Excerpt from Two California Sketches: William Watt, Representative Miner, a Tribute to His Memory; Leland Stanford, Ex-Governor of California and President of the Central Pacific Railroad, a Biography He whose eye shone with the keen, sharp flash of broken steel in the sun, saw nothing that was not practical. And, therefore, in expressing a few thoughts suggested by his notable career, I will try and be as practical as I can. When I saw that great wave of sorrow spreading over Grass Valley, as the waters cover the sea, and felt that universal grief, which seemed to be atmospheric in all the neighborhood of Mr. Watt's late home, I said to myself How is it that a man, born on a foreign soil, and of humble parents, who in early life earned his daily bread with pick and shovel, who had held but one office, and that m tarly twenty years ago; how is it, I said, that a man who had ala 'ays cared more for others than himself, and who had really trie l to keep himself out of the public eye; how is it, I thought, that such a man should become so widely known and so universally beloved But soon I recalled a strik ing passage from Emerson, which I think explains the secret of William Watt's fame and influence. It is as follows. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.