doubt the spiritual legacy of Africa has been
spread through this mingling of blood. First, of
course, we may think of those more celebrated
cases where the mixed blood is fairly well known
but nevertheless the man has worked and passed
as a white man. One of the earliest examples
was that of Alexander Hamilton. Alexander
Hamilton was a case in point of the much disputed
“Creole” blood. Theoretically the Creole was a
person of European descent on both sides born in
the West Indies or America; but as there were
naturally few such persons in earlier times because
of the small number of European women who
came to America, those descendants of European fathers and mulatto mothers were in practice
called “Creole” and consequently it soon began to
be prima facie evidence, in the West Indies, that
an illegitimate child of a white father was of
Negro descent. Alexander Hamilton was such an
illegitimate child. He had colored relatives whose
descendants still live in America and he was currently reported to be colored in the island of
Nevis. Further than this, of course, proof is impossible. But to those who have given careful
attention to the subject, little further proof is
needed.
To this can be added a long list of American notables,—bishops, generals and members of Con-