May it please your Honors: Such are some of the things which I feel
it my duty to say in this important cause. I have occupied much time,
but the topics are not yet exhausted. Still, which way soever we turn,
we are brought back to one single proposition,--_the Equality of men
before the Law_. This stands as the mighty guardian of the colored
children in this case. It is the constant, ever-present, tutelary
genius of this Commonwealth, frowning upon every privilege of birth,
every distinction of race, every institution of Caste. You cannot
slight it or avoid it. You cannot restrain it. God grant that you may
welcome it! Do this, and your words will be a "charter and freehold
of rejoicing" to a race which by much suffering has earned a title
to much regard. Your judgment will become a sacred landmark, not in
jurisprudence only, but in the history of Freedom, giving precious
encouragement to the weary and heavy-laden wayfarers in this great
cause. Massachusetts, through you, will have fresh title to respect,
and be once more, as in times past, an example to the whole land.
Already you have banished Slavery from this Commonwealth. I call
upon you now to obliterate the last of its footprints, and to banish
the last of the hateful spirits in its train. The law interfering to
prohibit marriage between blacks and whites has been abolished by the
Legislature. Railroads, which, imitating the Boston schools, placed
colored people apart by themselves, are compelled, under the influence
of an awakened public sentiment, to abandon this regulation, and to
allow them the privileges of other travellers. Only recently I have
read that his Excellency, our present Governor,[50] took his seat in
a train by the side of a negro. In the Caste Schools of Boston the
prejudice of color seeks its final refuge. It is for you to drive it
forth. You do well, when you rebuke and correct individual offences;
but it is a higher office to rebuke and correct a vicious institution.
Each individual is limited in influence; but an institution has the
influence of numbers organized by law. The charity of one man may
counteract or remedy the uncharitableness of another; but no individual
can counteract or remedy the uncharitableness of an organized injury.
Against it private benevolence is powerless. It is a monster to be
hunted down by the public and the constituted authorities. And such is
the institution of Caste in the Common Schools of Boston, which now
awaits a just condemnation from a just Court.
[50] Hon. George N. Briggs.
One of the most remarkable expositions of Slavery is from the pen of
Condorcet, in a note to the "Thoughts" of Pascal. Voltaire, in his
later commentary on the same text, speaks of this "terrible" note,
and adopts its conclusion. In the course of this arraignment, the
philosopher, painting the character of the slave-master, says, "Such
is the excess of his stupid contempt for this wretched race, that,
returning to Europe, he is indignant to see them clothed as men and
_placed by his side_."[51] Thus the repugnance of the slave-master
to see the wretched race _placed by his side_ is adduced as crowning
evidence of the inhumanity of Slavery. But this very repugnance has
practical sanction among us, and you are to determine whether it shall
be longer permitted. Slavery, in one of its enormities, is now before
you for judgment. Hesitate not, I pray you, to strike it down. Let the
blow fall which shall end its domination here in Massachusetts.
[51] Pensées de Pascal, Notes de Condorcet et Voltaire, No. 109.
The civilization of the age joins in this appeal. I need not remind
you that this prejudice of color is peculiar to our country. You may
remember that two youths of African blood only recently gained the
highest honors in a college at Paris, and on the same day dined with
the King of the French, the descendant of St. Louis, at the Palace of
the Tuileries. And let me add, if I may refer to my own experience,
that at the School of Law in Paris I have sat for weeks on the same
benches with colored pupils, listening, like myself, to the learned
lectures of Degerando and Rossi; nor do I remember, in the throng of
sensitive young men, any feeling toward them except of companionship
and respect. In Italy, at the Convent of Palazzuolo, on the shores of
the Alban Lake, amidst a scene of natural beauty enhanced by historical
association, where I was once a guest, I have, for days, seen a native
of Abyssinia, recently from his torrid home, and ignorant of the
language spoken about him, mingling, in delightful and affectionate
familiarity, with the Franciscan friars, whose visitor and scholar
he was. Do I err in saying that the Christian spirit shines in these
examples?
The Christian spirit, then, I again invoke. Where this prevails, there
is neither Jew nor Gentile, Greek nor Barbarian, bond nor free, but
all are alike. From this we derive new and solemn assurance of the
Equality of Men, as an ordinance of God. Human bodies may be unequal
in beauty or strength; these mortal cloaks of flesh may differ, as do
these worldly garments; these intellectual faculties may vary, as
do opportunities of action and advantages of position; but amid all
unessential differences there is essential agreement and equality.
Dives and Lazarus are equal in the sight of God: they must be equal in
the sight of all human institutions.
This is not all. The vaunted superiority of the white race imposes
corresponding duties. The faculties with which they are endowed, and
the advantages they possess, must be exercised for the good of all. If
the colored people are ignorant, degraded, and unhappy, then should
they be especial objects of care. From the abundance of our possessions
must we seek to remedy their lot. And this Court, which is parent to
all the unfortunate children of the Commonwealth, will show itself most
truly parental, when it reaches down, and, with the strong arm of Law,
elevates, encourages, and protects our colored fellow-citizens.
* * * * *