Year: 1867

Lecture by Professor Howard Day, the Coll


ored Orator-Present State of tho South.


Professor Howard Day having just returned from
tour through the Southern States made the Secretary
Of the American aud English Freedmens Commission,
lectured last evening before the first congregation Of
Free Will Baptists "a West Seventeenth street. on the
prospects Of the freedmen Owing 10 the drcarness OF
the weather the house not very well filed, though


the Professors discourse listened 70 with good do
gree Of attention by the rather sparse audience present


The lecture was based in sermonic way upon the
the familiar bhest of the text, Luke tx, 8, from
which the speaker drew the general lesson Of his dis
course apply the command Of the Saviour TO enforce
the duty of religious people aid in the education and
elevation OF the freedmen. by way OF beginning, the
speaker traced the wagging to and fro or civizaon
sometimes making step forward, and more seldom
backward for the past six thousand In Old days.
he sad mecors of philosophical theory had OCCASION
ally like the aurora boreaiis shot athwat the heav.
ems, but their light had been htfu and fortuitous and
had resulted little lasting benefit TO men. He held
that all ancient forms had been based upon
q sort Of submaed sellshncss and thai until the in
auguration OF the present mode the principle Of duty had
had part the direction OF government and little part


ns % aoc q ro.nn Wh ,as rsns
OF the Star of Bethlehem had been opened
q new era, and with the principle OF love and
Tho logical deduction OF this was not only that men
should not hold each other in bondage but that they
should seek by every available means to elevate educate
and improve the condition OF zach other. He therefore,
who became IN educator Of the freedmen took upon him.
u
nobest obedience to the command OF the text IL
religious duty for which he pleading, aud let thon
Stepheu or smiiten with fever through pestllent nia-
mas but let not the freedmen be forsaken The lecturer
stated that he had just returned from tour in tho
South; aud detailed at random his otngs Of the general
condition OF affairs in the states WHICH hc had visited
He had generally found all classes tolerabiy hopeful,
and particularly among the freedmen he had no. heard
dcsponden. voic The negro. having had the man
stricken from his hands, though left destitute in all.
things except his freedom still, joy ous and pointed
with lifted fingers to the dawn Of his civilization
just beg inning to streak with red the orient He
missionaries there alone, unfriended in tho midst Of
enemies and enduring every form OF prvation rather
than turn back from labor in the cause in which they
had set OUT and he had found the whom planters gene
rally ranged in scrricd ranks Of hostility against the cdu
caion and elevation OF the freedmen their slave
Since tho passage Of the bin generally termed tho
Military Reconstruction bill tho planters had modified
in their iuct towards the freedmen,
but even now 1t was unsafe for them to attempt any
organized movement for their elevation. In proof
of this assertion the speaker read letter from promi-
nent freedman in New Orleans the late convention Of
colored soldiers and sailors IN philadelphia apoiogizng
for the failure of The freedmen New Orleans to send
delegation to that convention In this letter the writer
stated that 10 unsafe for the col0red people In that
city hold the necessary meeting for the election OF
delegates Freedmen we're seized and arms taken from
snem without any process o. law. and n general were
seditious intent 1t useless to protest. redr
could be legally obtaned and, for these reasons the
freedmen OF New Orleans were at the OF Their for
mer masters and could be beaten and murdered In
the streets with impuny. The speaker stated that he
could give the name OF tho writer, but did not deem it
SAFE and wold guarantee tho authenticity OF the docu
ment without imperine the life its author In other
portions Of the state OF Louisiana the spirit pre-
vailed to considerable extent, and in the southern
Sates 30 far as he had investigated every was
used to prevent render abnrtve all efforts educate
the freedmen only by quondam Shareholders but by
all classes The for this he believed very
obvious The STAKEHOLDER the instructive enemy or
tine education Of the ncerO the gentry were they had
always been, In sympathy with the slavehodng class
and the lower class whites fought against the freedmen
because their liberation had placed them in position to
compete In all fields OF industry He believed however,
that the political prospect Of the freedmen most
hopeful Schools beng founded In all parts the
South and opposition thereto waxing weaker and
weaker day by day. II was in contemplation TO
found national school In Washington which to be
exclusively devoted to the education of the nego and


IN all quarters he found the scolored people equally
ready to work or 10 learn. There sulenuess in
their behavior though their dcstiutou was appalling;
and ON the whole the feeling o the people the South
was growing more and more favorable The speaker,
IN proof Of this point read letter from the Rcv John
Crosby OF Petersburg, Va (who will be remembered In
connection with controversy concerning the duty OF
rebel ceRymen to pray not to pray for the Prcsden
heartily endorsing tue cause Of the education and eeva-
ton OF the freedmen and In conclusion tho lecturer
alluded to the fact that Dr. Crosby had himself founded


school which was presided over by lately confcde-
rate major.