=394. California and the Discovery of Gold.=—California was a beautiful region which offered many advantages besides that of rounding out American territory on the Pacific. Its climate was delightful; its soil fertile and capable of varied productions; its forests were valuable. But a greater source of wealth was soon discovered. In January, 1848, an American mechanic named Marshall, in the employ of a Swiss named Sutter, found gold in a mill-race near the Sacramento River. The secret was not kept, and soon every industry in the region was abandoned and thousands of men were washing sand and digging gold out of the cliffs. The news reached Washington late in 1848, and the next year saw a rush for California, the like of which had never been known before. Some adventurers made the long journey overland in caravans formed of vehicles of every sort. Others tried the dangerous voyage around Cape Horn. Others went by ship to Panama, crossed the Isthmus, and took their chances of getting a vessel on the Pacific side. Arrived in California, these “Forty-niners,” as they have since been called, plunged into the wild, exciting life described so well by Bret Harte. Soon a population large enough to demand statehood was assembled, and California began to play its great part in national affairs.[176] [Illustration: THE COMPROMISE OF 1850] THE COMPROMISE OF 1850. [Illustration: HENRY CLAY (1847).] =395. Doctrines of Clay, Webster, and Calhoun.=—There was naturally much excitement over the demand of the Californians, and declarations of a purpose to secede were often heard in Southern conventions. It was for the purpose of bringing the North and the South nearer together, and preventing such a catastrophe, that Henry Clay, the author of the Second Missouri Compromise, now came forward with the famous Compromise of 1850. Before introducing it, he had an interview with Daniel Webster and secured the promise of the latter’s support. The debate on the subject was one of the most memorable in the history of Congress. Clay, in one of the greatest of his speeches, described the dangers of the situation and pointed out that national disaster could be averted only by a reasonable yielding on both sides. Calhoun, nearing his grave, and too feeble even to read his speech, was brought into the Senate in a chair to hear his speech read by a colleague. Reiterating his doctrine of the constitutional right of secession, he maintained that a continuance of the present conditions was impossible. But the greatest interest was concentrated upon Webster. He was universally regarded as the foremost statesman in the North. Though he had often deplored the existence of slavery, and always opposed its extension, his views on the matter of the Compromise now presented were not generally known, and the declaration of his position was awaited with intense anxiety. His speech on Clay’s measure, since commonly referred to as the “Seventh of March