Washington sentinel. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1853-1855, 1855-01-24


Office, and intends to devote himself entirely
to the work. If any man wants to make fine
investment of IS, DeBow's Review ought to
get it."
| "THE NEGRO RACES.-LECTURE OF
PROFESSOR WASHINGTON IN Pc
TERSBURG.
We find in the Petersburg Latelligencer of
| the 22d instant, graphic sketch of lecture
delivered in Petersburg on the subject Of the
negro races, by Professor Washington, Of Will
liam and Mary College, which we subioin.
Professor Washington is gentleman Of fine
abilities, patient industry and profound re-
search. He could not have selected for his
lecture more important or interesting subject
than that which he treated of. 1t is only neces-
sary for learned Southern men to treat the sub
ject of African slavery in a scientific and tenn,
perate manner in order to uproot the errors
| that prevail on the subject at the North Such
result, we do not doubt, will follow from philo-
sophical investigation and temperate discussion.
| All that we have to fear is that Abolitionists
will not read defenses of African slavery.
| The Hltethgencer says
"On Friday night, Professor Washington, of
William and Mary college, delivered a very in
teresting lecture at the hall of the library to
large and respectable audience The subject
selected by him for the occasion was The Ne
gro Races and he treated it with great ability.
| His object was to prove that the negro has al
ways been, and ever will be, subordinate to the
whites, and that physically and intellectually,
ha 10 inf IN late l.
wide field Of investigation-ex the evi.
dences of the monumental and historic periods,
which supplied him with abundant materials
for explaining his proposition-and none who
heard his arguments could we'll dissent from
| the conclusions to which they led. He referred
to the celebrated antiquities of Egypt-the ODE
lisks and temples on the Nile, which, with their
mysterious hyeroglyphies, revealt to the learned
| IN these symbolic representations the condition
| OF soclety-the manners and customs Of the
people Of that wonderful land, as far back ms
thirty-fve centuries-and from this source he
drew testimony amply corroborative of his
views respecting the comparative inferiority of
the negro race He also derived from the re-
cords of history testimony Of the same stamp,
which he vigorously applied to his case. But
not satisfied with proving that the negro was
physically morally and intellectually inferior to
the other races, he showed, also, that whenever
and wherever the two races have come in
contact the result has been the reduction of
the former by the latter to a state of servi-
tude. This point he clearly established But
he went still further in his discussion of
the subject. The negro was not only by ma
ture an inferior being in the scale of human
ity-he was not only so much so as uniformly
to pass into bondage upon his collision with
the Caucasian, but this very condition Of slavery
was The only means of his reaching any degree
OF civilization and usefulness. Here Professor
W. was particularly happy in his arguments.
| He demonstrated that slavery elevated the
| negro above his native barbarism, from which
| he is wholly uRsusceptible of being otherwise
reclaimed than by the influence of this foolishly
| reviled institution, which has existed in all
ages in the very midst Of civilization. The
Professor also argued irrefutably that it is the
| tendency and propensity of the liberated negro,
left to the indulgence of his own free instincts,
to relapse into his own original barbarism.
| These were the main heads of the lecture on
Friday night, which, by the by, embraced only
a branch of his general subject of. the inequa-
ty of the races, which the Professor further dis
cussed on Saturday night at the same place.
Of this lecture we cannot speak particularly to-
| day. We are sorry that we cannot present
| fuller sketch Of the lecture on the nsgro races
for it contained matter that in the present cir
cumstances of the country is peculiarly wor
thy Of study and reflection. There is an
infinite deal of trashy and nonsenscal deca.
nation Of fanatioal and hypocritcu can't
poured forth by the Abolitionists against the
institution Of slavery. They neither under.
stand, or wish to understand, what it really is
Such an institution, instead of being curse
upon, and degradation OF, the negro, is bless
ing and an exaltaton. 1t has elerated him
from the depths Of barbarism and brutaIism to
degree Of civilization, and usefulness and
happiness which he never would have reached
through any other fundamentally. Under the
authority, guidance, and protection of white
master, he is capable of rendering the most
valuable services, which, under no other circum-
stances, he would do. This is abundantIy
manifested by the vast contributions which
have been made to the wealth and commerce
of the world by the products Of his labor in the
West Indies and in the Southern States of this
Union. But for the peculiar capacity Of the
negro for outstanding the heats of the tropics
and adjacent regions, the great staples of
sugar, cotton, and rice, would never have con-
stituted, as they have done, a magnificent
source Of national and international opuleuce
through the multiplied operations Of trade, nav.
igation and manufactures. We wonder what
Mrs. Grundy will say to this? We mean the
philosophical negrophiist Of the New York
Tribune.
Costly Bouquet.--The New York Mirror
says: a fifth avenue young lady, well known in
fashionable society, was the recipient, on New
Years day, Of the most elegant flower git we