Year: 1868

"a l-AO al PAAuoDs RI 44oOA az NAOoS
I constitutions. In what respect are
I they oppressive? Have they revOlu-
tionized the nature of courts, and in
troduced. foreign, principIes2 Have


they ia any manner, changed civil ar
fairs and prOceduFe2 In no whit
Have they in any manner changed


the channels and courses ofcommerce,


interfering with that which God


meant should be as free as the air?--


In no single whit. Have those con-
stitutiOns introduced monarchieal
ideas? The charge that is to be made,


ifany charge at all can be made to
stand, is that they are too exclusively
Democratic. They are constitutions
that compare fav0rably with ours in


the North. In the light Of the exper-
Iience- of the last fifty years, the con-
stitutiOns of South Carolina and Of
Florida and of Georgia are, in many
respects, better than the constitution
Of New York or Massachusetts. They


have not only equaled them, but they


have carried out many Of those re-


forms for which we have strived, and


which yet we are unable to carry out in


our fundamental law; and I would
ask no other thing by which TO test
the fruit of this great war urged in


behalf of the freedom OF the people
and of the land than to point 10 these
constitutions, made by the votes of
black men who for two years tOiled
unrequited in the rice fields and cot
ton fields. Twill point to those con-
stitutions and challenge the world to
find a constitution which compares
with them In regard to the cOnserva-
tism of liberty and the protection Of
liberty through the schools. For de-
IstrOying class influence will point
the world to those constitutions as
unequaled. They are the marvel Of
the time ia which we live. Applause. ]
That which Southern men object to in
those constitutions is not that they are
despotic. They are full of liberty
That is the trouble. TApplause.


They have broken down political dis
tinction;s they have infused an element
of education; they have given every


man a chance, an equal chance, in the


battle of life. They.have not given


to any Of those accustomed to control
power, either place, or scepter, or in
fuence. And they have made the
! people the governors efthe people
| CApplause.1 Tie trouble is with all


these things, thatthe blacks are made
citizens. That is the root of the


whole matter. The blacks are made
citizens. Well, many persons say


they are not fit to be made citizens


Well, what are they at to be? They
certainly are not fit to be slaves. 1t
is the poorest stuff that was ever made
"a slave. FApplause.1 A machine
that is madestO run by wind can not


be anything ifrun by. water and a


machine that is made to run by water


can not run by steam. Now, God


Almighty made man machine Of


internal motive power, and when you
apply external motive power to man


you perveFt the machine, and make


out of it the very worst thing that


man can be put to. Man was not
made to be slave, but to be a self


governing creature. All men were


made so. The same wheel is put in


to the headof the poor wOOlly African


as is put into yours-conscience, faith,


hope, similar reason, pereeptive, re-
! hective reason; the love of children,


the love of companionship, and aspi-


ration to these things, are in the max


ing up of the cOlOred man as much as


in the making UP of the white man,
and to attempt to make animals Of


men, machines. Of men, is amOst mon
| strOus violation of the order of nature


and the DEGREES of Almighty GOd.-


We have simply confOrmed to Gods


original decree when we have made


men citizens in the South, and am


sure that it ought not to be an ofense
| in a Northern community that those


constitutions for the first time have


proclaimed liberty to all that are in
! the land. applause. But it is said
that while The black people should
have their Political rights preserved
thev are not fit for the exercise Of suf-
frage. Fellow-citizens, there has


been a question in my mind whether


we could secure suffrage best for them
/ by precipitating it suddenly, or by
D. conailating heir late masters, the


whites, so that they should accept it,


delayed a little longer-accept it, as


best for them, Suffrage is best for


every man-for every woman, as well


as man. ] never have had doubt as


TO that fact Cheers ] Suffrage be.
longs to every creature in society that


is competent to think, to choose, 10
be responsible before God and before


man for his moral character and his


actions. 1t is as broad as humanity.


And to say that the blacks were not


fitted for i'll No man is fitted for il
until he has exercised it. Why, vot-
ling wisely comes from voting often


not at tie same election. Laughter
and applause. Voting right comes
| from the education which the duty of


voting imposes on men. Voting
right does not belong to the color OF
/ the skin. It does not belong to ma


tionality. 1t does not belong to any
particular faith. It springs out of
| the wisdom of that selflove which


God has given to every single living


man. Tt is the same in one as in an


other. I know people say men should


be educated to vote. 1 say nothing


educates men to vote. But if they
/ are not intelligent, this is the opening


of door toward it. Can a man


aim his rife often without learning to


aim it well? In the very blunders
that he makes, in. the very misses


which he marks upon the board, he
/ is being trained. There are a thou
sand men interested, in the South


where black men vote, to persuade
them, on the one side and on the 9th


er; and do you suppose that those
naughty Southern candidates would


trouble themselves to pour into the
black ear. the. reasons against such


and such policies, fit were not that
those black men carry the talisman Of
vote? Why, [ tell you that the vote
makes men orators. ] tellyou that a