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For Frederick Douglass' Paper.

EDUCATION OF THE COLORED PEOPLE—NO. 2.

FRIEND DOUGLASS: SIR:—In my former ar-
ticle I referred briefly to the condition of the
colored people in this country. In this I
propose to allude to the part they are
to act in the struggle now going on which is
destined ultimately to secure to them the right
so dear to every freeman. The present agita-
tion of the subject of American Slavery is
nothing arbitrary or unnatural. It is what
might be expected in this age of improvement.
It is the vitalizing influence of truth, like leaven
in the soul. It is mind seeking its native ele-
ment; principle against power, working to its
result in society. In short, it is the legitimate
result of human progress. Man, to enjoy life,
and appropriately use his power and faculties,
must be free. But human depravity has ever
been opposed to progress and reform, and every
step gained in that direction, has been contested.
No wonder, therefore, that the friends of sla-
very should rise up in opposition. They are
driven to an extremity; things have come to a
crisis, and their "beloved institution" is up-
heaving to its foundation and trembling to its
center, and the elements of its destruction are
in its own bosom. The time has come when
some valid excuse, it it can be found, must be
rendered for chattel slavery; and its advocates
to quiet their consciences, and appease the
public indignation, have undertaken the Hercu-
lean task, of showing the African to be neither
a man nor a monkey, but a connecting link be-
tween the two. A task, indeed; and, truly, it
is like a drowning man catching at straws.—
While engaged in this great work, will some
one, please, show us where the monkey ends and
the man begins? The distinguishing character-
istics of man are spirituality, intelligence, affec-
tion, voluntariness, and moral character, which
character he derives from his relations to the
divine government. And has not the negro all