一個美國農民的信
Letters from an American Farmer

在這裏，來自世界各國的人融合成一個新的民族，總有一天，他們所付出的勞動以及他們的後代將使世界發生巨大的變化。

1782年，一位法裔美國博物學家發表了十二篇文章，他自己把這些文章題為《一個美國農民的信》。這本書在歐洲出版後，作者一舉成名，並為這個新生的國家贏得許多朋友。J‧赫克托‧聖約翰‧克雷夫科爾又名米歇爾‧紀堯姆‧瓊‧克雷夫科爾 (1735─ 1813)生於法國，在傑蘇伊特的學校裏受過教育。1754年，克雷夫科爾移民到新世界，在紐約殖民地的一個農場定居。在美國革命期間，他在雙方都有朋友和親戚，而且自己遭到英國人短期監禁。1780年他乘船前往歐洲，安排在倫敦出版他寫美國生活的文章。他曾擔任法國駐紐約領事幾年，1790年回到法國安度餘生。在許多年裏，克雷夫科爾對新世界敏銳而富於同情的描述，使他成為擁有最廣大讀者的美洲評論員。也許他的《信》中最著名的部分就是編在這裏的這段文章，文中提出了美國作為許多國家人民的熔爐這個概念。

但願我能熟悉那種必將鼓動人心的感情和思想，並且在一個開明的英國人首次踏上這片大陸時，將這種思想和感情原原本本地展現在他眼前。他一定會大為高興，在有生之年看到這片美麗的國土被人發現和定居。當他觀看裝點著這延綿不斷的海岸上的一連串殖民地時，他必定會感到一份民族自豪。這時他對自己說這是我的同胞們幹的，他們是在受派別騷擾，為各種不幸和貧困感到痛苦，並且煩躁不安時，來到這裏避難的。他們帶來了他們的民族精神，他們現在能享有這樣的自由並且擁有這樣的物質財富主要應歸功於這種精神。在這裏他看到祖國的工業以新的方式展現出來，從他們一點一滴的勞動成果裏可以看到在歐洲繁榮的所有藝術、科學和創造力的萌芽。在這裏他看到美麗的城市，富足的鄉村，廣闊的田野，一個到處是漂亮的房子、良好的道路、果園、草地和橋樑的大國家，而在一百年以前，這裏還是荒野、樹林和未開墾的土地！這美妙的景象定會引起人們愉快的聯想，這前景必將激起一個好公民最舒心的快感。難點在於怎樣來看這幅如此廣闊的景像。他是來到一個新大陸，來到一個現代社會，一個與他迄今所見過的社會不同的社會，這個社會本身就可供他思考。這不是像歐洲那樣是由擁有一切的貴族老爺和一無所有的群氓組成的社會。這裏沒有貴族家庭，沒有宮殿，沒有國王，沒有主教，沒有教會控制，沒有給少數人顯赫權力的那種無形的權力，沒有僱傭幾千人的製造商，沒有窮極奢侈。富人和窮人不像在歐洲那樣相差甚遠。除了幾個城鎮之外，從新斯科捨到西佛羅里達，我們都是耕地的。我們是一個耕者民族，散居在一片巨大的領土上，通過良好的道路和可通航的河流相互交流，由溫和政府的絲帶把我們聯在一起，大家都尊重法律而不畏懼其權力，因為法律是公平的。我們生氣勃勃，充滿實業精神，這種精神已破除去鐐拷，不受任何約束，因為我們每個人都是為自己工作的。如果他到我們的農村地區旅行，他看到的不是充滿敵意的城堡和高傲的豪華大廈與土築的茅屋及悲慘的小屋形成對照，不是牛和人相依取暖，居住在鄙陋、煙霧和貧困之中的茅屋。我們所有的住所一律都顯示出相當的財力，連我們木屋中最差的一間也是乾燥舒適的。律師和商人是我們城鎮提供的最好聽的頭銜，而農民則是我們國家鄉村居民的唯一稱號。他必須經過一段時間才會適應我們的辭彙，在我們的詞典裏缺少有關名流權貴的詞以及高官顯爵的名稱。星期天，他可在那兒看到一群可敬的農民和他們的妻子，他們都穿著整齊的家紡衣服，騎著馬或乘著他們自己簡陋的四輪馬車。他們當中除了那個目不識丁的執事，沒有一個鄉紳。在那兒，他看到牧師跟他的教徒一樣樸實，牧師也是農民，並不靠別人的勞動來享受。我們沒有我們要為他們勞苦、受餓和流血的王爺，我們的社會是世界上現存的最完美的社會……

這位旅行者的下一個願望便是要知道這些人是從何處來的?他們是英格蘭人、蘇格蘭人、愛爾蘭人、法國人、荷蘭人、德國人和瑞典人的混雜。由這種混雜而繁衍產生了一個現叫作美國人的種族。東部省份的確是例外，他們是純英國人後裔。我也聽到許多人希望他們能有更多的混和。至於我自己，我是現實的，我認為現在這樣更好。在這幅偉大的雜色圖畫裏，他們展現出一幅最引人注目的圖像。在這十三個省展現出的令人喜悅的前景裏，有一大部分是他們的。我知道對他們說三道四是眼下的時髦，但我尊重他們所做的事，他們準確而明智地定居到他們的領地上，他們舉止端莊，從小就熱愛文學知識，他們辦的古老學院是這個半球的第一所學院，他們辦的工業對我這一介農夫來說就是一切事物的準繩。從來沒有一個民族處於他們這樣的情形，在這麼短的時間內，在這麼荒涼的土地上，取得比他們更大的成功。你是否認為在其他政府中佔優勢的君主成分已經使那些政府清除了所有的污點?他們的歷史證實恰恰相反。

在這個巨大的美洲避難所裏，歐洲的窮人總得以某種方式相會，由於各種各樣的原因，他們為什麼要互相問是哪國人呢?哎，他們中三分之二沒有國家。一個到處流浪的可憐人，一個終日辛勞卻還忍饑挨餓的人，一個總是生活在痛苦或赤貧如洗的境遇裏的人，會把英國或其他王國稱作自己的國家嗎?一個沒有麵包給他吃的國家，在這個國家裏他的土地沒有收成，他遇到的只是富人的白眼，嚴厲的法律，監獄和懲罰，在這廣闊的星球表面上他連一寸土地都沒有，他能把這個國家叫做自己的國家嗎?不！由於受各種各樣的動機所驅使，他們來到這裏。這裏的一切都促使他們獲得新生，新的法律，新的生活方式，新的社會制度，在這裏他們才是人；而在歐洲，他們就像是許多無用的草木，缺乏生長的沃土和清新的雨水，他們枯萎了，由於貧困、飢餓和戰爭而被割除掉。但是，現在通過移植的力量，他們就像其他植物一樣，已經紮下根並且生長茂盛。以前他們除了被列入窮人的名單外，沒有被列入他們國家的公民名單，而在這裏，他被排在公民之列。是由什麼無形的力量來進行這種令人吃驚的蛻變?那是由於法律的力量和他們勤勞的力量。他們一到這裏，法律──寬容的法律就保護他們，給他們蓋上接納的標誌。他們付出的勞動能得到充足的報酬，這些報酬積累起來就使他們能獲得土地，這些土地又使他們獲得自由人的稱號，隨著這個稱號他們可得到人可能要求得到的一切利益，這就是我們的法律每天所進行的偉大工作……

一個貧苦的歐洲移民對一個他一無所有的國家會有什麼感情?語言知識以及對於幾個跟他自己一樣窮的親戚的愛是聯繫著他的唯一紐帶。而他的國家現在是那個給他土地、 麵包、保護和重要地位的國家。「哪裡有麵包，哪裡就是國家。」是所有移民的座右銘。那麼美國人──這個新的人到底是什麼人?他們或是歐洲人，或是歐洲人的後裔，因此，他們是你在任何其它國家都找不到的混血人。我可以向你指出一個家庭，其祖父是英國人，其要是荷蘭人，其子娶一個法國女人，而他們現在的四個兒子娶了四個不同民族的妻子。他是一個美國人，他把一切古老的偏見和習俗都拋到身後，從他所接受的新的生活方式中，從他所服從的新政府裏，從他所處的新的地位上，獲得新的習俗。由於被接納進我們偉大養母寬大的懷抱裏，他成了一個美國人。在這裏，來自世界各國的人融合成一個新的民族，總有一天，他們所付出的勞動以及他們的後代將使世界發生巨大的變化。美國人是來自西方的定居者，他們帶來了大量的藝術、科學、活力和勤奮精神，這些在東方早已開始了，而美國人將完成這個偉大的循環。美國人曾散居於歐洲各地，在這裏他們結合組成迄今最好的人口群體，此後，由於他們居住的地帶氣候不同，這些群體之間也將產生差異。因此，美國人應當愛這個國家，勝過愛那個他自己或他的祖先出生的國家。在這裏，勤勞所得的報酬隨著他勞動的增長而增長，他的勞動是建立在自然、自覺的基礎上的；難道還需要比這更強的誘惑力嗎?以前，他的妻子兒女向他要一片麵包都得不到，現在他們吃得又胖又快活，很樂意幫助父親去清理那些田地，而從這些田裏將長出充足的作物以供他們所有的人吃和穿，既沒有專制的君主，也沒有富有的修道院長和有權有勢的貴族來要求得到他們收成的任何部分。在這裏，教會僅對他們提出一點需求，他們只要自願奉獻一點給牧師作工資以及對上帝的感恩，他能拒絕這些嗎?美國人是新人，辦事有新原則，因此，他必須考慮新的思想，形成新的觀點。他經歷廠被迫失業、卑屈的依賴、赤貧和無用的勞動之後，現在正從事一個性質完全不同的勞動，這種勞動將得到充足的物質報酬。這就是一個美國人……

J. Hector St. John de Crevecoeur
Letters from an American Farmer

I wish I could be acquainted with the feelings and thoughts which must agitate the heart and present themselves to the mind of an enlightened Englishman, when he first lands on this continent. He must greatly rejoice that he lived at a time to see this fair country discovered and settled; he must necessarily feel a share of national pride, when he views the chain of settlements which embellishes these extended shores. When he says to himself, this is the work of my countrymen, who, when convulsed by factions, afflicted by a variety of miseries and wants, restless and impatient, took refuge here. They brought along with them their national genius, to which they principally owe what liberty they enjoy, and what substance they possess. Here he sees the industry of his native country displayed in a new manner, and traces in their works the embryos of all the arts, sciences, and ingenuity which flourish in Europe. Here he beholds fair cities, substantial villages, extensive fields, an immense country filled with decent houses, good roads, orchards, meadows, and bridges, where an hundred years ago all was wild, woody, and uncultivated! What a train of pleasing ideas this fair spectacle must suggest; it is a prospect which must inspire a good citizen with the most heartfelt pleasure. The difficulty consists in the manner of viewing so extensive a scene. He is arrived on a new continent; a modern society offers itself to his contemplation, different from what he had hitherto seen. It is not composed, as in Europe, of great lords who possess everything, and of a herd of people who have nothing. Here are no aristocratical families. no courts, no kings, no bishops, no ecclesiastical dominion, no invisible power giving to a few a very visible one; no great manufacturers employing thousands, no great refinements of luxury. The rich and the poor are not so far removed from each other as they are in Europe. Some few towns excepted, we are all tillers of the earth, from Nova Scotia to West Florida. We are a people of cultivators, scattered over an immense territory, communicating with each other by means of good roads and navigable rivers; united by the silken bands of mild government, all respecting the laws, without dreading their power, because they are equitable. We are all animated with the spirit of an industry which is unfettered and unrestrained, because each person works for himself. If he travels through our rural districts he views not the hostile castle, and the haughty mansion, contrasted with the clay-built hut and miserable cabin, where cattle and men help to keep each other warm, and dwell in meanness, smoke, and indigence. A pleasing uniformity of decent competence appears throughout our habitations. The meanest of our log-houses is a dry and comfortable habitation. Lawyer or merchant are the fairest titles our towns afford; that of a farmer is the only appellation of the rural inhabitants of our country It must take some time ere he can reconcile himself to our dictionary, which is but short in words of dignity, and names of honour. There, on a Sunday, he sees a congregation of respectable farmers and their wives, all clad in neat homespun, well mounted, or riding in their own humble waggons. There is not among them an esquire, saving the unlettered magistrate. There he sees a parson as simple as his flock, a farmer who does not riot on the labour of others. We have no princes, for whom we toil, starve, and bleed: we are the most perfect society now existing in the world. . . .

    The next wish of this traveller will be to know whence came all these people? they are a mixture of English, Scotch, Irish, French, Dutch, Germans, and Swedes. From this promiscuous breed, that race now called Americans have arisen. The eastern provinces must indeed be excepted, as being the unmixed descendants of Englishmen. I have heard many wish that they had been more intermixed also: for my part, I am no wisher, and think it much better as it has happened. They exhibit a most conspicuous figure in this great and variegated picture; they too enter for a great share in the pleasing perspective displayed in these thirteen provinces. I know it is fashionable to reflect on them, but I respect them for what they have done; for the accuracy and wisdom with which they have settled their territory; for the decency of their manners; for their early love of letters; their ancient college, the first in this hemisphere; for their industry; which to me who am but a farmer, is the criterion of everything. There never was a people, situated as they are, who with so ungrateful a soil have done more in so short a time. Do you think that the monarchical ingredients which are more prevalent in other governments, have purged them from all foul stains? Their histories assert the contrary.

    In this great American asylum, the poor of Europe have by some means met together, and in consequence of various causes; to what purpose would they ask one another what countrymen they are? Alas, two thirds of them had no country. Can a wretch who wanders about, who works and starves, whose life is a continual scene of sore affliction or pinching penury; can that man call England or any other kingdom his country? A country that had no bread for him, whose fields procured him no harvest, who met with nothing but the frowns of the rich, the severity of the laws, with jails and punishments; who owned not a single foot of the extensive surface of this planet? No! urged by a variety of motives, here they came. Every thing has tended to regenerate them; new laws, a new mode of living, a new social system; here they are become men: in Europe they were as so many useless plants, wanting vegetative mould, and refreshing showers; they withered, and were mowed down by want, hunger, and war: but now by the power of transplantation, like all other plants they have taken root and flourished! Formerly they were not numbered in any civil lists of their country, except in those of the poor; here they rank as citizens. By what invisible power has this surprising metamorphosis been performed? By that of the laws and that of their industry. The laws, the indulgent laws, protect them as they arrive, stamping on them the symbol of adoption; they receive ample rewards for their labours; these accumulated rewards procure them lands: those lands confer on them the title of freemen, and to that title every benefit is affixed which men can possibly require. This is the great operation daily performed by our laws. . . .

    What attachment can a poor European emigrant have for a country where he had nothing? The knowledge of the language, the love of a few kindred as poor as himself, were the only cords that tied him: his country is now that which gives him land, bread, protection, and consequence. Ubi pants ibi patria, is the motto of all emigrants. What then is the American, this new man? He is either an European, or the descendant of an European, hence that strange mixture of blood, which you will find in no other country. I could point out to you a family whose grandfather was an Englishman, whose wife was Dutch, whose son married a French woman, and whose present four sons have now four wives of different nations. He is an American, who, leaving behind him all his ancient prejudices and manners, receives new ones from the new mode of life he has embraced, the new government he obeys, and the new rank he holds. He becomes an American by being received in the broad lap of our great Alma Mater. Here individuals of all nations are melted into a new race of men, whose labours and posterity will one day cause great changes in the world. Americans are the western pilgrims, who are carrying along with them the great mass of arts, sciences, vigour, and industry which began long since in the east; they will finish the great circle. The Americans were once scattered all over Europe; here they are incorporated into one of the finest systems of population which has ever appeared, and which will hereafter become distinct by the power of the different climates they inhabit. The American ought therefore to love this country much better than that wherein either he or his forefathers were born. Here the rewards of his industry follow-- with equal steps the progress of his labour; his labour is founded on the basis of nature, self-interest; can it want a stronger allurement? Wives and children, who before in vain demanded of him a morsel of bread, now, fat and frolicsome, gladly help their father to clear those fields whence exuberant crops are to arise to feed and to clothe them all; without any part being claimed, either by a despotic prince, a rich abbot, or a mighty lord. Here religion demands but little of him; a small voluntary salary to the minister, and gratitude to God; can he refuse these? The American is a new man, who acts upon new principles; he must therefore entertain new ideas, and form new opinions. From involuntary idleness, servile dependence, penury, and useless labour, he has passed to toils of a very different nature, rewarded by ample subsistence.--This is an American....