406 NEW ENGLAND CHARACTER. 



experienced an indication of insolence, and never observed 

 that democratic sauciness which I was taught to expect 

 amongst the lower orders. Every individual feels that he is 

 independent, and never alludes to the subject. The case is, 

 however, different in Canada, where some British emigrants 

 seldom let an opportunity escape of telling a well-dressed per 

 son, that &quot; this is a free country, and that he does not care a 

 * for any man.&quot; The emancipated bondsman alone 

 boasts of being free from fetters. A foreigner, however, who 

 arrogates to himself superiority in the States, will be despised 

 by the meanest of the people, and his money will neither pur 

 chase their attention nor services. The United States which 

 I visited, seem to me an excellent place for teaching an over 

 weening person a due estimate of himself and his fellow-mor 

 tals. Twelve months intercourse with the people would 

 greatly improve the fagged and fagging youthful aristocracy 

 of Britain. Their haughtiness of demeanour, and acerbity 

 and impatience of temper would be changed, and they would 

 return home with a just sense of the place they occupy in the 

 world, and qualified to discharge the important duties they 

 owe society. Every Briton who has mingled with the people 

 for any length of time, and practised self-examination, will 

 testify to the truth of my remarks. 



Whatever may be the state of manners and customs in the 

 United States, the foppish need not desert Britain in search of 

 happiness in the New World, for there such persons are lightly 

 esteemed. The emigrant ought not to vex himself about 

 having heard that people place their feet on tables, or on the 

 mantel-piece, as nobody will interfere with the position of his 

 on the floor, nor whether they chew tobacco or cheese, as he 

 will be allowed to eat what he pleases. The necessaries of life 

 are generally obtained without much difficulty, and whoever 

 regards mankind as created by the same Being, of the same 

 materials, for the same end, and entitled to the same privileges, 

 need not despair of happiness if he leads a life of virtue and 

 industry. 



By far the greater portion of the people I came in contact 

 with were natives of the New England vStates, who seem to have 

 spread over a considerable portion of the States of New York 



