exact
condition, mental and moral, of the coloured ministers in the South, as
based upon my observations. I wrote the letter, giving the exact facts
as I conceived them to be. The picture painted was a rather black
one--or, since I am black, shall I say "white"? It could not be
otherwise with a race but a few years out of slavery, a race which had
not had time or opportunity to produce a competent ministry.

What I said soon reached every Negro minister in the country, I think,
and the letters of condemnation which I received from them were not
few. I think that for a year after the publication of this article every
association and every conference or religious body of any kind, of my
race, that met, did not fail before adjourning to pass a resolution
condemning me, or calling upon me to retract or modify what I had said.
Many of these organizations went so far in their resolutions as
to advise parents to cease sending their children to Tuskegee. One
association even appointed a "missionary" whose duty it was to warn the
people against sending their children to Tuskegee. This missionary had
a son in the school, and I noticed that, whatever the "missionary" might
have said or done with regard to others, he was careful not to take his
son away from the institution. Many of the coloured papers, especially
those that were the organs of religious bodies, joined in the general
chorus of condemnation or demands for retraction.

During the whole time of the excitement, and through all the criticism,
I did not utter a word of explanation or retraction. I knew that I was
right, and that time and the sober second thought of the people would
vindicate me. It was not long before the bishops and other church
leaders began to make careful investigation of the conditions of the
ministry, and they found out that I was right. In fact, the oldest and
most influential bishop in one branch of the Methodist Church said that
my words were far too mild. Very soon public sentiment began making
itself felt, in demanding a purifying of the ministry. While this is
not yet complete by any means, I think I may say, without egotism, and I
have been told by many of our most influential ministers, that my words
had much to do with starting a demand for the placing of a higher type
of men in the pulpit. I have had the satisfaction of having many who
once condemned me thank me heartily for my frank words.

The change of the attitude of the Negro minist