BARNUM BECOMES A REPUBLICAN--ILLUMINATING THE HOUSE OF A
DEMOCRAT--THE PEACE MEETING--ELECTED TO THE LEGISLATURE--WAR ON
THE RAILROADS---SPEECH ON THE AMENDMENT.
While he had always taken an active interest in politics, it was
many years before Barnum consented to run for any office. In 1852
he was strongly urged to submit his name to the State Convention,
as a candidate for the office of Governor, and although the
Democratic party (to which he then belonged) was in the
ascendancy, and the nomination was equivalent to election, he
still refused.
In 1860 his political convictions were changed, and he identified
himself with the Republican party. During the exciting campaign
of that year, which resulted in Lincoln's first election to the
presidency, it will be remembered that the "Wide-Awake"
associations, with their uniforms and torchlight processions,
were organized in every city, town and village throughout the
North.
One day Mr. Barnum arrived home from New York and learned that
the Bridgeport "Wide Awakes?" were to parade that evening and
intended to march out to Lindencroft. Ordering two boxes of
candles he prepared for an illumination of every window in the
house. Many of his neighbors, among them several Democrats, came
to Lindencroft that evening to witness the parade, and to see the
illumination. His next door neighbor, Mr. T., was a strong
Democrat, and before he left home, he ordered his servants to
stay in the basement, and not show a light, thus proving by the
darkness of his premises, the firmness of his Democratic
principles.
Barnum urged his friend James D. Johnson, who was not less a
joker than a Democrat, to engage the attention of Mr. and Mrs.
T., and to keep their faces turned toward Bridgeport and the
approaching procession, while he and Mr. George A. Wells, also a
Democrat, ran over and illuminated Mr. T.'s. house. As the
Wide-Awakes approached and saw that the house of Mr. T. was in a
blaze with light, they concluded that he had changed his
politics, and gave three rousing cheers for him. Hearing his
name, he turned and saw his house lighted from basement to attic,
and uttering one single emphatic ejaculation, he rushed for home.
But he was not able to extinguish the lights before the
Wide-Awakes had gone on their way rejoicing over his apparent
conversion.
When the war broke out in 1861, Barnum was too old for active
service in the field, but he sent four substitutes and
contributed largely from his means to the support of the Union.
After Bull Run, July 21st, 1861, "Peace Meetings" began to be
held in different parts of the North, and especially in
Connecticut. At these meetings it was usual to display a white
flag bearing the word "Peace," above the national flag, and to
listen to speeches denunciatory of the war.
One of these meetings was held August 24, 1861, at Stepney, ten
miles north of Bridgeport, and Mr. Barnum and Elias Howe, Jr.,
inventor of the sewing machine needle, agreed to attend and hear
for themselves whether the speeches were loyal or not. They
communicated their intention to a number of their friends, asking
them to go also, and at least twenty accepted the invitation. It
was their plan to listen quietly to the harangues, and if they
found any opposition to the government or anything calculated to
create disaffection in the community, or liable to deter
enlistments,--to report the matter to the authorities at
Washington and ask that measures be taken to suppress the
gatherings.
As the carriages of these gentlemen turned into Main street they
discovered two large omnibuses filled with soldiers who were home
on a furlough, and who were going to Stepney. The lighter
carriages soon outran the omnibuses, and the party arrived at
Stepney in time to see the white flag run up above the stars and
stripes. They stood quietly in the crowd, while the meeting was
organized, and a preacher--Mr. Charles Smith--was invited to open
the proceedings with prayer. "The Military and Civil History of
Connecticut, during the war of 1861-65," by W. A. Croffut and
John M. Morris, thus continues the account of the meeting:
"He (Smith) had not, however, progressed far in his supplication,
when he slightly opened his eyes, and beheld, to his horror, the
Bridgeport omnibuses coming over the hill, garnished with Union
banners, and vocal with loyal cheers. This was the signal for a
panic; Bull Run, on a small scale was re-enacted. The devout
Smith, and the undelivered orators, it is alleged, took refuge in
a field of corn. The procession drove straight to the pole
unresisted, the hostile crowd parting to let them pass; and a
tall man--John Platt--amid some mutterings, climbed the pole,
reached the halliards, and the mongrel banners were on the
ground. Some of the peace-men, rallying, drew weapons on 'the
invaders,' and a musket and a revolver were taken from them by
soldiers at the very instant of firing. Another of the defenders
fired a revolver, and was chased into the fields. Still others,
waxing belligerent, were disarmed, and a number of loaded muskets
found stored in an adjacent shed were seized. The stars and
stripes were hoisted upon the pole, and wildly cheered. P. T.
Barnum was then taken on the shoulders of the boys in blue, and
put on the platform, where he made a speech full of patriotism,
spiced with the humor of the occasion. Captain James E. Dunham
also said a few words to the point. * * * * 'The Star Spangled
Banner' was then sung in chorus, and a series of resolutions
passed, declaring that 'loyal men are the rightful custodians of
the peace of Connecticut.' Elias Howe, Jr., chairman, made his
speech, when the crowd threatened to shoot the speakers. 'If they
fire a gun, boys, burn the whole town, and I'll pay for it!'
After giving the citizens wholesome advice concerning the
substituted flag, and their duty to the government, the
procession returned to Bridgeport with the white flag trailing in
the mud behind an omnibus. * * * * They were received at
Bridgeport by approving crowds, and were greeted with continuous
cheers as they passed along."
In the Spring of 1865, Barnum accepted from the Republican party
a nomination to the Connecticut Legislature, from the town of
Fairfield, and he did so mainly because he wished to vote for the
then proposed amendment to the Constitution, to abolish slavery
forever from the land.
He was elected, and on arriving at Hartford the night before the
session began, found the wire pullers at work, laying their plans
for the election of a Speaker of the House.
Barnum, with his usual penetration and shrewdness, saw that the
railroad interests had combined in support of one of the
candidates, and seeing in this, no promise of good to the
community at large, he at once consulted with a few friends in
the Legislature, and they resolved to defeat the railroad "ring,"
if possible, in caucus. Their efforts were successful and the
railroad's candidate was not elected.
Immediately after the caucus, Barnum sought the successful
nominee, Hon. E. K. Foster, of New Haven, and begged him not to
appoint as chairman of the Railroad Committee the man who had
held the office for several successive years, and who was, in
fact, the great railroad factotum of the State. The speaker
complied with Barnum's request, and he soon saw how important it
was to check the strong and growing monopoly; for, as he said,
the "outside pressure" to secure the appointment of the
objectionable party was terrible.
Although Barnum had not foreseen such a thing until he reached
Hartford, he soon discovered that a battle with the railroad
commissioners would be necessary, and his course was shaped
accordingly. A majority of the commissioners were mere tools in
the hands of the railroad companies, and one of them was actually
a hired clerk in the office of the New York and New Haven
Railroad Company. It was also shown that the chairman of the
commissioners permitted most of the accidents which occurred on
that road to be taken charge of and reported upon by their paid
lobby agent.
This was so manifestly destructive to the interests of all
parties who might suffer from accidents on the road, or have any
controversy with the company, that the farmers, and the
anti-monopolist element united to defeat the chairman of the
railroad commissioners, who was a candidate for re-election, and
to put their own candidate in his place.
Through Barnum's efforts a law was passed that no person in the
employ of any railroad in the State, should serve as railroad
commissioner.
But the great struggle, which lasted through the entire session,
was upon the subject of railroad passenger commutations.
Commodore Vanderbilt had secured control of the Hudson River and
Harlem railroads, and had increased the price of commuters'
tickets, from two hundred to four hundred per cent. Many men
living on the line of these roads, ten to fifty miles from New
York, had built fine residences in the country on the strength of
cheap transit to and from the city, and were now compelled to
submit to the extortion. Commodore Vanderbilt was also a large
shareholder in the New York and New Haven road, and it seemed
evident that the same practice would be introduced there Barnum
therefore enlisted as many as he could in a strong effort to
strangle the outrage before it became too strong to grapple with.
Several lawyers in the Assembly promised their aid, but before
the final struggle came, all but one, in the whole body, had
enlisted in favor of the railroads.
What influence had been at work with these gentlemen was, of
course, a matter of conjecture.
Certain it is that all the railroad interests in the State were
combined; and while they had plenty of money with which to carry
out their designs, the chances were small indeed for those
members of the legislature who were struggling for simple
justice, and who had no pecuniary interests at stake.
Nevertheless, every inch of ground was fought over, day after
day, before the legislative railroad committee; examinations and
cross-examinations of railroad commissioners and lobbyists were
kept up. Scarcely more than one man, Senator Ballard, of Darien,
lent his personal aid to Barnum in the investigation, but
together they left not a stone unturned.
The man who was prevented from being appointed chairman succeeded
in becoming one of the railroad commissioners, but so much light
was thrown on his connection with railroad reports, railroad laws
and lobbying, by the indefatigable Barnum, the, the man took to
his bed, some ten days before the close of the session, and
actually staid there "sick " until the legislature adjourned.
The amendment to the United States Constitution abolishing
slavery met with little opposition; but the proposed amendment to
the State Constitution, giving the right of suffrage to the
negro, was violently opposed by the Democratic members. The
report from the minority of the committee to whom the question
was referred gave certain reasons for rejecting the contemplated
amendment, and in reply to this minority report, Barnum spoke,
May 26th, 1865, as follows:--ON THE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT.
Mr. Speaker: I will not attempt to notice at any length the
declamation of the honorable gentleman from Milford, for
certainly I have heard nothing from his lips approaching to the
dignity of argument. I agree with the gentleman that the right of
suffrage is "dearly and sacredly cherished by the white man"; and
it is because this right is so dear and sacred, that I wish to
see it extended to every educated moral man within our State,
without regard to color. He tells us that one race is a vessel to
honor, and another to dishonor; and that he has seen on ancient
Egyptian monuments the negro represented as "a hewer of wood and
a drawer of water." This is doubtless true, and the gentleman
seems determined always to KEEP the negro a "vessel of dishonor,"
and a "hewer of wood." We, on the other hand, propose to give him
the opportunity of expanding his faculties and elevating himself
to true manhood. He says he "hates and abhors, and despises
demagogism." I am rejoiced to hear it, and I trust we shall see
tangible evidence of the truth of what he professes in his
abandonment of that slavery to party which is the mere trick and
trap of the demagogue.
When, a few days since, this honorable body voted unanimously for
the Amendment of the United States Constitution, abolishing human
slavery, I not only thanked God from my heart of hearts, but I
felt like going down on my knees to the gentlemen of the
opposition, for the wisdom they had exhibited in bowing to the
logic of events by dropping that dead weight of slavery which had
disrupted the Democratic party, with which I had been so long
connected. And on this occasion I wish again to appeal to the
wisdom and loyalty of my Democratic friends. I say Democratic
"friends," for I am and ever was, a thorough, out and out
Democrat. I supported General Jackson, and voted for every
Democratic president after him, up to and including Pierce; for I
really thought Pierce was a Democrat until he proved the
contrary, as I conceived, in the Kansas question. My democracy
goes for the greatest good to the greatest number, for equal and
exact justice to all men, and for a submission to the will of the
majority. It was the repudiation by the Southern Democracy of
this great democratic doctrine of majority rule which opened the
rebellion.
And now, Mr. Speaker, let me remind our Democratic friends that
the present question simply asks that a majority of the legal
voters, the white citizens of this State, may decide whether or
not colored men of good moral character, WHO ARE ABLE TO READ,
and who possess all the qualifications of white voters, shall be
entitled to the elective franchise. The opposition may have their
own ideas, or may be in doubt upon this subject; but surely no
true Democrat will dare to refuse permission to our
fellow-citizens to decide the question.
Negro slavery, and its legitimate outgrowths of ignorance,
tyranny and oppression, have caused this gigantic rebellion,
which has cost our country thousands of millions of treasure, and
hundreds of thousands of human lives in defending a principle.
And where was this poor, down-trodden colored race in this
rebellion? Did they seize the "opportunity" when their masters
were engaged with a powerful foe, to break out in insurrection,
and massacre those tyrants who had so long held them in the most
cruel bondage? No, Mr. Speaker, they did not do this. My
"Democratic" friends would have done it. I would have done it.
Irishmen, Chinamen, Portuguese, would have done it; any white man
would have done it; but the poor black man is like a lamb in his
nature compared with the white man. The black man possesses a
confiding disposition, thoroughly tinctured with religious
enthusiasm, and not characterized by a spirit of revenge. No, the
only barbarous massacres we heard of, during the war, were those
committed by their white masters on their poor, defenceless white
prisoners, and to the eternal disgrace of southern white
"Democratic" rebels, be it said, these instances of barbarism
were numerous all through the war. When this rebellion first
broke out, the northern Democracy raised a hue-and-cry against
permitting the negroes to fight; but when such a measure seemed
necessary, in order to put down traitors, these colored men took
their muskets in hand and made their bodies a wall of defence for
the loyal citizens of the North. And now, when our grateful white
citizens ask from this assembly the privilege of deciding by
their votes whether these colored men, who at least, were
partially our saviours in the war, may or may not, under proper
restrictions, become participants in that great salvation, I am
amazed that men calling themselves Democrats dare refuse to grant
this democratic measure. We wish to educate ignorant men, white
or black. Ignorance is incompatible with the genius of our free
institutions. In the very nature of things it jeopardizes their
stability, and it is always unsafe to transgress the laws of
nature. We cannot safely shut ourselves up with ignorance and
brutality; we must educate and Christianize those who are now by
circumstances our social inferiors.
Years ago, I was afraid of foreign voters. I feared that when
Europe poured her teeming millions of working people upon our
shores, our extended laws of franchise would enable them to swamp
our free institutions, and reduce us to anarchy. But much
reflection has satisfied me that we have only to elevate these
millions and their descendants to the standard of American
citizenship, and we shall find sufficient of the leaven of
liberty in our system of government to absorb all foreign
elements and assimilate them to a truly democratic form of
government.
Mr. Speaker: We cannot afford to carry passengers and have them
live under our government with no real vital interest in its
perpetuity. Every man must be a joint owner.
The only safe inhabitants of a free country are educated citizens
who vote.
Nor in a free government can we afford to employ journeymen; they
may be apprenticed until they learn to read, and study our
institutions; and then let them become joint proprietors and feel
a proportionate responsibility. The two learned and distinguished
authors of the minority report have been studying the science of
ethnology and have treated us with a dissertation on the races.
And what have they attempted to show? Why, that a race which,
simply on account of the color of the skin, has long been buried
in slavery at the South, and even at the North has been tabooed
and scarcely permitted to rise above the dignity of whitewashers
and boot-blacks, does not exhibit the same polish and refinement
that the white citizens do who have enjoyed the advantages of
civilization, education, Christian culture and self-respect which
can only be attained by those who share in making the laws under
which they live.
Do our Democratic friends assume that the negroes are not human?
I have heard professed Democrats claim even that; but do the
authors of this minority report insist that the negro is a beast?
Is his body not tenanted by an immortal spirit? If this is the
position of the gentlemen, then I confess a beast cannot reason,
and this minority committee are right in declaring that "the
negro can develop no inventive faculties or genius for the arts."
For although the elephant may be taught to plow, or the dog to
carry your market-basket by his teeth, you cannot teach them to
shave notes, to speculate in gold, or even to vote; whereas, the
experience of all political parties shows that men may be taught
to vote, even when they do not know what the ticket means.
But if the colored man is indeed a man, then his manhood with
proper training can be developed. His soul may appear dormant,
his brain inactive, but there is a vitality there; and Nature
will assert herself if you will give her the opportunity.
Suppose an inhabitant of another planet should drop down upon
this portion of our globe at mid-winter. He would find the earth
covered with snow and ice, and congealed almost to the
consistency of granite. The trees are leafless, everything is
cold and barren; no green thing is to be seen; the inhabitants
are chilled, and stalk about shivering, from place to place; he
would exclaim, "Surely this is not life; this means annihilation.
No flesh and blood can long endure this; this frozen earth is
bound in the everlasting embraces of adamantine frost, and can
never develop vegetation for the sustenance of any living thing."
He little dreams of the priceless myriads of germs which
bountiful Nature has safely garnered in the warm bosom of our
mother earth; he sees no evidence of that vitality which the
beneficent sun will develop to grace and beautify the world. But
let him remain till March or April, and as the snow begins to
melt away, he discovers the beautiful crocus struggling through
the half-frozen ground; the snow-drops appear in all their chaste
beauty; the buds of the swamp-maple shoot forth; the beautiful
magnolia opens her splendid blossoms; the sassafras adds its
evidence of life; the pearl-white blossoms of the dog-wood light
up every forest: and while our stranger is rubbing his eyes in
astonishment, the earth is covered with her emerald velvet
carpet; rich foliage and brilliant colored blossoms adorn the
trees; fragrant flowers are enwreathing every wayside; the
swift-winged birds float through the air and send forth joyous
notes of gratitude from every tree-top; the merry lambs skip
joyfully around their verdant pasture-grounds; and everywhere is
our stranger surrounded with life, beauty, joy and gladness.
So it is with the poor African. You may take a dozen specimens of
both sexes from the lowest type of man found in Africa; their
race has been buried for ages in ignorance and barbarism, and you
can scarcely perceive that they have any more of manhood or
womanhood than so many orang-outangs or gorillas. You look at
their low foreheads, their thick skulls and lips, their woolly
heads, their flat noses, their dull, lazy eyes, and you may he
tempted to adopt the language of this minority committee, and
exclaim: Surely these people have "no inventive faculties, no
genius for the arts, or for any of those occupations requiring
intellect and wisdom." But bring them out into the light of
civilization; let them and their children come into the genial
sunshine of Christianity; teach them industry, self-reliance, and
self-respect; let them learn what too few white Christians have
yet understood, that cleanliness is akin to godliness, and a part
of godliness; and the human soul will begin to develop itself.
Each generation, blessed with churches and common schools will
gradually exhibit the result of such culture; the low foreheads
will be raised and widened by an active and expanded brain; the
vacant eye of barbarism, ignorance and idleness will light up
with the fire of intelligence, education, ambition, activity and
Christian civilization; and you will find the immortal soul
asserting her dignity, by the development of a man who would
startle by his intelligence the honorable gentleman from
Wallingford, who has presumed to compare beings made in God's
image with "oxen and asses." That honorable gentleman, if he is
rightly reported in the papers (I did not have the happiness to
hear his speech), has mistaken the nature of the colored man. The
honorable gentleman reminds me of the young man who went abroad,
and when he returned, there was nothing in America that could
compare with what he had seen in foreign lands. Niagara Falls was
nowhere; the White Mountains were "knocked higher than a kite" by
Mont Blanc; our rivers were so large that they were vulgar, when
contrasted with the beautiful little streams and rivulets of
Europe; our New York Central Park was eclipsed by the Bois de
Bologne and the Champs Elysees of Paris, or Hyde or Regent Park
of London, to say nothing of the great Phoenix Park at Dublin.
"They have introduced a couple of Venetian gondolas on the large
pond in Central Park," remarked a friend.
"All very well," replied the verdant traveler, "but between you
and me, these birds can't stand our cold climate more than one
season." The gentleman from Wallingford evidently had as little
idea of the true nature of the African as the young swell had of
the pleasure-boats of Venice.
Mr. Johnson, of Wallingford: "The gentleman misapprehends my
remarks. The gentleman from Norwich had urged that the negro
should vote because they have fought in our battles. I replied
that oxen and asses can fight, and therefore should, on the same
grounds, be entitled to vote."
Mr. Barnum: I accept the gentleman's explanation. Doubtless
General Grant will feel himself highly complimented when he
learns that it requires no greater capacity to handle the musket,
and meet armed battalions in the field, than "oxen and asses"
possess.
Let the educated free negro feel that he is a man; let him be
trained in New England churches, schools and workshops; let him
support himself, pay his taxes, and cast his vote, like other
men, and he will put to everlasting shame the champions of modern
Democracy, by the overwhelming evidence he will give in his own
person of the great Scripture truth, that "God has made of one
blood all the nations of men." A human soul, "that God has
created and Christ died for," is not to be trifled with. It may
tenant the body of a Chinaman, a Turk, an Arab or a Hottentot--it
is still an immortal spirit; and, amid all assumptions of caste,
it will in due time vindicate the great fact that, without regard
to color or condition, all men are equally children of the common
Father.
A few years since, an English lord and his family were riding in
his carriage in Liverpool. It was an elegant equipage; the
servants were dressed in rich livery; the horses caparisoned in
the most costly style; and everything betokened that the
establishment belonged to a scion of England's proudest
aristocracy. The carriage stopped in front of a palatial
residence. At this moment a poor beggar woman rushed to the side
of the carriage, and gently seizing the lady by the hand,
exclaimed, "For the love of God give me something to save my poor
sick children from starvation. You are rich; I am your poor
sister, for God is our common Father."
"Wretch!" exclaimed the proud lady, casting the woman's hand
away; "don't call me sister; I have nothing in common with such
low brutes as you." And the great lady doubtless thought she was
formed of finer clay than this suffering mendicant; but when a
few days afterward she was brought to a sick bed by the smallpox,
contracted by touching the hand of that poor wretch, she felt the
evidence that they belonged to the same great family, and were
subject to the same pains and diseases.
The State of Connecticut, like New Jersey, is a border State of
New York. New York has a great commercial city, where aldermen
rob by the tens of thousands, and where principal is studied much
more than principle. I can readily understand how the negro has
come to be debased at the North as well as at the South. The
interests of the two sections in the product of negro labor were
nearly identical. The North wanted Southern cotton and the South
was ready in turn to buy from the North whatever was needed in
the way of Northern supplies and manufactures. This community of
commercial interests led to an identity in political principles,
especially in matters pertaining to the negro race--the working
race of the South--which produced the cotton and consumed so much
of what Northern merchants and manufacturers sold for plantation
use. The Southern planters were good customers and were worth
conciliating. So when Connecticut proposed in 1818 to continue to
admit colored men to the franchise, the South protested against
thus elevating the negroes, and Connecticut succumbed. No other
New England State has ever so disgraced herself; and now
Connecticut Democrats are asked to permit the white citizens of
this State to express their opinion in regard to reinstating the
colored man where our Revolutionary sires placed him under the
Constitution. Now, gentlemen, "Democrats," as you call
yourselves, you who speak so flippantly of your "loyalty," your
"love for the Union" and your "love for the people"; you who are
generally talking right and voting wrong, we ask you to come
forward and act "democratically," by letting your masters, the
people, speak.
The word "white" in the Constitution cannot be strictly and
literally construed. The opposition express great love for white
blood. Will they let a mulatto vote half the time, a quadroon
three-fourths, and an octoroon seven-eighths of the time? If not,
why not? Will they enslave seven-eighths of a white man because
one-eighth is not Caucasian? Is this democratic? Shall not the
majority seven control the minority one? Out on such "democracy."
But a Democratic minority committee (of two) seem to have done
something besides study ethnology. They have also paid great
attention to fine arts, and are particularly anxious that all
voters shall have a "genius for the arts." I would like to ask
them if it has always been political practice to insist that
every voter in the great "unwashed" and "unterrified" of any
party should become a member of the Academy of Arts before he
votes the "regular" ticket? I thought he was received into the
full fellowship of a political party if he could exhibit
sufficient "inventive faculties and genius for the arts," to
enable him to paint a black eye. Can a man whose "genius for the
arts" enables him to strike from the shoulder scientifically, be
admitted to full fellowship in a political party? Is it evident
that the political artist has studied the old masters, if he
exhibits his genius by tapping an opponent's head with a
shillelah? The oldest master in this school of art was Cain; and
so canes have been made to play their part in politics, at the
polls and even in the United States Senate Chamber.
Is "genius for the arts and those occupations requiring intellect
and wisdom" sufficiently exemplified in adroitly stuffing
ballot-boxes, forging soldiers' votes, and copying a directory,
as has been done, as the return list of votes? Is the "inventive
faculty" of "voting early and often" a passport to political
brotherhood? Is it satisfactory evidence of "artistic" genius, to
head a mob? and a mob which is led and guided by political
passion, as numerous instances in our history prove, is the worst
of mobs. Is it evidence of "high art" to lynch a man by hanging
him to the nearest tree or lamp-post? Is a "whisky scrimmage" one
of the lost arts restored? We all know how certain "artists" are
prone to embellish elections and to enhance the excitements of
political campaigns by inciting riots, and the frequency with
which these disgraceful outbreaks have occurred of late,
especially in some of the populous cities, is cause for just
alarm. It is dangerous "art."
Mr. Speaker: I repeat that I am a friend to the Irishman. I have
traveled through his native country and have seen how he is
oppressed. I have listened to the eloquent and patriotic appeals
of Daniel O'Connell, in Conciliation Hall, in Dublin, and I have
gladly contributed to his fund for ameliorating the condition of
his countrymen. I rejoice to see them rushing to this land of
liberty and independence; and it is because I am their friend
that I denounce the demagogues who attempt to blind and mislead
them to vote in the interests of any party against the interests
of humanity, and the principles of true democracy. My neighbors
will testify that at mid-winter I employ Irishmen by the hundred
to do work that is not absolutely necessary, in order to help
them support their families.
After hearing the minority report last week, I began to feel that
I might be disfranchised, for I have no great degree of "genius
for the arts;" I felt, therefore, that I must get "posted" on
that subject as soon as possible. I at once sauntered into the
Senate Chamber to look at the paintings: there I saw portraits of
great men, and I saw two empty frames from which the pictures had
been removed. These missing paintings, I was told, were portraits
of two ex-Governors of the State, whose position on political
affairs was obnoxious to the dominant party in the Legislature;
and especially obnoxious were the supposed sentiments of these
governors on the war. Therefore, the Senate voted to remove the
pictures, and thus proved, as it would seem, that there is an
intimate connection between politics and art.
I have repeatedly traveled through every State in the South, and
I assert, what every intelligent officer and soldier who has
resided there will corroborate, that the slaves, as a body are
more intelligent than the poor whites. No man who has not been
there can conceive to what a low depth of ignorance the poor
snuff-taking, clay-eating whites of some portions of the South
have descended. I trust the day is not far distant when the
"common school" shall throw its illuminating rays through this
Egyptian pall.
I have known slave mechanics to be sold for $3,000, and even
$5,000 each, and others could not be bought at all; and I have
seen intelligent slaves acting as stewards for their masters,
traveling every year to New Orleans, Nashville, and even to
Cincinnati, to dispose of their masters' crops. The tree colored
citizens of Opelousas, St. Martinsville, and all the Attakapas
country in Louisiana, are as respectable and intelligent as an
ordinary community of whites. They speak the French and English
languages, educate their children in music and "the arts," and
they pay their taxes on more than fifteen millions of dollars.
Gentlemen of the opposition, I beseech you to remember that our
State and our country ask from us something more than party
tactics. It is absolutely necessary that the loyal blacks at the
South should vote, in order to save the loyal whites. Let
Connecticut, without regard to party, set them an example that
shall influence the action at the South, and prevent a new form
of slavery from arising there, which shall make all our
expenditure of blood and treasure fruitless.
But some persons have this color prejudice simply by the force of
education, and they say, "Well, a nigger is a nigger, and he
can't be anything else. I hate niggers, anyhow." Twenty years ago
I crossed the Atlantic, and among our passengers was an Irish
judge, who was coming out to Newfoundland as chief justice. He
was an exceedingly intelligent and polished gentleman, and
extremely witty. The passengers from the New England States and
those from the South got into a discussion on the subject of
slavery, which lasted three days. The Southerners were finally
worsted, and when their arguments were exhausted, they fell back
on the old story, by saying: "Oh! curse a nigger, he ain't half
human anyhow; he had no business to be a nigger, etc." One of the
gentlemen then turned to the Irish judge, and asked his opinion
of the merits of the controversy. The judge replied:
"Gentlemen, I have listened with much edification to your
arguments pro and con during three days. I was quite inclined to
think the anti-slavery gentlemen had justice and right on their
side, but the last argument from the South has changed my mind. I
say a 'nigger has no business to be a nigger,' and we should kick
him out of society and trample him under foot--always provided,
gentlemen, you prove he was born black at his own particular
request. If he had no word to say in the matter, of course he is
blameless for his color, and is entitled to the same respect that
other men are who properly behave themselves!"
Mr. Speaker: I am no politician; I came to this legislature
simply because I wish to have the honor of voting for the two
constitutional amendments--one for driving slavery entirely out
of our country; the other to allow men of education and good
moral character to vote, regardless of the color of their skins.
To give my voice for these two philanthropic, just and Christian
measures is all the glory I ask legislativewise. I care nothing
whatever for any sect or party under heaven, as such. I have no
axes to grind, no logs to roll, no favors to ask. All I desire is
to do what is right, and prevent what is wrong. I believe in no
"expediency" that is not predicated of justice, for in all
things--politics, as well as everything else--I know that
"honesty is the best policy." A retributive Providence will
unerringly and speedily search out all wrong-doing; hence, right
is always the best in the long run. Certainly,, in the light of
the great American spirit of liberty and equal rights which is
sweeping over this country, and making the thrones of tyrants
totter in the Old World, no party can afford to carry slavery,
either of body or of mind. Knock off your manacles and let the
man go free. Take down the blinds from his intellect, and let in
the light of education and Christian culture. When this is done
you have developed a man. Give him the responsibility of a man
and the self-respect of a man, by granting him the right of
suffrage, Let universal education, and the universal franchise be
the motto of free America, and the toiling millions of Europe,
who are watching you with such intense interest, will hail us as
their saviours. Let us loyally sink "party" on this question, and
go for "God and our Country." Let no man attach an eternal stigma
to his name by shutting his eyes to the great lesson of the hour,
and voting against permitting the people to express their opinion
on this important subject. Let us unanimously grant this truly
democratic boon. Then, when our laws of franchise are settled on
a just basis, let future parties divide where they honestly
differ on State or national questions which do nor trench upon
the claims of manhood or American citizenship.