o better their condition
by raising themselves above the condition that necessity places them in.
We do not say too much, when we say, as an evidence of the deep
degradation of our race, in the United States, that there are those
among us, the wives and daughters, some of the _first ladies_, (and who
dare say they are not the "first," because they belong to the "first
class" and associate where any body among us can?) whose husbands are
industrious, able and willing to support them, who voluntarily leave
home, and become chamber-maids, and stewardesses, upon vessels and
steamboats, in all probability, to enable them to obtain some more fine
or costly article of dress or furniture.

We have nothing to say against those whom _necessity_ compels to do
these things, those who can do no better; we have only to do with those
who can, and will not, or do not do better. The whites are always in the
advance, and we either standing still or retrograding; as that which
does not go forward, must either stand in one place or go back. The
father in all probability is a farmer, mechanic, or man of some
independent business; and the wife, sons and daughters, are
chamber-maids, on vessels, nurses and waiting-maids, or coachmen and
cooks in families. This is retrogradation. The wife, sons, and daughters
should be elevated above this condition as a necessary consequence.

If we did not love our race superior to others, we would not concern
ourself about their degradation; for the greatest desire of our heart
is, to see them stand on a level with the most elevated of mankind. No
people are ever elevated above the condition of their _females_; hence,
the condition of the _mother_ determines the condition of the child. To
know the position of a people, it is only necessary to know the
_condition_ of their _females_; and despite themselves, they cannot rise
above their level. Then what is our condition? Our _best ladies_ being
washerwomen, chambermaids, children's traveling nurses, and common house
servants, and menials, we are all a degraded, miserable people, inferior
to any other people as a whole, on the face of the globe.

These great truths, however unpleasant, must be brought before the minds
of our people in its true and proper light, as we have been too delicate
about them, and too long concealed them for fear of giving offence. It
would have been infinitely better for our race, if these facts had been
presented before us half a ce