HIS LIFE AND WORK 



said the delighted Mechi. "It has done its 

 work completely; and the day will come when 

 this machine will cut all the grain in England. 

 Now," he continued, swinging his hat, "let us, 

 as Englishmen, show our appreciation by giv- 

 ing three hearty English cheers." 



Horace Greeley, who was present on this 

 occasion, described the victory of the McCormick 

 Reaper as follows : "It came into the field 

 to confront a tribunal already prepared for its 

 condemnation. Before it stood John Bull 

 burly, dogged, and determined not to be hum- 

 bugged, --his judgment made up and his sen- 

 tence ready to be recorded. There was a mo- 

 ment, and but a moment, of suspense; then 

 human prejudice could hold out no longer; 

 and burst after burst of involuntary cheers from 

 the whole crowd proclaimed the triumph of the 

 Yankee Reaper. In seventy seconds McCor- 

 mick had become famous. He was the lion of 

 the hour; and had he brought five hundred 

 Reapers with him, he could have sold them all." 



Suddenly the "Ugly Duckling" had become 

 a swan. The glory of the Reaper began to 



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