New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1888-01-05
1UEPTr4AISM.

What is Amcricansm The question is
pertinent one. since an acknowledged master
of literature has attempted to define 1t In the
abstract and then to illustrate it III the concrete
in the person of President Cleveland. BY
Amcrcanism." says Mr.. Lowell, Z" mean that
which sc cannot help. not that which we Haunt
that way of looking at things and of treating
men which we derive from the soil that holds
our fathers and waits for u.s. The definition
is vague but essentially accurate. American
ism sends down its roots deep into American
soil. 1t is the common stock Of Angl
patriotism, transplanted and re-inyigorated
and deriving from American soil new vitality
and characteristic elements of growth and
fruitage. Mr.. Lowell is right Amencanism
smacks of the soil. We do not take exception
to his definition In the abstract it is what he
says it is; but in the concrete, we would add
it is what Mr.. Lowell himself once was, but
unfortunately has ceased to be.
twenty-five years ago Mr.. Lowell justly
earned the reputation of being an American of
the Americans His ttle-dceds to that honorable
fame were his Jonathan TO john and his
Commcmoration Ode" In the first of these
poems he gave adequate expression to Amer
history. 1t was after the Trent affair. Mason
and SlidclI had been seized in wantOn violation
Of neutrality law. Their surrender was an act
Of necessity and of international justice. But
every instinct of American patriotism had been
outraged by the hostility and cynical indilier-
encc to the American cause displayed by Great
Britain. Jonathan to John" was racy pro-
duct of American soil. 1t expressed what was
in every loyal heart contempt for the greed
that was trafckng in the misfortunes OF
branch of the English-speakng race; scOrnful
detestaton Of the hypocrisy which with canting
tongue was making virtue of bcfriending
siave-owners conviction that memorable
Justice would at last make all things even;
and profound faith in the triumph of righteous
cause and in the manifest destiny of the Amer
lean people. 1t was when the country was
stirred to its depths and quivering with in
dignation that MIR. Lowell gave that defiant.
if satircal, answer to England and when after
the close Of the war he cmbalmed in the i'm
perishable verse of the Commemoration Ode'
the genius and unselfshncss of American
patriotism and the nobility of Lincoln's char
acter his right to be considered an American
Of the Americans could not be questioned.
Amcricanism has remained unchanged since
Jonathan to john and Commemoration
Ode" were written. Mr.. Lowell, who was once
saturated with its spirit, has gradually got out
of touch with il. His protracted residence in
England, the social attentions shOwercd upon
him there his intimacy with titled people, the
lavish compliments paid to his after-dinner
speeches, and the prestige he has won in Lon
don as an Englishman who was accidentally
born in the United States but never really be-
onged there, have wrought complete trans
formation of his Amcricanism. Even when he
was Minister at the Court of st. James he had
shown Indifference to the rights of Americans
imprisoned abroad and since the appointment
Of his successor he has become more and more
English and less and less American in his opin
ions and tastes. So complete is the estrange-
ment that he no longer feels at home in Amer
lea. So pale and sickly has grown the light
Of that Americansm which once shone re-
splendent in his Incompatible verse, that he
reads tho English copments on the Presidents
message, ganccs at Tcnnops cartoon in
"Punch," and straghtway proclaims the most
un-Amcrican of all American Presidents to be
the best type of the highest Amcricanism that
has been known sinCc Lincoln.
What Americanism was in Mr.. Lowelfs best
days il has remained. 1t is the breath Of life
that comes from American soil where are
planted tho institutions Of liberty Loving people,
where are stored the traditions Of a political
independence won and preserved by blood and
sacrifice and where is the promise Of tho full
fruition Of q magnificent destiny among the
nations Of the earth. The fevers Of war ex-
element have passed the triumphs Of pacific
industry have come, and Americans have
more reason every year for the pride, the self
confidence and the hope that are in them.