the accompanying exhibition of a selfish strain that takes away much of the admiration that would otherwise be felt for them. Some have wished to circumvent hungry, hated or unworthy relatives; some to continue a monopoly; some to extend a special influence; some to perpetuate a name. Lick on the other hand seems to have contemplated the dedication of all he possessed, and all he could rake and scrape together, to philanthropic purposes of the most exalted kind, from a very early period and with no reference to any selfish object. He had never been married and had no family except a natural son, said to be the child of the Pennsylvania miller's daughter, whose father had driven him off and who herself did not see proper to follow his fortunes. This son, whom he afterwards sent for and employed at his place on Guadalupe creek as an assistant, though perhaps without vices, was certainly without any noble virtues and totally unfit to be the dispenser of a fortune. Lick was not and could not be proud of him. He had also some collateral relatives; but they were all rustic, unpresentable and utterly unacquainted with the use of money and the ways of the world. Under the circumstances, he almost from the start of his fortune, as has been stated before, contemplated devoting it, or the great bulk of it, to the benefit of mankind in general and particularly that portion which constituted the people of California. He had always had a very high respect for the Society of California Pioneers, which he thought a beneficent association, calculated to do much good and of which he was president for a number of years before his death; but he had also in the course of his experience acquired a great admiration for science; and, upon deep consideration, having made up his mind that the greatest good to mankind would be promoted by its cultivation, he determined to leave the bulk of his wealth to scientific purposes. There may possibly have been in this determination a desire to be remembered; but if so it was a modest wish and was never obtruded or put forward offensively by himself. Everything in fact about his movements indicated a pure, unselfish, disinterested, benevolent, highly-enlightened philanthropy; and the more all the circumstances are considered, the more excellent, sublime and worthy of admiration appears the man who could and did so act.

In 1874, after having previously given a lot and building on Montgomery near Jackson street in San Francisco to the Society of Pioneers and attempted to convey other valuable property on Market and Fourth streets in San Francisco to that society and the Academy of Sciences, he deeded all his property, then valued at three millions of dollars, to a board consisting of Thomas H. Selby and six other persons in trust to erect and equip an observatory and for other philanthropic purposes-much like the conveyance about to be mentioned, which took its place and became effective. In 1875, becoming dissatisfied with Selby, he requested him to resign; and Selby expressed a willingness to comply, but subsequently, after consultation with his associates who objected, declined to do so—as did afterwards all the trustees as a body when requested. Lick thereupon published a revocation of his trust deed and cautioned the public against dealing with the trustees. Selby and his associates in reply, finding that their efforts to hold in opposition were vain and their authority over the trust property was weakened and in effect destroyed, commenced a suit to be released and have their accounts settled, to which Lick assented; and the controversy, which at one time threatened a long and desperate litigation, was amicably settled. Lick thereupon made new and effective deeds to the Academy of Sciences and Pioneers of the lots attempted to be conveyed before, and on which they built their imposing halls; and on September 21, 1875, he executed a new and effective deed of all his remaining property to Richard S. Floyd, Faxon D. Atherton, John Nightingale, Bernard D. Murphy and his son, John H. Lick, whom he had in the meanwhile legitimized, in trust to expend seven hundred thousand dollars in building an observatory, equipping it with the most powerful telescope in the world. and turning it over for public use in charge of the University of California; five hundred and forty thousand dollars in establishing a mechanical arts school in San Francisco; one hundred and fifty thousand dollars in erecting a free bath house and a like sum for an old ladies' home also in San Francisco; several hundred thousand dollars in endowing and building various orphan asylums and other institutions for charity or the alleviation of suffering indigence and to set up various works of sculptural art,

including a statue to Francis Scott Key, the author of the Star Spangled Banner, and a monument in front of the San Francisco city hall representing the history of California; and, after the payment of a number of very liberal bequests and legacies to all his relatives, including one hundred and fifty-three thousand dollars to John H. Lick in lieu of three thousand dollars previously intended to be given, to divide the residue equally between the Academy of Sciences and the Society of Pioneers.

Subsequently and but a short time before his death, becoming dissatisfied with his new trustees, except Floyd who was absent in Europe, because they declined to make certain dispositions which he desired but which they considered themselves unauthorized to carry out, he required their resignation—a right to do which he had reserved in his second deed of trust-and thereupon appointed four other persons, Edwin B. Mastick, William Sherman, George Schoenwald and Charles M. Plum, who with Floyd constituted the last board of trustees. This board, in the course of the next nineteen years, worthily and successfully carried out all Lick's grand and beneficent designs-disposing of all the property, which in the meanwhile had kept on increasing in value, at much larger prices than had been anticipated; building and equipping the world-wide celebrated "Lick Observatory" on Mount Hamilton in Santa Clara county; delivering over the various sums devoted to other boards or persons for other establishments or institutions; paying off in full all the bequests and legacies, including over half a million of dollars by way of compromise to John H. Lick, who as the wise old philanthropist had been disposed to fear afterwards made trouble, and finally dividing about a million of dollars between his twin favorites and residuary legatees, the California Academy of Sciences and the Society of California Pioneers, which expended most of the sums thus given them upon their before-mentioned buildings and thus reared, as well as others, fitting monuments to the memory of the great donor.

Meanwhile the legislature, next after the presidential election of 1876 and the last under the old constitution, met at Sacramento on December 3, 1877. On December 6, as soon as the houses were fully organized, Irwin sent in his biennial message. He

characterized the year 1876 as prosperous, but 1877 as one of drought, partial failure of crops, general depression, riotous proceedings against the Chinese, and almost universal dissatisfaction and disturbance. The financial condition of the state was not bad, though taxes were increasing; and, on account of a recent decision of the supreme court to the effect that taxes on mortgages and solvent debts were unconstitutional and invalid, the rates would have to be advanced still higher. But the matter which he seemed to consider of most serious import in relation to the revenue was a decision of the supreme court in substance overturning the state board of equalization. And he urgently recommended that the new constitution-which he had done so much to bring about-should provide or authorize the legislature to provide for such a board. To the new constitution also, which he seemed to regard as a panacea for all ills, he recommended a reference of the subject of the enlargement and management of the state prison-evidently thinking that the needs of that institution were rapidly increasing. At the same time, he appears to have done quite as much as any other governor to empty the prisons by exercising the pardoning power in very many cases, not excepting that of John J. Marks, which occasioned much public adverse comment. But it seems, in reference to pardons in general, that he was very much dissatisfied, even with himself. Much of his pardoning had been done on the theory that sentences were too severe, simply because they were severer than in other cases of supposed similar nature; and he therefore recommended that in some way or other sentences should be equalized, and that the pardoning power should be destroyed. "The exercise of the pardoning power by the executive," he said, “is wholly unsatisfactory to all parties concerned-to the criminals as a body, to their friends, to the community at large and— more than to any one else—to the executive himself."1

In regard to the riotous proceedings against the Chinese and other disturbances previously referred to, Irwin was in reality speaking of the violent and menacing demonstrations of what was known as the "sand-lots" excitement, which had recently started among the lower classes of San Francisco, had grown 1 Assembly Journal, 1877-8, 12–19, 29–31.

with amazing rapidity and already threatened great disorder. It developed into a very dangerous movement, which afterwards had to be suppressed by heroic treatment, as will be shown hereafter; but for the present it was not properly appreciated, or at least not by the governor. On the contrary, he professed to consider the trouble as mere temporary ill-humor, which would soon pass away, and even went so far as to rather encourage than repress the disturbances by expressly stating that he did not "think the laboring people ought to cease to agitate as long as they have just cause for complaint or grievances to be remedied." This sort of euphemism might be very good for a politician; but it was very bad for a statesman, and particularly a governor. He was aware that the sand-lots agitators had committed unlawful, overt acts, and said so; but, instead of condemning, he rather excused them. When he came to speak of the Chinese again, he used language against them, which would much better have suited the stump than the gubernatorial chair, and intimated that, though unfortunately the Chinese were entitled to come here under the Burlingame treaty and entitled to protection after they came, it would not be possible to protect them and, if protected, it would be at the expense of everything valuable in civilization. He therefore recommended that an effective call should be made for the abrogation of that portion of the Burlingame treaty, which allowed unlimited immigration, and such other action as might be proper and necessary to effectually abate the evil complained of. Obviously, after the use of such language and particularly the sentiment evinced, it did very little good, especially in the presence of a riotous crowd like that of the sand-lots, to advise that the Chinese already in the state should be treated the same as any other residents and to promise that his department at least would endeavor to secure to them the equal protection of the laws in the future as it had done in the past. At the same time, however, that he thus spoke against the Chinese and carefully abstained from saying anything very severe or offensive directly against the sand-lots movement, he strongly urged more effective attention to placing the organized militia of the state on a proper basis and making it efficient in drill and all soldierly exercises. "The events," he said, "which