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CHAPTER XIII.
CAUSES OF THE RESTLESS SPIRIT OF THE AMERICANS IN THE MIDST
OF THEIR PROSPERITY.
In certain remote corners of the Old World you may still
sometimes stumble upon a small district which seems to have been
forgotten amid the general tumult, and to have remained stationary
while everything around it was in motion. The inhabitants are
for the most part extremely ignorant and poor; they take no part
in the business of the country, and they are frequently oppressed
by the government; yet their countenances are generally placid,
and their spirits light.
In America I saw the freest and most enlightened men, placed in the happiest circumstances which the world affords: it seemed to me as if a cloud habitually hung upon their brow, and I thought them serious and almost sad even in their pleasures.
The chief reason of this contrast is that the former do not think of the ills they endure—the latter are for ever brooding over advantages they do not possess. It is strange to see with what feverish ardour the Americans pursue their own welfare; and to watch the vague dread that constantly torments them lest they should not have chosen the shortest path which may lead to it.
A native of the United States clings to this world's goods as if he were certain never to die; and he is so hasty in grasping at all within his reach, that one would suppose he was constantly afraid of not living long enough to enjoy them. He clutches everything, he holds nothing fast, but soon loosens his grasp to pursue fresh gratifications.
In the United States a man builds a house to spend his latter years in it, and he sells it before the roof is on: he plants a garden, and lets it just as the trees are coming into bearing: he brings a field into tillage, and leaves other men to gather the crops: he
