Herald of the times. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1830-1846, 1835-01-22


England man; the production ofsuch being
in this country would have been an anomaly
in the operations Of Nature;-and had the
thing occurred, he would not have found him
self in congenial element he could not
have gained eminence here;-the Yankees
would have put his brilliant qualities TO trial
too rigid and severe, before they greeted him
with the title of A" New -England's favorite
son." The eccentric sallies of the man of
Roanoke would not have passed for wisdom
at Boston; and most assuredly no forty thou
sand inhabitants Of Massachusetts would
have returned him to Congress year after
year, without more evidence of his usefulness
than he was accustomed to bear home at the
end of the session. A Yankee will choose
his representative as he chooses his minister
or his every day coat-taking care that he
wears well and does good service.
"IIolloa you man taking nap" cried a
fellow from the gallery, to a representative
whom he spied treating himself to doze
during narcotic discourse; "wake up there
the State don't pay you three dollars day
for sleeping" Neither is the Yankee dispos-
ed to pay his representatives for talking
The Congress gentlemen, it is notorious, are
terrible long takers, but among these the
New England members are the least Of
tenders.
! In spite of this predominant inclination to-
ward the useful, the Yankee is no despser OF
those arts which adorn and embclsh life
The liberal sciences have nowhere in the
country received such encouragement as in.
New England. The cities, the towns, the
villages, the country seats, the private dwell i
lings display more elegance and taste than
those of any other part of the Union. If the
New Highlander is prudent, he is also charl-
table, he has not. like the European, the daily
spectacle of poverty and suffering before his
eyes, to render him callous to human misery
nothing is more prompt and efiectual than the
succor which is here afforded to the needy or
unfortunate.
Some one has remarked that the distin-
guished characteristic of the American is his
swami of loyalty" This course was uttered
as rcproach and as the word is not Ameri-
can, it was pretty safe device to make use
of it. What is the loyalty Of an American
Is it a respect for the chief magistrate He
is sure to get all he deserves. Is it an at
tachment TO the institutions of his country?-,
Nobody ever denied the American this. Is it
love for his native soil Nor can he be
proved deficient in this affection, till you find
him, like the European, leaving his country
for ever. If it be meant that the American
does not possess that feeling which would
"stnnd by the crown, though it hung upon a
bush," the charge may be true enough for
unless the crown hangs upon headpiece,
Jonathan will guess very shrewdly that it is
worth standing by. 10 drop the metaphor,
he will fight in support of an old institution
that has become useless. This, in fact, is the
very head and front of his offending in the
& g .snn fr,a nd hov wnr rn
accustomed to lay to his charge some years
ago that he had a sad and disloyal trick Of
throwing aside whatever he found did not
suit him. We hear less about this at the pre-
sent day, now that some other people have
begun to follow his example.
The Yankees are distinguished, above all
other mrn for certain capacity which, in the
language Of the country, is termed conlri-
rance; this is that sort ofingenuity, invention,
or skill, which enables an individual to turn
his hand to any occupation, or to devise
scheme for any sudden emergency. Thus, If
a Yankee is crossing the Alleghanles on
horseback, and is overtaken by snow storm,
he will jump into the woods with his Ratchet,
and in three hours time will be riding over
the snow upon sedge of his own construc-
ton. The records Of the Patent Office at
Washington exhibit a striking testimony of
these people in ingenuity; by far the greater
number ofinventions are from New England.
A Yankee farmer is sort of Jack at all
trades; he not only delves the soil and goes
to market, but he is a carpenter, shoemaker,
, weaver, COOPER soap-boiler, and more trades
! than these. He turns wooden bowls, makes
buckets, sets up shocks. weaves baskets, ma
nufactures brooms, and invents washing-ma-
chimes. In this last mentioned matter the
New England ingenuity is inexhaustble, and
one would imagine that the "second virtue
! if cleanliness had been elevated to the first
rank in this land, such wilderness of patent
griln-cracks have sprung up in the attempt tc
usurp the honors of old Dumb Betty. 1t is q
Yankees main study to be 'improving," eve
ry thing; his very language breathes this spl'
rit, for he who occupies tenement is said tC
"improve" it. TO leave thing as he found
it, seems to him no fair usage Of the globe We
inhabit.
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