He faced the distinguished1 group of leaders calmly, but every man present felt the deep undercurrent of excitement beneath his words.
"With your co?peration, gentlemen," he began, "we are going to sweep the state this time by an overwhelming majority——"
"That's the way to talk!" the Chairman shouted.
"Four years ago," he went on, "we were defeated for the first time since the overthrow2 of the negro government under the Reconstruction3 régime. This defeat was brought about by a division of the whites under the Socialistic program of the Farmers' Alliance. Gradually the black man has forced himself into power under the new régime. Our farmers only wished his votes to accomplish their plans and have no use for him as an officeholder. The rank and file of the white wing, therefore, of the allied4 party in power, are ripe for revolt if the Negro is made an issue.[Pg 218]"
The Committee cheered.
"I propose to make the Negro the only issue of this campaign. There will be no half-way measures, no puling hesitation5, no weakness, and it will be a fight to the death in the open. The day for secret organizations has gone in Southern history. There is no Black League to justify6 a reorganization of the Klan. But the new Black League has a far more powerful organization. Its mask is now philanthropy, not patriotism7. Its weapon is the lure8 of gold, not the flash of Federal bayonets. They will fight to divide the white race on this vital issue.
"Here is our danger. It is real. It is serious. But we must meet it. There is but one way, and that is to conduct a campaign of such enthusiasm, of such daring and revolutionary violence if need be, that the little henchmen and sycophants9 of the Dispensers of the National Poor Funds will be awed10 into silence.
"The leadership of such a campaign will be a dangerous one. I offer you my services without conditions. I ask nothing for myself. I will accept no honors. I offer you my time, my money, my paper, my life if need be!"
The leaders rose as one man, grasped Norton's hand, and placed him in command.
No inkling of even the outlines of his radical11 program was allowed to leak out until the hour of the meeting of the party convention. The delegates were waiting anxiously for the voice of a leader who would sound the note of victory.
And when the platform was read to the convention declaring in simple, bold words that the time had come for the South to undo12 the crime of the Fifteenth Amendment,[Pg 219] disfranchise the Negro and restore to the Nation the basis of white civilization, a sudden cheer like a peal13 of thunder swept the crowd, followed by the roar of a storm. It died away at last in waves of excited comment, rose again and swelled14 and rose higher and higher until the old wooden building trembled.
Again and again such assemblies had declared in vague terms for "White Supremacy15." Campaign after campaign which followed the blight16 of negro rule twenty years before had been fought and won on this issue. But no man or party had dared to whisper what "White Supremacy" really meant. There was no fog about this platform. For the first time in the history of the party it said exactly what was meant in so many words.
Thoughtful men had long been weary of platitudes17 on this subject. The Negro had grown enormously in wealth, in numbers and in social power in the past two decades. As a full-fledged citizen in a Democracy he was a constant menace to society. Here, for the first time, was the announcement of a definite program. It was revolutionary. It meant the revision of the constitution of the union and a challenge to the negro race, and all his sentimental18 allies in the Republic for a fight to a finish.
The effect of its bare reading was electric. The moment the Chairman tried to lift his voice the cheers were renewed. The hearts of the people had been suddenly thrilled by a great ideal. No matter whether it meant success or failure, no matter whether it meant fame or oblivion for the man who proposed it, every intelligent delegate in that hall knew instinctively19 that a great mind had spoken a bold principle that must win in the end if the Republic live.[Pg 220]
Norton rose at last to advocate its adoption20 as the one issue of the campaign, and again pandemonium21 broke loose—now they knew that he had written it! They suspected it from the first. Instantly his name was on a thousand lips in a shout that rent the air.
He stood with his tall figure drawn22 to its full height, his face unearthly pale, wreathed in its heavy shock of iron-gray hair and waited, without recognizing the tumult23, until the last shout had died away.
His speech was one of passionate24 and fierce appeal—the voice of the revolutionist who had boldly thrown off the mask and called his followers25 to battle.
Yet through it all, the big unspoken thing behind his words was the magic that really swayed his hearers. They felt that what he said was great, but that he could say something greater if he would. As he had matured in years he had developed this reserved power. All who came in personal touch with the man felt it instinctively with his first word. An audience, with its simpler collective intelligence, felt it overwhelmingly. Yet if he had dared reveal to this crowd the ideas seething26 in his brain behind the simple but bold political proposition, he could not have carried them with him. They were not ready for it. He knew that to merely take the ballot27 from the negro and allow him to remain in physical touch with the white race was no solution of the problem. But he was wise enough to know that but one step could be taken at a time in a great movement to separate millions of blacks from the entanglements28 of the life of two hundred years.
His platform expressed what he believed could be accomplished29, and the convention at the conclusion of[Pg 221] his eloquent30 speech adopted it by acclamation amid a scene of wild enthusiasm.
He refused all office, except the position of Chairman of the Executive Committee without pay, and left the hall the complete master of the politics of his party.
Little did he dream in this hour of triumph the grim tragedy the day's work had prepared in his own life.
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
distinguished
|
|
| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
overthrow
|
|
| v.推翻，打倒，颠覆；n.推翻，瓦解，颠覆 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
reconstruction
|
|
| n.重建，再现，复原 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
allied
|
|
| adj.协约国的；同盟国的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
hesitation
|
|
| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
justify
|
|
| vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
patriotism
|
|
| n.爱国精神，爱国心，爱国主义 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
lure
|
|
| n.吸引人的东西，诱惑物；vt.引诱，吸引 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
sycophants
|
|
| n.谄媚者，拍马屁者( sycophant的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
awed
|
|
| adj.充满敬畏的，表示敬畏的v.使敬畏，使惊惧( awe的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
radical
|
|
| n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
undo
|
|
| vt.解开，松开；取消，撤销 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
peal
|
|
| n.钟声；v.鸣响 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
swelled
|
|
| 增强( swell的过去式和过去分词 )； 肿胀； （使）凸出； 充满（激情） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
supremacy
|
|
| n.至上；至高权力 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
blight
|
|
| n.枯萎病；造成破坏的因素；vt.破坏，摧残 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
platitudes
|
|
| n.平常的话，老生常谈，陈词滥调( platitude的名词复数 )；滥套子 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
sentimental
|
|
| adj.多愁善感的，感伤的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
instinctively
|
|
| adv.本能地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
adoption
|
|
| n.采用，采纳，通过；收养 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
pandemonium
|
|
| n.喧嚣，大混乱 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
drawn
|
|
| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
tumult
|
|
| n.喧哗；激动，混乱；吵闹 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
passionate
|
|
| adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
followers
|
|
| 追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
seething
|
|
| 沸腾的，火热的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
ballot
|
|
| n.（不记名）投票，投票总数，投票权；vi.投票 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
entanglements
|
|
| n.瓜葛( entanglement的名词复数 )；牵连；纠缠；缠住 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
accomplished
|
|
| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
eloquent
|
|
| adj.雄辩的，口才流利的；明白显示出的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |