ART. VIII.-The Americans in their Moral, Social, and Political Relations. By FRANCIS J. GRUND. 2 vols. London: Longman and Co. 1837.

THE year 1836 was not so prolific of English books on the characteristics and condition of our brethren on the other side of the Atlantic as some of its predecessors; but come when such works may, they always receive a hearty welcome in the mother-country. There is a deep-seated interest in British bosoms concerning the Americans of the United States; and although the chidings, the complaints, the misrepresentations of the parent have been far too often indulged in, this interest is not thereby shown to be malevolent or unaffectionate, but on the contrary, intense and enduring. Nor can the petulance and waywardness of the child always be excused, or even be said not to have provoked the ire and the chastising ridicule of the elder branch of the family. The former has not unfrequently been over-sensitive or forgetful of filial respect. But whatever may have been the provocations or irritations on either side, it is quite clear that the greater degree of liberality, which is every year infusing itself into civilized life, and the increasing interchange of sympathies that is established between the two nations that stand in the relationship to each other above alluded to, are circumstances and facts which have nearly reduced all mutual complaints and misrepresentations to fractions, or to little pieces of caricature, which ought to excite as much good humour on the part of that one who has been its subject, as of that whose wit and fancy find amusement in such disportings, concerning the weak points, or slight deformities of others.

The author, however, whose work is now before us, is by no means one of this laughing tribe, at the expense of the citizens of the United States, but belongs to another class of writers, who perceive little in the condition and prospects of that great nation which is not lovely, good, and permanently great. Still we do not believe that his picture is more truthful than that of many whose pencils have been engaged on the opposite side, or for the sake of raising a laugh. In short he is too enamoured, and his views too Utopian, to be worthy of entire reliance. He is equally sincere and earnest; we wish that it were in our power to say he is always equally lively and engaging.

It appears that Mr. Grund has resided in America for fifteen years, and that he is a German by birth. He cannot therefore be supposed to have imbibed any undue prepossessions in behalf of England. As to America, he has made himself very familiar with many features in her social, moral, and political relations, and these

he has described with the affection of an adopted son. He admits, for example, that the manners of the American people have not the high polish of the superior ranks in Europe, but he maintains that the fact stands in an opposite form with regard to the inferior orders. The picture he draws of domestic life throughout the United States is very favourable; and this he accounts for on the grounds that there is no law of primogeniture to encourage idleness, and to accumulate in the hands of a few, enormous or independent inheritances; at the same time that the ease with which a comfortable livelihood may be obtained, and respectability supported, more than neutralizes the perpetual division and fluctuation of wealth. If we regard him on the subject of the arts of design, on music, or on literature, his colouring is roseate. He does not laud their theatricals, because, he says, the people are too much devoted to business to patronise the drama, excepting in the light of a curiosity. As to their religious feelings, the principles and state of their educational establishments, and their habits of industry, Mr. Grund offers many sensible, as well as striking, graphic and philosophical views. He is also on these, and on other general but great national features, often either superficial, or bald and laboriously dull. According to him, there is little which is not as good or better in America than anywhere else—be it their commercial practices, or their means of national defence by sea or land. We like him much when he pictures the condition of the working classes; we dislike him most when he defends slavery, as practised in the Southern States. As might be expected of such a writer, in his support of such an untenable doctrine, he is forced in his manner, and sophistical in his matter. Indeed, what he gives us upon this subject, and some others, might have fully as well been written by a reader of a few of the modern books of travels and sketches concerning America, if a laborious penman, although he had never been twenty miles from St. Paul's.

We are desirous, however, to be on good terms with the author, and to let our readers see him in his best suit; and therefore present him in some of those passages where he discourses of manners, business, and the political provisions which have grown up and been established to secure national existence.

In treating of the peculiar manners of the American people, and the causes which have tended to produce these manners, Mr. Grund sensibly observes, that in proportion as the liberties of a people are enlarged, and their franchise extended, they must become more active and serious, which doctrine he illustrates by comparing the character of the French, since the three days with that which they exhibited previous to the Revolution of 1798; and also the buffoonery of " merry England" under Elizabeth, with the demure

composition of John Bull, since the passing of the Habeas Corpus Act and the Revolution. He continues

Well, then, the Americans are, in common with the English, a more sober, calm, and reflecting people, than perhaps any other in the world; and, for this very reason, able to bear a larger proportion of rational liberty.

"The influence of this character on the sociable circles of America is undoubtedly felt; but not in the manner generally described by Europeans. Thus, for instance, it does not destroy the spirit of hospitality for which the Americans were always distinguished, although it has too often been ill requited; it does not prevent them from receiving their friends in a cordial manner, or enjoying their own domestic fire-side; but being always accustomed to thought and reflection, their minds are, perhaps, too fraught with the events of the day, and the apprehensions of the future, to preserve throughout that fashionable indifference on all topics, which can neither affect nor cheer any of the company present, and which, for that very reason, is considered essential to good manners in Europe. Their sentiments are often expressed with warmth bordering on enthusiasm, and require, therefore, a greater degree of attention and sympathy on the part of their audience, than Europeans of rank are willing to bestow on ordinary subjects of conversation. On this account American society is sometimes fatiguing; and the complaint has often been made by foreigners, that it requires a certain preparation in order to understand or enjoy it. Its demands on a stranger are more numerous than is always agreeable; and if he be a man of talent or reputation, he is expected to show off and entertain the company. The Americans on such occasions are always willing to listen, to learn, and, perhaps to question: but Europeans are not always ready to teach or to answer, and still less disposed to receive instruction from their entertainers. In this manner society proves often a task to men of consideration and learning, instead of offering them a convenient respite as in Europe."

We have already slightly referred to the author's view of the manners of the higher orders in America, as compared with those which obtain among the aristocractic ranks in Europe. He is undoubtedly right in saying that the abrogation and absence of the law of primogeniture have done more towards equalizing all conditions in the former country, than the spirit of exclusiveness will ever be able to surmount; and that it is there, in fact, the strongest pillar of democracy. He says, there is not more than one-fourth of all the men who possess property in the United States, who have inherited it. Society, we hence infer, is ever finding a leveller, a moderator, a raiser up, and a breaker down. Industry, not inheritance, is the great source of wealth; therefore, few have succeeded to, or been bred up in the elegancies of fashionable life. Nay, although, in the large cities there be certain coteries, composed principally of wealthy families of some standing, they are perfectly powerless when opposed to the great mass of the people; and even their elevation is very uncertain, since we find no principle or provision in the constitution to preserve their wealth to perpetuity.

The sons of the opulent have hence to join personal application to inheritance, and hence, also, must there be acquired, certain habits different from those which the aristocracy in Europe cherish. Still many have maintained that there is not merely a democracy but an aristocracy in America. But do these belong to the same species that are found, for example, in England?

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Nothing indeed is more common than to hear Americans themselves aver, that there is a great deal of aristocracy in their country, of which Europeans generally are entirely unaware.' Now I have remained nearly fifteen years in the United States; but I have never been able to discover this aristocracy; nor its trappings, power, influence, or worshippers. I have, assuredly, known a variety of fashionable coteries-at least what in America would be called fashionable; composed of highly respectable merchants, literary and professional men, politicians and others, who, it was evident, considered themselves the nobility and gentry of the land: but they never had the courage of avowing their sentiments and pretensions in public; and have, of late, been as much excluded from the government of the country as they avoided being confounded with the rest of their fellow citizens. On the other hand, I have had an opportunity of observing a class of society, again composed of highly respectable merchants, literary and professional men, politicians, and others, who never exhibited the least symptoms of imaginary superiority over their countrymen, but always acknowledged themselves to be public servants, paid and provided for by the people; and who, in fact, possessed considerable more power and influence than their aristocratic neighbours with the exclusive sentiments. One party was always dreaming of influence and distinction; the other actually possessed them. This is all the difference I have ever known between the aristocracy and democracy of America."

Let us now see what is said by Mr. Grund of the Americans as men of business, and mark the influence which the habits described must have on their ordinary manners in all the relations of life.

"From the earliest hour in the morning till late at night, the streets, offices, and warehouses of the large cities are thronged by men of all trades and professions, each following his vocation like a perpetuum mobile, as if he never dreamt of cessation from labour, or the possibility of becoming fatigued. If a lounger should happen to be parading the street, he would be sure to be jostled off the side-walk, or to be pushed in every direction, until he keeps time with the rest. Should he meet a friend, he will only talk to him on business; on 'change, they will only hear him on business; and, if he retire to some house of entertainment, he will again be entertained with business. Wherever he goes, the hum and bustle of business will follow him; and when he finally sits down to his dinner, hoping there at least to find an hour of rest, he will discover to his sorrow that the Americans treat that as a business too, and dispatch in less time than he is able to stretch his limbs under the mahogany. In a very few minutes, the clang of steel and silver will cease, and he will again be left to his solitary reflections, while the rest are about their

business. In the evenings, if he have no friends or acquaintances, none will intrude on his retirement; for the people are either at home with their families, or preparing for the business of the next day."

"Whoever goes to the United States for the purpose of settling there, must resolve in his mind to find pleasure in business, and business in pleasure; or he will be disappointed, and wish himself back to the sociable idleness of Europe. Nor can any one travel in the United States without making a business of it. In vain would he hope to proceed at his ease; he must prepare to go at the rate of fifteen or twenty miles an hour, or conclude to stay quietly at home. He must not expect to stop, except at the places fixed upon by the proprietors of the road or the steam-boat. And if he happen to take a friend by the hand the instant after the sign of departure is given, he is either left behind or carried against his intention, and has to inquire after his luggage in another state or territory. The habit of posting being unknown, he is obliged to travel in company with the large caravans which are daily starting from, and arriving at, all the large cities, under the convoy of a thousand puffing and clanking engines, where all thoughts of pleasure are speedily converted into sober reflections on the safety of property and persons. He must resign the gratification of his own individual tastes to the wishes of the majority who are travelling on business, and with whom speed is infinitely more important than all that contributes to pleasure : he must eat, drink, sleep, and wake, when they do; and has no other remedy for the catalogue of his distresses, but the hope of their speedy termination. Arrived at the period of his sufferings, he must be cautious how he gives vent to his joy; for he must stop quickly, if his busy conductor shall not burl him on again on a new journey."

The uses and advantages of local government, as exemplified in the settlements of the West, are admirably set forth in the following passages.

"The Western States from their peculiar position, are supposed to develop all the resources and peculiarities of democratic governments, without being driven to excesses by the opposition of contrary principles. Their number, too, augments the intensity of Republican life, by increasing the number of rallying-points, without which the principle of liberty would be too much weakened by expansion. It is a peculiarly happy feature of the constitution of the United States, that every State has itself an independent government, and becomes thus the repository of its own liberties.

"The inhabitant of Arkansas, Illinois, or Indiana, living on the confines of the State and the very skirts of civilization, would, in all probability, be less of a patriot if his attachment to the country were only to be measured by his adherence to the general government. He would be too remote from the centre of action to feel its immediate influence, and not sufficiently affected by the political proceedings of the State, to consider them paramount to the local interests of his neighbourhood. Political life would grow fainter in proportion to its remoteness from the seat of legislation; and the energies of the people, instead of being roused by the necessity of action, would degenerate into a passive acknowledgment