ABSTRACT
When I speak of misrepresentations of foreign travellers, I do not mean to advert to those who, conscientiously attached to the constitution and government of their country, view our republican institutions with a prejudiced eye, and represent them in a false light to their countrymen; these have
their excuse in amor patriæ,121 an honourable feeling, in which we do not less indulge than other nations; much less shall I take notice of those, who, laying hold of some national peculiarities diff ering from those to which they have been accustomed, seem to take pleasure in presenting to the world a caricature of our manners; the former are often respectable, the latter are always contemptible.
