ilk, and butter; the rivers
furnish fish, and the woods honey. For these various articles, there is,
at first, no market, and the farmer acquires the generous habit of
spreading them profusely on his table, and giving them freely to a
hungry traveller and an indigent neighbor.

"Hospitality and kindness are among the virtues of the first settlers.
Exposed to common dangers and toils, they become united by the closest
ties of social intercourse. Accustomed to arm in each other's defence,
to aid in each other's labor, to assist in the affectionate duty of
nursing the sick, and the mournful office of burying the dead, the best
affections of the heart are kept in constant exercise; and there is,
perhaps, no class of men in our country, who obey the calls of
benevolence, with such cheerful promptness, or with so liberal a
sacrifice of personal convenience.

"We read marvellous stories of the ferocity of western men. The name of
Kentuckian is constantly associated with the idea of fighting, dirking,
and gouging. The people of whom we are now writing do not deserve this
character. They live together in great harmony, with little contention
and less litigation. The backwoodsmen are a generous and placable race.
They are bold and impetuous; and when differences do arise among them,
they are more apt to give vent to their resentment at once, than to
brood over their wrongs, or to seek legal redress. But this conduct is
productive of harmony; for men are always more guarded in their
deportment to each other, and more cautious of giving offence, when they
know that the insult will be quickly felt, and instantly resented, than
when the consequences of an offensive action are doubtful, and the
retaliation distant. We have no evidence that the pioneers of Kentucky
were quarrelsome or cruel; and an intimate acquaintance with the same
race, at a later period, has led the writer to the conclusion, that they
are a humane people; bold and daring, when opposed to an enemy, but
amiable in their intercourse with each other and with strangers, and
habitually inclined to peace."

In morals and the essential principles of religion, this class of people
are by no means so defective as many imagine. The writer has repeatedly
been in settlements and districts beyond the pale of civil and criminal
law, where the people are a "law unto themselves," where courts,
lawyers, sheriffs, and constables existed not, and yet has seen as much
quiet and orde