Nature and Human Nature | Page 7

the language grammatically; second, master
your subject; third, write naturally; fourth, let your heart as well as your
hand guide the pen.' It ain't out of keeping therefore for me to express
myself decently in composition if I choose. It warn't out of character,
with Franklin, and he was a poor printer boy, nor Washington, and he
was only a land-surveyor, and they growed to be 'some punkins' too.
1 The reader will perceive from a perusal of this Journal, that Mr Slick,
who is always so ready to detect absurdity in others, has in this instance
exhibited a species of vanity by no means uncommon in this world. He
prides himself more on composition, to which he has but small
pretensions, than on those things for which the public is willing enough
to give him full credit. Had he however received a classical education,
it may well be doubted whether he would have been as useful or
successful a man as President of Yale College, as he has been as an
itinerant practical Clockmaker.
"An American clockmaker ain't like a European one. He may not be as
good a workman as t'other one, but he can do somethin' else besides
makin' wheels and pulleys. One always looks forward to rise in the
world, the other to attain excellence in his line. I am, as I have
expressed it in some part of this Journal, not ashamed of having been a
tradesman--I glory in it; but I should indeed have been ashamed if, with
the instruction I received from dear old Minister, I had always

remained one. No, don't alter my Journal. I am just what I am, and
nothing more or less. You can't measure me by English standards; you
must take an American one, and that will give you my length, breadth,
height, and weight to a hair. If silly people take you for me, and put my
braggin' on your shoulders, why jist say, 'You might be mistakened for
a worse fellow than he is, that's all.' Yes, yes, let my talk remain
'down-east talk,'1 and my writin' remain clear of cant terms when you
find it so.
1 It must not be inferred from this expression that Mr Slick's talk is all
"pure down-east dialect." The intermixture of Americans is now so
great, in consequence of their steamers and railroads, that there is but
little pure provincialism left. They have borrowed from each other in
different sections most liberally, and not only has the vocabulary of the
south and west contributed its phraseology to New England, but there is
recently an affectation in consequence of the Mexican war, to naturalise
Spanish words, some of which Mr Slick, who delights in this sort of
thing, has introduced into this Journal.--ED.
"I like Yankee words--I learned them when young. Father and mother
used them, and so did all the old folks to Slickville. There is both fun,
sense, and expression in 'em too, and that is more than there is in
Taffy's, Pat's, or Sawney's brogue either. The one enriches and enlarges
the vocabulary, the other is nothing but broken English, and so
confoundedly broken too, you can't put the pieces together sometimes.
Again, my writing, when I freeze down solid to it, is just as much in
character as the other. Recollect this--Every woman in our country who
has a son knows that he may, and thinks that he will, become President
of the United States, and that thought and that chance make that boy
superior to any of his class in Europe.
"And now, Squire," said he, "I believe there has been enough said
about myself and my Journal. Sposen we drink success to the 'human
nature,' or 'men and things,' or whatever other name you select for this
Journal, and then we will talk of something else."
"I will drink that toast," I said, "with all my heart, and now let me ask
you how you have succeeded in your mission about the fisheries?"
"First rate," he replied; "we have them now, and no mistake!"
"By the treaty?" I inquired.
"No," he said, "I have discovered the dodge, and we shall avail of it at

once. By a recent local law foreigners can hold real estate in this
province now. And by a recent Act of Parliament our vessels can obtain
British registers. Between these two privileges, a man don't deserve to
be called an American who can't carry on the fisheries in spite of all the
cruisers, revenue officers, and prohibitary laws under the sun. It is a
peaceable and quiet way of getting possession, and far better than
fighting for them, while it comports more with the dignity of our great
and enlightened nation."
"What do you think," I said, "of the Elgin treaty as