The Great Republic

Sir Lepel Henry Griffin (1838-1908) was a British administrator and diplomat in the Indian Civil Service. Beginning in Lahore in 1860, his career in India spanned nearly thirty years until he resigned in 1889 and began a new life in commerce and finance. In 1884 Griffin published The Great Republic, a stinging critique of the United States. Consisting partly of articles which had already appeared in the Fortnightly Review, Griffin's book was intended to warn Englishmen, particularly Liberals, of 'the political methods of America which strike me as thoroughly bad and corrupt'. His chief accusation was that the American political system had put power into the hands of the uneducated masses. He also condemned Americans' love of materialism, their 'philistinism', and the anti-English sentiment which he had encountered during his three-week stay there. Controversial in its day, his book is a fascinating document in the history of Anglo-American relations.