The teutonic tribes have a national singleness of heart, which contrasts wit races. The German name has a proverbial significance of sincerity1 and honest meaning. The arts bear testimony2 to it. The faces of clergy3 and laity4 in old sculptures and illuminated5 missals are charged with earnest belief. Add to this hereditary6 rectitude, the punctuality and precise dealing7 which commerce creates, and you have the English truth and credit. The government strictly8 performs its engagements. The subjects do not understand trifling9 on its part. When any breach10 of promise occurred, in the old days of prerogative11, it was resented by the people as an intolerable grievance12. And, in modern times, any slipperiness in the government in political faith, or any repudiation13 or crookedness14 in matters of finance, would bring the whole nation to a committee of inquiry15 and reform. Private men keep their promises, never so trivial. Down goes the flying word on the tablets, and is indelible as Domesday Book.
Their practical power rests on their national sincerity. Veracity16 derives17 from instinct, and marks superiority in organization. Nature has endowed some animals with cunning, as a compensation for strength withheld18; but it has provoked the malice19 of all others, as if avengers of public wrong. In the nobler kinds, where strength could be afforded, her races are loyal to truth, as truth is the foundation of the social state. Beasts that make no truce20 with man, do not break faith with each other. ‘Tis said, that the wolf, who makes a cache of his prey21, and brings his fellows with him to the spot, if, on digging, it is not found, is instantly and unresistingly torn in pieces. English veracity seems to result on a sounder animal structure, as if they could afford it. They are blunt in saying what they think, sparing of promises, and they require plaindealing of others. We will not have to do with a man in a mask. Let us know the truth. Draw a straight line, hit whom and where it will. Alfred, whom the affection of the nation makes the type of their race, is called by his friend Asser, the truth-speaker; Alueredus veridicus. Geoffrey of Monmouth says of King Aurelius, uncle of Arthur, that “above all things he hated a lie.” The Northman Guttorm said to King Olaf, “it is royal work to fulfil royal words.” The mottoes of their families are monitory proverbs, as, Fare fac, — Say, do, — of the Fairfaxes; Say and seal, of the house of Fiennes; Vero nil22 verius, of the DeVeres. To be king of their word, is their pride. When they unmask cant23, they say, “the English of this is,” &c.; and to give the lie is the extreme insult. The phrase of the lowest of the people is “honor-bright,” and their vulgar praise, “his word is as good as his bond.” They hate shuffling24 and equivocation25, and the cause is damaged in the public opinion, on which any paltering can be fixed26. Even Lord Chesterfield, with his French breeding, when he came to define a gentleman, declared that truth made his distinction: and nothing ever spoken by him would find so hearty27 a suffrage28 from his nation. The Duke of Wellington, who had the best right to say so, advises the French General Kellermann, that he may rely on the parole of an English officer. The English, of all classes, value themselves on this trait, as distinguishing them from the French, who, in the popular belief, are more polite than true. An Englishman understates, avoids the superlative, checks himself in compliments, alleging29, that in the French language, one cannot speak without lying.
They love reality in wealth, power, hospitality, and do not easily learn to make a show, and take the world as it goes. They are not fond of ornaments30, and if they wear them, they must be gems31. They read gladly in old Fuller, that a lady, in the reign32 of Elizabeth, “would have as patiently digested a lie, as the wearing of false stones or pendants of counterfeit33 pearl.” They have the earth-hunger, or preference for property in land, which is said to mark the Teutonic nations. They build of stone: public and private buildings are massive and durable34: In comparing their ships’ houses, and public offices with the American, it is commonly said, that they spend a pound, where we spend a dollar. Plain rich clothes, plain rich equipage, plain rich finish throughout their house and belongings35, mark the English truth.
They confide36 in each other, — English believes in English The French feel the superiority of this probity37. The Englishman is not springing a trap for his admiration38, but is honestly minding his business. The Frenchman is vain. Madame de Stael says, that the English irritated Napoleon, mainly, because they have found out how to unite success with honesty. She was not aware how wide an application her foreign readers would give to the remark. Wellington discovered the ruin of Bonaparte’s affairs, by his own probity. He augured39 ill of the empire, as soon as he saw that it was mendacious40, and lived by war. If war do not bring in its sequel new trade, better agriculture and manufactures, but only games, fireworks, and spectacles, — no prosperity could support it; much less, a nation decimated for conscripts, and out of pocket, like France. So he drudged for years on his military works at Lisbon, and from this base at last extended his gigantic lines to Waterloo, believing in his countrymen and their syllogisms above all the rhodomontade of Europe.
At a St. George’s festival, in Montreal, where I happened to be a guest, since my return home, I observed that the chairman complimented his compatriots, by saying, “they confided41 that wherever they met an Englishman, they found a man who would speak the truth.” And one cannot think this festival fruitless, if, all over the world, on the 23d of April, wherever two or three English are found, they meet to encourage each other in the nationality of veracity.
In the power of saying rude truth, sometimes in the lion’s mouth, no men surpass them. On the king’s birthday, when each bishop42 was expected to offer the king a purse of gold, Latimer gave Henry VIII. a copy of the Vulgate, with a mark at the passage, “Whoremongers and adulterers God will judge;” and they so honor stoutness43 in each other, that the king passed it over. They are tenacious44 of their belief, and cannot easily change their opinions to suit the hour. They are like ships with too much head on to come quickly about, nor will prosperity or even adversity be allowed to shake their habitual45 view of conduct. Whilst I was in London, M. Guizot arrived there on his escape from Paris, in February, 1848. Many private friends called on him. His name was immediately proposed as an honorary member of the Athenaeum. M. Guizot was blackballed. Certainly, they knew the distinction of his name. But the Englishman is not fickle46. He had really made up his mind, now for years as he read his newspaper, to hate and despise M. Guizot; and the altered position of the man as an illustrious exile, and a guest in the country, make no difference to him, as they would instantly, to an American.
They require the same adherence47, thorough conviction and reality in public men. It is the want of character which makes the low reputation of the Irish members. “See them,” they said, “one hundred and twenty-seven all voting like sheep, never proposing any thing, and all but four voting the income tax,” — which was an ill-judged concession48 of the Government, relieving Irish property from the burdens charged on English.
They have a horror of adventurers in or out of Parliament. The ruling passion of Englishmen, in these days, is, a terror of humbug49. In the same proportion, they value honesty, stoutness, and adherence to your own. They like a man committed to his objects. They hate the French, as frivolous50; they hate the Irish, as aimless; they hate the Germans, as professors. In February, 1848, they said, Look, the French king and his party fell for want of a shot; they had not conscience to shoot, so entirely51 was the pith and heart of monarchy52 eaten out.
They attack their own politicians every day, on the same grounds, as adventurers. They love stoutness in standing53 for your right, in declining money or promotion54 that costs any concession. The barrister refuses the silk gown of Queen’s Counsel, if his junior have it one day earlier. Lord Collingwood would not accept his medal for victory on 14th February, 1797, if he did not receive one for victory on 1st June, 1794; and the long withholden medal was accorded. When Castlereagh dissuaded55 Lord Wellington from going to the king’s levee, until the unpopular Cintra business had been explained, he replied, “You furnish me a reason for going. I will go to this, or I will never go to a king’s levee.” The radical56 mob at Oxford57 cried after the tory lord Eldon, “There’s old Eldon; cheer him; he never ratted.” They have given the parliamentary nickname of Trimmers to the timeservers, whom English character does not love. 8
8 It is an unlucky moment to remember these sparkles of solitary58 virtue59 in the face of the honors lately paid in England to the Emperor Louis Napoleon. I am sure that no Englishman whom I had the happiness to know, consented, when the aristocracy and the commons of London cringed like a Neapolitan rabble60, before a successful thief. But — how to resist one step, though odious61, in a linked series of state necessities? — Governments must always learn too late, that the use of dishonest agents is as ruinous for nations as for single men.
They are very liable in their politics to extraordinary delusions62, thus, to believe what stands recorded in the gravest books, that the movement of 10 April, 1848, was urged or assisted by foreigners: which, to be sure, is paralleled by the democratic whimsy63 in this country, which I have noticed to be shared by men sane64 on other points, that the English are at the bottom of the agitation65 of slavery, in American politics: and then again to the French popular legends on the subject of perfidious66 Albion. But suspicion will make fools of nations as of citizens.
A slow temperament67 makes them less rapid and ready than other countrymen, and has given occasion to the observation, that English wit comes afterwards, — which the French denote as esprit d’escalier. This dulness makes their attachment68 to home, and their adherence in all foreign countries to home habits. The Englishman who visits Mount Etna, will carry his teakettle to the top. The old Italian author of the “Relation of England” (in 1500), says, “I have it on the best information, that, when the war is actually raging most furiously, they will seek for good eating, and all their other comforts, without thinking what harm might befall them.” Then their eyes seem to be set at the bottom of a tunnel, and they affirm the one small fact they know, with the best faith in the world that nothing else exists. And, as their own belief in guineas is perfect, they readily, on all occasions, apply the pecuniary69 argument as final. Thus when the Rochester rappings began to be heard of in England, a man deposited 100 pounds in a sealed box in the Dublin Bank, and then advertised in the newspapers to all somnambulists, mesmerizers, and others, that whoever could tell him the number of his note, should have the money. He let it lie there six months, the newspapers now and then, at his instance, stimulating70 the attention of the adepts71; but none could ever tell him; and he said, “now let me never be bothered more with this proven lie.” It is told of a good Sir John, that he heard a case stated by counsel, and made up his mind; then the counsel for the other side taking their turn to speak, he found himself so unsettled and perplexed72, that he exclaimed, “So help me God! I will never listen to evidence again.” Any number of delightful73 examples of this English stolidity74 are the anecdotes75 of Europe. I knew a very worthy76 man, — a magistrate77, I believe he was, in the town of Derby, — who went to the opera, to see Malibran. In one scene, the heroine was to rush across a ruined bridge. Mr. B. arose, and mildly yet firmly called the attention of the audience and the performers to the fact, that, in his judgment78, the bridge was unsafe! This English stolidity contrasts with French wit and tact79. The French, it is commonly said, have greatly more influence in Europe than the English. What influence the English have is by brute80 force of wealth and power; that of the French by affinity81 and talent. The Italian is subtle, the Spaniard treacherous82: tortures, it was said, could never wrest83 from an Egyptian the confession84 of a secret. None of these traits belong to the Englishman. His choler and conceit85 force every thing out. Defoe, who knew his countrymen well, says of them,
“In close intrigue86, their faculty’s but weak,
For generally whate’er they know, they speak,
And often their own counsels undermine
By mere87 infirmity without design;
From whence, the learned say, it doth proceed,
That English treasons never can succeed;
For they’re so open-hearted, you may know
Their own most secret thoughts, and others’ too.”
收听单词发音 |
1
sincerity
|
|
| n.真诚，诚意；真实 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
testimony
|
|
| n.证词；见证，证明 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
clergy
|
|
| n.[总称]牧师，神职人员 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
laity
|
|
| n.俗人；门外汉 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
illuminated
|
|
| adj.被照明的；受启迪的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
hereditary
|
|
| adj.遗传的，遗传性的，可继承的，世袭的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
dealing
|
|
| n.经商方法，待人态度 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
strictly
|
|
| adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
trifling
|
|
| adj.微不足道的；没什么价值的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
breach
|
|
| n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
prerogative
|
|
| n.特权 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
grievance
|
|
| n.怨愤，气恼，委屈 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
repudiation
|
|
| n.拒绝；否认；断绝关系；抛弃 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
crookedness
|
|
| [医]弯曲 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
inquiry
|
|
| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
veracity
|
|
| n.诚实 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
derives
|
|
| v.得到( derive的第三人称单数 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
withheld
|
|
| withhold过去式及过去分词 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
malice
|
|
| n.恶意，怨恨，蓄意；[律]预谋 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
truce
|
|
| n.休战，(争执，烦恼等的)缓和；v.以停战结束 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
prey
|
|
| n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
nil
|
|
| n.无，全无，零 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
cant
|
|
| n.斜穿，黑话，猛扔 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
shuffling
|
|
| adj. 慢慢移动的, 滑移的 动词shuffle的现在分词形式 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
equivocation
|
|
| n.模棱两可的话，含糊话 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
fixed
|
|
| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
hearty
|
|
| adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
suffrage
|
|
| n.投票，选举权，参政权 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
alleging
|
|
| 断言，宣称，辩解( allege的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
ornaments
|
|
| n.装饰( ornament的名词复数 )；点缀；装饰品；首饰v.装饰，点缀，美化( ornament的第三人称单数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
gems
|
|
| growth； economy； management； and customer satisfaction 增长 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
reign
|
|
| n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
counterfeit
|
|
| vt.伪造，仿造；adj.伪造的，假冒的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
durable
|
|
| adj.持久的，耐久的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
belongings
|
|
| n.私人物品，私人财物 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
confide
|
|
| v.向某人吐露秘密 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
probity
|
|
| n.刚直；廉洁，正直 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
admiration
|
|
| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
augured
|
|
| v.预示，预兆，预言( augur的过去式和过去分词 )；成为预兆；占卜 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
mendacious
|
|
| adj.不真的，撒谎的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
confided
|
|
| v.吐露（秘密，心事等）( confide的过去式和过去分词 )；（向某人）吐露（隐私、秘密等） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
bishop
|
|
| n.主教，（国际象棋）象 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
stoutness
|
|
| 坚固，刚毅 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
tenacious
|
|
| adj.顽强的，固执的，记忆力强的，粘的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
habitual
|
|
| adj.习惯性的；通常的，惯常的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
fickle
|
|
| adj.(爱情或友谊上)易变的，不坚定的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
adherence
|
|
| n.信奉，依附，坚持，固着 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
concession
|
|
| n.让步，妥协；特许(权) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
humbug
|
|
| n.花招，谎话，欺骗 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
frivolous
|
|
| adj.轻薄的；轻率的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
entirely
|
|
| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
monarchy
|
|
| n.君主，最高统治者；君主政体，君主国 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
standing
|
|
| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
54
promotion
|
|
| n.提升，晋级；促销，宣传 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
55
dissuaded
|
|
| 劝（某人）勿做某事，劝阻( dissuade的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
56
radical
|
|
| n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
57
Oxford
|
|
| n.牛津（英国城市） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
58
solitary
|
|
| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
59
virtue
|
|
| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
60
rabble
|
|
| n.乌合之众，暴民；下等人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
61
odious
|
|
| adj.可憎的，讨厌的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
62
delusions
|
|
| n.欺骗( delusion的名词复数 )；谬见；错觉；妄想 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
63
whimsy
|
|
| n.古怪，异想天开 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
64
sane
|
|
| adj.心智健全的，神志清醒的，明智的，稳健的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
65
agitation
|
|
| n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
66
perfidious
|
|
| adj.不忠的，背信弃义的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
67
temperament
|
|
| n.气质，性格，性情 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
68
attachment
|
|
| n.附属物，附件；依恋；依附 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
69
pecuniary
|
|
| adj.金钱的；金钱上的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
70
stimulating
|
|
| adj.有启发性的，能激发人思考的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
71
adepts
|
|
| n.专家，能手( adept的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
72
perplexed
|
|
| adj.不知所措的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
73
delightful
|
|
| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
74
stolidity
|
|
| n.迟钝，感觉麻木 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
75
anecdotes
|
|
| n.掌故，趣闻，轶事( anecdote的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
76
worthy
|
|
| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
77
magistrate
|
|
| n.地方行政官，地方法官，治安官 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
78
judgment
|
|
| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
79
tact
|
|
| n.机敏，圆滑，得体 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
80
brute
|
|
| n.野兽，兽性 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
81
affinity
|
|
| n.亲和力，密切关系 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
82
treacherous
|
|
| adj.不可靠的，有暗藏的危险的；adj.背叛的，背信弃义的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
83
wrest
|
|
| n.扭，拧，猛夺；v.夺取，猛扭，歪曲 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
84
confession
|
|
| n.自白，供认，承认 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
85
conceit
|
|
| n.自负，自高自大 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
86
intrigue
|
|
| vt.激起兴趣，迷住；vi.耍阴谋；n.阴谋，密谋 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
87
mere
|
|
| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |