Page:California Inter Pocula.djvu/382



form in  some  measure  to  its  demands;  and  this  necessity, which lies  at  the  foundation  of  all  progressional  law, threw over  the  moral  and  physical  aspect  of  the  peo- ple the same  general  tint. All had  come  hither  to achieve  gold  ;  sudden  acquisition  of  enormous  wealth was the  one  idea,  and  all  those  social  fictions  which common sense  vainly  seeks  a  reason  for  were  thrown to the  winds. High and  low,  educated  and  ignorant, polished and  rude,  are  all  confounded  in  an  all-absorb- ing fraternity of  labor. Under the  woolen  shirt  and grizzled beard  the  former  dandy  may  scarcely  be  dis- tinguished from the  blacksmith,  or  the  master  from his man.

How sadly  has  the  world  degenerated  ! See that ragged blear-eyed  tailor. Twenty years  ago  he  was a white-shirted,  shaved  and  mustachioed  gambler, with his  monte  bank,  his  mistress,  and  his  mule,  all the gayest  of  the  gay. The songbirds  were  not lighter-hearted than  he,  as  he  went  home  in  the  morning and turned  into  bed  for  a  sleep  after  a  successful  night of it. Then how  professions  have  changed  and  mixed themselves up  since  then. There are  mechanics turned preachers;  preachers  turned  politicians;  edi- tors turned lawyers  and  lawyers  editors ;  a  whilom bartender now  practises  medicine,  and  yonder  scrawny- featured, shaggy-headed  individual  in  Sam  Slick  cos- tume takes photographs — very  bad  ones — in  the mornings, and  sits  upon  the  judicial  bench  dealing out justice,  too  often  as  blurred  as  his  pictures,  in  the afternoon. Dram-sellers have  become  millionaires, and millionaires  and  paupers  alike  have  passed  down the dance  of  death  to  the  time-racket  of  delirium  tre- mens. Ancient washerwomen  are  drawn  through the streets  in  satin-lined  carriages  by  caparisoned horses, and  attended  by  liveried  servants,  while  those who have  known  better  days  sit  pale  and  sad  of  heart sewing from  early  till  late  for  bread.

Yet, with  all  their  Acherons  and  rivers  of  sorrow rolling over  them,  conscious   always   of  sowing   here