at in the past, we could and did truthfully complain,
that we had no helper,--bound and crushed beneath an overwhelming weight
of prejudice and ignorance, we lay helpless at the feet of our political
spoilers. A favorable change has since been effected in the public
sentiment; and now that we see thousands who are willing to aid us, and
as many more who will not hinder our labor,--shall we fold our hands in
idleness?--or shall we renew our energies, in the cause of freedom and of
our own advancement? Although we may not implicitly rely upon the
political exertion of others, let us not fear to co-operate with the
friends of liberty everywhere, as far as a good conscience will permit,
and our limited privileges will allow, by our determined zeal for the
right, make our influence felt in the nation. See what wrong and
oppression our white brethren have met in Kansas, from the slave power;
and let their noble deeds of patriotism; their liberal sacrifices for
freedom, be not only our example, but an incentive to do our duty. Have
they more at stake in that mighty struggle than we, that they should leave
their homes of refinement and comfort, take their lives in their hands and
bravely contend for their rights, surrounded by scenes of blood and
carnage? Certainly not. No people on the earth can have greater incentives
to arouse them to action, than the colored people of this country now
have; I trust therefore, that our future independence and prosperity, will
suffer nothing from the inactivity of our race.

Some may entertain the belief that the African slave trade is entirely
abandoned. I think not. Often are seen strange, suspicious looking
vessels, lying along the African coast, for no other purpose than that
of kidnapping the poor, ignorant natives. Stealthily the slave-trader
lands his wicked crew, in the vicinity of some negro village or cluster of
huts, and when a favorable opportunity occurs, he and his men rush upon
the frightened African, burn their huts, and amid the shrieks of the
captives, and the groans of the helpless and aged, who have been trampled
down in their rude haste to secure the young and able-bodied natives, bear
them to the vessel, where they are stowed away in the hold of the ship,
which bears them to Christian (?) America, where they are sold as slaves.

Some years ago, a woman engaged in washing clothes, near the sea coast,
had a lad with her to take care of her two younger children--one a young