Various

“ Upon the authority of the Supreme Court of the United States, one cannot do indirectly unlawfully what one cannot do directly lawfully.
How could Mr. Knox keep his pledge not to disfranchise a single white man, made to his party, and at the same time keep his oath to support the Constitution of the United States? Which, think you, had the greater building force upon him? There being only white and black men in Alabama, and the convention being pledged not to disfranchise the whites, who else were there to be disfranchised but the Blacks. ”

“ It may be that the day of great actors has faded away into the past and that we may never have another who will interpret the vital literature of the past so admirably and with such technique and vividness as did Joseph Jefferson. Where is the man or woman who pretends to know anything about the history of the American stage who is not familiar with Joseph Jefferson in the role of Rip Van Winkle, and what school boy or school girl has not read Washington Irving’s magnificent production in the course of his or her daily studies. ”

“ I don’t think there’s anyone in the world who could deny John has good features. As for the nature of the man, it’s absolutely the sweetest I have ever known.”
A very pretty smile crossed Nora’s lips, a tender expression entered the sightless eyes.
“The sweetest nature you have ever known,” she repeated. “One couldn’t have a nicer thing said than that. Looks are a great deal, of course—I so love everything beautiful, but a lovely nature is even more than a lovely exterior. I—why, that’s John’s footstep; he’s earlier than usual today, isn’t he?” ”

“ He said: “The condition of the Negro church in Boston has been far from satisfactory. At present not a single Negro church building is owned by its congregation. The church, moreover, is not supported by the most prosperous and intelligent Negroes, but by the less intelligent, who, from false pride, hold the church to too high an intellectual standard, one which cannot healthfully be lived up to. The great evil is, though, that the leadership of the Negro churches has not been carefully enough guarded. The leaders have not been the men they should be.” ”

“ We must not permit ourselves to harbor the belief that our friends among the white people in the south are disappearing. If we pursue the sensible and conservative course, the number of such friends will multiply. There are great opportunities for us here in the south in education, industry, business and the professions. The race that gets most out of the soil, out of the wood, out of the kitchen, out of the school room, the doctor’s office or the pulpit, is the race that is going to succeed regardless of all obstacles. ”

“ It is especially gratifying that at this time, when interest in the plantation songs seems to be dying out with the generation that gave them birth, when the Negro song is in too many minds associated with “rag” music and the more reprehensible “coon” song, that the most cultivated musician of his race, a man of the highest esthetic ideals, should seek to give permanence to the folk songs of his people by giving them a new interpretation and an added dignity. ”

“ Once, in a still night, they were startled and terrified by a sudden boom far below their feet and the earth shook, stones rattled down the rocky sides of the abyss, and they remembered the dread power of the volcano. “It is Pele! she is angry with us!” cried Lilia. “No,” replied her husband, “we have thrown ourselves into the protecting bosom of the Goddess! We are safe in her arms.” They were safe from human sight and interference, and Lilia’s soul feasted in the presence of him she loved. She poured out upon him such a wealth of devotion, that a miser might have envied. ”

“ When I was a student at this institution I was taught that Ponce de Leon spent years in search of a fountain of perpetual youth. In my opinion there is no spot in America where one can more nearly renew his youth and strengthen his faith in the wisdom and perpetuity of our institutions than at Hampton.
“To the students who are to go out from the Hampton institute today to begin what I hope are to be careers of usefulness, I wish to say: I hope that you will learn to be even tempered, self-controlled and hopeful. ”

“ On the contrary, the fact is that the suffrage provisions of the new Constitution of Alabama are an open disavowal and nullification of the Fifteenth Amendment to the Federal Constitution, and an exclusion of the Negro from the electorate on account of his race and previous condition; also the law providing for an appeal to the courts of the State of Alabama, where a Negro is refused registration, is only a snare, and affords him no relief whatever. ”

“ Some of the trustees in New York City and Boston came to his assistance and with this and contributions from a few other friends, he was able to get through that first year. Although it was a struggle, he found in it some pleasure. To know that you are doing the work that the world needs and must have done is a pleasure, even under trying circumstances. It is doubtful if any school started as a result of Tuskegee’s teaching ever accomplished more in the same length of time, during its first year of existence than was true of the Utica Normal and Industrial Institute. ”

“ I hope that you will pursue the policy of making yourself so indispensably useful in every community into which you go that the members of that community, black and white, will feel that they cannot dispense with your services. ”

“ You will find many conditions that will try your soul, but the test of Hampton’s training will be shown by the ability with which you are able to choose the fundamental things in life and stick to them and not become discouraged because of the temporary and non-essential. The great thing is for you to conduct yourselves so as to become worthy of the privileges of an American citizen and these privileges will come. ”

“ The manner in which Joseph Jefferson delineated the character of a vagabond, who was simplicity itself and the pathos of whose life is a tradition in our history, and at once places him in the front rank of the finest and best artists of his day and generation. There was a charm in the portrayal of Rip that never failed to hold the attention of theatregoers wherever exhibited. In the truest sense Joseph Jefferson was an adornment to his profession, and the sweet and delightful memory of his activities will be cherished by generations yet unborn. ”

“ The race that goes quietly and contentedly on doing things day by day will reap its reward. It often requires more courage to suffer in silence than to retaliate; more courage not to strike back than to strike ”

“ Every lawyer knows that an appellate court cannot disturb the verdict of a jury on any disputed issue of fact, and hence on appeal to the Supreme Court the appeal was dismissed, the Court would avail nothing. ”

“ Desmond went on, slowly, “she loves you dearly; she will grow used to your looks in time; even if she is shocked at first, it will wear off, and any one can see that it’s your misfortune that you’re not a handsome man; your features, as I have told Nora often, are beautiful. You ought to be a handsome man, and but for the smallpox marks you certainly would have been.”
[25]
The blind girl, standing so motionless outside the door, shivered a little.
“I shan’t be able to bear it,” John said. “Blind as she is, she worships beauty. What will she feel when she sees she is bound for life to me! ”

“ Seventy percent of our women are wage-workers, with the overwhelming majority of our men. Organized labor may discriminate, but there can be no permanent advance while one-eighth of our population is ignored.
The program of socialism is begirt with the spirit of righteousness and seeks to establish itself on the foundations of justice. Sooner or later, in the affairs of men, there must come a levelling process. The Negro needs to take a broader outlook and a larger view of himself in relation to his surroundings. ”

“ Shun those dreadful white rubber affairs that look extremely unbecoming and clumsy in a woman’s hair. As nearly as possible the ornaments should match the color of the hair, and for day and general wear they should be plain. The more elaborate effects are for evening, and nothing makes a woman look so dowdy as to see her wearing enameled or stone-mounted back combs shopping or to business. ”

“ Charles Alexander spoke on “The Negro in the Professions in Boston.” He confined himself to the professions of law and medicine. “Boston has ten Negro physicians, and about 15 Negro lawyers,” he said, “a larger number in proportion to the size of the Negro population than in any other northern city. The color line is not so strictly drawn in the professions. Negroes here get white patronage.” He then went on to name the most prominent Negro lawyers and physicians of the city. ”

“ The Alabama Constitution provides that any person to whom registration is denied shall have the right of appeal to the Circuit Court. At the trial the solicitor for the state shall appear and defend against the petitioner on behalf of the state. The judge shall charge the jury only as to what constitutes the qualifications to entitle the applicant to become an elector at the time he applied for registration, and the jury shall determine the weight and effect of the evidence and return a verdict. From the judgment rendered an appeal lies to the Supreme Court in favor of the petitioner. ”

“ The progress of civilization, the moral and intellectual improvement of society, as well as the psychological enlightenment of the world at large attests increasingly to the value, the justice and the worth of common education for all members of the body politic in whatever station or of whatever condition they may be found or to whatever race they may belong. ”

“ She, however, was emphatic in her negative.
“You’ll just spoil her life and her happiness if you do,” she answered. “What the eye does not see, the heart does not grieve for; as every one knows, the blind in their hearts and souls worship at the shrine of beauty more ardently than those who see. ”

“ The two questions which stood out were, he said, that of the economic situation of the Boston Negro and that of the attitude of the races toward each other. Economically, the object to be attained is the extension of the field of labor, the conquest of higher grades of employment. As regards the racial question it is a most vexed one, the outcome of which cannot be predicted.
The South End House is this year undertaking to study the situation of the Negroes in Boston and to apply some efforts toward their social betterment. ”

“ One says, he is willing to treat a black man as he would a white man; that is, when Socialism is fully established. Another tells us, he has never considered the subject, besides he is too busy considering the question of “class consciousness.” The Socialistic cult in this country, under whatever name it may act, is bound to consider the Negro and the questions growing out of his presence here. Nine million people cannot be ignored. They are the storm centre for the exhibition of vigorous racial prejudices and animosities.
REV. R. C. HANSON, D. D. ”

“ Of course, he pities me—everyone does; everyone is kind to me—but, apart from that, do you really, really think I am his favorite—in spite of my blindness?”
Mrs. Desmond rose, cross the room, put her hand upon the girl’s shoulder.
“I don’t think—I know,” she returned. “He thinks more of you than he thinks of anyone in the wide, wide world! That’s something to be proud of, Nora.” ”

“ The well-settled rule of construction is that the form of a law by which an individual is deprived of constitutionality is immaterial. The test of the law’s constitutionality is whether it operates to deprive any person of a right guaranteed by the Constitution. ”

“ Far to the south ran the black and frowning coast, relieved here and there by white lines or foam creeping lazily in from the ocean, only to look darker as the surf melted from sight. On the plain, little clusters of trees, or a house, or a thin curl of smoke, indicated the presence of men ”

“ In the death of Joseph Jefferson the theatrical profession loses the most renowned, the most respected, the most highly esteemed and perhaps the most skillful actor that has played upon the American stage for a great number of years. ”

“ Young matrons wear a wider decolletage but it is softened by pretelles of velvet or tulle.
There is a feeling in dress which tends toward simplicity. We are weary of the overtrimmed styles, and are happily returning to the long, noble lines and flowing draperies which artists love. ”

“ People want the news and read what is presented as news quickly and pass it along without much thought. This is about all of the attention that a large part of news items are worth but there are constantly taking place events that bear such important relations to questions of great interest that it is essential for the student of events to have the aid of a monthly review. ”