The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1902-03-30

| of man with man, absolutely in form and
substance without reservation OF subter-
fuge!"
Yes, political equality"
Politics is but secondary phenomenon
| of society You said absolute equality,
protested Harris.
The question you breach is question
of taste, and the deeper social instincts
of racial purity and self preservation. /
| care not what your culture. or your
| genius or your position | do not desire,
| and will not permit, a mixture of negro
| blood in my family. The idea is nauseat-
! ing, and to my daughter it would be re-
| pulsive beyond the power of words to ex-
press
And yet" pleaded Harris you in
vited me to your home, introduced me to
your daughter, seated me at your table,
and used me in your appeal to your con-
stituents, and now when l dare ask the
privilege of seeking her hand in honorable
marriage, you, the scholar, patriot,
statesman and philosopher of Equality
| and Democracy, slam the door in my
| face and tell me that l am a negro. Is
| this fair or manly?
Il fail to see its unfairness. Social
rights are ore thing, political rights
| another" interrupted Lowell
81 deny it. If you are honest with
yourself you know it is not true Poll
tics is but a manifestation of society.
Society rests on the family. The family
is the unit of civilization. The right to
love and wed where one loves is the
badge of fellowship in the order of hu-
mainly. The man who is denied tho
right in any society is not a member OF
it. He is outside any manifestation OF
it's essential life. You had as well talk
about the Importance of clothes for u
dead man, as political rights for such
pariah. You have classed him with the
beasts of the field. AS a human unit he
does not exist for you
Harris, it is utterly useless to argue
point like this" Lowell interrupted
coldly. This must be the end of our
acquaintance. You must not enter my
house again
my God, sir, you can't kick me out of
your home like this when you brought
me to it. and made it an issue of life
or death!'
Il tell you again you are crazy. l have
brought you here against her wish.
She left the house with her friend this
morning to avoid seeing you. Your pres
ence has always been repulsive to her,
and with me it has been political study
not a social pleasure
Il beg for only a desperate chance to
overcome this feeling. Surely a man of
your profound learning and genius can
not sympathize with such prejudices?"
Il decline to discuss the question any
further"
Il can't give up without a struggled"
the negro cried with desperation.
Lowell arose with a gesture of i'm
patience.
Now you are getting to be simply a
nuisance. To be perfectly plain with you,
| haven't the slightest desire that my
family with its proud record of a thou
sand years of history and achievement
shall end in this stately old house in a
brood of mulatto brats!"
Harris WINGED and sprang to his feet,
trembling with passion. 81 see" he
sneered, 1.-The soul of Simon Legree has
at last become the soul Of the nation
The South expresses the same luminous
truth with q little more clumsy brutality
But their way is after all more merciful
The human body becomes unconscious at
the touch of an oil-fed flame in sixty
seconds. Your methods are more refined
and thousand times more hellish in
cruelty. You have trained my ears to
hear, eyes to see, hands to touch and
heart to feel. that you might torture
with the denial of every cry of body and
soul and roast me in the flames of i'm
possible desires for time and eternityl"
THAT will do now There's the door!"
Numbered Lowell with a gesture of stern
emphasis. IF you were able to win her
consent thing unthinkable I would do
what old Virginius did in the Roman
Forum, kill her with my own hand.
rather than see her sink in your arms
into the black waters of a negroid life
Now go"
ITO be continued next Sunday)
COULD NOT BREATHE.