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Article NATIONAL CHARACTER. Page 1 of 2 →
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National Character.
NATIONAL CHARACTER .
THE POET , speaking of a good man , but not perfect , says , that , " Ev ' n his failings lean'd to virtue ' s side . " This line has often appealed to me to contain the character of the people in this country . I know none—I can remember none—of the worst errors into which we have fallenthat was not in its
orii-, g nal principle , a failing " which lean'd to virtue ' s side . " Even the present war , about which there is such a variety of opinions , may , 1 think , be traced—1 mean" their approbation of it , to the noble sentiment of compassion . I have heard it asserted , that a statesman said to a member of the French Convention , in the year 1792 , " Save the life of your Kingand the people of this country will not be
, easily persuaded to go to war with you . " Be this true or false , I have always been of opinion that the atrocious murder of that unliappy Monarch raised in the minds of this nation a general sentiment of compassion ; which , with concomitant circumstances , easily induced them to support tbe war . Cold and insensible men- may find fault with thisbut the sentiments of feeling heart to
: pure a are ever be revered . " . ' . - 1 have been more particularly induced to reflect on the amiable qualities of my countrymen , from observing those bursts of national generosity which appear upon every occasion of distress . -These I
attribute exclusivel y and wholly to the people , because they originate with them , and are not , in the first instance at least , promoted or proposed by Government . I have been calculating , that within the last two years , more than half a million of money has been raised by individuals towards alleviating distress of different kinds . To this must be ' added the perpetual contributions which support many hundred hospitalsdispensaries & c . and the sums paid on the score of the
, , poor rates . To these , again , must be added , those private contributions , known only to God and the receiver , and we shall be convinced that no nation upon earth excels so eminently in the virtue of generosity . If this appear vanity , I will answer , it is truth ; and I lay myself open to the contradiction of any person acquainted with the internal character of other nations , I have in vain sought for any
thing like it , ' . Contrasted with this , let us look at regenerated France , that divine and ever-blessed nation ! There we see a fellow come puffing and blowing for fifty miles into the Convention , to tell them that he has given a little money in charity to his friend ' s widow or children . . He receives the President ' s bug , and has deserved well of his Country I What is the miserable farce , but what thousands in this country do every day ; although so far are they from bringing it to Parliament , that they would be ashamed if it ivere known even in the parish ,
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
National Character.
NATIONAL CHARACTER .
THE POET , speaking of a good man , but not perfect , says , that , " Ev ' n his failings lean'd to virtue ' s side . " This line has often appealed to me to contain the character of the people in this country . I know none—I can remember none—of the worst errors into which we have fallenthat was not in its
orii-, g nal principle , a failing " which lean'd to virtue ' s side . " Even the present war , about which there is such a variety of opinions , may , 1 think , be traced—1 mean" their approbation of it , to the noble sentiment of compassion . I have heard it asserted , that a statesman said to a member of the French Convention , in the year 1792 , " Save the life of your Kingand the people of this country will not be
, easily persuaded to go to war with you . " Be this true or false , I have always been of opinion that the atrocious murder of that unliappy Monarch raised in the minds of this nation a general sentiment of compassion ; which , with concomitant circumstances , easily induced them to support tbe war . Cold and insensible men- may find fault with thisbut the sentiments of feeling heart to
: pure a are ever be revered . " . ' . - 1 have been more particularly induced to reflect on the amiable qualities of my countrymen , from observing those bursts of national generosity which appear upon every occasion of distress . -These I
attribute exclusivel y and wholly to the people , because they originate with them , and are not , in the first instance at least , promoted or proposed by Government . I have been calculating , that within the last two years , more than half a million of money has been raised by individuals towards alleviating distress of different kinds . To this must be ' added the perpetual contributions which support many hundred hospitalsdispensaries & c . and the sums paid on the score of the
, , poor rates . To these , again , must be added , those private contributions , known only to God and the receiver , and we shall be convinced that no nation upon earth excels so eminently in the virtue of generosity . If this appear vanity , I will answer , it is truth ; and I lay myself open to the contradiction of any person acquainted with the internal character of other nations , I have in vain sought for any
thing like it , ' . Contrasted with this , let us look at regenerated France , that divine and ever-blessed nation ! There we see a fellow come puffing and blowing for fifty miles into the Convention , to tell them that he has given a little money in charity to his friend ' s widow or children . . He receives the President ' s bug , and has deserved well of his Country I What is the miserable farce , but what thousands in this country do every day ; although so far are they from bringing it to Parliament , that they would be ashamed if it ivere known even in the parish ,