Seeking Work—Strike of White Employees—Lester & Gibbs, Importers—Assaulted in Our Store—First Protest from the Colored Men of California—Poll Tax.

CHAPTER V 51

"Vigilance Committee" and Lynch Law at "Fort Gunny"—Murder of James King, of William—A Paradox to Present Conditions.

CHAPTER VI 59

Gold Discovery in British Columbia—Incidents on Shipboard and Arrival at Victoria—National Unrest in 1859—"Irrepressible Conflict"—Garrison and Douglass—Harriet Beecher Stowe and Frances Ellen Harper—John Brown of Harper's Ferry—"Fugitive Slave Law"—Flight to Canada.

CHAPTER VII 74

Abraham Lincoln President—Rebellion Inaugurated—Success of the Union Army—Re-Election of Lincoln—Bravery and Endurance of Negro Soldiers—Assassination of Lincoln—Lynching Denounced by Southern Governors and Statesmen—Words of Wisdom from St. Pierre de Couberton.

CHAPTER VIII 85

My First Entry Into Political Life—Intricacies of the Ballot—Number of Negro Schools, Pupils and Amount of School Property in 1898—Amendment to Constitution and Interview with Vice-President Schuyler Colfax at Victoria, B. C.—William Lloyd Garrison, Jr., and James Russell Lowell on the Right to Vote.

CHAPTER IX 93

Philip A. Bell, a Veteran Editor of the "Negro Press"—British Columbia, Its Early History, Efforts for Annexation to the United States—Meeting with Lady Franklin, Widow of Sir John Franklin, the Arctic Explorer, in 1859—Union of British Columbia with the Dominion of Canada in 1868, the Political Issue—Queen Charlotte Island—Anthracite Coal Company—Director, Contractor and Shipper of First Cargo of Anthracite Coal on the Pacific Coast—Indians and Their Peculiarities.

CHAPTER X 107

An Incident of Peril—My Return to the United States in 1869—Thoughts and Feelings En Route—Entered Oberlin Law College and Graduated—Visit to my Brother, J. C. Gibbs, Secretary of State of Florida—A Delegate to the National Convention of Colored Men at Charleston, S. C.—"Gratitude Expensive"—The Trend of Republican Leaders—Contribution of Southern White People for Negro Education—Views of a Leading Democrat.

CHAPTER XI 122

President of National Convention at Nashville, Tenn., in 1876—Pen and Ink Sketch by H. V. Redfield of "Cincinnati Commercial"—Colored Leaders Desire to Fraternize for Race Protection—William H. Grey, H. B. Robinson, and J. H. Johnson, of Arkansas, Leaders and Planters—My Arrival at Little Rock, May, 1871—Reading of Local Statutes in the Law Office of Benjamin & Barnes—"Wheeler & Gibbs," Attorneys-at-Law.

CHAPTER XII 134

Politics and Politicians—Disruption of the Republicans in Arkansas—"Minstrels and Brindle Tails"—Early Canvassing in the South, with Its Peculiarities—Ku Klux Visits—My Appointment as County Attorney and Election as Municipal Judge—Hon. John Allen, of Mississippi, His Descriptive Anecdote.

CHAPTER XIII 145

Lowering Cloud on Righteous Rule—Comparison of Negro Progress—Sir Walter Scott in His Notes on English History—George C. Lorimer, a Noted Divine—Educational Solution of the Race Problem—Baron Russell, Lord Chief Justice of England—Civil War in Arkansas—Expulsion of Governor Baxter and Instalment of Governor Brooks at the State Houses—Stirring Episodes—"Who Shall Bell the Cat?"—Extraordinary Session of the Legislature—My Issue of a Search Warrant for the Seal of the State—Recognition of Baxter by the President.

CHAPTER XIV 158

Arkansas Constitutional Convention and New Constitution Adopted—Augustus H. Garland Elected Governor—My Letter from Madagascar on Learning of His Demise—General Grant's Nomination in 1872 at the Academy of Music, Philadelphia—Oliver P. Morton, of Indiana—William H. Gray, of Arkansas—R. B. Elliot, of South Carolina—"Henry at Ajincourt"—Study of Obsolete Languages Versus Industrial Education—Views of Lord Rosebery, ex-Premier of England—Also of Washington Post—United States Have Supreme Advantages for the Negro.

CHAPTER XV 173

Presidential Elector in 1876, Receiving the Highest Vote—President Hayes, His Yearnings and Accomplishments—Protest Against Lawlessness by the Negroes in State Conventions—Negro Exodus from the Southern to the Western States in 1878—Secretary William Windom's Letter—Hon J. C. Rapier, of Alabama, and Myself Appointed by Secretary Windom to Visit Western States and Report.

CHAPTER XVI 185

Appointed by the President in 1877 Register of U. S. Lands—Robert J. Ingersoll on the Benignity of Homestead Law—General Grant's Tour Around the World and His Arrival at Little Rock, 1879—A Guest at the Banquet Given Him—Response to the Toast, "The Possibilities of American Citizenship"—Roscoe Conkling's Speech Nominating General Grant for Third Term—Bronze Medal as one of the Historic "306" at the National Convention of 1880—The Manner of General Grant's Defeat for Nomination and Garfield's Success—Character Sketches of Hon. James G. Blaine, Ingersoll's Mailed Warrior and Plumed Knight—Hon Grover Cleveland.

CHAPTER XVII 195

Honorary Commissioner for the Colored Exhibits of the World's Exposition at New Orleans, La.—Neglected Opportunities—Important Factors Necessary to Recognition.

CHAPTER XVIII 201

Effort of Henry Brown, of Oberlin, Ohio, to