Black Beetles in Amber

Why should he not have been allowed

To thread with peaceful feet the crowd

Which filled that Christian street?

The Decalogue he had observed,

From Faith in Jesus had not swerved,

And scorning pious platitudes,

He saw in the Beatitudes

A lamp to guide his feet.

He knew that Jonah downed the whale

And made no bones of it. The tale

That Ananias told

He swore was true. He had no doubt

That Daniel laid the lions out.

In short, he had all holiness,

All meekness and all lowliness,

And was with saints enrolled.

'Tis true, some slight excess of zeal

Sincerely to promote the weal

Of this most Christian state

Had moved him rudely to divide

The queue that was a pagan's pride,

And in addition certify

The Faith by making fur to fly

From pelt as well as pate?

But, Heavenly Father, thou dost know

That in this town these actions go

For nothing worth a name.

Nay, every editorial ass,

To prove they never come to pass

Will damn his soul eternally,

Although in his own journal he

May read the printed shame.

From bloody hands the reins of pow'r

Fall slack; the high-decisive hour

Strikes not for liars' ears.

Remove, O Father, the disgrace

That stains our California's face,

And consecrate to human good

The strength of her young womanhood

And all her golden years!