After much and close observation, I say fearlessly, that, in all conventional points, good society in the States is equal to the best provincial circles in England. The absence of a court, together with the calls of business, necessarily preclude the possibility of any class acquiring that grace of repose, that perfection of ease, which cultivation, example, and a conscious knowledge of the world gives to the _beau-monde_ of Europe; on the other hand, in the absence of this, you are seldom pestered with the second-hand ladies'-maid airs of your pretenders to exclusive gentility, so common amongst Europeans.
The great mass of Americans are natural, therefore rarely vulgar; and if a freshness of spirits, and an entire freedom from suspicion and the many guards which ill-bred jealousy draws around the objects of its care, may be viewed, as indeed they ought to be, as proofs of high feeling and true culture, then are the men of America arrived at a point of civilization at once creditable to themselves and honourable to their women, as nothing can be more perfectly unrestrained than the freedom enjoyed in all good families here. Strangers once introduced find every house at all times open to them, and the most frequent visits neither create surprise nor give rise to suspicion.
Hospitality is inculcated and practised, and the people entertain with a liberality bordering on profuseness: the merit of this is enhanced by the great trouble the absence of good domestics entails on the mistress of even the best establishments. Ladies are here invariably their own housekeepers, yet, nowhere is the stranger more warmly welcomed, and in no country is more cheerful readiness evinced in preparing for his entertainment.
The hand of welcome is also extended and sympathy encouraged towards the persecuted, whether of fortune or despotism. The exile is sure to find shelter and security here, without encountering suspicion, whether necessity or choice induced him to abandon his country.
Honoured be the land which offers to the stranger a free participation, on equal terms, of all it holds dearest! Hallowed be the institutions which hold out to talent a free field, and where honest ambition knows no limit save the equal law!