"Just before we left, General Harrington went in to speak with her. She
was acting very unreasonably, he said, and deserved chastisement for her
folly. Did she expect his whole family to wait in that dull place till
it was her pleasure to get well? The truth was, James had spoiled the
girl.

"He must have been harsh with the poor thing, though that was not at all
like him, for she was sobbing as if her heart would break ten minutes
after, when I went into her room, and said many bitter things of her
master's cruelty, which in common charity I shall never repeat.
Certainly the girl does seem to be terribly spoiled. I wish her no harm,
poor wretch, but if she were going back home a free woman my heart would
be lighter. I wonder if they would let me purchase her and give her the
freedom which belongs to every one of God's creatures. She has managed
to pick up a tolerable education, and in a country where hundreds of the
blue blood are darker than she is, might do well; for she certainly is
beautiful and has bright native talent enough to carve out a happy
future for herself. As for the money, a year's income would be nothing
compared with the relief of seeing her happy, free, and of all things,
away from us. I will speak of this to Mrs. Harrington; no woman ever had
a kinder heart or a keener sense of justice; the difficulty with her is
that she spoils her servants with too much kindness. That is a thing
which people just out of barbarism are apt to mistake for weakness.

"I think this girl has been made unhappy by the education which lifts
her out of the common herd of slaves. She feels the disgrace of caste
with terrible acuteness, and in no strata of society can find a place
for herself. In order to make the slaves useful or happy, they must be
educated in masses. It does not do to lift one from among his fellows
as a specimen of what they can possibly become. Open a future for the
slaves, give them intelligence and freedom at the same time; but I need
not go on. How many times has all this been said. But the day will come
when justice shall be brought about.

"We are leaving Cadiz for Seville, where General Harrington proposes to
spend the holy week. I have had no opportunity to speak with Mrs.
Harrington yet, but the fate of the poor girl we have left behind hangs
heavily on my spirits. James Harrington, too, seems depressed. Is
it--can it be? No, no, no! A thousand times no! How dare I form it in
thought? Still,