38 UNITED STATES. administrations of the presidents who succeeded him.* We must not, however, forget, that all his succes¬ sors are considered to rank among good men, and some of them, particularly Mr Jefferson , as great men ; but it must, at the same time, be admitted, that they committed many egregious blunders in their commercial policy; and that the last war with this country was not only rash, but impolitic and unpro¬ voked. It has been popular, and even fashionable, in Eu¬ rope, to think lightly of the Americans. Both French and English travellers, influenced by early associations and customs, have seldom done justice either to the people or to the country. To form a just estimation of both, we must search into the great national re¬ sources of that vast region, and examine the intellec¬ tual and physical energies of the people ;—we must ask, what have the Americans done since they became an independent nation ? and not measure their capa¬ bilities, or stamp their character, by frivolous peculi¬ arities of language, or habits that have differed from ours merely through the agency of local circum¬ stances. These may afford materials to a strolling comedian to excite vulgar merriment; but it is cer¬ tainly unworthy the attention, and beneath the dignity of a respectable traveller, to fill his journals with the cant language and provincialisms of individuals whom he may accidentally meet with in a stage-coach * An exception appears in Mr Madison . He was at heart fond of grandeur, and the effect which splendour gives to a court.