The Rising Son; or, the Antecedents and Advancement of the Colored Race

WM. WELLS BROWN, M. D.

AUTHOR OF “SKETCHES OF PLACES AND PEOPLE ABROAD,” “THE BLACK MAN,” “THE NEGRO IN THE REBELLION,” “CLOTELLE,” ETC.

Thirteenth Thousand.

BOSTON: A. G. BROWN & CO., PUBLISHERS. 1882.

Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1873, BY A. G. BROWN In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.

PREFACE.

After availing himself of all the reliable information obtainable, the author is compelled to acknowledge the scantiness of materials for a history of the African race. He has throughout endeavored to give a faithful account of the people and their customs, without concealing their faults.

Several of the biographical sketches are necessarily brief, owing to the difficulty in getting correct information in regard to the subjects treated upon. Some have been omitted on account of the same cause.

WM. WELLS BROWN.

Cambridgeport, Mass.

PUBLISHERS’ NOTE TO THE 13TH EDITION.

Few works written upon the colored race have equaled in circulation “The Rising Son.”

In the past two years the sales have more than doubled in the Southern States, and the demand for the book is greatly on the increase. Twelve thousand copies have already been sold; and if this can be taken as an index to the future, we may look forward with hope that the colored citizens are beginning to appreciate their own authors.

WELCOME TO “THE RISING SON.”

BY ELIJAH W. SMITH.

Come forth, historian of our race, And with the pen of Truth Bring to our claim to Manhood’s rights, The strength of written proof; Draw back the curtain of the past, And lift the ages’ pall, That we may view the portraits grand That hang on History’s wall!

Tell of a race whose onward tide Was often swelled with tears; In whose hearts bondage has not quenched The fire of former years When Hannibal’s resistless hosts Wrought his imperial will, And brave Toussaint to freedom called, From Hayti’s vine-clad hill.

Write when, in these, our later days, Earth’s noble ones are named, We have a roll of honor, too, Of which we’re not ashamed; If, for the errors of the past, In chains did we atone, God, from our race’s sepulchre, Hath rolled away the stone.

And our dear land, that long hath slept Beneath oppression’s spell, Welcomes the manly fortitude That stood the test so well; Bearing the record, blazoned o’er With deeds of valor done, Up to the Future’s golden door He comes, the “Rising Son.”

The battle’s din hath passed away, And o’er the furrowed plain Spring, fresh and green, the tender blades Of Freedom’s golden grain; But eagle eyes must watch the field, Lest the fell foe should dare To scatter, while the sowers sleep, Proscription’s noxious snare.

Lo! shadowy ’mid the forest-trees Their demon forms are seen, And lurid light of baleful eyes Flash through the foliage green; And till completed is the work So gloriously begun, A sentry true on Freedom’s walls Stand thou, O “Rising Son!”

Go forth! the harbinger of days More glorious than the past; Hushed is the clash of hostile steel, The bugle’s battle-blast; Go, herald of the promised time, When men of every land Shall hasten joyfully to grasp The Ethiope’s outstretched hand!

CONTENTS.