Phenix gazette. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1825-1833, 1833-09-23
SEVERE CRITICISM.

SEVERE CRITICISM.
additional excerpts from Mr Hamiiion's E" Alen
and Manners in .qmericd
Though the schcoImaster has long exercised
his vocation in these States the fruit OF his abOrs
is but little apparent in the language oi his Pu
pills. The amount of bad grammar in circulation
is very great; that of barbarisms enormous VI
course do not now speak oi the operative class,
whose massacre of their mother tongue, however
! iuhuman, could excite no asonishment; out al
Jude to the great body Of the lawyers and traders;
the men who crowd the exchange and the hotels;
who are TO he heard speaking in the courts. and
are selected by their fellow citizens to I'LL high
and responsible Offices"
"The privilege of barbarizins the Kings Eng
| iish is assumed by all ranks and conditions OF
men,"
The great body of the New Enslanders are
distinguished above every other people | have
ever known by bi9otry and narrowness of mind,
and an utter disregard of those deicacies OF &c.
pertinent which indicate benevo!ence of feeling"
| There is at this moment nothing in the Uni.
! ted States worthy the name of library. Not
ONLY is there an entire absence of learning. in the
| higher sense of the term, but an absolute want OF
| the material from which alone learning can be
extracted. At present, an American might stu.
dy every book within the limits Of the Union. and
still be regarded, in many parts Of Europe, -es:
pecIay in Germany.-a- man comparatively
Ignorant"
- In point Of climate. I believe Charleston is
fully worse than New Orleans. In the latter,
creoles are entirely exempt from the ravases OF
the prevailing epidemic. But. in Charleston,
there is impunity for any class. Even native
CarulinIans died Of fever, as we'll as their neigh
bnrs. The chances are, that If person from the
! Country, however acclimatcd. sleeps in Charles.
ton even forS night. at certain season of the
year, he catches The fever. Should person liv-
ing in the city pass day with his friend in the
country, there is not doctor in the place who.
on his return, would not consider him in a state
Of peril. In short, the people Of Charleston pass
their lives in eDdeavoring to escape from pur.
suer who is sure to overlake the fugitive at last.
At one season, the town Is unhealthy, and all
! who can afford II fly to their estates. At ano.
Their, the country Is unhealthy, and they take up
their abode in the pine barrens From the pine
barrens they venture back into the town. from
which. in short time, they are again expelled"
"ln New Orleans, a man runs Il certain risk,
and has done with IT. II he live, he continues to
eat erawf.h. in a variety of savoury preparations.
If he die, the cra"fsh eat him without cnokery
of any sort. lie has no fear OF dining with his
friend in the country at any season Of the year.
But IN Charleston, man must be continually on
the alert. for, go where he may, there is fever, at
his heels ="
unfortunately, beauty in this climate is not
durable. Like the ghosts OF Banquo's fated
line it comes like shadow. aud so departs
At one or two and.twenty the bloom of an Ame.
rican lady is gone, and the more substantial ma.
terias of beauty follow soon after. AT thirty
the whole fabric is IN decay. and nothing remains
but the traditions of former conquests."
1T to form just estimate Of ourselves and
others be the test Of knowledge. the New Eng.
lander is the most ignorant of mankind"
"In the northern and central States-for Of
the climate of the southern States it is unneces.
sary TO speak-the annual range Of the thermo.
meter exceeds a hundred degrees. The heat in
summer is that Of jamaica; the cold in winter is
that Of Russia. Such enormous vicissitudes must
necessarily impair the vigor of the human frame;
and when we take into calculation the vast por.
lion of the United States in which the atmos.
phere is contaminated by marshy exhalations. it
will moi be difficult with the auxiliary influences
of dram-drinking and tobacco chewing, to &C
count for the sQuald and sIckly aspect of the 20.
pulation Among the Peasantry. never saw
one horld aud robust man, nor any one distn.
guished BY that iuness and rntundiiy of muscle,
WHICH every "hete uettS tHe eye III Enylanu.'
The Americans had met in Europe bad goa.
orally been distinguished by certain reserve,
and something even approaching to the offensive
in manner, which had not contributed to erea,e
prepossesson in their favor. 1t seemed, as If
each individual were impressed with the convc.
ton that the whole dignity of his country was
concentrated IN his person; and imagined them
too much given to disturb the placid current Of
social intercourse, by the obtrusion Of national
jealousies. and the cravings Of restless aud in.
ordinate vanity"
IAN American is BY no means a cornwall be.
ing. He seems to consider eating and drinking.
as necessary tasks, which he is anxious to dis.
charge as speedily as possible"
:" Forrest, the American rara. auis of an actor,
is coarse and vulgar, without grace, without die.
nifty, with little feasibility of feature and is utter.
" common place in his conceptions of character.
There Is certainly some energy about him, but
this is sadly given TO degenerate into rant''
"A striking difference exists between the sys !
TEN OF rds and MI nj Sh rpsots adont.b -