546 LETTERS FROM ENGLAND. 



vitiated by the introduction of the flimsiest points (. French social 

 requirements rather than the more solid and estimable qualities 

 which belong to English domestic life. The best social development 

 in America will, doubtless, finally result from an internal movement 

 springing from the very bosom of our institutions ; but before that 

 can happen, a great many traits and refinements will necessarily be 

 borrowed from the old world and the larger interests, healthier 

 home tastes, and more thorough education of English women, seem 

 to me hardly rated so highly by us as they deserve. Go to Paris, 

 if you will, to see the most perfect taste in dress, and the finest 

 charm of merely external manners, but make the acquaintance of 

 English women if you wish to get a high idea of feminine character 

 as it should be, to command your sincerest and most lasting admi- 

 ration, and respect. 



