They were not wicked men,--the problem of life is not the
problem of the wicked,--they were calm, good men, Bishops
of the Apostolic Church of God, and strove toward righteous-
ness. They said slowly, "It is all very natural--it is even
commendable; but the General Theological Seminary of the
Episcopal Church cannot admit a Negro." And when that
thin, half-grotesque figure still haunted their doors, they put
their hands kindly, half sorrowfully, on his shoulders, and
said, "Now,--of course, we--we know how YOU feel about
it; but you see it is impossible,--that is--well--it is prema-
ture. Sometime, we trust--sincerely trust--all such distinc-
tions will fade away; but now the world is as it is."
This was the temptation of Despair; and the young man
fought it doggedly. Like some grave shadow he flitted by
those halls, pleading, arguing, half angrily demanding admit-
tance, until there came the final NO: until men hustled the
disturber away, marked him as foolish, unreasonable, and
injudicious, a vain rebel against God's law. And then from
that Vision Splendid all the glory faded slowly away, and left
an earth gray and stern rolling on beneath a dark despair.
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