[23] The good which Banneker did to the cause of his colored brethren did not cease with his life. When the Abbe Gregoire pleaded for emancipation in France, and when Wilberforce afterward labored for the same cause in England, the abilities and character of the black astronomer were brought forward as an argument against the enslavement of his race; and, from that day to this, the friends of freedom have quoted him everywhere as a proof of the mental capacity of Africans. "They found them slaves! but who that title gave? The God of Nature never formed a slave! Though fraud or force acquire a master's name, Nature and justice must remain the same;— Nature imprints upon whate'er we see, That has a heart and life in it, BE FREE!" Cowper. Cowper. [24] ETHIOPIA. BY FRANCES E. W. HARPER. Yes, Ethiopia yet shall stretch Her bleeding hands abroad; Her cry of agony shall reach Up to the throne of God. The tyrant's yoke from off her neck,
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