Page:California Inter Pocula.djvu/327



CHAPTER XIII.

FURTHER ABNORMITIES.

E come  gli  stornei  ne  portan  I'ali

Nel freddo  tempo  a  shiera  larga  e  piena;

Cosi quel  fiato  gli  spirit! mali

Di qua,  di  la,  di  giu,  di  su  gli  mena :

Nulla speranza  gli  conforta  mai ;

Non die  di  posa,  ma  di  minor  penor.

-Deir Inferno.

In Lucian's  Dialogues  of  the  Dead,  Charon  com- pels all to  strip  before  entering  his  boat ;  the  rich  man of his  wealth,  the  vain  man  of  his  foppery,  the  king  of his  pride  and  kingship,  the  athlete  of  his  flesh,  the partrician of  his  noble  birth  and  his  honors,  the  phil- osopher of his  dis[)utatiousness,  his  rhetorical  flourishes, liis  antitheses  and  parallelisms,  and  all  his  wordy trumpery.  None  may  go  to  the  regions  of  the  dead even  with  a  rag  of  clothes  on.

Now there  are  many  in  California  who  would  like to take  with  them  there  all  they  have,  who  are  trem- blingly fearful of  dying  and  leaving  the  wealth  they love so  much  ;  who  cannot  bear  the  thought  of  parting with it  even  after  death  ;  and  so  they  leave  it  to  be  dis- sipated by lawyers  and  executors,  instead  of  devoting it themselves  to  some  useful  and  noble  purpose. Many large estates  have,  in  this  way  been  scattered,  which doubtless wrung  the  souls  of  their  former  owners  as they  looked  up,  watchful  and  wistful,  at  the  hapless flow of  their  dear  ducats. After all,  there  is  a  not wholly unjust  law  of  compensation  applicable  to  savage and civilized,  poor  and  rich,  the  past  and  the  present ; e^en the  most  tormented  in  life  may  find  relief  in  the