“As an old traveler, I am greatly interested in noticing these peculiarities in different races. The English are a queer lot, not really bad at heart, I think, but it is in their domineering, arrogant natures to act as they do, and which has made them such a powerful nation. They are dull and slow, and almost lacking in the courtesies of civilized life. I seldom meet an Englishman, but he gets in some remarks against Americans, and I scarcely take up an English paper, but I find some slur, or carping criticism on the ‘Yankees,’ as they call us. Yet, they have the cheek to say to me, ‘If, in the event of a great European war, you Americans would certainly side with us, as we are of the same race, speak the same language, and our interests are the same.’ They do not seem to be trying very much to make us their friends. It may be only their way, however. A hundred thousand or more Americans go abroad every year, and all spend some time, as well as money, in Great Britain. Except a few favored ones, all tell the same story about the arrogance and sneers of the English. These travelers return and tell their acquaintances their experience, and it is not surprising if our people have a dislike to our ‘English cousins,’ a phrase they use when they wish to give us taffy. “But we Americans should not complain, for it is to this same aristocratic bull-dog spirit that we owe our independence. Otherwise, America would still be an English colony. The Puritans were persecuted, and were glad to go anywhere, not for freedom only, but to save their necks. Under George the First, large numbers received ‘royal mercy,’ by being transported to America. Many, driven from their homes in England, found a refuge in Holland, and then in America. King George the Third hated the colonists, and was their bitterest enemy, mainly because they escaped from his tyranny. He proposed to tax them for the benefit of England. The first predominant idea of an Englishman is taxation. This seems to be as necessary to him as the air he breathes. With a swarm of non-producing royal drones, the emoluments of the aristocracy and the interminable lot of highly paid office-holders, and the hangers-on of the government, and their sitting commissions, this taxation may be necessary. If they enjoy it, then it is just what they ought to have. “Our forefathers hated taxation as a kind of tyranny, and were bitterly opposed to the stamp act. We keep down our taxes, except on luxuries, and have not a stamp, but for postage, and this stamp is more for convenience than otherwise.