It was the blast of
war--the song of peace; and it seemed to have a heart in it, when
there was no such matter. In good truth, he was a wondrous man; and
when his tongue had acquired him all other imaginable success--when it
had been heard in halls of state, and in the courts of princes and
potentates--after it had made him known all over the world, even as a
voice crying from shore to shore--it finally persuaded his countrymen
to select him for the Presidency. Before this time--indeed, as soon as
he began to grow celebrated--his admirers had found out the
resemblance between him and the Great Stone Face; and so much were
they struck by it, that throughout the country this distinguished
gentleman was known by the name of Old Stony Phiz. The phrase was
considered as giving a highly favourable aspect to his political
prospects; for, as is likewise the case with the Popedom, nobody ever
becomes President without taking a name other than his own.
While his friends were doing their best to make him President, Old
Stony Phiz, as he was called, set out on a visit to the valley where
he was born. Of course, he had no other object than to shake hands
with his fellow-citizens, and neither thought nor cared about any
effect which his progress through the country might have upon the
election. Magnificent preparations were made to receive the
illustrious statesman; a cavalcade of horsemen set forth to meet him
at the boundary line of the State, and all the people left their
business and gathered along the wayside to see him pass.
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