The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1870-03-24
The CoIored Senator.
Speech OF Reyels, or Mississippi, in the united
States Senate March 18th.


States Senate March 18th.
Mr. Revels commenced his remarks
which, during the entire delivery, wer
listened to with the closest attention. HI
said
Mr.. PRESIDENT rise at this partic
ular junctuTe in the discussion of the
Georgia bill, with feelings which, per
haps, never before entered into the expe
rience of any member of this body.
rise, too, with misglvings as to the pro
priety of lifting my voice at this early
period after my admission In the Senate
Perhaps it were wiser for me, so inexpe-
rienced in the details OF Senatorial duty,
to remain passive listener in the pro-
gress of this debate But when remem-
Der that my term is short, and that the
issues with which this bill is fraught are
momentous in their present and future
influence upon the well being of my race,
| would seem Indifferent to the impor-
lance of the hour, and reoreant to the
high trust imposed upon me, il neglect
ed to lend my voice IN behalf of the loval
people of the South. I therefore waive
all thoughts as to the propriety of enter
ing into this discussion, breaking through
agenerally understood etiquette of this
,3ody. When questions arise which bear
upon the safety and protection of the
loyal white and colored people of those
States lately in rebellion, | cannot allow
any thought as to mere propriety to enter
into my consideration of duty. The re
sponsibilities of being the exponent of
such constituency as have the honor
to represent are fully appreciated by me-
have about me daily the keenest sense
of their weight, and that feeling prompts
NE now to lift my voice for the first time
in this council chamber OF the nation,
and, sir, I stand TO day on this floor to
appeal for protection from the strong arm
of the Government for her loyal children,
irrespective of color or race, who are
citizens of the Southern States, and par
ticularly of the great State of Georgia.
l am we'll aware sir, that an idea Is
abroad that an an agonism exists between
the whites and blacks that that race
which the nation raised from the degra
dation of slavery, and endowed with the
full and unqualified rights and privileges
of citizenship, are intent upon power at
whatever price it can be gained. It has
been the well considered purpose and
aim Of class, not confined to the South,
to spread this charge over the land, and
their efforts are as vigorous to-day to ed
ucate the people Of this nation into that
belief az they were at the close of the
war 1t was not uncommon to find this
same class, even during the rebellion,
prognosticating serviIe war. 1t may
hare been that the wish was father to
the thought; and, sir, as the recognized
representative of my down-trodden peo-
Pile, | deny the charge, and hurl it back
into the teeth of those who make it, and
who, | believe, have not a true and con-
scientious desire to further the interests
of the whole South Certainly any one
possessing = knowledge of the colored
population of my own or any other State
need not be reminded Of the noble con
duct of that people, und n the most try
ing circumstances in the history of the
late war, when they were beyond the pro
lection of the Federal forces While the
Confederate army pressed into its ranks
every white male capable of bearing
arms, the mothers, wives, daughters and
sisters of Southern soldiers were left de-
lenseless and in the power of the Blacks
upon whom the chains of slavery were
still rlveted and to bind those chains
closer was the real issue for which so
nnch life and property was sacrificed
And now, sir, | ask, how aid that race
act? Did they, in those days of Confed
crate weakness and impotence, evince
the malignity of which we hear so much
Granting, for the sake of argument, that
they were ignorant and besotted, which
| do not believe, yet with all their sup
posed ignorance and credulity, they in
their way, understood. as fully as you or
]. the awful import of the contest. They
knew if the gallant corps of national
soldiers were beaten back, and their flag
trailed in the dust, that it was the pre-
sage of still heavier bondage. They
longed, too, as their fathers did before
them, for the advent of that epoch over
which was shed the hallowed light of in
SEPARATION itself. They desired. too, with
their fathers, to welcome the feet of
strangers shod with the peaceful prepare
ton of good news. Weary years of
bondage had told their tale of sorrow to
the court of heaven, In the councils Of
the Great Father of all. They knew thu
adjudication of their case, albeit delayed
for years in which patient suffering had
nearly exhausted itself, would in the end
bring them the boon for which they
sighed-God's most blessed gift to his
creatures, the inestimable boon of liberty.
They waited, and they waited patiently.
In the absence of their masters they pro-
sected the virtue and chastity of defense
less women.
Think, sir, for moment, what the con-
dition of this land would be to-day it the
slave population had risen in servile In
surrect,on against those who, month after
month, were fighting to perpetuate that
institution which brought them all the
evils of which they complained Where