Page:A defence of the negro race in America from the assaults and charges of Rev. J. L. Tucker.djvu/27

 slaves of the meanest, lowest whites. (2) That another third stand a little above their condition when freedom was given them. And, (3) lastly, that the last third have risen to a state of superiority which already rivals the energy and progress of the American people in general. To start one-third of any people earnestly on the road of glorious progress is a grand result. For in all revolutions of society there is sure to be a great loss of men. For it is with men as it is with seeds—some spring up into life, and some seem to have no productive vitality at all. Says Bishop Butler: "For of the numerous seeds of vegetables and bodies of animals which are adapted and put in the way to improve to such a point or state of natural maturity and perfection, we do not see that one in a million actually does. For the greater part of them decay before they are improved to it, and appear to be absolutely destroyed." So, too, some men—large classes of men—are sure to fall behind in the race of life. But, as the immense loss of seeds does not contradict the fact of the prodigious wheat harvests of the West, which supply the world with food, so the actual loss or decline of a third of the Freedmen does not contravene the fact of the real progress of the race. For this same relative loss is discovered in all peoples. It is seen in the white population of this land, notwithstanding all their advantages. Look into the alms and poor houses; into the jails of the country; into the indigent quarters of the large cities; examine the statistics of crime and poverty, and you will see that fully one-third of the white population is constantly going down. Indeed society everywhere advances only by the force and energy of minorities. It is the few who lift up and bear the burdens and give character to the many. But, nevertheless, it is advance; and the human race in civilized countries is ever going upward.