THE FAVORITE POISON OF AMERICA. 



203 



present condition and appearance, as a nation 

 of men, women and children, in which we 

 Americans compare most unfavorably with 

 the people of Europe, and especially with 

 those of northern Europe — England and 

 France, for example. It is neither in religion 

 or morality, law or liberty. In these great 

 essentials every American feels that his coun- 

 try is the birthplace of a larger number of ro- 

 bust and healthy souls than any other. But 

 in the bodily condition, the sig?is of physical 

 health, and all that constitutes the outward 

 aspect of the men and women of the United 

 States, our countrymen, and especially country- 

 women, compare most unfavorably with all but 

 the absolutely starving classes on the other side 

 of the Atlantic. So completely is this the fact, 

 that though we are unconscious of it at home, 

 the first thing (especially of late years) which 

 strikes an American, returning from abroad, is 

 the pale and sickly countenances of his friends, 

 acquaintances, and almost every one he meets 

 in the streets of large towns, — every other 

 man looking as if he had lately recovered 

 from a fit of illness. The men look so pale, 

 and the women so delicate, that his eye, accus- 

 tomed to the higher hues of health, and the more 

 vigorous physical condition of transatlantic 

 men and women, scarcely credits the assertion 

 of old acquaintances, when they assure him 

 that they were " never better in their lives." 



With this sort of impression weighing disa- 

 greeably on our mind, on returningfrom Europe 

 lately, we fancied it worth our while to plunge 

 200 or 300 miles into the interior of the state 

 of New- York. It would be pleasant, we 

 thought, to see not only the rich forest scene- 

 ry opened by the new railroad to Lake Erie, 

 but also, (for we felt confident they were there,) 

 some good, hearty, fresh looking lads and las- 

 ses among the farmers' sons and daughters. 



We were for the most part disappointed. 

 Certainly the men, especially the young men, 

 who live mostly in the open air, are healthy 



and robust. But the daughters of the farm- 

 ers — they are as delicate and pale as lilies of 

 the valley, or fine ladies of the Fifth Avenue. 

 If one catches a glimpse of a rose in their 

 cheeks, it is the pale rose of the hot-house, 

 and not the fresh glow of the garden damask. 

 Alas, we soon discovered the reason. They, 

 too, live for seven months of the year in un- 

 ventilated rooms, heated by close stoves ! 

 The fire-places are closed up, and ruddy com- 

 plexions have vanished with them. Occa- 

 sionally, indeed, one meets with an exception ; 

 some bright eyed, young, rustic Hebe, whose 

 rosy cheeks and round, elastic figure would 

 make you believe that the world has not all 

 grown "delicate;" and if you inquire, you 

 will learn probably that she is one of those 

 whose natural spirits force them out continu- 

 ally in the open air, so that she has as yet in 

 that way escaped any considerable doses of 

 the national poison. 



Now that we are fairly afloat on this dan- 

 gerous sea, we nmst unburthen our heart suf- 

 ficiently to say that neither in England nor 

 France does one meet with so much beauty — 

 certainly not, so far as charming eyes and ex- 

 pressive faces go towards constituting beauty — 

 as in America. But alas, on the other hand, 

 as compared with the elastic figures and 

 healthful frames abroad, American beauty is 

 as evanescent as a dissolving view, contrasted 

 with a real and living landscape. What is 

 with us a sweet dream, from sixteen to twenty- 

 five, is there a permanent reality till forty-five 

 or fifty. 



We should think it might be a matter of 

 cliynate, were it not that we saw, as the most 

 common thing, even finer complexions in 

 France — yes, in the heart of Paris, and espe- 

 cially among the peasantry, who are almost 

 wholly in the open air — than in England. 



And what, then, is the mystery of fine phy- 

 sical health, which is so much better under- 

 stood in the old world than the new ? 



