CONDESCENSION IN FOREIGNERS. 71 



often the arrogance of the barbarian, is not that of the 

 cultivated as often vulgarly apologetic ? In the America 

 they meet with is there the simplicity, the manliness, the 

 absence of sham, the sincere human nature, the sensitive 

 ness to duty and implied obligation, that in any way 

 distinguishes us from what our orators call &quot; the effete 

 civilisation of the Old World 1 &quot; Is there a politician among 

 us daring enough (except a Dana here and there) to risk his 

 future on the chance of our keeping our word with the 

 exactness of superstitious communities like England ? Is 

 it certain that we shall be ashamed of a bankruptcy of 

 honour, if we can only keep the letter of our bond 1 ? I 

 hope we shall be able to answer all these questions with a 

 frank yes. At any rate, we would advise our visitors that 

 we are not merely curious creatures, but belong to the 

 family of man, and that, as individuals, we are not to be 

 always subjected to the competitive examination above-men 

 tioned, even if we acknowledged their competence as an 

 examining board. Above all, we beg them to remember 

 that America is not to us, as to them, a mere object of 

 external interest to be discussed and analysed, but in us, 

 part of our very marrow. Let them not suppose that we 

 conceive of ourselves as exiles from the graces and amenities 

 of an older date than we, though very much at home in a 

 state of things not yet all it might be or should be but 

 which we mean to make so, and which we find both whole 

 some and pleasant for men. (though perhaps not for 

 dilettanti) to live in. &quot;The full tide of human existence&quot; 

 may be felt here as keenly as Johnson felt it at Charing 

 Cross, and in a larger sense. I know one person who is 

 singular enough to think Cambridge the very best spot on 

 the habitable globe. &quot; Doubtless God could have made 

 a better, but doubtless he never did.&quot; 



It will take England a great while to get over her airs of 

 patronage toward us, or even passably to conceal them. 

 She cannot help confounding the people with the country, 

 and regarding us as lusty juveniles. She has a conviction 

 that whatever good there is in us is wholly English, when the 



