Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1868-01-17
THE EIGHTH OF JANUARY
CELEBRATION,
LETTER OF HON. t. Il. cL1NamAE.

man, of North Carolina
EBBITT HOUSE, WASHINGTON, d. c.,
January 1, 1868.
| GENTLEMEN Your favor has just reached
me, and I greatly regret that pressing bust
ness elsewhere will prevent my being pres
ent with you on the interesting celebration
of the 9Th instant There are some passa
ges in your letter painfully interesting IL
every patriotic mind, as contrasting The
present with the past of 1916. We must
distinguish between the questions settled
by the late civil war and those left for decis
ion. The result of the war determined
| that the negroes should all be free, but il
has not decided that they are capable o.
becoming the political AND social equals Of
the white race If, for instance, it be true
that the negro has brain eleven cubic
inches less than that of the white man, viii
any one pretend that the result of the wal
has enlarged his brain ? 4 Roman empe-
ror once made his horse consul, but
though that decree was potent to invest
the quadruped with the insignia of Office,
yet was it ever supposed that the nature Of
horses was thereby SO changed as to fit
them to discharge the duties of civil ma
gistrates? So, the question still remains for
the American people to decide: Are the
negroes qualified as equals of the white
men to form political union and social
amalgarnation with them?
Prominent advocates Of negro equality
have lately declared, in view of the recent
popular verdicts, that the white people
| were prejudiced against the negro. How
singular and extraordinary mistake they
make The people of the United States
have less prejudice against the negro than
any other portion of the civilized world
A Juror, before he had heard the evidence
in a case, if he should form an opinion
might PREJUDICE the case, or be pyejudiced
After he had investigated it, his opinion
would be q CoaUictiOn, not q 2)TejUQice The
people of the United States know the ne
gro better than any other civilized race
does, and their opinion of him is not q
prejudice, but q wellsettled concicti0n-
There is a prejudice on the subject Of the
negro, for example, in England. The
people there have formed their opinions
on the subject from the reading of such
novels as the Uncle Toms Cabin" of
Mrs Stowe and such opinions, being
! formed in entire ignorance of the facts.
are properly to be termed prejudices.
The friends of the negro have done all
i'll their power to keep up these decisions
by exclaiming against the injustice of pro-
scrlblng man on account of his color. If
| that were in fact the only difference be-
tween the negro and the white man, they
would be in the right. No faxen-haired
and blue-eyed Saxon ever objected to the
raven locks and black eyes Of the French,
Italians, or Spaniards. Marriages are just
as likely to occur between persons of oppo-
site compilations as among those alike in
these respects. It is we'll understood that
all these varieties Of the Caucasian race are
substantially similar in mind, heart, and
body, and, therefore, these several shades
of compilations are known to be inmate
rial. So, if the negro we're intellectually
and morally the equal Of the Caucasian
his complexion wOuld be Of no more conSe-
quunoe than the color of the coat man
might wear. A black skin and woolIy head.
however, are Indications Of mental, NOR
| al, and bodily organization which charac-
terizes a certain variety of the human race.
In like manner, the long ear Of the mule
! indicates quadruped different from the
horse; but no one supposes that if the ears
of the mule were trimmed down to the size
of the horses, his speed would thereby be
increased. The prayer of Wendell Phil
lips that the negroes might all turn white
some one Of these nights, is as absurd as
would be q wish that the ears Of all mules
should suddenly become small, in the hope
that thereby they might prove the equals
as racers of the blood horse
+ 1t is true that the color of tie negro's
skin was regarded as inherent in his ma
ture when the fables of Hsop were pub
lished, when the Book of Jobe was written,
and when the carvings and pictures on the
Egyptian monuments were made, and his
complexion and form are there, as depict
| ed, invariably associated with servile con-
dition. The Caucasian and the negro were
both placed by Providence IN the climate
| best suited to their respective natures, and
| while the career Of the former is known to
history, the condition Of the latter in his
native country has not been materially
modified. His own system has been ad-
hered to in spite Of the contact of the Eeyp-
tan, the Carthagenian, the Roman, aud
the Saracen. Modern civilization even on
the coast OF Guinea has very slightly add
ed to his knowledge of the arts. Tt is true,
however, that DIR. Livingstone, the espe-
clal friend OF the negro, did not find him
/ IN his normal condition until he had pene-
trated SO far into the interior that the We
~ existence of the white man was unknown.
| There he lived as a nude savage, the bunch
OF grass which till then formed the dress
OF one OF the sexes being entirely dispensed
with. The Caucasian and the negro have
each, under the most favorable circumstan-
ces OF climate, brought out their own sys-
| tCIAlo VI oOClcty. W IIlc WHlt6 men nave
traversed the globe in all directions no
negro has left Africa. except VIXEN trans
| ported as an article of merchandise. -
Ranking in the same category with ele-
plants teeth, dates, palm oil, &C., he has
been transferred to America by Ola Eng
| land and New England traders. Since his
| advent into the United States he has been
greatly improved from his native condition;
but nowhere has he approached equality
with the white race Those who clamor
loudest in favor of his being a voter deny
that they will allow him social equality.
But if he be really the equal of the white
man, why shall he not become a brother
in-law OF a son-in-law ? To say that he is
our equal, and yet deny him these priv
leges, is indeed prejudice such as no alb
olitionist ought to be guilty of. The fact
of his inequality has lately been decided in
the most emphatic manner. A great, pro
gressive, dominant party, flushed with re-
cent successes, sought to advance the ne
gro to equality with the Caucasian race
The force of party power is we'll under
stood IN this country. It often induces it's
members to sustain measures their iudp-
ment disapproves, to vote for men that
they despise, and to cover mn frauds and