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Literary Lapses
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Stephen Leacock
7
"Father,"
continued
Gwendoline,
half
timidly,
"Edwin
is
an
American."
"You
surprise
me
indeed,"
answered
Lord
Oxhead;
"and
yet,"
he
continued,
turning
to
his
daughter
with
the
courtly
grace
that
marked
the
nobleman
of
the
old
school,
"why
should
we
not
respect
and
admire
the
Americans?
Surely
there
have
been
great
names
among
them.
Indeed,
our
ancestor
Sir
Amyas
Oxhead
was,
I
think,
married
to
Pocahontas--at
least
if
not
actually
married"--the
earl
hesitated
a
moment.
"At
least
they
loved
one
another,"
said
Gwendoline
simply.
"Precisely,"
said
the
earl,
with
relief,
"they
loved
one
another,
yes,
exactly."
Then
as
if
musing
to
himself,
"Yes,
there
have
been
great
Americans.
Bolivar
was
an
American.
The
two
Washingtons--George
and
Booker--are
both
Americans.
There
have
been
others
too,
though
for
the
moment
I
do
not
recall
their
names.
But
tell
me,
Gwendoline,
this
Edwin
of
yours--where
is
his
family
seat?"
"It
is
at
Oshkosh,
Wisconsin,
father."
"Ah!
say
you
so?"
rejoined
the
earl,
with
rising
interest.
"Oshkosh
is,
indeed,
a
grand
old
name.
The
Oshkosh
are
a
Russian
family.
An
Ivan
Oshkosh
came
to
England
with
Peter
the
Great
and
married
my
ancestress.
Their
descendant
in
the
second
degree
once
removed,
Mixtup
Oshkosh,
fought
at
the
burning
of
Moscow
and
later
at
the
sack
of
Salamanca
and
the
treaty
of
Adrianople.
And
Wisconsin
too,"
the
old
nobleman
went
on,
his
features
kindling
with
animation,
for
he
had
a
passion
for
heraldry,
genealogy,
chronology,
and
commercial
geography;
"the
Wisconsins,
or
better,
I
think,
the
Guisconsins,
are
of
old
blood.
A
Guisconsin
followed
Henry
I
to
Jerusalem
and
rescued
my
ancestor
Hardup
Oxhead
from
the
Saracens.
Another
Guisconsin...."
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