"

At two o'clock, on the turf-laid terraces of the sacred mountain,

"all will show a state of commotion and excitement: mothers here press
to their bosoms the infants they suckle, and there offer them up in
homage to the author of Nature, while youths, aglow with the ardor
of battle, simultaneously draw their swords and hand them to their
venerable fathers. Sharing in the enthusiasm of their sons, the deported
old men embrace them and bestow on them the paternal benediction.....
All the men distributed around the 'Field of Reunion' sing in chorus
the (first) refrain.... All the Women distributed around the 'Field of
Reunion' sing in unison the (second) refrain.... All Frenchmen partake
of each other's sentiments in one grand fraternal embrace."

What could better than such an idyll, ruled with an iron hand, in the
presence of moral symbols and colored pasteboard divinities, could
better please the counterfeit moralist, unable to distinguish the
false from the true, and whose skin-deep sensibility is borrowed from
sentimental authors! "For the first time" his glowing countenance beams
with joy, while "the enthusiasm"[31164] of the scribe overflows, as
usual, in book phraseology.

"Behold!" he exclaims, "that which is most interesting in humanity! The
Universe is here assembled! O, Nature, how sublime, how exquisite is thy
power! How tyrants must quail at the contemplation of this festival!"

Is not he himself its most dazzling ornament? Was not he unanimously
chosen to preside over the Convention and conduct the ceremonies? Is he
not the founder of the new cult, the only pure worship on the face of
the earth, approved of by morality and reason? Wearing the uniform of a
representative, nankeen breeches, blue coat, tri-colored sash and plumed
hat,[31165] holding in his hand a bouquet of flowers and grain, he
marches at the head of the Convention and officiates on the platform;
he sets fire to the veil which hides from view the idol representing
"Atheism," and suddenly, through an ingenious contrivance, the majestic
statue of "Wisdom" appears in its place. He then addresses the crowd,
over and over again, exhorting, apostrophizing, preaching, elevating his
soul to the Supreme Being, and with what oratorical combinations! What
an academic swell of bombastic cadences, strung together to enforce
his tirades! How cunning the even balance of adjective and
substantive![31166] From these faded rhetorical flowers, arranged as