Those familiar with the frauds practised in other countries in
the manufacture and sale of antiques, and perhaps others, would
have a vague suspicion that this might furnish another instance,
nearer home. My own mind was not free from such dreams. And
notwithstanding the apparent impossibility of finding a place
where such a stone might be obtained--of quarrying, working,
transporting, and burying the same, and keeping it a profound
secret, I still had my suspicions. But the first look at the
statue dispels from the mind every thought of that nature. It has
the marks of the ages stamped upon every limb and feature, in a
manner and with a distinctness which no art can imitate. I have
not seen the first person who entertained any doubt of its great
antiquity, after looking at that most wonderful and inexplicable
figure. The time spent in manufacturing and retailing the simple
and absurd rumors which circulate through the community and find
their way into the papers, is weakly and foolishly thrown away. It
is a serious and most remarkable reality, and one which as yet
have received no satisfactory explanation, and probably never will.