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The human creation, like all other families or forms of being, is composed of a genus, which includes some half dozen or more species. It has been the fashion to call these permanent varieties, and almost every writer on ethnology has made his own classification, or rather has created what number he pleased of these “imaginary varieties.” Agassiz, unquestionably the greatest of American naturalists, but unfortunately not much of a physiologist, and therefore unprepared to deal with the higher truths of ethnology, supposes several species of white men, and, in regard to the subordinate races, would doubtless multiply them ad infinitum. But at this time, or in the existing state of our knowledge, the number actually known to exist cannot be assumed beyond that already named. They are thus:—1st. The Caucasian. 2d. The Mongolian. 3d. The Malay or Oceanic. 4th. The Aboriginal American. 5th. The Esquimaux; and 6th. The Negro or typical African.

The Caucasian can be confounded with no other, for though in some localities, climate and perhaps other causes darken the skin, sometimes with a deep olive tint, and extending, as with the Bedouins and the Jews of the Malabar coast, to almost black, the flowing beard (more constant than color), projecting forehead, oval features, erect posture and lordly presence, stamp him the master man wherever found.

The Mongolian, though less distinctive, is, however, sufficiently so, for his yellow skin, squat figure, beardless face, pyramidal head, and almond eyes, can scarcely be confounded with any other form of man. The Malay is less known, and therefore more difficult to describe. They are darker than the Mongol, though in some islands of a bright copper color, and indeed, vary from light olive to dark brown, and as in the case of the Australians, to deep black, but with no other approximation to the Negro.

The vast populations known under the term Papuan, and mainly Malay, are doubtless extensively mixed with the Negro, for however remote the time, or whatever the form or mode, real negro populations have resided in tropical Asia, and left behind them these remains of their former existence. In some islands, like New Zealand, etc., the ruling dynasties or principal families have a considerable infusion of Caucasian blood, which is shown in their tall, erect form, more or less beard, fair complexion, and manly presence, and intellectually in their prompt and often intelligent acceptance of Christianity.

The Indian, American, or Aboriginal, needs no description; suffice it to say that, from the mouth of the Columbia River to Cape Horn, they are the same species. It is quite possible, indeed probable, that some species, formerly existing on this continent, have disappeared—utterly perished. The investigations of Dr. Tschudi warrant this belief, though his nice discriminations in regard to some of the bones of the head are of little or no importance, as all this might be, and doubtless was, the result of artificial causes. But crania discovered in Southern Mexico and Yucatan, as well as in Peru and Brazil, are sufficient evidence to warrant the belief that a still inferior race did once really inhabit this continent, but whether aboriginal or brought here by some superior race, may never be known. The remains of ancient structures in Yucatan, in Peru, in Mexico, in Brazil, all over the southern portion of the continent, show simply the traces of Caucasian intrusion. It has been generally supposed that Columbus and his companions were the first white men that ever visited this continent, but it may have been discovered, and to a certain extent, occupied, at least certain localities occupied, before even Europe itself, or before the period of authentic history. Any one visiting Mexico, Puebla, or other cities of Spanish America, is amazed and bewildered with the contrast between the vast and magnificent structures that meet his eye, and the existing population. He involuntarily asks himself, “Can these people be the authors of all this art, this beauty, strength and magnificence? Can these miserable, barefooted, blanketed, idle and stolid-looking creatures have built these palaces, these churches, these bridges, these mighty structures, which seem to have been built for eternity itself, so strong and secure are their foundations?” Some years hence this contrast would be still more palpable, and left to themselves, a time would come when it would be obvious that the existing population had nothing to do with these structures, for the mixed blood would have disappeared, and there would be only the simple, unadulterated “native American,” as discovered by the Spaniards three centuries ago. And we have only to apply this to the antiquities of America to understand its history, at all events, to understand the meaning of those half-buried monuments so frequently found on its surface. Adventurers, often, doubtless, shipwrecked mariners, were cast upon the coasts of America. Possibly in some cases before Rome was founded, or Babylon itself was the mighty capital of a still more mighty empire, these enterprising or unfortunate men found themselves undisputed sovereigns of the New World. We know that Northmen found their way here in the eighth century, and doubtless they were preceded at intervals by numerous other Caucasians. Settling in some localities they reigned undisputed masters, built cities, organized governments, framed laws, and laid the foundations of a civilized society. But intermarrying with the natives, they were swallowed up by mongrelism, and, in obedience to an immutable law of physical life, doomed to perish, and at a given period, the white blood extinct, there remained nothing to denote its former existence, except the half-buried palaces and ruined monuments yet to be traced over large portions of the continent. The Toltecs, Aztecs, etc., are simply the remnants of these extinct Caucasians, just as the present population, if left alone in Mexico, the latest portion of it, with Caucasian blood, would be the ruling force, and perhaps retain somewhat or some portion of the Spanish habitudes.

The pure native mind is capable of a certain development, but that is fixed and determinate, and beyond which it can no more progress than it can alter the color of its skin or the form of its brain. Powhatan’s empire in Virginia was undoubtedly aboriginal and probably called out the utmost resources and reached the utmost limit of the Indian mind. The Indian has, and does manifest to a certain extent, a capacity of mental action, but this is too feeble and limited to make a permanent impression on the physical agents that surround him, and therefore he can have no history, for there are no materials—nothing to record. The term, therefore, “Indian antiquities,” is a misnomer and the great congressional enterprise under the editorship of Mr. Schoolcraft an obvious absurdity.

The Polar or Esquimaux race has been least known of all, and prior to the explorations of that true hero and true son of science, the late Dr. Kane, was scarcely known except in name. It is both Asiatic and American, but which continent is its birth-place is matter of doubt. The facilities for passing from one continent to the other were doubtless much greater at some former period than at present, and not only men but animals may have done so with ease. Except a few well-known species of animals and vegetables, which are essential to the well-being of the Caucasian, and which have accompanied him in all his migrations, each species has its own centre of existence, beyond or outside of which it is limited to a determinate existence. The Arctic animals are quite numerous, and differ widely from all others, but they are absolutely the same in Asia as in America, and therefore must have passed from one to the other, and man, however subordinate or inferior to other races endowed by nature with ample powers of locomotion and migration, could meet with only trifling obstacles in passing from one continent to the other. This race, though thus far of little or no importance, is doubtless superior to the Negro, for the necessities of its existence, the terrible struggle for very life in those bleak and desolate regions, infer the possession of powers superior to those of a race whose centre of life is in the fertile and luxuriant tropics, where nature produces spontaneously, and where the idle and sensual Negro only needs to gather these products to exist and multiply his kind.

Finally, we have the Negro—last and least, the lowest in the scale but possibly the first in the order of Creation, for there are many reasons in the nature and structure of things that indicate, if they do not altogether warrant, the inference that the Negro was first and the Caucasian latest in the programme or order of Creation. The typical, woolly-haired Negro may have been created in tropical Asia, and carried thence to Africa, as in modern times he has been carried to tropical America. Like other subordinate races, it never migrates, but the extensive traces of its former existence in Asia show beyond doubt that that was either its primal home, or that it had been carried there by the Caucasian long anterior to the historic era. But it is now found in its pure state or specific form in Africa alone, and even here large portions of it have undergone extensive adulteration. Our knowledge of Africa is very limited and consequently very imperfect. African travelers, explorers, missionaries, etc., ignorant of the ethnology, of the physiology, of the true nature of the Negro, and moreover, bitten by modern philanthropy, a disease more loathsome and fatal to the moral than small-pox or plague to the physical nature, have been bewildered, and perverted, and rendered unfit for truthful observation or useful discovery before they set foot on its soil or felt a single flush of its burning sun. With the monstrous conception that the Negro was a being like themselves, with the same instincts, wants, etc., and the same (latent) mental capacities, all they saw, felt, or reasoned upon in Africa was seen through this false medium, and therefore of little or no value. Thus Barth and Livingston encountering a mongrel tribe or community, with, of course, a certain degree or extent of civilization—the result of Caucasian innervation, or perhaps the remains of a former pure white population, note it down and spread it before the world as evidence of Negro capacity, and an indication of the future progress of the race! Myriads and countless myriads of white men have lived and died on the soil of Africa; vast populations and entire nations have emigrated to that continent. At one time there were half a million of Christians (white) and forty thousand inmates of religious houses in the valley of the Nile alone, while three hundred Christian Bishops assembled at Carthage, and it will be a reasonable assumption to say that since the Christian era, there have been five hundred millions of whites in Africa. What has become of them? They have not emigrated—have not been slaughtered in battle, nor destroyed by pestilence, nor devoured by famine, and yet these countless hosts, these innumerable millions, these Christian devotees and holy bishops have all disappeared, as utterly perished as if the earth had opened and swallowed them up. With the downfall of the Roman empire, civilization receded from Africa, and the white population were gradually swallowed up by mongrelism. The Negro, being the predominant element, absorbed, or rather annihilated, the lesser one, and the result is now seen in numerous, almost countless, mixed hybrid or mongrel tribes and populations spread all over that continent. It is certainly possible, indeed probable, that there are two or three, or more species of men, closely approximating, it is true, nevertheless specifically different from the woolly-haired or typical Negro. One of these (the Hottentots or Bushmen) with the true negro features but of dirty yellow color, it would seem almost certain must be a separate species; but until some one better qualified to judge, than those hitherto relied on, has investigated this subject, it is only safe to assume but a single species, and that the other and numerous populations of Africa, however resembling or approximating to the typical Negro, are hybrids and mongrels, the effete and expiring remains of the mighty populations and imposing civilizations that once flourished upon its soil. There may be also other species besides the Mongol in Asia, and beside the Malay in Oceanica, and it is quite probable that some species have totally perished. But it is certain that those thus briefly discussed now exist; that their location, their history, as far as they can be said to have a history, their physical qualities and mental condition, in short, their specific characters, are plainly marked and well understood. Nevertheless, and though all this belongs to the domain of fact, and it is as absurd to question it as it would be to question the existence of diverse species in any of the genera or families of the animal creation, the “world” generally holds to the notion of a single human race. It is not designed to expressly argue this point, for, to the American mind, it is so obvious, if not self-evident, that the Human Creation is composed of diverse species, that argument is misplaced if not absolutely absurd. The European people rarely see the Negro or other species of men, and therefore the notion of a single human race or species (with them) is natural enough, indeed a mental necessity. Ethnologists—men of vast erudition, of noble intellect and honest and conscientious intentions—have devoted their powers to this subject, and volume upon volume has been published to demonstrate the assumption of a single race. Buffon, Blumenbach, Tiedemann, Prichard, even Cuvier himself, have given in their adherence to this dogma, or rather it should be said have set out with the assumption of a single race and collected a vast amount of material—of fact or presumed fact—to demonstrate its supposed truth. Nor is it an easy matter to explode their sophistries or to disprove their assumptions. With great and admitted claims to scientific acquirement and powers of reasoning, they combine undoubted honesty of intention and seemingly careful and patient investigation, and the amount or extent of evidence adduced, the elaborate and mighty array of fact, of learned and imposing authority appealed to, and the fatiguing if not unwarrantable argument put forward, made it, and still make it difficult to reply to them or to disprove their assumptions. Any question, no matter what its nature, or however deficient in the elements of truth, still admits of argument, and falsehood may often lead astray the reason even when the judgment itself is convinced to the contrary. And these European advocates of the dogma of a single race have such a boundless field for discussion, can so bewilder and fatigue the reason as well as pervert the imagination by their plausible arguments, drawn from the analysis of animal life, that it is not wonderful they should lead astray the popular mind; nor is it surprising that those among us claiming to be men of science should bow to their authority, for though common sense rejects their arguments, there are few of sufficient mental independence to withstand that authority, when backed up by such an imposing array of distinguished names. But the strong common sense that distinguishes our people will not be, indeed, cannot be, deceived on this subject. The American or the Southern knows that the Negro is a Negro, and is not a Caucasian, just as clearly, absolutely and unmistakably as he knows that black is black and is not white, that a man is a man and is not a woman—that a pigeon is a pigeon and is not a robin—or a shad a shad and not a salmon. He sees negro parents have negro offspring; that Indians have Indian offspring; and that whites have white offspring, “each after its kind,” with the same regularity, uniformity and perfect certainty that is witnessed in all other forms of existence. There is not a white man or woman in the Union who, if told of such a thing as white parents with negro offspring, or negroes with white offspring, would believe it, even if sworn to by a million of witnesses. Such a belief or such a conception would be as monstrous, and indeed impossible, as to suppose that robins had begotten pigeons or horses asses. And the constant witnessing of this—this undeviating and perpetual order in the economy of animal life, demonstrates the specific character of the Negro beyond doubt or possible mistake. Irishmen, Germans, Frenchmen, etc., come here, settle down, become citizens, and their offspring born and raised on American soil differ in no appreciable or perceptible manner from other Americans. But Negroes may have been brought here three centuries ago, and their offspring of to-day is exactly as it was then, as absolutely and specifically unlike the American as when the race first touched the soil and first breathed the air of the New World. It is not intended, as already observed, to argue this matter, for it is a palpable and unavoidable fact that Negroes are a separate species; and though in succeeding chapters of this work the specific qualities are examined in detail, these detailed demonstrations are merely designed to present the physical differences in order to determine the moral relations, and not by any means to demonstrate a fact always palpable to the senses. Even those foolish people, disposed to pervert terms or play upon words—to admit the fact, thus palpable, but ready to confound and distort the reason by the application or use of false terms, cannot avoid the inevitable conclusion of distinct species. To conceal or keep out of sight this truth, some have thus admitted these every day seen and unmistakable specific differences in dividing races, but a silly as strange perversity has prompted them to use the term “permanent varieties” instead of “species,” as if white and black were variations and not specialties. It is a fact, an existing, unalterable, demonstrable, and unmistakable fact, that the Negro is specifically different from ourselves—a fact uniform and invariable, which has accompanied each generation, and under every condition of circumstances, of climate, social condition, education, time and accident, from the landing at Jamestown to the present day. The Naturalist, reasoning alone on this basis of fact, says, that which has been uniform and undeviating for three hundred years, in all kinds of climate and under all kinds of circumstances, in a state of “freedom” or condition of “slavery,” under the burning Equator and amid the snows of Canada, without change or symptom of change, must have been thus three thousand years ago. And he reasons truly, for the excavations of Champolion and others demonstrate the specific character of this race four thousand years ago, with as absolute and unmistakable certainty as it is now actually demonstrated to the external sense of the present generation. And the Naturalist, reasoning still further on this basis of fact, says, “that which has existed four thousand years, without the slightest change or modification, which in all kinds of climate and under every condition of circumstances preserves its integrity and transmits, in the regular and normal order, to each succeeding generation the exact and complete type of itself, must have been thus at the beginning, and when the existing order was first called into being by the Almighty Creator.” And contemplating the subject from this stand-point, and reasoning from analogy, or exactly as we do in respect to other and all other forms of existence, the conclusion is irresistible and unavoidable that the several human races or species originally came into being exactly as they now exist, as we know they have existed through all human experience, and without a re-creation, must continue to exist so long as the world itself lasts, or the existing order remains. But a large portion of the “world” believe that the Bible teaches the descent of all mankind from a single pair, and consequently that there must have been a supernatural interposition at some subsequent period, which changed the human creation into its actual and existing form of being. And if there has been, at any time a special revelation made to man, and supernatural interposition in regard to other things, then this alteration or re-creation of separate species is no more irrational or improbable than other things pertaining to that revelation, and which are universally assented to by the religious world. A revelation is necessarily supernatural—that is, in direct contradiction to the normal order; but it may be said that the Creator is not the slave of His own laws, and in His immaculate wisdom and boundless power might see fit to change the order of the human creation; and certainly the same Almighty power which took the Hebrews over the Red Sea on dry land, that saved a pair of all living things in the ark of Noah, or dispersed the builders of Babel, could, with equal ease, reform, or re-create human life, and in future ordain that instead of one there should be several species of men. This is a matter, however, in regard to which the author does not assume to decide, to question, to venture an opinion, or even to hazard a conjecture. It is clearly and absolutely beyond the reach of human intelligence, and therefore not within the province of legitimate enquiry. The Almighty has, in His infinite wisdom and boundless beneficence, hidden from us many things, a knowledge of which would doubtless injure us, and the origin of the human races belongs to this catalogue. Men may labor to investigate it, to tear aside the veil the Creator has drawn about it, to unlock the mystery in which He has shrouded it, and after millions of years thus appropriated, come back to the starting-point, the simple, palpable, unavoidable truth. They exist, but why or wherefore, whither they came or whence they go, is beyond the range of human intelligence. We only know, and are only permitted to know, that the several species now known to exist have been exactly as at present in their physical natures and intellectual capacities, through all human experience and without a supernatural interposition or re-creation, must continue thus through countless ages, and as long as the existing order of creation itself continues. This we know beyond doubt or possible mistake, while, whether it was thus at the beginning, or changed by a supernatural interposition at some subsequent period, is now, and always must be, left to conjecture. Those who interpret the Book of Genesis, or who believe that the Book of Genesis teaches the origin of the human family from a single pair, will, of course believe that the Creator subsequently changed them into their present form, while those who do not thus interpret the Bible will believe, with equal confidence perhaps, that they were created thus at the beginning. It is not, nor could it be of the slightest benefit to us to really and truly know the truth of this matter. All that is essential to our welfare we already know, or may know, if we properly apply the faculties with which the Creator has so beneficently endowed us. We only need to apply these faculties—to investigate the question—to study the differences existing among the general species of men, and compare their natures and capabilities with our own, to understand our true relations with them, and thus to secure our own happiness as well as their well-being, when placed in juxtaposition with them. All this is so obvious, and the remote and abstract question of origin so hypothetical and entirely non-essential, that it seems impossible that intelligent and conscientious men would ever seek to raise an issue on it, or that they would overlook the great practical duties involved in the question and engage in a visionary and unprofitable discussion about that of which they neither do nor can know anything whatever. Nevertheless, some few persons seem to be especially desirous to provoke an issue on this matter, not only with science but with common sense, and a certain reverend and rather distinguished gentleman has publicly and repeatedly declared “that the doctrine of a single human race underlies the whole fabric of religious belief, and if it is rejected, Christianity will be lost to mankind!” What miserable folly, if nothing worse, is this! It is a virtual declaration that we must believe or pretend to believe, what we know to be a lie, in order to preserve what we believe to be a truth. The existence of different species of men belongs to the category of physical fact—a thing subject to the decision of the senses, and belief neither has nor can have anything to do with the matter. It is true, the reverend gentleman in question may shut his eyes and remain in utter ignorance of the fact, or rather of the laws governing the fact, and while thus ignorant, may believe, or pretend to believe, that widely different things constitute the same thing—that white and black are identical—that white parents had at some remote time and in some strange and unaccountable manner given birth to Negro offspring; but what right has he to say, to those who are conscious of the fact of different species, and who know, moreover, that negroes could no more originate from white parentage than they could from dogs or cats, that they shall stultify themselves and dishonestly pretend to believe otherwise, on pain of eternal reprobation, or what he doubtless considers such, the loss of Christianity to the world? It is not the desire of the writer to either reconcile the merits of science with those peculiar interpretations of the Bible, or to exhibit any contradictions with those interpretations. An undoubting believer himself in the great doctrines of Christianity, he finds no difficulty whatever in this respect, and would desire to simply state the facts or what he knows to be truth, and leave the reader to form his own conclusions. But the seemingly predetermined design of some to make an issue on this matter, to appeal to a supposed popular bigotry and fanaticism in order to conceal the most vital and most stupendous truth of modern times—a truth underlying all our sectional difficulties, and which, truly apprehended by the mind of the masses, will instantly explode those difficulties—renders it an imperative duty to expose the folly and sophistry of those who strive to keep it out of sight. They assume that the Bible teaches the origin of all mankind from a single pair—that the Mongol, Indian, Negro, etc., with the same origin, have the same nature as the white man, and consequently have the same natural rights, and that we owe to them the same duties that we owe to ourselves or to our own race. And, moreover, they proclaim a belief in this assumption as essential to salvation, or, in other words, that if it be rejected Christianity will disappear from the world. It need not be repeated that the writer will not condescend to argue a self-evident, actually existing, every-day palpable and unavoidable physical fact, or insult the reader’s understanding by presenting proofs to show that the Negro is specifically different from himself—that is a matter beyond the province of rational discussion, and entirely within the domain of the senses; yet, as already observed, in the subsequent chapters of this work the extent of these differences separating whites and blacks will be demonstrated, their physical differences and approximations shown, in order to determine their moral relations and social adaptations. But the assumption that belief in the dogma of a single human race or species is vital to the preservation of Christianity needs to be exposed, as it is in reality as monstrous in morals as stupid and absurd in fact. We cannot believe that which we know to be untrue, and to affect such belief, however good the motive may seem, must necessarily debauch and demoralize the whole moral structure. There are many things—such as the belief in the doctrine of election, original sin, of justification by faith, that admit of belief—honest, earnest, undoubting belief—for they are abstractions and purely matters of faith that can never be brought to the test of physical demonstration, or to the standard of material fact, but the question of race—the fact of distinct races or rather the existence of species of Caucasian, Mongols, Negroes, etc., are physical facts, subject to the senses, and it is beyond the control of the will to refuse assent to their actual presence. Can a man, by taking thought, add a cubit to his stature? Can he believe himself something else—a woman, a dog, or that he does not exist—that black is white, or that red is yellow, or that the Negro is a white man? It is possible to deceive and delude ourselves, and believe or think that we believe many things which our interest, our prejudices, and our caprices prompt us to believe, but they must be things of an abstract nature, where there are no physical tests to embarrass us or to compel the will to bow to that fixed and immutable standard of truth which the Eternal has planted in the very heart of things, and which otherwise the laws of the mental organism absolutely force us to recognize. But the existence of distinct species of men does not belong to this category. It is fact, a palpable, immediate, demonstrable and unescapable fact. We know, and we cannot avoid knowing, that the negro is a negro and is not a white man, and therefore we cannot believe, however much we may strive to do so, that he is the same being that we are, or in other words, that all mankind constitute a single race or species. All that is possible or permissible is to make liars and hypocrites of ourselves—to pretend to believe in a thing that we do not and cannot believe in—to force this hypocrisy and pretended belief on others who may happen to have confidence in our honesty and respect for our ability; and finally, as a salve for our outraged conscience, to deceive ourselves with the notion that our motives are good, and the end justifies the means.

But the advocates of the European theory of a single race are faced by other difficulties, which are quite as unavoidable as those thus briefly glanced at. They demand that the world shall believe in the dogma of a single race, but not one among them will act upon it in practice, or convince others of their sincerity by living up to their avowed belief. If the Negro had descended from the same parentage, or, except in color merely, was the same being as ourselves, then there could be no reason for refusing to amalgamate with him as with the several branches of our race. But on the contrary, the reverend and distinguished gentleman who has ventured to declare that the belief that the Negro is a being like ourselves, is essential to Christianity, would infinitely prefer the death of his daughter to that of marriage with the most accomplished and most pious Negro in existence! If he believed in his own assertions in regard to this matter, then it would be his first and most imperative duty, as a Christian minister, to set an example to others, to labor night and day to elevate this (in that case) wronged and outraged race—indeed, to suffer every personal inconvenience, even martyrdom itself, in the performance of a duty so obvious and necessary. And when this theory was at last reduced to practice, and all the existing distinctions and “prejudices” against the Negro were obliterated, and the four millions of Negroes amalgamated with the whites, society would be rewarded by the increased morality and purity that would follow an act of such transcendent justice. But will any one believe in such a result—that, reducing to practice the belief, or pretended belief of a single race, will or would benefit American society? No, indeed; on the contrary, every one knows—even the wildest and most perverted abolitionist knows—that to reduce this dogma to practice, to honestly live out this pretended belief, to affiliate with these negroes, would result in the absolute destruction of American society. Nothing, therefore, can be more certain than the hypocrisy of those who pretend to believe in this single-race doctrine, for it need not be repeated, that they do not and cannot believe in it in reality. But why should they deem this absurd doctrine essential to their interpretation of the Bible? That the Almighty Creator subsequently changed the order of the human creation is in entire harmony with the universally received history of the Christian Revelation. All the Christian sects of the day admit the doctrine of miracles, or supernatural interposition, down to the time of the Apostles, and the largest of all (the Roman Catholics) credit this interposition at the present day, and therefore those ready to recognize it in such numerous instances, many, too, of relatively trifling importance, but, determined to reject it in this matter of races, are only imitating their brethren of old, and straining at gnats while swallowing camels with the greatest ease. To many persons the great doctrines of the Christian faith carry with them innate and irresistible proof of their divine origin, but the professional teachers of theology depend mainly upon supernatural interposition to convince the world of its truth, and yet by a strange and unaccountable perversity, some of them would reject it in the most important, or, at all events one of the most important instances in which it ever did or ever could occur. But will the sensible and really conscientious Christian priest or layman venture to persist in forcing this assumption, this palpable, demonstrable, unmistakable falsehood, that the single-race dogma is essential to the preservation of Christianity, upon the public? If he does, and if it is accepted by those who look upon him as a teacher, then it is certain that he will inflict infinite mischief on the cause of Christianity. To assume that all mankind have white skins, or straight hair, or any other specific feature of our own race, involves no greater absurdity, indeed, involves the exact absurdity, that the assumption of a single human species does. If it were assumed that we must stultify ourselves, and believe, or pretend to believe, that all mankind have white skins, or Christianity would be lost to the world, there is not a single man in this Republic that would not reject such an assumption with scorn and contempt. White and black are, of course, specialties, but no more so than (as will hereafter be shown) all the other things that constitute the negro being, and therefore the assumption put forward substantially and indeed exactly, is thus: We must believe that whites, Indians, Negroes, etc., have the same color, or the whole fabric of Christianity will be overthrown and lost to mankind!

But enough—all Americans know—for they cannot avoid knowing—that negroes are negroes and specifically different from themselves; they know, moreover, that they differed just as widely when first brought to this continent, and all who understand the simplest laws of organization know that they must always remain thus different from ourselves, and therefore they know that they were made so by the act and will of the Almighty Creator, while when, or how, or why they are thus, is beyond the province of human enquiry, and of no manner of importance whatever.