The Abbeville banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1847-1869, 1856-05-29

profound scientific, theological and lega
attaiuments of my colleague, with my owr
humble professions. 1t is known to the
Senate that am plain man, and have
passed my public life here in practical le
gislation, entertaining and encouraging nc
doctrines nor opinions which are revolving
to the instincts of honest common sense
Dor opposed to those deductions which arc
drawn from the truth Of history. must
then, oppose this common sense and those
deductions to my colleagues scientific, the.
illogical, and legal researches.
In my limited historical reading, have
failed to find any fact TO s:stain the opin-
ions and belief of my colleague, that the
negro race are created equal in powers OF
mind with the white. More than thou
sand years before our barbarian ancestors
received an impulse towards civilization by
contact with the Romans, the negro of AZ
RIGA had had the advantage Of observing
the most advanced and refined nations which
then existed. lie saw the learning and ge-
MUS Of Egypt, the refinement Of Persia, the
wisdom and glory Of Greece and of Rome,
long before the barbarous tribes of Britain,
our ancestors, emerged from their darkness
10y aid Of the light which was held up to
them by the men born on the banks of the
Tiber. For time extending further back
than is noted upon tic historic page, the
negro has beleld the light Of civilization
but he has not followed it; and in his ma
tive land, the tribes who have given slaves
| to Europe and America, are now what they
have ever been. 1t would seem, indeed,
that these tribes are the vcritablc descend
| ants Of Ham, cursed in his son Can;.n hv
the Almighty, driven out from the presence
of his father with the vengeance of God
marked upon his brow, and doomed to be
the servant Of servants forever
Mr.. President, it is Il truth that nature,
in the munilicencc Of her economy, with
holds nothing from her children nec,lful to
their welfare; and we find that she has not
bestowed upon the negro race solitary
historical cllaractcr-not one. That race
have had no poet to perpctuate their history
they have no history. The Greek, the
Roman, the English, and many other ma
tions, whose history can be traced back 10
barbarism and idolatry, have given TO the
| world poets, statesmen, moralists, pl,Ioso-
pliers, mechanics, and inventors, whose la
| bors arc immortal. The black tribes of
Africa have given nothing useful nor brill
liant from the mental minc-and to this day
| they are the same stupid ido!ators that they
were found to be when visited by the Chris
tian missionary; worshipping leaks, onions,
snakes, and filthy insects. and looking unon
the ourang outang rs the Jupiter of their
lesser dcities. The race has no history, cx-
cept that Of the providence Of God, written
by his servants, marking it out as the VIC
! tim upon which tile nations of the earth
have alternately glutted their revenge and
satiatcd their thirst for gain. At this time
they arc in Il state of deeper degradation
than any Of the hcatlcn nations Of the
earth. Without even the instincts of de-
cencv, they wander uugovcrncd, naked, and
as filthy in their persons as the brute. This
! has been. and is now, their condition in
their native country; and al! the efforts of
Christianity for their benefit aud enlightcn-
ment have been abortive. No individuals
Of the race have advanced a single step
from their degradation and darkness, except
those who were placed in the condition now
occupied by them in the Southern States.
Here the gospel Of Christ is clevating his
hopes and illuminating his soul. Thus
much for the history of the race as have
read.
!