to me to
readily accept their situation, and not to let their industrial aspirations
rise high enough. I wish they had more of the earth hunger that
characterizes the German, or the concentration of purpose which we see
in the Jews."

"I think," said Thomas, "that the Jews and Negroes have one thing in
common, and that is their power of endurance. They, like the negro, have
lived upon an idea, and that is the hope of a deliverer yet to come; but
I think this characteristic more strongly developed in the Jews than in
the Negroes."

"Doubtless it is, but their origin and history have been different. The
Jews have a common ancestry and grand traditions, that have left alive
their pride of race. 'We have Abraham to our father,' they said, when
their necks were bowed beneath the Roman yoke."

"But I do not think the negro can trace with certainty his origin back
to any of the older civilizations, and here for more than two hundred
years his history has been a record of blood and tears, of ignorance,
degradation, and slavery. And when nominally free, prejudice has
assigned him the lowest positions and the humblest situations. I have
not much hope of their progress while they are enslaved in the South."

"Well, Josiah, I have faith enough in the ultimate triumph of our
principles to believe that slavery will bite the dust before long."

"I don't know, friend Carpenter; for the system is very strongly rooted
and grounded in the institutions of the land, and has entrenched itself
in the strongholds of Church and State, fashion, custom, and social
life. And yet when I was in the South, I saw on every hand a growing
differentiation towards the Government."

"Do you know, Josiah, that I have more hope from the madness and folly
of the South than I have from the wisdom and virtue of the North? I have
read too 'whom the gods would destroy they first make mad.'"

Chapter VII

Ten years have elapsed since Minnie came to brighten the home of Thomas
Carpenter, and although within the heart of Anna there is a spot forever
green and sacred to the memory of her only child, yet Minnie holds an
undivided place in their affections.

There is only one subject which is to them a source of concern. It is
the connection of Minnie with the colored race. Not that they love her
less on account of the blood that is in her veins, but they dread the
effect its discovery would have upon the pleasant social circle with
which she is sur