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Would that his spirit might inspire this nation, as never before, as the result of this celebration. Lincoln was indeed, as I have said, the very apotheosis of citizenship. We have deified him-and very justly so-as no other man in public life, until to-day we turn to him with very worship, because he stands for our ideals, for our aspirations, for all that is best in us and in our nation, and as the hope for the future.

We can only hope that this observance of Lincoln and his life and deeds will not end with this night, nor with the celebration itself, but may take lasting form in an increase in appreciation of the principles for which he stood; in a deeper inculcation of those principles in the hearts of all the people North and South, in order that his ideas and ideals may be worked out through the political institutions of this country, as he desired them to be.

There are some who think Lincoln did not have a special interest in the people I have the honor of addressing to-night. I think they are very poor students of history. They have failed to catch even a spark of the genius of the man whose anniversary they are celebrating. They have failed to see that heart, kindled for the interest of all the races, as was that of no other man of his time. It is true he refused to sacrifice the Union and to precipitate a crisis, but awaited the strategic moment in order that he might fulfil a life-long purpose and prove to all the peoples of the earth that the forefathers knew what they were about, and that the Declaration of Independence means what it says.

I have no patience with the man who takes the view that emancipation was a mere question of war expediency, who thinks that Lincoln was so narrow in his view, and who regards with prejudice and alarm any other interpretation of that culmination of Lincoln's hopes and purposes. I have no use for the man who cannot see in history that Lincoln stood for things he said he believed. As is the case with any great man, if we acknowledge him to be great, we must believe him to be sincere, and Lincoln has said in substance, he has said in his words, in his deeds, that he meant that all men

should be equally free, with equal privileges and equal opportunities before the law.

Abraham Lincoln was a man of the people. He stood for Americanism. He was, as has been said, "the first American," because he was a product of all the forces that had gone to make America, and in him were all the elements which make America great and differentiate it from the older civilizations and the old world. He was the friend of all men. In Lincoln the hopes and aspirations of us all find expression, and I pray that he may be followed in these latter days as an example, for political action, for the highest and best citizenship, for the type of manhood that makes for progress in the democracy of the world.

I would like to take occasion here to say that the city of Chicago is proud, I am sure, of this great mass meeting here to-night. The general Committee has found the officers of the Eighth Infantry and of your Committee ever ready to cooperate with it and an admirable desire on their part to forward the purposes of the centenary which has inspired us to give much time to it, and to go forward with an enthusiasm to which the prospect of such a celebration as you have here to-night in no small degree contributed.

On behalf of the Committee of One Hundred, it gives me great pleasure to-night to present to the Eighth Regiment, to place upon the walls of its regimental armory, a bronze tablet containing the Gettysburg Address of Abraham Lincoln, that lofty statement of patriotism which has never been excelled. I trust that it may be an inspiration to the men of that regiment, as it was to the men of the regiments of Lincoln's time, and has been to all American citizens who have taken the trouble to read its lines and observe its lessons.

I deem it a high honor to be here as a representative of my city upon this memorable Centenary, which will long live in the annals of our metropolis, and to speak here on behalf of that city in commemoration of the man who has stood, as no other man has ever stood, for Americanism and everything it represents to all of us who strive to make justice and equity between men the guiding principle of our laws and their enforcement.

I

THE NEGRO'S PLACE IN NATIONAL LIFE.

HON. WILLIAM J. CALHOUN

DID not know until a few days ago that I was expected to speak at this meeting, and I have not had time to give much thought to what I shall say to you. Indeed, I am very much in the same frame of mind as was the colored minister of whom I once heard. He belonged to a ministerial association, where ministers were wont to come together to discuss questions affecting the church and their professional work. One afternoon they had up for discussion the subject of the preparation of sermons. One of the brethren said he always selected his text on Monday morning for the following Sunday's sermon. He thought of it all through the week; subdivided it into its various heads; and filled in the skeleton or outline thus made, by reflections from day to day throughout the week; so that when Sunday came, he had his sermon complete in his mind. The colored brother said he did not like this plan; that it was not the way in which he prepared his sermons. He did not like the proposed plan for the reason that it is well known that the Devil is always loose in the land, sometimes roaring like a lion, sometimes bleating like a lamb; that he is very smart; that he knows everything going on; and he would know the text selected so far in advance, and would be fully informed as to what the sermon was to be. He would then go to work on the minds of the members of the congregation, and get them in a mental condition which would prompt them to resist the influence of the sermon; so that when it was delivered, it would do no good whatever. So, he said, his way was, when he went into the pulpit, to open the

* An address delivered before the meeting of the Eighth Infantry (Colored), and the Colored Citizens' Committee.

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Bible and take for his text the first verse his eye fell upon; and then neither the Devil, himself, nor anyone else would know what he was going to say.

Speaking of preachers, it reminds me of another story I heard of an old Scotch Presbyterian minister, who was very fond of theological or dogmatic discussions. He prided himself on his familiarity with the Scriptures. He never had to open the Bible to quote a verse or cite a passage; but, like everyone else, he sometimes made mistakes, only he was never willing to admit it. He had in his congregation a very critical deacon by the name of Sandy McPherson, who was also fond of dogma; he always listened closely to the minister's sermon, to see if he could find any slip or misstatement of doctrine; if he did he was very quick to express his dissent, and to argue the question with the minister. He sometimes spoke right out in meeting, and expressed his objections. One Sunday the minister went into the pulpit and said, "My brethren, I will take for my text this morning the miracle of our Saviour wherein he fed five men on five thousand loaves and fishes." And Sandy McPherson said out loud, "Huh! I could do that myself." The minister did not notice the mistake or the interruption, but went on with his sermon. Afterwards his attention was called to the mistake he had made, but he said nothing. The next Sunday he went into the pulpit and said, "My brethren, I will preach this morning on the miracle of our Saviour wherein he fed five thousand men on five loaves and fishes"; and then looking down, he said, "Sandy, could you do that?" And Sandy promptly replied, "Aye, I cud." "Well, how cud you?" said the minister, and Sandy said, "I would feed them with what was left over from last Sunday."

Speaking seriously, I wish I could utter the thoughts that are struggling in my mind for expression. I would bring a message to you, one that would help and comfort you. In the celebration of Abraham Lincoln's birth, we naturally think of you. No such celebration would be complete unless you had a part in it. The shadow of the great tragedy in which he died hangs over you.

The Civil War was a contest in which life and blood and treasure were spent without stint. Men-strong men-were fighting and dying, and women were weeping everywhere. It was a terrible struggle. And your race was the cause, the helpless and innocent cause, of it all. For men may talk about the Constitution, the relation of the States to the federal government, and of the right or wrong of secession or coercion-the fact remains, that you, the negro, were the innocent cause of the whole trouble.

I know of no race which has had so much to contend with, so many obstacles to overcome, so many limitations to endure, as your race has had. In the first place, your ancestors were hunted down in the forests of Africa, bound hand and foot, thrown into the foul and sweltering hold of the slave ship, brought to America, and there sold into slavery like beasts of burden. Your people toiled for long years in the development of a country, in the blessings of which they had no share. When the moral sense of the country was aroused, and the agitation against slavery arose, the War was inevitable, it had to be. God's balances of right and wrong forever hang across the skies. In those balances our country was weighed and found wanting. It was written that every groan from the breast of a slave should find an echoing response in the groans of a nation's misery; that every drop of blood that trickled from the back of a slave, under the lash, was to be weighed against the richest and most precious blood of the nation; that every cry of the slave mother, mourning for her lost child, should be answered back by the cry of other mothers, mourning for their children dead upon the field of battle; and that every dollar made in the slave traffic should be lost in the devastation of a great war. Such was the penalty that this nation paid for the wrong done your race.

But now that slavery is gone, that the shackles have been removed from your limbs, and you are free, what have you done with your liberty, for yourselves, for your children, and for your country? It is true, you are circumscribed in your efforts by social limitations, by racial prejudices and by tra

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