Society before and for many years after the Revolution was easy,
agreeable, and somewhat refined. Traveling was slow, difficult, and
expensive. For society, the inhabitants were mainly dependent upon
themselves; the ties of social life were closely drawn. Books,
newspapers, and magazines were rare; men and women read less, but
talked more, and wrote longer and more elaborate letters than now.
"Cheap postage has spoiled letter writing." Much time was spent in
social visits; tea parties, and supper parties were common. The
gentlemen had their clubs and exclusive social gatherings, sometimes
too convivial in their character, and occasionally a youth of promise
fell a victim to the temptations of a mistaken hospitality. "Gaming
was more common among respectable people than at the present day."


CUSTOMS.

Of leisure, all classes at all times had a superabundance, and it was
cheerfully devoted to mutual assistance without thought of recompense,
except in kind. If anyone fell behind through sickness or other
misfortune, his neighbors would cheerfully proffer their services,
often making of the occasion a frolic and mingling labor with
amusement.

On days set apart for the pulling of flax and wheat-cutting, the
neighbors and their children assembled in happy mood and as cheerfully
applied themselves to their gratuitous tasks. While the men were
pulling the flax or reaping and shocking the wheat, the women at the
house were preparing the harvest-noon feast. The rough table, for
which the side and bottom boards of a wagon were frequently used, was
placed when practicable under the shade of a spreading tree in the