From New York "the cry is still they go"—for California
direct. The reflecting Americans, as Yankees, are all admiration at the go-ahead style of the gold affair ; while, as countrymen of Washington, they deplore the Anti-Republican curse inflicted in the gold-bed of California by way of retribution for the Mexi- can war. And a new rumour increases their bitterness. It is said that to the treaty of peace with Mexico was appended a secret protocol, hitherto unknown to anybody but the Executive ; which protocol, signed by the American Commissioners, "having full power to do so," is to the effect that all the amendments made by the Senate at Washington were to be of no avail—that the treaty was to be understood as it was originally made by Mr. Trist. One article inserted by the Mexicans, and rejected by the Serrite, stipulated that all grants made by the Mexican Government should be deemed valid ; and that Government had made a grant to one Macnamara, an Irish priest, of a million of acres in California. So Mr. Macnamara is expected to claim his own again, and Mr. Polk is accused of stimulating the gold mania, by multiplying official re- ports on the riches of the spot, in order to hasten settlement, and thus block out the priest by thousands of squatters with gold balls in their rifles. That people in the United States should believe this story at all, attests a lamentably low state of intellect and morals in that country; and gold is not the article to elevate their moral standard.
Previous page
