The Washington bee., 1898-12-03
REV. GRIMKE'S SERMON.

THE CONDITION OF THE NEGRO II
AMERICA. A SERMON THAT TOUCH
ED THE HEARTS OF THE PEOPLE
sELF-APPoINTED WHITE MASTERS
THROUGH THE DARKEST CLOUD
THERE IS SILVER LINEING-FRED
ERIcK DOUGLASS MEMORY APPLAUD
/ ED.
There is in this country one divine
who has the courage of his convic
tionS. AT the 18th St. Presbyterian
church on last Sabbath morning ir
the presence of one of the largest anC
most classic audiences, Rev. Francis
!. Grimke took for his text:
PSALM 27, IA: "Wait on the Lord
be OF good courage and He shall
strengthen thine heart
he history our people in this coun.
try has been a sad one. For nearly
two hundred and fifty years. from I6Ie
| to 1868, from the landing Of the first
cargo of slaves at jamestown to the
issuing of the Emancipation Procla.
nation and the surrender at Apo
mattox, we were subject to a most
cruel and oppressive bondage. The
history of those days never can be
fully written. We get a little glimpse
into them through such works as
Uucle Toms Cabin, Dread, The Key
to Uncle Toms Cabin, A Thousand
and One Witnesses, by Theodore ID.
Weld, and through the files of such
papers as the Li6eratOr, the 1Anti-
SIa0sry Standard, the North Star,
and the sad stories which many OF us
have heard from the lips of those who
we're the victims OF the slave power
But after every syllable has been read
OF all that has been written In books
and papers and magazines on the Sor-
rows and suffering of that period, the
impression we get falls far short OF
the reality. God only knows 1t in its
entirety, and is alone able to fully ap-
preCiate and take IN all the heart
aches and sorrows and sufferlngS, and
sad experiences that entered into the
history of those two hundred and fifty
years.
With the close of the war, ended
this first sad chapter in our history.
For the time being the past Was for
gotten in the rejOICings of freedom.
Never before in the history OF this
country were there such wide-spre d
expressions of JOY as came with the
death OF slavery and the liberation OF
the slaves. No people ever before in
the history OF the world showed a
Eeener appreciation of the gift OF
freedom. The whole land was vocal
with music. The day of jubilee had
come, not only for the black man, but
for all lovers of freedom the land
over. Who can ever forget those
days, and the scenes of TejolCIngs
which took place all over the North
and South? Ghe SighS and tears and
groans of the slaves were no longer
heard. Allwas JOY, all was gladness. 1t
were all over.
Thus began the second chapter in
our history in this country. First
came freedom, and then, citizenship,
and the last of all the ballot. Then
began the period of reconstruction,
when for the first time in the history
OF the country the negro was felt as
political factor. In nearly all of the
Ola slave States, under northern white
leaders, his power was felt. He ,gas
found in State Legislatures, and in
other high and responsible positions,
and even in the Senate of the United
States and the House OF Represent
atlveS. Everything seemed propitious,
the negro was on the crest of wave, a
new era OF prosperity seemed really to
have set IN. But during the Hayes Ad-
mlnlstraton the scene rapidly chang
ed, the republican party IN the South
with the negro as its main support, was
deserted by the national government,
the troops were Withdrawn. And with
their removal began reign of terror.
which has been one of the fouIest blOtS
upOnOur civilization. The old Slav =
holding element reasserted itself,
and by klu klux klans. and o.her Il n
derous organizations the negro was
hurIeu from political power, where he
mas remained ever since and where,
SO far As | can see, he is likely to re-
main for long time TO come.
With the end of republicanism in
the South, began tEe third chapter in
our history, chapter which has been
fraught with evils as great, and suffer-
lngS as intense as the fist, if not greater
The elective franchise with which We
were clothed as Il means of protecting
ourselves, and which seemed at the
time, one OF the greatest of boons, has
as a matter of fact, entailed upon US
as all inheritance of sufferings before
which we stand appalled,, especially,
IN view OF the recent bloody acts of
lawlessness i'll North and South Caro-
lima. When the negro was caught by
slave-hunters and torn from his home
In Africa and transported to this land
TO become mere beast of burden, a
thing to be bought and sold, to be
kicked and Cuffed about at the will of
another 1t was easy enough to s ee what
the outcome would be. The record of
those dreadful years of enforced igno-
rance and suffering was just what was
to be expected. But when the Fif-
teenth Amendment was passed con-
ierrlng upon him the right to vote, who
would have thought, that in view of
that power, there was yet before him
a period OF suffering as that through
which he has been passing for the last
two decades and is still passing; who
would have thought, that in view of
that power, which lay at the very
foundation of republican institutions,
that hundreds and thousands would
be shot down, and others driven from
their homes. their property DESTROYED, /
and their most carraj -.-L. -