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 I08 HISTORY OF THE PARLIAMENT. have been welcomed lieie to-day. In responding to the addresses of wel- come I will, in the first place, respond for the Africans in Africa, and accept your welcome on behalf of the African continent, with its millions of acres and millions of inhabitants, with its mighty forests, with its great beasts, with its great men, and its great possibilities. Though some think that Africa is in a bad way, I am one of those who have not lost faith in the pos- sibilities of a redemption of Africa. I believe in Providence and in the prophesies of God that Ethiopia yet shall stretch forth her hands unto God, and, although to-day our land is in the possession of others, and every foot of land and every foot of water in Africa has been appropriated by the gov- ernments of Europe, yet I remember, in the light of history, that those same nations parceled out the American continent in the past. But America had her Jefferson. Africa in the future is to bring forth a Jefferson who will write a declaration of the independence of the Dark Con- tinent. And as you had your "Washington, so God will give us a Washing- ton to lead our hosts. Or, if it please God, he may raise up not a Washing- ton, but another Toussaint L'Ouverture, who will become the pathfinder of his country, and, with his sword will, at the head of his people, lead them to freedom and equality. He will form a republican government whose corner-stone will be religion, morality, education and temperance, acknowl- edging the Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man ; while the Ten Commandments and the Golden Rule shall be the rule of life and conduct in the great republic of redeemed Africa. But, sir, I accept your welcome, also, on behalf of the negroes of the American continent. As early as 1502 or 1503, we are told, the negroes came to this country. And we have been here ever since, and we are going to stay here too — some of us are. Some of us will go to Africa, because we have got the spirit of Americanism, and wherever there is a possibility in sight some of us will go. We accept your welcome to this grand assembly, and we come to you this afternoon and thank God that we meet these representatives of the different religions of the world. We meet you on the height of this Parliament of Religions — the first gathering of the peoples since the time of Noah, when Shem, Ham and Japhet met together. I greet the children of Shem, I greet the children of Japhet, and I want you to understand that Ham is here. I thank you that I have been chosen as the representative of the negro race in this great Parliament. I thank these representatives that have come so far to meet and to greet us of the colored race. A gentleman said to-day in this meeting that he had traveled fourteen thousand miles to get here. " Why," said I to myself, " that is a wonderful distance to come to meet me, I wonder if I would go that far to meet him." Yes, he says he came four- teen thousand miles to meet us here, and " us " in this case means me, too. Therefore I welcome these brethren to the shores of America on behalf of seventy-four hundred thousand negroes on this continent, who, by the provi-