- end_line
- 7921
- extracted_at
- 2026-01-30T20:48:09.931Z
- extracted_by
- structure-extraction-lambda
- start_line
- 7845
- text
- outcries, read as follows:—
“Sovereign-kings of Vivenza! it is fit you should hearken to wisdom.
But well aware, that you give ear to little wisdom except of your own;
and that as freemen, you are free to hunt down him who dissents from
your majesties; I deem it proper to address you anonymously.
“And if it please you, you may ascribe this voice to the gods: for
never will you trace it to man.
“It is not unknown, sovereign-kings! that in these boisterous days, the
lessons of history are almost discarded, as superseded by present
experiences. And that while all Mardi’s Present has grown out of its
Past, it is becoming obsolete to refer to what has been. Yet,
peradventure, the Past is an apostle.
“The grand error of this age, sovereign-kings! is the general
supposition, that the very special Diabolus is abroad; whereas, the
very special Diabolus has been abroad ever since Mardi began.
“And the grand error of your nation, sovereign-kings! seems this:—The
conceit that Mardi is now in the last scene of the last act of her
drama; and that all preceding events were ordained, to bring about the
catastrophe you believe to be at hand,—a universal and permanent
Republic.
“May it please you, those who hold to these things are fools, and not
wise.
“Time is made up of various ages; and each thinks its own a novelty.
But imbedded in the walls of the pyramids, which outrun all
chronologies, sculptured stones are found, belonging to yet older
fabrics. And as in the mound-building period of yore, so every age
thinks its erections will forever endure. But as your forests grow
apace, sovereign-kings! overrunning the tumuli in your western vales;
so, while deriving their substance from the past, succeeding
generations overgrow it; but in time, themselves decay.
“Oro decrees these vicissitudes.
“In chronicles of old, you read, sovereign kings! that an eagle from
the clouds presaged royalty to the fugitive Taquinoo; and a king,
Taquinoo reigned; No end to my dynasty, thought he.
“But another omen descended, foreshadowing the fall of Zooperbi, his
son; and Zooperbi returning from his camp, found his country a fortress
against him. No more kings would she have. And for five hundred
twelve-moons the Regifugium or King’s-flight, was annually celebrated
like your own jubilee day. And rampant young orators stormed out
detestation of kings; and augurs swore that their birds presaged
immortality to freedom.
“Then, Romara’s free eagles flew over all Mardi, and perched on the
topmost diadems of the east.
“Ever thus must it be.
“For, mostly, monarchs are as gemmed bridles upon the world, checking
the plungings of a steed from the Pampas. And republics are as vast
reservoirs, draining down all streams to one level; and so, breeding a
fullness which can not remain full, without overflowing. And thus,
Romara flooded all Mardi, till scarce an Ararat was left of the lofty
kingdoms which had been.
“Thus, also, did Franko, fifty twelve-moons ago. Thus may she do again.
And though not yet, have you, sovereign-kings! in any large degree done
likewise, it is because you overflow your redundancies within your own
mighty borders; having a wild western waste, which many shepherds with
their flocks could not overrun in a day. Yet overrun at last it will
be; and then, the recoil must come.
“And, may it please you, that thus far your chronicles had narrated a
very different story, had your population been pressed and packed, like
that of your old sire-land Dominora. Then, your great experiment might
have proved an explosion; like the chemist’s who, stirring his mixture,
was blown by it into the air.
- title
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