BEFORE THE YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION. 295

Church. He was commonly the central attraction of all such gatherings, not so much by his official station as by the charm of his person and character-handsome, dignified, and affable, he moved among the circles which he frequented with a modest grace, an instinctive recognition of the claims of others, a kindly salutation for every one, an evident appreciation of all that is best in his fellow-beings, which, while it showed him to be a man of

"Cheerful yesterdays, and confident to-morrows,"

also made it manifest to all that the source of his cheerfulness and of his friendship was deep in the springs of a pure nature.

Mr. Cookman's close sympathy with the Young Men's Christian Association during his former residence in Philadelphia will be remembered. He shows himself again on their platform, and speaks in the following timely and earnest words:

"Ecclesiastical history tells us of one of the ancient Christians who, when summoned before the tribunal where he was to receive his sentence of death, was asked, 'What is thy name?' He immediately responded, ‘I am a Christian?' 'What is thy occupation?' He answered, 'I am a Christian.' 'What is thy native country?' He answered, 'I am a Christian.' 'Who were thy ancestors?' He answered, 'I am a Christian.' And to all the inquiries he responded consistently in the words, ‘I am a Christian.' Sir, it is with a feeling akin to this that I appear upon your platform to-nightnot as an American, not as a Methodist, not as a sectarian, Mr. President-I am a Christian. I glory in this worthy distinction; and in the presence of men and angels I announce the fact, 'I am a Christian' - —a humble member, an unworthy representative of the Young Men's Christian Association of the City of Philadelphia.

"Allow me, sir, to congratulate you and the friends of this worthy enterprise upon the brilliant and truly inspiring scene which greets our vision and crowns our anniversary. Certainly these Christian laborers are encompassed about with a great cloud of witnesses. Look at them sitting in these boxes, occupying this lower floor and yonder gallery-filling the entire house, making it appear almost like an ancient amphitheatre, which, during the progress of the Olympic games, would be crowded in every part, causing the place to look like a living, breathing structure. It shows how dear to the heart of every Christian is the cause of Christianity, and the welfare of every

instrumentality intended to promote the interests of religion. These young men shall rise up like a race of young giants, showing themselves mighty in pulling down the strongholds of the wicked one. Now we have in the midst of us the Ark of the Covenant. Upon our banners are inscribed the words, 'Christ and Him crucified.' This is the motto under which we successfully battle. It is true, we still want the baptism of fire-that fire which shall constantly burn in our hearts, that shall glow in our countenances, kindle upon our tongues, and shine in our lives.

“Mr. President, I was greatly excited by the cordial welcome you extended to these delegates, hailing as they do from the North, South, East, and West. Only a week since I was in the city of Pittsburgh, and spent there one of the happiest evenings of my life. That such may be the case with you all to-night is my earnest wish. But a few years have elapsed since the veterans of 1812, hailing from almost every state in the Union, assembled in yonder hall on Chestnut Street, where more than eighty-three years ago there was prepared for publication to the world the memorable Declaration of American Independence. Finding the room too small for the number present, they adjourned to the Chinese Museum, which afforded them more spacious accommodations. At the second organization it was ascertained that some of the delegates were absent. The New York delegation was every moment expected. Soon the stentorian voice of the door-keeper was heard, and the shout of the New York Delegation' resounded throughout the building. That vast audience sprang upon their feet, and made the edifice literally vocal with their shouts of enthusiastic welcome. The Baltimore veterans, coming in immediately after, were received with the wildest shouts of enthusiastic joy. And now, when the good soldiers of Jesus Christ are coming from the battles of our world to sit down in a convention that shall never adjourn sine die, an angel at one door, with shouts of joy, will announce the names of the Young Men's Christian Association of New York; another angel, at another door, will announce the Young Men's Christian Association of Troy; another the names of the associations of Baltimore, Germantown, and a thousand other places, all coming to mingle together in the Paradise of God. May God grant such may be the case, and that we may all be united in a bond of union that shall never know dissolution."

་

CHAPTER XVII.

SPRING GARDEN STREET CHURCH.-CIVIL RIGHTS OF THE COLORED RACE.-VACATION AT CAMP-MEETINGS.

THE session of this Conference of 1866 over, Mr. Cookman hastened to the help of his brother John, who was stationed in Poughkeepsie, New York. He found him in the midst of an extensive revival, but greatly prostrated in health; and although he was himself just out of an arduous winter's work, he could not refrain from entering earnestly into the work on his brother's hands.

To his wife:

"POUGHKEEPSIE, Monday, March 26.

** "We found John in bed, a victim of diphtheria and great nervous prostration. Last Wednesday the doctor was very much alarmed. Yesterday morning early, and again in the afternoon, he had very bad spells. This morning, however, he seems better, and we hope will recover rapidly. His people are earnest and united in the prayers for the preservation of his life, which seems to them exceedingly valuable. His labors have been singularly blessed. It is estimated that nearly three hundred have professed to experience religion, among whom are a large number of heads of families and strong, stalwart young men. The end is not yet.

"I preached yesterday morning on the cloud of witnesses. After the sermon the altar was surrounded by gentlemen and ladies, who proposed to join the Church on probation. In the afternoon we had a prayer-meeting, with an altar full of penitents. In the evening I preached on 'Ye will not come,' etc. The altar was again filled with mourners, and some occupied the front seats. This morning, and every morning at nine o'clock, a meeting, largely attended, is held in the lecture-room. I preach to-night, to-morrow night, and perhaps on Wednesday night. John has not been out of his bed since last Tuesday, so that he is entirely laid aside. The friends interpret my presence as a providential interposition. If you need me before Thursday, telegraph, and I will be forthcoming at the earliest moment, but, unless there should be some emergency demanding my presence, I reckon I will

stay till Thursday. I have the prospect of incessant labor while I remain here, but this work shall make my heart rejoice, and 'spend the remnant of my days.'

The successful close of the late civil war, it will be remembered, entailed upon the nation problems of reconstruction second only in importance and difficulty to that of maintaining the unbroken authority of the general Government. The chief problem was the settlement of the relations of the freed colored race to the new order of things. The negro was free-he could not Should he advance in the essen

be again reduced to slavery.

tial conditions of freedom to the possession of those civil rights without the exercise of which liberty is but a name? Such was the question which in 1866 forced itself upon the true lovers of the country and of humanity for a speedy and practical solution.

It can not be denied that the first stage of transition from bondage to freedom was to the colored people of the South a period of fearful trial and suffering. "The reaction which followed at the waters of strife, upon the exultation of the passage of the Red Sea, has been fitly described as the likeness of the reaction which, from the days of Moses downward, has followed on every great national emancipation—on every just and beneficent revolution-when the 'evils it caused are felt, and the evils which it removed are felt no longer.' 999* Many of the worst results of emancipation, which the enemies of the slaves had predicted and their friends had feared, fell upon them. They wandered about in multitudes, without food, clothing, or shelter. Their irresponsible and defenseless condition exposed them to sickness and immorality. They were tempted to drunkenness, theft, and murder. It is not surprising that they, like the Israelites, longed at the "bitter waters” for the "flesh-pots of Egypt." When in bondage, they felt only the evils of their sad state, and anticipated in freedom naught but the sweets of liberty. In their recollections they dreamed of * Stanley's History of the Jewish Church.

JUSTICE TO THE NEGRO.

299

their snug quarters, their hoe-cakes, their merry evening songs and dances, but forgot the chains, the whip, the extinction of manhood and all its ties; and thus, as they saw in the present only privation and peril, no wonder their hearts failed them and hope well-nigh died out.

Many of the advocates of freedom were also alarmed. The old, oft-repeated sophistry, that the negro is incapable of selfgovernment, seemed too well supported by the abuses and shiftlessness which could not but follow upon the heels of a people suddenly liberated, without the least education in the habits of self-help. It again required the faith and nerve to insist upon the rights of citizenship for the black man that it had originally required to demand his liberation. Mr. Cookman was among the number who stood forward quite early in the reconstruction agitation for the bestowal of these rights in all their fullness.

To his sister, Miss Mary Cookman:

"PHILADELPHIA, June 6, 1866. “Last night I made a speech in the largest colored church in Philadelphia. Two bishops, a book agent, a missionary, an editor, etc. (all black), on the platform. Justice to the negro and justice to the traitor was my political creed announced. Duty to their brethren in the South, the exhortation urged. We had a glorious time. I thought of our honored father, how he would have reveled and kindled and flamed on such an occasion or under such circumstances.

"This suggests your inquiry respecting colonization. My impression is that colonization belongs to some future providential development. God is using the African race just now to teach us a lesson of justice and human brotherhood. We are not sufficiently instructed or disciplined yet, and can not dispense with the lesson-book. When we are disposed to do justly in every particular, then I rather expect that Providence will open some gold mines or oil wells, or something else in the African coast, or in some other locality where black people can best live, and so we shall work out the problem of colonization. At the present time they are not only important for testing our integrity, but also for cultivating our soil. As laborers they are indispensable to our wealth and prosperity. I think colonization must be left to Providence and the colored people themselves. We can not force