io6 MY AMERICAN FRIENDS

for the place of chief deity, The sons of Belial
also abound, though not as an organized
denomination, unless the bootleggers and their
kindred may be considered such. You can
hardly imagine Christianity being born in Cali-
fornia, though it is less difficult to imagine it
coming to an end there. Certainly the Puritan
strain of it has died out on the sea beaches.
What the new cults can do to provide a substitute
remains to be seen, Meanwhile the Jesuit
missions, founded by heroic missionaries when
the land was peopled by savages, still survive,
reminding the Californians of the Angels and
Saints to whom three-fourths of their cities are
dedicated, and standing solid for the Ten Com-
mandments.