Both arms are needed to clasp round the old world, and hold it
firm--Justice on one side, Love on the other.
I felt sorry for the Republic--sorry as a dog.
But that wuz the first time I see her. The next time she had had her arm
put on.
I guess Uncle Sam done it. That old man is a-gittin' waked up, and
Eternal Right is a-hunchin' him in the sides.
She wuz a-holdin' that right arm up towards the Heavens; the fingers wuz
curved a little--they seemed to be begenin' to sunthin' up in the sky to
come down and bless the world.
Mebby it wuz Justice she wuz a-callin' on to come down and watch over
the rights of wimmen. Anyway, she looked as well agin with both arms on
her.
Amongst the wonders of beauty in the French exhibit we see that vase of
Gustave Dore's. That attracted crowds of admirers the hull time; it
stood up fifteen feet high, and every inch of it wuz beautiful enough
for the very finest handkerchief pin!
There wuz hundreds of figgers from the animal and vegetable kingdom, and
Mythology--cupids, nymphs, birds, and butterflies disportin' themselves
in the most graceful way, and such beautiful female figgers!--Venuses as
beautiful as dreams, and over all, and through all, wuz a-trailin' the
rich clusters of the vine.
The figgers seemed at first sight to kind o' encourage wine-makin' and
wine-drinkin'. But look clost, and you'd see on one side, workin' his
stiddy way up through the fairy landscape, up through the gay
revellers, a venemous serpent wuz a-creepin'.
He wuz bound to be there, and Venus or Nymph, or any of 'em that touched
that foamin' wine, had to be stung by his deadly venoms. Mr. Dore made
that plain.
Wall, we tried to the best of our ability to not slight a single
country, but I'm afraid we did; I tried to act the part of a lady and
pay attention to the hull on 'em, but I'm afraid that fifty or sixty
countries had reason to feel that we slighted 'em; but I hope that this
will explain matters to 'em.
I felt that I hadn't done justice to our own country and our Ma Country,
not at all; but when you jest think how big the United States is, and
how many firms try to show off in every county of every State--why, it
tires anybody jest to think on't; and Great Britain too; for, as I
thought, what good duz visitors do when their brain is a-reelin' under
their head-dresses, and stove-pipe hats! And truly that wuz our
condition before we fairly begun to go through the countries.
Beautiful works of art--marvellous exhibits to the right of us, to the
left of us, and before us and behind us--forty-five acres on 'em. What
wuz two small pair of eyes and four ears to set up aginst this
colossial and imeasureable show!
We went till we wuz ready to drop down, and then Josiah sez, "Less take
the rest of the grandeur for granted, and less go somewhere and git a
cup of tea, and a nip of sunthin' to eat."
I said sunthin' about hurtin' the different countries feelin's by not
payin' attention to 'em.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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