The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1896-12-06
A Literary Traveller in America.

DR.. ROBERTSON NICoLL, the industrious
and amiable journalist of the British Week
~, the Bookmdn, and other repositories Of
literary intelligence, was in the United
States a few weeks ago, in company with
Mr.. j. NJ. BARRIE, one Of the most success
full Of the novelists Of the reigning Scotch
school. To a reporter Of the NcD Age, of
London, DR.. NIcoLL communicated some
impressions of his American travels. He
found things less different, and the people
less different from English people than he
had imagined" This must be accepted as a
compliment, the highest there IS, from a
British point of view. 1t is possible, how
ever, that the observation indicated by
it is not especially penetrating. Physically,
of course, there is now no great difference
between the inhabitants Of the United States
and those OF Great Britain. The prevalence
OF athletic sports has brought up the Amer
lean physique notably, and almost every
American who can afford the time, lives out
of doors as much as he can. DR.. NICoLL
did not visit Kentucky and give himself the
pleasure Of seeing specimens of our race of
giants, and nowhere in the country could
be find the stunted and husky creatures of
the cockney type who are so common in the
East End OF London. In the matter OF tenn
permanent Mr.. BARRIE found us Celtic,
either very sauguine or very depressed"
Now the Celtic temperament Is as remote
as possible from the ordinary English tenn
permanent, and therefore highly Objectionable
to it. DR.. NlCoLL is a Scotchman, and pos
sibly Of Celtic temperament himself. At
any rate. he is capable of judging it without
prejudice. By Celtic temperament" is to
be understood, In the case of Americans. a
faculty of imagination, a poetry, sentiment,
humor. not ordinarily possessed by the mat
ter-of-fact, conventional Englishman. The
inability OF the Englishman to understand
the American may be due to the possession
by the latter, sometimes in excess, of the
qualities which the former lacks. But the
Imagination of the Yankee. his freedom
from mere conventional restraints, and his
superior powers Of sympathetic intelligence,
are usually controlled by good, solid COM
mon sense. The American temperament is
q composite temperament, to which the
Celtic has contributed some rare qualities,
but the Celtic 10 only one element Of it.
1.-The characteristics salient in the time of
DICKENS" continues DR.. NIcoLL, have dis
appeared" Alas, the Hon. HANNIBAL CHoL-
LoP hasn't disappeared. Expectation -four
ishes still.
Even the American accent is gone" says
DR.. NIcoLL. Gone where's? To England
What WAS the American accent, any way,
and is there no reservation where 1t fingers
and can be studied And what has taken
Its place Is the accent here English now,
or have Mr.. BARRIE and his clever brethren
of the kali yard introduced the burr and
crackle of ScotchS
Naturally DR.. NICoLL met a good many
literary men during his visit. His award of
the golden apple of pulchritude may stir
up envy in many famous bosoms:
NJ GLIDER, the editor OF tho Century. and Judge
OLIVER WENDELL. HOLMES, son of the Autocrat, are.I
think. tho two most handsome men In America"
Fortunately he doesn't attempt to decide
who are the handsomest woman authors.
Mr.. HowELLs figures in the interview as
"Mr. w. II. HowELLs." Deliberately to
spell an Americans name wrong Is one of
the most austers OF the methods by which
the London reporter shows his conviction
of the innate inferiority of the Yankee.
THE only two young writer's can re-
call" remarks DIR. NICoLL, ARE n. II.
DAVIS and STEPHEN CRANE. But in the
States there are now a lot Of young writer's,
say from twenty-five to thirty-hve, all writ
ing and with futures. look upon this as q