of their principles with joy. Sidney Johnston is the last hope of
the Southern leaders. The old soldier's resignation speeds eastward
on the pony express. Day by day, exciting news tells of the snapping
of cord after cord. Olden amity disappears in the East. The public
voice is heard.

The mantle of heroic Baker as a political leader falls upon the boy
preacher, Thomas Starr King. He boldly raises the song of freedom.
It is now no time to lurk in the rear. Men, hitherto silent; rally
around the flag.

The "Union League" grows fast, as the "Golden Circle" extends. All
over California, resolute men swear to stand by the flag. Stanford
and Low are earning their governorships. From pulpit and rostrum
the cry of secession is raised by Dr. Scott and the legal meteor
Edmund Randolph, now sickening to his death. Randolph, though
a son of Virginia, with, first, loyal impulses, sent despatches
to President Lincoln that California was to be turned over to the
South. He disclosed that Jefferson Davis had already sent Sidney
Johnston a Major-General's commission. Though he finally follows
the course of his native State, Randolph rendered priceless service
to the Union cause in the West. General Edward V. Sumner is already
secretly hurrying westward. He is met at Panama by the Unionist
messengers. They turn back with him. In every city and county
the Unionists and Southerners watch each other. While Johnston's
resignation flies eastward, Sumner is steaming up the Mexican coast,
unknown to the conspirators.

In the days of March and April, 1861, one excited man could have
plunged the Pacific Coast into civil warfare. All unconscious of