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be most happy to call" is not true, when it is tiresome and disagreeable to make that call.

"But society demands it." No, indeed! "Society" would be far better if those calls only were made where real friendship and esteem exist. Throw aside this keeping up appearances, and there would be less ill-will, less back-biting and slander, more genuine friendship among our sex, and a higher tone to society in general.

MARY MORRIS KIRKE.

RESPONSES FROM THE MINES.

NO. III.

IN THE MINES, Dec. 1, 1857. DEAR SISTER MAY,-I find I must be brief, for that Social Chair I see was not provided entirely for our comfort; and however pleasant it may be for us to sit in it and hold sweet converse together, we must not be selfish, but resign our seat to listen to others, as well as talk ourselves.

You thank me for my cordial invitation to you to visit me in my cabin, "but are afraid you can't come," and then "you don't know where it is, or what it is like," and several other questions you have asked, from which I begin to think you really don't care much about seeing me, unless my surroundings are all of the right sort-pleasant and agreeable. Now, dear May, had you really desired in your heart to visit me, I believe there are no difficulties which might not have been surmounted; for what cannot woman do when she determines to accomplish what she has in view, particularly when her heart is in the work? I threw all my heart into that "invitation," dear May, for I wanted to bring yours out into the mountains; but I fear it has had the effect of making it cling closer to home; and you have not received it with the heart only, for I find you have examined it critically, and you say "it is beautifully composed." That is the "most unkindest cut of all." O! how my poor heart bleeds!

How do I know that you are not the greatest old maid in San Francisco? That was very easily known when I penned my last letter, but now assurance is doubly

sure.

Do old maids imagine themselves to be fairies, sister May? The idea is prepos terous. But may not the maiden of sweet

sixteen have such ideal visions? and has she not a fairy's witching influence? Would an old maid select four frolicsome young girls to accompany her on a proposed visit to a lonely miner? I think not, sister May. But, above all, could an old maid fly about with the agility which you displayed when you were chasing up Fred, to regain that stolen stanza of poetry? Verily, no. The thing is impossible, May, and I think I begin to know a little about you. Besides all this, I think I can discover a shrinking maiden timidity in your last letter, which seems to say, "Brother Frank is growing too warm; I must not encourage him till I find out something more about him; he is rather too plain in some of his hints." Now, I don't think elderly maidens would be quite so particular and fastidious. Speaking about elderly maidens, I once, in New York city, had the good fortune to be introduced to an elderly maiden from a far country-one not unknown to fame. When I first saw her, I thought she was the homeliest woman I had ever seen; but I had not conversed with her fifteen minutes, before she began to appear beautiful. Her intelligence, her refinement, her kindness of heart, her goodness, and the sympathizing tones of her voice, were to me the only characteristics of her person, and they seemed to clothe her with a beauty which could not be dispelled. That elderly maiden was Frederika Bremer; and a few such I have known, who I must confess were not without their charms. So you see, dear May, there is some chance for you with me, even should you be an old maid, provided you are of the right kind. Suppose I adapt a stanza of my last invitation, to meet such a contingency:

Come to me, elderly maiden,
Come with a heart all free;
Come and create an Aiden
In my cabin home for me.

Our editor has kindly informed us that the Chair is for all kinds of fun, and so I hope, dear May, that you will excuse me for poking a little fun at you this time. I have lots more of the same sort left; but then the chair should not hold me any longer, for others are waiting for a seat. So adieu ! Sincerely and affectionately yours,

BROTHER FRANK.

P. S. I suppose you did not visit me because you were apprehensive that you might

find me a rusty, crusty old bachelor; and then in common courtesy you would be bound to invite me to return your visit; and then--and then but you can im

agine all the rest. Yours ever,

BROTHER FRANK.

A CHALLENGE.-Some fair lady, without name, (that is, she left no name with us,) placed this on our counter, and, without word or sign, immediately walked away. Now if some "honest" gentleman of "honor" does not make a post-office of our Social

Chair, by sending an answer to the following, why-well, we shall see.

I would fain look upon an honest man,

And mean to do it if I can

So keep trying-and when I've found him I will not fail to throw around him

Humanity's garb-the stamp of honor— Hoping he will not forget the donor,

Nor fail to send me back an answer,

Post-paid, of course, if he is a man sir.

M.

Editor's Table.

THE SEASON. -We hold this as a time when the balance-sheet of human feeling should perfectly tally; and, whether debtor or creditor, that we should be willing to make our accounts in matters of friendship (and business, too, if possible) come out square. It is a time when hard thoughts against those who may have offended us should be softened; and as, for His sake, in whose remembrance we gratefully commemorate the day and season, we hope to be forgiven; that we (who, at best, are but mortal and very imperfect) should be not only willing, but anxious to extend the heart and hand to our sinning brother. May God help us, reader, if we feel less forgiving than our Maker. In lives of three score years and ten, if we cannot feel the heart's yearning and relenting towards all, at least once a year, what ought we, in fairness, to expect? In gratitude for favors so generously bestowed upon us, let us now and throughout the year keep perpetual holiday in our hearts by our God-like humanity to our brethren. Let us seek out the hungry, that we may feed them; the naked, that we may clothe them; the exposed, that we may shelter and protect them; the suffering, that we may soothe and comfort them; the troubled, that we may cheer and relieve them; the embarrassed, that we may aid and gladden them by our counsel and assistance; and, above all, inasmuch as it requires a greater effort than all, that we take even he who has injured us (if such there be) by the hand, and say, "Let us now be friends, and forgive

each other, and learn in the future to know and do better than in the past," and thus, according to the good book, "Thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head," and throughout the year upon which we have just entered you can become indissoluble friends.

The poor outcast, even, must not be forgotten or excluded, now, or ever, from our sympathies, for she is our sister, and he is our brother, however much the well-remembered image of their childhood and innocence may be effaced. We may yet be like them then, who shall pity us?

It was a wise law of the All-wise that man should be the most happy on the surest and best of all principles, namely: that of increasing his individual happiness just in proportion as he became the instrument of happiness to others. Think of and do that, brethren all, throughout the year: then we predict for you a happy and a prosperous one, for God and man will unite to bless and help you.

FRIENDS, CONTRIBUTORS, SUBSCRIBERS, READERS, and WELL-WISHERS, we wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

To Friends. We owe a large debt of gratitude for your personal sympathy and assistance in our enterprise throughout the year. By the gentle breezes of your kindly wishes and words, our skiff has been wafted prosperously along on her California voyage; and, we trust, has been the means of bearing love and good-will to all-for such

indeed in our heart of hearts have we de- | ted relationships; all the happiness enjoyed sired it to do-while making the port of public favor. Our assorted cargo of literary merchandise we hope has proved acceptable to all-unitedly we have sought to make it so. We earnestly hope that for the year before us she may be freighted with yet more costly gems of thought, with still greater earnestness of purpose, and with much higher and more ennobling aspirations; that her voyage may this year be still more propitious unto all; and our wares become so acceptable to the public, as to justify, and create the necessity for, an increase in her capacity, without extra freight charges to the charter-party-the reader.

To Contributors. Without other wages of reward than that arising from your labors

of love for and in the cause of literature to our own California, you have stood by our vessel through the whole year's voyage; a brave and noble crew, manfully-the ladies included doing duty; and we thank you. If you are satisfied with the officers, craft, and shipping articles, (and we hope you are,) we invite you to join us for the new year's cruise; with the earnest wish that it may prove yet more prosperous and agreeable than the last, both to ourselves and the passengers-our subscribers and readers. May we be spared to finish the voyage through the year together; and when we arrive in port, and drop our anchor, on the last day of December next, may we feel that by God's blessing this year has been spent to some purpose, in having increased the wealth of human hearts, by making them feel happier and nobler for the intercourse held between us.

To Subscribers, Readers and Well- Wishers. There is an essential bond of sympathy between writers and readers in a work like ours, that should be ever fondly cherished. One is happily dependent on the other. However stout, fast, and well found may be the ship; however brave and self sacrificing may be the men; however rich and varied may be the cargo; without appreciating purchasers, all commercial intercourse between individuals and nations is at an end. On the other hand, all the pleasures arising from the possession of articles; all the enjoyments springing from refined and eleva

and diffused by commercial, intellectual, or social communication, would be excluded but for the former. We hope that in this all have been satisfied. One thought, alone, may have repaid the full investment; inasmuch as one thought enjoyed will become the medium of more true pleasure and advantage than ten or even fifty times the cost of the whole. Intellectual enjoyments are too often undervalued. Many persons, for instance, will prefer to give twenty-five cents for something to smoke, drink, or eat, the pleasure from which is lost in but a few brief minutes; while the same amount invested in a newspaper, magazine, or book, not only would give a higher and nobler pleasure, but one that is much more beneficial and lasting.

A GENERAL INVITATION.-We shall be happy to receive original pieces of excellence from all persons and sources. They should be short, comprehensive, entertaining and instructive, and as spirited and lively as it is possible to make them. There is much slumbering talent in the State; we should like to awake it up. We have but one magazine here; that one should be excellent. Will the educated and the intellectual assist us to make it so?

MEETING OF THE LEGISLATURE.-On the first Monday of the present month the Legislature will convene. It will be an important day for California, inasmuch as a vast be well done during the ensuing session. amount of invaluable business requires to We hope that a high and ennobling standard will regulate the thoughts and actions of this body, that our past disgrace may be taken away; and that every Californian may hereafter point with pride to our Legislature as an equal with the best; and, like our State, be the brightest in the glorious galaxy. While every citizen with anxious eye may keep vigilant watch over every member and measure, we hope it will not be with a spirit of abusive find-faultativeness or suspicion; but with a high-minded and straightforward confidence in the honor, integrity and ability of the man, that the measure may be worthy of the confidence reposed, from the highest of all motives.

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G., Placerville.-We have most of the particulars of that A. W. B. black sand story; but as you may perhaps furnish something additional, we shall wait to hear from you.

B. F.-Yours is e-x-c-e-1-1-e-n-t.

H. J.-Ditto, yet not sufficiently condensed. P. T., Montezuma Hill.-We give it up. Once we foolishly thought that we could read any thing at least in English; but we don't now, for yours beats us. If six German (or any other kind of) herrings, with some hieroglyphics thrown in-not omitting by any means a few crabs or lobsters for capitals-make one stanza, then yours is all right. To make the matter still worse, (if that were possible), it is written on both sides of the paper-a species of economy, believe us, never appreciated by the editorial profession.

G. W. R.-Thank you. The same please accept. The lines sent are not quite suitable for a magazine.

B. B. All right.

C. A., Goodyear's Bar.-Yes, just now, especially. Mount Guiengola is about sixteen miles northwesterly from the city of Tehuantepec, and is remarkable for the immense heaps of ruins covering almost every part of it; showing it to have been at some greatly remote period, and before its present forests existed, thickly inhabited, where now not a soul lives. There is still a massive wall of stone, several - miles in length, along the very verge of several precipices, and across numerous ravines. The mountain is said to contain a remarkable cave. A few years hence, and that country will astonish us. J. K. L.-Will be welcome. We shall try next month to give some of the opinions of correspondents about what our magazine should contain. This much we may now say, that it would be something like the weather could every person have it made to suit his individual tastes and wishes-simply no kind (and yet all kinds) of weather.

T. B. The Chinese question is now very complicated, and will be much more so

before it is done with, or we lose our guess. We differ with you very much, as we do with many others whose articles we publish-but that would make no difference, providing your piece showed that the right spirit had dictated and defended your views. Declined.

Emily A., Santa Rosa.-It is a great and by far too common an error in writers for the press-they think too little, and write too much. We shall be pleased again to hear from you, in some piece for this magazine. One thought, clothed in suitable language, seldom suffers from being briefly and concisely expressed.

Joe B.-Are you a member of the old Joe B., "Major B-agstock" family?. M.-" My Ideal" has either four lines too few, or four too many. Was it an oversight?

D. T.-Then don't buy it. DECLINED." I saw her in the merry dance," (the only passable line in it is the first, and that is borrowed)-"The Pope's Gift," (soft as well as sectarian)-"The F. F.'s of S. F.," (too personal)-"California Morality," (is too prosy)-"Expressiveness," (in the title, only)-" The Natural Diseases of different Countries," (you only mention two, and your views on those we know to be incorrect. It is an excellent subject "skipped," not treated.)—"My blue-eyed" (is it pig? or) pet"? You might possess more personal respect than to send such silly, commonplace sentences,worn threadbare many years ago, to any publication. T. N.-We know you must be a funny fellow to write such spicy lines. We shall be pleased to publish them, if you will carefully revise them, removing all the coarse language. That spoils all.

General Remarks.--We should like all good friends who favor us with articles this year to make them better, if possible, than the past. Write carefully, and as carefully examine what you have written before sending it for publication. That is our advice; and, should you take it, you will at the end of this year thank us cordially for it.

HUTCHINGS’

CALIFORNIA MAGAZINE.

VOL. II.

FEBRUARY, 1858.

OVERLAND, FOR A RAILROAD,

FROM THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER TO THE PACIFIC OCEAN.

No. 8.

[graphic][merged small]

from various starting points, and on different parallels of latitude.

The reader will doubtless remember | fitted out and dispatched on that mission, that during the years 1853 and 1854, Acts of Congress were passed, authorizing and providing for the exploration and survey of the country lying between the Mississippi river and the Pacific Ocean, for the purpose of ascertaining the most practicable and economical route for a railroad across that portion of the American continent. In accordance with the provisions of that Act, expeditions were

One, under Gov. J. J. Stevens, left St. Paul's, at the head of steamboat navigation on the Mississippi river, in latitude 45°, and explored from thence near the forty-seventh and forty-ninth parallels of north latitude, to Seattle, on Puget Sound, Washington Territory, a distance of 2025 miles.

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