A similar principle of integrity seems to pervade social intercourse. They speak what they conceive to be truth, whether it is likely to render them popular or not, whether it coincides or not with the opinions and prejudices of those with whom they converse. They are also distinguished by a love of order. The ranks are clearly defined, and are not ambitious to encroach on established boundaries. Children are taught to obey. Servants are not ashamed of their stations. The young submit to the discipline of schools and colleges. The course of education is to make thorough, to give a solid base, rather than to hang out a broad, gay banner. Order and punctuality in those who rule, beget the spirit of trust in those who are subordinate, and aid to keep things upon their right foundations.
The old English character is emphatically best seen at home, by the fireside, and at the family altar. In the enjoyment of the comfort which they so well understand, in the exercise of a hospitality, which, more than any other people, they know how to render perfect, in the maintenance of that authority, on which the strength and symmetry of the domestic fabric depends, and in the admixture of religious obligation with the daily routine of duties and affections, there is a straight-forwardness, a whole-heartedness, that commands respect, and incites those, who have descended from them, to glory in their ancestry.
