He thinks, because our relations have been more intimate
with England, because we speak the same language and inherit the same
Anglo-Saxon genius, that therefore we should be more patient with her.
But these circumstances seem to us to aggravate the treatment we have
received at her hands. It has appeared to us unnatural that a nation so
identified with us should mistrust us, and embrace every occasion to
slight us where they could safely do so. The closer the tie, the deeper
the wound. Besides, despite the common ground upon which England and
America have stood, the past bequeaths us little grudge against France,
much against England. France was the patron, England the bitter enemy,
of our national infancy. Our arms have never closed with those of
France; we have fought England twice, and virulently. Our diplomatic
intercourse with England has been a series of misunderstandings; that
with France has been, in general, harmonious. In later times, French
essayists and journalists have been tolerant of our faults, and eloquent
over our virtues; and not a little good feeling has been produced among
our educated classes by the fairness and acuteness with which one of the
greatest of modern Frenchmen, De Tocqueville, has considered our
institutions.
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