[6]
The literature of Europe sufficiently
corroborates this remark. When a European author wishes to depict in a
work of imagination any of these great catastrophes in matrimony which
so frequently occur amongst us, he takes care to bespeak the compassion
of the reader by bringing before him ill-assorted or compulsory
marriages. Although habitual tolerance has long since relaxed our
morals, an author could hardly succeed in interesting us in the
misfortunes of his characters, if he did not first palliate their
faults. This artifice seldom fails: the daily scenes we witness prepare
us long beforehand to be indulgent. But American writers could never
render these palliations probable to their readers; their customs and
laws are opposed to it; and as they despair of rendering levity of
conduct pleasing, they cease to depict it. This is one of the causes to
which must be attributed the small number of novels published in the
United States.
