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english writers on america-第3章

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Knowledge is power; and truth is knowledge; whoever; therefore;

knowingly propagates a prejudice; willfully saps the foundation of his

country's strength。

  The members of a republic; above all other men; should be candid and

dispassionate。 They are; individually; portions of the sovereign

mind and sovereign will; and should be enabled to come to all

questions of national concern with calm and unbiased judgments。 From

the peculiar nature of our relations with England; we must have more

frequent questions of a difficult and delicate character with her than

with any other nation; questions that affect the most acute and

excitable feelings; and as; in the adjusting of these; our national

measures must ultimately be determined by popular sentiment; we cannot

be too anxiously attentive to purify it from all latent passion or

prepossession。

  Opening; too; as we do; an asylum for strangers from every portion

of the earth; we should receive all with impartiality。 It should be

our pride to exhibit an example of one nation; at least; destitute

of national antipathies; and exercising not merely the overt acts of

hospitality; but those more rare and noble courtesies which spring

from the liberality of opinion。

  What have we to do with national prejudices? They are the inveterate

diseases of old countries; contracted in rude and ignorant ages;

when nations knew but little of each other; and looked beyond their

own boundaries with distrust and hostility。 We; on the contrary;

have sprung into national existence in an enlightened and

philosophic age; when the different parts of the habitable world;

and the various branches of the human family; have been

indefatigably studied and made known to each other; and we forego

the advantages of our birth; if we do not shake off the national

prejudices; as we would the local superstitions of the old world。

  But above all let us not be influenced by any angry feelings; so far

as to shut our eyes to the perception of what is really excellent

and amiable in the English character。 We are a young people;

necessarily an imitative one; and must take our examples and models;

in a great degree; from the existing nations of Europe。 There is no

country more worthy of our study than England。 The spirit of her

constitution is most analogous to ours。 The manners of her people…

their intellectual activity… their freedom of opinion… their habits of

thinking on those subjects which concern the dearest interests and

most sacred charities of private life; are all congenial to the

American character; and; in fact; are all intrinsically excellent; for

it is in the moral feeling of the people that the deep foundations

of British prosperity are laid; and however the superstructure may

be time…worn; or overrun by abuses; there must be something solid in

the basis; admirable in the materials; and stable in the structure

of an edifice; that so long has towered unshaken amidst the tempests

of the world。

  Let it be the pride of our writers; therefore; discarding all

feelings of irritation; and disdaining to retaliate the illiberality

of British authors; to speak of the English nation without

prejudice; and with determined candor。 While they rebuke the

indiscriminating bigotry with which some of our countrymen admire

and imitate every thing English; merely because it is English; let

them frankly point out what is really worthy of approbation。 We may

thus place England before us as a perpetual volume of reference;

wherein are recorded sound deductions from ages of experience; and

while we avoid the errors and absurdities which may have crept into

the page; we may draw thence golden maxims of practical wisdom;

wherewith to strengthen and to embellish our national character。

                        THE END




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