Page:The rising son, or, The antecedents and advancement of the colored race (IA risingsonthe00browrich).pdf/476

 upon to act. One of the most gifted of these, a man of fine education, honest, upright, just in his dealings with his fellows; one whose good sense and manly qualities never desert him,—is Francis L. Cardozo.

Born in Charleston, South Carolina, his father a white man and a slaveholder, his mother a mulatto, Mr. Cardozo is of a fair complexion. He is above the middle size, robust and full-faced, with a well-developed head, large brain, and a face of fine expression. Educated in Scotland, and having travelled extensively abroad, he presents the exterior of a man of refinement and of high culture, possessing considerable literary taste, and his conversation at once shows him to be a man of learning. Industrious and methodical in his habits, still the ardent student, young in years, comparatively, Mr. Cardozo bids fair to be one of the leading men at the national capital, as he is now in his own State. He studied theology, was ordained as a minister, and preached for a time in Connecticut with great acceptance.

As a speaker, Mr. Cardozo has few equals, colored or white. Without any strained effort, his expressions are filled with integrity, sobriety, benevolence, satire, and true eloquence. Forcible in speech, his audience never get tired under the sound of his musical voice.

During the rebellion, he returned to his native State, where he was of great service to his own people. He took a leading part in the reconstruction convention that brought South Carolina back in the Union, and was elected to the state legislature, where he was considered one of their ablest men. He now fills the high and honorable position of Secretary of State of his own commonwealth. He is held in high estimation by