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II —

The Senora Moreno's house was one of the best specimens
to be found in California of the representative house of the
half barbaric, half elegant, wholly generous and free-handed
life led there by Mexican men and women of degree in the
early part of this century, under the rule of the Spanish and
Mexican viceroys, when the laws of the Indies were still the
law of che land, and its old name, "New Spain," was an ever-
present link and stimulus to the warmest memories and deep-
est patriotisms of its people.
It was a picturesque life, with more of sentiment and
gayety in it, more also that was truly dramatic, more ro-
mance, than will ever be seen again on those sunny shores.
The aroma of it all lingers there still; industries and in-
ventions have not yet slain it; it will last out its century,
in fact, it can never be quite lost, so long as there is left
standing one such house as the Senora Moreno's.
When the house was built, General Moreno owned all the