e this soon after
arriving in the south. This, which in England would be called laziness,
is encouraged by the most trifling offices being performed by slaves.
The females in particular give way to this inertness, and active women
are seldom to be met with, the wives of men in affluent circumstances
being in general like pampered children, and suffering dreadfully from
_ennui_. On one occasion an English gentleman at Charleston, with whom I
became acquainted, and whose hospitality I shall never forget, when
conversing on the subject, addressed me thus: "Good, active wives are
seldom to be met with in this state, amongst the natives; I may say,
hardly ever; the females are nurtured in indolence, and in seeking what
they term a settlement, look more to the man's means than the likelihood
of living happily with him. There is no disguising it--the
considera--with them is a _sine qua non_. Few girls would refuse a man
who possessed a goodly number of slaves, though they were sure his
affections would be shared by some of the best-looking of the females
amongst them, and his conduct towards the remainder that of a very
demon." These sentiments I very soon ascertained to be in no way
libellous. A southern wife, if she is prodigally furnished with dollars
to "go shopping," apparently considers it no drawback to her happiness
if some brilliant mulatto or quadroon woman ensnares her husband. Of
course there are exceptions, but the patriarchal usage is so engrafted
in society there, that it elicits little notice or comment. Nor, from
what I gleaned, are the ladies themselves immaculate, as may be inferred
from the occasional quadroon aspect of their progeny.

The Jews are a very numerous and influential body in Charleston, and
monopolize many of its corporate honours. They were described as very
haughty and captious; this, however, is saying no more of the stock of
Israel than is observable all over the world, hen they are in prosperous
circumstances, although, when this is not the case, perhaps none of the
human family are so abject and servile, not excepting slaves themselves.
In process of time, these people bid fair to concentrate in themselves
most of the wealth and influence of Charleston. If their perseverance
(which is here indomitable) should attain this result, they will be in
pretty much the same position there that Pharaoh occupied over their
race in Egypt in olden time, and, if reports speak true, will wield the
scept