-
Articles/Ads
Article AN AMERICAN VINDICATION OF AMERICANS. ← Page 2 of 4 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
An American Vindication Of Americans.
he wishes to submit it to the criticism of competent American judges before publishing it in France . He has been so short a time in the United States , and has been compelled to depend so much on conversation for his knoAvledge of the present state of the country , that it Avas prudent for him
to submit his conclusions to the judgment of people who have had better opportunities with a view to revise what he has Avritten if it should appear that he has been misled into errors . If , after sending copies to the American press , he should find no dissent
from his conclusions , he would feel justified in publishing his book in France as an authentic exposition of American morals and culture in 1876 . We think the marquis has been unfortunate in his sources of information , and it is due alike to him and
the country that his implied request to have his mistakes rectified before reprinting his book in France should be candidly aoceeded to .
He portrays the people of this country as in a state of revolting degeneracy , representing us as having lost the virtues of our ancestors and destitute of the intellectual and sesthetic culture Avhich is the best fruit of civilization . " It is a people" he says ,
, " Avhose morality is that of a people in decadence . " "It is a people which produces things , but no longer produces men . " We have " no men of letters , no orators , no statesmen , no works of art , or at least very few , to attest the existence of a civilized
nation . This judgment would be too sweeping even if our culture were compared Avith that of contemporary Europe , but when the comparison is betAveen America m 1876 and America in 1776 we are perhaps more competent to judge than the most intelligent forei can be after the
gner hast y inquiries Avhich are possible during a brief sojourn in the United States . We are , too , painfully aware that it becomes us to be modest in comparing ourselves with Europe in the more refined "ranches of intellectual cultivation . But if the
comparison were between the United states and Russia , Spain , Italy , or any of 'he Scandinavian nations there Avould perhaps be no presumption in maintaining 'tat America has no reason to blush for her barbarism . England , France , and Germany are the only European countries Avith Avhich * comparison Avould not be absurd , for we
have outstripped every other nation in all the moral , social , intellectual , and lesthetic , as well as the material elements of civilization . Within the last half of the century Avhich has elapsed since our independence American literature has had many names Avhich command respect in the most enlightened countries of Europe . Our historians need not shrink from a comparison Avith those of other cultivated nations .
Prescott and Motley have treated European subjects with a breadth of original research and a pictorial grace Avhich have received admiring recognition from the most distinguished men of letters in Europe . The best history of the connexion of Spain Avith the New World is by an Americanthe
, best history of the reign of Philip II . is by an American , the best history of the Dutch Republic is by an American , the most learned and critical history , of Spanish literature is by an American , the best life of Columbus is by an American , and the labours of Bancroft in American
history have won for him the respect of Europe as well as of his OAVU country . Our American historians are as remarkable for elegance of style as for research and erudition , and have been made honorary mem * hers of the most learned societies of Europe , Our poets may not be greatbut
, Europe has produced no great poet AvitMn the last half-century . Our LongfelloAV is almost as popular and as widely read in England as in the United States , and Bryant , Whittier and LoAvell deserve to rank as high as most of the contemporary
poets of Europe . Within the last fetf years Ave have produced the best trans lation of Dante , the best translation of Homer , and the best translation of Goethe ' s " Faust" in the English language . Our Cooper has been translated into every
European tongue , our Hawthorne is as warmly admired in England as he is at home , and the inimitable graces of our Irving , Avhich suffer by translation , make him a favourite wherever the English language is read . American law books are
quoted as authorities in all the higher Courts of England , and if they have not been translated it is because the jurisprudence of Con tinental Europe is so different from that of the United States and
Great Britain . On that great branch of jurisprudence Avliich is common to all 2 A 2
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
An American Vindication Of Americans.
he wishes to submit it to the criticism of competent American judges before publishing it in France . He has been so short a time in the United States , and has been compelled to depend so much on conversation for his knoAvledge of the present state of the country , that it Avas prudent for him
to submit his conclusions to the judgment of people who have had better opportunities with a view to revise what he has Avritten if it should appear that he has been misled into errors . If , after sending copies to the American press , he should find no dissent
from his conclusions , he would feel justified in publishing his book in France as an authentic exposition of American morals and culture in 1876 . We think the marquis has been unfortunate in his sources of information , and it is due alike to him and
the country that his implied request to have his mistakes rectified before reprinting his book in France should be candidly aoceeded to .
He portrays the people of this country as in a state of revolting degeneracy , representing us as having lost the virtues of our ancestors and destitute of the intellectual and sesthetic culture Avhich is the best fruit of civilization . " It is a people" he says ,
, " Avhose morality is that of a people in decadence . " "It is a people which produces things , but no longer produces men . " We have " no men of letters , no orators , no statesmen , no works of art , or at least very few , to attest the existence of a civilized
nation . This judgment would be too sweeping even if our culture were compared Avith that of contemporary Europe , but when the comparison is betAveen America m 1876 and America in 1776 we are perhaps more competent to judge than the most intelligent forei can be after the
gner hast y inquiries Avhich are possible during a brief sojourn in the United States . We are , too , painfully aware that it becomes us to be modest in comparing ourselves with Europe in the more refined "ranches of intellectual cultivation . But if the
comparison were between the United states and Russia , Spain , Italy , or any of 'he Scandinavian nations there Avould perhaps be no presumption in maintaining 'tat America has no reason to blush for her barbarism . England , France , and Germany are the only European countries Avith Avhich * comparison Avould not be absurd , for we
have outstripped every other nation in all the moral , social , intellectual , and lesthetic , as well as the material elements of civilization . Within the last half of the century Avhich has elapsed since our independence American literature has had many names Avhich command respect in the most enlightened countries of Europe . Our historians need not shrink from a comparison Avith those of other cultivated nations .
Prescott and Motley have treated European subjects with a breadth of original research and a pictorial grace Avhich have received admiring recognition from the most distinguished men of letters in Europe . The best history of the connexion of Spain Avith the New World is by an Americanthe
, best history of the reign of Philip II . is by an American , the best history of the Dutch Republic is by an American , the most learned and critical history , of Spanish literature is by an American , the best life of Columbus is by an American , and the labours of Bancroft in American
history have won for him the respect of Europe as well as of his OAVU country . Our American historians are as remarkable for elegance of style as for research and erudition , and have been made honorary mem * hers of the most learned societies of Europe , Our poets may not be greatbut
, Europe has produced no great poet AvitMn the last half-century . Our LongfelloAV is almost as popular and as widely read in England as in the United States , and Bryant , Whittier and LoAvell deserve to rank as high as most of the contemporary
poets of Europe . Within the last fetf years Ave have produced the best trans lation of Dante , the best translation of Homer , and the best translation of Goethe ' s " Faust" in the English language . Our Cooper has been translated into every
European tongue , our Hawthorne is as warmly admired in England as he is at home , and the inimitable graces of our Irving , Avhich suffer by translation , make him a favourite wherever the English language is read . American law books are
quoted as authorities in all the higher Courts of England , and if they have not been translated it is because the jurisprudence of Con tinental Europe is so different from that of the United States and
Great Britain . On that great branch of jurisprudence Avliich is common to all 2 A 2