Typescript copy of a speech on the disastrous results of Mexican rule in Alta California between 1824 and 1848, written and delivered by Mr. H.C. Dillon before the California Badger Club in Los Angeles on Mar. 3, 1909. The author begins by attacking Voltaire, Rousseau, and Montesquieu, the 18th-century writers whose works yielded a "fearful and bloody harvest" of revolution during the 19th century, and he links their ideas to the Mexican government of California which destroyed the missions first established by the Jesuits, and then taken over by the Dominicans and Franciscans. He praises the civilizing efforts of the missionary friars on the Indian "savages," and criticizes Mexican governors Echeandia, who "secularized [the Indians] with the new ideas of 'liberty, equality and fraternity'", Gov. Victoria who issued a proclamation for the secularization of the missions, and Gov. Figueroa, under whose rule the decree of secularization was finally passed in 1833. Under Pío Pico, the missions were finally ordered sold by a decree of May 28, 1845.

An account of the author's 1881 journey through Mexico and regions of the U.S. formerly under her rule includes extensive descriptions of the landscapes, customs, history, economy, and culture of the region.

Printed notice about Mexican land titles.

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