Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1868-01-28
England and America-Charles Dick
ems Reception-British Theory of
American Sentiment,

If there has been a sore
ness against Mr. Dickens, it is be
cause IL was considered that his pho
tographs were all taken from on
class, and that an inferior c'aSs, ant
exhibited as an accurate representa-
ton of the entire community. w,
have seen the same process apple,
TO England by Americans, and cal
appreciate the Misrepresentation
A man takes bad work ,house as al
example Of the brutality with which
the English treat the poor, or b,
singles ont a ruffian who beats hit
wife and displays him as a specimen
of the British character. There is nC
people who will suffer such treat.
ment as this. The Americans might
have booked upon Mr. Dickens as ar
offender, against them, and made him
a sort of scapegoat for all subsequent
offenders. That, indeed, was the line
which tew-a very tew-of the
American newspapers recommended
but II was never for an instant prob,
able that the people would take it
They have, indeed, given their visit
or welcome which must have fAr
surpassed in warmth and friendship
his own expectations.
A people who can act thus cannot
be so bitterly prejudiced against ev-
erything English as some would
have US believe. They prove them
selves to be liberal minded and fair
dealing people, instead Of race filed
with petty hatreds and matignities,
such as certain persons belonging to
both countries sometimes depic.
them, Every one who has seen
much Of the Americans has been i'm
pressed by the warmth and kindli>
ness of their character and by the
avowed affection which q large pro
portion OF them entertain for the
country from which they take their
origin. There is something in the
disposition Of both the English and
the Americans which makes them
half reluctant to acknowledge the
good points they recognize in each
other. The sense Of kinship some>
times impels men to reprove more
vigorously than they praise. But,
after all the animositiea or prelude
ces OF a former generation are dying
ous under the influence Of free and
well-informed discussion. The crit,
icisms which once vexed the Ameri>
cans are no longer possible, partly,
perhaps, because more just observa>
ton is applied to them. but partly
also, as they would be the first to nc
knowledge because they are no long
er in that stage Of immaturity thro'
which all great nations pass. The
American people have grown, and in
accordance with all human experi-
ence, have grown all the more quick
~ under the pressure Of anxiety and
trouble. The bone Of The national
character, SO to speak, has become
hard and firm. They read criticisms
of America written five .and>twenty
years ago as we read Macaulay's ac>
count of the state OF the English PEG,
pie in 1885. This is a former gener~
alton, almost another race, whose
portraits they look upon The rough
pioneer or adventurer has gone away
two thousand miles to the westward.
and the cities are full OF travelled men
and women ofculturc and refinement.
Mr. Dickens has been to Boston and
New York, but they are not the Bos-
ton and New York he saw before
Old and disreputable scenes, the curse
of large towns, have been swept
away, and noble streets have been
built whore, a few years since, the
cattle grazed in the fields. This
change is only sign of the general
progress of the people. The iIl-na>
tured satirist might fill his portfolio
with sketches in any society. but If
he wanted to find the most objection
able OF the characters once put into
literary museums and labelled
american" he would have to search
long and far. The ''naturalized citi
zen" may rage and fumc against the
country from which be sprang. or its
rulers, but the true American is ever
ready to do Justice when he is called
upon for action. The visit Of Mr..
Dickens supplies another illustration
Of this, and viii go further than a
score OF books to prove that the SEM
tlment OF kindness and honest feel
ing-in word, of good fellowship
is as active among the Americans,
and may be as safely depended upon,
as it can possibly be among the
English or any other people-Lon>
don Times.