"I can wait," were the memorable words of John Quincy Adams when his free speech was stopped on the floor of Congress.
The world will bear witness that we have waited; and oh, how patiently! We have learned how sublime a thing it is to suffer and be strong; but though familiar with we shall never grow reconciled to the discipline. "Our hearts, though often times made to bleed, will gush afresh at every wound."
The treatment meted out to us in this country, is but an illustration of hating those whom we have injured, and calls to mind that scene from Waverly, where Fergus Mac Iver replies to his friend on being led to execution. "You see the compliment they pay to our highland strength and courage; here we have lain until our limbs are cramped into palsy and now they send a file of soldiers with loaded muskets to prevent our taking the castle by storm." The analogy is found in the omnipresent and omnipotent influence of American Pro-Slavery in crushing every noble aspiration of the unoffending Colored men.
But despite the reign of terror inflicted upon us by the combined influences of the Fugitive Slave Law, and the American Colonization Society, we shall manfully contend for our rights, and as hopefully bide our time, trusting that an enlightened public sentiment will soon yield us the Justice so long withheld; so far as in Nature the smiles of summer are made sweeter by the frowns of winter, the calm of ocean is made more placid by the tempest that has preceded it, so in this moral battle these incidental skirmishes will contribute to render the hour of triumph soon a blissful realization. So sure as night precedes day, winter wakes spring, and war ends with peace, just as sure will the persevering efforts of Freedom's army be crowned with Victory's perennial laurels.
From the foregoing it will be seen that the seven years conflict and also the war of 1812, were both dotted by the devotion and bravery of Colored Americans, despite the persecutions heaped Olympus high upon them by their fellow countrymen. They have ever proved loyal and ready to worship or die, if need be, at Freedom's shrine. The "amor patriae" has always burned vividly on the altar of their hearts. They love their native land, "its hills and valleys green." The white man's banquet has been held and loud paeans to liberty have reached the sky above, while the Colored American's share has been to stand outside and wait for the crumbs that fall from Freedom's festive board.
A tribute, by an emancipator, being an extract from the will of A. P. Upshur, a member of President Tyler's Cabinet:
"I make this as my last will and testament:
"1 * * * *—
"2 * * * *—
"3. I emancipate and set free, my servant, David Rich, and direct my executors to give him one hundred dollars. I recommend him, in the strongest manner, to the respect, esteem and confidence of any community in which he may happen to live. He has been my Slave for twenty-four years, during which time he has been trusted to every extent, and in every respect. My confidence in him has been unbounded; his relation to myself and family has always been such as to afford him daily opportunities to deceive and injure us; and yet he has never been detected in a serious fault, nor ever an intentional breach of the decorums of his station. His intelligence is of a high order, his integrity above all suspicion, and his sense of right and propriety always correct and even delicate and refined. I feel that he is justly entitled to carry this certificate from me, into the new relations which he now must form. It is due to his long and most faithful services and to the sincere and steady friendship which I bear him. In the uninterrupted and confidential intercourse of twenty-five years, I have never given, nor had occasion to give him, an unpleasant word. I know no man who has fewer faults, or more excellencies, than he.
Signed, A. P. UPSHUR."
[From the Alexandria, D. C., Gazette.]
A TRIBUTE FROM THE EMANCIPATION, BY
WASHINGTON'S FREED MEN.
Upon a recent visit to the tomb of Washington, I was much gratified by the alterations and improvements around it. Eleven colored men were industriously employed in leveling the earth and turf around the sepulchre. There was an earnest expression of feeling about them that induced me to inquire if they belonged to the respected lady of the mansion. They stated they were a few of the many Slaves freed by George Washington and they had offered their services upon this last melancholy occasion, as the only return in their power to make to the remains of the man who had been more than a father to them; and they should continue their labors as long as anything should be pointed out for them to do. I was so interested in this conduct that I inquired their several names, and the following were given me: