Some of the articles on exhibition are worthy of special mention—a black walnut pulpit, in design and finish as beautiful and tasteful as any church might wish; a sofa finely upholstered, and the covering embroidered with artistically-executed needlework, showing four prominent events in the life of Toussaint l'Ouverture; a chandelier, very beautiful in design and finely finished; a complete set of dentist's instruments, in polish and finish remarkable; a little engine, made by a silversmith of Knoxville, who was a slave, and who has become a skilled workman of local reputation. He never worked in a shop till he had one of his own. He learned the use of tools without any instruction. These articles would certainly merit attention, even if put in competition with similar specimens of the very best workmanship.
Neither the negroes nor their friends have any reason to regret that an exhibit was made. It was in every sense of the word creditable. It marks a progress simply wonderful, when all the circumstances are taken into the account. It is prophetic of a very hopeful future. It demonstrates that the negro race can enter every profession and calling in which the white man is found. It proclaims in tones that no one should misunderstand, that he who writes or speaks of the colored people should be careful how he pronounces judgment in regard to their capacity. They should be given a white man's chance. No trade nor occupation should be closed against them. Open doors should welcome to honorable competition, white and black alike. Let this be so, and in less than half a century there will not be a trade, nor profession, nor calling, in which black men will not be found in the front. There will be preachers and professors, and editors, and physicians, and lawyers, and statesmen, and teachers, and bankers, and business men, and artisans, and mechanics and farmers, of African descent, of whom, as brethren, the very greatest of white men will not need to be ashamed. Let writers on the negro stop theorizing about his capacity for this or that calling, and unite in demanding that he have a fair chance to become what God has made him capable of becoming. It is wrong, it is wicked for men who by voice and pen influence public sentiment, to conclude that because the negro is now a waiter, a boot-black, a barber, a laborer, that therefore he cannot be anything else, or even that he cannot probably be anything else. By the very force of circumstances he has been compelled to occupy these positions. By an unjust public sentiment he has been shut out from even an opportunity to prove his capacity to stand beside his white brother in every calling.
Public sentiment should be reformed at this point; and the colored people's exhibition of what they have achieved in the short space of twenty years, in spite of opposition, and in spite of lack of opportunity, assures us that if they are permitted they will contribute no small share in securing the reformation. We advise all leaders of public sentiment who do not desire twenty-five or thirty years hence to be found eating their words of to-day, or explaining how it was that they came to be on ground so untenable, to heed the lessons of this Exposition, and range themselves with those who look at facts, and who recognize the prophetic power of facts, and heartily accept the prophecy, even if this prophecy run counter to what have been their fancies.
The Colored People's Educational Day at the World's Exposition called out an immense crowd and proved to be of very great interest. Speeches were made by representatives of both races. Rev. Dr. Palmer, the eloquent Presbyterian divine, of New Orleans, and Col. Wm. Preston Johnson, President of the Tulane University, represented the Louisiana whites, and in their speeches not only complimented the colored people on the progress they had made, but assured them of the hearty sympathy and co-operation of all good people in the South. The Rev. A. E. P. Albert, a graduate of our Straight University, represented the colored people. The newspapers published his speech in full. We have read it with much interest. It is a speech of considerable power. It is an honor to the man, to his race and to the A. M. A.
Our Student's Letter this month is from Talladega College. The memories it portrays are not pleasant, but it is fitting to remember the pit out of which we have been digged. The darkness of the picture makes the present opportunities and privileges of the colored people to shine out all the brighter. Heartily can we thank God that these terrible things are now only a memory.