The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-06-28

Frencbmen or Americans. We really hate ma
uoIs because they are so nearly our
equals. 1t is felt to be intoierable
that people who do not enjoy
the blessings of the British IConstitu-
uon, and who cannot even talk intelligiblv
should be in many ways as good as ourselves
"A wretched being who, with unaccountable
peryersity, says an when he means yes, shows
himself to be capable of building towns and
making railways, and even fighting battles, as
well as we could do it ourselves This is the
inexpressibly provoking thing about foreign
els and it is to gelieve ourselves from the un-
comfortable sensations which the circumstance
produces that we brag so loudly about our
supposed points of superiority. Our osten-
slble reason for the antipathies we cherish
Is the belief that our neighbors are really
degraded beings; but the real cause Of
the antipathies is the uncomfortable SEN
sation that, however superior we may be in
some points, they manage to keep tolerably
abreast of us in the race for national ex-
cellence. Englishmen were hated on the Con-
tinent so long as they presumed to interfere
IN Continental matters, and were hated by
their allies at least as much as by their enc
mics. If we consent to reduce ourselves to
insular insignifcance, and allow our CONNER
cial supremacy to be entirely upset, we may
take such comfort as may be in the thought
that people will begin to do us justice, as they
would to specimens IN a museum, or monkeys
in a geological garden. Even the Americans,
when they have taken Canada, exacted four
hundred millions of compensation from us,
and set up an Independent republic in Ireland,
will begin to be little sentimental about the
old country, or such fraction of it as may still
be left on its legs.
National antipathies, then are likely to
be strong in proportion as they are unrea-
sonable; that is to say, in proportion as
they are founded on no real superiority.
There are, however, other elements
in the dislike which we feel for another nation
which tend to disappear with increased means
of communication. What we may call errors
of mental perspective tend to distort the idea
which each nation forms of its neighbor. If
we endeavor to appreciate the conceptions
which a commonplace half educated man
takes of foreign country, we must begin by
narrowing and confusing our intellects In
the first place, he thinks of the whole nation
as of a single unit, which is embodied in some
such conventional figure as John Bull or Bro
ther Jonathan. Every popularity handed
down by tradition is accumulated on the head
of this imaginary person.
John Bull is supposed to be always hum
bling himself before lord, and Brother
Jonathan to be perpetually whiting stick
and chewing tobacco. This kind of anthro-
pomorphism, by which the type is put for the
whole, is natural and convenient enough. But
in the next place, as the foreign nation is
generally heard of in its relations to the coun-
try of the observer, it further follows that it
is conceived to occupy its whole time in con-
templating that country. John Bull is sup
posed to be always biting his nails like Bun
yans Giant Pope, in envy of his successful
cousin. 1t does not enter into the head
of the American that there are many
n,i11ionc ~ Ero,1icbnan u-bo c,at ~
every morning, eat their breakfast, do
their daily work, and go to bed without ever
remembering the existence of the Atlantic
Ocean We have succeeded in impressiug
upon ourminds, with more or less distinctness,
that there are a good many people in France
and Germany, and that they have other
things to do besides following the details of
English politics. But this is comparatively
modern discovery, which can hardly be said,
as yet, to be generally understood. During
the preceding period of ignorance, it is a natu-
raj tendency to exaggerate enormously the
interest with which we are regarded by
others, and to attribute to them the settled
| plans and profound malice which would
be conceivable in an individual antago-
mist. Instead of realizing the fact that oU
foreign policy is the result of a great
deal of ignorance, directed by occasional out
bursts of passion when our interests hap
|
kindly attributed to us designs of profound
and perfdious policy which are totally beyond
our capacity; and we are only too ready tC
repay the msconception in kind If this
source of confusion tends to disappear, and
we come to realize the fact that nations take
up larger space than is represented on tn,
map and have more opinions than those
uttered through their foreign ministers, th'
most fertile source of irritation will dis
appear; and if we also come to believ,
that the differences of virtue are not s,
enormous as we sometimes fancy, nationa
antipathy may in time be replaced by NOR
healthy kind of national emulation. 1t ha
always had this ingredient of good, that i
has been the means by which nations hav
been encouraged to develop their own char
acteristic excellences, and the imaginar,
foreigner has supplied useful background a
a kind of foil to set off our supposed merits
The reaction between the intellects of differ
ent countries has been amongst the mos
potent causes of progoss; and it is desirable
not that it should be destroyed, but that
should be accompanied with as little as ma
be of unreasonable dislike.