Masterpieces of Negro Eloquence | Page 8

of
the revolutions of Hayti in the relation of cause and effect; and I trust
you will now think, that, so far from being scenes of indiscriminate
massacre from which we should turn our eyes in horror, these
revolutions constitute an epoch worthy of the anxious study of every
American citizen.
Among the many lessons that may be drawn from this portion of
history is one not unconnected with the present occasion. From causes
to which I need not give a name, there is gradually creeping into our
otherwise prosperous state the incongruous and undermining influence

of caste. One of the local manifestations of this unrepublican sentiment
is, that while 800 children, chiefly of foreign parents, are educated and
taught trades at the expense of all the citizens, colored children are
excluded from these privileges.
With the view to obviate the evils of such an unreasonable proscription,
a few ladies of this city, by their untiring exertions, have organized an
"Asylum for Colored Orphans." Their zeal in this cause is infinitely
beyond all praise of mine, for their deeds of mercy are smiled on by
Him who has declared, that "Whosoever shall give to drink unto one of
these little ones a cup of cold water, shall in no wise lose her reward."
Were any further argument needed to urge them on in their blessed
work, I would point out to them the revolutions of Hayti, where, in the
midst of the orgies and incantations of civil war, there appeared, as a
spirit of peace, the patriot, the father, the benefactor of
mankind--Toussaint L'Ouverture, a freedman, who had been taught to
read while in slavery!

LIBERIA: ITS STRUGGLES AND ITS PROMISES[3]
BY HON. HILARY TEAGUE
Senator at Monrovia, Liberia
[Note 3: A speech delivered in 1846, on the anniversary of the founding
of the Republic of Liberia.]
As far back towards the infancy of our race as history and tradition are
able to conduct us, we have found the custom everywhere prevailing
among mankind, to mark by some striking exhibition, those events
which were important and interesting, either in their immediate bearing
or in their remote consequences upon the destiny of those among whom
they occurred. These events are epochs in the history of man; they mark
the rise and fall of kingdoms and of dynasties; they record the
movements of the human mind, and the influence of those movements
upon the destinies of the race; and whilst they frequently disclose to us

the sad and sickening spectacle of innocence bending under the yoke of
injustice, and of weakness robbed and despoiled by the hand of an
unscrupulous oppression, they occasionally display, as a theme for
admiring contemplation, the sublime spectacle of the human mind,
roused by a concurrence of circumstances, to vigorous advances in the
career of improvement.
The utility of thus marking the progress of time--of recording the
occurrence of events, and of holding up remarkable personages to the
contemplation of mankind--is too obvious to need remark. It arises
from the instincts of mankind, the irrepressible spirit of emulation, and
the ardent longings after immortality; and this restless passion to
perpetuate their existence which they find it impossible to suppress,
impels them to secure the admiration of succeeding generations in the
performance of deeds, by which, although dead, they may yet speak. In
commemorating events thus powerful in forming the manners and
sentiments of mankind, and in rousing them to strenuous exertion and
to high and sustained emulation, it is obvious that such, and such only,
should be selected as virtue and humanity would approve; and that, if
any of an opposite character be held up, they should be displayed only
as beacons, or as towering Pharos throwing a strong but lurid light to
mark the melancholy grave of mad ambition, and to warn the
inexperienced voyager of the existing danger.
Thanks to the improved and humanized spirit--or should I not rather
say, the chastened and pacific civilization of the age in which we
live?--that laurels gathered upon the field of mortal strife, and bedewed
with the tears of the widow and the orphan, are regarded now, not with
admiration, but with horror; that the armed warrior, reeking in the gore
of murdered thousands, who, in the age that is just passing away, would
have been hailed with noisy acclamation by the senseless crowd, is now
regarded only as the savage commissioner of an unsparing oppression,
or at best, as the ghostly executioner of an unpitying justice. He who
would embalm his name in the grateful remembrance of coming
generations; he who would secure for himself a niche in the temple of
undying fame; he who would hew out for himself a monument of
which his country may boast; he who would entail upon heirs a name

which they may