e:

"Treason against the Government and constitution is preached from the
pulpit, printed in the newspapers, and openly advocated in the streets
and public places."

A work just from the press, "California--Men and Events"--by Mr. G. H.
Tinkham, affords valuable testimony to the necessity and value of King's
mission as patriotic leader:

"At a time when some Union men were paralyzed with dread, and others
undecided which way to turn, Thomas Starr King traveled over the state
bolstering up the weak-hearted, and urging loyal men to stand firmly for
the Union. In his lectures, 'Washington,' 'Daniel Webster,' 'The Great
Uprising,' and 'The Rebellion in Heaven,' in unanswerable arguments
and matchless eloquence he kindled the patriotism of the people into
a glowing flame. It is conceded that no individual did more to keep
California in the Union than did Thomas Starr King."

How necessary it was that some one should "kindle the patriotism of the
people into a glowing flame" is further evident from the fact that
the California Legislature of 1861 numbered as its members 57 Douglas
Democrats, 33 Southern Democrats, and but 24 Republicans. What this
alignment signified may be judged from the following incident. Edmund
Randolph, (a former Virginian, and a man of fiery eloquence) on July
11, 1861, delivered unrebuked in the State Democratic Convention at
Sacramento, this diatribe against Abraham Lincoln: "For God's sake speed
the ball, may the lead go quick to his heart--and may our country be
free from this despot usurper, that now claims to the name of President
of the United States."

A few days earlier, July 4, 1861, a Confederate flag waved undisturbed
in Los Angeles, as well as in other nearby towns, the Union men in that
section being largely in the minority. For a considerable time in the
United States Marshal's office in San Francisco, a Confederate flag
waved from a miniature man-of-war named "Jeff Davis."

In Merced County, Union men were in a sorry minority! A favorite
campaign song in that region was entitled, "We'll Drive the Bloody
Tyrant Lincoln From Our Dear Native Soil." A little later, the Equal
Rights Expositer of Visalia characterized President Lincoln as "a narrow
minded bigot, an unprincipled demagogue, and a drivelling, idiotic,
imbecile creature."

Unpleasant testimony of this sort, demonstrating the presence and power
of a bitter spirit of disloyalty, running all through the State, but
most in e