CHAP. XI.] CHARACTER OF THE PEOPLE. 355 



the ardent friendship ; the deadly enmity; the 

 *love that makes people Mil themselves; the hatred 

 that makes them kill others. All these belong 

 to the characters of Englishmen, in whose minds 

 and hearts every feeling exists in the extreme. 

 To decide the question, which character is. 

 upon the whole, best, the American or the Eng 

 lish, we must appeal to some third party. But, 

 it is no matter : we cannot change our natures. 

 For my part, who can, in nothing, think or act 

 by halves, 1 must belie my very nature, if I said 

 that I did not like the character of my own 

 countrymen best. We all like our own parents 

 and children better than other people's parents 

 and children; not because they are better, but 

 because they are ours; because they belong to 

 us and we to them, and because we must 

 resemble each other. There are some Americans 

 that 1 like full as well as I do any man in Eng 

 land; but, if, nation against nation, 1 put the 

 question home to my heart, it instantly decides 

 in favour of my countrymen. 



358. You must not be offended if you find 

 people here take but little interest in the con 

 cerns of England. Why should they? BOLTON 



F R cannot hire spies to entrap them. 



As matter of curiosity, they may contem 

 plate such works as those of FLETCHER ; but, 

 they cannot feel much upon tjie subject; and 



