had been seen walking arm in arm with
white ladies, and that white men had handed colored females out of their
carriages at the door of the Hall, as politely as if they had not
belonged to the proscribed class. In several instances, if not in all,
these reports were untrue in point of fact, and originated in the
existing paradox, that colored men and women are sometimes white, and
that white gentlemen and ladies are not unfrequently of dark complexion.
As an illustration, I quote the following scene from a letter addressed
to me by Robert Purvis, an intelligent and educated man of color, and
the son-in-law of James Forten, a wealthy and venerable colored citizen
of Philadelphia, recently deceased.

"In regard to my examination before the jury in the Pennsylvania Hall
case, I have to say, that it was both a painful and ludicrous affair. At
one time the fulness of an almost bursting heart was ready to pour forth
in bitter denunciation--then the miserable absurdity of the thing,
rushing into my mind, would excite my risible propensities. You know the
county endeavored to defend itself against the award of damages, by
proving that the abolitionists were the cause of the destruction of the
building, in promoting promiscuous intermingling, in doors and out, of
blacks and whites, thereby exciting public feeling, &c. A witness, whose
name I now forget, in proof of this point, stated, that upon a certain
day, hour, &c., a '_negress_' approached the Hall, in a carriage, when a
white man assisted her in getting out, offered his arm, which was
instantly accepted, and he escorted her to the saloon of the building!
In this statement he was collected, careful, and solemn--minutely
describing the dress, appearance of the parties, as well as the
carriage, the exact time, &c.--the clerks appointed for the purpose
taking down every word, and the venerable jurors looking credulous and
horror-stricken. Upon being called to _rebut_ the testimony I, in truth
and simplicity, confirmed his testimony in every particular!! The
attorney, on our behalf, David Paul Brown, Esq., a gentleman, scholar,
and philanthropist, in a tone of irony peculiarly severe, demanded,
'whether I had the unblushing impudence, in broad day-light, to offer my
arm to my wife?' I replied, in deep affectation of the criminality
involved, that the only palliation I could offer, for conduct so
outrageous was, that it was unwittingly done, it seemed so natural.
This, as you m