Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1885-03-05
tzioN'S oHAUTAUou4 soCIk4K.
WsshingtOn's COIored Orn'or Do
iiveTs n Rr1ght LeeiuFe Before mn
Appreciatfve Audfouce 80


Apprecjatfve Audience. -
The opening leoturs Of the Chautauqus
course for the beneh. Of the EzIon ". e
Church was delivered lat evening week
10 larg audience by Richard Thelt ore
Greener, A B., Ii D., OF Washington
The Rev. q. A, Monroe, pastor Of the
church, introduced the speaker in brief
speech, saying his name was one the
oolored rsos loved to honor.
Mr.. Greener is . fine looking man of
good physique and has an excellent
delivery. He said, after brief introduo-
tory: The time HAS come when the negro
-2l years after emsnoipation-has .
right to hold up his head and look In the
glass and not feel aehAmed OF trAo Of
African blood in his veins. l appreciate
fully the work which, the ChautauquA
Society intends doing. They who
follow its teachings for four
years will come ont better educated than
many who 90 to college for tha. time l
am glad to see these literary societies
forming. II there is one thing In which
l feel q pride, II is that from the time
the frat slaves landed at Jamestown, In
1873, up to the present time, the negro
has at each epoch, in spite of slavery and
bondage, developed some black genius,
which, In any country but America,
would have entitled him to seat on the
highest pedeatal Of fame.
The life Of Benjamin Bannios, the
negro astronomer was taken up and fol-
lowed closely, an eloquent tribute being
paid to the wonderful result Of his earnest
labor which was impeded by lack Of
education and an entire absence Of any
advantages OF these modern times.
He concluded his sketch by asking If
that black genius had been untrAmmeled
now high would Its posstsso have leaped
IN the scale Of famef
The only genius the south ever pro-
iuced has been black men. Thomas
Fuller commonly known as "Black Tom,"
the mathematical powers of whose mind
we're the wonder Of his age was one Of
hem. One time he was asked how many
minutes mai had lived who WAS 20 years
oldf In just three minutes he gave the
right answer, solving the problem in his
mind. A white and educated man who
figured at 1t with pencil for long time
said Toms answer was not right. "Hole
on massR," said Tom, "yer anser ez good
as far as it goes, but you has left ont the
leap years." Phyllis Wheatley, the little
colored girl, who wrote q book of poems
created 3 stir in England and Boston
in the eighteenth century. The black
is simply the color, nature has endowed
man with, but the intellect inside Of him
is equal to that Of the Anglo-Saxon, The
readiness with which the negroes take
advantage Of the opportunities offered
them for learning after the abolition OF
slavery was discussed. Continuing, the
speaker said: l recognize what the
problem with the cOlored man ia in this
country. Il is to try and have people stop
throwing In his face that he is black. In
police court reports you see John Jones,
oolored, ohal ged with assault upon James
Smith, oolored you don't see Pat Murphy,
Irish, charged with assault upon Mike
Finnerty, Irish. II this thing il to be-
continued some Of us will have to be
called "partly oolored" and others "very
much oolored." The negro has better
career In America than any race in
II. he was the test Of American
liberty and will continue to bs the test
until he attracts no more attention than
any other man. Wendell Pnillips was
once walking on q popular thoroughfare
in Paris at fashionable hour. He saw a
magnificent looking man Of satin black
ness strolling along with q beautiful white
woman on his arm. He turned around
and looked after them, but sRw no Ons
else doing SO. "Then," he said, ~ be.
came conscious that was an American"
Who knows what the next generation
may be Who knows but that in the
uext generation there may be authors,
historians and poets in the oolored race. |
l want to evoke this sentiment we are |
about the only race that has ever
attempted to get up the right way. In
explanation Mr.. !Greener said that the
oolored people wanted to be great
scholars all Rt once when they should |
begin at the foot Of the ladder and climb |
up. BE once had young oolored man
studying under him who wanted to be
great In six months. He told him even
in New England II took three generations
10 make man great.
II the oolored man wants to be
respected by the white man he has got to
best him at something. As to the cleo.
tion OF Cleveland the speaker said he did |
all he could against It. He did not know
what the new President would do. He did
know, that perhaps there never was .
time when the Democratic party's coming
into power would do less harm. II ia Just
at the time, he said, when they will learn
a good deal.
In the conclusion Of his lecture he
said: "Ii l thought that the negroes
had 80 far forgotten Themselves as to de.
ert the party which snfrAnchised the
entire race, and assisted to get 1t ont Of
power, should despise the race forever,
and would let out every drop Of black
blood in my body"