icly declares, "I was wrong; I am converted," that ought to be
enough. But if not, the men of recognized ability and success among the
blacks refute the old misrepresentation, now being revived in some
quarters. When our Government sends its ministers abroad, Frederick
Douglass and John M. Langston; when Senator Bruce and Representative
Lynch are regarded as peers of their white brethren in the political
arena; when college chairs are ably filled by such men as Professor
Gregory, of Howard University; when colored delegates captivate a
National council by their eloquence and ability; when Harvard University
and Cornell University, by the choice of the students themselves, elect
colored men to be their representative orators, surely it is much too
late in the day to talk of the inferiority of the colored race. They are
as well endowed by the Creator as any people in the world, and with
training, culture, and a fair chance they will play their part in the
world as well as any. It is such a people that we may predict will have
a large share in adding to our National prosperity in the future.

Our first duty is to aid the Negro to attain more of moral power.
Whatever he wins in the future he must secure because he deserves to. It
will not come to him by favoritism nor by chance, but because he
conquers the situation, and by his own ability and resolute endeavor
fairly captures the prize of success. This the weak, degraded,
untutored, semi-barbarous Negro can never do. He must develop a strong,
clean manhood, equipped with the virtues to which success is
fore-ordained, if he would be master of the future in a large way.
Providence is helping him by the discipline of present exigences,
making even the wrongs and hardships he is suffering a gymnastic to
eliminate weakness and develop moral power. His ambition is chastened,
his indolence is rebuked, his patience, courage, and persistence are
being trained. But Providence waits for us to give him more direct
assistance in this matter. We can re-enforce him in certain directions
where he is now in great need of help. There are certain vices against
which he needs to be armed and aided. In answer to the inquiry, What is
the greatest hindrance to the advancement of the colored race? the
answer comes promptly from several sources, "Drink." This is one of the
new perils of his freedom, for in the old days of bondage it was a penal
offense to sell liquor to a slave; but since the war,