rights, and in the stability of our
republican institutions. I hope that I will not be deceived. I love the
land that gave me birth; I love the Stars and Stripes. This country is
where I intend to live, where I expect to die. To preserve the honor of
the national flag and to maintain perpetually the Union of the States
hundreds, and I may say thousands, of noble, brave, and true-hearted
colored men have fought, bled, and died. And now, Mr. Speaker, I ask,
can it be possible that that flag under which they fought is to be a
shield and a protection to all races and classes of persons except the
colored race? God forbid!

* * * * *

In conclusion, Mr. Speaker, I say to the Republican members of the House
that the passage of this bill is expected of you. If any of our
Democratic friends will vote for it, we will be agreeably surprised. But
if Republicans should vote against it, we will be sorely disappointed;
it will be to us a source of deep mortification as well as profound
regret. We will feel as though we are deserted in the house of our
friends. But I have no fears whatever in this respect. You have stood by
the colored people of this country when it was more unpopular to do so
than it is to pass this bill. You have fulfilled every promise thus far,
and I have no reason to believe that you will not fulfill this one. Then
give us this bill. The white man's government Negro-hating democracy
will, in my judgment, soon pass out of existence. The progressive spirit
of the American people will not much longer tolerate the existence of an
organization that lives upon the passions and prejudices of the hour.

I appeal to all the members of the House--Republicans and Democrats,
conservatives and liberals--to join with us in the passage of this bill,
which has its object the protection of human rights. And when every man,
woman, and child can feel and know that his, her, and their rights are
fully protected by the strong arm of a generous and grateful Republic,
then we can all truthfully say that this beautiful land of ours, over
which the "Star-Spangled Banner" so triumphantly waves, is, in truth and
in fact, the "land of the free and the home of the brave."

ALEXANDER DUMAS, FILS[10]

_The following public tribute was paid to his father by the younger
Dumas on the occasion of taking his seat in the French Academy (February
11, 1875)._

[Note 10: From "The Life of A. Dumas," by Arthur E. Davidson, (p.
356).]

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