shonor. "Can the leopard
change his spots or the Ethiopian his skin?" No disgrace can be attached
to physical characteristics which are the result of heredity, and cannot
be removed by any volition or effort. How cruel it is to visit upon the
colored man contempt and dishonor because of the hue of his skin, or the
curling peculiarity of his hair. Let him stand or fall upon his merit.
Let him be respected if he is worthy. Let him be despised if he is
unworthy.

We appeal to our white brothers to accord us simple justice. If we
deserve good treatment give it to us, and do not consider the question
of color any more than you would refuse kindness to a man because he is
blind.

All we ask is a fair show in the struggle of life. We have nothing but
the sentiment of kindness for our white brethren. Take us into your
confidence, trust us with responsibility, and above all, show us cordial
kindness. Thus will you link our people to you by the chains of love
which nothing can break, and we will march hand in hand up the steep
pathway of progress.

THE POLITICAL OUTLOOK FOR AFRICA[32]

BY EDWARD WILMOT BLYDEN

EDWARD WILMOT BLYDEN, _one of the greatest scholars of the race; native
of St. Thomas, West Indies. Secretary of State of the Republic of
Liberia; sent on diplomatic missions to the interior of Africa, and
reported proceedings before Royal Geographical Society; Minister
Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Liberia at the Court of St. James;
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs; Ambassador to France from
Liberia; Fellow of the American Philological Association; Honorary
Member Athaneum Club. Presented with medal by the Sultan of Turkey in
recognition of his services as Mohammedan Commissioner of Education._

[Note 32: Extracts from a speech made at a banquet given in his
honor by native Africans at Holborn, England, August 15, 1903.]

...Now as to our political relations, the gift of the African does not
lie in the direction of political aggrandizement. His sphere is the
church, the school, the farm, the workshop. With us, the tools are the
proper instruments of the man. This is why our country has been
partitioned among the political agencies of the world--the Japhetic
powers, for they can best do the work to be done in the interest of the
temporal as a basis for the spiritual advancement of humanity. The
African and the Jew are the spiritual races, and to them political
ascendence among the nations of the