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

W0fShlpped her from aIaf as thoush SHe
had been white-robed angel. To see
her and be in the same house with her
was all he asked. Now and then he had
stood beside the piano and turned the
music while she played and sang one Of
his new pieces, and he would live on
that scene for months, eating his. heart
out with voiceless warnings he dared
not express.
| Now at last he had begun to dream OF
the day he would ask this God like man
| for the privilege of addressing his daugh-
| ter.
| The great meeting at Cooper Union
| had brought this dream to a sudden
resolution Lowell had outdone himself
| that night. With merciless invective he
| had denounced the inhuman barbarism of
| the South in these lynchings. The sea
of eager faces had answered his appeals
as water the breath of a storm. He felt
| it's mighty reflex influence sweep back on
his soul and lift him to greater heights
| He demanded equality of man on every
inch of this earth's soil.
Il demand this perfect equality" he
cried, absolutely without reservation Or
| subterfuge, both in form and essential
| reality 1t is the life blood of Democ-
racy. 1t is the reason of our existence.
| Without this we are a living lie, stencil
| in the nostrils of God and humanity"
| cheer from thousand negro throats
| rent the air as he thus closed. The
| crowd Surged over the platform and for
ten minutes it was impossible to restore
order or continue the programme. Young
Harris pressed his patrons hand and
kissed it while tears of pride and graft
tude rained down his face.
| This speech made a national sensation.
1t was printed in full in all the partisan
papers where it was hoped capital might
| be made of it for the next political cam
paign, and the National Campaign Com
mittee, of which he was a member, or
| dered a million copies of it printed for
| distribution among the negroes.
When Lowell and Harris reached Bos-
ton as they parted at the depot Harris
said.
"Will you be at home tomorrow, Mr..
Lowell?"
Yes, why?"
81 would like a talk with you in the
morning on a matter of grave import
ance. May | call at nine o'clock
Certainly. Come right into the lib
rary. You'll find me there, George"
Seated in the library next morning
Harris was nervous and embarrassed
He made two or three attempts to be-
gin the subject but turned aside with
some unimportant remark.
well, George, what is the problem
that makes you so grave this morning."
asked Lowell with kindly patronage.
Harris felt that his hour had come
and he must face it. He leaned forward
in his chair and looked steadily down at
the rug, while he clasped both his hands
firmly across his lap and spoke with
great rapidity.
Mr. Lowell l wish to say to you that
you have taught me the greatest faith
of life, faith in my fellow man without
which there can be no faith in God
What l have suffered as man as I have
come in contact with the brutality with
which my race is almost universally
treated, God only can ever know.
THE culture l have received has SIM
ply multiplied a thousandfold my ca
pacity to suffer But for the inspiration
of your manhood | would have ended my
life in the river. In you l saw great
light. l saw a man really made in the
image of God with mind and soul trained
with head erect, scorning the weak pre-
JUDGES of caste, which dare to call the
image of God clean or unclean in passion
or pride.
Il lifted up my head and said, one such
man redeems world from hopeless in
fanny. It's worth while to live in a
world honored by one such man, for he
is the prophecy of more to come"
He paused a moment, fidgeted with a
piece of paper he had picked UP from the
table and seemed at a loss for a word.
1t never dawned on Lowell what he was
driving at. He supposed as a matter of
course, he was referring to his great
speeches and was going to ask for some
promotion in a governmental department
at Washington.
I'm proud to have been such an in
spiration to you, George. You know how
much I think of you. What is on your
mind?" he asked at length.
81 have hidden it from every human
eye, sir, | am afraid to breathe it aloud
alone. have only tried to sing it in
song in an impersonal way. Your wond-
erful words of late have emboldened me
to speak 1t is this. l am madly, des-
perately in love with your daughter"
Lowell sprang to his feet as though a
bolt of lightning had suddenly shot down
his backbone. He glared at the negro
with dlated eyes and heaving
breast as though he had been trans
formed into leopard or tiger and was
about to spring at his throat.
Before answering and with a gesture
commanding silence, he walked rapidly
to the library door and closed it.
"And 7 have come to ask YOU" con-
tinued Harris ignoring his gesture, "f |
may pay my addresses to her with your
consent
Harris, this is crazy nonsense. Such
an idea is preposterous. l am amazed
that it should ever have entered your
head. Let this be the end of it here and
now, if you have any desire to retain my
friendship"
Lowell said this with scowl, and an
emphasis of indignant rising reflection.
The negro seemed stunned by this swift
blow in his very teeth, that seemed to
place him outside the pale of human
being.
why is such hope unreasonable, sir,
to man of your scientific mind?"
ut is a question of TASTE" snapped
Lowell =