Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1870-05-13
XVth Amendment Cclenratlon.


XVth Amendment Celebration.
The Philadelphia Sunaay Mercury gives
q graphic account Of the celebration of the
ratification of tho fifteenth commandment,
from which we extract tho following:
Programme of tho grand African jubilee,
to bo performed on the 26th Of April A. d
1870, by 100000 talented artists, all citi
zens.of tho bayonited States: Great, grand
and glorious celebration in honor Of tho trc-
mendous triumph of Congressional power in
reducing the naughty protensions, pulled up
pride, and national dignity of freeborn Amer
jeans, by asking them to associate with those
they formerly despiscd, and compelling them
toacknowledge the colored people as good as
themselves. The following isthc preliminary
address by Major Muggins
FELLOW CITIZENS: Like our noble and
illustrious President, General Grant, 1 am
unaccustomed to public speaking; but OH
such q glorious occasion as the present, who
is there amongst you that could romain silent
Where. is tho colorcd man, fellow citizens,
that ever dreamed of a day like this /? Twor-
ty years ago, William D. Kelley, John w.
Forney, Benjamin Z. Butler, and hundreds of
others, looked upon us with contempt and
branded us as dirty nigsers. But what are
: these very men doing now7 Fellow, citizens,
it thrills my heart with the feelings of man.
hood to state that they are bowling humbly
and reyercntly before us, md almost quarrel
ing amongst themselves as to which shall have
the honor of first kissing the hem of our gar
ments. This is grand triumph, follow.citi-
zcns; but don't trust such men too far
Politicians are never to be relied on. But
here would ask, fcllow.citizcns, to whom
arc we indebted for all this wonderful change
of public opinion Could it have been from
the friendly precedent of William Penn? No !;
for he lived and died a slayc-owncr. Was it
to the influence of the man who wrote, the
mon who signed, or those that endorsed the
principles of the Declaration of ofIndcpcndcnco,
declaring all men equal, having tho right to
life and liberty 7 No; for men who preached
freedom abroad, and continued to practice
slavery at home, were neither more nor less
than imposters. Was it to the noble exam
pie of George WashingtonP No; for he kept
his slaves until he died, and left them by will
3 to his wife; but this, of course, must be con-
sidered quite excusable, as it would be pity
to mar 30 fno nm imaginary model with q
black spot. Is it to the sleek faced Yankee
that we are indebted for this wonderful alter
ationY No; for he sold our fathers and moth.
ers into Southern bondage. Neither is there
any respect duo to Abraham Lincoln; for he
did not issue his emancipation proclamation
either as an act Of justice to the slave or as 0
benefit to the human family, but merely MS an
act of military necessity, for which ho de
serves as much credit as burglar, who, hay
ing foreibly entered house, finds ho cannot
rob il nnless he libcratcs the yard dog, and
sets him on to worry his master. No, fellow.
citizens, not to any of those are wo undsr any
obligation for had not Jeff. Davis rebcled
against Yankee assumption, we should have
remained in slavery until this day. But as
said before, I am unacoustomed to public
speaking, aud prefer short speeches to long
ones for men that talk somuch, must Of ne
,essity;tell lies, for thcro is not truth enough
in any political party to furnish material for o
ton minutes lecture. Thanking you, follow
citizens, for you kind attention, now sit
down. .stsG . t
Al SERVANT GIL in Altoona recently tried
a. IL oko 4 -