, were they not restrained by the
force of opinion of relatives and friends. This cringing
dependence, this vassalage, this mesmerism we may call
it, we all know exists. Why, many a cadet has openly
confessed to me that he did not recognize us because
he was afraid of being "cut."
Again, I find some too high-toned, too punctilious,
to recognize me. I attribute this not to the
loftiness of their highnesses nor to prejudice, but
to the depth of their ignorance, and of course I
forgive and forget. Others again are so "reckless,"
so "don't care" disposed, that they treat me as fancy
dictates, now friendly, now vacillating, and now
inimical. With these I simply do as the Romans do.
If they are friendly, so am I; if they scorn me, I
do not obtrude myself upon them; if they are
indifferent, I am indifferent too.
There is a rather remarkable case under this subject
which has caused me no little surprise and
disappointment. I refer to those cadets appointed by
colored members of Congress.
It was quite natural to expect of them better treatment
than of others, and yet if in any thing at all they
differed from the former, they were the more reserved
and discourteous. They most "severely let me alone."
They never associated, nor did they speak, except
officially, and then they always spoke in a haughty
and insolent manner that was to me most exasperating.
And in one case in particular was this so.
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