The Sun.
London, England, 1835-02-10 00:00:00

THE STRANGER IN AMERICA:

Comprising Sketches of the Manners, Society, and National
Peculiarities of the United States.

By Francis Lieber, Editor of the " Encyclopcedia Americana."
2 Vols. London : Bentley, 1835.
This is the work of an able intelligent German,
who has " seen the world," and as far as we can judge
from the volumes before us, agrees with Byron in
reckoning it a sight very different from what books
generally represent it. He has chosen to convey his
opinions through the medium of " Letters," addressed
to a friend in Europe ; and he has done so with
much ease, fluency, and elegance. But, somehow or
other, Germans, however eminent in other respects, are
not the best writers for conveying a knowledge of a foreign
country to such plain, matter-of-fact people, as the
majority of the inhabitants of Great Britain. The
author before us is no exception to this general rule.
He is lively, humorous, and satirical ; his descriptions
are forcible and vivid ; his great reading, and con-
stant habits of close observation, render his illus-
trations particularly striking and to the purpose,—
but these advantages are counterbalanced by want of
conciseness in detail, and the absence of individuality,
if we may be allowed so to express ourselves, in the
classification of objects. He writes in generals, and
after the usual fashion of German authors, is too subtle
and metaphysical for the ordinary English readers of
travels. There is, moreover, too much of self in these
volumes ; we have the author everywhere thrusting
himself between us and every object on which we wish
to fix our attention. In one part of them he takes
leave of America altogether, and gives us a tolerably
long account of his early life and adventures, which
though striking, come too unexpectedly upon us to
be relished, as otherwise they deserve to be.
What pleases us most in these volumes is the
fine, healthy, cheerful, and liberal tone which runs
through them ; and the animated love of freedom
which displays itself on every page. The author is a
most ardent admirer of the People, the Government,
and the Institutions of the United States. He found
nothing offensive in the conduct of the servants, or the
manners of the ladies, if we may except an over fond-
ness to be present at the debates in the Legislative
Assemblies, to the exclusion of male visitors, who are
not allowed to occupy seats, while any portion of
the ladies are unprovided for. His observations on
this custom are ingenious, and we entirely concur in
their correctness. If the reading public prefer an
amusing book on America, filled with curious anec-
dotes, philosphical observations, and snatches of auto-
biography, equal in excitement to any tale of fiction—
to the perusal of works, rich only in statistical know •
ledge, we recommend these volumes in preference to all

that have been published for some vear.' But if in'
formation, given in detail—if statistical inter:.
ligence 110
lit—it will not be found in the " Stranger
.
America."
The author is most valuable where he deals !
song
onl
with general principles, or calls the attention of htis
readers to the benefits derived from improvements .l
the Arts and Sciences. The following passage on the
impetus given to civilization by the help of steam and
steam-boats, will explain our meaning :-
4. much has been said about steamboats, and very natural:,o
so. They save time, and that, alone, is saying much. Ste
has become the handmaid of civilization. Steam has net en
quickened the intercourse of men, but has united things vobici
without it would have remained separate for ever. Steanif.,
do not hesitate to say, has cemented our Union. How woad
it have been possible for States, at such a distance from ea'
other as Louisiana aed 'Maiae, Missouri and Delaware, to re-
main firmly united, had these distances continued to signify
what they formerly did, had its short, a mile renteined a mile
They tumid have pulled one this way, the other that WO
what interested, moved, or disturbed the one might not bair.ea
affected the others; the conductors of the political 9°lo
would have been wanting, and the parts would naturally' ll°
been shivered asunder. It was by roads as much as the Wee
which used them that the Roman empire was kept together f°r
a time.
" When I was in Buffalo, I saw a steam-boat, and eked
the Captain where he was going. To Chicago,' was the ail:
swer. How far is that ? ' Eleven hundred miles by water,o
he replied. Half the way across the Atlantic And this h
said in a tone in which a waterman on the Thames would an;
swer, by "ro Greenwich, Sir.' People go to and fro betwet
Chicago and Buffalo. There are steam-boats for greater ch!;
tances yet. But I probably shall touch upon the distances',
the United States again, and give you some more /Tree"
upon the subject. Let me only add here, that, in my opine 5.
tlte history of civilization runs parallel with the history of COl:
mumcation, both physical and intellectual, as roads, can
printing-presses, newspapers."
The following observations on the natural diSpnsi.
tion of the Americans, as shown in their fondness
for effecting improvements, are deserving of attention.
They explain the causes of the wonderful improve'
ments which are daily being effected by our Trans.
Atlantic brethren :
" An American cannot make a piece of machinery, Mt
precisely the same ; he endeavours always to improve, 9°1%
times merely to change. How beneficial an influence this"l"
position must, on the whole, exert on all mechanical and 01;
terial affairs, you can easily imagine; it has a different ere
upon those subjects which lie beyond the sphere of the 11:er
material world. Often sufficient time for necessary delft%
ment is not allowed to an institution ; its roots have bile
begun to spread, when changes are begun. This is owirig,Bo
to peculiar situation of Americans in a new country, °iff:
can; continually for the application of new forces, and nip
leads then;
to look upon changes and novelties in a totallyferent light free:
that in which they would appear to the ill 01
bitants of an old Ein.:Tean state. But, as to the improveie
of the material world, the beneficial influence of this dig 0
sition cannot be doubted, especially as the Americans erep
great hands for division of mechanical labour as they al 19'
uniting the different branches of mental labour. A foe '1%4
ago, I found out at my bookbinder's that the gilding
marbling of books, is done by men who do nothing else,',,'
not by the bookbinder himself. The same is done in ti,e
land ; I never heard of it on the continent. So c10.,00
butchers occupy themselves with killing but one and the 11-00/
species of animals. Pork-butchers I have found in Sara
countries entirely separated from the others, but here we 'the
veal, mutton, beef, and pork-butchers,--each separate frorebe
other. A farmer rarely sends his own wheat to the mill Woo
ground for his domestic use ; he sells all his produce to
051
miller, and buys for his own family whenever he finds it nests
convenient. This is at least the case in all parts of the vibe
growing States, where large mills exist, and a consider'
trade in flour is carried on."