THE SENTIMENT OF ANTIQUITY. 199 



individuals among the inhabitants might possess. Our 

 people are educated to admire only the new by their con- 

 stant familiarity with new buildings, new villages, and 

 new cities; and the tendency of all these objects is to 

 foster an excessive love of glare and ornament. If they 

 have any regard for antiquity, it is in most cases a pas- 

 sion for certain relics of ancient art which have been 

 imported for their fashionable value. In such cases the 

 taste for antiquities proves to be nothing more than a 

 rage for novelties. 



A writer in the " London Critic " has remarked that the 

 Americans ought to be devout worshippers of nature, in- 

 asmuch as "twenty steps will take the meditative man 

 into the wilderness." But this remark will apply only to 

 " meditative men." The active members of our popula- 

 tion have come by habit to regard the natural condition 

 of the country as the great obstacle in the way of their 

 material prosperity, and they feel no affection for objects 

 that must be destroyed to promote their thrift. We can- 

 not love anything which is a hindrance to our success in 

 any darling project. The most devout lovers of nature 

 in this country are among those who were brought up in 

 the oldest towns and villages, where the primitive forest 

 has been succeeded by one of sparser growth, who prize 

 their trees and groves as property increasing in value, 

 and look upon them with pleasure as a part of their valu- 

 able possessions. A familiarity with the new prompts to 

 enterprise, speculation, and mechanical invention. Old 

 scenes and objects encourage thought, stimulate the ima- 

 gination, and foster the poetic sentiment. The lovers of 

 the new are pleased with art chiefly as it contributes to 

 show and splendor ; the lovers- of the old, as it serves to 

 render the scenes of this earth better subjects of inspira- 

 tion. Hence the genial influence of an old country full 

 of venerable ruins. On this continent art is almost en- 



