LETTER III

WHAT IS AN AMERICAN

I wish I could be acquainted with the feelings and thoughts which must agitate the heart and present themselves to the mind of an enlightened Englishman, when he first lands on this continent.  He must greatly rejoice that he lived at a time to see this fair country discovered and settled; he must necessarily feel a share of national pride, when he views the chain of settlements which embellishes these extended shores.  When he says to himself, this is the work of my countrymen, who, when convulsed by factions, afflicted by a variety of miseries and wants, restless and impatient, took refuge here.  They brought along with them their national genius, to which they principally owe what liberty they enjoy, and what substance they possess.  Here he sees the industry of his native country displayed in a new manner, and traces in their works the embryos of all the arts, sciences, and ingenuity which nourish in Europe.  Here he beholds fair cities, substantial villages, extensive fields, an immense country filled with decent houses, good roads, orchards, meadows, and bridges, where an hundred years ago all was wild, woody, and uncultivated!  What a train of pleasing ideas this fair spectacle must suggest; it is a prospect which must inspire a good citizen with the most heartfelt pleasure.  The difficulty consists in the manner of viewing so extensive a scene.  He is arrived on a new continent; a modern society offers itself to his contemplation, different from what he had hitherto seen.  It is not composed, as in Europe, of great lords who possess everything, and of a herd of people who have nothing.  Here are no aristocratical families, no courts, no kings, no bishops, no ecclesiastical dominion, no invisible power giving to a few a very visible one; no great manufacturers employing thousands, no great refinements of luxury.  The rich and the poor are not so far removed from each other as they are in Europe.  Some few towns excepted, we are all tillers of the earth, from Nova Scotia to West Florida.  We are a people of cultivators, scattered over an immense territory, communicating with each other by means of good roads and navigable rivers, united by the silken bands of mild government, all respecting the laws, without dreading their power, because they are equitable.  We are all animated with the spirit of an industry which is unfettered and unrestrained, because each person works for himself.  If he travels through our rural districts he views not the hostile castle, and the haughty mansion, contrasted with the clay-built hut and miserable cabin, where cattle and men help to keep each other warm, and dwell in meanness, smoke, and indigence.  A pleasing uniformity of decent competence appears throughout our habitations.  The meanest of our log-houses is a dry and comfortable habitation.  Lawyer or merchant are the fairest titles our towns afford;