Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1868-09-18
Negro Equality.

greater OF lthh utktttt thet SUI" efe-'''
which is inseparable from politlca
equality We have had some remarkable
illustrations Of the views controlling
some Radicals in this matter One
OF them, q candidate for Congress, an
nounced that he sent his daughters "a
Oberlin College, State Of Ohio, where
negroes are admitted TO indlscriminate
association with the whites, with the ex'
press purpose that by such association
his own Of. pring might overcome Al
prejudice against the negro. in Justify
ing this negro equality. leading Radicals
refer 10 the opinions Of the authors o.
the Declaration Of Independence and the
trainers of the Constitution. As a con-
spicuous example of this, the New York
Tribune says;
"Mr. Jefferson is, and ought to be,
held in sincere reverence by all Radicals
because of his agency in basing the
Declaration ' Of Independence on the
broad, comprehensive, eternal principle
of equal human rights. As to the funaa
mental base Of our political system, Mr.
Jefferson is and ought to be the highest
authority -,
After this Endorsement Of Mr.. Jefferson
az the Highest authority" concerning
"eoual human rights" let us see what
he thought about the negro. In bis works,
vol. s, page $50, may be found the fol-
lowing:
deep rooted prejudices entertained
by the whites; ten thousand recollections,
by the blacks, Of the injuries they have
sustained; new provocations; the real
distinctions which nature has made and
many other circumstances, will divide us
into parties, and produce commissions,
which will probably never end but in the
determination of the one or the other
race. To these objections, which are
political, may be added others, which are
physical and moral. The first difference
which strikes us is that Of color. Whether
the black of the negro resides in the retic'
nlar membrane between the skin and
scarfskin, or in the scarf-skin itself;
whether il proceeds from the color OF the
blood. the color of the bile, or from that
of some other secretion, the difference is
fixed in nature, and is as real as if its
seat and cause were better known to us:
And is this difference of no Importance I
T. 4 not the foundation of greater or
less share of beauty in the two racesf
Are not the fine mixtures OF red and
white. the expressions Of every pas
sion by greater or less suffusions OF color
in the one. preferable to that eternal mo
notony. which reigns in the coun,enances,
that ;mmoyable veil of black which covers
the emotions of the other racer
The circumstance of superior beauty is
thought worthy of attention in the propa-
cation of our horses, dogs, and other
domestic animals; why not in that OF
map2 Besides those of color, figure and
hair. there are other physical dis
tinctions proving a difference of race.
They have less hair on the face and
body. They secrete less by the kidneys,
and more by the glands OF the skin, which
gives them very strong and disagree
able odor. This greater degree of trans
piration renders them more tolerant OF
heat, and less so of cold than the whites.
They are more ardent after their female;
Int love seems with them TO be more an
eager desire than a tender, delicate mix.
ture of sentiment and sensation. Their
oriefs are transient Those numberless
sfl ctions, which render it doubtful
whether Heaven has given life to US in
mercy or in wrath, are less felt, and
sooner forgotten, with them. 10 general,
their existence appears to participate
more of sensation than reflection. To
this must be aseribed their disposition
70 sleep when distracted from their
diversions and unemployed in labor. An
animal whose body is at rest, and
does not reflect, must be disposed to
sleep, of course. Comparing them
by their faculties of memory, reason, and
imagination, it appears to me that in
memory they are equal to the whites in
reason much inferior, as / think one
could scarcely be found capable oftraciDg
and comprehending the investigations
of Euclid; and that 10 imagination they
are dull, tasteless, and anomalous"
In his works, vol. l, page AZ, he ex-
pressed himself thus:
Nothing is more certainly written in
the book of fate than that these people
are to be free; nor is it less certain that
the two races, equally free. cannot live in
the same Government Nature, habit,
opinion, have drawn indelible lines of
distinction between them. 1t is still in
our power to direct the process of eman-
cipation and deportation, peaceably, and
in such slow degree, as that the evil will
wear of insensibly, and their place be,
pari passu, filled up by free white la
bOrers."
One of the great apostles of emancipa-
ton, John Quincy Adams, said in his
letter to citizens Of Bangor, July 4, l843:
"It is only as immortal beings that all
mankind can, in any sense, be said to be
born equal; and when the Declsr alton of
Independence affirms, as a selfevident
truth, that all men are born equal, it is
precisely the same as if the affirmation
had been that all men are born with inn
mortal souls"
Coming down twenty FIVE years later,
we find Abraham Lincoln expressing
himself 10 his debates with Senator
Douglas in 1858:
al have said that 90 not understand
the Declaration Of Independence to
mean that-all men are created equal in
All retpecls. Oci1ainiy tHC hoelO 10 hOe
our equal in color-perhaps not in many
other respects. L did not say
at any time / was in favor of negro
suffrage Twice-once substantially and
once expressly-I declared against it
l am not in favor of
negro citizenship.
81 am not, and never have been, in
favor Of making voters or jurors Of ne
groes, nor Of qualifying them to hold
Office, nor to intermarry with whites
and / will gay further, in addition to this,
that there is physical difference between
the bsck and white races, which, / be-
lieve, will forever forbid the two races
living together on terms Of social and
political equality
In June, 1862, be addressed a deputs-
4