HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE ACCOUNT OF THE UNITED STATES. CHAPTER I. Manners and Social Life in America. Difficulty of the Subject-Effects of colonial SettlementVariations in different States-Virginia-The West-New England-Religious Spirit-Philanthropy-Domestic good Conduct-Industry - Political Violence-Timidity in expressing Opinion - Eagerness after Wealth-Rash Speculations - Laxity of Principle - The Yankee PedlarPugnacious Disposition National Vanity- Curiosity Good Temper-Strong Liquors - Temperance SocietiesAssumption of Equality-Attention to Ladies-Their Appearance and Character-Entertainments-Minor Defects in Manners and Accommodation-Inns-Dishes and Cookery -Differences throughout the Union-The New Englanders -Southern Planters-Emigrants to the North-west-The South-west-Society of Washington - Probable Improve ment. THE treatment of this subject is perhaps the most delicate and difficult task which presents itself in the whole circle of the present work. The very objects possess a vagueness which renders them indistinctly perceptible by a common observer, and are easily distorted by the mists of prepossession and passion, through which, in too many instances, they have been viewed. The VOL. III. Americans consider themselves as heavily aggrieved by the representations generally circulated in Europe upon the matters in question; and though feverishly sensitive in this respect, their complaints are probably not without some foundation. We apprehend, however, that there is not much of actual misstatement on either side, and that by making due allowance for the colouring of prejudice and political feeling, a somewhat near approach may be made to the truth. The colonists to North America were placed under peculiar circumstances, necessarily creating a state of society that materially differed from that of the mothercountry. The Greek colonies, which spread civilisation so wide around the Mediterranean, had been composed of large bodies of the nation, led usually by princes, and including some of the most distinguished citizens. Hence they soon rose to greatness and refinement, and in many cases left the parent-state behind them. The English settlers, on the contrary, were composed mostly of the middle and labouring classes, seeking to escape the pressure of poverty, or to attain religious freedom; and even those habits of elegance, which a certain number carried with them, could be with difficulty maintained. No easy or ready mode for acquiring wealth was open to them. They had to begin by subduing a vast wilderness, covered with dense forests, and to maintain a severe struggle against wild animals and wilder men. Amid these hard necessities, obliged to live in a great measure apart, they had little opportunity or means of displaying riches or accomplishments. If the original settlers succeeded in preserving some portion of refinement, their posterity almost inevitably sunk to the level of their position. Still the labouring class, earning ample wages, and having often landed property of their own, attained a degree of comfort, independence, and even intelligence, superior to that enjoyed at home by their countrymen of the same class. A people, however, which has branched off from another in an advanced state of society, is differently The latter has situated from one originally rude. maxims, institutions, and usages all tending to fix it in its actual position; while there is not likely to be any foreign intercourse so intimate as to effect more than a very gradual change. But the colonist is connected, and holds regular communication with a more improved society, on the model of which his belief, his opinions, and external habits are formed. He looks to this as the standard upon which, when circumstances admit, he will seek to form himself. These influences had, before the separation, produced a very sensible effect. The merchants of Boston, and the planters of Virginia, equalled probably in intelligence, and even in elegance of manners, any British class out of the immediate circle of the court and universities. But when the revolution severed the connexion between them and Britain, and led them to view her with feelings of jealousy and hostility, this progress was interrupted; and the consequences appear to have been unfavourable to their intellectual and social progress. The men of the revolution were not succeeded by others of equal ability; even their own writers have remarked a decline in the standard of manners. The opulent classes, however, still look to Europe as the source of elegance and refinement, but as it were covertly, and not without exciting jealous feelings among the republican party. They have also taken a wider range than their predecessors, and some have adopted France as the more refined model; though the imitation is not always successful, and is attended with certain serious disadvantages. Extensive variations are also observable within the now wide circle of the Union. Virginia and the other southern states were originally planted on a more aristocratic basis, and by the use of slaves their gentry are enabled to hold extensive possessions, and to live nearly in the style of European landed proprietors. From this difference of position arise marked peculiarities, which we shall afterwards endeavour to delineate. Since the beginning of the century, a new circle has been formed in the western states, whose social position is not only different, but in some respects contrasted with that of the older settlements. They are, in fact, colonies from them as they were from Britain, and exhibit results extremely similar. The emigrants, belonging in a still greater proportion to the labouring class, were likely to form, as they have actually done, a still ruder society. Intimately connected, however, as they still are with the more improved districts, they will doubtless make them their model in the career of civilisation, and gradually adopt their spirit. This process indeed is, to a great extent, observable in the older settled states. M. Chevalier considers New England, from being so great a source of emigration, as likely to absorb into herself all the new divisions of the Union. He does not consider that, so far as they extend south of the Ohio, they have been drawn from Virginia and the neighbouring states; and that, while the cool and methodical Yankee spirit has been greatly diluted by transportation, the bolder temper of the south has been augmented; so that the prevailing character on the whole range from Kentucky to Alabama may be represented as ultra Virginian. The north-eastern states, however, comprising those of New England, New York, and Pennsylvania, form what is now generally considered the main body of America. Their inhabitants, by extraordinary industry and activity, and by freedom from the evils of slavery, have gained a great ascendency over the rest. Almost all commercial concerns are in their hands; and upon their model chiefly the western states, as they rise in civilisation, will seek to form themselves. We shall, therefore, in the delineation now to be attempted, keep them mainly in view, seeking afterwards to trace those differences which distinguish the others.* The authorities chiefly employed in this delineation are Hamilton's Men and Manners in America, 2 vols; Stuart's Three Years in America, 2 vols; Hall's (Basil) Travels, In surveying the American character, we may with pleasure recognise, at its very foundation, qualities truly estimable. They are, especially within the boundaries above stated, decidedly a religious people; this profession seems to be made in a manner somewhat more marked than among any European nation. They support, without any aid from the state, an establishment of teachers adequate to the wants of the population, and attend regularly to devotional ordinances and ministrations. Associations for the diffusion of religious knowledge in foreign countries, and in the destitute parts of their own, are supported with great attention and liberal expenditure. This subject is more fully developed in a chapter treating expressly of the religious state of the Union. A kindred virtue, borrowed also from Britain, to which the Americans may advance a just claim, is that of active philanthropy. In no country are more systematic exertions made to relieve the evils under which humanity suffers. Extensive institutions are supported by liberal donations of money, and by a large portion of that time which is otherwise very fully employed. In communicating relief, and at the same time guarding against abuse, particular discretion and good sense are displayed. Attention has been much directed to mitigating the severity of criminal justice, and at the same time making it contribute to the reformation of the offender. We may add, that the purity of domestic life is better preserved than even in Britain, which is here happily superior to perhaps any of the other great countries of Europe. The seduction either of married or unmarried females very rarely occurs; nor does the reproach rest only, as elsewhere, upon one and often the injured sex. 3 vols; Mrs Trollope's Domestic Manners of the Americans, 2 vols; Buckingham's Travels, 3 vols; Combe's Travels, 3 vols; Grund's Americans, 2 vols; Aristocracy in America, 2 vols; Sedgwick's Home, &c.; Mrs Clavers' New Home and Forest Life; Flint (Timothy) on the Western States; Channing on the Labouring Classes, &c. ་ |