of the
convention.

But of all the conventions of the period, the largest, that in which the
ability of its members was best displayed in the broad and statesmanlike
treatment of the questions discussed and the practical action which
vindicated their right to recognition as enfranchised citizens, and the
one to which the attention of the American people was attracted as never
before, was the one held in the city of Rochester, N. Y.

With greater emphasis than at prior meetings, this convention set the seal
of its opposition against any hope for permanent relief to the conditions
under which the colored freeman labored by any comprehensive scheme of
emigration. Because of this, it directed its energies to affirmative
constructive action.

In the enunciation of a philosophy able, far-sighted and statesmanlike,
contained in the address to the American people, we behold the wisdom of a
master mind--one then at the prime of his intellectual and physical
powers, Frederick Douglass, the chairman of the Business Committee.

Among the important things done by the convention might be enumerated. It
says:

"We can not announce the discovery of any new principle adopted to
ameliorate the condition of mankind. The great truths of moral and
political science upon which we rely, and which press upon your
consideration, have been evolved and enunciated by you. We point to your
principles, your wisdom and your great example as the full justification
of our course this day. That all men are created equal; that life, liberty
and the pursuit of happiness is the right of all; that taxation and
representation should go together; that the Constitution of the United
States was formed to establish justice, promote the general welfare and
secure the blessings of liberty to all the people of the country; that
resistance to tyranny is obedience to God--are American principles and
maxims, and together they form and constitute the constructive elements of
the American government."

1. The plan for an industrial college on the manual labor plan, was
approved, and Harriet Beecher Stowe, who was about to make a visit to
England at the instance of friends in that country, was authorized to
receive funds in the name of the colored people of the country for that
purpose. The successful establishment and conduct of such an institution
of learning, would train youth to be self-reliant and skilled workmen,
fitted to hold their own in the struggle of