Page:A French Volunteer of the War of Independence.djvu/230

206 there are a great many Tories in your country, and I see that the rich families still cling to the king's government."

"Yes; and thus it happens," he replied, with a smile, "that though our Republic has only been in existence some ten years, there are already two distinct tendencies—the one democratic, the other aristocratic. In Europe they always speak of the American Revolution, but our separation from the mother country cannot be called a revolution. There have been no changes in the laws, no one's interests have been interfered with, everyone remains in his place, and all that is altered is that the seat of government is changed. Real equality exists amongst us at present, but there is a remarkable difference of manners between the inhabitants of the Northern and Southern States. The negro is free at Philadelphia, but he is a slave in Virginia and Carolina. Large fortunes are made in the Southern States, because the country is rich in productions; but it is not the same in the Northern States."

"Yes," I said, "those who claim to