In certain remote corners of the old world you may sometimes stumble upon little places which seem to have been forgotten among the general tumult and which have stayed still while all around them moves. The inhabitants re mostly very ignorant and very poor; they take no part in affairs of government, and often have a jovial disposition.
In America I have seen the freest and best educated of men in circumstances the happiest to be found in the world; yet it seemed to me that a cloud habitually hung on their brow, and they seemed serious and almost sad even in their pleasures.
The chief reason for this is that the former do not give a moment's thought to the ills they endure, whereas the latter never stop thinking of good things they have not got.
It is odd to watch with what feverish ardor the Americans pursue prosperity and how they are ever tormented by the shadowy suspicion that they may not have chosen the shortest route to get it.