The world has changed! I have had the supreme pleasure of seeing a
man--once a slave--sitting in the seat of his former master in the
Congress of the United States. When I saw that sight, my eyes were
filled with tears. I felt that we had carried out the Declaration of
Independence, that we had given reality to it, and breathed the breath
of life into every word. I felt that our flag would float over and
protect the colored man and his little children--standing straight in
the sun--just the same as though he were white and worth a million!