SENATE CHAMBER, December 26, 1864.
DEAR SIR,--It will not be in my power to be present at the
celebration of the Emancipation Proclamation by the Banneker
Institute. But, wherever I may be, I shall not forget this great
and good deed.
That proclamation has done more than any military success to save
the country. It has already saved the national character. The
future historian will confess that it saved everything.
It remains for us to uphold it faithfully, so that it may not be
impaired a single jot or tittle.
In the spirit of the Proclamation, and taught by its example, we
must press forward in the work of justice to the colored race,
until abuse and outrage have ceased, and all are equal before the
law.
The astronomer, Banneker, whose honored name you bear, would be
shut out of the street cars in some of our cities; but such petty
meanness cannot last long.
Accept my best wishes, and believe me, dear Sir, faithfully
yours,