The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1853-03-17
aENGLlSH ITEMS"-BY MATT. r.
WARD.


England, Englishmen, Engl'sh so'ie'y' anu
Engl;sh manners, in a style somewhat unique
considering the talneness win winch we nave
.rh,r;,,ed 10 the assaults OF the iow-ored En-
- ,,ns,sr,s. who have travelled among US,
"a -ho anpear, all, to think that having been
c,ce released from the degrading subsection
n wb;ch they are kept a, home by the all
powerful influence of class, they ore at liberty
70 saw and DO what they please among US. We
have always noticed from our childhood that
the boys who complain most of the fare 81,
boarding. men who find most fault
st NOTES.-THE travellers who are hardest 10 ga
tisfy on board Of steamboats,, and in railroad
cars-are always those who have been least
accustomed to the comforts of life at home
Judged by this rule, what must be the breed
ing Of those Englishmen who have written
books about us? OF the Basil Halls, the Ma
ryatts, the Featherstonhaughs, the Hamitons,
the Fidlers, the Dickens, &c? What can they
be used TO at home?
There has always been a sensitiveness on
the part of the people of this country, to what
is said of US in England, and a willingness to
submit to, and be corrected by, these rude,
low bred, vulgar people, that to US has been
painful in an extreme degree. What right
nave Englishmen TO say what IS decent aud
what is not decent7 Who gave them the
power 10 decide that it was the height OF Wi
sarity 10 eat with a steel fork, or to put food
into the mouth with the knife? What right
have they 70 say that amber, the juice OF one
of the most powerful entiseptic plants known
10 science, is filthy, and that, On the other
hand il is an elegant and decent practice to
take water in the mouth from pertumed
bowl, at feast, rinse the mouth with IT, and
spit il QUIT the nausea OF whole table? What
people, practising the last abomination, have
any right TO say any thing to any other people
about cleanliness One of the great aims of
refined society, we should think, ought to be
TO exclude filthy ideas as far as possible. The
Englishman, in his eternal talk about his din
ner, and about splitting, and about the grossest
and most offensive subjects, Of every descrip-
ton, never suffers you to dwell for g moment
on anything else. We speak, Of course, of
English writers on America. We are nation,
now, 25,000,000 strong. We have grown to
this size from 3,000,0 900, in seventy years. Our
growth and progress present phenomenon
which, we should suppose, would be worth
studying, especially by men who come three
thousand miles, with the mere purpose of see
ing US at home. These gentlemen, however,
descend to no such small object of contem.
plation. They are engaged in the more im>
portant tasks of telling VIVA, they have for din
ner on board steamboats, or at totels-n criti-
cising the manner of eating adopted by their
dinner-eompanions-in abusing the whole land,
because we do not use silver torks-in dwell
ing upon The amount of splitting done by trav-
elers in steamers, cars, stage-c0rches &C.
They go home, write stupid, abusive book,
get their money from the publisher, and sit
down coHtented. And we, instead of boldly
taking up the quarrel, and carrying the war
at once into Africa, content yourselves with
staying at home, neeky ding off the blows
aimed at US, 'deprecating, imploring, making
the most humble of all possible submissions
The English, forsooth, are our kinsfulks-oul
eousins-they love US at heart-but John Bull
10 peculiar, and must be allowed to grewl.
Why must John Bull be allowed to growl
any more than anybody else =! What RICH
mas he, any more than others, TO set himself
above the rules that govern intercourse be
tween all the other classes and nations of the
world We have seen rude, ill-mannered PEG
al tha,. kzL
by saying they meant nothing, it was only thei
rag Who, we ask, in the civilized world
has a right to have his aray TO such an exten
as this7 Who made any one man above rh'
rules of common politeness And why shoul
we be expected TO pay any regard to a ara.
which con,rayenes all the rules OF decent int,
course?
The English do not leve US. Let no NEAR
shutting, cringing American lay that unctio
10 his soul, as a balm for any wound his van
" may have received at their hands. Their
y may be individual cases of regard and affec
Ation between the two people, and We do nc
3pubt there are many such. But we speak
national sense. The English do not low
us.t On the contrary they hate Ms with bi
ter-&eadly-uncompr hatred. The
wouldS sneer us out of existence if they coul
and III Il is the only resource they have lei
since tfAey have pretty well ascer,ained TIL
their arm are not likely TO curlail our nation
al life. There are thousand evidences of II
fact. but pne is so passing strong, that il ma
well taka The place Of all the rest. Every br
or traveitwriter, whose stock lies heavy on Il
counter of the publisher-seeks to repair h
finances by book on America. This is
never-iailing resource. No matter how siup
the Work may be-no matter with how lit
regard even 10 the ordinary rules OF gramm
q Is be wriiien-no matter what inherent vices
Style or of matter il may present--le, it en.y
interspersed sufficiently with abuse Of US, o
~ government, our laws, all, in a word, belon
ing TO us-it never fails to sell with rapidit
Such is the love which our dear cousin
bear US. But If any one yet be incred
lous, let him recollect the manner in which d
Americans were assailed at the Worlds Fa
by the entire London press, at a time VIII,
they were the guests of the people OF Englar