Six months before he died, and nearly a year after he had been stricken with paralysis, General Armstrong expressed a wish to visit Tuskegee again before he passed away.  Notwithstanding the fact that he had lost the use of his limbs to such an extent that he was practically helpless, his wish was gratified, and he was brought to Tuskegee.  The owners of the Tuskegee Railroad, white men living in the town, offered to run a special train, without cost, out of the main station—­Chehaw, five miles away—­to meet him.  He arrived on the school grounds about nine o’clock in the evening.  Some one had suggested that we give the General a “pine-knot torchlight reception.”  This plan was carried out, and the moment that his carriage entered the school grounds he began passing between two lines of lighted and waving “fat pine” wood knots held by over a thousand students and teachers.  The whole thing was so novel and surprising that the General was completely overcome with happiness.  He remained a guest in my home for nearly two months, and, although almost wholly without the use of voice or limb, he spent nearly every hour in devising ways and means to help the South.  Time and time again he said to me, during this visit, that it was not only the duty of the country to assist in elevating the Negro of the South, but the poor white man as well.  At the end of his visit I resolved anew to devote myself more earnestly than ever to the cause which was so near his heart.  I said that if a man in his condition was willing to think, work, and act, I should not be wanting in furthering in every possible way the wish of his heart.

The death of General Armstrong, a few weeks later, gave me the privilege of getting acquainted with one of the finest, most unselfish, and most attractive men that I have ever come in contact with.  I refer to the Rev. Dr. Hollis B. Frissell, now the Principal of the Hampton Institute, and General Armstrong’s successor.  Under the clear, strong, and almost perfect leadership of Dr. Frissell, Hampton has had a career of prosperity and usefulness that is all that the General could have wished for.  It seems to be the constant effort of Dr. Frissell to hide his own great personality behind that of General Armstrong—­to make himself of “no reputation” for the sake of the cause.

More than once I have been asked what was the greatest surprise that ever came to me.  I have little hesitation in answering that question.  It was the following letter, which came to me one Sunday morning when I was sitting on the veranda of my home at Tuskegee, surrounded by my wife and three children:—­

Harvard University, Cambridge, May 28, 1896.

President Booker T. Washington,

My Dear Sir:  Harvard University desired to confer on you at the approaching Commencement an honorary degree; but it is our custom to confer degrees only on gentlemen who are present.  Our Commencement occurs this year on June 24, and your presence would be desirable from about noon till about five o’clock in the afternoon.  Would it be possible for you to be in Cambridge on that day?