The Shasta courier., 1853-10-29
The California Discourse.

| If we mistake not, the following inimitable
!" Discourse" was whitfield out by the pen-knife
of /" Old Block, and first appeared in the S. F..
| Picaytae.
We find the following amusing carricature of
the Miners Life floating around. 1t is by a
physician who had turned miner, and is too
good TO be ost.-Eastern Paper.
/" WY arW ge dag p Son of man, for the light
of whose presence my spirit yearneth and nv
bowels grumbleth, dost thou ask me whyl Is
1t not written that fortune smiles upon fools
And for the sake of all these smiles hath not thy
servant been making fool, yea, an ass of him
self, IN vain? For five years and ten days he
has soiourned in this place-he has dived into
the water-he has torn ancient rocks from their
resting places. and removed them afar off-he
has likewise torn his breeches in parts not 10 be
spoken of The has rooted into the mad like
unto IA swine. His beard has grown long-the
skin upon his hands and his face hath changed
its color until he is likened unto a wild
beast, and his garments red and soiletl SO
that - sackclolh and ashes +" would be as fine
linen and purple to him. He who in time past
was wont to fare snmptuously, and to srumble
over great delicacies which were then piled up
on the table OF Dives, now snuffs with eladness
the fragments of pork and beans and gnashes
his teeth impatiently over fry ing slap-jack He
bolteth onion with unspeakabee eaviuifv
Pota'oe skins fear his presence, beef vanishes
from before hm. and dogs look in vain for the
bones In his sleep, nevertheless, The good an
gel OF the past deigus to visit him. and delightful
visions opened TO his recollection, for de-
licious bill of fare floats before the mind of The
dreamer, and he orders oystt rs and terapin for
SIX only to waken up to get his internal slap
Jacks and molasses.
Ali this hath thy servant endured Is he not
then fool, an abomination in the very sight of
| dom, 1 4 =
path, and seize her unawares. But she glideth
oft, as though had caught hog by his creased
tail. Sic transit, 1 exclaim, as with sick heart
revlle poverty and curse fortune.
Surely he hath not sinned other men sim
! eth. He had not coveted his nei ighbor's OK, nor
his ass, por his man servant, nor his maid
servant-tor be it known unto thee that there
are no maid servants here. He hath abided by
the Law and the Prophets, but the profits have
not abided by him.
Now, therefore, | repounce these dggngs-I
| absquatulate the premises--I vamouse the ranch
i depart without scrip provender taking
no care for the morrow, Tor the morrow takes
no care of me. Ere five days shall have passed.
the shirt tali of thy servant will be waving in
the breezes of the Nevada. A remnant of it will
be nailed upon the highest mountain that he
crosses, as an emblem of the extremity to which
man may be reduced in the land of Ophir
Yet think not oh! Elisha, that | would rend my
garment for this alone. Verify l say unto thee,
an evil genius hath long pursued She has
followed SO close upon my footsteps that every
thread and fibre of my old shirt tail familiar
to her eye. And it, IN her pursuit of me, she
should gaze upon all this relic in the solitary
fastness of the high mountain, she will at once
recognize it, and believing me to have been
torn and destroyed by wild beasts, she will re-
trace her steps. and thus will escape her.
As Moses reared the serpent in the wilderness,
for the children of Israel to look upon and be
cured OF their infrmities, will l elevate my
tin among the Gentiles, that they may look upon
it and be made as whole. The offerings of gold
and silver will be acceptable unto me, and if
they live not afterwards, peradventure they may
find treasure in Heaven