scale. The artisan, or day-laborer, or common workman, is
apt to be a gentleman, compared with a certain well-to-do small
shopkeeper....

On Thursday, when I went to rehearse "Romeo and Juliet," I found
that the unfortunate Mr. Keppel was, by general desire, taken out
of Romeo, which my father was therefore called upon, for the first
time, to act with me. I was vexed at this every way. I was sorry
for the poor player, whose part, of course, was money to him; and
sorry for my father, who has the greatest objection to playing
Romeo, for which his age, of course, disqualifies him, however much
his excellent acting may tend to make one forget it; and I was
sorry for the public, who lost his admirable Mercutio, which I do
not think they were compensated for by his taking the other
part....

The steward of our ship, a black--a very intelligent, obliging,
respectable servant--came here the other morning to ask my father
for an order, at the same time adding that it must be for the
gallery, as people of color were not allowed to go into any other
part of the theater. Qu'en dis-tu? The prejudice against these
unfortunate people is, of course, incomprehensible to us. On board
ship, after giving that same man some trouble, Dall poured him out
a glass of wine, when we were having our dinner, whereupon the
captain looked at her with utter amazement, and I thought some
little contempt, and said, "Ah! one can tell by that that you are
not an American;" which sort of thing makes one feel rather glad
that one is not.

[This was in 1832, when slavery literally governed the United States. In
1874, when the Civil War had washed out slavery with the blood of free
men, the prejudice engendered by it governed them still to the following
degree. Going to the theater in Philadelphia one night, I desired my
servant, a perfectly respectable and decorous colored man, to go into
the house and see the performance. This, however, he did not succeed in
doing, being informed at all the entrance doors that persons of color
were not admitted to any part of the theater. At this same time, more
than half the State legislature of South Carolina were blacks. Moreover,
at this same time, colored children were not received into the public
schools of Philadelphia, though colored citizens were eligible, and in
some cases acted as member