Year: 1871

Revolutionary era, were the signal
to the people of all nations, all
kindreds and all tongues to arise
from the abyss Of slavery into
which they were plunged, and take
their stand on the broad platform
of equal and impartial liberty.


l look forward to the day when,
ceasing to convene in these meet
ings, which represent partial tri-
umph of the great principles of
liberty and justice, We will unite
with the mass of our fellows in
celebrating the ever glorious
Fourth of July.


Yet the lst Of August was for a
long time date of vast signifi-
cance to us. It was the anniver-
sary of the only event in the long
reach of the centuries which bore
any token of hope to us as a peo-
pie. Slavery was and had been the
doom of all the children Of Africa,
until that glorious day, in 1884,
when England set free the eight
hundred thousand bondmen of her
colonies. 1t was to us the wished
for sign of brighter future. 1t
was the morning star, heralding
the rise of the sun of our liberty.


What long night it was. How
despairingly we prayed, how bitter
ly We wept. The power of our
enemies seemed inyincible. Free
dom seemed to lose everything,
slavery to gain everything. We
had the annexation of Texas. that
the area of slavery might be ex-
tended; we had the Mexican war,
and the failure to enact the WilmOt
Proviso; we had the Fugitive Slave
Act; we had the repeal Of the Mis-
sonri Compromise; we had the
Kansas murders, and, finally, the
Shareholders rebellion. Here the
tide was stayed. Slavey went down
i'm a sea of blood, and we stand
here to-day free men and free wo-
men. Those who sympathized
with lis when we sat in sackcloth
and ashes, who bore our shame
with us, are to-day filing the high
places of the nation, while their
opponents wander in exile, or creep
at home seeking to hide their shame
in dishonorable graves.


DUTIES DEyOIvING ON Us UNDER THE


CHANGED CIRCUMSTANCES.


But, fellow citizens, we have with
our new condition assumed new
duties duties which mean more
than any mere rejoicings can mean.
The friends of the Union and liberty
have clothed us with the right of
voting, that We may assist them in
bearing up safely the ark of Ameri-
can liberty. We have the duty of
sustaining by our votes the men and
measures which gave us our free
dom, the principles which, impair
TALLY applied, will not only main
tain us and our children as freemen,
but will extend the blessings of re-
publican liberty over the earth.
To us comes with double force the
admonition: Eternal vigilance is
the price of liberty"


Already the enemy il at work,
pointing out the shortcomings of
the Republican party, which are
many, and seeking to render usdis-
contented with it and its principles.


No man can abhor more than ]
do that clannish spirit which drives
all, or nearly all, the men OF race
to vote for the same political party.
In approaching the ballot-box, then,
ifnever before or after, a man should
exercise the right Of private judg-
ment. The responsibility rests with
the individual, not with the party.
If a man sustains party the prin-
ciples and practices Of which are
contrary to the great laws ofjustice
and right, he is guilty, in his in
dividual capacity, of the wrong done
even though millions join him.


l hope the day is far distant when
the mere name of q party shall con-
troll the colored voters of this conn
try irrespective of the principles
which it represents. But in this
case there can be no cause for hesi-
tation. The Republican party is
the political embodiment Of
the heart and conscience of the
American people. Through its in
strumentality we stand to-day free