Though Boston
erected no monument and history recorded no story, in you and in
the loyal race which you represent, Robert Gould Shaw would have
a monument which time could not wear away," then came the climax
of the emotion of the day and the hour. It was Roger Wolcott, as
well as the Governor of Massachusetts, the individual
representative of the people's sympathy as well as the chief
magistrate, who had sprung first to his feet and cried, "Three
cheers to Booker T. Washington!"
Among those on the platform was Sergeant William H. Carney, of
New Bedford, Mass., the brave coloured officer who was the
colour-bearer at Fort Wagner and held the American flag. In spite
of the fact that a large part of his regiment was killed, he
escape, and exclaimed, after the battle was over, "The old flag
never touched the ground."
This flag Sergeant Carney held in his hands as he sat on the
platform, and when I turned to address the survivors of the
coloured regiment who were present, and referred to Sergeant
Carney, he rose, as if by instinct, and raised the flag. It has
been my privilege to witness a good many satisfactory and rather
sensational demonstrations in connection with some of my public
addresses, but in dramatic effect I have never seen or
experienced anything which equalled this.
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