er Jonathan, who is
much younger, is lank, tall, weak about the knees, not boastful, but
vigorous and decided. John Bull is at least forty, while Jonathan is not
yet twenty-one.
"The movements of John Bull are pompous, and somewhat affected;
Jonathan's feet move as nimbly as his tongue. John Bull laughs loud and
long; Jonathan does not laugh, but smiles slightly. John Bull seats
himself calmly to make a good dinner, as if he were bent on some great
and weighty matter; Jonathan eats rapidly, and is in a hurry to quit the
table in order to found a town, dig a canal, or construct a railway.
John wishes to be a gentleman; Jonathan does not trouble himself about
appearances--he has so much to do, that it matters little to him if he
rushes about with a hole at the elbow or a tail of his coat torn off, so
long as he advances. John Bull marches, Jonathan runs. John Bull is
certainly very polite to the ladies, but when he is bent on enjoying
himself at the table, he puts them to the door--that is, he begs them to
be so obliging as to go into another room and make tea for him, 'he will
follow them immediately.' Jonathan does not act like this; he loves the
society of women, and will not be deprived of it; he is the most gallant
man upon earth, and if he sometimes forgets his gallantry, it is because
he has forgotten himself; but this does not often happen. When John Bull
has a fit of indigestion, or a stroke of ill-luck, he suffers from the
spleen, and thinks of hanging himself; when Jonathan has a fit of
indigestion, or a stroke of ill-luck, he goes on his travels. Now and
then he has a paroxysm of lunacy, but he recovers himself quickly, and
never dreams of putting an end to his existence. On the contrary, he
says to himself, 'Let us think no more of it; go ahead!'
"The two brothers have taken it into their heads that they will humanize
and civilize the world; but Jonathan marches with more zeal in this
direction, and wishes to go much farther than John Bull; he has no fear
of wounding his dignity by putting his two hands to the pie, like a true
workman. The two brothers desire to become rich men; but John Bull keeps
for himself and his friends the best and largest portion. Jonathan is
willing to share his with everybody, to enrich all the world;[11] he is
a cosmopolitan; a part of the earth serves him as larder, and he has all
the treasures of the globe with which to keep up his household. John
Bull is an aristocrat; Jonath
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