Sunbury American. [volume] (Sunbury, Pa.) 1848-1879, 1859-04-02
The American Man.

We copy the following amusing conjectures
as to what the American man will be, from
the Baltimore american. 1t is evidently a
compound based upon traits already develo.
ped The American takes the several threads
and wsnves them into one piece The result
is natural-a man full OF energy, full Of every
thing that constitutes The business mau, but
totally destitute Of refinement. of socialty, Of
domesticity. His Unsuitable ncquisitiveress
finds nothing to crafty it at home restless
and prying, home, home is the last place in
the world TO which he goes, Of bis own will,
and is even then attracted TO il by inquisitive-
ness, to satisfy bis curiosity as 10 what chan.
ges time may have affected When the rest
of the continent is thckly settled and the
coming man" can find no new place upon
which TO set his foot and make "a nice thing"
by speculation-when by the force of circum-
stances be shall be compelled to stay at home
when this time arrive, the coming man."
unless some wonderful change be wrought in
his nature, may be about as insignificant u
type as the world has ever produced But
we will append the pen sketch which the
american has drawn out:
"What sort of a man is the American man
going to be| That is the great question
with the Massachusetts, prophets. The an
swer may be easily inferred. Men whose
boast is the universal Yankee nation is the
greatest in creation are not apt TO admit the
inferiority or even the equality OF any other
men whatsoever. Hence the speculative
New Enganders conclude that, although the
existing American man may be afflicted with
few trivial defects and ephemeral blemishes
the coming American man will be gentle
man such as the world never saw. He will
be no weak copy Of his ancestors, no duodeci-
mo Britsher, nay, not even an enlarged and
revised edition of John Bull, illustrated with
cuts and copious appendix; but an entirely
new original unique, unrivalled. and unsur-
passed man, different from any that ever
walked the earth, and botter than any in
fne, the very climax Of humanity. He will
not have drawn OF the Euglishmau, nor the
impossbility Of the German, nor the levity Of
the Frenchman, nor the lazDess of the ltal-
,ian. 20 will not be able to eat beef by ths
cord, nor drink brandy by the pipe; will ooar
high above lager bier and pretzel, look down
with disdain upon frog legs and sour wines,
and utterly scorn maccaroni and garlic. Lean
Of person, sharp of feature, active in motion,
persistent in effect, iuquisitve il nature,
slightly obtrusive in address, independent III
conduct, careless in attire, inventive aequlsl-
tive communicative, locomotive, recuperative
and Uncomfortable, ne will stand upon his
hind legs : the wonder of the sun AID the Joy
Of the planetary system. He will no longer
be dyspeptic he will quit chewing tobacco,
cease to drink whiskey, devote more time to
heaitbful recreation and less to trading de-
sist from the manufacture Of wooden nutmegs
and psddle tin ware no more forever. But
above all, he will be intensely speculative
He will continue to prosecute his nvestiga-
tions into spritualism until the entire house
hole and kitchen furniture of the land assumes
the aspect of perpetual motion. To remedy
any Inconvenience resulting from this uniyer-
sal mobility, be will hold grand auction, sell
out the personal effects of the nation. aud
thenceforth cast the houses Of the Republic,
furniture, clocks aud all, in a solid piece. In
brief, he will be the reconciliation of human
characteristics heretofore considered entirely
autagonistic He will be business man and
philosopher at the same time. He will
sway barlow knives and discuss theology in
the same breath run en- engine eighteen
hundred miles in n day and deliver a lecture
on phrenology at night write poem before
going to bed and opeu dry goods store in
the morning start newspaper after break
fast, invent machine for killing cockroaches
at dinner, and get elected to Congress before
dark. This appears to bs the coming man,
as depicted in the essays OF the New Engla
seers."