Alfieri thought Italy and England the only countries worth living in; the former, because there nature vindicates1 her rights, and triumphs over the evils inflicted2 by the governments; the latter, because art conquers nature, and transforms a rude, ungenial land into a paradise of comfort and plenty. England is a garden. Under an ash-colored sky, the fields have been combed and rolled till they appear to have been finished with a pencil instead of a plough. The solidity of the structures that compose the towns speaks the industry of ages. Nothing is left as it was made. Rivers, hills, valleys, the sea itself feel the hand of a master. The long habitation of a powerful and ingenious race has turned every rood of land to its best use, has found all the capabilities3, the arable4 soil, the quarriable rock, the highways, the byways, the fords, the navigable waters; and the new arts of intercourse5 meet you every where; so that England is a huge phalanstery, where all that man wants is provided within the precinct. Cushioned and comforted in every manner, the traveller rides as on a cannon-ball, high and low, over rivers and towns, through mountains, in tunnels of three or four miles, at near twice the speed of our trains; and reads quietly the Times newspaper, which, by its immense correspondence and reporting, seems to have machinized the rest of the world for his occasion.
The problem of the traveller landing at Liverpool is, Why England is England? What are the elements of that power which the English hold over other nations? If there be one test of national genius universally accepted, it is success; and if there be one successful country in the universe for the last millennium6, that country is England.
A wise traveller will naturally choose to visit the best of actual nations; and an American has more reasons than another to draw him to Britain. In all that is done or begun by the Americans towards right thinking or practice, we are met by a civilization already settled and overpowering. The culture of the day, the thoughts and aims of men, are English thoughts and aims. A nation considerable for a thousand years since Egbert, it has, in the last centuries, obtained the ascendant, and stamped the knowledge, activity, and power of mankind with its impress. Those who resist it do not feel it or obey it less. The Russian in his snows is aiming to be English. The Turk and Chinese also are making awkward efforts to be English. The practical common-sense of modern society, the utilitarian7 direction which labor8, laws, opinion, religion take, is the natural genius of the British mind. The influence of France is a constituent9 of modern civility, but not enough opposed to the English for the most wholesome10 effect. The American is only the continuation of the English genius into new conditions, more or less propitious11.
See what books fill our libraries. Every book we read, every biography, play, romance, in whatever form, is still English history and manners. So that a sensible Englishman once said to me, “As long as you do not grant us copyright, we shall have the teaching of you.”
But we have the same difficulty in making a social or moral estimate of England, as the sheriff finds in drawing a jury to try some cause which has agitated12 the whole community, and on which every body finds himself an interested party. Officers, jurors, judges have all taken sides. England has inoculated13 all nations with her civilization, intelligence, and tastes; and, to resist the tyranny and prepossession of the British element, a serious man must aid himself, by comparing with it the civilizations of the farthest east and west, the old Greek, the Oriental, and, much more, the ideal standard, if only by means of the very impatience14 which English forms are sure to awaken15 in independent minds.
Besides, if we will visit London, the present time is the best time, as some signs portend16 that it has reached its highest point. It is observed that the English interest us a little less within a few years; and hence the impression that the British power has culminated17, is in solstice, or already declining.
As soon as you enter England, which, with Wales, is no larger than the State of Georgia, 1 this little land stretches by an illusion to the dimensions of an empire. The innumerable details, the crowded succession of towns, cities, cathedrals, castles, and great and decorated estates, the number and power of the trades and guilds18, the military strength and splendor19, the multitudes of rich and of remarkable20 people, the servants and equipages, — all these catching21 the eye, and never allowing it to pause, hide all boundaries, by the impression of magnificence and endless wealth.
1 Add South Carolina, and you have more than an equivalent for the area of Scotland.
I reply to all the urgencies that refer me to this and that object indispensably to be seen, — Yes, to see England well needs a hundred years; for, what they told me was the merit of Sir John Soane’s Museum, in London, — that it was well packed and well saved, — is the merit of England; — it is stuffed full, in all corners and crevices22, with towns, towers, churches, villas23, palaces, hospitals, and charity-houses. In the history of art, it is a long way from a cromlech to York minster; yet all the intermediate steps may still be traced in this all-preserving island.
The territory has a singular perfection. The climate is warmer by many degrees than it is entitled to by latitude24. Neither hot nor cold, there is no hour in the whole year when one cannot work. Here is no winter, but such days as we have in Massachusetts in November, a temperature which makes no exhausting demand on human strength, but allows the attainment25 of the largest stature26. Charles the Second said, “it invited men abroad more days in the year and more hours in the day than another country.” Then England has all the materials of a working country except wood. The constant rain, — a rain with every tide, in some parts of the island, — keeps its multitude of rivers full, and brings agricultural production up to the highest point. It has plenty of water, of stone, of potter’s clay, of coal, of salt, and of iron. The land naturally abounds27 with game, immense heaths and downs are paved with quails28, grouse29, and woodcock, and the shores are animated30 by water birds. The rivers and the surrounding sea spawn31 with fish; there are salmon32 for the rich, and sprats and herrings for the poor. In the northern lochs, the herring are in innumerable shoals; at one season, the country people say, the lakes contain one part water and two parts fish.
The only drawback on this industrial conveniency, is the darkness of its sky. The night and day are too nearly of a color. It strains the eyes to read and to write. Add the coal smoke. In the manufacturing towns, the fine soot33 or blacks darken the day, give white sheep the color of black sheep, discolor the human saliva34, contaminate the air, poison many plants, and corrode35 the monuments and buildings.
The London fog aggravates36 the distempers of the sky, and sometimes justifies37 the epigram on the climate by an English wit, “in a fine day, looking up a chimney; in a foul38 day, looking down one.” A gentleman in Liverpool told me that he found he could do without a fire in his parlor39 about one day in the year. It is however pretended, that the enormous consumption of coal in the island is also felt in modifying the general climate.
Factitious climate, factitious position. England resembles a ship in its shape, and, if it were one, its best admiral could not have worked it, or anchored it in a more judicious40 or effective position. Sir John Herschel said, “London was the centre of the terrene globe.” The shopkeeping nation, to use a shop word, has a good stand. The old Venetians pleased themselves with the flattery, that Venice was in 45 degrees, midway between the poles and the line; as if that were an imperial centrality. Long of old, the Greeks fancied Delphi the navel of the earth, in their favorite mode of fabling41 the earth to be an animal. The Jews believed Jerusalem to be the centre. I have seen a kratometric chart designed to show that the city of Philadelphia was in the same thermic belt, and, by inference, in the same belt of empire, as the cities of Athens, Rome, and London. It was drawn42 by a patriotic43 Philadelphian, and was examined with pleasure, under his showing, by the inhabitants of Chestnut44 Street. But, when carried to Charleston, to New Orleans, and to Boston, it somehow failed to convince the ingenious scholars of all those capitals.
But England is anchored at the side of Europe, and right in the heart of the modern world. The sea, which, according to Virgil’s famous line, divided the poor Britons utterly45 from the world, proved to be the ring of marriage with all nations. It is not down in the books, — it is written only in the geologic46 strata47, — that fortunate day when a wave of the German Ocean burst the old isthmus48 which joined Kent and Cornwall to France, and gave to this fragment of Europe its impregnable sea wall, cutting off an island of eight hundred miles in length, with an irregular breadth reaching to three hundred miles; a territory large enough for independence enriched with every seed of national power, so near, that it can see the harvests of the continent; and so far, that who would cross the strait must be an expert mariner49, ready for tempests. As America, Europe, and Asia lie, these Britons have precisely50 the best commercial position in the whole planet, and are sure of a market for all the goods they can manufacture. And to make these advantages avail, the River Thames must dig its spacious51 outlet52 to the sea from the heart of the kingdom, giving road and landing to innumerable ships, and all the conveniency to trade, that a people so skilful53 and sufficient in economizing54 water-front by docks, warehouses55, and lighters56 required. When James the First declared his purpose of punishing London by removing his Court, the Lord Mayor replied, “that, in removing his royal presence from his lieges, they hoped he would leave them the Thames.”
In the variety of surface, Britain is a miniature of Europe, having plain, forest, marsh57, river, sea-shore; mines in Cornwall; caves in Matlock and Derbyshire; delicious landscape in Dovedale, delicious sea-view at Tor Bay, Highlands in Scotland, Snowdon in Wales; and, in Westmoreland and Cumberland, a pocket Switzerland, in which the lakes and mountains are on a sufficient scale to fill the eye and touch the imagination. It is a nation conveniently small. Fontenelle thought, that nature had sometimes a little affectation; and there is such an artificial completeness in this nation of artificers, as if there were a design from the beginning to elaborate a bigger Birmingham. Nature held counsel with herself, and said, ‘My Romans are gone. To build my new empire, I will choose a rude race, all masculine, with brutish strength. I will not grudge58 a competition of the roughest males. Let buffalo59 gore60 buffalo, and the pasture to the strongest! For I have work that requires the best will and sinew. Sharp and temperate61 northern breezes shall blow, to keep that will alive and alert. The sea shall disjoin the people from others, and knit them to a fierce nationality. It shall give them markets on every side. Long time I will keep them on their feet, by poverty, border-wars, seafaring, sea-risks, and the stimulus62 of gain. An island, — but not so large, the people not so many as to glut63 the great markets and depress one another, but proportioned to the size of Europe and the continents.’
With its fruits, and wares64, and money, must its civil influence radiate. It is a singular coincidence to this geographic65 centrality, the spiritual centrality, which Emanuel Swedenborg ascribes to the people. “For the English nation, the best of them are in the centre of all Christians66, because they have interior intellectual light. This appears conspicuously67 in the spiritual world. This light they derive68 from the liberty of speaking and writing, and thereby69 of thinking.”
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vindicates
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| n.澄清（某人/某事物）受到的责难或嫌疑( vindicate的名词复数 )；表明或证明（所争辩的事物）属实、正当、有效等；维护v.澄清（某人/某事物）受到的责难或嫌疑( vindicate的第三人称单数 )；表明或证明（所争辩的事物）属实、正当、有效等；维护 | |
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inflicted
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| 把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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capabilities
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| n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力 | |
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arable
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| adj.可耕的，适合种植的 | |
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intercourse
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| n.性交；交流，交往，交际 | |
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millennium
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| n.一千年，千禧年；太平盛世 | |
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utilitarian
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| adj.实用的，功利的 | |
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labor
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| n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦 | |
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constituent
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| n.选民；成分，组分；adj.组成的，构成的 | |
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wholesome
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| adj.适合；卫生的；有益健康的；显示身心健康的 | |
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propitious
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| adj.吉利的；顺利的 | |
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agitated
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| adj.被鼓动的，不安的 | |
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inoculated
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| v.给…做预防注射( inoculate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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impatience
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| n.不耐烦，急躁 | |
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awaken
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| vi.醒，觉醒；vt.唤醒，使觉醒，唤起，激起 | |
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portend
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| v.预兆，预示；给…以警告 | |
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culminated
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| v.达到极点( culminate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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guilds
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| 行会，同业公会，协会( guild的名词复数 ) | |
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splendor
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| n.光彩；壮丽，华丽；显赫，辉煌 | |
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remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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catching
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| adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住 | |
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crevices
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| n.（尤指岩石的）裂缝，缺口( crevice的名词复数 ) | |
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villas
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| 别墅，公馆( villa的名词复数 )； （城郊）住宅 | |
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latitude
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| n.纬度，行动或言论的自由(范围)，(pl.)地区 | |
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attainment
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| n.达到，到达；［常pl.］成就，造诣 | |
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stature
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| n.（高度）水平，（高度）境界，身高，身材 | |
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abounds
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| v.大量存在，充满，富于( abound的第三人称单数 ) | |
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quails
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| 鹌鹑( quail的名词复数 )； 鹌鹑肉 | |
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grouse
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| n.松鸡；v.牢骚，诉苦 | |
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animated
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| adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的 | |
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spawn
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| n.卵，产物，后代，结果；vt.产卵，种菌丝于，产生，造成；vi.产卵，大量生产 | |
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salmon
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| n.鲑，大马哈鱼，橙红色的 | |
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soot
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| n.煤烟，烟尘；vt.熏以煤烟 | |
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saliva
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| n.唾液，口水 | |
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corrode
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| v.使腐蚀，侵蚀，破害；v.腐蚀，被侵蚀 | |
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aggravates
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| 使恶化( aggravate的第三人称单数 )； 使更严重； 激怒； 使恼火 | |
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justifies
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| 证明…有理( justify的第三人称单数 )； 为…辩护； 对…作出解释； 为…辩解（或辩护） | |
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foul
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| adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规 | |
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parlor
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| n.店铺，营业室；会客室，客厅 | |
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judicious
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| adj.明智的，明断的，能作出明智决定的 | |
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fabling
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| v.讲故事，编寓言（fable的现在分词形式） | |
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drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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patriotic
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| adj.爱国的，有爱国心的 | |
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chestnut
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| n.栗树，栗子 | |
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utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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geologic
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| adj.地质的 | |
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strata
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| n.地层（复数）；社会阶层 | |
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isthmus
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| n.地峡 | |
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49
mariner
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| n.水手号不载人航天探测器，海员，航海者 | |
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precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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spacious
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| adj.广阔的，宽敞的 | |
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outlet
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| n.出口/路；销路；批发商店；通风口；发泄 | |
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skilful
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| (=skillful)adj.灵巧的，熟练的 | |
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economizing
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| v.节省，减少开支( economize的现在分词 ) | |
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warehouses
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| 仓库，货栈( warehouse的名词复数 ) | |
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lighters
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| n.打火机，点火器( lighter的名词复数 ) | |
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marsh
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| n.沼泽，湿地 | |
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grudge
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| n.不满，怨恨，妒嫉；vt.勉强给，不情愿做 | |
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buffalo
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| n.(北美)野牛；(亚洲)水牛 | |
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gore
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| n.凝血，血污；v.（动物）用角撞伤，用牙刺破；缝以补裆；顶 | |
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temperate
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| adj.温和的，温带的，自我克制的，不过分的 | |
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stimulus
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| n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物 | |
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glut
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| n.存货过多，供过于求；v.狼吞虎咽 | |
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wares
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| n. 货物, 商品 | |
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geographic
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| adj.地理学的，地理的 | |
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Christians
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| n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 ) | |
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conspicuously
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| ad.明显地，惹人注目地 | |
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derive
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| v.取得；导出；引申；来自；源自；出自 | |
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thereby
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| adv.因此，从而 | |
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