And right shall rule supreme and conquer wrong."

* * * * *

To Thee! God of our fathers, we render praise and thanksgiving for such
abundant evidence of Thy guiding presence during these fifty years of
freedom and civil liberty. We predict for the future on the basis of our
achievement during the past; and since the Negro Church has been a great
factor in lifting us up and enabling us to see the new light, in spite
of many obstacles, we are confident that by following the same
Omnipotent Hand, that never errs and never fails, we will, in the coming
years, prove that no sacrifice, either in war or in peace, made in our
behalf has been made in vain, and no service rendered us has been
without its subsequent reward. We rejoice, and are glad in our gladness
and rich in our wealth. In the midst of it all, the Negro Church
survives and is steadily moving on.

THE NEGRO LAWYER; HIS OPPORTUNITY, HIS DUTY[52]

BY W. ASHBIE HAWKINS

_Of the Baltimore Bar_

[Note 52: An address at the opening of Howard University Law School,
Washington, D. C., Oct. 1st, 1913.]

_Gentlemen:_

The legal profession is without doubt in the lead. Its devotees outrank
all others in service to the government and they come the closest in
personal contact to the individual. This is denied of course, and always
will be denied by men of all other professions, but when the roster of
the world's lawyers who have faithfully and efficiently served humanity
in every conceivable way is pitted against that of the others, the
question is relieved of all doubt. The Negro lawyer is no longer an
experiment. He has been severely tried from within and without, and he
has proved his worth. His place in our economy is fixed. He has
demonstrated his capacity to serve, and to serve well, and for all of
this both the lawyer and the race he is helping to advance are under
lasting obligations to Howard University. She has to her credit more men
who are actively and successfully pursuing their calling than any other
institution of learning in this land.

* * * * *

The Negro race is probably to-day in greater need of consecrated lawyers
than it is of pious priests. The time has come for the lawyer to take
his place in the lead. We are celebrating this year the 50th anniversary
of our emancipation, and, paradoxical though it may be, we appear
further from emancipation to-day than when Lincoln signed his
Emancipation Proclamation, or when Lee surrendered a