152 BERMUDA. 



The prejudice which exists in Bermuda against 

 people of colour is much less than it is in the United 

 States. This great barrier, therefore, which prevents 

 the coloured race from rising in society, the emanci- 

 pated people in Bermuda do not sensibly feel. In 

 this colony they have for several years enjoyed the 

 same municipal rights and immunities as the white 

 population. In civil affairs, anjd in the transaction 

 of business, there is no distinction. By the Act of 

 Emancipation, the freed people are admitted to the 

 same standing as the whites ; and may now fill any 

 ofiSce, from a seat in the Assembly down to that of a 

 rural constable. 



There is, indeed, a prejudice in Bermuda which 

 excludes people of colour from social intercourse 

 with the higher classes of societj'. Nor is pure 

 white and mixed blood often united in matrimony. 

 Pubhc feeling does not allow this, or, at the least, 

 regards it with jealousy. The people of colour 

 have, unquestionably, a temperament peculiar to 

 themselves. 



Their cheerful and easy disposition and good- 

 natured humour are proverbial. Their natural kind- 

 ness, and their attachment to their offspring and 

 friends, when not counteracted by adverse influences, 

 are equally well known. 



