"From that hour the charivari ceased, and the old lady was left to
enjoy the society of her young husband in quiet.
"I assure you, Mrs. M - -, that the charivari often deters old people
from making disgraceful marriages, so that it is not wholly without
its use."
A few days after the charivari affair, Mrs. D - - stepped in to see
me. She was an American; a very respectable old lady, who resided
in a handsome frame-house on the main road. I was at dinner, the
servant-girl, in the meanwhile, nursing my child at a distance.
Mrs. D - - sat looking at me very seriously until I concluded my
meal, her dinner having been accomplished several hours before.
When I had finished, the girl give me the child, and then removed
the dinner-service into an outer room.
"You don't eat with your helps," said my visitor. "Is not that
something like pride?"
"It is custom," said I; "we were not used to do so at home, and I
think that keeping a separate table is more comfortable for both
parties."
"Are you not both of the same flesh and blood? The rich and the poor
meet together, and the Lord is the maker of them all."
"True. Your quotation is just, and I assent to it with all my heart.
There is no difference in the flesh and blood; but education makes a
difference in the mind and manners, and, till these can assimilate,
it is better to keep them apart."
"Ah! you are not a good Christian, Mrs. Moodie. The Lord thought
more of the poor than he did of the rich, and he obtained more
followers from among them. Now, WE always take our meals with
our people."
Presently after, while talking over the affairs of our households,
I happened to say that the cow we had bought of Mollineux had turned
out extremely well, and gave a great deal of milk.
"That man lived with us several years," she said; "he was an
excellent servant, and D - - paid him his wages in land. The farm he
now occupies formed a part of our U.E. grant. But, for all his good
conduct, I never could abide him, for being a BLACK."
"Indeed! Is he not the same flesh and blood as the rest?"
The colour rose into Mrs. D - -'s sallow face, and she answered with
much warmth -
"What! do you mean to compare ME with a NIGGER!"
"Not exactly. But, after all, the colour makes the only difference
between him and uneducated men of the same class."
"Mrs. Moodie!" she exclaimed, holding up her hands in pious horror;
"they are the children of the devil! God never condescended to make
a nigger."
"Such an idea is an impeachment of the power and majesty of the
Almighty.
