L[ydia] Maria Child ALS to W[illiam] P[arker] Cutler, July 10, 1862

pass away, and our moral and intellectual estimate of a
man will be no more affected by the color of his skin,
than it now is by the color of his hair. But it must
necessarily be a long time before such a revolution
is completed, and meanwhile society will become pre-
-pared for it. The change will be so gradual that it will
be unperceived, and consequently it will cause no shock.
We may safely leave that question to take care of itself.
Carlyle says, very wisely: "The old skin never falls off
till a new one has formed under it."

For myself, I have no prejudice against color. I do not
claim it as any merit, or apologize for it as any defect.
I was simply born without it. I naturally and habitually
forget it, just as I unconsciously ignore all conventional
distinctions of rank. I have a few colored acquaintance,
who rank very high in my estimation for intelligence,
culture, and fine manners. What they are I believe
that multitudes of them might be under favorable influ-
-ences. I know one dark brown girl, whose handsome face
absolutely flashes light when the inferiority of her race is
alluded to. I have sometimes watched her, when her nostrils
expanded proudly, and her well-shaped mouth expressed a
beautiful disdain of such insults, and she seemed to me queenly
enough for a model of Cleopatra. And such vulgar,