Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1866-09-27
THE TWO RACES.
suburbs.

As far as we can know, the different
races Of the earth had an even start. If
one possessed an advantage denied to
another, it was not the product of climate
or circumstance 1t was the gift of
heaven. il was purely mental, and re-
suited from superior organization OF
brain. Mind controls the destiny Of
races, of people, of the world. 1t con-
trolls the moral character, points to hap
pness, provides the means, and investl-
gates something still higher and nobler-
the relation Of man to an omnipotent
Power, to whom it traces the origin of
all races. 1t discovers truths in Nature,
and perceives infnty in all physical OBJ
iects. Whatever is known or achieved
on earth. is the fruit of intellectual in
quiry. Wherever the mind is unculti-
vated we find deserts, darkness and des-
olation.
In the distance Of ages, so remote
that the most adventurous Imagination
recoils from an attempt to penetrate, the
European and African races began the
circle of existence They lived and
died, and struggled and slept. If we
believe anything at all of the accounts
we have of human history, We must be-
lieve that the Creator adapted the man
TO the country. Whatever his character
or capacity was, he found certain lati-
tudes assigned him for the exertion of
his powers in the solution of the
problem of progress and improvement
At the end of six thousand years, and
possibly many times that number, We
have the result The European has con
verted his wilderness into a paradise.
His cities dot the hills and plains, and
his fields wave with the golden fruits of
harvests for the sustenance of his nature
and the qualification Of his appetites He
sails upon every sea, traverses every
river, scales every mountain, and returns
with the riches and treasures of every
cline. He has invaded the solid earth
aud brought TO light its gems and its
mysteries He has discovered elements
which, when combined, annihilate space,
reduce weeks to seconds and years TO
days He has caught the lightning in a
frail vial, and warded off the thunder
bolt he has counted the stars, and
traced the revolutions Of the heavenly
bodies But above all, he has compre-
hended his own Immortality, and discov-
cred the pathway to Heaven he is, in
intelligence, only little lower than the
angels He aspires to commune with
Deity, and dies in the belief Of living
forever in another mode Of existence.
We shrink from drawing another pic
ture, the opposite Of this II is drawn
already in the mind Of the reader. From
the beginning, what has the African
done2 He is to-day where he was at the
uOou-ho VISIT uO fASueA auu no DtAcf-
As race, his intellect is still as dark as
his skin, and his skin is still as dark as
bis own deadly nights. Where are his
cities, his seats of learning, his fields,
his ships, his Inventions, his science, his
religion2 They are not Nota step has
he ever taken, not yard has he ever
advanced, bat moves from age to age in
one unchanging circle Of ignorance and
.sarbarism. II individuals of his race
have made any progress, the impulse
came from contact with the superior
races. Guided by an instinct which
the lever animals possess in common
with him, he admits his condition to be
that Of a slave, and yields the point Of
bis inferiority.
Aud this is therace wei are told We must
take to our bosoms, amalgamate with,