UNITED STATES SENATOR. 85 



the perilous crisis of affairs which occurred in 1860, 

 when Cahfornia was in danger of following the bad 

 example of 'the South, Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Seward 

 regarded him as the ablest and most rehable friend of 

 the government in tfiis State, and deferred to his 

 opinion accordingly. In 1861, Mr. Stanford, contrary 

 to his wishes, w^as nominated by the Republican party 

 for Governor of California, and, while he sought no 

 political preferment, he deemed it his duty, in the dis- 

 turbed state of affairs, to sacrifice his own wishes to 

 the welfare of the State and nation. He, accordingly, 

 entered actively into the canvass and was elected by a 

 plurahty of 23,000 votes. The period was one of unex- 

 ampled difficulty of administration, but Governor Stan- 

 ford was equal to all the demands made upon him, and, 

 however great his achievements, he never seemed to 

 have exhausted his resources or to have reached his full 

 possibilities. His messages, and indeed all his State 

 papers, were characterized by sound common sense and 

 a comprehensive grasp of State and national affairs, 

 remarkable in one who had never before held office 

 under either the State or national government. At the 

 close of his term he had the satisfaction of leaving the 

 chair of state, feeling that no State of the Union was 

 more thoroughly loyal than California. 



" Governor Stanford was urged to accept a renomina- 

 tion, but being then thoroughly engrossed in the con- 

 struction of the great transcontinental railway, and 

 feeling that the crisis in the history of the State which 

 had compelled his acceptance in the first instance was 

 now passed, he declined the proffered honor. At the 

 last regular session of our^ State Legislature, he was 



