VOLUME 2.
SPEECH OFFREDERICK DOUGLASS
At the Annual Meeting oj the Alamachur
letts Anli-Shivery Society at Button.
MR. PRESIDENT.— I came here, as I
come always to the meetings in New Eng
land, as a listner. and not as a speaker;
and one of the reasons why I have not
been more frequently to the meefsngs of
this society, has been because of the dis
position on the part of sonic of iny friends
to call me out upon the platform, even
when they knew that there was some dif
ference of opinion and of feeling between
those who rightfully belong to this plat
form and myself; and for four of being
misconstrued, as desiring to interrupt or
disturb the proceedings of these meetings
I lia-e usually kept away, and have thus
been deprived of that educating influ
ence, which I am always free to confess
is of the highest order, descending from
this platform. I have felt, since I have
lived out West, that ingoing there I par
ted from a great deal that was valuable;
and I feel, every tiaie I couie to these
meetings, that 1 have lost a great deal by
making my home west of Boston' west of
Massachusetts; for, if anywhere in the
country there is to be found the highest
sense of justice, or the truest demands for
my race, I look for it in the hast, I look
for it here. The ablest discussions of
the whole question of our lights occur
here, arid to be deprived of the privilege
of listening to those discussions is a great
deprivation.
1 do not know, from what has been said
that there is any difference of opinion as
to the duty of abolitionists,at the present
moment. How can wc get up any dif
ference at this point, or at any point,
where we arc so united, so agreed? I
wejt especially, however, with that word
of Mr. Phillips, which is the criticism of
Gen Banks, and Gen. Banks's policy.—
I hold that that policy is our chief dan
ger at the present moment; that it prac
tically enslaves the negro, and makes the
Proclamation of 1863 a mockery and de
lusion. What is freedom? It. is the
right to choose one's own employment.—
Certainly it means that, it it means any
thing ; and when any individual or com
bination of individuals, undertakes to
decide for any man when he shall work,
where bo shall work, at what be shall woi k
*nd for what he shall work, ho or they
practically reduce him to slavery. (Ap
plause.) lie is a slave. That I under
stand Gen. Banks to do—to determine
for the so called ireedman, when, and
where, and what, and for how much he
shall work, wheu he shall be punished,
and by whom punished. It is absolute
slavery. It defeats the beneficent inten
tions of the Government, if it has benefi
cent intentions, in regard to the lroedoui
of our people.
I have had but one idea for the last
three years, to present to the American
people, and tho phrasology in which 1
cloth* it is tho old abolition phraseology.
I am for the "immediate, unconditional,
and universal" enfranchisement of the
black luau, iu every State in the Uuiou.
(Loud applause.) Without this, his lib
erty is a mockery; without this, you
might as well almost retain the old name
of slavery for his condition; for, in fact,
if he is Dot thcslivc of the individual
master, he is tho slave of sociery, and
holds his liberty as a privilege, not as a
right. He is at the mersy of the mob,
and has no meaus of protecting himself.
It may be objected, however, that this
pressing of tho negro's right to suffrage
is premature. Let us have slavery abol
ished, it may be said, let us hare labor
organized, and then, in the natural course
of events, the right of suffrage will be
extended to the negro, J do not agree
with this. Tho constitution of the hu
man mind is such, that if it once disre
gards the conviction forced upon it by a
revelation of truth, it requires the exer
cise of a higher power to produce the same
conviction afterwards. The American
people are now in tears. The Shenando
ah has run blood—the best blood of the
North. All around Richmond, the blood
of New England and of the North has
been shed—of your sons, your brothers
and your fathers. We all feel, in the
existance ef this Rebellion, that judg
ments terrible, wide-spread, far-reaching,
overwhelming, are abroad in (be land ;
and we feel, in view of these judgments,
just now, a disposition to learn righteous
ness. This is the honor; Our streets
are in mourning, tears are falling at every
fireside, aud under the chastuemeut of
this rebollion we have almost come op to
the point of conceding this gTeat, this
all-iuiportant right of suffrage. I fear
that if we fail to do it now, if abolition
ists fail to press it now, we may not see,
for centuries to come, the «sme disposi
tion thet exists at this moment, (Ap
plause.) Hence, I say,-now is the time"
(,o press this right
AMERICAN CITIZEN.
It may be asked, "Why do you want
it? Some men have got along very well
without it. Women have not this right."
Shall we justify one wrong by another?
That is a sufficient answer. Shall we at
this moment justify the deprivation of
the negro of the right to vote, because
some one else is deprived of that privi
lege? I hold that women, as well as
men, have the right to vote (applause),
ami my heart and my voice go with the
movement to extend suffrage to woman ;
hut that question rests upon another basis
than that on which our right rests. We
may be asked, I say, why we want it. I
will tell you why we want it. We want
it because it ig our right, first of all.—
(Applause.) No class of men can, with
out insulting their own nature, be con
tent with any deprivation of their rights
We want it, again, as a means for educa
ting our race. Men are so constituted
that they deprive their conviction of their
own possibilities largely from the esti
mate formed of them by others. If noth
ing is expected of a people, that people
will find if difficult to contradict that ex
pectation. By depriving us of suffrage,
you affirm our incapacity to form an in
telligent judgment respecting public men
and public measures; you declare before
the world that wc are unfit to exercise the
elective franchise, and by this means lead
us to undervalue ourselves, to put a low
estimate upon ourselves, and to feci that
we have no possibilities like other men.
Again, 1 want the elective franchise, for
one, as a colored man, because ours is a
peculiar government, based upon a pecu
liar idea, and that idea is universal suf
frage. If* I were in a monarchical gov-
arninent, or an autocratic or aristocratic
government, where the few bore rule and
the many were subject, there would bono
sjieoial stigma resting upon mo, because I
did not xereisethe elective franchise.—
It would do me no great violence. Ming
ling with the mass, 1 should partake of
the strength of the mass ; I should be
supported by the mass, and I should have
the same incentives to endeavor with the
mass of my fellow men ; it would be no
particular burden, no particular depriva
tion ; but bore, where universal suffrage
is the rule, where that is the fundamen
tal idea of the Government, to rule us out
is to itiako us an exception, to brand us
with the stigma of inferiority, and to in
vite to our heads tho missiles of those
about us; therefore, I want the franchise
for the black man.
There are, however, other reasons, not
derived from any consideration merely of
our rights, but arising out of the condi
tion of the South, and of the country —
considerations which have already been
ref()rrod to by Mr. Phillips—considera
tions which must arrest the attention of
statesmen. I believe that when the tall
heads of this Rebellion shall have been
swept down, as they will bo swept down,
when the Davises and Toombses and
Stephenses, and others who are leading in
this Rebellion shall have been blotted out,
there will by this rank undergrowth of
treason, to which reference has been made,
growing up there, and interfering with,
and thwarting the quiet operation of the
Federal Government in those States. You
will see those traitors handing down, from
sire to son, the same malignant spirit
which they have manifested, and which
they are now exhibiting, with malicious
hearts, broad blades, and bloody hands in
tho field, against our sons and brother!!.
That spirit will still remain; aud whoever
sees the Federal Government extended
over those Southern States will see that
Government in a strange laud, aud not
only in a st.-ange land, but iu an enemy's
land. A post-inaster of the Unitod States
in the South will find himself surrounded
by a hostile spirit; a collector in a South
ern port will find himself surrounded by
a hostile spirit; a United States marshal
or a United States judge will be surround
ed there by a hostile element. That en
mity will not die out in a year, will not
die oi|t in an age. The Federal Govern
ment will be looMd upon in those States
precisely as the Governments of Austria
and France are looked upon in Italy at
the present uioirieut. They will endeavor;
to circumveut, they will eudavor to des
troy, the peaoeful operation of this Gov
ernment. Now, where will you find the
strength to counterbalance this spirit, if
you do not find it in the negroes of the
South ? They are your friends, and have
always been your friends. They were
your friends even when the Government
did jiot regard them as such; They com
prehended the geuius of this war before
you did. J.t ks a significant fact, it is a
marvellous fact, it seems almost to imply
a direct interposition of Providence, that
this war, which began in the interest of
slavery ou both sides, bids lair to cpd in
the interest of liberty on both sides.—
(Applause.) It was begun, I say, in the
"Let us have Faith that Right makes Might; and in that Faith let us, to the end,dare tc do our duty as we understand it"— A LINOOLN
BUTLER, BUTLER COUNTY, PA., WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 18 1865.
interest of slavery on both sides The
South was fighting to take slavery out of
the Union, and the North fighting to keep
it in the Union ; the Sjuth fighting to
get it beyond the limits of the United States
Constitution, aqd the North fighting to
retain it within those limits ; the South
fightingfor new guarantees,and the North
fighting for the old guarantee ; —both de
spising the negro, both insulting the ne
gro. Yet, the negro, apparently endowed
with wisdom from on high, saw more
clearly the end from the beginning than
we did. When Seward said the status of
no man in the country would be changed
by the war, the uegro did not believe
him. (Applause.) When our generals
sent their underlings in shoulder-straps 1
to hunt the flying negro back from our
lines into the jaws of slavery, from which
he had escaped, the negroes thought that
a mistake had been made, and that the
intentions of the Government had not
been rightly understood by our officers in
shoulder-straps, and they continued to
come into our lines, threading their way
through bogs and fens, over briers and
thorns, fording streams, swimming livers,
bringing us tidings as to the safe path to
march, and pointing out the dangers that
threatened us. They are our only friends
in the South, and wo should be true to
them in this their trial hour, and see to
it that they have the elective franchise.
I know that wo arc inferior to you in
some tilings—virtually inferior. We walk
about among you like dwarfs among gi
ants. Our heads are scarcely seen above
the great sea of humanity. The Ger
mans arc superior to us; the Irish tire su
perior to us; the Yankees are superior to
us (laughter) ; they can do what we can
not, that is, what we have not hitherto
been allowed to do. Bttt while I make
this admission, I utterly deny that we
are originally, or naturally, or practically,
or in any way, or in any important sense,
inferior to anybody on this globe. (Loud
applause ) This «harge of inferiority is
an old dodge. It has been made available
for oppression on many occasions. It is
only six centuries since the blue-eyed and
fair-haired Anglo-Saxons were considered
inferior by the haughty Normans, who
once trampled upon them- If you read
the history of the Norman Comjuejjt, you
will find that this proud Anglo-Saxon was
once looked upon as of coarser clay (ban
his Norman master, and might be found
in the highways and by ways of old Eng
land laboring with a brass collar on his
neck, and th) name of his master marked
upon it. You were down then ! (Laugh-
Ur and applause.) You ore up now. I
am glad you are up, and I want you to be
glad to help us up also. (Applause.)
The story of our inferiority is an old
dodge, as I have said ; for wherever men
oppress their fellows, wherever they en
slave tlicm, they will endeavor to find the
needed apology for such enslavouient and
oppression in the character of the people
oppressed and enslaved. When we want
ed, a few years ago, a slice of Mexico, it
was hinted that the Mexicans werean in
ferior race, that the old Castilian blood
had become so weak that it would scarcely
run down hill, and that Mexico needed
the long, strong and boncficient arm of
the Anglo-Saxon care extended over it.
We said that it was necessary to its sal
vation, and a part of the "manifest desti"
ny" of this Republic, to extend our arm
over that dilapidated government. So,
too, when ltussia wanted to take posses
sion of a part of the Ottoman Empire,
the Turks were "an inferior race." So,
too, when England wants to set the heel
of her power more firmly in the quiver
ing heart of old Ireland, the Celts are an
"infcrioi race." So, too, the negro, when
he is to be robbed of any right which is
justly his, is an "inferior man." It is
said that we are ignorant; I admit it.—
Hut if we know enough to be hung, we
know enough to vote. If the negro
knows enough to pay taxes to support the
government, he knows enough to vote ;
taxation and representation should go to
gether. If he knows enough to shoulder
a musket and fight for the flag, fight for
the government, he knows enough to vote.
If he knows as aiuch when he is sober as
an Irishman knows when drunk, he knows
enough to vote, on good American prin
ciples. (Laughter and applause.)
But I was saying that you needed a
counterpoise in the persons of the slaves
to the enmity that would exist at the
South after the Rebellion is put down.
1 hold thot the American people are
bound, not only in to extend
this right to the freeduicn of the South,
but they are bound by their love of coun
try, and by all their regard for the fu
ture safety of those Southern States, tod»
this—to do it as a measure essential to
the preservation of peace there. But 1
will not dwell uppn this. I put it to
the American sense of honor. fhs hon-
or of a nation is an important thing.
It is said in tbe Scriptures. "What doth
it profit a man if'he gain the whole world,
and loose his own soul ?" It may be said,
also, What doth it profit a nation if it
gain the whole world, hut lose its honor ?
I hold that the American government has
taken upon itself a solemn obligation of
honor, to see that this war —let it be long
or let it be short, let it eost much or let it
cost little—that this war shall not cease
until every freedtnan At the South has
the right to rote. (Applause.) It has
bound itself to it. What have you ask
ed the black men of the South, the black
men of the whole country, to do ? Why,
you have asked them to incur the deadly
enmity of their masters, in order to be
friend you and to befriend this Govern
ment. You have asked us to call down,
not only upon ourselves, but upon our
children's children, the deadly bate of
the entire Southern people. You have
called upon us to turn our backs upon our
masters, to abandon their cause and es
pouse yours; to turn against tbe South
and in favor of the North ; to shoot down
the Confederacy and uphold tho flag.—
You havo called upon us to expose our
selves to all the subtle machinations of
their malignity for all time. And now,
what do you propose to do when you come
to make peace ? To reward your ene
mies,and trample in thedustyour friends?
Do you intend to sacrifice the very men
who have come to the rescue of your ban
ner in the South, and incurred tbe last
ing displeasure of their masters thereby?
Do you intend to sacrifitffe them and re
ward your enemies ? Do you mean to
give your enemies the right to voto, and
take it away from your friends? Is that
wise policy? Is that h-uorable ? Could
Americau honor withstand such a blow?
Ido not believo you will do it. I think
you will sec to it that we have the right to
vote. There is something too mean in look
ing upon tho negro,when you are in trouble,
as a citizen and when you are free from trou
bla, asan alien. When this nation was in
trouble,in its early struggles, it looked upon
the negro as a citizen. In 177G lie was
a citizen. Hut the time of tbe formation
of the Constitution the negro had tho
right to vote in eleven States out of the
old thirteen. In your trouble you have
made us citizens. In ISI2 (Jen. Jack
son addressed us as citizens—''fellow-cit
izens." II I wanted us to fight. We
were citizens then ! And now when
you come to frame a conscription bill, the
nsgro is a citizen again. He lias been a
citizen just three times in the history of
this government, and it has always been
in time of trouble. In time of trouble
we are citizens. Shall we be citizens in
war, and aliens in peace ? Would that
be just ?
I ask my friends who are apologizing
for not insisting upon this right, ifi this
country, for the assertion of this right, if
he may not look to tho Massachusetts
Anti-Slavery Society ? Where under the
whole heavens can he look for sympathy,
in asserting this right, if ho may not look
to this platform ? Have you lifted us up
to a certain height to sac that we arc men,
and then are any disposed to leave us
there, without seeing that we are putin
possession of our rights ? We look natu
urally to this platform for the assertion
of all our rights, and for this one especi
ally. I understand the anti-slavery sooie
ties of this countcy to be based ontwo prin
ciples,—first, the freedom ofthc blacksof
country; and,second, the elevation of this
them. Let me not be misunderstood
here. lam not asking for sympaty at
the hands cf abolitionists, sympathy at
the hands of any. I think the American
people are disposed often to be generous
rather than just. I look oyer this coun
try at the present time, snd I see Edu
cational Societies, Sanitary Commissions,
Freedmen's Associations, and tho like,
—all very good : but in regard to the col
ored people there is always more that is
benevolent, I porccive, than just, mani
fested towards us. What I ask for the negro
is net benevolence, notpity, notsympathy,
but simply justice. (Applause.) The
American people havo always ,beeu anx
ious to know what they shall do with us.
Geo. Banks was distressed with solicit
ude as to what he should do with the ne
gro. Everybody has asked the question,
and they learned to ask it early of the
abolitionists, "What shall we do with the
negro ?" I have but one answer from
the begining. Do nothing with us.—
Your doing with us has already played
the mischief with us. Do nothing with
us. If tho apples will not remain oo the
tree of their own strength, if xhey are
worm-oaten at the core, if th'ey are al
ready ripe and disposed to fall, let them
fall! lam pot tying them nor fasten
ing them on the tree in any way, except
by nature's plan, and if they will not stay
there, let them fall. And if the negro
cannot gtan4 on his own legs ! Let him
alone! If you see him on his way to
school, let him alone, —dou't disturb him !
If you see him going to.u dinner-table at
a hotel, let him go 1 If you see him go
ing to the brllot-box, let him Alone. —
don't disturb him 1 (Applause.) if you
see him going into a work shop, just let
him alone, —your interference is doing
liini a positive injury. Gen. Dank's "prep
aration " is of a piece with this attempt
to prop up the negro. Let him fall if ho
cannot stand alone 1 If the negro can
not live by tho line of eternal justice, so
beautifully pictured to you in the illus
tration used by Mr. Phillips, the fault
will not be yours, it will be his who made
the negro, and established that line for his
government. (Applause.) Let liiin live
or die by that. If you will only untie
his hands, and give him a chance, I think
he will live. lie will work as readily for
himself as tho white man. A great ma
ny delusions have been swept away by
this war. One was, that the negro would
not woi lc; lie hus proved his ability to
work. Another was, that he would not
fight; that bo possessed only the most
sheepish attributes of humanity; was a
perfect lamb, or an "Uncle Tom ;" dis
posed to take off his coat whenover re
quired, fold his hands, and bo whipped
by anybody who wunted to whip him.—
But the war haß proved that there is a
deul of human naturo in the negro, and
that "he will fight," as Mr. Quiiiey, our
President, said, in earlier days than these,
•'when there is a reasonable probability
of his whipping anybody." (Laughter
and applause.)
Away With Him I
Dolorpliol'ia dies hard, and it must l<e ad
mitted Unit its ultimata spasms are n little
laughable, as it stiffens into the rigidity of
a HEDUL'TLTI AU AH-TKDI:M. Class hatred
seeing to find death itself sweet in compari
son with concession or even compromise.—
The Cherokee Indian, turning up his nose
contemptuously between two high cheek
bones, •'objects to tho incorporation of tho
freedmen in his tribe." The State of Con
neticut, still enamored of blue legislation,
lliinks the Dlack good enough Tor battles, but
not gil l enough for tho ballot-box. The
ltev- Uovcrnor Brownlow is fir instantly
kicking every emnncipated man, women nod
child out of Tennessee So it seems that
wherever these dark fiot-balls may land
I hey bo unpleasant to somebody; and
as t ere sro suveriil millions of thein— a
good, solid, constituent part of the national
[lot ulati on, under a positive necessity, while
I hey live at all, of living somewhere, it occurs
to us that the readiest way of solving this
impertinent problem is to put all the-e in
truders upon the face of 0 id's earth to the
sword. Does any chicken-hearted humani
tarian protest that this expedient would be
wanting io some extent in benevolence?—
Huh I wlp is talking of benevolence at nil?
We are considering something better —brent
and butter, the peact of society, ancient
and respectable prejudices, ths delicate feel
ings of the Cherokee Indians and of the
inhabitants of Conr.eticut, the sacred dig
nity of the Cnucasiun demi-gods, the puri
ty of the pews and theater boxes and of
railway carriages, and of schools and col
leges, the nice nobility of the well born be
cause they are white-born, tho traditional
limitations of fastidious Democracy, the ex
quisite tare of porter-houses and primory
meetings, the weak knees of nervous Hepub.
licans, the susceptibility of the'whole tribe
of the Holier than-Thou's ! None of these
are tho men to find fault with our proposi
tion upon the score of cruelty. Why should
they be tender of lives which they are so
ready to make wretched ? The Black is ci
ther a man or a beast. If the former, he
hus a right to live where he pleases ; if the
latter, ho is mere vermin, and no more to
be tolerated upon tho political than loath
some insects upon the physical body. Wc
have nothing but scorn for the logic which
faints at its own conclusions. We have
nothing but contempt for theories which tbe
holders shrink lrom reducing to practice.
We shoot wolves, we trap weasels, we hunt
foxes, we kill pole cats, we shoot crows, we
wage a war of extermination upon rats and 1
cockroaches, and who calls our persistent
arid m ral hostility cruel 1 It is not against
the existence but the neighborhood of these
nuisances that wc protest practically and
and remo selessly. Now, though the far
mer in Maine may care nothing for the
wolves in Minnessota, and the householder
in New York nothing for tiio roaches in
Philadelphia, it is evident that ijrhile tbe
wolves and roaches remain, tbey must live
somewhere and trouble somebody. So it is
with these horrible Blacks ! If Brownlow
had a purse plethoric euoogh, and power
adequate to transport all these troublesome
creatures somewhere, it is certain that be
could not carry them beyond toe ultimate
reach of advancing White civilization, lie
merely temporizes. Ho merely rids his day
and generation of a trouble, and bequeaths
it to posterity- He merely relieves one lo
cality at the expense of another. Our plan
is more consistently humans. If we cut
tlie throats of all the Blacks, we sever at
the same time the gordian knot. We put
the animil out of his misery, and put our
selves out of our misery, and all will be se
rene. We do not pretend to bp more pitiful
than our neighbors; but we believe the
JFOTRP PF OKACK to be better and kinder than
prolonged torture, "ilio happy dispatch*
tenderer than deliberate worrying. If ibis
poor Dlnck orealtire is to bp bunted from
town to tim n, from County t> ominty, and
from State to State, finding nowhere n rest
ing place, nowhere compassion and suoeor.
nowhere a home, nowhere esonpo tr;)m in
genuous and unceasing enmity, the sooner
he in released iruw au existence so iieera*
ble the more fortunate will he be. Even
if it should turn out to be all a mistake, he
can hardly be worse off in the worst condi
tion of the future life than he has been in
this. With no feeling but that of pity, and
moved by the sincereit oopimiferution, we
submit our plan to the notiee of the kind
hearted no 1 charitable, nnd recninmor)(l a
public meeting at Conper Institute tq inau
gurate the movement.— N. ¥ TRIBUNE.
Be Clean and Tidy.
" When I vvussii years old," says I\ well
known merchant, " my father died, leaving
nothing to my mother hut the charge of my
self and two young sisters. After selling
the greater part of the housuhold furniture
she owned, sho took two small r. omit in
W street, and there, by her needle, u<>n>
trived 111 someway—bow 1 1 cannot te 1, when
i collected the little monoy for which the
worked—to support us in comfort. Frequent
ly, howerer, ] remember that our sueptr
was pimply a slice of bread, eu-one I by
hunger, and niado inviting by the neat man
ner in which our meal was served, i-ur ta
ble ulways being spread with n cloth, whioh,
like my good mother's heart, seemed ever to
preserve n (now white purity.
Wjping his eyes tho merchant continued :
'' Mpeaking of those days leiniuds me of the
time He sat down lo the table one evening,
and my mother having asked the blessing
of our heavenly Fall eron her littlo dcfunoo
less ones, in tones of tenderness that I ro
meuibor yet, she divided the lemnont of
her only loaf into three pieces, placing one
iti each of our plates, but reserving none
or herself. I slple round to her and was
about to tell her that 1 win riot hungry,
when n flood of tears burst from bet eyes,
and she clasped me to her b sum. Our
meiil was left untouched j we mt op lute
that night and what we said I cannot Mil.
I know timt my inothor talked to me more
as a companion than a ohil 1. Vi hen wo
knelt down to pray I gave up myself to be
tho 1-ord's, and tosrrve my mother.
" Dti'," sai 1 he, " this is nt telling you
how nenines* made my fortune. It was
some time lifter this that my mother found
an ndverti emerjt in the ncwspiiper for an
errand boy in a commissi >n house in 15
street. Without being needful to wait to
have my clothes mended, for my mother
alwnys kept them in good order, and nltlio'
on close inspection, they bore traces of more
than one patch, yet on the whole, they look"
ed very neat ; without wai;ing to arrange
my hair, or clean my shoes, for I was ob
liged to observe, from my earliest youth
the most perfoct neatnoss jtj every respect
my inothur sent me to gee if I could obtain
the situation. With a light step I started,
for I had long wis'iud my mother to allow
me to do something to assist her
" My heart beat fast I assure you, as 1
turned out of w ■ ■ into B— -streets, and>
made luy wuy along to the number my
mother hud given ine. 1 sumn>oued all
the courage I could muster, and stepped
b'iskly into the warehouse, apd found
my way into the counting house, and uiude
known tho object of my calling. Tho mer
chant smiled, and told me there was anoth
er boy who had come a little bet ire me,
who he thought he should engage- How
ever, he askod me some question, and wont
' ut an 1 talked wilii the other boy, who stool
in the buck part of tho office- '1 he result
was that the lad had been dismissed, and 1
entered the merchants einp'oyment, fir.tt at
an errand boy, then as a clerk, afterward
as a partner until his dentil, when he left
me tho wholo of the stosk in trwle. After
I had been in his service some years, he
told me ihe reason he choose me preference
to the other boy tyas because of the gener
al neatness of my person ; while in refer
ence to the other lad he noticed that he neg
lecied to be tidy. To this simple circum
stance ban probably been owing the greater
part of my success in business "
A Nn hville dispatch of the Oth
lays : —At Howling Green yesterday the
Sheriff of that county had in custody two
negroes, convicted in the County Court,
of the murder of another negro, and who
were then in custody and on their way to
the penitentiary, at Nashville. Upon
their arrival at Bowling Green, liy., and
when in the act of changing cars, the
Sheriff was sarrouniii'"' by \ il.tachnieut
of colored guards, whu detrsnded the re
lease of the prisoners, which being refu ;<:d
they took them by force, removed thair
hand caffs,, and set thenj at liberty.—
With fixed bayonets, they defied th*
Sheriff and his party, threatening death
to all who opposed them.
—Poetry w like a pair of skates, with
which, upon the pure, smooth crystalUd
floor of the "ideal" you may easily (skim,
but miserable are they whe thump about
upon the common streets.
. —'The day of death is scaraely more
momentous than every day. Bota alike
olose another day on ths past 1 acd apen
a new one to the future; and mora thaa
that is in the power of neither.
, —A respectable Scotch woman, in Loo
don, has been brought before the police
courts three hudrcd and fifty (SpO,) times
for drankenc«s.
NUMBER 44.
Anecdote of Mr. Lincoln.
In his speeoh at the Merchant's Han.
quet to the Odd Fellows, in Baltimore,
Mr. John W. Garrett, President of the
Baltimore and Ohio Kailroad, related thg
following incident:
lly his request I accompanied Presi
dent Lincoln, immediately after the battle
of Antietaiii, to the scene of that san
guinary conflict. After passing over the
Baltimore and Ohio lloadfroin Washing
ton to Harper's Ferry, I continued with
him, by his desire, during the memorable
period he spent with the office™ and sol
diers of the Federal ar>ny, an I amongthe
hospitals and the wounded upon thi|t
bloody field.
As in accord with the spirit of your
fraternity, I will mention a seeno which
occurred in one of those hospitals which
bedewed many eyes. The President ex
amined, kindly and tenderly, into the con,
dilioti and care of the Federal wounded,
He also passed through the hospitals
where wore placed tho Confederate woun
ded. Many of these hotphtls, in view
of tho large number of the wounded,
were improvised from the barns upon and
in tho vicinity of the field of battle.—
Passing through one of these, the mid
dle space of an extensive Hwitzer barn,
where a large number of Confedouite
wounded hy, the President stopped about
the centre of tho apartment, opposite a
youth of striking appearance, probably of,
eighteen or twenty ypijrs of age. 110 lay
looking vory feeble and pallid. He had
three straws in his hand, and was feebly
moving them to kpep the insects from his
face. The President asked "if ho had
received all necessary attention 1" lie
ropliod that "he had—tjiat. his right log
had been amputated." The President
responded : "I trust you will get well."
Tho youth—great tears rolling from his
eyes, said: "No; I am sinking; I shall
die." The President loaned tenderly over
him nnif said: "Will yon shake hands
with me ? I remarked : "This is Presi
dent Lincoln." He attempted to raise
his band, and give it to the President.—
The President asked him : Where aro
you from '! "From Georgia." Again the
President expressed the hope, still hold
ing his hand, that ho would recover.—
■No," said the youth, "I shall never Bee
my mother again—l shall die."
Tho President still held his hand, and
fervently ejaculated, while ho w»pt, and
bis tears mingled with those of the suf
ferer, " may God bless you, and restoru,
you to your mother »nd your homo."—,
Amid all the sad scenes of that field of
carnage, coming forth from that sancti
fied spot, I said, "Mr President, such
kindness will make missionaries of good
will of the soldiers who return South to
their homes." The president then ex
pressed his wishes generally to those ac
companying h : m, that all the wounded
and all the sufferers should b« kindly
treated, and in the course of conversa
tion thereafter, expressed sanguine Ijopea
that at an early day, instead of such
scenes of suffering, scenes of eoncord
and good feeling, and a restored Ucuiion,
would be speedily realized.
Is A Foo.—A few day* ago tnere liv
ed in the town of —a son of Judge
8., whoju we will call Joo, who frequent
ly imbibed more than than he could com
fortably carry. There also resided in the
neighborhood a painter named W., wad
a great practical joker. On one occasion
Joe came into YV.'s saloon, and rather
early in the morning got very much in
toxicated, and tinally fell asleep in hi*
chair. Joe was very neat sighted, aoi
always wore specs. After he had .slqpt
some time, W., took off his specs, black
ened the glasses, put them back again,
lighted the lamp, and awoke Joe, telling
him tha( it was about twelve o'plock at
night, and he wanted to shut up. J<,«
started and remarked that he had sle-.i,
some time.
W., then said—
" Joe, it is very dark, aud if you wiLl
bring it back again, I will lend you ■ lan
tern.
W,, lighted a lantern, gave it to Joe,
and helped him up stairs. Joe went ofj
home, up the main business
street, in the middle of the day, with hia
lantern, everybody looking at hiia and
wondering what was the matter.
—A friend has a doggo serious, that' s
even his tail has not , the least bit of a
wag about it.
—"Once more unto the breech," aa
the schoolmaster said when be whifpea
the dunce.
—An Irishman sent to trim a young
orchard, was asked at night if he had fin
ished. "No," said he j"1 have cut th«
trees all down, and will trim them tomor
row.
—Eighty-five pardon warrants ~wera' .
signed by the President vWstmliV''
—'Til makes man of you." aa
sculptor said to the marWn 0 .prissx**