by Dr. Sam. and Mrs. Dickson and their eldest daughter, and ushered into a handsome drawing-room, cloak, hood, smoke, and all.
Dr. Samuel H. Dickson, who thus hospitably
welcomed me, was a distinguished physician of
Charleston and professor in the Medical College of
that town. He gave me kind encouragement in
relation to my medical studies. Through his influence
I soon obtained a position as teacher of
music in the fashionable boarding-school of Mrs.
Du Pré (a connection of the Doctor), where I taught
for some hours every day, spending all my spare
time in pursuing the medical studies which Dr.
Dickson directed. Every morning a couple of hours
were devoted before breakfast to learning the necessary
rudiments of Greek (for I had only so far
been acquainted with Latin).
The boarding-school occupied a fine old-fashioned mansion. The noble drawing-room, with its numerous windows overlooking the bay, was the scene of my teaching duties.
When they were over, many quiet hours were passed in that pleasant room, studying the medical books which the Doctor supplied from his library.
The severe duties of teaching and study were occasionally varied by larger interests, such as hearing a very able (though erroneous) oration on States' Rights, by Calhoun; or the more carnal pleasure of a visit to a banana plantation.
John C. Calhoun's address, given to the enthusiastic meeting which crowded the theatre, was note-
