Reading, writing, memorizing, whatever is imitative, or may be learned by rote, will be rapidly acquired; and no schools have yet advanced far enough to show what the average negro mind will do when it grapples with higher branches that require original thought.
Reid reflects on the potential of Black individuals to engage with more complex forms of learning beyond rote memorization.
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It has proved, also, that universal suffrage is the surest guarantee and most powerful stimulus of individual, social and political progress.
It is my firm conviction, that suffrage is not only the best security for freedom, but the most potent agent of amelioration and civilization.
They should strive for distinction by economy, by industry, by sobriety, by patient perseverance in well-doing, by constant improvement of religious instruction, and by the constant practice of Christian virtues.
Ordinarily the simple performance of duty is so blessed of God, that men who live in the doing of it, are the best off, in all respects, even in this world.