The homage that is paid to a public man who
has offices and honors to bestow, whose smile con-
fers credit and influence, and whose frown may
threaten disaster, is always more or less tainted
with the suspicion that it is to the functionary and
not to the man it is paid. So the homage that is
paid to the dead is often much more liberal than
to the living, from the fact that the object of it is
no longer in any one's way, and praising him inter-
feres with no one's advancement, and affords an
eligible opportunity of earning a reputation for
magnanimity at a trifling cost.

When it is considered that Bryant never held
any public office, that he never controlled any pat-
ronage, that he was not accustomed to borrow from
occasions any factitious influence, it must, I think,
be conceded that the respect and reverence with
which he inspired his countrymen, and the hom-
age which they so freely and abundantly accorded
to him during his lifetime, are among the things
in their history which do them infinite honor, and
which testify most faithfully to their correct ap-
preciation of what is good and great in human
character.

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