DOES HE POLK ? 283 



'tis true ; but there are many who glory in the triumph 

 of their horse as evidence of good judgment in their 

 favourite pursuit. Such are the men to whom the 

 turf is largely indebted, and it is but a proper com- 

 pliment paid to them in perpetuating their triumphs. 



The rather large gentleman in bronze erected in 

 Hyde Park, with a fig-leaf doing duty for a pair of 

 unmentionables, is not merely a token of a nation's 

 gratitude to the memory of thousands of fine fellows 

 who bled or fell in their country's cause ; for though 

 thousands of names of heroes as great in soul as 

 their more fortunate commanders, have never in- 

 dividually met the public eye, the sons of such men 

 may look with pride on the trophy and say, " But for 

 such humble names as mine you never had been there." 

 We thus perpetuate a race of heroes. 



Whether it be battles on which depend the fate of 

 nations, or a race on which depends the wealth or 

 poverty of individuals, let the meed of praise be 

 given to those to whom praise is due. We may 

 praise by writing, it is true ; but the representation of 

 a hero or an event makes a more lasting impression 

 on the mind, and perpetuates the memory of that 

 event with greater force than all the written descrip- 

 tions that could be penned. The historian describes, 

 the printer or engraver lays the man or the event 

 before our eyes : one panorama brings the field of 

 Waterloo more faithfully to our senses, than all the 

 writers in Christendom could do if they wrote to 

 eternity. 



Though we might describe a Bloomsbury, a Hark- 

 away, or any other celebrated animal for ever, we 

 should form but a very vague idea of him at last. 

 Mr. Herring's talent and the publisher's encourage- 



