rican citizen, his ambition, his
hopes and his aspirations are to be buried beneath the sod of
disappointment and despair? Mr. Chairman, the achievements of the
Republican party as the friend and champion of equal civil and political
rights for all classes of American citizens, constitute one of the most
brilliant chapters in the history of that grand and magnificent
organization. Must that chapter now be blotted out? Are you now prepared
to confess that in these grand and glorious achievements the party made
a grave mistake?

"It was a most beautiful and imposing scene that took place yesterday
when a number of venerable men who took part in the organization of the
Republican party, occupied seats upon the platform of this convention.
The presence of those men brought to mind pleasant and agreeable
recollections of the past. Until the Republican party was organized, the
middle classes, the laboring people, the oppressed and the slave had no
channel through which to reach the bar of public opinion. The Democratic
party was controlled by the slave oligarchy of the South, whilst the
Whig party had not the courage of its convictions. The Republican party
came to the front with a determination to secure, if possible, freedom
for the slave, liberty for the oppressed, and justice and fair play for
all classes and races of our population. That its efforts in these
directions have not been wholly in vain are among the most glorious and
brilliant achievements that will constitute a most important part of the
history of our country; for it had been the unmistakable determination
of that party to make this beautiful country of ours in truth and in
fact the land of the free and the home of the brave. Surely it is not
your purpose now to reverse and undo any part of the grand and noble
work that has been so successfully and so well done along these lines.

"And yet that is just what you will have done if you adopt the
proposition presented by the distinguished gentleman from Pennsylvania.
While I do not assert and cannot believe that such was or is the purpose
and desire of the author of that proposition, yet no one that will give
the matter careful consideration can fail to see that the effect of it
will be to undo, in part at least, what the Republican party has
accomplished since its organization. As a colored Republican, speaking
in behalf of that class of our fellow citizens who honor and revere the
Republican party for what i