The Washington bee., 1907-10-05
Ovation To The Wizard
,r BOOKER T. WASHINGTON IS
GIVEN GREAT OVATION BY
IMMENSE AUDIENCE
IN BOSTON.

.4r-e audience Of about elght thousand
o--r1e rram5red for admittance to Sym
srr0v Hall last Sunday night at the
-,.-ino session of the International Con
rr... Of Religious Liberals, at which
Dr Washington, Dr. Hale and DR.. Ihos.
z Crcer. of All Souls Church, New
York. we're the principal speakers The
acene within the hall was a most inspiT-
inr one. a representation from all of
hc European nations, except Russia, be-
iusg present Under the expansive can
dCv Of four world faiths, Boston extend
ad her hand in welcome to the Jew and
Gentle, to the African, the Mohamme-
aen, and the Hindu.
If delegates 70 this great congress
came to Boston with an impression that
me so-called liberals Of this city are
lacking in warmth and fervor, they have
probably reconstructed their ideas. They
must have done so if they attended the
wonderfully impressive meeting in Sym
nhunv Hall last Sunday evening, which,
a. British delegate said after the
mighty audience had, with a great vol
uus If uelodious sound, sung the Hymn
Of Praise" written for this occasion by
AZ. lulia Ward Howe, was one Of the
m.t -.euidcaut the world has ever seen
Tie spirit of the gathering, which has
called men and women of all nations
together +, expressed in the theme Of
die g.euing-"Glory to God in the high
e-t on earth peace, goodwill to men
Re- Thomas R. Slicer Of New York
- the FIRST speaker The title of his
address was GLORY to God"
In referring to the three speakers, the
Boston Herald said
Fn e ad5resses The Rev, q r Slicer
oi New York spoke to the intellect OF
the gathering. while Edward Everett
Hale. whose reception was demonstra-
uyely affectinoate, appealed powerfully
to its heart But for the foreign visit
OF, the most interesting Of all the pleas
made for liberal religion was that ut
tered by an eN-slave raised by American
opportunities from a Virginia plantation
a. the platform Of the International Con
gress of Religious Workers and Think
exs.'"
The Iast speaker Dr.Booker T. Wash
iugton. president Of Tuskegee, was un-
able to begin his address for several
seconds after he rose from the side of
Dr. Hale When these two leaders
among men came to the platform, the
applause was deafening, but it was even
longer continued as the honored repre-
sentative of the Negro race faced the
cloud of Witnesses 1t was reserved
FOR the ex-slave, the Negro educator and
orator, to shake the great audience out
of its Sunday demeanor. To Dr. Hale
It had risen and extended the Chautau-
qua salute but when ths Iuskegeean
srode 10 his place at the front, the
great audience instantly, as by one i'm
pulse. came to its feet and vigorously
welcomed him by handclappIng, the wav-
ing of handkerchiefs and canes, while
ane foreign delegates on the platform
mounted their chairs for good view of
ne man whose fame is as we'll known to
Ghem as 1t is to his own countrymen.
DR.. Washington's address was mes
sage Of Good VIII TO Men," pregnant
sith rich thought and optimism. He
spoke as follows:
have been a slave in body, and know
ss meaning; but there is no form of
physical slavery that Is as hurtful as
mental and spiritual slavery. Having
therefore experienced one form of bond
~ / have long registered high and,
Z trust. holy resolve in heaven that
heuce forward no influence should en-
slave me in mind or in heart Hence
- an ex-slave and as an American cit
zen l count it a high privilege to be
permitted to share in the duty of extend
Eg a welcome to those who have come
here from this and foreign lands to at
send this International Council of Re
Egious Thinkers and Workers.
My first introduction to the world Of
religious thought and activity was il
this wise One morning before the break
Of day, I recall the picture OF my now
saiuted mother bending over my body
- l lay upon dirt floor, wrapped IN
a bundle of rags in our slave cabin,
earnestly praying that Abraham Lincoln
night succeed and that one day she
and her boy might be free | am here
tonight TO celebrate with you the an
sWer TO that prayer. join all the more
Eeartily in this festival of religious free
dom OF thought and activity because my
race in America, as has been true OF the |
oppressed of all lands, owes a peculiar
debt of gratitude to those of the Uni