"We have ample proof to warrant the statement, that had the south been successful in establishing a separate form of government, it was the purpose of the French emperor to seize Louisiana, Texas and New Mexico, and together with the aristocracy of England, to destroy the so-called Southern Confederacy and thus, at one swoop, wipe out a nation they were ostensibly trying to establish; for under the contingent conditions mentioned, England's policy was to seize Virginia, the Carolinas and other southern states bordering on the Atlantic. To the everlasting credit of the masses of the English and the French people be it said, that they had not part in, or sympathy with, the efforts of the few political demagogues of the nations mentioned in their efforts to aid in the destruction of this beautiful country of ours, the most free and independent on the face of the globe. "My friends, from the very earliest period of American history the log cabin has been the cradle of our greatest men. Lincoln, Grant and a host of others began life in a log cabin. Our churches and our school houses, the bulwarks of our nation's strength and greatness, began to shoot out their branches of education from the 'little old log cabin.' The magnitude of this great country is like the rough gem in the hands of the lapidary. He takes no credit for its possession, but he does take credit for what skill he may exercise in making it beautiful and more valuable. So with the American people, it is left to them to so exercise their skill, mentally and physically, in improving and beautifying the gem that has so generously been bestowed upon them by the Great Creator, that its lustre and brilliancy may shed its light of freedom and intelligence over every quarter of the globe. "Out here in California the pioneers work has only commenced, thanks to the patient, enduring, uncomplaining and vigorous work of our little army, the way has been cleared of the relentless foe of the white man, barbarism lies buried beneath the blood-stained graves of many a brave heart that wore the honored blue of Uncle Sam's (pioneer) soldiers, then follows the sturdy citizen pioneer, as exemplified here today, where our worthy host and hostess have so successfully improved and beautified this rough gem of the Sierras following out the traditions of the American nation, by the erection of that particular mark of American thrift and enterprise, this little log cabin that crowns the 'Acropolis' and in which today we joyfully celebrate the nativity of our republic."