Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1861-04-26

who Is sort OF social oracle in the city, has
told me with complacency, more than once,
that South Carolina society is "rapidly adj
vancing towards Orientalism.' pointing out
to me. as evidence, the increasing discoun-
tenauce Of any sort Of useful employment a
mong ladies', their growing fastidiousness,
and the exclusivencss which proscribcs litera-
ture that is not Of native growth, and the
tightening restrictions which fence about the
mind and manners of South Carolina. Since
my last trip hither, have seen in several
Southern newspapers Characteristic para
graph. Some New England. or perhaps Old
England, newspaper, had announced the fact
that Lady Byron had left legacy to Mr.. Fol
len, of Boston, as an assistance to him in the
difficulties he might encounter as an Adolf
ZIONIST. At the end of this paragraph, the
Southern papers inserted the observation that
they could assure her ladyship (some time de-
ceasod) that if the South had been aware of
her ladyship's abolition tendencies, her hus-
bands poetry would not have obtained that
currency which il had enjoyed in that region
Of refinement. need moi show English read
ers the points Of this notice, which must be
intensely amusing to them.
But it is time | was arriving at my sisters
house.
These Yankee hostesses certainly make
their guests more comfortable than the native
ladies can do; but it is at great cost. The
native ladies let things slide, as we say in A
merica. IL they can carry point by one eff
fort, they do it; but if not, they yield again.
The Northern wives, to whom time, comfort,
and a sense of achievement and success are
necossaries Of life, are apt to fret and fdget.
The astonishing patience of the Southern gem
...1..
but truly amazing in their own homes--is a
virtue beyond tho reach of most Yankees !;
but, as a set off, the house of a Northern
mistress is cleaner, tho beds are better made,
tho meals are somewhat more punctual, the
negroes less wheedling and wilful in short,
daily life goes on less langudly and with less
disorder, and the good manners Of the Nor
thern guest are less severely tried | own,
however, that one thing that | do dread in
paying these visits is the besetting nuisance
Of the servants. When one wakes in the NOR
ming, there are their black faces, one at each
bedpost, staring at one and it is no easy
matter to get them out of the room at ALL
They are apt TO be offended at being sent
away; whereas the real insult is in the IL
consc permitted them as inferior beings
They are allowed liberties in common with
reconcile myself to the domestic habits exist
ing where the servants are slaves but all
sense of the distastefulness to myself is lost
in the concern l cannot but feel for the chill
dren Of the household. No attempt is made
to separate them from the negroes The
thing could not be done Their nurses are
negroes; their playfellows arc negroes and
what they hear from these companions is, in
regard to the moraities and deoencies of life,
much what the dog and the cat would say. if
they could speak. Among themselves, the
negroes have the same Unborn decorums that
other people have, the same native purity /
could give a hundred illustrations of this
But the whites, who treat them as another or
der of beings, place themselves out of the
reach OF the instincts which render the blacks
decorous in their own homes, and must not
wonder at anything the children may hear
from "body-servant' or playmate. am sure
this is the worst Of the many troubles inhic-
ted on mothers by the peculiar institution"
My sisters struggled with it for time, en-
deavoring to keep their little ones always
with them but that did not much mend the
matter. Negroes will talk and the affair al
ways ends in leaving the children to their
chance, in the hope that their innocence may
be their safeguard.
After getting up from my hard bed-truly
as hard as the table, as it should be in a hot
climate-and admiring the supply of cold wa
ter in one corner of the room, and turning
out the fellows who do not like my way of
waiting on myself, see what may help to ac-
count for their intrusion. On the window
seat is tray of fine fruit prettily dished up
in leaves. On the floor is basket of delicate
vegetables. Tray and basket show the cards
of old acquaintance at Charleston and so
do the three bottles of rare wine in the other
window. On the dressing-table are two or
three punches ofhayaeinths, jonquils, jasmine,
roses, etc, and there is heap Of envelopes
containing tickets for lectures, orders of adj
mittance TO public institutions, etc. | am
plunged into the food of Southern hospitality
already; and am told that, if had brought
my wife, there would have been some rare
ribbon, or collar, or fan, or bit of lace, OF
possibly all these. Considering the energy
with which the Southern citizens proclaim
themselves poor land often with great truth, J
these methods Of hospitality are remarkable.
They are graceful, and not little romantic,
however
Alter breakfast, my sister and | lounge
for a while in the balcony which overhangs
the court in the rear of the house. Below
we see the children, busy with their condolences
and their play each little white having lit
tie black to play with and command and
very afectionate they look, a going about
with their arms round one anothers neck
When the sun gets little higher, the young
masters and mistressos must come in to les
sons.
The clorgyman's wifc--a Northern woman
who has far outstripped her native neighbor'
in her advocacy Of slavery--happens to be
calling when the children come in and gel
their books out. She ironically remarks tha
lessons are a sad necessity, and bids me oh
serve that my nieces see little Nancy ant
Flora TO be more free than they are themselves
Ny sister corroborates this, by relating how
busy my nieces had been yesterday dressing
little Nancy for party, when they certainly
thought her the privileged child of the house
hold
II is no desire OF mine to talk on this eter
nal subject in place where such discussion
is never rational, never fair, and always use
less but neither nor any one else can es
cape it. ! have, now and then, felt tempted
TO relate at night the contradictory statement
and arguments about slavery that ! have hearC
/ in the course of the day but never intro