I pity him because I know that he is trying to stop the
progress of the world, and because I know that in time the
development and the ceaseless advance of humanity will make him
ashamed of his weak and narrow position. One might as well try to
stop the progress of a mighty railroad train by throwing his body
across the track, as to try to stop the growth of the world in
the direction of giving mankind more intelligence, more culture,
more skill, more liberty, and in the direction of extending more
sympathy and more brotherly kindness.
The address which I delivered at Madison, before the National
Educational Association, gave me a rather wide introduction in
the North, and soon after that opportunities began offering
themselves for me to address audiences there.
I was anxious, however, that the way might also be opened for me
to speak directly to a representative Southern white audience. A
partial opportunity of this kind, one that seemed to me might
serve as an entering wedge, presented itself in 1893, when the
international meeting of Christian Workers was held at Atlanta,
Ga. When this invitation came to me, I had engagements in Boston
that seemed to make it impossible for me to speak in Atlanta.
Still, after looking over my list of dates and places carefully,
I found that I could take a train from Boston that would get me
into Atlanta about thirty minutes before my address was to be
delivered, and that I could remain in that city before taking
another train for Boston.
Pages:
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221