Before this I had had the thought that General Armstrong, having fought the Southern white man, rather cherished a feeling of bitterness toward the white South, and was interested in helping only the coloured man there.
But this visit convinced me that I did not know the greatness and the generosity of the man.

I soon learned, by his visits to the Southern white people, and from his conversations with them, that he was as anxious about the prosperity and the happiness of the white race as the black.

He cherished no bitterness against the South, and was happy when an opportunity offered for manifesting his sympathy.

In all my acquaintance with General Armstrong I never heard him speak, in public or in private, a single bitter word against the white man in the South.
From his example in this respect I learned the lesson that great men cultivate love, and that only little men cherish a spirit of hatred.
I learned that assistance given to the weak makes the one who gives it strong; and that oppression of the unfortunate makes one weak.
It is now long ago that I learned this lesson from General Armstrong, and resolved that I would permit no man, no matter what his colour might be, to narrow and degrade my soul by making me hate him.

With God's help, I believe that I have completely rid myself of any ill feeling toward the Southern white man for any wrong that he may have inflicted upon my race.