No editor, possessing the least leaven of anti-slavery
principles, would be patronized; and it not infrequently happens that
such men are mobbed and driven perforce to leave the slave, for the more
northern or free, states. Here they stand a better chance, but, in many
instances, the prejudice, it is said, follows their course, and southern
influence occasions their bankruptcy or non-success.
The practice, so common in the slave states, of the citizens
congregating at the bars of hotels or cafes in the towns and cities to
while away the time, renders attendance at such places the readiest
means of ascertaining the state of the public mind on any engrossing
subject, opinions being here freely discussed, not, however, without
bias and anger; on the contrary, the practice is most sectarian, and
frequently involves deadly feuds and personal encounters, these latter
being of every-day occurrence. Ever since I had been in the southern
states, my attention had been attracted to the swarms of well-dressed
loungers at cafes and hotels.
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