Camden journal. [volume] (Camden, South-Carolina) 1852-1852, 1852-12-24
The American Character.

nave gwen great variety or descriptions OF our
national character. In fact description that
will apply to all parts Of the country is impossi
bic, for there are as many phoses of character as
there are diversties of climate and institutions in
our country. Among the attempts to portray
the American character, the following, by Mr..
Casey, an English tra,e eler, is as discriminating
as can be expected, and is not without merit:
"Vieing with the Partisan in dress-the Eng
isbman in energy-cautious as Dutchman-
impulsiye as an 1rishman-patriotic as Tell
brave as Wallacc-cool as Wellington and
royal as Alexander, there he goes-lhe Amer
can citizen! In answering your questions, Or
speaking commonly his style is that of the an
cient Spartan; but put him OH a stump with an
audience of wligs, democrats, Or barnburners,
and he becomes compound of Tom Crib and
Demosthenes fountain Of eloquenee, passion,
sentiment, sarcasm, logic and drollery, altogeth-
er different from anything known or imagined in
the Old World States. Say anything-as pub
lie men-uDtied with conventional phraseology,
he swings his rhetorical mace with vigorous
arm, crushing the antagonistic principle or per-
son into most vainous compound. See him
at dinner, he dispatches his meat with speed
which leads you 70 suppose him ruminating
animal, yet enjoying his cigaIita for an hour af-
terwards, with ;he gusto and ennui of Span
lard
walking right on, as if it were life against
time with the glass at fever heat, yet taking it
cool in the most serious and pressing matter, a
compound of the Red Man, Brummel and Frank
lin-statesman and laborcr, on he goes-divided
and sub-divided in politics and religion-profes-
sionally opposed with a kecnness of competition,
in vain looked for even in England; yet let but
the national rights or liberty, be threatened, and
that vast nation stands pyramid of resolve, uni
ted as one man, with heart, head, hand and
purse, burning with Romans zeal to defend in
violate the cause of the commonwealth.
"To him who has lived among the Americans,
and looks largely at the theory and practice of
their government and its executive, 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 nation in
the world. Culling its principles and wisdom
from the history of all empires it stands the near
est of all earthly systems to perfection, because
it is built on, and embodies, those principles
which God hath proclaimed in his attributes.
Il noticed that the Americans set less value
on life than Europeans; that is, he does not think
the loss of lite the greatS: loss, tho nitin'at,,n
When man dies you see none of that sentiment
i use the best term can think of-wllieh sur
rounds such an event in other countries. The
American is silent in manner, embarrassingly so
at frst extremely accurate in his observation of
human nature, and any man that cannot bear
to be scrutinized had better not come here. The
American judges much by the eye, and has
most envable power ofestimation; your temper
ament, looks, speech and acts, are all taken i'll by
him; and if You can get tablet of his judg-
ment, you will find remarkable daguerreotype
of your exact worth written. They are phreno-
ogists and physiognomists, not merely as philos-
ophcrs, but as practical appliers of those induc-
tive sciences; and beneath show of positive la
ziness Or lauguor there is an amount of energy
and action, mental and physical, perfectly SUR
prising. They are not avesc t" the higher
branches Of science and literature, but they bend
all to utility, and are, nation, the best arith-
meticans in the world; and this science alone
gives terse matter of fact to their mental work
ing; in fact, when man wants to reflect on
proposition, he says-'Wait till l figure up"