Daily evening star. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1852-1854, 1854-02-23
n.JLY EVENING STAR.
J6Gbb INTRLbIGENGR.

--;n. Esq. gave another Oh nus lectures at the
,b.onian Institution, with the difference
.Lat this latter was prose production, while
I've delivered last Friday evening was in
L. The subject of the lecture was entitled
Psunsr;eanisms consisting Of remarks on some
,ftbe leading peculiarities Of American life
and manners -,
The lecturer began with observing that he
az proud of being an American, and of being
s;msslf imbued with the American traits of
.ssrscter He would not even shrink from say
e.. reckon y q calculate" or II guess
= any part of the world, or in any society
us remarked that the American abroad was
Grounded By the traditions and habits of
,Ss decaying monarchies of the old world, and
night. therefore, be sometimes pardoned for
s.5ing fault with the manners of his country
Ian Al home. lie condemned however, in
s1r.ibIe language, the American who was
sIways earping at and censuring the institu-
,ons and social habits of his country.
The lecturer then alIuded to the necessity of
nat being over sensitive to the criticisms of
s,-sign visitors saying, that we might laugh
:, N. witticisrhs Of Sydney Smith upon Penn
sylysnis reputation, although we might Justly
he indignant at the misrepresentation of Hall
and at the malice and strong caricature of
TrolOp and Dickens. lie, however defended
,be better class Of English authors who never
language he quoted, in the future glorious
prospect OF one hundred millions of freemen
;psaking the language of Shakespeare, and
living under the laws of Alfred the q reat on
the broad expanse Of the American Continent.
Recurring TO HIS more Immediate subject
the lecturer instanecd several expressions
which had been characterized by English
writer's as '.Americanisms, but which he
proved to have been used by standard writer's
He then dwelt upon American society as con-
tralistinguished from that of other nations.
remarking that theoretically we were the
freest nation on the earth, but that in reality
the majority were governed by a few; SO it al
vays had been and would be- The few ruled
the many, ii had been observed, but to this il
might be replied that the people choose them
But do they indeed, he would ask are they not
chosen by the wire pullers- The fact was the
country was governed by Ktmy Conrsutioa,
and King CaNcnS. No man dared to speak
contrary to the dictates of his party, and hence
the greatest men in political life were not Sc
lected TO fill the highest places in the State
Socially, we were not a democratic people, |
for the distinctions of society were as strongly
drawn as in Britain or even Austria. We had
an upper middle, and Il laboring class The
Lecturer commented upon this topic at consid-
cradle length. and remarked upon the easy
access that unknown foreigners had to the ex-
elusive circles OF our upper ten Reference
was made TO the young Boston lady, who mar
ried foreign Marquis, and was now glad to
sue for divorce from her scoundrel husband
After this, her sisters were glad enough to
marry plain American merchants. He CEN
sured the manner in which mere boys and
girls were allowed to lead society, whilst mid
die aged people were thrust aside as cold
OgieS." Another fault was our tendency to
prOfusion and ostenta,ious expense, enormous
sums of money being expended for mere dis
play. In illustration of this, an anecdote
was told of a New y ork merchant who spent
two thousand dollars in adjoining his ball room
with the flowers OF the camelia iaponica He
likewise commented upon the national heed
lessness. referring to the dreadful railway acct
dents which were allowed to 90 on unchecked
The eager haste, with which Americans lived.
hardly allowing time enough to eat their din
ner, was also made the subject of comment.
The tendency of politicians and writers to use
inflated language, was severely criticised, and
several humorous specimens of bombastic elo-
quence were recited, which set the assembled
audience in a roar of laughter The American
newspaper press was then cOntras.ed with that
Q! Europe, the lecturer pointing out the reas On
why American journals suffered by the com
parlsOn- The cause being that the leading
purnals OF Europe, gave large salaries TO their
writers, who were ftly termed BY the French.
HOmmes de pt"ms," gaining as great VIC
tories with the pen, as Generals did with the
sword. The lecturer was rather hard upon
American editors. saying. - that if the wife of
al editor died, he cOnsOled his grief by wiping
his eyes with newspaper" Down South
ifan editors Niger nurse ran away, forthwith
his newspaper was discontinued, that he might
stop at home and nurse the baby" lie said.
that there were other subjects upon which he
should not comment, but merely mention by
name, . Annexation" 81 Mormonism.'' and
Niger Melodies" He concluded by giving
list Of American idioms, to define which.
would have sO,ely puzzled the great lexico-
grapher, DR.. Johnson. The love of our people
for titles, was likewise touched upon, so that
IN some sections of our country, it was impos-
Able to find a man without one; Generals and
Judges were for the great folks, and Captains
and Squires for the little ones He remarked
that in England the English language was
more murdered than anywhere else, and that
IN Yorkshire, it was as easy to understand their
dialect as low Dutch. 1twas, however peculiar
70 Americans to affect nasal drawl, and to
Eantonly mispronounce words There was
one trait for which Americans were uneaa allied.
namely, for the respect that they paid to wo-
men
HHs BALL OF THE WASHINGTON LIGHT
HRANrRr.-The ball of this choice corps at
Carusis last night, was a happy and mag
nscent affair. The beautiful ladies present
were in their gayest spirits and most splendid
atare, and the gentlemen were genial and en-
aaslastie. Amongst the military present
were the Washington Greys of Philadelphia,
me invited guests Of the above company. On
tneir arrival, they marched through the saloon
several times accompanied by their superb
oand discussing sweet music. They num-
sered fOrty-three; and a more gentlemanly
and inner looking body OF men We have rarely
seen. They appeared to be the attraction of
every one, and we know not how many ladies'
nesrts were captiyated by their pleasing man
hers There were, also, representatives pres
en- OF the following companies of this city
resident Mounted Guards. Montgomery
guards National Guards, German Yeagers,
ana Continental Guards. We also noticed
several distinguished guests in attendance
among whom was Col. Florence, Of Pennsyl-
'snia, Col Riley, Major Ben. Perley Poore,
VI Boston, and Quartermaster Martin, of New
Jersey The poetry Of notion" to the
glorious musi; Of Marsoletti's band, by many
iaqIes dlsplayed much grace and agility.
We lelt when supper was announced, but we
observed profusion of everything on the
aoies, with the exception of the Jolly god
DaeenUs, which we understand was excluded
su1 from the number Of ladies present we
should say the sister goddess Venus. was fully
represented. The urbanity and pleasant man
ners OF Captain Darlington, and his assiduous
attention TO the invited guests, are deserving of
mention. A more glorious ball we never
attended. Long live the Washington Light
Infantry
SANFORD Co. s SEIENADERS.-The enter