CHARLES L. REMOND.
Born and brought up in Salem, Massachusetts, Mr. Remond had the advantage of early training in the best of schools. In 1838, he took the field as a lecturer, under the auspices of the American Anti-slavery Society, and, in company with the Rev. Ichabod Codding, canvassed the States of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Maine. In 1840, he visited England as a delegate to the first “World’s Anti-slavery Convention,” held in London. He remained abroad two years, lecturing in the various towns in the united kingdom.
Mr. Remond was welcomed on his return home, and again resumed his vocation as a lecturer. In stature, he is small, of spare make, neat, wiry build, and genteel in his personal appearance. He has a good voice, and is considered one of the best declaimers in New England. He has written little or nothing for the press, and his notoriety is confined solely to the platform. Sensitive to a fault, and feeling sorely the prejudice against color which exists throughout the United States, his addresses have been mainly on that subject, on which he is always interesting. Mr. Remond’s abilities have been very much overrated. His speeches, when in print, attracted little or no attention, and he was never able to speak upon any subject except slavery, upon which he was never deep.
MARTIN R. DELANY, M. D.
Dr. Delany has long been before the public. His first appearance, we believe, was in connection with “The Mystery,” a weekly newspaper published at Pittsburg, and of which he was editor. His journal was faithful in its advocacy of the rights of man, and had the reputation of being a well-conducted sheet. The doctor afterwards was associated with Frederick Douglass in the editorial management of his paper at Rochester, New York. From the latter place, he removed to Canada, and resided in Chatham, where he was looked upon as one of its leading citizens.
Dr. Martin R. Delany, though regarded as a man high in his profession, is better and more widely known as a traveller, discoverer, and lecturer. His association with Professor Campbell in the “Niger Valley Exploring Expedition,” has brought the doctor very prominently before the world, and especially that portion of it which takes an interest in the civilization of Africa. The official report of that expedition shows that he did not visit that country with his eyes shut. His observations and suggestions about the climate, soil, diseases, and natural productions of Africa, are interesting, and give evidence that the doctor was in earnest. The published report, of which he is the author, will repay a perusal.
On his return home, Dr. Delany spent some time in England, and lectured in the British metropolis and the provincial cities, with considerable success, on Africa and its resources. As a member of the International Statistical Congress, he acquitted himself with credit to his position and honor to his race. The foolish manner in which the Hon. Mr. Dallas, our minister to the court of St. James, acted on meeting Dr. Delany in that august assembly, and the criticisms of the press of Europe and America, will not soon be forgotten.
He is short, compactly built, has a quick, wiry walk, and is decided and energetic in conversation, unadulterated in race, and proud of his complexion. Though somewhat violent in his gestures, and paying but little regard to the strict rules of oratory, Dr. Delany is, nevertheless, an interesting, eloquent speaker. Devotedly attached to his fatherland, he goes for a “Negro Nationality.” Whatever he undertakes, he executes it with all the powers that God has given him; and what would appear as an obstacle in the way of other men, would be brushed aside by Martin R. Delany.
JAMES W. C. PENNINGTON, D. D.
Dr. Pennington was born a slave on the farm of Colonel Gordon, in the State of Maryland. His early life was not unlike the common lot of the bondmen of the Middle States. He was by trade a blacksmith, which increased his value to his owner. He had no opportunities for learning, and was ignorant of letters when he made his escape to the north. Through intense application to books, he gained, as far as it was possible, what slavery had deprived him of in his younger days. But he always felt the early blight upon his soul.