Smyrna times., 1885-03-04
THREE ENGLTSHMEN on AMER.
ICA AND AMERICANS.

Three notable Englishmen have late
ly been lavish of their praise of the
United States. Mr.. Irving prOnOunces
American audiences to be the kindest.
the most generous, with the quickest
perceptions and the keenest apprecia-
tion of the merits of good acting and
quiet tolerance of bad, of any that he
has ever encountered. Matthew Ar
mold has been revising his earlier opin-
ions of the American people, their in
stitutions and their destiny, and he
sees in the fleXibility of the federal
constitution, in the system of local self
government, and in the evident power
of the people to correct abuses when
they become intOlerable, conclusive
evidence of the peTmanency of the re-
public. And now comes Sir Richard
Temple, who gives, in the form of a
lecture delivered toward the close of
January before a Worcestershire audi
ence, his experiences in the United
States last year, and his opinions of
the people and their institutions. He
told his auditors that Americans have
several noble characteristics, but the
greatest of their qualities was generOs-
ity. They are absolutely generous,
and absolutely fearless as against any
attempt to disturb them by any
other nation. Like Matthew Arnold,
he speaks of us rs patient under abuses
up to a certain point, and that we then
rise in our might aud sweep them
away. He speaks of us as having
great individuality, great prosperity.
great self-reliance, and all the civic
virtues that make a great nation
He objects to our system of public edu.
cation as carried too far. He does moi
conceive it to be the duty of Al State t.
provide more than elementary educa
tioU, or to extend it beyond the chill
dren of the poor, who, if they were
permitted to grow up in ignorance,
might become dangerous to society
! For education above the elementary i
| is his opinion that parents should pay
in proportion to their means, about ii.
! they would in any other country. o
culture in the highest sense Ofthe term
and especially in that relating to art, h'
| finds us deficient when compared will
older peoples. Nevertheless" h,
adds considerable progress is bein;
made in that respect also. Every
where museums and picture gallerr
are being established, and public build
| ings with great architectural preten
sions erected. More particularly peu
ple's parks are being formed in all th
principal cities, and, in rrSpec, of theS
! America is distinctly ahead of amy coun
try he had ever seen" It was scarcel
to be expected that he should speaI
approvingly Of our agriculture. 1t
not neat and tidy" he says, :" as in Eng
land" but he acknowledges that in tn,
use Of mechanical appliances in the cuI
tivation of the soil we are far ahea
of Europe. With respect to the cOnd
ton of the working people, he tOun
that wages were much higher with u
than in England, but that the cost {
rent, and of all other things exceT
food, is double Still the prospects [
American workingmen are so goo
that he could say to any one intendin
to emigrate that, if he were willing t
rough it at first, and would persever
to the end, he would do better in tn
United States than in England. A
concerns fair elections and the admin
istration of the laws, he held that " til
sanCtity of the ballot box and of tb
iury-bOx" was not as securely protet
ted with us as in England. Hence
happens that there are occasions whe
the people, fearing that notorious erin
inals will escape punishment, take I'll
law in their own hands. He agree
with not few Americans that I'll
enormous patronage in the hands
the Federal, State and municipal go
: ernments has debauched and degrade
American politics." but, with the intr
I ductiOn and enforcement of the civ
service reform, he is of the OpiniC
that " the evil class of politicians wi
be done away with, and the create
, reform will have occurred in Ameri'
I since the days of Washington
J Finally, the lecturer gave his views
. the last presidential election. As &
> honorary member of the two riv
political clubs in New York, he heal
a great deal of the affairs of both pa
I ties, and he had, he says, to be eXcee
: ingly cautious in his references
5 either party before the other. But
q has no hesitation in declaring that a
: though the Republican party has dOl
well in many ways that he went on
cite, yet, as any other party holdii
power continuously for twenty yea
would almost inevitably be, it had b
h come sadly corrupt, while in OppO
3 ton to the Democratic doctrines,
! general tendency was to build up
strong central power at the expense
: the local independence of the Stat,
u 1t was, therefore" he says, for t
l. good of America, the welfare of t
s people and the progress of true libert
a that there should be a change" 1t
!, we'll sometimes that we should "s
=" ourselves as others see us" and, on {
whole, we have reason to he satisf
with the opinions thus expressed &C
IS cerning us and our affairs.-Bdltim'
d Sun.
= Khartoum underwent a siege of
,: days while Gordon was in cOmmaI
1t II would probably have fallen long
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