The weekly Louisianian. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1872-1882, 1872-05-18
.o@.A.T10N.
GRAFTON.
Delivered by Hon. B. B. Elliott, April l6,
1872, at the Celebration Of the Twen-
Itch Anniversary Of Emaneipa.
tion in the District Of
.- ' Columbia.

At earlier period of the ses-
sion, December IA, 1861, J Senator
Wilson had proposed a reference o1
oil laws relating to persons Of color
in the District of Columbia, and to
the arrest Of fugitives from labor,
to the Standing Committee on said
District, with instructions that they
consider the 9expediency of a com
pensated Abolition of Slavery there
in; and he soon after introduced
dec. 16th) a bill of like purport;
which was read twice and referred
(Dec. 22d, to,the committee afore-
said. Mr.. Morrill,, of Maine, duly
reported (Feb. 13, 1862 from said
committee Senator Wilson's bill,
which provided for the abolition of
slavery in the District, and the pay
ment to the masters from the Treas
ury of an average of $500 each of the
slaves thus maumitted. The bill
was SC, amended as to abolish also
the Black Laws of the. District
This bill was passed by the Repub-
ican vote on the 18th. and was
signed by President Lincoln on this
day, ten years ago-the 10th of
April, 1862.
From the time of the first intro
duction of the bill to the date of its
approval, a period Of one hundred
and fourteen days had elapsed.
Throughout that whole struggle the
Democratic party opposed this first
measure of emancipation, inch by
inch, and it has preserved it's igno-
BILE record for consistency, upon this
and kindred measures, untarnished
to. the present day. The abolition
of slavery in the District Of Colum-
bia was hailed by the friends Of free
dom with universal JOY throughout
the civilized world. Especially did
it carry gladness to the hearts of
the small but brave band of men
known as the Abolitionists. Men,
who in all the highest attributes Of
moral heroism, were worthy to be
compared with the early Christian
martyrs. These men had suffered
and endured the public scorn and
private obloquy, in the hope of
achieving the consummation which
this act betokened as not far dis
tant. It sent a thrill of unutter-
able joy through the heart Of every
slave from Delaware to Texas. Of
ten had the slave looked. at the
northern star which had guided
many of his race to a land Of iber-
ty, and calling in spirit to the Abo-
litionist of the North, who was
forth as his defender,
asked - fearing, yet hoping -
"Watchman, what of the night?"
And now, the answer was confidently
given-"Lo! the morning come:h."
It did come; and to-day we bask in
the meridian splendors of the un-
quenchable light Of liberty.
It is our bounden duty to see to
it that this light shall burn on, un-
dimmed forever: The rights Sc
cured to the colored race in the
United States, through the recent
changes in the fundamental law of
the country, will, if properly exer-
cised, enable them to aid in perpetu-
ating the free institutions of the
which only became part
Of the national system, when, by
the hand of tie nation, the last line
of local statutes authorizing slavery
was erased.
All history teaches, from the be-
Of recorded time, that there
is a constant redux, or flowing back
of the current Of human events.