concerning the social policy of its inhabitants than those which had
presented themselves to me on first landing; two years, if properly made
use of, will serve to correct many fallacies, and to throw light on
places and people. There is nothing like seeing with your own eyes, if
you want really to know what the two latter are--whether they come up to
your standard of comparison or otherwise. In several respects, chiefly
material, I liked America better than England; the abundance and
cheapness of provisions, for instance, and the ease with which fruits
and other luxuries--to say nothing of books and newspapers--were
procurable by the working-classes, presented, at that time at least, a
striking contrast to the state of things in the 'old country.' I liked,
too, at first, the sort of free-and-easy intercourse of the working-men
with those, conventionally speaking, above them. Jack considered himself
as good as his master, though not without occasional mortifications at
not finding the sentiment reciprocated. The feeling, however, imparted a
show of independence, rather captivating to one who was not a little
imbued with 'old-country' radicalism. On the other hand, I had been
astonished, not to say disconcerted, at finding--which I did more and
more every day--how much mechanics are looked down upon in the United
States. You have only to wear jacket and apron, and write yourself
artisan, to be excluded from 'good' society as rigidly as if born under
the caste-laws of India. Where there appears to be an equal chance for
all to rise, those who have risen draw the line of demarcation with much
greater severity than strangers are willing to believe.

Another point on which my notions were corrected was, that it was not so
_very_ easy to find work in New York as is commonly reported; and that,
though wages were 20 per cent. higher than I had been accustomed to, the
high price of clothing, lodging, &c. made it, notwithstanding, necessary
for a man to be exceedingly careful of his expenditure, if he wished