The state of society in the United States bears a general resemblance to the English, though considerably modified by the peculiar circumstances of the country. In Europe, the female peasantry are universally more virtuous than those who (for want of a better term) are called the higher classes; even the _contadine_[4] of voluptuous Italy are said to be generally modest in their character and deportment. In America there is no class corresponding to the peasantry; but nearly all the people are obliged to support themselves by their own industry. The result is favorable to female virtue. Intrigues with married women, so common in a more luxurious state of society, are almost unheard of in the United States. Should a Frenchman, or an Italian, address himself to an American woman in terms with which his own countrymen are quite familiar, he would generally find it very difficult to make himself understood. I by no means intend to say that profligacy does not exist, even in the most puritanical portions of our country--far, very far from it. The vicious class of females in our cities perhaps bears as large a proportion to the population, as in European towns; and among the respectable and genteel classes of society, there are individuals whose conduct is culpable; but these are exceptions to the general rule. The laws of modesty are never transgressed in dress, except by a few ultra-fashionables, and the opinion even of their own class is decidedly opposed to it. But a change is visibly coming over the face of society. Wealth is introducing luxury into our cities, and foreign refinements are coming with foreign vices in their train. The descendants of the Puritans allow their daughters to waltz, and think it no scandal to witness the exhibition of opera-dancers. The substantial body of the people have still a religious cast of character; but infidelity has taken strong hold in cities. The connection between religion and marriage is not obvious, but it is real. All infidels, whether they be found in France, England, or America, have a decided tendency to regard the institution of marriage as tyrannical. The lines of demarkation between different classes are becoming more distinct, and active industry is considered a bar to gentility. These causes may work slowly, or rapidly; but if their ultimate effects prove favorable to virtue, the history of America will differ from that of all other nations. [4] Peasant girls.