I will not attempt a long essay on the subject, but if America, in her vastness, her immense natural resources, and her remote grandeur, would be less imitative, she would be infinitely more picturesque and interesting.
The President has regular evening parties, every other Wednesday, which are called his _levees_; the last syllable is pronounced by every one as long as possible, being exactly the reverse of the French and English manner of pronouncing the same word.

The effect of this, from the very frequent repetition of the word in all companies is very droll, and for a long time I thought people were quizzing these public days.

The reception rooms are handsome, particularly the grand saloon, which is elegantly, nay, splendidly furnished; this has been done since the visit of Captain Hall, whose remarks upon the former state of this room may have hastened its decoration; but there are a few anomalies in some parts of the entertainment, which are not very courtly.
The company are about as select as that of an Easter-day ball at the Mansion-house.
The churches at Washington are not superb; but the Episcopalian and Catholic were filled with elegantly dressed women.

I observed a greater proportion of gentlemen at church at Washington than any where else.
The Presbyterian ladies go to church three times in the day, but the general appearance of Washington on a Sunday is much less puritanical than that of most other American towns; the people walk about, and there are no chains in the streets, as at Philadelphia, to prevent their riding or driving, if they like it.
The ladies dress well, but not so splendidly as at Baltimore.

I remarked that it was not very unusual at Washington for a lady to take the arm of a gentleman, who was neither her husband, her father, nor her brother.