54- UNITED STATES.

They are, in short, neither polite nor rude, but always civil, unless we assume an authoritative tone. If we do, as some Englishmen are accustomed to through habit, without meaning any assumption, the Ameri- cans will, certainly, neither comply with our requests, nor reply to us in any thing like gentleness of spirit.

The impertinent curiosity with which the people of America are branded, must be considered only applicable to the lower classes in the remote settle- ments. -

In the large towns, the hotels are splendid, and the attendance good, but the waiters are far from being as polite or obsequious as in England. This is cer- tainly a drawback on our ideas of comfort, as we, in this country, consider a hotel, or an inn on the road, much in the same light, for the time being, as we do our own house, and the waiters as our servants. At the inns also on the road in America, we have not much attention shown us as travellers, but we gene- rally find abundance of good things to eat and drink.

Many people object to the table d’héte, which is customary at all the hotels in the United States and British America; but I have always found them very agreeable, and I consider them the very best places for travellers to dine at.

The residents who dine at these tables, always rise, and fly to their business, immediately after dinner; but there are generally intelligent strangers who re- main,whose conversation is agreeable, and fromwhom much information may be obtained. It is also very

wrong to say, as some writers have, that “ a guest 3