Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1900-07-19
MAJOR ]. B. CUMMING
TO c0L0RED TEACHERS.
wise Counsel 70 Those whs are Lcck-
Cd Upon as the xouiisTs Of charae-
ter Of coiersd People.

From the Augusta t0a.) Chroniele.
At meeting Of the Peabody In
stitute for colored teachers Major
Joseph B. Cumming spoke as fol-
lows:
Mr.. Chairman and Frisnds ---I
recall, when / hear this generous
applause, 9 text Of Scripture. I
am aware | am in the presence of
and | may not give it cor
rectly, and / ask their indulgence
while ! quote it IS nearly as / can !:
''Let not him who putteth on his
armor boast himself 90 he that tax
eth it off," A public speaker is al
ways gratifed by applause; but It's
true value and its true meaning de-
pend upon the stage of his remarks
when he receives it. At the COM
mencement, az now. it is simply 0
Of your good will, and
l accept it as such and l accept it
with qualification. But it may not
come at the end. ifit should come
at the end, it will be o mark of
your appreciation. l do not know
that l shall get your appreciation
this evening. / should like 10 have
it, but / would not get it from any
assembly ct the sacrifice Of what /
consider right and true. / expect
TO speak to you plainly. Iexpect to
speak nothing but the truth-or
what believe to be the truth. But,
unfortunately, the truth is not al.
ways agreeable. OF course I shall
speak to you as q friend. When /
,ay "friend," the word has q dou-
Die meaning in my thoughts. It
means that ! am your friend, and
hat / believe that you are my
'riends-that yon are friendly. I
nope so.
The first proposition / know to
be true; I know that am your
friend. I do not say 9 friend to
,very individual member of this as.
'embly, for most of you individu-
lily are unknown to me; but as
ook over this audience I see indi-
Tiduals whom know as my friends.
say. friends. Why not? Why
should not my heart swell with
friendship when / look upon an as
'embly Of your race !? As stand
,ere tonight my thoughts 20 back
20 other days; for I am an inheri-
'or Of old traditions. have lived
lnder two eivilizations-that which
passed away in 1865, and that which
,as existed since. am the inher-
tor Of the old az well as the pos
Iessor of the new. And from the
Inheritance has come q friendship
hat grew out of the old relations
relations that cannot be appreci-
tied by this generation. They
Vere very close. They were very
rue. There is no language with
Vhich We can express them and
here 10 no future generation that
Vill ever know Ehat they we're.
They are passed and gone; but to
ne and to you few who remain who
ived IN the midst Of them, they
re beautiful memory.
Another reason why / should have
his sentiment /: / recall these four
'ears of war, when the white men
4 the south had to leave their
lomes, their property, their wives,
heir children, their all. They left
hem in the hands of your ances-
ors, and in the hands Of some OF
he gray heads I see around me
low. They were in your power.
But how beautiful, how unswerv-
ng was the fidelity with which
Tour people stood by my people in
hose days. / regret to note that
his fact 10 forgotten by the young
u generation Of the white people.
& ought never to be forgotten. It
'ught to be blazoned on the pages
Il history, as it was one of the most
'emafkable evidences Of fidelity TO
10 found in the annals Of time.
recall, too, q man who was my
'riend, q man Of your race, q man
born in his condition Of life in the
'ame family in which / was born in
ny condition oflife. He wen. with
ne early in the war, and he came
rack with me at its close. For
Eeeks at time there was scarcely
! day and never night when he
'ould not have left me and accept
ID freedom. but he preferred to
'tay By me, not merely to serve me,