Duplicate Copy of the Souvenir From the Afro-American League of Tennessee to Hon. James M. Ashley of Ohio (Classic Reprint)

Excerpt from Duplicate Copy of the Souvenir From the Afro-American League of Tennessee to Hon. James M. Ashley of Ohio<br><br>Honorable James M. Ashley early caught the living faith and prophetic spirit of Whittier. He felt and fully understood the ?agrant sin of slavery. This will appear vividly to all who shall read the addresses and orations which have been compiled by his negro friends and published in this volume. It was given to Mr. Ashley prior to and after the outbreak of the war of the rebellion to point out the line of policy to be pursued in forum and field for the salvation of the nation.<br><br>Conversant as I am with our anti-slavery literature for over half a century and with the speeches and orations of our ablest anti-slavery leaders I am warranted in saying that among them all there are few if any more worthy of preservation than are the prophetic speeches and orations contained in this book.<br><br>Remembering that truth is many-sided and that few men even with the best intentions are able to see it except from its single or narrow side the abundant charity to. Be found in Mr. Ashley''s speeches becomes the more marked and attests the nobility of the man.<br><br>To Mr. Ashley as to few other great legislators it was given to grasp with a firm understanding the problems in volved in our great battle with slavery and in the reconstrue tion of the government after the war. Like Sumner Wilson Wade and Thaddeus Stevens he saw the necessity of arm ing the negro with the panoply of the elective franchise.<br><br>He was foremost in the debate for this great measure and did not hesitate to risk the success of his own election by the prominent part he took in face of formidable opposition. Nor was this opposition confined to the members of the oppo site party. There were timid Republicans in those days as there have been since and this timidity was shared by his State and the people of his district as well as by mem bers of Congress and it is no marvel that his prominence in furtherance of this measure of enfranchisement. Caused his defeat.<br><br>With the aid of the Tribune Almanac I am able to give the facts and figures in this case.<br><br>About the Publisher<br><br>Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com<br><br>This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases an imperfection in the original such as a blemish or missing page may be replicated in our edition. We do however repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.