THE SOUTH.
93
the lights and shadows on her own brow; it
is, in a word, the reputation of our nation for
general politeness and good manners and of
our fellow citizens to be somewhat more than
cads or snobs that shall engage our present
study. There can be no true test of national
courtesy without travel. Impressions and
conclusions based on provincial traits and
characteristics can thus be modified and gen¬
eralized. Moreover, the weaker and less in¬
fluential the experimenter, the more exact and
scientific the deductions. Courtesy "for reve¬
nue only" is not politeness, but diplomacy.
Any rough can assume civilty toward those
of "his set," and does not hesitate to carry it
even to servility toward those in whom he
recognizes a possible patron or his master in
power, wealth, rank, or influence. But, as
the chemist prefers distilled H2 O in testing
solutions to avoid complications and unwar¬
ranted reactions, so the Black Woman holds
that her femineity linked with the impossi¬
bility of popular affinity or unexpected attrac¬
tion through position and influence in her
case makes her a touchstone of American
courtesy exceptionally pure and singularly
free from extraneous modifiers. The man
who is courteous to her is so, not because of
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