It certainly does not proceed from want of intellect.

I have listened to much dull and heavy conversation in America, but rarely to any that I could strictly call silly, (if I except the every where privileged class of very young ladies).

They appear to me to have clear heads and active intellects; are more ignorant on subjects that are only of conventional value, than on such as are of intrinsic importance; but there is no charm, no grace in their conversation.

I very seldom during my whole stay in the country heard a sentence elegantly turned, and correctly pronounced from the lips of an American.

There is always something either in the expression or the accent that jars the feelings and shocks the taste.
I will not pretend to decide whether man is better or worse off for requiring refinement in the manners and customs of the society that surrounds him, and for being incapable of enjoyment without them; but in America that polish which removes the coarser and rougher parts of our nature is unknown and undreamed of.