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Accommodating Social Change Click image to see larger view | ||
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Alonzo Delano, two illustrations from The Idle and Industrious Miner based upon drawings by Charles Nahl, Sacramento, 1854, RB 32382
In the later years of the Gold Rush, some miners clung to the belief that those who worked hard and did the right thing would be rewarded—even if experience had proved otherwise. Alonzo Delano’s morality tale illustrated with satirical drawings, The Idle and Industrious Miner, reinforced this point. The pamphlet contrasts "Two school-boy friends, with buoyant hearts, / and grown to man’s estate, / Repaired to California’s shores, / To fill their cup of fate." (Left) The idle miner, suffering the effects of drinking, playing cards, and staying out late, sleeps through his chance at riches: "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." (Right) The deserving and industrious miner finds gold: "Requited toil! Eureka! Look! / And read within those eyes / Their speaking luster, as they dwell / Upon the glittering prize!"
To read more about the idle and industrious miners, click here. | ||
 California 150
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