In some respects however it was unfortunate that the Prophet was not more cosmopolitan in his training and in his views of life on the occasion of this visit to the nation's capital; for lack of such training and views of life led him to the formation of rather hasty judgments as to the character of our nation's public men at that time. He undoubtedly had sticking to him as yet, some of the prejudices of his New England and New York sectional training; and at the time of his visit the spirit of the public men of the nation at Washington was largely influenced by the Southern character and spirit. Bourbon Democracy was at its height. The gentlemen of the South with their extreme notions of chivalry and polite deportment, predominated. In those days men were held to strict account for their manner of address one to another. An improper word, a slight, magnified into an insult, meant a challenge to mortal combat on "the field of honor," and this sense of personal responsibility for utterances begot, no doubt, an extreme politeness in personal deportment which seemed puerile to those reared in another atmosphere and influenced by other sentiments than those which resulted from education in the South. Joseph Smith's judgment upon manners and customs in Washington, was doubtless New England's judgment upon Southern customs with which it had no patience, much less sympathy. It is only from these considerations that the rather harsh {XXVII} judgment of the Prophet in relation to conditions in Washington can be properly understood.