nowledge of its existence
influenced my feelings toward him. To me he seemed to carry himself
with a noble bearing,--under a shadow, it is true, yet as if he were a
king among us. I remember thinking that his broad forehead,
slightly-Roman nose, mobile lips, and full features wore a singularly
mournful and benevolent expression, like the faces sometimes seen in
Egyptian sculpture.

I did not discuss the matter of his peculiarities with Anthony freely
until after our school-days at the seminary were ended and he had left
Whitestown. His first letter to me was a partial revelation of his
thoughts upon the subject of his own character and feelings. He had gone
to Philadelphia to teach in a large school, while I remained with my
relatives in Whitesboro. He wrote me that he was troubled in regard to
certain matters of which he had never spoken to any one, not even to me,
and he thought it would be a good thing for him to present them for
consideration, if I was willing to give him the benefit of my counsel.
In reply I urged that he should confide in me fully, assuring him of my
desire to assist him to the utmost of my ability.

The communication which I received in response to my invitation was to
some extent a surprise. The letter was a very long one, and very vivid
and expressive. He began it by alluding to the incident upon the
play-ground, which had occurred nearly two years before. He said that
his life had been guarded, up to about that time, from feeling the
effects of the misfortunes which attach to the colored race. Living in a
remote settlement and a very pleasant home, where all were free and
equal and social distinctions almost unknown, he had scarcely thought of
the fact that his mother was an octoroon. He had heard her talk a great
deal about those distinguished French gentlemen who had in the early
part of this century acquired lands in the vicinity of his home, and he
had somehow a feeling that she had been remotely connected with them,
and that his own lineage was honorable. He alluded specifically to Le
Ray de Chaumont and Joseph Bonaparte. These two men, and others their
countrymen, who had resided or sojourned upon the edge of the great
wilderness near his birthplace, had been his ideals from childhood. He
had often visited Lake Bonaparte, and had frequently seen the home
formerly occupied by Le Ray. While he had understood that he himself was
only plain Anthony C. Brown, the son of Thomas Brown (a white