"You appear to be very comfortable here, Ellis," said Mr. Winston, looking
round the apartment. "If I am not too inquisitive--what rent do you pay for
this house?"
"It's mine!" replied Ellis, with an air of satisfaction; "house, ground,
and all, bought and paid for since I settled here."
"Why, you are getting on well! I suppose," remarked Winston, "that you are
much better off than the majority of your coloured friends. From all I can
learn, the free coloured people in the Northern cities are very badly off.
I've been frequently told that they suffer dreadfully from want and
privations of various kinds."
"Oh, I see you have been swallowing the usual dose that is poured down
Southern throats by those Northern negro-haters, who seem to think it a
duty they owe the South to tell all manner of infamous lies upon us free
coloured people. I really get so indignant and provoked sometimes, that I
scarcely know what to do with myself. Badly off, and in want, indeed! Why,
my dear sir, we not only support our own poor, but assist the whites to
support theirs, and enemies are continually filling the public ear with the
most distressing tales of our destitution! Only the other day the
Colonization Society had the assurance to present a petition to the
legislature of this State, asking for an appropriation to assist them in
sending us all to Africa, that we might no longer remain a burthen upon the
State--and they came very near getting it, too; had it not been for the
timely assistance of young Denbigh, the son of Judge Denbigh, they would
have succeeded, such was the gross ignorance that prevailed respecting our
real condition, amongst the members of the legislature.
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