The Shasta courier., 1867-01-05
Colored Peoples Celebration.

4ne IOurtu Anniversary vi Tue Luiancipd-
ton Proclamation was celebrated, on Tuesday
night last, by the colored people of this town
and county, by an grafton, ball and banquet,
at the Empire Hotel The hall was adorned
with flags, shields, notices. eagles, pictures
of Washington, Lincoln, Grant, Sherman,
etc., and the entire affair, from beginning to
end, was quite creditable. Below we give
the Grafton, which was delivered by George
Bailey, a colored man, a native of New
Bedford, Mass, but resident of this county
for several years past:
Mr.. President, Ladies and Gentlemen =
| thank you for the honor conferred upon me,
and at the same time | feel my inability to
properly perform the task assigned me but
YOU will please remember that mistakes are
incident to, and inseparable from, ignorance.
and in no wise emenating from the heart.
This is the third anniversary of the Eman-
cipation Proclamation, and to US it is fraught
with an intereet such as no other day pos
sesses, save one, in the calendar OF time
second only to the day on which the Great
Creator of the universe rested from his labors.
When race of people have been bound
down by unjust laws, and denied rights and
privileges accorded TO all other members OF
the community around them, 1t has been the
custom in all time to celebrate their emancl
patton bv some particular observance of the
dav thus signalzed Thus we find that
among nearly all nations some particular day
is regarded as possessing a sacredness second
only to that devoted to Divine worship. We,
as people. have hitherto been almost the
only exception to this rules but the rosy
morn that ushered in the First Day of Janu-
ary, 1868. gave to us day of thanksgiving
and praise-a day of universal joy--a day on
which. laying aside all petty controversies
and personal differences, and meeting upon
one coMmon ground, united by common
sympathy, we may forget all else save that
we are one common brotherhood, and that as
we have suffered together, so also will we
rejoice together.
For long years has the cry of oppression
ascended from our brothers in the South and
not there alone was sadness; but from
hearths in the freedom loving North, around
which were gathered the sable sons and
daughters of Adam, has assembled the cry:
" How long, OF Lord, how long ?''-and
there, too, has JOY descended like an angel
with healing on its wings.
Rejoice, aye. rejoice, men of our sable
race that the aspirations of genius, smother
ed in your breasts by tyranny, shall be trans
mtted by you to your sons, and in them be
brought to their full fruition. Rejoice, wo
men of our dus!,y race, that you shall no
more be compelled to witness the evidence of
compulsory submission depicted upon the
faces of your children, and that you are no
longer compelled to yield obedience to the
requirements of brutal oppressors. Rejoice,
one and all, that henceforth the paths that
lead to the temple in which the arts and
sciences are eHshrined are unobstructed by
false preludices for free in body, and unfet
tered in intellect, we will march on Until the
names of Afric's sons shall be inscribed upon
the golden tablets which shine in the loftiest
niche of the Temple of Fame.
now propose to glance at the position we
occupied few years ago. and notice some OF
the changes that have taken place. Recol-
lect that | will "nothing extenuate nor aught
set down in malice" 1t has been but few
years since the Fugitive Slave Act was dis
cussed, submitted, and became law. When
that act became law there was virtually no
longer free man, woman or child of color
within the confines Of these United States. -
After this came the Dred Scott declsion-a
decision as chilling to us as the night winds
blown from the clouds that encrcle the
Poles-declaring to us in words OF frozen
tyranny that the black man had 10 rights
which the white man was bound to respect;
or. in other words, declaring that one. sixth of
the peopl. of the United States had no right
even to life unless it happened to suit the
capricious whims of those among whom their
lot was cast. We all remember, too, the
IL. Il Ea1
in 1923 consequent upon the Act OF the
Legislature requiring all persons of color to
leave the State unless they could procure
white vouchers for their honesty and morali
ty; and for vetoing that bill John B. Weller
gained immortal renown among the colored
people of this State But will pass over the
rest of our wrongs in silence, nor re-oren
wounds that are nearly healed. l will turn
to the other side of the picture.
To-day we are recognized as an integral
portion of the population that goes to make
up the People of the United States. and have
the right to testify in the Courts of law, the
| right to accumulate property, and the full
protection of the law in the enjoyment of the
same, from Maine to San Francisco, and the
right also to travel all over this broad coun-
Try without challenge. In gaining all this
we have done we'll but we still have trou-
bles, and to overcome them let us observe the
same patience as heretofore, and before long
we will be able TO hail the watchman upon
the tower of liberty with" Watchman,
what of the night?' and receive the cheering
answer: The night passeth away, the day
star has arisen, and the rosy CLEANS in the
east herald the approach of day of perfect
freedom"
Our father, Abraham Lincoln, the great,
the good His generous, loving heart is now
still in death, but let us try to emulate his
many virtues, and teach our children to love,
honor and revere his memory.
And now let us take the starry Flag, so
often borne on fields of blood as our symbol ::
its red, as emhlematic Of the patriotic blood
that we are willing to shed in its defense !;
the white. of our unsullied loyalty; and the
blue, of our answering fidelity to freedom :;
and the whole flag as symbolic of our devo-
ton to the Union, in defense of which death
shall have no terrors for us.
AYERS AMERICAN ALMANAC is now ready