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Show 124 THE GOLDEN HOUR. At Monticello the exqui ·ito mosaic floor, n1adc by one of lVIe. J eiferson's slaves, is yet in o-ood pre ervation. The olJ friend of that statcsn1an who how d it to 1ne . aid: '' ~fe. Jcffcr on always took plca~urc in showing his vi ·itors tltis cxqui ·ito pi cc of workmanship. It was. made by one of his slave , born on his e tate, who never had any in.trnction a a nlcchanic. ~1r. Jcffcr on always believed that the Negro race had a de tiny." There is the irnportant fact ; th rc li s the Enccladus under this volcano,- THE NEe no liAS AN Il\IPORTANT DE TINY TO FULFIL IN llUl\IAN SO IETY. Our laws and plans have been arranged with reference to another theory: we had asstnncd his n1oral and political non-existence, and in so doing we have gone, day hy day, more and more again t the eternal fact. And unless we speed1ly have that lie ·which this nation llas actively credited purged out of it, it will drag us into the abyss prepared for lies fron1 before the foundation of the ·world. Elwood Fi her ha prepared for this nation an epitaph which runs : " IIerc lies a people who lost their own liberty in trying to give freedom to the Negro." Tho hope is too high for us to indulge, that this nation can thus become the dying Saviour arnong the nations ! If the nation should perish, history would engrave on its tomb, "Here lies a people who lo t their own liberty in trying to pursue through a Rod Sea those for whose liberty God had parted the waves." TilE NEGHO. 125 The worst ympto1u in the case of America is tho prcj udicc ao·aiust the N geo,- a di ·ca .. c which always has called for fearful cauterizatio11 Wl11') 1 • • • <.llv IS 1n ro-finc~ ocic ty un1niLi o·ated vulgarity, i · in this couu try considered elegance. A few years ago, Pre ·ident Rouerts of Liberia was returning fro1n .A.mcrica throuo·h b England. The captain of the stca1nship would not allo\v this cultivated and di tingui ·bed gentle1nan to sit at table with the white pa · engers; and persisted in his rcfu al, even after a n1ajority of the whites had requested otherwi ·c. A day after their arrival in England, ~fr. Robert ·, havi11g ·on1c business with the captain, repaired to the ·tca1nship, and found hiH1 in the presence of n1any of the pa · cngers who had witnessed his troatlncnt on Loarcl. On being adurc · ·cd, the captain said to Pre iucnt Robert , "Co1nc down this evening at 8 o'clock, and I will attend to you." "At that hour," replied l~obcrt , " I arn en o·aged to dine with the Queen of England." The confused captain nan1ed another hour, an1id t the explosive laughter of the con1pany. 'rhi N cgro, so offensive to the steamboat aristocracy of Arnerica, i · received as diplomatic minister in every other govcnuncnt of Christcndon1, and at Rornc the African bi ·hop stand Lc ·ide the whitest who in .An1crica n1ay Lc helping to en lave his race. Is there wonder that in 1nany parts of Europe "A1norican" should be synonyn1ous with "vulgar" ? It has been whi pored that lla.iti will appoint a white |