Year: 1867

MEETING ON THE SoUARE-SPEECH BY
LANGsToN, THE CoLoRED LAwYER.-Yes-
terday evening quite crowd, mostly Of
colored people, gathered in the square on
the east side Of the monument, to hear j.
M. Langston, the colored lawyer from
Ohio, speak. Langston, very good look
ing mulatto man, commenced to speak at
about 6% O'Clock. His style was highly
oratorical, his language choice, and alto
gether the Radical party have few speakers
as good as he.


The first portion Of his speech was con-
fined, as we'll as we could hear, to an argu-
mentative discussion Of those subjects
most pleasing to Sambo's ear-that Of his
freedom and his natural right of citizen
ship. "From his standpoint" we have
never heard the subject more intelligently
handled.


After he had concluded his discussion OF
freedom and suffrage, he commenced to
give his hearers some very good advice
Said he:


Educate yourselves. There are great
and stirring events before you, and you
have not the time to tarry. Educate
yourselves and your children, and gain for
yourselves good characters and the respect
Of all men. The eyes Of the world are
upon you. There is one class Of men who
say that you are ft for nothing but hewers
of wood and drawers Of water, and there
are others who say you will do nothing to
benefit your country or yourselves. 1t is
yours to prove the falsty of these asser-
tions. Prove that all men are equal
not by the words of the declaration Of the
fathers of this country, but by your con.
duct. You are not the equal Of white men
unless you do oil that they do. You must
have of your own color good lawyers, good
doctors, and good merchants. In answer
to the question, "Where is the Chase
among your" ] have said, il 800 years we
will have a Chase with q black face.
[Applause.l In answer to the question,
"Where is such a man as Judge Under
wood among you ?" l have said, in 800
years we will have q man with a black
face as able to sit on the bench as Judge
Underwood. ["Dat's so." One old man
said "Less time AN dat."l In 800 years
we will have man as able to be President
as Andrew Johnson is. I'VE want bet
ter man an he is.


The speaker next proceeded to impress
upon them the importance Of making cha
racters for themselves. He related an in
cident that happened in his presence some
where out West. He was walking with q
gentleman one day, when a colored man
came running after them, hallooing to his
companion. Said he, "Doctor, want my
money don't want to work any more"
"Why," asked the speaker. "Well,
amt goin to dig any more; l want my mo-
ney." "Have you finished your job?"
No; but don't want to dig any more.
When I was a slave l didn't have to work
so hard as / do now." Said /, eco back
and finish your job, and then come after
your money. Your character is at stake.
You have agreed to finish this ditch, and
you must do it before you get paid.
The man went back, finished the
job, and was a happy man. Now, my
friends, you must finish your jobs. You
must depend on yourselves and not on
others. You must not say, 81 want some
body to feed and clothe me as they did
when 1 was slave. want somebody to
pay my doctors bills. / want to skulk
work as much as possible" Stand up for
yourselves, and don't lean on anybody
Work on the principle Of "root pig
or die" 1t is absolutely necessary that
you should work in order to gain
character; and remember that when
you gain a character for yourselves
individually you are lending to the cha,
racter of your race. Be true to your
word. When you make contract per-
form it. When you say yes, you must
mean yes, and when you say no, you must
mean no.


He next cautioned his audience against
drinking, on account Of its many evils
and for the chief reason that they could
not afford it. He had noticed that all the
institutions Of education for the CO.
lored people were supported by pub
| lie charity from New England and
elsewhere. He wished to see the CO.
lored people do this for themselves, and
not depend for their education upon public
charity. For this purpose they would
have to save all the money they could
They had none to spare for whisky OF
cigars. He spoke Of the advantage and
moral power to be gained by the possession
of money, and urged the colored men t
save every cent.


In conclusion, said he: "My friends
we are now living in a country in which
there is no North, no South, no East
no West. 1t is one grand country
where all men are equal, and where there
is one law protecting all alike. Thanking
God for what has been given us, let us g
forward in the determination to carve a
grand and glorious destiny for our country
destiny that will make the name o
America greater than ever among the ma
tions of the earth, and destiny in wbicl
we can see till the end Of all time the per
petuation of common liberty and a com
mon Union. [Cheers.l He was followe'
by several others Of this city, and the meet
ing dispersed.