The International Magazine, Volume 4, No. 5, December 1851Various
History
The International Magazine, Volume 4, No. 5, December 1851
Various
Art, Modern -- 19th century -- Periodicals; Literature, Modern -- 19th century -- Periodicals; Science -- History -- Periodicals
"Superficial observers have spoken of the inhabitant of the Northern
States as if money were his only aim--as if he were inspired only by
selfishness and avarice--and as if he estimated men by the weight of
their purses. But those who regard him closely, and judge otherwise
than by first appearances, will discover in him a calculating
(_berechnenden_), enterprising, thoroughly practical man, caring
little for pleasure, and seeking his recreation (_erholung_) in the
domestic circle. They will find in him a man who, with iron industry,
fights his way through life, esteeming wealth, it is true--not the
inherited, however, but _the earned_, which testifies to the ability
of its possessor. A man, in fine, who with unbending courage bears
the blow of destiny, and is thereby only stimulated to new exertions.
The Southerner, on the contrary, is more _chivalresque_--he lives to
live. The climate in which he is born has also a material influence
upon his manners, customs, and character: effecting, in reality, the
same difference which we observe between the cool, reflective, tough
North German, and the jovial, genial, easily excited South German,
or Frenchman. We would hardly have deemed it necessary to inform the
reader that in _thus_ sketching the inhabitants of the United States in
light outlines, we do not include the mixed and Europeanized population
of the Atlantic cities, had we not learned by experience that many
travellers slightly acquainted only with the Atlantic States and their
vicinity, have from these sketched all North America and its people. He
who would know the American, must also know the cities of the interior.
"If, in addition to these characteristics, we should describe the
personal and distinctive appearance of the Northerner and Southerner,
we would say that the first are, generally speaking, large, tall,
and spare--their ladies beautiful and of delicate complexion; while
the Southerners are broad-shouldered and powerful--the female sex
being voluptuously formed and beautiful, but when not subject to the
influence of exercise and fresh air of a sallow complexion.
"Every North American is--and who has a better right so to _be_--an
enthusiastic _honorer (vereher) of his fatherland_, but he does not
measure out by inches the limits of his native land, or bound his
patriotism by the clod on which his cradle rested--for to him the
roar of the Rio del Norte, the thunder-peal of Niagara, and the
murmur of the Pacific or Atlantic oceans have equally a familiar,
home-like sound. Nor less than the land of his birth does he esteem
its laws, constitution, and institutions, and regards them in nowise
as oppressive, but as protective. Those laws he made for himself, and
chose himself as their executor. RESPECT FOR THE LAW is to the American
self-respect.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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