History of the Negro Race in America from 1619 to 1880 Volume II Part 70

But the little church of twenty-three had become the large church of six hundred. The once commodious house was now too small for the communicants of the church. The pastor began to look around for a place to build, and considered the matter of enlarging the present house of wors.h.i.+p. He had expended the strength of his manhood in the service of his church; he had built one house, and had never denied the public his service. It would seem natural that a man whose life had been so stormy, yea, so full of toil and care, would seek in advanced age the rest and quiet so much desired at that stage of life.

But it was not so with Brother Grimes. He was willing to begin another lifetime work, and with all the freshness of desire and energy of young manhood.

It was now the latter part of the winter of 1873. A revival had been for a long time, and was still, in progress. Converts were coming into the church rapidly. The heart of the pastor was never fuller of love than during the revival. He seemed to be in agony for sinners to be saved. He impatiently paced the aisles, and held private and personal interviews with the impenitent. He disliked to leave the church at the close of the services. He remained often in the vestibule, watching for an opportunity to say a word for the Saviour. Brother C. G. Swan, who preached for him once, said: "I never beheld a more heavenly face; it seemed as if his soul were ripe for heaven."

Those who saw him in the pulpit the last Sabbath he spent on earth--March 9, 1874--will not soon forget the earnestness and impressiveness of his manner. On Wednesday, March 12th, he left the scene of his labors to discharge a duty nearest to his heart. He took $100 from his poor church, as a gift to the _Home Mission Society_, that was to be used in the _Freedman's Fund_.

On Friday evening, March 14th, he reached home just in time to breathe his last in the arms of his faithful, though anxious wife. Thus he fell asleep in the path of duty, in the midst of a mighty work.

The news of his death spread rapidly, and cast a shadow of grief over the entire community. The people mourned him.

The morning papers gave full account and notice of his death. The following is one of the many notices that were given:

"DEATH OF AN ESTEEMED CLERGYMAN.

"The Rev. L. A. Grimes, the well-known and universally esteemed colored clergyman, died very suddenly last evening, at his residence on Everett Avenue, East Somerville. He had just returned from New York, where he had been to attend the meeting of the _Baptist Board of Home Missions_, of which he was a member. He had walked to his home from the cars, and died within fifteen minutes after his arrival. The physicians p.r.o.nounce it a case of apoplexy. Mr. Grimes was pastor of the Twelfth Baptist Church, on Phillips Street, in this city. During the twenty-six years of his ministry in Boston he had won the confidence and regard, not only of his own sect, but of the entire community.

His labors for the good of his oppressed race attracted public attention to him more than twenty years ago, and this interest manifested itself in the generous contributions of Unitarians, Episcopalians, and Universalists in aid of his church. During the thirty-four dark days of the infamous Fugitive-Slave Law, and the excitements occasioned by slave hunts in Boston, Mr. Grimes had a 'level head,' and did much to keep down riotous outbreaks from those who then were told that they had no rights that white men were bound to respect. Fortunate, indeed, will be the church of the deceased, if his successor, like him, shall be able to keep them together, and lead them in righteous ways for a quarter of a century."

On the following Monday morning, at the ministers' meeting, appropriate remarks were made, and resolutions drawn up. The following appeared in the daily papers:

"BAPTIST MINISTERS' MEETING.

"The Monday morning meeting of the Baptist ministers of Boston and vicinity was held at ten o'clock, Monday, as is the weekly custom. After the devotional exercises, the committee to prepare resolutions on the death of the late Rev. Leonard Andrew Grimes made their report to the meeting. Pending the acceptance of the report remarks eulogizing the deceased were made by Rev. R. H.

Neale, D.D., and others. The resolutions, which were thereupon given a place upon the records of the meeting, are as follows: In the death of Leonard Andrew Grimes, for twenty-seven years the pastor of the Twelfth Baptist Church of Boston, the city in which he lived, the race for which he labored have sustained an irreparable loss. The _confrere_ of Daniel Sharp, Baron Stow, Phineas Stow, Nathaniel Colver, Rev. Mr. Graves of the 'Reflector,' he was one whose coming might always be welcomed with the exclamation of our Saviour concerning Nathaniel: 'Behold an Israelite indeed in whom there is no guile.' His last efforts were put forth for his race. He carried to the Board of the American Baptist Home Mission Society, of which he had been for many years an honored member, a large contribution from his church, to help on Christ's work among the Freedmen, and, on returning from New York, stopped at New Bedford to comfort a broken-hearted mother, whose little child was dying, and then came to the city, and in fifteen minutes after crossing the threshold of his home pa.s.sed on to G.o.d.

"His death affected the ministry and churches as when 'a standard-bearer fainteth.' His familiar face was ever welcome.

His resolute bearing, his unswerving fidelity to Christ, to truth, to the church at large, and his own denomination in particular, and his life-long service as a philanthropist, his devotion to the interests of the negro, to whom he was linked by ties of consanguinity and of sympathy, made him a felt power for good in our State and in our entire country. No man among us was more sincerely respected or more truly loved. His departure, while it came none too soon for the tired warrior, impoverishes us with the withdrawal of an all-embracing love, and leaves G.o.d's poor to suffer to an extent it is impossible to describe.

"_Resolved_, That the death of this good minister of Jesus Christ imposes heavy responsibilities upon his surviving brethren. The interests of the race of which he was an honored representative are imperilled. Their n.o.ble champion has gone up higher; but no waiting Elisha saw the ascent, and cried, 'My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and the hors.e.m.e.n thereof'; so who can hope to wear his mantle and continue his work?

"_Resolved_, That we tender to his afflicted widow, and to the church he had so long and faithfully served, this poor expression of our sympathy, and this truthful evidence of our love.

"_Resolved_, That the good of his race, just pa.s.sing from the morning of emanc.i.p.ation into the noonday radiance of a liberty of which they have dreamed, and for which they have prayed, demands that a permanent record be made of this n.o.ble man of G.o.d."

The ministers' meeting adjourned after the reading of the foregoing resolutions, to attend the funeral services, which were to take place in Charles Street Church. At an early hour in the morning the body was placed in front of the altar in the church of the deceased, where it lay in state all the forenoon, and where appropriate services were conducted by Drs. Cheney, Fulton, and others. Thousands, of every grade and hue, thronged the church to have a last fond look at the face so full of sunlight in life, and so peaceful in death.

At one o'clock the remains were removed to Charles Street Church, where the funeral services were conducted with a feeling of solemnity and impressiveness worthy of the sad occasion. The addresses of Drs.

Neale and Fulton were fall of tenderness and grief. Both of these gentlemen were, for many years, the intimate friends of the deceased.

They were all a.s.sociated together in a n.o.ble work for a number of years, and there were no hearts so sad as those of Brothers Neale and Fulton. Clergymen of every denomination were present, and the congregation contained men and women from all the walks of life. The funeral was considered one of the largest that ever took place in Boston.

On the following Sabbath quite a number of the Boston pulpits gave appropriate discourses upon the "Life and Character of the late L. A.

Grimes." The most noticeable were those delivered by Rev. R. N. Neale, D.D., Rev. Justin D. Fulton, D.D., and Rev. Henry A. Cook.

Within the last decade quite a number of educated Colored Baptist clergymen have come into active work in the denomination. The old-time preaching is becoming distasteful to the people. The increasing intelligence of the congregations is an unmistakable warning to the preachers that a higher standard of preaching is demanded; that the pew is becoming as intelligent as the pulpit. The outlook is very encouraging. However, the danger of the hour is, that too many Negro churches may be organized. We have the quant.i.ty; let us _have_ the _quality_ now.

FOOTNOTES:

[132] It was our good fortune to be present. We remember distinctly his happy face, his words of grat.i.tude and thanks. And as we looked around every face wore an expression of complete satisfaction.

Part 9.

_THE DECLINE OF NEGRO GOVERNMENTS._

CHAPTER XXVII.

REACTION, PERIL, AND PACIFICATION.

1875-1880.

THE BEGINNING OF THE END OF THE REPUBLICAN GOVERNMENTS AT THE SOUTH.--SOUTHERN ELECTION METHODS AND NORTHERN SYMPATHY.--GEN.

GRANT NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE DECLINE AND LOSS OF THE REPUBLICAN STATE GOVERNMENTS AT THE SOUTH.--A PARTY WITHOUT A LIVE ISSUE.--SOUTHERN WAR CLAIMS.--THE CAMPAIGN OF 1876.--REPUBLICAN LETHARGY AND DEMOCRATIC ACTIVITY.--DOUBTFUL RESULTS.--THE ELECTORAL COUNT IN CONGRESS.--GEN. GARFIELD AND CONGRESSMEN FOSTER AND HALE TO THE FRONT AS LEADERS.--PEACEFUL RESULTS.--PRESIDENT HAYES'S SOUTHERN POLICY.--ITS FAILURE.--THE IDEAS OF THE HON. CHARLES FOSTER ON THE TREATMENT OF THE SOUTHERN PROBLEM.--"NOTHING BUT LEAVES" FROM CONCILIATION.--A NEW POLICY DEMANDED BY THE REPUBLICAN PARTY.--A REMARKABLE SPEECH BY THE HON. CHARLES FOSTER AT UPPER SANDUSKY, OHIO.--HE CALLS FOR A SOLID NORTH AGAINST A SOLID SOUTH.--HE SOUNDS THE KEY-NOTE FOR THE NORTH AND THE NATION RESPONDS.--THE DECAY AND DEATH OF THE NEGRO GOVERNMENTS AT THE SOUTH INEVITABLE.--THE NEGRO MUST TURN HIS ATTENTION TO EDUCATION, THE ACc.u.mULATION OF PROPERTY AND EXPERIENCE.--HE WILL RETURN TO POLITICS WHEN HE SHALL BE EQUAL TO THE DIFFICULT DUTIES OF CITIZENs.h.i.+P.

From 1868 to 1872 the Southern States had been held by the Republican party, with but a few exceptions, without much effort. The friends of the Negro began to congratulate themselves that the Southern problem had been solved. Every Legislature in the South had among its members quite a fair representation of Colored men. Among the State officers there was a good sprinkling of them; and in some of the States there were Negroes as Lieut.-Governors. Congress had opened its doors to a dozen Negroes; and the consular and diplomatic service had employed a number of them in foreign parts. And so with such evidences of political prosperity before their eyes the friends of the Negro at the North regarded his "calling and election sure."

In 1873 a great financial panic came to the business and monetary affairs of the country. It was the logic of an inflated currency, wild and visionary enterprises, bad investments, and prodigal living. Banks tottered and fell, large business houses suspended, and financial ruin ran riot. Northern attention was diverted from Southern politics to the "destruction that seemed to waste at noon-day." Taking advantage of this the South seized the shot-gun and wrote on her banners: "_We must carry these States, peaceably if we can; forcibly if we must._"

An organized, deliberate policy of political intimidation a.s.sumed the task of ridding the South of Negro government. The first step was in the direction of intimidating the white leaders of the Republican organizations; and the next was to deny employment to all intelligent and influential Colored Republicans. Thus from time to time the leaders of the Republican party were reduced to a very small number.

Without leaders the rank and file of the party were harmless and helpless in State and National campaigns. This state of affairs seemed to justify the presence of troops at the polls on election days. Under an Act of Congress "the President was empowered to use the army to suppress domestic violence, prevent bloodshed," and to protect the Negroes in the const.i.tutional exercise of the rights conferred upon them by the Const.i.tution. This movement was met by the most determined opposition from the South, aided by the sympathy of the Northern press, Democratic platforms, and a considerable element in the Republican party.

In 1874 the condition of affairs in the South was such as to alarm the friends of stable, const.i.tutional government everywhere. The city of New Orleans was in a state of siege. Streets were blockaded with State troops and White Line leagues, and an open battle was fought. The Republican State government fell before the insurgents, and a new government was established _vi et armis_. Troops were sent to New Orleans by the President, and the lawful government was restored. The Liberal movement in the North, which had resulted in the defeat of the Republican tickets in Indiana, Ohio, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and even in Ma.s.sachusetts, greatly encouraged the Bourbon Democrats of the South, and excited them to the verge of the most open and cruel conduct toward the white and black Republicans in their midst.

A large number of Northern Legislatures pa.s.sed resolutions condemning the action of the President in sending troops into the South, although he did it in accordance with law. Many active and influential Republicans, displeased with the action of the Republican governments at the South, and the conduct of the Forty-third Congress, demanded the destruction of the Republican party. The Liberal movement had started in 1872. Its leaders thought the time had come for a new party, and counselled the country accordingly.

The Forty-fourth Congress was organized by the Democrats. The Cabinet Ministers were divided on the policy pursued toward the South. In the autumn of 1875 the shot-gun policy carried Mississippi; and from the 6th of July till the Republican government in that State went down into a b.l.o.o.d.y grave, there was an unbroken series of political murders.

President Grant was met by a Democratic Congress; a divided Cabinet: Zachariah Chandler and Edwards Pierrepont were in sympathy with him; Bristow and Jewell represented the Liberal sentiment. Then, the Republican party of the North, and many leading journals, were urging a change of policy toward the South. The great majority of Republicans wanted a change, not because they did not sympathize with the Negro governments, but because they saw some of the best men in the party withdrawing their support from the administration of Gen. Grant. There were other men who charged that the business failures in the country were occasioned by the financial policy of the Republican party, and in a spirit of desperation were ready to give their support to the Democracy.

It was charged by the enemies of Gen. Grant that when he was elected President he had a solid Republican South behind him; that under his administration everything had been lost; and that he was responsible for the political ruin which had overtaken the Republican party at the South. The charge was false. The errors of reconstruction under the administration of President Andrew Johnson, and the mistakes of the men who had striven to run the State governments at the South had to be counteracted by the administration of President Grant. This indeed was a difficult task. He did all he could under the Const.i.tution; and when Congress endeavored to pa.s.s the Force Bill, the Hon. James G.

Blaine, of Maine, made a speech against it in caucus. Mr. Blaine had a presidential ambition to serve, and esteemed his own promotion of greater moment than the protection of the Colored voters of the South. And Mr. Blaine never allowed an opportunity to pa.s.s in which he did not throw every obstacle in the way of the success of the Grant administration. Mr. Blaine has never seen fit to explain his opposition to the Force Bill, which was intended to strengthen the hands of the President in his efforts to protect the Negro voter at the South.

When the National Republican Convention met at Cincinnati, Ohio, in the summer of 1876, there was still lacking a definite policy for the South. Presidential candidates were numerous, and the contest bitter.

Gen. Rutherford B. Hayes, at that time Governor of Ohio, was nominated as a compromise candidate. There was no issue left the Republican party, as the "b.l.o.o.d.y s.h.i.+rt" had been rejected by the Liberals, and was generally distasteful at the North. But the initial success of the Democratic party South, and the loss of many Northern States to the Republicans, had emboldened the South to expect national success. But a too precipitous preparation for a raid upon the United States Treasury for the payment of rebel war claims threw the Republicans upon their guard, and, for the time being, every other question was sunk into insignificance. So the insolence of the "Rebel Brigadier Congress," and the letter of Samuel Jones Tilden, the Democratic candidate for the Presidency, on the question of the Southern war claims, gave the Republican party a fighting chance. But there were a desperate South and a splendid campaign organizer in Mr. Tilden to meet. And with a shot-gun policy, tissue ballets, and intimidation at the South, while a gigantic, bold, and matchless system of fraudulent voting was pushed with vigor in the North, there was little show of success for the Republican ticket. The contest on the part of the Republicans was spiritless. It was difficult to raise funds or excite enthusiasm. The Republican candidate had only a local reputation. He had been to Congress, but even those who had known that had forgotten it. A modest, retiring man, Gov. Hayes was not widely known. The old and tried leaders were not enthusiastic. Mr. Blaine had no second choice. He was for himself or n.o.body. The Democrats prosecuted their campaign with vigor, intelligence, and enthusiasm. They went "into the school districts," and their organization has never been equalled in America.

The result was doubtful. One thing, however, was sure: the Negro governments of the South were now a thing of the past. Not a single State was left to the Republican party. Florida, Louisiana, and South Carolina were hanging by the slender thread of doubt, with the provisions of a returning board in favor of the Republican party. The returning boards were the creation of local law; their necessity having grown out of the peculiar methods employed by Democrats in carrying elections. These boards were empowered to receive and count the votes cast for presidential electors; and wherever it could be proven that intimidation and fraud had been used, the votes of such precincts, counties, etc., were to be thrown out. The three doubtful States named above were counted for the Republican presidential electors. Their work was carried before Congress. A high joint electoral commission was created by law, composed of the ablest men of the two parties in Congress, with the salt of judicial judgment thrown in. This commission examined the returns of the three doubtful States, and decided not to go behind the returns; and, according to a previous agreement, one branch of Congress ratifying, the candidate having the more votes was to be declared duly elected.

The country was in an unprecedented state of excitement; and even European governments felt the shock. The enemies of Republican government laughed their little laugh, and said that the end of the republic had come. British bankers brought out into the light Confederate bonds; while stocks in the United States went through an experience as variable as the weather in the Mississippi valley. The public press was intemperate in its utterances, and the political pa.s.sions of the people were inflamed every hour. The national House of Representatives was a vast whirlpool of excitement,--or, rather it was an angry sea stirred to its depths, and las.h.i.+ng itself into aimless fury by day and by night. When the vote of a State was called, some Democrat would object, and the Senate, which was always present, would retire, and the House would then open a war of words running through hours and sometimes days. When the debate ended, or rather when the House had reached the end of its parliamentary halter, the Senate would again enter, the vote of the State would be counted, and the next one called. Thus the count proceeded through anxious days and weary nights. Business was suspended; and the bulletin boards of commercial 'changes were valueless so long as the bulletin boards of the newspapers contained "the latest news from Was.h.i.+ngton."

In this state of affairs there was need of statesmen at the head of the Republican minority in Congress. There were orators; but the demand was for men of judgment, energy, executive ability,--men in whom the Democrats had confidence, who could put a stop to filibustering, and secure a peaceful solution of a unique and dangerous problem.

These were forthcoming; the late President Garfield and Gov. Foster, then a member of Congress, with Ka.s.son, Hale, and other members of Congress, were among those most active and effective in securing a peaceful result.

When the electoral fight was on, and the end seemed uncertain, these gentlemen stepped to the front and fairly won the reputation of statesmen. They saw that if the filibustering of the Democrats were brought to a close, it would have to be accomplished by the leaders in that party and on that side of the House. Accordingly they secured Fernando Wood, of New York, as the leader in opposition to filibustering, and John Young Brown, of Kentucky, as his lieutenant.