on the shores of the Golden Gate, a fact
commemorated, as we have already noted in a previous chapter, by
the Prayer Book Cross erected by the late George W. Childs, of
Philadelphia, in Golden Gate Park. This was prophetic of bright days
to come. Time would roll on and bring its marvellous changes, but
the truth of God would remain the same, and the Church would still
flourish and the liturgy of our forefathers would hold its place in
the affections of the people of all ranks, as at this day. Drake and
Fletcher could hardly have realised, however, that the good seed which
they then sowed, though it might remain hidden from view for many
generations, would in time spring-up and yield a glorious harvest.
We are not unmindful, of course, of the labours and teachings of the
Franciscans among the California Indians; but when this order of
things passed away and the Anglo-Saxon succeeded the Spaniard and the
Mexican, it was but natural that the old Church which had made Great
Britain what it was and is, aye, and moulded our civilisation on
this continent, should seek a foothold in the beautiful lands by the
Pacific and on the slopes of the Sierras. Many of the Church's sons
were among the thousands who sought California in quest of gold, and
these Argonauts she would follow whithersoever they went. They must
not be left alone to wrestle with the temptations which would beset
them far away from home and the hallowing influences of sacred
institutions and religious services. Hence it is that we behold that
zealous missionary of the Church, the Rev. Flavel Scott Mines, going
forth to seek out Christ's sheep in San Francisco and elsewhere, and
to gather them into the fold of the Good Shepherd. His history is most
interesting and instructive. He was the son of Rev. John Mines, D.D.,
a Presbyterian clergyman of Virginia, and was born in Leesburg, Va.,
on the 31st of December, 1811. In 1830 he was graduated from Princeton
Theological Seminary, and soon after he became pastor of the Laight
Street Presbyterian Church, New York city, where he served with
distinction until he resigned his charge in 1841. In 1842 he took
orders in the Church, of which to the day of his death he was a loyal
son. Reasons for becoming a churchman and the motives which impelled
him are set forth in a striking and graphic manner in his monumental
book, "A Presbyterian Clergyman Looking For the Church," a work of
marked ability and of great utility. It had a l