Bedford inquirer. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1857-1884, 1866-08-31
MIR. SHARPE AND THE AFRICAN.

I unbosomed hlS grief to the Democracy on
i Tuesday evening last in the Court House,
and the dark spectre Of the African was
onnIpotent in his remarks. His whole
frame ylbTates aud trembles at the appre
/ hensloR OF negro equality. de eonfesses
I himself so poorly endowed BY his Creator
tlaat he fears some stalwart, long heeled
8oOiy headed and perfumed African may
i equal or surpass him in his profession, make
/ his rhetoric pale on the stump, j6stle him
+. in his lnorainate ambition for Congressional
/ honors. and may even ride in the same car,
I bow down In the same church, worship the
same God and finally turn up in the same
locality where future rewards and punish
ments are dispensed BY Infinite justice-all
because Of the Freedmen's Bureau and
civil Rights bills.
We can render to our stricken and scr
rowing fel!oW-toWnsman an indefinite
( amount 0f sympathy Since it is his mis-
fortune 90 be unable TO cope with the down
trodden and oppressed African in tie race
for social political and religious h0nOrs, he
Is surely entitled to protection How It Is
to be given, we can exactly divine, but 1t
must be had But for the fact that Mr.
+ Sharpe preemptorily forbids any amendment
+ Of cur constitution lest rebels should be
somewhat Inconvenience for their murder
Gus treason, we should join our afflicted
fellow citizen in demanding our organic law
TO be so changed as to provide that 20
person OF african or mixed blood snail ever
I learn more Of law, politics, religion or social
graces than said Sharpe ; that no such
person shall travel in the same vehicle or on
the same road, or, if need be, In the same
direction with Mr.. Sharpe that no such
person. even to the fourth mingliug Of Afri-
can and Southern Democratic blood, shall
kneel in the same pew, suppiieate the same
throne, or 90 to the same heaven, with Mr..
Sharpe and that no such person SHAH
inuude upon his social circle, bow to him
on the street, or marry any OF his relations
1t is sad, sad story that Mr.. Sharpe Is
helpless to protect himself against the
aggreSsions Of q degraded race, but sad as
il Is, he pronoUnces 1t no less true, and his
infirmities appeal to the law making power
OF the nation, IN mute but most pathetic
cloquence, for protection. Sleeping or
waking, the African haunts him as a trip
pie headed giant with mountains ofwoOl and
most threatening ambition. Sharpe might
point this hldeous spectre to the bleaching
bones Of its fellows in Memphis, New Or
/ leans and elsewhere, but the dry bones seem
10 rattle new horrors in his ears, as he pro-
tests with heavy heart and tremulous tones
against his unequal contest. Living or dead
the African Is before him His ghost viii
not down however bidden, and his dusky
person and presence greet him on The street,
in bis Office, IN his study, in his social circle,
in his praises and prayers, and even about
his allotted tomb. In life the African Is
about him, in perpetual conflict for the
mastery in learning. honor and fame, aud
even in the dark valley Of the shadow Of
death, the negro VIII sleep with him, decay
{ mt ma mn az hat St. gT
caste viii be obhtsTated, and when the last
trump shall summon all the earth, behold
there vii be the African TO cloud his spirit
land, and what Is sadder still, there will be
no appeal TO the high chancery Of heaven
against the harsh law Of equality for all the
people Of the earth.
We do not produce this picture Of consul
I ming sorrow 10 Mr. Sharpe TO in1lict a need
less wound where there are gaping wounds
already: but we have drawn it 10 point the
imperiOus necessity Of some high degree,
some reversal Of the laws Of common
Creator, to rescue Mr. Sharpe from this
mountain Of grief He might take up the
beniGceut policy Of his political friends Of
/ Memphis and New Orleans, and gather in
the harvest of death while the African
could be found in bis path but it would be
as tedious as bloody, aud even his rutied
ambition aud wounded dependence might
weary and sicken Of the CORY carnival.
There Is therefore no relief but IN an appeal
% the law making power both human and
divine. They must be reversed. i new
creation must be improvised for the purpose
and the line Of distinction between the man
and the brute must be marked mp over the
heads Of the sable part Of creation. True,
there might still be fear and quakiDg for
unless the new order Of brutes should be
berelt Of their reasoning faculties, the next
shadow in Alr. Sharpe's pathway would be
the rivalry Of the animal kingdom for his
hOnoTs. What then? We are lost in the
beWildeEing mazes Of this momentous ques-
ton. Its misty labyTinths precede the era
die and reach far beyond the grave and we
can see no positive balm for his agonizing
fears but by reversing the court above all
created powers. This cannot be done by
Democratic mass meetings or resolutions,
nor by impassioned appeals TO vulgar pref
udices Alr. Sharpe must, therefore, wade
through the Congressional contest with the
African confronting MIN at every step, il
every condition, and in every shape that
, fancy can suggest, and when he Is defeated,
as he must be, there viii be the dark spectre
multiplied into an innumerable throng
chanting, in ghOstly, ghastly and horrible
disc0rd the rcquium over his spolitical grave
Courage, Mr.. Sharpe There Is One
whose attributes are measured by no human
conception, who IN life and in death will
deal justly with al In the fulness Of time
prciudices Of the ignorant and vulgar vii
fade away, and with them viii perish tht
( fears which seem 10 make life intoleFahle to
ambitious Democratic politicians The
negro viii fill his spherc-will cease to be
hated by those who have only wronged him,
and viii be judged by bis merits and useful
ness as other men. Re may not vote, or
90 10 congress. and physical laws as well a;
iastinct forbid his miBgling with his pale
faced oppressors. save as Slavery has bru-
talized the nasterand prostituted the slave;
but the time Is nigh at hand when tc
deelaim against an ignorant, helpless,
degraded race on the plea Of possible equali-
ty, viii, as itdesoIYes, class the declaimel
Is beneath the level Of those whose endoB-
ment and progress be effects to dread.
8lr. Sharpe should appreciate the fact that
the world moves that some things are best
to be forgotten, while some other things are
best to be learned He and his terrible
African viii both be wiser by and by and
the wiser they grow, the less they viii fear
each other !-fFaRkbn Repository,
THE REPUBLICANS AND THE
TAXES
In the midst Of the clamor raised against
Congress for what it did and that ii refused