While browsing in a secondhand bookshop recently, I came across an English
children’s story entitled Although He Was Black. Readers might like to
complete the title for themselves: although he was black, he was clean;
although he was black, he was honest; although he was black, he
was clever. The last sentence of the book, however, reveals
all, and reads:

Dear old
chap, he was one of the whitest fellows I ever knew—although he
was black!

The dear old chap in question was Sambo, an orphaned black boy brought to
England by a wealthy Englishman called Mr. Darrell who, for a reason
unspecified, had spent some time in Kentucky. His two sons were expecting him
to return with a parrot or a monkey as a present from such exotic climes, but
he brought back Sambo instead, telling his two sons that

“I want you each to understand that Sambo is to be kindly treated,
although never allowed to take liberties; the negro is faithful
to death if properly handled. You will find him most amusing,
some of his ways, and also his lingo is quaintness itself. Of
course, the latter will improve in time.”

Actually, Sambo’s lingo doesn’t improve in the slightest, despite his close
and lengthy association with two boys whose highest term of approbation is
“Ripping!” When one of Mr. Darrell’s two sons is sent to
the attic as
punishment for disobedience, Sambo loyally offers to take his place:

“Might dis dirty