Ser. I do not say ’twas not so;

But, sir, to carry back the metaphor

Your ingenuity has turn’d against me,

That tender flower, transplanted it may be

To other skies and soil, might in good time

Strike down such roots and strengthen such a stem

As were not to be shook: the temple, too,

Though seeming slight to look on, being yet

Of nature’s fundamental marble built,

When once that foolish idol was dethroned,