The weekly North-Carolina standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 186?-1869, 1868-05-27
a 7IIII = y , = > y y
SPEECH OF EBENEZER d. BASSETT,
- OF PuILkpEIPnIA.

a
AT the Anniversary of the DeIa,care 1ssoci-
o atioa for tile Moral Improvement and Ed
ucation Of the Colors3 People, held
up in Institute Hall, February 2Sth, 1868.
- There are those who are inclined to de-
nv the capacity of the colored man for in
telectua culture 1t will he well for such.
persons to read the following speech made
by a colored mana speech which one OF
the speakers declared any man might be
proud to have made. As CALM, finished
and eloquent production it, is seldom sur
passed. ..,-,. .,....... .....,
Ladies and Gentlemen:- ff-.. f,......
It was conclusive proof of the n ission of
our Lord to the mind of him who wore
d leathern girdie about his loirls," and whose
+ /" meat was locusts and wild honey" that
under him the poor had the gospel preached
unto them and the great apostle offered as
' his plea of defence, when he was cast into
prison. that he WAS citizen of no mean
81 city.n In like spirit, offer my profound
"a congratulations to, this occasion of the First
"a Anniversary of the Society for the Moral
Improvement and Education OF the Colored
People of Delaware, first, because | am q
, member of tie dcspised and unfortunate
l. race, in whose behalf the society was organ
lied, and next because, am u citizen of a
. Christian country, wherein intelligence
worth and virtue, are the real basis OF gov
eminent, and tile bond of social organiza-
ton.
'i-' would not allude reproachfully to the
unpleasant past. But it has always seemed
tome, that the greatest crime of slavery was
not its chains upon the limbs of men; but
that in christian country, great and pow
erful, people born on the soil, were denied
the highest inheritance Of manhood moral
and intellectual culture The number of
limbs manacletl, the number of chains worn,
the number of men counted as chattels per-
sonal-these were physical facts, which
could be estimated and fgured.up. ~ d,
T. But the hearts throbbing with noble
thoughts and instincts, the ideas and aspira-
Is. tions smothered and stitled, the neral at
the human soul which scared the spirit and
burned out the moral eyes-all this, alas
no pen can paint, no tongue can tell.
.aq But one result now lett to us is that we
find here, under orr flag, a large class of peo-
pie, scattered all over our broad area of
States, unframed in the school of letters and
refinement untutored in the arena of selfre-
lance. This people numbers millions.
In our heterogeneous population of over
thirty millions, they form about one-seventh
of the whole There is no probability that
they will ever dIsappear-at least not for
unnumbered generations As however the
increase of population forms geometral
series in which much depends upon the first
term of the SERIES their ratio TO the whole
will become less but no figures of the sta
tistician can ever figure millions of people
ont of numerical importance. [ confess,
however, that there is reason to believe that
the negro may be lost sight of in the Sec
lions north of the Ohio, where even now he
is in the aggregate only trife more than
one per cent. of the population. In Penn
sylvania he is less than one and one-half per
cent in New-York one and one-fifth per
cent; In New England less than four-tifths
per cent and in the great West he hears
about the same ratio; while here in Della
ware he is about twenty per cent. 1t is in
teresting perhaps, to note that the per CEN
tage of negro population is almost precise
ly the same in the Western States as in the
New England. and that in all the States, ex-
Guiding the recent Slave States, it is exactly
the same in the aggregate as in the State of
NewYork. In all these sections, large
tide of European immigration steadily sets
o. ~ ~ l.e lhiosI vi "hlc, ti,e negro uoes
Hot tnlive, anu lepeaI tnat nc may Ut los'
sighI Vi IN gehera'loh or Two;
may hot loucl upon Poi'tical tOpicS'
Dut tne Guii osa'es anu those lying south
Oh Tue ONO ana ehe fotomac' comprising
1 sne very salaen ol our country, now helu IN
iaho ~ 'iac's uli'lel s'lSic tities, Will
; undoubtedly, ne recast ana divided INTO
small Iarms-not indeed ey Pohtical ciamor
OF wiia schemes OF agrarlanism' put by the
law OF demand an ana supply OF ntness ana
~ necessity. Inc conpilcatiohs on the con-
tinellC Oh EUROPE VIII send hithero as emf
grants us poia liaF''y men, Tor we all know
-Inat men are theillst emgranfs OF q, people.
'lhese VIII come hithcr-not as the iCelt has
come 10 tne NORTH without means and with
out skilled labor, put WITH much capital,
nAed Ideas, and no prelndlce against color
II is easy TO see ti!at under tins state OF
1 Iacts' the negroes OF the South Will not be
ia liNely 70 .'ecfeasc eitHer In actual numbers
or Importance ,a -.
NOW there are three ways IN which the
negro may disappear from the country lie
may ne extermlnated, but this a strong
CHRISTIAN sentiment on the one hand and
Iy' seillnterest ana patriotism on tue other will
forever proAlbit he may die out, but If any
man VIII pass through our Southern cities
. and cabins and there see young Africa "
sWarming about In ruddy health thick as
7 the leaves IN Valambrosa," he will probably
agree that There IL little nroSppct nf his n vinn