deference paid to Jerome, whose black
complexion excited astonishment in those who met him, that there was
no hatred to the man in Europe, on account of his color; that what is
called prejudice against color is the offspring of the institution of
slavery; and he felt ashamed of his own countrymen, when he thought of
the complexion as distinctions, made in the United States, and resolved
to dedicate the remainder of his life to the eradication of this
unrepublican and unchristian feeling from the land of his birth, on his
return home.

After a stay of four weeks at Dunkirk, the home of the Fletchers, Mr.
Linwood set out for America, with the full determination of freeing his
slaves, and settling them in one of the Northern States, and then to
return to France to end his days in the society of his beloved daughter.

CHAPTER XXXVI. THE RETURN HOME

THE first gun fired at the American Flag, on the 12th of April, 1861,
at Fort Sumter, reverberated all over Europe, and was hailed with joy by
the crowned heads of the Old World, who hated republican institutions,
and who thought they saw, in this act of treason, the downfall of the
great American experiment. Most citizens, however, of the United States,
who were then sojourning abroad, hastened home to take part in the
struggle,--some to side with the rebels, others to take their stand with
the friends of liberty. Among the latter, none came with swifter steps
or more zeal than Jerome and Clotelle Fletcher. They arrived in New
Orleans a week after the capture of that city by the expedition under
the command of Major-Gen. B. F. Butler. But how changed was society
since Clotelle had last set feet in the Crescent City! Twenty-two
years had passed; her own chequered life had been through many shifting
scenes; her old acquaintances in New Orleans had all disappeared; and
with the exception of the black faces which she beheld at every turn,
and which in her younger days were her associates, she felt herself in
the midst of strangers; and these were arrayed against each other in
mortal combat. Possessed with ample means, Mr. and Mrs. Fletcher set
about the work of assisting those whom the rebellion had placed in a
state of starvation and sickness.

With a heart overflowing with the milk of human kindness, and a tear for
every sufferer, no matter of what color or sect, Clotelle was soon known
as the "Angel of Mercy."

The "General Order No. 63," issued on the 22nd of Augus