The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1853-08-18
of Americans.

oe.onrsa there are many excep'iona'
.,oraIlv the remark will hold true. ihes CO.,
10, live without excitement any inofe mo" :.
m;tbout air If they fail to find 1t IN one VI
..a,.;o, thav search in another. BRING up
boy in the quiet country where ' u.e =: 49," a,,,,
think he might be happy sii MS i,ie'
where; and yet, blythe time he REACHES ma :.
- .ha verv calm of his country lie Is
-, He must have excitement IN some
:. : = necessity of his existence. lie
~, w., ~ home. not seldom without leave OF
~ mother, and plunges into the wide
,~or,d Of town life, only for excitement. ne
-, cook II in the pursuit of wealth, IN the IN
a,,,cenre of religious extremes, at the gaming
III or in the use of tobacco or the brandy
ho.,Ie If either, or all these means OF ex'
.;.annnt fail. he enlists in the army or turns
sailor Whatever is monotonous he aoomi-
Mates. and for the first thirty years of his life
would prefer storm to calm. 1t he is
.-.aor he desires a fortune at stroke. He
therefore speculates. The hope OF success
nd tho dread of ruin alike excite him. Even
&c he becomes dead broke" he will try the
experiment again, andfnd excitement IN some
way. If he is religious man, he will not sell
dom become a fanatic; if areformer, he VIII
set I'D theory, standard of his own, from
which no man can, according to his notion,
vary hairs breadth, without being an inf
del or fool. His theory is to revolutionize
societv-and he imagines that the globe can
he turned upon its axis by the crank of his cof-
fee mill If he fights, drinks, CANDLES, or
whatever he may do, he goes to extremes
The American must go ahead, though the boil
or explode and shatter the vessel under his
feet He cannot bear to sit down III one
locality, like other people, for life time
Hence you hardly ever find an American
spending his days in the place of his BIRTH
He is no stationary light, but wandering
planet. Promise him an adventure-excite-
ment-and he will leave a luxurious home to
feed on raw bear meat in the wilderness.
This excitability is not confined to indivi-
duals. but pervades society like an atmos-
pierre new gas, new ism, or a new pill,
a new preacher, or new opera dancer, or a
new vocalist, videlicet-Jenny Lind, will seta
whole community upon the qua rire. All is
- excitement while the fit is on, but each new
thinq is flung aside as soon as it fails to excite,
and then another succeeds. If we attack a
prevailing abuse, the onslaught ceases as soon
as it fails to excite. Thus the lives of thou
sands of good people are spent in sort of
moral terer and ague, in which the patients
alternate between cold and heat, just in pro-
portion to the tonics which they happen to be
in reach of to keep up excitement.
This characteristic of our nation demon
strates itself in every rank and profession
Our legislators are not the staid, solemn per-
sonages who fill corresponding places in
other countries; our lawyers, doctors and di-
vines no more like the big wigs of the learn
ed professions in Europe, than is David
Crockett to Lord Burleigh. All their move
ments, gestures, and thoughts, seem to be
more rapid and vigorous, and more abound
ing in fun and frolic. The excitable and ner-
vous character of our people, has infused it
self into their very style ofwriting and speak
ing, SO that the Anglo-Saxon tongue in their
hands, becomes a different thing from what it
ever was before. Perhaps an English writer
may generally express his thoughts with more
precision, but the American viii very frequent
lyrival or excel him in pointedness and force.
He is himself excited, and aims to excite
others From this cause many errors WILL
of course, occur, many stupidities, but all will
he overlooked by the rejoicing excitee.
There certainly is ludicrous side to this
peculiarly of our people but it is, neverthe
less, one of the greatest elements entering
into our habits of unwearying activity anden
terprise. Being easily moved to act, we do
SO with an energy almost like frenzy, and
with power and sagacity and forethought
whose evidences are visible upon land and
upon every sea. So while we may laugh at
each other, at times, for our love of excite
ment, we need not forget that it still serves
great and good purpose.
A DILEMMA.-HooD, in his comicalities,
gives graphic sketch of dilemma repre-
senting man menaced by an anaconda on
one hand, tiger from ledge overhead, and
a bird of prey about to make his fatal swoop
upon him. This was certainly dilemma-it
might be called being injeopardy. We have
heard many very remarkable instances of
jeopardy and peril to be illustrated by the
proverbial saying of between hawk and buzz
gard, betwixt the devil and a witch, &c
Dayy Crockett had been a man of many pc
rils-so had Daniel Boone. To be hiding in
a swamp in close proximity to alligators, to
avoid bullet through the body and scalp
ing by Indians, is a predicament not unknown
to former times. To roost all night in a tree
whilethe wolves below are whetting theirt teeth
inhourly expectation of feasting on your body.
when it falls, is bad Old Putnam's expedi
ton into the VOLTS cave was terrible. Some
of the perils of the lion hunters of India are
not at all agreeable. To beard the lion in his
den is no pleasant task, and to be bearded Inv
the hon in his den not one whit moro 60
But we do not know any dilemma much more
alarming, or which can be contemplated with
more terrible anxiety than one which we have
no doubt occurred very many years ago, and
winch has never been in print, that we know
o. although it has become one of the tradi.
mons OF the country, and is perfectly familiar