Chap. XI.] Character of the People. 19S 



there are but few cases, in which a husband can be 

 justified in availing himself of the right which the law 

 gives him to bestow manual chastisement upon his wife, 

 and that one of these, he thinks, is, when any preten- 

 sions to superiority of blood make their appearance in 

 her language and conduct. They have a better cure 

 for this malady here; namely; silent, but, ineffable 

 contempt. 



345. It is supposed, in England, that this equality 

 of estimation must beget a general coarseness and rude- 

 ness of behaviour. Never was there a greater mistake. 

 No man Ukes to be treated with disrespect ; and, when 

 he finds that he can obtain respect only by treating 

 others with respect, he will use that only means. When 

 he finds that nether haughtiness nor wealth will 

 bring him a civil word, he becomes civil himself; and, 

 I repeat it again and again, this is a country of uni" 

 versat civility. 



346. The causes of hypocrisy are the fear of loss 

 and the hope of gain. Men crawl to those, whom, in 

 their hearts, they despise, because they fear the effects 

 of their ill-will and hope to gain by their good-will. The 

 circumstances of all ranks are so easy here, that there 

 is no cause for hypocrisy; and the thing is not of so 

 fascinating a nature, that men should love it for its 

 own sake. 



347. The boasting of wealth, and the endeavouring 

 to disguise poverty, these two acts, so painful to con- 

 template, are almost total strangers in this country; 

 for, no man can gain adulation or respect by his wealth, 

 and no man dreads the effects of poverty, because no 

 man sees any dreadful effects arising from poverty. 



34B That anxious eagerness to get on, which is sel- 

 dom unaccompanied with some degree of envy of more 

 successful neighbours, and which has its foundatio 

 first in a dread of future want, and next in a desire to 

 obtain dialinction by means of wealth ; this anxious 

 eagerness, so unamiable in itself, and so unpleasant an 

 inmate of the breast, so great a sourer of the temper, 

 is a stranger to America, where accidents and losses, / 

 which would drive an Englishman half mad, produce .' 

 but Tery little agitatiou. 



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