The weekly Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1854-1861, 1859-02-10
From the New York Express.
Yankee Doodle.

sal Yankee Nation, mot as bounded by New
York and the North h-easiernmost end Of the
State Of Maine.-butas as bounded by the great
oceans which wash the shores of the whole
country, and by the British Possessions on
the North 10 the Gulf OF Mexico and the
Mexican Republic on the South. All that
there is in its 2 800 miles of width,-its 1900
OF dep,h,- 1900 of frontier, including
sea coast and lake, and oil that there Is OF,
its three million four hundred thousand
square miles OF territory,-we value and up
preciate just as live American ought. We
think just as we'll of Uncle Sam, too, as the
best friend he hus.-would 60 as far to serve
him, value his good name just as much,--be-
lieve, as we understand ii, in the prayer of
Decatur, sour country-may she be always
right but, whether right or wrong, always
our country !" But-but what! Why, we
don't like humbug over much. We don't
believe in what the Yankees call soft solder,
what the New Yorkers call so't SOAP
what the Irish call blan6ey,-that is, there
may be too much ofa good thing. We don't
like to see our country made sport of by the
clowns and mountebanks at home, any more
than we like TO hear it spoken lightly Of
abroad. We don't like TO see the American
flag hung out over every low booth and bad
rum shop in town, because the spirit which
prompts the exhibitionis rather the instinct
OF Bacchus than the spirit of patriotism.--
The stars which one sees there-rather dev.
lish than cclestial-Bre not the reflex Of
those which shine in the sky above, nor of
those which are typical of States represent.
ing personal citiz nship of State sovereign.
ty. We don't like to see good thirg-o
beautiful thing-the national memorial Of
thirty millions people-made quite so com
mon, or put to such base uses. We have u
good notion, almost Boston notion, Of our
Universal Yankee Nation, but we don't think
we could whip all the world aud the rest Of
mankind, at least without the aid Of little
skill acquired in such places rs West Point
and Annapolis. We believe in pluck just
as we believe in Providence bnt as Provi-
dcnce works by means, go Plnck loses noth-
ing by discipline and study. We believe il
genius, hut genius runs wild unless bit and
bride, girlh and check reius, IRE sometimes
put upon the animal to control his Leadong
speed. We. haze a love for fancy, an admi.
ration for fuith, an enthusiasm for The grand
and beautiful in life; but the practical, the
real, and the homcly, have their attractions
too. Aud we always think that Jonathan is
not quite as honest as he might be when he
goes ga!l,vaatinS after the strange and un-
natural.
We have, as people, an outside patriot.
ism, which we have no doubt would be very
hearty and sincere, If occasion should re.
quire it /; but one don't always like to see
this f.lse outside. Itisn't quite gentleman.
ly, fer example, towards other nations, al.
ways to be carrying chip on the on the rim
of your hut. as challenge for other people
to knock It off, if they dare. Nor is it quite
the thing TO sing too often the old couplet-
mo pent up Utica contracts our powers,
TAe whole bouudless Continents ours,''-
because, the truth is--the song is not true,
And of a truth we may add, that the Monroe
doctrine OF a previous generation never went
further than to say "hands OFF, to all Euro.
pean tilibusters who might attempt, on this
Continent, to come between US and the wind
OF our nobility.
Like all youngsters, Yankee Doodle Of
Jonathan has good many things TO learn
He Gun make wooden hams and wooden nut
megs-fslse eyes, false noses, false hair
false arms and false legs. He is skilled il
chemistry and cosmetics. He can bea
Johnny Crapeau in half the gimcracks OF
lady's wardrobe, and sturdy John Bull il
bringing coal to Newcastle or iron to Wales
He can, like Simon Pure or Caleb Quo
TEN, every week in the year, ,-preach, teach
be broker, banker, barber, lawyer, doctor
or anything he may choose to turn his hant
to. He is sort of Solomon Grundy, VIII,
goes through all the melamorphoses Of birth
christening, courtship, marrying, sickness
dying, and being buried, all in the sever
days of one week. When he goes to Eu
rope, he is first at game of chess, first as
sculptor, first in yacht race, fair at hors'
race, and regular rara auis for tamin!
horses from Windsor and Paris to Stockholm
and Copenhagen. He is a first rate diplo
ma,ist at japan. and a good many leaaue
ahead OF all other nations there, while il
China he is subdued by John Bull and th'
saucy Frenchman, for letting them do th'
fighting and spending, while he run
off with the first treaty and the best laurel
won during the quadrangular race between
4 England, France, Russia, and the Unite
States.
There is no conscription for soldiers an
sailors with him, and no drafting and callin
out OF unwilling troops for the battles of lif
with foes or friends. Be it California, Ari
zona, Salt Lake, Kansas, Frazer's River, o
far off or near by, with not dollar in hi
pocket, and only brass and impudence t
sustain soul and body, he is ready TO g
where glory and dollars await him.
oso af 81 IL