Our Neighbours From The Same Country Were Worthy,
Industrious People; But, On The Whole, The Evil Greatly Predominated
Over The Good Amongst Them.
At a few miles' distance from our farm, we had some intelligent
English neighbours, of a higher class; but they were always so
busily occupied with their farming operations that they had little
leisure or inclination for that sort of easy intercourse to which
we had been accustomed.
If we called in the forenoon, we generally
found our neighbour hard at work in the fields, and his wife over
head and ears in her domestic occupations. We had to ring the bell
repeatedly before we could gain admittance, to allow her time to
change her ordinary dress. Long before this could be effected, or we
could enter the door, sundry reconnoitring parties of the children
would peep at us round the corners of the house, and then scamper
off to make their reports.
It seems strange that sensible people should not at once see the
necessity of accommodating their habits to their situation and
circumstances, and receive their friends without appearing to be
ashamed of their employments. This absurdity, however, is happily
confined to the would-be-genteel people in the country, who visit
in the towns, and occasionally are ambitious enough to give large
parties to the aristocracy of the towns. The others, who do not
pretend to vie with the townspeople in such follies, are a great
deal more easy and natural in their manners, and more truly
independent and hospitable.
Now that we are better acquainted with the country, we much prefer
the conversation of the intelligent and unpretending class of
farmers, who, though their education has been limited, often possess
a rich fund of strong commonsense and liberality of sentiment, and
not unfrequently great observation and originality of mind. At the
period I refer to, a number of the American settlers from the United
States, who composed a considerable part of the population, regarded
British settlers with an intense feeling of dislike, and found a
pleasure in annoying and insulting them when any occasion offered.
They did not understand us, nor did we them, and they generally
mistook the reserve which is common with the British towards
strangers for pride and superciliousness.
"You Britishers are too superstitious," one of them told me on a
particular occasion.
It was some time before I found out what he meant by the term
"superstitious," and that it was generally used by them for
"supercilious."
New settlers of the lower classes were then in the habit of
imitating their rudeness and familiarity, which they mistook for
independence. To a certain extent, this feeling still exists amongst
the working class from Europe, but they have learnt to keep it
within prudent bounds for their own sakes; and the higher class have
learnt to moderate their pretensions, which will not be tolerated
here, where labourers are less dependent on them for employment. The
character of both classes, in fact, has been altered very much for
the better, and a better and healthier feeling exists between
them - much more so, indeed, than in England.
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