Chapter III   The temper of the Americans is vindictive, like
that of all serious and reflecting nations. They hardly ever
forget an offense, but it is not easy to offend them, and their
resentment is as slow to kindle as it is to abate.   There are
many little attentions that an American does not care about; he
thinks they are not due to him, or he presumes that they are not
known to be due. He therefore either does not perceive a
rudeness or he forgives it; his manners become less courteous,
and his character more plain and masculine.  The mutual
indulgence that the Americans display and the manly confidence
with which they treat one another also result from another
deeper and more general cause, which I have already referred to
in the preceding chapter. In the United States the distinctions
of rank in civil society are slight, in political society they
are nil; an American, therefore, does not think himself bound to
pay particular attentions to any of his fellow citizens, nor
does he require such attention