““The custom of confession seemed designed to encourage sin by granting ready forgiveness. Neither Abigail nor any member of her family ever wavered in their preference for life in America over life in Europe. In France they lived far grander style than they ever lived in Braintree. ...her unshakable belief was that America was superior to Europe - superiority based on simplicity, its supposed lack of extreme wealth and class distinctions, its religion and its emphasis on family””
