ern scholastics than a few months' sojourn in hearty Southern society. I remember very well the first impression of Kentucky life. Faults there were in abundance to note, deficiencies of culture, radical errors in the political and domestic order, yet the sternest censor could not but be captivated by the cordiality of the people, and even soften his censure into sympathy, when he found that they were quite as ready to perceive and lament their failings as he could be. From the first hearty shake of the hand from a Kentuckian on the crowded landing to the hearty farewells that speeded the parting guest upon his homeward way months afterward, the same genial pulse seemed to beat. It would be quite as wrong to regard this impulsive warmth of manner as mere affectation of generosity, as it would be wrong to regard the colder temper of Northern men as proof of habitual selfishness. The climate has much to do with the temperament, and it is undoubtedly the union of Southern impulsiveness with the daring self-reliance incident to a border life that has given the Kentuckian his peculiar air and tone.
So far as I could see, the same electric temper appeared in every sphere of life, certainly in the serious as well as in the festive sphere. If in the conduct of business, especially of agricultural business, there were some tokens of the easy gait so characteristic of people accustomed to be served by slaves, no trace of languor showed itself whenever men met together upon any interesting occasion, whether grave or gay. A revival preacher, or a stump orator, could have no occasion to complain of dull listeners. The chat of an evening party had none of the stately reserve so affected by English mannerists nearer home, but seemed downright earnest, as if society were a genuine business, and very pleasant business, too. I remember the perfect furore that prevailed during one of those semi-barbarous races which are a kind of relic of the ancient tournament, with this difference, that the man is but a spectator, and leaves the honors and the pains of the struggle to his horse. The whole city was in commotion, and the rage of betting infected the servants and slaves. The little fellow that brushed our clothes at the boarding-house, swelled into the consequence of a gentleman of the turf, as he staked his half-dollar with a comrade of like hue and stature, whilst the august head of Henry
