New-York tribune., 1880-01-18
.NOW AND THEN IN AMERICA"
Mr.. sALA ON HIS TWO VISITS
Extracts from article bg r Saia IN The North Amer
lean Rerieg for February.

have been i'll the United States OF America just one
Ss hsye resided a Ne NewSYors Gy but have like
MISC made brief excursions 10 BdiuinoIe,
to Philadelphia. and to Washingion In the
face of this deliberately candid confession 10 may
appear TO a youthful reader of these pages-or
reader who knows nothing OF he as an English Jour-
nalist, and may never even have heard my name
pronounced in his life befOre-hat 1t Is an act o the
crosscst ImpeItineu On my part TO say any
thing about a country IN which am, ngnra-
lively speaking, a mere haoe ana sucknhg.
| have been here before, and that Is why | am so
venturcsolnc as to head this paper with me ttle,
"NOw and Then IN America" J. arrived IN tins
country when it was N the IN midst o. OF
bloody war all the more terrible and the emDlttered
because il was war between brethren. ENaSp'ra-
tiOn characterized the cOmbatants on either SIDE
but IN one particular they were agreed-in that
of distrusting the Englishman. At home Our'oWn
Lancashire operatives were starving III consequence
of the cotton famine; our own councils were
divided; Northern and Southern sympathiZers quar-
relied at dInner-tablos, or reyiled each other
in print or at pubic meetings; Earl nus
sell one of the tTuest and usctuest Liberals
that ever lived had PUBLICLY declared that the
North were lighting, mot for Union, but for en-
prer and while the grelt mass of the intelligent
working classes in England undeniably believed IN
the Justice of the Northern causea cause defended
with all the sturdiness and all the eloqaence OF
John I}right-it was as undenably accepted rs
"thc proper thing" in polite English society
to manifest either active or sentimental sympdtny
for the Confederates. Maryland. my Maryland"
was far more popular dtty IN upper class tngilsh
drawinC-rooms than John Brown;" and the mere
munIty agreed for once IN while with their su-
peTlOrs In station.
have said enough perhaps, to show that the po-
sitOn OF an Eugllshnlan who came To tEe Cnlted
States seventeen or eighteen years ago was, II ne
had any soIt Of mssiOn," OF II be acted IN any
thing approaching pubic capacHy, an eXtreiney
invidious one. | remember forty years ago. when
/ first went to school III Paris, that was constantly
and contumcousy repIoached by my French
schoolmates with the crimes comnttei by my
country AGAINST France IN the year 1919. uscd
To be held personally responsible to the extent OF
being called 0ppr0brOus naine' aud ot having my
hair pulled. my toes trot.den upIn ana my peg-!oP
confscated for the occupation f Paris by the alliel
armies the nOn-arTiyal Of GrOuhy instead OF Bicher
ON the field of Waterloo. the spollation OF the
art-treasures of the Louvre, ana the depOr-
tatIon of Napoleon TO 81. Helena L vas
warned that % signal AMI sangulnary Iep1ratlon TOR
these outragcs would or later be eXacted by
indignant Gaul Thus IN 1S63-Gl an EngiIshlnan
newly landed on thiS continent although ne might
be cOuTteOusy and Hospitality received IN American
socety-I remember very well that | was so
rcceiyed-was continually beng reminded OF ms
c)unlry's Sins OF omission ana commission
against the Federal Government ana people. and OF
the mmincnce of n retu!utOry Nemesis. The rem
ditlnu of Mason and Sdell, the Duccancerng eX-
nIoIts of the Alabama the blOckade-running trans
actions by which Liverpool was enrchlng herself,
the alleged subscriptions OF British capitalists 10
Confederate loans-all these were things winchwere
assumed to lie heavy on the Engshman'S con,
science all these were taken 10 be acts OF national
malfeasance our part, for winch we shoulu even
tuallv have To make rcparation. Ana reparauon
we did eventually make but that fact dld not
make the EngShmaE's position one Whlt less nm
easy while the stIife continued IT. might De urged
that the most sensible attitude to be observed by
foreigner under such circumstances was one oi en-
tire neutrality. 1t was more than dlhieuitT
it was next door to ImpossiOle-to be neutiai.
The neutrality difficulty was suiilcieht III
1s63-6f to convert many genuine Eng
lisn Liberal temporarily resident on American
soil intOa Peter Porcupne. ihoSc Ensush LipTia.2
could Judge the veXed question from afaT OF, Impair
TALLY and phllosophIcally p,.,,.,.,.,.;o.
In the middle of last month was IN PhilaneiPhia;
and watched the eight miles and elgnt h0urs ione
parade in honor of General L. ;. Grant.
/ saw battahons Of tie = old dark,olue;
gabardined veterans OF the Grand Army RI y5 oI
rnSmenial flags and, to my mind, the parade OF
| Peace was quite as glIttering and imposing as the
| narade of War had been seventeen years ago; ana
rlIgain to my mind it was great deal more ore salts
| tactory than the war parade of 1853 be-
| cause | knew that nobody was gong to
be killed; and ! have IN my yo+ tnle seen aa
! n soldier, who can earn laures, ana guerd9p,
| and pensions on the tented field, but as an humble
| comn- follower and scribe, abOut whom NOBODY Is
troubed should he happen TO get hanged or shot, or
TO die of fever dysenery-not in nv inmost heart
and soul to hate aud loathe war, IT'S dirt ana as
ease and squalor and depraVlty; lts uhutteIapee
| fertility in anguish, its immcasunble wealth OF
W., rccur 70 nv text of q" Now and Then " in
| lmcr,ca and especially when mark the wonderful
increase i'm the area and the population of the CITY
| oi New-lor which has taken place since my irst
visit. my astonishmcnt Is c9hsiderSoy ,ht les. ms.
| handing augmentation and development nave
token place in London and IN Pars
! TIerr is more New-Ynrk and there are more New
| Y",krrs now than there were then; just as there
! are moro gray hairs in my head and wrinkles on my
face But had plucked out the first gray halr aud
notccd tLc first apparitiOn of crow s-fcet before
rame hither; and. to nv thinking, society," or Sc
much of ii as existed, enjoyed itself quite as much
then as IL does now The late Mr. a. /. Stewart
marble palace and his superb plctnre-galiety Welt
| still there private gentlemen
and merchant princes IN New,1orK Wuo pos
scsscd palatlal mansions and splendid picture-gaie ie
ries i'm which YOU could feast Your eyes on the mas
tc,niccos of C6l6me aud Rosa BOnheur and Nols
sonIer of Church and Bierstadt OF Crawford ant
Powrrs Seventeen years ago dear friend OF mime
occupied a suite of rooms In University BuidlhR' co
nious i'm plctures and Statuary, and old china nlt
bronzes see no difference IN hlu-ehieny, perhaps
| because | fail to discern much dlneience between
| nv nresent and my former sell, abatlng some
t"}a,rg changes connected with the use of spec
tacleS. and dslncnatlOn to write editorials aitc
dinner-and | see no difference III his rooms saV'
that he has got more pictures, more statuaiy more
oId china more brOnzes and enamels, ana tdz=e o
| irde and malachite So i'll particulars, so IN scncr
! nis behold in degree the same New OK; 9hS
behold It through the large lnstead oI INC si cii'
II ~ nav he einicut for the cosmopolitan traveller
when he surveys the height OF luxury ci WGci
has been attained by aihuent ana REM, rfmn",
NVn"nYYork' to avoid n comparison bet"eel
nv" tHe Empire City of the United States an'
the capital Of the hnssmm Hpe ib@Ipe are indeed
"onv remarkable points of similarity. Botn cltle
r tbe PARADISE of foreign singers and musicians
COOKS confectoners. florists, caterers ana dancing
masters The cost of elegant life IN PetrQpos Is OF
nsrity with that in Manhattan. In b0th cities IN
,pnet9rv unity represents larger value than !
, does in the older centres of civilization. II
England that unity is nc' thS the ran"
rnrs Ioudon is, on the whole, dearer city thai
Paris by twenty five centimcs over and above ID
franc We send "A pound 10 London charl'.
Ian, Ian, q nolma day for our parOr at a LOndo
Gotci To tile same purposes in Paris. we deyot
twenty francs 1t might bcargued that III New OF
thc same theory of expenditure would oe repre-
',+"d 'nv hv n fyc-lollar niece but the America
mnnrfory unity is not So but 81; and. to thous
sand ntents and PURPOSES the GG G'Wfet w
9Ln dnlIar m NewYorl does not exceed Ihat OF tu
g tnU pnr;s;am MV,"' frame or the London shilling
, Ia Iai'1;f ST. Petersburg the unity is the r19l'
which should be worth seventy-hye cents, Dut "hlC