is regarded as an unhealthy member, yet
it is evident that he is a vital member and cannot be removed by the
surgeon's scalpel. It is necessary, therefore, that this unhealthy
member should be toned up to harmony with the great organism of which
he is a part.

"No cross, no crown," is a trite saying, yet it has lost nothing of
the beauty of strength of originality, but, rather, it has grown to be
the sustaining, inspiring motto of all men as they plod up the hill of
life. Great souls do not whine and fret in adversity. The men and
women who lay the foundation of great institutions that bless mankind,
that fling rainbows on the black bosom of the tempest, do not tremble
and falter because of the clouds and mountain peaks, but onward and
upward they go until the victory is won. The church came up by the way
of the cross. If you would know the path of civilization, look for the
great battlefields in the world's history. The greatest battles of
reform in church and state have been fought, and the right has
conquered. The Negro to-day reaches his hand out and plucks the best
fruitage of the highest and grandest age known to man. Even liberty, a
plant that grows luxuriantly only when watered with human blood, and
rooted in the hearts and affections of a free people, is within the
very grasp of the American Negro.

The history of the free American Negro is one continuous and unbroken
chain of success. I shall lay the proof of the statement before you as
we advance. Did you ever consider the agencies at work for the
amelioration of the condition of the Negro in this country? Here and
there counter-forces may appear to hinder the too rapid advance of the
Negro, but such is the inevitable law of growth. Life is conditioned
upon its ability to absorb and assimilate the good and reject and
expel the bad. What are these counter-forces, these hostile external
relations? Do they tend to destroy the equilibrium of the race, or,
rather, do they conduce to its stability and strength? The answer is
obvious. The Negro is being sharpened and fashioned here under
Providence into a better and nobler manhood. He is suffering no more
than all infant races suffered. Slavery and oppression is the school
in which races are trained for the enjoyment of the fullest life. God
has a purpose in thus dealing with the Negro. The power of his
individuality, his highly developed religious nature, his disposition
to linger in peace in whatever condition h