We are waiting to hear him say in the most moderate and "gentlemanly"
manner, that it is all very well to select flaws and present them as
specimens, and to learn from him, possibly with indignant publicity,
that the present condition of parties is not what we have intimated. Or,
in his quiet and pointed way, he may smile at our fiery assault upon
edged flounces, and nuga pyramids, and the kingdom of Lilliput in
general.
Yet, after all, and despite the youths who are led out, and carried
home, or who stumble through the "German," this is a sober matter. My
friend told us we should see the "best society." But he is a prodigious
wag. Who make this country? From whom is its character of unparalleled
enterprise, heroism, and success derived? Who have given it its place in
the respect and the fear of the world? Who, annually, recruit its
energies, confirm its progress, and secure its triumph? Who are its
characteristic children, the pith, the sinew, the bone, of its
prosperity? Who found, and direct, and continue its manifold
institutions of mercy and education? Who are, essentially, Americans?
Indignant friend, these classes, whoever they may be, are the "best
society," because they alone are the representatives of its character
and cultivation.
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