nd advice. St. Domingo achieved her independence
alone and unaided--nay, in the very teeth of prejudice and scorn. The
Greeks had loans from England, and contributions from America, and
sympathy from half the world; the decisive battle of Navarino was gained
by the combined fleets of England, France and Russia. Is it asked why
Hayti has not produced any examples of splendid genius? In reply let
me inquire, how long did the Europeans ridicule _us_ for our poverty
in literature? When Raynal reproached the United States with not having
produced one celebrated man, Jefferson requested him to wait until we
had existed "as long as the Greeks before they had a Homer, the Romans
a Virgil, and the French a Racine." Half a century elapsed before our
republic produced Irving, Cooper, Sedgwick, Halleck, and Bryant. We must
not forget that the cruel prejudice, under which colored people labor,
makes it extremely difficult for them to gain admission to the best
colleges and schools; they are obliged to contend with obstacles, which
white men never encounter.

It might seem wonderful that the descendants of wise Ethiopia, and
learned Egypt, are now in such a state of degradation, if history did
not furnish a remarkable parallel in the condition of the modern Greeks.
The land of Homer, Pericles, and Plato, is now inhabited by ignorant,
brutal pirates. Freedom made the Grecians great and glorious--tyranny
has made them stupid and miserable. Yet their yoke has been light,
compared with African bondage. In both cases the wrongs of the oppressed
have been converted into an argument against them. We first debase the
nature of man by making him a slave, and then very coolly tell him that
he must always remain a slave because he does not know how to use
freedom. We first crush people to the earth, and then claim the right of
trampling on them for ever, because they are prostrate. Truly, human
selfishness never invented a rule, which worked so charmingly both ways!

No one thinks of doubting the intellect of Indians; yet civilization has
certainly advanced much farther in the interior of Africa, than it did
among the North American tribes. The Indians have strong untutored
eloquence,--so have the Africans. And where will you find an Indian
chieftain, whose pride, intellect, and valor, are more than a match for
Zhinga's? Both of these classes have been most shamefully wronged; but
public prejudice, which bows the negro to the earth, has borne w