The fact that the river commerce throve was partly the cause and partly the consequence of the general prosperity of Kentucky.  The pioneer days, with their fierce and squalid struggle for bare life, were over.  If men were willing to work, and escaped the Indians, they were sure to succeed in earning a comfortable livelihood in a country so rich.  “The neighbors are doing well in every sense of the word,” wrote one Kentuckian to another, “they get children and raise crops.” [Footnote:  Draper MSS., Jonathan Clark Papers.  O’Fallen to Clark, Isles of Ohio, May 30, 1791.] Like all other successful and masterful people the Kentuckians fought well and bred well, and they showed by their actions their practical knowledge of the truth that no race can ever hold its own unless its members are able and willing to work hard with their hands.

    Standard of Living.

The general prosperity meant rude comfort everywhere; and it meant a good deal more than rude comfort for the men of greatest ability.  By the time the river commerce had become really considerable, the rich merchants, planters, and lawyers had begun to build two-story houses of brick or stone, like those in which they had lived in Virginia.  They were very fond of fishing, shooting, and riding, and were lavishly hospitable.  They sought to have their children well taught, not only in letters but in social accomplishments like dancing; and at the proper season they liked to visit the Virginian watering-places, where they met “genteel company” from the older States, and lodged in good taverns in which “a man could have a room and a bed to himself.” [Footnote:  Letter of a young Virginian, L. Butler, April 13, 1790. Magazine of Amer.  Hist., i., 113.]

An agreement entered into about this time between one of the Clarks and a friend shows that Kentuckians were already beginning to appreciate the merits of neat surroundings even for a rather humble town-house.  This particular house, together with, the stable and lot, was rented for “one cow” for the first eight months, and two dollars a month after that—­certainly not an excessive rate; and it was covenanted that everything should be kept in good repair, and particularly that the grass plots around the house should not be “trod on or tore up.” [Footnote:  Draper MSS.  Wm. Clark Papers.  Agreement between Clark and Bagley, April 1, 1790.]

    Interest in Politics.

All Kentuckians took a great interest in politics, as is the wont of self-asserting, independent freemen, living under a democratic government.  But the gentry and men of means and the lawyers very soon took the lead in political affairs.  A larger proportion of these classes came from Virginia than was the case with the rest of the population, and they shared the eagerness and aptitude for political life generally shown by the leading families of Virginia.  In many cases they were kin to these families; not, however, as a rule, to the families of the tidewater region,