You are right in saying that the choice for the Presidency is
now “narrowed down” to President Grant or Horace Greeley. One of
these is to be taken, and, assuming my acquaintance with both and
my observation of their lives, you invite my judgment between
them, asking me especially which of the two, “_judging from their
antecedents as well as present position_,” would enforce the
Constitution and laws securing your civil and political rights “with
_the most heart-felt sympathy and the greatest vigor_.” Here I remark
that in this inquiry you naturally put your rights in the foreground.
So do I,--believing most sincerely that the best interests of the
whole country are associated with the completest recognition of
your rights, so that the two races shall live together in unbroken
harmony. I also remark that you call attention to two things,--the
“antecedents” of the candidates, and their “present position.” You
wish to know from these which gives assurance of the most heart-felt
sympathy and greatest vigor in the maintenance of your rights,--in
other words, which, judging by the past, will be your truest friend.
The communication with which you have honored me is not alone.
Colored fellow-citizens in other parts of the country, I may say in
nearly every State of the Union, have made a similar request, and
some complain that I have thus far kept silent. I am not insensible
to the trust reposed in me. But if my opinion is given, it must be
candidly, according to my conscience. In this spirit I answer your
inquiries, beginning with the antecedents of the two candidates.