FRIENDS IN COUNCIL.
On the following Friday evening, Mr. Stillman's pleasant, spacious
parlors were filled to overflowing with a select company of earnest men
and women deeply interested in the welfare of the race.
Bishop Tunster had prepared a paper on "Negro Emigration." Dr. Latimer
opened the discussion by speaking favorably of some of the salient
points, but said:--
"I do not believe self-exilement is the true remedy for the wrongs of
the negro. Where should he go if he left this country?"
"Go to Africa," replied Bishop Tunster, in his bluff, hearty tones. "I
believe that Africa is to be redeemed to civilization, and that the
negro is to be gathered into the family of nations and recognized as a
man and a brother."
"Go to Africa?" repeated Professor Langhorne, of Georgia. "Does the
United States own one foot of African soil? And have we not been
investing our blood in the country for ages?"
"I am in favor of missionary efforts," said Professor Gradnor, of North
Carolina, "for the redemption of Africa, but I see no reason for
expatriating ourselves because some persons do not admire the color of
our skins."
"I do not believe," said Mr. Stillman, "in emptying on the shores of
Africa a horde of ignorant, poverty-stricken people, as missionaries of
civilization or Christianity. And while I am in favor of missionary
efforts, there is need here for the best heart and brain to work in
unison for justice and righteousness."
"America," said Miss Delany, "is the best field for human development.
God has not heaped up our mountains with such grandeur, flooded our
rivers with such majesty, crowned our valleys with such fertility,
enriched our mines with such wealth, that they should only minister to
grasping greed and sensuous enjoyment."
"Climate, soil, and physical environments," said Professor Gradnor,
"have much to do with shaping national characteristics. If in Africa,
under a tropical sun, the negro has lagged behind other races in the
march of civilization, at least for once in his history he has, in this
country, the privilege of using climatic advantages and developing under
new conditions."
"Yes," replied Dr. Latimer, "and I do not wish our people to become
restless and unsettled before they have tried one generation of
freedom."
"I am always glad," said Mr. Forest, a tall, distinguished-looking
gentleman from New York, "when I hear of people who are ill treated in
one section of the country emigrating to another. Men who are deaf to
the claims of mercy, and oblivious to the demands of justice, can feel
when money is slipping from their pockets."
"The negro," said Hon. Dugdale, "does not present to my mind the picture
of an effete and exhausted people, destined to die out before a stronger
race. Gilbert Haven once saw a statue which suggested this thought, 'I
am black, but comely; the sun has looked down upon me, but I will teach
you who despise me to feel that I am your superior.' The men who are
acquiring property and building up homes in the South show us what
energy and determination may do even in that part of the country. I
believe such men can do more to conquer prejudice than if they spent all
their lives in shouting for their rights and ignoring their duties. No!
as there are millions of us in this country, I think it best to settle
down and work out our own salvation here."
"How many of us to-day," asked Professor Langhorne, "would be teaching
in the South, if every field of labor in the North was as accessible to
us as to the whites? It has been estimated that a million young white
men have left the South since the war, and, had our chances been equal
to theirs, would we have been any more willing to stay in the South with
those who need us than they? But this prejudice, by impacting us
together, gives us a common cause and brings our intellect in contact
with the less favored of our race."
"I do not believe," said Miss Delany, "that the Southern white people
themselves desire any wholesale exodus of the colored from their labor
fields. It would be suicidal to attempt their expatriation."
"History," said Professor Langhorne, "tells that Spain was once the
place where barbarian Europe came to light her lamp. Seven hundred years
before there was a public lamp in London you might have gone through the
streets of Cordova amid ten miles of lighted lamps, and stood there on
solidly paved land, when hundreds of years afterwards, in Paris, on a
rainy day you would have sunk to your ankles in the mud. But she who
bore the name of the 'Terror of Nations,' and the 'Queen of the Ocean,'
was not strong enough to dash herself against God's law of retribution
and escape unscathed. She inaugurated a crusade of horror against a
million of her best laborers and artisans. Vainly she expected the
blessing of God to crown her work of violence. Instead of seeing the
fruition of her hopes in the increased prosperity of her land,
depression and paralysis settled on her trade and business. A fearful
blow was struck at her agriculture; decay settled on her manufactories;
money became too scarce to pay the necessary expenses of the king's
exchequer; and that once mighty empire became a fallen kingdom, pierced
by her crimes and dragged down by her transgressions."
"We did not," said Iola, "place the bounds of our habitation. And I
believe we are to be fixtures in this country. But beyond the shadows I
see the coruscation of a brighter day; and we can help usher it in, not
by answering hate with hate, or giving scorn for scorn, but by striving
to be more generous, noble, and just. It seems as if all creation
travels to respond to the song of the Herald angels, 'Peace on earth,
good-will toward men.'"
The next paper was on "Patriotism," by Rev. Cantnor. It was a paper in
which the white man was extolled as the master race, and spoke as if it
were a privilege for the colored man to be linked to his destiny and to
live beneath the shadow of his power. He asserted that the white race of
this country is the broadest, most Christian, and humane of that branch
of the human family.
Dr. Latimer took exception to his position. "Law," he said, "is the
pivot on which the whole universe turns; and obedience to law is the
gauge by which a nation's strength or weakness is tried. We have had two
evils by which our obedience to law has been tested--slavery and the
liquor traffic. How have we dealt with them both? We have been weighed
in the balance and found wanting. Millions of slaves and serfs have been
liberated during this century, but not even in semi-barbaric Russia,
heathen Japan, or Catholic Spain has slavery been abolished through such
a fearful conflict as it was in the United States. The liquor traffic
still sends its floods of ruin and shame to the habitations of men, and
no political party has been found with enough moral power and numerical
strength to stay the tide of death."
"I think," said Professor Gradnor, "that what our country needs is truth
more than flattery. I do not think that our moral life keeps pace with
our mental development and material progress. I know of no civilized
country on the globe, Catholic, Protestant, or Mohammedan, where life is
less secure than it is in the South. Nearly eighteen hundred years ago
the life of a Roman citizen in Palestine was in danger from mob
violence. That pagan government threw around him a wall of living clay,
consisting of four hundred and seventy men, when more than forty Jews
had bound themselves with an oath that they would neither eat nor drink
until they had taken the life of the Apostle Paul. Does not true
patriotism demand that citizenship should be as much protected in
Christian America as it was in heathen Rome?"
"I would have our people," said Miss Delany, "more interested in
politics. Instead of forgetting the past, I would have them hold in
everlasting remembrance our great deliverance. Hitherto we have never
had a country with tender, precious memories to fill our eyes with
tears, or glad reminiscences to thrill our hearts with pride and joy. We
have been aliens and outcasts in the land of our birth. But I want my
pupils to do all in their power to make this country worthy of their
deepest devotion and loftiest patriotism. I want them to feel that its
glory is their glory, its dishonor their shame."
"Our esteemed friend, Mrs. Watson," said Iola, "sends regrets that she
cannot come, but has kindly favored us with a poem, called the "Rallying
Cry." In her letter she says that, although she is no longer young, she
feels that in the conflict for the right there's room for young as well
as old. She hopes that we will here unite the enthusiasm of youth with
the experience of age, and that we will have a pleasant and profitable
conference. Is it your pleasure that the poem be read at this stage of
our proceedings, or later on?"
"Let us have it now," answered Harry, "and I move that Miss Delany be
chosen to lend to the poem the charm of her voice."
"I second the motion," said Iola, smiling, and handing the poem to Miss
Delany.
Miss Delany took the poem and read it with fine effect. The spirit of
the poem had entered her soul.
A RALLYING CRY.
Oh, children of the tropics,
Amid our pain and wrong
Have you no other mission
Than music, dance, and song?
When through the weary ages
Our dripping tears still fall,
Is this a time to dally
With pleasure's silken thrall?
Go, muffle all your viols;
As heroes learn to stand,
With faith in God's great justice
Nerve every heart and hand.
Dream not of ease nor pleasure,
Nor honor, wealth, nor fame,
Till from the dust you've lifted
Our long-dishonored name;
And crowned that name with glory
By deeds of holy worth,
To shine with light emblazoned,
The noblest name on earth.
Count life a dismal failure,
Unblessing and unblest,
That seeks 'mid ease inglorious
For pleasure or for rest.
With courage, strength, and valor
Your lives and actions brace;
Shrink not from toil or hardship,
And dangers bravely face.
Engrave upon your banners,
In words of golden light,
That honor, truth, and justice
Are more than godless might.
Above earth's pain and sorrow
Christ's dying face I see;
I hear the cry of anguish:--
"Why hast thou forsaken me?"
In the pallor of that anguish
I see the only light,
To flood with peace and gladness
Earth's sorrow, pain, and night.
Arrayed in Christly armor
'Gainst error, crime, and sin,
The victory can't be doubtful,
For God is sure to win.
The next paper was by Miss Iola Leroy, on the "Education of Mothers."
"I agree," said Rev. Eustace, of St. Mary's parish, "with the paper. The
great need of the race is enlightened mothers."
"And enlightened fathers, too," added Miss Delany, quickly. "If there is
anything I chafe to see it is a strong, hearty man shirking his burdens,
putting them on the shoulders of his wife, and taking life easy for
himself."
"I always pity such mothers," interposed Iola, tenderly.
"I think," said Miss Delany, with a flash in her eye and a ring of
decision in her voice, "that such men ought to be drummed out of town!"
As she spoke, there was an expression which seemed to say, "And I would
like to help do it!"
Harry smiled, and gave her a quick glance of admiration.
"I do not think," said Mrs. Stillman, "that we can begin too early to
teach our boys to be manly and self-respecting, and our girls to be
useful and self-reliant."
"You know," said Mrs. Leroy, "that after the war we were thrown upon the
nation a homeless race to be gathered into homes, and a legally
unmarried race to be taught the sacredness of the marriage relation. We
must instill into our young people that the true strength of a race
means purity in women and uprightness in men; who can say, with Sir
Galahad:--
'My strength is the strength of ten,
Because my heart is pure.'
And where this is wanting neither wealth nor culture can make up the
deficiency."
"There is a field of Christian endeavor which lies between the
school-house and the pulpit, which needs the hand of a woman more in
private than in public," said Miss Delany.
"Yes, I have often felt the need of such work in my own parish. We need
a union of women with the warmest hearts and clearest brains to help in
the moral education of the race," said Rev. Eustace.
"Yes," said Iola, "if we would have the prisons empty we must make the
homes more attractive."
"In civilized society," replied Dr. Latimer, "there must be restraint
either within or without. If parents fail to teach restraint within,
society has her check-reins without in the form of chain-gangs, prisons,
and the gallows."
The closing paper was on the "Moral Progress of the Race," by Hon.
Dugdale. He said: "The moral progress of the race was not all he could
desire, yet he could not help feeling that, compared with other races,
the outlook was not hopeless. I am so sorry to see, however, that in
some States there is an undue proportion of colored people in prisons."
"I think," answered Professor Langhorne, of Georgia, "that this is
owing to a partial administration of law in meting out punishment to
colored offenders. I know red-handed murderers who walk in this Republic
unwhipped of justice, and I have seen a colored woman sentenced to
prison for weeks for stealing twenty-five cents. I knew a colored girl
who was executed for murder when only a child in years. And it was
through the intervention of a friend of mine, one of the bravest young
men of the South, that a boy of fifteen was saved from the gallows."
"When I look," said Mr. Forest, "at the slow growth of modern
civilization--the ages which have been consumed in reaching our present
altitude, and see how we have outgrown slavery, feudalism, and religious
persecutions, I cannot despair of the future of the race."
"Just now," said Dr. Latimer, "we have the fearful grinding and friction
which comes in the course of an adjustment of the new machinery of
freedom in the old ruts of slavery. But I am optimistic enough to
believe that there will yet be a far higher and better Christian
civilization than our country has ever known."
"And in that civilization I believe the negro is to be an important
factor," said Rev. Cantnor.
"I believe it also," said Miss Delany, hopefully, "and this thought has
been a blessed inspiration to my life. When I come in contact with
Christless prejudices, I feel that my life is too much a part of the
Divine plan, and invested with too much intrinsic worth, for me to be
the least humiliated by indignities that beggarly souls can inflict. I
feel more pitiful than resentful to those who do not know how much they
miss by living mean, ignoble lives."
"My heart," said Iola, "is full of hope for the future. Pain and
suffering are the crucibles out of which come gold more fine than the
pavements of heaven, and gems more precious than the foundations of the
Holy City."
"If," said Mrs. Leroy, "pain and suffering are factors in human
development, surely we have not been counted too worthless to suffer."
"And is there," continued Iola, "a path which we have trodden in this
country, unless it be the path of sin, into which Jesus Christ has not
put His feet and left it luminous with the light of His steps? Has the
negro been poor and homeless? The birds of the air had nests and the
foxes had holes, but the Son of man had not where to lay His head. Has
our name been a synonym for contempt? 'He shall be called a Nazarene.'
Have we been despised and trodden under foot? Christ was despised and
rejected of men. Have we been ignorant and unlearned? It was said of
Jesus Christ, 'How knoweth this man letters, never having learned?' Have
we been beaten and bruised in the prison-house of bondage? 'They took
Jesus and scourged Him.' Have we been slaughtered, our bones scattered
at the graves' mouth? He was spit upon by the mob, smitten and mocked by
the rabble, and died as died Rome's meanest criminal slave. To-day that
cross of shame is a throne of power. Those robes of scorn have changed
to habiliments of light, and that crown of mockery to a diadem of glory.
And never, while the agony of Gethsemane and the sufferings of Calvary
have their hold upon my heart, will I recognize any religion as His
which despises the least of His brethren."
As Iola finished, there was a ring of triumph in her voice, as if she
were reviewing a path she had trodden with bleeding feet, and seen it
change to lines of living light. Her soul seemed to be flashing through
the rare loveliness of her face and etherealizing its beauty.
Every one was spell-bound. Dr. Latimer was entranced, and, turning to
Hon. Dugdale, said, in a low voice and with deep-drawn breath, "She is
angelic!"
Hon. Dugdale turned, gave a questioning look, then replied, "She is
strangely beautiful! Do you know her?"
"Yes; I have met her several times. I accompanied her here to-night. The
tones of her voice are like benedictions of peace; her words a call to
higher service and nobler life."
Just then Rev. Carmicle was announced. He had been on a Southern tour,
and had just returned.
"Oh, Doctor," exclaimed Mrs. Stillman, "I am delighted to see you. We
were about to adjourn, but we will postpone action to hear from you."
"Thank you," replied Rev. Carmicle. "I have not the cue to the meeting,
and will listen while I take breath."
"Pardon me," answered Mrs. Stillman. "I should have been more thoughtful
than to press so welcome a guest into service before I had given him
time for rest and refreshment; but if the courtesy failed on my lips it
did not fail in my heart. I wanted our young folks to see one of our
thinkers who had won distinction before the war."
"My dear friend," said Rev. Carmicle, smiling, "some of these young
folks will look on me as a back number. You know the cry has already
gone forth, 'Young men to the front.'"
"But we need old men for counsel," interposed Mr. Forest, of New York.
"Of course," said Rev. Carmicle, "we older men would rather retire
gracefully than be relegated or hustled to a back seat. But I am pleased
to see doors open to you which were closed to us, and opportunities
which were denied us embraced by you."
"How," asked Hon. Dugdale, "do you feel in reference to our people's
condition in the South?"
"Very hopeful, although at times I cannot help feeling anxious about
their future. I was delighted with my visits to various institutions of
learning, and surprised at the desire manifested among the young people
to obtain an education. Where toil-worn mothers bent beneath their heavy
burdens their more favored daughters are enjoying the privileges of
education. Young people are making recitations in Greek and Latin where
it was once a crime to teach their parents to read. I also became
acquainted with colored professors and presidents of colleges. Saw young
ladies who had graduated as doctors. Comfortable homes have succeeded
old cabins of slavery. Vast crops have been raised by free labor. I read
with interest and pleasure a number of papers edited by colored men. I
saw it estimated that two millions of our people had learned to read,
and I feel deeply grateful to the people who have supplied us with
teachers who have stood their ground so nobly among our people."
"But," asked Mr. Forest, "you expressed fears about the future of our
race. From whence do your fears arise?"
"From the unfortunate conditions which slavery has entailed upon that
section of our country. I dread the results of that racial feeling which
ever and anon breaks out into restlessness and crime. Also, I am
concerned about the lack of home training for those for whom the
discipline of the plantation has been exchanged for the penalties of
prisons and chain-gangs. I am sorry to see numbers of our young men
growing away from the influence of the church and drifting into prisons.
I also fear that in some sections, as colored men increase in wealth and
intelligence, there will be an increase of race rivalry and jealousy. It
is said that savages, by putting their ears to the ground, can hear a
far-off tread. So, to-day, I fear that there are savage elements in our
civilization which hear the advancing tread of the negro and would
retard his coming. It is the incarnation of these elements that I dread.
It is their elimination I do so earnestly desire. Whether it be outgrown
or not is our unsolved problem. Time alone will tell whether or not the
virus of slavery and injustice has too fully permeated our Southern
civilization for a complete recovery. Nations, honey-combed by vice,
have fallen beneath the weight of their iniquities. Justice is always
uncompromising in its claims and inexorable in its demands. The laws of
the universe are never repealed to accommodate our follies."
"Surely," said Bishop Tunster, "the negro has a higher mission than that
of aimlessly drifting through life and patiently waiting for death."
"We may not," answered Rev. Carmicle, "have the same dash, courage, and
aggressiveness of other races, accustomed to struggle, achievement, and
dominion, but surely the world needs something better than the results
of arrogance, aggressiveness, and indomitable power. For the evils of
society there are no solvents as potent as love and justice, and our
greatest need is not more wealth and learning, but a religion replete
with life and glowing with love. Let this be the impelling force in the
race and it cannot fail to rise in the scale of character and
condition."
"And," said Dr. Latimer, "instead of narrowing our sympathies to mere
racial questions, let us broaden them to humanity's wider issues."
"Let us," replied Rev. Carmicle, "pass it along the lines, that to be
willfully ignorant is to be shamefully criminal. Let us teach our people
not to love pleasure or to fear death, but to learn the true value of
life, and to do their part to eliminate the paganism of caste from our
holy religion and the lawlessness of savagery from our civilization."
* * * * *
"How did you enjoy the evening, Marie?" asked Robert, as they walked
homeward.
"I was interested and deeply pleased," answered Marie.
"I," said Robert, "was thinking of the wonderful changes that
have come to us since the war. When I sat in those well-lighted,
beautifully-furnished rooms, I was thinking of the meetings we used to
have in by-gone days. How we used to go by stealth into lonely woods and
gloomy swamps, to tell of our hopes and fears, sorrows and trials. I
hope that we will have many more of these gatherings. Let us have the
next one here."
"I am sure," said Marie, "I would gladly welcome such a conference at
any time. I think such meetings would be so helpful to our young
people."