CHAP. IX.] COST OF LIVING. 131 



country was founded on correct information, and was relieved to 

 find that the six poets ultimately selected were Chaucer, Spenser, 

 Shakspeare, Milton, Dryden, and Pope ; a result which, consid 

 ering that a single black ball excluded, did credit to the umpires, 

 and would, I am sure, be approved of by a literary jury in 

 Massachusetts. I was also glad to learn that in Bavaria, as 

 soon as political parties changed, a royal order was issued to 

 admit the bust of Luther into the Walhalla. 



The Americans, in general, have more self-possession and self- 

 confidence than Englishmen, although this characteristic belongs 

 perhaps less to the Bostonians than to the citizens of most of the 

 other parts of the Union. On the other hand, the members of 

 the great republic are sensitive and touchy about their country, 

 a point on which the English are imperturbably indifferent, 

 being proud of every thing British, even to a fault, since con 

 tempt for the opinion of other nations may be carried so far as to 

 diminish the prospect of national improvement. It might be 

 better if each of the great branches of the Anglo-Saxon family 

 would borrow something from the qualities of the other, if 

 John Bull had less mauvais honte, so as to care less for what 

 others were thinking of himself individually, and if Jonathan 

 cared less for what others are thinking of his country. 



The expense of living in the northern states is, upon the 

 whole, decidedly more reasonable than in England, although the 

 dress, both of men and women, is somewhat dearer. In Boston, 

 also, the rent of houses is very high, but not so in the country. 

 Traveling is much cheaper, and so are food, newspapers, and 

 books. On comparing the average price of bread during the pre 

 sent year with that in England, we find that it is about twenty- 

 five per cent, cheaper, beef and mutton ten per cent, cheaper, and 

 the price of poultry extremely moderate. Why, in so old a city 

 as Boston, the supply of seamstresses, milliners, and dressmakers, 

 should be as inadequate to the demand as in some of our newly- 

 founded colonies when most progressive, I leave to political 

 economists to explain. My wife was desirous of having a dress 

 and bonnet made up in a week, but one milliner after another 

 declined to undertake the task. It would be a useful lesson to 



