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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/25786-8.txt b/25786-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..634e862 --- /dev/null +++ b/25786-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,4279 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of American Sketches, by Charles Whibley + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: American Sketches + 1908 + +Author: Charles Whibley + +Release Date: June 14, 2008 [EBook #25786] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AMERICAN SKETCHES *** + + + + +Produced by David Widger + + + + + +AMERICAN SKETCHES + +By Charles Whibley + +William Blackwood & Sons - 1908 + + + + +AMERICAN SKETCHES. + + + + +NEW YORK. + +To land at Hoboken in a quiet drizzle is to sound the depths of +desolation. A raw, half-finished, unkempt street confronts you. +Along the roadway, roughly broken into ruts, crawls a sad tram. The +dishevelled shops bear odd foreign-looking names upon their fronts, and +the dark men who lounge at their doors suggest neither the spirit of +hustling nor the grandeur of democracy. It is, in truth, not a street, +but the awkward sketch of a street, in which all the colours are blurred +and the lines drawn awry. And the sense of desolation is heightened by +the memory of the immediate past. You have not yet forgotten the pomp of +a great steamship. The gracious harbour of New York is still shining +in your mind's eye. If the sentiment of freedom be dear to you, you are +fresh from apostrophising the statue of Liberty, and you may have just +whispered to yourself that you are breathing a clearer, larger air. +Even the exquisite courtesy of the officer who has invited you in the +blandest terms to declare that you have no contraband, has belied the +voice of rumour and imparted a glow of satisfaction. And then you are +thrown miserably into the leaden despair of Hoboken, and the vision of +Liberty herself is effaced. + +But Hoboken is an easy place where-from to escape, and the traveller +may pass through it the more cheerfully, because it prepares him for +the manifold and bewildering contrasts of New York. The towns of the +old world have alternations of penury and affluence. In them also +picturesque squalor obtrudes itself upon an ugly splendour. But New +York, above all other cities, is the city of contrasts. As America is +less a country than a collection of countries, so New York is not a +city--it is a collection of cities. Here, on the narrow rock which +sustains the real metropolis of the United States, is room or men and +women of every faith and every race. The advertisements which glitter +in the windows or are plastered upon the hoardings suggest that all +nationalities meet with an equal and a flattering acceptance. The German +regrets his fatherland the less when he finds a brilliant Bier-Halle +waiting for his delight. The Scot no doubt finds the "domestic" cigar +sweeter to his taste if a portrait of Robert Burns adorns the box +from which he takes it. The Jew may be supposed to lose the sense of +homesickness when he can read the news of every day in his familiar +Yiddish. And it is not only in the contrast of nationalities that New +York proves its variety. Though Germans, Italians, and Irish inhabit +their own separate quarters and frequent their own separate haunts, +there are many other lines of division. Nowhere in the world are there +sharper, crueller distinctions of riches and poverty, of intelligence +and boorish-ness, of beauty and ugliness. How, indeed, shall you find +a formula for a city which contains within its larger boundaries Fifth +Avenue and the Bowery, the Riverside Drive and Brooklyn, Central Park +and Coney Island? + +And this contrast of race and character is matched by the diversity of +the city's aspect. Its architecture is as various as its inhabitants. +In spite of demolition and utility, the history of New York is written +brokenly upon its walls. Here and there you may detect an ancient +frame-house which has escaped the shocks of time and chance, and still +holds its own against its sturdier neighbours. Nor is the memory of +England wholly obliterated. Is there not a homely sound in Maiden Lane, +a modest thoroughfare not far from Wall Street? What Englishman can feel +wholly abroad if he walk out to the Battery, or gaze upon the austere +houses of Washington Square? And do not the two churches of Broadway +recall the city of London, where the masterpieces of Wren are still +hedged about by overshadowing office and frowning warehouse? St Paul's +Chapel, indeed, is English both in style and origin. It might have been +built in accord with Sir Christopher's own design; and, flanked by the +thirty-two storeys of the Park Row Building, it has the look of a small +and dainty toy. Though Trinity Church, dedicated to the glory of God +and the Astors, stands in an equally strange environment, it is less +incongruous, as it is less elegant, than St Paul's. Its spire falls not +more than a hundred feet below the surrounding sky-scrapers, and were it +not for its graveyard it might escape notice. Now its graveyard is one +of the wonders of America. Rich in memories of colonial days, it is as +lucid a piece of history as survives within the boundaries of New York. +The busy mob of cosmopolitans, intent upon trusts and monopolies, which +passes its time-worn stones day after day, may find no meaning in its +tranquillity. The wayfarer who is careless of the hours will obey the +ancient counsel and stay a while. The inscriptions carry him back to the +days before the Revolution, or even into the seventeenth century. Here +lies one Richard Churcher, who died in 1681, at the tender age of five. +And there is buried William Bradford, who printed the first newspaper +that ever New York saw, the forefather in a long line of the Yellowest +Press on earth. And there is inscribed the name of John Watts, the last +Royal Recorder of New York. Thus the wayfarer may step from Broadway +into the graveyard of a British colony, and forget, in contemplating +the familiar examples of a lapidary style, that there was a tea-party at +Boston. + +These contrasts are wayward and accidental. The hand of chance has been +merciful, that is all; and if you would fully understand New York's +self-conscious love of incongruity it is elsewhere that you must +look. Walk along the Riverside Drive, framed by nature to be, what an +enthusiast has called it, "the finest residential avenue in the world." +Turn your back to the houses, and contemplate the noble beauty of the +Hudson River. Look from the terrace of Claremont upon the sunlit scene, +and ask yourself whether Paris herself offers a gayer prospect. And then +face the "high-class residences," and humble your heart. Nowhere else +will you get a clearer vision of the inappropriateness which is the most +devoutly worshipped of New York's idols. The human mind cannot imagine +anything less like "residences" than these vast blocks of vulgarity. The +styles of all ages and all countries have been recklessly imitated. +The homes of the millionaires are disguised as churches, as mosques, as +medieval castles. Here you may find a stronghold of feudalism cheek +by jowl with the quiet mansion of a colonial gentleman. There Touraine +jostles Constantinople; and the climax is reached by Mr Schwab, who has +decreed for himself a lofty pleasure-dome, which is said to resemble +Chambord, and which takes its place in a long line of villas, without +so much as a turnip-field to give it an air of seclusion or security. +In this vainglorious craving for discomfort there is a kind of naïveté +which is not without its pathos. One proud lady, whose husband, in +the words of a dithyrambic guide-book, "made a fortune from a patent +glove-hook," boasts that her mansion has a glass-room on the second +floor. Another vain householder deems it sufficient to proclaim that +he spent two million dollars upon the villa which shelters him from +the storm. In brief, there is scarcely a single palace on the Riverside +which may not be described as an antic of wealth, and one wonders what +sort of a life is lived within these gloomy walls. Do the inhabitants +dress their parts with conscientious gravity, and sit down to dine with +the trappings of costume and furniture which belong to their +houses? Suppose they did, and, suppose in obedience to a signal they +precipitated themselves upon the highway, there would be such a +masquerade of fancy dress as the world has never seen. The Riverside +Drive, then, is a sermon in stones, whose text is the uselessness of +uncultured dollars. If we judged New York by this orgie of tasteless +extravagance, we might condemn it for a parvenu among cities, careless +of millions and sparing of discretion. We may not thus judge it New +York, if it be a parvenu, is often a parvenu of taste, and has given +many a proof of intelligence and refinement. The home of great luxury, +it does not always, as on the Riverside, mistake display for beauty. +There are houses in the neighbourhood of Fifth Avenue which are perfect +in reticence and suitability. The clubs of New York are a splendid +example even to London, the first home of clubs. In Central Park the +people of New York possesses a place of amenity and recreation which +Europe cannot surpass; and when you are tired of watching the antics of +the leisurely chipmunk, who gambols without haste and without fear, you +may delight in a collection of pictures which wealth and good management +will make the despair and admiration of the world. Much, of course, +remains to do, and therein New York is fortunate. Her growing interest +in sculpture and architecture is matched by a magnificent opportunity. +In the Old World all has been accomplished. Our buildings are set up, +our memorials dedicated, our pictures gathered into galleries. America +starts, so to say, from scratch; there is no limit to her ambition; and +she has infinite money. If the past is ours, the future is hers, and we +may look forward to it with curiosity and with hope. + +The architects of America have not only composed works in accordance +with the old traditions and in obedience to ancient models; they have +devised a new style and a new method of their own. To pack a vast +metropolis within a narrow space, they have made mountains of houses. +When the rock upon which their city stands proved insufficient for their +ambition, they conquered another kingdom in the air. The skyscrapers +which lift their lofty turrets to the heaven are the pride of New York. +It is upon them that the returning traveller gazes most eagerly, as he +nears the shore. They hold a firmer place in his heart than even the +Statue of Liberty, and the vague sentiment which it inspires. With a +proper vanity he points out to the poor Briton, who shudders at +five storeys, the size and grandeur of his imposing palaces. And his +arrogance is just. The sky-scraper presents a new view of architecture. +It is original, characteristic, and beautiful. Suggested and enforced, +as I have said, by the narrowness of the rock, it is suitable to its +atmosphere and environment. New York is a southern, sunlit city, which +needs protection from the heat and need not fear obscurity. Even where +the buildings are highest, the wayfarer does not feel that he is walking +at the bottom of a well. But, let it be said at once, the sky-scraper +would be intolerable in our grey and murky land. London demands a +broad thoroughfare and low houses. These are its only defence against a +covered sky and an enveloping fog, and the patriotic Americans who would +transplant their sky-scrapers to England merely prove that they do not +appreciate the logic and beauty of their own design. + +What, then, is a sky-scraper? It is a giant bird-cage, whose interstices +are filled with stone or concrete. Though its structure is concealed +from the eye, it is impossible not to wonder at its superb effrontery. +It depends for its effect, not upon ornament, which perforce appears +trivial and inapposite, but upon its mass. Whatever approaches it of +another scale and kind is dwarfed to insignificance. The Sub-Treasury of +the United States, for instance, looks like a foolish plaything +beside its august neighbours. Where sky-scrapers are there must be no +commemorative statues, no monuments raised to merely human heroes. +The effigy of Washington in Wall Street has no more dignity than a tin +soldier. And as the skyscraper makes houses of a common size ridiculous, +so it loses its splendour when it stands alone. Nothing can surpass in +ugliness the twenty storeys of thin horror that is called the Flat-iron; +and it is ugly because it is isolated in Madison Square, a place of +reasonable dimensions. It is continuity which imparts a dignity to these +mammoths. The vast masses which frown upon Wall Street and Broadway are +austere, like the Pyramids. They seem the works of giants, not of men. +They might be a vast phenomenon of nature, which was before the flood, +and which has survived the shocks of earthquake and the passage of the +years. And when their summits are lit by the declining sun, when their +white walls look like marble in the glow of the reddening sky, they +present such a spectacle as many a strenuous American crosses the ocean +to see in Switzerland, and crosses it in vain. + +New York, in truth, is a city of many beauties, and with a reckless +prodigality she has done her best to obscure them all. Driven by a vain +love of swift traffic, she assails your ear with an incessant din and +your eye with the unsightliest railroad that human ingenuity has ever +contrived. She has sacrificed the amenity of her streets and the dignity +of her buildings to the false god of Speed. Why men worship Speed, a +demon who lies in wait to destroy them, it is impossible to understand. +It would be as wise and as profitable to worship Sloth. However, the men +of New York, as they tell you with an insistent and ingenuous pride, are +"hustlers." They must ever be moving, and moving fast. The "hustling," +probably, leads to little enough. Haste and industry are not synonymous. +To run up and down is but a form of busy idleness. The captains of +industry who do the work of the world sit still, surrounded by bells and +telephones. Such heroes as J. Pierpont Morgan and John D. Rockefeller +are never surprised on train or trolley. They show themselves furtively +behind vast expanses of plate-glass, and move only to eat or sleep. +It is the common citizen of New York who is never quiet. He finds +it irksome to stay long in the same place. Though his house may be +comfortable, even luxurious, he is in a fever to leave it. And so it +comes about that what he is wont to call "transportation" seems the most +important thing in his life. We give the word another signification. +To New York it means the many methods of conveying passengers from one +point to another. And the methods, various as they are, keep pace with +the desires of the restless citizen, who may travel at what pace and +altitude he desires. He may burrow, like a rabbit, beneath the ground. +If he be more happily normal in his tastes he may ride in a surface car. +Or he may fly, like a bird through the air, on an overhead railway. +The constant rattle of cars and railways is indescribable. The overhead +lines pass close to the first-floor windows, bringing darkness and +noise wherever they are laid. There are offices in which a stranger can +neither hear nor be heard, and yet you are told that to the accustomed +ear of the native all is silent and reposeful. And I can easily believe +that a sudden cessation of din would bring an instant madness. Nor must +another and an indirect result of the trains and trams which encircle +New York be forgotten. The roads are so seldom used that they are +permitted to fall into a ruinous decay. Their surface is broken into +ruts and yawns in chasms. To drive "down-town" in a carriage is to +suffer a sensation akin to sea-sickness; and having once suffered, you +can understand that it is something else than the democratic love of +travelling in common that persuades the people of New York to clamber on +the overhead railway, or to take its chance in a tram-car. + +Movement, then, noisy and incessant, is the passion of New York. Perhaps +it is the brisk air which drives men to this useless activity. Perhaps +it is no better than an ingrained and superstitious habit. But the +drowsiest foreigner is soon caught up in the whirl. He needs neither +rest nor sleep. He, too, must be chasing something which always eludes +him. He, too, finds himself leaving a quiet corner where he would like +to stay, that he may reach some place which he has no desire to see. +Even though he mount to the tenth or the twentieth story, the throb of +the restless city reaches him. Wall Street is "hustling" made concrete. +The Bowery is crowded with a cosmopolitan horde which is never still. +Brooklyn Bridge and Brooklyn Ferry might be the cross-roads of the +world. There a vast mob is passing hither and thither, on foot, on +boats, on railroads. What are they doing, whither are they going, +these scurrying men and women? Have they no business to pursue, no +office-stool to sit upon, no typewriting machines to jostle? And when +you are weary of transportation, go into the hall of a big hotel and +you will find the same ceaseless motion. On all sides you will hear the +click, click of telephone and telegram. On all sides you will see +eager citizens scanning the tape, which brings them messages of ruin +or success. Nowhere, save in a secluded bar or a stately club, will you +find a single man content to be alive and to squander the leisure that +God has given him. + +And with all her undying haste New York is not content. She must still +find other means of saving time. And to save time she has strained +all the resources of civilisation. In that rather dismal thing called +"material progress" she is easily ahead of the world. Never was the +apparatus of life so skilfully turned and handled as in New York. +There are no two fixed points which are not easily connected by iron +lines. There seems no reason why a citizen of New York should ever walk. +If stairs exist, he need not use them, for an express lift, warranted +not to stop before the fifteenth floor, will carry him in a few seconds +to the top of the highest building. If he open a cupboard door, the mere +opening of it lights an electric lamp, and he need not grope after a +coat by the dim light of a guttering candle. At his bed-head stands a +telephone, and, if he will, he may speak to a friend a thousand miles +away without moving from his pillow. But time is saved--of that there is +no doubt. The only doubt is, whether it be worth saving. When New York +has saved her time, what does she do with it? She merely squanders it +in riotous movement and reckless "transportation." Thus she lives in a +vicious circle--saving time that she may spend it, and spending it +that again she may save it. Nor can this material progress be achieved +without a loss of what the Old World prizes most highly. To win all the +benefits which civilisation affords, you must lose peace and you must +sacrifice privacy. The many appliances which save our useless time may +be enjoyed only by crowds. The citizens of New York travel, live, +and talk in public. They have made their choice, and are proud of it +Englishmen are still reckless enough to waste their time in pursuit of +individualism, and I think they are wise. For my part, I would rather +lose my time than save it, and the one open conveyance of New York which +in pace and conduct suits my inclination is the Fifth Avenue Stage. + +But New York is unique. It baffles the understanding and defies +observation. In vain you search for a standard of comparison. France and +England set out many centuries ago from the same point and with the same +intention. America has nothing in common, either of purpose or method, +with either of these countries. To a European it is the most foreign +city on earth. Untidy but flamboyant, it is reckless of the laws by +which life is lived elsewhere. It builds beautiful houses, it delights +in white marble palaces, and it thinks it superfluous to level its +roads. Eager for success, worshipping astuteness as devoutly as it +worships speed, it is yet indifferent to the failure of others, and +seems to hold human life in light esteem. In brief, it is a braggart +city of medieval courage and medieval cruelty, combining the fierceness +of an Italian republic with a perfect faith in mechanical contrivance +and an ardent love of material progress. + +Here, then, are all the elements of interest and curiosity. Happy are +the citizens who watch from day to day the fight that never before has +been fought on the same terms. And yet more strangely baffling than the +city are the citizens. Who are they, and of what blood and character? +What, indeed, is a New Yorker? Is he Jew or Irish? Is he English or +German? Is he Russian or Polish? He may be something of all these, and +yet he is wholly none of them. Something has been added to him which he +had not before. He is endowed with a briskness and an invention often +alien to his blood. He is quicker in his movement, less trammelled in +his judgment Though he may lose wisdom in sharpening his wit, the +change he undergoes is unmistakable. New York, indeed, resembles a magic +cauldron. Those who are cast into it are born again. For a generation +some vague trace of accent or habit may remain. The old characteristics +must needs hang about the newly-arrived immigrant. But in a generation +these characteristics are softened or disappear, and there is produced +a type which seems remote from all its origins. As yet the process of +amalgamation is incomplete, and it is impossible to say in what this +hubble-shubble of mixed races will result. Nor have we any clue of +historical experience which we may follow. The Roman Empire included +within its borders many lands and unnumbered nationalities, but the +dominant race kept its blood pure. In New York and the other great +cities of America the soil is the sole common factor. Though all the +citizens of the great republic live upon that soil, they differ in +blood and origin as much as the East of Europe differs from the West. +And it is a mystery yet un-pierced that, as the generations pass, they +approach nearer and nearer to uniformity, both in type and character. +And by what traits do we recognise the citizen of New York? Of course +there is no question here of the cultivated gentleman, who is familiar +in Paris and London, and whose hospitality in his own land is an amiable +reproach to our own too frequent thoughtlessness, but of the simpler +class which confronts the traveller in street and train, in hotel and +restaurant. The railway guard, the waiter, the cab-driver--these are the +men upon whose care the comfort of the stranger depends in every land, +and whose tact and temper are no bad index of the national character. In +New York, then, you are met everywhere by a sort of urbane familiarity. +The man who does you a service, for which you pay him, is neither civil +nor uncivil. He contrives, in a way which is by no means unpleasant, +to put himself on an equality with you. With a mild surprise you find +yourself taking for granted what in your own land you would resent +bitterly. Not even the curiosity of the nigger, who brushes your coat +with a whisk, appears irksome. For the habit of years has enabled white +man and black to assume a light and easy manner, which in an Englishman, +born and trained to another tradition, would appear impertinence. + +And familiarity is not the only trait which separates the plain man of +New York from the plain man of London. The New Yorker looks upon the +foreigner with the eye of patronage. To his superior intelligence the +wandering stranger is a kind of natural, who should not be allowed to +roam alone and at large. Before you have been long in the land you find +yourself shepherded, and driven with an affability, not unmixed with +contempt, into the right path. Again, you do not resent it, and yet are +surprised at your own forbearance. A little thought, however, explains +the assumed superiority. The citizen of New York has an ingenuous pride +and pleasure in his own city and in his own prowess, which nothing can +daunt. He is convinced, especially if he has never travelled beyond his +own borders, that he engrosses the virtue and intelligence of the world +The driver of a motor-car assured me, with a quiet certitude which +brooked no contradiction, that England was cut up into sporting estates +for the "lords," and that there the working man was doomed to an idle +servility. "But," said he, "there is no room for bums here." This +absolute disbelief in other countries, combined with a perfect +confidence in their own, has persuaded the citizens of New York to look +down with a cold and pitiful eye upon those who are so unfortunate as to +be born under an effete monarchy. There is no bluster in their attitude, +no insistence. The conviction of superiority is far too great for that. +They belong to the greatest country upon earth; they alone enjoy the +true blessings of freedom; they alone understand the dignity of labour +and the spirit of in-dependence; and they have made up their minds +kindly but firmly that you shall not forget it. + +Thus you carry away from New York a memory of a lively air, gigantic +buildings, incessant movement, sporadic elegance, and ingenuous +patronage. And when you have separated your impressions, the most vivid +and constant impression that remains is of a city where the means of +life conquer life itself, whose citizens die hourly of the rage to live. + + + + +BOSTON. + +America, the country of contrasts, can show none more sudden or +striking than that between New York and Boston. In New York progress and +convenience reach their zenith. A short journey carries you back into +the England of the eighteenth century. The traveller, lately puzzled by +overhead railways and awed by the immensity of sky-scrapers, no +sooner reaches Boston than he finds himself once more in a familiar +environment. The wayward simplicity of the city has little in common +with the New World. Its streets are not mere hollow tubes, through which +financiers may be hastily precipitated to their quest for gold. They +wind and twist like the streets in the country towns of England and +France. To the old architects of Boston, indeed, a street was something +more than a thoroughfare. The houses which flanked it took their places +by whim or hazard, and were not compelled to follow a hard immovable +line. And so they possess all the beauty which is born of accident and +surprise. You turn a corner, and know not what will confront you; you +dive down a side street, and are uncertain into what century you will be +thrust. Here is the old wooden house, which recalls the first settlers; +there the fair red-brick of a later period. And everywhere is the +diversity which comes of growth, and which proves that time is a better +contriver of effects than the most skilful architect. + +The constant mark of Boston is a demure gaiety. An air of quiet +festivity encompasses the streets. The houses are elegant, but sternly +ordered. If they belong to the colonial style, they are exquisitely +symmetrical. There is no pilaster without its fellow; no window that +is not nicely balanced by another of self-same shape and size. The +architects, who learned their craft from the designs of Inigo Jones and +Christopher Wren, had no ambition to express their own fancy. They were +loyally obedient to the tradition of the masters, and the houses which +they planned, plain in their neatness, are neither pretentious nor +inappropriate. Nowhere in Boston will you find the extravagant ingenuity +which makes New York ridiculous; nowhere will you be disturbed by an +absurd mimicry of exotic styles; nowhere are you asked to wonder at +mountainous blocks of stone. Boston is not a city of giants, but of men +who love their comfort, and who, in spite of Puritan ancestry, do +not disdain to live in beautiful surroundings. In other words, the +millionaire has not laid his iron hand upon New England, and, until he +come, Boston may still boast of its elegance. + +The pride of Boston is Beacon Street, surely one among the most majestic +streets in the world. It recalls Piccadilly and the frontage of the +Green Park. Its broad spaces and the shade of its dividing trees are +of the natural beauty which time alone can confer, and its houses are +worthy its setting. I lunched at the Somerset Club, in a white-panelled +room, and it needed clams and soft-shell crabs to convince me that I was +in a new land, and not in an English country-house. All was of another +time and of a familiar place--the service, the furniture, the aspect. +And was it possible to regard our sympathetic hosts as strange in blood +or speech? + +The Mall, in Beacon Street, if it is the pride, is also the +distinguishing mark of Boston. For Boston is a city of parks and trees. +The famous Common, as those might remember who believe that America +sprang into being in a night, has been sacred for nearly three hundred +years. Since 1640 it has been the centre of Boston. It has witnessed the +tragedies and comedies of an eventful history. "There," wrote an +English traveller as early as 1675, "the gallants walk with their +marmalet-madams, as we do in Moorfields." + +There malefactors were hanged; there the witches suffered in the time of +their persecution; and it is impossible to forget, as you walk its ample +spaces, the many old associations which it brings with it from the past. + +For it is to the past that Boston belongs. No city is more keenly +conscious of its origin. The flood of foreign immigration has not +engulfed it. Its memories, like its names, are still of England, New +and Old. The spirit of America, eagerly looking forward, cruelly +acquisitive, does not seem to fulfil it The sentiment of its beginning +has outlasted even the sentiment of a poignant agitation. It resembles +an old man thinking of what was, and turning over with careful hand the +relics of days gone by. If in one aspect Boston is a centre of commerce +and enterprise, in another it is a patient worshipper of tradition, It +regards the few old buildings which have survived the shocks of time +with a respect which an Englishman can easily understand, but which may +appear extravagant to the modern American. The Old South Meeting-House, +to give a single instance, is an object of simple-hearted veneration +to the people of Boston, and the veneration is easily intelligible. For +there is scarcely an episode in Boston's history that is not connected, +in the popular imagination, with the Old South Meeting-House. It stands +on the site of John Winthrop's garden; it is rich in memories of Cotton +and Increase Mather. Within its ancient walls was Benjamin Franklin +christened, and the building which stands to-day comes down to us from +1730, and was designed in obedient imitation of English masters. There, +too, were enacted many scenes in the drama of revolution; there it +was that the famous tea-party was proposed; and thence it was that the +Mohawks, drunk with the rhetoric of liberty, found their way to the +harbour, that they might see how tea mixed with salt-water. If the +sentiment be sometimes exaggerated, the purpose is admirable, and it is +a pleasant reflection that, in a country of quick changes and historical +indifference, at least one building will be preserved for the admiration +of coming generations. + +It is for such reasons as these that an Englishman feels at home in +Boston. He is secure in the same past; he shares the same memories, even +though he give them a different interpretation. Between the New and Old +England there are more points of similarity than of difference. In +each are the same green meadows, the same ample streams, the same wide +vistas. The names of the towns and villages in the new country +were borrowed from the old some centuries ago; everywhere friendly +associations are evoked; everywhere are signs of a familiar and kindly +origin. When Winthrop, the earliest of the settlers, wrote to his wife, +"We are here in a paradise," he spoke with an enthusiasm which is easily +intelligible. And as the little colony grew, it lived its life in accord +with the habit and sentiment of the mother-country. In architecture and +costume it followed the example set in Bristol or in London. Between +these ports and Boston was a frequent interchange of news and +commodities. An American in England was no stranger. He was visiting, +with sympathy and understanding, the home of his fathers. The most +distinguished Bostonians of the late eighteenth century live upon the +canvases of Copley, who, in his son, gave to England a distinguished +Chancellor, and whose career is the best proof of the good relations +which bound England to her colony. Now Copley arrived in England +in 1774, when his native Boston was aroused to the height of her +sentimental fury, and he was received with acclamation. He painted +the portraits of Lord North and his wife, who, one imagines, were not +regarded in Boston with especial favour. The King and Queen gave him +sittings, and neither political animosity nor professional rivalry +stood in the way of his advancement. His temper and character were well +adapted to his career. Before he left New England he had shown himself a +Court painter in a democratic city. He loved the trappings of life, +and he loved to put his sitters in a splendid environment. His own +magnificence had already astonished the grave Boston-ians; he is +described, while still a youth, as "dressed in a fine maroon cloth, with +gilt buttons"; and he set the seal of his own taste upon the portraiture +of his friends. + +I have said that Boston loves relics. The relics which it loves best are +the relics of England's discomfiture. The stately portraits of Copley +are of small account compared to the memorials of what was nothing else +than a civil war. Faneuil Hall, the Covent Garden of Boston, presented +to the city by Peter Faneuil some thirty years before the birth of +"Liberty," is now but an emblem of revolt. The Old South Meeting-Place +is endeared to the citizens of Boston as "the sanctuary of freedom." A +vast monument, erected a mere quarter of a century ago, commemorates the +"Boston Massacre." And wherever you turn you are reminded of an episode +which might easily be forgotten. To an Englishman these historical +landmarks are inoffensive. The dispute which they recall aroused far +less emotion on our side the ocean than on the other, and long ago we +saw the events of the Revolution in a fair perspective. In truth, this +insistence on the past is not wholly creditable to Boston's sense of +humour. The passionate paeans which Otis and his friends sang to Liberty +were irrelevant. Liberty was never for a moment in danger, if Liberty, +indeed, be a thing of fact and not of watchwords. The leaders of the +Revolution wrote and spoke as though it was their duty to throw off the +yoke of the foreigner,--a yoke as heavy as that which Catholic Spain +cast upon Protestant Holland. + +But there was no yoke to be thrown off, because no yoke was ever +imposed, and Boston might have celebrated greater events in her history +than that which an American statesman has wisely called "the glittering +and sounding generalities of natural right." + +However, if you would forget the follies of politicians, you have but to +cross the bridge and drive to Cambridge, which, like the other Cambridge +of England, is the seat of a distinguished university. You are doubly +rewarded, for not merely is Cambridge a perfect specimen of a colonial +village, but in Harvard there breathes the true spirit of humane +letters. Nor is the college a creation of yesterday. It is not far short +of three centuries ago that John Harvard, once of Emmanuel College +in England, endowed the university which bears his honoured name. The +bequest was a poor £780, with 260 books, but it was sufficient to ensure +an amiable immortality, and to bestow a just cause of pride upon the +mother-college. The daughter is worthy her august parentage. She has +preserved the sentiment of her birth; she still worships the classics +with a constant heart; the fame of her scholars has travelled in the +mouths of men from end to end of Europe. And Harvard has preserved all +the outward tokens of a university. Her wide spaces and lofty avenues +are the fit abode of learning. Her college chapel and her college halls +could serve no other purpose than that for which they are designed. The +West, I believe, has built universities on another plan and to another +purpose. But Harvard, like her great neighbour Boston, has been obedient +to the voice of tradition, and her college, the oldest, remains also the +greatest in America. + +Culture has always been at once the boast and the reproach of Boston. +A serious ancestry and the neighbourhood of a university are enough +to ensure a grave devotion to the things of the spirit, and Boston has +never found the quest of gold sufficient for its needs. The Pilgrim +Fathers, who first sought a refuge in New England, left their country +in the cause of what they thought intellectual freedom, and their +descendants have ever stood in need of the excitement which nothing +save pietism or culture can impart. For many years pietism held sway in +Boston. The persecution of the witches, conducted with a lofty eloquence +by Cotton Mather, was but the expression of an imperious demand, and the +conflict of warring sects, which for many years disturbed the peace +of the city, satisfied a craving not yet allayed. Then, after a long +interval, came Transcendentalism, a pleasant mixture of literature and +moral guidance, and to-day Boston is as earnest as ever in pursuit of +vague ideals and soothing doctrines. + +But pietism has gradually yielded to the claim of culture. Though one +of the largest buildings which frown upon the wayfarer in Boston is +a temple raised to the honour of Christian Science and Mrs Eddy, +literature is clearly the most fashionable anodyne. It is at once easier +and less poignant than theology: while it imparts the same sense of +superiority, it suggests the same emancipation from mere world-liness. +It is by lectures that Boston attempts to slake its intellectual +thirst--lectures on everything and nothing. Science, literature, +theology--all is put to the purpose. The enterprise of the Lowell +Institute is seconded by a thousand private ventures. The patient +citizens are always ready to discuss Shakespeare, except when Tennyson +is the subject of the last discourse, and zoology remains attractive +until it be obscured by the newest sensation in chemistry. And the +appetite of Boston is unglutted and insatiable. Its folly is frankly +recognised by the wise among its own citizens. Here, for instance, is +the testimony of one whose sympathy with real learning is evident. "The +lecture system," says he, "in its best estate an admirable educational +instrument, has been subject to dreadful abuse. The unbounded appetite +of the New England communities for this form of intellectual nourishment +has tempted vast hordes of charlatans and pretenders to try their +fortune in this profitable field. 'The hungry sheep look up, and are not +fed.' The pay of the lecturer has grown more exorbitant in proportion to +the dilution of his mixture, until professional jokers have usurped the +places once graced by philosophers and poets; and to-day the lyceums +are served by a new species of broker, who ekes out the failing literary +material with the better entertainment of music and play-acting." + +I am not sure whether the new species of broker is not better than the +old. So long as music and play-acting do not masquerade in the worn-out +duds of intellect, they do not inflict a serious injury upon the people. +It is culture, false and unashamed, that is the danger. For culture +is the vice of the intelligence. It stands to literature in the same +relation as hypocrisy stands to religion. A glib familiarity with names +does duty for knowledge. Men and women think it no shame to play the +parrot to lecturers, and to pretend an acquaintance with books whose +leaves they have never parted. They affect intellect, when at its best +it is curiosity which drives them to lecture hall or institute--at its +worst, a love of mental dram-drinking. To see manifest in a frock-coat +a poet or man of science whose name is printed in the newspapers fills +them with a fearful enthusiasm. To hear the commonplaces of literary +criticism delivered in a lofty tone of paradox persuades them to believe +that they also are among the erudite, and makes the sacrifice of time +and money as light as a wind-blown leaf. But their indiscretion is not +so trivial as it seems. Though every man and every woman has the right +to waste his time (or hers) as may seem good, something else besides +time is lost in the lecture hall. Sincerity also is squandered in the +grey, dim light of sham learning, and nobody can indulge in a mixed +orgie of "culture" without some sacrifice of honesty and truth. + +Culture, of course, is not the monopoly of Boston. It has stretched its +long arm from end to end of the American continent. Wherever you go you +will hear, in tram or car, the facile gossip of literature. The whole +world seems familiar with great names, though the meaning of the names +escapes the vast majority. Now the earnest ones of the earth congregate +in vast tea-gardens of the intellect, such as Chautauqua. Now the +summer hotel is thought a fit place in which to pick up a smattering of +literature or science; and there is an uneasy feeling abroad that +what is commonly known as pleasure must not be unalloyed. The vice, +unhappily, is not unknown in England. A country which had the ingenuity +to call a penny reading "university extension," and to send its +missionaries into every town, cannot be held guiltless. But our poor +attempts at culture dwindle to a paltry insignificance in the light of +American enterprise; and we would no more compare the achievement of +England in the diffusion of learning with the achievement of the United +States, than we would set a modest London office by the side of the +loftiest sky-scraper in New York. America lives to do good or evil on a +large scale, and we lag as far behind her in culture as in money-making. + +When I left Boston for the West, I met in the train an earnest citizen +of a not uncommon type. He was immensely and ingenuously patriotic. +Though he had never left his native land, and had therefore an +insufficient standard of comparison, he was convinced that America was +superior in arms and arts to every other part of the habitable globe. +He assured me, with an engaging simplicity, that Americans were braver, +more energetic, and richer than Englishmen; that, as their buildings +were higher, so also were their intelligence and their aspirations. He +pointed out that in the vast continent of the West nothing was lacking +which the mind of man could desire. Where, he asked, would you find +harvests so generous, mines so abundant in precious metals, factories +managed with so splendid an ingenuity? If wine and oil are your quest, +said he, you have but to tap the surface of the munificent earth. One +thing only, he confessed, was lacking, and that need a few years +would make good. "Wait," said he, with an assured if immodest +boastful-ness,--"wait until we get a bit degenerate, and then we +will produce a Shakespeare"! I had not the heart to suggest that the +sixteenth century in England was a period of birth, not of decay. I +could only accept his statement in awful appreciation. And emboldened by +my silence, he supported his argument with a hundred ingeniously chosen +facts. He was sure that America would never show the smallest sign of +decadence until she was tired of making money. The love of money was +the best defence against degeneracy of every kind, and he gasped with +simple-hearted pride when he thought of the millions of dollars which +his healthy, primitive compatriots were amassing. But, he allowed, the +weariness of satiety might overtake them; there might come a time when +the ledger and counting-house ceased to be all-sufficient, and that +moment of decay would witness the triumph of American literature. "Ben +Jonson, Goldsmith, and those fellows," he asked, "lived in a degenerate +age, didn't they?" I assented hastily. How could I contradict so +agreeable a companion, especially as he was going, as fast as the train +could carry him, to take a rest cure? + +Such is one victim of the passion for culture. He had probably read +nothing in his life save the newspapers and Dickens's 'American Notes,' +a work to which he referred with the bitterest resentment. But he had +attended lectures, and heard names, some of which remained tinkling in +his empty head. To his confused mind English literature was a period of +degeneracy, one and indissoluble, in which certain famous writers lived, +devoting what time they could snatch from the practice of what he called +the decadent vices to the worship of the bottle. There was no harm in +him. He was, as the common phrase has it, his own enemy. But he would +be better employed in looking at a game of baseball than in playing with +humane letters, and one cannot but regret that he should suffer thus +profoundly from a vicious system. Another victim of culture comes to my +mind. He, too, was from Boston, and as his intelligence was far deeper +than the other one's, his unhappiness was the greater. I talked to him +for a long day, and he had no conversation but of books. For him the +visible world did not exist. The printed page was the beginning and the +end of existence. He had read, if not wisely, at least voraciously, and +he displayed a wide and profound acquaintance with modern biography. +He had all the latest _Lives_ at his finger-tips. He knew where all our +great contemporaries lived, and who were their friends; he had +attended lectures on every conceivable subject; withal he was of a high +seriousness, which nothing could daunt. For him, as is but natural, the +works of Mr Arthur Benson held the last "message" of modern literature. +He could not look upon books as mere instruments of pleasure or +enjoyment. He wanted to extract from them that mysterious quality +called "help" by the elect of the lecture hall; and without the smallest +persuasion he told me which authors had "helped" him in his journey +through the world. Shelley, of course, stood first on the list, then +came Walt Whitman, and Pater was not far from the top. And there +was nothing more strange in this apostle of aesthetics than his +matter-of-fact air. His words were the words of a yearning spirit. His +tone was the tone of a statistician. Had he really read the books of +which he spoke? Did they really "help" him in the making of money, which +was the purpose of his life, or did they minister to a mind diseased? I +do not know. But I do know that there was a kind of pathos in his +cold anxiety. Plainly he was a man of quick perception and alert +intelligence. And he seemed to have wasted a vast amount of time in +acquiring a jargon which certainly was not his own, and in attaching to +books a meaning and purpose which they have never possessed. + +Such are two widely different products of the lecture hall, and it is +impossible not to see that, widely as their temperaments differ, they +have been pushed through the same mill. And thus we arrive at the worst +vice of enforced culture. Culture is, like the overhead railroad, a mere +saviour of time. It is the tramway of knowledge which compels all men to +travel by the same car, whatever may be their ultimate destination. It +possesses all the inconvenience of pleasures taken or duties performed +in common. The knowledge which is sincere and valuable must be acquired +by each man separately; it must correspond to the character and +disposition of him who acquires it, or it is a thin disguise of vanity +and idleness. To what, then, may we attribute this passion for +the lecture hall? Perhaps it is partly due to the provincialism +characteristic of America, and partly to an invincible energy, which +quickens the popular ambition and urges men to acquire information +as they acquire wealth, by the shortest route, and with the smallest +exertion. + +Above all, culture is the craving of an experimental age, and America no +doubt will outgrow it domination. Even now Boston, its earliest slave, +is shaking off the yoke; and it is taking refuge in the more modern +cities of the West. Chicago is, I believe, its newest and vastest +empire. There, where all is odd, it is well to be thought a "thinker." +There, we are told, the elect believe it their duty "to reach and +stimulate others." But wherever culture is found Strange things are +done in its name, and the time may come when by the light of Chicago's +brighter lamp Boston may seem to dwell in the outer darkness. + + + + +CHICAGO. + +America may be defined as the country where there are no railway +porters. You begin a journey without ceremony; you end it without a +welcome. No zealot, eager to find you a corner seat and to dispose of +your luggage, meets you when you depart. You must carry your own bag +when you stumble unattended from the train. This enforced dependence +upon yourself is doubtless a result of democracy. The spirit of freedom, +which permits a stealthy nigger to brush your hat, does not allow +another to handle your luggage. To the enchained and servile mind of an +Englishman these distinctions axe difficult to understand. A training in +transatlantic liberty is necessary for their appreciation. However, no +great evil is inflicted on the traveller. The ritual of checking your +baggage may easily be learned, and the absence of porters has, by +a natural process, evolved the "grip." The "grip," in fact, is the +universal mark of America. It is as intimate a part of the citizen's +equipment as a hat or coat, and it is not without its advantages. It +is light to carry, it fills but a small space, and it ensures that the +traveller shall not be separated from all his luggage. A far greater +hardship than the carriage of a "grip" is the enforced publicity of an +American train. The Englishman loves to travel in seclusion. The end of +his ambition is a locked compartment to himself. Mr Pullman has ordained +that his clients shall endure the dust and heat of a long journey in +public; and when the voyager, wearied out by the rattle of the train, +seeks his uncomfortable couch, he is forced to seek it under the general +gaze. + +These differences of custom are interesting, because they correspond +to differences of temperament. There is a far deeper difference in the +character of the country through which you travel. A journey in Europe +is like a page of history. You pass from one century to another. You +see a busy world through the window. As you sit in your corner a living +panorama is unfolded before your eyes. The country changes with the sky. +Town and mountain and cornfield follow one another in quick succession. +At every turn you see that wonderful symbol of romance, the white road +that winds over the hill, flecked perhaps by a solitary traveller. But +it is always the work of man, not the beauty of nature, that engrosses +you. You would, if you could, alight at every point to witness the last +act of comedy, which is just beginning. Men and women, to whom you are +an episode or an obstruction, flash by. Here is a group of boys bathing. +There peasants gaze at the train as something inhuman. At the level +crossing a horse chafes in his shafts. In an instant you are whizzed out +of sight, and he remains. Then, as night falls, the country-side leaves +its work; the eyes of the cottages gleam and flicker through the +trees. Round the corner you catch sight of a village festival. The +merry-go-rounds glint and clank under the shadow of a church. The +mountains approach and recede; streams grow into mighty rivers. The grey +sky is dark blue and inlaid with stars. And you sit still, tired and +travel-stained, having shared in a day the life of hundreds. + +Such is a journey in Europe. How different the experience in America! +On the road to Chicago you pass through a wilderness. The towns are +infrequent; there are neither roads nor hedges; and the rapidly changing +drama of life escapes you. The many miles of scrub and underwood are +diversified chiefly by crude advertisements. Here you are asked to +purchase Duke's Mixture; there Castoria Toilet Powder is thrust +upon your unwilling notice. In the few cities which you approach the +frame-houses and plank-walks preserve the memory of the backwoods. In +vain you look for the village church, which in Europe is never far away. +In vain you look for the incidents which in our land lighten the tedium +of a day's journey. All is barren and bleak monotony. The thin line of +railway seems a hundred miles from the life of man. At one station I +caught sight of an "Exposition Car," which bore the legend, "Cuba on +Wheels," and I was surprised as at a miracle. Outside Niles, a little +country town, a battered leather-covered shay was waiting to take +wayfarers to the Michigan Inn; and the impression made by so simple a +spectacle is the best proof of the railroad's isolation. There is but +one interlude in the desolate expanse--Niagara. + +Before he reaches the station called Niagara Falls, the tourist has a +foretaste of what is in store for him. He is assailed in the train by +touts, who would inveigle him into a hotel or let him a carriage, and +to touts he is an unwilling prey so long as he remains within sight or +hearing of the rapids. The trim little town which has grown up about the +falls, and may be said to hang upon the water, has a holiday aspect. The +sightseers, the little carriages, the summer-hotels, all wear the same +garb of gaiety and leisure. There is a look of contented curiosity on +the faces of all, who are not busy defacing the landscape with mills and +power-stations, as of those about to contemplate a supreme wonder. And +yet the sight of it brings the same sense of disappointment which the +colossal masterpieces of nature always inspire. Not to be amazed at +it would be absurd. To pretend to appreciate it is absurd also. "The +Thunder of the Waters" can neither be painted upon canvas nor described +in words. It is composed on a scale too large for human understanding. A +giant might find some amusement in its friendly contemplation. A man can +but stand aghast at its sound and size, as at some monstrous accident. +He may compare the Fall on the American side with the Horse-shoe on the +Canadian. He has no other standard of comparison, since Niagara not only +transcends all other phenomena of its kind, but also our human vision +and imagination. When you see the far-tossed spray lit up with a +flash of iridescence, you catch at something which makes a definite +impression; and you feel the same relief that a man may feel when he +finds a friend in a mob of strangers. To heap up epithets upon this +mysterious force is the idlest sport. Are you nearer to it when you +have called it x "deliberate, vast, and fascinating"? You might as well +measure its breadth and height, or estimate the number of gallons which +descend daily from the broad swirling river above. A distinguished +playwright once complained of Sophocles that he lacked human interest, +and the charge may be brought with less injustice against Niagara. It +is only through daring and danger that you can connect it with the human +race; and you find yourself wondering where it was that Captain Webb was +hurled to his death, or by what route the gallant little "Maid of the +Mist" shot the rapids to escape the curiosity of the excise officer. + +Nothing is more curious in the history of taste than the changed view +which is taken to-day of natural scenery. Time was when the hand +and mind of man were deemed necessary for a beautiful effect, A wild +immensity of mountain or water was thought a mere form of ugliness; a +garden was a waste if it were not trimmed to formality; and a savage +moorland was fit only for the sheep to crop. The admiration of Father +Hennepin, the companion of La Salle, and the first white man who ever +gazed upon Niagara, was tempered by affright. "This wonderful Downfal," +said he in 1678, "is compounded of Cross-streams of Water, and two +Falls, with an Isle sloping along the middle of it. The Waters which +fall from this horrible Precipice do foam and boyl after the most +hideous manner imaginable, making an Outrageous Noise, more terrible +than that of Thunder; for when the wind blows out of the South, their +dismal roaring may be heard more than Fifteen Leagues off." These +are the epithets of the seventeenth century,--"horrible," "hideous," +"outrageous," "dismal." Now take the modern view, eloquently expressed +in 1879 by the United States Commissioners, whose noble object was to +preserve the Falls untouched for ever. "The value of Niagara to the +world," they wrote, "and that which has obtained for it the homage of +so many men whom the world reveres, lies in its power of appeal to the +higher emotional and imaginative faculties, and this power is drawn +from qualities and conditions too subtle to be known through verbal +description. To a proper apprehension of these, something more than +passing observation is necessary; to an enjoyment of them, something +more than an instantaneous act of will." It is the old dispute between +beauty and wonder, between classic and romantic. Who is in the right +of it, the old priest or the modern commissioners? Each man will answer +according to his temperament. For my part, I am on the side of Father +Hennepin. + +Niagara is not an inappropriate introduction to Chicago. For Chicago +also is beyond the scale of human comprehension and endeavour. In mere +size both are monstrous; it is in size alone that they are comparable. +Long before he reaches "the grey city," as its inhabitants fondly call +it, the traveller is prepared for the worst. At Pullman a thick pall +already hangs over everything. The nearer the train approaches Chicago +the drearier becomes the aspect. You are hauled through mile after mile +of rubbish and scrap-heap. You receive an impression of sharp-edged +flints and broken bottles. When you pass the "City Limits" you believe +yourself at your journey's end. You have arrived only at the boundary of +Chicago's ambition, and Chicago is forty minutes' distant. The station, +which bears the name "102nd St.," is still in the prairies. + +A little more patience and you catch a first glimpse of the lake--vast, +smooth, and grey in the morning light. A jolt, and you are descending, +grip in hand, upon the platform. + +The first impression of Chicago, and the last, is of an unfinished +monstrosity. It might be a vast railway station, built for men and women +twenty feet high. The sky-scrapers, in which it cherishes an inordinate +pride, shut out the few rays of sunlight which penetrate its dusky +atmosphere. They have not the excuse of narrow space which their rivals +in New York may plead. They are built in mere wantonness, for within +the City Limits, whose distance from the centre is the best proof of +Chicago's hopefulness, are many miles of waste ground, covered only +with broken fences and battered shanties. And, as they raise their heads +through the murky fog, these sky-scrapers wear a morose and sullen +look. If they are not mere lumps, their ornament is hideously heavy and +protrusive. They never combine, as they combine in New York, into an +impressive whole. They clamour blatantly of their size, and that is +all. And if the city be hideously aggressive, what word of excuse can be +found for the outskirts, for the Italian and Chinese quarters, for the +crude, new districts which fasten like limpets upon the formless mass +of Chicago? These, to an enduring ugliness add a spice of cruelty and +debauch, which are separate and of themselves. + +In its suggestion of horror Chicago is democratic. The rich and the poor +alike suffer from the prevailing lack of taste. The proud "residences" +on the Lake Shore are no pleasanter to gaze upon than the sulky +sky-scrapers. Some of them are prison-houses; others make a sad attempt +at gaiety; all are amazingly unlike the dwelling-houses of men and +women. Yet their owners are very wealthy. To them nothing is denied that +money can buy, and it is thus that they prefer to express themselves +and their ambitions. What, then, is tolerable in Chicago? Lincoln Park, +which the smoke and fog of the city have not obscured, and the grandiose +lake, whose fresh splendour no villainy of man can ever deface. And at +one moment of the day, when a dark cloud hung over the lake, and the sun +set in a red glory behind the sky-scrapers, each black, and blacker +for its encircling smoke, Chicago rose superior to herself and her +surroundings. + +After ugliness, the worst foe of Chicago is dirt. A thick, black, sooty +dust lies upon everything. It is at the peril of hands begrimed that +you attempt to open a window. In the room that was allotted to me in +a gigantic hotel I found a pair of ancient side-spring boots, once +the property, no doubt, of a prominent citizen, and their apparition +intensified the impression of uncleanness. The streets are as untidy as +the houses; garbage is dumped in the unfinished roadways; and in or out +of your hotel you will seek comfort in vain. The citizens of Chicago +themselves are far too busy to think whether their city is spruce or +untidy. Money is their quest, and it matters not in what circumstances +they pursue it. The avid type is universal and insistent. The energy of +New York is said to be mere leisure compared to the hustling of Chicago. +Wherever you go you are conscious of the universal search after +gold. The vestibule of the hotel is packed with people chattering, +calculating, and telephoning. The clatter of the machine which registers +the latest quotations never ceases. In the street every one is hurrying +that he may not miss a lucrative bargain, until the industry and +ambition of Chicago culminate in the Board of Trade. + +The dial of the Board of Trade, or the Pit as it is called, is the +magnet which attracts all the eyes of Chicago, for on its face is marked +the shifting, changing price of wheat. And there on the floor, below the +Strangers' Gallery, the gamblers of the West play for the fortunes and +lives of men. They stand between the farmers, whose waving cornfields +they have never seen, and the peasants of Europe, whose taste for bread +they do not share. It is more keenly exciting to bet upon the future +crop of wheat than upon the speed of a horse; and far larger sums may +be hazarded in the Pit than on a racecourse. And so the livelong day +the Bulls and Bears confront one another, gesticulating fiercely, and +shouting at the top of their raucous voices. If on the one hand they +ruin the farmer, or on the other starve the peasant, it matters not +to them. They have enjoyed the excitement, and made perchance a vast +fortune at another's expense. They are, indeed, the true parasites of +commerce; and in spite of their intense voices and rapid gestures, there +is an air of unreality about all their transactions. As I watched the +fury of the combatants, I found myself wondering why samples of corn +were thrown upon the floor. Perhaps they serve to feed the pigeons. + +Materialism, then, is the frank end and aim of Chicago. Its citizens +desire to get rich as quickly and easily as possible. The means are +indifferent to them. It is the pace alone which is important. All they +want is "a business proposition" and "found money." And when they are +rich, they have no other desire than to grow richer. Their money is +useless to them, except to breed more money. The inevitable result is +a savagery of thought and habit. If we may believe the newspapers of +Chicago, peaceful men of business are "held up" at noon in crowded +streets. The revolver is still a potent instrument in this city of the +backwoods. But savagery is never without its reaction. There has +seldom been a community of barbarians which did not find relief in an +extravagant sentimentality, and Chicago, in its hours of ease, is an +enthusiastic patron of the higher life. As I have said, in culture it is +fast outstripping Boston itself. It boasts more societies whose object +is "the promotion of serious thought upon art, science, and literature" +than any other city in the world. The clubs which it has established +for the proper study of Ibsen and Browning are without number, It is as +eager for the enlightenment of women as for sending up or down the price +of corn. The craze, which is the mark of a crude society, will pass like +many others, and, though it may appear sincere while it lasts, it is not +characteristic. The one triumph of Chicago is its slang. It has invented +a lingo more various and fuller of fancy than any known to man, and if +it will forget Ibsen and exercise its invention after its own +fashion, why should it not invent a new literature? Mr George Ade, the +Shakespeare of Chicago, has already shown us what can be done with the +new speech in his masterly 'Fables in Slang,' to read which is almost as +good as a journey to the West; and there is no reason why he should not +found a school. + +Yet with all its faults and absurdities upon its face, Chicago is the +happiest city in America. It is protected by the triple brass of pride +against all the assaults of its enemies. Never in history was so sublime +a vanity revealed; and it is hard for a stranger to understand upon what +it is based. Chicago is Chicago--that is what its citizens say, with a +flattered smile, which makes argument useless. Its dirt and dust do not +disconcert its self-esteem. The oversized ugliness of its buildings are +no disappointment to its candid soul, and if its peculiar virtue escape +your observation, so much the worse for you. "The marvellous city of the +West"--that is its own name, and it lives up to it without an effort. +Its history, as composed by its own citizens, is one long paean of +praise. One chronicler, to whose unconscious humour I am infinitely +indebted, dedicates his work to "the children of Chicago, who, if the +Lord spares them until they shall have attained the allotted span of +life, will see this city the greatest metropolis on the globe." That +is a modest estimate, and it makes us feel the inadequacy of our poor +speech to hymn the glories of Chicago. And if you suggest a fault, its +panegyrists are always ready with a counterstroke. Having no taste for +slaughter, I did not visit Packing Town, but, without admitting all the +grave charges brought against Chicago's grandest industry, one might +have supposed that the sudden translation of herds of cattle into potted +meat was not unattended with some inconvenience. This suspicion, you +are told, is an insult to the city. What might disgust the traveller +elsewhere has no terrors in Chicago. "This Packing-Town odor," we are +told by a zealot, "has been unjustly criticised. To any one accustomed +to it there is only a pleasant suggestion of rich, ruddy blood and long +rows of tempting 'sides' hung up to cool." I prefer not to be tempted. +I can only bow before the ingenuity of this eulogy. And if, more +seriously, you reproach the cynicism of the Pit, which on this side +or that may compel ruin, you are met with a very easy rejoinder. "The +Chicago Board of Trade"--it is the same apologist who speaks--"is a +world-renowned commercial organisation. It exercises a wider and a +more potential influence over the welfare of mankind than any other +institution of its kind in existence." This assurance leaves you dumb. +You might as well argue with a brass band as with a citizen of Chicago; +and doubtless you would wave the flag yourself if you stayed long enough +in the wonderful West. + +But the panegyrist of the Pit, already quoted, helps us to explain +Chicago's vanity. "The fortunes made and lost within the walls of the +great building," says he proudly, "astonish the world." If Chicago can +only astonish the world, that is enough. Its citizens fondly hope that +everything they do is on the largest scale. Size, speed, and prominence +are the three gods of their idolatry. They are not content until +they--the citizens--are all prominent, and their buildings are all the +largest that cumber the earth. It is a great comfort to those who +gamble away their substance in the Board of Trade to reflect that the +weathercock that surmounts its tower is the biggest ever seen by human +eye. There is not one of them that will not tell you, with a satisfied +smile, that the slowest of their fire-engines can go from one end of the +city to the other in five seconds. There is not one of them who, in the +dark recesses of his mind, is not sure that New York is a "back number." +They are proud of the senseless height of their houses, and of the +rapidity with which they mount towards the sky. They are proud of the +shapeless towns which spring up about them like mushrooms in a single +night. In brief, they are proud of all the things of which they should +feel shame; and even when their buildings have been measured and their +pace has been recognised, their vanity is still a puzzle. For, when +all the world has been satisfactorily amazed, what boast is left to the +citizens of Chicago? They cannot take delight in the soil, since the +most of them do not belong to it. The patriotism of the cosmopolitan +horde which is huddled together amid their lofty Cliffs must perforce +be an artificial sentiment. They cannot look with satisfaction upon +the dishevelled suburbs in which they live. They need not suppose the +slaughtering of pigs and beeves is the highest duty of man. But wherever +they dwell and whatever they do, they are convinced of their own +superiority. Their pride is not merely revealed in print; it is evident +in a general familiarity of tone and manner. If your cabman wishes to +know your destination, he prefaces his question with the immortal words, +"Say, boys," and he thinks that he has put himself on amiable terms with +you at once. Indeed, the newly-arrived stranger is instantly asked to +understand that he belongs to a far meaner city than that in which he +sojourns; and, even with the evidence of misapplied wealth before his +eyes, he cannot believe it. + +And what amiable visions do you carry away from Chicago besides the +majesty of the lake, ever changing in colour and aspect, and the beauty +of Lincoln Park? A single memory lingers in my mind. At sunset I saw a +black regiment marching along Michigan Avenue,--marching like soldiers; +and by its side on the pavement a laughing, shouting mob of negresses +danced a triumphant cake-walk. They grinned and sang and chattered in +perfect happiness and pride. They showed a frank pleasure in the prowess +of their brothers and their friends. But, animated as the spectacle was, +there was a sinister element in this joyous clatter. To an English eye +it seemed a tragic farce--a veritable _danse macabre_. + +Unhappy is the city which has no history; and what has Chicago to offer +of history or tradition? What has it to tell the traveller? Once she was +consumed, though she was not purified, by fire, and she still lives in +the recollection. A visitor to a European city goes forth to admire a +castle, a cathedral, a gallery of pictures. In Chicago he is asked to +wonder at the shapeless residences of "prominent" citizens. And when +the present civilisation fades and dies, what will be Chicago's ruins? +Neither temple nor tower will be brought to the ground. There will be +nothing to show the wandering New Zealander but a broken city, which was +a scrap-heap before it was built; and the wandering New Zealander may be +forgiven if he proclaim the uselessness of size and progress, if he ask +how it has profited a city to buy and sell all the corn in the world, +and in its destruction to leave not a wrack of comeliness behind. + + + + +NEW ENGLAND. + +If in a country town we find an Inn called New, it is a sure sign of +ancientry. The fresh and fragrant name survives the passing centuries. +It clings to the falling house long after it has ceased to have an +intelligible meaning. Taverns with a nobler sign and more arrogant +aspect obscure its simpler merits. But there is a pride in its name, a +dignity in its age, which a changing fashion will never destroy. And as +it is with Inns, so it is with countries. New is an epithet redolent +of antiquity. The province which once was, and is still called, New +England, is very old America. It cannot be judged by the standards which +are esteemed in New York or Chicago. The broad stream of what is called +progress has left it undisturbed in its patient backwater. It recks as +little of sky-scrapers as of transportation. Its towns are not ashamed +of being villages, and the vanity which it guards is not the vanity of +shapeless size, but the rarer vanity of a quiet and decent life. + +No sooner does the English traveller leave Boston for the north than +he enters what seems a familiar country. The towns which he passes, +the rivers which he crosses, bear names, as I have said, to prove the +faithful devotion the old adventurers felt for their native land. If +they sought their fortune across the ocean, they piously preserved the +memories of other days. Austere as were the early Puritans, bitterly as +they smarted under what they supposed a political grievance, they did +not regard the country of their origin with the fierce hatred which +has sometimes inspired their descendants. The love of the New did not +extinguish the love of the Old England. In Appledore and Portsmouth, +in London and Manchester, in Newcastle and Dover, the ancient sentiment +lives and breathes. And the New Englanders, once proud of their source, +still cherish a pride in their blood, which they have kept pure from the +contamination of the foreigner. Fortunately for itself, New England has +fallen behind in the march of progress. There is nothing in its peaceful +recesses to tempt the cosmopolitan horde which throngs the great cities +of America. The hope of gain is there as small as the opportunity of +gambling. A quiet folk, devoted to fishery and agriculture, is not worth +plundering. + +So it is there, if anywhere, that you may surprise the true-born +American, and when you have surprised him, he very much resembles your +own compatriot. His type and gesture are as familiar to you as his +surroundings. Slow of speech and movement, he has not yet acquired the +exhausting, purposeless love of speed which devours the more modern +cities. He goes about his work with a perfect consciousness that there +are four-and-twenty hours in the day. And as he is not the victim of an +undue haste, he has leisure for a gracious civility. It is not for him +to address a stranger with the familiarity characteristic of New York or +Chicago. Though he know it not, and perhaps would resent it if he knew +it, he is profoundly influenced by his origin. He has not lost the high +seriousness, the quiet gravity, which distinguished his ancestors. + +His towns, in aspect and sentiment, closely resemble himself. +Portsmouth, for instance, which has not the same reason for +self-consciousness as Salem or Concord, has retained the authentic +features of the mother-land. You might easily match it in Kent or Essex. +The open space in the centre of the town, the Athenæum--in style, name, +and purpose, alike English--are of another age and country than their +own. There is a look of trim elegance everywhere, which refreshes the +eye; and over the streets there broods an immemorial peace, which even +the echoing clangour of the Navy Yard cannot dispel. The houses, some +of wood, built after the Colonial manner, others of red brick, and of a +grave design, are in perfect harmony with their surroundings. Nothing +is awry: nothing is out of place. And so severely consistent is the +impression of age, that down on the sunlit quay, flanked by the lofty +warehouses, the slope of whose roofs is masked by corbie-steps, you are +surprised not to see riding at anchor the high-prowed galleons of the +seventeenth century. + +And, best of all, there is the quiet, simple Church of St John's, +English in feeling as in origin. Though rebuilt a hundred years ago, on +the site of an earlier church, it has remained loyal to its history, and +is the true child of the eighteenth century. Is it not fitting that the +communion-plate presented by Queen Caroline should be treasured here? +That the sexton should still show you, even with a cold indifference, +the stately prayer-books which once contained prayers for the king? That +a bell, captured at Louisburg by Sir William Pepperell, should summon +to the worship of God a people long forgetful of that proud achievement? +Such are the evidences of an innate conservatism which has kept alive +the old traditions of New England. + +Thus for three hundred years Portsmouth has lived the happy life of +a country town, and its historian sadly notes that until 1900 its +population did not rise to 10,000. The historian need feel no regret: it +is not by numbers that we may measure the stateliness of a city; and the +dignity of Portsmouth is still plain for all to behold in the houses, +to cite but two examples, of Governors Wentworth and Langdon, And then +after this long spell of fortunate obscurity, Portsmouth became suddenly +the centre of universal interest. By a curious irony this little, +old-fashioned town was chosen to be the meeting-place of Russia and +Japan, and the first experiment in modern diplomacy-was made in a place +which has sacrificed nothing to a love of that intoxicant known as the +spirit of the age. It was, in truth, a strange sight that Portsmouth saw +a brief two years ago. Before its troubled eyes the stern conference +of hostile nations was turned to comedy. A hundred and twenty eager +reporters publicly put up their support for sale in exchange for +information to the highest bidder. The representative of a great country +was heard boasting to the gentlemen of the press of his own prowess. +"The Japanese could not read in my face," said M. Witte, "what was +passing in my heart." Isn't it wonderful? Would not the diplomatists of +another age be ashamed of their _confrère_ could they hear him brag of a +rudimentary and long since dishonoured _finesse?_ But the mere fact that +M. Witte could make such a speech on American soil is a clear proof that +the New World is not the proper field of diplomacy. The congresses +of old were gay and secret. "Le congrès," said the Prince de Ligne at +Vienna, "ne marche pas; il danse." It danced, and it kept inviolate +the obligation of silence. The Congress at Portsmouth did not talk--it +chattered; and it was an open injustice to the unbroken history of New +England that President Roosevelt should have chosen this tranquil and +ancient spot for a bold experiment in diplomacy by journalism. + +Across the river lies Battery, even more remote from the world of greed +and competition than Portsmouth. Here at last you discover what so often +eludes you in America--the real countryside. The rough pleasant roads +like English lanes, the beautiful wooden houses half hidden amid +towering trees, and the gardens (or yards as they are called) not +trim, like our English gardens, but of an unkempt beauty all their +own,--these, with the memory of a gracious hospitality, will never fade +from my mind. At Kittery, as at Portsmouth, you live in the past. +There is nothing save an electric trolley and the motor engines of the +fishing-boats to recall the bustle of to-day. Here is Fort M'Clary, +a block-house built two centuries ago to stay the incursion of the +Indians. There is the house of Pepperell, the hero of Louis-burg. Thus, +rich in old associations, happy in its present seclusion, Kittery has a +kind of personal charm, which is intensified by an obvious and striking +contrast. + +It was from Newport that I went to Kittery, and passed in a few hours +from the modern to the ancient world. Not even New York gives a more +vivid impression of the inappropriateness which is America's besetting +sin, than Newport, whose gay inhabitants are determined, at all costs, +to put themselves at variance with time and place. The mansions, called +"cottages" in proud humility, are entirely out of proportion to +their site and purpose. On the one hand you see a house as large as +Chatsworth, bleak and treeless, with nothing to separate it from its +ambitious neighbours but a wooden palisade. It suggests nothing so much +as that it has lost its park, and mislaid its lodges. On the other, you +see a massive pile, whose castellated summit resembles nothing else than +a county jail. And nowhere is there a possibility of ambush, nowhere a +frail hint of secrecy. The people of Newport, moreover, is resolved to +live up to its inappropriate environment. As it rejoices in the wrong +kind of house, so it delights in the wrong sort of costume. The vain +luxury of the place is expressed in a thousand strange antics. A new +excitement is added to seabathing by the ladies, who face the waves in +all the bravery of Parisian hats. To return unsullied from the encounter +is a proof of the highest skill. Is it not better to preserve a +deftly-poised hat from the mere contact of the waves than to be a +tireless and intrepid swimmer? + +Newport, in fact, has been haunted by a sort of ill-luck. It has never +been able to make the best of itself. There was a time when its harbour +bade fair to rival the harbour of New York, and when its inhabitants +fondly believed that all the great ships of the world would find refuge +under the splendid shadow of Rhode Island. And when this hope was +disappointed for ever, Newport still possessed in herself all the +elements of beauty. Whatever exquisite colour and perfect situation +could give, was hers. What more can the eyes of man desire than green +lawns and an incomparable sea? And there lies the old town to link the +prosperity of to-day with the romance of yesterday. And there grow in +wild profusion the scented hedges of honeysuckle and roses. And all of +no avail. The early comers to Newport, it is true, understood that a +real cottage of wood was in harmony with the place. They built their +houses to the just scale of the landscape, and had they kept their +own way how happy would have been the result! But beauty gave way to +fashion; wealth usurped the sovereignty of taste; size was mistaken for +grandeur,--in a word, the millionaire disfigured Newport to his whim. + +And so it ceased to be a real place. It became a mere collection of +opposing mansions and quarrelsome styles. If the vast "cottages," which +raise their heads higher and higher in foolish rivalry, were swept away, +no harm would be done. They are there by accident, and they will last +only so long as a wayward fashion tolerates their presence. Battery, +on the other hand, cannot be abolished by a caprice of taste. It is a +village which has its roots in the past, and whose growth neither wealth +nor progress has obscured. Above all, it possesses the virtue, great +in towns as in men, of sincerity. It has not cut itself loose from +its beginnings; its houses belong harmoniously to itself; and it has +retained through two centuries the character of the old colonial days. +Nor is it without an historical importance. Great names cling about it. +The men of Battery fought on many a hard-won field against French and +Indians, and, retired though it be from the broad stream of commerce and +progress, it cannot dissipate the memory of loyal devotion to the crown +and of military glory. + +Its hero is Sir William Pepperell, soldier and merchant, whose thrift +and prowess were alike remarkable. The son of a Tavistock fisherman, who +pursued fortune in the New World with equal energy and success, he still +further advanced his house in wealth and circumstance. Accustomed from +boyhood to the dangers of Indian warfare, he was as apt for arms as +for arts, and it is characteristic of the time and place that this +prosperous merchant should be known to fame as the commander of a +triumphant expedition. It was in 1745 that his chance came. For many +years Louis-burg had afforded harbourage to French privateers, who +had harried the coast of New England and captured rich cargoes of +merchandise. At last Governor Shirley of Massachusetts resolved to +attack it, and we may judge of the esteem in which Pepperell was held, +by the fact that he was appointed to lead an expedition against a +fortress deemed impregnable by the French, and known as the Dunkirk of +America. His selection was a tribute not merely to his courage but +to his tact. No man of his time was better fitted to control the +conflicting tempers of the colonial militia, and he set forth at the +head of his 4000 men under the best auspices. Being a Puritan in command +of Puritans, he quickened the bravery of his comrades by a show of +religious zeal. He made it plain that he was engaged in a war against +papistry, and he asked George White-field, then in America, for a motto. +"Nil desperandum, Christo duce," said the preacher; and thus heartened, +the little fleet set sail on its triumphant journey. At first sight +the contest seemed unequal. On one side was Duchambon, an experienced +soldier, defending a fortress which had long been thought invincible. +On the other was a plain merchant in command of no more than 4000 +militiamen. But the very simplicity of Pepperell's attack ensured its +success. He sailed into the harbour without warning and without fear, in +the very eye of the French artillery, landed his men, and began a siege +which resulted, after six weeks, in the reduction of Louisburg. It was a +gallant feat of arms, marred only by the fact that a foolish Government +declined to take advantage of a colonial victory. Three years later +Louisburg was wickedly restored to France in exchange for certain +advantages in India, and a foolish policy obscured for a while at least +the eminent services of William Pepperell. + +To-day the victor of Louisburg is not without fame--save in his own +country. Fortunately for himself, Pepperell died before the War of the +Revolution, and did not see the ruin which overtook his family. The +property which had passed into the hands of his grandchildren was +confiscated. They were guilty of loyalty to the crown and country for +which their ancestor had fought, and the third generation was saved from +the poorhouse "by the bounty of individuals on whom they had no claims +for favour." In other words, Pepperell's memory was dishonoured, because +in serving New England he had worn the king's uniform. In the eyes +of the newly emancipated, treachery was retrospective. Pepperell's +biographer explains his sin and its punishment with a perfect clarity. +"The eventful life of Sir W. Pepperell," he writes, "closed a few years +before the outbreak of the Revolution. Patriotism in his day implied +loyalty and fidelity to the King of England; but how changed the meaning +of that word in New England after the Declaration of Independence! Words +and deeds before deemed patriotic were now traitorous, and so deeply was +their moral turpitude impressed on the public mind as to have tainted +popular opinions concerning the heroic deeds of our ancestors, performed +in the King's service in the French Wars.... The War of the Revolution +absorbed and neutralised all the heroic fame of the illustrious men +that preceded, and the achievements of Pepperell, of Johnson, and of +Bradstreet are now almost forgotten." These words were written in 1855, +and they have not yet lost their truth. + +For us this forgetfulness is not easily intelligible. It is our habit to +attach ourselves closely to the past. If there have been conflicts, they +have left no rancour, no bitterness. The winner has been modest, the +loser magnanimous. The centuries of civil strife which devastated +England imposed no lasting hostility. Nobody cares to-day whether his +ancestor was Cavalier or Roundhead. The keenest Royalist is willing to +acknowledge the noble prowess and the political genius of Cromwell. The +hardiest Puritan pays an eager tribute to the exalted courage of Charles +I. But the Americans have taken another view. They would, if they could, +discard the bonds which unite them with England. For the mere glamour of +independence they would sacrifice the glory of the past. They would even +assume an hostility to their ancestors because these ancestors were of +English blood. They seem to believe that if they forget their origin +persistently enough it will be transformed. The top of their +ambition would be reached if they could suppose that they were +autochthonous,--that they sprang into being fully armed upon American +soil. It irks them to think that other races have had a hand in creating +"God's own country," and they are happiest when they can convince +themselves that a man changes his heart and his mind as well as his sky +when he leaves Europe for America. And so they pursue the policy of the +ostrich. They bury the head of their past in the sandy desert of +the present, and hope that nobody will detect the trick of their +concealment. + +In the Church of St John at Portsmouth there is, as I have said, an +English prayer-book from which the page containing prayers for the +king has been violently torn. This incident symbolises very aptly +the attitude of America. The country has not yet recovered from the +hostility which it once professed to George III. It assumes that a +difference of policy always implies a moral taint. The American Colonies +broke away from the mother country; therefore George III. was a knave, +whose name may not be mentioned without dishonour, and all the brave men +who served him in serving the colonies are dishonoured also. It is not +quite clear why this feeling has been kept alive so long. Perhaps +the violent rhetoric of the Declaration of Independence has aided its +survival. Perhaps, too, the sense of gravity, which always overtakes the +American public man when he considers what These States have achieved, +is not without its weight. But whatever the cause, it is certain that +shame and animosity still exist on the other side of the ocean: shame +for noble deeds accomplished by brave men; animosity against a loyal +antagonist, who long ago forgot the ancient quarrel and its consequence. + +And yet the force and habit of tradition cannot forcibly be shaken off. +Though New England, in forgetting the heroes who fought under British +colours, has attempted to break the continuity of history, it is in New +England where the links in the ancient chain are most stoutly coupled. +Though all the prayer-books in the world be destroyed, the marks of its +origin will still be stamped indelibly upon the face of the country. The +very dourness which persuades these stern men to look with regret upon +their beginnings is but a part of the puritanical character which drove +them to take refuge in a foreign land. Stiff-necked and fanatical as +they were, when they left England, they did but intensify their hard +fanaticism in the new land. For there they were all of one party, and +their children grew up without the wholesome stimulant of opposition. +And if perchance one or two strayed from the fold of strict allegiance, +the majority were cruel in punishment. They became persecutors for what +they believed was righteousness' sake, and their cruelty was the more +severe because it was based, as they believed, upon a superior morality. +And so they grew, as an American historian has said, to hate the +toleration for which they once fought, to deplore the liberty of +conscience for whose sake they had been ready to face exile. What in +themselves they praised for liberty and toleration, they denounced in +others as carelessness or heresy. So they cultivated a hard habit of +thought; so they esteemed too seriously the efforts they made in +the cause of freedom; so they still exaggerate the importance of the +Revolution, which the passage of time should compel them to regard with +a cold and dispassionate eye. + +But if in a certain pitilessness of character the New Englanders are +more English than the English, they still resemble the Puritans of the +seventeenth century in their love of a well-ordered life. It was in +their towns and villages that the old colonial life flourished to the +wisest purpose. The houses which they built, and which still stand, are +the perfection of elegance and comfort. The simplicity of their aspect +is matched by the beauty which confronts you when once you have crossed +the threshold. The columns which flank the porch, the pilasters which +break the monotony of the wooden walls, are but a faint indication of +the elegance within. Like the palaces of the Moors, they reserve the +best of themselves for the interior, and reveal all their beauty only to +their intimates. The light staircases, with turned rails and lyre-shaped +ends; the panelled rooms; the dainty fireplaces, adorned with Dutch +tiles; the English furniture, which has not left its first home; the +spacious apartments, of which the outside gives no warning,--these +impart a quiet dignity, a pleasant refinement, to the colonial houses +which no distance of time or space can impair. There is a house at +Kittery of which the planks were cut out there in the forest, were sent +to England to be carved and shaped, and were then returned to their +native woodland to be fashioned into a house. Thus it belongs to two +worlds, and thus it is emblematic of the New Englanders who dwell about +it, and who, owing their allegiance to a new country, yet retain the +impress of a character which was their ancestors' almost three centuries +ago. + + + + +THE YELLOW PRESS. + +If all countries may boast the Press which they deserve, America's +desert is small indeed. No civilised country in the world has been +content with newspapers so grossly contemptible as those which are read +from New York to the Pacific Coast. The journals known as Yellow would +be a disgrace to dusky Timbuctoo, and it is difficult to understand +the state of mind which can tolerate them. Divorced completely from the +world of truth and intelligence, they present nothing which an educated +man would desire to read. They are said to be excluded from clubs and +from respectable houses. But even if this prohibition be a fact, their +proprietors need feel no regret. We are informed by the Yellowest of +Editors that his burning words are read every day by five million men +and women. + +What, then, is the aspect and character of these Yellow Journals? +As they are happily strange on our side the ocean, they need some +description. They are ill-printed, over-illustrated sheets, whose end +and aim are to inflame a jaded or insensitive palate. They seem to +address the blind eye and the sluggish mind of the halfwitted. The +wholly unimportant information which they desire to impart is not +conveyed in type of the ordinary shape and size. The "scare" headlines +are set forth in letters three inches in height. It is as though the +editors of these sheets are determined to exhaust your attention. They +are not content to tell you that this or that inapposite event has taken +place. They pant, they shriek, they yell. Their method represents the +beating of a thousand big drums, the blare of unnumbered trumpets, the +shouted blasphemies of a million raucous throats. And if, with all this +noise dinning in your ear, you are persuaded to read a Yellow sheet, +which is commonly pink in colour, you are grievously disappointed. The +thing is not even sensational. Its "scare" headlines do but arouse a +curiosity which the "brightest and brainiest" reporter in the United +States is not able to satisfy. + +Of what happens in the great world you will find not a trace in the +Yellow Journals. They betray no interest in politics, in literature, +or in the fine arts. There is nothing of grave importance which can be +converted into a "good story." That a great man should perform a great +task is immaterial. Noble deeds make no scandal, and are therefore not +worth reporting. But if you can discover that the great man has a hidden +vice, or an eccentric taste in boots or hats, there is "copy" ready to +your hand. All things and all men must be reduced to a dead level of +imbecility. The Yellow Press is not obscene--it has not the courage for +that. Its proud boast is that it never prints a line that a father might +not read to his daughter. It is merely personal and impertinent. No +one's life is secure from its spies. No privacy is sacred. Mr Stead's +famous ideal of an ear at every keyhole is magnificently realised in +America. A hundred reporters are ready, at a moment's notice, to invade +houses, to uncover secrets, to molest honest citizens with indiscreet +questions. And if their victims are unwilling to respond, they pay for +it with public insult and malicious invention. Those who will not bow to +the common tyrant of the Press cannot complain if words are ascribed +to them which they never uttered, if they are held guilty of deeds from +which they would shrink in horror. Law and custom are alike powerless +to fight this tyranny, which is the most ingenious and irksome form of +blackmail yet invented. + +The perfect newspaper, if such were possible, would present to its +readers a succinct history of each day as it passes. It would weigh with +a scrupulous hand the relative importance of events. It would give to +each department of human activity no more than its just space. It would +reduce scandal within the narrow limits which ought to confine it. Under +its wise auspices murder, burglary, and suicide would be deposed from +the eminence upon which an idle curiosity has placed them. Those strange +beings known as public men would be famous not for what their wives wear +at somebody else's "At Home," but for their own virtues and attainments. +The foolish actors and actresses, who now believe themselves the masters +of the world, would slink away into _entrefilets_ on a back page. The +perfect newspaper, in brief, would resemble a Palace of Truth, in +which deceit was impossible and vanity ridiculous. It would crush the +hankerers after false reputations, it would hurl the foolish from the +mighty seats which they try to fill, and it would present an invaluable +record to future generations. + +What picture of its world does the Yellow Press present? A picture of +colossal folly and unpardonable indiscretion. If there be a museum which +preserves these screaming sheets, this is the sort of stuff which in +two thousand years will puzzle the scholars: "Mrs Jones won't admit +Wedding," "Millionaires Bet on a Snake Fight," "Chicago Church Girl +Accuses Millionaire," "Athletics make John D. forget his Money." These +are a few pearls hastily strung together, and they show what jewels of +intelligence are most highly prized by the Greatest Democracy on earth. +Now and again the editor takes his readers into his confidence and asks +them to interfere in the affairs of persons whom they will never know. +Here, for instance, is a characteristic problem set by an editor whose +knowledge of his public exceeds his respect for the decencies of life: +"What Mrs Washington ought to do. Her husband Wall Street Broker. Got +tired of Her and Deserted. But Mrs Washington, who still loves him +dearly, Is determined to win him back. And here is the Advice of the +Readers of this Journal." Is it not monstrous--this interference with +the privacy of common citizens? And yet this specimen has an air of +dignity compared with the grosser exploits of the hired eavesdropper. +Not long since there appeared in a Sunday paper a full list, with +portraits and biographies, of all the ladies in New York who are +habitual drunkards. From which it is clear that the law of libel has +sunk into oblivion, and that the cowhide is no longer a useful weapon. + +The disastrous effect upon the people of such a Press as I have +described is obvious. It excites the nerves of the feeble, it presents a +hideously false standard of life, it suggests that nobody is secure from +the omnipotent eavesdropper, and it preaches day after day at the top +of its husky voice the gospel of snobbishness. But it is not merely the +public manners which it degrades; it does its best to hamper the proper +administration of the law. In America trial by journalism has long +supplemented, and goes far to supplant, trial by jury. If a murder be +committed its detection is not left to the officers of the police. A +thousand reporters, cunning as monkeys, active as sleuth-hounds, are on +the track. Whether it is the criminal that they pursue or an innocent +man is indifferent to them. Heedless of injustice, they go in search of +"copy." They interrogate the friends of the victim, and they uncover +the secrets of all the friends and relatives he may have possessed. They +care not how they prejudice the public mind, or what wrong they do to +innocent men. If they make a fair trial impossible, it matters not. They +have given their tired readers a new sensation; they have stimulated +gossip in a thousand tenement houses; justice may fall in ruins so +long as they sell another edition. And nobody protests against their +unbridled licence, not even when they have made it an affair of the +utmost difficulty and many weeks to empanel an unprejudiced jury. + +The greatest opportunity of the Yellow Press came when a Mr H. K. Thaw +murdered an accomplished architect. The day after the murder the trial +began in the newspapers, and it was "run as a serial" for months. The +lives of the murderer and his victim were uncovered with the utmost +effrontery. The character of the dead man was painted in the blackest +colours by cowards, who knew that they were beyond the reach of +vengeance. The murderer's friends and kinsmen were compelled to pay +their tribute to the demon of publicity. The people was presented +with plans of the cell in which the man Thaw was imprisoned, while +photographs of his wife and his mother were printed day after day that +a silly mob might note the effect of anguish on the human countenance. +And, not content with thus adorning the tale, the journals were eloquent +in pointing the moral. Sentimental spinsters were invited to warn the +lady typewriters of America that death and ruin inevitably overtake the +wrongdoer. Stern-eyed clergymen thought well to anticipate justice in +sermons addressed to erring youth. Finally, _a plébiscite_ decided, by +2 to 1, that Thaw should immediately be set free. And when you remember +the arrogant tyranny of the Yellow Journals, you are surprised that at +the mere sound of the people's voice the prison doors did not instantly +fly open. + +We have been told, as though it were no more than a simple truth, that +the Yellow Press--the journals owned by Mr Hearst--not merely made the +Spanish-American War, but procured the assassination of Mr M'Kinley. The +statement seems incredible, because it is difficult to believe that such +stuff as this should have any influence either for good or evil. The +idle gossip and flagrant scandal which are its daily food do not appear +to be efficient leaders of opinion. But it is the Editorial columns +which do the work of conviction, and they assume an air of gravity +which may easily deceive the unwary. And their gravity is the natural +accompaniment of scandal. There is but a slender difference between +barbarity and senti-mentalism. The same temper which delights in reading +of murder and sudden death weeps with anguish at the mere hint of +oppression. No cheek is so easily bedewed by the unnecessary tear as +the cheek of the ruffian--and those who compose the "editorials" for Mr +Hearst's papers have cynically realised this truth. They rant and they +cant and they argue, as though nothing but noble thoughts were permitted +to lodge within the poor brains of their readers. Their favourite gospel +is the gospel of Socialism. They tell the workers that the world is +their inalienable inheritance, that skill and capital are the snares of +the evil one, and that nothing is worth a reward save manual toil. They +pretend for a moment to look with a kindly eye upon the Trusts, because, +when all enterprises and industries are collected into a small compass, +the people will have less trouble in laying hands upon them. In brief, +they teach the supreme duty of plunder with all the _staccato_ eloquence +at their command. For the man whose thrift and energy have helped him +to success they have nothing but contempt. They cannot think of the +criminal without bursting into tears. And, while they lay upon the rich +man the guilty burden of his wealth, they charge the community with +the full responsibility for the convict's misfortune. Such doctrines, +cunningly taught, and read day after day by the degenerate and +unrestrained, can only have one effect, and that effect, no doubt, the +"editorials" of the Yellow Press will some day succeed in producing. + +The result is, of course, revolution, and revolution is being carefully +and insidiously prepared after the common fashion. Not a word is left +unsaid that can flatter the criminal or encourage the thriftless. Those +who are too idle to work but not too idle to read the Sunday papers are +told that it will be the fault of their own inaction, not of the Yellow +Press, if they do not some day lay violent hands upon the country's +wealth. And when they are tired of politics the Yellow Editors turn to +popular philosophy or cheap theology for the solace of their public. To +men and women excited by the details of the last murder they discourse +of the existence of God in short, crisp sentences,--and I know not which +is worse, the triviality of the discourse or its inappositeness. They +preface one of their most impassioned exhortations with the words: "If +you read this, you will probably think you have wasted time." Though +this might with propriety stand for the motto of all the columns of all +Mr Hearst's journals, here it is clearly used in the same hope which +inspires the sandwichman to carry on his front the classic legend: +"Please do not look on my back." But what is dearest to the souls of +these editors is a mean commonplace. One leader, which surely had a +triumphant success, is headed, "What the Bar-tender Sees." And the +exordium is worthy so profound a speculation. "Did you ever stop to +think," murmurs the Yellow philosopher, "of all the strange beings that +pass before him?" There's profundity for you! There's invention! Is it +wonderful that five million men and women read these golden words, or +others of a like currency, every day? + +And politics, theology, and philosophy are all served up in the same +thick sauce of sentiment. The "baby" seems to play a great part in the +Yellow morality. One day you are told, "A baby can educate a man"; on +another you read, "Last week's baby will surely talk some day," and you +are amazed, as at a brilliant discovery. And you cannot but ask: To whom +are these exhortations addressed? To children or to idiots? The grown +men and women of the United States, can hardly regard such poor twaddle +as this with a serious eye. And what of the writers? How can they +reconcile their lofty tone, which truly is above suspicion, with the +shameful sensationalism of their news-columns? They know not the meaning +of sincerity. If they really believed that "a baby can educate a man," +they would suppress their reporters. In short, they are either blind +or cynical. From these alternatives there is no escape, and for their +sakes, as well as for America's, I hope they write with their tongue in +their cheeks. + +The style of the Yellow Journals is appropriate to their matter. The +headlines live on and by the historic present; the text is as bald as +a paper of statistics. It is the big type that does the execution. The +"story" itself, to use the slang of the newspaper, is seldom either +humorous or picturesque. Bare facts and vulgar incidents are enough for +the public, which cares as little for wit as for sane writing. One fact +only can explain the imbecility of the Yellow Press: it is written for +immigrants, who have but an imperfect knowledge of English, who prefer +to see their news rather than to read it, and who, if they must read, +can best understand words of one syllable and sentences of no more than +five words. + +For good or evil, America has the sole claim to the invention of +the Yellow Press. It came, fully armed, from the head of its first +proprietor, It owes nothing to Europe, nothing to the traditions of +its own country. It grew out of nothing, and, let us hope, it will soon +disappear into nothingness. The real Press of America was rather red +than yellow. It had an energy and a character which still exist in some +more reputable sheets, and which are the direct antithesis of Yellow +sensationalism. The horsewhip and revolver were as necessary to its +conduct as the pen and inkpot. If the editors of an older and wiser time +insulted their enemies, they were ready to defend themselves, like men. +They did not eavesdrop and betray. They would have scorned to reveal the +secrets of private citizens, even though they did not refrain their hand +from their rivals. Yet, with all their brutality, they were brave and +honourable, and you cannot justly measure the degradation of the Yellow +Press unless you cast your mind a little further back and contemplate +the achievement of another generation. + +The tradition of journalism came to America from England. 'The Sun,' +'The Tribune,' and 'The Post,' as wise and trustworthy papers as may be +found on the surface of the globe, are still conscious of their origin, +though they possess added virtues of their own. 'The New York Herald,' +as conducted by James Gordon Bennett the First, modelled its scurrilous +energy upon the Press of our eighteenth century. The influence of Junius +and the pamphleteers was discernible in its columns, and many of +its articles might have been signed by Wilkes himself. But there was +something in 'The Herald' which you would seek in vain in Perry's +'Morning Chronicle,' say, or 'The North Briton,' and that was the +free-and-easy style of the backwoods. Gordon Bennett grasped as well +as any one the value of news. He boarded vessels far out at sea that he +might forestall his rivals. In some respects he was as "yellow" as his +successor, whose great exploit of employing a man convicted of murder +to report the trial of a murderer is not likely to be forgotten. On the +other hand, he set before New York the history of Europe and of European +thought with appreciation and exactitude. He knew the theatre of England +and France more intimately than most of his contemporaries, and he did a +great deal to encourage the art of acting in his own country. Above all +things he was a fighter, both with pen and fist. He had something of +the spirit which in-spired the old mining-camp. "We never saw the man we +feared," he once said, "nor the woman we had not some liking for." That +healthy, if primitive, sentiment breathes in all his works. And his +magnanimity was equal to his courage. "I have no objection to forgive +enemies," he wrote, "particularly after I have trampled them under my +feet." This principle guided his life and his journal, and, while it +gave a superb dash of energy to his style, it put a wholesome fear into +the hearts and heads of his antagonists. + +One antagonist there was who knew neither fear nor forgetfulness, and he +attacked Bennett again and again. Bennett returned his blows, and then +made most admirable "copy" of the assault. The last encounter between +the two is so plainly characteristic of Bennett's style that I quote his +description in his own words. "As I was leisurely pursuing my business +yesterday in Wall Street," wrote Bennett, "collecting the information +which is daily disseminated in 'The Herald,' James Watson Webb came up +to me, on the northern side of the street--said something which I could +not hear distinctly, then pushed me down the stone steps leading to one +of the brokers' offices, and commenced fighting with a species of +brutal and demoniac desperation characteristic of a fury. My damage is a +scratch, about three-quarters of an inch in length, on the third finger +of the left hand, which I received from the iron railing I was forced +against, and three buttons torn from my vest, which my tailor will +reinstate for six cents. His loss is a rent from top to bottom of a very +beautiful black coat, which cost the ruffian $40, and a blow in the face +which may have knocked down his throat some of his infernal teeth for +all I know. Balance in my favour $39.94. As to intimidating me, or +changing my course, the thing cannot be done. Neither Webb nor any +other man shall, or can, intimidate me.... I may be attacked, I may be +assailed, I may be killed, I may be murdered, but I will never succumb." + +There speaks the true Gordon Bennett, and his voice, though it may be +the voice of a ruffian, is also the voice of a man who is certainly +courageous and is not without humour. It is not from such a tradition as +that, that the Yellow Press emerged. It does not want much pluck to hang +about and sneak secrets. It is the pure negation of humour to preach +Socialism in the name of the criminal and degenerate. To judge America +by this product would be monstrously unfair, but it corresponds perforce +to some baser quality in the cosmopolitans of the United States, and it +cannot be overlooked. As it stands, it is the heaviest indictment of the +popular taste that can be made. There is no vice so mean as impertinent +curiosity, and it is upon this curiosity that the Yellow Press meanly +lives and meanly thrives. + +What is the remedy? There is none, unless time brings with it a natural +reaction. It is as desperate a task to touch the Press as to change the +Constitution. The odds against reform are too great. A law to check +the exuberance of newspapers would never survive the attacks of the +newspapers themselves. + +Nor is it only in America that reform is necessary. The Press of Europe, +also, has strayed so far from its origins as to be a danger to the +State. In their inception the newspapers were given freedom, that they +might expose and check the corruption and dishonesty of politicians. It +was thought that publicity was the best cure for intrigue. For a while +the liberty of the Press seemed justified. It is justified no longer. +The licence which it assumes has led to far worse evils than those +which it was designed to prevent. In other words, the slave has become +a tyrant, and where is the statesman who shall rid us of this tyranny? +Failure alone can kill what lives only upon popular success, and it +is the old-fashioned, self-respecting journals which are facing ruin. +Prosperity is with the large circulations, and a large circulation is no +test of merit. Success is made neither by honesty nor wisdom. The people +will buy what flatters its vanity or appeals to its folly. And the +Yellow Press will flourish, with its headlines and its vulgarity, until +the mixed population of America has sufficiently mastered the art of +life and the English tongue to demand something better wherewith to +solace its leisure than scandal and imbecility. + + + + +LIBERTY AND PATRIOTISM. + +Guarding the entrance to New York there stands, lofty and austere, the +statue of Liberty. It is this statue which immigrants, on their way to +Ellis Island, are wont to apostrophise. To contemplate it is, we are +told, to know the true meaning of life, to taste for the first time +the sweets of an untrammelled freedom. No sooner does M. Bartholdi's +beneficent matron smile upon you, than you cast off the chains of +an ancient slavery. You forget in a moment the years which you have +misspent under the intolerable burden of a monarch. Be you Pole or Russ, +Briton or Ruthenian, you rejoice at the mere sight of this marvel, in a +new hope, in a boundless ambition. Unconscious of what awaits you, you +surrender yourself so eagerly to the sway of sentiment that you are +unable to observe the perfections of your idol. You see only its vast +size. You are content to believe the official statement that 305 feet +separate the tip of the lady's torch from low water. You know that +you gaze on the largest statue upon earth. And surely it should be the +largest, for it symbolises a greater mass of Liberty than ever before +was gathered together upon one continent. + +For Liberty is a thing which no one in America can escape. The old +inhabitant smiles with satisfaction as he murmurs the familiar word. At +every turn it is clubbed into the unsuspecting visitor. If an aspirant +to the citizenship of the Republic declined to be free, he would +doubtless be thrown into a dungeon, fettered and manacled, until he +consented to accept the precious boon. You cannot pick up a newspaper +without being reminded that Liberty is the exclusive possession of +the United States. The word, if not the quality, is the commonplace +of American history. It looks out upon you--the word again, not the +quality--from every hoarding. It is uttered in every discourse, and +though it irks you to listen to the boasting of "Liberty", as it irks you +when a man vaunts his honour, you cannot but inquire what is this fetish +which distinguishes America from the rest of the habitable globe, and +what does it achieve for those who worship it. + +In what, then, does the Liberty of America consist? Is it in freedom +of opportunity? A career is open to all the talents everywhere. +The superstitions of Europe, the old-fashioned titles of effete +aristocracies, are walls more easily surmounted than the golden +barricades of omnipotent corporations. Does it consist in political +freedom? If we are to believe in the pedantry that Liberty is the child +of the ballot-box, then America has no monopoly of its blessings. The +privilege of voting is almost universal, and the freedom which this +poor privilege confers is within the reach of Englishman, German, or +Frenchman. Indeed, it is America which sets the worst stumbling-block in +the voter's path. The citizen, however high his aspiration after Liberty +may be, wages a vain warfare against the cunning of the machine. Where +repeaters and fraudulent ballots flourish, it is idle to boast the +blessings of the suffrage. Such institutions as Tammany are essentially +practical, but they do not help the sacred cause commemorated in M. +Bartholdi's statue; and if we would discover the Liberty of America, we +must surely look outside the ring of boodlers and politicians who have +held the franchise up to ridicule. Is, then, the boasted Liberty a +liberty of life? One comes and goes with ease as great in England as +in America. There are even certain restrictions imposed in the home of +Freedom, of which we know nothing on this side the Atlantic, where we +fear the curiosity of the Press as little as we dread the exactions of +hungry monopolies. Of many examples, two will suffice to illustrate +the hardships of a democratic tyranny. Not long since the most famous +actress of our generation was prevented by a trust of all-powerful +managers from playing in the theatres of America, and was compelled to +take refuge in booths and tents. Being a lady of courage and resource, +she filled her new _rôle_ with perfect success, and completely outwitted +her envious rivals. The victory was snatched, by the actress's own +energy, from the very jaws of Liberty. Far more unfortunate was the fate +of M. Gorki, who visited America to preach the gospel of Freedom, as he +thought, in willing ears. With the utmost propriety he did all that was +expected of him. He apostrophised the statue in a voice tremulous with +emotion. He addressed the great Continent, as it loves to be addressed. +"America! America!" he exclaimed, "how I have longed for this day, when +my foot should tread the soil where despotism cannot live!" Alas for his +lost enthusiasm! + +A despot, grim and pitiless, was waiting for him round the corner. In +other words, the proprietor of his hotel discovered that Mme. Gorki +had no right to that name, and amid the cheers of the guests he and his +companion were driven shamefully into the street. Were it not for +the wanton inconvenience inflicted upon M. Gorki, the comedy of the +situation would be priceless. The Friends of Russian Freedom, piously +enamoured of assassination, and listening intently for the exquisite +reverberation of the deadly bomb, sternly demand of the Apostle his +marriage-lines. The Apostle of Revolution, unable to satisfy the demand, +is solemnly excommunicated, as if he had apostrophised no statue, as if +he had felt no expansion of his lungs, no tingling of his blood, when he +first breathed the air of Freedom. O Liberty! Liberty! many follies +have been committed in thy name! And now thy voice is hushed in +inextinguishable laughter! + +The truth is, American Liberty is the mere creature of rhetoric. It is a +survival from the time when the natural rights of man inspired a simple +faith, when eager citizens declared that kings were the eternal enemies +of Freedom. Its only begetter was Thomas Jefferson, and its gospel is +preached in the famous Declaration of Independence. The dogmatism and +pedantry upon which it is based are easily confuted. Something else +than a form of government is necessary to ensure political and personal +liberty. Otherwise the Black Republic would be a model to England. But +Jefferson, not being a philosopher, and knowing not the rudiments of +history, was unable to look beyond the few moral maxims which he had +committed to memory. He was sure that the worst republic was better +than the noblest tyranny the world had ever seen. He appealed not to +experience but to sentiment, and he travelled up and down Europe with +his eyes closed and his mind responsive only to the echoes of a vain +theory. "If all the evils which can arise among us," said he, "from the +republican form of our government, from this day to the Day of +Judgment, could be put into a scale against what France suffers from +its monarchical form in a week, or England in a month, the latter +would preponderate." Thus he said, in sublime ignorance of the past, in +perfect misunderstanding of the future. And his empty words echo to-day +in the wigwams of Tammany. + +All forms of government have their strength and their weakness. They are +not equally suitable to all races and to all circumstances. It was +this obvious truth that Jefferson tore to shreds before the eyes of his +compatriots. He persuaded them to accept his vague generalities as +a sober statement of philosophic truth, and he aroused a hatred of +kingship in America which was comic in expression and disastrous in +result. It was due to his influence that plain citizens hymned the +glories of "Guillotina, the Tenth Muse," and fell down in worship before +a Phrygian cap. It was due to his influence that in 1793 the death +of Louis XVI. was celebrated throughout the American continent with +grotesque symbolism and farcical solemnity. A single instance is enough +to prove the malign effect of Jefferson's teaching. At Philadelphia the +head of a pig was severed from its body, and saluted as an emblem of the +murdered king. + +"Each one," says the historian, "placing the cap of liberty upon his +head, pronounced the word 'tyrant'! and proceeded to mangle with his +knife the head of the luckless creature doomed to be served for so +unworthy a company." And the voice of Jefferson still speaks in the +land. Obedient to his dictate, Americans still take a sentimental +view of Liberty. For them Liberty is still an emotion to feel, not a +privilege to enjoy. They are willing to believe that a monarch means +slavery. America is the greatest republic on earth, they argue, and +therefore it is the chosen and solitary home of Freedom. + +So, ignoring the peculiar enslavements of democracy, forgetting the +temptations to which the noblest republic is exposed, they proclaim a +monopoly of the sovereign virtue, and cast a cold eye of disdain upon +the tradition of older countries. The author of 'Triumphant Democracy,' +for instance, asserts that he "was denied political equality by his +native land." We do not know for what offence he was thus heavily +punished, and it is consoling to reflect that the beloved Republic has +made him "the peer of any man." It has not made any other man his peer. +He is separated far more widely by his wealth from the workmen, whom he +patronises, than the meanest day-labourer in England from the dukes to +whom he is supposed to bend the knee; and if Mr Carnegie's be the +fine flower of American Liberty, we need hardly regret that ours is of +another kind. + +In Jefferson's despite, men are not made free and equal by the frequent +repetition of catchwords, and it is by a fine irony that America, which +prides itself upon a modern spirit, should still be swayed by a foolish +superstition, more than a century old, that the cant of Liberty and +Equality, uttered by a slave-owner in 1776, should still warp its +intelligence. "I don't know what liberty means," said Lord Byron, "never +having seen it;" and it was in candour rather than in experience that +Byron differed from his fellows. Nor has any one else seen what eluded +Byron. A perfectly free man must be either uncivilised or decivilised--a +savage stronger than his fellows or an undetected anarch armed with a +bomb, A free society is a plain contradiction, for a society must be +controlled by law, and law is an instant curtailment of Liberty. And, +if you would pursue this chimera, it is not in a democracy that you are +likely to surprise it. Liberty is a prize which will always escape you +in a mob. The supremacy of the people means the absolute rule of the +majority, in deference to which the mere citizen must lay aside all hope +of independence. In life, as in politics, a democratic minority has no +rights. It cannot set its own pace; it cannot choose its own route; +it must follow the will of others, not its own desire; and it is small +comfort to the slave, whose chains gall him, that the slave-driver bears +the name of a free man. + +Liberty, in brief, is a private, not a public, virtue. It has naught +to do with extended franchises or forms of government. The free man +may thrive as easily under a tyranny as in a republic. Is it not true +Liberty to live in accord with one's temperament or talent? And as the +best laws cannot help this enterprise, so the worst cannot hinder it. +You will discover Liberty in Russia as in America, in England as +in France,--everywhere, indeed, where men refuse to accept the +superstitions and doctrines of the mob. But the Americans are not +content to possess the Liberty which satisfies the rest of the world. +With characteristic optimism they boast the possession of a rare and +curious quality. In Europe we strive after Freedom in all humility +of spirit, as after a happy state of mind. In America they advertise +it--like a patent medicine. + +America's view of Patriotism is distinguished by the same ingenious +exaggeration as her view of Liberty. She has as little doubt of her +Grandeur as of her Freedom. She is, in brief, "God's own country," +and in her esteem Columbus was no mere earthly explorer; he was +the authentic discoverer of the Promised Land. Neither argument nor +experience will ever shake the American's confidence in his noble +destiny. On all other questions uncertainty is possible. It is not +possible to discuss America's supremacy. In arms as in arts, the United +States are unrivalled. They alone enjoy the blessings of civilisation. +They alone have been permitted to combine material with moral progress. +They alone have solved the intricate problems of life and politics. They +have the biggest houses, the best government, and the purest law +that the world has ever known. Their universities surpass Oxford and +Cambridge, Paris and Leipzig, in learning, as their Churches surpass the +Churches of the old world in the proper understanding of theology. In +brief, to use their own phrase, America is "It," the sole home of the +good and great. + +Patriotism such as this, quick in enthusiasm, simple in faith, may +prove, if properly handled, a national asset of immeasurable value. And +in public the Americans admit no doubt. Though they do not hesitate to +condemn the boodlers who prey upon their cities, though they deplore the +corrupt practices of their elections, they count all these abuses as +but spots upon a brilliant sun. A knowledge of his country's political +dishonesty does not depress the true patriot. He is content to think +that his ideals are as lofty as their realisation is remote, and that +the triumph of graft is as nothing compared with a noble sentiment. The +result is that the Americans refuse to weaken their national prestige by +the advertised cannibalism which is so popular in England. They are for +their country, right or wrong. They do not understand the anti-patriot +argument, which was born of the false philosophy of the eighteenth +century, and which has left so evil a mark upon our political life. +To them the phenomenon which we call Pro-Boerism is not easily +intelligible. They take an open pride in their country and their flag, +and it seems certain that, when they stand in the presence of an enemy, +they will not weaken their national cause by dissension. + +This exultant Patriotism is the more remarkable when we reflect upon +what it is based. The love of country, as understood in Europe, depends +upon identity of race, upon community of history and tradition. It +should not be difficult for those whose fathers have lived under the +same sky, and breathed the same air, to sacrifice their prosperity or +their lives to the profit of the State. In making such a sacrifice they +are but repaying the debt of nurture. To the vast majority of Americans +this sentiment, grafted on the past, can make no appeal. The only link +which binds them to America is their sudden arrival on alien soil. They +are akin to the Anglo-Saxons, who first peopled the continent, neither +in blood nor in sympathy. They carry with them their national habits and +their national tastes. They remain Irish, or German, or Italian, with a +difference, though they bear the burden of another State, and assume the +privileges of another citizenship. But there is no mistake about their +Patriotism. Perhaps those shout loudest who see the Star-spangled Banner +unfurled for the first time, and we are confronted in America with the +outspoken expression of a sentiment which cannot be paralleled elsewhere +on the face of the globe. + +They tread the same ground, these vast hordes of patriots, they obey the +same laws,--that is all. Are they, then, moved by a spirit of gratitude, +or do they feel the same loyalty which animates a hastily gathered +football team, which plays not for its honour but for the profit of its +manager? Who shall say? One thing only is certain: the Patriotism of the +cosmopolites, if it be doubtful in origin, is by no means doubtful in +expression. On every Fourth of July the Americans are free to display +the love of their Country, and they use this freedom without restraint. +From the Atlantic to the Pacific Coast, from Vermont to Mexico, the +Eagle screams aloud. She screams from early morn to dewy eve. And there +is nothing to silence her screaming save the explosion of innumerable +crackers, the firing of countless pistols. + +For this day the youth of America is given full licence to shoot his +inoffensive neighbours, and, if he will, to commit the happy despatch +upon him-self. The next morning the newspapers chronicle the injuries +which have been inflicted on and by the boys of New York, for the most +part distinguished by foreign names, with the cold accuracy bred of long +habit. And while the boys prove their patriotism by the explosion of +crackers, their fathers, with equal enthusiasm, devote themselves to +the waving of flags. They hold flags in their hands, they carry them in +their buttonholes, they stick them in their hats, they wear them behind +their ears. Wherever your eye is cast, there are flags to dazzle it, +flags large and flags small, an unbroken orgie of stars and stripes. +It is, in fact, the Guy Fawkes Day of America. And who is the Guy? None +other than George III. of blessed memory. For the Fourth of July has +its duties as well as its pleasures, and the chief of its duties is the +public reading of the Declaration of Independence. In every town +and hamlet Jefferson's burning words are proclaimed in the ears of +enthusiastic citizens. It is pointed out to a motley crowd of newly +arrived immigrants that George, our king, of whom they had not heard +yesterday, was unfit to be the ruler of a free people. And lest the +inestimable benefit of Jefferson's eloquence should be lost to one +single suddenly imported American, his declaration is translated into +Yiddish for the benefit of those to whom English is still an unknown +tongue. In a voice trembling with emotion, the orator assures the +starving ill-clad Pole and the emaciated Bohemian that all men are +free and equal; and so fine is the air of the Great Republic that this +proposition, which refutes itself, is firmly believed for the moment by +the penniless and hungry. And when the sun sets, and darkness enwraps +the happy land, fireworks put a proper finish upon the national joy, and +the favourite set-piece represents, as it should, a noble-hearted Yankee +boy putting to flight a dozen stout red-jackets of King George. + +Humour might suggest that the expression of Patriotism is a trifle +overdone. Perhaps also a truce might be made with King George, who, +if he be permitted to look from the shades upon a country which his +Ministers lost, must surely smile at this immortality of resentment. But +to the stranger, who witnesses this amazing carnival for the first time, +two reflections occur. In the first place, the stranger cannot but +be struck by the perfect adaptation of Jefferson's rodomontade to an +expected purpose. Although that eminent Virginian, at the highest point +of his exaltation, did not look forward to the inrush of foreigners +which is overwhelming his country, there is a peculiar quality in his +words, even when translated into Yiddish, which inspires an inexplicable +enthusiasm. In the second place, the stranger is astounded at the +ingenuity which inspires a crowd, separated by wide differences of race, +speech, and education, with a sudden sympathy for a country which is not +its own. + +And when the last crackers are exploded, and the last flag is waved, +what is left? An unreasoning conviction, cherished, as I have said, by a +foreign population, that America is the greatest country on earth. What +the conviction lacks in sincerity it gains in warmth of expression, +and if America be ever confronted by an enemy, the celebrations of the +Fourth of July will be found not to have been held in vain. Where there +is no just bond of union, a bond must be invented, and Patriotism is the +most notable invention of the great Republic. To have knit up all the +nations of the earth in a common superstition is no mean achievement, +and it is impossible to withhold a fervent admiration from the rhetoric +which has thus attained what seemed, before its hour, the unattainable. + +But in this cosmopolitan orgie of political excitement the true-born +American plays but a small part. He has put the drama on the stage, +and is content to watch the result. If a leader be needed in a time of +stress, the man of Anglo-Saxon blood will be ready to serve the country, +which belongs more intimately to him than to those who sing its praises +with a noisy clatter. Meanwhile he lets the politicians do their worst, +and watches the game with a careless indifference. Even if he loves +his country, his love does not persuade him to self-sacrifice. You +may measure his patriotism by the fact that, if he does venture upon a +political career, his friends know not which they should do--praise him +or condole with him. "Isn't it good of So-and-so?" we constantly hear; +"he has gone into politics." And with the approval is mixed a kindly, +if contemptuous, sorrow. The truth is, that the young American of gentle +birth and leisured ease hates to soil his hands with public affairs. +His ambition does not drive him, as it drives his English cousin, into +Parliament. He prefers to pursue culture in the capitals of Europe, +or to urge an automobile at a furious pace across the sands. And the +inaction of the real American is America's heaviest misfortune. So long +as politics are left to the amateurs of graft, so long will Freedom be +a fiction and Patriotism a piece of mere lip-service. Wealth is not +wanting; brains are not wanting; energy is not wanting. Nothing is +wanting save the inclination to snatch the control of the country +from the hands of professional politicians. And until this control be +snatched, it is idle to speak of reform. The Constitution of the United +States is, we are told, a perfect Constitution. Its perfection is +immaterial so long as Tammany on the one hand and the Trusts on the +other conspire to keep it of no effect--a mere paper thing in a museum. +The one thing needful is for men with clean hands and wise heads to +govern their States, to stand for Congress, to enter the Senate, to +defend the municipalities against corruption. And when this is done, +the Declaration of Independence may safely be forgotten, in the +calm assurance that it is better to spend one day in the service of +patriotism than to fire off a thousand crackers and to dazzle the air +with stars and stripes innumerable. + + + + +THE MILLIONAIRE. + +The millionaire, or the multi-millionaire, if the plainer term be +inadequate to express his lofty condition, is the hero of democratic +America. He has won the allegiance and captured the imagination of the +people. His antics are watched with envy, and described with a faithful +realism of which statesmen are thought unworthy. He is hourly exposed to +the camera; he marches through life attended by a bodyguard of faithful +reporters. The trappings of his magnificent, if vulgar, existence are +familiar to all the readers of the Sunday papers. His silver cars and +marble palaces are the wonder of a continent. If he condescend to play +golf, it is a national event. "The Richest Man on Earth drives from, the +Tee" is a legend of enthralling interest, not because the hero knows how +to drive, but because he is the richest man on earth. Some time since a +thoughtless headline described a poor infant as "The Ten-Million-Dollar +Baby," and thus made his wealth a dangerous incubus before he was out of +the nursery. Everywhere the same tale is told. The dollar has a power +of evoking curiosity which neither valour nor lofty station may boast. +Plainly, then, the millionaire is not made of common day. Liquid gold +flows in his veins. His eyes are made of precious jewels. It is doubtful +whether he can do wrong. If by chance he does, it is almost certain that +he cannot be punished. The mere sight and touch of him have a virtue far +greater than that which kings of old claimed for themselves. He is at +once the en-sample and the test of modern grandeur; and if, like a Roman +emperor, he could be deified, his admiring compatriots would send him to +the skies, and burn perpetual incense before his tomb. + +Though all the millionaires of America are animated by the same +desire,--the collection of dollars,--they regard their inestimable +privileges with very different eyes. Mr Carnegie, for instance, adopts +a sentimental view of money. He falls down in humble worship before the +golden calf of his own making. He has pompously formulated a gospel +of wealth. He piously believes that the millionaire is the greatest of +God's creatures, the eloquent preacher of a new evangel. If we are to +believe him, there is a sacred virtue in the ceaseless accumulation of +riches. It is the first article in his creed, that the millionaire who +stands still is going back, from which it follows that to fall behind in +the idle conflict is a cardinal sin. A simple man might think that when +a manufacturer had made sufficient for the wants of himself and his +family for all time he might, without a criminal intent, relax his +efforts. The simple man does not understand the cult. A millionaire, +oppressed beneath a mountain of gold, would deem it a dishonour to +himself and his colleagues if he lost a chance of adding to the weight +and substance of the mountain. + +Mr Carnegie, then, is inspired not by the romance but by the sentiment +of gold. He cannot speak of the enormous benefits conferred upon the +human race by the vast inequalities of wealth and poverty without a +tear. "Millionaires," he says, "can only grow amid general prosperity." +In other words, if there be not millions in the country the millionaire +cannot put his hand upon them. That is obvious enough. His second text +cannot be so easily accepted. "Their wealth is not made," he asserts +dogmatically, "at the expense of their countrymen." At whose expense +then is it made? Does Mr Carnegie vouch for the probity of all his +colleagues? Does he cover with the aegis of his gospel the magnates +of the Standard Oil Company, and that happy firm which, with no other +advantage than a service of cars, levies toll upon the fruit-growers of +America? Was the Steel Combine established without inflicting hardships +upon less wealthy rivals? An answer to these simple questions should be +given before Mr Carnegie's second text be inscribed upon the walls of +our churches. It is not enough to say with Mr Carnegie that trusts obey +"the law of aggregation." You need not be a Socialist to withhold your +approval from these dollar-making machines, until you know that they +were not established upon ruin and plunder. Even if the millionaire be +the self-denying saint of modern times, it is still possible to pay too +high a price for his sanctity and sacrifice. + +It is the favourite boast of the sentimental millionaire that he holds +his wealth in trust for humanity,--in other words, that he has been +chosen by an all-wise Providence to be the universal almsgiver of +mankind. The arrogance of this boast is unsurpassable. To be rich is +within the compass of any man gifted or cursed with an acquisitive +temperament. No one may give to another save in humbleness of spirit. +And there is not a millionaire in America who does not think that he is +fit to perform a delicate duty which has eluded the wise of all ages. +In this matter Mr Carnegie is by far the worst offender. He pretends to +take his "mission" very seriously. He does not tell us who confided +the trust of philanthropy to him, but he is very sure that he has been +singled out for special service. It is his modest pleasure to suggest a +comparison with William Pitt. "He lived without ostentation and he died +poor." These are the words which Mr Carnegie quotes with the greatest +relish. How or where Mr Carnegie lives is his own affair; and even if +he die poor, he should remember that he has devoted his life, not to the +service of his country, but to the amassing of millions which he cannot +spend. It is obvious, therefore, that the noble words which Canning +dedicated to the memory of Pitt can have no meaning for him, and he +would be wisely guided if he left the names of patriots out of the +argument. + +Mr Carnegie's choice of an epitaph is easily explained. He is wont to +assert, without warrant, that "a man who dies rich dies disgraced." He +does not tell us how the rich man shall escape disgrace. Not even the +master of millions, great and good as he is reputed to be, knows when +his hour comes. There is a foresight which even money cannot buy. Death +visits the golden palace of the rich and the hovel of the poor +with equal and unexpected foot. The fact that Mr Carnegie is still +distributing libraries with both hands seems to suggest that, had he +been overtaken during the last twenty years, he would not have realised +his ideal. There is but one method by which a rich man may die poor, and +that is by disencumbering himself of his wealth the very day that it is +acquired. And he who is not prepared for this sacrifice does but waste +his breath in celebrating the honour of a pauper's grave. + +As there is no merit in living rich, so there is no virtue in dying +poor. That a millionaire should desert his money-bags at his death is +not a reproach to him if they be honestly filled. He has small chance of +emptying them while he is on the earth. But Mr Carnegie has a reason for +his aphorism. He aspires to be a philosopher as well as a millionaire, +and he has decided that a posthumous bequest is of no value, moral or +material. "Men who leave vast sums," says he, "may fairly be thought +men who would not have left it at all had they been able to take it with +them." On such a question as this the authority of Mr Carnegie is not +absolute. Let the cobbler stick to his last. The millionaire, no doubt, +is more familiar with account-books than with the lessons of history; +and the record of a thousand pious benefactors proves the worth of wise +legacies. Nor, indeed, need we travel beyond our own generation to find +a splendid example of wealth honourably bestowed. The will of Cecil +Rhodes remains a tribute to the generosity and to the imagination of +a great man, and is enough of itself to brush aside the quibbles of Mr +Carnegie. + +The sentiment of "doing good" and of controlling great wealth leads +rapidly to megalomania, and Mr Carnegie cannot conceal the pride of +omniscience. He seems to think that his money-bags give him the right to +express a definite opinion upon all things. He has distributed so many +books, that perhaps he believes himself master of their contents. Though +he has not devoted himself to politics or literature, he is always +prepared to advise those who give themselves to these difficult arts. +He has discovered that Greek and Latin are of no more practical use +than Choctaw--which is perfectly true, if the useless money-bag be our +_summum bonum_. With the indisputable authority of a man who keeps a +large balance at his bank, he once dismissed the wars of the Greeks as +"petty and insignificant skirmishes between savages." Poor Greeks! They +did not pay their bills in dollars or buy their steel at Pittsburg. The +chief article in his political creed is that monarchy is a crime. In his +opinion, it is a degradation to kiss the King's hand. "The first man who +feels as he ought to feel," says Mr Carnegie, "will either smile when +the hand is extended at the suggestion that he could so demean himself, +and give it a good hearty shake, or knock his Royal Highness down." In +the same spirit of sturdy "independence" he urged the United States some +years since to tax the products of Canada, because she "owes allegiance +to a foreign power founded upon monarchical institutions." "I should use +the rod," says the moneybag, "not in anger, but in love; but I should +use it." Fortunately, it is not his to use; and his opinions are only +memorable, since the country which he insults with his words is insulted +also by his gifts. We may make too great a sacrifice in self-esteem, +even for the boon of free libraries. + +And with a hatred of monarchy Mr Carnegie combines a childlike faith in +the political power of money. Though his faith by this should be rudely +shaken, he clings to it as best he may. Time was when he wished to buy +the Philippines, and present them, a free gift, to somebody or other. +Now he thinks that he may purchase the peace of the world for a round +sum, and sees not the absurdity of his offer. Even his poor attempt to +bribe the English-speaking peoples to forget their spelling-books was a +happy failure, and he still cherishes an illusion of omnipotence. At the +opening of his Institute at Pittsburg he was bold enough to declare that +his name would be known to future ages "like the name of Harvard." He +might remember that Harvard gave not of his abundance. He bequeathed for +the use of scholars a scholar's books and a scholar's slender savings, +and he won a gracious immortality. Mr Carnegie, in endowing education, +is endowing that which he has publicly condemned. Desiring to teach the +youth of his country how to become as wealthy as himself, he has poured +contempt upon learning. He has declared that "the college-made" man had +"little chance against the boy who swept the office." He is to be found, +this victim of an intellectual ambition, in the salaried class, from +which the aspiring millionaire is bidden to escape as quickly as +possible by the customary methods of bluff and bounce. Why, then, if Mr +Carnegie thinks so ill of colleges and universities does he inflict his +millions upon them? He has known "few young men intended for business +who were not injured by a collegiate education." And yet he has done his +best to drive all the youth of Scotland within the gates of the despised +universities, and he has forced upon his own Pittsburg the gift of "free +education in art and literature." Is it cynicism, or vain inconsequence? +Cynicism, probably. The man who, having devoted his whole career to +the accumulation of superfluous wealth, yet sings a paean in praise +of poverty, is capable of everything. "Abolish luxury, if you +please,"--thus he rhapsodises,--"but leave us the soil upon which alone +the virtues and all that is precious in human character grow,--poverty, +honest poverty!" Has he shed the virtues, I wonder; or is he a +peculiarly sanctified vessel, which can hold the poison of wealth +without injury? + +Of all millionaires, Mr Carnegie is at once the least picturesque and +the most dangerous. He is the least picturesque, because he harbours in +his heart the middle-class ambition of philanthropy. He would undertake +a task for which he is manifestly unfit, in the spirit of provincial +culture. For the same reason he is the most dangerous. He is not content +to squander his immense wealth in race-horses and champagne. He employs +it to interfere with the lives of others. He confers benefits with a +ready hand which are benefits only when they are acquired by conquest. +Of a very different kind is Mr Thomas W. Lawson. He, too, is a +millionaire. He, too, has about him all the appurtenances of wealth. His +fur-coats are mythical. He once paid 30,000 dollars for a pink. "He owns +a palace in Boston," says his panegyrist, "filled with works of art; +he has a six-hundred acre farm in Cape Cod, with seven miles of fences; +three hundred horses, each one of whom he can call by name; a hundred +and fifty dogs; and a building for training his animals larger than +Madison Square Garden." These eloquent lines will prove to you more +clearly than pages of argument the native heroism of the man. He was +scarce out of his cradle when he began to amass vast sums of money, and +he is now, after many years of adventure, a king upon Wall Street. He +represents the melodrama of wealth. He seems to live in an atmosphere +of mysterious disguises, secret letters, and masked faces. His famous +contest with Mr H. H. Rogers, "the wonderful Rogers, the master among +pirates, whom you have to salute even when he has the point of his +cutlass at the small of your back and you're walking the plank at his +order," was conducted, on Mr Lawson's part, in the spirited style of +the old Adelphi. "Mr Rogers' eyes snapped just once," we are told, on +a famous occasion; but Mr Lawson was not intimidated. "I held myself +together," he says proudly, "with closed hands and clinched teeth." +Indeed, these two warriors have never met without much snapping of eyes +and closing of hands and clinching of teeth. Why they snapped and closed +and clinched is uncertain. To follow their operations is impossible for +an outsider, but Mr Lawson always succeeds in convincing you that on the +pretence of money-making he is attacking some lofty enterprise. He would +persuade you that he is a knight-errant of purity. "Tremendous +issues" are always at stake. The heroes of Wall Street are engaged in +never-ending "battles." They are "fighting" for causes, the splendour of +which is not dimmed in Mr Lawson's lurid prose. They have Americanised +the language of ancient chivalry, until it fits the operations of the +modern market. They talk of honour and of "taking each other's word," +as though they had never stooped to dollars in their lives. But of one +thing you may be sure--they are always "on hand when a new melon is cut +and the juice runs out." + +Like the knights of old, they toil not neither do they spin. They make +nothing, they produce nothing, they invent nothing. They merely gamble +with the savings of others, and find the business infinitely profitable. +Yet they, too, must cultivate the language of sentiment. Though the +world is spared the incubus of their philanthropy, they must pretend, in +phrase at least, that they are doing good, and their satisfaction proves +that nothing so swiftly and tranquilly lulls the conscience to sleep as +the dollar. But, as the actor of melodrama falls far below the finished +tragedian, the heroes of the Street, typified by Mr Lawson, are mere +bunglers compared with the greatest millionaire on earth--John D. +Rockefeller. We would no more give him the poor title of "Mr" than we +would give it to Shakespeare. Even "Rockefeller" seems too formal for +his grandeur. Plain "John D." is best suited to express the admiration +of his worshippers, the general fame that shines like a halo about his +head. He is Plutus in human guise; he is Wealth itself, essential and +concrete. A sublime unselfishness has marked his career. He is a true +artist, who pursues his art for its own sake. Money has given him +nothing. He asks nothing of her. Yet he woos her with the same devotion +which a lover shows to his mistress. Like other great men, Rockefeller +has concentrated all his thoughts, all his energies, upon the single +object of his desire. He has not chattered of things which he does +not understand, like Mr Carnegie. He has resolutely refrained from +Mr Lawson's melodramatic exaggeration. Money has been the god of +his idolatry,--"_Dea Moneta_, Queen Money, to whom he daily offers +sacrifice, which steers his heart, hands, affections--all." + +His silence and his concentration give him a picturesqueness which his +rivals lack. He stands apart from the human race in a chill and solitary +grandeur. He seeks advertisement as little as he hankers after pleasure. +The Sunday-school is his dissipation. A suburban villa is his palace. He +seldom speaks to the world, and when he breaks his habit of reticence it +is to utter an aphorism, perfect in concision and cynicism. "Avoid all +honorary posts that cost time"--this was one of his earliest counsels +to the young. "Pay a profit to nobody" is perhaps his favourite maxim. +"Nothing is too small, for small things grow," is another principle +which he formulated at the outset of his career. "I have ways of making +money that you know nothing of," he once told a colleague, and no one +will doubt the truth of his assertion. It is said that when he was +scarce out of his teens he would murmur, with the hope of almost +realised ambition, "I am bound to be rich, bound to be rich, bound to be +rich." He imposed upon all those who served him the imperative duty of +secrecy. He was unwilling that any one should know the policy of the +Trust. "Congress and the State legislature are after us," he once said. +"You may be subpoenaed. If you know nothing, you can tell nothing. If +you know about the business, you might tell something which would ruin +us." The mere presence of a stranger has always been distasteful to him. +The custom of espionage has made him suspect that others are as watchful +as himself. He has been described erroneously as a master of complicated +villainy. He is, for evil or for good, the most single-minded man +alive. He looks for a profit in all things. Even his devotion to the +Sunday-school is of a piece with the test. "Put something in," says +he, speaking of the work, "and according as you put something in, the +greater will be your dividends of salvation." + +His triumphant capture of the oil trade is a twice-told tale. All the +world knows how he crushed his rivals by excluding their wares from the +rail-roads, which gave him rebates, and then purchased for a song +their depreciated properties. At every point he won the battle. He laid +stealthy hands upon the pipe-lines, designed to thwart his monopoly, as +he had previously laid hands upon the railway lines. He discovered no +new processes, he invented no new methods of transport. But he made +the enterprise of others his own. The small refiner went the way of +the small producer, and the energy of those who carried oil over the +mountains helped to fill Rockefeller's pocket. The man himself spared no +one who stood between him and the realisation of his dream. Friends and +enemies fell down before him. He ruined the widow and orphan with the +same quiet cheerfulness wherewith he defeated the competitors who had +a better chance to fight their own battle. The Government was, and is, +powerless to stay his advance. It has instituted prosecutions. It has +passed laws directed at the Standard Oil Company. And all is of no +avail. Before cross-examining counsel, in the face of the court, +Rockefeller maintains an impenetrable silence. He admits nothing. He +confesses nothing. "We do not talk much," he murmurs sardonically; "we +saw wood." A year ago it was rumoured that he would be arrested when +he returned to America from Europe. He is still at large. The body of a +multi-millionaire is sacred. + +He is master of the world's oil, and of much else beside. Having won the +control of one market, he makes his imperial hand felt in many another. +His boast that "money talks" is abundantly justified. The power of money +in making money is the only secret that the millionaires of America +discover for themselves. The man who makes a vast fortune by the +invention or manufacture of something which the people thinks it wants, +may easily take a pride in the fruit of his originality. The captains +of American industry can seldom boast this cause of satisfaction. It is +theirs to exploit, not to create. The great day in Mr Carnegie's life +was that on which "the mysterious golden visitor" came to him, as a +dividend from another's toil. Mr Rockefeller remembers with the greatest +pleasure the lesson which he learned as a boy, "that he could get as +much interest for $50, loaned at seven per cent, as he could earn by +digging potatoes ten days." The lesson of Shylock is not profound, but +its mastery saves a world of trouble. Combined with a light load of +scruples, it will fill the largest coffers; and it has been sufficient +to carry the millionaires of America to the highest pinnacle of fame. + +In other words, the sole test of their success is not their achievement, +but their money-bags. And when, with cynical egoism, they have collected +their unnumbered dollars, what do they do with them? What pleasures, +what privileges, does their wealth procure? It is their fond delusion +that it brings them power. What power? To make more money and to defy +the laws. In England a wealthy man aspires to found a family, to play +his part upon the stage of politics, to serve his country as best he +may, and to prepare his sons for a like honourable service. The American +millionaire does not share this ambition. Like Mr Rockefeller, he avoids +"honorary posts." If he were foolish enough to accept them, he would +not be loyal to the single desire of adding to his store. Perhaps we may +best express his triumph in terms of champagne and oysters, of marble +halls and hastily gathered collections. But even here the satisfaction +is small. The capacity of the human throat is limited, and collections, +made by another and partially understood, pall more rapidly than +orchid-houses and racing-stables. + +This, then, is the tragedy of the American multi-millionaires. They are +doomed to carry about with them a huge load of gold which they cannot +disperse. They are no wiser than the savages, who hide and hoard their +little heaps of cowrie-shells. They might as well have filled their +treasuries with flint-stones or scraps of iron. They muster their wealth +merely to become its slave. They are rich not because they possess +imagination, but because they lack it. Their bank-books are the index of +their folly. They waste their years in a vain pursuit, which they cannot +resist. They exclude from their lives all that makes life worth living, +that they may acquire innumerable specimens of a precious metal. Gold +is their end, not the gratification it may bring. Mr Rockefeller will go +out of the world as limited in intelligence, as uninstructed in mind, +as he was when he entered it. The lessons of history and literature are +lost upon him. The joys for which wise men strive have never been his. +He is the richest man on earth, and his position and influence are the +heaviest indictment of wealth that can be made. His power begins and +ends at the curbstone of Wall Street. His painfully gathered millions +he must leave behind. Even the simple solace of a quiet conscience is +denied to the most of his class. Is there one of them who is not haunted +in hours of depression by the memory of bloody strikes, of honest men +squeezed out, of rival works shut down? + +In a kind of dread they turn to philanthropy. They fling from their +chariots bundles of bank-notes to appease the wolves of justice. +Universities grow ignobly rich upon their hush-money. They were +accurately described three centuries ago by Robert Burton as "gouty +benefactors, who, when by fraud and rapine they have extorted all their +lives, oppressed whole provinces, societies, &c., give something to +pious uses, build a satisfactory almshouse, school, or bridge, &c, at +their last end, or before perhaps, which is no otherwise than to steal +a goose and stick down a feather, rob a thousand to relieve ten." If +America were wise she would not accept even the feather without the +closest scrutiny. Money never loses the scent of its origin, and when +the very rich explain how much they ought to give to their fellows, they +should carry back their inquiry a stage farther. They should tell us why +they took so much, why they suppressed the small factory, why they made +bargains with railways to the detriment of others, why they used their +wealth as an instrument of oppression. If their explanation be not +sufficient, they should not be permitted to unload their gold upon a +stricken country; they should not buy a cheap reputation for generosity +with money that is not their own. + +It may be said that the millionaire decrees the punishment for his own +crimes. That is true enough, but the esteem in which America holds him +inflicts a wrong upon the whole community. Where Rockefeller is a hero, +a false standard of morals is set up. For many years he has preached a +practical sermon upon the text, "The end justifies the means." How great +are the means! How small the end! He has defended his harshest dealings +on the ground that "it is business," and so doing has thrown a slur +upon the commerce of his country. And, worse than this, the wonder and +curiosity which cling about the dollar have created a new measure of +life and character. A man is judged not by his attainments, his courage, +his energy, but by his wealth. It is a simple test, and easily applied. +It is also the poorest encouragement for the civic virtues. In England +we help to correct the vulgarity of wealth by the distribution of +titles, and a better aid than this could not be devised. Though the +champions of democracy, who believe in equality of names as devoutly +as in inequality of wealth, deem this old-fashioned artifice a shameful +crime, it is not without its uses. It suggests that public service is +worth a higher distinction than a mass of money. And, titles apart, it +is happily not in accord with the traditions of our life to regard the +rich man and the poor man as beings of a different clay and a different +destiny. We may still echo without hypocrisy the words of Ben Jonson, +"Money never made any man rich, but his mind." + + + + +THE AMERICAN LANGUAGE. + +To the English traveller in America the language which he hears spoken +about him is at once a puzzle and a surprise. It is his own, yet not his +own. It seems to him a caricature of English, a phantom speech, ghostly +but familiar, such as he might hear in a land of dreams. He recognises +its broad lineaments; its lesser details evade, or confuse, him. He +acknowledges that the two tongues have a common basis. Their grammatical +framework is identical. The small change of language--the adverbs and +prepositions,--though sometimes strangely used in America, are not +strange to an English ear. And there the precise resemblance ends. +Accent, idiom, vocabulary give a new turn to the ancient speech. The +traveller feels as though he were confronted with an old friend, tricked +out in an odd suit of clothes, and master of a new pose and unaccustomed +gesture. + +The Americans are commonly reputed to speak through their nose. A more +intimate acquaintance with their manner belies this reputation. It is +rather a drawl that afflicts the ear than a nasal twang. You notice in +every sentence a curious shifting of emphasis. America, with the true +instinct of democracy, is determined to give all parts of speech an +equal chance. The modest pronoun is not to be outdone by the blustering +substantive or the self-asserting verb. And so it is that the native +American hangs upon the little words: he does not clip and slur "the +smaller parts of speech," and what his tongue loses in colour it gains +in distinctness. + +If the American continent had been colonised by Englishmen before the +invention of printing, we might have watched the growth of another +Anglo-Saxon tongue, separate and characteristic. American might have +wandered as far from English as French or Spanish has wandered from +Latin. It might have invented fresh inflections, and shaped its own +syntax. But the black art of Gutenberg had hindered the free development +of speech before John Smith set foot in Virginia, and the easy +interchange of books, newspapers, and other merchandise ensured a +certain uniformity. And so it was that the Americans, having accepted a +ready-made system of grammar, were forced to express their fancy in +an energetic and a multi-coloured vocabulary. Nor do they attempt +to belittle their debt, Rather they claim in English an exclusive +privilege. Those whose pleasure it is to call America "God's own +country" tell us with a bluff heartiness that they are the sole +inheritors of the speech which Chaucer and Shakespeare adorned. It is +their favourite boast that they have preserved the old language from +extinction. They expend a vast deal of ingenuity in the fruitless +attempt to prove that even their dialect has its roots deep down in the +soil of classical English. And when their proofs are demanded they +are indeed a sorry few. A vast edifice of mistaken pride has been +established upon the insecure basis of three words--fall, gotten, and +bully. These once were familiar English, and they are English no more. +The word "fall," "the fall of the leaf," which so beautifully echoes +the thought of spring, survives only in our provinces. It makes but +a furtive and infrequent appearance in our literature. Chaucer and +Shakespeare know it not. It is found in "The Nymph's Reply to the +Shepherd": + + "A honey tongue, a heart of gall + Is fancy's Spring, but Sorrow's Fall." + +Johnson cites but one illustration of its use--from Dryden: + +"What crowds of patients the town-doctor kills, Or how last fall he +raised the weekly hills." + +On the other side of the Atlantic it is universally heard and written. +There the word "autumn" is almost unknown; and though there is a dignity +in the Latin word ennobled by our orators and poets, there is no one +with a sense of style who will not applaud the choice of America. + +But if she may take a lawful pride in "fall," America need not boast the +use of "gotten." The termination, which suggests either wilful archaism +or useless slang, adds nothing of sense or sound to the word. It is like +a piece of dead wood in a tree, and is better lopped off. Nor does the +use of "bully" prove a wholesome respect for the past. It is true that +our Elizabethans used this adjective in the sense of great or noble. +"Come," writes Ben Jonson in "The Poetaster," "I love bully Horace." +{*} But in England the word was never of universal application, and was +sternly reserved for poets, kings, and heroes. In modern America there +is nothing that may not be "bully" if it meet with approval. "A bully +place," "a bully boat," "a bully blaze,"--these show how far the word +has departed from its origin. Nor, indeed, does it come down from +English in an unbroken line. Overlooked for centuries, it was revived +(or invented) in America some fifty years ago, and it is not to Dekker +and Ben Jonson that we must look for palliation of its misuse. + + * Innumerable examples might be culled from the literature + of the seventeenth century. One other will suffice here, + taken from Dekker's "Shoemaker's Holiday ": "Yet I'll + shave it off," says the shoemaker, of his beard, "and stuff + a tennis-ball with it, to please my bully king." + +Words have their fates. By a caprice of fortune one is taken, another +is left. This is restricted to a narrow use; that wanders free over +the plain of meaning. And thus we may explain many of the variations +of English and of American speech. A simple word crosses the ocean and +takes new tasks upon itself. The word "parlour," for instance, is dying +in our midst, while "parlor" gains a fresh vigour from an increasing +and illegitimate employment. Originally a room in a religious house, a +parlour (or parloir) became a place of reception or entertainment. Two +centuries ago an air of elegance hung about it. It suggested spinnets +and powdered wigs. And then, as fashion turned to commonness, the +parlour grew stuffy with disuse, until it is to-day the room reserved +for a vain display, consecrated to wax-flowers and framed photographs, +hermetically sealed save when the voice of gentility bids its furtive +door be opened. The American "parlor" resembles the "parlour" of the +eighteenth century as little as the "parlour" of the Victorian age. It +is busy, public, and multifarious. It means so many things that at last +it carries no other meaning than that of a false elegance. It is in a +dentist's parlor that the American's teeth are gilded; he is shaved in +a tonsorial parlor; he travels in a parlor-car; and Miss Maudie's parlor +proves how far an ancient and respected word may wander from its origin. +One example, of many, will illustrate the accidents which beset the life +of words. No examples will prove the plain absurdity which has flattered +the vanity of some American critics that their language has faithfully +adhered to the tradition of English speech. + +The vocabulary of America, like the country itself, is a strange medley. +Some words it has assimilated into itself; others it holds, as it were, +by a temporary loan. And in its choice, or invention, it follows two +divergent, even opposite, paths. On the one hand, it pursues and gathers +to itself barbarous Latinisms; on the other, it is eager in its quest +after a coarse and living slang. + +That a country which makes a constant boast of its practical +intelligence should delight in long, flat, cumbrous collections of +syllables, such as "locate," "operate," "antagonize," "transportation," +"commutation," and "proposition," is an irony of civilisation. These +words, if words they may be called, are hideous to the eye, offensive +to the ear, and inexpressive to the mind. They are the base coins of +language. They bear upon their face no decent superscription. They are +put upon the street, fresh from some smasher's den, and not even the +newspapers, contemptuous as they are of style, have reason to be proud +of them! Nor is there any clear link between them and the meaning thrust +upon them. Why should the poor holder of a season-ticket have the grim +word "commutation" hung round his neck? Why should the simple business +of going from one place to another be labelled "transportation"? +And these words are apt and lucid compared with "proposition." Now +"proposition" is America's maid-of-all-work. It means everything or +nothing. It may be masculine, feminine, neuter--he, she, it. It is tough +or firm, cold or warm, according to circumstances. But it has no more +sense than an expletive, and its popularity is a clear proof of an idle +imagination. + +And while the American language is collecting those dried and shrivelled +specimens of verbiage, it does not disdain the many-coloured flowers of +lively speech. In other words, it gives as ready a welcome to the last +experiment in Slang as to its false and pompous Latinisms. Nor is the +welcome given in vain. Never before in the world's history has Slang +flourished as it has flourished in America. And its triumph is not +surprising. It is more than any artifice of speech the mark of a various +and changing people. America has a natural love of metaphor and imagery; +its pride delights in the mysteries of a technical vocabulary; it is +happiest when it can fence itself about by the privilege of an exclusive +and obscure tongue. And what is Slang but metaphor? There is no class, +no cult, no trade, no sport which will not provide some strange words or +images to the general stock of language, and America's variety has been +a quick encouragement to the growth of Slang. She levies contributions +upon every batch of immigrants. The old world has thus come to the aid +of the new. Spanish, Chinese, German, and Yiddish have all paid their +toll. The aboriginal speech of the Indians, and its debased lingo, +Chinook, have given freely of their wealth. And not only many tongues +but many employments have enhanced the picturesqueness of American +Slang. America has not lost touch with her beginnings. The spirit of +adventure is still strong within her. There is no country within +whose borders so many lives are led. The pioneer still jostles the +millionaire. The backwoods are not far distant from Wall Street. +The farmers of Ohio, the cowboys of Texas, the miners of Nevada, owe +allegiance to the same Government, and shape the same speech to their +own purpose. Every State is a separate country, and cultivates a +separate dialect. Then come baseball, poker, and the racecourse, each +with its own metaphors to swell the hoard. And the result is a language +of the street and camp, brilliant in colour, multiform in character, +which has not a rival in the history of speech. + +There remains the Cant of the grafters and guns, the coves that work +upon the cross in the great cities. In England, as in France, this +strange gibberish is the oldest and richest form of Slang. Whence +it came is still a puzzle of the philologists. Harrison, in his +'Description of England' (1577), with a dogmatism which is not +justified, sets a precise date upon its invention. + +In counterfeiting the Egyptian rogues [says he of the vagabonds who then +infested England], they have devised a language among themselves which +they name Canting, but others Pedlars' French, a speech compact thirty +years since of English, and a great number of odd words of their own +devising, without all order or reason: and yet such is it that none but +themselves are able to understand. The first deviser thereof was hanged +by the neck,--a just reward, no doubt, for his deserts, and a common end +to all of that profession. + +The lingo, called indifferently Thieves' Latin or St Giles's Greek, was +assuredly not the invention of one brain. The work of many, it supplied +an imperious need. It was at once an expression of pride and a shield of +defence. Those who understood it proved by its use that they belonged +to a class apart; and, being unintelligible to the respectable majority, +they could communicate with one another--secretly, as they hoped, and +without fear of detection. Throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth +centuries the flash tongue grew and was changed; it crossed the Atlantic +with the early settlers, and it has left its marks upon the dialect of +the American underworld. But its influence upon the common Slang has +been light in America, as in England. It is as severely technical as the +language of science, and is familiar chiefly to policemen, tramps, and +informers. As Slang leaves the tavern and the street-corner, to invade +the theatre, the office, and even the drawing-room, those who aim at a +variety of speech need owe no debt to the Cant of the vagabonds, and +it is not surprising that to-day the vulgar tongue, in America as in +England, borrows more from "soldiers on the long march, seamen at the +capstan, and ladies disposing of fish," than from the common cursetors +and cony-catchers who once dominated it. + +The use of Slang proves at once the wealth and poverty of a language. It +proves its wealth when it reflects a living, moving image. It proves +its poverty when it is nothing more than the vain echo of a familiar +catchword. + +At its best it is an ornament of speech; at its worst it is a +labour-saving device. And it is for this reason that the vulgar American +delights in the baser kind of Slang: it seems to ensure him an easy +effect He must be picturesque at all costs. Sometimes he reaches the +goal of his ambition by a purposed extravagance. What can be more +foolish than the description which follows of a man equal to the most +difficult occasion: "He can light his cigar, when the battle is on, with +the friction of a passing cannon-ball." In yet worse taste is another +piece of fustian, invented by the same author: "When a 'twister' off +the hills gets ready to do business in a 20-knot sou'wester it sends no +messenger boys ahead to distribute its itinerary handbills." There is no +fault of style which these few lines do not display. They combine, with +a singular success, commonness and pomp. The epic poets of old were wont +to illustrate the life of man by the phenomena of nature. The vulgar +American reverses the process--he illustrates nature from the pavement. + +Exaggeration, then, is one easy artifice of effect. Another is the +constant repetition of certain words and phrases which have lost their +meaning by detrition and are known to all. Not to be disappointed is +sometimes as pleasant as to be surprised. A catchword passed from one to +another is often a signal of sympathy, and many a man has been taken for +a wit merely because his tinkling brain has given back the echo which +was expected. In stereotyped phrases, in ready-made sentences, in the +small change of meaningless words, the American language is peculiarly +rich. "To cut ice," "to get next to," "straight goods," {*}--these and +similar expressions, of no obvious merit in themselves, long ago lost +their freshness, and are not likely to assume a dignity with age. But +they save trouble, they establish an understanding between him who +speaks and him who hears; and when they are thrown into a discourse they +serve the purpose of gestures, To exclaim "I should smile" or "I should +cough" is not of much help in an argument, but such interjections +as these imply an appreciation not merely of slang but of your +interlocutor. + + * To the Englishman who knows them not, the following + quotations will explain their significance:-- + + "Tain't what ye ain't or what ye don't do that cuts ice with + me." + + "Well, invested capital has got to protect itself when the + law won't do it. Ain't them straight goods?" + + "Boston don't want Bishop Potter to come up here an' tell + her 't she ain't next to the latest curves in goodness. + Hully gee, no!" + +Slang is better heard than read. The child of the street or the +hedgerow, it assumes in print a grave air which does not belong to it, +or, worse still, it is charged with the vice or the vagabondage which +it suggests. And so it is that Slang words have a life as closely packed +with adventure as is the life of those who use them with the quickest +understanding. To ask what becomes of last year's Slang is as rash as to +speculate on the fate of last year's literature. Many specimens die in +the gutter, where they were born, after living a precarious life in the +mouths of men. Others are gathered into dictionaries, and survive to +become the sport of philologists. For the worst of their kind special +lexicons are designed, which, like prisons and workhouses, admit only +the disreputable, as though Victor Hugo's definition--"L'argot, c'est +le verbe devenu forçat"--were amply justified. The journals, too, which +take their material where they find it, give to many specimens a life as +long as their own. It is scarcely possible, for instance, to pick up an +American newspaper that does not turn the word _cinch_ to some strange +purpose. The form and origin of the word are worthy a better fate. It +passed from Spain into the Western States, and was the name given +to saddle-girths of leather or woven horse-hair. It suggests Mexican +horsemanship and the open prairie. The explanation given in the Century +Dictionary will make clear its meaning to the untravelled: "The two +ends of the tough cordage, which constitute the cinch, terminate in long +narrow strips of leather called _latigos_, which connect the cinches +with the saddle, and are run through an iron ring, called the _larigo_ +ring, and then tied by a series of complicated turns and knots, known +only to the craft." In the West the word is still used in its natural +and dignified sense. For example: "At Giles's ranch, on the divide, the +party halted to cinch up." And then in the East it has become the victim +of extravagant metaphor. As a verb, it means to hold firm, to put a +screw on; as a noun, it means a grip or screw, an advantage fair or +unfair. In the hand of the sporting reporter it can achieve wonders. +"The bettor of whom the pool-room bookmaker stands in dread"--this +flower of speech is culled from the 'New York World'--"is the race-horse +owner, who has a cinch bottled up for a particular race, and drops into +the room an hour or two before the race begins." The idea of bottling a +cinch is enough to make a Californian shudder, and this confused image +helps to explain the difference between East and West. + +Thus words wander farther and farther from their origin; and when at +last their meanings are wholly forgotten or obscured, they become part +of the common speech. One kind of Slang may succeed to another, but +cinch is secure for ever of a place in the newspaper, and in the spoken +language, of America. Caboodle, also, is firmly established. The long +series of words, such as Cachunk or Kerblunk, which suggest the impact +of falling bodies with the earth, will live as expletives with Say, +Sure, and many other, interjections which fill up the pauses of thought +and speech. There are two other specimens of Slang beloved by the +journals, for which it would be rash to prophesy a long life. To call +a man or a thing or an act "the limit," is for the moment the highest +step, save one, in praise or blame. When the limit is not eloquent +enough to describe the hero who has climbed the topmost rung of glory, +the language gasps into simplicity, and declares that he is It. "I +didn't do a thing," says an eminent writer, "but push my face in there +about eight o'clock last night, and I was It from the start." Though +the pronoun is expressive enough, it does not carry with it the signs of +immortality, and the next change of fashion may sweep it away into the +limbo of forgotten words. + +The journals do their best to keep alive the language of the people. The +novelists do far more, since their works outlive by months or years the +exaggeration of the press. And the novelists, though in narrative they +preserve a scrupulous respect for the literary language, take what +licence the dialect and character of their personages permit them. It +is from novels, indeed, that future generations will best be able to +construct the speech of to-day. With the greatest skill the writers of +romance mimic the style and accent of their contemporaries. They +put into the mouths of those who, in life, knew no other lingo, the +highly-flavoured Slang of the street or the market. Here, for instance, +is the talk of a saloon-keeper, taken from W. Payne's story, 'The Money +Captain,' which echoes, as nearly as printed words can echo, the voice +of the boodler: + +"Stop it?" says the saloon-keeper of a journalist's attack. "What I got +to stop it with? What's the matter with you fellows anyhow? You come +chasin' yourselves down here, scared out of your wits because a dinky +little one cent newspaper's makin' faces at you. A man 'd think you was +a young lady's Bible-class and 'd seen a mouse.... Now, that's right," +he exclaims, as another assailant appears; "make it unanimous. Let all +hands come and rig the ship on old Simp. Tell him your troubles and ask +him to help you out. He ain't got nothing better to do. Pitch into him; +give him hell; he likes it. Come one, come all--all you moth-eaten, +lousy stiffs from Stiffville. Come, tell Simp there's a reporter +rubberin' around and you're scared to death. He'll sympathise with +you--you sweet-scented skates." + +It is not an elegant method of speech, but such as it is, it bears as +close a resemblance to the dialect of Chicago as can be transferred from +the ear to the eye. + +If we compare the present with the past, we cannot but acknowledge that +American Slang has grown marvellously in colour and variety. The jargon +of Artemus Ward and Josh Billings possessed as little fire as character. +These two humourists obtained their effect by the simple method, lately +advocated by Messrs Roosevelt and Carnegie, of spelling as they pleased. +The modern professors of Slang have invented a new style. Their pages +sparkle with wit and allusion. They interpret their shrewd sense +in words and phrases which have never before enjoyed the freedom of +printer's ink. George Ade, the best of them all, has shown us how the +wise ones of Chicago think and speak. His 'Fables in Slang' is a little +masterpiece of humour in substance and wit in expression. To quote from +it would be to destroy its effect. But it will discover the processes of +Slang, as it is understood in the West, more clearly than any argument, +and having amused the present generation, it will remain an historical +document of enduring value. + +Slang is the only language known to many thousands of citizens. The +newly arrived immigrant delights to prove his familiarity with the land +of his adoption by accepting its idioms and by speaking the American, +not of books but of the market-place. And yet this same Slang, +universally heard and understood, knocks in vain for admission into +American literature. It expatiates in journals, in novels of dialect, +and in works, like George Ade's, which are designed for its exposition. +But it has no part in the fabric of the gravely written language. Men +of letters have disdained its use with a scrupulousness worthy our own +eighteenth century. The best of them have written an English as pure as +a devout respect for tradition can make it. Though they have travelled +far in space and thought, they have anchored their craft securely in the +past. No writer that has handled prose or verse with a high seriousness +has offended against the practice of the masters--save only Walt +Whitman. The written word and the spoken word differ even more widely +in America than elsewhere. The spoken word threw off the trammels of an +uneasy restraint at the very outset. The written word still obeys the +law of gradual development, which has always controlled it. If you +contrast the English literature of to-day with the American, you will +find differences of accent and expression so slight that you may neglect +them. You will find resemblances which prove that it is not in vain that +our literatures have a common origin and have followed a common road. +The arts, in truth, are more willingly obedient than life or politics to +the established order; and America, free and democratic though she be, +loyally acknowledges the sovereignty of humane letters. American is +heard at the street corner. It is still English that is written in the +study. + + + + +AMERICAN LITERATURE. + +There can, in fact, be no clearer proof that the tradition of literature +is stronger than the tradition of life than the experience of America. +The new world, to its honour be it said, has discovered no new art. The +ancient masters of our English speech are the masters also of America. +The golden chain of memory cannot be shaken off, and many of those who +raise with the loudest voice the cry of freedom have shown themselves +the loyal and willing slaves of the past. + +The truth is that from the first the writers of America have lagged +honourably behind their age. The wisest of them have written with a +studious care and quiet reverence. As if to mark the difference between +the written language and the vernacular, they have assumed a style which +belonged to their grandfathers. This half-conscious love of reaction +has been ever present with them. Tou may find examples at each stage of +their history. Cotton Mather, who armed his hand and tongue against +the intolerable sin of witchcraft, wrote when Dutch William was on our +throne, and in style he was but a belated Elizabethan. There is no other +writer with whom we may compare him, save Robert Burton, who also lived +out of his due time. Take this specimen of his prose, and measure +its distance from the prose of Swift and Addison, his younger +contemporaries: "Wherefore the Devil," writes Mather in the simplicity +of his faith, "is now making one Attempt more upon us; an Attempt +more Difficult, more Surprising, more snarl'd with unintelligible +Circumstances than any that we have hitherto Encountered; an Attempt so +Critical, that if we get well through, we shall soon enjoy Halcyon Days +with all the Vultures of Hell trodden under our feet." In sound and +structure Mather's style is what the critics call "archaistic." It is +all untouched by the influences of another world, and though "the New +Englanders were," in Mather's view, "a People of God settled in those, +which were once the Devil's Territories," they carried their prose from +the old country, and piously bowed before an old tradition. + +Thus has it been with each generation of men. Thoreau fondly believed +that Walden had brought him near to nature, and he wrote with the +accumulated artifice of the centuries. Hawthorne's language was as +old in fashion as the Salem which he depicted, as "the grave, bearded, +sable-cloaked, and steeple-crowned progenitor, who came so early with +his Bible and his sword, and trode the common street with such stately +port, and made so large a figure as a man of war and peace." But it was. +upon Emerson that tradition has most strangely exercised its imperious +sway. Now Emerson was an anarch who flouted the conventions of art and +life. It was his hope to see the soul of this world "clean from all +vestige of tradition." He did not understand that what is? proceeded +inevitably from what was He affected to spurn the past as a clog upon +his individuality. Anticipating Walt Whitman, he would have driven +away his nearest friends, saying, "Who are you? Unhand me: I will be +dependent no more." So lightly did he pretend to esteem history that he +was sure that an individual experience could explain all the ages, that +each man went through in his own lifetime the Greek period, the medieval +period--every period, in brief--until he attained to the efflorescence +of Concord. "What have I to do with the sacredness of tradition," he +asked proudly, "if I live wholly from within?" So much had he to do with +it that he never wrote a line save in obedience. Savage as he was in the +declaration of his own individuality, he expressed it in the gracious +terms of an inherited art. To this age Emerson's provincialism appears +sad enough. It would not have been remembered had it not been set forth +in a finely studied and mellifluous prose. No sooner did Emerson take +pen in hand than his anarchy was subdued. He instantly became the slave +of all the periods which he despised. He was a faithful follower of +the best models, a patient student of masters dead and gone. Though he +aspired to live wholly from within, he composed his works wholly from +without, and fashioned an admirable style for himself, more antique in +shape and sound than the style affected by the Englishmen of his time. +But it is Edgar Allan Poe who most eloquently preached the gospel of +style, and who most honourably defended the cause of art pursued without +the aid of the pulpit. Taste he declared to be the sole arbiter of +Poetry. "With the intellect or the Conscience," said he, "it has only +collateral relations. Unless incidentally it has no concern whatever +either with Duty or Truth." Not that he belittled the exigence of Truth; +he did but insist on a proper separation. "The demands of Truth," he +admitted, "are severe; she has no sympathy with the myrtles. All that +which is so indispensable in song is precisely all that with which she +has nothing whatever to do." And thus it followed that he had small +sympathy with Realism, which he denounced in the clear spirit of +prophecy many years before it had become a battle-cry of criticism: + +The defenders of this pitiable stuff [he wrote] uphold it on the ground +of its truthfulness. Taking the thesis into question, this truthfulness +is the one overwhelming defect. An original idea that--to laud the +accuracy with which the stone is hurled that knocks us in the head. +A little less accuracy might have left us more brains. And here +are critics absolutely commending the truthfulness with which the +disagreeable is conveyed! In my view, if an artist must paint decayed +cheeses, his merit will lie in their looking as little like decayed +cheeses as possible. + +Of this wise doctrine Poe was always a loyal exponent. The strange +veiled country in which he placed the shadows of his creation lay not +within the borders of the United States. He was the child neither of his +land nor of his century. Dwelling among men who have always worshipped +size, he believed that there was no such thing as a long poem. A +fellow-citizen of bustling men, he refused to bend the knee to industry. +"Perseverance is one thing," said he, "genius quite another." And it is +not surprising that he lived and died without great honour in his own +country. Even those of his colleagues who guarded the dignity of their +craft with a zeal equal to his own, shrank from the pitiless logic of +his analysis. They loved his work as little as they respected his +life. They judged him by a censorious standard which took no account of +genius. And Poe shared with dignity and without regret the common fate +of prophets. If he is still an exile in American esteem, he long since +won the freedom of the larger world. He has been an inspiration to +France, the inspirer of the nations. He did as much as any one of his +contemporaries to mould the literary art of our day, and in the prose of +Baudelaire and Mallarmé he lives a life whose lustre the indifference of +his compatriots will never dim. + +Whence comes it, this sedulous attention to style, which does honour +to American literature? It comes in part, I think, from the fact that, +before the triumph of journalism, American men of letters were secluded +from their fellows. They played no _rôle_ in the national drama. They +did not work for fame in the field of politics. They were a band of +aristocrats dwelling in a democracy, an _imperium in imperio_. They +wrote their works for themselves and their friends. They made no appeal +to the people, and knowing that they would be read by those capable +of pronouncing sentence, they justified their temerity by a proper +castigation, of their style. And there is another reason why American +literature should be honourably formal and punctilious, If the written +language diverges widely from the vernacular, it must perforce be +studied more sedulously than where no such divergence is observed. For +the American, accustomed to the language spoken by his countrymen and +to the lingo of the daily press, literary English is an acquired tongue, +which he studies with diligence and writes with care. He treats it +with the same respect with which some Scots--Drummond, Urquhart, and +Stevenson--have treated it, and under his hand it assumes a classic +austerity, sometimes missed by the Englishman, who writes it with the +fluency and freedom bred of familiar use. The stately and erudite work +of Francis Parkman is a fair example. The historian of 'Montcalm and +Wolfe' has a clear title to immortality. Assuredly he holds a worthy +place among the masters. He is of the breed of Gibbon and Michelet, of +Livy and Froude. He knows how to subordinate knowledge to romance. He +disdains the art of narrative as little as he disdains the management +of the English sentence. He is never careless, seldom redundant. The +plainest of his effects are severely studied. Here, for instance, is his +portrait of an Indian chief, epic in its simplicity, and withal composed +with obvious artistry: + +See him as he lies there in the sun, kicking his heels in the air and +cracking jokes with his brother. Does he look like a hero? See him +now in the hour of his glory, when at sunset the whole village empties +itself to behold him, for to-morrow their favourite young partisan +goes out against the enemy. His head-dress is adorned with a crest +of war-eagle's feathers, rising in a waving ridge above his brow, and +sweeping far behind him. His round white shield hangs at his breast, +with feathers radiating from the centre like a star. His quiver is at +his back; his tall lance in his hand, the iron point flashing against +the declining sun, while the long scalp-locks of his enemies flutter +from the shaft. Thus gorgeous as a champion in panoply, he rides round +and round within the great circle of lodges, balancing with a graceful +buoyancy to the free movements of his war-horse, while with a sedate +brow he sings his song to the Great Spirit. + +That is the language of classicism. The epithets are not far-sought. +They come naturally to the mind. The hero's shield is round and white; +his lance is tall; long are the scalp-locks of his enemies. Thus would +Homer and Virgil have heightened the picture, and Park-man is clearly +attentive to the best models. Even when he describes what his eye +has seen he cannot disengage his impression from the associations of +literature. It is thus that he sets before us Braddock's line of march: + +It was like a thin, party-coloured snake, red, blue, and brown, trailing +slowly through the depth of leaves, creeping round inaccessible heights, +crawling over ridges, moving always in dampness and shadow, by rivulets +and waterfalls, crags and chasms, gorges and shaggy steeps. In glimpses +only, through jagged boughs and flickering leaves, did this wild +primeval world reveal itself, with its dark green mountains, flecked +with the morning mist, and its distant summits pencilled in dreamy blue. + +As you read these words you are less keenly conscious of a visual +impression than of a verbal effect, and it may be said without reserve +that never for a page of his many volumes does Park-man forget the +demands of dignity and restraint. + +Excellent as is the style, it is never American. Parkman does not reveal +his origin in a single phrase. He has learned to write not in his own +land, but in the England of the eighteenth century. When he speaks +of "the pampered Sardanapalus of Versailles," and of "the silken +favourites' calculated adultery," we are conscious that he has learnt +whatever lesson Gibbon has to teach. In other words, he, too, is +obedient to the imperious voice of convention. And the novelists follow +the same path as the historians. Mr Henry James, in his patient analysis +of human character, has evoked such subtle harmonies as our English +speech has not known before. Mr Howells, even when he finds his material +in the land of his birth, shows himself the master of a classic style, +exquisite in balance and perfect in tone. And both share the common +inheritance of our tongue, are links in the central chain of our +tradition, and in speech, if not in thought, are sternly conservative. + +This, then, is an irony of America, that the country which has a natural +dislike of the past still dances to the ancient measures, that the +country which has invented so much has not invented a new method of +expression, that the country which questions all things accepts its +literature in simple faith. The advantages of conformity are obvious. +Tradition is nine-tenths of all the arts, and the writers of America +have escaped the ruin which overtakes the bold adventurer who stakes +his all upon first principles. But sometimes we miss the one-tenth that +might be added. How much is there in the vast continent which might be +translated into words! And how little has achieved a separate, living +utterance! Mr Stedman has edited an American Anthology, a stout volume +of some eight hundred pages, whose most obvious quality is a certain +technical accomplishment. The unnumbered bards of America compose their +verses with a diffident neatness, which recalls the Latin style +of classical scholars. The workmanship is deft, the inspiration is +literary. If many of the authors' names were transposed small injustice +would be done them. The most of the work might have been written +anywhere and under any conditions. Neither sentiment nor local colour +suggests the prairie or the camp. + +It is the intervention of dialect which alone confers a distinctive +character upon American verse. Wisely is Mr Stedman's collection +called an Anthology. It has something of the same ingenuity, the same +impersonality, which marks the famous Anthology of the Greeks; it +illustrates the temper not of a young but of an old people. + +How shall we surprise in her literature the true spirit of America? +Surely not in Walt Whitman, whose work is characteristic not of his +country, but of himself, who fondly believed that he would make a loud +appeal to the democracy because he stamped upon the laws of verse, and +used words which are not to be found in the dictionary. Had the people +ever encountered his 'Leaves of Grass,' it would not have understood it. +The verse for which the people craves is the ditties of the music-hall. +It has no desire to consider its own imperfections with a self-conscious +eye. It delights in the splendour of mirrors, in the sparkle of +champagne, in the trappings of a sordid and remote romance. The praise +of liberty and equality suits the ear not of the democrat, but of the +politician and dilettante, and it was to the dilettante and politician +that Walt Whitman addressed his exhortations. Even his studied contempt +for the literary conventions is insincere, and falls away from Kim +when he sees and feels most vividly. He attempted to put into practice +Emerson's theory of anarchy. He was at the pains to prove that he was +at once a savage and a poet. That he had moments of poetic exaltation is +true. The pomp of Brooklyn Ferry lives in his stately verse. + +But he was no savage. It was his culture that spoke to the culture +of others; it was a worn-out commonplace which won him the regard +of politicians. He inspired parodists, not poets. And he represented +America as little as he echoed the voice of the people. + +Nor is it in the works of the humourists that we shall catch a glimpse +of the national character. They, too, cast no shadow but their own. +They attain their effects by bad spelling, and a simple transliteration +reveals the poverty of their wit. There is but one author who represents +with any clarity the spirit of his country, and that author is Mark +Twain. Not Mark Twain the humourist, the favourite of the reporters, the +facile contemner of things which are noble and of good report, but Mark +Twain, the pilot of the Mississippi, the creator of Huck Finn and Tom +Sawyer. He is national as Fielding is national. Future ages will look +upon Huck Finn as we look upon Tom Jones,--as an embodiment of national +virtue. And Mark Twain's method is his own as intimately as the puppets +of his imagining. It is impossible to read a page of his masterpieces +without recognising that they could have been composed only in an +American environment. The dialect in which they are written enhances +their verisimilitude without impairing their dignity; and the flashes +of humour which light up the gravity of the narrative are never out of +place nor out of tune. The cunning and resourcefulness of his boyish +heroes are the cunning and resourcefulness of America, and the sombre +Mississippi is the proper background for this national epic. The danger, +the excitement, the solemnity of the great river are vividly portrayed. +They quicken his narrative; they inspire him to eloquence. He remembers +with a simple enthusiasm the glory of the sun setting upon its broad +expanse; he remembers also that the river and its shoals are things to +fear and to fight. + +Fully to realise the marvellous precision [he writes] required in laying +the great steamer in her marks in that murky waste of water, one should +know that not only must she pick her intricate way through snags and +blind reefs, and then shave the head of the island so closely as to +brush the overhanging foliage with her stern, but at one place she must +pass almost within arm's reach of a sunken and visible wreck that would +snatch the hull timbers from under her if she should strike it, and +destroy a quarter of a million dollars' worth of steamboat and cargo +in five minutes, and maybe a hundred and fifty human lives into the +bargain. + +In calm, as in flood, Mark Twain has mastered the river, and has made +it his own. Once upon a time the Mississippi called up a vision of +the great Gulf opening on the sight of La Salle, "tossing its restless +billows, limitless, voiceless, lonely as when born of chaos, without +a sail, without a sign of life." Now a humbler image is evoked, and we +picture Huck Finn and Jim floating down the broad stream in the august +society of the Duke and the Dauphin. + +Though Mark Twain cultivates the South-Western dialect, and does not +disdain the speech of Pike County, there is in his two romances no +suspicion of provincialism. Style and imagination give them the freedom +of the whole world. They are of universal truth and application. But +since the days of Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer the conditions of American +literature have changed, and for the worse. As in England, so in +America, a wide diffusion of books, an eager and general interest in +printed matter, have had a disastrous effect. The newspapers, by giving +an improper advertisement to the makers of books, have rendered the +literary craft more difficult of pursuit. The ambition of money has +obscured the simple end of literature, and has encouraged a spirit of +professionalism eminently characteristic of a practical country. We hear +of works of fiction sketched in the back-offices of publishers, whose +hands are held upon the public pulse. All is arranged, we are told, by +the man of business--period, plot, characters. Nothing is left to the +novelist but to carry out the instructions of his taskmaster, and when +you contemplate the result you can feel no surprise at this composite +authorship. It is no better than a money-making partnership, a return +to the miserable practices of Grub Street and its hacks, a curiosity +of trade, not of art, and so long as its sorry product is distinguished +from genuine literature no great harm is done. + +Of the modern tendencies which affect literature, not commerce, the +most conspicuous is the tendency to decentralise. Every province has its +coterie, every county its school The whole continent is pegged out in +well-acknowledged claims. Boston cultivates one style, Chicago another. +Each corner makes the most of its own material, and cheerfully discovers +to the other States its character and temperament. The result is of +great and varied interest. The social history of America is being +written piecemeal, and written often with a skill and sincerity which +merit the highest praise. And not merely has each province found its +chronicler, but the immigrants, also, are intent upon self-expression. +The little masterpieces of Abraham Cahan are an earnest of what the +Ghetto can achieve, and whether the Jews are faithful to Yiddish, or, +like Cahan, acquire the language of their adopted country, there is +no reason why they should not atone in a free land for centuries +of silence. To enumerate the manifold achievements of the States is +impossible. One example will suffice, and no city will better suit my +purpose than Chicago. That admirable literature should come from Chicago +is of itself a paradox. It is still more surprising that the best +writers of Chicago should display the qualities of tranquillity and +reticence, which you would expect least of all to find in that monstrous +city. Yet it is characteristic of Miss Edith Wyatt and Mr H. B. Fuller, +who have painted the manners of Chicago with the greatest skill, that +they never force the note. They look upon their fellow-citizens with +an amiable sympathy; they describe them with a quiet humour. It is true +that they have an excellent opportunity. It is true also that they rise +to their occasion. Within the limits of Chicago are met the most diverse +of men. On the one hand are the captains of industry, intent to amass a +fortune at all costs; on the other are the sorry prigs who haunt Ibsen +clubs and chatter of Browning. Miss Wyatt, with an exquisite irony, +makes clear her preference. In her eyes the square-dealing and innocent +boodler is a far better man than the sophisticated apostle of culture, +and this truth she illustrates with a modesty and restraint which are +rarely met with in modern fiction. She never insists; she never says a +word too much. With exquisite concision she sets her carefully selected +facts and types before you, and being the antithesis of priggishness in +a priggish city, she glorifies "the common growth of Mother Earth," and +compels your agreement. Her collection of stories--'Every One His Own +Way'--as free from pretence as from exaggeration, paints the citizens of +Chicago with the subtlest fancy and the simplest truthfulness. + +Mr H. B. Fuller employs an ampler canvas. His intention is the same. He +also discards the artifice of exaggeration. He attempts to harrow your +feelings as little as to advertise himself. He displays not the _sæva +indignatio_, which won another novelist of Chicago so indiscreet a fame. +He is for gentler methods and plainer judgments. In 'The Cliff Dwellers' +he has given us a picture of the tribe inhabiting the Clifton, a +monstrous sky-scraper full eighteen stories tall, whose "hundreds of +windows," he tells you, "glitter with multitudinous letterings in gold +and in silver, and on summer afternoons its awnings flutter score on +score in the tepid breezes that sometimes come up from Indiana." His +picture is never overcharged; his draughtsmanship is always sincere. He +knows the tribe with an easy familiarity, and he bears witness to their +good and their evil with perfect impartiality. He is never a partisan. +His portraits are just, and he leaves his reader to sum up the qualities +of each. At his hands Chicago suffers no injury. She does not return his +generosity. A prophet is not without honour save in his own country, and +when I asked for his books at the biggest bookshop in Chicago, I was met +with a stare of ignorance. + +And what you find in Chicago you may find in New England, in Kentucky, +in California, everywhere. The curiosity of this vast continent tempts +its writers to explore. Their material varies with the locality of their +choice. Their skill is a common inheritance. They cultivate the graces +as carefully as did their predecessors. Their artistic conscience is no +less acute. Above all, they have brought the short story to a point of +singular perfection. If Edgar Poe showed them the way, they have proved +themselves apter disciples than any save the most skilful of Frenchmen. + +It is, indeed, impossible to look forward to the future of American +literature without hopefulness. In that half-discovered country style +and invention go hand in hand. The land of Mr Howells and Frank Norris, +of Mrs Atherton and Mrs Wharton, of Stephen Crane and Harold Frederic, +has accomplished so much that we may look confidently for the master, +who in his single achievement will knit up its many diverse qualities +and speak to the world with the voice of America. + + + + +THE UNDERWORLD. + +Nowhere and at no time, save in the England of the eighteenth century, +was the underworld so populous or so popular as in the America of +to-day. In life, as in letters, crime and criminals hold there a lofty +place. They are the romance of the street and the tenement-house. In +their adventure and ferocity there is a democratic touch, which endears +them to a free people. Nor are they so far remote from the world of +prosperity and respect in the cities of the United States as elsewhere. +The police is a firm and constant link between criminal and politician. +Wherever the safe-blowers and burglars are, there you will find +stool-pigeons and squealers, {*} ready to sell their comrades for +liberty and dollars. And if the policeman is the intimate of the +grafter, he is the client also of the boss who graciously bestowed his +uniform upon him. At chowder parties and picnics thief, policeman, +and boss meet on the terms of equality imposed upon its members by the +greatest of all philanthropic institutions--Tammany Hall. If you would +get a glimpse into this strange state within a state, you have but to +read the evidence given before the Lexow Committee {**} in 1894. It +would be difficult to match the cynicism and brutality there disclosed. + + * A stool-pigeon is a thief in the pay of the police; a + squealer is a grafter who betrays his brother. + + ** This strange collection of documents, a whole literature + in itself, bears the prosaic title, "Investigations of the + Police Department of the City of New York." + +In every line of this amazing testimony you may detect a contempt of +human life and justice, an indifference to suffering, an eager lust +after unearned dollars, which are without parallel. The persons who play +their part in this austere, begrimed tragi-comedy, come for the most +part from oversea, and have but a halting knowledge of the language +spoken by judges and senators. Yet their very ignorance stamps their +speech with authenticity, and enhances its effect. The quick dialogue is +packed with life and slang. Never were seen men and women so strange as +flit across this stage. Crook and guy, steerer and turner, keepers of +gambling-hells and shy saloons, dealers in green-goods, {*} come forward +with their eager stories of what seems to them oppression and wrong. + + * Forged dollar-notes. + +With the simplicity which knows no better they deplore their +ill-rewarded "industry," and describe their fraudulent practices as +though they were a proper means of earning bread and butter. They have +as little shame as repentance. Their only regrets are that they have +been ruined by the police or forced to spend a few barren years in the +State prison. And about them hover always detective and police-captain, +ill-omened birds of prey, who feed upon the underworld. There is nothing +more remarkable in this drama of theft and hunger than the perfect +understanding which unites the criminal lamb and the wolfish upholder of +the law. The grafter looks to his opponent for protection, and looks not +in vain, so long as he has money in his pocket. The detective shepherds +the law-breakers, whom he is appointed to arrest; he lives with them; he +shares their confidences and their gains; he encourages their enterprise +that he may earn a comfortable dividend; and he gives them up to justice +when they are no longer worth defending. No dramatist that ever lived +could do justice to this astounding situation, and it is the highest +tribute to human ingenuity that few of the interlocutors fall below +their opportunity. + +And it may be admitted that New York gave, and gives, an easy chance to +policemen bent upon oppression. What can the poor, ignorant foreigners, +who throng the east side of the city, do against their brutal and +omnipotent guardians? "An impressive spectacle was presented to us one +day," reports the Committee, "in the presence of about 100 patrolmen +in uniform, who during the period of three preceding years had been +convicted by the police commissioners of unprovoked and unwarranted +assault on citizens." Still more impressive than "this exhibit of +convicted clubbers" was "a stream of victims of police brutality who +testified before the Committee. The eye of one man, punched out by a +patrolman's club, hung on his cheek. Others were brought before the +Committee, fresh from their punishment, covered with blood and bruises, +and in some cases battered out of recognition." The whole city seemed +the prey of a panic terror. One day "a man rushed into the session, +fresh from an assault made upon him by a notorious politician and two +policemen, and with fear depicted upon his countenance threw himself +upon the mercy of the Committee and asked its protection, insisting +that he knew of no court and of no place where he could in safety go and +obtain protection from his persecutors." From all which it is plain that +too high a price may be paid for the philanthropy of Tammany Hall, and +that a self-governing democracy cannot always keep an efficient watch +upon its guardians. + +What is it in the life and atmosphere of America which thus encourages +crime, or rather elevates crime to a level of excellence unknown +elsewhere? In the first place, the citizens of New York are the +disciples of Hobbes. To them life is a state of war. The ceaseless +competition for money is a direct incentive to the combat. Nature seems +to have armed every man's hand against his fellow. And then the American +is always happiest when he believes himself supreme in his own walk. +The man who inhabits the greatest country on earth likes to think of his +talent as commensurate with his country's. If he be a thief, he must be +the most skilful of his kind; if he be a blackmailing policeman, he must +be a perfect adept at the game. In brief, restlessness and the desire +of superiority have produced a strange result, and there is little +doubt that the vulgar American is insensitive to moral shocks. This +insensitiveness is easily communicated to the curious visitor. A +traveller of keen observation and quick intelligence, who has recently +spent "a year amongst Americans," accepts the cynicism of the native +without a murmur. After yielding to that spirit of enthusiastic hope +which is breathed by the Statue of Liberty, he thus discusses the +newly-arrived alien: + +Even the stars in their courses [thus he writes] fight for America, if +not always for the immigrant when he lands. The politicians would +fain prevent his assimilation in order that his vote might be easily +manipulated by them; but first of all he must have a vote to be handled, +and to this end the politicians provide him with naturalisation papers, +fraudulent it may be--the State Superintendent of Elections in New York +estimates that 100,000 fraudulent naturalisation papers were issued in +New York State alone in 1903,--and thus in the very beginning of his +life in America the immigrant feels himself identified with, and takes +delight and pride in, the American name and nature; and lo! already the +alien is bound to the "native" by the tie of a common sentiment, the +[Greek word] of the Greeks, which is one of the most powerful factors of +nationality. + +Poor [Greek word]! many follies have been spoken in your name! But never +before were you identified with fraudulent naturalisation! Never before +were you mistaken for the trick of a manipulating politician! + +Such being the tie of a common sentiment, it is not surprising that +the Americans are universally accustomed to graft and boodle. With +characteristic frankness they have always professed a keen interest +in those who live by their wits. It is not for nothing that Allan +Pinkerton, the eminent detective, called affectionately "the old man," +is a national hero. His perfections are already celebrated in a prose +epic, and he is better known to west as to east than the President +himself. And this interest, this sense of heroism, are expressed in +a vast and entertaining literature. Nowhere has this literature of +scoundrelism, adorned by Defoe and beloved by Borrow, flourished as +it has flourished in America. Between the dime novel and the stern +documents of the Lexow Committee there is room for history and fiction +of every kind. The crooked ones of the earth have vied with the +detectives in the proper relation of their experiences. On the one +hand you find the great Pinker-ton publishing to the world a breathless +selection from his own archives; on the other, so practised a novelist +as Mr Julian Hawthorne embellishing the narrative of Inspector Byrnes; +and it is evident that both of them satisfy a general curiosity. In +these records of varying merit and common interest the attentive reader +may note the changes which have taken place in the method and +practice of thieving. There is no man so ready to adapt himself to new +circumstances as the scoundrel, and the ingenuity of the American rogue +has never been questioned. In the old days of the backwoods and romance +Jesse James rode forth on a high-mettled steed to hold up cars, coaches, +and banks; and James Murel, the horse-thief, celebrated by Mark Twain, +whose favourite disguise was that of an itinerant preacher, cherished +no less a project than an insurrection of negroes and the capture of New +Orleans. The robber of to-day is a stern realist. He knows nothing of +romance. A ride under the stars and a swift succession of revolver-shots +have no fascination for him. He likes to work in secret upon safe or +burglar-box. He has moved with the times, and has at his hand all the +resources of modern science. If we do not know all that is to be known +of him and his ambitions it is our own fault, since the most expert +of his class, Langdon W. Moore, has given us in 'His Own Story of his +Eventful Life' (Boston, 1893) a complete revelation of a crook's career. +It is an irony of life that such a book as this should come out +of Boston, and yet it is so quick in movement, of so breathless an +excitement, that it may outlive many specimens of Bostonian lore and +culture. It is but one example out of many, chosen because in style as +in substance it outstrips all competitors. + +Without knowing it, Langdon W. Moore is a disciple of Defoe. He has +achieved by accident that which the author of 'Moll Flanders' achieved +by art. There is a direct simplicity in his narrative which entitles +him to a place among the masters. He describes hair-breadth escapes and +deadly perils with the confident air of one who is always exposed to +them. He gives the impression of the hunted and the hunter more vividly +than any writer of modern times. When he is opening a safe, you hear, in +spite of yourself, the stealthy step upon the stair. If he watches for +a pal at the street end, you share his anxiety lest that pal should +be intercepted by the watchful detective. And he produces his effects +without parade or ornament. He tells his story with a studied plainness, +and by adding detail to detail keeps your interest ever awake. Like many +other great men, he takes his skill and enterprise for granted. He does +not write of his exploits as though he were always amazed at his own +proficiency. Of course he has a certain pride in his skill. He cannot +describe his perfect mastery over all the locks that ever were made +without a modest thrill. He does not disguise his satisfaction at +Inspector Byrnes' opinion that "he had so deeply studied combination +locks as to be able to open them from the sound ejected from the +spindle." For the rest, he recognises that he is merely a workman, like +another, earning his living, and that nothing can be accomplished save +by ceaseless industry and untiring toil. Like many another hero, Langdon +W. Moore was born in New England, and was brought up at Newburyport, +a quiet seaport town. The only sign of greatness to be detected in +his early life was an assault upon a schoolmaster, and he made ample +atonement for this by years of hard work upon a farm. He was for a while +a typical hayseed, an expert reaper, ready to match himself against all +comers. He reached his zenith when he was offered fifty dollars in gold +for six weeks' toil, and he records with a justified pleasure that +"no man had ever been paid such high wages as that." But his energetic +spirit soon wearied of retirement, and he found his way to New York, +not to be fleeced, like the hayseed of the daily press, but to fleece +others. The gambling hells knew him; he became an adept at poker and +faro; and he soon learned how to correct or to compel fortune. His first +experiment was made upon one Charley White, who dealt faro bank every +Saturday night; and it is thus that Moore describes the effect of an +ingenious discovery: + +He kept his box and cards in a closet adjoining his room. One night +during his absence I fitted a key to his closet, took out his cards, and +sand-papered the face of eight cards in each deck. I then removed the +top of his faro-box, bulged out the centre of the front plate at the +mouth, and filed the plate on the inside at both corners to a bevel. I +then replaced the top, put in a deck of cards, and made a deal. I found +the cards not sanded would follow up and fill the mouth of the box after +each turn was made; and if the mouth remained dark and the edge of the +top card could not be seen, one of the sand-papered cards was next, and +a loser. This would give me several "dead" turns in each deal. + +By this means the great man, still despised as a Boston bean-eater, was +able to bring his adversary to ruin. The adversary at last discovered +the artifice, and "for the next five years," to quote Moore's own words, +"we met as strangers." + +It will be seen that from his earliest days Moore possessed a scientific +ingenuity, which the hard experience of life rapidly improved. And +it was not long before a definite direction was given to his talent. +Arrested in 1856, as he thought unjustly, he determined "to do no more +work until obliged to do it for the State." He therefore turned his +skill of hand to account, and went into the "green goods business." His +success in this venture was so great that he made the best dollar bills +ever put upon the market, and he boasts legitimately that in the game +he "never lost a man." Presently he discovered that there was a quicker +profit in stolen bonds. "From my first venture in this bond-smashing +business," to quote his own simple words, "in 1862 up to 1870, I made +more money than in any branch of industry I was ever engaged in." +"Branch of industry" is admirable, and proves that Moore had a proper +appreciation of his craft. But bond-smashing compelled a perfect +knowledge of locks and bolts, and in this knowledge, as has been said, +Moore was supreme. At the end of his career, when he had hung his arms +upon the wall, and retired to spend a green old age at Boston, it was +to his treatment of Yale and Lillie locks that he looked back with the +greatest pleasure. But no exploit flattered his vanity more easily than +the carrying off from the Bank at Concord--the Concord of Emerson and +Hawthorne--of some three hundred thousand dollars. That he purchased +his freedom by an ample restitution mattered nothing to the artist. His +purpose was achieved, his victory won, and if his victims came by their +own again, he at least had the satisfaction which comes of a successful +engagement. + +Of this adventure he writes with more enthusiasm than he is wont to +show. He wishes his readers to understand that it was not a sudden +descent, but the culmination of five months' steady work. He had watched +the bank until he knew the habits of its manager and the quality of its +locks. He "was satisfied from all he saw that by hard persistent work +the bank could be cleaned out completely." It was on a July day in 1867 +that the scheme first took shape in Moore's mind. He had stopped at +noon at the hotel at Concord for food, and saw the cashier of the bank +returning from his dinner. + +The bank had been closed during his absence [thus he tells his simple +story], and he now unlocked the street door and left the key in the +lock. I followed him upstairs and saw him unlock the outer and inner +doors of the vault, and also the door of the burglar-box. I presented a +hundred-dollar note and asked to have it changed. Being accommodated, I +left the place, observing as I went out that the lock on the street +door was a heavy one of the familiar tumbler variety, and that it had a +wooden back. + +Thus the train was laid, and in three months came the explosion. +Impressions were taken of locks, keys were provided, a waggon and team +were held in readiness, and one day as the cashier left the bank to get +his dinner, Langdon W. Moore, with a meal-bag concealed under his vest, +quietly opened the front door and entered the bank. One check he knew. +As he went in a girl of twelve tried to follow him--a near relative +of the cashier. The exercise of a little tact satisfied her that the +directors were in session, and she ran off to her playmates under the +big elm at the opposite corner of the street. Moore lost no time in +locking the door behind him, in opening all the locks, which yielded to +his cunning and foresight, and in packing the meal-bag full of bonds, +bank-notes, and plate. He accomplished the deed without haste, and by +the time that the cashier had finished his dinner Moore had disappeared +with his bag, and his waggon, and his friends, and left no trace behind. + +Another masterpiece, in Moore's opinion, was what he magniloquently +calls the great robbery of an express car. Here, too, he proved the +fineness of his craft. He left nothing to chance, and he foresaw, with +the coolness of a practised hand, every step which his adversaries would +take. His first care was to obtain the assistance of the messenger who +travelled on the car which he proposed to rob, and the zeal and energy +wherewith he coached his accomplices ensured success. Again and again he +rehearsed every scene in the comedy. Before his eyes the messenger was +attacked by two masked ruffians, of whom one caught him by the throat, +while the other put a pistol to his head, saying, "If you open your +mouth I will blow a hole through your head large enough for a pigeon to +fly through." Then the messenger was gagged and bound, a piece of soap +was put into his mouth, that he might appear in the last extremity, and +presently he was set to learn by heart the tale that he should tell his +employers. By long practice each actor became perfect in his part. The +car was raided, one hundred and sixty-five thousand dollars was the +modest spoil, and Pinkerton and his men were gallantly defied. A hasty +trip to Canada still further perplexed the pursuers, and if we may +believe Moore, he not only baffled the great detective, but persuaded +the Express Company to dispute his claim. Moore, in fact, took a +sportsman's as well as an artist's pleasure in the game. After the +discomfiture of his enemies, he loved nothing better than a neat job. He +professes a frank delight in explaining how once upon a time he opened +the Honourable Benjamin Wood's safe, and did not soil his carpet. And +there was good reason for his scruple. No sooner had he flashed his dark +lantern on the office than he observed that the floor was newly covered, +and that fresh paint and paper shone upon the walls. Now he had no +objection to easing the Honourable Benjamin of fifty thousand dollars. +Being a gentleman, he would scorn to spoil a new Brussels carpet. +Accordingly he took some papers from Mr Wood's file and spread them +carefully on the floor. The rest of the dramatic recital shall be given +in his own words: + +When this was done, we drilled two five-eighth-inch holes through the +fire-proof door into the bolt case, jacked the plate from the frame,... +and opened the door. I then put in a wooden wedge at the top to keep +the plate from springing back, took down the jack, and shook out all the +loose filing upon the papers. This I gathered carefully up, and put the +lime, plaster, and papers in the coal-hod, placed some more clean papers +under the door, and made everything ready to leave the building as soon +as the boodle was transferred safe to our pockets. After looking through +the books and papers, the money was taken out and counted. It amounted +to but a single one-dollar note. + +Was ever an artist so bitterly deceived? Langdon W. Moore rose to the +occasion. He was no pilferer, and scorned to carry off so mean a +booty. In the words of the police-captain, he would not add larceny to +burglary. But he paid the penalty of greatness. His work was instantly +recognised. "I know the man," said Captain Jordan, "for there is but one +in the world who would take all that trouble to save your carpet while +breaking open your safe." + +It reminds you of the story told by Pliny of Apelles the painter, who +once upon a time called upon Protogenes, another master of his craft, +when Protogenes was not within. Whereupon Apelles, seeing a picture +before him, took a pencil and drew in colour upon the picture a passing +fine and small line. Then said he to the old woman in the house, "Tell +thy master that he who made this line inquired for him." And when +Protogenes returned, and had looked upon the line, he knew who had been +there, and said withal, "Surely Apelles has come to town, for it is +impossible that any but he should make in colour so fine workmanship." +Thus genius is betrayed by its own perfection, and he who refused to +soil the carpet could not but be recognised by his skill. + +And Langdon W. Moore was forced to pay another and a more grievous +penalty for his renown. As the fame of his prowess spread abroad, he +fell a prey to the greed of detectives. Do what he would, he could never +rid himself of the attentions of the police. Henceforth it was almost +impossible for him to work in safety, and whatever booty he obtained +he must needs share with his unwelcome companions. He was like a fly +condemned to spend his life in the irk-some society of the spider. When +he had not much to give, his poverty was rewarded by years in prison; +and then, as he says himself, he "was welcomed back into the old +criminal life by crooked police officials." These officials had no +desire to help him. "I was not asked by them"--again it is Moore who +speaks--"if I was in want of anything, but was told that if I wanted to +make some money they could put me on to a good bank job where I +could make a million." And, if we may believe the historians, Moore's +experience is not singular. The truth is, the thief-taker still +flourishes in America. Jonathan Wild, his occupation gone in England, +has crossed the ocean, and plies his trade with greater skill and +treachery than ever. He thinks it better to live on the criminal than to +catch him. And thus he becomes a terror not to the evildoer but to the +law-abiding citizen. It is his business to encourage crime, not to +stamp it out. If there were no thieves, where would the stool-pigeon and +detective find their profits? "W'y," said a pickpocket {*} in New York, +"them coppers up there in the Tenderloin couldn't have any diamond rings +if we didn't help to pay for 'em. No, they couldn't. They'd sit down in +the street and actually cry--an' they're big men some of 'em--if we +guns was run off the earth." In other words, the lesson of the American +Underworld is that the policeman may be a far greater danger to the +community than the criminal. Jonathan Wild will always do more harm than +Jack Sheppard. The skill and daring of the cracksman makes him a marked +man. But _quis custodes custodiet?_ + + * See 'The World of Graft,' by J. Flint (1901), p. 154. + + + + +EPILOGUE. + +A traveller visiting a strange land takes for granted the simpler +virtues. He notes with gratitude and without surprise the generous +practice of hospitality. He recognises that the husbandman, patiently +toiling on his farm, _adscriptus glebæ_, holds in his toil-worn hands +the destiny of his country. He knows that the excellent work done in +tranquil seclusion by men of letters and scholars will outlast the +braggart achievements of well-advertised millionaires and "prominent" +citizens. Fortunately, such virtues as these are the common inheritance +of all peoples. + +They are not characteristic of this nation or of that. They belong, +like air and sunlight, to the whole civilised world. And it is not by +similarities, but by differences, that the traveller arrives at a clear +picture of a foreign land. Especially in America do the softer shades +and quieter subtleties escape the unaccustomed eye. The swift energies, +the untiring restlessness, the universal haste, obscure the amenities +of life more darkly there than elsewhere. The frank contempt of law and +blood, which receives a daily illustration, must needs take a firmer +hold of the observer than the peaceful tillage of the fields and the +silent acquisition of knowledge. America is unhappy in that she is still +making her history, not one episode of which a vigilant and lupine press +will suffer to go unrecorded. Graft and corruption stalk abroad, +public and unashamed. The concentration of vast wealth in a few pockets +results, on the one hand, in a lowering of the commercial code, on the +other, in a general diffusion of poverty, These are some of the traits +which mark America off from the other nations, and these traits none +with a sense of the picturesque can ever overlook. + +Yet it is not these traits which make the deepest impression upon the +returning traveller. As he leaves the shores of America he forgets for +the moment her love of money and of boodle, he forgets her superb energy +and hunger for life, he forgets the exquisite taste shown by the most +delicately refined of her citizens. He remembers most vividly that he +is saying good-bye to the oldest land on earth. It is an irony of +experience that the inhabitants of the United States are wont to +describe themselves as a young people. They delight to excuse their +extravagances on the ground of youth. When they grow older (they tell +you) they will take another view of politics and of conduct. And the +truth is that old age long ago overtook them. America is not, never +was, young. She sprang, ready-made, from the head of a Pilgrim Father, +the oldest of God's creatures. Being an old man's daughter, she has +escaped the virtues and vices of an irresponsible childhood. In the +primitive history of the land her ancestors took no part. They did not +play with flint-knives and set up dolmens where New York now stands. +They did not adorn themselves with woad and feathers. The Prince Albert +coat (or its equivalent) was always more appropriate to their ambition. +In vain you will search the United States for the signs of youth. +Wherever you cast your eye you will find the signal proofs of an eager, +grasping age. Youth loiters and is glad, listening to the songs of +birds, wondering at the flowers which carpet the meadow, and recking not +of the morrow. America is grave and in a hurry. She is not content to +fleet the time carelessly, as they did in the golden age. The one hope +of her citizens is to get to Wall Street as quickly as possible, that +they may add to their already useless hoard of dollars. For this purpose +they have perfected all those material appliances which increase the +rapidity and ease of life. They would save their labour as strenuously +as they would add to their fortunes. A telephone at every bed-head +has made the toil of letter-writing superfluous. A thousand ingenious +methods of "transportation" have taken away the necessity of walking. +There is no reason why in the years to come hand and foot should +not both be atrophied. But there is nothing young in this sedulous +suppression of toil. Youth is prodigal of time and of itself. Youth +boasts of strength and prowess to do great deeds, not of skill to pile +millions upon millions, a Pelion upon an Ossa of wealth. Nor in the vain +luxury of New York can we detect anything save the signs of age. It is +only in modern America that the mad extravagance of Nero's Rome may +be matched. There the banquet of Trimalchio might be presented without +surprise and without reproach. It differs from what are known as "freak +dinners" only in the superiority of its invention and in the perfection +of its table-talk. + +In brief, the fantastic ambition of a "cottage" at Newport, as of +Trimalchio's villa in Southern Italy, is the ambition, not of primitive, +reckless, pleasure-loving youth, but of an old age, sated and curious, +which hurries to decay. + +Again, it is not a young people which cries aloud "too old at forty!" In +the childhood of the world, the voice of age is the voice of wisdom. +It is for Nestor that Homer claims the profoundest respect, and to-day +America is teaching us, who are only too willing to learn the baneful +lesson, that knowledge and energy die with youth. Once upon a time I met +an American who had returned from his first visit to Europe, and when +I asked what was the vividest impression he brought from thence, he +replied: "I was surprised to see an old man like the German Emperor +doing so much work." In our more youthful eyes the German Emperor has +but crossed the threshold of life. The years of his mature activity lie +before him, we believe, like an untrodden road. But for the American, +prematurely worn out by the weight of time and the stress of affairs, +William II. already hastens to his decline, and clings to the reins of +office with the febrile courage of an old man. + +And all the while America is sublimely unconscious that the joys of +childhood are not hers. Though with the hypochondria of advancing years +she demands a doctor for her soul, she knows not from what disease she +suffers. She does not pray for a Medea to thrust her into a cauldron of +rejuvenescence. With a bluff optimism she declares that she is still the +youngest of the nations, and boasts that when she has grown up to the +height of her courage and activity she will make triumphant even her +bold experiment in democracy. Not upon her has the divine injunction +descended: [Greek phrase]. She who knows so much knows not herself. How +should she, when she is composed of so many and so diverse elements? +And lacking self-knowledge, she lacks humour. With the best will in the +world, she cannot see the things about her in a true proportion. The +blithe atmosphere, clear as crystal, sparkling as champagne, in which +she lives, persuades her to take a too serious and favourable view of +her own character. And let it be remembered that with her optimism she +still treasures the sentimentality of her Puritan ancestors. She is +a true idealist, who loves nothing so dearly as "great thoughts." She +delights in the phrases and aspirations which touch the heart more +nearly than the head. Though her practice does not always square with +her theory, especially in the field of politics, she is indefatigable +in the praise of freedom, equality, and the other commonplaces of +democracy. The worst is, that she cannot laugh at herself. Her gravity +and sensitiveness still lie, like stumbling-blocks, in her path. She +accepts the grim adulation of such unwise citizens as Mr Carnegie as +no more than her due. If only she could dismiss the flattery of her +admirers with an outburst of Gargantuan hilarity, all virtues might be +added unto her. But, as I have said, she lacks this one thing. She is +the home of humourists and no humour. A thousand jesters minister to her +amusement, and she pays them handsomely. More jokes are made within her +borders in a day than suffice the rest of the globe for a year. And the +laughter which they provoke is not spontaneous. You can hear the creak +of the machine as it goes to work. The ever-present jester is a proof +that humour is an exotic, which does not grow naturally on the soil, +and does not belong more intimately to the American people than did the +cumbersome jokes of Archie Armstrong to the monarch who employed him. +The humour which simplifies life, and detects a spice of ridicule even +in the operations of business and politics, is rarely found in America. +Nor is its absence remarkable. The Americans are absorbed from early +youth to ripe old age in the pursuit of success. In whatever path they +walk they are determined to triumph. Sport for them is less an amusement +than a chance to win. When they embark upon business, as the most of +them do, their ambition is insatiable. They are consumed by the passion +of money-making. The hope of victory makes them despise toil and +renounce pleasure. Gladly will they deprive themselves of rest and lead +laborious lives. The battle and its booty are their own reward. +They count their gathered dollars with the same pride wherewith the +conquering general counts his prisoners of war. But the contest marks +their faces with the lines of care, and leaves them beggared of gaiety. +How can they take themselves other than seriously when millions depend +upon their nod? They have bent their energies to one special end and +purpose--the making of money; and in the process, as an American once +said to me, they forget to eat, they forget to live. More obviously +still, they forget to laugh. The comedy of their own career is never +revealed to them. Their very slang displays their purpose: they are "out +for the stuff," and they will not let it escape them. A kind of sanctity +hangs about money. It is not a thing to be taken lightly; it is no +proper subject for a jest. And as money and its quest absorb the best +energies of America, it follows that America is distinguished by a high +seriousness with which Europe is powerless to compete. However far a +profession may be removed from the mart, profit is its end. Brilliant +research, fortunate achievement--these also are means, like buying and +selling. In scholarship, as in commerce, money is still the measure of +success. Dr Münsterberg, a well-known professor at Harvard, has recorded +the opinion of a well-known English scholar, which, with the doctor's +comment, throws a clearer light upon the practice of America than a page +of argument. "America will not have first-class scholarship," said the +Englishman, "in the sense in which Germany or England has it, till every +professor in the leading universities has at least ten thousand dollars +salary, and the best scholars receive twenty-five thousand dollars." Dr +Münsterberg refused at first to accept this conclusion of the pessimist, +but, says he, the years have convinced him. Scholars must be paid +generously in the current coin, or they will not respect their work. +It is not greed, precisely, which drives the American along the road +of money-getting. It is, as I have said, a frank pride in the spoils, +a pride which is the consistent enemy of light-heartedness, and which +speedily drives those whom it possesses into a grave melancholy. + +This, then, is the dominant impression which America gives the +traveller--the impression of a serious old gentleman, whom not even +success will persuade to laugh at his own foibles. And there is another +quality of the land, of which the memory will never fade. America +is apprehensive. She has tentacles strong and far-reaching, like the +tentacles of a cuttle-fish. She seizes the imagination as no other +country seizes it. If you stayed long within her borders, you would be +absorbed into her citizenship and her energies like the enthusiastic +immigrant. + +You would speak her language with a proper emphasis and a becoming +accent. A few weeks passed upon her soil seem to give you the +familiarity of long use and custom. "Have I been here for years?" you +ask after a brief sojourn. "Can it be possible that I have ever lived +anywhere else?" + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of American Sketches, by Charles Whibley + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AMERICAN SKETCHES *** + +***** This file should be named 25786-8.txt or 25786-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/5/7/8/25786/ + +Produced by David Widger + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/25786-8.zip b/25786-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..7fb8e9f --- /dev/null +++ b/25786-8.zip diff --git a/25786-h.zip b/25786-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..74c1b94 --- /dev/null +++ b/25786-h.zip diff --git a/25786-h/25786-h.htm b/25786-h/25786-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..00930b5 --- /dev/null +++ b/25786-h/25786-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,4561 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="iso-8859-1"?> + +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" > + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en"> + <head> + <title> + American Sketches, by Charles Whibley + </title> + <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> + + body { margin:5%; background:#faebd0; text-align:justify} + P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; } + hr { width: 50%; text-align: center;} + .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; } + blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + .mynote {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;} + .toc { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;} + .toc2 { margin-left: 20%;} + div.fig { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; } + div.middle { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; } + .figleft {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;} + .figright {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;} + .pagenum {display:inline; font-size: 70%; font-style:normal; + margin: 0; padding: 0; position: absolute; right: 1%; + text-align: right;} + pre { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;} + +</style> + </head> + <body> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of American Sketches, by Charles Whibley + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: American Sketches + 1908 + +Author: Charles Whibley + +Release Date: June 14, 2008 [EBook #25786] +Last Updated: February 7, 2013 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AMERICAN SKETCHES *** + + + + +Produced by David Widger + + + + + +</pre> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h1> + AMERICAN SKETCHES + </h1> + <h2> + By Charles Whibley + </h2> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <h4> + William Blackwood & Sons - 1908 + </h4> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <blockquote> + <p class="toc"> + <big><b>CONTENTS</b></big> + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0001"> <big><b>AMERICAN SKETCHES.</b></big> </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0002"> NEW YORK. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0003"> BOSTON. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0004"> CHICAGO. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0005"> NEW ENGLAND. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0006"> THE YELLOW PRESS. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0007"> LIBERTY AND PATRIOTISM. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0008"> THE MILLIONAIRE. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0009"> THE AMERICAN LANGUAGE. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0010"> AMERICAN LITERATURE. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0011"> THE UNDERWORLD. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_EPIL"> EPILOGUE. </a> + </p> + </blockquote> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a name="link2H_4_0001" id="link2H_4_0001"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h1> + AMERICAN SKETCHES. + </h1> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0002" id="link2H_4_0002"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + NEW YORK. + </h2> + <p> + To land at Hoboken in a quiet drizzle is to sound the depths of + desolation. A raw, half-finished, unkempt street confronts you. Along the + roadway, roughly broken into ruts, crawls a sad tram. The dishevelled + shops bear odd foreign-looking names upon their fronts, and the dark men + who lounge at their doors suggest neither the spirit of hustling nor the + grandeur of democracy. It is, in truth, not a street, but the awkward + sketch of a street, in which all the colours are blurred and the lines + drawn awry. And the sense of desolation is heightened by the memory of the + immediate past. You have not yet forgotten the pomp of a great steamship. + The gracious harbour of New York is still shining in your mind's eye. If + the sentiment of freedom be dear to you, you are fresh from apostrophising + the statue of Liberty, and you may have just whispered to yourself that + you are breathing a clearer, larger air. Even the exquisite courtesy of + the officer who has invited you in the blandest terms to declare that you + have no contraband, has belied the voice of rumour and imparted a glow of + satisfaction. And then you are thrown miserably into the leaden despair of + Hoboken, and the vision of Liberty herself is effaced. + </p> + <p> + But Hoboken is an easy place where-from to escape, and the traveller may + pass through it the more cheerfully, because it prepares him for the + manifold and bewildering contrasts of New York. The towns of the old world + have alternations of penury and affluence. In them also picturesque + squalor obtrudes itself upon an ugly splendour. But New York, above all + other cities, is the city of contrasts. As America is less a country than + a collection of countries, so New York is not a city—it is a + collection of cities. Here, on the narrow rock which sustains the real + metropolis of the United States, is room or men and women of every faith + and every race. The advertisements which glitter in the windows or are + plastered upon the hoardings suggest that all nationalities meet with an + equal and a flattering acceptance. The German regrets his fatherland the + less when he finds a brilliant Bier-Halle waiting for his delight. The + Scot no doubt finds the "domestic" cigar sweeter to his taste if a + portrait of Robert Burns adorns the box from which he takes it. The Jew + may be supposed to lose the sense of homesickness when he can read the + news of every day in his familiar Yiddish. And it is not only in the + contrast of nationalities that New York proves its variety. Though + Germans, Italians, and Irish inhabit their own separate quarters and + frequent their own separate haunts, there are many other lines of + division. Nowhere in the world are there sharper, crueller distinctions of + riches and poverty, of intelligence and boorish-ness, of beauty and + ugliness. How, indeed, shall you find a formula for a city which contains + within its larger boundaries Fifth Avenue and the Bowery, the Riverside + Drive and Brooklyn, Central Park and Coney Island? + </p> + <p> + And this contrast of race and character is matched by the diversity of the + city's aspect. Its architecture is as various as its inhabitants. In spite + of demolition and utility, the history of New York is written brokenly + upon its walls. Here and there you may detect an ancient frame-house which + has escaped the shocks of time and chance, and still holds its own against + its sturdier neighbours. Nor is the memory of England wholly obliterated. + Is there not a homely sound in Maiden Lane, a modest thoroughfare not far + from Wall Street? What Englishman can feel wholly abroad if he walk out to + the Battery, or gaze upon the austere houses of Washington Square? And do + not the two churches of Broadway recall the city of London, where the + masterpieces of Wren are still hedged about by overshadowing office and + frowning warehouse? St Paul's Chapel, indeed, is English both in style and + origin. It might have been built in accord with Sir Christopher's own + design; and, flanked by the thirty-two storeys of the Park Row Building, + it has the look of a small and dainty toy. Though Trinity Church, + dedicated to the glory of God and the Astors, stands in an equally strange + environment, it is less incongruous, as it is less elegant, than St + Paul's. Its spire falls not more than a hundred feet below the surrounding + sky-scrapers, and were it not for its graveyard it might escape notice. + Now its graveyard is one of the wonders of America. Rich in memories of + colonial days, it is as lucid a piece of history as survives within the + boundaries of New York. The busy mob of cosmopolitans, intent upon trusts + and monopolies, which passes its time-worn stones day after day, may find + no meaning in its tranquillity. The wayfarer who is careless of the hours + will obey the ancient counsel and stay a while. The inscriptions carry him + back to the days before the Revolution, or even into the seventeenth + century. Here lies one Richard Churcher, who died in 1681, at the tender + age of five. And there is buried William Bradford, who printed the first + newspaper that ever New York saw, the forefather in a long line of the + Yellowest Press on earth. And there is inscribed the name of John Watts, + the last Royal Recorder of New York. Thus the wayfarer may step from + Broadway into the graveyard of a British colony, and forget, in + contemplating the familiar examples of a lapidary style, that there was a + tea-party at Boston. + </p> + <p> + These contrasts are wayward and accidental. The hand of chance has been + merciful, that is all; and if you would fully understand New York's + self-conscious love of incongruity it is elsewhere that you must look. + Walk along the Riverside Drive, framed by nature to be, what an enthusiast + has called it, "the finest residential avenue in the world." Turn your + back to the houses, and contemplate the noble beauty of the Hudson River. + Look from the terrace of Claremont upon the sunlit scene, and ask yourself + whether Paris herself offers a gayer prospect. And then face the + "high-class residences," and humble your heart. Nowhere else will you get + a clearer vision of the inappropriateness which is the most devoutly + worshipped of New York's idols. The human mind cannot imagine anything + less like "residences" than these vast blocks of vulgarity. The styles of + all ages and all countries have been recklessly imitated. The homes of the + millionaires are disguised as churches, as mosques, as medieval castles. + Here you may find a stronghold of feudalism cheek by jowl with the quiet + mansion of a colonial gentleman. There Touraine jostles Constantinople; + and the climax is reached by Mr Schwab, who has decreed for himself a + lofty pleasure-dome, which is said to resemble Chambord, and which takes + its place in a long line of villas, without so much as a turnip-field to + give it an air of seclusion or security. In this vainglorious craving for + discomfort there is a kind of naïveté which is not without its pathos. One + proud lady, whose husband, in the words of a dithyrambic guide-book, "made + a fortune from a patent glove-hook," boasts that her mansion has a + glass-room on the second floor. Another vain householder deems it + sufficient to proclaim that he spent two million dollars upon the villa + which shelters him from the storm. In brief, there is scarcely a single + palace on the Riverside which may not be described as an antic of wealth, + and one wonders what sort of a life is lived within these gloomy walls. Do + the inhabitants dress their parts with conscientious gravity, and sit down + to dine with the trappings of costume and furniture which belong to their + houses? Suppose they did, and, suppose in obedience to a signal they + precipitated themselves upon the highway, there would be such a masquerade + of fancy dress as the world has never seen. The Riverside Drive, then, is + a sermon in stones, whose text is the uselessness of uncultured dollars. + If we judged New York by this orgie of tasteless extravagance, we might + condemn it for a parvenu among cities, careless of millions and sparing of + discretion. We may not thus judge it New York, if it be a parvenu, is + often a parvenu of taste, and has given many a proof of intelligence and + refinement. The home of great luxury, it does not always, as on the + Riverside, mistake display for beauty. There are houses in the + neighbourhood of Fifth Avenue which are perfect in reticence and + suitability. The clubs of New York are a splendid example even to London, + the first home of clubs. In Central Park the people of New York possesses + a place of amenity and recreation which Europe cannot surpass; and when + you are tired of watching the antics of the leisurely chipmunk, who + gambols without haste and without fear, you may delight in a collection of + pictures which wealth and good management will make the despair and + admiration of the world. Much, of course, remains to do, and therein New + York is fortunate. Her growing interest in sculpture and architecture is + matched by a magnificent opportunity. In the Old World all has been + accomplished. Our buildings are set up, our memorials dedicated, our + pictures gathered into galleries. America starts, so to say, from scratch; + there is no limit to her ambition; and she has infinite money. If the past + is ours, the future is hers, and we may look forward to it with curiosity + and with hope. + </p> + <p> + The architects of America have not only composed works in accordance with + the old traditions and in obedience to ancient models; they have devised a + new style and a new method of their own. To pack a vast metropolis within + a narrow space, they have made mountains of houses. When the rock upon + which their city stands proved insufficient for their ambition, they + conquered another kingdom in the air. The skyscrapers which lift their + lofty turrets to the heaven are the pride of New York. It is upon them + that the returning traveller gazes most eagerly, as he nears the shore. + They hold a firmer place in his heart than even the Statue of Liberty, and + the vague sentiment which it inspires. With a proper vanity he points out + to the poor Briton, who shudders at five storeys, the size and grandeur of + his imposing palaces. And his arrogance is just. The sky-scraper presents + a new view of architecture. It is original, characteristic, and beautiful. + Suggested and enforced, as I have said, by the narrowness of the rock, it + is suitable to its atmosphere and environment. New York is a southern, + sunlit city, which needs protection from the heat and need not fear + obscurity. Even where the buildings are highest, the wayfarer does not + feel that he is walking at the bottom of a well. But, let it be said at + once, the sky-scraper would be intolerable in our grey and murky land. + London demands a broad thoroughfare and low houses. These are its only + defence against a covered sky and an enveloping fog, and the patriotic + Americans who would transplant their sky-scrapers to England merely prove + that they do not appreciate the logic and beauty of their own design. + </p> + <p> + What, then, is a sky-scraper? It is a giant bird-cage, whose interstices + are filled with stone or concrete. Though its structure is concealed from + the eye, it is impossible not to wonder at its superb effrontery. It + depends for its effect, not upon ornament, which perforce appears trivial + and inapposite, but upon its mass. Whatever approaches it of another scale + and kind is dwarfed to insignificance. The Sub-Treasury of the United + States, for instance, looks like a foolish plaything beside its august + neighbours. Where sky-scrapers are there must be no commemorative statues, + no monuments raised to merely human heroes. The effigy of Washington in + Wall Street has no more dignity than a tin soldier. And as the skyscraper + makes houses of a common size ridiculous, so it loses its splendour when + it stands alone. Nothing can surpass in ugliness the twenty storeys of + thin horror that is called the Flat-iron; and it is ugly because it is + isolated in Madison Square, a place of reasonable dimensions. It is + continuity which imparts a dignity to these mammoths. The vast masses + which frown upon Wall Street and Broadway are austere, like the Pyramids. + They seem the works of giants, not of men. They might be a vast phenomenon + of nature, which was before the flood, and which has survived the shocks + of earthquake and the passage of the years. And when their summits are lit + by the declining sun, when their white walls look like marble in the glow + of the reddening sky, they present such a spectacle as many a strenuous + American crosses the ocean to see in Switzerland, and crosses it in vain. + </p> + <p> + New York, in truth, is a city of many beauties, and with a reckless + prodigality she has done her best to obscure them all. Driven by a vain + love of swift traffic, she assails your ear with an incessant din and your + eye with the unsightliest railroad that human ingenuity has ever + contrived. She has sacrificed the amenity of her streets and the dignity + of her buildings to the false god of Speed. Why men worship Speed, a demon + who lies in wait to destroy them, it is impossible to understand. It would + be as wise and as profitable to worship Sloth. However, the men of New + York, as they tell you with an insistent and ingenuous pride, are + "hustlers." They must ever be moving, and moving fast. The "hustling," + probably, leads to little enough. Haste and industry are not synonymous. + To run up and down is but a form of busy idleness. The captains of + industry who do the work of the world sit still, surrounded by bells and + telephones. Such heroes as J. Pierpont Morgan and John D. Rockefeller are + never surprised on train or trolley. They show themselves furtively behind + vast expanses of plate-glass, and move only to eat or sleep. It is the + common citizen of New York who is never quiet. He finds it irksome to stay + long in the same place. Though his house may be comfortable, even + luxurious, he is in a fever to leave it. And so it comes about that what + he is wont to call "transportation" seems the most important thing in his + life. We give the word another signification. To New York it means the + many methods of conveying passengers from one point to another. And the + methods, various as they are, keep pace with the desires of the restless + citizen, who may travel at what pace and altitude he desires. He may + burrow, like a rabbit, beneath the ground. If he be more happily normal in + his tastes he may ride in a surface car. Or he may fly, like a bird + through the air, on an overhead railway. The constant rattle of cars and + railways is indescribable. The overhead lines pass close to the + first-floor windows, bringing darkness and noise wherever they are laid. + There are offices in which a stranger can neither hear nor be heard, and + yet you are told that to the accustomed ear of the native all is silent + and reposeful. And I can easily believe that a sudden cessation of din + would bring an instant madness. Nor must another and an indirect result of + the trains and trams which encircle New York be forgotten. The roads are + so seldom used that they are permitted to fall into a ruinous decay. Their + surface is broken into ruts and yawns in chasms. To drive "down-town" in a + carriage is to suffer a sensation akin to sea-sickness; and having once + suffered, you can understand that it is something else than the democratic + love of travelling in common that persuades the people of New York to + clamber on the overhead railway, or to take its chance in a tram-car. + </p> + <p> + Movement, then, noisy and incessant, is the passion of New York. Perhaps + it is the brisk air which drives men to this useless activity. Perhaps it + is no better than an ingrained and superstitious habit. But the drowsiest + foreigner is soon caught up in the whirl. He needs neither rest nor sleep. + He, too, must be chasing something which always eludes him. He, too, finds + himself leaving a quiet corner where he would like to stay, that he may + reach some place which he has no desire to see. Even though he mount to + the tenth or the twentieth story, the throb of the restless city reaches + him. Wall Street is "hustling" made concrete. The Bowery is crowded with a + cosmopolitan horde which is never still. Brooklyn Bridge and Brooklyn + Ferry might be the cross-roads of the world. There a vast mob is passing + hither and thither, on foot, on boats, on railroads. What are they doing, + whither are they going, these scurrying men and women? Have they no + business to pursue, no office-stool to sit upon, no typewriting machines + to jostle? And when you are weary of transportation, go into the hall of a + big hotel and you will find the same ceaseless motion. On all sides you + will hear the click, click of telephone and telegram. On all sides you + will see eager citizens scanning the tape, which brings them messages of + ruin or success. Nowhere, save in a secluded bar or a stately club, will + you find a single man content to be alive and to squander the leisure that + God has given him. + </p> + <p> + And with all her undying haste New York is not content. She must still + find other means of saving time. And to save time she has strained all the + resources of civilisation. In that rather dismal thing called "material + progress" she is easily ahead of the world. Never was the apparatus of + life so skilfully turned and handled as in New York. There are no two + fixed points which are not easily connected by iron lines. There seems no + reason why a citizen of New York should ever walk. If stairs exist, he + need not use them, for an express lift, warranted not to stop before the + fifteenth floor, will carry him in a few seconds to the top of the highest + building. If he open a cupboard door, the mere opening of it lights an + electric lamp, and he need not grope after a coat by the dim light of a + guttering candle. At his bed-head stands a telephone, and, if he will, he + may speak to a friend a thousand miles away without moving from his + pillow. But time is saved—of that there is no doubt. The only doubt + is, whether it be worth saving. When New York has saved her time, what + does she do with it? She merely squanders it in riotous movement and + reckless "transportation." Thus she lives in a vicious circle—saving + time that she may spend it, and spending it that again she may save it. + Nor can this material progress be achieved without a loss of what the Old + World prizes most highly. To win all the benefits which civilisation + affords, you must lose peace and you must sacrifice privacy. The many + appliances which save our useless time may be enjoyed only by crowds. The + citizens of New York travel, live, and talk in public. They have made + their choice, and are proud of it Englishmen are still reckless enough to + waste their time in pursuit of individualism, and I think they are wise. + For my part, I would rather lose my time than save it, and the one open + conveyance of New York which in pace and conduct suits my inclination is + the Fifth Avenue Stage. + </p> + <p> + But New York is unique. It baffles the understanding and defies + observation. In vain you search for a standard of comparison. France and + England set out many centuries ago from the same point and with the same + intention. America has nothing in common, either of purpose or method, + with either of these countries. To a European it is the most foreign city + on earth. Untidy but flamboyant, it is reckless of the laws by which life + is lived elsewhere. It builds beautiful houses, it delights in white + marble palaces, and it thinks it superfluous to level its roads. Eager for + success, worshipping astuteness as devoutly as it worships speed, it is + yet indifferent to the failure of others, and seems to hold human life in + light esteem. In brief, it is a braggart city of medieval courage and + medieval cruelty, combining the fierceness of an Italian republic with a + perfect faith in mechanical contrivance and an ardent love of material + progress. + </p> + <p> + Here, then, are all the elements of interest and curiosity. Happy are the + citizens who watch from day to day the fight that never before has been + fought on the same terms. And yet more strangely baffling than the city + are the citizens. Who are they, and of what blood and character? What, + indeed, is a New Yorker? Is he Jew or Irish? Is he English or German? Is + he Russian or Polish? He may be something of all these, and yet he is + wholly none of them. Something has been added to him which he had not + before. He is endowed with a briskness and an invention often alien to his + blood. He is quicker in his movement, less trammelled in his judgment + Though he may lose wisdom in sharpening his wit, the change he undergoes + is unmistakable. New York, indeed, resembles a magic cauldron. Those who + are cast into it are born again. For a generation some vague trace of + accent or habit may remain. The old characteristics must needs hang about + the newly-arrived immigrant. But in a generation these characteristics are + softened or disappear, and there is produced a type which seems remote + from all its origins. As yet the process of amalgamation is incomplete, + and it is impossible to say in what this hubble-shubble of mixed races + will result. Nor have we any clue of historical experience which we may + follow. The Roman Empire included within its borders many lands and + unnumbered nationalities, but the dominant race kept its blood pure. In + New York and the other great cities of America the soil is the sole common + factor. Though all the citizens of the great republic live upon that soil, + they differ in blood and origin as much as the East of Europe differs from + the West. And it is a mystery yet un-pierced that, as the generations + pass, they approach nearer and nearer to uniformity, both in type and + character. And by what traits do we recognise the citizen of New York? Of + course there is no question here of the cultivated gentleman, who is + familiar in Paris and London, and whose hospitality in his own land is an + amiable reproach to our own too frequent thoughtlessness, but of the + simpler class which confronts the traveller in street and train, in hotel + and restaurant. The railway guard, the waiter, the cab-driver—these + are the men upon whose care the comfort of the stranger depends in every + land, and whose tact and temper are no bad index of the national + character. In New York, then, you are met everywhere by a sort of urbane + familiarity. The man who does you a service, for which you pay him, is + neither civil nor uncivil. He contrives, in a way which is by no means + unpleasant, to put himself on an equality with you. With a mild surprise + you find yourself taking for granted what in your own land you would + resent bitterly. Not even the curiosity of the nigger, who brushes your + coat with a whisk, appears irksome. For the habit of years has enabled + white man and black to assume a light and easy manner, which in an + Englishman, born and trained to another tradition, would appear + impertinence. + </p> + <p> + And familiarity is not the only trait which separates the plain man of New + York from the plain man of London. The New Yorker looks upon the foreigner + with the eye of patronage. To his superior intelligence the wandering + stranger is a kind of natural, who should not be allowed to roam alone and + at large. Before you have been long in the land you find yourself + shepherded, and driven with an affability, not unmixed with contempt, into + the right path. Again, you do not resent it, and yet are surprised at your + own forbearance. A little thought, however, explains the assumed + superiority. The citizen of New York has an ingenuous pride and pleasure + in his own city and in his own prowess, which nothing can daunt. He is + convinced, especially if he has never travelled beyond his own borders, + that he engrosses the virtue and intelligence of the world The driver of a + motor-car assured me, with a quiet certitude which brooked no + contradiction, that England was cut up into sporting estates for the + "lords," and that there the working man was doomed to an idle servility. + "But," said he, "there is no room for bums here." This absolute disbelief + in other countries, combined with a perfect confidence in their own, has + persuaded the citizens of New York to look down with a cold and pitiful + eye upon those who are so unfortunate as to be born under an effete + monarchy. There is no bluster in their attitude, no insistence. The + conviction of superiority is far too great for that. They belong to the + greatest country upon earth; they alone enjoy the true blessings of + freedom; they alone understand the dignity of labour and the spirit of + in-dependence; and they have made up their minds kindly but firmly that + you shall not forget it. + </p> + <p> + Thus you carry away from New York a memory of a lively air, gigantic + buildings, incessant movement, sporadic elegance, and ingenuous patronage. + And when you have separated your impressions, the most vivid and constant + impression that remains is of a city where the means of life conquer life + itself, whose citizens die hourly of the rage to live. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0003" id="link2H_4_0003"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + BOSTON. + </h2> + <p> + America, the country of contrasts, can show none more sudden or striking + than that between New York and Boston. In New York progress and + convenience reach their zenith. A short journey carries you back into the + England of the eighteenth century. The traveller, lately puzzled by + overhead railways and awed by the immensity of sky-scrapers, no sooner + reaches Boston than he finds himself once more in a familiar environment. + The wayward simplicity of the city has little in common with the New + World. Its streets are not mere hollow tubes, through which financiers may + be hastily precipitated to their quest for gold. They wind and twist like + the streets in the country towns of England and France. To the old + architects of Boston, indeed, a street was something more than a + thoroughfare. The houses which flanked it took their places by whim or + hazard, and were not compelled to follow a hard immovable line. And so + they possess all the beauty which is born of accident and surprise. You + turn a corner, and know not what will confront you; you dive down a side + street, and are uncertain into what century you will be thrust. Here is + the old wooden house, which recalls the first settlers; there the fair + red-brick of a later period. And everywhere is the diversity which comes + of growth, and which proves that time is a better contriver of effects + than the most skilful architect. + </p> + <p> + The constant mark of Boston is a demure gaiety. An air of quiet festivity + encompasses the streets. The houses are elegant, but sternly ordered. If + they belong to the colonial style, they are exquisitely symmetrical. There + is no pilaster without its fellow; no window that is not nicely balanced + by another of self-same shape and size. The architects, who learned their + craft from the designs of Inigo Jones and Christopher Wren, had no + ambition to express their own fancy. They were loyally obedient to the + tradition of the masters, and the houses which they planned, plain in + their neatness, are neither pretentious nor inappropriate. Nowhere in + Boston will you find the extravagant ingenuity which makes New York + ridiculous; nowhere will you be disturbed by an absurd mimicry of exotic + styles; nowhere are you asked to wonder at mountainous blocks of stone. + Boston is not a city of giants, but of men who love their comfort, and + who, in spite of Puritan ancestry, do not disdain to live in beautiful + surroundings. In other words, the millionaire has not laid his iron hand + upon New England, and, until he come, Boston may still boast of its + elegance. + </p> + <p> + The pride of Boston is Beacon Street, surely one among the most majestic + streets in the world. It recalls Piccadilly and the frontage of the Green + Park. Its broad spaces and the shade of its dividing trees are of the + natural beauty which time alone can confer, and its houses are worthy its + setting. I lunched at the Somerset Club, in a white-panelled room, and it + needed clams and soft-shell crabs to convince me that I was in a new land, + and not in an English country-house. All was of another time and of a + familiar place—the service, the furniture, the aspect. And was it + possible to regard our sympathetic hosts as strange in blood or speech? + </p> + <p> + The Mall, in Beacon Street, if it is the pride, is also the distinguishing + mark of Boston. For Boston is a city of parks and trees. The famous + Common, as those might remember who believe that America sprang into being + in a night, has been sacred for nearly three hundred years. Since 1640 it + has been the centre of Boston. It has witnessed the tragedies and comedies + of an eventful history. "There," wrote an English traveller as early as + 1675, "the gallants walk with their marmalet-madams, as we do in + Moorfields." + </p> + <p> + There malefactors were hanged; there the witches suffered in the time of + their persecution; and it is impossible to forget, as you walk its ample + spaces, the many old associations which it brings with it from the past. + </p> + <p> + For it is to the past that Boston belongs. No city is more keenly + conscious of its origin. The flood of foreign immigration has not engulfed + it. Its memories, like its names, are still of England, New and Old. The + spirit of America, eagerly looking forward, cruelly acquisitive, does not + seem to fulfil it The sentiment of its beginning has outlasted even the + sentiment of a poignant agitation. It resembles an old man thinking of + what was, and turning over with careful hand the relics of days gone by. + If in one aspect Boston is a centre of commerce and enterprise, in another + it is a patient worshipper of tradition, It regards the few old buildings + which have survived the shocks of time with a respect which an Englishman + can easily understand, but which may appear extravagant to the modern + American. The Old South Meeting-House, to give a single instance, is an + object of simple-hearted veneration to the people of Boston, and the + veneration is easily intelligible. For there is scarcely an episode in + Boston's history that is not connected, in the popular imagination, with + the Old South Meeting-House. It stands on the site of John Winthrop's + garden; it is rich in memories of Cotton and Increase Mather. Within its + ancient walls was Benjamin Franklin christened, and the building which + stands to-day comes down to us from 1730, and was designed in obedient + imitation of English masters. There, too, were enacted many scenes in the + drama of revolution; there it was that the famous tea-party was proposed; + and thence it was that the Mohawks, drunk with the rhetoric of liberty, + found their way to the harbour, that they might see how tea mixed with + salt-water. If the sentiment be sometimes exaggerated, the purpose is + admirable, and it is a pleasant reflection that, in a country of quick + changes and historical indifference, at least one building will be + preserved for the admiration of coming generations. + </p> + <p> + It is for such reasons as these that an Englishman feels at home in + Boston. He is secure in the same past; he shares the same memories, even + though he give them a different interpretation. Between the New and Old + England there are more points of similarity than of difference. In each + are the same green meadows, the same ample streams, the same wide vistas. + The names of the towns and villages in the new country were borrowed from + the old some centuries ago; everywhere friendly associations are evoked; + everywhere are signs of a familiar and kindly origin. When Winthrop, the + earliest of the settlers, wrote to his wife, "We are here in a paradise," + he spoke with an enthusiasm which is easily intelligible. And as the + little colony grew, it lived its life in accord with the habit and + sentiment of the mother-country. In architecture and costume it followed + the example set in Bristol or in London. Between these ports and Boston + was a frequent interchange of news and commodities. An American in England + was no stranger. He was visiting, with sympathy and understanding, the + home of his fathers. The most distinguished Bostonians of the late + eighteenth century live upon the canvases of Copley, who, in his son, gave + to England a distinguished Chancellor, and whose career is the best proof + of the good relations which bound England to her colony. Now Copley + arrived in England in 1774, when his native Boston was aroused to the + height of her sentimental fury, and he was received with acclamation. He + painted the portraits of Lord North and his wife, who, one imagines, were + not regarded in Boston with especial favour. The King and Queen gave him + sittings, and neither political animosity nor professional rivalry stood + in the way of his advancement. His temper and character were well adapted + to his career. Before he left New England he had shown himself a Court + painter in a democratic city. He loved the trappings of life, and he loved + to put his sitters in a splendid environment. His own magnificence had + already astonished the grave Boston-ians; he is described, while still a + youth, as "dressed in a fine maroon cloth, with gilt buttons"; and he set + the seal of his own taste upon the portraiture of his friends. + </p> + <p> + I have said that Boston loves relics. The relics which it loves best are + the relics of England's discomfiture. The stately portraits of Copley are + of small account compared to the memorials of what was nothing else than a + civil war. Faneuil Hall, the Covent Garden of Boston, presented to the + city by Peter Faneuil some thirty years before the birth of "Liberty," is + now but an emblem of revolt. The Old South Meeting-Place is endeared to + the citizens of Boston as "the sanctuary of freedom." A vast monument, + erected a mere quarter of a century ago, commemorates the "Boston + Massacre." And wherever you turn you are reminded of an episode which + might easily be forgotten. To an Englishman these historical landmarks are + inoffensive. The dispute which they recall aroused far less emotion on our + side the ocean than on the other, and long ago we saw the events of the + Revolution in a fair perspective. In truth, this insistence on the past is + not wholly creditable to Boston's sense of humour. The passionate paeans + which Otis and his friends sang to Liberty were irrelevant. Liberty was + never for a moment in danger, if Liberty, indeed, be a thing of fact and + not of watchwords. The leaders of the Revolution wrote and spoke as though + it was their duty to throw off the yoke of the foreigner,—a yoke as + heavy as that which Catholic Spain cast upon Protestant Holland. + </p> + <p> + But there was no yoke to be thrown off, because no yoke was ever imposed, + and Boston might have celebrated greater events in her history than that + which an American statesman has wisely called "the glittering and sounding + generalities of natural right." + </p> + <p> + However, if you would forget the follies of politicians, you have but to + cross the bridge and drive to Cambridge, which, like the other Cambridge + of England, is the seat of a distinguished university. You are doubly + rewarded, for not merely is Cambridge a perfect specimen of a colonial + village, but in Harvard there breathes the true spirit of humane letters. + Nor is the college a creation of yesterday. It is not far short of three + centuries ago that John Harvard, once of Emmanuel College in England, + endowed the university which bears his honoured name. The bequest was a + poor £780, with 260 books, but it was sufficient to ensure an amiable + immortality, and to bestow a just cause of pride upon the mother-college. + The daughter is worthy her august parentage. She has preserved the + sentiment of her birth; she still worships the classics with a constant + heart; the fame of her scholars has travelled in the mouths of men from + end to end of Europe. And Harvard has preserved all the outward tokens of + a university. Her wide spaces and lofty avenues are the fit abode of + learning. Her college chapel and her college halls could serve no other + purpose than that for which they are designed. The West, I believe, has + built universities on another plan and to another purpose. But Harvard, + like her great neighbour Boston, has been obedient to the voice of + tradition, and her college, the oldest, remains also the greatest in + America. + </p> + <p> + Culture has always been at once the boast and the reproach of Boston. A + serious ancestry and the neighbourhood of a university are enough to + ensure a grave devotion to the things of the spirit, and Boston has never + found the quest of gold sufficient for its needs. The Pilgrim Fathers, who + first sought a refuge in New England, left their country in the cause of + what they thought intellectual freedom, and their descendants have ever + stood in need of the excitement which nothing save pietism or culture can + impart. For many years pietism held sway in Boston. The persecution of the + witches, conducted with a lofty eloquence by Cotton Mather, was but the + expression of an imperious demand, and the conflict of warring sects, + which for many years disturbed the peace of the city, satisfied a craving + not yet allayed. Then, after a long interval, came Transcendentalism, a + pleasant mixture of literature and moral guidance, and to-day Boston is as + earnest as ever in pursuit of vague ideals and soothing doctrines. + </p> + <p> + But pietism has gradually yielded to the claim of culture. Though one of + the largest buildings which frown upon the wayfarer in Boston is a temple + raised to the honour of Christian Science and Mrs Eddy, literature is + clearly the most fashionable anodyne. It is at once easier and less + poignant than theology: while it imparts the same sense of superiority, it + suggests the same emancipation from mere world-liness. It is by lectures + that Boston attempts to slake its intellectual thirst—lectures on + everything and nothing. Science, literature, theology—all is put to + the purpose. The enterprise of the Lowell Institute is seconded by a + thousand private ventures. The patient citizens are always ready to + discuss Shakespeare, except when Tennyson is the subject of the last + discourse, and zoology remains attractive until it be obscured by the + newest sensation in chemistry. And the appetite of Boston is unglutted and + insatiable. Its folly is frankly recognised by the wise among its own + citizens. Here, for instance, is the testimony of one whose sympathy with + real learning is evident. "The lecture system," says he, "in its best + estate an admirable educational instrument, has been subject to dreadful + abuse. The unbounded appetite of the New England communities for this form + of intellectual nourishment has tempted vast hordes of charlatans and + pretenders to try their fortune in this profitable field. 'The hungry + sheep look up, and are not fed.' The pay of the lecturer has grown more + exorbitant in proportion to the dilution of his mixture, until + professional jokers have usurped the places once graced by philosophers + and poets; and to-day the lyceums are served by a new species of broker, + who ekes out the failing literary material with the better entertainment + of music and play-acting." + </p> + <p> + I am not sure whether the new species of broker is not better than the + old. So long as music and play-acting do not masquerade in the worn-out + duds of intellect, they do not inflict a serious injury upon the people. + It is culture, false and unashamed, that is the danger. For culture is the + vice of the intelligence. It stands to literature in the same relation as + hypocrisy stands to religion. A glib familiarity with names does duty for + knowledge. Men and women think it no shame to play the parrot to + lecturers, and to pretend an acquaintance with books whose leaves they + have never parted. They affect intellect, when at its best it is curiosity + which drives them to lecture hall or institute—at its worst, a love + of mental dram-drinking. To see manifest in a frock-coat a poet or man of + science whose name is printed in the newspapers fills them with a fearful + enthusiasm. To hear the commonplaces of literary criticism delivered in a + lofty tone of paradox persuades them to believe that they also are among + the erudite, and makes the sacrifice of time and money as light as a + wind-blown leaf. But their indiscretion is not so trivial as it seems. + Though every man and every woman has the right to waste his time (or hers) + as may seem good, something else besides time is lost in the lecture hall. + Sincerity also is squandered in the grey, dim light of sham learning, and + nobody can indulge in a mixed orgie of "culture" without some sacrifice of + honesty and truth. + </p> + <p> + Culture, of course, is not the monopoly of Boston. It has stretched its + long arm from end to end of the American continent. Wherever you go you + will hear, in tram or car, the facile gossip of literature. The whole + world seems familiar with great names, though the meaning of the names + escapes the vast majority. Now the earnest ones of the earth congregate in + vast tea-gardens of the intellect, such as Chautauqua. Now the summer + hotel is thought a fit place in which to pick up a smattering of + literature or science; and there is an uneasy feeling abroad that what is + commonly known as pleasure must not be unalloyed. The vice, unhappily, is + not unknown in England. A country which had the ingenuity to call a penny + reading "university extension," and to send its missionaries into every + town, cannot be held guiltless. But our poor attempts at culture dwindle + to a paltry insignificance in the light of American enterprise; and we + would no more compare the achievement of England in the diffusion of + learning with the achievement of the United States, than we would set a + modest London office by the side of the loftiest sky-scraper in New York. + America lives to do good or evil on a large scale, and we lag as far + behind her in culture as in money-making. + </p> + <p> + When I left Boston for the West, I met in the train an earnest citizen of + a not uncommon type. He was immensely and ingenuously patriotic. Though he + had never left his native land, and had therefore an insufficient standard + of comparison, he was convinced that America was superior in arms and arts + to every other part of the habitable globe. He assured me, with an + engaging simplicity, that Americans were braver, more energetic, and + richer than Englishmen; that, as their buildings were higher, so also were + their intelligence and their aspirations. He pointed out that in the vast + continent of the West nothing was lacking which the mind of man could + desire. Where, he asked, would you find harvests so generous, mines so + abundant in precious metals, factories managed with so splendid an + ingenuity? If wine and oil are your quest, said he, you have but to tap + the surface of the munificent earth. One thing only, he confessed, was + lacking, and that need a few years would make good. "Wait," said he, with + an assured if immodest boastful-ness,—"wait until we get a bit + degenerate, and then we will produce a Shakespeare"! I had not the heart + to suggest that the sixteenth century in England was a period of birth, + not of decay. I could only accept his statement in awful appreciation. And + emboldened by my silence, he supported his argument with a hundred + ingeniously chosen facts. He was sure that America would never show the + smallest sign of decadence until she was tired of making money. The love + of money was the best defence against degeneracy of every kind, and he + gasped with simple-hearted pride when he thought of the millions of + dollars which his healthy, primitive compatriots were amassing. But, he + allowed, the weariness of satiety might overtake them; there might come a + time when the ledger and counting-house ceased to be all-sufficient, and + that moment of decay would witness the triumph of American literature. + "Ben Jonson, Goldsmith, and those fellows," he asked, "lived in a + degenerate age, didn't they?" I assented hastily. How could I contradict + so agreeable a companion, especially as he was going, as fast as the train + could carry him, to take a rest cure? + </p> + <p> + Such is one victim of the passion for culture. He had probably read + nothing in his life save the newspapers and Dickens's 'American Notes,' a + work to which he referred with the bitterest resentment. But he had + attended lectures, and heard names, some of which remained tinkling in his + empty head. To his confused mind English literature was a period of + degeneracy, one and indissoluble, in which certain famous writers lived, + devoting what time they could snatch from the practice of what he called + the decadent vices to the worship of the bottle. There was no harm in him. + He was, as the common phrase has it, his own enemy. But he would be better + employed in looking at a game of baseball than in playing with humane + letters, and one cannot but regret that he should suffer thus profoundly + from a vicious system. Another victim of culture comes to my mind. He, + too, was from Boston, and as his intelligence was far deeper than the + other one's, his unhappiness was the greater. I talked to him for a long + day, and he had no conversation but of books. For him the visible world + did not exist. The printed page was the beginning and the end of + existence. He had read, if not wisely, at least voraciously, and he + displayed a wide and profound acquaintance with modern biography. He had + all the latest <i>Lives</i> at his finger-tips. He knew where all our + great contemporaries lived, and who were their friends; he had attended + lectures on every conceivable subject; withal he was of a high + seriousness, which nothing could daunt. For him, as is but natural, the + works of Mr Arthur Benson held the last "message" of modern literature. He + could not look upon books as mere instruments of pleasure or enjoyment. He + wanted to extract from them that mysterious quality called "help" by the + elect of the lecture hall; and without the smallest persuasion he told me + which authors had "helped" him in his journey through the world. Shelley, + of course, stood first on the list, then came Walt Whitman, and Pater was + not far from the top. And there was nothing more strange in this apostle + of aesthetics than his matter-of-fact air. His words were the words of a + yearning spirit. His tone was the tone of a statistician. Had he really + read the books of which he spoke? Did they really "help" him in the making + of money, which was the purpose of his life, or did they minister to a + mind diseased? I do not know. But I do know that there was a kind of + pathos in his cold anxiety. Plainly he was a man of quick perception and + alert intelligence. And he seemed to have wasted a vast amount of time in + acquiring a jargon which certainly was not his own, and in attaching to + books a meaning and purpose which they have never possessed. + </p> + <p> + Such are two widely different products of the lecture hall, and it is + impossible not to see that, widely as their temperaments differ, they have + been pushed through the same mill. And thus we arrive at the worst vice of + enforced culture. Culture is, like the overhead railroad, a mere saviour + of time. It is the tramway of knowledge which compels all men to travel by + the same car, whatever may be their ultimate destination. It possesses all + the inconvenience of pleasures taken or duties performed in common. The + knowledge which is sincere and valuable must be acquired by each man + separately; it must correspond to the character and disposition of him who + acquires it, or it is a thin disguise of vanity and idleness. To what, + then, may we attribute this passion for the lecture hall? Perhaps it is + partly due to the provincialism characteristic of America, and partly to + an invincible energy, which quickens the popular ambition and urges men to + acquire information as they acquire wealth, by the shortest route, and + with the smallest exertion. + </p> + <p> + Above all, culture is the craving of an experimental age, and America no + doubt will outgrow it domination. Even now Boston, its earliest slave, is + shaking off the yoke; and it is taking refuge in the more modern cities of + the West. Chicago is, I believe, its newest and vastest empire. There, + where all is odd, it is well to be thought a "thinker." There, we are + told, the elect believe it their duty "to reach and stimulate others." But + wherever culture is found Strange things are done in its name, and the + time may come when by the light of Chicago's brighter lamp Boston may seem + to dwell in the outer darkness. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0004" id="link2H_4_0004"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHICAGO. + </h2> + <p> + America may be defined as the country where there are no railway porters. + You begin a journey without ceremony; you end it without a welcome. No + zealot, eager to find you a corner seat and to dispose of your luggage, + meets you when you depart. You must carry your own bag when you stumble + unattended from the train. This enforced dependence upon yourself is + doubtless a result of democracy. The spirit of freedom, which permits a + stealthy nigger to brush your hat, does not allow another to handle your + luggage. To the enchained and servile mind of an Englishman these + distinctions axe difficult to understand. A training in transatlantic + liberty is necessary for their appreciation. However, no great evil is + inflicted on the traveller. The ritual of checking your baggage may easily + be learned, and the absence of porters has, by a natural process, evolved + the "grip." The "grip," in fact, is the universal mark of America. It is + as intimate a part of the citizen's equipment as a hat or coat, and it is + not without its advantages. It is light to carry, it fills but a small + space, and it ensures that the traveller shall not be separated from all + his luggage. A far greater hardship than the carriage of a "grip" is the + enforced publicity of an American train. The Englishman loves to travel in + seclusion. The end of his ambition is a locked compartment to himself. Mr + Pullman has ordained that his clients shall endure the dust and heat of a + long journey in public; and when the voyager, wearied out by the rattle of + the train, seeks his uncomfortable couch, he is forced to seek it under + the general gaze. + </p> + <p> + These differences of custom are interesting, because they correspond to + differences of temperament. There is a far deeper difference in the + character of the country through which you travel. A journey in Europe is + like a page of history. You pass from one century to another. You see a + busy world through the window. As you sit in your corner a living panorama + is unfolded before your eyes. The country changes with the sky. Town and + mountain and cornfield follow one another in quick succession. At every + turn you see that wonderful symbol of romance, the white road that winds + over the hill, flecked perhaps by a solitary traveller. But it is always + the work of man, not the beauty of nature, that engrosses you. You would, + if you could, alight at every point to witness the last act of comedy, + which is just beginning. Men and women, to whom you are an episode or an + obstruction, flash by. Here is a group of boys bathing. There peasants + gaze at the train as something inhuman. At the level crossing a horse + chafes in his shafts. In an instant you are whizzed out of sight, and he + remains. Then, as night falls, the country-side leaves its work; the eyes + of the cottages gleam and flicker through the trees. Round the corner you + catch sight of a village festival. The merry-go-rounds glint and clank + under the shadow of a church. The mountains approach and recede; streams + grow into mighty rivers. The grey sky is dark blue and inlaid with stars. + And you sit still, tired and travel-stained, having shared in a day the + life of hundreds. + </p> + <p> + Such is a journey in Europe. How different the experience in America! On + the road to Chicago you pass through a wilderness. The towns are + infrequent; there are neither roads nor hedges; and the rapidly changing + drama of life escapes you. The many miles of scrub and underwood are + diversified chiefly by crude advertisements. Here you are asked to + purchase Duke's Mixture; there Castoria Toilet Powder is thrust upon your + unwilling notice. In the few cities which you approach the frame-houses + and plank-walks preserve the memory of the backwoods. In vain you look for + the village church, which in Europe is never far away. In vain you look + for the incidents which in our land lighten the tedium of a day's journey. + All is barren and bleak monotony. The thin line of railway seems a hundred + miles from the life of man. At one station I caught sight of an + "Exposition Car," which bore the legend, "Cuba on Wheels," and I was + surprised as at a miracle. Outside Niles, a little country town, a + battered leather-covered shay was waiting to take wayfarers to the + Michigan Inn; and the impression made by so simple a spectacle is the best + proof of the railroad's isolation. There is but one interlude in the + desolate expanse—Niagara. + </p> + <p> + Before he reaches the station called Niagara Falls, the tourist has a + foretaste of what is in store for him. He is assailed in the train by + touts, who would inveigle him into a hotel or let him a carriage, and to + touts he is an unwilling prey so long as he remains within sight or + hearing of the rapids. The trim little town which has grown up about the + falls, and may be said to hang upon the water, has a holiday aspect. The + sightseers, the little carriages, the summer-hotels, all wear the same + garb of gaiety and leisure. There is a look of contented curiosity on the + faces of all, who are not busy defacing the landscape with mills and + power-stations, as of those about to contemplate a supreme wonder. And yet + the sight of it brings the same sense of disappointment which the colossal + masterpieces of nature always inspire. Not to be amazed at it would be + absurd. To pretend to appreciate it is absurd also. "The Thunder of the + Waters" can neither be painted upon canvas nor described in words. It is + composed on a scale too large for human understanding. A giant might find + some amusement in its friendly contemplation. A man can but stand aghast + at its sound and size, as at some monstrous accident. He may compare the + Fall on the American side with the Horse-shoe on the Canadian. He has no + other standard of comparison, since Niagara not only transcends all other + phenomena of its kind, but also our human vision and imagination. When you + see the far-tossed spray lit up with a flash of iridescence, you catch at + something which makes a definite impression; and you feel the same relief + that a man may feel when he finds a friend in a mob of strangers. To heap + up epithets upon this mysterious force is the idlest sport. Are you nearer + to it when you have called it x "deliberate, vast, and fascinating"? You + might as well measure its breadth and height, or estimate the number of + gallons which descend daily from the broad swirling river above. A + distinguished playwright once complained of Sophocles that he lacked human + interest, and the charge may be brought with less injustice against + Niagara. It is only through daring and danger that you can connect it with + the human race; and you find yourself wondering where it was that Captain + Webb was hurled to his death, or by what route the gallant little "Maid of + the Mist" shot the rapids to escape the curiosity of the excise officer. + </p> + <p> + Nothing is more curious in the history of taste than the changed view + which is taken to-day of natural scenery. Time was when the hand and mind + of man were deemed necessary for a beautiful effect, A wild immensity of + mountain or water was thought a mere form of ugliness; a garden was a + waste if it were not trimmed to formality; and a savage moorland was fit + only for the sheep to crop. The admiration of Father Hennepin, the + companion of La Salle, and the first white man who ever gazed upon + Niagara, was tempered by affright. "This wonderful Downfal," said he in + 1678, "is compounded of Cross-streams of Water, and two Falls, with an + Isle sloping along the middle of it. The Waters which fall from this + horrible Precipice do foam and boyl after the most hideous manner + imaginable, making an Outrageous Noise, more terrible than that of + Thunder; for when the wind blows out of the South, their dismal roaring + may be heard more than Fifteen Leagues off." These are the epithets of the + seventeenth century,—"horrible," "hideous," "outrageous," "dismal." + Now take the modern view, eloquently expressed in 1879 by the United + States Commissioners, whose noble object was to preserve the Falls + untouched for ever. "The value of Niagara to the world," they wrote, "and + that which has obtained for it the homage of so many men whom the world + reveres, lies in its power of appeal to the higher emotional and + imaginative faculties, and this power is drawn from qualities and + conditions too subtle to be known through verbal description. To a proper + apprehension of these, something more than passing observation is + necessary; to an enjoyment of them, something more than an instantaneous + act of will." It is the old dispute between beauty and wonder, between + classic and romantic. Who is in the right of it, the old priest or the + modern commissioners? Each man will answer according to his temperament. + For my part, I am on the side of Father Hennepin. + </p> + <p> + Niagara is not an inappropriate introduction to Chicago. For Chicago also + is beyond the scale of human comprehension and endeavour. In mere size + both are monstrous; it is in size alone that they are comparable. Long + before he reaches "the grey city," as its inhabitants fondly call it, the + traveller is prepared for the worst. At Pullman a thick pall already hangs + over everything. The nearer the train approaches Chicago the drearier + becomes the aspect. You are hauled through mile after mile of rubbish and + scrap-heap. You receive an impression of sharp-edged flints and broken + bottles. When you pass the "City Limits" you believe yourself at your + journey's end. You have arrived only at the boundary of Chicago's + ambition, and Chicago is forty minutes' distant. The station, which bears + the name "102nd St.," is still in the prairies. + </p> + <p> + A little more patience and you catch a first glimpse of the lake—vast, + smooth, and grey in the morning light. A jolt, and you are descending, + grip in hand, upon the platform. + </p> + <p> + The first impression of Chicago, and the last, is of an unfinished + monstrosity. It might be a vast railway station, built for men and women + twenty feet high. The sky-scrapers, in which it cherishes an inordinate + pride, shut out the few rays of sunlight which penetrate its dusky + atmosphere. They have not the excuse of narrow space which their rivals in + New York may plead. They are built in mere wantonness, for within the City + Limits, whose distance from the centre is the best proof of Chicago's + hopefulness, are many miles of waste ground, covered only with broken + fences and battered shanties. And, as they raise their heads through the + murky fog, these sky-scrapers wear a morose and sullen look. If they are + not mere lumps, their ornament is hideously heavy and protrusive. They + never combine, as they combine in New York, into an impressive whole. They + clamour blatantly of their size, and that is all. And if the city be + hideously aggressive, what word of excuse can be found for the outskirts, + for the Italian and Chinese quarters, for the crude, new districts which + fasten like limpets upon the formless mass of Chicago? These, to an + enduring ugliness add a spice of cruelty and debauch, which are separate + and of themselves. + </p> + <p> + In its suggestion of horror Chicago is democratic. The rich and the poor + alike suffer from the prevailing lack of taste. The proud "residences" on + the Lake Shore are no pleasanter to gaze upon than the sulky sky-scrapers. + Some of them are prison-houses; others make a sad attempt at gaiety; all + are amazingly unlike the dwelling-houses of men and women. Yet their + owners are very wealthy. To them nothing is denied that money can buy, and + it is thus that they prefer to express themselves and their ambitions. + What, then, is tolerable in Chicago? Lincoln Park, which the smoke and fog + of the city have not obscured, and the grandiose lake, whose fresh + splendour no villainy of man can ever deface. And at one moment of the + day, when a dark cloud hung over the lake, and the sun set in a red glory + behind the sky-scrapers, each black, and blacker for its encircling smoke, + Chicago rose superior to herself and her surroundings. + </p> + <p> + After ugliness, the worst foe of Chicago is dirt. A thick, black, sooty + dust lies upon everything. It is at the peril of hands begrimed that you + attempt to open a window. In the room that was allotted to me in a + gigantic hotel I found a pair of ancient side-spring boots, once the + property, no doubt, of a prominent citizen, and their apparition + intensified the impression of uncleanness. The streets are as untidy as + the houses; garbage is dumped in the unfinished roadways; and in or out of + your hotel you will seek comfort in vain. The citizens of Chicago + themselves are far too busy to think whether their city is spruce or + untidy. Money is their quest, and it matters not in what circumstances + they pursue it. The avid type is universal and insistent. The energy of + New York is said to be mere leisure compared to the hustling of Chicago. + Wherever you go you are conscious of the universal search after gold. The + vestibule of the hotel is packed with people chattering, calculating, and + telephoning. The clatter of the machine which registers the latest + quotations never ceases. In the street every one is hurrying that he may + not miss a lucrative bargain, until the industry and ambition of Chicago + culminate in the Board of Trade. + </p> + <p> + The dial of the Board of Trade, or the Pit as it is called, is the magnet + which attracts all the eyes of Chicago, for on its face is marked the + shifting, changing price of wheat. And there on the floor, below the + Strangers' Gallery, the gamblers of the West play for the fortunes and + lives of men. They stand between the farmers, whose waving cornfields they + have never seen, and the peasants of Europe, whose taste for bread they do + not share. It is more keenly exciting to bet upon the future crop of wheat + than upon the speed of a horse; and far larger sums may be hazarded in the + Pit than on a racecourse. And so the livelong day the Bulls and Bears + confront one another, gesticulating fiercely, and shouting at the top of + their raucous voices. If on the one hand they ruin the farmer, or on the + other starve the peasant, it matters not to them. They have enjoyed the + excitement, and made perchance a vast fortune at another's expense. They + are, indeed, the true parasites of commerce; and in spite of their intense + voices and rapid gestures, there is an air of unreality about all their + transactions. As I watched the fury of the combatants, I found myself + wondering why samples of corn were thrown upon the floor. Perhaps they + serve to feed the pigeons. + </p> + <p> + Materialism, then, is the frank end and aim of Chicago. Its citizens + desire to get rich as quickly and easily as possible. The means are + indifferent to them. It is the pace alone which is important. All they + want is "a business proposition" and "found money." And when they are + rich, they have no other desire than to grow richer. Their money is + useless to them, except to breed more money. The inevitable result is a + savagery of thought and habit. If we may believe the newspapers of + Chicago, peaceful men of business are "held up" at noon in crowded + streets. The revolver is still a potent instrument in this city of the + backwoods. But savagery is never without its reaction. There has seldom + been a community of barbarians which did not find relief in an extravagant + sentimentality, and Chicago, in its hours of ease, is an enthusiastic + patron of the higher life. As I have said, in culture it is fast + outstripping Boston itself. It boasts more societies whose object is "the + promotion of serious thought upon art, science, and literature" than any + other city in the world. The clubs which it has established for the proper + study of Ibsen and Browning are without number, It is as eager for the + enlightenment of women as for sending up or down the price of corn. The + craze, which is the mark of a crude society, will pass like many others, + and, though it may appear sincere while it lasts, it is not + characteristic. The one triumph of Chicago is its slang. It has invented a + lingo more various and fuller of fancy than any known to man, and if it + will forget Ibsen and exercise its invention after its own fashion, why + should it not invent a new literature? Mr George Ade, the Shakespeare of + Chicago, has already shown us what can be done with the new speech in his + masterly 'Fables in Slang,' to read which is almost as good as a journey + to the West; and there is no reason why he should not found a school. + </p> + <p> + Yet with all its faults and absurdities upon its face, Chicago is the + happiest city in America. It is protected by the triple brass of pride + against all the assaults of its enemies. Never in history was so sublime a + vanity revealed; and it is hard for a stranger to understand upon what it + is based. Chicago is Chicago—that is what its citizens say, with a + flattered smile, which makes argument useless. Its dirt and dust do not + disconcert its self-esteem. The oversized ugliness of its buildings are no + disappointment to its candid soul, and if its peculiar virtue escape your + observation, so much the worse for you. "The marvellous city of the West"—that + is its own name, and it lives up to it without an effort. Its history, as + composed by its own citizens, is one long paean of praise. One chronicler, + to whose unconscious humour I am infinitely indebted, dedicates his work + to "the children of Chicago, who, if the Lord spares them until they shall + have attained the allotted span of life, will see this city the greatest + metropolis on the globe." That is a modest estimate, and it makes us feel + the inadequacy of our poor speech to hymn the glories of Chicago. And if + you suggest a fault, its panegyrists are always ready with a + counterstroke. Having no taste for slaughter, I did not visit Packing + Town, but, without admitting all the grave charges brought against + Chicago's grandest industry, one might have supposed that the sudden + translation of herds of cattle into potted meat was not unattended with + some inconvenience. This suspicion, you are told, is an insult to the + city. What might disgust the traveller elsewhere has no terrors in + Chicago. "This Packing-Town odor," we are told by a zealot, "has been + unjustly criticised. To any one accustomed to it there is only a pleasant + suggestion of rich, ruddy blood and long rows of tempting 'sides' hung up + to cool." I prefer not to be tempted. I can only bow before the ingenuity + of this eulogy. And if, more seriously, you reproach the cynicism of the + Pit, which on this side or that may compel ruin, you are met with a very + easy rejoinder. "The Chicago Board of Trade"—it is the same + apologist who speaks—"is a world-renowned commercial organisation. + It exercises a wider and a more potential influence over the welfare of + mankind than any other institution of its kind in existence." This + assurance leaves you dumb. You might as well argue with a brass band as + with a citizen of Chicago; and doubtless you would wave the flag yourself + if you stayed long enough in the wonderful West. + </p> + <p> + But the panegyrist of the Pit, already quoted, helps us to explain + Chicago's vanity. "The fortunes made and lost within the walls of the + great building," says he proudly, "astonish the world." If Chicago can + only astonish the world, that is enough. Its citizens fondly hope that + everything they do is on the largest scale. Size, speed, and prominence + are the three gods of their idolatry. They are not content until they—the + citizens—are all prominent, and their buildings are all the largest + that cumber the earth. It is a great comfort to those who gamble away + their substance in the Board of Trade to reflect that the weathercock that + surmounts its tower is the biggest ever seen by human eye. There is not + one of them that will not tell you, with a satisfied smile, that the + slowest of their fire-engines can go from one end of the city to the other + in five seconds. There is not one of them who, in the dark recesses of his + mind, is not sure that New York is a "back number." They are proud of the + senseless height of their houses, and of the rapidity with which they + mount towards the sky. They are proud of the shapeless towns which spring + up about them like mushrooms in a single night. In brief, they are proud + of all the things of which they should feel shame; and even when their + buildings have been measured and their pace has been recognised, their + vanity is still a puzzle. For, when all the world has been satisfactorily + amazed, what boast is left to the citizens of Chicago? They cannot take + delight in the soil, since the most of them do not belong to it. The + patriotism of the cosmopolitan horde which is huddled together amid their + lofty Cliffs must perforce be an artificial sentiment. They cannot look + with satisfaction upon the dishevelled suburbs in which they live. They + need not suppose the slaughtering of pigs and beeves is the highest duty + of man. But wherever they dwell and whatever they do, they are convinced + of their own superiority. Their pride is not merely revealed in print; it + is evident in a general familiarity of tone and manner. If your cabman + wishes to know your destination, he prefaces his question with the + immortal words, "Say, boys," and he thinks that he has put himself on + amiable terms with you at once. Indeed, the newly-arrived stranger is + instantly asked to understand that he belongs to a far meaner city than + that in which he sojourns; and, even with the evidence of misapplied + wealth before his eyes, he cannot believe it. + </p> + <p> + And what amiable visions do you carry away from Chicago besides the + majesty of the lake, ever changing in colour and aspect, and the beauty of + Lincoln Park? A single memory lingers in my mind. At sunset I saw a black + regiment marching along Michigan Avenue,—marching like soldiers; and + by its side on the pavement a laughing, shouting mob of negresses danced a + triumphant cake-walk. They grinned and sang and chattered in perfect + happiness and pride. They showed a frank pleasure in the prowess of their + brothers and their friends. But, animated as the spectacle was, there was + a sinister element in this joyous clatter. To an English eye it seemed a + tragic farce—a veritable <i>danse macabre</i>. + </p> + <p> + Unhappy is the city which has no history; and what has Chicago to offer of + history or tradition? What has it to tell the traveller? Once she was + consumed, though she was not purified, by fire, and she still lives in the + recollection. A visitor to a European city goes forth to admire a castle, + a cathedral, a gallery of pictures. In Chicago he is asked to wonder at + the shapeless residences of "prominent" citizens. And when the present + civilisation fades and dies, what will be Chicago's ruins? Neither temple + nor tower will be brought to the ground. There will be nothing to show the + wandering New Zealander but a broken city, which was a scrap-heap before + it was built; and the wandering New Zealander may be forgiven if he + proclaim the uselessness of size and progress, if he ask how it has + profited a city to buy and sell all the corn in the world, and in its + destruction to leave not a wrack of comeliness behind. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0005" id="link2H_4_0005"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + NEW ENGLAND. + </h2> + <p> + If in a country town we find an Inn called New, it is a sure sign of + ancientry. The fresh and fragrant name survives the passing centuries. It + clings to the falling house long after it has ceased to have an + intelligible meaning. Taverns with a nobler sign and more arrogant aspect + obscure its simpler merits. But there is a pride in its name, a dignity in + its age, which a changing fashion will never destroy. And as it is with + Inns, so it is with countries. New is an epithet redolent of antiquity. + The province which once was, and is still called, New England, is very old + America. It cannot be judged by the standards which are esteemed in New + York or Chicago. The broad stream of what is called progress has left it + undisturbed in its patient backwater. It recks as little of sky-scrapers + as of transportation. Its towns are not ashamed of being villages, and the + vanity which it guards is not the vanity of shapeless size, but the rarer + vanity of a quiet and decent life. + </p> + <p> + No sooner does the English traveller leave Boston for the north than he + enters what seems a familiar country. The towns which he passes, the + rivers which he crosses, bear names, as I have said, to prove the faithful + devotion the old adventurers felt for their native land. If they sought + their fortune across the ocean, they piously preserved the memories of + other days. Austere as were the early Puritans, bitterly as they smarted + under what they supposed a political grievance, they did not regard the + country of their origin with the fierce hatred which has sometimes + inspired their descendants. The love of the New did not extinguish the + love of the Old England. In Appledore and Portsmouth, in London and + Manchester, in Newcastle and Dover, the ancient sentiment lives and + breathes. And the New Englanders, once proud of their source, still + cherish a pride in their blood, which they have kept pure from the + contamination of the foreigner. Fortunately for itself, New England has + fallen behind in the march of progress. There is nothing in its peaceful + recesses to tempt the cosmopolitan horde which throngs the great cities of + America. The hope of gain is there as small as the opportunity of + gambling. A quiet folk, devoted to fishery and agriculture, is not worth + plundering. + </p> + <p> + So it is there, if anywhere, that you may surprise the true-born American, + and when you have surprised him, he very much resembles your own + compatriot. His type and gesture are as familiar to you as his + surroundings. Slow of speech and movement, he has not yet acquired the + exhausting, purposeless love of speed which devours the more modern + cities. He goes about his work with a perfect consciousness that there are + four-and-twenty hours in the day. And as he is not the victim of an undue + haste, he has leisure for a gracious civility. It is not for him to + address a stranger with the familiarity characteristic of New York or + Chicago. Though he know it not, and perhaps would resent it if he knew it, + he is profoundly influenced by his origin. He has not lost the high + seriousness, the quiet gravity, which distinguished his ancestors. + </p> + <p> + His towns, in aspect and sentiment, closely resemble himself. Portsmouth, + for instance, which has not the same reason for self-consciousness as + Salem or Concord, has retained the authentic features of the mother-land. + You might easily match it in Kent or Essex. The open space in the centre + of the town, the Athenæum—in style, name, and purpose, alike English—are + of another age and country than their own. There is a look of trim + elegance everywhere, which refreshes the eye; and over the streets there + broods an immemorial peace, which even the echoing clangour of the Navy + Yard cannot dispel. The houses, some of wood, built after the Colonial + manner, others of red brick, and of a grave design, are in perfect harmony + with their surroundings. Nothing is awry: nothing is out of place. And so + severely consistent is the impression of age, that down on the sunlit + quay, flanked by the lofty warehouses, the slope of whose roofs is masked + by corbie-steps, you are surprised not to see riding at anchor the + high-prowed galleons of the seventeenth century. + </p> + <p> + And, best of all, there is the quiet, simple Church of St John's, English + in feeling as in origin. Though rebuilt a hundred years ago, on the site + of an earlier church, it has remained loyal to its history, and is the + true child of the eighteenth century. Is it not fitting that the + communion-plate presented by Queen Caroline should be treasured here? That + the sexton should still show you, even with a cold indifference, the + stately prayer-books which once contained prayers for the king? That a + bell, captured at Louisburg by Sir William Pepperell, should summon to the + worship of God a people long forgetful of that proud achievement? Such are + the evidences of an innate conservatism which has kept alive the old + traditions of New England. + </p> + <p> + Thus for three hundred years Portsmouth has lived the happy life of a + country town, and its historian sadly notes that until 1900 its population + did not rise to 10,000. The historian need feel no regret: it is not by + numbers that we may measure the stateliness of a city; and the dignity of + Portsmouth is still plain for all to behold in the houses, to cite but two + examples, of Governors Wentworth and Langdon, And then after this long + spell of fortunate obscurity, Portsmouth became suddenly the centre of + universal interest. By a curious irony this little, old-fashioned town was + chosen to be the meeting-place of Russia and Japan, and the first + experiment in modern diplomacy-was made in a place which has sacrificed + nothing to a love of that intoxicant known as the spirit of the age. It + was, in truth, a strange sight that Portsmouth saw a brief two years ago. + Before its troubled eyes the stern conference of hostile nations was + turned to comedy. A hundred and twenty eager reporters publicly put up + their support for sale in exchange for information to the highest bidder. + The representative of a great country was heard boasting to the gentlemen + of the press of his own prowess. "The Japanese could not read in my face," + said M. Witte, "what was passing in my heart." Isn't it wonderful? Would + not the diplomatists of another age be ashamed of their <i>confrère</i> + could they hear him brag of a rudimentary and long since dishonoured <i>finesse?</i> + But the mere fact that M. Witte could make such a speech on American soil + is a clear proof that the New World is not the proper field of diplomacy. + The congresses of old were gay and secret. "Le congrès," said the Prince + de Ligne at Vienna, "ne marche pas; il danse." It danced, and it kept + inviolate the obligation of silence. The Congress at Portsmouth did not + talk—it chattered; and it was an open injustice to the unbroken + history of New England that President Roosevelt should have chosen this + tranquil and ancient spot for a bold experiment in diplomacy by + journalism. + </p> + <p> + Across the river lies Battery, even more remote from the world of greed + and competition than Portsmouth. Here at last you discover what so often + eludes you in America—the real countryside. The rough pleasant roads + like English lanes, the beautiful wooden houses half hidden amid towering + trees, and the gardens (or yards as they are called) not trim, like our + English gardens, but of an unkempt beauty all their own,—these, with + the memory of a gracious hospitality, will never fade from my mind. At + Kittery, as at Portsmouth, you live in the past. There is nothing save an + electric trolley and the motor engines of the fishing-boats to recall the + bustle of to-day. Here is Fort M'Clary, a block-house built two centuries + ago to stay the incursion of the Indians. There is the house of Pepperell, + the hero of Louis-burg. Thus, rich in old associations, happy in its + present seclusion, Kittery has a kind of personal charm, which is + intensified by an obvious and striking contrast. + </p> + <p> + It was from Newport that I went to Kittery, and passed in a few hours from + the modern to the ancient world. Not even New York gives a more vivid + impression of the inappropriateness which is America's besetting sin, than + Newport, whose gay inhabitants are determined, at all costs, to put + themselves at variance with time and place. The mansions, called + "cottages" in proud humility, are entirely out of proportion to their site + and purpose. On the one hand you see a house as large as Chatsworth, bleak + and treeless, with nothing to separate it from its ambitious neighbours + but a wooden palisade. It suggests nothing so much as that it has lost its + park, and mislaid its lodges. On the other, you see a massive pile, whose + castellated summit resembles nothing else than a county jail. And nowhere + is there a possibility of ambush, nowhere a frail hint of secrecy. The + people of Newport, moreover, is resolved to live up to its inappropriate + environment. As it rejoices in the wrong kind of house, so it delights in + the wrong sort of costume. The vain luxury of the place is expressed in a + thousand strange antics. A new excitement is added to seabathing by the + ladies, who face the waves in all the bravery of Parisian hats. To return + unsullied from the encounter is a proof of the highest skill. Is it not + better to preserve a deftly-poised hat from the mere contact of the waves + than to be a tireless and intrepid swimmer? + </p> + <p> + Newport, in fact, has been haunted by a sort of ill-luck. It has never + been able to make the best of itself. There was a time when its harbour + bade fair to rival the harbour of New York, and when its inhabitants + fondly believed that all the great ships of the world would find refuge + under the splendid shadow of Rhode Island. And when this hope was + disappointed for ever, Newport still possessed in herself all the elements + of beauty. Whatever exquisite colour and perfect situation could give, was + hers. What more can the eyes of man desire than green lawns and an + incomparable sea? And there lies the old town to link the prosperity of + to-day with the romance of yesterday. And there grow in wild profusion the + scented hedges of honeysuckle and roses. And all of no avail. The early + comers to Newport, it is true, understood that a real cottage of wood was + in harmony with the place. They built their houses to the just scale of + the landscape, and had they kept their own way how happy would have been + the result! But beauty gave way to fashion; wealth usurped the sovereignty + of taste; size was mistaken for grandeur,—in a word, the millionaire + disfigured Newport to his whim. + </p> + <p> + And so it ceased to be a real place. It became a mere collection of + opposing mansions and quarrelsome styles. If the vast "cottages," which + raise their heads higher and higher in foolish rivalry, were swept away, + no harm would be done. They are there by accident, and they will last only + so long as a wayward fashion tolerates their presence. Battery, on the + other hand, cannot be abolished by a caprice of taste. It is a village + which has its roots in the past, and whose growth neither wealth nor + progress has obscured. Above all, it possesses the virtue, great in towns + as in men, of sincerity. It has not cut itself loose from its beginnings; + its houses belong harmoniously to itself; and it has retained through two + centuries the character of the old colonial days. Nor is it without an + historical importance. Great names cling about it. The men of Battery + fought on many a hard-won field against French and Indians, and, retired + though it be from the broad stream of commerce and progress, it cannot + dissipate the memory of loyal devotion to the crown and of military glory. + </p> + <p> + Its hero is Sir William Pepperell, soldier and merchant, whose thrift and + prowess were alike remarkable. The son of a Tavistock fisherman, who + pursued fortune in the New World with equal energy and success, he still + further advanced his house in wealth and circumstance. Accustomed from + boyhood to the dangers of Indian warfare, he was as apt for arms as for + arts, and it is characteristic of the time and place that this prosperous + merchant should be known to fame as the commander of a triumphant + expedition. It was in 1745 that his chance came. For many years Louis-burg + had afforded harbourage to French privateers, who had harried the coast of + New England and captured rich cargoes of merchandise. At last Governor + Shirley of Massachusetts resolved to attack it, and we may judge of the + esteem in which Pepperell was held, by the fact that he was appointed to + lead an expedition against a fortress deemed impregnable by the French, + and known as the Dunkirk of America. His selection was a tribute not + merely to his courage but to his tact. No man of his time was better + fitted to control the conflicting tempers of the colonial militia, and he + set forth at the head of his 4000 men under the best auspices. Being a + Puritan in command of Puritans, he quickened the bravery of his comrades + by a show of religious zeal. He made it plain that he was engaged in a war + against papistry, and he asked George White-field, then in America, for a + motto. "Nil desperandum, Christo duce," said the preacher; and thus + heartened, the little fleet set sail on its triumphant journey. At first + sight the contest seemed unequal. On one side was Duchambon, an + experienced soldier, defending a fortress which had long been thought + invincible. On the other was a plain merchant in command of no more than + 4000 militiamen. But the very simplicity of Pepperell's attack ensured its + success. He sailed into the harbour without warning and without fear, in + the very eye of the French artillery, landed his men, and began a siege + which resulted, after six weeks, in the reduction of Louisburg. It was a + gallant feat of arms, marred only by the fact that a foolish Government + declined to take advantage of a colonial victory. Three years later + Louisburg was wickedly restored to France in exchange for certain + advantages in India, and a foolish policy obscured for a while at least + the eminent services of William Pepperell. + </p> + <p> + To-day the victor of Louisburg is not without fame—save in his own + country. Fortunately for himself, Pepperell died before the War of the + Revolution, and did not see the ruin which overtook his family. The + property which had passed into the hands of his grandchildren was + confiscated. They were guilty of loyalty to the crown and country for + which their ancestor had fought, and the third generation was saved from + the poorhouse "by the bounty of individuals on whom they had no claims for + favour." In other words, Pepperell's memory was dishonoured, because in + serving New England he had worn the king's uniform. In the eyes of the + newly emancipated, treachery was retrospective. Pepperell's biographer + explains his sin and its punishment with a perfect clarity. "The eventful + life of Sir W. Pepperell," he writes, "closed a few years before the + outbreak of the Revolution. Patriotism in his day implied loyalty and + fidelity to the King of England; but how changed the meaning of that word + in New England after the Declaration of Independence! Words and deeds + before deemed patriotic were now traitorous, and so deeply was their moral + turpitude impressed on the public mind as to have tainted popular opinions + concerning the heroic deeds of our ancestors, performed in the King's + service in the French Wars.... The War of the Revolution absorbed and + neutralised all the heroic fame of the illustrious men that preceded, and + the achievements of Pepperell, of Johnson, and of Bradstreet are now + almost forgotten." These words were written in 1855, and they have not yet + lost their truth. + </p> + <p> + For us this forgetfulness is not easily intelligible. It is our habit to + attach ourselves closely to the past. If there have been conflicts, they + have left no rancour, no bitterness. The winner has been modest, the loser + magnanimous. The centuries of civil strife which devastated England + imposed no lasting hostility. Nobody cares to-day whether his ancestor was + Cavalier or Roundhead. The keenest Royalist is willing to acknowledge the + noble prowess and the political genius of Cromwell. The hardiest Puritan + pays an eager tribute to the exalted courage of Charles I. But the + Americans have taken another view. They would, if they could, discard the + bonds which unite them with England. For the mere glamour of independence + they would sacrifice the glory of the past. They would even assume an + hostility to their ancestors because these ancestors were of English + blood. They seem to believe that if they forget their origin persistently + enough it will be transformed. The top of their ambition would be reached + if they could suppose that they were autochthonous,—that they sprang + into being fully armed upon American soil. It irks them to think that + other races have had a hand in creating "God's own country," and they are + happiest when they can convince themselves that a man changes his heart + and his mind as well as his sky when he leaves Europe for America. And so + they pursue the policy of the ostrich. They bury the head of their past in + the sandy desert of the present, and hope that nobody will detect the + trick of their concealment. + </p> + <p> + In the Church of St John at Portsmouth there is, as I have said, an + English prayer-book from which the page containing prayers for the king + has been violently torn. This incident symbolises very aptly the attitude + of America. The country has not yet recovered from the hostility which it + once professed to George III. It assumes that a difference of policy + always implies a moral taint. The American Colonies broke away from the + mother country; therefore George III. was a knave, whose name may not be + mentioned without dishonour, and all the brave men who served him in + serving the colonies are dishonoured also. It is not quite clear why this + feeling has been kept alive so long. Perhaps the violent rhetoric of the + Declaration of Independence has aided its survival. Perhaps, too, the + sense of gravity, which always overtakes the American public man when he + considers what These States have achieved, is not without its weight. But + whatever the cause, it is certain that shame and animosity still exist on + the other side of the ocean: shame for noble deeds accomplished by brave + men; animosity against a loyal antagonist, who long ago forgot the ancient + quarrel and its consequence. + </p> + <p> + And yet the force and habit of tradition cannot forcibly be shaken off. + Though New England, in forgetting the heroes who fought under British + colours, has attempted to break the continuity of history, it is in New + England where the links in the ancient chain are most stoutly coupled. + Though all the prayer-books in the world be destroyed, the marks of its + origin will still be stamped indelibly upon the face of the country. The + very dourness which persuades these stern men to look with regret upon + their beginnings is but a part of the puritanical character which drove + them to take refuge in a foreign land. Stiff-necked and fanatical as they + were, when they left England, they did but intensify their hard fanaticism + in the new land. For there they were all of one party, and their children + grew up without the wholesome stimulant of opposition. And if perchance + one or two strayed from the fold of strict allegiance, the majority were + cruel in punishment. They became persecutors for what they believed was + righteousness' sake, and their cruelty was the more severe because it was + based, as they believed, upon a superior morality. And so they grew, as an + American historian has said, to hate the toleration for which they once + fought, to deplore the liberty of conscience for whose sake they had been + ready to face exile. What in themselves they praised for liberty and + toleration, they denounced in others as carelessness or heresy. So they + cultivated a hard habit of thought; so they esteemed too seriously the + efforts they made in the cause of freedom; so they still exaggerate the + importance of the Revolution, which the passage of time should compel them + to regard with a cold and dispassionate eye. + </p> + <p> + But if in a certain pitilessness of character the New Englanders are more + English than the English, they still resemble the Puritans of the + seventeenth century in their love of a well-ordered life. It was in their + towns and villages that the old colonial life flourished to the wisest + purpose. The houses which they built, and which still stand, are the + perfection of elegance and comfort. The simplicity of their aspect is + matched by the beauty which confronts you when once you have crossed the + threshold. The columns which flank the porch, the pilasters which break + the monotony of the wooden walls, are but a faint indication of the + elegance within. Like the palaces of the Moors, they reserve the best of + themselves for the interior, and reveal all their beauty only to their + intimates. The light staircases, with turned rails and lyre-shaped ends; + the panelled rooms; the dainty fireplaces, adorned with Dutch tiles; the + English furniture, which has not left its first home; the spacious + apartments, of which the outside gives no warning,—these impart a + quiet dignity, a pleasant refinement, to the colonial houses which no + distance of time or space can impair. There is a house at Kittery of which + the planks were cut out there in the forest, were sent to England to be + carved and shaped, and were then returned to their native woodland to be + fashioned into a house. Thus it belongs to two worlds, and thus it is + emblematic of the New Englanders who dwell about it, and who, owing their + allegiance to a new country, yet retain the impress of a character which + was their ancestors' almost three centuries ago. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0006" id="link2H_4_0006"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE YELLOW PRESS. + </h2> + <p> + If all countries may boast the Press which they deserve, America's desert + is small indeed. No civilised country in the world has been content with + newspapers so grossly contemptible as those which are read from New York + to the Pacific Coast. The journals known as Yellow would be a disgrace to + dusky Timbuctoo, and it is difficult to understand the state of mind which + can tolerate them. Divorced completely from the world of truth and + intelligence, they present nothing which an educated man would desire to + read. They are said to be excluded from clubs and from respectable houses. + But even if this prohibition be a fact, their proprietors need feel no + regret. We are informed by the Yellowest of Editors that his burning words + are read every day by five million men and women. + </p> + <p> + What, then, is the aspect and character of these Yellow Journals? As they + are happily strange on our side the ocean, they need some description. + They are ill-printed, over-illustrated sheets, whose end and aim are to + inflame a jaded or insensitive palate. They seem to address the blind eye + and the sluggish mind of the halfwitted. The wholly unimportant + information which they desire to impart is not conveyed in type of the + ordinary shape and size. The "scare" headlines are set forth in letters + three inches in height. It is as though the editors of these sheets are + determined to exhaust your attention. They are not content to tell you + that this or that inapposite event has taken place. They pant, they + shriek, they yell. Their method represents the beating of a thousand big + drums, the blare of unnumbered trumpets, the shouted blasphemies of a + million raucous throats. And if, with all this noise dinning in your ear, + you are persuaded to read a Yellow sheet, which is commonly pink in + colour, you are grievously disappointed. The thing is not even + sensational. Its "scare" headlines do but arouse a curiosity which the + "brightest and brainiest" reporter in the United States is not able to + satisfy. + </p> + <p> + Of what happens in the great world you will find not a trace in the Yellow + Journals. They betray no interest in politics, in literature, or in the + fine arts. There is nothing of grave importance which can be converted + into a "good story." That a great man should perform a great task is + immaterial. Noble deeds make no scandal, and are therefore not worth + reporting. But if you can discover that the great man has a hidden vice, + or an eccentric taste in boots or hats, there is "copy" ready to your + hand. All things and all men must be reduced to a dead level of + imbecility. The Yellow Press is not obscene—it has not the courage + for that. Its proud boast is that it never prints a line that a father + might not read to his daughter. It is merely personal and impertinent. No + one's life is secure from its spies. No privacy is sacred. Mr Stead's + famous ideal of an ear at every keyhole is magnificently realised in + America. A hundred reporters are ready, at a moment's notice, to invade + houses, to uncover secrets, to molest honest citizens with indiscreet + questions. And if their victims are unwilling to respond, they pay for it + with public insult and malicious invention. Those who will not bow to the + common tyrant of the Press cannot complain if words are ascribed to them + which they never uttered, if they are held guilty of deeds from which they + would shrink in horror. Law and custom are alike powerless to fight this + tyranny, which is the most ingenious and irksome form of blackmail yet + invented. + </p> + <p> + The perfect newspaper, if such were possible, would present to its readers + a succinct history of each day as it passes. It would weigh with a + scrupulous hand the relative importance of events. It would give to each + department of human activity no more than its just space. It would reduce + scandal within the narrow limits which ought to confine it. Under its wise + auspices murder, burglary, and suicide would be deposed from the eminence + upon which an idle curiosity has placed them. Those strange beings known + as public men would be famous not for what their wives wear at somebody + else's "At Home," but for their own virtues and attainments. The foolish + actors and actresses, who now believe themselves the masters of the world, + would slink away into <i>entrefilets</i> on a back page. The perfect + newspaper, in brief, would resemble a Palace of Truth, in which deceit was + impossible and vanity ridiculous. It would crush the hankerers after false + reputations, it would hurl the foolish from the mighty seats which they + try to fill, and it would present an invaluable record to future + generations. + </p> + <p> + What picture of its world does the Yellow Press present? A picture of + colossal folly and unpardonable indiscretion. If there be a museum which + preserves these screaming sheets, this is the sort of stuff which in two + thousand years will puzzle the scholars: "Mrs Jones won't admit Wedding," + "Millionaires Bet on a Snake Fight," "Chicago Church Girl Accuses + Millionaire," "Athletics make John D. forget his Money." These are a few + pearls hastily strung together, and they show what jewels of intelligence + are most highly prized by the Greatest Democracy on earth. Now and again + the editor takes his readers into his confidence and asks them to + interfere in the affairs of persons whom they will never know. Here, for + instance, is a characteristic problem set by an editor whose knowledge of + his public exceeds his respect for the decencies of life: "What Mrs + Washington ought to do. Her husband Wall Street Broker. Got tired of Her + and Deserted. But Mrs Washington, who still loves him dearly, Is + determined to win him back. And here is the Advice of the Readers of this + Journal." Is it not monstrous—this interference with the privacy of + common citizens? And yet this specimen has an air of dignity compared with + the grosser exploits of the hired eavesdropper. Not long since there + appeared in a Sunday paper a full list, with portraits and biographies, of + all the ladies in New York who are habitual drunkards. From which it is + clear that the law of libel has sunk into oblivion, and that the cowhide + is no longer a useful weapon. + </p> + <p> + The disastrous effect upon the people of such a Press as I have described + is obvious. It excites the nerves of the feeble, it presents a hideously + false standard of life, it suggests that nobody is secure from the + omnipotent eavesdropper, and it preaches day after day at the top of its + husky voice the gospel of snobbishness. But it is not merely the public + manners which it degrades; it does its best to hamper the proper + administration of the law. In America trial by journalism has long + supplemented, and goes far to supplant, trial by jury. If a murder be + committed its detection is not left to the officers of the police. A + thousand reporters, cunning as monkeys, active as sleuth-hounds, are on + the track. Whether it is the criminal that they pursue or an innocent man + is indifferent to them. Heedless of injustice, they go in search of + "copy." They interrogate the friends of the victim, and they uncover the + secrets of all the friends and relatives he may have possessed. They care + not how they prejudice the public mind, or what wrong they do to innocent + men. If they make a fair trial impossible, it matters not. They have given + their tired readers a new sensation; they have stimulated gossip in a + thousand tenement houses; justice may fall in ruins so long as they sell + another edition. And nobody protests against their unbridled licence, not + even when they have made it an affair of the utmost difficulty and many + weeks to empanel an unprejudiced jury. + </p> + <p> + The greatest opportunity of the Yellow Press came when a Mr H. K. Thaw + murdered an accomplished architect. The day after the murder the trial + began in the newspapers, and it was "run as a serial" for months. The + lives of the murderer and his victim were uncovered with the utmost + effrontery. The character of the dead man was painted in the blackest + colours by cowards, who knew that they were beyond the reach of vengeance. + The murderer's friends and kinsmen were compelled to pay their tribute to + the demon of publicity. The people was presented with plans of the cell in + which the man Thaw was imprisoned, while photographs of his wife and his + mother were printed day after day that a silly mob might note the effect + of anguish on the human countenance. And, not content with thus adorning + the tale, the journals were eloquent in pointing the moral. Sentimental + spinsters were invited to warn the lady typewriters of America that death + and ruin inevitably overtake the wrongdoer. Stern-eyed clergymen thought + well to anticipate justice in sermons addressed to erring youth. Finally, + <i>a plébiscite</i> decided, by 2 to 1, that Thaw should immediately be + set free. And when you remember the arrogant tyranny of the Yellow + Journals, you are surprised that at the mere sound of the people's voice + the prison doors did not instantly fly open. + </p> + <p> + We have been told, as though it were no more than a simple truth, that the + Yellow Press—the journals owned by Mr Hearst—not merely made + the Spanish-American War, but procured the assassination of Mr M'Kinley. + The statement seems incredible, because it is difficult to believe that + such stuff as this should have any influence either for good or evil. The + idle gossip and flagrant scandal which are its daily food do not appear to + be efficient leaders of opinion. But it is the Editorial columns which do + the work of conviction, and they assume an air of gravity which may easily + deceive the unwary. And their gravity is the natural accompaniment of + scandal. There is but a slender difference between barbarity and + senti-mentalism. The same temper which delights in reading of murder and + sudden death weeps with anguish at the mere hint of oppression. No cheek + is so easily bedewed by the unnecessary tear as the cheek of the ruffian—and + those who compose the "editorials" for Mr Hearst's papers have cynically + realised this truth. They rant and they cant and they argue, as though + nothing but noble thoughts were permitted to lodge within the poor brains + of their readers. Their favourite gospel is the gospel of Socialism. They + tell the workers that the world is their inalienable inheritance, that + skill and capital are the snares of the evil one, and that nothing is + worth a reward save manual toil. They pretend for a moment to look with a + kindly eye upon the Trusts, because, when all enterprises and industries + are collected into a small compass, the people will have less trouble in + laying hands upon them. In brief, they teach the supreme duty of plunder + with all the <i>staccato</i> eloquence at their command. For the man whose + thrift and energy have helped him to success they have nothing but + contempt. They cannot think of the criminal without bursting into tears. + And, while they lay upon the rich man the guilty burden of his wealth, + they charge the community with the full responsibility for the convict's + misfortune. Such doctrines, cunningly taught, and read day after day by + the degenerate and unrestrained, can only have one effect, and that + effect, no doubt, the "editorials" of the Yellow Press will some day + succeed in producing. + </p> + <p> + The result is, of course, revolution, and revolution is being carefully + and insidiously prepared after the common fashion. Not a word is left + unsaid that can flatter the criminal or encourage the thriftless. Those + who are too idle to work but not too idle to read the Sunday papers are + told that it will be the fault of their own inaction, not of the Yellow + Press, if they do not some day lay violent hands upon the country's + wealth. And when they are tired of politics the Yellow Editors turn to + popular philosophy or cheap theology for the solace of their public. To + men and women excited by the details of the last murder they discourse of + the existence of God in short, crisp sentences,—and I know not which + is worse, the triviality of the discourse or its inappositeness. They + preface one of their most impassioned exhortations with the words: "If you + read this, you will probably think you have wasted time." Though this + might with propriety stand for the motto of all the columns of all Mr + Hearst's journals, here it is clearly used in the same hope which inspires + the sandwichman to carry on his front the classic legend: "Please do not + look on my back." But what is dearest to the souls of these editors is a + mean commonplace. One leader, which surely had a triumphant success, is + headed, "What the Bar-tender Sees." And the exordium is worthy so profound + a speculation. "Did you ever stop to think," murmurs the Yellow + philosopher, "of all the strange beings that pass before him?" There's + profundity for you! There's invention! Is it wonderful that five million + men and women read these golden words, or others of a like currency, every + day? + </p> + <p> + And politics, theology, and philosophy are all served up in the same thick + sauce of sentiment. The "baby" seems to play a great part in the Yellow + morality. One day you are told, "A baby can educate a man"; on another you + read, "Last week's baby will surely talk some day," and you are amazed, as + at a brilliant discovery. And you cannot but ask: To whom are these + exhortations addressed? To children or to idiots? The grown men and women + of the United States, can hardly regard such poor twaddle as this with a + serious eye. And what of the writers? How can they reconcile their lofty + tone, which truly is above suspicion, with the shameful sensationalism of + their news-columns? They know not the meaning of sincerity. If they really + believed that "a baby can educate a man," they would suppress their + reporters. In short, they are either blind or cynical. From these + alternatives there is no escape, and for their sakes, as well as for + America's, I hope they write with their tongue in their cheeks. + </p> + <p> + The style of the Yellow Journals is appropriate to their matter. The + headlines live on and by the historic present; the text is as bald as a + paper of statistics. It is the big type that does the execution. The + "story" itself, to use the slang of the newspaper, is seldom either + humorous or picturesque. Bare facts and vulgar incidents are enough for + the public, which cares as little for wit as for sane writing. One fact + only can explain the imbecility of the Yellow Press: it is written for + immigrants, who have but an imperfect knowledge of English, who prefer to + see their news rather than to read it, and who, if they must read, can + best understand words of one syllable and sentences of no more than five + words. + </p> + <p> + For good or evil, America has the sole claim to the invention of the + Yellow Press. It came, fully armed, from the head of its first proprietor, + It owes nothing to Europe, nothing to the traditions of its own country. + It grew out of nothing, and, let us hope, it will soon disappear into + nothingness. The real Press of America was rather red than yellow. It had + an energy and a character which still exist in some more reputable sheets, + and which are the direct antithesis of Yellow sensationalism. The + horsewhip and revolver were as necessary to its conduct as the pen and + inkpot. If the editors of an older and wiser time insulted their enemies, + they were ready to defend themselves, like men. They did not eavesdrop and + betray. They would have scorned to reveal the secrets of private citizens, + even though they did not refrain their hand from their rivals. Yet, with + all their brutality, they were brave and honourable, and you cannot justly + measure the degradation of the Yellow Press unless you cast your mind a + little further back and contemplate the achievement of another generation. + </p> + <p> + The tradition of journalism came to America from England. 'The Sun,' 'The + Tribune,' and 'The Post,' as wise and trustworthy papers as may be found + on the surface of the globe, are still conscious of their origin, though + they possess added virtues of their own. 'The New York Herald,' as + conducted by James Gordon Bennett the First, modelled its scurrilous + energy upon the Press of our eighteenth century. The influence of Junius + and the pamphleteers was discernible in its columns, and many of its + articles might have been signed by Wilkes himself. But there was something + in 'The Herald' which you would seek in vain in Perry's 'Morning + Chronicle,' say, or 'The North Briton,' and that was the free-and-easy + style of the backwoods. Gordon Bennett grasped as well as any one the + value of news. He boarded vessels far out at sea that he might forestall + his rivals. In some respects he was as "yellow" as his successor, whose + great exploit of employing a man convicted of murder to report the trial + of a murderer is not likely to be forgotten. On the other hand, he set + before New York the history of Europe and of European thought with + appreciation and exactitude. He knew the theatre of England and France + more intimately than most of his contemporaries, and he did a great deal + to encourage the art of acting in his own country. Above all things he was + a fighter, both with pen and fist. He had something of the spirit which + in-spired the old mining-camp. "We never saw the man we feared," he once + said, "nor the woman we had not some liking for." That healthy, if + primitive, sentiment breathes in all his works. And his magnanimity was + equal to his courage. "I have no objection to forgive enemies," he wrote, + "particularly after I have trampled them under my feet." This principle + guided his life and his journal, and, while it gave a superb dash of + energy to his style, it put a wholesome fear into the hearts and heads of + his antagonists. + </p> + <p> + One antagonist there was who knew neither fear nor forgetfulness, and he + attacked Bennett again and again. Bennett returned his blows, and then + made most admirable "copy" of the assault. The last encounter between the + two is so plainly characteristic of Bennett's style that I quote his + description in his own words. "As I was leisurely pursuing my business + yesterday in Wall Street," wrote Bennett, "collecting the information + which is daily disseminated in 'The Herald,' James Watson Webb came up to + me, on the northern side of the street—said something which I could + not hear distinctly, then pushed me down the stone steps leading to one of + the brokers' offices, and commenced fighting with a species of brutal and + demoniac desperation characteristic of a fury. My damage is a scratch, + about three-quarters of an inch in length, on the third finger of the left + hand, which I received from the iron railing I was forced against, and + three buttons torn from my vest, which my tailor will reinstate for six + cents. His loss is a rent from top to bottom of a very beautiful black + coat, which cost the ruffian $40, and a blow in the face which may have + knocked down his throat some of his infernal teeth for all I know. Balance + in my favour $39.94. As to intimidating me, or changing my course, the + thing cannot be done. Neither Webb nor any other man shall, or can, + intimidate me.... I may be attacked, I may be assailed, I may be killed, I + may be murdered, but I will never succumb." + </p> + <p> + There speaks the true Gordon Bennett, and his voice, though it may be the + voice of a ruffian, is also the voice of a man who is certainly courageous + and is not without humour. It is not from such a tradition as that, that + the Yellow Press emerged. It does not want much pluck to hang about and + sneak secrets. It is the pure negation of humour to preach Socialism in + the name of the criminal and degenerate. To judge America by this product + would be monstrously unfair, but it corresponds perforce to some baser + quality in the cosmopolitans of the United States, and it cannot be + overlooked. As it stands, it is the heaviest indictment of the popular + taste that can be made. There is no vice so mean as impertinent curiosity, + and it is upon this curiosity that the Yellow Press meanly lives and + meanly thrives. + </p> + <p> + What is the remedy? There is none, unless time brings with it a natural + reaction. It is as desperate a task to touch the Press as to change the + Constitution. The odds against reform are too great. A law to check the + exuberance of newspapers would never survive the attacks of the newspapers + themselves. + </p> + <p> + Nor is it only in America that reform is necessary. The Press of Europe, + also, has strayed so far from its origins as to be a danger to the State. + In their inception the newspapers were given freedom, that they might + expose and check the corruption and dishonesty of politicians. It was + thought that publicity was the best cure for intrigue. For a while the + liberty of the Press seemed justified. It is justified no longer. The + licence which it assumes has led to far worse evils than those which it + was designed to prevent. In other words, the slave has become a tyrant, + and where is the statesman who shall rid us of this tyranny? Failure alone + can kill what lives only upon popular success, and it is the + old-fashioned, self-respecting journals which are facing ruin. Prosperity + is with the large circulations, and a large circulation is no test of + merit. Success is made neither by honesty nor wisdom. The people will buy + what flatters its vanity or appeals to its folly. And the Yellow Press + will flourish, with its headlines and its vulgarity, until the mixed + population of America has sufficiently mastered the art of life and the + English tongue to demand something better wherewith to solace its leisure + than scandal and imbecility. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0007" id="link2H_4_0007"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LIBERTY AND PATRIOTISM. + </h2> + <p> + Guarding the entrance to New York there stands, lofty and austere, the + statue of Liberty. It is this statue which immigrants, on their way to + Ellis Island, are wont to apostrophise. To contemplate it is, we are told, + to know the true meaning of life, to taste for the first time the sweets + of an untrammelled freedom. No sooner does M. Bartholdi's beneficent + matron smile upon you, than you cast off the chains of an ancient slavery. + You forget in a moment the years which you have misspent under the + intolerable burden of a monarch. Be you Pole or Russ, Briton or Ruthenian, + you rejoice at the mere sight of this marvel, in a new hope, in a + boundless ambition. Unconscious of what awaits you, you surrender yourself + so eagerly to the sway of sentiment that you are unable to observe the + perfections of your idol. You see only its vast size. You are content to + believe the official statement that 305 feet separate the tip of the + lady's torch from low water. You know that you gaze on the largest statue + upon earth. And surely it should be the largest, for it symbolises a + greater mass of Liberty than ever before was gathered together upon one + continent. + </p> + <p> + For Liberty is a thing which no one in America can escape. The old + inhabitant smiles with satisfaction as he murmurs the familiar word. At + every turn it is clubbed into the unsuspecting visitor. If an aspirant to + the citizenship of the Republic declined to be free, he would doubtless be + thrown into a dungeon, fettered and manacled, until he consented to accept + the precious boon. You cannot pick up a newspaper without being reminded + that Liberty is the exclusive possession of the United States. The word, + if not the quality, is the commonplace of American history. It looks out + upon you—the word again, not the quality—from every hoarding. + It is uttered in every discourse, and though it irks you to listen to the + boasting of "Liberty", as it irks you when a man vaunts his honour, you + cannot but inquire what is this fetish which distinguishes America from + the rest of the habitable globe, and what does it achieve for those who + worship it. + </p> + <p> + In what, then, does the Liberty of America consist? Is it in freedom of + opportunity? A career is open to all the talents everywhere. The + superstitions of Europe, the old-fashioned titles of effete aristocracies, + are walls more easily surmounted than the golden barricades of omnipotent + corporations. Does it consist in political freedom? If we are to believe + in the pedantry that Liberty is the child of the ballot-box, then America + has no monopoly of its blessings. The privilege of voting is almost + universal, and the freedom which this poor privilege confers is within the + reach of Englishman, German, or Frenchman. Indeed, it is America which + sets the worst stumbling-block in the voter's path. The citizen, however + high his aspiration after Liberty may be, wages a vain warfare against the + cunning of the machine. Where repeaters and fraudulent ballots flourish, + it is idle to boast the blessings of the suffrage. Such institutions as + Tammany are essentially practical, but they do not help the sacred cause + commemorated in M. Bartholdi's statue; and if we would discover the + Liberty of America, we must surely look outside the ring of boodlers and + politicians who have held the franchise up to ridicule. Is, then, the + boasted Liberty a liberty of life? One comes and goes with ease as great + in England as in America. There are even certain restrictions imposed in + the home of Freedom, of which we know nothing on this side the Atlantic, + where we fear the curiosity of the Press as little as we dread the + exactions of hungry monopolies. Of many examples, two will suffice to + illustrate the hardships of a democratic tyranny. Not long since the most + famous actress of our generation was prevented by a trust of all-powerful + managers from playing in the theatres of America, and was compelled to + take refuge in booths and tents. Being a lady of courage and resource, she + filled her new <i>rôle</i> with perfect success, and completely outwitted + her envious rivals. The victory was snatched, by the actress's own energy, + from the very jaws of Liberty. Far more unfortunate was the fate of M. + Gorki, who visited America to preach the gospel of Freedom, as he thought, + in willing ears. With the utmost propriety he did all that was expected of + him. He apostrophised the statue in a voice tremulous with emotion. He + addressed the great Continent, as it loves to be addressed. "America! + America!" he exclaimed, "how I have longed for this day, when my foot + should tread the soil where despotism cannot live!" Alas for his lost + enthusiasm! + </p> + <p> + A despot, grim and pitiless, was waiting for him round the corner. In + other words, the proprietor of his hotel discovered that Mme. Gorki had no + right to that name, and amid the cheers of the guests he and his companion + were driven shamefully into the street. Were it not for the wanton + inconvenience inflicted upon M. Gorki, the comedy of the situation would + be priceless. The Friends of Russian Freedom, piously enamoured of + assassination, and listening intently for the exquisite reverberation of + the deadly bomb, sternly demand of the Apostle his marriage-lines. The + Apostle of Revolution, unable to satisfy the demand, is solemnly + excommunicated, as if he had apostrophised no statue, as if he had felt no + expansion of his lungs, no tingling of his blood, when he first breathed + the air of Freedom. O Liberty! Liberty! many follies have been committed + in thy name! And now thy voice is hushed in inextinguishable laughter! + </p> + <p> + The truth is, American Liberty is the mere creature of rhetoric. It is a + survival from the time when the natural rights of man inspired a simple + faith, when eager citizens declared that kings were the eternal enemies of + Freedom. Its only begetter was Thomas Jefferson, and its gospel is + preached in the famous Declaration of Independence. The dogmatism and + pedantry upon which it is based are easily confuted. Something else than a + form of government is necessary to ensure political and personal liberty. + Otherwise the Black Republic would be a model to England. But Jefferson, + not being a philosopher, and knowing not the rudiments of history, was + unable to look beyond the few moral maxims which he had committed to + memory. He was sure that the worst republic was better than the noblest + tyranny the world had ever seen. He appealed not to experience but to + sentiment, and he travelled up and down Europe with his eyes closed and + his mind responsive only to the echoes of a vain theory. "If all the evils + which can arise among us," said he, "from the republican form of our + government, from this day to the Day of Judgment, could be put into a + scale against what France suffers from its monarchical form in a week, or + England in a month, the latter would preponderate." Thus he said, in + sublime ignorance of the past, in perfect misunderstanding of the future. + And his empty words echo to-day in the wigwams of Tammany. + </p> + <p> + All forms of government have their strength and their weakness. They are + not equally suitable to all races and to all circumstances. It was this + obvious truth that Jefferson tore to shreds before the eyes of his + compatriots. He persuaded them to accept his vague generalities as a sober + statement of philosophic truth, and he aroused a hatred of kingship in + America which was comic in expression and disastrous in result. It was due + to his influence that plain citizens hymned the glories of "Guillotina, + the Tenth Muse," and fell down in worship before a Phrygian cap. It was + due to his influence that in 1793 the death of Louis XVI. was celebrated + throughout the American continent with grotesque symbolism and farcical + solemnity. A single instance is enough to prove the malign effect of + Jefferson's teaching. At Philadelphia the head of a pig was severed from + its body, and saluted as an emblem of the murdered king. + </p> + <p> + "Each one," says the historian, "placing the cap of liberty upon his head, + pronounced the word 'tyrant'! and proceeded to mangle with his knife the + head of the luckless creature doomed to be served for so unworthy a + company." And the voice of Jefferson still speaks in the land. Obedient to + his dictate, Americans still take a sentimental view of Liberty. For them + Liberty is still an emotion to feel, not a privilege to enjoy. They are + willing to believe that a monarch means slavery. America is the greatest + republic on earth, they argue, and therefore it is the chosen and solitary + home of Freedom. + </p> + <p> + So, ignoring the peculiar enslavements of democracy, forgetting the + temptations to which the noblest republic is exposed, they proclaim a + monopoly of the sovereign virtue, and cast a cold eye of disdain upon the + tradition of older countries. The author of 'Triumphant Democracy,' for + instance, asserts that he "was denied political equality by his native + land." We do not know for what offence he was thus heavily punished, and + it is consoling to reflect that the beloved Republic has made him "the + peer of any man." It has not made any other man his peer. He is separated + far more widely by his wealth from the workmen, whom he patronises, than + the meanest day-labourer in England from the dukes to whom he is supposed + to bend the knee; and if Mr Carnegie's be the fine flower of American + Liberty, we need hardly regret that ours is of another kind. + </p> + <p> + In Jefferson's despite, men are not made free and equal by the frequent + repetition of catchwords, and it is by a fine irony that America, which + prides itself upon a modern spirit, should still be swayed by a foolish + superstition, more than a century old, that the cant of Liberty and + Equality, uttered by a slave-owner in 1776, should still warp its + intelligence. "I don't know what liberty means," said Lord Byron, "never + having seen it;" and it was in candour rather than in experience that + Byron differed from his fellows. Nor has any one else seen what eluded + Byron. A perfectly free man must be either uncivilised or decivilised—a + savage stronger than his fellows or an undetected anarch armed with a + bomb, A free society is a plain contradiction, for a society must be + controlled by law, and law is an instant curtailment of Liberty. And, if + you would pursue this chimera, it is not in a democracy that you are + likely to surprise it. Liberty is a prize which will always escape you in + a mob. The supremacy of the people means the absolute rule of the + majority, in deference to which the mere citizen must lay aside all hope + of independence. In life, as in politics, a democratic minority has no + rights. It cannot set its own pace; it cannot choose its own route; it + must follow the will of others, not its own desire; and it is small + comfort to the slave, whose chains gall him, that the slave-driver bears + the name of a free man. + </p> + <p> + Liberty, in brief, is a private, not a public, virtue. It has naught to do + with extended franchises or forms of government. The free man may thrive + as easily under a tyranny as in a republic. Is it not true Liberty to live + in accord with one's temperament or talent? And as the best laws cannot + help this enterprise, so the worst cannot hinder it. You will discover + Liberty in Russia as in America, in England as in France,—everywhere, + indeed, where men refuse to accept the superstitions and doctrines of the + mob. But the Americans are not content to possess the Liberty which + satisfies the rest of the world. With characteristic optimism they boast + the possession of a rare and curious quality. In Europe we strive after + Freedom in all humility of spirit, as after a happy state of mind. In + America they advertise it—like a patent medicine. + </p> + <p> + America's view of Patriotism is distinguished by the same ingenious + exaggeration as her view of Liberty. She has as little doubt of her + Grandeur as of her Freedom. She is, in brief, "God's own country," and in + her esteem Columbus was no mere earthly explorer; he was the authentic + discoverer of the Promised Land. Neither argument nor experience will ever + shake the American's confidence in his noble destiny. On all other + questions uncertainty is possible. It is not possible to discuss America's + supremacy. In arms as in arts, the United States are unrivalled. They + alone enjoy the blessings of civilisation. They alone have been permitted + to combine material with moral progress. They alone have solved the + intricate problems of life and politics. They have the biggest houses, the + best government, and the purest law that the world has ever known. Their + universities surpass Oxford and Cambridge, Paris and Leipzig, in learning, + as their Churches surpass the Churches of the old world in the proper + understanding of theology. In brief, to use their own phrase, America is + "It," the sole home of the good and great. + </p> + <p> + Patriotism such as this, quick in enthusiasm, simple in faith, may prove, + if properly handled, a national asset of immeasurable value. And in public + the Americans admit no doubt. Though they do not hesitate to condemn the + boodlers who prey upon their cities, though they deplore the corrupt + practices of their elections, they count all these abuses as but spots + upon a brilliant sun. A knowledge of his country's political dishonesty + does not depress the true patriot. He is content to think that his ideals + are as lofty as their realisation is remote, and that the triumph of graft + is as nothing compared with a noble sentiment. The result is that the + Americans refuse to weaken their national prestige by the advertised + cannibalism which is so popular in England. They are for their country, + right or wrong. They do not understand the anti-patriot argument, which + was born of the false philosophy of the eighteenth century, and which has + left so evil a mark upon our political life. To them the phenomenon which + we call Pro-Boerism is not easily intelligible. They take an open pride in + their country and their flag, and it seems certain that, when they stand + in the presence of an enemy, they will not weaken their national cause by + dissension. + </p> + <p> + This exultant Patriotism is the more remarkable when we reflect upon what + it is based. The love of country, as understood in Europe, depends upon + identity of race, upon community of history and tradition. It should not + be difficult for those whose fathers have lived under the same sky, and + breathed the same air, to sacrifice their prosperity or their lives to the + profit of the State. In making such a sacrifice they are but repaying the + debt of nurture. To the vast majority of Americans this sentiment, grafted + on the past, can make no appeal. The only link which binds them to America + is their sudden arrival on alien soil. They are akin to the Anglo-Saxons, + who first peopled the continent, neither in blood nor in sympathy. They + carry with them their national habits and their national tastes. They + remain Irish, or German, or Italian, with a difference, though they bear + the burden of another State, and assume the privileges of another + citizenship. But there is no mistake about their Patriotism. Perhaps those + shout loudest who see the Star-spangled Banner unfurled for the first + time, and we are confronted in America with the outspoken expression of a + sentiment which cannot be paralleled elsewhere on the face of the globe. + </p> + <p> + They tread the same ground, these vast hordes of patriots, they obey the + same laws,—that is all. Are they, then, moved by a spirit of + gratitude, or do they feel the same loyalty which animates a hastily + gathered football team, which plays not for its honour but for the profit + of its manager? Who shall say? One thing only is certain: the Patriotism + of the cosmopolites, if it be doubtful in origin, is by no means doubtful + in expression. On every Fourth of July the Americans are free to display + the love of their Country, and they use this freedom without restraint. + From the Atlantic to the Pacific Coast, from Vermont to Mexico, the Eagle + screams aloud. She screams from early morn to dewy eve. And there is + nothing to silence her screaming save the explosion of innumerable + crackers, the firing of countless pistols. + </p> + <p> + For this day the youth of America is given full licence to shoot his + inoffensive neighbours, and, if he will, to commit the happy despatch upon + him-self. The next morning the newspapers chronicle the injuries which + have been inflicted on and by the boys of New York, for the most part + distinguished by foreign names, with the cold accuracy bred of long habit. + And while the boys prove their patriotism by the explosion of crackers, + their fathers, with equal enthusiasm, devote themselves to the waving of + flags. They hold flags in their hands, they carry them in their + buttonholes, they stick them in their hats, they wear them behind their + ears. Wherever your eye is cast, there are flags to dazzle it, flags large + and flags small, an unbroken orgie of stars and stripes. It is, in fact, + the Guy Fawkes Day of America. And who is the Guy? None other than George + III. of blessed memory. For the Fourth of July has its duties as well as + its pleasures, and the chief of its duties is the public reading of the + Declaration of Independence. In every town and hamlet Jefferson's burning + words are proclaimed in the ears of enthusiastic citizens. It is pointed + out to a motley crowd of newly arrived immigrants that George, our king, + of whom they had not heard yesterday, was unfit to be the ruler of a free + people. And lest the inestimable benefit of Jefferson's eloquence should + be lost to one single suddenly imported American, his declaration is + translated into Yiddish for the benefit of those to whom English is still + an unknown tongue. In a voice trembling with emotion, the orator assures + the starving ill-clad Pole and the emaciated Bohemian that all men are + free and equal; and so fine is the air of the Great Republic that this + proposition, which refutes itself, is firmly believed for the moment by + the penniless and hungry. And when the sun sets, and darkness enwraps the + happy land, fireworks put a proper finish upon the national joy, and the + favourite set-piece represents, as it should, a noble-hearted Yankee boy + putting to flight a dozen stout red-jackets of King George. + </p> + <p> + Humour might suggest that the expression of Patriotism is a trifle + overdone. Perhaps also a truce might be made with King George, who, if he + be permitted to look from the shades upon a country which his Ministers + lost, must surely smile at this immortality of resentment. But to the + stranger, who witnesses this amazing carnival for the first time, two + reflections occur. In the first place, the stranger cannot but be struck + by the perfect adaptation of Jefferson's rodomontade to an expected + purpose. Although that eminent Virginian, at the highest point of his + exaltation, did not look forward to the inrush of foreigners which is + overwhelming his country, there is a peculiar quality in his words, even + when translated into Yiddish, which inspires an inexplicable enthusiasm. + In the second place, the stranger is astounded at the ingenuity which + inspires a crowd, separated by wide differences of race, speech, and + education, with a sudden sympathy for a country which is not its own. + </p> + <p> + And when the last crackers are exploded, and the last flag is waved, what + is left? An unreasoning conviction, cherished, as I have said, by a + foreign population, that America is the greatest country on earth. What + the conviction lacks in sincerity it gains in warmth of expression, and if + America be ever confronted by an enemy, the celebrations of the Fourth of + July will be found not to have been held in vain. Where there is no just + bond of union, a bond must be invented, and Patriotism is the most notable + invention of the great Republic. To have knit up all the nations of the + earth in a common superstition is no mean achievement, and it is + impossible to withhold a fervent admiration from the rhetoric which has + thus attained what seemed, before its hour, the unattainable. + </p> + <p> + But in this cosmopolitan orgie of political excitement the true-born + American plays but a small part. He has put the drama on the stage, and is + content to watch the result. If a leader be needed in a time of stress, + the man of Anglo-Saxon blood will be ready to serve the country, which + belongs more intimately to him than to those who sing its praises with a + noisy clatter. Meanwhile he lets the politicians do their worst, and + watches the game with a careless indifference. Even if he loves his + country, his love does not persuade him to self-sacrifice. You may measure + his patriotism by the fact that, if he does venture upon a political + career, his friends know not which they should do—praise him or + condole with him. "Isn't it good of So-and-so?" we constantly hear; "he + has gone into politics." And with the approval is mixed a kindly, if + contemptuous, sorrow. The truth is, that the young American of gentle + birth and leisured ease hates to soil his hands with public affairs. His + ambition does not drive him, as it drives his English cousin, into + Parliament. He prefers to pursue culture in the capitals of Europe, or to + urge an automobile at a furious pace across the sands. And the inaction of + the real American is America's heaviest misfortune. So long as politics + are left to the amateurs of graft, so long will Freedom be a fiction and + Patriotism a piece of mere lip-service. Wealth is not wanting; brains are + not wanting; energy is not wanting. Nothing is wanting save the + inclination to snatch the control of the country from the hands of + professional politicians. And until this control be snatched, it is idle + to speak of reform. The Constitution of the United States is, we are told, + a perfect Constitution. Its perfection is immaterial so long as Tammany on + the one hand and the Trusts on the other conspire to keep it of no effect—a + mere paper thing in a museum. The one thing needful is for men with clean + hands and wise heads to govern their States, to stand for Congress, to + enter the Senate, to defend the municipalities against corruption. And + when this is done, the Declaration of Independence may safely be + forgotten, in the calm assurance that it is better to spend one day in the + service of patriotism than to fire off a thousand crackers and to dazzle + the air with stars and stripes innumerable. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0008" id="link2H_4_0008"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE MILLIONAIRE. + </h2> + <p> + The millionaire, or the multi-millionaire, if the plainer term be + inadequate to express his lofty condition, is the hero of democratic + America. He has won the allegiance and captured the imagination of the + people. His antics are watched with envy, and described with a faithful + realism of which statesmen are thought unworthy. He is hourly exposed to + the camera; he marches through life attended by a bodyguard of faithful + reporters. The trappings of his magnificent, if vulgar, existence are + familiar to all the readers of the Sunday papers. His silver cars and + marble palaces are the wonder of a continent. If he condescend to play + golf, it is a national event. "The Richest Man on Earth drives from, the + Tee" is a legend of enthralling interest, not because the hero knows how + to drive, but because he is the richest man on earth. Some time since a + thoughtless headline described a poor infant as "The Ten-Million-Dollar + Baby," and thus made his wealth a dangerous incubus before he was out of + the nursery. Everywhere the same tale is told. The dollar has a power of + evoking curiosity which neither valour nor lofty station may boast. + Plainly, then, the millionaire is not made of common day. Liquid gold + flows in his veins. His eyes are made of precious jewels. It is doubtful + whether he can do wrong. If by chance he does, it is almost certain that + he cannot be punished. The mere sight and touch of him have a virtue far + greater than that which kings of old claimed for themselves. He is at once + the en-sample and the test of modern grandeur; and if, like a Roman + emperor, he could be deified, his admiring compatriots would send him to + the skies, and burn perpetual incense before his tomb. + </p> + <p> + Though all the millionaires of America are animated by the same desire,—the + collection of dollars,—they regard their inestimable privileges with + very different eyes. Mr Carnegie, for instance, adopts a sentimental view + of money. He falls down in humble worship before the golden calf of his + own making. He has pompously formulated a gospel of wealth. He piously + believes that the millionaire is the greatest of God's creatures, the + eloquent preacher of a new evangel. If we are to believe him, there is a + sacred virtue in the ceaseless accumulation of riches. It is the first + article in his creed, that the millionaire who stands still is going back, + from which it follows that to fall behind in the idle conflict is a + cardinal sin. A simple man might think that when a manufacturer had made + sufficient for the wants of himself and his family for all time he might, + without a criminal intent, relax his efforts. The simple man does not + understand the cult. A millionaire, oppressed beneath a mountain of gold, + would deem it a dishonour to himself and his colleagues if he lost a + chance of adding to the weight and substance of the mountain. + </p> + <p> + Mr Carnegie, then, is inspired not by the romance but by the sentiment of + gold. He cannot speak of the enormous benefits conferred upon the human + race by the vast inequalities of wealth and poverty without a tear. + "Millionaires," he says, "can only grow amid general prosperity." In other + words, if there be not millions in the country the millionaire cannot put + his hand upon them. That is obvious enough. His second text cannot be so + easily accepted. "Their wealth is not made," he asserts dogmatically, "at + the expense of their countrymen." At whose expense then is it made? Does + Mr Carnegie vouch for the probity of all his colleagues? Does he cover + with the aegis of his gospel the magnates of the Standard Oil Company, and + that happy firm which, with no other advantage than a service of cars, + levies toll upon the fruit-growers of America? Was the Steel Combine + established without inflicting hardships upon less wealthy rivals? An + answer to these simple questions should be given before Mr Carnegie's + second text be inscribed upon the walls of our churches. It is not enough + to say with Mr Carnegie that trusts obey "the law of aggregation." You + need not be a Socialist to withhold your approval from these dollar-making + machines, until you know that they were not established upon ruin and + plunder. Even if the millionaire be the self-denying saint of modern + times, it is still possible to pay too high a price for his sanctity and + sacrifice. + </p> + <p> + It is the favourite boast of the sentimental millionaire that he holds his + wealth in trust for humanity,—in other words, that he has been + chosen by an all-wise Providence to be the universal almsgiver of mankind. + The arrogance of this boast is unsurpassable. To be rich is within the + compass of any man gifted or cursed with an acquisitive temperament. No + one may give to another save in humbleness of spirit. And there is not a + millionaire in America who does not think that he is fit to perform a + delicate duty which has eluded the wise of all ages. In this matter Mr + Carnegie is by far the worst offender. He pretends to take his "mission" + very seriously. He does not tell us who confided the trust of philanthropy + to him, but he is very sure that he has been singled out for special + service. It is his modest pleasure to suggest a comparison with William + Pitt. "He lived without ostentation and he died poor." These are the words + which Mr Carnegie quotes with the greatest relish. How or where Mr + Carnegie lives is his own affair; and even if he die poor, he should + remember that he has devoted his life, not to the service of his country, + but to the amassing of millions which he cannot spend. It is obvious, + therefore, that the noble words which Canning dedicated to the memory of + Pitt can have no meaning for him, and he would be wisely guided if he left + the names of patriots out of the argument. + </p> + <p> + Mr Carnegie's choice of an epitaph is easily explained. He is wont to + assert, without warrant, that "a man who dies rich dies disgraced." He + does not tell us how the rich man shall escape disgrace. Not even the + master of millions, great and good as he is reputed to be, knows when his + hour comes. There is a foresight which even money cannot buy. Death visits + the golden palace of the rich and the hovel of the poor with equal and + unexpected foot. The fact that Mr Carnegie is still distributing libraries + with both hands seems to suggest that, had he been overtaken during the + last twenty years, he would not have realised his ideal. There is but one + method by which a rich man may die poor, and that is by disencumbering + himself of his wealth the very day that it is acquired. And he who is not + prepared for this sacrifice does but waste his breath in celebrating the + honour of a pauper's grave. + </p> + <p> + As there is no merit in living rich, so there is no virtue in dying poor. + That a millionaire should desert his money-bags at his death is not a + reproach to him if they be honestly filled. He has small chance of + emptying them while he is on the earth. But Mr Carnegie has a reason for + his aphorism. He aspires to be a philosopher as well as a millionaire, and + he has decided that a posthumous bequest is of no value, moral or + material. "Men who leave vast sums," says he, "may fairly be thought men + who would not have left it at all had they been able to take it with + them." On such a question as this the authority of Mr Carnegie is not + absolute. Let the cobbler stick to his last. The millionaire, no doubt, is + more familiar with account-books than with the lessons of history; and the + record of a thousand pious benefactors proves the worth of wise legacies. + Nor, indeed, need we travel beyond our own generation to find a splendid + example of wealth honourably bestowed. The will of Cecil Rhodes remains a + tribute to the generosity and to the imagination of a great man, and is + enough of itself to brush aside the quibbles of Mr Carnegie. + </p> + <p> + The sentiment of "doing good" and of controlling great wealth leads + rapidly to megalomania, and Mr Carnegie cannot conceal the pride of + omniscience. He seems to think that his money-bags give him the right to + express a definite opinion upon all things. He has distributed so many + books, that perhaps he believes himself master of their contents. Though + he has not devoted himself to politics or literature, he is always + prepared to advise those who give themselves to these difficult arts. He + has discovered that Greek and Latin are of no more practical use than + Choctaw—which is perfectly true, if the useless money-bag be our <i>summum + bonum</i>. With the indisputable authority of a man who keeps a large + balance at his bank, he once dismissed the wars of the Greeks as "petty + and insignificant skirmishes between savages." Poor Greeks! They did not + pay their bills in dollars or buy their steel at Pittsburg. The chief + article in his political creed is that monarchy is a crime. In his + opinion, it is a degradation to kiss the King's hand. "The first man who + feels as he ought to feel," says Mr Carnegie, "will either smile when the + hand is extended at the suggestion that he could so demean himself, and + give it a good hearty shake, or knock his Royal Highness down." In the + same spirit of sturdy "independence" he urged the United States some years + since to tax the products of Canada, because she "owes allegiance to a + foreign power founded upon monarchical institutions." "I should use the + rod," says the moneybag, "not in anger, but in love; but I should use it." + Fortunately, it is not his to use; and his opinions are only memorable, + since the country which he insults with his words is insulted also by his + gifts. We may make too great a sacrifice in self-esteem, even for the boon + of free libraries. + </p> + <p> + And with a hatred of monarchy Mr Carnegie combines a childlike faith in + the political power of money. Though his faith by this should be rudely + shaken, he clings to it as best he may. Time was when he wished to buy the + Philippines, and present them, a free gift, to somebody or other. Now he + thinks that he may purchase the peace of the world for a round sum, and + sees not the absurdity of his offer. Even his poor attempt to bribe the + English-speaking peoples to forget their spelling-books was a happy + failure, and he still cherishes an illusion of omnipotence. At the opening + of his Institute at Pittsburg he was bold enough to declare that his name + would be known to future ages "like the name of Harvard." He might + remember that Harvard gave not of his abundance. He bequeathed for the use + of scholars a scholar's books and a scholar's slender savings, and he won + a gracious immortality. Mr Carnegie, in endowing education, is endowing + that which he has publicly condemned. Desiring to teach the youth of his + country how to become as wealthy as himself, he has poured contempt upon + learning. He has declared that "the college-made" man had "little chance + against the boy who swept the office." He is to be found, this victim of + an intellectual ambition, in the salaried class, from which the aspiring + millionaire is bidden to escape as quickly as possible by the customary + methods of bluff and bounce. Why, then, if Mr Carnegie thinks so ill of + colleges and universities does he inflict his millions upon them? He has + known "few young men intended for business who were not injured by a + collegiate education." And yet he has done his best to drive all the youth + of Scotland within the gates of the despised universities, and he has + forced upon his own Pittsburg the gift of "free education in art and + literature." Is it cynicism, or vain inconsequence? Cynicism, probably. + The man who, having devoted his whole career to the accumulation of + superfluous wealth, yet sings a paean in praise of poverty, is capable of + everything. "Abolish luxury, if you please,"—thus he rhapsodises,—"but + leave us the soil upon which alone the virtues and all that is precious in + human character grow,—poverty, honest poverty!" Has he shed the + virtues, I wonder; or is he a peculiarly sanctified vessel, which can hold + the poison of wealth without injury? + </p> + <p> + Of all millionaires, Mr Carnegie is at once the least picturesque and the + most dangerous. He is the least picturesque, because he harbours in his + heart the middle-class ambition of philanthropy. He would undertake a task + for which he is manifestly unfit, in the spirit of provincial culture. For + the same reason he is the most dangerous. He is not content to squander + his immense wealth in race-horses and champagne. He employs it to + interfere with the lives of others. He confers benefits with a ready hand + which are benefits only when they are acquired by conquest. Of a very + different kind is Mr Thomas W. Lawson. He, too, is a millionaire. He, too, + has about him all the appurtenances of wealth. His fur-coats are mythical. + He once paid 30,000 dollars for a pink. "He owns a palace in Boston," says + his panegyrist, "filled with works of art; he has a six-hundred acre farm + in Cape Cod, with seven miles of fences; three hundred horses, each one of + whom he can call by name; a hundred and fifty dogs; and a building for + training his animals larger than Madison Square Garden." These eloquent + lines will prove to you more clearly than pages of argument the native + heroism of the man. He was scarce out of his cradle when he began to amass + vast sums of money, and he is now, after many years of adventure, a king + upon Wall Street. He represents the melodrama of wealth. He seems to live + in an atmosphere of mysterious disguises, secret letters, and masked + faces. His famous contest with Mr H. H. Rogers, "the wonderful Rogers, the + master among pirates, whom you have to salute even when he has the point + of his cutlass at the small of your back and you're walking the plank at + his order," was conducted, on Mr Lawson's part, in the spirited style of + the old Adelphi. "Mr Rogers' eyes snapped just once," we are told, on a + famous occasion; but Mr Lawson was not intimidated. "I held myself + together," he says proudly, "with closed hands and clinched teeth." + Indeed, these two warriors have never met without much snapping of eyes + and closing of hands and clinching of teeth. Why they snapped and closed + and clinched is uncertain. To follow their operations is impossible for an + outsider, but Mr Lawson always succeeds in convincing you that on the + pretence of money-making he is attacking some lofty enterprise. He would + persuade you that he is a knight-errant of purity. "Tremendous issues" are + always at stake. The heroes of Wall Street are engaged in never-ending + "battles." They are "fighting" for causes, the splendour of which is not + dimmed in Mr Lawson's lurid prose. They have Americanised the language of + ancient chivalry, until it fits the operations of the modern market. They + talk of honour and of "taking each other's word," as though they had never + stooped to dollars in their lives. But of one thing you may be sure—they + are always "on hand when a new melon is cut and the juice runs out." + </p> + <p> + Like the knights of old, they toil not neither do they spin. They make + nothing, they produce nothing, they invent nothing. They merely gamble + with the savings of others, and find the business infinitely profitable. + Yet they, too, must cultivate the language of sentiment. Though the world + is spared the incubus of their philanthropy, they must pretend, in phrase + at least, that they are doing good, and their satisfaction proves that + nothing so swiftly and tranquilly lulls the conscience to sleep as the + dollar. But, as the actor of melodrama falls far below the finished + tragedian, the heroes of the Street, typified by Mr Lawson, are mere + bunglers compared with the greatest millionaire on earth—John D. + Rockefeller. We would no more give him the poor title of "Mr" than we + would give it to Shakespeare. Even "Rockefeller" seems too formal for his + grandeur. Plain "John D." is best suited to express the admiration of his + worshippers, the general fame that shines like a halo about his head. He + is Plutus in human guise; he is Wealth itself, essential and concrete. A + sublime unselfishness has marked his career. He is a true artist, who + pursues his art for its own sake. Money has given him nothing. He asks + nothing of her. Yet he woos her with the same devotion which a lover shows + to his mistress. Like other great men, Rockefeller has concentrated all + his thoughts, all his energies, upon the single object of his desire. He + has not chattered of things which he does not understand, like Mr + Carnegie. He has resolutely refrained from Mr Lawson's melodramatic + exaggeration. Money has been the god of his idolatry,—"<i>Dea Moneta</i>, + Queen Money, to whom he daily offers sacrifice, which steers his heart, + hands, affections—all." + </p> + <p> + His silence and his concentration give him a picturesqueness which his + rivals lack. He stands apart from the human race in a chill and solitary + grandeur. He seeks advertisement as little as he hankers after pleasure. + The Sunday-school is his dissipation. A suburban villa is his palace. He + seldom speaks to the world, and when he breaks his habit of reticence it + is to utter an aphorism, perfect in concision and cynicism. "Avoid all + honorary posts that cost time"—this was one of his earliest counsels + to the young. "Pay a profit to nobody" is perhaps his favourite maxim. + "Nothing is too small, for small things grow," is another principle which + he formulated at the outset of his career. "I have ways of making money + that you know nothing of," he once told a colleague, and no one will doubt + the truth of his assertion. It is said that when he was scarce out of his + teens he would murmur, with the hope of almost realised ambition, "I am + bound to be rich, bound to be rich, bound to be rich." He imposed upon all + those who served him the imperative duty of secrecy. He was unwilling that + any one should know the policy of the Trust. "Congress and the State + legislature are after us," he once said. "You may be subpoenaed. If you + know nothing, you can tell nothing. If you know about the business, you + might tell something which would ruin us." The mere presence of a stranger + has always been distasteful to him. The custom of espionage has made him + suspect that others are as watchful as himself. He has been described + erroneously as a master of complicated villainy. He is, for evil or for + good, the most single-minded man alive. He looks for a profit in all + things. Even his devotion to the Sunday-school is of a piece with the + test. "Put something in," says he, speaking of the work, "and according as + you put something in, the greater will be your dividends of salvation." + </p> + <p> + His triumphant capture of the oil trade is a twice-told tale. All the + world knows how he crushed his rivals by excluding their wares from the + rail-roads, which gave him rebates, and then purchased for a song their + depreciated properties. At every point he won the battle. He laid stealthy + hands upon the pipe-lines, designed to thwart his monopoly, as he had + previously laid hands upon the railway lines. He discovered no new + processes, he invented no new methods of transport. But he made the + enterprise of others his own. The small refiner went the way of the small + producer, and the energy of those who carried oil over the mountains + helped to fill Rockefeller's pocket. The man himself spared no one who + stood between him and the realisation of his dream. Friends and enemies + fell down before him. He ruined the widow and orphan with the same quiet + cheerfulness wherewith he defeated the competitors who had a better chance + to fight their own battle. The Government was, and is, powerless to stay + his advance. It has instituted prosecutions. It has passed laws directed + at the Standard Oil Company. And all is of no avail. Before + cross-examining counsel, in the face of the court, Rockefeller maintains + an impenetrable silence. He admits nothing. He confesses nothing. "We do + not talk much," he murmurs sardonically; "we saw wood." A year ago it was + rumoured that he would be arrested when he returned to America from + Europe. He is still at large. The body of a multi-millionaire is sacred. + </p> + <p> + He is master of the world's oil, and of much else beside. Having won the + control of one market, he makes his imperial hand felt in many another. + His boast that "money talks" is abundantly justified. The power of money + in making money is the only secret that the millionaires of America + discover for themselves. The man who makes a vast fortune by the invention + or manufacture of something which the people thinks it wants, may easily + take a pride in the fruit of his originality. The captains of American + industry can seldom boast this cause of satisfaction. It is theirs to + exploit, not to create. The great day in Mr Carnegie's life was that on + which "the mysterious golden visitor" came to him, as a dividend from + another's toil. Mr Rockefeller remembers with the greatest pleasure the + lesson which he learned as a boy, "that he could get as much interest for + $50, loaned at seven per cent, as he could earn by digging potatoes ten + days." The lesson of Shylock is not profound, but its mastery saves a + world of trouble. Combined with a light load of scruples, it will fill the + largest coffers; and it has been sufficient to carry the millionaires of + America to the highest pinnacle of fame. + </p> + <p> + In other words, the sole test of their success is not their achievement, + but their money-bags. And when, with cynical egoism, they have collected + their unnumbered dollars, what do they do with them? What pleasures, what + privileges, does their wealth procure? It is their fond delusion that it + brings them power. What power? To make more money and to defy the laws. In + England a wealthy man aspires to found a family, to play his part upon the + stage of politics, to serve his country as best he may, and to prepare his + sons for a like honourable service. The American millionaire does not + share this ambition. Like Mr Rockefeller, he avoids "honorary posts." If + he were foolish enough to accept them, he would not be loyal to the single + desire of adding to his store. Perhaps we may best express his triumph in + terms of champagne and oysters, of marble halls and hastily gathered + collections. But even here the satisfaction is small. The capacity of the + human throat is limited, and collections, made by another and partially + understood, pall more rapidly than orchid-houses and racing-stables. + </p> + <p> + This, then, is the tragedy of the American multi-millionaires. They are + doomed to carry about with them a huge load of gold which they cannot + disperse. They are no wiser than the savages, who hide and hoard their + little heaps of cowrie-shells. They might as well have filled their + treasuries with flint-stones or scraps of iron. They muster their wealth + merely to become its slave. They are rich not because they possess + imagination, but because they lack it. Their bank-books are the index of + their folly. They waste their years in a vain pursuit, which they cannot + resist. They exclude from their lives all that makes life worth living, + that they may acquire innumerable specimens of a precious metal. Gold is + their end, not the gratification it may bring. Mr Rockefeller will go out + of the world as limited in intelligence, as uninstructed in mind, as he + was when he entered it. The lessons of history and literature are lost + upon him. The joys for which wise men strive have never been his. He is + the richest man on earth, and his position and influence are the heaviest + indictment of wealth that can be made. His power begins and ends at the + curbstone of Wall Street. His painfully gathered millions he must leave + behind. Even the simple solace of a quiet conscience is denied to the most + of his class. Is there one of them who is not haunted in hours of + depression by the memory of bloody strikes, of honest men squeezed out, of + rival works shut down? + </p> + <p> + In a kind of dread they turn to philanthropy. They fling from their + chariots bundles of bank-notes to appease the wolves of justice. + Universities grow ignobly rich upon their hush-money. They were accurately + described three centuries ago by Robert Burton as "gouty benefactors, who, + when by fraud and rapine they have extorted all their lives, oppressed + whole provinces, societies, &c., give something to pious uses, build a + satisfactory almshouse, school, or bridge, &c, at their last end, or + before perhaps, which is no otherwise than to steal a goose and stick down + a feather, rob a thousand to relieve ten." If America were wise she would + not accept even the feather without the closest scrutiny. Money never + loses the scent of its origin, and when the very rich explain how much + they ought to give to their fellows, they should carry back their inquiry + a stage farther. They should tell us why they took so much, why they + suppressed the small factory, why they made bargains with railways to the + detriment of others, why they used their wealth as an instrument of + oppression. If their explanation be not sufficient, they should not be + permitted to unload their gold upon a stricken country; they should not + buy a cheap reputation for generosity with money that is not their own. + </p> + <p> + It may be said that the millionaire decrees the punishment for his own + crimes. That is true enough, but the esteem in which America holds him + inflicts a wrong upon the whole community. Where Rockefeller is a hero, a + false standard of morals is set up. For many years he has preached a + practical sermon upon the text, "The end justifies the means." How great + are the means! How small the end! He has defended his harshest dealings on + the ground that "it is business," and so doing has thrown a slur upon the + commerce of his country. And, worse than this, the wonder and curiosity + which cling about the dollar have created a new measure of life and + character. A man is judged not by his attainments, his courage, his + energy, but by his wealth. It is a simple test, and easily applied. It is + also the poorest encouragement for the civic virtues. In England we help + to correct the vulgarity of wealth by the distribution of titles, and a + better aid than this could not be devised. Though the champions of + democracy, who believe in equality of names as devoutly as in inequality + of wealth, deem this old-fashioned artifice a shameful crime, it is not + without its uses. It suggests that public service is worth a higher + distinction than a mass of money. And, titles apart, it is happily not in + accord with the traditions of our life to regard the rich man and the poor + man as beings of a different clay and a different destiny. We may still + echo without hypocrisy the words of Ben Jonson, "Money never made any man + rich, but his mind." + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0009" id="link2H_4_0009"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE AMERICAN LANGUAGE. + </h2> + <p> + To the English traveller in America the language which he hears spoken + about him is at once a puzzle and a surprise. It is his own, yet not his + own. It seems to him a caricature of English, a phantom speech, ghostly + but familiar, such as he might hear in a land of dreams. He recognises its + broad lineaments; its lesser details evade, or confuse, him. He + acknowledges that the two tongues have a common basis. Their grammatical + framework is identical. The small change of language—the adverbs and + prepositions,—though sometimes strangely used in America, are not + strange to an English ear. And there the precise resemblance ends. Accent, + idiom, vocabulary give a new turn to the ancient speech. The traveller + feels as though he were confronted with an old friend, tricked out in an + odd suit of clothes, and master of a new pose and unaccustomed gesture. + </p> + <p> + The Americans are commonly reputed to speak through their nose. A more + intimate acquaintance with their manner belies this reputation. It is + rather a drawl that afflicts the ear than a nasal twang. You notice in + every sentence a curious shifting of emphasis. America, with the true + instinct of democracy, is determined to give all parts of speech an equal + chance. The modest pronoun is not to be outdone by the blustering + substantive or the self-asserting verb. And so it is that the native + American hangs upon the little words: he does not clip and slur "the + smaller parts of speech," and what his tongue loses in colour it gains in + distinctness. + </p> + <p> + If the American continent had been colonised by Englishmen before the + invention of printing, we might have watched the growth of another + Anglo-Saxon tongue, separate and characteristic. American might have + wandered as far from English as French or Spanish has wandered from Latin. + It might have invented fresh inflections, and shaped its own syntax. But + the black art of Gutenberg had hindered the free development of speech + before John Smith set foot in Virginia, and the easy interchange of books, + newspapers, and other merchandise ensured a certain uniformity. And so it + was that the Americans, having accepted a ready-made system of grammar, + were forced to express their fancy in an energetic and a multi-coloured + vocabulary. Nor do they attempt to belittle their debt, Rather they claim + in English an exclusive privilege. Those whose pleasure it is to call + America "God's own country" tell us with a bluff heartiness that they are + the sole inheritors of the speech which Chaucer and Shakespeare adorned. + It is their favourite boast that they have preserved the old language from + extinction. They expend a vast deal of ingenuity in the fruitless attempt + to prove that even their dialect has its roots deep down in the soil of + classical English. And when their proofs are demanded they are indeed a + sorry few. A vast edifice of mistaken pride has been established upon the + insecure basis of three words—fall, gotten, and bully. These once + were familiar English, and they are English no more. The word "fall," "the + fall of the leaf," which so beautifully echoes the thought of spring, + survives only in our provinces. It makes but a furtive and infrequent + appearance in our literature. Chaucer and Shakespeare know it not. It is + found in "The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd": + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "A honey tongue, a heart of gall + Is fancy's Spring, but Sorrow's Fall." +</pre> + <p> + Johnson cites but one illustration of its use—from Dryden: + </p> + <p> + "What crowds of patients the town-doctor kills, Or how last fall he raised + the weekly hills." + </p> + <p> + On the other side of the Atlantic it is universally heard and written. + There the word "autumn" is almost unknown; and though there is a dignity + in the Latin word ennobled by our orators and poets, there is no one with + a sense of style who will not applaud the choice of America. + </p> + <p> + But if she may take a lawful pride in "fall," America need not boast the + use of "gotten." The termination, which suggests either wilful archaism or + useless slang, adds nothing of sense or sound to the word. It is like a + piece of dead wood in a tree, and is better lopped off. Nor does the use + of "bully" prove a wholesome respect for the past. It is true that our + Elizabethans used this adjective in the sense of great or noble. "Come," + writes Ben Jonson in "The Poetaster," "I love bully Horace." {*} But in + England the word was never of universal application, and was sternly + reserved for poets, kings, and heroes. In modern America there is nothing + that may not be "bully" if it meet with approval. "A bully place," "a + bully boat," "a bully blaze,"—these show how far the word has + departed from its origin. Nor, indeed, does it come down from English in + an unbroken line. Overlooked for centuries, it was revived (or invented) + in America some fifty years ago, and it is not to Dekker and Ben Jonson + that we must look for palliation of its misuse. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + * Innumerable examples might be culled from the literature + of the seventeenth century. One other will suffice here, + taken from Dekker's "Shoemaker's Holiday ": "Yet I'll + shave it off," says the shoemaker, of his beard, "and stuff + a tennis-ball with it, to please my bully king." +</pre> + <p> + Words have their fates. By a caprice of fortune one is taken, another is + left. This is restricted to a narrow use; that wanders free over the plain + of meaning. And thus we may explain many of the variations of English and + of American speech. A simple word crosses the ocean and takes new tasks + upon itself. The word "parlour," for instance, is dying in our midst, + while "parlor" gains a fresh vigour from an increasing and illegitimate + employment. Originally a room in a religious house, a parlour (or parloir) + became a place of reception or entertainment. Two centuries ago an air of + elegance hung about it. It suggested spinnets and powdered wigs. And then, + as fashion turned to commonness, the parlour grew stuffy with disuse, + until it is to-day the room reserved for a vain display, consecrated to + wax-flowers and framed photographs, hermetically sealed save when the + voice of gentility bids its furtive door be opened. The American "parlor" + resembles the "parlour" of the eighteenth century as little as the + "parlour" of the Victorian age. It is busy, public, and multifarious. It + means so many things that at last it carries no other meaning than that of + a false elegance. It is in a dentist's parlor that the American's teeth + are gilded; he is shaved in a tonsorial parlor; he travels in a + parlor-car; and Miss Maudie's parlor proves how far an ancient and + respected word may wander from its origin. One example, of many, will + illustrate the accidents which beset the life of words. No examples will + prove the plain absurdity which has flattered the vanity of some American + critics that their language has faithfully adhered to the tradition of + English speech. + </p> + <p> + The vocabulary of America, like the country itself, is a strange medley. + Some words it has assimilated into itself; others it holds, as it were, by + a temporary loan. And in its choice, or invention, it follows two + divergent, even opposite, paths. On the one hand, it pursues and gathers + to itself barbarous Latinisms; on the other, it is eager in its quest + after a coarse and living slang. + </p> + <p> + That a country which makes a constant boast of its practical intelligence + should delight in long, flat, cumbrous collections of syllables, such as + "locate," "operate," "antagonize," "transportation," "commutation," and + "proposition," is an irony of civilisation. These words, if words they may + be called, are hideous to the eye, offensive to the ear, and inexpressive + to the mind. They are the base coins of language. They bear upon their + face no decent superscription. They are put upon the street, fresh from + some smasher's den, and not even the newspapers, contemptuous as they are + of style, have reason to be proud of them! Nor is there any clear link + between them and the meaning thrust upon them. Why should the poor holder + of a season-ticket have the grim word "commutation" hung round his neck? + Why should the simple business of going from one place to another be + labelled "transportation"? And these words are apt and lucid compared with + "proposition." Now "proposition" is America's maid-of-all-work. It means + everything or nothing. It may be masculine, feminine, neuter—he, + she, it. It is tough or firm, cold or warm, according to circumstances. + But it has no more sense than an expletive, and its popularity is a clear + proof of an idle imagination. + </p> + <p> + And while the American language is collecting those dried and shrivelled + specimens of verbiage, it does not disdain the many-coloured flowers of + lively speech. In other words, it gives as ready a welcome to the last + experiment in Slang as to its false and pompous Latinisms. Nor is the + welcome given in vain. Never before in the world's history has Slang + flourished as it has flourished in America. And its triumph is not + surprising. It is more than any artifice of speech the mark of a various + and changing people. America has a natural love of metaphor and imagery; + its pride delights in the mysteries of a technical vocabulary; it is + happiest when it can fence itself about by the privilege of an exclusive + and obscure tongue. And what is Slang but metaphor? There is no class, no + cult, no trade, no sport which will not provide some strange words or + images to the general stock of language, and America's variety has been a + quick encouragement to the growth of Slang. She levies contributions upon + every batch of immigrants. The old world has thus come to the aid of the + new. Spanish, Chinese, German, and Yiddish have all paid their toll. The + aboriginal speech of the Indians, and its debased lingo, Chinook, have + given freely of their wealth. And not only many tongues but many + employments have enhanced the picturesqueness of American Slang. America + has not lost touch with her beginnings. The spirit of adventure is still + strong within her. There is no country within whose borders so many lives + are led. The pioneer still jostles the millionaire. The backwoods are not + far distant from Wall Street. The farmers of Ohio, the cowboys of Texas, + the miners of Nevada, owe allegiance to the same Government, and shape the + same speech to their own purpose. Every State is a separate country, and + cultivates a separate dialect. Then come baseball, poker, and the + racecourse, each with its own metaphors to swell the hoard. And the result + is a language of the street and camp, brilliant in colour, multiform in + character, which has not a rival in the history of speech. + </p> + <p> + There remains the Cant of the grafters and guns, the coves that work upon + the cross in the great cities. In England, as in France, this strange + gibberish is the oldest and richest form of Slang. Whence it came is still + a puzzle of the philologists. Harrison, in his 'Description of England' + (1577), with a dogmatism which is not justified, sets a precise date upon + its invention. + </p> + <p> + In counterfeiting the Egyptian rogues [says he of the vagabonds who then + infested England], they have devised a language among themselves which + they name Canting, but others Pedlars' French, a speech compact thirty + years since of English, and a great number of odd words of their own + devising, without all order or reason: and yet such is it that none but + themselves are able to understand. The first deviser thereof was hanged by + the neck,—a just reward, no doubt, for his deserts, and a common end + to all of that profession. + </p> + <p> + The lingo, called indifferently Thieves' Latin or St Giles's Greek, was + assuredly not the invention of one brain. The work of many, it supplied an + imperious need. It was at once an expression of pride and a shield of + defence. Those who understood it proved by its use that they belonged to a + class apart; and, being unintelligible to the respectable majority, they + could communicate with one another—secretly, as they hoped, and + without fear of detection. Throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth + centuries the flash tongue grew and was changed; it crossed the Atlantic + with the early settlers, and it has left its marks upon the dialect of the + American underworld. But its influence upon the common Slang has been + light in America, as in England. It is as severely technical as the + language of science, and is familiar chiefly to policemen, tramps, and + informers. As Slang leaves the tavern and the street-corner, to invade the + theatre, the office, and even the drawing-room, those who aim at a variety + of speech need owe no debt to the Cant of the vagabonds, and it is not + surprising that to-day the vulgar tongue, in America as in England, + borrows more from "soldiers on the long march, seamen at the capstan, and + ladies disposing of fish," than from the common cursetors and + cony-catchers who once dominated it. + </p> + <p> + The use of Slang proves at once the wealth and poverty of a language. It + proves its wealth when it reflects a living, moving image. It proves its + poverty when it is nothing more than the vain echo of a familiar + catchword. + </p> + <p> + At its best it is an ornament of speech; at its worst it is a + labour-saving device. And it is for this reason that the vulgar American + delights in the baser kind of Slang: it seems to ensure him an easy effect + He must be picturesque at all costs. Sometimes he reaches the goal of his + ambition by a purposed extravagance. What can be more foolish than the + description which follows of a man equal to the most difficult occasion: + "He can light his cigar, when the battle is on, with the friction of a + passing cannon-ball." In yet worse taste is another piece of fustian, + invented by the same author: "When a 'twister' off the hills gets ready to + do business in a 20-knot sou'wester it sends no messenger boys ahead to + distribute its itinerary handbills." There is no fault of style which + these few lines do not display. They combine, with a singular success, + commonness and pomp. The epic poets of old were wont to illustrate the + life of man by the phenomena of nature. The vulgar American reverses the + process—he illustrates nature from the pavement. + </p> + <p> + Exaggeration, then, is one easy artifice of effect. Another is the + constant repetition of certain words and phrases which have lost their + meaning by detrition and are known to all. Not to be disappointed is + sometimes as pleasant as to be surprised. A catchword passed from one to + another is often a signal of sympathy, and many a man has been taken for a + wit merely because his tinkling brain has given back the echo which was + expected. In stereotyped phrases, in ready-made sentences, in the small + change of meaningless words, the American language is peculiarly rich. "To + cut ice," "to get next to," "straight goods," {*}—these and similar + expressions, of no obvious merit in themselves, long ago lost their + freshness, and are not likely to assume a dignity with age. But they save + trouble, they establish an understanding between him who speaks and him + who hears; and when they are thrown into a discourse they serve the + purpose of gestures, To exclaim "I should smile" or "I should cough" is + not of much help in an argument, but such interjections as these imply an + appreciation not merely of slang but of your interlocutor. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + * To the Englishman who knows them not, the following + quotations will explain their significance:— + + "Tain't what ye ain't or what ye don't do that cuts ice with + me." + + "Well, invested capital has got to protect itself when the + law won't do it. Ain't them straight goods?" + + "Boston don't want Bishop Potter to come up here an' tell + her 't she ain't next to the latest curves in goodness. + Hully gee, no!" +</pre> + <p> + Slang is better heard than read. The child of the street or the hedgerow, + it assumes in print a grave air which does not belong to it, or, worse + still, it is charged with the vice or the vagabondage which it suggests. + And so it is that Slang words have a life as closely packed with adventure + as is the life of those who use them with the quickest understanding. To + ask what becomes of last year's Slang is as rash as to speculate on the + fate of last year's literature. Many specimens die in the gutter, where + they were born, after living a precarious life in the mouths of men. + Others are gathered into dictionaries, and survive to become the sport of + philologists. For the worst of their kind special lexicons are designed, + which, like prisons and workhouses, admit only the disreputable, as though + Victor Hugo's definition—"L'argot, c'est le verbe devenu forçat"—were + amply justified. The journals, too, which take their material where they + find it, give to many specimens a life as long as their own. It is + scarcely possible, for instance, to pick up an American newspaper that + does not turn the word <i>cinch</i> to some strange purpose. The form and + origin of the word are worthy a better fate. It passed from Spain into the + Western States, and was the name given to saddle-girths of leather or + woven horse-hair. It suggests Mexican horsemanship and the open prairie. + The explanation given in the Century Dictionary will make clear its + meaning to the untravelled: "The two ends of the tough cordage, which + constitute the cinch, terminate in long narrow strips of leather called <i>latigos</i>, + which connect the cinches with the saddle, and are run through an iron + ring, called the <i>larigo</i> ring, and then tied by a series of + complicated turns and knots, known only to the craft." In the West the + word is still used in its natural and dignified sense. For example: "At + Giles's ranch, on the divide, the party halted to cinch up." And then in + the East it has become the victim of extravagant metaphor. As a verb, it + means to hold firm, to put a screw on; as a noun, it means a grip or + screw, an advantage fair or unfair. In the hand of the sporting reporter + it can achieve wonders. "The bettor of whom the pool-room bookmaker stands + in dread"—this flower of speech is culled from the 'New York World'—"is + the race-horse owner, who has a cinch bottled up for a particular race, + and drops into the room an hour or two before the race begins." The idea + of bottling a cinch is enough to make a Californian shudder, and this + confused image helps to explain the difference between East and West. + </p> + <p> + Thus words wander farther and farther from their origin; and when at last + their meanings are wholly forgotten or obscured, they become part of the + common speech. One kind of Slang may succeed to another, but cinch is + secure for ever of a place in the newspaper, and in the spoken language, + of America. Caboodle, also, is firmly established. The long series of + words, such as Cachunk or Kerblunk, which suggest the impact of falling + bodies with the earth, will live as expletives with Say, Sure, and many + other, interjections which fill up the pauses of thought and speech. There + are two other specimens of Slang beloved by the journals, for which it + would be rash to prophesy a long life. To call a man or a thing or an act + "the limit," is for the moment the highest step, save one, in praise or + blame. When the limit is not eloquent enough to describe the hero who has + climbed the topmost rung of glory, the language gasps into simplicity, and + declares that he is It. "I didn't do a thing," says an eminent writer, + "but push my face in there about eight o'clock last night, and I was It + from the start." Though the pronoun is expressive enough, it does not + carry with it the signs of immortality, and the next change of fashion may + sweep it away into the limbo of forgotten words. + </p> + <p> + The journals do their best to keep alive the language of the people. The + novelists do far more, since their works outlive by months or years the + exaggeration of the press. And the novelists, though in narrative they + preserve a scrupulous respect for the literary language, take what licence + the dialect and character of their personages permit them. It is from + novels, indeed, that future generations will best be able to construct the + speech of to-day. With the greatest skill the writers of romance mimic the + style and accent of their contemporaries. They put into the mouths of + those who, in life, knew no other lingo, the highly-flavoured Slang of the + street or the market. Here, for instance, is the talk of a saloon-keeper, + taken from W. Payne's story, 'The Money Captain,' which echoes, as nearly + as printed words can echo, the voice of the boodler: + </p> + <p> + "Stop it?" says the saloon-keeper of a journalist's attack. "What I got to + stop it with? What's the matter with you fellows anyhow? You come chasin' + yourselves down here, scared out of your wits because a dinky little one + cent newspaper's makin' faces at you. A man 'd think you was a young + lady's Bible-class and 'd seen a mouse.... Now, that's right," he + exclaims, as another assailant appears; "make it unanimous. Let all hands + come and rig the ship on old Simp. Tell him your troubles and ask him to + help you out. He ain't got nothing better to do. Pitch into him; give him + hell; he likes it. Come one, come all—all you moth-eaten, lousy + stiffs from Stiffville. Come, tell Simp there's a reporter rubberin' + around and you're scared to death. He'll sympathise with you—you + sweet-scented skates." + </p> + <p> + It is not an elegant method of speech, but such as it is, it bears as + close a resemblance to the dialect of Chicago as can be transferred from + the ear to the eye. + </p> + <p> + If we compare the present with the past, we cannot but acknowledge that + American Slang has grown marvellously in colour and variety. The jargon of + Artemus Ward and Josh Billings possessed as little fire as character. + These two humourists obtained their effect by the simple method, lately + advocated by Messrs Roosevelt and Carnegie, of spelling as they pleased. + The modern professors of Slang have invented a new style. Their pages + sparkle with wit and allusion. They interpret their shrewd sense in words + and phrases which have never before enjoyed the freedom of printer's ink. + George Ade, the best of them all, has shown us how the wise ones of + Chicago think and speak. His 'Fables in Slang' is a little masterpiece of + humour in substance and wit in expression. To quote from it would be to + destroy its effect. But it will discover the processes of Slang, as it is + understood in the West, more clearly than any argument, and having amused + the present generation, it will remain an historical document of enduring + value. + </p> + <p> + Slang is the only language known to many thousands of citizens. The newly + arrived immigrant delights to prove his familiarity with the land of his + adoption by accepting its idioms and by speaking the American, not of + books but of the market-place. And yet this same Slang, universally heard + and understood, knocks in vain for admission into American literature. It + expatiates in journals, in novels of dialect, and in works, like George + Ade's, which are designed for its exposition. But it has no part in the + fabric of the gravely written language. Men of letters have disdained its + use with a scrupulousness worthy our own eighteenth century. The best of + them have written an English as pure as a devout respect for tradition can + make it. Though they have travelled far in space and thought, they have + anchored their craft securely in the past. No writer that has handled + prose or verse with a high seriousness has offended against the practice + of the masters—save only Walt Whitman. The written word and the + spoken word differ even more widely in America than elsewhere. The spoken + word threw off the trammels of an uneasy restraint at the very outset. The + written word still obeys the law of gradual development, which has always + controlled it. If you contrast the English literature of to-day with the + American, you will find differences of accent and expression so slight + that you may neglect them. You will find resemblances which prove that it + is not in vain that our literatures have a common origin and have followed + a common road. The arts, in truth, are more willingly obedient than life + or politics to the established order; and America, free and democratic + though she be, loyally acknowledges the sovereignty of humane letters. + American is heard at the street corner. It is still English that is + written in the study. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0010" id="link2H_4_0010"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + AMERICAN LITERATURE. + </h2> + <p> + There can, in fact, be no clearer proof that the tradition of literature + is stronger than the tradition of life than the experience of America. The + new world, to its honour be it said, has discovered no new art. The + ancient masters of our English speech are the masters also of America. The + golden chain of memory cannot be shaken off, and many of those who raise + with the loudest voice the cry of freedom have shown themselves the loyal + and willing slaves of the past. + </p> + <p> + The truth is that from the first the writers of America have lagged + honourably behind their age. The wisest of them have written with a + studious care and quiet reverence. As if to mark the difference between + the written language and the vernacular, they have assumed a style which + belonged to their grandfathers. This half-conscious love of reaction has + been ever present with them. Tou may find examples at each stage of their + history. Cotton Mather, who armed his hand and tongue against the + intolerable sin of witchcraft, wrote when Dutch William was on our throne, + and in style he was but a belated Elizabethan. There is no other writer + with whom we may compare him, save Robert Burton, who also lived out of + his due time. Take this specimen of his prose, and measure its distance + from the prose of Swift and Addison, his younger contemporaries: + "Wherefore the Devil," writes Mather in the simplicity of his faith, "is + now making one Attempt more upon us; an Attempt more Difficult, more + Surprising, more snarl'd with unintelligible Circumstances than any that + we have hitherto Encountered; an Attempt so Critical, that if we get well + through, we shall soon enjoy Halcyon Days with all the Vultures of Hell + trodden under our feet." In sound and structure Mather's style is what the + critics call "archaistic." It is all untouched by the influences of + another world, and though "the New Englanders were," in Mather's view, "a + People of God settled in those, which were once the Devil's Territories," + they carried their prose from the old country, and piously bowed before an + old tradition. + </p> + <p> + Thus has it been with each generation of men. Thoreau fondly believed that + Walden had brought him near to nature, and he wrote with the accumulated + artifice of the centuries. Hawthorne's language was as old in fashion as + the Salem which he depicted, as "the grave, bearded, sable-cloaked, and + steeple-crowned progenitor, who came so early with his Bible and his + sword, and trode the common street with such stately port, and made so + large a figure as a man of war and peace." But it was. upon Emerson that + tradition has most strangely exercised its imperious sway. Now Emerson was + an anarch who flouted the conventions of art and life. It was his hope to + see the soul of this world "clean from all vestige of tradition." He did + not understand that what is? proceeded inevitably from what was He + affected to spurn the past as a clog upon his individuality. Anticipating + Walt Whitman, he would have driven away his nearest friends, saying, "Who + are you? Unhand me: I will be dependent no more." So lightly did he + pretend to esteem history that he was sure that an individual experience + could explain all the ages, that each man went through in his own lifetime + the Greek period, the medieval period—every period, in brief—until + he attained to the efflorescence of Concord. "What have I to do with the + sacredness of tradition," he asked proudly, "if I live wholly from + within?" So much had he to do with it that he never wrote a line save in + obedience. Savage as he was in the declaration of his own individuality, + he expressed it in the gracious terms of an inherited art. To this age + Emerson's provincialism appears sad enough. It would not have been + remembered had it not been set forth in a finely studied and mellifluous + prose. No sooner did Emerson take pen in hand than his anarchy was + subdued. He instantly became the slave of all the periods which he + despised. He was a faithful follower of the best models, a patient student + of masters dead and gone. Though he aspired to live wholly from within, he + composed his works wholly from without, and fashioned an admirable style + for himself, more antique in shape and sound than the style affected by + the Englishmen of his time. But it is Edgar Allan Poe who most eloquently + preached the gospel of style, and who most honourably defended the cause + of art pursued without the aid of the pulpit. Taste he declared to be the + sole arbiter of Poetry. "With the intellect or the Conscience," said he, + "it has only collateral relations. Unless incidentally it has no concern + whatever either with Duty or Truth." Not that he belittled the exigence of + Truth; he did but insist on a proper separation. "The demands of Truth," + he admitted, "are severe; she has no sympathy with the myrtles. All that + which is so indispensable in song is precisely all that with which she has + nothing whatever to do." And thus it followed that he had small sympathy + with Realism, which he denounced in the clear spirit of prophecy many + years before it had become a battle-cry of criticism: + </p> + <p> + The defenders of this pitiable stuff [he wrote] uphold it on the ground of + its truthfulness. Taking the thesis into question, this truthfulness is + the one overwhelming defect. An original idea that—to laud the + accuracy with which the stone is hurled that knocks us in the head. A + little less accuracy might have left us more brains. And here are critics + absolutely commending the truthfulness with which the disagreeable is + conveyed! In my view, if an artist must paint decayed cheeses, his merit + will lie in their looking as little like decayed cheeses as possible. + </p> + <p> + Of this wise doctrine Poe was always a loyal exponent. The strange veiled + country in which he placed the shadows of his creation lay not within the + borders of the United States. He was the child neither of his land nor of + his century. Dwelling among men who have always worshipped size, he + believed that there was no such thing as a long poem. A fellow-citizen of + bustling men, he refused to bend the knee to industry. "Perseverance is + one thing," said he, "genius quite another." And it is not surprising that + he lived and died without great honour in his own country. Even those of + his colleagues who guarded the dignity of their craft with a zeal equal to + his own, shrank from the pitiless logic of his analysis. They loved his + work as little as they respected his life. They judged him by a censorious + standard which took no account of genius. And Poe shared with dignity and + without regret the common fate of prophets. If he is still an exile in + American esteem, he long since won the freedom of the larger world. He has + been an inspiration to France, the inspirer of the nations. He did as much + as any one of his contemporaries to mould the literary art of our day, and + in the prose of Baudelaire and Mallarmé he lives a life whose lustre the + indifference of his compatriots will never dim. + </p> + <p> + Whence comes it, this sedulous attention to style, which does honour to + American literature? It comes in part, I think, from the fact that, before + the triumph of journalism, American men of letters were secluded from + their fellows. They played no <i>rôle</i> in the national drama. They did + not work for fame in the field of politics. They were a band of + aristocrats dwelling in a democracy, an <i>imperium in imperio</i>. They + wrote their works for themselves and their friends. They made no appeal to + the people, and knowing that they would be read by those capable of + pronouncing sentence, they justified their temerity by a proper + castigation, of their style. And there is another reason why American + literature should be honourably formal and punctilious, If the written + language diverges widely from the vernacular, it must perforce be studied + more sedulously than where no such divergence is observed. For the + American, accustomed to the language spoken by his countrymen and to the + lingo of the daily press, literary English is an acquired tongue, which he + studies with diligence and writes with care. He treats it with the same + respect with which some Scots—Drummond, Urquhart, and Stevenson—have + treated it, and under his hand it assumes a classic austerity, sometimes + missed by the Englishman, who writes it with the fluency and freedom bred + of familiar use. The stately and erudite work of Francis Parkman is a fair + example. The historian of 'Montcalm and Wolfe' has a clear title to + immortality. Assuredly he holds a worthy place among the masters. He is of + the breed of Gibbon and Michelet, of Livy and Froude. He knows how to + subordinate knowledge to romance. He disdains the art of narrative as + little as he disdains the management of the English sentence. He is never + careless, seldom redundant. The plainest of his effects are severely + studied. Here, for instance, is his portrait of an Indian chief, epic in + its simplicity, and withal composed with obvious artistry: + </p> + <p> + See him as he lies there in the sun, kicking his heels in the air and + cracking jokes with his brother. Does he look like a hero? See him now in + the hour of his glory, when at sunset the whole village empties itself to + behold him, for to-morrow their favourite young partisan goes out against + the enemy. His head-dress is adorned with a crest of war-eagle's feathers, + rising in a waving ridge above his brow, and sweeping far behind him. His + round white shield hangs at his breast, with feathers radiating from the + centre like a star. His quiver is at his back; his tall lance in his hand, + the iron point flashing against the declining sun, while the long + scalp-locks of his enemies flutter from the shaft. Thus gorgeous as a + champion in panoply, he rides round and round within the great circle of + lodges, balancing with a graceful buoyancy to the free movements of his + war-horse, while with a sedate brow he sings his song to the Great Spirit. + </p> + <p> + That is the language of classicism. The epithets are not far-sought. They + come naturally to the mind. The hero's shield is round and white; his + lance is tall; long are the scalp-locks of his enemies. Thus would Homer + and Virgil have heightened the picture, and Park-man is clearly attentive + to the best models. Even when he describes what his eye has seen he cannot + disengage his impression from the associations of literature. It is thus + that he sets before us Braddock's line of march: + </p> + <p> + It was like a thin, party-coloured snake, red, blue, and brown, trailing + slowly through the depth of leaves, creeping round inaccessible heights, + crawling over ridges, moving always in dampness and shadow, by rivulets + and waterfalls, crags and chasms, gorges and shaggy steeps. In glimpses + only, through jagged boughs and flickering leaves, did this wild primeval + world reveal itself, with its dark green mountains, flecked with the + morning mist, and its distant summits pencilled in dreamy blue. + </p> + <p> + As you read these words you are less keenly conscious of a visual + impression than of a verbal effect, and it may be said without reserve + that never for a page of his many volumes does Park-man forget the demands + of dignity and restraint. + </p> + <p> + Excellent as is the style, it is never American. Parkman does not reveal + his origin in a single phrase. He has learned to write not in his own + land, but in the England of the eighteenth century. When he speaks of "the + pampered Sardanapalus of Versailles," and of "the silken favourites' + calculated adultery," we are conscious that he has learnt whatever lesson + Gibbon has to teach. In other words, he, too, is obedient to the imperious + voice of convention. And the novelists follow the same path as the + historians. Mr Henry James, in his patient analysis of human character, + has evoked such subtle harmonies as our English speech has not known + before. Mr Howells, even when he finds his material in the land of his + birth, shows himself the master of a classic style, exquisite in balance + and perfect in tone. And both share the common inheritance of our tongue, + are links in the central chain of our tradition, and in speech, if not in + thought, are sternly conservative. + </p> + <p> + This, then, is an irony of America, that the country which has a natural + dislike of the past still dances to the ancient measures, that the country + which has invented so much has not invented a new method of expression, + that the country which questions all things accepts its literature in + simple faith. The advantages of conformity are obvious. Tradition is + nine-tenths of all the arts, and the writers of America have escaped the + ruin which overtakes the bold adventurer who stakes his all upon first + principles. But sometimes we miss the one-tenth that might be added. How + much is there in the vast continent which might be translated into words! + And how little has achieved a separate, living utterance! Mr Stedman has + edited an American Anthology, a stout volume of some eight hundred pages, + whose most obvious quality is a certain technical accomplishment. The + unnumbered bards of America compose their verses with a diffident + neatness, which recalls the Latin style of classical scholars. The + workmanship is deft, the inspiration is literary. If many of the authors' + names were transposed small injustice would be done them. The most of the + work might have been written anywhere and under any conditions. Neither + sentiment nor local colour suggests the prairie or the camp. + </p> + <p> + It is the intervention of dialect which alone confers a distinctive + character upon American verse. Wisely is Mr Stedman's collection called an + Anthology. It has something of the same ingenuity, the same impersonality, + which marks the famous Anthology of the Greeks; it illustrates the temper + not of a young but of an old people. + </p> + <p> + How shall we surprise in her literature the true spirit of America? Surely + not in Walt Whitman, whose work is characteristic not of his country, but + of himself, who fondly believed that he would make a loud appeal to the + democracy because he stamped upon the laws of verse, and used words which + are not to be found in the dictionary. Had the people ever encountered his + 'Leaves of Grass,' it would not have understood it. The verse for which + the people craves is the ditties of the music-hall. It has no desire to + consider its own imperfections with a self-conscious eye. It delights in + the splendour of mirrors, in the sparkle of champagne, in the trappings of + a sordid and remote romance. The praise of liberty and equality suits the + ear not of the democrat, but of the politician and dilettante, and it was + to the dilettante and politician that Walt Whitman addressed his + exhortations. Even his studied contempt for the literary conventions is + insincere, and falls away from Kim when he sees and feels most vividly. He + attempted to put into practice Emerson's theory of anarchy. He was at the + pains to prove that he was at once a savage and a poet. That he had + moments of poetic exaltation is true. The pomp of Brooklyn Ferry lives in + his stately verse. + </p> + <p> + But he was no savage. It was his culture that spoke to the culture of + others; it was a worn-out commonplace which won him the regard of + politicians. He inspired parodists, not poets. And he represented America + as little as he echoed the voice of the people. + </p> + <p> + Nor is it in the works of the humourists that we shall catch a glimpse of + the national character. They, too, cast no shadow but their own. They + attain their effects by bad spelling, and a simple transliteration reveals + the poverty of their wit. There is but one author who represents with any + clarity the spirit of his country, and that author is Mark Twain. Not Mark + Twain the humourist, the favourite of the reporters, the facile contemner + of things which are noble and of good report, but Mark Twain, the pilot of + the Mississippi, the creator of Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer. He is national + as Fielding is national. Future ages will look upon Huck Finn as we look + upon Tom Jones,—as an embodiment of national virtue. And Mark + Twain's method is his own as intimately as the puppets of his imagining. + It is impossible to read a page of his masterpieces without recognising + that they could have been composed only in an American environment. The + dialect in which they are written enhances their verisimilitude without + impairing their dignity; and the flashes of humour which light up the + gravity of the narrative are never out of place nor out of tune. The + cunning and resourcefulness of his boyish heroes are the cunning and + resourcefulness of America, and the sombre Mississippi is the proper + background for this national epic. The danger, the excitement, the + solemnity of the great river are vividly portrayed. They quicken his + narrative; they inspire him to eloquence. He remembers with a simple + enthusiasm the glory of the sun setting upon its broad expanse; he + remembers also that the river and its shoals are things to fear and to + fight. + </p> + <p> + Fully to realise the marvellous precision [he writes] required in laying + the great steamer in her marks in that murky waste of water, one should + know that not only must she pick her intricate way through snags and blind + reefs, and then shave the head of the island so closely as to brush the + overhanging foliage with her stern, but at one place she must pass almost + within arm's reach of a sunken and visible wreck that would snatch the + hull timbers from under her if she should strike it, and destroy a quarter + of a million dollars' worth of steamboat and cargo in five minutes, and + maybe a hundred and fifty human lives into the bargain. + </p> + <p> + In calm, as in flood, Mark Twain has mastered the river, and has made it + his own. Once upon a time the Mississippi called up a vision of the great + Gulf opening on the sight of La Salle, "tossing its restless billows, + limitless, voiceless, lonely as when born of chaos, without a sail, + without a sign of life." Now a humbler image is evoked, and we picture + Huck Finn and Jim floating down the broad stream in the august society of + the Duke and the Dauphin. + </p> + <p> + Though Mark Twain cultivates the South-Western dialect, and does not + disdain the speech of Pike County, there is in his two romances no + suspicion of provincialism. Style and imagination give them the freedom of + the whole world. They are of universal truth and application. But since + the days of Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer the conditions of American literature + have changed, and for the worse. As in England, so in America, a wide + diffusion of books, an eager and general interest in printed matter, have + had a disastrous effect. The newspapers, by giving an improper + advertisement to the makers of books, have rendered the literary craft + more difficult of pursuit. The ambition of money has obscured the simple + end of literature, and has encouraged a spirit of professionalism + eminently characteristic of a practical country. We hear of works of + fiction sketched in the back-offices of publishers, whose hands are held + upon the public pulse. All is arranged, we are told, by the man of + business—period, plot, characters. Nothing is left to the novelist + but to carry out the instructions of his taskmaster, and when you + contemplate the result you can feel no surprise at this composite + authorship. It is no better than a money-making partnership, a return to + the miserable practices of Grub Street and its hacks, a curiosity of + trade, not of art, and so long as its sorry product is distinguished from + genuine literature no great harm is done. + </p> + <p> + Of the modern tendencies which affect literature, not commerce, the most + conspicuous is the tendency to decentralise. Every province has its + coterie, every county its school The whole continent is pegged out in + well-acknowledged claims. Boston cultivates one style, Chicago another. + Each corner makes the most of its own material, and cheerfully discovers + to the other States its character and temperament. The result is of great + and varied interest. The social history of America is being written + piecemeal, and written often with a skill and sincerity which merit the + highest praise. And not merely has each province found its chronicler, but + the immigrants, also, are intent upon self-expression. The little + masterpieces of Abraham Cahan are an earnest of what the Ghetto can + achieve, and whether the Jews are faithful to Yiddish, or, like Cahan, + acquire the language of their adopted country, there is no reason why they + should not atone in a free land for centuries of silence. To enumerate the + manifold achievements of the States is impossible. One example will + suffice, and no city will better suit my purpose than Chicago. That + admirable literature should come from Chicago is of itself a paradox. It + is still more surprising that the best writers of Chicago should display + the qualities of tranquillity and reticence, which you would expect least + of all to find in that monstrous city. Yet it is characteristic of Miss + Edith Wyatt and Mr H. B. Fuller, who have painted the manners of Chicago + with the greatest skill, that they never force the note. They look upon + their fellow-citizens with an amiable sympathy; they describe them with a + quiet humour. It is true that they have an excellent opportunity. It is + true also that they rise to their occasion. Within the limits of Chicago + are met the most diverse of men. On the one hand are the captains of + industry, intent to amass a fortune at all costs; on the other are the + sorry prigs who haunt Ibsen clubs and chatter of Browning. Miss Wyatt, + with an exquisite irony, makes clear her preference. In her eyes the + square-dealing and innocent boodler is a far better man than the + sophisticated apostle of culture, and this truth she illustrates with a + modesty and restraint which are rarely met with in modern fiction. She + never insists; she never says a word too much. With exquisite concision + she sets her carefully selected facts and types before you, and being the + antithesis of priggishness in a priggish city, she glorifies "the common + growth of Mother Earth," and compels your agreement. Her collection of + stories—'Every One His Own Way'—as free from pretence as from + exaggeration, paints the citizens of Chicago with the subtlest fancy and + the simplest truthfulness. + </p> + <p> + Mr H. B. Fuller employs an ampler canvas. His intention is the same. He + also discards the artifice of exaggeration. He attempts to harrow your + feelings as little as to advertise himself. He displays not the <i>sæva + indignatio</i>, which won another novelist of Chicago so indiscreet a + fame. He is for gentler methods and plainer judgments. In 'The Cliff + Dwellers' he has given us a picture of the tribe inhabiting the Clifton, a + monstrous sky-scraper full eighteen stories tall, whose "hundreds of + windows," he tells you, "glitter with multitudinous letterings in gold and + in silver, and on summer afternoons its awnings flutter score on score in + the tepid breezes that sometimes come up from Indiana." His picture is + never overcharged; his draughtsmanship is always sincere. He knows the + tribe with an easy familiarity, and he bears witness to their good and + their evil with perfect impartiality. He is never a partisan. His + portraits are just, and he leaves his reader to sum up the qualities of + each. At his hands Chicago suffers no injury. She does not return his + generosity. A prophet is not without honour save in his own country, and + when I asked for his books at the biggest bookshop in Chicago, I was met + with a stare of ignorance. + </p> + <p> + And what you find in Chicago you may find in New England, in Kentucky, in + California, everywhere. The curiosity of this vast continent tempts its + writers to explore. Their material varies with the locality of their + choice. Their skill is a common inheritance. They cultivate the graces as + carefully as did their predecessors. Their artistic conscience is no less + acute. Above all, they have brought the short story to a point of singular + perfection. If Edgar Poe showed them the way, they have proved themselves + apter disciples than any save the most skilful of Frenchmen. + </p> + <p> + It is, indeed, impossible to look forward to the future of American + literature without hopefulness. In that half-discovered country style and + invention go hand in hand. The land of Mr Howells and Frank Norris, of Mrs + Atherton and Mrs Wharton, of Stephen Crane and Harold Frederic, has + accomplished so much that we may look confidently for the master, who in + his single achievement will knit up its many diverse qualities and speak + to the world with the voice of America. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0011" id="link2H_4_0011"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE UNDERWORLD. + </h2> + <p> + Nowhere and at no time, save in the England of the eighteenth century, was + the underworld so populous or so popular as in the America of to-day. In + life, as in letters, crime and criminals hold there a lofty place. They + are the romance of the street and the tenement-house. In their adventure + and ferocity there is a democratic touch, which endears them to a free + people. Nor are they so far remote from the world of prosperity and + respect in the cities of the United States as elsewhere. The police is a + firm and constant link between criminal and politician. Wherever the + safe-blowers and burglars are, there you will find stool-pigeons and + squealers, {*} ready to sell their comrades for liberty and dollars. And + if the policeman is the intimate of the grafter, he is the client also of + the boss who graciously bestowed his uniform upon him. At chowder parties + and picnics thief, policeman, and boss meet on the terms of equality + imposed upon its members by the greatest of all philanthropic institutions—Tammany + Hall. If you would get a glimpse into this strange state within a state, + you have but to read the evidence given before the Lexow Committee {**} in + 1894. It would be difficult to match the cynicism and brutality there + disclosed. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + * A stool-pigeon is a thief in the pay of the police; a + squealer is a grafter who betrays his brother. + + ** This strange collection of documents, a whole literature + in itself, bears the prosaic title, "Investigations of the + Police Department of the City of New York." +</pre> + <p> + In every line of this amazing testimony you may detect a contempt of human + life and justice, an indifference to suffering, an eager lust after + unearned dollars, which are without parallel. The persons who play their + part in this austere, begrimed tragi-comedy, come for the most part from + oversea, and have but a halting knowledge of the language spoken by judges + and senators. Yet their very ignorance stamps their speech with + authenticity, and enhances its effect. The quick dialogue is packed with + life and slang. Never were seen men and women so strange as flit across + this stage. Crook and guy, steerer and turner, keepers of gambling-hells + and shy saloons, dealers in green-goods, {*} come forward with their eager + stories of what seems to them oppression and wrong. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + * Forged dollar-notes. +</pre> + <p> + With the simplicity which knows no better they deplore their ill-rewarded + "industry," and describe their fraudulent practices as though they were a + proper means of earning bread and butter. They have as little shame as + repentance. Their only regrets are that they have been ruined by the + police or forced to spend a few barren years in the State prison. And + about them hover always detective and police-captain, ill-omened birds of + prey, who feed upon the underworld. There is nothing more remarkable in + this drama of theft and hunger than the perfect understanding which unites + the criminal lamb and the wolfish upholder of the law. The grafter looks + to his opponent for protection, and looks not in vain, so long as he has + money in his pocket. The detective shepherds the law-breakers, whom he is + appointed to arrest; he lives with them; he shares their confidences and + their gains; he encourages their enterprise that he may earn a comfortable + dividend; and he gives them up to justice when they are no longer worth + defending. No dramatist that ever lived could do justice to this + astounding situation, and it is the highest tribute to human ingenuity + that few of the interlocutors fall below their opportunity. + </p> + <p> + And it may be admitted that New York gave, and gives, an easy chance to + policemen bent upon oppression. What can the poor, ignorant foreigners, + who throng the east side of the city, do against their brutal and + omnipotent guardians? "An impressive spectacle was presented to us one + day," reports the Committee, "in the presence of about 100 patrolmen in + uniform, who during the period of three preceding years had been convicted + by the police commissioners of unprovoked and unwarranted assault on + citizens." Still more impressive than "this exhibit of convicted clubbers" + was "a stream of victims of police brutality who testified before the + Committee. The eye of one man, punched out by a patrolman's club, hung on + his cheek. Others were brought before the Committee, fresh from their + punishment, covered with blood and bruises, and in some cases battered out + of recognition." The whole city seemed the prey of a panic terror. One day + "a man rushed into the session, fresh from an assault made upon him by a + notorious politician and two policemen, and with fear depicted upon his + countenance threw himself upon the mercy of the Committee and asked its + protection, insisting that he knew of no court and of no place where he + could in safety go and obtain protection from his persecutors." From all + which it is plain that too high a price may be paid for the philanthropy + of Tammany Hall, and that a self-governing democracy cannot always keep an + efficient watch upon its guardians. + </p> + <p> + What is it in the life and atmosphere of America which thus encourages + crime, or rather elevates crime to a level of excellence unknown + elsewhere? In the first place, the citizens of New York are the disciples + of Hobbes. To them life is a state of war. The ceaseless competition for + money is a direct incentive to the combat. Nature seems to have armed + every man's hand against his fellow. And then the American is always + happiest when he believes himself supreme in his own walk. The man who + inhabits the greatest country on earth likes to think of his talent as + commensurate with his country's. If he be a thief, he must be the most + skilful of his kind; if he be a blackmailing policeman, he must be a + perfect adept at the game. In brief, restlessness and the desire of + superiority have produced a strange result, and there is little doubt that + the vulgar American is insensitive to moral shocks. This insensitiveness + is easily communicated to the curious visitor. A traveller of keen + observation and quick intelligence, who has recently spent "a year amongst + Americans," accepts the cynicism of the native without a murmur. After + yielding to that spirit of enthusiastic hope which is breathed by the + Statue of Liberty, he thus discusses the newly-arrived alien: + </p> + <p> + Even the stars in their courses [thus he writes] fight for America, if not + always for the immigrant when he lands. The politicians would fain prevent + his assimilation in order that his vote might be easily manipulated by + them; but first of all he must have a vote to be handled, and to this end + the politicians provide him with naturalisation papers, fraudulent it may + be—the State Superintendent of Elections in New York estimates that + 100,000 fraudulent naturalisation papers were issued in New York State + alone in 1903,—and thus in the very beginning of his life in America + the immigrant feels himself identified with, and takes delight and pride + in, the American name and nature; and lo! already the alien is bound to + the "native" by the tie of a common sentiment, the [Greek word] of the + Greeks, which is one of the most powerful factors of nationality. + </p> + <p> + Poor [Greek word]! many follies have been spoken in your name! But never + before were you identified with fraudulent naturalisation! Never before + were you mistaken for the trick of a manipulating politician! + </p> + <p> + Such being the tie of a common sentiment, it is not surprising that the + Americans are universally accustomed to graft and boodle. With + characteristic frankness they have always professed a keen interest in + those who live by their wits. It is not for nothing that Allan Pinkerton, + the eminent detective, called affectionately "the old man," is a national + hero. His perfections are already celebrated in a prose epic, and he is + better known to west as to east than the President himself. And this + interest, this sense of heroism, are expressed in a vast and entertaining + literature. Nowhere has this literature of scoundrelism, adorned by Defoe + and beloved by Borrow, flourished as it has flourished in America. Between + the dime novel and the stern documents of the Lexow Committee there is + room for history and fiction of every kind. The crooked ones of the earth + have vied with the detectives in the proper relation of their experiences. + On the one hand you find the great Pinker-ton publishing to the world a + breathless selection from his own archives; on the other, so practised a + novelist as Mr Julian Hawthorne embellishing the narrative of Inspector + Byrnes; and it is evident that both of them satisfy a general curiosity. + In these records of varying merit and common interest the attentive reader + may note the changes which have taken place in the method and practice of + thieving. There is no man so ready to adapt himself to new circumstances + as the scoundrel, and the ingenuity of the American rogue has never been + questioned. In the old days of the backwoods and romance Jesse James rode + forth on a high-mettled steed to hold up cars, coaches, and banks; and + James Murel, the horse-thief, celebrated by Mark Twain, whose favourite + disguise was that of an itinerant preacher, cherished no less a project + than an insurrection of negroes and the capture of New Orleans. The robber + of to-day is a stern realist. He knows nothing of romance. A ride under + the stars and a swift succession of revolver-shots have no fascination for + him. He likes to work in secret upon safe or burglar-box. He has moved + with the times, and has at his hand all the resources of modern science. + If we do not know all that is to be known of him and his ambitions it is + our own fault, since the most expert of his class, Langdon W. Moore, has + given us in 'His Own Story of his Eventful Life' (Boston, 1893) a complete + revelation of a crook's career. It is an irony of life that such a book as + this should come out of Boston, and yet it is so quick in movement, of so + breathless an excitement, that it may outlive many specimens of Bostonian + lore and culture. It is but one example out of many, chosen because in + style as in substance it outstrips all competitors. + </p> + <p> + Without knowing it, Langdon W. Moore is a disciple of Defoe. He has + achieved by accident that which the author of 'Moll Flanders' achieved by + art. There is a direct simplicity in his narrative which entitles him to a + place among the masters. He describes hair-breadth escapes and deadly + perils with the confident air of one who is always exposed to them. He + gives the impression of the hunted and the hunter more vividly than any + writer of modern times. When he is opening a safe, you hear, in spite of + yourself, the stealthy step upon the stair. If he watches for a pal at the + street end, you share his anxiety lest that pal should be intercepted by + the watchful detective. And he produces his effects without parade or + ornament. He tells his story with a studied plainness, and by adding + detail to detail keeps your interest ever awake. Like many other great + men, he takes his skill and enterprise for granted. He does not write of + his exploits as though he were always amazed at his own proficiency. Of + course he has a certain pride in his skill. He cannot describe his perfect + mastery over all the locks that ever were made without a modest thrill. He + does not disguise his satisfaction at Inspector Byrnes' opinion that "he + had so deeply studied combination locks as to be able to open them from + the sound ejected from the spindle." For the rest, he recognises that he + is merely a workman, like another, earning his living, and that nothing + can be accomplished save by ceaseless industry and untiring toil. Like + many another hero, Langdon W. Moore was born in New England, and was + brought up at Newburyport, a quiet seaport town. The only sign of + greatness to be detected in his early life was an assault upon a + schoolmaster, and he made ample atonement for this by years of hard work + upon a farm. He was for a while a typical hayseed, an expert reaper, ready + to match himself against all comers. He reached his zenith when he was + offered fifty dollars in gold for six weeks' toil, and he records with a + justified pleasure that "no man had ever been paid such high wages as + that." But his energetic spirit soon wearied of retirement, and he found + his way to New York, not to be fleeced, like the hayseed of the daily + press, but to fleece others. The gambling hells knew him; he became an + adept at poker and faro; and he soon learned how to correct or to compel + fortune. His first experiment was made upon one Charley White, who dealt + faro bank every Saturday night; and it is thus that Moore describes the + effect of an ingenious discovery: + </p> + <p> + He kept his box and cards in a closet adjoining his room. One night during + his absence I fitted a key to his closet, took out his cards, and + sand-papered the face of eight cards in each deck. I then removed the top + of his faro-box, bulged out the centre of the front plate at the mouth, + and filed the plate on the inside at both corners to a bevel. I then + replaced the top, put in a deck of cards, and made a deal. I found the + cards not sanded would follow up and fill the mouth of the box after each + turn was made; and if the mouth remained dark and the edge of the top card + could not be seen, one of the sand-papered cards was next, and a loser. + This would give me several "dead" turns in each deal. + </p> + <p> + By this means the great man, still despised as a Boston bean-eater, was + able to bring his adversary to ruin. The adversary at last discovered the + artifice, and "for the next five years," to quote Moore's own words, "we + met as strangers." + </p> + <p> + It will be seen that from his earliest days Moore possessed a scientific + ingenuity, which the hard experience of life rapidly improved. And it was + not long before a definite direction was given to his talent. Arrested in + 1856, as he thought unjustly, he determined "to do no more work until + obliged to do it for the State." He therefore turned his skill of hand to + account, and went into the "green goods business." His success in this + venture was so great that he made the best dollar bills ever put upon the + market, and he boasts legitimately that in the game he "never lost a man." + Presently he discovered that there was a quicker profit in stolen bonds. + "From my first venture in this bond-smashing business," to quote his own + simple words, "in 1862 up to 1870, I made more money than in any branch of + industry I was ever engaged in." "Branch of industry" is admirable, and + proves that Moore had a proper appreciation of his craft. But + bond-smashing compelled a perfect knowledge of locks and bolts, and in + this knowledge, as has been said, Moore was supreme. At the end of his + career, when he had hung his arms upon the wall, and retired to spend a + green old age at Boston, it was to his treatment of Yale and Lillie locks + that he looked back with the greatest pleasure. But no exploit flattered + his vanity more easily than the carrying off from the Bank at Concord—the + Concord of Emerson and Hawthorne—of some three hundred thousand + dollars. That he purchased his freedom by an ample restitution mattered + nothing to the artist. His purpose was achieved, his victory won, and if + his victims came by their own again, he at least had the satisfaction + which comes of a successful engagement. + </p> + <p> + Of this adventure he writes with more enthusiasm than he is wont to show. + He wishes his readers to understand that it was not a sudden descent, but + the culmination of five months' steady work. He had watched the bank until + he knew the habits of its manager and the quality of its locks. He "was + satisfied from all he saw that by hard persistent work the bank could be + cleaned out completely." It was on a July day in 1867 that the scheme + first took shape in Moore's mind. He had stopped at noon at the hotel at + Concord for food, and saw the cashier of the bank returning from his + dinner. + </p> + <p> + The bank had been closed during his absence [thus he tells his simple + story], and he now unlocked the street door and left the key in the lock. + I followed him upstairs and saw him unlock the outer and inner doors of + the vault, and also the door of the burglar-box. I presented a + hundred-dollar note and asked to have it changed. Being accommodated, I + left the place, observing as I went out that the lock on the street door + was a heavy one of the familiar tumbler variety, and that it had a wooden + back. + </p> + <p> + Thus the train was laid, and in three months came the explosion. + Impressions were taken of locks, keys were provided, a waggon and team + were held in readiness, and one day as the cashier left the bank to get + his dinner, Langdon W. Moore, with a meal-bag concealed under his vest, + quietly opened the front door and entered the bank. One check he knew. As + he went in a girl of twelve tried to follow him—a near relative of + the cashier. The exercise of a little tact satisfied her that the + directors were in session, and she ran off to her playmates under the big + elm at the opposite corner of the street. Moore lost no time in locking + the door behind him, in opening all the locks, which yielded to his + cunning and foresight, and in packing the meal-bag full of bonds, + bank-notes, and plate. He accomplished the deed without haste, and by the + time that the cashier had finished his dinner Moore had disappeared with + his bag, and his waggon, and his friends, and left no trace behind. + </p> + <p> + Another masterpiece, in Moore's opinion, was what he magniloquently calls + the great robbery of an express car. Here, too, he proved the fineness of + his craft. He left nothing to chance, and he foresaw, with the coolness of + a practised hand, every step which his adversaries would take. His first + care was to obtain the assistance of the messenger who travelled on the + car which he proposed to rob, and the zeal and energy wherewith he coached + his accomplices ensured success. Again and again he rehearsed every scene + in the comedy. Before his eyes the messenger was attacked by two masked + ruffians, of whom one caught him by the throat, while the other put a + pistol to his head, saying, "If you open your mouth I will blow a hole + through your head large enough for a pigeon to fly through." Then the + messenger was gagged and bound, a piece of soap was put into his mouth, + that he might appear in the last extremity, and presently he was set to + learn by heart the tale that he should tell his employers. By long + practice each actor became perfect in his part. The car was raided, one + hundred and sixty-five thousand dollars was the modest spoil, and + Pinkerton and his men were gallantly defied. A hasty trip to Canada still + further perplexed the pursuers, and if we may believe Moore, he not only + baffled the great detective, but persuaded the Express Company to dispute + his claim. Moore, in fact, took a sportsman's as well as an artist's + pleasure in the game. After the discomfiture of his enemies, he loved + nothing better than a neat job. He professes a frank delight in explaining + how once upon a time he opened the Honourable Benjamin Wood's safe, and + did not soil his carpet. And there was good reason for his scruple. No + sooner had he flashed his dark lantern on the office than he observed that + the floor was newly covered, and that fresh paint and paper shone upon the + walls. Now he had no objection to easing the Honourable Benjamin of fifty + thousand dollars. Being a gentleman, he would scorn to spoil a new + Brussels carpet. Accordingly he took some papers from Mr Wood's file and + spread them carefully on the floor. The rest of the dramatic recital shall + be given in his own words: + </p> + <p> + When this was done, we drilled two five-eighth-inch holes through the + fire-proof door into the bolt case, jacked the plate from the frame,... + and opened the door. I then put in a wooden wedge at the top to keep the + plate from springing back, took down the jack, and shook out all the loose + filing upon the papers. This I gathered carefully up, and put the lime, + plaster, and papers in the coal-hod, placed some more clean papers under + the door, and made everything ready to leave the building as soon as the + boodle was transferred safe to our pockets. After looking through the + books and papers, the money was taken out and counted. It amounted to but + a single one-dollar note. + </p> + <p> + Was ever an artist so bitterly deceived? Langdon W. Moore rose to the + occasion. He was no pilferer, and scorned to carry off so mean a booty. In + the words of the police-captain, he would not add larceny to burglary. But + he paid the penalty of greatness. His work was instantly recognised. "I + know the man," said Captain Jordan, "for there is but one in the world who + would take all that trouble to save your carpet while breaking open your + safe." + </p> + <p> + It reminds you of the story told by Pliny of Apelles the painter, who once + upon a time called upon Protogenes, another master of his craft, when + Protogenes was not within. Whereupon Apelles, seeing a picture before him, + took a pencil and drew in colour upon the picture a passing fine and small + line. Then said he to the old woman in the house, "Tell thy master that he + who made this line inquired for him." And when Protogenes returned, and + had looked upon the line, he knew who had been there, and said withal, + "Surely Apelles has come to town, for it is impossible that any but he + should make in colour so fine workmanship." Thus genius is betrayed by its + own perfection, and he who refused to soil the carpet could not but be + recognised by his skill. + </p> + <p> + And Langdon W. Moore was forced to pay another and a more grievous penalty + for his renown. As the fame of his prowess spread abroad, he fell a prey + to the greed of detectives. Do what he would, he could never rid himself + of the attentions of the police. Henceforth it was almost impossible for + him to work in safety, and whatever booty he obtained he must needs share + with his unwelcome companions. He was like a fly condemned to spend his + life in the irk-some society of the spider. When he had not much to give, + his poverty was rewarded by years in prison; and then, as he says himself, + he "was welcomed back into the old criminal life by crooked police + officials." These officials had no desire to help him. "I was not asked by + them"—again it is Moore who speaks—"if I was in want of + anything, but was told that if I wanted to make some money they could put + me on to a good bank job where I could make a million." And, if we may + believe the historians, Moore's experience is not singular. The truth is, + the thief-taker still flourishes in America. Jonathan Wild, his occupation + gone in England, has crossed the ocean, and plies his trade with greater + skill and treachery than ever. He thinks it better to live on the criminal + than to catch him. And thus he becomes a terror not to the evildoer but to + the law-abiding citizen. It is his business to encourage crime, not to + stamp it out. If there were no thieves, where would the stool-pigeon and + detective find their profits? "W'y," said a pickpocket {*} in New York, + "them coppers up there in the Tenderloin couldn't have any diamond rings + if we didn't help to pay for 'em. No, they couldn't. They'd sit down in + the street and actually cry—an' they're big men some of 'em—if + we guns was run off the earth." In other words, the lesson of the American + Underworld is that the policeman may be a far greater danger to the + community than the criminal. Jonathan Wild will always do more harm than + Jack Sheppard. The skill and daring of the cracksman makes him a marked + man. But <i>quis custodes custodiet?</i> + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + * See 'The World of Graft,' by J. Flint (1901), p. 154. +</pre> + <p> + <a name="link2H_EPIL" id="link2H_EPIL"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + EPILOGUE. + </h2> + <p> + A traveller visiting a strange land takes for granted the simpler virtues. + He notes with gratitude and without surprise the generous practice of + hospitality. He recognises that the husbandman, patiently toiling on his + farm, <i>adscriptus glebæ</i>, holds in his toil-worn hands the destiny of + his country. He knows that the excellent work done in tranquil seclusion + by men of letters and scholars will outlast the braggart achievements of + well-advertised millionaires and "prominent" citizens. Fortunately, such + virtues as these are the common inheritance of all peoples. + </p> + <p> + They are not characteristic of this nation or of that. They belong, like + air and sunlight, to the whole civilised world. And it is not by + similarities, but by differences, that the traveller arrives at a clear + picture of a foreign land. Especially in America do the softer shades and + quieter subtleties escape the unaccustomed eye. The swift energies, the + untiring restlessness, the universal haste, obscure the amenities of life + more darkly there than elsewhere. The frank contempt of law and blood, + which receives a daily illustration, must needs take a firmer hold of the + observer than the peaceful tillage of the fields and the silent + acquisition of knowledge. America is unhappy in that she is still making + her history, not one episode of which a vigilant and lupine press will + suffer to go unrecorded. Graft and corruption stalk abroad, public and + unashamed. The concentration of vast wealth in a few pockets results, on + the one hand, in a lowering of the commercial code, on the other, in a + general diffusion of poverty, These are some of the traits which mark + America off from the other nations, and these traits none with a sense of + the picturesque can ever overlook. + </p> + <p> + Yet it is not these traits which make the deepest impression upon the + returning traveller. As he leaves the shores of America he forgets for the + moment her love of money and of boodle, he forgets her superb energy and + hunger for life, he forgets the exquisite taste shown by the most + delicately refined of her citizens. He remembers most vividly that he is + saying good-bye to the oldest land on earth. It is an irony of experience + that the inhabitants of the United States are wont to describe themselves + as a young people. They delight to excuse their extravagances on the + ground of youth. When they grow older (they tell you) they will take + another view of politics and of conduct. And the truth is that old age + long ago overtook them. America is not, never was, young. She sprang, + ready-made, from the head of a Pilgrim Father, the oldest of God's + creatures. Being an old man's daughter, she has escaped the virtues and + vices of an irresponsible childhood. In the primitive history of the land + her ancestors took no part. They did not play with flint-knives and set up + dolmens where New York now stands. They did not adorn themselves with woad + and feathers. The Prince Albert coat (or its equivalent) was always more + appropriate to their ambition. In vain you will search the United States + for the signs of youth. Wherever you cast your eye you will find the + signal proofs of an eager, grasping age. Youth loiters and is glad, + listening to the songs of birds, wondering at the flowers which carpet the + meadow, and recking not of the morrow. America is grave and in a hurry. + She is not content to fleet the time carelessly, as they did in the golden + age. The one hope of her citizens is to get to Wall Street as quickly as + possible, that they may add to their already useless hoard of dollars. For + this purpose they have perfected all those material appliances which + increase the rapidity and ease of life. They would save their labour as + strenuously as they would add to their fortunes. A telephone at every + bed-head has made the toil of letter-writing superfluous. A thousand + ingenious methods of "transportation" have taken away the necessity of + walking. There is no reason why in the years to come hand and foot should + not both be atrophied. But there is nothing young in this sedulous + suppression of toil. Youth is prodigal of time and of itself. Youth boasts + of strength and prowess to do great deeds, not of skill to pile millions + upon millions, a Pelion upon an Ossa of wealth. Nor in the vain luxury of + New York can we detect anything save the signs of age. It is only in + modern America that the mad extravagance of Nero's Rome may be matched. + There the banquet of Trimalchio might be presented without surprise and + without reproach. It differs from what are known as "freak dinners" only + in the superiority of its invention and in the perfection of its + table-talk. + </p> + <p> + In brief, the fantastic ambition of a "cottage" at Newport, as of + Trimalchio's villa in Southern Italy, is the ambition, not of primitive, + reckless, pleasure-loving youth, but of an old age, sated and curious, + which hurries to decay. + </p> + <p> + Again, it is not a young people which cries aloud "too old at forty!" In + the childhood of the world, the voice of age is the voice of wisdom. It is + for Nestor that Homer claims the profoundest respect, and to-day America + is teaching us, who are only too willing to learn the baneful lesson, that + knowledge and energy die with youth. Once upon a time I met an American + who had returned from his first visit to Europe, and when I asked what was + the vividest impression he brought from thence, he replied: "I was + surprised to see an old man like the German Emperor doing so much work." + In our more youthful eyes the German Emperor has but crossed the threshold + of life. The years of his mature activity lie before him, we believe, like + an untrodden road. But for the American, prematurely worn out by the + weight of time and the stress of affairs, William II. already hastens to + his decline, and clings to the reins of office with the febrile courage of + an old man. + </p> + <p> + And all the while America is sublimely unconscious that the joys of + childhood are not hers. Though with the hypochondria of advancing years + she demands a doctor for her soul, she knows not from what disease she + suffers. She does not pray for a Medea to thrust her into a cauldron of + rejuvenescence. With a bluff optimism she declares that she is still the + youngest of the nations, and boasts that when she has grown up to the + height of her courage and activity she will make triumphant even her bold + experiment in democracy. Not upon her has the divine injunction descended: + [Greek phrase]. She who knows so much knows not herself. How should she, + when she is composed of so many and so diverse elements? And lacking + self-knowledge, she lacks humour. With the best will in the world, she + cannot see the things about her in a true proportion. The blithe + atmosphere, clear as crystal, sparkling as champagne, in which she lives, + persuades her to take a too serious and favourable view of her own + character. And let it be remembered that with her optimism she still + treasures the sentimentality of her Puritan ancestors. She is a true + idealist, who loves nothing so dearly as "great thoughts." She delights in + the phrases and aspirations which touch the heart more nearly than the + head. Though her practice does not always square with her theory, + especially in the field of politics, she is indefatigable in the praise of + freedom, equality, and the other commonplaces of democracy. The worst is, + that she cannot laugh at herself. Her gravity and sensitiveness still lie, + like stumbling-blocks, in her path. She accepts the grim adulation of such + unwise citizens as Mr Carnegie as no more than her due. If only she could + dismiss the flattery of her admirers with an outburst of Gargantuan + hilarity, all virtues might be added unto her. But, as I have said, she + lacks this one thing. She is the home of humourists and no humour. A + thousand jesters minister to her amusement, and she pays them handsomely. + More jokes are made within her borders in a day than suffice the rest of + the globe for a year. And the laughter which they provoke is not + spontaneous. You can hear the creak of the machine as it goes to work. The + ever-present jester is a proof that humour is an exotic, which does not + grow naturally on the soil, and does not belong more intimately to the + American people than did the cumbersome jokes of Archie Armstrong to the + monarch who employed him. The humour which simplifies life, and detects a + spice of ridicule even in the operations of business and politics, is + rarely found in America. Nor is its absence remarkable. The Americans are + absorbed from early youth to ripe old age in the pursuit of success. In + whatever path they walk they are determined to triumph. Sport for them is + less an amusement than a chance to win. When they embark upon business, as + the most of them do, their ambition is insatiable. They are consumed by + the passion of money-making. The hope of victory makes them despise toil + and renounce pleasure. Gladly will they deprive themselves of rest and + lead laborious lives. The battle and its booty are their own reward. They + count their gathered dollars with the same pride wherewith the conquering + general counts his prisoners of war. But the contest marks their faces + with the lines of care, and leaves them beggared of gaiety. How can they + take themselves other than seriously when millions depend upon their nod? + They have bent their energies to one special end and purpose—the + making of money; and in the process, as an American once said to me, they + forget to eat, they forget to live. More obviously still, they forget to + laugh. The comedy of their own career is never revealed to them. Their + very slang displays their purpose: they are "out for the stuff," and they + will not let it escape them. A kind of sanctity hangs about money. It is + not a thing to be taken lightly; it is no proper subject for a jest. And + as money and its quest absorb the best energies of America, it follows + that America is distinguished by a high seriousness with which Europe is + powerless to compete. However far a profession may be removed from the + mart, profit is its end. Brilliant research, fortunate achievement—these + also are means, like buying and selling. In scholarship, as in commerce, + money is still the measure of success. Dr Münsterberg, a well-known + professor at Harvard, has recorded the opinion of a well-known English + scholar, which, with the doctor's comment, throws a clearer light upon the + practice of America than a page of argument. "America will not have + first-class scholarship," said the Englishman, "in the sense in which + Germany or England has it, till every professor in the leading + universities has at least ten thousand dollars salary, and the best + scholars receive twenty-five thousand dollars." Dr Münsterberg refused at + first to accept this conclusion of the pessimist, but, says he, the years + have convinced him. Scholars must be paid generously in the current coin, + or they will not respect their work. It is not greed, precisely, which + drives the American along the road of money-getting. It is, as I have + said, a frank pride in the spoils, a pride which is the consistent enemy + of light-heartedness, and which speedily drives those whom it possesses + into a grave melancholy. + </p> + <p> + This, then, is the dominant impression which America gives the traveller—the + impression of a serious old gentleman, whom not even success will persuade + to laugh at his own foibles. And there is another quality of the land, of + which the memory will never fade. America is apprehensive. She has + tentacles strong and far-reaching, like the tentacles of a cuttle-fish. + She seizes the imagination as no other country seizes it. If you stayed + long within her borders, you would be absorbed into her citizenship and + her energies like the enthusiastic immigrant. + </p> + <p> + You would speak her language with a proper emphasis and a becoming accent. + A few weeks passed upon her soil seem to give you the familiarity of long + use and custom. "Have I been here for years?" you ask after a brief + sojourn. "Can it be possible that I have ever lived anywhere else?" + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of American Sketches, by Charles Whibley + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AMERICAN SKETCHES *** + +***** This file should be named 25786-h.htm or 25786-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/5/7/8/25786/ + +Produced by David Widger + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: American Sketches + 1908 + +Author: Charles Whibley + +Release Date: June 14, 2008 [EBook #25786] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AMERICAN SKETCHES *** + + + + +Produced by David Widger + + + + + +AMERICAN SKETCHES + +By Charles Whibley + +William Blackwood & Sons - 1908 + + + + +AMERICAN SKETCHES. + + + + +NEW YORK. + +To land at Hoboken in a quiet drizzle is to sound the depths of +desolation. A raw, half-finished, unkempt street confronts you. +Along the roadway, roughly broken into ruts, crawls a sad tram. The +dishevelled shops bear odd foreign-looking names upon their fronts, and +the dark men who lounge at their doors suggest neither the spirit of +hustling nor the grandeur of democracy. It is, in truth, not a street, +but the awkward sketch of a street, in which all the colours are blurred +and the lines drawn awry. And the sense of desolation is heightened by +the memory of the immediate past. You have not yet forgotten the pomp of +a great steamship. The gracious harbour of New York is still shining +in your mind's eye. If the sentiment of freedom be dear to you, you are +fresh from apostrophising the statue of Liberty, and you may have just +whispered to yourself that you are breathing a clearer, larger air. +Even the exquisite courtesy of the officer who has invited you in the +blandest terms to declare that you have no contraband, has belied the +voice of rumour and imparted a glow of satisfaction. And then you are +thrown miserably into the leaden despair of Hoboken, and the vision of +Liberty herself is effaced. + +But Hoboken is an easy place where-from to escape, and the traveller +may pass through it the more cheerfully, because it prepares him for +the manifold and bewildering contrasts of New York. The towns of the +old world have alternations of penury and affluence. In them also +picturesque squalor obtrudes itself upon an ugly splendour. But New +York, above all other cities, is the city of contrasts. As America is +less a country than a collection of countries, so New York is not a +city--it is a collection of cities. Here, on the narrow rock which +sustains the real metropolis of the United States, is room or men and +women of every faith and every race. The advertisements which glitter +in the windows or are plastered upon the hoardings suggest that all +nationalities meet with an equal and a flattering acceptance. The German +regrets his fatherland the less when he finds a brilliant Bier-Halle +waiting for his delight. The Scot no doubt finds the "domestic" cigar +sweeter to his taste if a portrait of Robert Burns adorns the box +from which he takes it. The Jew may be supposed to lose the sense of +homesickness when he can read the news of every day in his familiar +Yiddish. And it is not only in the contrast of nationalities that New +York proves its variety. Though Germans, Italians, and Irish inhabit +their own separate quarters and frequent their own separate haunts, +there are many other lines of division. Nowhere in the world are there +sharper, crueller distinctions of riches and poverty, of intelligence +and boorish-ness, of beauty and ugliness. How, indeed, shall you find +a formula for a city which contains within its larger boundaries Fifth +Avenue and the Bowery, the Riverside Drive and Brooklyn, Central Park +and Coney Island? + +And this contrast of race and character is matched by the diversity of +the city's aspect. Its architecture is as various as its inhabitants. +In spite of demolition and utility, the history of New York is written +brokenly upon its walls. Here and there you may detect an ancient +frame-house which has escaped the shocks of time and chance, and still +holds its own against its sturdier neighbours. Nor is the memory of +England wholly obliterated. Is there not a homely sound in Maiden Lane, +a modest thoroughfare not far from Wall Street? What Englishman can feel +wholly abroad if he walk out to the Battery, or gaze upon the austere +houses of Washington Square? And do not the two churches of Broadway +recall the city of London, where the masterpieces of Wren are still +hedged about by overshadowing office and frowning warehouse? St Paul's +Chapel, indeed, is English both in style and origin. It might have been +built in accord with Sir Christopher's own design; and, flanked by the +thirty-two storeys of the Park Row Building, it has the look of a small +and dainty toy. Though Trinity Church, dedicated to the glory of God +and the Astors, stands in an equally strange environment, it is less +incongruous, as it is less elegant, than St Paul's. Its spire falls not +more than a hundred feet below the surrounding sky-scrapers, and were it +not for its graveyard it might escape notice. Now its graveyard is one +of the wonders of America. Rich in memories of colonial days, it is as +lucid a piece of history as survives within the boundaries of New York. +The busy mob of cosmopolitans, intent upon trusts and monopolies, which +passes its time-worn stones day after day, may find no meaning in its +tranquillity. The wayfarer who is careless of the hours will obey the +ancient counsel and stay a while. The inscriptions carry him back to the +days before the Revolution, or even into the seventeenth century. Here +lies one Richard Churcher, who died in 1681, at the tender age of five. +And there is buried William Bradford, who printed the first newspaper +that ever New York saw, the forefather in a long line of the Yellowest +Press on earth. And there is inscribed the name of John Watts, the last +Royal Recorder of New York. Thus the wayfarer may step from Broadway +into the graveyard of a British colony, and forget, in contemplating +the familiar examples of a lapidary style, that there was a tea-party at +Boston. + +These contrasts are wayward and accidental. The hand of chance has been +merciful, that is all; and if you would fully understand New York's +self-conscious love of incongruity it is elsewhere that you must +look. Walk along the Riverside Drive, framed by nature to be, what an +enthusiast has called it, "the finest residential avenue in the world." +Turn your back to the houses, and contemplate the noble beauty of the +Hudson River. Look from the terrace of Claremont upon the sunlit scene, +and ask yourself whether Paris herself offers a gayer prospect. And then +face the "high-class residences," and humble your heart. Nowhere else +will you get a clearer vision of the inappropriateness which is the most +devoutly worshipped of New York's idols. The human mind cannot imagine +anything less like "residences" than these vast blocks of vulgarity. The +styles of all ages and all countries have been recklessly imitated. +The homes of the millionaires are disguised as churches, as mosques, as +medieval castles. Here you may find a stronghold of feudalism cheek +by jowl with the quiet mansion of a colonial gentleman. There Touraine +jostles Constantinople; and the climax is reached by Mr Schwab, who has +decreed for himself a lofty pleasure-dome, which is said to resemble +Chambord, and which takes its place in a long line of villas, without +so much as a turnip-field to give it an air of seclusion or security. +In this vainglorious craving for discomfort there is a kind of naivete +which is not without its pathos. One proud lady, whose husband, in +the words of a dithyrambic guide-book, "made a fortune from a patent +glove-hook," boasts that her mansion has a glass-room on the second +floor. Another vain householder deems it sufficient to proclaim that +he spent two million dollars upon the villa which shelters him from +the storm. In brief, there is scarcely a single palace on the Riverside +which may not be described as an antic of wealth, and one wonders what +sort of a life is lived within these gloomy walls. Do the inhabitants +dress their parts with conscientious gravity, and sit down to dine with +the trappings of costume and furniture which belong to their +houses? Suppose they did, and, suppose in obedience to a signal they +precipitated themselves upon the highway, there would be such a +masquerade of fancy dress as the world has never seen. The Riverside +Drive, then, is a sermon in stones, whose text is the uselessness of +uncultured dollars. If we judged New York by this orgie of tasteless +extravagance, we might condemn it for a parvenu among cities, careless +of millions and sparing of discretion. We may not thus judge it New +York, if it be a parvenu, is often a parvenu of taste, and has given +many a proof of intelligence and refinement. The home of great luxury, +it does not always, as on the Riverside, mistake display for beauty. +There are houses in the neighbourhood of Fifth Avenue which are perfect +in reticence and suitability. The clubs of New York are a splendid +example even to London, the first home of clubs. In Central Park the +people of New York possesses a place of amenity and recreation which +Europe cannot surpass; and when you are tired of watching the antics of +the leisurely chipmunk, who gambols without haste and without fear, you +may delight in a collection of pictures which wealth and good management +will make the despair and admiration of the world. Much, of course, +remains to do, and therein New York is fortunate. Her growing interest +in sculpture and architecture is matched by a magnificent opportunity. +In the Old World all has been accomplished. Our buildings are set up, +our memorials dedicated, our pictures gathered into galleries. America +starts, so to say, from scratch; there is no limit to her ambition; and +she has infinite money. If the past is ours, the future is hers, and we +may look forward to it with curiosity and with hope. + +The architects of America have not only composed works in accordance +with the old traditions and in obedience to ancient models; they have +devised a new style and a new method of their own. To pack a vast +metropolis within a narrow space, they have made mountains of houses. +When the rock upon which their city stands proved insufficient for their +ambition, they conquered another kingdom in the air. The skyscrapers +which lift their lofty turrets to the heaven are the pride of New York. +It is upon them that the returning traveller gazes most eagerly, as he +nears the shore. They hold a firmer place in his heart than even the +Statue of Liberty, and the vague sentiment which it inspires. With a +proper vanity he points out to the poor Briton, who shudders at +five storeys, the size and grandeur of his imposing palaces. And his +arrogance is just. The sky-scraper presents a new view of architecture. +It is original, characteristic, and beautiful. Suggested and enforced, +as I have said, by the narrowness of the rock, it is suitable to its +atmosphere and environment. New York is a southern, sunlit city, which +needs protection from the heat and need not fear obscurity. Even where +the buildings are highest, the wayfarer does not feel that he is walking +at the bottom of a well. But, let it be said at once, the sky-scraper +would be intolerable in our grey and murky land. London demands a +broad thoroughfare and low houses. These are its only defence against a +covered sky and an enveloping fog, and the patriotic Americans who would +transplant their sky-scrapers to England merely prove that they do not +appreciate the logic and beauty of their own design. + +What, then, is a sky-scraper? It is a giant bird-cage, whose interstices +are filled with stone or concrete. Though its structure is concealed +from the eye, it is impossible not to wonder at its superb effrontery. +It depends for its effect, not upon ornament, which perforce appears +trivial and inapposite, but upon its mass. Whatever approaches it of +another scale and kind is dwarfed to insignificance. The Sub-Treasury of +the United States, for instance, looks like a foolish plaything +beside its august neighbours. Where sky-scrapers are there must be no +commemorative statues, no monuments raised to merely human heroes. +The effigy of Washington in Wall Street has no more dignity than a tin +soldier. And as the skyscraper makes houses of a common size ridiculous, +so it loses its splendour when it stands alone. Nothing can surpass in +ugliness the twenty storeys of thin horror that is called the Flat-iron; +and it is ugly because it is isolated in Madison Square, a place of +reasonable dimensions. It is continuity which imparts a dignity to these +mammoths. The vast masses which frown upon Wall Street and Broadway are +austere, like the Pyramids. They seem the works of giants, not of men. +They might be a vast phenomenon of nature, which was before the flood, +and which has survived the shocks of earthquake and the passage of the +years. And when their summits are lit by the declining sun, when their +white walls look like marble in the glow of the reddening sky, they +present such a spectacle as many a strenuous American crosses the ocean +to see in Switzerland, and crosses it in vain. + +New York, in truth, is a city of many beauties, and with a reckless +prodigality she has done her best to obscure them all. Driven by a vain +love of swift traffic, she assails your ear with an incessant din and +your eye with the unsightliest railroad that human ingenuity has ever +contrived. She has sacrificed the amenity of her streets and the dignity +of her buildings to the false god of Speed. Why men worship Speed, a +demon who lies in wait to destroy them, it is impossible to understand. +It would be as wise and as profitable to worship Sloth. However, the men +of New York, as they tell you with an insistent and ingenuous pride, are +"hustlers." They must ever be moving, and moving fast. The "hustling," +probably, leads to little enough. Haste and industry are not synonymous. +To run up and down is but a form of busy idleness. The captains of +industry who do the work of the world sit still, surrounded by bells and +telephones. Such heroes as J. Pierpont Morgan and John D. Rockefeller +are never surprised on train or trolley. They show themselves furtively +behind vast expanses of plate-glass, and move only to eat or sleep. +It is the common citizen of New York who is never quiet. He finds +it irksome to stay long in the same place. Though his house may be +comfortable, even luxurious, he is in a fever to leave it. And so it +comes about that what he is wont to call "transportation" seems the most +important thing in his life. We give the word another signification. +To New York it means the many methods of conveying passengers from one +point to another. And the methods, various as they are, keep pace with +the desires of the restless citizen, who may travel at what pace and +altitude he desires. He may burrow, like a rabbit, beneath the ground. +If he be more happily normal in his tastes he may ride in a surface car. +Or he may fly, like a bird through the air, on an overhead railway. +The constant rattle of cars and railways is indescribable. The overhead +lines pass close to the first-floor windows, bringing darkness and +noise wherever they are laid. There are offices in which a stranger can +neither hear nor be heard, and yet you are told that to the accustomed +ear of the native all is silent and reposeful. And I can easily believe +that a sudden cessation of din would bring an instant madness. Nor must +another and an indirect result of the trains and trams which encircle +New York be forgotten. The roads are so seldom used that they are +permitted to fall into a ruinous decay. Their surface is broken into +ruts and yawns in chasms. To drive "down-town" in a carriage is to +suffer a sensation akin to sea-sickness; and having once suffered, you +can understand that it is something else than the democratic love of +travelling in common that persuades the people of New York to clamber on +the overhead railway, or to take its chance in a tram-car. + +Movement, then, noisy and incessant, is the passion of New York. Perhaps +it is the brisk air which drives men to this useless activity. Perhaps +it is no better than an ingrained and superstitious habit. But the +drowsiest foreigner is soon caught up in the whirl. He needs neither +rest nor sleep. He, too, must be chasing something which always eludes +him. He, too, finds himself leaving a quiet corner where he would like +to stay, that he may reach some place which he has no desire to see. +Even though he mount to the tenth or the twentieth story, the throb of +the restless city reaches him. Wall Street is "hustling" made concrete. +The Bowery is crowded with a cosmopolitan horde which is never still. +Brooklyn Bridge and Brooklyn Ferry might be the cross-roads of the +world. There a vast mob is passing hither and thither, on foot, on +boats, on railroads. What are they doing, whither are they going, +these scurrying men and women? Have they no business to pursue, no +office-stool to sit upon, no typewriting machines to jostle? And when +you are weary of transportation, go into the hall of a big hotel and +you will find the same ceaseless motion. On all sides you will hear the +click, click of telephone and telegram. On all sides you will see +eager citizens scanning the tape, which brings them messages of ruin +or success. Nowhere, save in a secluded bar or a stately club, will you +find a single man content to be alive and to squander the leisure that +God has given him. + +And with all her undying haste New York is not content. She must still +find other means of saving time. And to save time she has strained +all the resources of civilisation. In that rather dismal thing called +"material progress" she is easily ahead of the world. Never was the +apparatus of life so skilfully turned and handled as in New York. +There are no two fixed points which are not easily connected by iron +lines. There seems no reason why a citizen of New York should ever walk. +If stairs exist, he need not use them, for an express lift, warranted +not to stop before the fifteenth floor, will carry him in a few seconds +to the top of the highest building. If he open a cupboard door, the mere +opening of it lights an electric lamp, and he need not grope after a +coat by the dim light of a guttering candle. At his bed-head stands a +telephone, and, if he will, he may speak to a friend a thousand miles +away without moving from his pillow. But time is saved--of that there is +no doubt. The only doubt is, whether it be worth saving. When New York +has saved her time, what does she do with it? She merely squanders it +in riotous movement and reckless "transportation." Thus she lives in a +vicious circle--saving time that she may spend it, and spending it +that again she may save it. Nor can this material progress be achieved +without a loss of what the Old World prizes most highly. To win all the +benefits which civilisation affords, you must lose peace and you must +sacrifice privacy. The many appliances which save our useless time may +be enjoyed only by crowds. The citizens of New York travel, live, +and talk in public. They have made their choice, and are proud of it +Englishmen are still reckless enough to waste their time in pursuit of +individualism, and I think they are wise. For my part, I would rather +lose my time than save it, and the one open conveyance of New York which +in pace and conduct suits my inclination is the Fifth Avenue Stage. + +But New York is unique. It baffles the understanding and defies +observation. In vain you search for a standard of comparison. France and +England set out many centuries ago from the same point and with the same +intention. America has nothing in common, either of purpose or method, +with either of these countries. To a European it is the most foreign +city on earth. Untidy but flamboyant, it is reckless of the laws by +which life is lived elsewhere. It builds beautiful houses, it delights +in white marble palaces, and it thinks it superfluous to level its +roads. Eager for success, worshipping astuteness as devoutly as it +worships speed, it is yet indifferent to the failure of others, and +seems to hold human life in light esteem. In brief, it is a braggart +city of medieval courage and medieval cruelty, combining the fierceness +of an Italian republic with a perfect faith in mechanical contrivance +and an ardent love of material progress. + +Here, then, are all the elements of interest and curiosity. Happy are +the citizens who watch from day to day the fight that never before has +been fought on the same terms. And yet more strangely baffling than the +city are the citizens. Who are they, and of what blood and character? +What, indeed, is a New Yorker? Is he Jew or Irish? Is he English or +German? Is he Russian or Polish? He may be something of all these, and +yet he is wholly none of them. Something has been added to him which he +had not before. He is endowed with a briskness and an invention often +alien to his blood. He is quicker in his movement, less trammelled in +his judgment Though he may lose wisdom in sharpening his wit, the +change he undergoes is unmistakable. New York, indeed, resembles a magic +cauldron. Those who are cast into it are born again. For a generation +some vague trace of accent or habit may remain. The old characteristics +must needs hang about the newly-arrived immigrant. But in a generation +these characteristics are softened or disappear, and there is produced +a type which seems remote from all its origins. As yet the process of +amalgamation is incomplete, and it is impossible to say in what this +hubble-shubble of mixed races will result. Nor have we any clue of +historical experience which we may follow. The Roman Empire included +within its borders many lands and unnumbered nationalities, but the +dominant race kept its blood pure. In New York and the other great +cities of America the soil is the sole common factor. Though all the +citizens of the great republic live upon that soil, they differ in +blood and origin as much as the East of Europe differs from the West. +And it is a mystery yet un-pierced that, as the generations pass, they +approach nearer and nearer to uniformity, both in type and character. +And by what traits do we recognise the citizen of New York? Of course +there is no question here of the cultivated gentleman, who is familiar +in Paris and London, and whose hospitality in his own land is an amiable +reproach to our own too frequent thoughtlessness, but of the simpler +class which confronts the traveller in street and train, in hotel and +restaurant. The railway guard, the waiter, the cab-driver--these are the +men upon whose care the comfort of the stranger depends in every land, +and whose tact and temper are no bad index of the national character. In +New York, then, you are met everywhere by a sort of urbane familiarity. +The man who does you a service, for which you pay him, is neither civil +nor uncivil. He contrives, in a way which is by no means unpleasant, +to put himself on an equality with you. With a mild surprise you find +yourself taking for granted what in your own land you would resent +bitterly. Not even the curiosity of the nigger, who brushes your coat +with a whisk, appears irksome. For the habit of years has enabled white +man and black to assume a light and easy manner, which in an Englishman, +born and trained to another tradition, would appear impertinence. + +And familiarity is not the only trait which separates the plain man of +New York from the plain man of London. The New Yorker looks upon the +foreigner with the eye of patronage. To his superior intelligence the +wandering stranger is a kind of natural, who should not be allowed to +roam alone and at large. Before you have been long in the land you find +yourself shepherded, and driven with an affability, not unmixed with +contempt, into the right path. Again, you do not resent it, and yet are +surprised at your own forbearance. A little thought, however, explains +the assumed superiority. The citizen of New York has an ingenuous pride +and pleasure in his own city and in his own prowess, which nothing can +daunt. He is convinced, especially if he has never travelled beyond his +own borders, that he engrosses the virtue and intelligence of the world +The driver of a motor-car assured me, with a quiet certitude which +brooked no contradiction, that England was cut up into sporting estates +for the "lords," and that there the working man was doomed to an idle +servility. "But," said he, "there is no room for bums here." This +absolute disbelief in other countries, combined with a perfect +confidence in their own, has persuaded the citizens of New York to look +down with a cold and pitiful eye upon those who are so unfortunate as to +be born under an effete monarchy. There is no bluster in their attitude, +no insistence. The conviction of superiority is far too great for that. +They belong to the greatest country upon earth; they alone enjoy the +true blessings of freedom; they alone understand the dignity of labour +and the spirit of in-dependence; and they have made up their minds +kindly but firmly that you shall not forget it. + +Thus you carry away from New York a memory of a lively air, gigantic +buildings, incessant movement, sporadic elegance, and ingenuous +patronage. And when you have separated your impressions, the most vivid +and constant impression that remains is of a city where the means of +life conquer life itself, whose citizens die hourly of the rage to live. + + + + +BOSTON. + +America, the country of contrasts, can show none more sudden or +striking than that between New York and Boston. In New York progress and +convenience reach their zenith. A short journey carries you back into +the England of the eighteenth century. The traveller, lately puzzled by +overhead railways and awed by the immensity of sky-scrapers, no +sooner reaches Boston than he finds himself once more in a familiar +environment. The wayward simplicity of the city has little in common +with the New World. Its streets are not mere hollow tubes, through which +financiers may be hastily precipitated to their quest for gold. They +wind and twist like the streets in the country towns of England and +France. To the old architects of Boston, indeed, a street was something +more than a thoroughfare. The houses which flanked it took their places +by whim or hazard, and were not compelled to follow a hard immovable +line. And so they possess all the beauty which is born of accident and +surprise. You turn a corner, and know not what will confront you; you +dive down a side street, and are uncertain into what century you will be +thrust. Here is the old wooden house, which recalls the first settlers; +there the fair red-brick of a later period. And everywhere is the +diversity which comes of growth, and which proves that time is a better +contriver of effects than the most skilful architect. + +The constant mark of Boston is a demure gaiety. An air of quiet +festivity encompasses the streets. The houses are elegant, but sternly +ordered. If they belong to the colonial style, they are exquisitely +symmetrical. There is no pilaster without its fellow; no window that +is not nicely balanced by another of self-same shape and size. The +architects, who learned their craft from the designs of Inigo Jones and +Christopher Wren, had no ambition to express their own fancy. They were +loyally obedient to the tradition of the masters, and the houses which +they planned, plain in their neatness, are neither pretentious nor +inappropriate. Nowhere in Boston will you find the extravagant ingenuity +which makes New York ridiculous; nowhere will you be disturbed by an +absurd mimicry of exotic styles; nowhere are you asked to wonder at +mountainous blocks of stone. Boston is not a city of giants, but of men +who love their comfort, and who, in spite of Puritan ancestry, do +not disdain to live in beautiful surroundings. In other words, the +millionaire has not laid his iron hand upon New England, and, until he +come, Boston may still boast of its elegance. + +The pride of Boston is Beacon Street, surely one among the most majestic +streets in the world. It recalls Piccadilly and the frontage of the +Green Park. Its broad spaces and the shade of its dividing trees are +of the natural beauty which time alone can confer, and its houses are +worthy its setting. I lunched at the Somerset Club, in a white-panelled +room, and it needed clams and soft-shell crabs to convince me that I was +in a new land, and not in an English country-house. All was of another +time and of a familiar place--the service, the furniture, the aspect. +And was it possible to regard our sympathetic hosts as strange in blood +or speech? + +The Mall, in Beacon Street, if it is the pride, is also the +distinguishing mark of Boston. For Boston is a city of parks and trees. +The famous Common, as those might remember who believe that America +sprang into being in a night, has been sacred for nearly three hundred +years. Since 1640 it has been the centre of Boston. It has witnessed the +tragedies and comedies of an eventful history. "There," wrote an +English traveller as early as 1675, "the gallants walk with their +marmalet-madams, as we do in Moorfields." + +There malefactors were hanged; there the witches suffered in the time of +their persecution; and it is impossible to forget, as you walk its ample +spaces, the many old associations which it brings with it from the past. + +For it is to the past that Boston belongs. No city is more keenly +conscious of its origin. The flood of foreign immigration has not +engulfed it. Its memories, like its names, are still of England, New +and Old. The spirit of America, eagerly looking forward, cruelly +acquisitive, does not seem to fulfil it The sentiment of its beginning +has outlasted even the sentiment of a poignant agitation. It resembles +an old man thinking of what was, and turning over with careful hand the +relics of days gone by. If in one aspect Boston is a centre of commerce +and enterprise, in another it is a patient worshipper of tradition, It +regards the few old buildings which have survived the shocks of time +with a respect which an Englishman can easily understand, but which may +appear extravagant to the modern American. The Old South Meeting-House, +to give a single instance, is an object of simple-hearted veneration +to the people of Boston, and the veneration is easily intelligible. For +there is scarcely an episode in Boston's history that is not connected, +in the popular imagination, with the Old South Meeting-House. It stands +on the site of John Winthrop's garden; it is rich in memories of Cotton +and Increase Mather. Within its ancient walls was Benjamin Franklin +christened, and the building which stands to-day comes down to us from +1730, and was designed in obedient imitation of English masters. There, +too, were enacted many scenes in the drama of revolution; there it +was that the famous tea-party was proposed; and thence it was that the +Mohawks, drunk with the rhetoric of liberty, found their way to the +harbour, that they might see how tea mixed with salt-water. If the +sentiment be sometimes exaggerated, the purpose is admirable, and it is +a pleasant reflection that, in a country of quick changes and historical +indifference, at least one building will be preserved for the admiration +of coming generations. + +It is for such reasons as these that an Englishman feels at home in +Boston. He is secure in the same past; he shares the same memories, even +though he give them a different interpretation. Between the New and Old +England there are more points of similarity than of difference. In +each are the same green meadows, the same ample streams, the same wide +vistas. The names of the towns and villages in the new country +were borrowed from the old some centuries ago; everywhere friendly +associations are evoked; everywhere are signs of a familiar and kindly +origin. When Winthrop, the earliest of the settlers, wrote to his wife, +"We are here in a paradise," he spoke with an enthusiasm which is easily +intelligible. And as the little colony grew, it lived its life in accord +with the habit and sentiment of the mother-country. In architecture and +costume it followed the example set in Bristol or in London. Between +these ports and Boston was a frequent interchange of news and +commodities. An American in England was no stranger. He was visiting, +with sympathy and understanding, the home of his fathers. The most +distinguished Bostonians of the late eighteenth century live upon the +canvases of Copley, who, in his son, gave to England a distinguished +Chancellor, and whose career is the best proof of the good relations +which bound England to her colony. Now Copley arrived in England +in 1774, when his native Boston was aroused to the height of her +sentimental fury, and he was received with acclamation. He painted +the portraits of Lord North and his wife, who, one imagines, were not +regarded in Boston with especial favour. The King and Queen gave him +sittings, and neither political animosity nor professional rivalry +stood in the way of his advancement. His temper and character were well +adapted to his career. Before he left New England he had shown himself a +Court painter in a democratic city. He loved the trappings of life, +and he loved to put his sitters in a splendid environment. His own +magnificence had already astonished the grave Boston-ians; he is +described, while still a youth, as "dressed in a fine maroon cloth, with +gilt buttons"; and he set the seal of his own taste upon the portraiture +of his friends. + +I have said that Boston loves relics. The relics which it loves best are +the relics of England's discomfiture. The stately portraits of Copley +are of small account compared to the memorials of what was nothing else +than a civil war. Faneuil Hall, the Covent Garden of Boston, presented +to the city by Peter Faneuil some thirty years before the birth of +"Liberty," is now but an emblem of revolt. The Old South Meeting-Place +is endeared to the citizens of Boston as "the sanctuary of freedom." A +vast monument, erected a mere quarter of a century ago, commemorates the +"Boston Massacre." And wherever you turn you are reminded of an episode +which might easily be forgotten. To an Englishman these historical +landmarks are inoffensive. The dispute which they recall aroused far +less emotion on our side the ocean than on the other, and long ago we +saw the events of the Revolution in a fair perspective. In truth, this +insistence on the past is not wholly creditable to Boston's sense of +humour. The passionate paeans which Otis and his friends sang to Liberty +were irrelevant. Liberty was never for a moment in danger, if Liberty, +indeed, be a thing of fact and not of watchwords. The leaders of the +Revolution wrote and spoke as though it was their duty to throw off the +yoke of the foreigner,--a yoke as heavy as that which Catholic Spain +cast upon Protestant Holland. + +But there was no yoke to be thrown off, because no yoke was ever +imposed, and Boston might have celebrated greater events in her history +than that which an American statesman has wisely called "the glittering +and sounding generalities of natural right." + +However, if you would forget the follies of politicians, you have but to +cross the bridge and drive to Cambridge, which, like the other Cambridge +of England, is the seat of a distinguished university. You are doubly +rewarded, for not merely is Cambridge a perfect specimen of a colonial +village, but in Harvard there breathes the true spirit of humane +letters. Nor is the college a creation of yesterday. It is not far short +of three centuries ago that John Harvard, once of Emmanuel College +in England, endowed the university which bears his honoured name. The +bequest was a poor L780, with 260 books, but it was sufficient to ensure +an amiable immortality, and to bestow a just cause of pride upon the +mother-college. The daughter is worthy her august parentage. She has +preserved the sentiment of her birth; she still worships the classics +with a constant heart; the fame of her scholars has travelled in the +mouths of men from end to end of Europe. And Harvard has preserved all +the outward tokens of a university. Her wide spaces and lofty avenues +are the fit abode of learning. Her college chapel and her college halls +could serve no other purpose than that for which they are designed. The +West, I believe, has built universities on another plan and to another +purpose. But Harvard, like her great neighbour Boston, has been obedient +to the voice of tradition, and her college, the oldest, remains also the +greatest in America. + +Culture has always been at once the boast and the reproach of Boston. +A serious ancestry and the neighbourhood of a university are enough +to ensure a grave devotion to the things of the spirit, and Boston has +never found the quest of gold sufficient for its needs. The Pilgrim +Fathers, who first sought a refuge in New England, left their country +in the cause of what they thought intellectual freedom, and their +descendants have ever stood in need of the excitement which nothing +save pietism or culture can impart. For many years pietism held sway in +Boston. The persecution of the witches, conducted with a lofty eloquence +by Cotton Mather, was but the expression of an imperious demand, and the +conflict of warring sects, which for many years disturbed the peace +of the city, satisfied a craving not yet allayed. Then, after a long +interval, came Transcendentalism, a pleasant mixture of literature and +moral guidance, and to-day Boston is as earnest as ever in pursuit of +vague ideals and soothing doctrines. + +But pietism has gradually yielded to the claim of culture. Though one +of the largest buildings which frown upon the wayfarer in Boston is +a temple raised to the honour of Christian Science and Mrs Eddy, +literature is clearly the most fashionable anodyne. It is at once easier +and less poignant than theology: while it imparts the same sense of +superiority, it suggests the same emancipation from mere world-liness. +It is by lectures that Boston attempts to slake its intellectual +thirst--lectures on everything and nothing. Science, literature, +theology--all is put to the purpose. The enterprise of the Lowell +Institute is seconded by a thousand private ventures. The patient +citizens are always ready to discuss Shakespeare, except when Tennyson +is the subject of the last discourse, and zoology remains attractive +until it be obscured by the newest sensation in chemistry. And the +appetite of Boston is unglutted and insatiable. Its folly is frankly +recognised by the wise among its own citizens. Here, for instance, is +the testimony of one whose sympathy with real learning is evident. "The +lecture system," says he, "in its best estate an admirable educational +instrument, has been subject to dreadful abuse. The unbounded appetite +of the New England communities for this form of intellectual nourishment +has tempted vast hordes of charlatans and pretenders to try their +fortune in this profitable field. 'The hungry sheep look up, and are not +fed.' The pay of the lecturer has grown more exorbitant in proportion to +the dilution of his mixture, until professional jokers have usurped the +places once graced by philosophers and poets; and to-day the lyceums +are served by a new species of broker, who ekes out the failing literary +material with the better entertainment of music and play-acting." + +I am not sure whether the new species of broker is not better than the +old. So long as music and play-acting do not masquerade in the worn-out +duds of intellect, they do not inflict a serious injury upon the people. +It is culture, false and unashamed, that is the danger. For culture +is the vice of the intelligence. It stands to literature in the same +relation as hypocrisy stands to religion. A glib familiarity with names +does duty for knowledge. Men and women think it no shame to play the +parrot to lecturers, and to pretend an acquaintance with books whose +leaves they have never parted. They affect intellect, when at its best +it is curiosity which drives them to lecture hall or institute--at its +worst, a love of mental dram-drinking. To see manifest in a frock-coat +a poet or man of science whose name is printed in the newspapers fills +them with a fearful enthusiasm. To hear the commonplaces of literary +criticism delivered in a lofty tone of paradox persuades them to believe +that they also are among the erudite, and makes the sacrifice of time +and money as light as a wind-blown leaf. But their indiscretion is not +so trivial as it seems. Though every man and every woman has the right +to waste his time (or hers) as may seem good, something else besides +time is lost in the lecture hall. Sincerity also is squandered in the +grey, dim light of sham learning, and nobody can indulge in a mixed +orgie of "culture" without some sacrifice of honesty and truth. + +Culture, of course, is not the monopoly of Boston. It has stretched its +long arm from end to end of the American continent. Wherever you go you +will hear, in tram or car, the facile gossip of literature. The whole +world seems familiar with great names, though the meaning of the names +escapes the vast majority. Now the earnest ones of the earth congregate +in vast tea-gardens of the intellect, such as Chautauqua. Now the +summer hotel is thought a fit place in which to pick up a smattering of +literature or science; and there is an uneasy feeling abroad that +what is commonly known as pleasure must not be unalloyed. The vice, +unhappily, is not unknown in England. A country which had the ingenuity +to call a penny reading "university extension," and to send its +missionaries into every town, cannot be held guiltless. But our poor +attempts at culture dwindle to a paltry insignificance in the light of +American enterprise; and we would no more compare the achievement of +England in the diffusion of learning with the achievement of the United +States, than we would set a modest London office by the side of the +loftiest sky-scraper in New York. America lives to do good or evil on a +large scale, and we lag as far behind her in culture as in money-making. + +When I left Boston for the West, I met in the train an earnest citizen +of a not uncommon type. He was immensely and ingenuously patriotic. +Though he had never left his native land, and had therefore an +insufficient standard of comparison, he was convinced that America was +superior in arms and arts to every other part of the habitable globe. +He assured me, with an engaging simplicity, that Americans were braver, +more energetic, and richer than Englishmen; that, as their buildings +were higher, so also were their intelligence and their aspirations. He +pointed out that in the vast continent of the West nothing was lacking +which the mind of man could desire. Where, he asked, would you find +harvests so generous, mines so abundant in precious metals, factories +managed with so splendid an ingenuity? If wine and oil are your quest, +said he, you have but to tap the surface of the munificent earth. One +thing only, he confessed, was lacking, and that need a few years +would make good. "Wait," said he, with an assured if immodest +boastful-ness,--"wait until we get a bit degenerate, and then we +will produce a Shakespeare"! I had not the heart to suggest that the +sixteenth century in England was a period of birth, not of decay. I +could only accept his statement in awful appreciation. And emboldened by +my silence, he supported his argument with a hundred ingeniously chosen +facts. He was sure that America would never show the smallest sign of +decadence until she was tired of making money. The love of money was +the best defence against degeneracy of every kind, and he gasped with +simple-hearted pride when he thought of the millions of dollars which +his healthy, primitive compatriots were amassing. But, he allowed, the +weariness of satiety might overtake them; there might come a time when +the ledger and counting-house ceased to be all-sufficient, and that +moment of decay would witness the triumph of American literature. "Ben +Jonson, Goldsmith, and those fellows," he asked, "lived in a degenerate +age, didn't they?" I assented hastily. How could I contradict so +agreeable a companion, especially as he was going, as fast as the train +could carry him, to take a rest cure? + +Such is one victim of the passion for culture. He had probably read +nothing in his life save the newspapers and Dickens's 'American Notes,' +a work to which he referred with the bitterest resentment. But he had +attended lectures, and heard names, some of which remained tinkling in +his empty head. To his confused mind English literature was a period of +degeneracy, one and indissoluble, in which certain famous writers lived, +devoting what time they could snatch from the practice of what he called +the decadent vices to the worship of the bottle. There was no harm in +him. He was, as the common phrase has it, his own enemy. But he would +be better employed in looking at a game of baseball than in playing with +humane letters, and one cannot but regret that he should suffer thus +profoundly from a vicious system. Another victim of culture comes to my +mind. He, too, was from Boston, and as his intelligence was far deeper +than the other one's, his unhappiness was the greater. I talked to him +for a long day, and he had no conversation but of books. For him the +visible world did not exist. The printed page was the beginning and the +end of existence. He had read, if not wisely, at least voraciously, and +he displayed a wide and profound acquaintance with modern biography. +He had all the latest _Lives_ at his finger-tips. He knew where all our +great contemporaries lived, and who were their friends; he had +attended lectures on every conceivable subject; withal he was of a high +seriousness, which nothing could daunt. For him, as is but natural, the +works of Mr Arthur Benson held the last "message" of modern literature. +He could not look upon books as mere instruments of pleasure or +enjoyment. He wanted to extract from them that mysterious quality +called "help" by the elect of the lecture hall; and without the smallest +persuasion he told me which authors had "helped" him in his journey +through the world. Shelley, of course, stood first on the list, then +came Walt Whitman, and Pater was not far from the top. And there +was nothing more strange in this apostle of aesthetics than his +matter-of-fact air. His words were the words of a yearning spirit. His +tone was the tone of a statistician. Had he really read the books of +which he spoke? Did they really "help" him in the making of money, which +was the purpose of his life, or did they minister to a mind diseased? I +do not know. But I do know that there was a kind of pathos in his +cold anxiety. Plainly he was a man of quick perception and alert +intelligence. And he seemed to have wasted a vast amount of time in +acquiring a jargon which certainly was not his own, and in attaching to +books a meaning and purpose which they have never possessed. + +Such are two widely different products of the lecture hall, and it is +impossible not to see that, widely as their temperaments differ, they +have been pushed through the same mill. And thus we arrive at the worst +vice of enforced culture. Culture is, like the overhead railroad, a mere +saviour of time. It is the tramway of knowledge which compels all men to +travel by the same car, whatever may be their ultimate destination. It +possesses all the inconvenience of pleasures taken or duties performed +in common. The knowledge which is sincere and valuable must be acquired +by each man separately; it must correspond to the character and +disposition of him who acquires it, or it is a thin disguise of vanity +and idleness. To what, then, may we attribute this passion for +the lecture hall? Perhaps it is partly due to the provincialism +characteristic of America, and partly to an invincible energy, which +quickens the popular ambition and urges men to acquire information +as they acquire wealth, by the shortest route, and with the smallest +exertion. + +Above all, culture is the craving of an experimental age, and America no +doubt will outgrow it domination. Even now Boston, its earliest slave, +is shaking off the yoke; and it is taking refuge in the more modern +cities of the West. Chicago is, I believe, its newest and vastest +empire. There, where all is odd, it is well to be thought a "thinker." +There, we are told, the elect believe it their duty "to reach and +stimulate others." But wherever culture is found Strange things are +done in its name, and the time may come when by the light of Chicago's +brighter lamp Boston may seem to dwell in the outer darkness. + + + + +CHICAGO. + +America may be defined as the country where there are no railway +porters. You begin a journey without ceremony; you end it without a +welcome. No zealot, eager to find you a corner seat and to dispose of +your luggage, meets you when you depart. You must carry your own bag +when you stumble unattended from the train. This enforced dependence +upon yourself is doubtless a result of democracy. The spirit of freedom, +which permits a stealthy nigger to brush your hat, does not allow +another to handle your luggage. To the enchained and servile mind of an +Englishman these distinctions axe difficult to understand. A training in +transatlantic liberty is necessary for their appreciation. However, no +great evil is inflicted on the traveller. The ritual of checking your +baggage may easily be learned, and the absence of porters has, by +a natural process, evolved the "grip." The "grip," in fact, is the +universal mark of America. It is as intimate a part of the citizen's +equipment as a hat or coat, and it is not without its advantages. It +is light to carry, it fills but a small space, and it ensures that the +traveller shall not be separated from all his luggage. A far greater +hardship than the carriage of a "grip" is the enforced publicity of an +American train. The Englishman loves to travel in seclusion. The end of +his ambition is a locked compartment to himself. Mr Pullman has ordained +that his clients shall endure the dust and heat of a long journey in +public; and when the voyager, wearied out by the rattle of the train, +seeks his uncomfortable couch, he is forced to seek it under the general +gaze. + +These differences of custom are interesting, because they correspond +to differences of temperament. There is a far deeper difference in the +character of the country through which you travel. A journey in Europe +is like a page of history. You pass from one century to another. You +see a busy world through the window. As you sit in your corner a living +panorama is unfolded before your eyes. The country changes with the sky. +Town and mountain and cornfield follow one another in quick succession. +At every turn you see that wonderful symbol of romance, the white road +that winds over the hill, flecked perhaps by a solitary traveller. But +it is always the work of man, not the beauty of nature, that engrosses +you. You would, if you could, alight at every point to witness the last +act of comedy, which is just beginning. Men and women, to whom you are +an episode or an obstruction, flash by. Here is a group of boys bathing. +There peasants gaze at the train as something inhuman. At the level +crossing a horse chafes in his shafts. In an instant you are whizzed out +of sight, and he remains. Then, as night falls, the country-side leaves +its work; the eyes of the cottages gleam and flicker through the +trees. Round the corner you catch sight of a village festival. The +merry-go-rounds glint and clank under the shadow of a church. The +mountains approach and recede; streams grow into mighty rivers. The grey +sky is dark blue and inlaid with stars. And you sit still, tired and +travel-stained, having shared in a day the life of hundreds. + +Such is a journey in Europe. How different the experience in America! +On the road to Chicago you pass through a wilderness. The towns are +infrequent; there are neither roads nor hedges; and the rapidly changing +drama of life escapes you. The many miles of scrub and underwood are +diversified chiefly by crude advertisements. Here you are asked to +purchase Duke's Mixture; there Castoria Toilet Powder is thrust +upon your unwilling notice. In the few cities which you approach the +frame-houses and plank-walks preserve the memory of the backwoods. In +vain you look for the village church, which in Europe is never far away. +In vain you look for the incidents which in our land lighten the tedium +of a day's journey. All is barren and bleak monotony. The thin line of +railway seems a hundred miles from the life of man. At one station I +caught sight of an "Exposition Car," which bore the legend, "Cuba on +Wheels," and I was surprised as at a miracle. Outside Niles, a little +country town, a battered leather-covered shay was waiting to take +wayfarers to the Michigan Inn; and the impression made by so simple a +spectacle is the best proof of the railroad's isolation. There is but +one interlude in the desolate expanse--Niagara. + +Before he reaches the station called Niagara Falls, the tourist has a +foretaste of what is in store for him. He is assailed in the train by +touts, who would inveigle him into a hotel or let him a carriage, and +to touts he is an unwilling prey so long as he remains within sight or +hearing of the rapids. The trim little town which has grown up about the +falls, and may be said to hang upon the water, has a holiday aspect. The +sightseers, the little carriages, the summer-hotels, all wear the same +garb of gaiety and leisure. There is a look of contented curiosity on +the faces of all, who are not busy defacing the landscape with mills and +power-stations, as of those about to contemplate a supreme wonder. And +yet the sight of it brings the same sense of disappointment which the +colossal masterpieces of nature always inspire. Not to be amazed at +it would be absurd. To pretend to appreciate it is absurd also. "The +Thunder of the Waters" can neither be painted upon canvas nor described +in words. It is composed on a scale too large for human understanding. A +giant might find some amusement in its friendly contemplation. A man can +but stand aghast at its sound and size, as at some monstrous accident. +He may compare the Fall on the American side with the Horse-shoe on the +Canadian. He has no other standard of comparison, since Niagara not only +transcends all other phenomena of its kind, but also our human vision +and imagination. When you see the far-tossed spray lit up with a +flash of iridescence, you catch at something which makes a definite +impression; and you feel the same relief that a man may feel when he +finds a friend in a mob of strangers. To heap up epithets upon this +mysterious force is the idlest sport. Are you nearer to it when you +have called it x "deliberate, vast, and fascinating"? You might as well +measure its breadth and height, or estimate the number of gallons which +descend daily from the broad swirling river above. A distinguished +playwright once complained of Sophocles that he lacked human interest, +and the charge may be brought with less injustice against Niagara. It +is only through daring and danger that you can connect it with the human +race; and you find yourself wondering where it was that Captain Webb was +hurled to his death, or by what route the gallant little "Maid of the +Mist" shot the rapids to escape the curiosity of the excise officer. + +Nothing is more curious in the history of taste than the changed view +which is taken to-day of natural scenery. Time was when the hand +and mind of man were deemed necessary for a beautiful effect, A wild +immensity of mountain or water was thought a mere form of ugliness; a +garden was a waste if it were not trimmed to formality; and a savage +moorland was fit only for the sheep to crop. The admiration of Father +Hennepin, the companion of La Salle, and the first white man who ever +gazed upon Niagara, was tempered by affright. "This wonderful Downfal," +said he in 1678, "is compounded of Cross-streams of Water, and two +Falls, with an Isle sloping along the middle of it. The Waters which +fall from this horrible Precipice do foam and boyl after the most +hideous manner imaginable, making an Outrageous Noise, more terrible +than that of Thunder; for when the wind blows out of the South, their +dismal roaring may be heard more than Fifteen Leagues off." These +are the epithets of the seventeenth century,--"horrible," "hideous," +"outrageous," "dismal." Now take the modern view, eloquently expressed +in 1879 by the United States Commissioners, whose noble object was to +preserve the Falls untouched for ever. "The value of Niagara to the +world," they wrote, "and that which has obtained for it the homage of +so many men whom the world reveres, lies in its power of appeal to the +higher emotional and imaginative faculties, and this power is drawn +from qualities and conditions too subtle to be known through verbal +description. To a proper apprehension of these, something more than +passing observation is necessary; to an enjoyment of them, something +more than an instantaneous act of will." It is the old dispute between +beauty and wonder, between classic and romantic. Who is in the right +of it, the old priest or the modern commissioners? Each man will answer +according to his temperament. For my part, I am on the side of Father +Hennepin. + +Niagara is not an inappropriate introduction to Chicago. For Chicago +also is beyond the scale of human comprehension and endeavour. In mere +size both are monstrous; it is in size alone that they are comparable. +Long before he reaches "the grey city," as its inhabitants fondly call +it, the traveller is prepared for the worst. At Pullman a thick pall +already hangs over everything. The nearer the train approaches Chicago +the drearier becomes the aspect. You are hauled through mile after mile +of rubbish and scrap-heap. You receive an impression of sharp-edged +flints and broken bottles. When you pass the "City Limits" you believe +yourself at your journey's end. You have arrived only at the boundary of +Chicago's ambition, and Chicago is forty minutes' distant. The station, +which bears the name "102nd St.," is still in the prairies. + +A little more patience and you catch a first glimpse of the lake--vast, +smooth, and grey in the morning light. A jolt, and you are descending, +grip in hand, upon the platform. + +The first impression of Chicago, and the last, is of an unfinished +monstrosity. It might be a vast railway station, built for men and women +twenty feet high. The sky-scrapers, in which it cherishes an inordinate +pride, shut out the few rays of sunlight which penetrate its dusky +atmosphere. They have not the excuse of narrow space which their rivals +in New York may plead. They are built in mere wantonness, for within +the City Limits, whose distance from the centre is the best proof of +Chicago's hopefulness, are many miles of waste ground, covered only +with broken fences and battered shanties. And, as they raise their heads +through the murky fog, these sky-scrapers wear a morose and sullen +look. If they are not mere lumps, their ornament is hideously heavy and +protrusive. They never combine, as they combine in New York, into an +impressive whole. They clamour blatantly of their size, and that is +all. And if the city be hideously aggressive, what word of excuse can be +found for the outskirts, for the Italian and Chinese quarters, for the +crude, new districts which fasten like limpets upon the formless mass +of Chicago? These, to an enduring ugliness add a spice of cruelty and +debauch, which are separate and of themselves. + +In its suggestion of horror Chicago is democratic. The rich and the poor +alike suffer from the prevailing lack of taste. The proud "residences" +on the Lake Shore are no pleasanter to gaze upon than the sulky +sky-scrapers. Some of them are prison-houses; others make a sad attempt +at gaiety; all are amazingly unlike the dwelling-houses of men and +women. Yet their owners are very wealthy. To them nothing is denied that +money can buy, and it is thus that they prefer to express themselves +and their ambitions. What, then, is tolerable in Chicago? Lincoln Park, +which the smoke and fog of the city have not obscured, and the grandiose +lake, whose fresh splendour no villainy of man can ever deface. And at +one moment of the day, when a dark cloud hung over the lake, and the sun +set in a red glory behind the sky-scrapers, each black, and blacker +for its encircling smoke, Chicago rose superior to herself and her +surroundings. + +After ugliness, the worst foe of Chicago is dirt. A thick, black, sooty +dust lies upon everything. It is at the peril of hands begrimed that +you attempt to open a window. In the room that was allotted to me in +a gigantic hotel I found a pair of ancient side-spring boots, once +the property, no doubt, of a prominent citizen, and their apparition +intensified the impression of uncleanness. The streets are as untidy as +the houses; garbage is dumped in the unfinished roadways; and in or out +of your hotel you will seek comfort in vain. The citizens of Chicago +themselves are far too busy to think whether their city is spruce or +untidy. Money is their quest, and it matters not in what circumstances +they pursue it. The avid type is universal and insistent. The energy of +New York is said to be mere leisure compared to the hustling of Chicago. +Wherever you go you are conscious of the universal search after +gold. The vestibule of the hotel is packed with people chattering, +calculating, and telephoning. The clatter of the machine which registers +the latest quotations never ceases. In the street every one is hurrying +that he may not miss a lucrative bargain, until the industry and +ambition of Chicago culminate in the Board of Trade. + +The dial of the Board of Trade, or the Pit as it is called, is the +magnet which attracts all the eyes of Chicago, for on its face is marked +the shifting, changing price of wheat. And there on the floor, below the +Strangers' Gallery, the gamblers of the West play for the fortunes and +lives of men. They stand between the farmers, whose waving cornfields +they have never seen, and the peasants of Europe, whose taste for bread +they do not share. It is more keenly exciting to bet upon the future +crop of wheat than upon the speed of a horse; and far larger sums may +be hazarded in the Pit than on a racecourse. And so the livelong day +the Bulls and Bears confront one another, gesticulating fiercely, and +shouting at the top of their raucous voices. If on the one hand they +ruin the farmer, or on the other starve the peasant, it matters not +to them. They have enjoyed the excitement, and made perchance a vast +fortune at another's expense. They are, indeed, the true parasites of +commerce; and in spite of their intense voices and rapid gestures, there +is an air of unreality about all their transactions. As I watched the +fury of the combatants, I found myself wondering why samples of corn +were thrown upon the floor. Perhaps they serve to feed the pigeons. + +Materialism, then, is the frank end and aim of Chicago. Its citizens +desire to get rich as quickly and easily as possible. The means are +indifferent to them. It is the pace alone which is important. All they +want is "a business proposition" and "found money." And when they are +rich, they have no other desire than to grow richer. Their money is +useless to them, except to breed more money. The inevitable result is +a savagery of thought and habit. If we may believe the newspapers of +Chicago, peaceful men of business are "held up" at noon in crowded +streets. The revolver is still a potent instrument in this city of the +backwoods. But savagery is never without its reaction. There has +seldom been a community of barbarians which did not find relief in an +extravagant sentimentality, and Chicago, in its hours of ease, is an +enthusiastic patron of the higher life. As I have said, in culture it is +fast outstripping Boston itself. It boasts more societies whose object +is "the promotion of serious thought upon art, science, and literature" +than any other city in the world. The clubs which it has established +for the proper study of Ibsen and Browning are without number, It is as +eager for the enlightenment of women as for sending up or down the price +of corn. The craze, which is the mark of a crude society, will pass like +many others, and, though it may appear sincere while it lasts, it is not +characteristic. The one triumph of Chicago is its slang. It has invented +a lingo more various and fuller of fancy than any known to man, and if +it will forget Ibsen and exercise its invention after its own +fashion, why should it not invent a new literature? Mr George Ade, the +Shakespeare of Chicago, has already shown us what can be done with the +new speech in his masterly 'Fables in Slang,' to read which is almost as +good as a journey to the West; and there is no reason why he should not +found a school. + +Yet with all its faults and absurdities upon its face, Chicago is the +happiest city in America. It is protected by the triple brass of pride +against all the assaults of its enemies. Never in history was so sublime +a vanity revealed; and it is hard for a stranger to understand upon what +it is based. Chicago is Chicago--that is what its citizens say, with a +flattered smile, which makes argument useless. Its dirt and dust do not +disconcert its self-esteem. The oversized ugliness of its buildings are +no disappointment to its candid soul, and if its peculiar virtue escape +your observation, so much the worse for you. "The marvellous city of the +West"--that is its own name, and it lives up to it without an effort. +Its history, as composed by its own citizens, is one long paean of +praise. One chronicler, to whose unconscious humour I am infinitely +indebted, dedicates his work to "the children of Chicago, who, if the +Lord spares them until they shall have attained the allotted span of +life, will see this city the greatest metropolis on the globe." That +is a modest estimate, and it makes us feel the inadequacy of our poor +speech to hymn the glories of Chicago. And if you suggest a fault, its +panegyrists are always ready with a counterstroke. Having no taste for +slaughter, I did not visit Packing Town, but, without admitting all the +grave charges brought against Chicago's grandest industry, one might +have supposed that the sudden translation of herds of cattle into potted +meat was not unattended with some inconvenience. This suspicion, you +are told, is an insult to the city. What might disgust the traveller +elsewhere has no terrors in Chicago. "This Packing-Town odor," we are +told by a zealot, "has been unjustly criticised. To any one accustomed +to it there is only a pleasant suggestion of rich, ruddy blood and long +rows of tempting 'sides' hung up to cool." I prefer not to be tempted. +I can only bow before the ingenuity of this eulogy. And if, more +seriously, you reproach the cynicism of the Pit, which on this side +or that may compel ruin, you are met with a very easy rejoinder. "The +Chicago Board of Trade"--it is the same apologist who speaks--"is a +world-renowned commercial organisation. It exercises a wider and a +more potential influence over the welfare of mankind than any other +institution of its kind in existence." This assurance leaves you dumb. +You might as well argue with a brass band as with a citizen of Chicago; +and doubtless you would wave the flag yourself if you stayed long enough +in the wonderful West. + +But the panegyrist of the Pit, already quoted, helps us to explain +Chicago's vanity. "The fortunes made and lost within the walls of the +great building," says he proudly, "astonish the world." If Chicago can +only astonish the world, that is enough. Its citizens fondly hope that +everything they do is on the largest scale. Size, speed, and prominence +are the three gods of their idolatry. They are not content until +they--the citizens--are all prominent, and their buildings are all the +largest that cumber the earth. It is a great comfort to those who +gamble away their substance in the Board of Trade to reflect that the +weathercock that surmounts its tower is the biggest ever seen by human +eye. There is not one of them that will not tell you, with a satisfied +smile, that the slowest of their fire-engines can go from one end of the +city to the other in five seconds. There is not one of them who, in the +dark recesses of his mind, is not sure that New York is a "back number." +They are proud of the senseless height of their houses, and of the +rapidity with which they mount towards the sky. They are proud of the +shapeless towns which spring up about them like mushrooms in a single +night. In brief, they are proud of all the things of which they should +feel shame; and even when their buildings have been measured and their +pace has been recognised, their vanity is still a puzzle. For, when +all the world has been satisfactorily amazed, what boast is left to the +citizens of Chicago? They cannot take delight in the soil, since the +most of them do not belong to it. The patriotism of the cosmopolitan +horde which is huddled together amid their lofty Cliffs must perforce +be an artificial sentiment. They cannot look with satisfaction upon +the dishevelled suburbs in which they live. They need not suppose the +slaughtering of pigs and beeves is the highest duty of man. But wherever +they dwell and whatever they do, they are convinced of their own +superiority. Their pride is not merely revealed in print; it is evident +in a general familiarity of tone and manner. If your cabman wishes to +know your destination, he prefaces his question with the immortal words, +"Say, boys," and he thinks that he has put himself on amiable terms with +you at once. Indeed, the newly-arrived stranger is instantly asked to +understand that he belongs to a far meaner city than that in which he +sojourns; and, even with the evidence of misapplied wealth before his +eyes, he cannot believe it. + +And what amiable visions do you carry away from Chicago besides the +majesty of the lake, ever changing in colour and aspect, and the beauty +of Lincoln Park? A single memory lingers in my mind. At sunset I saw a +black regiment marching along Michigan Avenue,--marching like soldiers; +and by its side on the pavement a laughing, shouting mob of negresses +danced a triumphant cake-walk. They grinned and sang and chattered in +perfect happiness and pride. They showed a frank pleasure in the prowess +of their brothers and their friends. But, animated as the spectacle was, +there was a sinister element in this joyous clatter. To an English eye +it seemed a tragic farce--a veritable _danse macabre_. + +Unhappy is the city which has no history; and what has Chicago to offer +of history or tradition? What has it to tell the traveller? Once she was +consumed, though she was not purified, by fire, and she still lives in +the recollection. A visitor to a European city goes forth to admire a +castle, a cathedral, a gallery of pictures. In Chicago he is asked to +wonder at the shapeless residences of "prominent" citizens. And when +the present civilisation fades and dies, what will be Chicago's ruins? +Neither temple nor tower will be brought to the ground. There will be +nothing to show the wandering New Zealander but a broken city, which was +a scrap-heap before it was built; and the wandering New Zealander may be +forgiven if he proclaim the uselessness of size and progress, if he ask +how it has profited a city to buy and sell all the corn in the world, +and in its destruction to leave not a wrack of comeliness behind. + + + + +NEW ENGLAND. + +If in a country town we find an Inn called New, it is a sure sign of +ancientry. The fresh and fragrant name survives the passing centuries. +It clings to the falling house long after it has ceased to have an +intelligible meaning. Taverns with a nobler sign and more arrogant +aspect obscure its simpler merits. But there is a pride in its name, a +dignity in its age, which a changing fashion will never destroy. And as +it is with Inns, so it is with countries. New is an epithet redolent +of antiquity. The province which once was, and is still called, New +England, is very old America. It cannot be judged by the standards which +are esteemed in New York or Chicago. The broad stream of what is called +progress has left it undisturbed in its patient backwater. It recks as +little of sky-scrapers as of transportation. Its towns are not ashamed +of being villages, and the vanity which it guards is not the vanity of +shapeless size, but the rarer vanity of a quiet and decent life. + +No sooner does the English traveller leave Boston for the north than +he enters what seems a familiar country. The towns which he passes, +the rivers which he crosses, bear names, as I have said, to prove the +faithful devotion the old adventurers felt for their native land. If +they sought their fortune across the ocean, they piously preserved the +memories of other days. Austere as were the early Puritans, bitterly as +they smarted under what they supposed a political grievance, they did +not regard the country of their origin with the fierce hatred which +has sometimes inspired their descendants. The love of the New did not +extinguish the love of the Old England. In Appledore and Portsmouth, +in London and Manchester, in Newcastle and Dover, the ancient sentiment +lives and breathes. And the New Englanders, once proud of their source, +still cherish a pride in their blood, which they have kept pure from the +contamination of the foreigner. Fortunately for itself, New England has +fallen behind in the march of progress. There is nothing in its peaceful +recesses to tempt the cosmopolitan horde which throngs the great cities +of America. The hope of gain is there as small as the opportunity of +gambling. A quiet folk, devoted to fishery and agriculture, is not worth +plundering. + +So it is there, if anywhere, that you may surprise the true-born +American, and when you have surprised him, he very much resembles your +own compatriot. His type and gesture are as familiar to you as his +surroundings. Slow of speech and movement, he has not yet acquired the +exhausting, purposeless love of speed which devours the more modern +cities. He goes about his work with a perfect consciousness that there +are four-and-twenty hours in the day. And as he is not the victim of an +undue haste, he has leisure for a gracious civility. It is not for him +to address a stranger with the familiarity characteristic of New York or +Chicago. Though he know it not, and perhaps would resent it if he knew +it, he is profoundly influenced by his origin. He has not lost the high +seriousness, the quiet gravity, which distinguished his ancestors. + +His towns, in aspect and sentiment, closely resemble himself. +Portsmouth, for instance, which has not the same reason for +self-consciousness as Salem or Concord, has retained the authentic +features of the mother-land. You might easily match it in Kent or Essex. +The open space in the centre of the town, the Athenaeum--in style, name, +and purpose, alike English--are of another age and country than their +own. There is a look of trim elegance everywhere, which refreshes the +eye; and over the streets there broods an immemorial peace, which even +the echoing clangour of the Navy Yard cannot dispel. The houses, some +of wood, built after the Colonial manner, others of red brick, and of a +grave design, are in perfect harmony with their surroundings. Nothing +is awry: nothing is out of place. And so severely consistent is the +impression of age, that down on the sunlit quay, flanked by the lofty +warehouses, the slope of whose roofs is masked by corbie-steps, you are +surprised not to see riding at anchor the high-prowed galleons of the +seventeenth century. + +And, best of all, there is the quiet, simple Church of St John's, +English in feeling as in origin. Though rebuilt a hundred years ago, on +the site of an earlier church, it has remained loyal to its history, and +is the true child of the eighteenth century. Is it not fitting that the +communion-plate presented by Queen Caroline should be treasured here? +That the sexton should still show you, even with a cold indifference, +the stately prayer-books which once contained prayers for the king? That +a bell, captured at Louisburg by Sir William Pepperell, should summon +to the worship of God a people long forgetful of that proud achievement? +Such are the evidences of an innate conservatism which has kept alive +the old traditions of New England. + +Thus for three hundred years Portsmouth has lived the happy life of +a country town, and its historian sadly notes that until 1900 its +population did not rise to 10,000. The historian need feel no regret: it +is not by numbers that we may measure the stateliness of a city; and the +dignity of Portsmouth is still plain for all to behold in the houses, +to cite but two examples, of Governors Wentworth and Langdon, And then +after this long spell of fortunate obscurity, Portsmouth became suddenly +the centre of universal interest. By a curious irony this little, +old-fashioned town was chosen to be the meeting-place of Russia and +Japan, and the first experiment in modern diplomacy-was made in a place +which has sacrificed nothing to a love of that intoxicant known as the +spirit of the age. It was, in truth, a strange sight that Portsmouth saw +a brief two years ago. Before its troubled eyes the stern conference +of hostile nations was turned to comedy. A hundred and twenty eager +reporters publicly put up their support for sale in exchange for +information to the highest bidder. The representative of a great country +was heard boasting to the gentlemen of the press of his own prowess. +"The Japanese could not read in my face," said M. Witte, "what was +passing in my heart." Isn't it wonderful? Would not the diplomatists of +another age be ashamed of their _confrere_ could they hear him brag of a +rudimentary and long since dishonoured _finesse?_ But the mere fact that +M. Witte could make such a speech on American soil is a clear proof that +the New World is not the proper field of diplomacy. The congresses +of old were gay and secret. "Le congres," said the Prince de Ligne at +Vienna, "ne marche pas; il danse." It danced, and it kept inviolate +the obligation of silence. The Congress at Portsmouth did not talk--it +chattered; and it was an open injustice to the unbroken history of New +England that President Roosevelt should have chosen this tranquil and +ancient spot for a bold experiment in diplomacy by journalism. + +Across the river lies Battery, even more remote from the world of greed +and competition than Portsmouth. Here at last you discover what so often +eludes you in America--the real countryside. The rough pleasant roads +like English lanes, the beautiful wooden houses half hidden amid +towering trees, and the gardens (or yards as they are called) not +trim, like our English gardens, but of an unkempt beauty all their +own,--these, with the memory of a gracious hospitality, will never fade +from my mind. At Kittery, as at Portsmouth, you live in the past. +There is nothing save an electric trolley and the motor engines of the +fishing-boats to recall the bustle of to-day. Here is Fort M'Clary, +a block-house built two centuries ago to stay the incursion of the +Indians. There is the house of Pepperell, the hero of Louis-burg. Thus, +rich in old associations, happy in its present seclusion, Kittery has a +kind of personal charm, which is intensified by an obvious and striking +contrast. + +It was from Newport that I went to Kittery, and passed in a few hours +from the modern to the ancient world. Not even New York gives a more +vivid impression of the inappropriateness which is America's besetting +sin, than Newport, whose gay inhabitants are determined, at all costs, +to put themselves at variance with time and place. The mansions, called +"cottages" in proud humility, are entirely out of proportion to +their site and purpose. On the one hand you see a house as large as +Chatsworth, bleak and treeless, with nothing to separate it from its +ambitious neighbours but a wooden palisade. It suggests nothing so much +as that it has lost its park, and mislaid its lodges. On the other, you +see a massive pile, whose castellated summit resembles nothing else than +a county jail. And nowhere is there a possibility of ambush, nowhere a +frail hint of secrecy. The people of Newport, moreover, is resolved to +live up to its inappropriate environment. As it rejoices in the wrong +kind of house, so it delights in the wrong sort of costume. The vain +luxury of the place is expressed in a thousand strange antics. A new +excitement is added to seabathing by the ladies, who face the waves in +all the bravery of Parisian hats. To return unsullied from the encounter +is a proof of the highest skill. Is it not better to preserve a +deftly-poised hat from the mere contact of the waves than to be a +tireless and intrepid swimmer? + +Newport, in fact, has been haunted by a sort of ill-luck. It has never +been able to make the best of itself. There was a time when its harbour +bade fair to rival the harbour of New York, and when its inhabitants +fondly believed that all the great ships of the world would find refuge +under the splendid shadow of Rhode Island. And when this hope was +disappointed for ever, Newport still possessed in herself all the +elements of beauty. Whatever exquisite colour and perfect situation +could give, was hers. What more can the eyes of man desire than green +lawns and an incomparable sea? And there lies the old town to link the +prosperity of to-day with the romance of yesterday. And there grow in +wild profusion the scented hedges of honeysuckle and roses. And all of +no avail. The early comers to Newport, it is true, understood that a +real cottage of wood was in harmony with the place. They built their +houses to the just scale of the landscape, and had they kept their +own way how happy would have been the result! But beauty gave way to +fashion; wealth usurped the sovereignty of taste; size was mistaken for +grandeur,--in a word, the millionaire disfigured Newport to his whim. + +And so it ceased to be a real place. It became a mere collection of +opposing mansions and quarrelsome styles. If the vast "cottages," which +raise their heads higher and higher in foolish rivalry, were swept away, +no harm would be done. They are there by accident, and they will last +only so long as a wayward fashion tolerates their presence. Battery, +on the other hand, cannot be abolished by a caprice of taste. It is a +village which has its roots in the past, and whose growth neither wealth +nor progress has obscured. Above all, it possesses the virtue, great +in towns as in men, of sincerity. It has not cut itself loose from +its beginnings; its houses belong harmoniously to itself; and it has +retained through two centuries the character of the old colonial days. +Nor is it without an historical importance. Great names cling about it. +The men of Battery fought on many a hard-won field against French and +Indians, and, retired though it be from the broad stream of commerce and +progress, it cannot dissipate the memory of loyal devotion to the crown +and of military glory. + +Its hero is Sir William Pepperell, soldier and merchant, whose thrift +and prowess were alike remarkable. The son of a Tavistock fisherman, who +pursued fortune in the New World with equal energy and success, he still +further advanced his house in wealth and circumstance. Accustomed from +boyhood to the dangers of Indian warfare, he was as apt for arms as +for arts, and it is characteristic of the time and place that this +prosperous merchant should be known to fame as the commander of a +triumphant expedition. It was in 1745 that his chance came. For many +years Louis-burg had afforded harbourage to French privateers, who +had harried the coast of New England and captured rich cargoes of +merchandise. At last Governor Shirley of Massachusetts resolved to +attack it, and we may judge of the esteem in which Pepperell was held, +by the fact that he was appointed to lead an expedition against a +fortress deemed impregnable by the French, and known as the Dunkirk of +America. His selection was a tribute not merely to his courage but +to his tact. No man of his time was better fitted to control the +conflicting tempers of the colonial militia, and he set forth at the +head of his 4000 men under the best auspices. Being a Puritan in command +of Puritans, he quickened the bravery of his comrades by a show of +religious zeal. He made it plain that he was engaged in a war against +papistry, and he asked George White-field, then in America, for a motto. +"Nil desperandum, Christo duce," said the preacher; and thus heartened, +the little fleet set sail on its triumphant journey. At first sight +the contest seemed unequal. On one side was Duchambon, an experienced +soldier, defending a fortress which had long been thought invincible. +On the other was a plain merchant in command of no more than 4000 +militiamen. But the very simplicity of Pepperell's attack ensured its +success. He sailed into the harbour without warning and without fear, in +the very eye of the French artillery, landed his men, and began a siege +which resulted, after six weeks, in the reduction of Louisburg. It was a +gallant feat of arms, marred only by the fact that a foolish Government +declined to take advantage of a colonial victory. Three years later +Louisburg was wickedly restored to France in exchange for certain +advantages in India, and a foolish policy obscured for a while at least +the eminent services of William Pepperell. + +To-day the victor of Louisburg is not without fame--save in his own +country. Fortunately for himself, Pepperell died before the War of the +Revolution, and did not see the ruin which overtook his family. The +property which had passed into the hands of his grandchildren was +confiscated. They were guilty of loyalty to the crown and country for +which their ancestor had fought, and the third generation was saved from +the poorhouse "by the bounty of individuals on whom they had no claims +for favour." In other words, Pepperell's memory was dishonoured, because +in serving New England he had worn the king's uniform. In the eyes +of the newly emancipated, treachery was retrospective. Pepperell's +biographer explains his sin and its punishment with a perfect clarity. +"The eventful life of Sir W. Pepperell," he writes, "closed a few years +before the outbreak of the Revolution. Patriotism in his day implied +loyalty and fidelity to the King of England; but how changed the meaning +of that word in New England after the Declaration of Independence! Words +and deeds before deemed patriotic were now traitorous, and so deeply was +their moral turpitude impressed on the public mind as to have tainted +popular opinions concerning the heroic deeds of our ancestors, performed +in the King's service in the French Wars.... The War of the Revolution +absorbed and neutralised all the heroic fame of the illustrious men +that preceded, and the achievements of Pepperell, of Johnson, and of +Bradstreet are now almost forgotten." These words were written in 1855, +and they have not yet lost their truth. + +For us this forgetfulness is not easily intelligible. It is our habit to +attach ourselves closely to the past. If there have been conflicts, they +have left no rancour, no bitterness. The winner has been modest, the +loser magnanimous. The centuries of civil strife which devastated +England imposed no lasting hostility. Nobody cares to-day whether his +ancestor was Cavalier or Roundhead. The keenest Royalist is willing to +acknowledge the noble prowess and the political genius of Cromwell. The +hardiest Puritan pays an eager tribute to the exalted courage of Charles +I. But the Americans have taken another view. They would, if they could, +discard the bonds which unite them with England. For the mere glamour of +independence they would sacrifice the glory of the past. They would even +assume an hostility to their ancestors because these ancestors were of +English blood. They seem to believe that if they forget their origin +persistently enough it will be transformed. The top of their +ambition would be reached if they could suppose that they were +autochthonous,--that they sprang into being fully armed upon American +soil. It irks them to think that other races have had a hand in creating +"God's own country," and they are happiest when they can convince +themselves that a man changes his heart and his mind as well as his sky +when he leaves Europe for America. And so they pursue the policy of the +ostrich. They bury the head of their past in the sandy desert of +the present, and hope that nobody will detect the trick of their +concealment. + +In the Church of St John at Portsmouth there is, as I have said, an +English prayer-book from which the page containing prayers for the +king has been violently torn. This incident symbolises very aptly +the attitude of America. The country has not yet recovered from the +hostility which it once professed to George III. It assumes that a +difference of policy always implies a moral taint. The American Colonies +broke away from the mother country; therefore George III. was a knave, +whose name may not be mentioned without dishonour, and all the brave men +who served him in serving the colonies are dishonoured also. It is not +quite clear why this feeling has been kept alive so long. Perhaps +the violent rhetoric of the Declaration of Independence has aided its +survival. Perhaps, too, the sense of gravity, which always overtakes the +American public man when he considers what These States have achieved, +is not without its weight. But whatever the cause, it is certain that +shame and animosity still exist on the other side of the ocean: shame +for noble deeds accomplished by brave men; animosity against a loyal +antagonist, who long ago forgot the ancient quarrel and its consequence. + +And yet the force and habit of tradition cannot forcibly be shaken off. +Though New England, in forgetting the heroes who fought under British +colours, has attempted to break the continuity of history, it is in New +England where the links in the ancient chain are most stoutly coupled. +Though all the prayer-books in the world be destroyed, the marks of its +origin will still be stamped indelibly upon the face of the country. The +very dourness which persuades these stern men to look with regret upon +their beginnings is but a part of the puritanical character which drove +them to take refuge in a foreign land. Stiff-necked and fanatical as +they were, when they left England, they did but intensify their hard +fanaticism in the new land. For there they were all of one party, and +their children grew up without the wholesome stimulant of opposition. +And if perchance one or two strayed from the fold of strict allegiance, +the majority were cruel in punishment. They became persecutors for what +they believed was righteousness' sake, and their cruelty was the more +severe because it was based, as they believed, upon a superior morality. +And so they grew, as an American historian has said, to hate the +toleration for which they once fought, to deplore the liberty of +conscience for whose sake they had been ready to face exile. What in +themselves they praised for liberty and toleration, they denounced in +others as carelessness or heresy. So they cultivated a hard habit of +thought; so they esteemed too seriously the efforts they made in +the cause of freedom; so they still exaggerate the importance of the +Revolution, which the passage of time should compel them to regard with +a cold and dispassionate eye. + +But if in a certain pitilessness of character the New Englanders are +more English than the English, they still resemble the Puritans of the +seventeenth century in their love of a well-ordered life. It was in +their towns and villages that the old colonial life flourished to the +wisest purpose. The houses which they built, and which still stand, are +the perfection of elegance and comfort. The simplicity of their aspect +is matched by the beauty which confronts you when once you have crossed +the threshold. The columns which flank the porch, the pilasters which +break the monotony of the wooden walls, are but a faint indication of +the elegance within. Like the palaces of the Moors, they reserve the +best of themselves for the interior, and reveal all their beauty only to +their intimates. The light staircases, with turned rails and lyre-shaped +ends; the panelled rooms; the dainty fireplaces, adorned with Dutch +tiles; the English furniture, which has not left its first home; the +spacious apartments, of which the outside gives no warning,--these +impart a quiet dignity, a pleasant refinement, to the colonial houses +which no distance of time or space can impair. There is a house at +Kittery of which the planks were cut out there in the forest, were sent +to England to be carved and shaped, and were then returned to their +native woodland to be fashioned into a house. Thus it belongs to two +worlds, and thus it is emblematic of the New Englanders who dwell about +it, and who, owing their allegiance to a new country, yet retain the +impress of a character which was their ancestors' almost three centuries +ago. + + + + +THE YELLOW PRESS. + +If all countries may boast the Press which they deserve, America's +desert is small indeed. No civilised country in the world has been +content with newspapers so grossly contemptible as those which are read +from New York to the Pacific Coast. The journals known as Yellow would +be a disgrace to dusky Timbuctoo, and it is difficult to understand +the state of mind which can tolerate them. Divorced completely from the +world of truth and intelligence, they present nothing which an educated +man would desire to read. They are said to be excluded from clubs and +from respectable houses. But even if this prohibition be a fact, their +proprietors need feel no regret. We are informed by the Yellowest of +Editors that his burning words are read every day by five million men +and women. + +What, then, is the aspect and character of these Yellow Journals? +As they are happily strange on our side the ocean, they need some +description. They are ill-printed, over-illustrated sheets, whose end +and aim are to inflame a jaded or insensitive palate. They seem to +address the blind eye and the sluggish mind of the halfwitted. The +wholly unimportant information which they desire to impart is not +conveyed in type of the ordinary shape and size. The "scare" headlines +are set forth in letters three inches in height. It is as though the +editors of these sheets are determined to exhaust your attention. They +are not content to tell you that this or that inapposite event has taken +place. They pant, they shriek, they yell. Their method represents the +beating of a thousand big drums, the blare of unnumbered trumpets, the +shouted blasphemies of a million raucous throats. And if, with all this +noise dinning in your ear, you are persuaded to read a Yellow sheet, +which is commonly pink in colour, you are grievously disappointed. The +thing is not even sensational. Its "scare" headlines do but arouse a +curiosity which the "brightest and brainiest" reporter in the United +States is not able to satisfy. + +Of what happens in the great world you will find not a trace in the +Yellow Journals. They betray no interest in politics, in literature, +or in the fine arts. There is nothing of grave importance which can be +converted into a "good story." That a great man should perform a great +task is immaterial. Noble deeds make no scandal, and are therefore not +worth reporting. But if you can discover that the great man has a hidden +vice, or an eccentric taste in boots or hats, there is "copy" ready to +your hand. All things and all men must be reduced to a dead level of +imbecility. The Yellow Press is not obscene--it has not the courage for +that. Its proud boast is that it never prints a line that a father might +not read to his daughter. It is merely personal and impertinent. No +one's life is secure from its spies. No privacy is sacred. Mr Stead's +famous ideal of an ear at every keyhole is magnificently realised in +America. A hundred reporters are ready, at a moment's notice, to invade +houses, to uncover secrets, to molest honest citizens with indiscreet +questions. And if their victims are unwilling to respond, they pay for +it with public insult and malicious invention. Those who will not bow to +the common tyrant of the Press cannot complain if words are ascribed +to them which they never uttered, if they are held guilty of deeds from +which they would shrink in horror. Law and custom are alike powerless +to fight this tyranny, which is the most ingenious and irksome form of +blackmail yet invented. + +The perfect newspaper, if such were possible, would present to its +readers a succinct history of each day as it passes. It would weigh with +a scrupulous hand the relative importance of events. It would give to +each department of human activity no more than its just space. It would +reduce scandal within the narrow limits which ought to confine it. Under +its wise auspices murder, burglary, and suicide would be deposed from +the eminence upon which an idle curiosity has placed them. Those strange +beings known as public men would be famous not for what their wives wear +at somebody else's "At Home," but for their own virtues and attainments. +The foolish actors and actresses, who now believe themselves the masters +of the world, would slink away into _entrefilets_ on a back page. The +perfect newspaper, in brief, would resemble a Palace of Truth, in +which deceit was impossible and vanity ridiculous. It would crush the +hankerers after false reputations, it would hurl the foolish from the +mighty seats which they try to fill, and it would present an invaluable +record to future generations. + +What picture of its world does the Yellow Press present? A picture of +colossal folly and unpardonable indiscretion. If there be a museum which +preserves these screaming sheets, this is the sort of stuff which in +two thousand years will puzzle the scholars: "Mrs Jones won't admit +Wedding," "Millionaires Bet on a Snake Fight," "Chicago Church Girl +Accuses Millionaire," "Athletics make John D. forget his Money." These +are a few pearls hastily strung together, and they show what jewels of +intelligence are most highly prized by the Greatest Democracy on earth. +Now and again the editor takes his readers into his confidence and asks +them to interfere in the affairs of persons whom they will never know. +Here, for instance, is a characteristic problem set by an editor whose +knowledge of his public exceeds his respect for the decencies of life: +"What Mrs Washington ought to do. Her husband Wall Street Broker. Got +tired of Her and Deserted. But Mrs Washington, who still loves him +dearly, Is determined to win him back. And here is the Advice of the +Readers of this Journal." Is it not monstrous--this interference with +the privacy of common citizens? And yet this specimen has an air of +dignity compared with the grosser exploits of the hired eavesdropper. +Not long since there appeared in a Sunday paper a full list, with +portraits and biographies, of all the ladies in New York who are +habitual drunkards. From which it is clear that the law of libel has +sunk into oblivion, and that the cowhide is no longer a useful weapon. + +The disastrous effect upon the people of such a Press as I have +described is obvious. It excites the nerves of the feeble, it presents a +hideously false standard of life, it suggests that nobody is secure from +the omnipotent eavesdropper, and it preaches day after day at the top +of its husky voice the gospel of snobbishness. But it is not merely the +public manners which it degrades; it does its best to hamper the proper +administration of the law. In America trial by journalism has long +supplemented, and goes far to supplant, trial by jury. If a murder be +committed its detection is not left to the officers of the police. A +thousand reporters, cunning as monkeys, active as sleuth-hounds, are on +the track. Whether it is the criminal that they pursue or an innocent +man is indifferent to them. Heedless of injustice, they go in search of +"copy." They interrogate the friends of the victim, and they uncover +the secrets of all the friends and relatives he may have possessed. They +care not how they prejudice the public mind, or what wrong they do to +innocent men. If they make a fair trial impossible, it matters not. They +have given their tired readers a new sensation; they have stimulated +gossip in a thousand tenement houses; justice may fall in ruins so +long as they sell another edition. And nobody protests against their +unbridled licence, not even when they have made it an affair of the +utmost difficulty and many weeks to empanel an unprejudiced jury. + +The greatest opportunity of the Yellow Press came when a Mr H. K. Thaw +murdered an accomplished architect. The day after the murder the trial +began in the newspapers, and it was "run as a serial" for months. The +lives of the murderer and his victim were uncovered with the utmost +effrontery. The character of the dead man was painted in the blackest +colours by cowards, who knew that they were beyond the reach of +vengeance. The murderer's friends and kinsmen were compelled to pay +their tribute to the demon of publicity. The people was presented +with plans of the cell in which the man Thaw was imprisoned, while +photographs of his wife and his mother were printed day after day that +a silly mob might note the effect of anguish on the human countenance. +And, not content with thus adorning the tale, the journals were eloquent +in pointing the moral. Sentimental spinsters were invited to warn the +lady typewriters of America that death and ruin inevitably overtake the +wrongdoer. Stern-eyed clergymen thought well to anticipate justice in +sermons addressed to erring youth. Finally, _a plebiscite_ decided, by +2 to 1, that Thaw should immediately be set free. And when you remember +the arrogant tyranny of the Yellow Journals, you are surprised that at +the mere sound of the people's voice the prison doors did not instantly +fly open. + +We have been told, as though it were no more than a simple truth, that +the Yellow Press--the journals owned by Mr Hearst--not merely made the +Spanish-American War, but procured the assassination of Mr M'Kinley. The +statement seems incredible, because it is difficult to believe that such +stuff as this should have any influence either for good or evil. The +idle gossip and flagrant scandal which are its daily food do not appear +to be efficient leaders of opinion. But it is the Editorial columns +which do the work of conviction, and they assume an air of gravity +which may easily deceive the unwary. And their gravity is the natural +accompaniment of scandal. There is but a slender difference between +barbarity and senti-mentalism. The same temper which delights in reading +of murder and sudden death weeps with anguish at the mere hint of +oppression. No cheek is so easily bedewed by the unnecessary tear as +the cheek of the ruffian--and those who compose the "editorials" for Mr +Hearst's papers have cynically realised this truth. They rant and they +cant and they argue, as though nothing but noble thoughts were permitted +to lodge within the poor brains of their readers. Their favourite gospel +is the gospel of Socialism. They tell the workers that the world is +their inalienable inheritance, that skill and capital are the snares of +the evil one, and that nothing is worth a reward save manual toil. They +pretend for a moment to look with a kindly eye upon the Trusts, because, +when all enterprises and industries are collected into a small compass, +the people will have less trouble in laying hands upon them. In brief, +they teach the supreme duty of plunder with all the _staccato_ eloquence +at their command. For the man whose thrift and energy have helped him +to success they have nothing but contempt. They cannot think of the +criminal without bursting into tears. And, while they lay upon the rich +man the guilty burden of his wealth, they charge the community with +the full responsibility for the convict's misfortune. Such doctrines, +cunningly taught, and read day after day by the degenerate and +unrestrained, can only have one effect, and that effect, no doubt, the +"editorials" of the Yellow Press will some day succeed in producing. + +The result is, of course, revolution, and revolution is being carefully +and insidiously prepared after the common fashion. Not a word is left +unsaid that can flatter the criminal or encourage the thriftless. Those +who are too idle to work but not too idle to read the Sunday papers are +told that it will be the fault of their own inaction, not of the Yellow +Press, if they do not some day lay violent hands upon the country's +wealth. And when they are tired of politics the Yellow Editors turn to +popular philosophy or cheap theology for the solace of their public. To +men and women excited by the details of the last murder they discourse +of the existence of God in short, crisp sentences,--and I know not which +is worse, the triviality of the discourse or its inappositeness. They +preface one of their most impassioned exhortations with the words: "If +you read this, you will probably think you have wasted time." Though +this might with propriety stand for the motto of all the columns of all +Mr Hearst's journals, here it is clearly used in the same hope which +inspires the sandwichman to carry on his front the classic legend: +"Please do not look on my back." But what is dearest to the souls of +these editors is a mean commonplace. One leader, which surely had a +triumphant success, is headed, "What the Bar-tender Sees." And the +exordium is worthy so profound a speculation. "Did you ever stop to +think," murmurs the Yellow philosopher, "of all the strange beings that +pass before him?" There's profundity for you! There's invention! Is it +wonderful that five million men and women read these golden words, or +others of a like currency, every day? + +And politics, theology, and philosophy are all served up in the same +thick sauce of sentiment. The "baby" seems to play a great part in the +Yellow morality. One day you are told, "A baby can educate a man"; on +another you read, "Last week's baby will surely talk some day," and you +are amazed, as at a brilliant discovery. And you cannot but ask: To whom +are these exhortations addressed? To children or to idiots? The grown +men and women of the United States, can hardly regard such poor twaddle +as this with a serious eye. And what of the writers? How can they +reconcile their lofty tone, which truly is above suspicion, with the +shameful sensationalism of their news-columns? They know not the meaning +of sincerity. If they really believed that "a baby can educate a man," +they would suppress their reporters. In short, they are either blind +or cynical. From these alternatives there is no escape, and for their +sakes, as well as for America's, I hope they write with their tongue in +their cheeks. + +The style of the Yellow Journals is appropriate to their matter. The +headlines live on and by the historic present; the text is as bald as +a paper of statistics. It is the big type that does the execution. The +"story" itself, to use the slang of the newspaper, is seldom either +humorous or picturesque. Bare facts and vulgar incidents are enough for +the public, which cares as little for wit as for sane writing. One fact +only can explain the imbecility of the Yellow Press: it is written for +immigrants, who have but an imperfect knowledge of English, who prefer +to see their news rather than to read it, and who, if they must read, +can best understand words of one syllable and sentences of no more than +five words. + +For good or evil, America has the sole claim to the invention of +the Yellow Press. It came, fully armed, from the head of its first +proprietor, It owes nothing to Europe, nothing to the traditions of +its own country. It grew out of nothing, and, let us hope, it will soon +disappear into nothingness. The real Press of America was rather red +than yellow. It had an energy and a character which still exist in some +more reputable sheets, and which are the direct antithesis of Yellow +sensationalism. The horsewhip and revolver were as necessary to its +conduct as the pen and inkpot. If the editors of an older and wiser time +insulted their enemies, they were ready to defend themselves, like men. +They did not eavesdrop and betray. They would have scorned to reveal the +secrets of private citizens, even though they did not refrain their hand +from their rivals. Yet, with all their brutality, they were brave and +honourable, and you cannot justly measure the degradation of the Yellow +Press unless you cast your mind a little further back and contemplate +the achievement of another generation. + +The tradition of journalism came to America from England. 'The Sun,' +'The Tribune,' and 'The Post,' as wise and trustworthy papers as may be +found on the surface of the globe, are still conscious of their origin, +though they possess added virtues of their own. 'The New York Herald,' +as conducted by James Gordon Bennett the First, modelled its scurrilous +energy upon the Press of our eighteenth century. The influence of Junius +and the pamphleteers was discernible in its columns, and many of +its articles might have been signed by Wilkes himself. But there was +something in 'The Herald' which you would seek in vain in Perry's +'Morning Chronicle,' say, or 'The North Briton,' and that was the +free-and-easy style of the backwoods. Gordon Bennett grasped as well +as any one the value of news. He boarded vessels far out at sea that he +might forestall his rivals. In some respects he was as "yellow" as his +successor, whose great exploit of employing a man convicted of murder +to report the trial of a murderer is not likely to be forgotten. On the +other hand, he set before New York the history of Europe and of European +thought with appreciation and exactitude. He knew the theatre of England +and France more intimately than most of his contemporaries, and he did a +great deal to encourage the art of acting in his own country. Above all +things he was a fighter, both with pen and fist. He had something of +the spirit which in-spired the old mining-camp. "We never saw the man we +feared," he once said, "nor the woman we had not some liking for." That +healthy, if primitive, sentiment breathes in all his works. And his +magnanimity was equal to his courage. "I have no objection to forgive +enemies," he wrote, "particularly after I have trampled them under my +feet." This principle guided his life and his journal, and, while it +gave a superb dash of energy to his style, it put a wholesome fear into +the hearts and heads of his antagonists. + +One antagonist there was who knew neither fear nor forgetfulness, and he +attacked Bennett again and again. Bennett returned his blows, and then +made most admirable "copy" of the assault. The last encounter between +the two is so plainly characteristic of Bennett's style that I quote his +description in his own words. "As I was leisurely pursuing my business +yesterday in Wall Street," wrote Bennett, "collecting the information +which is daily disseminated in 'The Herald,' James Watson Webb came up +to me, on the northern side of the street--said something which I could +not hear distinctly, then pushed me down the stone steps leading to one +of the brokers' offices, and commenced fighting with a species of +brutal and demoniac desperation characteristic of a fury. My damage is a +scratch, about three-quarters of an inch in length, on the third finger +of the left hand, which I received from the iron railing I was forced +against, and three buttons torn from my vest, which my tailor will +reinstate for six cents. His loss is a rent from top to bottom of a very +beautiful black coat, which cost the ruffian $40, and a blow in the face +which may have knocked down his throat some of his infernal teeth for +all I know. Balance in my favour $39.94. As to intimidating me, or +changing my course, the thing cannot be done. Neither Webb nor any +other man shall, or can, intimidate me.... I may be attacked, I may be +assailed, I may be killed, I may be murdered, but I will never succumb." + +There speaks the true Gordon Bennett, and his voice, though it may be +the voice of a ruffian, is also the voice of a man who is certainly +courageous and is not without humour. It is not from such a tradition as +that, that the Yellow Press emerged. It does not want much pluck to hang +about and sneak secrets. It is the pure negation of humour to preach +Socialism in the name of the criminal and degenerate. To judge America +by this product would be monstrously unfair, but it corresponds perforce +to some baser quality in the cosmopolitans of the United States, and it +cannot be overlooked. As it stands, it is the heaviest indictment of the +popular taste that can be made. There is no vice so mean as impertinent +curiosity, and it is upon this curiosity that the Yellow Press meanly +lives and meanly thrives. + +What is the remedy? There is none, unless time brings with it a natural +reaction. It is as desperate a task to touch the Press as to change the +Constitution. The odds against reform are too great. A law to check +the exuberance of newspapers would never survive the attacks of the +newspapers themselves. + +Nor is it only in America that reform is necessary. The Press of Europe, +also, has strayed so far from its origins as to be a danger to the +State. In their inception the newspapers were given freedom, that they +might expose and check the corruption and dishonesty of politicians. It +was thought that publicity was the best cure for intrigue. For a while +the liberty of the Press seemed justified. It is justified no longer. +The licence which it assumes has led to far worse evils than those +which it was designed to prevent. In other words, the slave has become +a tyrant, and where is the statesman who shall rid us of this tyranny? +Failure alone can kill what lives only upon popular success, and it +is the old-fashioned, self-respecting journals which are facing ruin. +Prosperity is with the large circulations, and a large circulation is no +test of merit. Success is made neither by honesty nor wisdom. The people +will buy what flatters its vanity or appeals to its folly. And the +Yellow Press will flourish, with its headlines and its vulgarity, until +the mixed population of America has sufficiently mastered the art of +life and the English tongue to demand something better wherewith to +solace its leisure than scandal and imbecility. + + + + +LIBERTY AND PATRIOTISM. + +Guarding the entrance to New York there stands, lofty and austere, the +statue of Liberty. It is this statue which immigrants, on their way to +Ellis Island, are wont to apostrophise. To contemplate it is, we are +told, to know the true meaning of life, to taste for the first time +the sweets of an untrammelled freedom. No sooner does M. Bartholdi's +beneficent matron smile upon you, than you cast off the chains of +an ancient slavery. You forget in a moment the years which you have +misspent under the intolerable burden of a monarch. Be you Pole or Russ, +Briton or Ruthenian, you rejoice at the mere sight of this marvel, in a +new hope, in a boundless ambition. Unconscious of what awaits you, you +surrender yourself so eagerly to the sway of sentiment that you are +unable to observe the perfections of your idol. You see only its vast +size. You are content to believe the official statement that 305 feet +separate the tip of the lady's torch from low water. You know that +you gaze on the largest statue upon earth. And surely it should be the +largest, for it symbolises a greater mass of Liberty than ever before +was gathered together upon one continent. + +For Liberty is a thing which no one in America can escape. The old +inhabitant smiles with satisfaction as he murmurs the familiar word. At +every turn it is clubbed into the unsuspecting visitor. If an aspirant +to the citizenship of the Republic declined to be free, he would +doubtless be thrown into a dungeon, fettered and manacled, until he +consented to accept the precious boon. You cannot pick up a newspaper +without being reminded that Liberty is the exclusive possession of +the United States. The word, if not the quality, is the commonplace +of American history. It looks out upon you--the word again, not the +quality--from every hoarding. It is uttered in every discourse, and +though it irks you to listen to the boasting of "Liberty", as it irks you +when a man vaunts his honour, you cannot but inquire what is this fetish +which distinguishes America from the rest of the habitable globe, and +what does it achieve for those who worship it. + +In what, then, does the Liberty of America consist? Is it in freedom +of opportunity? A career is open to all the talents everywhere. +The superstitions of Europe, the old-fashioned titles of effete +aristocracies, are walls more easily surmounted than the golden +barricades of omnipotent corporations. Does it consist in political +freedom? If we are to believe in the pedantry that Liberty is the child +of the ballot-box, then America has no monopoly of its blessings. The +privilege of voting is almost universal, and the freedom which this +poor privilege confers is within the reach of Englishman, German, or +Frenchman. Indeed, it is America which sets the worst stumbling-block in +the voter's path. The citizen, however high his aspiration after Liberty +may be, wages a vain warfare against the cunning of the machine. Where +repeaters and fraudulent ballots flourish, it is idle to boast the +blessings of the suffrage. Such institutions as Tammany are essentially +practical, but they do not help the sacred cause commemorated in M. +Bartholdi's statue; and if we would discover the Liberty of America, we +must surely look outside the ring of boodlers and politicians who have +held the franchise up to ridicule. Is, then, the boasted Liberty a +liberty of life? One comes and goes with ease as great in England as +in America. There are even certain restrictions imposed in the home of +Freedom, of which we know nothing on this side the Atlantic, where we +fear the curiosity of the Press as little as we dread the exactions of +hungry monopolies. Of many examples, two will suffice to illustrate +the hardships of a democratic tyranny. Not long since the most famous +actress of our generation was prevented by a trust of all-powerful +managers from playing in the theatres of America, and was compelled to +take refuge in booths and tents. Being a lady of courage and resource, +she filled her new _role_ with perfect success, and completely outwitted +her envious rivals. The victory was snatched, by the actress's own +energy, from the very jaws of Liberty. Far more unfortunate was the fate +of M. Gorki, who visited America to preach the gospel of Freedom, as he +thought, in willing ears. With the utmost propriety he did all that was +expected of him. He apostrophised the statue in a voice tremulous with +emotion. He addressed the great Continent, as it loves to be addressed. +"America! America!" he exclaimed, "how I have longed for this day, when +my foot should tread the soil where despotism cannot live!" Alas for his +lost enthusiasm! + +A despot, grim and pitiless, was waiting for him round the corner. In +other words, the proprietor of his hotel discovered that Mme. Gorki +had no right to that name, and amid the cheers of the guests he and his +companion were driven shamefully into the street. Were it not for +the wanton inconvenience inflicted upon M. Gorki, the comedy of the +situation would be priceless. The Friends of Russian Freedom, piously +enamoured of assassination, and listening intently for the exquisite +reverberation of the deadly bomb, sternly demand of the Apostle his +marriage-lines. The Apostle of Revolution, unable to satisfy the demand, +is solemnly excommunicated, as if he had apostrophised no statue, as if +he had felt no expansion of his lungs, no tingling of his blood, when he +first breathed the air of Freedom. O Liberty! Liberty! many follies +have been committed in thy name! And now thy voice is hushed in +inextinguishable laughter! + +The truth is, American Liberty is the mere creature of rhetoric. It is a +survival from the time when the natural rights of man inspired a simple +faith, when eager citizens declared that kings were the eternal enemies +of Freedom. Its only begetter was Thomas Jefferson, and its gospel is +preached in the famous Declaration of Independence. The dogmatism and +pedantry upon which it is based are easily confuted. Something else +than a form of government is necessary to ensure political and personal +liberty. Otherwise the Black Republic would be a model to England. But +Jefferson, not being a philosopher, and knowing not the rudiments of +history, was unable to look beyond the few moral maxims which he had +committed to memory. He was sure that the worst republic was better +than the noblest tyranny the world had ever seen. He appealed not to +experience but to sentiment, and he travelled up and down Europe with +his eyes closed and his mind responsive only to the echoes of a vain +theory. "If all the evils which can arise among us," said he, "from the +republican form of our government, from this day to the Day of +Judgment, could be put into a scale against what France suffers from +its monarchical form in a week, or England in a month, the latter +would preponderate." Thus he said, in sublime ignorance of the past, in +perfect misunderstanding of the future. And his empty words echo to-day +in the wigwams of Tammany. + +All forms of government have their strength and their weakness. They are +not equally suitable to all races and to all circumstances. It was +this obvious truth that Jefferson tore to shreds before the eyes of his +compatriots. He persuaded them to accept his vague generalities as +a sober statement of philosophic truth, and he aroused a hatred of +kingship in America which was comic in expression and disastrous in +result. It was due to his influence that plain citizens hymned the +glories of "Guillotina, the Tenth Muse," and fell down in worship before +a Phrygian cap. It was due to his influence that in 1793 the death +of Louis XVI. was celebrated throughout the American continent with +grotesque symbolism and farcical solemnity. A single instance is enough +to prove the malign effect of Jefferson's teaching. At Philadelphia the +head of a pig was severed from its body, and saluted as an emblem of the +murdered king. + +"Each one," says the historian, "placing the cap of liberty upon his +head, pronounced the word 'tyrant'! and proceeded to mangle with his +knife the head of the luckless creature doomed to be served for so +unworthy a company." And the voice of Jefferson still speaks in the +land. Obedient to his dictate, Americans still take a sentimental +view of Liberty. For them Liberty is still an emotion to feel, not a +privilege to enjoy. They are willing to believe that a monarch means +slavery. America is the greatest republic on earth, they argue, and +therefore it is the chosen and solitary home of Freedom. + +So, ignoring the peculiar enslavements of democracy, forgetting the +temptations to which the noblest republic is exposed, they proclaim a +monopoly of the sovereign virtue, and cast a cold eye of disdain upon +the tradition of older countries. The author of 'Triumphant Democracy,' +for instance, asserts that he "was denied political equality by his +native land." We do not know for what offence he was thus heavily +punished, and it is consoling to reflect that the beloved Republic has +made him "the peer of any man." It has not made any other man his peer. +He is separated far more widely by his wealth from the workmen, whom he +patronises, than the meanest day-labourer in England from the dukes to +whom he is supposed to bend the knee; and if Mr Carnegie's be the +fine flower of American Liberty, we need hardly regret that ours is of +another kind. + +In Jefferson's despite, men are not made free and equal by the frequent +repetition of catchwords, and it is by a fine irony that America, which +prides itself upon a modern spirit, should still be swayed by a foolish +superstition, more than a century old, that the cant of Liberty and +Equality, uttered by a slave-owner in 1776, should still warp its +intelligence. "I don't know what liberty means," said Lord Byron, "never +having seen it;" and it was in candour rather than in experience that +Byron differed from his fellows. Nor has any one else seen what eluded +Byron. A perfectly free man must be either uncivilised or decivilised--a +savage stronger than his fellows or an undetected anarch armed with a +bomb, A free society is a plain contradiction, for a society must be +controlled by law, and law is an instant curtailment of Liberty. And, +if you would pursue this chimera, it is not in a democracy that you are +likely to surprise it. Liberty is a prize which will always escape you +in a mob. The supremacy of the people means the absolute rule of the +majority, in deference to which the mere citizen must lay aside all hope +of independence. In life, as in politics, a democratic minority has no +rights. It cannot set its own pace; it cannot choose its own route; +it must follow the will of others, not its own desire; and it is small +comfort to the slave, whose chains gall him, that the slave-driver bears +the name of a free man. + +Liberty, in brief, is a private, not a public, virtue. It has naught +to do with extended franchises or forms of government. The free man +may thrive as easily under a tyranny as in a republic. Is it not true +Liberty to live in accord with one's temperament or talent? And as the +best laws cannot help this enterprise, so the worst cannot hinder it. +You will discover Liberty in Russia as in America, in England as +in France,--everywhere, indeed, where men refuse to accept the +superstitions and doctrines of the mob. But the Americans are not +content to possess the Liberty which satisfies the rest of the world. +With characteristic optimism they boast the possession of a rare and +curious quality. In Europe we strive after Freedom in all humility +of spirit, as after a happy state of mind. In America they advertise +it--like a patent medicine. + +America's view of Patriotism is distinguished by the same ingenious +exaggeration as her view of Liberty. She has as little doubt of her +Grandeur as of her Freedom. She is, in brief, "God's own country," +and in her esteem Columbus was no mere earthly explorer; he was +the authentic discoverer of the Promised Land. Neither argument nor +experience will ever shake the American's confidence in his noble +destiny. On all other questions uncertainty is possible. It is not +possible to discuss America's supremacy. In arms as in arts, the United +States are unrivalled. They alone enjoy the blessings of civilisation. +They alone have been permitted to combine material with moral progress. +They alone have solved the intricate problems of life and politics. They +have the biggest houses, the best government, and the purest law +that the world has ever known. Their universities surpass Oxford and +Cambridge, Paris and Leipzig, in learning, as their Churches surpass the +Churches of the old world in the proper understanding of theology. In +brief, to use their own phrase, America is "It," the sole home of the +good and great. + +Patriotism such as this, quick in enthusiasm, simple in faith, may +prove, if properly handled, a national asset of immeasurable value. And +in public the Americans admit no doubt. Though they do not hesitate to +condemn the boodlers who prey upon their cities, though they deplore the +corrupt practices of their elections, they count all these abuses as +but spots upon a brilliant sun. A knowledge of his country's political +dishonesty does not depress the true patriot. He is content to think +that his ideals are as lofty as their realisation is remote, and that +the triumph of graft is as nothing compared with a noble sentiment. The +result is that the Americans refuse to weaken their national prestige by +the advertised cannibalism which is so popular in England. They are for +their country, right or wrong. They do not understand the anti-patriot +argument, which was born of the false philosophy of the eighteenth +century, and which has left so evil a mark upon our political life. +To them the phenomenon which we call Pro-Boerism is not easily +intelligible. They take an open pride in their country and their flag, +and it seems certain that, when they stand in the presence of an enemy, +they will not weaken their national cause by dissension. + +This exultant Patriotism is the more remarkable when we reflect upon +what it is based. The love of country, as understood in Europe, depends +upon identity of race, upon community of history and tradition. It +should not be difficult for those whose fathers have lived under the +same sky, and breathed the same air, to sacrifice their prosperity or +their lives to the profit of the State. In making such a sacrifice they +are but repaying the debt of nurture. To the vast majority of Americans +this sentiment, grafted on the past, can make no appeal. The only link +which binds them to America is their sudden arrival on alien soil. They +are akin to the Anglo-Saxons, who first peopled the continent, neither +in blood nor in sympathy. They carry with them their national habits and +their national tastes. They remain Irish, or German, or Italian, with a +difference, though they bear the burden of another State, and assume the +privileges of another citizenship. But there is no mistake about their +Patriotism. Perhaps those shout loudest who see the Star-spangled Banner +unfurled for the first time, and we are confronted in America with the +outspoken expression of a sentiment which cannot be paralleled elsewhere +on the face of the globe. + +They tread the same ground, these vast hordes of patriots, they obey the +same laws,--that is all. Are they, then, moved by a spirit of gratitude, +or do they feel the same loyalty which animates a hastily gathered +football team, which plays not for its honour but for the profit of its +manager? Who shall say? One thing only is certain: the Patriotism of the +cosmopolites, if it be doubtful in origin, is by no means doubtful in +expression. On every Fourth of July the Americans are free to display +the love of their Country, and they use this freedom without restraint. +From the Atlantic to the Pacific Coast, from Vermont to Mexico, the +Eagle screams aloud. She screams from early morn to dewy eve. And there +is nothing to silence her screaming save the explosion of innumerable +crackers, the firing of countless pistols. + +For this day the youth of America is given full licence to shoot his +inoffensive neighbours, and, if he will, to commit the happy despatch +upon him-self. The next morning the newspapers chronicle the injuries +which have been inflicted on and by the boys of New York, for the most +part distinguished by foreign names, with the cold accuracy bred of long +habit. And while the boys prove their patriotism by the explosion of +crackers, their fathers, with equal enthusiasm, devote themselves to +the waving of flags. They hold flags in their hands, they carry them in +their buttonholes, they stick them in their hats, they wear them behind +their ears. Wherever your eye is cast, there are flags to dazzle it, +flags large and flags small, an unbroken orgie of stars and stripes. +It is, in fact, the Guy Fawkes Day of America. And who is the Guy? None +other than George III. of blessed memory. For the Fourth of July has +its duties as well as its pleasures, and the chief of its duties is the +public reading of the Declaration of Independence. In every town +and hamlet Jefferson's burning words are proclaimed in the ears of +enthusiastic citizens. It is pointed out to a motley crowd of newly +arrived immigrants that George, our king, of whom they had not heard +yesterday, was unfit to be the ruler of a free people. And lest the +inestimable benefit of Jefferson's eloquence should be lost to one +single suddenly imported American, his declaration is translated into +Yiddish for the benefit of those to whom English is still an unknown +tongue. In a voice trembling with emotion, the orator assures the +starving ill-clad Pole and the emaciated Bohemian that all men are +free and equal; and so fine is the air of the Great Republic that this +proposition, which refutes itself, is firmly believed for the moment by +the penniless and hungry. And when the sun sets, and darkness enwraps +the happy land, fireworks put a proper finish upon the national joy, and +the favourite set-piece represents, as it should, a noble-hearted Yankee +boy putting to flight a dozen stout red-jackets of King George. + +Humour might suggest that the expression of Patriotism is a trifle +overdone. Perhaps also a truce might be made with King George, who, +if he be permitted to look from the shades upon a country which his +Ministers lost, must surely smile at this immortality of resentment. But +to the stranger, who witnesses this amazing carnival for the first time, +two reflections occur. In the first place, the stranger cannot but +be struck by the perfect adaptation of Jefferson's rodomontade to an +expected purpose. Although that eminent Virginian, at the highest point +of his exaltation, did not look forward to the inrush of foreigners +which is overwhelming his country, there is a peculiar quality in his +words, even when translated into Yiddish, which inspires an inexplicable +enthusiasm. In the second place, the stranger is astounded at the +ingenuity which inspires a crowd, separated by wide differences of race, +speech, and education, with a sudden sympathy for a country which is not +its own. + +And when the last crackers are exploded, and the last flag is waved, +what is left? An unreasoning conviction, cherished, as I have said, by a +foreign population, that America is the greatest country on earth. What +the conviction lacks in sincerity it gains in warmth of expression, +and if America be ever confronted by an enemy, the celebrations of the +Fourth of July will be found not to have been held in vain. Where there +is no just bond of union, a bond must be invented, and Patriotism is the +most notable invention of the great Republic. To have knit up all the +nations of the earth in a common superstition is no mean achievement, +and it is impossible to withhold a fervent admiration from the rhetoric +which has thus attained what seemed, before its hour, the unattainable. + +But in this cosmopolitan orgie of political excitement the true-born +American plays but a small part. He has put the drama on the stage, +and is content to watch the result. If a leader be needed in a time of +stress, the man of Anglo-Saxon blood will be ready to serve the country, +which belongs more intimately to him than to those who sing its praises +with a noisy clatter. Meanwhile he lets the politicians do their worst, +and watches the game with a careless indifference. Even if he loves +his country, his love does not persuade him to self-sacrifice. You +may measure his patriotism by the fact that, if he does venture upon a +political career, his friends know not which they should do--praise him +or condole with him. "Isn't it good of So-and-so?" we constantly hear; +"he has gone into politics." And with the approval is mixed a kindly, +if contemptuous, sorrow. The truth is, that the young American of gentle +birth and leisured ease hates to soil his hands with public affairs. +His ambition does not drive him, as it drives his English cousin, into +Parliament. He prefers to pursue culture in the capitals of Europe, +or to urge an automobile at a furious pace across the sands. And the +inaction of the real American is America's heaviest misfortune. So long +as politics are left to the amateurs of graft, so long will Freedom be +a fiction and Patriotism a piece of mere lip-service. Wealth is not +wanting; brains are not wanting; energy is not wanting. Nothing is +wanting save the inclination to snatch the control of the country +from the hands of professional politicians. And until this control be +snatched, it is idle to speak of reform. The Constitution of the United +States is, we are told, a perfect Constitution. Its perfection is +immaterial so long as Tammany on the one hand and the Trusts on the +other conspire to keep it of no effect--a mere paper thing in a museum. +The one thing needful is for men with clean hands and wise heads to +govern their States, to stand for Congress, to enter the Senate, to +defend the municipalities against corruption. And when this is done, +the Declaration of Independence may safely be forgotten, in the +calm assurance that it is better to spend one day in the service of +patriotism than to fire off a thousand crackers and to dazzle the air +with stars and stripes innumerable. + + + + +THE MILLIONAIRE. + +The millionaire, or the multi-millionaire, if the plainer term be +inadequate to express his lofty condition, is the hero of democratic +America. He has won the allegiance and captured the imagination of the +people. His antics are watched with envy, and described with a faithful +realism of which statesmen are thought unworthy. He is hourly exposed to +the camera; he marches through life attended by a bodyguard of faithful +reporters. The trappings of his magnificent, if vulgar, existence are +familiar to all the readers of the Sunday papers. His silver cars and +marble palaces are the wonder of a continent. If he condescend to play +golf, it is a national event. "The Richest Man on Earth drives from, the +Tee" is a legend of enthralling interest, not because the hero knows how +to drive, but because he is the richest man on earth. Some time since a +thoughtless headline described a poor infant as "The Ten-Million-Dollar +Baby," and thus made his wealth a dangerous incubus before he was out of +the nursery. Everywhere the same tale is told. The dollar has a power +of evoking curiosity which neither valour nor lofty station may boast. +Plainly, then, the millionaire is not made of common day. Liquid gold +flows in his veins. His eyes are made of precious jewels. It is doubtful +whether he can do wrong. If by chance he does, it is almost certain that +he cannot be punished. The mere sight and touch of him have a virtue far +greater than that which kings of old claimed for themselves. He is at +once the en-sample and the test of modern grandeur; and if, like a Roman +emperor, he could be deified, his admiring compatriots would send him to +the skies, and burn perpetual incense before his tomb. + +Though all the millionaires of America are animated by the same +desire,--the collection of dollars,--they regard their inestimable +privileges with very different eyes. Mr Carnegie, for instance, adopts +a sentimental view of money. He falls down in humble worship before the +golden calf of his own making. He has pompously formulated a gospel +of wealth. He piously believes that the millionaire is the greatest of +God's creatures, the eloquent preacher of a new evangel. If we are to +believe him, there is a sacred virtue in the ceaseless accumulation of +riches. It is the first article in his creed, that the millionaire who +stands still is going back, from which it follows that to fall behind in +the idle conflict is a cardinal sin. A simple man might think that when +a manufacturer had made sufficient for the wants of himself and his +family for all time he might, without a criminal intent, relax his +efforts. The simple man does not understand the cult. A millionaire, +oppressed beneath a mountain of gold, would deem it a dishonour to +himself and his colleagues if he lost a chance of adding to the weight +and substance of the mountain. + +Mr Carnegie, then, is inspired not by the romance but by the sentiment +of gold. He cannot speak of the enormous benefits conferred upon the +human race by the vast inequalities of wealth and poverty without a +tear. "Millionaires," he says, "can only grow amid general prosperity." +In other words, if there be not millions in the country the millionaire +cannot put his hand upon them. That is obvious enough. His second text +cannot be so easily accepted. "Their wealth is not made," he asserts +dogmatically, "at the expense of their countrymen." At whose expense +then is it made? Does Mr Carnegie vouch for the probity of all his +colleagues? Does he cover with the aegis of his gospel the magnates +of the Standard Oil Company, and that happy firm which, with no other +advantage than a service of cars, levies toll upon the fruit-growers of +America? Was the Steel Combine established without inflicting hardships +upon less wealthy rivals? An answer to these simple questions should be +given before Mr Carnegie's second text be inscribed upon the walls of +our churches. It is not enough to say with Mr Carnegie that trusts obey +"the law of aggregation." You need not be a Socialist to withhold your +approval from these dollar-making machines, until you know that they +were not established upon ruin and plunder. Even if the millionaire be +the self-denying saint of modern times, it is still possible to pay too +high a price for his sanctity and sacrifice. + +It is the favourite boast of the sentimental millionaire that he holds +his wealth in trust for humanity,--in other words, that he has been +chosen by an all-wise Providence to be the universal almsgiver of +mankind. The arrogance of this boast is unsurpassable. To be rich is +within the compass of any man gifted or cursed with an acquisitive +temperament. No one may give to another save in humbleness of spirit. +And there is not a millionaire in America who does not think that he is +fit to perform a delicate duty which has eluded the wise of all ages. +In this matter Mr Carnegie is by far the worst offender. He pretends to +take his "mission" very seriously. He does not tell us who confided +the trust of philanthropy to him, but he is very sure that he has been +singled out for special service. It is his modest pleasure to suggest a +comparison with William Pitt. "He lived without ostentation and he died +poor." These are the words which Mr Carnegie quotes with the greatest +relish. How or where Mr Carnegie lives is his own affair; and even if +he die poor, he should remember that he has devoted his life, not to the +service of his country, but to the amassing of millions which he cannot +spend. It is obvious, therefore, that the noble words which Canning +dedicated to the memory of Pitt can have no meaning for him, and he +would be wisely guided if he left the names of patriots out of the +argument. + +Mr Carnegie's choice of an epitaph is easily explained. He is wont to +assert, without warrant, that "a man who dies rich dies disgraced." He +does not tell us how the rich man shall escape disgrace. Not even the +master of millions, great and good as he is reputed to be, knows when +his hour comes. There is a foresight which even money cannot buy. Death +visits the golden palace of the rich and the hovel of the poor +with equal and unexpected foot. The fact that Mr Carnegie is still +distributing libraries with both hands seems to suggest that, had he +been overtaken during the last twenty years, he would not have realised +his ideal. There is but one method by which a rich man may die poor, and +that is by disencumbering himself of his wealth the very day that it is +acquired. And he who is not prepared for this sacrifice does but waste +his breath in celebrating the honour of a pauper's grave. + +As there is no merit in living rich, so there is no virtue in dying +poor. That a millionaire should desert his money-bags at his death is +not a reproach to him if they be honestly filled. He has small chance of +emptying them while he is on the earth. But Mr Carnegie has a reason for +his aphorism. He aspires to be a philosopher as well as a millionaire, +and he has decided that a posthumous bequest is of no value, moral or +material. "Men who leave vast sums," says he, "may fairly be thought +men who would not have left it at all had they been able to take it with +them." On such a question as this the authority of Mr Carnegie is not +absolute. Let the cobbler stick to his last. The millionaire, no doubt, +is more familiar with account-books than with the lessons of history; +and the record of a thousand pious benefactors proves the worth of wise +legacies. Nor, indeed, need we travel beyond our own generation to find +a splendid example of wealth honourably bestowed. The will of Cecil +Rhodes remains a tribute to the generosity and to the imagination of +a great man, and is enough of itself to brush aside the quibbles of Mr +Carnegie. + +The sentiment of "doing good" and of controlling great wealth leads +rapidly to megalomania, and Mr Carnegie cannot conceal the pride of +omniscience. He seems to think that his money-bags give him the right to +express a definite opinion upon all things. He has distributed so many +books, that perhaps he believes himself master of their contents. Though +he has not devoted himself to politics or literature, he is always +prepared to advise those who give themselves to these difficult arts. +He has discovered that Greek and Latin are of no more practical use +than Choctaw--which is perfectly true, if the useless money-bag be our +_summum bonum_. With the indisputable authority of a man who keeps a +large balance at his bank, he once dismissed the wars of the Greeks as +"petty and insignificant skirmishes between savages." Poor Greeks! They +did not pay their bills in dollars or buy their steel at Pittsburg. The +chief article in his political creed is that monarchy is a crime. In his +opinion, it is a degradation to kiss the King's hand. "The first man who +feels as he ought to feel," says Mr Carnegie, "will either smile when +the hand is extended at the suggestion that he could so demean himself, +and give it a good hearty shake, or knock his Royal Highness down." In +the same spirit of sturdy "independence" he urged the United States some +years since to tax the products of Canada, because she "owes allegiance +to a foreign power founded upon monarchical institutions." "I should use +the rod," says the moneybag, "not in anger, but in love; but I should +use it." Fortunately, it is not his to use; and his opinions are only +memorable, since the country which he insults with his words is insulted +also by his gifts. We may make too great a sacrifice in self-esteem, +even for the boon of free libraries. + +And with a hatred of monarchy Mr Carnegie combines a childlike faith in +the political power of money. Though his faith by this should be rudely +shaken, he clings to it as best he may. Time was when he wished to buy +the Philippines, and present them, a free gift, to somebody or other. +Now he thinks that he may purchase the peace of the world for a round +sum, and sees not the absurdity of his offer. Even his poor attempt to +bribe the English-speaking peoples to forget their spelling-books was a +happy failure, and he still cherishes an illusion of omnipotence. At the +opening of his Institute at Pittsburg he was bold enough to declare that +his name would be known to future ages "like the name of Harvard." He +might remember that Harvard gave not of his abundance. He bequeathed for +the use of scholars a scholar's books and a scholar's slender savings, +and he won a gracious immortality. Mr Carnegie, in endowing education, +is endowing that which he has publicly condemned. Desiring to teach the +youth of his country how to become as wealthy as himself, he has poured +contempt upon learning. He has declared that "the college-made" man had +"little chance against the boy who swept the office." He is to be found, +this victim of an intellectual ambition, in the salaried class, from +which the aspiring millionaire is bidden to escape as quickly as +possible by the customary methods of bluff and bounce. Why, then, if Mr +Carnegie thinks so ill of colleges and universities does he inflict his +millions upon them? He has known "few young men intended for business +who were not injured by a collegiate education." And yet he has done his +best to drive all the youth of Scotland within the gates of the despised +universities, and he has forced upon his own Pittsburg the gift of "free +education in art and literature." Is it cynicism, or vain inconsequence? +Cynicism, probably. The man who, having devoted his whole career to +the accumulation of superfluous wealth, yet sings a paean in praise +of poverty, is capable of everything. "Abolish luxury, if you +please,"--thus he rhapsodises,--"but leave us the soil upon which alone +the virtues and all that is precious in human character grow,--poverty, +honest poverty!" Has he shed the virtues, I wonder; or is he a +peculiarly sanctified vessel, which can hold the poison of wealth +without injury? + +Of all millionaires, Mr Carnegie is at once the least picturesque and +the most dangerous. He is the least picturesque, because he harbours in +his heart the middle-class ambition of philanthropy. He would undertake +a task for which he is manifestly unfit, in the spirit of provincial +culture. For the same reason he is the most dangerous. He is not content +to squander his immense wealth in race-horses and champagne. He employs +it to interfere with the lives of others. He confers benefits with a +ready hand which are benefits only when they are acquired by conquest. +Of a very different kind is Mr Thomas W. Lawson. He, too, is a +millionaire. He, too, has about him all the appurtenances of wealth. His +fur-coats are mythical. He once paid 30,000 dollars for a pink. "He owns +a palace in Boston," says his panegyrist, "filled with works of art; +he has a six-hundred acre farm in Cape Cod, with seven miles of fences; +three hundred horses, each one of whom he can call by name; a hundred +and fifty dogs; and a building for training his animals larger than +Madison Square Garden." These eloquent lines will prove to you more +clearly than pages of argument the native heroism of the man. He was +scarce out of his cradle when he began to amass vast sums of money, and +he is now, after many years of adventure, a king upon Wall Street. He +represents the melodrama of wealth. He seems to live in an atmosphere +of mysterious disguises, secret letters, and masked faces. His famous +contest with Mr H. H. Rogers, "the wonderful Rogers, the master among +pirates, whom you have to salute even when he has the point of his +cutlass at the small of your back and you're walking the plank at his +order," was conducted, on Mr Lawson's part, in the spirited style of +the old Adelphi. "Mr Rogers' eyes snapped just once," we are told, on +a famous occasion; but Mr Lawson was not intimidated. "I held myself +together," he says proudly, "with closed hands and clinched teeth." +Indeed, these two warriors have never met without much snapping of eyes +and closing of hands and clinching of teeth. Why they snapped and closed +and clinched is uncertain. To follow their operations is impossible for +an outsider, but Mr Lawson always succeeds in convincing you that on the +pretence of money-making he is attacking some lofty enterprise. He would +persuade you that he is a knight-errant of purity. "Tremendous +issues" are always at stake. The heroes of Wall Street are engaged in +never-ending "battles." They are "fighting" for causes, the splendour of +which is not dimmed in Mr Lawson's lurid prose. They have Americanised +the language of ancient chivalry, until it fits the operations of the +modern market. They talk of honour and of "taking each other's word," +as though they had never stooped to dollars in their lives. But of one +thing you may be sure--they are always "on hand when a new melon is cut +and the juice runs out." + +Like the knights of old, they toil not neither do they spin. They make +nothing, they produce nothing, they invent nothing. They merely gamble +with the savings of others, and find the business infinitely profitable. +Yet they, too, must cultivate the language of sentiment. Though the +world is spared the incubus of their philanthropy, they must pretend, in +phrase at least, that they are doing good, and their satisfaction proves +that nothing so swiftly and tranquilly lulls the conscience to sleep as +the dollar. But, as the actor of melodrama falls far below the finished +tragedian, the heroes of the Street, typified by Mr Lawson, are mere +bunglers compared with the greatest millionaire on earth--John D. +Rockefeller. We would no more give him the poor title of "Mr" than we +would give it to Shakespeare. Even "Rockefeller" seems too formal for +his grandeur. Plain "John D." is best suited to express the admiration +of his worshippers, the general fame that shines like a halo about his +head. He is Plutus in human guise; he is Wealth itself, essential and +concrete. A sublime unselfishness has marked his career. He is a true +artist, who pursues his art for its own sake. Money has given him +nothing. He asks nothing of her. Yet he woos her with the same devotion +which a lover shows to his mistress. Like other great men, Rockefeller +has concentrated all his thoughts, all his energies, upon the single +object of his desire. He has not chattered of things which he does +not understand, like Mr Carnegie. He has resolutely refrained from +Mr Lawson's melodramatic exaggeration. Money has been the god of +his idolatry,--"_Dea Moneta_, Queen Money, to whom he daily offers +sacrifice, which steers his heart, hands, affections--all." + +His silence and his concentration give him a picturesqueness which his +rivals lack. He stands apart from the human race in a chill and solitary +grandeur. He seeks advertisement as little as he hankers after pleasure. +The Sunday-school is his dissipation. A suburban villa is his palace. He +seldom speaks to the world, and when he breaks his habit of reticence it +is to utter an aphorism, perfect in concision and cynicism. "Avoid all +honorary posts that cost time"--this was one of his earliest counsels +to the young. "Pay a profit to nobody" is perhaps his favourite maxim. +"Nothing is too small, for small things grow," is another principle +which he formulated at the outset of his career. "I have ways of making +money that you know nothing of," he once told a colleague, and no one +will doubt the truth of his assertion. It is said that when he was +scarce out of his teens he would murmur, with the hope of almost +realised ambition, "I am bound to be rich, bound to be rich, bound to be +rich." He imposed upon all those who served him the imperative duty of +secrecy. He was unwilling that any one should know the policy of the +Trust. "Congress and the State legislature are after us," he once said. +"You may be subpoenaed. If you know nothing, you can tell nothing. If +you know about the business, you might tell something which would ruin +us." The mere presence of a stranger has always been distasteful to him. +The custom of espionage has made him suspect that others are as watchful +as himself. He has been described erroneously as a master of complicated +villainy. He is, for evil or for good, the most single-minded man +alive. He looks for a profit in all things. Even his devotion to the +Sunday-school is of a piece with the test. "Put something in," says +he, speaking of the work, "and according as you put something in, the +greater will be your dividends of salvation." + +His triumphant capture of the oil trade is a twice-told tale. All the +world knows how he crushed his rivals by excluding their wares from the +rail-roads, which gave him rebates, and then purchased for a song +their depreciated properties. At every point he won the battle. He laid +stealthy hands upon the pipe-lines, designed to thwart his monopoly, as +he had previously laid hands upon the railway lines. He discovered no +new processes, he invented no new methods of transport. But he made +the enterprise of others his own. The small refiner went the way of +the small producer, and the energy of those who carried oil over the +mountains helped to fill Rockefeller's pocket. The man himself spared no +one who stood between him and the realisation of his dream. Friends and +enemies fell down before him. He ruined the widow and orphan with the +same quiet cheerfulness wherewith he defeated the competitors who had +a better chance to fight their own battle. The Government was, and is, +powerless to stay his advance. It has instituted prosecutions. It has +passed laws directed at the Standard Oil Company. And all is of no +avail. Before cross-examining counsel, in the face of the court, +Rockefeller maintains an impenetrable silence. He admits nothing. He +confesses nothing. "We do not talk much," he murmurs sardonically; "we +saw wood." A year ago it was rumoured that he would be arrested when +he returned to America from Europe. He is still at large. The body of a +multi-millionaire is sacred. + +He is master of the world's oil, and of much else beside. Having won the +control of one market, he makes his imperial hand felt in many another. +His boast that "money talks" is abundantly justified. The power of money +in making money is the only secret that the millionaires of America +discover for themselves. The man who makes a vast fortune by the +invention or manufacture of something which the people thinks it wants, +may easily take a pride in the fruit of his originality. The captains +of American industry can seldom boast this cause of satisfaction. It is +theirs to exploit, not to create. The great day in Mr Carnegie's life +was that on which "the mysterious golden visitor" came to him, as a +dividend from another's toil. Mr Rockefeller remembers with the greatest +pleasure the lesson which he learned as a boy, "that he could get as +much interest for $50, loaned at seven per cent, as he could earn by +digging potatoes ten days." The lesson of Shylock is not profound, but +its mastery saves a world of trouble. Combined with a light load of +scruples, it will fill the largest coffers; and it has been sufficient +to carry the millionaires of America to the highest pinnacle of fame. + +In other words, the sole test of their success is not their achievement, +but their money-bags. And when, with cynical egoism, they have collected +their unnumbered dollars, what do they do with them? What pleasures, +what privileges, does their wealth procure? It is their fond delusion +that it brings them power. What power? To make more money and to defy +the laws. In England a wealthy man aspires to found a family, to play +his part upon the stage of politics, to serve his country as best he +may, and to prepare his sons for a like honourable service. The American +millionaire does not share this ambition. Like Mr Rockefeller, he avoids +"honorary posts." If he were foolish enough to accept them, he would +not be loyal to the single desire of adding to his store. Perhaps we may +best express his triumph in terms of champagne and oysters, of marble +halls and hastily gathered collections. But even here the satisfaction +is small. The capacity of the human throat is limited, and collections, +made by another and partially understood, pall more rapidly than +orchid-houses and racing-stables. + +This, then, is the tragedy of the American multi-millionaires. They are +doomed to carry about with them a huge load of gold which they cannot +disperse. They are no wiser than the savages, who hide and hoard their +little heaps of cowrie-shells. They might as well have filled their +treasuries with flint-stones or scraps of iron. They muster their wealth +merely to become its slave. They are rich not because they possess +imagination, but because they lack it. Their bank-books are the index of +their folly. They waste their years in a vain pursuit, which they cannot +resist. They exclude from their lives all that makes life worth living, +that they may acquire innumerable specimens of a precious metal. Gold +is their end, not the gratification it may bring. Mr Rockefeller will go +out of the world as limited in intelligence, as uninstructed in mind, +as he was when he entered it. The lessons of history and literature are +lost upon him. The joys for which wise men strive have never been his. +He is the richest man on earth, and his position and influence are the +heaviest indictment of wealth that can be made. His power begins and +ends at the curbstone of Wall Street. His painfully gathered millions +he must leave behind. Even the simple solace of a quiet conscience is +denied to the most of his class. Is there one of them who is not haunted +in hours of depression by the memory of bloody strikes, of honest men +squeezed out, of rival works shut down? + +In a kind of dread they turn to philanthropy. They fling from their +chariots bundles of bank-notes to appease the wolves of justice. +Universities grow ignobly rich upon their hush-money. They were +accurately described three centuries ago by Robert Burton as "gouty +benefactors, who, when by fraud and rapine they have extorted all their +lives, oppressed whole provinces, societies, &c., give something to +pious uses, build a satisfactory almshouse, school, or bridge, &c, at +their last end, or before perhaps, which is no otherwise than to steal +a goose and stick down a feather, rob a thousand to relieve ten." If +America were wise she would not accept even the feather without the +closest scrutiny. Money never loses the scent of its origin, and when +the very rich explain how much they ought to give to their fellows, they +should carry back their inquiry a stage farther. They should tell us why +they took so much, why they suppressed the small factory, why they made +bargains with railways to the detriment of others, why they used their +wealth as an instrument of oppression. If their explanation be not +sufficient, they should not be permitted to unload their gold upon a +stricken country; they should not buy a cheap reputation for generosity +with money that is not their own. + +It may be said that the millionaire decrees the punishment for his own +crimes. That is true enough, but the esteem in which America holds him +inflicts a wrong upon the whole community. Where Rockefeller is a hero, +a false standard of morals is set up. For many years he has preached a +practical sermon upon the text, "The end justifies the means." How great +are the means! How small the end! He has defended his harshest dealings +on the ground that "it is business," and so doing has thrown a slur +upon the commerce of his country. And, worse than this, the wonder and +curiosity which cling about the dollar have created a new measure of +life and character. A man is judged not by his attainments, his courage, +his energy, but by his wealth. It is a simple test, and easily applied. +It is also the poorest encouragement for the civic virtues. In England +we help to correct the vulgarity of wealth by the distribution of +titles, and a better aid than this could not be devised. Though the +champions of democracy, who believe in equality of names as devoutly +as in inequality of wealth, deem this old-fashioned artifice a shameful +crime, it is not without its uses. It suggests that public service is +worth a higher distinction than a mass of money. And, titles apart, it +is happily not in accord with the traditions of our life to regard the +rich man and the poor man as beings of a different clay and a different +destiny. We may still echo without hypocrisy the words of Ben Jonson, +"Money never made any man rich, but his mind." + + + + +THE AMERICAN LANGUAGE. + +To the English traveller in America the language which he hears spoken +about him is at once a puzzle and a surprise. It is his own, yet not his +own. It seems to him a caricature of English, a phantom speech, ghostly +but familiar, such as he might hear in a land of dreams. He recognises +its broad lineaments; its lesser details evade, or confuse, him. He +acknowledges that the two tongues have a common basis. Their grammatical +framework is identical. The small change of language--the adverbs and +prepositions,--though sometimes strangely used in America, are not +strange to an English ear. And there the precise resemblance ends. +Accent, idiom, vocabulary give a new turn to the ancient speech. The +traveller feels as though he were confronted with an old friend, tricked +out in an odd suit of clothes, and master of a new pose and unaccustomed +gesture. + +The Americans are commonly reputed to speak through their nose. A more +intimate acquaintance with their manner belies this reputation. It is +rather a drawl that afflicts the ear than a nasal twang. You notice in +every sentence a curious shifting of emphasis. America, with the true +instinct of democracy, is determined to give all parts of speech an +equal chance. The modest pronoun is not to be outdone by the blustering +substantive or the self-asserting verb. And so it is that the native +American hangs upon the little words: he does not clip and slur "the +smaller parts of speech," and what his tongue loses in colour it gains +in distinctness. + +If the American continent had been colonised by Englishmen before the +invention of printing, we might have watched the growth of another +Anglo-Saxon tongue, separate and characteristic. American might have +wandered as far from English as French or Spanish has wandered from +Latin. It might have invented fresh inflections, and shaped its own +syntax. But the black art of Gutenberg had hindered the free development +of speech before John Smith set foot in Virginia, and the easy +interchange of books, newspapers, and other merchandise ensured a +certain uniformity. And so it was that the Americans, having accepted a +ready-made system of grammar, were forced to express their fancy in +an energetic and a multi-coloured vocabulary. Nor do they attempt +to belittle their debt, Rather they claim in English an exclusive +privilege. Those whose pleasure it is to call America "God's own +country" tell us with a bluff heartiness that they are the sole +inheritors of the speech which Chaucer and Shakespeare adorned. It is +their favourite boast that they have preserved the old language from +extinction. They expend a vast deal of ingenuity in the fruitless +attempt to prove that even their dialect has its roots deep down in the +soil of classical English. And when their proofs are demanded they +are indeed a sorry few. A vast edifice of mistaken pride has been +established upon the insecure basis of three words--fall, gotten, and +bully. These once were familiar English, and they are English no more. +The word "fall," "the fall of the leaf," which so beautifully echoes +the thought of spring, survives only in our provinces. It makes but +a furtive and infrequent appearance in our literature. Chaucer and +Shakespeare know it not. It is found in "The Nymph's Reply to the +Shepherd": + + "A honey tongue, a heart of gall + Is fancy's Spring, but Sorrow's Fall." + +Johnson cites but one illustration of its use--from Dryden: + +"What crowds of patients the town-doctor kills, Or how last fall he +raised the weekly hills." + +On the other side of the Atlantic it is universally heard and written. +There the word "autumn" is almost unknown; and though there is a dignity +in the Latin word ennobled by our orators and poets, there is no one +with a sense of style who will not applaud the choice of America. + +But if she may take a lawful pride in "fall," America need not boast the +use of "gotten." The termination, which suggests either wilful archaism +or useless slang, adds nothing of sense or sound to the word. It is like +a piece of dead wood in a tree, and is better lopped off. Nor does the +use of "bully" prove a wholesome respect for the past. It is true that +our Elizabethans used this adjective in the sense of great or noble. +"Come," writes Ben Jonson in "The Poetaster," "I love bully Horace." +{*} But in England the word was never of universal application, and was +sternly reserved for poets, kings, and heroes. In modern America there +is nothing that may not be "bully" if it meet with approval. "A bully +place," "a bully boat," "a bully blaze,"--these show how far the word +has departed from its origin. Nor, indeed, does it come down from +English in an unbroken line. Overlooked for centuries, it was revived +(or invented) in America some fifty years ago, and it is not to Dekker +and Ben Jonson that we must look for palliation of its misuse. + + * Innumerable examples might be culled from the literature + of the seventeenth century. One other will suffice here, + taken from Dekker's "Shoemaker's Holiday ": "Yet I'll + shave it off," says the shoemaker, of his beard, "and stuff + a tennis-ball with it, to please my bully king." + +Words have their fates. By a caprice of fortune one is taken, another +is left. This is restricted to a narrow use; that wanders free over +the plain of meaning. And thus we may explain many of the variations +of English and of American speech. A simple word crosses the ocean and +takes new tasks upon itself. The word "parlour," for instance, is dying +in our midst, while "parlor" gains a fresh vigour from an increasing +and illegitimate employment. Originally a room in a religious house, a +parlour (or parloir) became a place of reception or entertainment. Two +centuries ago an air of elegance hung about it. It suggested spinnets +and powdered wigs. And then, as fashion turned to commonness, the +parlour grew stuffy with disuse, until it is to-day the room reserved +for a vain display, consecrated to wax-flowers and framed photographs, +hermetically sealed save when the voice of gentility bids its furtive +door be opened. The American "parlor" resembles the "parlour" of the +eighteenth century as little as the "parlour" of the Victorian age. It +is busy, public, and multifarious. It means so many things that at last +it carries no other meaning than that of a false elegance. It is in a +dentist's parlor that the American's teeth are gilded; he is shaved in +a tonsorial parlor; he travels in a parlor-car; and Miss Maudie's parlor +proves how far an ancient and respected word may wander from its origin. +One example, of many, will illustrate the accidents which beset the life +of words. No examples will prove the plain absurdity which has flattered +the vanity of some American critics that their language has faithfully +adhered to the tradition of English speech. + +The vocabulary of America, like the country itself, is a strange medley. +Some words it has assimilated into itself; others it holds, as it were, +by a temporary loan. And in its choice, or invention, it follows two +divergent, even opposite, paths. On the one hand, it pursues and gathers +to itself barbarous Latinisms; on the other, it is eager in its quest +after a coarse and living slang. + +That a country which makes a constant boast of its practical +intelligence should delight in long, flat, cumbrous collections of +syllables, such as "locate," "operate," "antagonize," "transportation," +"commutation," and "proposition," is an irony of civilisation. These +words, if words they may be called, are hideous to the eye, offensive +to the ear, and inexpressive to the mind. They are the base coins of +language. They bear upon their face no decent superscription. They are +put upon the street, fresh from some smasher's den, and not even the +newspapers, contemptuous as they are of style, have reason to be proud +of them! Nor is there any clear link between them and the meaning thrust +upon them. Why should the poor holder of a season-ticket have the grim +word "commutation" hung round his neck? Why should the simple business +of going from one place to another be labelled "transportation"? +And these words are apt and lucid compared with "proposition." Now +"proposition" is America's maid-of-all-work. It means everything or +nothing. It may be masculine, feminine, neuter--he, she, it. It is tough +or firm, cold or warm, according to circumstances. But it has no more +sense than an expletive, and its popularity is a clear proof of an idle +imagination. + +And while the American language is collecting those dried and shrivelled +specimens of verbiage, it does not disdain the many-coloured flowers of +lively speech. In other words, it gives as ready a welcome to the last +experiment in Slang as to its false and pompous Latinisms. Nor is the +welcome given in vain. Never before in the world's history has Slang +flourished as it has flourished in America. And its triumph is not +surprising. It is more than any artifice of speech the mark of a various +and changing people. America has a natural love of metaphor and imagery; +its pride delights in the mysteries of a technical vocabulary; it is +happiest when it can fence itself about by the privilege of an exclusive +and obscure tongue. And what is Slang but metaphor? There is no class, +no cult, no trade, no sport which will not provide some strange words or +images to the general stock of language, and America's variety has been +a quick encouragement to the growth of Slang. She levies contributions +upon every batch of immigrants. The old world has thus come to the aid +of the new. Spanish, Chinese, German, and Yiddish have all paid their +toll. The aboriginal speech of the Indians, and its debased lingo, +Chinook, have given freely of their wealth. And not only many tongues +but many employments have enhanced the picturesqueness of American +Slang. America has not lost touch with her beginnings. The spirit of +adventure is still strong within her. There is no country within +whose borders so many lives are led. The pioneer still jostles the +millionaire. The backwoods are not far distant from Wall Street. +The farmers of Ohio, the cowboys of Texas, the miners of Nevada, owe +allegiance to the same Government, and shape the same speech to their +own purpose. Every State is a separate country, and cultivates a +separate dialect. Then come baseball, poker, and the racecourse, each +with its own metaphors to swell the hoard. And the result is a language +of the street and camp, brilliant in colour, multiform in character, +which has not a rival in the history of speech. + +There remains the Cant of the grafters and guns, the coves that work +upon the cross in the great cities. In England, as in France, this +strange gibberish is the oldest and richest form of Slang. Whence +it came is still a puzzle of the philologists. Harrison, in his +'Description of England' (1577), with a dogmatism which is not +justified, sets a precise date upon its invention. + +In counterfeiting the Egyptian rogues [says he of the vagabonds who then +infested England], they have devised a language among themselves which +they name Canting, but others Pedlars' French, a speech compact thirty +years since of English, and a great number of odd words of their own +devising, without all order or reason: and yet such is it that none but +themselves are able to understand. The first deviser thereof was hanged +by the neck,--a just reward, no doubt, for his deserts, and a common end +to all of that profession. + +The lingo, called indifferently Thieves' Latin or St Giles's Greek, was +assuredly not the invention of one brain. The work of many, it supplied +an imperious need. It was at once an expression of pride and a shield of +defence. Those who understood it proved by its use that they belonged +to a class apart; and, being unintelligible to the respectable majority, +they could communicate with one another--secretly, as they hoped, and +without fear of detection. Throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth +centuries the flash tongue grew and was changed; it crossed the Atlantic +with the early settlers, and it has left its marks upon the dialect of +the American underworld. But its influence upon the common Slang has +been light in America, as in England. It is as severely technical as the +language of science, and is familiar chiefly to policemen, tramps, and +informers. As Slang leaves the tavern and the street-corner, to invade +the theatre, the office, and even the drawing-room, those who aim at a +variety of speech need owe no debt to the Cant of the vagabonds, and +it is not surprising that to-day the vulgar tongue, in America as in +England, borrows more from "soldiers on the long march, seamen at the +capstan, and ladies disposing of fish," than from the common cursetors +and cony-catchers who once dominated it. + +The use of Slang proves at once the wealth and poverty of a language. It +proves its wealth when it reflects a living, moving image. It proves +its poverty when it is nothing more than the vain echo of a familiar +catchword. + +At its best it is an ornament of speech; at its worst it is a +labour-saving device. And it is for this reason that the vulgar American +delights in the baser kind of Slang: it seems to ensure him an easy +effect He must be picturesque at all costs. Sometimes he reaches the +goal of his ambition by a purposed extravagance. What can be more +foolish than the description which follows of a man equal to the most +difficult occasion: "He can light his cigar, when the battle is on, with +the friction of a passing cannon-ball." In yet worse taste is another +piece of fustian, invented by the same author: "When a 'twister' off +the hills gets ready to do business in a 20-knot sou'wester it sends no +messenger boys ahead to distribute its itinerary handbills." There is no +fault of style which these few lines do not display. They combine, with +a singular success, commonness and pomp. The epic poets of old were wont +to illustrate the life of man by the phenomena of nature. The vulgar +American reverses the process--he illustrates nature from the pavement. + +Exaggeration, then, is one easy artifice of effect. Another is the +constant repetition of certain words and phrases which have lost their +meaning by detrition and are known to all. Not to be disappointed is +sometimes as pleasant as to be surprised. A catchword passed from one to +another is often a signal of sympathy, and many a man has been taken for +a wit merely because his tinkling brain has given back the echo which +was expected. In stereotyped phrases, in ready-made sentences, in the +small change of meaningless words, the American language is peculiarly +rich. "To cut ice," "to get next to," "straight goods," {*}--these and +similar expressions, of no obvious merit in themselves, long ago lost +their freshness, and are not likely to assume a dignity with age. But +they save trouble, they establish an understanding between him who +speaks and him who hears; and when they are thrown into a discourse they +serve the purpose of gestures, To exclaim "I should smile" or "I should +cough" is not of much help in an argument, but such interjections +as these imply an appreciation not merely of slang but of your +interlocutor. + + * To the Englishman who knows them not, the following + quotations will explain their significance:-- + + "Tain't what ye ain't or what ye don't do that cuts ice with + me." + + "Well, invested capital has got to protect itself when the + law won't do it. Ain't them straight goods?" + + "Boston don't want Bishop Potter to come up here an' tell + her 't she ain't next to the latest curves in goodness. + Hully gee, no!" + +Slang is better heard than read. The child of the street or the +hedgerow, it assumes in print a grave air which does not belong to it, +or, worse still, it is charged with the vice or the vagabondage which +it suggests. And so it is that Slang words have a life as closely packed +with adventure as is the life of those who use them with the quickest +understanding. To ask what becomes of last year's Slang is as rash as to +speculate on the fate of last year's literature. Many specimens die in +the gutter, where they were born, after living a precarious life in the +mouths of men. Others are gathered into dictionaries, and survive to +become the sport of philologists. For the worst of their kind special +lexicons are designed, which, like prisons and workhouses, admit only +the disreputable, as though Victor Hugo's definition--"L'argot, c'est +le verbe devenu forcat"--were amply justified. The journals, too, which +take their material where they find it, give to many specimens a life as +long as their own. It is scarcely possible, for instance, to pick up an +American newspaper that does not turn the word _cinch_ to some strange +purpose. The form and origin of the word are worthy a better fate. It +passed from Spain into the Western States, and was the name given +to saddle-girths of leather or woven horse-hair. It suggests Mexican +horsemanship and the open prairie. The explanation given in the Century +Dictionary will make clear its meaning to the untravelled: "The two +ends of the tough cordage, which constitute the cinch, terminate in long +narrow strips of leather called _latigos_, which connect the cinches +with the saddle, and are run through an iron ring, called the _larigo_ +ring, and then tied by a series of complicated turns and knots, known +only to the craft." In the West the word is still used in its natural +and dignified sense. For example: "At Giles's ranch, on the divide, the +party halted to cinch up." And then in the East it has become the victim +of extravagant metaphor. As a verb, it means to hold firm, to put a +screw on; as a noun, it means a grip or screw, an advantage fair or +unfair. In the hand of the sporting reporter it can achieve wonders. +"The bettor of whom the pool-room bookmaker stands in dread"--this +flower of speech is culled from the 'New York World'--"is the race-horse +owner, who has a cinch bottled up for a particular race, and drops into +the room an hour or two before the race begins." The idea of bottling a +cinch is enough to make a Californian shudder, and this confused image +helps to explain the difference between East and West. + +Thus words wander farther and farther from their origin; and when at +last their meanings are wholly forgotten or obscured, they become part +of the common speech. One kind of Slang may succeed to another, but +cinch is secure for ever of a place in the newspaper, and in the spoken +language, of America. Caboodle, also, is firmly established. The long +series of words, such as Cachunk or Kerblunk, which suggest the impact +of falling bodies with the earth, will live as expletives with Say, +Sure, and many other, interjections which fill up the pauses of thought +and speech. There are two other specimens of Slang beloved by the +journals, for which it would be rash to prophesy a long life. To call +a man or a thing or an act "the limit," is for the moment the highest +step, save one, in praise or blame. When the limit is not eloquent +enough to describe the hero who has climbed the topmost rung of glory, +the language gasps into simplicity, and declares that he is It. "I +didn't do a thing," says an eminent writer, "but push my face in there +about eight o'clock last night, and I was It from the start." Though +the pronoun is expressive enough, it does not carry with it the signs of +immortality, and the next change of fashion may sweep it away into the +limbo of forgotten words. + +The journals do their best to keep alive the language of the people. The +novelists do far more, since their works outlive by months or years the +exaggeration of the press. And the novelists, though in narrative they +preserve a scrupulous respect for the literary language, take what +licence the dialect and character of their personages permit them. It +is from novels, indeed, that future generations will best be able to +construct the speech of to-day. With the greatest skill the writers of +romance mimic the style and accent of their contemporaries. They +put into the mouths of those who, in life, knew no other lingo, the +highly-flavoured Slang of the street or the market. Here, for instance, +is the talk of a saloon-keeper, taken from W. Payne's story, 'The Money +Captain,' which echoes, as nearly as printed words can echo, the voice +of the boodler: + +"Stop it?" says the saloon-keeper of a journalist's attack. "What I got +to stop it with? What's the matter with you fellows anyhow? You come +chasin' yourselves down here, scared out of your wits because a dinky +little one cent newspaper's makin' faces at you. A man 'd think you was +a young lady's Bible-class and 'd seen a mouse.... Now, that's right," +he exclaims, as another assailant appears; "make it unanimous. Let all +hands come and rig the ship on old Simp. Tell him your troubles and ask +him to help you out. He ain't got nothing better to do. Pitch into him; +give him hell; he likes it. Come one, come all--all you moth-eaten, +lousy stiffs from Stiffville. Come, tell Simp there's a reporter +rubberin' around and you're scared to death. He'll sympathise with +you--you sweet-scented skates." + +It is not an elegant method of speech, but such as it is, it bears as +close a resemblance to the dialect of Chicago as can be transferred from +the ear to the eye. + +If we compare the present with the past, we cannot but acknowledge that +American Slang has grown marvellously in colour and variety. The jargon +of Artemus Ward and Josh Billings possessed as little fire as character. +These two humourists obtained their effect by the simple method, lately +advocated by Messrs Roosevelt and Carnegie, of spelling as they pleased. +The modern professors of Slang have invented a new style. Their pages +sparkle with wit and allusion. They interpret their shrewd sense +in words and phrases which have never before enjoyed the freedom of +printer's ink. George Ade, the best of them all, has shown us how the +wise ones of Chicago think and speak. His 'Fables in Slang' is a little +masterpiece of humour in substance and wit in expression. To quote from +it would be to destroy its effect. But it will discover the processes of +Slang, as it is understood in the West, more clearly than any argument, +and having amused the present generation, it will remain an historical +document of enduring value. + +Slang is the only language known to many thousands of citizens. The +newly arrived immigrant delights to prove his familiarity with the land +of his adoption by accepting its idioms and by speaking the American, +not of books but of the market-place. And yet this same Slang, +universally heard and understood, knocks in vain for admission into +American literature. It expatiates in journals, in novels of dialect, +and in works, like George Ade's, which are designed for its exposition. +But it has no part in the fabric of the gravely written language. Men +of letters have disdained its use with a scrupulousness worthy our own +eighteenth century. The best of them have written an English as pure as +a devout respect for tradition can make it. Though they have travelled +far in space and thought, they have anchored their craft securely in the +past. No writer that has handled prose or verse with a high seriousness +has offended against the practice of the masters--save only Walt +Whitman. The written word and the spoken word differ even more widely +in America than elsewhere. The spoken word threw off the trammels of an +uneasy restraint at the very outset. The written word still obeys the +law of gradual development, which has always controlled it. If you +contrast the English literature of to-day with the American, you will +find differences of accent and expression so slight that you may neglect +them. You will find resemblances which prove that it is not in vain that +our literatures have a common origin and have followed a common road. +The arts, in truth, are more willingly obedient than life or politics to +the established order; and America, free and democratic though she be, +loyally acknowledges the sovereignty of humane letters. American is +heard at the street corner. It is still English that is written in the +study. + + + + +AMERICAN LITERATURE. + +There can, in fact, be no clearer proof that the tradition of literature +is stronger than the tradition of life than the experience of America. +The new world, to its honour be it said, has discovered no new art. The +ancient masters of our English speech are the masters also of America. +The golden chain of memory cannot be shaken off, and many of those who +raise with the loudest voice the cry of freedom have shown themselves +the loyal and willing slaves of the past. + +The truth is that from the first the writers of America have lagged +honourably behind their age. The wisest of them have written with a +studious care and quiet reverence. As if to mark the difference between +the written language and the vernacular, they have assumed a style which +belonged to their grandfathers. This half-conscious love of reaction +has been ever present with them. Tou may find examples at each stage of +their history. Cotton Mather, who armed his hand and tongue against +the intolerable sin of witchcraft, wrote when Dutch William was on our +throne, and in style he was but a belated Elizabethan. There is no other +writer with whom we may compare him, save Robert Burton, who also lived +out of his due time. Take this specimen of his prose, and measure +its distance from the prose of Swift and Addison, his younger +contemporaries: "Wherefore the Devil," writes Mather in the simplicity +of his faith, "is now making one Attempt more upon us; an Attempt +more Difficult, more Surprising, more snarl'd with unintelligible +Circumstances than any that we have hitherto Encountered; an Attempt so +Critical, that if we get well through, we shall soon enjoy Halcyon Days +with all the Vultures of Hell trodden under our feet." In sound and +structure Mather's style is what the critics call "archaistic." It is +all untouched by the influences of another world, and though "the New +Englanders were," in Mather's view, "a People of God settled in those, +which were once the Devil's Territories," they carried their prose from +the old country, and piously bowed before an old tradition. + +Thus has it been with each generation of men. Thoreau fondly believed +that Walden had brought him near to nature, and he wrote with the +accumulated artifice of the centuries. Hawthorne's language was as +old in fashion as the Salem which he depicted, as "the grave, bearded, +sable-cloaked, and steeple-crowned progenitor, who came so early with +his Bible and his sword, and trode the common street with such stately +port, and made so large a figure as a man of war and peace." But it was. +upon Emerson that tradition has most strangely exercised its imperious +sway. Now Emerson was an anarch who flouted the conventions of art and +life. It was his hope to see the soul of this world "clean from all +vestige of tradition." He did not understand that what is? proceeded +inevitably from what was He affected to spurn the past as a clog upon +his individuality. Anticipating Walt Whitman, he would have driven +away his nearest friends, saying, "Who are you? Unhand me: I will be +dependent no more." So lightly did he pretend to esteem history that he +was sure that an individual experience could explain all the ages, that +each man went through in his own lifetime the Greek period, the medieval +period--every period, in brief--until he attained to the efflorescence +of Concord. "What have I to do with the sacredness of tradition," he +asked proudly, "if I live wholly from within?" So much had he to do with +it that he never wrote a line save in obedience. Savage as he was in the +declaration of his own individuality, he expressed it in the gracious +terms of an inherited art. To this age Emerson's provincialism appears +sad enough. It would not have been remembered had it not been set forth +in a finely studied and mellifluous prose. No sooner did Emerson take +pen in hand than his anarchy was subdued. He instantly became the slave +of all the periods which he despised. He was a faithful follower of +the best models, a patient student of masters dead and gone. Though he +aspired to live wholly from within, he composed his works wholly from +without, and fashioned an admirable style for himself, more antique in +shape and sound than the style affected by the Englishmen of his time. +But it is Edgar Allan Poe who most eloquently preached the gospel of +style, and who most honourably defended the cause of art pursued without +the aid of the pulpit. Taste he declared to be the sole arbiter of +Poetry. "With the intellect or the Conscience," said he, "it has only +collateral relations. Unless incidentally it has no concern whatever +either with Duty or Truth." Not that he belittled the exigence of Truth; +he did but insist on a proper separation. "The demands of Truth," he +admitted, "are severe; she has no sympathy with the myrtles. All that +which is so indispensable in song is precisely all that with which she +has nothing whatever to do." And thus it followed that he had small +sympathy with Realism, which he denounced in the clear spirit of +prophecy many years before it had become a battle-cry of criticism: + +The defenders of this pitiable stuff [he wrote] uphold it on the ground +of its truthfulness. Taking the thesis into question, this truthfulness +is the one overwhelming defect. An original idea that--to laud the +accuracy with which the stone is hurled that knocks us in the head. +A little less accuracy might have left us more brains. And here +are critics absolutely commending the truthfulness with which the +disagreeable is conveyed! In my view, if an artist must paint decayed +cheeses, his merit will lie in their looking as little like decayed +cheeses as possible. + +Of this wise doctrine Poe was always a loyal exponent. The strange +veiled country in which he placed the shadows of his creation lay not +within the borders of the United States. He was the child neither of his +land nor of his century. Dwelling among men who have always worshipped +size, he believed that there was no such thing as a long poem. A +fellow-citizen of bustling men, he refused to bend the knee to industry. +"Perseverance is one thing," said he, "genius quite another." And it is +not surprising that he lived and died without great honour in his own +country. Even those of his colleagues who guarded the dignity of their +craft with a zeal equal to his own, shrank from the pitiless logic of +his analysis. They loved his work as little as they respected his +life. They judged him by a censorious standard which took no account of +genius. And Poe shared with dignity and without regret the common fate +of prophets. If he is still an exile in American esteem, he long since +won the freedom of the larger world. He has been an inspiration to +France, the inspirer of the nations. He did as much as any one of his +contemporaries to mould the literary art of our day, and in the prose of +Baudelaire and Mallarme he lives a life whose lustre the indifference of +his compatriots will never dim. + +Whence comes it, this sedulous attention to style, which does honour +to American literature? It comes in part, I think, from the fact that, +before the triumph of journalism, American men of letters were secluded +from their fellows. They played no _role_ in the national drama. They +did not work for fame in the field of politics. They were a band of +aristocrats dwelling in a democracy, an _imperium in imperio_. They +wrote their works for themselves and their friends. They made no appeal +to the people, and knowing that they would be read by those capable +of pronouncing sentence, they justified their temerity by a proper +castigation, of their style. And there is another reason why American +literature should be honourably formal and punctilious, If the written +language diverges widely from the vernacular, it must perforce be +studied more sedulously than where no such divergence is observed. For +the American, accustomed to the language spoken by his countrymen and +to the lingo of the daily press, literary English is an acquired tongue, +which he studies with diligence and writes with care. He treats it +with the same respect with which some Scots--Drummond, Urquhart, and +Stevenson--have treated it, and under his hand it assumes a classic +austerity, sometimes missed by the Englishman, who writes it with the +fluency and freedom bred of familiar use. The stately and erudite work +of Francis Parkman is a fair example. The historian of 'Montcalm and +Wolfe' has a clear title to immortality. Assuredly he holds a worthy +place among the masters. He is of the breed of Gibbon and Michelet, of +Livy and Froude. He knows how to subordinate knowledge to romance. He +disdains the art of narrative as little as he disdains the management +of the English sentence. He is never careless, seldom redundant. The +plainest of his effects are severely studied. Here, for instance, is his +portrait of an Indian chief, epic in its simplicity, and withal composed +with obvious artistry: + +See him as he lies there in the sun, kicking his heels in the air and +cracking jokes with his brother. Does he look like a hero? See him +now in the hour of his glory, when at sunset the whole village empties +itself to behold him, for to-morrow their favourite young partisan +goes out against the enemy. His head-dress is adorned with a crest +of war-eagle's feathers, rising in a waving ridge above his brow, and +sweeping far behind him. His round white shield hangs at his breast, +with feathers radiating from the centre like a star. His quiver is at +his back; his tall lance in his hand, the iron point flashing against +the declining sun, while the long scalp-locks of his enemies flutter +from the shaft. Thus gorgeous as a champion in panoply, he rides round +and round within the great circle of lodges, balancing with a graceful +buoyancy to the free movements of his war-horse, while with a sedate +brow he sings his song to the Great Spirit. + +That is the language of classicism. The epithets are not far-sought. +They come naturally to the mind. The hero's shield is round and white; +his lance is tall; long are the scalp-locks of his enemies. Thus would +Homer and Virgil have heightened the picture, and Park-man is clearly +attentive to the best models. Even when he describes what his eye +has seen he cannot disengage his impression from the associations of +literature. It is thus that he sets before us Braddock's line of march: + +It was like a thin, party-coloured snake, red, blue, and brown, trailing +slowly through the depth of leaves, creeping round inaccessible heights, +crawling over ridges, moving always in dampness and shadow, by rivulets +and waterfalls, crags and chasms, gorges and shaggy steeps. In glimpses +only, through jagged boughs and flickering leaves, did this wild +primeval world reveal itself, with its dark green mountains, flecked +with the morning mist, and its distant summits pencilled in dreamy blue. + +As you read these words you are less keenly conscious of a visual +impression than of a verbal effect, and it may be said without reserve +that never for a page of his many volumes does Park-man forget the +demands of dignity and restraint. + +Excellent as is the style, it is never American. Parkman does not reveal +his origin in a single phrase. He has learned to write not in his own +land, but in the England of the eighteenth century. When he speaks +of "the pampered Sardanapalus of Versailles," and of "the silken +favourites' calculated adultery," we are conscious that he has learnt +whatever lesson Gibbon has to teach. In other words, he, too, is +obedient to the imperious voice of convention. And the novelists follow +the same path as the historians. Mr Henry James, in his patient analysis +of human character, has evoked such subtle harmonies as our English +speech has not known before. Mr Howells, even when he finds his material +in the land of his birth, shows himself the master of a classic style, +exquisite in balance and perfect in tone. And both share the common +inheritance of our tongue, are links in the central chain of our +tradition, and in speech, if not in thought, are sternly conservative. + +This, then, is an irony of America, that the country which has a natural +dislike of the past still dances to the ancient measures, that the +country which has invented so much has not invented a new method of +expression, that the country which questions all things accepts its +literature in simple faith. The advantages of conformity are obvious. +Tradition is nine-tenths of all the arts, and the writers of America +have escaped the ruin which overtakes the bold adventurer who stakes +his all upon first principles. But sometimes we miss the one-tenth that +might be added. How much is there in the vast continent which might be +translated into words! And how little has achieved a separate, living +utterance! Mr Stedman has edited an American Anthology, a stout volume +of some eight hundred pages, whose most obvious quality is a certain +technical accomplishment. The unnumbered bards of America compose their +verses with a diffident neatness, which recalls the Latin style +of classical scholars. The workmanship is deft, the inspiration is +literary. If many of the authors' names were transposed small injustice +would be done them. The most of the work might have been written +anywhere and under any conditions. Neither sentiment nor local colour +suggests the prairie or the camp. + +It is the intervention of dialect which alone confers a distinctive +character upon American verse. Wisely is Mr Stedman's collection +called an Anthology. It has something of the same ingenuity, the same +impersonality, which marks the famous Anthology of the Greeks; it +illustrates the temper not of a young but of an old people. + +How shall we surprise in her literature the true spirit of America? +Surely not in Walt Whitman, whose work is characteristic not of his +country, but of himself, who fondly believed that he would make a loud +appeal to the democracy because he stamped upon the laws of verse, and +used words which are not to be found in the dictionary. Had the people +ever encountered his 'Leaves of Grass,' it would not have understood it. +The verse for which the people craves is the ditties of the music-hall. +It has no desire to consider its own imperfections with a self-conscious +eye. It delights in the splendour of mirrors, in the sparkle of +champagne, in the trappings of a sordid and remote romance. The praise +of liberty and equality suits the ear not of the democrat, but of the +politician and dilettante, and it was to the dilettante and politician +that Walt Whitman addressed his exhortations. Even his studied contempt +for the literary conventions is insincere, and falls away from Kim +when he sees and feels most vividly. He attempted to put into practice +Emerson's theory of anarchy. He was at the pains to prove that he was +at once a savage and a poet. That he had moments of poetic exaltation is +true. The pomp of Brooklyn Ferry lives in his stately verse. + +But he was no savage. It was his culture that spoke to the culture +of others; it was a worn-out commonplace which won him the regard +of politicians. He inspired parodists, not poets. And he represented +America as little as he echoed the voice of the people. + +Nor is it in the works of the humourists that we shall catch a glimpse +of the national character. They, too, cast no shadow but their own. +They attain their effects by bad spelling, and a simple transliteration +reveals the poverty of their wit. There is but one author who represents +with any clarity the spirit of his country, and that author is Mark +Twain. Not Mark Twain the humourist, the favourite of the reporters, the +facile contemner of things which are noble and of good report, but Mark +Twain, the pilot of the Mississippi, the creator of Huck Finn and Tom +Sawyer. He is national as Fielding is national. Future ages will look +upon Huck Finn as we look upon Tom Jones,--as an embodiment of national +virtue. And Mark Twain's method is his own as intimately as the puppets +of his imagining. It is impossible to read a page of his masterpieces +without recognising that they could have been composed only in an +American environment. The dialect in which they are written enhances +their verisimilitude without impairing their dignity; and the flashes +of humour which light up the gravity of the narrative are never out of +place nor out of tune. The cunning and resourcefulness of his boyish +heroes are the cunning and resourcefulness of America, and the sombre +Mississippi is the proper background for this national epic. The danger, +the excitement, the solemnity of the great river are vividly portrayed. +They quicken his narrative; they inspire him to eloquence. He remembers +with a simple enthusiasm the glory of the sun setting upon its broad +expanse; he remembers also that the river and its shoals are things to +fear and to fight. + +Fully to realise the marvellous precision [he writes] required in laying +the great steamer in her marks in that murky waste of water, one should +know that not only must she pick her intricate way through snags and +blind reefs, and then shave the head of the island so closely as to +brush the overhanging foliage with her stern, but at one place she must +pass almost within arm's reach of a sunken and visible wreck that would +snatch the hull timbers from under her if she should strike it, and +destroy a quarter of a million dollars' worth of steamboat and cargo +in five minutes, and maybe a hundred and fifty human lives into the +bargain. + +In calm, as in flood, Mark Twain has mastered the river, and has made +it his own. Once upon a time the Mississippi called up a vision of +the great Gulf opening on the sight of La Salle, "tossing its restless +billows, limitless, voiceless, lonely as when born of chaos, without +a sail, without a sign of life." Now a humbler image is evoked, and we +picture Huck Finn and Jim floating down the broad stream in the august +society of the Duke and the Dauphin. + +Though Mark Twain cultivates the South-Western dialect, and does not +disdain the speech of Pike County, there is in his two romances no +suspicion of provincialism. Style and imagination give them the freedom +of the whole world. They are of universal truth and application. But +since the days of Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer the conditions of American +literature have changed, and for the worse. As in England, so in +America, a wide diffusion of books, an eager and general interest in +printed matter, have had a disastrous effect. The newspapers, by giving +an improper advertisement to the makers of books, have rendered the +literary craft more difficult of pursuit. The ambition of money has +obscured the simple end of literature, and has encouraged a spirit of +professionalism eminently characteristic of a practical country. We hear +of works of fiction sketched in the back-offices of publishers, whose +hands are held upon the public pulse. All is arranged, we are told, by +the man of business--period, plot, characters. Nothing is left to the +novelist but to carry out the instructions of his taskmaster, and when +you contemplate the result you can feel no surprise at this composite +authorship. It is no better than a money-making partnership, a return +to the miserable practices of Grub Street and its hacks, a curiosity +of trade, not of art, and so long as its sorry product is distinguished +from genuine literature no great harm is done. + +Of the modern tendencies which affect literature, not commerce, the +most conspicuous is the tendency to decentralise. Every province has its +coterie, every county its school The whole continent is pegged out in +well-acknowledged claims. Boston cultivates one style, Chicago another. +Each corner makes the most of its own material, and cheerfully discovers +to the other States its character and temperament. The result is of +great and varied interest. The social history of America is being +written piecemeal, and written often with a skill and sincerity which +merit the highest praise. And not merely has each province found its +chronicler, but the immigrants, also, are intent upon self-expression. +The little masterpieces of Abraham Cahan are an earnest of what the +Ghetto can achieve, and whether the Jews are faithful to Yiddish, or, +like Cahan, acquire the language of their adopted country, there is +no reason why they should not atone in a free land for centuries +of silence. To enumerate the manifold achievements of the States is +impossible. One example will suffice, and no city will better suit my +purpose than Chicago. That admirable literature should come from Chicago +is of itself a paradox. It is still more surprising that the best +writers of Chicago should display the qualities of tranquillity and +reticence, which you would expect least of all to find in that monstrous +city. Yet it is characteristic of Miss Edith Wyatt and Mr H. B. Fuller, +who have painted the manners of Chicago with the greatest skill, that +they never force the note. They look upon their fellow-citizens with +an amiable sympathy; they describe them with a quiet humour. It is true +that they have an excellent opportunity. It is true also that they rise +to their occasion. Within the limits of Chicago are met the most diverse +of men. On the one hand are the captains of industry, intent to amass a +fortune at all costs; on the other are the sorry prigs who haunt Ibsen +clubs and chatter of Browning. Miss Wyatt, with an exquisite irony, +makes clear her preference. In her eyes the square-dealing and innocent +boodler is a far better man than the sophisticated apostle of culture, +and this truth she illustrates with a modesty and restraint which are +rarely met with in modern fiction. She never insists; she never says a +word too much. With exquisite concision she sets her carefully selected +facts and types before you, and being the antithesis of priggishness in +a priggish city, she glorifies "the common growth of Mother Earth," and +compels your agreement. Her collection of stories--'Every One His Own +Way'--as free from pretence as from exaggeration, paints the citizens of +Chicago with the subtlest fancy and the simplest truthfulness. + +Mr H. B. Fuller employs an ampler canvas. His intention is the same. He +also discards the artifice of exaggeration. He attempts to harrow your +feelings as little as to advertise himself. He displays not the _saeva +indignatio_, which won another novelist of Chicago so indiscreet a fame. +He is for gentler methods and plainer judgments. In 'The Cliff Dwellers' +he has given us a picture of the tribe inhabiting the Clifton, a +monstrous sky-scraper full eighteen stories tall, whose "hundreds of +windows," he tells you, "glitter with multitudinous letterings in gold +and in silver, and on summer afternoons its awnings flutter score on +score in the tepid breezes that sometimes come up from Indiana." His +picture is never overcharged; his draughtsmanship is always sincere. He +knows the tribe with an easy familiarity, and he bears witness to their +good and their evil with perfect impartiality. He is never a partisan. +His portraits are just, and he leaves his reader to sum up the qualities +of each. At his hands Chicago suffers no injury. She does not return his +generosity. A prophet is not without honour save in his own country, and +when I asked for his books at the biggest bookshop in Chicago, I was met +with a stare of ignorance. + +And what you find in Chicago you may find in New England, in Kentucky, +in California, everywhere. The curiosity of this vast continent tempts +its writers to explore. Their material varies with the locality of their +choice. Their skill is a common inheritance. They cultivate the graces +as carefully as did their predecessors. Their artistic conscience is no +less acute. Above all, they have brought the short story to a point of +singular perfection. If Edgar Poe showed them the way, they have proved +themselves apter disciples than any save the most skilful of Frenchmen. + +It is, indeed, impossible to look forward to the future of American +literature without hopefulness. In that half-discovered country style +and invention go hand in hand. The land of Mr Howells and Frank Norris, +of Mrs Atherton and Mrs Wharton, of Stephen Crane and Harold Frederic, +has accomplished so much that we may look confidently for the master, +who in his single achievement will knit up its many diverse qualities +and speak to the world with the voice of America. + + + + +THE UNDERWORLD. + +Nowhere and at no time, save in the England of the eighteenth century, +was the underworld so populous or so popular as in the America of +to-day. In life, as in letters, crime and criminals hold there a lofty +place. They are the romance of the street and the tenement-house. In +their adventure and ferocity there is a democratic touch, which endears +them to a free people. Nor are they so far remote from the world of +prosperity and respect in the cities of the United States as elsewhere. +The police is a firm and constant link between criminal and politician. +Wherever the safe-blowers and burglars are, there you will find +stool-pigeons and squealers, {*} ready to sell their comrades for +liberty and dollars. And if the policeman is the intimate of the +grafter, he is the client also of the boss who graciously bestowed his +uniform upon him. At chowder parties and picnics thief, policeman, +and boss meet on the terms of equality imposed upon its members by the +greatest of all philanthropic institutions--Tammany Hall. If you would +get a glimpse into this strange state within a state, you have but to +read the evidence given before the Lexow Committee {**} in 1894. It +would be difficult to match the cynicism and brutality there disclosed. + + * A stool-pigeon is a thief in the pay of the police; a + squealer is a grafter who betrays his brother. + + ** This strange collection of documents, a whole literature + in itself, bears the prosaic title, "Investigations of the + Police Department of the City of New York." + +In every line of this amazing testimony you may detect a contempt of +human life and justice, an indifference to suffering, an eager lust +after unearned dollars, which are without parallel. The persons who play +their part in this austere, begrimed tragi-comedy, come for the most +part from oversea, and have but a halting knowledge of the language +spoken by judges and senators. Yet their very ignorance stamps their +speech with authenticity, and enhances its effect. The quick dialogue is +packed with life and slang. Never were seen men and women so strange as +flit across this stage. Crook and guy, steerer and turner, keepers of +gambling-hells and shy saloons, dealers in green-goods, {*} come forward +with their eager stories of what seems to them oppression and wrong. + + * Forged dollar-notes. + +With the simplicity which knows no better they deplore their +ill-rewarded "industry," and describe their fraudulent practices as +though they were a proper means of earning bread and butter. They have +as little shame as repentance. Their only regrets are that they have +been ruined by the police or forced to spend a few barren years in the +State prison. And about them hover always detective and police-captain, +ill-omened birds of prey, who feed upon the underworld. There is nothing +more remarkable in this drama of theft and hunger than the perfect +understanding which unites the criminal lamb and the wolfish upholder of +the law. The grafter looks to his opponent for protection, and looks not +in vain, so long as he has money in his pocket. The detective shepherds +the law-breakers, whom he is appointed to arrest; he lives with them; he +shares their confidences and their gains; he encourages their enterprise +that he may earn a comfortable dividend; and he gives them up to justice +when they are no longer worth defending. No dramatist that ever lived +could do justice to this astounding situation, and it is the highest +tribute to human ingenuity that few of the interlocutors fall below +their opportunity. + +And it may be admitted that New York gave, and gives, an easy chance to +policemen bent upon oppression. What can the poor, ignorant foreigners, +who throng the east side of the city, do against their brutal and +omnipotent guardians? "An impressive spectacle was presented to us one +day," reports the Committee, "in the presence of about 100 patrolmen +in uniform, who during the period of three preceding years had been +convicted by the police commissioners of unprovoked and unwarranted +assault on citizens." Still more impressive than "this exhibit of +convicted clubbers" was "a stream of victims of police brutality who +testified before the Committee. The eye of one man, punched out by a +patrolman's club, hung on his cheek. Others were brought before the +Committee, fresh from their punishment, covered with blood and bruises, +and in some cases battered out of recognition." The whole city seemed +the prey of a panic terror. One day "a man rushed into the session, +fresh from an assault made upon him by a notorious politician and two +policemen, and with fear depicted upon his countenance threw himself +upon the mercy of the Committee and asked its protection, insisting +that he knew of no court and of no place where he could in safety go and +obtain protection from his persecutors." From all which it is plain that +too high a price may be paid for the philanthropy of Tammany Hall, and +that a self-governing democracy cannot always keep an efficient watch +upon its guardians. + +What is it in the life and atmosphere of America which thus encourages +crime, or rather elevates crime to a level of excellence unknown +elsewhere? In the first place, the citizens of New York are the +disciples of Hobbes. To them life is a state of war. The ceaseless +competition for money is a direct incentive to the combat. Nature seems +to have armed every man's hand against his fellow. And then the American +is always happiest when he believes himself supreme in his own walk. +The man who inhabits the greatest country on earth likes to think of his +talent as commensurate with his country's. If he be a thief, he must be +the most skilful of his kind; if he be a blackmailing policeman, he must +be a perfect adept at the game. In brief, restlessness and the desire +of superiority have produced a strange result, and there is little +doubt that the vulgar American is insensitive to moral shocks. This +insensitiveness is easily communicated to the curious visitor. A +traveller of keen observation and quick intelligence, who has recently +spent "a year amongst Americans," accepts the cynicism of the native +without a murmur. After yielding to that spirit of enthusiastic hope +which is breathed by the Statue of Liberty, he thus discusses the +newly-arrived alien: + +Even the stars in their courses [thus he writes] fight for America, if +not always for the immigrant when he lands. The politicians would +fain prevent his assimilation in order that his vote might be easily +manipulated by them; but first of all he must have a vote to be handled, +and to this end the politicians provide him with naturalisation papers, +fraudulent it may be--the State Superintendent of Elections in New York +estimates that 100,000 fraudulent naturalisation papers were issued in +New York State alone in 1903,--and thus in the very beginning of his +life in America the immigrant feels himself identified with, and takes +delight and pride in, the American name and nature; and lo! already the +alien is bound to the "native" by the tie of a common sentiment, the +[Greek word] of the Greeks, which is one of the most powerful factors of +nationality. + +Poor [Greek word]! many follies have been spoken in your name! But never +before were you identified with fraudulent naturalisation! Never before +were you mistaken for the trick of a manipulating politician! + +Such being the tie of a common sentiment, it is not surprising that +the Americans are universally accustomed to graft and boodle. With +characteristic frankness they have always professed a keen interest +in those who live by their wits. It is not for nothing that Allan +Pinkerton, the eminent detective, called affectionately "the old man," +is a national hero. His perfections are already celebrated in a prose +epic, and he is better known to west as to east than the President +himself. And this interest, this sense of heroism, are expressed in +a vast and entertaining literature. Nowhere has this literature of +scoundrelism, adorned by Defoe and beloved by Borrow, flourished as +it has flourished in America. Between the dime novel and the stern +documents of the Lexow Committee there is room for history and fiction +of every kind. The crooked ones of the earth have vied with the +detectives in the proper relation of their experiences. On the one +hand you find the great Pinker-ton publishing to the world a breathless +selection from his own archives; on the other, so practised a novelist +as Mr Julian Hawthorne embellishing the narrative of Inspector Byrnes; +and it is evident that both of them satisfy a general curiosity. In +these records of varying merit and common interest the attentive reader +may note the changes which have taken place in the method and +practice of thieving. There is no man so ready to adapt himself to new +circumstances as the scoundrel, and the ingenuity of the American rogue +has never been questioned. In the old days of the backwoods and romance +Jesse James rode forth on a high-mettled steed to hold up cars, coaches, +and banks; and James Murel, the horse-thief, celebrated by Mark Twain, +whose favourite disguise was that of an itinerant preacher, cherished +no less a project than an insurrection of negroes and the capture of New +Orleans. The robber of to-day is a stern realist. He knows nothing of +romance. A ride under the stars and a swift succession of revolver-shots +have no fascination for him. He likes to work in secret upon safe or +burglar-box. He has moved with the times, and has at his hand all the +resources of modern science. If we do not know all that is to be known +of him and his ambitions it is our own fault, since the most expert +of his class, Langdon W. Moore, has given us in 'His Own Story of his +Eventful Life' (Boston, 1893) a complete revelation of a crook's career. +It is an irony of life that such a book as this should come out +of Boston, and yet it is so quick in movement, of so breathless an +excitement, that it may outlive many specimens of Bostonian lore and +culture. It is but one example out of many, chosen because in style as +in substance it outstrips all competitors. + +Without knowing it, Langdon W. Moore is a disciple of Defoe. He has +achieved by accident that which the author of 'Moll Flanders' achieved +by art. There is a direct simplicity in his narrative which entitles +him to a place among the masters. He describes hair-breadth escapes and +deadly perils with the confident air of one who is always exposed to +them. He gives the impression of the hunted and the hunter more vividly +than any writer of modern times. When he is opening a safe, you hear, in +spite of yourself, the stealthy step upon the stair. If he watches for +a pal at the street end, you share his anxiety lest that pal should +be intercepted by the watchful detective. And he produces his effects +without parade or ornament. He tells his story with a studied plainness, +and by adding detail to detail keeps your interest ever awake. Like many +other great men, he takes his skill and enterprise for granted. He does +not write of his exploits as though he were always amazed at his own +proficiency. Of course he has a certain pride in his skill. He cannot +describe his perfect mastery over all the locks that ever were made +without a modest thrill. He does not disguise his satisfaction at +Inspector Byrnes' opinion that "he had so deeply studied combination +locks as to be able to open them from the sound ejected from the +spindle." For the rest, he recognises that he is merely a workman, like +another, earning his living, and that nothing can be accomplished save +by ceaseless industry and untiring toil. Like many another hero, Langdon +W. Moore was born in New England, and was brought up at Newburyport, +a quiet seaport town. The only sign of greatness to be detected in +his early life was an assault upon a schoolmaster, and he made ample +atonement for this by years of hard work upon a farm. He was for a while +a typical hayseed, an expert reaper, ready to match himself against all +comers. He reached his zenith when he was offered fifty dollars in gold +for six weeks' toil, and he records with a justified pleasure that +"no man had ever been paid such high wages as that." But his energetic +spirit soon wearied of retirement, and he found his way to New York, +not to be fleeced, like the hayseed of the daily press, but to fleece +others. The gambling hells knew him; he became an adept at poker and +faro; and he soon learned how to correct or to compel fortune. His first +experiment was made upon one Charley White, who dealt faro bank every +Saturday night; and it is thus that Moore describes the effect of an +ingenious discovery: + +He kept his box and cards in a closet adjoining his room. One night +during his absence I fitted a key to his closet, took out his cards, and +sand-papered the face of eight cards in each deck. I then removed the +top of his faro-box, bulged out the centre of the front plate at the +mouth, and filed the plate on the inside at both corners to a bevel. I +then replaced the top, put in a deck of cards, and made a deal. I found +the cards not sanded would follow up and fill the mouth of the box after +each turn was made; and if the mouth remained dark and the edge of the +top card could not be seen, one of the sand-papered cards was next, and +a loser. This would give me several "dead" turns in each deal. + +By this means the great man, still despised as a Boston bean-eater, was +able to bring his adversary to ruin. The adversary at last discovered +the artifice, and "for the next five years," to quote Moore's own words, +"we met as strangers." + +It will be seen that from his earliest days Moore possessed a scientific +ingenuity, which the hard experience of life rapidly improved. And +it was not long before a definite direction was given to his talent. +Arrested in 1856, as he thought unjustly, he determined "to do no more +work until obliged to do it for the State." He therefore turned his +skill of hand to account, and went into the "green goods business." His +success in this venture was so great that he made the best dollar bills +ever put upon the market, and he boasts legitimately that in the game +he "never lost a man." Presently he discovered that there was a quicker +profit in stolen bonds. "From my first venture in this bond-smashing +business," to quote his own simple words, "in 1862 up to 1870, I made +more money than in any branch of industry I was ever engaged in." +"Branch of industry" is admirable, and proves that Moore had a proper +appreciation of his craft. But bond-smashing compelled a perfect +knowledge of locks and bolts, and in this knowledge, as has been said, +Moore was supreme. At the end of his career, when he had hung his arms +upon the wall, and retired to spend a green old age at Boston, it was +to his treatment of Yale and Lillie locks that he looked back with the +greatest pleasure. But no exploit flattered his vanity more easily than +the carrying off from the Bank at Concord--the Concord of Emerson and +Hawthorne--of some three hundred thousand dollars. That he purchased +his freedom by an ample restitution mattered nothing to the artist. His +purpose was achieved, his victory won, and if his victims came by their +own again, he at least had the satisfaction which comes of a successful +engagement. + +Of this adventure he writes with more enthusiasm than he is wont to +show. He wishes his readers to understand that it was not a sudden +descent, but the culmination of five months' steady work. He had watched +the bank until he knew the habits of its manager and the quality of its +locks. He "was satisfied from all he saw that by hard persistent work +the bank could be cleaned out completely." It was on a July day in 1867 +that the scheme first took shape in Moore's mind. He had stopped at +noon at the hotel at Concord for food, and saw the cashier of the bank +returning from his dinner. + +The bank had been closed during his absence [thus he tells his simple +story], and he now unlocked the street door and left the key in the +lock. I followed him upstairs and saw him unlock the outer and inner +doors of the vault, and also the door of the burglar-box. I presented a +hundred-dollar note and asked to have it changed. Being accommodated, I +left the place, observing as I went out that the lock on the street +door was a heavy one of the familiar tumbler variety, and that it had a +wooden back. + +Thus the train was laid, and in three months came the explosion. +Impressions were taken of locks, keys were provided, a waggon and team +were held in readiness, and one day as the cashier left the bank to get +his dinner, Langdon W. Moore, with a meal-bag concealed under his vest, +quietly opened the front door and entered the bank. One check he knew. +As he went in a girl of twelve tried to follow him--a near relative +of the cashier. The exercise of a little tact satisfied her that the +directors were in session, and she ran off to her playmates under the +big elm at the opposite corner of the street. Moore lost no time in +locking the door behind him, in opening all the locks, which yielded to +his cunning and foresight, and in packing the meal-bag full of bonds, +bank-notes, and plate. He accomplished the deed without haste, and by +the time that the cashier had finished his dinner Moore had disappeared +with his bag, and his waggon, and his friends, and left no trace behind. + +Another masterpiece, in Moore's opinion, was what he magniloquently +calls the great robbery of an express car. Here, too, he proved the +fineness of his craft. He left nothing to chance, and he foresaw, with +the coolness of a practised hand, every step which his adversaries would +take. His first care was to obtain the assistance of the messenger who +travelled on the car which he proposed to rob, and the zeal and energy +wherewith he coached his accomplices ensured success. Again and again he +rehearsed every scene in the comedy. Before his eyes the messenger was +attacked by two masked ruffians, of whom one caught him by the throat, +while the other put a pistol to his head, saying, "If you open your +mouth I will blow a hole through your head large enough for a pigeon to +fly through." Then the messenger was gagged and bound, a piece of soap +was put into his mouth, that he might appear in the last extremity, and +presently he was set to learn by heart the tale that he should tell his +employers. By long practice each actor became perfect in his part. The +car was raided, one hundred and sixty-five thousand dollars was the +modest spoil, and Pinkerton and his men were gallantly defied. A hasty +trip to Canada still further perplexed the pursuers, and if we may +believe Moore, he not only baffled the great detective, but persuaded +the Express Company to dispute his claim. Moore, in fact, took a +sportsman's as well as an artist's pleasure in the game. After the +discomfiture of his enemies, he loved nothing better than a neat job. He +professes a frank delight in explaining how once upon a time he opened +the Honourable Benjamin Wood's safe, and did not soil his carpet. And +there was good reason for his scruple. No sooner had he flashed his dark +lantern on the office than he observed that the floor was newly covered, +and that fresh paint and paper shone upon the walls. Now he had no +objection to easing the Honourable Benjamin of fifty thousand dollars. +Being a gentleman, he would scorn to spoil a new Brussels carpet. +Accordingly he took some papers from Mr Wood's file and spread them +carefully on the floor. The rest of the dramatic recital shall be given +in his own words: + +When this was done, we drilled two five-eighth-inch holes through the +fire-proof door into the bolt case, jacked the plate from the frame,... +and opened the door. I then put in a wooden wedge at the top to keep +the plate from springing back, took down the jack, and shook out all the +loose filing upon the papers. This I gathered carefully up, and put the +lime, plaster, and papers in the coal-hod, placed some more clean papers +under the door, and made everything ready to leave the building as soon +as the boodle was transferred safe to our pockets. After looking through +the books and papers, the money was taken out and counted. It amounted +to but a single one-dollar note. + +Was ever an artist so bitterly deceived? Langdon W. Moore rose to the +occasion. He was no pilferer, and scorned to carry off so mean a +booty. In the words of the police-captain, he would not add larceny to +burglary. But he paid the penalty of greatness. His work was instantly +recognised. "I know the man," said Captain Jordan, "for there is but one +in the world who would take all that trouble to save your carpet while +breaking open your safe." + +It reminds you of the story told by Pliny of Apelles the painter, who +once upon a time called upon Protogenes, another master of his craft, +when Protogenes was not within. Whereupon Apelles, seeing a picture +before him, took a pencil and drew in colour upon the picture a passing +fine and small line. Then said he to the old woman in the house, "Tell +thy master that he who made this line inquired for him." And when +Protogenes returned, and had looked upon the line, he knew who had been +there, and said withal, "Surely Apelles has come to town, for it is +impossible that any but he should make in colour so fine workmanship." +Thus genius is betrayed by its own perfection, and he who refused to +soil the carpet could not but be recognised by his skill. + +And Langdon W. Moore was forced to pay another and a more grievous +penalty for his renown. As the fame of his prowess spread abroad, he +fell a prey to the greed of detectives. Do what he would, he could never +rid himself of the attentions of the police. Henceforth it was almost +impossible for him to work in safety, and whatever booty he obtained +he must needs share with his unwelcome companions. He was like a fly +condemned to spend his life in the irk-some society of the spider. When +he had not much to give, his poverty was rewarded by years in prison; +and then, as he says himself, he "was welcomed back into the old +criminal life by crooked police officials." These officials had no +desire to help him. "I was not asked by them"--again it is Moore who +speaks--"if I was in want of anything, but was told that if I wanted to +make some money they could put me on to a good bank job where I +could make a million." And, if we may believe the historians, Moore's +experience is not singular. The truth is, the thief-taker still +flourishes in America. Jonathan Wild, his occupation gone in England, +has crossed the ocean, and plies his trade with greater skill and +treachery than ever. He thinks it better to live on the criminal than to +catch him. And thus he becomes a terror not to the evildoer but to the +law-abiding citizen. It is his business to encourage crime, not to +stamp it out. If there were no thieves, where would the stool-pigeon and +detective find their profits? "W'y," said a pickpocket {*} in New York, +"them coppers up there in the Tenderloin couldn't have any diamond rings +if we didn't help to pay for 'em. No, they couldn't. They'd sit down in +the street and actually cry--an' they're big men some of 'em--if we +guns was run off the earth." In other words, the lesson of the American +Underworld is that the policeman may be a far greater danger to the +community than the criminal. Jonathan Wild will always do more harm than +Jack Sheppard. The skill and daring of the cracksman makes him a marked +man. But _quis custodes custodiet?_ + + * See 'The World of Graft,' by J. Flint (1901), p. 154. + + + + +EPILOGUE. + +A traveller visiting a strange land takes for granted the simpler +virtues. He notes with gratitude and without surprise the generous +practice of hospitality. He recognises that the husbandman, patiently +toiling on his farm, _adscriptus glebae_, holds in his toil-worn hands +the destiny of his country. He knows that the excellent work done in +tranquil seclusion by men of letters and scholars will outlast the +braggart achievements of well-advertised millionaires and "prominent" +citizens. Fortunately, such virtues as these are the common inheritance +of all peoples. + +They are not characteristic of this nation or of that. They belong, +like air and sunlight, to the whole civilised world. And it is not by +similarities, but by differences, that the traveller arrives at a clear +picture of a foreign land. Especially in America do the softer shades +and quieter subtleties escape the unaccustomed eye. The swift energies, +the untiring restlessness, the universal haste, obscure the amenities +of life more darkly there than elsewhere. The frank contempt of law and +blood, which receives a daily illustration, must needs take a firmer +hold of the observer than the peaceful tillage of the fields and the +silent acquisition of knowledge. America is unhappy in that she is still +making her history, not one episode of which a vigilant and lupine press +will suffer to go unrecorded. Graft and corruption stalk abroad, +public and unashamed. The concentration of vast wealth in a few pockets +results, on the one hand, in a lowering of the commercial code, on the +other, in a general diffusion of poverty, These are some of the traits +which mark America off from the other nations, and these traits none +with a sense of the picturesque can ever overlook. + +Yet it is not these traits which make the deepest impression upon the +returning traveller. As he leaves the shores of America he forgets for +the moment her love of money and of boodle, he forgets her superb energy +and hunger for life, he forgets the exquisite taste shown by the most +delicately refined of her citizens. He remembers most vividly that he +is saying good-bye to the oldest land on earth. It is an irony of +experience that the inhabitants of the United States are wont to +describe themselves as a young people. They delight to excuse their +extravagances on the ground of youth. When they grow older (they tell +you) they will take another view of politics and of conduct. And the +truth is that old age long ago overtook them. America is not, never +was, young. She sprang, ready-made, from the head of a Pilgrim Father, +the oldest of God's creatures. Being an old man's daughter, she has +escaped the virtues and vices of an irresponsible childhood. In the +primitive history of the land her ancestors took no part. They did not +play with flint-knives and set up dolmens where New York now stands. +They did not adorn themselves with woad and feathers. The Prince Albert +coat (or its equivalent) was always more appropriate to their ambition. +In vain you will search the United States for the signs of youth. +Wherever you cast your eye you will find the signal proofs of an eager, +grasping age. Youth loiters and is glad, listening to the songs of +birds, wondering at the flowers which carpet the meadow, and recking not +of the morrow. America is grave and in a hurry. She is not content to +fleet the time carelessly, as they did in the golden age. The one hope +of her citizens is to get to Wall Street as quickly as possible, that +they may add to their already useless hoard of dollars. For this purpose +they have perfected all those material appliances which increase the +rapidity and ease of life. They would save their labour as strenuously +as they would add to their fortunes. A telephone at every bed-head +has made the toil of letter-writing superfluous. A thousand ingenious +methods of "transportation" have taken away the necessity of walking. +There is no reason why in the years to come hand and foot should +not both be atrophied. But there is nothing young in this sedulous +suppression of toil. Youth is prodigal of time and of itself. Youth +boasts of strength and prowess to do great deeds, not of skill to pile +millions upon millions, a Pelion upon an Ossa of wealth. Nor in the vain +luxury of New York can we detect anything save the signs of age. It is +only in modern America that the mad extravagance of Nero's Rome may +be matched. There the banquet of Trimalchio might be presented without +surprise and without reproach. It differs from what are known as "freak +dinners" only in the superiority of its invention and in the perfection +of its table-talk. + +In brief, the fantastic ambition of a "cottage" at Newport, as of +Trimalchio's villa in Southern Italy, is the ambition, not of primitive, +reckless, pleasure-loving youth, but of an old age, sated and curious, +which hurries to decay. + +Again, it is not a young people which cries aloud "too old at forty!" In +the childhood of the world, the voice of age is the voice of wisdom. +It is for Nestor that Homer claims the profoundest respect, and to-day +America is teaching us, who are only too willing to learn the baneful +lesson, that knowledge and energy die with youth. Once upon a time I met +an American who had returned from his first visit to Europe, and when +I asked what was the vividest impression he brought from thence, he +replied: "I was surprised to see an old man like the German Emperor +doing so much work." In our more youthful eyes the German Emperor has +but crossed the threshold of life. The years of his mature activity lie +before him, we believe, like an untrodden road. But for the American, +prematurely worn out by the weight of time and the stress of affairs, +William II. already hastens to his decline, and clings to the reins of +office with the febrile courage of an old man. + +And all the while America is sublimely unconscious that the joys of +childhood are not hers. Though with the hypochondria of advancing years +she demands a doctor for her soul, she knows not from what disease she +suffers. She does not pray for a Medea to thrust her into a cauldron of +rejuvenescence. With a bluff optimism she declares that she is still the +youngest of the nations, and boasts that when she has grown up to the +height of her courage and activity she will make triumphant even her +bold experiment in democracy. Not upon her has the divine injunction +descended: [Greek phrase]. She who knows so much knows not herself. How +should she, when she is composed of so many and so diverse elements? +And lacking self-knowledge, she lacks humour. With the best will in the +world, she cannot see the things about her in a true proportion. The +blithe atmosphere, clear as crystal, sparkling as champagne, in which +she lives, persuades her to take a too serious and favourable view of +her own character. And let it be remembered that with her optimism she +still treasures the sentimentality of her Puritan ancestors. She is +a true idealist, who loves nothing so dearly as "great thoughts." She +delights in the phrases and aspirations which touch the heart more +nearly than the head. Though her practice does not always square with +her theory, especially in the field of politics, she is indefatigable +in the praise of freedom, equality, and the other commonplaces of +democracy. The worst is, that she cannot laugh at herself. Her gravity +and sensitiveness still lie, like stumbling-blocks, in her path. She +accepts the grim adulation of such unwise citizens as Mr Carnegie as +no more than her due. If only she could dismiss the flattery of her +admirers with an outburst of Gargantuan hilarity, all virtues might be +added unto her. But, as I have said, she lacks this one thing. She is +the home of humourists and no humour. A thousand jesters minister to her +amusement, and she pays them handsomely. More jokes are made within her +borders in a day than suffice the rest of the globe for a year. And the +laughter which they provoke is not spontaneous. You can hear the creak +of the machine as it goes to work. The ever-present jester is a proof +that humour is an exotic, which does not grow naturally on the soil, +and does not belong more intimately to the American people than did the +cumbersome jokes of Archie Armstrong to the monarch who employed him. +The humour which simplifies life, and detects a spice of ridicule even +in the operations of business and politics, is rarely found in America. +Nor is its absence remarkable. The Americans are absorbed from early +youth to ripe old age in the pursuit of success. In whatever path they +walk they are determined to triumph. Sport for them is less an amusement +than a chance to win. When they embark upon business, as the most of +them do, their ambition is insatiable. They are consumed by the passion +of money-making. The hope of victory makes them despise toil and +renounce pleasure. Gladly will they deprive themselves of rest and lead +laborious lives. The battle and its booty are their own reward. +They count their gathered dollars with the same pride wherewith the +conquering general counts his prisoners of war. But the contest marks +their faces with the lines of care, and leaves them beggared of gaiety. +How can they take themselves other than seriously when millions depend +upon their nod? They have bent their energies to one special end and +purpose--the making of money; and in the process, as an American once +said to me, they forget to eat, they forget to live. More obviously +still, they forget to laugh. The comedy of their own career is never +revealed to them. Their very slang displays their purpose: they are "out +for the stuff," and they will not let it escape them. A kind of sanctity +hangs about money. It is not a thing to be taken lightly; it is no +proper subject for a jest. And as money and its quest absorb the best +energies of America, it follows that America is distinguished by a high +seriousness with which Europe is powerless to compete. However far a +profession may be removed from the mart, profit is its end. Brilliant +research, fortunate achievement--these also are means, like buying and +selling. In scholarship, as in commerce, money is still the measure of +success. Dr Muensterberg, a well-known professor at Harvard, has recorded +the opinion of a well-known English scholar, which, with the doctor's +comment, throws a clearer light upon the practice of America than a page +of argument. "America will not have first-class scholarship," said the +Englishman, "in the sense in which Germany or England has it, till every +professor in the leading universities has at least ten thousand dollars +salary, and the best scholars receive twenty-five thousand dollars." Dr +Muensterberg refused at first to accept this conclusion of the pessimist, +but, says he, the years have convinced him. Scholars must be paid +generously in the current coin, or they will not respect their work. +It is not greed, precisely, which drives the American along the road +of money-getting. It is, as I have said, a frank pride in the spoils, +a pride which is the consistent enemy of light-heartedness, and which +speedily drives those whom it possesses into a grave melancholy. + +This, then, is the dominant impression which America gives the +traveller--the impression of a serious old gentleman, whom not even +success will persuade to laugh at his own foibles. And there is another +quality of the land, of which the memory will never fade. America +is apprehensive. She has tentacles strong and far-reaching, like the +tentacles of a cuttle-fish. She seizes the imagination as no other +country seizes it. If you stayed long within her borders, you would be +absorbed into her citizenship and her energies like the enthusiastic +immigrant. + +You would speak her language with a proper emphasis and a becoming +accent. A few weeks passed upon her soil seem to give you the +familiarity of long use and custom. "Have I been here for years?" you +ask after a brief sojourn. "Can it be possible that I have ever lived +anywhere else?" + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of American Sketches, by Charles Whibley + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AMERICAN SKETCHES *** + +***** This file should be named 25786.txt or 25786.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/5/7/8/25786/ + +Produced by David Widger + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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