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[108] face of a negro in gilt, made to look as much like an ape as possible, with the title in gilt letters above and below it, “The Negro a beast, or in the image of God.” Two Negro servants were coming in and out of the room, making the fire and preparing for my comfort, and I could not but wonder at the strange lack of delicacy of the Bible reader who had left this hideous volume to stare them in the face, and this, too, in the chivalrous South! I picked up the book in curiosity after the servants had left. The title page was adorned by a series of subtitles, of which I copied one as a sample. It read as follows: “The Negro a Beast, But Created With Articulate Speech and Hands, That He May Be of Service to His Master, the White Man.” Here was indeed a rich relic of the ancient South of slavery, a South that has passed away forever! I looked down at the date and rubbed my eyes in astonishment. There must be some mistake. The book was printed in the year of Our Lord Igoo! And in one of the greatest cities of the South, too! And what do you suppose is the name of the publishing company which issues this precious work? It is called the “American book and Bible house!” I turned over the pages of the book. It was an illiterate medley of folly and superstition-an attempt to prove by Scripture that the Negro

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