National Republican., 1883-04-17

sulnclent and substantial cause for its continu-
ance.
Fellow citizens, the present hour Is full Of
admoniton and warning. / despise threats,
and, remembering as | do, the depths from
which have come, and tho forlorn condition
OF those for whom / speak, dare not assume
before the American people an air Of haugh-
tiness, but cannot forget that tho negro is
now aud of right ought to be, an American
citizen In the fullest sense of the word. This
high position, l take II, was not accorded TO
him in sport, mockery, or deception.
NO matter what the democratic party may
say, no matter what the old master class of
the south may say, no matter what the su-
preme court of the, United States may say,
the fact is beyond question that tho American
people, in view Of tho services of the negro
in the national hour Of peril, meant to make
him, in good faith, according to the letter
and spirit of the constitution Of the United
states, full and complete American citizen.
The amendments TO the constitu ton of the
United States mean this, or they are cruel,
scandalous and colossal sham, and deserve
TO be 30 branded before tho civilized world.
What Abraham Lincoln told us in respect Of
the United States Is rs true of the colored
people as Of tho relations OF those states
They cannot remain half slave and half Free
You must give them oil, or take from them
all. Until this half and half condition is
ended there will be just ground for complaint
You will have an aggrieved class and this
discussion will go on Until the public schools
shall cease to be caste schools in every part Of
our country this discussion will 20 on. Until
the colored mans pathway to the American
ballot box, north and south, shall be as smooth
and as safe as the same is for the white citi-
zen this discussion will go on. Until the
colored mans right TO practice at the bar Of
our courts and sit upon juries shall be the
universal law and practice Of tho land
Ill IT..sn
courts of the country shall grant
the colored man fair trial and
q just verdict, this discussion will 20 on.
Until color shall cease to be n bar to equal
participation in the offices and honors of the
country this discussion will go on. Until the
trades unions and the workshops of the coun-
try shall cease to prescribe the colored man
and prevent his children from learning useful
trades this discussion will go on. Until the
American people shall make character, and
not color, the criterion of respectability this
discussion will go on. Until men like Bishop
Payne shall cease to be driven from respecta-
BILE railroad cars at the south this discussion
will go on, In n word, until truth and hui
manity shall cease TO be living ideas, and man
kind shall sink back into moral darkness and
the world shall put evil for good, bitter for
sweet, and darkness for light, this discussion
will go on.
There never was time when this great
lesson could be more easily learned than now
Events are transpiring all around us that en-
force this lesson. In one form or another, by
one means or another, these ideas of COM
mon humanity against privileged classes, Of
common rights against special privileges, are
now rocking the world with explosives that
rival the earthquake. They are causing des-
pots to tremble, class rule to quail, thrones to
shake, and oppressive, associated wealth to
turn pale. 1t is for America to be wise in
time. For tho present our institutions are
not likely to be shaken by dynamite or dag
gers. We have free speech and free press.
"weapons Of war we have cast from the battle"
With us there is no apology for violence or
crime. Happily we are in a position to win
by peaceful means those victories more re-
nowned than any secured by war. The gates
Of reason are still open to us, and while we
may speak and vote, We need not despair.
Mr.. Douglass here recounted briefly the his
tory of the anti-slavery agitation. He said
it had been asserted that William Lloyd Gar
rison originated the movement, but he found
that others had preceded him by many years.
There was Benjamin Lundy, an humble
Quaker, who was in advance of Garrison.
Walker, colored man, whose appeal against
slavery startled the land like a trump of
coming judgment, was in advance of either.
DR.. Hopkins. of Rhode Island, John Wesley,
and Adam Clark had all denounced slavery in
their time.
The rights of the negro as a man and
brother began to be asserted at the beginning
of American colonial history. The first pub
lication in assertion and vindication of any
rights Of the negro was written more than
two hundred years ago by Rev. Morgan God
win, of Virginia and Jamaica, and the last of
any considerable note was the recent article
by Prof. Gillian In tho Popular Science Monthly.
The one was written in 1850, the other in
Mr.. Douglass said he eemed himself FORUM
ate in possessing Mr.. Godwin's book. " / met
with it while travelling in England thirty
seven years ago. i was then abroad for safety
rather than for health for at that time there
was no place of safety for me anywhere under
the American flag or on American soil. An
Irish Number One is safer here now than l
was then. Our government then had no great
tenderness for refugees, however innocent of
crime, if their skins happened to be slightly
tanned or their hair trife woolly.
Goodwin was evidently not negro worshiper.
He simply contended that the negro's soul
belonged to the Lord, while admitting that
his body belonged to his master, and this left
the negro very little for himself. Neverthe-
less the ground taken was very important.
He claimed for the negro the right of baptism,
and baptism was then vital and command
ing question, one with which the moral and
intellectual giants of that day were required
to grapple.
The opposition to baptizing and admitting
the negro TO membership in the Christian
church was serious, determined and bitter.
That ceremony was in his case opposed on
many grounds, but especially upon three (:
First, the negro's unftness for baptism Sec
ondly, the nature Of the ordinance itself; and
thirdly, because II would disturb the relations
of master and slave. The willy shareholders
of that day were sharp and keen scented and
snufled danger from afar They saw in this
argument of Goodwin tEs thin edge of the
wedge, which would sooner or later rend
asunder the bonds of slavery.
But, said Mr.. Douglass, deeper down than
any modification Of the masters authority,
there was more controlling motive for op.
posing baptism. Baptism had n legal as we'll
as a religious significance. By the common
law at that time baptism was made sufficient
basis for a legal claim for emancipation.
am informed by Judge Hagner, of the su-
preme court of this district, that there is an
old law in the state of Maryland reversing
tho common law at this point Had lived
in that day should have been baptized If
could have gotten anybody to perform the
ceremony. For in that day of Christian sim
plicity honest rules of biblical Interpretation
were applied. The Bible was thought to
mean just what IL said. When heather
ceased TO be heather and become n Chris
tian he could no longer be held as a slave.
Within the meaning Of the accepted word of
God it was tho heathen, not the Christian,
who was to be bought and sold, and held as a
bondman forever. This fact stood like roar
ing lion ready TO tear and devour any negro
who sought the ordinance of baptism
After further sketching and commenting
Al =