“The world is like unto a wounded animal that has run a long way and now lies stretched upon the ground, the blood oozing forth from gaping wounds and pains darting through its entire frame.  The huntsman, who comes along to secure and drink the feverish milk of this animal that is all but a rotting carcass, seriously endangers his own well being.  So, young men, do not look upon this dying, decaying world to feed and support you.  You must feed and support it.  Carry fresh, warm, invigorating blood in your veins to inject into the veins of the world.  This is far safer and nobler than sticking the lance into the swollen veins of the world, to draw forth its putrid blood for your own use.  I not only exhort you but I warn you.  You may go to this dying animal as a surgeon, and proceed to cut off the sound portions for your own use.  You may deceive the world for awhile, but it will, ere long, discover whether you are a vandal or a surgeon; and if it finds you to be the former, when you are closest to its bosom, it will squeeze you tightly and tear your face to shreds.

“I wish now to apply these thoughts to your immediate circumstances.

“You shall be called upon to play a part in the adjusting of positions between the negro and Anglo-Saxon races of the South.  The present status of affairs cannot possibly remain.  The Anglo-Saxon race must surrender some of its outposts, and the negro will occupy these.  To bring about this evacuation on the part of the Anglo-Saxon, and the forward march of the negro, will be your task.  This is a grave and delicate task, fraught with much good or evil, weal or woe.  Let us urge you to undertake it in the spirit to benefit the world, and not merely to advance your own glory.

“The passions of men will soon be running high, and by feeding these passions with the food for which they clamor you may attain the designation of a hero.  But, with all the energy of my soul, I exhort you to not play with fire, merely for the sake of the glare that it may cast upon you.  Use no crisis for self-aggrandizement.  Be so full of your own soul’s wealth that these temptations may not appeal to you.  When your vessel is ploughing the roughest seas and encountering the fiercest gales, consult as your chart the welfare of the ship and crew, though you may temporarily lose fame as a captain.

“Young men, you are highly favored of God.  A glorious destiny awaits your people.  The gates of the beautiful land of the future are flung wide.  Your people stand before these gates peering eagerly within.  They are ready to march.  They are waiting for their commanders and the command to move forward.  You are the commanders who must give the command.  I urge, I exhort, I beseech you, my dear boys, to think not of yourselves.  Let your kingdom be within.  Lead them as they ought to be led, taking no thought to your own glory.

“If you heed my voice you shall become true patriots.  If you disregard it, you will become time-serving demagogues, playing upon the passions of the people for the sake of short-lived notoriety.  Such men would corral all the tigers in the forest and organize them into marauding regiments simply for the honor of being in the lead.  Be ye none of these, my boys.  May your Alma Mater never feel called upon to cry to God in anguish to paralyze the hand that she herself has trained.