“The building in which the convention met was probably the only one in California suited for the purpose. It is a handsome two-story edifice of yellow sandstone, situated on a gentle slope above the town. It is called Colton Hall, on account of its having been built by Don Walter Colton, former Alcade of Monterey, from the proceeds of a sale of city lots. The stone of which it is built is found near Monterey; it is of a fine mellow colour, easily cut, and will last for centuries in that mild climate. The upper story, in which the convention sat, formed a single hall about sixty feet in length by twenty-five in breadth. A railing running across the middle divided the members from the spectators. The former were seated at four long tables, the president occupying a rostrum at the further end, over which were suspended two American flags and an extraordinary picture of Washington, evidently the work of a native artist. The appearance of the whole body was exceedingly dignified and intellectual, and parliamentary decorum was strictly observed.
“The Declaration of Rights, which was the first subject before the convention, occasioned little discussion. Its sections being general in their character, and of a liberal republican cast, were nearly all adopted by a nearly unanimous vote. The clause prohibiting slavery was met by no word of dissent; it was the universal sentiment of the convention. Without capitulating the various provisions of the constitution, it is enough to say that they combined with few exceptions the most enlightened features of the constitutions of the older states. The election of judges by the people; the rights of married women to property; the establishment of a liberal system of education, and other reforms of late introduced into the States Governments east of the Rocky Mountains, were all transplanted to the new soil of the Pacific coast.
“The adoption of a system of pay for the officers and members of the convention occasioned some discussion. The Californian members, and a few of the Americans, demanded that the convention should work for nothing, the glory being sufficient. The majority overruled this, and it was finally decided that all should be paid, the members receiving sixteen dollars per day, and the different officers on a higher scale, in proportion to their duties. The expenses of the convention were paid out of the civil fund, an accumulation of the duties received at the ports. The funds were principally silver, and at the close of their labours, it was amusing to see the various members carrying away their pay tied up in handkerchiefs or slung in bags over their shoulders. The little Irish boy who acted as page was nearly pressed down by the weight of his wages.
“One of the most exciting questions was a clause which had been crammed through the convention on its first reading, prohibiting the entrance of free people of colour into the state. On the second reading it was rejected by a large majority; several attempts to introduce it in a modified form also signally failed.
“The boundary too, which came up towards the close of the convention, assumed a character of real interest and importance. The great point in dispute was the eastern boundary, the Pacific being the natural boundary on the west, the meridian of 42° on the north, and the Mexican line on the south. After many attempts to extend this eastern boundary, variously from the Sierra Nevada Chain, to the banks of the Colorado River, it was settled by following the old Mexican boundary, which after all appeared to satisfy every body. The state had thus 800 miles of sea coast, and an average of 250 miles in breadth, including both sides of the Sierra Nevada, and some of the best rivers of the Great Basin. As to the question of slavery, the character of the country will settle that. The whole central region, extending to the Sierra Madre of New Mexico, can never sustain a slave population. The greater part of it resembles in climate and general features the mountain Steppes of Tartary, and is better adapted for grazing than agriculture.”
Among other creditable facts of this convention, it is worthy of mention that various native Californians, with their chivalric Spanish names, sat among the members, and were even elected to offices under the new government.
On October the 12th, the convention brought its labours to an end, and a ball was given by the members of the convention to the citizens of Monterey, in the hall where they had sat, on the following evening.
Of the ball we need say nothing, but merely close our account with the signing of the convention, which might not unworthily take its place, as an historical picture, near that of the scene in the cabin of the Mayflower, when the Puritan Fathers solemnly put their names to the compact of good government before landing in the New World. Again we turn to our agreeable eye-witness.
“The morning after the ball, the members met at the usual hour to perform the last duty that remained to them, that of signing the constitution. They were all in the happiest humour, and the morning was so bright and balmy that no one seemed disposed to call an organisation. At length, Mr. Semple being sick, Captain Sutter, the old California pioneer, was appointed to his place. The chair was taken, and the members seated themselves round the sides of the hall, which still retained the pine-trees and banners left from last night’s decorations. The doors and windows were open, and a delightful breeze came in from the bay whose blue waters sparkled in the distance. The view of the balcony in front was bright and inspiring. The town below, the shipping in the harbour, the pine-covered hills behind, were mellowed by the blue October haze, but there was no cloud in the sky, and the mountains of Santa Cruz and the Sierra de Gavilan might be clearly seen on the northern horizon.
“An address to the people of California, which had been drawn up by committee, was first read and adopted without a dissenting voice. A resolution was then passed to pay Lieutenant Hamilton the sum of 500 dollars for engrossing the constitution on parchment, a higher amount than was ever paid before for similar services, but on a par with payment in California. Before the convention for the signature of their names, an adjournment of half an hour took place, during which I amused myself by walking through the town. Everybody knew that the convention was about closing, and it was generally understood that Captain Benton had loaded the guns at the fort, and would fire at the proper moment a salute of thirty-one guns, such, including California, being the number of the United States. The citizens therefore, as well as the members, were in an excited mood. Monterey never before looked so bright, so happy, so full of pleasant expectation.