She is the child of destiny, with her sceptre extended over the seas
which bind to her the great Orient. When John C. Calhoun was Secretary
of State he laid his finger on the map where San Francisco stands now,
and said: "There, when this Bay comes into our possession, will spring
up the great rival of New York." Give San Francisco a history as long
as that of New York, and then see what mighty force she will develop.
Has she not at her feet all the great States which stretch out beyond
the Rocky Mountains? Has she not the homage of all the Pacific coast
lands with their untold wealth? And are not her perpetuity and
greatness assured? "Whoever," says Sir Walter Raleigh, "commands the
sea commands the trade of the world, and whoever commands the trade of
the world commands the riches of the world, and consequently the world
itself." True is it that San Francisco commands the riches of Alaska,
the commerce of China and Japan, the wealth of the Sandwich Islands
and of the Philippine Archipelago as well as the products of the South
Seas, and what more can she desire? Her cup, a golden cup, is full to
overflowing; and I see the years coming, in the visions of the future,
when the city will cover, like a jewelled robe, the whole Peninsula
as far south as San Jose and will embrace within her government the
flourishing towns upon the beautiful shores of her great Bay.
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