44 THE CULTIVATOR Jaw. 
What Foreigners Think of Us. 
Analytical Laboratory, Yale College, 1 
New-Haven. Conn.. Nov. 26, 1851. J 
Messrs. Editors — I take the above subject as one 
which has often, of late, occupied my own mind, and 
one in which we as a nation, whether we acknowledge 
it or not, certainly do feel a strong interest. Sensitive¬ 
ness on this point, is one of our characteristics, and it is 
frequently carried to an absurd extreme. Filled with 
indignation at some foolish mistake, we often neglect hints 
or suggestions that would be of great advantage, if pro¬ 
perly received and acted upon. This should not be so; 
there was more excuse for it when we were very young 
and comparatively powerless, but now we have grown to 
that stature, and to that established character, that we 
need not turn in a rage upon every snarler that yelps at 
our heels; we can afford to acknowledge imperfections, 
and can look every evil report fairly in the face. 
AYith such views as these, I design to devote a few 
words to this subject, more particularly with reference 
to foreign reports of our agriculture. Our farmers have 
lor the most part been neglected by foreign visitors, but 
within a few years this immunity has ceased, and they 
have received their full share of attention. The ship¬ 
loads of agricultural produce that have kept pace with 
every European demand, have drawn the eyes of older 
countries to a new and powerful rival: the stories of 
boundless and fertile alluvial districts, have called men 
across the Atlantic to visit them, with the special end of 
deciding what our future would do with the markets of 
the other continent. 
The most numerous of our visitors have been from Great 
Britain, and it is not to be disguised that their reports, 
of us have, more than all others put together, awaken¬ 
ed ill feelings, and caused strong protests against not only 
the correctness of the authors, but their desire to dis¬ 
cover the truth. It must be acknowledged that ground 
has been given for such charges: when men come here, 
and scamper hastily over our country, with upraised eye¬ 
brows, and stiff, proud reserve; when they greedily swal¬ 
low every prejudicial report, look out for defects rather 
than excellencies, and regard every variation from Eng¬ 
lish manners or customs, not as belonging to another 
people and therefore to be considered in its adaptation 
to national characteristics, but as differing from an Eng¬ 
lish standard, and therefore to be condemned,—then we 
naturally feel aggrieved, and insulted, by their misrepre¬ 
sentations. 
It is unfortunate that so many Englishmen assume a 
defensive and hostile. attitude toward all other peo¬ 
ple, immediately on leaving their native shores; that 
by their air of immeasurable superiority, and haughty 
condescension, they alienate those who would otherwise 
fraternize with them most cordially. There are most 
liberal and honorable exceptions to this rule, but in our 
American experience, we are constrained to believe that 
they are exceptions. I do not willingly say these things, 
but with real regret, for I have lived long enough in Eng¬ 
land and Scotland, to know and love their people. We 
may find fault with the British nation, but after all it 
speaks and will speak for itself. That little island, not 
so large as some of our single States, exerts a sway far 
mightier than Rome or Greece ever knew, and is at this 
moment more powerful than any kingdom of the world. 
England has her great defects, her glaring inconsisten¬ 
cies, and what nation has not; but w r hen we see her arms 
stretching around the globe, her colonies growing and 
prospering where others have failed or stood still, her 
sails whitening every sea, her wealth and strength com¬ 
pelling all others to be subsidiary to her aggrandisement 
and increase, we are filled with astonishment, and cannot 
but be proud to own such a parentage. The virtues and 
the vices of the English are in the main ours; indomitable 
perseverance, restless enterprise, far reaching energy, and 
strong practical sagacity, are common to the two nations, 
and these qualities are bringing them together in a friend¬ 
ly contest for supremacy. Already we divide the seas 
between us, and united can almost without a serious ef¬ 
fort sweep every other flag from its surface; united as 
for the past few years, during the next century, and it 
seems probable that the English tongue will prevail gra¬ 
dually over all others. The same in the prevailing re¬ 
ligion, the sfime in so many characteristics both of ex¬ 
cellence and defect, we should encourage every tie of 
amity, and while each pursues by all proper means, the 
path to its own advantage, should frown upon all who in 
blind prejudice or narrow ignorance, either intentionally 
or unwittingly, pursue a course likely to sow seeds of 
dissension between us. 
It is then in a spirit of kindness that I would examine 
in a general way, some of the criticisms that have lately 
emanated from our fatherland. I do not propose to 
mention names, but to point out some reason for certain 
erroneous conclusions. 
In the first place, I would say distinctly, that we need 
not expect any satisfactory results when a traveller goes 
over our country by railway and steamboat, for a few 
weeks or months, collecting an item here, and an item 
there, and then comes out with a deep and profound dis¬ 
quisition upon our minutest springs of action and the 
causes which influence the most important of our nation¬ 
al movements. He who attempts anything of this na¬ 
ture, without any apparent fear of error, or the influence 
of preconceived opinions, is so evidently superficial that 
he may be condemned in advance. If the writer has 
been clearly desirous of giving a candid relation, and has 
fairly tried, although in vain, to see things in their true 
light, we can only feel sorry that he has so greatly mis¬ 
taken his vocation; but if he has been determined to see 
nothing but what he wished, we are now strong enough 
to express our contempt for his spirit of blind prejudice, 
and let our character and history alone contradict him. 
It is not by any means my object, to deny that there is 
no good reason for fault-finding with us, for it is not to 
be disguised that we have many and glaring imperfec¬ 
tions. Our agriculture more particularly, is quite open 
to animadversion, and the farmers of some districts, sunk 
in apathy, or armed with hostility toward everything 
new, deserve all the pungency, both of ridicule and 
reprehension, that can be bestowed upon them. Yet 
even here there is ample room for selection, as to the 
points with reference to which they may fairly be blamed. 
Some defects are inseparable from our present condition; 
others are the results of our faults and ignorance. It is 
