Washington telegraph., 1852-11-24
American Characteristic

Mr.. Casey, in his work, 'Two yo,r,
the Farm of Uncle SAM" Just published n ;u
London, thus analyses the American cbsr,o
ter. The analysis is true to life. Read
Vieing with the Partisan in drcssw,ho
English in energy-cautious as a Dn,oL
man-impulsve as an -natr;o.;o
as Tell-brave as Wallace-cool rs WI
lington.-and royal as Alexander: tbora u \.
goes-the American citizen. In answer;nu
our questions or speaking commonly his
style is that of an ancient Spartan but rnt
him on stump with an audience of Wb;rs
Democrats, or Barnburners and he becomoa.,
a compound of Tom Cribb and Demostbonas
a fountain of eloquence passion, sentiments
sarcasm, logic, and drollery, altogether DIFF
ferent from anything known or imagined i,
the Old World States. Say anything f,s
public men) united with conventional 2, Dbnr. n
seology, he swings his rhetorical mace with
a vigorous arm, crushing the antaconist;c
principle or person into most villainomS
compound. See him at dinner, he dispatches
his meat with a speed which leads Won TO
suppose him Illuminating animal, vet on.
joying his cigar for an hour aterward. with
the gusto and ennui of Spaniard
Walking right on, as if it were life arainst
time, with the glass at fever heat vet tak;nr
it cool in the ,nnst sor;o..., and pressing mat
ter, compound of the Red Man. Brummel
and Franklin, statesman and laborer on he
goes-divided and subdivided in politics re.
ligion, professionally opposed with keen.
ness of competition in vain looked for even
in England yet let the national rights or
liberty be threatened, and that vast nation
stands a pyramid of resolve, united as one
man, with heart, head, hands, and purse
burning with Romans zeal to defend in.
violate the cause of the commonwealth.
To him who has lived among the Ameri.
cans, and looked largely at the theory and
practice of their government and its execu.
tive, there remains no possible doubt that
the greatest amount of personal security and
freedom has been produced from the least
amount of cost of any natiou in the world
Culling its principles and wisdom from the
history of all empires, it stands the nearest
of all earthly systems to perfection, because
it is built on and embodies principles which
God hath proclaimed in his attributes.
noticed that the American sets less yalue
on life than the European; that is, he does
not think the loss of life the greatest loss, the
ultimatum. When man dies, YOU see
none of that sentiment O use the best term
I can think of) which surrounds such an
event in other countries The American is
silent in manner, embarrassingIy so at first:
extremely accurate in his observation of hu-
man nature, and any man that cannot afford
to be scrutinized, had better not come here
The American judges much by the eve, and
has most enviable power of estimation;
your temperament, speech, looks, and acts
are all taken in by him; and if your can get
tablet of his Judgment, you will find re-
markable deguereotype of your exact worth
written thereon. They are phrenolcgsts
and physiognomists, not merely as philoso-
piers, butaspractical appliers of those Undue
tive sciences; and, beneath show of positive
Iaziness or langour, there is an amount of
energy and action, mental and physical, per-
fectly surprising. They are not averse to
the higher branches of science and literature
but they bend all to utility, and are, as a
nation, the best arithmeticians in the world;
and this science alone gives terse matter Of
fact to their mental working; in fact, when
a man wants to reflect on proposition, he
says, "Wait till figure up"