Part 14

A few years later his body was removed to the campus of Atlanta University, where it now sleeps. A huge granite bowlder was brought from Massachusetts, his native state, by funds contributed by the graduates of Atlanta University, and this bowlder, suitably inscribed, marks his last resting place on earth.

At the memorial services held in honor of President Ware in Stone Hall, Atlanta University, December 22, 1885, on the forty-eighth anniversary of the birth of the dead president, Prof. Bumstead, who is now president of Atlanta University, spoke the following words about Mr. Ware’s boyhood and early life:

“It was a pleasant boyhood, and its joys were innocent and wholesome ones. A white rabbit, a goat, and two hounds were the pets with which he played at home. He threw the line for speckled trout in the meadow brooks, and he rowed his boat upon the pond to gather the fragrant waterlilies.

“It was an industrious boyhood. In summer he gathered blueberries, huckleberries and blackberries for market. When twelve or thirteen years old he spent his school vacations in service as a clerk in a village store. When fourteen he cultivated and harvested thirty dollars’ worth of vegetables.

“It was a conscientious boyhood. His mother has no recollection of his ever being untruthful. His village teachers all commended him for his unvarying conformity to the right in school. It is said that when he was fifteen years old he had never been absent a day nor had a mark for tardiness. When serving as clerk in the village store his employer showed him a certain article which had some defect about it, not very readily noticed, and bade him say nothing about it. He promptly told his employer that he could obey no such instructions.

“It was an ambitious boyhood—ambitious, of course, in the best sense of the word. He eagerly seized upon and improved every opportunity for self-improvement. He read the best books and periodicals. He heard lectures from such men as Beecher, Phillips, Curtis, Everett and Gough.

“In the autumn of 1859 he found himself a member of the largest Freshman class which at that time had ever entered Yale College. Here for the first time I grasped the hand and looked into the earnest eyes of my friend. I remember him in those early college days for the unaffected modesty of his bearing, the simplicity of his dress, his manifest hatred of all pretense and shams, his keen sense of humor, and his dry wit. His professedly religious life had been begun at the Norwich Academy but a few months before he entered college. Both in the academy and college he was active in religious work, and his face was set like a flint against all forms of iniquity.”

Mr. Ware was married in 1869 to Miss Sarah Jane Twichell, of Plantsville, Conn. His wife served with him long and faithfully at Atlanta University, and continued to serve long after he had passed to his rest. She was left a widow with three daughters and one son. She herself died subsequently. The son has since been graduated from Yale University and from Union Theological Seminary, New York City, and is now chaplain of Atlanta University.

Mr. Ware was a good man who believed that God had made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on the face of the earth, and that Christ had redeemed us to God out of every kindred, tongue and people and nation; he believed in the common origin and common destiny of the whole human family, in the Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man, and, therefore, recognized no distinctions among men except those founded on character or merit. Along with a host of pioneer New England missionaries who came South to help us shortly after the war Mr. Ware’s name deserves to be honored and revered by a grateful people to the end of time.

LXXXII. AN ANTE-BELLUM NEGRO PREACHER.

Once upon a time I heard Bishop Fitzgerald of the M. E. Church, South, tell the following story.

I give it in his own words:

“The ante-bellum negro preachers were the product of the times, and differed from the mass of their race only in the fact that they were shrewder and more eloquent. Among them were many men of piety and good sense and burning zeal. In others there was a combination of cunning, superstition, excitability and volubility almost indescribable.

“To the former class belonged a noted negro preacher of Culpepper County, Va., an old man of blameless life and venerable appearance, who so entirely commanded the confidence of the white people, and whose influence with the people of his own race was so wholesome, that no one thought of enforcing against him a statute then existing which required that in any gathering where six or more negroes were assembled a white man should be present. Despite this statute Uncle Jack came and went as he pleased, trusted by the whites and venerated by the blacks.

“At one of his meetings a party of mischievous young white men planned to have a little fun at the old man’s expense. Waiting near the door of the rustic chapel until the services were concluded the company approached the old preacher and its spokesman said:

“‘Old man, we are officers of the law and are patrolling this beat. You have violated the law, and we are going to whip you for it. Come along with us.’

“They led the way to the thicket near at hand. Uncle Jack followed in silence.

“‘Have you nothing to say, old man?’ asked the spokesman.

“‘Nothin’, Marstah,’ said Uncle Jack.

“‘Perhaps you don’t think that we really intend to whip you,’ said the young man, ‘but we will. Have you nothing to say to that?’

“‘No, sah,’ said Uncle Jack; ‘I has nothin’ to say. De fac’ is, Marstah, I has oftened wondar’d that I has nevah been whupped befo’. Saint Paul was a much bettah man dan I is, an’ dey whupped him ’mos’ ev’ywhar he went. I has preached much longah dan he did, an’ I has nevah got a whuppin’ in my life. It seems to me dat I ought to have at leas’ a few licks!’

“The young scapegraces looked at each other in confusion, and it is needless to say that Uncle Jack was not whipped.”

LXXXIII. PURITY OF CHARACTER.

Boys and girls, if you will take a plum or an apricot you will find that over the outer coat of either one of them there glows a bloom more beautiful than the fruit itself—a soft, delicate powder that overspreads its rich colors. Now, if you strike your hand over that you will find that the bloom will at once depart, and when it goes it is gone forever. It only appears once. You go out into the flower garden early in the morning. The flower that hangs there impearled with dew, like so many jewels—you shake it once, so that the drops or beads will roll off. You take that same flower, after the dew has been shaken off, and you may sprinkle water over it as you please, yet it can never be made again what it was when the dew fell on it so gently from heaven. Again, on a frosty morning, you may see the panes of glass covered with landscapes, mountains, lakes and trees, blended into a fantastic picture. Now, lay your hand upon the glass and by the scratch of your finger or by the warmth of the palm; all the delicate tracery will be obliterated—all the beautiful picture will vanish, and you could not reproduce it, although you tried for a hundred years. Once wiped out, the picture on the glass is wiped out forever.

So there is in youth a purity of character which, when once touched and defiled, can never be restored—a fringe more delicate than frostwork or the dew on the flowers or the bloom on the plum or apricot. Character is a thing which, when once stained, can never be again what it was. When a young boy or girl leaves the home of his or her parents, with the blessing of a mother’s tears upon the cheek or the blessing of a father’s hand upon the head, if earthly purity of character be once lost it is a loss that can never be made up again. Though by God’s mercy the sin may be forgiven, yet its effects cannot but be in some way felt, and the boy or girl will never be what he or she was before.

LXXXIV.

Never think yourself, whoever you are, of small importance. Never think that it is of little account whether you are good or bad, or what your example is to others. Each mere particle of dust, every tiny grain of sand, the minutest atom, is an active agent in the whole universe. So each one of us is of importance in our sphere, however isolated and insignificant that sphere may appear to be.

A few particles of dust in a watch will stop its motion; small barnacles on a ship’s bottom will hinder its journey; and a little shifting sand in the great river will change its current. So, little boys and girls exercise their influence for weal or woe upon the world. Don’t you believe for once that the world is moved only by the great forces, the great men and the great enterprises. Little folks and little things likewise help to move the world along. Great generals are necessary; but what would they be without the soldiers behind them?

Every boy has his part to do in the great work of the world, and every girl has her part to do. Every boy and girl is of importance; how important nobody knows, and perhaps never shall know until eternity reveals it. There ought to be in this truth great encouragement and great comfort to all who think that they are insignificant and have no work to do in this busy world. Perhaps in the distant future many a man who estimated himself great shall be found to have been insignificant, because of unfaithfulness to his trust; and many another man who perhaps thought himself of little worth will find himself glorified because he did what he could.

LXXXV.

Poetry is more than verse-making, more than the jingle of words, more than the sing-song of meter.

Sunshine and flowers, brightness and joyousness, the harmonies of the passions and the inspiration of love—these are the poetry of life.

Without poetry, life is a tread-mill; a veil of tears; a dreary waste. Even religion is only a crucifixion—a death to sin—if we have not the resurrection into the new life of joy.

Many of us make hard work of life by bending our backs too much. We get dirt in our eyes by keeping them too near the dust, and we get narrow-minded and selfish by our narrow radius of vision.

To become truly rich we must stand in the dignity of our manhood; walk in the integrity of our calling; and run in the rhythm of a poetic nature. Out of harmony is out of sphere. The dignity, integrity and poetry of life are all lost by inharmony; only the ashes of disappointment are left; but with these we can dance at our work, and turn irksome duties into joyous privileges. Instead of moping in the valley of the shadow of death, we may live in the sunshine, where beautiful flowers and luscious fruits and delicious sweets grow.

Yes; yes; we might as well live in light as in darkness; make life a joyful song as a funeral dirge; live amid glory as shame. With a radiant countenance, a beaming eye, and a loving hand, we can do more work and have more to do; we can get more out of life and have more life to enjoy; we can scatter more sunshine and have more left for ourselves.

Christ came to bring to every toiler, heaven. Let us get into it quickly. It is here—and here only—that we find the poetry of life.

LXXXVI ON BEING IN EARNEST.

Of ten men who fail in life, nine men fail for want of zeal, earnestness, courage, where one man fails for want of ability. This half-heartedness, this lack of zeal, this timidity, this shrinking from duty and hard tasks is seen on all sides and among all classes. But I tell you, boys and girls, that the least enviable people in all the world are those who think that nothing is particularly worth while, that it does not matter much how a thing is done if it is only done with; who dwaddle along in a shabby sort of a way, considering only their own ease, with little sense of responsibility, and with no shame in being shirks. Every boy should make up his mind to live a round, full, earnest, intense life. Every girl should do the same. Don’t be satisfied, boys and girls, to be jellyfishes, with only a capacity for drawing in nourishment and lingering on until your time comes to die. Be vertebrates, people of backbone, purpose, aim, enthusiasm, earnestness.

At a public dinner President Roosevelt asked Governor Odell of New York if he knew anything worth doing that was not hard in the doing, and the governor could think of nothing. As a rule perhaps there is nothing, and yet things once hard in the doing become easy as skill is gained by repetition. Be in earnest, be faithful and resolute, and it will act like a tonic, giving light to the eyes, springiness to the step, and buoyancy to the heart.

Don’t be overcome by your circumstances. No matter how distracting a man’s surroundings may be, he may yet be able to focus his powers completely and to marshal them with certainty if he makes up his mind to do it. If things go hard with the self-mastered man or boy, he will be able to trample upon difficulties and to use his stumbling-blocks as stepping-stones. If a great misfortune overtake him he will simply use it as a starting point for a new departure, a turning point for more determined effort. He may be weighed down with sorrow and suffering, but he always starts anew with redoubled determination to do the thing he has set his heart upon doing. He will not be discouraged; he will not give up; he will fight it out to the end. Put him in prison, and he will write the “Pilgrim’s Progress.” Deprive him of his eyesight and he will write the “Paradise Lost.”

It was the spirit of earnestness which fired the soul of Martin Luther at the Diet of Worms, who, after being urged to recant, said: “Here I stand; I can do no other; God help me!” It was this spirit which characterized William Lloyd Garrison, the champion of the abolition of slavery, who, when he was urged to stop fighting slavery, exclaimed: “I will not equivocate, I will not retract, I will not be moved one inch, and I will be heard.” So be in earnest, boys and girls, at home, at school, at work and at play. It will help you a thousand-fold.

LXXXVII. YOUNG PEOPLE AND LIFE INSURANCE.

Every little boy and girl, and, of course, every man and woman, of the colored race in America should carry a life insurance policy of some kind in some reliable company. In this matter the old people, as in some other things, ought to set the example for the young, but there are some reasons, growing chiefly out of their previous condition of slavery, why our mothers and fathers have not, as a rule, taken very largely to the business of having their lives insured. But because our parents have been negligent in this matter there is no reason why the younger generation should be. Life insurance is a good thing, boys and girls—one of the best things in the world. American life insurance companies alone pay to policy-holders or estates of policy-holders over one hundred million dollars annually. Only a very small and almost insignificant portion of this vast sum goes into the hands of colored people, and for the reason that very few colored people carry life insurance policies.

Now use a little common sense about this matter. Whatever is good in life insurance for other races is good for our race; whatever in life insurance benefits other races will benefit our race. In business as in education, whatever is good for a white man is good for a black man. I would, therefore, urge every boy and girl to join a life insurance company, and where your mothers and fathers are not insured I would urge you to do your utmost to persuade them to join at once.

For one reason, a life insurance policy is not expensive. You might as well talk of the expense of buying bank stock, or the expense of putting your money into a savings bank or any other safe place as to speak of the expense of keeping up a life insurance policy. It is accumulation and not expense. Every dollar put into life insurance is a dollar saved to yourself or your estate.

For another reason life insurance is a good business investment. Carefully collected statistics on file in Washington City prove that investments in life insurance are much safer and yield much larger returns than money placed in a savings bank. When you are older you will perhaps be able to make these comparisons for yourself. For the present you can take my word for it.

A third reason, life insurance is cheap. You can in an instant create a capital of $1,000, though you may be ever so poor, by laying aside only a few cents a week. Young people chew up and drink up and smoke up and frolic up more money every week than would be sufficient to protect them against the rainy days that must come to everybody.

And, then, life insurance has a character value. It makes a young man a better man; it makes a young woman a better woman; that is to say, it makes them more economical, more business-like, happier, and, I believe, it will make them live longer.

It is high time that black boys and girls were learning these things and acting upon them. When God commanded us not to serve money as a false god He did not say that money could not serve us, and I beseech the boys and girls, and the old people too, to exercise the same foresight and the same good sense about life insurance that other races exercise.

LXXXVIII. THE LITTLE SAILOR CAT.

In September, 1893, grouped on the Fall River Line pier at the foot of Warren Street, New York, there stood a party of twenty-three sailors waiting for the Puritan to take them on to Boston. The central figure in the group—a short, thickset man, with bronzed and grizzled moustache—stood erect with arms folded over his chest. Upon the solid foundation thus made nestled a little white kitten. The man and the kitten were the Boston contingent of the crew of the steamship City of Savannah, which had been wrecked the week before on Hunting Island, off the South Carolina coast.

The story of the beaching of the steamship and of the taking off of her crew by the City of Birmingham had been told in all the newspapers, but nothing had been said about the cat, so the Boston Herald said. Before the shipwreck the cat was nothing more than an ordinary ship’s cat, and the captain had named him Mascot; but that was the end of his distinction. After the disaster, nevertheless, all the sailors swore that the kitten was as good a sailor as any of them.

“He’s a wonder,” said the short, thickset man, surveying the cat proudly; “nobody thought of him in the rush, but he got there just the same. He climbed the rigging in that gale like an old tar and held on for hours. He wasn’t a bit frightened either. Only he would ‘caterwaul’ when he got hungry. We were on board of the boat fifty hours after she struck before the sea was such that we could be taken off in boats. At night the captain ordered all the crew into the rigging and made us stay there. We each took a piece of rope and lashed ourselves on, so as to keep from falling off when asleep. That’s what the captain said the string was for, but I never slept at all. I don’t think many others did. The cat got along without any rope, and she was there in the morning all right. When we got away at last, nearly crazy with thirst and so faint that we could hardly climb down the ‘Jacob’s ladder’ into the Birmingham’s boats, that little fellow climbed out of his nest in the rigging and wanted to go too. We were glad to take him.”

LXXXIX.

1. Be punctual and regular at all the services of your church.

2. Give close attention to the pastor in the public service. Good hearers make good preachers.

3. Whenever you are aided by a sermon tell the pastor about it. In this way you will help him more than you think possible.

4. Do not neglect morning and evening prayer at home. Pray daily for God’s blessing upon the preaching and other labors of the pastor.

5. In the world let your light so shine before others that they may be led to glorify your Father which is in heaven. Let your light shine.

6. Invite your friends to attend divine services. A drawing congregation is as good as a drawing preacher. Call for your friends often.

7. Remember day by day that you are not your own, but have been “bought with a price,” and that you are Christ’s servant. Watch and pray.

8. If any service is required of you in the church or in the Sunday school, do not shirk it; always say: “I will try for Jesus’ sake.”

9. In the prayer meeting speak briefly and to the point. If you pray, ask only for what you want. Be short and direct. “Ask and ye shall receive.”

10. Never subscribe more than you are able to pay, and be sure to pay whatever you promise. Whether much or little, give it cheerfully. “God loveth a cheerful giver.”

11. Having found eternal life, use all appropriate means to develop Christian character. Prayer, reading the Bible, attending church and Sunday school, reading good books and Christian newspapers, keeping the best company—all these will help you.

XC. A WORD TO PARENTS.

Children are a gift from God. Children are a heritage from the Lord. It depends largely on parents whether they become a heritage of honor and delight or of sorrow and shame. It is not simply incumbent upon parents that their children be well cared for, fed and clothed, properly educated and so forth; but more than this, they are to be brought up “in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.” This being true, then, the highest aim of rearing children is not simply that they may win success and command respect in the world. Respect and success are greatly to be desired and sought, but beyond them and beyond everything else is the highest and chiefest aim of parental love and care; that their children may honor and command the righteousness of God in the life that now is and magnify the glory of God in the life that is to be. This is the mark and prize of their high calling.

Admitting this, then, the early conversion of children is all-important. But if they are to be early converted, is it not wise—nay, absolutely essential—that mothers and fathers prepare the way by restricting their natural impulses by which they are led to desire indulgence in the gay vanities of life? Is it not positively wrong for parents to indulge that pernicious and destructive delusion, which some allow, of permitting their children to have their own evil way in the hope that in due time they will in some way see their error and turn to the right path of their own accord? Father, you are a Christian. Mother, you are a Christian. Now, in your home, in the management of your children, are you doing the best you can to show what a Christian family should be? How is it, my friends? I leave that question with you.

XCI. A HELPFUL MESSAGE.