Thy brother in black has a controversy with thee. And his Advocate is thy Judge. Listen to the plea: “All the fields cleared and tilled in this broad south land, we cleared and tilled them. The roads that are made we made them, the bridges built we built them. We have been like Joseph in Egypt, whatever has been done here we have been the doers of it. We are American citizens. We have bought our citizenship dear with the sweat of our bodies and the blood of our backs. We have waded the red sea to freedom. The hands that reaped your fields for nought are held out to you for knowledge. We ask for our share of your civilization and your Christianity.” Fellow Christians, the back pay must be made up. * * * * * DOES THE HIGHER EDUCATION BEFIT THE NEGRO? BY PRESIDENT H. S. DE FOREST, D.D. It was once believed that a little learning was a dangerous thing, but it is now held that much learning is perilous to the negro. His risk is in over-education. Manual training is good for him, of course. He has a natural talent for that which came down from inheritance and has been worked in with both care and pains. He also needs moral training, though this is not an ancient heir-loom in his family. But for his mental development, the fundamental branches, few and simple, are thought to be enough. The higher range of study, even if he be capable of reaching it, would only harm him and unfit him for his place. This opinion, held by not a few, has been stated by Bishop Pierce as follows: “The negroes are entitled to elementary education the same as the whites from the hands of the State. It is the duty of the church to improve the colored ministry, but by theological training rather than by literary education. In my judgment, higher education, so-called, would be a positive calamity to the negroes. It would increase the friction between the races, producing endless strifes, elevate negro aspirations far above the station he was created to fill, and resolve the whole into a political faction, full of strife, mischief and turbulence. Negroes ought to be taught that the respect of the white race can only be obtained by good character and conduct. My conviction is that negroes have no right in juries, legislatures, or in public office. Right involves character and qualification. The appointment of any colored man to office by the Government is an insult to the Southern people, and provokes conflict and dissatisfaction, when if left as they ought to be, in their natural sphere, there would be quiet and good order.”