this woman one of the most widely known in our
land--has written a novel intended to advocate the affirmative of this
question. Moreover, it is constantly mooted in certain political
circles, and is one of the social problems of the day.

The very fact that it is so much discussed, shows that such a union runs
counter to a strong prejudice. Such aversions are often voices of
nature, acting as warnings against acts injurious to the species. In
this instance it is not of modern origin, created by peculiar
institutions. Three centuries ago, Shakspeare, who had probably never
seen a score of negroes in his life, with the divination of genius, felt
the repugnance which a refined woman would feel to accepting one as her
husband. The plot of one of his plays turns on it. He makes Iago say of
Desdemona:

'Not to affect many proposed matches
Of her own clime, complexion, and degree;
Whereto, we see, in all things nature tends:
Foh! one may smell in such a will most rank,
Foul disproportions, thoughts unnatural.'

It is, indeed, 'nature erring from itself' which prompts to these
marriages. They are not sterile, but the children are sickly and
short-lived. Very few mulattoes reach an old age.

Then it is well known that the black race cannot survive a northern
climate. Dr. Snow, of Providence, Rhode Island, who has given great
attention to the study of statistics, says emphatically that, in New
England, the colored population inevitably perish in a few generations,
if left to themselves. This debility no woman should wish to give to
her children.

A mental inferiority is likewise apparent. Friends of the negro are
ready to confess this, but attribute it to his long and recent period of
servitude. We deal with facts only. The inferiority is there, whatever
be its cause; and she who would willingly curse her offspring with it,
manifests indeed 'thoughts unnatural.'

The children born of a union of the black and red race, negroes and
Indians, are on the contrary, remarkable for their physical vigor and
mental acuteness; though, of course, the latter is limited to the
demands of a semi-barbarous life.

SHOULD NATIVE WOMEN MARRY FOREIGNERS?

When we narrow the question of race to that of nationality, entirely new
elements come in.

In speaking of the intermarriage of relatives, we showed that a certain
number of such unions in healthy stocks was advantageous rather than
otherwise, but that too many o