Thomas Wentworth Higginson, The new world and the new book

[211] What comes nearest to it among the Latin races is the courtesy of the high-bred gentleman toward the lady who is his social equal, which is a wholly different thing. A similar point of evolution in this country is the decorum of a public assembly. It is known that at the early town meetings in New England men sat with their hats on, as in England. Unconsciously, by a simple evolution of good manners, the practice has been outgrown in America; but Parliament still retains it. Many good results may have followed imperceptibly from this same habit of decorum. Thus Mr. Bryce points out that the forcible interruption of a public meeting by the opposite party, although very common in England, is very rare in America. In general, with us, usages are more flexible, more adaptive; in public meetings, for instance, we get rid of a great many things that are unutterably tedious, as the English practice of moving, seconding, and debating the prescribed vote of thanks to the presiding officer at the end of the most insignificant gathering. It is very likely that even