The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1859-09-07
Rir1mrunn qispattt,
wrDNEsDAY MORNING. :. sEr .... :. 80


s~anVlea MDekAy Oh /
,rs. Americans. ~ q people, are not " "my |
The AMss as;ssv. concerning the criticisms
means W sens. ,n.nv profess 10 think BOOKS /
" "a H,nerica have been as nume.os sh.sr
leaves Of she forest ana .; n autumn. They
So,o I n ahs1,ied amusing misconcep.ions mM.
~. ~ measurements, ana ung1 s nags
Al the inequalities 81 nave Iaurned q, them
nav P - too with hearty giee. not Win
~. $50 ruerriment OF Sir Fretiul Fiagiary,
-. ~. ~. aid farce and we should DC none the
=, ,ass rsady 20 extend similar nospitaiities
asss 20 Inc same writers or their brethren,
sS.nla they return among va. We ike ~
rnsd what our friends across the water say oi i
sh,rp thrusts in return for their own but yet !
IRE are not sensitive, and our confidence i'm |
ourselves IL quite suficient shield.
whoever takes up Mr.. Mackay's book with the
hone of being amused by his plumbers or his |
misconceptions, will be disappointed. Who
aver takes up Mr., Mackay's book with the hope |
OF en- ertaiament OF any sort, will be most sad
IN uagratitted. The mantle OF dizziness covers
the entire four hundred pages of the American
edition. Nor Is the gloom relieved by the tenhI-
lustra,sons with which the book is ornament
ed, and which might be much better without
being very good. The short and not very bril-
liant career of Mr. Mackay in this country
would not raise expectation very high, neitheI
would the few letters he wrote to the Illus
trated London News, which were read IN this
country. elevate our hopes To anextraoTdlnary
height But in the preface OF the book we are
told mat these have received careful revision,
and that to them have been added two-thirds
OF the volume under notice; so that we had in
deed some hope that IA spacing OF life might
have been added IN the. retirement OF the
author study. No such thing. The book Is
duil, and that is the one-ablding, overpcwer-
ing idea which forces itself upon the mind OF
the reader.
lie no sooner lands in Amer lea than lie be-
Sins 10 express the wonder which appears 10
strike every Englishman when he sees
A leo md AnA
we live In houses. The oysters and the lire
uea especially please him, and the hotels ana
immense shops cause his brain TO reel lie
soon comes an contact with three nuisanees
which pursue him through the book. We cor
daily unite with Mr.. Mackay in detesting
them. They are splitting, coai-stoyes, hack
drivers. The extortionate charges OF THESE
last, everywhere out Of Boston, annoy
the author much, and he calls loudly for
some strict municipal regulations, sneh as
flourish eftectuaiiy in this city. The bars
of the great hotels also attract his notice, and
in this cOnnec ton we will quote, as u speci-
men of Mr Mackay's manner OF dealing win
great questions, the following sentences! he Is
speaking OF the system OF perpendicular
aBut can such system conduce to any vir-
tuous development of young men in This re-
public The question admits OF many re-
piles; @ aud without presuming, on SO short
an acquaintance with this country, TO speak
with authority, leave II for the consideration
OF those VINO desire that America should be
as wise and happy in the private relations OF
her citizens as she is free and independent in
her relations to the great comfy OF The
world"
Niagara came very near destroying our an-
thor Iadeed, before he had remained there
quite to the exent of a page, we read that
s'rhere are minds which feel so acntely The
oyerpowering loveliness of nature, and the
imbecility of any language to express their
aympathies and emotions, even Inc riches mat
ever grew and terminated into logic or poetry,
that their enforced dumbness becomes ulu
tnlr tlt LAG n hIST l.
auces OF reason, and put the harp OF lmagIna-
ton out OF tune;' aud lest this sad catastro-
phe should end his usefulness. he strives 10 pil
into language his own emotlonsi the result II
some pages of very heavy reading We are
gratifed to be able To state, upon the authority
of Mr. MaCkay,, that "no wheels oil mills or
factories can be set in motion by q cataract
like this. Ii would dash into instant ruin the
proudesr pyramid, palace, temple, or manu-
factory that imperial man ever erected since
the world began"
~ We cannot follow the author through the
United States. Let rs bring together few
Instances OF his statements and Ideas. 1hfee
sides Of Boston Common are occupied by no
Bile stone buildings, representlnga rental rang
Ing from f3uU to tsJU or Il 900 per ahhuil; =
Here is an example OF condensed biography
"The present Governor OF Massachusetts Il
very elou uent and able man, formerly "ofh-
ing blacksmith, who was lately Speaker OF me
House of Representatives, and is now an ispl-
rant for the Presidency, walks 10 me oate
House When he has TO deliver a message 10 the
Legislature and boards at The public hotel
The CITY OF Phlladei phia is deeply invoiVedli
debt, without cent which IL can lIfIy can
3 ftx own What kind of an idea OF American
refinement Mr.. Mackay has may be gathered
from the following extract;
y. HAmong other Amerlcanisms that strike the
attention of a stranger, though doubtless they
would not be noticed by a natlye-born hmeri-
can OF the highest Cul ture and refinement, SIM
ply from the tact of the familiarity, are SUCH
m,spromuncatIons as ben Tor been, AR Tor
are aud was for were, and ant-sye-slaye-
ry' for santi-slavery, 'Eye-taly for Italy ~!
.Eye-taiion' for IIaiian, 'dye-piomauc for
diplomatic, and invariably myself Tor the
more subdued mode in which we IN the 'old
country pronounce these Two egotistical syl-
lables."
We are told that on the eve of every Presi-
dental election an English grievance" Is m
vented and the mo her country is sadl y abused;
the reason is this The Irish vote Is wanted
the Irish are captivated by abuse OF England
consequently the party which oerates that
island the hardest has their votes! Mr.. Mack
ay seems to have been "highly appreciated at
Washington, ID. O. Though with too much
modesty he.suppresses names, he yet allows
that among his friends were ''some OF the
most iliustrious public men in America
Again, 81 had made SO many friends at Wash
tngton--met so many OF the most able, most
ELOQUENT, and most influential members
Of ths House of Representati,e and Of the
Senate-been at so many balls, parties and
dinners, and seen much of the beauty,
fashion, elegance and grace which centre at
Washington, that left the city with regret"
Gould duh egotism go beyond this -
There are no "buttercups, daisies, cowsiips or
primroses, on the North American continent,
ssexcept ia conservatories p The majority OF
the ladies at the St. Charles Hotel, i'll New Or
leans, 20 to breakfast in full dress and '.ar-
rayed in the full splendor Of their charms and
OF their jeweiry." 'Dinner is but a repetition
OF the same briliianey, only that the ladies are
still more gorgeously and deliberately dressed
and make n still greater display OF pearls and
diamonds" The imagination refuses to rise 10
the height of the tea hour. Mr.. Mackay puts
the word "Britisher' and the ex preston ..sell a
Britisher' into the mouths OF American gen.
tiemen with entire freedom. Once, at Wash
ington, he found himself in company with Two
members OF Congress, "the most exnert and
protuse spitters." One of these a Senator
asked our author which he considered To be
tho greatest General in the United States To
tnh extremely statesman-like question, Mr.
Mackay replied with joke, General Spit !"
swell, 7" said the Senator II calculate Won nre
ABOUT right and though you, as q Britisher
may DO SO, should advise you not TO put the
conservation into print as some of our citizens
might take II as PERSONAL We will leave the
tobacco question with the following astonish-
Ing story;
IAN eminent lawyer who had filled some OF
the highest offices OF the State, man to whom
ancient and modern literature were equally
familiar, who had studied European as well
"a American politics, whose mind seemed to
have run through the whole circle of human
know ledge and who could converse eloquentIy
on any subject, though, while he spoke, the
tobacco juice oozed out of the corners of his
mouth, and ran down upon his shirt front and
waistcoat, took a large cake of tobacco from
his aide pocket and courteously offered me n
chew. The cake l should think, weighed
about halt pounds"
Mr. Mackay says that because he INDUCED
IN = lew gentle CRITICISMS on the city OF Pbila-
dslphia, the editor of a paper there SCALED
upon the stones OF the street to rise, and the
Tiles OF the roofs TO fall down." if he ever went