The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1879-04-17

COLUMBIA. MT. DUdEidS 10 d Aiio AooAiuH,
bright mulatto, of about seventy years. His
features are prominent, his hair and beard
silyery white, and intelligence is plainly de-
picted in face resolute yet benign, and
strongly marked with individuality. That
he is an accomplished orator no one who
heard him and is capable of judging will
deny. His gestures are few and impressive,
his voice rich, deep and melodious, his ideas
clear and sharply defined, and his selection
Of language unexceptionable. In the lee
sure of Tuesday night he gave expression to
some of the most beautiful thoughts we have
ever heard, and his sentences were rounded
With symmetry that was faultless. 1t abound
ed in strong common sense, wit delicate
yet pointed, keen thrusts of satire. apt SIM
lies and flights of fancy that were grand. At
the commencement his manner was hating
and too deliberate, but as he approached the
germ of the subject, he rose to genuine elo-
quence. His theme was
s'SEIF MADE MEN,"
and perhaps none VINO have treated OF the
subject before, approached it from the stand
point of Fred Douglas. His own life is one
of the strongest illustrations of the success
Of hard. ceaseless work, and ambition that
recognlzeaE mo obstacle. In the exordium
he dwelt on the wonderful powers and capa-
bilties OF man, treating the subject meta
physically and bringing to his service the
thoughts and conclusions of the men whom
rho world rponorizes ac mastnrs REACHING
then, the immediate consideration OF his
theme, he declared that no man could be
termed self-made. By those who had gone
before in the pathway OF thought and dis
covery a rich inheritance had been bequeath-
ed, but he who would possess it must work,
for by individual effort alone is the prize of
success to be won. He advised his colored
hearers not to trust to providence and pray
er, but to 60 to work honestly, systematcal-
ly and consciensciously. He himself had
prayed for three long years. that freedom
might come to him, but it never came until
prayers got down into his legs, and carried
him away. People need not be content to
drag out miserable existence here, in the
hope Of crown hereafter, for he believed
in the philosophy of the ten talents. land man
who made nothing of his life here would
receive very little in the world TO come, and
he would get about as much as he deserved.
1t generally turns out that the lazy man is
the poor unfortunate, while the industrious
absorb all the "luck." He believed in help
ing no man who was able to help himself,
and advised the colored people to be GilIgent,
industrious, economical, clean in their per-
sons and honest in their dealings, and to
stay where they are. He deprecated the ex-
odus from the South, saying that the warm
climate was the best for them and that one
of the most unfortunate predicaments that
can be imagined is "a negro in snow
bank.' 1t don't look right, "the cclors don't
blend tremendously" Stay where you are
and so conduct yourself that men will be
bound to respect you-work with head and
hands-seek to acquire knowledge as well as
property, and in time you may have the
honor of going to Congress, ''for if the ne
gro can stand Congress, Congress ought to
be BILE to stand the negro"
In abiding to his own life, he said that
his mistress had taught him to read, land that
he had learned to write by copying the
names written on the different tmbers that
lay around in the ship yard where he was
employed. What he had accomplished by
work, could be accomplished by those who
worked to acquire as he had done. The in
fiuences thrown around man in this coun-
try are. peculiarly favorable to his own up
building. When he comes upon the stage
of public life, men do not ask who was his
father, who was his grandmother, but they
ask who is he, and the answer that is retnrn-
ed must be the assurance OF genuine man
hood, to entitle him to respect In the eyes of
his fellows.
Before closing his lecture the speaker ad-
dressed himself Immediately to the white
people. These negroes, he said, are among
you, and will remain with you. You sneed
not expect them to die out like the Indians. |
They are too fond of civilizing influences for
that. An Indian is contented with blank
ct, while negroes ambition is swal low
tailed coat the Indians don't like churches
and steeples, while the negro thinks the
higher the steeple the nearer they are to
heaven. They are essentially Initiative, and
if by their efforts they seek to raise them
selves from poverty and attain to the excel
lence Of good citizenship, give them a
Don't place unnecessary obstacles
in their way let them alone, and if they
die, let them die, but if you see them rising
in the scale of civilization, don't discourage
anG thwart. Sell them lands, and let them
practice your economy and thrift. Teach
them to be honest, industrious and system
attic, and you will yourselves reap the re-
ward. for on the trade winds Of eternal JUS
tice there will come to this land peace and
it has never known before.
Although the lecture was two and half
hours long, the audience showed no signs OF
Impotence whatever, and throughout the
most earnest attention was accorded.
FIRE AT PARNAsSAS.-On Sunday last,
in the afternoon, the residence OF MIR. j. A.
Hamrick, at Pafnassas, was entirely con-
sumed by fire. The better part of his furni-
ture was also burned. The fire originated