The manners of the gentry were better than those of the middle class; nevertheless they drank overmuch, had a passion for gaming, and sometimes engaged in brawls at the polling-places. The fist, especially in Virginia and Maryland, was preferred to the duel as a means of settling controversies. The landed gentlemen, born aristocrats, were indolent, vain, haughty, arrogant, and sensitive to restraint,--a natural outgrowth of the social conditions of the times. But they had great virtues as well as great faults. There was a keen sense of honor among them, and great pride of ancestry. They were of good, vigorous English stock, especially those who came after the Restoration, and in the struggle for independence, two generations later, furnished to the patriot cause a high class of soldiers, diplomats, and statesmen. 43. Occupations. Sidenote: Scarcity of professional men. There were practically no professions in Virginia and North Carolina. In Maryland and South Carolina a litigious spirit prevailed, and there arose a small body of lawyers fairly well equipped. Medicine was in a crude state. The clergymen of the English Established Church--except in South Carolina, to which colony the London Society for the Propagation of the Gospel sent out good material--were as a rule sadly deficient in manners and education, although there were among them many men of superior attainments and noble character. This was especially noticeable in Maryland. The dissenting ministers were often of quite inferior calibre. Sidenote: Agriculture. Agriculture was the mainstay of the people, tobacco being the one great crop; although in the Carolinas rice and indigo came to be close rivals. Naval stores were also a staple export. In South Carolina there was a greater area devoted to mixed tillage than elsewhere in the South, and corn and cotton were raised in considerable quantities. In both the Carolinas cattle-raising was an important industry, the large branded herds roaming the glades and forests at will. Sidenote: Economic independence of the planter.