一个美国农民的信
J．赫克托．圣约翰．克雷夫科尔
(J. HECTOR ST. JOHN DE CREVECOEUR)
一个美国农民的信
Letters from an American Farmer
在这里，来自世界各国的人融合成一个新的民族，总有一天，他们所付出的劳动以及他们的后代将使世界发生巨大的变化。
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1782年，一位法裔美国博物学家发表了十二篇文章，他自己把这些文章题爲《一个美国农民的信》。这本书在欧洲出版后，作者一举成名，并爲这个新生的国家赢得许多朋友。J．赫克托．圣约翰．克雷夫科尔又名米歇尔．纪尧姆．琼．克雷夫科尔 (1735─ 1813)生于法国，在杰苏伊特的学校里受过教育。1754年，克雷夫科尔移民到新世界，在纽约殖民地的一个农场定居。在美国革命期间，他在双方都有朋友和亲戚，而且自己遭到英国人短期监禁。1780年他乘船前往欧洲，安排在伦敦出版他写美国生活的文章。他曾担任法国驻纽约领事几年，1790年回到法国安度余生。在许多年里，克雷夫科尔对新世界敏锐而富于同情的描述，使他成爲拥有最广大读者的美洲评论员。也许他的《信》中最著名的部分就是编在这里的这段文章，文中提出了美国作爲许多国家人民的熔炉这个概念。
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但愿我能熟悉那种必将鼓动人心的感情和思想，并且在一个开明的英国人首次踏上这片大陆时，将这种思想和感情原原本本地展现在他眼前。他一定会大爲高兴，在有生之年看到这片美丽的国土被人发现和定居。当他观看装点着这延绵不断的海岸上的一连串殖民地时，他必定会感到一份民族自豪。这时他对自己说这是我的同胞们干的，他们是在受派别骚扰，爲各种不幸和贫困感到痛苦，并且烦躁不安时，来到这里避难的。他们带来了他们的民族精神，他们现在能享有这样的自由并且拥有这样的物质财富主要应归功于这种精神。在这里他看到祖国的工业以新的方式展现出来，从他们一点一滴的劳动成果里可以看到在欧洲繁荣的所有艺术、科学和创造力的萌芽。在这里他看到美丽的城市，富足的乡村，广阔的田野，一个到处是漂亮的房子、良好的道路、果园、草地和桥梁的大国家，而在一百年以前，这里还是荒野、树林和未开垦的土地！这美妙的景象定会引起人们愉快的联想，这前景必将激起一个好公民最舒心的快感。难点在于怎样来看这幅如此广阔的景像。他是来到一个新大陆，来到一个现代社会，一个与他迄今所见过的社会不同的社会，这个社会本身就可供他思考。这不是像欧洲那样是由拥有一切的贵族老爷和一无所有的群氓组成的社会。这里没有贵族家庭，没有宫殿，没有国王，没有主教，没有教会控制，没有给少数人显赫权力的那种无形的权力，没有雇佣几千人的制造商，没有穷极奢侈。富人和穷人不像在欧洲那样相差甚远。除了几个城镇之外，从新斯科舍到西佛罗里达，我们都是耕地的。我们是一个耕者民族，散居在一片巨大的领土上，通过良好的道路和可通航的河流相互交流，由温和政府的丝带把我们联在一起，大家都尊重法律而不畏惧其权力，因爲法律是公平的。我们生气勃勃，充满实业精神，这种精神已破除去镣拷，不受任何约束，因爲我们每个人都是爲自己工作的。如果他到我们的农村地区旅行，他看到的不是充满敌意的城堡和高傲的豪华大厦与土筑的茅屋及悲惨的小屋形成对照，不是牛和人相依取暖，居住在鄙陋、烟雾和贫困之中的茅屋。我们所有的住所一律都显示出相当的财力，连我们木屋中最差的一间也是干燥舒适的。律师和商人是我们城镇提供的最好听的头衔，而农民则是我们国家乡村居民的唯一称号。他必须经过一段时间才会适应我们的词汇，在我们的词典里缺少有关名流权贵的词以及高官显爵的名称。星期天，他可在那儿看到一群可敬的农民和他们的妻子，他们都穿着整齐的家纺衣服，骑着马或乘着他们自己简陋的四轮马车。他们当中除了那个目不识丁的执事，没有一个乡绅。在那儿，他看到牧师跟他的教徒一样朴实，牧师也是农民，并不靠别人的劳动来享受。我们没有我们要爲他们劳苦、受饿和流血的王爷，我们的社会是世界上现存的最完美的社会……
这位旅行者的下一个愿望便是要知道这些人是从何处来的?他们是英格兰人、苏格兰人、爱尔兰人、法国人、荷兰人、德国人和瑞典人的混杂。由这种混杂而繁衍産生了一个现叫作美国人的种族。东部省份的确是例外，他们是纯英国人后裔。我也听到许多人希望他们能有更多的混和。至于我自己，我是现实的，我认爲现在这样更好。在这幅伟大的杂色图画里，他们展现出一幅最引人注目的图像。在这十三个省展现出的令人喜悦的前景里，有一大部分是他们的。我知道对他们说三道四是眼下的时髦，但我尊重他们所做的事，他们准确而明智地定居到他们的领地上，他们举止端庄，从小就热爱文学知识，他们办的古老学院是这个半球的第一所学院，他们办的工业对我这一介农夫来说就是一切事物的准绳。从来没有一个民族处于他们这样的情形，在这麽短的时间内，在这麽荒凉的土地上，取得比他们更大的成功。你是否认爲在其它政府中占优势的君主成分已经使那些政府清除了所有的污点?他们的历史证实恰恰相反。
在这个巨大的美洲避难所里，欧洲的穷人总得以某种方式相会，由于各种各样的原因，他们爲什麽要互相问是哪国人呢?哎，他们中三分之二没有国家。一个到处流浪的可怜人，一个终日辛劳却还忍饥挨饿的人，一个总是生活在痛苦或赤贫如洗的境遇里的人，会把英国或其它王国称作自己的国家吗?一个没有面包给他吃的国家，在这个国家里他的土地没有收成，他遇到的只是富人的白眼，严厉的法律，监狱和惩罚，在这广阔的星球表面上他连一寸土地都没有，他能把这个国家叫做自己的国家吗?不！由于受各种各样的动机所驱使，他们来到这里。这里的一切都促使他们获得新生，新的法律，新的生活方式，新的社会制度，在这里他们才是人；而在欧洲，他们就像是许多无用的草木，缺乏生长的沃土和清新的雨水，他们枯萎了，由于贫困、饥饿和战争而被割除掉。但是，现在通过移植的力量，他们就像其它植物一样，已经扎下根并且生长茂盛。以前他们除了被列入穷人的名单外，没有被列入他们国家的公民名单，而在这里，他被排在公民之列。是由什麽无形的力量来进行这种令人吃惊的蜕变?那是由于法律的力量和他们勤劳的力量。他们一到这里，法律──宽容的法律就保护他们，给他们盖上接纳的标志。他们付出的劳动能得到充足的报酬，这些报酬积累起来就使他们能获得土地，这些土地又使他们获得自由人的称号，随着这个称号他们可得到人可能要求得到的一切利益，这就是我们的法律每天所进行的伟大工作……
一个贫苦的欧洲移民对一个他一无所有的国家会有什麽感情?语言知识以及对于几个跟他自己一样穷的亲戚的爱是联系着他的唯一纽带。而他的国家现在是那个给他土地、面包、保护和重要地位的国家。“哪里有面包，哪里就是国家。”是所有移民的座右铭。那麽美国人──这个新的人到底是什麽人?他们或是欧洲人，或是欧洲人的后裔，因此，他们是你在任何其它国家都找不到的混血人。我可以向你指出一个家庭，其祖父是英国人，其要是荷兰人，其子娶一个法国女人，而他们现在的四个儿子娶了四个不同民族的妻子。他是一个美国人，他把一切古老的偏见和习俗都抛到身后，从他所接受的新的生活方式中，从他所服从的新政府里，从他所处的新的地位上，获得新的习俗。由于被接纳进我们伟大养母宽大的怀抱里，他成了一个美国人。在这里，来自世界各国的人融合成一个新的民族，总有一天，他们所付出的劳动以及他们的后代将使世界发生巨大的变化。美国人是来自西方的定居者，他们带来了大量的艺术、科学、活力和勤奋精神，这些在东方早已开始了，而美国人将完成这个伟大的循环。美国人曾散居于欧洲各地，在这里他们结合组成迄今最好的人口群体，此后，由于他们居住的地带气候不同，这些群体之间也将产生差异。因此，美国人应当爱这个国家，胜过爱那个他自己或他的祖先出生的国家。在这里，勤劳所得的报酬随着他劳动的增长而增长，他的劳动是建立在自然、自觉的基础上的；难道还需要比这更强的诱惑力吗?以前，他的妻子儿女向他要一片面包都得不到，现在他们吃得又胖又快活，很乐意帮助父亲去清理那些田地，而从这些田里将长出充足的作物以供他们所有的人吃和穿，既没有专制的君主，也没有富有的修道院长和有权有势的贵族来要求得到他们收成的任何部分。在这里，教会仅对他们提出一点需求，他们只要自愿奉献一点给牧师作工资以及对上帝的感恩，他能拒绝这些吗?美国人是新人，办事有新原则，因此，他必须考虑新的思想，形成新的观点。他经历厂被迫失业、卑屈的依赖、赤贫和无用的劳动之后，现在正从事一个性质完全不同的劳动，这种劳动将得到充足的物质报酬。这就是一个美国人……
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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....
