not to be singled out as peculiar
in this. The other sects prominent among us occupy common
ground with her so far as his objections went. None of them
could make room for him.

This is to me the most impressive suggestion of his great-
ness and goodness. The churches must make room for such
a man, or that grand day of broader light that hastens on
will have no room for them. Educate a people till they love
the truth as well, and can see as broadly as Judge Shafter
did, and they will not go into our churches, as they are. These
churches might easily make room for such. They must revise
their standards, and purge them of such absurdities, which
the broadly educated mind can never look upon as other than
absurdities. Germany is saying this to us to-day. Oxford is
saying it. Cambridge is saying it. Yale is saying it. Every

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LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

center of learning and superior intelligence in Christendom
is saying it. The guild of scientific men all over the world,
with an approach to unanimity that ought to be alarming to
one who really loves the church and sees its importance, are
saying it. It is a question of life and death with the church.
Her teachers may shut themselves up in their little circle of
thoughts and deny that there is any broader flow from the
Fountain of Eternal Truth, but the mightier minds of the
world, that, like Judge Shaffer's, have swept through their
lines, and out into the ocean that rolls all around them, will
see their mistake, and will never strike back towards the
center of darkness and ignorance for the sake of sailing in
their company.

Scan the life of this man, put his character under the test
of the closest scrutiny, make the most of his imperfections
common to our nature or peculiar to him, and then say in
view of the pure and exalted character you are compelled to
confess he bore, whether he is to be placed outside the pale
of Christianity; or if he is, whether anything ought to be left
inside that the world has much reason to value.

He was a just man. Take this passage from his own writ-
ings as illustrating the sentiment on which this virtue is based.
I shall be excused for quoting it, although it was intended
only for the eye of his own family. He is writing for the
benefit of his own little boy — alas! soon after called to an-
other world, blasting the hope and almost breaking the heart
of the fond father. He says, "I trust, also, that my boy will
be a good lawyer, which is the same thing as saying, 'I trust
he will be a good man,' free from all chicanery, honest in
his dealings with court and jury, and perfectly truthful in all
his relations to his clients." This was the sentiment upon
which he based his practices as a lawyer not only, but as a
man. If he was rigid in exacting what was due him from
others (as all successful business men must be as a rule), he
was equally rigid in giving their dues to others. As a Judge
his impartiality commanded a confidence that was well nigh
perfect. The suspicion of a bribe never rested on him. There
was something in the man that corruption dared not ap-

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OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

proach. It would instinctively have forecast its own discom-
fiture and stern rebuke.

He was also merciful. I have no motive for saying that
he did not love money; by admitting that fact I only
strengthen the proof of the intensity with which he "loved
mercy." He gave without ostentation, but liberally and con-
tinuously. Worthy want never turned away from him empty.
Struggling merit had numerous occasions to bless his bounty.
Sometimes his friends thought he was lavish in gifts where
the worthiness of the object was questionable. His reply was
that he feared mistake and would rather give to the un-
worthy than to let real want go unrelieved. It was a maxim
with him that "If you would keep your sympathies fresh and
the heart green, you must keep giving; if you stop you shut
up and rust, like an old jack-knife which no one can get
open." Quaintly put, but a mighty truth. He blessed himself
in practice. His generosity did not stop with tens of dollars,
nor with hundreds, nor with thousands, nor with tens of thou-
sands, although he took no pains that the public at large
should hear of its extent. One who had the best opportunity
to know writes of him, "I know personally of tens of thou-
sands of dollars disbursed by him without any hope of
return."

Judge Shafter was thought by some to be a man of hard,
cold logic, as the chief characteristic of his mental constitu-
tion. Nothing could be a greater mistake. He was severely
logical in his mental processes, but along with this went an
endowment of the keenest sensibility. At the reading of a
noble sentiment or a touching incident, this would often
show itself, trembling over into tears. The voice would fail,
and expression rise to the power of a speechless silence from
the quivering intensity of feeling. When thoroughly roused
ill his own utterances his imagination would glow with true
poetic fire. The golden ingots of his logic would melt and
flow in streams of burning emotion. . . . But it was in his
own family that these tenderer qualities showed themselves
in their fullest power. It was there that his exhaustless stores
of thought and knowledge poured themselves forth untir-

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LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

ingly in streams of wise and affectionate suggestions. His
children tell me that they came to live on his words and to
regard their author with an almost idolatrous reverence. If
the church was not visited on the Sabbath, as often during
their earlier residence in Oakland it was not, they found a
richer treat at home. The day was made sacred to them by
words that kindled their higher purposes and lifted their
souls to God.

ONE OF HIS PRINCIPLES OF LIFE

Extract from letter, Oscar L. Shafter to his daughter Emma,
at Wilmington, Vermont, dated San Francisco,

June 1 6, 1855.

"I am glad that you are so actively engaged beautifying
the grounds around the house, and opposing the breath and
the bloom of flowers to the gloom that gathers over the place
of the dead. Whether in the orderings of Providence we
spend the rest of our lives in Wilmington or elsewhere, it
matters not, for every tree and flowering shrub planted by
our hands, every rough place made smooth and attractive by
our labor, will link us the more nearly and fondly to the
past."

Extracts from a discourse by the Rev. Charles W. Wendte,
delivered at the first Unitarian Church, Oakland, California,
Sunday, September 4, i8q2, on the subject of the stained
glass window placed in the church to the memory of Oscar
Lovell Shafter, by his daughters.

"The parable of the sower is one of the most beautiful
examples of the art in which Jesus excelled, the art of con-
veying instruction by story-telling. In it a whole series of
profoundly important lessons, illustrative of the nature and
progress of truth, the characteristics of human nature, and
his own mission as a religious teacher, are imparted in a
graphic and attractive form, making this parable one of the
religious classics of mankind. To represent this parable

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OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

therefore on our window is most appropriate and grateful to
our Christian feeling. It expresses our thankfulness to that
Great Teacher to whom we owe the inestimable privilege of
meeting here for instruction and worship; whose disciples
we reverently acknowledge ourselves.

'The lessons of the parable are many and apparent, and
so familiar to you by long and endeared association, that I
will not dilate upon them at any length. Its central purpose
is to illustrate the work of Jesus as that of a sower who
goes forth to sow a new spiritual seed in the fields of hu-
manity, and with clear eye foresees that, through the peculiar
and varying constitution of human nature, only a portion of
those whom He addresses will give lasting entrance to His
words. . . .

"Agriculture is the earliest of the civilizing arts. It marks
the passage of wild and roving man to settled occupations, to
domestic virtues, to the beginnings of a social and political
order. It gives birth also to science, for in a rude way me-
teorology and chemistry are involved in the occupation of
the husbandman. Agriculture is the surest and best basis
for man's social and political life; the farmer, the most im-
portant factor in the constitution of the State. Happy that
nation whose wealth is in its fields and orchards, whose
strength and pride are not in its great cities, — abodes of
mammon and misery, — its manufactures, mines or its forests,
— but in the healthful toil, the distributed ownership, the
productive occupation, the manly independence and worth
of a predominantly agricultural population. It was so in
Palestine in Jesus' day. It is so in increasing measure — thanks
be to God — in our own fair and favored California. The
window we dedicate to-day has then this added significance
in our eyes — it glorifies one of the great natural vocations
of mankind, the activity, peaceful and beneficent, of the
agriculturist.

"I reckon it especially fortunate for our purpose that in
the composition of the design of our window we were guided
by that wonderful work of modern art, Franqois Millet's
picture, 'The Sower.' Himself the son of a peasant, spend-

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LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

ing his early life in the fields and woods, living for thirty
years in a humble home on the edge of the great forest of
Barbizon, Millet felt himself called to a sacred mission — to
paint the toil and struggle, the pathos and poetry, the sad-
ness and dignity of agricultural life. The art of his day and
nation, devoted to mere technique in painting, following art
for art's sake solely, could not understand or appreciate him.
It scoffed at the man who, with his great talents, was content
to be poorly rewarded while following an ideal of art so
humble and commonplace and repulsive. It did not know
what to make of a painter who read his Bible nightly, and
had religious convictions, and wore wooden shoes, and sym-
pathized with the poor laborers about him, and painted their
toils, joys and sorrows with such exquisite feeling, such mar-
velous power. Appreciation, honors, and riches came to him
at last, when he no longer had any use for them. Millet
died as he lived, with dignity and an entire consecration to
a noble art, leaving to humanity his priceless contribution
to the enlarging sympathies and spiritual perceptions of man-
kind, those matchless pictures, 'The Sower,' 'The Reapers,'
'The Gleaners,' 'The Man with the Hoe,' and 'The Angelus.'

"It is a picture of Millet, 'The Sower,' which the artist
who designed our window has followed as closely as the na-
ture of the material in which he worked would permit; a lim-
itation we should always remember in criticizing pictures on
glass. But he has introduced into it certain adjuncts of the
Biblical story which make it more suggestive to our Christian
consciousness. The central figure, the sower, which in Mil-
let's picture is shrouded in gathering gloom, has been set in
our window in the midst of the rays of the morning sun,
making it still more illustrative of the parable, 'the sower
went forth to sow.'

"Let the illumined pane over our altar remind us then,
from Sunday to Sunday, of this noble occupation of man-
kind, lifting our thoughts to a large and grateful sympathy
with that great host of toilers in field and orchard who labor
that our hunger may be stilled and all else be possible to us.
As often as we utter the petition, 'Give us this day our daily

[292]

X

2 K

» —

THE NEW York
pUBLIC LIBRARY

ASTOR, LEN©X
riLDEN FOUNDATION?!

OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

bread,' may our uplifted eyes behold in the picture of the
sower a beautiful reminder of the eternal bounty of our
Father in Heaven who has ordained that harvest ever shall
follow seedtime, who gives us the fruits of the earth in due
season, and crowns the year with his goodness.

"Aside from these general considerations, the window we
dedicate this morning possesses a more direct personal interest
as the memorial of a noble man, who was honored and loved
by his family and friends while he lived, and whose memory
is dear and sacred to them now that he is gone. The refer-
ence to the late Judge Oscar L. Shafter on the tablet affixed
to yonder wall is so extremely modest, that while I respect
the fine delicacy of feeling which has been displayed by his
surviving family, I cannot forbear saying a few words this
morning in reverential appreciation of his many sterling
qualities as a man and a citizen.

"We may divide society into two classes, sowers and reap-
ers. The reapers are those who, living in older, more devel-
oped communities, have inherited from the past its
accumulated treasures of wealth, art and culture. The sowers
are the men who go forth into new and unsettled countries
to clear the forest, to break the soil, to cast into the furrows
the seeds of a higher civilization, to build up communities
and cities, manufactures and trades, to lay in equity and jus-
tice the foundations of the civil and political order. In this
sense the men who, forty or more years ago, came as pioneers
to these Pacific shores, were sowers. Their struggles and
hardships, their sentiments and services, their characters and
lives are bearing fruit to-day in the domestic, business, social
and political life of our young commonwealth. What we are
in these respects we owe chiefly to their husbandry. Their
memory should ever be honored by succeeding generations.
Not all their sowing was well considered and helpful. Many
there were who sowed the wind and reaped the whirlwind;
many tares of evil habit, greed, passion and sin were cast
by these early pioneers into the loosened earth which miner's
pick or ranchman's spade upturned to the sun. By that inex-
orable law of the moral order, 'What a man soweth that

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LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

shall he reap,' their lawless spirit and wicked deeds have be-
come infused into the moral fiber of California life, a power
for evil that retards the better growth of temperance, virtue
and faith.

"But there were still more representatives among these
early pioneers, of established character, of manly courage and
self-denial, of respect for property, for law and human life.
Their principles, their example and influence are embodied in
the homes, the institutions and the prevailing moral senti-
ment of the people of our State. They were sowers of the
good seed of righteousness and piety, which has brought
forth abundant fruit, some thirty-fold, some sixty-fold, and
some one hundred-fold.

"Of this nobler type of citizenship was the man whose
character this illumined window at once illustrates and per-
petuates. Judge Shafter was an admirable example of what
was best in New England character and tradition, broadened
and enriched by the larger opportunities and sterner discip-
lines of pioneer life at the West. . . . He was the honored
head of a large and loving family. Coming to California
in 1854, he, together with his able and distinguished brother,
Judge James McM. Shafter — who has just passed away full
of years and honors, — speedily attained a high rank among
the legal profession of this State, and perhaps no State of
its age has produced so many able jurists as California. In
1864 Judge Oscar Shafter took his seat as Associate Justice
of the Supreme Court of California. . . .

"This is the merest outline of the leading incidents in an
active, useful, upright and happy life. It is totally inadequate
to give you a worthy picture of the man himself: what he
was in himself and what he was to those who best knew and
loved him. I remember, when a youth, in San Francisco, to
have known by sight and met Judge Shafter. I was too young
to have had the privilege of his acquaintance. . . . All bear
witness to the beauty and integrity of his personal character,
his upright life, and his eminent public services.

"My friends, so true and devout a man, so faithful a
public servant, may well be honored in our church. It lends

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OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

an additional interest and beauty to the window which per-
petuates his memory among us, forcibly impressing us with
the word of ancient piety: 'He who soweth to the spirit, shall
of the spirit reap life everlasting.' "

[295]

LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

SOWING

O, seekest thou fair fruit where thou hast cast

The seeds of thought or good into the soil?
Or dost thou sigh, when ripened days at last

Show fruitage strange, or weeds to pay for toil?
O, lookest thou for blossoms in a heart

Which thy fond hand hath tilled with fearful care?
Thou weepest sore when unrepaid thou art.

The love-tilled heart lies blossomless and bare —
O, sowest thou with love and fears,
O, reapest thou with sighs and tears?

REAPING

The planting of the best thou hast to give

Moved some dull mould to bloom with fruitage fair.
Love, hope and fear may show no fruit, yet live

In places new to thee, and blooming there
Perfected grows the blossom vainly sought, —

The heart love-tilled holds worlds to thee unknown,
Fields shining bright with flowers of thy thought —

Seek thou that place and pluck the fruit there grown.
O, hast thou grown with tears of love?
Thy blossoms touch the skies above!

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OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

THE DEATH-SONG OF THE HEMLOCK
By Julia C. R. Dorr

Ye say I am old — I am old; and ye threaten to hew me down,
Lest the roof of your puny dwelling should be crushed by

my heavy crown.
Ye measure my spreading branches, ye mock me with idle

fears —
Ye pygmies that creep at my foot-stool, what know ye of

age or years?

I reckon ye all as shadows! Ye are but as clouds that pass
Over the face of the mountains and over the meadow-grass;
Your generations are phantoms; like wraiths they come

and go,
Leaving no trace behind them in the paths they used to know !

But I ! For six hundred rolling years I have stood like a

watch-tower, I !
I have counted the slow procession of centuries circling by!
I have looked at the sun unblenching; I have numbered the

midnight stars;
Nor quailed when the fiery serpent leaped from the cloudy

bars !

Or ever ye were a nation, or your commonwealth was born,
I stood on this breezy hilltop, fronting the hills of morn,
In the strength of my prime uplifting my head above meaner

things,
Till only the strong winds reached it or the wild birds'

sweeping wings!

It was mine to know when the white man ventured the

unknown seas,
And silence fled before him and the forest mysteries;
I saw his towers and steeples that pierced the unfathomed

sky,
And his domes that darkened the heavens, but above them

all soared I !

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LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS

He builded his towns and cities, and his mansions fine and

fair,
And slowly his fertile meadows grew wide in the tranquil air;
He stretched his iron pathways from the mountains to the

sea —
But little cared I for his handiwork! 'Twas the one great

God made me!

The earth and the sun and the mighty winds and the great

God over all,
These bade me stand like a sentinel on the hilltop grand and

tall.
Know ye that a hundred years ago men called me old and

worn?
Yet here I tower above their graves, and laugh them all to

scorn !

For what are threescore years and ten, ye creatures of a day?
Ye are to me like the flying motes that in the sunshine play !
Shall I tremble because ye threaten and whisper that I am

old?
I will die of my own free, lordly will ere the year has shed

its gold!

But till then as I stood or ever the land of your loves was

born,
I will stand erect on my hilltop, fronting the hills of the morn,
In the pride of mine age uplifting my head above meaner

things,
Till only the strong winds reach it or the wild birds' sweeping

wings !

[298]

DECISIONS
WRITTEN BY JUDGE SHAFTER DUR-
ING FOUR YEARS' SERVICE ON
THE SUPREME BENCH

i. People v. Jean Bruzzo. Deft, appealed. Taylor &
Hastings for Appellant, Atty. General McCullough
for Respondents. Judg't affirmed.

2. Pedro Rodriguez et al., Executors, v. Samuel Comstock

et als. Defts. appealed. George Cadwalader & B. F.
Ankeny for Appellants, R. F. Peckham for Respond-
ents. Judg't reversed and new trial ordered.

3. Augustus Schenck and Adolphus Schwartz v. John Evoy

and Joseph Mulliken. Defts. appealed. M. S. Chase
for Appellants, Thos. A. Brown for Respondents.
Judg't reversed and new trial ordered.

4. John W. Owen y. W. R. Frink and J. J. Peko. Plff.

appealed. Whitman and Wells for Appellant, M. A.
Wheaton for Respondents. Judg't affirmed.

5. Charles H. Willson v. A. H. Broder. Deft, appealed.

E. W. F. Sloan for Appellant, A. T. Wilson for Re-
spondent. Motion for rehearing denied.

6. S. C. Hastings v. E. W. Dollarhide, George Olinger,

John J. Bassett, Oliver L. Bassett, Robins McCoy,
J. T. Thompson, Isaac Kirkendall, Wallis Joslin,
Mary Joslin, and Alfred M. Jamison. Plff. appealed.
Whitman & Wells for Appellant, John Currey for
Respondents. Judg't reversed and new trial ordered.

7. *James M. Warner v. D. B. Holman. Petition denied

and judgment affirmed. Whitman & Wells for Ap-
pellant, John Currey for Respondent.

8. Robert H. Vance v. E. Eliza Fore, Wm. A. Sublett,

Frank Williams, Wm. Butcher, J. W. Hill, D. V.
Thompson, R. C. Marshall and John Fore. Plff. ap-

*Supplementary opinion.

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LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

pealed. W. W. Stow and John Reynolds for Appel-
lant, Whitman & Wells for Respondents. Judg't af-
firmed.
9. D. J. Wood and S. D. Wood v. The Truckee Turnpike
Co. Plff. appealed. Chas. E. Elkins and Geo. Cad-
walader for Appellants, Van Clief & Bowers for Re-
spondent. Judg't reversed.

10. R. W. Noble and Margaret Noble v. Thomas K. Hook,

Joseph Jones, R. B. Parker and Charles E. Gorham.
Order dissolving injunction affirmed. Plffs. appealed.
J. B. Hale for Appellants, Cobb & Tyler, and Jenkins,
for Respondents.

11. Jose J. Uridias v. John C. Morrell. Deft, appealed.

S. O. Houghton for Appellant, Yoell & Williams for
Respondent. Judg't reversed and cause remanded.

12. Trinity County v. John McCammon, William Quine,

James Edgcomb and John Musser. Geo. Cadwalader
for Appellant, E. F. Allen, Dist. Atty., for Respond-
ents. Defts. appealed. Order reversed and injunction
ordered dissolved.

13. Herman Lackman and Henry Backus v. Joseph M.

Wood and Emily Wood. Defts. appealed. J. F.
Swift for Appellants, G. F. & W. H. Sharp for Re-
spondents. Judg't reversed, new trial ordered.

14. James Lick v. Jerome Madden. Plff. appealed. Wm. S.

Wood, and Winans & Hyer, for Appellant, E. B.
Crocker for Respondent. Judg't reversed and cause
remanded.

15. B. Aitken and J. Prescott v. E. T. Mendenhall. Deft.

appealed. Chas. A. Tuttle for Appellant, Jo Hamil-
ton for Respondents. Judg't affirmed.

16. Fostina E. Hurlburt v. George F. Jones. Plff. appealed.

Geo. Cadwalader for Appellant, Robinson & McCon-
nell for Respondents. Judg't affirmed.

17. F. B. Higgins v. J. F. Houghton, Surveyor General of

the State of California. Deft, appealed. Atty. Gen-
eral McCullough for Appellant, A. S. Higgins for
Respondent. Judg't affirmed.

[300]

OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

1 8. William D. Porter v. Robert H. Elam. Deft, appealed.

John Reynolds for Appellant, A. N. Bennett for Re-
spondent. Judg't affirmed.

19. William Bosworth v. Charles Danzien. Plff. appealed.

E. A. Lawrence for Appellant, J. I. Papy for Re-
spondent. Judg't reversed and new trial ordered.

20. William H. Crowell v. Sonoma County. Deft, appealed.

Atty. General McCullough for Appellant, A. Thomas
for Respondent. Judg't reversed and the court below
ordered to dismiss the action.

21. Silas Lent v. Charles Morrill, O. F. Morrill, William

A. Grover and D. W. Chambers. Defts. appealed.
Gregory Yale for Appellants, S. W. Holladay and
James G. Carey for Respondents. Judg't affirmed.

22. Lloyd Tevis v. John S. Ellis, John Wade, David Calder-

wood, Charles B. Harwood and Francis Kattendorff.
Plff. appealed. Patterson, Wallace & Stow for Ap-
pellant, Wm. W. Chapman for Respondent. Order
dissolving injunction affirmed.

23. C. E. Herron v. J. Hughes, W. Nichols and P. Nichols.

Defts. Nichols appealed. Tuttle & Fellows for Ap-
pellant, Hamilton & Arnold for Respondent. Judg't
reversed and new trial ordered.

24. Jeremiah Clarke v. William Huber. Deft, appealed.

Wallace & Stow for Appellant, J. Clarke for Respond-
ent. Judg't affirmed.

25. William Galland and D. W. Galland v. E. J. Lewis and

Charles Harvey. Plff. appealed. Wm. H. Rhodes for
Appellants, Wm. S. Long for Respondents. Judg't
reversed.

26. John V. Wattson v. Thomas H. Dowling and P. G.

Peltret. Plff. appealed. H. S. Love for Appellant,
A. & H. C. Campbell for Respondents. Order af-
firmed.

27. Charles A. Low v. Pliny C. Allen, Alexander G. Rams-

dell, Eugene II. Tharp and George F. Sharp. Plff.
appealed. Wm. Barber for Appellant, Geo. F. &
Wm, LI. Sharp for Respondent, judg't affirmed.

[301 ]

LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

28. *Bourland v. Hildreth.
The full title being:

John L. Bourland v. George A. Hildreth (Sheriff) ;
R. E. Gardiner v. W. A. Davies (Clerk) ;
Thomas Norwood v. D. M. Kenfield (Treasurer) ;
Edward Smyth v. W. H. Cummings (Recorder) ;
Caleb Dorsey v. Hugh G. Piatt (Dist. Attorney) ;
William Weinbeer v. John York (Dist. Assessor) ;
P. C. Birney v. J. H. Hurd (Dist. Assessor) ;

*This was the celebrated "Soldiers' Vote" case, in which Justice Shafter
put forth, in a long and logical opinion, his grounds for a decision which
has been questioned many times since, but ever has been sustained by the
highest judiciary of the land, although at the time it was handed down it
not only was directly opposed to popular sentiment, but was in violation
of his own patriotic impulses and desires. In 1863 the State Legislature of
California had passed an Act requiring the Adjutant General of the State
to make out a list of the names of all electors resident in said State, who
should then be in the military service of the United States, and to deliver
such list to the local Secretary of State before the 15th day of July, 1863.
The Secretary of State was required to classify and arrange this list and
to make therefrom separate lists of the electors belonging to each regiment,
battalion, squadron and battery, from his State, which should then be in
the service of the United States ; and on or before the 20th day of July,
1863, to transmit to the commanding officer of each such division a list of
the electors belonging thereto, specifying the name, residence and rank
of each such elector and also the County, Congressional, Judicial, Sena-
torial and Assembly Districts, for officers of which the electors respectively
should be entitled to vote. Furthermore, this Act arranged for the placing
of ballot boxes and the receiving and forwarding of votes from all such
electors in military service, whose votes so given should be "considered,
taken and held to have been given by them in the respective counties of
which they were residents."

The operation of the Act was limited to the single year 1863, and was
designed to preserve the right of franchise to California volunteers enlisted
in the defense of their country during the Civil War.

In Tuolumne County 215 soldiers' votes were received under the opera-
tion of this Act, 90 of the 215 being at camps within the State, and 125
outside of its limits. This soldiers' vote upset the calculations of the
politicians. The movement to have the Act declared unconstitutional,
however, found support among leading lawyers, and it was upon purely
legal principles and precedents, and because it conflicted with the require-
ments of the State Constitution, that Justice Shafter reaffirmed the judg-
ments of the county courts of Tuolumne, which, hearing the consolidated
cases of the contesting officials, had excluded the votes cast by the soldiers,
and had thereby annulled and set aside the results of the election, as
declared by the Board of Supervisors, the latter having attempted to inter-
pose its authority, giving judgment that the plaintiffs had been lawfully
elected.

[302]

OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

James McCabe v. George B. Keyes (Dist. As-
sessor).
Defts. appealed. George Cadwalader for Appellants,
Caleb Dorsey and H. P. Barber for Respondents.
Judg'ts reversed.

29. Robert B. Ellis v. Thomas Jeans, Willis Long and

W. B. Long. Defts. appealed. John Currey and
M. A. Wheaton for Appellants, P. W. S. Rayle and
P. L. Edwards for Respondents. Judg't reversed and
cause remanded.

30. William M. Stoddard v. L. L. Treadwell and George

R. Carter. Defts. appealed. H. H. Hartley and J. P.
Treadwell for Appellants, Crocker & Robinson for
Respondent. Judg't reversed and cause remanded.

31. *The People of the State of California ex rel. Nelson

Pierce, Nelson Pierce and the Dead Whale Asphalt-
11111 Mining Company v. Charles Morrill. Plff. ap-
pealed. Eugene Casserly for Appellant, J. B. Crock-
ett for Respondent. Order dissolving injunction re-
versed.

32. tA. S. Hurlbutt v. Peter Butenop. Deft, appealed.

George & Loughborough for Appellant, Samuel J.
Clarke, Jr., for Respondent. Judg't affirmed.

33. William K. Reed v. Thomas Spicer and Daniel Spicer.

Plff. appealed. Coffroth & Spaulding for Appellant,
H. P. Barber for Respondent. Judg't reversed and
cause remanded.

34. The People v. Thomas Blackwell. Deft, appealed. Tyler

& Cobb for Appellant, Atty. General McCullough for
Respondent. Judg't reversed and cause remanded.

35. John N. Kernan v. John Griffith. Plff. appealed. John

B. Hall for Appellant, Tyler & Cobb for Respondent.
Judg't reversed and cause remanded.

*This case involved the ownership of 160 acres of State tide lands in
Santa Barbara County, the site of the first large asphaltinn mining plant in
California.

tA contest for the title to the celebrated Agna Caliente Rancho in
Alameda County.

[303]

LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

36. *Thomas W. Millard v. Charles W. Hathaway and

Edmund V. Hathaway. Defts. appealed. John T.
Doyle and W. W. Crane, Jr., for Appellants, A. M.
Crane and Edward Tompkins for Respondent. Judg't
affirmed and rehearing denied.

37. Jefferson Wilcoxson and Jackson Wilcoxson v. Charles

H. Burton, John E. P. Spillman, John B. Burton,
Edward McCarty, and S. Marshall, late Sheriff of
Sacramento County. Plffs. appealed. J. W. Winans
for Appellants, H. H. Hartley for Respondents. Ap-
peal for new trial denied.

38. t People v. Walter Skidmore, Walter A. Skidmore, Eg-

bert van Allen, and Louis Denos. Defts. appealed.
Bradley Hall for Appellants, Patterson, Wallace &
Stow for Respondent. Judg't reversed and new trial
ordered.

39. Rudolph Steinbach v. Jacob P. Leese, Geo. W. Baker and

Alfred G. Jones et al. Defts. appealed. Patterson,
Wallace & Stow for Appellants, Brooks & Whitney
for Respondent.

40. tThe People v. Preston Hodges. Deft, appealed. J. G.

McCallum, J. M. Williams, and Coffroth & Spauld-
ing for Appellant, Atty. General McCullough and C.
Goode for Respondent. Judg't reversed and cause re-
manded.

41. George T. Crowther v. Thomas Rowlandson and Eliza

J. D. Rowlandson. Defts. appealed. P. G. Buchan
for Appellants, Hoge & Wilson for Respondent.
Order modifying decree against Defts.

42. Peter H. Burnett v. R. Pacheco, Treasurer of State.

Plff. appealed. George R. Moore and C. T. Ryland
for Appellant, Atty. General McCullough for Re-
spondent. Judg't affirmed.

*Suit brought by Edward Gibbons to quiet title to a large tract of land
in the heart of the Oakland of to-day.

fAction upon a recognizance entered into by defendants to secure the
appearance of Skidmore on a murder charge.

^Hodges was charged with having hired Pool and others to murder
Joseph M. Staples.

[304]

OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

43. John Agnew v. Steamer Contra Costa. Defts. appealed.

E. W. F. Sloan for Appellant, Wm. H. L. Barnes for
Respondent. Judg't affirmed.

44. J. L. Buckout v. Francis P. Swift, Margaret Swift and

John Lowell. Plff. appealed. Geo. Cadwalader for
Appellant, E. B. Crocker for Respondents. Judg't
affirmed.

45. Charles McLaughlin v. Cesar Piatti, Liberati Piatti and

Daniel Murphy. Defts. appealed. Hoge & Wilson,
and Wm. T. Wallace and S. O. Houghton for Ap-
pellants, Cook & Hittell, Campbell, Fox & Campbell
for Respondents. Judg't reversed.

46. People ex rel. J. W. Dickenson v. E. M. Banvard. Deft.

appealed. Jo Hamilton for Appellant, Chas. A.
Tuttle for Respondent. Judg't signifying assent to a
new trial.

47. People v. Ah Ping. Deft, appealed. Van Clief & Gear,

and J. M. Haven for Appellant, Atty. General Mc-
Cullough for Respondent. Judg't affirmed.

48. The People v. Eugene Cazalis. Deft, appealed. John

B. Felton and J. W. Stephenson for Appellant, Atty.
General McCullough for Respondent. Judg't re-
versed and cause remanded.

49. Horace W. Carpentier v. Greene W. Webster. Plff. ap-

pealed. E. R. Carpentier for Appellant, Campbell
& Brummagen for Respondent. Judg't reversed and
new trial ordered.

50. Robert J. Vandewater v. P. A. McRae, John C. Fell,

Wm. P. Denckla and M. Fuller. Defts. appealed.
Hoge & Wilson for Appellants, Delos Lake for Re-
spondent. Order granting new trial affirmed.

51. A. Deland v. Harvey H. Hiett. Plff. appealed. H. K.

Mitchell and Geo. Cadwalader for Appellant, N. E.
Whitesides for Respondent. Judg't affirmed.

52. Henry Levy v. Henry Getleson and Ernest Pestner.

Plff. appealed. Wm. W. Chipman for Appellant,
W. P. C. Whitney for Respondent. Judg't affirmed.

[305 ]

LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

53. Jacob P. Leese v. William A. Clark. Deft, appealed.

Clarke & Carpentier for Appellants, Brooks & Whit-
ney for Respondent. Order and judg't affirmed.

54. The People ex rel. Wm. C. Stratton v. George Oulton,

Controller of State. Wm. C. Stratton in pro. per. for
Relator, Atty. General McCullough for Respondent.
The Writ of Mandate asked for was awarded.

55. D. D. Carder v. C. M. Baxter, Walter B. Minturn and

William Beggs. Plff. appealed. Temple & Thomas
for Appellant, Wm. D. Bliss for Respondents. Judg't
reversed and new trial ordered.

56. The People ex rel. John Sturgis and Mark Shepard,

Judge of the County Court of Contra Costa Co. H.
Allen for Relator, M. S. Chase for Respondent. Pe-
tition dismissed.

57. James B. Haggin et al. v. William S. Clark et al. and

Nathan Rogers. Plffs. appealed. Brooks & Whitney
for Appellants, James M. Taylor for Respondents.
Order appealed from was affirmed.

58. Edward Franklin v. Thomas Dorland. Deft, appealed.

Edward Tompkins for Appellant, E. F. Head for
Respondent. Judg't reversed and new trial ordered.

59. C. H. Horn v. William Jones, J. G. Fordyce, and the

Volcano Water Company. Defts. appealed. P. L.
Edwards for Appellants, John W. Armstrong for
Respondent. Judg't affirmed.

60. Samuel C. Harding v. Turner Cowing and H. E. Rea-

nard. Defts. appealed. Bennett, Cook & Clarke for
Appellants, E. W. F. Sloan for Respondent. Judg't
affirmed.

61. Benjamin Walls, Admr. Estate Manuel Vera, deceased,

v. Wm. Preston. Plff. appealed. Whitman & Wells
for Appellant, M. A. Wheaton for Respondent.
Judg't affirmed.

62. E. F. Jones and H. H. Hewlett v. James Frost. Deft.

appealed. John B. Hall for Appellant, Tyler & Cobb
for Respondents. Judg't affirmed.

[306]

OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

63. Thomas Jones v. Wells, Fargo & Co. Defts. appealed.

John H. Saunders for Appellant, Jo Hamilton for
Respondent. Judg't affirmed.

64. W. F. Zeigler v. Wells, Fargo & Co. Defts. appealed.

John H. Saunders for Appellant, Jo Hamilton for
Respondent. Judg't affirmed.

65. People v. Charles King. Deft, appealed. Tyler & Cobb

for Appellant, Atty. General McCullough for Re-
spondent. Petition for rehearing denied.

66. E. McComb and Zaccheus Beatty v. William J. Reed,

Seth Kinman, John Quick, J. P. Albee, R. M. Will-
iams and Wm. Taylor. Defts. appealed. Delos Lake
and Robert F. Morrison for Appellants, James C.
Carey for Respondents. Court below was directed
to modify judg't.

67. Henry J. Abbott v. C. D. Douglass. Deft, appealed.

Delos Lake and Robert F. Morrison for Appellants,
P. L. Edwards for Respondent. Judg't reversed and
new trial ordered.

68. People v. James Corbett. Plff. appealed. Atty. General

McCullough for Appellant, Wm. M. Zabriskie for
Respondent. Order affirmed.

69. H. W. Carpentier v. M. Mendenhall et al. Plff. ap-

pealed. E. R. Carpentier for Appellant, Thos. A.
Brown and John Reynolds for Respondent. Motion
for judg't on the verdict denied.

70. People ex rel. Vantine v. Isaac N. Senter, County Judge

of Santa Clara County. Eugene B. Drake for Re-
lator, Clarke & Carpentier for Respondent. Petition
for writ denied.

71. Edward Lally v. Morris Wise and M. Stern. Plff. ap-

pealed. G. F. & W. H. Sharp for Appellant, Edward
Tompkins for Respondent. Judg't reversed and new
trial ordered.

72. H. M. Moore v. W. R. Morrow. Deft, appealed. J. J.

Caldwell for Appellant, A. A. Sargent for Respond-
ent. Judg't affirmed.

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LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

73. Frances M. Bennett v. Edward L. Bennett. Deft, ap-

pealed. H. H. Hartley for Appellant, J. G. Mc-
Cullough for Respondent. Judg't reversed and new
trial ordered.

74. People v. Sneath and Arnold. Defts. appealed. Henry

H. Hartley for Appellants, M. M. Estee for Re-
spondent. Judg't reversed, and ordered that judg't
be entered in favor of Deft.

75. James M. Burt, Executor Est. of Thos. B. Walker, de-

ceased, v. E. P. Wilson, Administrator Estate of
James C. Wilson, deceased. Plff. appealed. J. E. N.
Lewis for Appellant, Hatch & McQuaid for Re-
spondent. Judg't reversed and cause remanded.

76. Eugene B. Buffendeau v. Benjamin S. Brooks and

Thomas B. Valentine. Plff. appealed. James C.
Carey for Appellant, Brooks & Whitney for Respond-
ent. Judg't affirmed.

77. Benjamin F. Ferris v. Henry P. Irving, Administrator

Estate of Joseph K. Irving, deceased, Wm. McKenzie
and Ambrose S. Hurlburt et al. Plff. appealed. Sharp
& Lloyd for Appellant, Samuel J. Clark, Jr., and
Wm. H. Glascock for Respondents. Judg't affirmed.

78. Jerome Lincoln v. Colusa County. Plff. appealed. H.

H. Hartley for Appellant, Hatch & McQuaid for
Respondent. Judg't affirmed.

79. John S. Hager v. James Shindler and Simon Shindler.

Defts. appealed. E. Casserly for Appellants, Delos
Lake for Respondent. Judg't affirmed.

80. Catharine Fordyce and Benson B. Fordyce v. C. P.

Ellis, D. Woldenbergh, H. A. Thompson and Ed-
ward Stockton. Plffs. appealed. H. H. Hartley for
Appellants, Robert C. Clark for Respondents. Judg't
affirmed.

81. The San Francisco and San Jose Railroad Company v.

David Mahoney and James G. Denniston et als. Plff.
appealed. Charles N. Fox for Appellant, Sharp &
Tompkins, and T. J. Bergen, for Respondents.

[308]

OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

Judg't affirmed as to value of land condemned, and
as to residue, judg't reversed and cause remanded.

82. James C. Hunsaker v. Josiah Sturgis. Deft, appealed.

Clarke & Carpentier for Appellant, Sloan & Provines
for Respondent. Judg't reversed and new trial or-
dered.

83. M. Gradwohl v. L. B. Harris and M. H. Turrill, Defts.,

and S. Wangenheim and Isaac Blum, Interveners.
Defts. appealed. H. H. Hartley for Appellants, Cof-
froth & Spaulding for Respondents. Judg't reversed
and new trial ordered.

84. H. Leffingwell v. Frederick Griffing. Deft, appealed.

Grey & Brandon for Appellant, Brooks & Whitney
for Respondent. Appeal dismissed.

85. James L. McDonald, Williamson Graham and Joel

Stoddard v. Benjamin Askew, Sr., Benjamin Askew,
Jr., and A. Askew. Plffs. appealed. J. L. Ashford
and G. N. Sweazy for Appellants, W. C. Belcher and
J. O. Goodwin for Respondents. Judg't reversed and
new trial ordered.

86. Lucian Skinner v. William Buck et als. Plff. appealed.

W. T. Wallace, Clarke & Carpentier, for Appellant,
S. O. Houghton and Wm. Matthews for Respond-
ents. Judg't affirmed.

87. William Meyer, Louis Wormser and Simon Wormser

v. H. Kohn and William L. Dauterman. Plffs. ap-
pealed. P. L. Edwards for Appellants, Moore &
Alexander for Respondents. Judg't modified.

88. William Davis v. Mark Livingston, Frank Livingston,

W. P. C. Stebbins, Samuel Sheldon and Joseph Gos-
ling, Defts., and James Brockaw and Samuel Metcalf,
Interveners, and Chester Brown and Asa R. Wells,
Intervenors. Defts. appealed. Crockett and Whiting
for Appellants, R. P. and Jabish Clement for Re-
spondents. Judg't reversed as relating to claims for
Davis, affirmed as to Brown and Wells, and modified
as to Brockaw and Metcalf.

[309 ]

LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

89. The People ex rel. William Grow v. A. M. Rosborough,

County Judge of Shasta County. J. G. McCullough
for Petitioner, A. M. Rosborough in pro. per. for
Deft. Order made absolute.

90. The People ex rel. W. H. Blood v. A. P. Moore, County

Judge of Plumas Co. H. H. Hartley for Relator,
Creed Haymond and J. D. Goodwin for Deft. Ap-
plication for Writ of Mandamus denied.

91. J. H. Coghill and Company v. Samuel Marks, and John

Gross, Assignee of Robert Marks, Intervenor. Inter-
vener appealed. Tyler & Cobb for Appellant, J. B.
Hall for Respondents. Order appealed from, af-
firmed.

92. William Lord v. Horace Hopkins. Plff. appealed.

Daingerfield, Highton & Hambleton for Appellant,
Charles Westmoreland and Geo. Cadwalader for Re-
spondent. Judg't reversed and cause remanded.

93. A. J. Baber v. Anna McLellan, and Anna E. Irwin, In-

tervenor. Plff. appealed. Pixley & Smith for Appel-
lant, George G. Blanchard for Respondent. Judg't
affirmed.

94. Matthew Tarpy v. J. M. Shepherd. Deft, appealed.

Peckham & Payne for Appellant, Julius Lee for Re-
spondent. Judg't affirmed.

95. W. Boulware v. C. C. Craddock, James O. Harris and

Samuel H. Pippi. Plff. appealed. L. J. Ashford for
Appellant, J. Hart for Respondents. Judg't reversed.

96. The People v. Thomas Byrnes. Deft, appealed. Cope,

Daingerfield & Hambleton for Appellant, Atty. Gen-
eral McCullough for the People. Judg't affirmed,
and the Court directed to appoint a day for carrying
the sentence into execution.

97. The People v. Charles English. Deft, appealed. M. A.

Wheaton for Appellant, Atty. General McCullough
for People. Judg't affirmed.

98. The People v. F. S. Lardner, Treasurer of Sacramento

County. Deft, appealed. H. H. Hartley for Appel-

[3io1

OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

lant, M. M. Estee, District Atty., for the People.
Judg't affirmed.

99. Manuel Cariaga v. W. G. Dryden. Plff. appealed. A.

B. Chapman for Petitioner, W. G. Dryden in pro.
per. for self. Petition dismissed.

100. Frederick A. Hihn v. Henry W. Peck and Francis

Brady et als. Defts. appealed. Sloan & Provines
for Appellants, R. F. Peckham for Respondent.
Judg't affirmed.

10 1. The People v. William Farrell. Deft, appealed. Cof-

froth & Spaulding, and W. M. Zabriskie, for Ap-
pellant, Atty. General McCullough for the People.
Judg't affirmed.

102. Samuel A. Morrison v. John Wilson and Ann R. Wil-

son. Plff. appealed. E. W. F. Sloan for Appellant,
Williams and Thornton for Respondents. Judg't re-
versed and new trial ordered.

103. *The people, by F. M. Pixley, Atty. General, ex rel.

Henry E. Teschemacher v. Benjamin Davidson,
Julius May, J. R. Coryell, Thos. Bell, Peter Dona-
hue and Joseph Donahue, Executors of the last will
of James Donahue, deceased. Defts. appealed from
order granting new trial. H. & C. McAllister, and
J. P. Hoge, for Appellants, William Hale and Gen.
McCullough for Respondents. Order appealed from
reversed, and judg't affirmed.

104. Daniel Troy v. Jeremiah Clarke et als. Plff. appealed.

Wallace, Patterson & Stow for Appellants, Elisha
Cook for Respondent. Judg't affirmed.

105. J. E. Henry v. G. L. Everts and P. Everts. Defts. ap-

pealed. Chas. A. Tuttle for Appellants, Jo Hamil-
ton for Respondent. Judg't affirmed.

*A bill to restrain defendants from erecting a wharf from the north
line of Chestnut Street in San Francisco, toward and into the deep waters
of the bay, it being alleged that the wharf, if erected, would greatly inter-
fere with and hinder commerce.

[311 ]

LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

106. Napa Valley Railroad Company v. The Board of

Supervisors of Napa Co. Deft, appealed. W. W.
Pendergast for Appellant, C. Hartson and P. W. S.
Rayle for Respondent. Judg't affirmed.

107. John McPherson v. R. B. Parker, W. J. Lowry and

Frank Stewart. Defts. appealed. Frank T. Bald-
win and John C. Byers for Appellants, M. G. Cobb
for Respondent. Judg't reversed and cause re-
manded.

108. Thomas Bodley v. Parthenia S. Ferguson and Matthew

Fallon et als. Plff. appealed. W. T. Wallace for
Appellant, D. P. & A. Barstow for Respondents.
Judg't affirmed.

109. John Tuohy v. J. F. Chase. Plff. appealed. J. B. Hall

for Appellant, M. G. Cobb for Respondent. Judg't
affirmed.

no. John D. Havens v. George Dale et als. Plff. appealed.
Tully R. Wise for Appellant, Chas. N. Fox for Re-
spondents. Judg't modified.

in. Evan Jenkins v. Daniel Frink, G. W. Moody, James C.
Braley, Jacob Shumway, Wesley Gallimore and Dan-
iel L. Moody. Brady and Gallimore appealed. J. P.
Hoge for Appellants, Patterson, Wallace & Stow for
Respondents. Judg't affirmed.

112. County of Mendocino v. J. B. Lamar and James S.

Ray. Defts. appealed. Henry H. Hartley for Ap-
pellants, J. G. McCullough, Atty. General, for Re-
spondent. Judg't reversed and cause remanded.

113. James Crook v. William K. Forsyth. Deft, appealed.

P. G. Buchan for Appellant, Tod Robinson and
John R. Jarboe for Respondent. Judg't affirmed.

114. People ex rel. B. F. Alexander v. Charles H. Swift,

President of the Board of Trustees of the City of
Sacramento. Plff. applied for peremptory man-
damus. Moore & Alexander for Relator, Charles
H. Swift in pro. per. for Deft. Prayer granted.

115. Thomas G. McLeran v. J. E. Benton, Egbert Judson,

James L. King and J. Purrington. Plff. appealed.

[312 ]

OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

Sloan & Provines for Appellant, Patterson, Wallace
& Stow for Respondents. Judg't reversed and new
trial ordered.

1 1 6. J. H. Poett v. Abel Stearns, P. Domic and J. M. Hell-

man. Plft. appealed. M. & R. F. Morrison for Ap-
pellant, Volney E. Howard for Respondents. Judg't
reversed.

117. S. C. Hastings v. D. N. Hastings. Deft, appealed.

J. E. Abbott for Appellant, L. B. Mizner for Re-
spondent. Judg't affirmed.

118. P. B. Reading v. Margaret Mullen. Deft, appealed.

Geo. Cadwalader for Appellant, R. T. Sprague for
Respondent. Judg't reversed and new trial ordered.

119. Ex parte Peter D. Hedley, application for habeas cor-

pus. Quint & Hardy, and Alexander Campbell, for
Petitioner, H. & C. McAllister contra. Prayer de-
nied and prisoner remanded.

120. William A. Dana v. The Jackson Street Wharf Com-

pany. Deft, appealed. John B. Felton for Appel-
lant, S. Heydenfeldt for Respondent. Judg't re-
versed.

121. * James B. McMinn, Executor of the last will and testa-

ment of Wm. S. Reese, deceased, v. George D. Bliss
and John O'Connell and Harry O. Gough et al.
Defts. appealed. T. J. Bergin for Appellants, E. W.
F. Sloan for Respondent. Judg't reversed and new
trial ordered.

122. E. McDonald v. F. Katz and John Lahm. Deft, ap-

pealed. Chas. A. Tuttle for Appellant, Jo Hamilton
for Respondent. Judg't affirmed.

♦Involving title to land running from Jackson to Washington Street,
west of Polk, and also for block bounded by Washington, Jackson, Van
Ness Avenue, and Franklin Street and running to within 120 feet of
Gough Street. It is interesting to read that this especial section, now
valuable and a somewhat exclusive and aristocratic neighborhood, was in
November of 1863 the site of a slaughter house !

[313 ]

LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

i23.*People v. Mariposa Company, and the Real Estate
known as "Las Mariposas Estate" or "Fremont
Grant." Defts. appealed. J. B. Felton and Theo-
dore H. Hittell for Appellants, Atty. General Mc-
Cullough for the People. Judgment reversed and
cause remanded, with leave to plaintifis to amend
complaint.

124. Lake Merced Water Company v. Samuel Cowles,

County Judge of the City and County of San Fran-
cisco. Petition for Mandamus. Patterson & Carpen-
tier for Relator, Haight & Pierson for Respondent.
Prayer granted.

125. Henryr Leffingwell v. Frederick Griffing. Deft, ap-

pealed. B. S. Brooks for Appellant, Gray & Bran-
don for Respondent. Judg't affirmed.

126. A. J. Plate v. Placido Vega and Felipe Arrellano. Plff.

appealed. Patterson, Wallace & Stow for Appel-
lant, W. H. L. Barnes for Respondents. Judg't re-
versed and new trial ordered.

127. fThe People v. Jacob Smith. Deft, appealed. Good-

win & Burt for Appellant, Atty. General McCul-
lough for the People. Judg't reversed and new trial
ordered.

128. The People v. Marshall Young. Appeal from order

setting aside indictment for perjury. Atty. General
McCullough for People, Archer, Ryland & Williams
for Respondent. Order reversed and cause remanded.

129. The City and County of San Francisco v. David Cal-

derwood et al. Defts. appealed. J. M. Seawell for
Appellants, John W. Dwindle and John H. Saun-
ders for Respondents. Judg't reversed and the court
below instructed to enter judg't for Defts.

130. M. Began v. John O'Reilly, Michael O'Reilly and

George W. Cox. Defts. appealed. Van Clief &

*Action to recover $7088.23 taxes from Fremont estate.

tjacob Smith was convicted of murder in the first degree, in Butte
County. The decision held that the court was in error in excluding evidence
tending to show heredity insanity, inasmuch as the crime itself was wholly
without cause or reason, and opposed to every reasonable motive.

[314]

OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

Cowden for Appellant, Creed Haymond for Re-
spondent. Judg't affirmed.

131. Charles F. Lott v. H. K. Mitchell and E. M. Root.

Defts. appealed. Geo. Cadwalader for Appellants,
Jos. E. N. Lewis for Respondent. Judg't reversed
and cause remanded.

132. The People v. Carl Shaber. Deft, appealed. George

\Y. Tyler for Appellant, J. G. McCullough, Atty.
General, for People. Judg't affirmed.

133. In the matter of J. B. Brown. Application for Habeas

Corpus Writ. I. S. Brown for Petitioner, J. G. Mc-
Cullough, Atty. General, contra. Prayer denied.

134. A. B. Bowers and A. C. Sweetser v. Board of Super-

visors of Sonoma County. Application for Writ of
Mandate. Temple & Thomas for Motion, Latimer
& McCullough, and Moore & Alexander, for Pe-
titioners. Application dismissed.

135. Abner Reed and Joseph Gordon v. David Calderwood.

Deft, appealed. David Calderwood in pro. per. for
Appellant, S. M. Wilson and A. P. Crittenden for
Respondent. Judg't affirmed.

136. Theodore Le Roy v. Emerantienne Rassette. Plff. ap-

pealed. Edward L. Pringle for Appellant, Clarke
& Carpentier for Respondent. Motion granted to
strike out statement.

137. F. C. Anderson v. James C. Pennie. Application for

Writ of Mandate against Justice of Peace. Granted.

138. Zenith Gold and Silver Mining Company v. William

Irvine. Plff. appealed. S. B. Axtell for Appellant,
H. P. Barber for Respondent. Order affirmed.

139. Joseph Kile and Reese B. Thompson v. Silas Tubbs.

Pills, appealed. John B. Hall for Appellants, J. H.
Budd for Respondent. Judg't affirmed.

140. E. Rondel] v. Caleb T. Fay et als. Plff. appealed. Cut-

ter & Washington for Appellant, Barstow & Tomp-
kins for Respondent. Judg't reversed and new trial
granted.

[315]

LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

141. George Dougherty v. C. Foley. Plff. appealed. O. L.

Lane for Appellant, Daniel Rogers for Respondent.
Judg't reversed and new trial ordered.

142. Louis Bruck and wife v. Reason P. Tucker et al. Plffs.

appealed. B. S. Brooks for Appellants, C. Hartson
for Respondents. Judg't reversed and new trial ord-
ered.
:43- J- J- Robbins v. The Omnibus Railroad Company.
Deft, appealed. Haight & Pierson for Appellant,
Horace M. Hastings for Respondent. Judg't re-
versed and new trial ordered.

144. Michael Nolan v. Michael Reese. Deft, appealed.

Haight & Pierson for Appellant, James Mee for Re-
spondent. Judg't affirmed.

145. Edward Ewald, and Thomas Dorland v. John C. Cor-

bett, and John C. Corbett, Administrator, and Hen-
rietta Corbett, Administratrix of the Estate of Wil-
liam Corbett, deceased, and Vincenzo Zelna. Defts.
appealed. R. R. Provines for Appellants, B. S.
Brooks for Respondents. Judg't reversed and new
trial ordered.

146. Pio Pico v. Nicolas Colimas, Antonio Canto, and O. P.

Passons. Plff. appealed. Glassell & Chapman, for
Appellant, V. E. Howard for Respondents. Judg't
reversed and new trial granted.

147. D. Ghirardelli v. John L. Bourland et als. Defts. ap-

pealed. H. P. Barber for Appellants, E. F. Hunter
for Respondent. Judg't reversed and cause re-
manded.

148. Thomas W. More v. Peter Massini et als. Plff. ap-

pealed. S. F. & J. Reynolds for Appellant, Casserly
& Barnes for Respondents. Judg't reversed and new
trial granted.

149. Joseph Love v. Sierra Nevada Lake Water and Min-

ing Company, William George, John Bates, Charles
Bates, A. Homphrey, Administrator of the Estate of
P. Homphrey, deceased; John Ridgway, Francis
Wedgwood, Hensleigh Wedgwood, and Charles

[316]

OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

Robe. Defts. appealed. James A. Johnson, and
Creed Haymond, for Appellants, P. Van Clief for
Respondent. Judg't affirmed.

150. John H. M. Townsend, by Samuel J. Hensley, his

Guardian ad litem, v. Drury J. Tallant et als.
Defts. appealed. John W. Dwindle for Appellants,
E. Casserly, and Doyle & Barber, for Respondents.
Judg't affirmed.

151. Charles M. Siter v. William C. Jewett, William R.

Gorham, and William H. Taylor. Plff. appealed.
J. S. Blatchley, and Edward Tompkins, for Appel-
lant, Doyle & Barber, for Respondents. Judg't af-
firmed.

152. N. K. Masten v. Frederick Griffing. Plff. appealed.

Grey & Brandon for Appellant, B. S. Brooks for
Respondent. Judg't affirmed.

153. Ebenezer Wormouth v. Theodore H. Hatch and Rich-

ard M. Brandon. Plff. appealed. John Reynolds for
Appellant, Grey & Brandon for Respondents. Judg't
affirmed.

154. John W. Reed v. The Omnibus Railroad Company.

Plff. appealed. J. A. Fletcher for Appellant, Cas-
serly & Barnes for Respondent. Judg't affirmed.

155. James Enright v. The San Francisco and San Jose

Railroad Company. Plff. appealed. Moore & Laine
for Appellant, C. T. Ryland for Respondent. Judg't
affirmed.

156. Ex parte Shrader on Habeas Corpus. Haight & Pear-

son for Petitioner, J. G. McCullough for Respond-
ent. Writ denied and prisoner remanded.

157. C. Hebrard v. The Jefferson Gold and Silver Mining

Company. Plff. appealed. F. J. McCann and J. O.
Goodman for Appellant, G. N. Sweazy, and Chas.
E. Filkins for Respondent. Judg't affirmed.

158. John Rohr v. James McCaig. Deft, appealed. L. J.

Ashford for Appellant, Rowe Bliss, and J. G. East-
man, for Respondent. Judg't affirmed.

[317 ]

LIFE, DIARY AND LETTERS OF

159. Isaiah W. Francis v. J. W. Cox et al. Plff. appealed.

B. S. Brooks for Appellant, Patterson, Wallace &
Stow for Respondents. Order affirmed.

160. The Carson River Lumbering Company v. Robert Pat-

terson. Deft, appealed. H. Cook, and Nathaniel
Bennett, for Appellant, J. G. McCullough for Re-
spondent. Judg't reversed and cause remanded for
new trial.

161. Louis E. Miller v. Theresa Miller. Deft, appealed.

Tweed & Craig, and Hale & Fellows, for Appellant,
Jo Hamilton for Respondent. Judg't affirmed.

162. George Howard v. George Roeben. Plff. appealed.

Earl Bartlett for Appellant, C. Wittram for Re-
spondent. Judg't reversed and new trial granted.

163. David Mahoney v. A. J. Van Winkle et als. Plff. ap-

pealed. T. J. Bergin for Appellant, B. S. Brooks for
Respondents. Order affirmed.

164. George F. Sharp v. E. Daugney, Cora Weller, Antoin-

ette Jambois, and L. Cadiz. Defts. appealed. Pat-
terson, Wallace & Stow for Appellants, G. F. & W.
H. Sharp for Respondent.

165. James Brown v. J. J. Ayres et als. Plff. appealed. Cut-

ter & Washington for Appellant, W. P. C. Whiting
for Respondents. Order reversed.

166. John N. Keeran v. Francis R. Allen. Plff. appealed.

John B. Hall for Appellant; no brief for Respondent.
Rehearing denied.

167. August Ahrens v. Bar Adler. Deft, appealed. Jarboe

and Harrison for Appellant, Thompson Campbell
for Respondent. Judg't affirmed.

168. Robert H. Vance, and Faxon D. Atherton v. Jose De-

metrio Pena, Jesus Pena, Juan Pena, Gavanio Pena,
Sumatria Pena, Nestoria Pena, and Francisco Pena.
Plffs. appealed. S. F. and J. Reynolds for Appel-
lants, M. A. Wheaton for Respondents. Judg't af-
firmed.

[318]

OSCAR LOVELL SHAFTER

169. John A. Peck v. Levi Strauss and Henry L. Davis.

Defts. appealed. G. F. & W. H. Sharp for Appel-
lants, Doyle & Barber for Respondent. Judg't af-
firmed.

170. Thomas Carey v. The Philadelphia and California Pe-

troleum Company. Deft, appealed. Glassell & Chap-
man for Appellant, V. E. & C. V. Howard for Re-
spondent. Judg't affirmed.

171. John B. Frisbie v. Patrick Fogarty et als. Plff. ap-

pealed. Wm. S. Wells for Appellant, J. E. Pond for
Respondent. Order reversed.

172. I. Friendlander v. George P. Loucks. Plff. appealed.

Thos. A. Brown for Appellant, M. S. Chase for Re-
spondent. Judg't affirmed.

173. Asa D. Nudd and Charles S. Lord v. I. D. Thompson

and A. Harpending. Defts. appealed. Cope &
Daingcrfield for Appellants, McRea & Rhodes for
Respondents. Judg't reversed and new trial ordered.

174. John Parrott v. Richard S. Den. Deft, appealed.

Alexander Ely and George Turner, for Appellant,
Edward J. Pringle, and Charles Fernald, for Re-
spondent. Decree affirmed, with modifications.

175. George Barstow v. B. B. Newman et als. Defts. ap-

pealed. B. B. Newman for Appellants, Barstow &
Tompkins for Respondents. Judg't affirmed.

[ 3IQ J

INDEX

Acapulco, 49-53.

Adams & Co., 112, 113, 176, 177.

Aspinwall, 42-45.

Aspinwall, Vovage, New York to,
1854, 34-42.

Associated Alumni of Pacific Coast,
252, 257.

Atlantic cable, announcement re-
ceived, 198, 200.

Atlantic & Pacific R. R. project, 182.

Baker, E. D., Col., 97, 112, 113.

Baldwin, J. G., 95, 96, 125.

"Bench and Bar in California," 13.

Bensley, 210.

Berri Ranch, 195.

Bigler, John, 164.

Billings, Frederick, 5, 69, 79, 121,

131, 151.
Bonte, The Rev. J. H. C, 238-240.
Booth, Newton, 234.
Bowie, Hamilton, 124, 125.
Brosnan, C. M., 97.
Bucklew, B. R., 116-119.

Cisco, then trans-continental R. R.

terminus, 229.
Cole, Senator, 232.
CoIle.ee School, 252, 257.
Crockett, Judge J. B., 230-233-234.
Currev, Chief Justice John, 231, 233-

235.

Dodge, H. L., 215.

Drake, Sir Francis, landing-place, 9.

Duer, William, 144.

Dwinelle, John W., 5, 14, 15, 253.

Emmet, C. T., 95.

Evening Bulletin libel suit, Sickles

case, 187.
Fabens, F. A., 106.
Fawcett, Judge, 239.

[32

Field, Charles K., 14.

Field, Stephen J., 249-252.

Fitch, Dr. Russel, 56, 170.

Folsom, Joseph L., 66, 97, 125, 160,
166.

Frazer River Excitement, 194.

Free Soil Party, 178.

Fremont, Miss, 208, 209.

Fremont, Mrs., 208, 209.

Fremont & Dayton, 182, 186.

French Consul in San Francisco, As-
sault upon, 159.

Golden Gate (steamer), 33, 48.
Goold, Edmond E., 5, 216, 217.
Great Iguana, 39.

Hager, Judge John S., 151, 152, 175,

176.
Haight, H. H., 211, 215, 232.
Hall, John, 56.
Halleck, Henry W., 5, 68.
Halleck, Peachy, Billings and Park,

5, 31, 121, l'62-164.
Hamilton, The Rev. L., Memorial

Discourse, 282-290.
Hamilton, Fort, 34.
Hardv, Judge James B., Impeachment

of, 217.
Hevdenfeldt, Judge Solomon, 5, 188,

192, 204, 205, 212, 214, 217.
Highton, Henry E., 205.
Hoge, Joseph H., 232.
Howard, Emma Shafter-, 16.
Human Progress, Address by Judge

Shafter, 257-274.

Jackson, Prof. C. T. (discoverer of

ether), 253.
James, King of Wm., 181.
Jones, Edward, 176.
Junis v. Senator case, 99.

Know-Nothing Party, 164.

1]

INDEX

La Fayette, Fort, 34.
Lake, Delos, 165, 231.
Lake Tahoe, 225.

Lincoln, Abraham, News of Assassin-
ation, 226.
Lincoln, Charles, 125, 139.
Lone Mountain in 1854, 108, 109.
Louisian Hotel, Panama, 1854, 48.

McConnell, 231.

McDougall, Gen. James A., 177.
McDowell, Major-General Irvin, 253.
McKee, Judge S. B., 231.
McKinstry, Judge, pavs tribute to

Judge Shafter, 278, 279.
Mastick, E. B., 152, 153, 156, 157,

172, 175, 185.
Mission Dolores, 101, 102, 109, 110.
Montgomery Block, San Francisco, 99.
Murray, Judge Hugh C, 177.

Naglee, General, 112.
Nayler, H. M., 175.
North Star (steamship), 32.
Norton, Edward, 212, 215.

Oakland in 1855, 141; in 1871, 232.
Olema, California, 8, 16.
Overland Mail, 200.

Pacific Empire, project of, 182.

Pacific Methodist, 9.

Page, Bacon & Co., 112, 113.

Palmer, J. C, 210.

Palmer, Cook & Co., 176.

Panama, Isthmus of, in 1854, 42-48.

Park, Trenor W., 5, 56, 112, 121,

124-127, 151, 157, 175, 185, 190-

191.
Peachy, Archibald C, 5, 68, 98, 163,

169.
Peyton, Col. Balie, 110, 144.
Phelps, Timothy Guy, 234.
Point Reyes, California, (Punta de

los Reyes), 7.
Presidio, 101.
Punta de los Reves Ranchos, 187-190,

194-203.

Ralston, W. C, 232.
Randolph, Edmund, 63, 64, 68.
Ranney, Governor, 26.

Republican Campaign, First in Cali-
fornia, 182.

Republican Party in California, Or-
ganization of, 180.

Rhodes, Chief Justice A. L., 231, 234.

Rose, Julius K., 165.

St. Nicholas Hotel, Aspinwall, 1854,

44-45.
San Francisco, Description of, in early

days, 56, 60, 61, 99, 102, 111, 112.
San Mateo County in 1855, 132, 133.
San Quentin in 1858, 195.
Sanderson, Judge Silas W., 231.
Santa Anna, 51.
Sawyer, Judge Lorenzo, 231.
Schools of San Francisco in 1856,

179, 180.
Seaman's Bethel, 173.
Secession Outbreak in San Francisco,

213.
Selby, Thomas H., 234.
Shafter, Hugh, 24, 25.
Shafter, John, 189, 204.
Shafter, Tames McM., 9, 14, 15, 68,

151, 175, 178, 184-185, 192, 200,

204, 205, 213, 216, 217, 226, 228,

237-240.
Shafter, Mary Lovell, 4, 21, 22, 25.
Shafter, Sarah Riddle, 5.
Shafter, William (Sr.), 4, 26.
Shafter, Gen. William R., 217-218,

224, 225, 227, 240, 241.
Shafter & Mastick, 176.
Shafter-Howard, Mrs. Emma, 16.
Sharp, Solomon A., 151-153.
Shattuck, Judge, 9.
Shuck, Oscar T., 13.
Sitka, Russian bark, British prize-of-

war, 62-64, 68.
Slavery question in California, 98,

186.
Stanly, Edward, 112, 175.
Stephens, J. S., Cholera upon steamer,

158.
Summit, The, Isthmus of Panama,

1854, 45-47.
Supreme Bench, O. L. Shafter's elec-
tion to, 222, 223.
Supreme Court decisions, Comment

upon, 14.

[322 ]

INDEX

Supreme Court decisions written by
Judge Shafter, 299.

Supreme Court of California Memo-
rial to Judge Shafter, 276-278.

Taylor, Father, 173.
Temple, Jackson, 231.
Terry, Judge David S., 182.

Tompkins Judge Edward, 252.
Townshend, Vt., 19, 26.

U. S. Marshal in San Francisco, Mur-
der of, 173.
Uncle Sam, Cholera on steamer, 170.

Vigilance Committee, 1S0-1S2, 184-
186.

Weller, John B., 177.

Wells, Fargo & Co., 113.

Wendte, The Rev. Charles, Memorial

Window Dedication, 290-295.
Wesleyan University, Middletown,

Conn., 4, 9.
Wilbraham Academy, Mass., 4, 21.
Willev, The Rev. S. H., 281.
Williams, C. H. S., 5, 95, 185.
Wilmington, Vt., 5, 7, 16.
Wilson, 112.
Wool, Gen., 166.
Wright, Selden S., 231.
Wyche, Judge, 253.

[ 323 J

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