Baton-Rouge gazette. [volume] (Baton-Rouge, La.) 1819-1856, 1842-08-20


.ioz'44-I.yery one reeolleets what fools the
northern people nadc Of themselves last win
Ter, on the orcartt,n OF the Wait Of Ehaflea
Dickens, the author Of PiGkWici, TO some OF
their prime i1ai eltteR. Teastad, lionisedy adul4
lied worried With kindnesHea and altatsst as-
taf8lnstoa with riviitisH, The poor young man
hastatd 10 escape trot1 tho annoyance Of these
'shordes Of northern hafbarians." He ct last
succeeded IN arriving safely in bis native En-
gland, where, i.se ffotsa the r,oleBtatlons OF
The curious, he has found leisure to lnaitn
two or THREE letters to the London Morning
Chronicle, in " hich he e&rfsssne pretty freely
his opinisa pf America and Americans. Prom
one Ut these, we give The annexed extract
which, whether written by Dickens himself
nf by SOME one else for him, einhodtes sumo
remarkably true ttutIiH, though they be- revere
utlnH.
II NAV be said thai /, If all pefssnr. ought
to be- hlindto thadsrk appts Of 4 ..,erlean char
acter, treated as ] have boon ! The American
people. | do tic. agree W, this~ view of the
case | did not seek III. ~ attentions, their din
ner#, mud their balls. On the contrary, these
things were force . upon me, many times to
The aetiouH IL ut,vurieufe ri myself aud my
par y, If.s KIN lnaes Of o friend. il il is tro,i
''NF'tt' Hlld WIN ~ hHtEt III T stint
ag ~ = ~nl,lrtaR 1T All enemy, The Americana
hP' g most Of The faiIip, both Of The English
! aud r.. heit. with very few Of their virtues
| never thought that | waa pstted, merely for
mRscH, but nH y kind Of munster, 10 look Ut, and
be gazeti about, mud ln,fuc thy keepers with
somewhat ut the t~o'oriefy that euvelopsd my
EelL, can freely and confidently Hay that
this was The caRe. almost without exception.
Nv books we're never written for fups and
The luxurious rich. | have4alwaya Thought
that much good might be done by selerttng
Oh, characters from The lower walks 1T life,
aud EMPLOYING IN their stories, how often it IL
that ttir beauty Of lntiorcnce aud Integrity may
BIZ R~en among tlie poor. and how inany cHrtt-
Ses there are for their vices iFthcy are viriotiE.
While IN America. | Of course could not
rudely tell the artatocraty {tat they have aris-
t~ptratY there) among w~lfoillal wae forced TO
move, what | really thoughts OF them. Yet
how natseeiis Was it To me, tn8eee IN Il rnnn-
Try which pretcnls To So much equality, (aad
whose l1wH really are liabAed viii, ~. an en-
etip|liieatiet Of The very EllIlcEt kind OF mock
eftiHSitttess.
Perhaps in the course Of ttme the Ameri-
cans will getpvcf this, hope 40, | ain sure.
Tlley should know that Il classic simplicity
Of nslfnerF--a cutting loose tom The stale
ard absurd rerenionIes oi European high life
IA bold, and noble. and manly independence
Of foreign conventions usage, would become
their people much better, aud excite our adj
mtfatIon much more strongly than their pre-
sent fIasie Ittruetling, and base spirit Of imita-
ton.
Though ia my travels from city TO city, !
oI course found micl, To he pleased with and
a tonlslled nj, yet he total Inference between
our good old English eustomE, and the awk.
wnrdness. the uucouth manners, and the I'M
mltl1ated selfiyhnrts which meet you every.
where IN America, made NV Journey ono Of q
good deal OF annoyance. | do not think the
Americans, is a people, have mucl. good taste.
To a person brought up among them, and in
their own way, # course The glaring faults
that strike a stranger do not appear but 10
any welEbred man from abroad, the effect Of
the prevalent TEXTURES Of The American char
actcr is by no means agreeable.
But, sir, find that ! have wandered away
from my text ! have indeed 20 much upon
my mind upon the subject Of my recent jour
ney, aB 10 itself alone, that | could hardly
avoid saying what ! have said.
And The hest return ! could make the PEG.
pla et The United States, even if all thor at.
tention TO mo had been shown out of pure kind.
ness, "ouid pe 70 SNOW tHeh tue htlsf ioitf
ol such conduct, A man ls o man, and because
lie happens 10 have done a little good in the
world, that is no reason Why lts fellow rrea.
lures should fall down and worship him, The
Americans protess 10 be good democrats ; ] aay
from my heart, | don't believe there is a cuun-
try on the face Of the earth where man 1cor-
snip prevails 80 much, aud IN so gross and dis
gustlng a method
There is really much misapprehenfionhore
with regard 10 what America really it. j. do
not believe that the books of travellers from
this country there, have caused that misop-
prehension. On the contrary, | am OF opinion
that very few faults have been laid ut their
door, which do not honestly belong to them.
! shall address you again in a few days.
With respect, etc.
CHARLES DICKENS.