but it is an awful thing, indeed, this endless endurance, this almost indestructibility, of a marble bust! whether in our own case, or that of other men, it bids us sadly measure the little, little time during which our lineaments are likely to be of interest to any human being.it is especially singular that americans should care about perpetuating themselves in this mode.the brief duration of our families, as a hereditary household, renders it next to a certainty that the great- grandchildren will not know their father's grandfather, and that half a century hence at furthest, the hammer of the auctioneer will thump its knock-down blow against his blockhead, sold at so much for the pound of stone! and it ought to make us shiver, the idea of leaving our features to be a dusty-white ghost among strangers of another generation, who will take our nose between their thumb and fingers (as we have seen men do by caesar's), and infallibly break it off if they can do so without detection!
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