Return to California Transformed, 1. Accommodating Social Change. View Large Image of Alonzo Delano Idle Miner Illustration. View Large Image of Alonzo Delano Industrious Miner Illustration. From Alonzo Delano, The Idle and Industrious Miner, Sacramento, 1854 SAD, there should be a converse side To such a pleasant view, But history demands the pen To frame its record true. The early morn had come and gone, And in the amber sky The sun had slowly climbed his course And stood at noonday high. Nor sun, nor moon, nor thoughts of fame Disturb the sluggard’s rest, Last night’s debauch has left its sting, And borne away their zest. This, then, is how the idler friend Commenced a bad career, So fatally and madly run Within his mining year. REQUITED toil! Eureka! Look! And read within those eyes Their speaking luster, as they dwell Upon the glittering prize! The vein is struck! ah, noble heart! A thrill of joy is thine!– A purer and a better thrill Than that produced by wine. A thousand thoughts of home, and bliss Reserved for coming years Have swiftly flashed across thy soul And melted thee to tears– Tears–not of grief or vain regrets, For thou art still a man– But, thinking of thy poverty And gazing in the pan!

California 150 The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens © 1999, Huntington Library. All rights reserved. The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens, 1151 Oxford Road, San Marino, CA 91108, 626-405-2100. Comments to: webmaster@huntington.org Huntington home