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CHAPTER XII Verdict
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Before I leave the jury of potent1, grave and reverend Britishers to their own reflections on the subject before them, it may be well to indulge in a little summing-up.

I have shown that the fiery2, untameable American is a creature of more than doubtful antecedents, and that he conceals3 beneath a veneer4 of smartness and originality5 several qualities of mind and heart that are not greatly to his credit. I have shown that his destiny would seem to lie in the direction of a reversion to a condition of pseudo-barbarism which will in many respects identify him with the aboriginal6 possessors of his country. Already the face, features and body of him are becoming plainly Red-Indianised. Already his talk contains hints and suggestions of “war-paint,” the “war-path,” the “tomahawk” and the getting of “scalps.” If I mistake not the rest is bound soon to follow.

I have shown also that the American woman, in so far as she is exhibited to us in London, and on the Continent of Europe, is a somewhat frivolous7 female, and not always comely8; smart, possibly,[110] and lively, possibly, but on the whole disposed to be too smart and too lively. I have given you a peep at the American millionaire, and found him wanting in everything but money, and not invariably too well provided with that. I have pointed9 out that American advertising10, whether for the sake of gain or of notoriety, is a shameless, blatant11 and undesirable12 affair. For the first time in history I have set it on record that the Americans eat too many pea-nuts. I have run the rule over their painful attempts at the dramatic art, and proved that in this important connection they have been responsible for many banalities and futilities, and that their average of performance is far below that of the rest of the theatre-using world. I have demonstrated, also, that their real metier is the giddy tenth-rate circus, ablast with drums and the roaring of wild beasts, the snuffling of freaks, and the shrieking13 mirth of the vulgar. I have paid a passing tribute to the integrity and blamelessness of their sportsmen. And I have warned them solemnly about pork. What more can be expected of me?

It is more than likely that I shall be told that I have chosen for the subject of my remarks a rather stodgy14 type of American, which is rapidly giving place[111] to a saner15, wholesomer, and pleasanter type, resulting from the spread of culture and a modification16 of manners on the best European plans. To this I reply that I have spoken of the American exactly as he seems to me to be, and judged him on the numerous samples which have hitherto come my way. That there must be some residuum of sound and serious people in the United States seems probable, but I have never been to the United States.

Can anyone point to anything in the world that America is accomplishing which is purely17 and simply calculated to serve the highest interests of the human race? Can you look upon her trusts, her general methods of finance, her social and industrial system, her bosses, her political parties, the administration of her law, her press, her religious mountebanks, her quacks18 and charlatans19 of all conditions, and pronounce them to be good? Is it not the fact that these, in common with pretty well the whole of the remainder of her institutions, are not only defective20, but a great deal more defective than one’s right to expect in view of the exceptional natural resources of the country and her great energy and wealth?

You are at liberty to answer these questions in any way you please; but[112] the conviction of myself and a by no means inconsiderable number of other persons will remain the same.

It is clear that if the Americans are going to take that exalted21 position among the nations to which they are for ever laying claim, they will be compelled to get rid of a great many excrescences of temperament22 which they seem now only too busy developing and emphasising by every means in their power.

Is it possible for them, in the nature of things, so to disencumber themselves?

Will they ever become a really free country, dethrone the millionaire and the boss and acknowledge honesty as a political virtue23?

Will they ever put silencers on the yellow press and elect a congressional committee to examine the gangrenous decay of their wit and the dropsical growth of their emotions?

Will they ever make a point of keeping their women at home and give practical proof of their pride in the peaches by marrying them themselves?

Will they ever learn the English language which was the best thing imported in the “Mayflower”?

Will they ever get rid of the climatic influences that compel them to speak and sing through their noses?

[113]

Will they ever quote their astounding24 President at anything but a discount or realise that he is their greatest national asset?

Will they ever place a prohibitive tariff25 on noise and lynch sensation-mongers as they do niggers?

Will their playwrights26 ever learn the difference between a phonograph record and a play and will their audiences ever learn to appreciate acting27 when they see it?

Will they ever discover that sport is not merely a business of record breaking and that business and football, I class the two together, are not the sports of the stone age in which the vanquished28 was not only overthrown29 but subsequently utterly30 consumed?

Will they ever give up pea-nuts?

Will they ever cease from the blind cultivation31 of pork?

I trow not.

And as these chapters are intended a great deal more for the English than for the Americans, I may say here and now that it is the Englishman’s plain duty to himself and to the race to refrain as far as in him lies from the easy sin of imitation. In his admiration32 and envy for the magical and almost uncanny successes of his American brother, let him not be[114] carried away with the stupid notion that it is possible for him to go forth33 and do likewise. For one thing, he hasn’t got the climate; and for another he hasn’t got either the pea-nuts or the pork.

Let the Englishman, therefore, be content to remain unreservedly and unsophisticatedly English. When he sees an American adaptation or invasion—whether commercial, social, religious, or otherwise—coming his way, let him frown it down, pass by it and flee from it. Such things may seem simple and innocuous and desirable enough in themselves, they may tickle34 the imagination, and they may even appear to be for the distinct betterment of mankind. But in the aggregate35 they must of necessity tend to the Americanisation of this Country—and that is an evil which every Britisher ought to be prepared to make any sacrifice to avoid.

If any profit worth having is to come out of the present welter it will come by the Anglicisation of America, and not by the Americanisation of England. The Americans themselves recognise the weight and importance of this fact. Some of them are already wearing eye-glasses. They smile in their sleeves at our readiness to adopt the least admirable of their multifarious foolish ways. When an American meets an Englishman who is[115] trying to run his business or his household or other of his affairs after American models, and particularly when he meets an Englishman who looks upon the Americans as his superiors and masters at the game of life, he is sheerly, if unavowedly, amazed. He knows what America is, he knows in his heart what America means, and if it lay in his power to choose the place to which he will go when he dies, that place would not be Chicago, nor would it be even Paris, but a clean, free, un-Americanised England.

But with all their usually enormous and often brilliant faults—that amaze, even if they do not stagger humanity—the Americans are a nation of C?sars. In every field of activity they have scored many triumphs. But they are not satisfied with acquisition and conquest on a colossal36 scale, they want to surpass all previous records in ancient or modern times. They are endowed with an inherent genius for arriving at their destination, and the destination they have set down for themselves in the national time-table is one in keeping with their vast and great country, whose mission it seems to be to make Europe and the world sit-up. Therefore, within the next decade or two, I should not be surprised to see[116] a very much larger splash of purple on the map of the earth—and to see it called the American Empire.

The End

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1 potent C1uzk     
adj.强有力的,有权势的;有效力的
参考例句:
  • The medicine had a potent effect on your disease.这药物对你的病疗效很大。
  • We must account of his potent influence.我们必须考虑他的强有力的影响。
2 fiery ElEye     
adj.燃烧着的,火红的;暴躁的;激烈的
参考例句:
  • She has fiery red hair.她有一头火红的头发。
  • His fiery speech agitated the crowd.他热情洋溢的讲话激动了群众。
3 conceals fa59c6f4c4bde9a732332b174939af02     
v.隐藏,隐瞒,遮住( conceal的第三人称单数 )
参考例句:
  • He conceals his worries behind a mask of nonchalance. 他装作若无其事,借以掩饰内心的不安。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Drunkenness reveals what soberness conceals. 酒醉吐真言。 来自《简明英汉词典》
4 veneer eLczw     
n.(墙上的)饰面,虚饰
参考例句:
  • For the first time her veneer of politeness began to crack.她温文尔雅的外表第一次露出破绽。
  • The panel had a veneer of gold and ivory.这木板上面镶饰了一层金和象牙。
5 originality JJJxm     
n.创造力,独创性;新颖
参考例句:
  • The name of the game in pop music is originality.流行音乐的本质是独创性。
  • He displayed an originality amounting almost to genius.他显示出近乎天才的创造性。
6 aboriginal 1IeyD     
adj.(指动植物)土生的,原产地的,土著的
参考例句:
  • They managed to wipe out the entire aboriginal population.他们终于把那些土著人全部消灭了。
  • The lndians are the aboriginal Americans.印第安人是美国的土著人。
7 frivolous YfWzi     
adj.轻薄的;轻率的
参考例句:
  • This is a frivolous way of attacking the problem.这是一种轻率敷衍的处理问题的方式。
  • He spent a lot of his money on frivolous things.他在一些无聊的事上花了好多钱。
8 comely GWeyX     
adj.漂亮的,合宜的
参考例句:
  • His wife is a comely young woman.他的妻子是一个美丽的少妇。
  • A nervous,comely-dressed little girl stepped out.一个紧张不安、衣着漂亮的小姑娘站了出来。
9 pointed Il8zB4     
adj.尖的,直截了当的
参考例句:
  • He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
  • She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。
10 advertising 1zjzi3     
n.广告业;广告活动 a.广告的;广告业务的
参考例句:
  • Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
  • The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。
11 blatant ENCzP     
adj.厚颜无耻的;显眼的;炫耀的
参考例句:
  • I cannot believe that so blatant a comedy can hoodwink anybody.我无法相信这么显眼的一出喜剧能够欺骗谁。
  • His treatment of his secretary was a blatant example of managerial arrogance.他管理的傲慢作风在他对待秘书的态度上表露无遗。
12 undesirable zp0yb     
adj.不受欢迎的,不良的,不合意的,讨厌的;n.不受欢迎的人,不良分子
参考例句:
  • They are the undesirable elements among the employees.他们是雇员中的不良分子。
  • Certain chemicals can induce undesirable changes in the nervous system.有些化学物质能在神经系统中引起不良变化。
13 shrieking abc59c5a22d7db02751db32b27b25dbb     
v.尖叫( shriek的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • The boxers were goaded on by the shrieking crowd. 拳击运动员听见观众的喊叫就来劲儿了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • They were all shrieking with laughter. 他们都发出了尖锐的笑声。 来自《简明英汉词典》
14 stodgy 4rsyU     
adj.易饱的;笨重的;滞涩的;古板的
参考例句:
  • It wasn't easy to lose puppy fat when Mum fed her on stodgy home cooking.母亲给她吃易饱的家常菜,她想减掉婴儿肥可是很难。
  • The gateman was a stodgy fellow of 60.看门人是个六十岁的矮胖子。
15 saner 3d0ae5c6cab45f094fb6af1ae9c6423f     
adj.心智健全的( sane的比较级 );神志正常的;明智的;稳健的
参考例句:
  • He seemed wiser than Hurstwood, saner and brighter than Drouet. 他看上去比赫斯渥明智,比杜洛埃稳舰聪明。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
  • Such brooding didn't make him any saner. 然而,苦思冥想并没有使他头脑清醒。 来自辞典例句
16 modification tEZxm     
n.修改,改进,缓和,减轻
参考例句:
  • The law,in its present form,is unjust;it needs modification.现行的法律是不公正的,它需要修改。
  • The design requires considerable modification.这个设计需要作大的修改。
17 purely 8Sqxf     
adv.纯粹地,完全地
参考例句:
  • I helped him purely and simply out of friendship.我帮他纯粹是出于友情。
  • This disproves the theory that children are purely imitative.这证明认为儿童只会单纯地模仿的理论是站不住脚的。
18 quacks fcca4a6d22cfeec960c2f34f653fe3d7     
abbr.quacksalvers 庸医,骗子(16世纪习惯用水银或汞治疗梅毒的人)n.江湖医生( quack的名词复数 );江湖郎中;(鸭子的)呱呱声v.(鸭子)发出嘎嘎声( quack的第三人称单数 )
参考例句:
  • I went everywhere for treatment, tried all sorts of quacks. 我四处求医,看过了各种各样的江湖郎中。 来自辞典例句
  • Hard-working medical men may come to be almost as mischievous as quacks. 辛勤工作的医生可能变成江湖郎中那样的骗子。 来自辞典例句
19 charlatans 40f5bd38794ed2a8d8a955d9fc64196f     
n.冒充内行者,骗子( charlatan的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • There are lots of phonies and charlatans in the financial newsletter business. 干金融通讯这一行的人中间不乏骗子和吹牛大王。 来自辞典例句
  • But wicked people and charlatans will go from bad to worse, deceivers and deceived. 但是恶人和行诈术的人却越来越坏,他们迷惑人,也必受人迷惑。 来自互联网
20 defective qnLzZ     
adj.有毛病的,有问题的,有瑕疵的
参考例句:
  • The firm had received bad publicity over a defective product. 该公司因为一件次品而受到媒体攻击。
  • If the goods prove defective, the customer has the right to compensation. 如果货品证明有缺陷, 顾客有权索赔。
21 exalted ztiz6f     
adj.(地位等)高的,崇高的;尊贵的,高尚的
参考例句:
  • Their loveliness and holiness in accordance with their exalted station.他们的美丽和圣洁也与他们的崇高地位相称。
  • He received respect because he was a person of exalted rank.他因为是个地位崇高的人而受到尊敬。
22 temperament 7INzf     
n.气质,性格,性情
参考例句:
  • The analysis of what kind of temperament you possess is vital.分析一下你有什么样的气质是十分重要的。
  • Success often depends on temperament.成功常常取决于一个人的性格。
23 virtue BpqyH     
n.德行,美德;贞操;优点;功效,效力
参考例句:
  • He was considered to be a paragon of virtue.他被认为是品德尽善尽美的典范。
  • You need to decorate your mind with virtue.你应该用德行美化心灵。
24 astounding QyKzns     
adj.使人震惊的vt.使震惊,使大吃一惊astound的现在分词)
参考例句:
  • There was an astounding 20% increase in sales. 销售量惊人地增加了20%。
  • The Chairman's remarks were so astounding that the audience listened to him with bated breath. 主席说的话令人吃惊,所以听众都屏息听他说。 来自《简明英汉词典》
25 tariff mqwwG     
n.关税,税率;(旅馆、饭店等)价目表,收费表
参考例句:
  • There is a very high tariff on jewelry.宝石类的关税率很高。
  • The government is going to lower the tariff on importing cars.政府打算降低进口汽车的关税。
26 playwrights 96168871b12dbe69e6654e19d58164e8     
n.剧作家( playwright的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • We're studying dramatic texts by sixteenth century playwrights. 我们正在研究16 世纪戏剧作家的戏剧文本。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Hung-chien asked who the playwrights were. 鸿渐问谁写的剧本。 来自汉英文学 - 围城
27 acting czRzoc     
n.演戏,行为,假装;adj.代理的,临时的,演出用的
参考例句:
  • Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她,她只是假装的。
  • During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代,她的表演生涯黯然失色。
28 vanquished 3ee1261b79910819d117f8022636243f     
v.征服( vanquish的过去式和过去分词 );战胜;克服;抑制
参考例句:
  • She had fought many battles, vanquished many foes. 她身经百战,挫败过很多对手。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • I vanquished her coldness with my assiduity. 我对她关心照顾从而消除了她的冷淡。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
29 overthrown 1e19c245f384e53a42f4faa000742c18     
adj. 打翻的,推倒的,倾覆的 动词overthrow的过去分词
参考例句:
  • The president was overthrown in a military coup. 总统在军事政变中被赶下台。
  • He has overthrown the basic standards of morality. 他已摒弃了基本的道德标准。
30 utterly ZfpzM1     
adv.完全地,绝对地
参考例句:
  • Utterly devoted to the people,he gave his life in saving his patients.他忠于人民,把毕生精力用于挽救患者的生命。
  • I was utterly ravished by the way she smiled.她的微笑使我完全陶醉了。
31 cultivation cnfzl     
n.耕作,培养,栽培(法),养成
参考例句:
  • The cultivation in good taste is our main objective.培养高雅情趣是我们的主要目标。
  • The land is not fertile enough to repay cultivation.这块土地不够肥沃,不值得耕种。
32 admiration afpyA     
n.钦佩,赞美,羡慕
参考例句:
  • He was lost in admiration of the beauty of the scene.他对风景之美赞不绝口。
  • We have a great admiration for the gold medalists.我们对金牌获得者极为敬佩。
33 forth Hzdz2     
adv.向前;向外,往外
参考例句:
  • The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
  • He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。
34 tickle 2Jkzz     
v.搔痒,胳肢;使高兴;发痒;n.搔痒,发痒
参考例句:
  • Wilson was feeling restless. There was a tickle in his throat.威尔逊只觉得心神不定。嗓子眼里有些发痒。
  • I am tickle pink at the news.听到这消息我高兴得要命。
35 aggregate cKOyE     
adj.总计的,集合的;n.总数;v.合计;集合
参考例句:
  • The football team had a low goal aggregate last season.这支足球队上个赛季的进球总数很少。
  • The money collected will aggregate a thousand dollars.进帐总额将达一千美元。
36 colossal sbwyJ     
adj.异常的,庞大的
参考例句:
  • There has been a colossal waste of public money.一直存在巨大的公款浪费。
  • Some of the tall buildings in that city are colossal.那座城市里的一些高层建筑很庞大。


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