The bee., 1883-04-21

Liberty. 1 speak of deliverance from
bondage; They speak of concessions
to liberty and equality. Their mission
begins where my mission ends.
Nevertheless, while / would have
gladly given place to one of these
rising young men, could not well de-
cline the duty and the honor of APP
pearing here tonight. 1t may after
all be well to have something of the
past mingled with the present, and
that one who has had some share in
the conflict should share also in the
public Joy Of the victory.
At the outset as an old watchman
on the walls of liberty eagerly scan-
ming the social and political horizon,
You naturally ask me, what of the
night? 1t is easy to break forth in joy
aad thanksgiving for emancipation in
the District of Columbia. 1t is easy
t. call up the noble sentiments, and
the startling events which made that
grand measure possible. 1t is easy to
trace the footsteps of the negro in
the past, marked as they are all the
way along with blood. But the pres
eat occasion calls for something more
How stands the negro to day? What
are the relations subsisting between
him and the powerful people among
whom he lives, moves and has his
being? What is the outlook, and what
is his probable future?
You viii readily perceive that l
have raised more questions than /
shall be able for the present to an
swer. My general response to these
inquiries is mixed one. The sky of
the American negro is dark, but not
rayless: it is stormy but not cherries.
The grand old party, of liberty, union
and progress, which has been his reli-
aace and refuge so long, is less cohe-
sive and strong, than it once was. As
the war for the Union recedeS into
the misty shadows of the past and the
negro is no longer needed to assault
forts and stop rebel bullets, he is in
some sense Of less importance. Peace
with the old master class has been
war TO the negro. As the one has
risen the other has fallen. The reac-
uon has been sudden, marked and yio-
lent. 1t has swept the negro from
all the legislative halls of the South
ern states, and from those of the Con-
gre5s of the United States. 1t has
in many cases, driven him from the
ballot box and the jury box. The
situation has much in it for serious
thought, but nothing to cause despair.
Above all the frowning clouds that
lower about our horizon, there is the
steady light of stars, and the thick
clouds that now obscure them, will in
due season, pass away.
In fact, they are already passing
away. Time and events which have
done 81 much for us in the past, will, l
trust, not do less for us in the future.
The moral government of the universe
is on our side, and cO-operates, with
all honest efforts. to lift up the down
trodden and oppressed in all lands,
whether the oppressed be white or
black.
In whatever else the negro may have
been failure, he has, in one respect,
been marked and brilliant success.
lie has managed by one means or
another to make himself one of the
most prominent and interesting figures
that now attract and hold the atten-
tion of the world.
Go where you will, you meet with
him. He is alike present in the study
of the learned and thoughtful, and in
the play house Of the gay and thought
less. We see him pictured at our
street corners and hear him in the
songs of our market places. The low
and the vulgar curse him, the snob
and the funky affect to despise him,
the mean and the cowardly assault
him because they know that his friends
are few, and that they can abuse him
with impunity, and with the applause
of the vulgar crowd. But. despite of
it all, the negro remains like iron or
granite, cool, strong, imperturable and
cheerful.
Men of all lands and languages
make him a subject of profound
thought and study. To the statesman
and philosopher, he is an object of in
tense curiosity. Men want to know
more of his character, his qualities,
his attainmentS, his mental possibili-
ties and his probable destiny Not
withstandjng their black faces, the
jubilee singers, with their wild and
plaintive music, thrill and charm the
most refined and cultivated of the
white race, both here and in Europe.
Generous and brave men like Andrew
Jackson, Benjamin f. Butler and Gen
eral Grant, have borne ample testimony
to the courage of the negro to his gal
lantry and to his patriotism. OF the
books, pamphlets and speeches con-
corning him, there is, literally, no end.
He is the one inexhaustible topic of
conversation at our firesides and in our
public halls.
Great, however, as is his advantage,
at this point, he is not altogether for
tunate after all as TO the manner in
which his claims are canvassed. His
misfortune is that few men are quail
fed to discuss him candidly and inn
partially. Americans can consider
almost any other question more calmly
and fairly than this one. l know of
nothing outside of religion, which
kindles more wrath, causes wider diff
ferenceS. or gives force and effect to
fiercer and more irreconcilable anita
gonisms.
1t was so in the time of slavery, and
IL Is 50 nnW Then the cause was