At that period, the American character, if well examined, foreshadowed all that it has become since; but the manners were still very different, and contrast singularly with those of Americans of to-day. M. Blanchard, brought into daily intercourse with their ancestors, says of them that they are "slow, distrustful, and wanting in decision of character." In another place he speaks of them as spending a great portion of the day at table, even in the cities of the North.
"As they have little occupation, and seldom go out during winter, but pass their days by the fireside, and by the side of their wives, without reading or any employment, it is a great distraction, a remedy against ennui, to eat so frequently."
"Oh! we have changed all that," will be the answer of the Americans of 1869.
Their morals were singularly pure, and it is on that basis that liberty grew to its present greatness. The journal speaks of but one woman in an important city, who was talked of for her levity of conduct, and she was a European. Here and there throughout the journal we find allusion to young American girls, already possessed of that liberty and that queenly dignity, founded on universal respect, which have continued there to be the privilege of their sex. Here are two charming illustrations of the manners of that period:
"During my stay at Boston, I dined with a young American lady in whose house M. de Capellis lodged. We had made the acquaintance of her sister and brother-in-law at Newport. It was a singular contrast to our customs to see a young girl who, at most, could not have been more than twenty years of age, lodge and entertain a young man. I shall surely find an opportunity of explaining the causes of this singularity."
On another occasion, it is the daughter of the host who comes to keep company with M. Blanchard in the room assigned to him.
"She remained there a long time; sometimes we conversed. At other times she would leave me to attend to my business, and this without constraint and with a natural and innocent familiarity."
It was the period when our eighteenth century, disgusted with the corruption of the court of Louis XV. and the upper classes, indulged in dreams of a golden age, and a morality pure and unaffected. The Americans seemed to offer the realization of this day-dream; hence the success of their cause, and the universal enthusiasm in their favor throughout France.
The general morality of a people who boldly founded a republic in the face of the old monarchies of Europe, was naturally to Frenchmen of the old régime the most interesting spectacle in the new world. The journal abounds in this respect with facts and significant remarks written incidentally in the course of the narrative. I shall limit myself to a few quotations:
"The inhabitants of these provinces (those of the North) are in general more affable and more sprightly than those of Virginia. When our soldiers come into camp, they are met by crowds of women anxious to hear the music, and even to dance when they find an opportunity, which sometimes happens. Afterward they return home to attend to household duties, milk the cows, and prepare the meal for the family. During this time the men are at work cultivating the fields without any distinction or inequality, all well housed and well clad. They choose from among themselves those whom they wish, by reason of their merit or consideration, to be captains of the militia or deputies to Congress. At East Hartford, I was lodged in a very excellent house furnished with order and good taste. I had a bed as elegant in appearance as any to be found in our best country houses in France. The house belonged to the widow of a merchant who had two very handsome and very modest girls; one of these was affianced to a shoemaker, the owner also of a very beautiful house. I have often made this remark, but I cannot help repeating it; the greatest equality prevails in these Northern States. All the husbandmen have farms of their own; there is no one who does not know how to read and write, and there are no poor to be met with. This is as it should be in all the states."
"Note.—It was in 1782 I made those reflections. I did not think that ten years after I should see the same equality established in France."[299]