cholar, not the rich man or the pious Pharisee. They were
the poor and needy, the peasant and the fisherman. I remember, also,
that the more learned the slaveholder, the greater the rebel. I
remember that no black skin covered so false a heart or misdirected
brain, that when the radiant banner of our nationality was near or
before him, he did not understand its meaning, and remained loyal to
its demands. The man capable of taking care of himself, of wife and
children, and, in addition to his unrequited toil, to hold up his
oppressor, must have intelligence enough, in the long run, to wield
the highest means of protection we can give.

"But, sir, it is for our benefit, as well as for the benefit of the
proscribed class, that I vote for and support impartial manhood
suffrage in this District. We can not afford, as a nation, to keep any
class ignorant or oppress the weak. We must establish here republican
government. That which wrongs one man, in the end recoils on the many.
Sir, if we accept, as the Republican party of the Union, our true
position and our duty, we shall nobly win. If we are false and
recreant, we shall miserably fail. Let us have faith in the people and
the grand logic of a mighty revolution, and dare to do right. Class
legislation will be the inevitable result of class power; and what
would follow, so far as the colored race are concerned, let the recent
tragedy of Jamaica answer.

[Illustration: Hon. Sidney Clarke.]

"The principles involved in the arguments put forth on the other side
of the House are not alone destructive to the rights of the
defenseless, intelligent, and patriotic colored men of this District,
but they militate with a double effect and stronger purpose against
the poor whites of the North and of the South, against the German, the
Irishman, and the poor and oppressed of every race, who come to our
shores to escape the oppression of despotic governments, and to seek
the protection of a Government the true theory of which reposes in
every citizen a portion of its sovereign power. Against this attempt
to deny or abridge in any way the rights of the weak, the poor, and
the defenseless, and to transfer the governing power of the nation to
the favored classes, to the rich and the powerful, and thus change the
very purpose and principles of our republican system, I protest in the
name of constitutional freedom, and in behalf of equal rights and
equal laws.

"I protest against this steal