Robert W. Woodruff
Library
(lift of
Randall K. Burkett
EMORY UNIVERSITY
Special Collections & Archives
ZACHARIAS A. JONES, D. D.
The Progress of a
Race
BY
ZACHARIAS A. JONES, D. D.
Educational Secretary
Friendship Normal and Industrial College,
Rock Hill, S. C.
STAR-GAZETTE CO.,
ELMIRA, N. Y.
1910.
DEDICATED
IN REMEMBRANCE OF
MY DEPARTED MOTHER, WHOSE
EARLY LIFE AND ENERGY
WAS SPENT AS
A SLAVE
AND TO MY BELOVED WIFE
MRS. EMMA MORROW JONES,
WHOSE SACRIFICE IN MANY DIRECTIONS
HAS BROUGHT ME IN TOUCH
WITH A
PURER CIVILIZATION
TABLE OF CONTENTS
The Achievement of the American Negro 1
Divine Slowness 10
Education and its Material Purpose 19
The Restoration of Lost Joy 24
The New Birth 30
The Power of Christianity 38
Man, the Greatest Factor in History 44
Industrial Education for the American Negro 52
God's Everlasting Power 61
Opportunities of the Twentieth Century 66
Universal Thanksgiving 71
The Making of History 79
PREFACE.
The great antiquity of mankind upon the earth
has been exclusively established. It seems singular
that the proofs should have been discovered as recent¬
ly as within the last twenty-five years, that the
present generation should be the first to recognize
so important a fact as this. Since the early age of
man's history he has been seen almost in every direc¬
tion marching forward in the way of progress and de¬
velopment. The history of the human race is one in
source, one in experience and one in progress. It is
both a natural and a proper desire to learn, if possible,
how all these ages of past history have been almost im
perceptible steps attained toward the higher condi¬
tion; how barbarians by similar progressive achieve¬
ment finally attained to civilization and why other
tribes and nations have been left behind in the race of
progress, some in civilization, some in barbarism and
others in savagery. It is not too much to expect that
ultimately these several questions will be answered in
the course of time. As we stand upon the threshhold
of the twentieth century and witness the inventions
we are forced to acknowledge that we are living in the
greatest age of the history of the world. Ever since
man left the clay he has been passing through various
changes, notwithstanding there have been many prob¬
lems with which he had to meet, many difficulties;
however, he is still marching on. The achievements
and inventions of past history are nothing to be com-
pared with the achievements that await his mind
in the future. While social and civil institu¬
tions, in virtue of their connection with per¬
petual human wants have been developed from
a few primary germs of thought they exhibit
a similar register of progress. These institu¬
tions, inventions and discoveries have embodied and
preserved the principal facts now remaining illustra¬
tive of this experience. Not only that, evolution has
ushered a new hope into the world. The supreme
message of science and philosophy to this age is that
all nature is on the side of man who tries to rise in
the world. For fifty years a race under black skin has
been passing through many changes, working its way
onward and upward to a higher plane of intelligence
and morality. Evolution, progress and development
are not only on her program; these are her programs
for all stars, suns and planets seem that there is an
ascending energy in the universe and the whole world
moves onward with a mighty idea and anticipation.
Evolution and Christianity are the same. The object
of Christianity is a method by which a human being-
is to be made better. Evolution is a method through
which many changes take place.
In writing this preface it might be well to say a
word concerning the mind. Is the mind a new or an
old thing? The mind is not an evolution from be¬
neath. While some of the scientists claim that the
human body has been thousands of years passing
through its many changes we assert that the mind is
an original gift from Heaven. In other words, the
mind is the very breath of God.
As we read history, present and past, and
think of the marvelous progress that has been made
by the Caucasian race and especially the Negro race,
who has played a mighty part in American history, we
come to the question, "Who are the most important
factors in our civilization1?" He, who writes a book is
a wonderful character, but in my judgment he is not
any greater than the man who builds a ship that navi¬
gates the great waters of the deep. The individual
who builds an airship or constructs railroads and
telephones is just as great as he who writes a book. In
studying the progress of the present and past gen¬
erations we are too quickly to reach the conclusion
that the politician, who makes laws to govern this
great country, we sometimes think they are the great¬
est factors in the country, but the humble man or
woman who earn their living by the common occupa¬
tion of life contributes more largely or just as largely
towards the growth of any civilization as the greatest
character in the world.
In sending forth this little book it is the earnest
desire of the author that those who read it may be
inclined to look for greater things and strive in pro¬
portion as time passes on to play a mighty part in this,
our century. It was not my intention to make a book
of my sermons and lectures until recently when speak¬
ing before the State Normal College at Mansfield, Pa.,
one of the professors suggested that it would be wise
for me to make a book of these lectures and sermons.
BIOGE APHY.
Rev. Zachariah Alexander Jones was born March
27th, 1880 in Fairfield County, S. C., fifteen miles from
Winnsboro. He was born out on this country planta¬
tion where both parents were held formerly as slaves,
His mother died in nineteen hundred. His father yet
lives and follows daily the occupation of a blacksmith.
Mr. Jones, senior, has been thrice married and the
second wife was the mother of this young man of the
Cloth. The mother was of Indian descent. Jones is
one of thirteen children born to his mother: seven sons
and six daughters, and the subject of the sketch was
the seventh son. The father could read and write, hav¬
ing been taught by his mistress, and early endeavored
to impress his children with the idea that they must
educate themselves if they would be of service to the
race and country. Both parents were members of the
Baptist Church.
The public school system of the south was very
poor, so young Jones when of school age walked six
miles daily to and from school, the nearest school
building to his plantation home. He did not, however,
enter school until he was twelve years of age. He com¬
menced with the alphabet, not having learned them
prior.
Out of a school term of three months yearly, young-
Jones went only one and a half months, because the
rest of the time he had to work on a farm to help make
a living for the family. This continued until he was
fifteen years of age. At this age lie entered the pub¬
lic school of Winnsboro, entering at the lowest class.
Here he remained until he was eighteen. He worked
at spare hours and supported himself. It was while
in this school that the earnest desire came to him to
enter Benedict College, Columbia, S. C., a Home "Mis¬
sion School of American Baptist Society, but his fin¬
ancial condition was so embarrassing that the way
seemed very dark, and he became quite discouraged.
The barrier was removed, however, through the
courtesy of Rev. J. C. Jackson, a colored Baptist Min¬
ister of Winnsboro, and he entered Benedict.
During the first three years he received fifty dol¬
lars from the Gethsemene Baptist Association through
the influence of Rev. Mr. Jackson, of which organiza¬
tion he was the Moderator. With this amount he
worked his way through college. After being there
one year Dr. A. C. Osborne, President of the College,
gave him a position as butler in his family, and he
worked during hours when not in classes. He spent
four years at this noted institution.
At the age of fifteen he sought pardon of sins and
was adopted into the family of Cod, baptized by Rev.
Mr. Jackson, his benefactor, and united with the Bap¬
tist Church of Winnsboro.
Upon leaving Benedict he begnn life as an office
boy in the employment of Dr. Robert W. Gibbs, a
prominent physician of Columbia. Here he remained
for eight months, saved some money and learned much
from this kind and good man. He returned to his old
home and worked on the farm during spring and sum¬
mer and taught school in fall and winter at a salary
of twenty dollars per month, walking six miles each
day to the very school in which he received his first in¬
structions.
Still thirsting for knowledge, and with a view of
broadening his intellectual capacity, he saved his
spare change for the purpose of entering a higher in¬
stitution.
He heard of Howard University at Washington,
D. C., and having felt divinely called to the office of a
minister in the Church of Christ, he greatly desired to
take up the study of Theology there. His money, how¬
ever, was scarce, yet he made a start for the nation's
capital, with only sufficient funds to get to Charlotte-
ville, Va., one hundred and thirteen miles from his
desired destination. He was fortunate, in that there
was an academy at this place, and here he matriculat¬
ed as a student.
Good instruction was received by him personally
from President Professor Terror; but his stay here
was short, the building being destroyed by fire three
months after his arrival, and again he had to ' * take up
his bed and walk." A second attempt was made to
reach Howard University and this proved successful.
On the night he reached Washington, four hun¬
dred miles from home, he found that he was not the
possessor of one penny. He secured a place to stay,
and remained two nights, leaving his dress suit case,
in which was his wardrobe as security. He wended
his way up the hill to the university, and was permit¬
ted to enter and was given a neat sum of money to
assist him. He was fortunate enough in securing a
place in the city to work, where he got board and lodg-
ing and four dollars per month. He continued at this
employment during school term and worked as a
waiter in a Philadelphia hotel during the summer va¬
cation. It was here he met Ex-Senator Patterson of
South Carolina. This senator became interested in
Jones because of his energy and pluck and conversed
with him freely.
Each week he gave him large "tips" for waiting
upon his family. He remained in the Theological De¬
partment at Howard for three years and then being
judged qualified by the Dean and Faculty of Theology
as a fit expounder of God's eternal truth, they sent him
out ably prepared to battle and immortality.
He was ordained by a Baptist Council of which
Dr. Carry was the Catechiser at Charlotte, N. C., in
nineteen hundred two, and went west to the State of
Indiana. He made his official headquarters at Indian¬
apolis; he, having been appointed by the National Bap¬
tist Convention, state secretary and organizer for the
B. Y. P. U., which position he held for one year.
During his residence in Indianapolis a great political
campaign was on for the election of a mayor. He was
engaged by one of the contesting parties to make ad¬
dresses for which he was well paid. Leaving Indiana
he came to Pittsburg, Pa., where he was called to the
pastorate of the Second Baptist Church of Homestead
where he remained for eighteen months.
Here he built up a splendid congregation from
practically nothing and wonderfully advanced the
people along moral and religious lines. During the
pastorate here he organized the Homestead Bible In¬
stitute, an organization for the purpose of Bible study
systematically among the people. Kev. Jones resigned
this charge to become financial secretary of Friendship
Normal and Industrial College at Bock Hill, S. C.
On this responsible position the excellent ability
of this young man has been tested, for his work has
taken him before the more prominent and educated
people of the white race, and no matter whether in
conversation, preaching from white pulpits, or lectur¬
ing from college platform, this young giant, now but
cwenty-nine years of age, has conclusively proven that
the negro has a brain just as susceptible to training as
any other people, and that he is a man if given a
chance. This young man is destined to rise high in
the race, because his ambition and courage, supported
by his fertile brain will make for him a place.
THE ACHIEVEMENT OF THE AMERICAN
NEGRO.
Lecture Delivered at Mansfield Normal School, March
9th, 1910.
Mr. President and Honorable Members of tlie Faculty:
I very deeply appreciate the chance to address you
at this hour upon the subject of the achievement of
the American Negro. It is with peculiar interest that
1 present this subject, coming from the South where
there is somewhat a different attitude touching upon
the races. I consider it a great honor as well as a
privilege to appear before you this afternoon for the
express purpose of addressing you upon this subject
which I am sure will be of interest not only to the hon¬
orable faculty of this institution but to the students
and all who may witness the occasion.
The population of the United States now com¬
prises probably ninety millions of people, among whom
are to be found representatives of all great races upon
the earth. About four hundred years ago emigrants
from the plains of Europe came to this country for
the purpose of locating new homes. They found liv¬
ing here thousands of copper-colored people, whom
they called Indians. Where these people came from
or how they got here, or why they came, no one has
2
2 THE PROGRESS OF A RACE.
been able to tell. In the early part of the seventeenth
century emigrants began to form settlements along
the Atlantic coast and European emigrants have con¬
tinued to come until the number has reached the enor¬
mous proportion of about 32,000,000. Almost all of
these people came of their own free will to establish
for themselves homes in a new country where the con¬
ditions would be more favorable for their prosperity
and development along all lines. The colored people
brought to this country were not emigrants coming of
their own free will to seek their fortunes in a new
country; they were captured in Africa, carried away
from their homes, friends and relatives and sold in
your country and served a period of two hundred and
fifty-one years. After the expiration of this time they
were made a free people, given the rights and priv¬
ileges of free people in this great commonwealth. At
first the Africans were sold to anyone who would buy
them in any of the colonies. Slavery existed in the
northern portions of the country as well as in the
southern. In the course of time, however, slavery
came to be confined entirely to the southern states.
Northern communities did not altogether favor it be¬
cause it was less profitable in the North and partly be¬
cause of the growth of a strong republican sentiment
against it. From the first introduction of slavery in
this country there were those who looked upon the in¬
stitution as wrong, but it was suffered to remain and
grow until the evils of it became very many and very
manifest. Some of the wisest and best people of the
South, as well as the North, believed that it was abso-
THE PROGRESS OF A RACE. 3
lutely wrong to capture a people who had not learned
the art of civilization in their country.
It is not my purpose, however, in this lecture to
discuss slavery in this country. I desire to speak more
particularly on the achievement of the American Negro
in the South since the Emancipation. I believe that
God, in His wise providence, permitted the negro, who
is sometimes classed as an unfortunate people, to be
captured as slaves for the express purpose of teaching
the entire race what civilization stands for and what
it will do for the world. If the millions and millions
of negroes now living in ignorance on the continent of
Africa are ever to be reached it will be through the
coming generation and especially through the young
men who are being trained in the institutions of the
South, such as Tuskegee Institute of Alabama, the
University of Atlanta, Ga., Fisk University, Nashville,
Tenn., and Friendship College of Bock Hill, S. C.
The achievement of the colored people of this
country since the days of slavery should be attribut¬
ed very largely to the northern white people in that
they have given their millions of dollars for the pur¬
pose of educating the negro in the South. Not only
that, they are assisting the missionaries in spreading
the Gospel throughout the length and breadth of Af¬
rica. Not only have they contributed towards the de¬
velopment of superstitious Africa but they are help¬
ing the missionaries of China, India, Japan, the Isles
of the Sea and other countries of the world. I venture
to say that some of the young men and possibly the
young women of this institution, whom you are train-
4 THE PROGRESS OF A RACE.
mg for higher ideas of life will become missionaries
and preachers of the Gospel to go to foreign countries
to teach men and women the way of salvation. I feel
very free in expressing my opinion towards yon in
saying that America is the most generous republic of
the world, and for this particular reason I believe that
God is going to bless the American people more abun¬
dantly in the future than He has in the past.
Standing as we do, looking back over forty years,
tracing the progress that the colored race have already
made, taking a survey of the present condition of af¬
fairs and our relation to the future, we are able with¬
out the assumption of any extraordinary power to
forecast the time when the historic period of this
great country and nation, of which we are a part, may
embrace even a more larger territory than that already
comprised within its magnificent limits. I believe that
the time will come when its population will be num¬
bered by hundreds of millions, when its wealth will
be far superior to that of any other country in all the
world and when its influence upon the world will far
surpass that ever exerted by any other nation. All
the signs of the times and the teachings of history
clearly indicate the almost limitless possibilities in
the development of the internal power and the world¬
wide inffuence of this great republic.
In speaking to you this afternoon on the achieve¬
ment of the American Negro in the South since the
Emancipation, I feel very grateful for the assistance
given our institution by the northern people and
especially this great commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
THE PROGRESS OF A RACE. 5
We are struggling hard to make this institution whai
it should be and I believe by the assistance of AJh
mighty God the time will come when this institution
and its influence will be felt throughout the United
States of America. We are struggling hard to make
this institution greater in the future than what it is to¬
day and in so doing we will be contributing largely
towards the growth of a people who is now in its in¬
fancy. The object of the institution is to promote in¬
dustrial education, not only that, but we are striving
to lay a solid foundation upon which our children can
continue to build. We are striving to establish a
strong institution whose benefits and privileges shall
be enjoyed by successive generations for a thousand
years to come. In the future those who are living in
the full exercise of whatever privileges or opportuni¬
ties are then afforded will regard those of the present
time, who are helping to determine the nature of our
institutions, either with gratitude for the blessings
they enjoy or with feeling of bitterness or contempt.
If we fail to transmit to them these free institutions
we are betraying ourselves to the God of nature.
In 1859 there were four million, five hundred thou¬
sand persons of negro descent in the United States and
cf these four millions were slaves. The slaves could
be bought and sold and could move from place to place
only by permission; they were forbidden to learn to
read and write and legally could neither hold property
nor marry without consent. Ninety-five per cent, of
them were totally illiterate and only one adult in six
was a normal Christian. The proportion of slaves
6
THE PROGRESS OF A RACE.
among negroes fifty years ago was steadily increasing
and the South was passing laws to enslave free
negroes. The half million free blacks were about
equally divided between the North and South. Those
in the South were a wretched, broken-spirited and
were in a deplorable condition. Today as a free peo¬
ple our heart goes out in gratitude in appreciation to
Almighty God for the blessings bestowed upon a
struggling people. I believe that through the in¬
fluence of our free institutions, by the encouragement
of our friends, I predict a great future for the strug¬
gling race whose achievements in the last quarter of
a century have been marvelous in every direction.
Through the assistance of our white friends of this
country, the South as well, I predict a still greatei
achievement for the race in the future as never before.
We must remember that in the Southern States nine-
tenths of the colored population live and labor. Since
1875 the former slave states have spent $109,708,230.00
for negro education and negro development.
Mr. President and Gentlemen, in my judgment,
there is not any place in all the world that affords bet¬
ter opportunities for the achievement of the negro race
as that of the Southland. It is in the South where
the negro produces millions of bales of cotton annual¬
ly. It is in the South where we produce almost rice
enough to supply one-third of Europe. It is in the
South where God has placed my people and I believe
that the South will be the home for this race for cen¬
turies to come. Every effort should be used, every in¬
fluence should be exerted on the part of the American
THE PROGRESS OF A RACE. 7
white people to help the unfortunate race to work out
its own destiny and solve its problems. We are satis¬
fied the American people have its own problems but
the good book says, "The strong must bear the infirm¬
ities of the weak." The negro problem in this country
is a very great one. In my opinion the time has
come when the American people are willing to help
the race to face this problem. I believe that if a solu¬
tion is to be reached it must be through industrial
education. I also believe that industrial education
will do more in the uplifting of a race and in settling
the solution of a problem. Almost thirty per cent, of
the negro population of the South are leaving the
country and farming districts, making their way to
the large cities of the North. The farm life is more
suitable for the negro than the large cities of the
North. It is a mistake on the part of the race. We
should remain in the Southland and continue to culti¬
vate the soil and help to supply the great markets of
the world.
The negro was freed and turned loose a penniless,
restless, naked and ignorant laborer. Ninety-nine per
cent, of the race were field hands and servants of the
lowest class. Today fifty per cent, of the farm labor¬
ers and servants, over half of these, are working as
efficient modern workmen under a wage contract.
Above these have arisen seven hundred and sixty
thousand farmers, seventy-one thousand teamsters,
fifty-six thousand railway hands, thirty-seven thou¬
sand miners, thirty-four thousand saw mill employees,
twenty-seven thousand porters, twenty-one thousand
8
THE J'h'OdI\ IJSK OF A RACK.
carpenters, twenty-two thousand barbers, twenty-one
thousand nurses, sixteen thousand clergymen, fourteen
thousand masons, twenty-five thousand dressmakers
and seamstresses and eleven thousand blacksmiths.
Fifty years ago my people were not only practical¬
ly penniless but were themselves assessed as real estate.
In 1909 they owned nearly five hundred thousand
homes and among these about two hundred and sixty
thousand farms or more than one-fifth of these they
cultivate, with sixteen million acres of farm land
worth about two million dollars. As owners and rent¬
ers of farms they control forty million acres worth
over five hundred million dollars with a gross income
of $250,000,000.00. It may be interesting to you to
know that the negroes of to-day conduct every seventh
farm in the land and raise every $16 worth of crops,
They have accumulated at least $60,000,000 worth of
property in half a century. Above and beyond this
material growth has gone the spiritual uplift of a
great human race from contempt and amusement, they
have passed to the perplexity of their neighbors, and
within their own souls they have arisen from apathy
and timid complaint to open protest and more and
more manly self-assertion; where nine-tenths of them
could not read nor write in 1859 today two-thirds can.
This then is a transformation of the negro in
America in fifty years. From slavery to freedom, from
four million to twelve million, from denial of citizen¬
ship to enfranchisement, from being owned chattels to
ownership of sixty million dollars in property, from
unrecognizing irresponsibility to an organized group
THE PROGRESS OF A RACE.
9
of life. We should continue to press onward and up¬
ward, believing that the time will come when opposi¬
tions will be forgotten and the negro will show to the
American people that he is capable of higher possibili¬
ties. So it is with the individual who will grasp the
problem of humanity for the purpose of solving it into
its prime factors and will not only be heard as a living
sentiment in the community in which he resides, he
will not only be heard as a living sentiment in a great
commonwealth, he will not only be heard as a living-
sentiment from ocean to ocean, but even from the high¬
est regions of the Klondike to the sultry plains of
Madagascar, and as we are now confronting the prac¬
tical problems of the twentieth century, the American
people of thought, the American people of intelligence,
the American people of education, such as you have
connected with this institution, are becoming more and
more interested in the so-called race problems. As we
read the daily newspapers and magazines we find that
the negro problem is not the only one that has put the
entire world to thinking, it is the emigration question
which is practically the greatest problem of all. The
great problem of Japan is identically the same as the
great questions, namely, getting along with the people
who have emigrated into this country by millions. I
believe that the future solution of the negro is a prob¬
lem within itself and methods should be offered or
suggested for its solution.
''ONE DAY IS WITH THE LORD AS A THOUS¬
AND YEARS."
(Second Peter, 3rd Chap., 8th Verse.)
Theme: Divine Slowness.
The work we would have our Blessed Lord do
while the sun of our day is shining He may take a
thousand years to bring to pass. There need not be
haste on His part to get His work done for the sun of
His day shines on. The shortness of man's day makes
its moments precious. When he undertakes a work he
knows not that he will have time to finish it. This
thought quickens his action and arouses his curiosity,
while it often saddens his heart. But no such stimu¬
lus affects the mind of God. Jehovah is all powerful
and can in a short time accomplish all of His purposes,
but He does not choose to hasten. He takes His time.
He often moves with a slowness that tries the patience
of men who forget that He does not work according to
their clock, that He does not put His day's work into
the space of their day. That what they think He
should do while the penetrating light of the sun is
shining, He may yet take a thousand years to bring to
pass. The God of the universe works with the slow¬
ness of one to whom time offers no limitation. It
seems as if He falls asleep in the presence of His work
which He only can perform. How often in the Scrip-
THE PROGRESS OF 1 RACE.
ii
tures are heard voices calling oil Him to awake. But
is He not desirous of possessing the objects which He
has started to originate? Does He not wish to reach
the ends for which He has started his purposes! Man
hastens the building that he may have the structure
completed. He toils hard that he may as quickly as
possible accomplish his purposes. But while God de¬
sires to have His building completed, to have in pos¬
session the ends He desires, God makes no apparent
haste to satisfy Himself, because He has all of eternity
in which to work out His own plans. He moves slowly.
It may be important for us to notice a few illus¬
trations of this fact. Creation illustrates it. The
earth with its teeming millions of inhabitants and
with its wonderful stages of development did not come
into existence in a few days of solar length. Doubt¬
less the world has been millions of years in passing
through its many stages of growth and development.
We are satisfied that as easily as speaking the word
God could have called all the constellations of the
Heavens, as well as the earth, into existence within the
twinkling of an eye. God did not choose to so perform
His work. The days that marked the progress of
creation from the time that light first shed its rays
through the darkness of chaos until the earth was fit¬
ted for the abode of man, what long centuries were
required to form the earth out of matter hurled from
the sun. What ages to solidify it? Think of the for¬
mation of rocks and the bringing forth of the mighty
seas and planting the towering mountains and up¬
building of continents. What ages to cool the earth
i2 THE PROGRESS OF A RACE.
so that it might become the scene of vegetable life and
then of animal. The geologist holds us spell bound
while he describes the progress of the earth's construc¬
tion and the appearance and progress of life thereon.
What is man as compared to the rocks that lie at the
foundation of the continent? God desired to have
such a world as earth. He desired to have it as a home
for man whom He loved, while as yet he was but a
thought in His mind, and yet God makes no haste to
satisfy His desire. Slowly does God work through un¬
told milleniums towards the goal of His purpose.
Man is a religious being and is so situated and so
constructed that he cannot do without God. His soul
pants for God. He is so constructed that he must
know God as his personal Saviour and Redeemer.
The knowledge of God is as necessary as is nourish¬
ment to his body and it is apparent from the knowl¬
edge we now have of God that it was His desire that
man should be in possession of the grandest revelation
possible to be made known to him. But how slow
God was in making this revelation. Could He not in
the early ages have made Himself known as we now
know Him? He did not, however, choose to do so.
Tens of centuries doubtless rolled away before our
earth came to know God as revealed in Jesus Christ.
In the early times He was known as the God of Abra¬
ham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob and
through the lives of these patriarchs did He manifest
Himself. He was known as the God of Israel and
through that progressive nation did He reveal Him¬
self, but such revelations of God were but as the dawn
THE PROGRESS OF A RACE.
13
of the morning compared with the noontide splendor
which we have in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the
Saviour of the world. God did not give His son to
earth until long ages after the night of sin had settled
upon the soul of man. This slowness is illustrated by
the development of life. The infant, which is nothing
more than a bundle of possibilities, does not become a
gigantic power at once. It requires years of care,
years of protection, and years of struggle before it
reaches years of maturity. The seed does not all at
once appear in the full growing stalk, and the ripen¬
ing grain slowly did it grow. There is first the blade,
then the ear, then the full corn in the ear. Think how
long God takes to grow the oak, that fears not the as¬
saults of the tempests. All at once a nation is not a
gigantic power, it takes centuries of growth, cen¬
turies of labor, centuries of struggle in every direc¬
tion before a nation reaches the height of its ambition.
At a time in the history of the world Rome was
the greatest empire in all the world. It required more
than a thousand years to reach the height of its am¬
bition. What is true of man physically is true of him
every way. All at once he is not at his best in any
part of his nature. How slowly his mind develops
And what is true of vegetable life and the life of man
is true of national life, it requires often ages to de¬
velop it.
The Israelite nation did not reach its greatest
glory at a bound and England did not become a giant
nation at a stride. God works in the realm of our
life as lie did in the realm of inorganic matter when
14 THE PROGRESS OF A RACE.
He moulded it in tlie suns, moons and planets. Slowly
is He ever saying and lias ever said: ''Wait for me."
This slowness is further illustrated by the late¬
ness of the coming of Jesus. When man fell, the prom¬
ise of a Saviour was made, which promise was not soon
fulfilled. Eve thought when Cain was born that the
promised one had come for she had said that she had
gotten a man from the Lord, but it was a murderer
that was born to her and the world rather than a
Saviour. Nations flourished and declined; great phil¬
osophers, historians and astronomers and great states¬
men were born and yet the deliverer promised to the
world did not appear. Tens of milleniums rolled
away until one morning when earth was yet dreaming
of the coming one, the angels sang a glorious song to
the world saying: ''Peace and good will towards all
mankind for this day in the city of David is born a
Saviour." That long waiting earth was left to try
her hand at her own salvation. It no doubt required
ages to demonstrate to her her inability to solve her
own problems, or rid herself of her sin. When the de¬
liverer came, He did not so appear at once to make
men feel and know He had come. There seemed to
be no haste on his part to let men know He had come
to be the Saviour of the world. Indeed again and
again He performed acts that would have awakened
men to see Him as more than a man. He told those
who were interested not to say anything publicly
about what he had done. Jesus had manifested a
consciousness that He had an abundance of time to
perform His work.
THE PROGRESS OF A RACE.
15
The question is sometimes asked: "Why does He
take a thousand years to do what He might do in one
day?" We answer the question, it is His method of
working, it is a revelation of his character as well as
His work. That revelation could be understood only
by a being who had a nature like Himself. The slow¬
ness of God must be a manifestation of His wisdom; to
take myriads of ages to make a world must show forth
the grandeur of a Divine character more than to speak
it into existence in an instant. To hold back His Son
from coming to the earth for untold milleniums after
he had been promised to the world must show greater
wisdom and regard for earth than if He had sent Him
while yet the cherubims with flaming swords guarded
the gates of Eden. It does seem that one of the most
attractive features of the Divine character is God's
patience and that like Himself in this respect He
would have man to become.
God, through His Divine power, waits the attain¬
ments of his hands and certainly we should share His
patience in waiting for the coming of His desire and
the fulfillment of God's purposes regarding the human
family. God in all His workings says two things to
us: "Have faith in me." "Wait for me." There are
thousands of persons who say that they have been
regenerated and that they are on their way to glory
and yet at times they become despondent and fall by
the wayside. This is lack of faith in God. Let us learn
to wait for Him. Let us not imagine that because
things that God has said that He will perform do not
transpire in our day that they will not take place at
16 THE PROGRESS OF A RACE.
all, for when our day is done, it is far from sunset with
His and some time in His day he shall make good all
He has said. This is a most important truth. The sin¬
ners shall not go unpunished. How slowly God moves
in punishing them. So slowly that many imagine that
many of the utterances of the Bible and religious
teachers are false alarms. They think that if it were
true that God hates sin, as it is declared He does, and
that He will punish the sinner, but since men go on in
the way of transgressions without any sign of God's
displeasure upon them, having apparently more en¬
joyment in life than people who fear God; they think
that sin is not such a tremendous feature at all. They
forget that God does not rush to seize upon trans¬
gressors as if excited by their conduct. Through gen¬
erations God allows sin to reign for a thousand years,
yet we believe that according to His divine word they
will be required to appear before the judgment seat of
Christ to give an account of their stewardship here
upon earth. The hosts of wickedness do not seem to
suffer much from the hands of the army of the cross.
The kingdom of Satan seems to be but little shaken
in its power. What vast hopes of the race lie in the
darkness of the blackest night, but if in our day God
should continue to move slowly let us not think that
defeat portends. God's day is long and at some time
in it He will stir Himself and arouse nations to seek
after righteousness and long after our sunset. As a
race, let us learn to wait for God, believing that the
time will soon come when the sun with its beautiful
grandeur will peep out from behind the dark clouds.
THE PROGRESS OF A RACE.
17
Let us not become discouraged but wait for Him, for
He may take a thousand years to accomplish his pur¬
poses or He may take a thousand years to bring us to
a higher standard in this great world which we are
now inhabiting.
EDUCATION AND ITS MATERIAL PURPOSE.
In the educational atmosphere in the United States
of America progress is being made along two differ¬
ent lines, one is the direct establishment of industrial
schools, especially in the South, which are rapidly com¬
ing into operation. The other is the modified charac¬
ter of manual training and instruction so given since
1875. As we ascend in the order of time, human
inventions become more simple and more direct
in their relation to the human mind. With the
production of inventions and discoveries and with the
growth of our free institutions of America and even
of the world, we are led to recognize a gradual enlarge¬
ment and expansion in every direction. The problem
of education is to transmit to succeeding generations
the elements of culture and institutional life that have
been found to be of value in the past with additional
increment of culture, which the existing generation
lias succeeded in working out for itself; to do this and
also to give to each individual the fullest liberty for¬
mulating his own purpose in life and shaping the
destiny of nations and the world at large.
In studying the question of education in Europe,
Asia, Australia and America as well, we find that the
individuals who have arisen in life and especially
those who have become educated, had to work their
own way to the front. As we study the lives of great
men, both ancient and modern, we come to the char-
THE PROGRESS OF A RACE. 19
acter of Aristotle, who was born in Stagira, Macedonia,
and from this fact he is called the Stagirite. For al¬
most a score of years he was a pupil of Plato, as Plato
had been of Socrates. Aristotle was not only the great¬
est philosopher and statesman the world had ever
seen, but he enjoyed the honor of being the instructor
and chosen counselor of Alexander, the Great, the
founder of that great city in Egypt, namely Alexan¬
dria, Egypt.
As the world moves onward in its progessive state
there have been two grand stages of advancement of
liberty in this our country. The first was when the
Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776, made
America free from foreign oppression. The second
when Abraham Lincoln by the Emancipation Procla¬
mation made four millions of slaves free in 1863. The
negroes were set free without homes, without money,
without property, without any conception of morality,
and without education, and today two-thirds of them
are fairly educated.
In studying the history of education we may allow
ourselves to inquire relative to the subject. Our edu¬
cation is never completed. The education of any in¬
dividual commences at birth and continues until
death. The student of education is interested in
Seneca chiefly because he was the instructor of Nero,
that mighty ruler of Rome, whose great civilization
has fallen. Seneca was not only a great writer, but a
great scholar of his generation. The stars and stripes
of a nation cannot help from waving its banner in
proportion to progress made by its subjects through
20 THE PROGRESS OF A RACE.
all ages of its history. In considering the educational
progress of a nation we cannot forget the nation in its
centuries of development. At this point it may be
proper to estimate China in her march of progress to
the world's growth, development and civilization. This
great country, with a historic period extending prob¬
ably more than four thousand years and with a popu¬
lation of four hundred and eighty millions, she has
only contributed nineteen per cent, towards the ad¬
vancement of the world's progress and the world's
development.
The African Negro, coming to America in 1619
against his will under the yoke of bondage for more
than two centuries, has only been free forty-five years
in America and with every nationality pressing him
downward, he is rising with the wheel of progress in
American history and contributed twenty per cent,
towards America's development and American civil¬
ization and the world's civilization at large.
The proud Anglo Saxon, with a growing history of
tens of centuries of development in the march of
financial and intellectual progress of the world, has
contributed more than fifty per cent, towards the his¬
torical and intellectual development in the world's
civilization. If we fail in this age of the world and in
our historic state of development to educate the
younger ones of the nation it will impede the world's
progress for centuries to come. It is the duty of every
parent to see to it that their children are properly
educated. At school we must not only educate them
from an intellectual point of view but they should be
THE PROGRESS OF A RAGE.
21
educated religiously which will advance them wonder¬
fully along other lines. We must not only educate our
children, but we should under all circumstances in¬
struct them religiously, which is the foundation and
chief corner stone of all school instruction. Sixty per
cent., if not more, of the younger generation of the
Negro race has not conceived the real function or idea
relative to education.
In discussing the subject of education it will be
important to mention the object why education should
be sought, or why we should educate our children. In
the first place we should educate them not with the
idea that education will place them in that attitude
where they can earn a living without working for it.
It makes good citizens and gives recognition in every
community or wherever we may cast our lot. Without
education in its broadest sense man is not a fit subject
for society. Without education it is almost a matter
of impossibility for a mother to bring the child to a
higher standard in life. It is education which has
given science its present day prominence and the
world of intellect doubtless the most marked feature
in the history of the past century has been the extra¬
ordinary advances in scientific knowledge and investi¬
gation and in the position held by men of science with
reference to those engaged in other pursuits we ven¬
ture to say that they were men of the letter.
In studying the character of the educators of the
past centuries, we cannot help from thinking and
speaking of Martin Luther, one of the greatest
characters that the world has ever known. But of all
22 THE PROGRESS OF A RACE.
tlie great characters of past history not a single one is
worthy of being compared with the character of our
Blessed Master. All agree that the character of Jesus
was the purest character that we have ever known
For nineteen centuries friends and enemies, scholars
and unbelievers have been studying His character.
They can only say that He is the greatest character
that ever lived. The most critical research, the most
careful examination of His life, His motives, His teach¬
ings only compel the testimonial that He was without
a spot or blemish. The great have studied His sayings
and His life and have bowed in admiration before the
sublime teachings of the Son of God. Faith has been
awakened, hope inspired, love quickened and man re
deemed by the power of Jesus Christ. Scores of bil¬
lions have been influenced by the sweetness and purity
of his life. The spirit of Christianity has led to the
unfolding of hospitals, asylums and institutions of
mercy everywhere; to the establishment of colleges and
universities and to the spread of education, to the
uplifting of the Negro race, not only the Negro race
but all races of the world; to the furtherance of human
brotherhood and to the fostering of peace among all
nations upon the face of Gord's beautiful earth.
We cannot help from rejoicing when we think of
the marvelous progress that is being made in America,
relative to schools, colleges and universities as
well. The annual cost of the schools and higher in¬
stitutions of learning in this country is about three
hundred million dollars, and about two-thirds of that
is raised by local tax, about one-fifth by State tax and
THE PROGRESS OF A RACE.
23
the balance is derived chiefly from permanent funds.
There are five million teachers in the United States of
America, of whom one-third are men and two-thirds
are women. Only ten per cent, of these have had a
professional training. The principal institutions for
training teachers are the Normal Schools, the City
Training School, the pedagogical departments of uni¬
versities and teachers' training classes. To these may
be added the teachers' institute and the summer school
which stimulates and instructs teachers to the extent
that they will be better prepared to instruct those under
their care as they shall go forth from the said institu¬
tions.
"RESTORE UNTO ME THE JOY
OF THY SALVATION."—Psalms 51-12.
Theme: The Restoration of Lost Joy.
Human life belongs to two different worlds, dis¬
tinct yet inseparately interwoven, the world of out¬
ward nature and the world of inward experience.
Since this psalm was composed by the world's
musician amazing changes have passed on, outward
nature in relation to man's life, but the world of in¬
ward experience is substantially unchanged. Even
within half a century or less human labor, discovery
and invention have so modified our relations to the
globe we inhabit and the forces of nature that we
sometimes say we live in a different world, but the
great innerworld of joy, sorrow, love and hate, faith
and unbelief, nobleness and baseness, holiness and sin
is the same in England today as in Judea three thou¬
sand years ago when the psalmist prayed that God
would restore unto him the joy of Thy salvation.
There is still the same room and need for the
prayer of the text. It is still true that it is a prayer
■tthich only the spirit of God can inspire, a prayer
which only the spirit can fulfill. Whoever heard an
individual pray, 4'Restore unto me the joy of wealth
of position or of culture.'' Gold and silver may cause
much joy but it is not essentially joy giving. It may
be possessed in great sums and yet its possessor be
THE PROGRESS OF A RACE.
25
very miserable. Among earth's miserable, gloomy
people are to be found some of its wealthiest. The
occupation of high position may afford delight, but
that delight is dependent on circumstances. The most
exalted on earth may be the most miserable in mind.
The throne of Denmark is not essentially joy-
giving. Royal blood may occupy it and yet long for
peace and joy of mind that the humblest peasant has.
Men of the very highest culture are not by virtue of
their lofty attainments truly happy for glory is not
in itself joy giving, no more than is wealth or position,
but salvation in its very essence is joy giving. He
who possesses a throne may be unable to get real joy
out of his position, but he who has salvation has the
very source of joy within itself.
I.-THE NATURE OF THE JOY THAT IS LOST.
Salvation is that state in which a man is brought
by the agency of the holy spirit when he becomes a
Christian. Out of this state comes the joy for the
restoration of which God's servant prayed. The in¬
dividual who has come to Jesus Christ for salvation
enjoys liberty, peace and prosperity crowns his efforts
with untold gratitude. The eagle confined in an iron
cage against the bars of which it has nearly dashed its
life out to gain its freedom rises towards the skies
screaming with delight when its prison door is thrown
open, but the delight of the liberated bird is nothing
like the sublime joy of a soul who is set free from sin,
nor is it a passing joy that thrills him. The work
God's spirit has wrought within him has given him
26 THE PROGRESS OF A RACE.
one of the highest conditions of real joy the soul of
man can possess. The poor man or woman who is
destitute of life's goods can get more joy and real
pleasure out of the religion of Jesus Christ than he
who has his tens of millions.
II.—IT IS THE JOY OF ELEVATION.
To be saved from sin is to be elevated from
a low state to one of honor and dignity, to be lifted
out of poverty by being made rich. To be elevated
from a low plane of life to a higher plane of distinc¬
tion and civilization may cause great joy and
thanksgiving, but he who is saved from sin has a
reason for gladness which transcends all other rea¬
sons, he is elevated up from the slums into Christ
Jesus. His situation is a divine one. It is a dis¬
tinction greater than any coronation could confer.
Here it is that the soul finds its true environment
and inspiration to progress. Here it finds its true
view point in God dealing with individuals, races
and nations. Here it finds its true light with which
to study God and the sublime wonders of nature.
Glorious elevation through salvation. Salvation was
in reach of man until he fell from grace, after
which it was beyond his reach until God sent His
son from the plains of glory to lift him up and bring
him back to that spiritual plain of Christian happi¬
ness and Christian civilization where he could praise
God from the depths of his heart.
Is it any wonder the Christian is expected to be a
THE PROGRESS OF A RACE.
27
happy man? Look at what more it implies. To be
a Christian it implies elevation to the highest king¬
dom of man's nature. Jesus Christ began a new race
of men, He established a new kingdom and he, who
is saved, is elevated to that kingdom and has a right
to all its pleasures, happiness and privileges. It im¬
plies elevation to the divinest fellowship for he has
the privilege of communing with the Divine Father.
III.—IT IS THE JOY OF CONFIDENCE IN THE
DIVINE CARE.
The Israelites, descendants of Abraham, are
designated in the Bible as being God's chosen people.
God suffered them to be captured and carried away
into Babylon and Egypt where they served a period
of four hundred years, after which God raised up a
statesman, a historian, a philosopher known as
Moses to deliver these people. This is a clear indica¬
tion of God's care for those whom he has designated as
his own. Not only that but God cares for the Ethio¬
pian, whom he said would stretch forth its hand to
God. God cares for everyone. This might be rea¬
soned from his relation to all men, but he cares
especially for those who enjoy salvation. He cares
for them under all life's circumstances; he gives them
access to him in every time of need; he manages all
things in their interests; he suffers no evil to befall
them and has given them promises which make
their souls sing with gladness. The psalmist
says: "My meditation of him shall be sweet." How
sweet to think that the Almighty God of the universe
28 THE PROGRESS OF A RACE.
cares for us. He is safe who is thus cared for, safe
under all circumstances.
It may be necessary at this juncture to ask the
question, "Why did David lose this joy in that it is
said that he is a man after God's own heart!" First,
through companionship. As we are now living in the
twentieth century confronting a civilization superior
to all civilizations heretofore, it is quite necessary, it is
quite important that we should make a very careful
selection in the company that we keep. Every in¬
dividual is regarded and respected in proportion to his
companionship. There was a time in the life of this
historic character when he was in close fellowship
with Jehovah, the maker and creator of all things
but, having listened to some of his friends
doubtless he was persuaded, not only persuaded
but he was led astray just as hundreds and
thousands of our young men and women are being
led today. In David's backslidden condition his state
is miserable. How much is to be desired the return
of the joy he once had should it be given him again,
he would enjoy the liberty that was once given him
with such gladness of mind and heart; he would rise
to that state of soul again and which man's nature can
only advance, and its future would come to have that
attractiveness that often inspired his soul to pray,
"Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation."
Let us ask the question, what is the value of
the joy of salvation? What is its restoration? It is
worth more than ten thousand worlds like this. We
feel confident in speaking to you tonight that there are
THE PROGRESS OF A RACE. 29
thousands of people, yea, tens of thousands, millions,
who have lost this joy. The great question confronts
us tonight as never before, can priests and prophets
restore this joy unto the individuals'? No. But if we
would have this joy, we must go to God in prayer, we
must go to God in faith, we must go to God believing
with all of our hearts that he will "restore unto us the
joy of Thy salvation."
HOW CAN A MAN BE BORN WHEN HE IS OLD?
St. John 3:4.
Theme: The New Birth.
Jesus is stopping at John's house in Jerusalem
where he and his disciples have gone to attend the
feast of the passover, He preaching and teaching his
reforms and the laws governing the kingdom of God.
The news of the miracles at Canaan of Galilee and his
act of driving the money changers from the Temple,
have caused him to be the greatest interest among the
Jews. News of his work and teachings have reached
the members of the Sanhedrim. Indeed some of them,
if not all, have heard him speak and witnessed his
words. Nicodemus, one of the members of the San¬
hedrim, recognizes in Jesus more than an ordinary
man, for he has heard him speak as never man spoke.
Nicodemus recognizes in Jesus at least, a teacher that
has come from God, and fears that he may indeed be
the expected Messiah.
If Jesus is the expected Messiah, Nicodemus does
not want to be one of them who would oppose him, he
wants to be one of the first to accept him. But while
Jesus has exercised divine power both here in Jerusa¬
lem and elsewhere, he does not appear as the Jews ex¬
pected he would, and he does not proceed to set up a
temporal kingdom to give those rulers among the Jews
THE PROGRESS OF A RACE. 31
the position in that kingdom such as they expected.
Nicodemus, however, is open to conviction, he wants
to be right.
If Jesus is the Son of God, he wants to be recog¬
nized as such. If he has a kingdom, Nicodemus wants
to be a citizen of that kingdom, no matter how differ¬
ent it may be from what he expected it should be.
I like a man like that. A man who wants to be
right, even though it is not altogether to his liking.
There is some dependence in that kind of a fellow.
The feast of the passover was observed in the
Springtime, when the spring winds were whistling
through the streets of Jerusalem. The day was dark
and stormy and it was drizzling likely, as Dr. McClin-
tock says, and there were very few people in the
streets.
Nicodemus decides that he will slip up to John's
house and have an interview with Jesus, not many will
notice him and he will satisfy himself.
Because he went up there at night, many have
styled him "The Timid Pharisee," but Nicodemus was
one of the bravest among men. This act of going up
to the house of John at night shows him not a timid
man, but on the other hand a cautious man.
Jesus Christ was yet to the cautious Jew an ex¬
periment. Nicodemus knew of the feeling that existed
Sanhedrim.
He knew that if he would show the least sign of
interest in Jesus Christ and his work, that he would in
all probability lose his place in the Sanhedrim, and at
32 THE PROGRESS OF A RACE.
the same time lose liis place in society, while oil the
other hand should he find Jesus to be a fraud, he would
lose everything. This of course he could not afford to
do. Before he would risk his business and social
standing with the Jews, he would satisfy himself that
Jesus was the expected Messiah.
Nicodemus was in a position somewhat similar to
the position in which we find our political employers of
against Jesus, among the Jews, and especially in the
the large corporations of today. He had to be ex¬
tremely careful what he did.
But blessed be unto God that the day has come
when no man need fear he lose his position or his
standing in society, because of his fellowship with
Christ. The corporation leader or rather manager, the
laborer and the business man knows to a certainty that
he can trust farther, and at the same time get more
and better work out of the faithful followers of Jesus
Christ than from any other men in the world.
Several instances prove that Nicodemus was one
of the bravest among men. Once St. John tells us
when chief priests and Pharisee accused their officers
for not bringing Jesus before them for punishment,
Nicodemus bravely and willingly stood up before
them and said: ''Doth our law judge any man before
it hear him, and know what he doeth?"
When Jesus was crucified and when almost
everybody else had forsaken him, Nicodemus risked
everything "and brought a mixture of myrrh and
aloes about a hundred pound weight, and wound the
body of Jesus in linen with the spices and helped
Tilt: PROGRESS OF A RACE. 33
Joseph to put the body of Jesus in the sepulchre of
stone."
Profane historians tell us that Nicodemus died
at John's house in Jerusalem; poor, worn out, and
despised by the Jews but gloriously saved by Jesus
Christ. Jesus will always save the man who will give
up everything for Him. Jesus seemed to know that
Nicodemus was coming and on what mission he was
coming. Hardly had Nicodemus addressed him, when
Jesus said, "Verily, verily, I say unto thee except a
man be born again, he cannot enter the kingdom of
Heaven." This was a mystery to Nicodemus, and he
inquires, "How can a man be born when he is old?"
He knew that was a physical impossibility. Jesus
used an expression in telling Nicodemus the way a
man may be admitted into the kingdom of God by
using a phrase that was in common use in those days
among the Jews. Every man born into the kingdom
of God. A Gentile who became a Jew proselyte was
viewed by the Jews as "new born."
Historians say that the bride-groom 011 his mar¬
riage, the Chief of the Academy on his promotion, and
the King on his enthronement, were likened to those
newly born, there was a difference, however, with the
Jew, the Gentile proselyte took on the kingdom and
tbo result was a new birth.
"With Jesus you must first be born, to see the
kingdom; first the birth, then the kingdom. Nico¬
demus couldn't understand the possibility of the new
nor the necessity for it. Nicodemus didn't grasp what
Jesus meant was a spiritual birth. When Nicodemus
4
34 THE PROGRESS OF A RACE.
said, "How can a man be born when he is old," Jesus
would inform him that it was not that he conld enter
the second time into his mother's womb and be born,
but that this birth into the kingdom of God is a birth
of water and of the Spirit, born from above, is the
proper translation of the Greek word here interpreted
"born again." Had Nicodemus been a philosopher of
the twentieth century, he could well understand being
born of the Spirit when the birth is from above for that
is the natural way to go from a lower kingdom to a
higher one. Everything that ascends from the lower
kingdom to a higher one is born into the higher king¬
dom by being born from above.
For instance, when you eat celery you eat lime and
other mixtures that formerly belonged to the kingdom
below the vegetable kingdom. How did the lime and
other mixtures get from the mineral kingdom into the
vegetable kingdom above it ? Did it just of itself grow
up into it? No, it did not. A seed came down into
the mineral kingdom from the vegetable, and becoming
born from above the mineral lost itself in the vege¬
table and is no longer a part of the mineral kingdom,
but of the higher, the vegetable kingdom.
So likewise the animal kingdom comes down to
the vegetable kingdom, and as the vegetable is con¬
sumed by the animal it becomes flesh and bone and is
no longer a vegetable but an animal, and having lost
itself in the animal is now a part of the animal king¬
dom, after having been born from above. No man
can ascend up into the kingdom of God, or the
spiritual kingdom which is above us without the spirit
THE PROGRESS OF A RACE.
35
coming after him and receiving him, any more than
the grain of wheat can become a part of man without
the man taking of it and consuming it as food. The
grain of wheat is no longer a grain of wheat after it
has become a part of the flesh and bone of man. "Ex¬
cept a man be born from above he can not see the
kingdom of God," much less enter into it. But Nico-
demus couldn't see the kingdom he was talking about,
and didn't yet understand the new birth. He natural¬
ly inquires, "How can a man be born when he is old?"
"How can these things be!" These are just the ques¬
tions that men are everywhere asking today. "How
can a man be born when he is old?" "How can these
things be?" "If I knew just how this new birth
occurs I would be born again."
If Jesus was here tonight he would reason with
you in this wise: Do you understand how the mineral
and water make celery? Do you understand how the
bread you eat becomes flesh and bone? You believe in
the celery? You believe that bread makes flesh and
bone even though you don't know now? You eat
bread believing that it makes bone and muscle, yet you
don't know how it makes the bone and muscle.
So must you accept Christ believing that in ac¬
cepting Him you are "born again" and become a
citizen of the purer kingdom, the upper kingdom. It
was night in the Springtime when Nicodemus came
to John's house to have this talk with Jesus. The
spring winds were whistling through the streets of
Jerusalem outside of John's house and Jesus said unto
Nicodemus: "The wind bloweth where it listeth and
36 THE PROGRESS OF A RACE.
thou liearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell
whence it cometh and whither it goeth, so is every one
that is born of the Spirit."
We are born from above by faith in Jesus Christ
and his words. We know that there is a kingdom
above us, for our hearts crave for something that noth¬
ing below us can satisfy. We know that the kingdom
above us is in the kingdom of God and that it is a
kingdom for us. This kingdom has everything that
our souls can hunger or thirst for. We know that we
cannot attain that kingdom by any effort in ourselves,
and that there is no other way than Christ's way for
us to attain it.
Therefore when he says that "Ye must be born
from above," it behooves us to know how we are born
from above. When he says, "By faith ye are saved"
we want to know what is the process of faith. If
Jesus comes to all who come to Him, we want to know
how to come to Him.
The man who wants to come to God must first
become sorry that he is a sinner and that he does not
know God. If you really want to come to God, you
gladly confess your sins to him, he is faithful and
just to forgive you your sins. If you feel that you
are forgiven you gladly confess the forgiveness before
men. If you believe on him to whom you have con¬
fessed, the spirit has witnessed with your spirit that
you are a child of God, "born from." Then if Jesus
ie true in every word that he utters, "Believing on the
Son you have everlasting life," "He that believeth
on the Son hath everlasting life." When? Now. How?
THE PROGRESS OF A RACE. 37
"The wind bloweth where it listeth and thou
hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence
it cometh and whither it goeth." So is every one that
is born of the Spirit. You know whether the wind
blows strong or mild, that it blows. If you believe on
the Son you know you have everlasting life, even
though you don't know how you got it. You know it
because you believe it. You believe because the word
says so.
May God lead you to come to Him, and you to
believe on Him, that you may experience the possi¬
bility of the "new birth" and at last enter into the
joys of the everlasting kingdom prepared for the
blessed saints of God from the foundation of the world.
THE POWER OF CHRISTIANITY.
In discussing the various questions, social and
political, there is not a subject that is so important
and worth our serious consideration as that of the
power of Christianity. Before the voice of Napoleon
was heard, or even the eloquence of a Plato, Christ¬
ianity was lifting its cries upon the sandy deserts of
Palestine and the plains of Judea. Christianity has
done more in bringing about a pure civilization than
all of the subjects under discussion and consideration.
There were great scholars before the coming of Christ.
These great scholars and astronomers made calcula¬
tions upon the banks of the Euphrates long ages before
Moses navigated the Nile in his bullrush boat. But
after all how few of the people of these lands, who
boasted of their intellectual intelligence and social
standing, were really educators'? Is it not true that
the masses of the population of these lands were
ignorant in comparison with the great scholars and
historians of this the twentieth century.
As we look upon the pages of history we can see
the idea as never before that there was never an age
of general enlightenment as this, and what are the
lands when this general enlightenment is enjoyed.
However indisposed a historian may be he is obliged
to admit that it was with the appearance of the Hero
of the Cross that the day of this enlightenment of the
twentieth century dawned. Christianity presents to
THE PROGRESS OF A RACE.
39
the human mind the grandest subject for considera¬
tion and thought on this subject begets desire for
greater knowledge. The advancement of intellectual
culture is largely in the hands of the Christian Church.
Is it not true that we boast of our intellectual stand¬
ing as a nation? To what are we indebted for our
standing? Is it not true that the school books com¬
ing by the ^ay of the niissionary. the grammar and
the lexicons of the hitherto unknown tongues are tfte
product of the industry and patient study of the
Hero of the Cross? It was the power of Christianity
that presented to Moses, the Jewish law-giver, a real
idea and true standing of a civilization. It is the
Christian influence of a mother that guides that boy
or girl and brings him or her to a higher standard in
social, political and financial life.
When we come to think of the great characters
of past history we cannot refrain from speaking of
Napoleon, one of the greatest characters that has ever
lived. We are told by early writers that it was the
influence of a mother and the protection of an earthly
father that guided him onward from one stage to an¬
other until he became acquainted with the world's
highest and best civilization.
Men talk today about the achievements of the six¬
teenth, seventeenth and nineteenth centuries; they
talk of the achievements of science and philosophy;
they talk of the teachings of Mohammedanism, the
teachings of Buddhism, the morals of Confucius and
the temperance of Mohammedanism, but what was it
that awoke the dormant sense of man to see his own
4o THE PROGRESS OF A RACE.
worth and the equality of his brotherman? Did not
patient humanity groan through long ages while
science, philosophy and the great religions sided
with his oppressors. What was it that came to man's
relief when there was no eye to pit)r, nor no hand out¬
stretched to save? It was the power of religion; it
was the power of Christianity; it was the power of
Christ which lifted man from degradation, sin and
despair and brought him in touch with God and in¬
troduced him to a pure civilization. It was the power
of Christianity that smote off and is still smiting off
the fetters of sin. It is ever calling louder and louder
to sing the song that Christianity is the greatest power
in all the world.
Compare the civilized world today as to the social
standing of mankind in the early age of the world's
history and we cannot help from admitting that it is
the power of Christianity that has brought about and
is still bringing the races of the world in close com¬
munion with the world's highest and best civilization.
As we think of the many civilizations of the past and
present generations we confess that some have fallen
and there is a possibility of the highest and best
civilization of the world falling. Our civilization is
a composite thing, for if it were analyzed it would be
imprisoned for bigamy. Take the Christian element
out of our civilization and what would we have left?
As we read recent history we find that some of the
opposers of Christianity have made and are making
the assertion that Christianity is losing its grip in
the world and especially upon men. Personally, we
THE PROGRESS OF A RACE.
41
cannot believe that Christianity is losing its grip upon
men. We rather believe that men with all of their
intelligence, with their social standing, with their in¬
tellectual attainments are losing their grip upon
Christianity. Can that be considered a failure whose
presence is necessary to the existence of that civiliza¬
tion under which home flourishes and women are
honored; under which the rights of men are respected
and defended; under which no tyrant can sacrifice to
his rage a subject or sell the lowest menial of his
throne as a slave; under which Cicero would be im¬
prisoned for bigamy, and Marcus Aurelius would be
ostracized for licentiousness?
Some of the great writers of this age advocate the
idea that time is not far distant when the American
Negro will be erased from the book of civilization on
account of his being once a slave. The colored race
are not the only race who were once slaves. As we
read Jewish history we find that this great nation,
which is designated in the Bible as being God's
chosen people, were captured centuries ago and car¬
ried away into Babylon and Egypt where they suffered
persecutions and hardships for more than four hun¬
dred years, after which God brought them out by
sending a great leader known as Moses to bring them
out of bondage, and when they were brought forth
they were introduced to the world's civilization and
since that time they have been making progress
financially, socially, politically and every way that
pertains to a higher standard of life. Athens, the
social and political center of Greece, became at a time
42 TEE PROGRESS OF A RACE.
one of the great slave markets of the world, but as
time passed on nations continued to advance, great
cities were built, slavery gradually was done away
with. Aristotle, who advocated Grecian slavery, his
slaves whom he numbered with his oxen, were as
animals to him. He exhibited them as cattle. When
he desired to sell them and when they were disobedi¬
ent he subjected them to the most cruel torture. He
did not consider his slave a person, but he called him
a body. Not only that but there was no better name
for a slave than a tame animal.
How is it with the mass of Rome's population?
As we listen to Cicero and Seneca talk of the origin
of man we are prepared to learn pleasing things about
his social conditions in the Empire, but instead of
hearing such things our souls are shocked with what
we learn of his treatment. Rome trafficked with men
as perhaps no nation had ever done. She sold them
by the thousands and even tens of thousands, yea, she
sold her own sons to fill her treasury. Rome became
the great slave market of the nation, but in proportion
as missionaries continued to travel through Palestine,
the Isles of the Sea, the various countries of Europe,
introducing Christianity to the uncivilized nations
men became enlightened from a religious and Christ¬
ian standpoint that they recognized the important
truth that it was absolutely wrong to use men as slaves
whom God has created out of the dust of the earth
and made of one blood all nations to dwell upon the
face of the earth.
Some of the intelligent element of this generation
THE PROGRESS OF A RACE. 43
criticise the Bible, some criticise the authors of the
Bible, some criticise the founders of Christianity, but
if it were possible for the civilized world to obliterate
the teachings of Christianity, the teachings of the
Holy Bible from our land and country it would not
be very long before America, with all of its
grandeur, with all of its power, with all of its social
and political standing, and this, our civilization, would
fall just as Rome's civilization fell and went to naught.
As a Christian community we recognize the teachings
of Christ supreme to all other teachings. As a civilized
world we are proud of Christianity because Christian¬
ity has given to the world great men and women, who
are working in proportion as time passes away to
make this world better so that when this generation of
our country and the next generation who come shall be
inclined to exercise more faith in Jehovah and help
to make the community better and recognize this im¬
portant fact that Christianity is the geratest power
in all the world.
"WHEN I CONSIDER THE HEAVENS THE
WORK OF THY FINGERS, THE MOON AND
THE STARS WHICH THOU HAST ORDAIN¬
ED, WHAT IS MAN THAT THOU ART
MINDFUL OF HIM, AND THE SON OF
MAN THAT THOU VISIT HIM."
Psalms VIII-3-4.
Theme: Man the Greatest Factor in History.
What sublime conception of God David had. It
was higher than was possessed by Stoic or Platonic
philosophy. God was to him more than an idea, nor
was he confounded with His works. He was to him
the Maker of the Heavens; the moon and the stars
are works of His fingers. If, as David beheld the
sky assisted by the astronomic light he had and his
sublime conception of God was so grand, how much
grander would it have been if he had seen the heavens
as they now appear to the telescopic eye. But this
great God, who with His fingers with ease with which
the musician touches the organ's keys to produce sym¬
bolic sound, makes moon and stars, creates mil¬
lions of worlds, upholds and protects them all. Not
only does He protect them all, but he cares for man
who is made from the image of God. God has always
had upon His mind man and his present and future
destiny. God had his mind full of man when he made
the light, when he created the earth, when he called
THE PROGRESS OF A RACE. 45
forth the moon, the stars, and constituted and ar¬
ranged them as they are. There is not a star in the
sky, nor a trace of beauty in earth that does not say
that God is not mindful of man, but more than this,
this great God, the Maker of all things, not only
thinks of man and has left the impress of His thought
for him of the things he has made, but He visits his
home and his heart. God does not remain away at a
distance and there think of man, but He comes near to
him. We understand from the study of history and
consulting of science that it is God in the home that
transforms it into an Eden.
This is a wonderful fact that God visits man. To
tell us that Gabriel visits human homes would possibly
arouse the question, "What is there in man to attract
the angelic host of Heaven!" It is no wonder that he
is such a wonderful being because he is made of the
image of God; he is composed of two hundred and
eight bones and thousands of muscles. There must be
extraordinary features in his nature and character for
we are taught in the Holy Scriptures that God does
not show such regard for any being in history as He
shows towards man. To this consideration we shall
proceed to describe man, the greatest character in his¬
tory.
I.—MAN IS A PHYSICAL BEING.
lie comes in contact with the earth and its mater¬
ial progress and development in that he demonstrates
his physical power and turns the forest into cities and
towns and makes the earth to blossom as a rose. It is
46
THE PROGRESS OF A RACE.
a real pleasure to the human mind to see man, the
greatest character in history, not only that but the
offspring of God, in every walk of life. We find him
building ships that navigate the waters of the deep;
we find him flying through space almost as rapidly as
a locomotive; we find him dealing with the great
problems of the age; we find him working in the mines
bringing forth the hidden treasures of earth. We see
him again constructing railways that reach from the
Atlantic to the Pacific. We see him again the inven¬
tor of electricity. Let us look at him again as he
invents the talking machine, and even the telegraph
and telephone that introduced Europe to the Ameri¬
can world almost in the twinkling of an eye. Man is
a wonderful being. As a physical being there are
large provisions made for him. Provisions such as
would be unuseful by any other being on earth. He
only can burn the coal, utilize the metals, turn the
forests into dwellings, the rocks into palaces and
cathedrals. He only can utilize the soil that it may
yield harvest and he only can make the desert rejoice
and blossom as a rose. As a physical being he is a
great utilizer of nature. Man is wonderful in every
walk of life and his form as a physical being adapts
him to be the developer of nature. Think of the
achievements of his hand. Think of the progress that
has been made in past history. Think of the progress
that is being made and new inventions that are being
presented to the world's civilization and the world's
development by man, the greatest character in his¬
tory.
THE PROGRESS OF A RACE. 47
We are proud of history for without history there
could be no record of the past. History teaches us
what transpired and what was done tens of centuries
ago.
II.—MAN IS A SPIRITUAL BEING.
It would be almost impossible for man to know of
God unless he should approach him through the spirit.
What first meets us as we approach man is not all
there is of him. There is more of him than bones,
muscles and blood, he has a self which does not meet
the anatomist's eye, but which uses that which does
not engage the attention as the master does his ser¬
vant, or a mechanic his tools. It is not necessary to
cling to Bible arguments to prove that man is more
than an ordinary being. He is a spiritual being. In
other words there is a part in man that cannot be seen,
or even discovered. It is his sjfrrit, or the soul which
must live through all eternity, either in Heaven with
God or must forever dwell with the unredeemed
spirits that have never known God as their Supreme
Being.
As the creation of matter and the formation of
words are the work of the eternal spirit so are the
transformations of matter into houses and cathedrals.
In order that we rise to the height of our being it is
necessary for us to give attention to our spiritual
nature. Look at the contrast between the man whose
animal nature has his soul's attention, and the man
who, while he cares for his body, cares also for the
soul which was created in the image of God.
48 THE PROGRESS OF A RACE.
III.—MAN IS AN IMMORTAL BEING.
This is a soul delighting truth. How sad would
life become if we were robbed of it. Sooner that the
sun be snatched from the Heavens and the blackest
night set in than that we should be deprived of it.
Sometimes, however, doubt arises of the solidity of
the ground on which we stand. While we assert that
we shall live forever, we open our eyes to all argu¬
ments men may have to make to remove our doubts,
but as they reason from our instinctive desire to live
on as they argue from the wisdom, justice and the
goodness of God. There are men who advocate this
idea, that death puts an end to the immortal being
forever. Death does not put an end to him because
he is an immortal being, he will live forever. The
reasoning of Plato and Socrates and of the many who
seek in the nature of things to find proof of man's
immortality it is not Stilly convincing to the inquiring
mind that there is solid ground on which we stand.
While we declare we shall live forever Jesus Christ,
the Son of God, the Saviour of the World, teaches us
in His blessed word that we shall live as long as God
shall live. His words are rocks more solid than the
foundations of the everlasting hills. He has brought
life and immortality to life through His blessed gospel
which has done more and is doing more to lift up
fallen humanity and solve the great problems that are
confronting the Church of Christ. We shall live on,
when the lamps of the highway of night have been
quenched we shall live on, when the millenniums that
baffle the arithmetic of archangels for numbers shall
THE PROGRESS OF A RACE. 49
have passed by the wreck of all being. While the
eternal throne shall stand we shall live on.
Man was made in the image of God. Sun and
stars, rocks and seas, eagles and lions are expressions
of Divine thought, but man is an expression of God
himself. It is because he was thus made he is able
to consider the heavens the work of God's hand; he
is also able to conceive the thought and ideas of God.
It is because of this he holds fellowship with his
Maker. Man is capable of understanding God because
he is educated intellectually, not only that, but he is
educated spiritually. He is also educated in the direc¬
tion and he is capable of understanding the spiritual
problems of life and especially the great problems
which are now confronting God's church. The past
decade has been striking moral development along
two different lines; higher moral standards in busi¬
ness and political life and an immense extension of
the habit and practice of giving. This is because man
has been brought to this standard of progress and
development through years of struggle, years of work.
The record of generosity in this country for 1909 prob¬
ably surpasses any previous record in any part of the
world. So far as this generosity was reported the
gifts to public institutions during the past year ex¬
ceeded those of any previous years by forty-three
millions of dollars and reached the great aggregate of
one hundred forty-five millions of dollars. Three
years and six months ago these benefactions passed
the one hundred million point. With the return of
the wave of prosperity American generosity has re-
5
5o THE PROGRESS OF A RAGE.
sponded by enormous enlargement of its benefactions.
These gifts are all for human betterment, human
education, human prosperity and especially to make
man the greatest factor in history. The endowment
of education, not only by annual gifts from States, but
by private individuals is becoming to assume a magni¬
tude commensurate with the wealth of the country.
Never before has research had so many tools at his
service, or the opportunity of conducting its enor¬
mously valuable work under such favorable condi¬
tions. The equipment of science for service is one of
the most impressive and beneficent facts of the day.
It is impossible to predict the benefactions that will
flow to humanity from this enormously enlarged ac¬
tivity. This generosity extends not only to colleges,
to science, to medical institutions, but also to the en¬
richment of the country on the side of beauty. During
the past twelve months the art museums of America
have received nearly five millions of dollars. The en¬
dowment of libraries has been increased by about four
millions of dollars, nor has religion, in spite of the
predictions of its decline which constantly fills the
columns of the newspapers and magazines, lost its
hold upon the givers of the nation. Last year there
was devoted to missions over thirteen millions of dol¬
lars in recognition of the fact that the missionary
work of the churches has never been so nobly con¬
ceived and so nobly conducted as today. In the
presence of such a practical backing or the endeavor
to make the world happier, even the pessimist must
feel more cheerful than ever before. These gifts and in-
THE PROGRESS OF A RACE. 51
terests in human progress and human devotion are due
to the fact that man's mind has been awakened and
his intellect is stirred to that extent until he is more
interested today in the world's progress, the world's
movement as never before.
We should not forget nor neglect to embrace all
opportunities to overcome the evil sin has wrought
in us and become nobler and grander in all the parts
of our being and too should we not be mindful of our¬
selves. Many of the human family are dreadfully
fallen. How the low state of many of the race must
grieve God, but low as man may have fallen let us
never forget their origin and that Heaven is more
interested in them than in the shining galaxies of the
skies. Deeply buried under the rubbish of sin there
is a nature which may be reached and brought out
into the light and in the hand of the great Saviour
made again to bear the likeness that may have long
been defaced.
INDUSTRIAL EDUCATION FOR
THE AMERICAN NEGRO
Lecture delivered at Elizabetlitown College, (White)
February 16, 1910.
Mr. President, Honorable Members of the Faculty of
Elizabethtown College, Pennsylvania:
In all the language of compliment I cannot find
words with which to express my very deep apprecia¬
tion and thanks for the courtesy shown me at this
hour in allowing me to speak to you concerning the
great work in which we are now engaged as a race.
The subject upon which I shall speak is '4Indus¬
trial Education for the American Negro." Every age
is a transition age, but in some ages the transition is
more rapid and more noticeable than in other ages,
as sometimes in a year the boy develops into manhood,
as sometimes in a week the skeleton plant bursts into
leafage and perhaps into blossom; so a nation which
has been growing silently suddenly puts forth the evi¬
dence of its growth and both surprises and perplexes
itself by the transformation. Such is the phenomenon
now taking place in American history and American
civilization. It is as though a new created world were
springing up and we were taking part in the process
of creation. Nothing is as it has been. The world is
undergoing a tremendous change, politically, socially
THE PROGRESS OF A RACE. 53
and every way that pertains to a higher idea of
Christian intellectuality, Christian influences and
Christian civilization. Science, literature, education,
religion, all are being new born. There is a new
astronomy, chemistry, physics, new methods of archi¬
tecture almost in every direction.
As I look upon this great institution of learning I
recognize the fact as never before that as an institu¬
tion you are doing a great work in training young men
and women who shall become great and important fac¬
tors in the future, especially pertaining to religious
and intellectual ideas. Without education and
Christian influences it would be an utter impossibility
to bring the world to a higher standard religiously,
morally and every way pertaining to happiness. It
seems to me that the characteristic of the American
people is their love for education. Fostered by public
sentiment there has grown up a magnificent system of
schools, maintained by taxation at an annual expense
exceeding one hundred and fifty-eight millions of dol¬
lars, which including the kindergartens for the very
young, primary, intermediate and grammer schools,
high schools, normal schools and State universities,
are being slowly perfected and are contributing very
largely towards the education of the masses. I believe
that it is only a question of time when chiefly through
its agency the average popular intelligence in America
will be higher than that of any other country in all
the world.
I appreciate very much, indeed, speaking to you
at this juncture and as I look upon you I recognize
54 THE PROGRESS OF A RACE.
this tremendous truth that I am speaking to a people
who was the founder of civilization in this country.
Not only the founder of civilization, but I might say
the greatest people upon which the sun has ever shone.
You, to whom I am now speaking, are our future
doctors, future lawyers, future historians and future
presidents, if not of the nation, presidents of institu¬
tions of learning that are doing a mighty work and
will do a still greater work in the future in teaching
young men and young women of this great race, which
has ever been and ever will be the controlling power
of the world.
Along certain lines there is not any distinction
between the American Negro and the American white
man. Identically they are the same, creatively we
are one. However, we differ in color, differ in
thought, differ in opinions. Not only that, but some
are yellow, some are mulatto. Sometime in the future
operation of God's self-controlling power we will all
stand around the blazing throne of Him who redeemed
us through His blood. The southern Negro is very
much like the southern white man. They breathe the
same air, they get their supply from the same giving
God, they trust in one God, they believe in the same
God in which we believe. In short, I believe, that the
American Negro will become to be an important fac¬
tor, not only that, he will become to be just as good a
citizen as the American white man.
We notice with increasing interest that according
to the census of 1900 the illiteracy of the colored peo¬
ple of this country has been reduced fifty per cent. We
THE PROGRESS OF A RACE. 55
have printed over six hundred books, three hundred
and fifty newspapers, there are two thousand five
hundred lawyers pleading at the bar in the courts of
this great country, two hundred and fifty medical doc¬
tors actually in practice, thirty-three thousand teach¬
ers in schools and colleges. We have accumulated in
the last forty years twenty million dollars worth of
school property and sixty-one million dollars worth of
real estate and personal property. It may be interest¬
ing to the Honorable Faculty, and students as well,
to know that we have paid out twelve million dollars
for educational purposes. Not only have we paid out
this amount of money for educational purposes but
since the American Negro was made a free people
they have raised twelve million dollars with which
they have paid their ministers for preaching the
gospel of Jesus Christ. If the wealth of the colored
people was equally divided there would be $1.10 for
every man, woman and child of the race in these
United States of America.
The Negro is seen and heard in almost every walk
of life. He is in the A. M. E. Zion Church seventy-
one thousand strong; he is in the Congregational
Church fifty-one thousand strong; he is in the Roman
Catholic Church three hundred and one thousand
strong; he is also found in the Baptist Church, the
church of our choice, one million seven hundred thou¬
sand. I am sure, Mr. President and members of the
faculty, that it is encouraging for you to know that
the colored people of the State of South Carolina,
whose Negro population is more than seven hundred
56
THE PROGRESS OF A RACE.
thousand, are making progress in every direction. In
tlie State of Georgia, a former slave State, where there
are eight hundred and fifty thousand Negroes, they
are contributing very largely toward the growth and
development of our national prosperity and national
civilization. At the close of the Civil War there could
not be found in all of the State of Georgia a Negro
who owned a home. Today we must confess without
hesitation that they pay taxes on one million acres of
land in the State of Georgia. They are erecting insti¬
tutions of learning in the South. Not only are we
teaching the American black man the art of civiliza¬
tion, we are teaching them industrial education, which
has done more and is doing more to help settle the
solution of the so-called race question in this great
country of the United States. A nation, a race that
seemingly dies may be born again and even though in
a physical sense it die utterly, it may be handed down
a history of heroic achievements and for all time to
come may profoundly influence the nations that rise in
its place by the impress of what lias been done. Best
of all it is to do our part well. Not only is it our in¬
dispensable duty as a race to do our part well, but we
should strive to become a power in the community in
which we live, not only in the community in which we
are living but in this great country and by doing that
as a race we will contribute largely in making history
and shaping the destiny of the world in which we are
living. You, to whom I am speaking, are in posses¬
sion of the greatest civilization in all the world. The
torch light of civilization has been handed on from
nil] PROGRESS OF A RACE.
57
nation to nation, from civilization to civilization,
thougliout all recorded times, from the dim years be¬
fore history dawned down to the blazing splendor of
the twentieth century. I believe that there are ques¬
tions which you of the great civilized nation are ever
tempted to ask of the future. Is our time of growth
growing to an end? Are we, as a race, soon to come
under the rule of that great law of death which is
itself but a part of the great law of life? None can
tell. Forces that we can see and forces that are
hidden from the human eye are now in operation to
bring us to our eternal home. I believe that we, as
a struggling race today, have a right to feel and be¬
lieve that there are long careers of achievement lying
before us as a nation. We should strive hard for
success even if by so doing we risk failure. Let us
hope that our own blood shall continue in the land and
that our children's children shall yet become to be a
great factor in the community.
The question of industrial education for the
American Negro is worth our careful consideration,
not only at this period in which we are living, but for
the future years to come.
THE QUESTION OF EDUCATION FOR THE
NEGRO AS A PREPARATION FOR
CITIZENSHIP.
At the close of the Civil War four millions of my
people were thrown upon the bosom of the world
without any education, without property, without any
58 THE PROGRESS OF A RACE.
conception of politics whatever. From the nature of
the case they themselves were utterly incapable of
grappling with the problem. We are also proud to
say that the Negroes have shown as much interest in
the cause of education as any other class of people.
There are scores of institutions in the Southland. We
have Shaw University at Raleigh, N. C., Benedict
College at Columbia, S. C., Claflin University at
Orangeburg, S. C., Lynchburg Seminary at Lynch¬
burg, Va.; Tuskegee Normal and Industrial College
in Alabama and Friendship Normal and Industrial
College, Rock Hill, S. C., which institutions are doing
a tremendous work not only in the educational world
but they are doing a great work in teaching the black
race of the Southern States the method of industrial
education which is the only method by which we are
to offer at the present or even in the future years to
come for the solution of the so-called race problem.
There are leaders of the race who think it would
be better to colonize the American Negro. Bishop H.
M. Turner himself advocates this. Personally, I be¬
lieve that any scheme for their forced colonization
would be a wrong, next only to that of slavery itself.
Humanity would cry out against it. I also believe
that they are here to stajr and we may anticipate the
immigration of all the sons of Israel from America to
Palestine much sooner than that of the sons of Hamm
to Africa. I believe that professors and teachers in
increasing numbers will doubtless go from this land
to carry the gospel of knowledge, the gospel of salva¬
tion, the gospel of peace to the millions and tens of
THE PROGRESS OF A RACE. 59
millions of Africans, who are now in possession of the
jungles.
Industrial education will fit them to earn an
honest living and especially to show them the vast
possibility of improved and diversified industries
that lie everywhere about them in the as yet un¬
developed sunny Southland. Business schools to fit
them for the ordinary pursuits of commercial and
business life that will enable them to become self-
supporting in this country.
As a race we are proud of the leaders of the
colored people. We are proud of Mr. Washington,
the greatest Negro that America has ever produced.
We are proud of the great institutions of the South
and especially we are proud of the philanthropists
who have given so largely and so willingly for the
purpose of helping the Negro of the South. I am now
traveling through your State in the interest of the
Friendship College which stands for the industrialism
of the colored population of South Carolina. Not only
South Carolina but the southern states as well. We
have an annual enrollment of three hundred and fifty
students and would have more if we were in a position
to accommodate them. We are asking for assistance
to help us to carry on this great work in the sunny
South.
Friendship College was founded in 1891 and be¬
came a chartered institution in 1906. Persons grad¬
uating from this institution are permitted to teach
anywhere in the State of South Carolina so long as
their character is in accord with true citizenship. On
6o THE PROGRESS OF A RACE.
the 5th of March, 1910, we had a misfortune to the
extent that a sweeping fire came along and destroyed
the main building of the institution.
The individual who will assist in erecting a new
building will not only contribute toward the develop¬
ment of humanity but he or she will do a deed that
shall last for centuries, not only centuries but it will
go down upon the pages of centuries that generations
yet unborn will come upon the stage of action to play
a mighty part and in proportion as they play their
mighty part they will congratulate the philanthropists
who assisted so willingly and so largely in making the
institution what it is today.
"Saying, we give thee thanks, 0, Lord God Al¬
mighty, which art, and wast, and art to come: Be
cause thon hast taken to thee thy great power, and
has reigned."—Rev. 11:17.
GOD'S EVERLASTING POWER.
If historians, philosophers, astronomers and
statesmen were ignorant of the character of God, and
were the Angels to appear in the Heavens and with
a voice as loud as ten thousand thunders proclaim
that God is Almighty, the thunder of his voice might
startle the continent and the isles of the sea, but his
words would not arouse any emotion of joy in the souls
of men. Were it all we know about God, that He is
Almighty, we would long for a deity that would better
answer the cravings of the soul, but God the great
power is not the God man needs, hence the Angels'
announcement would furnish him no limit from which
he might ponder with pleasure that he has everlast
ing power. We have learned about our God that he has
everlasting power, we have learned that God is love,
we have learned that God is light, we have learned
that in Him there is no darkness at all. This is the
teaching of the Holy Bible and, because God is love,
His almiglitiness is a joy-giving study for meditation.
It is 110 wonder it had such a place in the minds of the
four and twenty elders, of which we read in that mys¬
terious Book of Revelation.
62 THE PROGRESS OF A RACE.
There is no straining or great exertion whatever
on the part of God, He accomplishes any work which
He undertakes to do.
The day does not dispel the night more easily than
does He effect his purposes. This power is simply in
Him, at His disposal. God is not made great by the
forces He has at His command.
The King of England may be considered power¬
ful, because he has great armies at his command, while
he, himself, may be weak and puny, but God's Al-
mightiness is in Himself, He has at His command the
forces of the Universe, He has at His command the
forces of Nature, He has at His command all forces
of Heaven and of the world, which has never been dis
covered by astronomers, but He Himself, has omnipo¬
tent power. Who can form any conception of what
this power means ? How mighty the forces of the tem¬
pest which tears up giant trees and brings them to the
ground and lays prostrate the habitation of men, and
fills with fear and despair the hearts of the bravest.
We talk about England's forces, and how mighty
they are, but what would all their combined strength
be to the omnipotence of God. He possesses the seas
and He holds them in the hollow of His hand. Could
man of ancient civilization have built the Tower to
Heaven they would have done so, but they could not.
Could Artaxerxes have taken a little grease in his
hand and crushed the rebellious spirit out of it, he
would have done it, but he had not the power. Could
Phillip of Spain have laid hold of old England and
crushed out her protestant life, he would have done it.
THE PROGRESS OF A RACE. 63
but he could not. Could Napoleon, that mighty war¬
rior, have grasped in his hand the throne of Russia
with the forces that stood for its defense and wiped
all of them out of existence, he would have done it, but
he had not the power.
Men and devil have been limited in all their do¬
ings, in their wickedness, but, God can do whatever He
desires, without any assistance, without any military
power, because he has all power.
The greatest theologians of the past have tried to
figure out this power and its controlling factors, but
they never have been able to do so.
As we study the Sacred Scriptures, of which God
Himself is the author, the foundation corner stone of
such controlling influences and can do whatever he
desires, because He is all power.
As we study God, as we study the sublime won¬
ders of nature, we cannot refrain from confessing that
it required as much power for God to create an ant as
it required to place the sun in space, which is the cen¬
ter light of the solar system, upon which billions and
billions upon billions have trodden the soil. What
power was necessary to make an atom? What power
it required to make the atoms that compose the
world? What power it required to make the matter,
out of which not only the earth, but the Sun, Moon
and Stars with all their grandeur were manifested?
What power to make the being that composes life?
What power was necessary to make the beast, and
man the greatest character in history and not only
64 THE PROGRESS OF A RACE.
men but Angels, which are among the greatest char¬
acters of the Holy of Holies.
The great power that God has at his command is
seen in the little things he has made! What power is
shown in the making of the wings of a butterfly? "Who
gave the existence of an ant?
We read in Genesis 1, 1., in the beginning God
created Heaven and the Earth. The question may be
asked when was the beginning. No one has been able
to give a proper definition that will suit the ambitious
mind. In my judgment the beginning is that period
in which God made himself known or manifested him¬
self by work.
We can count up the ships of the navy of a nation
but, who can tell the warships of God's navy that navi¬
gates the ocean of the boundless ether. It is God's
power that gives energy to all his other attributes. Of
what use would the steamship be, however grand the
proportion, the marvelousness of its appointment,
without power to make it go ? What use would be the
splendid theories and great conceptions, if there were
no power to give them expression. (Power is a great
thing) the wisdom to enable to express itself.
We wonder at the wisdom of Solomon the wisest
of men, we wonder at the wisdom manifested in na¬
ture, we wonder at the wisdom manifested or shown
by the great characters of earth. What evidence of
the greatness of the mind, were there no power to
guide them onward, if God was without power, of
what concern to us would be the knowledge of His
justice, His mercy could not relieve us, nor could His
THE PROGRESS OF A RACE.
65
justice punish us. It is true that God is all powerful,
but there are things that God cannot do, He cannot
act contrary to His purpose. It was before the foun¬
dation of the world that His purpose was to give His
Son to save men from destruction and He could not
act contrary to His purpose. It is His purpose to offer
salvation to the Jew as well as the Gentile, He cannot
do otherwise.
Christ cannot come down from the cross, nor can
they who believe on Him be denied salvation. God is
omnipotent, let us not fear in His cause of right since
God is great in power, great in salvation, great in
reputation, great in wealth, great in every way. If
God could make up greatness under all circumstances,
the church of which our Saviour speaks of in Mat¬
thews has had long years of conflict.
In God there is an omnipotent power, it is right
up on through the dark centuries of the past, from the
Valley of Darkness into that marvelous light of happi¬
ness and prosperity, into the dark hours of despair
when enemies have their victories over God, and yet,
from God's Church, Jehovah, which is all powerful
will raise up in his might, then shall Heaven and
Earth fall before God and in the spirit of the most
devout worship, say, we give thee thanks, 0, Lord
God Almighty, who art, and wast, and art to come: Be¬
cause thou hast taken to thee thy great power and hast
reigned.
6
OPPORTUNITIES OF THE TWENTIETH
CENTURY.
In discussing the various questions of this present
age and generation, there cannot be a subject intro¬
duced that is more important than that of opportunity.
As we enter upon the stage of action for the purpose of
endeavoring to play a mighty part, we sometimes fail
to take advantage of the opportunity as it presents it¬
self. There are tens of scores of brilliant young men
find women of all races, who allow opportunities to
pass away without seizing them, and time once lost
cannot be regained. There are young men of all races
who have made a failure in life for the same reason.
If Frederic Douglas, the great hero of the negro
race had not accepted and taken advantage of the op¬
portunities that awaited him, he would have made a
failure in life and his name never would have been
written down on the pages of history. As it is, he
stands pre-eminently as one of the greatest charac¬
ters of the nineteenth century. When a young lad
known as Booker T. Washington graduated from
Hampton Institute of Virginia he traveled for some
time endeavoring to locate a suitable place to estab¬
lish an institution of learning, he also saw that there
was a chance and a great opportunity to establish an
industrial school for his own race in Tuskegee, Ala-
THE PROGRESS OF A RACE. 67
bama, which has continued to grow until now it is
lecognized as the greatest institution of its kind in
this great country of ours.
When the father of a son makes a sacrifice and
places that boy in college with the necessary means
with which to carry him through school, that boy very
often allows the opportunities to pass away, and in
some cases he simply goes through college with the
class of which he is a member and at the day of his
graduation he is far behind, because he did not take
advantage of the opportunities as they came to him.
Young men are not an exception in this direction.
There are young women who have the same faults as
the young men which I have just mentioned. Every
woman is a daughter of the Almighty God as every
man is His son who was created in the divine image
and for each the path of duty and destiny is the same,
as the same sky bends over both, so round His sons
and His daughters alike the Almighty places His arm,
all His protecting love. He has given every boy, man
and woman an opportunity; He has given us opportun¬
ities to become great preachers; God has given us op¬
portunities to become teachers; God has given us op¬
portunities to become great and important factors in
this our twentieth century; He has given us opportun¬
ities to build churches; He has given us opportunities
to establish institutions of learning; He has given us
opportunities to buy farms and cultivate the soil; He
has also given us opportunities to supply the leading
markets of the world; he has also given us opportuni¬
ties to write books and to make for ourselves great
68
THE PROGRESS OF A RACE.
names so that we shall never be forgotten until time
shall be no more. We recognize the fact that men and
women rise and fall together, history shows this. No
nation can enslave its women. History shows that
men cannot reach the top of intellectual and social ad¬
vancement unless woman, his helper, is at his side. In
proportion as society advances in culture women are
free and in that righteous freedom are compelled to do
much for the world's advancement.
Every civilized nation owes much to its women.
The student of history clearly perceives that the ad¬
vancement of any nation is marked by the progress of
its women, and therefore social, literary and profes¬
sional life in America may be clearly exhibited in a
fair statement of the characteristic labors and suc¬
cesses of women, who have become in every way not¬
able in history during the last century in the United
States. The new century opened a few days ago with
brilliant prospects offered to a large number of its
women who are active in good works and who help to
shape the destiny of the civilized world. We cannot
forget that woman, the daughter of the Almighty
Father has had that chance to advance with man and
brother along the path of savagery through practical¬
ly being with him during all the dark centuries of the
past. In proportion to the educational advancement
of the nations, just in proportion as opportunities pre¬
sent themselves to the ambitious youth of my race,
the struggle between individualism and collectivism
is just beginning in this country and it is to go on for
generations to come. Undoubtedly the collective af~
THE PROGRESS OF A RACE. 69
fairs should be more and of greater importance in
comparison with the individual save this, that the ad¬
vancement of human society, including all industrial
societies, could go on just as an army does, rushing
its way into the field of battle. If the nations of the
past had allowed opportunities to go by without ac¬
cepting the same, our civilization could not be compar¬
ed to the jungles of Africa. Personally I do not be¬
lieve that our civilization will fall. While we have
grown better and not worse I also believe that the fu¬
ture holds more for us than even the great past has
held. This is in proportion as we take advantage of
every opportunity that stands out in the penetrating
light of this age.
Steam and electricity have given the dominion
over land and water such as it never had before, and
the conquest of the air is now pending. As the tele¬
graph and telephone transmits through space, there¬
fore minds are swayed one by another without regard
to the limitations and space of time which formerly
forced each community to work in competitive isola¬
tion. The machinery of a factory, enormously multi¬
plies bodily skill and vigor. Countless trained intelli¬
gences are at work to teach us how to avoid or coun¬
teract. The effects of waste are of course some of the
agents in the modern scientific development of na¬
ture's resources and deal with resources of such a kind
that their development means their destruction, so
that exploitation on a grand scale means the intense
rapidity of development and purchased at the cost of
a speedy exhaustion. The enormous and increasing
yo THE PROGRESS OF A RAGE.
output in coal and iron necessarily means the ap¬
proach of the day when our children's children and
their children shall dwell in an ironless age and later
on, the age without coal, and will have to invent or
develop the production of heat. The use of energy in
this skilled advancement awaits the nation of the fu¬
ture. The future is going to show us a continuation
of what we have seen in the last ten years.
The free schools ought to give every boy and girl
an opportunity and they should take advantage of it;
it is all they should have to do with the development
of the greater usefulness or in the industrial trade.
No factor has caused more discussion than the new
improvements which have been made in the last
eighteen years, and many to be made during the next
fifty years that will bring the American people the
greatest developments in the inventions of the future
which will continue to go onward for tens of centuries.
"LET ALL THE PEOPLE PRAISE THEE."
Psalm 67 : 3.
Theme: —Universal Thanksgiving.
Dr. Gregory in his work on Christian Ethics, says
that gratitude is natural response to kindness intend¬
ed or received.
It implies the desire to show a proper apprecia¬
tion of the favor and to requite it if possible.
It is certain in our bestowal of gifts or favors,
that we get more good and satisfaction out of such
acts of kindness when the appreciation of the same is
most freely and sincerely shown.
Unappreciative recipients are generally consider¬
ed unworthy of acts of kindness shown them.
The recognition of need touches our hearts in one
way, and the recognition of gratitude in the hearts of
those whose needs have been supplied, touches our
hearts no less, in another way.
I do not believe that when there is real need, and
the needy recognize the extent of their need, that there
is much lack of gratitude on their part, for the supply¬
ing of those needs. In other words, I do not believe
that mankind is so ungrateful as he seems to be.
What seems to us to be the lack of gratitude, is
really the lack of knowledge of need and knowledge
of the source from which need is supplied.
72 THE PROGRESS OF A RACE.
Tlie world is not half so bad as born pessimists
tliink it is. One could not want a better world to live
in.
The world is good or bad according to our ability
or willingness to recognize its beauty and its goodness.
Personally I am sure that the world would be still
better than it is, if more of us had more foresight than
hindsight; if more of us would open our eyes to the
good that is in it.
The reason why there seems to be so much wick¬
edness in the world, is because, like when you boil
apple butter, the scum is on top. But when the scum
is taken away we find that the rest is good and that
there is much to be grateful for.
The signs of the times were never more encourag¬
ing than they are today. Is Christian civilization
worth anything? We need to read only recent his¬
tory to learn what Christianity has done for certain
foreign nations, and that every nation in the world is
now more or less accessible to Christian influences and
Christian civilization.
Certain nations have been and seem to be at war
with each other, but, when they are laid aside and dis¬
ease or famine afflict either nation, all the nations are
ready to give and carry medicines to heal, and food to
feed this suffering people.
The heart of the Eternal is most wonderfully kind
and he has imparted his sympathetic touch to every
human heart. Divine authority has set apart every
seventh day as a day in which to rest and to worship
and to praise God for His goodness to men and in
THE PROGRESS OF A RACE. 73
wliich to receive spiritual culture which is so necessary
in the true and real life.
We ought to be proud that we are citizens of a
nation whose chief executive calls all his people to
recognize an extra day as a special day for national
Thanksgiving. It is no light honor to be a citizen of
a nation that not only honors God in the recognition of
his own days, but gives him an additional day of
praise and Thanksgiving.
This in itself is cause for thanksgiving from the
heart of every true Christian. In our great republic
the great mass of common people have a special rea¬
son in our chief executive to unite our voices, praise
and thanksgiving to Almighty God.
In our nation's most critical period, when that
son of perdition shot out the life of William McKinley,
Theodore Roosevelt took hold of the helm of this floun¬
dering ship of state, and has safely steered it through
all the storms since that day, the storms have not been
few, nor mild. I dare say that no president we have
had called his people, more cheerfully into their re¬
spective places of worship to render thanks this day
—than did Theodore Eoosevelt.
I think that our American custom of observing
Thanksgiving is a beautiful one. Worship God an
hour in the morning—a feasting and rejoicing in our
homes.
Thanks is a custom practiced from man's earliest
history. When Moses was free from the Egyptians he
with the children of Israel worshiped God and feasted
and rejoiced.
74 THE PROGRESS OF A RACE.
Wlien the fetters of sin were at last broken Jesns
Christ feasted and rejoiced with his disciples in that
upper room. All the way along, we find Thanksgiving
and feasting accompanying each other, and it is a glo¬
rious day among we Americans.
What have we to be thankful for this year? For
the abundance of crops all over our land. The only
regret of the American farmer today is the lack of
means to transport his produce to the waiting markets.
Our industries were never more active nor pro¬
ductive than they are this year. Every man who will
work has employment and every man who properly
handles his wages has plenty and to spare.
We as true American citizens should continue to
praise God who has brought us from the dark days of
slavery into the pure atmosphere of freedom and pros¬
perity; into the land of the free and the home of the
brave.
I have enough confidence in Almighty God and in
the American people to believe that the day is not far
distant that our land will be governed exclusively by
pure men. I can see our great republic becoming
more and more the garden spot of the world.
"Let all the people praise Him." Let all the
nations be glad with joy and thanksgiving.
I can see our great nation coming up through the
travails of its soul pure as the lily, and blossoming
like the Rose of Sharon.
I believe that success comes to a nation in pro¬
portion to its gratefulness and appreciation toward
Almighty God. When David uttered the words of the
THE PROGRESS OE A RACE. 75
text advising that great nation of which he was a part
to give thanks and praises to the maker of heaven
and earth, lie did not mean for that great nation to
give thanks to God only, but it applies to this nation
of which we are a part, not only this nation but all na¬
tions upon the face of God's earth. As we come to the
great character of the Old and New Testament, we feel
confidence in making the assertion that David stands
out in a historic life as one of the greatest characters
of his day and generation. We do not read in all of
the Old Testament of a character who had such tre¬
mendous influence with God as David. It is said in
the Holy Bible that this great character is a man after
God's own heart. The question may arise or may be
asked, What is the real meaning of the statement re¬
garding David's situation with God? It can mean
nothing more than that David is in that spiritual at¬
mosphere where he can and could approach God and
God would come to his rescue. The wonderful psalm
of which the text is the keynote utters the great yearn¬
ing of human nature and attests its need of an infinite
helper and an infinite joy. The religious sentiment in
our bosoms manifested itself in its power in every di¬
rection. Every individual race or nation with any de¬
gree of intelligence recognizes the important fact that
in accord with the teaching of the Holy Bible that it is
necessary and important for every one to give thanks
to Almighty God and sing praises unto His holy name.
Thanksgiving was not recognized and observed by the
Jewish nation to a large extent until after they were
freed from under the law and oppression of the
76
THE PROGRESS OF A RACE.
Egyptians. For centuries after this nation became
free it went down upon the pages of history that each
year should be a year of jubilee, feasting, praying and
giving thanks to God for having delivered them from
under oppression.
There is a custom practiced in the southern states
by every member of my race, in celebrating what is
known as the Emancipation Proclamation, which went
down upon the pages of history forty-five years ago,
marking the greatest epoch in the history of the color¬
ed race. The first day of each year, practically every
colored man as well as women and children assemble
themselves together and their voices and praises go up
to Him who made them a free people in these United
States of America.
The noblest natures among men have been relig¬
ious ones. No soul of mighty faculties, of sensibilities
strong enough to sound the depths, find enough to feel
the heights of this world's mystery and grandeur
The question may come to the individuals of intelli¬
gence, what have we to thank God for? We should
thank him for having preserved our lives. We should
thank him for the amount of intelligence of which we
are in possession. We should thank Him for the op¬
portunities which he has given, in allowing us to come
into possession of a spiritual understanding of Him,
who has all power and honor as ascribed to Him, as
we assemble in this building today to celebrate what
is known in the history of this great republic as a na¬
tional thanksgiving to Almighty God.
We should thank God for having protected our
THE PROGRESS OF A RACE. 77
homes. We should thank God for having given to us
as individuals a reasonable portion of health. We
should also thank Him for having protected this na¬
tion whose flag is recognized by every civilized nation
in the world. There are individuals who ascribe
praises, glory and honor to God. They address Him
as if they were speaking to an ordinary person, not
only do they address him as though they think them¬
selves his equal. God did wonders in dividing the
Red Sea. He did wonders in calling forth Lazarus.
David, the author of the text, tells us that God alone
does wonderful things, the wonderful things done by
all others are comparatively wonderful but the power
to do them comes from God.
God upholds all things. To preserve what has
been created required the same power that it took to
create them. We must not forget God's providential
wonders. What wonders are found in the Holy Bible.
There were problems connected with redemption
which God only could solve. His wisdom gave the so¬
lution. There are problems which are so perplexing
that the greatest characters of earth cannot solve.
There has never appeared a man upon this stage of
activity who fully understood the plan of salvation.
There never will come upon the stage of the world
civilization a man who will ever play such a tremen¬
dous part in the history of the world for all ages as
that of the Son of the living God. We should thank
God for having given His Son to the world at a time
when the world was in darkness and all of the great
names of earth could not bring this light to the world
78
THE PROGRESS OF A RACE.
save Jesus Christ. He came in a humble way although
the greatest characters of earth sought an opportunity
to come into touch with Him because they recognized
that he had all power because this power of which he
possessed did not come from earthly kings and queens
but it came from Him who spoke and light came into
existence. It came from Him who spoke and the blue
ether uncovered its face. It came from Him who spoke
and the earth, the millions of constellations, came into
existence almost in the twinkling of an eye.
THE MAKING OF HISTORY.
In discussing this subject, viz., The Making of
History, we now come to the last composition, which is
the end of this little book. I have endeavored under
the prevailing circumstances to make each composi¬
tion more interesting. I have also discussed under
some of the themes, The Race Problem. The problem
of the twentieth century is the problem of the color
line. The relation of the darker to the lighter races of
men in Asia, Egypt, Africa, America and the Isles
of the Sea. It was a phase of this problem that caused
the Civil War during which time tens of thousands of
abled bodied men lost their lives in the defense of
liberty.
When America was discovered in 1492 by Colum¬
bus he found living here thousands and thousands of
red men, differing in many respects from the nations
of the old world. Their manners, customs, languages
and personal appearance all proclaimed within a dis¬
tinct race from their very color. They were some¬
times styled red men, while on the other hand they
were very peculiar in many directions.
We must first ask whence and how America was
peopled. It is separated from the Eastern Continent
on one side by 3,000 miles of ocean and on the other
side by an expanse of water for the greater part three
times as broad; hence it seems at first glance almost
8o THE PROGRESS OF A RACE.
impossible that it should have been reached in an age
of the fourteenth century when men were not possess¬
ed with the highest intelligence, as are the men of this
generation. As we come to study the history of Amer¬
ica, we confess that there is and there has been mar¬
velous development in many directions. Columbus in
discovering America has done more toward bringing
about a greater civilization than that of other classes
of men who came before him or who shall come after
him.
In thinking of the great men that go to make this
country what it is today we cannot forget George
Washington, the father of this country who will ever
stand out pre-eminently, as one of the greatest char¬
acters of our history. As an individual moves onward
in the march of life it is well for that individual to
recognize this throughout whatever he is doing, or
whatever he has done for the betterment of himself or
the country in which he lives. He is simply making
history.
The question may arise regarding history or how
long or when history had its beginning. History made
its beginning centuries ago when it pleased Almighty
God to create the man whom we know according to
the Bible as Adam. As time advanced and Adam be¬
came more intelligent God recognized the importance
of Adam having a companion. After God had given
him a companion he allowed Adam the honor and the
distinction of calling her Eve. As we move down the
line of centuries we come to other great characters of
which it may be necessary for me to mention at this
THE progress OF A RAVE. 8I
juncture: Abraham, whom we read of in the Bible as
the father of the faithful. God guided and protected
him and made of this individual the father of a great
nation, viz., The Jewish Race.
If we had no record of the past it would be im¬
possible for the greatest scholars of the day to tell
what transpired hundreds of years ago. It is neces¬
sary for every man and woman as he or she go through
life to be very careful as to our dealings and conver¬
sations with one another. If it is for the better it will
go down upon the pages of history, if it is for the
worse, it will also go down upon the pages of history,
that will never be forgotten possibly in the next thou¬
sand years. Races and nations who have preceded us
if they had not all struggled hard to make history, I
mean history that is worth consideration, we would not
know what transpired long ages ago.
As we think of the statesmen of the past our at¬
tention is directed to Abraham Lincoln, who was
rocked in the cradle of adversity, although he became
a power, not only a power but as we all know, he be¬
came the president of a great nation. It should fill
the bosom of every lover of American history with en¬
thusiasm when we think of Mr. Lincoln, who not only
was at the head of a great nation but with one stroke
of his pen gave four million black men and women
their freedom in this country. There are so many
great characters whose names have gone upon the
pages of the Centuries as makers of history time will
not allow us to mention. Benjammin Franklin, once
a poor boy walking the streets of Philadelphia be-
82
THE PROGRESS OF A RACE.
came inspired to strive to become acquainted with
the higher ideas of life. It was he as it were who
snatched the lightnings from the bosom of the blue
ether and today we have it as a messenger "boy.
It was Sir Isaac Newton the world's greatest as¬
tronomer who discovered the laws of gravitation; the
spots upon the sun, the moons of Jupiter, yet liis hum¬
ble confession to the great makers of history was this:
"All that I know is that I am ignorant."
History bears me out when I say that every coun¬
try under the canopy of the blue ether has given to the
world men of thought, men of note, men of intellectual
and political standing.
Greece, the intellectual and social center of the
world has given to the world great men whose names
and great speeches such as Socrates and Plato whose
names have been stamped upon the pages of history
never to be erased.
We come to Egypt, the father of the world's civil¬
ization. It was to this ancient land where God direct¬
ed Joseph and Mary with the world's Saviour and Re
deemer in order to preserve His life from the demons
of earth. All of this has gone down upon the pages of
history that stands out pre-eminently unerasable. It
was this ancient land where Moses studied geometry.
It was in this ancient land where he studied geography
and all the higher branches of classics that go to make
him stand out today as the greatest character of his
kind upon the pages of history. It was in this ancient
land where Moses saw the Egyptian abusing his fel¬
low-man. It was in this ancient land where Moses in
THE PROGRESS OF A RACE. 83
the defense of right murdered the Egyptian and liid
him in the sand.
The striking phenomena of race hatred, the wid¬
ening chasm between the whites and the blacks are not
exhibited exclusively in any one section of this coun¬
try. The birth of liberty in the negro was a large step
in advancement but it involved no perils manifesting
Lis liberty, no exception to the general law that vigi¬
lance is the lasting price of liberty. While negro lib¬
erty was all passed fully and a result of the great po¬
tent, interesting act of Emancipation it should not
change immediately the character nor the environment
of the negro race. No one who has not deeply studied
that peculiar period in American history known as
the "Reconstruction Period" can properly appreciate
the dangers that beset the newly freed slaves or the
disbanding of the Confederate Armies. There were
numerous demands made to re-enslave the greater
part of the colored population after they had been
made free. Shortly after this race became freed they
were given political rights and privileges, which al¬
lowed and presented to them the same opportunities
as were presented formerly to their masters. Political
equality in the North does not imply social equality—
the latter is determined by the individual himself not
by law. The North has deep race prejudice against
the negro which is also unreasoning, but part of it is
due to the fact that the North holds strongly to race
parity and race integrity, as best for the whites and
"blacks and leaves a man's drawing room or dining
room to be controlled by himself and not by public sen-
84
TEE PROGRESS OF A RACE.
timent. In the north as I have suggested there is a
deep prejudice against the negro. This is most sliam-
ful and more humiliating to all genuine lovers of
American history, American liberty and American jus¬
tice toward all mankind regardless of race or color.
As we studied the pages of history down the line
of centuries up to the present time we recognize this
truth, that almost every nation in the world has played
a mighty part.
In making history and shaping the destiny of her
nations the negro race with a short period extending
not over fifty years has made marvelous progress in
the way of advancement.
Those who will live to see the dawning light of
the next century will witness the greatest change in
history of a struggling race, as time passes on and
centuries continue to hide themselves behind the
throne of God.
The American negro is not going to stop witli his
present advancement in our historic period of the
world, but he will continue to go on and onward until
America will recognize him, as being a large contribu¬
tor in helping to make history that will supply genera¬
tions who shall yet continue to come possibly for thou¬
sands of years.