And what was worse, all the world was laughing. Those
who looked with utter disapproval upon his ferocious course, were still
unable to resist the influence of his mordant humor. They denounced the
_Examiner_ without stint, but they subscribed to it, and read it every
morning. "Have you seen the _Examiner_ to-day?" asked the friend whom
you met on the street. "John M. Daniel is down on Blank!" said A to B,
rubbing his hands and laughing. Blank may have been the personal
acquaintance and friend of Mr. A, but there was no resisting the
cartoon of him, traced by the pen of the satirist! The portrait might
be a caricature, but it was a terrible likeness! The long nose was very
long; the round shoulders, very round; the cast in the eye, a frightful
squint; but the individual was unmistakable. The bitter humor of the
artist had caught and embodied every weakness. Thenceforth, the
unfortunate adversary went on his way before all eyes, the mark of
suppressed ridicule and laughing whispers. Whether you approved or
disapproved, you read those tremendous satires. Not to see the
_Examiner_ in those days was to miss a part of the history of the
times. The whole political world felt the presence of a _power_ in
journalism. Into all the recesses of the body politic, those shafts of
ridicule or denunciation penetrated.
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