worships blindly at his idol's shrine?
And now these varlets point with taunting grin
At what my demigod hath ordered here,
And oh, ye sages, what shall I reply?
For now his work I purpose to undo.
When I with eloquence did picture draw
Of tyranny which from above did flow,
And with convincing tongue did loud proclaim
That pow'r should ever from below take root;
I little dreamed that subtle minds would carp
And inconsistency against me charge
For earnest effort which eventuates
In placing pow'r within the crafty hands
Of those who long have under Spanish rule
Imbibed the time clad notion that the few
Who by the accident of happy birth,
May make a gold mine of the hapless poor.
They voice in cutting words that I who late
Have cast my lot in these downtrodden Isles
Should study well conditions e'er I speak
As cock-sure as a teacher to his class.
I, in triumphant tone, did voice the truth
That in our homeland stinking graft prevails,
But, ah! I overlook the damning fact
That ignorance among our foreign born
Hath been the hotbed whence this thistle grew,
And that our Governor did get his boost
Into the forum through that rotten host
Which proudly boasts a "Tammany" as its god.
And do the people of our Empire State
Evolve the doctrine which I loud proclaimed?
No! in the dire extremity they laid
Restraining hand upon the venal mob,
Sternly refusing "what they know they want"
But now strong opposition draws the veil,
And I behold, to me, the starting fact,
That human minds oft vain illusions hug
Which time alone hath pow'r that grasp to loose;
And only then through friction with the world
Will freedom from provincial slavery
And mental lassitude be e'er attained.
When I my glorious deeds with savage tribes
Did iterate before the gaping throng,
It seemed to me as to the schoolboy raw
That ne'er before had such superb exploits
E'er been achieved by knig