Page:California Inter Pocula.djvu/331



could not  pay ;  all  right,  better  luck  next  time. If he was  thoroughly  competent  and  honest  he  could  ob- tain credit anywhere,  twice  as  much  as  before. But if he  was  a  mean  man,  if  he  had  resorted  to  any trick, or  subterfuge,  or  had  attempted  to  cover  any cunning; or  if  he  was  low  in  his  ideas,  grovelling  in his  tastes,  close-fisted  and  contemptible,  a  mangy  dog were better  than  he.

As in  other  abnormal  accomplishments,  so  in  pro- fanity, the miner  aimed  at  the  highest  excellence. The ordinary  insipid  swearing  he  scorned,  and  so  in- vented new terms  of  blasphemy  befitting  his  more exalted ideas. Since the  days  of  Cain  God  was  never so cursed. Profanity was  adopted  as  a  fine  art,  and practised with  the  most  refined  delicacy  and  tact. From morning  till  night  men  mouthed  their  oaths and then  swallowed  them. The language  of  blas- phemy, with its  innumerable  dialects  and  idioms,  de- veloped into a  new  tongue,  which  displayed  great depth and  variety,  with  delicate  shades  befitting  the idiosyncrasies of  individual  swearers. The character of the  man  was  nowhere  more  clearly  defined  than in the  quality  and  quantity  of  his  oaths;  one  who could not  or  would  not  swear  was  scarcely  a  man  at all,  and  but  little  better  than  a  pious  hypocrite  or  a woman. Among the  most  cultivated  blasphemers, who made  swearing  a  study,  euphony  was  first  of  all regarded; and  this  was  effected  by  alliteration,  an adjective  followed  by  a  substantive  both  beginning with the  same  letter. The style  though  studied might be  of  the  simple  or  florid  cast,  but  it  was  sure  to be  both  orio-inal  and  eflective.

Not that  all  men  swore,  or  that  all  the  swearing  of the  world  during  this  epoch  was  done  here ;  I  only claim that  it  was  here  original,  if  not  abnormal  and artistic.

Oaths have  their  mood  and  tense  and  number,  their individuality, and  nationality. There is  th