tend, that the vast difference
between the higher and lower classes in the South, results in the
deterioration of the latter. There is some plausibility in the
argument, and it may be that there is some truth in it, but such
individuals have forgotten that the same agency is in active operation
in the free as well as the slave States. I am aware that men of wealth
do not feel themselves under any obligation to associate with their
less fortunate neighbors, the world over. It is one of the
characteristics of human nature. But men of wealth in the Southern
part of the United States, are not more haughty, distant and
overbearing, than the same class in other parts of the Union. On the
contrary, there is an urbanity about Southern slaveholders, that
enables the lower classes to approach them with less embarrassment
than they feel when they attempt to approach the frigid, stiff, and
less polite Northerner. Gentlemen and ladies, in the Southern part of
the United States, are accustomed to treat every one that approaches
them, rich or poor, with a degree of civility and courteous ease, that
is unknown among the same class in any other part of the civilized
world. Their blandness and kindness cannot fail to make the poor man
feel happier and better. If he is forced to approach them for the
purpose of soliciting aid, he is seldom turned away empty. They are
universally liberal and hospitable. Having practiced medicine among
them twenty years, I have no recollection of a solitary instance in
which any of them made a long face, when I made out a long bill for
services. I will here relate some anecdotes which will serve to
illustrate Southern character. Being pressed at a certain time for two
hundred dollars, and not having time at my disposal to collect it, and
having rendered important services for a wealthy citizen near the town
in which I resided; I seated myself at my table, with an intention of
making out a bill against him that would liquidate the claim against
myself. With considerable difficulty, I at length screwed up the bill
to two hundred dollars, and off I posted to his house. I found him at
home and presented the bill; not without some misgivings, that
perchance he might take exceptions to the amount charged for services.
But I was disappointed, for after looking over the bill a few moments,
he remarked, "why sir, you have not charged me half enough; you ought
to have charged me five hundred dollars." He paid the bill