"That in its portraitures of Christ, there is something that stirs the hearts of the humblest, and sets them on fire with the thought, 'I too, am not a beast, but a child of God, destined to have a home here and an immortality hereafter?' That its profound contempt of riches and of mere worldly power,--its injunctions to the rich, 'sell all thou hast and give to the poor;' its pictures of Christ, coming from the workman's bench, and speaking, acting, doing and dying, so that the masses might no longer be the sport of priest or king, but the recreated men and women of a recreated social world; that in all this, it has caused more revolutions, given rise to more insurrections, leveled more deadly blows at absolute authority, than all other books that have been written since the world began?" "Yes--y-e-s--y-e-s," said the Prelate. "True, true, a mischievous book. But how would you remedy the evil?" "That's the question," said the Legate, dryly. After a long pause they began to talk concerning the mission of San Luis in California--its fertile hills and valleys, rich in the olive, fig, grape, orange and pomegranate,--and of the _thousand acres of barren land_, claimed alike by the Jesuits and Dr. Martin Fulmer. "The claim of the Fathers, to the mission-house and lands of San Luis, is established then?" said the Prelate. "It has been acknowledged by the Mexican Government," was the reply of the Legate. "And the claim to the thousand barren acres?" "It rests in my hands," replied the Legate: "by a train of circumstances altogether natural, although to some they may appear singular, it is in my power to decide, whether these thousand barren acres shall belong to our Church or to Dr. Martin Fulmer." "And it is not difficult to see which way your verdict wall fall;" the Prelate's eyes sparkled and a smile lit up his harsh features. "These acres are barren, barren so far as the fig, the orange, the vine, the pomegranate are concerned, barren even of the slightest portion of shrubbery or verdure, but rich--" "Rich in gold!" ejaculated the Prelate, folding his arms and fixing his eyes musingly upon the fire,--"gold sufficient to pave my way from this chair to the Papal throne;" he muttered to himself. "In Rome," he said aloud, "I had an opportunity to examine the records of the various missions, established by our Church in California; and they all contain traditions of incredible stores of gold, hidden under the rocks and sands of California. Does your experience confirm those traditions?" "I have traversed that land from the Sierra Nevada to the Pacific, and from North to South," replied the Legate, "and it is my opinion, based on facts, that California is destined to exercise an influence upon the course of civilization and the fate of nations, such as has not been felt for a thousand years."