y,
My pure and radiant one?

"Nay, nay, I fell not out of heaven;
None gave me my saintly white;
It slowly grew in the blackness,
Down in the dreary night,
From the ooze of the silent river
I won my glory and grace;
While souls fall not, O my poet,
They _rise_ to the sweetest place."

THE TWO SEALS[43]

BY PROFESSOR GEORGE WILLIAM COOK

_Secretary of Howard University_

[Note 43: An address delivered at a banquet given in his honor, May
21, 1912.]

_Mr. Toastmaster and Friends:_

Let me first thank the Committee and you all for your generosity in
tendering me this evidence of good wishes and good will. It is stated in
your invitation, "In honor of George William Cook, Secretary of Howard
University"--a double compliment, at once personal and official. Surely
it is an honor to find so many men of varied occupations and duties
turning aside to spend time and money to express appreciation of one's
character. Dull indeed must the creature be who cannot find gratitude
enough to return thanks; for grateful minds always return thanks. To be
direct I deeply feel the personal and non-official side of the
compliment you pay me, but will you pardon me, gentlemen, if I confess
that to compliment me as Secretary of Howard University touches me in a
tender and vulnerable spot. "I love old Howard," and always have been
and am now anxious to be in the team to tug at the administrative phase
of Howard's movements. Accept then, my sincere thanks.

Now let us then turn aside in sweet communion as brothers to talk about
our alma mater. Let us trace her from foundation to present eminence;
re-affirm our family pledges and form resolutions new. Howard men will
spring up with both money and spirit, not far in the future, when the
mother's cry in want will be met with a generous hand from her sons and
daughters. A little more time for preparation and accumulation; then
will be the time when endowment will precede request for preferment.
When black philanthropists can turn desert spots into oases of learning
and build halls of culture, then will Howard be reaping the reward in
her own harvest and justify her being in the great family of
Universities.

Though I wax warm in sentiment, I crave your indulgence but for a short
while, for I pledge you my honor, and I say it seriously, that there is
an affection underlying my words that makes Howard but second in love to
my wife and