“I know it,” said Marie, sadly, “and I think one of the great mistakes of our civilization is that which makes color, and not character, a social test.”

“I think so, too,” said Leroy.  “The strongest men and women of a down-trodden race may bare their bosoms to an adverse fate and develop courage in the midst of opposition, but we have no right to subject our children to such crucial tests before their characters are formed.  For years, when I lived abroad, I had an opportunity to see and hear of men of African descent who had distinguished themselves and obtained a recognition in European circles, which they never could have gained in this country.  I now recall the name of Ira Aldridge, a colored man from New York City, who was covered with princely honors as a successful tragedian.  Alexander Dumas was not forced to conceal his origin to succeed as a novelist.  When I was in St. Petersburg I was shown the works of Alexander Sergevitch, a Russian poet, who was spoken of as the Byron of Russian literature, and reckoned one of the finest poets that Russia has produced in this century.  He was also a prominent figure in fashionable society, and yet he was of African lineage.  One of his paternal ancestors was a negro who had been ennobled by Peter the Great.  I can’t help contrasting the recognition which these men had received with the treatment which has been given to Frederick Douglass and other intelligent colored men in this country.  With me the wonder is not that they have achieved so little, but that they have accomplished so much.  No, Marie, we will have our children educated without being subjected to the depressing influences of caste feeling.  Perhaps by the time their education is finished I will be ready to wind up my affairs and take them abroad, where merit and ability will give them entrance into the best circles of art, literature, and science.”

After this conversation Leroy and his wife went North, and succeeded in finding a good school for their children.  In a private interview he confided to the principal the story of the cross in their blood, and, finding him apparently free from racial prejudice, he gladly left the children in his care.  Gracie, the youngest child, remained at home, and her mother spared no pains to fit her for the seminary against the time her sister should have finished her education.

CHAPTER XI.

THE PLAGUE AND THE LAW.

Years passed, bringing no special change to the life of Leroy and his wife.  Shut out from the busy world, its social cares and anxieties, Marie’s life flowed peacefully on.  Although removed by the protecting care of Leroy from the condition of servitude, she still retained a deep sympathy for the enslaved, and was ever ready to devise plans to ameliorate their condition.

Leroy, although in the midst of slavery, did not believe in the rightfulness of the institution.  He was in favor of gradual emancipation, which would prepare both master and slave for a moral adaptation to the new conditions of freedom.  While he was willing to have the old rivets taken out of slavery, politicians and planters were devising plans to put in new screws.  He was desirous of having it ended in the States; they were clamorous to have it established in the Territories.