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Show ~ 82 Til l-: Ll lll.;I\TY UELI, . tucs, or he goes to the wall. Even if it be merely :t senseless cry of " Great is Diana of the Ephc· sians " that they can raise to drown itl(!uiry into his pretensions, they must keep it up for more than the space of two hours, or their crafts may bo endangered; and not only their crafts, but their own pretence at self-respect-for that grim and ugly image is but their own, a little enlarged a.nd improved. They made him, and they must stand by him or desert themselves. 'fhis nation, very lately, set up a false god, and insists upon his divinity being recognized by all the inhabitants thereof. H e had walked among us for more than forty years, but tho country did not Uiscovcr that be was of celestial mould until very lately. His godlike proportions and attributes did not develop themselves and announce the present god until nbout two years and a half ago. Then he looked upon the American P eople, and, lo! they saw their strengthened imago in his face. He spoke, and they cried aloud, " It is the voice of o. l' El'ICII[S\1 . 283 god, and not of a mnn ! " -for it was the mere echo of their own sweet Yoiccs." To be sure, with one consent they refused to invest him with any gift of power; but, then, they tried to make amends by a universal chorus of praise. llymns and hallelujahs resounded on all sides ; and if he could have been content with breath, he had enough of it and to spare . l:)ricsta as well as }lCoplc joined in this liturgy, and, since his death, as well a.s while he lived, if the voice of flattery could soothe that a dull cold car," he would indeed rest in peace. And this was not confined to one part of tho counh·y. Grief for his death, embodied in words of hyp01·bolic adulation, was felt, or feigned, everywhere. Like himself, it knew rc no North, no South, no East, no West !" Now, there was a. reason for tbis unanimity. Why did Charleston wring her hands and New Orleans rend her bnir, when the news of his death reached them ? They did not usc to love him so. |
