27 May 2010

California Quotes: The Dangers of California Gold

A spade in California is now worth its weight in gold; a blanket is almost as dear as so much gold lace; a frieze jacket is worth cloth of gold. Imagine this depreciation extending to Europe with the arrival of ships from Francisco [sic], ballasted with gold, and the sovereign brought to the level of a dump. Fancy gold so fallen in the world as to play the part now performed by lead or pewter, serving for workhouse platters, for common coal-scuttles, for porter pots, for pipes, and cisterns ...
"Too much of a good thing is good for nothing," says the adage, and so it may be with poor gold, brought to poverty by abundance.

From Littells Living Age, Vol. XX, p. 371. E. Littell, ed; Boston: E. Littell & Co., 1849.

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