Stay at Cincinnati (continued)—The Orphan Asylum—A Coloured Man and a
White Fop treated as each deserved—A Trip across to Covington—Mr.
Gilmore and the School for Coloured Children—"The Fugitive Slave to
the Christian"—Sabbath—Mr. Boynton—Dr. Beecher—Lane
Seminary—Departure from Cincinnati.
In the afternoon we went with Mrs. Judge B—— to see an Orphan Asylum, in which she took a deep interest. Requested to address the children, I took the opportunity of delivering an anti-slavery and anti-colour-hating speech. The building, large and substantial, is capable of accommodating 300 children; but the number of inmates was at that time not more than 70. While the lady was showing us from one apartment to another, and pointing out to us the comforts and conveniences of the institution, the following colloquy took place.
Myself.—"Now, Mrs. B, this place is very beautiful: I admire it exceedingly. Would you refuse a little coloured orphan admission into this asylum?"
The Lady. (stretching herself up to her full height, and with a look of horror and indignation),—"Indeed, we would!"
Myself.—"Oh, shocking! shocking!"
The Lady.—"Oh! there is another asylum for the coloured children; they are not neglected."
Myself.—"Ay, but why should they not be together?—why should there be such a distinction between the children of our common Father?"
The Lady. (in a tone of triumph).—"Why has God made such a distinction between them?"
Myself.—"And why has he made such a distinction between me and Tom Thumb? Or (for I am not very tall) why has he made me a man of 5 feet 6 inches instead of 6 feet high? A man may as well be excluded from society on account of his stature as his colour."
At this moment my wife, seeing I was waxing warm, pulled me by the coat-tail, and I said no more. The lady, however, went on to say that she was opposed to slavery—was a colonizationist, and heartily wished all the coloured people were back again in their own country. "In their own country, indeed!" I was going to say,—"why, this is their country as much as it is yours;" but I remembered my wife's admonition, and held my peace. These were the sentiments of a lady first and foremost in the charitable movements of the day, and regarded by those around her as a pattern of piety and benevolence. She was shocked at the notion of the poor coloured orphan mingling with fellow-orphans of a fairer hue.