The women of the United States have no direct influence in politics; and here, as in England, it is deemed rather unfeminine to take an earnest interest in public affairs. But perhaps there is no country in the world, where women, as wives, sisters, and daughters, have more influence, or more freedom. Some travellers have compassionated the condition of American women, because they spend so small a portion of their time in amusements; but this remark applies equally to men; and it could not well be otherwise in a country where so much is to be done, and where estates are so equally divided that few become very wealthy. It is true that Americans do not treat their ladies with the graceful gallantry of Frenchmen, or the chivalric deference of Spaniards; but in place of these external refinements, women have their respect, esteem, and undoubting confidence. The class who are exempted from personal exertion, or at least from personal superintendence of their domestic avocations, is comparatively very small. Labor in the open fields and streets is rarely performed by women, unless it be by foreign peasantry lately arrived in the country. The buxom daughters of the Dutch farmers do indeed continue the old custom of raking hay, and the girls in Weathersfield, Connecticut, may often be seen at early dawn weeding the immense beds of onions, for which that town is celebrated. A large proportion of schools throughout the country are kept by women, and it is not uncommon for them to keep shops for the sale of English and French goods, toys, confectionary, &c. Mantua-making and millinary are, of course, their peculiar province; and many are employed to tend looms in factories, to set types in printing-offices, and fold sheets for the bookbinders. By far the largest proportion of these do not work for support, but to gain additional luxuries, which their parents cannot afford to furnish. Nothing surprises a foreigner more than the near approach to equality in the dress of different classes. The rich and fashionable are in most respects like those of Europe; and humble imitators have need of great diligence to copy their frequent changes. In the article of jewels, the most wealthy cannot indeed cope with their European models; for the diamonds of a foreign duchess often surpass in value the whole fortune, real and personal, of a rich American. The habit of tight lacing, in order to form a slender waist, has been copied, like other European fashions. This practice, combined with the habit of taking very little exercise in the open air, has an unfavorable effect upon freshness of complexion and beauty of figure. Excursions on horseback have lately become a very favorite amusement with American ladies.