Thou great democratic God!… who didst pick up Andrew Jackson from the pebbles; who didst hurl him upon a war-horse; who didst thunder him higher than a throne!

Melville’s apostrophe to a “great democratic God” reads as a charged, quasi-biblical satire of American populism and hero-making. The language of divine election—God “picking up” Jackson from “the pebbles” and “thundering” him above a throne—casts political ascent as providential spectacle rather than sober civic process. By framing democracy’s champion in monarchic imagery (“higher than a throne”), the line suggests an irony: democratic culture can enthrone its idols with the same fervor it claims to reject. The passage also evokes Jackson’s martial persona (“war-horse”), hinting at the way military charisma and violence can be transmuted into popular legitimacy.