upon us by the enemies of humanity.

This grand organization is but a collection of individuals, and as
individuals we must shape our destiny. The time is past for pleading;
these are days of action. The higher we rise, the sharper will become
the prejudice of color. The laboring white is jealous of the
competition of the blacks. The problem is to be worked out _in the
South_, and largely by ourselves. With all the disadvantages and
proscriptive doctrines that encroach upon us in that Southland, I
honestly believe that this land with all its natural beauties and
advantages, this land below the mountains; this land of passion and
pleasure, of fever and fret, this land famed in history, song, and story
as the "land of Dixie," is the Negro's coming Arcadia. From its lowlands
and marshes will yet come forth the peerless leader, who will not only
point out the way, but will climb the battlements of tolerance and race
prejudice, backed by the march of civilization, and, with his face to
the enemy, fight the battle of common humanity.

The romance of "Emancipation" is fading out. The old slave is rapidly
passing. The mythology of his period is extinct. The Republic has
declared against the "Force Bill." The "Praetorian Guard" is mustered
out, and the sentiment of the times is against paternalism. "Every tub
must stand on its own bottom," and the eloquence of the orator cannot
arrest the trend of the times. A problem is half solved when facts are
apprehended; it is more than half solved when the facts are
comprehended, and practical sense succeeds sentiment.

The Negro confronts destiny. He must be the architect of his own
fortune. He must demonstrate capacity and independence, because
mendicancy is always destructive. The living present calls us away from
the ashes of the dead and buried past. Our hopes are brighter and our
ambitions higher. Let us stand on our own racial pride, and prove our
claim for equality by showing the fruits of thrift, talent, and
frugality. The brotherhood of genius will not refuse the need of merit,
and within the sweep of our constant observations great artists,
musicians, poets, and orators are more than hinted possibilities. We
would be criminals to despair. The Negro is here, and here to stay, and
traveling rapidly in "the wake of coming ages." We know not how far the
goal may still be distant, but at least we think we see it and our most
fervent hope is to approach it more and more nearly--