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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/206-h.zip b/206-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..40b569e --- /dev/null +++ b/206-h.zip diff --git a/206-h/206-h.htm b/206-h/206-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7ad01c5 --- /dev/null +++ b/206-h/206-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,14851 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="us-ascii"?> + +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" > + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en"> + <head> + <meta content="pg2html (binary v0.17)" name="linkgenerator" /> + <title> + The Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, 1995, Memorial Issue by Various + </title> + <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> + + body { margin:5%; background:#faebd0; text-align:justify} + P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; } + hr { width: 50%; text-align: center;} + .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; } + blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + .mynote {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;} + .toc { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;} + .toc2 { margin-left: 20%;} + div.fig { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; } + div.middle { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; } + .figleft {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;} + .figright {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;} + .pagenum {display:inline; font-size: 70%; font-style:normal; + margin: 0; padding: 0; position: absolute; right: 1%; + text-align: right;} + pre { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;} + +</style> + </head> + <body> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, 1995, +Memorial Issue, by Various + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, 1995, Memorial Issue + +Author: Various + +Release Date: June 29, 2008 [EBook #206] +Last Updated: January 8, 2013 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. *** + + + + +Produced by Judith Boss, John Hamm and David Widger + + + + + +</pre> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h1> + THE MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. DAY, 1995, MEMORIAL ISSUE. + </h1> + <h2> + By Various + </h2> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <h3> + Edited and Assembled by Judith Boss and John Hamm <br /><br /> HTML File by + David Widger + </h3> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <blockquote> + <p class="toc"> + <big><b>CONTENTS</b></big> + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0001"> SOJOURNER TRUTH, THE LIBYAN SIBYL by Harriet + Beecher Stowe </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0002"> RECONSTRUCTION by Frederick Douglass </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0003"> AN APPEAL TO CONGRESS FOR IMPARTIAL SUFFRAGE + by Frederick Douglas </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0004"> THE NEGRO EXODUS by James B. Runnion </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0005"> MY ESCAPE FROM SLAVERY by Frederick Douglass + </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0006"> THE GOOPHERED GRAPEVINE by Charles W. Chesnutt + </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0007"> PO' SANDY by Charles W. Chesnutt </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0008"> DAVE'S NECKLISS by Charles W. Chesnutt </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0009"> THE AWAKENING OF THE NEGRO by Booker T. + Washington </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0010"> THE STORY OF UNCLE TOM'S CABIN by Charles + Dudley Warner </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0011"> STRIVINGS OF THE NEGRO PEOPLE by W. E. + Burghardt Du Bois </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0012"> THE WIFE OF HIS YOUTH by Charles W. Chesnutt + </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0013"> THE BOUQUET by Charles W. Chesnutt </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0014"> THE CASE OF THE NEGRO by Booker T. Washington + </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0015"> HOT-FOOT HANNIBAL by Charles W. Chesnutt </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0016"> A NEGRO SCHOOLMASTER IN THE NEW SOUTH by W. E. + Burghardt Du Bois </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0017"> THE CAPTURE OF A SLAVER by J. Taylor Wood </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0018"> MR. CHARLES W. CHESNUTT'S STORIES by W. D. + Howells </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0019"> PATHS OF HOPE FOR THE NEGRO by Jerome Dowd + </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0020"> SIGNS OF PROGRESS AMONG THE NEGROES by Booker + T. Washington </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0021"> THE MARCH OF PROGRESS by Charles W. Chesnutt + </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0022"> THE FREEDMEN'S BUREAU by W. E. Burghardt Du + Bois </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0023"> OF THE TRAINING OF BLACK MEN by W. E. + Burghardt Du Bois </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0024"> THE FRUITS OF INDUSTRIAL TRAINING by Booker T. + Washington </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0025"> THE NEGRO IN THE REGULAR ARMY by Oswald + Garrison Villard </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0026"> BAXTER'S PROCRUSTES by Charles W. Chesnutt + </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0027"> THE HEART OF THE RACE PROBLEM by Quincy Ewing + </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0028"> NEGRO SUFFRAGE IN A DEMOCRACY by Ray Stannard + Baker </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_BIBL"> BIBLIOGRAPHY OF SOURCES ———————————- + </a> + </p> + </blockquote> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a name="link2H_4_0001" id="link2H_4_0001"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <h2> + SOJOURNER TRUTH, THE LIBYAN SIBYL by Harriet Beecher Stowe + </h2> + <p> + Many years ago, the few readers of radical Abolitionist papers must often + have seen the singular name of Sojourner Truth, announced as a frequent + speaker at Anti-Slavery meetings, and as travelling on a sort of + self-appointed agency through the country. I had myself often remarked the + name, but never met the individual. On one occasion, when our house was + filled with company, several eminent clergymen being our guests, notice + was brought up to me that Sojourner Truth was below, and requested an + interview. Knowing nothing of her but her singular name, I went down, + prepared to make the interview short, as the pressure of many other + engagements demanded. + </p> + <p> + When I went into the room, a tall, spare form arose to meet me. She was + evidently a full-blooded African, and though now aged and worn with many + hardships, still gave the impression of a physical development which in + early youth must have been as fine a specimen of the torrid zone as + Cumberworth's celebrated statuette of the Negro Woman at the Fountain. + Indeed, she so strongly reminded me of that figure, that, when I recall + the events of her life, as she narrated them to me, I imagine her as a + living, breathing impersonation of that work of art. + </p> + <p> + I do not recollect ever to have been conversant with any one who had more + of that silent and subtle power which we call personal presence than this + woman. In the modern Spiritualistic phraseology, she would be described as + having a strong sphere. Her tall form, as she rose up before me, is still + vivid to my mind. She was dressed in some stout, grayish stuff, neat and + clean, though dusty from travel. On her head, she wore a bright Madras + handkerchief, arranged as a turban, after the manner of her race. She + seemed perfectly self-possessed and at her ease,—in fact, there was + almost an unconscious superiority, not unmixed with a solemn twinkle of + humor, in the odd, composed manner in which she looked down on me. Her + whole air had at times a gloomy sort of drollery which impressed one + strangely. + </p> + <p> + "So this is YOU," she said. + </p> + <p> + "Yes," I answered. + </p> + <p> + "Well, honey, de Lord bless ye! I jes' thought I'd like to come an' have a + look at ye. You's heerd o' me, I reckon?" she added. + </p> + <p> + "Yes, I think I have. You go about lecturing, do you not?" + </p> + <p> + "Yes, honey, that's what I do. The Lord has made me a sign unto this + nation, an' I go round a'testifyin', an' showin' on 'em their sins agin my + people." + </p> + <p> + So saying, she took a seat, and, stooping over and crossing her arms on + her knees, she looked down on the floor, and appeared to fall into a sort + of reverie. Her great gloomy eyes and her dark face seemed to work with + some undercurrent of feeling; she sighed deeply, and occasionally broke + out,— + </p> + <p> + "O Lord! O Lord! Oh, the tears, an' the groans, an' the moans! O Lord!" + </p> + <p> + I should have said that she was accompanied by a little grandson of ten + years,—the fattest, jolliest woolly-headed little specimen of Africa + that one can imagine. He was grinning and showing his glistening white + teeth in a state of perpetual merriment, and at this moment broke out into + an audible giggle, which disturbed the reverie into which his relative was + falling. + </p> + <p> + She looked at him with an indulgent sadness, and then at me. + </p> + <p> + "Laws, Ma'am, HE don't know nothin' about it—HE don't. Why, I've + seen them poor critters, beat an' 'bused an' hunted, brought in all torn,—ears + hangin' all in rags, where the dogs been a'bitin' of 'em!" + </p> + <p> + This set off our little African Puck into another giggle, in which he + seemed perfectly convulsed. + </p> + <p> + She surveyed him soberly, without the slightest irritation. + </p> + <p> + "Well, you may bless the Lord you CAN laugh; but I tell you, 't wa'n't no + laughin' matter." + </p> + <p> + By this time I thought her manner so original that it might be worth while + to call down my friends; and she seemed perfectly well pleased with the + idea. An audience was what she wanted,—it mattered not whether high + or low, learned or ignorant. She had things to say, and was ready to say + them at all times, and to any one. + </p> + <p> + I called down Dr. Beecher, Professor Allen, and two or three other + clergymen, who, together with my husband and family, made a roomful. No + princess could have received a drawing-room with more composed dignity + than Sojourner her audience. She stood among them, calm and erect, as one + of her own native palm-trees waving alone in the desert. I presented one + after another to her, and at last said,— + </p> + <p> + "Sojourner, this is Dr. Beecher. He is a very celebrated preacher." + </p> + <p> + "IS he?" she said, offering her hand in a condescending manner, and + looking down on his white head. "Ye dear lamb, I'm glad to see ye! De Lord + bless ye! I loves preachers. I'm a kind o' preacher myself." + </p> + <p> + "You are?" said Dr. Beecher. "Do you preach from the Bible?" + </p> + <p> + "No, honey, can't preach from de Bible,—can't read a letter." + </p> + <p> + "Why, Sojourner, what do you preach from, then?" + </p> + <p> + Her answer was given with a solemn power of voice, peculiar to herself, + that hushed every one in the room. + </p> + <p> + "When I preaches, I has jest one text to preach from, an' I always + preaches from this one. MY text is, 'WHEN I FOUND JESUS.'" + </p> + <p> + "Well, you couldn't have a better one," said one of the ministers. + </p> + <p> + She paid no attention to him, but stood and seemed swelling with her own + thoughts, and then began this narration:— + </p> + <p> + "Well, now, I'll jest have to go back, an' tell ye all about it. Ye see, + we was all brought over from Africa, father an' mother an' I, an' a lot + more of us; an' we was sold up an' down, an' hither an' yon; an' I can + 'member, when I was a little thing, not bigger than this 'ere," pointing + to her grandson, "how my ole mammy would sit out o' doors in the evenin', + an' look up at the stars an' groan. She'd groan an' groan, an' says I to + her,— + </p> + <p> + "'Mammy, what makes you groan so?' + </p> + <p> + "an' she'd say,— + </p> + <p> + "'Matter enough, chile! I'm groanin' to think o' my poor children: they + don't know where I be, an' I don't know where they be; they looks up at + the stars, an' I looks up at the stars, but I can't tell where they be. + </p> + <p> + "'Now,' she said, 'chile, when you're grown up, you may be sold away from + your mother an' all your ole friends, an' have great troubles come on ye; + an' when you has these troubles come on ye, ye jes' go to God, an' He'll + help ye.' + </p> + <p> + "An' says I to her,— + </p> + <p> + "'Who is God, anyhow, mammy?' + </p> + <p> + "An' says she,— + </p> + <p> + "'Why, chile, you jes' look up DAR! It's Him that made all DEM!" + </p> + <p> + "Well, I didn't mind much 'bout God in them days. I grew up pretty lively + an' strong, an' could row a boat, or ride a horse, or work round, an' do + 'most anything. + </p> + <p> + "At last I got sold away to a real hard massa an' missis. Oh, I tell you, + they WAS hard! 'Peared like I couldn't please 'em, nohow. An' then I + thought o' what my old mammy told me about God; an' I thought I'd got into + trouble, sure enough, an' I wanted to find God, an' I heerd some one tell + a story about a man that met God on a threshin'-floor, an' I thought, + 'Well an' good, I'll have a threshin'-floor, too.' So I went down in the + lot, an' I threshed down a place real hard, an' I used to go down there + every day, an' pray an' cry with all my might, a-prayin' to the Lord to + make my massa an' missis better, but it didn't seem to do no good; an' so + says I, one day,— + </p> + <p> + "'O God, I been a-askin' ye, an' askin' ye, an' askin' ye, for all this + long time, to make my massa an' missis better, an' you don't do it, an' + what CAN be the reason? Why, maybe you CAN'T. Well, I shouldn't wonder ef + you couldn't. Well, now, I tell you, I'll make a bargain with you. Ef + you'll help me to git away from my massa an' missis, I'll agree to be + good; but ef you don't help me, I really don't think I can be. Now,' says + I, 'I want to git away; but the trouble's jest here: ef I try to git away + in the night, I can't see; an' ef I try to git away in the daytime, + they'll see me, an' be after me.' + </p> + <p> + "Then the Lord said to me, 'Git up two or three hours afore daylight, an' + start off.' + </p> + <p> + "An' says I, 'Thank 'ee, Lord! that's a good thought.' + </p> + <p> + "So up I got, about three o'clock in the mornin', an' I started an' + travelled pretty fast, till, when the sun rose, I was clear away from our + place an' our folks, an' out o' sight. An' then I begun to think I didn't + know nothin' where to go. So I kneeled down, and says I,— + </p> + <p> + "'Well, Lord, you've started me out, an' now please to show me where to + go.' + </p> + <p> + "Then the Lord made a house appear to me, an' He said to me that I was to + walk on till I saw that house, an' then go in an' ask the people to take + me. An' I travelled all day, an' didn't come to the house till late at + night; but when I saw it, sure enough, I went in, an' I told the folks + that the Lord sent me; an' they was Quakers, an' real kind they was to me. + They jes' took me in, an' did for me as kind as ef I'd been one of 'em; + an' after they'd giv me supper, they took me into a room where there was a + great, tall, white bed; an' they told me to sleep there. Well, honey, I + was kind o' skeered when they left me alone with that great white bed; + 'cause I never had been in a bed in my life. It never came into my mind + they could mean me to sleep in it. An' so I jes' camped down under it, on + the floor, an' then I slep' pretty well. In the mornin', when they came + in, they asked me ef I hadn't been asleep; an' I said, 'Yes, I never slep' + better.' An' they said, 'Why, you haven't been in the bed!' An' says I, + 'Laws, you didn't think o' such a thing as my sleepin' in dat 'ar' BED, + did you? I never heerd o' such a thing in my life.' + </p> + <p> + "Well, ye see, honey, I stayed an' lived with 'em. An' now jes' look here: + instead o' keepin' my promise an' bein' good, as I told the Lord I would, + jest as soon as everything got a'goin' easy, I FORGOT ALL ABOUT GOD. + </p> + <p> + "Pretty well don't need no help; an' I gin up prayin.' I lived there two + or three years, an' then the slaves in New York were all set free, an' ole + massa came to our home to make a visit, an' he asked me ef I didn't want + to go back an' see the folks on the ole place. An' I told him I did. So he + said, ef I'd jes' git into the wagon with him, he'd carry me over. Well, + jest as I was goin' out to git into the wagon, I MET GOD! an' says I, 'O + God, I didn't know as you was so great!' An' I turned right round an' come + into the house, an' set down in my room; for 't was God all around me. I + could feel it burnin', burnin', burnin' all around me, an' goin' through + me; an' I saw I was so wicked, it seemed as ef it would burn me up. An' I + said, 'O somebody, somebody, stand between God an' me! for it burns me!' + Then, honey, when I said so, I felt as it were somethin' like an amberill + [umbrella] that came between me an' the light, an' I felt it was SOMEBODY,—somebody + that stood between me an' God; an' it felt cool, like a shade; an' says I, + 'Who's this that stands between me an' God? Is it old Cato?' He was a + pious old preacher; but then I seemed to see Cato in the light, an' he was + all polluted an' vile, like me; an' I said, 'Is it old Sally?' an' then I + saw her, an' she seemed jes' so. An' then says I, 'WHO is this?' An' then, + honey, for a while it was like the sun shinin' in a pail o' water, when it + moves up an' down; for I begun to feel 't was somebody that loved me; an' + I tried to know him. An' I said, 'I know you! I know you! I know you!'—an' + then I said, 'I don't know you! I don't know you! I don't know you!' An' + when I said, 'I know you, I know you,' the light came; an' when I said, 'I + don't know you, I don't know you,' it went, jes' like the sun in a pail o' + water. An' finally somethin' spoke out in me an' said, 'THIS IS JESUS!' + An' I spoke out with all my might, an' says I, 'THIS IS JESUS! Glory be to + God!' An' then the whole world grew bright, an' the trees they waved an' + waved in glory, an' every little bit o' stone on the ground shone like + glass; an' I shouted an' said, 'Praise, praise, praise to the Lord!' An' I + begun to feel such a love in my soul as I never felt before,—love to + all creatures. An' then, all of a sudden, it stopped, an' I said, 'Dar's + de white folks, that have abused you an' beat you an' abused your people,—think + o' them!' But then there came another rush of love through my soul, an' I + cried out loud,—'Lord, Lord, I can love EVEN DE WHITE FOLKS!' + </p> + <p> + "Honey, I jes' walked round an' round in a dream. Jesus loved me! I knowed + it,—I felt it. Jesus was my Jesus. Jesus would love me always. I + didn't dare tell nobody; 't was a great secret. Everything had been got + away from me that I ever had; an' I thought that ef I let white folks know + about this, maybe they'd get HIM away,—so I said, 'I'll keep this + close. I won't let any one know.'" + </p> + <p> + "But, Sojourner, had you never been told about Jesus Christ?" + </p> + <p> + "No, honey. I hadn't heerd no preachin',—been to no meetin'. Nobody + hadn't told me. I'd kind o' heerd of Jesus, but thought he was like + Gineral Lafayette, or some o' them. But one night there was a Methodist + meetin' somewhere in our parts, an' I went; an' they got up an' begun for + to tell der 'speriences; an' de fust one begun to speak. I started, 'cause + he told about Jesus. 'Why,' says I to myself, 'dat man's found him, too!' + An' another got up an' spoke, an I said, 'He's found him, too!' An' + finally I said, 'Why, they all know him!' I was so happy! An' then they + sung this hymn": (Here Sojourner sang, in a strange, cracked voice, but + evidently with all her soul and might, mispronouncing the English, but + seeming to derive as much elevation and comfort from bad English as from + good):— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + 'There is a holy city, + A world of light above, + Above the stairs and regions,* + Built by the God of Love. + + "An Everlasting temple, + And saints arrayed in white + There serve their great Redeemer + And dwell with him in light. + + "The meanest child of glory + Outshines the radiant sun; + But who can speak the splendor + Of Jesus on his throne? + + "Is this the man of sorrows + Who stood at Pilate's bar, + Condemned by haughty Herod + And by his men of war? + + "He seems a mighty conqueror, + Who spoiled the powers below, + And ransomed many captives + From everlasting woe. + + "The hosts of saints around him + Proclaim his work of grace, + The patriarchs and prophets, + And all the godly race, + + "Who speak of fiery trials + And tortures on their way; + They came from tribulation + To everlasting day. + + "And what shall be my journey, + How long I'll stay below, + Or what shall be my trials, + Are not for me to know. + + "In every day of trouble + I'll raise my thoughts on high, + I'll think of that bright temple + And crowns above the sky." + + * Starry regions. +</pre> + <p> + I put in this whole hymn, because Sojourner, carried away with her own + feeling, sang it from beginning to end with a triumphant energy that held + the whole circle around her intently listening. She sang with the strong + barbaric accent of the native African, and with those indescribable upward + turns and those deep gutturals which give such a wild, peculiar power to + the negro singing,—but above all, with such an overwhelming energy + of personal appropriation that the hymn seemed to be fused in the furnace + of her feelings and come out recrystallized as a production of her own. + </p> + <p> + It is said that Rachel was wont to chant the "Marseillaise" in a manner + that made her seem, for the time, the very spirit and impersonation of the + gaunt, wild, hungry, avenging mob which rose against aristocratic + oppression; and in like manner, Sojourner, singing this hymn, seemed to + impersonate the fervor of Ethiopia, wild, savage, hunted of all nations, + but burning after God in her tropic heart, and stretching her scarred + hands towards the glory to be revealed. + </p> + <p> + "Well, den ye see, after a while, I thought I'd go back an' see de folks + on de ole place. Well, you know, de law had passed dat de culled folks was + all free; an' my old missis, she had a daughter married about dis time who + went to live in Alabama,—an' what did she do but give her my son, a + boy about de age of dis yer, for her to take down to Alabama? When I got + back to de ole place, they told me about it, an' I went right up to see + ole missis, an' says I,— + </p> + <p> + "'Missis, have you been an' sent my son away down to Alabama?' + </p> + <p> + "'Yes, I have,' says she; 'he's gone to live with your young missis.' + </p> + <p> + "'Oh, Missis,' says I, 'how could you do it?' + </p> + <p> + "'Poh!' says she, 'what a fuss you make about a little nigger! Got more of + 'em now than you know what to do with.' + </p> + <p> + "I tell you, I stretched up. I felt as tall as the world! + </p> + <p> + "'Missis,' says I, 'I'LL HAVE MY SON BACK AGIN!' + </p> + <p> + "She laughed. + </p> + <p> + "'YOU will, you nigger? How you goin' to do it? You ha'n't got no money." + </p> + <p> + "'No, Missis,—but GOD has,—an' you'll see He'll help me!'—an' + I turned round an' went out. + </p> + <p> + "Oh, but I WAS angry to have her speak to me so haughty an' so scornful, + as ef my chile wasn't worth anything. I said to God, 'O Lord, render unto + her double!' It was a dreadful prayer, an' I didn't know how true it would + come. + </p> + <p> + "Well, I didn't rightly know which way to turn; but I went to the Lord, + an' I said to Him, 'O Lord, ef I was as rich as you be, an' you was as + poor as I be, I'd help you,—you KNOW I would; and, oh, do help me!' + An' I felt sure then that He would. + </p> + <p> + "Well, I talked with people, an' they said I must git the case before a + grand jury. So I went into the town when they was holdin' a court, to see + ef I could find any grand jury. An' I stood round the court-house, an' + when they was a-comin' out, I walked right up to the grandest-lookin' one + I could see, an' says I to him,— + </p> + <p> + "'Sir, be you a grand jury?' + </p> + <p> + "An' then he wanted to know why I asked, an' I told him all about it; an' + he asked me all sorts of questions, an' finally he says to me,— + </p> + <p> + "'I think, ef you pay me ten dollars, that I'd agree to git your son for + you.' An' says he, pointin' to a house over the way, 'You go 'long an' + tell your story to the folks in that house, an' I guess they'll give you + the money.' + </p> + <p> + "Well, I went, an' I told them, an' they gave me twenty dollars; an' then + I thought to myself, 'Ef ten dollars will git him, twenty dollars will git + him SARTIN.' So I carried it to the man all out, an' said,— + </p> + <p> + "'Take it all,—only be sure an' git him.' + </p> + <p> + "Well, finally they got the boy brought back; an' then they tried to + frighten him, an' to make him say that I wasn't his mammy, an' that he + didn't know me; but they couldn't make it out. They gave him to me, an' I + took him an' carried him home; an' when I came to take off his clothes, + there was his poor little back all covered with scars an' hard lumps, + where they'd flogged him. + </p> + <p> + "Well, you see, honey, I told you how I prayed the Lord to render unto her + double. Well, it came true; for I was up at ole missis' house not long + after, an' I heerd 'em readin' a letter to her how her daughter's husband + had murdered her,—how he'd thrown her down an' stamped the life out + of her, when he was in liquor; an' my ole missis, she giv a screech, an' + fell flat on the floor. Then says I, 'O Lord, I didn't mean all that! You + took me up too quick.' + </p> + <p> + "Well, I went in an' tended that poor critter all night. She was out of + her mind,—a-cryin', an' callin' for her daughter; an' I held her + poor ole head on my arm, an' watched for her as ef she'd been my babby. + An' I watched by her, an' took care on her all through her sickness after + that, an' she died in my arms, poor thing!" + </p> + <p> + "Well, Sojourner, did you always go by this name?" + </p> + <p> + "No, 'deed! My name was Isabella; but when I left the house of bondage, I + left everything behind. I wa'n't goin' to keep nothin' of Egypt on me, an' + so I went to the Lord an' asked Him to give me a new name. And the Lord + gave me Sojourner, because I was to travel up an' down the land, showin' + the people their sins, an' bein' a sign unto them. Afterwards I told the + Lord I wanted another name, 'cause everybody else had two names; and the + Lord gave me Truth, because I was to declare the truth to the people. + </p> + <p> + "Ye see some ladies have given me a white satin banner," she said, pulling + out of her pocket and unfolding a white banner, printed with many texts, + such as, "Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the + inhabitants thereof," and others of like nature. "Well," she said, "I + journeys round to camp-meetins, an' wherever folks is, an' I sets up my + banner, an' then I sings, an' then folks always comes up round me, an' + then I preaches to 'em. I tells 'em about Jesus, an' I tells 'em about the + sins of this people. A great many always comes to hear me; an' they're + right good to me, too, an' say they want to hear me agin." + </p> + <p> + We all thought it likely; and as the company left her, they shook hands + with her, and thanked her for her very original sermon; and one of the + ministers was overheard to say to another, "There's more of the gospel in + that story than in most sermons." + </p> + <p> + Sojourner stayed several days with us, a welcome guest. Her conversation + was so strong, simple, shrewd, and with such a droll flavoring of humor, + that the Professor was wont to say of an evening, "Come, I am dull, can't + you get Sojourner up here to talk a little?" She would come up into the + parlor, and sit among pictures and ornaments, in her simple stuff gown, + with her heavy travelling-shoes, the central object of attention both to + parents and children, always ready to talk or to sing, and putting into + the common flow of conversation the keen edge of some shrewd remark. + </p> + <p> + "Sojourner, what do you think of Women's Rights?" + </p> + <p> + "Well, honey, I's ben to der meetins, an' harked a good deal. Dey wanted + me for to speak. So I got up. Says I,—'Sisters, I a'n't clear what + you'd be after. Ef women want any rights more 'n dey's got, why don't dey + jes' TAKE 'EM, an' not be talkin' about it?' Some on 'em came round me, + an' asked why I didn't wear Bloomers. An' I told 'em I had Bloomers enough + when I was in bondage. You see," she said, "dey used to weave what dey + called nigger-cloth, an' each one of us got jes' sech a strip, an' had to + wear it width-wise. Them that was short got along pretty well, but as for + me"—She gave an indescribably droll glance at her long limbs and + then at us, and added,—"Tell YOU, I had enough of Bloomers in them + days." + </p> + <p> + Sojourner then proceeded to give her views of the relative capacity of the + sexes, in her own way. + </p> + <p> + "S'pose a man's mind holds a quart, an' a woman's don't hold but a pint; + ef her pint is FULL, it's as good as his quart." + </p> + <p> + Sojourner was fond of singing an extraordinary lyric, commencing,— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "I'm on my way to Canada, + That cold, but happy land; + The dire effects of Slavery + I can no longer stand. + O righteous Father, + Do look down on me, + And help me on to Canada, + Where colored folks are free!" +</pre> + <p> + The lyric ran on to state, that, when the fugitive crosses the Canada + line, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "The Queen comes down unto the shore, + With arms extended wide, + To welcome the poor fugitive + Safe onto Freedom's side." +</pre> + <p> + In the truth thus set forth she seemed to have the most simple faith. + </p> + <p> + But her chief delight was to talk of "glory," and to sing hymns whose + burden was,— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "O glory, glory, glory, + Won't you come along with me?" +</pre> + <p> + and when left to herself, she would often hum these with great delight, + nodding her head. + </p> + <p> + On one occasion, I remember her sitting at a window singing and fervently + keeping time with her head, the little black Puck of a grandson meanwhile + amusing himself with ornamenting her red-and-yellow turban with green + dandelion-curls, which shook and trembled with her emotions, causing him + perfect convulsions of delight. + </p> + <p> + "Sojourner," said the Professor to her, one day, when he heard her + singing, "you seem to be very sure about heaven." + </p> + <p> + "Well, I be," she answered, triumphantly. + </p> + <p> + "What makes you so sure there is any heaven?" + </p> + <p> + "Well, 'cause I got such a hankerin' arter it in here," she said,—giving + a thump on her breast with her usual energy. + </p> + <p> + There was at the time an invalid in the house, and Sojourner, on learning + it, felt a mission to go and comfort her. It was curious to see the tall, + gaunt, dusky figure stalk up to the bed with such an air of conscious + authority, and take on herself the office of consoler with such a mixture + of authority and tenderness. She talked as from above,—and at the + same time, if a pillow needed changing or any office to be rendered, she + did it with a strength and handiness that inspired trust. One felt as if + the dark, strange woman were quite able to take up the invalid in her + bosom, and bear her as a lamb, both physically and spiritually. There was + both power and sweetness in that great warm soul and that vigorous frame. + </p> + <p> + At length, Sojourner, true to her name, departed. She had her mission + elsewhere. Where now she is I know not; but she left deep memories behind + her. + </p> + <p> + To these recollections of my own I will add one more anecdote, related by + Wendell Phillips. + </p> + <p> + Speaking of the power of Rachel to move and bear down a whole audience by + a few simple words, he said he never knew but one other human being that + had that power, and that other was Sojourner Truth. He related a scene of + which he was witness. It was at a crowded public meeting in Faneuil Hall, + where Frederick Douglas was one of the chief speakers. Douglas had been + describing the wrongs of the black race, and as he proceeded, he grew more + and more excited, and finally ended by saying that they had no hope of + justice from the whites, no possible hope except in their own right arms. + It must come to blood; they must fight for themselves, and redeem + themselves, or it would never be done. + </p> + <p> + Sojourner was sitting, tall and dark, on the very front seat, facing the + platform; and in the hush of deep feeling, after Douglas sat down, she + spoke out in her deep, peculiar voice, heard all over the house,— + </p> + <p> + "Frederick, IS GOD DEAD?" + </p> + <p> + The effect was perfectly electrical, and thrilled through the whole house, + changing as by a flash the whole feeling of the audience. Not another word + she said or needed to say; it was enough. + </p> + <p> + It is with a sad feeling that one contemplates noble minds and bodies, + nobly and grandly formed human beings, that have come to us cramped, + scarred, maimed, out of the prison-house of bondage. One longs to know + what such beings might have become, if suffered to unfold and expand under + the kindly developing influences of education. + </p> + <p> + It is the theory of some writers, that to the African is reserved, in the + later and palmier days of the earth, the full and harmonious development + of the religious element in man. The African seems to seize on the + tropical fervor and luxuriance of Scripture imagery as something native; + he appears to feel himself to be of the same blood with those old burning, + simple souls, the patriarchs, prophets, and seers, whose impassioned words + seem only grafted as foreign plants on the cooler stock of the Occidental + mind. + </p> + <p> + I cannot but think that Sojourner with the same culture might have spoken + words as eloquent and undying as those of the African Saint Augustine or + Tertullian. How grand and queenly a woman she might have been, with her + wonderful physical vigor, her great heaving sea of emotion, her power of + spiritual conception, her quick penetration, and her boundless energy! We + might conceive an African type of woman so largely made and moulded, so + much fuller in all the elements of life, physical and spiritual, that the + dark hue of the skin should seem only to add an appropriate charm,—as + Milton says of his Penseroso, whom he imagines + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Black, but such as in esteem + Prince Memnon's sister might beseem, + Or that starred Ethiop queen that strove + To set her beauty's praise above + The sea-nymph's." +</pre> + <p> + But though Sojourner Truth has passed away from among us as a wave of the + sea, her memory still lives in one of the loftiest and most original works + of modern art, the Libyan Sibyl, by Mr. Story, which attracted so much + attention in the late World's Exhibition. Some years ago, when visiting + Rome, I related Sojourner's history to Mr. Story at a breakfast at his + house. Already had his mind begun to turn to Egypt in search of a type of + art which should represent a larger and more vigorous development of + nature than the cold elegance of Greek lines. His glorious Cleopatra was + then in process of evolution, and his mind was working out the problem of + her broadly developed nature, of all that slumbering weight and fulness of + passion with which this statue seems charged, as a heavy thunder-cloud is + charged with electricity. + </p> + <p> + The history of Sojourner Truth worked in his mind and led him into the + deeper recesses of the African nature,—those unexplored depths of + being and feeling, mighty and dark as the gigantic depths of tropical + forests, mysterious as the hidden rivers and mines of that burning + continent whose life-history is yet to be. A few days after, he told me + that he had conceived the idea of a statue which he should call the Libyan + Sibyl. Two years subsequently, I revisited Rome, and found the gorgeous + Cleopatra finished, a thing to marvel at, as the creation of a new style + of beauty, a new manner of art. Mr. Story requested me to come and repeat + to him the history of Sojourner Truth, saying that the conception had + never left him. I did so; and a day or two after, he showed me the clay + model of the Libyan Sibyl. I have never seen the marble statue; but am + told by those who have, that it was by far the most impressive work of art + at the Exhibition. + </p> + <p> + A notice of the two statues from the London "Athenaeum" must supply a + description which I cannot give. + </p> + <p> + "The Cleopatra and the Sibyl are seated, partly draped, with the + characteristic Egyptian gown, that gathers about the torso and falls + freely around the limbs; the first is covered to the bosom, the second + bare to the hips. Queenly Cleopatra rests back against her chair in + meditative ease, leaning her cheek against one hand, whose elbow the rail + of the seat sustains; the other is outstretched upon her knee, nipping its + forefinger upon the thumb thoughtfully, as though some firm, wilful + purpose filled her brain, as it seems to set those luxurious features to a + smile as if the whole woman 'would.' Upon her head is the coif, bearing in + front the mystic uraeus, or twining basilisk of sovereignty, while from + its sides depend the wide Egyptian lappels, or wings, that fall upon her + shoulders. The Sibilla Libica has crossed her knees,—an action + universally held amongst the ancients as indicative of reticence or + secrecy, and of power to bind. A secret-keeping looking dame she is, in + the full-bloom proportions of ripe womanhood, wherein choosing to place + his figure the sculptor has deftly gone between the disputed point whether + these women were blooming and wise in youth, or deeply furrowed with age + and burdened with the knowledge of centuries, as Virgil, Livy, and Gellius + say. Good artistic example might be quoted on both sides. Her forward + elbow is propped upon one knee; and to keep her secrets close, for this + Libyan woman is the closest of all the Sibyls, she rests her shut mouth + upon one closed palm, as if holding the African mystery deep in the + brooding brain that looks out through mournful, warning eyes, seen under + the wide shade of the strange horned (ammonite) crest, that bears the + mystery of the Tetragrammaton upon its upturned front. Over her full + bosom, mother of myriads as she was, hangs the same symbol. Her face has a + Nubian cast, her hair wavy and plaited, as is meet." + </p> + <p> + We hope to see the day when copies both of the Cleopatra and the Libyan + Sibyl shall adorn the Capitol at Washington. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0002" id="link2H_4_0002"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + RECONSTRUCTION by Frederick Douglass + </h2> + <p> + The assembling of the Second Session of the Thirty-ninth Congress may very + properly be made the occasion of a few earnest words on the already + much-worn topic of reconstruction. + </p> + <p> + Seldom has any legislative body been the subject of a solicitude more + intense, or of aspirations more sincere and ardent. There are the best of + reasons for this profound interest. Questions of vast moment, left + undecided by the last session of Congress, must be manfully grappled with + by this. No political skirmishing will avail. The occasion demands + statesmanship. + </p> + <p> + Whether the tremendous war so heroically fought and so victoriously ended + shall pass into history a miserable failure, barren of permanent results,—a + scandalous and shocking waste of blood and treasure,—a strife for + empire, as Earl Russell characterized it, of no value to liberty or + civilization,—an attempt to re-establish a Union by force, which + must be the merest mockery of a Union,—an effort to bring under + Federal authority States into which no loyal man from the North may safely + enter, and to bring men into the national councils who deliberate with + daggers and vote with revolvers, and who do not even conceal their deadly + hate of the country that conquered them; or whether, on the other hand, we + shall, as the rightful reward of victory over treason, have a solid + nation, entirely delivered from all contradictions and social antagonisms, + based upon loyalty, liberty, and equality, must be determined one way or + the other by the present session of Congress. The last session really did + nothing which can be considered final as to these questions. The Civil + Rights Bill and the Freedmen's Bureau Bill and the proposed constitutional + amendments, with the amendment already adopted and recognized as the law + of the land, do not reach the difficulty, and cannot, unless the whole + structure of the government is changed from a government by States to + something like a despotic central government, with power to control even + the municipal regulations of States, and to make them conform to its own + despotic will. While there remains such an idea as the right of each State + to control its own local affairs,—an idea, by the way, more deeply + rooted in the minds of men of all sections of the country than perhaps any + one other political idea,—no general assertion of human rights can + be of any practical value. To change the character of the government at + this point is neither possible nor desirable. All that is necessary to be + done is to make the government consistent with itself, and render the + rights of the States compatible with the sacred rights of human nature. + </p> + <p> + The arm of the Federal government is long, but it is far too short to + protect the rights of individuals in the interior of distant States. They + must have the power to protect themselves, or they will go unprotected, + spite of all the laws the Federal government can put upon the national + statute-book. + </p> + <p> + Slavery, like all other great systems of wrong, founded in the depths of + human selfishness, and existing for ages, has not neglected its own + conservation. It has steadily exerted an influence upon all around it + favorable to its own continuance. And to-day it is so strong that it could + exist, not only without law, but even against law. Custom, manners, + morals, religion, are all on its side everywhere in the South; and when + you add the ignorance and servility of the ex-slave to the intelligence + and accustomed authority of the master, you have the conditions, not out + of which slavery will again grow, but under which it is impossible for the + Federal government to wholly destroy it, unless the Federal government be + armed with despotic power, to blot out State authority, and to station a + Federal officer at every cross-road. This, of course, cannot be done, and + ought not even if it could. The true way and the easiest way is to make + our government entirely consistent with itself, and give to every loyal + citizen the elective franchise,—a right and power which will be ever + present, and will form a wall of fire for his protection. + </p> + <p> + One of the invaluable compensations of the late Rebellion is the highly + instructive disclosure it made of the true source of danger to republican + government. Whatever may be tolerated in monarchical and despotic + governments, no republic is safe that tolerates a privileged class, or + denies to any of its citizens equal rights and equal means to maintain + them. What was theory before the war has been made fact by the war. + </p> + <p> + There is cause to be thankful even for rebellion. It is an impressive + teacher, though a stern and terrible one. In both characters it has come + to us, and it was perhaps needed in both. It is an instructor never a day + before its time, for it comes only when all other means of progress and + enlightenment have failed. Whether the oppressed and despairing bondman, + no longer able to repress his deep yearnings for manhood, or the tyrant, + in his pride and impatience, takes the initiative, and strikes the blow + for a firmer hold and a longer lease of oppression, the result is the + same,—society is instructed, or may be. + </p> + <p> + Such are the limitations of the common mind, and so thoroughly engrossing + are the cares of common life, that only the few among men can discern + through the glitter and dazzle of present prosperity the dark outlines of + approaching disasters, even though they may have come up to our very + gates, and are already within striking distance. The yawning seam and + corroded bolt conceal their defects from the mariner until the storm calls + all hands to the pumps. Prophets, indeed, were abundant before the war; + but who cares for prophets while their predictions remain unfulfilled, and + the calamities of which they tell are masked behind a blinding blaze of + national prosperity? + </p> + <p> + It is asked, said Henry Clay, on a memorable occasion, Will slavery never + come to an end? That question, said he, was asked fifty years ago, and it + has been answered by fifty years of unprecedented prosperity. Spite of the + eloquence of the earnest Abolitionists,—poured out against slavery + during thirty years,—even they must confess, that, in all the + probabilities of the case, that system of barbarism would have continued + its horrors far beyond the limits of the nineteenth century but for the + Rebellion, and perhaps only have disappeared at last in a fiery conflict, + even more fierce and bloody than that which has now been suppressed. + </p> + <p> + It is no disparagement to truth, that it can only prevail where reason + prevails. War begins where reason ends. The thing worse than rebellion is + the thing that causes rebellion. What that thing is, we have been taught + to our cost. It remains now to be seen whether we have the needed courage + to have that cause entirely removed from the Republic. At any rate, to + this grand work of national regeneration and entire purification Congress + must now address Itself, with full purpose that the work shall this time + be thoroughly done. The deadly upas, root and branch, leaf and fibre, body + and sap, must be utterly destroyed. The country is evidently not in a + condition to listen patiently to pleas for postponement, however + plausible, nor will it permit the responsibility to be shifted to other + shoulders. Authority and power are here commensurate with the duty + imposed. There are no cloud-flung shadows to obscure the way. Truth shines + with brighter light and intenser heat at every moment, and a country torn + and rent and bleeding implores relief from its distress and agony. + </p> + <p> + If time was at first needed, Congress has now had time. All the requisite + materials from which to form an intelligent judgment are now before it. + Whether its members look at the origin, the progress, the termination of + the war, or at the mockery of a peace now existing, they will find only + one unbroken chain of argument in favor of a radical policy of + reconstruction. For the omissions of the last session, some excuses may be + allowed. A treacherous President stood in the way; and it can be easily + seen how reluctant good men might be to admit an apostasy which involved + so much of baseness and ingratitude. It was natural that they should seek + to save him by bending to him even when he leaned to the side of error. + But all is changed now. Congress knows now that it must go on without his + aid, and even against his machinations. The advantage of the present + session over the last is immense. Where that investigated, this has the + facts. Where that walked by faith, this may walk by sight. Where that + halted, this must go forward, and where that failed, this must succeed, + giving the country whole measures where that gave us half-measures, merely + as a means of saving the elections in a few doubtful districts. That + Congress saw what was right, but distrusted the enlightenment of the loyal + masses; but what was forborne in distrust of the people must now be done + with a full knowledge that the people expect and require it. The members + go to Washington fresh from the inspiring presence of the people. In every + considerable public meeting, and in almost every conceivable way, whether + at court-house, school-house, or cross-roads, in doors and out, the + subject has been discussed, and the people have emphatically pronounced in + favor of a radical policy. Listening to the doctrines of expediency and + compromise with pity, impatience, and disgust, they have everywhere broken + into demonstrations of the wildest enthusiasm when a brave word has been + spoken in favor of equal rights and impartial suffrage. Radicalism, so far + from being odious, is not the popular passport to power. The men most + bitterly charged with it go to Congress with the largest majorities, while + the timid and doubtful are sent by lean majorities, or else left at home. + The strange controversy between the President and the Congress, at one + time so threatening, is disposed of by the people. The high reconstructive + powers which he so confidently, ostentatiously, and haughtily claimed, + have been disallowed, denounced, and utterly repudiated; while those + claimed by Congress have been confirmed. + </p> + <p> + Of the spirit and magnitude of the canvass nothing need be said. The + appeal was to the people, and the verdict was worthy of the tribunal. Upon + an occasion of his own selection, with the advice and approval of his + astute Secretary, soon after the members of the Congress had returned to + their constituents, the President quitted the executive mansion, + sandwiched himself between two recognized heroes,—men whom the whole + country delighted to honor,—and, with all the advantage which such + company could give him, stumped the country from the Atlantic to the + Mississippi, advocating everywhere his policy as against that of Congress. + It was a strange sight, and perhaps the most disgraceful exhibition ever + made by any President; but, as no evil is entirely unmixed, good has come + of this, as from many others. Ambitious, unscrupulous, energetic, + indefatigable, voluble, and plausible,—a political gladiator, ready + for a "set-to" in any crowd,—he is beaten in his own chosen field, + and stands to-day before the country as a convicted usurper, a political + criminal, guilty of a bold and persistent attempt to possess himself of + the legislative powers solemnly secured to Congress by the Constitution. + No vindication could be more complete, no condemnation could be more + absolute and humiliating. Unless reopened by the sword, as recklessly + threatened in some circles, this question is now closed for all time. + </p> + <p> + Without attempting to settle here the metaphysical and somewhat + theological question (about which so much has already been said and + written), whether once in the Union means always in the Union,—agreeably + to the formula, Once in grace always in grace,—it is obvious to + common sense that the rebellious States stand to-day, in point of law, + precisely where they stood when, exhausted, beaten, conquered, they fell + powerless at the feet of Federal authority. Their State governments were + overthrown, and the lives and property of the leaders of the Rebellion + were forfeited. In reconstructing the institutions of these shattered and + overthrown States, Congress should begin with a clean slate, and make + clean work of it. Let there be no hesitation. It would be a cowardly + deference to a defeated and treacherous President, if any account were + made of the illegitimate, one-sided, sham governments hurried into + existence for a malign purpose in the absence of Congress. These pretended + governments, which were never submitted to the people, and from + participation in which four millions of the loyal people were excluded by + Presidential order, should now be treated according to their true + character, as shams and impositions, and supplanted by true and legitimate + governments, in the formation of which loyal men, black and white, shall + participate. + </p> + <p> + It is not, however, within the scope of this paper to point out the + precise steps to be taken, and the means to be employed. The people are + less concerned about these than the grand end to be attained. They demand + such a reconstruction as shall put an end to the present anarchical state + of things in the late rebellious States,—where frightful murders and + wholesale massacres are perpetrated in the very presence of Federal + soldiers. This horrible business they require shall cease. They want a + reconstruction such as will protect loyal men, black and white, in their + persons and property; such a one as will cause Northern industry, Northern + capital, and Northern civilization to flow into the South, and make a man + from New England as much at home in Carolina as elsewhere in the Republic. + No Chinese wall can now be tolerated. The South must be opened to the + light of law and liberty, and this session of Congress is relied upon to + accomplish this important work. + </p> + <p> + The plain, common-sense way of doing this work, as intimated at the + beginning, is simply to establish in the South one law, one government, + one administration of justice, one condition to the exercise of the + elective franchise, for men of all races and colors alike. This great + measure is sought as earnestly by loyal white men as by loyal blacks, and + is needed alike by both. Let sound political prescience but take the place + of an unreasoning prejudice, and this will be done. + </p> + <p> + Men denounce the negro for his prominence in this discussion; but it is no + fault of his that in peace as in war, that in conquering Rebel armies as + in reconstructing the rebellious States, the right of the negro is the + true solution of our national troubles. The stern logic of events, which + goes directly to the point, disdaining all concern for the color or + features of men, has determined the interests of the country as identical + with and inseparable from those of the negro. + </p> + <p> + The policy that emancipated and armed the negro—now seen to have + been wise and proper by the dullest—was not certainly more sternly + demanded than is now the policy of enfranchisement. If with the negro was + success in war, and without him failure, so in peace it will be found that + the nation must fall or flourish with the negro. + </p> + <p> + Fortunately, the Constitution of the United States knows no distinction + between citizens on account of color. Neither does it know any difference + between a citizen of a State and a citizen of the United States. + Citizenship evidently includes all the rights of citizens, whether State + or national. If the Constitution knows none, it is clearly no part of the + duty of a Republican Congress now to institute one. The mistake of the + last session was the attempt to do this very thing, by a renunciation of + its power to secure political rights to any class of citizens, with the + obvious purpose to allow the rebellious States to disfranchise, if they + should see fit, their colored citizens. This unfortunate blunder must now + be retrieved, and the emasculated citizenship given to the negro + supplanted by that contemplated in the Constitution of the United States, + which declares that the citizens of each State shall enjoy all the rights + and immunities of citizens of the several States,—so that a legal + voter in any State shall be a legal voter in all the States. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0003" id="link2H_4_0003"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + AN APPEAL TO CONGRESS FOR IMPARTIAL SUFFRAGE by Frederick Douglas + </h2> + <p> + A very limited statement of the argument for impartial suffrage, and for + including the negro in the body politic, would require more space than can + be reasonably asked here. It is supported by reasons as broad as the + nature of man, and as numerous as the wants of society. Man is the only + government-making animal in the world. His right to a participation in the + production and operation of government is an inference from his nature, as + direct and self-evident as is his right to acquire property or education. + It is no less a crime against the manhood of a man, to declare that he + shall not share in the making and directing of the government under which + he lives, than to say that he shall not acquire property and education. + The fundamental and unanswerable argument in favor of the enfranchisement + of the negro is found in the undisputed fact of his manhood. He is a man, + and by every fact and argument by which any man can sustain his right to + vote, the negro can sustain his right equally. It is plain that, if the + right belongs to any, it belongs to all. The doctrine that some men have + no rights that others are bound to respect, is a doctrine which we must + banish as we have banished slavery, from which it emanated. If black men + have no rights in the eyes of white men, of course the whites can have + none in the eyes of the blacks. The result is a war of races, and the + annihilation of all proper human relations. + </p> + <p> + But suffrage for the negro, while easily sustained upon abstract + principles, demands consideration upon what are recognized as the urgent + necessities of the case. It is a measure of relief,—a shield to + break the force of a blow already descending with violence, and render it + harmless. The work of destruction has already been set in motion all over + the South. Peace to the country has literally meant war to the loyal men + of the South, white and black; and negro suffrage is the measure to arrest + and put an end to that dreadful strife. + </p> + <p> + Something then, not by way of argument, (for that has been done by Charles + Sumner, Thaddeus Stevens, Wendell Phillips, Gerrit Smith, and other able + men,) but rather of statement and appeal. + </p> + <p> + For better or for worse, (as in some of the old marriage ceremonies,) the + negroes are evidently a permanent part of the American population. They + are too numerous and useful to be colonized, and too enduring and + self-perpetuating to disappear by natural causes. Here they are, four + millions of them, and, for weal or for woe, here they must remain. Their + history is parallel to that of the country; but while the history of the + latter has been cheerful and bright with blessings, theirs has been heavy + and dark with agonies and curses. What O'Connell said of the history of + Ireland may with greater truth be said of the negro's. It may be "traced + like a wounded man through a crowd, by the blood." Yet the negroes have + marvellously survived all the exterminating forces of slavery, and have + emerged at the end of two hundred and fifty years of bondage, not morose, + misanthropic, and revengeful, but cheerful, hopeful, and forgiving. They + now stand before Congress and the country, not complaining of the past, + but simply asking for a better future. The spectacle of these dusky + millions thus imploring, not demanding, is touching; and if American + statesmen could be moved by a simple appeal to the nobler elements of + human nature, if they had not fallen, seemingly, into the incurable habit + of weighing and measuring every proposition of reform by some standard of + profit and loss, doing wrong from choice, and right only from necessity or + some urgent demand of human selfishness, it would be enough to plead for + the negroes on the score of past services and sufferings. But no such + appeal shall be relied on here. Hardships, services, sufferings, and + sacrifices are all waived. It is true that they came to the relief of the + country at the hour of its extremest need. It is true that, in many of the + rebellious States, they were almost the only reliable friends the nation + had throughout the whole tremendous war. It is true that, notwithstanding + their alleged ignorance, they were wiser than their masters, and knew + enough to be loyal, while those masters only knew enough to be rebels and + traitors. It is true that they fought side by side in the loyal cause with + our gallant and patriotic white soldiers, and that, but for their help,—divided + as the loyal States were,—the Rebels might have succeeded in + breaking up the Union, thereby entailing border wars and troubles of + unknown duration and incalculable calamity. All this and more is true of + these loyal negroes. Many daring exploits will be told to their credit. + Impartial history will paint them as men who deserved well of their + country. It will tell how they forded and swam rivers, with what + consummate address they evaded the sharp-eyed Rebel pickets, how they + toiled in the darkness of night through the tangled marshes of briers and + thorns, barefooted and weary, running the risk of losing their lives, to + warn our generals of Rebel schemes to surprise and destroy our loyal army. + It will tell how these poor people, whose rights we still despised, + behaved to our wounded soldiers, when found cold, hungry, and bleeding on + the deserted battle-field; how they assisted our escaping prisoners from + Andersonville, Belle Isle, Castle Thunder, and elsewhere, sharing with + them their wretched crusts, and otherwise affording them aid and comfort; + how they promptly responded to the trumpet call for their services, + fighting against a foe that denied them the rights of civilized warfare, + and for a government which was without the courage to assert those rights + and avenge their violation in their behalf; with what gallantry they flung + themselves upon Rebel fortifications, meeting death as fearlessly as any + other troops in the service. But upon none of these things is reliance + placed. These facts speak to the better dispositions of the human heart; + but they seem of little weight with the opponents of impartial suffrage. + </p> + <p> + It is true that a strong plea for equal suffrage might be addressed to the + national sense of honor. Something, too, might be said of national + gratitude. A nation might well hesitate before the temptation to betray + its allies. There is something immeasurably mean, to say nothing of the + cruelty, in placing the loyal negroes of the South under the political + power of their Rebel masters. To make peace with our enemies is all well + enough; but to prefer our enemies and sacrifice our friends,—to + exalt our enemies and cast down our friends,—to clothe our enemies, + who sought the destruction of the government, with all political power, + and leave our friends powerless in their hands,—is an act which need + not be characterized here. We asked the negroes to espouse our cause, to + be our friends, to fight for us, and against their masters; and now, after + they have done all that we asked them to do,—helped us to conquer + their masters, and thereby directed toward themselves the furious hate of + the vanquished,—it is proposed in some quarters to turn them over to + the political control of the common enemy of the government and of the + negro. But of this let nothing be said in this place. Waiving humanity, + national honor, the claims of gratitude, the precious satisfaction arising + from deeds of charity and justice to the weak and defenceless,—the + appeal for impartial suffrage addresses itself with great pertinency to + the darkest, coldest, and flintiest side of the human heart, and would + wring righteousness from the unfeeling calculations of human selfishness. + </p> + <p> + For in respect to this grand measure it is the good fortune of the negro + that enlightened selfishness, not less than justice, fights on his side. + National interest and national duty, if elsewhere separated, are firmly + united here. The American people can, perhaps, afford to brave the censure + of surrounding nations for the manifest injustice and meanness of + excluding its faithful black soldiers from the ballot-box, but it cannot + afford to allow the moral and mental energies of rapidly increasing + millions to be consigned to hopeless degradation. + </p> + <p> + Strong as we are, we need the energy that slumbers in the black man's arm + to make us stronger. We want no longer any heavy-footed, melancholy + service from the negro. We want the cheerful activity of the quickened + manhood of these sable millions. Nor can we afford to endure the moral + blight which the existence of a degraded and hated class must necessarily + inflict upon any people among whom such a class may exist. Exclude the + negroes as a class from political rights,—teach them that the high + and manly privilege of suffrage is to be enjoyed by white citizens only,—that + they may bear the burdens of the state, but that they are to have no part + in its direction or its honors,—and you at once deprive them of one + of the main incentives to manly character and patriotic devotion to the + interests of the government; in a word, you stamp them as a degraded + caste,—you teach them to despise themselves, and all others to + despise them. Men are so constituted that they largely derive their ideas + of their abilities and their possibilities from the settled judgments of + their fellow-men, and especially from such as they read in the + institutions under which they live. If these bless them, they are blest + indeed; but if these blast them, they are blasted indeed. Give the negro + the elective franchise, and you give him at once a powerful motive for all + noble exertion, and make him a man among men. A character is demanded of + him, and here as elsewhere demand favors supply. It is nothing against + this reasoning that all men who vote are not good men or good citizens. It + is enough that the possession and exercise of the elective franchise is in + itself an appeal to the nobler elements of manhood, and imposes education + as essential to the safety of society. + </p> + <p> + To appreciate the full force of this argument, it must be observed, that + disfranchisement in a republican government based upon the idea of human + equality and universal suffrage, is a very different thing from + disfranchisement in governments based upon the idea of the divine right of + kings, or the entire subjugation of the masses. Masses of men can take + care of themselves. Besides, the disabilities imposed upon all are + necessarily without that bitter and stinging element of invidiousness + which attaches to disfranchisement in a republic. What is common to all + works no special sense of degradation to any. But in a country like ours, + where men of all nations, kindred, and tongues are freely enfranchised, + and allowed to vote, to say to the negro, You shall not vote, is to deal + his manhood a staggering blow, and to burn into his soul a bitter and + goading sense of wrong, or else work in him a stupid indifference to all + the elements of a manly character. As a nation, we cannot afford to have + amongst us either this indifference and stupidity, or that burning sense + of wrong. These sable millions are too powerful to be allowed to remain + either indifferent or discontented. Enfranchise them, and they become + self-respecting and country-loving citizens. Disfranchise them, and the + mark of Cain is set upon them less mercifully than upon the first + murderer, for no man was to hurt him. But this mark of inferiority—all + the more palpable because of a difference of color—not only dooms + the negro to be a vagabond, but makes him the prey of insult and outrage + everywhere. While nothing may be urged here as to the past services of the + negro, it is quite within the line of this appeal to remind the nation of + the possibility that a time may come when the services of the negro may be + a second time required. History is said to repeat itself, and, if so, + having wanted the negro once, we may want him again. Can that + statesmanship be wise which would leave the negro good ground to hesitate, + when the exigencies of the country required his prompt assistance? Can + that be sound statesmanship which leaves millions of men in gloomy + discontent, and possibly in a state of alienation in the day of national + trouble? Was not the nation stronger when two hundred thousand sable + soldiers were hurled against the Rebel fortifications, than it would have + been without them? Arming the negro was an urgent military necessity three + years ago,—are we sure that another quite as pressing may not await + us? Casting aside all thought of justice and magnanimity, is it wise to + impose upon the negro all the burdens involved in sustaining government + against foes within and foes without, to make him equal sharer in all + sacrifices for the public good, to tax him in peace and conscript him in + war, and then coldly exclude him from the ballot-box? + </p> + <p> + Look across the sea. Is Ireland, in her present condition, fretful, + discontented, compelled to support an establishment in which she does not + believe, and which the vast majority of her people abhor, a source of + power or of weakness to Great Britain? Is not Austria wise in removing all + ground of complaint against her on the part of Hungary? And does not the + Emperor of Russia act wisely, as well as generously, when he not only + breaks up the bondage of the serf, but extends him all the advantages of + Russian citizenship? Is the present movement in England in favor of + manhood suffrage—for the purpose of bringing four millions of + British subjects into full sympathy and co-operation with the British + government—a wise and humane movement, or otherwise? Is the + existence of a rebellious element in our borders—which New Orleans, + Memphis, and Texas show to be only disarmed, but at heart as malignant as + ever, only waiting for an opportunity to reassert itself with fire and + sword—a reason for leaving four millions of the nation's truest + friends with just cause of complaint against the Federal government? If + the doctrine that taxation should go hand in hand with representation can + be appealed to in behalf of recent traitors and rebels, may it not + properly be asserted in behalf of a people who have ever been loyal and + faithful to the government? The answers to these questions are too obvious + to require statement. Disguise it as we may, we are still a divided + nation. The Rebel States have still an anti-national policy. Massachusetts + and South Carolina may draw tears from the eyes of our tender-hearted + President by walking arm in arm into his Philadelphia Convention, but a + citizen of Massachusetts is still an alien in the Palmetto State. There is + that, all over the South, which frightens Yankee industry, capital, and + skill from its borders. We have crushed the Rebellion, but not its hopes + or its malign purposes. The South fought for perfect and permanent control + over the Southern laborer. It was a war of the rich against the poor. They + who waged it had no objection to the government, while they could use it + as a means of confirming their power over the laborer. They fought the + government, not because they hated the government as such, but because + they found it, as they thought, in the way between them and their one + grand purpose of rendering permanent and indestructible their authority + and power over the Southern laborer. Though the battle is for the present + lost, the hope of gaining this object still exists, and pervades the whole + South with a feverish excitement. We have thus far only gained a Union + without unity, marriage without love, victory without peace. The hope of + gaining by politics what they lost by the sword, is the secret of all this + Southern unrest; and that hope must be extinguished before national ideas + and objects can take full possession of the Southern mind. There is but + one safe and constitutional way to banish that mischievous hope from the + South, and that is by lifting the laborer beyond the unfriendly political + designs of his former master. Give the negro the elective franchise, and + you at once destroy the purely sectional policy, and wheel the Southern + States into line with national interests and national objects. The last + and shrewdest turn of Southern politics is a recognition of the necessity + of getting into Congress immediately, and at any price. The South will + comply with any conditions but suffrage for the negro. It will swallow all + the unconstitutional test oaths, repeal all the ordinances of Secession, + repudiate the Rebel debt, promise to pay the debt incurred in conquering + its people, pass all the constitutional amendments, if only it can have + the negro left under its political control. The proposition is as modest + as that made on the mountain: "All these things will I give unto thee if + thou wilt fall down and worship me." + </p> + <p> + But why are the Southerners so willing to make these sacrifices? The + answer plainly is, they see in this policy the only hope of saving + something of their old sectional peculiarities and power. Once firmly + seated in Congress, their alliance with Northern Democrats re-established, + their States restored to their former position inside the Union, they can + easily find means of keeping the Federal government entirely too busy with + other important matters to pay much attention to the local affairs of the + Southern States. Under the potent shield of State Rights, the game would + be in their own hands. Does any sane man doubt for a moment that the men + who followed Jefferson Davis through the late terrible Rebellion, often + marching barefooted and hungry, naked and penniless, and who now only + profess an enforced loyalty, would plunge this country into a foreign war + to-day, if they could thereby gain their coveted independence, and their + still more coveted mastery over the negroes? Plainly enough, the peace not + less than the prosperity of this country is involved in the great measure + of impartial suffrage. King Cotton is deposed, but only deposed, and is + ready to-day to reassert all his ancient pretensions upon the first + favorable opportunity. Foreign countries abound with his agents. They are + able, vigilant, devoted. The young men of the South burn with the desire + to regain what they call the lost cause; the women are noisily malignant + towards the Federal government. In fact, all the elements of treason and + rebellion are there under the thinnest disguise which necessity can + impose. + </p> + <p> + What, then, is the work before Congress? It is to save the people of the + South from themselves, and the nation from detriment on their account. + Congress must supplant the evident sectional tendencies of the South by + national dispositions and tendencies. It must cause national ideas and + objects to take the lead and control the politics of those States. It must + cease to recognize the old slave-masters as the only competent persons to + rule the South. In a word, it must enfranchise the negro, and by means of + the loyal negroes and the loyal white men of the South build up a national + party there, and in time bridge the chasm between North and South, so that + our country may have a common liberty and a common civilization. The new + wine must be put into new bottles. The lamb may not be trusted with the + wolf. Loyalty is hardly safe with traitors. + </p> + <p> + Statesmen of America! beware what you do. The ploughshare of rebellion has + gone through the land beam-deep. The soil is in readiness, and the + seed-time has come. Nations, not less than individuals, reap as they sow. + The dreadful calamities of the past few years came not by accident, nor + unbidden, from the ground. You shudder to-day at the harvest of blood sown + in the spring-time of the Republic by your patriot fathers. The principle + of slavery, which they tolerated under the erroneous impression that it + would soon die out, became at last the dominant principle and power at the + South. It early mastered the Constitution, became superior to the Union, + and enthroned itself above the law. + </p> + <p> + Freedom of speech and of the press it slowly but successfully banished + from the South, dictated its own code of honor and manners to the nation, + brandished the bludgeon and the bowie-knife over Congressional debate, + sapped the foundations of loyalty, dried up the springs of patriotism, + blotted out the testimonies of the fathers against oppression, padlocked + the pulpit, expelled liberty from its literature, invented nonsensical + theories about master-races and slave-races of men, and in due season + produced a Rebellion fierce, foul, and bloody. + </p> + <p> + This evil principle again seeks admission into our body politic. It comes + now in shape of a denial of political rights to four million loyal colored + people. The South does not now ask for slavery. It only asks for a large + degraded caste, which shall have no political rights. This ends the case. + Statesmen, beware what you do. The destiny of unborn and unnumbered + generations is in your hands. Will you repeat the mistake of your fathers, + who sinned ignorantly? or will you profit by the blood-bought wisdom all + round you, and forever expel every vestige of the old abomination from our + national borders? As you members of the Thirty-ninth Congress decide, will + the country be peaceful, united, and happy, or troubled, divided, and + miserable. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0004" id="link2H_4_0004"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE NEGRO EXODUS by James B. Runnion + </h2> + <p> + A recent sojourn in the South for a few weeks, chiefly in Louisiana and + Mississippi, gave the writer an opportunity to inquire into what has been + so aptly called "the negro exodus." The emigration of blacks to Kansas + began early in the spring of this year. For a time there was a stampede + from two or three of the river parishes in Louisiana and as many counties + opposite in Mississippi. Several thousand negroes (certainly not fewer + than five thousand, and variously estimated as high as ten thousand) had + left their cabins before the rush could be stayed or the excitement + lulled. Early in May most of the negroes who had quit work for the purpose + of emigrating, but had not succeeded in getting off, were persuaded to + return to the plantations, and from that time on there have been only + straggling families and groups that have watched for and seized the first + opportunity for transportation to the North. There is no doubt, however, + that there is still a consuming desire among the negroes of the cotton + districts in these two States to seek new homes, and there are the best + reasons for believing that the exodus will take a new start next spring, + after the gathering and conversion of the growing crop. Hundreds of + negroes who returned from the river-banks for lack of transportation, and + thousands of others infected with the ruling discontent, are working + harder in the fields this summer, and practicing more economy and + self-denial than ever before, in order to have the means next winter and + spring to pay their way to the "promised land." + </p> + <p> + "We've been working for fourteen long years," said an intelligent negro, + in reply to a question as to the cause of the prevailing discontent, "and + we ain't no better off than we was when we commenced." This is the negro + version of the trouble, which is elaborated on occasion into a harrowing + story of oppression and plunder. + </p> + <p> + "I tell you it's all owing to the radical politicians at the North," + explained a representative of the type known as the Bourbons; "they've had + their emissaries down here, and deluded the 'niggers' into a very fever of + emigration, with the purpose of reducing our basis of representation in + Congress and increasing that of the Northern States." + </p> + <p> + These are the two extremes of opinion at the South. The first is certainly + the more reasonable and truthful, though it implies that all the blame + rests upon the whites, which is not the case; the second, preposterous as + it will appear to Northern readers, is religiously believed by large + numbers of the "unreconciled." Between these two extremes there is an + infinite variety of theories, all more or less governed by the political + faction to which the various theorizers belong; there are at least a dozen + of these factions, such as the Bourbons, the conservatives, the native + white republicans, the carpet-bag republicans, the negro republicans, etc. + There is a political tinge in almost everything in the extreme Southern + States. The fact seems to be that the emigration movement among the blacks + was spontaneous to the extent that they were ready and anxious to go. The + immediate notion of going may have been inculcated by such circulars, + issued by railroads and land companies, as are common enough at emigrant + centres in the North and West, and the exaggeration characteristic of such + literature may have stimulated the imagination of the negroes far beyond + anything they are likely to realize in their new homes. Kansas was + naturally the favorite goal of the negro emigre, for it was associated in + his mind with the names of Jim Lane and John Brown, which are hallowed to + him. The timid learned that they could escape what they have come to + regard as a second bondage, and they flocked together to gain the moral + support which comes from numbers. + </p> + <p> + Diligent inquiry among representative men, of all classes and from all + parts of Louisiana, who were in attendance at the constitutional + convention in New Orleans, and careful observation along the river among + the land owners and field hands in both Louisiana and Mississippi, left a + vivid impression of some material and political conditions which fully + account for the negro exodus. I have dropped the social conditions out of + the consideration, because I became convinced that the race troubles at + the South can be solved to the satisfaction of both whites and blacks + without cultivating any closer social relations than those which now + prevail. The material conditions which I have in mind are less familiar + than the political conditions; they are mainly the land-tenure and credit + systems, and mere modifications (scarcely for the better) of the peculiar + plantation system of slavery days. + </p> + <p> + The cotton lands at the South are owned now, as they were before the war, + in large tracts. The land was about all that most of the Southern whites + had left to them after the war, and they kept it when they could, at the + first, in the hope that it would yield them a living through the labor of + the blacks; of late years they have not been able to sell their + plantations at any fair price, if they desired to do so. The white men + with capital who went to the South from the North after the war seemed to + acquire the true Southern ambition to be large land owners and planters; + and when the ante-bellum owners lost their plantations the land usually + went in bulk to the city factors who had made them advances from year to + year, and had taken mortgages on their crops and broad acres. As a + consequence, the land has never been distributed among the people who + inhabit and cultivate it, and agricultural labor in the Southern States + approaches the condition of the factory labor in England and the Eastern + States more nearly than it does the farm labor of the North and West. + Nearly every agricultural laborer north of Mason and Dixon's line, if not + the actual possessor of the land he plows, looks forward to owning a farm + some time; at the South such an ambition is rare, and small ownership + still more an exception. The practice of paying day wages was first tried + after the war; this practice is still in vogue in the sugar and rice + districts, where laborers are paid from fifty to seventy cents per day, + with quarters furnished and living guaranteed them at nine or ten cents a + day. In sections where the wages system prevails, and where there have + been no political disturbances, the negroes seem to be perfectly + contented; at all events, the emigration fever has not spread among them. + But it was found impracticable to maintain the wage system in the cotton + districts. The negroes themselves fought against it, because it reminded + them too much of the slave-gang, driven out at daybreak and home at + sundown. In many cases the planters were forced to abandon it, because + they had not the means to carry on such huge farming, and they could not + secure the same liberal advances from capitalists as when they were able + to mortgage a growing "crop of niggers." Then the system of working on + shares was tried. This was reasonably fair, and the negro laborers were + satisfied as long as it lasted. The owners of the land, under this system, + would furnish the indispensable mule and the farming implements, and take + one half the product. The planters themselves relinquished this system. + Some of them contend that the laziness and indifference of the negro made + the partnership undesirable; many others admit that they were not able to + advance the negro tenant his supplies pending the growth of the year's + crop, as it was necessary they should do under the sharing system. Now the + renting system is almost universal. It yields the land owner a certainty, + endangered only by the death, sickness, or desertion of the negro tenant; + but it throws the latter upon his own responsibility, and frequently makes + him the victim of his own ignorance and the rapacity of the white man. The + rent of land, on a money basis, varies from six to ten dollars an acre per + year, while the same land can be bought in large quantities all the way + from fifteen to thirty dollars per acre, according to location, clearing, + improvement, richness, etc. When paid in product, the rent varies from + eighty to one hundred pounds of lint cotton per acre for land that + produces from two hundred to four hundred pounds of cotton per acre; the + tenant undertakes to pay from one quarter to one half—perhaps an + average of one third—of his crop for the use of the land, without + stock, tools, or assistance of any kind. The land owners usually claim + that they make no money even at these exorbitant figures. If they do not, + it is because only a portion of their vast possessions is under + cultivation, because they do no work themselves, and in some cases because + the negroes do not cultivate and gather as large a crop as they could and + ought to harvest. It is very certain that the negro tenants, as a class, + make no money; if they are out of debt at the end of a season, they have + reason to rejoice. + </p> + <p> + The credit system, which is as universal as the renting system, is even + more illogical and oppressive. The utter viciousness of both systems in + their mutual dependence is sufficiently illustrated by the single fact + that, after fourteen years of freedom and labor on their own account, the + great mass of the negroes depend for their living on an advance of + supplies (as they need food, clothing, or tools during the year) upon the + pledge of their growing crop. This is a generic imitation of the white + man's improvidence during the slavery times; then the planters mortgaged + their crops and negroes, and where one used the advances to extend his + plantation, ten squandered the money. The negro's necessities have + developed an offensive race, called merchants by courtesy, who keep supply + stores at the cross-roads and steamboat landings, and live upon extortion. + These people would be called sharks, harpies, and vampires in any + Northwestern agricultural community, and they would not survive more than + one season. The country merchant advances the negro tenant such supplies + as the negro wants up to a certain amount, previously fixed by contract, + and charges the negro at least double the value of every article sold to + him. There is no concealment about the extortion; every store-keeper has + his cash price and his credit price, and in nearly all cases the latter is + one hundred per cent. higher than the former. The extortion is justified + by those who practice it on the ground that their losses by bad debts, + though their advances are always secured by mortgage on the growing crop, + overbalance the profits; this assertion is scarcely borne out by the + comparative opulence of the "merchant" and the pitiful poverty of the + laborer. Some of the largest and wealthiest planters have sought to + protect their tenants from the merciless clutches of the contrary + merchant, who is more frequently than not an Israelite, by advancing + supplies of necessary articles at reasonable prices. But the necessities + of the planter, if not his greed, often betray him into plundering the + negro. The planter himself is generally a victim to usury. He still draws + on the city factor to the extent of ten dollars a bale upon his estimated + crop. He pays this factor two and one half per cent. commission for the + advance, eight per cent. interest for the money, two and one half per + cent. more for disposing of the crop when consigned to him, and sometimes + still another commission for the purchase of the supplies. The planter who + furnishes his tenants with supplies on credit is usually paying an + interest of fifteen to eighteen per cent. himself, and necessarily takes + some risk in advancing upon an uncertain crop and to a laborer whom he + believes to be neither scrupulous nor industrious; these conditions + necessitate more than the ordinary profit, and in many cases suggest + exorbitant and unreasonable charges. But whether the negro deals with the + merchant or the land owner, his extravagance almost invariably exhausts + his credit, even if it be large. The negro is a sensuous creature, and + luxurious in his way. The male is an enormous consumer of tobacco and + whisky; the female has an inordinate love for flummery; both are fond of + sardines, potted meats, and canned goods generally, and they indulge + themselves without any other restraint than the refusal of their merchant + to sell to them. The man who advances supplies watches his negro customers + constantly; if they are working well and their crop promises to be large, + he will permit and even encourage them to draw upon him liberally; it is + only a partial failure of the crop, or some intimation of the negro's + intention to shirk his obligations, that induces his country factor to + preach the virtue of self-restraint, or moralize upon the advantages of + economy. + </p> + <p> + The land owner's rent and the merchant's advances are both secured by a + chattel mortgage on the tenant's personal property, and by a pledge of the + growing crop. The hired laborer (for it is common for negroes to work for + wages for other negroes who rent lands) has also a lien upon the growing + crops second only to the land owner's; but as the law requires that the + liens shall be recorded, which the ignorant laborer usually neglects and + the shrewd merchant never fails to do, the former is generally cheated of + his security. Among those who usually work for hire are the women, who are + expert cotton pickers, and the loss of wages which so many of them have + suffered by reason of the prior lien gained by landlord and merchant has + helped to make them earnest and effective advocates of emigration. The + Western farmer considers it hard enough to struggle under one mortgage at + a reasonable interest; the negro tenant begins his season with three + mortgages, covering all he owns, his labor for the coming year, and all he + expects to acquire during that period. He pays one third his product for + the use of the land; he pays double the value of all he consumes; he pays + an exorbitant fee for recording the contract by which he pledges his pound + of flesh; he is charged two or three times as much as he ought to pay for + ginning his cotton; and, finally, he turns over his crop to be eaten up in + commissions, if anything still be left to him. It is easy to understand + why the negro rarely gets ahead in the world. This mortgaging of future + services, which is practically what a pledge of the growing crop amounts + to, is in the nature of bondage. It has a tendency to make the negro + extravagant, reckless, and unscrupulous; he has become convinced from + previous experience that nothing will be coming to him on the day of + settlement, and he is frequently actuated by the purpose of getting as + much as possible and working as little as possible. Cases are numerous in + which the negro abandons his own crop at picking time, because he knows + that he has already eaten up its full value; and so he goes to picking for + wages on some other plantation. In other cases, where negroes have + acquired mules and farming implements upon which a merchant has secured a + mortgage in the manner described, they are practically bound to that + merchant from year to year, in order to retain their property; if he + removes from one section to another, they must follow him, and rent and + cultivate lands in his neighborhood. It is only the ignorance, the + improvidence, and the happy disposition of the negro, under the influence + of the lazy, drowsy climate, to which he is so well adapted physically, + that have enabled him to endure these hardships so long. And, though the + negro is the loser, the white man is not often the gainer, from this false + plantation and mercantile system. The incidental risk may not be so large + as the planter and merchant pretend, but the condition of the people is an + evidence that the extortion they practice yields no better profit in the + long run than would be gained by competition in fair prices on a cash + system; and in leading up to a general emigration of the laboring + population the abuses described will eventually ruin and impoverish those + who have heretofore been the only beneficiaries thereof. The decay of + improvements inevitable under annual rentings, the lack of sufficient + labor to cultivate all the good land, and the universal idleness of the + rural whites have kept the land owners comparatively poor; the partial + failure of crops and the unscrupulousness of the negro debtor, engendered + by the infamous exactions of his creditor, have prevented the merchants, + as a class, from prospering as much as might be supposed; and, finally, + the uniform injustice to the laborers induces them to fly to ills they + know not of, rather than bear those they have. It is a blessing to the + negro that the laws do not yet provide for a detention of the person in + the case of debt, or escape would be shut off entirely; as it is, various + influences and circumstances appertaining to the system in vogue have been + used to prevent the easy flight of those who desire to go, and have + detained thousands of blacks for a time who are fretting to quit the + country. + </p> + <p> + Political oppression has contributed largely to the discontent which is + the prime cause of the exodus. "Bulldozing" is the term by which all forms + of this oppression are known. The native whites are generally indisposed + to confess that the negroes are quitting the country on account of + political injustice and persecution; even those who freely admit and fitly + characterize the abuses already described seek to deny, or at least + belittle, the political abuses. The fact that a large number of negroes + have emigrated from Madison Parish, Louisiana, where there has never been + any bulldozing, and where the negroes are in full and undisputed political + control, is cited as proof that political disturbances cut no figure in + the case. But the town of Delta, in Madison Parish, is at once on the + river and the terminus of a railroad that runs back through the interior + of the State; thus Madison Parish would furnish the natural exit for the + fugitives from the adjoining counties, where there have been political + disturbances. It would be just as reasonable to contend that the + plundering of the negroes has had no influence in driving them away, since + many of those who have emigrated were among the most prosperous of the + blacks, as to deny the agency of political persecution. Families that had + been able to accumulate a certain amount of personal property, in spite of + the extortionate practices, sold their mules, their implements, their + cows, their pigs, their sheep, and their household goods for anything they + would bring,—frequently as low as one sixth of their value,—in + order that they might improve an immediate opportunity to go away; it is + evident that there must have been some cause outside of extortion in their + case. There are candid native whites who do not deny, but justify, the + violent methods which have been employed to disfranchise the negroes, or + compel them to vote under white dictation, in many parts of Louisiana and + Mississippi, on the ground that the men who pay the taxes should vote them + and control the disbursement of the public moneys. The gentlemen who + advance this argument seem to ignore the fact that the very Northerner + whom they are seeking to convert to "the Mississippi plan" may himself be + a taxpayer in some Northern city, where public affairs are controlled by a + class of voters in every way as ignorant and irresponsible as the blacks, + but where bulldozing has never yet been suggested as a remedy. For the + rest, the evidences of political oppression are abundant and convincing. + The bulldozers as a class are more impecunious and irresponsible than the + negroes, and, unlike the negroes, they will not work. There has been more + of the "night-riding," the whippings, the mysterious disappearances, the + hangings, and the terrorism comprehended in the term bulldozing than has + been reported by those "abstracts and brief chronicles of the time," the + Southern newspapers, which are now all of one party, and defer to the + ruling sentiment among the whites. The exodus has wrung from two or three + of the more candid and independent journals, however, a virtual confession + of the fiendish practices of bulldozing in their insistance that these + practices must be abandoned. The non-resident land owners and the resident + planters, the city factors and the country merchants of means and + respectability, have taken no personal part in the terrorizing of the + negro, but they have tolerated it, and sometimes encouraged it, in order + to gratify their preference for "white government." The negroes have + suffered the more because they have not resisted and defended themselves; + now they have begun to convince those who have persecuted them that, if + they will not strike back, they can and will run away. No one who is at + all familiar with the freedman can doubt that the abridgment of his + political rights has been one of the main causes of the exodus. Voting is + widely regarded at the North as a disagreeable duty, but the negro looks + upon it as the highest privilege in life; to be frightened out of the + exercise of this privilege, or compelled to exercise it in conflict with + his convictions and preferences, is to suffer from a cruel injustice, + which the negro will now try to escape, since he has learned that escape + is possible. The women, though free from personal assaults, suffer from + the terrorism that prevails in certain districts as much as the men. "We + might as well starve or freeze to death in Kansas," they say, "as to be + shot-gunned here." If they talk to you in confidence, they declare that + the ruling purpose is to escape from the "slaughter-pens" of the South. + Political persecution, and not the extortion they suffer, is the refrain + of all the speakers at negro meetings that are held in encouragement and + aid of the emigration. It is idle to deny that the varied injustice which + the negroes have suffered as voters is accountable for a large part of + their universal yearning for new homes, and it will be folly for the + responsible classes at the South to ignore this fact. + </p> + <p> + As it is the negroes who are fleeing from the South, it is natural to look + among the dominant class for the injustice which is driving them away; but + it would be unfair to conclude that the blame rests entirely upon the + whites, and still more so to leave the impression that there is no + extenuation for the mistakes and abuses for which the whites are + responsible. Much of the intimidation of the blacks has been tolerated, if + not suggested, by a fear of negro uprisings. The apprehension is a legacy + from the days of slavery, and is more unreasonable now than it was then; + but still it exists. This is not an excuse, but an explanation. The + Pharaohs of the time of Moses were in constant dread lest the Hebrews + under their rule should go over to their enemies, and their dread + doubtless increased the cruelty of the Egyptians; but, while this dread + was an extenuation in the eyes of the persecutors, it did not prevent the + Hebrews from fleeing the persecution. So the blacks are going without + regard to the justification which the whites may set up for their + treatment; the only difference between the old and new exodus is that, as + the writer heard one negro speaker express it, "every black man is his own + Moses in this exodus." The negro may be lazy; it seems impossible to be + otherwise in the Southern climate. He may not be willing to work on + Saturdays, no matter how urgent the necessity; the indulgence in holidays + is said to be one of the chief drawbacks to the advancement of the + emancipated serfs of Russia. The blacks are certainly extravagant in their + way, though the word seems to be almost misused in connection with a race + who live largely on pork and molasses, and rarely wear more than half a + dollar's worth of clothes at one time. They have not the instinct of home + as it prevails among the whites, but incline to a crude and unsystematic + communism; the negro quarters of the old plantations are all huddled + together in the centre, and, except where the land owners have interfered + to encourage a different life, there is still too much promiscuousness in + the relation of the sexes. The negro, as a rule, has no ambition to become + a land owner; he prefers to invest his surplus money, when he has any, in + personal and movable property. In most cases where the blacks have been + given the opportunity of buying land on long time, and paying yearly + installments out of the proceeds of their annual crops, they have tired of + the bargain after a year or two, and abandoned the contract. The negro + politicians and preachers are not all that reformers and moralists would + have them; the imitative faculty of the African has betrayed the black + politician into many of the vicious ways of the white politician, and the + colored preacher is frequently not above "the pomps and vanity of this + wicked world." All this is the more unfortunate, as the blacks have a + child-like confidence in their chosen leaders, founded partly on their + primitive character, and partly on their distrust of the native whites. + Both their politicians and their preachers have given abundant evidence of + their insincerity during the excitement of emigration by blowing hot and + blowing cold; by talking to the negroes one way, and to the whites + another; and even to the extent, in some instances, of taking money to use + their influence for discouraging and impeding emigration. These are some + of the faults and misfortunes on the part of the blacks which enter into + the race troubles. The chief blame which attaches to the whites is the + failure to make a persistent effort, by education and kind treatment, to + overcome the distrust and cure the faults of the negroes. The whites + control, because they constitute the "property and intelligence" of the + South, to use the words of a democratic statesman; this power should have + been used to gain the confidence of the blacks. Had such a course been + taken, there would not have been the fear of reenslavement, which actually + prevails to a considerable extent among the negroes. So long as a portion + of the whites entertain the conviction that the war of the sections will + be renewed within a few years, as is the case, the negroes will suspect + and dread the class who would treat them as enemies in case the war should + come, and will seek to escape to a section of the country where they would + not be so treated. Perhaps, too, there would have been a voluntary + political division among the black voters, had the whites used more + pacific means to bring it about, and had they themselves set the example. + And last, but not least, in making up the sum of blame that the whites + must bear, is their own unwillingness to labor, which gives the rural + population too much time for mischief and too little sympathy with the + working classes. + </p> + <p> + As we have traced the causes that have led to the exodus, and described + the conditions which warrant the belief that there will be a renewal of + the emigration on a more extended scale next spring, and endeavored to + distribute the responsibility for the troubles equitably among whites and + blacks, remedies have naturally suggested themselves to the reader; in + fact, they are more easily to be thought out than accomplished. A few + general reflections may be added, however, in order to indicate the + probable solution of the race troubles that have brought about the exodus, + if, indeed, the whites and blacks of the South are ever going to live + together in peace. + </p> + <p> + (1.) It is certain that negro labor is the best the South can have, and + equally certain that the climate and natural conditions of the South are + better suited to the negro than any others on this continent. The alluvial + lands, which many persons believe the negroes alone can cultivate, on + account of climatic conditions, are so rich that it might literally be + said it is only necessary to tickle them with a hoe to make them laugh + back a harvest. The common prosperity of the country—the + agricultural interests of the South and the commercial interests of the + North—will be best served, therefore, by the continued residence and + labor of the blacks in the cotton States. + </p> + <p> + (2.) The fact stated in the foregoing paragraph is so well understood at + the North that the Southern people should dismiss the idea that there is + any scheming among the Northern people, political or otherwise, to draw + the black labor away from its natural home. The same fact should also + influence the people at the North not to be misled by any professional + philanthropists who may have some self-interest in soliciting aid to + facilitate negro emigration from the South. The duty of the North in this + matter is simply to extend protection and assure safe-conduct to the + negroes, if the Southern whites attempt to impede voluntary emigration by + either law or violence. Any other course might be cruel to the negro in + encouraging him to enter on a new life in a strange climate, as well as an + injustice to the white land owners of the South. + </p> + <p> + (3.) There is danger that the Southern whites will, as a rule, + misinterpret the meaning of the exodus. Many are inclined to underrate its + importance, and those who appreciate its significance are apt to look for + temporary and superficial remedies. The vague promises made at the + Vicksburg convention, which was controlled by the whites, and called to + consider the emigration movement, have had no influence with the negroes, + because they have heard such promises before. Had the convention adopted + some definite plan of action, such as ex-Governor Foote, of Mississippi, + submitted, its session might not have been in vain. This plan was to + establish a committee in every county, composed of men who have the + confidence of both whites and blacks, that should be auxiliary to the + public authorities, listen to complaints, and arbitrate, advise, + conciliate, or prosecute, as each case should demand. It is short-sighted + for the Southern people to make mere temporary concessions, such as have + been made in some cases this year, for that course would establish an + annual strike. It is folly for them to suppose they can stem the tide of + emigration by influencing the regular lines of steamboats not to carry the + refugees, for the people of the North will see that the blacks shall not + be detained in the South against their will. It is unwise for them to + devise schemes for importing Chinese, or encouraging the immigration of + white labor as a substitute for negro labor, when they may much better + bestir themselves to make the present effective labor content. + </p> + <p> + (4.) Education will be the most useful agent to employ in the permanent + harmonizing of the two races, and the redemption of both from the faults + and follies which constitute their troubles. It is not the education of + the negro alone, whose ambition for learning is increasing notably with + every new generation, but the education of the mass of the young whites, + that is needed to inculcate more tolerance of color and opinion, to give + them an aspiration beyond that of riding a horse and hanging a "nigger," + and to enable them to set a better example to the imitative blacks in the + way of work and frugality. The blacks need the education to protect them + from designing white men; the whites need it to teach them that their own + interests will be best served by abandoning bulldozing of all kinds. + </p> + <p> + (5.) Reform in the land tenure, by converting the plantation monopolies + into small holdings; abolition of the credit system, by abandoning the + laws which sustain it; a diversification of crops; and attention to new + manufacturing, maritime, and commercial enterprises,—these are the + material changes that are most needed. They can be secured only through + the active and earnest efforts of the whites. The blacks will be found + responsive. + </p> + <p> + (6.) The hope of the negro exodus at its present stage, or even if it + shall continue another season, is that the actual loss of the valuable + labor that has gone, and the prospective loss of more labor that is + anxious to go, will induce the intelligent and responsible classes at the + South to overcome their own prejudices, and to compel the extremists, + irreconcilables, and politicians generally, of all parties, to abandon + agitation, and give the South equal peace and equal chance for black and + white. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0005" id="link2H_4_0005"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + MY ESCAPE FROM SLAVERY by Frederick Douglass + </h2> + <p> + In the first narrative of my experience in slavery, written nearly forty + years ago, and in various writings since, I have given the public what I + considered very good reasons for withholding the manner of my escape. In + substance these reasons were, first, that such publication at any time + during the existence of slavery might be used by the master against the + slave, and prevent the future escape of any who might adopt the same means + that I did. The second reason was, if possible, still more binding to + silence: the publication of details would certainly have put in peril the + persons and property of those who assisted. Murder itself was not more + sternly and certainly punished in the State of Maryland than that of + aiding and abetting the escape of a slave. Many colored men, for no other + crime than that of giving aid to a fugitive slave, have, like Charles T. + Torrey, perished in prison. The abolition of slavery in my native State + and throughout the country, and the lapse of time, render the caution + hitherto observed no longer necessary. But even since the abolition of + slavery, I have sometimes thought it well enough to baffle curiosity by + saying that while slavery existed there were good reasons for not telling + the manner of my escape, and since slavery had ceased to exist, there was + no reason for telling it. I shall now, however, cease to avail myself of + this formula, and, as far as I can, endeavor to satisfy this very natural + curiosity. I should, perhaps, have yielded to that feeling sooner, had + there been anything very heroic or thrilling in the incidents connected + with my escape, for I am sorry to say I have nothing of that sort to tell; + and yet the courage that could risk betrayal and the bravery which was + ready to encounter death, if need be, in pursuit of freedom, were + essential features in the undertaking. My success was due to address + rather than courage, to good luck rather than bravery. My means of escape + were provided for me by the very men who were making laws to hold and bind + me more securely in slavery. + </p> + <p> + It was the custom in the State of Maryland to require the free colored + people to have what were called free papers. These instruments they were + required to renew very often, and by charging a fee for this writing, + considerable sums from time to time were collected by the State. In these + papers the name, age, color, height, and form of the freeman were + described, together with any scars or other marks upon his person which + could assist in his identification. This device in some measure defeated + itself—since more than one man could be found to answer the same + general description. Hence many slaves could escape by personating the + owner of one set of papers; and this was often done as follows: A slave, + nearly or sufficiently answering the description set forth in the papers, + would borrow or hire them till by means of them he could escape to a free + State, and then, by mail or otherwise, would return them to the owner. The + operation was a hazardous one for the lender as well as for the borrower. + A failure on the part of the fugitive to send back the papers would + imperil his benefactor, and the discovery of the papers in possession of + the wrong man would imperil both the fugitive and his friend. It was, + therefore, an act of supreme trust on the part of a freeman of color thus + to put in jeopardy his own liberty that another might be free. It was, + however, not unfrequently bravely done, and was seldom discovered. I was + not so fortunate as to resemble any of my free acquaintances sufficiently + to answer the description of their papers. But I had a friend—a + sailor—who owned a sailor's protection, which answered somewhat the + purpose of free papers—describing his person, and certifying to the + fact that he was a free American sailor. The instrument had at its head + the American eagle, which gave it the appearance at once of an authorized + document. This protection, when in my hands, did not describe its bearer + very accurately. Indeed, it called for a man much darker than myself, and + close examination of it would have caused my arrest at the start. + </p> + <p> + In order to avoid this fatal scrutiny on the part of railroad officials, I + arranged with Isaac Rolls, a Baltimore hackman, to bring my baggage to the + Philadelphia train just on the moment of starting, and jumped upon the car + myself when the train was in motion. Had I gone into the station and + offered to purchase a ticket, I should have been instantly and carefully + examined, and undoubtedly arrested. In choosing this plan I considered the + jostle of the train, and the natural haste of the conductor, in a train + crowded with passengers, and relied upon my skill and address in playing + the sailor, as described in my protection, to do the rest. One element in + my favor was the kind feeling which prevailed in Baltimore and other + sea-ports at the time, toward "those who go down to the sea in ships." + "Free trade and sailors' rights" just then expressed the sentiment of the + country. In my clothing I was rigged out in sailor style. I had on a red + shirt and a tarpaulin hat, and a black cravat tied in sailor fashion + carelessly and loosely about my neck. My knowledge of ships and sailor's + talk came much to my assistance, for I knew a ship from stem to stern, and + from keelson to cross-trees, and could talk sailor like an "old salt." I + was well on the way to Havre de Grace before the conductor came into the + negro car to collect tickets and examine the papers of his black + passengers. This was a critical moment in the drama. My whole future + depended upon the decision of this conductor. Agitated though I was while + this ceremony was proceeding, still, externally, at least, I was + apparently calm and self-possessed. He went on with his duty—examining + several colored passengers before reaching me. He was somewhat harsh in + tome and peremptory in manner until he reached me, when, strange enough, + and to my surprise and relief, his whole manner changed. Seeing that I did + not readily produce my free papers, as the other colored persons in the + car had done, he said to me, in friendly contrast with his bearing toward + the others: + </p> + <p> + "I suppose you have your free papers?" + </p> + <p> + To which I answered: + </p> + <p> + "No sir; I never carry my free papers to sea with me." + </p> + <p> + "But you have something to show that you are a freeman, haven't you?" + </p> + <p> + "Yes, sir," I answered; "I have a paper with the American Eagle on it, and + that will carry me around the world." + </p> + <p> + With this I drew from my deep sailor's pocket my seaman's protection, as + before described. The merest glance at the paper satisfied him, and he + took my fare and went on about his business. This moment of time was one + of the most anxious I ever experienced. Had the conductor looked closely + at the paper, he could not have failed to discover that it called for a + very different-looking person from myself, and in that case it would have + been his duty to arrest me on the instant, and send me back to Baltimore + from the first station. When he left me with the assurance that I was all + right, though much relieved, I realized that I was still in great danger: + I was still in Maryland, and subject to arrest at any moment. I saw on the + train several persons who would have known me in any other clothes, and I + feared they might recognize me, even in my sailor "rig," and report me to + the conductor, who would then subject me to a closer examination, which I + knew well would be fatal to me. + </p> + <p> + Though I was not a murderer fleeing from justice, I felt perhaps quite as + miserable as such a criminal. The train was moving at a very high rate of + speed for that epoch of railroad travel, but to my anxious mind it was + moving far too slowly. Minutes were hours, and hours were days during this + part of my flight. After Maryland, I was to pass through Delaware—another + slave State, where slave-catchers generally awaited their prey, for it was + not in the interior of the State, but on its borders, that these human + hounds were most vigilant and active. The border lines between slavery and + freedom were the dangerous ones for the fugitives. The heart of no fox or + deer, with hungry hounds on his trail in full chase, could have beaten + more anxiously or noisily than did mine from the time I left Baltimore + till I reached Philadelphia. The passage of the Susquehanna River at Havre + de Grace was at that time made by ferry-boat, on board of which I met a + young colored man by the name of Nichols, who came very near betraying me. + He was a "hand" on the boat, but, instead of minding his business, he + insisted upon knowing me, and asking me dangerous questions as to where I + was going, when I was coming back, etc. I got away from my old and + inconvenient acquaintance as soon as I could decently do so, and went to + another part of the boat. Once across the river, I encountered a new + danger. Only a few days before, I had been at work on a revenue cutter, in + Mr. Price's ship-yard in Baltimore, under the care of Captain McGowan. On + the meeting at this point of the two trains, the one going south stopped + on the track just opposite to the one going north, and it so happened that + this Captain McGowan sat at a window where he could see me very + distinctly, and would certainly have recognized me had he looked at me but + for a second. Fortunately, in the hurry of the moment, he did not see me; + and the trains soon passed each other on their respective ways. But this + was not my only hair-breadth escape. A German blacksmith whom I knew well + was on the train with me, and looked at me very intently, as if he thought + he had seen me somewhere before in his travels. I really believe he knew + me, but had no heart to betray me. At any rate, he saw me escaping and + held his peace. + </p> + <p> + The last point of imminent danger, and the one I dreaded most, was + Wilmington. Here we left the train and took the steam-boat for + Philadelphia. In making the change here I again apprehended arrest, but no + one disturbed me, and I was soon on the broad and beautiful Delaware, + speeding away to the Quaker City. On reaching Philadelphia in the + afternoon, I inquired of a colored man how I could get on to New York. He + directed me to the William-street depot, and thither I went, taking the + train that night. I reached New York Tuesday morning, having completed the + journey in less than twenty-four hours. + </p> + <p> + My free life began on the third of September, 1838. On the morning of the + fourth of that month, after an anxious and most perilous but safe journey, + I found myself in the big city of New York, a FREE MAN—one more + added to the mighty throng which, like the confused waves of the troubled + sea, surged to and fro between the lofty walls of Broadway. Though dazzled + with the wonders which met me on every hand, my thoughts could not be much + withdrawn from my strange situation. For the moment, the dreams of my + youth and the hopes of my manhood were completely fulfilled. The bonds + that had held me to "old master" were broken. No man now had a right to + call me his slave or assert mastery over me. I was in the rough and tumble + of an outdoor world, to take my chance with the rest of its busy number. I + have often been asked how I felt when first I found myself on free soil. + There is scarcely anything in my experience about which I could not give a + more satisfactory answer. A new world had opened upon me. If life is more + than breath and the "quick round of blood," I lived more in that one day + than in a year of my slave life. It was a time of joyous excitement which + words can but tamely describe. In a letter written to a friend soon after + reaching New York, I said: "I felt as one might feel upon escape from a + den of hungry lions." Anguish and grief, like darkness and rain, may be + depicted; but gladness and joy, like the rainbow, defy the skill of pen or + pencil. During ten or fifteen years I had been, as it were, dragging a + heavy chain which no strength of mine could break; I was not only a slave, + but a slave for life. I might become a husband, a father, an aged man, but + through all, from birth to death, from the cradle to the grave, I had felt + myself doomed. All efforts I had previously made to secure my freedom had + not only failed, but had seemed only to rivet my fetters the more firmly, + and to render my escape more difficult. Baffled, entangled, and + discouraged, I had at times asked myself the question, May not my + condition after all be God's work, and ordered for a wise purpose, and if + so, Is not submission my duty? A contest had in fact been going on in my + mind for a long time, between the clear consciousness of right and the + plausible make-shifts of theology and superstition. The one held me an + abject slave—a prisoner for life, punished for some transgression in + which I had no lot nor part; and the other counseled me to manly endeavor + to secure my freedom. This contest was now ended; my chains were broken, + and the victory brought me unspeakable joy. + </p> + <p> + But my gladness was short-lived, for I was not yet out of the reach and + power of the slave-holders. I soon found that New York was not quite so + free or so safe a refuge as I had supposed, and a sense of loneliness and + insecurity again oppressed me most sadly. I chanced to meet on the street, + a few hours after my landing, a fugitive slave whom I had once known well + in slavery. The information received from him alarmed me. The fugitive in + question was known in Baltimore as "Allender's Jake," but in New York he + wore the more respectable name of "William Dixon." Jake, in law, was the + property of Doctor Allender, and Tolly Allender, the son of the doctor, + had once made an effort to recapture MR. DIXON, but had failed for want of + evidence to support his claim. Jake told me the circumstances of this + attempt, and how narrowly he escaped being sent back to slavery and + torture. He told me that New York was then full of Southerners returning + from the Northern watering-places; that the colored people of New York + were not to be trusted; that there were hired men of my own color who + would betray me for a few dollars; that there were hired men ever on the + lookout for fugitives; that I must trust no man with my secret; that I + must not think of going either upon the wharves or into any colored + boarding-house, for all such places were closely watched; that he was + himself unable to help me; and, in fact, he seemed while speaking to me to + fear lest I myself might be a spy and a betrayer. Under this apprehension, + as I suppose, he showed signs of wishing to be rid of me, and with + whitewash brush in hand, in search of work, he soon disappeared. + </p> + <p> + This picture, given by poor "Jake," of New York, was a damper to my + enthusiasm. My little store of money would soon be exhausted, and since it + would be unsafe for me to go on the wharves for work, and I had no + introductions elsewhere, the prospect for me was far from cheerful. I saw + the wisdom of keeping away from the ship-yards, for, if pursued, as I felt + certain I should be, Mr. Auld, my "master," would naturally seek me there + among the calkers. Every door seemed closed against me. I was in the midst + of an ocean of my fellow-men, and yet a perfect stranger to every one. I + was without home, without acquaintance, without money, without credit, + without work, and without any definite knowledge as to what course to + take, or where to look for succor. In such an extremity, a man had + something besides his new-born freedom to think of. While wandering about + the streets of New York, and lodging at least one night among the barrels + on one of the wharves, I was indeed free—from slavery, but free from + food and shelter as well. I kept my secret to myself as long as I could, + but I was compelled at last to seek some one who would befriend me without + taking advantage of my destitution to betray me. Such a person I found in + a sailor named Stuart, a warm-hearted and generous fellow, who, from his + humble home on Centre street, saw me standing on the opposite sidewalk, + near the Tombs prison. As he approached me, I ventured a remark to him + which at once enlisted his interest in me. He took me to his home to spend + the night, and in the morning went with me to Mr. David Ruggles, the + secretary of the New York Vigilance Committee, a co-worker with Isaac T. + Hopper, Lewis and Arthur Tappan, Theodore S. Wright, Samuel Cornish, + Thomas Downing, Philip A. Bell, and other true men of their time. All + these (save Mr. Bell, who still lives, and is editor and publisher of a + paper called the "Elevator," in San Francisco) have finished their work on + earth. Once in the hands of these brave and wise men, I felt comparatively + safe. With Mr. Ruggles, on the corner of Lispenard and Church streets, I + was hidden several days, during which time my intended wife came on from + Baltimore at my call, to share the burdens of life with me. She was a free + woman, and came at once on getting the good news of my safety. We were + married by Rev. J. W. C. Pennington, then a well-known and respected + Presbyterian minister. I had no money with which to pay the marriage fee, + but he seemed well pleased with our thanks. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Ruggles was the first officer on the "Underground Railroad" whom I met + after coming North, and was, indeed, the only one with whom I had anything + to do till I became such an officer myself. Learning that my trade was + that of a calker, he promptly decided that the best place for me was in + New Bedford, Mass. He told me that many ships for whaling voyages were + fitted out there, and that I might there find work at my trade and make a + good living. So, on the day of the marriage ceremony, we took our little + luggage to the steamer JOHN W. RICHMOND, which, at that time, was one of + the line running between New York and Newport, R. I. Forty-three years ago + colored travelers were not permitted in the cabin, nor allowed abaft the + paddle-wheels of a steam vessel. They were compelled, whatever the weather + might be,—whether cold or hot, wet or dry,—to spend the night + on deck. Unjust as this regulation was, it did not trouble us much; we had + fared much harder before. We arrived at Newport the next morning, and soon + after an old fashioned stage-coach, with "New Bedford" in large yellow + letters on its sides, came down to the wharf. I had not money enough to + pay our fare, and stood hesitating what to do. Fortunately for us, there + were two Quaker gentlemen who were about to take passage on the stage,—Friends + William C. Taber and Joseph Ricketson,—who at once discerned our + true situation, and, in a peculiarly quiet way, addressing me, Mr. Taber + said: "Thee get in." I never obeyed an order with more alacrity, and we + were soon on our way to our new home. When we reached "Stone Bridge" the + passengers alighted for breakfast, and paid their fares to the driver. We + took no breakfast, and, when asked for our fares, I told the driver I + would make it right with him when we reached New Bedford. I expected some + objection to this on his part, but he made none. When, however, we reached + New Bedford, he took our baggage, including three music-books,—two + of them collections by Dyer, and one by Shaw,—and held them until I + was able to redeem them by paying to him the amount due for our rides. + This was soon done, for Mr. Nathan Johnson not only received me kindly and + hospitably, but, on being informed about our baggage, at once loaned me + the two dollars with which to square accounts with the stage-driver. Mr. + and Mrs. Nathan Johnson reached a good old age, and now rest from their + labors. I am under many grateful obligations to them. They not only "took + me in when a stranger" and "fed me when hungry," but taught me how to make + an honest living. Thus, in a fortnight after my flight from Maryland, I + was safe in New Bedford, a citizen of the grand old commonwealth of + Massachusetts. + </p> + <p> + Once initiated into my new life of freedom and assured by Mr. Johnson that + I need not fear recapture in that city, a comparatively unimportant + question arose as to the name by which I should be known thereafter in my + new relation as a free man. The name given me by my dear mother was no + less pretentious and long than Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey. I + had, however, while living in Maryland, dispensed with the Augustus + Washington, and retained only Frederick Bailey. Between Baltimore and New + Bedford, the better to conceal myself from the slave-hunters, I had parted + with Bailey and called myself Johnson; but in New Bedford I found that the + Johnson family was already so numerous as to cause some confusion in + distinguishing them, hence a change in this name seemed desirable. Nathan + Johnson, mine host, placed great emphasis upon this necessity, and wished + me to allow him to select a name for me. I consented, and he called me by + my present name—the one by which I have been known for three and + forty years—Frederick Douglass. Mr. Johnson had just been reading + the "Lady of the Lake," and so pleased was he with its great character + that he wished me to bear his name. Since reading that charming poem + myself, I have often thought that, considering the noble hospitality and + manly character of Nathan Johnson—black man though he was—he, + far more than I, illustrated the virtues of the Douglas of Scotland. Sure + am I that, if any slave-catcher had entered his domicile with a view to my + recapture, Johnson would have shown himself like him of the "stalwart + hand." + </p> + <p> + The reader may be surprised at the impressions I had in some way conceived + of the social and material condition of the people at the North. I had no + proper idea of the wealth, refinement, enterprise, and high civilization + of this section of the country. My "Columbian Orator," almost my only + book, had done nothing to enlighten me concerning Northern society. I had + been taught that slavery was the bottom fact of all wealth. With this + foundation idea, I came naturally to the conclusion that poverty must be + the general condition of the people of the free States. In the country + from which I came, a white man holding no slaves was usually an ignorant + and poverty-stricken man, and men of this class were contemptuously called + "poor white trash." Hence I supposed that, since the non-slave-holders at + the South were ignorant, poor, and degraded as a class, the + non-slave-holders at the North must be in a similar condition. I could + have landed in no part of the United States where I should have found a + more striking and gratifying contrast, not only to life generally in the + South, but in the condition of the colored people there, than in New + Bedford. I was amazed when Mr. Johnson told me that there was nothing in + the laws or constitution of Massachusetts that would prevent a colored man + from being governor of the State, if the people should see fit to elect + him. There, too, the black man's children attended the public schools with + the white man's children, and apparently without objection from any + quarter. To impress me with my security from recapture and return to + slavery, Mr. Johnson assured me that no slave-holder could take a slave + out of New Bedford; that there were men there who would lay down their + lives to save me from such a fate. + </p> + <p> + The fifth day after my arrival, I put on the clothes of a common laborer, + and went upon the wharves in search of work. On my way down Union street I + saw a large pile of coal in front of the house of Rev. Ephraim Peabody, + the Unitarian minister. I went to the kitchen door and asked the privilege + of bringing in and putting away this coal. "What will you charge?" said + the lady. "I will leave that to you, madam." "You may put it away," she + said. I was not long in accomplishing the job, when the dear lady put into + my hand TWO SILVER HALF-DOLLARS. To understand the emotion which swelled + my heart as I clasped this money, realizing that I had no master who could + take it from me,—THAT IT WAS MINE—THAT MY HANDS WERE MY OWN, + and could earn more of the precious coin,—one must have been in some + sense himself a slave. My next job was stowing a sloop at Uncle Gid. + Howland's wharf with a cargo of oil for New York. I was not only a + freeman, but a free working-man, and no "master" stood ready at the end of + the week to seize my hard earnings. + </p> + <p> + The season was growing late and work was plenty. Ships were being fitted + out for whaling, and much wood was used in storing them. The sawing this + wood was considered a good job. With the help of old Friend Johnson + (blessings on his memory) I got a saw and "buck," and went at it. When I + went into a store to buy a cord with which to brace up my saw in the + frame, I asked for a "fip's" worth of cord. The man behind the counter + looked rather sharply at me, and said with equal sharpness, "You don't + belong about here." I was alarmed, and thought I had betrayed myself. A + fip in Maryland was six and a quarter cents, called fourpence in + Massachusetts. But no harm came from the "fi'penny-bit" blunder, and I + confidently and cheerfully went to work with my saw and buck. It was new + business to me, but I never did better work, or more of it, in the same + space of time on the plantation for Covey, the negro-breaker, than I did + for myself in these earliest years of my freedom. + </p> + <p> + Notwithstanding the just and humane sentiment of New Bedford three and + forty years ago, the place was not entirely free from race and color + prejudice. The good influence of the Roaches, Rodmans, Arnolds, Grinnells, + and Robesons did not pervade all classes of its people. The test of the + real civilization of the community came when I applied for work at my + trade, and then my repulse was emphatic and decisive. It so happened that + Mr. Rodney French, a wealthy and enterprising citizen, distinguished as an + anti-slavery man, was fitting out a vessel for a whaling voyage, upon + which there was a heavy job of calking and coppering to be done. I had + some skill in both branches, and applied to Mr. French for work. He, + generous man that he was, told me he would employ me, and I might go at + once to the vessel. I obeyed him, but upon reaching the float-stage, where + others [sic] calkers were at work, I was told that every white man would + leave the ship, in her unfinished condition, if I struck a blow at my + trade upon her. This uncivil, inhuman, and selfish treatment was not so + shocking and scandalous in my eyes at the time as it now appears to me. + Slavery had inured me to hardships that made ordinary trouble sit lightly + upon me. Could I have worked at my trade I could have earned two dollars a + day, but as a common laborer I received but one dollar. The difference was + of great importance to me, but if I could not get two dollars, I was glad + to get one; and so I went to work for Mr. French as a common laborer. The + consciousness that I was free—no longer a slave—kept me + cheerful under this, and many similar proscriptions, which I was destined + to meet in New Bedford and elsewhere on the free soil of Massachusetts. + For instance, though colored children attended the schools, and were + treated kindly by their teachers, the New Bedford Lyceum refused, till + several years after my residence in that city, to allow any colored person + to attend the lectures delivered in its hall. Not until such men as + Charles Sumner, Theodore Parker, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Horace Mann + refused to lecture in their course while there was such a restriction, was + it abandoned. + </p> + <p> + Becoming satisfied that I could not rely on my trade in New Bedford to + give me a living, I prepared myself to do any kind of work that came to + hand. I sawed wood, shoveled coal, dug cellars, moved rubbish from back + yards, worked on the wharves, loaded and unloaded vessels, and scoured + their cabins. + </p> + <p> + I afterward got steady work at the brass-foundry owned by Mr. Richmond. My + duty here was to blow the bellows, swing the crane, and empty the flasks + in which castings were made; and at times this was hot and heavy work. The + articles produced here were mostly for ship work, and in the busy season + the foundry was in operation night and day. I have often worked two nights + and every working day of the week. My foreman, Mr. Cobb, was a good man, + and more than once protected me from abuse that one or more of the hands + was disposed to throw upon me. While in this situation I had little time + for mental improvement. Hard work, night and day, over a furnace hot + enough to keep the metal running like water, was more favorable to action + than thought; yet here I often nailed a newspaper to the post near my + bellows, and read while I was performing the up and down motion of the + heavy beam by which the bellows was inflated and discharged. It was the + pursuit of knowledge under difficulties, and I look back to it now, after + so many years, with some complacency and a little wonder that I could have + been so earnest and persevering in any pursuit other than for my daily + bread. I certainly saw nothing in the conduct of those around to inspire + me with such interest: they were all devoted exclusively to what their + hands found to do. I am glad to be able to say that, during my engagement + in this foundry, no complaint was ever made against me that I did not do + my work, and do it well. The bellows which I worked by main strength was, + after I left, moved by a steam-engine. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0006" id="link2H_4_0006"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE GOOPHERED GRAPEVINE by Charles W. Chesnutt + </h2> + <p> + About ten years ago my wife was in poor health, and our family doctor, in + whose skill and honesty I had implicit confidence, advised a change of + climate. I was engaged in grape-culture in northern Ohio, and decided to + look for a locality suitable for carrying on the same business in some + Southern State. I wrote to a cousin who had gone into the turpentine + business in central North Carolina, and he assured me that no better place + could be found in the South than the State and neighborhood in which he + lived: climate and soil were all that could be asked for, and land could + be bought for a mere song. A cordial invitation to visit him while I + looked into the matter was accepted. We found the weather delightful at + that season, the end of the summer, and were most hospitably entertained. + Our host placed a horse and buggy at our disposal, and himself acted as + guide until I got somewhat familiar with the country. + </p> + <p> + I went several times to look at a place which I thought might suit me. It + had been at one time a thriving plantation, but shiftless cultivation had + well-night exhausted the soil. There had been a vineyard of some extent on + the place, but it had not been attended to since the war, and had fallen + into utter neglect. The vines—here partly supported by decayed and + broken-down arbors, there twining themselves among the branches of the + slender saplings which had sprung up among them—grew in wild and + unpruned luxuriance, and the few scanty grapes which they bore were the + undisputed prey of the first comer. The site was admirably adapted to + grape-raising; the soil, with a little attention, could not have been + better; and with the native grape, the luscious scuppernong, mainly to + rely upon, I felt sure that I could introduce and cultivate successfully a + number of other varieties. + </p> + <p> + One day I went over with my wife, to show her the place. We drove between + the decayed gate-posts—the gate itself had long since disappeared—and + up the straight, sandy lane to the open space where a dwelling-house had + once stood. But the house had fallen a victim to the fortunes of war, and + nothing remained of it except the brick pillars upon which the sills had + rested. We alighted, and walked about the place for a while; but on + Annie's complaining of weariness I led the way back to the yard, where a + pine log, lying under a spreading elm, formed a shady though somewhat hard + seat. One end of the log was already occupied by a venerable-looking + colored man. He held on his knees a hat full of grapes, over which he was + smacking his lips with great gusto, and a pile of grape-skins near him + indicated that the performance was no new thing. He respectfully rose as + we approached, and was moving away, when I begged him to keep his seat. + </p> + <p> + "Don't let us disturb you," I said. "There's plenty of room for us all." + </p> + <p> + He resumed his seat with somewhat of embarrassment. + </p> + <p> + "Do you live around here?" I asked, anxious to put him at his ease. + </p> + <p> + "Yas, suh. I lives des ober yander, behine de nex' san'-hill, on de + Lumberton plank-road." + </p> + <p> + "Do you know anything about the time when this vineyard was cultivated?" + </p> + <p> + "Lawd bless yer, suh, I knows all about it. Dey ain' na'er a man in dis + settlement w'at won' tell yer ole Julius McAdoo 'uz bawn an' raise' on dis + yer same plantation. Is you de Norv'n gemman w'at's gwine ter buy de ole + vimya'd?" + </p> + <p> + "I am looking at it," I replied; "but I don't know that I shall care to + buy unless I can be reasonably sure of making something out of it." + </p> + <p> + "Well, suh, you is a stranger ter me, en I is a stranger ter you, en we is + bofe strangers ter one anudder, but 'f I 'uz in yo' place, I wouldn' buy + dis vimya'd." + </p> + <p> + "Why not?" I asked. + </p> + <p> + "Well, I dunner whe'r you b'lieves in cunj'in er not,—some er de + w'ite folks don't, er says dey don't,—but de truf er de matter is + dat dis yer ole vimya'd is goophered." + </p> + <p> + "Is what?" I asked, not grasping the meaning of this unfamiliar word. + </p> + <p> + "Is goophered, cunju'd, bewitch'." + </p> + <p> + He imparted this information with such solemn earnestness, and with such + an air of confidential mystery, that I felt somewhat interested, while + Annie was evidently much impressed, and drew closer to me. + </p> + <p> + "How do you know it is bewitched?" I asked. + </p> + <p> + "I wouldn' spec' fer you ter b'lieve me 'less you know all 'bout de fac's. + But ef you en young miss dere doan' min' lis'n'in' ter a ole nigger run on + a minute er two w'ile you er restin', I kin 'splain to yer how it all + happen'." + </p> + <p> + We assured him that we would be glad to hear how it all happened, and he + began to tell us. At first the current of his memory—or imagination—seemed + somewhat sluggish; but as his embarrassment wore off, his language flowed + more freely, and the story acquired perspective and coherence. As he + became more and more absorbed in the narrative, his eyes assumed a dreamy + expression, and he seemed to lose sight of his auditors, and to be living + over again in monologue his life on the old plantation. + </p> + <p> + "Ole Mars Dugal' McAdoo bought dis place long many years befo' de wah, en + I 'member well w'en he sot out all dis yer part er de plantation in + scuppernon's. De vimes growed monst'us fas', en Mars Dugal' made a + thousan' gallon er scuppernon' wine eve'y year. + </p> + <p> + "Now, ef dey's an'thing a nigger lub, nex' ter 'possum, en chick'n, en + watermillyums, it's scuppernon's. Dey ain' nuffin dat kin stan' up side'n + de scuppernon' fer sweetness; sugar ain't a suckumstance ter scuppernon'. + W'en de season is nigh 'bout ober, en de grapes begin ter swivel up des a + little wid de wrinkles er ole age,—w'en de skin git sof' en brown,—den + de scuppernon' make you smack yo' lip en roll yo' eye en wush fer mo'; so + I reckon it ain' very 'stonishin' dat niggers lub scuppernon'. + </p> + <p> + "Dey wuz a sight er niggers in de naberhood er de vimya'd. Dere wuz ole + Mars Henry Brayboy's niggers, en ole Mars Dunkin McLean's niggers, en Mars + Dugal's own niggers; den dey wuz a settlement er free niggers en po' + buckrahs down by de Wim'l'ton Road, en Mars Dugal' had de only vimya'd in + de naberhood. I reckon it ain' so much so nowadays, but befo' de wah, in + slab'ry times, er nigger didn' mine goin' fi' er ten mile in a night, w'en + dey wuz sump'n good ter eat at de yuther een. + </p> + <p> + "So atter a w'ile Mars Dugal' begin ter miss his scuppernon's. Co'se he + 'cuse' de niggers er it, but dey all 'nied it ter de las'. Mars Dugal' sot + spring guns en steel traps, en he en de oberseah sot up nights once't er + twice't, tel one night Mars Dugal'—he 'uz a monst'us keerless man—got + his leg shot full er cow-peas. But somehow er nudder dey couldn' nebber + ketch none er de niggers. I dunner how it happen, but it happen des like I + tell yer, en de grapes kep' on a-goin des de same. + </p> + <p> + "But bimeby ole Mars Dugal' fix' up a plan ter stop it. Dey 'uz a cunjuh + 'ooman livin' down mongs' de free niggers on de Wim'l'ton Road, en all de + darkies fum Rockfish ter Beaver Crick wuz feared uv her. She could wuk de + mos' powerfulles' kind er goopher,—could make people hab fits er + rheumatiz, er make 'em des dwinel away en die; en dey say she went out + ridin' de niggers at night, for she wuz a witch 'sides bein' a cunjuh + 'ooman. Mars Dugal' hearn 'bout Aun' Peggy's doin's, en begun ter 'flect + whe'r er no he couldn' git her ter he'p him keep de niggers off'n de + grapevimes. One day in de spring er de year, ole miss pack' up a basket er + chick'n en poun'-cake, en a bottle er scuppernon' wine, en Mars Dugal' tuk + it in his buggy en driv ober ter Aun' Peggy's cabin. He tuk de basket in, + en had a long talk wid Aun' Peggy. De nex' day Aun' Peggy come up ter de + vimya'd. De niggers seed her slippin' 'roun', en dey soon foun' out what + she 'uz doin' dere. Mars Dugal' had hi'ed her ter goopher de grapevimes. + She sa'ntered 'roun' mongs' de vimes, en tuk a leaf fum dis one, en a + grape-hull fum dat one, en a grape-seed fum anudder one; en den a little + twig fum here, en a little pinch er dirt fum dere,—en put it all in + a big black bottle, wid a snake's toof en a speckle' hen's gall en some + ha'rs fum a black cat's tail, en den fill' de bottle wid scuppernon' wine. + W'en she got de goopher all ready en fix', she tuk 'n went out in de woods + en buried it under de root uv a red oak tree, en den come back en tole one + er de niggers she done goopher de grapevimes, en a'er a nigger w'at eat + dem grapes 'ud be sho ter die inside'n twel' mont's. + </p> + <p> + "Atter dat de niggers let de scuppernon's 'lone, en Mars Dugal' didn' hab + no 'casion ter fine no mo' fault; en de season wuz mos' gone, w'en a + strange gemman stop at de plantation one night ter see Mars Dugal' on some + business; en his coachman, seein' de scuppernon's growin' so nice en + sweet, slip 'roun' behine de smoke-house, en et all de scuppernon's he + could hole. Nobody didn' notice it at de time, but dat night, on de way + home, de gemman's hoss runned away en kill' de coachman. W'en we hearn de + noos, Aun' Lucy, de cook, she up 'n say she seed de strange nigger eat'n' + er de scuppernon's behine de smoke-house; en den we knowed de goopher had + b'en er wukkin. Den one er de nigger chilluns runned away fum de quarters + one day, en got in de scuppernon's, en died de nex' week. W'ite folks say + he die' er de fevuh, but de niggers knowed it wuz de goopher. So you k'n + be sho de darkies didn' hab much ter do wid dem scuppernon' vimes. + </p> + <p> + "W'en de scuppernon' season 'uz ober fer dat year, Mars Dugal' foun' he + had made fifteen hund'ed gallon er wine; en one er de niggers hearn him + laffin' wid de oberseah fit ter kill, en sayin' dem fifteen hund'ed gallon + er wine wuz monst'us good intrus' on de ten dollars he laid out on de + vimya'd. So I 'low ez he paid Aun' Peggy ten dollars fer to goopher de + grapevimes. + </p> + <p> + "De goopher didn' wuk no mo' tel de nex' summer, w'en 'long to'ds de + middle er de season one er de fiel' han's died; en ez dat lef' Mars Dugal' + sho't er han's, he went off ter town fer ter buy anudder. He fotch de noo + nigger home wid 'im. He wuz er ole nigger, er de color er a gingy-cake, en + ball ez a hoss-apple on de top er his head. He wuz a peart ole nigger, + do', en could do a big day's wuk. + </p> + <p> + "Now it happen dat one er de niggers on de nex' plantation, one er ole + Mars Henry Brayboy's niggers, had runned away de day befo', en tuk ter de + swamp, en ole Mars Dugal' en some er de yuther nabor w'ite folks had gone + out wid dere guns en dere dogs fer ter he'p 'em hunt fer de nigger; en de + han's on our own plantation wuz all so flusterated dat we fuhgot ter tell + de noo han' 'bout de goopher on de scuppernon' vimes. Co'se he smell de + grapes en see de vimes, an atter dahk de fus' thing he done wuz ter slip + off ter de grapevimes 'dout sayin' nuffin ter nobody. Nex' mawnin' he tole + some er de niggers 'bout de fine bait er scuppernon' he et de night befo'. + </p> + <p> + "W'en dey tole 'im 'bout de goopher on de grapevimes, he 'uz dat tarrified + dat he turn pale, en look des like he gwine ter die right in his tracks. + De oberseah come up en axed w'at 'uz de matter; en w'en dey tole 'im Henry + be'n eatin' er de scuppernon's, en got de goopher on 'im, he gin Henry a + big drink er w'iskey, en 'low dat de nex' rainy day he take 'im ober ter + Aun' Peggy's, en see ef she wouldn' take de goopher off'n him, seein' ez + he didn' know nuffin erbout it tel he done et de grapes. + </p> + <p> + "Sho nuff, it rain de nex' day, en de oberseah went ober ter Aun' Peggy's + wid Henry. En Aun' Peggy say dat bein' ez Henry didn' know 'bout de + goopher, en et de grapes in ign'ance er de quinseconces, she reckon she + mought be able fer ter take de goopher off'n him. So she fotch out er + bottle wid some cunjuh medicine in it, en po'd some out in a go'd fer + Henry ter drink. He manage ter git it down; he say it tas'e like whiskey + wid sump'n bitter in it. She 'lowed dat 'ud keep de goopher off'n him tel + de spring; but w'en de sap begin ter rise in de grapevimes he ha' ter come + en see her agin, en she tell him w'at e's ter do. + </p> + <p> + "Nex' spring, w'en de sap commence' ter rise in de scuppernon' vime, Henry + tuk a ham one night. Whar'd he git de ham? I doan know; dey wa'nt no hams + on de plantation 'cep'n' w'at 'uz in de smoke-house, but I never see Henry + 'bout de smoke-house. But ez I wuz a-sayin', he tuk de ham ober ter Aun' + Peggy's; en Aun' Peggy tole 'im dat w'en Mars Dugal' begin ter prume de + grapevimes, he mus' go en take 'n scrape off de sap whar it ooze out'n de + cut een's er de vimes, en 'n'int his ball head wid it; en ef he do dat + once't a year de goopher wouldn' wuk agin 'im long ez he done it. En bein' + ez he fotch her de ham, she fix' it so he kin eat all de scuppernon' he + want. + </p> + <p> + "So Henry 'n'int his head wid de sap out'n de big grapevime des ha'f way + 'twix' de quarters en de big house, en de goopher nebber wuk agin him dat + summer. But de beatenes' thing you eber see happen ter Henry. Up ter dat + time he wuz ez ball ez a sweeten' 'tater, but des ez soon ez de young + leaves begun ter come out on de grapevimes de ha'r begun ter grow out on + Henry's head, en by de middle er de summer he had de bigges' head er ha'r + on de plantation. Befo' dat, Henry had tol'able good ha'r 'roun de aidges, + but soon ez de young grapes begun ter come Henry's ha'r begun ter quirl + all up in little balls, des like dis yer reg'lar grapy ha'r, en by de time + de grapes got ripe his head look des like a bunch er grapes. Combin' it + didn' do no good; he wuk at it ha'f de night wid er Jim Crow <a + href="#linknote-1" name="linknoteref-1" id="linknoteref-1"><small>1</small></a>, + en think he git it straighten' out, but in de mawnin' de grapes 'ud be + dere des de same. So he gin it up, en tried ter keep de grapes down by + havin' his ha'r cut sho't." + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1" id="linknote-1"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1 (<a href="#linknoteref-1">return</a>)<br /> [ A small card, resembling a + curry-comb in construction, and used by negroes in the rural districts + instead of a comb.] + </p> + <p> + "But dat wa'nt de quares' thing 'bout de goopher. When Henry come ter de + plantation, he wuz gittin' a little ole an stiff in de j'ints. But dat + summer he got des ez spry en libely ez any young nigger on de plantation; + fac' he got so biggity dat Mars Jackson, de oberseah, ha' ter th'eaten ter + whip 'im, ef he didn' stop cuttin' up his didos en behave hisse'f. But de + mos' cur'ouses' thing happen' in de fall, when de sap begin ter go down in + de grapevimes. Fus', when de grapes 'uz gethered, de knots begun ter + straighten out'n Henry's h'ar; en w'en de leaves begin ter fall, Henry's + ha'r begin ter drap out; en w'en de vimes 'uz b'ar, Henry's head wuz + baller 'n it wuz in de spring, en he begin ter git ole en stiff in de + j'ints ag'in, en paid no mo' tention ter de gals dyoin' er de whole + winter. En nex' spring, w'en he rub de sap on ag'in, he got young ag'in, + en so soopl en libely dat none er de young niggers on de plantation + couldn' jump, ner dance, ner hoe ez much cotton ez Henry. But in de fall + er de year his grapes begun ter straighten out, en his j'ints ter git + stiff, en his ha'r drap off, en de rheumatiz begin ter wrastle wid 'im. + </p> + <p> + "Now, ef you'd a knowed ole Mars Dugal' McAdoo, you'd a knowed dat it ha' + ter be a mighty rainy day when he couldn' fine sump'n fer his niggers ter + do, en it ha' ter be a mighty little hole he couldn' crawl thoo, en ha' + ter be a monst'us cloudy night w'en a dollar git by him in de dahkness; en + w'en he see how Henry git young in de spring en ole in de fall, he 'lowed + ter hisse'f ez how he could make mo' money outen Henry dan by wukkin' him + in de cotton fiel'. 'Long de nex' spring, atter de sap commence' ter rise, + en Henry 'n'int 'is head en commence fer ter git young en soopl, Mars + Dugal' up 'n tuk Henry ter town, en sole 'im fer fifteen hunder' dollars. + Co'se de man w'at bought Henry didn' know nuffin 'bout de goopher, en Mars + Dugal' didn' see no 'casion fer ter tell 'im. Long to'ds de fall, w'en de + sap went down, Henry begin ter git ole again same ez yuzhal, en his noo + marster begin ter git skeered les'n he gwine ter lose his + fifteen-hunder'-dollar nigger. He sent fer a mighty fine doctor, but de + med'cine didn' 'pear ter do no good; de goopher had a good holt. Henry + tole de doctor 'bout de goopher, but de doctor des laff at 'im. + </p> + <p> + "One day in de winter Mars Dugal' went ter town, en wuz santerin' 'long de + Main Street, when who should he meet but Henry's noo marster. Dey said + 'Hoddy,' en Mars Dugal' ax 'im ter hab a seegyar; en atter dey run on + awhile 'bout de craps en de weather, Mars Dugal' ax 'im, sorter keerless, + like ez ef he des thought of it,— + </p> + <p> + "'How you like de nigger I sole you las' spring?' + </p> + <p> + "Henry's marster shuck his head en knock de ashes off'n his seegyar. + </p> + <p> + "'Spec' I made a bad bahgin when I bought dat nigger. Henry done good wuk + all de summer, but sence de fall set in he 'pears ter be sorter pinin' + away. Dey ain' nuffin pertickler de matter wid 'im—leastways de + doctor say so—'cep'n' a tech er de rheumatiz; but his ha'r is all + fell out, en ef he don't pick up his strenk mighty soon, I spec' I'm gwine + ter lose 'im." + </p> + <p> + "Dey smoked on awhile, en bimeby ole mars say, 'Well, a bahgin's a bahgin, + but you en me is good fren's, en I doan wan' ter see you lose all de money + you paid fer dat digger [sic]; en ef w'at you say is so, en I ain't + 'sputin' it, he ain't wuf much now. I spec's you wukked him too ha'd dis + summer, er e'se de swamps down here don't agree wid de san'-hill nigger. + So you des lemme know, en ef he gits any wusser I'll be willin' ter gib + yer five hund'ed dollars fer 'im, en take my chances on his livin'.' + </p> + <p> + "Sho nuff, when Henry begun ter draw up wid de rheumatiz en it look like + he gwine ter die fer sho, his noo marster sen' fer Mars Dugal', en Mars + Dugal' gin him what he promus, en brung Henry home ag'in. He tuk good keer + uv 'im dyoin' er de winter,—give 'im w'iskey ter rub his rheumatiz, + en terbacker ter smoke, en all he want ter eat,—'caze a nigger w'at + he could make a thousan' dollars a year off'n didn' grow on eve'y + huckleberry bush. + </p> + <p> + "Nex' spring, w'en de sap ris en Henry's ha'r commence' ter sprout, Mars + Dugal' sole 'im ag'in, down in Robeson County dis time; en he kep' dat + sellin' business up fer five year er mo'. Henry nebber say nuffin 'bout de + goopher ter his noo marsters, 'caze he know he gwine ter be tuk good keer + uv de nex' winter, w'en Mars Dugal' buy him back. En Mars Dugal' made + 'nuff money off'n Henry ter buy anudder plantation ober on Beaver Crick. + </p> + <p> + "But long 'bout de een' er dat five year dey come a stranger ter stop at + de plantation. De fus' day he 'uz dere he went out wid Mars Dugal' en + spent all de mawnin' lookin' ober de vimya'd, en atter dinner dey spent + all de evenin' playin' kya'ds. De niggers soon 'skiver' dat he wuz a + Yankee, en dat he come down ter Norf C'lina fer ter learn de w'ite folks + how to raise grapes en make wine. He promus Mars Dugal' he cud make de + grapevimes b'ar twice't ez many grapes, en dat de noo wine-press he wuz + a-sellin' would make mo' d'n twice't ez many gallons er wine. En ole Mars + Dugal' des drunk it all in, des 'peared ter be bewitched wit dat Yankee. + W'en de darkies see dat Yankee runnin' 'roun de vimya'd en diggin' under + de grapevimes, dey shuk dere heads, en 'lowed dat dey feared Mars Dugal' + losin' his min'. Mars Dugal' had all de dirt dug away fum under de roots + er all de scuppernon' vimes, an' let 'em stan' dat away fer a week er mo'. + Den dat Yankee made de niggers fix up a mixtry er lime en ashes en manyo, + en po' it roun' de roots er de grapevimes. Den he 'vise' Mars Dugal' fer + ter trim de vimes close't, en Mars Dugal' tuck 'n done eve'ything de + Yankee tole him ter do. Dyoin' all er dis time, mind yer, 'e wuz libbin' + off'n de fat er de lan', at de big house, en playin' kyards wid Mars + Dugal' eve'y night; en dey say Mars Dugal' los' mo'n a thousan' dollars + dyoin' er de week dat Yankee wuz a runnin' de grapevimes. + </p> + <p> + "W'en de sap ris nex' spring, ole Henry 'n'inted his head ez yuzhal, en + his ha'r commence' ter grow des de same ez it done eve'y year. De + scuppernon' vimes growed monst's fas', en de leaves wuz greener en thicker + dan dey eber be'n dyowin my rememb'ance; en Henry's ha'r growed out + thicker dan eber, en he 'peared ter git younger 'n younger, en soopler 'n + soopler; en seein' ez he wuz sho't er han's dat spring, havin' tuk in + consid'able noo groun', Mars Dugal' 'cluded he wouldn' sell Henry 'tel he + git de crap in en de cotton chop'. So he kep' Henry on de plantation. + </p> + <p> + "But 'long 'bout time fer de grapes ter come on de scuppernon' vimes, dey + 'peared ter come a change ober dem; de leaves wivered en swivel' up, en de + young grapes turn' yaller, en bimeby eve'ybody on de plantation could see + dat de whole vimya'd wuz dyin'. Mars Dugal' tuck 'n water de vimes en done + all he could, but 't wan' no use: dat Yankee done bus' de watermillyum. + One time de vimes picked up a bit, en Mars Dugal' thought dey wuz gwine + ter come out ag'in; but dat Yankee done dug too close unde' de roots, en + prune de branches too close ter de vime, en all dat lime en ashes done + burn' de life outen de vimes, en dey des kep' a with'in' en a swivelin'. + </p> + <p> + "All dis time de goopher wuz a-wukkin'. W'en de vimes commence' ter + wither, Henry commence' ter complain er his rheumatiz, en when de leaves + begin ter dry up his ha'r commence' ter drap out. When de vimes fresh up a + bit Henry 'ud git peart agin, en when de vimes wither agin Henry 'ud git + ole agin, en des kep' gittin' mo' en mo' fitten fer nuffin; he des pined + away, en fine'ly tuk ter his cabin; en when de big vime whar he got de sap + ter 'n'int his head withered en turned yaller en died, Henry died too,—des + went out sorter like a cannel. Dey didn't 'pear ter be nuffin de matter + wid 'im, 'cep'n de rheumatiz, but his strenk des dwinel' away 'tel he + didn' hab ernuff lef' ter draw his bref. De goopher had got de under holt, + en th'owed Henry fer good en all dat time. + </p> + <p> + "Mars Dugal' tuk on might'ly 'bout losin' his vimes en his nigger in de + same year; en he swo' dat ef he could git hold er dat Yankee he'd wear 'im + ter a frazzle, en den chaw up de frazzle; en he'd done it, too, for Mars + Dugal' 'uz a monst'us brash man w'en he once git started. He sot de + vimya'd out ober agin, but it wuz th'ee er fo' year befo' de vimes got ter + b'arin' any scuppernon's. + </p> + <p> + "W'en de wah broke out, Mars Dugal' raise' a comp'ny, en went off ter + fight de Yankees. He saw he wuz mighty glad dat wah come, en he des want + ter kill a Yankee fer eve'y dollar he los' 'long er dat grape-raisin' + Yankee. En I 'spec' he would a done it, too, ef de Yankees hadn' + s'picioned sump'n, en killed him fus'. Atter de s'render ole miss move' + ter town, de niggers all scattered 'way fum de plantation, en de vimya'd + ain' be'n cultervated sence." + </p> + <p> + "Is that story true?" asked Annie, doubtfully, but seriously, as the old + man concluded his narrative. + </p> + <p> + "It's des ez true ez I'm a-settin' here, miss. Dey's a easy way ter prove + it: I kin lead de way right ter Henry's grave ober yander in de plantation + buryin'-groun'. En I tell yer w'at, marster, I wouldn' 'vise yer to buy + dis yer ole vimya'd, 'caze de goopher's on it yit, en dey ain' no tellin' + w'en it's gwine ter crap out." + </p> + <p> + "But I thought you said all the old vines died." + </p> + <p> + "Dey did 'pear ter die, but a few ov 'em come out ag'in, en is mixed in + mongs' de yuthers. I ain' skeered ter eat de grapes, 'caze I knows de old + vimes fum de noo ones; but wid strangers dey ain' no tellin' w'at might + happen. I wouldn' 'vise yer ter buy dis vimya'd." + </p> + <p> + I bought the vineyard, nevertheless, and it has been for a long time in a + thriving condition, and is referred to by the local press as a striking + illustration of the opportunities open to Northern capital in the + development of Southern industries. The luscious scuppernong holds first + rank among our grapes, though we cultivate a great many other varieties, + and our income from grapes packed and shipped to the Northern markets is + quite considerable. I have not noticed any developments of the goopher in + the vineyard, although I have a mild suspicion that our colored assistants + do not suffer from want of grapes during the season. + </p> + <p> + I found, when I bought the vineyard, that Uncle Julius had occupied a + cabin on the place for many years, and derived a respectable revenue from + the neglected grapevines. This, doubtless, accounted for his advice to me + not to buy the vineyard, though whether it inspired the goopher story I am + unable to state. I believe, however, that the wages I pay him for his + services are more than an equivalent for anything he lost by the sale of + the vineyard. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0007" id="link2H_4_0007"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + PO' SANDY by Charles W. Chesnutt + </h2> + <p> + On the northeast corner of my vineyard in central North Carolina, and + fronting on the Lumberton plank-road, there stood a small frame house, of + the simplest construction. It was built of pine lumber, and contained but + one room, to which one window gave light and one door admission. Its + weather-beaten sides revealed a virgin innocence of paint. Against one end + of the house, and occupying half its width, there stood a huge brick + chimney: the crumbling mortar had left large cracks between the bricks; + the bricks themselves had begun to scale off in large flakes, leaving the + chimney sprinkled with unsightly blotches. These evidences of decay were + but partially concealed by a creeping vine, which extended its slender + branches hither and thither in an ambitious but futile attempt to cover + the whole chimney. The wooden shutter, which had once protected the + unglazed window, had fallen from its hinges, and lay rotting in the rank + grass and jimson-weeds beneath. This building, I learned when I bought the + place, had been used as a school-house for several years prior to the + breaking out of the war, since which time it had remained unoccupied, save + when some stray cow or vagrant hog had sought shelter within its walls + from the chill rains and nipping winds of winter. + </p> + <p> + One day my wife requested me to build her a new kitchen. The house erected + by us, when we first came to live upon the vineyard, contained a very + conveniently arranged kitchen; but for some occult reason my wife wanted a + kitchen in the back yard, apart from the dwelling-house, after the usual + Southern fashion. Of course I had to build it. + </p> + <p> + To save expense, I decided to tear down the old school-house, and use the + lumber, which was in a good state of preservation, in the construction of + the new kitchen. Before demolishing the old house, however, I made an + estimate of the amount of material contained in it, and found that I would + have to buy several hundred feet of new lumber in order to build the new + kitchen according to my wife's plan. + </p> + <p> + One morning old Julius McAdoo, our colored coachman, harnessed the gray + mare to the rockaway, and drove my wife and me over to the saw-mill from + which I meant to order the new lumber. We drove down the long lane which + led from our house to the plank-road; following the plank-road for about a + mile, we turned into a road running through the forest and across the + swamp to the sawmill beyond. Our carriage jolted over the half-rotted + corduroy road which traversed the swamp, and then climbed the long hill + leading to the saw-mill. When we reached the mill, the foreman had gone + over to a neighboring farm-house, probably to smoke or gossip, and we were + compelled to await his return before we could transact our business. We + remained seated in the carriage, a few rods from the mill, and watched the + leisurely movements of the mill-hands. We had not waited long before a + huge pine log was placed in position, the machinery of the mill was set in + motion, and the circular saw began to eat its way through the log, with a + loud whirr which resounded throughout the vicinity of the mill. The sound + rose and fell in a sort of rhythmic cadence, which, heard from where we + sat, was not unpleasing, and not loud enough to prevent conversation. When + the saw started on its second journey through the log, Julius observed, in + a lugubrious tone, and with a perceptible shudder:— + </p> + <p> + "Ugh! but dat des do cuddle my blood!" + </p> + <p> + "What's the matter, Uncle Julius?" inquired my wife, who is of a very + sympathetic turn of mind. "Does the noise affect your nerves?" + </p> + <p> + "No, Miss Annie," replied the old man, with emotion, "I ain' narvous; but + dat saw, a-cuttin' en grindin' thoo dat stick er timber, en moanin', en + groanin', en sweekin', kyars my 'memb'ance back ter ole times, en 'min's + me er po' Sandy." The pathetic intonation with which he lengthened out the + "po' Sandy" touched a responsive chord in our own hearts. + </p> + <p> + "And who was poor Sandy?" asked my wife, who takes a deep interest in the + stories of plantation life which she hears from the lips of the older + colored people. Some of these stories are quaintly humorous; others wildly + extravagant, revealing the Oriental cast of the negro's imagination; while + others, poured freely into the sympathetic ear of a Northern-bred woman, + disclose many a tragic incident of the darker side of slavery. + </p> + <p> + "Sandy," said Julius, in reply to my wife's question, "was a nigger w'at + useter b'long ter ole Mars Marrabo McSwayne. Mars Marrabo's place wuz on + de yuther side'n de swamp, right nex' ter yo' place. Sandy wuz a monst'us + good nigger, en could do so many things erbout a plantation, en alluz 'ten + ter his wuk so well, dat w'en Mars Marrabo's chilluns growed up en married + off, dey all un 'em wanted dey daddy fer ter gin 'em Sandy fer a weddin' + present. But Mars Marrabo knowed de res' wouldn' be satisfied ef he gin + Sandy ter a'er one un 'em; so w'en dey wuz all done married, he fix it by + 'lowin' one er his chilluns ter take Sandy fer a mont' er so, en den + ernudder for a mont' er so, en so on dat erway tel dey had all had 'im de + same lenk er time; en den dey would all take him roun' ag'in, 'cep'n oncet + in a w'ile w'en Mars Marrabo would len' 'im ter some er his yuther + kinfolks 'roun' de country, w'en dey wuz short er han's; tel bimeby it go + so Sandy didn' hardly knowed whar he wuz gwine ter stay fum one week's een + ter de yuther. + </p> + <p> + "One time w'en Sandy wuz lent out ez yushal, a spekilater come erlong wid + a lot er niggers, en Mars Marrabo swap' Sandy's wife off fer a noo 'oman. + W'en Sandy come back, Mars Marrabo gin 'im a dollar, en 'lowed he wuz + monst'us sorry fer ter break up de fambly, but de spekilater had gin 'im + big boot, en times wuz hard en money skase, en so he wuz bleedst ter make + de trade. Sandy tuk on some 'bout losin' his wife, but he soon seed dey + want no use cryin' ober spilt merlasses; en bein' ez he lacked de looks er + de noo 'ooman, he tuk up wid her atter she b'n on de plantation a mont' er + so. + </p> + <p> + "Sandy en his noo wife got on mighty well tergedder, en de niggers all + 'mence' ter talk about how lovin' dey wuz. W'en Tenie wuz tuk sick oncet, + Sandy useter set up all night wid 'er, en den go ter wuk in de mawnin' des + lack he had his reg'lar sleep; en Tenie would 'a done anythin' in de worl' + for her Sandy. + </p> + <p> + "Sandy en Tenie hadn' b'en libbin' tergedder fer mo' d'n two mont's befo' + Mars Marrabo's old uncle, w'at libbed down in Robeson County, sent up ter + fine out ef Mars Marrabo couldn' len' 'im er hire 'im a good han' fer a + mont' er so. Sandy's marster wuz one er dese yer easy-gwine folks w'at + wanter please eve'ybody, en he says yas, he could len' 'im Sandy. En Mars + Marrabo tole Sandy fer ter git ready ter go down ter Robeson nex' day, fer + ter stay a mont' er so. + </p> + <p> + "Hit wuz monst'us hard on Sandy fer ter take 'im 'way fum Tenie. Hit wuz + so fur down ter Robeson dat he didn' hab no chance er comin' back ter see + her tel de time wuz up; he wouldn' a' mine comin' ten er fifteen mile at + night ter see Tenie, but Mars Marrabo's uncle's plantation wuz mo' d'n + forty mile off. Sandy wuz mighty sad en cas' down atter w'at Mars Marrabo + tole 'im, en he says ter Tenie, sezee:— + </p> + <p> + "'I'm gittin monstus ti'ed er dish yer gwine roun' so much. Here I is lent + ter Mars Jeems dis mont', en I got ter do so-en-so; en ter Mars Archie de + nex' mont', en I got ter do so-en-so; den I got ter go ter Miss Jinnie's: + en hit's Sandy dis en Sandy dat, en Sandy yer en Sandy dere, tel it 'pears + ter me I ain' got no home, ner no marster, ner no mistiss, ner no nuffin'. + I can't eben keep a wife: my yuther ole 'oman wuz sole away widout my + gittin' a chance fer ter tell her good-by; en now I got ter go off en leab + you, Tenie, en I dunno whe'r I'm eber gwine ter see yer ag'in er no. I + wisht I wuz a tree, er a stump, er a rock, er sump'n w'at could stay on de + plantation fer a w'ile.' + </p> + <p> + "Atter Sandy got thoo talkin', Tenie didn' say naer word, but des sot dere + by de fier, studyin' en studyin'. Bimeby she up'n says:— + </p> + <p> + "'Sandy, is I eber tole you I wuz a cunjuh-'ooman?' + </p> + <p> + "Co'se Sandy hadn' nebber dremp' er nuffin lack dat, en he made a great + miration w'en he hear w'at Tenie say. Bimeby Tenie went on:— + </p> + <p> + "'I ain' goophered nobody, ner done no cunjuh-wuk fer fifteen yer er mo; + en w'en I got religion I made up my mine I wouldn' wuk no mo' goopher. But + dey is some things I doan b'lieve it's no sin fer ter do; en ef you doan + wanter be sent roun' fum pillar ter pos', en ef you doan wanter go down + ter Robeson, I kin fix things so yer won't haf ter. Ef you'll des say de + word, I kin turn yer ter w'ateber yer wanter be, en yer kin stay right + whar yer wanter, ez long ez yer mineter.' + </p> + <p> + "Sandy say he doan keer; he's willin' fer ter do anythin' fer ter stay + close ter Tenie. Den Tenie ax 'im ef he doan wanter be turnt inter a + rabbit. + </p> + <p> + "Sandy say, 'No, de dogs mout git atter me.' + </p> + <p> + "'Shill I turn yer ter a wolf?' sez Tenie. + </p> + <p> + "'No, eve'ybody's skeered er a wolf, en I doan want nobody ter be skeered + er me.' + </p> + <p> + "'Shill I turn yer ter a mawkin'-bird?' + </p> + <p> + "'No, a hawk mout ketch me. I wanter be turnt inter sump'n w'at'll stay in + one place.' + </p> + <p> + "'I kin turn yer ter a tree,' sez Tenie. 'You won't hab no mouf ner years, + but I kin turn yer back oncet in a w'ile, so yer kin git sump'n ter eat, + en hear w'at's gwine on.' + </p> + <p> + "Well, Sandy say dat'll do. En so Tenie tuk 'im down by de aidge er de + swamp, not fur fum de quarters, en turnt 'im inter a big pine-tree, en sot + 'im out mongs' some yuther trees. En de nex' mawnin', ez some er de fiel' + han's wuz gwine long dere, dey seed a tree w'at dey didn' 'member er + habbin' seed befo; it wuz monst'us quare, en dey wuz bleedst ter 'low dat + dey hadn' 'membered right, er e'se one er de saplin's had be'n growin' + monst'us fas'. + </p> + <p> + "W'en Mars Marrabo 'skiver' dat Sandy wuz gone, he 'lowed Sandy had runned + away. He got de dogs out, but de las' place dey could track Sandy ter wuz + de foot er dat pine-tree. En dere de dogs stood en barked, en bayed, en + pawed at de tree, en tried ter climb up on it; en w'en dey wuz tuk roun' + thoo de swamp ter look fer de scent, dey broke loose en made fer dat tree + ag'in. It wuz de beatenis' thing de w'ite folks eber hearn of, en Mars + Marrabo 'lowed dat Sandy must a' clim' up on de tree en jump' off on a + mule er sump'n, en rid fur 'nuff fer ter spile de scent. Mars Marrabo + wanted ter 'cuse some er de yuther niggers er heppin Sandy off, but dey + all 'nied it ter de las'; en eve'ybody knowed Tenie sot too much by Sandy + fer ter he'p 'im run away whar she couldn' nebber see 'im no mo'. + </p> + <p> + "W'en Sandy had be'n gone long 'nuff fer folks ter think he done got clean + away, Tenie useter go down ter de woods at night en turn 'im back, en den + dey'd slip up ter de cabin en set by de fire en talk. But dey ha' ter be + monst'us keerful, er e'se somebody would a seed 'em, en dat would a spile + de whole thing; so Tenie alluz turnt Sandy back in de mawnin' early, befo' + anybody wuz a'stirrin'. + </p> + <p> + "But Sandy didn' git erlong widout his trials en tribberlations. One day a + woodpecker come erlong en 'mence' ter peck at de tree; en de nex' time + Sandy wuz turnt back he had a little roun' hole in his arm, des lack a + sharp stick be'n stuck in it. Atter dat Tenie sot a sparrer-hawk fer ter + watch de tree; en w'en de woodpecker come erlong nex' mawnin' fer ter + finish his nes', he got gobble' up mos' fo' he stuck his bill in de bark. + </p> + <p> + "Nudder time, Mars Marrabo sent a nigger out in de woods fer ter chop + tuppentime boxes. De man chop a box in dish yer tree, en hack' de bark up + two er th'ee feet, fer ter let de tuppentime run. De nex' time Sandy wuz + turnt back he had a big skyar on his lef' leg, des lack it be'n skunt; en + it tuk Tenie nigh 'bout all night fer ter fix a mixtry ter kyo it up. + Atter dat, Tenie sot a hawnet fer ter watch de tree; en w'en de nigger + come back ag'in fer ter cut ernudder box on de yuther side'n de tree, de + hawnet stung 'im so hard dat de ax slip en cut his foot nigh 'bout off. + </p> + <p> + "W'en Tenie see so many things happenin' ter de tree, she 'cluded she'd + ha' ter turn Sandy ter sump'n e'se; en atter studyin' de matter ober, en + talkin' wid Sandy one ebenin', she made up her mine fer ter fix up a + goopher mixtry w'at would turn herse'f en Sandy ter foxes, er sump'n, so + dey could run away en go some'rs whar dey could be free en lib lack w'ite + folks. + </p> + <p> + "But dey ain' no tellin' w'at's gwine ter happen in dis worl'. Tenie had + got de night sot fer her en Sandy ter run away, w'en dat ve'y day one er + Mars Marrabo's sons rid up ter de big house in his buggy, en say his wife + wuz monst'us sick, en he want his mammy ter len' 'im a 'ooman fer ter nuss + his wife. Tenie's mistiss say sen Tenie; she wuz a good nuss. Young mars + wuz in a tarrible hurry fer ter git back home. Tenie wuz washin' at de big + house dat day, en her mistiss say she should go right 'long wid her young + marster. Tenie tried ter make some 'scuse fer ter git away en hide tel + night, w'en she would have eve'ything fix' up fer her en Sandy; she say + she wanter go ter her cabin fer ter git her bonnet. Her mistiss say it + doan matter 'bout de bonnet; her head-hankcher wuz good 'nuff. Den Tenie + say she wanter git her bes' frock; her mistiss say no, she doan need no + mo' frock, en w'en dat one got dirty she could git a clean one whar she + wuz gwine. So Tenie had ter git in de buggy en go 'long wid young Mars + Dunkin ter his plantation, w'ich wuz mo' d'n twenty mile away; en dey want + no chance er her seein' Sandy no mo' tel she come back home. De po' gal + felt monst'us bad erbout de way things wuz gwine on, en she knowed Sandy + mus' be a wond'rin' why she didn' come en turn 'im back no mo'. + </p> + <p> + "W'iles Tenie wuz away nussin' young Mars Dunkin's wife, Mars Marrabo tuk + a notion fer ter buil' 'im a noo kitchen; en bein' ez he had lots er + timber on his place, he begun ter look 'roun' fer a tree ter hab de lumber + sawed out'n. En I dunno how it come to be so, but he happen fer ter hit on + de ve'y tree w'at Sandy wuz turnt inter. Tenie wuz gone, en dey wa'n't + nobody ner nuffin' fer ter watch de tree. + </p> + <p> + "De two men w'at cut de tree down say dey nebber had sech a time wid a + tree befo': dey axes would glansh off, en didn' 'pear ter make no progress + thoo de wood; en of all de creakin', en shakin', en wobblin' you eber see, + dat tree done it w'en it commence' ter fall. It wuz de beatenis' thing! + </p> + <p> + "W'en dey got de tree all trim' up, dey chain it up ter a timber waggin, + en start fer de saw-mill. But dey had a hard time gittin' de log dere: + fus' dey got stuck in de mud w'en dey wuz gwine crosst de swamp, en it wuz + two er th'ee hours befo' dey could git out. W'en dey start' on ag'in, de + chain kep' a-comin' loose, en dey had ter keep a-stoppin' en a-stoppin' + fer ter hitch de log up ag'in. W'en dey commence' ter climb de hill ter de + saw-mill, de log broke loose, en roll down de hill en in mongs' de trees, + en hit tuk nigh 'bout half a day mo' ter git it haul' up ter de saw-mill. + </p> + <p> + "De nex' mawnin' atter de day de tree wuz haul' ter de saw-mill, Tenie + come home. W'en she got back ter her cabin, de fus' thing she done wuz ter + run down ter de woods en see how Sandy wuz gittin' on. W'en she seed de + stump standin' dere, wid de sap runnin' out'n it, en de limbs layin' + scattered roun', she nigh 'bout went out'n her mine. She run ter her + cabin, en got her goopher mixtry, en den foller de track er de timber + waggin ter de saw-mill. She knowed Sandy couldn' lib mo' d'n a minute er + so ef she turn' him back, fer he wuz all chop' up so he'd a be'n bleedst + ter die. But she wanted ter turn 'im back long ernuff fer ter 'splain ter + 'im dat she hadn' went off a-purpose, en lef' 'im ter be chop' down en + sawed up. She didn' want Sandy ter die wid no hard feelin's to'ds her. + </p> + <p> + "De han's at de saw-mill had des got de big log on de kerridge, en wuz + startin' up de saw, w'en dey seed a 'oman runnin up de hill, all out er + bref, cryin' en gwine on des lack she wuz plumb 'stracted. It wuz Tenie; + she come right inter de mill, en th'owed herse'f on de log, right in front + er de saw, a-hollerin' en cryin' ter her Sandy ter fergib her, en not ter + think hard er her, fer it wa'n't no fault er hern. Den Tenie 'membered de + tree didn' hab no years, en she wuz gittin' ready fer ter wuk her goopher + mixtry so ez ter turn Sandy back, w'en de mill-hands kotch holt er her en + tied her arms wid a rope, en fasten' her to one er de posts in de + saw-mill; en den dey started de saw up ag'in, en cut de log up inter bo'ds + en scantlin's right befo' her eyes. But it wuz mighty hard wuk; fer of all + de sweekin', en moanin', en groanin', dat log done it w'iles de saw wuz + a-cuttin' thoo it. De saw wuz one er dese yer ole-timey, up-en-down saws, + en hit tuk longer dem days ter saw a log 'en it do now. Dey greased de + saw, but dat didn' stop de fuss; hit kep' right on, tel finely dey got de + log all sawed up. + </p> + <p> + "W'en de oberseah w'at run de saw-mill come fum brekfas', de han's up en + tell him 'bout de crazy 'ooman—ez dey s'posed she wuz—w'at had + come runnin' in de saw-mill, a-hollerin' en gwine on, en tried ter th'ow + herse'f befo' de saw. En de oberseah sent two er th'ee er de han's fer ter + take Tenie back ter her marster's plantation. + </p> + <p> + "Tenie 'peared ter be out'n her mine fer a long time, en her marster ha' + ter lock her up in de smoke-'ouse tel she got ober her spells. Mars + Marrabo wuz monst'us mad, en hit would a made yo' flesh crawl fer ter hear + him cuss, caze he say de spekilater w'at he got Tenie fum had fooled 'im + by wukkin' a crazy 'oman off on him. Wiles Tenie wuz lock up in de + smoke-'ouse, Mars Marrabo tuk'n' haul de lumber fum de saw-mill, en put up + his noo kitchen. + </p> + <p> + "W'en Tenie got quiet' down, so she could be 'lowed ter go 'roun' de + plantation, she up'n tole her marster all erbout Sandy en de pine-tree; en + w'en Mars Marrabo hearn it, he 'lowed she wuz de wuss 'stracted nigger he + eber hearn of. He didn' know w'at ter do wid Tenie: fus' he thought he'd + put her in de po'-house; but finely, seein' ez she didn' do no harm ter + nobody ner nuffin', but des went roun' moanin', en groanin', en shakin' + her head, he 'cluded ter let her stay on de plantation en nuss de little + nigger chilluns w'en dey mammies wuz ter wuk in de cotton-fiel'. + </p> + <p> + "De noo kitchen Mars Marrabo buil' wuzn' much use, fer it hadn' be'n put + up long befo' de niggers 'mence' ter notice quare things erbout it. Dey + could hear sump'n moanin' en groanin' 'bout de kitchen in de night-time, + en w'en de win' would blow dey could hear sump'n a-hollerin' en sweekin' + lack hit wuz in great pain en sufferin'. En hit got so atter a w'ile dat + hit wuz all Mars Marrabo's wife could do ter git a 'ooman ter stay in de + kitchen in de daytime long ernuff ter do de cookin'; en dey wa'n't naer + nigger on de plantation w'at wouldn' rudder take forty dan ter go 'bout + dat kitchen atter dark,—dat is, 'cep'n Tenie; she didn' pear ter + mine de ha'nts. She useter slip 'roun' at night, en set on de kitchen + steps, en lean up agin de do'-jamb, en run on ter herse'f wid some kine er + foolishness w'at nobody couldn' make out; fer Mars Marrabo had th'eaten' + ter sen' her off'n de plantation ef she say anything ter any er de yuther + niggers 'bout de pine-tree. But somehow er nudder de niggers foun' out all + 'bout it, en dey knowed de kitchen wuz ha'anted by Sandy's sperrit. En + bimeby hit got so Mars Marrabo's wife herse'f wuz skeered ter go out in de + yard atter dark. + </p> + <p> + "W'en it come ter dat, Mars Marrabo tuk 'n' to' de kitchen down, en use' + de lumber fer ter buil' dat ole school-'ouse w'at youer talkin' 'bout + pullin' down. De school-'ouse wuzn' use' 'cep'n' in de daytime, en on dark + nights folks gwine 'long de road would hear quare soun's en see quare + things. Po' ole Tenie useter go down dere at night, en wander 'roun' de + school-'ouse; en de niggers all 'lowed she went fer ter talk wid Sandy's + sperrit. En one winter mawnin', w'en one er de boys went ter school early + fer ter start de fire, w'at should he fine but po' ole Tenie, layin' on de + flo', stiff, en cole, en dead. Dere didn' 'pear ter be nuffin' pertickler + de matter wid her,—she had des grieve' herse'f ter def fer her + Sandy. Mars Marrabo didn' shed no tears. He thought Tenie wuz crazy, en + dey wa'n't no tellin' w'at she mout do nex'; en dey ain' much room in dis + worl' fer crazy w'ite folks, let 'lone a crazy nigger. + </p> + <p> + "Hit wa'n't long atter dat befo' Mars Marrabo sole a piece er his track er + lan' ter Mars Dugal' McAdoo,—MY ole marster,—en dat's how de + ole school-house happen to be on yo' place. W'en de wah broke out, de + school stop', en de ole school-'ouse be'n stannin' empty ever sence,—dat + is, 'cep'n' fer de ha'nts. En folks sez dat de ole school-'ouse, er any + yuther house w'at got any er dat lumber in it w'at wuz sawed out'n de tree + w'at Sandy wuz turnt inter, is gwine ter be ha'nted tel de las' piece er + plank is rotted en crumble' inter dus'." + </p> + <p> + Annie had listened to this gruesome narrative with strained attention. + </p> + <p> + "What a system it was," she exclaimed, when Julius had finished, "under + which such things were possible!" + </p> + <p> + "What things?" I asked, in amazement. "Are you seriously considering the + possibility of a man's being turned into a tree?" + </p> + <p> + "Oh, no," she replied quickly, "not that;" and then she added absently, + and with a dim look in her fine eyes, "Poor Tenie!" + </p> + <p> + We ordered the lumber, and returned home. That night, after we had gone to + bed, and my wife had to all appearances been sound asleep for half an + hour, she startled me out of an incipient doze by exclaiming suddenly,— + </p> + <p> + "John, I don't believe I want my new kitchen built out of the lumber in + that old school-house." + </p> + <p> + "You wouldn't for a moment allow yourself," I replied, with some asperity, + "to be influenced by that absurdly impossible yarn which Julius was + spinning to-day?" + </p> + <p> + "I know the story is absurd," she replied dreamily, "and I am not so silly + as to believe it. But I don't think I should ever be able to take any + pleasure in that kitchen if it were built out of that lumber. Besides, I + think the kitchen would look better and last longer if the lumber were all + new." + </p> + <p> + Of course she had her way. I bought the new lumber, though not without + grumbling. A week or two later I was called away from home on business. On + my return, after an absence of several days, my wife remarked to me,— + </p> + <p> + "John, there has been a split in the Sandy Run Colored Baptist Church, on + the temperance question. About half the members have come out from the + main body, and set up for themselves. Uncle Julius is one of the seceders, + and he came to me yesterday and asked if they might not hold their + meetings in the old school-house for the present." + </p> + <p> + "I hope you didn't let the old rascal have it," I returned, with some + warmth. I had just received a bill for the new lumber I had bought. + </p> + <p> + "Well," she replied, "I could not refuse him the use of the house for so + good a purpose." + </p> + <p> + "And I'll venture to say," I continued, "that you subscribed something + toward the support of the new church?" + </p> + <p> + She did not attempt to deny it. + </p> + <p> + "What are they going to do about the ghost?" I asked, somewhat curious to + know how Julius would get around this obstacle. + </p> + <p> + "Oh," replied Annie, "Uncle Julius says that ghosts never disturb + religious worship, but that if Sandy's spirit SHOULD happen to stray into + meeting by mistake, no doubt the preaching would do it good." + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0008" id="link2H_4_0008"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + DAVE'S NECKLISS by Charles W. Chesnutt + </h2> + <p> + "Have some dinner, Uncle Julius?" said my wife. + </p> + <p> + It was a Sunday afternoon in early autumn. Our two women-servants had gone + to a camp-meeting some miles away, and would not return until evening. My + wife had served the dinner, and we were just rising from the table, when + Julius came up the lane, and, taking off his hat, seated himself on the + piazza. + </p> + <p> + The old man glanced through the open door at the dinner-table, and his + eyes rested lovingly upon a large sugar-cured ham, from which several + slices had been cut, exposing a rich pink expanse that would have appealed + strongly to the appetite of any hungry Christian. + </p> + <p> + "Thanky, Miss Annie," he said, after a momentary hesitation, "I dunno ez I + keers ef I does tas'e a piece er dat ham, ef yer'll cut me off a slice un + it." + </p> + <p> + "No," said Annie, "I won't. Just sit down to the table and help yourself; + eat all you want, and don't be bashful." + </p> + <p> + Julius drew a chair up to the table, while my wife and I went out on the + piazza. Julius was in my employment; he took his meals with his own + family, but when he happened to be about our house at meal-times, my wife + never let him go away hungry. + </p> + <p> + I threw myself into a hammock, from which I could see Julius through an + open window. He ate with evident relish, devoting his attention chiefly to + the ham, slice after slice of which disappeared in the spacious cavity of + his mouth. At first the old man ate rapidly, but after the edge of his + appetite had been taken off he proceeded in a more leisurely manner. When + he had cut the sixth slice of ham (I kept count of them from a lazy + curiosity to see how much he COULD eat) I saw him lay it on his plate; as + he adjusted the knife and fork to cut it into smaller pieces, he paused, + as if struck by a sudden thought, and a tear rolled down his rugged cheek + and fell upon the slice of ham before him. But the emotion, whatever the + thought that caused it, was transitory, and in a moment he continued his + dinner. When he was through eating, he came out on the porch, and resumed + his seat with the satisfied expression of countenance that usually follows + a good dinner. + </p> + <p> + "Julius," I said, "you seemed to be affected by something, a moment ago. + Was the mustard so strong that it moved you to tears?" + </p> + <p> + "No, suh, it wa'n't de mustard; I wuz studyin' 'bout Dave." + </p> + <p> + "Who was Dave, and what about him?" I asked. + </p> + <p> + The conditions were all favorable to story-telling. There was an autumnal + languor in the air, and a dreamy haze softened the dark green of the + distant pines and the deep blue of the Southern sky. The generous meal he + had made had put the old man in a very good humor. He was not always so, + for his curiously undeveloped nature was subject to moods which were + almost childish in their variableness. It was only now and then that we + were able to study, through the medium of his recollection, the simple but + intensely human inner life of slavery. His way of looking at the past + seemed very strange to us; his view of certain sides of life was + essentially different from ours. He never indulged in any regrets for the + Arcadian joyousness and irresponsibility which was a somewhat popular + conception of slavery; his had not been the lot of the petted + house-servant, but that of the toiling field-hand. While he mentioned with + a warm appreciation the acts of kindness which those in authority had + shown to him and his people, he would speak of a cruel deed, not with the + indignation of one accustomed to quick feeling and spontaneous expression, + but with a furtive disapproval which suggested to us a doubt in his own + mind as to whether he had a right to think or to feel, and presented to us + the curious psychological spectacle of a mind enslaved long after the + shackles had been struck off from the limbs of its possessor. Whether the + sacred name of liberty ever set his soul aglow with a generous fire; + whether he had more than the most elementary ideas of love, friendship, + patriotism, religion,—things which are half, and the better half, of + life to us; whether he even realized, except in a vague, uncertain way, + his own degradation, I do not know. I fear not; and if not, then centuries + of repression had borne their legitimate fruit. But in the simple human + feeling, and still more in the undertone of sadness, which pervaded his + stories, I thought I could see a spark which, fanned by favoring breezes + and fed by the memories of the past, might become in his children's + children a glowing flame of sensibility, alive to every thrill of human + happiness or human woe. + </p> + <p> + "Dave use' ter b'long ter my ole marster," said Julius; "he wuz raise' on + dis yer plantation, en I kin 'member all erbout 'im, fer I wuz ole 'nuff + ter chop cotton w'en it all happen'. Dave wuz a tall man, en monst'us + strong: he could do mo' wuk in a day dan any yuther two niggers on de + plantation. He wuz one er dese yer solemn kine er men, en nebber run on + wid much foolishness, like de yuther darkies. He use' ter go out in de + woods en pray; en w'en he hear de han's on de plantation cussin' en gwine + on wid dere dancin' en foolishness, he use' ter tell 'em 'bout religion en + jedgmen'-day, w'en dey would haf ter gin account fer eve'y idle word en + all dey yuther sinful kyarin's-on. + </p> + <p> + "Dave had l'arn' how ter read de Bible. Dey wuz a free nigger boy in de + settlement w'at wuz monst'us smart, en could write en cipher, en wuz alluz + readin' books er papers. En Dave had hi'ed dis free boy fer ter l'arn 'im + how ter read. Hit wuz 'g'in de law, but co'se none er de niggers didn' say + nuffin ter de w'ite folks 'bout it. Howsomedever, one day Mars Walker—he + wuz de oberseah—foun' out Dave could read. Mars Walker wa'n't nuffin + but a po' bockrah, en folks said he couldn' read ner write hisse'f, en + co'se he didn' lack ter see a nigger w'at knowed mo' d'n he did; so he + went en tole Mars Dugal'. Mars Dugal' sont fer Dave, en ax' 'im 'bout it. + </p> + <p> + "Dave didn't hardly knowed w'at ter do; but he couldn' tell no lie, so he + 'fessed he could read de Bible a little by spellin' out de words. Mars + Dugal' look' mighty solemn. + </p> + <p> + "'Dis yer is a se'ious matter,' sezee; 'it's 'g'in de law ter l'arn + niggers how ter read, er 'low 'em ter hab books. But w'at yer l'arn out'n + dat Bible, Dave?' + </p> + <p> + "Dave wa'n't no fool, ef he wuz a nigger, en sezee:— + </p> + <p> + "'Marster, I l'arns dat it's a sin fer ter steal, er ter lie, er fer ter + want w'at doan b'long ter yer; en I l'arns fer ter love de Lawd en ter + 'bey my marster.' + </p> + <p> + "Mars Dugal' sorter smile' en laf' ter hisse'f, like he 'uz might'ly + tickle' 'bout sump'n, en sezee:— + </p> + <p> + "'Doan 'pear ter me lack readin' de Bible done yer much harm, Dave. Dat's + w'at I wants all my niggers fer ter know. Yer keep right on readin', en + tell de yuther han's w'at yer be'n tellin' me. How would yer lack fer ter + preach ter de niggers on Sunday?' + </p> + <p> + "Dave say he'd be glad fer ter do w'at he could. So Mars Dugal' tole de + oberseah fer ter let Dave preach ter de niggers, en tell 'em w'at wuz in + de Bible, en it would he'p ter keep 'em fum stealin' er runnin' erway. + </p> + <p> + "So Dave 'mence' ter preach, en done de han's on de plantation a heap er + good, en most un 'em lef' off dey wicked ways, en 'mence' ter love ter + hear 'bout God, en religion, en de Bible; en dey done dey wuk better, en + didn' gib de oberseah but mighty little trouble fer ter manage 'em. + </p> + <p> + "Dave wuz one er dese yer men w'at didn' keer much fer de gals,—leastways + he didn' tel Dilsey come ter de plantation. Dilsey wuz a monst'us peart, + good-lookin', gingybread-colored gal,—one er dese yer high-steppin' + gals w'at hol's dey heads up, en won' stan' no foolishness fum no man. She + had b'long' ter a gemman over on Rockfish, w'at died, en whose 'state ha' + ter be sol' fer ter pay his debts. En Mars Dugal' had b'en ter de oction, + en w'en he seed dis gal a-cryin' en gwine on 'bout bein' sol' erway fum + her ole mammy, Aun' Mahaly, Mars Dugal' bid 'em bofe in, en fotch 'em ober + ter our plantation. + </p> + <p> + "De young nigger men on de plantation wuz des wil' atter Dilsey, but it + didn' do no good, en none un 'em couldn' git Dilsey fer dey junesey,<a + href="#linknote-2" name="linknoteref-2" id="linknoteref-2"><small>2</small></a> + 'tel Dave 'mence' fer ter go roun' Aun' Mahaly's cabin. Dey wuz a + fine-lookin' couple, Dave en Dilsey wuz, bofe tall, en well-shape', en + soopl'. En dey sot a heap by one ernudder. Mars Dugal' seed 'em tergedder + one Sunday, en de nex' time he seed Dave atter dat, sezee:— + </p> + <p> + "Dave, w'en yer en Dilsey gits ready fer ter git married, I ain' got no + rejections. Dey's a poun' er so er chawin'-terbacker up at de house, en I + reckon yo' mist'iss kin fine a frock en a ribbin er two fer Dilsey. Youer + bofe good niggers, en yer neenter be feared er bein' sol' 'way fum one + ernudder long ez I owns dis plantation; en I 'spec's ter own it fer a long + time yit.'" + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2" id="linknote-2"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2 (<a href="#linknoteref-2">return</a>)<br /> [ Sweetheart.] + </p> + <p> + "But dere wuz one man on de plantation w'at didn' lack ter see Dave en + Dilsey tergedder ez much ez ole marster did. W'en Mars Dugal' went ter de + sale whar he got Dilsey en Mahaly, he bought ernudder han', by de name er + Wiley. Wiley wuz one er dese yer shiny-eyed, double-headed little niggers, + sha'p ez a steel trap, en sly ez de fox w'at keep out'n it. Dis yer Wiley + had be'n pesterin' Dilsey 'fo' she come ter our plantation, en had nigh + 'bout worried de life out'n her. She didn' keer nuffin fer 'im, but he + pestered her so she ha' ter th'eaten ter tell her marster fer ter make + Wiley let her 'lone. W'en he come ober to our place it wuz des ez bad, + 'tel bimeby Wiley seed dat Dilsey had got ter thinkin' a heap 'bout Dave, + en den he sorter hilt off aw'ile, en purten' lack he gin Dilsey up. But he + wuz one er dese yer 'ceitful niggers, en w'ile he wuz laffin' en jokin' + wid de yuther han's 'bout Dave en Dilsey, he wuz settin' a trap fer ter + ketch Dave en git Dilsey back fer hisse'f. + </p> + <p> + "Dave en Dilsey made up dere min's fer ter git married long 'bout + Christmas time, w'en dey'd hab mo' time fer a weddin'. But 'long 'bout two + weeks befo' dat time ole mars 'mence' ter lose a heap er bacon. Eve'y + night er so somebody 'ud steal a side er bacon, er a ham, er a shoulder, + er sump'n, fum one er de smoke-'ouses. De smoke-'ouses wuz lock', but + somebody had a key, en manage' ter git in some way er 'nudder. Dey's mo' + ways 'n one ter skin a cat, en dey's mo' d'n one way ter git in a + smoke-'ouse,—leastways dat's w'at I hearn say. Folks w'at had bacon + fer ter sell didn' hab no trouble 'bout gittin' rid un it. Hit wuz 'g'in' + de law fer ter buy things fum slabes; but Lawd! dat law didn' 'mount ter a + hill er peas. Eve'y week er so one er dese yer big covered waggins would + come 'long de road, peddlin' terbacker en w'iskey. Dey wuz a sight er room + in one er dem big waggins, en it wuz monst'us easy fer ter swop off bacon + fer sump'n ter chaw er ter wa'm yer up in de winter-time. I s'pose de + peddlers didn' knowed dey wuz breakin' de law, caze de niggers alluz went + at night, en stayed on de dark side er de waggin; en it wuz mighty hard + fer ter tell W'AT kine er folks dey wuz. + </p> + <p> + "Atter two er th'ee hund'ed er meat had be'n stole', Mars Walker call all + de niggers up one ebenin', en tol' 'em dat de fus' nigger he cot stealin' + bacon on dat plantation would git sump'n fer ter 'member it by long ez he + lib'. En he say he'd gin fi' dollars ter de nigger w'at 'skiver' de rogue. + Mars Walker say he s'picion' one er two er de niggers, but he couldn' tell + fer sho, en co'se dey all 'nied it w'en he 'cuse em un it. + </p> + <p> + "Dey wa'n't no bacon stole' fer a week er so, 'tel one dark night w'en + somebody tuk a ham fum one er de smoke-'ouses. Mars Walker des cusst awful + w'en he foun' out de ham wuz gone, en say he gwine ter sarch all de + niggers' cabins; w'en dis yer Wiley I wuz tellin' yer 'bout up'n say he + s'picion' who tuk de ham, fer he seed Dave comin' 'cross de plantation fum + to'ds de smoke-'ouse de night befo'. W'en Mars Walker hearn dis fum Wiley, + he went en sarch' Dave's cabin, en foun' de ham hid under de flo'. + </p> + <p> + "Eve'ybody wuz 'stonish'; but dere wuz de ham. Co'se Dave 'nied it ter de + las', but dere wuz de ham. Mars Walker say it wuz des ez he 'spected: he + didn' b'lieve in dese yer readin' en prayin' niggers; it wuz all 'pocrisy, + en sarve' Mars Dugal' right fer 'lowin' Dave ter be readin' books w'en it + wuz 'g'in de law. + </p> + <p> + "W'en Mars Dugal' hearn 'bout de ham, he say he wuz might'ly 'ceived en + disapp'inted in Dave. He say he wouldn' nebber hab no mo' conferdence in + no nigger, en Mars Walker could do des ez he wuz a mineter wid Dave er any + er de res' er de niggers. So Mars Walker tuk'n tied Dave up en gin 'im + forty; en den he got some er dis yer wire clof w'at dey uses fer ter make + sifters out'n, en tuk'n wrap' it roun' de ham en fasten it tergedder at de + little een'. Den he tuk Dave down ter de blacksmif-shop, en had Unker + Silas, de plantation black-smif, fasten a chain ter de ham, en den fasten + de yuther een' er de chain roun' Dave's neck. En den he says ter Dave, + sezee:— + </p> + <p> + "'Now, suh, yer'll wear dat neckliss fer de nex' six mont's; en I 'spec's + yer ner none er de yuther niggers on dis plantation won' steal no mo' + bacon dyoin' er dat time.' + </p> + <p> + "Well, it des 'peared ez if fum dat time Dave didn' hab nuffin but + trouble. De niggers all turnt ag'in' 'im, caze he be'n de 'casion er Mars + Dugal' turnin' 'em all ober ter Mars Walker. Mars Dugal' wa'n't a bad + marster hisse'f, but Mars Walker wuz hard ez a rock. Dave kep' on sayin' + he didn' take de ham, but none un 'em didn' b'lieve 'im. + </p> + <p> + "Dilsey wa'n't on de plantation w'en Dave wuz 'cused er stealin' de bacon. + Ole mist'iss had sont her ter town fer a week er so fer ter wait on one er + her darters w'at had a young baby, en she didn' fine out nuffin 'bout + Dave's trouble 'tel she got back ter de plantation. Dave had patien'ly + endyoed de finger er scawn, en all de hard words w'at de niggers pile' on + 'im, caze he wuz sho' Dilsey would stan' by 'im, en wouldn' b'lieve he wuz + a rogue, ner none er de yuther tales de darkies wuz tellin' 'bout 'im. + </p> + <p> + "W'en Dilsey come back fum town, en got down fum behine de buggy whar she + be'n ridin' wid ole mars, de fus' nigger 'ooman she met says ter her,— + </p> + <p> + "'Is yer seed Dave, Dilsey?' + </p> + <p> + "No, I ain' seed Dave,' says Dilsey. + </p> + <p> + "'Yer des oughter look at dat nigger; reckon yer wouldn' want 'im fer yo' + junesey no mo'. Mars Walker cotch 'im stealin' bacon, en gone en fasten' a + ham roun' his neck, so he can't git it off'n hisse'f. He sut'nly do look + quare.' En den de 'ooman bus' out laffin' fit ter kill herse'f. W'en she + got thoo laffin' she up'n tole Dilsey all 'bout de ham, en all de yuther + lies w'at de niggers be'n tellin' on Dave. + </p> + <p> + "W'en Dilsey started down ter de quarters, who should she meet but Dave, + comin' in fum de cotton-fiel'. She turnt her head ter one side, en purten' + lack she didn' seed Dave. + </p> + <p> + "'Dilsey!' sezee. + </p> + <p> + "Dilsey walk' right on, en didn' notice 'im. + </p> + <p> + "'OH, Dilsey!' + </p> + <p> + "Dilsey didn' paid no 'tention ter 'im, en den Dave knowed some er de + niggers be'n tellin' her 'bout de ham. He felt monst'us bad, but he 'lowed + ef he could des git Dilsey fer ter listen ter 'im fer a minute er so, he + could make her b'lieve he didn' stole de bacon. It wuz a week er two befo' + he could git a chance ter speak ter her ag'in; but fine'ly he cotch her + down by de spring one day, en sezee:— + </p> + <p> + "'Dilsey, w'at fer yer won' speak ter me, en purten' lack yer doan see me? + Dilsey, yer knows me too well fer ter b'lieve I'd steal, er do dis yuther + wick'ness de niggers is all layin' ter me,—yer KNOWS I wouldn' do + dat, Dilsey. Yer ain' gwine back on yo' Dave, is yer?' + </p> + <p> + "But w'at Dave say didn' hab no 'fec' on Dilsey. Dem lies folks b'en + tellin' her had p'isen' her min' 'g'in' Dave. + </p> + <p> + "'I doan wanter talk ter no nigger,' says she, 'w'at be'n whip' fer + stealin', en w'at gwine roun' wid sich a lookin' thing ez dat hung roun' + his neck. I's a 'spectable gal, I is. W'at yer call dat, Dave? Is dat a + cha'm fer ter keep off witches, er is it a noo kine er neckliss yer got?' + </p> + <p> + "Po' Dave didn' knowed w'at ter do. De las' one he had 'pended on fer ter + stan' by 'im had gone back on 'im, en dey didn' 'pear ter be nuffin mo' + wuf libbin' fer. He couldn' hol' no mo' pra'r-meetin's, fer Mars Walker + wouldn' 'low 'im ter preach, en de darkies wouldn' 'a' listen' ter 'im ef + he had preach'. He didn' eben hab his Bible fer ter comfort hisse'f wid, + fer Mars Walker had tuk it erway fum 'im en burnt it up, en say ef he + ketch any mo' niggers wid Bibles on de plantation he'd do 'em wuss'n he + done Dave. + </p> + <p> + "En ter make it still harder fer Dave, Dilsey tuk up wid Wiley. Dave could + see him gwine up ter Aun' Mahaly's cabin, en settin' out on de bench in de + moonlight wid Dilsey, en singin' sinful songs en playin' de banjer. Dave + use' ter scrouch down behine de bushes, en wonder w'at de Lawd sen' 'im + all dem tribberlations fer. + </p> + <p> + "But all er Dave's yuther troubles wa'n't nuffin side er dat ham. He had + wrap' de chain roun' wid a rag, so it didn' hurt his neck; but w'eneber he + went ter wuk, dat ham would be in his way; he had ter do his task, + howsomedever, des de same ez ef he didn' hab de ham. W'eneber he went ter + lay down, dat ham would be in de way. Ef he turn ober in his sleep, dat + ham would be tuggin' at his neck. It wuz de las' thing he seed at night, + en de fus' thing he seed in de mawnin'. W'eneber he met a stranger, de ham + would be de fus' thing de stranger would see. Most un 'em would 'mence' + ter laf, en whareber Dave went he could see folks p'intin' at him, en year + 'em sayin:— + </p> + <p> + "'W'at kine er collar dat nigger got roun' his neck?' er, ef dey knowed + 'im, 'Is yer stole any mo' hams lately?' er 'W'at yer take fer yo' + neckliss, Dave?' er some joke er 'nuther 'bout dat ham. + </p> + <p> + "Fus' Dave didn' mine it so much, caze he knowed he hadn' done nuffin. But + bimeby he got so he couldn' stan' it no longer, en he'd hide hisse'f in de + bushes w'eneber he seed anybody comin', en alluz kep' hisse'f shet up in + his cabin atter he come in fum wuk. + </p> + <p> + "It wuz monst'us hard on Dave, en bimeby, w'at wid dat ham eberlastin' en + etarnally draggin' roun' his neck, he 'mence' fer ter do en say quare + things, en make de niggers wonder ef he wa'n't gittin' out'n his mine. He + got ter gwine roun' talkin' ter hisse'f, en singin' corn-shuckin' songs, + en laffin' fit ter kill 'bout nuffin. En one day he tole one er de niggers + he had 'skivered a noo way fer ter raise hams,—gwine ter pick 'em + off'n trees, en save de expense er smoke-'ouses by kyoin' 'em in de sun. + En one day he up'n tole Mars Walker he got sump'n pertickler fer ter say + ter 'im; en he tuk Mars Walker off ter one side, en tole 'im he wuz gwine + ter show 'im a place in de swamp whar dey wuz a whole trac' er lan' + covered wid ham-trees. + </p> + <p> + "W'en Mars Walker hearn Dave talkin' dis kine er fool-talk, en w'en he + seed how Dave wuz 'mencin' ter git behine in his wuk, en w'en he ax' de + niggers en dey tole 'im how Dave be'n gwine on, he 'lowed he reckon' he'd + punish' Dave ernuff, en it mou't do mo' harm dan good fer ter keep de ham + on his neck any longer. So he sont Dave down ter de blacksmif-shop en had + de ham tak off. Dey wa'n't much er de ham lef' by dat time, fer de sun had + melt all de fat, en de lean had all swivel' up, so dey wa'n't but th'ee er + fo' poun's lef'. + </p> + <p> + "W'en de ham had be'n tuk off'n Dave, folks kinder stopped talkin' 'bout + 'im so much. But de ham had be'n on his neck so long dat Dave had sorter + got use' ter it. He look des lack he'd los' sump'n fer a day er so atter + de ham wuz tuk off, en didn' 'pear ter know w'at ter do wid hisse'f; en + fine'ly he up'n tuk'n tied a lightered-knot ter a string, en hid it under + de flo' er his cabin, en w'en nobody wuzn' lookin' he'd take it out en + hang it roun' his neck, en go off in de woods en holler en sing; en he + allus tied it roun' his neck w'en he went ter sleep. Fac', it 'peared lack + Dave done gone clean out'n his mine. En atter a w'ile he got one er de + quarest notions you eber hearn tell un. It wuz 'bout dat time dat I come + back ter de plantation fer ter wuk,—I had be'n out ter Mars Dugal's + yuther place on Beaver Crick for a mont' er so. I had hearn 'bout Dave en + de bacon, en 'bout w'at wuz gwine on on de plantation; but I didn' b'lieve + w'at dey all say 'bout Dave, fer I knowed Dave wa'n't dat kine er man. One + day atter I come back, me'n Dave wuz choppin' cotton tergedder, w'en Dave + lean' on his hoe, en motion' fer me ter come ober close ter 'im; en den he + retch' ober en w'ispered ter me. + </p> + <p> + "'Julius', [sic] sezee, 'did yer knowed yer wuz wukkin' long yer wid a + ham?' + </p> + <p> + "I couldn 'magine w'at he meant. 'G'way fum yer, Dave,' says I. 'Yer ain' + wearin' no ham no mo'; try en fergit 'bout dat; 't ain' gwine ter do yer + no good fer ter 'member it.' + </p> + <p> + "Look a-yer, Julius,' sezee, 'kin yer keep a secret?' + </p> + <p> + "'Co'se I kin, Dave,' says I. 'I doan go roun' tellin' people w'at yuther + folks says ter me.' + </p> + <p> + "'Kin I trus' yer, Julius? Will yer cross yo' heart?' + </p> + <p> + "I cross' my heart. 'Wush I may die ef I tells a soul,' says I. + </p> + <p> + "Dave look' at me des lack he wuz lookin' thoo me en 'way on de yuther + side er me, en sezee:— + </p> + <p> + "'Did yer knowed I wuz turnin' ter a ham, Julius?' + </p> + <p> + "I tried ter 'suade Dave dat dat wuz all foolishness, en dat he oughtn't + ter be talkin' dat-a-way,—hit wa'n't right. En I tole 'im ef he'd + des be patien', de time would sho'ly come w'en eve'ything would be + straighten' out, en folks would fine out who de rale rogue wuz w'at stole + de bacon. Dave 'peared ter listen ter w'at I say, en promise' ter do + better, en stop gwine on dat-a-way; en it seem lack he pick' up a bit w'en + he seed dey wuz one pusson didn' b'lieve dem tales 'bout 'im. + </p> + <p> + "Hit wa'n't long atter dat befo' Mars Archie McIntyre, ober on de + Wimbleton road, 'mence' ter complain 'bout somebody stealin' chickens fum + his hen-'ouse. De chickens kip' on gwine, en at las' Mars Archie tole de + han's on his plantation dat he gwine ter shoot de fus' man he ketch in his + hen-'ouse. In less'n a week atter he gin dis warnin', he cotch a nigger in + de hen-'ouse, en fill' 'im full er squir'l-shot. W'en he got a light, he + 'skivered it wuz a strange nigger; en w'en he call' one er his own + sarven's, de nigger tole 'im it wuz our Wiley. W'en Mars Archie foun' dat + out, he sont ober ter our plantation fer ter tell Mars Dugal' he had shot + one er his niggers, en dat he could sen' ober dere en git w'at wuz lef' un + 'im. + </p> + <p> + "Mars Dugal' wuz mad at fus'; but w'en he got ober dere en hearn how it + all happen', he didn' hab much ter say. Wiley wuz shot so bad he wuz sho' + he wuz gwine ter die, so he up'n says ter ole marster:— + </p> + <p> + "'Mars Dugal',' sezee, 'I knows I's be'n a monst'us bad nigger, but befo' + I go I wanter git sump'n off'n my mine. Dave didn' steal dat bacon w'at + wuz tuk out'n de smoke-'ouse. I stole it all, en I hid de ham under Dave's + cabin fer ter th'ow de blame on him—en may de good Lawd fergib me + fer it.' + </p> + <p> + "Mars Dugal' had Wiley tuk back ter de plantation, en sont fer a doctor + fer ter pick de shot out'n 'im. En de ve'y nex' mawnin' Mars Dugal' sont + fer Dave ter come up ter de big house; he felt kinder sorry fer de way + Dave had be'n treated. Co'se it wa'n't no fault er Mars Dugal's, but he + wuz gwine ter do w'at he could fer ter make up fer it. So he sont word + down ter de quarters fer Dave en all de yuther han's ter 'semble up in de + yard befo' de big house at sun-up nex' mawnin'. + </p> + <p> + "Yearly in de mawnin' de niggers all swarm' up in de yard. Mars Dugal' wuz + feelin' so kine dat he had brung up a bairl er cider, en tole de niggers + all fer ter he'p deyselves. + </p> + <p> + "All dey han's on de plantation come but Dave; en bimeby, w'en it seem + lack he wa'n't comin', Mars Dugal' sont a nigger down ter de quarters ter + look fer 'im. De sun wuz gittin' up, en dey wuz a heap er wuk ter be done, + en Mars Dugal' sorter got ti'ed waitin'; so he up'n says:— + </p> + <p> + "'Well, boys en gals, I sont fer yer all up yer fer ter tell yer dat all + dat 'bout Dave's stealin' er de bacon wuz a mistake, ez I s'pose yer all + done hearn befo' now, en I's mighty sorry it happen'. I wants ter treat + all my niggers right, en I wants yer all ter know dat I sets a heap by all + er my han's w'at is hones' en smart. En I want yer all ter treat Dave des + lack yer did befo' dis thing happen', en mine w'at he preach ter yer; fer + Dave is a good nigger, en has had a hard row ter hoe. En de fus' one I + ketch sayin' anythin' 'g'in Dave, I'll tell Mister Walker ter gin 'im + forty. Now take ernudder drink er cider all roun', en den git at dat + cotton, fer I wanter git dat Persimmon Hill trac' all pick' ober ter-day.' + </p> + <p> + "W'en de niggers wuz gwine 'way, Mars Dugal' tole me fer ter go en hunt up + Dave, en bring 'im up ter de house. I went down ter Dave's cabin, but + couldn' fine 'im dere. Den I look' roun' de plantation, en in de aidge er + de woods, en 'long de road; but I couldn' fine no sign er Dave. I wuz + 'bout ter gin up de sarch, w'en I happen' fer ter run 'cross a foot-track + w'at look' lack Dave's. I had wukked 'long wid Dave so much dat I knowed + his tracks: he had a monst'us long foot, wid a holler instep, w'ich wuz + sump'n skase 'mongs' black folks. So I follered dat track 'cross de fiel' + fum de quarters 'tel I got ter de smoke-'ouse. De fus' thing I notice' wuz + smoke comin' out'n de cracks: it wuz cu'ous, caze dey hadn' be'n no hogs + kill' on de plantation fer six mont' er so, en all de bacon in de + smoke-'ouse wuz done kyoed. I couldn' 'magine fer ter sabe my life w'at + Dave wuz doin' in dat smoke-'ouse. I went up ter de do' en hollered:— + </p> + <p> + "'Dave!' + </p> + <p> + "Dey didn' nobody answer. I didn' wanter open de do', fer w'ite folks is + monst'us pertickler 'bout dey smoke-'ouses; en ef de oberseah had a-come + up en cotch me in dere, he mou't not wanter b'lieve I wuz des lookin' fer + Dave. So I sorter knock at de do' en call' out ag'in:— + </p> + <p> + "'O Dave, hit's me—Julius! Doan be skeered. Mars Dugal' wants yer + ter come up ter de big house,—he done 'skivered who stole de ham.' + </p> + <p> + "But Dave didn' answer. En w'en I look' roun' ag'in en didn' seed none er + his tracks gwine way fum de smoke-'ouse, I knowed he wuz in dere yit, en I + wuz 'termine' fer ter fetch 'im out; so I push de do' open en look in. + </p> + <p> + "Dey wuz a pile er bark burnin' in de middle er de flo', en right ober de + fier, hangin' fum one er de rafters, wuz Dave; dey wuz a rope roun' his + neck, en I didn' haf ter look at his face mo' d'n once fer ter see he wuz + dead. + </p> + <p> + "Den I knowed how it all happen'. Dave had kep' on gittin' wusser en + wusser in his mine, 'tel he des got ter b'lievin' he wuz all done turnt + ter a ham; en den he had gone en built a fier, en tied a rope roun' his + neck, des lack de hams wuz tied, en had hung hisse'f up in de smoke-'ouse + fer ter kyo. + </p> + <p> + "Dave wuz buried down by de swamp, in de plantation buryin'-groun'. Wiley + didn' died fum de woun' he got in Mars McIntyre's hen-'ouse; he got well + atter a w'ile, but Dilsey wouldn' hab nuffin mo' ter do wid 'im, en 't + wa'n't long 'fo' Mars Dugal' sol' 'im ter a spekilater on his way souf,—he + say he didn' want no sich a nigger on de plantation, ner in de county, ef + he could he'p it. En w'en de een' er de year come, Mars Dugal' turnt Mars + Walker off, en run de plantation hisse'f atter dat. + </p> + <p> + "Eber sence den," said Julius in conclusion, "w'eneber I eats ham, it + min's me er Dave. I lacks ham, but I nebber kin eat mo' d'n two er th'ee + poun's befo' I gits ter studyin' 'bout Dave, en den I has ter stop en leab + de res' fer ernudder time." + </p> + <p> + There was a short silence after the old man had finished his story, and + then my wife began to talk to him about the weather, on which subject he + was an authority. I went into the house. When I came out, half an hour + later, I saw Julius disappearing down the lane, with a basket on his arm. + </p> + <p> + At breakfast, next morning, it occurred to me that I should like a slice + of ham. I said as much to my wife. + </p> + <p> + "Oh, no, John," she responded, "you shouldn't eat anything so heavy for + breakfast." + </p> + <p> + I insisted. + </p> + <p> + "The fact is," she said, pensively, "I couldn't have eaten any more of + that ham, and so I gave it to Julius." + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0009" id="link2H_4_0009"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE AWAKENING OF THE NEGRO by Booker T. Washington + </h2> + <p> + When a mere boy, I saw a young colored man, who had spent several years in + school, sitting in a common cabin in the South, studying a French grammar. + I noted the poverty, the untidiness, the want of system and thrift, that + existed about the cabin, notwithstanding his knowledge of French and other + academic subjects. Another time, when riding on the outer edges of a town + in the South, I heard the sound of a piano coming from a cabin of the same + kind. Contriving some excuse, I entered, and began a conversation with the + young colored woman who was playing, and who had recently returned from a + boarding-school, where she had been studying instrumental music among + other things. Despite the fact that her parents were living in a rented + cabin, eating poorly cooked food, surrounded with poverty, and having + almost none of the conveniences of life, she had persuaded them to rent a + piano for four or five dollars per month. Many such instances as these, in + connection with my own struggles, impressed upon me the importance of + making a study of our needs as a race, and applying the remedy + accordingly. + </p> + <p> + Some one may be tempted to ask, Has not the negro boy or girl as good a + right to study a French grammar and instrumental music as the white youth? + I answer, Yes, but in the present condition of the negro race in this + country there is need of something more. Perhaps I may be forgiven for the + seeming egotism if I mention the expansion of my own life partly as an + example of what I mean. My earliest recollection is of a small one-room + log hut on a large slave plantation in Virginia. After the close of the + war, while working in the coal-mines of West Virginia for the support of + my mother, I heart in some accidental way of the Hampton Institute. When I + learned that it was an institution where a black boy could study, could + have a chance to work for his board, and at the same time be taught how to + work and to realize the dignity of labor, I resolved to go there. Bidding + my mother good-by, I started out one morning to find my way to Hampton, + though I was almost penniless and had no definite idea where Hampton was. + By walking, begging rides, and paying for a portion of the journey on the + steam-cars, I finally succeeded in reaching the city of Richmond, + Virginia. I was without money or friends. I slept under a sidewalk, and by + working on a vessel next day I earned money to continue my way to the + institute, where I arrived with a surplus of fifty cents. At Hampton I + found the opportunity—in the way of buildings, teachers, and + industries provided by the generous—to get training in the + class-room and by practical touch with industrial life, to learn thrift, + economy, and push. I was surrounded by an atmosphere of business, + Christian influence, and a spirit of self-help that seemed to have + awakened every faculty in me, and caused me for the first time to realize + what it meant to be a man instead of a piece of property. + </p> + <p> + While there I resolved that when I had finished the course of training I + would go into the far South, into the Black Belt of the South, and give my + life to providing the same kind of opportunity for self-reliance and + self-awakening that I had found provided for me at Hampton. My work began + at Tuskegee, Alabama, in 1881, in a small shanty and church, with one + teacher and thirty students, without a dollar's worth of property. The + spirit of work and of industrial thrift, with aid from the State and + generosity from the North, has enabled us to develop an institution of + eight hundred students gathered from nineteen States, with seventy-nine + instructors, fourteen hundred acres of land, and thirty buildings, + including large and small; in all, property valued at $280,000. + Twenty-five industries have been organized, and the whole work is carried + on at an annual cost of about $80,000 in cash; two fifths of the annual + expense so far has gone into permanent plant. + </p> + <p> + What is the object of all this outlay? First, it must be borne in mind + that we have in the South a peculiar and unprecedented state of things. It + is of the utmost importance that our energy be given to meeting conditions + that exist right about us rather than conditions that existed centuries + ago or that exist in countries a thousand miles away. What are the + cardinal needs among the seven millions of colored people in the South, + most of whom are to be found on the plantations? Roughly, these needs may + be stated as food, clothing, shelter, education, proper habits, and a settlement + of race relations. The seven millions of colored people of the South + cannot be reached directly by any missionary agency, but they can be + reached by sending out among them strong selected young men and women, + with the proper training of head, hand, and heart, who will live among + these masses and show them how to lift themselves up. + </p> + <p> + The problem that the Tuskegee Institute keeps before itself constantly is + how to prepare these leaders. From the outset, in connection with + religious and academic training, it has emphasized industrial or hand + training as a means of finding the way out of present conditions. First, + we have found the industrial teaching useful in giving the student a + chance to work out a portion of his expenses while in school. Second, the + school furnishes labor that has an economic value, and at the same time + gives the student a chance to acquire knowledge and skill while performing + the labor. Most of all, we find the industrial system valuable in teaching + economy, thrift, and the dignity of labor, and in giving moral backbone to + students. The fact that a student goes out into the world conscious of his + power to build a house or a wagon, or to make a harness, gives him a + certain confidence and moral independence that he would not possess + without such training. + </p> + <p> + A more detailed example of our methods at Tuskegee may be of interest. For + example, we cultivate by student labor six hundred and fifty acres of + land. The object is not only to cultivate the land in a way to make it pay + our boarding department, but at the same time to teach the students, in + addition to the practical work, something of the chemistry of the soil, + the best methods of drainage, dairying, the cultivation of fruit, the care + of livestock and tools, and scores of other lessons needed by a people + whose main dependence is on agriculture. Notwithstanding that eighty-five + per cent of the colored people in the South live by agriculture in some + form, aside from what has been done by Hampton, Tuskegee, and one or two + other institutions practically nothing has been attempted in the direction + of teaching them about the very industry from which the masses of our + people must get their subsistence. Friends have recently provided means + for the erection of a large new chapel at Tuskegee. Our students have made + the bricks for this chapel. A large part of the timber is sawed by + students at our own sawmill, the plans are drawn by our teacher of + architecture and mechanical drawing, and students do the brick-masonry, + plastering, painting, carpentry work, tinning, slating, and make most of + the furniture. Practically, the whole chapel will be built and furnished + by student labor; in the end the school will have the building for + permanent use, and the students will have a knowledge of the trades + employed in its construction. In this way all but three of the thirty + buildings on the grounds have been erected. While the young men do the + kinds of work I have mentioned, the young women to a large extent make, + mend, and launder the clothing of the young men, and thus are taught + important industries. + </p> + <p> + One of the objections sometimes urged against industrial education for the + negro is that it aims merely to teach him to work on the same plan that he + was made to follow when in slavery. This is far from being the object at + Tuskegee. At the head of each of the twenty-five industrial departments we + have an intelligent and competent instructor, just as we have in our + history classes, so that the student is taught not only practical + brick-masonry, for example, but also the underlying principles of that + industry, the mathematics and the mechanical and architectural drawing. Or + he is taught how to become master of the forces of nature so that, instead + of cultivating corn in the old way, he can use a corn cultivator, that + lays off the furrows, drops the corn into them, and covers it, and in this + way he can do more work than three men by the old process of + corn-planting; at the same time much of the toil is eliminated and labor + is dignified. In a word, the constant aim is to show the student how to + put brains into every process of labor; how to bring his knowledge of + mathematics and the sciences into farming, carpentry, forging, foundry + work; how to dispense as soon as possible with the old form of ante-bellum + labor. In the erection of the chapel just referred to, instead of letting + the money which was given us go into outside hands, we make it accomplish + three objects: first, it provides the chapel; second, it gives the + students a chance to get a practical knowledge of the trades connected + with building; and third, it enables them to earn something toward the + payment of board while receiving academic and industrial training. + </p> + <p> + Having been fortified at Tuskegee by education of mind, skill of hand, + Christian character, ideas of thrift, economy, and push, and a spirit of + independence, the student is sent out to become a centre of influence and + light in showing the masses of our people in the Black Belt of the South + how to lift themselves up. How can this be done? I give but one or two + examples. Ten years ago a young colored man came to the institute from one + of the large plantation districts; he studied in the class-room a portion + of the time, and received practical and theoretical training on the farm + the remainder of the time. Having finished his course at Tuskegee, he + returned to his plantation home, which was in a county where the colored + people outnumber the whites six to one, as is true of many of the counties + in the Black Belt of the South. He found the negroes in debt. Ever since + the war they had been mortgaging their crops for the food on which to live + while the crops were growing. The majority of them were living from hand + to mouth on rented land, in small, one-room log cabins, and attempting to + pay a rate of interest on their advances that ranged from fifteen to forty + per cent per annum. The school had been taught in a wreck of a log cabin, + with no apparatus, and had never been in session longer than three months + out of twelve. With as many as eight or ten persons of all ages and + conditions and of both sexes huddled together in one cabin year after + year, and with a minister whose only aim was to work upon the emotions of + the people, one can imagine something of the moral and religious state of + the community. + </p> + <p> + But the remedy. In spite of the evil, the negro got the habit of work from + slavery. The rank and file of the race, especially those on the Southern + plantations, work hard, but the trouble is, what they earn gets away from + them in high rents, crop mortgages, whiskey, snuff, cheap jewelry, and the + like. The young man just referred to had been trained at Tuskegee, as most + of our graduates are, to meet just this condition of things. He took the + three months' public school as a nucleus for his work. Then he organized + the older people into a club, or conference, that held meetings every + week. In these meetings he taught the people in a plain, simple manner how + to save their money, how to farm in a better way, how to sacrifice,—to + live on bread and potatoes, if need be, till they could get out of debt, + and begin the buying of lands. + </p> + <p> + Soon a large proportion of the people were in condition to make contracts + for the buying of homes (land is very cheap in the South), and to live + without mortgaging their crops. Not only this: under the guidance and + leadership of this teacher, the first year that he was among them they + learned how, by contributions in money and labor, to build a neat, + comfortable schoolhouse that replaced the wreck of a log cabin formerly + used. The following year the weekly meetings were continued, and two + months were added to the original three months of school. The next year + two more months were added. The improvement has gone on, until now these + people have every year an eight months' school. + </p> + <p> + I wish my readers could have the chance that I have had of going into this + community. I wish they could look into the faces of the people and see + them beaming with hope and delight. I wish they could see the two or three + room cottages that have taken the place of the usual one-room cabin, the + well-cultivated farms, and the religious life of the people that now means + something more than the name. The teacher has a good cottage and a + well-kept farm that serve as models. In a word, a complete revolution has + been wrought in the industrial, educational, and religious life of this + whole community by reason of the fact that they have had this leader, this + guide and object-lesson, to show them how to take the money and effort + that had hitherto been scattered to the wind in mortgages and high rents, + in whiskey and gewgaws, and concentrate them in the direction of their own + uplifting. One community on its feet presents an object-lesson for the + adjoining communities, and soon improvements show themselves in other + places. + </p> + <p> + Another student who received academic and industrial training at Tuskegee + established himself, three years ago, as a blacksmith and wheelwright in a + community, and, in addition to the influence of his successful business + enterprise, he is fast making the same kind of changes in the life of the + people about him that I have just recounted. It would be easy for me to + fill many pages describing the influence of the Tuskegee graduates in + every part of the South. We keep it constantly in the minds of our + students and graduates that the industrial or material condition of the + masses of our people must be improved, as well as the intellectual, before + there can be any permanent change in their moral and religious life. We + find it a pretty hard thing to make a good Christian of a hungry man. No + matter how much our people "get happy" and "shout" in church, if they go + home at night from church hungry, they are tempted to find something + before morning. This is a principle of human nature, and is not confined + to the negro. + </p> + <p> + The negro has within him immense power for self-uplifting, but for years + it will be necessary to guide and stimulate him. The recognition of this + power led us to organize, five years ago, what is now known as the + Tuskegee Negro Conference,—a gathering that meets every February, + and is composed of about eight hundred representative colored men and + women from all sections of the Black Belt. They come in ox-carts, + mule-carts, buggies, on muleback and horseback, on foot, by railroad: some + traveling all night in order to be present. The matters considered at the + conferences are those that the colored people have it within their own + power to control: such as the evils of the mortgage system, the one-room + cabin, buying on credit, the importance of owning a home and of putting + money in the bank, how to build schoolhouses and prolong the school term, + and how to improve their moral and religious condition. + </p> + <p> + As a single example of the results, one delegate reported that since the + conferences were started five years ago eleven people in his neighborhood + had bought homes, fourteen had got out of debt, and a number had stopped + mortgaging their crops. Moreover, a schoolhouse had been built by the + people themselves, and the school term had been extended from three to six + months; and with a look of triumph he exclaimed, "We is done stopped + libin' in de ashes!" + </p> + <p> + Besides this Negro Conference for the masses of the people, we now have a + gathering at the same time known as the Workers' Conference, composed of + the officers and instructors in the leading colored schools of the South. + After listening to the story of the conditions and needs from the people + themselves, the Workers' Conference finds much food for thought and + discussion. + </p> + <p> + Nothing else so soon brings about right relations between the two races in + the South as the industrial progress of the negro. Friction between the + races will pass away in proportion as the black man, by reason of his + skill, intelligence, and character, can produce something that the white + man wants or respects in the commercial world. This is another reason why + at Tuskegee we push the industrial training. We find that as every year we + put into a Southern community colored men who can start a brick-yard, a + sawmill, a tin-shop, or a printing-office,—men who produce something + that makes the white man partly dependent upon the negro, instead of all + the dependence being on the other side,—a change takes place in the + relations of the races. + </p> + <p> + Let us go on for a few more years knitting our business and industrial + relations into those of the white man, till a black man gets a mortgage on + a white man's house that he can foreclose at will. The white man on whose + house the mortgage rests will not try to prevent that negro from voting + when he goes to the polls. It is through the dairy farm, the truck garden, + the trades, and commercial life, largely, that the negro is to find his + way to the enjoyment of all his rights. Whether he will or not, a white + man respects a negro who owns a two-story brick house. + </p> + <p> + What is the permanent value of the Tuskegee system of training to the + South in a broader sense? In connection with this, it is well to bear in + mind that slavery taught the white man that labor with the hands was + something fit for the negro only, and something for the white man to come + into contact with just as little as possible. It is true that there was a + large class of poor white people who labored with the hands, but they did + it because they were not able to secure negroes to work for them; and + these poor whites were constantly trying to imitate the slave-holding + class in escaping labor, and they too regarded it as anything but + elevating. The negro in turn looked down upon the poor whites with a + certain contempt because they had to work. The negro, it is to be borne in + mind, worked under constant protest, because he felt that his labor was + being unjustly required, and he spent almost as much effort in planning + how to escape work as in learning how to work. Labor with him was a badge + of degradation. The white man was held up before him as the highest type + of civilization, but the negro noted that this highest type of + civilization himself did no labor; hence he argued that the less work he + did, the more nearly he would be like a white man. Then, in addition to + these influences, the slave system discouraged labor-saving machinery. To + use labor-saving machinery intelligence was required, and intelligence and + slavery were not on friendly terms; hence the negro always associated + labor with toil, drudgery, something to be escaped. When the negro first + became free, his idea of education was that it was something that would + soon put him in the same position as regards work that his recent master + had occupied. Out of these conditions grew the Southern habit of putting + off till to-morrow and the day after the duty that should be done promptly + to-day. The leaky house was not repaired while the sun shone, for then the + rain did not come through. While the rain was falling, no one cared to + expose himself to stop the leak. The plough, on the same principle, was + left where the last furrow was run, to rot and rust in the field during + the winter. There was no need to repair the wooden chimney that was + exposed to the fire, because water could be thrown on it when it was on + fire. There was no need to trouble about the payment of a debt to-day, for + it could just as well be paid next week or next year. Besides these + conditions, the whole South, at the close of the war, was without proper + food, clothing, and shelter,—was in need of habits of thrift and + economy and of something laid up for a rainy day. + </p> + <p> + To me it seemed perfectly plain that here was a condition of things that + could not be met by the ordinary process of education. At Tuskegee we + became convinced that the thing to do was to make a careful systematic + study of the condition and needs of the South, especially the Black Belt, + and to bend our efforts in the direction of meeting these needs, whether + we were following a well-beaten track, or were hewing out a new path to + meet conditions probably without a parallel in the world. After fourteen + years of experience and observation, what is the result? Gradually but + surely, we find that all through the South the disposition to look upon + labor as a disgrace is on the wane, and the parents who themselves sought + to escape work are so anxious to give their children training in + intelligent labor that every institution which gives training in the + handicrafts is crowded, and many (among them Tuskegee) have to refuse + admission to hundreds of applicants. The influence of the Tuskegee system + is shown again by the fact that almost every little school at the remotest + cross-roads is anxious to be known as an industrial school, or, as some of + the colored people call it, an "industrus" school. + </p> + <p> + The social lines that were once sharply drawn between those who labored + with the hand and those who did not are disappearing. Those who formerly + sought to escape labor, now when they see that brains and skill rob labor + of the toil and drudgery once associated with it, instead of trying to + avoid it are willing to pay to be taught how to engage in it. The South is + beginning to see labor raised up, dignified and beautified, and in this + sees its salvation. In proportion as the love of labor grows, the large + idle class which has long been one of the curses of the South disappears. + As its members become absorbed in occupations, they have less time to + attend to everybody else's business, and more time for their own. + </p> + <p> + The South is still an undeveloped and unsettled country, and for the next + half century and more the greater part of the energy of the masses will be + needed to develop its material opportunities. Any force that brings the + rank and file of the people to a greater love of industry is therefore + especially valuable. This result industrial education is surely bringing + about. It stimulates production and increases trade,—trade between + the races,—and in this new and engrossing relation both forget the + past. The white man respects the vote of the colored man who does $10,000 + worth of business, and the more business the colored man has, the more + careful he is how he votes. + </p> + <p> + Immediately after the war, there was a large class of Southern people who + feared that the opening of the free schools to the freedmen and the poor + whites—the education of the head alone—would result merely in + increasing the class who sought to escape labor, and that the South would + soon be overrun by the idle and vicious. But as the results of industrial + combined with academic training begin to show themselves in hundreds of + communities that have been lifted up through the medium of the Tuskegee + system, these former prejudices against education are being removed. Many + of those who a few years ago opposed general education are now among its + warmest advocates. + </p> + <p> + This industrial training, emphasizing as it does the idea of economic + production, is gradually bringing the South to the point where it is + feeding itself. Before the war, and long after it, the South made what + little profit was received from the cotton crop, and sent its earnings out + of the South to purchase food supplies,—meat, bread, canned + vegetables, and the like; but the improved methods of agriculture are fast + changing this habit. With the newer methods of labor, which teach + promptness and system, and emphasize the worth of the beautiful,—the + moral value of the well-painted house, and the fence with every paling and + nail in its place,—we are bringing to bear upon the South an + influence that is making it a new country in industry, education, and + religion. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0010" id="link2H_4_0010"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE STORY OF UNCLE TOM'S CABIN by Charles Dudley Warner + </h2> + <p> + On the 29th of June, 1852, Henry Clay died. In that month the two great + political parties, in their national conventions, had accepted as a + finality all the compromise measures of 1850, and the last hours of the + Kentucky statesman were brightened by the thought that his efforts had + secured the perpetuity of the Union. + </p> + <p> + But on the 20th of March, 1852, there had been an event, the significance + of which was not taken into account by the political conventions or by + Clay, which was to test the conscience of the nation. This was the + publication of Uncle Tom's Cabin. Was this only an "event," the advent of + a new force in politics; was the book merely an abolition pamphlet, or was + it a novel, one of the few great masterpieces of fiction that the world + has produced? After the lapse of forty-four years and the disappearance of + African slavery on this continent, it is perhaps possible to consider this + question dispassionately. + </p> + <p> + The compromise of 1850 satisfied neither the North nor the South. The + admission of California as a free State was regarded by Calhoun as fatal + to the balance between the free and the slave States, and thereafter a + fierce agitation sprang up for the recovery of this loss of balance, and + ultimately for Southern preponderance, which resulted in the repeal of the + Missouri Compromise, the Kansas-Nebraska war, and the civil war. The + fugitive slave law was hateful to the North not only because it was cruel + and degrading, but because it was seen to be a move formed for + nationalizing slavery. It was unsatisfactory to the South because it was + deemed inadequate in its provisions, and because the South did not believe + the North would execute it in good faith. So unstable did the compromise + seem that in less than a year after the passage of all its measures, Henry + Clay and forty-four Senators and Representatives united in a manifesto + declaring that they would support no man for office who was not known to + be opposed to any disturbance of the settlements of the compromise. When, + in February, 1851, the recaptured fugitive slave, Burns, was rescued from + the United States officers in Boston, Clay urged the investment of the + President with extraordinary power to enforce the law. + </p> + <p> + Henry Clay was a patriot, a typical American. The republic and its + preservation were the passions of his life. Like Lincoln, who was born in + the State of his adoption, he was willing to make almost any sacrifice for + the maintenance of the Union. He had no sympathy with the system of + slavery. There is no doubt that he would have been happy in the belief + that it was in the way of gradual and peaceful extinction. With him, it + was always the Union before state rights and before slavery. Unlike + Lincoln, he had not the clear vision to see that the republic could not + endure half slave and half free. He believed that the South, appealing to + the compromises of the Constitution, would sacrifice the Union before it + would give up slavery, and in fear of this menace he begged the North to + conquer its prejudices. We are not liable to overrate his influence as a + compromising pacificator from 1832 to 1852. History will no doubt say that + it was largely due to him that the war on the Union was postponed to a + date when its success was impossible. + </p> + <p> + It was the fugitive slave law that brought the North face to face with + slavery nationalized, and it was the fugitive slave law that produced + Uncle Tom's Cabin. The effect of this story was immediate and electric. It + went straight to the hearts of tens of thousands of people who had never + before considered slavery except as a political institution for which they + had no personal responsibility. What was this book, and how did it happen + to produce such an effect? It is true that it struck into a time of great + irritation and agitation, but in one sense there was nothing new in it. + The facts had all been published. For twenty years abolition tracts, + pamphlets, newspapers, and books had left little to be revealed, to those + who cared to read, as to the nature of slavery or its economic aspects. + The evidence was practically all in,—supplied largely by the + advertisements of Southern newspapers and by the legislation of the + slaveholding States,—but it did not carry conviction; that is, the + sort of conviction that results in action. The subject had to be carried + home to the conscience. Pamphleteering, convention-holding, sermons, had + failed to do this. Even the degrading requirements of the fugitive slave + law, which brought shame and humiliation, had not sufficed to fuse the + public conscience, emphasize the necessity of obedience to the moral law, + and compel recognition of the responsibility of the North for slavery. + Evidence had not done this, passionate appeals had not done it, + vituperation had not done it. What sort of presentation of the case would + gain the public ear and go to the heart? If Mrs. Stowe, in all her fervor, + had put forth first the facts in The Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin, which so + buttressed her romance, the book would have had no more effect than had + followed the like compilations and arraignments. What was needed? If we + can discover this, we shall have the secret of this epoch-making novel. + </p> + <p> + The story of this book has often been told. It is in the nature of a + dramatic incident of which the reader never tires any more than the son of + Massachusetts does of the minutest details of that famous scene in the + Senate Chamber when Webster replied to Hayne. + </p> + <p> + At the age of twenty-four the author was married and went to live in + Cincinnati, where her husband held a chair in the Lane Theological + Seminary. There for the first time she was brought into relations with the + African race and saw the effects of slavery. She visited slaveholders in + Kentucky and had friends among them. In some homes she saw the + "patriarchal" institution at its best. The Beecher family were + anti-slavery, but they had not been identified with the abolitionists, + except perhaps Edward, who was associated with the murdered Lovejoy. It + was long a reproach brought by the abolitionists against Henry Ward + Beecher that he held entirely aloof from their movement. At Cincinnati, + however, the personal aspects of the case were brought home to Mrs. Stowe. + She learned the capacities and peculiarities of the negro race. They were + her servants; she taught some of them; hunted fugitives applied to her; + she ransomed some by her own efforts; every day there came to her + knowledge stories of the hunger for freedom, of the ruthless separation of + man and wife and mother and child, and of the heroic sufferings of those + who ran away from the fearful doom of those "sold down South." These + things crowded upon her mind and awoke her deepest compassion. But what + could she do against all the laws, the political and commercial interests, + the great public apathy? Relieve a case here and there, yes. But to dwell + upon the gigantic evil, with no means of making head against it, was to + invite insanity. + </p> + <p> + As late as 1850, when Professor Stowe was called to Bowdoin College, and + the family removed to Brunswick, Maine, Mrs. Stowe had not felt impelled + to the duty she afterwards undertook. "In fact, it was a sort of general + impression upon her mind, as upon that of many humane people in those + days, that the subject was so dark and painful a one, so involved in + difficulty and obscurity, so utterly beyond human hope or help, that it + was of no use to read, or think, or distress one's self about it." But + when she reached New England the excitement over the fugitive slave law + was at its height. There was a panic in Boston among the colored people + settled there, who were daily fleeing to Canada. Every mail brought her + pitiful letters from Boston, from Illinois, and elsewhere, of the terror + and despair caused by the law. Still more was the impressed by the apathy + of the Christian world at the North, and surely, she said, the people did + not understand what the "system" was. Appeals were made to her, who had + some personal knowledge of the subject, to take up her pen. The task + seemed beyond her in every way. She was not strong, she was in the midst + of heavy domestic cares, with a young infant, with pupils to whom she was + giving daily lessons, and the limited income of the family required the + strictest economy. The dependence was upon the small salary of Professor + Stowe, and the few dollars she could earn by an occasional newspaper or + magazine article. But the theme burned in her mind, and finally took this + shape: at least she would write some sketches and show the Christian world + what slavery really was, and what the system was that they were defending. + She wanted to do this with entire fairness, showing all the mitigations of + the "patriarchal" system, and all that individuals concerned in it could + do to alleviate its misery. While pondering this she came by chance, in a + volume of an anti-slavery magazine, upon the authenticated account of the + escape of a woman with her child on the ice across the Ohio River from + Kentucky. She began to meditate. The faithful slave husband in Kentucky, + who had refused to escape from a master who trusted him, when he was about + to be sold "down river," came to her as a pattern of Uncle Tom, and the + scenes of the story began to form themselves in her mind. "The first part + of the book ever committed to writing [this is the statement of Mrs. + Stowe] was the death of Uncle Tom. This scene presented itself almost as a + tangible vision to her mind while sitting at the communion-table in the + little church in Brunswick. She was perfectly overcome by it, and could + scarcely restrain the convulsion of tears and sobbings that shook her + frame. She hastened home and wrote it, and her husband being away, read it + to her two sons of ten and twelve years of age. The little fellows broke + out into convulsions of weeping, one of them saying through his sobs, 'Oh, + mamma, slavery is the most cursed thing in the world!' From that time the + story can less be said to have been composed by her than imposed upon her. + Scenes, incidents, conversations rushed upon her with a vividness and + importunity that would not be denied. The book insisted upon getting + itself into being, and would take no denial." + </p> + <p> + When two or three chapters were written she wrote to her friend, Dr. + Bailey, of Washington, the editor of The National Era, to which she had + contributed, that she was planning a story that might run through several + numbers of the Era. The story was at once applied for, and thereafter + weekly installments were sent on regularly, in spite of all cares and + distractions. The installments were mostly written during the morning, on + a little desk in a corner of the dining-room of the cottage in Brunswick, + subject to all the interruptions of house-keeping, her children bursting + into the room continually with the importunity of childhood. But they did + not break the spell or destroy her abstraction. With a smile and a word + and a motion of the hand she would wave them off, and keep on in her + magician's work. Long afterwards they recalled this, dimly understood at + the time, and wondered at her power of concentration. Usually at night the + chapters were read to the family, who followed the story with intense + feeling. The narrative ran on for nine months, exciting great interest + among the limited readers of the Era, and gaining sympathetic words from + the anti-slavery people, but without making any wide impression on the + public. + </p> + <p> + We may pause here in the narrative to note two things: the story was not + the work of a novice, and it was written out of abundant experience and + from an immense mass of accumulated thought and material. Mrs. Stowe was + in her fortieth year. She had been using her pen since she was twelve + years old, in extensive correspondence, in occasional essays, in short + stories and sketches, some of which appeared in a volume called The + Mayflower, published in 1843, and for many years her writing for + newspapers and periodicals had added appreciably to the small family + income. She was in the maturity of her intellectual powers, she was + trained in the art of writing, and she had, as Walter Scott had when he + began the Waverley Novels at the age of forty-three, abundant store of + materials on which to draw. To be sure, she was on fire with a moral + purpose, but she had the dramatic instinct, and she felt that her object + would not be reached by writing an abolition tract. + </p> + <p> + "In shaping her material the author had but one purpose, to show the + institution of slavery truly, just as it existed. She had visited in + Kentucky; had formed the acquaintance of people who were just, upright, + and generous, and yet slave-holders. She had heard their views, and + appreciated their situation; she felt that justice required that their + difficulties should be recognized and their virtues acknowledged. It was + her object to show that the evils of slavery were the inherent evils of a + bad system, and not always the fault of those who had become involved in + it and were its actual administrators. Then she was convinced that the + presentation of slavery alone, in its most dreadful forms, would be a + picture of such unrelieved horror and darkness as nobody could be induced + to look at. Of set purpose, she sought to light up the darkness by + humorous and grotesque episodes, and the presentation of the milder and + more amusing phases of slavery, for which her recollection of the + never-failing wit and drollery of her former colored friends in Ohio gave + her abundant material." + </p> + <p> + This is her own account of the process, years after. But it is evident + that, whether consciously or unconsciously, she did but follow the + inevitable law of all great dramatic creators and true story-tellers since + literature began. + </p> + <p> + For this story Mrs. Stowe received from the Era the sum of three hundred + dollars. Before it was finished it attracted the attention of Mr. J. P. + Jewett, of Boston, a young and then unknown publisher, who offered to + issue it in book form. His offer was accepted, but as the tale ran on he + became alarmed at its length, and wrote to the author that she was making + the story too long for a one-volume novel; that the subject was unpopular; + that people would not willingly hear much about it; that one short volume + might possibly sell, but that if it grew to two that might prove a fatal + obstacle to its success. Mrs. Stowe replied that she did not make the + story, that the story made itself, and that she could not stop it till it + was done. The publisher hesitated. It is said that a competent literary + critic to whom he submitted it sat up all night with the novel, and then + reported, "The story has life in it; it will sell." Mr. Jewett proposed to + Professor Stowe to publish it on half profits if he would share the + expenses. This offer was declined, for the Stowes had no money to advance, + and the common royalty of ten per cent on the sales was accepted. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Stowe was not interested in this business transaction. She was + thinking only of having the book circulated for the effect she had at + heart. The intense absorption in the story held her until the virtual end + in the death of Uncle Tom, and then it seemed as if the whole vital force + had left her. She sank into a profound discouragement. Would this appeal, + which she had written with her heart's blood, go for nothing, as all the + prayers and tears and strivings had already gone? When the last proof + sheets left her hands, "it seemed to her that there was no hope; that + nobody would read, nobody would pity; that this frightful system, which + had already pursued its victims into the free States, might at last even + threaten them in Canada." Resolved to leave nothing undone to attract + attention to her cause, she wrote letters and ordered copies of her novel + sent to men of prominence who had been known for their anti-slavery + sympathies,—to Prince Albert, Macaulay, Charles Dickens, Charles + Kingsley, and Lord Carlisle. Then she waited for the result. + </p> + <p> + She had not long to wait. The success of the book was immediate. Three + thousand copies were sold the first day, within a few days ten thousand + copies had gone, on the 1st of April a second edition went to press, and + thereafter eight presses running day and night were barely able to keep + pace with the demand for it. Within a year three hundred thousand copies + were sold. No work of fiction ever spread more quickly throughout the + reading community or awakened a greater amount of public feeling. It was + read by everybody, learned and unlearned, high and low, for it was an + appeal to universal human sympathy, and the kindling of this spread the + book like wildfire. At first it seemed to go by acclamation. But this was + not altogether owing to sympathy with the theme. I believe that it was its + power as a novel that carried it largely. The community was generally + apathetic when it was not hostile to any real effort to be rid of slavery. + This presently appeared. At first there were few dissenting voices from + the chorus of praise. But when the effect of the book began to be evident + it met with an opposition fiercer and more personal than the great wave of + affectionate thankfulness which greeted it at first. The South and the + defenders and apologists of slavery everywhere were up in arms. It was + denounced in pulpit and in press, and some of the severest things were + said of it at the North. The leading religious newspaper of the country, + published in New York, declared that it was "anti-Christian." + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Stowe was twice astonished: first by its extraordinary sale, and + second by the quarter from which the assault on it came. She herself says + that her expectations were strikingly different from the facts. "She had + painted slaveholders as amiable, generous, and just. She had shown + examples among them of the noblest and most beautiful traits of character; + had admitted fully their temptations, their perplexities, and their + difficulties, so that a friend of hers who had many relatives in the South + wrote to her: 'Your book is going to be the great pacificator; it will + unite both North and South.' Her expectation was that the professed + abolitionists would denounce it as altogether too mild in its dealings + with slaveholders. To her astonishment, it was the extreme abolitionists + who received, and the entire South who rose up against it." + </p> + <p> + There is something almost amusing in Mrs. Stowe's honest expectation that + the deadliest blow the system ever suffered should have been received + thankfully by those whose traditions, education, and interests were all + bound up in it. And yet from her point of view it was not altogether + unreasonable. Her blackest villain and most loathsome agent of the system, + Legree, was a native of Vermont. All her wrath falls upon the + slave-traders, the auctioneers, the public whippers, and the overseers, + and all these persons and classes were detested by the Southerners to the + point of loathing, and were social outcasts. The slave-traders and the + overseers were tolerated as perhaps necessary in the system, but they were + never admitted into respectable society. This feeling Mrs. Stowe regarded + as a condemnation of the system. + </p> + <p> + Pecuniary reward was the last thing that Mrs. Stowe expected for her + disinterested labor, but it suits the world's notion of the fitness of + things that this was not altogether wanting. For the millions of copies of + Uncle Tom scattered over the world the author could expect nothing, but in + her own country her copyright yielded her a moderate return that lifted + her out of poverty and enabled her to pursue her philanthropic and + literary career. Four months after the publication of the book Professor + Stowe was in the publisher's office, and Mr. Jewett asked him how much he + expected to receive. "I hope," said Professor Stowe, with a whimsical + smile, "that it will be enough to buy my wife a silk dress." The publisher + handed him a check for ten thousand dollars. + </p> + <p> + Before Mrs. Stowe had a response to the letters accompanying the books + privately sent to England, the novel was getting known there. Its career + in Great Britain paralleled its success in America. In April a copy + reached London in the hands of a gentleman who had taken it on the steamer + to read. He gave it to Mr. Henry Vizetelly, who submitted it to Mr. David + Bogue, a man known for his shrewdness and enterprise. He took a night to + consider it, and then declined it, although it was offered to him for five + pounds. A Mr. Gilpin also declined it. It was then submitted to Mr. + Salisbury, a printer. This taster for the public sat up with the book till + four o'clock in the morning, alternately weeping and laughing. Fearing, + however, that this result was due to his own weakness, he woke up his + wife, whom he describes as a rather strong-minded woman, and finding that + the story kept her awake and made her also laugh and cry, he thought it + might safely be printed. It seems, therefore, that Mr. Vizetelly ventured + to risk five pounds, and the volume was brought out through the nominal + agency of Clarke & Company. In the first week an edition of seven + thousand was worked off. It made no great stir until the middle of June, + but during July it sold at the rate of one thousand a week. By the 20th of + August the demand for it was overwhelming. The printing firm was then + employing four hundred people in getting it out, and seventeen + printing-machines, besides hand-presses. Already one hundred and fifty + thousand copies were sold. Mr. Vizetelly disposed of his interest, and a + new printing firm began to issue monster editions. About this time the + publishers awoke to the fact that any one was at liberty to reprint the + book, and the era of cheap literature was initiated, founded on American + reprints which cost the publisher no royalty. A shilling edition followed + the one-and-sixpence, and then one complete for sixpence. As to the total + sale, Mr. Sampson Low reports: "From April to December, 1852, twelve + different editions (not reissues) were published, and within the twelve + months of its first appearance eighteen different London publishing houses + were engaged in supplying the great demand that had set in, the total + number of editions being forty, varying from fine illustrated editions at + 15s., 10s., and 7s. 6d. to the cheap popular editions of 1s. 9d. and 6d. + After carefully analyzing these editions and weighing probabilities with + ascertained facts, I am able pretty confidently to say that the aggregate + number of copies circulated in Great Britain and the colonies exceeds one + and a half millions." Later, abridgments were published. + </p> + <p> + Almost simultaneously with this furor in England the book made its way on + the Continent. Several translations appeared in Germany and France, and + for the authorized French edition Mrs. Stowe wrote a new preface, which + served thereafter for most of the European editions. I find no record of + the order of the translations of the book into foreign languages, but + those into some of the Oriental tongues did not appear till several years + after the great excitement. The ascertained translations are into + twenty-three tongues, namely: Arabic, Armenian, Chinese, Danish, Dutch, + Finnish, Flemish, French, German, Hungarian, Illyrian, Italian, Japanese, + Polish, Portuguese, modern Greek, Russian, Servian, Siamese, Spanish, + Swedish, Wallachian, and Welsh. Into some of these languages several + translations were made. In 1878 the British Museum contained thirty-five + editions of the original text, and eight editions of abridgments or + adaptations. + </p> + <p> + The story was dramatized in the United States in August, 1852, without the + consent or knowledge of the author, and was played most successfully in + the leading cities, and subsequently was acted in every capital in Europe. + Mrs. Stowe had neglected to secure the dramatic rights, and she derived no + benefit from the great popularity of a drama which still holds the stage. + From the phenomenal sale of a book which was literally read by the whole + world, the author received only the ten per cent on the American editions, + and by the laws of her own country her copyright expired before her death. + </p> + <p> + The narrative of the rise and fortunes of this book would be incomplete + without some reference to the response that the author received from + England and the Continent, and of her triumphant progress through the + British Isles. Her letters accompanying the special copies were almost + immediately replied to, generally in terms of enthusiastic and fervent + thankfulness for the book, and before midsummer her mail contained letters + from all classes of English society. In some of them appeared a curious + evidence of the English sensitiveness to criticism. Lord Carlisle and Sir + Arthur Helps supplemented their admiration by a protest against the remark + in the mouth of one of the characters that "slaves are better off than a + large class of the population of England." This occurred in the defense of + the institution by St. Clare, but it was treated by the British + correspondents as the opinion of Mrs. Stowe. The charge was disposed of in + Mrs. Stowe's reply: "The remark on that subject occurs in the dramatic + part of the book, in the mouth of an intelligent Southerner. As a + fair-minded person, bound to state for both sides all that could be said, + in the person of St. Clare, the best that could be said on that point, and + what I know IS in fact constantly reiterated, namely, that the laboring + class of the South are in many respects, as to physical comfort, in a + better condition than the poor in England. This is the slaveholder's + stereo-typed apology; a defense it cannot be, unless two wrongs make one + right." + </p> + <p> + In April, 1853, Mr. and Mrs. Stowe and the latter's brother, Charles + Beecher, sailed for Europe. Her reception there was like a royal progress. + She was met everywhere by deputations and addresses, and the enthusiasm + her presence called forth was thoroughly democratic, extending from the + highest in rank to the lowest. At Edinburgh there was presented to her a + national penny offering, consisting of a thousand golden sovereigns on a + magnificent silver salver, an unsolicited contribution in small sums by + the people. + </p> + <p> + At a reception in Stafford House, London, the Duchess of Sutherland + presented her with a massive gold bracelet, which has an interesting + history. It is made of ten oval links in imitation of slave fetters. On + two of the links were the inscriptions "March 25, 1807," the date of the + abolition of the slave-trade, and "August 1, 1838," the date of the + abolition of slavery in all British territory. The third inscription is + "562,848—March 19, 1853," the date of the address of the women of + England to the women of America on slavery, and the number of the women + who signed. It was Mrs. Stowe's privilege to add to these inscriptions the + following: "Emancipation D. C. Apl. 16, '62;" "President's Proclamation + Jan. 1, '63;" "Maryland free Oct. 13, '64;" "Missouri free Jan. 11, '65;" + and on the clasp link, "Constitution amended by Congress Jan. 31, '65. + Constitutional Amendment ratified." Two of the links are vacant. What will + the progress of civilization in America offer for the links nine and ten? + </p> + <p> + One of the most remarkable documents which resulted from Uncle Tom was an + address from the women of England to the women of America, acknowledging + the complicity in slavery of England, but praying aid in removing from the + world "our common crimes and common dishonor," which was presented to Mrs. + Stowe in 1853. It was the result of a meeting at Stafford House, and the + address, composed by Lord Shaftesbury, was put into the hands of + canvassers in England and on the Continent, and as far as Jerusalem. The + signatures of 562,848 women were obtained, with their occupations and + residences, from the nobility on the steps of the throne down to maids in + the kitchen. The address is handsomely engrossed on vellum. The names are + contained in twenty-six massive volumes, each fourteen inches high by nine + in breadth and three inches thick, inclosed in an oak case. It is believed + that this is the most numerously signed address in existence. The value of + the address, with so many names collected in haphazard fashion, was much + questioned, but its use was apparent in the height of the civil war, when + Mrs. Stowe replied to it in one of the most vigorous and noble appeals + that ever came from her pen. This powerful reply made a profound + impression in England. + </p> + <p> + This is in brief the story of the book. It is still read, and read the + world over, with tears and with laughter; it is still played to excited + audiences. Is it a great novel, or was it only an event of an era of + agitation and passion? Has it the real dramatic quality—the poet's + visualizing of human life—that makes works of fiction, of + imagination, live? Till recently, I had not read the book since 1852. I + feared to renew acquaintance with it lest I should find only the shell of + an exploded cartridge. I took it up at the beginning of a three-hours' + railway journey. To my surprise the journey did not seem to last half an + hour, and half the time I could not keep back the tears from my eyes. A + London critic, full of sympathy with Mrs. Stowe and her work, recently + said, "Yet she was not an artist, she was not a great woman." What is + greatness? What is art? In 1862 probably no one who knew General Grant + would have called him a great man. But he took Vicksburg. This woman did + something with her pen,—on the whole, the most remarkable and + effective book in her generation. How did she do it? Without art? George + Sand said, "In matters of art there is but one rule, to paint and to move. + And where shall we find conditions more complete, types more vivid, + situations more touching, more original, than in Uncle Tom?" If there is + not room in our art for such a book, I think we shall have to stretch our + art a little. "Women, too, are here judged and painted with a master + hand." This subtle critic, in her overpoweringly tender and enthusiastic + review, had already inquired about the capacity of this writer. "Mrs. + Stowe is all instinct; it is the very reason that she appears to some not + to have talent. Has she not talent? What is talent? Nothing, doubtless, + compared to genius; but has she genius? I cannot say that she has talent + as one understands it in the world of letters, but she has genius as + humanity feels the need of genius,—the genius of goodness, not that + of the man of letters, but of the saint." It is admitted that Mrs. Stowe + was not a woman of letters in the common acceptation of that term, and it + is plain that in the French tribunal, where form is of the substance of + the achievement, and which reluctantly overlooked the crudeness of Walter + Scott, in France where the best English novel seems a violation of + established canons, Uncle Tom would seem to belong where some modern + critics place it, with works of the heart, and not of the head. The + reviewer is, however, candid: "For a long time we have striven in France + against the prolix explanations of Walter Scott. We have cried out against + those of Balzac, but on consideration have perceived that the painter of + manners and character has never done too much, that every stroke of the + pencil was needed for the general effect. Let us learn then to appreciate + all kinds of treatment, where the effect is good, and where they bear the + seal of a master hand." + </p> + <p> + It must be admitted to the art critic that the book is defective according + to the rules of the modern French romance; that Mrs. Stowe was possessed + by her subject, and let her fervid interest in it be felt; that she had a + definite purpose. That purpose was to quicken the sense of responsibility + of the North by showing the real character of slavery, and to touch the + South by showing that the inevitable wrong of it lay in the system rather + than in those involved in it. Abundant material was in her hands, and the + author burned to make it serviceable. What should she do? She might have + done what she did afterwards in The Key, presented to the public a mass of + statistics, of legal documents. The evidence would have been unanswerable, + but the jury might not have been moved by it; they would have balanced it + by considerations of political and commercial expediency. I presume that + Mrs. Stowe made no calculation of this kind. She felt her course, and went + on in it. What would an artist have done, animated by her purpose and with + her material? He would have done what Cervantes did, what Tourgenieff did, + what Mrs. Stowe did. He would have dramatized his facts in living + personalities, in effective scenes, in vivid pictures of life. Mrs. Stowe + exhibited the system of slavery by a succession of dramatized pictures, + not always artistically welded together, but always effective as an + exhibition of the system. Cervantes also showed a fading feudal romantic + condition by a series of amusing and pathetic adventures, grouped rather + loosely about a singularly fascinating figure. + </p> + <p> + Tourgenieff, a more consummate artist, in his hunting scenes exhibited the + effect of serfdom upon society, in a series of scenes with no necessary + central figure, without comment, and with absolute concealment of any + motive. I believe the three writers followed their instincts, without an + analytic argument as to the method, as the great painter follows his when + he puts an idea upon canvas. He may invent a theory about it afterwards; + if he does not, some one else will invent it for him. There are degrees of + art. One painter will put in unnecessary accessories, another will exhibit + his sympathy too openly, the technique or the composition of another can + be criticised. But the question is, is the picture great and effective? + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Stowe had not Tourgenieff's artistic calmness. Her mind was fused + into a white heat with her message. Yet, how did she begin her story? Like + an artist, by a highly dramatized scene, in which the actors, by a few + strokes of the pen, appear as distinct and unmistakable personalities, + marked by individual peculiarities of manner, speech, motive, character, + living persons in natural attitudes. The reader becomes interested in a + shrewd study of human nature, of a section of life, with its various + refinement, coarseness, fastidiousness and vulgarity, its humor and + pathos. As he goes on he discovers that every character has been perfectly + visualized, accurately limned from the first; that a type has been created + which remains consistent, which is never deflected from its integrity by + any exigencies of plot. This clear conception of character (not of + earmarks and peculiarities adopted as labels), and faithful adhesion to it + in all vicissitudes, is one of the rarest and highest attributes of + genius. All the chief characters in the book follow this line of + absolutely consistent development, from Uncle Tom and Legree down to the + most aggravating and contemptible of all, Marie St. Clare. The selfish and + hysterical woman has never been so faithfully depicted by any other + author. + </p> + <p> + Distinguished as the novel is by its character-drawing and its pathos, I + doubt if it would have captivated the world without its humor. This is of + the old-fashioned kind, the large humor of Scott, and again of Cervantes, + not verbal pleasantry, not the felicities of Lamb, but the humor of + character in action, of situations elaborated with great freedom, and with + what may be called a hilarious conception. This quality is never wanting + in the book, either for the reader's entertainment by the way, or to + heighten the pathos of the narrative by contrast. The introduction of + Topsy into the New Orleans household saves us in the dangerous approach to + melodrama in the religious passages between Tom and St. Clare. Considering + the opportunities of the subject, the book has very little melodrama; one + is apt to hear low music on the entrance of little Eva, but we are + convinced of the wholesome sanity of the sweet child. And it is to be + remarked that some of the most exciting episodes, such as that of Eliza + crossing the Ohio River on the floating ice (of which Mr. Ruskin did not + approve), are based upon authentic occurrences. The want of unity in + construction of which the critics complain is partially explained by the + necessity of exhibiting the effect of slavery in its entirety. The + parallel plots, one running to Louisiana and the other to Canada, are tied + together by this consideration, and not by any real necessity to each + other. + </p> + <p> + There is no doubt that Mrs. Stowe was wholly possessed by her theme, rapt + away like a prophet in a vision, and that, in her feeling at the time, it + was written through her quite as much as by her. This idea grew upon her + mind in the retrospective light of the tremendous stir the story made in + the world, so that in her later years she came to regard herself as a + providential instrument, and frankly to declare that she did not write the + book; "God wrote it." In her own account, when she reached the death of + Uncle Tom, "the whole vital force left her." The inspiration there left + her, and the end of the story, the weaving together of all the loose ends + of the plot, in the joining together almost by miracle the long separated, + and the discovery of the relationships, is the conscious invention of the + novelist. + </p> + <p> + It would be perhaps going beyond the province of the critic to remark upon + what the author considered the central power of the story, and its power + to move the world, the faith of Uncle Tom in the Bible. This appeal to the + emotion of millions of readers cannot, however, be overlooked. Many regard + the book as effective in regions remote from our perplexities by reason of + this grace. When the work was translated into Siamese, the perusal of it + by one of the ladies of the court induced her to liberate all her slaves, + men, women, and children, one hundred and thirty in all. "Hidden Perfume," + for that was the English equivalent of her name, said she was wishful to + be good like Harriet Beecher Stowe. And as to the standpoint of Uncle Tom + and the Bible, nothing more significant can be cited than this passage + from one of the latest writings of Heinrich Heine:— + </p> + <p> + "The reawakening of my religious feelings I owe to that holy book the + Bible. Astonishing that after I have whirled about all my life over all + the dance-floors of philosophy, and yielded myself to all the orgies of + the intellect, and paid my addresses to all possible systems, without + satisfaction like Messalina after a licentious night, I now find myself on + the same standpoint where poor Uncle Tom stands,—on that of the + Bible! I kneel down by my black brother in the same prayer! What a + humiliation! With all my science I have come no further than the poor + ignorant negro who has scarce learned to spell. Poor Tom, indeed, seems to + have seen deeper things in the holy book than I.... Tom, perhaps, + understands them better than I, because more flogging occurs in them; that + is to say, those ceaseless blows of the whip which have aesthetically + disgusted me in reading the Gospels and the Acts. But a poor negro slave + reads with his back, and understands better than we do. But I, who used to + make citations from Homer, now begin to quote the Bible as Uncle Tom + does." + </p> + <p> + The one indispensable requisite of a great work of imaginative fiction is + its universality, its conception and construction so that it will appeal + to universal human nature in all races and situations and climates. Uncle + Tom's Cabin does that. Considering certain artistic deficiencies, which + the French writers perceived, we might say that it was the timeliness of + its theme that gave it currency in England and America. But that argument + falls before the world-wide interest in it as a mere story, in so many + languages, by races unaffected by our own relation to slavery. + </p> + <p> + It was the opinion of James Russell Lowell that the anti-slavery element + in Uncle Tom and Dred stood in the way of a full appreciation, at least in + her own country, of the remarkable genius of Mrs. Stowe. Writing in 1859, + he said, "From my habits and the tendency of my studies I cannot help + looking at things purely from an aesthetic point of view, and what I + valued in Uncle Tom was the genius, and not the moral." This had been his + impression when he read the book in Paris, long after the whirl of + excitement produced by its publication had subsided, and far removed by + distance from local influences. Subsequently, in a review, he wrote, "We + felt then, and we believe now, that the secret of Mrs. Stowe's power lay + in that same genius by which the great successes in creative literature + have always been achieved,—the genius that instinctively goes to the + organic elements of human nature, whether under a white skin or a black, + and which disregards as trivial the conventions and fictitious notions + which make so large a part both of our thinking and feeling.... The + creative faculty of Mrs. Stowe, like that of Cervantes in Don Quixote and + of Fielding in Joseph Andrews, overpowered the narrow specialty of her + design, and expanded a local and temporary theme with the cosmopolitanism + of genius." + </p> + <p> + A half-century is not much in the life of a people; it is in time an + inadequate test of the staying power of a book. Nothing is more futile + than prophecy on contemporary literary work. It is safe, however, to say + that Uncle Tom's Cabin has the fundamental qualities, the sure insight + into human nature, and the fidelity to the facts of its own time which + have from age to age preserved works of genius. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0011" id="link2H_4_0011"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + STRIVINGS OF THE NEGRO PEOPLE by W. E. Burghardt Du Bois + </h2> + <p> + Berween me and the other world there is ever an unasked question: unasked + by some through feelings of delicacy; by others through the difficulty of + rightly framing it. All, nevertheless, flutter round it. They approach me + in a half-hesitant sort of way, eye me curiously or compassionately, and + then, instead of saying directly, How does it feel to be a problem? they + say, I know an excellent colored man in my town; or, I fought at + Mechanicsville; or, Do not these Southern outrages make your blood boil? + At these I smile, or am interested, or reduce the boiling to a simmer, as + the occasion may require. To the real question, How does it feel to be a + problem? I answer seldom a word. + </p> + <p> + And yet, being a problem is a strange experience,—peculiar even for + one who has never been anything else, save perhaps in babyhood and in + Europe. It is in the early days of rollicking boyhood that the revelation + first bursts upon one, all in a day, as it were. I remember well when the + shadow swept across me. I was a little thing, away up in the hills of New + England, where the dark Housatonic winds between Hoosac and Taghanic to + the sea. In a wee wooden schoolhouse, something put it into the boys' and + girls' heads to buy gorgeous visiting-cards—ten cents a package—and + exchange. The exchange was merry, till one girl, a tall newcomer, refused + my card,—refused it peremptorily, with a glance. Then it dawned upon + me with a certain suddenness that I was different from the others; or + like, mayhap, in heart and life and longing, but shut out from their world + by a vast veil. I had thereafter no desire to tear down that veil, to + creep through; I held all beyond it in common contempt, and lived above it + in a region of blue sky and great wandering shadows. That sky was bluest + when I could beat my mates at examination-time, or beat them at a + foot-race, or even beat their stringy heads. Alas, with the years all this + fine contempt began to fade; for the world I longed for, and all its + dazzling opportunities, were theirs, not mine. But they should not keep + these prizes, I said; some, all, I would wrest from them. Just how I would + do it I could never decide: by reading law, by healing the sick, by + telling the wonderful tales that swam in my head,—some way. With + other black boys the strife was not so fiercely sunny: their youth shrunk + into tasteless sycophancy, or into silent hatred of the pale world about + them and mocking distrust of everything white; or wasted itself in a + bitter cry. Why did God make me an outcast and a stranger in mine own + house? The "shades of the prison-house" closed round about us all: walls + strait and stubborn to the whitest, but relentlessly narrow, tall, and + unscalable to sons of night who must plod darkly on in resignation, or + beat unavailing palms against the stone, or steadily, half hopelessly + watch the streak of blue above. + </p> + <p> + After the Egyptian and Indian, the Greek and Roman, the Teuton and + Mongolian, the Negro is a sort of seventh son, born with a veil, and + gifted with second-sight in this American world,—a world which + yields him no self-consciousness, but only lets him see himself through + the revelation of the other world. It is a peculiar sensation, this + double-consciousness, this sense of always looking at one's self through + the eyes of others, of measuring one's soul by the tape of a world that + looks on in amused contempt and pity. One ever feels his two-ness,—an + American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; + two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it + from being torn asunder. The history of the American Negro is the history + of this strife,—this longing to attain self-conscious manhood, to + merge his double self into a better and truer self. In this merging he + wishes neither of the older selves to be lost. He does not wish to + Africanize America, for America has too much to teach the world and + Africa; he does not wish to bleach his Negro blood in a flood of white + Americanism, for he believes—foolishly, perhaps, but fervently—that + Negro blood has yet a message for the world. He simply wishes to make it + possible for a man to be both a Negro and an American without being cursed + and spit upon by his fellows, without losing the opportunity of + self-development. + </p> + <p> + This is the end of his striving: to be a co-worker in the kingdom of + culture, to escape both death and isolation, and to husband and use his + best powers. These powers, of body and of mind, have in the past been so + wasted and dispersed as to lose all effectiveness, and to seem like + absence of all power, like weakness. The double-aimed struggle of the + black artisan, on the one hand to escape white contempt for a nation of + mere hewers of wood and drawers of water, and on the other hand to plough + and nail and dig for a poverty-stricken horde, could only result in making + him a poor craftsman, for he had but half a heart in either cause. By the + poverty and ignorance of his people the Negro lawyer or doctor was pushed + toward quackery and demagogism, and by the criticism of the other world + toward an elaborate preparation that overfitted him for his lowly tasks. + The would-be black savant was confronted by the paradox that the knowledge + his people needed was a twice-told tale to his white neighbors, while the + knowledge which would teach the white world was Greek to his own flesh and + blood. The innate love of harmony and beauty that set the ruder souls of + his people a-dancing, a-singing, and a-laughing raised but confusion and + doubt in the soul of the black artist; for the beauty revealed to him was + the soul-beauty of a race which his larger audience despised, and he could + not articulate the message of another people. + </p> + <p> + This waste of double aims, this seeking to satisfy two unreconciled + ideals, has wrought sad havoc with the courage and faith and deeds of + eight thousand thousand people, has sent them often wooing false gods and + invoking false means of salvation, and has even at times seemed destined + to make them ashamed of themselves. In the days of bondage they thought to + see in one divine event the end of all doubt and disappointment; + eighteenth-century Rousseauism never worshiped freedom with half the + unquestioning faith that the American Negro did for two centuries. To him + slavery was, indeed, the sum of all villainies, the cause of all sorrow, + the root of all prejudice; emancipation was the key to a promised land of + sweeter beauty than ever stretched before the eyes of wearied Israelites. + In his songs and exhortations swelled one refrain, liberty; in his tears + and curses the god he implored had freedom in his right hand. At last it + came,—suddenly, fearfully, like a dream. With one wild carnival of + blood and passion came the message in his own plaintive cadences:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Shout, O children! + Shout, you're free! + The Lord has bought your liberty!" +</pre> + <p> + Years have passed away, ten, twenty, thirty. Thirty years of national + life, thirty years of renewal and development, and yet the swarthy ghost + of Banquo sits in its old place at the national feast. In vain does the + nation cry to its vastest problem,— + </p> + <p> + "Take any shape but that, and my firm nerves Shall never tremble!" + </p> + <p> + The freedman has not yet found in freedom his promised land. Whatever of + lesser good may have come in these years of change, the shadow of a deep + disappointment rests upon the Negro people,—a disappointment all the + more bitter because the unattained ideal was unbounded save by the simple + ignorance of a lowly folk. + </p> + <p> + The first decade was merely a prolongation of the vain search for freedom, + the boom that seemed ever barely to elude their grasp,—like a + tantalizing will-o'-the-wisp, maddening and misleading the headless host. + The holocaust of war, the terrors of the Kuklux Klan, the lies of + carpet-baggers, the disorganization of industry, and the contradictory + advice of friends and foes left the bewildered serf with no new watchword + beyond the old cry for freedom. As the decade closed, however, he began to + grasp a new idea. The ideal of liberty demanded for its attainment + powerful means, and these the Fifteenth Amendment gave him. The ballot, + which before he had looked upon as a visible sign of freedom, he now + regarded as the chief means of gaining and perfecting the liberty with + which war had partially endowed him. And why not? Had not votes made war + and emancipated millions? Had not votes enfranchised the freedmen? Was + anything impossible to a power that had done all this? A million black men + started with renewed zeal to vote themselves into the kingdom. The decade + fled away,—a decade containing, to the freedman's mind, nothing but + suppressed votes, stuffed ballot-boxes, and election outrages that + nullified his vaunted right of suffrage. And yet that decade from 1875 to + 1885 held another powerful movement, the rise of another ideal to guide + the unguided, another pillar of fire by night after a clouded day. It was + the ideal of "book-learning;" the curiosity, born of compulsory ignorance, + to know and test the power of the cabalistic letters of the white man, the + longing to know. Mission and night schools began in the smoke of battle, + ran the gauntlet of reconstruction, and at last developed into permanent + foundations. Here at last seemed to have been discovered the mountain path + to Canaan; longer than the highway of emancipation and law, steep and + rugged, but straight, leading to heights high enough to overlook life. + </p> + <p> + Up the new path the advance guard toiled, slowly, heavily, doggedly; only + those who have watched and guided the faltering feet, the misty minds, the + dull understandings of the dark pupils of these schools know how + faithfully, how piteously, this people strove to learn. It was weary work. + The cold statistician wrote down the inches of progress here and there, + noted also where here and there a foot had slipped or some one had fallen. + To the tired climbers, the horizon was ever dark, the mists were often + cold, the Canaan was always dim and far away. If, however, the vistas + disclosed as yet no goal, no resting-place, little but flattery and + criticism, the journey at least gave leisure for reflection and + self-examination; it changed the child of emancipation to the youth with + dawning self-consciousness, self-realization, self-respect. In those + sombre forests of his striving his own soul rose before him, and he saw + himself,—darkly as through a veil; and yet he saw in himself some + faint revelation of his power, of his mission. He began to have a dim + feeling that, to attain his place in the world, he must be himself, and + not another. For the first time he sought to analyze the burden he bore + upon his back, that dead-weight of social degradation partially masked + behind a half-named Negro problem. He felt his poverty; without a cent, + without a home, without land, tools, or savings, he had entered into + competition with rich, landed, skilled neighbors. To be a poor man is + hard, but to be a poor race in a land of dollars is the very bottom of + hardships. He felt the weight of his ignorance,—not simply of + letters, but of life, of business, of the humanities; the accumulated + sloth and shirking and awkwardness of decades and centuries shackled his + hands and feet. Nor was his burden all poverty and ignorance. The red + stain of bastardy, which two centuries of systematic legal defilement of + Negro women had stamped upon his race, meant not only the loss of ancient + African chastity, but also the hereditary weight of a mass of filth from + white whoremongers and adulterers, threatening almost the obliteration of + the Negro home. + </p> + <p> + A people thus handicapped ought not to be asked to race with the world, + but rather allowed to give all its time and thought to its own social + problems. But alas! while sociologists gleefully count his bastards and + his prostitutes, the very soul of the toiling, sweating black man is + darkened by the shadow of a vast despair. Men call the shadow prejudice, + and learnedly explain it as the natural defense of culture against + barbarism, learning against ignorance, purity against crime, the "higher" + against the "lower" races. To which the Negro cries Amen! and swears that + to so much of this strange prejudice as is founded on just homage to + civilization, culture, righteousness, and progress he humbly bows and + meekly does obeisance. But before that nameless prejudice that leaps + beyond all this he stands helpless, dismayed, and well-nigh speechless; + before that personal disrespect and mockery, the ridicule and systematic + humiliation, the distortion of fact and wanton license of fancy, the + cynical ignoring of the better and boisterous welcoming of the worse, the + all-pervading desire to inculcate disdain for everything black, from + Toussaint to the devil,—before this there rises a sickening despair + that would disarm and discourage any nation save that black host to whom + "discouragement" is an unwritten word. + </p> + <p> + They still press on, they still nurse the dogged hope,—not a hope of + nauseating patronage, not a hope of reception into charmed social circles + of stock-jobbers, pork-packers, and earl-hunters, but the hope of a higher + synthesis of civilization and humanity, a true progress, with which the + chorus + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Peace, good will to men," + "May make one music as before, + But vaster." +</pre> + <p> + Thus the second decade of the American Negro's freedom was a period of + conflict, of inspiration and doubt, of faith and vain questionings, of + Sturm and Drang. The ideals of physical freedom, of political power, of + school training, as separate all-sufficient panaceas for social ills, + became in the third decade dim and overcast. They were the vain dreams of + credulous race childhood; not wrong, but incomplete and over-simple. The + training of the schools we need to-day more than ever,—the training + of deft hands, quick eyes and ears, and the broader, deeper, higher + culture of gifted minds. The power of the ballot we need in sheer + self-defense, and as a guarantee of good faith. We may misuse it, but we + can scarce do worse in this respect than our whilom masters. Freedom, too, + the long-sought, we still seek,—the freedom of life and limb, the + freedom to work and think. Work, culture, and liberty,—all these we + need, not singly, but together; for to-day these ideals among the Negro + people are gradually coalescing, and finding a higher meaning in the + unifying ideal of race,—the ideal of fostering the traits and + talents of the Negro, not in opposition to, but in conformity with, the + greater ideals of the American republic, in order that some day, on + American soil, two world races may give each to each those characteristics + which both so sadly lack. Already we come not altogether empty-handed: + there is to-day no true American music but the sweet wild melodies of the + Negro slave; the American fairy tales are Indian and African; we are the + sole oasis of simple faith and reverence in a dusty desert of dollars and + smartness. Will America be poorer if she replace her brutal, dyspeptic + blundering with the light-hearted but determined Negro humility; or her + coarse, cruel wit with loving, jovial good humor; or her Annie Rooney with + Steal Away? + </p> + <p> + Merely a stern concrete test of the underlying principles of the great + republic is the Negro problem, and the spiritual striving of the + freedmen's sons is the travail of souls whose burden is almost beyond the + measure of their strength, but who bear it in the name of an historic + race, in the name of this land of their fathers' fathers, and in the name + of human opportunity. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0012" id="link2H_4_0012"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE WIFE OF HIS YOUTH by Charles W. Chesnutt + </h2> + <p> + I. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Ryder was going to give a ball. There were several reasons why this + was an opportune time for such an event. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Ryder might aptly be called the dean of the Blue Veins. The original + Blue Veins were a little society of colored persons organized in a certain + Northern city shortly after the war. Its purpose was to establish and + maintain correct social standards among a people whose social condition + presented almost unlimited room for improvement. By accident, combined + perhaps with some natural affinity, the society consisted of individuals + who were, generally speaking, more white than black. Some envious outsider + made the suggestion that no one was eligible for membership who was not + white enough to show blue veins. The suggestion was readily adopted by + those who were not of the favored few, and since that time the society, + though possessing a longer and more pretentious name, had been known far + and wide as the "Blue Vein Society," and its members as the "Blue Veins." + </p> + <p> + The Blue Veins did not allow that any such requirement existed for + admission to their circle, but, on the contrary, declared that character + and culture were the only things considered; and that if most of their + members were light-colored, it was because such persons, as a rule, had + had better opportunities to qualify themselves for membership. Opinions + differed, too, as to the usefulness of the society. There were those who + had been known to assail it violently as a glaring example of the very + prejudice from which the colored race had suffered most; and later, when + such critics had succeeded in getting on the inside, they had been heard + to maintain with zeal and earnestness that the society was a life-boat, an + anchor, a bulwark and a shield, a pillar of cloud by day and of fire by + night, to guide their people through the social wilderness. Another + alleged prerequisite for Blue Vein membership was that of free birth; and + while there was really no such requirement, it is doubtless true that very + few of the members would have been unable to meet it if there had been. If + there were one or two of the older members who had come up from the South + and from slavery, their history presented enough romantic circumstances to + rob their servile origin of its grosser aspects. While there were no such + tests of eligibility, it is true that the Blue Veins had their notions on + these subjects, and that not all of them were equally liberal in regard to + the things they collectively disclaimed. Mr. Ryder was one of the most + conservative. Though he had not been among the founders of the society, + but had come in some years later, his genius for social leadership was + such that he had speedily become its recognized adviser and head, the + custodian of its standards, and the preserver of its traditions. He shaped + its social policy, was active in providing for its entertainment, and when + the interest fell off, as it sometimes did, he fanned the embers until + they burst again into a cheerful flame. There were still other reasons for + his popularity. While he was not as white as some of the Blue Veins, his + appearance was such as to confer distinction upon them. His features were + of a refined type, his hair was almost straight; he was always neatly + dressed; his manners were irreproachable, and his morals above suspicion. + He had come to Groveland a young man, and obtaining employment in the + office of a railroad company as messenger had in time worked himself up to + the position of stationery clerk, having charge of the distribution of the + office supplies for the whole company. Although the lack of early training + had hindered the orderly development of a naturally fine mind, it had not + prevented him from doing a great deal of reading or from forming decidedly + literary tastes. Poetry was his passion. He could repeat whole pages of + the great English poets; and if his pronunciation was sometimes faulty, + his eye, his voice, his gestures, would respond to the changing sentiment + with a precision that revealed a poetic soul, and disarm criticism. He was + economical, and had saved money; he owned and occupied a very comfortable + house on a respectable street. His residence was handsomely furnished, + containing among other things a good library, especially rich in poetry, a + piano, and some choice engravings. He generally shared his house with some + young couple, who looked after his wants and were company for him; for Mr. + Ryder was a single man. In the early days of his connection with the Blue + Veins he had been regarded as quite a catch, and ladies and their mothers + had manoeuvred with much ingenuity to capture him. Not, however, until + Mrs. Molly Dixon visited Groveland had any woman ever made him wish to + change his condition to that of a married man. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Dixon had come to Groveland from Washington in the spring, and before + the summer was over she had won Mr. Ryder's heart. She possessed many + attractive qualities. She was much younger than he; in fact, he was old + enough to have been her father, though no one knew exactly how old he was. + She was whiter than he, and better educated. She had moved in the best + colored society of the country, at Washington, and had taught in the + schools of that city. Such a superior person had been eagerly welcomed to + the Blue Vein Society, and had taken a leading part in its activities. Mr. + Ryder had at first been attracted by her charms of person, for she was + very good looking and not over twenty-five; then by her refined manners + and by the vivacity of her wit. Her husband had been a government clerk, + and at his death had left a considerable life insurance. She was visiting + friends in Groveland, and, finding the town and the people to her liking, + had prolonged her stay indefinitely. She had not seemed displeased at Mr. + Ryder's attentions, but on the contrary had given him every proper + encouragement; indeed, a younger and less cautious man would long since + have spoken. But he had made up his mind, and had only to determine the + time when he would ask her to be his wife. He decided to give a ball in + her honor, and at some time during the evening of the ball to offer her + his heart and hand. He had no special fears about the outcotme, but, with + a little touch of romance, he wanted the surroundings to be in harmony + with his own feelings when he should have received the answer he expected. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Ryder resolved that this ball should mark an epoch in the social + history of Groveland. He knew, of course,—no one could know better,—the + entertainments that had taken place in past years, and what must be done + to surpass them. His ball must be worthy of the lady in whose honor it was + to be given, and must, by the quality of its guests, set an example for + the future. He had observed of late a growing liberality, almost a laxity, + in social matters, even among members of his own set, and had several + times been forced to meet in a social way persons whose complexions and + callings in life were hardly up to the standard which he considered proper + for the society to maintain. He had a theory of his own. + </p> + <p> + "I have no race prejudice," he would say, "but we people of mixed blood + are ground between the upper and the nether millstone. Our fate lies + between absorption by the white race and extinction in the black. The one + doesn't want us yet, but may take us in time. The other would welcome us, + but it would be for us a backward step. 'With malice towards none, with + charity for all,' we must do the best we can for ourselves and those who + are to follow us. Self-preservation is the first law of nature." + </p> + <p> + His ball would serve by its exclusiveness to counteract leveling + tendencies, and his marriage with Mrs. Dixon would help to further the + upward process of absorption he had been wishing and waiting for. + </p> + <p> + II. + </p> + <p> + The ball was to take place on Friday night. The house had been put in + order, the carpets covered with canvas, the halls and stairs decorated + with palms and potted plants; and in the afternoon Mr. Ryder sat on his + front porch, which the shade of a vine running up over a wire netting made + a cool and pleasant lounging-place. He expected to respond to the toast + "The Ladies," at the supper, and from a volume of Tennyson—his + favorite poet—was fortifying himself with apt quotations. The volume + was open at A Dream of Fair Women. His eyes fell on these lines, and he + read them aloud to judge better of their effect:— + </p> + <p> + "At length I saw a lady within call. Stiller than chisell'd marble, + standing there; A daughter of the gods, divinely tall, And most divinely + fair." + </p> + <p> + He marked the verse, and turning the page read the stanza beginning,— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "O sweet pale Margaret, + O rare pale Margaret." +</pre> + <p> + He weighed the passage a moment, and decided that it would not do. Mrs. + Dixon was the palest lady he expected at the ball, and she was of a rather + ruddy complexion, and of lively disposition and buxom build. So he ran + over the leaves until his eye rested on the description of Queen + Guinevere:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "She seem'd a part of joyous Spring: + A gown of grass-green silk she wore, + Buckled with golden clasps before; + A light-green tuft of plumes she bore + Closed in a golden ring. + + . . . . . . . . . . + + "She look'd so lovely, as she sway'd + The rein with dainty finger-tips, + A man had given all other bliss, + And all his worldly worth for this, + To waste his whole heart in one kiss + Upon her perfect lips." +</pre> + <p> + As Mr. Ryder murmured these words audibly, with an appreciative thrill, he + heard the latch of his gate click, and a light footfall sounding on the + steps. He turned his head, and saw a woman standing before the door. + </p> + <p> + She was a little woman, not five feet tall, and proportioned to her + height. Although she stood erect, and looked around her with very bright + and restless eyes, she seemed quite old; for her face was crossed and + recrossed with a hundred wrinkles, and around the edges of her bonnet + could be seen protruding here and there a tuft of short gray wool. She + wore a blue calico gown of ancient cut, a little red shawl fastened around + her shoulders with an old-fashioned brass brooch, and a large bonnet + profusely ornamented with faded red and yellow artificial flowers. And she + was very black—so black that her toothless gums, revealed when she + opened her mouth to speak, were not red, but blue. She looked like a bit + of the old plantation life, summoned up from the past by the wave of a + magician's wand, as the poet's fancy had called into being the gracious + shapes of which Mr. Ryder had just been reading. + </p> + <p> + He rose from his chair and came over to where she stood. + </p> + <p> + "Good-afternoon, madam," he said. + </p> + <p> + "Good-evenin', suh," she answered, ducking suddenly with a quaint curtsy. + Her voice was shrill and piping, but softened somewhat by age. "Is dis + yere whar Mistuh Ryduh lib, suh?" she asked, looking around her + doubtfully, and glancing into the open windows, through which some of the + preparations for the evening were visible. + </p> + <p> + "Yes," he replied, with an air of kindly patronage, unconsciously + flattered by her manner, "I am Mr. Ryder. Did you want to see me?" + </p> + <p> + "Yas, suh, ef I ain't 'sturbin' of you too much." + </p> + <p> + "Not at all. Have a seat over here behind the vine, where it is cool. What + can I do for you?" + </p> + <p> + "'Scuse me, suh," she continued, when she had sat down on the edge of a + chair, "'scuse me, suh, I's lookin' for my husban'. I heerd you wuz a big + man an' had libbed heah a long time, an' I 'lowed you wouldn't min' ef I'd + come roun' an' ax you ef you'd eber heerd of a merlatter man by de name er + Sam Taylor 'quirin' roun' in de chu'ches ermongs' de people fer his wife + 'Liza Jane?" + </p> + <p> + Mr. Ryder seemed to think for a moment. + </p> + <p> + "There used to be many such cases right after the war," he said, "but it + has been so long that I have forgotten them. There are very few now. But + tell me your story, and it may refresh my memory." + </p> + <p> + She sat back farther in her chair so as to be more comfortable, and folded + her withered hands in her lap. + </p> + <p> + "My name's 'Liza," she began, "'Liza Jane. Wen I wuz young I us'ter b'long + ter Marse Bob Smif, down in old Missourn. I wuz bawn down dere. W'en I wuz + a gal I wuz married ter a man named Jim. But Jim died, an' after dat I + married a merlatter man named Sam Taylor. Sam wuz free-bawn, but his mammy + and daddy died, an' de w'ite folks 'prenticed him ter my marster fer ter + work fer 'im 'tel he wuz growed up. Sam worked in de fiel', an' I wuz de + cook. One day Ma'y Ann, ole miss's maid, come rushin' out ter de kitchen, + an' says she, ''Liza Jane, ole marse gwine sell yo' Sam down de ribber.' + </p> + <p> + "'Go way f'm yere,' says I; 'my husban's free!' + </p> + <p> + "'Don' make no diff'ence. I heerd ole marse tell ole miss he wuz gwine + take yo' Sam 'way wid 'im ter-morrow, fer he needed money, an' he knowed + whar he could git a t'ousan' dollars fer Sam an' no questions axed.' + </p> + <p> + "W'en Sam come home f'm de fiel', dat night, I tole him 'bout ole marse + gwine steal 'im, an' Sam run erway. His time wuz mos' up, an' he swo' dat + w'en he wuz twenty-one he would come back an' he'p me run erway, er else + save up de money ter buy my freedom. An' I know he'd 'a' done it, fer he + thought a heap er me, Sam did. But w'en he come back he didn' fin' me, fer + I wuzn' dere. Ole marse had heerd dat I warned Sam, so he had me whip' an' + sol' down de ribber. + </p> + <p> + "Den de wah broke out, an' w'en it wuz ober de cullud folks wuz scattered. + I went back ter de ole home; but Sam wuzn' dere, an' I couldn' l'arn + nuffin' 'bout 'im. But I knowed he'd be'n dere to look fer me an' hadn' + foun' me, an' had gone erway ter hunt fer me. + </p> + <p> + "I's be'n lookin' fer 'im eber sence," she added simply, as though + twenty-five years were but a couple of weeks, "an' I knows he's be'n + lookin' fer me. Fer he sot a heap er sto' by me, Sam did, an' I know he's + be'n huntin' fer me all dese years,—'less'n he's be'n sick er + sump'n, so he couldn' work, er out'n his head, so he couldn' 'member his + promise. I went back down de ribber, fer I 'lowed he'd gone down dere + lookin' fer me. I's be'n ter Noo Orleens, an' Atlanty, an' Charleston, an' + Richmon'; an' w'en I'd be'n all ober de Souf I come ter de Norf. Fer I + knows I'll fin' 'im some er dese days," she added softly, "er he'll fin' + me, an' den we'll bofe be as happy in freedom as we wuz in de ole days + befo' de wah." A smile stole over her withered countenance as she paused a + moment, and her bright eyes softened into a far-away look. + </p> + <p> + This was the substance of the old woman's story. She had wandered a little + here and there. Mr. Ryder was looking at her curiously when she finished. + </p> + <p> + "How have you lived all these years?" he asked. + </p> + <p> + "Cookin', suh. I's a good cook. Does you know anybody w'at needs a good + cook, suh? I's stoppin' wid a cullud fam'ly roun' de corner yonder 'tel I + kin fin' a place." + </p> + <p> + "Do you really expect to find your husband? He may be dead long ago." + </p> + <p> + She shook her head emphatically. "Oh no, he ain' dead. De signs an' de + tokens tells me. I dremp three nights runnin' on'y dis las' week dat I + foun' him." + </p> + <p> + "He may have married another woman. Your slave marriage would not have + prevented him, for you never lived with him after the war, and without + that your marriage doesn't count." + </p> + <p> + "Wouldn' make no diff'ence wid Sam. He wouldn' marry no yuther 'ooman 'tel + he foun' out 'bout me. I knows it," she added. "Sump'n's be'n tellin' me + all dese years dat I's gwine fin' Sam 'fo I dies." + </p> + <p> + "Perhaps he's outgrown you, and climbed up in the world where he wouldn't + care to have you find him." + </p> + <p> + "No, indeed, suh," she replied, "Sam ain' dat kin' er man. He wuz good ter + me, Sam wuz, but he wuzn' much good ter nobody e'se, fer he wuz one er de + triflin'es' han's on de plantation. I 'spec's ter haf ter suppo't 'im w'en + I fin' 'im, fer he nebber would work 'less'n he had ter. But den he wuz + free, an' he didn' git no pay fer his work, an' I don' blame 'im much. + Mebbe he's done better sence he run erway, but I ain' 'spectin' much." + </p> + <p> + "You may have passed him on the street a hundred times during the + twenty-five years, and not have known him; time works great changes." + </p> + <p> + She smiled incredulously. "I'd know 'im 'mongs' a hund'ed men. Fer dey + wuzn' no yuther merlatter man like my man Sam, an' I couldn' be mistook. + I's toted his picture roun' wid me twenty-five years." + </p> + <p> + "May I see it?" asked Mr. Ryder. "It might help me to remember whether I + have seen the original." + </p> + <p> + As she drew a small parcel from her bosom, he saw that it was fastened to + a string that went around her neck. Removing several wrappers, she brought + to light an old-fashioned daguerreotype in a black case. He looked long + and intently at the portrait. It was faded with time, but the features + were still distinct, and it was easy to see what manner of man it had + represented. + </p> + <p> + He closed the case, and with a slow movement handed it back to her. + </p> + <p> + "I don't know of any man in town who goes by that name," he said, "nor + have I heard of any one making such inquiries. But if you will leave me + your address, I will give the matter some attention, and if I find out + anything I will let you know." + </p> + <p> + She gave him the number of a house in the neighborhood, and went away, + after thanking him warmly. + </p> + <p> + He wrote down the address on the flyleaf of the volume of Tennyson, and, + when she had gone, rose to his feet and stood looking after her curiously. + As she walked down the street with mincing step, he saw several persons + whom she passed turn and look back at her with a smile of kindly + amusement. When she had turned the corner, he went upstairs to his + bedroom, and stood for a long time before the mirror of his dressing-case, + gazing thoughtfully at the reflection of his own face. + </p> + <p> + III. + </p> + <p> + At eight o'clock the ballroom was a blaze of light and the guests had + begun to assemble; for there was a literary programme and some routine + business of the society to be gone through with before the dancing. A + black servant in evening dress waited at the door and directed the guests + to the dressing-rooms. + </p> + <p> + The occasion was long memorable among the colored people of the city; not + alone for the dress and display, but for the high average of intelligence + and culture that distinguished the gathering as a whole. There were a + number of school-teachers, several young doctors, three or four lawyers, + some professional singers, an editor, a lieutenant in the United States + army spending his furlough in the city, and others in various polite + callings; these were colored, though most of them would not have attracted + even a casual glance because of any marked difference from white people. + Most of the ladies were in evening costume, and dress coats and + dancing-pumps were the rule among the men. A band of string music, + stationed in an alcove behind a row of palms, played popular airs while + the guests were gathering. + </p> + <p> + The dancing began at half past nine. At eleven o'clock supper was served. + Mr. Ryder had left the ballroom some little time before the intermission, + but reappeared at the supper-table. The spread was worthy of the occasion, + and the guests did full justice to it. When the coffee had been served, + the toastmaster, Mr. Solomon Sadler, rapped for order. He made a brief + introductory speech, complimenting host and guests, and then presented in + their order the toasts of the evening. They were responded to with a very + fair display of after-dinner wit. + </p> + <p> + "The last toast," said the toast-master, when he reached the end of the + list, "is one which must appeal to us all. There is no one of us of the + sterner sex who is not at some time dependent upon woman,—in infancy + for protection, in manhood for companionship, in old age for care and + comforting. Our good host has been trying to live alone, but the fair + faces I see around me to-night prove that he too is largely dependent upon + the gentler sex for most that makes life worth living,—the society + and love of friends,—and rumor is at fault if he does not soon yield + entire subjection to one of them. Mr. Ryder will now respond to the toast,—The + Ladies." + </p> + <p> + There was a pensive look in Mr. Ryder's eyes as he took the floor and + adjusted his eyeglasses. He began by speaking of woman as the gift of + Heaven to man, and after some general observations on the relations of the + sexes he said: "But perhaps the quality which most distinguishes woman is + her fidelity and devotion to those she loves. History is full of examples, + but has recorded none more striking than one which only to-day came under + my notice." + </p> + <p> + He then related, simply but effectively, the story told by his visitor of + the afternoon. He told it in the same soft dialect, which came readily to + his lips, while the company listened attentively and sympathetically. For + the story had awakened a responsive thrill in many hearts. There were some + present who had seen, and others who had heard their fathers and + grandfathers tell, the wrongs and sufferings of this past generation, and + all of them still felt, in their darker moments, the shadow hanging over + them. Mr. Ryder went on:— + </p> + <p> + "Such devotion and such confidence are rare even among women. There are + many who would have searched a year, some who would have waited five + years, a few who might have hoped ten years; but for twenty-five years + this woman has retained her affection for and her faith in a man she has + not seen or heard of in all that time. + </p> + <p> + "She came to me to-day in the hope that I might be able to help her find + this long-lost husband. And when she was gone I gave my fancy rein, and + imagined a case I will put to you. + </p> + <p> + "Suppose that this husband, soon after his escape, had learned that his + wife had been sold away, and that such inquiries as he could make brought + no information of her whereabouts. Suppose that he was young, and she much + older than he; that he was light, and she was black; that their marriage + was a slave marriage, and legally binding only if they chose to make it so + after the war. Suppose, too, that he made his way to the North, as some of + us have done, and there, where he had larger opportunities, had improved + them, and had in the course of all these years grown to be as different + from the ignorant boy who ran away from fear of slavery as the day is from + the night. Suppose, even, that he had qualified himself, by industry, by + thrift, and by study, to win the friendship and be considered worthy the + society of such people as these I see around me to-night, gracing my board + and filling my heart with gladness; for I am old enough to remember the + day when such a gathering would not have been possible in this land. + Suppose, too, that, as the years went by, this man's memory of the past + grew more and more indistinct, until at last it was rarely, except in his + dreams, that any image of this bygone period rose before his mind. And + then suppose that accident should bring to his knowledge the fact that the + wife of his youth, the wife he had left behind him,—not one who had + walked by his side and kept pace with him in his upward struggle, but one + upon whom advancing years and a laborious life had set their mark,—was + alive and seeking him, but that he was absolutely safe from recognition or + discovery, unless he chose to reveal himself. My friends, what would the + man do? I will suppose that he was one who loved honor, and tried to deal + justly with all men. I will even carry the case further, and suppose that + perhaps he had set his heart upon another, whom he had hoped to call his + own. What would he do, or rather what ought he to do, in such a crisis of + a lifetime? + </p> + <p> + "It seemed to me that he might hesitate, and I imagined that I was an old + friend, a near friend, and that he had come to me for advice; and I argued + the case with him. I tried to discuss it impartially. After we had looked + upon the matter from every point of view, I said to him, in words that we + all know: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + 'This above all: to thine own self be true, + And it must follow, as the night the day, + Thou canst not then be false to any man.' +</pre> + <p> + Then, finally, I put the question to him, 'Shall you acknowledge her?' + </p> + <p> + "And now, ladies and gentlemen, friends and companions, I ask you, what + should he have done?" + </p> + <p> + There was something in Mr. Ryder's voice that stirred the hearts of those + who sat around him. It suggested more than mere sympathy with an imaginary + situation; it seemed rather in the nature of a personal appeal. It was + observed, too, that his look rested more especially upon Mrs. Dixon, with + a mingled expression of renunciation and inquiry. + </p> + <p> + She had listened, with parted lips and streaming eyes. She was the first + to speak: "He should have acknowledged her." + </p> + <p> + "Yes," they all echoed, "he should have acknowledged her." + </p> + <p> + "My friends and companions," responded Mr. Ryder, "I thank you, one and + all. It is the answer I expected, for I knew your hearts." + </p> + <p> + He turned and walked toward the closed door of an adjoining room, while + every eye followed him in wondering curiosity. He came back in a moment, + leading by the hand his visitor of the afternoon, who stood startled and + trembling at the sudden plunge into this scene of brilliant gayety. She + was neatly dressed in gray, and wore the white cap of an elderly woman. + </p> + <p> + "Ladies and gentlemen," he said, "this is the woman, and I am the man, + whose story I have told you. Permit me to introduce to you the wife of my + youth." + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0013" id="link2H_4_0013"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE BOUQUET by Charles W. Chesnutt + </h2> + <p> + Mary Myrover's friends were somewhat surprised when she began to teach a + colored school. Miss Myrover's friends are mentioned here, because nowhere + more than in a Southern town is public opinion a force which cannot be + lightly contravened. Public opinion, however, did not oppose Miss + Myrover's teaching colored children; in fact, all the colored public + schools in town—and there were several—were taught by white + teachers, and had been so taught since the state had undertaken to provide + free public instruction for all children within its boundaries. Previous + to that time there had been a Freedman's Bureau school and a Presbyterian + missionary school, but these had been withdrawn when the need for them + became less pressing. The colored people of the town had been for some + time agitating their right to teach their own schools, but as yet the + claim had not been conceded. + </p> + <p> + The reason Miss Myrover's course created some surprise was not, therefore, + the fact that a Southern white woman should teach a colored school; it lay + in the fact that up to this time no woman of just her quality had taken up + such work. Most of the teachers of colored schools were not of those who + had constituted the aristocracy of the old regime; they might be said + rather to represent the new order of things, in which labor was in time to + become honorable, and men were, after a somewhat longer time, to depend, + for their place in society, upon themselves rather than upon their + ancestors. But Mary Myrover belonged to one of the proudest of the old + families. Her ancestors had been people of distinction in Virginia before + a collateral branch of the main stock had settled in North Carolina. + Before the war they had been able to live up to their pedigree. But the + war brought sad changes. Miss Myrover's father—the Colonel Myrover + who led a gallant but desperate charge at Vicksburg—had fallen on + the battlefield, and his tomb in the white cemetery was a shrine for the + family. On the Confederate Memorial Day no other grave was so profusely + decorated with flowers, and in the oration pronounced the name of Colonel + Myrover was always used to illustrate the highest type of patriotic + devotion and self-sacrifice. Miss Myrover's brother, too, had fallen in + the conflict; but his bones lay in some unknown trench, with those of a + thousand others who had fallen on the same field. Ay, more, her lover, who + had hoped to come home in the full tide of victory and claim his bride as + a reward for gallantry, had shared the fate of her father and brother. + When the war was over, the remnant of the family found itself involved in + the common ruin,—more deeply involved, indeed, than some others; for + Colonel Myrover had believed in the ultimate triumph of his cause, and had + invested most of his wealth in Confederate bonds, which were now only so + much waste paper. + </p> + <p> + There had been a little left. Mrs. Myrover was thrifty, and had laid by a + few hundred dollars, which she kept in the house to meet unforeseen + contingencies. There remained, too, their home, with an ample garden and a + well-stocked orchard, besides a considerable tract of country land, partly + cleared, but productive of very little revenue. + </p> + <p> + With their shrunken resources, Miss Myrover and her mother were able to + hold up their heads without embarrassment for some years after the close + of the war. But when things were adjusted to the changed conditions, and + the stream of life began to flow more vigorously in the new channels, they + saw themselves in danger of dropping behind, unless in some way they could + add to their meagre income. Miss Myrover looked over the field of + employment, never very wide for women in the South, and found it occupied. + The only available position she could be supposed prepared to fill, and + which she could take without distinct loss of caste, was that of a + teacher, and there was no vacancy except in one of the colored schools. + Even teaching was a doubtful experiment; it was not what she would have + preferred, but it was the best that could be done. + </p> + <p> + "I don't like it, Mary," said her mother. "It's a long step from owning + such people to teaching them. What do they need with education? It will + only make them unfit for work." + </p> + <p> + "They're free now, mother, and perhaps they'll work better if they're + taught something. Besides, it's only a business arrangement, and doesn't + involve any closer contact than we have with our servants." + </p> + <p> + "Well, I should say not!" sniffed the old lady. "Not one of them will ever + dare to presume on your position to take any liberties with us. I'll see + to that." + </p> + <p> + Miss Myrover began her work as a teacher in the autumn, at the opening of + the school year. It was a novel experience at first. Though there always + had been negro servants in the house, and though on the streets colored + people were more numerous than her own people, and though she was so + familiar with their dialect that she might almost be said to speak it, + barring certain characteristic grammatical inaccuracies, she had never + been brought in personal contact with so many of them at once as when she + confronted the fifty or sixty faces—of colors ranging from a white + almost as clear as her own to the darkest livery of the sun—which + were gathered in the schoolroom on the morning when she began her duties. + Some of the inherited prejudice of her caste, too, made itself felt, + though she tried to repress any outward sign of it; and she could perceive + that the children were not altogether responsive; they, likewise, were not + entirely free from antagonism. The work was unfamiliar to her. She was not + physically very strong, and at the close of the first day she went home + with a splitting headache. If she could have resigned then and there + without causing comment or annoyance to others, she would have felt it a + privilege to do so. But a night's rest banished her headache and improved + her spirits, and the next morning she went to her work with renewed vigor, + fortified by the experience of the first day. + </p> + <p> + Miss Myrover's second day was more satisfactory. She had some natural + talent for organization, though she had never known it, and in the course + of the day she got her classes formed and lessons under way. In a week or + two she began to classify her pupils in her own mind, as bright or stupid, + mischievous or well behaved, lazy or industrious, as the case might be, + and to regulate her discipline accordingly. That she had come of a long + line of ancestors who had exercised authority and mastership was perhaps + not without its effect upon her character, and enabled her more readily to + maintain good order in the school. When she was fairly broken in she found + the work rather to her liking, and derived much pleasure from such success + as she achieved as a teacher. + </p> + <p> + It was natural that she should be more attracted to some of her pupils + than to others. Perhaps her favorite—or rather, the one she liked + best, for she was too fair and just for conscious favoritism—was + Sophy Tucker. Just the ground for the teacher's liking for Sophy might not + at first be apparent. The girl was far from the whitest of Miss Myrover's + pupils; in fact, she was one of the darker ones. She was not the brightest + in intellect, though she always tried to learn her lessons. She was not + the best dressed, for her mother was a poor widow, who went out washing + and scrubbing for a living. Perhaps the real tie between them was Sophy's + intense devotion to the teacher. It had manifested itself almost from the + first day of the school, in the rapt look of admiration Miss Myrover + always saw on the little black face turned toward her. In it there was + nothing of envy, nothing of regret; nothing but worship for the beautiful + white lady—she was not especially handsome, but to Sophy her beauty + was almost divine—who had come to teach her. If Miss Myrover dropped + a book, Sophy was the first to spring and pick it up; if she wished a + chair moved, Sophy seemed to anticipate her wish; and so of all the + numberless little services that can be rendered in a school-room. + </p> + <p> + Miss Myrover was fond of flowers, and liked to have them about her. The + children soon learned of this taste of hers, and kept the vases on her + desk filled with blossoms during their season. Sophy was perhaps the most + active in providing them. If she could not get garden flowers, she would + make excursions to the woods in the early morning, and bring in great + dew-laden bunches of bay, or jasmine, or some other fragrant forest flower + which she knew the teacher loved. + </p> + <p> + "When I die, Sophy," Miss Myrover said to the child one day, "I want to be + covered with roses. And when they bury me, I'm sure I shall rest better if + my grave is banked with flowers, and roses are planted at my head and at + my feet." + </p> + <p> + Miss Myrover was at first amused at Sophy's devotion; but when she grew + more accustomed to it, she found it rather to her liking. It had a sort of + flavor of the old regime, and she felt, when she bestowed her kindly + notice upon her little black attendant, some of the feudal condescension + of the mistress toward the slave. She was kind to Sophy, and permitted her + to play the role she had assumed, which caused sometimes a little jealousy + among the other girls. Once she gave Sophy a yellow ribbon which she took + from her own hair. The child carried it home, and cherished it as a + priceless treasure, to be worn only on the greatest occasions. + </p> + <p> + Sophy had a rival in her attachment to the teacher, but the rivalry was + altogether friendly. Miss Myrover had a little dog, a white spaniel, + answering to the name of Prince. Prince was a dog of high degree, and + would have very little to do with the children of the school; he made an + exception, however, in the case of Sophy, whose devotion for his mistress + he seemed to comprehend. He was a clever dog, and could fetch and carry, + sit up on his haunches, extend his paw to shake hands, and possessed + several other canine accomplishments. He was very fond of his mistress, + and always, unless shut up at home, accompanied her to school, where he + spent most of his time lying under the teacher's desk, or, in cold + weather, by the stove, except when he would go out now and then and chase + an imaginary rabbit round the yard, presumably for exercise. + </p> + <p> + At school Sophy and Prince vied with each other in their attentions to + Miss Myrover. But when school was over, Prince went away with her, and + Sophy stayed behind; for Miss Myrover was white and Sophy was black, which + they both understood perfectly well. Miss Myrover taught the colored + children, but she could not be seen with them in public. If they + occasionally met her on the street, they did not expect her to speak to + them, unless she happened to be alone and no other white person was in + sight. If any of the children felt slighted, she was not aware of it, for + she intended no slight; she had not been brought up to speak to negroes on + the street, and she could not act differently from other people. And + though she was a woman of sentiment and capable of deep feeling, her + training had been such that she hardly expected to find in those of darker + hue than herself the same susceptibility—varying in degree, perhaps, + but yet the same in kind—that gave to her own life the alternations + of feeling that made it most worth living. + </p> + <p> + Once Miss Myrover wished to carry home a parcel of books. She had the + bundle in her hand when Sophy came up. + </p> + <p> + "Lemme tote yo' bundle fer yer, Miss Ma'y?" she asked eagerly. "I'm gwine + yo' way." + </p> + <p> + "Thank you, Sophy," was the reply. "I'll be glad if you will." + </p> + <p> + Sophy followed the teacher at a respectful distance. When they reached + Miss Myrover's home Sophy carried the bundle to the doorstep, where Miss + Myrover took it and thanked her. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Myrover came out on the piazza as Sophy was moving away. She said, in + the child's hearing, and perhaps with the intention that she should hear: + "Mary, I wish you wouldn't let those little darkies follow you to the + house. I don't want them in the yard. I should think you'd have enough of + them all day." + </p> + <p> + "Very well, mother," replied her daughter. "I won't bring any more of + them. The child was only doing me a favor." + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Myrover was an invalid, and opposition or irritation of any kind + brought on nervous paroxysms that made her miserable, and made life a + burden to the rest of the household; so that Mary seldom crossed her + whims. She did not bring Sophy to the house again, nor did Sophy again + offer her services as porter. + </p> + <p> + One day in spring Sophy brought her teacher a bouquet of yellow roses. + </p> + <p> + "Dey come off'n my own bush, Miss Ma'y," she said proudly, "an' I didn' + let nobody e'se pull 'em, but saved 'em all fer you, 'cause I know you + likes roses so much. I'm gwine bring 'em all ter you as long as dey las'." + </p> + <p> + "Thank you, Sophy," said the teacher; "you are a very good girl." + </p> + <p> + For another year Mary Myrover taught the colored school, and did excellent + service. The children made rapid progress under her tuition, and learned + to love her well; for they saw and appreciated, as well as children could, + her fidelity to a trust that she might have slighted, as some others did, + without much fear of criticism. Toward the end of her second year she + sickened, and after a brief illness died. + </p> + <p> + Old Mrs. Myrover was inconsolable. She ascribed her daughter's death to + her labors as teacher of negro children. Just how the color of the pupils + had produced the fatal effects she did not stop to explain. But she was + too old, and had suffered too deeply from the war, in body and mind and + estate, ever to reconcile herself to the changed order of things following + the return of peace; and with an unsound yet not unnatural logic, she + visited some of her displeasure upon those who had profited most, though + passively, by her losses. + </p> + <p> + "I always feared something would happen to Mary," she said. "It seemed + unnatural for her to be wearing herself out teaching little negroes who + ought to have been working for her. But the world has hardly been a fit + place to live in since the war, and when I follow her, as I must before + long, I shall not be sorry to go." + </p> + <p> + She gave strict orders that no colored people should be admitted to the + house. Some of her friends heard of this, and remonstrated. They knew the + teacher was loved by the pupils, and felt that sincere respect from the + humble would be a worthy tribute to the proudest. But Mrs. Myrover was + obdurate. + </p> + <p> + "They had my daughter when she was alive," she said, "and they've killed + her. But she's mine now, and I won't have them come near her. I don't want + one of them at the funeral or anywhere around." + </p> + <p> + For a month before Miss Myrover's death Sophy had been watching her + rosebush—the one that bore the yellow roses—for the first buds + of spring, and when these appeared had awaited impatiently their gradual + unfolding. But not until her teacher's death had they become full-blown + roses. When Miss Myrover died, Sophy determined to pluck the roses and lay + them on her coffin. Perhaps, she thought, they might even put them in her + hand or on her breast. For Sophy remembered Miss Myrover's thanks and + praise when she had brought her the yellow roses the spring before. + </p> + <p> + On the morning of the day set for the funeral Sophy washed her face until + it shone, combed and brushed her hair with painful conscientiousness, put + on her best frock, plucked her yellow roses, and, tying them with the + treasured ribbon her teacher had given her, set out for Miss Myrover's + home. + </p> + <p> + She went round to the side gate—the house stood on a corner—and + stole up the path to the kitchen. A colored woman, whom she did not know, + came to the door. + </p> + <p> + "W'at yer want, chile?" she inquired. + </p> + <p> + "Kin I see Miss Ma'y?" asked Sophy timidly. + </p> + <p> + "I don' know, honey. Ole Miss Myrover say she don' want no cullud folks + roun' de house endyoin' dis fun'al. I'll look an' see if she's roun' de + front room, whar de co'pse is. You sed-down heah an' keep still, an' ef + she's upstairs maybe I kin git yer in dere a minute. Ef I can't, I kin put + yo' bokay 'mongs' de res', whar she won't know nuthin' erbout it." + </p> + <p> + A moment after she had gone there was a step in the hall, and old Mrs. + Myrover came into the kitchen. + </p> + <p> + "Dinah!" she said in a peevish tone. "Dinah!" + </p> + <p> + Receiving no answer, Mrs. Myrover peered around the kitchen, and caught + sight of Sophy. + </p> + <p> + "What are you doing here?" she demanded. + </p> + <p> + "I—I'm-m waitin' ter see de cook, ma'am," stammered Sophy. + </p> + <p> + "The cook isn't here now. I don't know where she is. Besides, my daughter + is to be buried to-day, and I won't have any one visiting the servants + until the funeral is over. Come back some other day, or see the cook at + her own home in the evening." + </p> + <p> + She stood waiting for the child to go, and under the keen glance of her + eyes Sophy, feeling as though she had been caught in some disgraceful act, + hurried down the walk and out of the gate, with her bouquet in her hand. + </p> + <p> + "Dinah," said Mrs. Myrover, when the cook came back, "I don't want any + strange people admitted here to-day. The house will be full of our + friends, and we have no room for others." + </p> + <p> + "Yas'm," said the cook. She understood perfectly what her mistress meant; + and what the cook thought about her mistress was a matter of no + consequence. + </p> + <p> + The funeral services were held at St. John's Episcopal Church, where the + Myrovers had always worshiped. Quite a number of Miss Myrover's pupils + went to the church to attend the services. The church was not a large one. + There was a small gallery at the rear, to which colored people were + admitted, if they chose to come, at ordinary services; and those who + wished to be present at the funeral supposed that the usual custom would + prevail. They were therefore surprised, when they went to the side + entrance, by which colored people gained access to the gallery stairs, to + be met by an usher who barred their passage. + </p> + <p> + "I'm sorry," he said, "but I have had orders to admit no one until the + friends of the family have all been seated. If you wish to wait until the + white people have all gone in, and there's any room left, you may be able + to get into the back part of the gallery. Of course I can't tell yet + whether there'll be any room or not." + </p> + <p> + Now the statement of the usher was a very reasonable one; but, strange to + say, none of the colored people chose to remain except Sophy. She still + hoped to use her floral offering for its destined end, in some way, though + she did not know just how. She waited in the yard until the church was + filled with white people, and a number who could not gain admittance were + standing about the doors. Then she went round to the side of the church, + and, depositing her bouquet carefully on an old mossy gravestone, climbed + up on the projecting sill of a window near the chancel. The window was of + stained glass, of somewhat ancient make. The church was old, had indeed + been built in colonial times, and the stained glass had been brought from + England. The design of the window showed Jesus blessing little children. + Time had dealt gently with the window; but just at the feet of the figure + of Jesus a small triangular piece of glass had been broken out. To this + aperture Sophy applied her eyes, and through it saw and heard what she + could of the services within. + </p> + <p> + Before the chancel, on trestles draped in black, stood the sombre casket + in which lay all that was mortal of her dear teacher. The top of the + casket was covered with flowers; and lying stretched out underneath it she + saw Miss Myrover's little white dog, Prince. He had followed the body to + the church, and, slipping in unnoticed among the mourners, had taken his + place, from which no one had the heart to remove him. + </p> + <p> + The white-robed rector read the solemn service for the dead, and then + delivered a brief address, in which he spoke of the uncertainty of life, + and, to the believer, the certain blessedness of eternity. He spoke of + Miss Myrover's kindly spirit, and, as an illustration of her love and + self-sacrifice for others, referred to her labors as a teacher of the poor + ignorant negroes who had been placed in their midst by an all-wise + Providence, and whom it was their duty to guide and direct in the station + in which God had put them. Then the organ pealed, a prayer was said, and + the long cortege moved from the church to the cemetery, about half a mile + away, where the body was to be interred. + </p> + <p> + When the services were over, Sophy sprang down from her perch, and, taking + her flowers, followed the procession. She did not walk with the rest, but + at a proper and respectful distance from the last mourner. No one noticed + the little black girl with the bunch of yellow flowers, or thought of her + as interested in the funeral. + </p> + <p> + The cortege reached the cemetery and filed slowly through the gate; but + Sophy stood outside, looking at a small sign in white letters on a black + background:— + </p> + <p> + "NOTICE. This cemetery is for white people only. Others please keep out." + </p> + <p> + Sophy, thanks to Miss Myrover's painstaking instruction, could read this + sign very distinctly. In fact, she had often read it before. For Sophy was + a child who loved beauty, in a blind, groping sort of way, and had + sometimes stood by the fence of the cemetery and looked through at the + green mounds and shaded walks and blooming flowers within, and wished that + she could walk among them. She knew, too, that the little sign on the + gate, though so courteously worded, was no mere formality; for she had + heard how a colored man, who had wandered into the cemetery on a hot night + and fallen asleep on the flat top of a tomb, had been arrested as a + vagrant and fined five dollars, which he had worked out on the streets, + with a ball-and-chain attachment, at twenty-five cents a day. Since that + time the cemetery gate had been locked at night. + </p> + <p> + So Sophy stayed outside, and looked through the fence. Her poor bouquet + had begun to droop by this time, and the yellow ribbon had lost some of + its freshness. Sophy could see the rector standing by the grave, the + mourners gathered round; she could faintly distinguish the solemn words + with which ashes were committed to ashes, and dust to dust. She heard the + hollow thud of the earth falling on the coffin; and she leaned against the + iron fence, sobbing softly, until the grave was filled and rounded off, + and the wreaths and other floral pieces were disposed upon it. When the + mourners began to move toward the gate, Sophy walked slowly down the + street, in a direction opposite to that taken by most of the people who + came out. + </p> + <p> + When they had all gone away, and the sexton had come out and locked the + gate behind him, Sophy crept back. Her roses were faded now, and from some + of them the petals had fallen. She stood there irresolute, loath to leave + with her heart's desire unsatisfied, when, as her eyes fell upon the + teacher's last resting place, she saw lying beside the new-made grave what + looked like a small bundle of white wool. Sophy's eyes lighted up with a + sudden glow. + </p> + <p> + "Prince! Here, Prince!" she called. + </p> + <p> + The little dog rose, and trotted down to the gate. Sophy pushed the poor + bouquet between the iron bars. "Take that ter Miss Ma'y, Prince," she + said, "that's a good doggie." + </p> + <p> + The dog wagged his tail intelligently, took the bouquet carefully in his + mouth, carried it to his mistress's grave, and laid it among the other + flowers. The bunch of roses was so small that from where she stood Sophy + could see only a dash of yellow against the white background of the mass + of flowers. + </p> + <p> + When Prince had performed his mission he turned his eyes toward Sophy + inquiringly, and when she gave him a nod of approval lay down and resumed + his watch by the graveside. Sophy looked at him a moment with a feeling + very much like envy, and then turned and moved slowly away. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0014" id="link2H_4_0014"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE CASE OF THE NEGRO by Booker T. Washington + </h2> + <p> + All attempts to settle the question of the Negro in the South by his + removal from this country have so far failed, and I think that they are + likely to fail. The next census will probably show that we have nearly ten + million black people in the United States, about eight millions of whom + are in the Southern states. In fact, we have almost a nation within a + nation. The Negro population in the United States lacks but two millions + of being as large as the whole population of Mexico, and is nearly twice + as large as that of Canada. Our black people equal in number the combined + populations of Switzerland, Greece, Honduras, Nicaragua, Cuba, Uraguay + [sic], Santo Domingo, Paraguay, and Costa Rica. When we consider, in + connection with these facts, that the race has doubled itself since its + freedom, and is still increasing, it hardly seems possible for any one to + take seriously any scheme of emigration from America as a method of + solution. At most, even if the government were to provide the means, but a + few hundred thousand could be transported each year. The yearly increase + in population would more than likely overbalance the number transported. + Even if it did not, the time required to get rid of the Negro by this + method would perhaps be fifty or seventy-five years. + </p> + <p> + Some have advised that the Negro leave the South, and take up his + residence in the Northern states. I question whether this would make him + any better off than he is in the South, when all things are considered. It + has been my privilege to study the condition of our people in nearly every + part of America; and I say without hesitation that, with some exceptional + cases, the Negro is at his best in the Southern states. While he enjoys + certain privileges in the North that he does not have in the South, when + it comes to the matter of securing property, enjoying business advantages + and employment, the South presents a far better opportunity than the + North. Few colored men from the South are as yet able to stand up against + the severe and increasing competition that exists in the North, to say + nothing of the unfriendly influence of labor organizations, which in some + way prevents black men in the North, as a rule, from securing occupation + in the line of skilled labor. + </p> + <p> + Another point of great danger for the colored man who goes North is the + matter of morals, owing to the numerous temptations by which he finds + himself surrounded. More ways offer in which he can spend money than in + the South, but fewer avenues of employment for earning money are open to + him. The fact that at the North the Negro is almost confined to one line + of occupation often tends to discourage and demoralize the strongest who + go from the South, and makes them an easy prey for temptation. A few years + ago, I made an examination into the condition of a settlement of Negroes + who left the South and went into Kansas about twenty years since, when + there was a good deal of excitement in the South concerning emigration + from the West, and found it much below the standard of that of similar + communities in the South. The only conclusion which any one can reach, + from this and like instances, is that the Negroes are to remain in the + Southern states. As a race they do not want to leave the South, and the + Southern white people do not want them to leave. We must therefore find + some basis of settlement that will be constitutional, just, manly; that + will be fair to both races in the South and to the whole country. This + cannot be done in a day, a year, or any short period of time. We can, + however, with the present light, decide upon a reasonably safe method of + solving the problem, and turn our strength and effort in that direction. + In doing this, I would not have the Negro deprived of any privilege + guaranteed to him by the Constitution of the United States. It is not best + for the Negro that he relinquish any of his constitutional rights; it is + not best for the Southern white man that he should, as I shall attempt to + show in this article. + </p> + <p> + In order that we may concentrate our forces upon a wise object, without + loss of time or effort, I want to suggest what seems to me and many others + the wisest policy to be pursued. I have reached these conclusions not only + by reason of my own observations and experience, but after eighteen years + of direct contact with leading and influential colored and white men in + most parts of our country. But I wish first to mention some elements of + danger in the present situation, which all who desire the permanent + welfare of both races in the South should carefully take into account. + </p> + <p> + First. There is danger that a certain class of impatient extremists among + the Negroes in the North, who have little knowledge of the actual + conditions in the South, may do the entire race injury by attempting to + advise their brethren in the South to resort to armed resistance or the + use of the torch, in order to secure justice. All intelligent and + well-considered discussion of any important question, or condemnation of + any wrong, whether in the North or the South, from the public platform and + through the press, is to be commended and encouraged; but ill-considered + and incendiary utterances from black men in the North will tend to add to + the burdens of our people in the South rather than to relieve them. We + must not fall into the temptation of believing that we can raise ourselves + by abusing some one else. + </p> + <p> + Second. Another danger in the South which should be guarded against is + that the whole white South, including the wise, conservative, law-abiding + element, may find itself represented before the bar of public opinion by + the mob or lawless element, which gives expression to its feelings and + tendency in a manner that advertises the South throughout the world; while + too often those who have no sympathy with such disregard of law are either + silent, or fail to speak in a sufficiently emphatic manner to offset in + any large degree the unfortunate reputation which the lawless have made + for many portions of the South. + </p> + <p> + Third. No race or people ever got upon its feet without severe and + constant struggle, often in the face of the greatest discouragement. While + passing through the present trying period of its history, there is danger + that a large and valuable element of the Negro race may become discouraged + in the effort to better its condition. Every possible influence should be + exerted to prevent this. + </p> + <p> + Fourth. There is a possibility that harm may be done to the South and to + the Negro by exaggerated newspaper articles which are written near the + scene or in the midst of specially aggravating occurrences. Often these + reports are written by newspaper men, who give the impression that there + is a race conflict throughout the South, and that all Southern white + people are opposed to the Negro's progress; overlooking the fact that + though in some sections there is trouble, in most parts of the South, if + matters are not yet in all respects as we would have them, there is + nevertheless a very large measure of peace, good will, and mutual + helpfulness. In the same relation, much can be done to retard the progress + of the Negro by a certain class of Southern white people, who in the midst + of excitement speak or write in a manner that gives the impression that + all Negroes are lawless, untrustworthy, and shiftless. For example, a + Southern writer said, not long ago, in a communication to the New York + Independent: "Even in small towns the husband cannot venture to leave his + wife alone for an hour at night. At no time, in no place, is the white + woman safe from the insults and assaults of these creatures." These + statements, I presume, represented the feelings and the conditions that + existed, at the time of the writing, in one community or county in the + South; but thousands of Southern white men and women would be ready to + testify that this is not the condition throughout the South, nor + throughout any Southern state. + </p> + <p> + Fifth. Owing to the lack of school opportunities for the Negro in the + rural districts of the South, there is danger that ignorance and idleness + may increase to the extent of giving the Negro race a reputation for + crime, and that immorality may eat its way into the fibre of the race so + as to retard its progress for many years. In judging the Negro we must not + be too harsh. We must remember that it has been only within the last + thirty-four years that the black father and mother have had the + responsibility, and consequently the experience, of training their own + children. That perfection has not been reached in one generation, with the + obstacles that the parents have been compelled to overcome, is not to be + wondered at. + </p> + <p> + Sixth. Finally, I would mention my fear that some of the white people of + the South may be led to feel that the way to settle the race problem is to + repress the aspirations of the Negro by legislation of a kind that confers + certain legal or political privileges upon an ignorant and poor white man, + and withholds the same privileges from a black man in a similar condition. + Such legislation injures and retards the progress of both races. It is an + injustice to the poor white man, because it takes from him incentive to + secure education and property as prerequisites for voting. He feels that + because he is a white man, regardless of his possessions, a way will be + found for him to vote. I would label all such measures "laws to keep the + poor white man in ignorance and poverty." + </p> + <p> + The Talladega News Reporter, a Democratic newspaper of Alabama, recently + said: "But it is a weak cry when the white man asks odds on intelligence + over the Negro. When nature has already so handicapped the African in the + race for knowledge, the cry of the boasted Anglo-Saxon for still further + odds seems babyish. What wonder that the world looks on in surprise, if + not disgust? It cannot help but say, If our contention be true that the + Negro is an inferior race, then the odds ought to be on the other side, if + any are to be given. And why not? No; the thing to do—the only thing + that will stand the test of time—is to do right, exactly right, let + come what will. And that right thing, as it seems to us, is to place a + fair educational qualification before every citizen,—one that is + self-testing, and not dependent on the wishes of weak men,—letting + all who pass the test stand in the proud ranks of American voters, whose + votes shall be counted as cast, and whose sovereign will shall be + maintained as law by all the powers that be. Nothing short of this will + do. Every exemption, on whatsoever ground, is an outrage that can only rob + some legitimate voter of his rights." + </p> + <p> + Such laws have been made,—in Mississippi, for example,—with + the "understanding" clause, hold out a temptation for the election officer + to perjure and degrade himself by too often deciding that the ignorant + white man does understand the Constitution when it is read to him, and + that the ignorant black man does not. By such a law, the state not only + commits a wrong against its black citizens; it injures the morals of its + white citizens by conferring such a power upon any white man who may + happen to be a judge of elections. + </p> + <p> + Such laws are hurtful, again, because they keep alive in the heart of the + black man the feeling that the white man means to oppress him. The only + safe way out is to set a high standard as a test of citizenship, and + require blacks and whites alike to come up to it. When this is done, both + will have a higher respect for the election laws, and for those who make + them. I do not believe that, with his centuries of advantage over the + Negro in the opportunity to acquire property and education as + prerequisites for voting, the average white man in the South desires that + any special law be passed to give him further advantage over one who has + had but a little more than thirty years in which to prepare himself for + citizenship. In this relation, another point of danger is that the Negro + has been made to feel that it is his duty continually to oppose the + Southern white man in politics, even in matters where no principle is + involved; and that he is only loyal to his own race and acting in a manly + way in thus opposing the white man. Such a policy has proved very hurtful + to both races. Where it is a matter of principle, where a question of + right or wrong is involved, I would advise the Negro to stand by principle + at all hazards. A Southern white man has no respect for or confidence in a + Negro who acts merely for policy's sake; but there are many cases, and the + number is growing, where the Negro has nothing to gain, and much to lose, + by opposing the Southern white man in matters that relate to government. + </p> + <p> + Under the foregoing six heads I believe I have stated some of the main + points which, all high-minded white men and black men, North and South, + will agree, need our most earnest and thoughtful consideration, if we + would hasten, and not hinder, the progress of our country. + </p> + <p> + Now as to the policy that should be pursued. On this subject I claim to + possess no superior wisdom or unusual insight. I may be wrong; I may be in + some degree right. + </p> + <p> + In the future we want to impress upon the Negro, more than we have done in + the past, the importance of identifying himself more closely with the + interests of the South; of making himself part of the South, and at home + in it. Heretofore, for reasons which were natural, and for which no one is + especially to blame, the colored people have been too much like a foreign + nation residing in the midst of another nation. If William Lloyd Garrison, + Wendell Phillips, or George L. Stearns were alive to-day, I feel sure that + he would advise the Negroes to identify their interests as closely as + possible with those of their white neighbors,—always understanding + that no question of right and wrong is involved. In no other way, it seems + to me, can we get a foundation for peace and progress. He who advises + against this policy will advise the Negro to do that which no people in + history, who have succeeded, have done. The white man, North or South, who + advises the Negro against it advises him to do that which he himself has + not done. The bed rock upon which every individual rests his chances for + success in life is the friendship, the confidence, the respect, of his + next-door neighbor in the little community in which he lives. The problem + of the Negro in the South turns on whether he can make himself of such + indispensable service to his neighbor and the community that no one can + fill his place better in the body politic. There is at present no other + safe course for the black man to pursue. If the Negro in the South has a + friend in his white neighbor, and a still larger number of friends in his + own community, he has a protection and a guarantee of his rights that will + be more potent and more lasting than any our Federal Congress or any + outside power can confer. + </p> + <p> + The London Times, in a recent editorial discussing affairs in the + Transvaal, where Englishmen have been denied certain privileges by the + Boers, says: "England is too sagacious not to prefer a gradual reform from + within, even should it be less rapid than most of us might wish, to the + most sweeping redress of grievances imposed from without. Our object is to + obtain fair play for the Outlanders, but the best way to do it is to + enable them to help themselves." This policy, I think, is equally safe + when applied to conditions in the South. The foreigner who comes to + America identifies himself as soon as possible, in business, education, + and politics, with the community in which he settles. We have a + conspicuous example of this in the case of the Jews, who in the South, as + well as in other parts of our country, have not always been justly + treated; but the Jews have so woven themselves into the business and + patriotic interests of the communities in which they live, have made + themselves so valuable as citizens, that they have won a place in the + South which they could have obtained in no other way. The Negro in Cuba + has practically settled the race question there, because he has made + himself a part of Cuba in thought and action. + </p> + <p> + What I have tried to indicate cannot be accomplished by any sudden + revolution of methods, but it does seem that the tendency should be more + and more in this direction. Let me emphasize this by a practical example. + The North sends thousands of dollars into the South every year for the + education of the Negro. The teachers in most of the Southern schools + supported by the North are Northern men and women of the highest Christian + culture and most unselfish devotion. The Negro owes them a debt of + gratitude which can never be paid. The various missionary societies in the + North have done a work which to a large degree has proved the salvation of + the South, and the results of it will appear more in future generations + than in this. We have now reached the point, in the South, where, I + believe, great good could be accomplished in changing the attitude of the + white people toward the Negro, and of the Negro toward the whites, if a + few Southern white teachers, of high character, would take an active + interest in the work of our higher schools. Can this be done? Yes. The + medical school connected with Shaw University at Raleigh, North Carolina, + has from the first had as instructors and professors almost exclusively + Southern white doctors who reside in Raleigh, and they have given the + highest satisfaction. This gives the people of Raleigh the feeling that + the school is theirs, and not something located in, but not a part of, the + South. In Augusta, Georgia, the Payne Institute, one of the best colleges + for our people, is officered and taught almost wholly by Southern white + men and women. The Presbyterian Theological School at Tuscaloosa, Alabama, + has only Southern white men as instructors. Some time ago, at the Calhoun + School in Alabama, one of the leading white men in the county was given an + important position; since then the feeling of the white people in the + county has greatly changed toward the school. + </p> + <p> + We must admit the stern fact that at present the Negro, through no choice + of his own, is living in the midst of another race, which is far ahead of + him in education, property, and experience; and further, that the Negro's + present condition makes him dependent upon the white people for most of + the things necessary to sustain life, as well as, in a large measure, for + his education. In all history, those who have possessed the property and + intelligence have exercised the greatest control in government, regardless + of color, race, or geographical location. This being the case, how can the + black man in the South improve his estate? And does the Southern white man + want him to improve it? The latter part of this question I shall attempt + to answer later in this article. + </p> + <p> + The Negro in the South has it within his power, if he properly utilizes + the forces at land, to make of himself such a valuable factor in the life + of the South that for the most part he need not seek privileges, but they + will be conferred upon him. To bring this about, the Negro must begin at + the bottom and lay a sure foundation, and not be lured by any temptation + into trying to rise on a false footing. While the Negro is laying this + foundation, he will need help and sympathy and justice from the law. + Progress by any other method will be but temporary and superficial, and + the end of it will be worse than the beginning. American slavery was a + great curse to both races, and I should be the last to apologize for it; + but in the providence of God I believe that slavery laid the foundation + for the solution of the problem that is now before us in the South. Under + slavery, the Negro was taught every trade, every industry, that furnishes + the means of earning a living. Now if on this foundation, laid in a rather + crude way, it is true, but a foundation nevertheless, we can gradually + grow and improve, the future for us is bright. Let me be more specific. + Agriculture is or has been the basic industry of nearly every race or + nation that has succeeded. The Negro got a knowledge of this under + slavery: hence in a large measure he is in possession of this industry in + the South to-day. Taking the whole South, I should say that eighty per + cent of the Negroes live by agriculture in some form, though it is often a + very primitive and crude form. The Negro can buy land in the South, as a + rule, wherever the white man can buy it, and at very low prices. Now, + since the bulk of our people already have a foundation in agriculture, are + at their best when living in the country engaged in agricultural pursuits, + plainly, the best thing, the logical thing, is to turn the larger part of + our strength in a direction that will put the Negroes among the most + skilled agricultural people in the world. The man who has learned to do + something better than any one else, has learned to do a common thing in an + uncommon manner, has power and influence which no adverse surroundings can + take from him. It is better to show a man how to make a place for himself + than to put him in one that some one else has made for him. The Negro who + can make himself so conspicuous as a successful farmer, a large taxpayer, + a wise helper of his fellow men, as to be placed in a position of trust + and honor by natural selection, whether the position be political or not, + is a hundredfold more secure in that position than one placed there by + mere outside force or pressure. I know a Negro, Hon. Isaiah T. Montgomery, + in Mississippi, who is mayor of a town; it is true that the town is + composed almost wholly of Negroes. Mr. Montgomery is mayor of this town + because his genius, thrift, and foresight have created it; and he is held + and supported in his office by a charter granted by the state of + Mississippi, and by the vote and public sentiment of the community in + which he lives. + </p> + <p> + Let us help the Negro by every means possible to acquire such an education + in farming, dairying, stock-raising, horticulture, etc., as will place him + near the top in these industries, and the race problem will in a large + part be settled, or at least stripped of many of its most perplexing + elements. This policy would also tend to keep the Negro in the country and + smaller towns, where he succeeds best, and stop the influx into the large + cities, where he does not succeed so well. The race, like the individual, + which produces something of superior worth that has a common human + interest, wins a permanent place, and is bound to be recognized. + </p> + <p> + At a county fair in the South, not long ago, I saw a Negro awarded the + first prize, by a jury of white men, over white competitors, for the + production of the best specimen of Indian corn. Every white man at the + fair seemed to be proud of the achievement of the Negro, because it was + apparent that he had done something that would add to the wealth and + comfort of the people of both races in that county. At the Tuskegee Normal + and Industrial Institute, in Alabama, we have a department devoted to + training men along the lines of agriculture that I have named; but what we + are doing is small when compared with what should be done in Tuskegee, and + at other educational centres. In a material sense the South is still an + undeveloped country. While in some other affairs race prejudice is + strongly marked, in the matter of business, of commercial and industrial + development, there are few obstacles in the Negro's way. A Negro who + produces or has for sale something that the community wants finds + customers among white people as well as black. Upon equal security, a + Negro can borrow money at the bank as readily as a white man can. A bank + in Birmingham, Alabama, which has existed ten years, is officered and + controlled wholly by Negroes. This bank has white borrowers and white + depositors. A graduate of the Tuskegee Institute keeps a well-appointed + grocery store in Tuskegee, and he tells me that he sells about as many + goods to one race as to the other. What I have said of the opening that + awaits the Negro in the business of agriculture is almost equally true of + mechanics, manufacturing, and all the domestic arts. The field is before + him and right about him. Will he seize upon it? Will he "cast down his + bucket where he is"? Will his friends, North and South, encourage him and + prepare him to occupy it? Every city in the South, for example, would give + support to a first-class architect or housebuilder or contractor of our + race. The architect or contractor would not only receive support, but + through his example numbers of young colored men would learn such trades + as carpentry, brickmasonry, plastering, painting, etc., and the race would + be put into a position to hold on to many of the industries which it is + now in danger of losing, because in too many cases brain, skill, and + dignity are not imparted to the common occupations. Any individual or race + that does not fit itself to occupy in the best manner the field or service + that is right about it will sooner or later be asked to move on and let + another take it. + </p> + <p> + But I may be asked, Would you confine the Negro to agriculture, mechanics, + the domestic arts, etc.? Not at all; but just now and for a number of + years the stress should be laid along the lines that I have mentioned. We + shall need and must have many teachers and ministers, some doctors and + lawyers and statesmen, but these professional men will have a constituency + or a foundation from which to draw support just in proportion as the race + prospers along the economic lines that I have pointed out. During the + first fifty or one hundred years of the life of any people, are not the + economic occupations always given the greater attention? This is not only + the historic, but, I think, the common-sense view. If this generation will + lay the material foundation, it will be the quickest and surest way for + enabling later generations to succeed in the cultivation of the fine arts, + and to surround themselves with some of the luxuries of life, if desired. + What the race most needs now, in my opinion, is a whole army of men and + women well-trained to lead, and at the same time devote themselves to + agriculture, mechanics, domestic employment, and business. As to the + mental training that these educated leaders should be equipped with, I + should say, give them all the mental training and culture that the + circumstances of individuals will allow,—the more the better. No + race can permanently succeed until its mind is awakened and strengthened + by the ripest thought. But I would constantly have it kept in the minds of + those who are educated in books that a large proportion of those who are + educated should be so trained in hand that they can bring this mental + strength and knowledge to bear upon the physical conditions in the South, + which I have tried to emphasize. + </p> + <p> + Frederick Douglass, of sainted memory, once, in addressing his race, used + these words: "We are to prove that we can better our own condition. One + way to do this is to accumulate property. This may sound to you like a new + gospel. You have been accustomed to hear that money is the root of all + evil, etc.; on the other hand, property, money, if you please, will + purchase for us the only condition by which any people can rise to the + dignity of genuine manhood; for without property there can be no leisure, + without leisure there can be no thought, without thought there can be no + invention, without invention there can be no progress." + </p> + <p> + The Negro should be taught that material development is not an end, but + merely a means to an end. As professor W. E. B. Du Bois puts it, the idea + should not be simply to make men carpenters, but to make carpenters men. + The Negro has a highly religious temperament; but what he needs more and + more is to be convinced of the importance of weaving his religion and + morality into the practical affairs of daily life. Equally does he need to + be taught to put so much intelligence into his labor that he will see + dignity and beauty in the occupation, and love it for its own sake. The + Negro needs to be taught to apply more of the religion that manifests + itself in his happiness in prayer meeting to the performance of his daily + task. The man who owns a home, and is in the possession of the elements by + which he is sure of a daily living, has a great aid to a moral and + religious life. What bearing will all this have upon the Negro's place in + the South, as a citizen and in the enjoyment of the privileges which our + government confers? + </p> + <p> + To state in detail just what place the black man will occupy in the South + as a citizen, when he has developed in the direction named, is beyond the + wisdom of any one. Much will depend upon the sense of justice which can be + kept alive in the breast of the American people; almost as much will + depend upon the good sense of the Negro himself. That question, I confess, + does not give me the most concern just now. The important and pressing + question is, Will the Negro, with his own help and that of his friends, + take advantage of the opportunities that surround him? When he has done + this, I believe, speaking of his future in general terms, that he will be + treated with justice, be given the protection of the law and the + recognition which his usefulness and ability warrant. If, fifty years ago, + one had predicted that the Negro would receive the recognition and honor + which individuals have already received, he would have been laughed at as + an idle dreamer. Time, patience, and constant achievement are great + factors in the rise of a race. + </p> + <p> + I do not believe that the world ever takes a race seriously, in its desire + to share in the government of a nation, until a large number of individual + members of that race have demonstrated beyond question their ability to + control and develop their own business enterprises. Once a number of + Negroes rise to the point where they own and operate the most successful + farms, are among the largest taxpayers in their county, are moral and + intelligent, I do not believe that in many portions of the South such men + need long be denied the right of saying by their votes how they prefer + their property to be taxed, and who are to make and administer the laws. + </p> + <p> + I was walking the street of a certain town in the South lately in company + with the most prominent Negro there. While we were together, the mayor of + the town sought out the black man, and said, "Next week we are going to + vote on the question of issuing bonds to secure water-works; you must be + sure to vote on the day of election." The mayor did not suggest whether he + should vote yes or no; but he knew that the very fact of this Negro's + owning nearly a block of the most valuable property in the town was a + guarantee that he would cast a safe, wise vote on this important + proposition. The white man knew that because of this Negro's property + interests he would cast his vote in the way he thought would benefit every + white and black citizen in the town, and not be controlled by influences a + thousand miles away. But a short time ago I read letters from nearly every + prominent white man in Birmingham, Alabama, asking that the Rev. W. R. + Pettiford, a Negro, be appointed to a certain important federal office. + What is the explanation of this? For nine years Mr. Pettiford has been the + president of the Negro bank in Birmingham, to which I have alluded. During + these nine years, the white citizens have had the opportunity of seeing + that Mr. Pettiford can manage successfully a private business, and that he + has proved himself a conservative, thoughtful citizen, and they are + willing to trust him in a public office. Such individual examples will + have to be multiplied, till they become more nearly the rule than the + exception they now are. While we are multiplying these examples, the Negro + must keep a strong and courageous heart. He cannot improve his condition + by any short-cut course or by artificial methods. Above all, he must not + be deluded into believing that his condition can be permanently bettered + by a mere battledoor [sic] and shuttlecock of words, or by any process of + mere mental gymnastics or oratory. What is desired along with a logical + defense of his cause are deeds, results,—continued results, in the + direction of building himself up, so as to leave no doubt in the mind of + any one of his ability to succeed. + </p> + <p> + An important question often asked is, Does the white man in the South want + the Negro to improve his present condition? I say yes. From the Montgomery + (Alabama) Daily Advertiser I clip the following in reference to the + closing of a colored school in a town in Alabama:— + </p> + <p> + "EUFALA, May 25, 1899. The closing exercises of the city colored public + school were held at St. Luke's A. M. E. Church last night, and were + witnessed by a large gathering, including many whites. The recitations by + the pupils were excellent, and the music was also an interesting feature. + Rev. R. T. Pollard delivered the address, which was quite an able one, and + the certificates were presented by Professor T. L. McCoy, white, of the + Sanford Street School. The success of the exercises reflects great credit + on Professor S. M. Murphy, the principal, who enjoys a deserved good + reputation as a capable and efficient educator." + </p> + <p> + I quote this report, not because it is the exception, but because such + marks of interest in the education of the Negro on the part of the + Southern white people may be seen almost every day in the local papers. + Why should white people, by their presence, words, and actions, encourage + the black man to get education, if they do not desire him to improve his + condition? + </p> + <p> + The Payne Institute, an excellent college, to which I have already + referred, is supported almost wholly by the Southern white Methodist + church. The Southern white Presbyterians support a theological school for + Negroes at Tuscaloosa. For a number of years the Southern white Baptists + have contributed toward Negro education. Other denominations have done the + same. If these people do not want the Negro educated to a higher standard, + there is no reason why they should pretend they do. + </p> + <p> + Though some of the lynchings in the South have indicated a barbarous + feeling toward Negroes, Southern white men here and there, as well as + newspapers, have spoken out strongly against lynching. I quote from the + address of the Rev. Mr. Vance, of Nashville, Tennessee, delivered before + the National Sunday School Union, in Atlanta, not long since, as an + example:— + </p> + <p> + "And yet, as I stand here to-night, a Southerner speaking for my section + and addressing an audience from all sections, there is one foul blot upon + the fair fame of the South, at the bare mention of which the heart turns + sick and the cheek is crimsoned with shame. I want to lift my voice + to-night in loud and long and indignant protest against the awful horror + of mob violence, which the other day reached the climax of its madness and + infamy in a deed as black and brutal and barbarous as can be found in the + annals of human crime. + </p> + <p> + "I have a right to speak on the subject, and I propose to be heard. The + time has come for every lover of the South to set the might of an angered + and resolute manhood against the shame and peril of the lynch demon. These + people whose fiendish glee taunts their victim as his flesh crackles in + the flames do not represent the South. I have not a syllable of apology + for the sickening crime they meant to avenge. But it is high time we were + learning that lawlessness is no remedy for crime. For one, I dare to + believe that the people of my section are able to cope with crime, however + treacherous and defiant, through their courts of justice; and I plead for + the masterful sway of a righteous and exalted public sentiment that shall + class lynch law in the category with crime." + </p> + <p> + It is a notable and encouraging fact that no Negro educated in any of our + larger institutions of learning in the South has been charged with any of + the recent crimes connected with assaults upon women. + </p> + <p> + If we go on making progress in the directions that I have tried to + indicate, more and more the South will be drawn to one course. As I have + already said, it is not to the best interests of the white race of the + South that the Negro be deprived of any privilege guaranteed him by the + Constitution of the United States. This would put upon the South a burden + under which no government could stand and prosper. Every article in our + Federal Constitution was placed there with a view of stimulating and + encouraging the highest type of citizenship. To continue to tax the Negro + without giving him the right to vote, as fast as he qualifies himself in + education and property for voting, would insure the alienation of the + affections of the Negro from the state in which he lives, and would be the + reversal of the fundamental principles of government for which our states + have stood. In other ways than this the injury would be as great to the + white man as to the Negro. Taxation without the hope of becoming voters + would take away from one third of the citizens of the Gulf states their + interest in government, and a stimulus to become taxpayers or to secure + education, and thus be able and willing to bear their share of the cost of + education and government, which now rests so heavily upon the white + taxpayers of the South. The more the Negro is stimulated and encouraged, + the sooner will he be able to bear a larger share of the burdens of the + South. We have recently had before us an example, in the case of Spain, of + a government that left a large portion of its citizens in ignorance, and + neglected their highest interests. + </p> + <p> + As I have said elsewhere: "There is no escape, through law of man or God, + from the inevitable. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + 'The laws of changeless justice bind + Oppressor with oppressed; + And close as sin and suffering joined + We march to fate abreast.' +</pre> + <p> + Nearly sixteen millions of hands will aid you in pulling the load upwards, + or they will pull the load downwards against you. We shall constitute one + third and more of the ignorance and crime of the South, or one third of + its intelligence and progress; we shall contribute one third to the + business and industrial prosperity of the South, or we shall prove a + veritable body of death, stagnating, depressing, retarding every effort to + advance the body politic." + </p> + <p> + My own feeling is that the South will gradually reach the point where it + will see the wisdom and the justice of enacting an educational or property + qualification, or both, for voting, that shall be made to apply honestly + to both races. The industrial development of the Negro in connection with + education and Christian character will help to hasten this end. When this + is done, we shall have a foundation, in my opinion, upon which to build a + government that is honest, and that will be in a high degree satisfactory + to both races. + </p> + <p> + I do not suffer myself to take too optimistic a view of the conditions in + the South. The problem is a large and serious one, and will require the + patient help, sympathy, and advice of our most patriotic citizens, North + and South, for years to come. But I believe that if the principles which I + have tried to indicate are followed, a solution of the question will come. + So long as the Negro is permitted to get education, acquire property, and + secure employment, and is treated with respect in the business world, as + is now true in the greater part of the South, I shall have the greatest + faith in his working out his own destiny in our Southern states. The + education and preparation for citizenship of nearly eight millions of + people is a tremendous task, and every lover of humanity should count it a + privilege to help in the solution of a problem for which our whole country + is responsible. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0015" id="link2H_4_0015"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + HOT-FOOT HANNIBAL by Charles W. Chesnutt + </h2> + <p> + "I hate and despise you! I wish never to see you or speak to you again!" + </p> + <p> + "Very well; I will take care that henceforth you have no opportunity to do + either." + </p> + <p> + These words—the first in the passionately vibrant tones of my + sister-in-law, and the latter in the deeper and more restrained accents of + an angry man—startled me from my nap. I had been dozing in my + hammock on the front piazza, behind the honeysuckle vine. I had been + faintly aware of a buzz of conversation in the parlor, but had not at all + awakened to its import until these sentences fell, or, I might rather say, + were hurled upon my ear. I presume the young people had either not seen me + lying there,—the Venetian blinds opening from the parlor windows + upon the piazza were partly closed on account of the heat,—or else + in their excitement they had forgotten my proximity. + </p> + <p> + I felt somewhat concerned. The young man, I had remarked, was proud, firm, + jealous of the point of honor, and, from my observation of him, quite + likely to resent to the bitter end what he deemed a slight or an + injustice. The girl, I knew, was quite as high-spirited as young + Murchison. I feared she was not so just, and hoped she would prove more + yielding. I knew that her affections were strong and enduring, but that + her temperament was capricious, and her sunniest moods easily overcast by + some small cloud of jealousy or pique. I had never imagined, however, that + she was capable of such intensity as was revealed by these few words of + hers. As I say, I felt concerned. I had learned to like Malcolm Murchison, + and had heartily consented to his marriage with my ward; for it was in + that capacity that I had stood for a year or two to my wife's younger + sister, Mabel. The match thus rudely broken off had promised to be another + link binding me to the kindly Southern people among whom I had not long + before taken up my residence. + </p> + <p> + Young Murchison came out of the door, cleared the piazza in two strides + without seeming aware of my presence, and went off down the lane at a + furious pace. A few moments later Mabel began playing the piano loudly, + with a touch that indicated anger and pride and independence and a dash of + exultation, as though she were really glad that she had driven away + forever the young man whom the day before she had loved with all the ardor + of a first passion. + </p> + <p> + I hoped that time might heal the breach and bring the two young people + together again. I told my wife what I had overheard. In return she gave me + Mabel's version of the affair. + </p> + <p> + "I do not see how it can ever be settled," my wife said. "It is something + more than a mere lovers' quarrel. It began, it is true, because she found + fault with him for going to church with that hateful Branson girl. But + before it ended there were things said that no woman of any spirit could + stand. I am afraid it is all over between them." + </p> + <p> + I was sorry to hear this. In spite of the very firm attitude taken by my + wife and her sister, I still hoped that the quarrel would be made up + within a day or two. Nevertheless, when a week had passed with no word + from young Murchison, and with no sign of relenting on Mabel's part, I + began to think myself mistaken. + </p> + <p> + One pleasant afternoon, about ten days after the rupture, old Julius drove + the rockaway up to the piazza, and my wife, Mabel, and I took our seats + for a drive to a neighbor's vineyard, over on the Lumberton plankroad. + </p> + <p> + "Which way shall we go," I asked,—"the short road or the long one?" + </p> + <p> + "I guess we had better take the short road," answered my wife. "We will + get there sooner." + </p> + <p> + "It's a mighty fine dribe roun' by de big road, Mis' Annie," observed + Julius, "en it doan take much longer to git dere." + </p> + <p> + "No," said my wife, "I think we will go by the short road. There is a bay + tree in blossom near the mineral spring, and I wish to get some of the + flowers." + </p> + <p> + "I 'spec's you'd find some bay trees 'long de big road, ma'am," said + Julius. + </p> + <p> + "But I know about the flowers on the short road, and they are the ones I + want." + </p> + <p> + We drove down the lane to the highway, and soon struck into the short road + leading past the mineral spring. Our route lay partly through a swamp, and + on each side the dark, umbrageous foliage, unbroken by any clearing, lent + to the road solemnity, and to the air a refreshing coolness. About half a + mile from the house, and about halfway to the mineral spring, we stopped + at the tree of which my wife had spoken, and reaching up to the + low-hanging boughs I gathered a dozen of the fragrant white flowers. When + I resumed my seat in the rockaway, Julius started the mare. She went on + for a few rods, until we had reached the edge of a branch crossing the + road, when she stopped short. + </p> + <p> + "Why did you stop, Julius?" I asked. + </p> + <p> + "I didn', suh," he replied. "'T wuz de mare stop'. G' 'long dere, Lucy! + W'at you mean by dis foolis'ness?" + </p> + <p> + Julius jerked the reins and applied the whip lightly, but the mare did not + stir. + </p> + <p> + "Perhaps you had better get down and lead her," I suggested. "If you get + her started, you can cross on the log and keep your feet dry." + </p> + <p> + Julius alighted, took hold of the bridle, and vainly essayed to make the + mare move. She planted her feet with even more evident obstinacy. + </p> + <p> + "I don't know what to make of this," I said. "I have never known her to + balk before. Have you, Julius?" + </p> + <p> + "No, suh," replied the old man, "I nebber has. It's a cu'ous thing ter me, + suh." + </p> + <p> + "What's the best way to make her go?" + </p> + <p> + "I 'spec's, suh, dat ef I'd tu'n her roun' she'd go de udder way." + </p> + <p> + "But we want her to go this way." + </p> + <p> + "Well, suh, I 'low ef we des set heah fo' er fibe minutes, she'll sta't up + by herse'f." + </p> + <p> + "All right," I rejoined, "it is cooler here than any place I have struck + to-day. We'll let her stand for a while, and see what she does." + </p> + <p> + We had sat in silence for a few minutes, when Julius suddenly ejaculated, + "Uh huh! I knows w'y dis mare doan go. It des flash 'cross my + reccommemb'ance." + </p> + <p> + "Why is it, Julius?" I inquired. + </p> + <p> + "Ca'se she sees Chloe." + </p> + <p> + "Where is Chloe?" I demanded. + </p> + <p> + "Chloe's done be'n dead dese fo'ty years er mo'," the old man returned. + "Her ha'nt is settin' ober yander on de udder side er de branch, unner dat + willer tree, dis blessed minute." + </p> + <p> + "Why, Julius!" said my wife, "do you see the haunt?" + </p> + <p> + "No'm," he answered, shaking his head, "I doan see 'er, but de mare sees + 'er." + </p> + <p> + "How do you know?" I inquired. + </p> + <p> + "Well, suh, dis yer is a gray hoss, en dis yer is a Friday; en a gray hoss + kin alluz see a ha'nt w'at walks on Friday." + </p> + <p> + "Who was Chloe?" said Mabel. + </p> + <p> + "And why does Chloe's haunt walk?" asked my wife. + </p> + <p> + "It's all in de tale, ma'am," Julius replied, with a deep sigh. "It's all + in de tale." + </p> + <p> + "Tell us the tale," I said. "Perhaps, by the time you get through, the + haunt will go away and the mare will cross." + </p> + <p> + I was willing to humor the old man's fancy. He had not told us a story for + some time; and the dark and solemn swamp around us; the amber-colored + stream flowing silently and sluggishly at our feet, like the waters of + Lethe; the heavy, aromatic scent of the bays, faintly suggestive of + funeral wreaths,—all made the place an ideal one for a ghost story. + </p> + <p> + "Chloe," Julius began in a subdued tone, "use' ter b'long ter ole Mars' + Dugal' McAdoo—my ole marster. She wuz a ladly gal en a smart gal, en + ole mis' tuk her up ter de big house, en l'arnt her ter wait on de w'ite + folks, 'tel bimeby she come ter be mis's own maid, en 'peared ter 'low she + run de house herse'f, ter heah her talk erbout it. I wuz a young boy den, + en use' ter wuk about de stables, so I knowed ev'ythin' dat wuz gwine on + roun' de plantation. + </p> + <p> + "Well, one time Mars' Dugal' wanted a house boy, en sont down ter de + qua'ters fer hab Jeff en Hannibal come up ter de big house nex' mawnin'. + Ole marster en ole mis' look' de two boys ober, en 'sco'sed wid deyse'ves + fer a little w'ile, en den Mars' Dugal' sez, sezee:— + </p> + <p> + "'We laks Hannibal de bes', en we gwine ter keep him. Heah, Hannibal, + you'll wuk at de house fum now on. En ef you're a good nigger en min's yo' + bizness, I'll gib you Chloe fer a wife nex' spring. You other nigger, you + Jeff, you kin go back ter de qua'ters. We ain' gwine ter need you.' + </p> + <p> + "Now Chloe had be'n standin' dere behin' ole mis' dyoin' all er dis yer + talk, en Chloe made up her min' fum de ve'y fus' minute she sot eyes on + dem two dat she didn' lak dat nigger Hannibal, en wa'n't nebber gwine keer + fer 'im, en she wuz des ez sho' dat she lak Jeff, en wuz gwine ter set + sto' by 'im, whuther Mars' Dugal' tuk 'im in de big house er no; en so + co'se Chloe wuz monst'us sorry w'en ole Mars' Dugal' tuk Hannibal en sont + Jeff back. So she slip' roun' de house en waylaid Jeff on de way back ter + de qua'ters en tol' 'im not ter be downhea'ted, fer she wuz gwine ter see + ef she couldn' fin' some way er 'nuther ter git rid er dat nigger + Hannibal, en git Jeff up ter de house in his place. + </p> + <p> + "De noo house boy kotch on monst'us fas', en it wa'n't no time ha'dly + befo' Mars' Dugal' en ole mis' bofe 'mence' ter 'low Hannibal wuz de bes' + house boy dey eber had. He wuz peart en soopl', quick ez lightnin', en + sha'p ez a razor. But Chloe didn' lak his ways. He wuz so sho' he wuz + gwine ter git 'er in de spring, dat he didn' 'pear ter 'low he had ter do + any co'tin', en w'en he'd run 'cross Chloe 'bout de house, he'd swell + roun' 'er in a biggity way en say: + </p> + <p> + "'Come heah en kiss me, honey. You gwine ter be mine in de spring. You + doan 'pear ter be ez fon' er me ez you oughter be.' + </p> + <p> + "Chloe didn' keer nuffin' fer Hannibal, en hadn' keered nuffin' fer 'im, + en she sot des ez much sto' by Jeff ez she did de day she fus' laid eyes + on 'im. En de mo' fermilyus dis yer Hannibal got, de mo' Chloe let her + min' run on Jeff, en one ebenin' she went down ter de qua'ters en watch', + 'tel she got a chance fer ter talk wid 'im by hisse'f. En she tol' Jeff + fer ter go down en see ole Aun' Peggy, de cunjuh-'oman down by de + Wim'l'ton Road, en ax her fer ter gib 'im sump'n ter he'p git Hannibal + out'n de big house, so de w'ite folks 'u'd sen' fer Jeff ag'in. En bein' + ez Jeff didn' hab nuffin' ter gib Aun' Peggy, Chloe gun i'm a silber + dollah en a silk han'kercher fer ter pay her wid, fer Aun' Peggy nebber + lak ter wuk fer nobody fer nuffin'. + </p> + <p> + "So Jeff slip' off down ter Aun' Peggy's one night, en gun 'er de presents + he brung, en tol' er all 'bout 'im en Chloe en Hannibal, en ax' 'er ter + he'p 'im out. Aun' Peggy tol' 'im she'd wuk 'er roots, en fer 'im ter come + back de nex' night, en she'd tell 'im w'at she c'd do fer 'im. + </p> + <p> + "So de nex' night Jeff went back, en Aun' Peggy gun 'im a baby-doll, wid a + body made out'n a piece er co'n-stalk, en wid splinters fer a'ms en legs, + en a head made out'n elderberry peth, en two little red peppers fer feet. + </p> + <p> + "'Dis yer baby-doll,' sez she, 'is Hannibal. Dis yer peth head is + Hannibal's head, en dese yer pepper feet is Hannibal's feet. You take dis + en hide it unner de house, on de sill unner de do', whar Hannibal'll + hafter walk ober it ev'y day. En ez long ez Hannibal comes anywhar nigh + dis baby-doll, he'll be des lak it is—light-headed en hot-footed; en + ef dem two things doan git 'im inter trouble mighty soon, den I'm no + cunjuh-'oman. But w'en you git Hannibal out'n de house, en git all thoo + wid dis baby-doll, you mus' fetch it back ter me, fer it's monst'us + powerful goopher, en is liable ter make mo' trouble ef you leabe it layin' + roun'.' + </p> + <p> + "Well, Jeff tuk de baby-doll, en slip' up ter de big house, en whistle' + ter Chloe, en w'en she come out he tol' 'er w'at ole Aun' Peggy had said. + En Chloe showed 'im how ter git unner de house, en w'en he had put de + cunjuh-doll on de sill he went 'long back ter de qua'ters—en des + waited. + </p> + <p> + "Nex' day, sho' 'nuff, de goopher 'mence' ter wuk. Hannibal sta'ted in de + house soon in de mawnin' wid a armful er wood ter make a fier, en he hadn' + mo' d'n got 'cross de do'sill befo' his feet begun ter bu'n so dat he + drap' de armful er wood on de flo' en woke ole mis' up an hour sooner'n + yuzhal, en co'se ole mis' didn' lak dat, en spoke sha'p erbout it. + </p> + <p> + "W'en dinner-time come, en Hannibal wuz help'n de cook kyar de dinner f'm + de kitchen inter de big house, en wuz gittin' close ter de do' what he had + ter go in, his feet sta'ted ter bu'n en his head begun ter swim, en he let + de big dish er chicken en dumplin's fall right down in de dirt, in de + middle er de ya'd, en de w'ite folks had ter make dey dinner dat day off'n + col' ham en sweet pertaters. + </p> + <p> + "De nex' mawnin' he overslep' hisse'f, en got inter mo' trouble. Atter + breakfus', Mars' Dugal' sont 'im ober ter Mars' Marrabo Utley's fer ter + borry a monkey wrench. He oughter be'n back in ha'f an hour, but he come + pokin' home 'bout dinner'time wid a screw-driver stidder a monkey wrench. + Mars' Dugal' sont ernudder nigger back wid de screw-driver, en Hannibal + didn' git no dinner. 'Long in de atternoon, ole mis' sot Hannibal ter + weedin' de flowers in de front gyahden, en Hannibal dug up all de bulbs + ole mis' had sont erway fer, en paid a lot er money fer, en tuk 'em down + ter de hawg-pen by de ba'nya'd, en fed 'em ter de hawgs. W'en ole mis' + come out in de cool er de ebenin', en seed w'at Hannibal had done, she wuz + mos' crazy, en she wrote a note en sont Hannibal down ter de obserseah wid + it. + </p> + <p> + "But w'at Hannibal got fum de oberseah didn' 'pear ter do no good. Ev'y + now en den 'is feet'd 'mence ter torment 'im, en 'is min' 'u'd git all + mix' up, en his conduc' kep' gittin' wusser en wusser, 'tel fin'ly de + w'ite folks couldn' stan' it no longer, en Mars' Dugal' tuk Hannibal back + down ter de qua'ters. + </p> + <p> + "'Mr. Smif,' sez Mars' Dugal' ter de oberseah, 'dis yer nigger has tu'nt + out so triflin' yer lately, dat we can't keep 'im at de house no mo', en + I's fotch' 'im ter you ter be straighten' up. You's had 'casion ter deal + wid 'im once, so he knows w'at ter expec'. You des take 'im in han', en + lemme know how he tu'ns out. En w'en de han's comes in fum de fiel' dis + ebenin' you kin sen' dat yaller nigger Jeff up ter de house. I'll try 'im, + en see ef he's any better'n Hannibal.' + </p> + <p> + "So Jeff went up ter de big house, en pleas' Mars' Dugal' en ole mis' en + de res' er de fambly so well dat dey all got ter lakin' 'im fus'rate, en + dey'd 'a' fergot all 'bout Hannibal ef it hadn' be'n fer de bad repo'ts + w'at come up fum de qua'ters 'bout 'im fer a mont' er so. Fac' is dat + Chloe en Jeff wuz so int'rusted in one ernudder since Jeff be'n up ter de + house, dat dey fergot all about takin' de baby-doll back ter Aun' Peggy, + en it kep' wukkin fer a w'ile, en makin' Hannibal's feet bu'n mo' er less, + 'tel all de folks on de plantation got ter callin' 'im Hot-Foot Hannibal. + He kep' gittin' mo' en mo' triflin', 'tel he got de name er bein' de mos' + no 'countes' nigger on de plantation, en Mars' Dugal' had ter th'eaten ter + sell 'im in de spring; w'en bimeby de goopher quit wukkin', en Hannibal + 'mence' ter pick up some en make folks set a little mo' sto' by 'im. + </p> + <p> + "Now, dis yer Hannibal was a monst'us sma't nigger, en w'en he got rid er + dem so' feet his min' kep' runnin' on 'is udder troubles. Heah th'ee er + fo' weeks befo' he'd had a' easy job, waitin' on de w'ite folks, libbin + off'n de fat er de lan', en promus' de fines' gal on de plantation fer a + wife in de spring, en now heah he wuz back in de co'nfiel', wid de + oberseah a-cussin' en a r'arin' ef he didn' get a ha'd tas' done; wid + nuffin' but co'n bread en bacon en merlasses ter eat; en all de fiel-han's + makin' rema'ks, en pokin' fun at 'im ca'se he be'n sont back fum de big + house ter de fiel'. En de mo' Hannibal studied 'bout it de mo' madder he + got, 'tel he fin'ly swo' he wuz gwine ter git eben wid Jeff en Chloe ef it + wuz de las' ac'. + </p> + <p> + "So Hannibal slipped 'way fum de qua'ters one Sunday en hid in de co'n up + close ter de big house, 'tel he see Chloe gwine down de road. He waylaid + her, en sezee:— + </p> + <p> + "'Hoddy, Chloe?' + </p> + <p> + "'I ain't got no time fer ter fool wid fiel'-han's,' sez Chloe, tossin' + her head; 'W'at you want wid me, Hot-Foot?' + </p> + <p> + "'I wants ter know how you en Jeff is gittin' 'long.' + </p> + <p> + "'I 'lows dat's none er yo' bizness, nigger. I doan see w'at 'casion any + common fiel'-han' has got ter mix in wid de 'fairs er folks w'at libs in + de big house. But ef it'll do you any good ter know, I mought say dat me + en Jeff is gittin' 'long mighty well, en we gwine ter git married in de + spring, en you ain' gwine ter be 'vited ter de weddin' nuther.' + </p> + <p> + "'No, no!' sezee, 'I wouldn' 'spec' ter be 'vited ter de weddin',—a + common, low-down fiel'-han' lak I is. But I's glad ter heah you en Jeff is + gittin' 'long so well. I didn' knowed but w'at he had 'mence' ter be a + little ti'ed.' + </p> + <p> + "'Ti'ed er me? Dat's rediklus!' sez Chloe. 'W'y, dat nigger lubs me so I + b'liebe he'd go th'oo fier en water fer me. Dat nigger is des wrop' up in + me.' + </p> + <p> + "'Uh huh,' sez Hannibal, 'den I reckon is mus' be some udder nigger w'at + meets a 'oman down by de crick in de swamp ev'y Sunday ebenin', ter say + nuffin' 'bout two er th'ee times a week.' + </p> + <p> + "'Yas, hit is ernudder nigger, en you is a liah w'en you say it wuz Jeff.' + </p> + <p> + "'Mebbe I is a liah, en mebbe I ain' got good eyes. But 'less'n I IS a + liah, en 'less'n I AIN' got good eyes, Jeff is gwine ter meet dat 'oman + dis ebenin' long 'bout eight o'clock right down dere by de crick in de + swamp 'bout halfway betwix' dis plantation en Mars' Marrabo Utley's.' + </p> + <p> + "Well, Chloe tol' Hannibal she didn' b'liebe a wud he said, en call' 'im a + low-down nigger who wuz tryin' ter slander Jeff 'ca'se he wuz mo' + luckier'n he wuz. But all de same, she couldn' keep her min' fum runnin' + on w'at Hannibal had said. She 'membered she'd heared one er de niggers + say dey wuz a gal ober at Mars' Marrabo Utley's plantation w'at Jeff use' + ter go wid some befo' he got 'quainted wid Chloe. Den she 'mence' ter + figger back, en sho' 'nuff, dey wuz two er th'ee times in de las' week + w'en she'd be'n he'p'n de ladies wid dey dressin' en udder fixin's in de + ebenin', en Jeff mought 'a' gone down ter de swamp widout her knowin' + 'bout it at all. En den she 'mence' ter 'member little things w'at she + hadn' tuk no notice of befo', en w'at 'u'd make it 'pear lak Jeff had + sump'n on his min'. + </p> + <p> + "Chloe set a monst'us heap er sto' by Jeff, en would 'a' done mos' + anythin' fer 'im, so long ez he stuck ter her. But Chloe wuz a mighty + jealous 'oman, en w'iles she didn' b'liebe w'at Hannibal said, she seed + how it COULD 'a' be'n so, en she 'termine' fer ter fin' out fer herse'f + whuther it WUZ so er no. + </p> + <p> + "Now, Chloe hadn' seed Jeff all day, fer Mars' Dugal' had sont Jeff ober + ter his daughter's house, young Mis' Ma'g'ret's, w'at libbed 'bout fo' + miles fum Mars' Dugal's, en Jeff wuzn' 'spected home 'tel ebenin'. But des + atter supper wuz ober, en w'iles de ladies wuz settin' out on de piazzer, + Chloe slip' off fum de house en run down de road,—dis yer same road + we come; en w'en she got mos' ter de crick—dis yer same crick right + befo' us—she kin' er kip' in de bushes at de side er de road, 'tel + fin'ly she seed Jeff settin' on de back on de udder side er de crick,—right + under dat ole willer tree droopin' ober de watah yander. En ev'y now en + den he'd git up en look up de road to'ds Mars' Marrabo's on de udder side + er de swamp. + </p> + <p> + "Fus' Chloe felt lak she'd go right ober de crick en gib Jeff a piece er + her min'. Den she 'lowed she better be sho' befo' she done anythin'. So + she helt herse'f in de bes' she could, gittin' madder en madder ev'ry + minute, 'tel bimeby she seed a 'oman comin' down de road on de udder side + fum to'ds Mars' Marrabo Utley's plantation. En w'en she seed Jeff jump up + en run to'ds dat 'oman, en th'ow his a'ms roun' her neck, po' Chloe didn' + stop ter see no mo', but des tu'nt roun' en run up ter de house, en rush' + up on de piazzer, en up en tol' Mars' Dugal' en ole mis' all 'bout de + baby-doll, en all 'bout Jeff gittin' de goopher fum Aun' Peggy, en 'bout + w'at de goopher had done ter Hannibal. + </p> + <p> + "Mars' Dugal' wuz monst'us mad. He didn' let on at fus' lak he b'liebed + Chloe, but w'en she tuk en showed 'im whar ter fin' de baby-doll, Mars' + Dugal' tu'nt w'ite ez chalk. + </p> + <p> + "'What debil's wuk is dis?' sezee. 'No wonder de po' nigger's feet + eetched. Sump'n got ter be done ter l'arn dat ole witch ter keep her han's + off'n my niggers. En ez fer dis yer Jeff, I'm gwine ter do des w'at I + promus', so de darkies on dis plantation'll know I means w'at I sez.' + </p> + <p> + "Fer Mars' Dugal' had warned de han's befo' 'bout foolin' wid cunju'ation; + fac', he had los' one er two niggers hisse'f fum dey bein' goophered, en + he would 'a' had ole Aun' Peggy whip' long ago, on'y Aun' Peggy wuz a free + 'oman, en he wuz 'feard she'd cunjuh him. En wi'les Mars' Dugal' say he + didn' b'liebe in cunj'in' en sich, he 'peared ter 'low it wuz bes' ter be + on de safe side, en let Aun' Peggy alone. + </p> + <p> + "So Mars' Dugal' done des ez he say. Ef ole mis' had ple'd fer Jeff he + mought 'a' kep' 'im. But ole mis' hadn' got ober losin' dem bulbs yit, en + she nebber said a wud. Mars' Dugal' tuk Jeff ter town nex' day en' sol' + 'im ter a spekilater, who sta'ted down de ribber wid 'im nex' mawnin' on a + steamboat, fer ter take 'im ter Alabama. + </p> + <p> + "Now, w'en Chloe tol' ole Mars' Dugal' 'bout dis yer baby-doll en dis + udder goopher, she hadn' ha'dly 'lowed Mars' Dugal' would sell Jeff down + Souf. Howsomeber, she wuz so mad wid Jeff dat she 'suaded herse'f she + didn' keer; en so she hilt her head up en went roun' lookin' lak she wuz + rale glad 'bout it. But one day she wuz walkin' down de road, w'en who + sh'd come 'long but dis yer Hannibal. + </p> + <p> + "W'en Hannibal seed 'er he bus' out laffin' fittin' fer ter kill: 'Yah, + yah, yah! ho, ho, ho! ha, ha, ha! Oh, hol' me, honey, hol' me, er I'll laf + myse'f ter def. I ain' nebber laf' so much sence I be'n bawn.' + </p> + <p> + "'W'at you laffin' at, Hot-Foot?' + </p> + <p> + "'Yah, yah, yah! W'at I laffin' at? W'y, I's laffin' at myse'f, tooby + sho',—laffin' ter think w'at a fine 'oman I made.' + </p> + <p> + "Chloe tu'nt pale, en her hea't come up in her mouf. + </p> + <p> + "'W'at you mean, nigger?' sez she, ketchin' holt er a bush by de road fer + ter stiddy herse'f. 'W'at you mean by de kin' er 'oman you made?' + </p> + <p> + "W'at do I mean? I means dat I got squared up wid you fer treatin' me de + way you done, en I got eben wid dat yaller nigger Jeff fer cuttin' me out. + Now, he's gwine ter know w'at it is ter eat co'n bread en merlasses once + mo', en wuk fum daylight ter da'k, en ter hab a oberseah dribin' 'im fum + one day's een' ter de udder. I means dat I sont wud ter Jeff dat Sunday + dat you wuz gwine ter be ober ter Mars' Marrabo's visitin' dat ebenin', en + you want i'm ter meet you down by de crick on de way home en go de rest er + de road wid you. En den I put on a frock en a sun-bonnet en fix' myse'f up + ter look lak a 'oman; en w'en Jeff seed me comin' he run ter meet me, en + you seed 'im,—fer I had be'n watchin' in de bushes befo' en + 'skivered you comin' down de road. En now I reckon you en Jeff bofe knows + w'at it means ter mess wid a nigger lak me.' + </p> + <p> + "Po' Chloe hadn' heared mo' d'n half er de las' part er w'at Hannibal + said, but she had heared 'nuff to l'arn dat dis nigger had fooler her en + Jeff, en dat po' Jeff hadn' done nuffin', en dat fer lovin' her too much + en goin' ter meet her she had cause' 'im ter be sol' erway whar she'd + nebber, nebber see 'im no mo'. De sun mought shine by day, de moon by + night, de flowers mought bloom, en de mawkin'-birds mought sing, but po' + Jeff wuz done los' ter her fereber en fereber. + </p> + <p> + "Hannibal hadn' mo' d'n finish' w'at he had ter say, w'en Chloe's knees + gun 'way unner her, en she fell down in de road, en lay dere half a' hour + er so befo' she come to. W'en she did, she crep' up ter de house des ez + pale ez a ghos'. En fer a mont' er so she crawled roun' de house, en + 'peared ter be so po'ly dat Mars' Dugal' sont fer a doctor; en de doctor + kep' on axin' her questions 'tel he foun' she wuz des pinin' erway fer + Jeff. + </p> + <p> + "W'en he tol' Mars' Dugal', Mars' Dugal' lafft, en said he'd fix dat. She + could hab de noo house boy fer a husban'. But ole mis' say, no, Chloe ain' + dat kinder gal, en dat Mars' Dugal' should buy Jeff back. + </p> + <p> + "So Mars' Dugal' writ a letter ter dis yer spekilater down ter Wim'l'ton, + en tol' ef he ain' done sol' dat nigger Souf w'at he bought fum 'im, he'd + lak ter buy 'm back ag'in. Chloe 'mence' ter pick up a little w'en ole + mis' tol' her 'bout dis letter. Howsomeber, bimeby Mars' Dugal' got a' + answer fum de spekilater, who said he wuz monst'us sorry, but Jeff had + fell ove'boa'd er jumped off'n de steamboat on de way ter Wim'l'ton, en + got drownded, en co'se he couldn' sell 'im back, much ez he'd lak ter + 'bleedge Mars' Dugal'. + </p> + <p> + "Well, atter Chloe heared dis she pu'tended ter do her wuk, en ole mis' + wa'n't much mo' use ter nobody. She put up wid her, en hed de doctor gib + her medicine, en let 'er go ter de circus, en all so'ts er things fer ter + take her min' off'n her troubles. But dey didn' none un 'em do no good. + Chloe got ter slippin' down here in de ebenin' des lak she 'uz comin' ter + meet Jeff, en she'd set dere unner dat willer tree on de udder side, en + wait fer 'im, night atter night. Bimeby she got so bad de w'ite folks sont + her ober ter young Mis' Ma'g'ret's fer ter gib her a change; but she + runned erway de fus' night, en w'en dey looked fer 'er nex' mawnin' dey + foun' her co'pse layin' in de branch yander, right 'cross fum whar we're + settin' now. + </p> + <p> + "Eber sence den," said Julius in conclusion, "Chloe's ha'nt comes eve'y + ebenin' en sets down unner dat willer tree en waits fer Jeff, er e'se + walks up en down de road yander, lookin' en lookin', en' [sic] waitin' en + waitin', fer her sweethea't w'at ain' nebber, nebber come back ter her no + mo'." + </p> + <p> + There was silence when the old man had finished, and I am sure I saw a + tear in my wife's eye, and more than one in Mabel's. + </p> + <p> + "I think, Julius," said my wife after a moment, "that you may turn the + mare around and go by the long road." + </p> + <p> + The old man obeyed with alacrity, and I noticed no reluctance on the + mare's part. + </p> + <p> + "You are not afraid of Chloe's haunt, are you?" I asked jocularly. + </p> + <p> + My mood was not responded to, and neither of the ladies smiled. + </p> + <p> + "Oh no," said Annie, "but I've changed my mind. I prefer the other route." + </p> + <p> + When we had reached the main road and had proceeded along it for a short + distance, we met a cart driven by a young negro, and on the cart were a + trunk and a valise. We recognized the man as Malcolm Murchison's servant, + and drew up a moment to speak to him. + </p> + <p> + "Who's going away, Marshall?" I inquired. + </p> + <p> + "Young Mistah Ma'colm gwine 'way on de boat ter Noo Yo'k dis ebenin', suh, + en I'm takin' his things down ter de wharf, suh." + </p> + <p> + This was news to me, and I heard it with regret. My wife looked sorry, + too, and I could see that Mabel was trying hard to hide her concern. + </p> + <p> + "He's comin' 'long behin', suh, en I 'spec's you'll meet 'im up de road a + piece. He's gwine ter walk down ez fur ez Mistah Jim Williams's, en take + de buggy fum dere ter town. He 'spec's ter be gone a long time, suh, en + say prob'ly he ain' nebber comin' back." + </p> + <p> + The man drove on. There were a few words exchanged in an undertone between + my wife and Mabel, which I did not catch. Then Annie said: "Julius, you + may stop the rockaway a moment. There are some trumpet-flowers by the road + there that I want. Will you get them for me, John?" + </p> + <p> + I sprang into the underbrush, and soon returned with a great bunch of + scarlet blossoms. + </p> + <p> + "Where is Mabel?" I asked, noting her absence. + </p> + <p> + "She has walked on ahead. We shall overtake her in a few minutes." + </p> + <p> + The carriage had gone only a short distance when my wife discovered that + she had dropped her fan. + </p> + <p> + "I had it where we were stopping. Julius, will you go back and get it for + me?" + </p> + <p> + Julius got down and went back for the fan. He was an unconscionably long + time finding it. After we got started again we had gone only a little way, + when we saw Mabel and young Murchison coming toward us. They were walking + arm in arm, and their faces were aglow with the light of love. + </p> + <p> + I do not know whether or not Julius had a previous understanding with + Malcolm Murchison by which he was to drive us round by the long road that + day, nor do I know exactly what motive influenced the old man's exertions + in the matter. He was fond of Mabel, but I was old enough, and knew Julius + well enough, to be skeptical of his motives. It is certain that a most + excellent understanding existed between him and Murchison after the + reconciliation, and that when the young people set up housekeeping over at + the old Murchison place Julius had an opportunity to enter their service. + For some reason or other, however, he preferred to remain with us. The + mare, I might add, was never known to balk again. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0016" id="link2H_4_0016"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + A NEGRO SCHOOLMASTER IN THE NEW SOUTH by W. E. Burghardt Du Bois + </h2> + <p> + Once upon a time I taught school in the hills of Tennessee, where the + broad dark vale of the Mississippi begins to roll and crumple to greet the + Alleghanies. I was a Fisk student then, and all Fisk men think that + Tennessee—beyond the Veil—is theirs alone, and in vacation + time they sally forth in lusty bands to meet the county school + commissioners. Young and happy, I too went, and I shall not soon forget + that summer, ten years ago. + </p> + <p> + First, there was a teachers' Institute at the county-seat; and there + distinguished guests of the superintendent taught the teachers fractions + and spelling and other mysteries,—white teachers in the morning, + Negroes at night. A picnic now and then, and a supper, and the rough world + was softened by laughter and song. I remember how—But I wander. + </p> + <p> + There came a day when all the teachers left the Institute, and began the + hunt for schools. I learn from hearsay (for my mother was mortally afraid + of firearms) that the hunting of ducks and bears and men is wonderfully + interesting, but I am sure that the man who has never hunted a country + school has something to learn of the pleasures of the chase. I see now the + white, hot roads lazily rise and fall and wind before me under the burning + July sun; I feel the deep weariness of heart and limb, as ten, eight, six + miles stretch relentlessly ahead; I feel my heart sink heavily as I hear + again and again, "Got a teacher? Yes." So I walked on and on,—horses + were too expensive,—until I had wandered beyond railways, beyond + stage lines, to a land of "varmints" and rattlesnakes, where the coming of + a stranger was an event, and men lived and died in the shadow of one blue + hill. + </p> + <p> + Sprinkled over hill and dale lay cabins and farmhouses, shut out from the + world by the forests and the rolling hills toward the east. There I found + at last a little school. Josie told me of it; she was a thin, homely girl + of twenty, with a dark brown face and thick, hard hair. I had crossed the + stream at Watertown, and rested under the great willows; then I had gone + to the little cabin in the lot where Josie was resting on her way to town. + The gaunt farmer made me welcome, and Josie, hearing my errand, told me + anxiously that they wanted a school over the hill; that but once since the + war had a teacher been there; that she herself longed to learn,—and + thus she ran on, talking fast and loud, with much earnestness and energy. + </p> + <p> + Next morning I crossed the tall round hill, lingered to look at the blue + and yellow mountains stretching toward the Carolinas; then I plunged into + the wood, and came out at Josie's home. It was a dull frame cottage with + four rooms, perched just below the brow of the hill, amid peach trees. The + father was a quiet, simple soul, calmly ignorant, with no touch of + vulgarity. The mother was different,—strong, bustling, and + energetic, with a quick, restless tongue, and an ambition to live "like + folks." There was a crowd of children. Two boys had gone away. There + remained two growing girls; a shy midget of eight; John, tall, awkward, + and eighteen; Jim, younger, quicker, and better looking; and two babies of + indefinite age. Then there was Josie herself. She seemed to be the centre + of the family: always busy at service or at home, or berry-picking; a + little nervous and inclined to scold, like her mother, yet faithful, too, + like her father. She had about her a certain fineness, the shadow of an + unconscious moral heroism that would willingly give all of life to make + life broader, deeper, and fuller for her and hers. I saw much of this + family afterward, and grew to love them for their honest efforts to be + decent and comfortable, and for their knowledge of their own ignorance. + There was with them no affectation. The mother would scold the father for + being so "easy;" Josie would roundly rate the boys for carelessness; and + all knew that it was a hard thing to dig a living out of a rocky side + hill. + </p> + <p> + I secured the school. I remember the day I rode horseback out to the + commissioner's house, with a pleasant young white fellow, who wanted the + white school. The road ran down the bed of a stream; the sun laughed and + the water jingled, and we rode on. "Come in," said the commissioner,—"come + in. Have a seat. Yes, that certificate will do. Stay to dinner. What do + you want a month?" Oh, thought I, this is lucky; but even then fell the + awful shadow of the Veil, for they ate first, then I—alone. + </p> + <p> + The schoolhouse was a log hut, where Colonel Wheeler used to shelter his + corn. It sat in a lot behind a rail fence and thorn bushes, near the + sweetest of springs. There was an entrance where a door once was, and + within, a massive rickety fireplace; great chinks between the logs served + as windows. Furniture was scarce. A pale blackboard crouched in the + corner. My desk was made of three boards, reinforced at critical points, + and my chair, borrowed from the landlady, had to be returned every night. + Seats for the children,—these puzzled me much. I was haunted by a + New England vision of neat little desks and chairs, but, alas, the reality + was rough plank benches without backs, and at times without legs. They had + the one virtue of making naps dangerous,—possibly fatal, for the + floor was not to be trusted. + </p> + <p> + It was a hot morning late in July when the school opened. I trembled when + I heard the patter of little feet down the dusty road, and saw the growing + row of dark solemn faces and bright eager eyes facing me. First came Josie + and her brothers and sisters. The longing to know, to be a student in the + great school at Nashville, hovered like a star above this child woman amid + her work and worry, and she studied doggedly. There were the Dowells from + their farm over toward Alexandria: Fanny, with her smooth black face and + wondering eyes; Martha, brown and dull; the pretty girl wife of a brother, + and the younger brood. There were the Burkes, two brown and yellow lads, + and a tiny haughty-eyed girl. Fat Reuben's little chubby girl came, with + golden face and old gold hair, faithful and solemn. 'Thenie was on hand + early,—a jolly, ugly, good-hearted girl, who slyly dipped snuff and + looked after her little bow-legged brother. When her mother could spare + her, 'Tildy came,—a midnight beauty, with starry eyes and tapering + limbs; and her brother, correspondingly homely. And then the big boys: the + hulking Lawrences; the lazy Neills, unfathered sons of mother and + daughter; Hickman, with a stoop in his shoulders; and the rest. + </p> + <p> + There they sat, nearly thirty of them, on the rough benches, their faces + shading from a pale cream to a deep brown, the little feet bare and + swinging, the eyes full of expectation, with here and there a twinkle of + mischief, and the hands grasping Webster's blue-back spelling-book. I + loved my school, and the fine faith the children had in the wisdom of + their teacher was truly marvelous. We read and spelled together, wrote a + little, picked flowers, sang, and listened to stories of the world beyond + the hill. At times the school would dwindle away, and I would start out. I + would visit Mun Eddings, who lived in two very dirty rooms, and ask why + little Lugene, whose flaming face seemed ever ablaze with the dark red + hair uncombed, was absent all last week, or why I missed so often the + inimitable rags of Mack and Ed. Then the father, who worked Colonel + Wheeler's farm on shares, would tell me how the crops needed the boys; and + the thin, slovenly mother, whose face was pretty when washed, assured me + that Lugene must mind the baby. "But we'll start them again next week." + When the Lawrences stopped, I knew that the doubts of the old folks about + book-learning had conquered again, and so, toiling up the hill, and + getting as far into the cabin as possible, I put Cicero pro Archia Poeta + into the simplest English with local applications, and usually convinced + them—for a week or so. + </p> + <p> + On Friday nights I often went home with some of the children; sometimes to + Doc Burke's farm. He was a great, loud, thin Black, ever working, and + trying to buy the seventy-five acres of hill and dale where he lived; but + people said that he would surely fail, and the "white folks would get it + all." His wife was a magnificent Amazon, with saffron face and shining + hair, uncorseted and barefooted, and the children were strong and + beautiful. They lived in a one-and-a-half-room cabin in the hollow of the + farm, near the spring. The front room was full of great fat white beds, + scrupulously neat; and there were bad chromos on the walls, and a tired + centre-table. In the tiny back kitchen I was often invited to "take out + and help" myself to fried chicken and wheat biscuit, "meat" and corn pone, + string beans and berries. At first I used to be a little alarmed at the + approach of bed-time in the one lone bedroom, but embarrassment was very + deftly avoided. First, all the children nodded and slept, and were stowed + away in one great pile of goose feathers; next, the mother and the father + discreetly slipped away to the kitchen while I went to bed; then, blowing + out the dim light, they retired in the dark. In the morning all were up + and away before I thought of awaking. Across the road, where fat Reuben + lived, they all went outdoors while the teacher retired, because they did + not boast the luxury of a kitchen. + </p> + <p> + I liked to stay with the Dowells, for they had four rooms and plenty of + good country fare. Uncle Bird had a small, rough farm, all woods and + hills, miles from the big road; but he was full of tales,—he + preached now and then,—and with his children, berries, horses, and + wheat he was happy and prosperous. Often, to keep the peace, I must go + where life was less lovely; for instance, 'Tildy's mother was incorrigibly + dirty, Reuben's larder was limited seriously, and herds of untamed bedbugs + wandered over the Eddingses' beds. Best of all I loved to go to Josie's, + and sit on the porch, eating peaches, while the mother bustled and talked: + how Josie had bought the sewing-machine; how Josie worked at service in + winter, but that four dollars a month was "mighty little" wages; how Josie + longed to go away to school, but that it "looked like" they never could + get far enough ahead to let her; how the crops failed and the well was yet + unfinished; and, finally, how "mean" some of the white folks were. + </p> + <p> + For two summers I lived in this little world; it was dull and humdrum. The + girls looked at the hill in wistful longing, and the boys fretted, and + haunted Alexandria. Alexandria was "town,"—a straggling, lazy + village of houses, churches, and shops, and an aristocracy of Toms, Dicks, + and Captains. Cuddled on the hill to the north was the village of the + colored folks, who lived in three or four room unpainted cottages, some + neat and homelike, and some dirty. The dwellings were scattered rather + aimlessly, but they centred about the twin temples of the hamlet, the + Methodist and the Hard-Shell Baptist churches. These, in turn, leaned + gingerly on a sad-colored schoolhouse. Hither my little world wended its + crooked way on Sunday to meet other worlds, and gossip, and wonder, and + make the weekly sacrifice with frenzied priest at the altar of the + "old-time religion." Then the soft melody and mighty cadences of Negro + song fluttered and thundered. + </p> + <p> + I have called my tiny community a world, and so its isolation made it; and + yet there was among us but a half-awakened common consciousness, sprung + from common joy and grief, at burial, birth, or wedding; from a common + hardship in poverty, poor land, and low wages; and, above all, from the + sight of the Veil that hung between us and Opportunity. All this caused us + to think some thoughts together; but these, when ripe for speech, were + spoken in various languages. Those whose eyes thirty and more years before + had seen "the glory of the coming of the Lord" saw in every present + hindrance or help a dark fatalism bound to bring all things right in His + own good time. The mass of those to whom slavery was a dim recollection of + childhood found the world a puzzling thing: it asked little of them, and + they answered with little, and yet it ridiculed their offering. Such a + paradox they could not understand, and therefore sank into listless + indifference, or shiftlessness, or reckless bravado. There were, however, + some such as Josie, Jim, and Ben,—they to whom War, Hell, and + Slavery were but childhood tales, whose young appetites had been whetted + to an edge by school and story and half-awakened thought. Ill could they + be content, born without and beyond the World. And their weak wings beat + against their barriers,—barriers of caste, of youth, of life; at + last, in dangerous moments, against everything that opposed even a whim. + </p> + <p> + The ten years that follow youth, the years when first the realization + comes that life is leading somewhere,—these were the years that + passed after I left my little school. When they were past, I came by + chance once more to the walls of Fisk University, to the halls of the + chapel of melody. As I lingered there in the joy and pain of meeting old + school friends, there swept over me a sudden longing to pass again beyond + the blue hill, and to see the homes and the school of other days, and to + learn how life had gone with my school-children; and I went. + </p> + <p> + Josie was dead, and the gray-haired mother said simply, "We've had a heap + of trouble since you've been away." I had feared for Jim. With a cultured + parentage and a social caste to uphold him, he might have made a + venturesome merchant or a West Point cadet. But here he was, angry with + life and reckless; and when Farmer Durham charged him with stealing wheat, + the old man had to ride fast to escape the stones which the furious fool + hurled after him. They told Jim to run away; but he would not run, and the + constable came that afternoon. It grieved Josie, and great awkward John + walked nine miles every day to see his little brother through the bars of + Lebanon jail. At last the two came back together in the dark night. The + mother cooked supper, and Josie emptied her purse, and the boys stole + away. Josie grew thin and silent, yet worked the more. The hill became + steep for the quiet old father, and with the boys away there was little to + do in the valley. Josie helped them sell the old farm, and they moved + nearer town. Brother Dennis, the carpenter, built a new house with six + rooms; Josie toiled a year in Nashville, and brought back ninety dollars + to furnish the house and change it to a home. + </p> + <p> + When the spring came, and the birds twittered, and the stream ran proud + and full, little sister Lizzie, bold and thoughtless, flushed with the + passion of youth, bestowed herself on the tempter, and brought home a + nameless child. Josie shivered, and worked on, with the vision of + schooldays all fled, with a face wan and tired,—worked until, on a + summer's day, some one married another; then Josie crept to her mother + like a hurt child, and slept—and sleeps. + </p> + <p> + I paused to scent the breeze as I entered the valley. The Lawrences have + gone; father and son forever, and the other son lazily digs in the earth + to live. A new young widow rents out their cabin to fat Reuben. Reuben is + a Baptist preacher now, but I fear as lazy as ever, though his cabin has + three rooms; and little Ella has grown into a bouncing woman, and is + ploughing corn on the hot hillside. There are babies a plenty, and one + half-witted girl. Across the valley is a house I did not know before, and + there I found, rocking one baby and expecting another, one of my + schoolgirls, a daughter of Uncle Bird Dowell. She looked somewhat worried + with her new duties, but soon bristled into pride over her neat cabin, and + the tale of her thrifty husband, the horse and cow, and the farm they were + planning to buy. + </p> + <p> + My log schoolhouse was gone. In its place stood Progress, and Progress, I + understand, is necessarily ugly. The crazy foundation stones still marked + the former site of my poor little cabin, and not far away, on six weary + boulders, perched a jaunty board house, perhaps twenty by thirty feet, + with three windows and a door that locked. Some of the window glass was + broken, and part of an old iron stove lay mournfully under the house. I + peeped through the window half reverently, and found things that were more + familiar. The blackboard had grown by about two feet, and the seats were + still without backs. The county owns the lot now, I hear, and every year + there is a session of school. As I sat by the spring and looked on the Old + and the New I felt glad, very glad, and yet— + </p> + <p> + After two long drinks I started on. There was the great double log house + on the corner. I remembered the broken, blighted family that used to live + there. The strong, hard face of the mother, with its wilderness of hair, + rose before me. She had driven her husband away, and while I taught school + a strange man lived there, big and jovial, and people talked. I felt sure + that Ben and 'Tildy would come to naught from such a home. But this is an + odd world; for Ben is a busy farmer in Smith County, "doing well, too," + they say, and he had cared for little 'Tildy until last spring, when a + lover married her. A hard life the lad had led, toiling for meat, and + laughed at because he was homely and crooked. There was Sam Carlon, an + impudent old skinflint, who had definite notions about niggers, and hired + Ben a summer and would not pay him. Then the hungry boy gathered his sacks + together, and in broad daylight went into Carlon's corn; and when the + hard-fisted farmer set upon him, the angry boy flew at him like a beast. + Doc Burke saved a murder and a lynching that day. + </p> + <p> + The story reminded me again of the Burkes, and an impatience seized me to + know who won in the battle, Doc or the seventy-five acres. For it is a + hard thing to make a farm out of nothing, even in fifteen years. So I + hurried on, thinking of the Burkes. They used to have a certain + magnificent barbarism about them that I liked. They were never vulgar, + never immoral, but rather rough and primitive, with an unconventionality + that spent itself in loud guffaws, slaps on the back, and naps in the + corner. I hurried by the cottage of the misborn Neill boys. It was empty, + and they were grown into fat, lazy farm hands. I saw the home of the + Hickmans, but Albert, with his stooping shoulders, had passed from the + world. Then I came to the Burkes' gate and peered through; the inclosure + looked rough and untrimmed, and yet there were the same fences around the + old farm save to the left, where lay twenty-five other acres. And lo! the + cabin in the hollow had climbed the hill and swollen to a half-finished + six-room cottage. + </p> + <p> + The Burkes held a hundred acres, but they were still in debt. Indeed, the + gaunt father who toiled night and day would scarcely be happy out of debt, + being so used to it. Some day he must stop, for his massive frame is + showing decline. The mother wore shoes, but the lionlike physique of other + days was broken. The children had grown up. Rob, the image of his father, + was loud and rough with laughter. Birdie, my school baby of six, had grown + to a picture of maiden beauty, tall and tawny. "Edgar is gone," said the + mother, with head half bowed,—"gone to work in Nashville; he and his + father couldn't agree." + </p> + <p> + Little Doc, the boy born since the time of my school, took me horseback + down the creek next morning toward Farmer Dowell's. The road and the + stream were battling for mastery, and the stream had the better of it. We + splashed and waded, and the merry boy, perched behind me, chattered and + laughed. He showed me where Simon Thompson had bought a bit of ground and + a home; but his daughter Lana, a plump, brown, slow girl, was not there. + She had married a man and a farm twenty miles away. We wound on down the + stream till we came to a gate that I did not recognize, but the boy + insisted that it was "Uncle Bird's." The farm was fat with the growing + crop. In that little valley was a strange stillness as I rode up; for + death and marriage had stolen youth, and left age and childhood there. We + sat and talked that night, after the chores were done. Uncle Bird was + grayer, and his eyes did not see so well, but he was still jovial. We + talked of the acres bought,—one hundred and twenty-five,—of + the new guest chamber added, of Martha's marrying. Then we talked of + death: Fanny and Fred were gone; a shadow hung over the other daughter, + and when it lifted she was to go to Nashville to school. At last we spoke + of the neighbors, and as night fell Uncle Bird told me how, on a night + like that, 'Thenie came wandering back to her home over yonder, to escape + the blows of her husband. And next morning she died in the home that her + little bow-legged brother, working and saving, had bought for their + widowed mother. + </p> + <p> + My journey was done, and behind me lay hill and dale, and Life and Death. + How shall man measure Progress there where the dark-faced Josie lies? How + many heartfuls of sorrow shall balance a bushel of wheat? How hard a thing + is life to the lowly, and yet how human and real! And all this life and + love and strife and failure,—is it the twilight of nightfall or the + flush of some faint-dawning day? + </p> + <p> + Thus sadly musing, I rode to Nashville in the Jim Crow car. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0017" id="link2H_4_0017"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE CAPTURE OF A SLAVER by J. Taylor Wood + </h2> + <p> + From 1830 to 1850 both Great Britain and the United States, by joint + convention, kept on the coast of Africa at least eighty guns afloat for + the suppression of the slave trade. Most of the vessels so employed were + small corvettes, brigs, or schooners; steam at that time was just being + introduced into the navies of the world. + </p> + <p> + Nearly fifty years ago I was midshipman on the United States brig + Porpoise, of ten guns. Some of my readers may remember these little + ten-gun coffins, as many of them proved to be to their crews. The Porpoise + was a fair sample of the type; a full-rigged brig of one hundred and + thirty tons, heavily sparred, deep waisted, and carrying a battery of + eight twenty-four-pound carronades and two long chasers; so wet that even + in a moderate breeze or sea it was necessary to batten down; and so tender + that she required careful watching; only five feet between decks, her + quarters were necessarily cramped and uncomfortable, and, as far as + possible, we lived on deck. With a crew of eighty all told, Lieutenant + Thompson was in command, Lieutenant Bukett executive officer, and two + midshipmen were the line officers. She was so slow that we could hardly + hope for a prize except by a fluke. Repeatedly we had chased suspicious + craft only to be out-sailed. + </p> + <p> + At this time the traffic in slaves was very brisk; the demand in the + Brazils, in Cuba, and in other Spanish West Indies was urgent, and the + profit of the business so great that two or three successful ventures + would enrich any one. The slavers were generally small, handy craft; fast, + of course; usually schooner-rigged, and carrying flying topsails and + forecourse. Many were built in England or elsewhere purposely for the + business, without, of course, the knowledge of the builders, ostensibly as + yachts or traders. The Spaniards and Portuguese were the principal + offenders, with occasionally an English-speaking renegade. + </p> + <p> + The slave depots, or barracoons, were generally located some miles up a + river. Here the slaver was secure from capture and could embark his live + cargo at his leisure. Keeping a sharp lookout on the coast, the dealers + were able to follow the movements of the cruisers, and by means of smoke, + or in other ways, signal when the coast was clear for the coming down the + river and sailing of the loaded craft. Before taking in the cargoes they + were always fortified with all the necessary papers and documents to show + they were engaged in legitimate commerce, so it was only when caught in + flagrante delicto that we could hold them. + </p> + <p> + We had been cruising off the coast of Liberia doing nothing, when we were + ordered to the Gulf of Guinea to watch the Bonny and Cameroons mouths of + the great Niger River. Our consort was H.M. schooner Bright, a beautiful + craft about our tonnage, but with half our crew, and able to sail three + miles to our two. She was an old slaver, captured and adapted as a + cruiser. She had been very successful, making several important captures + of full cargoes, and twice or thrice her commanding officer and others had + been promoted. Working our way slowly down the coast in company with the + Bright, we would occasionally send a boat on shore to reconnoitre or + gather any information we could from the natives through our Krooman + interpreter. A few glasses of rum or a string of beads would loosen the + tongue of almost any one. At Little Bonny we heard that two vessels were + some miles up the river, ready to sail, and were only waiting until the + coast was clear. Captain James, of the Bright, thought that one, if not + both, would sail from another outlet of the river, about thirty miles to + the southward, and determined to watch it. + </p> + <p> + We both stood to that direction. Of course we were watched from the shore, + and the slavers were kept posted as to our movements. They supposed we had + both gone to the Cameroons, leaving Little Bonny open; but after dark, + with a light land breeze, we wore round and stood to the northward, + keeping offshore some distance, so that captains leaving the river might + have sufficient offing to prevent their reaching port again or beaching + their craft. At daybreak, as far as we could judge, we were about twenty + miles offshore to the northward and westward of Little Bonny, in the track + of any vessel bound for the West Indies. The night was dark with + occasional rain squalls, when the heavens would open and the water come + down in a flood. Anxiously we all watched for daylight, which comes under + the equator with a suddenness very different from the prolonged twilight + of higher latitudes. At the first glimmer in the east every eye was + strained on the horizon, all eager, all anxious to be the first to sight + anything within our vision. The darkness soon gave way to gray morn. Day + was dawning, when suddenly a Krooman by my side seized my hand and, + without saying a word, pointed inshore. I looked, but could see nothing. + All eyes were focused in that direction, and in a few minutes the faint + outline of a vessel appeared against the sky. She was some miles inshore + of us, and as the day brightened we made her out to be a brigantine (an + uncommon rig in those days), standing across our bows, with all studding + sails set on the starboard side, indeed everything that could pull, + including water sails and save-all. We were on the same tack heading to + the northward. We set everything that would draw, and kept off two points, + bringing the wind abeam so as to head her off. + </p> + <p> + The breeze was light and off the land. We had not yet been seen against + the darker western horizon, but we knew it could only be a few minutes + longer before their sharp eyes would make us out. Soon we saw the studding + sails and all kites come down by the run and her yards braced up sharp on + the same tack as ours. We also hauled by the wind. At sunrise she was four + points on our weather bow, distant about four miles. We soon perceived + that she could outsail our brig and if the wind held would escape. + Gradually she drew away from us until she was hull down. Our only hope now + was that the land breeze would cease and the sea breeze come in. As the + sun rose we gladly noticed the wind lessening, until at eleven o'clock it + was calm. Not a breath ruffled the surface of the sea; the sun's rays in + the zenith were reflected as from a mirror; the waters seemed like molten + lead. + </p> + <p> + I know of nothing more depressing than a calm in the tropics,—a + raging sun overhead, around an endless expanse of dead sea, and a feeling + of utter helplessness that is overpowering. What if this should last? what + a fate! The Rime of the Ancient Mariner comes to our mind. Come storm and + tempest, come hurricanes and blizzards, anything but an endless + stagnation. For some hours we watched earnestly the horizon to the + westward, looking for the first dark break on the smooth sea. Not a cloud + was in the heavens. The brig appeared to be leaving us either by towing or + by sweeps; only her topgallant sail was above the horizon. It looked as if + the sea breeze would desert us. It usually came in about one o'clock, but + that hour and another had passed and yet we watched for the first change. + Without a breeze our chances of overhauling the stranger were gone. Only a + white speck like the wing of a gull now marked her whereabouts on the edge + of the horizon, and in another hour she would be invisible even from the + masthead. + </p> + <p> + When we were about to despair, our head Krooman drew the captain's + attention to the westward and said the breeze was coming. We saw no signs + of it, but his quick eye had noticed light feathery clouds rising to the + westward, a sure indication of the coming breeze. Soon we could see the + glassy surface ruffled at different points as the breeze danced over it, + coming on like an advancing line of skirmishers; and as we felt its first + gentle movement on our parched faces, it was welcome indeed, putting new + life into all of us. The crew needed no encouragement to spring to their + work. As the little brig felt the breeze and gathered steerageway, she was + headed for the chase, bringing the wind on her starboard quarter. In less + than five minutes all the studding sails that would draw were set, as well + as everything that would pull. The best quartermaster was sent to the + wheel, with orders to keep the chase directly over the weather end of the + spritsail yard. The captain ordered the sails wet, an expedient I never + had much faith in, unless the sails are very old. But as if to recompense + us for the delay, the breeze came in strong and steady. Our one hope now + was to follow it up close, and to carry it within gunshot of the brig, for + if she caught it before we were within range she would certainly escape. + All hands were piped to quarters, and the long eighteen-pounder on the + forecastle was loaded with a full service charge; on this piece we relied + to cripple the chase. We were now rapidly raising her, and I was sent + aloft on the fore topsail yard, with a good glass to watch her movements. + Her hull was in sight and she was still becalmed, though her head was + pointed in the right direction, and everything was set to catch the coming + breeze. She carried a boat on each side at the davits like a man-of-war, + and I reported that I could make out men securing them. They had been + towing her, and only stopped when they saw us drawing near. + </p> + <p> + Anxiously we watched the breeze on the water as it narrowed the sheen + between us, and we were yet two miles or more distant when she first felt + the breeze. As she did so we hoisted the English blue ensign,—for + the fleet at this time was under a Rear Admiral of the Blue,—and + fired a weather gun, but no response was made. Fortunately the wind + continued to freshen and the Porpoise was doing wonderfully well. We were + rapidly closing the distance between us. We fired another gun, but no + attention was paid to it. I noticed from the movements of the crew of the + brig that they were getting ready for some manoeuvre, and reported to the + captain. He divined at once what the manoeuvre would be, and ordered the + braces be led along, hands by the studding-sail halyards and tacks, and + everything ready to haul by the wind. We felt certain now of the character + of our friend, and the men were already calculating the amount of their + prize money. We were now within range, and must clip her wings if + possible. + </p> + <p> + The first lieutenant was ordered to open fire with the eighteen-pounder. + Carefully the gun was laid, and as the order "fire" was given, down came + our English flag, and the stop of the Stars and Stripes was broken at the + gaff. The first shot touched the water abeam of the chase and ricochetted + ahead of her. She showed the Spanish flag. The captain of the gun was + ordered to elevate a little more and try again. The second shot let + daylight through her fore topsail, but the third was wide again. + </p> + <p> + Then the sharp, quick order of the captain, "Fore topsail yard there, come + down on deck, sir!" brought me down on the run. "Have both cutters cleared + away and ready for lowering," were my orders as I reached the + quarter-deck. Practice from the bow chasers continued, but the smoke that + drifted ahead of us interfered with the accuracy of the firing, and no + vital part was touched, though a number of shots went through her sails. + The captain in the main rigging never took his eye from the Spaniard, + evidently expecting that as a fox when hard pressed doubles on the hounds, + the chase would attempt the same thing. And he was not disappointed, for + when we had come within easy range of her, the smoke hid her from view for + a few minutes, and as it dispersed the first glimpse showed the captain + that her studding sails had all gone, and that she had hauled by the wind, + standing across our weather bow. Her captain had lost no time in taking in + his studding sails; halyards, tacks, and sheets had all been cut together + and dropped overboard. + </p> + <p> + It was a bold and well-executed manoeuvre, and we could not help admiring + the skill with which she was handled. However, we had been prepared for + this move. "Ease down your helm." "Lower away. Haul down the studding + sails." "Ease away the weather braces. Brace up." "Trim down the head + sheets," were the orders which followed in rapid succession, and were as + quickly executed. The Spaniard was now broad on our lee bow, distant not + more than half a mile, but as she felt the wind which we brought down she + fairly spun through the water, exposing her bright copper. She was both + head-reaching and outsailing us; in half an hour she would have been right + ahead of us, and in an hour the sun would be down. It was now or never. We + could bring nothing to bear except the gun on the forecastle. Fortunately + it continued smooth, and we were no longer troubled with smoke. Shot after + shot went hissing through the air after her; a number tore through the + sails or rigging, but not a spar was touched nor an important rope cut. We + could see some of her crew aloft reeving and stopping braces and ready to + repair any damage done, working as coolly under fire as old man-of-war's + men. But while we were looking, down came the gaff of her mainsail, and + the gaff-topsail fell all adrift; a lucky shot had cut her peak halyards. + Our crew cheered with a will. "Well done, Hobson; try it again!" called + the captain to the boatswain's mate, who was captain of the gun. + </p> + <p> + After the next shot, the topgallant yard swayed for a few minutes and fell + forward. The order was given to cease firing; she was at our mercy. We + were rapidly nearing the chase, when she backed her topsail. We kept off, + and when within easy range of the carronades "hove to" to windward. + Lieutenant Bukett was ordered to board her in the first cutter and take + charge. I followed in the second cutter, with orders to bring the captain + on board with his papers. A few strokes sent us alongside of a brig about + our tonnage, but with a low rail and a flush deck. The crew, some eighteen + or twenty fine-looking seamen, were forward eagerly discussing the + situation of affairs. The captain was aft with his two officers, talking + to Lieutenant Bukett. He was fair, with light hair curling all over his + head, beard cut short, about forty years of age, well set up, with a frame + like a Roman wrestler, evidently a tough customer in a rough-and-ready + scrimmage. + </p> + <p> + He spoke fairly good English, and was violently denouncing the outrage + done to his flag; his government would demand instant satisfaction for + firing upon a legitimate trader on the high seas. I have the lieutenant + Captain Thompson's orders, to bring the captain and his papers on board at + once. His harangue was cut short by orders to get on board my boat. He + swore with a terrible oath that he would never leave his vessel. "Come on + board, men," said I, and twenty of our crew were on deck in a jiffy. I + stationed my coxswain, Parker, at the cabin companion way with orders to + allow no one to pass. "Now," said Lieutenant Bukett to the Spaniard, "I + will take you on board in irons unless you go quietly." He hesitated a + moment, then said he would come as soon as he had gone below to bring up + his papers. "No, never mind your papers; I will find them," said the + lieutenant, for he saw the devil in the Spaniard's eyes, and knew he meant + mischief. Our captive made one bound for the companion way, however, and + seizing Parker by the throat hurled him into the water ways as if he had + been a rag baby. But fortunately he slipped on a small grating and fell on + his knees, and before he could recover himself two of our men threw + themselves upon him. + </p> + <p> + I closed the companion way. The struggle was desperate for a few minutes, + for the Spaniard seemed possessed of the furies, and his efforts were + almost superhuman. Twice he threw the men from him across the deck, but + they were reinforced by Parker, who, smarting under his discomfiture, + rushed in, determined to down him. I was anxious to end it with my pistol, + but Lieutenant Bukett would not consent. The Spaniard's officers and men + made some demonstration to assist, but they were quickly disposed of: his + two mates were put in irons and the crew driven forward. Struggling, + fighting, every limb and every muscle at work, the captain was + overpowered; a piece of the signal halyards brought his hands together, + and handcuffs were slipped on his wrists. Only then he succumbed, and + begged Lieutenant Bukett to blow out his brains, for he had been treated + like a pirate. + </p> + <p> + Without doubt if he had reached the cabin he would have blown up the + vessel, for in a locker over the transom were two open kegs of powder. I + led him to my boat, assisted him in, and returned to the Porpoise. As soon + as the Spaniard reached the deck the captain ordered his irons removed, + and expressed his regret that it had been necessary to use force. The + prisoner only bowed and said nothing. The captain asked him what his cargo + consisted of. He replied, "About four hundred blacks bound to the + Brazils." + </p> + <p> + I was then ordered to return to the brig, bring on board her crew, leaving + only the cook and steward, and to take charge of the prize as Lieutenant + Bukett, our first lieutenant, was not yet wholly recovered from an attack + of African fever. The crew of twenty men, when brought on board, consisted + of Spaniards, Greeks, Malays, Arabs, white and black, but had not one + Anglo-Saxon. They were ironed in pairs and put under guard. + </p> + <p> + From the time we first got on board we had heard moans, cries, and + rumblings coming from below, and as soon as the captain and crew were + removed, the hatches had been taken off, when there arose a hot blast as + from a charnel house, sickening and overpowering. In the hold were three + or four hundred human beings, gasping, struggling for breath, dying; their + bodies, limbs, faces, all expressing terrible suffering. In their + agonizing fight for life, some had torn or wounded themselves or their + neighbors dreadfully; some were stiffened in the most unnatural positions. + As soon as I knew the condition of things I sent the boat back for the + doctor and some whiskey. It returned bringing Captain Thompson, and for an + hour or more we were all hard at work lifting and helping the poor + creatures on deck, where they were laid out in rows. A little water and + stimulant revived most of them; some, however, were dead or too far gone + to be resuscitated. The doctor worked earnestly over each one, but + seventeen were beyond human skill. As fast as he pronounced them dead they + were quickly dropped overboard. + </p> + <p> + Night closed in with our decks covered so thickly with the ebony bodies + that with difficulty we could move about; fortunately they were as quiet + as so many snakes. In the meantime the first officer, Mr. Block, was + sending up a new topgallant yard, reeving new rigging, repairing the + sails, and getting everything ataunto aloft. The Kroomen were busy washing + out and fumigating the hold, getting ready for our cargo again. It would + have been a very anxious night, except that I felt relieved by the + presence of the brig which kept within hail. Soon after daybreak Captain + Thompson came on board again, and we made a count of the captives as they + were sent below; 188 men and boys, and 166 women and girls. Seeing + everything snug and in order the captain returned to the brig, giving me + final orders to proceed with all possible dispatch to Monrovia, Liberia, + land the negroes, then sail for Porto Praya, Cape de Verde Islands, and + report to the commodore. As the brig hauled to the wind and stood to the + southward and eastward I dipped my colors, when her crew jumped into the + rigging and gave us three cheers, which we returned. + </p> + <p> + As she drew away from us I began to realize my position and + responsibility: a young midshipman, yet in my teens, commanding a prize, + with three hundred and fifty prisoners on board, two or three weeks' sail + from port, with only a small crew. From the first I kept all hands aft + except two men on the lookout, and the weather was so warm that we could + all sleep on deck. I also ordered the men never to lay aside their pistols + or cutlasses, except when working aloft, but my chief reliance was in my + knowledge of the negro,—of his patient, docile disposition. Born and + bred a slave he never thought of any other condition, and he accepted the + situation without a murmur. I had never heard of blacks rising or + attempting to gain their freedom on board a slaver. + </p> + <p> + My charges were all of a deep black; from fifteen to twenty-five years of + age, and, with a few exceptions, nude, unless copper or brass rings on + their ankles or necklaces of cowries can be described as articles of + dress. All were slashed, or had the scars of branding on their foreheads + and cheeks; these marks were the distinguishing features of different + tribes or families. The men's hair had been cut short, and their heads + looked in some cases as if they had been shaven. The women, on the + contrary, wore their hair "a la pompadour;" the coarse kinky locks were + sometimes a foot or more above their heads, and trained square or round + like a boxwood bush. Their features were of the pronounced African type, + but, notwithstanding this disfigurement, were not unpleasing in + appearance. The figures of all were very good, straight, well developed, + some of the young men having bodies that would have graced a Mercury or an + Apollo. Their hands were small, showing no evidences of work, only the + cruel marks of shackles. These in some cases had worn deep furrows on + their wrists or ankles. + </p> + <p> + They were obedient to all orders as far as they understood them, and + would, I believe, have jumped overboard if told to do so. I forbade the + men to treat them harshly or cruelly. I had the sick separated from the + others, and allowed them to remain on deck all the time, and in this way I + partly gained their confidence. I was anxious to learn their story. + Fortunately one of the Kroomen found among the prisoners a native of a + tribe living near the coast, and with him as interpreter was able to make + himself understood. After a good deal of questioning I learned that most + of them were from a long distance in the interior, some having been one + and some two moons on the way, traveling partly by land and partly by + river until they reached the coast. They had been sold by their kings or + by their parents to the Arab trader for firearms or for rum. Once at the + depots near the coast, they were sold by the Arabs or other traders to the + slave captains for from twenty-five to fifty dollars a head. In the + Brazils or West Indies they were worth from two to five hundred dollars. + This wide margin, of course, attracted unscrupulous and greedy + adventurers, who if they succeeded in running a few cargoes would enrich + themselves. + </p> + <p> + Our daily routine was simple. At six in the morning the rope netting over + the main hatch which admitted light and air was taken off, and twenty-five + of each sex were brought up, and seated in two circles, one on each side + of the deck. A large pan of boiled paddy was then placed in the centre by + the cook and all went to work with their hands. A few minutes sufficed to + dispose of every grain; then one of the Kroomen gave each of them a cup of + water from a bucket. For half an hour after the meal they had the liberty + of the deck, except the poop, for exercise, to wash and to sun themselves; + for sunshine to a negro is meat and drink. At the end of this time they + were sent below and another fifty brought up, and so on until all had been + fed and watered. Paddy or rice was the staple article of food. At dinner + boiled yams were given with the rice. Our passengers were quartered on a + flying deck extending from the foremast to a point twenty feet abaft the + main hatch from which came light and air. The height was about five feet; + the men had one side and the women the other. Of course there was no + furnishing of any kind, but all lay prone upon the bare deck in rows. + </p> + <p> + Every morning after breakfast the Kroomen would rig the force pump, screw + on the hose and drench them all, washing out thoroughly between decks. + They appeared to enjoy this, and it was cooling, for be it remembered we + were close under the equator, the thermometer dancing about 90 deg. As the + water was sluiced over them they would rub and scrub each other. Only the + girls would try not to get their hair wet, for they were at all times + particular about their headdress. It may be that this was the only part of + their toilet that gave them any concern. + </p> + <p> + The winds were baffling and light, so we made but slow progress. + Fortunately frequent rains, with sometimes a genuine tropical downpour or + cloud-burst, gave us an opportunity of replenishing our water casks, and + by spreading the awnings we were able to get a good supply. I found on + inspection that there were at least thirty days' provisions on board, so + on this score and that of water I felt easy. I lived on deck, seldom using + the cabin, which was a veritable arsenal, with racks of muskets and + cutlasses on two sides, many more than the captain needed to arm his crew, + evidently intended for barter. Two or three prints of his favorite saints, + ornamented with sharks' teeth, hung on one bulkhead. A well-thrummed + mandolin and a number of French novels proved him to be a musical and + literary fellow, who could probably play a bolero while making a + troublesome slave walk a plank. I found also some choice vintages from the + Douro and Bordeaux snugly stowed in his spirit locker, which proved good + medicines for some of our captives, who required stimulants. Several of + the girls were much reduced, refused nearly all food, and were only kept + alive by a little wine and water. Two finally died of mere inanition. + Their death did not in the least affect their fellows, who appeared + perfectly indifferent and callous to all their surroundings, showing not + the least sympathy or desire to help or wait on one another. + </p> + <p> + The fifth day after parting from the brig we encountered a tropical storm. + The sun rose red and angry, and owing to the great refraction appeared + three times its natural size. It climbed lazily to the zenith, and at noon + we were shadowless. The sky was as calm as a vault, and the surface of the + water was like burnished steel. The heat became so stifling that even the + Africans were gasping for breath, and we envied them their freedom from + all impediments. The least exertion was irksome, and attended with extreme + lassitude. During the afternoon thin cirri clouds, flying very high, + spread out over the western heavens like a fan. As the day lengthened they + thickened to resemble the scales of a fish, bringing to mind the old + saying, "A mackerel sky and a mare's tail," etc. The signs were all + unmistakable, and even the gulls recognized a change, and, screaming, + sought shelter on our spars. Mr. Block was ordered to send down all the + light yards and sails; to take in and furl everything, using storm + gaskets, except on the fore and main storm staysails; to lash everything + on deck; to batten down the hatches, except one square of the main; see + all the shifting boards in place, so that our living cargo would not be + thrown to leeward higgledy-piggledy, and to take four or five of the worst + cases of the sick into the cabin and lay them on the floor. + </p> + <p> + The sun disappeared behind a mountainous mass of leaden-colored clouds + which rose rapidly in the southern and western quarters. To the eastward, + also, the signs were threatening. Night came on suddenly as it does in the + tropics. Soon the darkness enveloped us, a palpable veil. A noise like the + march of a mighty host was heard, which proved to be the approach of a + tropical flood, heralded by drops as large as marbles. It churned the + still waters into a phosphorescent foam which rendered the darkness only + more oppressive. The rain came down as it can come only in the Bight of + Benin. The avalanche cooled us, reducing the temperature ten or fifteen + degrees, giving us new life, and relieving our fevered blood. I told Mr. + Block to throw back the tarpaulin over the main hatch and let our dusky + friends get some benefit of it. In half an hour the rain ceased, but it + was as calm and ominous as ever. + </p> + <p> + I knew this was but the forerunner of something worse to follow, and we + had not long to wait, for suddenly a blinding flash of lightning darted + through the gloom from east to west, followed by one in the opposite + direction. Without intermission, one blaze after another and thunder + crashing until our eyes were blinded and our ears deafened, a thousand + times ten thousand pieces of artillery thundered away. We seemed utterly + helpless and insignificant. "How wonderful are Thy works," came to my + mind. Still no wind; the brig lay helpless. + </p> + <p> + Suddenly, as a slap in the face, the wind struck us,—on the + starboard quarter, fortunately. "Hard-a-starboard." "Hanl aft port fore + staysail sheet," I called. But before she could gather way she was thrown + down by the wind like a reed. She was "coming to" instead of "going off," + and I tried to get the main storm staysail down but could not make myself + heard. She was lying on her broadside. Luckily the water was smooth as + yet. The main staysail shot out of the boltropes with a report like a + twelve-pounder, and this eased her so that if the fore staysail would only + hold she would go off. For a few minutes all we could do was to hold on, + our lee rail in the water; but the plucky little brig rallied a little, + her head went off inch by inch, and as she gathered way she righted, and + catching the wind on our quarter we were off like a shot out of a gun. I + knew we were too near the vortex of the disturbance for the wind to hang + long in one quarter, so watched anxiously for a change. The sea rose + rapidly while we were running to the northward on her course, and after a + lull of a few minutes the wind opened from the eastward, butt end + foremost, a change of eight points. Nothing was to be done but heave to, + and this in a cross sea where pitch, weather roll, lee lurch, followed one + another in such earnest that it was a wonder her masts were not switched + out of her. + </p> + <p> + I passed an anxious night, most concerned about the poor creatures under + hatches, whose sufferings must have been terrible. To prevent their + suffocating I kept two men at the main hatch with orders to lift one + corner of the tarpaulin whenever possible, even if some water did go + below. Toward morning the wind and the sea went down rapidly, and as the + sun rose it chased the clouds off, giving us the promise of a fine day. + When the cook brought me a cup of coffee, I do not know that I ever + enjoyed anything more. Hatches off, I jumped down into the hold to look + after my prisoners. Battered and bruised they lay around in heaps. Only + the shifting boards had kept them from being beaten into an + indistinguishable mass. As fast as possible they were sent on deck, and + the sun's rays, with a few buckets of water that were thrown over them, + accomplished wonders in bringing them to life and starting them to care + for their sore limbs and bruises. + </p> + <p> + One boy, when I motioned for him to go on deck, pointed quietly to his + leg, and upon examination I found a fracture just above the knee. Swelling + had already commenced. I had seen limbs set, and had some rough idea how + it should be done. So while getting some splints of keg staves and + bandages ready, I kept a stream of water pouring on the fracture, and then + ordered two men to pull the limb in place, and it took all their strength. + That done I put on the splints and wrapped the bandages tightly. Three + weeks later I landed him in a fair way of recovery. + </p> + <p> + Gradually I allowed a larger number of the blacks to remain on deck, a + privilege which they greatly enjoyed. To lie basking in the sun like + saurians, half sleeping, half waking, appeared to satisfy all their + wishes. They were perfectly docile and obedient, and not by word, gesture, + or look did they express any dissatisfaction with orders given them. But + again for any little acts of kindness they expressed no kind of + appreciation or gratitude. Physically they were men and women, but + otherwise as far removed from the Anglo-Saxon as the oyster from the + baboon, or the mole from the horse. + </p> + <p> + On the fourteenth day from parting with the brig we made the palms on Cape + Mesurado, the entrance to Monrovia Harbor. A light sea breath wafted us to + the anchorage, a mile from the town, and when the anchor dropped from the + bows and the chain ran through the hawse pipe, it was sweet music to my + ears; for the strain had been great, and I felt years older than when I + parted from my messmates. A great responsibility seemed lifted from my + shoulders, and I enjoyed a long and refreshing sleep for the first time in + a fortnight. At nine the next morning I went on shore and reported to the + authorities, the officials of Liberia, of which Monrovia is the capital. + </p> + <p> + This part of the African coast had been selected by the United States + government as the home of emancipated slaves; for prior to the abolition + excitement which culminated in the war, numbers of slaves in the South had + been manumitted by their masters with the understanding that they should + be deported to Liberia, and the Colonization Society, an influential body, + comprising some of the leading men, like Madison, Webster, and Clay, had + assisted in the same work. The passages of the negroes were paid; each + family was given a tract of land and sufficient means to build a house. + Several thousand had been sent out, most of whom had settled at Monrovia, + and a few at other places on the coast. They had made no impression on the + natives. On the contrary, many of them had intermarried with the natives, + and the off-spring of these unions had lost the use of the English tongue, + and had even gone back to the life and customs of their ancestors, sans + clothing, sans habitations, and worship of a fetich. + </p> + <p> + Of course there were some notable exceptions, especially President + Roberts, who proved himself a safe and prudent ruler, taking into + consideration his surroundings and the material with which he had to work. + The form of government was modeled after that of the United States, but it + was top-heavy. Honorables, colonels, and judges were thicker than in + Georgia. Only privates were scarce; for nothing delights a negro more than + a little show or a gaudy uniform. On landing I was met by a dark mulatto, + dressed in a straw hat, blue tail coat, silver epaulettes, linen trousers, + with bare feet, and a heavy cavalry sabre hanging by his side. With him + were three or four others in the same rig, except the epaulettes. He + introduced himself as Colonel Harrison, chief of police. I asked to be + directed to the custom house. + </p> + <p> + The collector proved to be an old negro from Raleigh, N. C., gray as a + badger, spectacled, with manners of Lord Grandison and language of Mrs. + Malaprop. I reported my arrival, and asked permission to land my cargo as + soon as possible. He replied that in a matter of so much importance, + devolving questions of momentous interest, it would be obligatory on him + to consult the Secretary of the Treasury. I said I trusted he would so + facilitate affairs that I might at an early hour disembarrass myself of my + involuntary prisoners. I returned on board, and the day passed without any + answer. The next morning I determined to go at once to headquarters and + find out the cause of the delay by calling on the President. + </p> + <p> + He received me without any formality. I made my case as strong as + possible, and pressed for an immediate answer. In reply he assured me he + would consult with other members of his cabinet, and give me a final + answer the next morning. That evening I dined with him en famille, and + recognized some old Virginia dishes on the table. The next morning I + waited impatiently for his decision, having made up my mind however, if it + was unfavorable, to land my poor captives, be the consequences what they + might. + </p> + <p> + About eleven o'clock a boat came off with an officer in full uniform, who + introduced himself as Colonel Royal, bearer of dispatches from his + Excellency the President. He handed me a letter couched in diplomatic + language, as long as some of his brother presidents' messages on this side + of the Atlantic. I had hardly patience to read it. The gist of it was, I + might not land the captives at Monrovia, but might land them at Grand + Bassa, about a hundred and fifty miles to the eastward; that Colonel Royal + would accompany me with orders to the governor there to receive them. This + was something I had not anticipated, and outside of my instructions. + However, I thought it best to comply with the wishes of the government of + our only colony. + </p> + <p> + Getting under way we stood to the southward and eastward, taking advantage + of the light land and sea breeze, keeping the coast close aboard. The + colonel had come on board without any impediments, and I wondered if he + intended to make the voyage in his cocked hat, epaulettes, sword, etc. But + soon after we had started he disappeared and emerged from the cabin + bareheaded, barefooted, and without clothing except a blue dungaree shirt + and trousers. Like a provident negro, having stowed away all his + trappings, he appeared as a roustabout on a Western steamer. But he had + not laid aside with his toggery any of his important and consequential + airs. He ran foul of Mr. Block, who called him Mr. Cuffy, and ordered him + to give him a pull with the main sheet. The colonel complained to me that + he was not addressed by his name or title, and that he was not treated as + a representative of his government should be. I reprimanded Mr. Block, and + told him to give the visitor all his title. "All right, sir, but the + colonel must keep off the weather side of the deck," growled the officer. + The cook, the crew, and even the Kroomen, all took their cue from the + first officer, and the colonel's lot was made most unhappy. + </p> + <p> + On the third day we reached Grand Bassa, and anchored off the beach about + two miles, along which the surf was breaking so high that any attempt to + land would be hazardous. Toward evening it moderated, and a canoe with + three naked natives came off. One I found could speak a little English. I + told him to say to the governor that I would come on shore in the morning + and see him, and land my cargo at the same time. + </p> + <p> + The next morning at sunrise we were boarded by a party of natives headed + by one wearing a black hat half covered with a tarnished silver band, an + old navy frock coat, much too small, between the buttons of which his + well-oiled skin showed clearly. A pair of blue flannel trousers completed + his outfit. An interpreter introduced him as King George of Grand Bassa. + With him were about a dozen followers, each one wearing a different sort + of garment—and seldom more than a single one—representing old + uniforms of many countries. Two coats I noticed were buttoned up the back. + </p> + <p> + The king began by saying that he was and always had been a friend of the + Americans; that he was a big man, had plenty of men and five wives, etc. + While he was speaking, a white-bearded old colored gentleman came over the + gangway, dressed in a linen roundabout and trousers, with a wide-brimmed + straw hat. At the same time Colonel Royal came up from the cabin in grande + tenue and introduced us to the Hon. Mr. Marshall, governor of Bassa, + formerly of Kentucky. + </p> + <p> + In a few minutes he explained the situation. With a few settlers he was + located at this place, on the frontier of the colony, and they were there + on sufferance only from the natives. I told him Colonel Royal would + explain my mission to him and the king. The colonel, bowing low to the + king, the governor, and myself, and bringing his sword down with a thud on + the deck, drew from between the bursting buttons of his coat the + formidable document I had seen at Monrovia, and with most impressive voice + and gesture commenced to read it. The king listened for a few minutes, and + then interrupted him. I asked the interpreter what he said. He replied, + "King say he fool nigger; if he comes on shore he give him to Voodoo + women." Then turning his back he walked forward. The colonel dropped his + paper, and drawing his sword, in the most dramatic manner claimed + protection in the name of the government, declaring that he had been + insulted. I told him to keep cool, since he was certainly safe as long as + he was on board my ship. He grumbled and muttered terrible things, but + subsided gradually like the departing thunder of a summer storm. + </p> + <p> + I arranged the landing of the passengers with Governor Marshall, whom I + found a sensible, clear-headed old man, ready to cooperate in every way. + But he suggested that I had better consult the king before doing anything. + I did so, and he at once said they could not land. I told the interpreter + to say they would be landed at once and put under the protection of the + governor; that if the king or his people hurt them or ran them off I would + report it to our commodore, who would certainly punish him severely. + Finding me determined, he began to temporize, and asked that the landing + be put off until the next day, that he might consult with his head people, + for if I sent them on shore before he had done so they would kill them. + "If that is the case," I replied, "I will hold you on board as a hostage + for their good behavior." This threat surprised him, and he changed his + tactics. After a little powwow with some of his followers, he said that if + I would give him fifty muskets, twenty pounds of powder, the colonel's + sword, and some red cloth for his wives, I might land them. I replied that + I had not a musket to spare nor an ounce of powder, that the colonel was a + high officer of his government, and that he of course would not give up + his uniform. Fortunately the colonel had retired to the cabin and did not + hear this modest demand, or he would have been as much outraged as if his + sable Majesty had asked for him to be served "roti a l'Ashantee." However, + I told the king I would send his wives some cloth and buttons. He grunted + his approval but returned again to the charge, and asked that he might + choose a few of the captives for his own use, before landing. "Certainly + not," I answered, "neither on board nor on shore," and added that he would + be held accountable for their good treatment as free men and women. He + left thoroughly disappointed and bent on mischief. + </p> + <p> + In the meantime Mr. Block had made all preparations for landing, and had + the boats lowered and ranged alongside, with sufficient rice to last the + blacks a week or ten days. The men and boys were sent first. When they + were called up from the hold and ordered into the boats not one of them + moved. They evidently divined what had been going on and dreaded leaving + the vessel, though our Kroomen tried to explain that they would be safe + and free on shore. The explanation was without effect, however, and they + refused to move. The could only understand that they were changing + masters, and they preferred the present ones. Sending three or four men + down, I told them to pass up the negroes one at a time. Only a passive + resistance was offered, such as one often sees exhibited by cattle being + loaded on the cars or on a steamer, and were silent, not uttering a word + of complaint. By noon the men were all on shore, and then we began with + the girls. They were more demonstrative than the men, and by their looks + and gestures begged not to be taken out of the vessel. I was much moved, + for it was a painful duty, and I had become interested in these beings, so + utterly helpless, so childlike in their dependence on those around them. + And I could not help thinking what their fate would be, thrown upon the + shore hundreds of miles from their homes, and among a people strange to + them in language. + </p> + <p> + Even Mr. Block was deeply stirred. "He had not shipped," he said, "for + such work." I went to my cabin and left him in charge. In the course of an + hour he reported, "All ashore, sir." I told him to have the gig manned and + I would go on shore with Colonel Royal, and get a receipt from Governor + Marshall for my late cargo. The colonel declined to accompany me, alleging + sickness and requesting me to get the necessary papers signed. No doubt he + felt safer on board than within reach of King George. + </p> + <p> + We landed through the surf on a sandy beach, on which the waves of the + Atlantic were fretting. Near by was a thick grove of cocoanut trees, under + which in groups of four and five were those who had just been landed. They + were seated on the ground, their heads resting on their knees, in a + position of utter abnegation, surrounded by three or four hundred + chattering savages of all ages, headed by the king. With the exception of + him and a few of his head men, the clothing of the company would not have + covered a rag baby. They were no doubt discussing the appearance of the + strangers and making their selections. + </p> + <p> + I found the governor's house and the houses of the few settlers some + distance back on a slight elevation. The governor was comfortably, though + plainly situated, with a large family around him. He gave me a receipt for + the number of blacks landed, but said it would be impossible for him to + prevent the natives from taking and enslaving them. I agreed with him, and + said he must repeat to the king what I had told him. Then bidding him + good-by I returned on board, sad and weary as one often feels after being + relieved of a great burden. At the same time I wondered whether the fate + of these people would have been any worse if the captain of the slaver had + succeeded in landing them in the Brazils or the West Indies. Sierra Leone + being a crown colony, the English could land all their captives there and + provide for them until they were able to work for themselves. In this + respect they had a great advantage over us. + </p> + <p> + Getting under way, I proceeded to Monrovia to land Colonel Royal, and then + to Porto Praya, our squadron's headquarters. There I found Commodore + Gregory in the flagship corvette Portsmouth, and reported to him. Soon + after the Porpoise came in, and I joined my old craft, giving up my + command of the captured slaver rather reluctantly. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0018" id="link2H_4_0018"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + MR. CHARLES W. CHESNUTT'S STORIES by W. D. Howells + </h2> + <p> + The critical reader of the story called The Wife of his Youth, which + appeared in these pages two years ago, must have noticed uncommon traits + in what was altogether a remarkable piece of work. The first was the + novelty of the material; for the writer dealt not only with people who + were not white, but with people who were not black enough to contrast + grotesquely with white people,—who in fact were of that near + approach to the ordinary American in race and color which leaves, at the + last degree, every one but the connoisseur in doubt whether they are + Anglo-Saxon or Anglo-African. Quite as striking as this novelty of the + material was the author's thorough mastery of it, and his unerring + knowledge of the life he had chosen in its peculiar racial + characteristics. But above all, the story was notable for the passionless + handling of a phase of our common life which is tense with potential + tragedy; for the attitude, almost ironical, in which the artist observes + the play of contesting emotions in the drama under his eyes; and for his + apparently reluctant, apparently helpless consent to let the spectator + know his real feeling in the matter. Any one accustomed to study methods + in fiction, to distinguish between good and bad art, to feel the joy which + the delicate skill possible only from a love of truth can give, must have + known a high pleasure in the quiet self-restraint of the performance; and + such a reader would probably have decided that the social situation in the + piece was studied wholly from the outside, by an observer with special + opportunities for knowing it, who was, as it were, surprised into final + sympathy. + </p> + <p> + Now, however, it is known that the author of this story is of negro blood,—diluted, + indeed, in such measure that if he did not admit this descent few would + imagine it, but still quite of that middle world which lies next, though + wholly outside, our own. Since his first story appeared he has contributed + several others to these pages, and he now makes a showing palpable to + criticism in a volume called The Wife of his Youth, and Other Stories of + the Color Line; a volume of Southern sketches called The Conjure Woman; + and a short life of Frederick Douglass, in the Beacon Series of + biographies. The last is a simple, solid, straight piece of work, not + remarkable above many other biographical studies by people entirely white, + and yet important as the work of a man not entirely white treating of a + great man of his inalienable race. But the volumes of fiction ARE + remarkable above many, above most short stories by people entirely white, + and would be worthy of unusual notice if they were not the work of a man + not entirely white. + </p> + <p> + It is not from their racial interest that we could first wish to speak of + them, though that must have a very great and very just claim upon the + critic. It is much more simply and directly, as works of art, that they + make their appeal, and we must allow the force of this quite independently + of the other interest. Yet it cannot always be allowed. There are times in + each of the stories of the first volume when the simplicity lapses, and + the effect is as of a weak and uninstructed touch. There are other times + when the attitude, severely impartial and studiously aloof, accuses itself + of a little pompousness. There are still other times when the literature + is a little too ornate for beauty, and the diction is journalistic, + reporteristic. But it is right to add that these are the exceptional + times, and that for far the greatest part Mr. Chesnutt seems to know quite + as well what he wants to do in a given case as Maupassant, or Tourguenief, + or Mr. James, or Miss Jewett, or Miss Wilkins, in other given cases, and + has done it with an art of kindred quiet and force. He belongs, in other + words, to the good school, the only school, all aberrations from nature + being so much truancy and anarchy. He sees his people very clearly, very + justly, and he shows them as he sees them, leaving the reader to divine + the depth of his feeling for them. He touches all the stops, and with + equal delicacy in stories of real tragedy and comedy and pathos, so that + it would be hard to say which is the finest in such admirably rendered + effects as The Web of Circumstance, The Bouquet, and Uncle Wellington's + Wives. In some others the comedy degenerates into satire, with a look in + the reader's direction which the author's friend must deplore. + </p> + <p> + As these stories are of our own time and country, and as there is not a + swashbuckler of the seventeenth century, or a sentimentalist of this, or a + princess of an imaginary kingdom, in any of them, they will possibly not + reach half a million readers in six months, but in twelve months possibly + more readers will remember them than if they had reached the half million. + They are new and fresh and strong, as life always is, and fable never is; + and the stories of The Conjure Woman have a wild, indigenous poetry, the + creation of sincere and original imagination, which is imparted with a + tender humorousness and a very artistic reticence. As far as his race is + concerned, or his sixteenth part of a race, it does not greatly matter + whether Mr. Chesnutt invented their motives, or found them, as he feigns, + among his distant cousins of the Southern cabins. In either case, the + wonder of their beauty is the same; and whatever is primitive and sylvan + or campestral in the reader's heart is touched by the spells thrown on the + simple black lives in these enchanting tales. Character, the most precious + thing in fiction, is as faithfully portrayed against the poetic background + as in the setting of the Stories of the Color Line. + </p> + <p> + Yet these stories, after all, are Mr. Chesnutt's most important work, + whether we consider them merely as realistic fiction, apart from their + author, or as studies of that middle world of which he is naturally and + voluntarily a citizen. We had known the nethermost world of the grotesque + and comical negro and the terrible and tragic negro through the white + observer on the outside, and black character in its lyrical moods we had + known from such an inside witness as Mr. Paul Dunbar; but it had remained + for Mr. Chesnutt to acquaint us with those regions where the paler shades + dwell as hopelessly, with relation to ourselves, as the blackest negro. He + has not shown the dwellers there as very different from ourselves. They + have within their own circles the same social ambitions and prejudices; + they intrigue and truckle and crawl, and are snobs, like ourselves, both + of the snobs that snub and the snobs that are snubbed. We may choose to + think them droll in their parody of pure white society, but perhaps it + would be wiser to recognize that they are like us because they are of our + blood by more than a half, or three quarters, or nine tenths. It is not, + in such cases, their negro blood that characterizes them; but it is their + negro blood that excludes them, and that will imaginably fortify them and + exalt them. Bound in that sad solidarity from which there is no hope of + entrance into polite white society for them, they may create a + civilization of their own, which need not lack the highest quality. They + need not be ashamed of the race from which they have sprung, and whose + exile they share; for in many of the arts it has already shown, during a + single generation of freedom, gifts which slavery apparently only + obscured. With Mr. Booker Washington the first American orator of our + time, fresh upon the time of Frederick Douglass; with Mr. Dunbar among the + truest of our poets; with Mr. Tanner, a black American, among the only + three Americans from whom the French government ever bought a picture, Mr. + Chesnutt may well be willing to own his color. + </p> + <p> + But that is his personal affair. Our own more universal interest in him + arises from the more than promise he has given in a department of + literature where Americans hold the foremost place. In this there is, + happily, no color line; and if he has it in him to go forward on the way + which he has traced for himself, to be true to life as he has known it, to + deny himself the glories of the cheap success which awaits the charlatan + in fiction, one of the places at the top is open to him. He has sounded a + fresh note, boldly, not blatantly, and he has won the ear of the more + intelligent public. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0019" id="link2H_4_0019"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + PATHS OF HOPE FOR THE NEGRO by Jerome Dowd + </h2> + <h3> + PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS OF A SOUTHERNER + </h3> + <p> + It is too late in the day to discuss whether it would have been better had + the Negro never been brought into the Southern States. If his presence + here has been beneficial, or is ever to prove so, the price of the benefit + has already been dearly paid for. He was the occasion of the deadliest and + most expensive war in modern times. In the next place, his presence has + corrupted politics and has limited statesmanship to a mere question of + race supremacy. Great problems concerning the political, industrial, and + moral life of the people have been subordinated or overshadowed, so that, + while important strides have been made elsewhere in the investigation of + social conditions and in the administration of State and municipal + affairs, in civil-service reform, in the management of penal and + charitable institutions, and in the field of education, the South has + lagged behind. + </p> + <p> + On the charts of illiteracy and crime the South is represented by an + immense black spot. Such are a few items of the account. It will require + millions more of dollars and generations more of earnest work before the + total cost is met of bringing the black man to this side of the globe. But + the debt has been incurred and must be liquidated. + </p> + <p> + The welfare of the Negro is bound up with that of the white man in many + important particulars: + </p> + <p> + First, the low standard of living among the blacks keeps down the wages of + all classes of whites. So long as the Negroes are content to live in + miserable huts, wear rags, and subsist upon hog fat and cow-pease, so long + must the wages of white people in the same kind of work be pressed toward + the same level. The higher we raise the standard of living among the + Negroes, the higher will be the wages of the white people in the same + occupations. The low standard of the Negroes is the result of low + productive power. The less intelligent and skilled the Negroes are, the + less they can produce, whether working for themselves or others, and + hence, the less will be the total wealth of the country. + </p> + <p> + But it may be asked, When the standard of living of the Negroes is raised, + will not wages go up, and will not that be a drawback? Certainly wages + will go up, because the income of all classes will be increased. High + wages generally indicate high productive power and general wealth, while + low wages indicate the opposite. Only benefits can arise from better + wages. + </p> + <p> + In the next place, the Negro's propensity to crime tends to excite the + criminal tendencies of the white man. The South enjoys the distinction of + having the highest percentage of crime in all the civilized world, and the + reason is that the crimes of the one race provoke counter-crimes in the + other. + </p> + <p> + The physical well-being of the one race has such a conspicuous influence + upon that of the other that the subject requires no elaboration. The + uncleanliness of person and habits of the Negroes in their homes and in + the homes of their employers tends to propagate diseases, and thus impairs + the health and increases the death-rate of the whole population. + </p> + <p> + Again, the lack of refinement in intellect, manners, and dress among the + Negroes is an obstacle to the cultivated life of the whites. Ignorance and + the absence of taste and self-respect in servants result in badly kept + homes and yards, destruction of furniture and ware, ill-prepared food, + poor table service, and a general lowering of the standard of living. + Furthermore, the corrupt, coarse, and vulgar language of the Negroes is + largely responsible for the jumbled and distorted English spoken by many + of the Southern whites. + </p> + <p> + Seeing that the degradation of the Negro is an impediment to the progress + and civilization of the white man, how may we effect an improvement in his + condition? + </p> + <p> + First, municipalities should give more attention to the streets and alleys + that traverse Negro settlements. In almost every town in the South there + are settlements, known by such names as "New Africa," "Haiti," "Log Town," + "Smoky Hollow," or "Snow Hill," exclusively inhabited by Negroes. These + settlements are often outside the corporate limits. The houses are built + along narrow, crooked, and dirty lanes, and the community is without + sanitary regulations or oversight. These quarters should be brought under + municipal control, the lanes widened into streets and cleaned, and + provision made to guard against the opening of similar ones in the future. + </p> + <p> + In the next place, property-owners should build better houses for the + Negroes to live in. The weakness in the civilization of the Negroes is + most pronounced in their family life. But improvement in this respect is + not possible without an improvement in the character and the comforts of + the houses they live in. Bad houses breed bad people and bad + neighborhoods. There is no more distinctive form of crime than the + building and renting of houses unfit for human habitation. + </p> + <p> + Scarcely second in importance to improvements in house architecture is the + need among Negroes of more time to spend with their families. Employers of + Negro labor should be less exacting in the number of hours required for a + day's work. Many domestic servants now work from six in the morning until + nine and ten o'clock at night. The Southern habit of keeping open + shopping-places until late at night encourages late suppers, retains + cooks, butlers, and nurses until bedtime, and robs them of all home life. + If the merchants would close their shops at six o'clock, as is the custom + in the North, the welfare of both races would be greatly promoted. + </p> + <p> + Again, a revolution is needed in the character of the Negro's religion. At + present it is too largely an affair of the emotions. He needs to be taught + that the religious life is something to grow into by the perfection of + personality, and not to be jumped into or sweated into at camp-meetings. + The theological seminaries and the graduate preachers should assume the + task of grafting upon the religion of the Negro that much sanity at least. + </p> + <p> + A reform is as much needed in the methods and aims of Negro education. Up + to the present Negro education has shared with that of the white man the + fault of being top-heavy. Colleges and universities have developed out of + proportion to, and at the expense of, common schools. Then, the kind of + education afforded the Negro has not been fitted to his capacities and + needs. He has been made to pursue courses of study parallel to those + prescribed for the whites, as though the individuals of both races had to + fill the same positions in life. Much of the Negro's education has had + nothing to do with his real life-work. It has only made him discontented + and disinclined to unfold his arms. The survival of the Negroes in the + race for existence depends upon their retaining possession of the few + bread-winning occupations now open to them. But instead of better + qualifying themselves for these occupations they have been poring over + dead languages and working problems in mathematics. In the meantime the + Chinaman and the steam-laundry have abolished the Negro's wash-tub, + trained white "tonsorial artists" have taken away his barber's chair, and + skilled painters and plasterers and mechanics have taken away his + paint-brushes and tool-chests. Every year the number of occupations open + to him becomes fewer because of his lack of progress in them. Unless a + radical change takes place in the scope of his education, so that he may + learn better how to do his work, a tide of white immigration will set in + and force him out of his last stronghold, domestic service, and limit his + sphere to the farm. + </p> + <p> + All primary schools for the Negroes should be equipped for industrial + training in such work as sewing, cooking, laundering, carpentry, and + house-cleaning, and, in rural districts, in elementary agriculture. + </p> + <p> + Secondary schools should add to the literary courses a more advanced + course in industrial training, so as to approach as nearly as possible the + objects and methods of the Tuskegee and Hampton Industrial and Normal + Schools. Too much cannot be said in behalf of the revolution in the life + of the Negro which the work of these schools promises and, in part, has + already wrought. The writer is fully aware that education has a value + aside from and above its bread-winning results, and he would not dissuade + the Negro from seeking the highest culture that he may be capable of; but + it is folly for him to wing his way through the higher realms of the + intellect without some acquaintance with the requirements and duties of + life. + </p> + <p> + Changes are needed in the methods of Negro education as well as in its + scope. Educators should take into account, more than they have yet done, + the differences in the mental characteristics of the two races. It is a + well-established fact that, while the lower races possess marked capacity + to deal with simple, concrete ideas, they lack power of generalization, + and soon fatigue in the realm of the abstract. It is also well known that + the inferior races, being deficient in generalization, which is a + subjective process, are absorbed almost entirely in the things that are + objective. They have strong and alert eyesight, and are susceptible to + impressions through the medium of the eye to an extent that is impossible + to any of the white races. This fact is evidenced in the great number of + pictures found in the homes of the Negroes. In default of anything better, + they will paper their walls with advertisements of the theater and the + circus, and even with pictures from vicious newspapers. They delight in + street pageantry, fancy costumes, theatrical performances, and similar + spectacles. Factories employing Negroes generally find it necessary to + suspend operations on "circus day." They love stories of adventure and any + fiction that gives play to their imaginations. All their tastes lie in the + realm of the objective and the concrete. + </p> + <p> + Hence, in the school-room stress should be laid on those studies that + appeal to the eye and the imagination. Lessons should be given in + sketching, painting, drawing, and casting. Reprints of the popular works + of art should be placed before the Negroes, that their love for art may be + gratified and their taste cultivated at the same time. Fancy needlework, + dress-making, and home decorations should also have an important place. + These studies, while not contributing directly to bread-winning, have a + refining and softening influence upon character, and inspire efforts to + make the home more attractive. The more interest we can make the Negro + take in his personal appearance and in the comforts of his home, the more + we shall strengthen and promote his family life and raise the level of his + civilization. + </p> + <p> + The literary education of the Negro should consist of carefully selected + poems and novels that appeal to his imagination and produce clear images + upon his mind, excluding such literature as is in the nature of + psychological or moral research. Recitations and dialogues should be more + generally and more frequently required. In history emphasis should be + given to what is picturesque, dramatic, and biographical. + </p> + <p> + Coming to the political phase of the Negro problem, there is a general + agreement among white men that the Southern States cannot keep pace with + the progress of the world as long as they are menaced by Negro domination, + and that, therefore, it is necessary to eliminate the Negro vote from + politics. When the Negroes become intelligent factors in society, when + they become thrifty and accumulate wealth, they will find the way to + larger exercise of citizenship. They can never sit upon juries to pass + upon life and property until they are property-owners themselves, and they + can never hold the reins of government by reason of mere superiority of + numbers. Before they can take on larger political responsibilities they + must demonstrate their ability to meet them. + </p> + <p> + The Negroes will never be allowed to control State governments so long as + they vote at every election upon the basis of color, without regard + whatever to political issues or private convictions. If the Negroes would + divide their votes according to their individual opinions, as the lamented + Charles Price, one of their best leaders, advised, there would be no + danger of Negro domination and no objection to their holding offices which + they might be competent to fill. But as there is no present prospect of + their voting upon any other basis than that of color, the white people are + forced to accept the situation and protect themselves accordingly. Years + of bitter and costly experience have demonstrated over and over again that + Negro rule is not only incompetent and corrupt, but a menace to + civilization. Some people imagine that there is something anomalous, + peculiar, or local in the race prejudice that binds all Negroes together; + but this clan spirit is a characteristic of all savage and semi-civilized + peoples. + </p> + <p> + It should be well understood by this time that no foreign race inhabiting + this country and acting together politically can dominate the native + whites. To permit an inferior race, holding less than one tenth of the + property of the community, to take the reins of government in its hands, + by reason of mere numerical strength, would be to renounce civilization. + Our national government, in making laws for Hawaii, has carefully provided + for white supremacy by an educational qualification for suffrage that + excludes the semi-civilized natives. No sane man, let us hope, would think + of placing Manila under the control of a government of the Philippine + Islands based upon universal suffrage. Yet the problem in the South and + the problem in the Philippines and in Hawaii differ only in degree. + </p> + <p> + The only proper safeguard against Negro rule in States where the blacks + outnumber or approximate in number the whites lies in constitutional + provisions establishing an educational test for suffrage applicable to + black and white alike. If the suffrage is not thus limited it is necessary + for the whites to resort to technicalities and ballot laws, to bribery or + intimidation. To set up an educational test with a "grandfather clause," + making the test apply for a certain time to the blacks only, seems to an + outsider unnecessary, arbitrary, and unjust. The reason for such a clause + arises from the belief that no constitutional amendment could ever carry + if it immediately disfranchised the illiterate whites, as many + property-holding whites belong to that class. But the writer does not + believe in the principle nor in the necessity for a "grandfather clause." + If constitutional amendments were to be submitted in North Carolina and + Virginia applying the educational test to both races alike after 1908, the + question would be lifted above the level of party gain, and would receive + the support of white men of all parties and the approbation of the moral + sentiment of the American people. A white man who would disfranchise a + Negro because of his color or for mere party advantage is himself unworthy + of the suffrage. With the suffrage question adjusted upon an educational + basis the Negroes would have the power to work out their political + emancipation, the white people having made education necessary and + provided the means for attaining it. + </p> + <p> + When the question of Negro domination is settled the path of progress of + both races will be very much cleared. Race conflicts will then be less + frequent and race feeling less bitter. With more friendly relations + growing up, and with more concentration of energy on the part of the + Negroes in industrial lines, the opportunities for them will be widened + and the task of finding industrial adjustment in the struggle for life + made easier. The wisest and best leaders among the Negroes, such as Booker + Washington and the late Charles Price, have tried to turn the attention of + the Negroes from politics to the more profitable pursuits of industry, and + if the professional politician would cease inspiring the Negroes to seek + salvation in political domination over the whites, the race issue would + soon cease to exist. + </p> + <p> + The field is broad enough in the South for both races to attain all that + is possible to them. In spite of the periodic political conflicts and + occasional local riots and acts of individual violence, the relations + between the races, in respect to nine tenths of the population, are very + friendly. The general condition has been too often judged by the acts of a + small minority. The Southern people understand the Negroes, and feel a + real fondness for those that are thrifty and well behaved. When fairly + treated the Negro has a strong affection for his employer. He seldom + forgets a kindness, and is quick to forget a wrong. If he does not stay + long at one place, it is not that he dislikes his employer so much as that + he has a restless temperament and craves change. His disposition is full + of mirth and sunshine, and not a little of the fine flavor of Southern wit + and humor is due to his influence. His nature is plastic, and while he is + easily molded into a monster, he is also capable of a high degree of + culture. Many Negroes are thoroughly honest, notwithstanding their bad + environment and hereditary disposition to steal. Negro servants are + trusted with the keys to households to an extent that, probably, is not + the case among domestics elsewhere in the civilized world. + </p> + <p> + It is strange that two races working side by side should possess so many + opposite traits of character. The white man has strong will and + convictions and is set in his ways. He lives an indoor, monotonous life, + restrains himself like a Puritan, and is inclined to melancholy. The + prevalence of Populism throughout the South is nothing but the outcome of + this morbid tendency. Farmers and merchants are entirely absorbed in their + business, and the women, especially the married women, contrast with the + women of France, Germany, and even England, in their indoor life and + disinclination to mingle with the world outside. Public parks and public + concerts, such as are found in Europe, which call out husband, wife, and + children for a few hours of rest and communion with their friends, are + almost unknown in the South. The few entertainments that receive sanction + generally exclude all but the well-to-do by the cost of admission. The + life of the poor in town and country is bleak and bare to the last degree. + </p> + <p> + Contrasting with this tendency is the free-and-easy life of the blacks. + The burdens of the present and the future weigh lightly upon their + shoulders. They love all the worldly amusements; in their homes they are + free entertainers, and in their fondness for conversation and love of + street life they are equal to the French or Italians. + </p> + <p> + May we not hope that the conflict of these two opposite races is working + out some advantages to both, and that the final result will justify all + that the conflict has cost? + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0020" id="link2H_4_0020"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + SIGNS OF PROGRESS AMONG THE NEGROES by Booker T. Washington + </h2> + <p> + In addition to the problem of educating eight million negroes in our + Southern States and ingrafting them into American citizenship, we now have + the additional responsibility, either directly or indirectly, of educating + and elevating about eight hundred thousand others of African descent in + Cuba and Porto Rico, to say nothing of the white people of these islands, + many of whom are in a condition about as deplorable as that of the + negroes. We have, however, one advantage in approaching the question of + the education of our new neighbors. + </p> + <p> + The experience that we have passed through in the Southern States during + the last thirty years in the education of my race, whose history and needs + are not very different from the history and needs of the Cubans and Porto + Ricans, will prove most valuable in elevating the blacks of the West + Indian Islands. To tell what has already been accomplished in the South + under most difficult circumstances is to tell what may be done in Cuba and + Porto Rico. + </p> + <p> + To this end let me tell a story. + </p> + <p> + In what is known as the black belt of the South—that is, where the + negroes outnumber the whites—there lived before the Civil War a + white man who owned some two hundred slaves, and was prosperous. At the + close of the war he found his fortune gone, except that which was + represented in land, of which he owned several thousand acres. Of the two + hundred slaves a large proportion decided, after their freedom, to + continue on the plantation of their former owner. + </p> + <p> + Some years after the war a young black boy, who seemed to have "rained + down," was discovered on the plantation by Mr. S——-, the + owner. In daily rides through the plantation Mr. S——- saw this + boy sitting by the roadside, and his condition awakened his pity, for, + from want of care, he was covered from head to foot with sores, and Mr. S——- + soon grew into the habit of tossing him a nickel or a dime as he rode by. + In some way this boy heard of the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute + in Alabama, and of the advantages which it offered poor but deserving + colored men and women to secure an education through their own labor while + taking the course of study. This boy, whose name was William, made known + to the plantation hands his wish to go to the Tuskegee school. By each one + "chipping in," and through the efforts of the boy himself, a few decent + pieces of clothing were secured, and a little money, but not enough to pay + his railroad fare, so the boy resolved to walk to Tuskegee, a distance of + about one hundred and fifty miles. Strange to say, he made the long + distance with an expenditure of only twenty cents in cash. He frankly told + every one with whom he came in contact where he was going and what he was + seeking. Both white and colored people along the route gave him food and a + place to sleep free of cost, and even the usually exacting ferrymen were + so impressed with the young negro's desire for an education that, except + in one case, he was given free ferriage across the creeks and rivers. + </p> + <p> + One can easily imagine his appearance when he first arrived at Tuskegee, + with his blistered feet and small white bundle, which contained all the + clothing he possessed. + </p> + <p> + On being shown into my office his first words were: "I's come. S'pose you + been lookin' for me, but I didn't come on de railroad." Looking up the + records, it was found that this young man had been given permission to + come several months ago, but the correspondence had long since been + forgotten. + </p> + <p> + After being sent to the bath-room and provided with a tooth-brush,—for + the tooth-brush at Tuskegee is the emblem of civilization,—William + was assigned to a room, and was given work on the school farm of fourteen + hundred acres, seven hundred of which are cultivated by student labor. + During his first year at Tuskegee William worked on the farm during the + day, where he soon learned to take a deep interest in all that the school + was doing to teach the students the best and most improved methods of + farming, and studied for two hours at night in the class-room after his + hard day's work was over. At first he seemed drowsy and dull in the + night-school, and would now and then fall asleep while trying to study; + but he did not grow discouraged. The new machinery that he was compelled + to use on the farm interested him because it taught him that the farm work + could be stripped of much of the old-time drudgery and toil, and seemed to + awaken his sleeping intellect. Soon he began asking the farm-instructors + such questions as where the Jersey and Holstein cattle came from, and why + they produced more milk and butter than the common long-tailed and + long-horned cows that he had seen at home. + </p> + <p> + His night-school teachers found that he ceased to sleep in school, and + began asking questions about his lessons, and was soon able to calculate + the number of square yards in an acre and to tell the number of + peach-trees required to plant an acre of land. After he had been at + Tuskegee two or three months the farm-manager came into my office on a + cold, rainy day, and said that William was virtually barefooted, the soles + of his shoes having separated from the uppers, though William had fastened + them together as best he could with bits of wire. In this condition the + farm-instructor found him plowing without a word of complaint. A pair of + second-hand shoes was secured for him, and he was soon very happy. + </p> + <p> + I will not take this part of the story further except to say that at the + end of his first year at Tuskegee this young man, having made a start in + his books, and having saved a small sum of money above the cost of his + board, which was credited to his account, entered the next year our + regular day-classes, though still dividing his time between the class-room + and work on the farm. + </p> + <p> + Toward the end of the year he found himself in need of money with which to + buy books, clothing, etc., and so wrote a carefully worded letter to Mr. S——-, + the white man on whose plantation he had lived, and who had been, in + slavery, the owner of his mother. + </p> + <p> + In the letter he told Mr. S——- how he got to Tuskegee, what he + was doing, and what his needs were, and asked Mr. S——- to lend + him fifteen dollars. Before receiving this letter Mr. S——- had + not thought once about the boy during his two years' absence; in fact, did + not know that he had left the plantation. + </p> + <p> + Mr. S——- was a good deal shocked, as well as amused, over such + a request from such a source. The letter went to the wastebasket without + being answered. A few weeks later William sent a second letter, in which + he took it for granted that the first letter had not been received. The + second letter shared the same fate as the first. A third letter reached + Mr. S——- in a few weeks, making the same request. In answer to + the third letter Mr. S——- told me that, moved by some impulse + which he himself never understood, he sent William the fifteen dollars. + </p> + <p> + Two or three years passed, and Mr. S——- had about forgotten + William and the fifteen dollars; but one morning while sitting upon his + porch a bright young colored man walked up and introduced himself as + William, the boy to whom he used to toss small pieces of money, and the + one to whom he had sent fifteen dollars. + </p> + <p> + William paid Mr. S——- the fifteen dollars with interest, which + he had earned while teaching school after leaving Tuskegee. + </p> + <p> + This simple experience with this young colored man made a new and + different person of Mr. S——-, so far as the negro was + concerned. + </p> + <p> + He began to think. He thought of the long past, but he thought most of the + future, and of his duty toward the hundreds of colored people on his + plantation and in his community. After careful thought he asked William + Edwards to open a school on his plantation in a vacant log cabin. That was + seven years ago. On this same plantation at Snow Hill, Wilcox county, + Alabama, a county where, according to the last census, there are + twenty-four thousand colored people and about six thousand whites, there + is now a school with two hundred pupils, five teachers from Tuskegee, and + three school buildings. The school has forty acres of land. In addition to + the text-book lessons, the boys are taught farming and carpentry, and the + girls sewing and general house-keeping, and the school is now in the act + of starting a blacksmith and wheelwright department. This school owes its + existence almost wholly to Mr. S——-, who gave to the trustees + the forty acres of land, and has contributed liberally to the building + fund, as well as to the pay of the teachers. Gifts from a few friends in + the North have been received, and the colored people have given their + labor and small sums in cash. When the people cannot find money to give, + they have often given corn, chickens, and eggs. The school has grown so + popular that almost every leading white man in the community is willing to + make a small gift toward its maintenance. + </p> + <p> + In addition to the work done directly in the school for the children, the + teachers in the Snow Hill school have organized a kind of university + extension movement. The farmers are organized into conferences, which hold + meetings each month. In these meetings they are taught better methods of + agriculture, how to buy land, how to economize and keep out of debt, how + to stop mortgaging, how to build school-houses and dwelling-houses with + more than one room, how to bring about a higher moral and religious + standing, and are warned against buying cheap jewelry, snuff, and whisky. + </p> + <p> + No one is a more interested visitor at these meetings than Mr. S——-himself. + The matter does not end in mere talk and advice. The women teachers go + right into the cabins of the people and show them how to keep them clean, + how to dust, sweep, and cook. + </p> + <p> + When William Edwards left this community a few years ago for the Tuskegee + school, he left the larger proportion in debt, mortgaging their crops + every year for the food on which to live. Most of them were living on + rented land in small one-room log cabins, and attempting to pay an + enormous rate of interest on the value of their food advances. As one old + colored man expressed it, "I ain't got but six feet of land, and I is got + to die to git dat." The little school taught in a cabin lasted only three + or four months in the year. The religion was largely a matter of the + emotions, with almost no practical ideas of morality. It was the white man + for himself and the negro for himself, each in too many cases trying to + take advantage of the other. The situation was pretty well described by a + black man who said to me: "I tells you how we votes. We always watches de + white man, and we keeps watchin' de white man. De nearer it gits to + 'lection-time de more we watches de white man. We keeps watchin' de white + man till we find out which way he gwine to vote; den we votes 'zactly de + odder way. Den we knows we is right." + </p> + <p> + Now how changed is all at Snow Hill, and how it is gradually changing each + year! Instead of the hopelessness and dejection that were there a few + years ago, there are now light and buoyancy in the countenances and + movements of the people. The negroes are getting out of debt and buying + land, ceasing to mortgage their crops, building houses with two or three + rooms, and a higher moral and religious standard has been established. + </p> + <p> + Last May, on the day that the school had its closing exercises, there were + present, besides the hundreds of colored-people, about fifty of the + leading white men and women of the county, and these white people seemed + as much interested in the work of the school as the people of my own race. + </p> + <p> + Only a few years ago in the State of Alabama the law in reference to the + education of the negro read as follows: "Any person or persons who shall + attempt to teach any free person of color or slave to spell, read, or + write shall, upon conviction thereof by indictment, be fined in a sum not + less than two hundred and fifty dollars nor more than five hundred + dollars." + </p> + <p> + Within half a dozen years I have heard Dr. J. L. M. Curry, a brave, honest + ex-Confederate officer, in addressing both the Alabama and Georgia State + legislatures, say to those bodies in the most emphatic manner that it was + as much the duty of the State to educate the negro children as the white + children, and in each case Dr. Curry's words were cheered. + </p> + <p> + Here at Snow Hill is the foundation for the solution of the legal and + political difficulties that exist in the South, and the improvement of the + industrial condition of the negro in Cuba and Porto Rico. This solution + will not come all at once, but gradually. The foundation must exist in the + commercial and industrial development of the people of my race in the + South and in the West Indian Islands. + </p> + <p> + The most intelligent whites are beginning to realize that they cannot go + much higher than they lift the negro at the same time. When a black man + owns and cultivates the best farm to be found in his county he will have + the confidence and respect of most of the white people in that county. + When a black man is the largest taxpayer in his community his white + neighbor will not object very long to his voting, and having that vote + honestly counted. Even now a black man who has five hundred dollars to + lend has no trouble in finding a white man who is willing to borrow his + money. The negro who is a large stockholder in a railroad company will + always be treated with justice on that railroad. + </p> + <p> + Many of the most intelligent colored people are learning that while there + are many bad white men in the South, there are Southern whites who have + the highest interests of the negro just as closely at heart as have any + other people in any part of the country. Many of the negroes are learning + that it is folly not to cultivate in every honorable way the friendship of + the white man who is their next-door neighbor. + </p> + <p> + To describe the work being done in connection with the public schools by + graduates of Tuskegee and other institutions in the South, at such places + as Mount Meigs, under Miss Cornelia Bowen; Denmark, South Carolina; + Abbeville and Newville, Alabama; Christiansburg, Virginia, and numbers of + other places in the Gulf States, would be only to repeat in a larger or + smaller degree what I have said of Snow Hill. + </p> + <p> + Not very long after the last national election I visited a town in the + South, to speak at a meeting which had for its object the raising of money + to complete the school-house. The audience was about equally divided + between white men and women and black men and women. When the time for the + collection came it was intensely satisfactory to observe that the white + side of the audience was just as eager to make its small contributions as + were the members of my own race. But I was anxious to see how the late + election had been conducted in that community. I soon found out that the + Republican party, composed almost wholly of the black people, was + represented by an election officer in the person of one of the + best-educated colored men in the town, that both the Democratic and + Populist parties were equally well represented, and that there was no + suspicion of unfairness. + </p> + <p> + But I wished to go a little deeper, and I soon found that one of the + leading stores in this community was owned by a colored man; that a + cotton-gin was owned by a colored man; that the sawmill was owned by + another colored man. Colored men had mortgages on white men's crops, and + vice versa, and colored people not only owned land, but in several cases + were renting land to white men. Black men were in debt to white men, and + white men were in debt to black men. In a word, the industrial and + commercial relations of the races were interwoven just as if all had been + of one race. + </p> + <p> + An object-lesson in civilization is more potent in compelling people to + act right than a law compelling them to do so. Some years ago a colored + woman who had graduated at Tuskegee began her life-work in a Southern + community where the force of white public sentiment was opposed to the + starting of what was termed a "nigger school." At first this girl was + tempted to abuse her white sister, but she remembered that perhaps the + white woman had been taught from her earliest childhood, through reading + and conversation, that education was not good for the negro, that it would + result only in trouble to the community, and that no amount of abuse could + change this prejudice. + </p> + <p> + After a while this colored teacher was married to an educated colored man, + and they built a little cottage, which, in connection with her husband's + farm, was a model. One morning one of the white women who had been most + intense in her feelings was passing this cottage, and her attention was + attracted to the colored woman who was at work in her beautiful + flower-garden. A conversation took place concerning the flowers. At + another time this same white woman was so attracted by this flower-garden + that she came inside the yard, and from the yard she went into the + sitting-room and examined the books and papers. + </p> + <p> + This acquaintance has now ripened and broadened, so that to-day there are + few people in that community more highly respected than this colored + family. What did it all? This object-lesson. No one could explain that + away. One such object-lesson in every community in the South is more + powerful than all the laws Congress can pass in the direction of bringing + about right relations between blacks and whites. + </p> + <p> + A few months ago an agricultural county fair, the first ever held in that + county, was organized and held at Calhoun, Alabama, by the teachers in the + Calhoun School, which is an offshoot of the Hampton Institute. Both the + colored people and numbers of white visitors were astonished at the + creditable exhibits made by the colored people. Most of these white people + saw the school work at Calhoun for the first time. Perhaps no amount of + abstract talk or advice could have brought them to this school, but the + best hog, the largest pumpkin, or the most valuable bale of cotton + possessed a common interest, and it has been a comparatively easy thing to + extend their interest from the best hog to the work being done in the + school-room. Further, this fair convinced these white people, as almost + nothing else could have done, that education was making the negroes better + citizens rather than worse; that the people were not being educated away + from themselves, but with their elevation the conditions about them were + being lifted in a manner that possessed an interest and value for both + races. + </p> + <p> + It was after speaking, not long ago, to the colored people at such a + county fair in North Carolina that I was asked the next morning to speak + to the white students at their college, who gave me as hearty a greeting + as I have ever received at Northern colleges. + </p> + <p> + But such forces as I have described—forces that are gradually + regenerating the entire South and will regenerate Cuba and Porto Rico—are + not started and kept in motion without a central plant—a + power-house, where the power is generated. I cannot describe all these + places of power. Perhaps the whole South and the whole country are most + indebted to the Hampton Institute in Virginia. Then there is Fisk + University at Nashville, Tennessee; Talladega College at Talladega, + Alabama; Spelman Seminary, Atlanta University, and Atlanta Baptist College + at Atlanta; Biddle University in North Carolina; Claflin University at + Orangeburg, South Carolina; and Knoxville College at Knoxville, Tennessee. + Some of these do a different grade of work, but one much needed. + </p> + <p> + At Tuskegee, Alabama, starting fifteen years ago in a little shanty with + one teacher and thirty students, with no property, there has grown up an + industrial and educational village where the ideas that I have referred to + are put into the heads, hearts, and hands of an army of colored men and + women, with the purpose of having them become centers of light and + civilization in every part of the South. One visiting the Tuskegee Normal + and Industrial Institute to-day will find eight hundred and fifty students + gathered from twenty-four States, with eighty-eight teachers and officers + training these students in literary, religious, and industrial work. + </p> + <p> + Counting the students and the families of the instructors, the visitor + will find a black village of about twelve hundred people. Instead of the + old, worn-out plantation that was there fifteen years ago, there is a + modern farm of seven hundred acres cultivated by student labor. There are + Jersey and Holstein cows and Berkshire pigs, and the butter used is made + by the most modern process. + </p> + <p> + Aside from the dozens of neat, comfortable cottages owned by individual + teachers and other persons, who have settled in this village for the + purpose of educating their children, he will find thirty-six buildings of + various kinds and sizes, owned and built by the school, property valued at + three hundred thousand dollars. Perhaps the most interesting thing in + connection with these buildings is that, with the exception of three, they + have been built by student labor. The friends of the school have furnished + money to pay the teachers and for material. + </p> + <p> + When a building is to be erected, the teacher in charge of the mechanical + and architectural drawing department gives to the class in drawing a + general description of the building desired, and then there is a + competition to see whose plan will be accepted. These same students in + most cases help do the practical work of putting up the building—some + at the sawmill, the brick-yard, or in the carpentry, brickmaking, + plastering, painting, and tinsmithing departments. At the same time care + is taken to see not only that the building goes up properly, but that the + students, who are under intelligent instructors in their special branch, + are taught at the same time the principles as well as the practical part + of the trade. + </p> + <p> + The school has the building in the end, and the students have the + knowledge of the trade. This same principle applies, whether in the + laundry, where the washing for seven or eight hundred people is done, or + in the sewing-room, where a large part of the clothing for this colony is + made and repaired, or in the wheelwright and blacksmith departments, where + all the wagons and buggies used by the school, besides a large number for + the outside public, are manufactured, or in the printing-office, where a + large part of the printing for the white and colored people in this region + is done. Twenty-six different industries are here in constant operation. + </p> + <p> + When the student is through with his course of training he goes out + feeling that it is just as honorable to labor with the hand as with the + head, and instead of his having to look for a place, the place usually + seeks him, because he has to give that which the South wants. One other + thing should not be overlooked in our efforts to develop the black man. As + bad as slavery was, almost every large plantation in the South during that + time was, in a measure, an industrial school. It had its farming + department, its blacksmith, wheelwright, brickmaking, carpentry, and + sewing departments. Thus at the close of the war our people were in + possession of all the common and skilled labor in the South. For nearly + twenty years after the war we overlooked the value of the ante-bellum + training, and no one was trained to replace these skilled men and women + who were soon to pass away; and now, as skilled laborers from foreign + countries, with not only educated hands but trained brains, begin to come + into the South and take these positions once held by us, we are gradually + waking up to the fact that we must compete with the white man in the + industrial world if we would hold our own. No one understands his value in + the labor world better than the old colored man. Recently, when a + convention was held in the South by the white people for the purpose of + inducing white settlers from the North and West to settle in the South, + one of these colored men said to the president of the convention: "'Fore + de Lord, boss, we's got as many white people down here now as we niggers + can support." + </p> + <p> + The negro in the South has another advantage. While there is prejudice + against him along certain lines,—in the matter of business in + general, and the trades especially,—there is virtually no prejudice + so far as the native Southern white man is concerned. White men and black + men work at the same carpenter's bench and on the same brick wall. + Sometimes the white man is the "boss," sometimes the black man is the + boss. + </p> + <p> + Some one chaffed a colored man recently because, when he got through with + a contract for building a house, he cleared just ten cents; but he said: + "All right, boss; it was worth ten cents to be de boss of dem white men." + If a Southern white man has a contract to let for the building of a house, + he prefers the black contractor, because he has been used to doing + business of this character with a negro rather than with a white man. + </p> + <p> + The negro will find his way up as a man just in proportion as he makes + himself valuable, possesses something that a white man wants, can do + something as well as, or better than, a white man. + </p> + <p> + I would not have my readers get the thought that the problem in the South + is settled, that there is nothing else to be done; far from this. Long + years of patient, hard work will be required for the betterment of the + condition of the negro in the South, as well as for the betterment of the + condition of the negro in the West Indies. + </p> + <p> + There are bright spots here and there that point the way. Perhaps the most + that we have accomplished in the last thirty years is to show the North + and the South how the fourteen slaves landed a few hundred years ago at + Jamestown, Virginia,—now nearly eight millions of freemen in the + South alone,—are to be made a safe and useful part of our democratic + and Christian institutions. + </p> + <p> + The main thing that is now needed to bring about a solution of the + difficulties in the South is money in large sums, to be used largely for + Christian, technical, and industrial education. + </p> + <p> + For more than thirty years we have been trying to solve one of the most + serious problems in the history of the world largely by passing around a + hat in the North. Out of their poverty the Southern States have done well + in assisting; many more millions are needed, and these millions will have + to come before the question as to the negro in the South is settled. + </p> + <p> + There never was a greater opportunity for men of wealth to place a few + million dollars where they could be used in lifting up and regenerating a + whole race; and let it always be borne in mind that every dollar given for + the proper education of the negro in the South is almost as much help to + the Southern white man as to the negro himself. So long as the whites in + the South are surrounded by a race that is, in a large measure, in + ignorance and poverty, so long will this ignorance and poverty of the + negro in a score of ways prevent the highest development of the white man. + </p> + <p> + The problem of lifting up the negro in Cuba and Porto Rico is an easier + one in one respect, even if it proves more difficult in others. It will be + less difficult, because there is the absence of that higher degree of race + feeling which exists in many parts of the United States. Both the white + Cuban and the white Spaniard have treated the people of African descent, + in civil, political, military, and business matters, very much as they + have treated others of their own race. Oppression has not cowed and + unmanned the Cuban negro in certain respects as it has the American negro. + </p> + <p> + In only a few instances is the color-line drawn. How Americans will treat + the negro Cuban, and what will be the tendency of American influences in + the matter of the relation of the races, remains an interesting and open + question. Certainly it will place this country in an awkward position to + have gone to war to free a people from Spanish cruelty, and then as soon + as it gets them within its power to treat a large proportion of the + population worse than did even Spain herself, simply on account of color. + </p> + <p> + While in the matter of the relation of the races the problem before us in + the West Indies is easier, in respect to the industrial, moral, and + religious sides it is more difficult. The negroes on these islands are + largely an agricultural people, and for this reason, in addition to a + higher degree of mental and religious training, they need the same + agricultural, mechanical, and domestic training that is fast helping the + negroes in our Southern States. Industrial training will not only help + them to the ownership of property, habits of thrift and economy, but the + acquiring of these elements of strength will go further than anything else + in improving the moral and religious condition of the masses, just as has + been and is true of my people in the Southern States. + </p> + <p> + With the idea of getting the methods of industrial education pursued at + Hampton and Tuskegee permanently and rightly started in Cuba and Porto + Rico, a few of the most promising men and women from these islands have + been brought to the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute, and educated + with the view of having them return and take the lead in affording + industrial training on these islands, where the training can best be given + to the masses. + </p> + <p> + The emphasis that I have placed upon an industrial education does not mean + that the negro is to be excluded from the higher interests of life, but it + does mean that in proportion as the negro gets the foundation,—the + useful before the ornamental,—in the same proportion will he + accelerate his progress in acquiring those elements which do not pertain + so directly to the utilitarian. + </p> + <p> + Phillips Brooks once said, "One generation gathers the material, and the + next builds the palaces." Very largely this must be the material-gathering + generation of black people, but in due time the palaces will come if we + are patient. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0021" id="link2H_4_0021"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE MARCH OF PROGRESS by Charles W. Chesnutt + </h2> + <p> + The colored people of Patesville had at length gained the object they had + for a long time been seeking—the appointment of a committee of + themselves to manage the colored schools of the town. They had argued, + with some show of reason, that they were most interested in the education + of their own children, and in a position to know, better than any + committee of white men could, what was best for their children's needs. + The appointments had been made by the county commissioners during the + latter part of the summer, and a week later a meeting was called for the + purpose of electing a teacher to take charge of the grammar school at the + beginning of the fall term. + </p> + <p> + The committee consisted of Frank Gillespie, or "Glaspy," a barber, who + took an active part in local politics; Bob Cotten, a blacksmith, who owned + several houses and was looked upon as a substantial citizen; and Abe + Johnson, commonly called "Ole Abe" or "Uncle Abe," who had a large family, + and drove a dray, and did odd jobs of hauling; he was also a class-leader + in the Methodist church. The committee had been chosen from among a number + of candidates—Gillespie on account of his political standing, Cotten + as representing the solid element of the colored population, and Old Abe, + with democratic impartiality, as likely to satisfy the humbler class of a + humble people. While the choice had not pleased everybody,—for + instance, some of the other applicants,—it was acquiesced in with + general satisfaction. The first meeting of the new committee was of great + public interest, partly by reason of its novelty, but chiefly because + there were two candidates for the position of teacher of the grammar + school. + </p> + <p> + The former teacher, Miss Henrietta Noble, had applied for the school. She + had taught the colored children of Patesville for fifteen years. When the + Freedmen's Bureau, after the military occupation of North Carolina, had + called for volunteers to teach the children of the freedmen, Henrietta + Nobel had offered her services. Brought up in a New England household by + parents who taught her to fear God and love her fellow-men, she had seen + her father's body brought home from a Southern battle-field and laid to + rest in the village cemetery; and a short six months later she had buried + her mother by his side. Henrietta had no brothers or sisters, and her + nearest relatives were cousins living in the far West. The only human + being in whom she felt any special personal interest was a certain captain + in her father's regiment, who had paid her some attention. She had loved + this man deeply, in a maidenly, modest way; but he had gone away without + speaking, and had not since written. He had escaped the fate of many + others, and at the close of the war was alive and well, stationed in some + Southern garrison. + </p> + <p> + When her mother died, Henrietta had found herself possessed only of the + house where she lived and the furniture it contained, neither being of + much value, and she was thrown upon her own resources for a livelihood. + She had a fair education and had read many good books. It was not easy to + find employment such as she desired. She wrote to her Western cousins, and + they advised her to come to them, as they thought they could do something + for her if she were there. She had almost decided to accept their offer, + when the demand arose for teachers in the South. Whether impelled by some + strain of adventurous blood from a Pilgrim ancestry, or by a sensitive + pride that shrank from dependence, or by some dim and unacknowledged hope + that she might sometime, somewhere, somehow meet Captain Carey—whether + from one of these motives or a combination of them all, joined to + something of the missionary spirit, she decided to go South, and wrote to + her cousins declining their friendly offer. + </p> + <p> + She had come to Patesville when the children were mostly a mob of dirty + little beggars. She had distributed among them the cast-off clothing that + came from their friends in the North; she had taught them to wash their + faces and to comb their hair; and patiently, year after year, she had + labored to instruct them in the rudiments of learning and the first + principles of religion and morality. And she had not wrought in vain. + Other agencies, it is true, had in time cooperated with her efforts, but + any one who had watched the current of events must have been compelled to + admit that the very fair progress of the colored people of Patesville in + the fifteen years following emancipation had been due chiefly to the + unselfish labors of Henrietta Noble, and that her nature did not belie her + name. + </p> + <p> + Fifteen years is a long time. Miss Noble had never met Captain Carey; and + when she learned later that he had married a Southern girl in the + neighborhood of his post, she had shed her tears in secret and banished + his image from her heart. She had lived a lonely life. The white people of + the town, though they learned in time to respect her and to value her + work, had never recognized her existence by more than the mere external + courtesy shown by any community to one who lives in the midst of it. The + situation was at first, of course, so strained that she did not expect + sympathy from the white people; and later, when time had smoothed over + some of the asperities of war, her work had so engaged her that she had + not had time to pine over her social exclusion. Once or twice nature had + asserted itself, and she had longed for her own kind, and had visited her + New England home. But her circle of friends was broken up, and she did not + find much pleasure in boarding-house life; and on her last visit to the + North but one, she had felt so lonely that she had longed for the dark + faces of her pupils, and had welcomed with pleasure the hour when her task + should be resumed. + </p> + <p> + But for several reasons the school at Patesville was of more importance to + Miss Noble at this particular time than it ever had been before. During + the last few years her health had not been good. An affection of the heart + similar to that from which her mother had died, while not interfering + perceptibly with her work, had grown from bad to worse, aggravated by + close application to her duties, until it had caused her grave alarm. She + did not have perfect confidence in the skill of the Patesville physicians, + and to obtain the best medical advice had gone to New York during the + summer, remaining there a month under the treatment of an eminent + specialist. This, of course, had been expensive and had absorbed the + savings of years from a small salary; and when the time came for her to + return to Patesville, she was reduced, after paying her traveling + expenses, to her last ten-dollar note. + </p> + <p> + "It is very fortunate," the great man had said at her last visit, "that + circumstances permit you to live in the South, for I am afraid you could + not endure a Northern winter. You are getting along very well now, and if + you will take care of yourself and avoid excitement, you will be better." + He said to himself as she went away: "It's only a matter of time, but that + is true about us all; and a wise physician does as much good by what he + withholds as by what he tells." + </p> + <p> + Miss Noble had not anticipated any trouble about the school. When she went + away the same committee of white men was in charge that had controlled the + school since it had become part of the public-school system of the State + on the withdrawal of support from the Freedmen's Bureau. While there had + been no formal engagement made for the next year, when she had last seen + the chairman before she went away, he had remarked that she was looking + rather fagged out, had bidden her good-by, and had hoped to see her much + improved when she returned. She had left her house in the care of the + colored woman who lived with her and did her housework, assuming, of + course, that she would take up her work again in the autumn. + </p> + <p> + She was much surprised at first, and later alarmed, to find a rival for + her position as teacher of the grammar school. Many of her friends and + pupils had called on her since her return, and she had met a number of the + people at the colored Methodist church, where she taught in the + Sunday-school. She had many friends and supporters, but she soon found out + that her opponent had considerable strength. There had been a time when + she would have withdrawn and left him a clear field, but at the present + moment it was almost a matter of life and death to her—certainly the + matter of earning a living—to secure the appointment. + </p> + <p> + The other candidate was a young man who in former years had been one of + Miss Noble's brightest pupils. When he had finished his course in the + grammar school, his parents, with considerable sacrifice, had sent him to + a college for colored youth. He had studied diligently, had worked + industriously during his vacations, sometimes at manual labor, sometimes + teaching a country school, and in due time had been graduated from his + college with honors. He had come home at the end of his school life, and + was very naturally seeking the employment for which he had fitted himself. + He was a "bright" mulatto, with straight hair, an intelligent face, and a + well-set figure. He had acquired some of the marks of culture, wore a + frock-coat and a high collar, parted his hair in the middle, and showed by + his manner that he thought a good deal of himself. He was the popular + candidate among the progressive element of his people, and rather + confidently expected the appointment. + </p> + <p> + The meeting of the committee was held in the Methodist church, where, in + fact, the grammar school was taught, for want of a separate school-house. + After the preliminary steps to effect an organization, Mr. Gillespie, who + had been elected chairman, took the floor. + </p> + <p> + "The principal business to be brought befo' the meet'n' this evenin'," he + said, "is the selection of a teacher for our grammar school for the + ensuin' year. Two candidates have filed applications, which, if there is + no objection, I will read to the committee. The first is from Miss Noble, + who has been the teacher ever since the grammar school was started." + </p> + <p> + He then read Miss Noble's letter, in which she called attention to her + long years of service, to her need of the position, and to her affection + for the pupils, and made formal application for the school for the next + year. She did not, from motives of self-respect, make known the extremity + of her need; nor did she mention the condition of her health, as it might + have been used as an argument against her retention. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Gillespie then read the application of the other candidate, Andrew J. + Williams. Mr. Williams set out in detail his qualifications for the + position: his degree from Riddle University; his familiarity with the dead + and living languages and the higher mathematics; his views of discipline; + and a peroration in which he expressed the desire to devote himself to the + elevation of his race and assist the march of progress through the medium + of the Patesville grammar school. The letter was well written in a bold, + round hand, with many flourishes, and looked very aggressive and + overbearing as it lay on the table by the side of the sheet of small + note-paper in Miss Noble's faint and somewhat cramped handwriting. + </p> + <p> + "You have heard the readin' of the applications," said the chairman. + "Gentlemen, what is yo' pleasure?" + </p> + <p> + There being no immediate response, the chairman continued: + </p> + <p> + "As this is a matter of consid'able importance, involvin' not only the + welfare of our schools, but the progress of our race, an' as our action is + liable to be criticized, whatever we decide, perhaps we had better discuss + the subjec' befo' we act. If nobody else has anything to obse've, I will + make a few remarks." + </p> + <p> + Mr. Gillespie cleared his throat, and, assuming an oratorical attitude, + proceeded: + </p> + <p> + "The time has come in the history of our people when we should stand + together. In this age of organization the march of progress requires that + we help ourselves, or be forever left behind. Ever since the war we have + been sendin' our child'n to school an' educatin' 'em; an' now the time has + come when they are leavin' the schools an' colleges, an' are ready to go + to work. An' what are they goin' to do? The white people won't hire 'em as + clerks in their sto's an' factories an' mills, an' we have no sto's or + factories or mills of our own. They can't be lawyers or doctors yet, + because we haven't got the money to send 'em to medical colleges an' law + schools. We can't elect many of 'em to office, for various reasons. + There's just two things they can find to do—to preach in our own + pulpits, an' teach in our own schools. If it wasn't for that, they'd have + to go on forever waitin' on white folks, like their fo'fathers have done, + because they couldn't help it. If we expect our race to progress, we must + educate our young men an' women. If we want to encourage 'em to get + education, we must find 'em employment when they are educated. We have now + an opportunity to do this in the case of our young friend an' + fellow-citizen, Mr. Williams, whose eloquent an' fine-lookin' letter ought + to make us feel proud of him an' of our race. + </p> + <p> + "Of co'se there are two sides to the question. We have got to consider the + claims of Miss Noble. She has been with us a long time an' has done much + good work for our people, an' we'll never forget her work an' frien'ship. + But, after all, she has been paid for it; she has got her salary regularly + an' for a long time, an' she has probably saved somethin', for we all know + she hasn't lived high; an', for all we know, she may have had somethin' + left her by her parents. An' then again, she's white, an' has got her own + people to look after her; they've got all the money an' all the offices + an' all the everythin',—all that they've made an' all that we've + made for fo' hundred years,—an' they sho'ly would look out for her. + If she don't get this school, there's probably a dozen others she can get + at the North. An' another thing: she is gettin' rather feeble, an' it + 'pears to me she's hardly able to stand teachin' so many child'n, an' a + long rest might be the best thing in the world for her. + </p> + <p> + "Now, gentlemen, that's the situation. Shall we keep Miss Noble, or shall + we stand by our own people? It seems to me there can hardly be but one + answer. Self-preservation is the first law of nature. Are there any other + remarks?" + </p> + <p> + Old Abe was moving restlessly in his seat. He did not say anything, + however, and the chairman turned to the other member. + </p> + <p> + "Brother Cotten, what is yo' opinion of the question befo' the board?" + </p> + <p> + Mr. Cotten rose with the slowness and dignity becoming a substantial + citizen, and observed: + </p> + <p> + "I think the remarks of the chairman have great weight. We all have + nothin' but kind feelin's fer Miss Noble, an' I came here to-night + somewhat undecided how to vote on this question. But after listenin' to + the just an' forcible arguments of Brother Glaspy, it 'pears to me that, + after all, the question befo' us is not a matter of feelin', but of + business. As a business man, I am inclined to think Brother Glaspy is + right. If we don't help ourselves when we get a chance, who is goin' to + help us?" + </p> + <p> + "That bein' the case," said the chairman, "shall we proceed to a vote? All + who favor the election of Brother Williams—" + </p> + <p> + At this point Old Abe, with much preliminary shuffling, stood up in his + place and interrupted the speaker. + </p> + <p> + "Mr. Chuhman," he said, "I s'pose I has a right ter speak in dis meet'n? I + S'POSE I is a member er dis committee?" + </p> + <p> + "Certainly, Brother Johnson, certainly; we shall be glad to hear from + you." + </p> + <p> + "I s'pose I's got a right ter speak my min', ef I is po' an' black, an' + don' weah as good clo's as some other members er de committee?" + </p> + <p> + "Most assuredly, Brother Johnson," answered the chairman, with a barber's + suavity, "you have as much right to be heard as any one else. There was no + intention of cuttin' you off." + </p> + <p> + "I s'pose," continued Abe, "dat a man wid fo'teen child'n kin be 'lowed + ter hab somethin' ter say 'bout de schools er dis town?" + </p> + <p> + "I am sorry, Brother Johnson, that you should feel slighted, but there was + no intention to igno' yo' rights. The committee will be please' to have + you ventilate yo' views." + </p> + <p> + "Ef it's all be'n an' done reco'nized an' 'cided dat I's got de right ter + be heared in dis meet'n', I'll say w'at I has ter say, an' it won't take + me long ter say it. Ef I should try ter tell all de things dat Miss Noble + has done fer de niggers er dis town, it'd take me till ter-morrer mawnin'. + Fer fifteen long yeahs I has watched her incomin's an' her outgoin's. Her + daddy was a Yankee kunnel, who died fighting fer ou' freedom. She come + heah when we—yas, Mr. Chuhman, when you an' Br'er Cotten—was + jes sot free, an' when none er us didn' have a rag ter ou' backs. She come + heah, an' she tuk yo' child'n an' my child'n, an' she teached 'em sense + an' manners an' religion an' book-l'arnin'. When she come heah we didn' + hab no chu'ch. Who writ up No'th an' got a preacher sent to us, an' de + fun's ter buil' dis same chu'ch-house we're settin' in ter-night? Who got + de money f'm de Bureau to s'port de school? An' when dat was stop', who + got de money f'm de Peabody Fun'? Talk about Miss Noble gittin' a sal'ry! + Who paid dat sal'ry up ter five years ago? Not one dollah of it come outer + ou' pockets! + </p> + <p> + "An' den, w'at did she git fer de yuther things she done? Who paid her fer + de gals she kep' f'm throwin' deyse'ves away? Who paid fer de boys she + kep' outer jail? I had a son dat seemed to hab made up his min' ter go + straight ter hell. I made him go ter Sunday-school, an' somethin' dat + woman said teched his heart, an' he behaved hisse'f, an' I ain' got no + reason fer ter be 'shame' er 'im. An' I can 'member, Br'er Cotten, when + you didn' own fo' houses an' a fahm. An' when yo' fus wife was sick, who + sot by her bedside an' read de Good Book ter 'er, w'en dey wuzn' nobody + else knowed how ter read it, an' comforted her on her way across de col', + dahk ribber? An' dat ain' all I kin 'member, Mr. Chuhman! When yo' gal + Fanny was a baby, an' sick, an' nobody knowed what was de matter wid 'er, + who sent fer a doctor, an' paid 'im fer comin', an' who he'ped nuss dat + chile, an' tol' yo' wife w'at ter do, an' save' dat chile's life, jes as + sho' as de Lawd has save' my soul? + </p> + <p> + "An' now, aftuh fifteen yeahs o' slavin' fer us, who ain't got no claim on + her, aftuh fifteen yeahs dat she has libbed 'mongs' us an' made herse'f + one of us, an' endyoed havin' her own people look down on her, aftuh she + has growed ole an' gray wukkin' fer us an' our child'n, we talk erbout + turnin' 'er out like a' ole hoss ter die! It 'pears ter me some folks has + po' mem'ries! Whar would we 'a' be'n ef her folks at de No'th hadn' + 'membered us no bettuh? An' we hadn' done nothin', neither, fer dem to + 'member us fer. De man dat kin fergit w'at Miss Noble has done fer dis + town is unworthy de name er nigger! He oughter die an' make room fer some + 'spectable dog! + </p> + <p> + "Br'er Glaspy says we got a' educated young man, an' we mus' gib him + sump'n' ter do. Let him wait; ef I reads de signs right he won't hab ter + wait long fer dis job. Let him teach in de primary schools, er in de + country; an' ef he can't do dat, let 'im work awhile. It don't hahm a' + educated man ter work a little; his fo'fathers has worked fer hund'eds of + years, an' we's worked, an' we're heah yet, an' we're free, an' we's + gettin' ou' own houses an' lots an' hosses an' cows—an' ou' educated + young men. But don't let de fus thing we do as a committee be somethin' we + ought ter be 'shamed of as long as we lib. I votes fer Miss Noble, fus, + las', an' all de time!" + </p> + <p> + When Old Abe sat down the chairman's face bore a troubled look. He + remembered how his baby girl, the first of his children that he could + really call his own, that no master could hold a prior claim upon, lay + dying in the arms of his distracted young wife, and how the thin, homely, + and short-sighted white teacher had come like an angel into his cabin, and + had brought back the little one from the verge of the grave. The child was + a young woman now, and Gillespie had well-founded hopes of securing the + superior young Williams for a son-in-law; and he realized with something + of shame that this later ambition had so dazzled his eyes for a moment as + to obscure the memory of earlier days. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Cotten, too, had not been unmoved, and there were tears in his eyes as + he recalled how his first wife, Nancy, who had borne with him the + privations of slavery, had passed away, with the teacher's hand in hers, + before she had been able to enjoy the fruits of liberty. For they had + loved one another much, and her death had been to them both a hard and + bitter thing. And, as Old Abe spoke, he could remember, as distinctly as + though they had been spoken but an hour before, the words of comfort that + the teacher had whispered to Nancy in her dying hour and to him in his + bereavement. + </p> + <p> + "On consideration, Mr. Chairman," he said, with an effort to hide a + suspicious tremor in his voice and to speak with the dignity consistent + with his character as a substantial citizen, "I wish to record my vote fer + Miss Noble." + </p> + <p> + "The chair," said Gillespie, yielding gracefully to the majority, and + greatly relieved that the responsibility of his candidate's defeat lay + elsewhere, "will make the vote unanimous, and will appoint Brother Cotten + and Brother Johnson a committee to step round the corner to Miss Noble's + and notify her of her election." + </p> + <p> + The two committeemen put on their hats, and, accompanied by several people + who had been waiting at the door to hear the result of the meeting, went + around the corner to Miss Noble's house, a distance of a block or two + away. The house was lighted, so they knew she had not gone to bed. They + went in at the gate, and Cotten knocked at the door. + </p> + <p> + The colored maid opened it. + </p> + <p> + "Is Miss Noble home?" said Cotten. + </p> + <p> + "Yes; come in. She's waitin' ter hear from the committee." + </p> + <p> + The woman showed them into the parlor. Miss Noble rose from her seat by + the table, where she had been reading, and came forward to meet them. They + did not for a moment observe, as she took a step toward them, that her + footsteps wavered. In her agitation she was scarcely aware of it herself. + </p> + <p> + "Miss Noble," announced Cotten, "we have come to let you know that you + have be'n 'lected teacher of the grammar school fer the next year." + </p> + <p> + "Thank you; oh, thank you so much!" she said. "I am very glad. Mary"—she + put her hand to her side suddenly and tottered—"Mary, will you—" + </p> + <p> + A spasm of pain contracted her face and cut short her speech. She would + have fallen had Old Abe not caught her and, with Mary's help, laid her on + a couch. + </p> + <p> + The remedies applied by Mary, and by the physician who was hastily + summoned, proved unavailing. The teacher did not regain consciousness. + </p> + <p> + If it be given to those whose eyes have closed in death to linger + regretfully for a while about their earthly tenement, or from some higher + vantage-ground to look down upon it, then Henrietta Noble's tolerant + spirit must have felt, mingling with its regret, a compensating thrill of + pleasure; for not only those for whom she had labored sorrowed for her, + but the people of her own race, many of whom, in the blindness of their + pride, would not admit during her life that she served them also, saw so + much clearer now that they took charge of her poor clay, and did it gentle + reverence, and laid it tenderly away amid the dust of their own loved and + honored dead. + </p> + <p> + TWO weeks after Miss Noble's funeral the other candidate took charge of + the grammar school, which went on without any further obstacles to the + march of progress. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0022" id="link2H_4_0022"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE FREEDMEN'S BUREAU by W. E. Burghardt Du Bois + </h2> + <p> + The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color line; the + relation of the darker to the lighter races of men in Asia and Africa, in + America and the islands of the sea. It was a phase of this problem that + caused the Civil War; and however much they who marched south and north in + 1861 may have fixed on the technical points of union and local autonomy as + a shibboleth, all nevertheless knew, as we know, that the question of + Negro slavery was the deeper cause of the conflict. Curious it was, too, + how this deeper question ever forced itself to the surface, despite effort + and disclaimer. No sooner had Northern armies touched Southern soil than + this old question, newly guised, sprang from the earth,—What shall + be done with slaves? Peremptory military commands, this way and that, + could not answer the query; the Emancipation Proclamation seemed but to + broaden and intensify the difficulties; and so at last there arose in the + South a government of men called the Freedmen's Bureau, which lasted, + legally, from 1865 to 1872, but in a sense from 1861 to 1876, and which + sought to settle the Negro problems in the United States of America. + </p> + <p> + It is the aim of this essay to study the Freedmen's Bureau,—the + occasion of its rise, the character of its work, and its final success and + failure,—not only as a part of American history, but above all as + one of the most singular and interesting of the attempts made by a great + nation to grapple with vast problems of race and social condition. + </p> + <p> + No sooner had the armies, east and west, penetrated Virginia and Tennessee + than fugitive slaves appeared within their lines. They came at night, when + the flickering camp fires of the blue hosts shone like vast unsteady stars + along the black horizon: old men, and thin, with gray and tufted hair; + women with frightened eyes, dragging whimpering, hungry children; men and + girls, stalwart and gaunt,—a horde of starving vagabonds, homeless, + helpless, and pitiable in their dark distress. Two methods of treating + these newcomers seemed equally logical to opposite sorts of minds. Said + some, "We have nothing to do with slaves." "Hereafter," commanded Halleck, + "no slaves should be allowed to come into your lines at all; if any come + without your knowledge, when owners call for them, deliver them." But + others said, "We take grain and fowl; why not slaves?" Whereupon Fremont, + as early as August, 1861, declared the slaves of Missouri rebels free. + Such radical action was quickly countermanded, but at the same time the + opposite policy could not be enforced; some of the black refugees declared + themselves freemen, others showed their masters had deserted them, and + still others were captured with forts and plantations. Evidently, too, + slaves were a source of strength to the Confederacy, and were being used + as laborers and producers. "They constitute a military resource," wrote + the Secretary of War, late in 1861; "and being such, that they should not + be turned over to the enemy is too plain to discuss." So the tone of the + army chiefs changed, Congress forbade the rendition of fugitives, and + Butler's "contrabands" were welcomed as military laborers. This + complicated rather than solved the problem; for now the scattering + fugitives became a steady stream, which flowed faster as the armies + marched. + </p> + <p> + Then the long-headed man, with care-chiseled face, who sat in the White + House, saw the inevitable, and emancipated the slaves of rebels on New + Year's, 1863. A month later Congress called earnestly for the Negro + soldiers whom the act of July, 1862, had half grudgingly allowed to + enlist. Thus the barriers were leveled, and the deed was done. The stream + of fugitives swelled to a flood, and anxious officers kept inquiring: + "What must be done with slaves arriving almost daily? Am I to find food + and shelter for women and children?" + </p> + <p> + It was a Pierce of Boston who pointed out the way, and thus became in a + sense the founder of the Freedmen's Bureau. Being specially detailed from + the ranks to care for the freedmen at Fortress Monroe, he afterward + founded the celebrated Port Royal experiment and started the Freedmen's + Aid Societies. Thus, under the timid Treasury officials and bold army + officers, Pierce's plan widened and developed. At first, the able-bodied + men were enlisted as soldiers or hired as laborers, the women and children + were herded into central camps under guard, and "superintendents of + contrabands" multiplied here and there. Centres of massed freedmen arose + at Fortress Monroe, Va., Washington, D. C., Beaufort and Port Royal, S. + C., New Orleans, La., Vicksburg and Corinth, Miss., Columbus, Ky., Cairo, + Ill., and elsewhere, and the army chaplains found here new and fruitful + fields. + </p> + <p> + Then came the Freedmen's Aid Societies, born of the touching appeals for + relief and help from these centres of distress. There was the American + Missionary Association, sprung from the Amistad, and now full grown for + work, the various church organizations, the National Freedmen's Relief + Association, the American Freedmen's Union, the Western Freedmen's Aid + Commission,—in all fifty or more active organizations, which sent + clothes, money, school-books, and teachers southward. All they did was + needed, for the destitution of the freedmen was often reported as "too + appalling for belief," and the situation was growing daily worse rather + than better. + </p> + <p> + And daily, too, it seemed more plain that this was no ordinary matter of + temporary relief, but a national crisis; for here loomed a labor problem + of vast dimensions. Masses of Negroes stood idle, or, if they worked + spasmodically, were never sure of pay; and if perchance they received pay, + squandered the new thing thoughtlessly. In these and in other ways were + camp life and the new liberty demoralizing the freedmen. The broader + economic organization thus clearly demanded sprang up here and there as + accident and local conditions determined. Here again Pierce's Port Royal + plan of leased plantations and guided workmen pointed out the rough way. + In Washington, the military governor, at the urgent appeal of the + superintendent, opened confiscated estates to the cultivation of the + fugitives, and there in the shadow of the dome gathered black farm + villages. General Dix gave over estates to the freedmen of Fortress + Monroe, and so on through the South. The government and the benevolent + societies furnished the means of cultivation, and the Negro turned again + slowly to work. The systems of control, thus started, rapidly grew, here + and there, into strange little governments, like that of General Banks in + Louisiana, with its 90,000 black subjects, its 50,000 guided laborers, and + its annual budget of $100,000 and more. It made out 4000 pay rolls, + registered all freedmen, inquired into grievances and redressed them, laid + and collected taxes, and established a system of public schools. So too + Colonel Eaton, the superintendent of Tennessee and Arkansas, ruled over + 100,000, leased and cultivated 7000 acres of cotton land, and furnished + food for 10,000 paupers. In South Carolina was General Saxton, with his + deep interest in black folk. He succeeded Pierce and the Treasury + officials, and sold forfeited estates, leased abandoned plantations, + encouraged schools, and received from Sherman, after the terribly + picturesque march to the sea, thousands of the wretched camp followers. + </p> + <p> + Three characteristic things one might have seen in Sherman's raid through + Georgia, which threw the new situation in deep and shadowy relief: the + Conqueror, the Conquered, and the Negro. Some see all significance in the + grim front of the destroyer, and some in the bitter sufferers of the lost + cause. But to me neither soldier nor fugitive speaks with so deep a + meaning as that dark and human cloud that clung like remorse on the rear + of those swift columns, swelling at times to half their size, almost + engulfing and choking them. In vain were they ordered back, in vain were + bridges hewn from beneath their feet; on they trudged and writhed and + surged, until they rolled into Savannah, a starved and naked horde of tens + of thousands. There too came the characteristic military remedy: "The + islands from Charleston south, the abandoned ricefields along the rivers + for thirty miles back from the sea, and the country bordering the St. + John's River, Florida, are reserved and set apart for the settlement of + Negroes now made free by act of war." So read the celebrated field order. + </p> + <p> + All these experiments, orders, and systems were bound to attract and + perplex the government and the nation. Directly after the Emancipation + Proclamation, Representative Eliot had introduced a bill creating a Bureau + of Emancipation, but it was never reported. The following June, a + committee of inquiry, appointed by the Secretary of War, reported in favor + of a temporary bureau for the "improvement, protection, and employment of + refugee freedmen," on much the same lines as were afterward followed. + Petitions came in to President Lincoln from distinguished citizens and + organizations, strongly urging a comprehensive and unified plan of dealing + with the freedmen, under a bureau which should be "charged with the study + of plans and execution of measures for easily guiding, and in every way + judiciously and humanely aiding, the passage of our emancipated and yet to + be emancipated blacks from the old condition of forced labor to their new + state of voluntary industry." + </p> + <p> + Some half-hearted steps were early taken by the government to put both + freedmen and abandoned estates under the supervision of the Treasury + officials. Laws of 1863 and 1864 directed them to take charge of and lease + abandoned lands for periods not exceeding twelve months, and to "provide + in such leases or otherwise for the employment and general welfare" of the + freedmen. Most of the army officers looked upon this as a welcome relief + from perplexing "Negro affairs;" but the Treasury hesitated and blundered, + and although it leased large quantities of land and employed many Negroes, + especially along the Mississippi, yet it left the virtual control of the + laborers and their relations to their neighbors in the hands of the army. + </p> + <p> + In March, 1864, Congress at last turned its attention to the subject, and + the House passed a bill, by a majority of two, establishing a Bureau for + Freedmen in the War Department. Senator Sumner, who had charge of the bill + in the Senate, argued that freedmen and abandoned lands ought to be under + the same department, and reported a substitute for the House bill, + attaching the Bureau to the Treasury Department. This bill passed, but too + late for action in the House. The debate wandered over the whole policy of + the administration and the general question of slavery, without touching + very closely the specific merits of the measure in hand. + </p> + <p> + Meantime the election took place, and the administration, returning from + the country with a vote of renewed confidence, addressed itself to the + matter more seriously. A conference between the houses agreed upon a + carefully drawn measure which contained the chief provisions of Charles + Sumner's bill, but made the proposed organization a department independent + of both the War and Treasury officials. The bill was conservative, giving + the new department "general superintendence of all freedmen." It was to + "establish regulations" for them, protect them, lease them lands, adjust + their wages, and appear in civil and military courts as their "next + friend." There were many limitations attached to the powers thus granted, + and the organization was made permanent. Nevertheless, the Senate defeated + the bill, and a new conference committee was appointed. This committee + reported a new bill, February 28, which was whirled through just as the + session closed, and which became the act of 1865 establishing in the War + Department a "Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands." + </p> + <p> + This last compromise was a hasty bit of legislation, vague and uncertain + in outline. A Bureau was created, "to continue during the present War of + Rebellion, and for one year thereafter," to which was given "the + supervision and management of all abandoned lands, and the control of all + subjects relating to refugees and freedmen," under "such rules and + regulations as may be presented by the head of the Bureau and approved by + the President." A commissioner, appointed by the President and Senate, was + to control the Bureau, with an office force not exceeding ten clerks. The + President might also appoint commissioners in the seceded states, and to + all these offices military officials might be detailed at regular pay. The + Secretary of War could issue rations, clothing, and fuel to the destitute, + and all abandoned property was placed in the hands of the Bureau for + eventual lease and sale to ex-slaves in forty-acre parcels. + </p> + <p> + Thus did the United States government definitely assume charge of the + emancipated Negro as the ward of the nation. It was a tremendous + undertaking. Here, at a stroke of the pen, was erected a government of + millions of men,—and not ordinary men, either, but black men + emasculated by a peculiarly complete system of slavery, centuries old; and + now, suddenly, violently, they come into a new birthright, at a time of + war and passion, in the midst of the stricken, embittered population of + their former masters. Any man might well have hesitated to assume charge + of such a work, with vast responsibilities, indefinite powers, and limited + resources. Probably no one but a soldier would have answered such a call + promptly; and indeed no one but a soldier could be called, for Congress + had appropriated no money for salaries and expenses. + </p> + <p> + Less than a month after the weary emancipator passed to his rest, his + successor assigned Major General Oliver O. Howard to duty as commissioner + of the new Bureau. He was a Maine man, then only thirty-five years of age. + He had marched with Sherman to the sea, had fought well at Gettysburg, and + had but a year before been assigned to the command of the Department of + Tennessee. An honest and sincere men, with rather too much faith in human + nature, little aptitude for systematic business and intricate detail, he + was nevertheless conservative, hard-working, and, above all, acquainted at + first-hand with much of the work before him. And of that work it has been + truly said, "No approximately correct history of civilization can ever be + written which does not throw out in bold relief, as one of the great + landmarks of political and social progress, the organization and + administration of the Freedmen's Bureau." + </p> + <p> + On May 12, 1865, Howard was appointed, and he assumed the duties of his + office promptly on the 15th, and began examining the field of work. A + curious mess he looked upon: little despotisms, communistic experiments, + slavery, peonage, business speculations, organized charity, unorganized + almsgiving,—all reeling on under the guise of helping the freedman, + and all enshrined in the smoke and blood of war and the cursing and + silence of angry men. On May 19 the new government—for a government + it really was—issued its constitution; commissioners were to be + appointed in each of the seceded states, who were to take charge of "all + subjects relating to refugees and freedmen," and all relief and rations + were to be given by their consent alone. The Bureau invited continued + cooperation with benevolent societies, and declared, "It will be the + object of all commissioners to introduce practicable systems of + compensated labor," and to establish schools. Forthwith nine assistant + commissioners were appointed. They were to hasten to their fields of work; + seek gradually to close relief establishments, and make the destitute + self-supporting; act as courts of law where there were no courts, or where + Negroes were not recognized in them as free; establish the institution of + marriage among ex-slaves, and keep records; see that freedmen were free to + choose their employers, and help in making fair contracts for them; and + finally, the circular said, "Simple good faith, for which we hope on all + hands for those concerned in the passing away of slavery, will especially + relieve the assistant commissioners in the discharge of their duties + toward the freedmen, as well as promote the general welfare." + </p> + <p> + No sooner was the work thus started, and the general system and local + organization in some measure begun, than two grave difficulties appeared + which changed largely the theory and outcome of Bureau work. First, there + were the abandoned lands of the South. It had long been the more or less + definitely expressed theory of the North that all the chief problems of + emancipation might be settled by establishing the slaves on the forfeited + lands of their masters,—a sort of poetic justice, said some. But + this poetry done into solemn prose meant either wholesale confiscation of + private property in the South, or vast appropriations. Now Congress had + not appropriated a cent, and no sooner did the proclamations of general + amnesty appear than the 800,000 acres of abandoned lands in the hands of + the Freedmen's Bureau melted quickly away. The second difficulty lay in + perfecting the local organization of the Bureau throughout the wide field + of work. Making a new machine and sending out officials of duly + ascertained fitness for a great work of social reform is no child's task; + but this task was even harder, for a new central organization had to be + fitted on a heterogeneous and confused but already existing system of + relief and control of ex-slaves; and the agents available for this work + must be sought for in an army still busy with war operations,—men in + the very nature of the case ill fitted for delicate social work,—or + among the questionable camp followers of an invading host. Thus, after a + year's work, vigorously as it was pushed, the problem looked even more + difficult to grasp and solve than at the beginning. Nevertheless, three + things that year's work did, well worth the doing: it relieved a vast + amount of physical suffering; it transported 7000 fugitives from congested + centres back to the farm; and, best of all, it inaugurated the crusade of + the New England schoolma'am. + </p> + <p> + The annals of this Ninth Crusade are yet to be written, the tale of a + mission that seemed to our age far more quixotic than the quest of St. + Louis seemed to his. Behind the mists of ruin and rapine waved the calico + dresses of women who dared, and after the hoarse mouthings of the field + guns rang the rhythm of the alphabet. Rich and poor they were, serious and + curious. Bereaved now of a father, now of a brother, now of more than + these, they came seeking a life work in planting New England schoolhouses + among the white and black of the South. They did their work well. In that + first year they taught 100,000 souls, and more. + </p> + <p> + Evidently, Congress must soon legislate again on the hastily organized + Bureau, which had so quickly grown into wide significance and vast + possibilities. An institution such as that was well-nigh as difficult to + end as to begin. Early in 1866 Congress took up the matter, when Senator + Trumbull, of Illinois, introduced a bill to extend the Bureau and enlarge + its powers. This measure received, at the hands of Congress, far more + thorough discussion and attention than its predecessor. The war cloud had + thinned enough to allow a clearer conception of the work of emancipation. + The champions of the bill argued that the strengthening of the Freedmen's + Bureau was still a military necessity; that it was needed for the proper + carrying out of the Thirteenth Amendment, and was a work of sheer justice + to the ex-slave, at a trifling cost to the government. The opponents of + the measure declared that the war was over, and the necessity for war + measures past; that the Bureau, by reason of its extraordinary powers, was + clearly unconstitutional in time of peace, and was destined to irritate + the South and pauperize the freedmen, at a final cost of possibly hundreds + of millions. Two of these arguments were unanswered, and indeed + unanswerable: the one that the extraordinary powers of the Bureau + threatened the civil rights of all citizens; and the other that the + government must have power to do what manifestly must be done, and that + present abandonment of the freedmen meant their practical enslavement. The + bill which finally passed enlarged and made permanent the Freedmen's + Bureau. It was promptly vetoed by President Johnson, as + "unconstitutional," "unnecessary," and "extrajudicial," and failed of + passage over the veto. Meantime, however, the breach between Congress and + the President began to broaden, and a modified form of the lost bill was + finally passed over the President's second veto, July 16. + </p> + <p> + The act of 1866 gave the Freedmen's Bureau its final form,—the form + by which it will be known to posterity and judged of men. It extended the + existence of the Bureau to July, 1868; it authorized additional assistant + commissioners, the retention of army officers mustered out of regular + service, the sale of certain forfeited lands to freedmen on nominal terms, + the sale of Confederate public property for Negro schools, and a wider + field of judicial interpretation and cognizance. The government of the + un-reconstructed South was thus put very largely in the hands of the + Freedmen's Bureau, especially as in many cases the departmental military + commander was now made also assistant commissioner. It was thus that the + Freedmen's Bureau became a full-fledged government of men. It made laws, + executed them and interpreted them; it laid and collected taxes, defined + and punished crime, maintained and used military force, and dictated such + measures as it thought necessary and proper for the accomplishment of its + varied ends. Naturally, all these powers were not exercised continuously + nor to their fullest extent; and yet, as General Howard has said, + "scarcely any subject that has to be legislated upon in civil society + failed, at one time or another, to demand the action of this singular + Bureau." + </p> + <p> + To understand and criticise intelligently so vast a work, one must not + forget an instant the drift of things in the later sixties: Lee had + surrendered, Lincoln was dead, and Johnson and Congress were at + loggerheads; the Thirteenth Amendment was adopted, the Fourteenth pending, + and the Fifteenth declared in force in 1870. Guerrilla raiding, the ever + present flickering after-flame of war, was spending its force against the + Negroes, and all the Southern land was awakening as from some wild dream + to poverty and social revolution. In a time of perfect calm, amid willing + neighbors and streaming wealth, the social uplifting of 4,000,000 slaves + to an assured and self-sustaining place in the body politic and economic + would have been an herculean task; but when to the inherent difficulties + of so delicate and nice a social operation were added the spite and hate + of conflict, the Hell of War; when suspicion and cruelty were rife, and + gaunt Hunger wept beside Bereavement,—in such a case, the work of + any instrument of social regeneration was in large part foredoomed to + failure. The very name of the Bureau stood for a thing in the South which + for two centuries and better men had refused even to argue,—that + life amid free Negroes was simply unthinkable, the maddest of experiments. + The agents which the Bureau could command varied all the way from + unselfish philanthropists to narrow-minded busybodies and thieves; and + even though it be true that the average was far better than the worst, it + was the one fly that helped to spoil the ointment. Then, amid all this + crouched the freed slave, bewildered between friend and foe. He had + emerged from slavery: not the worst slavery in the world, not a slavery + that made all life unbearable,—rather, a slavery that had here and + there much of kindliness, fidelity, and happiness,—but withal + slavery, which, so far as human aspiration and desert were concerned, + classed the black man and the ox together. And the Negro knew full well + that, whatever their deeper convictions may have been, Southern men had + fought with desperate energy to perpetuate this slavery, under which the + black masses, with half-articulate thought, had writhed and shivered. They + welcomed freedom with a cry. They fled to the friends that had freed them. + They shrank from the master who still strove for their chains. So the + cleft between the white and black South grew. Idle to say it never should + have been; it was as inevitable as its results were pitiable. Curiously + incongruous elements were left arrayed against each other: the North, the + government, the carpetbagger, and the slave, here; and there, all the + South that was white, whether gentleman or vagabond, honest man or rascal, + lawless murderer or martyr to duty. + </p> + <p> + Thus it is doubly difficult to write of this period calmly, so intense was + the feeling, so mighty the human passions, that swayed and blinded men. + Amid it all two figures ever stand to typify that day to coming men: the + one a gray-haired gentleman, whose fathers had quit themselves like men, + whose sons lay in nameless graves, who bowed to the evil of slavery + because its abolition boded untold ill to all; who stood at last, in the + evening of life, a blighted, ruined form, with hate in his eyes. And the + other, a form hovering dark and mother-like, her awful face black with the + mists of centuries, had aforetime bent in love over her white master's + cradle, rocked his sons and daughters to sleep, and closed in death the + sunken eyes of his wife to the world; ay, too, had laid herself low to his + lust and borne a tawny man child to the world, only to see her dark boy's + limbs scattered to the winds by midnight marauders riding after Damned + Niggers. These were the saddest sights of that woeful day; and no man + clasped the hands of these two passing figures of the present-past; but + hating they went to their long home, and hating their children's children + live to-day. + </p> + <p> + Here, then, was the field of work for the Freedmen's Bureau; and since, + with some hesitation, it was continued by the act of 1868 till 1869, let + us look upon four years of its work as a whole. There were, in 1868, 900 + Bureau officials scattered from Washington to Texas, ruling, directly and + indirectly, many millions of men. And the deeds of these rulers fall + mainly under seven heads,—the relief of physical suffering, the + overseeing of the beginnings of free labor, the buying and selling of + land, the establishment of schools, the paying of bounties, the + administration of justice, and the financiering of all these activities. + Up to June, 1869, over half a million patients had been treated by Bureau + physicians and surgeons, and sixty hospitals and asylums had been in + operation. In fifty months of work 21,000,000 free rations were + distributed at a cost of over $4,000,000,—beginning at the rate of + 30,000 rations a day in 1865, and discontinuing in 1869. Next came the + difficult question of labor. First, 30,000 black men were transported from + the refuges and relief stations back to the farms, back to the critical + trial of a new way of working. Plain, simple instructions went out from + Washington,—the freedom of laborers to choose employers, no fixed + rates of wages, no peonage or forced labor. So far so good; but where + local agents differed toto coelo in capacity and character, where the + personnel was continually changing, the outcome was varied. The largest + element of success lay in the fact that the majority of the freedmen were + willing, often eager, to work. So contracts were written,—50,000 in + a single state,—laborers advised, wages guaranteed, and employers + supplied. In truth, the organization became a vast labor bureau; not + perfect, indeed,—notably defective here and there,—but on the + whole, considering the situation, successful beyond the dreams of + thoughtful men. The two great obstacles which confronted the officers at + every turn were the tyrant and the idler: the slaveholder, who believed + slavery was right, and was determined to perpetuate it under another name; + and the freedman, who regarded freedom as perpetual rest. These were the + Devil and the Deep Sea. + </p> + <p> + In the work of establishing the Negroes as peasant proprietors the Bureau + was severely handicapped, as I have shown. Nevertheless, something was + done. Abandoned lands were leased so long as they remained in the hands of + the Bureau, and a total revenue of $400,000 derived from black tenants. + Some other lands to which the nation had gained title were sold, and + public lands were opened for the settlement of the few blacks who had + tools and capital. The vision of landowning, however, the righteous and + reasonable ambition for forty acres and a mule which filled the freedmen's + dreams, was doomed in most cases to disappointment. And those men of + marvelous hind-sight, who to-day are seeking to preach the Negro back to + the soil, know well, or ought to know, that it was here, in 1865, that the + finest opportunity of binding the black peasant to the soil was lost. Yet, + with help and striving, the Negro gained some land, and by 1874, in the + one state of Georgia, owned near 350,000 acres. + </p> + <p> + The greatest success of the Freedmen's Bureau lay in the planting of the + free school among Negroes, and the idea of free elementary education among + all classes in the South. It not only called the schoolmistress through + the benevolent agencies, and built them schoolhouses, but it helped + discover and support such apostles of human development as Edmund Ware, + Erastus Cravath, and Samuel Armstrong. State superintendents of education + were appointed, and by 1870 150,000 children were in school. The + opposition to Negro education was bitter in the South, for the South + believed an educated Negro to be a dangerous Negro. And the South was not + wholly wrong; for education among all kinds of men always has had, and + always will have, an element of danger and revolution, of dissatisfaction + and discontent. Nevertheless, men strive to know. It was some inkling of + this paradox, even in the unquiet days of the Bureau, that allayed an + opposition to human training, which still to-day lies smouldering, but not + flaming. Fisk, Atlanta, Howard, and Hampton were founded in these days, + and nearly $6,000,000 was expended in five years for educational work, + $750,000 of which came from the freedmen themselves. + </p> + <p> + Such contributions, together with the buying of land and various other + enterprises, showed that the ex-slave was handling some free capital + already. The chief initial source of this was labor in the army, and his + pay and bounty as a soldier. Payments to Negro soldiers were at first + complicated by the ignorance of the recipients, and the fact that the + quotas of colored regiments from Northern states were largely filled by + recruits from the South, unknown to their fellow soldiers. Consequently, + payments were accompanied by such frauds that Congress, by joint + resolution in 1867, put the whole matter in the hands of the Freedmen's + Bureau. In two years $6,000,000 was thus distributed to 5000 claimants, + and in the end the sum exceeded $8,000,000. Even in this system, fraud was + frequent; but still the work put needed capital in the hands of practical + paupers, and some, at least, was well spent. + </p> + <p> + The most perplexing and least successful part of the Bureau's work lay in + the exercise of its judicial functions. In a distracted land where slavery + had hardly fallen, to keep the strong from wanton abuse of the weak, and + the weak from gloating insolently over the half-shorn strength of the + strong, was a thankless, hopeless task. The former masters of the land + were peremptorily ordered about, seized and imprisoned, and punished over + and again, with scant courtesy from army officers. The former slaves were + intimidated, beaten, raped, and butchered by angry and revengeful men. + Bureau courts tended to become centres simply for punishing whites, while + the regular civil courts tended to become solely institutions for + perpetuating the slavery of blacks. Almost every law and method ingenuity + could devise was employed by the legislatures to reduce the Negroes to + serfdom,—to make them the slaves of the state, if not of individual + owners; while the Bureau officials too often were found striving to put + the "bottom rail on top," and give the freedmen a power and independence + which they could not yet use. It is all well enough for us of another + generation to wax wise with advice to those who bore the burden in the + heat of the day. It is full easy now to see that the man who lost home, + fortune, and family at a stroke, and saw his land ruled by "mules and + niggers," was really benefited by the passing of slavery. It is not + difficult now to say to the young freedman, cheated and cuffed about, who + has seen his father's head beaten to a jelly and his own mother namelessly + assaulted, that the meek shall inherit the earth. Above all, nothing is + more convenient than to heap on the Freedmen's Bureau all the evils of + that evil day, and damn it utterly for every mistake and blunder that was + made. + </p> + <p> + All this is easy, but it is neither sensible nor just. Some one had + blundered, but that was long before Oliver Howard was born; there was + criminal aggression and heedless neglect, but without some system of + control there would have been far more than there was. Had that control + been from within, the Negro would have been reenslaved, to all intents and + purposes. Coming as the control did from without, perfect men and methods + would have bettered all things; and even with imperfect agents and + questionable methods, the work accomplished was not undeserving of much + commendation. The regular Bureau court consisted of one representative of + the employer, one of the Negro, and one of the Bureau. If the Bureau could + have maintained a perfectly judicial attitude, this arrangement would have + been ideal, and must in time have gained confidence; but the nature of its + other activities and the character of its personnel prejudiced the Bureau + in favor of the black litigants, and led without doubt to much injustice + and annoyance. On the other hand, to leave the Negro in the hands of + Southern courts was impossible. + </p> + <p> + What the Freedmen's Bureau cost the nation is difficult to determine + accurately. Its methods of bookkeeping were not good, and the whole system + of its work and records partook of the hurry and turmoil of the time. + General Howard himself disbursed some $15,000,000 during his incumbency; + but this includes the bounties paid colored soldiers, which perhaps should + not be counted as an expense of the Bureau. In bounties, prize money, and + all other expenses, the Bureau disbursed over $20,000,000 before all of + its departments were finally closed. To this ought to be added the large + expenses of the various departments of Negro affairs before 1865; but + these are hardly extricable from war expenditures, nor can we estimate + with any accuracy the contributions of benevolent societies during all + these years. + </p> + <p> + Such was the work of the Freedmen's Bureau. To sum it up in brief, we may + say: it set going a system of free labor; it established the black peasant + proprietor; it secured the recognition of black freemen before courts of + law; it founded the free public school in the South. On the other hand, it + failed to establish good will between ex-masters and freedmen; to guard + its work wholly from paternalistic methods that discouraged self-reliance; + to make Negroes landholders in any considerable numbers. Its successes + were the result of hard work, supplemented by the aid of philanthropists + and the eager striving of black men. Its failures were the result of bad + local agents, inherent difficulties of the work, and national neglect. The + Freedmen's Bureau expired by limitation in 1869, save its educational and + bounty departments. The educational work came to an end in 1872, and + General Howard's connection with the Bureau ceased at that time. The work + of paying bounties was transferred to the adjutant general's office, where + it was continued three or four years longer. + </p> + <p> + Such an institution, from its wide powers, great responsibilities, large + control of moneys, and generally conspicuous position, was naturally open + to repeated and bitter attacks. It sustained a searching congressional + investigation at the instance of Fernando Wood in 1870. It was, with blunt + discourtesy, transferred from Howard's control, in his absence, to the + supervision of Secretary of War Belknap in 1872, on the Secretary's + recommendation. Finally, in consequence of grave intimations of wrongdoing + made by the Secretary and his subordinates, General Howard was + court-martialed in 1874. In each of these trials, and in other attacks, + the commissioner of the Freedmen's Bureau was exonerated from any willful + misdoing, and his work heartily commended. Nevertheless, many unpleasant + things were brought to light: the methods of transacting the business of + the Bureau were faulty; several cases of defalcation among officials in + the field were proven, and further frauds hinted at; there were some + business transactions which savored of dangerous speculation, if not + dishonesty; and, above all, the smirch of the Freedmen's Bank, which, + while legally distinct from, was morally and practically a part of the + Bureau, will ever blacken the record of this great institution. Not even + ten additional years of slavery could have done as much to throttle the + thrift of the freedmen as the mismanagement and bankruptcy of the savings + bank chartered by the nation for their especial aid. Yet it is but fair to + say that the perfect honesty of purpose and unselfish devotion of General + Howard have passed untarnished through the fire of criticism. Not so with + all his subordinates, although in the case of the great majority of these + there were shown bravery and devotion to duty, even though sometimes + linked to narrowness and incompetency. + </p> + <p> + The most bitter attacks on the Freedmen's Bureau were aimed not so much at + its conduct or policy under the law as at the necessity for any such + organization at all. Such attacks came naturally from the border states + and the South, and they were summed up by Senator Davis, of Kentucky, when + he moved to entitle the act of 1866 a bill "to promote strife and conflict + between the white and black races... by a grant of unconstitutional + power." The argument was of tremendous strength, but its very strength was + its weakness. For, argued the plain common sense of the nation, if it is + unconstitutional, unpracticable, and futile for the nation to stand + guardian over its helpless wards, then there is left but one alternative: + to make those wards their own guardians by arming them with the ballot. + The alternative offered the nation then was not between full and + restricted Negro suffrage; else every sensible man, black and white, would + easily have chosen the latter. It was rather a choice between suffrage and + slavery, after endless blood and gold had flowed to sweep human bondage + away. Not a single Southern legislature stood ready to admit a Negro, + under any conditions, to the polls; not a single Southern legislature + believed free Negro labor was possible without a system of restrictions + that took all its freedom away; there was scarcely a white man in the + South who did not honestly regard emancipation as a crime, and its + practical nullification as a duty. In such a situation, the granting of + the ballot to the black man was a necessity, the very least a guilty + nation could grant a wronged race. Had the opposition to government + guardianship of Negroes been less bitter, and the attachment to the slave + system less strong, the social seer can well imagine a far better policy: + a permanent Freedmen's Bureau, with a national system of Negro schools; a + carefully supervised employment and labor office; a system of impartial + protection before the regular courts; and such institutions for social + betterment as savings banks, land and building associations, and social + settlements. All this vast expenditure of money and brains might have + formed a great school of prospective citizenship, and solved in a way we + have not yet solved the most perplexing and persistent of the Negro + problems. + </p> + <p> + That such an institution was unthinkable in 1870 was due in part to + certain acts of the Freedmen's Bureau itself. It came to regard its work + as merely temporary, and Negro suffrage as a final answer to all present + perplexities. The political ambition of many of its agents and proteges + led it far afield into questionable activities, until the South, nursing + its own deep prejudices, came easily to ignore all the good deeds of the + Bureau, and hate its very name with perfect hatred. So the Freedmen's + Bureau died, and its child was the Fifteenth Amendment. + </p> + <p> + The passing of a great human institution before its work is done, like the + untimely passing of a single soul, but leaves a legacy of striving for + other men. The legacy of the Freedmen's Bureau is the heavy heritage of + this generation. Today, when new and vaster problems are destined to + strain every fibre of the national mind and soul, would it not be well to + count this legacy honestly and carefully? For this much all men know: + despite compromise, struggle, war, and struggle, the Negro is not free. In + the backwoods of the Gulf states, for miles and miles, he may not leave + the plantation of his birth; in well-nigh the whole rural South the black + farmers are peons, bound by law and custom to an economic slavery, from + which the only escape is death or the penitentiary. In the most cultured + sections and cities of the South the Negroes are a segregated servile + caste, with restricted rights and privileges. Before the courts, both in + law and custom, they stand on a different and peculiar basis. Taxation + without representation is the rule of their political life. And the result + of all this is, and in nature must have been, lawlessness and crime. That + is the large legacy of the Freedmen's Bureau, the work it did not do + because it could not. + </p> + <p> + I have seen a land right merry with the sun; where children sing, and + rolling hills lie like passioned women, wanton with harvest. And there in + the King's Highway sat and sits a figure, veiled and bowed, by which the + traveler's footsteps hasten as they go. On the tainted air broods fear. + Three centuries' thought has been the raising and unveiling of that bowed + human heart, and now, behold, my fellows, a century new for the duty and + the deed. The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color + line. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0023" id="link2H_4_0023"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + OF THE TRAINING OF BLACK MEN by W. E. Burghardt Du Bois + </h2> + <p> + From the shimmering swirl of waters where many, many thoughts ago the + slave-ship first saw the square tower of Jamestown have flowed down to our + day three streams of thinking: one from the larger world here and + over-seas, saying, the multiplying of human wants in culture lands calls + for the world-wide co-operation of men in satisfying them. Hence arises a + new human unity, pulling the ends of earth nearer, and all men, black, + yellow, and white. The larger humanity strives to feel in this contact of + living nations and sleeping hordes a thrill of new life in the world, + crying, If the contact of Life and Sleep be Death, shame on such Life. To + be sure, behind this thought lurks the afterthought of force and dominion,—the + making of brown men to delve when the temptation of beads and red calico + cloys. + </p> + <p> + The second thought streaming from the death-ship and the curving river is + the thought of the older South: the sincere and passionate belief that + somewhere between men and cattle God created a tertium quid, and called it + a Negro,—a clownish, simple creature, at times even lovable within + its limitations, but straitly foreordained to walk within the Veil. To be + sure, behind the thought lurks the afterthought,—some of them with + favoring chance might become men, but in sheer self-defense we dare not + let them, and build about them walls so high, and hang between them and + the light a veil so thick, that they shall not even think of breaking + through. + </p> + <p> + And last of all there trickles down that third and darker thought, the + thought of the things themselves, the confused half-conscious mutter of + men who are black and whitened, crying Liberty, Freedom, Opportunity—vouchsafe + to us, O boastful World, the chance of living men! To be sure, behind the + thought lurks the afterthought: suppose, after all, the World is right and + we are less than men? Suppose this mad impulse within is all wrong, some + mock mirage from the untrue? + </p> + <p> + So here we stand among thoughts of human unity, even through conquest and + slavery; the inferiority of black men, even if forced by fraud; a shriek + in the night for the freedom of men who themselves are not yet sure of + their right to demand it. This is the tangle of thought and afterthought + wherein we are called to solve the problem of training men for life. + </p> + <p> + Behind all its curiousness, so attractive alike to sage and dilettante, + lie its dim dangers, throwing across us shadows at once grotesque and + awful. Plain it is to us that what the world seeks through desert and wild + we have within our threshold;—a stalwart laboring force, suited to + the semi-tropics; if, deaf to the voice of the Zeitgeist, we refuse to use + and develop these men, we risk poverty and loss. If, on the other hand, + seized by the brutal afterthought, we debauch the race thus caught in our + talons, selfishly sucking their blood and brains in the future as in the + past, what shall save us from national decadence? Only that saner + selfishness which, Education teaches men, can find the rights of all in + the whirl of work. + </p> + <p> + Again, we may decry the color prejudice of the South, yet it remains a + heavy fact. Such curious kinks of the human mind exist and must be + reckoned with soberly. They cannot be laughed away, nor always + successfully stormed at, nor easily abolished by act of legislature. And + yet they cannot be encouraged by being let alone. They must be recognized + as facts, but unpleasant facts; things that stand in the way of + civilization and religion and common decency. They can be met in but one + way: by the breadth and broadening of human reason, by catholicity of + taste and culture. And so, too, the native ambition and aspiration of men, + even though they be black, backward, and ungraceful, must not lightly be + dealt with. To stimulate wildly weak and untrained minds is to play with + mighty fires; to flout their striving idly is to welcome a harvest of + brutish crime and shameless lethargy in our very laps. The guiding of + thought and the deft coordination of deed is at once the path of honor and + humanity. + </p> + <p> + And so, in this great question of reconciling three vast and partially + contradictory streams of thought, the one panacea of Education leaps to + the lips of all; such human training as will best use the labor of all men + without enslaving or brutalizing; such training as will give us poise to + encourage the prejudices that bulwark society, and stamp out those that in + sheer barbarity deafen us to the wail of prisoned souls within the Veil, + and the mounting fury of shackled men. + </p> + <p> + But when we have vaguely said Education will set this tangle straight, + what have we uttered but a truism? Training for life teaches living; but + what training for the profitable living together of black men and white? + Two hundred years ago our task would have seemed easier. Then Dr. Johnson + blandly assured us that education was needed solely for the embellishments + of life, and was useless for ordinary vermin. To-day we have climbed to + heights where we would open at least the outer courts of knowledge to all, + display its treasures to many, and select the few to whom its mystery of + Truth is revealed, not wholly by truth or the accidents of the stock + market, but at least in part according to deftness and aim, talent and + character. This programme, however, we are sorely puzzled in carrying out + through that part of the land where the blight of slavery fell hardest, + and where we are dealing with two backward peoples. To make here in human + education that ever necessary combination of the permanent and the + contingent—of the ideal and the practical in workable equilibrium—has + been there, as it ever must be in every age and place, a matter of + infinite experiment and frequent mistakes. + </p> + <p> + In rough approximation we may point out four varying decades of work in + Southern education since the Civil War. From the close of the war until + 1876 was the period of uncertain groping and temporary relief. There were + army schools, mission schools, and schools of the Freedmen's Bureau in + chaotic disarrangement, seeking system and cooperation. Then followed ten + years of constructive definite effort toward the building of complete + school systems in the South. Normal schools and colleges were founded for + the freedmen, and teachers trained there to man the public schools. There + was the inevitable tendency of war to underestimate the prejudice of the + master and the ignorance of the slave, and all seemed clear sailing out of + the wreckage of the storm. Meantime, starting in this decade yet + especially developing from 1885 to 1895, began the industrial revolution + of the South. The land saw glimpses of a new destiny and the stirring of + new ideals. The educational system striving to complete itself saw new + obstacles and a field of work ever broader and deeper. The Negro colleges, + hurriedly founded, were inadequately equipped, illogically distributed, + and of varying efficiency and grade; the normal and high schools were + doing little more than common school work, and the common schools were + training but a third of the children who ought to be in them, and training + these too often poorly. At the same time the white South, by reason of its + sudden conversion from the slavery ideal, by so much the more became set + and strengthened in its racial prejudice, and crystallized it into harsh + law and harsher custom; while the marvelous pushing forward of the poor + white daily threatened to take even bread and butter from the mouths of + the heavily handicapped sons of the freedmen. In the midst, then, of the + larger problem of Negro education sprang up the more practical question of + work, the inevitable economic quandary that faces a people in the + transition from slavery to freedom, and especially those who make that + change amid hate and prejudice, lawlessness and ruthless competition. + </p> + <p> + The industrial school springing to notice in this decade, but coming to + full recognition in the decade beginning with 1895, was the proffered + answer to this combined educational and economic crisis, and an answer of + singular wisdom and timeliness. From the very first in nearly all the + schools some attention had been given to training in handiwork, but now + was this training first raised to a dignity that brought it in direct + touch with the South's magnificent industrial development, and given an + emphasis which reminded black folk that before the Temple of Knowledge + swing the Gates of Toil. + </p> + <p> + Yet after all they are but gates, and when turning our eyes from the + temporary and the contingent in the Negro problem to the broader question + of the permanent uplifting and civilization of black men in America, we + have a right to inquire, as this enthusiasm for material advancement + mounts to its height, if after all the industrial school is the final and + sufficient answer in the training of the Negro race; and to ask gently, + but in all sincerity, the ever recurring query of the ages, Is not life + more than meat, and the body more than raiment? And men ask this to-day + all the more eagerly because of sinister signs in recent educational + movements. The tendency is here born of slavery and quickened to renewed + life by the crazy imperialism of the day, to regard human beings as among + the material resources of a land to be trained with an eye single to + future dividends. Race prejudices, which keep brown and black men in their + "places," we are coming to regard as useful allies with such a theory, no + matter how much they may dull the ambition and sicken the hearts of + struggling human beings. And above all, we daily hear that an education + that encourages aspiration, that sets the loftiest of ideals and seeks as + an end culture and character than bread-winning, is the privilege of white + men and the danger and delusion of black. + </p> + <p> + Especially has criticism been directed against the former educational + efforts to aid the Negro. In the four periods I have mentioned, we find + first boundless, planless enthusiasm and sacrifice; then the preparation + of teachers for a vast public school system; then the launching and + expansion of that school system amid increasing difficulties; and finally + the training of workmen for the new and growing industries. This + development has been sharply ridiculed as a logical anomaly and flat + reversal of nature. Soothly we have been told that first industrial and + manual training should have taught the Negro to work, then simple schools + should have taught him to read and write, and finally, after years, high + and normal schools could have completed the system, as intelligence and + wealth demanded. + </p> + <p> + That a system logically so complete was historically impossible, it needs + but a little thought to prove. Progress in human affairs is more often a + pull than a push, surging forward of the exceptional man, and the lifting + of his duller brethren slowly and painfully to his vantage ground. Thus it + was no accident that gave birth to universities centuries before the + common schools, that made fair Harvard the first flower of our wilderness. + So in the South: the mass of the freedmen at the end of the war lacked the + intelligence so necessary to modern workingmen. They must first have the + common school to teach them to read, write, and cipher. The white teachers + who flocked South went to establish such a common school system. They had + no idea of founding colleges; they themselves at first would have laughed + at the idea. But they faced, as all men since them have faced, that + central paradox of the South, the social separation of the races. Then it + was the sudden volcanic rupture of nearly all relations between black and + white, in work and government and family life. Since then a new adjustment + of relations in economic and political affairs has grown up,—an + adjustment subtle and difficult to grasp, yet singularly ingenious, which + leaves still that frightful chasm at the color line across which men pass + at their peril. Thus, then and now, there stand in the South two separate + worlds; and separate not simply in the higher realms of social + intercourse, but also in church and school, on railway and street car, in + hotels and theatres, in streets and city sections, in books and + newspapers, in asylums and jails, in hospitals and graveyards. There is + still enough of contact for large economic and group cooperation, but the + separation is so thorough and deep, that it absolutely precludes for the + present between the races anything like that sympathetic and effective + group training and leadership of the one by the other, such as the + American Negro and all backward peoples must have for effectual progress. + </p> + <p> + This the missionaries of '68 soon saw; and if effective industrial and + trade schools were impractical before the establishment of a common school + system, just as certainly no adequate common schools could be founded + until there were teachers to teach them. Southern whites would not teach + them; Northern whites in sufficient numbers could not be had. If the Negro + was to learn, he must teach himself, and the most effective help that + could be given him was the establishment of schools to train Negro + teachers. This conclusion was slowly but surely reached by every student + of the situation until simultaneously, in widely separated regions, + without consultation or systematic plan, there arose a series of + institutions designed to furnish teachers for the untaught. Above the + sneers of critics at the obvious defects of this procedure must ever stand + its one crushing rejoinder: in a single generation they put thirty + thousand black teachers in the South; they wiped out the illiteracy of the + majority of the black people of the land, and they made Tuskegee possible. + </p> + <p> + Such higher training schools tended naturally to deepen broader + development: at first they were common and grammar schools, then some + became high schools. And finally, by 1900, some thirty-four had one year + or more of studies of college grade. This development was reached with + different degrees of speed in different institutions: Hampton is still a + high school, while Fisk University started her college in 1871, and + Spelman Seminary about 1896. In all cases the aim was identical: to + maintain the standards of the lower training by giving teachers and + leaders the best practicable training; and above all to furnish the black + world with adequate standards of human culture and lofty ideals of life. + It was not enough that the teachers of teachers should be trained in + technical normal methods; they must also, so far as possible, be + broad-minded, cultured men and women, to scatter civilization among a + people whose ignorance was not simply of letters, but of life itself. + </p> + <p> + It can thus be seen that the work of education in the South began with + higher institutions of training, which threw off as their foliage common + schools, and later industrial schools, and at the same time strove to + shoot their roots ever deeper toward college and university training. That + this was an inevitable and necessary development, sooner or later, goes + without saying; but there has been, and still is, a question in many minds + if the natural growth was not forced, and if the higher training was not + either overdone or done with cheap and unsound methods. Among white + Southerners this feeling is widespread and positive. A prominent Southern + journal voiced this in a recent editorial: + </p> + <p> + "The experiment that has been made to give the colored students classical + training has not been satisfactory. Even though many were able to pursue + the course, most of them did so in a parrot-like way, learning what was + taught, but not seeming to appropriate the truth and import of their + instruction, and graduating without sensible aim or valuable occupation + for their future. The whole scheme has proved a waste of time, efforts, + and the money of the state." + </p> + <p> + While most far-minded men would recognize this as extreme and overdrawn, + still without doubt many are asking, Are there a sufficient number of + Negroes ready for college training to warrant the undertaking? Are not too + many students prematurely forced into this work? Does it not have the + effect of dissatisfying the young Negro with his environment? And do these + graduates succeed in real life? Such natural questions cannot be evaded, + nor on the other hand must a nation naturally skeptical as to Negro + ability assume an unfavorable answer without careful inquiry and patient + openness to conviction. We must not forget that most Americans answer all + queries regarding the Negro a priori, and that the least that human + courtesy can do is to listen to evidence. + </p> + <p> + The advocates of the higher education of the Negro would be the last to + deny the incompleteness and glaring defects of the present system: too + many institutions have attempted to do college work, the work in some + cases has not been thoroughly done, and quantity rather than quality has + sometimes been sought. But all this can be said of higher education + throughout the land: it is the almost inevitable incident of educational + growth, and leaves the deeper question of the legitimate demand for the + higher training of Negroes untouched. And this latter question can be + settled in but one way—by a first-hand study of the facts. If we + leave out of view all institutions which have not actually graduated + students from a course higher than that of a New England high school, even + though they be called colleges; if then we take the thirty-four remaining + institutions, we may clear up many misapprehensions by asking searchingly, + What kind of institutions are they, what do they teach, and what sort of + men do they graduate? + </p> + <p> + And first we may say that this type of college, including Atlanta, Fisk + and Howard, Wilberforce and Lincoln, Biddle, Shaw, and the rest, is + peculiar, almost unique. Through the shining trees that whisper before me + as I write, I catch glimpses of a boulder of New England granite, covering + a grave, which graduates of Atlanta University have placed there:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "IN GRATEFUL MEMORY OF THEIR + FORMER TEACHER AND FRIEND + AND OF THE UNSELFISH LIFE HE + LIVED, AND THE NOBLE WORK HE + WROUGHT; THAT THEY, THEIR + CHILDREN, AND THEIR CHIL- + DREN'S CHILDREN MIGHT BE + BLESSED." +</pre> + <p> + This was the gift of New England to the freed Negro: not alms, but a + friend; not cash, but character. It was not and is not money these + seething millions want, but love and sympathy, the pulse of hearts beating + with red blood; a gift which to-day only their own kindred and race can + bring to the masses, but which once saintly souls brought to their favored + children in the crusade of the sixties, that finest thing in American + history, and one of the few things untainted by sordid greed and cheap + vainglory. The teachers in these institutions came not to keep the Negroes + in their place, but to raise them out of their places where the filth of + slavery had wallowed them. The colleges they founded were social + settlements; homes where the best of the sons of the freedmen came in + close and sympathetic touch with the best traditions of New England. They + lived and ate together, studies and worked, hoped and harkened in the + dawning light. In actual formal content their curriculum was doubtless + old-fashioned, but in educational power it was supreme, for it was the + contact of living souls. + </p> + <p> + From such schools about two thousand Negroes have gone forth with the + bachelor's degree. The number in itself is enough to put at rest the + argument that too large a proportion of Negroes are receiving higher + training. If the ratio to population of all Negro students throughout the + land, in both college and secondary training, be counted, Commissioner + Harris assures us "it must be increased to five times its present average" + to equal the average of the land. + </p> + <p> + Fifty years ago the ability of Negro students in any appreciable numbers + to master a modern college course would have been difficult to prove. + To-day it is proved by the fact that four hundred Negroes, many of whom + have been reported as brilliant students, have received the bachelor's + degree from Harvard, Yale, Oberlin, and seventy other leading colleges. + Here we have, then, nearly twenty-five hundred Negro graduates, of whom + the crucial query must be made. How far did their training fit them for + life? It is of course extremely difficult to collect satisfactory data on + such a point,—difficult to reach the men, to get trustworthy + testimony, and to gauge that testimony by any generally acceptable + criterion of success. In 1900, the Conference at Atlanta University + undertook to study these graduates, and published the results. First they + sought to know what these graduates were doing, and succeeded in getting + answers from nearly two thirds of the living. The direct testimony was in + almost all cases corroborated by the reports of the colleges where they + graduated, so that in the main the reports were worthy of credence. + Fifty-three per cent of these graduates were teachers,—presidents of + institutions, heads of normal schools, principals of city school systems, + and the like. Seventeen per cent were clergymen; another seventeen per + cent were in the professions, chiefly as physicians. Over six per cent + were merchants, farmers, and artisans, and four per cent were in the + government civil service. Granting even that a considerable proportion of + the third unheard from are unsuccessful, this is a record of usefulness. + Personally I know many hundreds of these graduates and have corresponded + with more than a thousand; through others I have followed carefully the + life-work of scores; I have taught some of them and some of the pupils + whom they have taught, lived in homes which they have builded, and looked + at life through their eyes. Comparing them as a class with my fellow + students in New England and in Europe, I cannot hesitate in saying that + nowhere have I met men and women with a broader spirit of helpfulness, + with deeper devotion to their life-work, or with more consecrated + determination to succeed in the face of bitter difficulties than among + Negro college-bred men. They have, to be sure, their proportion of + ne'er-do-weels, their pedants and lettered fools, but they have a + surprisingly small proportion of them; they have not that culture of + manner which we instinctively associate with university men, forgetting + that in reality it is the heritage from cultured homes, and that no people + a generation removed from slavery can escape a certain unpleasant rawness + and gaucherie, despite the best of training. + </p> + <p> + With all their larger vision and deeper sensibility, these men have + usually been conservative, careful leaders. They have seldom been + agitators, have withstood the temptation to head the mob, and have worked + steadily and faithfully in a thousand communities in the South. As + teachers they have given the South a commendable system of city schools + and large numbers of private normal schools and academies. Colored + college-bred men have worked side by side with white college graduates at + Hampton; almost from the beginning the backbone of Tuskegee's teaching + force has been formed of graduates from Fisk and Atlanta. And to-day the + institute is filled with college graduates, from the energetic wife of the + principal down to the teacher of agriculture, including nearly half of the + executive council and a majority of the heads of departments. In the + professions, college men are slowly but surely leavening the Negro church, + are healing and preventing the devastations of disease, and beginning to + furnish legal protection for the liberty and property of the toiling + masses. All this is needful work. Who would do it if Negroes did not? How + could Negroes do it if they were not trained carefully for it? If white + people need colleges to furnish teachers, ministers, lawyers, and doctors, + do black people need nothing of the sort? + </p> + <p> + If it be true that there are an appreciable number of Negro youth in the + land capable by character and talent to receive that higher training, the + end of which is culture, and if the two and a half thousand who have had + something of this training in the past have in the main proved themselves + useful to their race and generation, the question then comes, What place + in the future development of the South might the Negro college and + college-bred man to occupy? That the present social separation and acute + race sensitiveness must eventually yield to the influences of culture as + the South grows civilized is clear. But such transformation calls for + singular wisdom and patience. If, while the healing of this vast sore is + progressing, the races are to live for many years side by side, united in + economic effort, obeying a common government, sensitive to mutual thought + and feeling, yet subtly and silently separate in many matters of deeper + human intimacy—if this unusual and dangerous development is to + progress amid peace and order, mutual respect and growing intelligence, it + will call for social surgery at once the delicatest and nicest in modern + history. It will demand broad-minded, upright men both white and black, + and in its final accomplishment American civilization will triumph. So far + as white men are concerned, this fact is to-day being recognized in the + South, and a happy renaissance of university education seems imminent. But + the very voices that cry Hail! to this good work are, strange to relate, + largely silent or antagonistic to the higher education of the Negro. + </p> + <p> + Strange to relate! for this is certain, no secure civilization can be + built in the South with the Negro as an ignorant, turbulent proletariat. + Suppose we seek to remedy this by making them laborers and nothing more: + they are not fools, they have tasted of the Tree of Life, and they will + not cease to think, will not cease attempting to read the riddle of the + world. By taking away their best equipped teachers and leaders, by + slamming the door of opportunity in the faces of their bolder and brighter + minds, will you make them satisfied with their lot? or will you not rather + transfer their leading from the hands of men taught to think to the hands + of untrained demagogues? We ought not to forget that despite the pressure + of poverty, and despite the active discouragement and even ridicule of + friends, the demand for higher training steadily increases among Negro + youth: there were, in the years from 1875 to 1880, twenty-two Negro + graduates from Northern colleges; from 1885 to 1895 there were + forty-three, and from 1895 to 1900, nearly 100 graduates. From Southern + Negro colleges there were, in the same three periods, 143, 413, and over + 500 graduates. Here, then, is the plain thirst for training; by refusing + to give this Talented Tenth the key to knowledge can any sane man imagine + that they will lightly lay aside their yearning and contentedly become + hewers of wood and drawers of water? + </p> + <p> + No. The dangerously clear logic of the Negro's position will more and more + loudly assert itself in that day when increasing wealth and more intricate + social organization preclude the South from being, as it so largely is, + simply an armed camp for intimidating black folk. Such waste of energy + cannot be spared if the South is to catch up with civilization. And as the + black third of the land grows in thrift and skill, unless skillfully + guided in its larger philosophy, it must more and more brood over the red + past and the creeping, crooked present, until it grasps a gospel of revolt + and revenge and throws its new-found energies athwart the current of + advance. Even to-day the masses of the Negroes see all too clearly the + anomalies of their position and the moral crookedness of yours. You may + marshal strong indictments against them, but their counter-cries, lacking + though they be in formal logic, have burning truths within them which you + may not wholly ignore, O Southern Gentlemen! If you deplore their presence + here, they ask, Who brought us? When you shriek, Deliver us from the + vision of intermarriage, they answer, that legal marriage is infinitely + better than systematic concubinage and prostitution. And if in just fury + you accuse their vagabonds of violating women, they also in fury quite as + just may wail: the rape which your gentlemen have done against helpless + black women in defiance of your own laws is written on the foreheads of + two millions of mulattoes, and written in ineffaceable blood. And finally, + when you fasten crime upon this race as its peculiar trait, they answer + that slavery was the arch-crime, and lynching and lawlessness its twin + abortion; that color and race are not crimes, and yet they it is which in + this land receive most unceasing condemnation, North, East, South, and + West. + </p> + <p> + I will not say such arguments are wholly justified—I will not insist + that there is no other side to the shield; but I do say that of the nine + millions of Negroes in this nation, there is scarcely one out of the + cradle to whom these arguments do not daily present themselves in the + guise of terrible truth. I insist that the question of the future is how + best to keep these millions from brooding over the wrongs of the past and + the difficulties of the present, so that all their energies may be bent + toward a cheerful striving and cooperation with their white neighbors + toward a larger, juster, and fuller future. That one wise method of doing + this lies in the closer knitting of the Negro to the great industrial + possibilities of the South is a great truth. And this the common schools + and the manual training and trade schools are working to accomplish. But + these alone are not enough. The foundations of knowledge in this race, as + in others, must be sunk deep in the college and university if we would + build a solid, permanent structure. Internal problems of social advance + must inevitably come,—problems of work and wages, of families and + homes, of morals and the true valuing of the things of life; and all these + and other inevitable problems of civilization the Negro must meet and + solve largely for himself, by reason of his isolation; and can there be + any possible solution other than by study and thought and an appeal to the + rich experience of the past? Is there not, with such a group and in such a + crisis, infinitely more danger to be apprehended from half-trained minds + and shallow thinking than from over-education and over-refinement? Surely + we have wit enough to found a Negro college so manned and equipped as to + steer successfully between the dilettante and the fool. We shall hardly + induce black men to believe that if their bellies be full it matters + little about their brains. They already dimly perceive that the paths of + peace winding between honest toil and dignified manhood call for the + guidance of skilled thinkers, the loving, reverent comradeship between the + black lowly and black men emancipated by training and culture. + </p> + <p> + The function of the Negro college then is clear: it must maintain the + standards of popular education, it must seek the social regeneration of + the Negro, and it must help in the solution of problems of race contact + and cooperation. And finally, beyond all this, it must develop men. Above + our modern socialism, and out of the worship of the mass, must persist and + evolve that higher individualism which the centres of culture protect; + there must come a loftier respect for the sovereign human soul that seeks + to know itself and the world about it; that seeks a freedom for expansion + and self-development; that will love and hate and labor in its own way, + untrammeled alike by old and new. Such souls aforetime have inspired and + guided worlds, and if we be not wholly bewitched by our Rhine-gold, they + shall again. Herein the longing of black men must have respect: the rich + and bitter depth of their experience, the unknown treasures of their inner + life, the strange rendings of nature they have seen, may give the world + new points of view and make their loving, living, and doing precious to + all human hearts. And to themselves in these the days that try their souls + the chance to soar in the dim blue air above the smoke is to their finer + spirits boon and guerdon for what they lose on earth by being black. + </p> + <p> + I sit with Shakespeare and he winces not. Across the color line I move arm + in arm with Balzac and Dumas, where smiling men and welcoming women glide + in gilded halls. From out the caves of Evening that swing between the + strong-limbed earth and the tracery of the stars, I summon Aristotle and + Aurelius and what soul I will, and they come all graciously with no scorn + nor condescension. So, wed with Truth, I dwell above the Veil. Is this the + life you grudge us, O knightly America? Is this the life you long to + change into the dull red hideousness of Georgia? Are you so afraid lest + peering from this high Pisgah, between Philistine and Amalekite, we sight + the Promised Land? + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0024" id="link2H_4_0024"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE FRUITS OF INDUSTRIAL TRAINING by Booker T. Washington + </h2> + <p> + The political, educational, social, and economic evolution through which + the South passed during, say, the first fifteen or twenty years after the + close of the civil war furnishes one of the most interesting periods that + any country has passed through. + </p> + <p> + A large share of the thought and activity of the white South, of the black + South, and of that section of the North especially interested in my race, + was directed during the years of the Reconstruction period toward + politics, or toward matters bearing upon what were termed civil or social + rights. The work of education was rather slow, and covered a large section + of the South; still I think I am justified in saying that in the public + mind the Negro's relation to politics overshadowed nearly every other + interest. The education of the race was conducted quietly, and attracted + comparatively little attention, just as is true at the present time. The + appointment of one Negro postmaster at a third or fourth rate post office + will be given wider publicity through the daily press than the founding of + a school, or some important discovery in science. + </p> + <p> + With reference to the black man's political relation to the state and + Federal governments, I think I am safe in saying that for many years after + the civil war there were sharp and antagonistic views between the North + and the South, as well as between the white South and the black South. At + practically every point where there was a political question to be decided + in the South the blacks would array themselves on one side and the whites + on the other. I remember that very soon after I began teaching school in + Alabama an old colored man came to me just prior to an election. He said: + "You can read de newspapers and most of us can't, but dar is one thing dat + we knows dat you don't, and dat is how to vote down here; and we wants you + to vote as we does." He added: "I tell you how we does. We watches de + white man; we keeps watching de white man; de nearer it gits to election + time de more we watches de white man. We watches him till we finds out + which way he gwine to vote. After we finds out which way he gwine to vote, + den we votes exactly de other way; den we knows we 's right." + </p> + <p> + Stories on the other side might be given showing that a certain class of + white people, both at the polls and in the Legislatures, voted just as + unreasonably in opposing politically what they thought the Negro or the + North wanted, no matter how much benefit might ensue from a contrary + action. Unfortunately such antagonism did not end with matters political, + but in many cases affected the relation of the races in nearly every walk + of life. Aside from political strife, there was naturally deep feeling + between the North and the South on account of the war. On nearly every + question growing out of the war, which was debated in Congress, or in + political campaigns, there was the keenest difference and often the + deepest feeling. There was almost no question of even a semi-political + nature, or having a remote connection with the Negro, upon which there was + not sharp and often bitter division between the North and South. It is + needless to say that in many cases the Negro was the sufferer. He was + being ground between the upper and nether millstones. Even to this day it + is well-nigh impossible, largely by reason of the force of habit, in + certain states to prevent state and even local campaigns from being + centred in some form upon the black man. In states like Mississippi, for + example, where the Negro ceased nearly a score of years ago, by operation + of law, to be a determining factor in politics, he forms in some way the + principal fuel for campaign discussion at nearly every election. The sad + feature of this is, that it prevents the presentation before the masses of + the people of matters pertaining to local and state improvement, and to + great national issues like finance, tariff, or foreign policies. It + prevents the masses from receiving the broad and helpful education which + every political campaign should furnish, and, what is equally unfortunate, + it prevents the youth from seeing and hearing on the platform the great + political leaders of the two national parties. During a national campaign + few of the great Democratic leaders debate national questions in the + South, because it is felt that the old antagonism to the Negro politically + will keep the South voting one way. Few of the great Republican leaders + appear on Southern platforms, because they feel that nothing will be + gained. + </p> + <p> + One of the saddest instances of this situation that has come within my + knowledge occurred some years ago in a certain Southern state where a + white friend of mine was making the race for Congress on the Democratic + ticket in a district that was overwhelmingly Democratic. I speak of this + man as my friend, because there was no personal favor in reason which he + would have refused me. He was equally friendly to the race, and was + generous in giving for its education, and in helping individuals to buy + land. His campaign took him into one of the "white" counties, where there + were few colored people, and where the whites were unusually ignorant. I + was surprised one morning to read in the daily papers of a bitter attack + he had made on the Negro while speaking in this county. The next time I + saw him I informed him of my surprise. He replied that he was ashamed of + what he had said, and that he did not himself believe much that he had + stated, but gave as a reason for his action that he had found himself + before an audience which had heard little for thirty years in the way of + political discussion that did not bear upon the Negro, and that he + therefore knew it was almost impossible to interest them in any other + subject. + </p> + <p> + But this is somewhat aside from my purpose, which is, I repeat, to make + plain that in all political matters there was for years after the war no + meeting ground of agreement for the two races, or for the North and South. + Upon the question of the Negro's civil rights, as embodied in what was + called the Civil Rights Bill, there was almost the same sharp line of + division between the races, and, in theory at least, between the Northern + and Southern whites,—largely because the former were supposed to be + giving the blacks social recognition, and encouraging intermingling + between the races. The white teachers, who came from the North to work in + missionary schools, received for years little recognition or encouragement + from the rank and file of their own race. The lines were so sharply drawn + that in cities where native Southern white women taught Negro children in + the public schools, they would have no dealings with Northern white women + who, perhaps, taught Negro children from the same family in a missionary + school. + </p> + <p> + I want to call attention here to a phase of Reconstruction policy which is + often overlooked. All now agree that there was much in Reconstruction + which was unwise and unfortunate. However we may regard that policy, and + much as we may regret mistakes, the fact is too often overlooked that it + was during the Reconstruction period that a public school system for the + education of all the people of the South was first established in most of + the states. Much that was done by those in charge of Reconstruction + legislation has been overturned, but the public school system still + remains. True, it has been modified and improved, but the system remains, + and is every day growing in popularity and strength. + </p> + <p> + As to the difference of opinion between the North and the South regarding + Negro education, I find that many people, especially in the North, have a + wrong conception of the attitude of the Southern white people. It is and + has been very generally thought that what is termed "higher education" of + the Negro has been from the first opposed by the white South. This opinion + is far from being correct. I remember that, in 1891, when I began the work + of establishing the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, practically all of the + white people who talked to me on the subject took it for granted that + instruction in the Greek, Latin, and modern languages would be one of the + main features of our curriculum. I heard no one oppose what he thought our + course of study was to embrace. In fact, there are many white people in + the South at the present time who do not know that instruction in the dead + languages is not given at the Tuskegee Institute. In further proof of what + I have stated, if one will go through the catalogue of the schools + maintained by the states for Negro people, and managed by Southern white + people, he will find in almost every case that instruction in the higher + branches is given with the consent and approval of white officials. This + was true as far back as 1880. It is not unusual to meet at this time + Southern white people who are as emphatic in their belief in the value of + classical education as a certain element of colored people themselves. In + matters relating to civil and political rights, the breach was broad, and + without apparent hope of being bridged; even in the matter of religion, + practically all of the denominations had split on the subject of the + Negro, though I should add that there is now, and always has been, a + closer touch and more cooperation in matters of religion between the white + and colored people in the South than is generally known. But the breach + between the white churches in the South and North remains. + </p> + <p> + In matters of education the difference was much less sharp. The truth is + that a large element in the South had little faith in the efficacy of the + higher or any other kind of education of the Negro. They were indifferent, + but did not openly oppose; on the other hand, there has always been a + potent element of white people in all of the Southern states who have + stood out openly and bravely for the education of all the people, + regardless of race. This element has thus far been successful in shaping + and leading public opinion, and I think that it will continue to do so + more and more. This statement must not be taken to mean that there is as + yet an equitable division of the school funds, raised by common taxation, + between the two races in many sections of the South, though the Southern + states deserve much credit for what has been done. In discussing the small + amount of direct taxes the Negro pays, the fact that he pays tremendous + indirect taxes is often overlooked. + </p> + <p> + I wish, however, to emphasize the fact that while there was either open + antagonism or indifference in the directions I have named, it was the + introduction of industrial training into the Negro's education that seemed + to furnish the first basis for anything like united and sympathetic + interest and action between the two races in the South and between the + whites in the North and those in the South. Aside from its direct benefit + to the black race, industrial education has furnished a basis for mutual + faith and cooperation, which has meant more to the South, and to the work + of education, than has been realized. + </p> + <p> + This was, at the least, something in the way of construction. Many people, + I think, fail to appreciate the difference between the problems now before + us and those that existed previous to the civil war. Slavery presented a + problem of destruction; freedom presents a problem of construction. + </p> + <p> + From its first inception the white people of the South had faith in the + theory of industrial education, because they had noted, what was not + unnatural, that a large element of the colored people at first interpreted + freedom to mean freedom from work with the hands. They naturally had not + learned to appreciate the fact that they had been WORKED, and that one of + the great lessons for freemen to learn is to WORK. They had not learned + the vast difference between WORKING and BEING WORKED. The white people saw + in the movement to teach the Negro youth the dignity, beauty, and + civilizing power of all honorable labor with the hands something that + would lead the Negro into his new life of freedom gradually and sensibly, + and prevent his going from one extreme of life to the other too suddenly. + Furthermore, industrial education appealed directly to the individual and + community interest of the white people. They saw at once that intelligence + coupled with skill would add wealth to the community and to the state, in + which both races would have an added share. Crude labor in the days of + slavery, they believed, could be handled and made in a degree profitable, + but ignorant and unskilled labor in a state of freedom could not be made + so. Practically every white man in the South was interested in + agricultural or in mechanical or in some form of manual labor; every white + man was interested in all that related to the home life,—the cooking + and serving of food, laundering, dairying, poultry-raising, and + housekeeping in general. There was no family whose interest in intelligent + and skillful nursing was not now and then quickened by the presence of a + trained nurse. As already stated, there was general appreciation of the + fact that the industrial education of the black people had direct, vital, + and practical bearing upon the life of each white family in the South; + while there was no such appreciation of the results of mere literary + training. If a black man became a lawyer, a doctor, a minister, or an + ordinary teacher, his professional duties would not ordinarily bring him + in touch with the life of the white portion of the community, but rather + confine him almost exclusively to his own race. While purely literary or + professional education was not opposed by the white population, it was + something in which they found little or no interest, beyond a confused + hope that it would result in producing a higher and a better type of Negro + manhood. The minute it was seen that through industrial education the + Negro youth was not only studying chemistry, but also how to apply the + knowledge of chemistry to the enrichment of the soil, or to cooking, or to + dairying, and that the student was being taught not only geometry and + physics, but their application to blacksmithing, brickmaking, farming, and + what not, then there began to appear for the first time a common bond + between the two races and cooperation between North and South. + </p> + <p> + One of the most interesting and valuable instances of the kind that I know + of is presented in the case of Mr. George W. Carver, one of our + instructors in agriculture at Tuskegee Institute. For some time it has + been his custom to prepare articles containing information concerning the + conditions of local crops, and warning the farmers against the ravages of + certain insects and diseases. The local white papers are always glad to + publish these articles, and they are read by white and colored farmers. + </p> + <p> + Some months ago a white land-holder in Montgomery County asked Mr. Carver + to go through his farm with him for the purpose of inspecting it. While + doing so Mr. Carver discovered traces of what he thought was a valuable + mineral deposit, used in making a certain kind of paint. The interests of + the land-owner and the agricultural instructor at once became mutual. + Specimens of the deposits were taken to the laboratories of the Tuskegee + Institute and analyzed by Mr. Carver. In due time the land-owner received + a report of the analysis, together with a statement showing the commercial + value and application of the mineral. I shall not go through the whole + interesting story, except to say that a stock company, composed of some of + the best white people in Alabama, has been organized, and is now preparing + to build a factory for the purpose of putting their product on the market. + I hardly need to add that Mr. Carver has been freely consulted at every + step, and his services generously recognized in the organization of the + concern. When the company was being formed the following testimonial, + among others, was embodied in the printed copy of the circular:— + </p> + <p> + "George W. Carver, Director of the Department of Agriculture, Tuskegee, + Alabama, says:— + </p> + <p> + "'The pigment is an ochreous clay. Its value as a paint is due to the + presence of ferric oxide, of which it contains more than any of the + French, Australian, American, Irish, or Welsh ochres. Ferric oxides have + long been recognized as the essential constituents of such paints as + Venetian red, Turkish red, oxide red, Indian red, and scarlet. They are + most desirable, being quite permanent when exposed to light and air. As a + stain they are most valuable.'" + </p> + <p> + In further proof of what I wish to emphasize, I think I am safe in saying + that the work of the Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute, under the + late General S. C. Armstrong, was the first to receive any kind of + recognition and hearty sympathy from the Southern white people, and + General Armstrong was perhaps the first Northern educator of Negroes who + won the confidence and cooperation of the white South. The effects of + General Armstrong's introduction of industrial education at Hampton, and + its extension to the Tuskegee Institute in the far South, are now actively + and helpfully apparent in the splendid work being accomplished for the + whole South by the Southern Education Board, with Mr. Robert C. Ogden at + its head, and by the General Education Board, with Mr. William H. Baldwin, + Jr., as its president. Without the introduction of manual training it is + doubtful whether such work as is now being wrought through these two + boards for both races in the South could have been possible within a + quarter of a century to come. Later on in the history of our country it + will be recognized and appreciated that the far-reaching and + statesman-like efforts of these two boards for general education in the + South, under the guidance of the two gentlemen named, and with the + cooperation and assistance of such men as Mr. George Foster Peabody, Dr. + Wallace Buttrick, Mr. John D. Rockefeller, of the North, and Mr. Edgar + Gardner Murphy, Chancellor Hill, Dr. Alderman, Dr. McIver, Dr. Dabney, and + others of the South, will have furnished the material for one of the + brightest and most encouraging chapters in the history of our country. The + fact that we have reached the point where men and women who were so far + apart twenty years ago can meet in the South and discuss freely from the + same platform questions relating to the industrial, educational, + political, moral, and religious development of the two races marks a great + step in advance. It is true that as yet the Negro has not been invited to + share in these discussions. + </p> + <p> + Aside from the reasons I have given showing why the South favored + industrial education, coupled with intellectual and moral training, many + of the whites saw, for example, that the Negroes who were master + carpenters and contractors, under the guidance of their owners, could + become still greater factors in the development of the South if their + children were not suddenly removed from the atmosphere and occupations of + their fathers, and if they could be taught to use the thing in hand as a + foundation for higher growth. Many of the white people were wise enough to + see that such education would enable some of the Negro youths to become + more skillful carpenters and contractors, and that if they laid an + economic foundation in this way in their generation, they would be laying + a foundation for a more abstract education of their children in the + future. + </p> + <p> + Again, a large element of people at the South favored manual training for + the Negro because they were wise enough to see that the South was largely + free from the restrictive influences of the Northern trades unions, and + that such organizations would secure little hold in the South so long as + the Negro kept abreast in intelligence and skill with the same class of + people elsewhere. Many realized that the South would be tying itself to a + body of death if it did not help the Negro up. In this connection I want + to call attention to the fact that the official records show that within + one year about one million foreigners came into the United States. + Notwithstanding this number, practically none went into the Southern + states; to be more exact, the records show that in 1892 only 2278 all told + went into the states of Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, + North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. One ship + sometimes brings as many to New York. Various reasons are given to explain + why these foreigners systematically avoid the South. One is that the + climate is so hot; and another is that they do not like the restrictions + thrown about the ballot; and still another is the presence of the Negro is + so large numbers. Whatever the true reason is, the fact remains that + foreigners avoid the South, and the South is more and more realizing that + it cannot keep pace with the progress being made in other parts of the + country if a third of its population is ignorant and without skill. + </p> + <p> + The South must frankly face this truth, that for a long period it must + depend upon the black man to do for it what the foreigner is now doing for + the great West. If, by reason of his skill and knowledge, one man in Iowa + learns to produce as much corn in a season as four men can produce in + Alabama, it requires little reasoning to see that Alabama will buy most of + her corn from Iowa. + </p> + <p> + Another interesting result of the introduction of industrial education for + the Negro has been its influence upon the white people of the South, and, + I believe, upon the whites of the North as well. This phase of it has + proved of interest in making hand training a conciliatory element between + the races. + </p> + <p> + In 1883 I was delivering an address on industrial education before the + colored State Teachers' Association of one of our Southern states. When I + had finished, some of the teachers began to ask the State Superintendent + of Education, who was on the programme, some questions about the subject. + He politely but firmly stopped the questions by stating that he knew + absolutely nothing about industrial training, and had never heard it + discussed before. At that time there was no such education being given at + any white institution in that state. With one or two exceptions this case + will illustrate what was true of all the Southern states. A careful + investigation of the subject will show that it was not until after + industrial education was started among the colored people, and its value + proved, that it was taken up by the Southern white people. + </p> + <p> + Manual training or industrial and technical schools for the whites have, + for the most part, been established under state auspices, and are at this + time chiefly maintained by the states. An investigation would also show + that in securing money from the state legislatures for the purpose of + introducing hand work, one of the main arguments used was the existence + and success of industrial training among the Negroes. It was often argued + that the white boys and girls would be left behind unless they had the + opportunities for securing the same kind of training that was being given + the colored people. Although it is, I think, not generally known, it is a + fact that since the idea of industrial or technical education for white + people took root within the last few years, much more money is spent + annually for such education for the whites than for the colored people. + Any one who has not looked into the subject will be surprised to find how + thorough and high grade the work is. Take, for example, the state of + Georgia, and it will be found that several times as much is being spent at + the Industrial College for white girls at Milledgeville, and at the + technical school for whites at Atlanta, as is being spent in the whole + state for the industrial education of Negro youths. I have met no Southern + white educators who have not been generous in their praise of the Negro + schools for taking the initiative in hand training. This fact has again + served to create in matters relating to education a bond of sympathy + between the two races in the South. Referring again to the influence of + industrial training for the Negro in education, in the Northern states I + find, while writing this article, the following announcement in the + advertisement of what is perhaps the most high-priced and exclusive girls' + seminary in Massachusetts:— + </p> + <p> + "In planning a system of education for young ladies, with the view of + fitting them for the greatest usefulness in life, the idea was conceived + of supplementing the purely intellectual work by a practical training in + the art of home management and its related subjects. + </p> + <p> + "It was the first school of high literary grade to introduce courses in + Domestic Science into the regular curriculum. + </p> + <p> + "The results were so gratifying as to lead to the equipment of Experiment + Hall, a special building, fitted for the purpose of studying the + principles of Applied Housekeeping. Here the girls do the actual work of + cooking, marketing, arranging menus, and attend to all the affairs of a + well-arranged household. + </p> + <p> + "Courses are arranged also in sewing, dressmaking, and millinery; they are + conducted on a similarly practical basis, and equip the student with a + thorough knowledge of the subject." + </p> + <p> + A dozen years ago I do not believe that any such announcement would have + been made. + </p> + <p> + Beginning with the year 1877, the Negro in the South lost practically all + political control; that is to say, as early as 1885 the Negro scarcely had + any members of his race in the national Congress or state legislatures, + and long before this date had ceased to hold state offices. This was true, + notwithstanding the protests and fervent oratory of such strong race + leaders as Frederick Douglass, B. K. Bruce, John R. Lynch, P. B. S. + Pinchback, and John M. Langston, with a host of others. When Frederick + Douglass, the greatest man that the race has produced, died in 1895, it is + safe to say that the Negro in the Southern states, with here and there a + few exceptions, had practically no political control or political + influence, except in sending delegates to national conventions, or in + holding a few Federal positions by appointment. It became evident to many + of the wise Negroes that the race would have to depend for its success in + the future less upon political agitations and the opportunity of holding + office, and more upon something more tangible and substantial. It was at + this period in the Negro's development, when the distance between the + races was greatest, and the spirit and ambition of the colored people most + depressed, that the idea of industrial or business development was + introduced and began to be made prominent. It did not take the more + level-headed members of the race long to see that while the Negro in the + South was surrounded by many difficulties, there was practically no line + drawn and little race discrimination in the world of commerce, banking, + storekeeping, manufacturing, and the skilled trades, and in agriculture, + and that in this lay his great opportunity. They understood that, while + the whites might object to a Negro's being a postmaster, they would not + object to his being the president of a bank, and in the latter occupation + they would give him assistance and encouragement. The colored people were + quick to see that while the negro would not be invited as a rule to attend + the white man's prayer-meeting, he would be invited every time to attend + the stockholders' meeting of a business concern in which he had an + interest and that he could buy property in practically any portion of the + South where the white man could buy it. The white citizens were all the + more willing to encourage the Negro in this economic or industrial + development, because they saw that the prosperity of the Negro meant also + the prosperity of the white man. They saw, too, that when a Negro became + the owner of a home and was a taxpayer, having a regular trade or other + occupation, he at once became a conservative and safe citizen and voter; + one who would consider the interests of his whole community before casting + his ballot; and, further, one whose ballot could not be purchased. + </p> + <p> + One case in point is that of the twenty-eight teachers at our school in + Tuskegee who applied for life-voting certificates under the new + constitution of Alabama, not one was refused registration; and if I may be + forgiven a personal reference, in my own case, the Board of Registers were + kind enough to send me a special request to the effect that they wished me + not to fail to register as a life voter. I do not wish to convey the + impression that all worthy colored people have been registered in Alabama, + because there have been many inexcusable and unlawful omissions; but, with + few exceptions, the 2700 who have been registered represent the best + Negroes in the state. + </p> + <p> + Though in some parts of the country he is now misunderstood, I believe + that the time is going to come when matters can be weighed soberly, and + when the whole people are going to see that president Roosevelt is, and + has been from the first, in line with this policy,—that of + encouraging the colored people who by industry and economy have won their + way into the confidence and respect of their neighbors. Both before and + since he became President I have had many conversations with him, and at + all times I have found him enthusiastic over the plan that I have + described. + </p> + <p> + The growth of the race in industrial and business directions within the + last few years cannot perhaps be better illustrated than by the fact that + what is now the largest secular national organization among the colored + people is the National Negro Business League. This organization brings + together annually hundreds of men and women who have worked their way up + from the bottom to the point where they are now in some cases bankers, + merchants, manufacturers, planters, etc. The sight of this body of men and + women would surprise a large part of American citizens who do not really + know the better side of the Negro's life. + </p> + <p> + It ought to be stated frankly here that at first, and for several years + after the introduction of industrial training at such educational centres + as Hampton and Tuskegee, there was opposition from colored people, and + from portions of those Northern white people engaged in educational and + missionary work among the colored people in the South. Most of those who + manifested such opposition were actuated by the highest and most honest + motives. From the first the rank and file of the blacks were quick to see + the advantages of industrial training, as is shown by the fact that + industrial schools have always been overcrowded. Opposition to industrial + training was based largely on the old and narrow ground that it was + something that the Southern white people favored, and therefore must be + against the interests of the Negro. Again, others opposed it because they + feared that it meant the abandonment of all political privileges, and the + higher or classical education of the race. They feared that the final + outcome would be the materialization of the Negro, and the smothering of + his spiritual and aesthetic nature. Others felt that industrial education + had for its object the limitation of the Negro's development, and the + branding him for all time as a special hand-working class. + </p> + <p> + Now that enough time has elapsed for those who opposed it to see that it + meant none of these things, opposition, except from a very few of the + colored people living in Boston and Washington, has ceased, and this + system has the enthusiastic support of the Negroes and of most of the + whites who formerly opposed it. All are beginning to see that it was never + meant that ALL Negro youths should secure industrial education, any more + than it is meant that ALL white youths should pass through the + Massachusetts Institute of Technology, or the Amherst Agricultural + College, to the exclusion of such training as is given at Harvard, Yale, + or Dartmouth; but that in a peculiar sense a large proportion of the Negro + youths needed to have that education which would enable them to secure an + economic foundation, without which no people can succeed in any of the + higher walks of life. + </p> + <p> + It is because of the fact that the Tuskegee Institute began at the bottom, + with work in the soil, in wood, in iron, in leather, that it has now + developed to the point where it is able to furnish employment as teachers + to twenty-eight Negro graduates of the best colleges in the country. This + is about three times as many Negro college graduates as any other + institution in the United States for the education of colored people + employs, the total number of officers and instructors at Tuskegee being + about one hundred and ten. + </p> + <p> + Those who once opposed this see now that while the Negro youth who becomes + skilled in agriculture and a successful farmer may not be able himself to + pass through a purely literary college, he is laying the foundation for + his children and grandchildren to do it if desirable. Industrial education + in this generation is contributing in the highest degree to make what is + called higher education a success. It is now realized that in so far as + the race has intelligent and skillful producers, the greater will be the + success of the minister, lawyer, doctor, and teacher. Opposition has + melted away, too, because all men now see that it will take a long time to + "materialize" a race, millions of which hold neither houses nor railroads, + nor bank stocks, nor factories, nor coal and gold mines. + </p> + <p> + Another reason for the growth of a better understanding of the objects and + influence of industrial training is the fact, as before stated, that it + has been taken up with such interest and activity by the Southern whites, + and that it has been established at such universities as Cornell in the + East, and in practically all of the state colleges of the great West. + </p> + <p> + It is now seen that the result of such education will be to help the black + man to make for himself an independent place in our great American life. + It was largely the poverty of the Negro that made him the prey of + designing politicians immediately after the war; and wherever poverty and + lack of industry exist to-day, one does not find in him that deep + spiritual life which the race must in the future possess in a higher + degree. + </p> + <p> + To those who still express the fear that perhaps too much stress is put + upon industrial education for the Negro I would add that I should + emphasize the same kind of training for any people, whether black or + white, in the same stage of development as the masses of the colored + people. + </p> + <p> + For a number of years this country has looked to Germany for much in the + way of education, and a large number of our brightest men and women are + sent there each year. The official reports show that in Saxony, Germany, + alone, there are 287 industrial schools, or one such school to every + 14,641 people. This is true of a people who have back of them centuries of + wealth and culture. In the South I am safe in saying that there is not + more than one effective industrial school for every 400,000 colored + people. + </p> + <p> + A recent dispatch from Germany says that the German Emperor has had a + kitchen fitted up in the palace for the single purpose of having his + daughter taught cooking. If all classes and nationalities, who are in most + cases thousands of years ahead of the Negro in the arts of civilization, + continue their interest in industrial training, I cannot understand how + any reasonable person can object to such education for a large part of a + people who are in the poverty-stricken condition that is true of a large + element of my race, especially when such hand training is combined, as it + should be, with the best education of head and heart. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0025" id="link2H_4_0025"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE NEGRO IN THE REGULAR ARMY by Oswald Garrison Villard + </h2> + <p> + When the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts Regiment stormed Fort Wagner July 18, + 1863, only to be driven back with the loss of its colonel, Robert Gould + Shaw, and many of its rank and file, it established for all time the fact + that the colored soldier would fight and fight well. This had already been + demonstrated in Louisiana by colored regiments under the command of + General Godfrey Weitzel in the attack upon Port Hudson on May 27 of the + same year. On that occasion regiments composed for the greater part of raw + recruits, plantation hands with centuries of servitude under the lash + behind them, stormed trenches and dashed upon cold steel in the hands of + their former masters and oppressors. After that there was no more talk in + the portion of the country of the "natural cowardice" of the negro. But + the heroic qualities of Colonel Shaw, his social prominence and that of + his officers, and the comparative nearness of their battlefield to the + North, attracted greater and more lasting attention to the daring and + bravery of their exploit, until it finally became fixed in many minds as + the first real baptism of fire of colored American soldiers. + </p> + <p> + After Wagner the recruiting of colored regiments, originally opposed by + both North and South, went on apace, particularly under the Federal + government, which organized no less than one hundred and fifty-four, + designated as "United States Colored Troops." Colonel Shaw's raising of a + colored regiment aroused quite as much comment in the North because of the + race prejudice it defied, as because of the novelty of the new + organization. General Weitzel tendered his resignation the instant General + B. F. Butler assigned black soldiers to his brigade, and was with + difficulty induced to serve on. His change of mind was a wise one, and not + only because these colored soldiers covered him with glory at Port Hudson. + It was his good fortune to be the central figure in one of the dramatic + incidents of a war that must ever rank among the most thrilling and tragic + the world has seen. The black cavalrymen who rode into Richmond, the first + of the Northern troops to enter the Southern capital, went in waving their + sabres and crying to the negroes on the sidewalks, "We have come to set + you free!" They were from the division of Godfrey Weitzel, and American + history has no more stirring moment. + </p> + <p> + In the South, notwithstanding the raising in 1861 of a colored Confederate + regiment by Governor Moore of Louisiana (a magnificent body of educated + colored men which afterwards became the First Louisiana National Guards of + General Weitzel's brigade and the first colored regiment in the Federal + Army), the feeling against negro troops was insurmountable until the last + days of the struggle. Then no straw could be overlooked. When, in + December, 1863, Major-General Patrick R. Cleburne, who commanded a + division of Hardee's Corps of the Confederate Army of the Tennessee, sent + in a paper in which the employment of the slaves as soldiers of the South + was vigorously advocated, Jefferson Davis indorsed it with the statement, + "I deem it inexpedient at this time to give publicity to this paper, and + request that it be suppressed." General Cleburne urged that "freedom + within a reasonable time" be granted to every slave remaining true to the + Confederacy, and was moved to this action by the valor of the Fifty-fourth + Massachusetts, saying, "If they [the negroes] can be made to face and + fight bravely against their former masters, how much more probable is it + that with the allurement of a higher reward, and led by those masters, + they would submit to discipline and face dangers?" + </p> + <p> + With the ending of the civil war the regular army of the United States was + reorganized upon a peace footing by an act of Congress dated July 28, + 1866. In just recognition of the bravery of the colored volunteers six + regiments, the Ninth and Tenth Cavalry and the Thirty-eighth, + Thirty-ninth, Fortieth, and Forth-first Infantry, were designated as + colored regiments. When the army was again reduced in 1869, the + Thirty-eighth and Forty-first became the Twenty-fourth Infantry, and the + Thirty-ninth and Fortieth became the Twenty-fifth. This left four colored + regiments in the regular army as it was constituted from 1870 until 1901. + There has never been a colored artillery organization in the regular + service. + </p> + <p> + To these new regiments came a motley mixture of veterans of volunteer + organizations, newly released slaves, and some freedmen of several years' + standing but without military experience. They were eager to learn, and + soon showed the same traits which distinguish the black regiments to-day,—loyalty + to their officers and to their colors, sobriety and courage, and a notable + pride in the efficiency of their corps. But if ever officers had to + "father and mother" their soldiers they were the company officers of these + regiments. The captains in particular had to be bankers, secretaries, + advisers, and judges for their men. As Lieutenant Grote Hutcheson has + stated it, "The men knew nothing, and the non-commissioned officers but + little more. From the very circumstances of their preceding life it could + not be otherwise. They had no independence, no self-reliance, not a + thought except for the present, and were filled with superstition." Yet + the officers were determined to prove the wisdom of the experiment. To do + this they were forced to give their own attention to the minutest details + of military administration, and to act as non-commissioned officers. The + total lack of education among the men necessitated an enormous amount of + writing by the officers. In the Ninth Cavalry only one man was found able + to write well enough to be sergeant-major, and not for several years was + it possible to obtain troop clerks. When the Tenth Cavalry was being + recruited an officer was sent to Philadelphia with the express purpose of + picking up educated colored men for the non-commissioned positions. + Difficult as the tasks of the officers thus were, most of them felt well + repaid for their unusual labors by the affectionate regard in which they + were held by their soldiers, and by the never-failing good humor with + which the latter went about their duties. + </p> + <p> + As the years passed the character of the colored soldiers naturally + changed. In place of the war veterans, and of the men whose chains of + servitude had just been struck off, came young men from the North and East + with more education and more self-reliance. They depended less upon their + officers, both in the barracks and in the field, yet they reverenced and + cared for them as much as did their predecessors. Their greatest faults + then as now were gambling and quarreling. On the other hand, the negro + regiments speedily became favorably known because of greater sobriety and + of fewer desertions than among the white soldiers. It was the Ninth + Cavalry which a few years ago astonished the army by reporting not a + single desertion in twelve months, an unheard-of and perhaps undreamed-of + record. In all that goes to make a good soldier, in drill, fidelity, and + smartness, the negro regular from the first took front rank. + </p> + <p> + Nor was there ever any lack of the fighting quality which had gratified + the nation at Fort Wagner, or at Fort Blakely, Ala., where the + Seventy-third Colored Infantry, under Colonel Henry C. Merriam, stormed + the enemy's works, in advance of orders, in one of the last actions of the + war. It soon fell to the lot of the Ninth and Tenth Cavalry to prove that + the negroes could do as well under fire in the Indian wars as they had + when fighting for the freedom of their race. While the Twenty-fourth and + Twenty-fifth Infantry had merely garrison work to do, the Ninth and Tenth + Cavalry scouted for years against hostile Indians in Texas, New Mexico, + Colorado, and Kansas, always acquitting themselves honorably. In + September, 1868, a little over two years after their organization, three + troops of the Ninth Cavalry did well in an action against Indians at + Horsehead Hills, Texas. When General George A. Forsyth and his detachment + of fifty scouts were surrounded and "corralled" by seven hundred Indians + on an island in the Republican River, it was the troop of Captain Louis H. + Carpenter, of the Tenth Cavalry, which first came to their rescue. + Similarly when Major T. T. Thornburg's command was nearly wiped out by + Utes in 1879, it was Captain F. S. Dodge's Troop D of the Ninth which + succeeded in reaching it in time, losing all its horses in so doing. This + regiment alone took part in sixty Indian fights between 1868 and 1890, + during which time it lost three officers and twenty-seven men killed, and + had three officers and thirty-four men wounded. The Tenth Cavalry's + casualties were also heavy during this same period, and it fought for many + years over a most difficult country in New Mexico and Arizona, taking a + conspicuous part in running to earth Geronimo's and Victoria's bands of + Apaches. + </p> + <p> + On one of these campaigns Lieutenant Powhatan H. Clarke gave effective + proof of the affection which the officers of colored regiments have for + their men. In the fight in the Pineto Mountains with a portion of + Geronimo's forces this young Southerner risked his life to save a colored + sergeant who had fallen wounded in an open space where both he and his + rescuer were easy marks for the Apaches. For this gallant act Lieutenant + Clarke rightly received a medal of honor. The Twenty-fourth Infantry, on + the other hand, has contributed a striking instance of the devotion of + colored soldiers to their officers. When Major Joseph W. Wham, paymaster, + was attacked by robbers on May 11, 1889, his colored escort fought with + such gallantry that every one of the soldiers was awarded a medal of honor + or a certificate of merit. Some of them stood their ground although badly + wounded, notably Sergeant Benjamin Brown, who continued to fight and to + encourage his men until shot through both arms. In a fight against Apaches + in the Cuchilo Negro Mountains of New Mexico on August 16, 1881, Moses + Williams, First Sergeant of Troop I, Ninth Cavalry, displayed such + gallantry that he was given a medal of honor by common consent. When the + only officer with the detachment, Lieutenant Gustavus Valois, had his + horse shot under him, and was cut off from his men, Sergeant Williams + promptly rallied the detachment, and conducted the right flank in a + running fight for several hours with such coolness, bravery, and + unflinching devotion to duty that he undoubtedly saved the lives of at + least three comrades. His action in standing by and rescuing Lieutenant + Valois was the more noteworthy because he and his men were subjected, in + an exposed position, to a heavy fire from a large number of Indians. For + splendid gallantry against Indians, while serving as sergeant of Troop K, + Ninth Cavalry, on May 14, 1880, and August 12, 1881, George Jordan was + also given a medal of honor. Five of the medal of honor men now in the + service are colored soldiers, while fifteen others have "certificates of + merit" also awarded for conspicuous deeds of bravery. + </p> + <p> + It was not until the battle of Santiago, however, that the bulk of the + American people realized that the standing army comprised regiments + composed wholly of black men. Up to that time only one company of colored + soldiers had served at a post east of the Mississippi. Even Major, later + Brigadier-General, Guy V. Henry's gallop to the rescue of the Seventh + Cavalry on December 30, 1890, with four troops of the Ninth Cavalry, + attracted but little attention. This feat was the more remarkable because + Major Henry's command had just completed a march of more than one hundred + miles in twenty-four hours. But in the battle at Santiago, the four + colored regiments won praise from all sides, particularly for their + advance upon Kettle Hill, in which the Rough Riders also figured. From the + very beginning of the movement of the army after its landing, the negro + troops were in the front of the fighting, and contributed largely to the + successful result. Although they suffered heavy losses, especially in + officers, the men fought with the same gallantry they had displayed on the + plains, as is attested by the honors awarded. In every company there were + instances of personal gallantry. The first sergeants especially lived up + to the responsibilities placed upon them. The color sergeant of the Tenth + Cavalry, Adam Houston, bore to the front not only his own flags, but those + of the Third Cavalry when the latter's color sergeant was shot down. In + several emergencies where troops or companies lost their white officers, + the senior sergeants took command and handled their men in a faultless + manner, notably in the Tenth Cavalry. + </p> + <p> + Indeed, the conduct of these men has done much to dispel the old belief + that colored soldiers will fight only when they have efficient white + officers. This may well have been true at one period of the civil war when + the colored race as a whole had never even had the responsibilities + attaching to free men. It is growing less and less true as time passes and + better educated men enter the ranks. In recognition of their achievements + at Santiago a number of these black non-commissioned officers were made + commissioned officers in several of the so-called "immune" regiments of + United States Volunteers raised in July, 1898. None of these organizations + were in service long enough to become really efficient, and a few were + never properly disciplined. Nevertheless, a majority of the officers + promoted from the colored regulars bore themselves well under exceedingly + trying circumstances. Some of them, and a number of regular sergeants and + corporals who had succeeded to their former places, were made lieutenants + and captains in the Forty-eighth and Forty-ninth Volunteer Infantry, which + served in the Philippines for two years, and to which we shall recur + later. + </p> + <p> + At Santiago the characteristic cheerfulness of the negro soldiers was as + striking as their bravery. In his little book called The Nth Foot In War, + Lieutenant M. B. Stewart says of them:— + </p> + <p> + "The negro troops were in a high good humor. They had made the charge of + the day; they had fought with a dash and vigor which forever established + their reputation as fighters, and which would carry them down in the pages + of history. To have heard them that night no one would have ever thought + that they had lived for twelve mortal hours under a galling fire. They + were laughing and joking over the events of the day, in the same manner + they would have done had they been returning from a picnic. + </p> + <p> + "'Golly,' laughed a six-foot sergeant, 'dere was music in de air sho' + nuff. Dat lead was flying around in sheets, I tell you. I seen a buzzard + flying around in front of our line, and I says to myself, "Buzzard, you is + in a mighty dangerous position. You better git out uf dat, 'cause dey + ain't room out dar for a muskeeter."' Another remarked, 'Say, did you see + dat man Brown; pity dat man been killed. He'd a been a corporal, sho.' + </p> + <p> + "In the utter exhaustion of the moment all race and social distinctions + were forgotten. Officers lay down among their men and slept like logs. The + negro troops sought out soft places along the sides of the road and lay + down with their white comrades. There was a little commotion among the + latter, and an officer was heard to yell: 'Here, you man, take your feet + off my stomach. Well, I'll be damned if it ain't a nigger. Get out, you + black rascal.' As the commotion subsided, the negro was heard to remark, + 'Well, if dat ain't de mos' particler man I ever see.'" + </p> + <p> + Characteristic also is a story of the negro cavalryman who, returning to + the rear, said to some troops anxious to get to the front: "Dat's all + right, gemmen; don't git in a sweat; dere's lots of it lef' for you. You + wants to look out for dese yere sharpshooters, for dey is mighty careless + with dere weapons, and dey is specially careless when dey is officers + aroun'." + </p> + <p> + As soon as the army settled down in the trenches before Santiago, smuggled + musical instruments—guitars, banjos, mouth organs, and what not—appeared + among the negro troops as if by magic, and they were ever in use. It was + at once a scene of cheerfulness and gayety, and the officers had their + usual trouble in making the men go to sleep instead of spending the night + in talking, singing, and gaming. In the peaceful camp of the Third + Alabama, in that state, the scenes were similar. There was always "a + steady hum of laughter and talk, dance, song, shout, and the twang of + musical instruments." It was "a scene full of life and fun, of jostling, + scuffling, and racing, of clown performances and cake-walks, of impromptu + minstrelsy, speech-making, and preaching, of deviling, guying, and + fighting, both real and mimic." The colonel found great difficulty in + getting men to work alone. Two would volunteer for any service. "Colonel," + said a visitor to the camp, "your sentinels are sociable fellows. I saw + No. 5 over at the end of his beat entertaining No. 6 with some fancy + manual of arms. Afterwards, with equal amiability, No. 6 executed a most + artistic cake-walk for his friend." It must be remembered here that this + colonel's men were typical Southern negroes, literate and illiterate, and + all new to military life. + </p> + <p> + In addition to the Forty-eighth and Forty-ninth Volunteers, the four + regular colored regiments have served in the Philippines. Here the work + was particularly trying and the temptations to misconduct many. The + Filipino women were especially attractive to the men because of their + color, and it is on record that several soldiers were tempted from their + allegiance to the United States. Two of these, whose sympathy and liking + for the Filipinos overcame their judgment, paid the full penalty of + desertion, being hanged by their former comrades. Both belonged to the + Ninth Cavalry. On the other hand, in a remarkable order issued by General + A. S. Burt in relinquishing command of the Twenty-fifth Infantry, on April + 17, 1902, on his promotion to brigadier-general, he was able to quote the + Inspector-General of the army as saying: "The Twenty-fifth Infantry is the + best regiment I have seen in the Philippines." General Burt praised highly + the excellent conduct of the enlisted men while in the Archipelago, which + proved to his mind that the American negroes are "as law-abiding as any + race in the world." + </p> + <p> + Three of General Burt's sergeants, Russell, McBryar, and Hoffman, were + promoted to the Forty-eighth and Forty-ninth Volunteers, and served, as + lieutenants, for several months with their old regiment, the Twenty-fifth, + until the arrival of their new regiments in Manila. During this time they + were frequently under fire. General Burt bore high testimony to their + soldierly bearing, their capacity and ability, and expressed great regret + when he was forced to let them go. McBryar had won a medal of honor for + gallantry against Indians in Arizona in 1890. In the Forty-ninth + Volunteers, Company L, composed wholly of colored men, and commanded by + Captain Edward L. Baker, a colored veteran of Santiago, who had served for + seventeen years in the Ninth and Tenth Cavalry and in the Tenth "Immunes," + made a wonderful record. According to a statement which was widely + published at the time and never denied, this company had on its rolls + during a period of twelve months one hundred and six men who were fit for + duty at all times and never lost a day on account of sickness. No white + company remotely approached this record. More extraordinary still is the + fact that during this same period not one of these men ever went before a + court-martial. This is surely a striking illustration of what can be done + by colored officers. It is noticeable, too, that neither the officers nor + the men of any colored regiment have figured in the charges and + counter-charges arising out of the use of the water-torture, except one + man who at the time of his offense was not with his regiment. The + Forty-ninth Volunteers was a very unhappy regiment during its brief life, + but its troubles were largely due to its white officers. One of these, a + major, was dismissed for misconduct, and his place was filled by the + senior captain, a colored man. Several other white officers and one + colored captain got into serious trouble, the last being dismissed. The + Forty-eighth was, on the contrary, a contented organization in which the + colored officers were treated in a kindly and courteous manner by their + white associates and superiors. The two regiments afford a striking + illustration of Napoleon's saying, "There are no such things as poor + regiments,—only poor colonels." + </p> + <p> + The negro regiment unquestionably calls for different treatment from that + which would be accorded to white troops, just as the Indian troops of King + Edward's army require different handling from that called for in the case + of the King's Royal Rifles. Yet as fighting machines, the Indian soldiers + may be the equals if not the superiors of the Englishmen. Major Robert L. + Bullard, Twenty-eighth United States Infantry who commanded the colored + Third Alabama Volunteers, already referred to, during the war with Spain, + discusses in a remarkable paper published in the United Service Magazine + for July, 1901, the differences between negro and white soldiers. They are + so great, he says, as to require the military commander to treat the negro + as a different species. He must fit his methods of instruction and + discipline to the characteristics of the race. Major Bullard adds that + "mistakes, injustices, and failures would result from his making the same + rules and methods apply to the two races without regard to how far apart + set by nature or separated by evolution." But Major Bullard would + unquestionably concede that these differences in no way require a + treatment of the negro soldier which implies that he is an inferior being + and which ever impresses upon him his inferiority. Yet this seems to have + been the case in the Forty-ninth United States Volunteers. + </p> + <p> + In the regular army, as well as in the volunteers, officers have + frequently appealed with success to the negroes' pride of race, and have + urged them on to greater efficiency and better behavior by reminding them + that they have the honor of their people in their hands. To such appeals + there is ever a prompt response. One of the most effective ways of + disciplining an offender is by holding him up to the ridicule of his + fellows. The desire of the colored soldiers to amuse and to be amused + gives the officers an easy way of obtaining a hold upon them and their + affections. The regimental rifle team, the baseball nine, the minstrel + troupe, and the regimental band offer positions of importance for which + the competition is much keener than in the white regiments. There is also + a friendly rivalry between companies, which is much missed elsewhere in + the service. The negroes are natural horsemen and riders. It is a pleasure + to them to take care of their mounts, and a matter of pride to keep their + animals in good condition. Personally they are clean and neat, and they + take the greatest possible pride in their uniforms. In no white regiment + is there a similar feeling. With the negroes the canteen question is of + comparatively slight importance, not only because the men can be more + easily amused within their barracks, but because their appetite for drink + is by no means as strong as that of the white men. Their sociability is + astonishing. They would rather sit up and tell stories and crack jokes + than go to bed, no matter how hard the day has been. + </p> + <p> + The dark sides are, that the negro soldiers easily turn merited punishment + into martyrdom, that their gambling propensities are almost beyond + control, that their habit of carrying concealed weapons is incurable, and + that there is danger of serious fighting when they fall out with one + another. Frequent failure to act honorably toward a comrade in some + trifling matter is apt to cause scuffling and fighting until the men are + well disciplined. Women are another cause of quarrels, and are at all + times a potent temptation to misconduct and neglect of duty. It is very + difficult to impress upon the men the value of government property, and + duty which requires memorizing of orders is always the most difficult to + teach. For the study of guard duty manuals or of tactics they have no + natural aptitude. The non-commissioned officers are of very great + importance, and in the regulars they are looked up to and obeyed + implicitly, much more so than is the case with white troops. It is + necessary, however, for the officers to back up the sergeants and + corporals very vigorously, even when they are slightly in the wrong. Then + colored men are more easily "rattled" by poor officers than are their + white comrades. There was a striking instance of this two or three years + ago when a newly appointed and wholly untrained white officer lost his + head at a post in Texas. His black subordinates, largely recruits, + followed suit, and in carrying out his hysterical orders imperiled many + lives in the neighboring town. Selections for service with colored troops + should therefore be most carefully made. Major Bullard declares that the + officer of negro troops "must not only be an officer and a gentleman, but + he must be considerate, patient, laborious, self-sacrificing, a man of + affairs, and he must have knowledge and wisdom in a great lot of things + not really military." + </p> + <p> + If the position of a white officer is a difficult one, that of the colored + officer is still more so. He has not the self-assumed superiority of the + white man, naturally feels that he is on trial, and must worry himself + incessantly about his relations to his white comrades of the shoulder + straps. While the United States Navy has hitherto been closed to negroes + who aspire to be officers, the army has pursued a wiser and more just + policy. The contrast between the two services is really remarkable. On + almost every war vessel white and black sailors sleep and live together in + crowded quarters without protest or friction. But the negro naval officer + is kept out of the service by hook or by crook for the avowed reason that + the cramped quarters of the wardroom would make association with him + intolerable. In the army, on the other hand, the experiment of mixed + regiments has never been tried. A good colored soldier can nevertheless + obtain a commission by going through West Point, or by rising from the + ranks, or by being appointed directly from civil life. + </p> + <p> + Since the foundation of the Military Academy there have been eighteen + colored boys appointed to West Point, of whom fifteen failed in their + preliminary examinations, or were discharged after entering because of + deficiency in studies. Three were graduated and commissioned as second + lieutenants of cavalry, Henry Ossian Flipper, John Hanks Alexander, and + Charles Young. Of these, Lieutenant Flipper was dismissed June 30, 1882, + for "conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman." The other two proved + themselves excellent officers, notably Young, who is at this writing a + captain, and a most efficient one, in the Ninth Cavalry, with which he + recently served in the Philippines. Lieutenant Alexander died suddenly in + 1894. In announcing his death in a regimental order his colonel spoke of + him in terms of high praise, and did not use the customary stereotyped + phrases of regret. His fellow white officers all had good words for him. + There never was more striking testimony to the discipline and spirit of + fairness at West Point than was afforded by the sight of Cadet Charles + Young, who is of very dark complexion, commanding white cadets. Nothing + else has impressed foreign visitors at West Point half so much. + </p> + <p> + An equally remarkable happening, and one which speaks even more for the + democratic spirit in the army, was the commissioning in 1901 of + Sergeant-Major Benjamin O. Davis, Ninth Cavalry, and of Corporal John E. + Green, Twenty-fourth Infantry. Both these men were examined by boards of + white officers, who might easily have excluded them because of color + prejudice, in which case there would have been no appeal from their + findings. Lieutenant Davis's former troop commander, a West Pointer, + openly rejoiced at his success, and predicted that he would make an + excellent officer. These are the first two colored men to rise from the + ranks, but there will be many more if the same admirable spirit of fair + play continues to rule in the army and is not altered by outside + prejudice. It was thought that there would be a severe strain upon + discipline when a colored officer rose to the rank of captain and to the + command of white officers. But in Captain Young's case his white + subordinates seem to have realized that it is the position and rank that + they are compelled to salute and obey, and not the individual. This + principle is at the bottom of all discipline. Only too frequently do + subordinates throughout the army have to remind themselves of this when + obeying men for whose social qualities and character they have neither + regard nor respect. During the war with Spain Captain Young commanded a + negro battalion from Ohio, which was pronounced the best drilled + organization in the large army assembled at Camp Alger near Washington. In + addition to these officers, Captain John R. Lynch, formerly a Congressman + from Mississippi, and four colored chaplains represent their race on the + commissioned rolls of the army. All of these men are doing well. One + colored chaplain was dismissed for drunkenness in 1894. Beyond this their + record is unblemished. + </p> + <p> + Despite the fairness shown in these appointments, there has been + considerable very just criticism of the War Department for its failure to + appoint to the regulars any of the colored officers who did well in the + Forty-eighth and Forty-ninth Volunteers. Every colonel of volunteers was + allowed to designate for examination for appointment to the regular army + the best officers in his regiment. Hundreds of white officers were + selected in this way, but not a single colored officer was given an + examination,—not even Lieutenant McBryar, with his medal of honor, + or Captain Baker. Similarly fault has been found with Secretary Root + because no new colored regiments were established under the law of + February 2, 1901, increasing the army by five regiments of infantry, five + of cavalry, and a large number of companies of artillery. The excuse most + often heard is that the negroes already have sufficient representation in + comparison with the percentage of negroes to white persons within the + borders of the United States. But the sterling characteristics of the + colored soldiers, their loyalty to the service as shown by the statistics + of desertion, and, above all, their splendid service in Cuba, should have + entitled them to additional organizations. To say the least, the decision + of the War Department smacks considerably of ingratitude. Nevertheless, + the negro regiments have come to stay, both in the regulars and in the + volunteers. The hostilities of the last five years have dispelled any + doubt which may have existed upon this point. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0026" id="link2H_4_0026"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + BAXTER'S PROCRUSTES by Charles W. Chesnutt + </h2> + <p> + Baxter's Procrustes is one of the publications of the Bodleian Club. The + Bodleian Club is composed of gentlemen of culture, who are interested in + books and book-collecting. It was named, very obviously, after the famous + library of the same name, and not only became in our city a sort of shrine + for local worshipers of fine bindings and rare editions, but was visited + occasionally by pilgrims from afar. The Bodleian has entertained Mark + Twain, Joseph Jefferson, and other literary and histrionic celebrities. It + possesses quite a collection of personal mementos of distinguished + authors, among them a paperweight which once belonged to Goethe, a lead + pencil used by Emerson, an autograph letter of Matthew Arnold, and a chip + from a tree felled by Mr. Gladstone. Its library contains a number of rare + books, including a fine collection on chess, of which game several of the + members are enthusiastic devotees. + </p> + <p> + The activities of the club are not, however, confined entirely to books. + We have a very handsome clubhouse, and much taste and discrimination have + been exercised in its adornment. There are many good paintings, including + portraits of the various presidents of the club, which adorn the entrance + hall. After books, perhaps the most distinctive feature of the club is our + collection of pipes. In a large rack in the smoking-room—really a + superfluity, since smoking is permitted all over the house—is as + complete an assortment of pipes as perhaps exists in the civilized world. + Indeed, it is an unwritten rule of the club that no one is eligible for + membership who cannot produce a new variety of pipe, which is filed with + his application for membership, and, if he passes, deposited with the club + collection, he, however, retaining the title in himself. Once a year, upon + the anniversary of the death of Sir Walter Raleigh, who it will be + remembered, first introduced tobacco into England, the full membership of + the club, as a rule, turns out. A large supply of the very best smoking + mixture is laid in. At nine o'clock sharp each member takes his pipe from + the rack, fills it with tobacco, and then the whole club, with the + president at the head, all smoking furiously, march in solemn procession + from room to room, upstairs and downstairs, making the tour of the + clubhouse and returning to the smoking-room. The president then delivers + an address, and each member is called upon to say something, either by way + of a quotation or an original sentiment, in praise of the virtues of + nicotine. This ceremony—facetiously known as "hitting the pipe"—being + thus concluded, the membership pipes are carefully cleaned out and + replaced in the club rack. + </p> + <p> + As I have said, however, the raison d'etre of the club, and the feature + upon which its fame chiefly rests, is its collection of rare books, and of + these by far the most interesting are its own publications. Even its + catalogues are works of art, published in numbered editions, and sought by + libraries and book-collectors. Early in its history it began the + occasional publication of books which should meet the club standard,—books + in which emphasis should be laid upon the qualities that make a book + valuable in the eyes of collectors. Of these, age could not, of course, be + imparted, but in the matter of fine and curious bindings, of hand-made + linen papers, of uncut or deckle edges, of wide margins and limited + editions, the club could control its own publications. The matter of + contents was, it must be confessed, a less important consideration. At + first it was felt by the publishing committee that nothing but the finest + products of the human mind should be selected for enshrinement in the + beautiful volumes which the club should issue. The length of the work was + an important consideration,—long things were not compatible with + wide margins and graceful slenderness. For instance, we brought out + Coleridge's Ancient Mariner, an essay by Emerson, and another by Thoreau. + Our Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam was Heron-Allen's translation of the original + MS in the Bodleian Library at Oxford, which, though less poetical than + FitzGerald's, was not so common. Several years ago we began to publish the + works of our own members. Bascom's Essay on Pipes was a very creditable + performance. It was published in a limited edition of one hundred copies, + and since it had not previously appeared elsewhere and was copyrighted by + the club, it was sufficiently rare to be valuable for that reason. The + second publication of local origin was Baxter's Procrustes. + </p> + <p> + I have omitted to say that once or twice a year, at a meeting of which + notice has been given, an auction is held at the Bodleian. The members of + the club send in their duplicate copies, or books they for any reason wish + to dispose of, which are auctioned off to the highest bidder. At these + sales, which are well attended, the club's publications have of recent + years formed the leading feature. Three years ago, number three of + Bascom's Essay on Pipes sold for fifteen dollars;—the original cost + of publication was one dollar and seventy-five cents. Later in the evening + an uncut copy of the same brought thirty dollars. At the next auction the + price of the cut copy was run up to twenty-five dollars, while the uncut + copy was knocked down at seventy-five dollars. The club had always + appreciated the value of uncut copies, but this financial indorsement + enhanced their desirability immensely. This rise in the Essay on Pipes was + not without a sympathetic effect upon all the club publications. The + Emerson essay rose from three dollars to seventeen, and the Thoreau, being + by an author less widely read, and, by his own confession commercially + unsuccessful, brought a somewhat higher figure. The prices, thus inflated, + were not permitted to come down appreciably. Since every member of the + club possessed one or more of these valuable editions, they were all + manifestly interested in keeping up the price. The publication, however, + which brought the highest prices, and, but for the sober second thought, + might have wrecked the whole system, was Baxter's Procrustes. + </p> + <p> + Baxter was, perhaps, the most scholarly member of the club. A graduate of + Harvard, he had traveled extensively, had read widely, and while not so + enthusiastic a collector as some of us, possessed as fine a private + library as any man of his age in the city. He was about thirty-five when + he joined the club, and apparently some bitter experience—some + disappointment in love or ambition—had left its mark upon his + character. With light, curly hair, fair complexion, and gray eyes, one + would have expected Baxter to be genial of temper, with a tendency toward + wordiness of speech. But though he had occasional flashes of humor, his + ordinary demeanor was characterized by a mild cynicism, which, with his + gloomy pessimistic philosophy, so foreign to the temperament that should + accompany his physical type, could only be accounted for upon the + hypothesis of some secret sorrow such as I have suggested. What it might + be no one knew. He had means and social position, and was an uncommonly + handsome man. The fact that he remained unmarried at thirty-five furnished + some support for the theory of a disappointment in love, though this the + several intimates of Baxter who belonged to the club were not able to + verify. + </p> + <p> + It had occurred to me, in a vague way, that perhaps Baxter might be an + unsuccessful author. That he was a poet we knew very well, and typewritten + copies of his verses had occasionally circulated among us. But Baxter had + always expressed such a profound contempt for modern literature, had + always spoken in terms of such unmeasured pity for the slaves of the pen, + who were dependent upon the whim of an undiscriminating public for + recognition and a livelihood, that no one of us had ever suspected him of + aspirations toward publication, until, as I have said, it occurred to me + one day that Baxter's attitude with regard to publication might be viewed + in the light of effect as well as of cause—that his scorn of + publicity might as easily arise from failure to achieve it, as his never + having published might be due to his preconceived disdain of the vulgar + popularity which one must share with the pugilist or balloonist of the + hour. + </p> + <p> + The notion of publishing Baxter's Procrustes did not emanate from Baxter,—I + must do him the justice to say this. But he had spoken to several of the + fellows about the theme of his poem, until the notion that Baxter was at + work upon something fine had become pretty well disseminated throughout + our membership. He would occasionally read brief passages to a small + coterie of friends in the sitting-room or library,—never more than + ten lines at once, or to more than five people at a time,—and these + excerpts gave at least a few of us a pretty fair idea of the motive and + scope of the poem. As I, for one, gathered, it was quite along the line of + Baxter's philosophy. Society was the Procrustes which, like the Greek + bandit of old, caught every man born into the world, and endeavored to fit + him to some preconceived standard, generally to the one for which he was + least adapted. The world was full of men and women who were merely square + pegs in round holes, and vice versa. Most marriages were unhappy because + the contracting parties were not properly mated. Religion was mostly + superstition, science for the most part sciolism, popular education merely + a means of forcing the stupid and repressing the bright, so that all the + youth of the rising generation might conform to the same dull, dead level + of democratic mediocrity. Life would soon become so monotonously uniform + and so uniformly monotonous as to be scarce worth the living. + </p> + <p> + It was Smith, I think, who first proposed that the club publish Baxter's + Procrustes. The poet himself did not seem enthusiastic when the subject + was broached; he demurred for some little time, protesting that the poem + was not worthy of publication. But when it was proposed that the edition + be limited to fifty copies he agreed to consider the proposition. When I + suggested, having in mind my secret theory of Baxter's failure in + authorship, that the edition would at least be in the hands of friends, + that it would be difficult for a hostile critic to secure a copy, and that + if it should not achieve success from a literary point of view, the extent + of the failure would be limited to the size of the edition, Baxter was + visibly impressed. When the literary committee at length decided to + request formally of Baxter the privilege of publishing his Procrustes, he + consented, with evident reluctance, upon condition that he should + supervise the printing, binding, and delivery of the books, merely + submitting to the committee, in advance, the manuscript, and taking their + views in regard to the bookmaking. + </p> + <p> + The manuscript was duly presented to the literary committee. Baxter having + expressed the desire that the poem be not read aloud at a meeting of the + club, as was the custom, since he wished it to be given to the world clad + in suitable garb, the committee went even farther. Having entire + confidence in Baxter's taste and scholarship, they, with great delicacy, + refrained from even reading the manuscript, contenting themselves with + Baxter's statement of the general theme and the topics grouped under it. + The details of the bookmaking, however, were gone into thoroughly. The + paper was to be of hand-made linen, from the Kelmscott Mills; the type + black-letter, with rubricated initials. The cover, which was Baxter's own + selection, was to be of dark green morocco, with a cap-and-bells border in + red inlays, and doublures of maroon morocco with a blind-tooled design. + Baxter was authorized to contract with the printer and superintend the + publication. The whole edition of fifty numbered copies was to be disposed + of at auction, in advance, to the highest bidder, only one copy to each, + the proceeds to be devoted to paying for the printing and binding, the + remainder, if any, to go into the club treasury, and Baxter himself to + receive one copy by way of remuneration. Baxter was inclined to protest at + this, on the ground that his copy would probably be worth more than the + royalties on the edition, at the usual ten per cent, would amount to, but + was finally prevailed upon to accept an author's copy. + </p> + <p> + While the Procrustes was under consideration, some one read, at one of our + meetings, a note from some magazine, which stated that a sealed copy of a + new translation of Campanella's Sonnets, published by the Grolier Club, + had been sold for three hundred dollars. This impressed the members + greatly. It was a novel idea. A new work might thus be enshrined in a sort + of holy of holies, which, if the collector so desired, could be forever + sacred from the profanation of any vulgar or unappreciative eye. The + possessor of such a treasure could enjoy it by the eye of imagination, + having at the same time the exaltation of grasping what was for others the + unattainable. The literary committee were so impressed with this idea that + they presented it to Baxter in regard to the Procrustes. Baxter making no + objection, the subscribers who might wish their copies delivered sealed + were directed to notify the author. I sent in my name. A fine book, after + all, was an investment, and if there was any way of enhancing its rarity, + and therefore its value, I was quite willing to enjoy such an advantage. + </p> + <p> + When the Procrustes was ready for distribution, each subscriber received + his copy by mail, in a neat pasteboard box. Each number was wrapped in a + thin and transparent but very strong paper through which the cover design + and tooling were clearly visible. The number of the copy was indorsed upon + the wrapper, the folds of which were securely fastened at each end with + sealing-wax, upon which was impressed, as a guaranty of its inviolateness, + the monogram of the club. + </p> + <p> + At the next meeting of the Bodleian, a great deal was said about the + Procrustes, and it was unanimously agreed that no finer specimen of + bookmaking had ever been published by the club. By a curious coincidence, + no one had brought his copy with him, and the two club copies had not yet + been received from the binder, who, Baxter had reported was retaining them + for some extra fine work. Upon resolution, offered by a member who had not + subscribed for the volume, a committee of three was appointed to review + the Procrustes at the next literary meeting of the club. Of this committee + it was my doubtful fortune to constitute one. + </p> + <p> + In pursuance of my duty in the premises, it of course became necessary for + me to read the Procrustes. In all probability I should have cut my own + copy for this purpose, had not one of the club auctions intervened between + my appointment and the date set for the discussion of the Procrustes. At + this meeting a copy of the book, still sealed, was offered for sale, and + bought by a non-subscriber for the unprecedented price of one hundred and + fifty dollars. After this a proper regard for my own interests would not + permit me to spoil my copy by opening it, and I was therefore compelled to + procure my information concerning the poem from some other source. As I + had no desire to appear mercenary, I said nothing about my own copy, and + made no attempt to borrow. I did, however, casually remark to Baxter that + I should like to look at his copy of the proof sheets, since I wished to + make some extended quotations for my review, and would rather not trust my + copy to a typist for that purpose. Baxter assured me, with every evidence + of regret, that he had considered them of so little importance that he had + thrown them into the fire. This indifference of Baxter to literary values + struck me as just a little overdone. The proof sheets of Hamlet, corrected + in Shakespeare's own hand, would be well-nigh priceless. + </p> + <p> + At the next meeting of the club I observed that Thompson and Davis, who + were with me on the reviewing committee, very soon brought up the question + of the Procrustes in conversation in the smoking-room, and seemed anxious + to get from the members their views concerning Baxter's production, I + supposed upon the theory that the appreciation of any book review would + depend more or less upon the degree to which it reflected the opinion of + those to whom the review should be presented. I presumed, of course, that + Thompson and Davis had each read the book,—they were among the + subscribers,—and I was desirous of getting their point of view. + </p> + <p> + "What do you think," I inquired, "of the passage on Social Systems?" I + have forgotten to say that the poem was in blank verse, and divided into + parts, each with an appropriate title. + </p> + <p> + "Well," replied Davis, it seemed to me a little cautiously, "it is not + exactly Spencerian, although it squints at the Spencerian view, with a + slight deflection toward Hegelianism. I should consider it an harmonious + fusion of the best views of all the modern philosophers, with a strong + Baxterian flavor." + </p> + <p> + "Yes," said Thompson, "the charm of the chapter lies in this very quality. + The style is an emanation from Baxter's own intellect,—he has + written himself into the poem. By knowing Baxter we are able to appreciate + the book, and after having read the book we feel that we are so much the + more intimately acquainted with Baxter,—the real Baxter." + </p> + <p> + Baxter had come in during this colloquy, and was standing by the fireplace + smoking a pipe. I was not exactly sure whether the faint smile which + marked his face was a token of pleasure or cynicism; it was Baxterian, + however, and I had already learned that Baxter's opinions upon any subject + were not to be gathered always from his facial expression. For instance, + when the club porter's crippled child died Baxter remarked, it seemed to + me unfeelingly, that the poor little devil was doubtless better off, and + that the porter himself had certainly been relieved of a burden; and only + a week later the porter told me in confidence that Baxter had paid for an + expensive operation, undertaken in the hope of prolonging the child's + life. I therefore drew no conclusions from Baxter's somewhat enigmatical + smile. He left the room at this point in the conversation, somewhat to my + relief. + </p> + <p> + "By the way, Jones," said Davis, addressing me, "are you impressed by + Baxter's views on Degeneration?" + </p> + <p> + Having often heard Baxter express himself upon the general downward + tendency of modern civilization, I felt safe in discussing his views in a + broad and general manner. + </p> + <p> + "I think," I replied, "that they are in harmony with those of + Schopenhauer, without his bitterness; with those of Nordau, without his + flippancy. His materialism is Haeckel's, presented with something of the + charm of Omar Khayyam." + </p> + <p> + "Yes," chimed in Davis, "it answers the strenuous demand of our day,—dissatisfaction + with an unjustified optimism,—and voices for us the courage of human + philosophy facing the unknown." + </p> + <p> + I had a vague recollection of having read something like this somewhere, + but so much has been written, that one can scarcely discuss any subject of + importance without unconsciously borrowing, now and then, the thoughts or + the language of others. Quotation, like imitation, is a superior grade of + flattery. + </p> + <p> + "The Procrustes," said Thompson, to whom the metrical review had been + apportioned, "is couched in sonorous lines, of haunting melody and charm; + and yet so closely inter-related as to be scarcely quotable with justice + to the author. To be appreciated the poem should be read as a whole,—I + shall say as much in my review. What shall you say of the letter-press?" + he concluded, addressing me. I was supposed to discuss the technical + excellence of the volume from the connoisseur's viewpoint. + </p> + <p> + "The setting," I replied judicially, "is worthy of the gem. The dark green + cover, elaborately tooled, the old English lettering, the heavy linen + paper, mark this as one of our very choicest publications. The + letter-press is of course De Vinne's best,—there is nothing better + on this side of the Atlantic. The text is a beautiful, slender stream, + meandering gracefully through a wide meadow of margin." + </p> + <p> + For some reason I left the room for a minute. As I stepped into the hall, + I almost ran into Baxter, who was standing near the door, facing a hunting + print of a somewhat humorous character, hung upon the wall, and smiling + with an immensely pleased expression. + </p> + <p> + "What a ridiculous scene!" he remarked. "Look at that fat old squire on + that tall hunter! I'll wager dollars to doughnuts that he won't get over + the first fence!" + </p> + <p> + It was a very good bluff, but did not deceive me. Under his mask of + unconcern, Baxter was anxious to learn what we thought of his poem, and + had stationed himself in the hall that he might overhear our discussion + without embarrassing us by his presence. He had covered up his delight at + our appreciation by this simulated interest in the hunting print. + </p> + <p> + When the night came for the review of the Procrustes there was a large + attendance of members, and several visitors, among them a young English + cousin of one of the members, on his first visit to the United States; + some of us had met him at other clubs, and in society, and had found him a + very jolly boy, with a youthful exuberance of spirits and a naive + ignorance of things American that made his views refreshing and, at times, + amusing. + </p> + <p> + The critical essays were well considered, if a trifle vague. Baxter + received credit for poetic skill of a high order. + </p> + <p> + "Our brother Baxter," said Thompson, "should no longer bury his talent in + a napkin. This gem, of course, belongs to the club, but the same brain + from which issued this exquisite emanation can produce others to inspire + and charm an appreciative world." + </p> + <p> + "The author's view of life," said Davis, "as expressed in these beautiful + lines, will help us to fit our shoulders for the heavy burden of life, by + bringing to our realization those profound truths of philosophy which find + hope in despair and pleasure in pain. When he shall see fit to give to the + wider world, in fuller form, the thoughts of which we have been vouchsafed + this foretaste, let us hope that some little ray of his fame may rest upon + the Bodleian, from which can never be taken away the proud privilege of + saying that he was one of its members." + </p> + <p> + I then pointed out the beauties of the volume as a piece of bookmaking. I + knew, from conversation with the publication committee, the style of type + and rubrication, and could see the cover through the wrapper of my sealed + copy. The dark green morocco, I said, in summing up, typified the author's + serious view of life, as a thing to be endured as patiently as might be. + The cap-and-bells border was significant of the shams by which the + optimist sought to delude himself into the view that life was a desirable + thing. The intricate blind-tooling of the doublure shadowed forth the + blind fate which left us in ignorance of our future and our past, or of + even what the day itself might bring forth. The black-letter type, with + rubricated initials, signified a philosophic pessimism enlightened by the + conviction that in duty one might find, after all, an excuse for life and + a hope for humanity. Applying this test to the club, this work, which + might be said to represent all that the Bodleian stood for, was in itself + sufficient to justify the club's existence. If the Bodleian had done + nothing else, if it should do nothing more, it had produced a masterpiece. + </p> + <p> + There was a sealed copy of the Procrustes, belonging, I believe, to one of + the committee, lying on the table by which I stood, and I had picked it up + and held it in my hand for a moment, to emphasize one of my periods, but + had laid it down immediately. I noted, as I sat down, that young Hunkin, + our English visitor, who sat on the other side of the table, had picked up + the volume and was examining it with interest. When the last review was + read, and the generous applause had subsided, there were cries for Baxter. + </p> + <p> + "Baxter! Baxter! Author! Author!" + </p> + <p> + Baxter had been sitting over in a corner during the reading of the + reviews, and had succeeded remarkably well, it seemed to me, in + concealing, under his mask of cynical indifference, the exultation which I + was sure he must feel. But this outburst of enthusiasm was too much even + for Baxter, and it was clear that he was struggling with strong emotion + when he rose to speak. + </p> + <p> + "Gentlemen, and fellow members of the Bodleian, it gives me unaffected + pleasure—sincere pleasure—some day you may know how much + pleasure—I cannot trust myself to say it now—to see the + evident care with which your committee have read my poor verses, and the + responsive sympathy with which my friends have entered into my views of + life and conduct. I thank you again, and again, and when I say that I am + too full for utterance,—I'm sure you will excuse me from saying any + more." + </p> + <p> + Baxter took his seat, and the applause had begun again when it was broken + by a sudden exclamation. + </p> + <p> + "By Jove!" exclaimed our English visitor, who still sat behind the table, + "what an extraordinary book!" + </p> + <p> + Every one gathered around him. + </p> + <p> + "You see," he exclaimed; holding up the volume, "you fellows said so much + about the bally book that I wanted to see what it was like; so I untied + the ribbon, and cut the leaves with the paper knife lying here, and found—and + found that there wasn't a single line in it, don't you know!" + </p> + <p> + Blank consternation followed this announcement, which proved only too + true. Every one knew instinctively, without further investigation, that + the club had been badly sold. In the resulting confusion Baxter escaped, + but later was waited upon by a committee, to whom he made the rather lame + excuse that he had always regarded uncut and sealed books as tommy-rot, + and that he had merely been curious to see how far the thing could go; and + that the result had justified his belief that a book with nothing in it + was just as useful to a book-collector as one embodying a work of genius. + He offered to pay all the bills for the sham Procrustes, or to replace the + blank copies with the real thing, as we might choose. Of course, after + such an insult, the club did not care for the poem. He was permitted to + pay the expense, however, and it was more than hinted to him that his + resignation from the club would be favorably acted upon. He never sent it + in, and, as he went to Europe shortly afterwards, the affair had time to + blow over. + </p> + <p> + In our first disgust at Baxter's duplicity, most of us cut our copies of + the Procrustes, some of us mailed them to Baxter with cutting notes, and + others threw them into the fire. A few wiser spirits held on to theirs, + and this fact leaking out, it began to dawn upon the minds of the real + collectors among us that the volume was something unique in the way of a + publication. + </p> + <p> + "Baxter," said our president one evening to a select few of us who sat + around the fireplace, "was wiser than we knew, or than he perhaps + appreciated. His Procrustes, from the collector's point of view, is + entirely logical, and might be considered as the acme of bookmaking. To + the true collector, a book is a work of art, of which the contents are no + more important than the words of an opera. Fine binding is a desideratum, + and, for its cost, that of the Procrustes could not be improved upon. The + paper is above criticism. The true collector loves wide margins, and the + Procrustes, being all margin, merely touches the vanishing point of the + perspective. The smaller the edition, the greater the collector's + eagerness to acquire a copy. There are but six uncut copies left, I am + told, of the Procrustes, and three sealed copies, of one of which I am the + fortunate possessor." + </p> + <p> + After this deliverance, it is not surprising that, at our next auction, a + sealed copy of Baxter's Procrustes was knocked down, after spirited + bidding, for two hundred and fifty dollars, the highest price ever brought + by a single volume published by the club. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0027" id="link2H_4_0027"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE HEART OF THE RACE PROBLEM by Quincy Ewing + </h2> + <p> + "And, instead of going to the Congress of the United States and saying + there is no distinction made in Mississippi, because of color or previous + condition of servitude, tell the truth, and say this: 'We tried for many + years to live in Mississippi, and share sovereignty and dominion with the + Negro, and we saw our institutions crumbling.... We rose in the majesty + and highest type of Anglo-Saxon manhood, and took the reins of government + out of the hands of the carpet-bagger and the Negro, and, so help us God, + from now on we will never share any sovereignty or dominion with him + again.'"—Governor JAMES K. VARDAMAN, Mississippi, 1904. + </p> + <p> + During the past decade, newspaper and magazine articles galore, and not a + few books, have been written on what is called the "Race Problem," the + problem caused by the presence in this country of some ten millions of + black and variously-shaded colored people known as Negroes. But, strange + as it may sound, the writer has no hesitation in saying that at this date + there appears to be no clear conception anywhere, on the part of most + people, as to just what the essential problem is which confronts the white + inhabitants of the country because they have for fellow-citizens + (nominally) ten million Negroes. Ask the average man, ask even the average + editor or professor anywhere, what the race problem is, the heart of it; + why, in this land with its millions of foreigners of all nationalities, + THE race problem of problems should be caused by ten million Negroes, not + foreigners but native to the soil through several generations; and in all + probability you will get some such answer as this:— + </p> + <p> + "The Negroes, as a rule, are very ignorant, are very lazy, are very + brutal, are very criminal. But a little way removed from savagery, they + are incapable of adopting the white man's moral code, of assimilating the + white man's moral sentiments, of striving toward the white man's moral + ideals. They are creatures of brutal, untamed instincts, and uncontrolled + feral passions, which give frequent expression of themselves in crimes of + horrible ferocity. They are, in brief, an uncivilized, semi-savage people, + living in a civilization to which they are unequal, partaking to a limited + degree of its benefits, performing in no degree its duties. Because they + are spatially in a civilization to which they are morally and + intellectually repugnant, they cannot but be as a foreign irritant to the + body social. The problem is, How shall the body social adjust itself, + daily, hourly, to this irritant; how feel at ease and safe in spite of it? + How shall the white inhabitants of the land, with their centuries of + inherited superiority, conserve their civilization and carry it forward to + a yet higher plane, hampered by ten million black inhabitants of the same + land with their centuries of inherited inferiority?" + </p> + <p> + To the foregoing answer, this might now and again be added, or advanced + independently in reply to our question: "Personal aversion on the part of + the white person for the Negro; personal aversion accounted for by nothing + the individual Negro is, or is not, intellectually and morally; accounted + for by the fact, simply, that he is a Negro, that he has a black or + colored skin, that he is different, of another kind." + </p> + <p> + Now, certainly, there are very few average men or philosophers, to whom + the answer given to our question would not seem to state, or at any rate + fairly indicate, the race problem in its essence. But, however few they + be, I do not hesitate to align myself with them as one who does not + believe that the essential race problem as it exists in the South + (whatever it be in the North) is stated, or even fairly indicated, in the + foregoing answer. In Northern and Western communities, where he is + outnumbered by many thousands of white people, the Negro may be accounted + a problem, because he is lazy, or ignorant, or brutal, or criminal, or all + these things together; or because he is black and different. But in + Southern communities, where the Negro is not outnumbered by many thousands + of white people, the race problem, essentially, and in its most acute + form, is something distinct from his laziness or ignorance, or brutality, + or criminality, or all-round intellectual and moral inferiority to the + white man. That problem as the South knows and deals with it would exist, + as certainly as it does to-day, if there were no shadow of excuse for the + conviction that the Negro is more lazy, or more ignorant, or more + criminal, or more brutal, or more anything else he ought not to be, or + less anything else he ought to be, than other men. In other words, let it + be supposed that the average Negro is as a matter of fact the equal, + morally and intellectually, of the average white man of the same class, + and the race problem declines to vanish, declines to budge. We shall see + why, presently. The statements just made demand immediate justification. + For they are doubtless surprising to a degree, and to some readers may + prove startling. + </p> + <p> + I proceed to justify them as briefly as possible, asking the reader to + bear in mind that very much more might be said along this line than I + allow myself space to say. + </p> + <p> + I + </p> + <p> + That the Negro is not a problem because he is lazy, because he declines to + work, is evidenced by the patent fact that in virtually every Southern + community he is sought as a laborer in fields, mills, mines, and that in + very many Southern communities the vexing problem for employers is not too + many, but too few Negroes. In certain agricultural sections, notably in + the Louisiana sugar district, quite a number of Italians ("Dagoes") are + employed. The reason is not dissatisfaction with Negro labor, but simply + that there is not enough of it to meet the requirements of the large + plantations. There is, perhaps, not one of these plantations on which any + able-bodied Negro could not get employment for the asking; and as a rule, + the Negroes are given, not the work which demands the lowest, but that + which demands the highest, efficiency: they are the ploughmen, the + teamsters, the foremen. If any one doubts that Negroes are wanted as + laborers in Southern communities, very much wanted, let him go to any such + community and attempt to inveigle a few dozen of the laziest away. He will + be likely to take his life in his hands, after the usual warning is + disregarded! + </p> + <p> + II + </p> + <p> + The small politician's trump-card, played early and late, and in all + seasons, that the Negro is a black shadow over the Southland because of + his excessive criminality, serves well the politician's purpose,—it + wins his game; but only because the game is played and won on a board + where fictions, not facts, are dominant. Nothing is easier than to offer + so-called proofs of the contention that the Negro's tendency to crime is + something peculiar to his race; there are the jail and penitentiary and + gallows statistics, for instance. But surely it should not be difficult + for these so-called proofs to present themselves in their true light to + any one who takes the trouble to consider two weighty and conspicuous + facts: this, first, that the Negroes occupy everywhere in this country the + lowest social and industrial plane, the plane which everywhere else + supplies the jail, the penitentiary, the gallows, with the greatest number + of their victims; and secondly this, that in the section of the country + where these penal statistics are gathered, all the machinery of justice is + in the hands of white men. + </p> + <p> + No Negro is a sheriff, or judge, or justice of the peace, or grand or + petit juryman, or member of a pardoning board. Charged with crime, again + and again, the black man must go to jail; he is unable to give bond; he is + defended, not by the ablest, but by the poorest lawyers, often by an + unwilling appointee of the court; he lacks the benefit of that personal + appeal to judge and jury, so often enjoyed by other defendants, which + would make them WANT to believe him innocent until proven guilty; he + faces, on the contrary, a judge and jury who hold him in some measure of + contempt as a man, regardless of his guilt or innocence. He is without + means, except occasionally, to fight his case through appeals to higher + courts, and errors sleep in many a record that on review would upset the + verdict. In the light of such considerations, it would seem impossible + that criminal statistics should not bear hard upon the Negro race, even + supposing it to be a fact that that race of all races in the world is the + LEAST criminal. + </p> + <p> + Let it be admitted without question that in most Southern communities the + crimes and misdemeanors of the Negroes exceed those committed by an equal + number of white people, and we have admitted nothing that at all explains + or accounts for the race problem. For is it not equally true that in every + other community the doers of society's rough work, the recipients of its + meagrest rewards, are chargeable, relatively, with the greatest number of + crimes and misdemeanors? Is it not true, as well in Massachusetts and + Connecticut as in Louisiana and Mississippi, that the vast majority of + those occupying prison cells are members of the social lowest class? that + the vast majority condemned, after trial, to hard labor with their hands + were accustomed to such labor before their judicial condemnation? Nothing + is more preposterous than the idea that the race problem means more + Negroes hanged, more Negroes imprisoned, more Negroes in mines and + chain-gangs, than white people! If the Negro did not furnish the great + bulk of the grist for the grinding of our penal machinery in the Southern + states, he would constitute the racial miracle of this and all ages! + </p> + <p> + My own conviction is, and I speak with the experience of forty years' + residence in Southern states, that the Negro is not more given to crimes + and misdemeanors than the laboring population of any other section of the + country. But be this as it may, it is abundantly certain that no race of + people anywhere are more easily controlled than the Negroes by the + guardians of law and order; and there are none anywhere so easily punished + for disobedience to the statutes and mandates of their economic superiors. + Courts and juries may be sometimes subject to just criticism for undue + leniency toward white defendants; but that courts and juries are ever + subject to just criticism for undue leniency in dealing with black + defendants is the sheerest nonsense. + </p> + <p> + The frequent charge that the Negro's worst crimes partake of a brutality + that is peculiarly racial, is not supported by facts. I need not enlarge + upon this statement further than to say that the Negro's worst crimes, + with all their shocking accompaniments, are, not seldom, but often, + duplicated by white men. Let any one who doubts the statement observe for + one week the criminal statistics of any cosmopolitan newspaper, and he + will have his doubt removed. + </p> + <p> + Assuredly we do not hit upon the essence of the race problem in the + Negro's propensity to crime! + </p> + <p> + III + </p> + <p> + Do we hit upon it in his ignorance, in the fact that an immense number of + the black people are illiterate, not knowing the first from the last + letter of the alphabet? Hardly. For, almost to a man, the people who most + parade and most rail at the race problem in private conversation, on the + political platform, and in the pages of newspapers, books, and + periodicals, are disposed rather to lament, than to assist, the passing of + the Negro's ignorance. Ex-Governor Vardaman, of Mississippi, used the + following language in a message to the legislature of that state, January, + 1906:— + </p> + <p> + "The startling facts revealed by the census show that those [Negroes] who + can read and write are more criminal than the illiterate, which is true of + no other element of our population.. .. The state for many years, at great + expense to the tax-payers, has maintained a system of Negro education + which has produced disappointing results, and I am opposed to the + perpetuation of this system. My own idea is, that the character of + education for the Negro ought to be changed. If, after forty years of + earnest effort, and the expenditure of fabulous sums to educate his head, + we have only succeeded in making a criminal of him and impairing his + usefulness and efficiency as a laborer, wisdom would suggest that we make + another experiment and see if we cannot improve him by educating his hand + and his heart.... Slavery is the only process by which he has ever been + partially civilized. God Almighty created the Negro for a menial, he is + essentially a servant." + </p> + <p> + This is the reply of an ex-governor of one of our blackest states to those + who contend that the negro is a problem, a "burden carried by the white + people of the South," because of his ignorance and consequent + inefficiency; and that the lightening of the burden depends upon more + money spent, more earnest efforts made, for the schooling of the black + people. According to this ex-governor, and there are thousands who agree + with him in and out of Mississippi, the race problem is heightened, rather + than mitigated, by all attempts to increase the negro's intellectual + efficiency. The more ignorant he is, the less burdensome he is to the + white man, provided his heart be good, and his hands skillful enough to do + the service of a menial. Nothing but slavery ever partially civilized him, + nothing but slavery continued in some form can civilize him further! + </p> + <p> + IV + </p> + <p> + If we listen vainly for the heart-throb of the race problem in the Negro's + laziness, and criminality, and brutality, and ignorance, and inefficiency, + do we detect it with clearness and certainty in the personal aversion felt + by the white people for the black people, aversion which the white people + can no more help feeling than the black people can help exciting? Is this + the real trouble, the real burden, the real tragedy and sorrow of our + white population in those sections of the country where the Negroes are + many,—that they are compelled to dwell face to face, day by day, + with an inferior, degraded population, repulsive to their finer + sensibilities, obnoxious to them in countless ways inexplicable? Facts are + far from furnishing an affirmative answer. However pronounced may be the + feeling of personal aversion toward the Negroes in Northern communities, + where they are few, or known at long range, or casually, there is no such + thing in Southern communities as personal aversion for the Negro + pronounced enough to be responsible for anything resembling a problem. How + could there be in the South, where from infancy we have all been as + familiar with black faces as with white; where many of us fell asleep in + the laps of black mammies, and had for playmates Ephrom, Izik, Zeke, black + mammy's grandchildren; where most of us have had our meals prepared by + black cooks, and been waited on by black house-servants and dining-room + servants, and ridden in carriages and buggies with black hostlers? We are + so used to the black people in the South, their mere personal presence is + so far from being responsible for our race problem, that the South would + not seem Southern without them, as it would not without its crape myrtles, + and live-oaks, and magnolias, its cotton and its sugar-cane! + </p> + <p> + It is very easy to go astray in regard to the matter of personal aversion + toward the members of alien races, to magnify greatly the reality and + importance of it. What seems race-aversion is frequently something else, + namely, revulsion aroused by the presence of the strange, the unusual, the + uncanny, the not-understood. Such revulsion is aroused, not only by the + members of alien races, alien and unfamiliar, but as certainly by strange + animals of not more terrifying appearance than the well-loved cow and + horse; and it would be aroused as really and as painfully, doubtless, by + the sudden proximity of one of Milton's archangels. It was not necessarily + race-aversion which made Emerson, and may have made many another Concord + philosopher, uncomfortable in the presence of a Negro, any more than it is + race-aversion which makes the Fifth Avenue boy run from the gentle + farmyard cow; any more than it is race-aversion which would make me + uncomfortable in the presence of Li Hung Chang. The Negro, simply, it may + be, was a mystery to Emerson, as the farmyard cow is a mystery to the + Fifth Avenue boy, as the Chinaman is a mystery to me. + </p> + <p> + The Negro is NOT a mystery to people whom he has nursed and waited on, + whose language he has spoken, whose ways, good and bad, he has copied for + generations; and his personal presence does not render them uncomfortable, + not, at any rate, uncomfortable enough to beget the sense of a burden or a + problem. + </p> + <p> + It may be very difficult for Northern readers, to whom the Negro is in + reality a stranger, a foreigner, to appreciate fully the force of what has + just been said; but appreciated by them it must be, or they can never hope + to realize the innermost meaning of the race problem in the South. + </p> + <p> + So much for what the race problem is not. Let me without further delay + state what it is. The foundation of it, true or false, is the white man's + conviction that the Negro as a race, and as an individual, is his + inferior: not human in the sense that he is human, not entitled to the + exercise of human rights in the sense that he is entitled to the exercise + of them. The problem itself, the essence of it, the heart of it, is the + white man's determination to make good this conviction, coupled with + constant anxiety lest, by some means, he should fail to make it good. The + race problem, in other words, is NOT that the Negro is what he is in + relation to the white man, the white man's inferior; but this, rather: How + to keep him what he is in relation to the white man; how to prevent his + ever achieving or becoming that which would justify the belief on his + part, or on the part of other people, that he and the white man stand on + common human ground. + </p> + <p> + That such is the heart of the problem should be made evident by this + general consideration alone: namely, that everywhere in the South friction + between the races is entirely absent so long as the Negro justifies the + white man's opinion of him as an inferior; is grateful for privileges and + lays no claim to RIGHTS. Let him seem content to be as the South insists + he shall be, and not only is he not harshly treated, not abused, and never + boycotted, but he is shown much kindness and generosity, and employment + awaits him for the asking. Trouble brews when he begins to manifest those + qualities, to reveal those tastes, to give vent to those ambitions, which + are supposed to be characteristic exclusively of the higher human type, + and which, unless restrained, would result in confounding the lower with + the higher. The expression "Good Nigger" means everywhere in the South a + real Negro, from the Southern standpoint, one who in no respect gets out + of focus with that standpoint; the expression "Bad Nigger" means + universally one who in some respect, not necessarily criminal, does get + out of focus with it. So, stated differently, the race problem is the + problem how to keep the Negro in focus with the traditional standpoint. + </p> + <p> + But we are very far from needing to rely upon any general consideration in + support of the proposition advanced above. It is supported by evidences on + every hand, waiting only the eye of recognition. Scarcely a day passes but + something is said or done with this end in view, to emphasize, lest they + forget, the conviction for both white man and Negro that the latter is and + must remain an inferior. Let me instance a few such evidences. + </p> + <p> + Consider, first, the "Jim Crow" legislation in the manner of its + enforcement. Such legislation is supposed to have for its object the + separation of the races in trains, street-cars, etc., to save the white + people from occasional contact with drunken, rowdy, ill-smelling Negroes, + and to prevent personal encounters between the whites and blacks. How is + this object attained in the street cars of Southern cities? Members of the + different races occupy the same cars, separated only by absurdly + inadequate little open-mesh wire screens, so tiny and light that a + conductor can move them from one seat to another with the strength of his + little finger. Needless to add, these screens would serve to obscure + neither sound, sight, nor smell of drunken rowdies who sat behind them! In + summer cars black and white passengers may be separated not even by a + make-believe screen; they are simply required, respectively, to occupy + certain seats in the front or the back end of the cars. + </p> + <p> + In Birmingham, Alabama, the front seats are assigned to Negroes in all + closed cars, and the back seats in all open ones. Why the front seats in + the one case, and the back seats in the other, it is not easy to + understand in the light of the letter and alleged spirit of the Jim Crow + law! The underlying purpose of the law is clearly not the separation of + the races in space; for public sentiment does not insist upon its + fulfillment to that end. The underlying purpose of it would seem to be the + separation of the races in status. The doctrine of inequality would be + attacked if white and black passengers rode in public conveyances on equal + terms; therefore the Negro who rides in a public conveyance must do so, + not as of undoubted right, but as with the white man's permission, subject + to the white man's regulation. "This place you may occupy, that other you + may not, because I am I and you are you, lest to you or me it should be + obscured that I am I and you are you." Such is the real spirit of the Jim + Crow laws. + </p> + <p> + Why is it that in every Southern city no Negro is allowed to witness a + dramatic performance, or a baseball game, from a first-class seat? In + every large city, there are hundreds of Negroes who would gladly pay for + first-class seats at the theatre and the baseball game, were they + permitted to. It can hardly be that permission is withheld because + theatres and baseball games are so well attended by half the population + that first-class seats could not be furnished for the other half. As a + matter of fact, theatre-auditoriums and baseball grand-stands are seldom + crowded; the rule is, not all first-class seats occupied, but many vacant. + Surely as simple as moving from seat to seat a make-shift screen in a + street-car, would it be to set apart a certain number of seats in the + dress-circle of every theatre, and in the grand-stand of every baseball + park, for Negro patrons. The reason why this is not done is perfectly + obvious: it would be intolerable to the average Southern man or woman to + sit through the hours of a theatrical performance or a baseball game on + terms of equal accommodation with Negroes, even with a screen between. + Negroes would look out of place, out of status, in the dress circle or the + grand-stand; their place, signifying their status, is the peanut-gallery, + or the bleachers. There, neither they nor others will be tempted to forget + that as things are they must continue. + </p> + <p> + How shall we account for the "intense feeling" (to quote the language of + the mayor or New Orleans) occasioned in that city one day, last July, when + it was flashed over the wires that the first prize in the National + Spelling Contest had been won by a Negro girl, in competition with white + children from New Orleans and other Southern cities? The indignation of at + least one of the leading New Orleans papers verged upon hysterics; the + editor's rhetoric visited upon some foulest crime could hardly have been + more inflamed than in denunciation of the fact that, on the far-away shore + of Lake Erie, New Orleans white children had competed at a spelling bee + with a Negro girl. The superintendent of the New Orleans schools was + roundly denounced in many quarters for permitting his wards to compete + with a Negro; and there were broad hints in "Letters from the People" to + the papers that his resignation was in order. + </p> + <p> + Certainly in the days following the National Spelling Contest the race + problem was in evidence, if it ever was, in New Orleans and the South! Did + it show itself, then, as the problem of Negro crime, or brutality, or + laziness? Assuredly not! Of the Negro's personal repulsiveness? By no + means! There was no evidence of Negro criminality, or brutality, or + laziness in the Negro child's victory; and every day in the South, in + their games and otherwise, hundreds of white children of the best families + are in closer personal contact with little Negroes than were the white + children who took part in the Cleveland spelling bee. The "intense + feeling" can be explained on one ground only: the Negro girl's victory was + an affront to the tradition of the Negro's inferiority; it suggested—perhaps + indicated—that, given equal opportunities, all Negroes are not + necessarily the intellectual inferiors of all white people. What other + explanation is rationally conceivable? If the race problem means in the + South to its white inhabitants the burden and tragedy of having to dwell + face to face with an intellectually and morally backward people, why + should not the Negro girl's triumph have occasioned intense feeling of + pleasure, rather than displeasure, by its suggestion that her race is not + intellectually hopeless? + </p> + <p> + Consider further that while no Negro, no matter what his occupation, or + personal refinement, or intellectual culture, or moral character, is + allowed to travel in a Pullman car between state lines, or to enter as a + guest a hotel patronized by white people, the blackest of Negro nurses and + valets are given food and shelter in all first-class hotels, and occasion + neither disgust, nor surprise in the Pullman cars. Here again the heart of + the race problem is laid bare. The black nurse with a white baby in her + arms, the black valet looking after the comfort of a white invalid, have + the label of their inferiority conspicuously upon them; they understand + themselves, and everybody understands them, to be servants, enjoying + certain privileges for the sake of the person served. Almost anything, the + Negro may do in the South, and anywhere he may go, provided the manner of + his doing and his doing is that of an inferior. Such is the premium put + upon his inferiority; such his inducement to maintain it. + </p> + <p> + The point here insisted on may be made clearer, if already it is not clear + enough, by this consideration, that the man who would lose social caste + for dining with an Irish street-sweeper might be congratulated for dining + with an Irish educator; but President Roosevelt would scarcely have given + greater offense by entertaining a Negro laborer at the White House than he + gave by inviting to lunch there the Principal of Tuskegee Institute. The + race problem being what it is, the status of any Negro is logically the + status of every other. There are recognizable degrees of inferiority among + Negroes themselves; some are vastly superior to others. But there is only + one degree of inferiority separating the Negro from the white person, + attached to all Negroes alike. The logic of the situation requires that to + be any sort of black man is to be inferior to any sort of white man; and + from this logic there is no departure in the South. + </p> + <p> + Inconsistent, perhaps, with what has been said may seem the defeat in the + Louisiana Legislature (1908) of the anti-miscegenation bill, a measure + designed to prohibit sexual cohabitation between white persons and + Negroes; to be specific, between white men and Negro women. But there was + no inconsistency whatever in the defeat of that bill. In all times and + places, the status of that portion of the female population, Lecky's + martyred "priestesses of humanity," whose existence men have demanded for + the gratification of unlawful passion, has been that of social outcasts. + They have no rights that they can insist upon; they are simply privileged + to exist by society's permission, and may be any moment legislated out of + their vocation. Hence the defeat of an anti-miscegenation measure by + Southern legislators cannot be construed as a failure on their part to + live up to their conviction of race-superiority. It must be construed, + rather, as legislative unwillingness to restrict the white man's liberty; + to dictate by statute the kind of social outcast which he may use as a + mere means to the gratification of his passion. To concede to Negro women + the status of a degraded and proscribed class, is not in any sense to + overlook or obscure their racial inferiority, but on the contrary, it may + be, to emphasize it. Precisely the same principle, in a word, compasses + the defeat of an anti-miscegenation bill which would compass the defeat of + a measure to prohibit Negro servants from occupying seats in Pullman cars. + </p> + <p> + At the risk of reiteration, I must in concluding this article take sharp + issue with the view of a recent very able writer, who asks the question, + "What, essentially, is the Race Problem?" and answers it thus: "The race + problem is the problem of living with human beings who are not like us, + whether they are in our estimation our 'superiors' or inferiors, whether + they have kinky hair or pigtails, whether they are slant-eyed, hook-nosed, + or thick-lipped. In its essence, it is the same problem, magnified, which + besets every neighborhood, even every family." + </p> + <p> + I have contended so far, and I here repeat, that the race problem is + essentially NOT what this writer declares it to be. It is emphatically + not, in the South, "the problem of living with human beings who are not + like us, whether they are in our estimation our superiors or inferiors." + It may be, it probably is, that in the North, where the Negro is largely a + stranger, a foreigner, very much to the same degree that the Chinese are + strangers and foreigners in the South; and where, consequently, the + Negro's personal repulsiveness is a much more significant force than it is + in the South. Assuredly there would be no race problem, anywhere, were + there no contact with others unlike ourselves! The unlikeness of the + unlike is everywhere its indispensable foundation. But we get nowhither + unless we carefully distinguish between the foundation of the problem and + the problem itself. There is nothing in the unlikeness of the unlike that + is necessarily problematical; it may be simply accepted and dealt with as + a fact, like any other fact. The problem arises only when the people of + one race are minded to adopt and act upon some policy more or less + oppressive or repressive in dealing with the people of another race. In + the absence of some such policy, there has never been a race problem since + the world began. It is the existence of such a policy become traditional, + and supported by immovable conviction, which constitutes the race problem + of the Southern states. + </p> + <p> + There was an immensely tragic race problem distressing the South fifty + years ago; but who will suggest that it was the problem of "living with + human beings who are not like us?" The problem then was, clearly, how to + make good a certain conviction concerning the unlike, how to maintain a + certain policy in dealing with them. What else is it today? The problem, + How to maintain the institution of chattel slavery, ceased to be at + Appomattox; the problem, How to maintain the social, industrial, and civic + inferiority of the descendants of chattel slaves, succeeded it, and is the + race problem of the South at the present time. There is no other. + </p> + <p> + Whether the policy adopted by the white South, and supported, as I have + said, by immovable conviction, is expedient or inexpedient, wise or + unwise, righteous or unrighteous, these are questions which I have not + sought to answer one way or another in this article. Perhaps they cannot + be answered at all in our time. Certain is it, that their only real and + satisfactory answer will be many years ahead of the present generation. + </p> + <p> + In the mean time, nothing could be more unwarranted, than to suppose that + the race problem of one section of this country is peculiar to that + section, because its white inhabitants are themselves in some sense + peculiar; because they are peculiarly prejudiced, because they are + peculiarly behind the hour which the high clock of civilization has + struck. Remove the white inhabitants of the South, give their place to the + white people of any other section of the United States, and, beyond a + peradventure, the Southern race problem, as I have defined it, would + continue to be—revealed, perhaps, in ways more perplexing, more + intense and tragic. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0028" id="link2H_4_0028"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + NEGRO SUFFRAGE IN A DEMOCRACY by Ray Stannard Baker + </h2> + <p> + In this paper I endeavor to lay down the fundamental principles which + should govern the Negro franchise in a democracy, and to outline a + practical programme for the immediate treatment of the problem. + </p> + <p> + As I see it, the question of Negro suffrage in the United States presents + two distinct aspects:— + </p> + <p> + FIRST: the legal aspect. + </p> + <p> + SECOND: the practical aspect. + </p> + <p> + It will be admitted, I think, without argument, that all governments do + and of a necessity must exercise the right to limit the number of people + who are permitted to take part in the weighty responsibilities of the + suffrage. Some governments allow only a few men to vote; in an absolute + monarchy there is only one voter; other governments, as they become more + democratic, permit a larger proportion of the people to vote. + </p> + <p> + Our own government is one of the freest in the world in the matter of + suffrage; and yet we bar out, in most states, all women; we bar out + Mongolians, no matter how intelligent; we bar out Indians, and all + foreigners who have not passed through a certain probationary stage and + have not acquired a certain small amount of education. We also declare—for + an arbitrary limit must be placed somewhere—that no person under + twenty-one years of age may exercise the right to vote, although some boys + of eighteen are to-day better equipped to pass intelligently upon public + questions than many grown men. We even place adult white men on probation + until they have resided for a certain length of time, often as much as two + years, in the state or the town where they wish to cast their ballots. Our + registration and ballot laws eliminate hundreds of thousands of voters; + and finally, we bar out everywhere the defective and criminal classes of + our population. We do not realize, sometimes, I think, how limited the + franchise really is, even in America. We forget that out of nearly ninety + million people in the United States, fewer than fifteen million cast their + votes for President in 1908—or about one in every six. + </p> + <p> + Thus the practice of a restricted suffrage is very deeply implanted in our + system of government. It is everywhere recognized that even in a democracy + lines must be drawn, and that the ballot, the precious instrument of + government, must be hedged about with stringent regulations. The question + is, where shall these lines be drawn in order that the best interests, not + of any particular class, but of the whole nation, shall be served. + </p> + <p> + Upon this question, we, as free citizens, have the absolute right to agree + or disagree with the present laws regulating suffrage; and if we want more + people brought in as partakers in government, or some people who are + already in, barred out, we have a right to organize, to agitate, to do our + best to change the laws. Powerful organizations of women are now agitating + for the right to vote; there is an organization which demands the suffrage + for Chinese and Japanese who wish to become citizens. It is even + conceivable that a society might be founded to lower the suffrage + age-limit from twenty-one to nineteen years, thereby endowing a large + number of young men with the privileges, and therefore the educational + responsibilities, of political power. On the other hand, a large number of + people, chiefly in our Southern States, earnestly believe that the right + of the Negro to vote should be curtailed, or even abolished. + </p> + <p> + Thus we disagree, and government is the resultant of all these diverse + views and forces. No one can say dogmatically how far democracy should go + in distributing the enormously important powers of active government. + Democracy is not a dogma; it is not even a dogma of free suffrage. + Democracy is a life, a spirit, a growth. The primal necessity of any sort + of government, democracy or otherwise, whether it be more unjust or less + unjust toward special groups of its citizens, is to exist, to be a going + concern, to maintain upon the whole a stable and peaceful administration + of affairs. If a democracy cannot provide such stability, then the people + go back to some form of oligarchy. Having secured a fair measure of + stability, a democracy proceeds with caution toward the extension of the + suffrage to more and more people—trying foreigners, trying women, + trying Negroes. + </p> + <p> + And no one can prophesy how far a democracy will ultimately go in the + matter of suffrage. We know only the tendency. We know that in the + beginning, even in America, the right to vote was a very limited matter. + In the early years, in New England, only church-members voted; then the + franchise was extended to include property-owners; then it was enlarged to + include all white adults; then to include Negroes; then, in several + Western States, to include women. + </p> + <p> + Thus the line has been constantly advancing, but with many fluctuations, + eddies, and back-currents—like any other stream of progress. At the + present time the fundamental principles which underlie popular government, + and especially the whole matter of popular suffrage, are much in the + public mind. The tendency of government throughout the entire civilized + world is strongly in the direction of placing more and more power in the + hands of the people. In our own country we are enacting a remarkable group + of laws providing for direct primaries in the nomination of public + officials, for direct election of United States Senators, and for direct + legislation by means of the initiative and referendum; and we are even + going to the point, in many cities, of permitting the people to recall an + elected official who is unsatisfactory. The principle of local option, + which is nothing but that of direct government by the people, is being + everywhere accepted. All these changes affect, fundamentally, the historic + structure of our government, making it less republican and more + democratic. + </p> + <p> + Still more important and far-reaching in its significance is the tendency + of our government, especially our Federal Government, to regulate or to + appropriate great groups of business enterprises formerly left wholly in + private hands. More and more, private business is becoming public + business. + </p> + <p> + Now, then, as the weight of responsibility upon the popular vote is + increased, it becomes more and more important that the ballot should be + jealously guarded and honestly exercised. In the last few years, + therefore, a series of extraordinary new precautions have been adopted: + the Australian ballot, more stringent registration systems, the stricter + enforcement of naturalization laws to prevent the voting of crowds of + unprepared foreigners, and the imposition by several states, rightly or + wrongly, of educational and property tests. It becomes a more and more + serious matter every year to be an American citizen, more of an honor, + more of a duty. + </p> + <p> + At the close of the Civil War, in a time of intense idealistic emotion, + some three-quarters of a million of Negroes, the mass of them densely + ignorant and just out of slavery, with the iron of slavery still in their + souls, were suddenly given the political rights of free citizens. A great + many people, and not in the South alone, thought then, and still think, + that it was a mistake to bestow the high powers and privileges of a wholly + unrestricted ballot—a ballot which is the symbol of intelligent + self-government—upon the Negro. Other people, of whom I am one, + believe that it was a necessary concomitant of the revolution; it was + itself a revolution, not a growth, and like every other revolution it has + had its fearful reaction. Revolutions, indeed, change names, but they do + not at once change human relationships. Mankind is reconstructed not by + proclamations, or legislation, or military occupation, but by time, + growth, education, religion, thought. At that time, then, the nation drove + down the stakes of its idealism in government far beyond the point it was + able to reach in the humdrum activities of everyday existence. A reaction + was inevitable; it was inevitable and perfectly natural that there should + be a widespread questioning as to whether all Negroes, or indeed any + Negroes, should properly be admitted to full political fellowship. That + questioning continues to this day. + </p> + <p> + Now, the essential principle established by the Fifteenth Amendment to the + Constitution was not that all Negroes should necessarily be given an + unrestricted access to the ballot; but that the right to vote should not + be denied or abridged 'on account of race, color, or previous condition of + servitude.' This amendment wiped out the color-line in politics so far as + any written law could possibly do it. + </p> + <p> + Let me here express my profound conviction that the principle of political + equality then laid down is a sound, valid, and absolutely essential + principle in any free government; that restrictions upon the ballot, when + necessary, should be made to apply equally to white and colored citizens; + and that the Fifteenth Amendment ought not to be, and cannot be repealed. + Moreover, I am convinced that the principle of political equality is more + firmly established to-day in this country than it was forty years ago, + when it had only Northern bayonets behind it. For now, however short the + practice falls of reaching the legal standard, the principle is woven into + the warp and woof of Southern life and Southern legislation. Many Southern + white leaders of thought are to-day CONVINCED, not FORCED believers in the + principle; and that is a great omen. + </p> + <p> + Limitations have come about, it is true, and were to be expected as the + back-currents of the revolution. Laws providing for educational and + property qualifications as a prerequisite to the exercise of the suffrage + have been passed in all the Southern States, and have operated to exclude + from the ballot large numbers of both white and colored citizens, who on + account of ignorance or poverty are unable to meet the tests. These + provisions, whatever the opinion entertained as to the wisdom of such + laws, are well within the principle laid down by the Fifteenth Amendment. + But several Southern States have gone a step further, and by means of the + so-called 'grandfather laws,' have exempted certain ignorant white men + from the necessity of meeting the educational and property tests. These + unfair 'grandfather laws,' however, in some of the states adopting them, + have now expired by limitation. + </p> + <p> + Let me then lay down this general proposition:— + </p> + <p> + Nowhere in the South to-day is the Negro cut off LEGALLY, as a Negro, from + the ballot. Legally, to-day, any Negro who can meet the comparatively + slight requirements as to education, or property, or both, can cast his + ballot on a basis of equality with the white man. I have emphasized the + word legally, for I know the PRACTICAL difficulties which confront the + Negro votes in many parts of the South. The point I wish to make is that + legally the Negro is essentially the political equal of the white man; but + that practically, in the enforcement of the law, the legislative ideal is + still pegged out far beyond the actual performance. + </p> + <p> + Now, then, if we are interested in the problem of democracy, we have two + courses open to us. We may think the laws are unjust to the Negro, and + incidentally to the 'poor white' man as well. If we do, we have a perfect + right to agitate for changes; and we can do much to disclose, without + heat, the actual facts regarding the complicated and vexatious legislative + situation in the South, as regards the suffrage. Every change in the + legislation upon this subject should, indeed, be jealously watched, that + the principle of political equality between the races be not legally + curtailed. The doctrine laid down in the Fifteenth Amendment must, at any + hazard, be maintained. + </p> + <p> + But, personally,—and I am here voicing a profound conviction,—I + think our emphasis at present should be laid upon the practical rather + than upon the legal aspect of the problem; I think we should take + advantage of the widely prevalent feeling in the South that the question + of suffrage has been settled, legally, for some time to come: of the + desire on the part of many Southern people, both white and colored, to + turn aside from the discussion of the political status of the Negro. + </p> + <p> + In short, let us for the time being accept the laws as they are, and build + upward from that point. Let us turn our attention to the practical task of + finding out why it is that the laws we already have are not enforced, and + how best to secure an honest vote for every Negro and equally for every + 'poor white' man, who is able to meet the requirements, but who for one + reason or another does not or cannot now exercise his rights. I include + the disfranchised white man as well as the Negro, because I take it that + we are interested, first of all, in democracy, and unless we can arouse + the spirit of democracy, South and North, we can hope for justice neither + for Negroes, nor for the poorer class of white men, nor for the women of + the factories and shops, nor for the children of the cottonmills. + </p> + <p> + Taking up this side of the problem we shall discover two entirely distinct + difficulties:— + </p> + <p> + First, we shall find many Negroes, and indeed hundreds of thousands of + white men as well, who might vote, but who, through ignorance, or + inability or unwillingness to pay the poll-taxes, or from mere lack of + interest, disfranchise themselves. + </p> + <p> + The second difficulty is peculiar to the Negro. It consists in open or + concealed intimidation on the part of the white men who control the + election machinery. In many places in the South to-day no Negro, how well + qualified, would dare to present himself for registration; when he does, + he is rejected for some trivial or illegal reason. + </p> + <p> + Thus we have to meet a vast amount of apathy and ignorance and poverty on + the one hand, and the threat of intimidation on the other. + </p> + <p> + First of all, for it is the chief injustice as between white and colored + men with which we have to deal,—an injustice which the law already + makes illegal and punishable,—how shall we meet the matter of + intimidation? As I have already said, the door of the suffrage is + everywhere legally open to the Negro, but a certain sort of Southerner + bars the passage-way. He stands there and, law or no law, keeps out many + Negroes who might vote; and he represents in most parts of the South the + prevailing public opinion. + </p> + <p> + Shall we meet this situation by force? What force is available? Shall the + North go down and fight the South? You and I know that the North to-day + has no feeling but friendship for the South. More than that—and I + say it with all seriousness, because it represents what I have heard + wherever I have gone in the North to make inquiries regarding the Negro + problem—the North, wrongly or rightly, is to-day more than half + convinced that the South is right in imposing some measure of limitation + upon the franchise. There is now, in short, no disposition anywhere in the + North to interfere in internal affairs in the South—not even with + the force of public opinion. + </p> + <p> + What other force, then, is to be invoked? Shall the Negro revolt? Shall he + migrate? Shall he prosecute his case in the courts? The very asking of + these questions suggests the inevitable reply. + </p> + <p> + We might as well, here and now, dismiss the idea of force, express or + implied. There are times of last resort which call for force; but this is + not such a time. + </p> + <p> + What other alternatives are there? + </p> + <p> + Accepting the laws as they are, then, there are two methods of procedure, + neither sensational nor exciting. I have no quick cure to suggest, but + only old and tried methods of commonplace growth. + </p> + <p> + The underlying causes of the trouble in the country being plainly + ignorance and prejudice, we must meet ignorance and prejudice with their + antidotes, education and association. + </p> + <p> + Every effort should be made to extend free education among both Negroes + and white people. A great extension of education is now going forward in + the South. The Negro is not by any means getting his full share; but, as + certainly as sunshine makes things grow, education in the South will + produce tolerance. That there is already such a growing tolerance no one + who has talked with the leading white men in the South can doubt. The old + fire-eating, Negro-baiting leaders of the Tillman-Vardaman type are + swiftly passing away: a far better and broader group is coming into power. + </p> + <p> + In his last book, Mr. Edgar Gardner Murphy, of Alabama, expresses this new + point of view when he says,— + </p> + <p> + 'There is no question here as to the unrestricted admission [to the + ballot] of the great masses of our ignorant and semi-ignorant blacks. I + know no advocate of such admission. But the question is as to whether the + individuals of the race, upon conditions or restrictions legally imposed + and fairly administered, shall be admitted to adequate and increasing + representation in the electorate. And as that question is more seriously + and more generally considered, many of the leading publicists of the + South, I am glad to say, are quietly resolved that the answer shall be in + the affirmative.' + </p> + <p> + From an able Southern white man, a resident of New Orleans, I received + recently a letter containing these words:— + </p> + <p> + 'I believe we have reached the bottom, and a sort of quiescent period. I + think it most likely that from now on there will be a gradual increase of + the Negro vote. And I honestly believe that the less said about it, the + surer the increase will be.' + </p> + <p> + Education—and by education I mean education of all sorts, + industrial, professional, classical, in accordance with each man's talents—will + not only produce breadth and tolerance, but will help to cure the apathy + which now keeps so many thousands of both white men and Negroes from the + polls: for it will show them that it is necessary for every man to + exercise all the political rights within his reach. If he fails + voluntarily to take advantage of the rights he already has, how shall he + acquire more rights? + </p> + <p> + And as ignorance must be met by education, so prejudice must be met with + its antidote, which is association. Democracy does not consist in mere + voting, but in association, the spirit of common effort, of which the + ballot is a mere visible expression. When we come to know one another we + soon find that the points of likeness are much more numerous than the + points of difference. And this human association for the common good, + which is democracy, is difficult to bring about anywhere, whether among + different classes of white people, or between white people and Negroes. As + one of the leaders of the Negro race, Dr. Du Bois, has said,— + </p> + <p> + 'Herein lies the tragedy of the age. Not that men are poor: all men know + something of poverty. Not that men are wicked: who is good? Not that men + are ignorant: what is truth? Nay, but that men know so little of each + other.' + </p> + <p> + After the Atlanta riot I attended a number of conferences between leading + white men and leading colored men. It is true those meetings bore evidence + of awkwardness and embarrassment, for they were among the first of the + sort to take place in the South, but they were none the less valuable. A + white man told me after one of the meetings,— + </p> + <p> + 'I did not know that there were any such sensible Negroes in the South.' + </p> + <p> + And a Negro told me that it was the first time in his life that he had + ever heard a Southern white man reason in a friendly way with a Negro + concerning their common difficulties. + </p> + <p> + More and more these associations of white and colored men, at certain + points of contact, must and will come about. Already, in connection with + various educational and business projects in the South, white and colored + men meet on common grounds, and the way has been opened to a wider mutual + understanding. And it is common enough now, where it was unheard of a few + years ago, for both white men and Negroes to speak from the same platform + in the South. I have attended a number of such meetings. Thus slowly—awkwardly, + at first, for two centuries of prejudice are not immediately overcome—the + white man and Negro will come to know one another, not merely as master + and servant, but as co-workers. These things cannot be forced. + </p> + <p> + One reason why the white man and the Negro have not got together more + rapidly in the South than they have, is because they have tried always to + meet at the sorest points. When sensible people, who must live together + whether or no, find that there are points at which they cannot agree, it + is the part of wisdom to avoid these points, and to meet upon other and + common interests. Upon no other terms, indeed, can a democracy exist, for + in no imaginable future state will individuals cease to disagree with one + another upon something less than half of all the problems of life. + </p> + <p> + 'Here we all live together in a great country,' say the apostles of this + view; 'let us all get together and develop it. Let the Negro do his best + to educate himself, to own his own land, and to buy and sell with the + white people in the fairest possible way.' + </p> + <p> + It is wonderful, indeed, how close together men who are stooping to a + common task soon come. + </p> + <p> + Now, buying and selling, land ownership and common material pursuits, may + not be the highest points of contact between man and man, but they are + real points, and help to give men an idea of the worth of their fellows, + white or black. How many times, in the South, I heard white men speak in + high admiration of some Negro farmer who had been successful, or of some + Negro blacksmith who was a worthy citizen, or of some Negro doctor who was + a leader of his race. + </p> + <p> + It is curious, once a man (any man, white or black) learns to do his job + well, how he finds himself in a democratic relationship with other men. I + remember asking a prominent white citizen of a town in Central Georgia if + he knew anything about Tuskegee. He said,— + </p> + <p> + 'Yes: I had rather a curious experience last fall. I was building a hotel + and couldn't get any one to do the plastering as I wanted it done. One day + I saw two Negro plasterers at work in a new house that a friend of mine + was building. I watched them for an hour. They seemed to know their trade. + I invited them to come over and see me. They came, took the contract for + my work, hired a white man to carry mortar at a dollar a day, and when + they got through it was the best job of plastering in town. I found that + they had learned their trade at Tuskegee. They averaged four dollars a day + each in wages. We tried to get them to locate in our town, but they went + back to school.' + </p> + <p> + When I was in Mississippi a prominent banker showed me his business + letter-heads. + </p> + <p> + 'Good job, isn't it?' he said. 'A Negro printer did it. He wrote to me + asking if he might bid on my work. I replied that although I had known him + a long time I couldn't give him the job merely because he was a Negro. He + told me to forget his color, and said that if he couldn't do as good a job + and do it as reasonably as any white man could, he didn't want it. I let + him try, and now he does most of our printing.' + </p> + <p> + Out of such points of contact, then, encouraged by such wise leaders as + Booker T. Washington, will grow an ever finer and finer spirit of + association and of common and friendly knowledge. And that will inevitably + lead to an extension upon the soundest possible basis of the Negro + franchise. I know cases where white men have urged intelligent Negroes to + come and cast their ballots, and have stood sponsor for them, out of + genuine respect. As a result, to-day, the Negroes who vote in the South + are, as a class, men of substance and intelligence, fully equal to the + tasks of citizenship. + </p> + <p> + Thus, I have boundless confidence not only in the sense of the white men + of the South, but in the innate capability of the Negro, and that once + these two come really to know each other, not at sore points of contact, + but as common workers for a common country, the question of suffrage will + gradually solve itself along the lines of true democracy. + </p> + <p> + Another influence also will tend to change the status of the Negro as a + voter. That is the pending break-up of the political solidarity of the + South. All the signs point to a political realignment upon new issues in + this country, both South and North. Old party names may even pass away. + And that break-up, with the attendant struggle for votes, is certain to + bring into politics thousands of Negroes and white men now disfranchised. + The result of a real division on live issues has been shown in many local + contests in the South, as in the fight against the saloons, when every + qualified Negro voter, and every Negro who could qualify, was eagerly + pushed forward by one side or the other. With such a division on new + issues the Negro will tend to exercise more and more political power, + dividing, not on the color line, but on the principles at stake. + </p> + <p> + Thus in spite of the difficulties which now confront the Negro, I cannot + but look upon the situation in a spirit of optimism. I think sometimes we + are tempted to set a higher value upon the ritual of a belief than upon + the spirit which underlies it. The ballot is not democracy: it is merely + the symbol or ritual of democracy, and it may be full of passionate + social, yes, even religious significance, or it may be a mere empty and + dangerous formalism. What we should look to, then, primarily, is not the + shadow, but the substance of democracy in this country. Nor must we look + for results too swiftly; our progress toward democracy is slow of growth + and needs to be cultivated with patience and watered with faith. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_BIBL" id="link2H_BIBL"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + BIBLIOGRAPHY OF SOURCES ———————————- + </h2> + <p> + SOJOURNER TRUTH, THE LIBYAN SIBYL by Harriet Beecher Stowe Atlantic + Monthly 11 (April 1863): 473-481. + </p> + <p> + RECONSTRUCTION by Frederick Douglass Atlantic Monthly 18 (1866): 761-765. + </p> + <p> + AN APPEAL TO CONGRESS FOR IMPARTIAL SUFFRAGE by Frederick Douglas Atlantic + Monthly 19 (Jan. 1867): 112-117. + </p> + <p> + THE NEGRO EXODUS by James B. Runnion Atlantic Monthly 44 (1879): 222-230. + </p> + <p> + MY ESCAPE FROM SLAVERY by Frederick Douglass The Century Illustrated + Magazine 23, n.s. 1 (Nov. 1881): 125-131. + </p> + <p> + THE GOOPHERED GRAPEVINE by Charles W. Chesnutt Atlantic Monthly 60 (Aug. + 1887): 254-260. + </p> + <p> + PO' SANDY by Charles W. Chesnutt Atlantic Monthly 61 (1888): 605-611. + </p> + <p> + DAVE'S NECKLISS by Charles W. Chesnutt Atlantic Monthly 64 (1889): 500-08. + </p> + <p> + THE AWAKENING OF THE NEGRO by Booker T. Washington Atlantic Monthly 78 + (1896): 322-328. + </p> + <p> + THE STORY OF UNCLE TOM'S CABIN by Charles Dudley Warner Atlantic Monthly + 78 (1896): 311-321. + </p> + <p> + STRIVINGS OF THE NEGRO PEOPLE by W. E. Burghardt Du Bois Atlantic Monthly + 80 (1897): 194-198. + </p> + <p> + THE WIFE OF HIS YOUTH by Charles W. Chesnutt Atlantic Monthly 82 (1898): + 55-61. + </p> + <p> + THE BOUQUET by Charles W. Chesnutt Atlantic Monthly 84 (1899): 648-654. + </p> + <p> + THE CASE OF THE NEGRO by Booker T. Washington Atlantic Monthly 84 (1899): + 577-587. + </p> + <p> + HOT-FOOT HANNIBAL by Charles W. Chesnutt Atlantic Monthly 83 (1899): + 49-56. + </p> + <p> + A NEGRO SCHOOLMASTER IN THE NEW SOUTH by W. E. Burghardt Du Bois Atlantic + Monthly 83 (1899): 99-104. + </p> + <p> + THE CAPTURE OF A SLAVER by J. Taylor Wood Atlantic Monthly 86 (1900): + 451-463. + </p> + <p> + MR. CHARLES W. CHESNUTT'S STORIES by W. D. Howells Atlantic Monthly 85 + (1900): 699-701. + </p> + <p> + PATHS OF HOPE FOR THE NEGRO PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS OF A SOUTHERNER by + Jerome Dowd Century Magazine 61.2 (Dec. 1900): 278-281. + </p> + <p> + SIGNS OF PROGRESS AMONG THE NEGROES by Booker T. Washington Century + Magazine 59 (1900): 472-478. + </p> + <p> + THE MARCH OF PROGRESS by Charles W. Chesnutt Century Magazine 61.3 (Jan. + 1901): 422-428. + </p> + <p> + THE FREEDMEN'S BUREAU by W. E. Burghardt Du Bois Atlantic Monthly 87 + (1901): 354-365. + </p> + <p> + OF THE TRAINING OF BLACK MEN by W. E. Burghardt Du Bois Atlantic Monthly + 90 (1902): 289-297. + </p> + <p> + THE FRUITS OF INDUSTRIAL TRAINING by Booker T. Washington Atlantic Monthly + 92 (1903): 453-462. + </p> + <p> + THE NEGRO IN THE REGULAR ARMY by Oswald Garrison Villard Atlantic Monthly + 91 (1903): 721-729. + </p> + <p> + BAXTER'S PROCRUSTES by Charles W. Chesnutt Atlantic Monthly 93 (1904): + 823-830. + </p> + <p> + THE HEART OF THE RACE PROBLEM by Quincy Ewing Atlantic Monthly 103 (1909): + 389-397. + </p> + <p> + NEGRO SUFFRAGE IN A DEMOCRACY by Ray Stannard Baker Atlantic Monthly 106 + (1910): 612-619. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, 1995, +Memorial Issue, by Various + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. *** + +***** This file should be named 206-h.htm or 206-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/0/206/ + +Produced by Judith Boss, John Hamm, and David Widger + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, 1995, Memorial Issue + +Author: Various + +Release Date: June 29, 2008 [EBook #206] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. *** + + + + +Produced by Judith Boss and John Hamm + + + + + +THE MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. DAY, 1995, MEMORIAL ISSUE. + +By Various + +Edited and Assembled by Judith Boss and John Hamm + + + +Table of Contents ----------------- + + Sojourner Truth, the Libyan Sibyl.............Harriet Beecher Stowe + Reconstruction................................Frederick Douglass + An Appeal to Congress for Impartial Suffrage..Frederick Douglas + The Negro Exodus..............................James B. Runnion + My Escape from Slavery........................Frederick Douglass + The Goophered Grapevine.......................Charles W. Chesnutt + Po' Sandy.....................................Charles W. Chesnutt + Dave's Neckliss...............................Charles W. Chesnutt + The Awakening of the Negro....................Booker T. Washington + The Story of Uncle Tom's Cabin................Charles Dudley Warner + Strivings of the Negro People.................W. E. Burghardt Du Bois + The Wife of his Youth.........................Charles W. Chesnutt + The Bouquet...................................Charles W. Chesnutt + The Case of the Negro.........................Booker T. Washington + Hot-Foot Hannibal.............................Charles W. Chesnutt + A Negro Schoolmaster in the New South.........W. E. Burghardt Du Bois + The Capture of a Slaver.......................J. Taylor Wood + Mr. Charles W. Chesnutt's Stories.............W. D. Howells + Paths of Hope for the Negro + Practical Suggestions of a Southerner.........Jerome Dowd + Signs of Progress Among the Negroes...........Booker T. Washington + The March of Progress.........................Charles W. Chesnutt + The Freedmen's Bureau.........................W. E. Burghardt Du Bois + Of the Training of Black Men..................W. E. Burghardt Du Bois + The Fruits of Industrial Training.............Booker T. Washington + The Negro in the Regular Army.................Oswald Garrison Villard + Baxter's Procrustes...........................Charles W. Chesnutt + The Heart of the Race Problem.................Quincy Ewing + Negro Suffrage in a Democracy.................Ray Stannard Baker + + Bibliography of Sources + + + + + +SOJOURNER TRUTH, THE LIBYAN SIBYL by Harriet Beecher Stowe + + +Many years ago, the few readers of radical Abolitionist papers must +often have seen the singular name of Sojourner Truth, announced as a +frequent speaker at Anti-Slavery meetings, and as travelling on a +sort of self-appointed agency through the country. I had myself often +remarked the name, but never met the individual. On one occasion, when +our house was filled with company, several eminent clergymen being our +guests, notice was brought up to me that Sojourner Truth was below, and +requested an interview. Knowing nothing of her but her singular name, I +went down, prepared to make the interview short, as the pressure of many +other engagements demanded. + +When I went into the room, a tall, spare form arose to meet me. She was +evidently a full-blooded African, and though now aged and worn with many +hardships, still gave the impression of a physical development which +in early youth must have been as fine a specimen of the torrid zone as +Cumberworth's celebrated statuette of the Negro Woman at the Fountain. +Indeed, she so strongly reminded me of that figure, that, when I recall +the events of her life, as she narrated them to me, I imagine her as a +living, breathing impersonation of that work of art. + +I do not recollect ever to have been conversant with any one who had +more of that silent and subtle power which we call personal presence +than this woman. In the modern Spiritualistic phraseology, she would +be described as having a strong sphere. Her tall form, as she rose up +before me, is still vivid to my mind. She was dressed in some stout, +grayish stuff, neat and clean, though dusty from travel. On her head, +she wore a bright Madras handkerchief, arranged as a turban, after +the manner of her race. She seemed perfectly self-possessed and at her +ease,--in fact, there was almost an unconscious superiority, not unmixed +with a solemn twinkle of humor, in the odd, composed manner in which she +looked down on me. Her whole air had at times a gloomy sort of drollery +which impressed one strangely. + +"So this is YOU," she said. + +"Yes," I answered. + +"Well, honey, de Lord bless ye! I jes' thought I'd like to come an' have +a look at ye. You's heerd o' me, I reckon?" she added. + +"Yes, I think I have. You go about lecturing, do you not?" + +"Yes, honey, that's what I do. The Lord has made me a sign unto this +nation, an' I go round a'testifyin', an' showin' on 'em their sins agin +my people." + +So saying, she took a seat, and, stooping over and crossing her arms +on her knees, she looked down on the floor, and appeared to fall into a +sort of reverie. Her great gloomy eyes and her dark face seemed to work +with some undercurrent of feeling; she sighed deeply, and occasionally +broke out,-- + +"O Lord! O Lord! Oh, the tears, an' the groans, an' the moans! O Lord!" + +I should have said that she was accompanied by a little grandson of ten +years,--the fattest, jolliest woolly-headed little specimen of Africa +that one can imagine. He was grinning and showing his glistening white +teeth in a state of perpetual merriment, and at this moment broke out +into an audible giggle, which disturbed the reverie into which his +relative was falling. + +She looked at him with an indulgent sadness, and then at me. + +"Laws, Ma'am, HE don't know nothin' about it--HE don't. Why, I've +seen them poor critters, beat an' 'bused an' hunted, brought in all +torn,--ears hangin' all in rags, where the dogs been a'bitin' of 'em!" + +This set off our little African Puck into another giggle, in which he +seemed perfectly convulsed. + +She surveyed him soberly, without the slightest irritation. + +"Well, you may bless the Lord you CAN laugh; but I tell you, 't wa'n't +no laughin' matter." + +By this time I thought her manner so original that it might be worth +while to call down my friends; and she seemed perfectly well pleased +with the idea. An audience was what she wanted,--it mattered not whether +high or low, learned or ignorant. She had things to say, and was ready +to say them at all times, and to any one. + +I called down Dr. Beecher, Professor Allen, and two or three other +clergymen, who, together with my husband and family, made a roomful. No +princess could have received a drawing-room with more composed dignity +than Sojourner her audience. She stood among them, calm and erect, as +one of her own native palm-trees waving alone in the desert. I presented +one after another to her, and at last said,-- + +"Sojourner, this is Dr. Beecher. He is a very celebrated preacher." + +"IS he?" she said, offering her hand in a condescending manner, and +looking down on his white head. "Ye dear lamb, I'm glad to see ye! De +Lord bless ye! I loves preachers. I'm a kind o' preacher myself." + +"You are?" said Dr. Beecher. "Do you preach from the Bible?" + +"No, honey, can't preach from de Bible,--can't read a letter." + +"Why, Sojourner, what do you preach from, then?" + +Her answer was given with a solemn power of voice, peculiar to herself, +that hushed every one in the room. + +"When I preaches, I has jest one text to preach from, an' I always +preaches from this one. MY text is, 'WHEN I FOUND JESUS.'" + +"Well, you couldn't have a better one," said one of the ministers. + +She paid no attention to him, but stood and seemed swelling with her own +thoughts, and then began this narration:-- + +"Well, now, I'll jest have to go back, an' tell ye all about it. Ye see, +we was all brought over from Africa, father an' mother an' I, an' a lot +more of us; an' we was sold up an' down, an' hither an' yon; an' I can +'member, when I was a little thing, not bigger than this 'ere," pointing +to her grandson, "how my ole mammy would sit out o' doors in the +evenin', an' look up at the stars an' groan. She'd groan an' groan, an' +says I to her,-- + +"'Mammy, what makes you groan so?' + +"an' she'd say,-- + +"'Matter enough, chile! I'm groanin' to think o' my poor children: they +don't know where I be, an' I don't know where they be; they looks up at +the stars, an' I looks up at the stars, but I can't tell where they be. + +"'Now,' she said, 'chile, when you're grown up, you may be sold away +from your mother an' all your ole friends, an' have great troubles come +on ye; an' when you has these troubles come on ye, ye jes' go to God, +an' He'll help ye.' + +"An' says I to her,-- + +"'Who is God, anyhow, mammy?' + +"An' says she,-- + +"'Why, chile, you jes' look up DAR! It's Him that made all DEM!" + +"Well, I didn't mind much 'bout God in them days. I grew up pretty +lively an' strong, an' could row a boat, or ride a horse, or work round, +an' do 'most anything. + +"At last I got sold away to a real hard massa an' missis. Oh, I tell +you, they WAS hard! 'Peared like I couldn't please 'em, nohow. An' then +I thought o' what my old mammy told me about God; an' I thought I'd got +into trouble, sure enough, an' I wanted to find God, an' I heerd some +one tell a story about a man that met God on a threshin'-floor, an' I +thought, 'Well an' good, I'll have a threshin'-floor, too.' So I went +down in the lot, an' I threshed down a place real hard, an' I used to go +down there every day, an' pray an' cry with all my might, a-prayin' to +the Lord to make my massa an' missis better, but it didn't seem to do no +good; an' so says I, one day,-- + +"'O God, I been a-askin' ye, an' askin' ye, an' askin' ye, for all this +long time, to make my massa an' missis better, an' you don't do it, an' +what CAN be the reason? Why, maybe you CAN'T. Well, I shouldn't wonder +ef you couldn't. Well, now, I tell you, I'll make a bargain with you. +Ef you'll help me to git away from my massa an' missis, I'll agree to +be good; but ef you don't help me, I really don't think I can be. Now,' +says I, 'I want to git away; but the trouble's jest here: ef I try to +git away in the night, I can't see; an' ef I try to git away in the +daytime, they'll see me, an' be after me.' + +"Then the Lord said to me, 'Git up two or three hours afore daylight, +an' start off.' + +"An' says I, 'Thank 'ee, Lord! that's a good thought.' + +"So up I got, about three o'clock in the mornin', an' I started an' +travelled pretty fast, till, when the sun rose, I was clear away from +our place an' our folks, an' out o' sight. An' then I begun to think I +didn't know nothin' where to go. So I kneeled down, and says I,-- + +"'Well, Lord, you've started me out, an' now please to show me where to +go.' + +"Then the Lord made a house appear to me, an' He said to me that I was +to walk on till I saw that house, an' then go in an' ask the people to +take me. An' I travelled all day, an' didn't come to the house till +late at night; but when I saw it, sure enough, I went in, an' I told the +folks that the Lord sent me; an' they was Quakers, an' real kind they +was to me. They jes' took me in, an' did for me as kind as ef I'd been +one of 'em; an' after they'd giv me supper, they took me into a room +where there was a great, tall, white bed; an' they told me to sleep +there. Well, honey, I was kind o' skeered when they left me alone with +that great white bed; 'cause I never had been in a bed in my life. It +never came into my mind they could mean me to sleep in it. An' so I jes' +camped down under it, on the floor, an' then I slep' pretty well. In the +mornin', when they came in, they asked me ef I hadn't been asleep; an' I +said, 'Yes, I never slep' better.' An' they said, 'Why, you haven't been +in the bed!' An' says I, 'Laws, you didn't think o' such a thing as my +sleepin' in dat 'ar' BED, did you? I never heerd o' such a thing in my +life.' + +"Well, ye see, honey, I stayed an' lived with 'em. An' now jes' look +here: instead o' keepin' my promise an' bein' good, as I told the Lord +I would, jest as soon as everything got a'goin' easy, I FORGOT ALL ABOUT +GOD. + +"Pretty well don't need no help; an' I gin up prayin.' I lived there two +or three years, an' then the slaves in New York were all set free, an' +ole massa came to our home to make a visit, an' he asked me ef I didn't +want to go back an' see the folks on the ole place. An' I told him I +did. So he said, ef I'd jes' git into the wagon with him, he'd carry me +over. Well, jest as I was goin' out to git into the wagon, I MET GOD! +an' says I, 'O God, I didn't know as you was so great!' An' I turned +right round an' come into the house, an' set down in my room; for 't was +God all around me. I could feel it burnin', burnin', burnin' all around +me, an' goin' through me; an' I saw I was so wicked, it seemed as ef it +would burn me up. An' I said, 'O somebody, somebody, stand between God +an' me! for it burns me!' Then, honey, when I said so, I felt as it +were somethin' like an amberill [umbrella] that came between me an' the +light, an' I felt it was SOMEBODY,--somebody that stood between me an' +God; an' it felt cool, like a shade; an' says I, 'Who's this that stands +between me an' God? Is it old Cato?' He was a pious old preacher; but +then I seemed to see Cato in the light, an' he was all polluted an' +vile, like me; an' I said, 'Is it old Sally?' an' then I saw her, an' +she seemed jes' so. An' then says I, 'WHO is this?' An' then, honey, for +a while it was like the sun shinin' in a pail o' water, when it moves up +an' down; for I begun to feel 't was somebody that loved me; an' I tried +to know him. An' I said, 'I know you! I know you! I know you!'--an' then +I said, 'I don't know you! I don't know you! I don't know you!' An' when +I said, 'I know you, I know you,' the light came; an' when I said, 'I +don't know you, I don't know you,' it went, jes' like the sun in a +pail o' water. An' finally somethin' spoke out in me an' said, 'THIS IS +JESUS!' An' I spoke out with all my might, an' says I, 'THIS IS JESUS! +Glory be to God!' An' then the whole world grew bright, an' the trees +they waved an' waved in glory, an' every little bit o' stone on the +ground shone like glass; an' I shouted an' said, 'Praise, praise, praise +to the Lord!' An' I begun to feel such a love in my soul as I never felt +before,--love to all creatures. An' then, all of a sudden, it stopped, +an' I said, 'Dar's de white folks, that have abused you an' beat you an' +abused your people,--think o' them!' But then there came another rush +of love through my soul, an' I cried out loud,--'Lord, Lord, I can love +EVEN DE WHITE FOLKS!' + +"Honey, I jes' walked round an' round in a dream. Jesus loved me! I +knowed it,--I felt it. Jesus was my Jesus. Jesus would love me always. I +didn't dare tell nobody; 't was a great secret. Everything had been got +away from me that I ever had; an' I thought that ef I let white folks +know about this, maybe they'd get HIM away,--so I said, 'I'll keep this +close. I won't let any one know.'" + +"But, Sojourner, had you never been told about Jesus Christ?" + +"No, honey. I hadn't heerd no preachin',--been to no meetin'. Nobody +hadn't told me. I'd kind o' heerd of Jesus, but thought he was like +Gineral Lafayette, or some o' them. But one night there was a Methodist +meetin' somewhere in our parts, an' I went; an' they got up an' begun +for to tell der 'speriences; an' de fust one begun to speak. I started, +'cause he told about Jesus. 'Why,' says I to myself, 'dat man's found +him, too!' An' another got up an' spoke, an I said, 'He's found him, +too!' An' finally I said, 'Why, they all know him!' I was so happy! An' +then they sung this hymn": (Here Sojourner sang, in a strange, cracked +voice, but evidently with all her soul and might, mispronouncing the +English, but seeming to derive as much elevation and comfort from bad +English as from good):-- + + + 'There is a holy city, + A world of light above, + Above the stairs and regions,* + Built by the God of Love. + + "An Everlasting temple, + And saints arrayed in white + There serve their great Redeemer + And dwell with him in light. + + "The meanest child of glory + Outshines the radiant sun; + But who can speak the splendor + Of Jesus on his throne? + + "Is this the man of sorrows + Who stood at Pilate's bar, + Condemned by haughty Herod + And by his men of war? + + "He seems a mighty conqueror, + Who spoiled the powers below, + And ransomed many captives + From everlasting woe. + + "The hosts of saints around him + Proclaim his work of grace, + The patriarchs and prophets, + And all the godly race, + + "Who speak of fiery trials + And tortures on their way; + They came from tribulation + To everlasting day. + + "And what shall be my journey, + How long I'll stay below, + Or what shall be my trials, + Are not for me to know. + + "In every day of trouble + I'll raise my thoughts on high, + I'll think of that bright temple + And crowns above the sky." + + * Starry regions. + + +I put in this whole hymn, because Sojourner, carried away with her own +feeling, sang it from beginning to end with a triumphant energy that +held the whole circle around her intently listening. She sang with +the strong barbaric accent of the native African, and with those +indescribable upward turns and those deep gutturals which give such a +wild, peculiar power to the negro singing,--but above all, with such an +overwhelming energy of personal appropriation that the hymn seemed to +be fused in the furnace of her feelings and come out recrystallized as a +production of her own. + +It is said that Rachel was wont to chant the "Marseillaise" in a manner +that made her seem, for the time, the very spirit and impersonation of +the gaunt, wild, hungry, avenging mob which rose against aristocratic +oppression; and in like manner, Sojourner, singing this hymn, seemed to +impersonate the fervor of Ethiopia, wild, savage, hunted of all nations, +but burning after God in her tropic heart, and stretching her scarred +hands towards the glory to be revealed. + +"Well, den ye see, after a while, I thought I'd go back an' see de folks +on de ole place. Well, you know, de law had passed dat de culled folks +was all free; an' my old missis, she had a daughter married about dis +time who went to live in Alabama,--an' what did she do but give her my +son, a boy about de age of dis yer, for her to take down to Alabama? +When I got back to de ole place, they told me about it, an' I went right +up to see ole missis, an' says I,-- + +"'Missis, have you been an' sent my son away down to Alabama?' + +"'Yes, I have,' says she; 'he's gone to live with your young missis.' + +"'Oh, Missis,' says I, 'how could you do it?' + +"'Poh!' says she, 'what a fuss you make about a little nigger! Got more +of 'em now than you know what to do with.' + +"I tell you, I stretched up. I felt as tall as the world! + +"'Missis,' says I, 'I'LL HAVE MY SON BACK AGIN!' + +"She laughed. + +"'YOU will, you nigger? How you goin' to do it? You ha'n't got no +money." + +"'No, Missis,--but GOD has,--an' you'll see He'll help me!'--an' I +turned round an' went out. + +"Oh, but I WAS angry to have her speak to me so haughty an' so scornful, +as ef my chile wasn't worth anything. I said to God, 'O Lord, render +unto her double!' It was a dreadful prayer, an' I didn't know how true +it would come. + +"Well, I didn't rightly know which way to turn; but I went to the Lord, +an' I said to Him, 'O Lord, ef I was as rich as you be, an' you was as +poor as I be, I'd help you,--you KNOW I would; and, oh, do help me!' An' +I felt sure then that He would. + +"Well, I talked with people, an' they said I must git the case before +a grand jury. So I went into the town when they was holdin' a court, to +see ef I could find any grand jury. An' I stood round the +court-house, an' when they was a-comin' out, I walked right up to the +grandest-lookin' one I could see, an' says I to him,-- + +"'Sir, be you a grand jury?' + +"An' then he wanted to know why I asked, an' I told him all about it; +an' he asked me all sorts of questions, an' finally he says to me,-- + +"'I think, ef you pay me ten dollars, that I'd agree to git your son for +you.' An' says he, pointin' to a house over the way, 'You go 'long an' +tell your story to the folks in that house, an' I guess they'll give you +the money.' + +"Well, I went, an' I told them, an' they gave me twenty dollars; an' +then I thought to myself, 'Ef ten dollars will git him, twenty dollars +will git him SARTIN.' So I carried it to the man all out, an' said,-- + +"'Take it all,--only be sure an' git him.' + +"Well, finally they got the boy brought back; an' then they tried to +frighten him, an' to make him say that I wasn't his mammy, an' that he +didn't know me; but they couldn't make it out. They gave him to me, +an' I took him an' carried him home; an' when I came to take off his +clothes, there was his poor little back all covered with scars an' hard +lumps, where they'd flogged him. + +"Well, you see, honey, I told you how I prayed the Lord to render unto +her double. Well, it came true; for I was up at ole missis' house not +long after, an' I heerd 'em readin' a letter to her how her daughter's +husband had murdered her,--how he'd thrown her down an' stamped the life +out of her, when he was in liquor; an' my ole missis, she giv a screech, +an' fell flat on the floor. Then says I, 'O Lord, I didn't mean all +that! You took me up too quick.' + +"Well, I went in an' tended that poor critter all night. She was out of +her mind,--a-cryin', an' callin' for her daughter; an' I held her poor +ole head on my arm, an' watched for her as ef she'd been my babby. An' +I watched by her, an' took care on her all through her sickness after +that, an' she died in my arms, poor thing!" + +"Well, Sojourner, did you always go by this name?" + +"No, 'deed! My name was Isabella; but when I left the house of bondage, +I left everything behind. I wa'n't goin' to keep nothin' of Egypt on me, +an' so I went to the Lord an' asked Him to give me a new name. And the +Lord gave me Sojourner, because I was to travel up an' down the land, +showin' the people their sins, an' bein' a sign unto them. Afterwards +I told the Lord I wanted another name, 'cause everybody else had two +names; and the Lord gave me Truth, because I was to declare the truth to +the people. + +"Ye see some ladies have given me a white satin banner," she said, +pulling out of her pocket and unfolding a white banner, printed with +many texts, such as, "Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all +the inhabitants thereof," and others of like nature. "Well," she said, +"I journeys round to camp-meetins, an' wherever folks is, an' I sets up +my banner, an' then I sings, an' then folks always comes up round me, +an' then I preaches to 'em. I tells 'em about Jesus, an' I tells 'em +about the sins of this people. A great many always comes to hear me; an' +they're right good to me, too, an' say they want to hear me agin." + +We all thought it likely; and as the company left her, they shook hands +with her, and thanked her for her very original sermon; and one of the +ministers was overheard to say to another, "There's more of the gospel +in that story than in most sermons." + +Sojourner stayed several days with us, a welcome guest. Her conversation +was so strong, simple, shrewd, and with such a droll flavoring of humor, +that the Professor was wont to say of an evening, "Come, I am dull, +can't you get Sojourner up here to talk a little?" She would come up +into the parlor, and sit among pictures and ornaments, in her simple +stuff gown, with her heavy travelling-shoes, the central object of +attention both to parents and children, always ready to talk or to sing, +and putting into the common flow of conversation the keen edge of some +shrewd remark. + +"Sojourner, what do you think of Women's Rights?" + +"Well, honey, I's ben to der meetins, an' harked a good deal. Dey wanted +me for to speak. So I got up. Says I,--'Sisters, I a'n't clear what +you'd be after. Ef women want any rights more 'n dey's got, why don't +dey jes' TAKE 'EM, an' not be talkin' about it?' Some on 'em came round +me, an' asked why I didn't wear Bloomers. An' I told 'em I had Bloomers +enough when I was in bondage. You see," she said, "dey used to weave +what dey called nigger-cloth, an' each one of us got jes' sech a strip, +an' had to wear it width-wise. Them that was short got along pretty +well, but as for me"--She gave an indescribably droll glance at her long +limbs and then at us, and added,--"Tell YOU, I had enough of Bloomers in +them days." + +Sojourner then proceeded to give her views of the relative capacity of +the sexes, in her own way. + +"S'pose a man's mind holds a quart, an' a woman's don't hold but a pint; +ef her pint is FULL, it's as good as his quart." + +Sojourner was fond of singing an extraordinary lyric, commencing,-- + + + "I'm on my way to Canada, + That cold, but happy land; + The dire effects of Slavery + I can no longer stand. + O righteous Father, + Do look down on me, + And help me on to Canada, + Where colored folks are free!" + + +The lyric ran on to state, that, when the fugitive crosses the Canada +line, + + + "The Queen comes down unto the shore, + With arms extended wide, + To welcome the poor fugitive + Safe onto Freedom's side." + + +In the truth thus set forth she seemed to have the most simple faith. + +But her chief delight was to talk of "glory," and to sing hymns whose +burden was,-- + + + "O glory, glory, glory, + Won't you come along with me?" + +and when left to herself, she would often hum these with great delight, +nodding her head. + +On one occasion, I remember her sitting at a window singing and +fervently keeping time with her head, the little black Puck of a +grandson meanwhile amusing himself with ornamenting her red-and-yellow +turban with green dandelion-curls, which shook and trembled with her +emotions, causing him perfect convulsions of delight. + +"Sojourner," said the Professor to her, one day, when he heard her +singing, "you seem to be very sure about heaven." + +"Well, I be," she answered, triumphantly. + +"What makes you so sure there is any heaven?" + +"Well, 'cause I got such a hankerin' arter it in here," she +said,--giving a thump on her breast with her usual energy. + +There was at the time an invalid in the house, and Sojourner, on +learning it, felt a mission to go and comfort her. It was curious to see +the tall, gaunt, dusky figure stalk up to the bed with such an air of +conscious authority, and take on herself the office of consoler +with such a mixture of authority and tenderness. She talked as from +above,--and at the same time, if a pillow needed changing or any office +to be rendered, she did it with a strength and handiness that inspired +trust. One felt as if the dark, strange woman were quite able to take +up the invalid in her bosom, and bear her as a lamb, both physically and +spiritually. There was both power and sweetness in that great warm soul +and that vigorous frame. + +At length, Sojourner, true to her name, departed. She had her mission +elsewhere. Where now she is I know not; but she left deep memories +behind her. + +To these recollections of my own I will add one more anecdote, related +by Wendell Phillips. + +Speaking of the power of Rachel to move and bear down a whole audience +by a few simple words, he said he never knew but one other human being +that had that power, and that other was Sojourner Truth. He related a +scene of which he was witness. It was at a crowded public meeting in +Faneuil Hall, where Frederick Douglas was one of the chief speakers. +Douglas had been describing the wrongs of the black race, and as he +proceeded, he grew more and more excited, and finally ended by saying +that they had no hope of justice from the whites, no possible hope +except in their own right arms. It must come to blood; they must fight +for themselves, and redeem themselves, or it would never be done. + +Sojourner was sitting, tall and dark, on the very front seat, facing the +platform; and in the hush of deep feeling, after Douglas sat down, she +spoke out in her deep, peculiar voice, heard all over the house,-- + +"Frederick, IS GOD DEAD?" + +The effect was perfectly electrical, and thrilled through the whole +house, changing as by a flash the whole feeling of the audience. Not +another word she said or needed to say; it was enough. + +It is with a sad feeling that one contemplates noble minds and bodies, +nobly and grandly formed human beings, that have come to us cramped, +scarred, maimed, out of the prison-house of bondage. One longs to know +what such beings might have become, if suffered to unfold and expand +under the kindly developing influences of education. + +It is the theory of some writers, that to the African is reserved, +in the later and palmier days of the earth, the full and harmonious +development of the religious element in man. The African seems to seize +on the tropical fervor and luxuriance of Scripture imagery as something +native; he appears to feel himself to be of the same blood with those +old burning, simple souls, the patriarchs, prophets, and seers, whose +impassioned words seem only grafted as foreign plants on the cooler +stock of the Occidental mind. + +I cannot but think that Sojourner with the same culture might have +spoken words as eloquent and undying as those of the African Saint +Augustine or Tertullian. How grand and queenly a woman she might have +been, with her wonderful physical vigor, her great heaving sea of +emotion, her power of spiritual conception, her quick penetration, and +her boundless energy! We might conceive an African type of woman so +largely made and moulded, so much fuller in all the elements of life, +physical and spiritual, that the dark hue of the skin should seem only +to add an appropriate charm,--as Milton says of his Penseroso, whom he +imagines + + + "Black, but such as in esteem + Prince Memnon's sister might beseem, + Or that starred Ethiop queen that strove + To set her beauty's praise above + The sea-nymph's." + + +But though Sojourner Truth has passed away from among us as a wave of +the sea, her memory still lives in one of the loftiest and most original +works of modern art, the Libyan Sibyl, by Mr. Story, which attracted +so much attention in the late World's Exhibition. Some years ago, when +visiting Rome, I related Sojourner's history to Mr. Story at a breakfast +at his house. Already had his mind begun to turn to Egypt in search of +a type of art which should represent a larger and more vigorous +development of nature than the cold elegance of Greek lines. His +glorious Cleopatra was then in process of evolution, and his mind was +working out the problem of her broadly developed nature, of all that +slumbering weight and fulness of passion with which this statue seems +charged, as a heavy thunder-cloud is charged with electricity. + +The history of Sojourner Truth worked in his mind and led him into the +deeper recesses of the African nature,--those unexplored depths of being +and feeling, mighty and dark as the gigantic depths of tropical forests, +mysterious as the hidden rivers and mines of that burning continent +whose life-history is yet to be. A few days after, he told me that +he had conceived the idea of a statue which he should call the Libyan +Sibyl. Two years subsequently, I revisited Rome, and found the gorgeous +Cleopatra finished, a thing to marvel at, as the creation of a new +style of beauty, a new manner of art. Mr. Story requested me to come and +repeat to him the history of Sojourner Truth, saying that the conception +had never left him. I did so; and a day or two after, he showed me the +clay model of the Libyan Sibyl. I have never seen the marble statue; but +am told by those who have, that it was by far the most impressive work +of art at the Exhibition. + +A notice of the two statues from the London "Athenaeum" must supply a +description which I cannot give. + + +"The Cleopatra and the Sibyl are seated, partly draped, with the +characteristic Egyptian gown, that gathers about the torso and falls +freely around the limbs; the first is covered to the bosom, the second +bare to the hips. Queenly Cleopatra rests back against her chair in +meditative ease, leaning her cheek against one hand, whose elbow the +rail of the seat sustains; the other is outstretched upon her knee, +nipping its forefinger upon the thumb thoughtfully, as though some firm, +wilful purpose filled her brain, as it seems to set those luxurious +features to a smile as if the whole woman 'would.' Upon her head is +the coif, bearing in front the mystic uraeus, or twining basilisk of +sovereignty, while from its sides depend the wide Egyptian lappels, or +wings, that fall upon her shoulders. The Sibilla Libica has crossed her +knees,--an action universally held amongst the ancients as indicative +of reticence or secrecy, and of power to bind. A secret-keeping looking +dame she is, in the full-bloom proportions of ripe womanhood, wherein +choosing to place his figure the sculptor has deftly gone between the +disputed point whether these women were blooming and wise in youth, or +deeply furrowed with age and burdened with the knowledge of centuries, +as Virgil, Livy, and Gellius say. Good artistic example might be quoted +on both sides. Her forward elbow is propped upon one knee; and to keep +her secrets close, for this Libyan woman is the closest of all the +Sibyls, she rests her shut mouth upon one closed palm, as if holding +the African mystery deep in the brooding brain that looks out through +mournful, warning eyes, seen under the wide shade of the strange horned +(ammonite) crest, that bears the mystery of the Tetragrammaton upon its +upturned front. Over her full bosom, mother of myriads as she was, hangs +the same symbol. Her face has a Nubian cast, her hair wavy and plaited, +as is meet." + + +We hope to see the day when copies both of the Cleopatra and the Libyan +Sibyl shall adorn the Capitol at Washington. + + + + +RECONSTRUCTION by Frederick Douglass + + +The assembling of the Second Session of the Thirty-ninth Congress may +very properly be made the occasion of a few earnest words on the already +much-worn topic of reconstruction. + +Seldom has any legislative body been the subject of a solicitude more +intense, or of aspirations more sincere and ardent. There are the best +of reasons for this profound interest. Questions of vast moment, left +undecided by the last session of Congress, must be manfully grappled +with by this. No political skirmishing will avail. The occasion demands +statesmanship. + +Whether the tremendous war so heroically fought and so victoriously +ended shall pass into history a miserable failure, barren of permanent +results,--a scandalous and shocking waste of blood and treasure,--a +strife for empire, as Earl Russell characterized it, of no value to +liberty or civilization,--an attempt to re-establish a Union by force, +which must be the merest mockery of a Union,--an effort to bring under +Federal authority States into which no loyal man from the North may +safely enter, and to bring men into the national councils who deliberate +with daggers and vote with revolvers, and who do not even conceal their +deadly hate of the country that conquered them; or whether, on the other +hand, we shall, as the rightful reward of victory over treason, have +a solid nation, entirely delivered from all contradictions and social +antagonisms, based upon loyalty, liberty, and equality, must be +determined one way or the other by the present session of Congress. +The last session really did nothing which can be considered final as to +these questions. The Civil Rights Bill and the Freedmen's Bureau Bill +and the proposed constitutional amendments, with the amendment already +adopted and recognized as the law of the land, do not reach the +difficulty, and cannot, unless the whole structure of the government is +changed from a government by States to something like a despotic central +government, with power to control even the municipal regulations of +States, and to make them conform to its own despotic will. While there +remains such an idea as the right of each State to control its own local +affairs,--an idea, by the way, more deeply rooted in the minds of men +of all sections of the country than perhaps any one other political +idea,--no general assertion of human rights can be of any practical +value. To change the character of the government at this point is +neither possible nor desirable. All that is necessary to be done is to +make the government consistent with itself, and render the rights of the +States compatible with the sacred rights of human nature. + +The arm of the Federal government is long, but it is far too short to +protect the rights of individuals in the interior of distant States. +They must have the power to protect themselves, or they will go +unprotected, spite of all the laws the Federal government can put upon +the national statute-book. + +Slavery, like all other great systems of wrong, founded in the depths +of human selfishness, and existing for ages, has not neglected its own +conservation. It has steadily exerted an influence upon all around it +favorable to its own continuance. And to-day it is so strong that +it could exist, not only without law, but even against law. Custom, +manners, morals, religion, are all on its side everywhere in the South; +and when you add the ignorance and servility of the ex-slave to the +intelligence and accustomed authority of the master, you have the +conditions, not out of which slavery will again grow, but under which +it is impossible for the Federal government to wholly destroy it, unless +the Federal government be armed with despotic power, to blot out State +authority, and to station a Federal officer at every cross-road. This, +of course, cannot be done, and ought not even if it could. The true way +and the easiest way is to make our government entirely consistent with +itself, and give to every loyal citizen the elective franchise,--a right +and power which will be ever present, and will form a wall of fire for +his protection. + +One of the invaluable compensations of the late Rebellion is the +highly instructive disclosure it made of the true source of danger to +republican government. Whatever may be tolerated in monarchical and +despotic governments, no republic is safe that tolerates a privileged +class, or denies to any of its citizens equal rights and equal means to +maintain them. What was theory before the war has been made fact by the +war. + +There is cause to be thankful even for rebellion. It is an impressive +teacher, though a stern and terrible one. In both characters it has come +to us, and it was perhaps needed in both. It is an instructor never a +day before its time, for it comes only when all other means of progress +and enlightenment have failed. Whether the oppressed and despairing +bondman, no longer able to repress his deep yearnings for manhood, +or the tyrant, in his pride and impatience, takes the initiative, and +strikes the blow for a firmer hold and a longer lease of oppression, the +result is the same,--society is instructed, or may be. + +Such are the limitations of the common mind, and so thoroughly +engrossing are the cares of common life, that only the few among men can +discern through the glitter and dazzle of present prosperity the dark +outlines of approaching disasters, even though they may have come up to +our very gates, and are already within striking distance. The yawning +seam and corroded bolt conceal their defects from the mariner until +the storm calls all hands to the pumps. Prophets, indeed, were abundant +before the war; but who cares for prophets while their predictions +remain unfulfilled, and the calamities of which they tell are masked +behind a blinding blaze of national prosperity? + +It is asked, said Henry Clay, on a memorable occasion, Will slavery +never come to an end? That question, said he, was asked fifty years ago, +and it has been answered by fifty years of unprecedented prosperity. +Spite of the eloquence of the earnest Abolitionists,--poured out against +slavery during thirty years,--even they must confess, that, in all the +probabilities of the case, that system of barbarism would have continued +its horrors far beyond the limits of the nineteenth century but for +the Rebellion, and perhaps only have disappeared at last in a fiery +conflict, even more fierce and bloody than that which has now been +suppressed. + +It is no disparagement to truth, that it can only prevail where reason +prevails. War begins where reason ends. The thing worse than rebellion +is the thing that causes rebellion. What that thing is, we have been +taught to our cost. It remains now to be seen whether we have the needed +courage to have that cause entirely removed from the Republic. At +any rate, to this grand work of national regeneration and entire +purification Congress must now address Itself, with full purpose that +the work shall this time be thoroughly done. The deadly upas, root and +branch, leaf and fibre, body and sap, must be utterly destroyed. The +country is evidently not in a condition to listen patiently to pleas for +postponement, however plausible, nor will it permit the responsibility +to be shifted to other shoulders. Authority and power are here +commensurate with the duty imposed. There are no cloud-flung shadows to +obscure the way. Truth shines with brighter light and intenser heat at +every moment, and a country torn and rent and bleeding implores relief +from its distress and agony. + +If time was at first needed, Congress has now had time. All the +requisite materials from which to form an intelligent judgment are now +before it. Whether its members look at the origin, the progress, the +termination of the war, or at the mockery of a peace now existing, they +will find only one unbroken chain of argument in favor of a radical +policy of reconstruction. For the omissions of the last session, some +excuses may be allowed. A treacherous President stood in the way; and it +can be easily seen how reluctant good men might be to admit an apostasy +which involved so much of baseness and ingratitude. It was natural that +they should seek to save him by bending to him even when he leaned to +the side of error. But all is changed now. Congress knows now that +it must go on without his aid, and even against his machinations. The +advantage of the present session over the last is immense. Where that +investigated, this has the facts. Where that walked by faith, this may +walk by sight. Where that halted, this must go forward, and where that +failed, this must succeed, giving the country whole measures where that +gave us half-measures, merely as a means of saving the elections in a +few doubtful districts. That Congress saw what was right, but distrusted +the enlightenment of the loyal masses; but what was forborne in distrust +of the people must now be done with a full knowledge that the people +expect and require it. The members go to Washington fresh from the +inspiring presence of the people. In every considerable public +meeting, and in almost every conceivable way, whether at court-house, +school-house, or cross-roads, in doors and out, the subject has been +discussed, and the people have emphatically pronounced in favor of a +radical policy. Listening to the doctrines of expediency and compromise +with pity, impatience, and disgust, they have everywhere broken into +demonstrations of the wildest enthusiasm when a brave word has been +spoken in favor of equal rights and impartial suffrage. Radicalism, so +far from being odious, is not the popular passport to power. The +men most bitterly charged with it go to Congress with the largest +majorities, while the timid and doubtful are sent by lean majorities, or +else left at home. The strange controversy between the President and the +Congress, at one time so threatening, is disposed of by the people. The +high reconstructive powers which he so confidently, ostentatiously, +and haughtily claimed, have been disallowed, denounced, and utterly +repudiated; while those claimed by Congress have been confirmed. + +Of the spirit and magnitude of the canvass nothing need be said. The +appeal was to the people, and the verdict was worthy of the tribunal. +Upon an occasion of his own selection, with the advice and approval +of his astute Secretary, soon after the members of the Congress had +returned to their constituents, the President quitted the executive +mansion, sandwiched himself between two recognized heroes,--men whom +the whole country delighted to honor,--and, with all the advantage which +such company could give him, stumped the country from the Atlantic to +the Mississippi, advocating everywhere his policy as against that of +Congress. It was a strange sight, and perhaps the most disgraceful +exhibition ever made by any President; but, as no evil is entirely +unmixed, good has come of this, as from many others. Ambitious, +unscrupulous, energetic, indefatigable, voluble, and plausible,--a +political gladiator, ready for a "set-to" in any crowd,--he is beaten +in his own chosen field, and stands to-day before the country as a +convicted usurper, a political criminal, guilty of a bold and persistent +attempt to possess himself of the legislative powers solemnly secured to +Congress by the Constitution. No vindication could be more complete, no +condemnation could be more absolute and humiliating. Unless reopened by +the sword, as recklessly threatened in some circles, this question is +now closed for all time. + +Without attempting to settle here the metaphysical and somewhat +theological question (about which so much has already been said +and written), whether once in the Union means always in the +Union,--agreeably to the formula, Once in grace always in grace,--it +is obvious to common sense that the rebellious States stand to-day, +in point of law, precisely where they stood when, exhausted, beaten, +conquered, they fell powerless at the feet of Federal authority. Their +State governments were overthrown, and the lives and property of +the leaders of the Rebellion were forfeited. In reconstructing the +institutions of these shattered and overthrown States, Congress should +begin with a clean slate, and make clean work of it. Let there be +no hesitation. It would be a cowardly deference to a defeated and +treacherous President, if any account were made of the illegitimate, +one-sided, sham governments hurried into existence for a malign purpose +in the absence of Congress. These pretended governments, which were +never submitted to the people, and from participation in which four +millions of the loyal people were excluded by Presidential order, +should now be treated according to their true character, as shams and +impositions, and supplanted by true and legitimate governments, in the +formation of which loyal men, black and white, shall participate. + +It is not, however, within the scope of this paper to point out the +precise steps to be taken, and the means to be employed. The people +are less concerned about these than the grand end to be attained. +They demand such a reconstruction as shall put an end to the present +anarchical state of things in the late rebellious States,--where +frightful murders and wholesale massacres are perpetrated in the very +presence of Federal soldiers. This horrible business they require shall +cease. They want a reconstruction such as will protect loyal men, black +and white, in their persons and property; such a one as will cause +Northern industry, Northern capital, and Northern civilization to flow +into the South, and make a man from New England as much at home in +Carolina as elsewhere in the Republic. No Chinese wall can now be +tolerated. The South must be opened to the light of law and liberty, +and this session of Congress is relied upon to accomplish this important +work. + +The plain, common-sense way of doing this work, as intimated at the +beginning, is simply to establish in the South one law, one government, +one administration of justice, one condition to the exercise of the +elective franchise, for men of all races and colors alike. This great +measure is sought as earnestly by loyal white men as by loyal blacks, +and is needed alike by both. Let sound political prescience but take the +place of an unreasoning prejudice, and this will be done. + +Men denounce the negro for his prominence in this discussion; but it is +no fault of his that in peace as in war, that in conquering Rebel armies +as in reconstructing the rebellious States, the right of the negro is +the true solution of our national troubles. The stern logic of events, +which goes directly to the point, disdaining all concern for the color +or features of men, has determined the interests of the country as +identical with and inseparable from those of the negro. + +The policy that emancipated and armed the negro--now seen to have been +wise and proper by the dullest--was not certainly more sternly demanded +than is now the policy of enfranchisement. If with the negro was success +in war, and without him failure, so in peace it will be found that the +nation must fall or flourish with the negro. + +Fortunately, the Constitution of the United States knows no distinction +between citizens on account of color. Neither does it know any +difference between a citizen of a State and a citizen of the United +States. Citizenship evidently includes all the rights of citizens, +whether State or national. If the Constitution knows none, it is clearly +no part of the duty of a Republican Congress now to institute one. The +mistake of the last session was the attempt to do this very thing, by +a renunciation of its power to secure political rights to any class of +citizens, with the obvious purpose to allow the rebellious States to +disfranchise, if they should see fit, their colored citizens. This +unfortunate blunder must now be retrieved, and the emasculated +citizenship given to the negro supplanted by that contemplated in the +Constitution of the United States, which declares that the citizens of +each State shall enjoy all the rights and immunities of citizens of the +several States,--so that a legal voter in any State shall be a legal +voter in all the States. + + + + +AN APPEAL TO CONGRESS FOR IMPARTIAL SUFFRAGE by Frederick Douglas + + +A very limited statement of the argument for impartial suffrage, and for +including the negro in the body politic, would require more space than +can be reasonably asked here. It is supported by reasons as broad as the +nature of man, and as numerous as the wants of society. Man is the only +government-making animal in the world. His right to a participation +in the production and operation of government is an inference from his +nature, as direct and self-evident as is his right to acquire property +or education. It is no less a crime against the manhood of a man, to +declare that he shall not share in the making and directing of the +government under which he lives, than to say that he shall not acquire +property and education. The fundamental and unanswerable argument in +favor of the enfranchisement of the negro is found in the undisputed +fact of his manhood. He is a man, and by every fact and argument by +which any man can sustain his right to vote, the negro can sustain his +right equally. It is plain that, if the right belongs to any, it belongs +to all. The doctrine that some men have no rights that others are bound +to respect, is a doctrine which we must banish as we have banished +slavery, from which it emanated. If black men have no rights in the +eyes of white men, of course the whites can have none in the eyes of the +blacks. The result is a war of races, and the annihilation of all proper +human relations. + +But suffrage for the negro, while easily sustained upon abstract +principles, demands consideration upon what are recognized as the urgent +necessities of the case. It is a measure of relief,--a shield to break +the force of a blow already descending with violence, and render it +harmless. The work of destruction has already been set in motion all +over the South. Peace to the country has literally meant war to the +loyal men of the South, white and black; and negro suffrage is the +measure to arrest and put an end to that dreadful strife. + +Something then, not by way of argument, (for that has been done by +Charles Sumner, Thaddeus Stevens, Wendell Phillips, Gerrit Smith, and +other able men,) but rather of statement and appeal. + +For better or for worse, (as in some of the old marriage ceremonies,) +the negroes are evidently a permanent part of the American population. +They are too numerous and useful to be colonized, and too enduring and +self-perpetuating to disappear by natural causes. Here they are, four +millions of them, and, for weal or for woe, here they must remain. Their +history is parallel to that of the country; but while the history of +the latter has been cheerful and bright with blessings, theirs has +been heavy and dark with agonies and curses. What O'Connell said of the +history of Ireland may with greater truth be said of the negro's. It may +be "traced like a wounded man through a crowd, by the blood." Yet the +negroes have marvellously survived all the exterminating forces of +slavery, and have emerged at the end of two hundred and fifty years +of bondage, not morose, misanthropic, and revengeful, but cheerful, +hopeful, and forgiving. They now stand before Congress and the country, +not complaining of the past, but simply asking for a better future. +The spectacle of these dusky millions thus imploring, not demanding, is +touching; and if American statesmen could be moved by a simple appeal to +the nobler elements of human nature, if they had not fallen, seemingly, +into the incurable habit of weighing and measuring every proposition of +reform by some standard of profit and loss, doing wrong from choice, and +right only from necessity or some urgent demand of human selfishness, it +would be enough to plead for the negroes on the score of past services +and sufferings. But no such appeal shall be relied on here. Hardships, +services, sufferings, and sacrifices are all waived. It is true that +they came to the relief of the country at the hour of its extremest +need. It is true that, in many of the rebellious States, they were +almost the only reliable friends the nation had throughout the +whole tremendous war. It is true that, notwithstanding their alleged +ignorance, they were wiser than their masters, and knew enough to be +loyal, while those masters only knew enough to be rebels and traitors. +It is true that they fought side by side in the loyal cause with +our gallant and patriotic white soldiers, and that, but for their +help,--divided as the loyal States were,--the Rebels might have +succeeded in breaking up the Union, thereby entailing border wars and +troubles of unknown duration and incalculable calamity. All this and +more is true of these loyal negroes. Many daring exploits will be told +to their credit. Impartial history will paint them as men who deserved +well of their country. It will tell how they forded and swam rivers, +with what consummate address they evaded the sharp-eyed Rebel pickets, +how they toiled in the darkness of night through the tangled marshes +of briers and thorns, barefooted and weary, running the risk of losing +their lives, to warn our generals of Rebel schemes to surprise and +destroy our loyal army. It will tell how these poor people, whose rights +we still despised, behaved to our wounded soldiers, when found cold, +hungry, and bleeding on the deserted battle-field; how they assisted our +escaping prisoners from Andersonville, Belle Isle, Castle Thunder, +and elsewhere, sharing with them their wretched crusts, and otherwise +affording them aid and comfort; how they promptly responded to the +trumpet call for their services, fighting against a foe that denied them +the rights of civilized warfare, and for a government which was without +the courage to assert those rights and avenge their violation in +their behalf; with what gallantry they flung themselves upon Rebel +fortifications, meeting death as fearlessly as any other troops in the +service. But upon none of these things is reliance placed. These facts +speak to the better dispositions of the human heart; but they seem of +little weight with the opponents of impartial suffrage. + +It is true that a strong plea for equal suffrage might be addressed to +the national sense of honor. Something, too, might be said of national +gratitude. A nation might well hesitate before the temptation to betray +its allies. There is something immeasurably mean, to say nothing of the +cruelty, in placing the loyal negroes of the South under the political +power of their Rebel masters. To make peace with our enemies is all well +enough; but to prefer our enemies and sacrifice our friends,--to exalt +our enemies and cast down our friends,--to clothe our enemies, who +sought the destruction of the government, with all political power, and +leave our friends powerless in their hands,--is an act which need not be +characterized here. We asked the negroes to espouse our cause, to be our +friends, to fight for us, and against their masters; and now, after +they have done all that we asked them to do,--helped us to conquer their +masters, and thereby directed toward themselves the furious hate of the +vanquished,--it is proposed in some quarters to turn them over to the +political control of the common enemy of the government and of the +negro. But of this let nothing be said in this place. Waiving humanity, +national honor, the claims of gratitude, the precious satisfaction +arising from deeds of charity and justice to the weak and +defenceless,--the appeal for impartial suffrage addresses itself with +great pertinency to the darkest, coldest, and flintiest side of +the human heart, and would wring righteousness from the unfeeling +calculations of human selfishness. + +For in respect to this grand measure it is the good fortune of the negro +that enlightened selfishness, not less than justice, fights on his side. +National interest and national duty, if elsewhere separated, are firmly +united here. The American people can, perhaps, afford to brave the +censure of surrounding nations for the manifest injustice and meanness +of excluding its faithful black soldiers from the ballot-box, but +it cannot afford to allow the moral and mental energies of rapidly +increasing millions to be consigned to hopeless degradation. + +Strong as we are, we need the energy that slumbers in the black man's +arm to make us stronger. We want no longer any heavy-footed, melancholy +service from the negro. We want the cheerful activity of the quickened +manhood of these sable millions. Nor can we afford to endure the +moral blight which the existence of a degraded and hated class must +necessarily inflict upon any people among whom such a class may exist. +Exclude the negroes as a class from political rights,--teach them that +the high and manly privilege of suffrage is to be enjoyed by white +citizens only,--that they may bear the burdens of the state, but that +they are to have no part in its direction or its honors,--and you at +once deprive them of one of the main incentives to manly character and +patriotic devotion to the interests of the government; in a word, you +stamp them as a degraded caste,--you teach them to despise themselves, +and all others to despise them. Men are so constituted that they largely +derive their ideas of their abilities and their possibilities from the +settled judgments of their fellow-men, and especially from such as they +read in the institutions under which they live. If these bless them, +they are blest indeed; but if these blast them, they are blasted indeed. +Give the negro the elective franchise, and you give him at once a +powerful motive for all noble exertion, and make him a man among men. +A character is demanded of him, and here as elsewhere demand favors +supply. It is nothing against this reasoning that all men who vote are +not good men or good citizens. It is enough that the possession and +exercise of the elective franchise is in itself an appeal to the nobler +elements of manhood, and imposes education as essential to the safety of +society. + +To appreciate the full force of this argument, it must be observed, that +disfranchisement in a republican government based upon the idea of +human equality and universal suffrage, is a very different thing from +disfranchisement in governments based upon the idea of the divine right +of kings, or the entire subjugation of the masses. Masses of men can +take care of themselves. Besides, the disabilities imposed upon all are +necessarily without that bitter and stinging element of invidiousness +which attaches to disfranchisement in a republic. What is common to +all works no special sense of degradation to any. But in a country +like ours, where men of all nations, kindred, and tongues are freely +enfranchised, and allowed to vote, to say to the negro, You shall not +vote, is to deal his manhood a staggering blow, and to burn into his +soul a bitter and goading sense of wrong, or else work in him a stupid +indifference to all the elements of a manly character. As a nation, we +cannot afford to have amongst us either this indifference and stupidity, +or that burning sense of wrong. These sable millions are too powerful +to be allowed to remain either indifferent or discontented. Enfranchise +them, and they become self-respecting and country-loving citizens. +Disfranchise them, and the mark of Cain is set upon them less mercifully +than upon the first murderer, for no man was to hurt him. But this +mark of inferiority--all the more palpable because of a difference of +color--not only dooms the negro to be a vagabond, but makes him the prey +of insult and outrage everywhere. While nothing may be urged here as +to the past services of the negro, it is quite within the line of this +appeal to remind the nation of the possibility that a time may come when +the services of the negro may be a second time required. History is said +to repeat itself, and, if so, having wanted the negro once, we may want +him again. Can that statesmanship be wise which would leave the negro +good ground to hesitate, when the exigencies of the country required his +prompt assistance? Can that be sound statesmanship which leaves millions +of men in gloomy discontent, and possibly in a state of alienation +in the day of national trouble? Was not the nation stronger when +two hundred thousand sable soldiers were hurled against the Rebel +fortifications, than it would have been without them? Arming the negro +was an urgent military necessity three years ago,--are we sure that +another quite as pressing may not await us? Casting aside all thought +of justice and magnanimity, is it wise to impose upon the negro all the +burdens involved in sustaining government against foes within and foes +without, to make him equal sharer in all sacrifices for the public good, +to tax him in peace and conscript him in war, and then coldly exclude +him from the ballot-box? + +Look across the sea. Is Ireland, in her present condition, fretful, +discontented, compelled to support an establishment in which she does +not believe, and which the vast majority of her people abhor, a source +of power or of weakness to Great Britain? Is not Austria wise in +removing all ground of complaint against her on the part of Hungary? And +does not the Emperor of Russia act wisely, as well as generously, when +he not only breaks up the bondage of the serf, but extends him all the +advantages of Russian citizenship? Is the present movement in England in +favor of manhood suffrage--for the purpose of bringing four millions of +British subjects into full sympathy and co-operation with the British +government--a wise and humane movement, or otherwise? Is the existence +of a rebellious element in our borders--which New Orleans, Memphis, and +Texas show to be only disarmed, but at heart as malignant as ever, only +waiting for an opportunity to reassert itself with fire and sword--a +reason for leaving four millions of the nation's truest friends with +just cause of complaint against the Federal government? If the doctrine +that taxation should go hand in hand with representation can be appealed +to in behalf of recent traitors and rebels, may it not properly be +asserted in behalf of a people who have ever been loyal and faithful +to the government? The answers to these questions are too obvious to +require statement. Disguise it as we may, we are still a divided nation. +The Rebel States have still an anti-national policy. Massachusetts +and South Carolina may draw tears from the eyes of our tender-hearted +President by walking arm in arm into his Philadelphia Convention, but a +citizen of Massachusetts is still an alien in the Palmetto State. There +is that, all over the South, which frightens Yankee industry, capital, +and skill from its borders. We have crushed the Rebellion, but not its +hopes or its malign purposes. The South fought for perfect and permanent +control over the Southern laborer. It was a war of the rich against the +poor. They who waged it had no objection to the government, while they +could use it as a means of confirming their power over the laborer. They +fought the government, not because they hated the government as such, +but because they found it, as they thought, in the way between them and +their one grand purpose of rendering permanent and indestructible their +authority and power over the Southern laborer. Though the battle is +for the present lost, the hope of gaining this object still exists, and +pervades the whole South with a feverish excitement. We have thus +far only gained a Union without unity, marriage without love, victory +without peace. The hope of gaining by politics what they lost by the +sword, is the secret of all this Southern unrest; and that hope must be +extinguished before national ideas and objects can take full possession +of the Southern mind. There is but one safe and constitutional way to +banish that mischievous hope from the South, and that is by lifting the +laborer beyond the unfriendly political designs of his former master. +Give the negro the elective franchise, and you at once destroy the +purely sectional policy, and wheel the Southern States into line with +national interests and national objects. The last and shrewdest turn +of Southern politics is a recognition of the necessity of getting into +Congress immediately, and at any price. The South will comply with +any conditions but suffrage for the negro. It will swallow all the +unconstitutional test oaths, repeal all the ordinances of Secession, +repudiate the Rebel debt, promise to pay the debt incurred in conquering +its people, pass all the constitutional amendments, if only it can have +the negro left under its political control. The proposition is as modest +as that made on the mountain: "All these things will I give unto thee if +thou wilt fall down and worship me." + +But why are the Southerners so willing to make these sacrifices? The +answer plainly is, they see in this policy the only hope of saving +something of their old sectional peculiarities and power. Once +firmly seated in Congress, their alliance with Northern Democrats +re-established, their States restored to their former position inside +the Union, they can easily find means of keeping the Federal government +entirely too busy with other important matters to pay much attention +to the local affairs of the Southern States. Under the potent shield of +State Rights, the game would be in their own hands. Does any sane man +doubt for a moment that the men who followed Jefferson Davis through the +late terrible Rebellion, often marching barefooted and hungry, naked and +penniless, and who now only profess an enforced loyalty, would plunge +this country into a foreign war to-day, if they could thereby gain their +coveted independence, and their still more coveted mastery over the +negroes? Plainly enough, the peace not less than the prosperity of this +country is involved in the great measure of impartial suffrage. King +Cotton is deposed, but only deposed, and is ready to-day to reassert all +his ancient pretensions upon the first favorable opportunity. Foreign +countries abound with his agents. They are able, vigilant, devoted. The +young men of the South burn with the desire to regain what they call +the lost cause; the women are noisily malignant towards the Federal +government. In fact, all the elements of treason and rebellion are there +under the thinnest disguise which necessity can impose. + +What, then, is the work before Congress? It is to save the people of the +South from themselves, and the nation from detriment on their account. +Congress must supplant the evident sectional tendencies of the South by +national dispositions and tendencies. It must cause national ideas and +objects to take the lead and control the politics of those States. It +must cease to recognize the old slave-masters as the only competent +persons to rule the South. In a word, it must enfranchise the negro, and +by means of the loyal negroes and the loyal white men of the South build +up a national party there, and in time bridge the chasm between North +and South, so that our country may have a common liberty and a common +civilization. The new wine must be put into new bottles. The lamb may +not be trusted with the wolf. Loyalty is hardly safe with traitors. + +Statesmen of America! beware what you do. The ploughshare of rebellion +has gone through the land beam-deep. The soil is in readiness, and the +seed-time has come. Nations, not less than individuals, reap as they +sow. The dreadful calamities of the past few years came not by accident, +nor unbidden, from the ground. You shudder to-day at the harvest of +blood sown in the spring-time of the Republic by your patriot fathers. +The principle of slavery, which they tolerated under the erroneous +impression that it would soon die out, became at last the dominant +principle and power at the South. It early mastered the Constitution, +became superior to the Union, and enthroned itself above the law. + +Freedom of speech and of the press it slowly but successfully banished +from the South, dictated its own code of honor and manners to the +nation, brandished the bludgeon and the bowie-knife over Congressional +debate, sapped the foundations of loyalty, dried up the springs +of patriotism, blotted out the testimonies of the fathers against +oppression, padlocked the pulpit, expelled liberty from its literature, +invented nonsensical theories about master-races and slave-races of men, +and in due season produced a Rebellion fierce, foul, and bloody. + +This evil principle again seeks admission into our body politic. It +comes now in shape of a denial of political rights to four million loyal +colored people. The South does not now ask for slavery. It only asks for +a large degraded caste, which shall have no political rights. This +ends the case. Statesmen, beware what you do. The destiny of unborn and +unnumbered generations is in your hands. Will you repeat the mistake +of your fathers, who sinned ignorantly? or will you profit by the +blood-bought wisdom all round you, and forever expel every vestige of +the old abomination from our national borders? As you members of the +Thirty-ninth Congress decide, will the country be peaceful, united, and +happy, or troubled, divided, and miserable. + + + + +THE NEGRO EXODUS by James B. Runnion + + +A recent sojourn in the South for a few weeks, chiefly in Louisiana and +Mississippi, gave the writer an opportunity to inquire into what has +been so aptly called "the negro exodus." The emigration of blacks to +Kansas began early in the spring of this year. For a time there was a +stampede from two or three of the river parishes in Louisiana and +as many counties opposite in Mississippi. Several thousand negroes +(certainly not fewer than five thousand, and variously estimated as high +as ten thousand) had left their cabins before the rush could be stayed +or the excitement lulled. Early in May most of the negroes who had quit +work for the purpose of emigrating, but had not succeeded in getting +off, were persuaded to return to the plantations, and from that time on +there have been only straggling families and groups that have watched +for and seized the first opportunity for transportation to the North. +There is no doubt, however, that there is still a consuming desire among +the negroes of the cotton districts in these two States to seek new +homes, and there are the best reasons for believing that the exodus will +take a new start next spring, after the gathering and conversion of the +growing crop. Hundreds of negroes who returned from the river-banks for +lack of transportation, and thousands of others infected with the ruling +discontent, are working harder in the fields this summer, and practicing +more economy and self-denial than ever before, in order to have the +means next winter and spring to pay their way to the "promised land." + +"We've been working for fourteen long years," said an intelligent negro, +in reply to a question as to the cause of the prevailing discontent, +"and we ain't no better off than we was when we commenced." This is the +negro version of the trouble, which is elaborated on occasion into a +harrowing story of oppression and plunder. + +"I tell you it's all owing to the radical politicians at the North," +explained a representative of the type known as the Bourbons; "they've +had their emissaries down here, and deluded the 'niggers' into a +very fever of emigration, with the purpose of reducing our basis of +representation in Congress and increasing that of the Northern States." + +These are the two extremes of opinion at the South. The first is +certainly the more reasonable and truthful, though it implies that all +the blame rests upon the whites, which is not the case; the second, +preposterous as it will appear to Northern readers, is religiously +believed by large numbers of the "unreconciled." Between these two +extremes there is an infinite variety of theories, all more or less +governed by the political faction to which the various theorizers +belong; there are at least a dozen of these factions, such as the +Bourbons, the conservatives, the native white republicans, the +carpet-bag republicans, the negro republicans, etc. There is a political +tinge in almost everything in the extreme Southern States. The +fact seems to be that the emigration movement among the blacks was +spontaneous to the extent that they were ready and anxious to go. The +immediate notion of going may have been inculcated by such circulars, +issued by railroads and land companies, as are common enough at emigrant +centres in the North and West, and the exaggeration characteristic of +such literature may have stimulated the imagination of the negroes far +beyond anything they are likely to realize in their new homes. Kansas +was naturally the favorite goal of the negro emigre, for it was +associated in his mind with the names of Jim Lane and John Brown, which +are hallowed to him. The timid learned that they could escape what they +have come to regard as a second bondage, and they flocked together to +gain the moral support which comes from numbers. + +Diligent inquiry among representative men, of all classes and from +all parts of Louisiana, who were in attendance at the constitutional +convention in New Orleans, and careful observation along the river among +the land owners and field hands in both Louisiana and Mississippi, left +a vivid impression of some material and political conditions which fully +account for the negro exodus. I have dropped the social conditions out +of the consideration, because I became convinced that the race troubles +at the South can be solved to the satisfaction of both whites and blacks +without cultivating any closer social relations than those which now +prevail. The material conditions which I have in mind are less familiar +than the political conditions; they are mainly the land-tenure and +credit systems, and mere modifications (scarcely for the better) of the +peculiar plantation system of slavery days. + +The cotton lands at the South are owned now, as they were before the +war, in large tracts. The land was about all that most of the Southern +whites had left to them after the war, and they kept it when they could, +at the first, in the hope that it would yield them a living through the +labor of the blacks; of late years they have not been able to sell their +plantations at any fair price, if they desired to do so. The white men +with capital who went to the South from the North after the war seemed +to acquire the true Southern ambition to be large land owners and +planters; and when the ante-bellum owners lost their plantations the +land usually went in bulk to the city factors who had made them advances +from year to year, and had taken mortgages on their crops and broad +acres. As a consequence, the land has never been distributed among +the people who inhabit and cultivate it, and agricultural labor in the +Southern States approaches the condition of the factory labor in England +and the Eastern States more nearly than it does the farm labor of the +North and West. Nearly every agricultural laborer north of Mason and +Dixon's line, if not the actual possessor of the land he plows, looks +forward to owning a farm some time; at the South such an ambition is +rare, and small ownership still more an exception. The practice of +paying day wages was first tried after the war; this practice is still +in vogue in the sugar and rice districts, where laborers are paid from +fifty to seventy cents per day, with quarters furnished and living +guaranteed them at nine or ten cents a day. In sections where the wages +system prevails, and where there have been no political disturbances, +the negroes seem to be perfectly contented; at all events, the +emigration fever has not spread among them. But it was found +impracticable to maintain the wage system in the cotton districts. The +negroes themselves fought against it, because it reminded them too much +of the slave-gang, driven out at daybreak and home at sundown. In many +cases the planters were forced to abandon it, because they had not the +means to carry on such huge farming, and they could not secure the same +liberal advances from capitalists as when they were able to mortgage +a growing "crop of niggers." Then the system of working on shares was +tried. This was reasonably fair, and the negro laborers were satisfied +as long as it lasted. The owners of the land, under this system, would +furnish the indispensable mule and the farming implements, and take one +half the product. The planters themselves relinquished this system. Some +of them contend that the laziness and indifference of the negro made the +partnership undesirable; many others admit that they were not able to +advance the negro tenant his supplies pending the growth of the year's +crop, as it was necessary they should do under the sharing system. +Now the renting system is almost universal. It yields the land owner a +certainty, endangered only by the death, sickness, or desertion of the +negro tenant; but it throws the latter upon his own responsibility, and +frequently makes him the victim of his own ignorance and the rapacity +of the white man. The rent of land, on a money basis, varies from six to +ten dollars an acre per year, while the same land can be bought in +large quantities all the way from fifteen to thirty dollars per acre, +according to location, clearing, improvement, richness, etc. When paid +in product, the rent varies from eighty to one hundred pounds of lint +cotton per acre for land that produces from two hundred to four hundred +pounds of cotton per acre; the tenant undertakes to pay from one quarter +to one half--perhaps an average of one third--of his crop for the use +of the land, without stock, tools, or assistance of any kind. The land +owners usually claim that they make no money even at these exorbitant +figures. If they do not, it is because only a portion of their vast +possessions is under cultivation, because they do no work themselves, +and in some cases because the negroes do not cultivate and gather as +large a crop as they could and ought to harvest. It is very certain that +the negro tenants, as a class, make no money; if they are out of debt at +the end of a season, they have reason to rejoice. + +The credit system, which is as universal as the renting system, is even +more illogical and oppressive. The utter viciousness of both systems in +their mutual dependence is sufficiently illustrated by the single fact +that, after fourteen years of freedom and labor on their own account, +the great mass of the negroes depend for their living on an advance of +supplies (as they need food, clothing, or tools during the year) upon +the pledge of their growing crop. This is a generic imitation of the +white man's improvidence during the slavery times; then the planters +mortgaged their crops and negroes, and where one used the advances to +extend his plantation, ten squandered the money. The negro's necessities +have developed an offensive race, called merchants by courtesy, who keep +supply stores at the cross-roads and steamboat landings, and live upon +extortion. These people would be called sharks, harpies, and vampires in +any Northwestern agricultural community, and they would not survive more +than one season. The country merchant advances the negro tenant such +supplies as the negro wants up to a certain amount, previously fixed +by contract, and charges the negro at least double the value of every +article sold to him. There is no concealment about the extortion; every +store-keeper has his cash price and his credit price, and in nearly all +cases the latter is one hundred per cent. higher than the former. The +extortion is justified by those who practice it on the ground that +their losses by bad debts, though their advances are always secured by +mortgage on the growing crop, overbalance the profits; this assertion is +scarcely borne out by the comparative opulence of the "merchant" and +the pitiful poverty of the laborer. Some of the largest and wealthiest +planters have sought to protect their tenants from the merciless +clutches of the contrary merchant, who is more frequently than not an +Israelite, by advancing supplies of necessary articles at reasonable +prices. But the necessities of the planter, if not his greed, often +betray him into plundering the negro. The planter himself is generally a +victim to usury. He still draws on the city factor to the extent of ten +dollars a bale upon his estimated crop. He pays this factor two and one +half per cent. commission for the advance, eight per cent. interest for +the money, two and one half per cent. more for disposing of the crop +when consigned to him, and sometimes still another commission for the +purchase of the supplies. The planter who furnishes his tenants with +supplies on credit is usually paying an interest of fifteen to eighteen +per cent. himself, and necessarily takes some risk in advancing upon +an uncertain crop and to a laborer whom he believes to be neither +scrupulous nor industrious; these conditions necessitate more than the +ordinary profit, and in many cases suggest exorbitant and unreasonable +charges. But whether the negro deals with the merchant or the land +owner, his extravagance almost invariably exhausts his credit, even if +it be large. The negro is a sensuous creature, and luxurious in his way. +The male is an enormous consumer of tobacco and whisky; the female +has an inordinate love for flummery; both are fond of sardines, potted +meats, and canned goods generally, and they indulge themselves without +any other restraint than the refusal of their merchant to sell to them. +The man who advances supplies watches his negro customers constantly; +if they are working well and their crop promises to be large, he will +permit and even encourage them to draw upon him liberally; it is only a +partial failure of the crop, or some intimation of the negro's intention +to shirk his obligations, that induces his country factor to preach the +virtue of self-restraint, or moralize upon the advantages of economy. + +The land owner's rent and the merchant's advances are both secured by a +chattel mortgage on the tenant's personal property, and by a pledge of +the growing crop. The hired laborer (for it is common for negroes to +work for wages for other negroes who rent lands) has also a lien upon +the growing crops second only to the land owner's; but as the law +requires that the liens shall be recorded, which the ignorant laborer +usually neglects and the shrewd merchant never fails to do, the former +is generally cheated of his security. Among those who usually work for +hire are the women, who are expert cotton pickers, and the loss of wages +which so many of them have suffered by reason of the prior lien gained +by landlord and merchant has helped to make them earnest and effective +advocates of emigration. The Western farmer considers it hard enough to +struggle under one mortgage at a reasonable interest; the negro tenant +begins his season with three mortgages, covering all he owns, his labor +for the coming year, and all he expects to acquire during that period. +He pays one third his product for the use of the land; he pays double +the value of all he consumes; he pays an exorbitant fee for recording +the contract by which he pledges his pound of flesh; he is charged two +or three times as much as he ought to pay for ginning his cotton; +and, finally, he turns over his crop to be eaten up in commissions, if +anything still be left to him. It is easy to understand why the negro +rarely gets ahead in the world. This mortgaging of future services, +which is practically what a pledge of the growing crop amounts to, is in +the nature of bondage. It has a tendency to make the negro extravagant, +reckless, and unscrupulous; he has become convinced from previous +experience that nothing will be coming to him on the day of settlement, +and he is frequently actuated by the purpose of getting as much as +possible and working as little as possible. Cases are numerous in which +the negro abandons his own crop at picking time, because he knows that +he has already eaten up its full value; and so he goes to picking for +wages on some other plantation. In other cases, where negroes have +acquired mules and farming implements upon which a merchant has secured +a mortgage in the manner described, they are practically bound to that +merchant from year to year, in order to retain their property; if he +removes from one section to another, they must follow him, and rent +and cultivate lands in his neighborhood. It is only the ignorance, +the improvidence, and the happy disposition of the negro, under the +influence of the lazy, drowsy climate, to which he is so well adapted +physically, that have enabled him to endure these hardships so long. +And, though the negro is the loser, the white man is not often the +gainer, from this false plantation and mercantile system. The incidental +risk may not be so large as the planter and merchant pretend, but the +condition of the people is an evidence that the extortion they practice +yields no better profit in the long run than would be gained by +competition in fair prices on a cash system; and in leading up to a +general emigration of the laboring population the abuses described will +eventually ruin and impoverish those who have heretofore been the only +beneficiaries thereof. The decay of improvements inevitable under annual +rentings, the lack of sufficient labor to cultivate all the good land, +and the universal idleness of the rural whites have kept the land +owners comparatively poor; the partial failure of crops and the +unscrupulousness of the negro debtor, engendered by the infamous +exactions of his creditor, have prevented the merchants, as a class, +from prospering as much as might be supposed; and, finally, the uniform +injustice to the laborers induces them to fly to ills they know not of, +rather than bear those they have. It is a blessing to the negro that +the laws do not yet provide for a detention of the person in the case of +debt, or escape would be shut off entirely; as it is, various influences +and circumstances appertaining to the system in vogue have been used +to prevent the easy flight of those who desire to go, and have detained +thousands of blacks for a time who are fretting to quit the country. + +Political oppression has contributed largely to the discontent which +is the prime cause of the exodus. "Bulldozing" is the term by which +all forms of this oppression are known. The native whites are generally +indisposed to confess that the negroes are quitting the country on +account of political injustice and persecution; even those who freely +admit and fitly characterize the abuses already described seek to deny, +or at least belittle, the political abuses. The fact that a large number +of negroes have emigrated from Madison Parish, Louisiana, where there +has never been any bulldozing, and where the negroes are in full +and undisputed political control, is cited as proof that political +disturbances cut no figure in the case. But the town of Delta, in +Madison Parish, is at once on the river and the terminus of a railroad +that runs back through the interior of the State; thus Madison Parish +would furnish the natural exit for the fugitives from the adjoining +counties, where there have been political disturbances. It would be just +as reasonable to contend that the plundering of the negroes has had no +influence in driving them away, since many of those who have emigrated +were among the most prosperous of the blacks, as to deny the agency +of political persecution. Families that had been able to accumulate +a certain amount of personal property, in spite of the extortionate +practices, sold their mules, their implements, their cows, their +pigs, their sheep, and their household goods for anything they would +bring,--frequently as low as one sixth of their value,--in order that +they might improve an immediate opportunity to go away; it is evident +that there must have been some cause outside of extortion in their case. +There are candid native whites who do not deny, but justify, the violent +methods which have been employed to disfranchise the negroes, or compel +them to vote under white dictation, in many parts of Louisiana and +Mississippi, on the ground that the men who pay the taxes should vote +them and control the disbursement of the public moneys. The gentlemen +who advance this argument seem to ignore the fact that the very +Northerner whom they are seeking to convert to "the Mississippi plan" +may himself be a taxpayer in some Northern city, where public affairs +are controlled by a class of voters in every way as ignorant and +irresponsible as the blacks, but where bulldozing has never yet +been suggested as a remedy. For the rest, the evidences of political +oppression are abundant and convincing. The bulldozers as a class are +more impecunious and irresponsible than the negroes, and, unlike the +negroes, they will not work. There has been more of the "night-riding," +the whippings, the mysterious disappearances, the hangings, and the +terrorism comprehended in the term bulldozing than has been reported +by those "abstracts and brief chronicles of the time," the Southern +newspapers, which are now all of one party, and defer to the ruling +sentiment among the whites. The exodus has wrung from two or three of +the more candid and independent journals, however, a virtual confession +of the fiendish practices of bulldozing in their insistance that these +practices must be abandoned. The non-resident land owners and the +resident planters, the city factors and the country merchants of means +and respectability, have taken no personal part in the terrorizing of +the negro, but they have tolerated it, and sometimes encouraged it, in +order to gratify their preference for "white government." The negroes +have suffered the more because they have not resisted and defended +themselves; now they have begun to convince those who have persecuted +them that, if they will not strike back, they can and will run away. +No one who is at all familiar with the freedman can doubt that the +abridgment of his political rights has been one of the main causes of +the exodus. Voting is widely regarded at the North as a disagreeable +duty, but the negro looks upon it as the highest privilege in life; to +be frightened out of the exercise of this privilege, or compelled to +exercise it in conflict with his convictions and preferences, is to +suffer from a cruel injustice, which the negro will now try to escape, +since he has learned that escape is possible. The women, though free +from personal assaults, suffer from the terrorism that prevails in +certain districts as much as the men. "We might as well starve or freeze +to death in Kansas," they say, "as to be shot-gunned here." If they talk +to you in confidence, they declare that the ruling purpose is to escape +from the "slaughter-pens" of the South. Political persecution, and not +the extortion they suffer, is the refrain of all the speakers at negro +meetings that are held in encouragement and aid of the emigration. It is +idle to deny that the varied injustice which the negroes have suffered +as voters is accountable for a large part of their universal yearning +for new homes, and it will be folly for the responsible classes at the +South to ignore this fact. + +As it is the negroes who are fleeing from the South, it is natural to +look among the dominant class for the injustice which is driving them +away; but it would be unfair to conclude that the blame rests entirely +upon the whites, and still more so to leave the impression that there +is no extenuation for the mistakes and abuses for which the whites are +responsible. Much of the intimidation of the blacks has been tolerated, +if not suggested, by a fear of negro uprisings. The apprehension is a +legacy from the days of slavery, and is more unreasonable now than +it was then; but still it exists. This is not an excuse, but an +explanation. The Pharaohs of the time of Moses were in constant dread +lest the Hebrews under their rule should go over to their enemies, and +their dread doubtless increased the cruelty of the Egyptians; but, while +this dread was an extenuation in the eyes of the persecutors, it did +not prevent the Hebrews from fleeing the persecution. So the blacks are +going without regard to the justification which the whites may set up +for their treatment; the only difference between the old and new exodus +is that, as the writer heard one negro speaker express it, "every black +man is his own Moses in this exodus." The negro may be lazy; it seems +impossible to be otherwise in the Southern climate. He may not be +willing to work on Saturdays, no matter how urgent the necessity; the +indulgence in holidays is said to be one of the chief drawbacks to the +advancement of the emancipated serfs of Russia. The blacks are certainly +extravagant in their way, though the word seems to be almost misused in +connection with a race who live largely on pork and molasses, and rarely +wear more than half a dollar's worth of clothes at one time. They have +not the instinct of home as it prevails among the whites, but incline +to a crude and unsystematic communism; the negro quarters of the old +plantations are all huddled together in the centre, and, except where +the land owners have interfered to encourage a different life, there is +still too much promiscuousness in the relation of the sexes. The negro, +as a rule, has no ambition to become a land owner; he prefers to invest +his surplus money, when he has any, in personal and movable property. +In most cases where the blacks have been given the opportunity of buying +land on long time, and paying yearly installments out of the proceeds of +their annual crops, they have tired of the bargain after a year or two, +and abandoned the contract. The negro politicians and preachers are not +all that reformers and moralists would have them; the imitative faculty +of the African has betrayed the black politician into many of the +vicious ways of the white politician, and the colored preacher is +frequently not above "the pomps and vanity of this wicked world." All +this is the more unfortunate, as the blacks have a child-like confidence +in their chosen leaders, founded partly on their primitive character, +and partly on their distrust of the native whites. Both their +politicians and their preachers have given abundant evidence of their +insincerity during the excitement of emigration by blowing hot and +blowing cold; by talking to the negroes one way, and to the whites +another; and even to the extent, in some instances, of taking money to +use their influence for discouraging and impeding emigration. These are +some of the faults and misfortunes on the part of the blacks which enter +into the race troubles. The chief blame which attaches to the whites +is the failure to make a persistent effort, by education and kind +treatment, to overcome the distrust and cure the faults of the +negroes. The whites control, because they constitute the "property and +intelligence" of the South, to use the words of a democratic statesman; +this power should have been used to gain the confidence of the blacks. +Had such a course been taken, there would not have been the fear of +reenslavement, which actually prevails to a considerable extent among +the negroes. So long as a portion of the whites entertain the conviction +that the war of the sections will be renewed within a few years, as is +the case, the negroes will suspect and dread the class who would treat +them as enemies in case the war should come, and will seek to escape to +a section of the country where they would not be so treated. Perhaps, +too, there would have been a voluntary political division among the +black voters, had the whites used more pacific means to bring it about, +and had they themselves set the example. And last, but not least, in +making up the sum of blame that the whites must bear, is their own +unwillingness to labor, which gives the rural population too much time +for mischief and too little sympathy with the working classes. + +As we have traced the causes that have led to the exodus, and described +the conditions which warrant the belief that there will be a renewal of +the emigration on a more extended scale next spring, and endeavored to +distribute the responsibility for the troubles equitably among whites +and blacks, remedies have naturally suggested themselves to the reader; +in fact, they are more easily to be thought out than accomplished. A +few general reflections may be added, however, in order to indicate +the probable solution of the race troubles that have brought about the +exodus, if, indeed, the whites and blacks of the South are ever going to +live together in peace. + +(1.) It is certain that negro labor is the best the South can have, and +equally certain that the climate and natural conditions of the South +are better suited to the negro than any others on this continent. +The alluvial lands, which many persons believe the negroes alone can +cultivate, on account of climatic conditions, are so rich that it might +literally be said it is only necessary to tickle them with a hoe to make +them laugh back a harvest. The common prosperity of the country--the +agricultural interests of the South and the commercial interests of the +North--will be best served, therefore, by the continued residence and +labor of the blacks in the cotton States. + +(2.) The fact stated in the foregoing paragraph is so well understood at +the North that the Southern people should dismiss the idea that there is +any scheming among the Northern people, political or otherwise, to draw +the black labor away from its natural home. The same fact should also +influence the people at the North not to be misled by any professional +philanthropists who may have some self-interest in soliciting aid to +facilitate negro emigration from the South. The duty of the North in +this matter is simply to extend protection and assure safe-conduct +to the negroes, if the Southern whites attempt to impede voluntary +emigration by either law or violence. Any other course might be cruel +to the negro in encouraging him to enter on a new life in a strange +climate, as well as an injustice to the white land owners of the South. + +(3.) There is danger that the Southern whites will, as a rule, +misinterpret the meaning of the exodus. Many are inclined to underrate +its importance, and those who appreciate its significance are apt to +look for temporary and superficial remedies. The vague promises made at +the Vicksburg convention, which was controlled by the whites, and called +to consider the emigration movement, have had no influence with +the negroes, because they have heard such promises before. Had the +convention adopted some definite plan of action, such as ex-Governor +Foote, of Mississippi, submitted, its session might not have been in +vain. This plan was to establish a committee in every county, composed +of men who have the confidence of both whites and blacks, that should +be auxiliary to the public authorities, listen to complaints, and +arbitrate, advise, conciliate, or prosecute, as each case should demand. +It is short-sighted for the Southern people to make mere temporary +concessions, such as have been made in some cases this year, for that +course would establish an annual strike. It is folly for them to suppose +they can stem the tide of emigration by influencing the regular lines of +steamboats not to carry the refugees, for the people of the North will +see that the blacks shall not be detained in the South against their +will. It is unwise for them to devise schemes for importing Chinese, +or encouraging the immigration of white labor as a substitute for negro +labor, when they may much better bestir themselves to make the present +effective labor content. + +(4.) Education will be the most useful agent to employ in the permanent +harmonizing of the two races, and the redemption of both from the faults +and follies which constitute their troubles. It is not the education of +the negro alone, whose ambition for learning is increasing notably with +every new generation, but the education of the mass of the young whites, +that is needed to inculcate more tolerance of color and opinion, to give +them an aspiration beyond that of riding a horse and hanging a "nigger," +and to enable them to set a better example to the imitative blacks in +the way of work and frugality. The blacks need the education to protect +them from designing white men; the whites need it to teach them that +their own interests will be best served by abandoning bulldozing of all +kinds. + +(5.) Reform in the land tenure, by converting the plantation monopolies +into small holdings; abolition of the credit system, by abandoning the +laws which sustain it; a diversification of crops; and attention to +new manufacturing, maritime, and commercial enterprises,--these are the +material changes that are most needed. They can be secured only through +the active and earnest efforts of the whites. The blacks will be found +responsive. + +(6.) The hope of the negro exodus at its present stage, or even if it +shall continue another season, is that the actual loss of the valuable +labor that has gone, and the prospective loss of more labor that is +anxious to go, will induce the intelligent and responsible classes +at the South to overcome their own prejudices, and to compel the +extremists, irreconcilables, and politicians generally, of all parties, +to abandon agitation, and give the South equal peace and equal chance +for black and white. + + + + +MY ESCAPE FROM SLAVERY by Frederick Douglass + + +In the first narrative of my experience in slavery, written nearly forty +years ago, and in various writings since, I have given the public what I +considered very good reasons for withholding the manner of my escape. In +substance these reasons were, first, that such publication at any time +during the existence of slavery might be used by the master against the +slave, and prevent the future escape of any who might adopt the same +means that I did. The second reason was, if possible, still more binding +to silence: the publication of details would certainly have put in peril +the persons and property of those who assisted. Murder itself was not +more sternly and certainly punished in the State of Maryland than that +of aiding and abetting the escape of a slave. Many colored men, for +no other crime than that of giving aid to a fugitive slave, have, like +Charles T. Torrey, perished in prison. The abolition of slavery in my +native State and throughout the country, and the lapse of time, render +the caution hitherto observed no longer necessary. But even since the +abolition of slavery, I have sometimes thought it well enough to baffle +curiosity by saying that while slavery existed there were good reasons +for not telling the manner of my escape, and since slavery had ceased to +exist, there was no reason for telling it. I shall now, however, cease +to avail myself of this formula, and, as far as I can, endeavor to +satisfy this very natural curiosity. I should, perhaps, have yielded to +that feeling sooner, had there been anything very heroic or thrilling +in the incidents connected with my escape, for I am sorry to say I +have nothing of that sort to tell; and yet the courage that could risk +betrayal and the bravery which was ready to encounter death, if need be, +in pursuit of freedom, were essential features in the undertaking. My +success was due to address rather than courage, to good luck rather than +bravery. My means of escape were provided for me by the very men who +were making laws to hold and bind me more securely in slavery. + +It was the custom in the State of Maryland to require the free colored +people to have what were called free papers. These instruments they were +required to renew very often, and by charging a fee for this writing, +considerable sums from time to time were collected by the State. In +these papers the name, age, color, height, and form of the freeman were +described, together with any scars or other marks upon his person which +could assist in his identification. This device in some measure defeated +itself--since more than one man could be found to answer the same +general description. Hence many slaves could escape by personating the +owner of one set of papers; and this was often done as follows: A +slave, nearly or sufficiently answering the description set forth in the +papers, would borrow or hire them till by means of them he could escape +to a free State, and then, by mail or otherwise, would return them to +the owner. The operation was a hazardous one for the lender as well as +for the borrower. A failure on the part of the fugitive to send back the +papers would imperil his benefactor, and the discovery of the papers +in possession of the wrong man would imperil both the fugitive and his +friend. It was, therefore, an act of supreme trust on the part of a +freeman of color thus to put in jeopardy his own liberty that another +might be free. It was, however, not unfrequently bravely done, and was +seldom discovered. I was not so fortunate as to resemble any of my free +acquaintances sufficiently to answer the description of their papers. +But I had a friend--a sailor--who owned a sailor's protection, which +answered somewhat the purpose of free papers--describing his person, +and certifying to the fact that he was a free American sailor. The +instrument had at its head the American eagle, which gave it the +appearance at once of an authorized document. This protection, when in +my hands, did not describe its bearer very accurately. Indeed, it called +for a man much darker than myself, and close examination of it would +have caused my arrest at the start. + +In order to avoid this fatal scrutiny on the part of railroad officials, +I arranged with Isaac Rolls, a Baltimore hackman, to bring my baggage to +the Philadelphia train just on the moment of starting, and jumped upon +the car myself when the train was in motion. Had I gone into the station +and offered to purchase a ticket, I should have been instantly and +carefully examined, and undoubtedly arrested. In choosing this plan +I considered the jostle of the train, and the natural haste of the +conductor, in a train crowded with passengers, and relied upon my skill +and address in playing the sailor, as described in my protection, to do +the rest. One element in my favor was the kind feeling which prevailed +in Baltimore and other sea-ports at the time, toward "those who go +down to the sea in ships." "Free trade and sailors' rights" just then +expressed the sentiment of the country. In my clothing I was rigged out +in sailor style. I had on a red shirt and a tarpaulin hat, and a black +cravat tied in sailor fashion carelessly and loosely about my neck. My +knowledge of ships and sailor's talk came much to my assistance, for +I knew a ship from stem to stern, and from keelson to cross-trees, and +could talk sailor like an "old salt." I was well on the way to Havre de +Grace before the conductor came into the negro car to collect tickets +and examine the papers of his black passengers. This was a critical +moment in the drama. My whole future depended upon the decision of this +conductor. Agitated though I was while this ceremony was proceeding, +still, externally, at least, I was apparently calm and self-possessed. +He went on with his duty--examining several colored passengers before +reaching me. He was somewhat harsh in tome and peremptory in manner +until he reached me, when, strange enough, and to my surprise and +relief, his whole manner changed. Seeing that I did not readily produce +my free papers, as the other colored persons in the car had done, he +said to me, in friendly contrast with his bearing toward the others: + +"I suppose you have your free papers?" + +To which I answered: + +"No sir; I never carry my free papers to sea with me." + +"But you have something to show that you are a freeman, haven't you?" + +"Yes, sir," I answered; "I have a paper with the American Eagle on it, +and that will carry me around the world." + +With this I drew from my deep sailor's pocket my seaman's protection, as +before described. The merest glance at the paper satisfied him, and he +took my fare and went on about his business. This moment of time was one +of the most anxious I ever experienced. Had the conductor looked closely +at the paper, he could not have failed to discover that it called for +a very different-looking person from myself, and in that case it would +have been his duty to arrest me on the instant, and send me back to +Baltimore from the first station. When he left me with the assurance +that I was all right, though much relieved, I realized that I was still +in great danger: I was still in Maryland, and subject to arrest at any +moment. I saw on the train several persons who would have known me in +any other clothes, and I feared they might recognize me, even in my +sailor "rig," and report me to the conductor, who would then subject me +to a closer examination, which I knew well would be fatal to me. + +Though I was not a murderer fleeing from justice, I felt perhaps quite +as miserable as such a criminal. The train was moving at a very high +rate of speed for that epoch of railroad travel, but to my anxious mind +it was moving far too slowly. Minutes were hours, and hours were days +during this part of my flight. After Maryland, I was to pass through +Delaware--another slave State, where slave-catchers generally awaited +their prey, for it was not in the interior of the State, but on its +borders, that these human hounds were most vigilant and active. The +border lines between slavery and freedom were the dangerous ones for the +fugitives. The heart of no fox or deer, with hungry hounds on his trail +in full chase, could have beaten more anxiously or noisily than did mine +from the time I left Baltimore till I reached Philadelphia. The passage +of the Susquehanna River at Havre de Grace was at that time made by +ferry-boat, on board of which I met a young colored man by the name of +Nichols, who came very near betraying me. He was a "hand" on the boat, +but, instead of minding his business, he insisted upon knowing me, and +asking me dangerous questions as to where I was going, when I was coming +back, etc. I got away from my old and inconvenient acquaintance as soon +as I could decently do so, and went to another part of the boat. Once +across the river, I encountered a new danger. Only a few days before, +I had been at work on a revenue cutter, in Mr. Price's ship-yard in +Baltimore, under the care of Captain McGowan. On the meeting at this +point of the two trains, the one going south stopped on the track just +opposite to the one going north, and it so happened that this Captain +McGowan sat at a window where he could see me very distinctly, and +would certainly have recognized me had he looked at me but for a second. +Fortunately, in the hurry of the moment, he did not see me; and the +trains soon passed each other on their respective ways. But this was not +my only hair-breadth escape. A German blacksmith whom I knew well was on +the train with me, and looked at me very intently, as if he thought he +had seen me somewhere before in his travels. I really believe he knew +me, but had no heart to betray me. At any rate, he saw me escaping and +held his peace. + +The last point of imminent danger, and the one I dreaded most, +was Wilmington. Here we left the train and took the steam-boat for +Philadelphia. In making the change here I again apprehended arrest, but +no one disturbed me, and I was soon on the broad and beautiful Delaware, +speeding away to the Quaker City. On reaching Philadelphia in the +afternoon, I inquired of a colored man how I could get on to New York. +He directed me to the William-street depot, and thither I went, taking +the train that night. I reached New York Tuesday morning, having +completed the journey in less than twenty-four hours. + +My free life began on the third of September, 1838. On the morning of +the fourth of that month, after an anxious and most perilous but safe +journey, I found myself in the big city of New York, a FREE MAN--one +more added to the mighty throng which, like the confused waves of the +troubled sea, surged to and fro between the lofty walls of Broadway. +Though dazzled with the wonders which met me on every hand, my thoughts +could not be much withdrawn from my strange situation. For the moment, +the dreams of my youth and the hopes of my manhood were completely +fulfilled. The bonds that had held me to "old master" were broken. No +man now had a right to call me his slave or assert mastery over me. I +was in the rough and tumble of an outdoor world, to take my chance with +the rest of its busy number. I have often been asked how I felt when +first I found myself on free soil. There is scarcely anything in my +experience about which I could not give a more satisfactory answer. A +new world had opened upon me. If life is more than breath and the "quick +round of blood," I lived more in that one day than in a year of my slave +life. It was a time of joyous excitement which words can but tamely +describe. In a letter written to a friend soon after reaching New York, +I said: "I felt as one might feel upon escape from a den of hungry +lions." Anguish and grief, like darkness and rain, may be depicted; but +gladness and joy, like the rainbow, defy the skill of pen or pencil. +During ten or fifteen years I had been, as it were, dragging a heavy +chain which no strength of mine could break; I was not only a slave, but +a slave for life. I might become a husband, a father, an aged man, but +through all, from birth to death, from the cradle to the grave, I had +felt myself doomed. All efforts I had previously made to secure my +freedom had not only failed, but had seemed only to rivet my fetters the +more firmly, and to render my escape more difficult. Baffled, entangled, +and discouraged, I had at times asked myself the question, May not my +condition after all be God's work, and ordered for a wise purpose, and +if so, Is not submission my duty? A contest had in fact been going on +in my mind for a long time, between the clear consciousness of right and +the plausible make-shifts of theology and superstition. The one held me +an abject slave--a prisoner for life, punished for some transgression +in which I had no lot nor part; and the other counseled me to manly +endeavor to secure my freedom. This contest was now ended; my chains +were broken, and the victory brought me unspeakable joy. + +But my gladness was short-lived, for I was not yet out of the reach and +power of the slave-holders. I soon found that New York was not quite so +free or so safe a refuge as I had supposed, and a sense of loneliness +and insecurity again oppressed me most sadly. I chanced to meet on the +street, a few hours after my landing, a fugitive slave whom I had once +known well in slavery. The information received from him alarmed me. The +fugitive in question was known in Baltimore as "Allender's Jake," but in +New York he wore the more respectable name of "William Dixon." Jake, in +law, was the property of Doctor Allender, and Tolly Allender, the son +of the doctor, had once made an effort to recapture MR. DIXON, but +had failed for want of evidence to support his claim. Jake told me the +circumstances of this attempt, and how narrowly he escaped being sent +back to slavery and torture. He told me that New York was then full +of Southerners returning from the Northern watering-places; that the +colored people of New York were not to be trusted; that there were hired +men of my own color who would betray me for a few dollars; that there +were hired men ever on the lookout for fugitives; that I must trust +no man with my secret; that I must not think of going either upon the +wharves or into any colored boarding-house, for all such places were +closely watched; that he was himself unable to help me; and, in fact, he +seemed while speaking to me to fear lest I myself might be a spy and +a betrayer. Under this apprehension, as I suppose, he showed signs of +wishing to be rid of me, and with whitewash brush in hand, in search of +work, he soon disappeared. + +This picture, given by poor "Jake," of New York, was a damper to my +enthusiasm. My little store of money would soon be exhausted, and since +it would be unsafe for me to go on the wharves for work, and I had no +introductions elsewhere, the prospect for me was far from cheerful. I +saw the wisdom of keeping away from the ship-yards, for, if pursued, as +I felt certain I should be, Mr. Auld, my "master," would naturally seek +me there among the calkers. Every door seemed closed against me. I was +in the midst of an ocean of my fellow-men, and yet a perfect stranger +to every one. I was without home, without acquaintance, without money, +without credit, without work, and without any definite knowledge as to +what course to take, or where to look for succor. In such an extremity, +a man had something besides his new-born freedom to think of. While +wandering about the streets of New York, and lodging at least one +night among the barrels on one of the wharves, I was indeed free--from +slavery, but free from food and shelter as well. I kept my secret to +myself as long as I could, but I was compelled at last to seek some +one who would befriend me without taking advantage of my destitution +to betray me. Such a person I found in a sailor named Stuart, a +warm-hearted and generous fellow, who, from his humble home on Centre +street, saw me standing on the opposite sidewalk, near the Tombs prison. +As he approached me, I ventured a remark to him which at once enlisted +his interest in me. He took me to his home to spend the night, and in +the morning went with me to Mr. David Ruggles, the secretary of the New +York Vigilance Committee, a co-worker with Isaac T. Hopper, Lewis and +Arthur Tappan, Theodore S. Wright, Samuel Cornish, Thomas Downing, +Philip A. Bell, and other true men of their time. All these (save Mr. +Bell, who still lives, and is editor and publisher of a paper called the +"Elevator," in San Francisco) have finished their work on earth. Once in +the hands of these brave and wise men, I felt comparatively safe. With +Mr. Ruggles, on the corner of Lispenard and Church streets, I was hidden +several days, during which time my intended wife came on from Baltimore +at my call, to share the burdens of life with me. She was a free woman, +and came at once on getting the good news of my safety. We were +married by Rev. J. W. C. Pennington, then a well-known and respected +Presbyterian minister. I had no money with which to pay the marriage +fee, but he seemed well pleased with our thanks. + +Mr. Ruggles was the first officer on the "Underground Railroad" whom I +met after coming North, and was, indeed, the only one with whom I had +anything to do till I became such an officer myself. Learning that my +trade was that of a calker, he promptly decided that the best place +for me was in New Bedford, Mass. He told me that many ships for whaling +voyages were fitted out there, and that I might there find work at my +trade and make a good living. So, on the day of the marriage ceremony, +we took our little luggage to the steamer JOHN W. RICHMOND, which, at +that time, was one of the line running between New York and Newport, +R. I. Forty-three years ago colored travelers were not permitted in the +cabin, nor allowed abaft the paddle-wheels of a steam vessel. They were +compelled, whatever the weather might be,--whether cold or hot, wet or +dry,--to spend the night on deck. Unjust as this regulation was, it +did not trouble us much; we had fared much harder before. We arrived at +Newport the next morning, and soon after an old fashioned stage-coach, +with "New Bedford" in large yellow letters on its sides, came down to +the wharf. I had not money enough to pay our fare, and stood hesitating +what to do. Fortunately for us, there were two Quaker gentlemen who were +about to take passage on the stage,--Friends William C. Taber and +Joseph Ricketson,--who at once discerned our true situation, and, in a +peculiarly quiet way, addressing me, Mr. Taber said: "Thee get in." I +never obeyed an order with more alacrity, and we were soon on our way to +our new home. When we reached "Stone Bridge" the passengers alighted +for breakfast, and paid their fares to the driver. We took no breakfast, +and, when asked for our fares, I told the driver I would make it right +with him when we reached New Bedford. I expected some objection to this +on his part, but he made none. When, however, we reached New Bedford, he +took our baggage, including three music-books,--two of them collections +by Dyer, and one by Shaw,--and held them until I was able to redeem them +by paying to him the amount due for our rides. This was soon done, for +Mr. Nathan Johnson not only received me kindly and hospitably, but, on +being informed about our baggage, at once loaned me the two dollars +with which to square accounts with the stage-driver. Mr. and Mrs. Nathan +Johnson reached a good old age, and now rest from their labors. I am +under many grateful obligations to them. They not only "took me in +when a stranger" and "fed me when hungry," but taught me how to make an +honest living. Thus, in a fortnight after my flight from Maryland, I +was safe in New Bedford, a citizen of the grand old commonwealth of +Massachusetts. + +Once initiated into my new life of freedom and assured by Mr. Johnson +that I need not fear recapture in that city, a comparatively unimportant +question arose as to the name by which I should be known thereafter in +my new relation as a free man. The name given me by my dear mother was +no less pretentious and long than Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey. +I had, however, while living in Maryland, dispensed with the Augustus +Washington, and retained only Frederick Bailey. Between Baltimore and +New Bedford, the better to conceal myself from the slave-hunters, I had +parted with Bailey and called myself Johnson; but in New Bedford I +found that the Johnson family was already so numerous as to cause some +confusion in distinguishing them, hence a change in this name seemed +desirable. Nathan Johnson, mine host, placed great emphasis upon +this necessity, and wished me to allow him to select a name for me. I +consented, and he called me by my present name--the one by which I have +been known for three and forty years--Frederick Douglass. Mr. Johnson +had just been reading the "Lady of the Lake," and so pleased was he with +its great character that he wished me to bear his name. Since reading +that charming poem myself, I have often thought that, considering the +noble hospitality and manly character of Nathan Johnson--black man +though he was--he, far more than I, illustrated the virtues of the +Douglas of Scotland. Sure am I that, if any slave-catcher had entered +his domicile with a view to my recapture, Johnson would have shown +himself like him of the "stalwart hand." + +The reader may be surprised at the impressions I had in some way +conceived of the social and material condition of the people at the +North. I had no proper idea of the wealth, refinement, enterprise, and +high civilization of this section of the country. My "Columbian Orator," +almost my only book, had done nothing to enlighten me concerning +Northern society. I had been taught that slavery was the bottom fact +of all wealth. With this foundation idea, I came naturally to the +conclusion that poverty must be the general condition of the people of +the free States. In the country from which I came, a white man holding +no slaves was usually an ignorant and poverty-stricken man, and men +of this class were contemptuously called "poor white trash." Hence I +supposed that, since the non-slave-holders at the South were ignorant, +poor, and degraded as a class, the non-slave-holders at the North must +be in a similar condition. I could have landed in no part of the +United States where I should have found a more striking and gratifying +contrast, not only to life generally in the South, but in the condition +of the colored people there, than in New Bedford. I was amazed when Mr. +Johnson told me that there was nothing in the laws or constitution of +Massachusetts that would prevent a colored man from being governor of +the State, if the people should see fit to elect him. There, too, the +black man's children attended the public schools with the white man's +children, and apparently without objection from any quarter. To impress +me with my security from recapture and return to slavery, Mr. Johnson +assured me that no slave-holder could take a slave out of New Bedford; +that there were men there who would lay down their lives to save me from +such a fate. + +The fifth day after my arrival, I put on the clothes of a common +laborer, and went upon the wharves in search of work. On my way down +Union street I saw a large pile of coal in front of the house of Rev. +Ephraim Peabody, the Unitarian minister. I went to the kitchen door and +asked the privilege of bringing in and putting away this coal. "What +will you charge?" said the lady. "I will leave that to you, madam." "You +may put it away," she said. I was not long in accomplishing the +job, when the dear lady put into my hand TWO SILVER HALF-DOLLARS. To +understand the emotion which swelled my heart as I clasped this money, +realizing that I had no master who could take it from me,--THAT IT WAS +MINE--THAT MY HANDS WERE MY OWN, and could earn more of the precious +coin,--one must have been in some sense himself a slave. My next job was +stowing a sloop at Uncle Gid. Howland's wharf with a cargo of oil for +New York. I was not only a freeman, but a free working-man, and no +"master" stood ready at the end of the week to seize my hard earnings. + +The season was growing late and work was plenty. Ships were being fitted +out for whaling, and much wood was used in storing them. The sawing +this wood was considered a good job. With the help of old Friend Johnson +(blessings on his memory) I got a saw and "buck," and went at it. When +I went into a store to buy a cord with which to brace up my saw in the +frame, I asked for a "fip's" worth of cord. The man behind the counter +looked rather sharply at me, and said with equal sharpness, "You don't +belong about here." I was alarmed, and thought I had betrayed myself. +A fip in Maryland was six and a quarter cents, called fourpence in +Massachusetts. But no harm came from the "fi'penny-bit" blunder, and I +confidently and cheerfully went to work with my saw and buck. It was new +business to me, but I never did better work, or more of it, in the same +space of time on the plantation for Covey, the negro-breaker, than I did +for myself in these earliest years of my freedom. + +Notwithstanding the just and humane sentiment of New Bedford three and +forty years ago, the place was not entirely free from race and color +prejudice. The good influence of the Roaches, Rodmans, Arnolds, +Grinnells, and Robesons did not pervade all classes of its people. The +test of the real civilization of the community came when I applied for +work at my trade, and then my repulse was emphatic and decisive. It so +happened that Mr. Rodney French, a wealthy and enterprising citizen, +distinguished as an anti-slavery man, was fitting out a vessel for +a whaling voyage, upon which there was a heavy job of calking and +coppering to be done. I had some skill in both branches, and applied +to Mr. French for work. He, generous man that he was, told me he would +employ me, and I might go at once to the vessel. I obeyed him, but upon +reaching the float-stage, where others [sic] calkers were at work, I +was told that every white man would leave the ship, in her unfinished +condition, if I struck a blow at my trade upon her. This uncivil, +inhuman, and selfish treatment was not so shocking and scandalous in +my eyes at the time as it now appears to me. Slavery had inured me to +hardships that made ordinary trouble sit lightly upon me. Could I have +worked at my trade I could have earned two dollars a day, but as a +common laborer I received but one dollar. The difference was of great +importance to me, but if I could not get two dollars, I was glad to +get one; and so I went to work for Mr. French as a common laborer. The +consciousness that I was free--no longer a slave--kept me cheerful under +this, and many similar proscriptions, which I was destined to meet +in New Bedford and elsewhere on the free soil of Massachusetts. For +instance, though colored children attended the schools, and were treated +kindly by their teachers, the New Bedford Lyceum refused, till several +years after my residence in that city, to allow any colored person to +attend the lectures delivered in its hall. Not until such men as Charles +Sumner, Theodore Parker, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Horace Mann refused +to lecture in their course while there was such a restriction, was it +abandoned. + +Becoming satisfied that I could not rely on my trade in New Bedford to +give me a living, I prepared myself to do any kind of work that came to +hand. I sawed wood, shoveled coal, dug cellars, moved rubbish from back +yards, worked on the wharves, loaded and unloaded vessels, and scoured +their cabins. + +I afterward got steady work at the brass-foundry owned by Mr. Richmond. +My duty here was to blow the bellows, swing the crane, and empty the +flasks in which castings were made; and at times this was hot and heavy +work. The articles produced here were mostly for ship work, and in the +busy season the foundry was in operation night and day. I have often +worked two nights and every working day of the week. My foreman, Mr. +Cobb, was a good man, and more than once protected me from abuse that +one or more of the hands was disposed to throw upon me. While in this +situation I had little time for mental improvement. Hard work, night and +day, over a furnace hot enough to keep the metal running like water, +was more favorable to action than thought; yet here I often nailed a +newspaper to the post near my bellows, and read while I was performing +the up and down motion of the heavy beam by which the bellows was +inflated and discharged. It was the pursuit of knowledge under +difficulties, and I look back to it now, after so many years, with some +complacency and a little wonder that I could have been so earnest and +persevering in any pursuit other than for my daily bread. I certainly +saw nothing in the conduct of those around to inspire me with such +interest: they were all devoted exclusively to what their hands found +to do. I am glad to be able to say that, during my engagement in this +foundry, no complaint was ever made against me that I did not do my +work, and do it well. The bellows which I worked by main strength was, +after I left, moved by a steam-engine. + + + + +THE GOOPHERED GRAPEVINE by Charles W. Chesnutt + + +About ten years ago my wife was in poor health, and our family doctor, +in whose skill and honesty I had implicit confidence, advised a change +of climate. I was engaged in grape-culture in northern Ohio, and decided +to look for a locality suitable for carrying on the same business +in some Southern State. I wrote to a cousin who had gone into the +turpentine business in central North Carolina, and he assured me that no +better place could be found in the South than the State and neighborhood +in which he lived: climate and soil were all that could be asked for, +and land could be bought for a mere song. A cordial invitation to visit +him while I looked into the matter was accepted. We found the weather +delightful at that season, the end of the summer, and were most +hospitably entertained. Our host placed a horse and buggy at our +disposal, and himself acted as guide until I got somewhat familiar with +the country. + +I went several times to look at a place which I thought might suit me. +It had been at one time a thriving plantation, but shiftless cultivation +had well-night exhausted the soil. There had been a vineyard of some +extent on the place, but it had not been attended to since the war, +and had fallen into utter neglect. The vines--here partly supported +by decayed and broken-down arbors, there twining themselves among the +branches of the slender saplings which had sprung up among them--grew in +wild and unpruned luxuriance, and the few scanty grapes which they bore +were the undisputed prey of the first comer. The site was admirably +adapted to grape-raising; the soil, with a little attention, could not +have been better; and with the native grape, the luscious scuppernong, +mainly to rely upon, I felt sure that I could introduce and cultivate +successfully a number of other varieties. + +One day I went over with my wife, to show her the place. We drove +between the decayed gate-posts--the gate itself had long since +disappeared--and up the straight, sandy lane to the open space where a +dwelling-house had once stood. But the house had fallen a victim to the +fortunes of war, and nothing remained of it except the brick pillars +upon which the sills had rested. We alighted, and walked about the place +for a while; but on Annie's complaining of weariness I led the way back +to the yard, where a pine log, lying under a spreading elm, formed a +shady though somewhat hard seat. One end of the log was already occupied +by a venerable-looking colored man. He held on his knees a hat full of +grapes, over which he was smacking his lips with great gusto, and a pile +of grape-skins near him indicated that the performance was no new thing. +He respectfully rose as we approached, and was moving away, when I +begged him to keep his seat. + +"Don't let us disturb you," I said. "There's plenty of room for us all." + +He resumed his seat with somewhat of embarrassment. + +"Do you live around here?" I asked, anxious to put him at his ease. + +"Yas, suh. I lives des ober yander, behine de nex' san'-hill, on de +Lumberton plank-road." + +"Do you know anything about the time when this vineyard was cultivated?" + +"Lawd bless yer, suh, I knows all about it. Dey ain' na'er a man in dis +settlement w'at won' tell yer ole Julius McAdoo 'uz bawn an' raise' on +dis yer same plantation. Is you de Norv'n gemman w'at's gwine ter buy de +ole vimya'd?" + +"I am looking at it," I replied; "but I don't know that I shall care to +buy unless I can be reasonably sure of making something out of it." + +"Well, suh, you is a stranger ter me, en I is a stranger ter you, en we +is bofe strangers ter one anudder, but 'f I 'uz in yo' place, I wouldn' +buy dis vimya'd." + +"Why not?" I asked. + +"Well, I dunner whe'r you b'lieves in cunj'in er not,--some er de w'ite +folks don't, er says dey don't,--but de truf er de matter is dat dis yer +ole vimya'd is goophered." + +"Is what?" I asked, not grasping the meaning of this unfamiliar word. + +"Is goophered, cunju'd, bewitch'." + +He imparted this information with such solemn earnestness, and with such +an air of confidential mystery, that I felt somewhat interested, while +Annie was evidently much impressed, and drew closer to me. + +"How do you know it is bewitched?" I asked. + +"I wouldn' spec' fer you ter b'lieve me 'less you know all 'bout de +fac's. But ef you en young miss dere doan' min' lis'n'in' ter a ole +nigger run on a minute er two w'ile you er restin', I kin 'splain to yer +how it all happen'." + +We assured him that we would be glad to hear how it all happened, and +he began to tell us. At first the current of his memory--or +imagination--seemed somewhat sluggish; but as his embarrassment wore +off, his language flowed more freely, and the story acquired perspective +and coherence. As he became more and more absorbed in the narrative, +his eyes assumed a dreamy expression, and he seemed to lose sight of his +auditors, and to be living over again in monologue his life on the old +plantation. + +"Ole Mars Dugal' McAdoo bought dis place long many years befo' de wah, +en I 'member well w'en he sot out all dis yer part er de plantation +in scuppernon's. De vimes growed monst'us fas', en Mars Dugal' made a +thousan' gallon er scuppernon' wine eve'y year. + +"Now, ef dey's an'thing a nigger lub, nex' ter 'possum, en chick'n, +en watermillyums, it's scuppernon's. Dey ain' nuffin dat kin stan' up +side'n de scuppernon' fer sweetness; sugar ain't a suckumstance ter +scuppernon'. W'en de season is nigh 'bout ober, en de grapes begin ter +swivel up des a little wid de wrinkles er ole age,--w'en de skin git +sof' en brown,--den de scuppernon' make you smack yo' lip en roll yo' +eye en wush fer mo'; so I reckon it ain' very 'stonishin' dat niggers +lub scuppernon'. + +"Dey wuz a sight er niggers in de naberhood er de vimya'd. Dere wuz ole +Mars Henry Brayboy's niggers, en ole Mars Dunkin McLean's niggers, en +Mars Dugal's own niggers; den dey wuz a settlement er free niggers +en po' buckrahs down by de Wim'l'ton Road, en Mars Dugal' had de only +vimya'd in de naberhood. I reckon it ain' so much so nowadays, but befo' +de wah, in slab'ry times, er nigger didn' mine goin' fi' er ten mile in +a night, w'en dey wuz sump'n good ter eat at de yuther een. + +"So atter a w'ile Mars Dugal' begin ter miss his scuppernon's. Co'se he +'cuse' de niggers er it, but dey all 'nied it ter de las'. Mars Dugal' +sot spring guns en steel traps, en he en de oberseah sot up nights +once't er twice't, tel one night Mars Dugal'--he 'uz a monst'us keerless +man--got his leg shot full er cow-peas. But somehow er nudder dey +couldn' nebber ketch none er de niggers. I dunner how it happen, but it +happen des like I tell yer, en de grapes kep' on a-goin des de same. + +"But bimeby ole Mars Dugal' fix' up a plan ter stop it. Dey 'uz a cunjuh +'ooman livin' down mongs' de free niggers on de Wim'l'ton Road, en all +de darkies fum Rockfish ter Beaver Crick wuz feared uv her. She could +wuk de mos' powerfulles' kind er goopher,--could make people hab fits er +rheumatiz, er make 'em des dwinel away en die; en dey say she went out +ridin' de niggers at night, for she wuz a witch 'sides bein' a cunjuh +'ooman. Mars Dugal' hearn 'bout Aun' Peggy's doin's, en begun ter 'flect +whe'r er no he couldn' git her ter he'p him keep de niggers off'n de +grapevimes. One day in de spring er de year, ole miss pack' up a basket +er chick'n en poun'-cake, en a bottle er scuppernon' wine, en Mars +Dugal' tuk it in his buggy en driv ober ter Aun' Peggy's cabin. He tuk +de basket in, en had a long talk wid Aun' Peggy. De nex' day Aun' Peggy +come up ter de vimya'd. De niggers seed her slippin' 'roun', en dey soon +foun' out what she 'uz doin' dere. Mars Dugal' had hi'ed her ter goopher +de grapevimes. She sa'ntered 'roun' mongs' de vimes, en tuk a leaf fum +dis one, en a grape-hull fum dat one, en a grape-seed fum anudder one; +en den a little twig fum here, en a little pinch er dirt fum dere,--en +put it all in a big black bottle, wid a snake's toof en a speckle' hen's +gall en some ha'rs fum a black cat's tail, en den fill' de bottle wid +scuppernon' wine. W'en she got de goopher all ready en fix', she tuk 'n +went out in de woods en buried it under de root uv a red oak tree, en +den come back en tole one er de niggers she done goopher de grapevimes, +en a'er a nigger w'at eat dem grapes 'ud be sho ter die inside'n twel' +mont's. + +"Atter dat de niggers let de scuppernon's 'lone, en Mars Dugal' didn' +hab no 'casion ter fine no mo' fault; en de season wuz mos' gone, w'en +a strange gemman stop at de plantation one night ter see Mars Dugal' on +some business; en his coachman, seein' de scuppernon's growin' so nice +en sweet, slip 'roun' behine de smoke-house, en et all de scuppernon's +he could hole. Nobody didn' notice it at de time, but dat night, on de +way home, de gemman's hoss runned away en kill' de coachman. W'en we +hearn de noos, Aun' Lucy, de cook, she up 'n say she seed de strange +nigger eat'n' er de scuppernon's behine de smoke-house; en den we knowed +de goopher had b'en er wukkin. Den one er de nigger chilluns runned +away fum de quarters one day, en got in de scuppernon's, en died de nex' +week. W'ite folks say he die' er de fevuh, but de niggers knowed it wuz +de goopher. So you k'n be sho de darkies didn' hab much ter do wid dem +scuppernon' vimes. + +"W'en de scuppernon' season 'uz ober fer dat year, Mars Dugal' foun' he +had made fifteen hund'ed gallon er wine; en one er de niggers hearn +him laffin' wid de oberseah fit ter kill, en sayin' dem fifteen hund'ed +gallon er wine wuz monst'us good intrus' on de ten dollars he laid +out on de vimya'd. So I 'low ez he paid Aun' Peggy ten dollars fer to +goopher de grapevimes. + +"De goopher didn' wuk no mo' tel de nex' summer, w'en 'long to'ds de +middle er de season one er de fiel' han's died; en ez dat lef' Mars +Dugal' sho't er han's, he went off ter town fer ter buy anudder. He +fotch de noo nigger home wid 'im. He wuz er ole nigger, er de color er +a gingy-cake, en ball ez a hoss-apple on de top er his head. He wuz a +peart ole nigger, do', en could do a big day's wuk. + +"Now it happen dat one er de niggers on de nex' plantation, one er ole +Mars Henry Brayboy's niggers, had runned away de day befo', en tuk ter +de swamp, en ole Mars Dugal' en some er de yuther nabor w'ite folks had +gone out wid dere guns en dere dogs fer ter he'p 'em hunt fer de nigger; +en de han's on our own plantation wuz all so flusterated dat we fuhgot +ter tell de noo han' 'bout de goopher on de scuppernon' vimes. Co'se he +smell de grapes en see de vimes, an atter dahk de fus' thing he done +wuz ter slip off ter de grapevimes 'dout sayin' nuffin ter nobody. Nex' +mawnin' he tole some er de niggers 'bout de fine bait er scuppernon' he +et de night befo'. + +"W'en dey tole 'im 'bout de goopher on de grapevimes, he 'uz dat +tarrified dat he turn pale, en look des like he gwine ter die right in +his tracks. De oberseah come up en axed w'at 'uz de matter; en w'en dey +tole 'im Henry be'n eatin' er de scuppernon's, en got de goopher on 'im, +he gin Henry a big drink er w'iskey, en 'low dat de nex' rainy day he +take 'im ober ter Aun' Peggy's, en see ef she wouldn' take de goopher +off'n him, seein' ez he didn' know nuffin erbout it tel he done et de +grapes. + +"Sho nuff, it rain de nex' day, en de oberseah went ober ter Aun' +Peggy's wid Henry. En Aun' Peggy say dat bein' ez Henry didn' know 'bout +de goopher, en et de grapes in ign'ance er de quinseconces, she reckon +she mought be able fer ter take de goopher off'n him. So she fotch out +er bottle wid some cunjuh medicine in it, en po'd some out in a go'd fer +Henry ter drink. He manage ter git it down; he say it tas'e like whiskey +wid sump'n bitter in it. She 'lowed dat 'ud keep de goopher off'n him +tel de spring; but w'en de sap begin ter rise in de grapevimes he ha' +ter come en see her agin, en she tell him w'at e's ter do. + +"Nex' spring, w'en de sap commence' ter rise in de scuppernon' vime, +Henry tuk a ham one night. Whar'd he git de ham? I doan know; dey wa'nt +no hams on de plantation 'cep'n' w'at 'uz in de smoke-house, but I never +see Henry 'bout de smoke-house. But ez I wuz a-sayin', he tuk de ham +ober ter Aun' Peggy's; en Aun' Peggy tole 'im dat w'en Mars Dugal' begin +ter prume de grapevimes, he mus' go en take 'n scrape off de sap whar it +ooze out'n de cut een's er de vimes, en 'n'int his ball head wid it; en +ef he do dat once't a year de goopher wouldn' wuk agin 'im long ez he +done it. En bein' ez he fotch her de ham, she fix' it so he kin eat all +de scuppernon' he want. + +"So Henry 'n'int his head wid de sap out'n de big grapevime des ha'f way +'twix' de quarters en de big house, en de goopher nebber wuk agin him +dat summer. But de beatenes' thing you eber see happen ter Henry. Up +ter dat time he wuz ez ball ez a sweeten' 'tater, but des ez soon ez de +young leaves begun ter come out on de grapevimes de ha'r begun ter grow +out on Henry's head, en by de middle er de summer he had de bigges' head +er ha'r on de plantation. Befo' dat, Henry had tol'able good ha'r 'roun +de aidges, but soon ez de young grapes begun ter come Henry's ha'r begun +ter quirl all up in little balls, des like dis yer reg'lar grapy ha'r, +en by de time de grapes got ripe his head look des like a bunch er +grapes. Combin' it didn' do no good; he wuk at it ha'f de night wid er +Jim Crow [1], en think he git it straighten' out, but in de mawnin' de +grapes 'ud be dere des de same. So he gin it up, en tried ter keep de +grapes down by havin' his ha'r cut sho't." + +[Footnote 1: A small card, resembling a curry-comb in construction, and +used by negroes in the rural districts instead of a comb.] + +"But dat wa'nt de quares' thing 'bout de goopher. When Henry come ter de +plantation, he wuz gittin' a little ole an stiff in de j'ints. But +dat summer he got des ez spry en libely ez any young nigger on de +plantation; fac' he got so biggity dat Mars Jackson, de oberseah, ha' +ter th'eaten ter whip 'im, ef he didn' stop cuttin' up his didos en +behave hisse'f. But de mos' cur'ouses' thing happen' in de fall, when +de sap begin ter go down in de grapevimes. Fus', when de grapes 'uz +gethered, de knots begun ter straighten out'n Henry's h'ar; en w'en de +leaves begin ter fall, Henry's ha'r begin ter drap out; en w'en de vimes +'uz b'ar, Henry's head wuz baller 'n it wuz in de spring, en he begin +ter git ole en stiff in de j'ints ag'in, en paid no mo' tention ter de +gals dyoin' er de whole winter. En nex' spring, w'en he rub de sap on +ag'in, he got young ag'in, en so soopl en libely dat none er de young +niggers on de plantation couldn' jump, ner dance, ner hoe ez much cotton +ez Henry. But in de fall er de year his grapes begun ter straighten out, +en his j'ints ter git stiff, en his ha'r drap off, en de rheumatiz begin +ter wrastle wid 'im. + +"Now, ef you'd a knowed ole Mars Dugal' McAdoo, you'd a knowed dat +it ha' ter be a mighty rainy day when he couldn' fine sump'n fer his +niggers ter do, en it ha' ter be a mighty little hole he couldn' crawl +thoo, en ha' ter be a monst'us cloudy night w'en a dollar git by him in +de dahkness; en w'en he see how Henry git young in de spring en ole +in de fall, he 'lowed ter hisse'f ez how he could make mo' money outen +Henry dan by wukkin' him in de cotton fiel'. 'Long de nex' spring, atter +de sap commence' ter rise, en Henry 'n'int 'is head en commence fer ter +git young en soopl, Mars Dugal' up 'n tuk Henry ter town, en sole 'im +fer fifteen hunder' dollars. Co'se de man w'at bought Henry didn' know +nuffin 'bout de goopher, en Mars Dugal' didn' see no 'casion fer ter +tell 'im. Long to'ds de fall, w'en de sap went down, Henry begin ter git +ole again same ez yuzhal, en his noo marster begin ter git skeered +les'n he gwine ter lose his fifteen-hunder'-dollar nigger. He sent fer +a mighty fine doctor, but de med'cine didn' 'pear ter do no good; de +goopher had a good holt. Henry tole de doctor 'bout de goopher, but de +doctor des laff at 'im. + +"One day in de winter Mars Dugal' went ter town, en wuz santerin' 'long +de Main Street, when who should he meet but Henry's noo marster. Dey +said 'Hoddy,' en Mars Dugal' ax 'im ter hab a seegyar; en atter dey +run on awhile 'bout de craps en de weather, Mars Dugal' ax 'im, sorter +keerless, like ez ef he des thought of it,-- + +"'How you like de nigger I sole you las' spring?' + +"Henry's marster shuck his head en knock de ashes off'n his seegyar. + +"'Spec' I made a bad bahgin when I bought dat nigger. Henry done good +wuk all de summer, but sence de fall set in he 'pears ter be sorter +pinin' away. Dey ain' nuffin pertickler de matter wid 'im--leastways de +doctor say so--'cep'n' a tech er de rheumatiz; but his ha'r is all fell +out, en ef he don't pick up his strenk mighty soon, I spec' I'm gwine +ter lose 'im." + +"Dey smoked on awhile, en bimeby ole mars say, 'Well, a bahgin's a +bahgin, but you en me is good fren's, en I doan wan' ter see you lose +all de money you paid fer dat digger [sic]; en ef w'at you say is so, en +I ain't 'sputin' it, he ain't wuf much now. I spec's you wukked him +too ha'd dis summer, er e'se de swamps down here don't agree wid de +san'-hill nigger. So you des lemme know, en ef he gits any wusser I'll +be willin' ter gib yer five hund'ed dollars fer 'im, en take my chances +on his livin'.' + +"Sho nuff, when Henry begun ter draw up wid de rheumatiz en it look like +he gwine ter die fer sho, his noo marster sen' fer Mars Dugal', en Mars +Dugal' gin him what he promus, en brung Henry home ag'in. He tuk +good keer uv 'im dyoin' er de winter,--give 'im w'iskey ter rub his +rheumatiz, en terbacker ter smoke, en all he want ter eat,--'caze a +nigger w'at he could make a thousan' dollars a year off'n didn' grow on +eve'y huckleberry bush. + +"Nex' spring, w'en de sap ris en Henry's ha'r commence' ter sprout, Mars +Dugal' sole 'im ag'in, down in Robeson County dis time; en he kep' dat +sellin' business up fer five year er mo'. Henry nebber say nuffin 'bout +de goopher ter his noo marsters, 'caze he know he gwine ter be tuk good +keer uv de nex' winter, w'en Mars Dugal' buy him back. En Mars Dugal' +made 'nuff money off'n Henry ter buy anudder plantation ober on Beaver +Crick. + +"But long 'bout de een' er dat five year dey come a stranger ter stop +at de plantation. De fus' day he 'uz dere he went out wid Mars Dugal' en +spent all de mawnin' lookin' ober de vimya'd, en atter dinner dey spent +all de evenin' playin' kya'ds. De niggers soon 'skiver' dat he wuz a +Yankee, en dat he come down ter Norf C'lina fer ter learn de w'ite folks +how to raise grapes en make wine. He promus Mars Dugal' he cud make de +grapevimes b'ar twice't ez many grapes, en dat de noo wine-press he wuz +a-sellin' would make mo' d'n twice't ez many gallons er wine. En ole +Mars Dugal' des drunk it all in, des 'peared ter be bewitched wit dat +Yankee. W'en de darkies see dat Yankee runnin' 'roun de vimya'd en +diggin' under de grapevimes, dey shuk dere heads, en 'lowed dat dey +feared Mars Dugal' losin' his min'. Mars Dugal' had all de dirt dug away +fum under de roots er all de scuppernon' vimes, an' let 'em stan' dat +away fer a week er mo'. Den dat Yankee made de niggers fix up a mixtry +er lime en ashes en manyo, en po' it roun' de roots er de grapevimes. +Den he 'vise' Mars Dugal' fer ter trim de vimes close't, en Mars Dugal' +tuck 'n done eve'ything de Yankee tole him ter do. Dyoin' all er dis +time, mind yer, 'e wuz libbin' off'n de fat er de lan', at de big house, +en playin' kyards wid Mars Dugal' eve'y night; en dey say Mars Dugal' +los' mo'n a thousan' dollars dyoin' er de week dat Yankee wuz a runnin' +de grapevimes. + +"W'en de sap ris nex' spring, ole Henry 'n'inted his head ez yuzhal, +en his ha'r commence' ter grow des de same ez it done eve'y year. De +scuppernon' vimes growed monst's fas', en de leaves wuz greener en +thicker dan dey eber be'n dyowin my rememb'ance; en Henry's ha'r growed +out thicker dan eber, en he 'peared ter git younger 'n younger, en +soopler 'n soopler; en seein' ez he wuz sho't er han's dat spring, +havin' tuk in consid'able noo groun', Mars Dugal' 'cluded he wouldn' +sell Henry 'tel he git de crap in en de cotton chop'. So he kep' Henry +on de plantation. + +"But 'long 'bout time fer de grapes ter come on de scuppernon' vimes, +dey 'peared ter come a change ober dem; de leaves wivered en swivel' up, +en de young grapes turn' yaller, en bimeby eve'ybody on de plantation +could see dat de whole vimya'd wuz dyin'. Mars Dugal' tuck 'n water de +vimes en done all he could, but 't wan' no use: dat Yankee done bus' de +watermillyum. One time de vimes picked up a bit, en Mars Dugal' thought +dey wuz gwine ter come out ag'in; but dat Yankee done dug too close +unde' de roots, en prune de branches too close ter de vime, en all +dat lime en ashes done burn' de life outen de vimes, en dey des kep' a +with'in' en a swivelin'. + +"All dis time de goopher wuz a-wukkin'. W'en de vimes commence' ter +wither, Henry commence' ter complain er his rheumatiz, en when de leaves +begin ter dry up his ha'r commence' ter drap out. When de vimes fresh up +a bit Henry 'ud git peart agin, en when de vimes wither agin Henry 'ud +git ole agin, en des kep' gittin' mo' en mo' fitten fer nuffin; he des +pined away, en fine'ly tuk ter his cabin; en when de big vime whar he +got de sap ter 'n'int his head withered en turned yaller en died, Henry +died too,--des went out sorter like a cannel. Dey didn't 'pear ter +be nuffin de matter wid 'im, 'cep'n de rheumatiz, but his strenk des +dwinel' away 'tel he didn' hab ernuff lef' ter draw his bref. De goopher +had got de under holt, en th'owed Henry fer good en all dat time. + +"Mars Dugal' tuk on might'ly 'bout losin' his vimes en his nigger in de +same year; en he swo' dat ef he could git hold er dat Yankee he'd wear +'im ter a frazzle, en den chaw up de frazzle; en he'd done it, too, for +Mars Dugal' 'uz a monst'us brash man w'en he once git started. He sot de +vimya'd out ober agin, but it wuz th'ee er fo' year befo' de vimes got +ter b'arin' any scuppernon's. + +"W'en de wah broke out, Mars Dugal' raise' a comp'ny, en went off ter +fight de Yankees. He saw he wuz mighty glad dat wah come, en he des want +ter kill a Yankee fer eve'y dollar he los' 'long er dat grape-raisin' +Yankee. En I 'spec' he would a done it, too, ef de Yankees hadn' +s'picioned sump'n, en killed him fus'. Atter de s'render ole miss move' +ter town, de niggers all scattered 'way fum de plantation, en de vimya'd +ain' be'n cultervated sence." + +"Is that story true?" asked Annie, doubtfully, but seriously, as the old +man concluded his narrative. + +"It's des ez true ez I'm a-settin' here, miss. Dey's a easy way ter +prove it: I kin lead de way right ter Henry's grave ober yander in de +plantation buryin'-groun'. En I tell yer w'at, marster, I wouldn' 'vise +yer to buy dis yer ole vimya'd, 'caze de goopher's on it yit, en dey +ain' no tellin' w'en it's gwine ter crap out." + +"But I thought you said all the old vines died." + +"Dey did 'pear ter die, but a few ov 'em come out ag'in, en is mixed in +mongs' de yuthers. I ain' skeered ter eat de grapes, 'caze I knows de +old vimes fum de noo ones; but wid strangers dey ain' no tellin' w'at +might happen. I wouldn' 'vise yer ter buy dis vimya'd." + +I bought the vineyard, nevertheless, and it has been for a long time +in a thriving condition, and is referred to by the local press as a +striking illustration of the opportunities open to Northern capital in +the development of Southern industries. The luscious scuppernong holds +first rank among our grapes, though we cultivate a great many other +varieties, and our income from grapes packed and shipped to the Northern +markets is quite considerable. I have not noticed any developments of +the goopher in the vineyard, although I have a mild suspicion that our +colored assistants do not suffer from want of grapes during the season. + +I found, when I bought the vineyard, that Uncle Julius had occupied a +cabin on the place for many years, and derived a respectable revenue +from the neglected grapevines. This, doubtless, accounted for his advice +to me not to buy the vineyard, though whether it inspired the goopher +story I am unable to state. I believe, however, that the wages I pay him +for his services are more than an equivalent for anything he lost by the +sale of the vineyard. + + + + +PO' SANDY by Charles W. Chesnutt + + +On the northeast corner of my vineyard in central North Carolina, and +fronting on the Lumberton plank-road, there stood a small frame house, +of the simplest construction. It was built of pine lumber, and contained +but one room, to which one window gave light and one door admission. Its +weather-beaten sides revealed a virgin innocence of paint. Against one +end of the house, and occupying half its width, there stood a huge brick +chimney: the crumbling mortar had left large cracks between the bricks; +the bricks themselves had begun to scale off in large flakes, leaving +the chimney sprinkled with unsightly blotches. These evidences of decay +were but partially concealed by a creeping vine, which extended its +slender branches hither and thither in an ambitious but futile attempt +to cover the whole chimney. The wooden shutter, which had once protected +the unglazed window, had fallen from its hinges, and lay rotting in the +rank grass and jimson-weeds beneath. This building, I learned when I +bought the place, had been used as a school-house for several years +prior to the breaking out of the war, since which time it had remained +unoccupied, save when some stray cow or vagrant hog had sought shelter +within its walls from the chill rains and nipping winds of winter. + +One day my wife requested me to build her a new kitchen. The house +erected by us, when we first came to live upon the vineyard, contained +a very conveniently arranged kitchen; but for some occult reason my wife +wanted a kitchen in the back yard, apart from the dwelling-house, after +the usual Southern fashion. Of course I had to build it. + +To save expense, I decided to tear down the old school-house, and +use the lumber, which was in a good state of preservation, in the +construction of the new kitchen. Before demolishing the old house, +however, I made an estimate of the amount of material contained in it, +and found that I would have to buy several hundred feet of new lumber in +order to build the new kitchen according to my wife's plan. + +One morning old Julius McAdoo, our colored coachman, harnessed the gray +mare to the rockaway, and drove my wife and me over to the saw-mill from +which I meant to order the new lumber. We drove down the long lane which +led from our house to the plank-road; following the plank-road for about +a mile, we turned into a road running through the forest and across the +swamp to the sawmill beyond. Our carriage jolted over the half-rotted +corduroy road which traversed the swamp, and then climbed the long hill +leading to the saw-mill. When we reached the mill, the foreman had gone +over to a neighboring farm-house, probably to smoke or gossip, and +we were compelled to await his return before we could transact our +business. We remained seated in the carriage, a few rods from the mill, +and watched the leisurely movements of the mill-hands. We had not waited +long before a huge pine log was placed in position, the machinery of +the mill was set in motion, and the circular saw began to eat its +way through the log, with a loud whirr which resounded throughout the +vicinity of the mill. The sound rose and fell in a sort of rhythmic +cadence, which, heard from where we sat, was not unpleasing, and not +loud enough to prevent conversation. When the saw started on its second +journey through the log, Julius observed, in a lugubrious tone, and with +a perceptible shudder:-- + +"Ugh! but dat des do cuddle my blood!" + +"What's the matter, Uncle Julius?" inquired my wife, who is of a very +sympathetic turn of mind. "Does the noise affect your nerves?" + +"No, Miss Annie," replied the old man, with emotion, "I ain' narvous; +but dat saw, a-cuttin' en grindin' thoo dat stick er timber, en moanin', +en groanin', en sweekin', kyars my 'memb'ance back ter ole times, +en 'min's me er po' Sandy." The pathetic intonation with which he +lengthened out the "po' Sandy" touched a responsive chord in our own +hearts. + +"And who was poor Sandy?" asked my wife, who takes a deep interest in +the stories of plantation life which she hears from the lips of the +older colored people. Some of these stories are quaintly humorous; +others wildly extravagant, revealing the Oriental cast of the negro's +imagination; while others, poured freely into the sympathetic ear of a +Northern-bred woman, disclose many a tragic incident of the darker side +of slavery. + +"Sandy," said Julius, in reply to my wife's question, "was a nigger w'at +useter b'long ter ole Mars Marrabo McSwayne. Mars Marrabo's place wuz +on de yuther side'n de swamp, right nex' ter yo' place. Sandy wuz a +monst'us good nigger, en could do so many things erbout a plantation, en +alluz 'ten ter his wuk so well, dat w'en Mars Marrabo's chilluns growed +up en married off, dey all un 'em wanted dey daddy fer ter gin 'em +Sandy fer a weddin' present. But Mars Marrabo knowed de res' wouldn' be +satisfied ef he gin Sandy ter a'er one un 'em; so w'en dey wuz all done +married, he fix it by 'lowin' one er his chilluns ter take Sandy fer a +mont' er so, en den ernudder for a mont' er so, en so on dat erway tel +dey had all had 'im de same lenk er time; en den dey would all take him +roun' ag'in, 'cep'n oncet in a w'ile w'en Mars Marrabo would len' 'im +ter some er his yuther kinfolks 'roun' de country, w'en dey wuz short er +han's; tel bimeby it go so Sandy didn' hardly knowed whar he wuz gwine +ter stay fum one week's een ter de yuther. + +"One time w'en Sandy wuz lent out ez yushal, a spekilater come erlong +wid a lot er niggers, en Mars Marrabo swap' Sandy's wife off fer a noo +'oman. W'en Sandy come back, Mars Marrabo gin 'im a dollar, en 'lowed he +wuz monst'us sorry fer ter break up de fambly, but de spekilater had gin +'im big boot, en times wuz hard en money skase, en so he wuz bleedst ter +make de trade. Sandy tuk on some 'bout losin' his wife, but he soon seed +dey want no use cryin' ober spilt merlasses; en bein' ez he lacked de +looks er de noo 'ooman, he tuk up wid her atter she b'n on de plantation +a mont' er so. + +"Sandy en his noo wife got on mighty well tergedder, en de niggers +all 'mence' ter talk about how lovin' dey wuz. W'en Tenie wuz tuk sick +oncet, Sandy useter set up all night wid 'er, en den go ter wuk in +de mawnin' des lack he had his reg'lar sleep; en Tenie would 'a done +anythin' in de worl' for her Sandy. + +"Sandy en Tenie hadn' b'en libbin' tergedder fer mo' d'n two mont's +befo' Mars Marrabo's old uncle, w'at libbed down in Robeson County, sent +up ter fine out ef Mars Marrabo couldn' len' 'im er hire 'im a good han' +fer a mont' er so. Sandy's marster wuz one er dese yer easy-gwine folks +w'at wanter please eve'ybody, en he says yas, he could len' 'im Sandy. +En Mars Marrabo tole Sandy fer ter git ready ter go down ter Robeson +nex' day, fer ter stay a mont' er so. + +"Hit wuz monst'us hard on Sandy fer ter take 'im 'way fum Tenie. Hit wuz +so fur down ter Robeson dat he didn' hab no chance er comin' back ter +see her tel de time wuz up; he wouldn' a' mine comin' ten er fifteen +mile at night ter see Tenie, but Mars Marrabo's uncle's plantation wuz +mo' d'n forty mile off. Sandy wuz mighty sad en cas' down atter w'at +Mars Marrabo tole 'im, en he says ter Tenie, sezee:-- + +"'I'm gittin monstus ti'ed er dish yer gwine roun' so much. Here I is +lent ter Mars Jeems dis mont', en I got ter do so-en-so; en ter Mars +Archie de nex' mont', en I got ter do so-en-so; den I got ter go ter +Miss Jinnie's: en hit's Sandy dis en Sandy dat, en Sandy yer en Sandy +dere, tel it 'pears ter me I ain' got no home, ner no marster, ner no +mistiss, ner no nuffin'. I can't eben keep a wife: my yuther ole 'oman +wuz sole away widout my gittin' a chance fer ter tell her good-by; en +now I got ter go off en leab you, Tenie, en I dunno whe'r I'm eber gwine +ter see yer ag'in er no. I wisht I wuz a tree, er a stump, er a rock, er +sump'n w'at could stay on de plantation fer a w'ile.' + +"Atter Sandy got thoo talkin', Tenie didn' say naer word, but des sot +dere by de fier, studyin' en studyin'. Bimeby she up'n says:-- + +"'Sandy, is I eber tole you I wuz a cunjuh-'ooman?' + +"Co'se Sandy hadn' nebber dremp' er nuffin lack dat, en he made a great +miration w'en he hear w'at Tenie say. Bimeby Tenie went on:-- + +"'I ain' goophered nobody, ner done no cunjuh-wuk fer fifteen yer er mo; +en w'en I got religion I made up my mine I wouldn' wuk no mo' goopher. +But dey is some things I doan b'lieve it's no sin fer ter do; en ef you +doan wanter be sent roun' fum pillar ter pos', en ef you doan wanter go +down ter Robeson, I kin fix things so yer won't haf ter. Ef you'll des +say de word, I kin turn yer ter w'ateber yer wanter be, en yer kin stay +right whar yer wanter, ez long ez yer mineter.' + +"Sandy say he doan keer; he's willin' fer ter do anythin' fer ter stay +close ter Tenie. Den Tenie ax 'im ef he doan wanter be turnt inter a +rabbit. + +"Sandy say, 'No, de dogs mout git atter me.' + +"'Shill I turn yer ter a wolf?' sez Tenie. + +"'No, eve'ybody's skeered er a wolf, en I doan want nobody ter be +skeered er me.' + +"'Shill I turn yer ter a mawkin'-bird?' + +"'No, a hawk mout ketch me. I wanter be turnt inter sump'n w'at'll stay +in one place.' + +"'I kin turn yer ter a tree,' sez Tenie. 'You won't hab no mouf ner +years, but I kin turn yer back oncet in a w'ile, so yer kin git sump'n +ter eat, en hear w'at's gwine on.' + +"Well, Sandy say dat'll do. En so Tenie tuk 'im down by de aidge er de +swamp, not fur fum de quarters, en turnt 'im inter a big pine-tree, en +sot 'im out mongs' some yuther trees. En de nex' mawnin', ez some er de +fiel' han's wuz gwine long dere, dey seed a tree w'at dey didn' 'member +er habbin' seed befo; it wuz monst'us quare, en dey wuz bleedst ter +'low dat dey hadn' 'membered right, er e'se one er de saplin's had be'n +growin' monst'us fas'. + +"W'en Mars Marrabo 'skiver' dat Sandy wuz gone, he 'lowed Sandy had +runned away. He got de dogs out, but de las' place dey could track Sandy +ter wuz de foot er dat pine-tree. En dere de dogs stood en barked, en +bayed, en pawed at de tree, en tried ter climb up on it; en w'en dey wuz +tuk roun' thoo de swamp ter look fer de scent, dey broke loose en made +fer dat tree ag'in. It wuz de beatenis' thing de w'ite folks eber hearn +of, en Mars Marrabo 'lowed dat Sandy must a' clim' up on de tree en +jump' off on a mule er sump'n, en rid fur 'nuff fer ter spile de scent. +Mars Marrabo wanted ter 'cuse some er de yuther niggers er heppin Sandy +off, but dey all 'nied it ter de las'; en eve'ybody knowed Tenie sot too +much by Sandy fer ter he'p 'im run away whar she couldn' nebber see 'im +no mo'. + +"W'en Sandy had be'n gone long 'nuff fer folks ter think he done got +clean away, Tenie useter go down ter de woods at night en turn 'im back, +en den dey'd slip up ter de cabin en set by de fire en talk. But dey ha' +ter be monst'us keerful, er e'se somebody would a seed 'em, en dat would +a spile de whole thing; so Tenie alluz turnt Sandy back in de mawnin' +early, befo' anybody wuz a'stirrin'. + +"But Sandy didn' git erlong widout his trials en tribberlations. One day +a woodpecker come erlong en 'mence' ter peck at de tree; en de nex' time +Sandy wuz turnt back he had a little roun' hole in his arm, des lack a +sharp stick be'n stuck in it. Atter dat Tenie sot a sparrer-hawk fer ter +watch de tree; en w'en de woodpecker come erlong nex' mawnin' fer ter +finish his nes', he got gobble' up mos' fo' he stuck his bill in de +bark. + +"Nudder time, Mars Marrabo sent a nigger out in de woods fer ter chop +tuppentime boxes. De man chop a box in dish yer tree, en hack' de bark +up two er th'ee feet, fer ter let de tuppentime run. De nex' time Sandy +wuz turnt back he had a big skyar on his lef' leg, des lack it be'n +skunt; en it tuk Tenie nigh 'bout all night fer ter fix a mixtry ter kyo +it up. Atter dat, Tenie sot a hawnet fer ter watch de tree; en w'en de +nigger come back ag'in fer ter cut ernudder box on de yuther side'n de +tree, de hawnet stung 'im so hard dat de ax slip en cut his foot nigh +'bout off. + +"W'en Tenie see so many things happenin' ter de tree, she 'cluded she'd +ha' ter turn Sandy ter sump'n e'se; en atter studyin' de matter ober, +en talkin' wid Sandy one ebenin', she made up her mine fer ter fix up a +goopher mixtry w'at would turn herse'f en Sandy ter foxes, er sump'n, +so dey could run away en go some'rs whar dey could be free en lib lack +w'ite folks. + +"But dey ain' no tellin' w'at's gwine ter happen in dis worl'. Tenie had +got de night sot fer her en Sandy ter run away, w'en dat ve'y day one +er Mars Marrabo's sons rid up ter de big house in his buggy, en say his +wife wuz monst'us sick, en he want his mammy ter len' 'im a 'ooman fer +ter nuss his wife. Tenie's mistiss say sen Tenie; she wuz a good nuss. +Young mars wuz in a tarrible hurry fer ter git back home. Tenie wuz +washin' at de big house dat day, en her mistiss say she should go right +'long wid her young marster. Tenie tried ter make some 'scuse fer ter +git away en hide tel night, w'en she would have eve'ything fix' up +fer her en Sandy; she say she wanter go ter her cabin fer ter git +her bonnet. Her mistiss say it doan matter 'bout de bonnet; her +head-hankcher wuz good 'nuff. Den Tenie say she wanter git her bes' +frock; her mistiss say no, she doan need no mo' frock, en w'en dat one +got dirty she could git a clean one whar she wuz gwine. So Tenie had ter +git in de buggy en go 'long wid young Mars Dunkin ter his plantation, +w'ich wuz mo' d'n twenty mile away; en dey want no chance er her seein' +Sandy no mo' tel she come back home. De po' gal felt monst'us bad erbout +de way things wuz gwine on, en she knowed Sandy mus' be a wond'rin' why +she didn' come en turn 'im back no mo'. + +"W'iles Tenie wuz away nussin' young Mars Dunkin's wife, Mars Marrabo +tuk a notion fer ter buil' 'im a noo kitchen; en bein' ez he had lots +er timber on his place, he begun ter look 'roun' fer a tree ter hab de +lumber sawed out'n. En I dunno how it come to be so, but he happen fer +ter hit on de ve'y tree w'at Sandy wuz turnt inter. Tenie wuz gone, en +dey wa'n't nobody ner nuffin' fer ter watch de tree. + +"De two men w'at cut de tree down say dey nebber had sech a time wid +a tree befo': dey axes would glansh off, en didn' 'pear ter make no +progress thoo de wood; en of all de creakin', en shakin', en wobblin' +you eber see, dat tree done it w'en it commence' ter fall. It wuz de +beatenis' thing! + +"W'en dey got de tree all trim' up, dey chain it up ter a timber waggin, +en start fer de saw-mill. But dey had a hard time gittin' de log dere: +fus' dey got stuck in de mud w'en dey wuz gwine crosst de swamp, en +it wuz two er th'ee hours befo' dey could git out. W'en dey start' on +ag'in, de chain kep' a-comin' loose, en dey had ter keep a-stoppin' en +a-stoppin' fer ter hitch de log up ag'in. W'en dey commence' ter climb +de hill ter de saw-mill, de log broke loose, en roll down de hill en in +mongs' de trees, en hit tuk nigh 'bout half a day mo' ter git it haul' +up ter de saw-mill. + +"De nex' mawnin' atter de day de tree wuz haul' ter de saw-mill, Tenie +come home. W'en she got back ter her cabin, de fus' thing she done wuz +ter run down ter de woods en see how Sandy wuz gittin' on. W'en she seed +de stump standin' dere, wid de sap runnin' out'n it, en de limbs layin' +scattered roun', she nigh 'bout went out'n her mine. She run ter her +cabin, en got her goopher mixtry, en den foller de track er de timber +waggin ter de saw-mill. She knowed Sandy couldn' lib mo' d'n a minute er +so ef she turn' him back, fer he wuz all chop' up so he'd a be'n bleedst +ter die. But she wanted ter turn 'im back long ernuff fer ter 'splain +ter 'im dat she hadn' went off a-purpose, en lef' 'im ter be chop' down +en sawed up. She didn' want Sandy ter die wid no hard feelin's to'ds +her. + +"De han's at de saw-mill had des got de big log on de kerridge, en wuz +startin' up de saw, w'en dey seed a 'oman runnin up de hill, all out er +bref, cryin' en gwine on des lack she wuz plumb 'stracted. It wuz Tenie; +she come right inter de mill, en th'owed herse'f on de log, right in +front er de saw, a-hollerin' en cryin' ter her Sandy ter fergib her, +en not ter think hard er her, fer it wa'n't no fault er hern. Den Tenie +'membered de tree didn' hab no years, en she wuz gittin' ready fer ter +wuk her goopher mixtry so ez ter turn Sandy back, w'en de mill-hands +kotch holt er her en tied her arms wid a rope, en fasten' her to one er +de posts in de saw-mill; en den dey started de saw up ag'in, en cut de +log up inter bo'ds en scantlin's right befo' her eyes. But it wuz mighty +hard wuk; fer of all de sweekin', en moanin', en groanin', dat log +done it w'iles de saw wuz a-cuttin' thoo it. De saw wuz one er dese yer +ole-timey, up-en-down saws, en hit tuk longer dem days ter saw a log +'en it do now. Dey greased de saw, but dat didn' stop de fuss; hit kep' +right on, tel finely dey got de log all sawed up. + +"W'en de oberseah w'at run de saw-mill come fum brekfas', de han's up +en tell him 'bout de crazy 'ooman--ez dey s'posed she wuz--w'at had +come runnin' in de saw-mill, a-hollerin' en gwine on, en tried ter th'ow +herse'f befo' de saw. En de oberseah sent two er th'ee er de han's fer +ter take Tenie back ter her marster's plantation. + +"Tenie 'peared ter be out'n her mine fer a long time, en her marster +ha' ter lock her up in de smoke-'ouse tel she got ober her spells. Mars +Marrabo wuz monst'us mad, en hit would a made yo' flesh crawl fer ter +hear him cuss, caze he say de spekilater w'at he got Tenie fum had +fooled 'im by wukkin' a crazy 'oman off on him. Wiles Tenie wuz lock up +in de smoke-'ouse, Mars Marrabo tuk'n' haul de lumber fum de saw-mill, +en put up his noo kitchen. + +"W'en Tenie got quiet' down, so she could be 'lowed ter go 'roun' de +plantation, she up'n tole her marster all erbout Sandy en de pine-tree; +en w'en Mars Marrabo hearn it, he 'lowed she wuz de wuss 'stracted +nigger he eber hearn of. He didn' know w'at ter do wid Tenie: fus' he +thought he'd put her in de po'-house; but finely, seein' ez she didn' do +no harm ter nobody ner nuffin', but des went roun' moanin', en groanin', +en shakin' her head, he 'cluded ter let her stay on de plantation +en nuss de little nigger chilluns w'en dey mammies wuz ter wuk in de +cotton-fiel'. + +"De noo kitchen Mars Marrabo buil' wuzn' much use, fer it hadn' be'n put +up long befo' de niggers 'mence' ter notice quare things erbout it. Dey +could hear sump'n moanin' en groanin' 'bout de kitchen in de night-time, +en w'en de win' would blow dey could hear sump'n a-hollerin' en sweekin' +lack hit wuz in great pain en sufferin'. En hit got so atter a w'ile dat +hit wuz all Mars Marrabo's wife could do ter git a 'ooman ter stay in de +kitchen in de daytime long ernuff ter do de cookin'; en dey wa'n't naer +nigger on de plantation w'at wouldn' rudder take forty dan ter go 'bout +dat kitchen atter dark,--dat is, 'cep'n Tenie; she didn' pear ter mine +de ha'nts. She useter slip 'roun' at night, en set on de kitchen steps, +en lean up agin de do'-jamb, en run on ter herse'f wid some kine er +foolishness w'at nobody couldn' make out; fer Mars Marrabo had th'eaten' +ter sen' her off'n de plantation ef she say anything ter any er de +yuther niggers 'bout de pine-tree. But somehow er nudder de niggers +foun' out all 'bout it, en dey knowed de kitchen wuz ha'anted by Sandy's +sperrit. En bimeby hit got so Mars Marrabo's wife herse'f wuz skeered +ter go out in de yard atter dark. + +"W'en it come ter dat, Mars Marrabo tuk 'n' to' de kitchen down, en use' +de lumber fer ter buil' dat ole school-'ouse w'at youer talkin' 'bout +pullin' down. De school-'ouse wuzn' use' 'cep'n' in de daytime, en on +dark nights folks gwine 'long de road would hear quare soun's en see +quare things. Po' ole Tenie useter go down dere at night, en wander +'roun' de school-'ouse; en de niggers all 'lowed she went fer ter talk +wid Sandy's sperrit. En one winter mawnin', w'en one er de boys went +ter school early fer ter start de fire, w'at should he fine but po' ole +Tenie, layin' on de flo', stiff, en cole, en dead. Dere didn' 'pear ter +be nuffin' pertickler de matter wid her,--she had des grieve' herse'f +ter def fer her Sandy. Mars Marrabo didn' shed no tears. He thought +Tenie wuz crazy, en dey wa'n't no tellin' w'at she mout do nex'; en dey +ain' much room in dis worl' fer crazy w'ite folks, let 'lone a crazy +nigger. + +"Hit wa'n't long atter dat befo' Mars Marrabo sole a piece er his track +er lan' ter Mars Dugal' McAdoo,--MY ole marster,--en dat's how de ole +school-house happen to be on yo' place. W'en de wah broke out, de school +stop', en de ole school-'ouse be'n stannin' empty ever sence,--dat is, +'cep'n' fer de ha'nts. En folks sez dat de ole school-'ouse, er any +yuther house w'at got any er dat lumber in it w'at wuz sawed out'n de +tree w'at Sandy wuz turnt inter, is gwine ter be ha'nted tel de las' +piece er plank is rotted en crumble' inter dus'." + +Annie had listened to this gruesome narrative with strained attention. + +"What a system it was," she exclaimed, when Julius had finished, "under +which such things were possible!" + +"What things?" I asked, in amazement. "Are you seriously considering the +possibility of a man's being turned into a tree?" + +"Oh, no," she replied quickly, "not that;" and then she added absently, +and with a dim look in her fine eyes, "Poor Tenie!" + +We ordered the lumber, and returned home. That night, after we had gone +to bed, and my wife had to all appearances been sound asleep for half an +hour, she startled me out of an incipient doze by exclaiming suddenly,-- + +"John, I don't believe I want my new kitchen built out of the lumber in +that old school-house." + +"You wouldn't for a moment allow yourself," I replied, with some +asperity, "to be influenced by that absurdly impossible yarn which +Julius was spinning to-day?" + +"I know the story is absurd," she replied dreamily, "and I am not so +silly as to believe it. But I don't think I should ever be able to +take any pleasure in that kitchen if it were built out of that lumber. +Besides, I think the kitchen would look better and last longer if the +lumber were all new." + +Of course she had her way. I bought the new lumber, though not without +grumbling. A week or two later I was called away from home on business. +On my return, after an absence of several days, my wife remarked to +me,-- + +"John, there has been a split in the Sandy Run Colored Baptist Church, +on the temperance question. About half the members have come out from +the main body, and set up for themselves. Uncle Julius is one of the +seceders, and he came to me yesterday and asked if they might not hold +their meetings in the old school-house for the present." + +"I hope you didn't let the old rascal have it," I returned, with some +warmth. I had just received a bill for the new lumber I had bought. + +"Well," she replied, "I could not refuse him the use of the house for so +good a purpose." + +"And I'll venture to say," I continued, "that you subscribed something +toward the support of the new church?" + +She did not attempt to deny it. + +"What are they going to do about the ghost?" I asked, somewhat curious +to know how Julius would get around this obstacle. + +"Oh," replied Annie, "Uncle Julius says that ghosts never disturb +religious worship, but that if Sandy's spirit SHOULD happen to stray +into meeting by mistake, no doubt the preaching would do it good." + + + + +DAVE'S NECKLISS by Charles W. Chesnutt + + +"Have some dinner, Uncle Julius?" said my wife. + +It was a Sunday afternoon in early autumn. Our two women-servants had +gone to a camp-meeting some miles away, and would not return until +evening. My wife had served the dinner, and we were just rising from +the table, when Julius came up the lane, and, taking off his hat, seated +himself on the piazza. + +The old man glanced through the open door at the dinner-table, and his +eyes rested lovingly upon a large sugar-cured ham, from which several +slices had been cut, exposing a rich pink expanse that would have +appealed strongly to the appetite of any hungry Christian. + +"Thanky, Miss Annie," he said, after a momentary hesitation, "I dunno ez +I keers ef I does tas'e a piece er dat ham, ef yer'll cut me off a slice +un it." + +"No," said Annie, "I won't. Just sit down to the table and help +yourself; eat all you want, and don't be bashful." + +Julius drew a chair up to the table, while my wife and I went out on +the piazza. Julius was in my employment; he took his meals with his own +family, but when he happened to be about our house at meal-times, my +wife never let him go away hungry. + +I threw myself into a hammock, from which I could see Julius through an +open window. He ate with evident relish, devoting his attention chiefly +to the ham, slice after slice of which disappeared in the spacious +cavity of his mouth. At first the old man ate rapidly, but after the +edge of his appetite had been taken off he proceeded in a more leisurely +manner. When he had cut the sixth slice of ham (I kept count of them +from a lazy curiosity to see how much he COULD eat) I saw him lay it +on his plate; as he adjusted the knife and fork to cut it into smaller +pieces, he paused, as if struck by a sudden thought, and a tear rolled +down his rugged cheek and fell upon the slice of ham before him. But the +emotion, whatever the thought that caused it, was transitory, and in a +moment he continued his dinner. When he was through eating, he came +out on the porch, and resumed his seat with the satisfied expression of +countenance that usually follows a good dinner. + +"Julius," I said, "you seemed to be affected by something, a moment ago. +Was the mustard so strong that it moved you to tears?" + +"No, suh, it wa'n't de mustard; I wuz studyin' 'bout Dave." + +"Who was Dave, and what about him?" I asked. + +The conditions were all favorable to story-telling. There was an +autumnal languor in the air, and a dreamy haze softened the dark green +of the distant pines and the deep blue of the Southern sky. The generous +meal he had made had put the old man in a very good humor. He was not +always so, for his curiously undeveloped nature was subject to moods +which were almost childish in their variableness. It was only now and +then that we were able to study, through the medium of his recollection, +the simple but intensely human inner life of slavery. His way of looking +at the past seemed very strange to us; his view of certain sides of life +was essentially different from ours. He never indulged in any regrets +for the Arcadian joyousness and irresponsibility which was a somewhat +popular conception of slavery; his had not been the lot of the petted +house-servant, but that of the toiling field-hand. While he mentioned +with a warm appreciation the acts of kindness which those in authority +had shown to him and his people, he would speak of a cruel deed, not +with the indignation of one accustomed to quick feeling and spontaneous +expression, but with a furtive disapproval which suggested to us a doubt +in his own mind as to whether he had a right to think or to feel, and +presented to us the curious psychological spectacle of a mind enslaved +long after the shackles had been struck off from the limbs of its +possessor. Whether the sacred name of liberty ever set his soul aglow +with a generous fire; whether he had more than the most elementary ideas +of love, friendship, patriotism, religion,--things which are half, and +the better half, of life to us; whether he even realized, except in a +vague, uncertain way, his own degradation, I do not know. I fear not; +and if not, then centuries of repression had borne their legitimate +fruit. But in the simple human feeling, and still more in the undertone +of sadness, which pervaded his stories, I thought I could see a spark +which, fanned by favoring breezes and fed by the memories of the past, +might become in his children's children a glowing flame of sensibility, +alive to every thrill of human happiness or human woe. + +"Dave use' ter b'long ter my ole marster," said Julius; "he wuz raise' +on dis yer plantation, en I kin 'member all erbout 'im, fer I wuz ole +'nuff ter chop cotton w'en it all happen'. Dave wuz a tall man, en +monst'us strong: he could do mo' wuk in a day dan any yuther two niggers +on de plantation. He wuz one er dese yer solemn kine er men, en nebber +run on wid much foolishness, like de yuther darkies. He use' ter go out +in de woods en pray; en w'en he hear de han's on de plantation cussin' +en gwine on wid dere dancin' en foolishness, he use' ter tell 'em 'bout +religion en jedgmen'-day, w'en dey would haf ter gin account fer eve'y +idle word en all dey yuther sinful kyarin's-on. + +"Dave had l'arn' how ter read de Bible. Dey wuz a free nigger boy in +de settlement w'at wuz monst'us smart, en could write en cipher, en wuz +alluz readin' books er papers. En Dave had hi'ed dis free boy fer ter +l'arn 'im how ter read. Hit wuz 'g'in de law, but co'se none er de +niggers didn' say nuffin ter de w'ite folks 'bout it. Howsomedever, one +day Mars Walker--he wuz de oberseah--foun' out Dave could read. Mars +Walker wa'n't nuffin but a po' bockrah, en folks said he couldn' read +ner write hisse'f, en co'se he didn' lack ter see a nigger w'at knowed +mo' d'n he did; so he went en tole Mars Dugal'. Mars Dugal' sont fer +Dave, en ax' 'im 'bout it. + +"Dave didn't hardly knowed w'at ter do; but he couldn' tell no lie, so +he 'fessed he could read de Bible a little by spellin' out de words. +Mars Dugal' look' mighty solemn. + +"'Dis yer is a se'ious matter,' sezee; 'it's 'g'in de law ter l'arn +niggers how ter read, er 'low 'em ter hab books. But w'at yer l'arn +out'n dat Bible, Dave?' + +"Dave wa'n't no fool, ef he wuz a nigger, en sezee:-- + +"'Marster, I l'arns dat it's a sin fer ter steal, er ter lie, er fer ter +want w'at doan b'long ter yer; en I l'arns fer ter love de Lawd en ter +'bey my marster.' + +"Mars Dugal' sorter smile' en laf' ter hisse'f, like he 'uz might'ly +tickle' 'bout sump'n, en sezee:-- + +"'Doan 'pear ter me lack readin' de Bible done yer much harm, Dave. +Dat's w'at I wants all my niggers fer ter know. Yer keep right on +readin', en tell de yuther han's w'at yer be'n tellin' me. How would yer +lack fer ter preach ter de niggers on Sunday?' + +"Dave say he'd be glad fer ter do w'at he could. So Mars Dugal' tole de +oberseah fer ter let Dave preach ter de niggers, en tell 'em w'at wuz in +de Bible, en it would he'p ter keep 'em fum stealin' er runnin' erway. + +"So Dave 'mence' ter preach, en done de han's on de plantation a heap er +good, en most un 'em lef' off dey wicked ways, en 'mence' ter love ter +hear 'bout God, en religion, en de Bible; en dey done dey wuk better, en +didn' gib de oberseah but mighty little trouble fer ter manage 'em. + +"Dave wuz one er dese yer men w'at didn' keer much fer de +gals,--leastways he didn' tel Dilsey come ter de plantation. Dilsey wuz +a monst'us peart, good-lookin', gingybread-colored gal,--one er dese yer +high-steppin' gals w'at hol's dey heads up, en won' stan' no foolishness +fum no man. She had b'long' ter a gemman over on Rockfish, w'at died, en +whose 'state ha' ter be sol' fer ter pay his debts. En Mars Dugal' had +b'en ter de oction, en w'en he seed dis gal a-cryin' en gwine on 'bout +bein' sol' erway fum her ole mammy, Aun' Mahaly, Mars Dugal' bid 'em +bofe in, en fotch 'em ober ter our plantation. + +"De young nigger men on de plantation wuz des wil' atter Dilsey, but it +didn' do no good, en none un 'em couldn' git Dilsey fer dey junesey,[2] +'tel Dave 'mence' fer ter go roun' Aun' Mahaly's cabin. Dey wuz a +fine-lookin' couple, Dave en Dilsey wuz, bofe tall, en well-shape', +en soopl'. En dey sot a heap by one ernudder. Mars Dugal' seed 'em +tergedder one Sunday, en de nex' time he seed Dave atter dat, sezee:-- + +"Dave, w'en yer en Dilsey gits ready fer ter git married, I ain' got no +rejections. Dey's a poun' er so er chawin'-terbacker up at de house, en +I reckon yo' mist'iss kin fine a frock en a ribbin er two fer Dilsey. +Youer bofe good niggers, en yer neenter be feared er bein' sol' 'way fum +one ernudder long ez I owns dis plantation; en I 'spec's ter own it fer +a long time yit.'" + +[Footnote 2: Sweetheart.] + +"But dere wuz one man on de plantation w'at didn' lack ter see Dave en +Dilsey tergedder ez much ez ole marster did. W'en Mars Dugal' went ter +de sale whar he got Dilsey en Mahaly, he bought ernudder han', by de +name er Wiley. Wiley wuz one er dese yer shiny-eyed, double-headed +little niggers, sha'p ez a steel trap, en sly ez de fox w'at keep +out'n it. Dis yer Wiley had be'n pesterin' Dilsey 'fo' she come ter our +plantation, en had nigh 'bout worried de life out'n her. She didn' keer +nuffin fer 'im, but he pestered her so she ha' ter th'eaten ter tell her +marster fer ter make Wiley let her 'lone. W'en he come ober to our +place it wuz des ez bad, 'tel bimeby Wiley seed dat Dilsey had got ter +thinkin' a heap 'bout Dave, en den he sorter hilt off aw'ile, en purten' +lack he gin Dilsey up. But he wuz one er dese yer 'ceitful niggers, en +w'ile he wuz laffin' en jokin' wid de yuther han's 'bout Dave en Dilsey, +he wuz settin' a trap fer ter ketch Dave en git Dilsey back fer hisse'f. + +"Dave en Dilsey made up dere min's fer ter git married long 'bout +Christmas time, w'en dey'd hab mo' time fer a weddin'. But 'long 'bout +two weeks befo' dat time ole mars 'mence' ter lose a heap er bacon. +Eve'y night er so somebody 'ud steal a side er bacon, er a ham, er a +shoulder, er sump'n, fum one er de smoke-'ouses. De smoke-'ouses +wuz lock', but somebody had a key, en manage' ter git in some way er +'nudder. Dey's mo' ways 'n one ter skin a cat, en dey's mo' d'n one way +ter git in a smoke-'ouse,--leastways dat's w'at I hearn say. Folks w'at +had bacon fer ter sell didn' hab no trouble 'bout gittin' rid un it. Hit +wuz 'g'in' de law fer ter buy things fum slabes; but Lawd! dat law didn' +'mount ter a hill er peas. Eve'y week er so one er dese yer big covered +waggins would come 'long de road, peddlin' terbacker en w'iskey. Dey wuz +a sight er room in one er dem big waggins, en it wuz monst'us easy +fer ter swop off bacon fer sump'n ter chaw er ter wa'm yer up in de +winter-time. I s'pose de peddlers didn' knowed dey wuz breakin' de law, +caze de niggers alluz went at night, en stayed on de dark side er de +waggin; en it wuz mighty hard fer ter tell W'AT kine er folks dey wuz. + +"Atter two er th'ee hund'ed er meat had be'n stole', Mars Walker call +all de niggers up one ebenin', en tol' 'em dat de fus' nigger he cot +stealin' bacon on dat plantation would git sump'n fer ter 'member it +by long ez he lib'. En he say he'd gin fi' dollars ter de nigger +w'at 'skiver' de rogue. Mars Walker say he s'picion' one er two er de +niggers, but he couldn' tell fer sho, en co'se dey all 'nied it w'en he +'cuse em un it. + +"Dey wa'n't no bacon stole' fer a week er so, 'tel one dark night w'en +somebody tuk a ham fum one er de smoke-'ouses. Mars Walker des cusst +awful w'en he foun' out de ham wuz gone, en say he gwine ter sarch all +de niggers' cabins; w'en dis yer Wiley I wuz tellin' yer 'bout up'n +say he s'picion' who tuk de ham, fer he seed Dave comin' 'cross de +plantation fum to'ds de smoke-'ouse de night befo'. W'en Mars Walker +hearn dis fum Wiley, he went en sarch' Dave's cabin, en foun' de ham hid +under de flo'. + +"Eve'ybody wuz 'stonish'; but dere wuz de ham. Co'se Dave 'nied it ter +de las', but dere wuz de ham. Mars Walker say it wuz des ez he 'spected: +he didn' b'lieve in dese yer readin' en prayin' niggers; it wuz all +'pocrisy, en sarve' Mars Dugal' right fer 'lowin' Dave ter be readin' +books w'en it wuz 'g'in de law. + +"W'en Mars Dugal' hearn 'bout de ham, he say he wuz might'ly 'ceived en +disapp'inted in Dave. He say he wouldn' nebber hab no mo' conferdence in +no nigger, en Mars Walker could do des ez he wuz a mineter wid Dave er +any er de res' er de niggers. So Mars Walker tuk'n tied Dave up en gin +'im forty; en den he got some er dis yer wire clof w'at dey uses fer +ter make sifters out'n, en tuk'n wrap' it roun' de ham en fasten it +tergedder at de little een'. Den he tuk Dave down ter de blacksmif-shop, +en had Unker Silas, de plantation black-smif, fasten a chain ter de ham, +en den fasten de yuther een' er de chain roun' Dave's neck. En den he +says ter Dave, sezee:-- + +"'Now, suh, yer'll wear dat neckliss fer de nex' six mont's; en I +'spec's yer ner none er de yuther niggers on dis plantation won' steal +no mo' bacon dyoin' er dat time.' + +"Well, it des 'peared ez if fum dat time Dave didn' hab nuffin but +trouble. De niggers all turnt ag'in' 'im, caze he be'n de 'casion er +Mars Dugal' turnin' 'em all ober ter Mars Walker. Mars Dugal' wa'n't a +bad marster hisse'f, but Mars Walker wuz hard ez a rock. Dave kep' on +sayin' he didn' take de ham, but none un 'em didn' b'lieve 'im. + +"Dilsey wa'n't on de plantation w'en Dave wuz 'cused er stealin' de +bacon. Ole mist'iss had sont her ter town fer a week er so fer ter +wait on one er her darters w'at had a young baby, en she didn' fine out +nuffin 'bout Dave's trouble 'tel she got back ter de plantation. Dave +had patien'ly endyoed de finger er scawn, en all de hard words w'at de +niggers pile' on 'im, caze he wuz sho' Dilsey would stan' by 'im, en +wouldn' b'lieve he wuz a rogue, ner none er de yuther tales de darkies +wuz tellin' 'bout 'im. + +"W'en Dilsey come back fum town, en got down fum behine de buggy whar +she be'n ridin' wid ole mars, de fus' nigger 'ooman she met says ter +her,-- + +"'Is yer seed Dave, Dilsey?' + +"No, I ain' seed Dave,' says Dilsey. + +"'Yer des oughter look at dat nigger; reckon yer wouldn' want 'im fer +yo' junesey no mo'. Mars Walker cotch 'im stealin' bacon, en gone en +fasten' a ham roun' his neck, so he can't git it off'n hisse'f. He +sut'nly do look quare.' En den de 'ooman bus' out laffin' fit ter kill +herse'f. W'en she got thoo laffin' she up'n tole Dilsey all 'bout de +ham, en all de yuther lies w'at de niggers be'n tellin' on Dave. + +"W'en Dilsey started down ter de quarters, who should she meet but +Dave, comin' in fum de cotton-fiel'. She turnt her head ter one side, en +purten' lack she didn' seed Dave. + +"'Dilsey!' sezee. + +"Dilsey walk' right on, en didn' notice 'im. + +"'OH, Dilsey!' + +"Dilsey didn' paid no 'tention ter 'im, en den Dave knowed some er de +niggers be'n tellin' her 'bout de ham. He felt monst'us bad, but he +'lowed ef he could des git Dilsey fer ter listen ter 'im fer a minute er +so, he could make her b'lieve he didn' stole de bacon. It wuz a week er +two befo' he could git a chance ter speak ter her ag'in; but fine'ly he +cotch her down by de spring one day, en sezee:-- + +"'Dilsey, w'at fer yer won' speak ter me, en purten' lack yer doan see +me? Dilsey, yer knows me too well fer ter b'lieve I'd steal, er do dis +yuther wick'ness de niggers is all layin' ter me,--yer KNOWS I wouldn' +do dat, Dilsey. Yer ain' gwine back on yo' Dave, is yer?' + +"But w'at Dave say didn' hab no 'fec' on Dilsey. Dem lies folks b'en +tellin' her had p'isen' her min' 'g'in' Dave. + +"'I doan wanter talk ter no nigger,' says she, 'w'at be'n whip' fer +stealin', en w'at gwine roun' wid sich a lookin' thing ez dat hung roun' +his neck. I's a 'spectable gal, I is. W'at yer call dat, Dave? Is dat +a cha'm fer ter keep off witches, er is it a noo kine er neckliss yer +got?' + +"Po' Dave didn' knowed w'at ter do. De las' one he had 'pended on fer +ter stan' by 'im had gone back on 'im, en dey didn' 'pear ter be nuffin +mo' wuf libbin' fer. He couldn' hol' no mo' pra'r-meetin's, fer Mars +Walker wouldn' 'low 'im ter preach, en de darkies wouldn' 'a' listen' +ter 'im ef he had preach'. He didn' eben hab his Bible fer ter comfort +hisse'f wid, fer Mars Walker had tuk it erway fum 'im en burnt it up, en +say ef he ketch any mo' niggers wid Bibles on de plantation he'd do 'em +wuss'n he done Dave. + +"En ter make it still harder fer Dave, Dilsey tuk up wid Wiley. Dave +could see him gwine up ter Aun' Mahaly's cabin, en settin' out on de +bench in de moonlight wid Dilsey, en singin' sinful songs en playin' de +banjer. Dave use' ter scrouch down behine de bushes, en wonder w'at de +Lawd sen' 'im all dem tribberlations fer. + +"But all er Dave's yuther troubles wa'n't nuffin side er dat ham. He had +wrap' de chain roun' wid a rag, so it didn' hurt his neck; but w'eneber +he went ter wuk, dat ham would be in his way; he had ter do his task, +howsomedever, des de same ez ef he didn' hab de ham. W'eneber he went +ter lay down, dat ham would be in de way. Ef he turn ober in his sleep, +dat ham would be tuggin' at his neck. It wuz de las' thing he seed +at night, en de fus' thing he seed in de mawnin'. W'eneber he met a +stranger, de ham would be de fus' thing de stranger would see. Most +un 'em would 'mence' ter laf, en whareber Dave went he could see folks +p'intin' at him, en year 'em sayin:-- + +"'W'at kine er collar dat nigger got roun' his neck?' er, ef dey knowed +'im, 'Is yer stole any mo' hams lately?' er 'W'at yer take fer yo' +neckliss, Dave?' er some joke er 'nuther 'bout dat ham. + +"Fus' Dave didn' mine it so much, caze he knowed he hadn' done nuffin. +But bimeby he got so he couldn' stan' it no longer, en he'd hide hisse'f +in de bushes w'eneber he seed anybody comin', en alluz kep' hisse'f shet +up in his cabin atter he come in fum wuk. + +"It wuz monst'us hard on Dave, en bimeby, w'at wid dat ham eberlastin' +en etarnally draggin' roun' his neck, he 'mence' fer ter do en say quare +things, en make de niggers wonder ef he wa'n't gittin' out'n his mine. +He got ter gwine roun' talkin' ter hisse'f, en singin' corn-shuckin' +songs, en laffin' fit ter kill 'bout nuffin. En one day he tole one er +de niggers he had 'skivered a noo way fer ter raise hams,--gwine ter +pick 'em off'n trees, en save de expense er smoke-'ouses by kyoin' 'em +in de sun. En one day he up'n tole Mars Walker he got sump'n pertickler +fer ter say ter 'im; en he tuk Mars Walker off ter one side, en tole 'im +he wuz gwine ter show 'im a place in de swamp whar dey wuz a whole trac' +er lan' covered wid ham-trees. + +"W'en Mars Walker hearn Dave talkin' dis kine er fool-talk, en w'en he +seed how Dave wuz 'mencin' ter git behine in his wuk, en w'en he ax' +de niggers en dey tole 'im how Dave be'n gwine on, he 'lowed he reckon' +he'd punish' Dave ernuff, en it mou't do mo' harm dan good fer ter +keep de ham on his neck any longer. So he sont Dave down ter de +blacksmif-shop en had de ham tak off. Dey wa'n't much er de ham lef' by +dat time, fer de sun had melt all de fat, en de lean had all swivel' up, +so dey wa'n't but th'ee er fo' poun's lef'. + +"W'en de ham had be'n tuk off'n Dave, folks kinder stopped talkin' 'bout +'im so much. But de ham had be'n on his neck so long dat Dave had sorter +got use' ter it. He look des lack he'd los' sump'n fer a day er so atter +de ham wuz tuk off, en didn' 'pear ter know w'at ter do wid hisse'f; +en fine'ly he up'n tuk'n tied a lightered-knot ter a string, en hid it +under de flo' er his cabin, en w'en nobody wuzn' lookin' he'd take it +out en hang it roun' his neck, en go off in de woods en holler en sing; +en he allus tied it roun' his neck w'en he went ter sleep. Fac', it +'peared lack Dave done gone clean out'n his mine. En atter a w'ile he +got one er de quarest notions you eber hearn tell un. It wuz 'bout dat +time dat I come back ter de plantation fer ter wuk,--I had be'n out ter +Mars Dugal's yuther place on Beaver Crick for a mont' er so. I had hearn +'bout Dave en de bacon, en 'bout w'at wuz gwine on on de plantation; but +I didn' b'lieve w'at dey all say 'bout Dave, fer I knowed Dave wa'n't +dat kine er man. One day atter I come back, me'n Dave wuz choppin' +cotton tergedder, w'en Dave lean' on his hoe, en motion' fer me ter come +ober close ter 'im; en den he retch' ober en w'ispered ter me. + +"'Julius', [sic] sezee, 'did yer knowed yer wuz wukkin' long yer wid a +ham?' + +"I couldn 'magine w'at he meant. 'G'way fum yer, Dave,' says I. 'Yer +ain' wearin' no ham no mo'; try en fergit 'bout dat; 't ain' gwine ter +do yer no good fer ter 'member it.' + +"Look a-yer, Julius,' sezee, 'kin yer keep a secret?' + +"'Co'se I kin, Dave,' says I. 'I doan go roun' tellin' people w'at +yuther folks says ter me.' + +"'Kin I trus' yer, Julius? Will yer cross yo' heart?' + +"I cross' my heart. 'Wush I may die ef I tells a soul,' says I. + +"Dave look' at me des lack he wuz lookin' thoo me en 'way on de yuther +side er me, en sezee:-- + +"'Did yer knowed I wuz turnin' ter a ham, Julius?' + +"I tried ter 'suade Dave dat dat wuz all foolishness, en dat he oughtn't +ter be talkin' dat-a-way,--hit wa'n't right. En I tole 'im ef he'd +des be patien', de time would sho'ly come w'en eve'ything would be +straighten' out, en folks would fine out who de rale rogue wuz w'at +stole de bacon. Dave 'peared ter listen ter w'at I say, en promise' ter +do better, en stop gwine on dat-a-way; en it seem lack he pick' up a bit +w'en he seed dey wuz one pusson didn' b'lieve dem tales 'bout 'im. + +"Hit wa'n't long atter dat befo' Mars Archie McIntyre, ober on de +Wimbleton road, 'mence' ter complain 'bout somebody stealin' chickens +fum his hen-'ouse. De chickens kip' on gwine, en at las' Mars Archie +tole de han's on his plantation dat he gwine ter shoot de fus' man he +ketch in his hen-'ouse. In less'n a week atter he gin dis warnin', he +cotch a nigger in de hen-'ouse, en fill' 'im full er squir'l-shot. W'en +he got a light, he 'skivered it wuz a strange nigger; en w'en he call' +one er his own sarven's, de nigger tole 'im it wuz our Wiley. W'en Mars +Archie foun' dat out, he sont ober ter our plantation fer ter tell Mars +Dugal' he had shot one er his niggers, en dat he could sen' ober dere en +git w'at wuz lef' un 'im. + +"Mars Dugal' wuz mad at fus'; but w'en he got ober dere en hearn how +it all happen', he didn' hab much ter say. Wiley wuz shot so bad he wuz +sho' he wuz gwine ter die, so he up'n says ter ole marster:-- + +"'Mars Dugal',' sezee, 'I knows I's be'n a monst'us bad nigger, but +befo' I go I wanter git sump'n off'n my mine. Dave didn' steal dat bacon +w'at wuz tuk out'n de smoke-'ouse. I stole it all, en I hid de ham under +Dave's cabin fer ter th'ow de blame on him--en may de good Lawd fergib +me fer it.' + +"Mars Dugal' had Wiley tuk back ter de plantation, en sont fer a doctor +fer ter pick de shot out'n 'im. En de ve'y nex' mawnin' Mars Dugal' sont +fer Dave ter come up ter de big house; he felt kinder sorry fer de way +Dave had be'n treated. Co'se it wa'n't no fault er Mars Dugal's, but he +wuz gwine ter do w'at he could fer ter make up fer it. So he sont word +down ter de quarters fer Dave en all de yuther han's ter 'semble up in +de yard befo' de big house at sun-up nex' mawnin'. + +"Yearly in de mawnin' de niggers all swarm' up in de yard. Mars Dugal' +wuz feelin' so kine dat he had brung up a bairl er cider, en tole de +niggers all fer ter he'p deyselves. + +"All dey han's on de plantation come but Dave; en bimeby, w'en it seem +lack he wa'n't comin', Mars Dugal' sont a nigger down ter de quarters +ter look fer 'im. De sun wuz gittin' up, en dey wuz a heap er wuk ter be +done, en Mars Dugal' sorter got ti'ed waitin'; so he up'n says:-- + +"'Well, boys en gals, I sont fer yer all up yer fer ter tell yer dat all +dat 'bout Dave's stealin' er de bacon wuz a mistake, ez I s'pose yer all +done hearn befo' now, en I's mighty sorry it happen'. I wants ter treat +all my niggers right, en I wants yer all ter know dat I sets a heap by +all er my han's w'at is hones' en smart. En I want yer all ter treat +Dave des lack yer did befo' dis thing happen', en mine w'at he preach +ter yer; fer Dave is a good nigger, en has had a hard row ter hoe. En de +fus' one I ketch sayin' anythin' 'g'in Dave, I'll tell Mister Walker ter +gin 'im forty. Now take ernudder drink er cider all roun', en den git +at dat cotton, fer I wanter git dat Persimmon Hill trac' all pick' ober +ter-day.' + +"W'en de niggers wuz gwine 'way, Mars Dugal' tole me fer ter go en hunt +up Dave, en bring 'im up ter de house. I went down ter Dave's cabin, but +couldn' fine 'im dere. Den I look' roun' de plantation, en in de aidge +er de woods, en 'long de road; but I couldn' fine no sign er Dave. I +wuz 'bout ter gin up de sarch, w'en I happen' fer ter run 'cross a +foot-track w'at look' lack Dave's. I had wukked 'long wid Dave so much +dat I knowed his tracks: he had a monst'us long foot, wid a holler +instep, w'ich wuz sump'n skase 'mongs' black folks. So I follered dat +track 'cross de fiel' fum de quarters 'tel I got ter de smoke-'ouse. De +fus' thing I notice' wuz smoke comin' out'n de cracks: it wuz cu'ous, +caze dey hadn' be'n no hogs kill' on de plantation fer six mont' er so, +en all de bacon in de smoke-'ouse wuz done kyoed. I couldn' 'magine fer +ter sabe my life w'at Dave wuz doin' in dat smoke-'ouse. I went up ter +de do' en hollered:-- + +"'Dave!' + +"Dey didn' nobody answer. I didn' wanter open de do', fer w'ite folks is +monst'us pertickler 'bout dey smoke-'ouses; en ef de oberseah had a-come +up en cotch me in dere, he mou't not wanter b'lieve I wuz des lookin' +fer Dave. So I sorter knock at de do' en call' out ag'in:-- + +"'O Dave, hit's me--Julius! Doan be skeered. Mars Dugal' wants yer ter +come up ter de big house,--he done 'skivered who stole de ham.' + +"But Dave didn' answer. En w'en I look' roun' ag'in en didn' seed none +er his tracks gwine way fum de smoke-'ouse, I knowed he wuz in dere yit, +en I wuz 'termine' fer ter fetch 'im out; so I push de do' open en look +in. + +"Dey wuz a pile er bark burnin' in de middle er de flo', en right ober +de fier, hangin' fum one er de rafters, wuz Dave; dey wuz a rope roun' +his neck, en I didn' haf ter look at his face mo' d'n once fer ter see +he wuz dead. + +"Den I knowed how it all happen'. Dave had kep' on gittin' wusser en +wusser in his mine, 'tel he des got ter b'lievin' he wuz all done turnt +ter a ham; en den he had gone en built a fier, en tied a rope roun' +his neck, des lack de hams wuz tied, en had hung hisse'f up in de +smoke-'ouse fer ter kyo. + +"Dave wuz buried down by de swamp, in de plantation buryin'-groun'. +Wiley didn' died fum de woun' he got in Mars McIntyre's hen-'ouse; he +got well atter a w'ile, but Dilsey wouldn' hab nuffin mo' ter do wid +'im, en 't wa'n't long 'fo' Mars Dugal' sol' 'im ter a spekilater on his +way souf,--he say he didn' want no sich a nigger on de plantation, ner +in de county, ef he could he'p it. En w'en de een' er de year come, Mars +Dugal' turnt Mars Walker off, en run de plantation hisse'f atter dat. + +"Eber sence den," said Julius in conclusion, "w'eneber I eats ham, it +min's me er Dave. I lacks ham, but I nebber kin eat mo' d'n two er th'ee +poun's befo' I gits ter studyin' 'bout Dave, en den I has ter stop en +leab de res' fer ernudder time." + +There was a short silence after the old man had finished his story, and +then my wife began to talk to him about the weather, on which subject he +was an authority. I went into the house. When I came out, half an hour +later, I saw Julius disappearing down the lane, with a basket on his +arm. + +At breakfast, next morning, it occurred to me that I should like a slice +of ham. I said as much to my wife. + +"Oh, no, John," she responded, "you shouldn't eat anything so heavy for +breakfast." + +I insisted. + +"The fact is," she said, pensively, "I couldn't have eaten any more of +that ham, and so I gave it to Julius." + + + + +THE AWAKENING OF THE NEGRO by Booker T. Washington + + +When a mere boy, I saw a young colored man, who had spent several years +in school, sitting in a common cabin in the South, studying a French +grammar. I noted the poverty, the untidiness, the want of system and +thrift, that existed about the cabin, notwithstanding his knowledge of +French and other academic subjects. Another time, when riding on the +outer edges of a town in the South, I heard the sound of a piano coming +from a cabin of the same kind. Contriving some excuse, I entered, and +began a conversation with the young colored woman who was playing, and +who had recently returned from a boarding-school, where she had been +studying instrumental music among other things. Despite the fact that +her parents were living in a rented cabin, eating poorly cooked food, +surrounded with poverty, and having almost none of the conveniences of +life, she had persuaded them to rent a piano for four or five dollars +per month. Many such instances as these, in connection with my own +struggles, impressed upon me the importance of making a study of our +needs as a race, and applying the remedy accordingly. + +Some one may be tempted to ask, Has not the negro boy or girl as good +a right to study a French grammar and instrumental music as the white +youth? I answer, Yes, but in the present condition of the negro race in +this country there is need of something more. Perhaps I may be forgiven +for the seeming egotism if I mention the expansion of my own life partly +as an example of what I mean. My earliest recollection is of a small +one-room log hut on a large slave plantation in Virginia. After the +close of the war, while working in the coal-mines of West Virginia for +the support of my mother, I heart in some accidental way of the Hampton +Institute. When I learned that it was an institution where a black boy +could study, could have a chance to work for his board, and at the +same time be taught how to work and to realize the dignity of labor, +I resolved to go there. Bidding my mother good-by, I started out one +morning to find my way to Hampton, though I was almost penniless and +had no definite idea where Hampton was. By walking, begging rides, +and paying for a portion of the journey on the steam-cars, I finally +succeeded in reaching the city of Richmond, Virginia. I was without +money or friends. I slept under a sidewalk, and by working on a vessel +next day I earned money to continue my way to the institute, where +I arrived with a surplus of fifty cents. At Hampton I found the +opportunity--in the way of buildings, teachers, and industries provided +by the generous--to get training in the class-room and by practical +touch with industrial life, to learn thrift, economy, and push. I was +surrounded by an atmosphere of business, Christian influence, and a +spirit of self-help that seemed to have awakened every faculty in me, +and caused me for the first time to realize what it meant to be a man +instead of a piece of property. + +While there I resolved that when I had finished the course of training I +would go into the far South, into the Black Belt of the South, and give +my life to providing the same kind of opportunity for self-reliance +and self-awakening that I had found provided for me at Hampton. My work +began at Tuskegee, Alabama, in 1881, in a small shanty and church, with +one teacher and thirty students, without a dollar's worth of property. +The spirit of work and of industrial thrift, with aid from the State and +generosity from the North, has enabled us to develop an institution of +eight hundred students gathered from nineteen States, with seventy-nine +instructors, fourteen hundred acres of land, and thirty buildings, +including large and small; in all, property valued at $280,000. +Twenty-five industries have been organized, and the whole work is +carried on at an annual cost of about $80,000 in cash; two fifths of the +annual expense so far has gone into permanent plant. + +What is the object of all this outlay? First, it must be borne in mind +that we have in the South a peculiar and unprecedented state of things. +It is of the utmost importance that our energy be given to meeting +conditions that exist right about us rather than conditions that existed +centuries ago or that exist in countries a thousand miles away. What +are the cardinal needs among the seven millions of colored people in the +South, most of whom are to be found on the plantations? Roughly, these +needs may be stated as food, clothing, shelter, education, proper +habits, and a settlement of race relations. The seven millions of +colored people of the South cannot be reached directly by any missionary +agency, but they can be reached by sending out among them strong +selected young men and women, with the proper training of head, hand, +and heart, who will live among these masses and show them how to lift +themselves up. + +The problem that the Tuskegee Institute keeps before itself constantly +is how to prepare these leaders. From the outset, in connection with +religious and academic training, it has emphasized industrial or hand +training as a means of finding the way out of present conditions. First, +we have found the industrial teaching useful in giving the student a +chance to work out a portion of his expenses while in school. Second, +the school furnishes labor that has an economic value, and at the same +time gives the student a chance to acquire knowledge and skill while +performing the labor. Most of all, we find the industrial system +valuable in teaching economy, thrift, and the dignity of labor, and in +giving moral backbone to students. The fact that a student goes out into +the world conscious of his power to build a house or a wagon, or to make +a harness, gives him a certain confidence and moral independence that he +would not possess without such training. + +A more detailed example of our methods at Tuskegee may be of interest. +For example, we cultivate by student labor six hundred and fifty acres +of land. The object is not only to cultivate the land in a way to +make it pay our boarding department, but at the same time to teach the +students, in addition to the practical work, something of the chemistry +of the soil, the best methods of drainage, dairying, the cultivation +of fruit, the care of livestock and tools, and scores of other +lessons needed by a people whose main dependence is on agriculture. +Notwithstanding that eighty-five per cent of the colored people in the +South live by agriculture in some form, aside from what has been done by +Hampton, Tuskegee, and one or two other institutions practically nothing +has been attempted in the direction of teaching them about the very +industry from which the masses of our people must get their subsistence. +Friends have recently provided means for the erection of a large new +chapel at Tuskegee. Our students have made the bricks for this chapel. +A large part of the timber is sawed by students at our own sawmill, the +plans are drawn by our teacher of architecture and mechanical drawing, +and students do the brick-masonry, plastering, painting, carpentry work, +tinning, slating, and make most of the furniture. Practically, the whole +chapel will be built and furnished by student labor; in the end the +school will have the building for permanent use, and the students will +have a knowledge of the trades employed in its construction. In this way +all but three of the thirty buildings on the grounds have been erected. +While the young men do the kinds of work I have mentioned, the young +women to a large extent make, mend, and launder the clothing of the +young men, and thus are taught important industries. + +One of the objections sometimes urged against industrial education for +the negro is that it aims merely to teach him to work on the same plan +that he was made to follow when in slavery. This is far from being the +object at Tuskegee. At the head of each of the twenty-five industrial +departments we have an intelligent and competent instructor, just as +we have in our history classes, so that the student is taught not only +practical brick-masonry, for example, but also the underlying principles +of that industry, the mathematics and the mechanical and architectural +drawing. Or he is taught how to become master of the forces of nature +so that, instead of cultivating corn in the old way, he can use a corn +cultivator, that lays off the furrows, drops the corn into them, and +covers it, and in this way he can do more work than three men by the +old process of corn-planting; at the same time much of the toil is +eliminated and labor is dignified. In a word, the constant aim is to +show the student how to put brains into every process of labor; how +to bring his knowledge of mathematics and the sciences into farming, +carpentry, forging, foundry work; how to dispense as soon as possible +with the old form of ante-bellum labor. In the erection of the chapel +just referred to, instead of letting the money which was given us go +into outside hands, we make it accomplish three objects: first, it +provides the chapel; second, it gives the students a chance to get a +practical knowledge of the trades connected with building; and third, +it enables them to earn something toward the payment of board while +receiving academic and industrial training. + +Having been fortified at Tuskegee by education of mind, skill of hand, +Christian character, ideas of thrift, economy, and push, and a spirit +of independence, the student is sent out to become a centre of influence +and light in showing the masses of our people in the Black Belt of the +South how to lift themselves up. How can this be done? I give but one +or two examples. Ten years ago a young colored man came to the institute +from one of the large plantation districts; he studied in the class-room +a portion of the time, and received practical and theoretical training +on the farm the remainder of the time. Having finished his course at +Tuskegee, he returned to his plantation home, which was in a county +where the colored people outnumber the whites six to one, as is true +of many of the counties in the Black Belt of the South. He found the +negroes in debt. Ever since the war they had been mortgaging their crops +for the food on which to live while the crops were growing. The majority +of them were living from hand to mouth on rented land, in small, +one-room log cabins, and attempting to pay a rate of interest on their +advances that ranged from fifteen to forty per cent per annum. The +school had been taught in a wreck of a log cabin, with no apparatus, and +had never been in session longer than three months out of twelve. With +as many as eight or ten persons of all ages and conditions and of both +sexes huddled together in one cabin year after year, and with a minister +whose only aim was to work upon the emotions of the people, one can +imagine something of the moral and religious state of the community. + +But the remedy. In spite of the evil, the negro got the habit of work +from slavery. The rank and file of the race, especially those on the +Southern plantations, work hard, but the trouble is, what they earn +gets away from them in high rents, crop mortgages, whiskey, snuff, cheap +jewelry, and the like. The young man just referred to had been trained +at Tuskegee, as most of our graduates are, to meet just this condition +of things. He took the three months' public school as a nucleus for his +work. Then he organized the older people into a club, or conference, +that held meetings every week. In these meetings he taught the people in +a plain, simple manner how to save their money, how to farm in a better +way, how to sacrifice,--to live on bread and potatoes, if need be, till +they could get out of debt, and begin the buying of lands. + +Soon a large proportion of the people were in condition to make +contracts for the buying of homes (land is very cheap in the South), +and to live without mortgaging their crops. Not only this: under the +guidance and leadership of this teacher, the first year that he was +among them they learned how, by contributions in money and labor, to +build a neat, comfortable schoolhouse that replaced the wreck of a +log cabin formerly used. The following year the weekly meetings were +continued, and two months were added to the original three months of +school. The next year two more months were added. The improvement has +gone on, until now these people have every year an eight months' school. + +I wish my readers could have the chance that I have had of going into +this community. I wish they could look into the faces of the people and +see them beaming with hope and delight. I wish they could see the two +or three room cottages that have taken the place of the usual one-room +cabin, the well-cultivated farms, and the religious life of the people +that now means something more than the name. The teacher has a good +cottage and a well-kept farm that serve as models. In a word, a +complete revolution has been wrought in the industrial, educational, and +religious life of this whole community by reason of the fact that they +have had this leader, this guide and object-lesson, to show them how to +take the money and effort that had hitherto been scattered to the wind +in mortgages and high rents, in whiskey and gewgaws, and concentrate +them in the direction of their own uplifting. One community on its +feet presents an object-lesson for the adjoining communities, and soon +improvements show themselves in other places. + +Another student who received academic and industrial training at +Tuskegee established himself, three years ago, as a blacksmith and +wheelwright in a community, and, in addition to the influence of his +successful business enterprise, he is fast making the same kind of +changes in the life of the people about him that I have just recounted. +It would be easy for me to fill many pages describing the influence of +the Tuskegee graduates in every part of the South. We keep it constantly +in the minds of our students and graduates that the industrial or +material condition of the masses of our people must be improved, as well +as the intellectual, before there can be any permanent change in their +moral and religious life. We find it a pretty hard thing to make a good +Christian of a hungry man. No matter how much our people "get happy" and +"shout" in church, if they go home at night from church hungry, they are +tempted to find something before morning. This is a principle of human +nature, and is not confined to the negro. + +The negro has within him immense power for self-uplifting, but for years +it will be necessary to guide and stimulate him. The recognition of +this power led us to organize, five years ago, what is now known as the +Tuskegee Negro Conference,--a gathering that meets every February, and +is composed of about eight hundred representative colored men and women +from all sections of the Black Belt. They come in ox-carts, mule-carts, +buggies, on muleback and horseback, on foot, by railroad: some traveling +all night in order to be present. The matters considered at the +conferences are those that the colored people have it within their own +power to control: such as the evils of the mortgage system, the one-room +cabin, buying on credit, the importance of owning a home and of putting +money in the bank, how to build schoolhouses and prolong the school +term, and how to improve their moral and religious condition. + +As a single example of the results, one delegate reported that since +the conferences were started five years ago eleven people in his +neighborhood had bought homes, fourteen had got out of debt, and a +number had stopped mortgaging their crops. Moreover, a schoolhouse +had been built by the people themselves, and the school term had +been extended from three to six months; and with a look of triumph he +exclaimed, "We is done stopped libin' in de ashes!" + +Besides this Negro Conference for the masses of the people, we now have +a gathering at the same time known as the Workers' Conference, composed +of the officers and instructors in the leading colored schools of the +South. After listening to the story of the conditions and needs from the +people themselves, the Workers' Conference finds much food for thought +and discussion. + +Nothing else so soon brings about right relations between the two races +in the South as the industrial progress of the negro. Friction between +the races will pass away in proportion as the black man, by reason of +his skill, intelligence, and character, can produce something that the +white man wants or respects in the commercial world. This is another +reason why at Tuskegee we push the industrial training. We find that as +every year we put into a Southern community colored men who can start +a brick-yard, a sawmill, a tin-shop, or a printing-office,--men who +produce something that makes the white man partly dependent upon the +negro, instead of all the dependence being on the other side,--a change +takes place in the relations of the races. + +Let us go on for a few more years knitting our business and industrial +relations into those of the white man, till a black man gets a mortgage +on a white man's house that he can foreclose at will. The white man on +whose house the mortgage rests will not try to prevent that negro from +voting when he goes to the polls. It is through the dairy farm, the +truck garden, the trades, and commercial life, largely, that the negro +is to find his way to the enjoyment of all his rights. Whether he will +or not, a white man respects a negro who owns a two-story brick house. + +What is the permanent value of the Tuskegee system of training to the +South in a broader sense? In connection with this, it is well to bear +in mind that slavery taught the white man that labor with the hands was +something fit for the negro only, and something for the white man to +come into contact with just as little as possible. It is true that there +was a large class of poor white people who labored with the hands, but +they did it because they were not able to secure negroes to work for +them; and these poor whites were constantly trying to imitate the +slave-holding class in escaping labor, and they too regarded it as +anything but elevating. The negro in turn looked down upon the poor +whites with a certain contempt because they had to work. The negro, it +is to be borne in mind, worked under constant protest, because he felt +that his labor was being unjustly required, and he spent almost as much +effort in planning how to escape work as in learning how to work. Labor +with him was a badge of degradation. The white man was held up before +him as the highest type of civilization, but the negro noted that this +highest type of civilization himself did no labor; hence he argued that +the less work he did, the more nearly he would be like a white man. +Then, in addition to these influences, the slave system discouraged +labor-saving machinery. To use labor-saving machinery intelligence was +required, and intelligence and slavery were not on friendly terms; hence +the negro always associated labor with toil, drudgery, something to be +escaped. When the negro first became free, his idea of education was +that it was something that would soon put him in the same position +as regards work that his recent master had occupied. Out of these +conditions grew the Southern habit of putting off till to-morrow and the +day after the duty that should be done promptly to-day. The leaky house +was not repaired while the sun shone, for then the rain did not come +through. While the rain was falling, no one cared to expose himself to +stop the leak. The plough, on the same principle, was left where the +last furrow was run, to rot and rust in the field during the winter. +There was no need to repair the wooden chimney that was exposed to the +fire, because water could be thrown on it when it was on fire. There was +no need to trouble about the payment of a debt to-day, for it could just +as well be paid next week or next year. Besides these conditions, the +whole South, at the close of the war, was without proper food, clothing, +and shelter,--was in need of habits of thrift and economy and of +something laid up for a rainy day. + +To me it seemed perfectly plain that here was a condition of things that +could not be met by the ordinary process of education. At Tuskegee we +became convinced that the thing to do was to make a careful systematic +study of the condition and needs of the South, especially the Black +Belt, and to bend our efforts in the direction of meeting these needs, +whether we were following a well-beaten track, or were hewing out a new +path to meet conditions probably without a parallel in the world. +After fourteen years of experience and observation, what is the result? +Gradually but surely, we find that all through the South the disposition +to look upon labor as a disgrace is on the wane, and the parents who +themselves sought to escape work are so anxious to give their children +training in intelligent labor that every institution which gives +training in the handicrafts is crowded, and many (among them Tuskegee) +have to refuse admission to hundreds of applicants. The influence of +the Tuskegee system is shown again by the fact that almost every +little school at the remotest cross-roads is anxious to be known as +an industrial school, or, as some of the colored people call it, an +"industrus" school. + +The social lines that were once sharply drawn between those who labored +with the hand and those who did not are disappearing. Those who formerly +sought to escape labor, now when they see that brains and skill rob +labor of the toil and drudgery once associated with it, instead of +trying to avoid it are willing to pay to be taught how to engage in it. +The South is beginning to see labor raised up, dignified and beautified, +and in this sees its salvation. In proportion as the love of labor +grows, the large idle class which has long been one of the curses of the +South disappears. As its members become absorbed in occupations, they +have less time to attend to everybody else's business, and more time for +their own. + +The South is still an undeveloped and unsettled country, and for the +next half century and more the greater part of the energy of the masses +will be needed to develop its material opportunities. Any force that +brings the rank and file of the people to a greater love of industry +is therefore especially valuable. This result industrial education +is surely bringing about. It stimulates production and increases +trade,--trade between the races,--and in this new and engrossing +relation both forget the past. The white man respects the vote of the +colored man who does $10,000 worth of business, and the more business +the colored man has, the more careful he is how he votes. + +Immediately after the war, there was a large class of Southern people +who feared that the opening of the free schools to the freedmen and the +poor whites--the education of the head alone--would result merely in +increasing the class who sought to escape labor, and that the South +would soon be overrun by the idle and vicious. But as the results of +industrial combined with academic training begin to show themselves in +hundreds of communities that have been lifted up through the medium of +the Tuskegee system, these former prejudices against education are being +removed. Many of those who a few years ago opposed general education are +now among its warmest advocates. + +This industrial training, emphasizing as it does the idea of economic +production, is gradually bringing the South to the point where it is +feeding itself. Before the war, and long after it, the South made what +little profit was received from the cotton crop, and sent its earnings +out of the South to purchase food supplies,--meat, bread, canned +vegetables, and the like; but the improved methods of agriculture are +fast changing this habit. With the newer methods of labor, which teach +promptness and system, and emphasize the worth of the beautiful,--the +moral value of the well-painted house, and the fence with every paling +and nail in its place,--we are bringing to bear upon the South an +influence that is making it a new country in industry, education, and +religion. + + + + +THE STORY OF UNCLE TOM'S CABIN by Charles Dudley Warner + + +On the 29th of June, 1852, Henry Clay died. In that month the two great +political parties, in their national conventions, had accepted as a +finality all the compromise measures of 1850, and the last hours of the +Kentucky statesman were brightened by the thought that his efforts had +secured the perpetuity of the Union. + +But on the 20th of March, 1852, there had been an event, the +significance of which was not taken into account by the political +conventions or by Clay, which was to test the conscience of the nation. +This was the publication of Uncle Tom's Cabin. Was this only an "event," +the advent of a new force in politics; was the book merely an abolition +pamphlet, or was it a novel, one of the few great masterpieces of +fiction that the world has produced? After the lapse of forty-four +years and the disappearance of African slavery on this continent, it is +perhaps possible to consider this question dispassionately. + +The compromise of 1850 satisfied neither the North nor the South. The +admission of California as a free State was regarded by Calhoun as fatal +to the balance between the free and the slave States, and thereafter a +fierce agitation sprang up for the recovery of this loss of balance, and +ultimately for Southern preponderance, which resulted in the repeal of +the Missouri Compromise, the Kansas-Nebraska war, and the civil war. +The fugitive slave law was hateful to the North not only because it was +cruel and degrading, but because it was seen to be a move formed for +nationalizing slavery. It was unsatisfactory to the South because it +was deemed inadequate in its provisions, and because the South did not +believe the North would execute it in good faith. So unstable did the +compromise seem that in less than a year after the passage of all its +measures, Henry Clay and forty-four Senators and Representatives united +in a manifesto declaring that they would support no man for office who +was not known to be opposed to any disturbance of the settlements of +the compromise. When, in February, 1851, the recaptured fugitive slave, +Burns, was rescued from the United States officers in Boston, Clay urged +the investment of the President with extraordinary power to enforce the +law. + +Henry Clay was a patriot, a typical American. The republic and its +preservation were the passions of his life. Like Lincoln, who was +born in the State of his adoption, he was willing to make almost any +sacrifice for the maintenance of the Union. He had no sympathy with the +system of slavery. There is no doubt that he would have been happy in +the belief that it was in the way of gradual and peaceful extinction. +With him, it was always the Union before state rights and before +slavery. Unlike Lincoln, he had not the clear vision to see that the +republic could not endure half slave and half free. He believed that the +South, appealing to the compromises of the Constitution, would sacrifice +the Union before it would give up slavery, and in fear of this menace +he begged the North to conquer its prejudices. We are not liable to +overrate his influence as a compromising pacificator from 1832 to 1852. +History will no doubt say that it was largely due to him that the war on +the Union was postponed to a date when its success was impossible. + +It was the fugitive slave law that brought the North face to face with +slavery nationalized, and it was the fugitive slave law that produced +Uncle Tom's Cabin. The effect of this story was immediate and electric. +It went straight to the hearts of tens of thousands of people who had +never before considered slavery except as a political institution for +which they had no personal responsibility. What was this book, and how +did it happen to produce such an effect? It is true that it struck into +a time of great irritation and agitation, but in one sense there was +nothing new in it. The facts had all been published. For twenty years +abolition tracts, pamphlets, newspapers, and books had left little to be +revealed, to those who cared to read, as to the nature of slavery or its +economic aspects. The evidence was practically all in,--supplied largely +by the advertisements of Southern newspapers and by the legislation of +the slaveholding States,--but it did not carry conviction; that is, the +sort of conviction that results in action. The subject had to be carried +home to the conscience. Pamphleteering, convention-holding, sermons, had +failed to do this. Even the degrading requirements of the fugitive slave +law, which brought shame and humiliation, had not sufficed to fuse the +public conscience, emphasize the necessity of obedience to the moral +law, and compel recognition of the responsibility of the North for +slavery. Evidence had not done this, passionate appeals had not done +it, vituperation had not done it. What sort of presentation of the case +would gain the public ear and go to the heart? If Mrs. Stowe, in all her +fervor, had put forth first the facts in The Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin, +which so buttressed her romance, the book would have had no more effect +than had followed the like compilations and arraignments. What was +needed? If we can discover this, we shall have the secret of this +epoch-making novel. + +The story of this book has often been told. It is in the nature of a +dramatic incident of which the reader never tires any more than the son +of Massachusetts does of the minutest details of that famous scene in +the Senate Chamber when Webster replied to Hayne. + +At the age of twenty-four the author was married and went to live in +Cincinnati, where her husband held a chair in the Lane Theological +Seminary. There for the first time she was brought into relations +with the African race and saw the effects of slavery. She visited +slaveholders in Kentucky and had friends among them. In some homes she +saw the "patriarchal" institution at its best. The Beecher family were +anti-slavery, but they had not been identified with the abolitionists, +except perhaps Edward, who was associated with the murdered Lovejoy. +It was long a reproach brought by the abolitionists against Henry Ward +Beecher that he held entirely aloof from their movement. At Cincinnati, +however, the personal aspects of the case were brought home to Mrs. +Stowe. She learned the capacities and peculiarities of the negro race. +They were her servants; she taught some of them; hunted fugitives +applied to her; she ransomed some by her own efforts; every day there +came to her knowledge stories of the hunger for freedom, of the ruthless +separation of man and wife and mother and child, and of the heroic +sufferings of those who ran away from the fearful doom of those "sold +down South." These things crowded upon her mind and awoke her deepest +compassion. But what could she do against all the laws, the political +and commercial interests, the great public apathy? Relieve a case here +and there, yes. But to dwell upon the gigantic evil, with no means of +making head against it, was to invite insanity. + +As late as 1850, when Professor Stowe was called to Bowdoin College, and +the family removed to Brunswick, Maine, Mrs. Stowe had not felt impelled +to the duty she afterwards undertook. "In fact, it was a sort of general +impression upon her mind, as upon that of many humane people in those +days, that the subject was so dark and painful a one, so involved in +difficulty and obscurity, so utterly beyond human hope or help, that it +was of no use to read, or think, or distress one's self about it." But +when she reached New England the excitement over the fugitive slave law +was at its height. There was a panic in Boston among the colored people +settled there, who were daily fleeing to Canada. Every mail brought her +pitiful letters from Boston, from Illinois, and elsewhere, of the terror +and despair caused by the law. Still more was the impressed by the +apathy of the Christian world at the North, and surely, she said, the +people did not understand what the "system" was. Appeals were made to +her, who had some personal knowledge of the subject, to take up her pen. +The task seemed beyond her in every way. She was not strong, she was in +the midst of heavy domestic cares, with a young infant, with pupils to +whom she was giving daily lessons, and the limited income of the family +required the strictest economy. The dependence was upon the small salary +of Professor Stowe, and the few dollars she could earn by an occasional +newspaper or magazine article. But the theme burned in her mind, and +finally took this shape: at least she would write some sketches and show +the Christian world what slavery really was, and what the system was +that they were defending. She wanted to do this with entire fairness, +showing all the mitigations of the "patriarchal" system, and all that +individuals concerned in it could do to alleviate its misery. While +pondering this she came by chance, in a volume of an anti-slavery +magazine, upon the authenticated account of the escape of a woman with +her child on the ice across the Ohio River from Kentucky. She began to +meditate. The faithful slave husband in Kentucky, who had refused to +escape from a master who trusted him, when he was about to be sold "down +river," came to her as a pattern of Uncle Tom, and the scenes of the +story began to form themselves in her mind. "The first part of the book +ever committed to writing [this is the statement of Mrs. Stowe] was the +death of Uncle Tom. This scene presented itself almost as a tangible +vision to her mind while sitting at the communion-table in the little +church in Brunswick. She was perfectly overcome by it, and could +scarcely restrain the convulsion of tears and sobbings that shook her +frame. She hastened home and wrote it, and her husband being away, read +it to her two sons of ten and twelve years of age. The little fellows +broke out into convulsions of weeping, one of them saying through his +sobs, 'Oh, mamma, slavery is the most cursed thing in the world!' From +that time the story can less be said to have been composed by her than +imposed upon her. Scenes, incidents, conversations rushed upon her with +a vividness and importunity that would not be denied. The book insisted +upon getting itself into being, and would take no denial." + +When two or three chapters were written she wrote to her friend, Dr. +Bailey, of Washington, the editor of The National Era, to which she +had contributed, that she was planning a story that might run through +several numbers of the Era. The story was at once applied for, and +thereafter weekly installments were sent on regularly, in spite of all +cares and distractions. The installments were mostly written during the +morning, on a little desk in a corner of the dining-room of the cottage +in Brunswick, subject to all the interruptions of house-keeping, her +children bursting into the room continually with the importunity of +childhood. But they did not break the spell or destroy her abstraction. +With a smile and a word and a motion of the hand she would wave them +off, and keep on in her magician's work. Long afterwards they recalled +this, dimly understood at the time, and wondered at her power of +concentration. Usually at night the chapters were read to the family, +who followed the story with intense feeling. The narrative ran on for +nine months, exciting great interest among the limited readers of the +Era, and gaining sympathetic words from the anti-slavery people, but +without making any wide impression on the public. + +We may pause here in the narrative to note two things: the story was not +the work of a novice, and it was written out of abundant experience and +from an immense mass of accumulated thought and material. Mrs. Stowe was +in her fortieth year. She had been using her pen since she was twelve +years old, in extensive correspondence, in occasional essays, in short +stories and sketches, some of which appeared in a volume called The +Mayflower, published in 1843, and for many years her writing for +newspapers and periodicals had added appreciably to the small family +income. She was in the maturity of her intellectual powers, she was +trained in the art of writing, and she had, as Walter Scott had when he +began the Waverley Novels at the age of forty-three, abundant store of +materials on which to draw. To be sure, she was on fire with a moral +purpose, but she had the dramatic instinct, and she felt that her object +would not be reached by writing an abolition tract. + +"In shaping her material the author had but one purpose, to show the +institution of slavery truly, just as it existed. She had visited in +Kentucky; had formed the acquaintance of people who were just, upright, +and generous, and yet slave-holders. She had heard their views, and +appreciated their situation; she felt that justice required that their +difficulties should be recognized and their virtues acknowledged. It was +her object to show that the evils of slavery were the inherent evils of +a bad system, and not always the fault of those who had become involved +in it and were its actual administrators. Then she was convinced that +the presentation of slavery alone, in its most dreadful forms, would +be a picture of such unrelieved horror and darkness as nobody could be +induced to look at. Of set purpose, she sought to light up the darkness +by humorous and grotesque episodes, and the presentation of the milder +and more amusing phases of slavery, for which her recollection of the +never-failing wit and drollery of her former colored friends in Ohio +gave her abundant material." + +This is her own account of the process, years after. But it is evident +that, whether consciously or unconsciously, she did but follow the +inevitable law of all great dramatic creators and true story-tellers +since literature began. + +For this story Mrs. Stowe received from the Era the sum of three hundred +dollars. Before it was finished it attracted the attention of Mr. J. P. +Jewett, of Boston, a young and then unknown publisher, who offered to +issue it in book form. His offer was accepted, but as the tale ran on +he became alarmed at its length, and wrote to the author that she was +making the story too long for a one-volume novel; that the subject was +unpopular; that people would not willingly hear much about it; that one +short volume might possibly sell, but that if it grew to two that might +prove a fatal obstacle to its success. Mrs. Stowe replied that she did +not make the story, that the story made itself, and that she could not +stop it till it was done. The publisher hesitated. It is said that a +competent literary critic to whom he submitted it sat up all night with +the novel, and then reported, "The story has life in it; it will sell." +Mr. Jewett proposed to Professor Stowe to publish it on half profits if +he would share the expenses. This offer was declined, for the Stowes had +no money to advance, and the common royalty of ten per cent on the sales +was accepted. + +Mrs. Stowe was not interested in this business transaction. She was +thinking only of having the book circulated for the effect she had at +heart. The intense absorption in the story held her until the virtual +end in the death of Uncle Tom, and then it seemed as if the whole vital +force had left her. She sank into a profound discouragement. Would this +appeal, which she had written with her heart's blood, go for nothing, as +all the prayers and tears and strivings had already gone? When the last +proof sheets left her hands, "it seemed to her that there was no hope; +that nobody would read, nobody would pity; that this frightful system, +which had already pursued its victims into the free States, might at +last even threaten them in Canada." Resolved to leave nothing undone to +attract attention to her cause, she wrote letters and ordered copies +of her novel sent to men of prominence who had been known for their +anti-slavery sympathies,--to Prince Albert, Macaulay, Charles Dickens, +Charles Kingsley, and Lord Carlisle. Then she waited for the result. + +She had not long to wait. The success of the book was immediate. Three +thousand copies were sold the first day, within a few days ten thousand +copies had gone, on the 1st of April a second edition went to press, and +thereafter eight presses running day and night were barely able to keep +pace with the demand for it. Within a year three hundred thousand copies +were sold. No work of fiction ever spread more quickly throughout the +reading community or awakened a greater amount of public feeling. It was +read by everybody, learned and unlearned, high and low, for it was an +appeal to universal human sympathy, and the kindling of this spread the +book like wildfire. At first it seemed to go by acclamation. But this +was not altogether owing to sympathy with the theme. I believe that +it was its power as a novel that carried it largely. The community was +generally apathetic when it was not hostile to any real effort to be rid +of slavery. This presently appeared. At first there were few dissenting +voices from the chorus of praise. But when the effect of the book began +to be evident it met with an opposition fiercer and more personal than +the great wave of affectionate thankfulness which greeted it at first. +The South and the defenders and apologists of slavery everywhere were +up in arms. It was denounced in pulpit and in press, and some of the +severest things were said of it at the North. The leading religious +newspaper of the country, published in New York, declared that it was +"anti-Christian." + +Mrs. Stowe was twice astonished: first by its extraordinary sale, and +second by the quarter from which the assault on it came. She herself +says that her expectations were strikingly different from the facts. +"She had painted slaveholders as amiable, generous, and just. She had +shown examples among them of the noblest and most beautiful traits of +character; had admitted fully their temptations, their perplexities, and +their difficulties, so that a friend of hers who had many relatives in +the South wrote to her: 'Your book is going to be the great pacificator; +it will unite both North and South.' Her expectation was that the +professed abolitionists would denounce it as altogether too mild in +its dealings with slaveholders. To her astonishment, it was the extreme +abolitionists who received, and the entire South who rose up against +it." + +There is something almost amusing in Mrs. Stowe's honest expectation +that the deadliest blow the system ever suffered should have been +received thankfully by those whose traditions, education, and interests +were all bound up in it. And yet from her point of view it was not +altogether unreasonable. Her blackest villain and most loathsome agent +of the system, Legree, was a native of Vermont. All her wrath falls +upon the slave-traders, the auctioneers, the public whippers, and +the overseers, and all these persons and classes were detested by the +Southerners to the point of loathing, and were social outcasts. The +slave-traders and the overseers were tolerated as perhaps necessary in +the system, but they were never admitted into respectable society. This +feeling Mrs. Stowe regarded as a condemnation of the system. + +Pecuniary reward was the last thing that Mrs. Stowe expected for her +disinterested labor, but it suits the world's notion of the fitness of +things that this was not altogether wanting. For the millions of copies +of Uncle Tom scattered over the world the author could expect nothing, +but in her own country her copyright yielded her a moderate return that +lifted her out of poverty and enabled her to pursue her philanthropic +and literary career. Four months after the publication of the book +Professor Stowe was in the publisher's office, and Mr. Jewett asked him +how much he expected to receive. "I hope," said Professor Stowe, with a +whimsical smile, "that it will be enough to buy my wife a silk dress." +The publisher handed him a check for ten thousand dollars. + +Before Mrs. Stowe had a response to the letters accompanying the books +privately sent to England, the novel was getting known there. Its career +in Great Britain paralleled its success in America. In April a copy +reached London in the hands of a gentleman who had taken it on the +steamer to read. He gave it to Mr. Henry Vizetelly, who submitted it to +Mr. David Bogue, a man known for his shrewdness and enterprise. He took +a night to consider it, and then declined it, although it was offered +to him for five pounds. A Mr. Gilpin also declined it. It was then +submitted to Mr. Salisbury, a printer. This taster for the public sat up +with the book till four o'clock in the morning, alternately weeping +and laughing. Fearing, however, that this result was due to his +own weakness, he woke up his wife, whom he describes as a rather +strong-minded woman, and finding that the story kept her awake and made +her also laugh and cry, he thought it might safely be printed. It seems, +therefore, that Mr. Vizetelly ventured to risk five pounds, and the +volume was brought out through the nominal agency of Clarke & Company. +In the first week an edition of seven thousand was worked off. It made +no great stir until the middle of June, but during July it sold at the +rate of one thousand a week. By the 20th of August the demand for it was +overwhelming. The printing firm was then employing four hundred +people in getting it out, and seventeen printing-machines, besides +hand-presses. Already one hundred and fifty thousand copies were sold. +Mr. Vizetelly disposed of his interest, and a new printing firm began to +issue monster editions. About this time the publishers awoke to the fact +that any one was at liberty to reprint the book, and the era of cheap +literature was initiated, founded on American reprints which cost the +publisher no royalty. A shilling edition followed the one-and-sixpence, +and then one complete for sixpence. As to the total sale, Mr. Sampson +Low reports: "From April to December, 1852, twelve different editions +(not reissues) were published, and within the twelve months of its first +appearance eighteen different London publishing houses were engaged in +supplying the great demand that had set in, the total number of editions +being forty, varying from fine illustrated editions at 15s., 10s., and +7s. 6d. to the cheap popular editions of 1s. 9d. and 6d. After carefully +analyzing these editions and weighing probabilities with ascertained +facts, I am able pretty confidently to say that the aggregate number of +copies circulated in Great Britain and the colonies exceeds one and a +half millions." Later, abridgments were published. + +Almost simultaneously with this furor in England the book made its way +on the Continent. Several translations appeared in Germany and France, +and for the authorized French edition Mrs. Stowe wrote a new preface, +which served thereafter for most of the European editions. I find +no record of the order of the translations of the book into foreign +languages, but those into some of the Oriental tongues did not +appear till several years after the great excitement. The ascertained +translations are into twenty-three tongues, namely: Arabic, Armenian, +Chinese, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Flemish, French, German, Hungarian, +Illyrian, Italian, Japanese, Polish, Portuguese, modern Greek, Russian, +Servian, Siamese, Spanish, Swedish, Wallachian, and Welsh. Into some +of these languages several translations were made. In 1878 the British +Museum contained thirty-five editions of the original text, and eight +editions of abridgments or adaptations. + +The story was dramatized in the United States in August, 1852, without +the consent or knowledge of the author, and was played most successfully +in the leading cities, and subsequently was acted in every capital in +Europe. Mrs. Stowe had neglected to secure the dramatic rights, and +she derived no benefit from the great popularity of a drama which still +holds the stage. From the phenomenal sale of a book which was literally +read by the whole world, the author received only the ten per cent on +the American editions, and by the laws of her own country her copyright +expired before her death. + + +The narrative of the rise and fortunes of this book would be incomplete +without some reference to the response that the author received from +England and the Continent, and of her triumphant progress through the +British Isles. Her letters accompanying the special copies were almost +immediately replied to, generally in terms of enthusiastic and fervent +thankfulness for the book, and before midsummer her mail contained +letters from all classes of English society. In some of them appeared +a curious evidence of the English sensitiveness to criticism. Lord +Carlisle and Sir Arthur Helps supplemented their admiration by a protest +against the remark in the mouth of one of the characters that "slaves +are better off than a large class of the population of England." This +occurred in the defense of the institution by St. Clare, but it was +treated by the British correspondents as the opinion of Mrs. Stowe. +The charge was disposed of in Mrs. Stowe's reply: "The remark on that +subject occurs in the dramatic part of the book, in the mouth of an +intelligent Southerner. As a fair-minded person, bound to state for both +sides all that could be said, in the person of St. Clare, the best +that could be said on that point, and what I know IS in fact constantly +reiterated, namely, that the laboring class of the South are in many +respects, as to physical comfort, in a better condition than the poor +in England. This is the slaveholder's stereo-typed apology; a defense it +cannot be, unless two wrongs make one right." + +In April, 1853, Mr. and Mrs. Stowe and the latter's brother, Charles +Beecher, sailed for Europe. Her reception there was like a royal +progress. She was met everywhere by deputations and addresses, and +the enthusiasm her presence called forth was thoroughly democratic, +extending from the highest in rank to the lowest. At Edinburgh there +was presented to her a national penny offering, consisting of a thousand +golden sovereigns on a magnificent silver salver, an unsolicited +contribution in small sums by the people. + +At a reception in Stafford House, London, the Duchess of Sutherland +presented her with a massive gold bracelet, which has an interesting +history. It is made of ten oval links in imitation of slave fetters. On +two of the links were the inscriptions "March 25, 1807," the date of +the abolition of the slave-trade, and "August 1, 1838," the date of the +abolition of slavery in all British territory. The third inscription +is "562,848--March 19, 1853," the date of the address of the women of +England to the women of America on slavery, and the number of the women +who signed. It was Mrs. Stowe's privilege to add to these inscriptions +the following: "Emancipation D. C. Apl. 16, '62;" "President's +Proclamation Jan. 1, '63;" "Maryland free Oct. 13, '64;" "Missouri free +Jan. 11, '65;" and on the clasp link, "Constitution amended by Congress +Jan. 31, '65. Constitutional Amendment ratified." Two of the links are +vacant. What will the progress of civilization in America offer for the +links nine and ten? + +One of the most remarkable documents which resulted from Uncle Tom +was an address from the women of England to the women of America, +acknowledging the complicity in slavery of England, but praying aid in +removing from the world "our common crimes and common dishonor," which +was presented to Mrs. Stowe in 1853. It was the result of a meeting at +Stafford House, and the address, composed by Lord Shaftesbury, was put +into the hands of canvassers in England and on the Continent, and as far +as Jerusalem. The signatures of 562,848 women were obtained, with their +occupations and residences, from the nobility on the steps of the throne +down to maids in the kitchen. The address is handsomely engrossed on +vellum. The names are contained in twenty-six massive volumes, each +fourteen inches high by nine in breadth and three inches thick, inclosed +in an oak case. It is believed that this is the most numerously signed +address in existence. The value of the address, with so many names +collected in haphazard fashion, was much questioned, but its use was +apparent in the height of the civil war, when Mrs. Stowe replied to it +in one of the most vigorous and noble appeals that ever came from her +pen. This powerful reply made a profound impression in England. + +This is in brief the story of the book. It is still read, and read the +world over, with tears and with laughter; it is still played to excited +audiences. Is it a great novel, or was it only an event of an era of +agitation and passion? Has it the real dramatic quality--the poet's +visualizing of human life--that makes works of fiction, of imagination, +live? Till recently, I had not read the book since 1852. I feared to +renew acquaintance with it lest I should find only the shell of an +exploded cartridge. I took it up at the beginning of a three-hours' +railway journey. To my surprise the journey did not seem to last half an +hour, and half the time I could not keep back the tears from my eyes. A +London critic, full of sympathy with Mrs. Stowe and her work, recently +said, "Yet she was not an artist, she was not a great woman." What is +greatness? What is art? In 1862 probably no one who knew General Grant +would have called him a great man. But he took Vicksburg. This woman did +something with her pen,--on the whole, the most remarkable and effective +book in her generation. How did she do it? Without art? George Sand +said, "In matters of art there is but one rule, to paint and to move. +And where shall we find conditions more complete, types more vivid, +situations more touching, more original, than in Uncle Tom?" If there +is not room in our art for such a book, I think we shall have to stretch +our art a little. "Women, too, are here judged and painted with a master +hand." This subtle critic, in her overpoweringly tender and enthusiastic +review, had already inquired about the capacity of this writer. "Mrs. +Stowe is all instinct; it is the very reason that she appears to +some not to have talent. Has she not talent? What is talent? Nothing, +doubtless, compared to genius; but has she genius? I cannot say that she +has talent as one understands it in the world of letters, but she has +genius as humanity feels the need of genius,--the genius of goodness, +not that of the man of letters, but of the saint." It is admitted that +Mrs. Stowe was not a woman of letters in the common acceptation of that +term, and it is plain that in the French tribunal, where form is of +the substance of the achievement, and which reluctantly overlooked the +crudeness of Walter Scott, in France where the best English novel seems +a violation of established canons, Uncle Tom would seem to belong where +some modern critics place it, with works of the heart, and not of the +head. The reviewer is, however, candid: "For a long time we have striven +in France against the prolix explanations of Walter Scott. We have cried +out against those of Balzac, but on consideration have perceived that +the painter of manners and character has never done too much, that every +stroke of the pencil was needed for the general effect. Let us learn +then to appreciate all kinds of treatment, where the effect is good, and +where they bear the seal of a master hand." + +It must be admitted to the art critic that the book is defective +according to the rules of the modern French romance; that Mrs. Stowe +was possessed by her subject, and let her fervid interest in it be felt; +that she had a definite purpose. That purpose was to quicken the sense +of responsibility of the North by showing the real character of slavery, +and to touch the South by showing that the inevitable wrong of it lay in +the system rather than in those involved in it. Abundant material was in +her hands, and the author burned to make it serviceable. What should she +do? She might have done what she did afterwards in The Key, presented to +the public a mass of statistics, of legal documents. The evidence would +have been unanswerable, but the jury might not have been moved by +it; they would have balanced it by considerations of political and +commercial expediency. I presume that Mrs. Stowe made no calculation of +this kind. She felt her course, and went on in it. What would an artist +have done, animated by her purpose and with her material? He would have +done what Cervantes did, what Tourgenieff did, what Mrs. Stowe did. He +would have dramatized his facts in living personalities, in effective +scenes, in vivid pictures of life. Mrs. Stowe exhibited the system of +slavery by a succession of dramatized pictures, not always artistically +welded together, but always effective as an exhibition of the system. +Cervantes also showed a fading feudal romantic condition by a series +of amusing and pathetic adventures, grouped rather loosely about a +singularly fascinating figure. + +Tourgenieff, a more consummate artist, in his hunting scenes exhibited +the effect of serfdom upon society, in a series of scenes with no +necessary central figure, without comment, and with absolute concealment +of any motive. I believe the three writers followed their instincts, +without an analytic argument as to the method, as the great painter +follows his when he puts an idea upon canvas. He may invent a theory +about it afterwards; if he does not, some one else will invent it for +him. There are degrees of art. One painter will put in unnecessary +accessories, another will exhibit his sympathy too openly, the technique +or the composition of another can be criticised. But the question is, is +the picture great and effective? + +Mrs. Stowe had not Tourgenieff's artistic calmness. Her mind was fused +into a white heat with her message. Yet, how did she begin her story? +Like an artist, by a highly dramatized scene, in which the actors, by +a few strokes of the pen, appear as distinct and unmistakable +personalities, marked by individual peculiarities of manner, speech, +motive, character, living persons in natural attitudes. The reader +becomes interested in a shrewd study of human nature, of a section +of life, with its various refinement, coarseness, fastidiousness and +vulgarity, its humor and pathos. As he goes on he discovers that every +character has been perfectly visualized, accurately limned from the +first; that a type has been created which remains consistent, which is +never deflected from its integrity by any exigencies of plot. This clear +conception of character (not of earmarks and peculiarities adopted as +labels), and faithful adhesion to it in all vicissitudes, is one of the +rarest and highest attributes of genius. All the chief characters in the +book follow this line of absolutely consistent development, from Uncle +Tom and Legree down to the most aggravating and contemptible of all, +Marie St. Clare. The selfish and hysterical woman has never been so +faithfully depicted by any other author. + +Distinguished as the novel is by its character-drawing and its pathos, +I doubt if it would have captivated the world without its humor. This +is of the old-fashioned kind, the large humor of Scott, and again of +Cervantes, not verbal pleasantry, not the felicities of Lamb, but +the humor of character in action, of situations elaborated with great +freedom, and with what may be called a hilarious conception. This +quality is never wanting in the book, either for the reader's +entertainment by the way, or to heighten the pathos of the narrative by +contrast. The introduction of Topsy into the New Orleans household saves +us in the dangerous approach to melodrama in the religious passages +between Tom and St. Clare. Considering the opportunities of the subject, +the book has very little melodrama; one is apt to hear low music on the +entrance of little Eva, but we are convinced of the wholesome sanity of +the sweet child. And it is to be remarked that some of the most exciting +episodes, such as that of Eliza crossing the Ohio River on the floating +ice (of which Mr. Ruskin did not approve), are based upon authentic +occurrences. The want of unity in construction of which the critics +complain is partially explained by the necessity of exhibiting the +effect of slavery in its entirety. The parallel plots, one running +to Louisiana and the other to Canada, are tied together by this +consideration, and not by any real necessity to each other. + +There is no doubt that Mrs. Stowe was wholly possessed by her theme, +rapt away like a prophet in a vision, and that, in her feeling at the +time, it was written through her quite as much as by her. This idea +grew upon her mind in the retrospective light of the tremendous stir the +story made in the world, so that in her later years she came to regard +herself as a providential instrument, and frankly to declare that she +did not write the book; "God wrote it." In her own account, when she +reached the death of Uncle Tom, "the whole vital force left her." +The inspiration there left her, and the end of the story, the weaving +together of all the loose ends of the plot, in the joining together +almost by miracle the long separated, and the discovery of the +relationships, is the conscious invention of the novelist. + +It would be perhaps going beyond the province of the critic to remark +upon what the author considered the central power of the story, and +its power to move the world, the faith of Uncle Tom in the Bible. +This appeal to the emotion of millions of readers cannot, however, be +overlooked. Many regard the book as effective in regions remote from our +perplexities by reason of this grace. When the work was translated into +Siamese, the perusal of it by one of the ladies of the court induced her +to liberate all her slaves, men, women, and children, one hundred and +thirty in all. "Hidden Perfume," for that was the English equivalent of +her name, said she was wishful to be good like Harriet Beecher Stowe. +And as to the standpoint of Uncle Tom and the Bible, nothing more +significant can be cited than this passage from one of the latest +writings of Heinrich Heine:-- + +"The reawakening of my religious feelings I owe to that holy book the +Bible. Astonishing that after I have whirled about all my life over all +the dance-floors of philosophy, and yielded myself to all the orgies of +the intellect, and paid my addresses to all possible systems, without +satisfaction like Messalina after a licentious night, I now find myself +on the same standpoint where poor Uncle Tom stands,--on that of the +Bible! I kneel down by my black brother in the same prayer! What a +humiliation! With all my science I have come no further than the poor +ignorant negro who has scarce learned to spell. Poor Tom, indeed, seems +to have seen deeper things in the holy book than I.... Tom, perhaps, +understands them better than I, because more flogging occurs in +them; that is to say, those ceaseless blows of the whip which have +aesthetically disgusted me in reading the Gospels and the Acts. But a +poor negro slave reads with his back, and understands better than we +do. But I, who used to make citations from Homer, now begin to quote the +Bible as Uncle Tom does." + +The one indispensable requisite of a great work of imaginative fiction +is its universality, its conception and construction so that it will +appeal to universal human nature in all races and situations and +climates. Uncle Tom's Cabin does that. Considering certain artistic +deficiencies, which the French writers perceived, we might say that it +was the timeliness of its theme that gave it currency in England and +America. But that argument falls before the world-wide interest in it +as a mere story, in so many languages, by races unaffected by our own +relation to slavery. + +It was the opinion of James Russell Lowell that the anti-slavery element +in Uncle Tom and Dred stood in the way of a full appreciation, at least +in her own country, of the remarkable genius of Mrs. Stowe. Writing in +1859, he said, "From my habits and the tendency of my studies I cannot +help looking at things purely from an aesthetic point of view, and what +I valued in Uncle Tom was the genius, and not the moral." This had been +his impression when he read the book in Paris, long after the whirl of +excitement produced by its publication had subsided, and far removed by +distance from local influences. Subsequently, in a review, he wrote, "We +felt then, and we believe now, that the secret of Mrs. Stowe's power lay +in that same genius by which the great successes in creative literature +have always been achieved,--the genius that instinctively goes to the +organic elements of human nature, whether under a white skin or a black, +and which disregards as trivial the conventions and fictitious notions +which make so large a part both of our thinking and feeling.... The +creative faculty of Mrs. Stowe, like that of Cervantes in Don Quixote +and of Fielding in Joseph Andrews, overpowered the narrow specialty +of her design, and expanded a local and temporary theme with the +cosmopolitanism of genius." + +A half-century is not much in the life of a people; it is in time an +inadequate test of the staying power of a book. Nothing is more futile +than prophecy on contemporary literary work. It is safe, however, to say +that Uncle Tom's Cabin has the fundamental qualities, the sure insight +into human nature, and the fidelity to the facts of its own time which +have from age to age preserved works of genius. + + + + +STRIVINGS OF THE NEGRO PEOPLE by W. E. Burghardt Du Bois + + +Berween me and the other world there is ever an unasked question: +unasked by some through feelings of delicacy; by others through the +difficulty of rightly framing it. All, nevertheless, flutter round it. +They approach me in a half-hesitant sort of way, eye me curiously or +compassionately, and then, instead of saying directly, How does it feel +to be a problem? they say, I know an excellent colored man in my town; +or, I fought at Mechanicsville; or, Do not these Southern outrages +make your blood boil? At these I smile, or am interested, or reduce the +boiling to a simmer, as the occasion may require. To the real question, +How does it feel to be a problem? I answer seldom a word. + +And yet, being a problem is a strange experience,--peculiar even for +one who has never been anything else, save perhaps in babyhood and +in Europe. It is in the early days of rollicking boyhood that the +revelation first bursts upon one, all in a day, as it were. I remember +well when the shadow swept across me. I was a little thing, away up in +the hills of New England, where the dark Housatonic winds between Hoosac +and Taghanic to the sea. In a wee wooden schoolhouse, something put +it into the boys' and girls' heads to buy gorgeous visiting-cards--ten +cents a package--and exchange. The exchange was merry, till one girl, a +tall newcomer, refused my card,--refused it peremptorily, with a glance. +Then it dawned upon me with a certain suddenness that I was different +from the others; or like, mayhap, in heart and life and longing, but +shut out from their world by a vast veil. I had thereafter no desire to +tear down that veil, to creep through; I held all beyond it in common +contempt, and lived above it in a region of blue sky and great +wandering shadows. That sky was bluest when I could beat my mates +at examination-time, or beat them at a foot-race, or even beat their +stringy heads. Alas, with the years all this fine contempt began to +fade; for the world I longed for, and all its dazzling opportunities, +were theirs, not mine. But they should not keep these prizes, I said; +some, all, I would wrest from them. Just how I would do it I could never +decide: by reading law, by healing the sick, by telling the wonderful +tales that swam in my head,--some way. With other black boys the strife +was not so fiercely sunny: their youth shrunk into tasteless sycophancy, +or into silent hatred of the pale world about them and mocking distrust +of everything white; or wasted itself in a bitter cry. Why did God +make me an outcast and a stranger in mine own house? The "shades of the +prison-house" closed round about us all: walls strait and stubborn to +the whitest, but relentlessly narrow, tall, and unscalable to sons of +night who must plod darkly on in resignation, or beat unavailing palms +against the stone, or steadily, half hopelessly watch the streak of blue +above. + +After the Egyptian and Indian, the Greek and Roman, the Teuton and +Mongolian, the Negro is a sort of seventh son, born with a veil, and +gifted with second-sight in this American world,--a world which yields +him no self-consciousness, but only lets him see himself through +the revelation of the other world. It is a peculiar sensation, this +double-consciousness, this sense of always looking at one's self through +the eyes of others, of measuring one's soul by the tape of a world that +looks on in amused contempt and pity. One ever feels his two-ness,--an +American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; +two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps +it from being torn asunder. The history of the American Negro is the +history of this strife,--this longing to attain self-conscious manhood, +to merge his double self into a better and truer self. In this merging +he wishes neither of the older selves to be lost. He does not wish to +Africanize America, for America has too much to teach the world and +Africa; he does not wish to bleach his Negro blood in a flood of white +Americanism, for he believes--foolishly, perhaps, but fervently--that +Negro blood has yet a message for the world. He simply wishes to make +it possible for a man to be both a Negro and an American without being +cursed and spit upon by his fellows, without losing the opportunity of +self-development. + +This is the end of his striving: to be a co-worker in the kingdom of +culture, to escape both death and isolation, and to husband and use his +best powers. These powers, of body and of mind, have in the past been +so wasted and dispersed as to lose all effectiveness, and to seem like +absence of all power, like weakness. The double-aimed struggle of the +black artisan, on the one hand to escape white contempt for a nation +of mere hewers of wood and drawers of water, and on the other hand to +plough and nail and dig for a poverty-stricken horde, could only result +in making him a poor craftsman, for he had but half a heart in either +cause. By the poverty and ignorance of his people the Negro lawyer or +doctor was pushed toward quackery and demagogism, and by the criticism +of the other world toward an elaborate preparation that overfitted him +for his lowly tasks. The would-be black savant was confronted by the +paradox that the knowledge his people needed was a twice-told tale to +his white neighbors, while the knowledge which would teach the white +world was Greek to his own flesh and blood. The innate love of harmony +and beauty that set the ruder souls of his people a-dancing, a-singing, +and a-laughing raised but confusion and doubt in the soul of the black +artist; for the beauty revealed to him was the soul-beauty of a race +which his larger audience despised, and he could not articulate the +message of another people. + +This waste of double aims, this seeking to satisfy two unreconciled +ideals, has wrought sad havoc with the courage and faith and deeds of +eight thousand thousand people, has sent them often wooing false gods +and invoking false means of salvation, and has even at times seemed +destined to make them ashamed of themselves. In the days of bondage +they thought to see in one divine event the end of all doubt and +disappointment; eighteenth-century Rousseauism never worshiped freedom +with half the unquestioning faith that the American Negro did for two +centuries. To him slavery was, indeed, the sum of all villainies, the +cause of all sorrow, the root of all prejudice; emancipation was the key +to a promised land of sweeter beauty than ever stretched before the +eyes of wearied Israelites. In his songs and exhortations swelled +one refrain, liberty; in his tears and curses the god he implored had +freedom in his right hand. At last it came,--suddenly, fearfully, like +a dream. With one wild carnival of blood and passion came the message in +his own plaintive cadences:-- + + + "Shout, O children! + Shout, you're free! + The Lord has bought your liberty!" + + +Years have passed away, ten, twenty, thirty. Thirty years of national +life, thirty years of renewal and development, and yet the swarthy ghost +of Banquo sits in its old place at the national feast. In vain does the +nation cry to its vastest problem,-- + +"Take any shape but that, and my firm nerves Shall never tremble!" + +The freedman has not yet found in freedom his promised land. Whatever of +lesser good may have come in these years of change, the shadow of a deep +disappointment rests upon the Negro people,--a disappointment all the +more bitter because the unattained ideal was unbounded save by the +simple ignorance of a lowly folk. + +The first decade was merely a prolongation of the vain search for +freedom, the boom that seemed ever barely to elude their grasp,--like +a tantalizing will-o'-the-wisp, maddening and misleading the headless +host. The holocaust of war, the terrors of the Kuklux Klan, the lies of +carpet-baggers, the disorganization of industry, and the contradictory +advice of friends and foes left the bewildered serf with no new +watchword beyond the old cry for freedom. As the decade closed, however, +he began to grasp a new idea. The ideal of liberty demanded for its +attainment powerful means, and these the Fifteenth Amendment gave +him. The ballot, which before he had looked upon as a visible sign of +freedom, he now regarded as the chief means of gaining and perfecting +the liberty with which war had partially endowed him. And why not? Had +not votes made war and emancipated millions? Had not votes enfranchised +the freedmen? Was anything impossible to a power that had done all this? +A million black men started with renewed zeal to vote themselves +into the kingdom. The decade fled away,--a decade containing, to the +freedman's mind, nothing but suppressed votes, stuffed ballot-boxes, and +election outrages that nullified his vaunted right of suffrage. And yet +that decade from 1875 to 1885 held another powerful movement, the rise +of another ideal to guide the unguided, another pillar of fire by night +after a clouded day. It was the ideal of "book-learning;" the curiosity, +born of compulsory ignorance, to know and test the power of the +cabalistic letters of the white man, the longing to know. Mission +and night schools began in the smoke of battle, ran the gauntlet of +reconstruction, and at last developed into permanent foundations. Here +at last seemed to have been discovered the mountain path to Canaan; +longer than the highway of emancipation and law, steep and rugged, but +straight, leading to heights high enough to overlook life. + +Up the new path the advance guard toiled, slowly, heavily, doggedly; +only those who have watched and guided the faltering feet, the misty +minds, the dull understandings of the dark pupils of these schools know +how faithfully, how piteously, this people strove to learn. It was weary +work. The cold statistician wrote down the inches of progress here and +there, noted also where here and there a foot had slipped or some one +had fallen. To the tired climbers, the horizon was ever dark, the mists +were often cold, the Canaan was always dim and far away. If, however, +the vistas disclosed as yet no goal, no resting-place, little but +flattery and criticism, the journey at least gave leisure for reflection +and self-examination; it changed the child of emancipation to the youth +with dawning self-consciousness, self-realization, self-respect. In +those sombre forests of his striving his own soul rose before him, and +he saw himself,--darkly as through a veil; and yet he saw in himself +some faint revelation of his power, of his mission. He began to have a +dim feeling that, to attain his place in the world, he must be himself, +and not another. For the first time he sought to analyze the burden he +bore upon his back, that dead-weight of social degradation partially +masked behind a half-named Negro problem. He felt his poverty; without +a cent, without a home, without land, tools, or savings, he had entered +into competition with rich, landed, skilled neighbors. To be a poor man +is hard, but to be a poor race in a land of dollars is the very bottom +of hardships. He felt the weight of his ignorance,--not simply of +letters, but of life, of business, of the humanities; the accumulated +sloth and shirking and awkwardness of decades and centuries shackled his +hands and feet. Nor was his burden all poverty and ignorance. The red +stain of bastardy, which two centuries of systematic legal defilement +of Negro women had stamped upon his race, meant not only the loss of +ancient African chastity, but also the hereditary weight of a mass of +filth from white whoremongers and adulterers, threatening almost the +obliteration of the Negro home. + +A people thus handicapped ought not to be asked to race with the world, +but rather allowed to give all its time and thought to its own social +problems. But alas! while sociologists gleefully count his bastards and +his prostitutes, the very soul of the toiling, sweating black man is +darkened by the shadow of a vast despair. Men call the shadow prejudice, +and learnedly explain it as the natural defense of culture against +barbarism, learning against ignorance, purity against crime, the +"higher" against the "lower" races. To which the Negro cries Amen! and +swears that to so much of this strange prejudice as is founded on just +homage to civilization, culture, righteousness, and progress he humbly +bows and meekly does obeisance. But before that nameless prejudice +that leaps beyond all this he stands helpless, dismayed, and well-nigh +speechless; before that personal disrespect and mockery, the ridicule +and systematic humiliation, the distortion of fact and wanton license +of fancy, the cynical ignoring of the better and boisterous welcoming of +the worse, the all-pervading desire to inculcate disdain for everything +black, from Toussaint to the devil,--before this there rises a sickening +despair that would disarm and discourage any nation save that black host +to whom "discouragement" is an unwritten word. + +They still press on, they still nurse the dogged hope,--not a hope +of nauseating patronage, not a hope of reception into charmed social +circles of stock-jobbers, pork-packers, and earl-hunters, but the hope +of a higher synthesis of civilization and humanity, a true progress, +with which the chorus + + + "Peace, good will to men," + "May make one music as before, + But vaster." + + +Thus the second decade of the American Negro's freedom was a period of +conflict, of inspiration and doubt, of faith and vain questionings, of +Sturm and Drang. The ideals of physical freedom, of political power, of +school training, as separate all-sufficient panaceas for social ills, +became in the third decade dim and overcast. They were the vain dreams +of credulous race childhood; not wrong, but incomplete and over-simple. +The training of the schools we need to-day more than ever,--the training +of deft hands, quick eyes and ears, and the broader, deeper, higher +culture of gifted minds. The power of the ballot we need in sheer +self-defense, and as a guarantee of good faith. We may misuse it, but +we can scarce do worse in this respect than our whilom masters. Freedom, +too, the long-sought, we still seek,--the freedom of life and limb, the +freedom to work and think. Work, culture, and liberty,--all these we +need, not singly, but together; for to-day these ideals among the Negro +people are gradually coalescing, and finding a higher meaning in the +unifying ideal of race,--the ideal of fostering the traits and talents +of the Negro, not in opposition to, but in conformity with, the greater +ideals of the American republic, in order that some day, on American +soil, two world races may give each to each those characteristics which +both so sadly lack. Already we come not altogether empty-handed: there +is to-day no true American music but the sweet wild melodies of the +Negro slave; the American fairy tales are Indian and African; we are the +sole oasis of simple faith and reverence in a dusty desert of dollars +and smartness. Will America be poorer if she replace her brutal, +dyspeptic blundering with the light-hearted but determined Negro +humility; or her coarse, cruel wit with loving, jovial good humor; or +her Annie Rooney with Steal Away? + +Merely a stern concrete test of the underlying principles of the +great republic is the Negro problem, and the spiritual striving of the +freedmen's sons is the travail of souls whose burden is almost beyond +the measure of their strength, but who bear it in the name of an +historic race, in the name of this land of their fathers' fathers, and +in the name of human opportunity. + + + + +THE WIFE OF HIS YOUTH by Charles W. Chesnutt + + +I. + +Mr. Ryder was going to give a ball. There were several reasons why this +was an opportune time for such an event. + +Mr. Ryder might aptly be called the dean of the Blue Veins. The original +Blue Veins were a little society of colored persons organized in +a certain Northern city shortly after the war. Its purpose was to +establish and maintain correct social standards among a people whose +social condition presented almost unlimited room for improvement. By +accident, combined perhaps with some natural affinity, the society +consisted of individuals who were, generally speaking, more white +than black. Some envious outsider made the suggestion that no one was +eligible for membership who was not white enough to show blue veins. The +suggestion was readily adopted by those who were not of the favored few, +and since that time the society, though possessing a longer and +more pretentious name, had been known far and wide as the "Blue Vein +Society," and its members as the "Blue Veins." + +The Blue Veins did not allow that any such requirement existed for +admission to their circle, but, on the contrary, declared that character +and culture were the only things considered; and that if most of their +members were light-colored, it was because such persons, as a rule, had +had better opportunities to qualify themselves for membership. Opinions +differed, too, as to the usefulness of the society. There were those who +had been known to assail it violently as a glaring example of the very +prejudice from which the colored race had suffered most; and later, when +such critics had succeeded in getting on the inside, they had been heard +to maintain with zeal and earnestness that the society was a life-boat, +an anchor, a bulwark and a shield, a pillar of cloud by day and of fire +by night, to guide their people through the social wilderness. Another +alleged prerequisite for Blue Vein membership was that of free birth; +and while there was really no such requirement, it is doubtless true +that very few of the members would have been unable to meet it if there +had been. If there were one or two of the older members who had come up +from the South and from slavery, their history presented enough romantic +circumstances to rob their servile origin of its grosser aspects. While +there were no such tests of eligibility, it is true that the Blue Veins +had their notions on these subjects, and that not all of them were +equally liberal in regard to the things they collectively disclaimed. +Mr. Ryder was one of the most conservative. Though he had not been +among the founders of the society, but had come in some years later, his +genius for social leadership was such that he had speedily become its +recognized adviser and head, the custodian of its standards, and the +preserver of its traditions. He shaped its social policy, was active in +providing for its entertainment, and when the interest fell off, as +it sometimes did, he fanned the embers until they burst again into a +cheerful flame. There were still other reasons for his popularity. While +he was not as white as some of the Blue Veins, his appearance was such +as to confer distinction upon them. His features were of a refined type, +his hair was almost straight; he was always neatly dressed; his manners +were irreproachable, and his morals above suspicion. He had come to +Groveland a young man, and obtaining employment in the office of a +railroad company as messenger had in time worked himself up to the +position of stationery clerk, having charge of the distribution of +the office supplies for the whole company. Although the lack of early +training had hindered the orderly development of a naturally fine mind, +it had not prevented him from doing a great deal of reading or from +forming decidedly literary tastes. Poetry was his passion. He could +repeat whole pages of the great English poets; and if his pronunciation +was sometimes faulty, his eye, his voice, his gestures, would respond to +the changing sentiment with a precision that revealed a poetic soul, and +disarm criticism. He was economical, and had saved money; he owned and +occupied a very comfortable house on a respectable street. His residence +was handsomely furnished, containing among other things a good library, +especially rich in poetry, a piano, and some choice engravings. He +generally shared his house with some young couple, who looked after his +wants and were company for him; for Mr. Ryder was a single man. In the +early days of his connection with the Blue Veins he had been regarded +as quite a catch, and ladies and their mothers had manoeuvred with much +ingenuity to capture him. Not, however, until Mrs. Molly Dixon visited +Groveland had any woman ever made him wish to change his condition to +that of a married man. + +Mrs. Dixon had come to Groveland from Washington in the spring, and +before the summer was over she had won Mr. Ryder's heart. She possessed +many attractive qualities. She was much younger than he; in fact, he was +old enough to have been her father, though no one knew exactly how old +he was. She was whiter than he, and better educated. She had moved in +the best colored society of the country, at Washington, and had taught +in the schools of that city. Such a superior person had been eagerly +welcomed to the Blue Vein Society, and had taken a leading part in +its activities. Mr. Ryder had at first been attracted by her charms of +person, for she was very good looking and not over twenty-five; then by +her refined manners and by the vivacity of her wit. Her husband had +been a government clerk, and at his death had left a considerable life +insurance. She was visiting friends in Groveland, and, finding the town +and the people to her liking, had prolonged her stay indefinitely. She +had not seemed displeased at Mr. Ryder's attentions, but on the contrary +had given him every proper encouragement; indeed, a younger and less +cautious man would long since have spoken. But he had made up his mind, +and had only to determine the time when he would ask her to be his wife. +He decided to give a ball in her honor, and at some time during the +evening of the ball to offer her his heart and hand. He had no special +fears about the outcotme, but, with a little touch of romance, he wanted +the surroundings to be in harmony with his own feelings when he should +have received the answer he expected. + +Mr. Ryder resolved that this ball should mark an epoch in the +social history of Groveland. He knew, of course,--no one could know +better,--the entertainments that had taken place in past years, and what +must be done to surpass them. His ball must be worthy of the lady in +whose honor it was to be given, and must, by the quality of its guests, +set an example for the future. He had observed of late a growing +liberality, almost a laxity, in social matters, even among members of +his own set, and had several times been forced to meet in a social way +persons whose complexions and callings in life were hardly up to the +standard which he considered proper for the society to maintain. He had +a theory of his own. + +"I have no race prejudice," he would say, "but we people of mixed blood +are ground between the upper and the nether millstone. Our fate lies +between absorption by the white race and extinction in the black. +The one doesn't want us yet, but may take us in time. The other would +welcome us, but it would be for us a backward step. 'With malice towards +none, with charity for all,' we must do the best we can for ourselves +and those who are to follow us. Self-preservation is the first law of +nature." + +His ball would serve by its exclusiveness to counteract leveling +tendencies, and his marriage with Mrs. Dixon would help to further the +upward process of absorption he had been wishing and waiting for. + + +II. + +The ball was to take place on Friday night. The house had been put in +order, the carpets covered with canvas, the halls and stairs decorated +with palms and potted plants; and in the afternoon Mr. Ryder sat on his +front porch, which the shade of a vine running up over a wire netting +made a cool and pleasant lounging-place. He expected to respond to the +toast "The Ladies," at the supper, and from a volume of Tennyson--his +favorite poet--was fortifying himself with apt quotations. The volume +was open at A Dream of Fair Women. His eyes fell on these lines, and he +read them aloud to judge better of their effect:-- + +"At length I saw a lady within call. Stiller than chisell'd marble, +standing there; A daughter of the gods, divinely tall, And most divinely +fair." + +He marked the verse, and turning the page read the stanza beginning,-- + + + "O sweet pale Margaret, + O rare pale Margaret." + + +He weighed the passage a moment, and decided that it would not do. Mrs. +Dixon was the palest lady he expected at the ball, and she was of a +rather ruddy complexion, and of lively disposition and buxom build. So +he ran over the leaves until his eye rested on the description of Queen +Guinevere:-- + + + "She seem'd a part of joyous Spring: + A gown of grass-green silk she wore, + Buckled with golden clasps before; + A light-green tuft of plumes she bore + Closed in a golden ring. + + . . . . . . . . . . + + "She look'd so lovely, as she sway'd + The rein with dainty finger-tips, + A man had given all other bliss, + And all his worldly worth for this, + To waste his whole heart in one kiss + Upon her perfect lips." + + +As Mr. Ryder murmured these words audibly, with an appreciative thrill, +he heard the latch of his gate click, and a light footfall sounding on +the steps. He turned his head, and saw a woman standing before the door. + +She was a little woman, not five feet tall, and proportioned to her +height. Although she stood erect, and looked around her with very bright +and restless eyes, she seemed quite old; for her face was crossed and +recrossed with a hundred wrinkles, and around the edges of her bonnet +could be seen protruding here and there a tuft of short gray wool. She +wore a blue calico gown of ancient cut, a little red shawl fastened +around her shoulders with an old-fashioned brass brooch, and a large +bonnet profusely ornamented with faded red and yellow artificial +flowers. And she was very black--so black that her toothless gums, +revealed when she opened her mouth to speak, were not red, but blue. She +looked like a bit of the old plantation life, summoned up from the past +by the wave of a magician's wand, as the poet's fancy had called into +being the gracious shapes of which Mr. Ryder had just been reading. + +He rose from his chair and came over to where she stood. + +"Good-afternoon, madam," he said. + +"Good-evenin', suh," she answered, ducking suddenly with a quaint +curtsy. Her voice was shrill and piping, but softened somewhat by age. +"Is dis yere whar Mistuh Ryduh lib, suh?" she asked, looking around her +doubtfully, and glancing into the open windows, through which some of +the preparations for the evening were visible. + +"Yes," he replied, with an air of kindly patronage, unconsciously +flattered by her manner, "I am Mr. Ryder. Did you want to see me?" + +"Yas, suh, ef I ain't 'sturbin' of you too much." + +"Not at all. Have a seat over here behind the vine, where it is cool. +What can I do for you?" + +"'Scuse me, suh," she continued, when she had sat down on the edge of +a chair, "'scuse me, suh, I's lookin' for my husban'. I heerd you wuz a +big man an' had libbed heah a long time, an' I 'lowed you wouldn't min' +ef I'd come roun' an' ax you ef you'd eber heerd of a merlatter man by +de name er Sam Taylor 'quirin' roun' in de chu'ches ermongs' de people +fer his wife 'Liza Jane?" + +Mr. Ryder seemed to think for a moment. + +"There used to be many such cases right after the war," he said, "but it +has been so long that I have forgotten them. There are very few now. But +tell me your story, and it may refresh my memory." + +She sat back farther in her chair so as to be more comfortable, and +folded her withered hands in her lap. + +"My name's 'Liza," she began, "'Liza Jane. Wen I wuz young I us'ter +b'long ter Marse Bob Smif, down in old Missourn. I wuz bawn down dere. +W'en I wuz a gal I wuz married ter a man named Jim. But Jim died, an' +after dat I married a merlatter man named Sam Taylor. Sam wuz free-bawn, +but his mammy and daddy died, an' de w'ite folks 'prenticed him ter my +marster fer ter work fer 'im 'tel he wuz growed up. Sam worked in +de fiel', an' I wuz de cook. One day Ma'y Ann, ole miss's maid, come +rushin' out ter de kitchen, an' says she, ''Liza Jane, ole marse gwine +sell yo' Sam down de ribber.' + +"'Go way f'm yere,' says I; 'my husban's free!' + +"'Don' make no diff'ence. I heerd ole marse tell ole miss he wuz gwine +take yo' Sam 'way wid 'im ter-morrow, fer he needed money, an' he knowed +whar he could git a t'ousan' dollars fer Sam an' no questions axed.' + +"W'en Sam come home f'm de fiel', dat night, I tole him 'bout ole marse +gwine steal 'im, an' Sam run erway. His time wuz mos' up, an' he swo' +dat w'en he wuz twenty-one he would come back an' he'p me run erway, er +else save up de money ter buy my freedom. An' I know he'd 'a' done it, +fer he thought a heap er me, Sam did. But w'en he come back he didn' +fin' me, fer I wuzn' dere. Ole marse had heerd dat I warned Sam, so he +had me whip' an' sol' down de ribber. + +"Den de wah broke out, an' w'en it wuz ober de cullud folks wuz +scattered. I went back ter de ole home; but Sam wuzn' dere, an' I +couldn' l'arn nuffin' 'bout 'im. But I knowed he'd be'n dere to look fer +me an' hadn' foun' me, an' had gone erway ter hunt fer me. + +"I's be'n lookin' fer 'im eber sence," she added simply, as though +twenty-five years were but a couple of weeks, "an' I knows he's be'n +lookin' fer me. Fer he sot a heap er sto' by me, Sam did, an' I know +he's be'n huntin' fer me all dese years,--'less'n he's be'n sick er +sump'n, so he couldn' work, er out'n his head, so he couldn' 'member his +promise. I went back down de ribber, fer I 'lowed he'd gone down dere +lookin' fer me. I's be'n ter Noo Orleens, an' Atlanty, an' Charleston, +an' Richmon'; an' w'en I'd be'n all ober de Souf I come ter de Norf. Fer +I knows I'll fin' 'im some er dese days," she added softly, "er he'll +fin' me, an' den we'll bofe be as happy in freedom as we wuz in de ole +days befo' de wah." A smile stole over her withered countenance as she +paused a moment, and her bright eyes softened into a far-away look. + +This was the substance of the old woman's story. She had wandered a +little here and there. Mr. Ryder was looking at her curiously when she +finished. + +"How have you lived all these years?" he asked. + +"Cookin', suh. I's a good cook. Does you know anybody w'at needs a good +cook, suh? I's stoppin' wid a cullud fam'ly roun' de corner yonder 'tel +I kin fin' a place." + +"Do you really expect to find your husband? He may be dead long ago." + +She shook her head emphatically. "Oh no, he ain' dead. De signs an' de +tokens tells me. I dremp three nights runnin' on'y dis las' week dat I +foun' him." + +"He may have married another woman. Your slave marriage would not have +prevented him, for you never lived with him after the war, and without +that your marriage doesn't count." + +"Wouldn' make no diff'ence wid Sam. He wouldn' marry no yuther 'ooman +'tel he foun' out 'bout me. I knows it," she added. "Sump'n's be'n +tellin' me all dese years dat I's gwine fin' Sam 'fo I dies." + +"Perhaps he's outgrown you, and climbed up in the world where he +wouldn't care to have you find him." + +"No, indeed, suh," she replied, "Sam ain' dat kin' er man. He wuz good +ter me, Sam wuz, but he wuzn' much good ter nobody e'se, fer he wuz one +er de triflin'es' han's on de plantation. I 'spec's ter haf ter suppo't +'im w'en I fin' 'im, fer he nebber would work 'less'n he had ter. But +den he wuz free, an' he didn' git no pay fer his work, an' I don' +blame 'im much. Mebbe he's done better sence he run erway, but I ain' +'spectin' much." + +"You may have passed him on the street a hundred times during the +twenty-five years, and not have known him; time works great changes." + +She smiled incredulously. "I'd know 'im 'mongs' a hund'ed men. Fer dey +wuzn' no yuther merlatter man like my man Sam, an' I couldn' be mistook. +I's toted his picture roun' wid me twenty-five years." + +"May I see it?" asked Mr. Ryder. "It might help me to remember whether I +have seen the original." + +As she drew a small parcel from her bosom, he saw that it was fastened +to a string that went around her neck. Removing several wrappers, she +brought to light an old-fashioned daguerreotype in a black case. He +looked long and intently at the portrait. It was faded with time, but +the features were still distinct, and it was easy to see what manner of +man it had represented. + +He closed the case, and with a slow movement handed it back to her. + +"I don't know of any man in town who goes by that name," he said, "nor +have I heard of any one making such inquiries. But if you will leave me +your address, I will give the matter some attention, and if I find out +anything I will let you know." + +She gave him the number of a house in the neighborhood, and went away, +after thanking him warmly. + +He wrote down the address on the flyleaf of the volume of Tennyson, +and, when she had gone, rose to his feet and stood looking after her +curiously. As she walked down the street with mincing step, he saw +several persons whom she passed turn and look back at her with a smile +of kindly amusement. When she had turned the corner, he went upstairs +to his bedroom, and stood for a long time before the mirror of his +dressing-case, gazing thoughtfully at the reflection of his own face. + + +III. + +At eight o'clock the ballroom was a blaze of light and the guests had +begun to assemble; for there was a literary programme and some routine +business of the society to be gone through with before the dancing. +A black servant in evening dress waited at the door and directed the +guests to the dressing-rooms. + +The occasion was long memorable among the colored people of the city; +not alone for the dress and display, but for the high average of +intelligence and culture that distinguished the gathering as a whole. +There were a number of school-teachers, several young doctors, three or +four lawyers, some professional singers, an editor, a lieutenant in +the United States army spending his furlough in the city, and others in +various polite callings; these were colored, though most of them would +not have attracted even a casual glance because of any marked difference +from white people. Most of the ladies were in evening costume, and dress +coats and dancing-pumps were the rule among the men. A band of string +music, stationed in an alcove behind a row of palms, played popular airs +while the guests were gathering. + +The dancing began at half past nine. At eleven o'clock supper was +served. Mr. Ryder had left the ballroom some little time before the +intermission, but reappeared at the supper-table. The spread was worthy +of the occasion, and the guests did full justice to it. When the coffee +had been served, the toastmaster, Mr. Solomon Sadler, rapped for order. +He made a brief introductory speech, complimenting host and guests, +and then presented in their order the toasts of the evening. They were +responded to with a very fair display of after-dinner wit. + +"The last toast," said the toast-master, when he reached the end of the +list, "is one which must appeal to us all. There is no one of us of the +sterner sex who is not at some time dependent upon woman,--in infancy +for protection, in manhood for companionship, in old age for care and +comforting. Our good host has been trying to live alone, but the fair +faces I see around me to-night prove that he too is largely dependent +upon the gentler sex for most that makes life worth living,--the society +and love of friends,--and rumor is at fault if he does not soon yield +entire subjection to one of them. Mr. Ryder will now respond to the +toast,--The Ladies." + +There was a pensive look in Mr. Ryder's eyes as he took the floor and +adjusted his eyeglasses. He began by speaking of woman as the gift of +Heaven to man, and after some general observations on the relations of +the sexes he said: "But perhaps the quality which most distinguishes +woman is her fidelity and devotion to those she loves. History is full +of examples, but has recorded none more striking than one which only +to-day came under my notice." + +He then related, simply but effectively, the story told by his visitor +of the afternoon. He told it in the same soft dialect, which came +readily to his lips, while the company listened attentively and +sympathetically. For the story had awakened a responsive thrill in many +hearts. There were some present who had seen, and others who had heard +their fathers and grandfathers tell, the wrongs and sufferings of this +past generation, and all of them still felt, in their darker moments, +the shadow hanging over them. Mr. Ryder went on:-- + +"Such devotion and such confidence are rare even among women. There are +many who would have searched a year, some who would have waited five +years, a few who might have hoped ten years; but for twenty-five years +this woman has retained her affection for and her faith in a man she has +not seen or heard of in all that time. + +"She came to me to-day in the hope that I might be able to help her find +this long-lost husband. And when she was gone I gave my fancy rein, and +imagined a case I will put to you. + +"Suppose that this husband, soon after his escape, had learned that +his wife had been sold away, and that such inquiries as he could make +brought no information of her whereabouts. Suppose that he was young, +and she much older than he; that he was light, and she was black; that +their marriage was a slave marriage, and legally binding only if they +chose to make it so after the war. Suppose, too, that he made his way +to the North, as some of us have done, and there, where he had larger +opportunities, had improved them, and had in the course of all these +years grown to be as different from the ignorant boy who ran away from +fear of slavery as the day is from the night. Suppose, even, that he +had qualified himself, by industry, by thrift, and by study, to win the +friendship and be considered worthy the society of such people as these +I see around me to-night, gracing my board and filling my heart with +gladness; for I am old enough to remember the day when such a gathering +would not have been possible in this land. Suppose, too, that, as +the years went by, this man's memory of the past grew more and more +indistinct, until at last it was rarely, except in his dreams, that any +image of this bygone period rose before his mind. And then suppose that +accident should bring to his knowledge the fact that the wife of his +youth, the wife he had left behind him,--not one who had walked by his +side and kept pace with him in his upward struggle, but one upon whom +advancing years and a laborious life had set their mark,--was alive +and seeking him, but that he was absolutely safe from recognition or +discovery, unless he chose to reveal himself. My friends, what would +the man do? I will suppose that he was one who loved honor, and tried +to deal justly with all men. I will even carry the case further, and +suppose that perhaps he had set his heart upon another, whom he had +hoped to call his own. What would he do, or rather what ought he to do, +in such a crisis of a lifetime? + +"It seemed to me that he might hesitate, and I imagined that I was an +old friend, a near friend, and that he had come to me for advice; and +I argued the case with him. I tried to discuss it impartially. After we +had looked upon the matter from every point of view, I said to him, in +words that we all know: + + + 'This above all: to thine own self be true, + And it must follow, as the night the day, + Thou canst not then be false to any man.' + + +Then, finally, I put the question to him, 'Shall you acknowledge her?' + +"And now, ladies and gentlemen, friends and companions, I ask you, what +should he have done?" + +There was something in Mr. Ryder's voice that stirred the hearts of +those who sat around him. It suggested more than mere sympathy with +an imaginary situation; it seemed rather in the nature of a personal +appeal. It was observed, too, that his look rested more especially upon +Mrs. Dixon, with a mingled expression of renunciation and inquiry. + +She had listened, with parted lips and streaming eyes. She was the first +to speak: "He should have acknowledged her." + +"Yes," they all echoed, "he should have acknowledged her." + +"My friends and companions," responded Mr. Ryder, "I thank you, one and +all. It is the answer I expected, for I knew your hearts." + +He turned and walked toward the closed door of an adjoining room, while +every eye followed him in wondering curiosity. He came back in a moment, +leading by the hand his visitor of the afternoon, who stood startled and +trembling at the sudden plunge into this scene of brilliant gayety. She +was neatly dressed in gray, and wore the white cap of an elderly woman. + +"Ladies and gentlemen," he said, "this is the woman, and I am the man, +whose story I have told you. Permit me to introduce to you the wife of +my youth." + + + + +THE BOUQUET by Charles W. Chesnutt + + +Mary Myrover's friends were somewhat surprised when she began to teach +a colored school. Miss Myrover's friends are mentioned here, because +nowhere more than in a Southern town is public opinion a force which +cannot be lightly contravened. Public opinion, however, did not oppose +Miss Myrover's teaching colored children; in fact, all the colored +public schools in town--and there were several--were taught by white +teachers, and had been so taught since the state had undertaken to +provide free public instruction for all children within its boundaries. +Previous to that time there had been a Freedman's Bureau school and a +Presbyterian missionary school, but these had been withdrawn when the +need for them became less pressing. The colored people of the town had +been for some time agitating their right to teach their own schools, but +as yet the claim had not been conceded. + +The reason Miss Myrover's course created some surprise was not, +therefore, the fact that a Southern white woman should teach a colored +school; it lay in the fact that up to this time no woman of just her +quality had taken up such work. Most of the teachers of colored schools +were not of those who had constituted the aristocracy of the old regime; +they might be said rather to represent the new order of things, in which +labor was in time to become honorable, and men were, after a somewhat +longer time, to depend, for their place in society, upon themselves +rather than upon their ancestors. But Mary Myrover belonged to one +of the proudest of the old families. Her ancestors had been people of +distinction in Virginia before a collateral branch of the main stock had +settled in North Carolina. Before the war they had been able to live +up to their pedigree. But the war brought sad changes. Miss Myrover's +father--the Colonel Myrover who led a gallant but desperate charge at +Vicksburg--had fallen on the battlefield, and his tomb in the white +cemetery was a shrine for the family. On the Confederate Memorial Day no +other grave was so profusely decorated with flowers, and in the oration +pronounced the name of Colonel Myrover was always used to illustrate the +highest type of patriotic devotion and self-sacrifice. Miss Myrover's +brother, too, had fallen in the conflict; but his bones lay in some +unknown trench, with those of a thousand others who had fallen on the +same field. Ay, more, her lover, who had hoped to come home in the +full tide of victory and claim his bride as a reward for gallantry, had +shared the fate of her father and brother. When the war was over, the +remnant of the family found itself involved in the common ruin,--more +deeply involved, indeed, than some others; for Colonel Myrover had +believed in the ultimate triumph of his cause, and had invested most +of his wealth in Confederate bonds, which were now only so much waste +paper. + +There had been a little left. Mrs. Myrover was thrifty, and had laid by +a few hundred dollars, which she kept in the house to meet unforeseen +contingencies. There remained, too, their home, with an ample garden and +a well-stocked orchard, besides a considerable tract of country land, +partly cleared, but productive of very little revenue. + +With their shrunken resources, Miss Myrover and her mother were able to +hold up their heads without embarrassment for some years after the close +of the war. But when things were adjusted to the changed conditions, and +the stream of life began to flow more vigorously in the new channels, +they saw themselves in danger of dropping behind, unless in some way +they could add to their meagre income. Miss Myrover looked over the +field of employment, never very wide for women in the South, and found +it occupied. The only available position she could be supposed prepared +to fill, and which she could take without distinct loss of caste, was +that of a teacher, and there was no vacancy except in one of the colored +schools. Even teaching was a doubtful experiment; it was not what she +would have preferred, but it was the best that could be done. + +"I don't like it, Mary," said her mother. "It's a long step from owning +such people to teaching them. What do they need with education? It will +only make them unfit for work." + +"They're free now, mother, and perhaps they'll work better if they're +taught something. Besides, it's only a business arrangement, and doesn't +involve any closer contact than we have with our servants." + +"Well, I should say not!" sniffed the old lady. "Not one of them will +ever dare to presume on your position to take any liberties with us. +I'll see to that." + +Miss Myrover began her work as a teacher in the autumn, at the opening +of the school year. It was a novel experience at first. Though there +always had been negro servants in the house, and though on the streets +colored people were more numerous than her own people, and though she +was so familiar with their dialect that she might almost be said to +speak it, barring certain characteristic grammatical inaccuracies, she +had never been brought in personal contact with so many of them at once +as when she confronted the fifty or sixty faces--of colors ranging +from a white almost as clear as her own to the darkest livery of the +sun--which were gathered in the schoolroom on the morning when she began +her duties. Some of the inherited prejudice of her caste, too, made +itself felt, though she tried to repress any outward sign of it; and she +could perceive that the children were not altogether responsive; +they, likewise, were not entirely free from antagonism. The work was +unfamiliar to her. She was not physically very strong, and at the close +of the first day she went home with a splitting headache. If she could +have resigned then and there without causing comment or annoyance to +others, she would have felt it a privilege to do so. But a night's rest +banished her headache and improved her spirits, and the next morning she +went to her work with renewed vigor, fortified by the experience of the +first day. + +Miss Myrover's second day was more satisfactory. She had some natural +talent for organization, though she had never known it, and in the +course of the day she got her classes formed and lessons under way. In a +week or two she began to classify her pupils in her own mind, as bright +or stupid, mischievous or well behaved, lazy or industrious, as the case +might be, and to regulate her discipline accordingly. That she had come +of a long line of ancestors who had exercised authority and mastership +was perhaps not without its effect upon her character, and enabled her +more readily to maintain good order in the school. When she was fairly +broken in she found the work rather to her liking, and derived much +pleasure from such success as she achieved as a teacher. + +It was natural that she should be more attracted to some of her pupils +than to others. Perhaps her favorite--or rather, the one she liked +best, for she was too fair and just for conscious favoritism--was Sophy +Tucker. Just the ground for the teacher's liking for Sophy might not at +first be apparent. The girl was far from the whitest of Miss Myrover's +pupils; in fact, she was one of the darker ones. She was not the +brightest in intellect, though she always tried to learn her lessons. +She was not the best dressed, for her mother was a poor widow, who went +out washing and scrubbing for a living. Perhaps the real tie between +them was Sophy's intense devotion to the teacher. It had manifested +itself almost from the first day of the school, in the rapt look of +admiration Miss Myrover always saw on the little black face turned +toward her. In it there was nothing of envy, nothing of regret; nothing +but worship for the beautiful white lady--she was not especially +handsome, but to Sophy her beauty was almost divine--who had come to +teach her. If Miss Myrover dropped a book, Sophy was the first to spring +and pick it up; if she wished a chair moved, Sophy seemed to anticipate +her wish; and so of all the numberless little services that can be +rendered in a school-room. + +Miss Myrover was fond of flowers, and liked to have them about her. The +children soon learned of this taste of hers, and kept the vases on her +desk filled with blossoms during their season. Sophy was perhaps the +most active in providing them. If she could not get garden flowers, she +would make excursions to the woods in the early morning, and bring +in great dew-laden bunches of bay, or jasmine, or some other fragrant +forest flower which she knew the teacher loved. + +"When I die, Sophy," Miss Myrover said to the child one day, "I want +to be covered with roses. And when they bury me, I'm sure I shall rest +better if my grave is banked with flowers, and roses are planted at my +head and at my feet." + +Miss Myrover was at first amused at Sophy's devotion; but when she grew +more accustomed to it, she found it rather to her liking. It had a sort +of flavor of the old regime, and she felt, when she bestowed her kindly +notice upon her little black attendant, some of the feudal condescension +of the mistress toward the slave. She was kind to Sophy, and permitted +her to play the role she had assumed, which caused sometimes a little +jealousy among the other girls. Once she gave Sophy a yellow ribbon +which she took from her own hair. The child carried it home, and +cherished it as a priceless treasure, to be worn only on the greatest +occasions. + +Sophy had a rival in her attachment to the teacher, but the rivalry was +altogether friendly. Miss Myrover had a little dog, a white spaniel, +answering to the name of Prince. Prince was a dog of high degree, and +would have very little to do with the children of the school; he made +an exception, however, in the case of Sophy, whose devotion for his +mistress he seemed to comprehend. He was a clever dog, and could fetch +and carry, sit up on his haunches, extend his paw to shake hands, and +possessed several other canine accomplishments. He was very fond of his +mistress, and always, unless shut up at home, accompanied her to school, +where he spent most of his time lying under the teacher's desk, or, in +cold weather, by the stove, except when he would go out now and then and +chase an imaginary rabbit round the yard, presumably for exercise. + +At school Sophy and Prince vied with each other in their attentions to +Miss Myrover. But when school was over, Prince went away with her, and +Sophy stayed behind; for Miss Myrover was white and Sophy was black, +which they both understood perfectly well. Miss Myrover taught the +colored children, but she could not be seen with them in public. If they +occasionally met her on the street, they did not expect her to speak to +them, unless she happened to be alone and no other white person was in +sight. If any of the children felt slighted, she was not aware of it, +for she intended no slight; she had not been brought up to speak to +negroes on the street, and she could not act differently from other +people. And though she was a woman of sentiment and capable of deep +feeling, her training had been such that she hardly expected to find +in those of darker hue than herself the same susceptibility--varying in +degree, perhaps, but yet the same in kind--that gave to her own life the +alternations of feeling that made it most worth living. + +Once Miss Myrover wished to carry home a parcel of books. She had the +bundle in her hand when Sophy came up. + +"Lemme tote yo' bundle fer yer, Miss Ma'y?" she asked eagerly. "I'm +gwine yo' way." + +"Thank you, Sophy," was the reply. "I'll be glad if you will." + +Sophy followed the teacher at a respectful distance. When they reached +Miss Myrover's home Sophy carried the bundle to the doorstep, where Miss +Myrover took it and thanked her. + +Mrs. Myrover came out on the piazza as Sophy was moving away. She said, +in the child's hearing, and perhaps with the intention that she should +hear: "Mary, I wish you wouldn't let those little darkies follow you +to the house. I don't want them in the yard. I should think you'd have +enough of them all day." + +"Very well, mother," replied her daughter. "I won't bring any more of +them. The child was only doing me a favor." + +Mrs. Myrover was an invalid, and opposition or irritation of any kind +brought on nervous paroxysms that made her miserable, and made life a +burden to the rest of the household; so that Mary seldom crossed her +whims. She did not bring Sophy to the house again, nor did Sophy again +offer her services as porter. + +One day in spring Sophy brought her teacher a bouquet of yellow roses. + +"Dey come off'n my own bush, Miss Ma'y," she said proudly, "an' I didn' +let nobody e'se pull 'em, but saved 'em all fer you, 'cause I know you +likes roses so much. I'm gwine bring 'em all ter you as long as dey +las'." + +"Thank you, Sophy," said the teacher; "you are a very good girl." + +For another year Mary Myrover taught the colored school, and did +excellent service. The children made rapid progress under her tuition, +and learned to love her well; for they saw and appreciated, as well as +children could, her fidelity to a trust that she might have slighted, as +some others did, without much fear of criticism. Toward the end of her +second year she sickened, and after a brief illness died. + +Old Mrs. Myrover was inconsolable. She ascribed her daughter's death +to her labors as teacher of negro children. Just how the color of the +pupils had produced the fatal effects she did not stop to explain. But +she was too old, and had suffered too deeply from the war, in body +and mind and estate, ever to reconcile herself to the changed order +of things following the return of peace; and with an unsound yet not +unnatural logic, she visited some of her displeasure upon those who had +profited most, though passively, by her losses. + +"I always feared something would happen to Mary," she said. "It seemed +unnatural for her to be wearing herself out teaching little negroes who +ought to have been working for her. But the world has hardly been a fit +place to live in since the war, and when I follow her, as I must before +long, I shall not be sorry to go." + +She gave strict orders that no colored people should be admitted to the +house. Some of her friends heard of this, and remonstrated. They knew +the teacher was loved by the pupils, and felt that sincere respect from +the humble would be a worthy tribute to the proudest. But Mrs. Myrover +was obdurate. + +"They had my daughter when she was alive," she said, "and they've killed +her. But she's mine now, and I won't have them come near her. I don't +want one of them at the funeral or anywhere around." + +For a month before Miss Myrover's death Sophy had been watching her +rosebush--the one that bore the yellow roses--for the first buds of +spring, and when these appeared had awaited impatiently their gradual +unfolding. But not until her teacher's death had they become full-blown +roses. When Miss Myrover died, Sophy determined to pluck the roses and +lay them on her coffin. Perhaps, she thought, they might even put them +in her hand or on her breast. For Sophy remembered Miss Myrover's thanks +and praise when she had brought her the yellow roses the spring before. + +On the morning of the day set for the funeral Sophy washed her +face until it shone, combed and brushed her hair with painful +conscientiousness, put on her best frock, plucked her yellow roses, and, +tying them with the treasured ribbon her teacher had given her, set out +for Miss Myrover's home. + +She went round to the side gate--the house stood on a corner--and stole +up the path to the kitchen. A colored woman, whom she did not know, came +to the door. + +"W'at yer want, chile?" she inquired. + +"Kin I see Miss Ma'y?" asked Sophy timidly. + +"I don' know, honey. Ole Miss Myrover say she don' want no cullud folks +roun' de house endyoin' dis fun'al. I'll look an' see if she's roun' de +front room, whar de co'pse is. You sed-down heah an' keep still, an' ef +she's upstairs maybe I kin git yer in dere a minute. Ef I can't, I kin +put yo' bokay 'mongs' de res', whar she won't know nuthin' erbout it." + +A moment after she had gone there was a step in the hall, and old Mrs. +Myrover came into the kitchen. + +"Dinah!" she said in a peevish tone. "Dinah!" + +Receiving no answer, Mrs. Myrover peered around the kitchen, and caught +sight of Sophy. + +"What are you doing here?" she demanded. + +"I--I'm-m waitin' ter see de cook, ma'am," stammered Sophy. + +"The cook isn't here now. I don't know where she is. Besides, my +daughter is to be buried to-day, and I won't have any one visiting the +servants until the funeral is over. Come back some other day, or see the +cook at her own home in the evening." + +She stood waiting for the child to go, and under the keen glance of her +eyes Sophy, feeling as though she had been caught in some disgraceful +act, hurried down the walk and out of the gate, with her bouquet in her +hand. + +"Dinah," said Mrs. Myrover, when the cook came back, "I don't want +any strange people admitted here to-day. The house will be full of our +friends, and we have no room for others." + +"Yas'm," said the cook. She understood perfectly what her mistress +meant; and what the cook thought about her mistress was a matter of no +consequence. + +The funeral services were held at St. John's Episcopal Church, where the +Myrovers had always worshiped. Quite a number of Miss Myrover's pupils +went to the church to attend the services. The church was not a large +one. There was a small gallery at the rear, to which colored people were +admitted, if they chose to come, at ordinary services; and those who +wished to be present at the funeral supposed that the usual custom +would prevail. They were therefore surprised, when they went to the side +entrance, by which colored people gained access to the gallery stairs, +to be met by an usher who barred their passage. + +"I'm sorry," he said, "but I have had orders to admit no one until the +friends of the family have all been seated. If you wish to wait until +the white people have all gone in, and there's any room left, you may +be able to get into the back part of the gallery. Of course I can't tell +yet whether there'll be any room or not." + +Now the statement of the usher was a very reasonable one; but, strange +to say, none of the colored people chose to remain except Sophy. She +still hoped to use her floral offering for its destined end, in some +way, though she did not know just how. She waited in the yard until the +church was filled with white people, and a number who could not gain +admittance were standing about the doors. Then she went round to the +side of the church, and, depositing her bouquet carefully on an old +mossy gravestone, climbed up on the projecting sill of a window near the +chancel. The window was of stained glass, of somewhat ancient make. The +church was old, had indeed been built in colonial times, and the stained +glass had been brought from England. The design of the window showed +Jesus blessing little children. Time had dealt gently with the window; +but just at the feet of the figure of Jesus a small triangular piece of +glass had been broken out. To this aperture Sophy applied her eyes, and +through it saw and heard what she could of the services within. + +Before the chancel, on trestles draped in black, stood the sombre casket +in which lay all that was mortal of her dear teacher. The top of the +casket was covered with flowers; and lying stretched out underneath it +she saw Miss Myrover's little white dog, Prince. He had followed the +body to the church, and, slipping in unnoticed among the mourners, had +taken his place, from which no one had the heart to remove him. + +The white-robed rector read the solemn service for the dead, and then +delivered a brief address, in which he spoke of the uncertainty of life, +and, to the believer, the certain blessedness of eternity. He spoke of +Miss Myrover's kindly spirit, and, as an illustration of her love and +self-sacrifice for others, referred to her labors as a teacher of the +poor ignorant negroes who had been placed in their midst by an all-wise +Providence, and whom it was their duty to guide and direct in the +station in which God had put them. Then the organ pealed, a prayer was +said, and the long cortege moved from the church to the cemetery, about +half a mile away, where the body was to be interred. + +When the services were over, Sophy sprang down from her perch, and, +taking her flowers, followed the procession. She did not walk with the +rest, but at a proper and respectful distance from the last mourner. No +one noticed the little black girl with the bunch of yellow flowers, or +thought of her as interested in the funeral. + +The cortege reached the cemetery and filed slowly through the gate; but +Sophy stood outside, looking at a small sign in white letters on a black +background:-- + +"NOTICE. This cemetery is for white people only. Others please keep +out." + +Sophy, thanks to Miss Myrover's painstaking instruction, could read this +sign very distinctly. In fact, she had often read it before. For Sophy +was a child who loved beauty, in a blind, groping sort of way, and had +sometimes stood by the fence of the cemetery and looked through at the +green mounds and shaded walks and blooming flowers within, and wished +that she could walk among them. She knew, too, that the little sign on +the gate, though so courteously worded, was no mere formality; for she +had heard how a colored man, who had wandered into the cemetery on a hot +night and fallen asleep on the flat top of a tomb, had been arrested +as a vagrant and fined five dollars, which he had worked out on the +streets, with a ball-and-chain attachment, at twenty-five cents a day. +Since that time the cemetery gate had been locked at night. + +So Sophy stayed outside, and looked through the fence. Her poor bouquet +had begun to droop by this time, and the yellow ribbon had lost some +of its freshness. Sophy could see the rector standing by the grave, the +mourners gathered round; she could faintly distinguish the solemn words +with which ashes were committed to ashes, and dust to dust. She heard +the hollow thud of the earth falling on the coffin; and she leaned +against the iron fence, sobbing softly, until the grave was filled and +rounded off, and the wreaths and other floral pieces were disposed upon +it. When the mourners began to move toward the gate, Sophy walked slowly +down the street, in a direction opposite to that taken by most of the +people who came out. + +When they had all gone away, and the sexton had come out and locked the +gate behind him, Sophy crept back. Her roses were faded now, and from +some of them the petals had fallen. She stood there irresolute, loath to +leave with her heart's desire unsatisfied, when, as her eyes fell upon +the teacher's last resting place, she saw lying beside the new-made +grave what looked like a small bundle of white wool. Sophy's eyes +lighted up with a sudden glow. + +"Prince! Here, Prince!" she called. + +The little dog rose, and trotted down to the gate. Sophy pushed the poor +bouquet between the iron bars. "Take that ter Miss Ma'y, Prince," she +said, "that's a good doggie." + +The dog wagged his tail intelligently, took the bouquet carefully in his +mouth, carried it to his mistress's grave, and laid it among the other +flowers. The bunch of roses was so small that from where she stood Sophy +could see only a dash of yellow against the white background of the mass +of flowers. + +When Prince had performed his mission he turned his eyes toward Sophy +inquiringly, and when she gave him a nod of approval lay down and +resumed his watch by the graveside. Sophy looked at him a moment with a +feeling very much like envy, and then turned and moved slowly away. + + + + +THE CASE OF THE NEGRO by Booker T. Washington + + +All attempts to settle the question of the Negro in the South by his +removal from this country have so far failed, and I think that they are +likely to fail. The next census will probably show that we have nearly +ten million black people in the United States, about eight millions of +whom are in the Southern states. In fact, we have almost a nation +within a nation. The Negro population in the United States lacks but +two millions of being as large as the whole population of Mexico, and +is nearly twice as large as that of Canada. Our black people equal +in number the combined populations of Switzerland, Greece, Honduras, +Nicaragua, Cuba, Uraguay [sic], Santo Domingo, Paraguay, and Costa Rica. +When we consider, in connection with these facts, that the race has +doubled itself since its freedom, and is still increasing, it hardly +seems possible for any one to take seriously any scheme of emigration +from America as a method of solution. At most, even if the government +were to provide the means, but a few hundred thousand could be +transported each year. The yearly increase in population would more than +likely overbalance the number transported. Even if it did not, the time +required to get rid of the Negro by this method would perhaps be fifty +or seventy-five years. + +Some have advised that the Negro leave the South, and take up his +residence in the Northern states. I question whether this would make him +any better off than he is in the South, when all things are considered. +It has been my privilege to study the condition of our people in nearly +every part of America; and I say without hesitation that, with some +exceptional cases, the Negro is at his best in the Southern states. +While he enjoys certain privileges in the North that he does not have +in the South, when it comes to the matter of securing property, enjoying +business advantages and employment, the South presents a far better +opportunity than the North. Few colored men from the South are as yet +able to stand up against the severe and increasing competition that +exists in the North, to say nothing of the unfriendly influence of labor +organizations, which in some way prevents black men in the North, as a +rule, from securing occupation in the line of skilled labor. + +Another point of great danger for the colored man who goes North is the +matter of morals, owing to the numerous temptations by which he finds +himself surrounded. More ways offer in which he can spend money than in +the South, but fewer avenues of employment for earning money are open to +him. The fact that at the North the Negro is almost confined to one line +of occupation often tends to discourage and demoralize the strongest +who go from the South, and makes them an easy prey for temptation. A few +years ago, I made an examination into the condition of a settlement +of Negroes who left the South and went into Kansas about twenty years +since, when there was a good deal of excitement in the South concerning +emigration from the West, and found it much below the standard of that +of similar communities in the South. The only conclusion which any one +can reach, from this and like instances, is that the Negroes are to +remain in the Southern states. As a race they do not want to leave the +South, and the Southern white people do not want them to leave. We must +therefore find some basis of settlement that will be constitutional, +just, manly; that will be fair to both races in the South and to the +whole country. This cannot be done in a day, a year, or any short +period of time. We can, however, with the present light, decide upon a +reasonably safe method of solving the problem, and turn our strength +and effort in that direction. In doing this, I would not have the Negro +deprived of any privilege guaranteed to him by the Constitution of the +United States. It is not best for the Negro that he relinquish any of +his constitutional rights; it is not best for the Southern white man +that he should, as I shall attempt to show in this article. + +In order that we may concentrate our forces upon a wise object, without +loss of time or effort, I want to suggest what seems to me and many +others the wisest policy to be pursued. I have reached these conclusions +not only by reason of my own observations and experience, but after +eighteen years of direct contact with leading and influential colored +and white men in most parts of our country. But I wish first to mention +some elements of danger in the present situation, which all who desire +the permanent welfare of both races in the South should carefully take +into account. + +First. There is danger that a certain class of impatient extremists +among the Negroes in the North, who have little knowledge of the actual +conditions in the South, may do the entire race injury by attempting to +advise their brethren in the South to resort to armed resistance or +the use of the torch, in order to secure justice. All intelligent and +well-considered discussion of any important question, or condemnation of +any wrong, whether in the North or the South, from the public +platform and through the press, is to be commended and encouraged; but +ill-considered and incendiary utterances from black men in the North +will tend to add to the burdens of our people in the South rather than +to relieve them. We must not fall into the temptation of believing that +we can raise ourselves by abusing some one else. + +Second. Another danger in the South which should be guarded against +is that the whole white South, including the wise, conservative, +law-abiding element, may find itself represented before the bar of +public opinion by the mob or lawless element, which gives expression +to its feelings and tendency in a manner that advertises the South +throughout the world; while too often those who have no sympathy +with such disregard of law are either silent, or fail to speak in +a sufficiently emphatic manner to offset in any large degree the +unfortunate reputation which the lawless have made for many portions of +the South. + +Third. No race or people ever got upon its feet without severe and +constant struggle, often in the face of the greatest discouragement. +While passing through the present trying period of its history, there +is danger that a large and valuable element of the Negro race may +become discouraged in the effort to better its condition. Every possible +influence should be exerted to prevent this. + +Fourth. There is a possibility that harm may be done to the South and to +the Negro by exaggerated newspaper articles which are written near the +scene or in the midst of specially aggravating occurrences. Often these +reports are written by newspaper men, who give the impression that there +is a race conflict throughout the South, and that all Southern white +people are opposed to the Negro's progress; overlooking the fact that +though in some sections there is trouble, in most parts of the South, +if matters are not yet in all respects as we would have them, there +is nevertheless a very large measure of peace, good will, and mutual +helpfulness. In the same relation, much can be done to retard the +progress of the Negro by a certain class of Southern white people, who +in the midst of excitement speak or write in a manner that gives the +impression that all Negroes are lawless, untrustworthy, and shiftless. +For example, a Southern writer said, not long ago, in a communication +to the New York Independent: "Even in small towns the husband cannot +venture to leave his wife alone for an hour at night. At no time, in no +place, is the white woman safe from the insults and assaults of these +creatures." These statements, I presume, represented the feelings +and the conditions that existed, at the time of the writing, in one +community or county in the South; but thousands of Southern white men +and women would be ready to testify that this is not the condition +throughout the South, nor throughout any Southern state. + +Fifth. Owing to the lack of school opportunities for the Negro in +the rural districts of the South, there is danger that ignorance +and idleness may increase to the extent of giving the Negro race a +reputation for crime, and that immorality may eat its way into the fibre +of the race so as to retard its progress for many years. In judging the +Negro we must not be too harsh. We must remember that it has been only +within the last thirty-four years that the black father and mother have +had the responsibility, and consequently the experience, of training +their own children. That perfection has not been reached in one +generation, with the obstacles that the parents have been compelled to +overcome, is not to be wondered at. + +Sixth. Finally, I would mention my fear that some of the white people of +the South may be led to feel that the way to settle the race problem is +to repress the aspirations of the Negro by legislation of a kind that +confers certain legal or political privileges upon an ignorant and +poor white man, and withholds the same privileges from a black man in a +similar condition. Such legislation injures and retards the progress of +both races. It is an injustice to the poor white man, because it takes +from him incentive to secure education and property as prerequisites +for voting. He feels that because he is a white man, regardless of his +possessions, a way will be found for him to vote. I would label all such +measures "laws to keep the poor white man in ignorance and poverty." + +The Talladega News Reporter, a Democratic newspaper of Alabama, recently +said: "But it is a weak cry when the white man asks odds on intelligence +over the Negro. When nature has already so handicapped the African in +the race for knowledge, the cry of the boasted Anglo-Saxon for still +further odds seems babyish. What wonder that the world looks on in +surprise, if not disgust? It cannot help but say, If our contention be +true that the Negro is an inferior race, then the odds ought to be on +the other side, if any are to be given. And why not? No; the thing to +do--the only thing that will stand the test of time--is to do right, +exactly right, let come what will. And that right thing, as it seems +to us, is to place a fair educational qualification before every +citizen,--one that is self-testing, and not dependent on the wishes of +weak men,--letting all who pass the test stand in the proud ranks +of American voters, whose votes shall be counted as cast, and whose +sovereign will shall be maintained as law by all the powers that be. +Nothing short of this will do. Every exemption, on whatsoever ground, is +an outrage that can only rob some legitimate voter of his rights." + +Such laws have been made,--in Mississippi, for example,--with the +"understanding" clause, hold out a temptation for the election officer +to perjure and degrade himself by too often deciding that the ignorant +white man does understand the Constitution when it is read to him, and +that the ignorant black man does not. By such a law, the state not only +commits a wrong against its black citizens; it injures the morals of +its white citizens by conferring such a power upon any white man who may +happen to be a judge of elections. + +Such laws are hurtful, again, because they keep alive in the heart of +the black man the feeling that the white man means to oppress him. The +only safe way out is to set a high standard as a test of citizenship, +and require blacks and whites alike to come up to it. When this is done, +both will have a higher respect for the election laws, and for those who +make them. I do not believe that, with his centuries of advantage +over the Negro in the opportunity to acquire property and education as +prerequisites for voting, the average white man in the South desires +that any special law be passed to give him further advantage over one +who has had but a little more than thirty years in which to prepare +himself for citizenship. In this relation, another point of danger is +that the Negro has been made to feel that it is his duty continually +to oppose the Southern white man in politics, even in matters where no +principle is involved; and that he is only loyal to his own race and +acting in a manly way in thus opposing the white man. Such a policy has +proved very hurtful to both races. Where it is a matter of principle, +where a question of right or wrong is involved, I would advise the +Negro to stand by principle at all hazards. A Southern white man has no +respect for or confidence in a Negro who acts merely for policy's sake; +but there are many cases, and the number is growing, where the Negro has +nothing to gain, and much to lose, by opposing the Southern white man in +matters that relate to government. + +Under the foregoing six heads I believe I have stated some of the main +points which, all high-minded white men and black men, North and South, +will agree, need our most earnest and thoughtful consideration, if we +would hasten, and not hinder, the progress of our country. + +Now as to the policy that should be pursued. On this subject I claim to +possess no superior wisdom or unusual insight. I may be wrong; I may be +in some degree right. + +In the future we want to impress upon the Negro, more than we have done +in the past, the importance of identifying himself more closely with the +interests of the South; of making himself part of the South, and at home +in it. Heretofore, for reasons which were natural, and for which no one +is especially to blame, the colored people have been too much like a +foreign nation residing in the midst of another nation. If William Lloyd +Garrison, Wendell Phillips, or George L. Stearns were alive to-day, I +feel sure that he would advise the Negroes to identify their interests +as closely as possible with those of their white neighbors,--always +understanding that no question of right and wrong is involved. In +no other way, it seems to me, can we get a foundation for peace and +progress. He who advises against this policy will advise the Negro to +do that which no people in history, who have succeeded, have done. The +white man, North or South, who advises the Negro against it advises him +to do that which he himself has not done. The bed rock upon which every +individual rests his chances for success in life is the friendship, +the confidence, the respect, of his next-door neighbor in the little +community in which he lives. The problem of the Negro in the South turns +on whether he can make himself of such indispensable service to his +neighbor and the community that no one can fill his place better in the +body politic. There is at present no other safe course for the black man +to pursue. If the Negro in the South has a friend in his white neighbor, +and a still larger number of friends in his own community, he has a +protection and a guarantee of his rights that will be more potent and +more lasting than any our Federal Congress or any outside power can +confer. + +The London Times, in a recent editorial discussing affairs in the +Transvaal, where Englishmen have been denied certain privileges by the +Boers, says: "England is too sagacious not to prefer a gradual reform +from within, even should it be less rapid than most of us might wish, to +the most sweeping redress of grievances imposed from without. Our object +is to obtain fair play for the Outlanders, but the best way to do it +is to enable them to help themselves." This policy, I think, is equally +safe when applied to conditions in the South. The foreigner who comes to +America identifies himself as soon as possible, in business, education, +and politics, with the community in which he settles. We have a +conspicuous example of this in the case of the Jews, who in the South, +as well as in other parts of our country, have not always been justly +treated; but the Jews have so woven themselves into the business and +patriotic interests of the communities in which they live, have made +themselves so valuable as citizens, that they have won a place in the +South which they could have obtained in no other way. The Negro in Cuba +has practically settled the race question there, because he has made +himself a part of Cuba in thought and action. + +What I have tried to indicate cannot be accomplished by any sudden +revolution of methods, but it does seem that the tendency should be +more and more in this direction. Let me emphasize this by a practical +example. The North sends thousands of dollars into the South every year +for the education of the Negro. The teachers in most of the Southern +schools supported by the North are Northern men and women of the highest +Christian culture and most unselfish devotion. The Negro owes them +a debt of gratitude which can never be paid. The various missionary +societies in the North have done a work which to a large degree has +proved the salvation of the South, and the results of it will appear +more in future generations than in this. We have now reached the point, +in the South, where, I believe, great good could be accomplished in +changing the attitude of the white people toward the Negro, and of +the Negro toward the whites, if a few Southern white teachers, of high +character, would take an active interest in the work of our higher +schools. Can this be done? Yes. The medical school connected with +Shaw University at Raleigh, North Carolina, has from the first had as +instructors and professors almost exclusively Southern white doctors who +reside in Raleigh, and they have given the highest satisfaction. This +gives the people of Raleigh the feeling that the school is theirs, and +not something located in, but not a part of, the South. In Augusta, +Georgia, the Payne Institute, one of the best colleges for our people, +is officered and taught almost wholly by Southern white men and women. +The Presbyterian Theological School at Tuscaloosa, Alabama, has only +Southern white men as instructors. Some time ago, at the Calhoun School +in Alabama, one of the leading white men in the county was given an +important position; since then the feeling of the white people in the +county has greatly changed toward the school. + +We must admit the stern fact that at present the Negro, through no +choice of his own, is living in the midst of another race, which is far +ahead of him in education, property, and experience; and further, that +the Negro's present condition makes him dependent upon the white people +for most of the things necessary to sustain life, as well as, in a large +measure, for his education. In all history, those who have possessed +the property and intelligence have exercised the greatest control in +government, regardless of color, race, or geographical location. This +being the case, how can the black man in the South improve his estate? +And does the Southern white man want him to improve it? The latter part +of this question I shall attempt to answer later in this article. + +The Negro in the South has it within his power, if he properly utilizes +the forces at land, to make of himself such a valuable factor in the +life of the South that for the most part he need not seek privileges, +but they will be conferred upon him. To bring this about, the Negro must +begin at the bottom and lay a sure foundation, and not be lured by any +temptation into trying to rise on a false footing. While the Negro is +laying this foundation, he will need help and sympathy and justice +from the law. Progress by any other method will be but temporary +and superficial, and the end of it will be worse than the beginning. +American slavery was a great curse to both races, and I should be the +last to apologize for it; but in the providence of God I believe that +slavery laid the foundation for the solution of the problem that is now +before us in the South. Under slavery, the Negro was taught every trade, +every industry, that furnishes the means of earning a living. Now if +on this foundation, laid in a rather crude way, it is true, but a +foundation nevertheless, we can gradually grow and improve, the future +for us is bright. Let me be more specific. Agriculture is or has been +the basic industry of nearly every race or nation that has succeeded. +The Negro got a knowledge of this under slavery: hence in a large +measure he is in possession of this industry in the South to-day. Taking +the whole South, I should say that eighty per cent of the Negroes live +by agriculture in some form, though it is often a very primitive and +crude form. The Negro can buy land in the South, as a rule, wherever the +white man can buy it, and at very low prices. Now, since the bulk of our +people already have a foundation in agriculture, are at their best when +living in the country engaged in agricultural pursuits, plainly, +the best thing, the logical thing, is to turn the larger part of our +strength in a direction that will put the Negroes among the most +skilled agricultural people in the world. The man who has learned to do +something better than any one else, has learned to do a common thing +in an uncommon manner, has power and influence which no adverse +surroundings can take from him. It is better to show a man how to make a +place for himself than to put him in one that some one else has made +for him. The Negro who can make himself so conspicuous as a successful +farmer, a large taxpayer, a wise helper of his fellow men, as to be +placed in a position of trust and honor by natural selection, whether +the position be political or not, is a hundredfold more secure in that +position than one placed there by mere outside force or pressure. I know +a Negro, Hon. Isaiah T. Montgomery, in Mississippi, who is mayor of a +town; it is true that the town is composed almost wholly of Negroes. +Mr. Montgomery is mayor of this town because his genius, thrift, and +foresight have created it; and he is held and supported in his office +by a charter granted by the state of Mississippi, and by the vote and +public sentiment of the community in which he lives. + +Let us help the Negro by every means possible to acquire such an +education in farming, dairying, stock-raising, horticulture, etc., as +will place him near the top in these industries, and the race problem +will in a large part be settled, or at least stripped of many of its +most perplexing elements. This policy would also tend to keep the Negro +in the country and smaller towns, where he succeeds best, and stop the +influx into the large cities, where he does not succeed so well. The +race, like the individual, which produces something of superior worth +that has a common human interest, wins a permanent place, and is bound +to be recognized. + +At a county fair in the South, not long ago, I saw a Negro awarded the +first prize, by a jury of white men, over white competitors, for the +production of the best specimen of Indian corn. Every white man at the +fair seemed to be proud of the achievement of the Negro, because it was +apparent that he had done something that would add to the wealth and +comfort of the people of both races in that county. At the Tuskegee +Normal and Industrial Institute, in Alabama, we have a department +devoted to training men along the lines of agriculture that I have +named; but what we are doing is small when compared with what should be +done in Tuskegee, and at other educational centres. In a material sense +the South is still an undeveloped country. While in some other affairs +race prejudice is strongly marked, in the matter of business, of +commercial and industrial development, there are few obstacles in the +Negro's way. A Negro who produces or has for sale something that the +community wants finds customers among white people as well as black. +Upon equal security, a Negro can borrow money at the bank as readily as +a white man can. A bank in Birmingham, Alabama, which has existed ten +years, is officered and controlled wholly by Negroes. This bank has +white borrowers and white depositors. A graduate of the Tuskegee +Institute keeps a well-appointed grocery store in Tuskegee, and he tells +me that he sells about as many goods to one race as to the other. What +I have said of the opening that awaits the Negro in the business of +agriculture is almost equally true of mechanics, manufacturing, and all +the domestic arts. The field is before him and right about him. Will +he seize upon it? Will he "cast down his bucket where he is"? Will his +friends, North and South, encourage him and prepare him to occupy +it? Every city in the South, for example, would give support to a +first-class architect or housebuilder or contractor of our race. The +architect or contractor would not only receive support, but through +his example numbers of young colored men would learn such trades as +carpentry, brickmasonry, plastering, painting, etc., and the race would +be put into a position to hold on to many of the industries which it +is now in danger of losing, because in too many cases brain, skill, and +dignity are not imparted to the common occupations. Any individual or +race that does not fit itself to occupy in the best manner the field or +service that is right about it will sooner or later be asked to move on +and let another take it. + +But I may be asked, Would you confine the Negro to agriculture, +mechanics, the domestic arts, etc.? Not at all; but just now and for a +number of years the stress should be laid along the lines that I have +mentioned. We shall need and must have many teachers and ministers, some +doctors and lawyers and statesmen, but these professional men will +have a constituency or a foundation from which to draw support just in +proportion as the race prospers along the economic lines that I have +pointed out. During the first fifty or one hundred years of the life of +any people, are not the economic occupations always given the greater +attention? This is not only the historic, but, I think, the common-sense +view. If this generation will lay the material foundation, it will be +the quickest and surest way for enabling later generations to succeed in +the cultivation of the fine arts, and to surround themselves with some +of the luxuries of life, if desired. What the race most needs now, in my +opinion, is a whole army of men and women well-trained to lead, and +at the same time devote themselves to agriculture, mechanics, domestic +employment, and business. As to the mental training that these educated +leaders should be equipped with, I should say, give them all the +mental training and culture that the circumstances of individuals will +allow,--the more the better. No race can permanently succeed until its +mind is awakened and strengthened by the ripest thought. But I would +constantly have it kept in the minds of those who are educated in books +that a large proportion of those who are educated should be so trained +in hand that they can bring this mental strength and knowledge to +bear upon the physical conditions in the South, which I have tried to +emphasize. + +Frederick Douglass, of sainted memory, once, in addressing his race, +used these words: "We are to prove that we can better our own condition. +One way to do this is to accumulate property. This may sound to you like +a new gospel. You have been accustomed to hear that money is the root of +all evil, etc.; on the other hand, property, money, if you please, will +purchase for us the only condition by which any people can rise to +the dignity of genuine manhood; for without property there can be no +leisure, without leisure there can be no thought, without thought there +can be no invention, without invention there can be no progress." + +The Negro should be taught that material development is not an end, but +merely a means to an end. As professor W. E. B. Du Bois puts it, the +idea should not be simply to make men carpenters, but to make carpenters +men. The Negro has a highly religious temperament; but what he needs +more and more is to be convinced of the importance of weaving his +religion and morality into the practical affairs of daily life. Equally +does he need to be taught to put so much intelligence into his labor +that he will see dignity and beauty in the occupation, and love it for +its own sake. The Negro needs to be taught to apply more of the +religion that manifests itself in his happiness in prayer meeting to the +performance of his daily task. The man who owns a home, and is in the +possession of the elements by which he is sure of a daily living, has a +great aid to a moral and religious life. What bearing will all this have +upon the Negro's place in the South, as a citizen and in the enjoyment +of the privileges which our government confers? + +To state in detail just what place the black man will occupy in the +South as a citizen, when he has developed in the direction named, is +beyond the wisdom of any one. Much will depend upon the sense of justice +which can be kept alive in the breast of the American people; almost +as much will depend upon the good sense of the Negro himself. That +question, I confess, does not give me the most concern just now. The +important and pressing question is, Will the Negro, with his own help +and that of his friends, take advantage of the opportunities that +surround him? When he has done this, I believe, speaking of his future +in general terms, that he will be treated with justice, be given the +protection of the law and the recognition which his usefulness and +ability warrant. If, fifty years ago, one had predicted that the Negro +would receive the recognition and honor which individuals have already +received, he would have been laughed at as an idle dreamer. Time, +patience, and constant achievement are great factors in the rise of a +race. + +I do not believe that the world ever takes a race seriously, in its +desire to share in the government of a nation, until a large number of +individual members of that race have demonstrated beyond question their +ability to control and develop their own business enterprises. Once a +number of Negroes rise to the point where they own and operate the most +successful farms, are among the largest taxpayers in their county, are +moral and intelligent, I do not believe that in many portions of the +South such men need long be denied the right of saying by their votes +how they prefer their property to be taxed, and who are to make and +administer the laws. + +I was walking the street of a certain town in the South lately in +company with the most prominent Negro there. While we were together, the +mayor of the town sought out the black man, and said, "Next week we are +going to vote on the question of issuing bonds to secure water-works; +you must be sure to vote on the day of election." The mayor did not +suggest whether he should vote yes or no; but he knew that the very fact +of this Negro's owning nearly a block of the most valuable property in +the town was a guarantee that he would cast a safe, wise vote on this +important proposition. The white man knew that because of this Negro's +property interests he would cast his vote in the way he thought would +benefit every white and black citizen in the town, and not be controlled +by influences a thousand miles away. But a short time ago I read letters +from nearly every prominent white man in Birmingham, Alabama, asking +that the Rev. W. R. Pettiford, a Negro, be appointed to a certain +important federal office. What is the explanation of this? For nine +years Mr. Pettiford has been the president of the Negro bank in +Birmingham, to which I have alluded. During these nine years, the white +citizens have had the opportunity of seeing that Mr. Pettiford can +manage successfully a private business, and that he has proved himself a +conservative, thoughtful citizen, and they are willing to trust him in a +public office. Such individual examples will have to be multiplied, till +they become more nearly the rule than the exception they now are. While +we are multiplying these examples, the Negro must keep a strong and +courageous heart. He cannot improve his condition by any short-cut +course or by artificial methods. Above all, he must not be deluded +into believing that his condition can be permanently bettered by a mere +battledoor [sic] and shuttlecock of words, or by any process of mere +mental gymnastics or oratory. What is desired along with a logical +defense of his cause are deeds, results,--continued results, in the +direction of building himself up, so as to leave no doubt in the mind of +any one of his ability to succeed. + +An important question often asked is, Does the white man in the South +want the Negro to improve his present condition? I say yes. From the +Montgomery (Alabama) Daily Advertiser I clip the following in reference +to the closing of a colored school in a town in Alabama:-- + +"EUFALA, May 25, 1899. The closing exercises of the city colored public +school were held at St. Luke's A. M. E. Church last night, and were +witnessed by a large gathering, including many whites. The recitations +by the pupils were excellent, and the music was also an interesting +feature. Rev. R. T. Pollard delivered the address, which was quite an +able one, and the certificates were presented by Professor T. L. McCoy, +white, of the Sanford Street School. The success of the exercises +reflects great credit on Professor S. M. Murphy, the principal, who +enjoys a deserved good reputation as a capable and efficient educator." + +I quote this report, not because it is the exception, but because such +marks of interest in the education of the Negro on the part of the +Southern white people may be seen almost every day in the local +papers. Why should white people, by their presence, words, and actions, +encourage the black man to get education, if they do not desire him to +improve his condition? + +The Payne Institute, an excellent college, to which I have already +referred, is supported almost wholly by the Southern white Methodist +church. The Southern white Presbyterians support a theological school +for Negroes at Tuscaloosa. For a number of years the Southern white +Baptists have contributed toward Negro education. Other denominations +have done the same. If these people do not want the Negro educated to a +higher standard, there is no reason why they should pretend they do. + +Though some of the lynchings in the South have indicated a barbarous +feeling toward Negroes, Southern white men here and there, as well as +newspapers, have spoken out strongly against lynching. I quote from the +address of the Rev. Mr. Vance, of Nashville, Tennessee, delivered before +the National Sunday School Union, in Atlanta, not long since, as an +example:-- + +"And yet, as I stand here to-night, a Southerner speaking for my section +and addressing an audience from all sections, there is one foul blot +upon the fair fame of the South, at the bare mention of which the heart +turns sick and the cheek is crimsoned with shame. I want to lift my +voice to-night in loud and long and indignant protest against the awful +horror of mob violence, which the other day reached the climax of its +madness and infamy in a deed as black and brutal and barbarous as can be +found in the annals of human crime. + +"I have a right to speak on the subject, and I propose to be heard. +The time has come for every lover of the South to set the might of an +angered and resolute manhood against the shame and peril of the lynch +demon. These people whose fiendish glee taunts their victim as his flesh +crackles in the flames do not represent the South. I have not a syllable +of apology for the sickening crime they meant to avenge. But it is high +time we were learning that lawlessness is no remedy for crime. For one, +I dare to believe that the people of my section are able to cope with +crime, however treacherous and defiant, through their courts of justice; +and I plead for the masterful sway of a righteous and exalted public +sentiment that shall class lynch law in the category with crime." + +It is a notable and encouraging fact that no Negro educated in any of +our larger institutions of learning in the South has been charged with +any of the recent crimes connected with assaults upon women. + +If we go on making progress in the directions that I have tried to +indicate, more and more the South will be drawn to one course. As I have +already said, it is not to the best interests of the white race of the +South that the Negro be deprived of any privilege guaranteed him by +the Constitution of the United States. This would put upon the South a +burden under which no government could stand and prosper. Every article +in our Federal Constitution was placed there with a view of stimulating +and encouraging the highest type of citizenship. To continue to tax +the Negro without giving him the right to vote, as fast as he qualifies +himself in education and property for voting, would insure the +alienation of the affections of the Negro from the state in which +he lives, and would be the reversal of the fundamental principles of +government for which our states have stood. In other ways than this +the injury would be as great to the white man as to the Negro. Taxation +without the hope of becoming voters would take away from one third of +the citizens of the Gulf states their interest in government, and a +stimulus to become taxpayers or to secure education, and thus be able +and willing to bear their share of the cost of education and government, +which now rests so heavily upon the white taxpayers of the South. The +more the Negro is stimulated and encouraged, the sooner will he be able +to bear a larger share of the burdens of the South. We have recently had +before us an example, in the case of Spain, of a government that left a +large portion of its citizens in ignorance, and neglected their highest +interests. + +As I have said elsewhere: "There is no escape, through law of man or +God, from the inevitable. + + + 'The laws of changeless justice bind + Oppressor with oppressed; + And close as sin and suffering joined + We march to fate abreast.' + + +Nearly sixteen millions of hands will aid you in pulling the load +upwards, or they will pull the load downwards against you. We shall +constitute one third and more of the ignorance and crime of the South, +or one third of its intelligence and progress; we shall contribute one +third to the business and industrial prosperity of the South, or we +shall prove a veritable body of death, stagnating, depressing, retarding +every effort to advance the body politic." + +My own feeling is that the South will gradually reach the point where +it will see the wisdom and the justice of enacting an educational or +property qualification, or both, for voting, that shall be made to +apply honestly to both races. The industrial development of the Negro +in connection with education and Christian character will help to hasten +this end. When this is done, we shall have a foundation, in my opinion, +upon which to build a government that is honest, and that will be in a +high degree satisfactory to both races. + +I do not suffer myself to take too optimistic a view of the conditions +in the South. The problem is a large and serious one, and will require +the patient help, sympathy, and advice of our most patriotic citizens, +North and South, for years to come. But I believe that if the principles +which I have tried to indicate are followed, a solution of the question +will come. So long as the Negro is permitted to get education, acquire +property, and secure employment, and is treated with respect in the +business world, as is now true in the greater part of the South, I +shall have the greatest faith in his working out his own destiny in our +Southern states. The education and preparation for citizenship of +nearly eight millions of people is a tremendous task, and every lover +of humanity should count it a privilege to help in the solution of a +problem for which our whole country is responsible. + + + + +HOT-FOOT HANNIBAL by Charles W. Chesnutt + + +"I hate and despise you! I wish never to see you or speak to you again!" + +"Very well; I will take care that henceforth you have no opportunity to +do either." + +These words--the first in the passionately vibrant tones of my +sister-in-law, and the latter in the deeper and more restrained accents +of an angry man--startled me from my nap. I had been dozing in my +hammock on the front piazza, behind the honeysuckle vine. I had been +faintly aware of a buzz of conversation in the parlor, but had not +at all awakened to its import until these sentences fell, or, I might +rather say, were hurled upon my ear. I presume the young people had +either not seen me lying there,--the Venetian blinds opening from the +parlor windows upon the piazza were partly closed on account of the +heat,--or else in their excitement they had forgotten my proximity. + +I felt somewhat concerned. The young man, I had remarked, was proud, +firm, jealous of the point of honor, and, from my observation of him, +quite likely to resent to the bitter end what he deemed a slight or +an injustice. The girl, I knew, was quite as high-spirited as young +Murchison. I feared she was not so just, and hoped she would prove more +yielding. I knew that her affections were strong and enduring, but that +her temperament was capricious, and her sunniest moods easily overcast +by some small cloud of jealousy or pique. I had never imagined, however, +that she was capable of such intensity as was revealed by these few +words of hers. As I say, I felt concerned. I had learned to like Malcolm +Murchison, and had heartily consented to his marriage with my ward; for +it was in that capacity that I had stood for a year or two to my wife's +younger sister, Mabel. The match thus rudely broken off had promised to +be another link binding me to the kindly Southern people among whom I +had not long before taken up my residence. + +Young Murchison came out of the door, cleared the piazza in two strides +without seeming aware of my presence, and went off down the lane at a +furious pace. A few moments later Mabel began playing the piano loudly, +with a touch that indicated anger and pride and independence and a dash +of exultation, as though she were really glad that she had driven away +forever the young man whom the day before she had loved with all the +ardor of a first passion. + +I hoped that time might heal the breach and bring the two young people +together again. I told my wife what I had overheard. In return she gave +me Mabel's version of the affair. + +"I do not see how it can ever be settled," my wife said. "It is +something more than a mere lovers' quarrel. It began, it is true, +because she found fault with him for going to church with that hateful +Branson girl. But before it ended there were things said that no woman +of any spirit could stand. I am afraid it is all over between them." + +I was sorry to hear this. In spite of the very firm attitude taken by +my wife and her sister, I still hoped that the quarrel would be made up +within a day or two. Nevertheless, when a week had passed with no word +from young Murchison, and with no sign of relenting on Mabel's part, I +began to think myself mistaken. + +One pleasant afternoon, about ten days after the rupture, old Julius +drove the rockaway up to the piazza, and my wife, Mabel, and I took +our seats for a drive to a neighbor's vineyard, over on the Lumberton +plankroad. + +"Which way shall we go," I asked,--"the short road or the long one?" + +"I guess we had better take the short road," answered my wife. "We will +get there sooner." + +"It's a mighty fine dribe roun' by de big road, Mis' Annie," observed +Julius, "en it doan take much longer to git dere." + +"No," said my wife, "I think we will go by the short road. There is a +bay tree in blossom near the mineral spring, and I wish to get some of +the flowers." + +"I 'spec's you'd find some bay trees 'long de big road, ma'am," said +Julius. + +"But I know about the flowers on the short road, and they are the ones I +want." + +We drove down the lane to the highway, and soon struck into the short +road leading past the mineral spring. Our route lay partly through a +swamp, and on each side the dark, umbrageous foliage, unbroken by +any clearing, lent to the road solemnity, and to the air a refreshing +coolness. About half a mile from the house, and about halfway to the +mineral spring, we stopped at the tree of which my wife had spoken, and +reaching up to the low-hanging boughs I gathered a dozen of the fragrant +white flowers. When I resumed my seat in the rockaway, Julius started +the mare. She went on for a few rods, until we had reached the edge of a +branch crossing the road, when she stopped short. + +"Why did you stop, Julius?" I asked. + +"I didn', suh," he replied. "'T wuz de mare stop'. G' 'long dere, Lucy! +W'at you mean by dis foolis'ness?" + +Julius jerked the reins and applied the whip lightly, but the mare did +not stir. + +"Perhaps you had better get down and lead her," I suggested. "If you get +her started, you can cross on the log and keep your feet dry." + +Julius alighted, took hold of the bridle, and vainly essayed to make the +mare move. She planted her feet with even more evident obstinacy. + +"I don't know what to make of this," I said. "I have never known her to +balk before. Have you, Julius?" + +"No, suh," replied the old man, "I nebber has. It's a cu'ous thing ter +me, suh." + +"What's the best way to make her go?" + +"I 'spec's, suh, dat ef I'd tu'n her roun' she'd go de udder way." + +"But we want her to go this way." + +"Well, suh, I 'low ef we des set heah fo' er fibe minutes, she'll sta't +up by herse'f." + +"All right," I rejoined, "it is cooler here than any place I have struck +to-day. We'll let her stand for a while, and see what she does." + +We had sat in silence for a few minutes, when Julius suddenly +ejaculated, "Uh huh! I knows w'y dis mare doan go. It des flash 'cross +my reccommemb'ance." + +"Why is it, Julius?" I inquired. + +"Ca'se she sees Chloe." + +"Where is Chloe?" I demanded. + +"Chloe's done be'n dead dese fo'ty years er mo'," the old man returned. +"Her ha'nt is settin' ober yander on de udder side er de branch, unner +dat willer tree, dis blessed minute." + +"Why, Julius!" said my wife, "do you see the haunt?" + +"No'm," he answered, shaking his head, "I doan see 'er, but de mare sees +'er." + +"How do you know?" I inquired. + +"Well, suh, dis yer is a gray hoss, en dis yer is a Friday; en a gray +hoss kin alluz see a ha'nt w'at walks on Friday." + +"Who was Chloe?" said Mabel. + +"And why does Chloe's haunt walk?" asked my wife. + +"It's all in de tale, ma'am," Julius replied, with a deep sigh. "It's +all in de tale." + +"Tell us the tale," I said. "Perhaps, by the time you get through, the +haunt will go away and the mare will cross." + +I was willing to humor the old man's fancy. He had not told us a +story for some time; and the dark and solemn swamp around us; the +amber-colored stream flowing silently and sluggishly at our feet, like +the waters of Lethe; the heavy, aromatic scent of the bays, faintly +suggestive of funeral wreaths,--all made the place an ideal one for a +ghost story. + +"Chloe," Julius began in a subdued tone, "use' ter b'long ter ole Mars' +Dugal' McAdoo--my ole marster. She wuz a ladly gal en a smart gal, en +ole mis' tuk her up ter de big house, en l'arnt her ter wait on de w'ite +folks, 'tel bimeby she come ter be mis's own maid, en 'peared ter 'low +she run de house herse'f, ter heah her talk erbout it. I wuz a young +boy den, en use' ter wuk about de stables, so I knowed ev'ythin' dat wuz +gwine on roun' de plantation. + +"Well, one time Mars' Dugal' wanted a house boy, en sont down ter de +qua'ters fer hab Jeff en Hannibal come up ter de big house nex' +mawnin'. Ole marster en ole mis' look' de two boys ober, en 'sco'sed wid +deyse'ves fer a little w'ile, en den Mars' Dugal' sez, sezee:-- + +"'We laks Hannibal de bes', en we gwine ter keep him. Heah, Hannibal, +you'll wuk at de house fum now on. En ef you're a good nigger en min's +yo' bizness, I'll gib you Chloe fer a wife nex' spring. You other +nigger, you Jeff, you kin go back ter de qua'ters. We ain' gwine ter +need you.' + +"Now Chloe had be'n standin' dere behin' ole mis' dyoin' all er dis yer +talk, en Chloe made up her min' fum de ve'y fus' minute she sot eyes on +dem two dat she didn' lak dat nigger Hannibal, en wa'n't nebber gwine +keer fer 'im, en she wuz des ez sho' dat she lak Jeff, en wuz gwine ter +set sto' by 'im, whuther Mars' Dugal' tuk 'im in de big house er no; en +so co'se Chloe wuz monst'us sorry w'en ole Mars' Dugal' tuk Hannibal en +sont Jeff back. So she slip' roun' de house en waylaid Jeff on de way +back ter de qua'ters en tol' 'im not ter be downhea'ted, fer she wuz +gwine ter see ef she couldn' fin' some way er 'nuther ter git rid er dat +nigger Hannibal, en git Jeff up ter de house in his place. + +"De noo house boy kotch on monst'us fas', en it wa'n't no time ha'dly +befo' Mars' Dugal' en ole mis' bofe 'mence' ter 'low Hannibal wuz de +bes' house boy dey eber had. He wuz peart en soopl', quick ez lightnin', +en sha'p ez a razor. But Chloe didn' lak his ways. He wuz so sho' he wuz +gwine ter git 'er in de spring, dat he didn' 'pear ter 'low he had ter +do any co'tin', en w'en he'd run 'cross Chloe 'bout de house, he'd swell +roun' 'er in a biggity way en say: + +"'Come heah en kiss me, honey. You gwine ter be mine in de spring. You +doan 'pear ter be ez fon' er me ez you oughter be.' + +"Chloe didn' keer nuffin' fer Hannibal, en hadn' keered nuffin' fer 'im, +en she sot des ez much sto' by Jeff ez she did de day she fus' laid eyes +on 'im. En de mo' fermilyus dis yer Hannibal got, de mo' Chloe let +her min' run on Jeff, en one ebenin' she went down ter de qua'ters en +watch', 'tel she got a chance fer ter talk wid 'im by hisse'f. En she +tol' Jeff fer ter go down en see ole Aun' Peggy, de cunjuh-'oman down +by de Wim'l'ton Road, en ax her fer ter gib 'im sump'n ter he'p git +Hannibal out'n de big house, so de w'ite folks 'u'd sen' fer Jeff ag'in. +En bein' ez Jeff didn' hab nuffin' ter gib Aun' Peggy, Chloe gun i'm a +silber dollah en a silk han'kercher fer ter pay her wid, fer Aun' Peggy +nebber lak ter wuk fer nobody fer nuffin'. + +"So Jeff slip' off down ter Aun' Peggy's one night, en gun 'er de +presents he brung, en tol' er all 'bout 'im en Chloe en Hannibal, en ax' +'er ter he'p 'im out. Aun' Peggy tol' 'im she'd wuk 'er roots, en fer +'im ter come back de nex' night, en she'd tell 'im w'at she c'd do fer +'im. + +"So de nex' night Jeff went back, en Aun' Peggy gun 'im a baby-doll, wid +a body made out'n a piece er co'n-stalk, en wid splinters fer a'ms en +legs, en a head made out'n elderberry peth, en two little red peppers +fer feet. + +"'Dis yer baby-doll,' sez she, 'is Hannibal. Dis yer peth head is +Hannibal's head, en dese yer pepper feet is Hannibal's feet. You take +dis en hide it unner de house, on de sill unner de do', whar Hannibal'll +hafter walk ober it ev'y day. En ez long ez Hannibal comes anywhar nigh +dis baby-doll, he'll be des lak it is--light-headed en hot-footed; en +ef dem two things doan git 'im inter trouble mighty soon, den I'm no +cunjuh-'oman. But w'en you git Hannibal out'n de house, en git all thoo +wid dis baby-doll, you mus' fetch it back ter me, fer it's monst'us +powerful goopher, en is liable ter make mo' trouble ef you leabe it +layin' roun'.' + +"Well, Jeff tuk de baby-doll, en slip' up ter de big house, en whistle' +ter Chloe, en w'en she come out he tol' 'er w'at ole Aun' Peggy had +said. En Chloe showed 'im how ter git unner de house, en w'en he had +put de cunjuh-doll on de sill he went 'long back ter de qua'ters--en des +waited. + +"Nex' day, sho' 'nuff, de goopher 'mence' ter wuk. Hannibal sta'ted in +de house soon in de mawnin' wid a armful er wood ter make a fier, en he +hadn' mo' d'n got 'cross de do'sill befo' his feet begun ter bu'n so +dat he drap' de armful er wood on de flo' en woke ole mis' up an hour +sooner'n yuzhal, en co'se ole mis' didn' lak dat, en spoke sha'p erbout +it. + +"W'en dinner-time come, en Hannibal wuz help'n de cook kyar de dinner +f'm de kitchen inter de big house, en wuz gittin' close ter de do' what +he had ter go in, his feet sta'ted ter bu'n en his head begun ter swim, +en he let de big dish er chicken en dumplin's fall right down in de +dirt, in de middle er de ya'd, en de w'ite folks had ter make dey dinner +dat day off'n col' ham en sweet pertaters. + +"De nex' mawnin' he overslep' hisse'f, en got inter mo' trouble. Atter +breakfus', Mars' Dugal' sont 'im ober ter Mars' Marrabo Utley's fer ter +borry a monkey wrench. He oughter be'n back in ha'f an hour, but he +come pokin' home 'bout dinner'time wid a screw-driver stidder a monkey +wrench. Mars' Dugal' sont ernudder nigger back wid de screw-driver, +en Hannibal didn' git no dinner. 'Long in de atternoon, ole mis' sot +Hannibal ter weedin' de flowers in de front gyahden, en Hannibal dug up +all de bulbs ole mis' had sont erway fer, en paid a lot er money fer, +en tuk 'em down ter de hawg-pen by de ba'nya'd, en fed 'em ter de hawgs. +W'en ole mis' come out in de cool er de ebenin', en seed w'at Hannibal +had done, she wuz mos' crazy, en she wrote a note en sont Hannibal down +ter de obserseah wid it. + +"But w'at Hannibal got fum de oberseah didn' 'pear ter do no good. Ev'y +now en den 'is feet'd 'mence ter torment 'im, en 'is min' 'u'd git all +mix' up, en his conduc' kep' gittin' wusser en wusser, 'tel fin'ly de +w'ite folks couldn' stan' it no longer, en Mars' Dugal' tuk Hannibal +back down ter de qua'ters. + +"'Mr. Smif,' sez Mars' Dugal' ter de oberseah, 'dis yer nigger has tu'nt +out so triflin' yer lately, dat we can't keep 'im at de house no mo', en +I's fotch' 'im ter you ter be straighten' up. You's had 'casion ter deal +wid 'im once, so he knows w'at ter expec'. You des take 'im in han', en +lemme know how he tu'ns out. En w'en de han's comes in fum de fiel' dis +ebenin' you kin sen' dat yaller nigger Jeff up ter de house. I'll try +'im, en see ef he's any better'n Hannibal.' + +"So Jeff went up ter de big house, en pleas' Mars' Dugal' en ole mis' en +de res' er de fambly so well dat dey all got ter lakin' 'im fus'rate, en +dey'd 'a' fergot all 'bout Hannibal ef it hadn' be'n fer de bad repo'ts +w'at come up fum de qua'ters 'bout 'im fer a mont' er so. Fac' is dat +Chloe en Jeff wuz so int'rusted in one ernudder since Jeff be'n up ter +de house, dat dey fergot all about takin' de baby-doll back ter Aun' +Peggy, en it kep' wukkin fer a w'ile, en makin' Hannibal's feet bu'n mo' +er less, 'tel all de folks on de plantation got ter callin' 'im Hot-Foot +Hannibal. He kep' gittin' mo' en mo' triflin', 'tel he got de name er +bein' de mos' no 'countes' nigger on de plantation, en Mars' Dugal' +had ter th'eaten ter sell 'im in de spring; w'en bimeby de goopher quit +wukkin', en Hannibal 'mence' ter pick up some en make folks set a little +mo' sto' by 'im. + +"Now, dis yer Hannibal was a monst'us sma't nigger, en w'en he got rid +er dem so' feet his min' kep' runnin' on 'is udder troubles. Heah th'ee +er fo' weeks befo' he'd had a' easy job, waitin' on de w'ite folks, +libbin off'n de fat er de lan', en promus' de fines' gal on de +plantation fer a wife in de spring, en now heah he wuz back in de +co'nfiel', wid de oberseah a-cussin' en a r'arin' ef he didn' get a ha'd +tas' done; wid nuffin' but co'n bread en bacon en merlasses ter eat; +en all de fiel-han's makin' rema'ks, en pokin' fun at 'im ca'se he be'n +sont back fum de big house ter de fiel'. En de mo' Hannibal studied +'bout it de mo' madder he got, 'tel he fin'ly swo' he wuz gwine ter git +eben wid Jeff en Chloe ef it wuz de las' ac'. + +"So Hannibal slipped 'way fum de qua'ters one Sunday en hid in de co'n +up close ter de big house, 'tel he see Chloe gwine down de road. He +waylaid her, en sezee:-- + +"'Hoddy, Chloe?' + +"'I ain't got no time fer ter fool wid fiel'-han's,' sez Chloe, tossin' +her head; 'W'at you want wid me, Hot-Foot?' + +"'I wants ter know how you en Jeff is gittin' 'long.' + +"'I 'lows dat's none er yo' bizness, nigger. I doan see w'at 'casion any +common fiel'-han' has got ter mix in wid de 'fairs er folks w'at libs in +de big house. But ef it'll do you any good ter know, I mought say dat me +en Jeff is gittin' 'long mighty well, en we gwine ter git married in de +spring, en you ain' gwine ter be 'vited ter de weddin' nuther.' + +"'No, no!' sezee, 'I wouldn' 'spec' ter be 'vited ter de weddin',--a +common, low-down fiel'-han' lak I is. But I's glad ter heah you en Jeff +is gittin' 'long so well. I didn' knowed but w'at he had 'mence' ter be +a little ti'ed.' + +"'Ti'ed er me? Dat's rediklus!' sez Chloe. 'W'y, dat nigger lubs me so +I b'liebe he'd go th'oo fier en water fer me. Dat nigger is des wrop' up +in me.' + +"'Uh huh,' sez Hannibal, 'den I reckon is mus' be some udder nigger w'at +meets a 'oman down by de crick in de swamp ev'y Sunday ebenin', ter say +nuffin' 'bout two er th'ee times a week.' + +"'Yas, hit is ernudder nigger, en you is a liah w'en you say it wuz +Jeff.' + +"'Mebbe I is a liah, en mebbe I ain' got good eyes. But 'less'n I IS a +liah, en 'less'n I AIN' got good eyes, Jeff is gwine ter meet dat 'oman +dis ebenin' long 'bout eight o'clock right down dere by de crick in de +swamp 'bout halfway betwix' dis plantation en Mars' Marrabo Utley's.' + +"Well, Chloe tol' Hannibal she didn' b'liebe a wud he said, en call' +'im a low-down nigger who wuz tryin' ter slander Jeff 'ca'se he wuz mo' +luckier'n he wuz. But all de same, she couldn' keep her min' fum runnin' +on w'at Hannibal had said. She 'membered she'd heared one er de niggers +say dey wuz a gal ober at Mars' Marrabo Utley's plantation w'at Jeff +use' ter go wid some befo' he got 'quainted wid Chloe. Den she 'mence' +ter figger back, en sho' 'nuff, dey wuz two er th'ee times in de las' +week w'en she'd be'n he'p'n de ladies wid dey dressin' en udder fixin's +in de ebenin', en Jeff mought 'a' gone down ter de swamp widout her +knowin' 'bout it at all. En den she 'mence' ter 'member little things +w'at she hadn' tuk no notice of befo', en w'at 'u'd make it 'pear lak +Jeff had sump'n on his min'. + +"Chloe set a monst'us heap er sto' by Jeff, en would 'a' done mos' +anythin' fer 'im, so long ez he stuck ter her. But Chloe wuz a mighty +jealous 'oman, en w'iles she didn' b'liebe w'at Hannibal said, she seed +how it COULD 'a' be'n so, en she 'termine' fer ter fin' out fer herse'f +whuther it WUZ so er no. + +"Now, Chloe hadn' seed Jeff all day, fer Mars' Dugal' had sont Jeff ober +ter his daughter's house, young Mis' Ma'g'ret's, w'at libbed 'bout fo' +miles fum Mars' Dugal's, en Jeff wuzn' 'spected home 'tel ebenin'. But +des atter supper wuz ober, en w'iles de ladies wuz settin' out on de +piazzer, Chloe slip' off fum de house en run down de road,--dis yer +same road we come; en w'en she got mos' ter de crick--dis yer same crick +right befo' us--she kin' er kip' in de bushes at de side er de road, +'tel fin'ly she seed Jeff settin' on de back on de udder side er de +crick,--right under dat ole willer tree droopin' ober de watah yander. +En ev'y now en den he'd git up en look up de road to'ds Mars' Marrabo's +on de udder side er de swamp. + +"Fus' Chloe felt lak she'd go right ober de crick en gib Jeff a piece er +her min'. Den she 'lowed she better be sho' befo' she done anythin'. So +she helt herse'f in de bes' she could, gittin' madder en madder ev'ry +minute, 'tel bimeby she seed a 'oman comin' down de road on de udder +side fum to'ds Mars' Marrabo Utley's plantation. En w'en she seed Jeff +jump up en run to'ds dat 'oman, en th'ow his a'ms roun' her neck, po' +Chloe didn' stop ter see no mo', but des tu'nt roun' en run up ter de +house, en rush' up on de piazzer, en up en tol' Mars' Dugal' en ole mis' +all 'bout de baby-doll, en all 'bout Jeff gittin' de goopher fum Aun' +Peggy, en 'bout w'at de goopher had done ter Hannibal. + +"Mars' Dugal' wuz monst'us mad. He didn' let on at fus' lak he b'liebed +Chloe, but w'en she tuk en showed 'im whar ter fin' de baby-doll, Mars' +Dugal' tu'nt w'ite ez chalk. + +"'What debil's wuk is dis?' sezee. 'No wonder de po' nigger's feet +eetched. Sump'n got ter be done ter l'arn dat ole witch ter keep her +han's off'n my niggers. En ez fer dis yer Jeff, I'm gwine ter do des +w'at I promus', so de darkies on dis plantation'll know I means w'at I +sez.' + +"Fer Mars' Dugal' had warned de han's befo' 'bout foolin' wid +cunju'ation; fac', he had los' one er two niggers hisse'f fum dey bein' +goophered, en he would 'a' had ole Aun' Peggy whip' long ago, on'y Aun' +Peggy wuz a free 'oman, en he wuz 'feard she'd cunjuh him. En wi'les +Mars' Dugal' say he didn' b'liebe in cunj'in' en sich, he 'peared ter +'low it wuz bes' ter be on de safe side, en let Aun' Peggy alone. + +"So Mars' Dugal' done des ez he say. Ef ole mis' had ple'd fer Jeff he +mought 'a' kep' 'im. But ole mis' hadn' got ober losin' dem bulbs yit, +en she nebber said a wud. Mars' Dugal' tuk Jeff ter town nex' day en' +sol' 'im ter a spekilater, who sta'ted down de ribber wid 'im nex' +mawnin' on a steamboat, fer ter take 'im ter Alabama. + +"Now, w'en Chloe tol' ole Mars' Dugal' 'bout dis yer baby-doll en dis +udder goopher, she hadn' ha'dly 'lowed Mars' Dugal' would sell Jeff down +Souf. Howsomeber, she wuz so mad wid Jeff dat she 'suaded herse'f she +didn' keer; en so she hilt her head up en went roun' lookin' lak she wuz +rale glad 'bout it. But one day she wuz walkin' down de road, w'en who +sh'd come 'long but dis yer Hannibal. + +"W'en Hannibal seed 'er he bus' out laffin' fittin' fer ter kill: 'Yah, +yah, yah! ho, ho, ho! ha, ha, ha! Oh, hol' me, honey, hol' me, er I'll +laf myse'f ter def. I ain' nebber laf' so much sence I be'n bawn.' + +"'W'at you laffin' at, Hot-Foot?' + +"'Yah, yah, yah! W'at I laffin' at? W'y, I's laffin' at myse'f, tooby +sho',--laffin' ter think w'at a fine 'oman I made.' + +"Chloe tu'nt pale, en her hea't come up in her mouf. + +"'W'at you mean, nigger?' sez she, ketchin' holt er a bush by de road +fer ter stiddy herse'f. 'W'at you mean by de kin' er 'oman you made?' + +"W'at do I mean? I means dat I got squared up wid you fer treatin' me +de way you done, en I got eben wid dat yaller nigger Jeff fer cuttin' me +out. Now, he's gwine ter know w'at it is ter eat co'n bread en merlasses +once mo', en wuk fum daylight ter da'k, en ter hab a oberseah dribin' +'im fum one day's een' ter de udder. I means dat I sont wud ter Jeff dat +Sunday dat you wuz gwine ter be ober ter Mars' Marrabo's visitin' dat +ebenin', en you want i'm ter meet you down by de crick on de way home en +go de rest er de road wid you. En den I put on a frock en a sun-bonnet +en fix' myse'f up ter look lak a 'oman; en w'en Jeff seed me comin' he +run ter meet me, en you seed 'im,--fer I had be'n watchin' in de bushes +befo' en 'skivered you comin' down de road. En now I reckon you en Jeff +bofe knows w'at it means ter mess wid a nigger lak me.' + +"Po' Chloe hadn' heared mo' d'n half er de las' part er w'at Hannibal +said, but she had heared 'nuff to l'arn dat dis nigger had fooler her en +Jeff, en dat po' Jeff hadn' done nuffin', en dat fer lovin' her too much +en goin' ter meet her she had cause' 'im ter be sol' erway whar she'd +nebber, nebber see 'im no mo'. De sun mought shine by day, de moon by +night, de flowers mought bloom, en de mawkin'-birds mought sing, but po' +Jeff wuz done los' ter her fereber en fereber. + +"Hannibal hadn' mo' d'n finish' w'at he had ter say, w'en Chloe's knees +gun 'way unner her, en she fell down in de road, en lay dere half a' +hour er so befo' she come to. W'en she did, she crep' up ter de house +des ez pale ez a ghos'. En fer a mont' er so she crawled roun' de house, +en 'peared ter be so po'ly dat Mars' Dugal' sont fer a doctor; en de +doctor kep' on axin' her questions 'tel he foun' she wuz des pinin' +erway fer Jeff. + +"W'en he tol' Mars' Dugal', Mars' Dugal' lafft, en said he'd fix dat. +She could hab de noo house boy fer a husban'. But ole mis' say, no, +Chloe ain' dat kinder gal, en dat Mars' Dugal' should buy Jeff back. + +"So Mars' Dugal' writ a letter ter dis yer spekilater down ter +Wim'l'ton, en tol' ef he ain' done sol' dat nigger Souf w'at he bought +fum 'im, he'd lak ter buy 'm back ag'in. Chloe 'mence' ter pick up a +little w'en ole mis' tol' her 'bout dis letter. Howsomeber, bimeby Mars' +Dugal' got a' answer fum de spekilater, who said he wuz monst'us sorry, +but Jeff had fell ove'boa'd er jumped off'n de steamboat on de way ter +Wim'l'ton, en got drownded, en co'se he couldn' sell 'im back, much ez +he'd lak ter 'bleedge Mars' Dugal'. + +"Well, atter Chloe heared dis she pu'tended ter do her wuk, en ole mis' +wa'n't much mo' use ter nobody. She put up wid her, en hed de doctor gib +her medicine, en let 'er go ter de circus, en all so'ts er things fer +ter take her min' off'n her troubles. But dey didn' none un 'em do no +good. Chloe got ter slippin' down here in de ebenin' des lak she 'uz +comin' ter meet Jeff, en she'd set dere unner dat willer tree on de +udder side, en wait fer 'im, night atter night. Bimeby she got so bad +de w'ite folks sont her ober ter young Mis' Ma'g'ret's fer ter gib her +a change; but she runned erway de fus' night, en w'en dey looked fer +'er nex' mawnin' dey foun' her co'pse layin' in de branch yander, right +'cross fum whar we're settin' now. + +"Eber sence den," said Julius in conclusion, "Chloe's ha'nt comes eve'y +ebenin' en sets down unner dat willer tree en waits fer Jeff, er e'se +walks up en down de road yander, lookin' en lookin', en' [sic] waitin' +en waitin', fer her sweethea't w'at ain' nebber, nebber come back ter +her no mo'." + +There was silence when the old man had finished, and I am sure I saw a +tear in my wife's eye, and more than one in Mabel's. + +"I think, Julius," said my wife after a moment, "that you may turn the +mare around and go by the long road." + +The old man obeyed with alacrity, and I noticed no reluctance on the +mare's part. + +"You are not afraid of Chloe's haunt, are you?" I asked jocularly. + +My mood was not responded to, and neither of the ladies smiled. + +"Oh no," said Annie, "but I've changed my mind. I prefer the other +route." + +When we had reached the main road and had proceeded along it for a short +distance, we met a cart driven by a young negro, and on the cart were +a trunk and a valise. We recognized the man as Malcolm Murchison's +servant, and drew up a moment to speak to him. + +"Who's going away, Marshall?" I inquired. + +"Young Mistah Ma'colm gwine 'way on de boat ter Noo Yo'k dis ebenin', +suh, en I'm takin' his things down ter de wharf, suh." + +This was news to me, and I heard it with regret. My wife looked sorry, +too, and I could see that Mabel was trying hard to hide her concern. + +"He's comin' 'long behin', suh, en I 'spec's you'll meet 'im up de road +a piece. He's gwine ter walk down ez fur ez Mistah Jim Williams's, en +take de buggy fum dere ter town. He 'spec's ter be gone a long time, +suh, en say prob'ly he ain' nebber comin' back." + +The man drove on. There were a few words exchanged in an undertone +between my wife and Mabel, which I did not catch. Then Annie +said: "Julius, you may stop the rockaway a moment. There are some +trumpet-flowers by the road there that I want. Will you get them for me, +John?" + +I sprang into the underbrush, and soon returned with a great bunch of +scarlet blossoms. + +"Where is Mabel?" I asked, noting her absence. + +"She has walked on ahead. We shall overtake her in a few minutes." + +The carriage had gone only a short distance when my wife discovered that +she had dropped her fan. + +"I had it where we were stopping. Julius, will you go back and get it +for me?" + +Julius got down and went back for the fan. He was an unconscionably long +time finding it. After we got started again we had gone only a little +way, when we saw Mabel and young Murchison coming toward us. They were +walking arm in arm, and their faces were aglow with the light of love. + + +I do not know whether or not Julius had a previous understanding with +Malcolm Murchison by which he was to drive us round by the long road +that day, nor do I know exactly what motive influenced the old man's +exertions in the matter. He was fond of Mabel, but I was old enough, and +knew Julius well enough, to be skeptical of his motives. It is certain +that a most excellent understanding existed between him and Murchison +after the reconciliation, and that when the young people set up +housekeeping over at the old Murchison place Julius had an opportunity +to enter their service. For some reason or other, however, he preferred +to remain with us. The mare, I might add, was never known to balk again. + + + + +A NEGRO SCHOOLMASTER IN THE NEW SOUTH by W. E. Burghardt Du Bois + + +Once upon a time I taught school in the hills of Tennessee, where the +broad dark vale of the Mississippi begins to roll and crumple to greet +the Alleghanies. I was a Fisk student then, and all Fisk men think that +Tennessee--beyond the Veil--is theirs alone, and in vacation time they +sally forth in lusty bands to meet the county school commissioners. +Young and happy, I too went, and I shall not soon forget that summer, +ten years ago. + +First, there was a teachers' Institute at the county-seat; and there +distinguished guests of the superintendent taught the teachers fractions +and spelling and other mysteries,--white teachers in the morning, +Negroes at night. A picnic now and then, and a supper, and the rough +world was softened by laughter and song. I remember how--But I wander. + +There came a day when all the teachers left the Institute, and began +the hunt for schools. I learn from hearsay (for my mother was mortally +afraid of firearms) that the hunting of ducks and bears and men is +wonderfully interesting, but I am sure that the man who has never hunted +a country school has something to learn of the pleasures of the chase. +I see now the white, hot roads lazily rise and fall and wind before me +under the burning July sun; I feel the deep weariness of heart and limb, +as ten, eight, six miles stretch relentlessly ahead; I feel my heart +sink heavily as I hear again and again, "Got a teacher? Yes." So I +walked on and on,--horses were too expensive,--until I had wandered +beyond railways, beyond stage lines, to a land of "varmints" and +rattlesnakes, where the coming of a stranger was an event, and men lived +and died in the shadow of one blue hill. + +Sprinkled over hill and dale lay cabins and farmhouses, shut out from +the world by the forests and the rolling hills toward the east. There +I found at last a little school. Josie told me of it; she was a thin, +homely girl of twenty, with a dark brown face and thick, hard hair. I +had crossed the stream at Watertown, and rested under the great willows; +then I had gone to the little cabin in the lot where Josie was resting +on her way to town. The gaunt farmer made me welcome, and Josie, hearing +my errand, told me anxiously that they wanted a school over the hill; +that but once since the war had a teacher been there; that she herself +longed to learn,--and thus she ran on, talking fast and loud, with much +earnestness and energy. + +Next morning I crossed the tall round hill, lingered to look at the blue +and yellow mountains stretching toward the Carolinas; then I plunged +into the wood, and came out at Josie's home. It was a dull frame cottage +with four rooms, perched just below the brow of the hill, amid peach +trees. The father was a quiet, simple soul, calmly ignorant, with no +touch of vulgarity. The mother was different,--strong, bustling, and +energetic, with a quick, restless tongue, and an ambition to live "like +folks." There was a crowd of children. Two boys had gone away. There +remained two growing girls; a shy midget of eight; John, tall, awkward, +and eighteen; Jim, younger, quicker, and better looking; and two babies +of indefinite age. Then there was Josie herself. She seemed to be +the centre of the family: always busy at service or at home, or +berry-picking; a little nervous and inclined to scold, like her +mother, yet faithful, too, like her father. She had about her a +certain fineness, the shadow of an unconscious moral heroism that would +willingly give all of life to make life broader, deeper, and fuller for +her and hers. I saw much of this family afterward, and grew to love them +for their honest efforts to be decent and comfortable, and for their +knowledge of their own ignorance. There was with them no affectation. +The mother would scold the father for being so "easy;" Josie would +roundly rate the boys for carelessness; and all knew that it was a hard +thing to dig a living out of a rocky side hill. + +I secured the school. I remember the day I rode horseback out to the +commissioner's house, with a pleasant young white fellow, who wanted the +white school. The road ran down the bed of a stream; the sun laughed +and the water jingled, and we rode on. "Come in," said the +commissioner,--"come in. Have a seat. Yes, that certificate will do. +Stay to dinner. What do you want a month?" Oh, thought I, this is lucky; +but even then fell the awful shadow of the Veil, for they ate first, +then I--alone. + +The schoolhouse was a log hut, where Colonel Wheeler used to shelter +his corn. It sat in a lot behind a rail fence and thorn bushes, near the +sweetest of springs. There was an entrance where a door once was, and +within, a massive rickety fireplace; great chinks between the logs +served as windows. Furniture was scarce. A pale blackboard crouched in +the corner. My desk was made of three boards, reinforced at critical +points, and my chair, borrowed from the landlady, had to be returned +every night. Seats for the children,--these puzzled me much. I was +haunted by a New England vision of neat little desks and chairs, but, +alas, the reality was rough plank benches without backs, and at +times without legs. They had the one virtue of making naps +dangerous,--possibly fatal, for the floor was not to be trusted. + +It was a hot morning late in July when the school opened. I trembled +when I heard the patter of little feet down the dusty road, and saw the +growing row of dark solemn faces and bright eager eyes facing me. First +came Josie and her brothers and sisters. The longing to know, to be a +student in the great school at Nashville, hovered like a star above this +child woman amid her work and worry, and she studied doggedly. There +were the Dowells from their farm over toward Alexandria: Fanny, with her +smooth black face and wondering eyes; Martha, brown and dull; the pretty +girl wife of a brother, and the younger brood. There were the Burkes, +two brown and yellow lads, and a tiny haughty-eyed girl. Fat Reuben's +little chubby girl came, with golden face and old gold hair, faithful +and solemn. 'Thenie was on hand early,--a jolly, ugly, good-hearted +girl, who slyly dipped snuff and looked after her little bow-legged +brother. When her mother could spare her, 'Tildy came,--a midnight +beauty, with starry eyes and tapering limbs; and her brother, +correspondingly homely. And then the big boys: the hulking Lawrences; +the lazy Neills, unfathered sons of mother and daughter; Hickman, with a +stoop in his shoulders; and the rest. + +There they sat, nearly thirty of them, on the rough benches, their faces +shading from a pale cream to a deep brown, the little feet bare and +swinging, the eyes full of expectation, with here and there a twinkle +of mischief, and the hands grasping Webster's blue-back spelling-book. +I loved my school, and the fine faith the children had in the wisdom of +their teacher was truly marvelous. We read and spelled together, wrote +a little, picked flowers, sang, and listened to stories of the world +beyond the hill. At times the school would dwindle away, and I would +start out. I would visit Mun Eddings, who lived in two very dirty rooms, +and ask why little Lugene, whose flaming face seemed ever ablaze with +the dark red hair uncombed, was absent all last week, or why I missed +so often the inimitable rags of Mack and Ed. Then the father, who worked +Colonel Wheeler's farm on shares, would tell me how the crops needed the +boys; and the thin, slovenly mother, whose face was pretty when washed, +assured me that Lugene must mind the baby. "But we'll start them again +next week." When the Lawrences stopped, I knew that the doubts of the +old folks about book-learning had conquered again, and so, toiling up +the hill, and getting as far into the cabin as possible, I put Cicero +pro Archia Poeta into the simplest English with local applications, and +usually convinced them--for a week or so. + +On Friday nights I often went home with some of the children; sometimes +to Doc Burke's farm. He was a great, loud, thin Black, ever working, and +trying to buy the seventy-five acres of hill and dale where he lived; +but people said that he would surely fail, and the "white folks would +get it all." His wife was a magnificent Amazon, with saffron face and +shining hair, uncorseted and barefooted, and the children were strong +and beautiful. They lived in a one-and-a-half-room cabin in the hollow +of the farm, near the spring. The front room was full of great fat white +beds, scrupulously neat; and there were bad chromos on the walls, and +a tired centre-table. In the tiny back kitchen I was often invited to +"take out and help" myself to fried chicken and wheat biscuit, "meat" +and corn pone, string beans and berries. At first I used to be a +little alarmed at the approach of bed-time in the one lone bedroom, but +embarrassment was very deftly avoided. First, all the children nodded +and slept, and were stowed away in one great pile of goose feathers; +next, the mother and the father discreetly slipped away to the kitchen +while I went to bed; then, blowing out the dim light, they retired +in the dark. In the morning all were up and away before I thought of +awaking. Across the road, where fat Reuben lived, they all went outdoors +while the teacher retired, because they did not boast the luxury of a +kitchen. + +I liked to stay with the Dowells, for they had four rooms and plenty +of good country fare. Uncle Bird had a small, rough farm, all woods and +hills, miles from the big road; but he was full of tales,--he preached +now and then,--and with his children, berries, horses, and wheat he was +happy and prosperous. Often, to keep the peace, I must go where life +was less lovely; for instance, 'Tildy's mother was incorrigibly dirty, +Reuben's larder was limited seriously, and herds of untamed bedbugs +wandered over the Eddingses' beds. Best of all I loved to go to Josie's, +and sit on the porch, eating peaches, while the mother bustled and +talked: how Josie had bought the sewing-machine; how Josie worked at +service in winter, but that four dollars a month was "mighty little" +wages; how Josie longed to go away to school, but that it "looked like" +they never could get far enough ahead to let her; how the crops failed +and the well was yet unfinished; and, finally, how "mean" some of the +white folks were. + +For two summers I lived in this little world; it was dull and humdrum. +The girls looked at the hill in wistful longing, and the boys fretted, +and haunted Alexandria. Alexandria was "town,"--a straggling, lazy +village of houses, churches, and shops, and an aristocracy of Toms, +Dicks, and Captains. Cuddled on the hill to the north was the village of +the colored folks, who lived in three or four room unpainted cottages, +some neat and homelike, and some dirty. The dwellings were scattered +rather aimlessly, but they centred about the twin temples of the hamlet, +the Methodist and the Hard-Shell Baptist churches. These, in turn, +leaned gingerly on a sad-colored schoolhouse. Hither my little world +wended its crooked way on Sunday to meet other worlds, and gossip, and +wonder, and make the weekly sacrifice with frenzied priest at the altar +of the "old-time religion." Then the soft melody and mighty cadences of +Negro song fluttered and thundered. + +I have called my tiny community a world, and so its isolation made it; +and yet there was among us but a half-awakened common consciousness, +sprung from common joy and grief, at burial, birth, or wedding; from a +common hardship in poverty, poor land, and low wages; and, above all, +from the sight of the Veil that hung between us and Opportunity. All +this caused us to think some thoughts together; but these, when ripe for +speech, were spoken in various languages. Those whose eyes thirty and +more years before had seen "the glory of the coming of the Lord" saw +in every present hindrance or help a dark fatalism bound to bring all +things right in His own good time. The mass of those to whom slavery +was a dim recollection of childhood found the world a puzzling thing: +it asked little of them, and they answered with little, and yet it +ridiculed their offering. Such a paradox they could not understand, and +therefore sank into listless indifference, or shiftlessness, or reckless +bravado. There were, however, some such as Josie, Jim, and Ben,--they +to whom War, Hell, and Slavery were but childhood tales, whose +young appetites had been whetted to an edge by school and story and +half-awakened thought. Ill could they be content, born without +and beyond the World. And their weak wings beat against their +barriers,--barriers of caste, of youth, of life; at last, in dangerous +moments, against everything that opposed even a whim. + + +The ten years that follow youth, the years when first the realization +comes that life is leading somewhere,--these were the years that passed +after I left my little school. When they were past, I came by chance +once more to the walls of Fisk University, to the halls of the chapel +of melody. As I lingered there in the joy and pain of meeting old school +friends, there swept over me a sudden longing to pass again beyond the +blue hill, and to see the homes and the school of other days, and to +learn how life had gone with my school-children; and I went. + +Josie was dead, and the gray-haired mother said simply, "We've had a +heap of trouble since you've been away." I had feared for Jim. With a +cultured parentage and a social caste to uphold him, he might have made +a venturesome merchant or a West Point cadet. But here he was, angry +with life and reckless; and when Farmer Durham charged him with stealing +wheat, the old man had to ride fast to escape the stones which the +furious fool hurled after him. They told Jim to run away; but he would +not run, and the constable came that afternoon. It grieved Josie, and +great awkward John walked nine miles every day to see his little brother +through the bars of Lebanon jail. At last the two came back together in +the dark night. The mother cooked supper, and Josie emptied her purse, +and the boys stole away. Josie grew thin and silent, yet worked the +more. The hill became steep for the quiet old father, and with the boys +away there was little to do in the valley. Josie helped them sell the +old farm, and they moved nearer town. Brother Dennis, the carpenter, +built a new house with six rooms; Josie toiled a year in Nashville, +and brought back ninety dollars to furnish the house and change it to a +home. + +When the spring came, and the birds twittered, and the stream ran proud +and full, little sister Lizzie, bold and thoughtless, flushed with the +passion of youth, bestowed herself on the tempter, and brought home +a nameless child. Josie shivered, and worked on, with the vision of +schooldays all fled, with a face wan and tired,--worked until, on a +summer's day, some one married another; then Josie crept to her mother +like a hurt child, and slept--and sleeps. + +I paused to scent the breeze as I entered the valley. The Lawrences have +gone; father and son forever, and the other son lazily digs in the earth +to live. A new young widow rents out their cabin to fat Reuben. Reuben +is a Baptist preacher now, but I fear as lazy as ever, though his cabin +has three rooms; and little Ella has grown into a bouncing woman, and is +ploughing corn on the hot hillside. There are babies a plenty, and one +half-witted girl. Across the valley is a house I did not know before, +and there I found, rocking one baby and expecting another, one of +my schoolgirls, a daughter of Uncle Bird Dowell. She looked somewhat +worried with her new duties, but soon bristled into pride over her neat +cabin, and the tale of her thrifty husband, the horse and cow, and the +farm they were planning to buy. + +My log schoolhouse was gone. In its place stood Progress, and Progress, +I understand, is necessarily ugly. The crazy foundation stones still +marked the former site of my poor little cabin, and not far away, on six +weary boulders, perched a jaunty board house, perhaps twenty by thirty +feet, with three windows and a door that locked. Some of the window +glass was broken, and part of an old iron stove lay mournfully under +the house. I peeped through the window half reverently, and found things +that were more familiar. The blackboard had grown by about two feet, and +the seats were still without backs. The county owns the lot now, I hear, +and every year there is a session of school. As I sat by the spring and +looked on the Old and the New I felt glad, very glad, and yet-- + + +After two long drinks I started on. There was the great double log house +on the corner. I remembered the broken, blighted family that used to +live there. The strong, hard face of the mother, with its wilderness +of hair, rose before me. She had driven her husband away, and while +I taught school a strange man lived there, big and jovial, and people +talked. I felt sure that Ben and 'Tildy would come to naught from such +a home. But this is an odd world; for Ben is a busy farmer in Smith +County, "doing well, too," they say, and he had cared for little 'Tildy +until last spring, when a lover married her. A hard life the lad had +led, toiling for meat, and laughed at because he was homely and crooked. +There was Sam Carlon, an impudent old skinflint, who had definite +notions about niggers, and hired Ben a summer and would not pay him. +Then the hungry boy gathered his sacks together, and in broad daylight +went into Carlon's corn; and when the hard-fisted farmer set upon him, +the angry boy flew at him like a beast. Doc Burke saved a murder and a +lynching that day. + +The story reminded me again of the Burkes, and an impatience seized me +to know who won in the battle, Doc or the seventy-five acres. For it is +a hard thing to make a farm out of nothing, even in fifteen years. So +I hurried on, thinking of the Burkes. They used to have a certain +magnificent barbarism about them that I liked. They were never vulgar, +never immoral, but rather rough and primitive, with an unconventionality +that spent itself in loud guffaws, slaps on the back, and naps in the +corner. I hurried by the cottage of the misborn Neill boys. It was +empty, and they were grown into fat, lazy farm hands. I saw the home of +the Hickmans, but Albert, with his stooping shoulders, had passed from +the world. Then I came to the Burkes' gate and peered through; the +inclosure looked rough and untrimmed, and yet there were the same fences +around the old farm save to the left, where lay twenty-five other acres. +And lo! the cabin in the hollow had climbed the hill and swollen to a +half-finished six-room cottage. + +The Burkes held a hundred acres, but they were still in debt. Indeed, +the gaunt father who toiled night and day would scarcely be happy out of +debt, being so used to it. Some day he must stop, for his massive frame +is showing decline. The mother wore shoes, but the lionlike physique of +other days was broken. The children had grown up. Rob, the image of his +father, was loud and rough with laughter. Birdie, my school baby of +six, had grown to a picture of maiden beauty, tall and tawny. "Edgar +is gone," said the mother, with head half bowed,--"gone to work in +Nashville; he and his father couldn't agree." + +Little Doc, the boy born since the time of my school, took me horseback +down the creek next morning toward Farmer Dowell's. The road and the +stream were battling for mastery, and the stream had the better of it. +We splashed and waded, and the merry boy, perched behind me, chattered +and laughed. He showed me where Simon Thompson had bought a bit of +ground and a home; but his daughter Lana, a plump, brown, slow girl, was +not there. She had married a man and a farm twenty miles away. We wound +on down the stream till we came to a gate that I did not recognize, but +the boy insisted that it was "Uncle Bird's." The farm was fat with the +growing crop. In that little valley was a strange stillness as I rode +up; for death and marriage had stolen youth, and left age and childhood +there. We sat and talked that night, after the chores were done. Uncle +Bird was grayer, and his eyes did not see so well, but he was still +jovial. We talked of the acres bought,--one hundred and twenty-five,--of +the new guest chamber added, of Martha's marrying. Then we talked of +death: Fanny and Fred were gone; a shadow hung over the other daughter, +and when it lifted she was to go to Nashville to school. At last we +spoke of the neighbors, and as night fell Uncle Bird told me how, on a +night like that, 'Thenie came wandering back to her home over yonder, to +escape the blows of her husband. And next morning she died in the home +that her little bow-legged brother, working and saving, had bought for +their widowed mother. + +My journey was done, and behind me lay hill and dale, and Life and +Death. How shall man measure Progress there where the dark-faced Josie +lies? How many heartfuls of sorrow shall balance a bushel of wheat? How +hard a thing is life to the lowly, and yet how human and real! And +all this life and love and strife and failure,--is it the twilight of +nightfall or the flush of some faint-dawning day? + +Thus sadly musing, I rode to Nashville in the Jim Crow car. + + + + +THE CAPTURE OF A SLAVER by J. Taylor Wood + + +From 1830 to 1850 both Great Britain and the United States, by joint +convention, kept on the coast of Africa at least eighty guns afloat for +the suppression of the slave trade. Most of the vessels so employed were +small corvettes, brigs, or schooners; steam at that time was just being +introduced into the navies of the world. + +Nearly fifty years ago I was midshipman on the United States brig +Porpoise, of ten guns. Some of my readers may remember these little +ten-gun coffins, as many of them proved to be to their crews. The +Porpoise was a fair sample of the type; a full-rigged brig of one +hundred and thirty tons, heavily sparred, deep waisted, and carrying a +battery of eight twenty-four-pound carronades and two long chasers; so +wet that even in a moderate breeze or sea it was necessary to batten +down; and so tender that she required careful watching; only five feet +between decks, her quarters were necessarily cramped and uncomfortable, +and, as far as possible, we lived on deck. With a crew of eighty all +told, Lieutenant Thompson was in command, Lieutenant Bukett executive +officer, and two midshipmen were the line officers. She was so slow that +we could hardly hope for a prize except by a fluke. Repeatedly we had +chased suspicious craft only to be out-sailed. + +At this time the traffic in slaves was very brisk; the demand in the +Brazils, in Cuba, and in other Spanish West Indies was urgent, and the +profit of the business so great that two or three successful ventures +would enrich any one. The slavers were generally small, handy craft; +fast, of course; usually schooner-rigged, and carrying flying topsails +and forecourse. Many were built in England or elsewhere purposely +for the business, without, of course, the knowledge of the builders, +ostensibly as yachts or traders. The Spaniards and Portuguese were the +principal offenders, with occasionally an English-speaking renegade. + +The slave depots, or barracoons, were generally located some miles up a +river. Here the slaver was secure from capture and could embark his live +cargo at his leisure. Keeping a sharp lookout on the coast, the dealers +were able to follow the movements of the cruisers, and by means of +smoke, or in other ways, signal when the coast was clear for the coming +down the river and sailing of the loaded craft. Before taking in the +cargoes they were always fortified with all the necessary papers and +documents to show they were engaged in legitimate commerce, so it was +only when caught in flagrante delicto that we could hold them. + +We had been cruising off the coast of Liberia doing nothing, when we +were ordered to the Gulf of Guinea to watch the Bonny and Cameroons +mouths of the great Niger River. Our consort was H.M. schooner Bright, +a beautiful craft about our tonnage, but with half our crew, and able to +sail three miles to our two. She was an old slaver, captured and adapted +as a cruiser. She had been very successful, making several important +captures of full cargoes, and twice or thrice her commanding officer +and others had been promoted. Working our way slowly down the coast in +company with the Bright, we would occasionally send a boat on shore to +reconnoitre or gather any information we could from the natives through +our Krooman interpreter. A few glasses of rum or a string of beads would +loosen the tongue of almost any one. At Little Bonny we heard that +two vessels were some miles up the river, ready to sail, and were only +waiting until the coast was clear. Captain James, of the Bright, thought +that one, if not both, would sail from another outlet of the river, +about thirty miles to the southward, and determined to watch it. + +We both stood to that direction. Of course we were watched from the +shore, and the slavers were kept posted as to our movements. They +supposed we had both gone to the Cameroons, leaving Little Bonny open; +but after dark, with a light land breeze, we wore round and stood to the +northward, keeping offshore some distance, so that captains leaving the +river might have sufficient offing to prevent their reaching port again +or beaching their craft. At daybreak, as far as we could judge, we were +about twenty miles offshore to the northward and westward of Little +Bonny, in the track of any vessel bound for the West Indies. The night +was dark with occasional rain squalls, when the heavens would open and +the water come down in a flood. Anxiously we all watched for daylight, +which comes under the equator with a suddenness very different from the +prolonged twilight of higher latitudes. At the first glimmer in the east +every eye was strained on the horizon, all eager, all anxious to be the +first to sight anything within our vision. The darkness soon gave way to +gray morn. Day was dawning, when suddenly a Krooman by my side seized +my hand and, without saying a word, pointed inshore. I looked, but +could see nothing. All eyes were focused in that direction, and in a few +minutes the faint outline of a vessel appeared against the sky. She was +some miles inshore of us, and as the day brightened we made her out to +be a brigantine (an uncommon rig in those days), standing across +our bows, with all studding sails set on the starboard side, indeed +everything that could pull, including water sails and save-all. We were +on the same tack heading to the northward. We set everything that would +draw, and kept off two points, bringing the wind abeam so as to head her +off. + +The breeze was light and off the land. We had not yet been seen against +the darker western horizon, but we knew it could only be a few minutes +longer before their sharp eyes would make us out. Soon we saw the +studding sails and all kites come down by the run and her yards braced +up sharp on the same tack as ours. We also hauled by the wind. At +sunrise she was four points on our weather bow, distant about four +miles. We soon perceived that she could outsail our brig and if the wind +held would escape. Gradually she drew away from us until she was hull +down. Our only hope now was that the land breeze would cease and the sea +breeze come in. As the sun rose we gladly noticed the wind lessening, +until at eleven o'clock it was calm. Not a breath ruffled the surface of +the sea; the sun's rays in the zenith were reflected as from a mirror; +the waters seemed like molten lead. + +I know of nothing more depressing than a calm in the tropics,--a raging +sun overhead, around an endless expanse of dead sea, and a feeling of +utter helplessness that is overpowering. What if this should last? what +a fate! The Rime of the Ancient Mariner comes to our mind. Come storm +and tempest, come hurricanes and blizzards, anything but an endless +stagnation. For some hours we watched earnestly the horizon to the +westward, looking for the first dark break on the smooth sea. Not a +cloud was in the heavens. The brig appeared to be leaving us either by +towing or by sweeps; only her topgallant sail was above the horizon. It +looked as if the sea breeze would desert us. It usually came in about +one o'clock, but that hour and another had passed and yet we watched +for the first change. Without a breeze our chances of overhauling the +stranger were gone. Only a white speck like the wing of a gull now +marked her whereabouts on the edge of the horizon, and in another hour +she would be invisible even from the masthead. + +When we were about to despair, our head Krooman drew the captain's +attention to the westward and said the breeze was coming. We saw no +signs of it, but his quick eye had noticed light feathery clouds rising +to the westward, a sure indication of the coming breeze. Soon we could +see the glassy surface ruffled at different points as the breeze danced +over it, coming on like an advancing line of skirmishers; and as we felt +its first gentle movement on our parched faces, it was welcome indeed, +putting new life into all of us. The crew needed no encouragement to +spring to their work. As the little brig felt the breeze and gathered +steerageway, she was headed for the chase, bringing the wind on her +starboard quarter. In less than five minutes all the studding sails that +would draw were set, as well as everything that would pull. The best +quartermaster was sent to the wheel, with orders to keep the chase +directly over the weather end of the spritsail yard. The captain ordered +the sails wet, an expedient I never had much faith in, unless the sails +are very old. But as if to recompense us for the delay, the breeze came +in strong and steady. Our one hope now was to follow it up close, and to +carry it within gunshot of the brig, for if she caught it before we +were within range she would certainly escape. All hands were piped to +quarters, and the long eighteen-pounder on the forecastle was loaded +with a full service charge; on this piece we relied to cripple the +chase. We were now rapidly raising her, and I was sent aloft on the fore +topsail yard, with a good glass to watch her movements. Her hull was +in sight and she was still becalmed, though her head was pointed in the +right direction, and everything was set to catch the coming breeze. +She carried a boat on each side at the davits like a man-of-war, and I +reported that I could make out men securing them. They had been towing +her, and only stopped when they saw us drawing near. + +Anxiously we watched the breeze on the water as it narrowed the sheen +between us, and we were yet two miles or more distant when she first +felt the breeze. As she did so we hoisted the English blue ensign,--for +the fleet at this time was under a Rear Admiral of the Blue,--and fired +a weather gun, but no response was made. Fortunately the wind continued +to freshen and the Porpoise was doing wonderfully well. We were rapidly +closing the distance between us. We fired another gun, but no attention +was paid to it. I noticed from the movements of the crew of the brig +that they were getting ready for some manoeuvre, and reported to the +captain. He divined at once what the manoeuvre would be, and ordered the +braces be led along, hands by the studding-sail halyards and tacks, +and everything ready to haul by the wind. We felt certain now of the +character of our friend, and the men were already calculating the amount +of their prize money. We were now within range, and must clip her wings +if possible. + +The first lieutenant was ordered to open fire with the eighteen-pounder. +Carefully the gun was laid, and as the order "fire" was given, down came +our English flag, and the stop of the Stars and Stripes was broken +at the gaff. The first shot touched the water abeam of the chase and +ricochetted ahead of her. She showed the Spanish flag. The captain of +the gun was ordered to elevate a little more and try again. The second +shot let daylight through her fore topsail, but the third was wide +again. + +Then the sharp, quick order of the captain, "Fore topsail yard there, +come down on deck, sir!" brought me down on the run. "Have both cutters +cleared away and ready for lowering," were my orders as I reached the +quarter-deck. Practice from the bow chasers continued, but the smoke +that drifted ahead of us interfered with the accuracy of the firing, +and no vital part was touched, though a number of shots went through +her sails. The captain in the main rigging never took his eye from the +Spaniard, evidently expecting that as a fox when hard pressed doubles +on the hounds, the chase would attempt the same thing. And he was not +disappointed, for when we had come within easy range of her, the smoke +hid her from view for a few minutes, and as it dispersed the first +glimpse showed the captain that her studding sails had all gone, and +that she had hauled by the wind, standing across our weather bow. Her +captain had lost no time in taking in his studding sails; halyards, +tacks, and sheets had all been cut together and dropped overboard. + +It was a bold and well-executed manoeuvre, and we could not help +admiring the skill with which she was handled. However, we had been +prepared for this move. "Ease down your helm." "Lower away. Haul down +the studding sails." "Ease away the weather braces. Brace up." +"Trim down the head sheets," were the orders which followed in rapid +succession, and were as quickly executed. The Spaniard was now broad on +our lee bow, distant not more than half a mile, but as she felt the wind +which we brought down she fairly spun through the water, exposing her +bright copper. She was both head-reaching and outsailing us; in half an +hour she would have been right ahead of us, and in an hour the sun would +be down. It was now or never. We could bring nothing to bear except the +gun on the forecastle. Fortunately it continued smooth, and we were no +longer troubled with smoke. Shot after shot went hissing through the air +after her; a number tore through the sails or rigging, but not a spar +was touched nor an important rope cut. We could see some of her crew +aloft reeving and stopping braces and ready to repair any damage done, +working as coolly under fire as old man-of-war's men. But while we were +looking, down came the gaff of her mainsail, and the gaff-topsail fell +all adrift; a lucky shot had cut her peak halyards. Our crew cheered +with a will. "Well done, Hobson; try it again!" called the captain to +the boatswain's mate, who was captain of the gun. + +After the next shot, the topgallant yard swayed for a few minutes and +fell forward. The order was given to cease firing; she was at our mercy. +We were rapidly nearing the chase, when she backed her topsail. We kept +off, and when within easy range of the carronades "hove to" to windward. +Lieutenant Bukett was ordered to board her in the first cutter and +take charge. I followed in the second cutter, with orders to bring the +captain on board with his papers. A few strokes sent us alongside of a +brig about our tonnage, but with a low rail and a flush deck. The +crew, some eighteen or twenty fine-looking seamen, were forward eagerly +discussing the situation of affairs. The captain was aft with his two +officers, talking to Lieutenant Bukett. He was fair, with light hair +curling all over his head, beard cut short, about forty years of age, +well set up, with a frame like a Roman wrestler, evidently a tough +customer in a rough-and-ready scrimmage. + +He spoke fairly good English, and was violently denouncing the outrage +done to his flag; his government would demand instant satisfaction for +firing upon a legitimate trader on the high seas. I have the lieutenant +Captain Thompson's orders, to bring the captain and his papers on board +at once. His harangue was cut short by orders to get on board my boat. +He swore with a terrible oath that he would never leave his vessel. +"Come on board, men," said I, and twenty of our crew were on deck in a +jiffy. I stationed my coxswain, Parker, at the cabin companion way with +orders to allow no one to pass. "Now," said Lieutenant Bukett to the +Spaniard, "I will take you on board in irons unless you go quietly." He +hesitated a moment, then said he would come as soon as he had gone below +to bring up his papers. "No, never mind your papers; I will find them," +said the lieutenant, for he saw the devil in the Spaniard's eyes, and +knew he meant mischief. Our captive made one bound for the companion +way, however, and seizing Parker by the throat hurled him into the water +ways as if he had been a rag baby. But fortunately he slipped on a small +grating and fell on his knees, and before he could recover himself two +of our men threw themselves upon him. + +I closed the companion way. The struggle was desperate for a few +minutes, for the Spaniard seemed possessed of the furies, and his +efforts were almost superhuman. Twice he threw the men from him across +the deck, but they were reinforced by Parker, who, smarting under his +discomfiture, rushed in, determined to down him. I was anxious to end it +with my pistol, but Lieutenant Bukett would not consent. The Spaniard's +officers and men made some demonstration to assist, but they were +quickly disposed of: his two mates were put in irons and the crew driven +forward. Struggling, fighting, every limb and every muscle at work, +the captain was overpowered; a piece of the signal halyards brought his +hands together, and handcuffs were slipped on his wrists. Only then he +succumbed, and begged Lieutenant Bukett to blow out his brains, for he +had been treated like a pirate. + +Without doubt if he had reached the cabin he would have blown up the +vessel, for in a locker over the transom were two open kegs of powder. +I led him to my boat, assisted him in, and returned to the Porpoise. +As soon as the Spaniard reached the deck the captain ordered his irons +removed, and expressed his regret that it had been necessary to use +force. The prisoner only bowed and said nothing. The captain asked him +what his cargo consisted of. He replied, "About four hundred blacks +bound to the Brazils." + +I was then ordered to return to the brig, bring on board her crew, +leaving only the cook and steward, and to take charge of the prize as +Lieutenant Bukett, our first lieutenant, was not yet wholly recovered +from an attack of African fever. The crew of twenty men, when brought on +board, consisted of Spaniards, Greeks, Malays, Arabs, white and black, +but had not one Anglo-Saxon. They were ironed in pairs and put under +guard. + +From the time we first got on board we had heard moans, cries, and +rumblings coming from below, and as soon as the captain and crew were +removed, the hatches had been taken off, when there arose a hot blast as +from a charnel house, sickening and overpowering. In the hold were three +or four hundred human beings, gasping, struggling for breath, dying; +their bodies, limbs, faces, all expressing terrible suffering. In their +agonizing fight for life, some had torn or wounded themselves or +their neighbors dreadfully; some were stiffened in the most unnatural +positions. As soon as I knew the condition of things I sent the boat +back for the doctor and some whiskey. It returned bringing Captain +Thompson, and for an hour or more we were all hard at work lifting and +helping the poor creatures on deck, where they were laid out in rows. +A little water and stimulant revived most of them; some, however, were +dead or too far gone to be resuscitated. The doctor worked earnestly +over each one, but seventeen were beyond human skill. As fast as he +pronounced them dead they were quickly dropped overboard. + +Night closed in with our decks covered so thickly with the ebony bodies +that with difficulty we could move about; fortunately they were as quiet +as so many snakes. In the meantime the first officer, Mr. Block, was +sending up a new topgallant yard, reeving new rigging, repairing the +sails, and getting everything ataunto aloft. The Kroomen were busy +washing out and fumigating the hold, getting ready for our cargo again. +It would have been a very anxious night, except that I felt relieved +by the presence of the brig which kept within hail. Soon after daybreak +Captain Thompson came on board again, and we made a count of the +captives as they were sent below; 188 men and boys, and 166 women and +girls. Seeing everything snug and in order the captain returned to the +brig, giving me final orders to proceed with all possible dispatch to +Monrovia, Liberia, land the negroes, then sail for Porto Praya, Cape de +Verde Islands, and report to the commodore. As the brig hauled to the +wind and stood to the southward and eastward I dipped my colors, when +her crew jumped into the rigging and gave us three cheers, which we +returned. + +As she drew away from us I began to realize my position and +responsibility: a young midshipman, yet in my teens, commanding a prize, +with three hundred and fifty prisoners on board, two or three weeks' +sail from port, with only a small crew. From the first I kept all hands +aft except two men on the lookout, and the weather was so warm that we +could all sleep on deck. I also ordered the men never to lay aside their +pistols or cutlasses, except when working aloft, but my chief reliance +was in my knowledge of the negro,--of his patient, docile disposition. +Born and bred a slave he never thought of any other condition, and he +accepted the situation without a murmur. I had never heard of blacks +rising or attempting to gain their freedom on board a slaver. + +My charges were all of a deep black; from fifteen to twenty-five years +of age, and, with a few exceptions, nude, unless copper or brass rings +on their ankles or necklaces of cowries can be described as articles of +dress. All were slashed, or had the scars of branding on their foreheads +and cheeks; these marks were the distinguishing features of different +tribes or families. The men's hair had been cut short, and their heads +looked in some cases as if they had been shaven. The women, on the +contrary, wore their hair "a la pompadour;" the coarse kinky locks were +sometimes a foot or more above their heads, and trained square or round +like a boxwood bush. Their features were of the pronounced African +type, but, notwithstanding this disfigurement, were not unpleasing in +appearance. The figures of all were very good, straight, well developed, +some of the young men having bodies that would have graced a Mercury or +an Apollo. Their hands were small, showing no evidences of work, only +the cruel marks of shackles. These in some cases had worn deep furrows +on their wrists or ankles. + +They were obedient to all orders as far as they understood them, and +would, I believe, have jumped overboard if told to do so. I forbade the +men to treat them harshly or cruelly. I had the sick separated from the +others, and allowed them to remain on deck all the time, and in this way +I partly gained their confidence. I was anxious to learn their story. +Fortunately one of the Kroomen found among the prisoners a native of +a tribe living near the coast, and with him as interpreter was able to +make himself understood. After a good deal of questioning I learned that +most of them were from a long distance in the interior, some having been +one and some two moons on the way, traveling partly by land and partly +by river until they reached the coast. They had been sold by their kings +or by their parents to the Arab trader for firearms or for rum. Once at +the depots near the coast, they were sold by the Arabs or other traders +to the slave captains for from twenty-five to fifty dollars a head. +In the Brazils or West Indies they were worth from two to five hundred +dollars. This wide margin, of course, attracted unscrupulous and greedy +adventurers, who if they succeeded in running a few cargoes would enrich +themselves. + +Our daily routine was simple. At six in the morning the rope netting +over the main hatch which admitted light and air was taken off, and +twenty-five of each sex were brought up, and seated in two circles, one +on each side of the deck. A large pan of boiled paddy was then placed +in the centre by the cook and all went to work with their hands. A few +minutes sufficed to dispose of every grain; then one of the Kroomen gave +each of them a cup of water from a bucket. For half an hour after the +meal they had the liberty of the deck, except the poop, for exercise, to +wash and to sun themselves; for sunshine to a negro is meat and drink. +At the end of this time they were sent below and another fifty brought +up, and so on until all had been fed and watered. Paddy or rice was the +staple article of food. At dinner boiled yams were given with the +rice. Our passengers were quartered on a flying deck extending from the +foremast to a point twenty feet abaft the main hatch from which came +light and air. The height was about five feet; the men had one side and +the women the other. Of course there was no furnishing of any kind, but +all lay prone upon the bare deck in rows. + +Every morning after breakfast the Kroomen would rig the force pump, +screw on the hose and drench them all, washing out thoroughly between +decks. They appeared to enjoy this, and it was cooling, for be it +remembered we were close under the equator, the thermometer dancing +about 90 deg. As the water was sluiced over them they would rub and +scrub each other. Only the girls would try not to get their hair wet, +for they were at all times particular about their headdress. It may be +that this was the only part of their toilet that gave them any concern. + +The winds were baffling and light, so we made but slow progress. +Fortunately frequent rains, with sometimes a genuine tropical downpour +or cloud-burst, gave us an opportunity of replenishing our water casks, +and by spreading the awnings we were able to get a good supply. I found +on inspection that there were at least thirty days' provisions on board, +so on this score and that of water I felt easy. I lived on deck, seldom +using the cabin, which was a veritable arsenal, with racks of muskets +and cutlasses on two sides, many more than the captain needed to arm his +crew, evidently intended for barter. Two or three prints of his +favorite saints, ornamented with sharks' teeth, hung on one bulkhead. A +well-thrummed mandolin and a number of French novels proved him to be +a musical and literary fellow, who could probably play a bolero while +making a troublesome slave walk a plank. I found also some choice +vintages from the Douro and Bordeaux snugly stowed in his spirit locker, +which proved good medicines for some of our captives, who required +stimulants. Several of the girls were much reduced, refused nearly all +food, and were only kept alive by a little wine and water. Two finally +died of mere inanition. Their death did not in the least affect their +fellows, who appeared perfectly indifferent and callous to all their +surroundings, showing not the least sympathy or desire to help or wait +on one another. + +The fifth day after parting from the brig we encountered a tropical +storm. The sun rose red and angry, and owing to the great refraction +appeared three times its natural size. It climbed lazily to the zenith, +and at noon we were shadowless. The sky was as calm as a vault, and +the surface of the water was like burnished steel. The heat became so +stifling that even the Africans were gasping for breath, and we envied +them their freedom from all impediments. The least exertion was irksome, +and attended with extreme lassitude. During the afternoon thin cirri +clouds, flying very high, spread out over the western heavens like a +fan. As the day lengthened they thickened to resemble the scales of +a fish, bringing to mind the old saying, "A mackerel sky and a mare's +tail," etc. The signs were all unmistakable, and even the gulls +recognized a change, and, screaming, sought shelter on our spars. Mr. +Block was ordered to send down all the light yards and sails; to take +in and furl everything, using storm gaskets, except on the fore and main +storm staysails; to lash everything on deck; to batten down the hatches, +except one square of the main; see all the shifting boards in place, so +that our living cargo would not be thrown to leeward higgledy-piggledy, +and to take four or five of the worst cases of the sick into the cabin +and lay them on the floor. + +The sun disappeared behind a mountainous mass of leaden-colored +clouds which rose rapidly in the southern and western quarters. To the +eastward, also, the signs were threatening. Night came on suddenly as it +does in the tropics. Soon the darkness enveloped us, a palpable veil. A +noise like the march of a mighty host was heard, which proved to be the +approach of a tropical flood, heralded by drops as large as marbles. It +churned the still waters into a phosphorescent foam which rendered the +darkness only more oppressive. The rain came down as it can come only +in the Bight of Benin. The avalanche cooled us, reducing the temperature +ten or fifteen degrees, giving us new life, and relieving our fevered +blood. I told Mr. Block to throw back the tarpaulin over the main hatch +and let our dusky friends get some benefit of it. In half an hour the +rain ceased, but it was as calm and ominous as ever. + +I knew this was but the forerunner of something worse to follow, and we +had not long to wait, for suddenly a blinding flash of lightning darted +through the gloom from east to west, followed by one in the opposite +direction. Without intermission, one blaze after another and thunder +crashing until our eyes were blinded and our ears deafened, a thousand +times ten thousand pieces of artillery thundered away. We seemed utterly +helpless and insignificant. "How wonderful are Thy works," came to my +mind. Still no wind; the brig lay helpless. + +Suddenly, as a slap in the face, the wind struck us,--on the starboard +quarter, fortunately. "Hard-a-starboard." "Hanl aft port fore staysail +sheet," I called. But before she could gather way she was thrown down by +the wind like a reed. She was "coming to" instead of "going off," and +I tried to get the main storm staysail down but could not make myself +heard. She was lying on her broadside. Luckily the water was smooth as +yet. The main staysail shot out of the boltropes with a report like a +twelve-pounder, and this eased her so that if the fore staysail would +only hold she would go off. For a few minutes all we could do was to +hold on, our lee rail in the water; but the plucky little brig rallied +a little, her head went off inch by inch, and as she gathered way she +righted, and catching the wind on our quarter we were off like a shot +out of a gun. I knew we were too near the vortex of the disturbance for +the wind to hang long in one quarter, so watched anxiously for a change. +The sea rose rapidly while we were running to the northward on her +course, and after a lull of a few minutes the wind opened from the +eastward, butt end foremost, a change of eight points. Nothing was to +be done but heave to, and this in a cross sea where pitch, weather roll, +lee lurch, followed one another in such earnest that it was a wonder her +masts were not switched out of her. + +I passed an anxious night, most concerned about the poor creatures under +hatches, whose sufferings must have been terrible. To prevent their +suffocating I kept two men at the main hatch with orders to lift one +corner of the tarpaulin whenever possible, even if some water did go +below. Toward morning the wind and the sea went down rapidly, and as the +sun rose it chased the clouds off, giving us the promise of a fine day. +When the cook brought me a cup of coffee, I do not know that I ever +enjoyed anything more. Hatches off, I jumped down into the hold to look +after my prisoners. Battered and bruised they lay around in heaps. +Only the shifting boards had kept them from being beaten into an +indistinguishable mass. As fast as possible they were sent on deck, and +the sun's rays, with a few buckets of water that were thrown over them, +accomplished wonders in bringing them to life and starting them to care +for their sore limbs and bruises. + +One boy, when I motioned for him to go on deck, pointed quietly to +his leg, and upon examination I found a fracture just above the knee. +Swelling had already commenced. I had seen limbs set, and had some rough +idea how it should be done. So while getting some splints of keg staves +and bandages ready, I kept a stream of water pouring on the fracture, +and then ordered two men to pull the limb in place, and it took all +their strength. That done I put on the splints and wrapped the bandages +tightly. Three weeks later I landed him in a fair way of recovery. + +Gradually I allowed a larger number of the blacks to remain on deck, +a privilege which they greatly enjoyed. To lie basking in the sun like +saurians, half sleeping, half waking, appeared to satisfy all their +wishes. They were perfectly docile and obedient, and not by word, +gesture, or look did they express any dissatisfaction with orders given +them. But again for any little acts of kindness they expressed no kind +of appreciation or gratitude. Physically they were men and women, but +otherwise as far removed from the Anglo-Saxon as the oyster from the +baboon, or the mole from the horse. + +On the fourteenth day from parting with the brig we made the palms +on Cape Mesurado, the entrance to Monrovia Harbor. A light sea breath +wafted us to the anchorage, a mile from the town, and when the anchor +dropped from the bows and the chain ran through the hawse pipe, it was +sweet music to my ears; for the strain had been great, and I felt years +older than when I parted from my messmates. A great responsibility +seemed lifted from my shoulders, and I enjoyed a long and refreshing +sleep for the first time in a fortnight. At nine the next morning I went +on shore and reported to the authorities, the officials of Liberia, of +which Monrovia is the capital. + +This part of the African coast had been selected by the United States +government as the home of emancipated slaves; for prior to the abolition +excitement which culminated in the war, numbers of slaves in the South +had been manumitted by their masters with the understanding that +they should be deported to Liberia, and the Colonization Society, an +influential body, comprising some of the leading men, like Madison, +Webster, and Clay, had assisted in the same work. The passages of the +negroes were paid; each family was given a tract of land and sufficient +means to build a house. Several thousand had been sent out, most of whom +had settled at Monrovia, and a few at other places on the coast. They +had made no impression on the natives. On the contrary, many of them had +intermarried with the natives, and the off-spring of these unions had +lost the use of the English tongue, and had even gone back to the life +and customs of their ancestors, sans clothing, sans habitations, and +worship of a fetich. + +Of course there were some notable exceptions, especially President +Roberts, who proved himself a safe and prudent ruler, taking into +consideration his surroundings and the material with which he had +to work. The form of government was modeled after that of the United +States, but it was top-heavy. Honorables, colonels, and judges were +thicker than in Georgia. Only privates were scarce; for nothing delights +a negro more than a little show or a gaudy uniform. On landing I was +met by a dark mulatto, dressed in a straw hat, blue tail coat, silver +epaulettes, linen trousers, with bare feet, and a heavy cavalry sabre +hanging by his side. With him were three or four others in the same rig, +except the epaulettes. He introduced himself as Colonel Harrison, chief +of police. I asked to be directed to the custom house. + +The collector proved to be an old negro from Raleigh, N. C., gray as a +badger, spectacled, with manners of Lord Grandison and language of Mrs. +Malaprop. I reported my arrival, and asked permission to land my cargo +as soon as possible. He replied that in a matter of so much importance, +devolving questions of momentous interest, it would be obligatory on him +to consult the Secretary of the Treasury. I said I trusted he would so +facilitate affairs that I might at an early hour disembarrass myself +of my involuntary prisoners. I returned on board, and the day passed +without any answer. The next morning I determined to go at once to +headquarters and find out the cause of the delay by calling on the +President. + +He received me without any formality. I made my case as strong as +possible, and pressed for an immediate answer. In reply he assured me +he would consult with other members of his cabinet, and give me a final +answer the next morning. That evening I dined with him en famille, and +recognized some old Virginia dishes on the table. The next morning I +waited impatiently for his decision, having made up my mind however, if +it was unfavorable, to land my poor captives, be the consequences what +they might. + +About eleven o'clock a boat came off with an officer in full uniform, +who introduced himself as Colonel Royal, bearer of dispatches from his +Excellency the President. He handed me a letter couched in diplomatic +language, as long as some of his brother presidents' messages on this +side of the Atlantic. I had hardly patience to read it. The gist of it +was, I might not land the captives at Monrovia, but might land them +at Grand Bassa, about a hundred and fifty miles to the eastward; that +Colonel Royal would accompany me with orders to the governor there to +receive them. This was something I had not anticipated, and outside of +my instructions. However, I thought it best to comply with the wishes of +the government of our only colony. + +Getting under way we stood to the southward and eastward, taking +advantage of the light land and sea breeze, keeping the coast close +aboard. The colonel had come on board without any impediments, and +I wondered if he intended to make the voyage in his cocked hat, +epaulettes, sword, etc. But soon after we had started he disappeared +and emerged from the cabin bareheaded, barefooted, and without clothing +except a blue dungaree shirt and trousers. Like a provident negro, +having stowed away all his trappings, he appeared as a roustabout on a +Western steamer. But he had not laid aside with his toggery any of his +important and consequential airs. He ran foul of Mr. Block, who called +him Mr. Cuffy, and ordered him to give him a pull with the main sheet. +The colonel complained to me that he was not addressed by his name or +title, and that he was not treated as a representative of his government +should be. I reprimanded Mr. Block, and told him to give the visitor all +his title. "All right, sir, but the colonel must keep off the weather +side of the deck," growled the officer. The cook, the crew, and even the +Kroomen, all took their cue from the first officer, and the colonel's +lot was made most unhappy. + +On the third day we reached Grand Bassa, and anchored off the beach +about two miles, along which the surf was breaking so high that any +attempt to land would be hazardous. Toward evening it moderated, and +a canoe with three naked natives came off. One I found could speak a +little English. I told him to say to the governor that I would come on +shore in the morning and see him, and land my cargo at the same time. + +The next morning at sunrise we were boarded by a party of natives headed +by one wearing a black hat half covered with a tarnished silver band, +an old navy frock coat, much too small, between the buttons of which +his well-oiled skin showed clearly. A pair of blue flannel trousers +completed his outfit. An interpreter introduced him as King George of +Grand Bassa. With him were about a dozen followers, each one wearing +a different sort of garment--and seldom more than a single +one--representing old uniforms of many countries. Two coats I noticed +were buttoned up the back. + +The king began by saying that he was and always had been a friend of the +Americans; that he was a big man, had plenty of men and five wives, etc. +While he was speaking, a white-bearded old colored gentleman came +over the gangway, dressed in a linen roundabout and trousers, with a +wide-brimmed straw hat. At the same time Colonel Royal came up from +the cabin in grande tenue and introduced us to the Hon. Mr. Marshall, +governor of Bassa, formerly of Kentucky. + +In a few minutes he explained the situation. With a few settlers he +was located at this place, on the frontier of the colony, and they were +there on sufferance only from the natives. I told him Colonel Royal +would explain my mission to him and the king. The colonel, bowing low to +the king, the governor, and myself, and bringing his sword down with a +thud on the deck, drew from between the bursting buttons of his coat +the formidable document I had seen at Monrovia, and with most impressive +voice and gesture commenced to read it. The king listened for a few +minutes, and then interrupted him. I asked the interpreter what he said. +He replied, "King say he fool nigger; if he comes on shore he give him +to Voodoo women." Then turning his back he walked forward. The colonel +dropped his paper, and drawing his sword, in the most dramatic manner +claimed protection in the name of the government, declaring that he had +been insulted. I told him to keep cool, since he was certainly safe +as long as he was on board my ship. He grumbled and muttered terrible +things, but subsided gradually like the departing thunder of a summer +storm. + +I arranged the landing of the passengers with Governor Marshall, whom I +found a sensible, clear-headed old man, ready to cooperate in every +way. But he suggested that I had better consult the king before doing +anything. I did so, and he at once said they could not land. I told +the interpreter to say they would be landed at once and put under the +protection of the governor; that if the king or his people hurt them +or ran them off I would report it to our commodore, who would certainly +punish him severely. Finding me determined, he began to temporize, and +asked that the landing be put off until the next day, that he might +consult with his head people, for if I sent them on shore before he had +done so they would kill them. "If that is the case," I replied, "I will +hold you on board as a hostage for their good behavior." This threat +surprised him, and he changed his tactics. After a little powwow with +some of his followers, he said that if I would give him fifty muskets, +twenty pounds of powder, the colonel's sword, and some red cloth for his +wives, I might land them. I replied that I had not a musket to spare +nor an ounce of powder, that the colonel was a high officer of his +government, and that he of course would not give up his uniform. +Fortunately the colonel had retired to the cabin and did not hear this +modest demand, or he would have been as much outraged as if his sable +Majesty had asked for him to be served "roti a l'Ashantee." However, I +told the king I would send his wives some cloth and buttons. He grunted +his approval but returned again to the charge, and asked that he might +choose a few of the captives for his own use, before landing. "Certainly +not," I answered, "neither on board nor on shore," and added that he +would be held accountable for their good treatment as free men and +women. He left thoroughly disappointed and bent on mischief. + +In the meantime Mr. Block had made all preparations for landing, and had +the boats lowered and ranged alongside, with sufficient rice to last the +blacks a week or ten days. The men and boys were sent first. When they +were called up from the hold and ordered into the boats not one of them +moved. They evidently divined what had been going on and dreaded leaving +the vessel, though our Kroomen tried to explain that they would be safe +and free on shore. The explanation was without effect, however, and +they refused to move. The could only understand that they were changing +masters, and they preferred the present ones. Sending three or four men +down, I told them to pass up the negroes one at a time. Only a passive +resistance was offered, such as one often sees exhibited by cattle being +loaded on the cars or on a steamer, and were silent, not uttering a word +of complaint. By noon the men were all on shore, and then we began with +the girls. They were more demonstrative than the men, and by their looks +and gestures begged not to be taken out of the vessel. I was much moved, +for it was a painful duty, and I had become interested in these beings, +so utterly helpless, so childlike in their dependence on those around +them. And I could not help thinking what their fate would be, thrown +upon the shore hundreds of miles from their homes, and among a people +strange to them in language. + +Even Mr. Block was deeply stirred. "He had not shipped," he said, "for +such work." I went to my cabin and left him in charge. In the course +of an hour he reported, "All ashore, sir." I told him to have the gig +manned and I would go on shore with Colonel Royal, and get a receipt +from Governor Marshall for my late cargo. The colonel declined to +accompany me, alleging sickness and requesting me to get the necessary +papers signed. No doubt he felt safer on board than within reach of King +George. + +We landed through the surf on a sandy beach, on which the waves of the +Atlantic were fretting. Near by was a thick grove of cocoanut trees, +under which in groups of four and five were those who had just been +landed. They were seated on the ground, their heads resting on their +knees, in a position of utter abnegation, surrounded by three or four +hundred chattering savages of all ages, headed by the king. With the +exception of him and a few of his head men, the clothing of the company +would not have covered a rag baby. They were no doubt discussing the +appearance of the strangers and making their selections. + +I found the governor's house and the houses of the few settlers some +distance back on a slight elevation. The governor was comfortably, +though plainly situated, with a large family around him. He gave me a +receipt for the number of blacks landed, but said it would be impossible +for him to prevent the natives from taking and enslaving them. I agreed +with him, and said he must repeat to the king what I had told him. Then +bidding him good-by I returned on board, sad and weary as one often +feels after being relieved of a great burden. At the same time I +wondered whether the fate of these people would have been any worse if +the captain of the slaver had succeeded in landing them in the Brazils +or the West Indies. Sierra Leone being a crown colony, the English could +land all their captives there and provide for them until they were able +to work for themselves. In this respect they had a great advantage over +us. + +Getting under way, I proceeded to Monrovia to land Colonel Royal, +and then to Porto Praya, our squadron's headquarters. There I found +Commodore Gregory in the flagship corvette Portsmouth, and reported to +him. Soon after the Porpoise came in, and I joined my old craft, giving +up my command of the captured slaver rather reluctantly. + + + + +MR. CHARLES W. CHESNUTT'S STORIES by W. D. Howells + + +The critical reader of the story called The Wife of his Youth, which +appeared in these pages two years ago, must have noticed uncommon traits +in what was altogether a remarkable piece of work. The first was the +novelty of the material; for the writer dealt not only with people who +were not white, but with people who were not black enough to contrast +grotesquely with white people,--who in fact were of that near approach +to the ordinary American in race and color which leaves, at the +last degree, every one but the connoisseur in doubt whether they are +Anglo-Saxon or Anglo-African. Quite as striking as this novelty of +the material was the author's thorough mastery of it, and his +unerring knowledge of the life he had chosen in its peculiar racial +characteristics. But above all, the story was notable for the +passionless handling of a phase of our common life which is tense with +potential tragedy; for the attitude, almost ironical, in which the +artist observes the play of contesting emotions in the drama under his +eyes; and for his apparently reluctant, apparently helpless consent +to let the spectator know his real feeling in the matter. Any one +accustomed to study methods in fiction, to distinguish between good and +bad art, to feel the joy which the delicate skill possible only from +a love of truth can give, must have known a high pleasure in the quiet +self-restraint of the performance; and such a reader would probably have +decided that the social situation in the piece was studied wholly from +the outside, by an observer with special opportunities for knowing it, +who was, as it were, surprised into final sympathy. + +Now, however, it is known that the author of this story is of negro +blood,--diluted, indeed, in such measure that if he did not admit this +descent few would imagine it, but still quite of that middle world +which lies next, though wholly outside, our own. Since his first story +appeared he has contributed several others to these pages, and he now +makes a showing palpable to criticism in a volume called The Wife of +his Youth, and Other Stories of the Color Line; a volume of Southern +sketches called The Conjure Woman; and a short life of Frederick +Douglass, in the Beacon Series of biographies. The last is a simple, +solid, straight piece of work, not remarkable above many other +biographical studies by people entirely white, and yet important as +the work of a man not entirely white treating of a great man of his +inalienable race. But the volumes of fiction ARE remarkable above many, +above most short stories by people entirely white, and would be worthy +of unusual notice if they were not the work of a man not entirely white. + +It is not from their racial interest that we could first wish to speak +of them, though that must have a very great and very just claim upon the +critic. It is much more simply and directly, as works of art, that +they make their appeal, and we must allow the force of this quite +independently of the other interest. Yet it cannot always be allowed. +There are times in each of the stories of the first volume when the +simplicity lapses, and the effect is as of a weak and uninstructed +touch. There are other times when the attitude, severely impartial and +studiously aloof, accuses itself of a little pompousness. There are +still other times when the literature is a little too ornate for beauty, +and the diction is journalistic, reporteristic. But it is right to add +that these are the exceptional times, and that for far the greatest part +Mr. Chesnutt seems to know quite as well what he wants to do in a given +case as Maupassant, or Tourguenief, or Mr. James, or Miss Jewett, or +Miss Wilkins, in other given cases, and has done it with an art of +kindred quiet and force. He belongs, in other words, to the good school, +the only school, all aberrations from nature being so much truancy and +anarchy. He sees his people very clearly, very justly, and he shows them +as he sees them, leaving the reader to divine the depth of his feeling +for them. He touches all the stops, and with equal delicacy in stories +of real tragedy and comedy and pathos, so that it would be hard to say +which is the finest in such admirably rendered effects as The Web of +Circumstance, The Bouquet, and Uncle Wellington's Wives. In some +others the comedy degenerates into satire, with a look in the reader's +direction which the author's friend must deplore. + +As these stories are of our own time and country, and as there is not a +swashbuckler of the seventeenth century, or a sentimentalist of this, or +a princess of an imaginary kingdom, in any of them, they will possibly +not reach half a million readers in six months, but in twelve months +possibly more readers will remember them than if they had reached the +half million. They are new and fresh and strong, as life always is, +and fable never is; and the stories of The Conjure Woman have a wild, +indigenous poetry, the creation of sincere and original imagination, +which is imparted with a tender humorousness and a very artistic +reticence. As far as his race is concerned, or his sixteenth part of +a race, it does not greatly matter whether Mr. Chesnutt invented their +motives, or found them, as he feigns, among his distant cousins of the +Southern cabins. In either case, the wonder of their beauty is the same; +and whatever is primitive and sylvan or campestral in the reader's +heart is touched by the spells thrown on the simple black lives in these +enchanting tales. Character, the most precious thing in fiction, is as +faithfully portrayed against the poetic background as in the setting of +the Stories of the Color Line. + +Yet these stories, after all, are Mr. Chesnutt's most important work, +whether we consider them merely as realistic fiction, apart from their +author, or as studies of that middle world of which he is naturally +and voluntarily a citizen. We had known the nethermost world of the +grotesque and comical negro and the terrible and tragic negro through +the white observer on the outside, and black character in its lyrical +moods we had known from such an inside witness as Mr. Paul Dunbar; but +it had remained for Mr. Chesnutt to acquaint us with those regions where +the paler shades dwell as hopelessly, with relation to ourselves, as the +blackest negro. He has not shown the dwellers there as very different +from ourselves. They have within their own circles the same social +ambitions and prejudices; they intrigue and truckle and crawl, and are +snobs, like ourselves, both of the snobs that snub and the snobs that +are snubbed. We may choose to think them droll in their parody of pure +white society, but perhaps it would be wiser to recognize that they +are like us because they are of our blood by more than a half, or three +quarters, or nine tenths. It is not, in such cases, their negro blood +that characterizes them; but it is their negro blood that excludes them, +and that will imaginably fortify them and exalt them. Bound in that sad +solidarity from which there is no hope of entrance into polite white +society for them, they may create a civilization of their own, which +need not lack the highest quality. They need not be ashamed of the race +from which they have sprung, and whose exile they share; for in many of +the arts it has already shown, during a single generation of freedom, +gifts which slavery apparently only obscured. With Mr. Booker Washington +the first American orator of our time, fresh upon the time of Frederick +Douglass; with Mr. Dunbar among the truest of our poets; with Mr. +Tanner, a black American, among the only three Americans from whom +the French government ever bought a picture, Mr. Chesnutt may well be +willing to own his color. + +But that is his personal affair. Our own more universal interest in +him arises from the more than promise he has given in a department of +literature where Americans hold the foremost place. In this there is, +happily, no color line; and if he has it in him to go forward on the way +which he has traced for himself, to be true to life as he has known +it, to deny himself the glories of the cheap success which awaits the +charlatan in fiction, one of the places at the top is open to him. He +has sounded a fresh note, boldly, not blatantly, and he has won the ear +of the more intelligent public. + + + + +PATHS OF HOPE FOR THE NEGRO by Jerome Dowd + +PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS OF A SOUTHERNER + + +It is too late in the day to discuss whether it would have been better +had the Negro never been brought into the Southern States. If his +presence here has been beneficial, or is ever to prove so, the price of +the benefit has already been dearly paid for. He was the occasion of the +deadliest and most expensive war in modern times. In the next place, his +presence has corrupted politics and has limited statesmanship to a mere +question of race supremacy. Great problems concerning the political, +industrial, and moral life of the people have been subordinated or +overshadowed, so that, while important strides have been made elsewhere +in the investigation of social conditions and in the administration of +State and municipal affairs, in civil-service reform, in the management +of penal and charitable institutions, and in the field of education, the +South has lagged behind. + +On the charts of illiteracy and crime the South is represented by an +immense black spot. Such are a few items of the account. It will require +millions more of dollars and generations more of earnest work before the +total cost is met of bringing the black man to this side of the globe. +But the debt has been incurred and must be liquidated. + +The welfare of the Negro is bound up with that of the white man in many +important particulars: + +First, the low standard of living among the blacks keeps down the wages +of all classes of whites. So long as the Negroes are content to live in +miserable huts, wear rags, and subsist upon hog fat and cow-pease, so +long must the wages of white people in the same kind of work be pressed +toward the same level. The higher we raise the standard of living among +the Negroes, the higher will be the wages of the white people in the +same occupations. The low standard of the Negroes is the result of low +productive power. The less intelligent and skilled the Negroes are, the +less they can produce, whether working for themselves or others, and +hence, the less will be the total wealth of the country. + +But it may be asked, When the standard of living of the Negroes is +raised, will not wages go up, and will not that be a drawback? Certainly +wages will go up, because the income of all classes will be increased. +High wages generally indicate high productive power and general wealth, +while low wages indicate the opposite. Only benefits can arise from +better wages. + +In the next place, the Negro's propensity to crime tends to excite the +criminal tendencies of the white man. The South enjoys the distinction +of having the highest percentage of crime in all the civilized world, +and the reason is that the crimes of the one race provoke counter-crimes +in the other. + +The physical well-being of the one race has such a conspicuous influence +upon that of the other that the subject requires no elaboration. The +uncleanliness of person and habits of the Negroes in their homes and +in the homes of their employers tends to propagate diseases, and thus +impairs the health and increases the death-rate of the whole population. + +Again, the lack of refinement in intellect, manners, and dress among the +Negroes is an obstacle to the cultivated life of the whites. Ignorance +and the absence of taste and self-respect in servants result in badly +kept homes and yards, destruction of furniture and ware, ill-prepared +food, poor table service, and a general lowering of the standard of +living. Furthermore, the corrupt, coarse, and vulgar language of the +Negroes is largely responsible for the jumbled and distorted English +spoken by many of the Southern whites. + +Seeing that the degradation of the Negro is an impediment to the +progress and civilization of the white man, how may we effect an +improvement in his condition? + +First, municipalities should give more attention to the streets and +alleys that traverse Negro settlements. In almost every town in the +South there are settlements, known by such names as "New Africa," +"Haiti," "Log Town," "Smoky Hollow," or "Snow Hill," exclusively +inhabited by Negroes. These settlements are often outside the corporate +limits. The houses are built along narrow, crooked, and dirty lanes, +and the community is without sanitary regulations or oversight. These +quarters should be brought under municipal control, the lanes widened +into streets and cleaned, and provision made to guard against the +opening of similar ones in the future. + +In the next place, property-owners should build better houses for the +Negroes to live in. The weakness in the civilization of the Negroes is +most pronounced in their family life. But improvement in this respect is +not possible without an improvement in the character and the comforts +of the houses they live in. Bad houses breed bad people and bad +neighborhoods. There is no more distinctive form of crime than the +building and renting of houses unfit for human habitation. + +Scarcely second in importance to improvements in house architecture +is the need among Negroes of more time to spend with their families. +Employers of Negro labor should be less exacting in the number of hours +required for a day's work. Many domestic servants now work from six in +the morning until nine and ten o'clock at night. The Southern habit +of keeping open shopping-places until late at night encourages late +suppers, retains cooks, butlers, and nurses until bedtime, and robs +them of all home life. If the merchants would close their shops at six +o'clock, as is the custom in the North, the welfare of both races would +be greatly promoted. + +Again, a revolution is needed in the character of the Negro's religion. +At present it is too largely an affair of the emotions. He needs to +be taught that the religious life is something to grow into by the +perfection of personality, and not to be jumped into or sweated into +at camp-meetings. The theological seminaries and the graduate preachers +should assume the task of grafting upon the religion of the Negro that +much sanity at least. + +A reform is as much needed in the methods and aims of Negro education. +Up to the present Negro education has shared with that of the white man +the fault of being top-heavy. Colleges and universities have developed +out of proportion to, and at the expense of, common schools. Then, +the kind of education afforded the Negro has not been fitted to his +capacities and needs. He has been made to pursue courses of study +parallel to those prescribed for the whites, as though the individuals +of both races had to fill the same positions in life. Much of the +Negro's education has had nothing to do with his real life-work. It +has only made him discontented and disinclined to unfold his arms. The +survival of the Negroes in the race for existence depends upon their +retaining possession of the few bread-winning occupations now open to +them. But instead of better qualifying themselves for these occupations +they have been poring over dead languages and working problems in +mathematics. In the meantime the Chinaman and the steam-laundry have +abolished the Negro's wash-tub, trained white "tonsorial artists" have +taken away his barber's chair, and skilled painters and plasterers and +mechanics have taken away his paint-brushes and tool-chests. Every year +the number of occupations open to him becomes fewer because of his lack +of progress in them. Unless a radical change takes place in the scope of +his education, so that he may learn better how to do his work, a tide of +white immigration will set in and force him out of his last stronghold, +domestic service, and limit his sphere to the farm. + +All primary schools for the Negroes should be equipped for industrial +training in such work as sewing, cooking, laundering, carpentry, and +house-cleaning, and, in rural districts, in elementary agriculture. + +Secondary schools should add to the literary courses a more advanced +course in industrial training, so as to approach as nearly as possible +the objects and methods of the Tuskegee and Hampton Industrial and +Normal Schools. Too much cannot be said in behalf of the revolution in +the life of the Negro which the work of these schools promises and, in +part, has already wrought. The writer is fully aware that education has +a value aside from and above its bread-winning results, and he would +not dissuade the Negro from seeking the highest culture that he may be +capable of; but it is folly for him to wing his way through the higher +realms of the intellect without some acquaintance with the requirements +and duties of life. + +Changes are needed in the methods of Negro education as well as in its +scope. Educators should take into account, more than they have yet done, +the differences in the mental characteristics of the two races. It is +a well-established fact that, while the lower races possess marked +capacity to deal with simple, concrete ideas, they lack power of +generalization, and soon fatigue in the realm of the abstract. It +is also well known that the inferior races, being deficient in +generalization, which is a subjective process, are absorbed almost +entirely in the things that are objective. They have strong and alert +eyesight, and are susceptible to impressions through the medium of the +eye to an extent that is impossible to any of the white races. This fact +is evidenced in the great number of pictures found in the homes of the +Negroes. In default of anything better, they will paper their walls with +advertisements of the theater and the circus, and even with pictures +from vicious newspapers. They delight in street pageantry, fancy +costumes, theatrical performances, and similar spectacles. Factories +employing Negroes generally find it necessary to suspend operations on +"circus day." They love stories of adventure and any fiction that gives +play to their imaginations. All their tastes lie in the realm of the +objective and the concrete. + +Hence, in the school-room stress should be laid on those studies that +appeal to the eye and the imagination. Lessons should be given in +sketching, painting, drawing, and casting. Reprints of the popular works +of art should be placed before the Negroes, that their love for art +may be gratified and their taste cultivated at the same time. Fancy +needlework, dress-making, and home decorations should also have an +important place. These studies, while not contributing directly to +bread-winning, have a refining and softening influence upon character, +and inspire efforts to make the home more attractive. The more interest +we can make the Negro take in his personal appearance and in the +comforts of his home, the more we shall strengthen and promote his +family life and raise the level of his civilization. + +The literary education of the Negro should consist of carefully selected +poems and novels that appeal to his imagination and produce clear +images upon his mind, excluding such literature as is in the nature of +psychological or moral research. Recitations and dialogues should be +more generally and more frequently required. In history emphasis should +be given to what is picturesque, dramatic, and biographical. + +Coming to the political phase of the Negro problem, there is a general +agreement among white men that the Southern States cannot keep pace +with the progress of the world as long as they are menaced by Negro +domination, and that, therefore, it is necessary to eliminate the Negro +vote from politics. When the Negroes become intelligent factors in +society, when they become thrifty and accumulate wealth, they will +find the way to larger exercise of citizenship. They can never sit upon +juries to pass upon life and property until they are property-owners +themselves, and they can never hold the reins of government by reason +of mere superiority of numbers. Before they can take on larger political +responsibilities they must demonstrate their ability to meet them. + +The Negroes will never be allowed to control State governments so long +as they vote at every election upon the basis of color, without regard +whatever to political issues or private convictions. If the Negroes +would divide their votes according to their individual opinions, as the +lamented Charles Price, one of their best leaders, advised, there would +be no danger of Negro domination and no objection to their holding +offices which they might be competent to fill. But as there is no +present prospect of their voting upon any other basis than that of +color, the white people are forced to accept the situation and protect +themselves accordingly. Years of bitter and costly experience have +demonstrated over and over again that Negro rule is not only incompetent +and corrupt, but a menace to civilization. Some people imagine that +there is something anomalous, peculiar, or local in the race +prejudice that binds all Negroes together; but this clan spirit is a +characteristic of all savage and semi-civilized peoples. + +It should be well understood by this time that no foreign race +inhabiting this country and acting together politically can dominate the +native whites. To permit an inferior race, holding less than one tenth +of the property of the community, to take the reins of government in +its hands, by reason of mere numerical strength, would be to renounce +civilization. Our national government, in making laws for Hawaii, has +carefully provided for white supremacy by an educational qualification +for suffrage that excludes the semi-civilized natives. No sane man, let +us hope, would think of placing Manila under the control of a government +of the Philippine Islands based upon universal suffrage. Yet the problem +in the South and the problem in the Philippines and in Hawaii differ +only in degree. + +The only proper safeguard against Negro rule in States where the blacks +outnumber or approximate in number the whites lies in constitutional +provisions establishing an educational test for suffrage applicable +to black and white alike. If the suffrage is not thus limited it is +necessary for the whites to resort to technicalities and ballot laws, +to bribery or intimidation. To set up an educational test with a +"grandfather clause," making the test apply for a certain time to the +blacks only, seems to an outsider unnecessary, arbitrary, and +unjust. The reason for such a clause arises from the belief that +no constitutional amendment could ever carry if it immediately +disfranchised the illiterate whites, as many property-holding whites +belong to that class. But the writer does not believe in the principle +nor in the necessity for a "grandfather clause." If constitutional +amendments were to be submitted in North Carolina and Virginia applying +the educational test to both races alike after 1908, the question would +be lifted above the level of party gain, and would receive the support +of white men of all parties and the approbation of the moral sentiment +of the American people. A white man who would disfranchise a Negro +because of his color or for mere party advantage is himself unworthy of +the suffrage. With the suffrage question adjusted upon an educational +basis the Negroes would have the power to work out their political +emancipation, the white people having made education necessary and +provided the means for attaining it. + +When the question of Negro domination is settled the path of progress of +both races will be very much cleared. Race conflicts will then be less +frequent and race feeling less bitter. With more friendly relations +growing up, and with more concentration of energy on the part of the +Negroes in industrial lines, the opportunities for them will be widened +and the task of finding industrial adjustment in the struggle for life +made easier. The wisest and best leaders among the Negroes, such as +Booker Washington and the late Charles Price, have tried to turn the +attention of the Negroes from politics to the more profitable pursuits +of industry, and if the professional politician would cease inspiring +the Negroes to seek salvation in political domination over the whites, +the race issue would soon cease to exist. + +The field is broad enough in the South for both races to attain all that +is possible to them. In spite of the periodic political conflicts and +occasional local riots and acts of individual violence, the relations +between the races, in respect to nine tenths of the population, are very +friendly. The general condition has been too often judged by the acts of +a small minority. The Southern people understand the Negroes, and feel +a real fondness for those that are thrifty and well behaved. When fairly +treated the Negro has a strong affection for his employer. He seldom +forgets a kindness, and is quick to forget a wrong. If he does not stay +long at one place, it is not that he dislikes his employer so much as +that he has a restless temperament and craves change. His disposition +is full of mirth and sunshine, and not a little of the fine flavor of +Southern wit and humor is due to his influence. His nature is plastic, +and while he is easily molded into a monster, he is also capable of +a high degree of culture. Many Negroes are thoroughly honest, +notwithstanding their bad environment and hereditary disposition to +steal. Negro servants are trusted with the keys to households to an +extent that, probably, is not the case among domestics elsewhere in the +civilized world. + +It is strange that two races working side by side should possess so +many opposite traits of character. The white man has strong will and +convictions and is set in his ways. He lives an indoor, monotonous life, +restrains himself like a Puritan, and is inclined to melancholy. The +prevalence of Populism throughout the South is nothing but the outcome +of this morbid tendency. Farmers and merchants are entirely absorbed in +their business, and the women, especially the married women, contrast +with the women of France, Germany, and even England, in their indoor +life and disinclination to mingle with the world outside. Public +parks and public concerts, such as are found in Europe, which call out +husband, wife, and children for a few hours of rest and communion with +their friends, are almost unknown in the South. The few entertainments +that receive sanction generally exclude all but the well-to-do by the +cost of admission. The life of the poor in town and country is bleak and +bare to the last degree. + +Contrasting with this tendency is the free-and-easy life of the blacks. +The burdens of the present and the future weigh lightly upon their +shoulders. They love all the worldly amusements; in their homes they are +free entertainers, and in their fondness for conversation and love of +street life they are equal to the French or Italians. + +May we not hope that the conflict of these two opposite races is working +out some advantages to both, and that the final result will justify all +that the conflict has cost? + + + + +SIGNS OF PROGRESS AMONG THE NEGROES by Booker T. Washington + + +In addition to the problem of educating eight million negroes in our +Southern States and ingrafting them into American citizenship, we now +have the additional responsibility, either directly or indirectly, of +educating and elevating about eight hundred thousand others of African +descent in Cuba and Porto Rico, to say nothing of the white people of +these islands, many of whom are in a condition about as deplorable as +that of the negroes. We have, however, one advantage in approaching the +question of the education of our new neighbors. + +The experience that we have passed through in the Southern States during +the last thirty years in the education of my race, whose history and +needs are not very different from the history and needs of the Cubans +and Porto Ricans, will prove most valuable in elevating the blacks of +the West Indian Islands. To tell what has already been accomplished in +the South under most difficult circumstances is to tell what may be done +in Cuba and Porto Rico. + +To this end let me tell a story. + +In what is known as the black belt of the South--that is, where the +negroes outnumber the whites--there lived before the Civil War a white +man who owned some two hundred slaves, and was prosperous. At the close +of the war he found his fortune gone, except that which was represented +in land, of which he owned several thousand acres. Of the two hundred +slaves a large proportion decided, after their freedom, to continue on +the plantation of their former owner. + +Some years after the war a young black boy, who seemed to have "rained +down," was discovered on the plantation by Mr. S-----, the owner. In +daily rides through the plantation Mr. S----- saw this boy sitting by +the roadside, and his condition awakened his pity, for, from want of +care, he was covered from head to foot with sores, and Mr. S----- soon +grew into the habit of tossing him a nickel or a dime as he rode by. In +some way this boy heard of the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute +in Alabama, and of the advantages which it offered poor but deserving +colored men and women to secure an education through their own labor +while taking the course of study. This boy, whose name was William, made +known to the plantation hands his wish to go to the Tuskegee school. By +each one "chipping in," and through the efforts of the boy himself, a +few decent pieces of clothing were secured, and a little money, but +not enough to pay his railroad fare, so the boy resolved to walk to +Tuskegee, a distance of about one hundred and fifty miles. Strange to +say, he made the long distance with an expenditure of only twenty cents +in cash. He frankly told every one with whom he came in contact where he +was going and what he was seeking. Both white and colored people along +the route gave him food and a place to sleep free of cost, and even +the usually exacting ferrymen were so impressed with the young negro's +desire for an education that, except in one case, he was given free +ferriage across the creeks and rivers. + +One can easily imagine his appearance when he first arrived at Tuskegee, +with his blistered feet and small white bundle, which contained all the +clothing he possessed. + +On being shown into my office his first words were: "I's come. S'pose +you been lookin' for me, but I didn't come on de railroad." Looking up +the records, it was found that this young man had been given permission +to come several months ago, but the correspondence had long since been +forgotten. + +After being sent to the bath-room and provided with a tooth-brush,--for +the tooth-brush at Tuskegee is the emblem of civilization,--William was +assigned to a room, and was given work on the school farm of fourteen +hundred acres, seven hundred of which are cultivated by student labor. +During his first year at Tuskegee William worked on the farm during +the day, where he soon learned to take a deep interest in all that +the school was doing to teach the students the best and most improved +methods of farming, and studied for two hours at night in the class-room +after his hard day's work was over. At first he seemed drowsy and dull +in the night-school, and would now and then fall asleep while trying to +study; but he did not grow discouraged. The new machinery that he was +compelled to use on the farm interested him because it taught him that +the farm work could be stripped of much of the old-time drudgery and +toil, and seemed to awaken his sleeping intellect. Soon he began asking +the farm-instructors such questions as where the Jersey and Holstein +cattle came from, and why they produced more milk and butter than the +common long-tailed and long-horned cows that he had seen at home. + +His night-school teachers found that he ceased to sleep in school, and +began asking questions about his lessons, and was soon able to calculate +the number of square yards in an acre and to tell the number of +peach-trees required to plant an acre of land. After he had been at +Tuskegee two or three months the farm-manager came into my office on +a cold, rainy day, and said that William was virtually barefooted, the +soles of his shoes having separated from the uppers, though William +had fastened them together as best he could with bits of wire. In +this condition the farm-instructor found him plowing without a word of +complaint. A pair of second-hand shoes was secured for him, and he was +soon very happy. + +I will not take this part of the story further except to say that at the +end of his first year at Tuskegee this young man, having made a start in +his books, and having saved a small sum of money above the cost of his +board, which was credited to his account, entered the next year +our regular day-classes, though still dividing his time between the +class-room and work on the farm. + +Toward the end of the year he found himself in need of money with which +to buy books, clothing, etc., and so wrote a carefully worded letter to +Mr. S-----, the white man on whose plantation he had lived, and who had +been, in slavery, the owner of his mother. + +In the letter he told Mr. S----- how he got to Tuskegee, what he was +doing, and what his needs were, and asked Mr. S----- to lend him fifteen +dollars. Before receiving this letter Mr. S----- had not thought once +about the boy during his two years' absence; in fact, did not know that +he had left the plantation. + +Mr. S----- was a good deal shocked, as well as amused, over such a +request from such a source. The letter went to the wastebasket without +being answered. A few weeks later William sent a second letter, in which +he took it for granted that the first letter had not been received. The +second letter shared the same fate as the first. A third letter reached +Mr. S----- in a few weeks, making the same request. In answer to the +third letter Mr. S----- told me that, moved by some impulse which he +himself never understood, he sent William the fifteen dollars. + +Two or three years passed, and Mr. S----- had about forgotten William +and the fifteen dollars; but one morning while sitting upon his porch +a bright young colored man walked up and introduced himself as William, +the boy to whom he used to toss small pieces of money, and the one to +whom he had sent fifteen dollars. + +William paid Mr. S----- the fifteen dollars with interest, which he had +earned while teaching school after leaving Tuskegee. + +This simple experience with this young colored man made a new and +different person of Mr. S-----, so far as the negro was concerned. + +He began to think. He thought of the long past, but he thought most of +the future, and of his duty toward the hundreds of colored people on his +plantation and in his community. After careful thought he asked William +Edwards to open a school on his plantation in a vacant log cabin. +That was seven years ago. On this same plantation at Snow Hill, Wilcox +county, Alabama, a county where, according to the last census, there are +twenty-four thousand colored people and about six thousand whites, there +is now a school with two hundred pupils, five teachers from Tuskegee, +and three school buildings. The school has forty acres of land. In +addition to the text-book lessons, the boys are taught farming and +carpentry, and the girls sewing and general house-keeping, and the +school is now in the act of starting a blacksmith and wheelwright +department. This school owes its existence almost wholly to Mr. S-----, +who gave to the trustees the forty acres of land, and has contributed +liberally to the building fund, as well as to the pay of the teachers. +Gifts from a few friends in the North have been received, and the +colored people have given their labor and small sums in cash. When the +people cannot find money to give, they have often given corn, chickens, +and eggs. The school has grown so popular that almost every leading +white man in the community is willing to make a small gift toward its +maintenance. + +In addition to the work done directly in the school for the children, +the teachers in the Snow Hill school have organized a kind of university +extension movement. The farmers are organized into conferences, which +hold meetings each month. In these meetings they are taught better +methods of agriculture, how to buy land, how to economize and keep +out of debt, how to stop mortgaging, how to build school-houses and +dwelling-houses with more than one room, how to bring about a higher +moral and religious standing, and are warned against buying cheap +jewelry, snuff, and whisky. + +No one is a more interested visitor at these meetings than Mr. +S-----himself. The matter does not end in mere talk and advice. The +women teachers go right into the cabins of the people and show them how +to keep them clean, how to dust, sweep, and cook. + +When William Edwards left this community a few years ago for the +Tuskegee school, he left the larger proportion in debt, mortgaging their +crops every year for the food on which to live. Most of them were living +on rented land in small one-room log cabins, and attempting to pay an +enormous rate of interest on the value of their food advances. As one +old colored man expressed it, "I ain't got but six feet of land, and I +is got to die to git dat." The little school taught in a cabin lasted +only three or four months in the year. The religion was largely a matter +of the emotions, with almost no practical ideas of morality. It was the +white man for himself and the negro for himself, each in too many cases +trying to take advantage of the other. The situation was pretty well +described by a black man who said to me: "I tells you how we votes. +We always watches de white man, and we keeps watchin' de white man. +De nearer it gits to 'lection-time de more we watches de white man. We +keeps watchin' de white man till we find out which way he gwine to vote; +den we votes 'zactly de odder way. Den we knows we is right." + +Now how changed is all at Snow Hill, and how it is gradually changing +each year! Instead of the hopelessness and dejection that were there a +few years ago, there are now light and buoyancy in the countenances and +movements of the people. The negroes are getting out of debt and buying +land, ceasing to mortgage their crops, building houses with two or three +rooms, and a higher moral and religious standard has been established. + +Last May, on the day that the school had its closing exercises, there +were present, besides the hundreds of colored-people, about fifty of the +leading white men and women of the county, and these white people seemed +as much interested in the work of the school as the people of my own +race. + +Only a few years ago in the State of Alabama the law in reference to the +education of the negro read as follows: "Any person or persons who shall +attempt to teach any free person of color or slave to spell, read, or +write shall, upon conviction thereof by indictment, be fined in a sum +not less than two hundred and fifty dollars nor more than five hundred +dollars." + +Within half a dozen years I have heard Dr. J. L. M. Curry, a brave, +honest ex-Confederate officer, in addressing both the Alabama and +Georgia State legislatures, say to those bodies in the most emphatic +manner that it was as much the duty of the State to educate the negro +children as the white children, and in each case Dr. Curry's words were +cheered. + +Here at Snow Hill is the foundation for the solution of the legal and +political difficulties that exist in the South, and the improvement +of the industrial condition of the negro in Cuba and Porto Rico. This +solution will not come all at once, but gradually. The foundation must +exist in the commercial and industrial development of the people of my +race in the South and in the West Indian Islands. + +The most intelligent whites are beginning to realize that they cannot go +much higher than they lift the negro at the same time. When a black man +owns and cultivates the best farm to be found in his county he will have +the confidence and respect of most of the white people in that county. +When a black man is the largest taxpayer in his community his white +neighbor will not object very long to his voting, and having that vote +honestly counted. Even now a black man who has five hundred dollars to +lend has no trouble in finding a white man who is willing to borrow his +money. The negro who is a large stockholder in a railroad company will +always be treated with justice on that railroad. + +Many of the most intelligent colored people are learning that while +there are many bad white men in the South, there are Southern whites who +have the highest interests of the negro just as closely at heart as have +any other people in any part of the country. Many of the negroes are +learning that it is folly not to cultivate in every honorable way the +friendship of the white man who is their next-door neighbor. + +To describe the work being done in connection with the public schools +by graduates of Tuskegee and other institutions in the South, at +such places as Mount Meigs, under Miss Cornelia Bowen; Denmark, South +Carolina; Abbeville and Newville, Alabama; Christiansburg, Virginia, and +numbers of other places in the Gulf States, would be only to repeat in a +larger or smaller degree what I have said of Snow Hill. + +Not very long after the last national election I visited a town in the +South, to speak at a meeting which had for its object the raising of +money to complete the school-house. The audience was about equally +divided between white men and women and black men and women. When the +time for the collection came it was intensely satisfactory to observe +that the white side of the audience was just as eager to make its small +contributions as were the members of my own race. But I was anxious to +see how the late election had been conducted in that community. I soon +found out that the Republican party, composed almost wholly of the black +people, was represented by an election officer in the person of one of +the best-educated colored men in the town, that both the Democratic and +Populist parties were equally well represented, and that there was no +suspicion of unfairness. + +But I wished to go a little deeper, and I soon found that one of the +leading stores in this community was owned by a colored man; that a +cotton-gin was owned by a colored man; that the sawmill was owned by +another colored man. Colored men had mortgages on white men's crops, and +vice versa, and colored people not only owned land, but in several cases +were renting land to white men. Black men were in debt to white men, +and white men were in debt to black men. In a word, the industrial and +commercial relations of the races were interwoven just as if all had +been of one race. + +An object-lesson in civilization is more potent in compelling people to +act right than a law compelling them to do so. Some years ago a colored +woman who had graduated at Tuskegee began her life-work in a Southern +community where the force of white public sentiment was opposed to the +starting of what was termed a "nigger school." At first this girl was +tempted to abuse her white sister, but she remembered that perhaps the +white woman had been taught from her earliest childhood, through reading +and conversation, that education was not good for the negro, that it +would result only in trouble to the community, and that no amount of +abuse could change this prejudice. + +After a while this colored teacher was married to an educated colored +man, and they built a little cottage, which, in connection with her +husband's farm, was a model. One morning one of the white women who +had been most intense in her feelings was passing this cottage, and +her attention was attracted to the colored woman who was at work in +her beautiful flower-garden. A conversation took place concerning the +flowers. At another time this same white woman was so attracted by this +flower-garden that she came inside the yard, and from the yard she went +into the sitting-room and examined the books and papers. + +This acquaintance has now ripened and broadened, so that to-day there +are few people in that community more highly respected than this colored +family. What did it all? This object-lesson. No one could explain that +away. One such object-lesson in every community in the South is more +powerful than all the laws Congress can pass in the direction of +bringing about right relations between blacks and whites. + +A few months ago an agricultural county fair, the first ever held in +that county, was organized and held at Calhoun, Alabama, by the teachers +in the Calhoun School, which is an offshoot of the Hampton Institute. +Both the colored people and numbers of white visitors were astonished at +the creditable exhibits made by the colored people. Most of these white +people saw the school work at Calhoun for the first time. Perhaps +no amount of abstract talk or advice could have brought them to this +school, but the best hog, the largest pumpkin, or the most valuable bale +of cotton possessed a common interest, and it has been a comparatively +easy thing to extend their interest from the best hog to the work +being done in the school-room. Further, this fair convinced these white +people, as almost nothing else could have done, that education was +making the negroes better citizens rather than worse; that the people +were not being educated away from themselves, but with their elevation +the conditions about them were being lifted in a manner that possessed +an interest and value for both races. + +It was after speaking, not long ago, to the colored people at such a +county fair in North Carolina that I was asked the next morning to speak +to the white students at their college, who gave me as hearty a greeting +as I have ever received at Northern colleges. + +But such forces as I have described--forces that are gradually +regenerating the entire South and will regenerate Cuba and Porto +Rico--are not started and kept in motion without a central plant--a +power-house, where the power is generated. I cannot describe all these +places of power. Perhaps the whole South and the whole country are +most indebted to the Hampton Institute in Virginia. Then there is Fisk +University at Nashville, Tennessee; Talladega College at Talladega, +Alabama; Spelman Seminary, Atlanta University, and Atlanta Baptist +College at Atlanta; Biddle University in North Carolina; Claflin +University at Orangeburg, South Carolina; and Knoxville College at +Knoxville, Tennessee. Some of these do a different grade of work, but +one much needed. + +At Tuskegee, Alabama, starting fifteen years ago in a little shanty with +one teacher and thirty students, with no property, there has grown up an +industrial and educational village where the ideas that I have referred +to are put into the heads, hearts, and hands of an army of colored men +and women, with the purpose of having them become centers of light +and civilization in every part of the South. One visiting the Tuskegee +Normal and Industrial Institute to-day will find eight hundred and fifty +students gathered from twenty-four States, with eighty-eight teachers +and officers training these students in literary, religious, and +industrial work. + +Counting the students and the families of the instructors, the visitor +will find a black village of about twelve hundred people. Instead of the +old, worn-out plantation that was there fifteen years ago, there is a +modern farm of seven hundred acres cultivated by student labor. There +are Jersey and Holstein cows and Berkshire pigs, and the butter used is +made by the most modern process. + +Aside from the dozens of neat, comfortable cottages owned by individual +teachers and other persons, who have settled in this village for the +purpose of educating their children, he will find thirty-six buildings +of various kinds and sizes, owned and built by the school, property +valued at three hundred thousand dollars. Perhaps the most interesting +thing in connection with these buildings is that, with the exception of +three, they have been built by student labor. The friends of the school +have furnished money to pay the teachers and for material. + +When a building is to be erected, the teacher in charge of the +mechanical and architectural drawing department gives to the class in +drawing a general description of the building desired, and then there is +a competition to see whose plan will be accepted. These same students in +most cases help do the practical work of putting up the building--some +at the sawmill, the brick-yard, or in the carpentry, brickmaking, +plastering, painting, and tinsmithing departments. At the same time care +is taken to see not only that the building goes up properly, but that +the students, who are under intelligent instructors in their special +branch, are taught at the same time the principles as well as the +practical part of the trade. + +The school has the building in the end, and the students have the +knowledge of the trade. This same principle applies, whether in the +laundry, where the washing for seven or eight hundred people is done, or +in the sewing-room, where a large part of the clothing for this colony +is made and repaired, or in the wheelwright and blacksmith departments, +where all the wagons and buggies used by the school, besides a +large number for the outside public, are manufactured, or in the +printing-office, where a large part of the printing for the white and +colored people in this region is done. Twenty-six different industries +are here in constant operation. + +When the student is through with his course of training he goes out +feeling that it is just as honorable to labor with the hand as with the +head, and instead of his having to look for a place, the place usually +seeks him, because he has to give that which the South wants. One other +thing should not be overlooked in our efforts to develop the black man. +As bad as slavery was, almost every large plantation in the South during +that time was, in a measure, an industrial school. It had its farming +department, its blacksmith, wheelwright, brickmaking, carpentry, and +sewing departments. Thus at the close of the war our people were in +possession of all the common and skilled labor in the South. For nearly +twenty years after the war we overlooked the value of the ante-bellum +training, and no one was trained to replace these skilled men and women +who were soon to pass away; and now, as skilled laborers from foreign +countries, with not only educated hands but trained brains, begin to +come into the South and take these positions once held by us, we are +gradually waking up to the fact that we must compete with the white man +in the industrial world if we would hold our own. No one understands his +value in the labor world better than the old colored man. Recently, when +a convention was held in the South by the white people for the purpose +of inducing white settlers from the North and West to settle in the +South, one of these colored men said to the president of the convention: +"'Fore de Lord, boss, we's got as many white people down here now as we +niggers can support." + +The negro in the South has another advantage. While there is prejudice +against him along certain lines,--in the matter of business in general, +and the trades especially,--there is virtually no prejudice so far as +the native Southern white man is concerned. White men and black men work +at the same carpenter's bench and on the same brick wall. Sometimes the +white man is the "boss," sometimes the black man is the boss. + +Some one chaffed a colored man recently because, when he got through +with a contract for building a house, he cleared just ten cents; but +he said: "All right, boss; it was worth ten cents to be de boss of +dem white men." If a Southern white man has a contract to let for the +building of a house, he prefers the black contractor, because he has +been used to doing business of this character with a negro rather than +with a white man. + +The negro will find his way up as a man just in proportion as he makes +himself valuable, possesses something that a white man wants, can do +something as well as, or better than, a white man. + +I would not have my readers get the thought that the problem in the +South is settled, that there is nothing else to be done; far from this. +Long years of patient, hard work will be required for the betterment of +the condition of the negro in the South, as well as for the betterment +of the condition of the negro in the West Indies. + +There are bright spots here and there that point the way. Perhaps the +most that we have accomplished in the last thirty years is to show the +North and the South how the fourteen slaves landed a few hundred years +ago at Jamestown, Virginia,--now nearly eight millions of freemen in the +South alone,--are to be made a safe and useful part of our democratic +and Christian institutions. + +The main thing that is now needed to bring about a solution of the +difficulties in the South is money in large sums, to be used largely for +Christian, technical, and industrial education. + +For more than thirty years we have been trying to solve one of the most +serious problems in the history of the world largely by passing around +a hat in the North. Out of their poverty the Southern States have done +well in assisting; many more millions are needed, and these millions +will have to come before the question as to the negro in the South is +settled. + +There never was a greater opportunity for men of wealth to place a few +million dollars where they could be used in lifting up and regenerating +a whole race; and let it always be borne in mind that every dollar given +for the proper education of the negro in the South is almost as much +help to the Southern white man as to the negro himself. So long as +the whites in the South are surrounded by a race that is, in a large +measure, in ignorance and poverty, so long will this ignorance and +poverty of the negro in a score of ways prevent the highest development +of the white man. + +The problem of lifting up the negro in Cuba and Porto Rico is an easier +one in one respect, even if it proves more difficult in others. It will +be less difficult, because there is the absence of that higher degree of +race feeling which exists in many parts of the United States. Both the +white Cuban and the white Spaniard have treated the people of African +descent, in civil, political, military, and business matters, very much +as they have treated others of their own race. Oppression has not cowed +and unmanned the Cuban negro in certain respects as it has the American +negro. + +In only a few instances is the color-line drawn. How Americans will +treat the negro Cuban, and what will be the tendency of American +influences in the matter of the relation of the races, remains an +interesting and open question. Certainly it will place this country in +an awkward position to have gone to war to free a people from Spanish +cruelty, and then as soon as it gets them within its power to treat a +large proportion of the population worse than did even Spain herself, +simply on account of color. + +While in the matter of the relation of the races the problem before us +in the West Indies is easier, in respect to the industrial, moral, and +religious sides it is more difficult. The negroes on these islands are +largely an agricultural people, and for this reason, in addition to +a higher degree of mental and religious training, they need the same +agricultural, mechanical, and domestic training that is fast helping the +negroes in our Southern States. Industrial training will not only help +them to the ownership of property, habits of thrift and economy, but the +acquiring of these elements of strength will go further than anything +else in improving the moral and religious condition of the masses, just +as has been and is true of my people in the Southern States. + +With the idea of getting the methods of industrial education pursued at +Hampton and Tuskegee permanently and rightly started in Cuba and Porto +Rico, a few of the most promising men and women from these islands +have been brought to the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute, +and educated with the view of having them return and take the lead in +affording industrial training on these islands, where the training can +best be given to the masses. + +The emphasis that I have placed upon an industrial education does not +mean that the negro is to be excluded from the higher interests of +life, but it does mean that in proportion as the negro gets the +foundation,--the useful before the ornamental,--in the same proportion +will he accelerate his progress in acquiring those elements which do not +pertain so directly to the utilitarian. + +Phillips Brooks once said, "One generation gathers the material, and +the next builds the palaces." Very largely this must be the +material-gathering generation of black people, but in due time the +palaces will come if we are patient. + + + + +THE MARCH OF PROGRESS by Charles W. Chesnutt + + +The colored people of Patesville had at length gained the object they +had for a long time been seeking--the appointment of a committee of +themselves to manage the colored schools of the town. They had argued, +with some show of reason, that they were most interested in the +education of their own children, and in a position to know, better than +any committee of white men could, what was best for their children's +needs. The appointments had been made by the county commissioners during +the latter part of the summer, and a week later a meeting was called for +the purpose of electing a teacher to take charge of the grammar school +at the beginning of the fall term. + +The committee consisted of Frank Gillespie, or "Glaspy," a barber, who +took an active part in local politics; Bob Cotten, a blacksmith, who +owned several houses and was looked upon as a substantial citizen; and +Abe Johnson, commonly called "Ole Abe" or "Uncle Abe," who had a large +family, and drove a dray, and did odd jobs of hauling; he was also a +class-leader in the Methodist church. The committee had been chosen +from among a number of candidates--Gillespie on account of his political +standing, Cotten as representing the solid element of the colored +population, and Old Abe, with democratic impartiality, as likely to +satisfy the humbler class of a humble people. While the choice had not +pleased everybody,--for instance, some of the other applicants,--it was +acquiesced in with general satisfaction. The first meeting of the new +committee was of great public interest, partly by reason of its novelty, +but chiefly because there were two candidates for the position of +teacher of the grammar school. + +The former teacher, Miss Henrietta Noble, had applied for the school. +She had taught the colored children of Patesville for fifteen years. +When the Freedmen's Bureau, after the military occupation of North +Carolina, had called for volunteers to teach the children of the +freedmen, Henrietta Nobel had offered her services. Brought up in a New +England household by parents who taught her to fear God and love her +fellow-men, she had seen her father's body brought home from a Southern +battle-field and laid to rest in the village cemetery; and a short six +months later she had buried her mother by his side. Henrietta had no +brothers or sisters, and her nearest relatives were cousins living in +the far West. The only human being in whom she felt any special personal +interest was a certain captain in her father's regiment, who had paid +her some attention. She had loved this man deeply, in a maidenly, modest +way; but he had gone away without speaking, and had not since written. +He had escaped the fate of many others, and at the close of the war was +alive and well, stationed in some Southern garrison. + +When her mother died, Henrietta had found herself possessed only of the +house where she lived and the furniture it contained, neither being of +much value, and she was thrown upon her own resources for a livelihood. +She had a fair education and had read many good books. It was not +easy to find employment such as she desired. She wrote to her Western +cousins, and they advised her to come to them, as they thought they +could do something for her if she were there. She had almost decided +to accept their offer, when the demand arose for teachers in the South. +Whether impelled by some strain of adventurous blood from a Pilgrim +ancestry, or by a sensitive pride that shrank from dependence, or by +some dim and unacknowledged hope that she might sometime, somewhere, +somehow meet Captain Carey--whether from one of these motives or a +combination of them all, joined to something of the missionary spirit, +she decided to go South, and wrote to her cousins declining their +friendly offer. + +She had come to Patesville when the children were mostly a mob of dirty +little beggars. She had distributed among them the cast-off clothing +that came from their friends in the North; she had taught them to wash +their faces and to comb their hair; and patiently, year after year, she +had labored to instruct them in the rudiments of learning and the first +principles of religion and morality. And she had not wrought in vain. +Other agencies, it is true, had in time cooperated with her efforts, but +any one who had watched the current of events must have been compelled +to admit that the very fair progress of the colored people of Patesville +in the fifteen years following emancipation had been due chiefly to the +unselfish labors of Henrietta Noble, and that her nature did not belie +her name. + +Fifteen years is a long time. Miss Noble had never met Captain Carey; +and when she learned later that he had married a Southern girl in the +neighborhood of his post, she had shed her tears in secret and banished +his image from her heart. She had lived a lonely life. The white people +of the town, though they learned in time to respect her and to value her +work, had never recognized her existence by more than the mere external +courtesy shown by any community to one who lives in the midst of it. The +situation was at first, of course, so strained that she did not expect +sympathy from the white people; and later, when time had smoothed over +some of the asperities of war, her work had so engaged her that she had +not had time to pine over her social exclusion. Once or twice nature had +asserted itself, and she had longed for her own kind, and had visited +her New England home. But her circle of friends was broken up, and she +did not find much pleasure in boarding-house life; and on her last visit +to the North but one, she had felt so lonely that she had longed for the +dark faces of her pupils, and had welcomed with pleasure the hour when +her task should be resumed. + +But for several reasons the school at Patesville was of more importance +to Miss Noble at this particular time than it ever had been before. +During the last few years her health had not been good. An affection +of the heart similar to that from which her mother had died, while not +interfering perceptibly with her work, had grown from bad to worse, +aggravated by close application to her duties, until it had caused her +grave alarm. She did not have perfect confidence in the skill of the +Patesville physicians, and to obtain the best medical advice had gone to +New York during the summer, remaining there a month under the treatment +of an eminent specialist. This, of course, had been expensive and had +absorbed the savings of years from a small salary; and when the time +came for her to return to Patesville, she was reduced, after paying her +traveling expenses, to her last ten-dollar note. + +"It is very fortunate," the great man had said at her last visit, "that +circumstances permit you to live in the South, for I am afraid you could +not endure a Northern winter. You are getting along very well now, and +if you will take care of yourself and avoid excitement, you will be +better." He said to himself as she went away: "It's only a matter of +time, but that is true about us all; and a wise physician does as much +good by what he withholds as by what he tells." + +Miss Noble had not anticipated any trouble about the school. When +she went away the same committee of white men was in charge that had +controlled the school since it had become part of the public-school +system of the State on the withdrawal of support from the Freedmen's +Bureau. While there had been no formal engagement made for the next +year, when she had last seen the chairman before she went away, he had +remarked that she was looking rather fagged out, had bidden her good-by, +and had hoped to see her much improved when she returned. She had left +her house in the care of the colored woman who lived with her and did +her housework, assuming, of course, that she would take up her work +again in the autumn. + +She was much surprised at first, and later alarmed, to find a rival for +her position as teacher of the grammar school. Many of her friends and +pupils had called on her since her return, and she had met a number +of the people at the colored Methodist church, where she taught in the +Sunday-school. She had many friends and supporters, but she soon found +out that her opponent had considerable strength. There had been a time +when she would have withdrawn and left him a clear field, but at +the present moment it was almost a matter of life and death to +her--certainly the matter of earning a living--to secure the +appointment. + +The other candidate was a young man who in former years had been one of +Miss Noble's brightest pupils. When he had finished his course in the +grammar school, his parents, with considerable sacrifice, had sent him +to a college for colored youth. He had studied diligently, had worked +industriously during his vacations, sometimes at manual labor, sometimes +teaching a country school, and in due time had been graduated from his +college with honors. He had come home at the end of his school life, +and was very naturally seeking the employment for which he had fitted +himself. He was a "bright" mulatto, with straight hair, an intelligent +face, and a well-set figure. He had acquired some of the marks of +culture, wore a frock-coat and a high collar, parted his hair in the +middle, and showed by his manner that he thought a good deal of himself. +He was the popular candidate among the progressive element of his +people, and rather confidently expected the appointment. + +The meeting of the committee was held in the Methodist church, where, +in fact, the grammar school was taught, for want of a separate +school-house. After the preliminary steps to effect an organization, Mr. +Gillespie, who had been elected chairman, took the floor. + +"The principal business to be brought befo' the meet'n' this evenin'," +he said, "is the selection of a teacher for our grammar school for the +ensuin' year. Two candidates have filed applications, which, if there +is no objection, I will read to the committee. The first is from Miss +Noble, who has been the teacher ever since the grammar school was +started." + +He then read Miss Noble's letter, in which she called attention to her +long years of service, to her need of the position, and to her affection +for the pupils, and made formal application for the school for the +next year. She did not, from motives of self-respect, make known the +extremity of her need; nor did she mention the condition of her health, +as it might have been used as an argument against her retention. + +Mr. Gillespie then read the application of the other candidate, Andrew +J. Williams. Mr. Williams set out in detail his qualifications for the +position: his degree from Riddle University; his familiarity with the +dead and living languages and the higher mathematics; his views of +discipline; and a peroration in which he expressed the desire to devote +himself to the elevation of his race and assist the march of progress +through the medium of the Patesville grammar school. The letter was well +written in a bold, round hand, with many flourishes, and looked very +aggressive and overbearing as it lay on the table by the side of the +sheet of small note-paper in Miss Noble's faint and somewhat cramped +handwriting. + +"You have heard the readin' of the applications," said the chairman. +"Gentlemen, what is yo' pleasure?" + +There being no immediate response, the chairman continued: + +"As this is a matter of consid'able importance, involvin' not only the +welfare of our schools, but the progress of our race, an' as our action +is liable to be criticized, whatever we decide, perhaps we had better +discuss the subjec' befo' we act. If nobody else has anything to +obse've, I will make a few remarks." + +Mr. Gillespie cleared his throat, and, assuming an oratorical attitude, +proceeded: + +"The time has come in the history of our people when we should stand +together. In this age of organization the march of progress requires +that we help ourselves, or be forever left behind. Ever since the war we +have been sendin' our child'n to school an' educatin' 'em; an' now the +time has come when they are leavin' the schools an' colleges, an' are +ready to go to work. An' what are they goin' to do? The white people +won't hire 'em as clerks in their sto's an' factories an' mills, an' we +have no sto's or factories or mills of our own. They can't be lawyers +or doctors yet, because we haven't got the money to send 'em to medical +colleges an' law schools. We can't elect many of 'em to office, for +various reasons. There's just two things they can find to do--to preach +in our own pulpits, an' teach in our own schools. If it wasn't for +that, they'd have to go on forever waitin' on white folks, like their +fo'fathers have done, because they couldn't help it. If we expect our +race to progress, we must educate our young men an' women. If we want +to encourage 'em to get education, we must find 'em employment when they +are educated. We have now an opportunity to do this in the case of +our young friend an' fellow-citizen, Mr. Williams, whose eloquent an' +fine-lookin' letter ought to make us feel proud of him an' of our race. + +"Of co'se there are two sides to the question. We have got to consider +the claims of Miss Noble. She has been with us a long time an' has +done much good work for our people, an' we'll never forget her work an' +frien'ship. But, after all, she has been paid for it; she has got +her salary regularly an' for a long time, an' she has probably saved +somethin', for we all know she hasn't lived high; an', for all we know, +she may have had somethin' left her by her parents. An' then again, +she's white, an' has got her own people to look after her; they've got +all the money an' all the offices an' all the everythin',--all that +they've made an' all that we've made for fo' hundred years,--an' they +sho'ly would look out for her. If she don't get this school, there's +probably a dozen others she can get at the North. An' another thing: she +is gettin' rather feeble, an' it 'pears to me she's hardly able to stand +teachin' so many child'n, an' a long rest might be the best thing in the +world for her. + +"Now, gentlemen, that's the situation. Shall we keep Miss Noble, or +shall we stand by our own people? It seems to me there can hardly be but +one answer. Self-preservation is the first law of nature. Are there any +other remarks?" + +Old Abe was moving restlessly in his seat. He did not say anything, +however, and the chairman turned to the other member. + +"Brother Cotten, what is yo' opinion of the question befo' the board?" + +Mr. Cotten rose with the slowness and dignity becoming a substantial +citizen, and observed: + +"I think the remarks of the chairman have great weight. We all have +nothin' but kind feelin's fer Miss Noble, an' I came here to-night +somewhat undecided how to vote on this question. But after listenin' to +the just an' forcible arguments of Brother Glaspy, it 'pears to me that, +after all, the question befo' us is not a matter of feelin', but of +business. As a business man, I am inclined to think Brother Glaspy is +right. If we don't help ourselves when we get a chance, who is goin' to +help us?" + +"That bein' the case," said the chairman, "shall we proceed to a vote? +All who favor the election of Brother Williams--" + +At this point Old Abe, with much preliminary shuffling, stood up in his +place and interrupted the speaker. + +"Mr. Chuhman," he said, "I s'pose I has a right ter speak in dis meet'n? +I S'POSE I is a member er dis committee?" + +"Certainly, Brother Johnson, certainly; we shall be glad to hear from +you." + +"I s'pose I's got a right ter speak my min', ef I is po' an' black, an' +don' weah as good clo's as some other members er de committee?" + +"Most assuredly, Brother Johnson," answered the chairman, with a +barber's suavity, "you have as much right to be heard as any one else. +There was no intention of cuttin' you off." + +"I s'pose," continued Abe, "dat a man wid fo'teen child'n kin be 'lowed +ter hab somethin' ter say 'bout de schools er dis town?" + +"I am sorry, Brother Johnson, that you should feel slighted, but there +was no intention to igno' yo' rights. The committee will be please' to +have you ventilate yo' views." + +"Ef it's all be'n an' done reco'nized an' 'cided dat I's got de right +ter be heared in dis meet'n', I'll say w'at I has ter say, an' it won't +take me long ter say it. Ef I should try ter tell all de things dat Miss +Noble has done fer de niggers er dis town, it'd take me till ter-morrer +mawnin'. Fer fifteen long yeahs I has watched her incomin's an' her +outgoin's. Her daddy was a Yankee kunnel, who died fighting fer ou' +freedom. She come heah when we--yas, Mr. Chuhman, when you an' Br'er +Cotten--was jes sot free, an' when none er us didn' have a rag ter ou' +backs. She come heah, an' she tuk yo' child'n an' my child'n, an' she +teached 'em sense an' manners an' religion an' book-l'arnin'. When she +come heah we didn' hab no chu'ch. Who writ up No'th an' got a preacher +sent to us, an' de fun's ter buil' dis same chu'ch-house we're settin' +in ter-night? Who got de money f'm de Bureau to s'port de school? An' +when dat was stop', who got de money f'm de Peabody Fun'? Talk about +Miss Noble gittin' a sal'ry! Who paid dat sal'ry up ter five years ago? +Not one dollah of it come outer ou' pockets! + +"An' den, w'at did she git fer de yuther things she done? Who paid her +fer de gals she kep' f'm throwin' deyse'ves away? Who paid fer de boys +she kep' outer jail? I had a son dat seemed to hab made up his min' ter +go straight ter hell. I made him go ter Sunday-school, an' somethin' dat +woman said teched his heart, an' he behaved hisse'f, an' I ain' got no +reason fer ter be 'shame' er 'im. An' I can 'member, Br'er Cotten, when +you didn' own fo' houses an' a fahm. An' when yo' fus wife was sick, who +sot by her bedside an' read de Good Book ter 'er, w'en dey wuzn' nobody +else knowed how ter read it, an' comforted her on her way across de +col', dahk ribber? An' dat ain' all I kin 'member, Mr. Chuhman! When yo' +gal Fanny was a baby, an' sick, an' nobody knowed what was de matter wid +'er, who sent fer a doctor, an' paid 'im fer comin', an' who he'ped nuss +dat chile, an' tol' yo' wife w'at ter do, an' save' dat chile's life, +jes as sho' as de Lawd has save' my soul? + +"An' now, aftuh fifteen yeahs o' slavin' fer us, who ain't got no claim +on her, aftuh fifteen yeahs dat she has libbed 'mongs' us an' made +herse'f one of us, an' endyoed havin' her own people look down on her, +aftuh she has growed ole an' gray wukkin' fer us an' our child'n, we +talk erbout turnin' 'er out like a' ole hoss ter die! It 'pears ter me +some folks has po' mem'ries! Whar would we 'a' be'n ef her folks at de +No'th hadn' 'membered us no bettuh? An' we hadn' done nothin', neither, +fer dem to 'member us fer. De man dat kin fergit w'at Miss Noble has +done fer dis town is unworthy de name er nigger! He oughter die an' make +room fer some 'spectable dog! + +"Br'er Glaspy says we got a' educated young man, an' we mus' gib him +sump'n' ter do. Let him wait; ef I reads de signs right he won't hab +ter wait long fer dis job. Let him teach in de primary schools, er in de +country; an' ef he can't do dat, let 'im work awhile. It don't hahm a' +educated man ter work a little; his fo'fathers has worked fer hund'eds +of years, an' we's worked, an' we're heah yet, an' we're free, an' we's +gettin' ou' own houses an' lots an' hosses an' cows--an' ou' educated +young men. But don't let de fus thing we do as a committee be somethin' +we ought ter be 'shamed of as long as we lib. I votes fer Miss Noble, +fus, las', an' all de time!" + +When Old Abe sat down the chairman's face bore a troubled look. He +remembered how his baby girl, the first of his children that he could +really call his own, that no master could hold a prior claim upon, +lay dying in the arms of his distracted young wife, and how the thin, +homely, and short-sighted white teacher had come like an angel into his +cabin, and had brought back the little one from the verge of the grave. +The child was a young woman now, and Gillespie had well-founded hopes of +securing the superior young Williams for a son-in-law; and he realized +with something of shame that this later ambition had so dazzled his eyes +for a moment as to obscure the memory of earlier days. + +Mr. Cotten, too, had not been unmoved, and there were tears in his eyes +as he recalled how his first wife, Nancy, who had borne with him the +privations of slavery, had passed away, with the teacher's hand in hers, +before she had been able to enjoy the fruits of liberty. For they had +loved one another much, and her death had been to them both a hard and +bitter thing. And, as Old Abe spoke, he could remember, as distinctly +as though they had been spoken but an hour before, the words of comfort +that the teacher had whispered to Nancy in her dying hour and to him in +his bereavement. + +"On consideration, Mr. Chairman," he said, with an effort to hide a +suspicious tremor in his voice and to speak with the dignity consistent +with his character as a substantial citizen, "I wish to record my vote +fer Miss Noble." + +"The chair," said Gillespie, yielding gracefully to the majority, and +greatly relieved that the responsibility of his candidate's defeat +lay elsewhere, "will make the vote unanimous, and will appoint Brother +Cotten and Brother Johnson a committee to step round the corner to Miss +Noble's and notify her of her election." + +The two committeemen put on their hats, and, accompanied by several +people who had been waiting at the door to hear the result of the +meeting, went around the corner to Miss Noble's house, a distance of a +block or two away. The house was lighted, so they knew she had not gone +to bed. They went in at the gate, and Cotten knocked at the door. + +The colored maid opened it. + +"Is Miss Noble home?" said Cotten. + +"Yes; come in. She's waitin' ter hear from the committee." + +The woman showed them into the parlor. Miss Noble rose from her seat by +the table, where she had been reading, and came forward to meet them. +They did not for a moment observe, as she took a step toward them, that +her footsteps wavered. In her agitation she was scarcely aware of it +herself. + +"Miss Noble," announced Cotten, "we have come to let you know that you +have be'n 'lected teacher of the grammar school fer the next year." + +"Thank you; oh, thank you so much!" she said. "I am very glad. +Mary"--she put her hand to her side suddenly and tottered--"Mary, will +you--" + +A spasm of pain contracted her face and cut short her speech. She would +have fallen had Old Abe not caught her and, with Mary's help, laid her +on a couch. + +The remedies applied by Mary, and by the physician who was hastily +summoned, proved unavailing. The teacher did not regain consciousness. + +If it be given to those whose eyes have closed in death to linger +regretfully for a while about their earthly tenement, or from some +higher vantage-ground to look down upon it, then Henrietta Noble's +tolerant spirit must have felt, mingling with its regret, a compensating +thrill of pleasure; for not only those for whom she had labored sorrowed +for her, but the people of her own race, many of whom, in the blindness +of their pride, would not admit during her life that she served them +also, saw so much clearer now that they took charge of her poor clay, +and did it gentle reverence, and laid it tenderly away amid the dust of +their own loved and honored dead. + +TWO weeks after Miss Noble's funeral the other candidate took charge of +the grammar school, which went on without any further obstacles to the +march of progress. + + + + +THE FREEDMEN'S BUREAU by W. E. Burghardt Du Bois + + +The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color line; +the relation of the darker to the lighter races of men in Asia and +Africa, in America and the islands of the sea. It was a phase of this +problem that caused the Civil War; and however much they who marched +south and north in 1861 may have fixed on the technical points of union +and local autonomy as a shibboleth, all nevertheless knew, as we know, +that the question of Negro slavery was the deeper cause of the conflict. +Curious it was, too, how this deeper question ever forced itself to the +surface, despite effort and disclaimer. No sooner had Northern armies +touched Southern soil than this old question, newly guised, sprang +from the earth,--What shall be done with slaves? Peremptory military +commands, this way and that, could not answer the query; the +Emancipation Proclamation seemed but to broaden and intensify the +difficulties; and so at last there arose in the South a government of +men called the Freedmen's Bureau, which lasted, legally, from 1865 to +1872, but in a sense from 1861 to 1876, and which sought to settle the +Negro problems in the United States of America. + +It is the aim of this essay to study the Freedmen's Bureau,--the +occasion of its rise, the character of its work, and its final success +and failure,--not only as a part of American history, but above all as +one of the most singular and interesting of the attempts made by a great +nation to grapple with vast problems of race and social condition. + +No sooner had the armies, east and west, penetrated Virginia and +Tennessee than fugitive slaves appeared within their lines. They came at +night, when the flickering camp fires of the blue hosts shone like vast +unsteady stars along the black horizon: old men, and thin, with gray +and tufted hair; women with frightened eyes, dragging whimpering, +hungry children; men and girls, stalwart and gaunt,--a horde of starving +vagabonds, homeless, helpless, and pitiable in their dark distress. Two +methods of treating these newcomers seemed equally logical to opposite +sorts of minds. Said some, "We have nothing to do with slaves." +"Hereafter," commanded Halleck, "no slaves should be allowed to come +into your lines at all; if any come without your knowledge, when owners +call for them, deliver them." But others said, "We take grain and fowl; +why not slaves?" Whereupon Fremont, as early as August, 1861, declared +the slaves of Missouri rebels free. Such radical action was quickly +countermanded, but at the same time the opposite policy could not be +enforced; some of the black refugees declared themselves freemen, others +showed their masters had deserted them, and still others were captured +with forts and plantations. Evidently, too, slaves were a source +of strength to the Confederacy, and were being used as laborers and +producers. "They constitute a military resource," wrote the Secretary of +War, late in 1861; "and being such, that they should not be turned over +to the enemy is too plain to discuss." So the tone of the army chiefs +changed, Congress forbade the rendition of fugitives, and Butler's +"contrabands" were welcomed as military laborers. This complicated +rather than solved the problem; for now the scattering fugitives became +a steady stream, which flowed faster as the armies marched. + +Then the long-headed man, with care-chiseled face, who sat in the White +House, saw the inevitable, and emancipated the slaves of rebels on New +Year's, 1863. A month later Congress called earnestly for the Negro +soldiers whom the act of July, 1862, had half grudgingly allowed to +enlist. Thus the barriers were leveled, and the deed was done. The +stream of fugitives swelled to a flood, and anxious officers kept +inquiring: "What must be done with slaves arriving almost daily? Am I to +find food and shelter for women and children?" + +It was a Pierce of Boston who pointed out the way, and thus became in +a sense the founder of the Freedmen's Bureau. Being specially detailed +from the ranks to care for the freedmen at Fortress Monroe, he afterward +founded the celebrated Port Royal experiment and started the Freedmen's +Aid Societies. Thus, under the timid Treasury officials and bold army +officers, Pierce's plan widened and developed. At first, the able-bodied +men were enlisted as soldiers or hired as laborers, the women +and children were herded into central camps under guard, and +"superintendents of contrabands" multiplied here and there. Centres +of massed freedmen arose at Fortress Monroe, Va., Washington, D. C., +Beaufort and Port Royal, S. C., New Orleans, La., Vicksburg and Corinth, +Miss., Columbus, Ky., Cairo, Ill., and elsewhere, and the army chaplains +found here new and fruitful fields. + +Then came the Freedmen's Aid Societies, born of the touching appeals for +relief and help from these centres of distress. There was the American +Missionary Association, sprung from the Amistad, and now full grown for +work, the various church organizations, the National Freedmen's Relief +Association, the American Freedmen's Union, the Western Freedmen's +Aid Commission,--in all fifty or more active organizations, which sent +clothes, money, school-books, and teachers southward. All they did was +needed, for the destitution of the freedmen was often reported as "too +appalling for belief," and the situation was growing daily worse rather +than better. + +And daily, too, it seemed more plain that this was no ordinary matter of +temporary relief, but a national crisis; for here loomed a labor problem +of vast dimensions. Masses of Negroes stood idle, or, if they worked +spasmodically, were never sure of pay; and if perchance they received +pay, squandered the new thing thoughtlessly. In these and in other +ways were camp life and the new liberty demoralizing the freedmen. The +broader economic organization thus clearly demanded sprang up here and +there as accident and local conditions determined. Here again Pierce's +Port Royal plan of leased plantations and guided workmen pointed out the +rough way. In Washington, the military governor, at the urgent appeal of +the superintendent, opened confiscated estates to the cultivation of +the fugitives, and there in the shadow of the dome gathered black farm +villages. General Dix gave over estates to the freedmen of Fortress +Monroe, and so on through the South. The government and the benevolent +societies furnished the means of cultivation, and the Negro turned again +slowly to work. The systems of control, thus started, rapidly grew, here +and there, into strange little governments, like that of General +Banks in Louisiana, with its 90,000 black subjects, its 50,000 guided +laborers, and its annual budget of $100,000 and more. It made out +4000 pay rolls, registered all freedmen, inquired into grievances and +redressed them, laid and collected taxes, and established a system of +public schools. So too Colonel Eaton, the superintendent of Tennessee +and Arkansas, ruled over 100,000, leased and cultivated 7000 acres of +cotton land, and furnished food for 10,000 paupers. In South Carolina +was General Saxton, with his deep interest in black folk. He succeeded +Pierce and the Treasury officials, and sold forfeited estates, leased +abandoned plantations, encouraged schools, and received from Sherman, +after the terribly picturesque march to the sea, thousands of the +wretched camp followers. + +Three characteristic things one might have seen in Sherman's raid +through Georgia, which threw the new situation in deep and shadowy +relief: the Conqueror, the Conquered, and the Negro. Some see all +significance in the grim front of the destroyer, and some in the bitter +sufferers of the lost cause. But to me neither soldier nor fugitive +speaks with so deep a meaning as that dark and human cloud that clung +like remorse on the rear of those swift columns, swelling at times to +half their size, almost engulfing and choking them. In vain were they +ordered back, in vain were bridges hewn from beneath their feet; on +they trudged and writhed and surged, until they rolled into Savannah, +a starved and naked horde of tens of thousands. There too came the +characteristic military remedy: "The islands from Charleston south, the +abandoned ricefields along the rivers for thirty miles back from the +sea, and the country bordering the St. John's River, Florida, are +reserved and set apart for the settlement of Negroes now made free by +act of war." So read the celebrated field order. + +All these experiments, orders, and systems were bound to attract and +perplex the government and the nation. Directly after the Emancipation +Proclamation, Representative Eliot had introduced a bill creating a +Bureau of Emancipation, but it was never reported. The following June, +a committee of inquiry, appointed by the Secretary of War, reported +in favor of a temporary bureau for the "improvement, protection, +and employment of refugee freedmen," on much the same lines as were +afterward followed. Petitions came in to President Lincoln from +distinguished citizens and organizations, strongly urging a +comprehensive and unified plan of dealing with the freedmen, under a +bureau which should be "charged with the study of plans and execution of +measures for easily guiding, and in every way judiciously and humanely +aiding, the passage of our emancipated and yet to be emancipated blacks +from the old condition of forced labor to their new state of voluntary +industry." + +Some half-hearted steps were early taken by the government to put both +freedmen and abandoned estates under the supervision of the Treasury +officials. Laws of 1863 and 1864 directed them to take charge of and +lease abandoned lands for periods not exceeding twelve months, and to +"provide in such leases or otherwise for the employment and general +welfare" of the freedmen. Most of the army officers looked upon this +as a welcome relief from perplexing "Negro affairs;" but the Treasury +hesitated and blundered, and although it leased large quantities of land +and employed many Negroes, especially along the Mississippi, yet it +left the virtual control of the laborers and their relations to their +neighbors in the hands of the army. + +In March, 1864, Congress at last turned its attention to the subject, +and the House passed a bill, by a majority of two, establishing a Bureau +for Freedmen in the War Department. Senator Sumner, who had charge of +the bill in the Senate, argued that freedmen and abandoned lands ought +to be under the same department, and reported a substitute for the House +bill, attaching the Bureau to the Treasury Department. This bill passed, +but too late for action in the House. The debate wandered over the +whole policy of the administration and the general question of slavery, +without touching very closely the specific merits of the measure in +hand. + +Meantime the election took place, and the administration, returning from +the country with a vote of renewed confidence, addressed itself to the +matter more seriously. A conference between the houses agreed upon a +carefully drawn measure which contained the chief provisions of +Charles Sumner's bill, but made the proposed organization a department +independent of both the War and Treasury officials. The bill was +conservative, giving the new department "general superintendence of all +freedmen." It was to "establish regulations" for them, protect them, +lease them lands, adjust their wages, and appear in civil and military +courts as their "next friend." There were many limitations attached +to the powers thus granted, and the organization was made permanent. +Nevertheless, the Senate defeated the bill, and a new conference +committee was appointed. This committee reported a new bill, February +28, which was whirled through just as the session closed, and which +became the act of 1865 establishing in the War Department a "Bureau of +Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands." + +This last compromise was a hasty bit of legislation, vague and uncertain +in outline. A Bureau was created, "to continue during the present War +of Rebellion, and for one year thereafter," to which was given "the +supervision and management of all abandoned lands, and the control of +all subjects relating to refugees and freedmen," under "such rules and +regulations as may be presented by the head of the Bureau and approved +by the President." A commissioner, appointed by the President and +Senate, was to control the Bureau, with an office force not exceeding +ten clerks. The President might also appoint commissioners in the +seceded states, and to all these offices military officials might be +detailed at regular pay. The Secretary of War could issue rations, +clothing, and fuel to the destitute, and all abandoned property was +placed in the hands of the Bureau for eventual lease and sale to +ex-slaves in forty-acre parcels. + +Thus did the United States government definitely assume charge of +the emancipated Negro as the ward of the nation. It was a tremendous +undertaking. Here, at a stroke of the pen, was erected a government +of millions of men,--and not ordinary men, either, but black men +emasculated by a peculiarly complete system of slavery, centuries old; +and now, suddenly, violently, they come into a new birthright, at a time +of war and passion, in the midst of the stricken, embittered population +of their former masters. Any man might well have hesitated to assume +charge of such a work, with vast responsibilities, indefinite powers, +and limited resources. Probably no one but a soldier would have answered +such a call promptly; and indeed no one but a soldier could be called, +for Congress had appropriated no money for salaries and expenses. + +Less than a month after the weary emancipator passed to his rest, +his successor assigned Major General Oliver O. Howard to duty +as commissioner of the new Bureau. He was a Maine man, then only +thirty-five years of age. He had marched with Sherman to the sea, had +fought well at Gettysburg, and had but a year before been assigned to +the command of the Department of Tennessee. An honest and sincere +men, with rather too much faith in human nature, little aptitude +for systematic business and intricate detail, he was nevertheless +conservative, hard-working, and, above all, acquainted at first-hand +with much of the work before him. And of that work it has been truly +said, "No approximately correct history of civilization can ever be +written which does not throw out in bold relief, as one of the great +landmarks of political and social progress, the organization and +administration of the Freedmen's Bureau." + +On May 12, 1865, Howard was appointed, and he assumed the duties of his +office promptly on the 15th, and began examining the field of work. A +curious mess he looked upon: little despotisms, communistic experiments, +slavery, peonage, business speculations, organized charity, unorganized +almsgiving,--all reeling on under the guise of helping the freedman, and +all enshrined in the smoke and blood of war and the cursing and silence +of angry men. On May 19 the new government--for a government it really +was--issued its constitution; commissioners were to be appointed in each +of the seceded states, who were to take charge of "all subjects relating +to refugees and freedmen," and all relief and rations were to be given +by their consent alone. The Bureau invited continued cooperation with +benevolent societies, and declared, "It will be the object of all +commissioners to introduce practicable systems of compensated labor," +and to establish schools. Forthwith nine assistant commissioners were +appointed. They were to hasten to their fields of work; seek gradually +to close relief establishments, and make the destitute self-supporting; +act as courts of law where there were no courts, or where Negroes were +not recognized in them as free; establish the institution of marriage +among ex-slaves, and keep records; see that freedmen were free to +choose their employers, and help in making fair contracts for them; and +finally, the circular said, "Simple good faith, for which we hope on +all hands for those concerned in the passing away of slavery, will +especially relieve the assistant commissioners in the discharge of their +duties toward the freedmen, as well as promote the general welfare." + +No sooner was the work thus started, and the general system and local +organization in some measure begun, than two grave difficulties appeared +which changed largely the theory and outcome of Bureau work. First, +there were the abandoned lands of the South. It had long been the more +or less definitely expressed theory of the North that all the chief +problems of emancipation might be settled by establishing the slaves on +the forfeited lands of their masters,--a sort of poetic justice, said +some. But this poetry done into solemn prose meant either wholesale +confiscation of private property in the South, or vast appropriations. +Now Congress had not appropriated a cent, and no sooner did the +proclamations of general amnesty appear than the 800,000 acres of +abandoned lands in the hands of the Freedmen's Bureau melted quickly +away. The second difficulty lay in perfecting the local organization of +the Bureau throughout the wide field of work. Making a new machine and +sending out officials of duly ascertained fitness for a great work of +social reform is no child's task; but this task was even harder, for +a new central organization had to be fitted on a heterogeneous and +confused but already existing system of relief and control of ex-slaves; +and the agents available for this work must be sought for in an army +still busy with war operations,--men in the very nature of the case +ill fitted for delicate social work,--or among the questionable camp +followers of an invading host. Thus, after a year's work, vigorously as +it was pushed, the problem looked even more difficult to grasp and solve +than at the beginning. Nevertheless, three things that year's work did, +well worth the doing: it relieved a vast amount of physical suffering; +it transported 7000 fugitives from congested centres back to the +farm; and, best of all, it inaugurated the crusade of the New England +schoolma'am. + +The annals of this Ninth Crusade are yet to be written, the tale of a +mission that seemed to our age far more quixotic than the quest of +St. Louis seemed to his. Behind the mists of ruin and rapine waved the +calico dresses of women who dared, and after the hoarse mouthings of +the field guns rang the rhythm of the alphabet. Rich and poor they were, +serious and curious. Bereaved now of a father, now of a brother, now of +more than these, they came seeking a life work in planting New England +schoolhouses among the white and black of the South. They did their work +well. In that first year they taught 100,000 souls, and more. + +Evidently, Congress must soon legislate again on the hastily organized +Bureau, which had so quickly grown into wide significance and vast +possibilities. An institution such as that was well-nigh as difficult to +end as to begin. Early in 1866 Congress took up the matter, when Senator +Trumbull, of Illinois, introduced a bill to extend the Bureau and +enlarge its powers. This measure received, at the hands of Congress, +far more thorough discussion and attention than its predecessor. The war +cloud had thinned enough to allow a clearer conception of the work of +emancipation. The champions of the bill argued that the strengthening of +the Freedmen's Bureau was still a military necessity; that it was needed +for the proper carrying out of the Thirteenth Amendment, and was a work +of sheer justice to the ex-slave, at a trifling cost to the government. +The opponents of the measure declared that the war was over, and the +necessity for war measures past; that the Bureau, by reason of its +extraordinary powers, was clearly unconstitutional in time of peace, +and was destined to irritate the South and pauperize the freedmen, at a +final cost of possibly hundreds of millions. Two of these arguments +were unanswered, and indeed unanswerable: the one that the extraordinary +powers of the Bureau threatened the civil rights of all citizens; and +the other that the government must have power to do what manifestly +must be done, and that present abandonment of the freedmen meant their +practical enslavement. The bill which finally passed enlarged and made +permanent the Freedmen's Bureau. It was promptly vetoed by President +Johnson, as "unconstitutional," "unnecessary," and "extrajudicial," and +failed of passage over the veto. Meantime, however, the breach between +Congress and the President began to broaden, and a modified form of the +lost bill was finally passed over the President's second veto, July 16. + +The act of 1866 gave the Freedmen's Bureau its final form,--the form by +which it will be known to posterity and judged of men. It extended +the existence of the Bureau to July, 1868; it authorized additional +assistant commissioners, the retention of army officers mustered out +of regular service, the sale of certain forfeited lands to freedmen +on nominal terms, the sale of Confederate public property for Negro +schools, and a wider field of judicial interpretation and cognizance. +The government of the un-reconstructed South was thus put very largely +in the hands of the Freedmen's Bureau, especially as in many cases +the departmental military commander was now made also assistant +commissioner. It was thus that the Freedmen's Bureau became a +full-fledged government of men. It made laws, executed them and +interpreted them; it laid and collected taxes, defined and punished +crime, maintained and used military force, and dictated such measures +as it thought necessary and proper for the accomplishment of its varied +ends. Naturally, all these powers were not exercised continuously nor to +their fullest extent; and yet, as General Howard has said, "scarcely any +subject that has to be legislated upon in civil society failed, at one +time or another, to demand the action of this singular Bureau." + +To understand and criticise intelligently so vast a work, one must not +forget an instant the drift of things in the later sixties: Lee +had surrendered, Lincoln was dead, and Johnson and Congress were at +loggerheads; the Thirteenth Amendment was adopted, the Fourteenth +pending, and the Fifteenth declared in force in 1870. Guerrilla raiding, +the ever present flickering after-flame of war, was spending its force +against the Negroes, and all the Southern land was awakening as from +some wild dream to poverty and social revolution. In a time of perfect +calm, amid willing neighbors and streaming wealth, the social uplifting +of 4,000,000 slaves to an assured and self-sustaining place in the body +politic and economic would have been an herculean task; but when to the +inherent difficulties of so delicate and nice a social operation were +added the spite and hate of conflict, the Hell of War; when suspicion +and cruelty were rife, and gaunt Hunger wept beside Bereavement,--in +such a case, the work of any instrument of social regeneration was in +large part foredoomed to failure. The very name of the Bureau stood for +a thing in the South which for two centuries and better men had refused +even to argue,--that life amid free Negroes was simply unthinkable, the +maddest of experiments. The agents which the Bureau could command varied +all the way from unselfish philanthropists to narrow-minded busybodies +and thieves; and even though it be true that the average was far better +than the worst, it was the one fly that helped to spoil the ointment. +Then, amid all this crouched the freed slave, bewildered between friend +and foe. He had emerged from slavery: not the worst slavery in the +world, not a slavery that made all life unbearable,--rather, a +slavery that had here and there much of kindliness, fidelity, and +happiness,--but withal slavery, which, so far as human aspiration and +desert were concerned, classed the black man and the ox together. And +the Negro knew full well that, whatever their deeper convictions may +have been, Southern men had fought with desperate energy to perpetuate +this slavery, under which the black masses, with half-articulate +thought, had writhed and shivered. They welcomed freedom with a cry. +They fled to the friends that had freed them. They shrank from the +master who still strove for their chains. So the cleft between the white +and black South grew. Idle to say it never should have been; it was as +inevitable as its results were pitiable. Curiously incongruous elements +were left arrayed against each other: the North, the government, the +carpetbagger, and the slave, here; and there, all the South that was +white, whether gentleman or vagabond, honest man or rascal, lawless +murderer or martyr to duty. + +Thus it is doubly difficult to write of this period calmly, so intense +was the feeling, so mighty the human passions, that swayed and blinded +men. Amid it all two figures ever stand to typify that day to coming +men: the one a gray-haired gentleman, whose fathers had quit themselves +like men, whose sons lay in nameless graves, who bowed to the evil of +slavery because its abolition boded untold ill to all; who stood at +last, in the evening of life, a blighted, ruined form, with hate in his +eyes. And the other, a form hovering dark and mother-like, her awful +face black with the mists of centuries, had aforetime bent in love over +her white master's cradle, rocked his sons and daughters to sleep, and +closed in death the sunken eyes of his wife to the world; ay, too, had +laid herself low to his lust and borne a tawny man child to the world, +only to see her dark boy's limbs scattered to the winds by midnight +marauders riding after Damned Niggers. These were the saddest sights +of that woeful day; and no man clasped the hands of these two passing +figures of the present-past; but hating they went to their long home, +and hating their children's children live to-day. + +Here, then, was the field of work for the Freedmen's Bureau; and since, +with some hesitation, it was continued by the act of 1868 till 1869, let +us look upon four years of its work as a whole. There were, in 1868, 900 +Bureau officials scattered from Washington to Texas, ruling, directly +and indirectly, many millions of men. And the deeds of these rulers +fall mainly under seven heads,--the relief of physical suffering, the +overseeing of the beginnings of free labor, the buying and selling +of land, the establishment of schools, the paying of bounties, the +administration of justice, and the financiering of all these activities. +Up to June, 1869, over half a million patients had been treated by +Bureau physicians and surgeons, and sixty hospitals and asylums had +been in operation. In fifty months of work 21,000,000 free rations were +distributed at a cost of over $4,000,000,--beginning at the rate of +30,000 rations a day in 1865, and discontinuing in 1869. Next came the +difficult question of labor. First, 30,000 black men were transported +from the refuges and relief stations back to the farms, back to the +critical trial of a new way of working. Plain, simple instructions went +out from Washington,--the freedom of laborers to choose employers, no +fixed rates of wages, no peonage or forced labor. So far so good; but +where local agents differed toto coelo in capacity and character, where +the personnel was continually changing, the outcome was varied. The +largest element of success lay in the fact that the majority of +the freedmen were willing, often eager, to work. So contracts were +written,--50,000 in a single state,--laborers advised, wages guaranteed, +and employers supplied. In truth, the organization became a vast labor +bureau; not perfect, indeed,--notably defective here and there,--but on +the whole, considering the situation, successful beyond the dreams of +thoughtful men. The two great obstacles which confronted the officers at +every turn were the tyrant and the idler: the slaveholder, who believed +slavery was right, and was determined to perpetuate it under another +name; and the freedman, who regarded freedom as perpetual rest. These +were the Devil and the Deep Sea. + +In the work of establishing the Negroes as peasant proprietors the +Bureau was severely handicapped, as I have shown. Nevertheless, +something was done. Abandoned lands were leased so long as they remained +in the hands of the Bureau, and a total revenue of $400,000 derived from +black tenants. Some other lands to which the nation had gained title +were sold, and public lands were opened for the settlement of the few +blacks who had tools and capital. The vision of landowning, however, +the righteous and reasonable ambition for forty acres and a mule +which filled the freedmen's dreams, was doomed in most cases to +disappointment. And those men of marvelous hind-sight, who to-day are +seeking to preach the Negro back to the soil, know well, or ought to +know, that it was here, in 1865, that the finest opportunity of binding +the black peasant to the soil was lost. Yet, with help and striving, the +Negro gained some land, and by 1874, in the one state of Georgia, owned +near 350,000 acres. + +The greatest success of the Freedmen's Bureau lay in the planting of +the free school among Negroes, and the idea of free elementary education +among all classes in the South. It not only called the schoolmistress +through the benevolent agencies, and built them schoolhouses, but it +helped discover and support such apostles of human development as Edmund +Ware, Erastus Cravath, and Samuel Armstrong. State superintendents of +education were appointed, and by 1870 150,000 children were in school. +The opposition to Negro education was bitter in the South, for the South +believed an educated Negro to be a dangerous Negro. And the South was +not wholly wrong; for education among all kinds of men always has +had, and always will have, an element of danger and revolution, of +dissatisfaction and discontent. Nevertheless, men strive to know. It was +some inkling of this paradox, even in the unquiet days of the Bureau, +that allayed an opposition to human training, which still to-day lies +smouldering, but not flaming. Fisk, Atlanta, Howard, and Hampton were +founded in these days, and nearly $6,000,000 was expended in five +years for educational work, $750,000 of which came from the freedmen +themselves. + +Such contributions, together with the buying of land and various other +enterprises, showed that the ex-slave was handling some free capital +already. The chief initial source of this was labor in the army, and his +pay and bounty as a soldier. Payments to Negro soldiers were at first +complicated by the ignorance of the recipients, and the fact that the +quotas of colored regiments from Northern states were largely filled by +recruits from the South, unknown to their fellow soldiers. Consequently, +payments were accompanied by such frauds that Congress, by joint +resolution in 1867, put the whole matter in the hands of the Freedmen's +Bureau. In two years $6,000,000 was thus distributed to 5000 claimants, +and in the end the sum exceeded $8,000,000. Even in this system, fraud +was frequent; but still the work put needed capital in the hands of +practical paupers, and some, at least, was well spent. + +The most perplexing and least successful part of the Bureau's work lay +in the exercise of its judicial functions. In a distracted land where +slavery had hardly fallen, to keep the strong from wanton abuse of the +weak, and the weak from gloating insolently over the half-shorn strength +of the strong, was a thankless, hopeless task. The former masters of +the land were peremptorily ordered about, seized and imprisoned, and +punished over and again, with scant courtesy from army officers. The +former slaves were intimidated, beaten, raped, and butchered by angry +and revengeful men. Bureau courts tended to become centres simply for +punishing whites, while the regular civil courts tended to become solely +institutions for perpetuating the slavery of blacks. Almost every law +and method ingenuity could devise was employed by the legislatures to +reduce the Negroes to serfdom,--to make them the slaves of the state, +if not of individual owners; while the Bureau officials too often were +found striving to put the "bottom rail on top," and give the freedmen +a power and independence which they could not yet use. It is all well +enough for us of another generation to wax wise with advice to those who +bore the burden in the heat of the day. It is full easy now to see that +the man who lost home, fortune, and family at a stroke, and saw his land +ruled by "mules and niggers," was really benefited by the passing of +slavery. It is not difficult now to say to the young freedman, cheated +and cuffed about, who has seen his father's head beaten to a jelly and +his own mother namelessly assaulted, that the meek shall inherit +the earth. Above all, nothing is more convenient than to heap on the +Freedmen's Bureau all the evils of that evil day, and damn it utterly +for every mistake and blunder that was made. + +All this is easy, but it is neither sensible nor just. Some one had +blundered, but that was long before Oliver Howard was born; there was +criminal aggression and heedless neglect, but without some system of +control there would have been far more than there was. Had that control +been from within, the Negro would have been reenslaved, to all intents +and purposes. Coming as the control did from without, perfect men and +methods would have bettered all things; and even with imperfect agents +and questionable methods, the work accomplished was not undeserving +of much commendation. The regular Bureau court consisted of one +representative of the employer, one of the Negro, and one of the Bureau. +If the Bureau could have maintained a perfectly judicial attitude, +this arrangement would have been ideal, and must in time have gained +confidence; but the nature of its other activities and the character of +its personnel prejudiced the Bureau in favor of the black litigants, and +led without doubt to much injustice and annoyance. On the other hand, to +leave the Negro in the hands of Southern courts was impossible. + +What the Freedmen's Bureau cost the nation is difficult to determine +accurately. Its methods of bookkeeping were not good, and the whole +system of its work and records partook of the hurry and turmoil of +the time. General Howard himself disbursed some $15,000,000 during his +incumbency; but this includes the bounties paid colored soldiers, which +perhaps should not be counted as an expense of the Bureau. In bounties, +prize money, and all other expenses, the Bureau disbursed over +$20,000,000 before all of its departments were finally closed. To this +ought to be added the large expenses of the various departments of +Negro affairs before 1865; but these are hardly extricable from war +expenditures, nor can we estimate with any accuracy the contributions of +benevolent societies during all these years. + + +Such was the work of the Freedmen's Bureau. To sum it up in brief, we +may say: it set going a system of free labor; it established the black +peasant proprietor; it secured the recognition of black freemen before +courts of law; it founded the free public school in the South. On the +other hand, it failed to establish good will between ex-masters and +freedmen; to guard its work wholly from paternalistic methods +that discouraged self-reliance; to make Negroes landholders in any +considerable numbers. Its successes were the result of hard work, +supplemented by the aid of philanthropists and the eager striving of +black men. Its failures were the result of bad local agents, inherent +difficulties of the work, and national neglect. The Freedmen's +Bureau expired by limitation in 1869, save its educational and bounty +departments. The educational work came to an end in 1872, and General +Howard's connection with the Bureau ceased at that time. The work of +paying bounties was transferred to the adjutant general's office, where +it was continued three or four years longer. + +Such an institution, from its wide powers, great responsibilities, large +control of moneys, and generally conspicuous position, was naturally +open to repeated and bitter attacks. It sustained a searching +congressional investigation at the instance of Fernando Wood in 1870. It +was, with blunt discourtesy, transferred from Howard's control, in his +absence, to the supervision of Secretary of War Belknap in 1872, on the +Secretary's recommendation. Finally, in consequence of grave intimations +of wrongdoing made by the Secretary and his subordinates, General Howard +was court-martialed in 1874. In each of these trials, and in other +attacks, the commissioner of the Freedmen's Bureau was exonerated from +any willful misdoing, and his work heartily commended. Nevertheless, +many unpleasant things were brought to light: the methods of transacting +the business of the Bureau were faulty; several cases of defalcation +among officials in the field were proven, and further frauds hinted +at; there were some business transactions which savored of dangerous +speculation, if not dishonesty; and, above all, the smirch of the +Freedmen's Bank, which, while legally distinct from, was morally and +practically a part of the Bureau, will ever blacken the record of this +great institution. Not even ten additional years of slavery could have +done as much to throttle the thrift of the freedmen as the mismanagement +and bankruptcy of the savings bank chartered by the nation for their +especial aid. Yet it is but fair to say that the perfect honesty of +purpose and unselfish devotion of General Howard have passed untarnished +through the fire of criticism. Not so with all his subordinates, +although in the case of the great majority of these there were shown +bravery and devotion to duty, even though sometimes linked to narrowness +and incompetency. + +The most bitter attacks on the Freedmen's Bureau were aimed not so much +at its conduct or policy under the law as at the necessity for any such +organization at all. Such attacks came naturally from the border states +and the South, and they were summed up by Senator Davis, of Kentucky, +when he moved to entitle the act of 1866 a bill "to promote strife +and conflict between the white and black races... by a grant of +unconstitutional power." The argument was of tremendous strength, but +its very strength was its weakness. For, argued the plain common sense +of the nation, if it is unconstitutional, unpracticable, and futile for +the nation to stand guardian over its helpless wards, then there is left +but one alternative: to make those wards their own guardians by arming +them with the ballot. The alternative offered the nation then was not +between full and restricted Negro suffrage; else every sensible man, +black and white, would easily have chosen the latter. It was rather a +choice between suffrage and slavery, after endless blood and gold had +flowed to sweep human bondage away. Not a single Southern legislature +stood ready to admit a Negro, under any conditions, to the polls; not +a single Southern legislature believed free Negro labor was possible +without a system of restrictions that took all its freedom away; there +was scarcely a white man in the South who did not honestly regard +emancipation as a crime, and its practical nullification as a duty. +In such a situation, the granting of the ballot to the black man was a +necessity, the very least a guilty nation could grant a wronged race. +Had the opposition to government guardianship of Negroes been less +bitter, and the attachment to the slave system less strong, the social +seer can well imagine a far better policy: a permanent Freedmen's +Bureau, with a national system of Negro schools; a carefully supervised +employment and labor office; a system of impartial protection before the +regular courts; and such institutions for social betterment as savings +banks, land and building associations, and social settlements. All this +vast expenditure of money and brains might have formed a great school of +prospective citizenship, and solved in a way we have not yet solved the +most perplexing and persistent of the Negro problems. + +That such an institution was unthinkable in 1870 was due in part to +certain acts of the Freedmen's Bureau itself. It came to regard its work +as merely temporary, and Negro suffrage as a final answer to all present +perplexities. The political ambition of many of its agents and proteges +led it far afield into questionable activities, until the South, nursing +its own deep prejudices, came easily to ignore all the good deeds of the +Bureau, and hate its very name with perfect hatred. So the Freedmen's +Bureau died, and its child was the Fifteenth Amendment. + +The passing of a great human institution before its work is done, like +the untimely passing of a single soul, but leaves a legacy of striving +for other men. The legacy of the Freedmen's Bureau is the heavy heritage +of this generation. Today, when new and vaster problems are destined to +strain every fibre of the national mind and soul, would it not be well +to count this legacy honestly and carefully? For this much all men know: +despite compromise, struggle, war, and struggle, the Negro is not free. +In the backwoods of the Gulf states, for miles and miles, he may not +leave the plantation of his birth; in well-nigh the whole rural South +the black farmers are peons, bound by law and custom to an economic +slavery, from which the only escape is death or the penitentiary. In +the most cultured sections and cities of the South the Negroes are a +segregated servile caste, with restricted rights and privileges. Before +the courts, both in law and custom, they stand on a different and +peculiar basis. Taxation without representation is the rule of their +political life. And the result of all this is, and in nature must have +been, lawlessness and crime. That is the large legacy of the Freedmen's +Bureau, the work it did not do because it could not. + + +I have seen a land right merry with the sun; where children sing, and +rolling hills lie like passioned women, wanton with harvest. And there +in the King's Highway sat and sits a figure, veiled and bowed, by which +the traveler's footsteps hasten as they go. On the tainted air broods +fear. Three centuries' thought has been the raising and unveiling of +that bowed human heart, and now, behold, my fellows, a century new +for the duty and the deed. The problem of the twentieth century is the +problem of the color line. + + + + +OF THE TRAINING OF BLACK MEN by W. E. Burghardt Du Bois + + +From the shimmering swirl of waters where many, many thoughts ago the +slave-ship first saw the square tower of Jamestown have flowed down to +our day three streams of thinking: one from the larger world here and +over-seas, saying, the multiplying of human wants in culture lands calls +for the world-wide co-operation of men in satisfying them. Hence arises +a new human unity, pulling the ends of earth nearer, and all men, black, +yellow, and white. The larger humanity strives to feel in this contact +of living nations and sleeping hordes a thrill of new life in the world, +crying, If the contact of Life and Sleep be Death, shame on such Life. +To be sure, behind this thought lurks the afterthought of force and +dominion,--the making of brown men to delve when the temptation of beads +and red calico cloys. + +The second thought streaming from the death-ship and the curving river +is the thought of the older South: the sincere and passionate belief +that somewhere between men and cattle God created a tertium quid, and +called it a Negro,--a clownish, simple creature, at times even lovable +within its limitations, but straitly foreordained to walk within the +Veil. To be sure, behind the thought lurks the afterthought,--some of +them with favoring chance might become men, but in sheer self-defense we +dare not let them, and build about them walls so high, and hang between +them and the light a veil so thick, that they shall not even think of +breaking through. + +And last of all there trickles down that third and darker thought, the +thought of the things themselves, the confused half-conscious mutter +of men who are black and whitened, crying Liberty, Freedom, +Opportunity--vouchsafe to us, O boastful World, the chance of living +men! To be sure, behind the thought lurks the afterthought: suppose, +after all, the World is right and we are less than men? Suppose this mad +impulse within is all wrong, some mock mirage from the untrue? + +So here we stand among thoughts of human unity, even through conquest +and slavery; the inferiority of black men, even if forced by fraud; a +shriek in the night for the freedom of men who themselves are not yet +sure of their right to demand it. This is the tangle of thought and +afterthought wherein we are called to solve the problem of training men +for life. + +Behind all its curiousness, so attractive alike to sage and dilettante, +lie its dim dangers, throwing across us shadows at once grotesque and +awful. Plain it is to us that what the world seeks through desert and +wild we have within our threshold;--a stalwart laboring force, suited to +the semi-tropics; if, deaf to the voice of the Zeitgeist, we refuse to +use and develop these men, we risk poverty and loss. If, on the other +hand, seized by the brutal afterthought, we debauch the race thus caught +in our talons, selfishly sucking their blood and brains in the future as +in the past, what shall save us from national decadence? Only that saner +selfishness which, Education teaches men, can find the rights of all in +the whirl of work. + +Again, we may decry the color prejudice of the South, yet it remains +a heavy fact. Such curious kinks of the human mind exist and must +be reckoned with soberly. They cannot be laughed away, nor always +successfully stormed at, nor easily abolished by act of legislature. +And yet they cannot be encouraged by being let alone. They must be +recognized as facts, but unpleasant facts; things that stand in the way +of civilization and religion and common decency. They can be met in but +one way: by the breadth and broadening of human reason, by catholicity +of taste and culture. And so, too, the native ambition and aspiration +of men, even though they be black, backward, and ungraceful, must not +lightly be dealt with. To stimulate wildly weak and untrained minds is +to play with mighty fires; to flout their striving idly is to welcome +a harvest of brutish crime and shameless lethargy in our very laps. The +guiding of thought and the deft coordination of deed is at once the path +of honor and humanity. + +And so, in this great question of reconciling three vast and partially +contradictory streams of thought, the one panacea of Education leaps to +the lips of all; such human training as will best use the labor of all +men without enslaving or brutalizing; such training as will give us +poise to encourage the prejudices that bulwark society, and stamp out +those that in sheer barbarity deafen us to the wail of prisoned souls +within the Veil, and the mounting fury of shackled men. + +But when we have vaguely said Education will set this tangle straight, +what have we uttered but a truism? Training for life teaches living; but +what training for the profitable living together of black men and +white? Two hundred years ago our task would have seemed easier. Then +Dr. Johnson blandly assured us that education was needed solely for the +embellishments of life, and was useless for ordinary vermin. To-day we +have climbed to heights where we would open at least the outer courts of +knowledge to all, display its treasures to many, and select the few +to whom its mystery of Truth is revealed, not wholly by truth or +the accidents of the stock market, but at least in part according to +deftness and aim, talent and character. This programme, however, we are +sorely puzzled in carrying out through that part of the land where +the blight of slavery fell hardest, and where we are dealing with two +backward peoples. To make here in human education that ever necessary +combination of the permanent and the contingent--of the ideal and the +practical in workable equilibrium--has been there, as it ever must be +in every age and place, a matter of infinite experiment and frequent +mistakes. + +In rough approximation we may point out four varying decades of work in +Southern education since the Civil War. From the close of the war until +1876 was the period of uncertain groping and temporary relief. There +were army schools, mission schools, and schools of the Freedmen's Bureau +in chaotic disarrangement, seeking system and cooperation. Then followed +ten years of constructive definite effort toward the building of +complete school systems in the South. Normal schools and colleges were +founded for the freedmen, and teachers trained there to man the public +schools. There was the inevitable tendency of war to underestimate the +prejudice of the master and the ignorance of the slave, and all seemed +clear sailing out of the wreckage of the storm. Meantime, starting +in this decade yet especially developing from 1885 to 1895, began the +industrial revolution of the South. The land saw glimpses of a new +destiny and the stirring of new ideals. The educational system striving +to complete itself saw new obstacles and a field of work ever broader +and deeper. The Negro colleges, hurriedly founded, were inadequately +equipped, illogically distributed, and of varying efficiency and grade; +the normal and high schools were doing little more than common school +work, and the common schools were training but a third of the children +who ought to be in them, and training these too often poorly. At the +same time the white South, by reason of its sudden conversion from the +slavery ideal, by so much the more became set and strengthened in its +racial prejudice, and crystallized it into harsh law and harsher custom; +while the marvelous pushing forward of the poor white daily threatened +to take even bread and butter from the mouths of the heavily handicapped +sons of the freedmen. In the midst, then, of the larger problem of Negro +education sprang up the more practical question of work, the inevitable +economic quandary that faces a people in the transition from slavery +to freedom, and especially those who make that change amid hate and +prejudice, lawlessness and ruthless competition. + +The industrial school springing to notice in this decade, but coming to +full recognition in the decade beginning with 1895, was the proffered +answer to this combined educational and economic crisis, and an answer +of singular wisdom and timeliness. From the very first in nearly all the +schools some attention had been given to training in handiwork, but now +was this training first raised to a dignity that brought it in direct +touch with the South's magnificent industrial development, and given an +emphasis which reminded black folk that before the Temple of Knowledge +swing the Gates of Toil. + +Yet after all they are but gates, and when turning our eyes from +the temporary and the contingent in the Negro problem to the broader +question of the permanent uplifting and civilization of black men in +America, we have a right to inquire, as this enthusiasm for material +advancement mounts to its height, if after all the industrial school is +the final and sufficient answer in the training of the Negro race; and +to ask gently, but in all sincerity, the ever recurring query of the +ages, Is not life more than meat, and the body more than raiment? And +men ask this to-day all the more eagerly because of sinister signs in +recent educational movements. The tendency is here born of slavery and +quickened to renewed life by the crazy imperialism of the day, to regard +human beings as among the material resources of a land to be trained +with an eye single to future dividends. Race prejudices, which keep +brown and black men in their "places," we are coming to regard as useful +allies with such a theory, no matter how much they may dull the ambition +and sicken the hearts of struggling human beings. And above all, we +daily hear that an education that encourages aspiration, that sets +the loftiest of ideals and seeks as an end culture and character than +bread-winning, is the privilege of white men and the danger and delusion +of black. + +Especially has criticism been directed against the former educational +efforts to aid the Negro. In the four periods I have mentioned, we find +first boundless, planless enthusiasm and sacrifice; then the preparation +of teachers for a vast public school system; then the launching and +expansion of that school system amid increasing difficulties; and +finally the training of workmen for the new and growing industries. This +development has been sharply ridiculed as a logical anomaly and flat +reversal of nature. Soothly we have been told that first industrial +and manual training should have taught the Negro to work, then simple +schools should have taught him to read and write, and finally, after +years, high and normal schools could have completed the system, as +intelligence and wealth demanded. + +That a system logically so complete was historically impossible, it +needs but a little thought to prove. Progress in human affairs is more +often a pull than a push, surging forward of the exceptional man, and +the lifting of his duller brethren slowly and painfully to his vantage +ground. Thus it was no accident that gave birth to universities +centuries before the common schools, that made fair Harvard the first +flower of our wilderness. So in the South: the mass of the freedmen +at the end of the war lacked the intelligence so necessary to modern +workingmen. They must first have the common school to teach them to +read, write, and cipher. The white teachers who flocked South went to +establish such a common school system. They had no idea of founding +colleges; they themselves at first would have laughed at the idea. But +they faced, as all men since them have faced, that central paradox of +the South, the social separation of the races. Then it was the sudden +volcanic rupture of nearly all relations between black and white, in +work and government and family life. Since then a new adjustment of +relations in economic and political affairs has grown up,--an adjustment +subtle and difficult to grasp, yet singularly ingenious, which leaves +still that frightful chasm at the color line across which men pass at +their peril. Thus, then and now, there stand in the South two separate +worlds; and separate not simply in the higher realms of social +intercourse, but also in church and school, on railway and street car, +in hotels and theatres, in streets and city sections, in books and +newspapers, in asylums and jails, in hospitals and graveyards. There is +still enough of contact for large economic and group cooperation, but +the separation is so thorough and deep, that it absolutely precludes +for the present between the races anything like that sympathetic and +effective group training and leadership of the one by the other, such +as the American Negro and all backward peoples must have for effectual +progress. + +This the missionaries of '68 soon saw; and if effective industrial and +trade schools were impractical before the establishment of a common +school system, just as certainly no adequate common schools could be +founded until there were teachers to teach them. Southern whites would +not teach them; Northern whites in sufficient numbers could not be had. +If the Negro was to learn, he must teach himself, and the most effective +help that could be given him was the establishment of schools to train +Negro teachers. This conclusion was slowly but surely reached by every +student of the situation until simultaneously, in widely separated +regions, without consultation or systematic plan, there arose a series +of institutions designed to furnish teachers for the untaught. Above +the sneers of critics at the obvious defects of this procedure must ever +stand its one crushing rejoinder: in a single generation they put thirty +thousand black teachers in the South; they wiped out the illiteracy of +the majority of the black people of the land, and they made Tuskegee +possible. + +Such higher training schools tended naturally to deepen broader +development: at first they were common and grammar schools, then some +became high schools. And finally, by 1900, some thirty-four had one year +or more of studies of college grade. This development was reached with +different degrees of speed in different institutions: Hampton is still +a high school, while Fisk University started her college in 1871, and +Spelman Seminary about 1896. In all cases the aim was identical: to +maintain the standards of the lower training by giving teachers and +leaders the best practicable training; and above all to furnish the +black world with adequate standards of human culture and lofty ideals of +life. It was not enough that the teachers of teachers should be trained +in technical normal methods; they must also, so far as possible, be +broad-minded, cultured men and women, to scatter civilization among a +people whose ignorance was not simply of letters, but of life itself. + +It can thus be seen that the work of education in the South began with +higher institutions of training, which threw off as their foliage common +schools, and later industrial schools, and at the same time strove to +shoot their roots ever deeper toward college and university training. +That this was an inevitable and necessary development, sooner or later, +goes without saying; but there has been, and still is, a question in +many minds if the natural growth was not forced, and if the higher +training was not either overdone or done with cheap and unsound methods. +Among white Southerners this feeling is widespread and positive. A +prominent Southern journal voiced this in a recent editorial: + +"The experiment that has been made to give the colored students +classical training has not been satisfactory. Even though many were able +to pursue the course, most of them did so in a parrot-like way, learning +what was taught, but not seeming to appropriate the truth and import +of their instruction, and graduating without sensible aim or valuable +occupation for their future. The whole scheme has proved a waste of +time, efforts, and the money of the state." + +While most far-minded men would recognize this as extreme and overdrawn, +still without doubt many are asking, Are there a sufficient number of +Negroes ready for college training to warrant the undertaking? Are not +too many students prematurely forced into this work? Does it not have +the effect of dissatisfying the young Negro with his environment? And do +these graduates succeed in real life? Such natural questions cannot be +evaded, nor on the other hand must a nation naturally skeptical as to +Negro ability assume an unfavorable answer without careful inquiry and +patient openness to conviction. We must not forget that most Americans +answer all queries regarding the Negro a priori, and that the least that +human courtesy can do is to listen to evidence. + +The advocates of the higher education of the Negro would be the last to +deny the incompleteness and glaring defects of the present system: too +many institutions have attempted to do college work, the work in some +cases has not been thoroughly done, and quantity rather than quality +has sometimes been sought. But all this can be said of higher education +throughout the land: it is the almost inevitable incident of educational +growth, and leaves the deeper question of the legitimate demand for the +higher training of Negroes untouched. And this latter question can be +settled in but one way--by a first-hand study of the facts. If we leave +out of view all institutions which have not actually graduated students +from a course higher than that of a New England high school, even though +they be called colleges; if then we take the thirty-four remaining +institutions, we may clear up many misapprehensions by asking +searchingly, What kind of institutions are they, what do they teach, and +what sort of men do they graduate? + +And first we may say that this type of college, including Atlanta, Fisk +and Howard, Wilberforce and Lincoln, Biddle, Shaw, and the rest, is +peculiar, almost unique. Through the shining trees that whisper before +me as I write, I catch glimpses of a boulder of New England granite, +covering a grave, which graduates of Atlanta University have placed +there:-- + + + "IN GRATEFUL MEMORY OF THEIR + FORMER TEACHER AND FRIEND + AND OF THE UNSELFISH LIFE HE + LIVED, AND THE NOBLE WORK HE + WROUGHT; THAT THEY, THEIR + CHILDREN, AND THEIR CHIL- + DREN'S CHILDREN MIGHT BE + BLESSED." + + +This was the gift of New England to the freed Negro: not alms, but +a friend; not cash, but character. It was not and is not money these +seething millions want, but love and sympathy, the pulse of hearts +beating with red blood; a gift which to-day only their own kindred and +race can bring to the masses, but which once saintly souls brought to +their favored children in the crusade of the sixties, that finest thing +in American history, and one of the few things untainted by sordid greed +and cheap vainglory. The teachers in these institutions came not to keep +the Negroes in their place, but to raise them out of their places where +the filth of slavery had wallowed them. The colleges they founded were +social settlements; homes where the best of the sons of the freedmen +came in close and sympathetic touch with the best traditions of New +England. They lived and ate together, studies and worked, hoped and +harkened in the dawning light. In actual formal content their curriculum +was doubtless old-fashioned, but in educational power it was supreme, +for it was the contact of living souls. + +From such schools about two thousand Negroes have gone forth with the +bachelor's degree. The number in itself is enough to put at rest the +argument that too large a proportion of Negroes are receiving higher +training. If the ratio to population of all Negro students throughout +the land, in both college and secondary training, be counted, +Commissioner Harris assures us "it must be increased to five times its +present average" to equal the average of the land. + +Fifty years ago the ability of Negro students in any appreciable numbers +to master a modern college course would have been difficult to prove. +To-day it is proved by the fact that four hundred Negroes, many of whom +have been reported as brilliant students, have received the bachelor's +degree from Harvard, Yale, Oberlin, and seventy other leading colleges. +Here we have, then, nearly twenty-five hundred Negro graduates, of whom +the crucial query must be made. How far did their training fit them for +life? It is of course extremely difficult to collect satisfactory +data on such a point,--difficult to reach the men, to get trustworthy +testimony, and to gauge that testimony by any generally acceptable +criterion of success. In 1900, the Conference at Atlanta University +undertook to study these graduates, and published the results. First +they sought to know what these graduates were doing, and succeeded +in getting answers from nearly two thirds of the living. The direct +testimony was in almost all cases corroborated by the reports of the +colleges where they graduated, so that in the main the reports were +worthy of credence. Fifty-three per cent of these graduates were +teachers,--presidents of institutions, heads of normal schools, +principals of city school systems, and the like. Seventeen per cent were +clergymen; another seventeen per cent were in the professions, chiefly +as physicians. Over six per cent were merchants, farmers, and artisans, +and four per cent were in the government civil service. Granting +even that a considerable proportion of the third unheard from are +unsuccessful, this is a record of usefulness. Personally I know many +hundreds of these graduates and have corresponded with more than a +thousand; through others I have followed carefully the life-work of +scores; I have taught some of them and some of the pupils whom they +have taught, lived in homes which they have builded, and looked at life +through their eyes. Comparing them as a class with my fellow students in +New England and in Europe, I cannot hesitate in saying that nowhere have +I met men and women with a broader spirit of helpfulness, with deeper +devotion to their life-work, or with more consecrated determination to +succeed in the face of bitter difficulties than among Negro college-bred +men. They have, to be sure, their proportion of ne'er-do-weels, +their pedants and lettered fools, but they have a surprisingly small +proportion of them; they have not that culture of manner which we +instinctively associate with university men, forgetting that in reality +it is the heritage from cultured homes, and that no people a generation +removed from slavery can escape a certain unpleasant rawness and +gaucherie, despite the best of training. + +With all their larger vision and deeper sensibility, these men have +usually been conservative, careful leaders. They have seldom been +agitators, have withstood the temptation to head the mob, and have +worked steadily and faithfully in a thousand communities in the South. +As teachers they have given the South a commendable system of city +schools and large numbers of private normal schools and academies. +Colored college-bred men have worked side by side with white college +graduates at Hampton; almost from the beginning the backbone of +Tuskegee's teaching force has been formed of graduates from Fisk and +Atlanta. And to-day the institute is filled with college graduates, from +the energetic wife of the principal down to the teacher of agriculture, +including nearly half of the executive council and a majority of the +heads of departments. In the professions, college men are slowly but +surely leavening the Negro church, are healing and preventing the +devastations of disease, and beginning to furnish legal protection for +the liberty and property of the toiling masses. All this is needful +work. Who would do it if Negroes did not? How could Negroes do it if +they were not trained carefully for it? If white people need colleges to +furnish teachers, ministers, lawyers, and doctors, do black people need +nothing of the sort? + +If it be true that there are an appreciable number of Negro youth in the +land capable by character and talent to receive that higher training, +the end of which is culture, and if the two and a half thousand who +have had something of this training in the past have in the main proved +themselves useful to their race and generation, the question then +comes, What place in the future development of the South might the +Negro college and college-bred man to occupy? That the present social +separation and acute race sensitiveness must eventually yield to the +influences of culture as the South grows civilized is clear. But such +transformation calls for singular wisdom and patience. If, while the +healing of this vast sore is progressing, the races are to live for +many years side by side, united in economic effort, obeying a common +government, sensitive to mutual thought and feeling, yet subtly and +silently separate in many matters of deeper human intimacy--if this +unusual and dangerous development is to progress amid peace and order, +mutual respect and growing intelligence, it will call for social surgery +at once the delicatest and nicest in modern history. It will demand +broad-minded, upright men both white and black, and in its final +accomplishment American civilization will triumph. So far as white men +are concerned, this fact is to-day being recognized in the South, and a +happy renaissance of university education seems imminent. But the very +voices that cry Hail! to this good work are, strange to relate, largely +silent or antagonistic to the higher education of the Negro. + +Strange to relate! for this is certain, no secure civilization can be +built in the South with the Negro as an ignorant, turbulent proletariat. +Suppose we seek to remedy this by making them laborers and nothing more: +they are not fools, they have tasted of the Tree of Life, and they will +not cease to think, will not cease attempting to read the riddle of +the world. By taking away their best equipped teachers and leaders, +by slamming the door of opportunity in the faces of their bolder and +brighter minds, will you make them satisfied with their lot? or will you +not rather transfer their leading from the hands of men taught to +think to the hands of untrained demagogues? We ought not to forget that +despite the pressure of poverty, and despite the active discouragement +and even ridicule of friends, the demand for higher training steadily +increases among Negro youth: there were, in the years from 1875 to 1880, +twenty-two Negro graduates from Northern colleges; from 1885 to 1895 +there were forty-three, and from 1895 to 1900, nearly 100 graduates. +From Southern Negro colleges there were, in the same three periods, +143, 413, and over 500 graduates. Here, then, is the plain thirst for +training; by refusing to give this Talented Tenth the key to knowledge +can any sane man imagine that they will lightly lay aside their yearning +and contentedly become hewers of wood and drawers of water? + +No. The dangerously clear logic of the Negro's position will more and +more loudly assert itself in that day when increasing wealth and more +intricate social organization preclude the South from being, as it so +largely is, simply an armed camp for intimidating black folk. Such +waste of energy cannot be spared if the South is to catch up with +civilization. And as the black third of the land grows in thrift and +skill, unless skillfully guided in its larger philosophy, it must more +and more brood over the red past and the creeping, crooked present, +until it grasps a gospel of revolt and revenge and throws its new-found +energies athwart the current of advance. Even to-day the masses of the +Negroes see all too clearly the anomalies of their position and the +moral crookedness of yours. You may marshal strong indictments against +them, but their counter-cries, lacking though they be in formal logic, +have burning truths within them which you may not wholly ignore, O +Southern Gentlemen! If you deplore their presence here, they ask, +Who brought us? When you shriek, Deliver us from the vision of +intermarriage, they answer, that legal marriage is infinitely better +than systematic concubinage and prostitution. And if in just fury you +accuse their vagabonds of violating women, they also in fury quite as +just may wail: the rape which your gentlemen have done against helpless +black women in defiance of your own laws is written on the foreheads +of two millions of mulattoes, and written in ineffaceable blood. And +finally, when you fasten crime upon this race as its peculiar +trait, they answer that slavery was the arch-crime, and lynching and +lawlessness its twin abortion; that color and race are not crimes, and +yet they it is which in this land receive most unceasing condemnation, +North, East, South, and West. + +I will not say such arguments are wholly justified--I will not insist +that there is no other side to the shield; but I do say that of the nine +millions of Negroes in this nation, there is scarcely one out of the +cradle to whom these arguments do not daily present themselves in the +guise of terrible truth. I insist that the question of the future is how +best to keep these millions from brooding over the wrongs of the past +and the difficulties of the present, so that all their energies may +be bent toward a cheerful striving and cooperation with their white +neighbors toward a larger, juster, and fuller future. That one wise +method of doing this lies in the closer knitting of the Negro to the +great industrial possibilities of the South is a great truth. And this +the common schools and the manual training and trade schools are working +to accomplish. But these alone are not enough. The foundations of +knowledge in this race, as in others, must be sunk deep in the college +and university if we would build a solid, permanent structure. Internal +problems of social advance must inevitably come,--problems of work and +wages, of families and homes, of morals and the true valuing of +the things of life; and all these and other inevitable problems of +civilization the Negro must meet and solve largely for himself, by +reason of his isolation; and can there be any possible solution other +than by study and thought and an appeal to the rich experience of the +past? Is there not, with such a group and in such a crisis, infinitely +more danger to be apprehended from half-trained minds and shallow +thinking than from over-education and over-refinement? Surely we have +wit enough to found a Negro college so manned and equipped as to steer +successfully between the dilettante and the fool. We shall hardly induce +black men to believe that if their bellies be full it matters little +about their brains. They already dimly perceive that the paths of peace +winding between honest toil and dignified manhood call for the guidance +of skilled thinkers, the loving, reverent comradeship between the black +lowly and black men emancipated by training and culture. + +The function of the Negro college then is clear: it must maintain the +standards of popular education, it must seek the social regeneration of +the Negro, and it must help in the solution of problems of race contact +and cooperation. And finally, beyond all this, it must develop men. +Above our modern socialism, and out of the worship of the mass, must +persist and evolve that higher individualism which the centres of +culture protect; there must come a loftier respect for the sovereign +human soul that seeks to know itself and the world about it; that seeks +a freedom for expansion and self-development; that will love and hate +and labor in its own way, untrammeled alike by old and new. Such souls +aforetime have inspired and guided worlds, and if we be not wholly +bewitched by our Rhine-gold, they shall again. Herein the longing +of black men must have respect: the rich and bitter depth of their +experience, the unknown treasures of their inner life, the strange +rendings of nature they have seen, may give the world new points of view +and make their loving, living, and doing precious to all human hearts. +And to themselves in these the days that try their souls the chance to +soar in the dim blue air above the smoke is to their finer spirits boon +and guerdon for what they lose on earth by being black. + + +I sit with Shakespeare and he winces not. Across the color line I move +arm in arm with Balzac and Dumas, where smiling men and welcoming women +glide in gilded halls. From out the caves of Evening that swing between +the strong-limbed earth and the tracery of the stars, I summon Aristotle +and Aurelius and what soul I will, and they come all graciously with no +scorn nor condescension. So, wed with Truth, I dwell above the Veil. Is +this the life you grudge us, O knightly America? Is this the life you +long to change into the dull red hideousness of Georgia? Are you so +afraid lest peering from this high Pisgah, between Philistine and +Amalekite, we sight the Promised Land? + + + + +THE FRUITS OF INDUSTRIAL TRAINING by Booker T. Washington + + +The political, educational, social, and economic evolution through which +the South passed during, say, the first fifteen or twenty years after +the close of the civil war furnishes one of the most interesting periods +that any country has passed through. + +A large share of the thought and activity of the white South, of the +black South, and of that section of the North especially interested +in my race, was directed during the years of the Reconstruction period +toward politics, or toward matters bearing upon what were termed civil +or social rights. The work of education was rather slow, and covered a +large section of the South; still I think I am justified in saying that +in the public mind the Negro's relation to politics overshadowed nearly +every other interest. The education of the race was conducted quietly, +and attracted comparatively little attention, just as is true at the +present time. The appointment of one Negro postmaster at a third or +fourth rate post office will be given wider publicity through the daily +press than the founding of a school, or some important discovery in +science. + +With reference to the black man's political relation to the state and +Federal governments, I think I am safe in saying that for many years +after the civil war there were sharp and antagonistic views between the +North and the South, as well as between the white South and the black +South. At practically every point where there was a political question +to be decided in the South the blacks would array themselves on one side +and the whites on the other. I remember that very soon after I began +teaching school in Alabama an old colored man came to me just prior to +an election. He said: "You can read de newspapers and most of us can't, +but dar is one thing dat we knows dat you don't, and dat is how to vote +down here; and we wants you to vote as we does." He added: "I tell you +how we does. We watches de white man; we keeps watching de white man; +de nearer it gits to election time de more we watches de white man. We +watches him till we finds out which way he gwine to vote. After we finds +out which way he gwine to vote, den we votes exactly de other way; den +we knows we 's right." + +Stories on the other side might be given showing that a certain class of +white people, both at the polls and in the Legislatures, voted just as +unreasonably in opposing politically what they thought the Negro or the +North wanted, no matter how much benefit might ensue from a contrary +action. Unfortunately such antagonism did not end with matters +political, but in many cases affected the relation of the races in +nearly every walk of life. Aside from political strife, there was +naturally deep feeling between the North and the South on account of the +war. On nearly every question growing out of the war, which was debated +in Congress, or in political campaigns, there was the keenest difference +and often the deepest feeling. There was almost no question of even a +semi-political nature, or having a remote connection with the Negro, +upon which there was not sharp and often bitter division between the +North and South. It is needless to say that in many cases the Negro +was the sufferer. He was being ground between the upper and nether +millstones. Even to this day it is well-nigh impossible, largely by +reason of the force of habit, in certain states to prevent state and +even local campaigns from being centred in some form upon the black man. +In states like Mississippi, for example, where the Negro ceased nearly +a score of years ago, by operation of law, to be a determining factor +in politics, he forms in some way the principal fuel for campaign +discussion at nearly every election. The sad feature of this is, that +it prevents the presentation before the masses of the people of matters +pertaining to local and state improvement, and to great national issues +like finance, tariff, or foreign policies. It prevents the masses from +receiving the broad and helpful education which every political campaign +should furnish, and, what is equally unfortunate, it prevents the youth +from seeing and hearing on the platform the great political leaders of +the two national parties. During a national campaign few of the great +Democratic leaders debate national questions in the South, because it +is felt that the old antagonism to the Negro politically will keep the +South voting one way. Few of the great Republican leaders appear on +Southern platforms, because they feel that nothing will be gained. + +One of the saddest instances of this situation that has come within my +knowledge occurred some years ago in a certain Southern state where a +white friend of mine was making the race for Congress on the Democratic +ticket in a district that was overwhelmingly Democratic. I speak of this +man as my friend, because there was no personal favor in reason which +he would have refused me. He was equally friendly to the race, and was +generous in giving for its education, and in helping individuals to +buy land. His campaign took him into one of the "white" counties, where +there were few colored people, and where the whites were unusually +ignorant. I was surprised one morning to read in the daily papers of a +bitter attack he had made on the Negro while speaking in this county. +The next time I saw him I informed him of my surprise. He replied that +he was ashamed of what he had said, and that he did not himself believe +much that he had stated, but gave as a reason for his action that he had +found himself before an audience which had heard little for thirty years +in the way of political discussion that did not bear upon the Negro, and +that he therefore knew it was almost impossible to interest them in any +other subject. + +But this is somewhat aside from my purpose, which is, I repeat, to make +plain that in all political matters there was for years after the war +no meeting ground of agreement for the two races, or for the North and +South. Upon the question of the Negro's civil rights, as embodied in +what was called the Civil Rights Bill, there was almost the same sharp +line of division between the races, and, in theory at least, between the +Northern and Southern whites,--largely because the former were +supposed to be giving the blacks social recognition, and encouraging +intermingling between the races. The white teachers, who came from +the North to work in missionary schools, received for years little +recognition or encouragement from the rank and file of their own race. +The lines were so sharply drawn that in cities where native Southern +white women taught Negro children in the public schools, they would +have no dealings with Northern white women who, perhaps, taught Negro +children from the same family in a missionary school. + +I want to call attention here to a phase of Reconstruction policy which +is often overlooked. All now agree that there was much in Reconstruction +which was unwise and unfortunate. However we may regard that policy, and +much as we may regret mistakes, the fact is too often overlooked that it +was during the Reconstruction period that a public school system for the +education of all the people of the South was first established in most +of the states. Much that was done by those in charge of Reconstruction +legislation has been overturned, but the public school system still +remains. True, it has been modified and improved, but the system +remains, and is every day growing in popularity and strength. + +As to the difference of opinion between the North and the South +regarding Negro education, I find that many people, especially in the +North, have a wrong conception of the attitude of the Southern white +people. It is and has been very generally thought that what is termed +"higher education" of the Negro has been from the first opposed by the +white South. This opinion is far from being correct. I remember that, +in 1891, when I began the work of establishing the Tuskegee Institute +in Alabama, practically all of the white people who talked to me on the +subject took it for granted that instruction in the Greek, Latin, and +modern languages would be one of the main features of our curriculum. I +heard no one oppose what he thought our course of study was to embrace. +In fact, there are many white people in the South at the present time +who do not know that instruction in the dead languages is not given at +the Tuskegee Institute. In further proof of what I have stated, if one +will go through the catalogue of the schools maintained by the states +for Negro people, and managed by Southern white people, he will find in +almost every case that instruction in the higher branches is given with +the consent and approval of white officials. This was true as far back +as 1880. It is not unusual to meet at this time Southern white people +who are as emphatic in their belief in the value of classical education +as a certain element of colored people themselves. In matters relating +to civil and political rights, the breach was broad, and without +apparent hope of being bridged; even in the matter of religion, +practically all of the denominations had split on the subject of the +Negro, though I should add that there is now, and always has been, a +closer touch and more cooperation in matters of religion between the +white and colored people in the South than is generally known. But the +breach between the white churches in the South and North remains. + +In matters of education the difference was much less sharp. The truth +is that a large element in the South had little faith in the efficacy +of the higher or any other kind of education of the Negro. They were +indifferent, but did not openly oppose; on the other hand, there has +always been a potent element of white people in all of the Southern +states who have stood out openly and bravely for the education of +all the people, regardless of race. This element has thus far been +successful in shaping and leading public opinion, and I think that it +will continue to do so more and more. This statement must not be taken +to mean that there is as yet an equitable division of the school funds, +raised by common taxation, between the two races in many sections of the +South, though the Southern states deserve much credit for what has been +done. In discussing the small amount of direct taxes the Negro pays, the +fact that he pays tremendous indirect taxes is often overlooked. + +I wish, however, to emphasize the fact that while there was either open +antagonism or indifference in the directions I have named, it was the +introduction of industrial training into the Negro's education +that seemed to furnish the first basis for anything like united and +sympathetic interest and action between the two races in the South and +between the whites in the North and those in the South. Aside from its +direct benefit to the black race, industrial education has furnished +a basis for mutual faith and cooperation, which has meant more to the +South, and to the work of education, than has been realized. + +This was, at the least, something in the way of construction. Many +people, I think, fail to appreciate the difference between the problems +now before us and those that existed previous to the civil war. Slavery +presented a problem of destruction; freedom presents a problem of +construction. + +From its first inception the white people of the South had faith in the +theory of industrial education, because they had noted, what was +not unnatural, that a large element of the colored people at first +interpreted freedom to mean freedom from work with the hands. They +naturally had not learned to appreciate the fact that they had been +WORKED, and that one of the great lessons for freemen to learn is to +WORK. They had not learned the vast difference between WORKING and BEING +WORKED. The white people saw in the movement to teach the Negro youth +the dignity, beauty, and civilizing power of all honorable labor with +the hands something that would lead the Negro into his new life of +freedom gradually and sensibly, and prevent his going from one extreme +of life to the other too suddenly. Furthermore, industrial education +appealed directly to the individual and community interest of the white +people. They saw at once that intelligence coupled with skill would add +wealth to the community and to the state, in which both races would have +an added share. Crude labor in the days of slavery, they believed, could +be handled and made in a degree profitable, but ignorant and unskilled +labor in a state of freedom could not be made so. Practically every +white man in the South was interested in agricultural or in mechanical +or in some form of manual labor; every white man was interested in +all that related to the home life,--the cooking and serving of food, +laundering, dairying, poultry-raising, and housekeeping in general. +There was no family whose interest in intelligent and skillful nursing +was not now and then quickened by the presence of a trained nurse. As +already stated, there was general appreciation of the fact that +the industrial education of the black people had direct, vital, and +practical bearing upon the life of each white family in the South; while +there was no such appreciation of the results of mere literary training. +If a black man became a lawyer, a doctor, a minister, or an ordinary +teacher, his professional duties would not ordinarily bring him in touch +with the life of the white portion of the community, but rather confine +him almost exclusively to his own race. While purely literary or +professional education was not opposed by the white population, it was +something in which they found little or no interest, beyond a confused +hope that it would result in producing a higher and a better type of +Negro manhood. The minute it was seen that through industrial education +the Negro youth was not only studying chemistry, but also how to apply +the knowledge of chemistry to the enrichment of the soil, or to cooking, +or to dairying, and that the student was being taught not only geometry +and physics, but their application to blacksmithing, brickmaking, +farming, and what not, then there began to appear for the first time +a common bond between the two races and cooperation between North and +South. + +One of the most interesting and valuable instances of the kind that I +know of is presented in the case of Mr. George W. Carver, one of our +instructors in agriculture at Tuskegee Institute. For some time it has +been his custom to prepare articles containing information concerning +the conditions of local crops, and warning the farmers against the +ravages of certain insects and diseases. The local white papers are +always glad to publish these articles, and they are read by white and +colored farmers. + +Some months ago a white land-holder in Montgomery County asked Mr. +Carver to go through his farm with him for the purpose of inspecting +it. While doing so Mr. Carver discovered traces of what he thought was +a valuable mineral deposit, used in making a certain kind of paint. +The interests of the land-owner and the agricultural instructor at once +became mutual. Specimens of the deposits were taken to the laboratories +of the Tuskegee Institute and analyzed by Mr. Carver. In due time the +land-owner received a report of the analysis, together with a statement +showing the commercial value and application of the mineral. I shall +not go through the whole interesting story, except to say that a stock +company, composed of some of the best white people in Alabama, has been +organized, and is now preparing to build a factory for the purpose +of putting their product on the market. I hardly need to add that +Mr. Carver has been freely consulted at every step, and his services +generously recognized in the organization of the concern. When the +company was being formed the following testimonial, among others, was +embodied in the printed copy of the circular:-- + +"George W. Carver, Director of the Department of Agriculture, Tuskegee, +Alabama, says:-- + +"'The pigment is an ochreous clay. Its value as a paint is due to the +presence of ferric oxide, of which it contains more than any of the +French, Australian, American, Irish, or Welsh ochres. Ferric oxides have +long been recognized as the essential constituents of such paints as +Venetian red, Turkish red, oxide red, Indian red, and scarlet. They are +most desirable, being quite permanent when exposed to light and air. As +a stain they are most valuable.'" + +In further proof of what I wish to emphasize, I think I am safe in +saying that the work of the Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute, +under the late General S. C. Armstrong, was the first to receive any +kind of recognition and hearty sympathy from the Southern white people, +and General Armstrong was perhaps the first Northern educator of Negroes +who won the confidence and cooperation of the white South. The effects +of General Armstrong's introduction of industrial education at Hampton, +and its extension to the Tuskegee Institute in the far South, are now +actively and helpfully apparent in the splendid work being accomplished +for the whole South by the Southern Education Board, with Mr. Robert C. +Ogden at its head, and by the General Education Board, with Mr. William +H. Baldwin, Jr., as its president. Without the introduction of manual +training it is doubtful whether such work as is now being wrought +through these two boards for both races in the South could have been +possible within a quarter of a century to come. Later on in the +history of our country it will be recognized and appreciated that the +far-reaching and statesman-like efforts of these two boards for general +education in the South, under the guidance of the two gentlemen named, +and with the cooperation and assistance of such men as Mr. George Foster +Peabody, Dr. Wallace Buttrick, Mr. John D. Rockefeller, of the North, +and Mr. Edgar Gardner Murphy, Chancellor Hill, Dr. Alderman, Dr. McIver, +Dr. Dabney, and others of the South, will have furnished the material +for one of the brightest and most encouraging chapters in the history of +our country. The fact that we have reached the point where men and women +who were so far apart twenty years ago can meet in the South and discuss +freely from the same platform questions relating to the industrial, +educational, political, moral, and religious development of the two +races marks a great step in advance. It is true that as yet the Negro +has not been invited to share in these discussions. + +Aside from the reasons I have given showing why the South favored +industrial education, coupled with intellectual and moral training, +many of the whites saw, for example, that the Negroes who were master +carpenters and contractors, under the guidance of their owners, could +become still greater factors in the development of the South if their +children were not suddenly removed from the atmosphere and occupations +of their fathers, and if they could be taught to use the thing in hand +as a foundation for higher growth. Many of the white people were wise +enough to see that such education would enable some of the Negro youths +to become more skillful carpenters and contractors, and that if they +laid an economic foundation in this way in their generation, they would +be laying a foundation for a more abstract education of their children +in the future. + +Again, a large element of people at the South favored manual training +for the Negro because they were wise enough to see that the South was +largely free from the restrictive influences of the Northern trades +unions, and that such organizations would secure little hold in the +South so long as the Negro kept abreast in intelligence and skill with +the same class of people elsewhere. Many realized that the South would +be tying itself to a body of death if it did not help the Negro up. In +this connection I want to call attention to the fact that the official +records show that within one year about one million foreigners came into +the United States. Notwithstanding this number, practically none went +into the Southern states; to be more exact, the records show that in +1892 only 2278 all told went into the states of Alabama, Arkansas, +Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, +Tennessee, and Virginia. One ship sometimes brings as many to New York. +Various reasons are given to explain why these foreigners systematically +avoid the South. One is that the climate is so hot; and another is that +they do not like the restrictions thrown about the ballot; and still +another is the presence of the Negro is so large numbers. Whatever the +true reason is, the fact remains that foreigners avoid the South, and +the South is more and more realizing that it cannot keep pace with the +progress being made in other parts of the country if a third of its +population is ignorant and without skill. + +The South must frankly face this truth, that for a long period it must +depend upon the black man to do for it what the foreigner is now doing +for the great West. If, by reason of his skill and knowledge, one man in +Iowa learns to produce as much corn in a season as four men can produce +in Alabama, it requires little reasoning to see that Alabama will buy +most of her corn from Iowa. + +Another interesting result of the introduction of industrial education +for the Negro has been its influence upon the white people of the South, +and, I believe, upon the whites of the North as well. This phase of it +has proved of interest in making hand training a conciliatory element +between the races. + +In 1883 I was delivering an address on industrial education before the +colored State Teachers' Association of one of our Southern states. +When I had finished, some of the teachers began to ask the State +Superintendent of Education, who was on the programme, some questions +about the subject. He politely but firmly stopped the questions by +stating that he knew absolutely nothing about industrial training, and +had never heard it discussed before. At that time there was no such +education being given at any white institution in that state. With one +or two exceptions this case will illustrate what was true of all the +Southern states. A careful investigation of the subject will show +that it was not until after industrial education was started among +the colored people, and its value proved, that it was taken up by the +Southern white people. + +Manual training or industrial and technical schools for the whites have, +for the most part, been established under state auspices, and are at +this time chiefly maintained by the states. An investigation would also +show that in securing money from the state legislatures for the purpose +of introducing hand work, one of the main arguments used was the +existence and success of industrial training among the Negroes. It was +often argued that the white boys and girls would be left behind unless +they had the opportunities for securing the same kind of training +that was being given the colored people. Although it is, I think, not +generally known, it is a fact that since the idea of industrial or +technical education for white people took root within the last few +years, much more money is spent annually for such education for the +whites than for the colored people. Any one who has not looked into the +subject will be surprised to find how thorough and high grade the work +is. Take, for example, the state of Georgia, and it will be found that +several times as much is being spent at the Industrial College for +white girls at Milledgeville, and at the technical school for whites +at Atlanta, as is being spent in the whole state for the industrial +education of Negro youths. I have met no Southern white educators who +have not been generous in their praise of the Negro schools for taking +the initiative in hand training. This fact has again served to create in +matters relating to education a bond of sympathy between the two races +in the South. Referring again to the influence of industrial training +for the Negro in education, in the Northern states I find, while writing +this article, the following announcement in the advertisement of what +is perhaps the most high-priced and exclusive girls' seminary in +Massachusetts:-- + +"In planning a system of education for young ladies, with the view of +fitting them for the greatest usefulness in life, the idea was conceived +of supplementing the purely intellectual work by a practical training in +the art of home management and its related subjects. + +"It was the first school of high literary grade to introduce courses in +Domestic Science into the regular curriculum. + +"The results were so gratifying as to lead to the equipment of +Experiment Hall, a special building, fitted for the purpose of studying +the principles of Applied Housekeeping. Here the girls do the actual +work of cooking, marketing, arranging menus, and attend to all the +affairs of a well-arranged household. + +"Courses are arranged also in sewing, dressmaking, and millinery; they +are conducted on a similarly practical basis, and equip the student with +a thorough knowledge of the subject." + +A dozen years ago I do not believe that any such announcement would have +been made. + +Beginning with the year 1877, the Negro in the South lost practically +all political control; that is to say, as early as 1885 the Negro +scarcely had any members of his race in the national Congress or +state legislatures, and long before this date had ceased to hold state +offices. This was true, notwithstanding the protests and fervent oratory +of such strong race leaders as Frederick Douglass, B. K. Bruce, John R. +Lynch, P. B. S. Pinchback, and John M. Langston, with a host of others. +When Frederick Douglass, the greatest man that the race has produced, +died in 1895, it is safe to say that the Negro in the Southern states, +with here and there a few exceptions, had practically no political +control or political influence, except in sending delegates to national +conventions, or in holding a few Federal positions by appointment. It +became evident to many of the wise Negroes that the race would have to +depend for its success in the future less upon political agitations and +the opportunity of holding office, and more upon something more tangible +and substantial. It was at this period in the Negro's development, when +the distance between the races was greatest, and the spirit and ambition +of the colored people most depressed, that the idea of industrial or +business development was introduced and began to be made prominent. It +did not take the more level-headed members of the race long to see that +while the Negro in the South was surrounded by many difficulties, there +was practically no line drawn and little race discrimination in the +world of commerce, banking, storekeeping, manufacturing, and the skilled +trades, and in agriculture, and that in this lay his great opportunity. +They understood that, while the whites might object to a Negro's being a +postmaster, they would not object to his being the president of a +bank, and in the latter occupation they would give him assistance and +encouragement. The colored people were quick to see that while the negro +would not be invited as a rule to attend the white man's prayer-meeting, +he would be invited every time to attend the stockholders' meeting of +a business concern in which he had an interest and that he could buy +property in practically any portion of the South where the white man +could buy it. The white citizens were all the more willing to encourage +the Negro in this economic or industrial development, because they saw +that the prosperity of the Negro meant also the prosperity of the white +man. They saw, too, that when a Negro became the owner of a home and +was a taxpayer, having a regular trade or other occupation, he at once +became a conservative and safe citizen and voter; one who would consider +the interests of his whole community before casting his ballot; and, +further, one whose ballot could not be purchased. + +One case in point is that of the twenty-eight teachers at our school +in Tuskegee who applied for life-voting certificates under the new +constitution of Alabama, not one was refused registration; and if I may +be forgiven a personal reference, in my own case, the Board of Registers +were kind enough to send me a special request to the effect that they +wished me not to fail to register as a life voter. I do not wish +to convey the impression that all worthy colored people have been +registered in Alabama, because there have been many inexcusable and +unlawful omissions; but, with few exceptions, the 2700 who have been +registered represent the best Negroes in the state. + +Though in some parts of the country he is now misunderstood, I believe +that the time is going to come when matters can be weighed soberly, and +when the whole people are going to see that president Roosevelt is, and +has been from the first, in line with this policy,--that of encouraging +the colored people who by industry and economy have won their way into +the confidence and respect of their neighbors. Both before and since +he became President I have had many conversations with him, and at all +times I have found him enthusiastic over the plan that I have described. + +The growth of the race in industrial and business directions within the +last few years cannot perhaps be better illustrated than by the fact +that what is now the largest secular national organization among the +colored people is the National Negro Business League. This organization +brings together annually hundreds of men and women who have worked their +way up from the bottom to the point where they are now in some cases +bankers, merchants, manufacturers, planters, etc. The sight of this body +of men and women would surprise a large part of American citizens who do +not really know the better side of the Negro's life. + +It ought to be stated frankly here that at first, and for several +years after the introduction of industrial training at such educational +centres as Hampton and Tuskegee, there was opposition from colored +people, and from portions of those Northern white people engaged in +educational and missionary work among the colored people in the South. +Most of those who manifested such opposition were actuated by the +highest and most honest motives. From the first the rank and file of the +blacks were quick to see the advantages of industrial training, as is +shown by the fact that industrial schools have always been overcrowded. +Opposition to industrial training was based largely on the old and +narrow ground that it was something that the Southern white people +favored, and therefore must be against the interests of the Negro. +Again, others opposed it because they feared that it meant the +abandonment of all political privileges, and the higher or classical +education of the race. They feared that the final outcome would be the +materialization of the Negro, and the smothering of his spiritual and +aesthetic nature. Others felt that industrial education had for its +object the limitation of the Negro's development, and the branding him +for all time as a special hand-working class. + +Now that enough time has elapsed for those who opposed it to see that +it meant none of these things, opposition, except from a very few of +the colored people living in Boston and Washington, has ceased, and this +system has the enthusiastic support of the Negroes and of most of the +whites who formerly opposed it. All are beginning to see that it was +never meant that ALL Negro youths should secure industrial education, +any more than it is meant that ALL white youths should pass through +the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, or the Amherst Agricultural +College, to the exclusion of such training as is given at Harvard, Yale, +or Dartmouth; but that in a peculiar sense a large proportion of the +Negro youths needed to have that education which would enable them to +secure an economic foundation, without which no people can succeed in +any of the higher walks of life. + +It is because of the fact that the Tuskegee Institute began at the +bottom, with work in the soil, in wood, in iron, in leather, that it +has now developed to the point where it is able to furnish employment +as teachers to twenty-eight Negro graduates of the best colleges in the +country. This is about three times as many Negro college graduates as +any other institution in the United States for the education of colored +people employs, the total number of officers and instructors at Tuskegee +being about one hundred and ten. + +Those who once opposed this see now that while the Negro youth who +becomes skilled in agriculture and a successful farmer may not be able +himself to pass through a purely literary college, he is laying the +foundation for his children and grandchildren to do it if desirable. +Industrial education in this generation is contributing in the highest +degree to make what is called higher education a success. It is now +realized that in so far as the race has intelligent and skillful +producers, the greater will be the success of the minister, lawyer, +doctor, and teacher. Opposition has melted away, too, because all men +now see that it will take a long time to "materialize" a race, millions +of which hold neither houses nor railroads, nor bank stocks, nor +factories, nor coal and gold mines. + +Another reason for the growth of a better understanding of the objects +and influence of industrial training is the fact, as before stated, that +it has been taken up with such interest and activity by the Southern +whites, and that it has been established at such universities as Cornell +in the East, and in practically all of the state colleges of the great +West. + +It is now seen that the result of such education will be to help the +black man to make for himself an independent place in our great American +life. It was largely the poverty of the Negro that made him the prey of +designing politicians immediately after the war; and wherever poverty +and lack of industry exist to-day, one does not find in him that deep +spiritual life which the race must in the future possess in a higher +degree. + +To those who still express the fear that perhaps too much stress is +put upon industrial education for the Negro I would add that I should +emphasize the same kind of training for any people, whether black or +white, in the same stage of development as the masses of the colored +people. + +For a number of years this country has looked to Germany for much in the +way of education, and a large number of our brightest men and women are +sent there each year. The official reports show that in Saxony, Germany, +alone, there are 287 industrial schools, or one such school to every +14,641 people. This is true of a people who have back of them centuries +of wealth and culture. In the South I am safe in saying that there is +not more than one effective industrial school for every 400,000 colored +people. + +A recent dispatch from Germany says that the German Emperor has had a +kitchen fitted up in the palace for the single purpose of having his +daughter taught cooking. If all classes and nationalities, who are +in most cases thousands of years ahead of the Negro in the arts of +civilization, continue their interest in industrial training, I cannot +understand how any reasonable person can object to such education for a +large part of a people who are in the poverty-stricken condition that is +true of a large element of my race, especially when such hand training +is combined, as it should be, with the best education of head and heart. + + + + +THE NEGRO IN THE REGULAR ARMY by Oswald Garrison Villard + + +When the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts Regiment stormed Fort Wagner July +18, 1863, only to be driven back with the loss of its colonel, Robert +Gould Shaw, and many of its rank and file, it established for all time +the fact that the colored soldier would fight and fight well. This had +already been demonstrated in Louisiana by colored regiments under the +command of General Godfrey Weitzel in the attack upon Port Hudson on May +27 of the same year. On that occasion regiments composed for the greater +part of raw recruits, plantation hands with centuries of servitude under +the lash behind them, stormed trenches and dashed upon cold steel in the +hands of their former masters and oppressors. After that there was no +more talk in the portion of the country of the "natural cowardice" +of the negro. But the heroic qualities of Colonel Shaw, his social +prominence and that of his officers, and the comparative nearness of +their battlefield to the North, attracted greater and more lasting +attention to the daring and bravery of their exploit, until it finally +became fixed in many minds as the first real baptism of fire of colored +American soldiers. + +After Wagner the recruiting of colored regiments, originally opposed +by both North and South, went on apace, particularly under the Federal +government, which organized no less than one hundred and fifty-four, +designated as "United States Colored Troops." Colonel Shaw's raising of +a colored regiment aroused quite as much comment in the North because +of the race prejudice it defied, as because of the novelty of the new +organization. General Weitzel tendered his resignation the instant +General B. F. Butler assigned black soldiers to his brigade, and was +with difficulty induced to serve on. His change of mind was a wise one, +and not only because these colored soldiers covered him with glory at +Port Hudson. It was his good fortune to be the central figure in one +of the dramatic incidents of a war that must ever rank among the most +thrilling and tragic the world has seen. The black cavalrymen who rode +into Richmond, the first of the Northern troops to enter the Southern +capital, went in waving their sabres and crying to the negroes on the +sidewalks, "We have come to set you free!" They were from the division +of Godfrey Weitzel, and American history has no more stirring moment. + +In the South, notwithstanding the raising in 1861 of a colored +Confederate regiment by Governor Moore of Louisiana (a magnificent body +of educated colored men which afterwards became the First Louisiana +National Guards of General Weitzel's brigade and the first colored +regiment in the Federal Army), the feeling against negro troops was +insurmountable until the last days of the struggle. Then no straw +could be overlooked. When, in December, 1863, Major-General Patrick R. +Cleburne, who commanded a division of Hardee's Corps of the Confederate +Army of the Tennessee, sent in a paper in which the employment of the +slaves as soldiers of the South was vigorously advocated, Jefferson +Davis indorsed it with the statement, "I deem it inexpedient at +this time to give publicity to this paper, and request that it be +suppressed." General Cleburne urged that "freedom within a reasonable +time" be granted to every slave remaining true to the Confederacy, and +was moved to this action by the valor of the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts, +saying, "If they [the negroes] can be made to face and fight bravely +against their former masters, how much more probable is it that with +the allurement of a higher reward, and led by those masters, they would +submit to discipline and face dangers?" + +With the ending of the civil war the regular army of the United States +was reorganized upon a peace footing by an act of Congress dated July +28, 1866. In just recognition of the bravery of the colored volunteers +six regiments, the Ninth and Tenth Cavalry and the Thirty-eighth, +Thirty-ninth, Fortieth, and Forth-first Infantry, were designated +as colored regiments. When the army was again reduced in 1869, the +Thirty-eighth and Forty-first became the Twenty-fourth Infantry, and +the Thirty-ninth and Fortieth became the Twenty-fifth. This left four +colored regiments in the regular army as it was constituted from 1870 +until 1901. There has never been a colored artillery organization in the +regular service. + +To these new regiments came a motley mixture of veterans of volunteer +organizations, newly released slaves, and some freedmen of several +years' standing but without military experience. They were eager to +learn, and soon showed the same traits which distinguish the black +regiments to-day,--loyalty to their officers and to their colors, +sobriety and courage, and a notable pride in the efficiency of their +corps. But if ever officers had to "father and mother" their soldiers +they were the company officers of these regiments. The captains in +particular had to be bankers, secretaries, advisers, and judges for +their men. As Lieutenant Grote Hutcheson has stated it, "The men knew +nothing, and the non-commissioned officers but little more. From the +very circumstances of their preceding life it could not be otherwise. +They had no independence, no self-reliance, not a thought except for +the present, and were filled with superstition." Yet the officers were +determined to prove the wisdom of the experiment. To do this they were +forced to give their own attention to the minutest details of military +administration, and to act as non-commissioned officers. The total lack +of education among the men necessitated an enormous amount of writing by +the officers. In the Ninth Cavalry only one man was found able to write +well enough to be sergeant-major, and not for several years was it +possible to obtain troop clerks. When the Tenth Cavalry was being +recruited an officer was sent to Philadelphia with the express purpose +of picking up educated colored men for the non-commissioned positions. +Difficult as the tasks of the officers thus were, most of them felt well +repaid for their unusual labors by the affectionate regard in which they +were held by their soldiers, and by the never-failing good humor with +which the latter went about their duties. + +As the years passed the character of the colored soldiers naturally +changed. In place of the war veterans, and of the men whose chains of +servitude had just been struck off, came young men from the North and +East with more education and more self-reliance. They depended less +upon their officers, both in the barracks and in the field, yet they +reverenced and cared for them as much as did their predecessors. Their +greatest faults then as now were gambling and quarreling. On the other +hand, the negro regiments speedily became favorably known because of +greater sobriety and of fewer desertions than among the white soldiers. +It was the Ninth Cavalry which a few years ago astonished the army by +reporting not a single desertion in twelve months, an unheard-of and +perhaps undreamed-of record. In all that goes to make a good soldier, +in drill, fidelity, and smartness, the negro regular from the first took +front rank. + +Nor was there ever any lack of the fighting quality which had gratified +the nation at Fort Wagner, or at Fort Blakely, Ala., where the +Seventy-third Colored Infantry, under Colonel Henry C. Merriam, stormed +the enemy's works, in advance of orders, in one of the last actions of +the war. It soon fell to the lot of the Ninth and Tenth Cavalry to prove +that the negroes could do as well under fire in the Indian wars as they +had when fighting for the freedom of their race. While the Twenty-fourth +and Twenty-fifth Infantry had merely garrison work to do, the Ninth and +Tenth Cavalry scouted for years against hostile Indians in Texas, New +Mexico, Colorado, and Kansas, always acquitting themselves honorably. In +September, 1868, a little over two years after their organization, three +troops of the Ninth Cavalry did well in an action against Indians +at Horsehead Hills, Texas. When General George A. Forsyth and his +detachment of fifty scouts were surrounded and "corralled" by seven +hundred Indians on an island in the Republican River, it was the troop +of Captain Louis H. Carpenter, of the Tenth Cavalry, which first came to +their rescue. Similarly when Major T. T. Thornburg's command was nearly +wiped out by Utes in 1879, it was Captain F. S. Dodge's Troop D of the +Ninth which succeeded in reaching it in time, losing all its horses in +so doing. This regiment alone took part in sixty Indian fights between +1868 and 1890, during which time it lost three officers and twenty-seven +men killed, and had three officers and thirty-four men wounded. The +Tenth Cavalry's casualties were also heavy during this same period, and +it fought for many years over a most difficult country in New Mexico and +Arizona, taking a conspicuous part in running to earth Geronimo's and +Victoria's bands of Apaches. + +On one of these campaigns Lieutenant Powhatan H. Clarke gave effective +proof of the affection which the officers of colored regiments have +for their men. In the fight in the Pineto Mountains with a portion +of Geronimo's forces this young Southerner risked his life to save a +colored sergeant who had fallen wounded in an open space where both he +and his rescuer were easy marks for the Apaches. For this gallant act +Lieutenant Clarke rightly received a medal of honor. The Twenty-fourth +Infantry, on the other hand, has contributed a striking instance of the +devotion of colored soldiers to their officers. When Major Joseph W. +Wham, paymaster, was attacked by robbers on May 11, 1889, his colored +escort fought with such gallantry that every one of the soldiers was +awarded a medal of honor or a certificate of merit. Some of them stood +their ground although badly wounded, notably Sergeant Benjamin Brown, +who continued to fight and to encourage his men until shot through both +arms. In a fight against Apaches in the Cuchilo Negro Mountains of New +Mexico on August 16, 1881, Moses Williams, First Sergeant of Troop I, +Ninth Cavalry, displayed such gallantry that he was given a medal of +honor by common consent. When the only officer with the detachment, +Lieutenant Gustavus Valois, had his horse shot under him, and was cut +off from his men, Sergeant Williams promptly rallied the detachment, and +conducted the right flank in a running fight for several hours with such +coolness, bravery, and unflinching devotion to duty that he undoubtedly +saved the lives of at least three comrades. His action in standing by +and rescuing Lieutenant Valois was the more noteworthy because he and +his men were subjected, in an exposed position, to a heavy fire from a +large number of Indians. For splendid gallantry against Indians, while +serving as sergeant of Troop K, Ninth Cavalry, on May 14, 1880, and +August 12, 1881, George Jordan was also given a medal of honor. Five of +the medal of honor men now in the service are colored soldiers, while +fifteen others have "certificates of merit" also awarded for conspicuous +deeds of bravery. + +It was not until the battle of Santiago, however, that the bulk of the +American people realized that the standing army comprised regiments +composed wholly of black men. Up to that time only one company of +colored soldiers had served at a post east of the Mississippi. Even +Major, later Brigadier-General, Guy V. Henry's gallop to the rescue of +the Seventh Cavalry on December 30, 1890, with four troops of the +Ninth Cavalry, attracted but little attention. This feat was the more +remarkable because Major Henry's command had just completed a march of +more than one hundred miles in twenty-four hours. But in the battle +at Santiago, the four colored regiments won praise from all sides, +particularly for their advance upon Kettle Hill, in which the Rough +Riders also figured. From the very beginning of the movement of the army +after its landing, the negro troops were in the front of the fighting, +and contributed largely to the successful result. Although they suffered +heavy losses, especially in officers, the men fought with the same +gallantry they had displayed on the plains, as is attested by the honors +awarded. In every company there were instances of personal gallantry. +The first sergeants especially lived up to the responsibilities placed +upon them. The color sergeant of the Tenth Cavalry, Adam Houston, bore +to the front not only his own flags, but those of the Third Cavalry when +the latter's color sergeant was shot down. In several emergencies where +troops or companies lost their white officers, the senior sergeants +took command and handled their men in a faultless manner, notably in the +Tenth Cavalry. + +Indeed, the conduct of these men has done much to dispel the old belief +that colored soldiers will fight only when they have efficient white +officers. This may well have been true at one period of the civil war +when the colored race as a whole had never even had the responsibilities +attaching to free men. It is growing less and less true as time passes +and better educated men enter the ranks. In recognition of their +achievements at Santiago a number of these black non-commissioned +officers were made commissioned officers in several of the so-called +"immune" regiments of United States Volunteers raised in July, 1898. +None of these organizations were in service long enough to become really +efficient, and a few were never properly disciplined. Nevertheless, +a majority of the officers promoted from the colored regulars bore +themselves well under exceedingly trying circumstances. Some of them, +and a number of regular sergeants and corporals who had succeeded +to their former places, were made lieutenants and captains in the +Forty-eighth and Forty-ninth Volunteer Infantry, which served in the +Philippines for two years, and to which we shall recur later. + +At Santiago the characteristic cheerfulness of the negro soldiers was +as striking as their bravery. In his little book called The Nth Foot In +War, Lieutenant M. B. Stewart says of them:-- + +"The negro troops were in a high good humor. They had made the charge of +the day; they had fought with a dash and vigor which forever established +their reputation as fighters, and which would carry them down in the +pages of history. To have heard them that night no one would have ever +thought that they had lived for twelve mortal hours under a galling +fire. They were laughing and joking over the events of the day, in the +same manner they would have done had they been returning from a picnic. + +"'Golly,' laughed a six-foot sergeant, 'dere was music in de air sho' +nuff. Dat lead was flying around in sheets, I tell you. I seen a buzzard +flying around in front of our line, and I says to myself, "Buzzard, you +is in a mighty dangerous position. You better git out uf dat, 'cause dey +ain't room out dar for a muskeeter."' Another remarked, 'Say, did you +see dat man Brown; pity dat man been killed. He'd a been a corporal, +sho.' + +"In the utter exhaustion of the moment all race and social distinctions +were forgotten. Officers lay down among their men and slept like logs. +The negro troops sought out soft places along the sides of the road and +lay down with their white comrades. There was a little commotion among +the latter, and an officer was heard to yell: 'Here, you man, take your +feet off my stomach. Well, I'll be damned if it ain't a nigger. Get out, +you black rascal.' As the commotion subsided, the negro was heard to +remark, 'Well, if dat ain't de mos' particler man I ever see.'" + +Characteristic also is a story of the negro cavalryman who, returning +to the rear, said to some troops anxious to get to the front: "Dat's all +right, gemmen; don't git in a sweat; dere's lots of it lef' for you. +You wants to look out for dese yere sharpshooters, for dey is mighty +careless with dere weapons, and dey is specially careless when dey is +officers aroun'." + +As soon as the army settled down in the trenches before Santiago, +smuggled musical instruments--guitars, banjos, mouth organs, and what +not--appeared among the negro troops as if by magic, and they were +ever in use. It was at once a scene of cheerfulness and gayety, and the +officers had their usual trouble in making the men go to sleep instead +of spending the night in talking, singing, and gaming. In the peaceful +camp of the Third Alabama, in that state, the scenes were similar. There +was always "a steady hum of laughter and talk, dance, song, shout, and +the twang of musical instruments." It was "a scene full of life and +fun, of jostling, scuffling, and racing, of clown performances and +cake-walks, of impromptu minstrelsy, speech-making, and preaching, of +deviling, guying, and fighting, both real and mimic." The colonel found +great difficulty in getting men to work alone. Two would volunteer for +any service. "Colonel," said a visitor to the camp, "your sentinels are +sociable fellows. I saw No. 5 over at the end of his beat entertaining +No. 6 with some fancy manual of arms. Afterwards, with equal amiability, +No. 6 executed a most artistic cake-walk for his friend." It must be +remembered here that this colonel's men were typical Southern negroes, +literate and illiterate, and all new to military life. + +In addition to the Forty-eighth and Forty-ninth Volunteers, the four +regular colored regiments have served in the Philippines. Here the work +was particularly trying and the temptations to misconduct many. The +Filipino women were especially attractive to the men because of their +color, and it is on record that several soldiers were tempted from their +allegiance to the United States. Two of these, whose sympathy and liking +for the Filipinos overcame their judgment, paid the full penalty of +desertion, being hanged by their former comrades. Both belonged to +the Ninth Cavalry. On the other hand, in a remarkable order issued +by General A. S. Burt in relinquishing command of the Twenty-fifth +Infantry, on April 17, 1902, on his promotion to brigadier-general, +he was able to quote the Inspector-General of the army as saying: +"The Twenty-fifth Infantry is the best regiment I have seen in the +Philippines." General Burt praised highly the excellent conduct of the +enlisted men while in the Archipelago, which proved to his mind that the +American negroes are "as law-abiding as any race in the world." + +Three of General Burt's sergeants, Russell, McBryar, and Hoffman, were +promoted to the Forty-eighth and Forty-ninth Volunteers, and served, +as lieutenants, for several months with their old regiment, the +Twenty-fifth, until the arrival of their new regiments in Manila. +During this time they were frequently under fire. General Burt bore high +testimony to their soldierly bearing, their capacity and ability, and +expressed great regret when he was forced to let them go. McBryar had +won a medal of honor for gallantry against Indians in Arizona in 1890. +In the Forty-ninth Volunteers, Company L, composed wholly of colored +men, and commanded by Captain Edward L. Baker, a colored veteran of +Santiago, who had served for seventeen years in the Ninth and Tenth +Cavalry and in the Tenth "Immunes," made a wonderful record. According +to a statement which was widely published at the time and never denied, +this company had on its rolls during a period of twelve months one +hundred and six men who were fit for duty at all times and never lost +a day on account of sickness. No white company remotely approached +this record. More extraordinary still is the fact that during this same +period not one of these men ever went before a court-martial. This is +surely a striking illustration of what can be done by colored officers. +It is noticeable, too, that neither the officers nor the men of any +colored regiment have figured in the charges and counter-charges arising +out of the use of the water-torture, except one man who at the time of +his offense was not with his regiment. The Forty-ninth Volunteers was +a very unhappy regiment during its brief life, but its troubles were +largely due to its white officers. One of these, a major, was dismissed +for misconduct, and his place was filled by the senior captain, a +colored man. Several other white officers and one colored captain got +into serious trouble, the last being dismissed. The Forty-eighth was, +on the contrary, a contented organization in which the colored officers +were treated in a kindly and courteous manner by their white associates +and superiors. The two regiments afford a striking illustration of +Napoleon's saying, "There are no such things as poor regiments,--only +poor colonels." + +The negro regiment unquestionably calls for different treatment from +that which would be accorded to white troops, just as the Indian troops +of King Edward's army require different handling from that called for +in the case of the King's Royal Rifles. Yet as fighting machines, +the Indian soldiers may be the equals if not the superiors of the +Englishmen. Major Robert L. Bullard, Twenty-eighth United States +Infantry who commanded the colored Third Alabama Volunteers, already +referred to, during the war with Spain, discusses in a remarkable paper +published in the United Service Magazine for July, 1901, the differences +between negro and white soldiers. They are so great, he says, as +to require the military commander to treat the negro as a different +species. He must fit his methods of instruction and discipline to +the characteristics of the race. Major Bullard adds that "mistakes, +injustices, and failures would result from his making the same rules and +methods apply to the two races without regard to how far apart set +by nature or separated by evolution." But Major Bullard would +unquestionably concede that these differences in no way require a +treatment of the negro soldier which implies that he is an inferior +being and which ever impresses upon him his inferiority. Yet this seems +to have been the case in the Forty-ninth United States Volunteers. + +In the regular army, as well as in the volunteers, officers have +frequently appealed with success to the negroes' pride of race, and have +urged them on to greater efficiency and better behavior by reminding +them that they have the honor of their people in their hands. To such +appeals there is ever a prompt response. One of the most effective ways +of disciplining an offender is by holding him up to the ridicule of his +fellows. The desire of the colored soldiers to amuse and to be amused +gives the officers an easy way of obtaining a hold upon them and their +affections. The regimental rifle team, the baseball nine, the minstrel +troupe, and the regimental band offer positions of importance for which +the competition is much keener than in the white regiments. There +is also a friendly rivalry between companies, which is much missed +elsewhere in the service. The negroes are natural horsemen and riders. +It is a pleasure to them to take care of their mounts, and a matter of +pride to keep their animals in good condition. Personally they are clean +and neat, and they take the greatest possible pride in their uniforms. +In no white regiment is there a similar feeling. With the negroes the +canteen question is of comparatively slight importance, not only because +the men can be more easily amused within their barracks, but because +their appetite for drink is by no means as strong as that of the white +men. Their sociability is astonishing. They would rather sit up and tell +stories and crack jokes than go to bed, no matter how hard the day has +been. + +The dark sides are, that the negro soldiers easily turn merited +punishment into martyrdom, that their gambling propensities are almost +beyond control, that their habit of carrying concealed weapons is +incurable, and that there is danger of serious fighting when they fall +out with one another. Frequent failure to act honorably toward a comrade +in some trifling matter is apt to cause scuffling and fighting until the +men are well disciplined. Women are another cause of quarrels, and are +at all times a potent temptation to misconduct and neglect of duty. +It is very difficult to impress upon the men the value of government +property, and duty which requires memorizing of orders is always the +most difficult to teach. For the study of guard duty manuals or of +tactics they have no natural aptitude. The non-commissioned officers are +of very great importance, and in the regulars they are looked up to and +obeyed implicitly, much more so than is the case with white troops. It +is necessary, however, for the officers to back up the sergeants and +corporals very vigorously, even when they are slightly in the wrong. +Then colored men are more easily "rattled" by poor officers than are +their white comrades. There was a striking instance of this two or three +years ago when a newly appointed and wholly untrained white officer lost +his head at a post in Texas. His black subordinates, largely recruits, +followed suit, and in carrying out his hysterical orders imperiled +many lives in the neighboring town. Selections for service with colored +troops should therefore be most carefully made. Major Bullard declares +that the officer of negro troops "must not only be an officer and +a gentleman, but he must be considerate, patient, laborious, +self-sacrificing, a man of affairs, and he must have knowledge and +wisdom in a great lot of things not really military." + +If the position of a white officer is a difficult one, that of +the colored officer is still more so. He has not the self-assumed +superiority of the white man, naturally feels that he is on trial, and +must worry himself incessantly about his relations to his white comrades +of the shoulder straps. While the United States Navy has hitherto been +closed to negroes who aspire to be officers, the army has pursued a +wiser and more just policy. The contrast between the two services is +really remarkable. On almost every war vessel white and black sailors +sleep and live together in crowded quarters without protest or friction. +But the negro naval officer is kept out of the service by hook or by +crook for the avowed reason that the cramped quarters of the wardroom +would make association with him intolerable. In the army, on the other +hand, the experiment of mixed regiments has never been tried. A good +colored soldier can nevertheless obtain a commission by going through +West Point, or by rising from the ranks, or by being appointed directly +from civil life. + +Since the foundation of the Military Academy there have been eighteen +colored boys appointed to West Point, of whom fifteen failed in their +preliminary examinations, or were discharged after entering because of +deficiency in studies. Three were graduated and commissioned as second +lieutenants of cavalry, Henry Ossian Flipper, John Hanks Alexander, and +Charles Young. Of these, Lieutenant Flipper was dismissed June 30, +1882, for "conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman." The other +two proved themselves excellent officers, notably Young, who is at this +writing a captain, and a most efficient one, in the Ninth Cavalry, with +which he recently served in the Philippines. Lieutenant Alexander died +suddenly in 1894. In announcing his death in a regimental order his +colonel spoke of him in terms of high praise, and did not use the +customary stereotyped phrases of regret. His fellow white officers all +had good words for him. There never was more striking testimony to the +discipline and spirit of fairness at West Point than was afforded by the +sight of Cadet Charles Young, who is of very dark complexion, commanding +white cadets. Nothing else has impressed foreign visitors at West Point +half so much. + +An equally remarkable happening, and one which speaks even more for +the democratic spirit in the army, was the commissioning in 1901 of +Sergeant-Major Benjamin O. Davis, Ninth Cavalry, and of Corporal John E. +Green, Twenty-fourth Infantry. Both these men were examined by boards +of white officers, who might easily have excluded them because of color +prejudice, in which case there would have been no appeal from their +findings. Lieutenant Davis's former troop commander, a West Pointer, +openly rejoiced at his success, and predicted that he would make an +excellent officer. These are the first two colored men to rise from the +ranks, but there will be many more if the same admirable spirit of +fair play continues to rule in the army and is not altered by outside +prejudice. It was thought that there would be a severe strain upon +discipline when a colored officer rose to the rank of captain and to +the command of white officers. But in Captain Young's case his white +subordinates seem to have realized that it is the position and rank +that they are compelled to salute and obey, and not the individual. This +principle is at the bottom of all discipline. Only too frequently do +subordinates throughout the army have to remind themselves of this when +obeying men for whose social qualities and character they have neither +regard nor respect. During the war with Spain Captain Young commanded +a negro battalion from Ohio, which was pronounced the best drilled +organization in the large army assembled at Camp Alger near Washington. +In addition to these officers, Captain John R. Lynch, formerly a +Congressman from Mississippi, and four colored chaplains represent their +race on the commissioned rolls of the army. All of these men are doing +well. One colored chaplain was dismissed for drunkenness in 1894. Beyond +this their record is unblemished. + +Despite the fairness shown in these appointments, there has been +considerable very just criticism of the War Department for its failure +to appoint to the regulars any of the colored officers who did well in +the Forty-eighth and Forty-ninth Volunteers. Every colonel of volunteers +was allowed to designate for examination for appointment to the regular +army the best officers in his regiment. Hundreds of white officers were +selected in this way, but not a single colored officer was given an +examination,--not even Lieutenant McBryar, with his medal of honor, +or Captain Baker. Similarly fault has been found with Secretary Root +because no new colored regiments were established under the law of +February 2, 1901, increasing the army by five regiments of infantry, +five of cavalry, and a large number of companies of artillery. The +excuse most often heard is that the negroes already have sufficient +representation in comparison with the percentage of negroes to white +persons within the borders of the United States. But the sterling +characteristics of the colored soldiers, their loyalty to the service +as shown by the statistics of desertion, and, above all, their splendid +service in Cuba, should have entitled them to additional organizations. +To say the least, the decision of the War Department smacks considerably +of ingratitude. Nevertheless, the negro regiments have come to stay, +both in the regulars and in the volunteers. The hostilities of the last +five years have dispelled any doubt which may have existed upon this +point. + + + + +BAXTER'S PROCRUSTES by Charles W. Chesnutt + + +Baxter's Procrustes is one of the publications of the Bodleian Club. The +Bodleian Club is composed of gentlemen of culture, who are interested +in books and book-collecting. It was named, very obviously, after the +famous library of the same name, and not only became in our city a sort +of shrine for local worshipers of fine bindings and rare editions, +but was visited occasionally by pilgrims from afar. The Bodleian +has entertained Mark Twain, Joseph Jefferson, and other literary and +histrionic celebrities. It possesses quite a collection of personal +mementos of distinguished authors, among them a paperweight which once +belonged to Goethe, a lead pencil used by Emerson, an autograph letter +of Matthew Arnold, and a chip from a tree felled by Mr. Gladstone. Its +library contains a number of rare books, including a fine collection on +chess, of which game several of the members are enthusiastic devotees. + +The activities of the club are not, however, confined entirely to books. +We have a very handsome clubhouse, and much taste and discrimination +have been exercised in its adornment. There are many good paintings, +including portraits of the various presidents of the club, which adorn +the entrance hall. After books, perhaps the most distinctive feature +of the club is our collection of pipes. In a large rack in the +smoking-room--really a superfluity, since smoking is permitted all over +the house--is as complete an assortment of pipes as perhaps exists in +the civilized world. Indeed, it is an unwritten rule of the club that no +one is eligible for membership who cannot produce a new variety of pipe, +which is filed with his application for membership, and, if he passes, +deposited with the club collection, he, however, retaining the title in +himself. Once a year, upon the anniversary of the death of Sir Walter +Raleigh, who it will be remembered, first introduced tobacco into +England, the full membership of the club, as a rule, turns out. A large +supply of the very best smoking mixture is laid in. At nine o'clock +sharp each member takes his pipe from the rack, fills it with tobacco, +and then the whole club, with the president at the head, all smoking +furiously, march in solemn procession from room to room, upstairs +and downstairs, making the tour of the clubhouse and returning to the +smoking-room. The president then delivers an address, and each member +is called upon to say something, either by way of a quotation or +an original sentiment, in praise of the virtues of nicotine. This +ceremony--facetiously known as "hitting the pipe"--being thus concluded, +the membership pipes are carefully cleaned out and replaced in the club +rack. + +As I have said, however, the raison d'etre of the club, and the feature +upon which its fame chiefly rests, is its collection of rare books, and +of these by far the most interesting are its own publications. Even its +catalogues are works of art, published in numbered editions, and sought +by libraries and book-collectors. Early in its history it began +the occasional publication of books which should meet the club +standard,--books in which emphasis should be laid upon the qualities +that make a book valuable in the eyes of collectors. Of these, age +could not, of course, be imparted, but in the matter of fine and curious +bindings, of hand-made linen papers, of uncut or deckle edges, of +wide margins and limited editions, the club could control its own +publications. The matter of contents was, it must be confessed, a +less important consideration. At first it was felt by the publishing +committee that nothing but the finest products of the human mind should +be selected for enshrinement in the beautiful volumes which the +club should issue. The length of the work was an important +consideration,--long things were not compatible with wide margins and +graceful slenderness. For instance, we brought out Coleridge's Ancient +Mariner, an essay by Emerson, and another by Thoreau. Our Rubaiyat of +Omar Khayyam was Heron-Allen's translation of the original MS in +the Bodleian Library at Oxford, which, though less poetical than +FitzGerald's, was not so common. Several years ago we began to publish +the works of our own members. Bascom's Essay on Pipes was a very +creditable performance. It was published in a limited edition of one +hundred copies, and since it had not previously appeared elsewhere and +was copyrighted by the club, it was sufficiently rare to be valuable +for that reason. The second publication of local origin was Baxter's +Procrustes. + +I have omitted to say that once or twice a year, at a meeting of which +notice has been given, an auction is held at the Bodleian. The members +of the club send in their duplicate copies, or books they for any reason +wish to dispose of, which are auctioned off to the highest bidder. At +these sales, which are well attended, the club's publications have of +recent years formed the leading feature. Three years ago, number three +of Bascom's Essay on Pipes sold for fifteen dollars;--the original +cost of publication was one dollar and seventy-five cents. Later in the +evening an uncut copy of the same brought thirty dollars. At the next +auction the price of the cut copy was run up to twenty-five dollars, +while the uncut copy was knocked down at seventy-five dollars. The club +had always appreciated the value of uncut copies, but this financial +indorsement enhanced their desirability immensely. This rise in the +Essay on Pipes was not without a sympathetic effect upon all the club +publications. The Emerson essay rose from three dollars to seventeen, +and the Thoreau, being by an author less widely read, and, by his own +confession commercially unsuccessful, brought a somewhat higher figure. +The prices, thus inflated, were not permitted to come down appreciably. +Since every member of the club possessed one or more of these valuable +editions, they were all manifestly interested in keeping up the price. +The publication, however, which brought the highest prices, and, but +for the sober second thought, might have wrecked the whole system, was +Baxter's Procrustes. + +Baxter was, perhaps, the most scholarly member of the club. A graduate +of Harvard, he had traveled extensively, had read widely, and while not +so enthusiastic a collector as some of us, possessed as fine a private +library as any man of his age in the city. He was about thirty-five +when he joined the club, and apparently some bitter experience--some +disappointment in love or ambition--had left its mark upon his +character. With light, curly hair, fair complexion, and gray eyes, +one would have expected Baxter to be genial of temper, with a tendency +toward wordiness of speech. But though he had occasional flashes of +humor, his ordinary demeanor was characterized by a mild cynicism, +which, with his gloomy pessimistic philosophy, so foreign to the +temperament that should accompany his physical type, could only be +accounted for upon the hypothesis of some secret sorrow such as I +have suggested. What it might be no one knew. He had means and social +position, and was an uncommonly handsome man. The fact that he remained +unmarried at thirty-five furnished some support for the theory of a +disappointment in love, though this the several intimates of Baxter who +belonged to the club were not able to verify. + +It had occurred to me, in a vague way, that perhaps Baxter might be +an unsuccessful author. That he was a poet we knew very well, and +typewritten copies of his verses had occasionally circulated among us. +But Baxter had always expressed such a profound contempt for modern +literature, had always spoken in terms of such unmeasured pity for +the slaves of the pen, who were dependent upon the whim of an +undiscriminating public for recognition and a livelihood, that no one of +us had ever suspected him of aspirations toward publication, until, as I +have said, it occurred to me one day that Baxter's attitude with regard +to publication might be viewed in the light of effect as well as of +cause--that his scorn of publicity might as easily arise from failure +to achieve it, as his never having published might be due to his +preconceived disdain of the vulgar popularity which one must share with +the pugilist or balloonist of the hour. + +The notion of publishing Baxter's Procrustes did not emanate from +Baxter,--I must do him the justice to say this. But he had spoken to +several of the fellows about the theme of his poem, until the notion +that Baxter was at work upon something fine had become pretty well +disseminated throughout our membership. He would occasionally read +brief passages to a small coterie of friends in the sitting-room or +library,--never more than ten lines at once, or to more than five people +at a time,--and these excerpts gave at least a few of us a pretty fair +idea of the motive and scope of the poem. As I, for one, gathered, +it was quite along the line of Baxter's philosophy. Society was the +Procrustes which, like the Greek bandit of old, caught every man born +into the world, and endeavored to fit him to some preconceived standard, +generally to the one for which he was least adapted. The world was full +of men and women who were merely square pegs in round holes, and vice +versa. Most marriages were unhappy because the contracting parties were +not properly mated. Religion was mostly superstition, science for the +most part sciolism, popular education merely a means of forcing the +stupid and repressing the bright, so that all the youth of the rising +generation might conform to the same dull, dead level of democratic +mediocrity. Life would soon become so monotonously uniform and so +uniformly monotonous as to be scarce worth the living. + +It was Smith, I think, who first proposed that the club publish Baxter's +Procrustes. The poet himself did not seem enthusiastic when the subject +was broached; he demurred for some little time, protesting that the poem +was not worthy of publication. But when it was proposed that the edition +be limited to fifty copies he agreed to consider the proposition. When +I suggested, having in mind my secret theory of Baxter's failure in +authorship, that the edition would at least be in the hands of friends, +that it would be difficult for a hostile critic to secure a copy, and +that if it should not achieve success from a literary point of view, +the extent of the failure would be limited to the size of the edition, +Baxter was visibly impressed. When the literary committee at length +decided to request formally of Baxter the privilege of publishing his +Procrustes, he consented, with evident reluctance, upon condition that +he should supervise the printing, binding, and delivery of the books, +merely submitting to the committee, in advance, the manuscript, and +taking their views in regard to the bookmaking. + +The manuscript was duly presented to the literary committee. Baxter +having expressed the desire that the poem be not read aloud at a meeting +of the club, as was the custom, since he wished it to be given to the +world clad in suitable garb, the committee went even farther. Having +entire confidence in Baxter's taste and scholarship, they, with great +delicacy, refrained from even reading the manuscript, contenting +themselves with Baxter's statement of the general theme and the topics +grouped under it. The details of the bookmaking, however, were gone into +thoroughly. The paper was to be of hand-made linen, from the Kelmscott +Mills; the type black-letter, with rubricated initials. The cover, which +was Baxter's own selection, was to be of dark green morocco, with a +cap-and-bells border in red inlays, and doublures of maroon morocco +with a blind-tooled design. Baxter was authorized to contract with the +printer and superintend the publication. The whole edition of fifty +numbered copies was to be disposed of at auction, in advance, to the +highest bidder, only one copy to each, the proceeds to be devoted to +paying for the printing and binding, the remainder, if any, to go into +the club treasury, and Baxter himself to receive one copy by way of +remuneration. Baxter was inclined to protest at this, on the ground that +his copy would probably be worth more than the royalties on the edition, +at the usual ten per cent, would amount to, but was finally prevailed +upon to accept an author's copy. + +While the Procrustes was under consideration, some one read, at one of +our meetings, a note from some magazine, which stated that a sealed copy +of a new translation of Campanella's Sonnets, published by the Grolier +Club, had been sold for three hundred dollars. This impressed the +members greatly. It was a novel idea. A new work might thus be enshrined +in a sort of holy of holies, which, if the collector so desired, could +be forever sacred from the profanation of any vulgar or unappreciative +eye. The possessor of such a treasure could enjoy it by the eye of +imagination, having at the same time the exaltation of grasping what was +for others the unattainable. The literary committee were so impressed +with this idea that they presented it to Baxter in regard to the +Procrustes. Baxter making no objection, the subscribers who might wish +their copies delivered sealed were directed to notify the author. I sent +in my name. A fine book, after all, was an investment, and if there was +any way of enhancing its rarity, and therefore its value, I was quite +willing to enjoy such an advantage. + +When the Procrustes was ready for distribution, each subscriber received +his copy by mail, in a neat pasteboard box. Each number was wrapped in +a thin and transparent but very strong paper through which the cover +design and tooling were clearly visible. The number of the copy was +indorsed upon the wrapper, the folds of which were securely fastened at +each end with sealing-wax, upon which was impressed, as a guaranty of +its inviolateness, the monogram of the club. + +At the next meeting of the Bodleian, a great deal was said about the +Procrustes, and it was unanimously agreed that no finer specimen +of bookmaking had ever been published by the club. By a curious +coincidence, no one had brought his copy with him, and the two club +copies had not yet been received from the binder, who, Baxter had +reported was retaining them for some extra fine work. Upon resolution, +offered by a member who had not subscribed for the volume, a committee +of three was appointed to review the Procrustes at the next literary +meeting of the club. Of this committee it was my doubtful fortune to +constitute one. + +In pursuance of my duty in the premises, it of course became necessary +for me to read the Procrustes. In all probability I should have cut my +own copy for this purpose, had not one of the club auctions intervened +between my appointment and the date set for the discussion of the +Procrustes. At this meeting a copy of the book, still sealed, was +offered for sale, and bought by a non-subscriber for the unprecedented +price of one hundred and fifty dollars. After this a proper regard for +my own interests would not permit me to spoil my copy by opening it, and +I was therefore compelled to procure my information concerning the poem +from some other source. As I had no desire to appear mercenary, I +said nothing about my own copy, and made no attempt to borrow. I did, +however, casually remark to Baxter that I should like to look at +his copy of the proof sheets, since I wished to make some extended +quotations for my review, and would rather not trust my copy to a typist +for that purpose. Baxter assured me, with every evidence of regret, that +he had considered them of so little importance that he had thrown them +into the fire. This indifference of Baxter to literary values struck +me as just a little overdone. The proof sheets of Hamlet, corrected in +Shakespeare's own hand, would be well-nigh priceless. + +At the next meeting of the club I observed that Thompson and Davis, +who were with me on the reviewing committee, very soon brought up the +question of the Procrustes in conversation in the smoking-room, and +seemed anxious to get from the members their views concerning Baxter's +production, I supposed upon the theory that the appreciation of any book +review would depend more or less upon the degree to which it reflected +the opinion of those to whom the review should be presented. I presumed, +of course, that Thompson and Davis had each read the book,--they were +among the subscribers,--and I was desirous of getting their point of +view. + +"What do you think," I inquired, "of the passage on Social Systems?" I +have forgotten to say that the poem was in blank verse, and divided into +parts, each with an appropriate title. + +"Well," replied Davis, it seemed to me a little cautiously, "it is not +exactly Spencerian, although it squints at the Spencerian view, with a +slight deflection toward Hegelianism. I should consider it an harmonious +fusion of the best views of all the modern philosophers, with a strong +Baxterian flavor." + +"Yes," said Thompson, "the charm of the chapter lies in this very +quality. The style is an emanation from Baxter's own intellect,--he +has written himself into the poem. By knowing Baxter we are able to +appreciate the book, and after having read the book we feel that we are +so much the more intimately acquainted with Baxter,--the real Baxter." + +Baxter had come in during this colloquy, and was standing by the +fireplace smoking a pipe. I was not exactly sure whether the faint +smile which marked his face was a token of pleasure or cynicism; it was +Baxterian, however, and I had already learned that Baxter's opinions +upon any subject were not to be gathered always from his facial +expression. For instance, when the club porter's crippled child died +Baxter remarked, it seemed to me unfeelingly, that the poor little devil +was doubtless better off, and that the porter himself had certainly +been relieved of a burden; and only a week later the porter told me in +confidence that Baxter had paid for an expensive operation, undertaken +in the hope of prolonging the child's life. I therefore drew no +conclusions from Baxter's somewhat enigmatical smile. He left the room +at this point in the conversation, somewhat to my relief. + +"By the way, Jones," said Davis, addressing me, "are you impressed by +Baxter's views on Degeneration?" + +Having often heard Baxter express himself upon the general downward +tendency of modern civilization, I felt safe in discussing his views in +a broad and general manner. + +"I think," I replied, "that they are in harmony with those of +Schopenhauer, without his bitterness; with those of Nordau, without his +flippancy. His materialism is Haeckel's, presented with something of the +charm of Omar Khayyam." + +"Yes," chimed in Davis, "it answers the strenuous demand of our +day,--dissatisfaction with an unjustified optimism,--and voices for us +the courage of human philosophy facing the unknown." + +I had a vague recollection of having read something like this somewhere, +but so much has been written, that one can scarcely discuss any subject +of importance without unconsciously borrowing, now and then, the +thoughts or the language of others. Quotation, like imitation, is a +superior grade of flattery. + +"The Procrustes," said Thompson, to whom the metrical review had been +apportioned, "is couched in sonorous lines, of haunting melody and +charm; and yet so closely inter-related as to be scarcely quotable with +justice to the author. To be appreciated the poem should be read as +a whole,--I shall say as much in my review. What shall you say of the +letter-press?" he concluded, addressing me. I was supposed to discuss +the technical excellence of the volume from the connoisseur's viewpoint. + +"The setting," I replied judicially, "is worthy of the gem. The dark +green cover, elaborately tooled, the old English lettering, the heavy +linen paper, mark this as one of our very choicest publications. The +letter-press is of course De Vinne's best,--there is nothing better +on this side of the Atlantic. The text is a beautiful, slender stream, +meandering gracefully through a wide meadow of margin." + +For some reason I left the room for a minute. As I stepped into the +hall, I almost ran into Baxter, who was standing near the door, facing a +hunting print of a somewhat humorous character, hung upon the wall, and +smiling with an immensely pleased expression. + +"What a ridiculous scene!" he remarked. "Look at that fat old squire on +that tall hunter! I'll wager dollars to doughnuts that he won't get over +the first fence!" + +It was a very good bluff, but did not deceive me. Under his mask of +unconcern, Baxter was anxious to learn what we thought of his poem, and +had stationed himself in the hall that he might overhear our discussion +without embarrassing us by his presence. He had covered up his delight +at our appreciation by this simulated interest in the hunting print. + + +When the night came for the review of the Procrustes there was a large +attendance of members, and several visitors, among them a young English +cousin of one of the members, on his first visit to the United States; +some of us had met him at other clubs, and in society, and had found +him a very jolly boy, with a youthful exuberance of spirits and a naive +ignorance of things American that made his views refreshing and, at +times, amusing. + +The critical essays were well considered, if a trifle vague. Baxter +received credit for poetic skill of a high order. + +"Our brother Baxter," said Thompson, "should no longer bury his talent +in a napkin. This gem, of course, belongs to the club, but the same +brain from which issued this exquisite emanation can produce others to +inspire and charm an appreciative world." + +"The author's view of life," said Davis, "as expressed in these +beautiful lines, will help us to fit our shoulders for the heavy +burden of life, by bringing to our realization those profound truths +of philosophy which find hope in despair and pleasure in pain. When he +shall see fit to give to the wider world, in fuller form, the thoughts +of which we have been vouchsafed this foretaste, let us hope that some +little ray of his fame may rest upon the Bodleian, from which can never +be taken away the proud privilege of saying that he was one of its +members." + +I then pointed out the beauties of the volume as a piece of bookmaking. +I knew, from conversation with the publication committee, the style of +type and rubrication, and could see the cover through the wrapper of my +sealed copy. The dark green morocco, I said, in summing up, typified the +author's serious view of life, as a thing to be endured as patiently as +might be. The cap-and-bells border was significant of the shams by which +the optimist sought to delude himself into the view that life was a +desirable thing. The intricate blind-tooling of the doublure shadowed +forth the blind fate which left us in ignorance of our future and our +past, or of even what the day itself might bring forth. The black-letter +type, with rubricated initials, signified a philosophic pessimism +enlightened by the conviction that in duty one might find, after all, an +excuse for life and a hope for humanity. Applying this test to the club, +this work, which might be said to represent all that the Bodleian stood +for, was in itself sufficient to justify the club's existence. If the +Bodleian had done nothing else, if it should do nothing more, it had +produced a masterpiece. + +There was a sealed copy of the Procrustes, belonging, I believe, to one +of the committee, lying on the table by which I stood, and I had picked +it up and held it in my hand for a moment, to emphasize one of my +periods, but had laid it down immediately. I noted, as I sat down, that +young Hunkin, our English visitor, who sat on the other side of the +table, had picked up the volume and was examining it with interest. When +the last review was read, and the generous applause had subsided, there +were cries for Baxter. + +"Baxter! Baxter! Author! Author!" + +Baxter had been sitting over in a corner during the reading of the +reviews, and had succeeded remarkably well, it seemed to me, in +concealing, under his mask of cynical indifference, the exultation which +I was sure he must feel. But this outburst of enthusiasm was too much +even for Baxter, and it was clear that he was struggling with strong +emotion when he rose to speak. + +"Gentlemen, and fellow members of the Bodleian, it gives me unaffected +pleasure--sincere pleasure--some day you may know how much pleasure--I +cannot trust myself to say it now--to see the evident care with which +your committee have read my poor verses, and the responsive sympathy +with which my friends have entered into my views of life and conduct. +I thank you again, and again, and when I say that I am too full for +utterance,--I'm sure you will excuse me from saying any more." + +Baxter took his seat, and the applause had begun again when it was +broken by a sudden exclamation. + +"By Jove!" exclaimed our English visitor, who still sat behind the +table, "what an extraordinary book!" + +Every one gathered around him. + +"You see," he exclaimed; holding up the volume, "you fellows said so +much about the bally book that I wanted to see what it was like; so I +untied the ribbon, and cut the leaves with the paper knife lying here, +and found--and found that there wasn't a single line in it, don't you +know!" + +Blank consternation followed this announcement, which proved only too +true. Every one knew instinctively, without further investigation, that +the club had been badly sold. In the resulting confusion Baxter escaped, +but later was waited upon by a committee, to whom he made the rather +lame excuse that he had always regarded uncut and sealed books as +tommy-rot, and that he had merely been curious to see how far the thing +could go; and that the result had justified his belief that a book with +nothing in it was just as useful to a book-collector as one embodying a +work of genius. He offered to pay all the bills for the sham Procrustes, +or to replace the blank copies with the real thing, as we might choose. +Of course, after such an insult, the club did not care for the poem. He +was permitted to pay the expense, however, and it was more than hinted +to him that his resignation from the club would be favorably acted upon. +He never sent it in, and, as he went to Europe shortly afterwards, the +affair had time to blow over. + +In our first disgust at Baxter's duplicity, most of us cut our copies of +the Procrustes, some of us mailed them to Baxter with cutting notes, and +others threw them into the fire. A few wiser spirits held on to theirs, +and this fact leaking out, it began to dawn upon the minds of the real +collectors among us that the volume was something unique in the way of a +publication. + +"Baxter," said our president one evening to a select few of us who +sat around the fireplace, "was wiser than we knew, or than he perhaps +appreciated. His Procrustes, from the collector's point of view, is +entirely logical, and might be considered as the acme of bookmaking. To +the true collector, a book is a work of art, of which the contents +are no more important than the words of an opera. Fine binding is a +desideratum, and, for its cost, that of the Procrustes could not be +improved upon. The paper is above criticism. The true collector loves +wide margins, and the Procrustes, being all margin, merely touches the +vanishing point of the perspective. The smaller the edition, the greater +the collector's eagerness to acquire a copy. There are but six uncut +copies left, I am told, of the Procrustes, and three sealed copies, of +one of which I am the fortunate possessor." + +After this deliverance, it is not surprising that, at our next auction, +a sealed copy of Baxter's Procrustes was knocked down, after spirited +bidding, for two hundred and fifty dollars, the highest price ever +brought by a single volume published by the club. + + + + +THE HEART OF THE RACE PROBLEM by Quincy Ewing + + +"And, instead of going to the Congress of the United States and saying +there is no distinction made in Mississippi, because of color or +previous condition of servitude, tell the truth, and say this: 'We +tried for many years to live in Mississippi, and share sovereignty and +dominion with the Negro, and we saw our institutions crumbling.... We +rose in the majesty and highest type of Anglo-Saxon manhood, and took +the reins of government out of the hands of the carpet-bagger and +the Negro, and, so help us God, from now on we will never share any +sovereignty or dominion with him again.'"--Governor JAMES K. VARDAMAN, +Mississippi, 1904. + + +During the past decade, newspaper and magazine articles galore, and not +a few books, have been written on what is called the "Race Problem," the +problem caused by the presence in this country of some ten millions of +black and variously-shaded colored people known as Negroes. But, strange +as it may sound, the writer has no hesitation in saying that at this +date there appears to be no clear conception anywhere, on the part of +most people, as to just what the essential problem is which +confronts the white inhabitants of the country because they have for +fellow-citizens (nominally) ten million Negroes. Ask the average man, +ask even the average editor or professor anywhere, what the race problem +is, the heart of it; why, in this land with its millions of foreigners +of all nationalities, THE race problem of problems should be caused +by ten million Negroes, not foreigners but native to the soil through +several generations; and in all probability you will get some such +answer as this:-- + +"The Negroes, as a rule, are very ignorant, are very lazy, are very +brutal, are very criminal. But a little way removed from savagery, they +are incapable of adopting the white man's moral code, of assimilating +the white man's moral sentiments, of striving toward the white man's +moral ideals. They are creatures of brutal, untamed instincts, +and uncontrolled feral passions, which give frequent expression of +themselves in crimes of horrible ferocity. They are, in brief, an +uncivilized, semi-savage people, living in a civilization to which they +are unequal, partaking to a limited degree of its benefits, performing +in no degree its duties. Because they are spatially in a civilization to +which they are morally and intellectually repugnant, they cannot but be +as a foreign irritant to the body social. The problem is, How shall the +body social adjust itself, daily, hourly, to this irritant; how feel +at ease and safe in spite of it? How shall the white inhabitants of +the land, with their centuries of inherited superiority, conserve their +civilization and carry it forward to a yet higher plane, hampered by +ten million black inhabitants of the same land with their centuries of +inherited inferiority?" + +To the foregoing answer, this might now and again be added, or advanced +independently in reply to our question: "Personal aversion on the part +of the white person for the Negro; personal aversion accounted for by +nothing the individual Negro is, or is not, intellectually and morally; +accounted for by the fact, simply, that he is a Negro, that he has a +black or colored skin, that he is different, of another kind." + +Now, certainly, there are very few average men or philosophers, to whom +the answer given to our question would not seem to state, or at any rate +fairly indicate, the race problem in its essence. But, however few they +be, I do not hesitate to align myself with them as one who does not +believe that the essential race problem as it exists in the South +(whatever it be in the North) is stated, or even fairly indicated, in +the foregoing answer. In Northern and Western communities, where he +is outnumbered by many thousands of white people, the Negro may be +accounted a problem, because he is lazy, or ignorant, or brutal, or +criminal, or all these things together; or because he is black +and different. But in Southern communities, where the Negro is not +outnumbered by many thousands of white people, the race problem, +essentially, and in its most acute form, is something distinct from +his laziness or ignorance, or brutality, or criminality, or all-round +intellectual and moral inferiority to the white man. That problem as +the South knows and deals with it would exist, as certainly as it does +to-day, if there were no shadow of excuse for the conviction that the +Negro is more lazy, or more ignorant, or more criminal, or more brutal, +or more anything else he ought not to be, or less anything else he +ought to be, than other men. In other words, let it be supposed that +the average Negro is as a matter of fact the equal, morally and +intellectually, of the average white man of the same class, and the +race problem declines to vanish, declines to budge. We shall see why, +presently. The statements just made demand immediate justification. For +they are doubtless surprising to a degree, and to some readers may prove +startling. + +I proceed to justify them as briefly as possible, asking the reader to +bear in mind that very much more might be said along this line than I +allow myself space to say. + + +I + +That the Negro is not a problem because he is lazy, because he declines +to work, is evidenced by the patent fact that in virtually every +Southern community he is sought as a laborer in fields, mills, mines, +and that in very many Southern communities the vexing problem for +employers is not too many, but too few Negroes. In certain agricultural +sections, notably in the Louisiana sugar district, quite a number of +Italians ("Dagoes") are employed. The reason is not dissatisfaction +with Negro labor, but simply that there is not enough of it to meet the +requirements of the large plantations. There is, perhaps, not one +of these plantations on which any able-bodied Negro could not get +employment for the asking; and as a rule, the Negroes are given, not +the work which demands the lowest, but that which demands the highest, +efficiency: they are the ploughmen, the teamsters, the foremen. If any +one doubts that Negroes are wanted as laborers in Southern communities, +very much wanted, let him go to any such community and attempt to +inveigle a few dozen of the laziest away. He will be likely to take his +life in his hands, after the usual warning is disregarded! + + +II + +The small politician's trump-card, played early and late, and in all +seasons, that the Negro is a black shadow over the Southland because +of his excessive criminality, serves well the politician's purpose,--it +wins his game; but only because the game is played and won on a board +where fictions, not facts, are dominant. Nothing is easier than to offer +so-called proofs of the contention that the Negro's tendency to crime is +something peculiar to his race; there are the jail and penitentiary and +gallows statistics, for instance. But surely it should not be difficult +for these so-called proofs to present themselves in their true light to +any one who takes the trouble to consider two weighty and conspicuous +facts: this, first, that the Negroes occupy everywhere in this country +the lowest social and industrial plane, the plane which everywhere else +supplies the jail, the penitentiary, the gallows, with the greatest +number of their victims; and secondly this, that in the section of the +country where these penal statistics are gathered, all the machinery of +justice is in the hands of white men. + +No Negro is a sheriff, or judge, or justice of the peace, or grand or +petit juryman, or member of a pardoning board. Charged with crime, again +and again, the black man must go to jail; he is unable to give bond; he +is defended, not by the ablest, but by the poorest lawyers, often by an +unwilling appointee of the court; he lacks the benefit of that personal +appeal to judge and jury, so often enjoyed by other defendants, which +would make them WANT to believe him innocent until proven guilty; he +faces, on the contrary, a judge and jury who hold him in some measure of +contempt as a man, regardless of his guilt or innocence. He is without +means, except occasionally, to fight his case through appeals to higher +courts, and errors sleep in many a record that on review would upset the +verdict. In the light of such considerations, it would seem impossible +that criminal statistics should not bear hard upon the Negro race, even +supposing it to be a fact that that race of all races in the world is +the LEAST criminal. + +Let it be admitted without question that in most Southern communities +the crimes and misdemeanors of the Negroes exceed those committed by an +equal number of white people, and we have admitted nothing that at all +explains or accounts for the race problem. For is it not equally true +that in every other community the doers of society's rough work, the +recipients of its meagrest rewards, are chargeable, relatively, with the +greatest number of crimes and misdemeanors? Is it not true, as well in +Massachusetts and Connecticut as in Louisiana and Mississippi, that the +vast majority of those occupying prison cells are members of the social +lowest class? that the vast majority condemned, after trial, to hard +labor with their hands were accustomed to such labor before their +judicial condemnation? Nothing is more preposterous than the idea that +the race problem means more Negroes hanged, more Negroes imprisoned, +more Negroes in mines and chain-gangs, than white people! If the Negro +did not furnish the great bulk of the grist for the grinding of our +penal machinery in the Southern states, he would constitute the racial +miracle of this and all ages! + +My own conviction is, and I speak with the experience of forty years' +residence in Southern states, that the Negro is not more given to crimes +and misdemeanors than the laboring population of any other section of +the country. But be this as it may, it is abundantly certain that no +race of people anywhere are more easily controlled than the Negroes by +the guardians of law and order; and there are none anywhere so easily +punished for disobedience to the statutes and mandates of their economic +superiors. Courts and juries may be sometimes subject to just criticism +for undue leniency toward white defendants; but that courts and juries +are ever subject to just criticism for undue leniency in dealing with +black defendants is the sheerest nonsense. + +The frequent charge that the Negro's worst crimes partake of a brutality +that is peculiarly racial, is not supported by facts. I need not enlarge +upon this statement further than to say that the Negro's worst crimes, +with all their shocking accompaniments, are, not seldom, but often, +duplicated by white men. Let any one who doubts the statement observe +for one week the criminal statistics of any cosmopolitan newspaper, and +he will have his doubt removed. + +Assuredly we do not hit upon the essence of the race problem in the +Negro's propensity to crime! + + +III + +Do we hit upon it in his ignorance, in the fact that an immense number +of the black people are illiterate, not knowing the first from the last +letter of the alphabet? Hardly. For, almost to a man, the people who +most parade and most rail at the race problem in private conversation, +on the political platform, and in the pages of newspapers, books, and +periodicals, are disposed rather to lament, than to assist, the passing +of the Negro's ignorance. Ex-Governor Vardaman, of Mississippi, used +the following language in a message to the legislature of that state, +January, 1906:-- + +"The startling facts revealed by the census show that those [Negroes] +who can read and write are more criminal than the illiterate, which +is true of no other element of our population.. .. The state for many +years, at great expense to the tax-payers, has maintained a system +of Negro education which has produced disappointing results, and I am +opposed to the perpetuation of this system. My own idea is, that the +character of education for the Negro ought to be changed. If, after +forty years of earnest effort, and the expenditure of fabulous sums to +educate his head, we have only succeeded in making a criminal of him +and impairing his usefulness and efficiency as a laborer, wisdom would +suggest that we make another experiment and see if we cannot improve him +by educating his hand and his heart.... Slavery is the only process by +which he has ever been partially civilized. God Almighty created the +Negro for a menial, he is essentially a servant." + +This is the reply of an ex-governor of one of our blackest states to +those who contend that the negro is a problem, a "burden carried by +the white people of the South," because of his ignorance and consequent +inefficiency; and that the lightening of the burden depends upon more +money spent, more earnest efforts made, for the schooling of the black +people. According to this ex-governor, and there are thousands who agree +with him in and out of Mississippi, the race problem is heightened, +rather than mitigated, by all attempts to increase the negro's +intellectual efficiency. The more ignorant he is, the less burdensome he +is to the white man, provided his heart be good, and his hands skillful +enough to do the service of a menial. Nothing but slavery ever partially +civilized him, nothing but slavery continued in some form can civilize +him further! + + +IV + +If we listen vainly for the heart-throb of the race problem in the +Negro's laziness, and criminality, and brutality, and ignorance, and +inefficiency, do we detect it with clearness and certainty in the +personal aversion felt by the white people for the black people, +aversion which the white people can no more help feeling than the black +people can help exciting? Is this the real trouble, the real burden, the +real tragedy and sorrow of our white population in those sections of the +country where the Negroes are many,--that they are compelled to dwell +face to face, day by day, with an inferior, degraded population, +repulsive to their finer sensibilities, obnoxious to them in countless +ways inexplicable? Facts are far from furnishing an affirmative answer. +However pronounced may be the feeling of personal aversion toward the +Negroes in Northern communities, where they are few, or known at long +range, or casually, there is no such thing in Southern communities as +personal aversion for the Negro pronounced enough to be responsible for +anything resembling a problem. How could there be in the South, where +from infancy we have all been as familiar with black faces as with +white; where many of us fell asleep in the laps of black mammies, and +had for playmates Ephrom, Izik, Zeke, black mammy's grandchildren; where +most of us have had our meals prepared by black cooks, and been waited +on by black house-servants and dining-room servants, and ridden in +carriages and buggies with black hostlers? We are so used to the black +people in the South, their mere personal presence is so far from being +responsible for our race problem, that the South would not seem Southern +without them, as it would not without its crape myrtles, and live-oaks, +and magnolias, its cotton and its sugar-cane! + +It is very easy to go astray in regard to the matter of personal +aversion toward the members of alien races, to magnify greatly the +reality and importance of it. What seems race-aversion is frequently +something else, namely, revulsion aroused by the presence of the +strange, the unusual, the uncanny, the not-understood. Such revulsion is +aroused, not only by the members of alien races, alien and unfamiliar, +but as certainly by strange animals of not more terrifying appearance +than the well-loved cow and horse; and it would be aroused as really +and as painfully, doubtless, by the sudden proximity of one of Milton's +archangels. It was not necessarily race-aversion which made Emerson, +and may have made many another Concord philosopher, uncomfortable in the +presence of a Negro, any more than it is race-aversion which makes the +Fifth Avenue boy run from the gentle farmyard cow; any more than it is +race-aversion which would make me uncomfortable in the presence of Li +Hung Chang. The Negro, simply, it may be, was a mystery to Emerson, as +the farmyard cow is a mystery to the Fifth Avenue boy, as the Chinaman +is a mystery to me. + +The Negro is NOT a mystery to people whom he has nursed and waited on, +whose language he has spoken, whose ways, good and bad, he has copied +for generations; and his personal presence does not render them +uncomfortable, not, at any rate, uncomfortable enough to beget the sense +of a burden or a problem. + +It may be very difficult for Northern readers, to whom the Negro is in +reality a stranger, a foreigner, to appreciate fully the force of what +has just been said; but appreciated by them it must be, or they can +never hope to realize the innermost meaning of the race problem in the +South. + + +So much for what the race problem is not. Let me without further delay +state what it is. The foundation of it, true or false, is the white +man's conviction that the Negro as a race, and as an individual, is his +inferior: not human in the sense that he is human, not entitled to +the exercise of human rights in the sense that he is entitled to the +exercise of them. The problem itself, the essence of it, the heart +of it, is the white man's determination to make good this conviction, +coupled with constant anxiety lest, by some means, he should fail to +make it good. The race problem, in other words, is NOT that the Negro is +what he is in relation to the white man, the white man's inferior; but +this, rather: How to keep him what he is in relation to the white man; +how to prevent his ever achieving or becoming that which would justify +the belief on his part, or on the part of other people, that he and the +white man stand on common human ground. + +That such is the heart of the problem should be made evident by this +general consideration alone: namely, that everywhere in the South +friction between the races is entirely absent so long as the Negro +justifies the white man's opinion of him as an inferior; is grateful for +privileges and lays no claim to RIGHTS. Let him seem content to be as +the South insists he shall be, and not only is he not harshly treated, +not abused, and never boycotted, but he is shown much kindness and +generosity, and employment awaits him for the asking. Trouble brews when +he begins to manifest those qualities, to reveal those tastes, to +give vent to those ambitions, which are supposed to be characteristic +exclusively of the higher human type, and which, unless restrained, +would result in confounding the lower with the higher. The expression +"Good Nigger" means everywhere in the South a real Negro, from the +Southern standpoint, one who in no respect gets out of focus with that +standpoint; the expression "Bad Nigger" means universally one who in +some respect, not necessarily criminal, does get out of focus with it. +So, stated differently, the race problem is the problem how to keep the +Negro in focus with the traditional standpoint. + +But we are very far from needing to rely upon any general consideration +in support of the proposition advanced above. It is supported by +evidences on every hand, waiting only the eye of recognition. Scarcely +a day passes but something is said or done with this end in view, to +emphasize, lest they forget, the conviction for both white man and Negro +that the latter is and must remain an inferior. Let me instance a few +such evidences. + +Consider, first, the "Jim Crow" legislation in the manner of its +enforcement. Such legislation is supposed to have for its object the +separation of the races in trains, street-cars, etc., to save the +white people from occasional contact with drunken, rowdy, ill-smelling +Negroes, and to prevent personal encounters between the whites and +blacks. How is this object attained in the street cars of Southern +cities? Members of the different races occupy the same cars, separated +only by absurdly inadequate little open-mesh wire screens, so tiny and +light that a conductor can move them from one seat to another with the +strength of his little finger. Needless to add, these screens would +serve to obscure neither sound, sight, nor smell of drunken rowdies +who sat behind them! In summer cars black and white passengers may be +separated not even by a make-believe screen; they are simply required, +respectively, to occupy certain seats in the front or the back end of +the cars. + +In Birmingham, Alabama, the front seats are assigned to Negroes in all +closed cars, and the back seats in all open ones. Why the front seats +in the one case, and the back seats in the other, it is not easy to +understand in the light of the letter and alleged spirit of the Jim Crow +law! The underlying purpose of the law is clearly not the separation +of the races in space; for public sentiment does not insist upon its +fulfillment to that end. The underlying purpose of it would seem to be +the separation of the races in status. The doctrine of inequality would +be attacked if white and black passengers rode in public conveyances on +equal terms; therefore the Negro who rides in a public conveyance +must do so, not as of undoubted right, but as with the white man's +permission, subject to the white man's regulation. "This place you may +occupy, that other you may not, because I am I and you are you, lest to +you or me it should be obscured that I am I and you are you." Such is +the real spirit of the Jim Crow laws. + +Why is it that in every Southern city no Negro is allowed to witness a +dramatic performance, or a baseball game, from a first-class seat? In +every large city, there are hundreds of Negroes who would gladly pay +for first-class seats at the theatre and the baseball game, were they +permitted to. It can hardly be that permission is withheld because +theatres and baseball games are so well attended by half the population +that first-class seats could not be furnished for the other half. As a +matter of fact, theatre-auditoriums and baseball grand-stands are seldom +crowded; the rule is, not all first-class seats occupied, but many +vacant. Surely as simple as moving from seat to seat a make-shift screen +in a street-car, would it be to set apart a certain number of seats +in the dress-circle of every theatre, and in the grand-stand of every +baseball park, for Negro patrons. The reason why this is not done is +perfectly obvious: it would be intolerable to the average Southern +man or woman to sit through the hours of a theatrical performance or a +baseball game on terms of equal accommodation with Negroes, even with a +screen between. Negroes would look out of place, out of status, in the +dress circle or the grand-stand; their place, signifying their status, +is the peanut-gallery, or the bleachers. There, neither they nor others +will be tempted to forget that as things are they must continue. + +How shall we account for the "intense feeling" (to quote the language +of the mayor or New Orleans) occasioned in that city one day, last July, +when it was flashed over the wires that the first prize in the National +Spelling Contest had been won by a Negro girl, in competition with white +children from New Orleans and other Southern cities? The indignation of +at least one of the leading New Orleans papers verged upon hysterics; +the editor's rhetoric visited upon some foulest crime could hardly +have been more inflamed than in denunciation of the fact that, on the +far-away shore of Lake Erie, New Orleans white children had competed at +a spelling bee with a Negro girl. The superintendent of the New Orleans +schools was roundly denounced in many quarters for permitting his wards +to compete with a Negro; and there were broad hints in "Letters from the +People" to the papers that his resignation was in order. + +Certainly in the days following the National Spelling Contest the race +problem was in evidence, if it ever was, in New Orleans and the South! +Did it show itself, then, as the problem of Negro crime, or brutality, +or laziness? Assuredly not! Of the Negro's personal repulsiveness? By +no means! There was no evidence of Negro criminality, or brutality, or +laziness in the Negro child's victory; and every day in the South, +in their games and otherwise, hundreds of white children of the best +families are in closer personal contact with little Negroes than were +the white children who took part in the Cleveland spelling bee. The +"intense feeling" can be explained on one ground only: the Negro girl's +victory was an affront to the tradition of the Negro's inferiority; +it suggested--perhaps indicated--that, given equal opportunities, all +Negroes are not necessarily the intellectual inferiors of all white +people. What other explanation is rationally conceivable? If the race +problem means in the South to its white inhabitants the burden and +tragedy of having to dwell face to face with an intellectually and +morally backward people, why should not the Negro girl's triumph have +occasioned intense feeling of pleasure, rather than displeasure, by its +suggestion that her race is not intellectually hopeless? + +Consider further that while no Negro, no matter what his occupation, +or personal refinement, or intellectual culture, or moral character, is +allowed to travel in a Pullman car between state lines, or to enter as +a guest a hotel patronized by white people, the blackest of Negro nurses +and valets are given food and shelter in all first-class hotels, and +occasion neither disgust, nor surprise in the Pullman cars. Here again +the heart of the race problem is laid bare. The black nurse with a white +baby in her arms, the black valet looking after the comfort of a white +invalid, have the label of their inferiority conspicuously upon them; +they understand themselves, and everybody understands them, to be +servants, enjoying certain privileges for the sake of the person served. +Almost anything, the Negro may do in the South, and anywhere he may go, +provided the manner of his doing and his doing is that of an inferior. +Such is the premium put upon his inferiority; such his inducement to +maintain it. + +The point here insisted on may be made clearer, if already it is not +clear enough, by this consideration, that the man who would lose social +caste for dining with an Irish street-sweeper might be congratulated for +dining with an Irish educator; but President Roosevelt would scarcely +have given greater offense by entertaining a Negro laborer at the White +House than he gave by inviting to lunch there the Principal of Tuskegee +Institute. The race problem being what it is, the status of any Negro is +logically the status of every other. There are recognizable degrees +of inferiority among Negroes themselves; some are vastly superior to +others. But there is only one degree of inferiority separating the Negro +from the white person, attached to all Negroes alike. The logic of the +situation requires that to be any sort of black man is to be inferior to +any sort of white man; and from this logic there is no departure in the +South. + +Inconsistent, perhaps, with what has been said may seem the defeat +in the Louisiana Legislature (1908) of the anti-miscegenation bill, a +measure designed to prohibit sexual cohabitation between white persons +and Negroes; to be specific, between white men and Negro women. But +there was no inconsistency whatever in the defeat of that bill. In all +times and places, the status of that portion of the female population, +Lecky's martyred "priestesses of humanity," whose existence men have +demanded for the gratification of unlawful passion, has been that of +social outcasts. They have no rights that they can insist upon; they +are simply privileged to exist by society's permission, and may be +any moment legislated out of their vocation. Hence the defeat of an +anti-miscegenation measure by Southern legislators cannot be +construed as a failure on their part to live up to their conviction +of race-superiority. It must be construed, rather, as legislative +unwillingness to restrict the white man's liberty; to dictate by statute +the kind of social outcast which he may use as a mere means to the +gratification of his passion. To concede to Negro women the status of +a degraded and proscribed class, is not in any sense to overlook or +obscure their racial inferiority, but on the contrary, it may be, to +emphasize it. Precisely the same principle, in a word, compasses the +defeat of an anti-miscegenation bill which would compass the defeat of a +measure to prohibit Negro servants from occupying seats in Pullman cars. + +At the risk of reiteration, I must in concluding this article take sharp +issue with the view of a recent very able writer, who asks the question, +"What, essentially, is the Race Problem?" and answers it thus: "The race +problem is the problem of living with human beings who are not like us, +whether they are in our estimation our 'superiors' or inferiors, +whether they have kinky hair or pigtails, whether they are slant-eyed, +hook-nosed, or thick-lipped. In its essence, it is the same problem, +magnified, which besets every neighborhood, even every family." + +I have contended so far, and I here repeat, that the race problem is +essentially NOT what this writer declares it to be. It is emphatically +not, in the South, "the problem of living with human beings who are not +like us, whether they are in our estimation our superiors or inferiors." +It may be, it probably is, that in the North, where the Negro is largely +a stranger, a foreigner, very much to the same degree that the Chinese +are strangers and foreigners in the South; and where, consequently, the +Negro's personal repulsiveness is a much more significant force than +it is in the South. Assuredly there would be no race problem, anywhere, +were there no contact with others unlike ourselves! The unlikeness +of the unlike is everywhere its indispensable foundation. But we get +nowhither unless we carefully distinguish between the foundation of the +problem and the problem itself. There is nothing in the unlikeness of +the unlike that is necessarily problematical; it may be simply accepted +and dealt with as a fact, like any other fact. The problem arises only +when the people of one race are minded to adopt and act upon some policy +more or less oppressive or repressive in dealing with the people of +another race. In the absence of some such policy, there has never been a +race problem since the world began. It is the existence of such a +policy become traditional, and supported by immovable conviction, which +constitutes the race problem of the Southern states. + +There was an immensely tragic race problem distressing the South fifty +years ago; but who will suggest that it was the problem of "living with +human beings who are not like us?" The problem then was, clearly, how to +make good a certain conviction concerning the unlike, how to maintain a +certain policy in dealing with them. What else is it today? The problem, +How to maintain the institution of chattel slavery, ceased to be at +Appomattox; the problem, How to maintain the social, industrial, and +civic inferiority of the descendants of chattel slaves, succeeded it, +and is the race problem of the South at the present time. There is no +other. + +Whether the policy adopted by the white South, and supported, as I have +said, by immovable conviction, is expedient or inexpedient, wise or +unwise, righteous or unrighteous, these are questions which I have not +sought to answer one way or another in this article. Perhaps they cannot +be answered at all in our time. Certain is it, that their only real and +satisfactory answer will be many years ahead of the present generation. + +In the mean time, nothing could be more unwarranted, than to suppose +that the race problem of one section of this country is peculiar to +that section, because its white inhabitants are themselves in some +sense peculiar; because they are peculiarly prejudiced, because they +are peculiarly behind the hour which the high clock of civilization has +struck. Remove the white inhabitants of the South, give their place to +the white people of any other section of the United States, and, beyond +a peradventure, the Southern race problem, as I have defined it, would +continue to be--revealed, perhaps, in ways more perplexing, more intense +and tragic. + + + + +NEGRO SUFFRAGE IN A DEMOCRACY by Ray Stannard Baker + + +In this paper I endeavor to lay down the fundamental principles which +should govern the Negro franchise in a democracy, and to outline a +practical programme for the immediate treatment of the problem. + +As I see it, the question of Negro suffrage in the United States +presents two distinct aspects:-- + +FIRST: the legal aspect. + +SECOND: the practical aspect. + +It will be admitted, I think, without argument, that all governments do +and of a necessity must exercise the right to limit the number of people +who are permitted to take part in the weighty responsibilities of the +suffrage. Some governments allow only a few men to vote; in an absolute +monarchy there is only one voter; other governments, as they become more +democratic, permit a larger proportion of the people to vote. + +Our own government is one of the freest in the world in the matter of +suffrage; and yet we bar out, in most states, all women; we bar out +Mongolians, no matter how intelligent; we bar out Indians, and all +foreigners who have not passed through a certain probationary stage +and have not acquired a certain small amount of education. We also +declare--for an arbitrary limit must be placed somewhere--that no person +under twenty-one years of age may exercise the right to vote, although +some boys of eighteen are to-day better equipped to pass intelligently +upon public questions than many grown men. We even place adult white men +on probation until they have resided for a certain length of time, often +as much as two years, in the state or the town where they wish to cast +their ballots. Our registration and ballot laws eliminate hundreds of +thousands of voters; and finally, we bar out everywhere the defective +and criminal classes of our population. We do not realize, sometimes, I +think, how limited the franchise really is, even in America. We forget +that out of nearly ninety million people in the United States, fewer +than fifteen million cast their votes for President in 1908--or about +one in every six. + +Thus the practice of a restricted suffrage is very deeply implanted in +our system of government. It is everywhere recognized that even in +a democracy lines must be drawn, and that the ballot, the precious +instrument of government, must be hedged about with stringent +regulations. The question is, where shall these lines be drawn in order +that the best interests, not of any particular class, but of the whole +nation, shall be served. + +Upon this question, we, as free citizens, have the absolute right to +agree or disagree with the present laws regulating suffrage; and if we +want more people brought in as partakers in government, or some people +who are already in, barred out, we have a right to organize, to agitate, +to do our best to change the laws. Powerful organizations of women are +now agitating for the right to vote; there is an organization which +demands the suffrage for Chinese and Japanese who wish to become +citizens. It is even conceivable that a society might be founded to +lower the suffrage age-limit from twenty-one to nineteen years, thereby +endowing a large number of young men with the privileges, and therefore +the educational responsibilities, of political power. On the other hand, +a large number of people, chiefly in our Southern States, earnestly +believe that the right of the Negro to vote should be curtailed, or even +abolished. + +Thus we disagree, and government is the resultant of all these diverse +views and forces. No one can say dogmatically how far democracy should +go in distributing the enormously important powers of active government. +Democracy is not a dogma; it is not even a dogma of free suffrage. +Democracy is a life, a spirit, a growth. The primal necessity of any +sort of government, democracy or otherwise, whether it be more unjust or +less unjust toward special groups of its citizens, is to exist, to be +a going concern, to maintain upon the whole a stable and peaceful +administration of affairs. If a democracy cannot provide such stability, +then the people go back to some form of oligarchy. Having secured a +fair measure of stability, a democracy proceeds with caution toward the +extension of the suffrage to more and more people--trying foreigners, +trying women, trying Negroes. + +And no one can prophesy how far a democracy will ultimately go in the +matter of suffrage. We know only the tendency. We know that in the +beginning, even in America, the right to vote was a very limited matter. +In the early years, in New England, only church-members voted; then the +franchise was extended to include property-owners; then it was enlarged +to include all white adults; then to include Negroes; then, in several +Western States, to include women. + +Thus the line has been constantly advancing, but with many fluctuations, +eddies, and back-currents--like any other stream of progress. At +the present time the fundamental principles which underlie popular +government, and especially the whole matter of popular suffrage, are +much in the public mind. The tendency of government throughout the +entire civilized world is strongly in the direction of placing more +and more power in the hands of the people. In our own country we are +enacting a remarkable group of laws providing for direct primaries in +the nomination of public officials, for direct election of United States +Senators, and for direct legislation by means of the initiative and +referendum; and we are even going to the point, in many cities, +of permitting the people to recall an elected official who is +unsatisfactory. The principle of local option, which is nothing but that +of direct government by the people, is being everywhere accepted. All +these changes affect, fundamentally, the historic structure of our +government, making it less republican and more democratic. + +Still more important and far-reaching in its significance is the +tendency of our government, especially our Federal Government, to +regulate or to appropriate great groups of business enterprises formerly +left wholly in private hands. More and more, private business is +becoming public business. + +Now, then, as the weight of responsibility upon the popular vote is +increased, it becomes more and more important that the ballot should +be jealously guarded and honestly exercised. In the last few years, +therefore, a series of extraordinary new precautions have been adopted: +the Australian ballot, more stringent registration systems, the stricter +enforcement of naturalization laws to prevent the voting of crowds of +unprepared foreigners, and the imposition by several states, rightly or +wrongly, of educational and property tests. It becomes a more and more +serious matter every year to be an American citizen, more of an honor, +more of a duty. + +At the close of the Civil War, in a time of intense idealistic emotion, +some three-quarters of a million of Negroes, the mass of them densely +ignorant and just out of slavery, with the iron of slavery still in +their souls, were suddenly given the political rights of free citizens. +A great many people, and not in the South alone, thought then, and still +think, that it was a mistake to bestow the high powers and privileges +of a wholly unrestricted ballot--a ballot which is the symbol of +intelligent self-government--upon the Negro. Other people, of whom I am +one, believe that it was a necessary concomitant of the revolution; it +was itself a revolution, not a growth, and like every other revolution +it has had its fearful reaction. Revolutions, indeed, change names, but +they do not at once change human relationships. Mankind is reconstructed +not by proclamations, or legislation, or military occupation, but by +time, growth, education, religion, thought. At that time, then, the +nation drove down the stakes of its idealism in government far beyond +the point it was able to reach in the humdrum activities of everyday +existence. A reaction was inevitable; it was inevitable and perfectly +natural that there should be a widespread questioning as to whether +all Negroes, or indeed any Negroes, should properly be admitted to full +political fellowship. That questioning continues to this day. + +Now, the essential principle established by the Fifteenth Amendment to +the Constitution was not that all Negroes should necessarily be given an +unrestricted access to the ballot; but that the right to vote should not +be denied or abridged 'on account of race, color, or previous condition +of servitude.' This amendment wiped out the color-line in politics so +far as any written law could possibly do it. + +Let me here express my profound conviction that the principle of +political equality then laid down is a sound, valid, and absolutely +essential principle in any free government; that restrictions upon the +ballot, when necessary, should be made to apply equally to white and +colored citizens; and that the Fifteenth Amendment ought not to be, +and cannot be repealed. Moreover, I am convinced that the principle of +political equality is more firmly established to-day in this country +than it was forty years ago, when it had only Northern bayonets behind +it. For now, however short the practice falls of reaching the legal +standard, the principle is woven into the warp and woof of Southern life +and Southern legislation. Many Southern white leaders of thought are +to-day CONVINCED, not FORCED believers in the principle; and that is a +great omen. + +Limitations have come about, it is true, and were to be expected as +the back-currents of the revolution. Laws providing for educational +and property qualifications as a prerequisite to the exercise of the +suffrage have been passed in all the Southern States, and have operated +to exclude from the ballot large numbers of both white and colored +citizens, who on account of ignorance or poverty are unable to meet +the tests. These provisions, whatever the opinion entertained as to +the wisdom of such laws, are well within the principle laid down by +the Fifteenth Amendment. But several Southern States have gone a step +further, and by means of the so-called 'grandfather laws,' have exempted +certain ignorant white men from the necessity of meeting the educational +and property tests. These unfair 'grandfather laws,' however, in some of +the states adopting them, have now expired by limitation. + +Let me then lay down this general proposition:-- + +Nowhere in the South to-day is the Negro cut off LEGALLY, as a +Negro, from the ballot. Legally, to-day, any Negro who can meet the +comparatively slight requirements as to education, or property, or both, +can cast his ballot on a basis of equality with the white man. I have +emphasized the word legally, for I know the PRACTICAL difficulties which +confront the Negro votes in many parts of the South. The point I wish to +make is that legally the Negro is essentially the political equal of +the white man; but that practically, in the enforcement of the law, the +legislative ideal is still pegged out far beyond the actual performance. + +Now, then, if we are interested in the problem of democracy, we have two +courses open to us. We may think the laws are unjust to the Negro, +and incidentally to the 'poor white' man as well. If we do, we have a +perfect right to agitate for changes; and we can do much to disclose, +without heat, the actual facts regarding the complicated and vexatious +legislative situation in the South, as regards the suffrage. Every +change in the legislation upon this subject should, indeed, be jealously +watched, that the principle of political equality between the races be +not legally curtailed. The doctrine laid down in the Fifteenth Amendment +must, at any hazard, be maintained. + +But, personally,--and I am here voicing a profound conviction,--I think +our emphasis at present should be laid upon the practical rather than +upon the legal aspect of the problem; I think we should take advantage +of the widely prevalent feeling in the South that the question of +suffrage has been settled, legally, for some time to come: of the desire +on the part of many Southern people, both white and colored, to turn +aside from the discussion of the political status of the Negro. + +In short, let us for the time being accept the laws as they are, and +build upward from that point. Let us turn our attention to the practical +task of finding out why it is that the laws we already have are not +enforced, and how best to secure an honest vote for every Negro +and equally for every 'poor white' man, who is able to meet the +requirements, but who for one reason or another does not or cannot now +exercise his rights. I include the disfranchised white man as well as +the Negro, because I take it that we are interested, first of all, in +democracy, and unless we can arouse the spirit of democracy, South and +North, we can hope for justice neither for Negroes, nor for the poorer +class of white men, nor for the women of the factories and shops, nor +for the children of the cottonmills. + +Taking up this side of the problem we shall discover two entirely +distinct difficulties:-- + +First, we shall find many Negroes, and indeed hundreds of thousands +of white men as well, who might vote, but who, through ignorance, or +inability or unwillingness to pay the poll-taxes, or from mere lack of +interest, disfranchise themselves. + +The second difficulty is peculiar to the Negro. It consists in open +or concealed intimidation on the part of the white men who control the +election machinery. In many places in the South to-day no Negro, how +well qualified, would dare to present himself for registration; when he +does, he is rejected for some trivial or illegal reason. + +Thus we have to meet a vast amount of apathy and ignorance and poverty +on the one hand, and the threat of intimidation on the other. + +First of all, for it is the chief injustice as between white and colored +men with which we have to deal,--an injustice which the law already +makes illegal and punishable,--how shall we meet the matter of +intimidation? As I have already said, the door of the suffrage is +everywhere legally open to the Negro, but a certain sort of Southerner +bars the passage-way. He stands there and, law or no law, keeps out many +Negroes who might vote; and he represents in most parts of the South the +prevailing public opinion. + +Shall we meet this situation by force? What force is available? Shall +the North go down and fight the South? You and I know that the North +to-day has no feeling but friendship for the South. More than that--and +I say it with all seriousness, because it represents what I have heard +wherever I have gone in the North to make inquiries regarding the +Negro problem--the North, wrongly or rightly, is to-day more than half +convinced that the South is right in imposing some measure of limitation +upon the franchise. There is now, in short, no disposition anywhere in +the North to interfere in internal affairs in the South--not even with +the force of public opinion. + +What other force, then, is to be invoked? Shall the Negro revolt? Shall +he migrate? Shall he prosecute his case in the courts? The very asking +of these questions suggests the inevitable reply. + +We might as well, here and now, dismiss the idea of force, express or +implied. There are times of last resort which call for force; but this +is not such a time. + +What other alternatives are there? + +Accepting the laws as they are, then, there are two methods of +procedure, neither sensational nor exciting. I have no quick cure to +suggest, but only old and tried methods of commonplace growth. + +The underlying causes of the trouble in the country being plainly +ignorance and prejudice, we must meet ignorance and prejudice with their +antidotes, education and association. + +Every effort should be made to extend free education among both Negroes +and white people. A great extension of education is now going forward in +the South. The Negro is not by any means getting his full share; but, +as certainly as sunshine makes things grow, education in the South will +produce tolerance. That there is already such a growing tolerance no one +who has talked with the leading white men in the South can doubt. The +old fire-eating, Negro-baiting leaders of the Tillman-Vardaman type +are swiftly passing away: a far better and broader group is coming into +power. + +In his last book, Mr. Edgar Gardner Murphy, of Alabama, expresses this +new point of view when he says,-- + +'There is no question here as to the unrestricted admission [to the +ballot] of the great masses of our ignorant and semi-ignorant blacks. +I know no advocate of such admission. But the question is as to whether +the individuals of the race, upon conditions or restrictions legally +imposed and fairly administered, shall be admitted to adequate and +increasing representation in the electorate. And as that question +is more seriously and more generally considered, many of the leading +publicists of the South, I am glad to say, are quietly resolved that the +answer shall be in the affirmative.' + +From an able Southern white man, a resident of New Orleans, I received +recently a letter containing these words:-- + +'I believe we have reached the bottom, and a sort of quiescent period. +I think it most likely that from now on there will be a gradual increase +of the Negro vote. And I honestly believe that the less said about it, +the surer the increase will be.' + +Education--and by education I mean education of all sorts, industrial, +professional, classical, in accordance with each man's talents--will +not only produce breadth and tolerance, but will help to cure the apathy +which now keeps so many thousands of both white men and Negroes from +the polls: for it will show them that it is necessary for every man +to exercise all the political rights within his reach. If he fails +voluntarily to take advantage of the rights he already has, how shall he +acquire more rights? + +And as ignorance must be met by education, so prejudice must be met with +its antidote, which is association. Democracy does not consist in mere +voting, but in association, the spirit of common effort, of which the +ballot is a mere visible expression. When we come to know one another +we soon find that the points of likeness are much more numerous than the +points of difference. And this human association for the common good, +which is democracy, is difficult to bring about anywhere, whether among +different classes of white people, or between white people and Negroes. +As one of the leaders of the Negro race, Dr. Du Bois, has said,-- + +'Herein lies the tragedy of the age. Not that men are poor: all men know +something of poverty. Not that men are wicked: who is good? Not that men +are ignorant: what is truth? Nay, but that men know so little of each +other.' + +After the Atlanta riot I attended a number of conferences between +leading white men and leading colored men. It is true those meetings +bore evidence of awkwardness and embarrassment, for they were among the +first of the sort to take place in the South, but they were none the +less valuable. A white man told me after one of the meetings,-- + +'I did not know that there were any such sensible Negroes in the South.' + +And a Negro told me that it was the first time in his life that he had +ever heard a Southern white man reason in a friendly way with a Negro +concerning their common difficulties. + +More and more these associations of white and colored men, at certain +points of contact, must and will come about. Already, in connection +with various educational and business projects in the South, white and +colored men meet on common grounds, and the way has been opened to a +wider mutual understanding. And it is common enough now, where it was +unheard of a few years ago, for both white men and Negroes to speak +from the same platform in the South. I have attended a number of +such meetings. Thus slowly--awkwardly, at first, for two centuries of +prejudice are not immediately overcome--the white man and Negro will +come to know one another, not merely as master and servant, but as +co-workers. These things cannot be forced. + +One reason why the white man and the Negro have not got together more +rapidly in the South than they have, is because they have tried always +to meet at the sorest points. When sensible people, who must live +together whether or no, find that there are points at which they cannot +agree, it is the part of wisdom to avoid these points, and to meet upon +other and common interests. Upon no other terms, indeed, can a democracy +exist, for in no imaginable future state will individuals cease to +disagree with one another upon something less than half of all the +problems of life. + +'Here we all live together in a great country,' say the apostles of this +view; 'let us all get together and develop it. Let the Negro do his best +to educate himself, to own his own land, and to buy and sell with the +white people in the fairest possible way.' + +It is wonderful, indeed, how close together men who are stooping to a +common task soon come. + +Now, buying and selling, land ownership and common material pursuits, +may not be the highest points of contact between man and man, but they +are real points, and help to give men an idea of the worth of their +fellows, white or black. How many times, in the South, I heard white men +speak in high admiration of some Negro farmer who had been successful, +or of some Negro blacksmith who was a worthy citizen, or of some Negro +doctor who was a leader of his race. + +It is curious, once a man (any man, white or black) learns to do his job +well, how he finds himself in a democratic relationship with other men. +I remember asking a prominent white citizen of a town in Central Georgia +if he knew anything about Tuskegee. He said,-- + +'Yes: I had rather a curious experience last fall. I was building a +hotel and couldn't get any one to do the plastering as I wanted it done. +One day I saw two Negro plasterers at work in a new house that a friend +of mine was building. I watched them for an hour. They seemed to know +their trade. I invited them to come over and see me. They came, took the +contract for my work, hired a white man to carry mortar at a dollar +a day, and when they got through it was the best job of plastering +in town. I found that they had learned their trade at Tuskegee. They +averaged four dollars a day each in wages. We tried to get them to +locate in our town, but they went back to school.' + +When I was in Mississippi a prominent banker showed me his business +letter-heads. + +'Good job, isn't it?' he said. 'A Negro printer did it. He wrote to me +asking if he might bid on my work. I replied that although I had known +him a long time I couldn't give him the job merely because he was a +Negro. He told me to forget his color, and said that if he couldn't do +as good a job and do it as reasonably as any white man could, he didn't +want it. I let him try, and now he does most of our printing.' + +Out of such points of contact, then, encouraged by such wise leaders +as Booker T. Washington, will grow an ever finer and finer spirit +of association and of common and friendly knowledge. And that will +inevitably lead to an extension upon the soundest possible basis of the +Negro franchise. I know cases where white men have urged intelligent +Negroes to come and cast their ballots, and have stood sponsor for them, +out of genuine respect. As a result, to-day, the Negroes who vote in the +South are, as a class, men of substance and intelligence, fully equal to +the tasks of citizenship. + +Thus, I have boundless confidence not only in the sense of the white men +of the South, but in the innate capability of the Negro, and that once +these two come really to know each other, not at sore points of contact, +but as common workers for a common country, the question of suffrage +will gradually solve itself along the lines of true democracy. + +Another influence also will tend to change the status of the Negro as a +voter. That is the pending break-up of the political solidarity of the +South. All the signs point to a political realignment upon new issues in +this country, both South and North. Old party names may even pass away. +And that break-up, with the attendant struggle for votes, is certain +to bring into politics thousands of Negroes and white men now +disfranchised. The result of a real division on live issues has been +shown in many local contests in the South, as in the fight against the +saloons, when every qualified Negro voter, and every Negro who could +qualify, was eagerly pushed forward by one side or the other. With such +a division on new issues the Negro will tend to exercise more and more +political power, dividing, not on the color line, but on the principles +at stake. + +Thus in spite of the difficulties which now confront the Negro, I cannot +but look upon the situation in a spirit of optimism. I think sometimes +we are tempted to set a higher value upon the ritual of a belief than +upon the spirit which underlies it. The ballot is not democracy: it +is merely the symbol or ritual of democracy, and it may be full of +passionate social, yes, even religious significance, or it may be a mere +empty and dangerous formalism. What we should look to, then, primarily, +is not the shadow, but the substance of democracy in this country. Nor +must we look for results too swiftly; our progress toward democracy is +slow of growth and needs to be cultivated with patience and watered with +faith. + + + + + +BIBLIOGRAPHY OF SOURCES ----------------------- + +SOJOURNER TRUTH, THE LIBYAN SIBYL by Harriet Beecher Stowe Atlantic +Monthly 11 (April 1863): 473-481. + +RECONSTRUCTION by Frederick Douglass Atlantic Monthly 18 (1866): +761-765. + +AN APPEAL TO CONGRESS FOR IMPARTIAL SUFFRAGE by Frederick Douglas +Atlantic Monthly 19 (Jan. 1867): 112-117. + +THE NEGRO EXODUS by James B. Runnion Atlantic Monthly 44 (1879): +222-230. + +MY ESCAPE FROM SLAVERY by Frederick Douglass The Century Illustrated +Magazine 23, n.s. 1 (Nov. 1881): 125-131. + +THE GOOPHERED GRAPEVINE by Charles W. Chesnutt Atlantic Monthly 60 (Aug. +1887): 254-260. + +PO' SANDY by Charles W. Chesnutt Atlantic Monthly 61 (1888): 605-611. + +DAVE'S NECKLISS by Charles W. Chesnutt Atlantic Monthly 64 (1889): +500-08. + +THE AWAKENING OF THE NEGRO by Booker T. Washington Atlantic Monthly 78 +(1896): 322-328. + +THE STORY OF UNCLE TOM'S CABIN by Charles Dudley Warner Atlantic Monthly +78 (1896): 311-321. + +STRIVINGS OF THE NEGRO PEOPLE by W. E. Burghardt Du Bois Atlantic +Monthly 80 (1897): 194-198. + +THE WIFE OF HIS YOUTH by Charles W. Chesnutt Atlantic Monthly 82 (1898): +55-61. + +THE BOUQUET by Charles W. Chesnutt Atlantic Monthly 84 (1899): 648-654. + +THE CASE OF THE NEGRO by Booker T. Washington Atlantic Monthly 84 +(1899): 577-587. + +HOT-FOOT HANNIBAL by Charles W. Chesnutt Atlantic Monthly 83 (1899): +49-56. + +A NEGRO SCHOOLMASTER IN THE NEW SOUTH by W. E. Burghardt Du Bois +Atlantic Monthly 83 (1899): 99-104. + +THE CAPTURE OF A SLAVER by J. Taylor Wood Atlantic Monthly 86 (1900): +451-463. + +MR. CHARLES W. CHESNUTT'S STORIES by W. D. Howells Atlantic Monthly 85 +(1900): 699-701. + +PATHS OF HOPE FOR THE NEGRO PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS OF A SOUTHERNER by +Jerome Dowd Century Magazine 61.2 (Dec. 1900): 278-281. + +SIGNS OF PROGRESS AMONG THE NEGROES by Booker T. Washington Century +Magazine 59 (1900): 472-478. + +THE MARCH OF PROGRESS by Charles W. Chesnutt Century Magazine 61.3 (Jan. +1901): 422-428. + +THE FREEDMEN'S BUREAU by W. E. Burghardt Du Bois Atlantic Monthly 87 +(1901): 354-365. + +OF THE TRAINING OF BLACK MEN by W. E. Burghardt Du Bois Atlantic Monthly +90 (1902): 289-297. + +THE FRUITS OF INDUSTRIAL TRAINING by Booker T. Washington Atlantic +Monthly 92 (1903): 453-462. + +THE NEGRO IN THE REGULAR ARMY by Oswald Garrison Villard Atlantic +Monthly 91 (1903): 721-729. + +BAXTER'S PROCRUSTES by Charles W. Chesnutt Atlantic Monthly 93 (1904): +823-830. + +THE HEART OF THE RACE PROBLEM by Quincy Ewing Atlantic Monthly 103 +(1909): 389-397. + +NEGRO SUFFRAGE IN A DEMOCRACY by Ray Stannard Baker Atlantic Monthly 106 +(1910): 612-619. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, 1995, +Memorial Issue, by Various + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. *** + +***** This file should be named 206.txt or 206.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/0/206/ + +Produced by Judith Boss and John Hamm + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* + + + + +The Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, 1995, Memorial Issue. + + + +Table of Contents +----------------- + +Sojourner Truth, the Libyan Sibyl.............Harriet Beecher Stowe +Reconstruction................................Frederick Douglass +An Appeal to Congress for Impartial Suffrage..Frederick Douglas +The Negro Exodus..............................James B. Runnion +My Escape from Slavery........................Frederick Douglass +The Goophered Grapevine.......................Charles W. Chesnutt +Po' Sandy.....................................Charles W. Chesnutt +Dave's Neckliss...............................Charles W. Chesnutt +The Awakening of the Negro....................Booker T. Washington +The Story of Uncle Tom's Cabin................Charles Dudley Warner +Strivings of the Negro People.................W. E. Burghardt Du Bois +The Wife of his Youth.........................Charles W. Chesnutt +The Bouquet...................................Charles W. Chesnutt +The Case of the Negro.........................Booker T. Washington +Hot-Foot Hannibal.............................Charles W. Chesnutt +A Negro Schoolmaster in the New South.........W. E. Burghardt Du Bois +The Capture of a Slaver.......................J. Taylor Wood +Mr. Charles W. Chesnutt's Stories.............W. D. Howells +Paths of Hope for the Negro +Practical Suggestions of a Southerner.........Jerome Dowd +Signs of Progress Among the Negroes...........Booker T. Washington +The March of Progress.........................Charles W. Chesnutt +The Freedmen's Bureau.........................W. E. Burghardt Du Bois +Of the Training of Black Men..................W. E. Burghardt Du Bois +The Fruits of Industrial Training.............Booker T. Washington +The Negro in the Regular Army.................Oswald Garrison Villard +Baxter's Procrustes...........................Charles W. Chesnutt +The Heart of the Race Problem.................Quincy Ewing +Negro Suffrage in a Democracy.................Ray Stannard Baker + +Bibliography of Sources + + + + + +SOJOURNER TRUTH, THE LIBYAN SIBYL +by Harriet Beecher Stowe + + +Many years ago, the few readers of radical Abolitionist papers +must often have seen the singular name of Sojourner Truth, +announced as a frequent speaker at Anti-Slavery meetings, and as +travelling on a sort of self-appointed agency through the country. +I had myself often remarked the name, but never met the +individual. On one occasion, when our house was filled with +company, several eminent clergymen being our guests, notice was +brought up to me that Sojourner Truth was below, and requested an +interview. Knowing nothing of her but her singular name, I went +down, prepared to make the interview short, as the pressure of +many other engagements demanded. + +When I went into the room, a tall, spare form arose to meet me. +She was evidently a full-blooded African, and though now aged and +worn with many hardships, still gave the impression of a physical +development which in early youth must have been as fine a specimen +of the torrid zone as Cumberworth's celebrated statuette of the +Negro Woman at the Fountain. Indeed, she so strongly reminded me +of that figure, that, when I recall the events of her life, as she +narrated them to me, I imagine her as a living, breathing +impersonation of that work of art. + +I do not recollect ever to have been conversant with any one who +had more of that silent and subtle power which we call personal +presence than this woman. In the modern Spiritualistic +phraseology, she would be described as having a strong sphere. +Her tall form, as she rose up before me, is still vivid to my +mind. She was dressed in some stout, grayish stuff, neat and +clean, though dusty from travel. On her head, she wore a bright +Madras handkerchief, arranged as a turban, after the manner of her +race. She seemed perfectly self-possessed and at her ease,--in +fact, there was almost an unconscious superiority, not unmixed +with a solemn twinkle of humor, in the odd, composed manner in +which she looked down on me. Her whole air had at times a gloomy +sort of drollery which impressed one strangely. + +"So this is YOU," she said. + +"Yes," I answered. + +"Well, honey, de Lord bless ye! I jes' thought I'd like to come +an' have a look at ye. You's heerd o' me, I reckon?" she added. + +"Yes, I think I have. You go about lecturing, do you not?" + +"Yes, honey, that's what I do. The Lord has made me a sign unto +this nation, an' I go round a'testifyin', an' showin' on 'em their +sins agin my people." + +So saying, she took a seat, and, stooping over and crossing her +arms on her knees, she looked down on the floor, and appeared to +fall into a sort of reverie. Her great gloomy eyes and her dark +face seemed to work with some undercurrent of feeling; she sighed +deeply, and occasionally broke out,-- + +"O Lord! O Lord! Oh, the tears, an' the groans, an' the moans! +O Lord!" + +I should have said that she was accompanied by a little grandson +of ten years,--the fattest, jolliest woolly-headed little specimen +of Africa that one can imagine. He was grinning and showing his +glistening white teeth in a state of perpetual merriment, and at +this moment broke out into an audible giggle, which disturbed the +reverie into which his relative was falling. + +She looked at him with an indulgent sadness, and then at me. + +"Laws, Ma'am, HE don't know nothin' about it--HE don't. Why, I've +seen them poor critters, beat an' 'bused an' hunted, brought in +all torn,--ears hangin' all in rags, where the dogs been a'bitin' +of 'em!" + +This set off our little African Puck into another giggle, in which +he seemed perfectly convulsed. + +She surveyed him soberly, without the slightest irritation. + +"Well, you may bless the Lord you CAN laugh; but I tell you, 't +wa'n't no laughin' matter." + +By this time I thought her manner so original that it might be +worth while to call down my friends; and she seemed perfectly well +pleased with the idea. An audience was what she wanted,--it +mattered not whether high or low, learned or ignorant. She had +things to say, and was ready to say them at all times, and to any +one. + +I called down Dr. Beecher, Professor Allen, and two or three other +clergymen, who, together with my husband and family, made a +roomful. No princess could have received a drawing-room with more +composed dignity than Sojourner her audience. She stood among +them, calm and erect, as one of her own native palm-trees waving +alone in the desert. I presented one after another to her, and at +last said,-- + +"Sojourner, this is Dr. Beecher. He is a very celebrated +preacher." + +"IS he?" she said, offering her hand in a condescending manner, +and looking down on his white head. "Ye dear lamb, I'm glad to +see ye! De Lord bless ye! I loves preachers. I'm a kind o' +preacher myself." + +"You are?" said Dr. Beecher. "Do you preach from the Bible?" + +"No, honey, can't preach from de Bible,--can't read a letter." + +"Why, Sojourner, what do you preach from, then?" + +Her answer was given with a solemn power of voice, peculiar to +herself, that hushed every one in the room. + +"When I preaches, I has jest one text to preach from, an' I always +preaches from this one. MY text is, 'WHEN I FOUND JESUS.'" + +"Well, you couldn't have a better one," said one of the ministers. + +She paid no attention to him, but stood and seemed swelling with +her own thoughts, and then began this narration:-- + +"Well, now, I'll jest have to go back, an' tell ye all about it. +Ye see, we was all brought over from Africa, father an' mother an' +I, an' a lot more of us; an' we was sold up an' down, an' hither +an' yon; an' I can 'member, when I was a little thing, not bigger +than this 'ere," pointing to her grandson, "how my ole mammy would +sit out o' doors in the evenin', an' look up at the stars an' +groan. She'd groan an' groan, an' says I to her,-- + +"'Mammy, what makes you groan so?' + +"an' she'd say,-- + +"'Matter enough, chile! I'm groanin' to think o' my poor +children: they don't know where I be, an' I don't know where they +be; they looks up at the stars, an' I looks up at the stars, but I +can't tell where they be. + +"'Now,' she said, 'chile, when you're grown up, you may be sold +away from your mother an' all your ole friends, an' have great +troubles come on ye; an' when you has these troubles come on ye, +ye jes' go to God, an' He'll help ye.' + +"An' says I to her,-- + +"'Who is God, anyhow, mammy?' + +"An' says she,-- + +"'Why, chile, you jes' look up DAR! It's Him that made all DEM!" + +"Well, I didn't mind much 'bout God in them days. I grew up +pretty lively an' strong, an' could row a boat, or ride a horse, +or work round, an' do 'most anything. + +"At last I got sold away to a real hard massa an' missis. Oh, I +tell you, they WAS hard! 'Peared like I couldn't please 'em, +nohow. An' then I thought o' what my old mammy told me about God; +an' I thought I'd got into trouble, sure enough, an' I wanted to +find God, an' I heerd some one tell a story about a man that met +God on a threshin'-floor, an' I thought, 'Well an' good, I'll have +a threshin'-floor, too.' So I went down in the lot, an' I +threshed down a place real hard, an' I used to go down there every +day, an' pray an' cry with all my might, a-prayin' to the Lord to +make my massa an' missis better, but it didn't seem to do no good; +an' so says I, one day,-- + +"'O God, I been a-askin' ye, an' askin' ye, an' askin' ye, for all +this long time, to make my massa an' missis better, an' you don't +do it, an' what CAN be the reason? Why, maybe you CAN'T. Well, I +shouldn't wonder ef you couldn't. Well, now, I tell you, I'll +make a bargain with you. Ef you'll help me to git away from my +massa an' missis, I'll agree to be good; but ef you don't help me, +I really don't think I can be. Now,' says I, 'I want to git away; +but the trouble's jest here: ef I try to git away in the night, I +can't see; an' ef I try to git away in the daytime, they'll see +me, an' be after me.' + +"Then the Lord said to me, 'Git up two or three hours afore +daylight, an' start off.' + +"An' says I, 'Thank 'ee, Lord! that's a good thought.' + +"So up I got, about three o'clock in the mornin', an' I started +an' travelled pretty fast, till, when the sun rose, I was clear +away from our place an' our folks, an' out o' sight. An' then I +begun to think I didn't know nothin' where to go. So I kneeled +down, and says I,-- + +"'Well, Lord, you've started me out, an' now please to show me +where to go.' + +"Then the Lord made a house appear to me, an' He said to me that I +was to walk on till I saw that house, an' then go in an' ask the +people to take me. An' I travelled all day, an' didn't come to +the house till late at night; but when I saw it, sure enough, I +went in, an' I told the folks that the Lord sent me; an' they was +Quakers, an' real kind they was to me. They jes' took me in, an' +did for me as kind as ef I'd been one of 'em; an' after they'd giv +me supper, they took me into a room where there was a great, tall, +white bed; an' they told me to sleep there. Well, honey, I was +kind o' skeered when they left me alone with that great white bed; +'cause I never had been in a bed in my life. It never came into +my mind they could mean me to sleep in it. An' so I jes' camped +down under it, on the floor, an' then I slep' pretty well. In the +mornin', when they came in, they asked me ef I hadn't been asleep; +an' I said, 'Yes, I never slep' better.' An' they said, 'Why, you +haven't been in the bed!' An' says I, 'Laws, you didn't think o' +such a thing as my sleepin' in dat 'ar' BED, did you? I never +heerd o' such a thing in my life.' + +"Well, ye see, honey, I stayed an' lived with 'em. An' now jes' +look here: instead o' keepin' my promise an' bein' good, as I told +the Lord I would, jest as soon as everything got a'goin' easy, I +FORGOT ALL ABOUT GOD. + +"Pretty well don't need no help; an' I gin up prayin.' I lived +there two or three years, an' then the slaves in New York were all +set free, an' ole massa came to our home to make a visit, an' he +asked me ef I didn't want to go back an' see the folks on the ole +place. An' I told him I did. So he said, ef I'd jes' git into +the wagon with him, he'd carry me over. Well, jest as I was goin' +out to git into the wagon, I MET GOD! an' says I, 'O God, I didn't +know as you was so great!' An' I turned right round an' come into +the house, an' set down in my room; for 't was God all around me. +I could feel it burnin', burnin', burnin' all around me, an' goin' +through me; an' I saw I was so wicked, it seemed as ef it would +burn me up. An' I said, 'O somebody, somebody, stand between God +an' me! for it burns me!' Then, honey, when I said so, I felt as +it were somethin' like an amberill [umbrella] that came between me +an' the light, an' I felt it was SOMEBODY,--somebody that stood +between me an' God; an' it felt cool, like a shade; an' says I, +'Who's this that stands between me an' God? Is it old Cato?' He +was a pious old preacher; but then I seemed to see Cato in the +light, an' he was all polluted an' vile, like me; an' I said, 'Is +it old Sally?' an' then I saw her, an' she seemed jes' so. An' +then says I, 'WHO is this?' An' then, honey, for a while it was +like the sun shinin' in a pail o' water, when it moves up an' +down; for I begun to feel 't was somebody that loved me; an' I +tried to know him. An' I said, 'I know you! I know you! I know +you!'--an' then I said, 'I don't know you! I don't know you! I +don't know you!' An' when I said, 'I know you, I know you,' the +light came; an' when I said, 'I don't know you, I don't know you,' +it went, jes' like the sun in a pail o' water. An' finally +somethin' spoke out in me an' said, 'THIS IS JESUS!' An' I spoke +out with all my might, an' says I, 'THIS IS JESUS! Glory be to +God!' An' then the whole world grew bright, an' the trees they +waved an' waved in glory, an' every little bit o' stone on the +ground shone like glass; an' I shouted an' said, 'Praise, praise, +praise to the Lord!' An' I begun to feel such a love in my soul +as I never felt before,--love to all creatures. An' then, all of +a sudden, it stopped, an' I said, 'Dar's de white folks, that have +abused you an' beat you an' abused your people,--think o' them!' +But then there came another rush of love through my soul, an' I +cried out loud,--'Lord, Lord, I can love EVEN DE WHITE FOLKS!' + +"Honey, I jes' walked round an' round in a dream. Jesus loved me! +I knowed it,--I felt it. Jesus was my Jesus. Jesus would love me +always. I didn't dare tell nobody; 't was a great secret. +Everything had been got away from me that I ever had; an' I +thought that ef I let white folks know about this, maybe they'd +get HIM away,--so I said, 'I'll keep this close. I won't let any +one know.'" + +"But, Sojourner, had you never been told about Jesus Christ?" + +"No, honey. I hadn't heerd no preachin',--been to no meetin'. +Nobody hadn't told me. I'd kind o' heerd of Jesus, but thought he +was like Gineral Lafayette, or some o' them. But one night there +was a Methodist meetin' somewhere in our parts, an' I went; an' +they got up an' begun for to tell der 'speriences; an' de fust one +begun to speak. I started, 'cause he told about Jesus. 'Why,' +says I to myself, 'dat man's found him, too!' An' another got up +an' spoke, an I said, 'He's found him, too!' An' finally I said, +'Why, they all know him!' I was so happy! An' then they sung +this hymn": (Here Sojourner sang, in a strange, cracked voice, but +evidently with all her soul and might, mispronouncing the English, +but seeming to derive as much elevation and comfort from bad +English as from good):-- + + + 'There is a holy city, + A world of light above, + Above the stairs and regions,* + Built by the God of Love. + + "An Everlasting temple, + And saints arrayed in white + There serve their great Redeemer + And dwell with him in light. + + "The meanest child of glory + Outshines the radiant sun; + But who can speak the splendor + Of Jesus on his throne? + + "Is this the man of sorrows + Who stood at Pilate's bar, + Condemned by haughty Herod + And by his men of war? + + "He seems a mighty conqueror, + Who spoiled the powers below, + And ransomed many captives + From everlasting woe. + + "The hosts of saints around him + Proclaim his work of grace, + The patriarchs and prophets, + And all the godly race, + + "Who speak of fiery trials + And tortures on their way; + They came from tribulation + To everlasting day. + + "And what shall be my journey, + How long I'll stay below, + Or what shall be my trials, + Are not for me to know. + + "In every day of trouble + I'll raise my thoughts on high, + I'll think of that bright temple + And crowns above the sky." + +* Starry regions. + + +I put in this whole hymn, because Sojourner, carried away with her +own feeling, sang it from beginning to end with a triumphant +energy that held the whole circle around her intently listening. +She sang with the strong barbaric accent of the native African, +and with those indescribable upward turns and those deep gutturals +which give such a wild, peculiar power to the negro singing,--but +above all, with such an overwhelming energy of personal +appropriation that the hymn seemed to be fused in the furnace of +her feelings and come out recrystallized as a production of her +own. + +It is said that Rachel was wont to chant the "Marseillaise" in a +manner that made her seem, for the time, the very spirit and +impersonation of the gaunt, wild, hungry, avenging mob which rose +against aristocratic oppression; and in like manner, Sojourner, +singing this hymn, seemed to impersonate the fervor of Ethiopia, +wild, savage, hunted of all nations, but burning after God in her +tropic heart, and stretching her scarred hands towards the glory +to be revealed. + +"Well, den ye see, after a while, I thought I'd go back an' see de +folks on de ole place. Well, you know, de law had passed dat de +culled folks was all free; an' my old missis, she had a daughter +married about dis time who went to live in Alabama,--an' what did +she do but give her my son, a boy about de age of dis yer, for her +to take down to Alabama? When I got back to de ole place, they +told me about it, an' I went right up to see ole missis, an' says +I,-- + +"'Missis, have you been an' sent my son away down to Alabama?' + +"'Yes, I have,' says she; 'he's gone to live with your young +missis.' + +"'Oh, Missis,' says I, 'how could you do it?' + +"'Poh!' says she, 'what a fuss you make about a little nigger! +Got more of 'em now than you know what to do with.' + +"I tell you, I stretched up. I felt as tall as the world! + +"'Missis,' says I, 'I'LL HAVE MY SON BACK AGIN!' + +"She laughed. + +"'YOU will, you nigger? How you goin' to do it? You ha'n't got +no money." + +"'No, Missis,--but GOD has,--an' you'll see He'll help me!'--an' I +turned round an' went out. + +"Oh, but I WAS angry to have her speak to me so haughty an' so +scornful, as ef my chile wasn't worth anything. I said to God, 'O +Lord, render unto her double!' It was a dreadful prayer, an' I +didn't know how true it would come. + +"Well, I didn't rightly know which way to turn; but I went to the +Lord, an' I said to Him, 'O Lord, ef I was as rich as you be, an' +you was as poor as I be, I'd help you,--you KNOW I would; and, oh, +do help me!' An' I felt sure then that He would. + +"Well, I talked with people, an' they said I must git the case +before a grand jury. So I went into the town when they was +holdin' a court, to see ef I could find any grand jury. An' I +stood round the court-house, an' when they was a-comin' out, I +walked right up to the grandest-lookin' one I could see, an' says +I to him,-- + +"'Sir, be you a grand jury?' + +"An' then he wanted to know why I asked, an' I told him all about +it; an' he asked me all sorts of questions, an' finally he says to +me,-- + +"'I think, ef you pay me ten dollars, that I'd agree to git your +son for you.' An' says he, pointin' to a house over the way, 'You +go 'long an' tell your story to the folks in that house, an' I +guess they'll give you the money.' + +"Well, I went, an' I told them, an' they gave me twenty dollars; +an' then I thought to myself, 'Ef ten dollars will git him, twenty +dollars will git him SARTIN.' So I carried it to the man all out, +an' said,-- + +"'Take it all,--only be sure an' git him.' + +"Well, finally they got the boy brought back; an' then they tried +to frighten him, an' to make him say that I wasn't his mammy, an' +that he didn't know me; but they couldn't make it out. They gave +him to me, an' I took him an' carried him home; an' when I came to +take off his clothes, there was his poor little back all covered +with scars an' hard lumps, where they'd flogged him. + +"Well, you see, honey, I told you how I prayed the Lord to render +unto her double. Well, it came true; for I was up at ole missis' +house not long after, an' I heerd 'em readin' a letter to her how +her daughter's husband had murdered her,--how he'd thrown her down +an' stamped the life out of her, when he was in liquor; an' my ole +missis, she giv a screech, an' fell flat on the floor. Then says +I, 'O Lord, I didn't mean all that! You took me up too quick.' + +"Well, I went in an' tended that poor critter all night. She was +out of her mind,--a-cryin', an' callin' for her daughter; an' I +held her poor ole head on my arm, an' watched for her as ef she'd +been my babby. An' I watched by her, an' took care on her all +through her sickness after that, an' she died in my arms, poor +thing!" + +"Well, Sojourner, did you always go by this name?" + +"No, 'deed! My name was Isabella; but when I left the house of +bondage, I left everything behind. I wa'n't goin' to keep nothin' +of Egypt on me, an' so I went to the Lord an' asked Him to give me +a new name. And the Lord gave me Sojourner, because I was to +travel up an' down the land, showin' the people their sins, an' +bein' a sign unto them. Afterwards I told the Lord I wanted +another name, 'cause everybody else had two names; and the Lord +gave me Truth, because I was to declare the truth to the people. + +"Ye see some ladies have given me a white satin banner," she said, +pulling out of her pocket and unfolding a white banner, printed +with many texts, such as, "Proclaim liberty throughout all the +land unto all the inhabitants thereof," and others of like nature. +"Well," she said, "I journeys round to camp-meetins, an' wherever +folks is, an' I sets up my banner, an' then I sings, an' then +folks always comes up round me, an' then I preaches to 'em. I +tells 'em about Jesus, an' I tells 'em about the sins of this +people. A great many always comes to hear me; an' they're right +good to me, too, an' say they want to hear me agin." + +We all thought it likely; and as the company left her, they shook +hands with her, and thanked her for her very original sermon; and +one of the ministers was overheard to say to another, "There's +more of the gospel in that story than in most sermons." + +Sojourner stayed several days with us, a welcome guest. Her +conversation was so strong, simple, shrewd, and with such a droll +flavoring of humor, that the Professor was wont to say of an +evening, "Come, I am dull, can't you get Sojourner up here to talk +a little?" She would come up into the parlor, and sit among +pictures and ornaments, in her simple stuff gown, with her heavy +travelling-shoes, the central object of attention both to parents +and children, always ready to talk or to sing, and putting into +the common flow of conversation the keen edge of some shrewd +remark. + +"Sojourner, what do you think of Women's Rights?" + +"Well, honey, I's ben to der meetins, an' harked a good deal. Dey +wanted me for to speak. So I got up. Says I,--'Sisters, I a'n't +clear what you'd be after. Ef women want any rights more 'n dey's +got, why don't dey jes' TAKE 'EM, an' not be talkin' about it?' +Some on 'em came round me, an' asked why I didn't wear Bloomers. +An' I told 'em I had Bloomers enough when I was in bondage. You +see," she said, "dey used to weave what dey called nigger-cloth, +an' each one of us got jes' sech a strip, an' had to wear it +width-wise. Them that was short got along pretty well, but as for +me"--She gave an indescribably droll glance at her long limbs +and then at us, and added,--"Tell YOU, I had enough of Bloomers in +them days." + +Sojourner then proceeded to give her views of the relative +capacity of the sexes, in her own way. + +"S'pose a man's mind holds a quart, an' a woman's don't hold but a +pint; ef her pint is FULL, it's as good as his quart." + +Sojourner was fond of singing an extraordinary lyric, commencing,-- + + + "I'm on my way to Canada, + That cold, but happy land; + The dire effects of Slavery + I can no longer stand. + O righteous Father, + Do look down on me, + And help me on to Canada, + Where colored folks are free!" + + +The lyric ran on to state, that, when the fugitive crosses the +Canada line, + + + "The Queen comes down unto the shore, + With arms extended wide, + To welcome the poor fugitive + Safe onto Freedom's side." + + +In the truth thus set forth she seemed to have the most simple +faith. + +But her chief delight was to talk of "glory," and to sing hymns +whose burden was,-- + + + "O glory, glory, glory, + Won't you come along with me?" + +and when left to herself, she would often hum these with great +delight, nodding her head. + +On one occasion, I remember her sitting at a window singing and +fervently keeping time with her head, the little black Puck of a +grandson meanwhile amusing himself with ornamenting her red-and- +yellow turban with green dandelion-curls, which shook and trembled +with her emotions, causing him perfect convulsions of delight. + +"Sojourner," said the Professor to her, one day, when he heard her +singing, "you seem to be very sure about heaven." + +"Well, I be," she answered, triumphantly. + +"What makes you so sure there is any heaven?" + +"Well, 'cause I got such a hankerin' arter it in here," she said,-- +giving a thump on her breast with her usual energy. + +There was at the time an invalid in the house, and Sojourner, on +learning it, felt a mission to go and comfort her. It was curious +to see the tall, gaunt, dusky figure stalk up to the bed with such +an air of conscious authority, and take on herself the office of +consoler with such a mixture of authority and tenderness. She +talked as from above,--and at the same time, if a pillow needed +changing or any office to be rendered, she did it with a strength +and handiness that inspired trust. One felt as if the dark, +strange woman were quite able to take up the invalid in her bosom, +and bear her as a lamb, both physically and spiritually. There +was both power and sweetness in that great warm soul and that +vigorous frame. + +At length, Sojourner, true to her name, departed. She had her +mission elsewhere. Where now she is I know not; but she left deep +memories behind her. + +To these recollections of my own I will add one more anecdote, +related by Wendell Phillips. + +Speaking of the power of Rachel to move and bear down a whole +audience by a few simple words, he said he never knew but one +other human being that had that power, and that other was +Sojourner Truth. He related a scene of which he was witness. It +was at a crowded public meeting in Faneuil Hall, where Frederick +Douglas was one of the chief speakers. Douglas had been +describing the wrongs of the black race, and as he proceeded, he +grew more and more excited, and finally ended by saying that they +had no hope of justice from the whites, no possible hope except in +their own right arms. It must come to blood; they must fight for +themselves, and redeem themselves, or it would never be done. + +Sojourner was sitting, tall and dark, on the very front seat, +facing the platform; and in the hush of deep feeling, after +Douglas sat down, she spoke out in her deep, peculiar voice, heard +all over the house,-- + +"Frederick, IS GOD DEAD?" + +The effect was perfectly electrical, and thrilled through the +whole house, changing as by a flash the whole feeling of the +audience. Not another word she said or needed to say; it was +enough. + +It is with a sad feeling that one contemplates noble minds and +bodies, nobly and grandly formed human beings, that have come to +us cramped, scarred, maimed, out of the prison-house of bondage. +One longs to know what such beings might have become, if suffered +to unfold and expand under the kindly developing influences of +education. + +It is the theory of some writers, that to the African is reserved, +in the later and palmier days of the earth, the full and +harmonious development of the religious element in man. The +African seems to seize on the tropical fervor and luxuriance of +Scripture imagery as something native; he appears to feel himself +to be of the same blood with those old burning, simple souls, the +patriarchs, prophets, and seers, whose impassioned words seem only +grafted as foreign plants on the cooler stock of the Occidental +mind. + +I cannot but think that Sojourner with the same culture might have +spoken words as eloquent and undying as those of the African Saint +Augustine or Tertullian. How grand and queenly a woman she might +have been, with her wonderful physical vigor, her great heaving +sea of emotion, her power of spiritual conception, her quick +penetration, and her boundless energy! We might conceive an +African type of woman so largely made and moulded, so much fuller +in all the elements of life, physical and spiritual, that the dark +hue of the skin should seem only to add an appropriate charm,--as +Milton says of his Penseroso, whom he imagines + + + "Black, but such as in esteem + Prince Memnon's sister might beseem, + Or that starred Ethiop queen that strove + To set her beauty's praise above + The sea-nymph's." + + +But though Sojourner Truth has passed away from among us as a wave +of the sea, her memory still lives in one of the loftiest and most +original works of modern art, the Libyan Sibyl, by Mr. Story, +which attracted so much attention in the late World's Exhibition. +Some years ago, when visiting Rome, I related Sojourner's history +to Mr. Story at a breakfast at his house. Already had his mind +begun to turn to Egypt in search of a type of art which should +represent a larger and more vigorous development of nature than +the cold elegance of Greek lines. His glorious Cleopatra was then +in process of evolution, and his mind was working out the problem +of her broadly developed nature, of all that slumbering weight and +fulness of passion with which this statue seems charged, as a +heavy thunder-cloud is charged with electricity. + +The history of Sojourner Truth worked in his mind and led him into +the deeper recesses of the African nature,--those unexplored +depths of being and feeling, mighty and dark as the gigantic +depths of tropical forests, mysterious as the hidden rivers and +mines of that burning continent whose life-history is yet to be. +A few days after, he told me that he had conceived the idea of a +statue which he should call the Libyan Sibyl. Two years +subsequently, I revisited Rome, and found the gorgeous Cleopatra +finished, a thing to marvel at, as the creation of a new style of +beauty, a new manner of art. Mr. Story requested me to come and +repeat to him the history of Sojourner Truth, saying that the +conception had never left him. I did so; and a day or two after, +he showed me the clay model of the Libyan Sibyl. I have never +seen the marble statue; but am told by those who have, that it was +by far the most impressive work of art at the Exhibition. + +A notice of the two statues from the London "Athenaeum" must +supply a description which I cannot give. + + +"The Cleopatra and the Sibyl are seated, partly draped, with the +characteristic Egyptian gown, that gathers about the torso and +falls freely around the limbs; the first is covered to the bosom, +the second bare to the hips. Queenly Cleopatra rests back against +her chair in meditative ease, leaning her cheek against one hand, +whose elbow the rail of the seat sustains; the other is +outstretched upon her knee, nipping its forefinger upon the thumb +thoughtfully, as though some firm, wilful purpose filled her +brain, as it seems to set those luxurious features to a smile as +if the whole woman 'would.' Upon her head is the coif, bearing in +front the mystic uraeus, or twining basilisk of sovereignty, while +from its sides depend the wide Egyptian lappels, or wings, that +fall upon her shoulders. The Sibilla Libica has crossed her +knees,--an action universally held amongst the ancients as +indicative of reticence or secrecy, and of power to bind. A +secret-keeping looking dame she is, in the full-bloom proportions +of ripe womanhood, wherein choosing to place his figure the +sculptor has deftly gone between the disputed point whether these +women were blooming and wise in youth, or deeply furrowed with age +and burdened with the knowledge of centuries, as Virgil, Livy, and +Gellius say. Good artistic example might be quoted on both sides. +Her forward elbow is propped upon one knee; and to keep her +secrets close, for this Libyan woman is the closest of all the +Sibyls, she rests her shut mouth upon one closed palm, as if +holding the African mystery deep in the brooding brain that looks +out through mournful, warning eyes, seen under the wide shade of +the strange horned (ammonite) crest, that bears the mystery of the +Tetragrammaton upon its upturned front. Over her full bosom, +mother of myriads as she was, hangs the same symbol. Her face has +a Nubian cast, her hair wavy and plaited, as is meet." + + +We hope to see the day when copies both of the Cleopatra and the +Libyan Sibyl shall adorn the Capitol at Washington. + + + +RECONSTRUCTION +by Frederick Douglass + + +The assembling of the Second Session of the Thirty-ninth Congress +may very properly be made the occasion of a few earnest words on +the already much-worn topic of reconstruction. + +Seldom has any legislative body been the subject of a solicitude +more intense, or of aspirations more sincere and ardent. There +are the best of reasons for this profound interest. Questions of +vast moment, left undecided by the last session of Congress, must +be manfully grappled with by this. No political skirmishing will +avail. The occasion demands statesmanship. + +Whether the tremendous war so heroically fought and so +victoriously ended shall pass into history a miserable failure, +barren of permanent results,--a scandalous and shocking waste of +blood and treasure,--a strife for empire, as Earl Russell +characterized it, of no value to liberty or civilization,--an +attempt to re-establish a Union by force, which must be the merest +mockery of a Union,--an effort to bring under Federal authority +States into which no loyal man from the North may safely enter, +and to bring men into the national councils who deliberate with +daggers and vote with revolvers, and who do not even conceal their +deadly hate of the country that conquered them; or whether, on the +other hand, we shall, as the rightful reward of victory over +treason, have a solid nation, entirely delivered from all +contradictions and social antagonisms, based upon loyalty, +liberty, and equality, must be determined one way or the other by +the present session of Congress. The last session really did +nothing which can be considered final as to these questions. The +Civil Rights Bill and the Freedmen's Bureau Bill and the proposed +constitutional amendments, with the amendment already adopted and +recognized as the law of the land, do not reach the difficulty, +and cannot, unless the whole structure of the government is +changed from a government by States to something like a despotic +central government, with power to control even the municipal +regulations of States, and to make them conform to its own +despotic will. While there remains such an idea as the right of +each State to control its own local affairs,--an idea, by the way, +more deeply rooted in the minds of men of all sections of the +country than perhaps any one other political idea,--no general +assertion of human rights can be of any practical value. To +change the character of the government at this point is neither +possible nor desirable. All that is necessary to be done is to +make the government consistent with itself, and render the rights +of the States compatible with the sacred rights of human nature. + +The arm of the Federal government is long, but it is far too short +to protect the rights of individuals in the interior of distant +States. They must have the power to protect themselves, or they +will go unprotected, spite of all the laws the Federal government +can put upon the national statute-book. + +Slavery, like all other great systems of wrong, founded in the +depths of human selfishness, and existing for ages, has not +neglected its own conservation. It has steadily exerted an +influence upon all around it favorable to its own continuance. +And to-day it is so strong that it could exist, not only without +law, but even against law. Custom, manners, morals, religion, are +all on its side everywhere in the South; and when you add the +ignorance and servility of the ex-slave to the intelligence and +accustomed authority of the master, you have the conditions, not +out of which slavery will again grow, but under which it is +impossible for the Federal government to wholly destroy it, unless +the Federal government be armed with despotic power, to blot out +State authority, and to station a Federal officer at every cross- +road. This, of course, cannot be done, and ought not even if it +could. The true way and the easiest way is to make our government +entirely consistent with itself, and give to every loyal citizen +the elective franchise,--a right and power which will be ever +present, and will form a wall of fire for his protection. + +One of the invaluable compensations of the late Rebellion is the +highly instructive disclosure it made of the true source of danger +to republican government. Whatever may be tolerated in +monarchical and despotic governments, no republic is safe that +tolerates a privileged class, or denies to any of its citizens +equal rights and equal means to maintain them. What was theory +before the war has been made fact by the war. + +There is cause to be thankful even for rebellion. It is an +impressive teacher, though a stern and terrible one. In both +characters it has come to us, and it was perhaps needed in both. +It is an instructor never a day before its time, for it comes only +when all other means of progress and enlightenment have failed. +Whether the oppressed and despairing bondman, no longer able to +repress his deep yearnings for manhood, or the tyrant, in his +pride and impatience, takes the initiative, and strikes the blow +for a firmer hold and a longer lease of oppression, the result is +the same,--society is instructed, or may be. + +Such are the limitations of the common mind, and so thoroughly +engrossing are the cares of common life, that only the few among +men can discern through the glitter and dazzle of present +prosperity the dark outlines of approaching disasters, even though +they may have come up to our very gates, and are already within +striking distance. The yawning seam and corroded bolt conceal +their defects from the mariner until the storm calls all hands to +the pumps. Prophets, indeed, were abundant before the war; but +who cares for prophets while their predictions remain unfulfilled, +and the calamities of which they tell are masked behind a blinding +blaze of national prosperity? + +It is asked, said Henry Clay, on a memorable occasion, Will +slavery never come to an end? That question, said he, was asked +fifty years ago, and it has been answered by fifty years of +unprecedented prosperity. Spite of the eloquence of the earnest +Abolitionists,--poured out against slavery during thirty years,-- +even they must confess, that, in all the probabilities of the +case, that system of barbarism would have continued its horrors +far beyond the limits of the nineteenth century but for the +Rebellion, and perhaps only have disappeared at last in a fiery +conflict, even more fierce and bloody than that which has now been +suppressed. + +It is no disparagement to truth, that it can only prevail where +reason prevails. War begins where reason ends. The thing worse +than rebellion is the thing that causes rebellion. What that +thing is, we have been taught to our cost. It remains now to be +seen whether we have the needed courage to have that cause +entirely removed from the Republic. At any rate, to this grand +work of national regeneration and entire purification Congress +must now address Itself, with full purpose that the work shall +this time be thoroughly done. The deadly upas, root and branch, +leaf and fibre, body and sap, must be utterly destroyed. The +country is evidently not in a condition to listen patiently to +pleas for postponement, however plausible, nor will it permit the +responsibility to be shifted to other shoulders. Authority and +power are here commensurate with the duty imposed. There are no +cloud-flung shadows to obscure the way. Truth shines with +brighter light and intenser heat at every moment, and a country +torn and rent and bleeding implores relief from its distress and +agony. + +If time was at first needed, Congress has now had time. All the +requisite materials from which to form an intelligent judgment are +now before it. Whether its members look at the origin, the +progress, the termination of the war, or at the mockery of a peace +now existing, they will find only one unbroken chain of argument +in favor of a radical policy of reconstruction. For the omissions +of the last session, some excuses may be allowed. A treacherous +President stood in the way; and it can be easily seen how +reluctant good men might be to admit an apostasy which involved so +much of baseness and ingratitude. It was natural that they should +seek to save him by bending to him even when he leaned to the side +of error. But all is changed now. Congress knows now that it +must go on without his aid, and even against his machinations. +The advantage of the present session over the last is immense. +Where that investigated, this has the facts. Where that walked by +faith, this may walk by sight. Where that halted, this must go +forward, and where that failed, this must succeed, giving the +country whole measures where that gave us half-measures, merely as +a means of saving the elections in a few doubtful districts. That +Congress saw what was right, but distrusted the enlightenment of +the loyal masses; but what was forborne in distrust of the people +must now be done with a full knowledge that the people expect and +require it. The members go to Washington fresh from the inspiring +presence of the people. In every considerable public meeting, and +in almost every conceivable way, whether at court-house, school- +house, or cross-roads, in doors and out, the subject has been +discussed, and the people have emphatically pronounced in favor of +a radical policy. Listening to the doctrines of expediency and +compromise with pity, impatience, and disgust, they have +everywhere broken into demonstrations of the wildest enthusiasm +when a brave word has been spoken in favor of equal rights and +impartial suffrage. Radicalism, so far from being odious, is not +the popular passport to power. The men most bitterly charged with +it go to Congress with the largest majorities, while the timid and +doubtful are sent by lean majorities, or else left at home. The +strange controversy between the President and the Congress, at one +time so threatening, is disposed of by the people. The high +reconstructive powers which he so confidently, ostentatiously, and +haughtily claimed, have been disallowed, denounced, and utterly +repudiated; while those claimed by Congress have been confirmed. + +Of the spirit and magnitude of the canvass nothing need be said. +The appeal was to the people, and the verdict was worthy of the +tribunal. Upon an occasion of his own selection, with the advice +and approval of his astute Secretary, soon after the members of +the Congress had returned to their constituents, the President +quitted the executive mansion, sandwiched himself between two +recognized heroes,--men whom the whole country delighted to +honor,--and, with all the advantage which such company could give +him, stumped the country from the Atlantic to the Mississippi, +advocating everywhere his policy as against that of Congress. It +was a strange sight, and perhaps the most disgraceful exhibition +ever made by any President; but, as no evil is entirely unmixed, +good has come of this, as from many others. Ambitious, +unscrupulous, energetic, indefatigable, voluble, and plausible,--a +political gladiator, ready for a "set-to" in any crowd,--he is +beaten in his own chosen field, and stands to-day before the +country as a convicted usurper, a political criminal, guilty of a +bold and persistent attempt to possess himself of the legislative +powers solemnly secured to Congress by the Constitution. No +vindication could be more complete, no condemnation could be more +absolute and humiliating. Unless reopened by the sword, as +recklessly threatened in some circles, this question is now closed +for all time. + +Without attempting to settle here the metaphysical and somewhat +theological question (about which so much has already been said +and written), whether once in the Union means always in the +Union,--agreeably to the formula, Once in grace always in grace,-- +it is obvious to common sense that the rebellious States stand to- +day, in point of law, precisely where they stood when, exhausted, +beaten, conquered, they fell powerless at the feet of Federal +authority. Their State governments were overthrown, and the lives +and property of the leaders of the Rebellion were forfeited. In +reconstructing the institutions of these shattered and overthrown +States, Congress should begin with a clean slate, and make clean +work of it. Let there be no hesitation. It would be a cowardly +deference to a defeated and treacherous President, if any account +were made of the illegitimate, one-sided, sham governments hurried +into existence for a malign purpose in the absence of Congress. +These pretended governments, which were never submitted to the +people, and from participation in which four millions of the loyal +people were excluded by Presidential order, should now be treated +according to their true character, as shams and impositions, and +supplanted by true and legitimate governments, in the formation of +which loyal men, black and white, shall participate. + +It is not, however, within the scope of this paper to point out +the precise steps to be taken, and the means to be employed. The +people are less concerned about these than the grand end to be +attained. They demand such a reconstruction as shall put an end +to the present anarchical state of things in the late rebellious +States,--where frightful murders and wholesale massacres are +perpetrated in the very presence of Federal soldiers. This +horrible business they require shall cease. They want a +reconstruction such as will protect loyal men, black and white, in +their persons and property; such a one as will cause Northern +industry, Northern capital, and Northern civilization to flow into +the South, and make a man from New England as much at home in +Carolina as elsewhere in the Republic. No Chinese wall can now be +tolerated. The South must be opened to the light of law and +liberty, and this session of Congress is relied upon to accomplish +this important work. + +The plain, common-sense way of doing this work, as intimated at +the beginning, is simply to establish in the South one law, one +government, one administration of justice, one condition to the +exercise of the elective franchise, for men of all races and +colors alike. This great measure is sought as earnestly by loyal +white men as by loyal blacks, and is needed alike by both. Let +sound political prescience but take the place of an unreasoning +prejudice, and this will be done. + +Men denounce the negro for his prominence in this discussion; but +it is no fault of his that in peace as in war, that in conquering +Rebel armies as in reconstructing the rebellious States, the right +of the negro is the true solution of our national troubles. The +stern logic of events, which goes directly to the point, +disdaining all concern for the color or features of men, has +determined the interests of the country as identical with and +inseparable from those of the negro. + +The policy that emancipated and armed the negro--now seen to have +been wise and proper by the dullest--was not certainly more +sternly demanded than is now the policy of enfranchisement. If +with the negro was success in war, and without him failure, so in +peace it will be found that the nation must fall or flourish with +the negro. + +Fortunately, the Constitution of the United States knows no +distinction between citizens on account of color. Neither does it +know any difference between a citizen of a State and a citizen of +the United States. Citizenship evidently includes all the rights +of citizens, whether State or national. If the Constitution knows +none, it is clearly no part of the duty of a Republican Congress +now to institute one. The mistake of the last session was the +attempt to do this very thing, by a renunciation of its power to +secure political rights to any class of citizens, with the obvious +purpose to allow the rebellious States to disfranchise, if they +should see fit, their colored citizens. This unfortunate blunder +must now be retrieved, and the emasculated citizenship given to +the negro supplanted by that contemplated in the Constitution of +the United States, which declares that the citizens of each State +shall enjoy all the rights and immunities of citizens of the +several States,--so that a legal voter in any State shall be a +legal voter in all the States. + + + +AN APPEAL TO CONGRESS FOR IMPARTIAL SUFFRAGE +by Frederick Douglas + + +A very limited statement of the argument for impartial suffrage, +and for including the negro in the body politic, would require +more space than can be reasonably asked here. It is supported by +reasons as broad as the nature of man, and as numerous as the +wants of society. Man is the only government-making animal in the +world. His right to a participation in the production and +operation of government is an inference from his nature, as direct +and self-evident as is his right to acquire property or education. +It is no less a crime against the manhood of a man, to declare +that he shall not share in the making and directing of the +government under which he lives, than to say that he shall not +acquire property and education. The fundamental and unanswerable +argument in favor of the enfranchisement of the negro is found in +the undisputed fact of his manhood. He is a man, and by every +fact and argument by which any man can sustain his right to vote, +the negro can sustain his right equally. It is plain that, if the +right belongs to any, it belongs to all. The doctrine that some +men have no rights that others are bound to respect, is a doctrine +which we must banish as we have banished slavery, from which it +emanated. If black men have no rights in the eyes of white men, +of course the whites can have none in the eyes of the blacks. The +result is a war of races, and the annihilation of all proper human +relations. + +But suffrage for the negro, while easily sustained upon abstract +principles, demands consideration upon what are recognized as the +urgent necessities of the case. It is a measure of relief,--a +shield to break the force of a blow already descending with +violence, and render it harmless. The work of destruction has +already been set in motion all over the South. Peace to the +country has literally meant war to the loyal men of the South, +white and black; and negro suffrage is the measure to arrest and +put an end to that dreadful strife. + +Something then, not by way of argument, (for that has been done by +Charles Sumner, Thaddeus Stevens, Wendell Phillips, Gerrit Smith, +and other able men,) but rather of statement and appeal. + +For better or for worse, (as in some of the old marriage +ceremonies,) the negroes are evidently a permanent part of the +American population. They are too numerous and useful to be +colonized, and too enduring and self-perpetuating to disappear by +natural causes. Here they are, four millions of them, and, for +weal or for woe, here they must remain. Their history is parallel +to that of the country; but while the history of the latter has +been cheerful and bright with blessings, theirs has been heavy and +dark with agonies and curses. What O'Connell said of the history +of Ireland may with greater truth be said of the negro's. It may +be "traced like a wounded man through a crowd, by the blood." Yet +the negroes have marvellously survived all the exterminating +forces of slavery, and have emerged at the end of two hundred and +fifty years of bondage, not morose, misanthropic, and revengeful, +but cheerful, hopeful, and forgiving. They now stand before +Congress and the country, not complaining of the past, but simply +asking for a better future. The spectacle of these dusky millions +thus imploring, not demanding, is touching; and if American +statesmen could be moved by a simple appeal to the nobler elements +of human nature, if they had not fallen, seemingly, into the +incurable habit of weighing and measuring every proposition of +reform by some standard of profit and loss, doing wrong from +choice, and right only from necessity or some urgent demand of +human selfishness, it would be enough to plead for the negroes on +the score of past services and sufferings. But no such appeal +shall be relied on here. Hardships, services, sufferings, and +sacrifices are all waived. It is true that they came to the +relief of the country at the hour of its extremest need. It is +true that, in many of the rebellious States, they were almost the +only reliable friends the nation had throughout the whole +tremendous war. It is true that, notwithstanding their alleged +ignorance, they were wiser than their masters, and knew enough to +be loyal, while those masters only knew enough to be rebels and +traitors. It is true that they fought side by side in the loyal +cause with our gallant and patriotic white soldiers, and that, but +for their help,--divided as the loyal States were,--the Rebels +might have succeeded in breaking up the Union, thereby entailing +border wars and troubles of unknown duration and incalculable +calamity. All this and more is true of these loyal negroes. Many +daring exploits will be told to their credit. Impartial history +will paint them as men who deserved well of their country. It +will tell how they forded and swam rivers, with what consummate +address they evaded the sharp-eyed Rebel pickets, how they toiled +in the darkness of night through the tangled marshes of briers and +thorns, barefooted and weary, running the risk of losing their +lives, to warn our generals of Rebel schemes to surprise and +destroy our loyal army. It will tell how these poor people, whose +rights we still despised, behaved to our wounded soldiers, when +found cold, hungry, and bleeding on the deserted battle-field; how +they assisted our escaping prisoners from Andersonville, Belle +Isle, Castle Thunder, and elsewhere, sharing with them their +wretched crusts, and otherwise affording them aid and comfort; how +they promptly responded to the trumpet call for their services, +fighting against a foe that denied them the rights of civilized +warfare, and for a government which was without the courage to +assert those rights and avenge their violation in their behalf; +with what gallantry they flung themselves upon Rebel +fortifications, meeting death as fearlessly as any other troops in +the service. But upon none of these things is reliance placed. +These facts speak to the better dispositions of the human heart; +but they seem of little weight with the opponents of impartial +suffrage. + +It is true that a strong plea for equal suffrage might be +addressed to the national sense of honor. Something, too, might +be said of national gratitude. A nation might well hesitate +before the temptation to betray its allies. There is something +immeasurably mean, to say nothing of the cruelty, in placing the +loyal negroes of the South under the political power of their +Rebel masters. To make peace with our enemies is all well enough; +but to prefer our enemies and sacrifice our friends,--to exalt our +enemies and cast down our friends,--to clothe our enemies, who +sought the destruction of the government, with all political +power, and leave our friends powerless in their hands,--is an act +which need not be characterized here. We asked the negroes to +espouse our cause, to be our friends, to fight for us, and against +their masters; and now, after they have done all that we asked +them to do,--helped us to conquer their masters, and thereby +directed toward themselves the furious hate of the vanquished,--it +is proposed in some quarters to turn them over to the political +control of the common enemy of the government and of the negro. +But of this let nothing be said in this place. Waiving humanity, +national honor, the claims of gratitude, the precious satisfaction +arising from deeds of charity and justice to the weak and +defenceless,--the appeal for impartial suffrage addresses itself +with great pertinency to the darkest, coldest, and flintiest side +of the human heart, and would wring righteousness from the +unfeeling calculations of human selfishness. + +For in respect to this grand measure it is the good fortune of the +negro that enlightened selfishness, not less than justice, fights +on his side. National interest and national duty, if elsewhere +separated, are firmly united here. The American people can, +perhaps, afford to brave the censure of surrounding nations for +the manifest injustice and meanness of excluding its faithful +black soldiers from the ballot-box, but it cannot afford to allow +the moral and mental energies of rapidly increasing millions to be +consigned to hopeless degradation. + +Strong as we are, we need the energy that slumbers in the black +man's arm to make us stronger. We want no longer any heavy- +footed, melancholy service from the negro. We want the cheerful +activity of the quickened manhood of these sable millions. Nor +can we afford to endure the moral blight which the existence of a +degraded and hated class must necessarily inflict upon any people +among whom such a class may exist. Exclude the negroes as a class +from political rights,--teach them that the high and manly +privilege of suffrage is to be enjoyed by white citizens only,-- +that they may bear the burdens of the state, but that they are to +have no part in its direction or its honors,--and you at once +deprive them of one of the main incentives to manly character and +patriotic devotion to the interests of the government; in a word, +you stamp them as a degraded caste,--you teach them to despise +themselves, and all others to despise them. Men are so +constituted that they largely derive their ideas of their +abilities and their possibilities from the settled judgments of +their fellow-men, and especially from such as they read in the +institutions under which they live. If these bless them, they are +blest indeed; but if these blast them, they are blasted indeed. +Give the negro the elective franchise, and you give him at once a +powerful motive for all noble exertion, and make him a man among +men. A character is demanded of him, and here as elsewhere demand +favors supply. It is nothing against this reasoning that all men +who vote are not good men or good citizens. It is enough that the +possession and exercise of the elective franchise is in itself an +appeal to the nobler elements of manhood, and imposes education as +essential to the safety of society. + +To appreciate the full force of this argument, it must be +observed, that disfranchisement in a republican government based +upon the idea of human equality and universal suffrage, is a very +different thing from disfranchisement in governments based upon +the idea of the divine right of kings, or the entire subjugation +of the masses. Masses of men can take care of themselves. +Besides, the disabilities imposed upon all are necessarily without +that bitter and stinging element of invidiousness which attaches +to disfranchisement in a republic. What is common to all works no +special sense of degradation to any. But in a country like ours, +where men of all nations, kindred, and tongues are freely +enfranchised, and allowed to vote, to say to the negro, You shall +not vote, is to deal his manhood a staggering blow, and to burn +into his soul a bitter and goading sense of wrong, or else work in +him a stupid indifference to all the elements of a manly +character. As a nation, we cannot afford to have amongst us +either this indifference and stupidity, or that burning sense of +wrong. These sable millions are too powerful to be allowed to +remain either indifferent or discontented. Enfranchise them, and +they become self-respecting and country-loving citizens. +Disfranchise them, and the mark of Cain is set upon them less +mercifully than upon the first murderer, for no man was to hurt +him. But this mark of inferiority--all the more palpable because +of a difference of color--not only dooms the negro to be a +vagabond, but makes him the prey of insult and outrage everywhere. +While nothing may be urged here as to the past services of the +negro, it is quite within the line of this appeal to remind the +nation of the possibility that a time may come when the services +of the negro may be a second time required. History is said to +repeat itself, and, if so, having wanted the negro once, we may +want him again. Can that statesmanship be wise which would leave +the negro good ground to hesitate, when the exigencies of the +country required his prompt assistance? Can that be sound +statesmanship which leaves millions of men in gloomy discontent, +and possibly in a state of alienation in the day of national +trouble? Was not the nation stronger when two hundred thousand +sable soldiers were hurled against the Rebel fortifications, than +it would have been without them? Arming the negro was an urgent +military necessity three years ago,--are we sure that another +quite as pressing may not await us? Casting aside all thought of +justice and magnanimity, is it wise to impose upon the negro all +the burdens involved in sustaining government against foes within +and foes without, to make him equal sharer in all sacrifices for +the public good, to tax him in peace and conscript him in war, and +then coldly exclude him from the ballot-box? + +Look across the sea. Is Ireland, in her present condition, +fretful, discontented, compelled to support an establishment in +which she does not believe, and which the vast majority of her +people abhor, a source of power or of weakness to Great Britain? +Is not Austria wise in removing all ground of complaint against +her on the part of Hungary? And does not the Emperor of Russia +act wisely, as well as generously, when he not only breaks up the +bondage of the serf, but extends him all the advantages of Russian +citizenship? Is the present movement in England in favor of +manhood suffrage--for the purpose of bringing four millions of +British subjects into full sympathy and co-operation with the +British government--a wise and humane movement, or otherwise? Is +the existence of a rebellious element in our borders--which New +Orleans, Memphis, and Texas show to be only disarmed, but at heart +as malignant as ever, only waiting for an opportunity to reassert +itself with fire and sword--a reason for leaving four millions of +the nation's truest friends with just cause of complaint against +the Federal government? If the doctrine that taxation should go +hand in hand with representation can be appealed to in behalf of +recent traitors and rebels, may it not properly be asserted in +behalf of a people who have ever been loyal and faithful to the +government? The answers to these questions are too obvious to +require statement. Disguise it as we may, we are still a divided +nation. The Rebel States have still an anti-national policy. +Massachusetts and South Carolina may draw tears from the eyes of +our tender-hearted President by walking arm in arm into his +Philadelphia Convention, but a citizen of Massachusetts is still +an alien in the Palmetto State. There is that, all over the +South, which frightens Yankee industry, capital, and skill from +its borders. We have crushed the Rebellion, but not its hopes or +its malign purposes. The South fought for perfect and permanent +control over the Southern laborer. It was a war of the rich +against the poor. They who waged it had no objection to the +government, while they could use it as a means of confirming their +power over the laborer. They fought the government, not because +they hated the government as such, but because they found it, as +they thought, in the way between them and their one grand purpose +of rendering permanent and indestructible their authority and +power over the Southern laborer. Though the battle is for the +present lost, the hope of gaining this object still exists, and +pervades the whole South with a feverish excitement. We have thus +far only gained a Union without unity, marriage without love, +victory without peace. The hope of gaining by politics what they +lost by the sword, is the secret of all this Southern unrest; and +that hope must be extinguished before national ideas and objects +can take full possession of the Southern mind. There is but one +safe and constitutional way to banish that mischievous hope from +the South, and that is by lifting the laborer beyond the +unfriendly political designs of his former master. Give the negro +the elective franchise, and you at once destroy the purely +sectional policy, and wheel the Southern States into line with +national interests and national objects. The last and shrewdest +turn of Southern politics is a recognition of the necessity of +getting into Congress immediately, and at any price. The South +will comply with any conditions but suffrage for the negro. It +will swallow all the unconstitutional test oaths, repeal all the +ordinances of Secession, repudiate the Rebel debt, promise to pay +the debt incurred in conquering its people, pass all the +constitutional amendments, if only it can have the negro left +under its political control. The proposition is as modest as that +made on the mountain: "All these things will I give unto thee if +thou wilt fall down and worship me." + +But why are the Southerners so willing to make these sacrifices? +The answer plainly is, they see in this policy the only hope of +saving something of their old sectional peculiarities and power. +Once firmly seated in Congress, their alliance with Northern +Democrats re-established, their States restored to their former +position inside the Union, they can easily find means of keeping +the Federal government entirely too busy with other important +matters to pay much attention to the local affairs of the Southern +States. Under the potent shield of State Rights, the game would +be in their own hands. Does any sane man doubt for a moment that +the men who followed Jefferson Davis through the late terrible +Rebellion, often marching barefooted and hungry, naked and +penniless, and who now only profess an enforced loyalty, would +plunge this country into a foreign war to-day, if they could +thereby gain their coveted independence, and their still more +coveted mastery over the negroes? Plainly enough, the peace not +less than the prosperity of this country is involved in the great +measure of impartial suffrage. King Cotton is deposed, but only +deposed, and is ready to-day to reassert all his ancient +pretensions upon the first favorable opportunity. Foreign +countries abound with his agents. They are able, vigilant, +devoted. The young men of the South burn with the desire to +regain what they call the lost cause; the women are noisily +malignant towards the Federal government. In fact, all the +elements of treason and rebellion are there under the thinnest +disguise which necessity can impose. + +What, then, is the work before Congress? It is to save the people +of the South from themselves, and the nation from detriment on +their account. Congress must supplant the evident sectional +tendencies of the South by national dispositions and tendencies. +It must cause national ideas and objects to take the lead and +control the politics of those States. It must cease to recognize +the old slave-masters as the only competent persons to rule the +South. In a word, it must enfranchise the negro, and by means of +the loyal negroes and the loyal white men of the South build up a +national party there, and in time bridge the chasm between North +and South, so that our country may have a common liberty and a +common civilization. The new wine must be put into new bottles. +The lamb may not be trusted with the wolf. Loyalty is hardly safe +with traitors. + +Statesmen of America! beware what you do. The ploughshare of +rebellion has gone through the land beam-deep. The soil is in +readiness, and the seed-time has come. Nations, not less than +individuals, reap as they sow. The dreadful calamities of the +past few years came not by accident, nor unbidden, from the +ground. You shudder to-day at the harvest of blood sown in the +spring-time of the Republic by your patriot fathers. The +principle of slavery, which they tolerated under the erroneous +impression that it would soon die out, became at last the dominant +principle and power at the South. It early mastered the +Constitution, became superior to the Union, and enthroned itself +above the law. + +Freedom of speech and of the press it slowly but successfully +banished from the South, dictated its own code of honor and +manners to the nation, brandished the bludgeon and the bowie-knife +over Congressional debate, sapped the foundations of loyalty, +dried up the springs of patriotism, blotted out the testimonies of +the fathers against oppression, padlocked the pulpit, expelled +liberty from its literature, invented nonsensical theories about +master-races and slave-races of men, and in due season produced a +Rebellion fierce, foul, and bloody. + +This evil principle again seeks admission into our body politic. +It comes now in shape of a denial of political rights to four +million loyal colored people. The South does not now ask for +slavery. It only asks for a large degraded caste, which shall +have no political rights. This ends the case. Statesmen, beware +what you do. The destiny of unborn and unnumbered generations is +in your hands. Will you repeat the mistake of your fathers, who +sinned ignorantly? or will you profit by the blood-bought wisdom +all round you, and forever expel every vestige of the old +abomination from our national borders? As you members of the +Thirty-ninth Congress decide, will the country be peaceful, +united, and happy, or troubled, divided, and miserable. + + + +THE NEGRO EXODUS +by James B. Runnion + + +A recent sojourn in the South for a few weeks, chiefly in +Louisiana and Mississippi, gave the writer an opportunity to +inquire into what has been so aptly called "the negro exodus." +The emigration of blacks to Kansas began early in the spring of +this year. For a time there was a stampede from two or three of +the river parishes in Louisiana and as many counties opposite in +Mississippi. Several thousand negroes (certainly not fewer than +five thousand, and variously estimated as high as ten thousand) +had left their cabins before the rush could be stayed or the +excitement lulled. Early in May most of the negroes who had quit +work for the purpose of emigrating, but had not succeeded in +getting off, were persuaded to return to the plantations, and from +that time on there have been only straggling families and groups +that have watched for and seized the first opportunity for +transportation to the North. There is no doubt, however, that +there is still a consuming desire among the negroes of the cotton +districts in these two States to seek new homes, and there are the +best reasons for believing that the exodus will take a new start +next spring, after the gathering and conversion of the growing +crop. Hundreds of negroes who returned from the river-banks for +lack of transportation, and thousands of others infected with the +ruling discontent, are working harder in the fields this summer, +and practicing more economy and self-denial than ever before, in +order to have the means next winter and spring to pay their way to +the "promised land." + +"We've been working for fourteen long years," said an intelligent +negro, in reply to a question as to the cause of the prevailing +discontent, "and we ain't no better off than we was when we +commenced." This is the negro version of the trouble, which is +elaborated on occasion into a harrowing story of oppression and +plunder. + +"I tell you it's all owing to the radical politicians at the +North," explained a representative of the type known as the +Bourbons; "they've had their emissaries down here, and deluded the +'niggers' into a very fever of emigration, with the purpose of +reducing our basis of representation in Congress and increasing +that of the Northern States." + +These are the two extremes of opinion at the South. The first is +certainly the more reasonable and truthful, though it implies that +all the blame rests upon the whites, which is not the case; the +second, preposterous as it will appear to Northern readers, is +religiously believed by large numbers of the "unreconciled." +Between these two extremes there is an infinite variety of +theories, all more or less governed by the political faction to +which the various theorizers belong; there are at least a dozen of +these factions, such as the Bourbons, the conservatives, the +native white republicans, the carpet-bag republicans, the negro +republicans, etc. There is a political tinge in almost everything +in the extreme Southern States. The fact seems to be that the +emigration movement among the blacks was spontaneous to the extent +that they were ready and anxious to go. The immediate notion of +going may have been inculcated by such circulars, issued by +railroads and land companies, as are common enough at emigrant +centres in the North and West, and the exaggeration characteristic +of such literature may have stimulated the imagination of the +negroes far beyond anything they are likely to realize in their +new homes. Kansas was naturally the favorite goal of the negro +emigre, for it was associated in his mind with the names of Jim +Lane and John Brown, which are hallowed to him. The timid learned +that they could escape what they have come to regard as a second +bondage, and they flocked together to gain the moral support which +comes from numbers. + +Diligent inquiry among representative men, of all classes and from +all parts of Louisiana, who were in attendance at the +constitutional convention in New Orleans, and careful observation +along the river among the land owners and field hands in both +Louisiana and Mississippi, left a vivid impression of some +material and political conditions which fully account for the +negro exodus. I have dropped the social conditions out of the +consideration, because I became convinced that the race troubles +at the South can be solved to the satisfaction of both whites and +blacks without cultivating any closer social relations than those +which now prevail. The material conditions which I have in mind +are less familiar than the political conditions; they are mainly +the land-tenure and credit systems, and mere modifications +(scarcely for the better) of the peculiar plantation system of +slavery days. + +The cotton lands at the South are owned now, as they were before +the war, in large tracts. The land was about all that most of the +Southern whites had left to them after the war, and they kept it +when they could, at the first, in the hope that it would yield +them a living through the labor of the blacks; of late years they +have not been able to sell their plantations at any fair price, if +they desired to do so. The white men with capital who went to the +South from the North after the war seemed to acquire the true +Southern ambition to be large land owners and planters; and when +the ante-bellum owners lost their plantations the land usually +went in bulk to the city factors who had made them advances from +year to year, and had taken mortgages on their crops and broad +acres. As a consequence, the land has never been distributed +among the people who inhabit and cultivate it, and agricultural +labor in the Southern States approaches the condition of the +factory labor in England and the Eastern States more nearly than +it does the farm labor of the North and West. Nearly every +agricultural laborer north of Mason and Dixon's line, if not the +actual possessor of the land he plows, looks forward to owning a +farm some time; at the South such an ambition is rare, and small +ownership still more an exception. The practice of paying day +wages was first tried after the war; this practice is still in +vogue in the sugar and rice districts, where laborers are paid +from fifty to seventy cents per day, with quarters furnished and +living guaranteed them at nine or ten cents a day. In sections +where the wages system prevails, and where there have been no +political disturbances, the negroes seem to be perfectly +contented; at all events, the emigration fever has not spread +among them. But it was found impracticable to maintain the wage +system in the cotton districts. The negroes themselves fought +against it, because it reminded them too much of the slave-gang, +driven out at daybreak and home at sundown. In many cases the +planters were forced to abandon it, because they had not the means +to carry on such huge farming, and they could not secure the same +liberal advances from capitalists as when they were able to +mortgage a growing "crop of niggers." Then the system of working +on shares was tried. This was reasonably fair, and the negro +laborers were satisfied as long as it lasted. The owners of the +land, under this system, would furnish the indispensable mule and +the farming implements, and take one half the product. The +planters themselves relinquished this system. Some of them +contend that the laziness and indifference of the negro made the +partnership undesirable; many others admit that they were not able +to advance the negro tenant his supplies pending the growth of the +year's crop, as it was necessary they should do under the sharing +system. Now the renting system is almost universal. It yields +the land owner a certainty, endangered only by the death, +sickness, or desertion of the negro tenant; but it throws the +latter upon his own responsibility, and frequently makes him the +victim of his own ignorance and the rapacity of the white man. +The rent of land, on a money basis, varies from six to ten dollars +an acre per year, while the same land can be bought in large +quantities all the way from fifteen to thirty dollars per acre, +according to location, clearing, improvement, richness, etc. When +paid in product, the rent varies from eighty to one hundred pounds +of lint cotton per acre for land that produces from two hundred to +four hundred pounds of cotton per acre; the tenant undertakes to +pay from one quarter to one half--perhaps an average of one third-- +of his crop for the use of the land, without stock, tools, or +assistance of any kind. The land owners usually claim that they +make no money even at these exorbitant figures. If they do not, +it is because only a portion of their vast possessions is under +cultivation, because they do no work themselves, and in some cases +because the negroes do not cultivate and gather as large a crop as +they could and ought to harvest. It is very certain that the +negro tenants, as a class, make no money; if they are out of debt +at the end of a season, they have reason to rejoice. + +The credit system, which is as universal as the renting system, is +even more illogical and oppressive. The utter viciousness of both +systems in their mutual dependence is sufficiently illustrated by +the single fact that, after fourteen years of freedom and labor on +their own account, the great mass of the negroes depend for their +living on an advance of supplies (as they need food, clothing, or +tools during the year) upon the pledge of their growing crop. +This is a generic imitation of the white man's improvidence during +the slavery times; then the planters mortgaged their crops and +negroes, and where one used the advances to extend his plantation, +ten squandered the money. The negro's necessities have developed +an offensive race, called merchants by courtesy, who keep supply +stores at the cross-roads and steamboat landings, and live upon +extortion. These people would be called sharks, harpies, and +vampires in any Northwestern agricultural community, and they +would not survive more than one season. The country merchant +advances the negro tenant such supplies as the negro wants up to a +certain amount, previously fixed by contract, and charges the +negro at least double the value of every article sold to him. +There is no concealment about the extortion; every store-keeper +has his cash price and his credit price, and in nearly all cases +the latter is one hundred per cent. higher than the former. The +extortion is justified by those who practice it on the ground that +their losses by bad debts, though their advances are always +secured by mortgage on the growing crop, overbalance the profits; +this assertion is scarcely borne out by the comparative opulence +of the "merchant" and the pitiful poverty of the laborer. Some of +the largest and wealthiest planters have sought to protect their +tenants from the merciless clutches of the contrary merchant, who +is more frequently than not an Israelite, by advancing supplies of +necessary articles at reasonable prices. But the necessities of +the planter, if not his greed, often betray him into plundering +the negro. The planter himself is generally a victim to usury. +He still draws on the city factor to the extent of ten dollars a +bale upon his estimated crop. He pays this factor two and one +half per cent. commission for the advance, eight per cent. +interest for the money, two and one half per cent. more for +disposing of the crop when consigned to him, and sometimes still +another commission for the purchase of the supplies. The planter +who furnishes his tenants with supplies on credit is usually +paying an interest of fifteen to eighteen per cent. himself, and +necessarily takes some risk in advancing upon an uncertain crop +and to a laborer whom he believes to be neither scrupulous nor +industrious; these conditions necessitate more than the ordinary +profit, and in many cases suggest exorbitant and unreasonable +charges. But whether the negro deals with the merchant or the +land owner, his extravagance almost invariably exhausts his +credit, even if it be large. The negro is a sensuous creature, +and luxurious in his way. The male is an enormous consumer of +tobacco and whisky; the female has an inordinate love for +flummery; both are fond of sardines, potted meats, and canned +goods generally, and they indulge themselves without any other +restraint than the refusal of their merchant to sell to them. The +man who advances supplies watches his negro customers constantly; +if they are working well and their crop promises to be large, he +will permit and even encourage them to draw upon him liberally; it +is only a partial failure of the crop, or some intimation of the +negro's intention to shirk his obligations, that induces his +country factor to preach the virtue of self-restraint, or moralize +upon the advantages of economy. + +The land owner's rent and the merchant's advances are both secured +by a chattel mortgage on the tenant's personal property, and by a +pledge of the growing crop. The hired laborer (for it is common +for negroes to work for wages for other negroes who rent lands) +has also a lien upon the growing crops second only to the land +owner's; but as the law requires that the liens shall be recorded, +which the ignorant laborer usually neglects and the shrewd +merchant never fails to do, the former is generally cheated of his +security. Among those who usually work for hire are the women, +who are expert cotton pickers, and the loss of wages which so many +of them have suffered by reason of the prior lien gained by +landlord and merchant has helped to make them earnest and +effective advocates of emigration. The Western farmer considers +it hard enough to struggle under one mortgage at a reasonable +interest; the negro tenant begins his season with three mortgages, +covering all he owns, his labor for the coming year, and all he +expects to acquire during that period. He pays one third his +product for the use of the land; he pays double the value of all +he consumes; he pays an exorbitant fee for recording the contract +by which he pledges his pound of flesh; he is charged two or three +times as much as he ought to pay for ginning his cotton; and, +finally, he turns over his crop to be eaten up in commissions, if +anything still be left to him. It is easy to understand why the +negro rarely gets ahead in the world. This mortgaging of future +services, which is practically what a pledge of the growing crop +amounts to, is in the nature of bondage. It has a tendency to +make the negro extravagant, reckless, and unscrupulous; he has +become convinced from previous experience that nothing will be +coming to him on the day of settlement, and he is frequently +actuated by the purpose of getting as much as possible and working +as little as possible. Cases are numerous in which the negro +abandons his own crop at picking time, because he knows that he +has already eaten up its full value; and so he goes to picking for +wages on some other plantation. In other cases, where negroes +have acquired mules and farming implements upon which a merchant +has secured a mortgage in the manner described, they are +practically bound to that merchant from year to year, in order to +retain their property; if he removes from one section to another, +they must follow him, and rent and cultivate lands in his +neighborhood. It is only the ignorance, the improvidence, and the +happy disposition of the negro, under the influence of the lazy, +drowsy climate, to which he is so well adapted physically, that +have enabled him to endure these hardships so long. And, though +the negro is the loser, the white man is not often the gainer, +from this false plantation and mercantile system. The incidental +risk may not be so large as the planter and merchant pretend, but +the condition of the people is an evidence that the extortion they +practice yields no better profit in the long run than would be +gained by competition in fair prices on a cash system; and in +leading up to a general emigration of the laboring population the +abuses described will eventually ruin and impoverish those who +have heretofore been the only beneficiaries thereof. The decay of +improvements inevitable under annual rentings, the lack of +sufficient labor to cultivate all the good land, and the universal +idleness of the rural whites have kept the land owners +comparatively poor; the partial failure of crops and the +unscrupulousness of the negro debtor, engendered by the infamous +exactions of his creditor, have prevented the merchants, as a +class, from prospering as much as might be supposed; and, finally, +the uniform injustice to the laborers induces them to fly to ills +they know not of, rather than bear those they have. It is a +blessing to the negro that the laws do not yet provide for a +detention of the person in the case of debt, or escape would be +shut off entirely; as it is, various influences and circumstances +appertaining to the system in vogue have been used to prevent the +easy flight of those who desire to go, and have detained thousands +of blacks for a time who are fretting to quit the country. + +Political oppression has contributed largely to the discontent +which is the prime cause of the exodus. "Bulldozing" is the term +by which all forms of this oppression are known. The native +whites are generally indisposed to confess that the negroes are +quitting the country on account of political injustice and +persecution; even those who freely admit and fitly characterize +the abuses already described seek to deny, or at least belittle, +the political abuses. The fact that a large number of negroes +have emigrated from Madison Parish, Louisiana, where there has +never been any bulldozing, and where the negroes are in full and +undisputed political control, is cited as proof that political +disturbances cut no figure in the case. But the town of Delta, in +Madison Parish, is at once on the river and the terminus of a +railroad that runs back through the interior of the State; thus +Madison Parish would furnish the natural exit for the fugitives +from the adjoining counties, where there have been political +disturbances. It would be just as reasonable to contend that the +plundering of the negroes has had no influence in driving them +away, since many of those who have emigrated were among the most +prosperous of the blacks, as to deny the agency of political +persecution. Families that had been able to accumulate a certain +amount of personal property, in spite of the extortionate +practices, sold their mules, their implements, their cows, their +pigs, their sheep, and their household goods for anything they +would bring,--frequently as low as one sixth of their value,--in +order that they might improve an immediate opportunity to go away; +it is evident that there must have been some cause outside of +extortion in their case. There are candid native whites who do +not deny, but justify, the violent methods which have been +employed to disfranchise the negroes, or compel them to vote under +white dictation, in many parts of Louisiana and Mississippi, on +the ground that the men who pay the taxes should vote them and +control the disbursement of the public moneys. The gentlemen who +advance this argument seem to ignore the fact that the very +Northerner whom they are seeking to convert to "the Mississippi +plan" may himself be a taxpayer in some Northern city, where +public affairs are controlled by a class of voters in every way as +ignorant and irresponsible as the blacks, but where bulldozing has +never yet been suggested as a remedy. For the rest, the evidences +of political oppression are abundant and convincing. The +bulldozers as a class are more impecunious and irresponsible than +the negroes, and, unlike the negroes, they will not work. There +has been more of the "night-riding," the whippings, the mysterious +disappearances, the hangings, and the terrorism comprehended in +the term bulldozing than has been reported by those "abstracts and +brief chronicles of the time," the Southern newspapers, which are +now all of one party, and defer to the ruling sentiment among the +whites. The exodus has wrung from two or three of the more candid +and independent journals, however, a virtual confession of the +fiendish practices of bulldozing in their insistance that these +practices must be abandoned. The non-resident land owners and the +resident planters, the city factors and the country merchants of +means and respectability, have taken no personal part in the +terrorizing of the negro, but they have tolerated it, and +sometimes encouraged it, in order to gratify their preference for +"white government." The negroes have suffered the more because +they have not resisted and defended themselves; now they have +begun to convince those who have persecuted them that, if they +will not strike back, they can and will run away. No one who is +at all familiar with the freedman can doubt that the abridgment of +his political rights has been one of the main causes of the +exodus. Voting is widely regarded at the North as a disagreeable +duty, but the negro looks upon it as the highest privilege in +life; to be frightened out of the exercise of this privilege, or +compelled to exercise it in conflict with his convictions and +preferences, is to suffer from a cruel injustice, which the negro +will now try to escape, since he has learned that escape is +possible. The women, though free from personal assaults, suffer +from the terrorism that prevails in certain districts as much as +the men. "We might as well starve or freeze to death in Kansas," +they say, "as to be shot-gunned here." If they talk to you in +confidence, they declare that the ruling purpose is to escape from +the "slaughter-pens" of the South. Political persecution, and +not the extortion they suffer, is the refrain of all the speakers +at negro meetings that are held in encouragement and aid of the +emigration. It is idle to deny that the varied injustice which +the negroes have suffered as voters is accountable for a large +part of their universal yearning for new homes, and it will be +folly for the responsible classes at the South to ignore this +fact. + +As it is the negroes who are fleeing from the South, it is natural +to look among the dominant class for the injustice which is +driving them away; but it would be unfair to conclude that the +blame rests entirely upon the whites, and still more so to leave +the impression that there is no extenuation for the mistakes and +abuses for which the whites are responsible. Much of the +intimidation of the blacks has been tolerated, if not suggested, +by a fear of negro uprisings. The apprehension is a legacy from +the days of slavery, and is more unreasonable now than it was +then; but still it exists. This is not an excuse, but an +explanation. The Pharaohs of the time of Moses were in constant +dread lest the Hebrews under their rule should go over to their +enemies, and their dread doubtless increased the cruelty of the +Egyptians; but, while this dread was an extenuation in the eyes of +the persecutors, it did not prevent the Hebrews from fleeing the +persecution. So the blacks are going without regard to the +justification which the whites may set up for their treatment; the +only difference between the old and new exodus is that, as the +writer heard one negro speaker express it, "every black man is his +own Moses in this exodus." The negro may be lazy; it seems +impossible to be otherwise in the Southern climate. He may not be +willing to work on Saturdays, no matter how urgent the necessity; +the indulgence in holidays is said to be one of the chief +drawbacks to the advancement of the emancipated serfs of Russia. +The blacks are certainly extravagant in their way, though the word +seems to be almost misused in connection with a race who live +largely on pork and molasses, and rarely wear more than half a +dollar's worth of clothes at one time. They have not the instinct +of home as it prevails among the whites, but incline to a crude +and unsystematic communism; the negro quarters of the old +plantations are all huddled together in the centre, and, except +where the land owners have interfered to encourage a different +life, there is still too much promiscuousness in the relation of +the sexes. The negro, as a rule, has no ambition to become a land +owner; he prefers to invest his surplus money, when he has any, in +personal and movable property. In most cases where the blacks +have been given the opportunity of buying land on long time, and +paying yearly installments out of the proceeds of their annual +crops, they have tired of the bargain after a year or two, and +abandoned the contract. The negro politicians and preachers are +not all that reformers and moralists would have them; the +imitative faculty of the African has betrayed the black politician +into many of the vicious ways of the white politician, and the +colored preacher is frequently not above "the pomps and vanity of +this wicked world." All this is the more unfortunate, as the +blacks have a child-like confidence in their chosen leaders, +founded partly on their primitive character, and partly on their +distrust of the native whites. Both their politicians and their +preachers have given abundant evidence of their insincerity during +the excitement of emigration by blowing hot and blowing cold; by +talking to the negroes one way, and to the whites another; and +even to the extent, in some instances, of taking money to use +their influence for discouraging and impeding emigration. These +are some of the faults and misfortunes on the part of the blacks +which enter into the race troubles. The chief blame which +attaches to the whites is the failure to make a persistent effort, +by education and kind treatment, to overcome the distrust and cure +the faults of the negroes. The whites control, because they +constitute the "property and intelligence" of the South, to use +the words of a democratic statesman; this power should have been +used to gain the confidence of the blacks. Had such a course been +taken, there would not have been the fear of reenslavement, which +actually prevails to a considerable extent among the negroes. So +long as a portion of the whites entertain the conviction that the +war of the sections will be renewed within a few years, as is the +case, the negroes will suspect and dread the class who would treat +them as enemies in case the war should come, and will seek to +escape to a section of the country where they would not be so +treated. Perhaps, too, there would have been a voluntary +political division among the black voters, had the whites used +more pacific means to bring it about, and had they themselves set +the example. And last, but not least, in making up the sum of +blame that the whites must bear, is their own unwillingness to +labor, which gives the rural population too much time for mischief +and too little sympathy with the working classes. + +As we have traced the causes that have led to the exodus, and +described the conditions which warrant the belief that there will +be a renewal of the emigration on a more extended scale next +spring, and endeavored to distribute the responsibility for the +troubles equitably among whites and blacks, remedies have +naturally suggested themselves to the reader; in fact, they are +more easily to be thought out than accomplished. A few general +reflections may be added, however, in order to indicate the +probable solution of the race troubles that have brought about the +exodus, if, indeed, the whites and blacks of the South are ever +going to live together in peace. + +(1.) It is certain that negro labor is the best the South can +have, and equally certain that the climate and natural conditions +of the South are better suited to the negro than any others on +this continent. The alluvial lands, which many persons believe +the negroes alone can cultivate, on account of climatic +conditions, are so rich that it might literally be said it is only +necessary to tickle them with a hoe to make them laugh back a +harvest. The common prosperity of the country--the agricultural +interests of the South and the commercial interests of the North-- +will be best served, therefore, by the continued residence and +labor of the blacks in the cotton States. + +(2.) The fact stated in the foregoing paragraph is so well +understood at the North that the Southern people should dismiss +the idea that there is any scheming among the Northern people, +political or otherwise, to draw the black labor away from its +natural home. The same fact should also influence the people at +the North not to be misled by any professional philanthropists who +may have some self-interest in soliciting aid to facilitate negro +emigration from the South. The duty of the North in this matter +is simply to extend protection and assure safe-conduct to the +negroes, if the Southern whites attempt to impede voluntary +emigration by either law or violence. Any other course might be +cruel to the negro in encouraging him to enter on a new life in a +strange climate, as well as an injustice to the white land owners +of the South. + +(3.) There is danger that the Southern whites will, as a rule, +misinterpret the meaning of the exodus. Many are inclined to +underrate its importance, and those who appreciate its +significance are apt to look for temporary and superficial +remedies. The vague promises made at the Vicksburg convention, +which was controlled by the whites, and called to consider the +emigration movement, have had no influence with the negroes, +because they have heard such promises before. Had the convention +adopted some definite plan of action, such as ex-Governor Foote, +of Mississippi, submitted, its session might not have been in +vain. This plan was to establish a committee in every county, +composed of men who have the confidence of both whites and blacks, +that should be auxiliary to the public authorities, listen to +complaints, and arbitrate, advise, conciliate, or prosecute, as +each case should demand. It is short-sighted for the Southern +people to make mere temporary concessions, such as have been made +in some cases this year, for that course would establish an annual +strike. It is folly for them to suppose they can stem the tide of +emigration by influencing the regular lines of steamboats not to +carry the refugees, for the people of the North will see that the +blacks shall not be detained in the South against their will. It +is unwise for them to devise schemes for importing Chinese, or +encouraging the immigration of white labor as a substitute for +negro labor, when they may much better bestir themselves to make +the present effective labor content. + +(4.) Education will be the most useful agent to employ in the +permanent harmonizing of the two races, and the redemption of both +from the faults and follies which constitute their troubles. It +is not the education of the negro alone, whose ambition for +learning is increasing notably with every new generation, but the +education of the mass of the young whites, that is needed to +inculcate more tolerance of color and opinion, to give them an +aspiration beyond that of riding a horse and hanging a "nigger," +and to enable them to set a better example to the imitative blacks +in the way of work and frugality. The blacks need the education +to protect them from designing white men; the whites need it to +teach them that their own interests will be best served by +abandoning bulldozing of all kinds. + +(5.) Reform in the land tenure, by converting the plantation +monopolies into small holdings; abolition of the credit system, by +abandoning the laws which sustain it; a diversification of crops; +and attention to new manufacturing, maritime, and commercial +enterprises,--these are the material changes that are most needed. +They can be secured only through the active and earnest efforts of +the whites. The blacks will be found responsive. + +(6.) The hope of the negro exodus at its present stage, or even +if it shall continue another season, is that the actual loss of +the valuable labor that has gone, and the prospective loss of more +labor that is anxious to go, will induce the intelligent and +responsible classes at the South to overcome their own prejudices, +and to compel the extremists, irreconcilables, and politicians +generally, of all parties, to abandon agitation, and give the +South equal peace and equal chance for black and white. + + + +MY ESCAPE FROM SLAVERY +by Frederick Douglass + + +In the first narrative of my experience in slavery, written nearly +forty years ago, and in various writings since, I have given the +public what I considered very good reasons for withholding the +manner of my escape. In substance these reasons were, first, that +such publication at any time during the existence of slavery might +be used by the master against the slave, and prevent the future +escape of any who might adopt the same means that I did. The +second reason was, if possible, still more binding to silence: the +publication of details would certainly have put in peril the +persons and property of those who assisted. Murder itself was not +more sternly and certainly punished in the State of Maryland than +that of aiding and abetting the escape of a slave. Many colored +men, for no other crime than that of giving aid to a fugitive +slave, have, like Charles T. Torrey, perished in prison. The +abolition of slavery in my native State and throughout the +country, and the lapse of time, render the caution hitherto +observed no longer necessary. But even since the abolition of +slavery, I have sometimes thought it well enough to baffle +curiosity by saying that while slavery existed there were good +reasons for not telling the manner of my escape, and since slavery +had ceased to exist, there was no reason for telling it. I shall +now, however, cease to avail myself of this formula, and, as far +as I can, endeavor to satisfy this very natural curiosity. I +should, perhaps, have yielded to that feeling sooner, had there +been anything very heroic or thrilling in the incidents connected +with my escape, for I am sorry to say I have nothing of that sort +to tell; and yet the courage that could risk betrayal and the +bravery which was ready to encounter death, if need be, in pursuit +of freedom, were essential features in the undertaking. My +success was due to address rather than courage, to good luck +rather than bravery. My means of escape were provided for me by +the very men who were making laws to hold and bind me more +securely in slavery. + +It was the custom in the State of Maryland to require the free +colored people to have what were called free papers. These +instruments they were required to renew very often, and by +charging a fee for this writing, considerable sums from time to +time were collected by the State. In these papers the name, age, +color, height, and form of the freeman were described, together +with any scars or other marks upon his person which could assist +in his identification. This device in some measure defeated +itself--since more than one man could be found to answer the same +general description. Hence many slaves could escape by +personating the owner of one set of papers; and this was often +done as follows: A slave, nearly or sufficiently answering the +description set forth in the papers, would borrow or hire them +till by means of them he could escape to a free State, and then, +by mail or otherwise, would return them to the owner. The +operation was a hazardous one for the lender as well as for the +borrower. A failure on the part of the fugitive to send back the +papers would imperil his benefactor, and the discovery of the +papers in possession of the wrong man would imperil both the +fugitive and his friend. It was, therefore, an act of supreme +trust on the part of a freeman of color thus to put in jeopardy +his own liberty that another might be free. It was, however, not +unfrequently bravely done, and was seldom discovered. I was not +so fortunate as to resemble any of my free acquaintances +sufficiently to answer the description of their papers. But I had +a friend--a sailor--who owned a sailor's protection, which +answered somewhat the purpose of free papers--describing his +person, and certifying to the fact that he was a free American +sailor. The instrument had at its head the American eagle, which +gave it the appearance at once of an authorized document. This +protection, when in my hands, did not describe its bearer very +accurately. Indeed, it called for a man much darker than myself, +and close examination of it would have caused my arrest at the +start. + +In order to avoid this fatal scrutiny on the part of railroad +officials, I arranged with Isaac Rolls, a Baltimore hackman, to +bring my baggage to the Philadelphia train just on the moment of +starting, and jumped upon the car myself when the train was in +motion. Had I gone into the station and offered to purchase a +ticket, I should have been instantly and carefully examined, and +undoubtedly arrested. In choosing this plan I considered the +jostle of the train, and the natural haste of the conductor, in a +train crowded with passengers, and relied upon my skill and +address in playing the sailor, as described in my protection, to +do the rest. One element in my favor was the kind feeling which +prevailed in Baltimore and other sea-ports at the time, toward +"those who go down to the sea in ships." "Free trade and sailors' +rights" just then expressed the sentiment of the country. In my +clothing I was rigged out in sailor style. I had on a red shirt +and a tarpaulin hat, and a black cravat tied in sailor fashion +carelessly and loosely about my neck. My knowledge of ships and +sailor's talk came much to my assistance, for I knew a ship from +stem to stern, and from keelson to cross-trees, and could talk +sailor like an "old salt." I was well on the way to Havre de +Grace before the conductor came into the negro car to collect +tickets and examine the papers of his black passengers. This was +a critical moment in the drama. My whole future depended upon the +decision of this conductor. Agitated though I was while this +ceremony was proceeding, still, externally, at least, I was +apparently calm and self-possessed. He went on with his duty-- +examining several colored passengers before reaching me. He was +somewhat harsh in tome and peremptory in manner until he reached +me, when, strange enough, and to my surprise and relief, his whole +manner changed. Seeing that I did not readily produce my free +papers, as the other colored persons in the car had done, he said +to me, in friendly contrast with his bearing toward the others: + +"I suppose you have your free papers?" + +To which I answered: + +"No sir; I never carry my free papers to sea with me." + +"But you have something to show that you are a freeman, haven't +you?" + +"Yes, sir," I answered; "I have a paper with the American Eagle on +it, and that will carry me around the world." + +With this I drew from my deep sailor's pocket my seaman's +protection, as before described. The merest glance at the paper +satisfied him, and he took my fare and went on about his business. +This moment of time was one of the most anxious I ever +experienced. Had the conductor looked closely at the paper, he +could not have failed to discover that it called for a very +different-looking person from myself, and in that case it would +have been his duty to arrest me on the instant, and send me back +to Baltimore from the first station. When he left me with the +assurance that I was all right, though much relieved, I realized +that I was still in great danger: I was still in Maryland, and +subject to arrest at any moment. I saw on the train several +persons who would have known me in any other clothes, and I feared +they might recognize me, even in my sailor "rig," and report me to +the conductor, who would then subject me to a closer examination, +which I knew well would be fatal to me. + +Though I was not a murderer fleeing from justice, I felt perhaps +quite as miserable as such a criminal. The train was moving at a +very high rate of speed for that epoch of railroad travel, but to +my anxious mind it was moving far too slowly. Minutes were hours, +and hours were days during this part of my flight. After +Maryland, I was to pass through Delaware--another slave State, +where slave-catchers generally awaited their prey, for it was not +in the interior of the State, but on its borders, that these human +hounds were most vigilant and active. The border lines between +slavery and freedom were the dangerous ones for the fugitives. +The heart of no fox or deer, with hungry hounds on his trail in +full chase, could have beaten more anxiously or noisily than did +mine from the time I left Baltimore till I reached Philadelphia. +The passage of the Susquehanna River at Havre de Grace was at that +time made by ferry-boat, on board of which I met a young colored +man by the name of Nichols, who came very near betraying me. He +was a "hand" on the boat, but, instead of minding his business, he +insisted upon knowing me, and asking me dangerous questions as to +where I was going, when I was coming back, etc. I got away from +my old and inconvenient acquaintance as soon as I could decently +do so, and went to another part of the boat. Once across the +river, I encountered a new danger. Only a few days before, I had +been at work on a revenue cutter, in Mr. Price's ship-yard in +Baltimore, under the care of Captain McGowan. On the meeting at +this point of the two trains, the one going south stopped on the +track just opposite to the one going north, and it so happened +that this Captain McGowan sat at a window where he could see me +very distinctly, and would certainly have recognized me had he +looked at me but for a second. Fortunately, in the hurry of the +moment, he did not see me; and the trains soon passed each other +on their respective ways. But this was not my only hair-breadth +escape. A German blacksmith whom I knew well was on the train +with me, and looked at me very intently, as if he thought he had +seen me somewhere before in his travels. I really believe he knew +me, but had no heart to betray me. At any rate, he saw me +escaping and held his peace. + +The last point of imminent danger, and the one I dreaded most, was +Wilmington. Here we left the train and took the steam-boat for +Philadelphia. In making the change here I again apprehended +arrest, but no one disturbed me, and I was soon on the broad and +beautiful Delaware, speeding away to the Quaker City. On reaching +Philadelphia in the afternoon, I inquired of a colored man how I +could get on to New York. He directed me to the William-street +depot, and thither I went, taking the train that night. I reached +New York Tuesday morning, having completed the journey in less +than twenty-four hours. + +My free life began on the third of September, 1838. On the +morning of the fourth of that month, after an anxious and most +perilous but safe journey, I found myself in the big city of New +York, a FREE MAN--one more added to the mighty throng which, like +the confused waves of the troubled sea, surged to and fro between +the lofty walls of Broadway. Though dazzled with the wonders +which met me on every hand, my thoughts could not be much +withdrawn from my strange situation. For the moment, the dreams +of my youth and the hopes of my manhood were completely fulfilled. +The bonds that had held me to "old master" were broken. No man +now had a right to call me his slave or assert mastery over me. I +was in the rough and tumble of an outdoor world, to take my chance +with the rest of its busy number. I have often been asked how I +felt when first I found myself on free soil. There is scarcely +anything in my experience about which I could not give a more +satisfactory answer. A new world had opened upon me. If life is +more than breath and the "quick round of blood," I lived more in +that one day than in a year of my slave life. It was a time of +joyous excitement which words can but tamely describe. In a +letter written to a friend soon after reaching New York, I said: +"I felt as one might feel upon escape from a den of hungry lions." +Anguish and grief, like darkness and rain, may be depicted; but +gladness and joy, like the rainbow, defy the skill of pen or +pencil. During ten or fifteen years I had been, as it were, +dragging a heavy chain which no strength of mine could break; I +was not only a slave, but a slave for life. I might become a +husband, a father, an aged man, but through all, from birth to +death, from the cradle to the grave, I had felt myself doomed. +All efforts I had previously made to secure my freedom had not +only failed, but had seemed only to rivet my fetters the more +firmly, and to render my escape more difficult. Baffled, +entangled, and discouraged, I had at times asked myself the +question, May not my condition after all be God's work, and +ordered for a wise purpose, and if so, Is not submission my duty? +A contest had in fact been going on in my mind for a long time, +between the clear consciousness of right and the plausible make- +shifts of theology and superstition. The one held me an abject +slave--a prisoner for life, punished for some transgression in +which I had no lot nor part; and the other counseled me to manly +endeavor to secure my freedom. This contest was now ended; my +chains were broken, and the victory brought me unspeakable joy. + +But my gladness was short-lived, for I was not yet out of the +reach and power of the slave-holders. I soon found that New York +was not quite so free or so safe a refuge as I had supposed, and a +sense of loneliness and insecurity again oppressed me most sadly. +I chanced to meet on the street, a few hours after my landing, a +fugitive slave whom I had once known well in slavery. The +information received from him alarmed me. The fugitive in +question was known in Baltimore as "Allender's Jake," but in New +York he wore the more respectable name of "William Dixon." Jake, +in law, was the property of Doctor Allender, and Tolly Allender, +the son of the doctor, had once made an effort to recapture MR. +DIXON, but had failed for want of evidence to support his claim. +Jake told me the circumstances of this attempt, and how narrowly +he escaped being sent back to slavery and torture. He told me +that New York was then full of Southerners returning from the +Northern watering-places; that the colored people of New York +were not to be trusted; that there were hired men of my own color +who would betray me for a few dollars; that there were hired men +ever on the lookout for fugitives; that I must trust no man with +my secret; that I must not think of going either upon the wharves +or into any colored boarding-house, for all such places were +closely watched; that he was himself unable to help me; and, in +fact, he seemed while speaking to me to fear lest I myself might +be a spy and a betrayer. Under this apprehension, as I suppose, +he showed signs of wishing to be rid of me, and with whitewash +brush in hand, in search of work, he soon disappeared. + +This picture, given by poor "Jake," of New York, was a damper to +my enthusiasm. My little store of money would soon be exhausted, +and since it would be unsafe for me to go on the wharves for work, +and I had no introductions elsewhere, the prospect for me was far +from cheerful. I saw the wisdom of keeping away from the ship- +yards, for, if pursued, as I felt certain I should be, Mr. Auld, +my "master," would naturally seek me there among the calkers. +Every door seemed closed against me. I was in the midst of an +ocean of my fellow-men, and yet a perfect stranger to every one. +I was without home, without acquaintance, without money, without +credit, without work, and without any definite knowledge as to +what course to take, or where to look for succor. In such an +extremity, a man had something besides his new-born freedom to +think of. While wandering about the streets of New York, and +lodging at least one night among the barrels on one of the +wharves, I was indeed free--from slavery, but free from food and +shelter as well. I kept my secret to myself as long as I could, +but I was compelled at last to seek some one who would befriend me +without taking advantage of my destitution to betray me. Such a +person I found in a sailor named Stuart, a warm-hearted and +generous fellow, who, from his humble home on Centre street, saw +me standing on the opposite sidewalk, near the Tombs prison. As +he approached me, I ventured a remark to him which at once +enlisted his interest in me. He took me to his home to spend the +night, and in the morning went with me to Mr. David Ruggles, the +secretary of the New York Vigilance Committee, a co-worker with +Isaac T. Hopper, Lewis and Arthur Tappan, Theodore S. Wright, +Samuel Cornish, Thomas Downing, Philip A. Bell, and other true men +of their time. All these (save Mr. Bell, who still lives, and is +editor and publisher of a paper called the "Elevator," in San +Francisco) have finished their work on earth. Once in the hands +of these brave and wise men, I felt comparatively safe. With Mr. +Ruggles, on the corner of Lispenard and Church streets, I was +hidden several days, during which time my intended wife came on +from Baltimore at my call, to share the burdens of life with me. +She was a free woman, and came at once on getting the good news of +my safety. We were married by Rev. J. W. C. Pennington, then a +well-known and respected Presbyterian minister. I had no money +with which to pay the marriage fee, but he seemed well pleased +with our thanks. + +Mr. Ruggles was the first officer on the "Underground Railroad" +whom I met after coming North, and was, indeed, the only one with +whom I had anything to do till I became such an officer myself. +Learning that my trade was that of a calker, he promptly decided +that the best place for me was in New Bedford, Mass. He told me +that many ships for whaling voyages were fitted out there, and +that I might there find work at my trade and make a good living. +So, on the day of the marriage ceremony, we took our little +luggage to the steamer JOHN W. RICHMOND, which, at that time, was +one of the line running between New York and Newport, R. I. +Forty-three years ago colored travelers were not permitted in the +cabin, nor allowed abaft the paddle-wheels of a steam vessel. +They were compelled, whatever the weather might be,--whether cold +or hot, wet or dry,--to spend the night on deck. Unjust as this +regulation was, it did not trouble us much; we had fared much +harder before. We arrived at Newport the next morning, and soon +after an old fashioned stage-coach, with "New Bedford" in large +yellow letters on its sides, came down to the wharf. I had not +money enough to pay our fare, and stood hesitating what to do. +Fortunately for us, there were two Quaker gentlemen who were about +to take passage on the stage,--Friends William C. Taber and Joseph +Ricketson,--who at once discerned our true situation, and, in a +peculiarly quiet way, addressing me, Mr. Taber said: "Thee get +in." I never obeyed an order with more alacrity, and we were soon +on our way to our new home. When we reached "Stone Bridge" the +passengers alighted for breakfast, and paid their fares to the +driver. We took no breakfast, and, when asked for our fares, I +told the driver I would make it right with him when we reached New +Bedford. I expected some objection to this on his part, but he +made none. When, however, we reached New Bedford, he took our +baggage, including three music-books,--two of them collections by +Dyer, and one by Shaw,--and held them until I was able to redeem +them by paying to him the amount due for our rides. This was soon +done, for Mr. Nathan Johnson not only received me kindly and +hospitably, but, on being informed about our baggage, at once +loaned me the two dollars with which to square accounts with the +stage-driver. Mr. and Mrs. Nathan Johnson reached a good old age, +and now rest from their labors. I am under many grateful +obligations to them. They not only "took me in when a stranger" +and "fed me when hungry," but taught me how to make an honest +living. Thus, in a fortnight after my flight from Maryland, I was +safe in New Bedford, a citizen of the grand old commonwealth of +Massachusetts. + +Once initiated into my new life of freedom and assured by Mr. +Johnson that I need not fear recapture in that city, a +comparatively unimportant question arose as to the name by which I +should be known thereafter in my new relation as a free man. The +name given me by my dear mother was no less pretentious and long +than Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey. I had, however, while +living in Maryland, dispensed with the Augustus Washington, and +retained only Frederick Bailey. Between Baltimore and New +Bedford, the better to conceal myself from the slave-hunters, I +had parted with Bailey and called myself Johnson; but in New +Bedford I found that the Johnson family was already so numerous as +to cause some confusion in distinguishing them, hence a change in +this name seemed desirable. Nathan Johnson, mine host, placed +great emphasis upon this necessity, and wished me to allow him to +select a name for me. I consented, and he called me by my present +name--the one by which I have been known for three and forty +years--Frederick Douglass. Mr. Johnson had just been reading the +"Lady of the Lake," and so pleased was he with its great character +that he wished me to bear his name. Since reading that charming +poem myself, I have often thought that, considering the noble +hospitality and manly character of Nathan Johnson--black man +though he was--he, far more than I, illustrated the virtues of the +Douglas of Scotland. Sure am I that, if any slave-catcher had +entered his domicile with a view to my recapture, Johnson would +have shown himself like him of the "stalwart hand." + +The reader may be surprised at the impressions I had in some way +conceived of the social and material condition of the people at +the North. I had no proper idea of the wealth, refinement, +enterprise, and high civilization of this section of the country. +My "Columbian Orator," almost my only book, had done nothing to +enlighten me concerning Northern society. I had been taught that +slavery was the bottom fact of all wealth. With this foundation +idea, I came naturally to the conclusion that poverty must be the +general condition of the people of the free States. In the +country from which I came, a white man holding no slaves was +usually an ignorant and poverty-stricken man, and men of this +class were contemptuously called "poor white trash." Hence I +supposed that, since the non-slave-holders at the South were +ignorant, poor, and degraded as a class, the non-slave-holders at +the North must be in a similar condition. I could have landed in +no part of the United States where I should have found a more +striking and gratifying contrast, not only to life generally in +the South, but in the condition of the colored people there, than +in New Bedford. I was amazed when Mr. Johnson told me that there +was nothing in the laws or constitution of Massachusetts that +would prevent a colored man from being governor of the State, if +the people should see fit to elect him. There, too, the black +man's children attended the public schools with the white man's +children, and apparently without objection from any quarter. To +impress me with my security from recapture and return to slavery, +Mr. Johnson assured me that no slave-holder could take a slave out +of New Bedford; that there were men there who would lay down their +lives to save me from such a fate. + +The fifth day after my arrival, I put on the clothes of a common +laborer, and went upon the wharves in search of work. On my way +down Union street I saw a large pile of coal in front of the house +of Rev. Ephraim Peabody, the Unitarian minister. I went to the +kitchen door and asked the privilege of bringing in and putting +away this coal. "What will you charge?" said the lady. "I will +leave that to you, madam." "You may put it away," she said. I +was not long in accomplishing the job, when the dear lady put into +my hand TWO SILVER HALF-DOLLARS. To understand the emotion which +swelled my heart as I clasped this money, realizing that I had no +master who could take it from me,--THAT IT WAS MINE--THAT MY HANDS +WERE MY OWN, and could earn more of the precious coin,--one must +have been in some sense himself a slave. My next job was stowing +a sloop at Uncle Gid. Howland's wharf with a cargo of oil for New +York. I was not only a freeman, but a free working-man, and no +"master" stood ready at the end of the week to seize my hard +earnings. + +The season was growing late and work was plenty. Ships were being +fitted out for whaling, and much wood was used in storing them. +The sawing this wood was considered a good job. With the help of +old Friend Johnson (blessings on his memory) I got a saw and +"buck," and went at it. When I went into a store to buy a cord +with which to brace up my saw in the frame, I asked for a "fip's" +worth of cord. The man behind the counter looked rather sharply +at me, and said with equal sharpness, "You don't belong about +here." I was alarmed, and thought I had betrayed myself. A fip +in Maryland was six and a quarter cents, called fourpence in +Massachusetts. But no harm came from the "fi'penny-bit" blunder, +and I confidently and cheerfully went to work with my saw and +buck. It was new business to me, but I never did better work, or +more of it, in the same space of time on the plantation for Covey, +the negro-breaker, than I did for myself in these earliest years +of my freedom. + +Notwithstanding the just and humane sentiment of New Bedford three +and forty years ago, the place was not entirely free from race and +color prejudice. The good influence of the Roaches, Rodmans, +Arnolds, Grinnells, and Robesons did not pervade all classes of +its people. The test of the real civilization of the community +came when I applied for work at my trade, and then my repulse was +emphatic and decisive. It so happened that Mr. Rodney French, a +wealthy and enterprising citizen, distinguished as an anti-slavery +man, was fitting out a vessel for a whaling voyage, upon which +there was a heavy job of calking and coppering to be done. I had +some skill in both branches, and applied to Mr. French for work. +He, generous man that he was, told me he would employ me, and I +might go at once to the vessel. I obeyed him, but upon reaching +the float-stage, where others [sic] calkers were at work, I was +told that every white man would leave the ship, in her unfinished +condition, if I struck a blow at my trade upon her. This uncivil, +inhuman, and selfish treatment was not so shocking and scandalous +in my eyes at the time as it now appears to me. Slavery had +inured me to hardships that made ordinary trouble sit lightly upon +me. Could I have worked at my trade I could have earned two +dollars a day, but as a common laborer I received but one dollar. +The difference was of great importance to me, but if I could not +get two dollars, I was glad to get one; and so I went to work for +Mr. French as a common laborer. The consciousness that I was +free--no longer a slave--kept me cheerful under this, and many +similar proscriptions, which I was destined to meet in New Bedford +and elsewhere on the free soil of Massachusetts. For instance, +though colored children attended the schools, and were treated +kindly by their teachers, the New Bedford Lyceum refused, till +several years after my residence in that city, to allow any +colored person to attend the lectures delivered in its hall. Not +until such men as Charles Sumner, Theodore Parker, Ralph Waldo +Emerson, and Horace Mann refused to lecture in their course while +there was such a restriction, was it abandoned. + +Becoming satisfied that I could not rely on my trade in New +Bedford to give me a living, I prepared myself to do any kind of +work that came to hand. I sawed wood, shoveled coal, dug cellars, +moved rubbish from back yards, worked on the wharves, loaded and +unloaded vessels, and scoured their cabins. + +I afterward got steady work at the brass-foundry owned by Mr. +Richmond. My duty here was to blow the bellows, swing the crane, +and empty the flasks in which castings were made; and at times +this was hot and heavy work. The articles produced here were +mostly for ship work, and in the busy season the foundry was in +operation night and day. I have often worked two nights and every +working day of the week. My foreman, Mr. Cobb, was a good man, +and more than once protected me from abuse that one or more of the +hands was disposed to throw upon me. While in this situation I +had little time for mental improvement. Hard work, night and day, +over a furnace hot enough to keep the metal running like water, +was more favorable to action than thought; yet here I often nailed +a newspaper to the post near my bellows, and read while I was +performing the up and down motion of the heavy beam by which the +bellows was inflated and discharged. It was the pursuit of +knowledge under difficulties, and I look back to it now, after so +many years, with some complacency and a little wonder that I could +have been so earnest and persevering in any pursuit other than for +my daily bread. I certainly saw nothing in the conduct of those +around to inspire me with such interest: they were all devoted +exclusively to what their hands found to do. I am glad to be able +to say that, during my engagement in this foundry, no complaint +was ever made against me that I did not do my work, and do it +well. The bellows which I worked by main strength was, after I +left, moved by a steam-engine. + + + +THE GOOPHERED GRAPEVINE +by Charles W. Chesnutt + + +About ten years ago my wife was in poor health, and our family +doctor, in whose skill and honesty I had implicit confidence, +advised a change of climate. I was engaged in grape-culture in +northern Ohio, and decided to look for a locality suitable for +carrying on the same business in some Southern State. I wrote to +a cousin who had gone into the turpentine business in central +North Carolina, and he assured me that no better place could be +found in the South than the State and neighborhood in which he +lived: climate and soil were all that could be asked for, and land +could be bought for a mere song. A cordial invitation to visit +him while I looked into the matter was accepted. We found the +weather delightful at that season, the end of the summer, and were +most hospitably entertained. Our host placed a horse and buggy at +our disposal, and himself acted as guide until I got somewhat +familiar with the country. + +I went several times to look at a place which I thought might suit +me. It had been at one time a thriving plantation, but shiftless +cultivation had well-night exhausted the soil. There had been a +vineyard of some extent on the place, but it had not been attended +to since the war, and had fallen into utter neglect. The vines-- +here partly supported by decayed and broken-down arbors, there +twining themselves among the branches of the slender saplings +which had sprung up among them--grew in wild and unpruned +luxuriance, and the few scanty grapes which they bore were the +undisputed prey of the first comer. The site was admirably +adapted to grape-raising; the soil, with a little attention, could +not have been better; and with the native grape, the luscious +scuppernong, mainly to rely upon, I felt sure that I could +introduce and cultivate successfully a number of other varieties. + +One day I went over with my wife, to show her the place. We drove +between the decayed gate-posts--the gate itself had long since +disappeared--and up the straight, sandy lane to the open space +where a dwelling-house had once stood. But the house had fallen a +victim to the fortunes of war, and nothing remained of it except +the brick pillars upon which the sills had rested. We alighted, +and walked about the place for a while; but on Annie's complaining +of weariness I led the way back to the yard, where a pine log, +lying under a spreading elm, formed a shady though somewhat hard +seat. One end of the log was already occupied by a venerable- +looking colored man. He held on his knees a hat full of grapes, +over which he was smacking his lips with great gusto, and a pile +of grape-skins near him indicated that the performance was no new +thing. He respectfully rose as we approached, and was moving +away, when I begged him to keep his seat. + +"Don't let us disturb you," I said. "There's plenty of room for +us all." + +He resumed his seat with somewhat of embarrassment. + +"Do you live around here?" I asked, anxious to put him at his +ease. + +"Yas, suh. I lives des ober yander, behine de nex' san'-hill, on +de Lumberton plank-road." + +"Do you know anything about the time when this vineyard was +cultivated?" + +"Lawd bless yer, suh, I knows all about it. Dey ain' na'er a man +in dis settlement w'at won' tell yer ole Julius McAdoo 'uz bawn +an' raise' on dis yer same plantation. Is you de Norv'n gemman +w'at's gwine ter buy de ole vimya'd?" + +"I am looking at it," I replied; "but I don't know that I shall +care to buy unless I can be reasonably sure of making something +out of it." + +"Well, suh, you is a stranger ter me, en I is a stranger ter you, +en we is bofe strangers ter one anudder, but 'f I 'uz in yo' +place, I wouldn' buy dis vimya'd." + +"Why not?" I asked. + +"Well, I dunner whe'r you b'lieves in cunj'in er not,--some er de +w'ite folks don't, er says dey don't,--but de truf er de matter is +dat dis yer ole vimya'd is goophered." + +"Is what?" I asked, not grasping the meaning of this unfamiliar +word. + +"Is goophered, cunju'd, bewitch'." + +He imparted this information with such solemn earnestness, and +with such an air of confidential mystery, that I felt somewhat +interested, while Annie was evidently much impressed, and drew +closer to me. + +"How do you know it is bewitched?" I asked. + +"I wouldn' spec' fer you ter b'lieve me 'less you know all 'bout +de fac's. But ef you en young miss dere doan' min' lis'n'in' ter +a ole nigger run on a minute er two w'ile you er restin', I kin +'splain to yer how it all happen'." + +We assured him that we would be glad to hear how it all happened, +and he began to tell us. At first the current of his memory--or +imagination--seemed somewhat sluggish; but as his embarrassment +wore off, his language flowed more freely, and the story acquired +perspective and coherence. As he became more and more absorbed in +the narrative, his eyes assumed a dreamy expression, and he seemed +to lose sight of his auditors, and to be living over again in +monologue his life on the old plantation. + +"Ole Mars Dugal' McAdoo bought dis place long many years befo' de +wah, en I 'member well w'en he sot out all dis yer part er de +plantation in scuppernon's. De vimes growed monst'us fas', en +Mars Dugal' made a thousan' gallon er scuppernon' wine eve'y year. + +"Now, ef dey's an'thing a nigger lub, nex' ter 'possum, en +chick'n, en watermillyums, it's scuppernon's. Dey ain' nuffin dat +kin stan' up side'n de scuppernon' fer sweetness; sugar ain't a +suckumstance ter scuppernon'. W'en de season is nigh 'bout ober, +en de grapes begin ter swivel up des a little wid de wrinkles er +ole age,--w'en de skin git sof' en brown,--den de scuppernon' make +you smack yo' lip en roll yo' eye en wush fer mo'; so I reckon it +ain' very 'stonishin' dat niggers lub scuppernon'. + +"Dey wuz a sight er niggers in de naberhood er de vimya'd. Dere +wuz ole Mars Henry Brayboy's niggers, en ole Mars Dunkin McLean's +niggers, en Mars Dugal's own niggers; den dey wuz a settlement er +free niggers en po' buckrahs down by de Wim'l'ton Road, en Mars +Dugal' had de only vimya'd in de naberhood. I reckon it ain' so +much so nowadays, but befo' de wah, in slab'ry times, er nigger +didn' mine goin' fi' er ten mile in a night, w'en dey wuz sump'n +good ter eat at de yuther een. + +"So atter a w'ile Mars Dugal' begin ter miss his scuppernon's. +Co'se he 'cuse' de niggers er it, but dey all 'nied it ter de +las'. Mars Dugal' sot spring guns en steel traps, en he en de +oberseah sot up nights once't er twice't, tel one night Mars +Dugal'--he 'uz a monst'us keerless man--got his leg shot full er +cow-peas. But somehow er nudder dey couldn' nebber ketch none er +de niggers. I dunner how it happen, but it happen des like I tell +yer, en de grapes kep' on a-goin des de same. + +"But bimeby ole Mars Dugal' fix' up a plan ter stop it. Dey 'uz a +cunjuh 'ooman livin' down mongs' de free niggers on de Wim'l'ton +Road, en all de darkies fum Rockfish ter Beaver Crick wuz feared +uv her. She could wuk de mos' powerfulles' kind er goopher,-- +could make people hab fits er rheumatiz, er make 'em des dwinel +away en die; en dey say she went out ridin' de niggers at night, +for she wuz a witch 'sides bein' a cunjuh 'ooman. Mars Dugal' +hearn 'bout Aun' Peggy's doin's, en begun ter 'flect whe'r er no +he couldn' git her ter he'p him keep de niggers off'n de +grapevimes. One day in de spring er de year, ole miss pack' up a +basket er chick'n en poun'-cake, en a bottle er scuppernon' wine, +en Mars Dugal' tuk it in his buggy en driv ober ter Aun' Peggy's +cabin. He tuk de basket in, en had a long talk wid Aun' Peggy. +De nex' day Aun' Peggy come up ter de vimya'd. De niggers seed +her slippin' 'roun', en dey soon foun' out what she 'uz doin' +dere. Mars Dugal' had hi'ed her ter goopher de grapevimes. She +sa'ntered 'roun' mongs' de vimes, en tuk a leaf fum dis one, en a +grape-hull fum dat one, en a grape-seed fum anudder one; en den a +little twig fum here, en a little pinch er dirt fum dere,--en put +it all in a big black bottle, wid a snake's toof en a speckle' +hen's gall en some ha'rs fum a black cat's tail, en den fill' de +bottle wid scuppernon' wine. W'en she got de goopher all ready en +fix', she tuk 'n went out in de woods en buried it under de root +uv a red oak tree, en den come back en tole one er de niggers she +done goopher de grapevimes, en a'er a nigger w'at eat dem grapes +'ud be sho ter die inside'n twel' mont's. + +"Atter dat de niggers let de scuppernon's 'lone, en Mars Dugal' +didn' hab no 'casion ter fine no mo' fault; en de season wuz mos' +gone, w'en a strange gemman stop at de plantation one night ter +see Mars Dugal' on some business; en his coachman, seein' de +scuppernon's growin' so nice en sweet, slip 'roun' behine de +smoke-house, en et all de scuppernon's he could hole. Nobody +didn' notice it at de time, but dat night, on de way home, de +gemman's hoss runned away en kill' de coachman. W'en we hearn de +noos, Aun' Lucy, de cook, she up 'n say she seed de strange nigger +eat'n' er de scuppernon's behine de smoke-house; en den we knowed +de goopher had b'en er wukkin. Den one er de nigger chilluns +runned away fum de quarters one day, en got in de scuppernon's, en +died de nex' week. W'ite folks say he die' er de fevuh, but de +niggers knowed it wuz de goopher. So you k'n be sho de darkies +didn' hab much ter do wid dem scuppernon' vimes. + +"W'en de scuppernon' season 'uz ober fer dat year, Mars Dugal' +foun' he had made fifteen hund'ed gallon er wine; en one er de +niggers hearn him laffin' wid de oberseah fit ter kill, en sayin' +dem fifteen hund'ed gallon er wine wuz monst'us good intrus' on de +ten dollars he laid out on de vimya'd. So I 'low ez he paid Aun' +Peggy ten dollars fer to goopher de grapevimes. + +"De goopher didn' wuk no mo' tel de nex' summer, w'en 'long to'ds +de middle er de season one er de fiel' han's died; en ez dat lef' +Mars Dugal' sho't er han's, he went off ter town fer ter buy +anudder. He fotch de noo nigger home wid 'im. He wuz er ole +nigger, er de color er a gingy-cake, en ball ez a hoss-apple on de +top er his head. He wuz a peart ole nigger, do', en could do a +big day's wuk. + +"Now it happen dat one er de niggers on de nex' plantation, one er +ole Mars Henry Brayboy's niggers, had runned away de day befo', en +tuk ter de swamp, en ole Mars Dugal' en some er de yuther nabor +w'ite folks had gone out wid dere guns en dere dogs fer ter he'p +'em hunt fer de nigger; en de han's on our own plantation wuz all +so flusterated dat we fuhgot ter tell de noo han' 'bout de goopher +on de scuppernon' vimes. Co'se he smell de grapes en see de +vimes, an atter dahk de fus' thing he done wuz ter slip off ter de +grapevimes 'dout sayin' nuffin ter nobody. Nex' mawnin' he tole +some er de niggers 'bout de fine bait er scuppernon' he et de +night befo'. + +"W'en dey tole 'im 'bout de goopher on de grapevimes, he 'uz dat +tarrified dat he turn pale, en look des like he gwine ter die +right in his tracks. De oberseah come up en axed w'at 'uz de +matter; en w'en dey tole 'im Henry be'n eatin' er de scuppernon's, +en got de goopher on 'im, he gin Henry a big drink er w'iskey, en +'low dat de nex' rainy day he take 'im ober ter Aun' Peggy's, en +see ef she wouldn' take de goopher off'n him, seein' ez he didn' +know nuffin erbout it tel he done et de grapes. + +"Sho nuff, it rain de nex' day, en de oberseah went ober ter Aun' +Peggy's wid Henry. En Aun' Peggy say dat bein' ez Henry didn' +know 'bout de goopher, en et de grapes in ign'ance er de +quinseconces, she reckon she mought be able fer ter take de +goopher off'n him. So she fotch out er bottle wid some cunjuh +medicine in it, en po'd some out in a go'd fer Henry ter drink. +He manage ter git it down; he say it tas'e like whiskey wid sump'n +bitter in it. She 'lowed dat 'ud keep de goopher off'n him tel de +spring; but w'en de sap begin ter rise in de grapevimes he ha' ter +come en see her agin, en she tell him w'at e's ter do. + +"Nex' spring, w'en de sap commence' ter rise in de scuppernon' +vime, Henry tuk a ham one night. Whar'd he git de ham? I doan +know; dey wa'nt no hams on de plantation 'cep'n' w'at 'uz in de +smoke-house, but I never see Henry 'bout de smoke-house. But ez I +wuz a-sayin', he tuk de ham ober ter Aun' Peggy's; en Aun' Peggy +tole 'im dat w'en Mars Dugal' begin ter prume de grapevimes, he +mus' go en take 'n scrape off de sap whar it ooze out'n de cut +een's er de vimes, en 'n'int his ball head wid it; en ef he do dat +once't a year de goopher wouldn' wuk agin 'im long ez he done it. +En bein' ez he fotch her de ham, she fix' it so he kin eat all de +scuppernon' he want. + +"So Henry 'n'int his head wid de sap out'n de big grapevime des +ha'f way 'twix' de quarters en de big house, en de goopher nebber +wuk agin him dat summer. But de beatenes' thing you eber see +happen ter Henry. Up ter dat time he wuz ez ball ez a sweeten' +'tater, but des ez soon ez de young leaves begun ter come out on +de grapevimes de ha'r begun ter grow out on Henry's head, en by de +middle er de summer he had de bigges' head er ha'r on de +plantation. Befo' dat, Henry had tol'able good ha'r 'roun de +aidges, but soon ez de young grapes begun ter come Henry's ha'r +begun ter quirl all up in little balls, des like dis yer reg'lar +grapy ha'r, en by de time de grapes got ripe his head look des +like a bunch er grapes. Combin' it didn' do no good; he wuk at it +ha'f de night wid er Jim Crow[1], en think he git it straighten' +out, but in de mawnin' de grapes 'ud be dere des de same. So he +gin it up, en tried ter keep de grapes down by havin' his ha'r cut +sho't. + +[1] A small card, resembling a curry-comb in construction, and +used by negroes in the rural districts instead of a comb. + +"But dat wa'nt de quares' thing 'bout de goopher. When Henry come +ter de plantation, he wuz gittin' a little ole an stiff in de +j'ints. But dat summer he got des ez spry en libely ez any young +nigger on de plantation; fac' he got so biggity dat Mars Jackson, +de oberseah, ha' ter th'eaten ter whip 'im, ef he didn' stop +cuttin' up his didos en behave hisse'f. But de mos' cur'ouses' +thing happen' in de fall, when de sap begin ter go down in de +grapevimes. Fus', when de grapes 'uz gethered, de knots begun ter +straighten out'n Henry's h'ar; en w'en de leaves begin ter fall, +Henry's ha'r begin ter drap out; en w'en de vimes 'uz b'ar, +Henry's head wuz baller 'n it wuz in de spring, en he begin ter +git ole en stiff in de j'ints ag'in, en paid no mo' tention ter de +gals dyoin' er de whole winter. En nex' spring, w'en he rub de +sap on ag'in, he got young ag'in, en so soopl en libely dat none +er de young niggers on de plantation couldn' jump, ner dance, ner +hoe ez much cotton ez Henry. But in de fall er de year his grapes +begun ter straighten out, en his j'ints ter git stiff, en his ha'r +drap off, en de rheumatiz begin ter wrastle wid 'im. + +"Now, ef you'd a knowed ole Mars Dugal' McAdoo, you'd a knowed dat +it ha' ter be a mighty rainy day when he couldn' fine sump'n fer +his niggers ter do, en it ha' ter be a mighty little hole he +couldn' crawl thoo, en ha' ter be a monst'us cloudy night w'en a +dollar git by him in de dahkness; en w'en he see how Henry git +young in de spring en ole in de fall, he 'lowed ter hisse'f ez how +he could make mo' money outen Henry dan by wukkin' him in de +cotton fiel'. 'Long de nex' spring, atter de sap commence' ter +rise, en Henry 'n'int 'is head en commence fer ter git young en +soopl, Mars Dugal' up 'n tuk Henry ter town, en sole 'im fer +fifteen hunder' dollars. Co'se de man w'at bought Henry didn' +know nuffin 'bout de goopher, en Mars Dugal' didn' see no 'casion +fer ter tell 'im. Long to'ds de fall, w'en de sap went down, +Henry begin ter git ole again same ez yuzhal, en his noo marster +begin ter git skeered les'n he gwine ter lose his fifteen-hunder'- +dollar nigger. He sent fer a mighty fine doctor, but de med'cine +didn' 'pear ter do no good; de goopher had a good holt. Henry +tole de doctor 'bout de goopher, but de doctor des laff at 'im. + +"One day in de winter Mars Dugal' went ter town, en wuz santerin' +'long de Main Street, when who should he meet but Henry's noo +marster. Dey said 'Hoddy,' en Mars Dugal' ax 'im ter hab a +seegyar; en atter dey run on awhile 'bout de craps en de weather, +Mars Dugal' ax 'im, sorter keerless, like ez ef he des thought of +it,-- + +"'How you like de nigger I sole you las' spring?' + +"Henry's marster shuck his head en knock de ashes off'n his +seegyar. + +"'Spec' I made a bad bahgin when I bought dat nigger. Henry done +good wuk all de summer, but sence de fall set in he 'pears ter be +sorter pinin' away. Dey ain' nuffin pertickler de matter wid 'im-- +leastways de doctor say so--'cep'n' a tech er de rheumatiz; but +his ha'r is all fell out, en ef he don't pick up his strenk mighty +soon, I spec' I'm gwine ter lose 'im." + +"Dey smoked on awhile, en bimeby ole mars say, 'Well, a bahgin's a +bahgin, but you en me is good fren's, en I doan wan' ter see you +lose all de money you paid fer dat digger [sic]; en ef w'at you +say is so, en I ain't 'sputin' it, he ain't wuf much now. I +spec's you wukked him too ha'd dis summer, er e'se de swamps down +here don't agree wid de san'-hill nigger. So you des lemme know, +en ef he gits any wusser I'll be willin' ter gib yer five hund'ed +dollars fer 'im, en take my chances on his livin'.' + +"Sho nuff, when Henry begun ter draw up wid de rheumatiz en it +look like he gwine ter die fer sho, his noo marster sen' fer Mars +Dugal', en Mars Dugal' gin him what he promus, en brung Henry home +ag'in. He tuk good keer uv 'im dyoin' er de winter,--give 'im +w'iskey ter rub his rheumatiz, en terbacker ter smoke, en all he +want ter eat,--'caze a nigger w'at he could make a thousan' +dollars a year off'n didn' grow on eve'y huckleberry bush. + +"Nex' spring, w'en de sap ris en Henry's ha'r commence' ter +sprout, Mars Dugal' sole 'im ag'in, down in Robeson County dis +time; en he kep' dat sellin' business up fer five year er mo'. +Henry nebber say nuffin 'bout de goopher ter his noo marsters, +'caze he know he gwine ter be tuk good keer uv de nex' winter, +w'en Mars Dugal' buy him back. En Mars Dugal' made 'nuff money +off'n Henry ter buy anudder plantation ober on Beaver Crick. + +"But long 'bout de een' er dat five year dey come a stranger ter +stop at de plantation. De fus' day he 'uz dere he went out wid +Mars Dugal' en spent all de mawnin' lookin' ober de vimya'd, en +atter dinner dey spent all de evenin' playin' kya'ds. De niggers +soon 'skiver' dat he wuz a Yankee, en dat he come down ter Norf +C'lina fer ter learn de w'ite folks how to raise grapes en make +wine. He promus Mars Dugal' he cud make de grapevimes b'ar +twice't ez many grapes, en dat de noo wine-press he wuz a-sellin' +would make mo' d'n twice't ez many gallons er wine. En ole Mars +Dugal' des drunk it all in, des 'peared ter be bewitched wit dat +Yankee. W'en de darkies see dat Yankee runnin' 'roun de vimya'd +en diggin' under de grapevimes, dey shuk dere heads, en 'lowed dat +dey feared Mars Dugal' losin' his min'. Mars Dugal' had all de +dirt dug away fum under de roots er all de scuppernon' vimes, an' +let 'em stan' dat away fer a week er mo'. Den dat Yankee made de +niggers fix up a mixtry er lime en ashes en manyo, en po' it roun' +de roots er de grapevimes. Den he 'vise' Mars Dugal' fer ter trim +de vimes close't, en Mars Dugal' tuck 'n done eve'ything de Yankee +tole him ter do. Dyoin' all er dis time, mind yer, 'e wuz libbin' +off'n de fat er de lan', at de big house, en playin' kyards wid +Mars Dugal' eve'y night; en dey say Mars Dugal' los' mo'n a +thousan' dollars dyoin' er de week dat Yankee wuz a runnin' de +grapevimes. + +"W'en de sap ris nex' spring, ole Henry 'n'inted his head ez +yuzhal, en his ha'r commence' ter grow des de same ez it done +eve'y year. De scuppernon' vimes growed monst's fas', en de +leaves wuz greener en thicker dan dey eber be'n dyowin my +rememb'ance; en Henry's ha'r growed out thicker dan eber, en he +'peared ter git younger 'n younger, en soopler 'n soopler; en +seein' ez he wuz sho't er han's dat spring, havin' tuk in +consid'able noo groun', Mars Dugal' 'cluded he wouldn' sell Henry +'tel he git de crap in en de cotton chop'. So he kep' Henry on de +plantation. + +"But 'long 'bout time fer de grapes ter come on de scuppernon' +vimes, dey 'peared ter come a change ober dem; de leaves wivered +en swivel' up, en de young grapes turn' yaller, en bimeby +eve'ybody on de plantation could see dat de whole vimya'd wuz +dyin'. Mars Dugal' tuck 'n water de vimes en done all he could, +but 't wan' no use: dat Yankee done bus' de watermillyum. One +time de vimes picked up a bit, en Mars Dugal' thought dey wuz +gwine ter come out ag'in; but dat Yankee done dug too close unde' +de roots, en prune de branches too close ter de vime, en all dat +lime en ashes done burn' de life outen de vimes, en dey des kep' a +with'in' en a swivelin'. + +"All dis time de goopher wuz a-wukkin'. W'en de vimes commence' +ter wither, Henry commence' ter complain er his rheumatiz, en when +de leaves begin ter dry up his ha'r commence' ter drap out. When +de vimes fresh up a bit Henry 'ud git peart agin, en when de vimes +wither agin Henry 'ud git ole agin, en des kep' gittin' mo' en mo' +fitten fer nuffin; he des pined away, en fine'ly tuk ter his +cabin; en when de big vime whar he got de sap ter 'n'int his head +withered en turned yaller en died, Henry died too,--des went out +sorter like a cannel. Dey didn't 'pear ter be nuffin de matter +wid 'im, 'cep'n de rheumatiz, but his strenk des dwinel' away 'tel +he didn' hab ernuff lef' ter draw his bref. De goopher had got de +under holt, en th'owed Henry fer good en all dat time. + +"Mars Dugal' tuk on might'ly 'bout losin' his vimes en his nigger +in de same year; en he swo' dat ef he could git hold er dat Yankee +he'd wear 'im ter a frazzle, en den chaw up de frazzle; en he'd +done it, too, for Mars Dugal' 'uz a monst'us brash man w'en he +once git started. He sot de vimya'd out ober agin, but it wuz +th'ee er fo' year befo' de vimes got ter b'arin' any scuppernon's. + +"W'en de wah broke out, Mars Dugal' raise' a comp'ny, en went off +ter fight de Yankees. He saw he wuz mighty glad dat wah come, en +he des want ter kill a Yankee fer eve'y dollar he los' 'long er +dat grape-raisin' Yankee. En I 'spec' he would a done it, too, ef +de Yankees hadn' s'picioned sump'n, en killed him fus'. Atter de +s'render ole miss move' ter town, de niggers all scattered 'way +fum de plantation, en de vimya'd ain' be'n cultervated sence." + +"Is that story true?" asked Annie, doubtfully, but seriously, as +the old man concluded his narrative. + +"It's des ez true ez I'm a-settin' here, miss. Dey's a easy way +ter prove it: I kin lead de way right ter Henry's grave ober +yander in de plantation buryin'-groun'. En I tell yer w'at, +marster, I wouldn' 'vise yer to buy dis yer ole vimya'd, 'caze de +goopher's on it yit, en dey ain' no tellin' w'en it's gwine ter +crap out." + +"But I thought you said all the old vines died." + +"Dey did 'pear ter die, but a few ov 'em come out ag'in, en is +mixed in mongs' de yuthers. I ain' skeered ter eat de grapes, +'caze I knows de old vimes fum de noo ones; but wid strangers dey +ain' no tellin' w'at might happen. I wouldn' 'vise yer ter buy +dis vimya'd." + +I bought the vineyard, nevertheless, and it has been for a long +time in a thriving condition, and is referred to by the local +press as a striking illustration of the opportunities open to +Northern capital in the development of Southern industries. The +luscious scuppernong holds first rank among our grapes, though we +cultivate a great many other varieties, and our income from grapes +packed and shipped to the Northern markets is quite considerable. +I have not noticed any developments of the goopher in the +vineyard, although I have a mild suspicion that our colored +assistants do not suffer from want of grapes during the season. + +I found, when I bought the vineyard, that Uncle Julius had +occupied a cabin on the place for many years, and derived a +respectable revenue from the neglected grapevines. This, +doubtless, accounted for his advice to me not to buy the vineyard, +though whether it inspired the goopher story I am unable to state. +I believe, however, that the wages I pay him for his services are +more than an equivalent for anything he lost by the sale of the +vineyard. + + + +PO' SANDY +by Charles W. Chesnutt + + +On the northeast corner of my vineyard in central North Carolina, +and fronting on the Lumberton plank-road, there stood a small +frame house, of the simplest construction. It was built of pine +lumber, and contained but one room, to which one window gave light +and one door admission. Its weather-beaten sides revealed a +virgin innocence of paint. Against one end of the house, and +occupying half its width, there stood a huge brick chimney: the +crumbling mortar had left large cracks between the bricks; the +bricks themselves had begun to scale off in large flakes, leaving +the chimney sprinkled with unsightly blotches. These evidences of +decay were but partially concealed by a creeping vine, which +extended its slender branches hither and thither in an ambitious +but futile attempt to cover the whole chimney. The wooden +shutter, which had once protected the unglazed window, had fallen +from its hinges, and lay rotting in the rank grass and jimson- +weeds beneath. This building, I learned when I bought the place, +had been used as a school-house for several years prior to the +breaking out of the war, since which time it had remained +unoccupied, save when some stray cow or vagrant hog had sought +shelter within its walls from the chill rains and nipping winds of +winter. + +One day my wife requested me to build her a new kitchen. The +house erected by us, when we first came to live upon the vineyard, +contained a very conveniently arranged kitchen; but for some +occult reason my wife wanted a kitchen in the back yard, apart +from the dwelling-house, after the usual Southern fashion. Of +course I had to build it. + +To save expense, I decided to tear down the old school-house, and +use the lumber, which was in a good state of preservation, in the +construction of the new kitchen. Before demolishing the old +house, however, I made an estimate of the amount of material +contained in it, and found that I would have to buy several +hundred feet of new lumber in order to build the new kitchen +according to my wife's plan. + +One morning old Julius McAdoo, our colored coachman, harnessed the +gray mare to the rockaway, and drove my wife and me over to the +saw-mill from which I meant to order the new lumber. We drove +down the long lane which led from our house to the plank-road; +following the plank-road for about a mile, we turned into a road +running through the forest and across the swamp to the sawmill +beyond. Our carriage jolted over the half-rotted corduroy road +which traversed the swamp, and then climbed the long hill leading +to the saw-mill. When we reached the mill, the foreman had gone +over to a neighboring farm-house, probably to smoke or gossip, and +we were compelled to await his return before we could transact our +business. We remained seated in the carriage, a few rods from the +mill, and watched the leisurely movements of the mill-hands. We +had not waited long before a huge pine log was placed in position, +the machinery of the mill was set in motion, and the circular saw +began to eat its way through the log, with a loud whirr which +resounded throughout the vicinity of the mill. The sound rose and +fell in a sort of rhythmic cadence, which, heard from where we +sat, was not unpleasing, and not loud enough to prevent +conversation. When the saw started on its second journey through +the log, Julius observed, in a lugubrious tone, and with a +perceptible shudder:-- + +"Ugh! but dat des do cuddle my blood!" + +"What's the matter, Uncle Julius?" inquired my wife, who is of a +very sympathetic turn of mind. "Does the noise affect your +nerves?" + +"No, Miss Annie," replied the old man, with emotion, "I ain' +narvous; but dat saw, a-cuttin' en grindin' thoo dat stick er +timber, en moanin', en groanin', en sweekin', kyars my 'memb'ance +back ter ole times, en 'min's me er po' Sandy." The pathetic +intonation with which he lengthened out the "po' Sandy" touched a +responsive chord in our own hearts." + +"And who was poor Sandy?" asked my wife, who takes a deep interest +in the stories of plantation life which she hears from the lips of +the older colored people. Some of these stories are quaintly +humorous; others wildly extravagant, revealing the Oriental cast +of the negro's imagination; while others, poured freely into the +sympathetic ear of a Northern-bred woman, disclose many a tragic +incident of the darker side of slavery. + +"Sandy," said Julius, in reply to my wife's question, "was a +nigger w'at useter b'long ter ole Mars Marrabo McSwayne. Mars +Marrabo's place wuz on de yuther side'n de swamp, right nex' ter +yo' place. Sandy wuz a monst'us good nigger, en could do so many +things erbout a plantation, en alluz 'ten ter his wuk so well, dat +w'en Mars Marrabo's chilluns growed up en married off, dey all un +'em wanted dey daddy fer ter gin 'em Sandy fer a weddin' present. +But Mars Marrabo knowed de res' wouldn' be satisfied ef he gin +Sandy ter a'er one un 'em; so w'en dey wuz all done married, he +fix it by 'lowin' one er his chilluns ter take Sandy fer a mont' +er so, en den ernudder for a mont' er so, en so on dat erway tel +dey had all had 'im de same lenk er time; en den dey would all +take him roun' ag'in, 'cep'n oncet in a w'ile w'en Mars Marrabo +would len' 'im ter some er his yuther kinfolks 'roun' de country, +w'en dey wuz short er han's; tel bimeby it go so Sandy didn' +hardly knowed whar he wuz gwine ter stay fum one week's een ter de +yuther. + +"One time w'en Sandy wuz lent out ez yushal, a spekilater come +erlong wid a lot er niggers, en Mars Marrabo swap' Sandy's wife +off fer a noo 'oman. W'en Sandy come back, Mars Marrabo gin 'im a +dollar, en 'lowed he wuz monst'us sorry fer ter break up de +fambly, but de spekilater had gin 'im big boot, en times wuz hard +en money skase, en so he wuz bleedst ter make de trade. Sandy tuk +on some 'bout losin' his wife, but he soon seed dey want no use +cryin' ober spilt merlasses; en bein' ez he lacked de looks er de +noo 'ooman, he tuk up wid her atter she b'n on de plantation a +mont' er so. + +"Sandy en his noo wife got on mighty well tergedder, en de niggers +all 'mence' ter talk about how lovin' dey wuz. W'en Tenie wuz tuk +sick oncet, Sandy useter set up all night wid 'er, en den go ter +wuk in de mawnin' des lack he had his reg'lar sleep; en Tenie +would 'a done anythin' in de worl' for her Sandy. + +"Sandy en Tenie hadn' b'en libbin' tergedder fer mo' d'n two +mont's befo' Mars Marrabo's old uncle, w'at libbed down in Robeson +County, sent up ter fine out ef Mars Marrabo couldn' len' 'im er +hire 'im a good han' fer a mont' er so. Sandy's marster wuz one +er dese yer easy-gwine folks w'at wanter please eve'ybody, en he +says yas, he could len' 'im Sandy. En Mars Marrabo tole Sandy fer +ter git ready ter go down ter Robeson nex' day, fer ter stay a +mont' er so. + +"Hit wuz monst'us hard on Sandy fer ter take 'im 'way fum Tenie. +Hit wuz so fur down ter Robeson dat he didn' hab no chance er +comin' back ter see her tel de time wuz up; he wouldn' a' mine +comin' ten er fifteen mile at night ter see Tenie, but Mars +Marrabo's uncle's plantation wuz mo' d'n forty mile off. Sandy +wuz mighty sad en cas' down atter w'at Mars Marrabo tole 'im, en +he says ter Tenie, sezee:-- + +"'I'm gittin monstus ti'ed er dish yer gwine roun' so much. Here +I is lent ter Mars Jeems dis mont', en I got ter do so-en-so; en +ter Mars Archie de nex' mont', en I got ter do so-en-so; den I got +ter go ter Miss Jinnie's: en hit's Sandy dis en Sandy dat, en +Sandy yer en Sandy dere, tel it 'pears ter me I ain' got no home, +ner no marster, ner no mistiss, ner no nuffin'. I can't eben keep +a wife: my yuther ole 'oman wuz sole away widout my gittin' a +chance fer ter tell her good-by; en now I got ter go off en leab +you, Tenie, en I dunno whe'r I'm eber gwine ter see yer ag'in er +no. I wisht I wuz a tree, er a stump, er a rock, er sump'n w'at +could stay on de plantation fer a w'ile.' + +"Atter Sandy got thoo talkin', Tenie didn' say naer word, but des +sot dere by de fier, studyin' en studyin'. Bimeby she up'n says:-- + + +"'Sandy, is I eber tole you I wuz a cunjuh-'ooman?' + +"Co'se Sandy hadn' nebber dremp' er nuffin lack dat, en he made a +great miration w'en he hear w'at Tenie say. Bimeby Tenie went +on:-- + +"'I ain' goophered nobody, ner done no cunjuh-wuk fer fifteen yer +er mo; en w'en I got religion I made up my mine I wouldn' wuk no +mo' goopher. But dey is some things I doan b'lieve it's no sin +fer ter do; en ef you doan wanter be sent roun' fum pillar ter +pos', en ef you doan wanter go down ter Robeson, I kin fix things +so yer won't haf ter. Ef you'll des say de word, I kin turn yer +ter w'ateber yer wanter be, en yer kin stay right whar yer wanter, +ez long ez yer mineter.' + +"Sandy say he doan keer; he's willin' fer ter do anythin' fer ter +stay close ter Tenie. Den Tenie ax 'im ef he doan wanter be turnt +inter a rabbit. + +"Sandy say, 'No, de dogs mout git atter me.' + +"'Shill I turn yer ter a wolf?' sez Tenie. + +"'No, eve'ybody's skeered er a wolf, en I doan want nobody ter be +skeered er me.' + +"'Shill I turn yer ter a mawkin'-bird?' + +"'No, a hawk mout ketch me. I wanter be turnt inter sump'n +w'at'll stay in one place.' + +"'I kin turn yer ter a tree,' sez Tenie. 'You won't hab no mouf +ner years, but I kin turn yer back oncet in a w'ile, so yer kin +git sump'n ter eat, en hear w'at's gwine on.' + +"Well, Sandy say dat'll do. En so Tenie tuk 'im down by de aidge +er de swamp, not fur fum de quarters, en turnt 'im inter a big +pine-tree, en sot 'im out mongs' some yuther trees. En de nex' +mawnin', ez some er de fiel' han's wuz gwine long dere, dey seed a +tree w'at dey didn' 'member er habbin' seed befo; it wuz monst'us +quare, en dey wuz bleedst ter 'low dat dey hadn' 'membered right, +er e'se one er de saplin's had be'n growin' monst'us fas'. + +"W'en Mars Marrabo 'skiver' dat Sandy wuz gone, he 'lowed Sandy +had runned away. He got de dogs out, but de las' place dey could +track Sandy ter wuz de foot er dat pine-tree. En dere de dogs +stood en barked, en bayed, en pawed at de tree, en tried ter climb +up on it; en w'en dey wuz tuk roun' thoo de swamp ter look fer de +scent, dey broke loose en made fer dat tree ag'in. It wuz de +beatenis' thing de w'ite folks eber hearn of, en Mars Marrabo +'lowed dat Sandy must a' clim' up on de tree en jump' off on a +mule er sump'n, en rid fur 'nuff fer ter spile de scent. Mars +Marrabo wanted ter 'cuse some er de yuther niggers er heppin Sandy +off, but dey all 'nied it ter de las'; en eve'ybody knowed Tenie +sot too much by Sandy fer ter he'p 'im run away whar she couldn' +nebber see 'im no mo'. + +"W'en Sandy had be'n gone long 'nuff fer folks ter think he done +got clean away, Tenie useter go down ter de woods at night en turn +'im back, en den dey'd slip up ter de cabin en set by de fire en +talk. But dey ha' ter be monst'us keerful, er e'se somebody would +a seed 'em, en dat would a spile de whole thing; so Tenie alluz +turnt Sandy back in de mawnin' early, befo' anybody wuz +a'stirrin'. + +"But Sandy didn' git erlong widout his trials en tribberlations. +One day a woodpecker come erlong en 'mence' ter peck at de tree; +en de nex' time Sandy wuz turnt back he had a little roun' hole in +his arm, des lack a sharp stick be'n stuck in it. Atter dat Tenie +sot a sparrer-hawk fer ter watch de tree; en w'en de woodpecker +come erlong nex' mawnin' fer ter finish his nes', he got gobble' +up mos' fo' he stuck his bill in de bark. + +"Nudder time, Mars Marrabo sent a nigger out in de woods fer ter +chop tuppentime boxes. De man chop a box in dish yer tree, en +hack' de bark up two er th'ee feet, fer ter let de tuppentime run. +De nex' time Sandy wuz turnt back he had a big skyar on his lef' +leg, des lack it be'n skunt; en it tuk Tenie nigh 'bout all night +fer ter fix a mixtry ter kyo it up. Atter dat, Tenie sot a hawnet +fer ter watch de tree; en w'en de nigger come back ag'in fer ter +cut ernudder box on de yuther side'n de tree, de hawnet stung 'im +so hard dat de ax slip en cut his foot nigh 'bout off. + +"W'en Tenie see so many things happenin' ter de tree, she 'cluded +she'd ha' ter turn Sandy ter sump'n e'se; en atter studyin' de +matter ober, en talkin' wid Sandy one ebenin', she made up her +mine fer ter fix up a goopher mixtry w'at would turn herse'f en +Sandy ter foxes, er sump'n, so dey could run away en go some'rs +whar dey could be free en lib lack w'ite folks. + +"But dey ain' no tellin' w'at's gwine ter happen in dis worl'. +Tenie had got de night sot fer her en Sandy ter run away, w'en dat +ve'y day one er Mars Marrabo's sons rid up ter de big house in his +buggy, en say his wife wuz monst'us sick, en he want his mammy ter +len' 'im a 'ooman fer ter nuss his wife. Tenie's mistiss say sen +Tenie; she wuz a good nuss. Young mars wuz in a tarrible hurry +fer ter git back home. Tenie wuz washin' at de big house dat day, +en her mistiss say she should go right 'long wid her young +marster. Tenie tried ter make some 'scuse fer ter git away en +hide tel night, w'en she would have eve'ything fix' up fer her en +Sandy; she say she wanter go ter her cabin fer ter git her bonnet. +Her mistiss say it doan matter 'bout de bonnet; her head-hankcher +wuz good 'nuff. Den Tenie say she wanter git her bes' frock; her +mistiss say no, she doan need no mo' frock, en w'en dat one got +dirty she could git a clean one whar she wuz gwine. So Tenie had +ter git in de buggy en go 'long wid young Mars Dunkin ter his +plantation, w'ich wuz mo' d'n twenty mile away; en dey want no +chance er her seein' Sandy no mo' tel she come back home. De po' +gal felt monst'us bad erbout de way things wuz gwine on, en she +knowed Sandy mus' be a wond'rin' why she didn' come en turn 'im +back no mo'. + +"W'iles Tenie wuz away nussin' young Mars Dunkin's wife, Mars +Marrabo tuk a notion fer ter buil' 'im a noo kitchen; en bein' ez +he had lots er timber on his place, he begun ter look 'roun' fer a +tree ter hab de lumber sawed out'n. En I dunno how it come to be +so, but he happen fer ter hit on de ve'y tree w'at Sandy wuz turnt +inter. Tenie wuz gone, en dey wa'n't nobody ner nuffin' fer ter +watch de tree. + +"De two men w'at cut de tree down say dey nebber had sech a time +wid a tree befo': dey axes would glansh off, en didn' 'pear ter +make no progress thoo de wood; en of all de creakin', en shakin', +en wobblin' you eber see, dat tree done it w'en it commence' ter +fall. It wuz de beatenis' thing! + +"W'en dey got de tree all trim' up, dey chain it up ter a timber +waggin, en start fer de saw-mill. But dey had a hard time gittin' +de log dere: fus' dey got stuck in de mud w'en dey wuz gwine +crosst de swamp, en it wuz two er th'ee hours befo' dey could git +out. W'en dey start' on ag'in, de chain kep' a-comin' loose, en +dey had ter keep a-stoppin' en a-stoppin' fer ter hitch de log up +ag'in. W'en dey commence' ter climb de hill ter de saw-mill, de +log broke loose, en roll down de hill en in mongs' de trees, en +hit tuk nigh 'bout half a day mo' ter git it haul' up ter de saw- +mill. + +"De nex' mawnin' atter de day de tree wuz haul' ter de saw-mill, +Tenie come home. W'en she got back ter her cabin, de fus' thing +she done wuz ter run down ter de woods en see how Sandy wuz +gittin' on. W'en she seed de stump standin' dere, wid de sap +runnin' out'n it, en de limbs layin' scattered roun', she nigh +'bout went out'n her mine. She run ter her cabin, en got her +goopher mixtry, en den foller de track er de timber waggin ter de +saw-mill. She knowed Sandy couldn' lib mo' d'n a minute er so ef +she turn' him back, fer he wuz all chop' up so he'd a be'n bleedst +ter die. But she wanted ter turn 'im back long ernuff fer ter +'splain ter 'im dat she hadn' went off a-purpose, en lef' 'im ter +be chop' down en sawed up. She didn' want Sandy ter die wid no +hard feelin's to'ds her. + +"De han's at de saw-mill had des got de big log on de kerridge, en +wuz startin' up de saw, w'en dey seed a 'oman runnin up de hill, +all out er bref, cryin' en gwine on des lack she wuz plumb +'stracted. It wuz Tenie; she come right inter de mill, en th'owed +herse'f on de log, right in front er de saw, a-hollerin' en cryin' +ter her Sandy ter fergib her, en not ter think hard er her, fer it +wa'n't no fault er hern. Den Tenie 'membered de tree didn' hab no +years, en she wuz gittin' ready fer ter wuk her goopher mixtry so +ez ter turn Sandy back, w'en de mill-hands kotch holt er her en +tied her arms wid a rope, en fasten' her to one er de posts in de +saw-mill; en den dey started de saw up ag'in, en cut de log up +inter bo'ds en scantlin's right befo' her eyes. But it wuz mighty +hard wuk; fer of all de sweekin', en moanin', en groanin', dat log +done it w'iles de saw wuz a-cuttin' thoo it. De saw wuz one er +dese yer ole-timey, up-en-down saws, en hit tuk longer dem days +ter saw a log 'en it do now. Dey greased de saw, but dat didn' +stop de fuss; hit kep' right on, tel finely dey got de log all +sawed up. + +"W'en de oberseah w'at run de saw-mill come fum brekfas', de han's +up en tell him 'bout de crazy 'ooman--ez dey s'posed she wuz-- +w'at had come runnin' in de saw-mill, a-hollerin' en gwine on, en +tried ter th'ow herse'f befo' de saw. En de oberseah sent two er +th'ee er de han's fer ter take Tenie back ter her marster's +plantation. + +"Tenie 'peared ter be out'n her mine fer a long time, en her +marster ha' ter lock her up in de smoke-'ouse tel she got ober her +spells. Mars Marrabo wuz monst'us mad, en hit would a made yo' +flesh crawl fer ter hear him cuss, caze he say de spekilater w'at +he got Tenie fum had fooled 'im by wukkin' a crazy 'oman off on +him. Wiles Tenie wuz lock up in de smoke-'ouse, Mars Marrabo +tuk'n' haul de lumber fum de saw-mill, en put up his noo kitchen. + +"W'en Tenie got quiet' down, so she could be 'lowed ter go 'roun' +de plantation, she up'n tole her marster all erbout Sandy en de +pine-tree; en w'en Mars Marrabo hearn it, he 'lowed she wuz de +wuss 'stracted nigger he eber hearn of. He didn' know w'at ter do +wid Tenie: fus' he thought he'd put her in de po'-house; but +finely, seein' ez she didn' do no harm ter nobody ner nuffin', but +des went roun' moanin', en groanin', en shakin' her head, he +'cluded ter let her stay on de plantation en nuss de little nigger +chilluns w'en dey mammies wuz ter wuk in de cotton-fiel'. + +"De noo kitchen Mars Marrabo buil' wuzn' much use, fer it hadn' +be'n put up long befo' de niggers 'mence' ter notice quare things +erbout it. Dey could hear sump'n moanin' en groanin' 'bout de +kitchen in de night-time, en w'en de win' would blow dey could +hear sump'n a-hollerin' en sweekin' lack hit wuz in great pain en +sufferin'. En hit got so atter a w'ile dat hit wuz all Mars +Marrabo's wife could do ter git a 'ooman ter stay in de kitchen in +de daytime long ernuff ter do de cookin'; en dey wa'n't naer +nigger on de plantation w'at wouldn' rudder take forty dan ter go +'bout dat kitchen atter dark,--dat is, 'cep'n Tenie; she didn' +pear ter mine de ha'nts. She useter slip 'roun' at night, en set +on de kitchen steps, en lean up agin de do'-jamb, en run on ter +herse'f wid some kine er foolishness w'at nobody couldn' make out; +fer Mars Marrabo had th'eaten' ter sen' her off'n de plantation ef +she say anything ter any er de yuther niggers 'bout de pine-tree. +But somehow er nudder de niggers foun' out all 'bout it, en dey +knowed de kitchen wuz ha'anted by Sandy's sperrit. En bimeby hit +got so Mars Marrabo's wife herse'f wuz skeered ter go out in de +yard atter dark. + +"W'en it come ter dat, Mars Marrabo tuk 'n' to' de kitchen down, +en use' de lumber fer ter buil' dat ole school-'ouse w'at youer +talkin' 'bout pullin' down. De school-'ouse wuzn' use' 'cep'n' in +de daytime, en on dark nights folks gwine 'long de road would hear +quare soun's en see quare things. Po' ole Tenie useter go down +dere at night, en wander 'roun' de school-'ouse; en de niggers all +'lowed she went fer ter talk wid Sandy's sperrit. En one winter +mawnin', w'en one er de boys went ter school early fer ter start +de fire, w'at should he fine but po' ole Tenie, layin' on de flo', +stiff, en cole, en dead. Dere didn' 'pear ter be nuffin' +pertickler de matter wid her,--she had des grieve' herse'f ter def +fer her Sandy. Mars Marrabo didn' shed no tears. He thought +Tenie wuz crazy, en dey wa'n't no tellin' w'at she mout do nex'; +en dey ain' much room in dis worl' fer crazy w'ite folks, let +'lone a crazy nigger. + +"Hit wa'n't long atter dat befo' Mars Marrabo sole a piece er his +track er lan' ter Mars Dugal' McAdoo,--MY ole marster,--en dat's +how de ole school-house happen to be on yo' place. W'en de wah +broke out, de school stop', en de ole school-'ouse be'n stannin' +empty ever sence,--dat is, 'cep'n' fer de ha'nts. En folks sez +dat de ole school-'ouse, er any yuther house w'at got any er dat +lumber in it w'at wuz sawed out'n de tree w'at Sandy wuz turnt +inter, is gwine ter be ha'nted tel de las' piece er plank is +rotted en crumble' inter dus'." + +Annie had listened to this gruesome narrative with strained +attention. + +"What a system it was," she exclaimed, when Julius had finished, +"under which such things were possible!" + +"What things?" I asked, in amazement. "Are you seriously +considering the possibility of a man's being turned into a tree?" + +"Oh, no," she replied quickly, "not that;" and then she added +absently, and with a dim look in her fine eyes, "Poor Tenie!" + +We ordered the lumber, and returned home. That night, after we +had gone to bed, and my wife had to all appearances been sound +asleep for half an hour, she startled me out of an incipient doze +by exclaiming suddenly,-- + +"John, I don't believe I want my new kitchen built out of the +lumber in that old school-house." + +"You wouldn't for a moment allow yourself," I replied, with some +asperity, "to be influenced by that absurdly impossible yarn which +Julius was spinning to-day?" + +"I know the story is absurd," she replied dreamily, "and I am not +so silly as to believe it. But I don't think I should ever be +able to take any pleasure in that kitchen if it were built out of +that lumber. Besides, I think the kitchen would look better and +last longer if the lumber were all new." + +Of course she had her way. I bought the new lumber, though not +without grumbling. A week or two later I was called away from +home on business. On my return, after an absence of several days, +my wife remarked to me,-- + +"John, there has been a split in the Sandy Run Colored Baptist +Church, on the temperance question. About half the members have +come out from the main body, and set up for themselves. Uncle +Julius is one of the seceders, and he came to me yesterday and +asked if they might not hold their meetings in the old school- +house for the present." + +"I hope you didn't let the old rascal have it," I returned, with +some warmth. I had just received a bill for the new lumber I had +bought. + +"Well," she replied, "I could not refuse him the use of the house +for so good a purpose." + +"And I'll venture to say," I continued, "that you subscribed +something toward the support of the new church?" + +She did not attempt to deny it. + +"What are they going to do about the ghost?" I asked, somewhat +curious to know how Julius would get around this obstacle. + +"Oh," replied Annie, "Uncle Julius says that ghosts never disturb +religious worship, but that if Sandy's spirit SHOULD happen to +stray into meeting by mistake, no doubt the preaching would do it +good." + + + +DAVE'S NECKLISS +by Charles W. Chesnutt + + +"Have some dinner, Uncle Julius?" said my wife. + +It was a Sunday afternoon in early autumn. Our two women- +servants had gone to a camp-meeting some miles away, and would not +return until evening. My wife had served the dinner, and we were +just rising from the table, when Julius came up the lane, and, +taking off his hat, seated himself on the piazza. + +The old man glanced through the open door at the dinner-table, and +his eyes rested lovingly upon a large sugar-cured ham, from which +several slices had been cut, exposing a rich pink expanse that +would have appealed strongly to the appetite of any hungry +Christian. + +"Thanky, Miss Annie," he said, after a momentary hesitation, "I +dunno ez I keers ef I does tas'e a piece er dat ham, ef yer'll cut +me off a slice un it." + +"No," said Annie, "I won't. Just sit down to the table and help +yourself; eat all you want, and don't be bashful." + +Julius drew a chair up to the table, while my wife and I went out +on the piazza. Julius was in my employment; he took his meals +with his own family, but when he happened to be about our house at +meal-times, my wife never let him go away hungry. + +I threw myself into a hammock, from which I could see Julius +through an open window. He ate with evident relish, devoting his +attention chiefly to the ham, slice after slice of which +disappeared in the spacious cavity of his mouth. At first the old +man ate rapidly, but after the edge of his appetite had been taken +off he proceeded in a more leisurely manner. When he had cut the +sixth slice of ham (I kept count of them from a lazy curiosity to +see how much he COULD eat) I saw him lay it on his plate; as he +adjusted the knife and fork to cut it into smaller pieces, he +paused, as if struck by a sudden thought, and a tear rolled down +his rugged cheek and fell upon the slice of ham before him. But +the emotion, whatever the thought that caused it, was transitory, +and in a moment he continued his dinner. When he was through +eating, he came out on the porch, and resumed his seat with the +satisfied expression of countenance that usually follows a good +dinner. + +"Julius," I said, "you seemed to be affected by something, a +moment ago. Was the mustard so strong that it moved you to +tears?" + +"No, suh, it wa'n't de mustard; I wuz studyin' 'bout Dave." + +"Who was Dave, and what about him?" I asked. + +The conditions were all favorable to story-telling. There was an +autumnal languor in the air, and a dreamy haze softened the dark +green of the distant pines and the deep blue of the Southern sky. +The generous meal he had made had put the old man in a very good +humor. He was not always so, for his curiously undeveloped nature +was subject to moods which were almost childish in their +variableness. It was only now and then that we were able to +study, through the medium of his recollection, the simple but +intensely human inner life of slavery. His way of looking at the +past seemed very strange to us; his view of certain sides of life +was essentially different from ours. He never indulged in any +regrets for the Arcadian joyousness and irresponsibility which was +a somewhat popular conception of slavery; his had not been the lot +of the petted house-servant, but that of the toiling field-hand. +While he mentioned with a warm appreciation the acts of kindness +which those in authority had shown to him and his people, he would +speak of a cruel deed, not with the indignation of one accustomed +to quick feeling and spontaneous expression, but with a furtive +disapproval which suggested to us a doubt in his own mind as to +whether he had a right to think or to feel, and presented to us +the curious psychological spectacle of a mind enslaved long after +the shackles had been struck off from the limbs of its possessor. +Whether the sacred name of liberty ever set his soul aglow with a +generous fire; whether he had more than the most elementary ideas +of love, friendship, patriotism, religion,--things which are half, +and the better half, of life to us; whether he even realized, +except in a vague, uncertain way, his own degradation, I do not +know. I fear not; and if not, then centuries of repression had +borne their legitimate fruit. But in the simple human feeling, +and still more in the undertone of sadness, which pervaded his +stories, I thought I could see a spark which, fanned by favoring +breezes and fed by the memories of the past, might become in his +children's children a glowing flame of sensibility, alive to every +thrill of human happiness or human woe. + +"Dave use' ter b'long ter my ole marster," said Julius; "he wuz +raise' on dis yer plantation, en I kin 'member all erbout 'im, fer +I wuz ole 'nuff ter chop cotton w'en it all happen'. Dave wuz a +tall man, en monst'us strong: he could do mo' wuk in a day dan any +yuther two niggers on de plantation. He wuz one er dese yer +solemn kine er men, en nebber run on wid much foolishness, like de +yuther darkies. He use' ter go out in de woods en pray; en w'en +he hear de han's on de plantation cussin' en gwine on wid dere +dancin' en foolishness, he use' ter tell 'em 'bout religion en +jedgmen'-day, w'en dey would haf ter gin account fer eve'y idle +word en all dey yuther sinful kyarin's-on. + +"Dave had l'arn' how ter read de Bible. Dey wuz a free nigger boy +in de settlement w'at wuz monst'us smart, en could write en +cipher, en wuz alluz readin' books er papers. En Dave had hi'ed +dis free boy fer ter l'arn 'im how ter read. Hit wuz 'g'in de +law, but co'se none er de niggers didn' say nuffin ter de w'ite +folks 'bout it. Howsomedever, one day Mars Walker--he wuz de +oberseah--foun' out Dave could read. Mars Walker wa'n't nuffin +but a po' bockrah, en folks said he couldn' read ner write +hisse'f, en co'se he didn' lack ter see a nigger w'at knowed mo' +d'n he did; so he went en tole Mars Dugal'. Mars Dugal' sont fer +Dave, en ax' 'im 'bout it. + +"Dave didn't hardly knowed w'at ter do; but he couldn' tell no +lie, so he 'fessed he could read de Bible a little by spellin' out +de words. Mars Dugal' look' mighty solemn. + +"'Dis yer is a se'ious matter,' sezee; 'it's 'g'in de law ter +l'arn niggers how ter read, er 'low 'em ter hab books. But w'at +yer l'arn out'n dat Bible, Dave?' + +"Dave wa'n't no fool, ef he wuz a nigger, en sezee:-- + +"'Marster, I l'arns dat it's a sin fer ter steal, er ter lie, er +fer ter want w'at doan b'long ter yer; en I l'arns fer ter love de +Lawd en ter 'bey my marster.' + +"Mars Dugal' sorter smile' en laf' ter hisse'f, like he 'uz +might'ly tickle' 'bout sump'n, en sezee:-- + +"'Doan 'pear ter me lack readin' de Bible done yer much harm, +Dave. Dat's w'at I wants all my niggers fer ter know. Yer keep +right on readin', en tell de yuther han's w'at yer be'n tellin' +me. How would yer lack fer ter preach ter de niggers on Sunday?' + +"Dave say he'd be glad fer ter do w'at he could. So Mars Dugal' +tole de oberseah fer ter let Dave preach ter de niggers, en tell +'em w'at wuz in de Bible, en it would he'p ter keep 'em fum +stealin' er runnin' erway. + +"So Dave 'mence' ter preach, en done de han's on de plantation a +heap er good, en most un 'em lef' off dey wicked ways, en 'mence' +ter love ter hear 'bout God, en religion, en de Bible; en dey done +dey wuk better, en didn' gib de oberseah but mighty little trouble +fer ter manage 'em. + +"Dave wuz one er dese yer men w'at didn' keer much fer de gals,-- +leastways he didn' tel Dilsey come ter de plantation. Dilsey wuz +a monst'us peart, good-lookin', gingybread-colored gal,--one er +dese yer high-steppin' gals w'at hol's dey heads up, en won' stan' +no foolishness fum no man. She had b'long' ter a gemman over on +Rockfish, w'at died, en whose 'state ha' ter be sol' fer ter pay +his debts. En Mars Dugal' had b'en ter de oction, en w'en he seed +dis gal a-cryin' en gwine on 'bout bein' sol' erway fum her ole +mammy, Aun' Mahaly, Mars Dugal' bid 'em bofe in, en fotch 'em ober +ter our plantation. + +"De young nigger men on de plantation wuz des wil' atter Dilsey, +but it didn' do no good, en none un 'em couldn' git Dilsey fer dey +junesey,[1] 'tel Dave 'mence' fer ter go roun' Aun' Mahaly's +cabin. Dey wuz a fine-lookin' couple, Dave en Dilsey wuz, bofe +tall, en well-shape', en soopl'. En dey sot a heap by one +ernudder. Mars Dugal' seed 'em tergedder one Sunday, en de nex' +time he seed Dave atter dat, sezee:-- + + +[1] Sweetheart. + + +"Dave, w'en yer en Dilsey gits ready fer ter git married, I ain' +got no rejections. Dey's a poun' er so er chawin'-terbacker up at +de house, en I reckon yo' mist'iss kin fine a frock en a ribbin er +two fer Dilsey. Youer bofe good niggers, en yer neenter be feared +er bein' sol' 'way fum one ernudder long ez I owns dis plantation; +en I 'spec's ter own it fer a long time yit.' + +"But dere wuz one man on de plantation w'at didn' lack ter see +Dave en Dilsey tergedder ez much ez ole marster did. W'en Mars +Dugal' went ter de sale whar he got Dilsey en Mahaly, he bought +ernudder han', by de name er Wiley. Wiley wuz one er dese yer +shiny-eyed, double-headed little niggers, sha'p ez a steel trap, +en sly ez de fox w'at keep out'n it. Dis yer Wiley had be'n +pesterin' Dilsey 'fo' she come ter our plantation, en had nigh +'bout worried de life out'n her. She didn' keer nuffin fer 'im, +but he pestered her so she ha' ter th'eaten ter tell her marster +fer ter make Wiley let her 'lone. W'en he come ober to our place +it wuz des ez bad, 'tel bimeby Wiley seed dat Dilsey had got ter +thinkin' a heap 'bout Dave, en den he sorter hilt off aw'ile, en +purten' lack he gin Dilsey up. But he wuz one er dese yer +'ceitful niggers, en w'ile he wuz laffin' en jokin' wid de yuther +han's 'bout Dave en Dilsey, he wuz settin' a trap fer ter ketch +Dave en git Dilsey back fer hisse'f. + +"Dave en Dilsey made up dere min's fer ter git married long 'bout +Christmas time, w'en dey'd hab mo' time fer a weddin'. But 'long +'bout two weeks befo' dat time ole mars 'mence' ter lose a heap er +bacon. Eve'y night er so somebody 'ud steal a side er bacon, er a +ham, er a shoulder, er sump'n, fum one er de smoke-'ouses. De +smoke-'ouses wuz lock', but somebody had a key, en manage' ter git +in some way er 'nudder. Dey's mo' ways 'n one ter skin a cat, en +dey's mo' d'n one way ter git in a smoke-'ouse,--leastways dat's +w'at I hearn say. Folks w'at had bacon fer ter sell didn' hab no +trouble 'bout gittin' rid un it. Hit wuz 'g'in' de law fer ter +buy things fum slabes; but Lawd! dat law didn' 'mount ter a hill +er peas. Eve'y week er so one er dese yer big covered waggins +would come 'long de road, peddlin' terbacker en w'iskey. Dey wuz +a sight er room in one er dem big waggins, en it wuz monst'us easy +fer ter swop off bacon fer sump'n ter chaw er ter wa'm yer up in +de winter-time. I s'pose de peddlers didn' knowed dey wuz +breakin' de law, caze de niggers alluz went at night, en stayed on +de dark side er de waggin; en it wuz mighty hard fer ter tell W'AT +kine er folks dey wuz. + +"Atter two er th'ee hund'ed er meat had be'n stole', Mars Walker +call all de niggers up one ebenin', en tol' 'em dat de fus' nigger +he cot stealin' bacon on dat plantation would git sump'n fer ter +'member it by long ez he lib'. En he say he'd gin fi' dollars ter +de nigger w'at 'skiver' de rogue. Mars Walker say he s'picion' +one er two er de niggers, but he couldn' tell fer sho, en co'se +dey all 'nied it w'en he 'cuse em un it. + +"Dey wa'n't no bacon stole' fer a week er so, 'tel one dark night +w'en somebody tuk a ham fum one er de smoke-'ouses. Mars Walker +des cusst awful w'en he foun' out de ham wuz gone, en say he gwine +ter sarch all de niggers' cabins; w'en dis yer Wiley I wuz tellin' +yer 'bout up'n say he s'picion' who tuk de ham, fer he seed Dave +comin' 'cross de plantation fum to'ds de smoke-'ouse de night +befo'. W'en Mars Walker hearn dis fum Wiley, he went en sarch' +Dave's cabin, en foun' de ham hid under de flo'. + +"Eve'ybody wuz 'stonish'; but dere wuz de ham. Co'se Dave 'nied +it ter de las', but dere wuz de ham. Mars Walker say it wuz des +ez he 'spected: he didn' b'lieve in dese yer readin' en prayin' +niggers; it wuz all 'pocrisy, en sarve' Mars Dugal' right fer +'lowin' Dave ter be readin' books w'en it wuz 'g'in de law. + +"W'en Mars Dugal' hearn 'bout de ham, he say he wuz might'ly +'ceived en disapp'inted in Dave. He say he wouldn' nebber hab no +mo' conferdence in no nigger, en Mars Walker could do des ez he +wuz a mineter wid Dave er any er de res' er de niggers. So Mars +Walker tuk'n tied Dave up en gin 'im forty; en den he got some er +dis yer wire clof w'at dey uses fer ter make sifters out'n, en +tuk'n wrap' it roun' de ham en fasten it tergedder at de little +een'. Den he tuk Dave down ter de blacksmif-shop, en had Unker +Silas, de plantation black-smif, fasten a chain ter de ham, en den +fasten de yuther een' er de chain roun' Dave's neck. En den he +says ter Dave, sezee:-- + +"'Now, suh, yer'll wear dat neckliss fer de nex' six mont's; en I +'spec's yer ner none er de yuther niggers on dis plantation won' +steal no mo' bacon dyoin' er dat time.' + +"Well, it des 'peared ez if fum dat time Dave didn' hab nuffin but +trouble. De niggers all turnt ag'in' 'im, caze he be'n de 'casion +er Mars Dugal' turnin' 'em all ober ter Mars Walker. Mars Dugal' +wa'n't a bad marster hisse'f, but Mars Walker wuz hard ez a rock. +Dave kep' on sayin' he didn' take de ham, but none un 'em didn' +b'lieve 'im. + +"Dilsey wa'n't on de plantation w'en Dave wuz 'cused er stealin' +de bacon. Ole mist'iss had sont her ter town fer a week er so fer +ter wait on one er her darters w'at had a young baby, en she didn' +fine out nuffin 'bout Dave's trouble 'tel she got back ter de +plantation. Dave had patien'ly endyoed de finger er scawn, en all +de hard words w'at de niggers pile' on 'im, caze he wuz sho' +Dilsey would stan' by 'im, en wouldn' b'lieve he wuz a rogue, ner +none er de yuther tales de darkies wuz tellin' 'bout 'im. + +"W'en Dilsey come back fum town, en got down fum behine de buggy +whar she be'n ridin' wid ole mars, de fus' nigger 'ooman she met +says ter her,-- + +"'Is yer seed Dave, Dilsey?' + +"No, I ain' seed Dave,' says Dilsey. + +"'Yer des oughter look at dat nigger; reckon yer wouldn' want 'im +fer yo' junesey no mo'. Mars Walker cotch 'im stealin' bacon, en +gone en fasten' a ham roun' his neck, so he can't git it off'n +hisse'f. He sut'nly do look quare.' En den de 'ooman bus' out +laffin' fit ter kill herse'f. W'en she got thoo laffin' she up'n +tole Dilsey all 'bout de ham, en all de yuther lies w'at de +niggers be'n tellin' on Dave. + +"W'en Dilsey started down ter de quarters, who should she meet but +Dave, comin' in fum de cotton-fiel'. She turnt her head ter one +side, en purten' lack she didn' seed Dave. + +"'Dilsey!' sezee. + +"Dilsey walk' right on, en didn' notice 'im. + +"'OH, Dilsey!' + +"Dilsey didn' paid no 'tention ter 'im, en den Dave knowed some er +de niggers be'n tellin' her 'bout de ham. He felt monst'us bad, +but he 'lowed ef he could des git Dilsey fer ter listen ter 'im +fer a minute er so, he could make her b'lieve he didn' stole de +bacon. It wuz a week er two befo' he could git a chance ter speak +ter her ag'in; but fine'ly he cotch her down by de spring one day, +en sezee:-- + +"'Dilsey, w'at fer yer won' speak ter me, en purten' lack yer doan +see me? Dilsey, yer knows me too well fer ter b'lieve I'd steal, +er do dis yuther wick'ness de niggers is all layin' ter me,--yer +KNOWS I wouldn' do dat, Dilsey. Yer ain' gwine back on yo' Dave, +is yer?' + +"But w'at Dave say didn' hab no 'fec' on Dilsey. Dem lies folks +b'en tellin' her had p'isen' her min' 'g'in' Dave. + +"'I doan wanter talk ter no nigger,' says she, 'w'at be'n whip' +fer stealin', en w'at gwine roun' wid sich a lookin' thing ez dat +hung roun' his neck. I's a 'spectable gal, I is. W'at yer call +dat, Dave? Is dat a cha'm fer ter keep off witches, er is it a +noo kine er neckliss yer got?' + +"Po' Dave didn' knowed w'at ter do. De las' one he had 'pended on +fer ter stan' by 'im had gone back on 'im, en dey didn' 'pear ter +be nuffin mo' wuf libbin' fer. He couldn' hol' no mo' pra'r- +meetin's, fer Mars Walker wouldn' 'low 'im ter preach, en de +darkies wouldn' 'a' listen' ter 'im ef he had preach'. He didn' +eben hab his Bible fer ter comfort hisse'f wid, fer Mars Walker +had tuk it erway fum 'im en burnt it up, en say ef he ketch any +mo' niggers wid Bibles on de plantation he'd do 'em wuss'n he done +Dave. + +"En ter make it still harder fer Dave, Dilsey tuk up wid Wiley. +Dave could see him gwine up ter Aun' Mahaly's cabin, en settin' +out on de bench in de moonlight wid Dilsey, en singin' sinful +songs en playin' de banjer. Dave use' ter scrouch down behine de +bushes, en wonder w'at de Lawd sen' 'im all dem tribberlations +fer. + +"But all er Dave's yuther troubles wa'n't nuffin side er dat ham. +He had wrap' de chain roun' wid a rag, so it didn' hurt his neck; +but w'eneber he went ter wuk, dat ham would be in his way; he had +ter do his task, howsomedever, des de same ez ef he didn' hab de +ham. W'eneber he went ter lay down, dat ham would be in de way. +Ef he turn ober in his sleep, dat ham would be tuggin' at his +neck. It wuz de las' thing he seed at night, en de fus' thing he +seed in de mawnin'. W'eneber he met a stranger, de ham would be +de fus' thing de stranger would see. Most un 'em would 'mence' +ter laf, en whareber Dave went he could see folks p'intin' at him, +en year 'em sayin:-- + +"'W'at kine er collar dat nigger got roun' his neck?' er, ef dey +knowed 'im, 'Is yer stole any mo' hams lately?' er 'W'at yer take +fer yo' neckliss, Dave?' er some joke er 'nuther 'bout dat ham. + +"Fus' Dave didn' mine it so much, caze he knowed he hadn' done +nuffin. But bimeby he got so he couldn' stan' it no longer, en +he'd hide hisse'f in de bushes w'eneber he seed anybody comin', en +alluz kep' hisse'f shet up in his cabin atter he come in fum wuk. + +"It wuz monst'us hard on Dave, en bimeby, w'at wid dat ham +eberlastin' en etarnally draggin' roun' his neck, he 'mence' fer +ter do en say quare things, en make de niggers wonder ef he wa'n't +gittin' out'n his mine. He got ter gwine roun' talkin' ter +hisse'f, en singin' corn-shuckin' songs, en laffin' fit ter kill +'bout nuffin. En one day he tole one er de niggers he had +'skivered a noo way fer ter raise hams,--gwine ter pick 'em off'n +trees, en save de expense er smoke-'ouses by kyoin' 'em in de sun. +En one day he up'n tole Mars Walker he got sump'n pertickler fer +ter say ter 'im; en he tuk Mars Walker off ter one side, en tole +'im he wuz gwine ter show 'im a place in de swamp whar dey wuz a +whole trac' er lan' covered wid ham-trees. + +"W'en Mars Walker hearn Dave talkin' dis kine er fool-talk, en +w'en he seed how Dave wuz 'mencin' ter git behine in his wuk, en +w'en he ax' de niggers en dey tole 'im how Dave be'n gwine on, he +'lowed he reckon' he'd punish' Dave ernuff, en it mou't do mo' +harm dan good fer ter keep de ham on his neck any longer. So he +sont Dave down ter de blacksmif-shop en had de ham tak off. Dey +wa'n't much er de ham lef' by dat time, fer de sun had melt all de +fat, en de lean had all swivel' up, so dey wa'n't but th'ee er fo' +poun's lef'. + +"W'en de ham had be'n tuk off'n Dave, folks kinder stopped talkin' +'bout 'im so much. But de ham had be'n on his neck so long dat +Dave had sorter got use' ter it. He look des lack he'd los' +sump'n fer a day er so atter de ham wuz tuk off, en didn' 'pear +ter know w'at ter do wid hisse'f; en fine'ly he up'n tuk'n tied a +lightered-knot ter a string, en hid it under de flo' er his cabin, +en w'en nobody wuzn' lookin' he'd take it out en hang it roun' his +neck, en go off in de woods en holler en sing; en he allus tied it +roun' his neck w'en he went ter sleep. Fac', it 'peared lack Dave +done gone clean out'n his mine. En atter a w'ile he got one er de +quarest notions you eber hearn tell un. It wuz 'bout dat time dat +I come back ter de plantation fer ter wuk,--I had be'n out ter +Mars Dugal's yuther place on Beaver Crick for a mont' er so. I +had hearn 'bout Dave en de bacon, en 'bout w'at wuz gwine on on de +plantation; but I didn' b'lieve w'at dey all say 'bout Dave, fer I +knowed Dave wa'n't dat kine er man. One day atter I come back, +me'n Dave wuz choppin' cotton tergedder, w'en Dave lean' on his +hoe, en motion' fer me ter come ober close ter 'im; en den he +retch' ober en w'ispered ter me. + +"'Julius', [sic] sezee, 'did yer knowed yer wuz wukkin' long yer +wid a ham?' + +"I couldn 'magine w'at he meant. 'G'way fum yer, Dave,' says I. +'Yer ain' wearin' no ham no mo'; try en fergit 'bout dat; 't ain' +gwine ter do yer no good fer ter 'member it.' + +"Look a-yer, Julius,' sezee, 'kin yer keep a secret?' + +"'Co'se I kin, Dave,' says I. 'I doan go roun' tellin' people +w'at yuther folks says ter me.' + +"'Kin I trus' yer, Julius? Will yer cross yo' heart?' + +"I cross' my heart. 'Wush I may die ef I tells a soul,' says I. + +"Dave look' at me des lack he wuz lookin' thoo me en 'way on de +yuther side er me, en sezee:-- + +"'Did yer knowed I wuz turnin' ter a ham, Julius?' + +"I tried ter 'suade Dave dat dat wuz all foolishness, en dat he +oughtn't ter be talkin' dat-a-way,--hit wa'n't right. En I tole +'im ef he'd des be patien', de time would sho'ly come w'en +eve'ything would be straighten' out, en folks would fine out who +de rale rogue wuz w'at stole de bacon. Dave 'peared ter listen +ter w'at I say, en promise' ter do better, en stop gwine on dat-a- +way; en it seem lack he pick' up a bit w'en he seed dey wuz one +pusson didn' b'lieve dem tales 'bout 'im. + +"Hit wa'n't long atter dat befo' Mars Archie McIntyre, ober on de +Wimbleton road, 'mence' ter complain 'bout somebody stealin' +chickens fum his hen-'ouse. De chickens kip' on gwine, en at las' +Mars Archie tole de han's on his plantation dat he gwine ter shoot +de fus' man he ketch in his hen-'ouse. In less'n a week atter he +gin dis warnin', he cotch a nigger in de hen-'ouse, en fill' 'im +full er squir'l-shot. W'en he got a light, he 'skivered it wuz a +strange nigger; en w'en he call' one er his own sarven's, de +nigger tole 'im it wuz our Wiley. W'en Mars Archie foun' dat out, +he sont ober ter our plantation fer ter tell Mars Dugal' he had +shot one er his niggers, en dat he could sen' ober dere en git +w'at wuz lef' un 'im. + +"Mars Dugal' wuz mad at fus'; but w'en he got ober dere en hearn +how it all happen', he didn' hab much ter say. Wiley wuz shot so +bad he wuz sho' he wuz gwine ter die, so he up'n says ter ole +marster:-- + +"'Mars Dugal',' sezee, 'I knows I's be'n a monst'us bad nigger, +but befo' I go I wanter git sump'n off'n my mine. Dave didn' +steal dat bacon w'at wuz tuk out'n de smoke-'ouse. I stole it +all, en I hid de ham under Dave's cabin fer ter th'ow de blame on +him--en may de good Lawd fergib me fer it.' + +"Mars Dugal' had Wiley tuk back ter de plantation, en sont fer a +doctor fer ter pick de shot out'n 'im. En de ve'y nex' mawnin' +Mars Dugal' sont fer Dave ter come up ter de big house; he felt +kinder sorry fer de way Dave had be'n treated. Co'se it wa'n't no +fault er Mars Dugal's, but he wuz gwine ter do w'at he could fer +ter make up fer it. So he sont word down ter de quarters fer Dave +en all de yuther han's ter 'semble up in de yard befo' de big +house at sun-up nex' mawnin'. + +"yearly in de mawnin' de niggers all swarm' up in de yard. Mars +Dugal' wuz feelin' so kine dat he had brung up a bairl er cider, +en tole de niggers all fer ter he'p deyselves. + +"All dey han's on de plantation come but Dave; en bimeby, w'en it +seem lack he wa'n't comin', Mars Dugal' sont a nigger down ter de +quarters ter look fer 'im. De sun wuz gittin' up, en dey wuz a +heap er wuk ter be done, en Mars Dugal' sorter got ti'ed waitin'; +so he up'n says:-- + +"'Well, boys en gals, I sont fer yer all up yer fer ter tell yer +dat all dat 'bout Dave's stealin' er de bacon wuz a mistake, ez I +s'pose yer all done hearn befo' now, en I's mighty sorry it +happen'. I wants ter treat all my niggers right, en I wants yer +all ter know dat I sets a heap by all er my han's w'at is hones' +en smart. En I want yer all ter treat Dave des lack yer did befo' +dis thing happen', en mine w'at he preach ter yer; fer Dave is a +good nigger, en has had a hard row ter hoe. En de fus' one I +ketch sayin' anythin' 'g'in Dave, I'll tell Mister Walker ter gin +'im forty. Now take ernudder drink er cider all roun', en den git +at dat cotton, fer I wanter git dat Persimmon Hill trac' all pick' +ober ter-day.' + +"W'en de niggers wuz gwine 'way, Mars Dugal' tole me fer ter go en +hunt up Dave, en bring 'im up ter de house. I went down ter +Dave's cabin, but couldn' fine 'im dere. Den I look' roun' de +plantation, en in de aidge er de woods, en 'long de road; but I +couldn' fine no sign er Dave. I wuz 'bout ter gin up de sarch, +w'en I happen' fer ter run 'cross a foot-track w'at look' lack +Dave's. I had wukked 'long wid Dave so much dat I knowed his +tracks: he had a monst'us long foot, wid a holler instep, w'ich +wuz sump'n skase 'mongs' black folks. So I follered dat track +'cross de fiel' fum de quarters 'tel I got ter de smoke-'ouse. De +fus' thing I notice' wuz smoke comin' out'n de cracks: it wuz +cu'ous, caze dey hadn' be'n no hogs kill' on de plantation fer six +mont' er so, en all de bacon in de smoke-'ouse wuz done kyoed. I +couldn' 'magine fer ter sabe my life w'at Dave wuz doin' in dat +smoke-'ouse. I went up ter de do' en hollered:-- + +"'Dave!' + +"Dey didn' nobody answer. I didn' wanter open de do', fer w'ite +folks is monst'us pertickler 'bout dey smoke-'ouses; en ef de +oberseah had a-come up en cotch me in dere, he mou't not wanter +b'lieve I wuz des lookin' fer Dave. So I sorter knock at de do' +en call' out ag'in:-- + +"'O Dave, hit's me--Julius! Doan be skeered. Mars Dugal' wants +yer ter come up ter de big house,--he done 'skivered who stole de +ham.' + +"But Dave didn' answer. En w'en I look' roun' ag'in en didn' seed +none er his tracks gwine way fum de smoke-'ouse, I knowed he wuz +in dere yit, en I wuz 'termine' fer ter fetch 'im out; so I push +de do' open en look in. + +"Dey wuz a pile er bark burnin' in de middle er de flo', en right +ober de fier, hangin' fum one er de rafters, wuz Dave; dey wuz a +rope roun' his neck, en I didn' haf ter look at his face mo' d'n +once fer ter see he wuz dead. + +"Den I knowed how it all happen'. Dave had kep' on gittin' wusser +en wusser in his mine, 'tel he des got ter b'lievin' he wuz all +done turnt ter a ham; en den he had gone en built a fier, en tied +a rope roun' his neck, des lack de hams wuz tied, en had hung +hisse'f up in de smoke-'ouse fer ter kyo. + +"Dave wuz buried down by de swamp, in de plantation buryin'- +groun'. Wiley didn' died fum de woun' he got in Mars McIntyre's +hen-'ouse; he got well atter a w'ile, but Dilsey wouldn' hab +nuffin mo' ter do wid 'im, en 't wa'n't long 'fo' Mars Dugal' sol' +'im ter a spekilater on his way souf,--he say he didn' want no +sich a nigger on de plantation, ner in de county, ef he could he'p +it. En w'en de een' er de year come, Mars Dugal' turnt Mars +Walker off, en run de plantation hisse'f atter dat. + +"Eber sence den," said Julius in conclusion, "w'eneber I eats ham, +it min's me er Dave. I lacks ham, but I nebber kin eat mo' d'n +two er th'ee poun's befo' I gits ter studyin' 'bout Dave, en den I +has ter stop en leab de res' fer ernudder time." + +There was a short silence after the old man had finished his +story, and then my wife began to talk to him about the weather, on +which subject he was an authority. I went into the house. When I +came out, half an hour later, I saw Julius disappearing down the +lane, with a basket on his arm. + +At breakfast, next morning, it occurred to me that I should like a +slice of ham. I said as much to my wife. + +"Oh, no, John," she responded, "you shouldn't eat anything so +heavy for breakfast." + +I insisted. + +"The fact is," she said, pensively, "I couldn't have eaten any +more of that ham, and so I gave it to Julius." + + + +THE AWAKENING OF THE NEGRO +by Booker T. Washington + + +When a mere boy, I saw a young colored man, who had spent several +years in school, sitting in a common cabin in the South, studying +a French grammar. I noted the poverty, the untidiness, the want +of system and thrift, that existed about the cabin, +notwithstanding his knowledge of French and other academic +subjects. Another time, when riding on the outer edges of a town +in the South, I heard the sound of a piano coming from a cabin of +the same kind. Contriving some excuse, I entered, and began a +conversation with the young colored woman who was playing, and who +had recently returned from a boarding-school, where she had been +studying instrumental music among other things. Despite the fact +that her parents were living in a rented cabin, eating poorly +cooked food, surrounded with poverty, and having almost none of +the conveniences of life, she had persuaded them to rent a piano +for four or five dollars per month. Many such instances as these, +in connection with my own struggles, impressed upon me the +importance of making a study of our needs as a race, and applying +the remedy accordingly. + +Some one may be tempted to ask, Has not the negro boy or girl as +good a right to study a French grammar and instrumental music as +the white youth? I answer, Yes, but in the present condition of +the negro race in this country there is need of something more. +Perhaps I may be forgiven for the seeming egotism if I mention the +expansion of my own life partly as an example of what I mean. My +earliest recollection is of a small one-room log hut on a large +slave plantation in Virginia. After the close of the war, while +working in the coal-mines of West Virginia for the support of my +mother, I heart in some accidental way of the Hampton Institute. +When I learned that it was an institution where a black boy could +study, could have a chance to work for his board, and at the same +time be taught how to work and to realize the dignity of labor, I +resolved to go there. Bidding my mother good-by, I started out +one morning to find my way to Hampton, though I was almost +penniless and had no definite idea where Hampton was. By walking, +begging rides, and paying for a portion of the journey on the +steam-cars, I finally succeeded in reaching the city of Richmond, +Virginia. I was without money or friends. I slept under a +sidewalk, and by working on a vessel next day I earned money to +continue my way to the institute, where I arrived with a surplus +of fifty cents. At Hampton I found the opportunity--in the way of +buildings, teachers, and industries provided by the generous--to +get training in the class-room and by practical touch with +industrial life, to learn thrift, economy, and push. I was +surrounded by an atmosphere of business, Christian influence, and +a spirit of self-help that seemed to have awakened every faculty +in me, and caused me for the first time to realize what it meant +to be a man instead of a piece of property. + +While there I resolved that when I had finished the course of +training I would go into the far South, into the Black Belt of the +South, and give my life to providing the same kind of opportunity +for self-reliance and self-awakening that I had found provided for +me at Hampton. My work began at Tuskegee, Alabama, in 1881, in a +small shanty and church, with one teacher and thirty students, +without a dollar's worth of property. The spirit of work and of +industrial thrift, with aid from the State and generosity from the +North, has enabled us to develop an institution of eight hundred +students gathered from nineteen States, with seventy-nine +instructors, fourteen hundred acres of land, and thirty buildings, +including large and small; in all, property valued at $280,000. +Twenty-five industries have been organized, and the whole work is +carried on at an annual cost of about $80,000 in cash; two fifths +of the annual expense so far has gone into permanent plant. + +What is the object of all this outlay? First, it must be borne in +mind that we have in the South a peculiar and unprecedented state +of things. It is of the utmost importance that our energy be +given to meeting conditions that exist right about us rather than +conditions that existed centuries ago or that exist in countries a +thousand miles away. What are the cardinal needs among the seven +millions of colored people in the South, most of whom are to be +found on the plantations? Roughly, these needs may be stated as +food, clothing, shelter, education, proper habits, and a +settlement of race relations. The seven millions of colored +people of the South cannot be reached directly by any missionary +agency, but they can be reached by sending out among them strong +selected young men and women, with the proper training of head, +hand, and heart, who will live among these masses and show them +how to lift themselves up. + +The problem that the Tuskegee Institute keeps before itself +constantly is how to prepare these leaders. From the outset, in +connection with religious and academic training, it has emphasized +industrial or hand training as a means of finding the way out of +present conditions. First, we have found the industrial teaching +useful in giving the student a chance to work out a portion of his +expenses while in school. Second, the school furnishes labor that +has an economic value, and at the same time gives the student a +chance to acquire knowledge and skill while performing the labor. +Most of all, we find the industrial system valuable in teaching +economy, thrift, and the dignity of labor, and in giving moral +backbone to students. The fact that a student goes out into the +world conscious of his power to build a house or a wagon, or to +make a harness, gives him a certain confidence and moral +independence that he would not possess without such training. + +A more detailed example of our methods at Tuskegee may be of +interest. For example, we cultivate by student labor six hundred +and fifty acres of land. The object is not only to cultivate the +land in a way to make it pay our boarding department, but at the +same time to teach the students, in addition to the practical +work, something of the chemistry of the soil, the best methods of +drainage, dairying, the cultivation of fruit, the care of +livestock and tools, and scores of other lessons needed by a +people whose main dependence is on agriculture. Notwithstanding +that eighty-five per cent of the colored people in the South live +by agriculture in some form, aside from what has been done by +Hampton, Tuskegee, and one or two other institutions practically +nothing has been attempted in the direction of teaching them about +the very industry from which the masses of our people must get +their subsistence. Friends have recently provided means for the +erection of a large new chapel at Tuskegee. Our students have +made the bricks for this chapel. A large part of the timber is +sawed by students at our own sawmill, the plans are drawn by our +teacher of architecture and mechanical drawing, and students do +the brick-masonry, plastering, painting, carpentry work, tinning, +slating, and make most of the furniture. Practically, the whole +chapel will be built and furnished by student labor; in the end +the school will have the building for permanent use, and the +students will have a knowledge of the trades employed in its +construction. In this way all but three of the thirty buildings +on the grounds have been erected. While the young men do the +kinds of work I have mentioned, the young women to a large extent +make, mend, and launder the clothing of the young men, and thus +are taught important industries. + +One of the objections sometimes urged against industrial education +for the negro is that it aims merely to teach him to work on the +same plan that he was made to follow when in slavery. This is far +from being the object at Tuskegee. At the head of each of the +twenty-five industrial departments we have an intelligent and +competent instructor, just as we have in our history classes, so +that the student is taught not only practical brick-masonry, for +example, but also the underlying principles of that industry, the +mathematics and the mechanical and architectural drawing. Or he +is taught how to become master of the forces of nature so that, +instead of cultivating corn in the old way, he can use a corn +cultivator, that lays off the furrows, drops the corn into them, +and covers it, and in this way he can do more work than three men +by the old process of corn-planting; at the same time much of the +toil is eliminated and labor is dignified. In a word, the +constant aim is to show the student how to put brains into every +process of labor; how to bring his knowledge of mathematics and +the sciences into farming, carpentry, forging, foundry work; how +to dispense as soon as possible with the old form of ante-bellum +labor. In the erection of the chapel just referred to, instead of +letting the money which was given us go into outside hands, we +make it accomplish three objects: first, it provides the chapel; +second, it gives the students a chance to get a practical +knowledge of the trades connected with building; and third, it +enables them to earn something toward the payment of board while +receiving academic and industrial training. + +Having been fortified at Tuskegee by education of mind, skill of +hand, Christian character, ideas of thrift, economy, and push, and +a spirit of independence, the student is sent out to become a +centre of influence and light in showing the masses of our people +in the Black Belt of the South how to lift themselves up. How can +this be done? I give but one or two examples. Ten years ago a +young colored man came to the institute from one of the large +plantation districts; he studied in the class-room a portion of +the time, and received practical and theoretical training on the +farm the remainder of the time. Having finished his course at +Tuskegee, he returned to his plantation home, which was in a +county where the colored people outnumber the whites six to one, +as is true of many of the counties in the Black Belt of the South. +He found the negroes in debt. Ever since the war they had been +mortgaging their crops for the food on which to live while the +crops were growing. The majority of them were living from hand to +mouth on rented land, in small, one-room log cabins, and +attempting to pay a rate of interest on their advances that ranged +from fifteen to forty per cent per annum. The school had been +taught in a wreck of a log cabin, with no apparatus, and had never +been in session longer than three months out of twelve. With as +many as eight or ten persons of all ages and conditions and of +both sexes huddled together in one cabin year after year, and with +a minister whose only aim was to work upon the emotions of the +people, one can imagine something of the moral and religious state +of the community. + +But the remedy. In spite of the evil, the negro got the habit of +work from slavery. The rank and file of the race, especially +those on the Southern plantations, work hard, but the trouble is, +what they earn gets away from them in high rents, crop mortgages, +whiskey, snuff, cheap jewelry, and the like. The young man just +referred to had been trained at Tuskegee, as most of our graduates +are, to meet just this condition of things. He took the three +months' public school as a nucleus for his work. Then he +organized the older people into a club, or conference, that held +meetings every week. In these meetings he taught the people in a +plain, simple manner how to save their money, how to farm in a +better way, how to sacrifice,--to live on bread and potatoes, if +need be, till they could get out of debt, and begin the buying of +lands. + +Soon a large proportion of the people were in condition to make +contracts for the buying of homes (land is very cheap in the +South), and to live without mortgaging their crops. Not only +this: under the guidance and leadership of this teacher, the first +year that he was among them they learned how, by contributions in +money and labor, to build a neat, comfortable schoolhouse that +replaced the wreck of a log cabin formerly used. The following +year the weekly meetings were continued, and two months were added +to the original three months of school. The next year two more +months were added. The improvement has gone on, until now these +people have every year an eight months' school. + +I wish my readers could have the chance that I have had of going +into this community. I wish they could look into the faces of the +people and see them beaming with hope and delight. I wish they +could see the two or three room cottages that have taken the place +of the usual one-room cabin, the well-cultivated farms, and the +religious life of the people that now means something more than +the name. The teacher has a good cottage and a well-kept farm +that serve as models. In a word, a complete revolution has been +wrought in the industrial, educational, and religious life of this +whole community by reason of the fact that they have had this +leader, this guide and object-lesson, to show them how to take the +money and effort that had hitherto been scattered to the wind in +mortgages and high rents, in whiskey and gewgaws, and concentrate +them in the direction of their own uplifting. One community on +its feet presents an object-lesson for the adjoining communities, +and soon improvements show themselves in other places. + +Another student who received academic and industrial training at +Tuskegee established himself, three years ago, as a blacksmith and +wheelwright in a community, and, in addition to the influence of +his successful business enterprise, he is fast making the same +kind of changes in the life of the people about him that I have +just recounted. It would be easy for me to fill many pages +describing the influence of the Tuskegee graduates in every part +of the South. We keep it constantly in the minds of our students +and graduates that the industrial or material condition of the +masses of our people must be improved, as well as the +intellectual, before there can be any permanent change in their +moral and religious life. We find it a pretty hard thing to make +a good Christian of a hungry man. No matter how much our people +"get happy" and "shout" in church, if they go home at night from +church hungry, they are tempted to find something before morning. +This is a principle of human nature, and is not confined to the +negro. + +The negro has within him immense power for self-uplifting, but for +years it will be necessary to guide and stimulate him. The +recognition of this power led us to organize, five years ago, what +is now known as the Tuskegee Negro Conference,--a gathering that +meets every February, and is composed of about eight hundred +representative colored men and women from all sections of the +Black Belt. They come in ox-carts, mule-carts, buggies, on +muleback and horseback, on foot, by railroad: some traveling all +night in order to be present. The matters considered at the +conferences are those that the colored people have it within their +own power to control: such as the evils of the mortgage system, +the one-room cabin, buying on credit, the importance of owning a +home and of putting money in the bank, how to build schoolhouses +and prolong the school term, and how to improve their moral and +religious condition. + +As a single example of the results, one delegate reported that +since the conferences were started five years ago eleven people in +his neighborhood had bought homes, fourteen had got out of debt, +and a number had stopped mortgaging their crops. Moreover, a +schoolhouse had been built by the people themselves, and the +school term had been extended from three to six months; and with a +look of triumph he exclaimed, "We is done stopped libin' in de +ashes!" + +Besides this Negro Conference for the masses of the people, we now +have a gathering at the same time known as the Workers' +Conference, composed of the officers and instructors in the +leading colored schools of the South. After listening to the +story of the conditions and needs from the people themselves, the +Workers' Conference finds much food for thought and discussion. + +Nothing else so soon brings about right relations between the two +races in the South as the industrial progress of the negro. +Friction between the races will pass away in proportion as the +black man, by reason of his skill, intelligence, and character, +can produce something that the white man wants or respects in the +commercial world. This is another reason why at Tuskegee we push +the industrial training. We find that as every year we put into a +Southern community colored men who can start a brick-yard, a +sawmill, a tin-shop, or a printing-office,--men who produce +something that makes the white man partly dependent upon the +negro, instead of all the dependence being on the other side,--a +change takes place in the relations of the races. + +Let us go on for a few more years knitting our business and +industrial relations into those of the white man, till a black man +gets a mortgage on a white man's house that he can foreclose at +will. The white man on whose house the mortgage rests will not +try to prevent that negro from voting when he goes to the polls. +It is through the dairy farm, the truck garden, the trades, and +commercial life, largely, that the negro is to find his way to the +enjoyment of all his rights. Whether he will or not, a white man +respects a negro who owns a two-story brick house. + +What is the permanent value of the Tuskegee system of training to +the South in a broader sense? In connection with this, it is well +to bear in mind that slavery taught the white man that labor with +the hands was something fit for the negro only, and something for +the white man to come into contact with just as little as +possible. It is true that there was a large class of poor white +people who labored with the hands, but they did it because they +were not able to secure negroes to work for them; and these poor +whites were constantly trying to imitate the slave-holding class +in escaping labor, and they too regarded it as anything but +elevating. The negro in turn looked down upon the poor whites +with a certain contempt because they had to work. The negro, it +is to be borne in mind, worked under constant protest, because he +felt that his labor was being unjustly required, and he spent +almost as much effort in planning how to escape work as in +learning how to work. Labor with him was a badge of degradation. +The white man was held up before him as the highest type of +civilization, but the negro noted that this highest type of +civilization himself did no labor; hence he argued that the less +work he did, the more nearly he would be like a white man. Then, +in addition to these influences, the slave system discouraged +labor-saving machinery. To use labor-saving machinery +intelligence was required, and intelligence and slavery were not +on friendly terms; hence the negro always associated labor with +toil, drudgery, something to be escaped. When the negro first +became free, his idea of education was that it was something that +would soon put him in the same position as regards work that his +recent master had occupied. Out of these conditions grew the +Southern habit of putting off till to-morrow and the day after the +duty that should be done promptly to-day. The leaky house was not +repaired while the sun shone, for then the rain did not come +through. While the rain was falling, no one cared to expose +himself to stop the leak. The plough, on the same principle, was +left where the last furrow was run, to rot and rust in the field +during the winter. There was no need to repair the wooden chimney +that was exposed to the fire, because water could be thrown on it +when it was on fire. There was no need to trouble about the +payment of a debt to-day, for it could just as well be paid next +week or next year. Besides these conditions, the whole South, at +the close of the war, was without proper food, clothing, and +shelter,--was in need of habits of thrift and economy and of +something laid up for a rainy day. + +To me it seemed perfectly plain that here was a condition of +things that could not be met by the ordinary process of education. +At Tuskegee we became convinced that the thing to do was to make a +careful systematic study of the condition and needs of the South, +especially the Black Belt, and to bend our efforts in the +direction of meeting these needs, whether we were following a +well-beaten track, or were hewing out a new path to meet +conditions probably without a parallel in the world. After +fourteen years of experience and observation, what is the result? +Gradually but surely, we find that all through the South the +disposition to look upon labor as a disgrace is on the wane, and +the parents who themselves sought to escape work are so anxious to +give their children training in intelligent labor that every +institution which gives training in the handicrafts is crowded, +and many (among them Tuskegee) have to refuse admission to +hundreds of applicants. The influence of the Tuskegee system is +shown again by the fact that almost every little school at the +remotest cross-roads is anxious to be known as an industrial +school, or, as some of the colored people call it, an "industrus" +school. + +The social lines that were once sharply drawn between those who +labored with the hand and those who did not are disappearing. +Those who formerly sought to escape labor, now when they see that +brains and skill rob labor of the toil and drudgery once +associated with it, instead of trying to avoid it are willing to +pay to be taught how to engage in it. The South is beginning to +see labor raised up, dignified and beautified, and in this sees +its salvation. In proportion as the love of labor grows, the +large idle class which has long been one of the curses of the +South disappears. As its members become absorbed in occupations, +they have less time to attend to everybody else's business, and +more time for their own. + +The South is still an undeveloped and unsettled country, and for +the next half century and more the greater part of the energy of +the masses will be needed to develop its material opportunities. +Any force that brings the rank and file of the people to a greater +love of industry is therefore especially valuable. This result +industrial education is surely bringing about. It stimulates +production and increases trade,--trade between the races,--and in +this new and engrossing relation both forget the past. The white +man respects the vote of the colored man who does $10,000 worth of +business, and the more business the colored man has, the more +careful he is how he votes. + +Immediately after the war, there was a large class of Southern +people who feared that the opening of the free schools to the +freedmen and the poor whites--the education of the head alone-- +would result merely in increasing the class who sought to escape +labor, and that the South would soon be overrun by the idle and +vicious. But as the results of industrial combined with academic +training begin to show themselves in hundreds of communities that +have been lifted up through the medium of the Tuskegee system, +these former prejudices against education are being removed. Many +of those who a few years ago opposed general education are now +among its warmest advocates. + +This industrial training, emphasizing as it does the idea of +economic production, is gradually bringing the South to the point +where it is feeding itself. Before the war, and long after it, +the South made what little profit was received from the cotton +crop, and sent its earnings out of the South to purchase food +supplies,--meat, bread, canned vegetables, and the like; but the +improved methods of agriculture are fast changing this habit. +With the newer methods of labor, which teach promptness and +system, and emphasize the worth of the beautiful,--the moral value +of the well-painted house, and the fence with every paling and +nail in its place,--we are bringing to bear upon the South an +influence that is making it a new country in industry, education, +and religion. + + + +THE STORY OF UNCLE TOM'S CABIN +by Charles Dudley Warner + + +On the 29th of June, 1852, Henry Clay died. In that month the two +great political parties, in their national conventions, had +accepted as a finality all the compromise measures of 1850, and +the last hours of the Kentucky statesman were brightened by the +thought that his efforts had secured the perpetuity of the Union. + +But on the 20th of March, 1852, there had been an event, the +significance of which was not taken into account by the political +conventions or by Clay, which was to test the conscience of the +nation. This was the publication of Uncle Tom's Cabin. Was this +only an "event," the advent of a new force in politics; was the +book merely an abolition pamphlet, or was it a novel, one of the +few great masterpieces of fiction that the world has produced? +After the lapse of forty-four years and the disappearance of +African slavery on this continent, it is perhaps possible to +consider this question dispassionately. + +The compromise of 1850 satisfied neither the North nor the South. +The admission of California as a free State was regarded by +Calhoun as fatal to the balance between the free and the slave +States, and thereafter a fierce agitation sprang up for the +recovery of this loss of balance, and ultimately for Southern +preponderance, which resulted in the repeal of the Missouri +Compromise, the Kansas-Nebraska war, and the civil war. The +fugitive slave law was hateful to the North not only because it +was cruel and degrading, but because it was seen to be a move +formed for nationalizing slavery. It was unsatisfactory to the +South because it was deemed inadequate in its provisions, and +because the South did not believe the North would execute it in +good faith. So unstable did the compromise seem that in less than +a year after the passage of all its measures, Henry Clay and +forty-four Senators and Representatives united in a manifesto +declaring that they would support no man for office who was not +known to be opposed to any disturbance of the settlements of the +compromise. When, in February, 1851, the recaptured fugitive +slave, Burns, was rescued from the United States officers in +Boston, Clay urged the investment of the President with +extraordinary power to enforce the law. + +Henry Clay was a patriot, a typical American. The republic and +its preservation were the passions of his life. Like Lincoln, who +was born in the State of his adoption, he was willing to make +almost any sacrifice for the maintenance of the Union. He had no +sympathy with the system of slavery. There is no doubt that he +would have been happy in the belief that it was in the way of +gradual and peaceful extinction. With him, it was always the +Union before state rights and before slavery. Unlike Lincoln, he +had not the clear vision to see that the republic could not endure +half slave and half free. He believed that the South, appealing +to the compromises of the Constitution, would sacrifice the Union +before it would give up slavery, and in fear of this menace he +begged the North to conquer its prejudices. We are not liable to +overrate his influence as a compromising pacificator from 1832 to +1852. History will no doubt say that it was largely due to him +that the war on the Union was postponed to a date when its success +was impossible. + +It was the fugitive slave law that brought the North face to face +with slavery nationalized, and it was the fugitive slave law that +produced Uncle Tom's Cabin. The effect of this story was +immediate and electric. It went straight to the hearts of tens of +thousands of people who had never before considered slavery except +as a political institution for which they had no personal +responsibility. What was this book, and how did it happen to +produce such an effect? It is true that it struck into a time of +great irritation and agitation, but in one sense there was nothing +new in it. The facts had all been published. For twenty years +abolition tracts, pamphlets, newspapers, and books had left little +to be revealed, to those who cared to read, as to the nature of +slavery or its economic aspects. The evidence was practically all +in,--supplied largely by the advertisements of Southern newspapers +and by the legislation of the slaveholding States,--but it did not +carry conviction; that is, the sort of conviction that results in +action. The subject had to be carried home to the conscience. +Pamphleteering, convention-holding, sermons, had failed to do +this. Even the degrading requirements of the fugitive slave law, +which brought shame and humiliation, had not sufficed to fuse the +public conscience, emphasize the necessity of obedience to the +moral law, and compel recognition of the responsibility of the +North for slavery. Evidence had not done this, passionate appeals +had not done it, vituperation had not done it. What sort of +presentation of the case would gain the public ear and go to the +heart? If Mrs. Stowe, in all her fervor, had put forth first the +facts in The Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin, which so buttressed her +romance, the book would have had no more effect than had followed +the like compilations and arraignments. What was needed? If we +can discover this, we shall have the secret of this epoch-making +novel. + +The story of this book has often been told. It is in the nature +of a dramatic incident of which the reader never tires any more +than the son of Massachusetts does of the minutest details of that +famous scene in the Senate Chamber when Webster replied to Hayne. + +At the age of twenty-four the author was married and went to live +in Cincinnati, where her husband held a chair in the Lane +Theological Seminary. There for the first time she was brought +into relations with the African race and saw the effects of +slavery. She visited slaveholders in Kentucky and had friends +among them. In some homes she saw the "patriarchal" institution +at its best. The Beecher family were anti-slavery, but they had +not been identified with the abolitionists, except perhaps Edward, +who was associated with the murdered Lovejoy. It was long a +reproach brought by the abolitionists against Henry Ward Beecher +that he held entirely aloof from their movement. At Cincinnati, +however, the personal aspects of the case were brought home to +Mrs. Stowe. She learned the capacities and peculiarities of the +negro race. They were her servants; she taught some of them; +hunted fugitives applied to her; she ransomed some by her own +efforts; every day there came to her knowledge stories of the +hunger for freedom, of the ruthless separation of man and wife and +mother and child, and of the heroic sufferings of those who ran +away from the fearful doom of those "sold down South." These +things crowded upon her mind and awoke her deepest compassion. +But what could she do against all the laws, the political and +commercial interests, the great public apathy? Relieve a case +here and there, yes. But to dwell upon the gigantic evil, with no +means of making head against it, was to invite insanity. + +As late as 1850, when Professor Stowe was called to Bowdoin +College, and the family removed to Brunswick, Maine, Mrs. Stowe +had not felt impelled to the duty she afterwards undertook. "In +fact, it was a sort of general impression upon her mind, as upon +that of many humane people in those days, that the subject was so +dark and painful a one, so involved in difficulty and obscurity, +so utterly beyond human hope or help, that it was of no use to +read, or think, or distress one's self about it." But when she +reached New England the excitement over the fugitive slave law was +at its height. There was a panic in Boston among the colored +people settled there, who were daily fleeing to Canada. Every +mail brought her pitiful letters from Boston, from Illinois, and +elsewhere, of the terror and despair caused by the law. Still +more was the impressed by the apathy of the Christian world at the +North, and surely, she said, the people did not understand what +the "system" was. Appeals were made to her, who had some personal +knowledge of the subject, to take up her pen. The task seemed +beyond her in every way. She was not strong, she was in the midst +of heavy domestic cares, with a young infant, with pupils to whom +she was giving daily lessons, and the limited income of the family +required the strictest economy. The dependence was upon the small +salary of Professor Stowe, and the few dollars she could earn by +an occasional newspaper or magazine article. But the theme burned +in her mind, and finally took this shape: at least she would write +some sketches and show the Christian world what slavery really +was, and what the system was that they were defending. She wanted +to do this with entire fairness, showing all the mitigations of +the "patriarchal" system, and all that individuals concerned in it +could do to alleviate its misery. While pondering this she came +by chance, in a volume of an anti-slavery magazine, upon the +authenticated account of the escape of a woman with her child on +the ice across the Ohio River from Kentucky. She began to +meditate. The faithful slave husband in Kentucky, who had refused +to escape from a master who trusted him, when he was about to be +sold "down river," came to her as a pattern of Uncle Tom, and the +scenes of the story began to form themselves in her mind. "The +first part of the book ever committed to writing [this is the +statement of Mrs. Stowe] was the death of Uncle Tom. This scene +presented itself almost as a tangible vision to her mind while +sitting at the communion-table in the little church in Brunswick. +She was perfectly overcome by it, and could scarcely restrain the +convulsion of tears and sobbings that shook her frame. She +hastened home and wrote it, and her husband being away, read it to +her two sons of ten and twelve years of age. The little fellows +broke out into convulsions of weeping, one of them saying through +his sobs, 'Oh, mamma, slavery is the most cursed thing in the +world!' From that time the story can less be said to have been +composed by her than imposed upon her. Scenes, incidents, +conversations rushed upon her with a vividness and importunity +that would not be denied. The book insisted upon getting itself +into being, and would take no denial." + +When two or three chapters were written she wrote to her friend, +Dr. Bailey, of Washington, the editor of The National Era, to +which she had contributed, that she was planning a story that +might run through several numbers of the Era. The story was at +once applied for, and thereafter weekly installments were sent on +regularly, in spite of all cares and distractions. The +installments were mostly written during the morning, on a little +desk in a corner of the dining-room of the cottage in Brunswick, +subject to all the interruptions of house-keeping, her children +bursting into the room continually with the importunity of +childhood. But they did not break the spell or destroy her +abstraction. With a smile and a word and a motion of the hand she +would wave them off, and keep on in her magician's work. Long +afterwards they recalled this, dimly understood at the time, and +wondered at her power of concentration. Usually at night the +chapters were read to the family, who followed the story with +intense feeling. The narrative ran on for nine months, exciting +great interest among the limited readers of the Era, and gaining +sympathetic words from the anti-slavery people, but without making +any wide impression on the public. + +We may pause here in the narrative to note two things: the story +was not the work of a novice, and it was written out of abundant +experience and from an immense mass of accumulated thought and +material. Mrs. Stowe was in her fortieth year. She had been +using her pen since she was twelve years old, in extensive +correspondence, in occasional essays, in short stories and +sketches, some of which appeared in a volume called The Mayflower, +published in 1843, and for many years her writing for newspapers +and periodicals had added appreciably to the small family income. +She was in the maturity of her intellectual powers, she was +trained in the art of writing, and she had, as Walter Scott had +when he began the Waverley Novels at the age of forty-three, +abundant store of materials on which to draw. To be sure, she was +on fire with a moral purpose, but she had the dramatic instinct, +and she felt that her object would not be reached by writing an +abolition tract. + +"In shaping her material the author had but one purpose, to show +the institution of slavery truly, just as it existed. She had +visited in Kentucky; had formed the acquaintance of people who +were just, upright, and generous, and yet slave-holders. She had +heard their views, and appreciated their situation; she felt that +justice required that their difficulties should be recognized and +their virtues acknowledged. It was her object to show that the +evils of slavery were the inherent evils of a bad system, and not +always the fault of those who had become involved in it and were +its actual administrators. Then she was convinced that the +presentation of slavery alone, in its most dreadful forms, would +be a picture of such unrelieved horror and darkness as nobody +could be induced to look at. Of set purpose, she sought to light +up the darkness by humorous and grotesque episodes, and the +presentation of the milder and more amusing phases of slavery, for +which her recollection of the never-failing wit and drollery of +her former colored friends in Ohio gave her abundant material." + +This is her own account of the process, years after. But it is +evident that, whether consciously or unconsciously, she did but +follow the inevitable law of all great dramatic creators and true +story-tellers since literature began. + +For this story Mrs. Stowe received from the Era the sum of three +hundred dollars. Before it was finished it attracted the +attention of Mr. J. P. Jewett, of Boston, a young and then unknown +publisher, who offered to issue it in book form. His offer was +accepted, but as the tale ran on he became alarmed at its length, +and wrote to the author that she was making the story too long for +a one-volume novel; that the subject was unpopular; that people +would not willingly hear much about it; that one short volume +might possibly sell, but that if it grew to two that might prove a +fatal obstacle to its success. Mrs. Stowe replied that she did +not make the story, that the story made itself, and that she could +not stop it till it was done. The publisher hesitated. It is +said that a competent literary critic to whom he submitted it sat +up all night with the novel, and then reported, "The story has +life in it; it will sell." Mr. Jewett proposed to Professor Stowe +to publish it on half profits if he would share the expenses. +This offer was declined, for the Stowes had no money to advance, +and the common royalty of ten per cent on the sales was accepted. + +Mrs. Stowe was not interested in this business transaction. She +was thinking only of having the book circulated for the effect she +had at heart. The intense absorption in the story held her until +the virtual end in the death of Uncle Tom, and then it seemed as +if the whole vital force had left her. She sank into a profound +discouragement. Would this appeal, which she had written with her +heart's blood, go for nothing, as all the prayers and tears and +strivings had already gone? When the last proof sheets left her +hands, "it seemed to her that there was no hope; that nobody would +read, nobody would pity; that this frightful system, which had +already pursued its victims into the free States, might at last +even threaten them in Canada." Resolved to leave nothing undone +to attract attention to her cause, she wrote letters and ordered +copies of her novel sent to men of prominence who had been known +for their anti-slavery sympathies,--to Prince Albert, Macaulay, +Charles Dickens, Charles Kingsley, and Lord Carlisle. Then she +waited for the result. + +She had not long to wait. The success of the book was immediate. +Three thousand copies were sold the first day, within a few days +ten thousand copies had gone, on the 1st of April a second edition +went to press, and thereafter eight presses running day and night +were barely able to keep pace with the demand for it. Within a +year three hundred thousand copies were sold. No work of fiction +ever spread more quickly throughout the reading community or +awakened a greater amount of public feeling. It was read by +everybody, learned and unlearned, high and low, for it was an +appeal to universal human sympathy, and the kindling of this +spread the book like wildfire. At first it seemed to go by +acclamation. But this was not altogether owing to sympathy with +the theme. I believe that it was its power as a novel that +carried it largely. The community was generally apathetic when it +was not hostile to any real effort to be rid of slavery. This +presently appeared. At first there were few dissenting voices +from the chorus of praise. But when the effect of the book began +to be evident it met with an opposition fiercer and more personal +than the great wave of affectionate thankfulness which greeted it +at first. The South and the defenders and apologists of slavery +everywhere were up in arms. It was denounced in pulpit and in +press, and some of the severest things were said of it at the +North. The leading religious newspaper of the country, published +in New York, declared that it was "anti-Christian." + +Mrs. Stowe was twice astonished: first by its extraordinary sale, +and second by the quarter from which the assault on it came. She +herself says that her expectations were strikingly different from +the facts. "She had painted slaveholders as amiable, generous, +and just. She had shown examples among them of the noblest and +most beautiful traits of character; had admitted fully their +temptations, their perplexities, and their difficulties, so that a +friend of hers who had many relatives in the South wrote to her: +'Your book is going to be the great pacificator; it will unite +both North and South.' Her expectation was that the professed +abolitionists would denounce it as altogether too mild in its +dealings with slaveholders. To her astonishment, it was the +extreme abolitionists who received, and the entire South who rose +up against it." + +There is something almost amusing in Mrs. Stowe's honest +expectation that the deadliest blow the system ever suffered +should have been received thankfully by those whose traditions, +education, and interests were all bound up in it. And yet from +her point of view it was not altogether unreasonable. Her +blackest villain and most loathsome agent of the system, Legree, +was a native of Vermont. All her wrath falls upon the slave- +traders, the auctioneers, the public whippers, and the overseers, +and all these persons and classes were detested by the Southerners +to the point of loathing, and were social outcasts. The slave- +traders and the overseers were tolerated as perhaps necessary in +the system, but they were never admitted into respectable society. +This feeling Mrs. Stowe regarded as a condemnation of the system. + +Pecuniary reward was the last thing that Mrs. Stowe expected for +her disinterested labor, but it suits the world's notion of the +fitness of things that this was not altogether wanting. For the +millions of copies of Uncle Tom scattered over the world the +author could expect nothing, but in her own country her copyright +yielded her a moderate return that lifted her out of poverty and +enabled her to pursue her philanthropic and literary career. Four +months after the publication of the book Professor Stowe was in +the publisher's office, and Mr. Jewett asked him how much he +expected to receive. "I hope," said Professor Stowe, with a +whimsical smile, "that it will be enough to buy my wife a silk +dress." The publisher handed him a check for ten thousand +dollars. + +Before Mrs. Stowe had a response to the letters accompanying the +books privately sent to England, the novel was getting known +there. Its career in Great Britain paralleled its success in +America. In April a copy reached London in the hands of a +gentleman who had taken it on the steamer to read. He gave it to +Mr. Henry Vizetelly, who submitted it to Mr. David Bogue, a man +known for his shrewdness and enterprise. He took a night to +consider it, and then declined it, although it was offered to him +for five pounds. A Mr. Gilpin also declined it. It was then +submitted to Mr. Salisbury, a printer. This taster for the public +sat up with the book till four o'clock in the morning, alternately +weeping and laughing. Fearing, however, that this result was due +to his own weakness, he woke up his wife, whom he describes as a +rather strong-minded woman, and finding that the story kept her +awake and made her also laugh and cry, he thought it might safely +be printed. It seems, therefore, that Mr. Vizetelly ventured to +risk five pounds, and the volume was brought out through the +nominal agency of Clarke & Company. In the first week an edition +of seven thousand was worked off. It made no great stir until the +middle of June, but during July it sold at the rate of one +thousand a week. By the 20th of August the demand for it was +overwhelming. The printing firm was then employing four hundred +people in getting it out, and seventeen printing-machines, besides +hand-presses. Already one hundred and fifty thousand copies were +sold. Mr. Vizetelly disposed of his interest, and a new printing +firm began to issue monster editions. About this time the +publishers awoke to the fact that any one was at liberty to +reprint the book, and the era of cheap literature was initiated, +founded on American reprints which cost the publisher no royalty. +A shilling edition followed the one-and-sixpence, and then one +complete for sixpence. As to the total sale, Mr. Sampson Low +reports: "From April to December, 1852, twelve different editions +(not reissues) were published, and within the twelve months of its +first appearance eighteen different London publishing houses were +engaged in supplying the great demand that had set in, the total +number of editions being forty, varying from fine illustrated +editions at 15s., 10s., and 7s. 6d. to the cheap popular editions +of 1s. 9d. and 6d. After carefully analyzing these editions and +weighing probabilities with ascertained facts, I am able pretty +confidently to say that the aggregate number of copies circulated +in Great Britain and the colonies exceeds one and a half +millions." Later, abridgments were published. + +Almost simultaneously with this furor in England the book made its +way on the Continent. Several translations appeared in Germany +and France, and for the authorized French edition Mrs. Stowe wrote +a new preface, which served thereafter for most of the European +editions. I find no record of the order of the translations of +the book into foreign languages, but those into some of the +Oriental tongues did not appear till several years after the great +excitement. The ascertained translations are into twenty-three +tongues, namely: Arabic, Armenian, Chinese, Danish, Dutch, +Finnish, Flemish, French, German, Hungarian, Illyrian, Italian, +Japanese, Polish, Portuguese, modern Greek, Russian, Servian, +Siamese, Spanish, Swedish, Wallachian, and Welsh. Into some of +these languages several translations were made. In 1878 the +British Museum contained thirty-five editions of the original +text, and eight editions of abridgments or adaptations. + +The story was dramatized in the United States in August, 1852, +without the consent or knowledge of the author, and was played +most successfully in the leading cities, and subsequently was +acted in every capital in Europe. Mrs. Stowe had neglected to +secure the dramatic rights, and she derived no benefit from the +great popularity of a drama which still holds the stage. From the +phenomenal sale of a book which was literally read by the whole +world, the author received only the ten per cent on the American +editions, and by the laws of her own country her copyright expired +before her death. + + +The narrative of the rise and fortunes of this book would be +incomplete without some reference to the response that the author +received from England and the Continent, and of her triumphant +progress through the British Isles. Her letters accompanying the +special copies were almost immediately replied to, generally in +terms of enthusiastic and fervent thankfulness for the book, and +before midsummer her mail contained letters from all classes of +English society. In some of them appeared a curious evidence of +the English sensitiveness to criticism. Lord Carlisle and Sir +Arthur Helps supplemented their admiration by a protest against +the remark in the mouth of one of the characters that "slaves are +better off than a large class of the population of England." This +occurred in the defense of the institution by St. Clare, but it +was treated by the British correspondents as the opinion of Mrs. +Stowe. The charge was disposed of in Mrs. Stowe's reply: "The +remark on that subject occurs in the dramatic part of the book, in +the mouth of an intelligent Southerner. As a fair-minded person, +bound to state for both sides all that could be said, in the +person of St. Clare, the best that could be said on that point, +and what I know IS in fact constantly reiterated, namely, that the +laboring class of the South are in many respects, as to physical +comfort, in a better condition than the poor in England. This is +the slaveholder's stereo-typed apology; a defense it cannot be, +unless two wrongs make one right." + +In April, 1853, Mr. and Mrs. Stowe and the latter's brother, +Charles Beecher, sailed for Europe. Her reception there was like +a royal progress. She was met everywhere by deputations and +addresses, and the enthusiasm her presence called forth was +thoroughly democratic, extending from the highest in rank to the +lowest. At Edinburgh there was presented to her a national penny +offering, consisting of a thousand golden sovereigns on a +magnificent silver salver, an unsolicited contribution in small +sums by the people. + +At a reception in Stafford House, London, the Duchess of +Sutherland presented her with a massive gold bracelet, which has +an interesting history. It is made of ten oval links in imitation +of slave fetters. On two of the links were the inscriptions +"March 25, 1807," the date of the abolition of the slave-trade, +and "August 1, 1838," the date of the abolition of slavery in all +British territory. The third inscription is "562,848--March 19, +1853," the date of the address of the women of England to the +women of America on slavery, and the number of the women who +signed. It was Mrs. Stowe's privilege to add to these +inscriptions the following: "Emancipation D. C. Apl. 16, '62;" +"President's Proclamation Jan. 1, '63;" "Maryland free Oct. 13, +'64;" "Missouri free Jan. 11, '65;" and on the clasp link, +"Constitution amended by Congress Jan. 31, '65. Constitutional +Amendment ratified." Two of the links are vacant. What will the +progress of civilization in America offer for the links nine and +ten? + +One of the most remarkable documents which resulted from Uncle Tom +was an address from the women of England to the women of America, +acknowledging the complicity in slavery of England, but praying +aid in removing from the world "our common crimes and common +dishonor," which was presented to Mrs. Stowe in 1853. It was the +result of a meeting at Stafford House, and the address, composed +by Lord Shaftesbury, was put into the hands of canvassers in +England and on the Continent, and as far as Jerusalem. The +signatures of 562,848 women were obtained, with their occupations +and residences, from the nobility on the steps of the throne down +to maids in the kitchen. The address is handsomely engrossed on +vellum. The names are contained in twenty-six massive volumes, +each fourteen inches high by nine in breadth and three inches +thick, inclosed in an oak case. It is believed that this is the +most numerously signed address in existence. The value of the +address, with so many names collected in haphazard fashion, was +much questioned, but its use was apparent in the height of the +civil war, when Mrs. Stowe replied to it in one of the most +vigorous and noble appeals that ever came from her pen. This +powerful reply made a profound impression in England. + +This is in brief the story of the book. It is still read, and +read the world over, with tears and with laughter; it is still +played to excited audiences. Is it a great novel, or was it only +an event of an era of agitation and passion? Has it the real +dramatic quality--the poet's visualizing of human life--that makes +works of fiction, of imagination, live? Till recently, I had not +read the book since 1852. I feared to renew acquaintance with it +lest I should find only the shell of an exploded cartridge. I +took it up at the beginning of a three-hours' railway journey. To +my surprise the journey did not seem to last half an hour, and +half the time I could not keep back the tears from my eyes. A +London critic, full of sympathy with Mrs. Stowe and her work, +recently said, "Yet she was not an artist, she was not a great +woman." What is greatness? What is art? In 1862 probably no one +who knew General Grant would have called him a great man. But he +took Vicksburg. This woman did something with her pen,--on the +whole, the most remarkable and effective book in her generation. +How did she do it? Without art? George Sand said, "In matters of +art there is but one rule, to paint and to move. And where shall +we find conditions more complete, types more vivid, situations +more touching, more original, than in Uncle Tom?" If there is not +room in our art for such a book, I think we shall have to stretch +our art a little. "Women, too, are here judged and painted with a +master hand." This subtle critic, in her overpoweringly tender +and enthusiastic review, had already inquired about the capacity +of this writer. "Mrs. Stowe is all instinct; it is the very +reason that she appears to some not to have talent. Has she not +talent? What is talent? Nothing, doubtless, compared to genius; +but has she genius? I cannot say that she has talent as one +understands it in the world of letters, but she has genius as +humanity feels the need of genius,--the genius of goodness, not +that of the man of letters, but of the saint." It is admitted +that Mrs. Stowe was not a woman of letters in the common +acceptation of that term, and it is plain that in the French +tribunal, where form is of the substance of the achievement, and +which reluctantly overlooked the crudeness of Walter Scott, in +France where the best English novel seems a violation of +established canons, Uncle Tom would seem to belong where some +modern critics place it, with works of the heart, and not of the +head. The reviewer is, however, candid: "For a long time we have +striven in France against the prolix explanations of Walter Scott. +We have cried out against those of Balzac, but on consideration +have perceived that the painter of manners and character has never +done too much, that every stroke of the pencil was needed for the +general effect. Let us learn then to appreciate all kinds of +treatment, where the effect is good, and where they bear the seal +of a master hand." + +It must be admitted to the art critic that the book is defective +according to the rules of the modern French romance; that Mrs. +Stowe was possessed by her subject, and let her fervid interest in +it be felt; that she had a definite purpose. That purpose was to +quicken the sense of responsibility of the North by showing the +real character of slavery, and to touch the South by showing that +the inevitable wrong of it lay in the system rather than in those +involved in it. Abundant material was in her hands, and the +author burned to make it serviceable. What should she do? She +might have done what she did afterwards in The Key, presented to +the public a mass of statistics, of legal documents. The evidence +would have been unanswerable, but the jury might not have been +moved by it; they would have balanced it by considerations of +political and commercial expediency. I presume that Mrs. Stowe +made no calculation of this kind. She felt her course, and went +on in it. What would an artist have done, animated by her purpose +and with her material? He would have done what Cervantes did, +what Tourgenieff did, what Mrs. Stowe did. He would have +dramatized his facts in living personalities, in effective scenes, +in vivid pictures of life. Mrs. Stowe exhibited the system of +slavery by a succession of dramatized pictures, not always +artistically welded together, but always effective as an +exhibition of the system. Cervantes also showed a fading feudal +romantic condition by a series of amusing and pathetic adventures, +grouped rather loosely about a singularly fascinating figure. + +Tourgenieff, a more consummate artist, in his hunting scenes +exhibited the effect of serfdom upon society, in a series of +scenes with no necessary central figure, without comment, and with +absolute concealment of any motive. I believe the three writers +followed their instincts, without an analytic argument as to the +method, as the great painter follows his when he puts an idea upon +canvas. He may invent a theory about it afterwards; if he does +not, some one else will invent it for him. There are degrees of +art. One painter will put in unnecessary accessories, another +will exhibit his sympathy too openly, the technique or the +composition of another can be criticised. But the question is, is +the picture great and effective? + +Mrs. Stowe had not Tourgenieff's artistic calmness. Her mind was +fused into a white heat with her message. Yet, how did she begin +her story? Like an artist, by a highly dramatized scene, in which +the actors, by a few strokes of the pen, appear as distinct and +unmistakable personalities, marked by individual peculiarities of +manner, speech, motive, character, living persons in natural +attitudes. The reader becomes interested in a shrewd study of +human nature, of a section of life, with its various refinement, +coarseness, fastidiousness and vulgarity, its humor and pathos. +As he goes on he discovers that every character has been perfectly +visualized, accurately limned from the first; that a type has been +created which remains consistent, which is never deflected from +its integrity by any exigencies of plot. This clear conception of +character (not of earmarks and peculiarities adopted as labels), +and faithful adhesion to it in all vicissitudes, is one of the +rarest and highest attributes of genius. All the chief characters +in the book follow this line of absolutely consistent development, +from Uncle Tom and Legree down to the most aggravating and +contemptible of all, Marie St. Clare. The selfish and hysterical +woman has never been so faithfully depicted by any other author. + +Distinguished as the novel is by its character-drawing and its +pathos, I doubt if it would have captivated the world without its +humor. This is of the old-fashioned kind, the large humor of +Scott, and again of Cervantes, not verbal pleasantry, not the +felicities of Lamb, but the humor of character in action, of +situations elaborated with great freedom, and with what may be +called a hilarious conception. This quality is never wanting in +the book, either for the reader's entertainment by the way, or to +heighten the pathos of the narrative by contrast. The +introduction of Topsy into the New Orleans household saves us in +the dangerous approach to melodrama in the religious passages +between Tom and St. Clare. Considering the opportunities of the +subject, the book has very little melodrama; one is apt to hear +low music on the entrance of little Eva, but we are convinced of +the wholesome sanity of the sweet child. And it is to be remarked +that some of the most exciting episodes, such as that of Eliza +crossing the Ohio River on the floating ice (of which Mr. Ruskin +did not approve), are based upon authentic occurrences. The want +of unity in construction of which the critics complain is +partially explained by the necessity of exhibiting the effect of +slavery in its entirety. The parallel plots, one running to +Louisiana and the other to Canada, are tied together by this +consideration, and not by any real necessity to each other. + +There is no doubt that Mrs. Stowe was wholly possessed by her +theme, rapt away like a prophet in a vision, and that, in her +feeling at the time, it was written through her quite as much as +by her. This idea grew upon her mind in the retrospective light +of the tremendous stir the story made in the world, so that in her +later years she came to regard herself as a providential +instrument, and frankly to declare that she did not write the +book; "God wrote it." In her own account, when she reached the +death of Uncle Tom, "the whole vital force left her." The +inspiration there left her, and the end of the story, the weaving +together of all the loose ends of the plot, in the joining +together almost by miracle the long separated, and the discovery +of the relationships, is the conscious invention of the novelist. + +It would be perhaps going beyond the province of the critic to +remark upon what the author considered the central power of the +story, and its power to move the world, the faith of Uncle Tom in +the Bible. This appeal to the emotion of millions of readers +cannot, however, be overlooked. Many regard the book as effective +in regions remote from our perplexities by reason of this grace. +When the work was translated into Siamese, the perusal of it by +one of the ladies of the court induced her to liberate all her +slaves, men, women, and children, one hundred and thirty in all. +"Hidden Perfume," for that was the English equivalent of her name, +said she was wishful to be good like Harriet Beecher Stowe. And +as to the standpoint of Uncle Tom and the Bible, nothing more +significant can be cited than this passage from one of the latest +writings of Heinrich Heine:-- + +"The reawakening of my religious feelings I owe to that holy book +the Bible. Astonishing that after I have whirled about all my +life over all the dance-floors of philosophy, and yielded myself +to all the orgies of the intellect, and paid my addresses to all +possible systems, without satisfaction like Messalina after a +licentious night, I now find myself on the same standpoint where +poor Uncle Tom stands,--on that of the Bible! I kneel down by my +black brother in the same prayer! What a humiliation! With all +my science I have come no further than the poor ignorant negro who +has scarce learned to spell. Poor Tom, indeed, seems to have seen +deeper things in the holy book than I. . . . Tom, perhaps, +understands them better than I, because more flogging occurs in +them; that is to say, those ceaseless blows of the whip which have +aesthetically disgusted me in reading the Gospels and the Acts. +But a poor negro slave reads with his back, and understands better +than we do. But I, who used to make citations from Homer, now +begin to quote the Bible as Uncle Tom does." + +The one indispensable requisite of a great work of imaginative +fiction is its universality, its conception and construction so +that it will appeal to universal human nature in all races and +situations and climates. Uncle Tom's Cabin does that. +Considering certain artistic deficiencies, which the French +writers perceived, we might say that it was the timeliness of its +theme that gave it currency in England and America. But that +argument falls before the world-wide interest in it as a mere +story, in so many languages, by races unaffected by our own +relation to slavery. + +It was the opinion of James Russell Lowell that the anti-slavery +element in Uncle Tom and Dred stood in the way of a full +appreciation, at least in her own country, of the remarkable +genius of Mrs. Stowe. Writing in 1859, he said, "From my habits +and the tendency of my studies I cannot help looking at things +purely from an aesthetic point of view, and what I valued in Uncle +Tom was the genius, and not the moral." This had been his +impression when he read the book in Paris, long after the whirl of +excitement produced by its publication had subsided, and far +removed by distance from local influences. Subsequently, in a +review, he wrote, "We felt then, and we believe now, that the +secret of Mrs. Stowe's power lay in that same genius by which the +great successes in creative literature have always been achieved,-- +the genius that instinctively goes to the organic elements of +human nature, whether under a white skin or a black, and which +disregards as trivial the conventions and fictitious notions which +make so large a part both of our thinking and feeling. . . . The +creative faculty of Mrs. Stowe, like that of Cervantes in Don +Quixote and of Fielding in Joseph Andrews, overpowered the narrow +specialty of her design, and expanded a local and temporary theme +with the cosmopolitanism of genius." + +A half-century is not much in the life of a people; it is in time +an inadequate test of the staying power of a book. Nothing is +more futile than prophecy on contemporary literary work. It is +safe, however, to say that Uncle Tom's Cabin has the fundamental +qualities, the sure insight into human nature, and the fidelity to +the facts of its own time which have from age to age preserved +works of genius. + + + +STRIVINGS OF THE NEGRO PEOPLE +by W. E. Burghardt Du Bois + + +Berween me and the other world there is ever an unasked question: +unasked by some through feelings of delicacy; by others through +the difficulty of rightly framing it. All, nevertheless, flutter +round it. They approach me in a half-hesitant sort of way, eye me +curiously or compassionately, and then, instead of saying +directly, How does it feel to be a problem? they say, I know an +excellent colored man in my town; or, I fought at Mechanicsville; +or, Do not these Southern outrages make your blood boil? At these +I smile, or am interested, or reduce the boiling to a simmer, as +the occasion may require. To the real question, How does it feel +to be a problem? I answer seldom a word. + +And yet, being a problem is a strange experience,--peculiar even +for one who has never been anything else, save perhaps in babyhood +and in Europe. It is in the early days of rollicking boyhood that +the revelation first bursts upon one, all in a day, as it were. I +remember well when the shadow swept across me. I was a little +thing, away up in the hills of New England, where the dark +Housatonic winds between Hoosac and Taghanic to the sea. In a wee +wooden schoolhouse, something put it into the boys' and girls' +heads to buy gorgeous visiting-cards--ten cents a package--and +exchange. The exchange was merry, till one girl, a tall newcomer, +refused my card,--refused it peremptorily, with a glance. Then it +dawned upon me with a certain suddenness that I was different from +the others; or like, mayhap, in heart and life and longing, but +shut out from their world by a vast veil. I had thereafter no +desire to tear down that veil, to creep through; I held all beyond +it in common contempt, and lived above it in a region of blue sky +and great wandering shadows. That sky was bluest when I could +beat my mates at examination-time, or beat them at a foot-race, or +even beat their stringy heads. Alas, with the years all this fine +contempt began to fade; for the world I longed for, and all its +dazzling opportunities, were theirs, not mine. But they should +not keep these prizes, I said; some, all, I would wrest from them. +Just how I would do it I could never decide: by reading law, by +healing the sick, by telling the wonderful tales that swam in my +head,--some way. With other black boys the strife was not so +fiercely sunny: their youth shrunk into tasteless sycophancy, or +into silent hatred of the pale world about them and mocking +distrust of everything white; or wasted itself in a bitter cry. +Why did God make me an outcast and a stranger in mine own house? +The "shades of the prison-house" closed round about us all: walls +strait and stubborn to the whitest, but relentlessly narrow, tall, +and unscalable to sons of night who must plod darkly on in +resignation, or beat unavailing palms against the stone, or +steadily, half hopelessly watch the streak of blue above. + +After the Egyptian and Indian, the Greek and Roman, the Teuton and +Mongolian, the Negro is a sort of seventh son, born with a veil, +and gifted with second-sight in this American world,--a world +which yields him no self-consciousness, but only lets him see +himself through the revelation of the other world. It is a +peculiar sensation, this double-consciousness, this sense of +always looking at one's self through the eyes of others, of +measuring one's soul by the tape of a world that looks on in +amused contempt and pity. One ever feels his two-ness,--an +American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled +strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged +strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder. The history of +the American Negro is the history of this strife,--this longing to +attain self-conscious manhood, to merge his double self into a +better and truer self. In this merging he wishes neither of the +older selves to be lost. He does not wish to Africanize America, +for America has too much to teach the world and Africa; he does +not wish to bleach his Negro blood in a flood of white +Americanism, for he believes--foolishly, perhaps, but fervently-- +that Negro blood has yet a message for the world. He simply +wishes to make it possible for a man to be both a Negro and an +American without being cursed and spit upon by his fellows, +without losing the opportunity of self-development. + +This is the end of his striving: to be a co-worker in the kingdom +of culture, to escape both death and isolation, and to husband and +use his best powers. These powers, of body and of mind, have in +the past been so wasted and dispersed as to lose all +effectiveness, and to seem like absence of all power, like +weakness. The double-aimed struggle of the black artisan, on the +one hand to escape white contempt for a nation of mere hewers of +wood and drawers of water, and on the other hand to plough and +nail and dig for a poverty-stricken horde, could only result in +making him a poor craftsman, for he had but half a heart in either +cause. By the poverty and ignorance of his people the Negro +lawyer or doctor was pushed toward quackery and demagogism, and by +the criticism of the other world toward an elaborate preparation +that overfitted him for his lowly tasks. The would-be black +savant was confronted by the paradox that the knowledge his people +needed was a twice-told tale to his white neighbors, while the +knowledge which would teach the white world was Greek to his own +flesh and blood. The innate love of harmony and beauty that set +the ruder souls of his people a-dancing, a-singing, and a-laughing +raised but confusion and doubt in the soul of the black artist; +for the beauty revealed to him was the soul-beauty of a race which +his larger audience despised, and he could not articulate the +message of another people. + +This waste of double aims, this seeking to satisfy two +unreconciled ideals, has wrought sad havoc with the courage and +faith and deeds of eight thousand thousand people, has sent them +often wooing false gods and invoking false means of salvation, and +has even at times seemed destined to make them ashamed of +themselves. In the days of bondage they thought to see in one +divine event the end of all doubt and disappointment; eighteenth- +century Rousseauism never worshiped freedom with half the +unquestioning faith that the American Negro did for two centuries. +To him slavery was, indeed, the sum of all villainies, the cause +of all sorrow, the root of all prejudice; emancipation was the key +to a promised land of sweeter beauty than ever stretched before +the eyes of wearied Israelites. In his songs and exhortations +swelled one refrain, liberty; in his tears and curses the god he +implored had freedom in his right hand. At last it came,-- +suddenly, fearfully, like a dream. With one wild carnival of +blood and passion came the message in his own plaintive cadences:-- + + + + "Shout, O children! + Shout, you're free! + The Lord has bought your liberty!" + + +Years have passed away, ten, twenty, thirty. Thirty years of +national life, thirty years of renewal and development, and yet +the swarthy ghost of Banquo sits in its old place at the national +feast. In vain does the nation cry to its vastest problem,-- + +"Take any shape but that, and my firm nerves Shall never +tremble!" + +The freedman has not yet found in freedom his promised land. +Whatever of lesser good may have come in these years of change, +the shadow of a deep disappointment rests upon the Negro people,-- +a disappointment all the more bitter because the unattained ideal +was unbounded save by the simple ignorance of a lowly folk. + +The first decade was merely a prolongation of the vain search for +freedom, the boom that seemed ever barely to elude their grasp,-- +like a tantalizing will-o'-the-wisp, maddening and misleading the +headless host. The holocaust of war, the terrors of the Kuklux +Klan, the lies of carpet-baggers, the disorganization of industry, +and the contradictory advice of friends and foes left the +bewildered serf with no new watchword beyond the old cry for +freedom. As the decade closed, however, he began to grasp a new +idea. The ideal of liberty demanded for its attainment powerful +means, and these the Fifteenth Amendment gave him. The ballot, +which before he had looked upon as a visible sign of freedom, he +now regarded as the chief means of gaining and perfecting the +liberty with which war had partially endowed him. And why not? +Had not votes made war and emancipated millions? Had not votes +enfranchised the freedmen? Was anything impossible to a power +that had done all this? A million black men started with renewed +zeal to vote themselves into the kingdom. The decade fled away,-- +a decade containing, to the freedman's mind, nothing but +suppressed votes, stuffed ballot-boxes, and election outrages that +nullified his vaunted right of suffrage. And yet that decade from +1875 to 1885 held another powerful movement, the rise of another +ideal to guide the unguided, another pillar of fire by night after +a clouded day. It was the ideal of "book-learning;" the +curiosity, born of compulsory ignorance, to know and test the +power of the cabalistic letters of the white man, the longing to +know. Mission and night schools began in the smoke of battle, ran +the gauntlet of reconstruction, and at last developed into +permanent foundations. Here at last seemed to have been +discovered the mountain path to Canaan; longer than the highway of +emancipation and law, steep and rugged, but straight, leading to +heights high enough to overlook life. + +Up the new path the advance guard toiled, slowly, heavily, +doggedly; only those who have watched and guided the faltering +feet, the misty minds, the dull understandings of the dark pupils +of these schools know how faithfully, how piteously, this people +strove to learn. It was weary work. The cold statistician wrote +down the inches of progress here and there, noted also where here +and there a foot had slipped or some one had fallen. To the tired +climbers, the horizon was ever dark, the mists were often cold, +the Canaan was always dim and far away. If, however, the vistas +disclosed as yet no goal, no resting-place, little but flattery +and criticism, the journey at least gave leisure for reflection +and self-examination; it changed the child of emancipation to the +youth with dawning self-consciousness, self-realization, self- +respect. In those sombre forests of his striving his own soul +rose before him, and he saw himself,--darkly as through a veil; +and yet he saw in himself some faint revelation of his power, of +his mission. He began to have a dim feeling that, to attain his +place in the world, he must be himself, and not another. For the +first time he sought to analyze the burden he bore upon his back, +that dead-weight of social degradation partially masked behind a +half-named Negro problem. He felt his poverty; without a cent, +without a home, without land, tools, or savings, he had entered +into competition with rich, landed, skilled neighbors. To be a +poor man is hard, but to be a poor race in a land of dollars is +the very bottom of hardships. He felt the weight of his +ignorance,--not simply of letters, but of life, of business, of +the humanities; the accumulated sloth and shirking and awkwardness +of decades and centuries shackled his hands and feet. Nor was his +burden all poverty and ignorance. The red stain of bastardy, +which two centuries of systematic legal defilement of Negro women +had stamped upon his race, meant not only the loss of ancient +African chastity, but also the hereditary weight of a mass of +filth from white whoremongers and adulterers, threatening almost +the obliteration of the Negro home. + +A people thus handicapped ought not to be asked to race with the +world, but rather allowed to give all its time and thought to its +own social problems. But alas! while sociologists gleefully count +his bastards and his prostitutes, the very soul of the toiling, +sweating black man is darkened by the shadow of a vast despair. +Men call the shadow prejudice, and learnedly explain it as the +natural defense of culture against barbarism, learning against +ignorance, purity against crime, the "higher" against the "lower" +races. To which the Negro cries Amen! and swears that to so much +of this strange prejudice as is founded on just homage to +civilization, culture, righteousness, and progress he humbly bows +and meekly does obeisance. But before that nameless prejudice +that leaps beyond all this he stands helpless, dismayed, and well- +nigh speechless; before that personal disrespect and mockery, the +ridicule and systematic humiliation, the distortion of fact and +wanton license of fancy, the cynical ignoring of the better and +boisterous welcoming of the worse, the all-pervading desire to +inculcate disdain for everything black, from Toussaint to the +devil,--before this there rises a sickening despair that would +disarm and discourage any nation save that black host to whom +"discouragement" is an unwritten word. + +They still press on, they still nurse the dogged hope,--not a hope +of nauseating patronage, not a hope of reception into charmed +social circles of stock-jobbers, pork-packers, and earl-hunters, +but the hope of a higher synthesis of civilization and humanity, a +true progress, with which the chorus + + + "Peace, good will to men," + "May make one music as before, + But vaster." + + +Thus the second decade of the American Negro's freedom was a +period of conflict, of inspiration and doubt, of faith and vain +questionings, of Sturm and Drang. The ideals of physical freedom, +of political power, of school training, as separate all- +sufficient panaceas for social ills, became in the third decade +dim and overcast. They were the vain dreams of credulous race +childhood; not wrong, but incomplete and over-simple. The +training of the schools we need to-day more than ever,--the +training of deft hands, quick eyes and ears, and the broader, +deeper, higher culture of gifted minds. The power of the ballot +we need in sheer self-defense, and as a guarantee of good faith. +We may misuse it, but we can scarce do worse in this respect than +our whilom masters. Freedom, too, the long-sought, we still +seek,--the freedom of life and limb, the freedom to work and +think. Work, culture, and liberty,--all these we need, not +singly, but together; for to-day these ideals among the Negro +people are gradually coalescing, and finding a higher meaning in +the unifying ideal of race,--the ideal of fostering the traits and +talents of the Negro, not in opposition to, but in conformity +with, the greater ideals of the American republic, in order that +some day, on American soil, two world races may give each to each +those characteristics which both so sadly lack. Already we come +not altogether empty-handed: there is to-day no true American +music but the sweet wild melodies of the Negro slave; the American +fairy tales are Indian and African; we are the sole oasis of +simple faith and reverence in a dusty desert of dollars and +smartness. Will America be poorer if she replace her brutal, +dyspeptic blundering with the light-hearted but determined Negro +humility; or her coarse, cruel wit with loving, jovial good humor; +or her Annie Rooney with Steal Away? + +Merely a stern concrete test of the underlying principles of the +great republic is the Negro problem, and the spiritual striving of +the freedmen's sons is the travail of souls whose burden is almost +beyond the measure of their strength, but who bear it in the name +of an historic race, in the name of this land of their fathers' +fathers, and in the name of human opportunity. + + + +THE WIFE OF HIS YOUTH +by Charles W. Chesnutt + + +I. + +Mr. Ryder was going to give a ball. There were several reasons +why this was an opportune time for such an event. + +Mr. Ryder might aptly be called the dean of the Blue Veins. The +original Blue Veins were a little society of colored persons +organized in a certain Northern city shortly after the war. Its +purpose was to establish and maintain correct social standards +among a people whose social condition presented almost unlimited +room for improvement. By accident, combined perhaps with some +natural affinity, the society consisted of individuals who were, +generally speaking, more white than black. Some envious outsider +made the suggestion that no one was eligible for membership who +was not white enough to show blue veins. The suggestion was +readily adopted by those who were not of the favored few, and +since that time the society, though possessing a longer and more +pretentious name, had been known far and wide as the "Blue Vein +Society," and its members as the "Blue Veins." + +The Blue Veins did not allow that any such requirement existed for +admission to their circle, but, on the contrary, declared that +character and culture were the only things considered; and that if +most of their members were light-colored, it was because such +persons, as a rule, had had better opportunities to qualify +themselves for membership. Opinions differed, too, as to the +usefulness of the society. There were those who had been known +to assail it violently as a glaring example of the very prejudice +from which the colored race had suffered most; and later, when +such critics had succeeded in getting on the inside, they had been +heard to maintain with zeal and earnestness that the society was a +life-boat, an anchor, a bulwark and a shield, a pillar of cloud by +day and of fire by night, to guide their people through the social +wilderness. Another alleged prerequisite for Blue Vein membership +was that of free birth; and while there was really no such +requirement, it is doubtless true that very few of the members +would have been unable to meet it if there had been. If there +were one or two of the older members who had come up from the +South and from slavery, their history presented enough romantic +circumstances to rob their servile origin of its grosser aspects. +While there were no such tests of eligibility, it is true that the +Blue Veins had their notions on these subjects, and that not all +of them were equally liberal in regard to the things they +collectively disclaimed. Mr. Ryder was one of the most +conservative. Though he had not been among the founders of the +society, but had come in some years later, his genius for social +leadership was such that he had speedily become its recognized +adviser and head, the custodian of its standards, and the +preserver of its traditions. He shaped its social policy, was +active in providing for its entertainment, and when the interest +fell off, as it sometimes did, he fanned the embers until they +burst again into a cheerful flame. There were still other +reasons for his popularity. While he was not as white as some of +the Blue Veins, his appearance was such as to confer distinction +upon them. His features were of a refined type, his hair was +almost straight; he was always neatly dressed; his manners were +irreproachable, and his morals above suspicion. He had come to +Groveland a young man, and obtaining employment in the office of a +railroad company as messenger had in time worked himself up to the +position of stationery clerk, having charge of the distribution of +the office supplies for the whole company. Although the lack of +early training had hindered the orderly development of a naturally +fine mind, it had not prevented him from doing a great deal of +reading or from forming decidedly literary tastes. Poetry was his +passion. He could repeat whole pages of the great English poets ; +and if his pronunciation was sometimes faulty, his eye, his voice, +his gestures, would respond to the changing sentiment with a +precision that revealed a poetic soul, and disarm criticism. He +was economical, and had saved money; he owned and occupied a very +comfortable house on a respectable street. His residence was +handsomely furnished, containing among other things a good +library, especially rich in poetry, a piano, and some choice +engravings. He generally shared his house with some young couple, +who looked after his wants and were company for him; for Mr. Ryder +was a single man. In the early days of his connection with the +Blue Veins he had been regarded as quite a catch, and ladies and +their mothers had manoeuvred with much ingenuity to capture him. +Not, however, until Mrs. Molly Dixon visited Groveland had any +woman ever made him wish to change his condition to that of a +married man. + +Mrs. Dixon had come to Groveland from Washington in the spring, +and before the summer was over she had won Mr. Ryder's heart. She +possessed many attractive qualities. She was much younger than +he; in fact, he was old enough to have been her father, though no +one knew exactly how old he was. She was whiter than he, and +better educated. She had moved in the best colored society of the +country, at Washington, and had taught in the schools of that +city. Such a superior person had been eagerly welcomed to the +Blue Vein Society, and had taken a leading part in its activities. +Mr. Ryder had at first been attracted by her charms of person, for +she was very good looking and not over twenty-five; then by her +refined manners and by the vivacity of her wit. Her husband had +been a government clerk, and at his death had left a considerable +life insurance. She was visiting friends in Groveland, and, +finding the town and the people to her liking, had prolonged her +stay indefinitely. She had not seemed displeased at Mr. Ryder's +attentions, but on the contrary had given him every proper +encouragement; indeed, a younger and less cautious man would long +since have spoken. But he had made up his mind, and had only to +determine the time when he would ask her to be his wife. He +decided to give a ball in her honor, and at some time during the +evening of the ball to offer her his heart and hand. He had no +special fears about the outcotme, but, with a little touch of +romance, he wanted the surroundings to be in harmony with his own +feelings when he should have received the answer he expected. + +Mr. Ryder resolved that this ball should mark an epoch in the +social history of Groveland. He knew, of course,--no one could +know better,--the entertainments that had taken place in past +years, and what must be done to surpass them. His ball must be +worthy of the lady in whose honor it was to be given, and must, by +the quality of its guests, set an example for the future. He had +observed of late a growing liberality, almost a laxity, in social +matters, even among members of his own set, and had several times +been forced to meet in a social way persons whose complexions and +callings in life were hardly up to the standard which he +considered proper for the society to maintain. He had a theory of +his own. + +"I have no race prejudice," he would say, "but we people of mixed +blood are ground between the upper and the nether millstone. Our +fate lies between absorption by the white race and extinction in +the black. The one doesn't want us yet, but may take us in time. +The other would welcome us, but it would be for us a backward +step. 'With malice towards none, with charity for all,' we must +do the best we can for ourselves and those who are to follow us. +Self-preservation is the first law of nature." + +His ball would serve by its exclusiveness to counteract leveling +tendencies, and his marriage with Mrs. Dixon would help to further +the upward process of absorption he had been wishing and waiting +for. + + + +II. + + +The ball was to take place on Friday night. The house had been +put in order, the carpets covered with canvas, the halls and +stairs decorated with palms and potted plants; and in the +afternoon Mr. Ryder sat on his front porch, which the shade of a +vine running up over a wire netting made a cool and pleasant +lounging-place. He expected to respond to the toast "The Ladies," +at the supper, and from a volume of Tennyson--his favorite poet +--was fortifying himself with apt quotations. The volume was +open at A Dream of Fair Women. His eyes fell on these lines, and +he read them aloud to judge better of their effect:-- + +"At length I saw a lady within call. Stiller than chisell'd +marble, standing there; A daughter of the gods, divinely tall, +And most divinely fair." + +He marked the verse, and turning the page read the stanza +beginning,-- + + + "O sweet pale Margaret, + O rare pale Margaret." + + +He weighed the passage a moment, and decided that it would not do. +Mrs. Dixon was the palest lady he expected at the ball, and she +was of a rather ruddy complexion, and of lively disposition and +buxom build. So he ran over the leaves until his eye rested on +the description of Queen Guinevere:-- + + + "She seem'd a part of joyous Spring: + A gown of grass-green silk she wore, + Buckled with golden clasps before; + A light-green tuft of plumes she bore + Closed in a golden ring. + + . . . . . . . . . . + + "She look'd so lovely, as she sway'd + The rein with dainty finger-tips, + A man had given all other bliss, + And all his worldly worth for this, + To waste his whole heart in one kiss + Upon her perfect lips." + + +As Mr. Ryder murmured these words audibly, with an appreciative +thrill, he heard the latch of his gate click, and a light footfall +sounding on the steps. He turned his head, and saw a woman +standing before the door. + +She was a little woman, not five feet tall, and proportioned to +her height. Although she stood erect, and looked around her with +very bright and restless eyes, she seemed quite old; for her face +was crossed and recrossed with a hundred wrinkles, and around the +edges of her bonnet could be seen protruding here and there a tuft +of short gray wool. She wore a blue calico gown of ancient cut, a +little red shawl fastened around her shoulders with an old- +fashioned brass brooch, and a large bonnet profusely ornamented +with faded red and yellow artificial flowers. And she was very +black--so black that her toothless gums, revealed when she +opened her mouth to speak, were not red, but blue. She looked +like a bit of the old plantation life, summoned up from the past +by the wave of a magician's wand, as the poet's fancy had called +into being the gracious shapes of which Mr. Ryder had just been +reading. + +He rose from his chair and came over to where she stood. + +"Good-afternoon, madam," he said. + +"Good-evenin', suh," she answered, ducking suddenly with a quaint +curtsy. Her voice was shrill and piping, but softened somewhat by +age. "Is dis yere whar Mistuh Ryduh lib, suh?" she asked, looking +around her doubtfully, and glancing into the open windows, through +which some of the preparations for the evening were visible. + +"Yes," he replied, with an air of kindly patronage, unconsciously +flattered by her manner, "I am Mr. Ryder. Did you want to see +me?" + +"Yas, suh, ef I ain't 'sturbin' of you too much." + +"Not at all. Have a seat over here behind the vine, where it is +cool. What can I do for you?" + +"'Scuse me, suh," she continued, when she had sat down on the edge +of a chair, "'scuse me, suh, I's lookin' for my husban'. I heerd +you wuz a big man an' had libbed heah a long time, an' I 'lowed +you wouldn't min' ef I'd come roun' an' ax you ef you'd eber heerd +of a merlatter man by de name er Sam Taylor 'quirin' roun' in de +chu'ches ermongs' de people fer his wife 'Liza Jane?" + +Mr. Ryder seemed to think for a moment. + +"There used to be many such cases right after the war," he said, +"but it has been so long that I have forgotten them. There are +very few now. But tell me your story, and it may refresh my +memory." + +She sat back farther in her chair so as to be more comfortable, +and folded her withered hands in her lap. + +"My name's 'Liza," she began, "'Liza Jane. Wen I wuz young I +us'ter b'long ter Marse Bob Smif, down in old Missourn. I wuz +bawn down dere. W'en I wuz a gal I wuz married ter a man named +Jim. But Jim died, an' after dat I married a merlatter man named +Sam Taylor. Sam wuz free-bawn, but his mammy and daddy died, an' +de w'ite folks 'prenticed him ter my marster fer ter work fer 'im +'tel he wuz growed up. Sam worked in de fiel', an' I wuz de cook. +One day Ma'y Ann, ole miss's maid, come rushin' out ter de +kitchen, an' says she, ''Liza Jane, ole marse gwine sell yo' Sam +down de ribber.' + +"'Go way f'm yere,' says I; 'my husban's free!' + +"'Don' make no diff'ence. I heerd ole marse tell ole miss he wuz +gwine take yo' Sam 'way wid 'im ter-morrow, fer he needed money, +an' he knowed whar he could git a t'ousan' dollars fer Sam an' no +questions axed.' + +"W'en Sam come home f'm de fiel', dat night, I tole him 'bout ole +marse gwine steal 'im, an' Sam run erway. His time wuz mos' up, +an' he swo' dat w'en he wuz twenty-one he would come back an' he'p +me run erway, er else save up de money ter buy my freedom. An' I +know he'd 'a' done it, fer he thought a heap er me, Sam did. But +w'en he come back he didn' fin' me, fer I wuzn' dere. Ole marse +had heerd dat I warned Sam, so he had me whip' an' sol' down de +ribber. + +"Den de wah broke out, an' w'en it wuz ober de cullud folks wuz +scattered. I went back ter de ole home; but Sam wuzn' dere, an' I +couldn' l'arn nuffin' 'bout 'im. But I knowed he'd be'n dere to +look fer me an' hadn' foun' me, an' had gone erway ter hunt fer +me. + +"I's be'n lookin' fer 'im eber sence," she added simply, as though +twenty-five years were but a couple of weeks, "an' I knows he's +be'n lookin' fer me. Fer he sot a heap er sto' by me, Sam did, +an' I know he's be'n huntin' fer me all dese years,--'less'n he's +be'n sick er sump'n, so he couldn' work, er out'n his head, so he +couldn' 'member his promise. I went back down de ribber, fer I +'lowed he'd gone down dere lookin' fer me. I's be'n ter Noo +Orleens, an' Atlanty, an' Charleston, an' Richmon'; an' w'en I'd +be'n all ober de Souf I come ter de Norf. Fer I knows I'll fin' +'im some er dese days," she added softly, "er he'll fin' me, an' +den we'll bofe be as happy in freedom as we wuz in de ole days +befo' de wah." A smile stole over her withered countenance as she +paused a moment, and her bright eyes softened into a far-away +look. + +This was the substance of the old woman's story. She had wandered +a little here and there. Mr. Ryder was looking at her curiously +when she finished. + +"How have you lived all these years?" he asked. + +"Cookin', suh. I's a good cook. Does you know anybody w'at needs +a good cook, suh? I's stoppin' wid a cullud fam'ly roun' de +corner yonder 'tel I kin fin' a place." + +"Do you really expect to find your husband? He may be dead long +ago." + +She shook her head emphatically. "Oh no, he ain' dead. De signs +an' de tokens tells me. I dremp three nights runnin' on'y dis +las' week dat I foun' him." + +"He may have married another woman. Your slave marriage would not +have prevented him, for you never lived with him after the war, +and without that your marriage doesn't count." + +"Wouldn' make no diff'ence wid Sam. He wouldn' marry no yuther +'ooman 'tel he foun' out 'bout me. I knows it," she added. +"Sump'n's be'n tellin' me all dese years dat I's gwine fin' Sam +'fo I dies." + +"Perhaps he's outgrown you, and climbed up in the world where he +wouldn't care to have you find him." + +"No, indeed, suh," she replied, "Sam ain' dat kin' er man. He wuz +good ter me, Sam wuz, but he wuzn' much good ter nobody e'se, fer +he wuz one er de triflin'es' han's on de plantation. I 'spec's +ter haf ter suppo't 'im w'en I fin' 'im, fer he nebber would work +'less'n he had ter. But den he wuz free, an' he didn' git no pay +fer his work, an' I don' blame 'im much. Mebbe he's done better +sence he run erway, but I ain' 'spectin' much." + +"You may have passed him on the street a hundred times during the +twenty-five years, and not have known him; time works great +changes." + +She smiled incredulously. "I'd know 'im 'mongs' a hund'ed men. +Fer dey wuzn' no yuther merlatter man like my man Sam, an' I +couldn' be mistook. I's toted his picture roun' wid me twenty- +five years." + +"May I see it?" asked Mr. Ryder. "It might help me to remember +whether I have seen the original." + +As she drew a small parcel from her bosom, he saw that it was +fastened to a string that went around her neck. Removing several +wrappers, she brought to light an old-fashioned daguerreotype in a +black case. He looked long and intently at the portrait. It was +faded with time, but the features were still distinct, and it was +easy to see what manner of man it had represented. + +He closed the case, and with a slow movement handed it back to +her. + +"I don't know of any man in town who goes by that name," he said, +"nor have I heard of any one making such inquiries. But if you +will leave me your address, I will give the matter some attention, +and if I find out anything I will let you know." + +She gave him the number of a house in the neighborhood, and went +away, after thanking him warmly. + +He wrote down the address on the flyleaf of the volume of +Tennyson, and, when she had gone, rose to his feet and stood +looking after her curiously. As she walked down the street with +mincing step, he saw several persons whom she passed turn and look +back at her with a smile of kindly amusement. When she had turned +the corner, he went upstairs to his bedroom, and stood for a long +time before the mirror of his dressing-case, gazing thoughtfully +at the reflection of his own face. + + + +III. + + +At eight o'clock the ballroom was a blaze of light and the guests +had begun to assemble; for there was a literary programme and some +routine business of the society to be gone through with before the +dancing. A black servant in evening dress waited at the door and +directed the guests to the dressing-rooms. + +The occasion was long memorable among the colored people of the +city; not alone for the dress and display, but for the high +average of intelligence and culture that distinguished the +gathering as a whole. There were a number of school-teachers, +several young doctors, three or four lawyers, some professional +singers, an editor, a lieutenant in the United States army +spending his furlough in the city, and others in various polite +callings; these were colored, though most of them would not have +attracted even a casual glance because of any marked difference +from white people. Most of the ladies were in evening costume, +and dress coats and dancing-pumps were the rule among the men. A +band of string music, stationed in an alcove behind a row of +palms, played popular airs while the guests were gathering. + +The dancing began at half past nine. At eleven o'clock supper was +served. Mr. Ryder had left the ballroom some little time before +the intermission, but reappeared at the supper-table. The spread +was worthy of the occasion, and the guests did full justice to it. +When the coffee had been served, the toastmaster, Mr. Solomon +Sadler, rapped for order. He made a brief introductory speech, +complimenting host and guests, and then presented in their order +the toasts of the evening. They were responded to with a very +fair display of after-dinner wit. + +"The last toast," said the toast-master, when he reached the end +of the list, "is one which must appeal to us all. There is no one +of us of the sterner sex who is not at some time dependent upon +woman,--in infancy for protection, in manhood for companionship, +in old age for care and comforting. Our good host has been trying +to live alone, but the fair faces I see around me to-night prove +that he too is largely dependent upon the gentler sex for most +that makes life worth living,--the society and love of friends,-- +and rumor is at fault if he does not soon yield entire subjection +to one of them. Mr. Ryder will now respond to the toast,--The +Ladies." + +There was a pensive look in Mr. Ryder's eyes as he took the floor +and adjusted his eyeglasses. He began by speaking of woman as the +gift of Heaven to man, and after some general observations on the +relations of the sexes he said: "But perhaps the quality which +most distinguishes woman is her fidelity and devotion to those she +loves. History is full of examples, but has recorded none more +striking than one which only to-day came under my notice." + +He then related, simply but effectively, the story told by his +visitor of the afternoon. He told it in the same soft dialect, +which came readily to his lips, while the company listened +attentively and sympathetically. For the story had awakened a +responsive thrill in many hearts. There were some present who had +seen, and others who had heard their fathers and grandfathers +tell, the wrongs and sufferings of this past generation, and all +of them still felt, in their darker moments, the shadow hanging +over them. Mr. Ryder went on:-- + +"Such devotion and such confidence are rare even among women. +There are many who would have searched a year, some who would have +waited five years, a few who might have hoped ten years; but for +twenty-five years this woman has retained her affection for and +her faith in a man she has not seen or heard of in all that time. + +"She came to me to-day in the hope that I might be able to help +her find this long-lost husband. And when she was gone I gave my +fancy rein, and imagined a case I will put to you. + +"Suppose that this husband, soon after his escape, had learned +that his wife had been sold away, and that such inquiries as he +could make brought no information of her whereabouts. Suppose +that he was young, and she much older than he; that he was light, +and she was black; that their marriage was a slave marriage, and +legally binding only if they chose to make it so after the war. +Suppose, too, that he made his way to the North, as some of us +have done, and there, where he had larger opportunities, had +improved them, and had in the course of all these years grown to +be as different from the ignorant boy who ran away from fear of +slavery as the day is from the night. Suppose, even, that he had +qualified himself, by industry, by thrift, and by study, to win +the friendship and be considered worthy the society of such people +as these I see around me to-night, gracing my board and filling my +heart with gladness; for I am old enough to remember the day when +such a gathering would not have been possible in this land. +Suppose, too, that, as the years went by, this man's memory of the +past grew more and more indistinct, until at last it was rarely, +except in his dreams, that any image of this bygone period rose +before his mind. And then suppose that accident should bring to +his knowledge the fact that the wife of his youth, the wife he had +left behind him,--not one who had walked by his side and kept pace +with him in his upward struggle, but one upon whom advancing years +and a laborious life had set their mark,--was alive and seeking +him, but that he was absolutely safe from recognition or +discovery, unless he chose to reveal himself. My friends, what +would the man do? I will suppose that he was one who loved honor, +and tried to deal justly with all men. I will even carry the case +further, and suppose that perhaps he had set his heart upon +another, whom he had hoped to call his own. What would he do, or +rather what ought he to do, in such a crisis of a lifetime? + +"It seemed to me that he might hesitate, and I imagined that I was +an old friend, a near friend, and that he had come to me for +advice; and I argued the case with him. I tried to discuss it +impartially. After we had looked upon the matter from every point +of view, I said to him, in words that we all know: + + + 'This above all: to thine own self be true, + And it must follow, as the night the day, + Thou canst not then be false to any man.' + + +Then, finally, I put the question to him, 'Shall you acknowledge +her?' + +"And now, ladies and gentlemen, friends and companions, I ask you, +what should he have done?" + +There was something in Mr. Ryder's voice that stirred the hearts +of those who sat around him. It suggested more than mere sympathy +with an imaginary situation; it seemed rather in the nature of a +personal appeal. It was observed, too, that his look rested more +especially upon Mrs. Dixon, with a mingled expression of +renunciation and inquiry. + +She had listened, with parted lips and streaming eyes. She was +the first to speak: "He should have acknowledged her." + +"Yes," they all echoed, "he should have acknowledged her." + +"My friends and companions," responded Mr. Ryder, "I thank you, +one and all. It is the answer I expected, for I knew your +hearts." + +He turned and walked toward the closed door of an adjoining room, +while every eye followed him in wondering curiosity. He came back +in a moment, leading by the hand his visitor of the afternoon, who +stood startled and trembling at the sudden plunge into this scene +of brilliant gayety. She was neatly dressed in gray, and wore the +white cap of an elderly woman. + +"Ladies and gentlemen," he said, "this is the woman, and I am the +man, whose story I have told you. Permit me to introduce to you +the wife of my youth." + + + +THE BOUQUET +by Charles W. Chesnutt + + +Mary Myrover's friends were somewhat surprised when she began to +teach a colored school. Miss Myrover's friends are mentioned +here, because nowhere more than in a Southern town is public +opinion a force which cannot be lightly contravened. Public +opinion, however, did not oppose Miss Myrover's teaching colored +children; in fact, all the colored public schools in town--and +there were several--were taught by white teachers, and had been so +taught since the state had undertaken to provide free public +instruction for all children within its boundaries. Previous to +that time there had been a Freedman's Bureau school and a +Presbyterian missionary school, but these had been withdrawn when +the need for them became less pressing. The colored people of the +town had been for some time agitating their right to teach their +own schools, but as yet the claim had not been conceded. + +The reason Miss Myrover's course created some surprise was not, +therefore, the fact that a Southern white woman should teach a +colored school; it lay in the fact that up to this time no woman +of just her quality had taken up such work. Most of the teachers +of colored schools were not of those who had constituted the +aristocracy of the old regime; they might be said rather to +represent the new order of things, in which labor was in time to +become honorable, and men were, after a somewhat longer time, to +depend, for their place in society, upon themselves rather than +upon their ancestors. But Mary Myrover belonged to one of the +proudest of the old families. Her ancestors had been people of +distinction in Virginia before a collateral branch of the main +stock had settled in North Carolina. Before the war they had been +able to live up to their pedigree. But the war brought sad +changes. Miss Myrover's father--the Colonel Myrover who led a +gallant but desperate charge at Vicksburg--had fallen on the +battlefield, and his tomb in the white cemetery was a shrine for +the family. On the Confederate Memorial Day no other grave was so +profusely decorated with flowers, and in the oration pronounced +the name of Colonel Myrover was always used to illustrate the +highest type of patriotic devotion and self-sacrifice. Miss +Myrover's brother, too, had fallen in the conflict; but his bones +lay in some unknown trench, with those of a thousand others who +had fallen on the same field. Ay, more, her lover, who had hoped +to come home in the full tide of victory and claim his bride as a +reward for gallantry, had shared the fate of her father and +brother. When the war was over, the remnant of the family found +itself involved in the common ruin,--more deeply involved, indeed, +than some others; for Colonel Myrover had believed in the ultimate +triumph of his cause, and had invested most of his wealth in +Confederate bonds, which were now only so much waste paper. + +There had been a little left. Mrs. Myrover was thrifty, and had +laid by a few hundred dollars, which she kept in the house to meet +unforeseen contingencies. There remained, too, their home, with +an ample garden and a well-stocked orchard, besides a considerable +tract of country land, partly cleared, but productive of very +little revenue. + +With their shrunken resources, Miss Myrover and her mother were +able to hold up their heads without embarrassment for some years +after the close of the war. But when things were adjusted to the +changed conditions, and the stream of life began to flow more +vigorously in the new channels, they saw themselves in danger of +dropping behind, unless in some way they could add to their meagre +income. Miss Myrover looked over the field of employment, never +very wide for women in the South, and found it occupied. The only +available position she could be supposed prepared to fill, and +which she could take without distinct loss of caste, was that of a +teacher, and there was no vacancy except in one of the colored +schools. Even teaching was a doubtful experiment; it was not what +she would have preferred, but it was the best that could be done. + +"I don't like it, Mary," said her mother. "It's a long step from +owning such people to teaching them. What do they need with +education? It will only make them unfit for work." + +"They're free now, mother, and perhaps they'll work better if +they're taught something. Besides, it's only a business +arrangement, and doesn't involve any closer contact than we have +with our servants." + +"Well, I should say not!" sniffed the old lady. "Not one of them +will ever dare to presume on your position to take any liberties +with us. I'll see to that." + +Miss Myrover began her work as a teacher in the autumn, at the +opening of the school year. It was a novel experience at first. +Though there always had been negro servants in the house, and +though on the streets colored people were more numerous than her +own people, and though she was so familiar with their dialect that +she might almost be said to speak it, barring certain +characteristic grammatical inaccuracies, she had never been +brought in personal contact with so many of them at once as when +she confronted the fifty or sixty faces--of colors ranging from a +white almost as clear as her own to the darkest livery of the sun-- +which were gathered in the schoolroom on the morning when she +began her duties. Some of the inherited prejudice of her caste, +too, made itself felt, though she tried to repress any outward +sign of it; and she could perceive that the children were not +altogether responsive; they, likewise, were not entirely free from +antagonism. The work was unfamiliar to her. She was not +physically very strong, and at the close of the first day she went +home with a splitting headache. If she could have resigned then +and there without causing comment or annoyance to others, she +would have felt it a privilege to do so. But a night's rest +banished her headache and improved her spirits, and the next +morning she went to her work with renewed vigor, fortified by the +experience of the first day. + +Miss Myrover's second day was more satisfactory. She had some +natural talent for organization, though she had never known it, +and in the course of the day she got her classes formed and +lessons under way. In a week or two she began to classify her +pupils in her own mind, as bright or stupid, mischievous or well +behaved, lazy or industrious, as the case might be, and to +regulate her discipline accordingly. That she had come of a long +line of ancestors who had exercised authority and mastership was +perhaps not without its effect upon her character, and enabled her +more readily to maintain good order in the school. When she was +fairly broken in she found the work rather to her liking, and +derived much pleasure from such success as she achieved as a +teacher. + +It was natural that she should be more attracted to some of her +pupils than to others. Perhaps her favorite--or rather, the one +she liked best, for she was too fair and just for conscious +favoritism--was Sophy Tucker. Just the ground for the teacher's +liking for Sophy might not at first be apparent. The girl was far +from the whitest of Miss Myrover's pupils; in fact, she was one of +the darker ones. She was not the brightest in intellect, though +she always tried to learn her lessons. She was not the best +dressed, for her mother was a poor widow, who went out washing and +scrubbing for a living. Perhaps the real tie between them was +Sophy's intense devotion to the teacher. It had manifested itself +almost from the first day of the school, in the rapt look of +admiration Miss Myrover always saw on the little black face turned +toward her. In it there was nothing of envy, nothing of regret; +nothing but worship for the beautiful white lady--she was not +especially handsome, but to Sophy her beauty was almost divine-- +who had come to teach her. If Miss Myrover dropped a book, Sophy +was the first to spring and pick it up; if she wished a chair +moved, Sophy seemed to anticipate her wish; and so of all the +numberless little services that can be rendered in a school-room. + +Miss Myrover was fond of flowers, and liked to have them about +her. The children soon learned of this taste of hers, and kept +the vases on her desk filled with blossoms during their season. +Sophy was perhaps the most active in providing them. If she could +not get garden flowers, she would make excursions to the woods in +the early morning, and bring in great dew-laden bunches of bay, or +jasmine, or some other fragrant forest flower which she knew the +teacher loved. + +"When I die, Sophy," Miss Myrover said to the child one day, "I +want to be covered with roses. And when they bury me, I'm sure I +shall rest better if my grave is banked with flowers, and roses +are planted at my head and at my feet." + +Miss Myrover was at first amused at Sophy's devotion; but when she +grew more accustomed to it, she found it rather to her liking. It +had a sort of flavor of the old regime, and she felt, when she +bestowed her kindly notice upon her little black attendant, some +of the feudal condescension of the mistress toward the slave. She +was kind to Sophy, and permitted her to play the role she had +assumed, which caused sometimes a little jealousy among the other +girls. Once she gave Sophy a yellow ribbon which she took from +her own hair. The child carried it home, and cherished it as a +priceless treasure, to be worn only on the greatest occasions. + +Sophy had a rival in her attachment to the teacher, but the +rivalry was altogether friendly. Miss Myrover had a little dog, a +white spaniel, answering to the name of Prince. Prince was a dog +of high degree, and would have very little to do with the children +of the school; he made an exception, however, in the case of +Sophy, whose devotion for his mistress he seemed to comprehend. +He was a clever dog, and could fetch and carry, sit up on his +haunches, extend his paw to shake hands, and possessed several +other canine accomplishments. He was very fond of his mistress, +and always, unless shut up at home, accompanied her to school, +where he spent most of his time lying under the teacher's desk, +or, in cold weather, by the stove, except when he would go out now +and then and chase an imaginary rabbit round the yard, presumably +for exercise. + +At school Sophy and Prince vied with each other in their +attentions to Miss Myrover. But when school was over, Prince went +away with her, and Sophy stayed behind; for Miss Myrover was white +and Sophy was black, which they both understood perfectly well. +Miss Myrover taught the colored children, but she could not be +seen with them in public. If they occasionally met her on the +street, they did not expect her to speak to them, unless she +happened to be alone and no other white person was in sight. If +any of the children felt slighted, she was not aware of it, for +she intended no slight; she had not been brought up to speak to +negroes on the street, and she could not act differently from +other people. And though she was a woman of sentiment and capable +of deep feeling, her training had been such that she hardly +expected to find in those of darker hue than herself the same +susceptibility--varying in degree, perhaps, but yet the same in +kind--that gave to her own life the alternations of feeling that +made it most worth living. + +Once Miss Myrover wished to carry home a parcel of books. She had +the bundle in her hand when Sophy came up. + +"Lemme tote yo' bundle fer yer, Miss Ma'y?" she asked eagerly. +"I'm gwine yo' way." + +"Thank you, Sophy," was the reply. "I'll be glad if you will." + +Sophy followed the teacher at a respectful distance. When they +reached Miss Myrover's home Sophy carried the bundle to the +doorstep, where Miss Myrover took it and thanked her. + +Mrs. Myrover came out on the piazza as Sophy was moving away. She +said, in the child's hearing, and perhaps with the intention that +she should hear: "Mary, I wish you wouldn't let those little +darkies follow you to the house. I don't want them in the yard. +I should think you'd have enough of them all day." + +"Very well, mother," replied her daughter. "I won't bring any +more of them. The child was only doing me a favor." + +Mrs. Myrover was an invalid, and opposition or irritation of any +kind brought on nervous paroxysms that made her miserable, and +made life a burden to the rest of the household; so that Mary +seldom crossed her whims. She did not bring Sophy to the house +again, nor did Sophy again offer her services as porter. + +One day in spring Sophy brought her teacher a bouquet of yellow +roses. + +"Dey come off'n my own bush, Miss Ma'y," she said proudly, "an' I +didn' let nobody e'se pull 'em, but saved 'em all fer you, 'cause +I know you likes roses so much. I'm gwine bring 'em all ter you +as long as dey las'." + +"Thank you, Sophy," said the teacher; "you are a very good girl." + +For another year Mary Myrover taught the colored school, and did +excellent service. The children made rapid progress under her +tuition, and learned to love her well; for they saw and +appreciated, as well as children could, her fidelity to a trust +that she might have slighted, as some others did, without much +fear of criticism. Toward the end of her second year she +sickened, and after a brief illness died. + +Old Mrs. Myrover was inconsolable. She ascribed her daughter's +death to her labors as teacher of negro children. Just how the +color of the pupils had produced the fatal effects she did not +stop to explain. But she was too old, and had suffered too deeply +from the war, in body and mind and estate, ever to reconcile +herself to the changed order of things following the return of +peace; and with an unsound yet not unnatural logic, she visited +some of her displeasure upon those who had profited most, though +passively, by her losses. + +"I always feared something would happen to Mary," she said. "It +seemed unnatural for her to be wearing herself out teaching little +negroes who ought to have been working for her. But the world has +hardly been a fit place to live in since the war, and when I +follow her, as I must before long, I shall not be sorry to go." + +She gave strict orders that no colored people should be admitted +to the house. Some of her friends heard of this, and +remonstrated. They knew the teacher was loved by the pupils, and +felt that sincere respect from the humble would be a worthy +tribute to the proudest. But Mrs. Myrover was obdurate. + +"They had my daughter when she was alive," she said, "and they've +killed her. But she's mine now, and I won't have them come near +her. I don't want one of them at the funeral or anywhere around." + +For a month before Miss Myrover's death Sophy had been watching +her rosebush--the one that bore the yellow roses--for the first +buds of spring, and when these appeared had awaited impatiently +their gradual unfolding. But not until her teacher's death had +they become full-blown roses. When Miss Myrover died, Sophy +determined to pluck the roses and lay them on her coffin. +Perhaps, she thought, they might even put them in her hand or on +her breast. For Sophy remembered Miss Myrover's thanks and praise +when she had brought her the yellow roses the spring before. + +On the morning of the day set for the funeral Sophy washed her +face until it shone, combed and brushed her hair with painful +conscientiousness, put on her best frock, plucked her yellow +roses, and, tying them with the treasured ribbon her teacher had +given her, set out for Miss Myrover's home. + +She went round to the side gate--the house stood on a corner--and +stole up the path to the kitchen. A colored woman, whom she did +not know, came to the door. + +"W'at yer want, chile?" she inquired. + +"Kin I see Miss Ma'y?" asked Sophy timidly. + +"I don' know, honey. Ole Miss Myrover say she don' want no cullud +folks roun' de house endyoin' dis fun'al. I'll look an' see if +she's roun' de front room, whar de co'pse is. You sed-down heah +an' keep still, an' ef she's upstairs maybe I kin git yer in dere +a minute. Ef I can't, I kin put yo' bokay 'mongs' de res', whar +she won't know nuthin' erbout it." + +A moment after she had gone there was a step in the hall, and old +Mrs. Myrover came into the kitchen. + +"Dinah!" she said in a peevish tone. "Dinah!" + +Receiving no answer, Mrs. Myrover peered around the kitchen, and +caught sight of Sophy. + +"What are you doing here?" she demanded. + +"I--I'm-m waitin' ter see de cook, ma'am," stammered Sophy. + +"The cook isn't here now. I don't know where she is. Besides, my +daughter is to be buried to-day, and I won't have any one visiting +the servants until the funeral is over. Come back some other day, +or see the cook at her own home in the evening." + +She stood waiting for the child to go, and under the keen glance +of her eyes Sophy, feeling as though she had been caught in some +disgraceful act, hurried down the walk and out of the gate, with +her bouquet in her hand. + +"Dinah," said Mrs. Myrover, when the cook came back, "I don't want +any strange people admitted here to-day. The house will be full +of our friends, and we have no room for others." + +"Yas'm," said the cook. She understood perfectly what her +mistress meant; and what the cook thought about her mistress was a +matter of no consequence. + +The funeral services were held at St. John's Episcopal Church, +where the Myrovers had always worshiped. Quite a number of Miss +Myrover's pupils went to the church to attend the services. The +church was not a large one. There was a small gallery at the +rear, to which colored people were admitted, if they chose to +come, at ordinary services; and those who wished to be present at +the funeral supposed that the usual custom would prevail. They +were therefore surprised, when they went to the side entrance, by +which colored people gained access to the gallery stairs, to be +met by an usher who barred their passage. + +"I'm sorry," he said, "but I have had orders to admit no one until +the friends of the family have all been seated. If you wish to +wait until the white people have all gone in, and there's any room +left, you may be able to get into the back part of the gallery. +Of course I can't tell yet whether there'll be any room or not." + +Now the statement of the usher was a very reasonable one; but, +strange to say, none of the colored people chose to remain except +Sophy. She still hoped to use her floral offering for its +destined end, in some way, though she did not know just how. She +waited in the yard until the church was filled with white people, +and a number who could not gain admittance were standing about the +doors. Then she went round to the side of the church, and, +depositing her bouquet carefully on an old mossy gravestone, +climbed up on the projecting sill of a window near the chancel. +The window was of stained glass, of somewhat ancient make. The +church was old, had indeed been built in colonial times, and the +stained glass had been brought from England. The design of the +window showed Jesus blessing little children. Time had dealt +gently with the window; but just at the feet of the figure of +Jesus a small triangular piece of glass had been broken out. To +this aperture Sophy applied her eyes, and through it saw and heard +what she could of the services within. + +Before the chancel, on trestles draped in black, stood the sombre +casket in which lay all that was mortal of her dear teacher. The +top of the casket was covered with flowers; and lying stretched +out underneath it she saw Miss Myrover's little white dog, Prince. +He had followed the body to the church, and, slipping in unnoticed +among the mourners, had taken his place, from which no one had the +heart to remove him. + +The white-robed rector read the solemn service for the dead, and +then delivered a brief address, in which he spoke of the +uncertainty of life, and, to the believer, the certain blessedness +of eternity. He spoke of Miss Myrover's kindly spirit, and, as an +illustration of her love and self-sacrifice for others, referred +to her labors as a teacher of the poor ignorant negroes who had +been placed in their midst by an all-wise Providence, and whom it +was their duty to guide and direct in the station in which God had +put them. Then the organ pealed, a prayer was said, and the long +cortege moved from the church to the cemetery, about half a mile +away, where the body was to be interred. + +When the services were over, Sophy sprang down from her perch, +and, taking her flowers, followed the procession. She did not +walk with the rest, but at a proper and respectful distance from +the last mourner. No one noticed the little black girl with the +bunch of yellow flowers, or thought of her as interested in the +funeral. + +The cortege reached the cemetery and filed slowly through the +gate; but Sophy stood outside, looking at a small sign in white +letters on a black background:-- + +"NOTICE. This cemetery is for white people only. Others please +keep out." + +Sophy, thanks to Miss Myrover's painstaking instruction, could +read this sign very distinctly. In fact, she had often read it +before. For Sophy was a child who loved beauty, in a blind, +groping sort of way, and had sometimes stood by the fence of the +cemetery and looked through at the green mounds and shaded walks +and blooming flowers within, and wished that she could walk among +them. She knew, too, that the little sign on the gate, though so +courteously worded, was no mere formality; for she had heard how a +colored man, who had wandered into the cemetery on a hot night and +fallen asleep on the flat top of a tomb, had been arrested as a +vagrant and fined five dollars, which he had worked out on the +streets, with a ball-and-chain attachment, at twenty-five cents a +day. Since that time the cemetery gate had been locked at night. + +So Sophy stayed outside, and looked through the fence. Her poor +bouquet had begun to droop by this time, and the yellow ribbon had +lost some of its freshness. Sophy could see the rector standing +by the grave, the mourners gathered round; she could faintly +distinguish the solemn words with which ashes were committed to +ashes, and dust to dust. She heard the hollow thud of the earth +falling on the coffin; and she leaned against the iron fence, +sobbing softly, until the grave was filled and rounded off, and +the wreaths and other floral pieces were disposed upon it. When +the mourners began to move toward the gate, Sophy walked slowly +down the street, in a direction opposite to that taken by most of +the people who came out. + +When they had all gone away, and the sexton had come out and +locked the gate behind him, Sophy crept back. Her roses were +faded now, and from some of them the petals had fallen. She stood +there irresolute, loath to leave with her heart's desire +unsatisfied, when, as her eyes fell upon the teacher's last +resting place, she saw lying beside the new-made grave what looked +like a small bundle of white wool. Sophy's eyes lighted up with a +sudden glow. + +"Prince! Here, Prince!" she called. + +The little dog rose, and trotted down to the gate. Sophy pushed +the poor bouquet between the iron bars. "Take that ter Miss Ma'y, +Prince," she said, "that's a good doggie." + +The dog wagged his tail intelligently, took the bouquet carefully +in his mouth, carried it to his mistress's grave, and laid it +among the other flowers. The bunch of roses was so small that +from where she stood Sophy could see only a dash of yellow against +the white background of the mass of flowers. + +When Prince had performed his mission he turned his eyes toward +Sophy inquiringly, and when she gave him a nod of approval lay +down and resumed his watch by the graveside. Sophy looked at him +a moment with a feeling very much like envy, and then turned and +moved slowly away. + + + +THE CASE OF THE NEGRO +by Booker T. Washington + + +All attempts to settle the question of the Negro in the South by +his removal from this country have so far failed, and I think that +they are likely to fail. The next census will probably show that +we have nearly ten million black people in the United States, +about eight millions of whom are in the Southern states. In fact, +we have almost a nation within a nation. The Negro population in +the United States lacks but two millions of being as large as the +whole population of Mexico, and is nearly twice as large as that +of Canada. Our black people equal in number the combined +populations of Switzerland, Greece, Honduras, Nicaragua, Cuba, +Uraguay [sic], Santo Domingo, Paraguay, and Costa Rica. When we +consider, in connection with these facts, that the race has +doubled itself since its freedom, and is still increasing, it +hardly seems possible for any one to take seriously any scheme of +emigration from America as a method of solution. At most, even if +the government were to provide the means, but a few hundred +thousand could be transported each year. The yearly increase in +population would more than likely overbalance the number +transported. Even if it did not, the time required to get rid of +the Negro by this method would perhaps be fifty or seventy-five +years. + +Some have advised that the Negro leave the South, and take up his +residence in the Northern states. I question whether this would +make him any better off than he is in the South, when all things +are considered. It has been my privilege to study the condition +of our people in nearly every part of America; and I say without +hesitation that, with some exceptional cases, the Negro is at his +best in the Southern states. While he enjoys certain privileges +in the North that he does not have in the South, when it comes to +the matter of securing property, enjoying business advantages and +employment, the South presents a far better opportunity than the +North. Few colored men from the South are as yet able to stand up +against the severe and increasing competition that exists in the +North, to say nothing of the unfriendly influence of labor +organizations, which in some way prevents black men in the North, +as a rule, from securing occupation in the line of skilled labor. + +Another point of great danger for the colored man who goes North +is the matter of morals, owing to the numerous temptations by +which he finds himself surrounded. More ways offer in which he +can spend money than in the South, but fewer avenues of employment +for earning money are open to him. The fact that at the North the +Negro is almost confined to one line of occupation often tends to +discourage and demoralize the strongest who go from the South, and +makes them an easy prey for temptation. A few years ago, I made +an examination into the condition of a settlement of Negroes who +left the South and went into Kansas about twenty years since, when +there was a good deal of excitement in the South concerning +emigration from the West, and found it much below the standard of +that of similar communities in the South. The only conclusion +which any one can reach, from this and like instances, is that the +Negroes are to remain in the Southern states. As a race they do +not want to leave the South, and the Southern white people do not +want them to leave. We must therefore find some basis of +settlement that will be constitutional, just, manly; that will be +fair to both races in the South and to the whole country. This +cannot be done in a day, a year, or any short period of time. We +can, however, with the present light, decide upon a reasonably +safe method of solving the problem, and turn our strength and +effort in that direction. In doing this, I would not have the +Negro deprived of any privilege guaranteed to him by the +Constitution of the United States. It is not best for the Negro +that he relinquish any of his constitutional rights; it is not +best for the Southern white man that he should, as I shall attempt +to show in this article. + +In order that we may concentrate our forces upon a wise object, +without loss of time or effort, I want to suggest what seems to me +and many others the wisest policy to be pursued. I have reached +these conclusions not only by reason of my own observations and +experience, but after eighteen years of direct contact with +leading and influential colored and white men in most parts of our +country. But I wish first to mention some elements of danger in +the present situation, which all who desire the permanent welfare +of both races in the South should carefully take into account. + +First. There is danger that a certain class of impatient +extremists among the Negroes in the North, who have little +knowledge of the actual conditions in the South, may do the entire +race injury by attempting to advise their brethren in the South to +resort to armed resistance or the use of the torch, in order to +secure justice. All intelligent and well-considered discussion of +any important question, or condemnation of any wrong, whether in +the North or the South, from the public platform and through the +press, is to be commended and encouraged; but ill-considered and +incendiary utterances from black men in the North will tend to add +to the burdens of our people in the South rather than to relieve +them. We must not fall into the temptation of believing that we +can raise ourselves by abusing some one else. + +Second. Another danger in the South which should be guarded +against is that the whole white South, including the wise, +conservative, law-abiding element, may find itself represented +before the bar of public opinion by the mob or lawless element, +which gives expression to its feelings and tendency in a manner +that advertises the South throughout the world; while too often +those who have no sympathy with such disregard of law are either +silent, or fail to speak in a sufficiently emphatic manner to +offset in any large degree the unfortunate reputation which the +lawless have made for many portions of the South. + +Third. No race or people ever got upon its feet without severe +and constant struggle, often in the face of the greatest +discouragement. While passing through the present trying period +of its history, there is danger that a large and valuable element +of the Negro race may become discouraged in the effort to better +its condition. Every possible influence should be exerted to +prevent this. + +Fourth. There is a possibility that harm may be done to the South +and to the Negro by exaggerated newspaper articles which are +written near the scene or in the midst of specially aggravating +occurrences. Often these reports are written by newspaper men, +who give the impression that there is a race conflict throughout +the South, and that all Southern white people are opposed to the +Negro's progress; overlooking the fact that though in some +sections there is trouble, in most parts of the South, if matters +are not yet in all respects as we would have them, there is +nevertheless a very large measure of peace, good will, and mutual +helpfulness. In the same relation, much can be done to retard the +progress of the Negro by a certain class of Southern white people, +who in the midst of excitement speak or write in a manner that +gives the impression that all Negroes are lawless, untrustworthy, +and shiftless. For example, a Southern writer said, not long ago, +in a communication to the New York Independent: "Even in small +towns the husband cannot venture to leave his wife alone for an +hour at night. At no time, in no place, is the white woman safe +from the insults and assaults of these creatures." These +statements, I presume, represented the feelings and the conditions +that existed, at the time of the writing, in one community or +county in the South; but thousands of Southern white men and women +would be ready to testify that this is not the condition +throughout the South, nor throughout any Southern state. + +Fifth. Owing to the lack of school opportunities for the Negro in +the rural districts of the South, there is danger that ignorance +and idleness may increase to the extent of giving the Negro race a +reputation for crime, and that immorality may eat its way into the +fibre of the race so as to retard its progress for many years. In +judging the Negro we must not be too harsh. We must remember that +it has been only within the last thirty-four years that the black +father and mother have had the responsibility, and consequently +the experience, of training their own children. That perfection +has not been reached in one generation, with the obstacles that +the parents have been compelled to overcome, is not to be wondered +at. + +Sixth. Finally, I would mention my fear that some of the white +people of the South may be led to feel that the way to settle the +race problem is to repress the aspirations of the Negro by +legislation of a kind that confers certain legal or political +privileges upon an ignorant and poor white man, and withholds the +same privileges from a black man in a similar condition. Such +legislation injures and retards the progress of both races. It is +an injustice to the poor white man, because it takes from him +incentive to secure education and property as prerequisites for +voting. He feels that because he is a white man, regardless of +his possessions, a way will be found for him to vote. I would +label all such measures "laws to keep the poor white man in +ignorance and poverty." + +The Talladega News Reporter, a Democratic newspaper of Alabama, +recently said: "But it is a weak cry when the white man asks odds +on intelligence over the Negro. When nature has already so +handicapped the African in the race for knowledge, the cry of the +boasted Anglo-Saxon for still further odds seems babyish. What +wonder that the world looks on in surprise, if not disgust? It +cannot help but say, If our contention be true that the Negro is +an inferior race, then the odds ought to be on the other side, if +any are to be given. And why not? No; the thing to do--the only +thing that will stand the test of time--is to do right, exactly +right, let come what will. And that right thing, as it seems to +us, is to place a fair educational qualification before every +citizen,--one that is self-testing, and not dependent on the +wishes of weak men,--letting all who pass the test stand in the +proud ranks of American voters, whose votes shall be counted as +cast, and whose sovereign will shall be maintained as law by all +the powers that be. Nothing short of this will do. Every +exemption, on whatsoever ground, is an outrage that can only rob +some legitimate voter of his rights." + +Such laws have been made,--in Mississippi, for example,--with the +"understanding" clause, hold out a temptation for the election +officer to perjure and degrade himself by too often deciding that +the ignorant white man does understand the Constitution when it is +read to him, and that the ignorant black man does not. By such a +law, the state not only commits a wrong against its black +citizens; it injures the morals of its white citizens by +conferring such a power upon any white man who may happen to be a +judge of elections. + +Such laws are hurtful, again, because they keep alive in the heart +of the black man the feeling that the white man means to oppress +him. The only safe way out is to set a high standard as a test of +citizenship, and require blacks and whites alike to come up to it. +When this is done, both will have a higher respect for the +election laws, and for those who make them. I do not believe +that, with his centuries of advantage over the Negro in the +opportunity to acquire property and education as prerequisites for +voting, the average white man in the South desires that any +special law be passed to give him further advantage over one who +has had but a little more than thirty years in which to prepare +himself for citizenship. In this relation, another point of +danger is that the Negro has been made to feel that it is his duty +continually to oppose the Southern white man in politics, even in +matters where no principle is involved; and that he is only loyal +to his own race and acting in a manly way in thus opposing the +white man. Such a policy has proved very hurtful to both races. +Where it is a matter of principle, where a question of right or +wrong is involved, I would advise the Negro to stand by principle +at all hazards. A Southern white man has no respect for or +confidence in a Negro who acts merely for policy's sake; but there +are many cases, and the number is growing, where the Negro has +nothing to gain, and much to lose, by opposing the Southern white +man in matters that relate to government. + +Under the foregoing six heads I believe I have stated some of the +main points which, all high-minded white men and black men, North +and South, will agree, need our most earnest and thoughtful +consideration, if we would hasten, and not hinder, the progress of +our country. + +Now as to the policy that should be pursued. On this subject I +claim to possess no superior wisdom or unusual insight. I may be +wrong; I may be in some degree right. + +In the future we want to impress upon the Negro, more than we have +done in the past, the importance of identifying himself more +closely with the interests of the South; of making himself part of +the South, and at home in it. Heretofore, for reasons which were +natural, and for which no one is especially to blame, the colored +people have been too much like a foreign nation residing in the +midst of another nation. If William Lloyd Garrison, Wendell +Phillips, or George L. Stearns were alive to-day, I feel sure that +he would advise the Negroes to identify their interests as closely +as possible with those of their white neighbors,--always +understanding that no question of right and wrong is involved. In +no other way, it seems to me, can we get a foundation for peace +and progress. He who advises against this policy will advise the +Negro to do that which no people in history, who have succeeded, +have done. The white man, North or South, who advises the Negro +against it advises him to do that which he himself has not done. +The bed rock upon which every individual rests his chances for +success in life is the friendship, the confidence, the respect, of +his next-door neighbor in the little community in which he lives. +The problem of the Negro in the South turns on whether he can make +himself of such indispensable service to his neighbor and the +community that no one can fill his place better in the body +politic. There is at present no other safe course for the black +man to pursue. If the Negro in the South has a friend in his +white neighbor, and a still larger number of friends in his own +community, he has a protection and a guarantee of his rights that +will be more potent and more lasting than any our Federal Congress +or any outside power can confer. + +The London Times, in a recent editorial discussing affairs in the +Transvaal, where Englishmen have been denied certain privileges by +the Boers, says: "England is too sagacious not to prefer a gradual +reform from within, even should it be less rapid than most of us +might wish, to the most sweeping redress of grievances imposed +from without. Our object is to obtain fair play for the +Outlanders, but the best way to do it is to enable them to help +themselves." This policy, I think, is equally safe when applied +to conditions in the South. The foreigner who comes to America +identifies himself as soon as possible, in business, education, +and politics, with the community in which he settles. We have a +conspicuous example of this in the case of the Jews, who in the +South, as well as in other parts of our country, have not always +been justly treated; but the Jews have so woven themselves into +the business and patriotic interests of the communities in which +they live, have made themselves so valuable as citizens, that they +have won a place in the South which they could have obtained in no +other way. The Negro in Cuba has practically settled the race +question there, because he has made himself a part of Cuba in +thought and action. + +What I have tried to indicate cannot be accomplished by any sudden +revolution of methods, but it does seem that the tendency should +be more and more in this direction. Let me emphasize this by a +practical example. The North sends thousands of dollars into the +South every year for the education of the Negro. The teachers in +most of the Southern schools supported by the North are Northern +men and women of the highest Christian culture and most unselfish +devotion. The Negro owes them a debt of gratitude which can never +be paid. The various missionary societies in the North have done +a work which to a large degree has proved the salvation of the +South, and the results of it will appear more in future +generations than in this. We have now reached the point, in the +South, where, I believe, great good could be accomplished in +changing the attitude of the white people toward the Negro, and of +the Negro toward the whites, if a few Southern white teachers, of +high character, would take an active interest in the work of our +higher schools. Can this be done? Yes. The medical school +connected with Shaw University at Raleigh, North Carolina, has +from the first had as instructors and professors almost +exclusively Southern white doctors who reside in Raleigh, and they +have given the highest satisfaction. This gives the people of +Raleigh the feeling that the school is theirs, and not something +located in, but not a part of, the South. In Augusta, Georgia, +the Payne Institute, one of the best colleges for our people, is +officered and taught almost wholly by Southern white men and +women. The Presbyterian Theological School at Tuscaloosa, +Alabama, has only Southern white men as instructors. Some time +ago, at the Calhoun School in Alabama, one of the leading white +men in the county was given an important position; since then the +feeling of the white people in the county has greatly changed +toward the school. + +We must admit the stern fact that at present the Negro, through no +choice of his own, is living in the midst of another race, which +is far ahead of him in education, property, and experience; and +further, that the Negro's present condition makes him dependent +upon the white people for most of the things necessary to sustain +life, as well as, in a large measure, for his education. In all +history, those who have possessed the property and intelligence +have exercised the greatest control in government, regardless of +color, race, or geographical location. This being the case, how +can the black man in the South improve his estate? And does the +Southern white man want him to improve it? The latter part of +this question I shall attempt to answer later in this article. + +The Negro in the South has it within his power, if he properly +utilizes the forces at land, to make of himself such a valuable +factor in the life of the South that for the most part he need not +seek privileges, but they will be conferred upon him. To bring +this about, the Negro must begin at the bottom and lay a sure +foundation, and not be lured by any temptation into trying to rise +on a false footing. While the Negro is laying this foundation, he +will need help and sympathy and justice from the law. Progress by +any other method will be but temporary and superficial, and the +end of it will be worse than the beginning. American slavery was +a great curse to both races, and I should be the last to apologize +for it; but in the providence of God I believe that slavery laid +the foundation for the solution of the problem that is now before +us in the South. Under slavery, the Negro was taught every trade, +every industry, that furnishes the means of earning a living. Now +if on this foundation, laid in a rather crude way, it is true, but +a foundation nevertheless, we can gradually grow and improve, the +future for us is bright. Let me be more specific. Agriculture is +or has been the basic industry of nearly every race or nation that +has succeeded. The Negro got a knowledge of this under slavery: +hence in a large measure he is in possession of this industry in +the South to-day. Taking the whole South, I should say that +eighty per cent of the Negroes live by agriculture in some form, +though it is often a very primitive and crude form. The Negro can +buy land in the South, as a rule, wherever the white man can buy +it, and at very low prices. Now, since the bulk of our people +already have a foundation in agriculture, are at their best when +living in the country engaged in agricultural pursuits, plainly, +the best thing, the logical thing, is to turn the larger part of +our strength in a direction that will put the Negroes among the +most skilled agricultural people in the world. The man who has +learned to do something better than any one else, has learned to +do a common thing in an uncommon manner, has power and influence +which no adverse surroundings can take from him. It is better to +show a man how to make a place for himself than to put him in one +that some one else has made for him. The Negro who can make +himself so conspicuous as a successful farmer, a large taxpayer, a +wise helper of his fellow men, as to be placed in a position of +trust and honor by natural selection, whether the position be +political or not, is a hundredfold more secure in that position +than one placed there by mere outside force or pressure. I know a +Negro, Hon. Isaiah T. Montgomery, in Mississippi, who is mayor of +a town; it is true that the town is composed almost wholly of +Negroes. Mr. Montgomery is mayor of this town because his genius, +thrift, and foresight have created it; and he is held and +supported in his office by a charter granted by the state of +Mississippi, and by the vote and public sentiment of the community +in which he lives. + +Let us help the Negro by every means possible to acquire such an +education in farming, dairying, stock-raising, horticulture, etc., +as will place him near the top in these industries, and the race +problem will in a large part be settled, or at least stripped of +many of its most perplexing elements. This policy would also tend +to keep the Negro in the country and smaller towns, where he +succeeds best, and stop the influx into the large cities, where he +does not succeed so well. The race, like the individual, which +produces something of superior worth that has a common human +interest, wins a permanent place, and is bound to be recognized. + +At a county fair in the South, not long ago, I saw a Negro awarded +the first prize, by a jury of white men, over white competitors, +for the production of the best specimen of Indian corn. Every +white man at the fair seemed to be proud of the achievement of the +Negro, because it was apparent that he had done something that +would add to the wealth and comfort of the people of both races in +that county. At the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute, in +Alabama, we have a department devoted to training men along the +lines of agriculture that I have named; but what we are doing is +small when compared with what should be done in Tuskegee, and at +other educational centres. In a material sense the South is still +an undeveloped country. While in some other affairs race +prejudice is strongly marked, in the matter of business, of +commercial and industrial development, there are few obstacles in +the Negro's way. A Negro who produces or has for sale something +that the community wants finds customers among white people as +well as black. Upon equal security, a Negro can borrow money at +the bank as readily as a white man can. A bank in Birmingham, +Alabama, which has existed ten years, is officered and controlled +wholly by Negroes. This bank has white borrowers and white +depositors. A graduate of the Tuskegee Institute keeps a well- +appointed grocery store in Tuskegee, and he tells me that he sells +about as many goods to one race as to the other. What I have said +of the opening that awaits the Negro in the business of +agriculture is almost equally true of mechanics, manufacturing, +and all the domestic arts. The field is before him and right +about him. Will he seize upon it? Will he "cast down his bucket +where he is"? Will his friends, North and South, encourage him +and prepare him to occupy it? Every city in the South, for +example, would give support to a first-class architect or +housebuilder or contractor of our race. The architect or +contractor would not only receive support, but through his example +numbers of young colored men would learn such trades as carpentry, +brickmasonry, plastering, painting, etc., and the race would be +put into a position to hold on to many of the industries which it +is now in danger of losing, because in too many cases brain, +skill, and dignity are not imparted to the common occupations. +Any individual or race that does not fit itself to occupy in the +best manner the field or service that is right about it will +sooner or later be asked to move on and let another take it. + +But I may be asked, Would you confine the Negro to agriculture, +mechanics, the domestic arts, etc.? Not at all; but just now and +for a number of years the stress should be laid along the lines +that I have mentioned. We shall need and must have many teachers +and ministers, some doctors and lawyers and statesmen, but these +professional men will have a constituency or a foundation from +which to draw support just in proportion as the race prospers +along the economic lines that I have pointed out. During the +first fifty or one hundred years of the life of any people, are +not the economic occupations always given the greater attention? +This is not only the historic, but, I think, the common-sense +view. If this generation will lay the material foundation, it +will be the quickest and surest way for enabling later generations +to succeed in the cultivation of the fine arts, and to surround +themselves with some of the luxuries of life, if desired. What +the race most needs now, in my opinion, is a whole army of men and +women well-trained to lead, and at the same time devote +themselves to agriculture, mechanics, domestic employment, and +business. As to the mental training that these educated leaders +should be equipped with, I should say, give them all the mental +training and culture that the circumstances of individuals will +allow,--the more the better. No race can permanently succeed +until its mind is awakened and strengthened by the ripest thought. +But I would constantly have it kept in the minds of those who are +educated in books that a large proportion of those who are +educated should be so trained in hand that they can bring this +mental strength and knowledge to bear upon the physical conditions +in the South, which I have tried to emphasize. + +Frederick Douglass, of sainted memory, once, in addressing his +race, used these words: "We are to prove that we can better our +own condition. One way to do this is to accumulate property. +This may sound to you like a new gospel. You have been accustomed +to hear that money is the root of all evil, etc.; on the other +hand, property, money, if you please, will purchase for us the +only condition by which any people can rise to the dignity of +genuine manhood; for without property there can be no leisure, +without leisure there can be no thought, without thought there can +be no invention, without invention there can be no progress." + +The Negro should be taught that material development is not an +end, but merely a means to an end. As professor W. E. B. Du Bois +puts it, the idea should not be simply to make men carpenters, but +to make carpenters men. The Negro has a highly religious +temperament; but what he needs more and more is to be convinced of +the importance of weaving his religion and morality into the +practical affairs of daily life. Equally does he need to be +taught to put so much intelligence into his labor that he will see +dignity and beauty in the occupation, and love it for its own +sake. The Negro needs to be taught to apply more of the religion +that manifests itself in his happiness in prayer meeting to the +performance of his daily task. The man who owns a home, and is in +the possession of the elements by which he is sure of a daily +living, has a great aid to a moral and religious life. What +bearing will all this have upon the Negro's place in the South, as +a citizen and in the enjoyment of the privileges which our +government confers? + +To state in detail just what place the black man will occupy in +the South as a citizen, when he has developed in the direction +named, is beyond the wisdom of any one. Much will depend upon the +sense of justice which can be kept alive in the breast of the +American people; almost as much will depend upon the good sense of +the Negro himself. That question, I confess, does not give me the +most concern just now. The important and pressing question is, +Will the Negro, with his own help and that of his friends, take +advantage of the opportunities that surround him? When he has +done this, I believe, speaking of his future in general terms, +that he will be treated with justice, be given the protection of +the law and the recognition which his usefulness and ability +warrant. If, fifty years ago, one had predicted that the Negro +would receive the recognition and honor which individuals have +already received, he would have been laughed at as an idle +dreamer. Time, patience, and constant achievement are great +factors in the rise of a race. + +I do not believe that the world ever takes a race seriously, in +its desire to share in the government of a nation, until a large +number of individual members of that race have demonstrated beyond +question their ability to control and develop their own business +enterprises. Once a number of Negroes rise to the point where +they own and operate the most successful farms, are among the +largest taxpayers in their county, are moral and intelligent, I do +not believe that in many portions of the South such men need long +be denied the right of saying by their votes how they prefer their +property to be taxed, and who are to make and administer the laws. + +I was walking the street of a certain town in the South lately in +company with the most prominent Negro there. While we were +together, the mayor of the town sought out the black man, and +said, "Next week we are going to vote on the question of issuing +bonds to secure water-works; you must be sure to vote on the day +of election." The mayor did not suggest whether he should vote +yes or no; but he knew that the very fact of this Negro's owning +nearly a block of the most valuable property in the town was a +guarantee that he would cast a safe, wise vote on this important +proposition. The white man knew that because of this Negro's +property interests he would cast his vote in the way he thought +would benefit every white and black citizen in the town, and not +be controlled by influences a thousand miles away. But a short +time ago I read letters from nearly every prominent white man in +Birmingham, Alabama, asking that the Rev. W. R. Pettiford, a +Negro, be appointed to a certain important federal office. What +is the explanation of this? For nine years Mr. Pettiford has been +the president of the Negro bank in Birmingham, to which I have +alluded. During these nine years, the white citizens have had the +opportunity of seeing that Mr. Pettiford can manage successfully a +private business, and that he has proved himself a conservative, +thoughtful citizen, and they are willing to trust him in a public +office. Such individual examples will have to be multiplied, till +they become more nearly the rule than the exception they now are. +While we are multiplying these examples, the Negro must keep a +strong and courageous heart. He cannot improve his condition by +any short-cut course or by artificial methods. Above all, he must +not be deluded into believing that his condition can be +permanently bettered by a mere battledoor [sic] and shuttlecock of +words, or by any process of mere mental gymnastics or oratory. +What is desired along with a logical defense of his cause are +deeds, results,--continued results, in the direction of building +himself up, so as to leave no doubt in the mind of any one of his +ability to succeed. + +An important question often asked is, Does the white man in the +South want the Negro to improve his present condition? I say yes. +From the Montgomery (Alabama) Daily Advertiser I clip the +following in reference to the closing of a colored school in a +town in Alabama:-- + +"EUFALA, May 25, 1899. The closing exercises of the city colored +public school were held at St. Luke's A. M. E. Church last night, +and were witnessed by a large gathering, including many whites. +The recitations by the pupils were excellent, and the music was +also an interesting feature. Rev. R. T. Pollard delivered the +address, which was quite an able one, and the certificates were +presented by Professor T. L. McCoy, white, of the Sanford Street +School. The success of the exercises reflects great credit on +Professor S. M. Murphy, the principal, who enjoys a deserved good +reputation as a capable and efficient educator." + +I quote this report, not because it is the exception, but because +such marks of interest in the education of the Negro on the part +of the Southern white people may be seen almost every day in the +local papers. Why should white people, by their presence, words, +and actions, encourage the black man to get education, if they do +not desire him to improve his condition? + +The Payne Institute, an excellent college, to which I have already +referred, is supported almost wholly by the Southern white +Methodist church. The Southern white Presbyterians support a +theological school for Negroes at Tuscaloosa. For a number of +years the Southern white Baptists have contributed toward Negro +education. Other denominations have done the same. If these +people do not want the Negro educated to a higher standard, there +is no reason why they should pretend they do. + +Though some of the lynchings in the South have indicated a +barbarous feeling toward Negroes, Southern white men here and +there, as well as newspapers, have spoken out strongly against +lynching. I quote from the address of the Rev. Mr. Vance, of +Nashville, Tennessee, delivered before the National Sunday School +Union, in Atlanta, not long since, as an example:-- + +"And yet, as I stand here to-night, a Southerner speaking for my +section and addressing an audience from all sections, there is one +foul blot upon the fair fame of the South, at the bare mention of +which the heart turns sick and the cheek is crimsoned with shame. +I want to lift my voice to-night in loud and long and indignant +protest against the awful horror of mob violence, which the other +day reached the climax of its madness and infamy in a deed as +black and brutal and barbarous as can be found in the annals of +human crime. + +"I have a right to speak on the subject, and I propose to be +heard. The time has come for every lover of the South to set the +might of an angered and resolute manhood against the shame and +peril of the lynch demon. These people whose fiendish glee taunts +their victim as his flesh crackles in the flames do not represent +the South. I have not a syllable of apology for the sickening +crime they meant to avenge. But it is high time we were learning +that lawlessness is no remedy for crime. For one, I dare to +believe that the people of my section are able to cope with crime, +however treacherous and defiant, through their courts of justice; +and I plead for the masterful sway of a righteous and exalted +public sentiment that shall class lynch law in the category with +crime." + +It is a notable and encouraging fact that no Negro educated in any +of our larger institutions of learning in the South has been +charged with any of the recent crimes connected with assaults upon +women. + +If we go on making progress in the directions that I have tried to +indicate, more and more the South will be drawn to one course. As +I have already said, it is not to the best interests of the white +race of the South that the Negro be deprived of any privilege +guaranteed him by the Constitution of the United States. This +would put upon the South a burden under which no government could +stand and prosper. Every article in our Federal Constitution was +placed there with a view of stimulating and encouraging the +highest type of citizenship. To continue to tax the Negro without +giving him the right to vote, as fast as he qualifies himself in +education and property for voting, would insure the alienation of +the affections of the Negro from the state in which he lives, and +would be the reversal of the fundamental principles of government +for which our states have stood. In other ways than this the +injury would be as great to the white man as to the Negro. +Taxation without the hope of becoming voters would take away from +one third of the citizens of the Gulf states their interest in +government, and a stimulus to become taxpayers or to secure +education, and thus be able and willing to bear their share of the +cost of education and government, which now rests so heavily upon +the white taxpayers of the South. The more the Negro is +stimulated and encouraged, the sooner will he be able to bear a +larger share of the burdens of the South. We have recently had +before us an example, in the case of Spain, of a government that +left a large portion of its citizens in ignorance, and neglected +their highest interests. + +As I have said elsewhere: "There is no escape, through law of man +or God, from the inevitable. + + + 'The laws of changeless justice bind + Oppressor with oppressed; + And close as sin and suffering joined + We march to fate abreast.' + + +Nearly sixteen millions of hands will aid you in pulling the load +upwards, or they will pull the load downwards against you. We +shall constitute one third and more of the ignorance and crime of +the South, or one third of its intelligence and progress; we shall +contribute one third to the business and industrial prosperity of +the South, or we shall prove a veritable body of death, +stagnating, depressing, retarding every effort to advance the body +politic." + +My own feeling is that the South will gradually reach the point +where it will see the wisdom and the justice of enacting an +educational or property qualification, or both, for voting, that +shall be made to apply honestly to both races. The industrial +development of the Negro in connection with education and +Christian character will help to hasten this end. When this is +done, we shall have a foundation, in my opinion, upon which to +build a government that is honest, and that will be in a high +degree satisfactory to both races. + +I do not suffer myself to take too optimistic a view of the +conditions in the South. The problem is a large and serious one, +and will require the patient help, sympathy, and advice of our +most patriotic citizens, North and South, for years to come. But +I believe that if the principles which I have tried to indicate +are followed, a solution of the question will come. So long as +the Negro is permitted to get education, acquire property, and +secure employment, and is treated with respect in the business +world, as is now true in the greater part of the South, I shall +have the greatest faith in his working out his own destiny in our +Southern states. The education and preparation for citizenship of +nearly eight millions of people is a tremendous task, and every +lover of humanity should count it a privilege to help in the +solution of a problem for which our whole country is responsible. + + + +HOT-FOOT HANNIBAL +by Charles W. Chesnutt + + +"I hate and despise you! I wish never to see you or speak to you +again!" + +"Very well; I will take care that henceforth you have no +opportunity to do either." + +These words--the first in the passionately vibrant tones of my +sister-in-law, and the latter in the deeper and more restrained +accents of an angry man--startled me from my nap. I had been +dozing in my hammock on the front piazza, behind the honeysuckle +vine. I had been faintly aware of a buzz of conversation in the +parlor, but had not at all awakened to its import until these +sentences fell, or, I might rather say, were hurled upon my ear. +I presume the young people had either not seen me lying there,-- +the Venetian blinds opening from the parlor windows upon the +piazza were partly closed on account of the heat,--or else in +their excitement they had forgotten my proximity. + +I felt somewhat concerned. The young man, I had remarked, was +proud, firm, jealous of the point of honor, and, from my +observation of him, quite likely to resent to the bitter end what +he deemed a slight or an injustice. The girl, I knew, was quite +as high-spirited as young Murchison. I feared she was not so +just, and hoped she would prove more yielding. I knew that her +affections were strong and enduring, but that her temperament was +capricious, and her sunniest moods easily overcast by some small +cloud of jealousy or pique. I had never imagined, however, that +she was capable of such intensity as was revealed by these few +words of hers. As I say, I felt concerned. I had learned to like +Malcolm Murchison, and had heartily consented to his marriage with +my ward; for it was in that capacity that I had stood for a year +or two to my wife's younger sister, Mabel. The match thus rudely +broken off had promised to be another link binding me to the +kindly Southern people among whom I had not long before taken up +my residence. + +Young Murchison came out of the door, cleared the piazza in two +strides without seeming aware of my presence, and went off down +the lane at a furious pace. A few moments later Mabel began +playing the piano loudly, with a touch that indicated anger and +pride and independence and a dash of exultation, as though she +were really glad that she had driven away forever the young man +whom the day before she had loved with all the ardor of a first +passion. + +I hoped that time might heal the breach and bring the two young +people together again. I told my wife what I had overheard. In +return she gave me Mabel's version of the affair. + +"I do not see how it can ever be settled," my wife said. "It is +something more than a mere lovers' quarrel. It began, it is true, +because she found fault with him for going to church with that +hateful Branson girl. But before it ended there were things said +that no woman of any spirit could stand. I am afraid it is all +over between them." + +I was sorry to hear this. In spite of the very firm attitude +taken by my wife and her sister, I still hoped that the quarrel +would be made up within a day or two. Nevertheless, when a week +had passed with no word from young Murchison, and with no sign of +relenting on Mabel's part, I began to think myself mistaken. + +One pleasant afternoon, about ten days after the rupture, old +Julius drove the rockaway up to the piazza, and my wife, Mabel, +and I took our seats for a drive to a neighbor's vineyard, over on +the Lumberton plankroad. + +"Which way shall we go," I asked,--"the short road or the long +one?" + +"I guess we had better take the short road," answered my wife. +"We will get there sooner." + +"It's a mighty fine dribe roun' by de big road, Mis' Annie," +observed Julius, "en it doan take much longer to git dere." + +"No," said my wife, "I think we will go by the short road. There +is a bay tree in blossom near the mineral spring, and I wish to +get some of the flowers." + +"I 'spec's you'd find some bay trees 'long de big road, ma'am," +said Julius. + +"But I know about the flowers on the short road, and they are the +ones I want." + +We drove down the lane to the highway, and soon struck into the +short road leading past the mineral spring. Our route lay partly +through a swamp, and on each side the dark, umbrageous foliage, +unbroken by any clearing, lent to the road solemnity, and to the +air a refreshing coolness. About half a mile from the house, and +about halfway to the mineral spring, we stopped at the tree of +which my wife had spoken, and reaching up to the low-hanging +boughs I gathered a dozen of the fragrant white flowers. When I +resumed my seat in the rockaway, Julius started the mare. She +went on for a few rods, until we had reached the edge of a branch +crossing the road, when she stopped short. + +"Why did you stop, Julius?" I asked. + +"I didn', suh," he replied. "'T wuz de mare stop'. G' 'long +dere, Lucy! W'at you mean by dis foolis'ness?" + +Julius jerked the reins and applied the whip lightly, but the mare +did not stir. + +"Perhaps you had better get down and lead her," I suggested. "If +you get her started, you can cross on the log and keep your feet +dry." + +Julius alighted, took hold of the bridle, and vainly essayed to +make the mare move. She planted her feet with even more evident +obstinacy. + +"I don't know what to make of this," I said. "I have never known +her to balk before. Have you, Julius?" + +"No, suh," replied the old man, "I nebber has. It's a cu'ous +thing ter me, suh." + +"What's the best way to make her go?" + +"I 'spec's, suh, dat ef I'd tu'n her roun' she'd go de udder way." + +"But we want her to go this way." + +"Well, suh, I 'low ef we des set heah fo' er fibe minutes, she'll +sta't up by herse'f." + +"All right," I rejoined, "it is cooler here than any place I have +struck to-day. We'll let her stand for a while, and see what she +does." + +We had sat in silence for a few minutes, when Julius suddenly +ejaculated, "Uh huh! I knows w'y dis mare doan go. It des flash +'cross my reccommemb'ance." + +"Why is it, Julius?" I inquired. + +"Ca'se she sees Chloe." + +"Where is Chloe?" I demanded. + +"Chloe's done be'n dead dese fo'ty years er mo'," the old man +returned. "Her ha'nt is settin' ober yander on de udder side er +de branch, unner dat willer tree, dis blessed minute." + +"Why, Julius!" said my wife, "do you see the haunt?" + +"No'm," he answered, shaking his head, "I doan see 'er, but de +mare sees 'er." + +"How do you know?" I inquired. + +"Well, suh, dis yer is a gray hoss, en dis yer is a Friday; en a +gray hoss kin alluz see a ha'nt w'at walks on Friday." + +"Who was Chloe?" said Mabel. + +"And why does Chloe's haunt walk?" asked my wife. + +"It's all in de tale, ma'am," Julius replied, with a deep sigh. +"It's all in de tale." + +"Tell us the tale," I said. "Perhaps, by the time you get +through, the haunt will go away and the mare will cross." + +I was willing to humor the old man's fancy. He had not told us a +story for some time; and the dark and solemn swamp around us; the +amber-colored stream flowing silently and sluggishly at our feet, +like the waters of Lethe; the heavy, aromatic scent of the bays, +faintly suggestive of funeral wreaths,--all made the place an +ideal one for a ghost story. + +"Chloe," Julius began in a subdued tone, "use' ter b'long ter ole +Mars' Dugal' McAdoo--my ole marster. She wuz a ladly gal en a +smart gal, en ole mis' tuk her up ter de big house, en l'arnt her +ter wait on de w'ite folks, 'tel bimeby she come ter be mis's own +maid, en 'peared ter 'low she run de house herse'f, ter heah her +talk erbout it. I wuz a young boy den, en use' ter wuk about de +stables, so I knowed ev'ythin' dat wuz gwine on roun' de +plantation. + +"Well, one time Mars' Dugal' wanted a house boy, en sont down ter +de qua'ters fer hab Jeff en Hannibal come up ter de big house nex' +mawnin'. Ole marster en ole mis' look' de two boys ober, en +'sco'sed wid deyse'ves fer a little w'ile, en den Mars' Dugal' +sez, sezee:-- + +"'We laks Hannibal de bes', en we gwine ter keep him. Heah, +Hannibal, you'll wuk at de house fum now on. En ef you're a good +nigger en min's yo' bizness, I'll gib you Chloe fer a wife nex' +spring. You other nigger, you Jeff, you kin go back ter de +qua'ters. We ain' gwine ter need you.' + +"Now Chloe had be'n standin' dere behin' ole mis' dyoin' all er +dis yer talk, en Chloe made up her min' fum de ve'y fus' minute +she sot eyes on dem two dat she didn' lak dat nigger Hannibal, en +wa'n't nebber gwine keer fer 'im, en she wuz des ez sho' dat she +lak Jeff, en wuz gwine ter set sto' by 'im, whuther Mars' Dugal' +tuk 'im in de big house er no; en so co'se Chloe wuz monst'us +sorry w'en ole Mars' Dugal' tuk Hannibal en sont Jeff back. So +she slip' roun' de house en waylaid Jeff on de way back ter de +qua'ters en tol' 'im not ter be downhea'ted, fer she wuz gwine ter +see ef she couldn' fin' some way er 'nuther ter git rid er dat +nigger Hannibal, en git Jeff up ter de house in his place. + +"De noo house boy kotch on monst'us fas', en it wa'n't no time +ha'dly befo' Mars' Dugal' en ole mis' bofe 'mence' ter 'low +Hannibal wuz de bes' house boy dey eber had. He wuz peart en +soopl', quick ez lightnin', en sha'p ez a razor. But Chloe didn' +lak his ways. He wuz so sho' he wuz gwine ter git 'er in de +spring, dat he didn' 'pear ter 'low he had ter do any co'tin', en +w'en he'd run 'cross Chloe 'bout de house, he'd swell roun' 'er in +a biggity way en say: + +"'Come heah en kiss me, honey. You gwine ter be mine in de +spring. You doan 'pear ter be ez fon' er me ez you oughter be.' + +"Chloe didn' keer nuffin' fer Hannibal, en hadn' keered nuffin' +fer 'im, en she sot des ez much sto' by Jeff ez she did de day she +fus' laid eyes on 'im. En de mo' fermilyus dis yer Hannibal got, +de mo' Chloe let her min' run on Jeff, en one ebenin' she went +down ter de qua'ters en watch', 'tel she got a chance fer ter talk +wid 'im by hisse'f. En she tol' Jeff fer ter go down en see ole +Aun' Peggy, de cunjuh-'oman down by de Wim'l'ton Road, en ax her +fer ter gib 'im sump'n ter he'p git Hannibal out'n de big house, +so de w'ite folks 'u'd sen' fer Jeff ag'in. En bein' ez Jeff +didn' hab nuffin' ter gib Aun' Peggy, Chloe gun i'm a silber +dollah en a silk han'kercher fer ter pay her wid, fer Aun' Peggy +nebber lak ter wuk fer nobody fer nuffin'. + +"So Jeff slip' off down ter Aun' Peggy's one night, en gun 'er de +presents he brung, en tol' er all 'bout 'im en Chloe en Hannibal, +en ax' 'er ter he'p 'im out. Aun' Peggy tol' 'im she'd wuk 'er +roots, en fer 'im ter come back de nex' night, en she'd tell 'im +w'at she c'd do fer 'im. + +"So de nex' night Jeff went back, en Aun' Peggy gun 'im a baby- +doll, wid a body made out'n a piece er co'n-stalk, en wid +splinters fer a'ms en legs, en a head made out'n elderberry peth, +en two little red peppers fer feet. + +"'Dis yer baby-doll,' sez she, 'is Hannibal. Dis yer peth head is +Hannibal's head, en dese yer pepper feet is Hannibal's feet. You +take dis en hide it unner de house, on de sill unner de do', whar +Hannibal'll hafter walk ober it ev'y day. En ez long ez Hannibal +comes anywhar nigh dis baby-doll, he'll be des lak it is--light- +headed en hot-footed; en ef dem two things doan git 'im inter +trouble mighty soon, den I'm no cunjuh-'oman. But w'en you git +Hannibal out'n de house, en git all thoo wid dis baby-doll, you +mus' fetch it back ter me, fer it's monst'us powerful goopher, en +is liable ter make mo' trouble ef you leabe it layin' roun'.' + +"Well, Jeff tuk de baby-doll, en slip' up ter de big house, en +whistle' ter Chloe, en w'en she come out he tol' 'er w'at ole Aun' +Peggy had said. En Chloe showed 'im how ter git unner de house, +en w'en he had put de cunjuh-doll on de sill he went 'long back +ter de qua'ters--en des waited. + +"Nex' day, sho' 'nuff, de goopher 'mence' ter wuk. Hannibal +sta'ted in de house soon in de mawnin' wid a armful er wood ter +make a fier, en he hadn' mo' d'n got 'cross de do'sill befo' his +feet begun ter bu'n so dat he drap' de armful er wood on de flo' +en woke ole mis' up an hour sooner'n yuzhal, en co'se ole mis' +didn' lak dat, en spoke sha'p erbout it. + +"W'en dinner-time come, en Hannibal wuz help'n de cook kyar de +dinner f'm de kitchen inter de big house, en wuz gittin' close ter +de do' what he had ter go in, his feet sta'ted ter bu'n en his +head begun ter swim, en he let de big dish er chicken en dumplin's +fall right down in de dirt, in de middle er de ya'd, en de w'ite +folks had ter make dey dinner dat day off'n col' ham en sweet +pertaters. + +"De nex' mawnin' he overslep' hisse'f, en got inter mo' trouble. +Atter breakfus', Mars' Dugal' sont 'im ober ter Mars' Marrabo +Utley's fer ter borry a monkey wrench. He oughter be'n back in +ha'f an hour, but he come pokin' home 'bout dinner'time wid a +screw-driver stidder a monkey wrench. Mars' Dugal' sont ernudder +nigger back wid de screw-driver, en Hannibal didn' git no dinner. +'Long in de atternoon, ole mis' sot Hannibal ter weedin' de +flowers in de front gyahden, en Hannibal dug up all de bulbs ole +mis' had sont erway fer, en paid a lot er money fer, en tuk 'em +down ter de hawg-pen by de ba'nya'd, en fed 'em ter de hawgs. +W'en ole mis' come out in de cool er de ebenin', en seed w'at +Hannibal had done, she wuz mos' crazy, en she wrote a note en sont +Hannibal down ter de obserseah wid it. + +"But w'at Hannibal got fum de oberseah didn' 'pear ter do no good. +Ev'y now en den 'is feet'd 'mence ter torment 'im, en 'is min' +'u'd git all mix' up, en his conduc' kep' gittin' wusser en +wusser, 'tel fin'ly de w'ite folks couldn' stan' it no longer, en +Mars' Dugal' tuk Hannibal back down ter de qua'ters. + +"'Mr. Smif,' sez Mars' Dugal' ter de oberseah, 'dis yer nigger has +tu'nt out so triflin' yer lately, dat we can't keep 'im at de +house no mo', en I's fotch' 'im ter you ter be straighten' up. +You's had 'casion ter deal wid 'im once, so he knows w'at ter +expec'. You des take 'im in han', en lemme know how he tu'ns out. +En w'en de han's comes in fum de fiel' dis ebenin' you kin sen' +dat yaller nigger Jeff up ter de house. I'll try 'im, en see ef +he's any better'n Hannibal.' + +"So Jeff went up ter de big house, en pleas' Mars' Dugal' en ole +mis' en de res' er de fambly so well dat dey all got ter lakin' +'im fus'rate, en dey'd 'a' fergot all 'bout Hannibal ef it hadn' +be'n fer de bad repo'ts w'at come up fum de qua'ters 'bout 'im fer +a mont' er so. Fac' is dat Chloe en Jeff wuz so int'rusted in one +ernudder since Jeff be'n up ter de house, dat dey fergot all about +takin' de baby-doll back ter Aun' Peggy, en it kep' wukkin fer a +w'ile, en makin' Hannibal's feet bu'n mo' er less, 'tel all de +folks on de plantation got ter callin' 'im Hot-Foot Hannibal. He +kep' gittin' mo' en mo' triflin', 'tel he got de name er bein' de +mos' no 'countes' nigger on de plantation, en Mars' Dugal' had ter +th'eaten ter sell 'im in de spring; w'en bimeby de goopher quit +wukkin', en Hannibal 'mence' ter pick up some en make folks set a +little mo' sto' by 'im. + +"Now, dis yer Hannibal was a monst'us sma't nigger, en w'en he got +rid er dem so' feet his min' kep' runnin' on 'is udder troubles. +Heah th'ee er fo' weeks befo' he'd had a' easy job, waitin' on de +w'ite folks, libbin off'n de fat er de lan', en promus' de fines' +gal on de plantation fer a wife in de spring, en now heah he wuz +back in de co'nfiel', wid de oberseah a-cussin' en a r'arin' ef he +didn' get a ha'd tas' done; wid nuffin' but co'n bread en bacon en +merlasses ter eat; en all de fiel-han's makin' rema'ks, en pokin' +fun at 'im ca'se he be'n sont back fum de big house ter de fiel'. +En de mo' Hannibal studied 'bout it de mo' madder he got, 'tel he +fin'ly swo' he wuz gwine ter git eben wid Jeff en Chloe ef it wuz +de las' ac'. + +"So Hannibal slipped 'way fum de qua'ters one Sunday en hid in de +co'n up close ter de big house, 'tel he see Chloe gwine down de +road. He waylaid her, en sezee:-- + +"'Hoddy, Chloe?' + +"'I ain't got no time fer ter fool wid fiel'-han's,' sez Chloe, +tossin' her head; 'W'at you want wid me, Hot-Foot?' + +"'I wants ter know how you en Jeff is gittin' 'long.' + +"'I 'lows dat's none er yo' bizness, nigger. I doan see w'at +'casion any common fiel'-han' has got ter mix in wid de 'fairs er +folks w'at libs in de big house. But ef it'll do you any good ter +know, I mought say dat me en Jeff is gittin' 'long mighty well, en +we gwine ter git married in de spring, en you ain' gwine ter be +'vited ter de weddin' nuther.' + +"'No, no!' sezee, 'I wouldn' 'spec' ter be 'vited ter de weddin',-- +a common, low-down fiel'-han' lak I is. But I's glad ter heah +you en Jeff is gittin' 'long so well. I didn' knowed but w'at he +had 'mence' ter be a little ti'ed.' + +"'Ti'ed er me? Dat's rediklus!' sez Chloe. 'W'y, dat nigger lubs +me so I b'liebe he'd go th'oo fier en water fer me. Dat nigger is +des wrop' up in me.' + +"'Uh huh,' sez Hannibal, 'den I reckon is mus' be some udder +nigger w'at meets a 'oman down by de crick in de swamp ev'y Sunday +ebenin', ter say nuffin' 'bout two er th'ee times a week.' + +"'Yas, hit is ernudder nigger, en you is a liah w'en you say it +wuz Jeff.' + +"'Mebbe I is a liah, en mebbe I ain' got good eyes. But 'less'n I +IS a liah, en 'less'n I AIN' got good eyes, Jeff is gwine ter meet +dat 'oman dis ebenin' long 'bout eight o'clock right down dere by +de crick in de swamp 'bout halfway betwix' dis plantation en Mars' +Marrabo Utley's.' + +"Well, Chloe tol' Hannibal she didn' b'liebe a wud he said, en +call' 'im a low-down nigger who wuz tryin' ter slander Jeff 'ca'se +he wuz mo' luckier'n he wuz. But all de same, she couldn' keep +her min' fum runnin' on w'at Hannibal had said. She 'membered +she'd heared one er de niggers say dey wuz a gal ober at Mars' +Marrabo Utley's plantation w'at Jeff use' ter go wid some befo' he +got 'quainted wid Chloe. Den she 'mence' ter figger back, en sho' +'nuff, dey wuz two er th'ee times in de las' week w'en she'd be'n +he'p'n de ladies wid dey dressin' en udder fixin's in de ebenin', +en Jeff mought 'a' gone down ter de swamp widout her knowin' 'bout +it at all. En den she 'mence' ter 'member little things w'at she +hadn' tuk no notice of befo', en w'at 'u'd make it 'pear lak Jeff +had sump'n on his min'. + +"Chloe set a monst'us heap er sto' by Jeff, en would 'a' done mos' +anythin' fer 'im, so long ez he stuck ter her. But Chloe wuz a +mighty jealous 'oman, en w'iles she didn' b'liebe w'at Hannibal +said, she seed how it COULD 'a' be'n so, en she 'termine' fer ter +fin' out fer herse'f whuther it WUZ so er no. + +"Now, Chloe hadn' seed Jeff all day, fer Mars' Dugal' had sont +Jeff ober ter his daughter's house, young Mis' Ma'g'ret's, w'at +libbed 'bout fo' miles fum Mars' Dugal's, en Jeff wuzn' 'spected +home 'tel ebenin'. But des atter supper wuz ober, en w'iles de +ladies wuz settin' out on de piazzer, Chloe slip' off fum de house +en run down de road,--dis yer same road we come; en w'en she got +mos' ter de crick--dis yer same crick right befo' us--she kin' er +kip' in de bushes at de side er de road, 'tel fin'ly she seed Jeff +settin' on de back on de udder side er de crick,--right under dat +ole willer tree droopin' ober de watah yander. En ev'y now en den +he'd git up en look up de road to'ds Mars' Marrabo's on de udder +side er de swamp. + +"Fus' Chloe felt lak she'd go right ober de crick en gib Jeff a +piece er her min'. Den she 'lowed she better be sho' befo' she +done anythin'. So she helt herse'f in de bes' she could, gittin' +madder en madder ev'ry minute, 'tel bimeby she seed a 'oman comin' +down de road on de udder side fum to'ds Mars' Marrabo Utley's +plantation. En w'en she seed Jeff jump up en run to'ds dat 'oman, +en th'ow his a'ms roun' her neck, po' Chloe didn' stop ter see no +mo', but des tu'nt roun' en run up ter de house, en rush' up on de +piazzer, en up en tol' Mars' Dugal' en ole mis' all 'bout de baby- +doll, en all 'bout Jeff gittin' de goopher fum Aun' Peggy, en +'bout w'at de goopher had done ter Hannibal. + +"Mars' Dugal' wuz monst'us mad. He didn' let on at fus' lak he +b'liebed Chloe, but w'en she tuk en showed 'im whar ter fin' de +baby-doll, Mars' Dugal' tu'nt w'ite ez chalk. + +"'What debil's wuk is dis?' sezee. 'No wonder de po' nigger's +feet eetched. Sump'n got ter be done ter l'arn dat ole witch ter +keep her han's off'n my niggers. En ez fer dis yer Jeff, I'm +gwine ter do des w'at I promus', so de darkies on dis +plantation'll know I means w'at I sez.' + +"Fer Mars' Dugal' had warned de han's befo' 'bout foolin' wid +cunju'ation; fac', he had los' one er two niggers hisse'f fum dey +bein' goophered, en he would 'a' had ole Aun' Peggy whip' long +ago, on'y Aun' Peggy wuz a free 'oman, en he wuz 'feard she'd +cunjuh him. En wi'les Mars' Dugal' say he didn' b'liebe in +cunj'in' en sich, he 'peared ter 'low it wuz bes' ter be on de +safe side, en let Aun' Peggy alone. + +"So Mars' Dugal' done des ez he say. Ef ole mis' had ple'd fer +Jeff he mought 'a' kep' 'im. But ole mis' hadn' got ober losin' +dem bulbs yit, en she nebber said a wud. Mars' Dugal' tuk Jeff +ter town nex' day en' sol' 'im ter a spekilater, who sta'ted down +de ribber wid 'im nex' mawnin' on a steamboat, fer ter take 'im +ter Alabama. + +"Now, w'en Chloe tol' ole Mars' Dugal' 'bout dis yer baby-doll en +dis udder goopher, she hadn' ha'dly 'lowed Mars' Dugal' would sell +Jeff down Souf. Howsomeber, she wuz so mad wid Jeff dat she +'suaded herse'f she didn' keer; en so she hilt her head up en went +roun' lookin' lak she wuz rale glad 'bout it. But one day she wuz +walkin' down de road, w'en who sh'd come 'long but dis yer +Hannibal. + +"W'en Hannibal seed 'er he bus' out laffin' fittin' fer ter kill: +'Yah, yah, yah! ho, ho, ho! ha, ha, ha! Oh, hol' me, honey, hol' +me, er I'll laf myse'f ter def. I ain' nebber laf' so much sence +I be'n bawn.' + +"'W'at you laffin' at, Hot-Foot?' + +"'Yah, yah, yah! W'at I laffin' at? W'y, I's laffin' at myse'f, +tooby sho',--laffin' ter think w'at a fine 'oman I made.' + +"Chloe tu'nt pale, en her hea't come up in her mouf. + +"'W'at you mean, nigger?' sez she, ketchin' holt er a bush by de +road fer ter stiddy herse'f. 'W'at you mean by de kin' er 'oman +you made?' + +"W'at do I mean? I means dat I got squared up wid you fer +treatin' me de way you done, en I got eben wid dat yaller nigger +Jeff fer cuttin' me out. Now, he's gwine ter know w'at it is ter +eat co'n bread en merlasses once mo', en wuk fum daylight ter +da'k, en ter hab a oberseah dribin' 'im fum one day's een' ter de +udder. I means dat I sont wud ter Jeff dat Sunday dat you wuz +gwine ter be ober ter Mars' Marrabo's visitin' dat ebenin', en you +want i'm ter meet you down by de crick on de way home en go de +rest er de road wid you. En den I put on a frock en a sun-bonnet +en fix' myse'f up ter look lak a 'oman; en w'en Jeff seed me +comin' he run ter meet me, en you seed 'im,--fer I had be'n +watchin' in de bushes befo' en 'skivered you comin' down de road. +En now I reckon you en Jeff bofe knows w'at it means ter mess wid +a nigger lak me.' + +"Po' Chloe hadn' heared mo' d'n half er de las' part er w'at +Hannibal said, but she had heared 'nuff to l'arn dat dis nigger +had fooler her en Jeff, en dat po' Jeff hadn' done nuffin', en dat +fer lovin' her too much en goin' ter meet her she had cause' 'im +ter be sol' erway whar she'd nebber, nebber see 'im no mo'. De +sun mought shine by day, de moon by night, de flowers mought +bloom, en de mawkin'-birds mought sing, but po' Jeff wuz done los' +ter her fereber en fereber. + +"Hannibal hadn' mo' d'n finish' w'at he had ter say, w'en Chloe's +knees gun 'way unner her, en she fell down in de road, en lay dere +half a' hour er so befo' she come to. W'en she did, she crep' up +ter de house des ez pale ez a ghos'. En fer a mont' er so she +crawled roun' de house, en 'peared ter be so po'ly dat Mars' +Dugal' sont fer a doctor; en de doctor kep' on axin' her questions +'tel he foun' she wuz des pinin' erway fer Jeff. + +"W'en he tol' Mars' Dugal', Mars' Dugal' lafft, en said he'd fix +dat. She could hab de noo house boy fer a husban'. But ole mis' +say, no, Chloe ain' dat kinder gal, en dat Mars' Dugal' should buy +Jeff back. + +"So Mars' Dugal' writ a letter ter dis yer spekilater down ter +Wim'l'ton, en tol' ef he ain' done sol' dat nigger Souf w'at he +bought fum 'im, he'd lak ter buy 'm back ag'in. Chloe 'mence' ter +pick up a little w'en ole mis' tol' her 'bout dis letter. +Howsomeber, bimeby Mars' Dugal' got a' answer fum de spekilater, +who said he wuz monst'us sorry, but Jeff had fell ove'boa'd er +jumped off'n de steamboat on de way ter Wim'l'ton, en got +drownded, en co'se he couldn' sell 'im back, much ez he'd lak ter +'bleedge Mars' Dugal'. + +"Well, atter Chloe heared dis she pu'tended ter do her wuk, en ole +mis' wa'n't much mo' use ter nobody. She put up wid her, en hed +de doctor gib her medicine, en let 'er go ter de circus, en all +so'ts er things fer ter take her min' off'n her troubles. But dey +didn' none un 'em do no good. Chloe got ter slippin' down here in +de ebenin' des lak she 'uz comin' ter meet Jeff, en she'd set dere +unner dat willer tree on de udder side, en wait fer 'im, night +atter night. Bimeby she got so bad de w'ite folks sont her ober +ter young Mis' Ma'g'ret's fer ter gib her a change; but she runned +erway de fus' night, en w'en dey looked fer 'er nex' mawnin' dey +foun' her co'pse layin' in de branch yander, right 'cross fum whar +we're settin' now. + +"Eber sence den," said Julius in conclusion, "Chloe's ha'nt comes +eve'y ebenin' en sets down unner dat willer tree en waits fer +Jeff, er e'se walks up en down de road yander, lookin' en lookin', +en' [sic] waitin' en waitin', fer her sweethea't w'at ain' nebber, +nebber come back ter her no mo'." + +There was silence when the old man had finished, and I am sure I +saw a tear in my wife's eye, and more than one in Mabel's. + +"I think, Julius," said my wife after a moment, "that you may turn +the mare around and go by the long road." + +The old man obeyed with alacrity, and I noticed no reluctance on +the mare's part. + +"You are not afraid of Chloe's haunt, are you?" I asked jocularly. + +My mood was not responded to, and neither of the ladies smiled. + +"Oh no," said Annie, "but I've changed my mind. I prefer the +other route." + +When we had reached the main road and had proceeded along it for a +short distance, we met a cart driven by a young negro, and on the +cart were a trunk and a valise. We recognized the man as Malcolm +Murchison's servant, and drew up a moment to speak to him. + +"Who's going away, Marshall?" I inquired. + +"Young Mistah Ma'colm gwine 'way on de boat ter Noo Yo'k dis +ebenin', suh, en I'm takin' his things down ter de wharf, suh." + +This was news to me, and I heard it with regret. My wife looked +sorry, too, and I could see that Mabel was trying hard to hide her +concern. + +"He's comin' 'long behin', suh, en I 'spec's you'll meet 'im up de +road a piece. He's gwine ter walk down ez fur ez Mistah Jim +Williams's, en take de buggy fum dere ter town. He 'spec's ter be +gone a long time, suh, en say prob'ly he ain' nebber comin' back." + +The man drove on. There were a few words exchanged in an +undertone between my wife and Mabel, which I did not catch. Then +Annie said: "Julius, you may stop the rockaway a moment. There +are some trumpet-flowers by the road there that I want. Will you +get them for me, John?" + +I sprang into the underbrush, and soon returned with a great bunch +of scarlet blossoms. + +"Where is Mabel?" I asked, noting her absence. + +"She has walked on ahead. We shall overtake her in a few +minutes." + +The carriage had gone only a short distance when my wife +discovered that she had dropped her fan. + +"I had it where we were stopping. Julius, will you go back and +get it for me?" + +Julius got down and went back for the fan. He was an +unconscionably long time finding it. After we got started again +we had gone only a little way, when we saw Mabel and young +Murchison coming toward us. They were walking arm in arm, and +their faces were aglow with the light of love. + + +I do not know whether or not Julius had a previous understanding +with Malcolm Murchison by which he was to drive us round by the +long road that day, nor do I know exactly what motive influenced +the old man's exertions in the matter. He was fond of Mabel, but +I was old enough, and knew Julius well enough, to be skeptical of +his motives. It is certain that a most excellent understanding +existed between him and Murchison after the reconciliation, and +that when the young people set up housekeeping over at the old +Murchison place Julius had an opportunity to enter their service. +For some reason or other, however, he preferred to remain with us. +The mare, I might add, was never known to balk again. + + + +A NEGRO SCHOOLMASTER IN THE NEW SOUTH +by W. E. Burghardt Du Bois + + +Once upon a time I taught school in the hills of Tennessee, where +the broad dark vale of the Mississippi begins to roll and crumple +to greet the Alleghanies. I was a Fisk student then, and all Fisk +men think that Tennessee--beyond the Veil--is theirs alone, and in +vacation time they sally forth in lusty bands to meet the county +school commissioners. Young and happy, I too went, and I shall +not soon forget that summer, ten years ago. + +First, there was a teachers' Institute at the county-seat; and +there distinguished guests of the superintendent taught the +teachers fractions and spelling and other mysteries,--white +teachers in the morning, Negroes at night. A picnic now and then, +and a supper, and the rough world was softened by laughter and +song. I remember how--But I wander. + +There came a day when all the teachers left the Institute, and +began the hunt for schools. I learn from hearsay (for my mother +was mortally afraid of firearms) that the hunting of ducks and +bears and men is wonderfully interesting, but I am sure that the +man who has never hunted a country school has something to learn +of the pleasures of the chase. I see now the white, hot roads +lazily rise and fall and wind before me under the burning July +sun; I feel the deep weariness of heart and limb, as ten, eight, +six miles stretch relentlessly ahead; I feel my heart sink heavily +as I hear again and again, "Got a teacher? Yes." So I walked on +and on,--horses were too expensive,--until I had wandered beyond +railways, beyond stage lines, to a land of "varmints" and +rattlesnakes, where the coming of a stranger was an event, and men +lived and died in the shadow of one blue hill. + +Sprinkled over hill and dale lay cabins and farmhouses, shut out +from the world by the forests and the rolling hills toward the +east. There I found at last a little school. Josie told me of +it; she was a thin, homely girl of twenty, with a dark brown face +and thick, hard hair. I had crossed the stream at Watertown, and +rested under the great willows; then I had gone to the little +cabin in the lot where Josie was resting on her way to town. The +gaunt farmer made me welcome, and Josie, hearing my errand, told +me anxiously that they wanted a school over the hill; that but +once since the war had a teacher been there; that she herself +longed to learn,--and thus she ran on, talking fast and loud, with +much earnestness and energy. + +Next morning I crossed the tall round hill, lingered to look at +the blue and yellow mountains stretching toward the Carolinas; +then I plunged into the wood, and came out at Josie's home. It +was a dull frame cottage with four rooms, perched just below the +brow of the hill, amid peach trees. The father was a quiet, +simple soul, calmly ignorant, with no touch of vulgarity. The +mother was different,--strong, bustling, and energetic, with a +quick, restless tongue, and an ambition to live "like folks." +There was a crowd of children. Two boys had gone away. There +remained two growing girls; a shy midget of eight; John, tall, +awkward, and eighteen; Jim, younger, quicker, and better looking; +and two babies of indefinite age. Then there was Josie herself. +She seemed to be the centre of the family: always busy at service +or at home, or berry-picking; a little nervous and inclined to +scold, like her mother, yet faithful, too, like her father. She +had about her a certain fineness, the shadow of an unconscious +moral heroism that would willingly give all of life to make life +broader, deeper, and fuller for her and hers. I saw much of this +family afterward, and grew to love them for their honest efforts +to be decent and comfortable, and for their knowledge of their own +ignorance. There was with them no affectation. The mother would +scold the father for being so "easy;" Josie would roundly rate the +boys for carelessness; and all knew that it was a hard thing to +dig a living out of a rocky side hill. + +I secured the school. I remember the day I rode horseback out to +the commissioner's house, with a pleasant young white fellow, who +wanted the white school. The road ran down the bed of a stream; +the sun laughed and the water jingled, and we rode on. "Come in," +said the commissioner,--"come in. Have a seat. Yes, that +certificate will do. Stay to dinner. What do you want a month?" +Oh, thought I, this is lucky; but even then fell the awful shadow +of the Veil, for they ate first, then I--alone. + +The schoolhouse was a log hut, where Colonel Wheeler used to +shelter his corn. It sat in a lot behind a rail fence and thorn +bushes, near the sweetest of springs. There was an entrance where +a door once was, and within, a massive rickety fireplace; great +chinks between the logs served as windows. Furniture was scarce. +A pale blackboard crouched in the corner. My desk was made of +three boards, reinforced at critical points, and my chair, +borrowed from the landlady, had to be returned every night. Seats +for the children,--these puzzled me much. I was haunted by a New +England vision of neat little desks and chairs, but, alas, the +reality was rough plank benches without backs, and at times +without legs. They had the one virtue of making naps dangerous,-- +possibly fatal, for the floor was not to be trusted. + +It was a hot morning late in July when the school opened. I +trembled when I heard the patter of little feet down the dusty +road, and saw the growing row of dark solemn faces and bright +eager eyes facing me. First came Josie and her brothers and +sisters. The longing to know, to be a student in the great school +at Nashville, hovered like a star above this child woman amid her +work and worry, and she studied doggedly. There were the Dowells +from their farm over toward Alexandria: Fanny, with her smooth +black face and wondering eyes; Martha, brown and dull; the pretty +girl wife of a brother, and the younger brood. There were the +Burkes, two brown and yellow lads, and a tiny haughty-eyed girl. +Fat Reuben's little chubby girl came, with golden face and old +gold hair, faithful and solemn. 'Thenie was on hand early,--a +jolly, ugly, good-hearted girl, who slyly dipped snuff and looked +after her little bow-legged brother. When her mother could spare +her, 'Tildy came,--a midnight beauty, with starry eyes and +tapering limbs; and her brother, correspondingly homely. And then +the big boys: the hulking Lawrences; the lazy Neills, unfathered +sons of mother and daughter; Hickman, with a stoop in his +shoulders; and the rest. + +There they sat, nearly thirty of them, on the rough benches, their +faces shading from a pale cream to a deep brown, the little feet +bare and swinging, the eyes full of expectation, with here and +there a twinkle of mischief, and the hands grasping Webster's +blue-back spelling-book. I loved my school, and the fine faith +the children had in the wisdom of their teacher was truly +marvelous. We read and spelled together, wrote a little, picked +flowers, sang, and listened to stories of the world beyond the +hill. At times the school would dwindle away, and I would start +out. I would visit Mun Eddings, who lived in two very dirty +rooms, and ask why little Lugene, whose flaming face seemed ever +ablaze with the dark red hair uncombed, was absent all last week, +or why I missed so often the inimitable rags of Mack and Ed. Then +the father, who worked Colonel Wheeler's farm on shares, would +tell me how the crops needed the boys; and the thin, slovenly +mother, whose face was pretty when washed, assured me that Lugene +must mind the baby. "But we'll start them again next week." When +the Lawrences stopped, I knew that the doubts of the old folks +about book-learning had conquered again, and so, toiling up the +hill, and getting as far into the cabin as possible, I put Cicero +pro Archia Poeta into the simplest English with local +applications, and usually convinced them--for a week or so. + +On Friday nights I often went home with some of the children; +sometimes to Doc Burke's farm. He was a great, loud, thin Black, +ever working, and trying to buy the seventy-five acres of hill and +dale where he lived; but people said that he would surely fail, +and the "white folks would get it all." His wife was a +magnificent Amazon, with saffron face and shining hair, uncorseted +and barefooted, and the children were strong and beautiful. They +lived in a one-and-a-half-room cabin in the hollow of the farm, +near the spring. The front room was full of great fat white beds, +scrupulously neat; and there were bad chromos on the walls, and a +tired centre-table. In the tiny back kitchen I was often invited +to "take out and help" myself to fried chicken and wheat biscuit, +"meat" and corn pone, string beans and berries. At first I used +to be a little alarmed at the approach of bed-time in the one lone +bedroom, but embarrassment was very deftly avoided. First, all +the children nodded and slept, and were stowed away in one great +pile of goose feathers; next, the mother and the father discreetly +slipped away to the kitchen while I went to bed; then, blowing out +the dim light, they retired in the dark. In the morning all were +up and away before I thought of awaking. Across the road, where +fat Reuben lived, they all went outdoors while the teacher +retired, because they did not boast the luxury of a kitchen. + +I liked to stay with the Dowells, for they had four rooms and +plenty of good country fare. Uncle Bird had a small, rough farm, +all woods and hills, miles from the big road; but he was full of +tales,--he preached now and then,--and with his children, berries, +horses, and wheat he was happy and prosperous. Often, to keep the +peace, I must go where life was less lovely; for instance, +'Tildy's mother was incorrigibly dirty, Reuben's larder was +limited seriously, and herds of untamed bedbugs wandered over the +Eddingses' beds. Best of all I loved to go to Josie's, and sit on +the porch, eating peaches, while the mother bustled and talked: +how Josie had bought the sewing-machine; how Josie worked at +service in winter, but that four dollars a month was "mighty +little" wages; how Josie longed to go away to school, but that it +"looked like" they never could get far enough ahead to let her; +how the crops failed and the well was yet unfinished; and, +finally, how "mean" some of the white folks were. + +For two summers I lived in this little world; it was dull and +humdrum. The girls looked at the hill in wistful longing, and the +boys fretted, and haunted Alexandria. Alexandria was "town,"--a +straggling, lazy village of houses, churches, and shops, and an +aristocracy of Toms, Dicks, and Captains. Cuddled on the hill to +the north was the village of the colored folks, who lived in three +or four room unpainted cottages, some neat and homelike, and some +dirty. The dwellings were scattered rather aimlessly, but they +centred about the twin temples of the hamlet, the Methodist and +the Hard-Shell Baptist churches. These, in turn, leaned gingerly +on a sad-colored schoolhouse. Hither my little world wended its +crooked way on Sunday to meet other worlds, and gossip, and +wonder, and make the weekly sacrifice with frenzied priest at the +altar of the "old-time religion." Then the soft melody and mighty +cadences of Negro song fluttered and thundered. + +I have called my tiny community a world, and so its isolation made +it; and yet there was among us but a half-awakened common +consciousness, sprung from common joy and grief, at burial, birth, +or wedding; from a common hardship in poverty, poor land, and low +wages; and, above all, from the sight of the Veil that hung +between us and Opportunity. All this caused us to think some +thoughts together; but these, when ripe for speech, were spoken in +various languages. Those whose eyes thirty and more years before +had seen "the glory of the coming of the Lord" saw in every +present hindrance or help a dark fatalism bound to bring all +things right in His own good time. The mass of those to whom +slavery was a dim recollection of childhood found the world a +puzzling thing: it asked little of them, and they answered with +little, and yet it ridiculed their offering. Such a paradox they +could not understand, and therefore sank into listless +indifference, or shiftlessness, or reckless bravado. There were, +however, some such as Josie, Jim, and Ben,--they to whom War, +Hell, and Slavery were but childhood tales, whose young appetites +had been whetted to an edge by school and story and half-awakened +thought. Ill could they be content, born without and beyond the +World. And their weak wings beat against their barriers,-- +barriers of caste, of youth, of life; at last, in dangerous +moments, against everything that opposed even a whim. + + +The ten years that follow youth, the years when first the +realization comes that life is leading somewhere,--these were the +years that passed after I left my little school. When they were +past, I came by chance once more to the walls of Fisk University, +to the halls of the chapel of melody. As I lingered there in the +joy and pain of meeting old school friends, there swept over me a +sudden longing to pass again beyond the blue hill, and to see the +homes and the school of other days, and to learn how life had gone +with my school-children; and I went. + +Josie was dead, and the gray-haired mother said simply, "We've had +a heap of trouble since you've been away." I had feared for Jim. +With a cultured parentage and a social caste to uphold him, he +might have made a venturesome merchant or a West Point cadet. But +here he was, angry with life and reckless; and when Farmer Durham +charged him with stealing wheat, the old man had to ride fast to +escape the stones which the furious fool hurled after him. They +told Jim to run away; but he would not run, and the constable came +that afternoon. It grieved Josie, and great awkward John walked +nine miles every day to see his little brother through the bars of +Lebanon jail. At last the two came back together in the dark +night. The mother cooked supper, and Josie emptied her purse, and +the boys stole away. Josie grew thin and silent, yet worked the +more. The hill became steep for the quiet old father, and with +the boys away there was little to do in the valley. Josie helped +them sell the old farm, and they moved nearer town. Brother +Dennis, the carpenter, built a new house with six rooms; Josie +toiled a year in Nashville, and brought back ninety dollars to +furnish the house and change it to a home. + +When the spring came, and the birds twittered, and the stream ran +proud and full, little sister Lizzie, bold and thoughtless, +flushed with the passion of youth, bestowed herself on the +tempter, and brought home a nameless child. Josie shivered, and +worked on, with the vision of schooldays all fled, with a face wan +and tired,--worked until, on a summer's day, some one married +another; then Josie crept to her mother like a hurt child, and +slept--and sleeps. + +I paused to scent the breeze as I entered the valley. The +Lawrences have gone; father and son forever, and the other son +lazily digs in the earth to live. A new young widow rents out +their cabin to fat Reuben. Reuben is a Baptist preacher now, but +I fear as lazy as ever, though his cabin has three rooms; and +little Ella has grown into a bouncing woman, and is ploughing corn +on the hot hillside. There are babies a plenty, and one half- +witted girl. Across the valley is a house I did not know before, +and there I found, rocking one baby and expecting another, one of +my schoolgirls, a daughter of Uncle Bird Dowell. She looked +somewhat worried with her new duties, but soon bristled into pride +over her neat cabin, and the tale of her thrifty husband, the +horse and cow, and the farm they were planning to buy. + +My log schoolhouse was gone. In its place stood Progress, and +Progress, I understand, is necessarily ugly. The crazy foundation +stones still marked the former site of my poor little cabin, and +not far away, on six weary boulders, perched a jaunty board house, +perhaps twenty by thirty feet, with three windows and a door that +locked. Some of the window glass was broken, and part of an old +iron stove lay mournfully under the house. I peeped through the +window half reverently, and found things that were more familiar. +The blackboard had grown by about two feet, and the seats were +still without backs. The county owns the lot now, I hear, and +every year there is a session of school. As I sat by the spring +and looked on the Old and the New I felt glad, very glad, and yet-- + + +After two long drinks I started on. There was the great double +log house on the corner. I remembered the broken, blighted family +that used to live there. The strong, hard face of the mother, +with its wilderness of hair, rose before me. She had driven her +husband away, and while I taught school a strange man lived there, +big and jovial, and people talked. I felt sure that Ben and +'Tildy would come to naught from such a home. But this is an odd +world; for Ben is a busy farmer in Smith County, "doing well, +too," they say, and he had cared for little 'Tildy until last +spring, when a lover married her. A hard life the lad had led, +toiling for meat, and laughed at because he was homely and +crooked. There was Sam Carlon, an impudent old skinflint, who had +definite notions about niggers, and hired Ben a summer and would +not pay him. Then the hungry boy gathered his sacks together, and +in broad daylight went into Carlon's corn; and when the hard- +fisted farmer set upon him, the angry boy flew at him like a +beast. Doc Burke saved a murder and a lynching that day. + +The story reminded me again of the Burkes, and an impatience +seized me to know who won in the battle, Doc or the seventy-five +acres. For it is a hard thing to make a farm out of nothing, even +in fifteen years. So I hurried on, thinking of the Burkes. They +used to have a certain magnificent barbarism about them that I +liked. They were never vulgar, never immoral, but rather rough +and primitive, with an unconventionality that spent itself in loud +guffaws, slaps on the back, and naps in the corner. I hurried by +the cottage of the misborn Neill boys. It was empty, and they +were grown into fat, lazy farm hands. I saw the home of the +Hickmans, but Albert, with his stooping shoulders, had passed from +the world. Then I came to the Burkes' gate and peered through; +the inclosure looked rough and untrimmed, and yet there were the +same fences around the old farm save to the left, where lay +twenty-five other acres. And lo! the cabin in the hollow had +climbed the hill and swollen to a half-finished six-room cottage. + +The Burkes held a hundred acres, but they were still in debt. +Indeed, the gaunt father who toiled night and day would scarcely +be happy out of debt, being so used to it. Some day he must stop, +for his massive frame is showing decline. The mother wore shoes, +but the lionlike physique of other days was broken. The children +had grown up. Rob, the image of his father, was loud and rough +with laughter. Birdie, my school baby of six, had grown to a +picture of maiden beauty, tall and tawny. "Edgar is gone," said +the mother, with head half bowed,--"gone to work in Nashville; he +and his father couldn't agree." + +Little Doc, the boy born since the time of my school, took me +horseback down the creek next morning toward Farmer Dowell's. The +road and the stream were battling for mastery, and the stream had +the better of it. We splashed and waded, and the merry boy, +perched behind me, chattered and laughed. He showed me where +Simon Thompson had bought a bit of ground and a home; but his +daughter Lana, a plump, brown, slow girl, was not there. She had +married a man and a farm twenty miles away. We wound on down the +stream till we came to a gate that I did not recognize, but the +boy insisted that it was "Uncle Bird's." The farm was fat with +the growing crop. In that little valley was a strange stillness +as I rode up; for death and marriage had stolen youth, and left +age and childhood there. We sat and talked that night, after the +chores were done. Uncle Bird was grayer, and his eyes did not see +so well, but he was still jovial. We talked of the acres bought,-- +one hundred and twenty-five,--of the new guest chamber added, of +Martha's marrying. Then we talked of death: Fanny and Fred were +gone; a shadow hung over the other daughter, and when it lifted +she was to go to Nashville to school. At last we spoke of the +neighbors, and as night fell Uncle Bird told me how, on a night +like that, 'Thenie came wandering back to her home over yonder, to +escape the blows of her husband. And next morning she died in the +home that her little bow-legged brother, working and saving, had +bought for their widowed mother. + +My journey was done, and behind me lay hill and dale, and Life and +Death. How shall man measure Progress there where the dark-faced +Josie lies? How many heartfuls of sorrow shall balance a bushel +of wheat? How hard a thing is life to the lowly, and yet how +human and real! And all this life and love and strife and +failure,--is it the twilight of nightfall or the flush of some +faint-dawning day? + +Thus sadly musing, I rode to Nashville in the Jim Crow car. + + + +THE CAPTURE OF A SLAVER +by J. Taylor Wood + + +From 1830 to 1850 both Great Britain and the United States, by +joint convention, kept on the coast of Africa at least eighty guns +afloat for the suppression of the slave trade. Most of the +vessels so employed were small corvettes, brigs, or schooners; +steam at that time was just being introduced into the navies of +the world. + +Nearly fifty years ago I was midshipman on the United States brig +Porpoise, of ten guns. Some of my readers may remember these +little ten-gun coffins, as many of them proved to be to their +crews. The Porpoise was a fair sample of the type; a full-rigged +brig of one hundred and thirty tons, heavily sparred, deep +waisted, and carrying a battery of eight twenty-four-pound +carronades and two long chasers; so wet that even in a moderate +breeze or sea it was necessary to batten down; and so tender that +she required careful watching; only five feet between decks, her +quarters were necessarily cramped and uncomfortable, and, as far +as possible, we lived on deck. With a crew of eighty all told, +Lieutenant Thompson was in command, Lieutenant Bukett executive +officer, and two midshipmen were the line officers. She was so +slow that we could hardly hope for a prize except by a fluke. +Repeatedly we had chased suspicious craft only to be out-sailed. + +At this time the traffic in slaves was very brisk; the demand in +the Brazils, in Cuba, and in other Spanish West Indies was urgent, +and the profit of the business so great that two or three +successful ventures would enrich any one. The slavers were +generally small, handy craft; fast, of course; usually schooner- +rigged, and carrying flying topsails and forecourse. Many were +built in England or elsewhere purposely for the business, without, +of course, the knowledge of the builders, ostensibly as yachts or +traders. The Spaniards and Portuguese were the principal +offenders, with occasionally an English-speaking renegade. + +The slave depots, or barracoons, were generally located some miles +up a river. Here the slaver was secure from capture and could +embark his live cargo at his leisure. Keeping a sharp lookout on +the coast, the dealers were able to follow the movements of the +cruisers, and by means of smoke, or in other ways, signal when the +coast was clear for the coming down the river and sailing of the +loaded craft. Before taking in the cargoes they were always +fortified with all the necessary papers and documents to show they +were engaged in legitimate commerce, so it was only when caught in +flagrante delicto that we could hold them. + +We had been cruising off the coast of Liberia doing nothing, when +we were ordered to the Gulf of Guinea to watch the Bonny and +Cameroons mouths of the great Niger River. Our consort was H.M. +schooner Bright, a beautiful craft about our tonnage, but with +half our crew, and able to sail three miles to our two. She was +an old slaver, captured and adapted as a cruiser. She had been +very successful, making several important captures of full +cargoes, and twice or thrice her commanding officer and others had +been promoted. Working our way slowly down the coast in company +with the Bright, we would occasionally send a boat on shore to +reconnoitre or gather any information we could from the natives +through our Krooman interpreter. A few glasses of rum or a string +of beads would loosen the tongue of almost any one. At Little +Bonny we heard that two vessels were some miles up the river, +ready to sail, and were only waiting until the coast was clear. +Captain James, of the Bright, thought that one, if not both, would +sail from another outlet of the river, about thirty miles to the +southward, and determined to watch it. + +We both stood to that direction. Of course we were watched from +the shore, and the slavers were kept posted as to our movements. +They supposed we had both gone to the Cameroons, leaving Little +Bonny open; but after dark, with a light land breeze, we wore +round and stood to the northward, keeping offshore some distance, +so that captains leaving the river might have sufficient offing to +prevent their reaching port again or beaching their craft. At +daybreak, as far as we could judge, we were about twenty miles +offshore to the northward and westward of Little Bonny, in the +track of any vessel bound for the West Indies. The night was dark +with occasional rain squalls, when the heavens would open and the +water come down in a flood. Anxiously we all watched for +daylight, which comes under the equator with a suddenness very +different from the prolonged twilight of higher latitudes. At the +first glimmer in the east every eye was strained on the horizon, +all eager, all anxious to be the first to sight anything within +our vision. The darkness soon gave way to gray morn. Day was +dawning, when suddenly a Krooman by my side seized my hand and, +without saying a word, pointed inshore. I looked, but could see +nothing. All eyes were focused in that direction, and in a few +minutes the faint outline of a vessel appeared against the sky. +She was some miles inshore of us, and as the day brightened we +made her out to be a brigantine (an uncommon rig in those days), +standing across our bows, with all studding sails set on the +starboard side, indeed everything that could pull, including water +sails and save-all. We were on the same tack heading to the +northward. We set everything that would draw, and kept off two +points, bringing the wind abeam so as to head her off. + +The breeze was light and off the land. We had not yet been seen +against the darker western horizon, but we knew it could only be a +few minutes longer before their sharp eyes would make us out. +Soon we saw the studding sails and all kites come down by the run +and her yards braced up sharp on the same tack as ours. We also +hauled by the wind. At sunrise she was four points on our weather +bow, distant about four miles. We soon perceived that she could +outsail our brig and if the wind held would escape. Gradually she +drew away from us until she was hull down. Our only hope now was +that the land breeze would cease and the sea breeze come in. As +the sun rose we gladly noticed the wind lessening, until at eleven +o'clock it was calm. Not a breath ruffled the surface of the sea; +the sun's rays in the zenith were reflected as from a mirror; the +waters seemed like molten lead. + +I know of nothing more depressing than a calm in the tropics,--a +raging sun overhead, around an endless expanse of dead sea, and a +feeling of utter helplessness that is overpowering. What if this +should last? what a fate! The Rime of the Ancient Mariner comes +to our mind. Come storm and tempest, come hurricanes and +blizzards, anything but an endless stagnation. For some hours we +watched earnestly the horizon to the westward, looking for the +first dark break on the smooth sea. Not a cloud was in the +heavens. The brig appeared to be leaving us either by towing or +by sweeps; only her topgallant sail was above the horizon. It +looked as if the sea breeze would desert us. It usually came in +about one o'clock, but that hour and another had passed and yet we +watched for the first change. Without a breeze our chances of +overhauling the stranger were gone. Only a white speck like the +wing of a gull now marked her whereabouts on the edge of the +horizon, and in another hour she would be invisible even from the +masthead. + +When we were about to despair, our head Krooman drew the captain's +attention to the westward and said the breeze was coming. We saw +no signs of it, but his quick eye had noticed light feathery +clouds rising to the westward, a sure indication of the coming +breeze. Soon we could see the glassy surface ruffled at different +points as the breeze danced over it, coming on like an advancing +line of skirmishers; and as we felt its first gentle movement on +our parched faces, it was welcome indeed, putting new life into +all of us. The crew needed no encouragement to spring to their +work. As the little brig felt the breeze and gathered +steerageway, she was headed for the chase, bringing the wind on +her starboard quarter. In less than five minutes all the studding +sails that would draw were set, as well as everything that would +pull. The best quartermaster was sent to the wheel, with orders +to keep the chase directly over the weather end of the spritsail +yard. The captain ordered the sails wet, an expedient I never had +much faith in, unless the sails are very old. But as if to +recompense us for the delay, the breeze came in strong and steady. +Our one hope now was to follow it up close, and to carry it within +gunshot of the brig, for if she caught it before we were within +range she would certainly escape. All hands were piped to +quarters, and the long eighteen-pounder on the forecastle was +loaded with a full service charge; on this piece we relied to +cripple the chase. We were now rapidly raising her, and I was +sent aloft on the fore topsail yard, with a good glass to watch +her movements. Her hull was in sight and she was still becalmed, +though her head was pointed in the right direction, and everything +was set to catch the coming breeze. She carried a boat on each +side at the davits like a man-of-war, and I reported that I could +make out men securing them. They had been towing her, and only +stopped when they saw us drawing near. + +Anxiously we watched the breeze on the water as it narrowed the +sheen between us, and we were yet two miles or more distant when +she first felt the breeze. As she did so we hoisted the English +blue ensign,--for the fleet at this time was under a Rear Admiral +of the Blue,--and fired a weather gun, but no response was made. +Fortunately the wind continued to freshen and the Porpoise was +doing wonderfully well. We were rapidly closing the distance +between us. We fired another gun, but no attention was paid to +it. I noticed from the movements of the crew of the brig that +they were getting ready for some manoeuvre, and reported to the +captain. He divined at once what the manoeuvre would be, and +ordered the braces be led along, hands by the studding-sail +halyards and tacks, and everything ready to haul by the wind. We +felt certain now of the character of our friend, and the men were +already calculating the amount of their prize money. We were now +within range, and must clip her wings if possible. + +The first lieutenant was ordered to open fire with the eighteen- +pounder. Carefully the gun was laid, and as the order "fire" was +given, down came our English flag, and the stop of the Stars and +Stripes was broken at the gaff. The first shot touched the water +abeam of the chase and ricochetted ahead of her. She showed the +Spanish flag. The captain of the gun was ordered to elevate a +little more and try again. The second shot let daylight through +her fore topsail, but the third was wide again. + +Then the sharp, quick order of the captain, "Fore topsail yard +there, come down on deck, sir!" brought me down on the run. "Have +both cutters cleared away and ready for lowering," were my orders +as I reached the quarter-deck. Practice from the bow chasers +continued, but the smoke that drifted ahead of us interfered with +the accuracy of the firing, and no vital part was touched, though +a number of shots went through her sails. The captain in the main +rigging never took his eye from the Spaniard, evidently expecting +that as a fox when hard pressed doubles on the hounds, the chase +would attempt the same thing. And he was not disappointed, for +when we had come within easy range of her, the smoke hid her from +view for a few minutes, and as it dispersed the first glimpse +showed the captain that her studding sails had all gone, and that +she had hauled by the wind, standing across our weather bow. Her +captain had lost no time in taking in his studding sails; +halyards, tacks, and sheets had all been cut together and dropped +overboard. + +It was a bold and well-executed manoeuvre, and we could not help +admiring the skill with which she was handled. However, we had +been prepared for this move. "Ease down your helm." "Lower away. +Haul down the studding sails." "Ease away the weather braces. +Brace up." "Trim down the head sheets," were the orders which +followed in rapid succession, and were as quickly executed. The +Spaniard was now broad on our lee bow, distant not more than half +a mile, but as she felt the wind which we brought down she fairly +spun through the water, exposing her bright copper. She was both +head-reaching and outsailing us; in half an hour she would have +been right ahead of us, and in an hour the sun would be down. It +was now or never. We could bring nothing to bear except the gun +on the forecastle. Fortunately it continued smooth, and we were +no longer troubled with smoke. Shot after shot went hissing +through the air after her; a number tore through the sails or +rigging, but not a spar was touched nor an important rope cut. We +could see some of her crew aloft reeving and stopping braces and +ready to repair any damage done, working as coolly under fire as +old man-of-war's men. But while we were looking, down came the +gaff of her mainsail, and the gaff-topsail fell all adrift; a +lucky shot had cut her peak halyards. Our crew cheered with a +will. "Well done, Hobson; try it again!" called the captain to +the boatswain's mate, who was captain of the gun. + +After the next shot, the topgallant yard swayed for a few minutes +and fell forward. The order was given to cease firing; she was at +our mercy. We were rapidly nearing the chase, when she backed her +topsail. We kept off, and when within easy range of the +carronades "hove to" to windward. Lieutenant Bukett was ordered +to board her in the first cutter and take charge. I followed in +the second cutter, with orders to bring the captain on board with +his papers. A few strokes sent us alongside of a brig about our +tonnage, but with a low rail and a flush deck. The crew, some +eighteen or twenty fine-looking seamen, were forward eagerly +discussing the situation of affairs. The captain was aft with his +two officers, talking to Lieutenant Bukett. He was fair, with +light hair curling all over his head, beard cut short, about forty +years of age, well set up, with a frame like a Roman wrestler, +evidently a tough customer in a rough-and-ready scrimmage. + +He spoke fairly good English, and was violently denouncing the +outrage done to his flag; his government would demand instant +satisfaction for firing upon a legitimate trader on the high seas. +I have the lieutenant Captain Thompson's orders, to bring the +captain and his papers on board at once. His harangue was cut +short by orders to get on board my boat. He swore with a terrible +oath that he would never leave his vessel. "Come on board, men," +said I, and twenty of our crew were on deck in a jiffy. I +stationed my coxswain, Parker, at the cabin companion way with +orders to allow no one to pass. "Now," said Lieutenant Bukett to +the Spaniard, "I will take you on board in irons unless you go +quietly." He hesitated a moment, then said he would come as soon +as he had gone below to bring up his papers. "No, never mind your +papers; I will find them," said the lieutenant, for he saw the +devil in the Spaniard's eyes, and knew he meant mischief. Our +captive made one bound for the companion way, however, and seizing +Parker by the throat hurled him into the water ways as if he had +been a rag baby. But fortunately he slipped on a small grating +and fell on his knees, and before he could recover himself two of +our men threw themselves upon him. + +I closed the companion way. The struggle was desperate for a few +minutes, for the Spaniard seemed possessed of the furies, and his +efforts were almost superhuman. Twice he threw the men from him +across the deck, but they were reinforced by Parker, who, smarting +under his discomfiture, rushed in, determined to down him. I was +anxious to end it with my pistol, but Lieutenant Bukett would not +consent. The Spaniard's officers and men made some demonstration +to assist, but they were quickly disposed of: his two mates were +put in irons and the crew driven forward. Struggling, fighting, +every limb and every muscle at work, the captain was overpowered; +a piece of the signal halyards brought his hands together, and +handcuffs were slipped on his wrists. Only then he succumbed, and +begged Lieutenant Bukett to blow out his brains, for he had been +treated like a pirate. + +Without doubt if he had reached the cabin he would have blown up +the vessel, for in a locker over the transom were two open kegs of +powder. I led him to my boat, assisted him in, and returned to +the Porpoise. As soon as the Spaniard reached the deck the +captain ordered his irons removed, and expressed his regret that +it had been necessary to use force. The prisoner only bowed and +said nothing. The captain asked him what his cargo consisted of. +He replied, "About four hundred blacks bound to the Brazils." + +I was then ordered to return to the brig, bring on board her crew, +leaving only the cook and steward, and to take charge of the prize +as Lieutenant Bukett, our first lieutenant, was not yet wholly +recovered from an attack of African fever. The crew of twenty +men, when brought on board, consisted of Spaniards, Greeks, +Malays, Arabs, white and black, but had not one Anglo-Saxon. They +were ironed in pairs and put under guard. + +From the time we first got on board we had heard moans, cries, and +rumblings coming from below, and as soon as the captain and crew +were removed, the hatches had been taken off, when there arose a +hot blast as from a charnel house, sickening and overpowering. In +the hold were three or four hundred human beings, gasping, +struggling for breath, dying; their bodies, limbs, faces, all +expressing terrible suffering. In their agonizing fight for life, +some had torn or wounded themselves or their neighbors dreadfully; +some were stiffened in the most unnatural positions. As soon as I +knew the condition of things I sent the boat back for the doctor +and some whiskey. It returned bringing Captain Thompson, and for +an hour or more we were all hard at work lifting and helping the +poor creatures on deck, where they were laid out in rows. A +little water and stimulant revived most of them; some, however, +were dead or too far gone to be resuscitated. The doctor worked +earnestly over each one, but seventeen were beyond human skill. +As fast as he pronounced them dead they were quickly dropped +overboard. + +Night closed in with our decks covered so thickly with the ebony +bodies that with difficulty we could move about; fortunately they +were as quiet as so many snakes. In the meantime the first +officer, Mr. Block, was sending up a new topgallant yard, reeving +new rigging, repairing the sails, and getting everything ataunto +aloft. The Kroomen were busy washing out and fumigating the hold, +getting ready for our cargo again. It would have been a very +anxious night, except that I felt relieved by the presence of the +brig which kept within hail. Soon after daybreak Captain Thompson +came on board again, and we made a count of the captives as they +were sent below; 188 men and boys, and 166 women and girls. +Seeing everything snug and in order the captain returned to the +brig, giving me final orders to proceed with all possible dispatch +to Monrovia, Liberia, land the negroes, then sail for Porto Praya, +Cape de Verde Islands, and report to the commodore. As the brig +hauled to the wind and stood to the southward and eastward I +dipped my colors, when her crew jumped into the rigging and gave +us three cheers, which we returned. + +As she drew away from us I began to realize my position and +responsibility: a young midshipman, yet in my teens, commanding a +prize, with three hundred and fifty prisoners on board, two or +three weeks' sail from port, with only a small crew. From the +first I kept all hands aft except two men on the lookout, and the +weather was so warm that we could all sleep on deck. I also +ordered the men never to lay aside their pistols or cutlasses, +except when working aloft, but my chief reliance was in my +knowledge of the negro,--of his patient, docile disposition. Born +and bred a slave he never thought of any other condition, and he +accepted the situation without a murmur. I had never heard of +blacks rising or attempting to gain their freedom on board a +slaver. + +My charges were all of a deep black; from fifteen to twenty-five +years of age, and, with a few exceptions, nude, unless copper or +brass rings on their ankles or necklaces of cowries can be +described as articles of dress. All were slashed, or had the +scars of branding on their foreheads and cheeks; these marks were +the distinguishing features of different tribes or families. The +men's hair had been cut short, and their heads looked in some +cases as if they had been shaven. The women, on the contrary, +wore their hair "a la pompadour;" the coarse kinky locks were +sometimes a foot or more above their heads, and trained square or +round like a boxwood bush. Their features were of the pronounced +African type, but, notwithstanding this disfigurement, were not +unpleasing in appearance. The figures of all were very good, +straight, well developed, some of the young men having bodies that +would have graced a Mercury or an Apollo. Their hands were small, +showing no evidences of work, only the cruel marks of shackles. +These in some cases had worn deep furrows on their wrists or +ankles. + +They were obedient to all orders as far as they understood them, +and would, I believe, have jumped overboard if told to do so. I +forbade the men to treat them harshly or cruelly. I had the sick +separated from the others, and allowed them to remain on deck all +the time, and in this way I partly gained their confidence. I was +anxious to learn their story. Fortunately one of the Kroomen +found among the prisoners a native of a tribe living near the +coast, and with him as interpreter was able to make himself +understood. After a good deal of questioning I learned that most +of them were from a long distance in the interior, some having +been one and some two moons on the way, traveling partly by land +and partly by river until they reached the coast. They had been +sold by their kings or by their parents to the Arab trader for +firearms or for rum. Once at the depots near the coast, they were +sold by the Arabs or other traders to the slave captains for from +twenty-five to fifty dollars a head. In the Brazils or West +Indies they were worth from two to five hundred dollars. This +wide margin, of course, attracted unscrupulous and greedy +adventurers, who if they succeeded in running a few cargoes would +enrich themselves. + +Our daily routine was simple. At six in the morning the rope +netting over the main hatch which admitted light and air was taken +off, and twenty-five of each sex were brought up, and seated in +two circles, one on each side of the deck. A large pan of boiled +paddy was then placed in the centre by the cook and all went to +work with their hands. A few minutes sufficed to dispose of every +grain; then one of the Kroomen gave each of them a cup of water +from a bucket. For half an hour after the meal they had the +liberty of the deck, except the poop, for exercise, to wash and to +sun themselves; for sunshine to a negro is meat and drink. At the +end of this time they were sent below and another fifty brought +up, and so on until all had been fed and watered. Paddy or rice +was the staple article of food. At dinner boiled yams were given +with the rice. Our passengers were quartered on a flying deck +extending from the foremast to a point twenty feet abaft the main +hatch from which came light and air. The height was about five +feet; the men had one side and the women the other. Of course +there was no furnishing of any kind, but all lay prone upon the +bare deck in rows. + +Every morning after breakfast the Kroomen would rig the force +pump, screw on the hose and drench them all, washing out +thoroughly between decks. They appeared to enjoy this, and it was +cooling, for be it remembered we were close under the equator, the +thermometer dancing about 90 deg. As the water was sluiced over +them they would rub and scrub each other. Only the girls would +try not to get their hair wet, for they were at all times +particular about their headdress. It may be that this was the +only part of their toilet that gave them any concern. + +The winds were baffling and light, so we made but slow progress. +Fortunately frequent rains, with sometimes a genuine tropical +downpour or cloud-burst, gave us an opportunity of replenishing +our water casks, and by spreading the awnings we were able to get +a good supply. I found on inspection that there were at least +thirty days' provisions on board, so on this score and that of +water I felt easy. I lived on deck, seldom using the cabin, which +was a veritable arsenal, with racks of muskets and cutlasses on +two sides, many more than the captain needed to arm his crew, +evidently intended for barter. Two or three prints of his +favorite saints, ornamented with sharks' teeth, hung on one +bulkhead. A well-thrummed mandolin and a number of French novels +proved him to be a musical and literary fellow, who could probably +play a bolero while making a troublesome slave walk a plank. I +found also some choice vintages from the Douro and Bordeaux snugly +stowed in his spirit locker, which proved good medicines for some +of our captives, who required stimulants. Several of the girls +were much reduced, refused nearly all food, and were only kept +alive by a little wine and water. Two finally died of mere +inanition. Their death did not in the least affect their fellows, +who appeared perfectly indifferent and callous to all their +surroundings, showing not the least sympathy or desire to help or +wait on one another. + +The fifth day after parting from the brig we encountered a +tropical storm. The sun rose red and angry, and owing to the +great refraction appeared three times its natural size. It +climbed lazily to the zenith, and at noon we were shadowless. The +sky was as calm as a vault, and the surface of the water was like +burnished steel. The heat became so stifling that even the +Africans were gasping for breath, and we envied them their freedom +from all impediments. The least exertion was irksome, and +attended with extreme lassitude. During the afternoon thin cirri +clouds, flying very high, spread out over the western heavens like +a fan. As the day lengthened they thickened to resemble the +scales of a fish, bringing to mind the old saying, "A mackerel sky +and a mare's tail," etc. The signs were all unmistakable, and +even the gulls recognized a change, and, screaming, sought shelter +on our spars. Mr. Block was ordered to send down all the light +yards and sails; to take in and furl everything, using storm +gaskets, except on the fore and main storm staysails; to lash +everything on deck; to batten down the hatches, except one square +of the main; see all the shifting boards in place, so that our +living cargo would not be thrown to leeward higgledy-piggledy, and +to take four or five of the worst cases of the sick into the cabin +and lay them on the floor. + +The sun disappeared behind a mountainous mass of leaden-colored +clouds which rose rapidly in the southern and western quarters. +To the eastward, also, the signs were threatening. Night came on +suddenly as it does in the tropics. Soon the darkness enveloped +us, a palpable veil. A noise like the march of a mighty host was +heard, which proved to be the approach of a tropical flood, +heralded by drops as large as marbles. It churned the still +waters into a phosphorescent foam which rendered the darkness only +more oppressive. The rain came down as it can come only in the +Bight of Benin. The avalanche cooled us, reducing the temperature +ten or fifteen degrees, giving us new life, and relieving our +fevered blood. I told Mr. Block to throw back the tarpaulin over +the main hatch and let our dusky friends get some benefit of it. +In half an hour the rain ceased, but it was as calm and ominous as +ever. + +I knew this was but the forerunner of something worse to follow, +and we had not long to wait, for suddenly a blinding flash of +lightning darted through the gloom from east to west, followed by +one in the opposite direction. Without intermission, one blaze +after another and thunder crashing until our eyes were blinded and +our ears deafened, a thousand times ten thousand pieces of +artillery thundered away. We seemed utterly helpless and +insignificant. "How wonderful are Thy works," came to my mind. +Still no wind; the brig lay helpless. + +Suddenly, as a slap in the face, the wind struck us,--on the +starboard quarter, fortunately. "Hard-a-starboard." "Hanl aft +port fore staysail sheet," I called. But before she could gather +way she was thrown down by the wind like a reed. She was "coming +to" instead of "going off," and I tried to get the main storm +staysail down but could not make myself heard. She was lying on +her broadside. Luckily the water was smooth as yet. The main +staysail shot out of the boltropes with a report like a twelve- +pounder, and this eased her so that if the fore staysail would +only hold she would go off. For a few minutes all we could do was +to hold on, our lee rail in the water; but the plucky little brig +rallied a little, her head went off inch by inch, and as she +gathered way she righted, and catching the wind on our quarter we +were off like a shot out of a gun. I knew we were too near the +vortex of the disturbance for the wind to hang long in one +quarter, so watched anxiously for a change. The sea rose rapidly +while we were running to the northward on her course, and after a +lull of a few minutes the wind opened from the eastward, butt end +foremost, a change of eight points. Nothing was to be done but +heave to, and this in a cross sea where pitch, weather roll, lee +lurch, followed one another in such earnest that it was a wonder +her masts were not switched out of her. + +I passed an anxious night, most concerned about the poor creatures +under hatches, whose sufferings must have been terrible. To +prevent their suffocating I kept two men at the main hatch with +orders to lift one corner of the tarpaulin whenever possible, even +if some water did go below. Toward morning the wind and the sea +went down rapidly, and as the sun rose it chased the clouds off, +giving us the promise of a fine day. When the cook brought me a +cup of coffee, I do not know that I ever enjoyed anything more. +Hatches off, I jumped down into the hold to look after my +prisoners. Battered and bruised they lay around in heaps. Only +the shifting boards had kept them from being beaten into an +indistinguishable mass. As fast as possible they were sent on +deck, and the sun's rays, with a few buckets of water that were +thrown over them, accomplished wonders in bringing them to life +and starting them to care for their sore limbs and bruises. + +One boy, when I motioned for him to go on deck, pointed quietly to +his leg, and upon examination I found a fracture just above the +knee. Swelling had already commenced. I had seen limbs set, and +had some rough idea how it should be done. So while getting some +splints of keg staves and bandages ready, I kept a stream of water +pouring on the fracture, and then ordered two men to pull the limb +in place, and it took all their strength. That done I put on the +splints and wrapped the bandages tightly. Three weeks later I +landed him in a fair way of recovery. + +Gradually I allowed a larger number of the blacks to remain on +deck, a privilege which they greatly enjoyed. To lie basking in +the sun like saurians, half sleeping, half waking, appeared to +satisfy all their wishes. They were perfectly docile and +obedient, and not by word, gesture, or look did they express any +dissatisfaction with orders given them. But again for any little +acts of kindness they expressed no kind of appreciation or +gratitude. Physically they were men and women, but otherwise as +far removed from the Anglo-Saxon as the oyster from the baboon, or +the mole from the horse. + +On the fourteenth day from parting with the brig we made the palms +on Cape Mesurado, the entrance to Monrovia Harbor. A light sea +breath wafted us to the anchorage, a mile from the town, and when +the anchor dropped from the bows and the chain ran through the +hawse pipe, it was sweet music to my ears; for the strain had been +great, and I felt years older than when I parted from my +messmates. A great responsibility seemed lifted from my +shoulders, and I enjoyed a long and refreshing sleep for the first +time in a fortnight. At nine the next morning I went on shore and +reported to the authorities, the officials of Liberia, of which +Monrovia is the capital. + +This part of the African coast had been selected by the United +States government as the home of emancipated slaves; for prior to +the abolition excitement which culminated in the war, numbers of +slaves in the South had been manumitted by their masters with the +understanding that they should be deported to Liberia, and the +Colonization Society, an influential body, comprising some of the +leading men, like Madison, Webster, and Clay, had assisted in the +same work. The passages of the negroes were paid; each family was +given a tract of land and sufficient means to build a house. +Several thousand had been sent out, most of whom had settled at +Monrovia, and a few at other places on the coast. They had made +no impression on the natives. On the contrary, many of them had +intermarried with the natives, and the off-spring of these unions +had lost the use of the English tongue, and had even gone back to +the life and customs of their ancestors, sans clothing, sans +habitations, and worship of a fetich. + +Of course there were some notable exceptions, especially President +Roberts, who proved himself a safe and prudent ruler, taking into +consideration his surroundings and the material with which he had +to work. The form of government was modeled after that of the +United States, but it was top-heavy. Honorables, colonels, and +judges were thicker than in Georgia. Only privates were scarce; +for nothing delights a negro more than a little show or a gaudy +uniform. On landing I was met by a dark mulatto, dressed in a +straw hat, blue tail coat, silver epaulettes, linen trousers, with +bare feet, and a heavy cavalry sabre hanging by his side. With +him were three or four others in the same rig, except the +epaulettes. He introduced himself as Colonel Harrison, chief of +police. I asked to be directed to the custom house. + +The collector proved to be an old negro from Raleigh, N. C., gray +as a badger, spectacled, with manners of Lord Grandison and +language of Mrs. Malaprop. I reported my arrival, and asked +permission to land my cargo as soon as possible. He replied that +in a matter of so much importance, devolving questions of +momentous interest, it would be obligatory on him to consult the +Secretary of the Treasury. I said I trusted he would so +facilitate affairs that I might at an early hour disembarrass +myself of my involuntary prisoners. I returned on board, and the +day passed without any answer. The next morning I determined to +go at once to headquarters and find out the cause of the delay by +calling on the President. + +He received me without any formality. I made my case as strong as +possible, and pressed for an immediate answer. In reply he +assured me he would consult with other members of his cabinet, and +give me a final answer the next morning. That evening I dined +with him en famille, and recognized some old Virginia dishes on +the table. The next morning I waited impatiently for his +decision, having made up my mind however, if it was unfavorable, +to land my poor captives, be the consequences what they might. + +About eleven o'clock a boat came off with an officer in full +uniform, who introduced himself as Colonel Royal, bearer of +dispatches from his Excellency the President. He handed me a +letter couched in diplomatic language, as long as some of his +brother presidents' messages on this side of the Atlantic. I had +hardly patience to read it. The gist of it was, I might not land +the captives at Monrovia, but might land them at Grand Bassa, +about a hundred and fifty miles to the eastward; that Colonel +Royal would accompany me with orders to the governor there to +receive them. This was something I had not anticipated, and +outside of my instructions. However, I thought it best to comply +with the wishes of the government of our only colony. + +Getting under way we stood to the southward and eastward, taking +advantage of the light land and sea breeze, keeping the coast +close aboard. The colonel had come on board without any +impediments, and I wondered if he intended to make the voyage in +his cocked hat, epaulettes, sword, etc. But soon after we had +started he disappeared and emerged from the cabin bareheaded, +barefooted, and without clothing except a blue dungaree shirt and +trousers. Like a provident negro, having stowed away all his +trappings, he appeared as a roustabout on a Western steamer. But +he had not laid aside with his toggery any of his important and +consequential airs. He ran foul of Mr. Block, who called him Mr. +Cuffy, and ordered him to give him a pull with the main sheet. +The colonel complained to me that he was not addressed by his name +or title, and that he was not treated as a representative of his +government should be. I reprimanded Mr. Block, and told him to +give the visitor all his title. "All right, sir, but the colonel +must keep off the weather side of the deck," growled the officer. +The cook, the crew, and even the Kroomen, all took their cue from +the first officer, and the colonel's lot was made most unhappy. + +On the third day we reached Grand Bassa, and anchored off the +beach about two miles, along which the surf was breaking so high +that any attempt to land would be hazardous. Toward evening it +moderated, and a canoe with three naked natives came off. One I +found could speak a little English. I told him to say to the +governor that I would come on shore in the morning and see him, +and land my cargo at the same time. + +The next morning at sunrise we were boarded by a party of natives +headed by one wearing a black hat half covered with a tarnished +silver band, an old navy frock coat, much too small, between the +buttons of which his well-oiled skin showed clearly. A pair of +blue flannel trousers completed his outfit. An interpreter +introduced him as King George of Grand Bassa. With him were about +a dozen followers, each one wearing a different sort of garment-- +and seldom more than a single one--representing old uniforms of +many countries. Two coats I noticed were buttoned up the back. + +The king began by saying that he was and always had been a friend +of the Americans; that he was a big man, had plenty of men and +five wives, etc. While he was speaking, a white-bearded old +colored gentleman came over the gangway, dressed in a linen +roundabout and trousers, with a wide-brimmed straw hat. At the +same time Colonel Royal came up from the cabin in grande tenue and +introduced us to the Hon. Mr. Marshall, governor of Bassa, +formerly of Kentucky. + +In a few minutes he explained the situation. With a few settlers +he was located at this place, on the frontier of the colony, and +they were there on sufferance only from the natives. I told him +Colonel Royal would explain my mission to him and the king. The +colonel, bowing low to the king, the governor, and myself, and +bringing his sword down with a thud on the deck, drew from between +the bursting buttons of his coat the formidable document I had +seen at Monrovia, and with most impressive voice and gesture +commenced to read it. The king listened for a few minutes, and +then interrupted him. I asked the interpreter what he said. He +replied, "King say he fool nigger; if he comes on shore he give +him to Voodoo women." Then turning his back he walked forward. +The colonel dropped his paper, and drawing his sword, in the most +dramatic manner claimed protection in the name of the government, +declaring that he had been insulted. I told him to keep cool, +since he was certainly safe as long as he was on board my ship. +He grumbled and muttered terrible things, but subsided gradually +like the departing thunder of a summer storm. + +I arranged the landing of the passengers with Governor Marshall, +whom I found a sensible, clear-headed old man, ready to cooperate +in every way. But he suggested that I had better consult the king +before doing anything. I did so, and he at once said they could +not land. I told the interpreter to say they would be landed at +once and put under the protection of the governor; that if the +king or his people hurt them or ran them off I would report it to +our commodore, who would certainly punish him severely. Finding +me determined, he began to temporize, and asked that the landing +be put off until the next day, that he might consult with his head +people, for if I sent them on shore before he had done so they +would kill them. "If that is the case," I replied, "I will hold +you on board as a hostage for their good behavior." This threat +surprised him, and he changed his tactics. After a little powwow +with some of his followers, he said that if I would give him fifty +muskets, twenty pounds of powder, the colonel's sword, and some +red cloth for his wives, I might land them. I replied that I had +not a musket to spare nor an ounce of powder, that the colonel was +a high officer of his government, and that he of course would not +give up his uniform. Fortunately the colonel had retired to the +cabin and did not hear this modest demand, or he would have been +as much outraged as if his sable Majesty had asked for him to be +served "roti a l'Ashantee." However, I told the king I would send +his wives some cloth and buttons. He grunted his approval but +returned again to the charge, and asked that he might choose a few +of the captives for his own use, before landing. "Certainly not," +I answered, "neither on board nor on shore," and added that he +would be held accountable for their good treatment as free men and +women. He left thoroughly disappointed and bent on mischief. + +In the meantime Mr. Block had made all preparations for landing, +and had the boats lowered and ranged alongside, with sufficient +rice to last the blacks a week or ten days. The men and boys were +sent first. When they were called up from the hold and ordered +into the boats not one of them moved. They evidently divined what +had been going on and dreaded leaving the vessel, though our +Kroomen tried to explain that they would be safe and free on +shore. The explanation was without effect, however, and they +refused to move. The could only understand that they were +changing masters, and they preferred the present ones. Sending +three or four men down, I told them to pass up the negroes one at +a time. Only a passive resistance was offered, such as one often +sees exhibited by cattle being loaded on the cars or on a steamer, +and were silent, not uttering a word of complaint. By noon the +men were all on shore, and then we began with the girls. They +were more demonstrative than the men, and by their looks and +gestures begged not to be taken out of the vessel. I was much +moved, for it was a painful duty, and I had become interested in +these beings, so utterly helpless, so childlike in their +dependence on those around them. And I could not help thinking +what their fate would be, thrown upon the shore hundreds of miles +from their homes, and among a people strange to them in language. + +Even Mr. Block was deeply stirred. "He had not shipped," he said, +"for such work." I went to my cabin and left him in charge. In +the course of an hour he reported, "All ashore, sir." I told him +to have the gig manned and I would go on shore with Colonel Royal, +and get a receipt from Governor Marshall for my late cargo. The +colonel declined to accompany me, alleging sickness and requesting +me to get the necessary papers signed. No doubt he felt safer on +board than within reach of King George. + +We landed through the surf on a sandy beach, on which the waves of +the Atlantic were fretting. Near by was a thick grove of cocoanut +trees, under which in groups of four and five were those who had +just been landed. They were seated on the ground, their heads +resting on their knees, in a position of utter abnegation, +surrounded by three or four hundred chattering savages of all +ages, headed by the king. With the exception of him and a few of +his head men, the clothing of the company would not have covered a +rag baby. They were no doubt discussing the appearance of the +strangers and making their selections. + +I found the governor's house and the houses of the few settlers +some distance back on a slight elevation. The governor was +comfortably, though plainly situated, with a large family around +him. He gave me a receipt for the number of blacks landed, but +said it would be impossible for him to prevent the natives from +taking and enslaving them. I agreed with him, and said he must +repeat to the king what I had told him. Then bidding him good-by +I returned on board, sad and weary as one often feels after being +relieved of a great burden. At the same time I wondered whether +the fate of these people would have been any worse if the captain +of the slaver had succeeded in landing them in the Brazils or the +West Indies. Sierra Leone being a crown colony, the English could +land all their captives there and provide for them until they were +able to work for themselves. In this respect they had a great +advantage over us. + +Getting under way, I proceeded to Monrovia to land Colonel Royal, +and then to Porto Praya, our squadron's headquarters. There I +found Commodore Gregory in the flagship corvette Portsmouth, and +reported to him. Soon after the Porpoise came in, and I joined my +old craft, giving up my command of the captured slaver rather +reluctantly. + + + +MR. CHARLES W. CHESNUTT'S STORIES +by W. D. Howells + + +The critical reader of the story called The Wife of his Youth, +which appeared in these pages two years ago, must have noticed +uncommon traits in what was altogether a remarkable piece of work. +The first was the novelty of the material; for the writer dealt +not only with people who were not white, but with people who were +not black enough to contrast grotesquely with white people,--who +in fact were of that near approach to the ordinary American in +race and color which leaves, at the last degree, every one but the +connoisseur in doubt whether they are Anglo-Saxon or Anglo- +African. Quite as striking as this novelty of the material was +the author's thorough mastery of it, and his unerring knowledge of +the life he had chosen in its peculiar racial characteristics. +But above all, the story was notable for the passionless handling +of a phase of our common life which is tense with potential +tragedy; for the attitude, almost ironical, in which the artist +observes the play of contesting emotions in the drama under his +eyes; and for his apparently reluctant, apparently helpless +consent to let the spectator know his real feeling in the matter. +Any one accustomed to study methods in fiction, to distinguish +between good and bad art, to feel the joy which the delicate skill +possible only from a love of truth can give, must have known a +high pleasure in the quiet self-restraint of the performance; and +such a reader would probably have decided that the social +situation in the piece was studied wholly from the outside, by an +observer with special opportunities for knowing it, who was, as it +were, surprised into final sympathy. + +Now, however, it is known that the author of this story is of +negro blood,--diluted, indeed, in such measure that if he did not +admit this descent few would imagine it, but still quite of that +middle world which lies next, though wholly outside, our own. +Since his first story appeared he has contributed several others +to these pages, and he now makes a showing palpable to criticism +in a volume called The Wife of his Youth, and Other Stories of the +Color Line; a volume of Southern sketches called The Conjure +Woman; and a short life of Frederick Douglass, in the Beacon +Series of biographies. The last is a simple, solid, straight +piece of work, not remarkable above many other biographical +studies by people entirely white, and yet important as the work of +a man not entirely white treating of a great man of his +inalienable race. But the volumes of fiction ARE remarkable above +many, above most short stories by people entirely white, and would +be worthy of unusual notice if they were not the work of a man not +entirely white. + +It is not from their racial interest that we could first wish to +speak of them, though that must have a very great and very just +claim upon the critic. It is much more simply and directly, as +works of art, that they make their appeal, and we must allow the +force of this quite independently of the other interest. Yet it +cannot always be allowed. There are times in each of the stories +of the first volume when the simplicity lapses, and the effect is +as of a weak and uninstructed touch. There are other times when +the attitude, severely impartial and studiously aloof, accuses +itself of a little pompousness. There are still other times when +the literature is a little too ornate for beauty, and the diction +is journalistic, reporteristic. But it is right to add that these +are the exceptional times, and that for far the greatest part Mr. +Chesnutt seems to know quite as well what he wants to do in a +given case as Maupassant, or Tourguenief, or Mr. James, or Miss +Jewett, or Miss Wilkins, in other given cases, and has done it +with an art of kindred quiet and force. He belongs, in other +words, to the good school, the only school, all aberrations from +nature being so much truancy and anarchy. He sees his people very +clearly, very justly, and he shows them as he sees them, leaving +the reader to divine the depth of his feeling for them. He +touches all the stops, and with equal delicacy in stories of real +tragedy and comedy and pathos, so that it would be hard to say +which is the finest in such admirably rendered effects as The Web +of Circumstance, The Bouquet, and Uncle Wellington's Wives. In +some others the comedy degenerates into satire, with a look in the +reader's direction which the author's friend must deplore. + +As these stories are of our own time and country, and as there is +not a swashbuckler of the seventeenth century, or a sentimentalist +of this, or a princess of an imaginary kingdom, in any of them, +they will possibly not reach half a million readers in six months, +but in twelve months possibly more readers will remember them than +if they had reached the half million. They are new and fresh and +strong, as life always is, and fable never is; and the stories of +The Conjure Woman have a wild, indigenous poetry, the creation of +sincere and original imagination, which is imparted with a tender +humorousness and a very artistic reticence. As far as his race is +concerned, or his sixteenth part of a race, it does not greatly +matter whether Mr. Chesnutt invented their motives, or found them, +as he feigns, among his distant cousins of the Southern cabins. +In either case, the wonder of their beauty is the same; and +whatever is primitive and sylvan or campestral in the reader's +heart is touched by the spells thrown on the simple black lives in +these enchanting tales. Character, the most precious thing in +fiction, is as faithfully portrayed against the poetic background +as in the setting of the Stories of the Color Line. + +Yet these stories, after all, are Mr. Chesnutt's most important +work, whether we consider them merely as realistic fiction, apart +from their author, or as studies of that middle world of which he +is naturally and voluntarily a citizen. We had known the +nethermost world of the grotesque and comical negro and the +terrible and tragic negro through the white observer on the +outside, and black character in its lyrical moods we had known +from such an inside witness as Mr. Paul Dunbar; but it had +remained for Mr. Chesnutt to acquaint us with those regions where +the paler shades dwell as hopelessly, with relation to ourselves, +as the blackest negro. He has not shown the dwellers there as +very different from ourselves. They have within their own circles +the same social ambitions and prejudices; they intrigue and +truckle and crawl, and are snobs, like ourselves, both of the +snobs that snub and the snobs that are snubbed. We may choose to +think them droll in their parody of pure white society, but +perhaps it would be wiser to recognize that they are like us +because they are of our blood by more than a half, or three +quarters, or nine tenths. It is not, in such cases, their negro +blood that characterizes them; but it is their negro blood that +excludes them, and that will imaginably fortify them and exalt +them. Bound in that sad solidarity from which there is no hope of +entrance into polite white society for them, they may create a +civilization of their own, which need not lack the highest +quality. They need not be ashamed of the race from which they +have sprung, and whose exile they share; for in many of the arts +it has already shown, during a single generation of freedom, gifts +which slavery apparently only obscured. With Mr. Booker +Washington the first American orator of our time, fresh upon the +time of Frederick Douglass; with Mr. Dunbar among the truest of +our poets; with Mr. Tanner, a black American, among the only three +Americans from whom the French government ever bought a picture, +Mr. Chesnutt may well be willing to own his color. + +But that is his personal affair. Our own more universal interest +in him arises from the more than promise he has given in a +department of literature where Americans hold the foremost place. +In this there is, happily, no color line; and if he has it in him +to go forward on the way which he has traced for himself, to be +true to life as he has known it, to deny himself the glories of +the cheap success which awaits the charlatan in fiction, one of +the places at the top is open to him. He has sounded a fresh +note, boldly, not blatantly, and he has won the ear of the more +intelligent public. + + + +PATHS OF HOPE FOR THE NEGRO +PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS OF A SOUTHERNER +by Jerome Dowd + + +It is too late in the day to discuss whether it would have been +better had the Negro never been brought into the Southern States. +If his presence here has been beneficial, or is ever to prove so, +the price of the benefit has already been dearly paid for. He was +the occasion of the deadliest and most expensive war in modern +times. In the next place, his presence has corrupted politics and +has limited statesmanship to a mere question of race supremacy. +Great problems concerning the political, industrial, and moral +life of the people have been subordinated or overshadowed, so +that, while important strides have been made elsewhere in the +investigation of social conditions and in the administration of +State and municipal affairs, in civil-service reform, in the +management of penal and charitable institutions, and in the field +of education, the South has lagged behind. + +On the charts of illiteracy and crime the South is represented by +an immense black spot. Such are a few items of the account. It +will require millions more of dollars and generations more of +earnest work before the total cost is met of bringing the black +man to this side of the globe. But the debt has been incurred and +must be liquidated. + +The welfare of the Negro is bound up with that of the white man in +many important particulars: + +First, the low standard of living among the blacks keeps down the +wages of all classes of whites. So long as the Negroes are +content to live in miserable huts, wear rags, and subsist upon hog +fat and cow-pease, so long must the wages of white people in the +same kind of work be pressed toward the same level. The higher we +raise the standard of living among the Negroes, the higher will be +the wages of the white people in the same occupations. The low +standard of the Negroes is the result of low productive power. +The less intelligent and skilled the Negroes are, the less they +can produce, whether working for themselves or others, and hence, +the less will be the total wealth of the country. + +But it may be asked, When the standard of living of the Negroes is +raised, will not wages go up, and will not that be a drawback? +Certainly wages will go up, because the income of all classes will +be increased. High wages generally indicate high productive power +and general wealth, while low wages indicate the opposite. Only +benefits can arise from better wages. + +In the next place, the Negro's propensity to crime tends to excite +the criminal tendencies of the white man. The South enjoys the +distinction of having the highest percentage of crime in all the +civilized world, and the reason is that the crimes of the one race +provoke counter-crimes in the other. + +The physical well-being of the one race has such a conspicuous +influence upon that of the other that the subject requires no +elaboration. The uncleanliness of person and habits of the +Negroes in their homes and in the homes of their employers tends +to propagate diseases, and thus impairs the health and increases +the death-rate of the whole population. + +Again, the lack of refinement in intellect, manners, and dress +among the Negroes is an obstacle to the cultivated life of the +whites. Ignorance and the absence of taste and self-respect in +servants result in badly kept homes and yards, destruction of +furniture and ware, ill-prepared food, poor table service, and a +general lowering of the standard of living. Furthermore, the +corrupt, coarse, and vulgar language of the Negroes is largely +responsible for the jumbled and distorted English spoken by many +of the Southern whites. + +Seeing that the degradation of the Negro is an impediment to the +progress and civilization of the white man, how may we effect an +improvement in his condition? + +First, municipalities should give more attention to the streets +and alleys that traverse Negro settlements. In almost every town +in the South there are settlements, known by such names as "New +Africa," "Haiti," "Log Town," "Smoky Hollow," or "Snow Hill," +exclusively inhabited by Negroes. These settlements are often +outside the corporate limits. The houses are built along narrow, +crooked, and dirty lanes, and the community is without sanitary +regulations or oversight. These quarters should be brought under +municipal control, the lanes widened into streets and cleaned, and +provision made to guard against the opening of similar ones in the +future. + +In the next place, property-owners should build better houses for +the Negroes to live in. The weakness in the civilization of the +Negroes is most pronounced in their family life. But improvement +in this respect is not possible without an improvement in the +character and the comforts of the houses they live in. Bad houses +breed bad people and bad neighborhoods. There is no more +distinctive form of crime than the building and renting of houses +unfit for human habitation. + +Scarcely second in importance to improvements in house +architecture is the need among Negroes of more time to spend with +their families. Employers of Negro labor should be less exacting +in the number of hours required for a day's work. Many domestic +servants now work from six in the morning until nine and ten +o'clock at night. The Southern habit of keeping open shopping- +places until late at night encourages late suppers, retains cooks, +butlers, and nurses until bedtime, and robs them of all home life. +If the merchants would close their shops at six o'clock, as is the +custom in the North, the welfare of both races would be greatly +promoted. + +Again, a revolution is needed in the character of the Negro's +religion. At present it is too largely an affair of the emotions. +He needs to be taught that the religious life is something to grow +into by the perfection of personality, and not to be jumped into +or sweated into at camp-meetings. The theological seminaries and +the graduate preachers should assume the task of grafting upon the +religion of the Negro that much sanity at least. + +A reform is as much needed in the methods and aims of Negro +education. Up to the present Negro education has shared with that +of the white man the fault of being top-heavy. Colleges and +universities have developed out of proportion to, and at the +expense of, common schools. Then, the kind of education afforded +the Negro has not been fitted to his capacities and needs. He has +been made to pursue courses of study parallel to those prescribed +for the whites, as though the individuals of both races had to +fill the same positions in life. Much of the Negro's education +has had nothing to do with his real life-work. It has only made +him discontented and disinclined to unfold his arms. The survival +of the Negroes in the race for existence depends upon their +retaining possession of the few bread-winning occupations now open +to them. But instead of better qualifying themselves for these +occupations they have been poring over dead languages and working +problems in mathematics. In the meantime the Chinaman and the +steam-laundry have abolished the Negro's wash-tub, trained white +"tonsorial artists" have taken away his barber's chair, and +skilled painters and plasterers and mechanics have taken away his +paint-brushes and tool-chests. Every year the number of +occupations open to him becomes fewer because of his lack of +progress in them. Unless a radical change takes place in the +scope of his education, so that he may learn better how to do his +work, a tide of white immigration will set in and force him out of +his last stronghold, domestic service, and limit his sphere to the +farm. + +All primary schools for the Negroes should be equipped for +industrial training in such work as sewing, cooking, laundering, +carpentry, and house-cleaning, and, in rural districts, in +elementary agriculture. + +Secondary schools should add to the literary courses a more +advanced course in industrial training, so as to approach as +nearly as possible the objects and methods of the Tuskegee and +Hampton Industrial and Normal Schools. Too much cannot be said in +behalf of the revolution in the life of the Negro which the work +of these schools promises and, in part, has already wrought. The +writer is fully aware that education has a value aside from and +above its bread-winning results, and he would not dissuade the +Negro from seeking the highest culture that he may be capable of; +but it is folly for him to wing his way through the higher realms +of the intellect without some acquaintance with the requirements +and duties of life. + +Changes are needed in the methods of Negro education as well as in +its scope. Educators should take into account, more than they +have yet done, the differences in the mental characteristics of +the two races. It is a well-established fact that, while the +lower races possess marked capacity to deal with simple, concrete +ideas, they lack power of generalization, and soon fatigue in the +realm of the abstract. It is also well known that the inferior +races, being deficient in generalization, which is a subjective +process, are absorbed almost entirely in the things that are +objective. They have strong and alert eyesight, and are +susceptible to impressions through the medium of the eye to an +extent that is impossible to any of the white races. This fact is +evidenced in the great number of pictures found in the homes of +the Negroes. In default of anything better, they will paper their +walls with advertisements of the theater and the circus, and even +with pictures from vicious newspapers. They delight in street +pageantry, fancy costumes, theatrical performances, and similar +spectacles. Factories employing Negroes generally find it +necessary to suspend operations on "circus day." They love +stories of adventure and any fiction that gives play to their +imaginations. All their tastes lie in the realm of the objective +and the concrete. + +Hence, in the school-room stress should be laid on those studies +that appeal to the eye and the imagination. Lessons should be +given in sketching, painting, drawing, and casting. Reprints of +the popular works of art should be placed before the Negroes, that +their love for art may be gratified and their taste cultivated at +the same time. Fancy needlework, dress-making, and home +decorations should also have an important place. These studies, +while not contributing directly to bread-winning, have a refining +and softening influence upon character, and inspire efforts to +make the home more attractive. The more interest we can make the +Negro take in his personal appearance and in the comforts of his +home, the more we shall strengthen and promote his family life and +raise the level of his civilization. + +The literary education of the Negro should consist of carefully +selected poems and novels that appeal to his imagination and +produce clear images upon his mind, excluding such literature as +is in the nature of psychological or moral research. Recitations +and dialogues should be more generally and more frequently +required. In history emphasis should be given to what is +picturesque, dramatic, and biographical. + +Coming to the political phase of the Negro problem, there is a +general agreement among white men that the Southern States cannot +keep pace with the progress of the world as long as they are +menaced by Negro domination, and that, therefore, it is necessary +to eliminate the Negro vote from politics. When the Negroes +become intelligent factors in society, when they become thrifty +and accumulate wealth, they will find the way to larger exercise +of citizenship. They can never sit upon juries to pass upon life +and property until they are property-owners themselves, and they +can never hold the reins of government by reason of mere +superiority of numbers. Before they can take on larger political +responsibilities they must demonstrate their ability to meet them. + +The Negroes will never be allowed to control State governments so +long as they vote at every election upon the basis of color, +without regard whatever to political issues or private +convictions. If the Negroes would divide their votes according to +their individual opinions, as the lamented Charles Price, one of +their best leaders, advised, there would be no danger of Negro +domination and no objection to their holding offices which they +might be competent to fill. But as there is no present prospect +of their voting upon any other basis than that of color, the white +people are forced to accept the situation and protect themselves +accordingly. Years of bitter and costly experience have +demonstrated over and over again that Negro rule is not only +incompetent and corrupt, but a menace to civilization. Some +people imagine that there is something anomalous, peculiar, or +local in the race prejudice that binds all Negroes together; but +this clan spirit is a characteristic of all savage and semi- +civilized peoples. + +It should be well understood by this time that no foreign race +inhabiting this country and acting together politically can +dominate the native whites. To permit an inferior race, holding +less than one tenth of the property of the community, to take the +reins of government in its hands, by reason of mere numerical +strength, would be to renounce civilization. Our national +government, in making laws for Hawaii, has carefully provided for +white supremacy by an educational qualification for suffrage that +excludes the semi-civilized natives. No sane man, let us hope, +would think of placing Manila under the control of a government of +the Philippine Islands based upon universal suffrage. Yet the +problem in the South and the problem in the Philippines and in +Hawaii differ only in degree. + +The only proper safeguard against Negro rule in States where the +blacks outnumber or approximate in number the whites lies in +constitutional provisions establishing an educational test for +suffrage applicable to black and white alike. If the suffrage is +not thus limited it is necessary for the whites to resort to +technicalities and ballot laws, to bribery or intimidation. To +set up an educational test with a "grandfather clause," making the +test apply for a certain time to the blacks only, seems to an +outsider unnecessary, arbitrary, and unjust. The reason for such +a clause arises from the belief that no constitutional amendment +could ever carry if it immediately disfranchised the illiterate +whites, as many property-holding whites belong to that class. But +the writer does not believe in the principle nor in the necessity +for a "grandfather clause." If constitutional amendments were to +be submitted in North Carolina and Virginia applying the +educational test to both races alike after 1908, the question +would be lifted above the level of party gain, and would receive +the support of white men of all parties and the approbation of the +moral sentiment of the American people. A white man who would +disfranchise a Negro because of his color or for mere party +advantage is himself unworthy of the suffrage. With the suffrage +question adjusted upon an educational basis the Negroes would have +the power to work out their political emancipation, the white +people having made education necessary and provided the means for +attaining it. + +When the question of Negro domination is settled the path of +progress of both races will be very much cleared. Race conflicts +will then be less frequent and race feeling less bitter. With +more friendly relations growing up, and with more concentration of +energy on the part of the Negroes in industrial lines, the +opportunities for them will be widened and the task of finding +industrial adjustment in the struggle for life made easier. The +wisest and best leaders among the Negroes, such as Booker +Washington and the late Charles Price, have tried to turn the +attention of the Negroes from politics to the more profitable +pursuits of industry, and if the professional politician would +cease inspiring the Negroes to seek salvation in political +domination over the whites, the race issue would soon cease to +exist. + +The field is broad enough in the South for both races to attain +all that is possible to them. In spite of the periodic political +conflicts and occasional local riots and acts of individual +violence, the relations between the races, in respect to nine +tenths of the population, are very friendly. The general +condition has been too often judged by the acts of a small +minority. The Southern people understand the Negroes, and feel a +real fondness for those that are thrifty and well behaved. When +fairly treated the Negro has a strong affection for his employer. +He seldom forgets a kindness, and is quick to forget a wrong. If +he does not stay long at one place, it is not that he dislikes his +employer so much as that he has a restless temperament and craves +change. His disposition is full of mirth and sunshine, and not a +little of the fine flavor of Southern wit and humor is due to his +influence. His nature is plastic, and while he is easily molded +into a monster, he is also capable of a high degree of culture. +Many Negroes are thoroughly honest, notwithstanding their bad +environment and hereditary disposition to steal. Negro servants +are trusted with the keys to households to an extent that, +probably, is not the case among domestics elsewhere in the +civilized world. + +It is strange that two races working side by side should possess +so many opposite traits of character. The white man has strong +will and convictions and is set in his ways. He lives an indoor, +monotonous life, restrains himself like a Puritan, and is inclined +to melancholy. The prevalence of Populism throughout the South is +nothing but the outcome of this morbid tendency. Farmers and +merchants are entirely absorbed in their business, and the women, +especially the married women, contrast with the women of France, +Germany, and even England, in their indoor life and disinclination +to mingle with the world outside. Public parks and public +concerts, such as are found in Europe, which call out husband, +wife, and children for a few hours of rest and communion with +their friends, are almost unknown in the South. The few +entertainments that receive sanction generally exclude all but the +well-to-do by the cost of admission. The life of the poor in town +and country is bleak and bare to the last degree. + +Contrasting with this tendency is the free-and-easy life of the +blacks. The burdens of the present and the future weigh lightly +upon their shoulders. They love all the worldly amusements; in +their homes they are free entertainers, and in their fondness for +conversation and love of street life they are equal to the French +or Italians. + +May we not hope that the conflict of these two opposite races is +working out some advantages to both, and that the final result +will justify all that the conflict has cost? + + + +SIGNS OF PROGRESS AMONG THE NEGROES +by Booker T. Washington + + +In addition to the problem of educating eight million negroes in +our Southern States and ingrafting them into American citizenship, +we now have the additional responsibility, either directly or +indirectly, of educating and elevating about eight hundred +thousand others of African descent in Cuba and Porto Rico, to say +nothing of the white people of these islands, many of whom are in +a condition about as deplorable as that of the negroes. We have, +however, one advantage in approaching the question of the +education of our new neighbors. + +The experience that we have passed through in the Southern States +during the last thirty years in the education of my race, whose +history and needs are not very different from the history and +needs of the Cubans and Porto Ricans, will prove most valuable in +elevating the blacks of the West Indian Islands. To tell what has +already been accomplished in the South under most difficult +circumstances is to tell what may be done in Cuba and Porto Rico. + +To this end let me tell a story. + +In what is known as the black belt of the South--that is, where +the negroes outnumber the whites--there lived before the Civil War +a white man who owned some two hundred slaves, and was prosperous. +At the close of the war he found his fortune gone, except that +which was represented in land, of which he owned several thousand +acres. Of the two hundred slaves a large proportion decided, +after their freedom, to continue on the plantation of their former +owner. + +Some years after the war a young black boy, who seemed to have +"rained down," was discovered on the plantation by Mr. S-----, the +owner. In daily rides through the plantation Mr. S----- saw this +boy sitting by the roadside, and his condition awakened his pity, +for, from want of care, he was covered from head to foot with +sores, and Mr. S----- soon grew into the habit of tossing him a +nickel or a dime as he rode by. In some way this boy heard of the +Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute in Alabama, and of the +advantages which it offered poor but deserving colored men and +women to secure an education through their own labor while taking +the course of study. This boy, whose name was William, made known +to the plantation hands his wish to go to the Tuskegee school. By +each one "chipping in," and through the efforts of the boy +himself, a few decent pieces of clothing were secured, and a +little money, but not enough to pay his railroad fare, so the boy +resolved to walk to Tuskegee, a distance of about one hundred and +fifty miles. Strange to say, he made the long distance with an +expenditure of only twenty cents in cash. He frankly told every +one with whom he came in contact where he was going and what he +was seeking. Both white and colored people along the route gave +him food and a place to sleep free of cost, and even the usually +exacting ferrymen were so impressed with the young negro's desire +for an education that, except in one case, he was given free +ferriage across the creeks and rivers. + +One can easily imagine his appearance when he first arrived at +Tuskegee, with his blistered feet and small white bundle, which +contained all the clothing he possessed. + +On being shown into my office his first words were: "I's come. +S'pose you been lookin' for me, but I didn't come on de railroad." +Looking up the records, it was found that this young man had been +given permission to come several months ago, but the +correspondence had long since been forgotten. + +After being sent to the bath-room and provided with a tooth- +brush,--for the tooth-brush at Tuskegee is the emblem of +civilization,--William was assigned to a room, and was given work +on the school farm of fourteen hundred acres, seven hundred of +which are cultivated by student labor. During his first year at +Tuskegee William worked on the farm during the day, where he soon +learned to take a deep interest in all that the school was doing +to teach the students the best and most improved methods of +farming, and studied for two hours at night in the class-room +after his hard day's work was over. At first he seemed drowsy and +dull in the night-school, and would now and then fall asleep while +trying to study; but he did not grow discouraged. The new +machinery that he was compelled to use on the farm interested him +because it taught him that the farm work could be stripped of much +of the old-time drudgery and toil, and seemed to awaken his +sleeping intellect. Soon he began asking the farm-instructors +such questions as where the Jersey and Holstein cattle came from, +and why they produced more milk and butter than the common long- +tailed and long-horned cows that he had seen at home. + +His night-school teachers found that he ceased to sleep in school, +and began asking questions about his lessons, and was soon able to +calculate the number of square yards in an acre and to tell the +number of peach-trees required to plant an acre of land. After he +had been at Tuskegee two or three months the farm-manager came +into my office on a cold, rainy day, and said that William was +virtually barefooted, the soles of his shoes having separated from +the uppers, though William had fastened them together as best he +could with bits of wire. In this condition the farm-instructor +found him plowing without a word of complaint. A pair of second- +hand shoes was secured for him, and he was soon very happy. + +I will not take this part of the story further except to say that +at the end of his first year at Tuskegee this young man, having +made a start in his books, and having saved a small sum of money +above the cost of his board, which was credited to his account, +entered the next year our regular day-classes, though still +dividing his time between the class-room and work on the farm. + +Toward the end of the year he found himself in need of money with +which to buy books, clothing, etc., and so wrote a carefully +worded letter to Mr. S-----, the white man on whose plantation he +had lived, and who had been, in slavery, the owner of his mother. + +In the letter he told Mr. S----- how he got to Tuskegee, what he +was doing, and what his needs were, and asked Mr. S----- to lend +him fifteen dollars. Before receiving this letter Mr. S----- had +not thought once about the boy during his two years' absence; in +fact, did not know that he had left the plantation. + +Mr. S----- was a good deal shocked, as well as amused, over such a +request from such a source. The letter went to the wastebasket +without being answered. A few weeks later William sent a second +letter, in which he took it for granted that the first letter had +not been received. The second letter shared the same fate as the +first. A third letter reached Mr. S----- in a few weeks, making +the same request. In answer to the third letter Mr. S----- told +me that, moved by some impulse which he himself never understood, +he sent William the fifteen dollars. + +Two or three years passed, and Mr. S----- had about forgotten +William and the fifteen dollars; but one morning while sitting +upon his porch a bright young colored man walked up and introduced +himself as William, the boy to whom he used to toss small pieces +of money, and the one to whom he had sent fifteen dollars. + +William paid Mr. S----- the fifteen dollars with interest, which +he had earned while teaching school after leaving Tuskegee. + +This simple experience with this young colored man made a new and +different person of Mr. S-----, so far as the negro was concerned. + +He began to think. He thought of the long past, but he thought +most of the future, and of his duty toward the hundreds of colored +people on his plantation and in his community. After careful +thought he asked William Edwards to open a school on his +plantation in a vacant log cabin. That was seven years ago. On +this same plantation at Snow Hill, Wilcox county, Alabama, a +county where, according to the last census, there are twenty-four +thousand colored people and about six thousand whites, there is +now a school with two hundred pupils, five teachers from Tuskegee, +and three school buildings. The school has forty acres of land. +In addition to the text-book lessons, the boys are taught farming +and carpentry, and the girls sewing and general house-keeping, and +the school is now in the act of starting a blacksmith and +wheelwright department. This school owes its existence almost +wholly to Mr. S-----, who gave to the trustees the forty acres of +land, and has contributed liberally to the building fund, as well +as to the pay of the teachers. Gifts from a few friends in the +North have been received, and the colored people have given their +labor and small sums in cash. When the people cannot find money +to give, they have often given corn, chickens, and eggs. The +school has grown so popular that almost every leading white man in +the community is willing to make a small gift toward its +maintenance. + +In addition to the work done directly in the school for the +children, the teachers in the Snow Hill school have organized a +kind of university extension movement. The farmers are organized +into conferences, which hold meetings each month. In these +meetings they are taught better methods of agriculture, how to buy +land, how to economize and keep out of debt, how to stop +mortgaging, how to build school-houses and dwelling-houses with +more than one room, how to bring about a higher moral and +religious standing, and are warned against buying cheap jewelry, +snuff, and whisky. + +No one is a more interested visitor at these meetings than Mr. S----- +himself. The matter does not end in mere talk and advice. +The women teachers go right into the cabins of the people and show +them how to keep them clean, how to dust, sweep, and cook. + +When William Edwards left this community a few years ago for the +Tuskegee school, he left the larger proportion in debt, mortgaging +their crops every year for the food on which to live. Most of +them were living on rented land in small one-room log cabins, and +attempting to pay an enormous rate of interest on the value of +their food advances. As one old colored man expressed it, "I +ain't got but six feet of land, and I is got to die to git dat." +The little school taught in a cabin lasted only three or four +months in the year. The religion was largely a matter of the +emotions, with almost no practical ideas of morality. It was the +white man for himself and the negro for himself, each in too many +cases trying to take advantage of the other. The situation was +pretty well described by a black man who said to me: "I tells you +how we votes. We always watches de white man, and we keeps +watchin' de white man. De nearer it gits to 'lection-time de more +we watches de white man. We keeps watchin' de white man till we +find out which way he gwine to vote; den we votes 'zactly de odder +way. Den we knows we is right." + +Now how changed is all at Snow Hill, and how it is gradually +changing each year! Instead of the hopelessness and dejection +that were there a few years ago, there are now light and buoyancy +in the countenances and movements of the people. The negroes are +getting out of debt and buying land, ceasing to mortgage their +crops, building houses with two or three rooms, and a higher moral +and religious standard has been established. + +Last May, on the day that the school had its closing exercises, +there were present, besides the hundreds of colored-people, about +fifty of the leading white men and women of the county, and these +white people seemed as much interested in the work of the school +as the people of my own race. + +Only a few years ago in the State of Alabama the law in reference +to the education of the negro read as follows: "Any person or +persons who shall attempt to teach any free person of color or +slave to spell, read, or write shall, upon conviction thereof by +indictment, be fined in a sum not less than two hundred and fifty +dollars nor more than five hundred dollars." + +Within half a dozen years I have heard Dr. J. L. M. Curry, a +brave, honest ex-Confederate officer, in addressing both the +Alabama and Georgia State legislatures, say to those bodies in the +most emphatic manner that it was as much the duty of the State to +educate the negro children as the white children, and in each case +Dr. Curry's words were cheered. + +Here at Snow Hill is the foundation for the solution of the legal +and political difficulties that exist in the South, and the +improvement of the industrial condition of the negro in Cuba and +Porto Rico. This solution will not come all at once, but +gradually. The foundation must exist in the commercial and +industrial development of the people of my race in the South and +in the West Indian Islands. + +The most intelligent whites are beginning to realize that they +cannot go much higher than they lift the negro at the same time. +When a black man owns and cultivates the best farm to be found in +his county he will have the confidence and respect of most of the +white people in that county. When a black man is the largest +taxpayer in his community his white neighbor will not object very +long to his voting, and having that vote honestly counted. Even +now a black man who has five hundred dollars to lend has no +trouble in finding a white man who is willing to borrow his money. +The negro who is a large stockholder in a railroad company will +always be treated with justice on that railroad. + +Many of the most intelligent colored people are learning that +while there are many bad white men in the South, there are +Southern whites who have the highest interests of the negro just +as closely at heart as have any other people in any part of the +country. Many of the negroes are learning that it is folly not to +cultivate in every honorable way the friendship of the white man +who is their next-door neighbor. + +To describe the work being done in connection with the public +schools by graduates of Tuskegee and other institutions in the +South, at such places as Mount Meigs, under Miss Cornelia Bowen; +Denmark, South Carolina; Abbeville and Newville, Alabama; +Christiansburg, Virginia, and numbers of other places in the Gulf +States, would be only to repeat in a larger or smaller degree what +I have said of Snow Hill. + +Not very long after the last national election I visited a town in +the South, to speak at a meeting which had for its object the +raising of money to complete the school-house. The audience was +about equally divided between white men and women and black men +and women. When the time for the collection came it was intensely +satisfactory to observe that the white side of the audience was +just as eager to make its small contributions as were the members +of my own race. But I was anxious to see how the late election +had been conducted in that community. I soon found out that the +Republican party, composed almost wholly of the black people, was +represented by an election officer in the person of one of the +best-educated colored men in the town, that both the Democratic +and Populist parties were equally well represented, and that there +was no suspicion of unfairness. + +But I wished to go a little deeper, and I soon found that one of +the leading stores in this community was owned by a colored man; +that a cotton-gin was owned by a colored man; that the sawmill was +owned by another colored man. Colored men had mortgages on white +men's crops, and vice versa, and colored people not only owned +land, but in several cases were renting land to white men. Black +men were in debt to white men, and white men were in debt to black +men. In a word, the industrial and commercial relations of the +races were interwoven just as if all had been of one race. + +An object-lesson in civilization is more potent in compelling +people to act right than a law compelling them to do so. Some +years ago a colored woman who had graduated at Tuskegee began her +life-work in a Southern community where the force of white public +sentiment was opposed to the starting of what was termed a "nigger +school." At first this girl was tempted to abuse her white +sister, but she remembered that perhaps the white woman had been +taught from her earliest childhood, through reading and +conversation, that education was not good for the negro, that it +would result only in trouble to the community, and that no amount +of abuse could change this prejudice. + +After a while this colored teacher was married to an educated +colored man, and they built a little cottage, which, in connection +with her husband's farm, was a model. One morning one of the +white women who had been most intense in her feelings was passing +this cottage, and her attention was attracted to the colored woman +who was at work in her beautiful flower-garden. A conversation +took place concerning the flowers. At another time this same +white woman was so attracted by this flower-garden that she came +inside the yard, and from the yard she went into the sitting-room +and examined the books and papers. + +This acquaintance has now ripened and broadened, so that to-day +there are few people in that community more highly respected than +this colored family. What did it all? This object-lesson. No +one could explain that away. One such object-lesson in every +community in the South is more powerful than all the laws Congress +can pass in the direction of bringing about right relations +between blacks and whites. + +A few months ago an agricultural county fair, the first ever held +in that county, was organized and held at Calhoun, Alabama, by the +teachers in the Calhoun School, which is an offshoot of the +Hampton Institute. Both the colored people and numbers of white +visitors were astonished at the creditable exhibits made by the +colored people. Most of these white people saw the school work at +Calhoun for the first time. Perhaps no amount of abstract talk or +advice could have brought them to this school, but the best hog, +the largest pumpkin, or the most valuable bale of cotton possessed +a common interest, and it has been a comparatively easy thing to +extend their interest from the best hog to the work being done in +the school-room. Further, this fair convinced these white people, +as almost nothing else could have done, that education was making +the negroes better citizens rather than worse; that the people +were not being educated away from themselves, but with their +elevation the conditions about them were being lifted in a manner +that possessed an interest and value for both races. + +It was after speaking, not long ago, to the colored people at such +a county fair in North Carolina that I was asked the next morning +to speak to the white students at their college, who gave me as +hearty a greeting as I have ever received at Northern colleges. + +But such forces as I have described--forces that are gradually +regenerating the entire South and will regenerate Cuba and Porto +Rico--are not started and kept in motion without a central plant-- +a power-house, where the power is generated. I cannot describe +all these places of power. Perhaps the whole South and the whole +country are most indebted to the Hampton Institute in Virginia. +Then there is Fisk University at Nashville, Tennessee; Talladega +College at Talladega, Alabama; Spelman Seminary, Atlanta +University, and Atlanta Baptist College at Atlanta; Biddle +University in North Carolina; Claflin University at Orangeburg, +South Carolina; and Knoxville College at Knoxville, Tennessee. +Some of these do a different grade of work, but one much needed. + +At Tuskegee, Alabama, starting fifteen years ago in a little +shanty with one teacher and thirty students, with no property, +there has grown up an industrial and educational village where the +ideas that I have referred to are put into the heads, hearts, and +hands of an army of colored men and women, with the purpose of +having them become centers of light and civilization in every part +of the South. One visiting the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial +Institute to-day will find eight hundred and fifty students +gathered from twenty-four States, with eighty-eight teachers and +officers training these students in literary, religious, and +industrial work. + +Counting the students and the families of the instructors, the +visitor will find a black village of about twelve hundred people. +Instead of the old, worn-out plantation that was there fifteen +years ago, there is a modern farm of seven hundred acres +cultivated by student labor. There are Jersey and Holstein cows +and Berkshire pigs, and the butter used is made by the most modern +process. + +Aside from the dozens of neat, comfortable cottages owned by +individual teachers and other persons, who have settled in this +village for the purpose of educating their children, he will find +thirty-six buildings of various kinds and sizes, owned and built +by the school, property valued at three hundred thousand dollars. +Perhaps the most interesting thing in connection with these +buildings is that, with the exception of three, they have been +built by student labor. The friends of the school have furnished +money to pay the teachers and for material. + +When a building is to be erected, the teacher in charge of the +mechanical and architectural drawing department gives to the class +in drawing a general description of the building desired, and then +there is a competition to see whose plan will be accepted. These +same students in most cases help do the practical work of putting +up the building--some at the sawmill, the brick-yard, or in the +carpentry, brickmaking, plastering, painting, and tinsmithing +departments. At the same time care is taken to see not only that +the building goes up properly, but that the students, who are +under intelligent instructors in their special branch, are taught +at the same time the principles as well as the practical part of +the trade. + +The school has the building in the end, and the students have the +knowledge of the trade. This same principle applies, whether in +the laundry, where the washing for seven or eight hundred people +is done, or in the sewing-room, where a large part of the clothing +for this colony is made and repaired, or in the wheelwright and +blacksmith departments, where all the wagons and buggies used by +the school, besides a large number for the outside public, are +manufactured, or in the printing-office, where a large part of the +printing for the white and colored people in this region is done. +Twenty-six different industries are here in constant operation. + +When the student is through with his course of training he goes +out feeling that it is just as honorable to labor with the hand as +with the head, and instead of his having to look for a place, the +place usually seeks him, because he has to give that which the +South wants. One other thing should not be overlooked in our +efforts to develop the black man. As bad as slavery was, almost +every large plantation in the South during that time was, in a +measure, an industrial school. It had its farming department, its +blacksmith, wheelwright, brickmaking, carpentry, and sewing +departments. Thus at the close of the war our people were in +possession of all the common and skilled labor in the South. For +nearly twenty years after the war we overlooked the value of the +ante-bellum training, and no one was trained to replace these +skilled men and women who were soon to pass away; and now, as +skilled laborers from foreign countries, with not only educated +hands but trained brains, begin to come into the South and take +these positions once held by us, we are gradually waking up to the +fact that we must compete with the white man in the industrial +world if we would hold our own. No one understands his value in +the labor world better than the old colored man. Recently, when a +convention was held in the South by the white people for the +purpose of inducing white settlers from the North and West to +settle in the South, one of these colored men said to the +president of the convention: "'Fore de Lord, boss, we's got as +many white people down here now as we niggers can support." + +The negro in the South has another advantage. While there is +prejudice against him along certain lines,--in the matter of +business in general, and the trades especially,--there is +virtually no prejudice so far as the native Southern white man is +concerned. White men and black men work at the same carpenter's +bench and on the same brick wall. Sometimes the white man is the +"boss," sometimes the black man is the boss. + +Some one chaffed a colored man recently because, when he got +through with a contract for building a house, he cleared just ten +cents; but he said: "All right, boss; it was worth ten cents to be +de boss of dem white men." If a Southern white man has a contract +to let for the building of a house, he prefers the black +contractor, because he has been used to doing business of this +character with a negro rather than with a white man. + +The negro will find his way up as a man just in proportion as he +makes himself valuable, possesses something that a white man +wants, can do something as well as, or better than, a white man. + +I would not have my readers get the thought that the problem in +the South is settled, that there is nothing else to be done; far +from this. Long years of patient, hard work will be required for +the betterment of the condition of the negro in the South, as well +as for the betterment of the condition of the negro in the West +Indies. + +There are bright spots here and there that point the way. Perhaps +the most that we have accomplished in the last thirty years is to +show the North and the South how the fourteen slaves landed a few +hundred years ago at Jamestown, Virginia,--now nearly eight +millions of freemen in the South alone,--are to be made a safe and +useful part of our democratic and Christian institutions. + +The main thing that is now needed to bring about a solution of the +difficulties in the South is money in large sums, to be used +largely for Christian, technical, and industrial education. + +For more than thirty years we have been trying to solve one of the +most serious problems in the history of the world largely by +passing around a hat in the North. Out of their poverty the +Southern States have done well in assisting; many more millions +are needed, and these millions will have to come before the +question as to the negro in the South is settled. + +There never was a greater opportunity for men of wealth to place a +few million dollars where they could be used in lifting up and +regenerating a whole race; and let it always be borne in mind that +every dollar given for the proper education of the negro in the +South is almost as much help to the Southern white man as to the +negro himself. So long as the whites in the South are surrounded +by a race that is, in a large measure, in ignorance and poverty, +so long will this ignorance and poverty of the negro in a score of +ways prevent the highest development of the white man. + +The problem of lifting up the negro in Cuba and Porto Rico is an +easier one in one respect, even if it proves more difficult in +others. It will be less difficult, because there is the absence +of that higher degree of race feeling which exists in many parts +of the United States. Both the white Cuban and the white Spaniard +have treated the people of African descent, in civil, political, +military, and business matters, very much as they have treated +others of their own race. Oppression has not cowed and unmanned +the Cuban negro in certain respects as it has the American negro. + +In only a few instances is the color-line drawn. How Americans +will treat the negro Cuban, and what will be the tendency of +American influences in the matter of the relation of the races, +remains an interesting and open question. Certainly it will place +this country in an awkward position to have gone to war to free a +people from Spanish cruelty, and then as soon as it gets them +within its power to treat a large proportion of the population +worse than did even Spain herself, simply on account of color. + +While in the matter of the relation of the races the problem +before us in the West Indies is easier, in respect to the +industrial, moral, and religious sides it is more difficult. The +negroes on these islands are largely an agricultural people, and +for this reason, in addition to a higher degree of mental and +religious training, they need the same agricultural, mechanical, +and domestic training that is fast helping the negroes in our +Southern States. Industrial training will not only help them to +the ownership of property, habits of thrift and economy, but the +acquiring of these elements of strength will go further than +anything else in improving the moral and religious condition of +the masses, just as has been and is true of my people in the +Southern States. + +With the idea of getting the methods of industrial education +pursued at Hampton and Tuskegee permanently and rightly started in +Cuba and Porto Rico, a few of the most promising men and women +from these islands have been brought to the Tuskegee Normal and +Industrial Institute, and educated with the view of having them +return and take the lead in affording industrial training on these +islands, where the training can best be given to the masses. + +The emphasis that I have placed upon an industrial education does +not mean that the negro is to be excluded from the higher +interests of life, but it does mean that in proportion as the +negro gets the foundation,--the useful before the ornamental,--in +the same proportion will he accelerate his progress in acquiring +those elements which do not pertain so directly to the +utilitarian. + +Phillips Brooks once said, "One generation gathers the material, +and the next builds the palaces." Very largely this must be the +material-gathering generation of black people, but in due time the +palaces will come if we are patient. + + + +THE MARCH OF PROGRESS +by Charles W. Chesnutt + + +The colored people of Patesville had at length gained the object +they had for a long time been seeking--the appointment of a +committee of themselves to manage the colored schools of the town. +They had argued, with some show of reason, that they were most +interested in the education of their own children, and in a +position to know, better than any committee of white men could, +what was best for their children's needs. The appointments had +been made by the county commissioners during the latter part of +the summer, and a week later a meeting was called for the purpose +of electing a teacher to take charge of the grammar school at the +beginning of the fall term. + +The committee consisted of Frank Gillespie, or "Glaspy," a barber, +who took an active part in local politics; Bob Cotten, a +blacksmith, who owned several houses and was looked upon as a +substantial citizen; and Abe Johnson, commonly called "Ole Abe" or +"Uncle Abe," who had a large family, and drove a dray, and did odd +jobs of hauling; he was also a class-leader in the Methodist +church. The committee had been chosen from among a number of +candidates--Gillespie on account of his political standing, Cotten +as representing the solid element of the colored population, and +Old Abe, with democratic impartiality, as likely to satisfy the +humbler class of a humble people. While the choice had not +pleased everybody,--for instance, some of the other applicants,-- +it was acquiesced in with general satisfaction. The first meeting +of the new committee was of great public interest, partly by +reason of its novelty, but chiefly because there were two +candidates for the position of teacher of the grammar school. + +The former teacher, Miss Henrietta Noble, had applied for the +school. She had taught the colored children of Patesville for +fifteen years. When the Freedmen's Bureau, after the military +occupation of North Carolina, had called for volunteers to teach +the children of the freedmen, Henrietta Nobel had offered her +services. Brought up in a New England household by parents who +taught her to fear God and love her fellow-men, she had seen her +father's body brought home from a Southern battle-field and laid +to rest in the village cemetery; and a short six months later she +had buried her mother by his side. Henrietta had no brothers or +sisters, and her nearest relatives were cousins living in the far +West. The only human being in whom she felt any special personal +interest was a certain captain in her father's regiment, who had +paid her some attention. She had loved this man deeply, in a +maidenly, modest way; but he had gone away without speaking, and +had not since written. He had escaped the fate of many others, +and at the close of the war was alive and well, stationed in some +Southern garrison. + +When her mother died, Henrietta had found herself possessed only +of the house where she lived and the furniture it contained, +neither being of much value, and she was thrown upon her own +resources for a livelihood. She had a fair education and had read +many good books. It was not easy to find employment such as she +desired. She wrote to her Western cousins, and they advised her +to come to them, as they thought they could do something for her +if she were there. She had almost decided to accept their offer, +when the demand arose for teachers in the South. Whether impelled +by some strain of adventurous blood from a Pilgrim ancestry, or by +a sensitive pride that shrank from dependence, or by some dim and +unacknowledged hope that she might sometime, somewhere, somehow +meet Captain Carey--whether from one of these motives or a +combination of them all, joined to something of the missionary +spirit, she decided to go South, and wrote to her cousins +declining their friendly offer. + +She had come to Patesville when the children were mostly a mob of +dirty little beggars. She had distributed among them the cast- +off clothing that came from their friends in the North; she had +taught them to wash their faces and to comb their hair; and +patiently, year after year, she had labored to instruct them in +the rudiments of learning and the first principles of religion and +morality. And she had not wrought in vain. Other agencies, it is +true, had in time cooperated with her efforts, but any one who had +watched the current of events must have been compelled to admit +that the very fair progress of the colored people of Patesville in +the fifteen years following emancipation had been due chiefly to +the unselfish labors of Henrietta Noble, and that her nature did +not belie her name. + +Fifteen years is a long time. Miss Noble had never met Captain +Carey; and when she learned later that he had married a Southern +girl in the neighborhood of his post, she had shed her tears in +secret and banished his image from her heart. She had lived a +lonely life. The white people of the town, though they learned in +time to respect her and to value her work, had never recognized +her existence by more than the mere external courtesy shown by any +community to one who lives in the midst of it. The situation was +at first, of course, so strained that she did not expect sympathy +from the white people; and later, when time had smoothed over some +of the asperities of war, her work had so engaged her that she had +not had time to pine over her social exclusion. Once or twice +nature had asserted itself, and she had longed for her own kind, +and had visited her New England home. But her circle of friends +was broken up, and she did not find much pleasure in boarding- +house life; and on her last visit to the North but one, she had +felt so lonely that she had longed for the dark faces of her +pupils, and had welcomed with pleasure the hour when her task +should be resumed. + +But for several reasons the school at Patesville was of more +importance to Miss Noble at this particular time than it ever had +been before. During the last few years her health had not been +good. An affection of the heart similar to that from which her +mother had died, while not interfering perceptibly with her work, +had grown from bad to worse, aggravated by close application to +her duties, until it had caused her grave alarm. She did not have +perfect confidence in the skill of the Patesville physicians, and +to obtain the best medical advice had gone to New York during the +summer, remaining there a month under the treatment of an eminent +specialist. This, of course, had been expensive and had absorbed +the savings of years from a small salary; and when the time came +for her to return to Patesville, she was reduced, after paying her +traveling expenses, to her last ten-dollar note. + +"It is very fortunate," the great man had said at her last visit, +"that circumstances permit you to live in the South, for I am +afraid you could not endure a Northern winter. You are getting +along very well now, and if you will take care of yourself and +avoid excitement, you will be better." He said to himself as she +went away: "It's only a matter of time, but that is true about us +all; and a wise physician does as much good by what he withholds +as by what he tells." + +Miss Noble had not anticipated any trouble about the school. When +she went away the same committee of white men was in charge that +had controlled the school since it had become part of the public- +school system of the State on the withdrawal of support from the +Freedmen's Bureau. While there had been no formal engagement made +for the next year, when she had last seen the chairman before she +went away, he had remarked that she was looking rather fagged out, +had bidden her good-by, and had hoped to see her much improved +when she returned. She had left her house in the care of the +colored woman who lived with her and did her housework, assuming, +of course, that she would take up her work again in the autumn. + +She was much surprised at first, and later alarmed, to find a +rival for her position as teacher of the grammar school. Many of +her friends and pupils had called on her since her return, and she +had met a number of the people at the colored Methodist church, +where she taught in the Sunday-school. She had many friends and +supporters, but she soon found out that her opponent had +considerable strength. There had been a time when she would have +withdrawn and left him a clear field, but at the present moment it +was almost a matter of life and death to her--certainly the matter +of earning a living--to secure the appointment. + +The other candidate was a young man who in former years had been +one of Miss Noble's brightest pupils. When he had finished his +course in the grammar school, his parents, with considerable +sacrifice, had sent him to a college for colored youth. He had +studied diligently, had worked industriously during his vacations, +sometimes at manual labor, sometimes teaching a country school, +and in due time had been graduated from his college with honors. +He had come home at the end of his school life, and was very +naturally seeking the employment for which he had fitted himself. +He was a "bright" mulatto, with straight hair, an intelligent +face, and a well-set figure. He had acquired some of the marks of +culture, wore a frock-coat and a high collar, parted his hair in +the middle, and showed by his manner that he thought a good deal +of himself. He was the popular candidate among the progressive +element of his people, and rather confidently expected the +appointment. + +The meeting of the committee was held in the Methodist church, +where, in fact, the grammar school was taught, for want of a +separate school-house. After the preliminary steps to effect an +organization, Mr. Gillespie, who had been elected chairman, took +the floor. + +"The principal business to be brought befo' the meet'n' this +evenin'," he said, "is the selection of a teacher for our grammar +school for the ensuin' year. Two candidates have filed +applications, which, if there is no objection, I will read to the +committee. The first is from Miss Noble, who has been the teacher +ever since the grammar school was started." + +He then read Miss Noble's letter, in which she called attention to +her long years of service, to her need of the position, and to her +affection for the pupils, and made formal application for the +school for the next year. She did not, from motives of self- +respect, make known the extremity of her need; nor did she mention +the condition of her health, as it might have been used as an +argument against her retention. + +Mr. Gillespie then read the application of the other candidate, +Andrew J. Williams. Mr. Williams set out in detail his +qualifications for the position: his degree from Riddle +University; his familiarity with the dead and living languages and +the higher mathematics; his views of discipline; and a peroration +in which he expressed the desire to devote himself to the +elevation of his race and assist the march of progress through the +medium of the Patesville grammar school. The letter was well +written in a bold, round hand, with many flourishes, and looked +very aggressive and overbearing as it lay on the table by the side +of the sheet of small note-paper in Miss Noble's faint and +somewhat cramped handwriting. + +"You have heard the readin' of the applications," said the +chairman. "Gentlemen, what is yo' pleasure?" + +There being no immediate response, the chairman continued: + +"As this is a matter of consid'able importance, involvin' not only +the welfare of our schools, but the progress of our race, an' as +our action is liable to be criticized, whatever we decide, perhaps +we had better discuss the subjec' befo' we act. If nobody else +has anything to obse've, I will make a few remarks." + +Mr. Gillespie cleared his throat, and, assuming an oratorical +attitude, proceeded: + +"The time has come in the history of our people when we should +stand together. In this age of organization the march of progress +requires that we help ourselves, or be forever left behind. Ever +since the war we have been sendin' our child'n to school an' +educatin' 'em; an' now the time has come when they are leavin' the +schools an' colleges, an' are ready to go to work. An' what are +they goin' to do? The white people won't hire 'em as clerks in +their sto's an' factories an' mills, an' we have no sto's or +factories or mills of our own. They can't be lawyers or doctors +yet, because we haven't got the money to send 'em to medical +colleges an' law schools. We can't elect many of 'em to office, +for various reasons. There's just two things they can find to do-- +to preach in our own pulpits, an' teach in our own schools. If +it wasn't for that, they'd have to go on forever waitin' on white +folks, like their fo'fathers have done, because they couldn't help +it. If we expect our race to progress, we must educate our young +men an' women. If we want to encourage 'em to get education, we +must find 'em employment when they are educated. We have now an +opportunity to do this in the case of our young friend an' fellow- +citizen, Mr. Williams, whose eloquent an' fine-lookin' letter +ought to make us feel proud of him an' of our race. + +"Of co'se there are two sides to the question. We have got to +consider the claims of Miss Noble. She has been with us a long +time an' has done much good work for our people, an' we'll never +forget her work an' frien'ship. But, after all, she has been paid +for it; she has got her salary regularly an' for a long time, an' +she has probably saved somethin', for we all know she hasn't lived +high; an', for all we know, she may have had somethin' left her by +her parents. An' then again, she's white, an' has got her own +people to look after her; they've got all the money an' all the +offices an' all the everythin',--all that they've made an' all +that we've made for fo' hundred years,--an' they sho'ly would look +out for her. If she don't get this school, there's probably a +dozen others she can get at the North. An' another thing: she is +gettin' rather feeble, an' it 'pears to me she's hardly able to +stand teachin' so many child'n, an' a long rest might be the best +thing in the world for her. + +"Now, gentlemen, that's the situation. Shall we keep Miss Noble, +or shall we stand by our own people? It seems to me there can +hardly be but one answer. Self-preservation is the first law of +nature. Are there any other remarks?" + +Old Abe was moving restlessly in his seat. He did not say +anything, however, and the chairman turned to the other member. + +"Brother Cotten, what is yo' opinion of the question befo' the +board?" + +Mr. Cotten rose with the slowness and dignity becoming a +substantial citizen, and observed: + +"I think the remarks of the chairman have great weight. We all +have nothin' but kind feelin's fer Miss Noble, an' I came here to- +night somewhat undecided how to vote on this question. But after +listenin' to the just an' forcible arguments of Brother Glaspy, it +'pears to me that, after all, the question befo' us is not a +matter of feelin', but of business. As a business man, I am +inclined to think Brother Glaspy is right. If we don't help +ourselves when we get a chance, who is goin' to help us?" + +"That bein' the case," said the chairman, "shall we proceed to a +vote? All who favor the election of Brother Williams--" + +At this point Old Abe, with much preliminary shuffling, stood up +in his place and interrupted the speaker. + +"Mr. Chuhman," he said, "I s'pose I has a right ter speak in dis +meet'n? I S'POSE I is a member er dis committee?" + +"Certainly, Brother Johnson, certainly; we shall be glad to hear +from you." + +"I s'pose I's got a right ter speak my min', ef I is po' an' +black, an' don' weah as good clo's as some other members er de +committee?" + +"Most assuredly, Brother Johnson," answered the chairman, with a +barber's suavity, "you have as much right to be heard as any one +else. There was no intention of cuttin' you off." + +"I s'pose," continued Abe, "dat a man wid fo'teen child'n kin be +'lowed ter hab somethin' ter say 'bout de schools er dis town?" + +"I am sorry, Brother Johnson, that you should feel slighted, but +there was no intention to igno' yo' rights. The committee will be +please' to have you ventilate yo' views." + +"Ef it's all be'n an' done reco'nized an' 'cided dat I's got de +right ter be heared in dis meet'n', I'll say w'at I has ter say, +an' it won't take me long ter say it. Ef I should try ter tell +all de things dat Miss Noble has done fer de niggers er dis town, +it'd take me till ter-morrer mawnin'. Fer fifteen long yeahs I +has watched her incomin's an' her outgoin's. Her daddy was a +Yankee kunnel, who died fighting fer ou' freedom. She come heah +when we--yas, Mr. Chuhman, when you an' Br'er Cotten--was jes sot +free, an' when none er us didn' have a rag ter ou' backs. She +come heah, an' she tuk yo' child'n an' my child'n, an' she teached +'em sense an' manners an' religion an' book-l'arnin'. When she +come heah we didn' hab no chu'ch. Who writ up No'th an' got a +preacher sent to us, an' de fun's ter buil' dis same chu'ch-house +we're settin' in ter-night? Who got de money f'm de Bureau to +s'port de school? An' when dat was stop', who got de money f'm de +Peabody Fun'? Talk about Miss Noble gittin' a sal'ry! Who paid +dat sal'ry up ter five years ago? Not one dollah of it come outer +ou' pockets! + +"An' den, w'at did she git fer de yuther things she done? Who +paid her fer de gals she kep' f'm throwin' deyse'ves away? Who +paid fer de boys she kep' outer jail? I had a son dat seemed to +hab made up his min' ter go straight ter hell. I made him go ter +Sunday-school, an' somethin' dat woman said teched his heart, an' +he behaved hisse'f, an' I ain' got no reason fer ter be 'shame' er +'im. An' I can 'member, Br'er Cotten, when you didn' own fo' +houses an' a fahm. An' when yo' fus wife was sick, who sot by her +bedside an' read de Good Book ter 'er, w'en dey wuzn' nobody else +knowed how ter read it, an' comforted her on her way across de +col', dahk ribber? An' dat ain' all I kin 'member, Mr. Chuhman! +When yo' gal Fanny was a baby, an' sick, an' nobody knowed what +was de matter wid 'er, who sent fer a doctor, an' paid 'im fer +comin', an' who he'ped nuss dat chile, an' tol' yo' wife w'at ter +do, an' save' dat chile's life, jes as sho' as de Lawd has save' +my soul? + +"An' now, aftuh fifteen yeahs o' slavin' fer us, who ain't got no +claim on her, aftuh fifteen yeahs dat she has libbed 'mongs' us +an' made herse'f one of us, an' endyoed havin' her own people look +down on her, aftuh she has growed ole an' gray wukkin' fer us an' +our child'n, we talk erbout turnin' 'er out like a' ole hoss ter +die! It 'pears ter me some folks has po' mem'ries! Whar would we +'a' be'n ef her folks at de No'th hadn' 'membered us no bettuh? +An' we hadn' done nothin', neither, fer dem to 'member us fer. De +man dat kin fergit w'at Miss Noble has done fer dis town is +unworthy de name er nigger! He oughter die an' make room fer some +'spectable dog! + +"Br'er Glaspy says we got a' educated young man, an' we mus' gib +him sump'n' ter do. Let him wait; ef I reads de signs right he +won't hab ter wait long fer dis job. Let him teach in de primary +schools, er in de country; an' ef he can't do dat, let 'im work +awhile. It don't hahm a' educated man ter work a little; his +fo'fathers has worked fer hund'eds of years, an' we's worked, an' +we're heah yet, an' we're free, an' we's gettin' ou' own houses +an' lots an' hosses an' cows--an' ou' educated young men. But +don't let de fus thing we do as a committee be somethin' we ought +ter be 'shamed of as long as we lib. I votes fer Miss Noble, fus, +las', an' all de time!" + +When Old Abe sat down the chairman's face bore a troubled look. +He remembered how his baby girl, the first of his children that he +could really call his own, that no master could hold a prior claim +upon, lay dying in the arms of his distracted young wife, and how +the thin, homely, and short-sighted white teacher had come like an +angel into his cabin, and had brought back the little one from the +verge of the grave. The child was a young woman now, and +Gillespie had well-founded hopes of securing the superior young +Williams for a son-in-law; and he realized with something of shame +that this later ambition had so dazzled his eyes for a moment as +to obscure the memory of earlier days. + +Mr. Cotten, too, had not been unmoved, and there were tears in his +eyes as he recalled how his first wife, Nancy, who had borne with +him the privations of slavery, had passed away, with the teacher's +hand in hers, before she had been able to enjoy the fruits of +liberty. For they had loved one another much, and her death had +been to them both a hard and bitter thing. And, as Old Abe spoke, +he could remember, as distinctly as though they had been spoken +but an hour before, the words of comfort that the teacher had +whispered to Nancy in her dying hour and to him in his +bereavement. + +"On consideration, Mr. Chairman," he said, with an effort to hide +a suspicious tremor in his voice and to speak with the dignity +consistent with his character as a substantial citizen, "I wish to +record my vote fer Miss Noble." + +"The chair," said Gillespie, yielding gracefully to the majority, +and greatly relieved that the responsibility of his candidate's +defeat lay elsewhere, "will make the vote unanimous, and will +appoint Brother Cotten and Brother Johnson a committee to step +round the corner to Miss Noble's and notify her of her election." + +The two committeemen put on their hats, and, accompanied by +several people who had been waiting at the door to hear the result +of the meeting, went around the corner to Miss Noble's house, a +distance of a block or two away. The house was lighted, so they +knew she had not gone to bed. They went in at the gate, and +Cotten knocked at the door. + +The colored maid opened it. + +"Is Miss Noble home?" said Cotten. + +'Yes; come in. She's waitin' ter hear from the committee." + +The woman showed them into the parlor. Miss Noble rose from her +seat by the table, where she had been reading, and came forward to +meet them. They did not for a moment observe, as she took a step +toward them, that her footsteps wavered. In her agitation she was +scarcely aware of it herself. + +"Miss Noble," announced Cotten, "we have come to let you know that +you have be'n 'lected teacher of the grammar school fer the next +year." + +"Thank you; oh, thank you so much!" she said. "I am very glad. +Mary"--she put her hand to her side suddenly and tottered--"Mary, +will you--" + +A spasm of pain contracted her face and cut short her speech. She +would have fallen had Old Abe not caught her and, with Mary's +help, laid her on a couch. + +The remedies applied by Mary, and by the physician who was hastily +summoned, proved unavailing. The teacher did not regain +consciousness. + +If it be given to those whose eyes have closed in death to linger +regretfully for a while about their earthly tenement, or from some +higher vantage-ground to look down upon it, then Henrietta Noble's +tolerant spirit must have felt, mingling with its regret, a +compensating thrill of pleasure; for not only those for whom she +had labored sorrowed for her, but the people of her own race, many +of whom, in the blindness of their pride, would not admit during +her life that she served them also, saw so much clearer now that +they took charge of her poor clay, and did it gentle reverence, +and laid it tenderly away amid the dust of their own loved and +honored dead. + +TWO weeks after Miss Noble's funeral the other candidate took +charge of the grammar school, which went on without any further +obstacles to the march of progress. + + + +THE FREEDMEN'S BUREAU +by W. E. Burghardt Du Bois + + +The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color +line; the relation of the darker to the lighter races of men in +Asia and Africa, in America and the islands of the sea. It was a +phase of this problem that caused the Civil War; and however much +they who marched south and north in 1861 may have fixed on the +technical points of union and local autonomy as a shibboleth, all +nevertheless knew, as we know, that the question of Negro slavery +was the deeper cause of the conflict. Curious it was, too, how +this deeper question ever forced itself to the surface, despite +effort and disclaimer. No sooner had Northern armies touched +Southern soil than this old question, newly guised, sprang from +the earth,--What shall be done with slaves? Peremptory military +commands, this way and that, could not answer the query; the +Emancipation Proclamation seemed but to broaden and intensify the +difficulties; and so at last there arose in the South a government +of men called the Freedmen's Bureau, which lasted, legally, from +1865 to 1872, but in a sense from 1861 to 1876, and which sought +to settle the Negro problems in the United States of America. + +It is the aim of this essay to study the Freedmen's Bureau,--the +occasion of its rise, the character of its work, and its final +success and failure,--not only as a part of American history, but +above all as one of the most singular and interesting of the +attempts made by a great nation to grapple with vast problems of +race and social condition. + +No sooner had the armies, east and west, penetrated Virginia and +Tennessee than fugitive slaves appeared within their lines. They +came at night, when the flickering camp fires of the blue hosts +shone like vast unsteady stars along the black horizon: old men, +and thin, with gray and tufted hair; women with frightened eyes, +dragging whimpering, hungry children; men and girls, stalwart and +gaunt,--a horde of starving vagabonds, homeless, helpless, and +pitiable in their dark distress. Two methods of treating these +newcomers seemed equally logical to opposite sorts of minds. Said +some, "We have nothing to do with slaves." "Hereafter," commanded +Halleck, "no slaves should be allowed to come into your lines at +all; if any come without your knowledge, when owners call for +them, deliver them." But others said, "We take grain and fowl; +why not slaves?" Whereupon Fremont, as early as August, 1861, +declared the slaves of Missouri rebels free. Such radical action +was quickly countermanded, but at the same time the opposite +policy could not be enforced; some of the black refugees declared +themselves freemen, others showed their masters had deserted them, +and still others were captured with forts and plantations. +Evidently, too, slaves were a source of strength to the +Confederacy, and were being used as laborers and producers. "They +constitute a military resource," wrote the Secretary of War, late +in 1861; "and being such, that they should not be turned over to +the enemy is too plain to discuss." So the tone of the army +chiefs changed, Congress forbade the rendition of fugitives, and +Butler's "contrabands" were welcomed as military laborers. This +complicated rather than solved the problem; for now the scattering +fugitives became a steady stream, which flowed faster as the +armies marched. + +Then the long-headed man, with care-chiseled face, who sat in the +White House, saw the inevitable, and emancipated the slaves of +rebels on New Year's, 1863. A month later Congress called +earnestly for the Negro soldiers whom the act of July, 1862, had +half grudgingly allowed to enlist. Thus the barriers were +leveled, and the deed was done. The stream of fugitives swelled +to a flood, and anxious officers kept inquiring: "What must be +done with slaves arriving almost daily? Am I to find food and +shelter for women and children?" + +It was a Pierce of Boston who pointed out the way, and thus became +in a sense the founder of the Freedmen's Bureau. Being specially +detailed from the ranks to care for the freedmen at Fortress +Monroe, he afterward founded the celebrated Port Royal experiment +and started the Freedmen's Aid Societies. Thus, under the timid +Treasury officials and bold army officers, Pierce's plan widened +and developed. At first, the able-bodied men were enlisted as +soldiers or hired as laborers, the women and children were herded +into central camps under guard, and "superintendents of +contrabands" multiplied here and there. Centres of massed +freedmen arose at Fortress Monroe, Va., Washington, D. C., +Beaufort and Port Royal, S. C., New Orleans, La., Vicksburg and +Corinth, Miss., Columbus, Ky., Cairo, Ill., and elsewhere, and the +army chaplains found here new and fruitful fields. + +Then came the Freedmen's Aid Societies, born of the touching +appeals for relief and help from these centres of distress. There +was the American Missionary Association, sprung from the Amistad, +and now full grown for work, the various church organizations, the +National Freedmen's Relief Association, the American Freedmen's +Union, the Western Freedmen's Aid Commission,--in all fifty or +more active organizations, which sent clothes, money, school- +books, and teachers southward. All they did was needed, for the +destitution of the freedmen was often reported as "too appalling +for belief," and the situation was growing daily worse rather than +better. + +And daily, too, it seemed more plain that this was no ordinary +matter of temporary relief, but a national crisis; for here loomed +a labor problem of vast dimensions. Masses of Negroes stood idle, +or, if they worked spasmodically, were never sure of pay; and if +perchance they received pay, squandered the new thing +thoughtlessly. In these and in other ways were camp life and the +new liberty demoralizing the freedmen. The broader economic +organization thus clearly demanded sprang up here and there as +accident and local conditions determined. Here again Pierce's +Port Royal plan of leased plantations and guided workmen pointed +out the rough way. In Washington, the military governor, at the +urgent appeal of the superintendent, opened confiscated estates to +the cultivation of the fugitives, and there in the shadow of the +dome gathered black farm villages. General Dix gave over estates +to the freedmen of Fortress Monroe, and so on through the South. +The government and the benevolent societies furnished the means of +cultivation, and the Negro turned again slowly to work. The +systems of control, thus started, rapidly grew, here and there, +into strange little governments, like that of General Banks in +Louisiana, with its 90,000 black subjects, its 50,000 guided +laborers, and its annual budget of $100,000 and more. It made out +4000 pay rolls, registered all freedmen, inquired into grievances +and redressed them, laid and collected taxes, and established a +system of public schools. So too Colonel Eaton, the +superintendent of Tennessee and Arkansas, ruled over 100,000, +leased and cultivated 7000 acres of cotton land, and furnished +food for 10,000 paupers. In South Carolina was General Saxton, +with his deep interest in black folk. He succeeded Pierce and the +Treasury officials, and sold forfeited estates, leased abandoned +plantations, encouraged schools, and received from Sherman, after +the terribly picturesque march to the sea, thousands of the +wretched camp followers. + +Three characteristic things one might have seen in Sherman's raid +through Georgia, which threw the new situation in deep and shadowy +relief: the Conqueror, the Conquered, and the Negro. Some see all +significance in the grim front of the destroyer, and some in the +bitter sufferers of the lost cause. But to me neither soldier nor +fugitive speaks with so deep a meaning as that dark and human +cloud that clung like remorse on the rear of those swift columns, +swelling at times to half their size, almost engulfing and choking +them. In vain were they ordered back, in vain were bridges hewn +from beneath their feet; on they trudged and writhed and surged, +until they rolled into Savannah, a starved and naked horde of tens +of thousands. There too came the characteristic military remedy: +"The islands from Charleston south, the abandoned ricefields along +the rivers for thirty miles back from the sea, and the country +bordering the St. John's River, Florida, are reserved and set +apart for the settlement of Negroes now made free by act of war." +So read the celebrated field order. + +All these experiments, orders, and systems were bound to attract +and perplex the government and the nation. Directly after the +Emancipation Proclamation, Representative Eliot had introduced a +bill creating a Bureau of Emancipation, but it was never reported. +The following June, a committee of inquiry, appointed by the +Secretary of War, reported in favor of a temporary bureau for the +"improvement, protection, and employment of refugee freedmen," on +much the same lines as were afterward followed. Petitions came in +to President Lincoln from distinguished citizens and +organizations, strongly urging a comprehensive and unified plan of +dealing with the freedmen, under a bureau which should be "charged +with the study of plans and execution of measures for easily +guiding, and in every way judiciously and humanely aiding, the +passage of our emancipated and yet to be emancipated blacks from +the old condition of forced labor to their new state of voluntary +industry." + +Some half-hearted steps were early taken by the government to put +both freedmen and abandoned estates under the supervision of the +Treasury officials. Laws of 1863 and 1864 directed them to take +charge of and lease abandoned lands for periods not exceeding +twelve months, and to "provide in such leases or otherwise for the +employment and general welfare" of the freedmen. Most of the army +officers looked upon this as a welcome relief from perplexing +"Negro affairs;" but the Treasury hesitated and blundered, and +although it leased large quantities of land and employed many +Negroes, especially along the Mississippi, yet it left the virtual +control of the laborers and their relations to their neighbors in +the hands of the army. + +In March, 1864, Congress at last turned its attention to the +subject, and the House passed a bill, by a majority of two, +establishing a Bureau for Freedmen in the War Department. Senator +Sumner, who had charge of the bill in the Senate, argued that +freedmen and abandoned lands ought to be under the same +department, and reported a substitute for the House bill, +attaching the Bureau to the Treasury Department. This bill +passed, but too late for action in the House. The debate wandered +over the whole policy of the administration and the general +question of slavery, without touching very closely the specific +merits of the measure in hand. + +Meantime the election took place, and the administration, +returning from the country with a vote of renewed confidence, +addressed itself to the matter more seriously. A conference +between the houses agreed upon a carefully drawn measure which +contained the chief provisions of Charles Sumner's bill, but made +the proposed organization a department independent of both the War +and Treasury officials. The bill was conservative, giving the new +department "general superintendence of all freedmen." It was to +"establish regulations" for them, protect them, lease them lands, +adjust their wages, and appear in civil and military courts as +their "next friend." There were many limitations attached to the +powers thus granted, and the organization was made permanent. +Nevertheless, the Senate defeated the bill, and a new conference +committee was appointed. This committee reported a new bill, +February 28, which was whirled through just as the session closed, +and which became the act of 1865 establishing in the War +Department a "Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands." + +This last compromise was a hasty bit of legislation, vague and +uncertain in outline. A Bureau was created, "to continue during +the present War of Rebellion, and for one year thereafter," to +which was given "the supervision and management of all abandoned +lands, and the control of all subjects relating to refugees and +freedmen," under "such rules and regulations as may be presented +by the head of the Bureau and approved by the President." A +commissioner, appointed by the President and Senate, was to +control the Bureau, with an office force not exceeding ten clerks. +The President might also appoint commissioners in the seceded +states, and to all these offices military officials might be +detailed at regular pay. The Secretary of War could issue +rations, clothing, and fuel to the destitute, and all abandoned +property was placed in the hands of the Bureau for eventual lease +and sale to ex-slaves in forty-acre parcels. + +Thus did the United States government definitely assume charge of +the emancipated Negro as the ward of the nation. It was a +tremendous undertaking. Here, at a stroke of the pen, was erected +a government of millions of men,--and not ordinary men, either, +but black men emasculated by a peculiarly complete system of +slavery, centuries old; and now, suddenly, violently, they come +into a new birthright, at a time of war and passion, in the midst +of the stricken, embittered population of their former masters. +Any man might well have hesitated to assume charge of such a work, +with vast responsibilities, indefinite powers, and limited +resources. Probably no one but a soldier would have answered such +a call promptly; and indeed no one but a soldier could be called, +for Congress had appropriated no money for salaries and expenses. + +Less than a month after the weary emancipator passed to his rest, +his successor assigned Major General Oliver O. Howard to duty as +commissioner of the new Bureau. He was a Maine man, then only +thirty-five years of age. He had marched with Sherman to the sea, +had fought well at Gettysburg, and had but a year before been +assigned to the command of the Department of Tennessee. An honest +and sincere men, with rather too much faith in human nature, +little aptitude for systematic business and intricate detail, he +was nevertheless conservative, hard-working, and, above all, +acquainted at first-hand with much of the work before him. And of +that work it has been truly said, "No approximately correct +history of civilization can ever be written which does not throw +out in bold relief, as one of the great landmarks of political and +social progress, the organization and administration of the +Freedmen's Bureau." + +On May 12, 1865, Howard was appointed, and he assumed the duties +of his office promptly on the 15th, and began examining the field +of work. A curious mess he looked upon: little despotisms, +communistic experiments, slavery, peonage, business speculations, +organized charity, unorganized almsgiving,--all reeling on under +the guise of helping the freedman, and all enshrined in the smoke +and blood of war and the cursing and silence of angry men. On May +19 the new government--for a government it really was--issued its +constitution; commissioners were to be appointed in each of the +seceded states, who were to take charge of "all subjects relating +to refugees and freedmen," and all relief and rations were to be +given by their consent alone. The Bureau invited continued +cooperation with benevolent societies, and declared, "It will be +the object of all commissioners to introduce practicable systems +of compensated labor," and to establish schools. Forthwith nine +assistant commissioners were appointed. They were to hasten to +their fields of work; seek gradually to close relief +establishments, and make the destitute self-supporting; act as +courts of law where there were no courts, or where Negroes were +not recognized in them as free; establish the institution of +marriage among ex-slaves, and keep records; see that freedmen were +free to choose their employers, and help in making fair contracts +for them; and finally, the circular said, "Simple good faith, for +which we hope on all hands for those concerned in the passing away +of slavery, will especially relieve the assistant commissioners in +the discharge of their duties toward the freedmen, as well as +promote the general welfare." + +No sooner was the work thus started, and the general system and +local organization in some measure begun, than two grave +difficulties appeared which changed largely the theory and outcome +of Bureau work. First, there were the abandoned lands of the +South. It had long been the more or less definitely expressed +theory of the North that all the chief problems of emancipation +might be settled by establishing the slaves on the forfeited lands +of their masters,--a sort of poetic justice, said some. But this +poetry done into solemn prose meant either wholesale confiscation +of private property in the South, or vast appropriations. Now +Congress had not appropriated a cent, and no sooner did the +proclamations of general amnesty appear than the 800,000 acres of +abandoned lands in the hands of the Freedmen's Bureau melted +quickly away. The second difficulty lay in perfecting the local +organization of the Bureau throughout the wide field of work. +Making a new machine and sending out officials of duly ascertained +fitness for a great work of social reform is no child's task; but +this task was even harder, for a new central organization had to +be fitted on a heterogeneous and confused but already existing +system of relief and control of ex-slaves; and the agents +available for this work must be sought for in an army still busy +with war operations,--men in the very nature of the case ill +fitted for delicate social work,--or among the questionable camp +followers of an invading host. Thus, after a year's work, +vigorously as it was pushed, the problem looked even more +difficult to grasp and solve than at the beginning. Nevertheless, +three things that year's work did, well worth the doing: it +relieved a vast amount of physical suffering; it transported 7000 +fugitives from congested centres back to the farm; and, best of +all, it inaugurated the crusade of the New England schoolma'am. + +The annals of this Ninth Crusade are yet to be written, the tale +of a mission that seemed to our age far more quixotic than the +quest of St. Louis seemed to his. Behind the mists of ruin and +rapine waved the calico dresses of women who dared, and after the +hoarse mouthings of the field guns rang the rhythm of the +alphabet. Rich and poor they were, serious and curious. Bereaved +now of a father, now of a brother, now of more than these, they +came seeking a life work in planting New England schoolhouses +among the white and black of the South. They did their work well. +In that first year they taught 100,000 souls, and more. + +Evidently, Congress must soon legislate again on the hastily +organized Bureau, which had so quickly grown into wide +significance and vast possibilities. An institution such as that +was well-nigh as difficult to end as to begin. Early in 1866 +Congress took up the matter, when Senator Trumbull, of Illinois, +introduced a bill to extend the Bureau and enlarge its powers. +This measure received, at the hands of Congress, far more thorough +discussion and attention than its predecessor. The war cloud had +thinned enough to allow a clearer conception of the work of +emancipation. The champions of the bill argued that the +strengthening of the Freedmen's Bureau was still a military +necessity; that it was needed for the proper carrying out of the +Thirteenth Amendment, and was a work of sheer justice to the ex- +slave, at a trifling cost to the government. The opponents of the +measure declared that the war was over, and the necessity for war +measures past; that the Bureau, by reason of its extraordinary +powers, was clearly unconstitutional in time of peace, and was +destined to irritate the South and pauperize the freedmen, at a +final cost of possibly hundreds of millions. Two of these +arguments were unanswered, and indeed unanswerable: the one that +the extraordinary powers of the Bureau threatened the civil rights +of all citizens; and the other that the government must have power +to do what manifestly must be done, and that present abandonment +of the freedmen meant their practical enslavement. The bill which +finally passed enlarged and made permanent the Freedmen's Bureau. +It was promptly vetoed by President Johnson, as +"unconstitutional," "unnecessary," and "extrajudicial," and failed +of passage over the veto. Meantime, however, the breach between +Congress and the President began to broaden, and a modified form +of the lost bill was finally passed over the President's second +veto, July 16. + +The act of 1866 gave the Freedmen's Bureau its final form,--the +form by which it will be known to posterity and judged of men. It +extended the existence of the Bureau to July, 1868; it authorized +additional assistant commissioners, the retention of army officers +mustered out of regular service, the sale of certain forfeited +lands to freedmen on nominal terms, the sale of Confederate public +property for Negro schools, and a wider field of judicial +interpretation and cognizance. The government of the un- +reconstructed South was thus put very largely in the hands of the +Freedmen's Bureau, especially as in many cases the departmental +military commander was now made also assistant commissioner. It +was thus that the Freedmen's Bureau became a full-fledged +government of men. It made laws, executed them and interpreted +them; it laid and collected taxes, defined and punished crime, +maintained and used military force, and dictated such measures as +it thought necessary and proper for the accomplishment of its +varied ends. Naturally, all these powers were not exercised +continuously nor to their fullest extent; and yet, as General +Howard has said, "scarcely any subject that has to be legislated +upon in civil society failed, at one time or another, to demand +the action of this singular Bureau." + +To understand and criticise intelligently so vast a work, one must +not forget an instant the drift of things in the later sixties: +Lee had surrendered, Lincoln was dead, and Johnson and Congress +were at loggerheads; the Thirteenth Amendment was adopted, the +Fourteenth pending, and the Fifteenth declared in force in 1870. +Guerrilla raiding, the ever present flickering after-flame of war, +was spending its force against the Negroes, and all the Southern +land was awakening as from some wild dream to poverty and social +revolution. In a time of perfect calm, amid willing neighbors and +streaming wealth, the social uplifting of 4,000,000 slaves to an +assured and self-sustaining place in the body politic and economic +would have been an herculean task; but when to the inherent +difficulties of so delicate and nice a social operation were added +the spite and hate of conflict, the Hell of War; when suspicion +and cruelty were rife, and gaunt Hunger wept beside Bereavement,-- +in such a case, the work of any instrument of social regeneration +was in large part foredoomed to failure. The very name of the +Bureau stood for a thing in the South which for two centuries and +better men had refused even to argue,--that life amid free Negroes +was simply unthinkable, the maddest of experiments. The agents +which the Bureau could command varied all the way from unselfish +philanthropists to narrow-minded busybodies and thieves; and even +though it be true that the average was far better than the worst, +it was the one fly that helped to spoil the ointment. Then, amid +all this crouched the freed slave, bewildered between friend and +foe. He had emerged from slavery: not the worst slavery in the +world, not a slavery that made all life unbearable,--rather, a +slavery that had here and there much of kindliness, fidelity, and +happiness,--but withal slavery, which, so far as human aspiration +and desert were concerned, classed the black man and the ox +together. And the Negro knew full well that, whatever their +deeper convictions may have been, Southern men had fought with +desperate energy to perpetuate this slavery, under which the black +masses, with half-articulate thought, had writhed and shivered. +They welcomed freedom with a cry. They fled to the friends that +had freed them. They shrank from the master who still strove for +their chains. So the cleft between the white and black South +grew. Idle to say it never should have been; it was as inevitable +as its results were pitiable. Curiously incongruous elements were +left arrayed against each other: the North, the government, the +carpetbagger, and the slave, here; and there, all the South that +was white, whether gentleman or vagabond, honest man or rascal, +lawless murderer or martyr to duty. + +Thus it is doubly difficult to write of this period calmly, so +intense was the feeling, so mighty the human passions, that swayed +and blinded men. Amid it all two figures ever stand to typify +that day to coming men: the one a gray-haired gentleman, whose +fathers had quit themselves like men, whose sons lay in nameless +graves, who bowed to the evil of slavery because its abolition +boded untold ill to all; who stood at last, in the evening of +life, a blighted, ruined form, with hate in his eyes. And the +other, a form hovering dark and mother-like, her awful face black +with the mists of centuries, had aforetime bent in love over her +white master's cradle, rocked his sons and daughters to sleep, and +closed in death the sunken eyes of his wife to the world; ay, too, +had laid herself low to his lust and borne a tawny man child to +the world, only to see her dark boy's limbs scattered to the winds +by midnight marauders riding after Damned Niggers. These were the +saddest sights of that woeful day; and no man clasped the hands of +these two passing figures of the present-past; but hating they +went to their long home, and hating their children's children live +to-day. + +Here, then, was the field of work for the Freedmen's Bureau; and +since, with some hesitation, it was continued by the act of 1868 +till 1869, let us look upon four years of its work as a whole. +There were, in 1868, 900 Bureau officials scattered from +Washington to Texas, ruling, directly and indirectly, many +millions of men. And the deeds of these rulers fall mainly under +seven heads,--the relief of physical suffering, the overseeing of +the beginnings of free labor, the buying and selling of land, the +establishment of schools, the paying of bounties, the +administration of justice, and the financiering of all these +activities. Up to June, 1869, over half a million patients had +been treated by Bureau physicians and surgeons, and sixty +hospitals and asylums had been in operation. In fifty months of +work 21,000,000 free rations were distributed at a cost of over +$4,000,000,--beginning at the rate of 30,000 rations a day in +1865, and discontinuing in 1869. Next came the difficult question +of labor. First, 30,000 black men were transported from the +refuges and relief stations back to the farms, back to the +critical trial of a new way of working. Plain, simple +instructions went out from Washington,--the freedom of laborers to +choose employers, no fixed rates of wages, no peonage or forced +labor. So far so good; but where local agents differed toto coelo +in capacity and character, where the personnel was continually +changing, the outcome was varied. The largest element of success +lay in the fact that the majority of the freedmen were willing, +often eager, to work. So contracts were written,--50,000 in a +single state,--laborers advised, wages guaranteed, and employers +supplied. In truth, the organization became a vast labor bureau; +not perfect, indeed,--notably defective here and there,--but on +the whole, considering the situation, successful beyond the dreams +of thoughtful men. The two great obstacles which confronted the +officers at every turn were the tyrant and the idler: the +slaveholder, who believed slavery was right, and was determined to +perpetuate it under another name; and the freedman, who regarded +freedom as perpetual rest. These were the Devil and the Deep Sea. + +In the work of establishing the Negroes as peasant proprietors the +Bureau was severely handicapped, as I have shown. Nevertheless, +something was done. Abandoned lands were leased so long as they +remained in the hands of the Bureau, and a total revenue of +$400,000 derived from black tenants. Some other lands to which +the nation had gained title were sold, and public lands were +opened for the settlement of the few blacks who had tools and +capital. The vision of landowning, however, the righteous and +reasonable ambition for forty acres and a mule which filled the +freedmen's dreams, was doomed in most cases to disappointment. +And those men of marvelous hind-sight, who to-day are seeking to +preach the Negro back to the soil, know well, or ought to know, +that it was here, in 1865, that the finest opportunity of binding +the black peasant to the soil was lost. Yet, with help and +striving, the Negro gained some land, and by 1874, in the one +state of Georgia, owned near 350,000 acres. + +The greatest success of the Freedmen's Bureau lay in the planting +of the free school among Negroes, and the idea of free elementary +education among all classes in the South. It not only called the +schoolmistress through the benevolent agencies, and built them +schoolhouses, but it helped discover and support such apostles of +human development as Edmund Ware, Erastus Cravath, and Samuel +Armstrong. State superintendents of education were appointed, and +by 1870 150,000 children were in school. The opposition to Negro +education was bitter in the South, for the South believed an +educated Negro to be a dangerous Negro. And the South was not +wholly wrong; for education among all kinds of men always has had, +and always will have, an element of danger and revolution, of +dissatisfaction and discontent. Nevertheless, men strive to know. +It was some inkling of this paradox, even in the unquiet days of +the Bureau, that allayed an opposition to human training, which +still to-day lies smouldering, but not flaming. Fisk, Atlanta, +Howard, and Hampton were founded in these days, and nearly +$6,000,000 was expended in five years for educational work, +$750,000 of which came from the freedmen themselves. + +Such contributions, together with the buying of land and various +other enterprises, showed that the ex-slave was handling some free +capital already. The chief initial source of this was labor in +the army, and his pay and bounty as a soldier. Payments to Negro +soldiers were at first complicated by the ignorance of the +recipients, and the fact that the quotas of colored regiments from +Northern states were largely filled by recruits from the South, +unknown to their fellow soldiers. Consequently, payments were +accompanied by such frauds that Congress, by joint resolution in +1867, put the whole matter in the hands of the Freedmen's Bureau. +In two years $6,000,000 was thus distributed to 5000 claimants, +and in the end the sum exceeded $8,000,000. Even in this system, +fraud was frequent; but still the work put needed capital in the +hands of practical paupers, and some, at least, was well spent. + +The most perplexing and least successful part of the Bureau's work +lay in the exercise of its judicial functions. In a distracted +land where slavery had hardly fallen, to keep the strong from +wanton abuse of the weak, and the weak from gloating insolently +over the half-shorn strength of the strong, was a thankless, +hopeless task. The former masters of the land were peremptorily +ordered about, seized and imprisoned, and punished over and again, +with scant courtesy from army officers. The former slaves were +intimidated, beaten, raped, and butchered by angry and revengeful +men. Bureau courts tended to become centres simply for punishing +whites, while the regular civil courts tended to become solely +institutions for perpetuating the slavery of blacks. Almost every +law and method ingenuity could devise was employed by the +legislatures to reduce the Negroes to serfdom,--to make them the +slaves of the state, if not of individual owners; while the Bureau +officials too often were found striving to put the "bottom rail on +top," and give the freedmen a power and independence which they +could not yet use. It is all well enough for us of another +generation to wax wise with advice to those who bore the burden in +the heat of the day. It is full easy now to see that the man who +lost home, fortune, and family at a stroke, and saw his land ruled +by "mules and niggers," was really benefited by the passing of +slavery. It is not difficult now to say to the young freedman, +cheated and cuffed about, who has seen his father's head beaten to +a jelly and his own mother namelessly assaulted, that the meek +shall inherit the earth. Above all, nothing is more convenient +than to heap on the Freedmen's Bureau all the evils of that evil +day, and damn it utterly for every mistake and blunder that was +made. + +All this is easy, but it is neither sensible nor just. Some one +had blundered, but that was long before Oliver Howard was born; +there was criminal aggression and heedless neglect, but without +some system of control there would have been far more than there +was. Had that control been from within, the Negro would have been +reenslaved, to all intents and purposes. Coming as the control +did from without, perfect men and methods would have bettered all +things; and even with imperfect agents and questionable methods, +the work accomplished was not undeserving of much commendation. +The regular Bureau court consisted of one representative of the +employer, one of the Negro, and one of the Bureau. If the Bureau +could have maintained a perfectly judicial attitude, this +arrangement would have been ideal, and must in time have gained +confidence; but the nature of its other activities and the +character of its personnel prejudiced the Bureau in favor of the +black litigants, and led without doubt to much injustice and +annoyance. On the other hand, to leave the Negro in the hands of +Southern courts was impossible. + +What the Freedmen's Bureau cost the nation is difficult to +determine accurately. Its methods of bookkeeping were not good, +and the whole system of its work and records partook of the hurry +and turmoil of the time. General Howard himself disbursed some +$15,000,000 during his incumbency; but this includes the bounties +paid colored soldiers, which perhaps should not be counted as an +expense of the Bureau. In bounties, prize money, and all other +expenses, the Bureau disbursed over $20,000,000 before all of its +departments were finally closed. To this ought to be added the +large expenses of the various departments of Negro affairs before +1865; but these are hardly extricable from war expenditures, nor +can we estimate with any accuracy the contributions of benevolent +societies during all these years. + + +Such was the work of the Freedmen's Bureau. To sum it up in +brief, we may say: it set going a system of free labor; it +established the black peasant proprietor; it secured the +recognition of black freemen before courts of law; it founded the +free public school in the South. On the other hand, it failed to +establish good will between ex-masters and freedmen; to guard its +work wholly from paternalistic methods that discouraged self- +reliance; to make Negroes landholders in any considerable numbers. +Its successes were the result of hard work, supplemented by the +aid of philanthropists and the eager striving of black men. Its +failures were the result of bad local agents, inherent +difficulties of the work, and national neglect. The Freedmen's +Bureau expired by limitation in 1869, save its educational and +bounty departments. The educational work came to an end in 1872, +and General Howard's connection with the Bureau ceased at that +time. The work of paying bounties was transferred to the adjutant +general's office, where it was continued three or four years +longer. + +Such an institution, from its wide powers, great responsibilities, +large control of moneys, and generally conspicuous position, was +naturally open to repeated and bitter attacks. It sustained a +searching congressional investigation at the instance of Fernando +Wood in 1870. It was, with blunt discourtesy, transferred from +Howard's control, in his absence, to the supervision of Secretary +of War Belknap in 1872, on the Secretary's recommendation. +Finally, in consequence of grave intimations of wrongdoing made by +the Secretary and his subordinates, General Howard was court- +martialed in 1874. In each of these trials, and in other attacks, +the commissioner of the Freedmen's Bureau was exonerated from any +willful misdoing, and his work heartily commended. Nevertheless, +many unpleasant things were brought to light: the methods of +transacting the business of the Bureau were faulty; several cases +of defalcation among officials in the field were proven, and +further frauds hinted at; there were some business transactions +which savored of dangerous speculation, if not dishonesty; and, +above all, the smirch of the Freedmen's Bank, which, while legally +distinct from, was morally and practically a part of the Bureau, +will ever blacken the record of this great institution. Not even +ten additional years of slavery could have done as much to +throttle the thrift of the freedmen as the mismanagement and +bankruptcy of the savings bank chartered by the nation for their +especial aid. Yet it is but fair to say that the perfect honesty +of purpose and unselfish devotion of General Howard have passed +untarnished through the fire of criticism. Not so with all his +subordinates, although in the case of the great majority of these +there were shown bravery and devotion to duty, even though +sometimes linked to narrowness and incompetency. + +The most bitter attacks on the Freedmen's Bureau were aimed not so +much at its conduct or policy under the law as at the necessity +for any such organization at all. Such attacks came naturally +from the border states and the South, and they were summed up by +Senator Davis, of Kentucky, when he moved to entitle the act of +1866 a bill "to promote strife and conflict between the white and +black races . . . by a grant of unconstitutional power." The +argument was of tremendous strength, but its very strength was its +weakness. For, argued the plain common sense of the nation, if it +is unconstitutional, unpracticable, and futile for the nation to +stand guardian over its helpless wards, then there is left but one +alternative: to make those wards their own guardians by arming +them with the ballot. The alternative offered the nation then was +not between full and restricted Negro suffrage; else every +sensible man, black and white, would easily have chosen the +latter. It was rather a choice between suffrage and slavery, +after endless blood and gold had flowed to sweep human bondage +away. Not a single Southern legislature stood ready to admit a +Negro, under any conditions, to the polls; not a single Southern +legislature believed free Negro labor was possible without a +system of restrictions that took all its freedom away; there was +scarcely a white man in the South who did not honestly regard +emancipation as a crime, and its practical nullification as a +duty. In such a situation, the granting of the ballot to the +black man was a necessity, the very least a guilty nation could +grant a wronged race. Had the opposition to government +guardianship of Negroes been less bitter, and the attachment to +the slave system less strong, the social seer can well imagine a +far better policy: a permanent Freedmen's Bureau, with a national +system of Negro schools; a carefully supervised employment and +labor office; a system of impartial protection before the regular +courts; and such institutions for social betterment as savings +banks, land and building associations, and social settlements. +All this vast expenditure of money and brains might have formed a +great school of prospective citizenship, and solved in a way we +have not yet solved the most perplexing and persistent of the +Negro problems. + +That such an institution was unthinkable in 1870 was due in part +to certain acts of the Freedmen's Bureau itself. It came to +regard its work as merely temporary, and Negro suffrage as a final +answer to all present perplexities. The political ambition of +many of its agents and proteges led it far afield into +questionable activities, until the South, nursing its own deep +prejudices, came easily to ignore all the good deeds of the +Bureau, and hate its very name with perfect hatred. So the +Freedmen's Bureau died, and its child was the Fifteenth Amendment. + +The passing of a great human institution before its work is done, +like the untimely passing of a single soul, but leaves a legacy of +striving for other men. The legacy of the Freedmen's Bureau is +the heavy heritage of this generation. Today, when new and vaster +problems are destined to strain every fibre of the national mind +and soul, would it not be well to count this legacy honestly and +carefully? For this much all men know: despite compromise, +struggle, war, and struggle, the Negro is not free. In the +backwoods of the Gulf states, for miles and miles, he may not +leave the plantation of his birth; in well-nigh the whole rural +South the black farmers are peons, bound by law and custom to an +economic slavery, from which the only escape is death or the +penitentiary. In the most cultured sections and cities of the +South the Negroes are a segregated servile caste, with restricted +rights and privileges. Before the courts, both in law and custom, +they stand on a different and peculiar basis. Taxation without +representation is the rule of their political life. And the +result of all this is, and in nature must have been, lawlessness +and crime. That is the large legacy of the Freedmen's Bureau, the +work it did not do because it could not. + + +I have seen a land right merry with the sun; where children sing, +and rolling hills lie like passioned women, wanton with harvest. +And there in the King's Highway sat and sits a figure, veiled and +bowed, by which the traveler's footsteps hasten as they go. On +the tainted air broods fear. Three centuries' thought has been +the raising and unveiling of that bowed human heart, and now, +behold, my fellows, a century new for the duty and the deed. The +problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color line. + + + +OF THE TRAINING OF BLACK MEN +by W. E. Burghardt Du Bois + + +From the shimmering swirl of waters where many, many thoughts ago +the slave-ship first saw the square tower of Jamestown have flowed +down to our day three streams of thinking: one from the larger +world here and over-seas, saying, the multiplying of human wants +in culture lands calls for the world-wide co-operation of men in +satisfying them. Hence arises a new human unity, pulling the ends +of earth nearer, and all men, black, yellow, and white. The +larger humanity strives to feel in this contact of living nations +and sleeping hordes a thrill of new life in the world, crying, If +the contact of Life and Sleep be Death, shame on such Life. To be +sure, behind this thought lurks the afterthought of force and +dominion,--the making of brown men to delve when the temptation of +beads and red calico cloys. + +The second thought streaming from the death-ship and the curving +river is the thought of the older South: the sincere and +passionate belief that somewhere between men and cattle God +created a tertium quid, and called it a Negro,--a clownish, simple +creature, at times even lovable within its limitations, but +straitly foreordained to walk within the Veil. To be sure, behind +the thought lurks the afterthought,--some of them with favoring +chance might become men, but in sheer self-defense we dare not let +them, and build about them walls so high, and hang between them +and the light a veil so thick, that they shall not even think of +breaking through. + +And last of all there trickles down that third and darker thought, +the thought of the things themselves, the confused half-conscious +mutter of men who are black and whitened, crying Liberty, Freedom, +Opportunity--vouchsafe to us, O boastful World, the chance of +living men! To be sure, behind the thought lurks the +afterthought: suppose, after all, the World is right and we are +less than men? Suppose this mad impulse within is all wrong, some +mock mirage from the untrue? + +So here we stand among thoughts of human unity, even through +conquest and slavery; the inferiority of black men, even if forced +by fraud; a shriek in the night for the freedom of men who +themselves are not yet sure of their right to demand it. This is +the tangle of thought and afterthought wherein we are called to +solve the problem of training men for life. + +Behind all its curiousness, so attractive alike to sage and +dilettante, lie its dim dangers, throwing across us shadows at +once grotesque and awful. Plain it is to us that what the world +seeks through desert and wild we have within our threshold;--a +stalwart laboring force, suited to the semi-tropics; if, deaf to +the voice of the Zeitgeist, we refuse to use and develop these +men, we risk poverty and loss. If, on the other hand, seized by +the brutal afterthought, we debauch the race thus caught in our +talons, selfishly sucking their blood and brains in the future as +in the past, what shall save us from national decadence? Only +that saner selfishness which, Education teaches men, can find the +rights of all in the whirl of work. + +Again, we may decry the color prejudice of the South, yet it +remains a heavy fact. Such curious kinks of the human mind exist +and must be reckoned with soberly. They cannot be laughed away, +nor always successfully stormed at, nor easily abolished by act of +legislature. And yet they cannot be encouraged by being let +alone. They must be recognized as facts, but unpleasant facts; +things that stand in the way of civilization and religion and +common decency. They can be met in but one way: by the breadth +and broadening of human reason, by catholicity of taste and +culture. And so, too, the native ambition and aspiration of men, +even though they be black, backward, and ungraceful, must not +lightly be dealt with. To stimulate wildly weak and untrained +minds is to play with mighty fires; to flout their striving idly +is to welcome a harvest of brutish crime and shameless lethargy in +our very laps. The guiding of thought and the deft coordination +of deed is at once the path of honor and humanity. + +And so, in this great question of reconciling three vast and +partially contradictory streams of thought, the one panacea of +Education leaps to the lips of all; such human training as will +best use the labor of all men without enslaving or brutalizing; +such training as will give us poise to encourage the prejudices +that bulwark society, and stamp out those that in sheer barbarity +deafen us to the wail of prisoned souls within the Veil, and the +mounting fury of shackled men. + +But when we have vaguely said Education will set this tangle +straight, what have we uttered but a truism? Training for life +teaches living; but what training for the profitable living +together of black men and white? Two hundred years ago our task +would have seemed easier. Then Dr. Johnson blandly assured us +that education was needed solely for the embellishments of life, +and was useless for ordinary vermin. To-day we have climbed to +heights where we would open at least the outer courts of knowledge +to all, display its treasures to many, and select the few to whom +its mystery of Truth is revealed, not wholly by truth or the +accidents of the stock market, but at least in part according to +deftness and aim, talent and character. This programme, however, +we are sorely puzzled in carrying out through that part of the +land where the blight of slavery fell hardest, and where we are +dealing with two backward peoples. To make here in human +education that ever necessary combination of the permanent and the +contingent--of the ideal and the practical in workable +equilibrium--has been there, as it ever must be in every age and +place, a matter of infinite experiment and frequent mistakes. + +In rough approximation we may point out four varying decades of +work in Southern education since the Civil War. From the close of +the war until 1876 was the period of uncertain groping and +temporary relief. There were army schools, mission schools, and +schools of the Freedmen's Bureau in chaotic disarrangement, +seeking system and cooperation. Then followed ten years of +constructive definite effort toward the building of complete +school systems in the South. Normal schools and colleges were +founded for the freedmen, and teachers trained there to man the +public schools. There was the inevitable tendency of war to +underestimate the prejudice of the master and the ignorance of the +slave, and all seemed clear sailing out of the wreckage of the +storm. Meantime, starting in this decade yet especially +developing from 1885 to 1895, began the industrial revolution of +the South. The land saw glimpses of a new destiny and the +stirring of new ideals. The educational system striving to +complete itself saw new obstacles and a field of work ever broader +and deeper. The Negro colleges, hurriedly founded, were +inadequately equipped, illogically distributed, and of varying +efficiency and grade; the normal and high schools were doing +little more than common school work, and the common schools were +training but a third of the children who ought to be in them, and +training these too often poorly. At the same time the white +South, by reason of its sudden conversion from the slavery ideal, +by so much the more became set and strengthened in its racial +prejudice, and crystallized it into harsh law and harsher custom; +while the marvelous pushing forward of the poor white daily +threatened to take even bread and butter from the mouths of the +heavily handicapped sons of the freedmen. In the midst, then, of +the larger problem of Negro education sprang up the more practical +question of work, the inevitable economic quandary that faces a +people in the transition from slavery to freedom, and especially +those who make that change amid hate and prejudice, lawlessness +and ruthless competition. + +The industrial school springing to notice in this decade, but +coming to full recognition in the decade beginning with 1895, was +the proffered answer to this combined educational and economic +crisis, and an answer of singular wisdom and timeliness. From the +very first in nearly all the schools some attention had been given +to training in handiwork, but now was this training first raised +to a dignity that brought it in direct touch with the South's +magnificent industrial development, and given an emphasis which +reminded black folk that before the Temple of Knowledge swing the +Gates of Toil. + +Yet after all they are but gates, and when turning our eyes from +the temporary and the contingent in the Negro problem to the +broader question of the permanent uplifting and civilization of +black men in America, we have a right to inquire, as this +enthusiasm for material advancement mounts to its height, if after +all the industrial school is the final and sufficient answer in +the training of the Negro race; and to ask gently, but in all +sincerity, the ever recurring query of the ages, Is not life more +than meat, and the body more than raiment? And men ask this to- +day all the more eagerly because of sinister signs in recent +educational movements. The tendency is here born of slavery and +quickened to renewed life by the crazy imperialism of the day, to +regard human beings as among the material resources of a land to +be trained with an eye single to future dividends. Race +prejudices, which keep brown and black men in their "places," we +are coming to regard as useful allies with such a theory, no +matter how much they may dull the ambition and sicken the hearts +of struggling human beings. And above all, we daily hear that an +education that encourages aspiration, that sets the loftiest of +ideals and seeks as an end culture and character than bread- +winning, is the privilege of white men and the danger and delusion +of black. + +Especially has criticism been directed against the former +educational efforts to aid the Negro. In the four periods I have +mentioned, we find first boundless, planless enthusiasm and +sacrifice; then the preparation of teachers for a vast public +school system; then the launching and expansion of that school +system amid increasing difficulties; and finally the training of +workmen for the new and growing industries. This development has +been sharply ridiculed as a logical anomaly and flat reversal of +nature. Soothly we have been told that first industrial and +manual training should have taught the Negro to work, then simple +schools should have taught him to read and write, and finally, +after years, high and normal schools could have completed the +system, as intelligence and wealth demanded. + +That a system logically so complete was historically impossible, +it needs but a little thought to prove. Progress in human affairs +is more often a pull than a push, surging forward of the +exceptional man, and the lifting of his duller brethren slowly and +painfully to his vantage ground. Thus it was no accident that +gave birth to universities centuries before the common schools, +that made fair Harvard the first flower of our wilderness. So in +the South: the mass of the freedmen at the end of the war lacked +the intelligence so necessary to modern workingmen. They must +first have the common school to teach them to read, write, and +cipher. The white teachers who flocked South went to establish +such a common school system. They had no idea of founding +colleges; they themselves at first would have laughed at the idea. +But they faced, as all men since them have faced, that central +paradox of the South, the social separation of the races. Then it +was the sudden volcanic rupture of nearly all relations between +black and white, in work and government and family life. Since +then a new adjustment of relations in economic and political +affairs has grown up,--an adjustment subtle and difficult to +grasp, yet singularly ingenious, which leaves still that frightful +chasm at the color line across which men pass at their peril. +Thus, then and now, there stand in the South two separate worlds; +and separate not simply in the higher realms of social +intercourse, but also in church and school, on railway and street +car, in hotels and theatres, in streets and city sections, in +books and newspapers, in asylums and jails, in hospitals and +graveyards. There is still enough of contact for large economic +and group cooperation, but the separation is so thorough and deep, +that it absolutely precludes for the present between the races +anything like that sympathetic and effective group training and +leadership of the one by the other, such as the American Negro and +all backward peoples must have for effectual progress. + +This the missionaries of '68 soon saw; and if effective industrial +and trade schools were impractical before the establishment of a +common school system, just as certainly no adequate common schools +could be founded until there were teachers to teach them. +Southern whites would not teach them; Northern whites in +sufficient numbers could not be had. If the Negro was to learn, +he must teach himself, and the most effective help that could be +given him was the establishment of schools to train Negro +teachers. This conclusion was slowly but surely reached by every +student of the situation until simultaneously, in widely separated +regions, without consultation or systematic plan, there arose a +series of institutions designed to furnish teachers for the +untaught. Above the sneers of critics at the obvious defects of +this procedure must ever stand its one crushing rejoinder: in a +single generation they put thirty thousand black teachers in the +South; they wiped out the illiteracy of the majority of the black +people of the land, and they made Tuskegee possible. + +Such higher training schools tended naturally to deepen broader +development: at first they were common and grammar schools, then +some became high schools. And finally, by 1900, some thirty-four +had one year or more of studies of college grade. This +development was reached with different degrees of speed in +different institutions: Hampton is still a high school, while Fisk +University started her college in 1871, and Spelman Seminary about +1896. In all cases the aim was identical: to maintain the +standards of the lower training by giving teachers and leaders the +best practicable training; and above all to furnish the black +world with adequate standards of human culture and lofty ideals of +life. It was not enough that the teachers of teachers should be +trained in technical normal methods; they must also, so far as +possible, be broad-minded, cultured men and women, to scatter +civilization among a people whose ignorance was not simply of +letters, but of life itself. + +It can thus be seen that the work of education in the South began +with higher institutions of training, which threw off as their +foliage common schools, and later industrial schools, and at the +same time strove to shoot their roots ever deeper toward college +and university training. That this was an inevitable and +necessary development, sooner or later, goes without saying; but +there has been, and still is, a question in many minds if the +natural growth was not forced, and if the higher training was not +either overdone or done with cheap and unsound methods. Among +white Southerners this feeling is widespread and positive. A +prominent Southern journal voiced this in a recent editorial: + +"The experiment that has been made to give the colored students +classical training has not been satisfactory. Even though many +were able to pursue the course, most of them did so in a parrot- +like way, learning what was taught, but not seeming to appropriate +the truth and import of their instruction, and graduating without +sensible aim or valuable occupation for their future. The whole +scheme has proved a waste of time, efforts, and the money of the +state." + +While most far-minded men would recognize this as extreme and +overdrawn, still without doubt many are asking, Are there a +sufficient number of Negroes ready for college training to warrant +the undertaking? Are not too many students prematurely forced +into this work? Does it not have the effect of dissatisfying the +young Negro with his environment? And do these graduates succeed +in real life? Such natural questions cannot be evaded, nor on the +other hand must a nation naturally skeptical as to Negro ability +assume an unfavorable answer without careful inquiry and patient +openness to conviction. We must not forget that most Americans +answer all queries regarding the Negro a priori, and that the +least that human courtesy can do is to listen to evidence. + +The advocates of the higher education of the Negro would be the +last to deny the incompleteness and glaring defects of the present +system: too many institutions have attempted to do college work, +the work in some cases has not been thoroughly done, and quantity +rather than quality has sometimes been sought. But all this can +be said of higher education throughout the land: it is the almost +inevitable incident of educational growth, and leaves the deeper +question of the legitimate demand for the higher training of +Negroes untouched. And this latter question can be settled in but +one way--by a first-hand study of the facts. If we leave out of +view all institutions which have not actually graduated students +from a course higher than that of a New England high school, even +though they be called colleges; if then we take the thirty-four +remaining institutions, we may clear up many misapprehensions by +asking searchingly, What kind of institutions are they, what do +they teach, and what sort of men do they graduate? + +And first we may say that this type of college, including Atlanta, +Fisk and Howard, Wilberforce and Lincoln, Biddle, Shaw, and the +rest, is peculiar, almost unique. Through the shining trees that +whisper before me as I write, I catch glimpses of a boulder of New +England granite, covering a grave, which graduates of Atlanta +University have placed there:-- + + + "IN GRATEFUL MEMORY OF THEIR + FORMER TEACHER AND FRIEND + AND OF THE UNSELFISH LIFE HE + LIVED, AND THE NOBLE WORK HE + WROUGHT; THAT THEY, THEIR + CHILDREN, AND THEIR CHIL- + DREN'S CHILDREN MIGHT BE + BLESSED." + + +This was the gift of New England to the freed Negro: not alms, but +a friend; not cash, but character. It was not and is not money +these seething millions want, but love and sympathy, the pulse of +hearts beating with red blood; a gift which to-day only their own +kindred and race can bring to the masses, but which once saintly +souls brought to their favored children in the crusade of the +sixties, that finest thing in American history, and one of the few +things untainted by sordid greed and cheap vainglory. The +teachers in these institutions came not to keep the Negroes in +their place, but to raise them out of their places where the filth +of slavery had wallowed them. The colleges they founded were +social settlements; homes where the best of the sons of the +freedmen came in close and sympathetic touch with the best +traditions of New England. They lived and ate together, studies +and worked, hoped and harkened in the dawning light. In actual +formal content their curriculum was doubtless old-fashioned, but +in educational power it was supreme, for it was the contact of +living souls. + +From such schools about two thousand Negroes have gone forth with +the bachelor's degree. The number in itself is enough to put at +rest the argument that too large a proportion of Negroes are +receiving higher training. If the ratio to population of all +Negro students throughout the land, in both college and secondary +training, be counted, Commissioner Harris assures us "it must be +increased to five times its present average" to equal the average +of the land. + +Fifty years ago the ability of Negro students in any appreciable +numbers to master a modern college course would have been +difficult to prove. To-day it is proved by the fact that four +hundred Negroes, many of whom have been reported as brilliant +students, have received the bachelor's degree from Harvard, Yale, +Oberlin, and seventy other leading colleges. Here we have, then, +nearly twenty-five hundred Negro graduates, of whom the crucial +query must be made. How far did their training fit them for life? +It is of course extremely difficult to collect satisfactory data +on such a point,--difficult to reach the men, to get trustworthy +testimony, and to gauge that testimony by any generally acceptable +criterion of success. In 1900, the Conference at Atlanta +University undertook to study these graduates, and published the +results. First they sought to know what these graduates were +doing, and succeeded in getting answers from nearly two thirds of +the living. The direct testimony was in almost all cases +corroborated by the reports of the colleges where they graduated, +so that in the main the reports were worthy of credence. Fifty- +three per cent of these graduates were teachers,--presidents of +institutions, heads of normal schools, principals of city school +systems, and the like. Seventeen per cent were clergymen; another +seventeen per cent were in the professions, chiefly as physicians. +Over six per cent were merchants, farmers, and artisans, and four +per cent were in the government civil service. Granting even that +a considerable proportion of the third unheard from are +unsuccessful, this is a record of usefulness. Personally I know +many hundreds of these graduates and have corresponded with more +than a thousand; through others I have followed carefully the +life-work of scores; I have taught some of them and some of the +pupils whom they have taught, lived in homes which they have +builded, and looked at life through their eyes. Comparing them as +a class with my fellow students in New England and in Europe, I +cannot hesitate in saying that nowhere have I met men and women +with a broader spirit of helpfulness, with deeper devotion to +their life-work, or with more consecrated determination to succeed +in the face of bitter difficulties than among Negro college-bred +men. They have, to be sure, their proportion of ne'er-do-weels, +their pedants and lettered fools, but they have a surprisingly +small proportion of them; they have not that culture of manner +which we instinctively associate with university men, forgetting +that in reality it is the heritage from cultured homes, and that +no people a generation removed from slavery can escape a certain +unpleasant rawness and gaucherie, despite the best of training. + +With all their larger vision and deeper sensibility, these men +have usually been conservative, careful leaders. They have seldom +been agitators, have withstood the temptation to head the mob, and +have worked steadily and faithfully in a thousand communities in +the South. As teachers they have given the South a commendable +system of city schools and large numbers of private normal schools +and academies. Colored college-bred men have worked side by side +with white college graduates at Hampton; almost from the beginning +the backbone of Tuskegee's teaching force has been formed of +graduates from Fisk and Atlanta. And to-day the institute is +filled with college graduates, from the energetic wife of the +principal down to the teacher of agriculture, including nearly +half of the executive council and a majority of the heads of +departments. In the professions, college men are slowly but +surely leavening the Negro church, are healing and preventing the +devastations of disease, and beginning to furnish legal protection +for the liberty and property of the toiling masses. All this is +needful work. Who would do it if Negroes did not? How could +Negroes do it if they were not trained carefully for it? If white +people need colleges to furnish teachers, ministers, lawyers, and +doctors, do black people need nothing of the sort? + +If it be true that there are an appreciable number of Negro youth +in the land capable by character and talent to receive that higher +training, the end of which is culture, and if the two and a half +thousand who have had something of this training in the past have +in the main proved themselves useful to their race and generation, +the question then comes, What place in the future development of +the South might the Negro college and college-bred man to occupy? +That the present social separation and acute race sensitiveness +must eventually yield to the influences of culture as the South +grows civilized is clear. But such transformation calls for +singular wisdom and patience. If, while the healing of this vast +sore is progressing, the races are to live for many years side by +side, united in economic effort, obeying a common government, +sensitive to mutual thought and feeling, yet subtly and silently +separate in many matters of deeper human intimacy--if this unusual +and dangerous development is to progress amid peace and order, +mutual respect and growing intelligence, it will call for social +surgery at once the delicatest and nicest in modern history. It +will demand broad-minded, upright men both white and black, and in +its final accomplishment American civilization will triumph. So +far as white men are concerned, this fact is to-day being +recognized in the South, and a happy renaissance of university +education seems imminent. But the very voices that cry Hail! to +this good work are, strange to relate, largely silent or +antagonistic to the higher education of the Negro. + +Strange to relate! for this is certain, no secure civilization can +be built in the South with the Negro as an ignorant, turbulent +proletariat. Suppose we seek to remedy this by making them +laborers and nothing more: they are not fools, they have tasted of +the Tree of Life, and they will not cease to think, will not cease +attempting to read the riddle of the world. By taking away their +best equipped teachers and leaders, by slamming the door of +opportunity in the faces of their bolder and brighter minds, will +you make them satisfied with their lot? or will you not rather +transfer their leading from the hands of men taught to think to +the hands of untrained demagogues? We ought not to forget that +despite the pressure of poverty, and despite the active +discouragement and even ridicule of friends, the demand for higher +training steadily increases among Negro youth: there were, in the +years from 1875 to 1880, twenty-two Negro graduates from Northern +colleges; from 1885 to 1895 there were forty-three, and from 1895 +to 1900, nearly 100 graduates. From Southern Negro colleges there +were, in the same three periods, 143, 413, and over 500 graduates. +Here, then, is the plain thirst for training; by refusing to give +this Talented Tenth the key to knowledge can any sane man imagine +that they will lightly lay aside their yearning and contentedly +become hewers of wood and drawers of water? + +No. The dangerously clear logic of the Negro's position will more +and more loudly assert itself in that day when increasing wealth +and more intricate social organization preclude the South from +being, as it so largely is, simply an armed camp for intimidating +black folk. Such waste of energy cannot be spared if the South is +to catch up with civilization. And as the black third of the land +grows in thrift and skill, unless skillfully guided in its larger +philosophy, it must more and more brood over the red past and the +creeping, crooked present, until it grasps a gospel of revolt and +revenge and throws its new-found energies athwart the current of +advance. Even to-day the masses of the Negroes see all too +clearly the anomalies of their position and the moral crookedness +of yours. You may marshal strong indictments against them, but +their counter-cries, lacking though they be in formal logic, have +burning truths within them which you may not wholly ignore, O +Southern Gentlemen! If you deplore their presence here, they ask, +Who brought us? When you shriek, Deliver us from the vision of +intermarriage, they answer, that legal marriage is infinitely +better than systematic concubinage and prostitution. And if in +just fury you accuse their vagabonds of violating women, they also +in fury quite as just may wail: the rape which your gentlemen have +done against helpless black women in defiance of your own laws is +written on the foreheads of two millions of mulattoes, and written +in ineffaceable blood. And finally, when you fasten crime upon +this race as its peculiar trait, they answer that slavery was the +arch-crime, and lynching and lawlessness its twin abortion; that +color and race are not crimes, and yet they it is which in this +land receive most unceasing condemnation, North, East, South, and +West. + +I will not say such arguments are wholly justified--I will not +insist that there is no other side to the shield; but I do say +that of the nine millions of Negroes in this nation, there is +scarcely one out of the cradle to whom these arguments do not +daily present themselves in the guise of terrible truth. I insist +that the question of the future is how best to keep these millions +from brooding over the wrongs of the past and the difficulties of +the present, so that all their energies may be bent toward a +cheerful striving and cooperation with their white neighbors +toward a larger, juster, and fuller future. That one wise method +of doing this lies in the closer knitting of the Negro to the +great industrial possibilities of the South is a great truth. And +this the common schools and the manual training and trade schools +are working to accomplish. But these alone are not enough. The +foundations of knowledge in this race, as in others, must be sunk +deep in the college and university if we would build a solid, +permanent structure. Internal problems of social advance must +inevitably come,--problems of work and wages, of families and +homes, of morals and the true valuing of the things of life; and +all these and other inevitable problems of civilization the Negro +must meet and solve largely for himself, by reason of his +isolation; and can there be any possible solution other than by +study and thought and an appeal to the rich experience of the +past? Is there not, with such a group and in such a crisis, +infinitely more danger to be apprehended from half-trained minds +and shallow thinking than from over-education and over-refinement? +Surely we have wit enough to found a Negro college so manned and +equipped as to steer successfully between the dilettante and the +fool. We shall hardly induce black men to believe that if their +bellies be full it matters little about their brains. They +already dimly perceive that the paths of peace winding between +honest toil and dignified manhood call for the guidance of skilled +thinkers, the loving, reverent comradeship between the black lowly +and black men emancipated by training and culture. + +The function of the Negro college then is clear: it must maintain +the standards of popular education, it must seek the social +regeneration of the Negro, and it must help in the solution of +problems of race contact and cooperation. And finally, beyond all +this, it must develop men. Above our modern socialism, and out of +the worship of the mass, must persist and evolve that higher +individualism which the centres of culture protect; there must +come a loftier respect for the sovereign human soul that seeks to +know itself and the world about it; that seeks a freedom for +expansion and self-development; that will love and hate and labor +in its own way, untrammeled alike by old and new. Such souls +aforetime have inspired and guided worlds, and if we be not wholly +bewitched by our Rhine-gold, they shall again. Herein the longing +of black men must have respect: the rich and bitter depth of their +experience, the unknown treasures of their inner life, the strange +rendings of nature they have seen, may give the world new points +of view and make their loving, living, and doing precious to all +human hearts. And to themselves in these the days that try their +souls the chance to soar in the dim blue air above the smoke is to +their finer spirits boon and guerdon for what they lose on earth +by being black. + + +I sit with Shakespeare and he winces not. Across the color line I +move arm in arm with Balzac and Dumas, where smiling men and +welcoming women glide in gilded halls. From out the caves of +Evening that swing between the strong-limbed earth and the tracery +of the stars, I summon Aristotle and Aurelius and what soul I +will, and they come all graciously with no scorn nor +condescension. So, wed with Truth, I dwell above the Veil. Is +this the life you grudge us, O knightly America? Is this the life +you long to change into the dull red hideousness of Georgia? Are +you so afraid lest peering from this high Pisgah, between +Philistine and Amalekite, we sight the Promised Land? + + + +THE FRUITS OF INDUSTRIAL TRAINING +by Booker T. Washington + + +The political, educational, social, and economic evolution through +which the South passed during, say, the first fifteen or twenty +years after the close of the civil war furnishes one of the most +interesting periods that any country has passed through. + +A large share of the thought and activity of the white South, of +the black South, and of that section of the North especially +interested in my race, was directed during the years of the +Reconstruction period toward politics, or toward matters bearing +upon what were termed civil or social rights. The work of +education was rather slow, and covered a large section of the +South; still I think I am justified in saying that in the public +mind the Negro's relation to politics overshadowed nearly every +other interest. The education of the race was conducted quietly, +and attracted comparatively little attention, just as is true at +the present time. The appointment of one Negro postmaster at a +third or fourth rate post office will be given wider publicity +through the daily press than the founding of a school, or some +important discovery in science. + +With reference to the black man's political relation to the state +and Federal governments, I think I am safe in saying that for many +years after the civil war there were sharp and antagonistic views +between the North and the South, as well as between the white +South and the black South. At practically every point where there +was a political question to be decided in the South the blacks +would array themselves on one side and the whites on the other. I +remember that very soon after I began teaching school in Alabama +an old colored man came to me just prior to an election. He said: +"You can read de newspapers and most of us can't, but dar is one +thing dat we knows dat you don't, and dat is how to vote down +here; and we wants you to vote as we does." He added: "I tell you +how we does. We watches de white man; we keeps watching de white +man; de nearer it gits to election time de more we watches de +white man. We watches him till we finds out which way he gwine to +vote. After we finds out which way he gwine to vote, den we votes +exactly de other way; den we knows we 's right." + +Stories on the other side might be given showing that a certain +class of white people, both at the polls and in the Legislatures, +voted just as unreasonably in opposing politically what they +thought the Negro or the North wanted, no matter how much benefit +might ensue from a contrary action. Unfortunately such antagonism +did not end with matters political, but in many cases affected the +relation of the races in nearly every walk of life. Aside from +political strife, there was naturally deep feeling between the +North and the South on account of the war. On nearly every +question growing out of the war, which was debated in Congress, or +in political campaigns, there was the keenest difference and often +the deepest feeling. There was almost no question of even a semi- +political nature, or having a remote connection with the Negro, +upon which there was not sharp and often bitter division between +the North and South. It is needless to say that in many cases the +Negro was the sufferer. He was being ground between the upper and +nether millstones. Even to this day it is well-nigh impossible, +largely by reason of the force of habit, in certain states to +prevent state and even local campaigns from being centred in some +form upon the black man. In states like Mississippi, for example, +where the Negro ceased nearly a score of years ago, by operation +of law, to be a determining factor in politics, he forms in some +way the principal fuel for campaign discussion at nearly every +election. The sad feature of this is, that it prevents the +presentation before the masses of the people of matters pertaining +to local and state improvement, and to great national issues like +finance, tariff, or foreign policies. It prevents the masses from +receiving the broad and helpful education which every political +campaign should furnish, and, what is equally unfortunate, it +prevents the youth from seeing and hearing on the platform the +great political leaders of the two national parties. During a +national campaign few of the great Democratic leaders debate +national questions in the South, because it is felt that the old +antagonism to the Negro politically will keep the South voting one +way. Few of the great Republican leaders appear on Southern +platforms, because they feel that nothing will be gained. + +One of the saddest instances of this situation that has come +within my knowledge occurred some years ago in a certain Southern +state where a white friend of mine was making the race for +Congress on the Democratic ticket in a district that was +overwhelmingly Democratic. I speak of this man as my friend, +because there was no personal favor in reason which he would have +refused me. He was equally friendly to the race, and was generous +in giving for its education, and in helping individuals to buy +land. His campaign took him into one of the "white" counties, +where there were few colored people, and where the whites were +unusually ignorant. I was surprised one morning to read in the +daily papers of a bitter attack he had made on the Negro while +speaking in this county. The next time I saw him I informed him +of my surprise. He replied that he was ashamed of what he had +said, and that he did not himself believe much that he had stated, +but gave as a reason for his action that he had found himself +before an audience which had heard little for thirty years in the +way of political discussion that did not bear upon the Negro, and +that he therefore knew it was almost impossible to interest them +in any other subject. + +But this is somewhat aside from my purpose, which is, I repeat, to +make plain that in all political matters there was for years after +the war no meeting ground of agreement for the two races, or for +the North and South. Upon the question of the Negro's civil +rights, as embodied in what was called the Civil Rights Bill, +there was almost the same sharp line of division between the +races, and, in theory at least, between the Northern and Southern +whites,--largely because the former were supposed to be giving the +blacks social recognition, and encouraging intermingling between +the races. The white teachers, who came from the North to work in +missionary schools, received for years little recognition or +encouragement from the rank and file of their own race. The lines +were so sharply drawn that in cities where native Southern white +women taught Negro children in the public schools, they would have +no dealings with Northern white women who, perhaps, taught Negro +children from the same family in a missionary school. + +I want to call attention here to a phase of Reconstruction policy +which is often overlooked. All now agree that there was much in +Reconstruction which was unwise and unfortunate. However we may +regard that policy, and much as we may regret mistakes, the fact +is too often overlooked that it was during the Reconstruction +period that a public school system for the education of all the +people of the South was first established in most of the states. +Much that was done by those in charge of Reconstruction +legislation has been overturned, but the public school system +still remains. True, it has been modified and improved, but the +system remains, and is every day growing in popularity and +strength. + +As to the difference of opinion between the North and the South +regarding Negro education, I find that many people, especially in +the North, have a wrong conception of the attitude of the Southern +white people. It is and has been very generally thought that what +is termed "higher education" of the Negro has been from the first +opposed by the white South. This opinion is far from being +correct. I remember that, in 1891, when I began the work of +establishing the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, practically all of +the white people who talked to me on the subject took it for +granted that instruction in the Greek, Latin, and modern languages +would be one of the main features of our curriculum. I heard no +one oppose what he thought our course of study was to embrace. In +fact, there are many white people in the South at the present time +who do not know that instruction in the dead languages is not +given at the Tuskegee Institute. In further proof of what I have +stated, if one will go through the catalogue of the schools +maintained by the states for Negro people, and managed by Southern +white people, he will find in almost every case that instruction +in the higher branches is given with the consent and approval of +white officials. This was true as far back as 1880. It is not +unusual to meet at this time Southern white people who are as +emphatic in their belief in the value of classical education as a +certain element of colored people themselves. In matters relating +to civil and political rights, the breach was broad, and without +apparent hope of being bridged; even in the matter of religion, +practically all of the denominations had split on the subject of +the Negro, though I should add that there is now, and always has +been, a closer touch and more cooperation in matters of religion +between the white and colored people in the South than is +generally known. But the breach between the white churches in the +South and North remains. + +In matters of education the difference was much less sharp. The +truth is that a large element in the South had little faith in the +efficacy of the higher or any other kind of education of the +Negro. They were indifferent, but did not openly oppose; on the +other hand, there has always been a potent element of white people +in all of the Southern states who have stood out openly and +bravely for the education of all the people, regardless of race. +This element has thus far been successful in shaping and leading +public opinion, and I think that it will continue to do so more +and more. This statement must not be taken to mean that there is +as yet an equitable division of the school funds, raised by common +taxation, between the two races in many sections of the South, +though the Southern states deserve much credit for what has been +done. In discussing the small amount of direct taxes the Negro +pays, the fact that he pays tremendous indirect taxes is often +overlooked. + +I wish, however, to emphasize the fact that while there was either +open antagonism or indifference in the directions I have named, it +was the introduction of industrial training into the Negro's +education that seemed to furnish the first basis for anything like +united and sympathetic interest and action between the two races +in the South and between the whites in the North and those in the +South. Aside from its direct benefit to the black race, +industrial education has furnished a basis for mutual faith and +cooperation, which has meant more to the South, and to the work of +education, than has been realized. + +This was, at the least, something in the way of construction. +Many people, I think, fail to appreciate the difference between +the problems now before us and those that existed previous to the +civil war. Slavery presented a problem of destruction; freedom +presents a problem of construction. + +From its first inception the white people of the South had faith +in the theory of industrial education, because they had noted, +what was not unnatural, that a large element of the colored people +at first interpreted freedom to mean freedom from work with the +hands. They naturally had not learned to appreciate the fact that +they had been WORKED, and that one of the great lessons for +freemen to learn is to WORK. They had not learned the vast +difference between WORKING and BEING WORKED. The white people saw +in the movement to teach the Negro youth the dignity, beauty, and +civilizing power of all honorable labor with the hands something +that would lead the Negro into his new life of freedom gradually +and sensibly, and prevent his going from one extreme of life to +the other too suddenly. Furthermore, industrial education +appealed directly to the individual and community interest of the +white people. They saw at once that intelligence coupled with +skill would add wealth to the community and to the state, in which +both races would have an added share. Crude labor in the days of +slavery, they believed, could be handled and made in a degree +profitable, but ignorant and unskilled labor in a state of freedom +could not be made so. Practically every white man in the South +was interested in agricultural or in mechanical or in some form of +manual labor; every white man was interested in all that related +to the home life,--the cooking and serving of food, laundering, +dairying, poultry-raising, and housekeeping in general. There was +no family whose interest in intelligent and skillful nursing was +not now and then quickened by the presence of a trained nurse. As +already stated, there was general appreciation of the fact that +the industrial education of the black people had direct, vital, +and practical bearing upon the life of each white family in the +South; while there was no such appreciation of the results of mere +literary training. If a black man became a lawyer, a doctor, a +minister, or an ordinary teacher, his professional duties would +not ordinarily bring him in touch with the life of the white +portion of the community, but rather confine him almost +exclusively to his own race. While purely literary or +professional education was not opposed by the white population, it +was something in which they found little or no interest, beyond a +confused hope that it would result in producing a higher and a +better type of Negro manhood. The minute it was seen that through +industrial education the Negro youth was not only studying +chemistry, but also how to apply the knowledge of chemistry to the +enrichment of the soil, or to cooking, or to dairying, and that +the student was being taught not only geometry and physics, but +their application to blacksmithing, brickmaking, farming, and what +not, then there began to appear for the first time a common bond +between the two races and cooperation between North and South. + +One of the most interesting and valuable instances of the kind +that I know of is presented in the case of Mr. George W. Carver, +one of our instructors in agriculture at Tuskegee Institute. For +some time it has been his custom to prepare articles containing +information concerning the conditions of local crops, and warning +the farmers against the ravages of certain insects and diseases. +The local white papers are always glad to publish these articles, +and they are read by white and colored farmers. + +Some months ago a white land-holder in Montgomery County asked Mr. +Carver to go through his farm with him for the purpose of +inspecting it. While doing so Mr. Carver discovered traces of +what he thought was a valuable mineral deposit, used in making a +certain kind of paint. The interests of the land-owner and the +agricultural instructor at once became mutual. Specimens of the +deposits were taken to the laboratories of the Tuskegee Institute +and analyzed by Mr. Carver. In due time the land-owner received a +report of the analysis, together with a statement showing the +commercial value and application of the mineral. I shall not go +through the whole interesting story, except to say that a stock +company, composed of some of the best white people in Alabama, has +been organized, and is now preparing to build a factory for the +purpose of putting their product on the market. I hardly need to +add that Mr. Carver has been freely consulted at every step, and +his services generously recognized in the organization of the +concern. When the company was being formed the following +testimonial, among others, was embodied in the printed copy of the +circular:-- + +"George W. Carver, Director of the Department of Agriculture, +Tuskegee, Alabama, says:-- + +"'The pigment is an ochreous clay. Its value as a paint is due to +the presence of ferric oxide, of which it contains more than any +of the French, Australian, American, Irish, or Welsh ochres. +Ferric oxides have long been recognized as the essential +constituents of such paints as Venetian red, Turkish red, oxide +red, Indian red, and scarlet. They are most desirable, being +quite permanent when exposed to light and air. As a stain they +are most valuable.'" + +In further proof of what I wish to emphasize, I think I am safe in +saying that the work of the Hampton Normal and Agricultural +Institute, under the late General S. C. Armstrong, was the first +to receive any kind of recognition and hearty sympathy from the +Southern white people, and General Armstrong was perhaps the first +Northern educator of Negroes who won the confidence and +cooperation of the white South. The effects of General +Armstrong's introduction of industrial education at Hampton, and +its extension to the Tuskegee Institute in the far South, are now +actively and helpfully apparent in the splendid work being +accomplished for the whole South by the Southern Education Board, +with Mr. Robert C. Ogden at its head, and by the General Education +Board, with Mr. William H. Baldwin, Jr., as its president. +Without the introduction of manual training it is doubtful whether +such work as is now being wrought through these two boards for +both races in the South could have been possible within a quarter +of a century to come. Later on in the history of our country it +will be recognized and appreciated that the far-reaching and +statesman-like efforts of these two boards for general education +in the South, under the guidance of the two gentlemen named, and +with the cooperation and assistance of such men as Mr. George +Foster Peabody, Dr. Wallace Buttrick, Mr. John D. Rockefeller, of +the North, and Mr. Edgar Gardner Murphy, Chancellor Hill, Dr. +Alderman, Dr. McIver, Dr. Dabney, and others of the South, will +have furnished the material for one of the brightest and most +encouraging chapters in the history of our country. The fact that +we have reached the point where men and women who were so far +apart twenty years ago can meet in the South and discuss freely +from the same platform questions relating to the industrial, +educational, political, moral, and religious development of the +two races marks a great step in advance. It is true that as yet +the Negro has not been invited to share in these discussions. + +Aside from the reasons I have given showing why the South favored +industrial education, coupled with intellectual and moral +training, many of the whites saw, for example, that the Negroes +who were master carpenters and contractors, under the guidance of +their owners, could become still greater factors in the +development of the South if their children were not suddenly +removed from the atmosphere and occupations of their fathers, and +if they could be taught to use the thing in hand as a foundation +for higher growth. Many of the white people were wise enough to +see that such education would enable some of the Negro youths to +become more skillful carpenters and contractors, and that if they +laid an economic foundation in this way in their generation, they +would be laying a foundation for a more abstract education of +their children in the future. + +Again, a large element of people at the South favored manual +training for the Negro because they were wise enough to see that +the South was largely free from the restrictive influences of the +Northern trades unions, and that such organizations would secure +little hold in the South so long as the Negro kept abreast in +intelligence and skill with the same class of people elsewhere. +Many realized that the South would be tying itself to a body of +death if it did not help the Negro up. In this connection I want +to call attention to the fact that the official records show that +within one year about one million foreigners came into the United +States. Notwithstanding this number, practically none went into +the Southern states; to be more exact, the records show that in +1892 only 2278 all told went into the states of Alabama, Arkansas, +Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, +Tennessee, and Virginia. One ship sometimes brings as many to New +York. Various reasons are given to explain why these foreigners +systematically avoid the South. One is that the climate is so +hot; and another is that they do not like the restrictions thrown +about the ballot; and still another is the presence of the Negro +is so large numbers. Whatever the true reason is, the fact +remains that foreigners avoid the South, and the South is more and +more realizing that it cannot keep pace with the progress being +made in other parts of the country if a third of its population is +ignorant and without skill. + +The South must frankly face this truth, that for a long period it +must depend upon the black man to do for it what the foreigner is +now doing for the great West. If, by reason of his skill and +knowledge, one man in Iowa learns to produce as much corn in a +season as four men can produce in Alabama, it requires little +reasoning to see that Alabama will buy most of her corn from Iowa. + +Another interesting result of the introduction of industrial +education for the Negro has been its influence upon the white +people of the South, and, I believe, upon the whites of the North +as well. This phase of it has proved of interest in making hand +training a conciliatory element between the races. + +In 1883 I was delivering an address on industrial education before +the colored State Teachers' Association of one of our Southern +states. When I had finished, some of the teachers began to ask +the State Superintendent of Education, who was on the programme, +some questions about the subject. He politely but firmly stopped +the questions by stating that he knew absolutely nothing about +industrial training, and had never heard it discussed before. At +that time there was no such education being given at any white +institution in that state. With one or two exceptions this case +will illustrate what was true of all the Southern states. A +careful investigation of the subject will show that it was not +until after industrial education was started among the colored +people, and its value proved, that it was taken up by the Southern +white people. + +Manual training or industrial and technical schools for the whites +have, for the most part, been established under state auspices, +and are at this time chiefly maintained by the states. An +investigation would also show that in securing money from the +state legislatures for the purpose of introducing hand work, one +of the main arguments used was the existence and success of +industrial training among the Negroes. It was often argued that +the white boys and girls would be left behind unless they had the +opportunities for securing the same kind of training that was +being given the colored people. Although it is, I think, not +generally known, it is a fact that since the idea of industrial or +technical education for white people took root within the last few +years, much more money is spent annually for such education for +the whites than for the colored people. Any one who has not +looked into the subject will be surprised to find how thorough and +high grade the work is. Take, for example, the state of Georgia, +and it will be found that several times as much is being spent at +the Industrial College for white girls at Milledgeville, and at +the technical school for whites at Atlanta, as is being spent in +the whole state for the industrial education of Negro youths. I +have met no Southern white educators who have not been generous in +their praise of the Negro schools for taking the initiative in +hand training. This fact has again served to create in matters +relating to education a bond of sympathy between the two races in +the South. Referring again to the influence of industrial +training for the Negro in education, in the Northern states I +find, while writing this article, the following announcement in +the advertisement of what is perhaps the most high-priced and +exclusive girls' seminary in Massachusetts:-- + +"In planning a system of education for young ladies, with the view +of fitting them for the greatest usefulness in life, the idea was +conceived of supplementing the purely intellectual work by a +practical training in the art of home management and its related +subjects. + +"It was the first school of high literary grade to introduce +courses in Domestic Science into the regular curriculum. + +"The results were so gratifying as to lead to the equipment of +Experiment Hall, a special building, fitted for the purpose of +studying the principles of Applied Housekeeping. Here the girls +do the actual work of cooking, marketing, arranging menus, and +attend to all the affairs of a well-arranged household. + +"Courses are arranged also in sewing, dressmaking, and millinery; +they are conducted on a similarly practical basis, and equip the +student with a thorough knowledge of the subject." + +A dozen years ago I do not believe that any such announcement +would have been made. + +Beginning with the year 1877, the Negro in the South lost +practically all political control; that is to say, as early as +1885 the Negro scarcely had any members of his race in the +national Congress or state legislatures, and long before this date +had ceased to hold state offices. This was true, notwithstanding +the protests and fervent oratory of such strong race leaders as +Frederick Douglass, B. K. Bruce, John R. Lynch, P. B. S. +Pinchback, and John M. Langston, with a host of others. When +Frederick Douglass, the greatest man that the race has produced, +died in 1895, it is safe to say that the Negro in the Southern +states, with here and there a few exceptions, had practically no +political control or political influence, except in sending +delegates to national conventions, or in holding a few Federal +positions by appointment. It became evident to many of the wise +Negroes that the race would have to depend for its success in the +future less upon political agitations and the opportunity of +holding office, and more upon something more tangible and +substantial. It was at this period in the Negro's development, +when the distance between the races was greatest, and the spirit +and ambition of the colored people most depressed, that the idea +of industrial or business development was introduced and began to +be made prominent. It did not take the more level-headed members +of the race long to see that while the Negro in the South was +surrounded by many difficulties, there was practically no line +drawn and little race discrimination in the world of commerce, +banking, storekeeping, manufacturing, and the skilled trades, and +in agriculture, and that in this lay his great opportunity. They +understood that, while the whites might object to a Negro's being +a postmaster, they would not object to his being the president of +a bank, and in the latter occupation they would give him +assistance and encouragement. The colored people were quick to +see that while the negro would not be invited as a rule to attend +the white man's prayer-meeting, he would be invited every time to +attend the stockholders' meeting of a business concern in which he +had an interest and that he could buy property in practically any +portion of the South where the white man could buy it. The white +citizens were all the more willing to encourage the Negro in this +economic or industrial development, because they saw that the +prosperity of the Negro meant also the prosperity of the white +man. They saw, too, that when a Negro became the owner of a home +and was a taxpayer, having a regular trade or other occupation, he +at once became a conservative and safe citizen and voter; one who +would consider the interests of his whole community before casting +his ballot; and, further, one whose ballot could not be purchased. + +One case in point is that of the twenty-eight teachers at our +school in Tuskegee who applied for life-voting certificates under +the new constitution of Alabama, not one was refused registration; +and if I may be forgiven a personal reference, in my own case, the +Board of Registers were kind enough to send me a special request +to the effect that they wished me not to fail to register as a +life voter. I do not wish to convey the impression that all +worthy colored people have been registered in Alabama, because +there have been many inexcusable and unlawful omissions; but, with +few exceptions, the 2700 who have been registered represent the +best Negroes in the state. + +Though in some parts of the country he is now misunderstood, I +believe that the time is going to come when matters can be weighed +soberly, and when the whole people are going to see that president +Roosevelt is, and has been from the first, in line with this +policy,--that of encouraging the colored people who by industry +and economy have won their way into the confidence and respect of +their neighbors. Both before and since he became President I have +had many conversations with him, and at all times I have found him +enthusiastic over the plan that I have described. + +The growth of the race in industrial and business directions +within the last few years cannot perhaps be better illustrated +than by the fact that what is now the largest secular national +organization among the colored people is the National Negro +Business League. This organization brings together annually +hundreds of men and women who have worked their way up from the +bottom to the point where they are now in some cases bankers, +merchants, manufacturers, planters, etc. The sight of this body +of men and women would surprise a large part of American citizens +who do not really know the better side of the Negro's life. + +It ought to be stated frankly here that at first, and for several +years after the introduction of industrial training at such +educational centres as Hampton and Tuskegee, there was opposition +from colored people, and from portions of those Northern white +people engaged in educational and missionary work among the +colored people in the South. Most of those who manifested such +opposition were actuated by the highest and most honest motives. +From the first the rank and file of the blacks were quick to see +the advantages of industrial training, as is shown by the fact +that industrial schools have always been overcrowded. Opposition +to industrial training was based largely on the old and narrow +ground that it was something that the Southern white people +favored, and therefore must be against the interests of the Negro. +Again, others opposed it because they feared that it meant the +abandonment of all political privileges, and the higher or +classical education of the race. They feared that the final +outcome would be the materialization of the Negro, and the +smothering of his spiritual and aesthetic nature. Others felt +that industrial education had for its object the limitation of the +Negro's development, and the branding him for all time as a +special hand-working class. + +Now that enough time has elapsed for those who opposed it to see +that it meant none of these things, opposition, except from a very +few of the colored people living in Boston and Washington, has +ceased, and this system has the enthusiastic support of the +Negroes and of most of the whites who formerly opposed it. All +are beginning to see that it was never meant that ALL Negro youths +should secure industrial education, any more than it is meant that +ALL white youths should pass through the Massachusetts Institute +of Technology, or the Amherst Agricultural College, to the +exclusion of such training as is given at Harvard, Yale, or +Dartmouth; but that in a peculiar sense a large proportion of the +Negro youths needed to have that education which would enable them +to secure an economic foundation, without which no people can +succeed in any of the higher walks of life. + +It is because of the fact that the Tuskegee Institute began at the +bottom, with work in the soil, in wood, in iron, in leather, that +it has now developed to the point where it is able to furnish +employment as teachers to twenty-eight Negro graduates of the best +colleges in the country. This is about three times as many Negro +college graduates as any other institution in the United States +for the education of colored people employs, the total number of +officers and instructors at Tuskegee being about one hundred and +ten. + +Those who once opposed this see now that while the Negro youth who +becomes skilled in agriculture and a successful farmer may not be +able himself to pass through a purely literary college, he is +laying the foundation for his children and grandchildren to do it +if desirable. Industrial education in this generation is +contributing in the highest degree to make what is called higher +education a success. It is now realized that in so far as the +race has intelligent and skillful producers, the greater will be +the success of the minister, lawyer, doctor, and teacher. +Opposition has melted away, too, because all men now see that it +will take a long time to "materialize" a race, millions of which +hold neither houses nor railroads, nor bank stocks, nor factories, +nor coal and gold mines. + +Another reason for the growth of a better understanding of the +objects and influence of industrial training is the fact, as +before stated, that it has been taken up with such interest and +activity by the Southern whites, and that it has been established +at such universities as Cornell in the East, and in practically +all of the state colleges of the great West. + +It is now seen that the result of such education will be to help +the black man to make for himself an independent place in our +great American life. It was largely the poverty of the Negro that +made him the prey of designing politicians immediately after the +war; and wherever poverty and lack of industry exist to-day, one +does not find in him that deep spiritual life which the race must +in the future possess in a higher degree. + +To those who still express the fear that perhaps too much stress +is put upon industrial education for the Negro I would add that I +should emphasize the same kind of training for any people, whether +black or white, in the same stage of development as the masses of +the colored people. + +For a number of years this country has looked to Germany for much +in the way of education, and a large number of our brightest men +and women are sent there each year. The official reports show +that in Saxony, Germany, alone, there are 287 industrial schools, +or one such school to every 14,641 people. This is true of a +people who have back of them centuries of wealth and culture. In +the South I am safe in saying that there is not more than one +effective industrial school for every 400,000 colored people. + +A recent dispatch from Germany says that the German Emperor has +had a kitchen fitted up in the palace for the single purpose of +having his daughter taught cooking. If all classes and +nationalities, who are in most cases thousands of years ahead of +the Negro in the arts of civilization, continue their interest in +industrial training, I cannot understand how any reasonable person +can object to such education for a large part of a people who are +in the poverty-stricken condition that is true of a large element +of my race, especially when such hand training is combined, as it +should be, with the best education of head and heart. + + + +THE NEGRO IN THE REGULAR ARMY +by Oswald Garrison Villard + + +When the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts Regiment stormed Fort Wagner +July 18, 1863, only to be driven back with the loss of its +colonel, Robert Gould Shaw, and many of its rank and file, it +established for all time the fact that the colored soldier would +fight and fight well. This had already been demonstrated in +Louisiana by colored regiments under the command of General +Godfrey Weitzel in the attack upon Port Hudson on May 27 of the +same year. On that occasion regiments composed for the greater +part of raw recruits, plantation hands with centuries of servitude +under the lash behind them, stormed trenches and dashed upon cold +steel in the hands of their former masters and oppressors. After +that there was no more talk in the portion of the country of the +"natural cowardice" of the negro. But the heroic qualities of +Colonel Shaw, his social prominence and that of his officers, and +the comparative nearness of their battlefield to the North, +attracted greater and more lasting attention to the daring and +bravery of their exploit, until it finally became fixed in many +minds as the first real baptism of fire of colored American +soldiers. + +After Wagner the recruiting of colored regiments, originally +opposed by both North and South, went on apace, particularly under +the Federal government, which organized no less than one hundred +and fifty-four, designated as "United States Colored Troops." +Colonel Shaw's raising of a colored regiment aroused quite as much +comment in the North because of the race prejudice it defied, as +because of the novelty of the new organization. General Weitzel +tendered his resignation the instant General B. F. Butler assigned +black soldiers to his brigade, and was with difficulty induced to +serve on. His change of mind was a wise one, and not only because +these colored soldiers covered him with glory at Port Hudson. It +was his good fortune to be the central figure in one of the +dramatic incidents of a war that must ever rank among the most +thrilling and tragic the world has seen. The black cavalrymen who +rode into Richmond, the first of the Northern troops to enter the +Southern capital, went in waving their sabres and crying to the +negroes on the sidewalks, "We have come to set you free!" They +were from the division of Godfrey Weitzel, and American history +has no more stirring moment. + +In the South, notwithstanding the raising in 1861 of a colored +Confederate regiment by Governor Moore of Louisiana (a magnificent +body of educated colored men which afterwards became the First +Louisiana National Guards of General Weitzel's brigade and the +first colored regiment in the Federal Army), the feeling against +negro troops was insurmountable until the last days of the +struggle. Then no straw could be overlooked. When, in December, +1863, Major-General Patrick R. Cleburne, who commanded a division +of Hardee's Corps of the Confederate Army of the Tennessee, sent +in a paper in which the employment of the slaves as soldiers of +the South was vigorously advocated, Jefferson Davis indorsed it +with the statement, "I deem it inexpedient at this time to give +publicity to this paper, and request that it be suppressed." +General Cleburne urged that "freedom within a reasonable time" be +granted to every slave remaining true to the Confederacy, and was +moved to this action by the valor of the Fifty-fourth +Massachusetts, saying, "If they [the negroes] can be made to face +and fight bravely against their former masters, how much more +probable is it that with the allurement of a higher reward, and +led by those masters, they would submit to discipline and face +dangers?" + +With the ending of the civil war the regular army of the United +States was reorganized upon a peace footing by an act of Congress +dated July 28, 1866. In just recognition of the bravery of the +colored volunteers six regiments, the Ninth and Tenth Cavalry and +the Thirty-eighth, Thirty-ninth, Fortieth, and Forth-first +Infantry, were designated as colored regiments. When the army was +again reduced in 1869, the Thirty-eighth and Forty-first became +the Twenty-fourth Infantry, and the Thirty-ninth and Fortieth +became the Twenty-fifth. This left four colored regiments in the +regular army as it was constituted from 1870 until 1901. There +has never been a colored artillery organization in the regular +service. + +To these new regiments came a motley mixture of veterans of +volunteer organizations, newly released slaves, and some freedmen +of several years' standing but without military experience. They +were eager to learn, and soon showed the same traits which +distinguish the black regiments to-day,--loyalty to their officers +and to their colors, sobriety and courage, and a notable pride in +the efficiency of their corps. But if ever officers had to +"father and mother" their soldiers they were the company officers +of these regiments. The captains in particular had to be bankers, +secretaries, advisers, and judges for their men. As Lieutenant +Grote Hutcheson has stated it, "The men knew nothing, and the non- +commissioned officers but little more. From the very +circumstances of their preceding life it could not be otherwise. +They had no independence, no self-reliance, not a thought except +for the present, and were filled with superstition." Yet the +officers were determined to prove the wisdom of the experiment. +To do this they were forced to give their own attention to the +minutest details of military administration, and to act as non- +commissioned officers. The total lack of education among the men +necessitated an enormous amount of writing by the officers. In +the Ninth Cavalry only one man was found able to write well enough +to be sergeant-major, and not for several years was it possible to +obtain troop clerks. When the Tenth Cavalry was being recruited +an officer was sent to Philadelphia with the express purpose of +picking up educated colored men for the non-commissioned +positions. Difficult as the tasks of the officers thus were, most +of them felt well repaid for their unusual labors by the +affectionate regard in which they were held by their soldiers, and +by the never-failing good humor with which the latter went about +their duties. + +As the years passed the character of the colored soldiers +naturally changed. In place of the war veterans, and of the men +whose chains of servitude had just been struck off, came young men +from the North and East with more education and more self- +reliance. They depended less upon their officers, both in the +barracks and in the field, yet they reverenced and cared for them +as much as did their predecessors. Their greatest faults then as +now were gambling and quarreling. On the other hand, the negro +regiments speedily became favorably known because of greater +sobriety and of fewer desertions than among the white soldiers. +It was the Ninth Cavalry which a few years ago astonished the army +by reporting not a single desertion in twelve months, an unheard- +of and perhaps undreamed-of record. In all that goes to make a +good soldier, in drill, fidelity, and smartness, the negro regular +from the first took front rank. + +Nor was there ever any lack of the fighting quality which had +gratified the nation at Fort Wagner, or at Fort Blakely, Ala., +where the Seventy-third Colored Infantry, under Colonel Henry C. +Merriam, stormed the enemy's works, in advance of orders, in one +of the last actions of the war. It soon fell to the lot of the +Ninth and Tenth Cavalry to prove that the negroes could do as well +under fire in the Indian wars as they had when fighting for the +freedom of their race. While the Twenty-fourth and Twenty-fifth +Infantry had merely garrison work to do, the Ninth and Tenth +Cavalry scouted for years against hostile Indians in Texas, New +Mexico, Colorado, and Kansas, always acquitting themselves +honorably. In September, 1868, a little over two years after +their organization, three troops of the Ninth Cavalry did well in +an action against Indians at Horsehead Hills, Texas. When General +George A. Forsyth and his detachment of fifty scouts were +surrounded and "corralled" by seven hundred Indians on an island +in the Republican River, it was the troop of Captain Louis H. +Carpenter, of the Tenth Cavalry, which first came to their rescue. +Similarly when Major T. T. Thornburg's command was nearly wiped +out by Utes in 1879, it was Captain F. S. Dodge's Troop D of the +Ninth which succeeded in reaching it in time, losing all its +horses in so doing. This regiment alone took part in sixty Indian +fights between 1868 and 1890, during which time it lost three +officers and twenty-seven men killed, and had three officers and +thirty-four men wounded. The Tenth Cavalry's casualties were also +heavy during this same period, and it fought for many years over a +most difficult country in New Mexico and Arizona, taking a +conspicuous part in running to earth Geronimo's and Victoria's +bands of Apaches. + +On one of these campaigns Lieutenant Powhatan H. Clarke gave +effective proof of the affection which the officers of colored +regiments have for their men. In the fight in the Pineto +Mountains with a portion of Geronimo's forces this young +Southerner risked his life to save a colored sergeant who had +fallen wounded in an open space where both he and his rescuer were +easy marks for the Apaches. For this gallant act Lieutenant +Clarke rightly received a medal of honor. The Twenty-fourth +Infantry, on the other hand, has contributed a striking instance +of the devotion of colored soldiers to their officers. When Major +Joseph W. Wham, paymaster, was attacked by robbers on May 11, +1889, his colored escort fought with such gallantry that every one +of the soldiers was awarded a medal of honor or a certificate of +merit. Some of them stood their ground although badly wounded, +notably Sergeant Benjamin Brown, who continued to fight and to +encourage his men until shot through both arms. In a fight +against Apaches in the Cuchilo Negro Mountains of New Mexico on +August 16, 1881, Moses Williams, First Sergeant of Troop I, Ninth +Cavalry, displayed such gallantry that he was given a medal of +honor by common consent. When the only officer with the +detachment, Lieutenant Gustavus Valois, had his horse shot under +him, and was cut off from his men, Sergeant Williams promptly +rallied the detachment, and conducted the right flank in a running +fight for several hours with such coolness, bravery, and +unflinching devotion to duty that he undoubtedly saved the lives +of at least three comrades. His action in standing by and +rescuing Lieutenant Valois was the more noteworthy because he and +his men were subjected, in an exposed position, to a heavy fire +from a large number of Indians. For splendid gallantry against +Indians, while serving as sergeant of Troop K, Ninth Cavalry, on +May 14, 1880, and August 12, 1881, George Jordan was also given a +medal of honor. Five of the medal of honor men now in the service +are colored soldiers, while fifteen others have "certificates of +merit" also awarded for conspicuous deeds of bravery. + +It was not until the battle of Santiago, however, that the bulk of +the American people realized that the standing army comprised +regiments composed wholly of black men. Up to that time only one +company of colored soldiers had served at a post east of the +Mississippi. Even Major, later Brigadier-General, Guy V. Henry's +gallop to the rescue of the Seventh Cavalry on December 30, 1890, +with four troops of the Ninth Cavalry, attracted but little +attention. This feat was the more remarkable because Major +Henry's command had just completed a march of more than one +hundred miles in twenty-four hours. But in the battle at +Santiago, the four colored regiments won praise from all sides, +particularly for their advance upon Kettle Hill, in which the +Rough Riders also figured. From the very beginning of the +movement of the army after its landing, the negro troops were in +the front of the fighting, and contributed largely to the +successful result. Although they suffered heavy losses, +especially in officers, the men fought with the same gallantry +they had displayed on the plains, as is attested by the honors +awarded. In every company there were instances of personal +gallantry. The first sergeants especially lived up to the +responsibilities placed upon them. The color sergeant of the +Tenth Cavalry, Adam Houston, bore to the front not only his own +flags, but those of the Third Cavalry when the latter's color +sergeant was shot down. In several emergencies where troops or +companies lost their white officers, the senior sergeants took +command and handled their men in a faultless manner, notably in +the Tenth Cavalry. + +Indeed, the conduct of these men has done much to dispel the old +belief that colored soldiers will fight only when they have +efficient white officers. This may well have been true at one +period of the civil war when the colored race as a whole had never +even had the responsibilities attaching to free men. It is +growing less and less true as time passes and better educated men +enter the ranks. in recognition of their achievements at Santiago +a number of these black non-commissioned officers were made +commissioned officers in several of the so-called "immune" +regiments of United States Volunteers raised in July, 1898. None +of these organizations were in service long enough to become +really efficient, and a few were never properly disciplined. +Nevertheless, a majority of the officers promoted from the colored +regulars bore themselves well under exceedingly trying +circumstances. Some of them, and a number of regular sergeants +and corporals who had succeeded to their former places, were made +lieutenants and captains in the Forty-eighth and Forty-ninth +Volunteer Infantry, which served in the Philippines for two years, +and to which we shall recur later. + +At Santiago the characteristic cheerfulness of the negro soldiers +was as striking as their bravery. In his little book called The +Nth Foot In War, Lieutenant M. B. Stewart says of them:-- + +"The negro troops were in a high good humor. They had made the +charge of the day; they had fought with a dash and vigor which +forever established their reputation as fighters, and which would +carry them down in the pages of history. To have heard them that +night no one would have ever thought that they had lived for +twelve mortal hours under a galling fire. They were laughing and +joking over the events of the day, in the same manner they would +have done had they been returning from a picnic. + +"'Golly,' laughed a six-foot sergeant, 'dere was music in de air +sho' nuff. Dat lead was flying around in sheets, I tell you. I +seen a buzzard flying around in front of our line, and I says to +myself, "Buzzard, you is in a mighty dangerous position. You +better git out uf dat, 'cause dey ain't room out dar for a +muskeeter."' Another remarked, 'Say, did you see dat man Brown; +pity dat man been killed. He'd a been a corporal, sho.' + +"In the utter exhaustion of the moment all race and social +distinctions were forgotten. Officers lay down among their men +and slept like logs. The negro troops sought out soft places +along the sides of the road and lay down with their white +comrades. There was a little commotion among the latter, and an +officer was heard to yell: 'Here, you man, take your feet off my +stomach. Well, I'll be damned if it ain't a nigger. Get out, you +black rascal.' As the commotion subsided, the negro was heard to +remark, 'Well, if dat ain't de mos' particler man I ever see.'" + +Characteristic also is a story of the negro cavalryman who, +returning to the rear, said to some troops anxious to get to the +front: "Dat's all right, gemmen; don't git in a sweat; dere's lots +of it lef' for you. You wants to look out for dese yere +sharpshooters, for dey is mighty careless with dere weapons, and +dey is specially careless when dey is officers aroun'." + +As soon as the army settled down in the trenches before Santiago, +smuggled musical instruments--guitars, banjos, mouth organs, and +what not--appeared among the negro troops as if by magic, and they +were ever in use. It was at once a scene of cheerfulness and +gayety, and the officers had their usual trouble in making the men +go to sleep instead of spending the night in talking, singing, and +gaming. In the peaceful camp of the Third Alabama, in that state, +the scenes were similar. There was always "a steady hum of +laughter and talk, dance, song, shout, and the twang of musical +instruments." It was "a scene full of life and fun, of jostling, +scuffling, and racing, of clown performances and cake-walks, of +impromptu minstrelsy, speech-making, and preaching, of deviling, +guying, and fighting, both real and mimic." The colonel found +great difficulty in getting men to work alone. Two would +volunteer for any service. "Colonel," said a visitor to the camp, +"your sentinels are sociable fellows. I saw No. 5 over at the end +of his beat entertaining No. 6 with some fancy manual of arms. +Afterwards, with equal amiability, No. 6 executed a most artistic +cake-walk for his friend." It must be remembered here that this +colonel's men were typical Southern negroes, literate and +illiterate, and all new to military life. + +In addition to the Forty-eighth and Forty-ninth Volunteers, the +four regular colored regiments have served in the Philippines. +Here the work was particularly trying and the temptations to +misconduct many. The Filipino women were especially attractive to +the men because of their color, and it is on record that several +soldiers were tempted from their allegiance to the United States. +Two of these, whose sympathy and liking for the Filipinos overcame +their judgment, paid the full penalty of desertion, being hanged +by their former comrades. Both belonged to the Ninth Cavalry. On +the other hand, in a remarkable order issued by General A. S. Burt +in relinquishing command of the Twenty-fifth Infantry, on April +17, 1902, on his promotion to brigadier-general, he was able to +quote the Inspector-General of the army as saying: "The Twenty- +fifth Infantry is the best regiment I have seen in the +Philippines." General Burt praised highly the excellent conduct +of the enlisted men while in the Archipelago, which proved to his +mind that the American negroes are "as law-abiding as any race in +the world." + +Three of General Burt's sergeants, Russell, McBryar, and Hoffman, +were promoted to the Forty-eighth and Forty-ninth Volunteers, and +served, as lieutenants, for several months with their old +regiment, the Twenty-fifth, until the arrival of their new +regiments in Manila. During this time they were frequently under +fire. General Burt bore high testimony to their soldierly +bearing, their capacity and ability, and expressed great regret +when he was forced to let them go. McBryar had won a medal of +honor for gallantry against Indians in Arizona in 1890. In the +Forty-ninth Volunteers, Company L, composed wholly of colored men, +and commanded by Captain Edward L. Baker, a colored veteran of +Santiago, who had served for seventeen years in the Ninth and +Tenth Cavalry and in the Tenth "Immunes," made a wonderful record. +According to a statement which was widely published at the time +and never denied, this company had on its rolls during a period of +twelve months one hundred and six men who were fit for duty at all +times and never lost a day on account of sickness. No white +company remotely approached this record. More extraordinary still +is the fact that during this same period not one of these men ever +went before a court-martial. This is surely a striking +illustration of what can be done by colored officers. It is +noticeable, too, that neither the officers nor the men of any +colored regiment have figured in the charges and counter-charges +arising out of the use of the water-torture, except one man who at +the time of his offense was not with his regiment. The Forty- +ninth Volunteers was a very unhappy regiment during its brief +life, but its troubles were largely due to its white officers. +One of these, a major, was dismissed for misconduct, and his place +was filled by the senior captain, a colored man. Several other +white officers and one colored captain got into serious trouble, +the last being dismissed. The Forty-eighth was, on the contrary, +a contented organization in which the colored officers were +treated in a kindly and courteous manner by their white associates +and superiors. The two regiments afford a striking illustration +of Napoleon's saying, "There are no such things as poor +regiments,--only poor colonels." + +The negro regiment unquestionably calls for different treatment +from that which would be accorded to white troops, just as the +Indian troops of King Edward's army require different handling +from that called for in the case of the King's Royal Rifles. Yet +as fighting machines, the Indian soldiers may be the equals if not +the superiors of the Englishmen. Major Robert L. Bullard, Twenty- +eighth United States Infantry who commanded the colored Third +Alabama Volunteers, already referred to, during the war with +Spain, discusses in a remarkable paper published in the United +Service Magazine for July, 1901, the differences between negro and +white soldiers. They are so great, he says, as to require the +military commander to treat the negro as a different species. He +must fit his methods of instruction and discipline to the +characteristics of the race. Major Bullard adds that "mistakes, +injustices, and failures would result from his making the same +rules and methods apply to the two races without regard to how far +apart set by nature or separated by evolution." But Major Bullard +would unquestionably concede that these differences in no way +require a treatment of the negro soldier which implies that he is +an inferior being and which ever impresses upon him his +inferiority. Yet this seems to have been the case in the Forty- +ninth United States Volunteers. + +In the regular army, as well as in the volunteers, officers have +frequently appealed with success to the negroes' pride of race, +and have urged them on to greater efficiency and better behavior +by reminding them that they have the honor of their people in +their hands. To such appeals there is ever a prompt response. +One of the most effective ways of disciplining an offender is by +holding him up to the ridicule of his fellows. The desire of the +colored soldiers to amuse and to be amused gives the officers an +easy way of obtaining a hold upon them and their affections. The +regimental rifle team, the baseball nine, the minstrel troupe, and +the regimental band offer positions of importance for which the +competition is much keener than in the white regiments. There is +also a friendly rivalry between companies, which is much missed +elsewhere in the service. The negroes are natural horsemen and +riders. It is a pleasure to them to take care of their mounts, +and a matter of pride to keep their animals in good condition. +Personally they are clean and neat, and they take the greatest +possible pride in their uniforms. In no white regiment is there a +similar feeling. With the negroes the canteen question is of +comparatively slight importance, not only because the men can be +more easily amused within their barracks, but because their +appetite for drink is by no means as strong as that of the white +men. Their sociability is astonishing. They would rather sit up +and tell stories and crack jokes than go to bed, no matter how +hard the day has been. + +The dark sides are, that the negro soldiers easily turn merited +punishment into martyrdom, that their gambling propensities are +almost beyond control, that their habit of carrying concealed +weapons is incurable, and that there is danger of serious fighting +when they fall out with one another. Frequent failure to act +honorably toward a comrade in some trifling matter is apt to cause +scuffling and fighting until the men are well disciplined. Women +are another cause of quarrels, and are at all times a potent +temptation to misconduct and neglect of duty. It is very +difficult to impress upon the men the value of government +property, and duty which requires memorizing of orders is always +the most difficult to teach. For the study of guard duty manuals +or of tactics they have no natural aptitude. The non-commissioned +officers are of very great importance, and in the regulars they +are looked up to and obeyed implicitly, much more so than is the +case with white troops. It is necessary, however, for the +officers to back up the sergeants and corporals very vigorously, +even when they are slightly in the wrong. Then colored men are +more easily "rattled" by poor officers than are their white +comrades. There was a striking instance of this two or three +years ago when a newly appointed and wholly untrained white +officer lost his head at a post in Texas. His black subordinates, +largely recruits, followed suit, and in carrying out his +hysterical orders imperiled many lives in the neighboring town. +Selections for service with colored troops should therefore be +most carefully made. Major Bullard declares that the officer of +negro troops "must not only be an officer and a gentleman, but he +must be considerate, patient, laborious, self-sacrificing, a man +of affairs, and he must have knowledge and wisdom in a great lot +of things not really military." + +If the position of a white officer is a difficult one, that of the +colored officer is still more so. He has not the self-assumed +superiority of the white man, naturally feels that he is on trial, +and must worry himself incessantly about his relations to his +white comrades of the shoulder straps. While the United States +Navy has hitherto been closed to negroes who aspire to be +officers, the army has pursued a wiser and more just policy. The +contrast between the two services is really remarkable. On almost +every war vessel white and black sailors sleep and live together +in crowded quarters without protest or friction. But the negro +naval officer is kept out of the service by hook or by crook for +the avowed reason that the cramped quarters of the wardroom would +make association with him intolerable. In the army, on the other +hand, the experiment of mixed regiments has never been tried. A +good colored soldier can nevertheless obtain a commission by going +through West Point, or by rising from the ranks, or by being +appointed directly from civil life. + +Since the foundation of the Military Academy there have been +eighteen colored boys appointed to West Point, of whom fifteen +failed in their preliminary examinations, or were discharged after +entering because of deficiency in studies. Three were graduated +and commissioned as second lieutenants of cavalry, Henry Ossian +Flipper, John Hanks Alexander, and Charles Young. Of these, +Lieutenant Flipper was dismissed June 30, 1882, for "conduct +unbecoming an officer and a gentleman." The other two proved +themselves excellent officers, notably Young, who is at this +writing a captain, and a most efficient one, in the Ninth Cavalry, +with which he recently served in the Philippines. Lieutenant +Alexander died suddenly in 1894. In announcing his death in a +regimental order his colonel spoke of him in terms of high praise, +and did not use the customary stereotyped phrases of regret. His +fellow white officers all had good words for him. There never was +more striking testimony to the discipline and spirit of fairness +at West Point than was afforded by the sight of Cadet Charles +Young, who is of very dark complexion, commanding white cadets. +Nothing else has impressed foreign visitors at West Point half so +much. + +An equally remarkable happening, and one which speaks even more +for the democratic spirit in the army, was the commissioning in +1901 of Sergeant-Major Benjamin O. Davis, Ninth Cavalry, and of +Corporal John E. Green, Twenty-fourth Infantry. Both these men +were examined by boards of white officers, who might easily have +excluded them because of color prejudice, in which case there +would have been no appeal from their findings. Lieutenant Davis's +former troop commander, a West Pointer, openly rejoiced at his +success, and predicted that he would make an excellent officer. +These are the first two colored men to rise from the ranks, but +there will be many more if the same admirable spirit of fair play +continues to rule in the army and is not altered by outside +prejudice. It was thought that there would be a severe strain +upon discipline when a colored officer rose to the rank of captain +and to the command of white officers. But in Captain Young's case +his white subordinates seem to have realized that it is the +position and rank that they are compelled to salute and obey, and +not the individual. This principle is at the bottom of all +discipline. Only too frequently do subordinates throughout the +army have to remind themselves of this when obeying men for whose +social qualities and character they have neither regard nor +respect. During the war with Spain Captain Young commanded a +negro battalion from Ohio, which was pronounced the best drilled +organization in the large army assembled at Camp Alger near +Washington. In addition to these officers, Captain John R. Lynch, +formerly a Congressman from Mississippi, and four colored +chaplains represent their race on the commissioned rolls of the +army. All of these men are doing well. One colored chaplain was +dismissed for drunkenness in 1894. Beyond this their record is +unblemished. + +Despite the fairness shown in these appointments, there has been +considerable very just criticism of the War Department for its +failure to appoint to the regulars any of the colored officers who +did well in the Forty-eighth and Forty-ninth Volunteers. Every +colonel of volunteers was allowed to designate for examination for +appointment to the regular army the best officers in his regiment. +Hundreds of white officers were selected in this way, but not a +single colored officer was given an examination,--not even +Lieutenant McBryar, with his medal of honor, or Captain Baker. +Similarly fault has been found with Secretary Root because no new +colored regiments were established under the law of February 2, +1901, increasing the army by five regiments of infantry, five of +cavalry, and a large number of companies of artillery. The excuse +most often heard is that the negroes already have sufficient +representation in comparison with the percentage of negroes to +white persons within the borders of the United States. But the +sterling characteristics of the colored soldiers, their loyalty to +the service as shown by the statistics of desertion, and, above +all, their splendid service in Cuba, should have entitled them to +additional organizations. To say the least, the decision of the +War Department smacks considerably of ingratitude. Nevertheless, +the negro regiments have come to stay, both in the regulars and in +the volunteers. The hostilities of the last five years have +dispelled any doubt which may have existed upon this point. + + + +BAXTER'S PROCRUSTES +by Charles W. Chesnutt + + +Baxter's Procrustes is one of the publications of the Bodleian +Club. The Bodleian Club is composed of gentlemen of culture, who +are interested in books and book-collecting. It was named, very +obviously, after the famous library of the same name, and not only +became in our city a sort of shrine for local worshipers of fine +bindings and rare editions, but was visited occasionally by +pilgrims from afar. The Bodleian has entertained Mark Twain, +Joseph Jefferson, and other literary and histrionic celebrities. +It possesses quite a collection of personal mementos of +distinguished authors, among them a paperweight which once +belonged to Goethe, a lead pencil used by Emerson, an autograph +letter of Matthew Arnold, and a chip from a tree felled by Mr. +Gladstone. Its library contains a number of rare books, including +a fine collection on chess, of which game several of the members +are enthusiastic devotees. + +The activities of the club are not, however, confined entirely to +books. We have a very handsome clubhouse, and much taste and +discrimination have been exercised in its adornment. There are +many good paintings, including portraits of the various presidents +of the club, which adorn the entrance hall. After books, perhaps +the most distinctive feature of the club is our collection of +pipes. In a large rack in the smoking-room--really a superfluity, +since smoking is permitted all over the house--is as complete an +assortment of pipes as perhaps exists in the civilized world. +Indeed, it is an unwritten rule of the club that no one is +eligible for membership who cannot produce a new variety of pipe, +which is filed with his application for membership, and, if he +passes, deposited with the club collection, he, however, retaining +the title in himself. Once a year, upon the anniversary of the +death of Sir Walter Raleigh, who it will be remembered, first +introduced tobacco into England, the full membership of the club, +as a rule, turns out. A large supply of the very best smoking +mixture is laid in. At nine o'clock sharp each member takes his +pipe from the rack, fills it with tobacco, and then the whole +club, with the president at the head, all smoking furiously, march +in solemn procession from room to room, upstairs and downstairs, +making the tour of the clubhouse and returning to the smoking- +room. The president then delivers an address, and each member is +called upon to say something, either by way of a quotation or an +original sentiment, in praise of the virtues of nicotine. This +ceremony--facetiously known as "hitting the pipe"--being thus +concluded, the membership pipes are carefully cleaned out and +replaced in the club rack. + +As I have said, however, the raison d'etre of the club, and the +feature upon which its fame chiefly rests, is its collection of +rare books, and of these by far the most interesting are its own +publications. Even its catalogues are works of art, published in +numbered editions, and sought by libraries and book-collectors. +Early in its history it began the occasional publication of books +which should meet the club standard,--books in which emphasis +should be laid upon the qualities that make a book valuable in the +eyes of collectors. Of these, age could not, of course, be +imparted, but in the matter of fine and curious bindings, of hand- +made linen papers, of uncut or deckle edges, of wide margins and +limited editions, the club could control its own publications. +The matter of contents was, it must be confessed, a less important +consideration. At first it was felt by the publishing committee +that nothing but the finest products of the human mind should be +selected for enshrinement in the beautiful volumes which the club +should issue. The length of the work was an important +consideration,--long things were not compatible with wide margins +and graceful slenderness. For instance, we brought out +Coleridge's Ancient Mariner, an essay by Emerson, and another by +Thoreau. Our Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam was Heron-Allen's +translation of the original MS in the Bodleian Library at Oxford, +which, though less poetical than FitzGerald's, was not so common. +Several years ago we began to publish the works of our own +members. Bascom's Essay on Pipes was a very creditable +performance. It was published in a limited edition of one hundred +copies, and since it had not previously appeared elsewhere and was +copyrighted by the club, it was sufficiently rare to be valuable +for that reason. The second publication of local origin was +Baxter's Procrustes. + +I have omitted to say that once or twice a year, at a meeting of +which notice has been given, an auction is held at the Bodleian. +The members of the club send in their duplicate copies, or books +they for any reason wish to dispose of, which are auctioned off to +the highest bidder. At these sales, which are well attended, the +club's publications have of recent years formed the leading +feature. Three years ago, number three of Bascom's Essay on Pipes +sold for fifteen dollars;--the original cost of publication was +one dollar and seventy-five cents. Later in the evening an uncut +copy of the same brought thirty dollars. At the next auction the +price of the cut copy was run up to twenty-five dollars, while the +uncut copy was knocked down at seventy-five dollars. The club had +always appreciated the value of uncut copies, but this financial +indorsement enhanced their desirability immensely. This rise in +the Essay on Pipes was not without a sympathetic effect upon all +the club publications. The Emerson essay rose from three dollars +to seventeen, and the Thoreau, being by an author less widely +read, and, by his own confession commercially unsuccessful, +brought a somewhat higher figure. The prices, thus inflated, were +not permitted to come down appreciably. Since every member of the +club possessed one or more of these valuable editions, they were +all manifestly interested in keeping up the price. The +publication, however, which brought the highest prices, and, but +for the sober second thought, might have wrecked the whole system, +was Baxter's Procrustes. + +Baxter was, perhaps, the most scholarly member of the club. A +graduate of Harvard, he had traveled extensively, had read widely, +and while not so enthusiastic a collector as some of us, possessed +as fine a private library as any man of his age in the city. He +was about thirty-five when he joined the club, and apparently some +bitter experience--some disappointment in love or ambition--had +left its mark upon his character. With light, curly hair, fair +complexion, and gray eyes, one would have expected Baxter to be +genial of temper, with a tendency toward wordiness of speech. But +though he had occasional flashes of humor, his ordinary demeanor +was characterized by a mild cynicism, which, with his gloomy +pessimistic philosophy, so foreign to the temperament that should +accompany his physical type, could only be accounted for upon the +hypothesis of some secret sorrow such as I have suggested. What +it might be no one knew. He had means and social position, and +was an uncommonly handsome man. The fact that he remained +unmarried at thirty-five furnished some support for the theory of +a disappointment in love, though this the several intimates of +Baxter who belonged to the club were not able to verify. + +It had occurred to me, in a vague way, that perhaps Baxter might +be an unsuccessful author. That he was a poet we knew very well, +and typewritten copies of his verses had occasionally circulated +among us. But Baxter had always expressed such a profound +contempt for modern literature, had always spoken in terms of such +unmeasured pity for the slaves of the pen, who were dependent upon +the whim of an undiscriminating public for recognition and a +livelihood, that no one of us had ever suspected him of +aspirations toward publication, until, as I have said, it occurred +to me one day that Baxter's attitude with regard to publication +might be viewed in the light of effect as well as of cause--that +his scorn of publicity might as easily arise from failure to +achieve it, as his never having published might be due to his +preconceived disdain of the vulgar popularity which one must share +with the pugilist or balloonist of the hour. + +The notion of publishing Baxter's Procrustes did not emanate from +Baxter,--I must do him the justice to say this. But he had spoken +to several of the fellows about the theme of his poem, until the +notion that Baxter was at work upon something fine had become +pretty well disseminated throughout our membership. He would +occasionally read brief passages to a small coterie of friends in +the sitting-room or library,--never more than ten lines at once, +or to more than five people at a time,--and these excerpts gave at +least a few of us a pretty fair idea of the motive and scope of +the poem. As I, for one, gathered, it was quite along the line of +Baxter's philosophy. Society was the Procrustes which, like the +Greek bandit of old, caught every man born into the world, and +endeavored to fit him to some preconceived standard, generally to +the one for which he was least adapted. The world was full of men +and women who were merely square pegs in round holes, and vice +versa. Most marriages were unhappy because the contracting +parties were not properly mated. Religion was mostly +superstition, science for the most part sciolism, popular +education merely a means of forcing the stupid and repressing the +bright, so that all the youth of the rising generation might +conform to the same dull, dead level of democratic mediocrity. +Life would soon become so monotonously uniform and so uniformly +monotonous as to be scarce worth the living. + +It was Smith, I think, who first proposed that the club publish +Baxter's Procrustes. The poet himself did not seem enthusiastic +when the subject was broached; he demurred for some little time, +protesting that the poem was not worthy of publication. But when +it was proposed that the edition be limited to fifty copies he +agreed to consider the proposition. When I suggested, having in +mind my secret theory of Baxter's failure in authorship, that the +edition would at least be in the hands of friends, that it would +be difficult for a hostile critic to secure a copy, and that if it +should not achieve success from a literary point of view, the +extent of the failure would be limited to the size of the edition, +Baxter was visibly impressed. When the literary committee at +length decided to request formally of Baxter the privilege of +publishing his Procrustes, he consented, with evident reluctance, +upon condition that he should supervise the printing, binding, and +delivery of the books, merely submitting to the committee, in +advance, the manuscript, and taking their views in regard to the +bookmaking. + +The manuscript was duly presented to the literary committee. +Baxter having expressed the desire that the poem be not read aloud +at a meeting of the club, as was the custom, since he wished it to +be given to the world clad in suitable garb, the committee went +even farther. Having entire confidence in Baxter's taste and +scholarship, they, with great delicacy, refrained from even +reading the manuscript, contenting themselves with Baxter's +statement of the general theme and the topics grouped under it. +The details of the bookmaking, however, were gone into thoroughly. +The paper was to be of hand-made linen, from the Kelmscott Mills; +the type black-letter, with rubricated initials. The cover, which +was Baxter's own selection, was to be of dark green morocco, with +a cap-and-bells border in red inlays, and doublures of maroon +morocco with a blind-tooled design. Baxter was authorized to +contract with the printer and superintend the publication. The +whole edition of fifty numbered copies was to be disposed of at +auction, in advance, to the highest bidder, only one copy to each, +the proceeds to be devoted to paying for the printing and binding, +the remainder, if any, to go into the club treasury, and Baxter +himself to receive one copy by way of remuneration. Baxter was +inclined to protest at this, on the ground that his copy would +probably be worth more than the royalties on the edition, at the +usual ten per cent, would amount to, but was finally prevailed +upon to accept an author's copy. + +While the Procrustes was under consideration, some one read, at +one of our meetings, a note from some magazine, which stated that +a sealed copy of a new translation of Campanella's Sonnets, +published by the Grolier Club, had been sold for three hundred +dollars. This impressed the members greatly. It was a novel +idea. A new work might thus be enshrined in a sort of holy of +holies, which, if the collector so desired, could be forever +sacred from the profanation of any vulgar or unappreciative eye. +The possessor of such a treasure could enjoy it by the eye of +imagination, having at the same time the exaltation of grasping +what was for others the unattainable. The literary committee were +so impressed with this idea that they presented it to Baxter in +regard to the Procrustes. Baxter making no objection, the +subscribers who might wish their copies delivered sealed were +directed to notify the author. I sent in my name. A fine book, +after all, was an investment, and if there was any way of +enhancing its rarity, and therefore its value, I was quite willing +to enjoy such an advantage. + +When the Procrustes was ready for distribution, each subscriber +received his copy by mail, in a neat pasteboard box. Each number +was wrapped in a thin and transparent but very strong paper +through which the cover design and tooling were clearly visible. +The number of the copy was indorsed upon the wrapper, the folds of +which were securely fastened at each end with sealing-wax, upon +which was impressed, as a guaranty of its inviolateness, the +monogram of the club. + +At the next meeting of the Bodleian, a great deal was said about +the Procrustes, and it was unanimously agreed that no finer +specimen of bookmaking had ever been published by the club. By a +curious coincidence, no one had brought his copy with him, and the +two club copies had not yet been received from the binder, who, +Baxter had reported was retaining them for some extra fine work. +Upon resolution, offered by a member who had not subscribed for +the volume, a committee of three was appointed to review the +Procrustes at the next literary meeting of the club. Of this +committee it was my doubtful fortune to constitute one. + +In pursuance of my duty in the premises, it of course became +necessary for me to read the Procrustes. In all probability I +should have cut my own copy for this purpose, had not one of the +club auctions intervened between my appointment and the date set +for the discussion of the Procrustes. At this meeting a copy of +the book, still sealed, was offered for sale, and bought by a non- +subscriber for the unprecedented price of one hundred and fifty +dollars. After this a proper regard for my own interests would +not permit me to spoil my copy by opening it, and I was therefore +compelled to procure my information concerning the poem from some +other source. As I had no desire to appear mercenary, I said +nothing about my own copy, and made no attempt to borrow. I did, +however, casually remark to Baxter that I should like to look at +his copy of the proof sheets, since I wished to make some extended +quotations for my review, and would rather not trust my copy to a +typist for that purpose. Baxter assured me, with every evidence +of regret, that he had considered them of so little importance +that he had thrown them into the fire. This indifference of +Baxter to literary values struck me as just a little overdone. +The proof sheets of Hamlet, corrected in Shakespeare's own hand, +would be well-nigh priceless. + +At the next meeting of the club I observed that Thompson and +Davis, who were with me on the reviewing committee, very soon +brought up the question of the Procrustes in conversation in the +smoking-room, and seemed anxious to get from the members their +views concerning Baxter's production, I supposed upon the theory +that the appreciation of any book review would depend more or less +upon the degree to which it reflected the opinion of those to whom +the review should be presented. I presumed, of course, that +Thompson and Davis had each read the book,--they were among the +subscribers,--and I was desirous of getting their point of view. + +"What do you think," I inquired, "of the passage on Social +Systems?" I have forgotten to say that the poem was in blank +verse, and divided into parts, each with an appropriate title. + +"Well," replied Davis, it seemed to me a little cautiously, "it is +not exactly Spencerian, although it squints at the Spencerian +view, with a slight deflection toward Hegelianism. I should +consider it an harmonious fusion of the best views of all the +modern philosophers, with a strong Baxterian flavor." + +"Yes," said Thompson, "the charm of the chapter lies in this very +quality. The style is an emanation from Baxter's own intellect,-- +he has written himself into the poem. By knowing Baxter we are +able to appreciate the book, and after having read the book we +feel that we are so much the more intimately acquainted with +Baxter,--the real Baxter." + +Baxter had come in during this colloquy, and was standing by the +fireplace smoking a pipe. I was not exactly sure whether the +faint smile which marked his face was a token of pleasure or +cynicism; it was Baxterian, however, and I had already learned +that Baxter's opinions upon any subject were not to be gathered +always from his facial expression. For instance, when the club +porter's crippled child died Baxter remarked, it seemed to me +unfeelingly, that the poor little devil was doubtless better off, +and that the porter himself had certainly been relieved of a +burden; and only a week later the porter told me in confidence +that Baxter had paid for an expensive operation, undertaken in the +hope of prolonging the child's life. I therefore drew no +conclusions from Baxter's somewhat enigmatical smile. He left the +room at this point in the conversation, somewhat to my relief. + +"By the way, Jones," said Davis, addressing me, "are you impressed +by Baxter's views on Degeneration?" + +Having often heard Baxter express himself upon the general +downward tendency of modern civilization, I felt safe in +discussing his views in a broad and general manner. + +"I think," I replied, "that they are in harmony with those of +Schopenhauer, without his bitterness; with those of Nordau, +without his flippancy. His materialism is Haeckel's, presented +with something of the charm of Omar Khayyam." + +"Yes," chimed in Davis, "it answers the strenuous demand of our +day,--dissatisfaction with an unjustified optimism,--and voices +for us the courage of human philosophy facing the unknown." + +I had a vague recollection of having read something like this +somewhere, but so much has been written, that one can scarcely +discuss any subject of importance without unconsciously borrowing, +now and then, the thoughts or the language of others. Quotation, +like imitation, is a superior grade of flattery. + +"The Procrustes," said Thompson, to whom the metrical review had +been apportioned, "is couched in sonorous lines, of haunting +melody and charm; and yet so closely inter-related as to be +scarcely quotable with justice to the author. To be appreciated +the poem should be read as a whole,--I shall say as much in my +review. What shall you say of the letter-press?" he concluded, +addressing me. I was supposed to discuss the technical excellence +of the volume from the connoisseur's viewpoint. + +"The setting," I replied judicially, "is worthy of the gem. The +dark green cover, elaborately tooled, the old English lettering, +the heavy linen paper, mark this as one of our very choicest +publications. The letter-press is of course De Vinne's best,-- +there is nothing better on this side of the Atlantic. The text is +a beautiful, slender stream, meandering gracefully through a wide +meadow of margin." + +For some reason I left the room for a minute. As I stepped into +the hall, I almost ran into Baxter, who was standing near the +door, facing a hunting print of a somewhat humorous character, +hung upon the wall, and smiling with an immensely pleased +expression. + +"What a ridiculous scene!" he remarked. "Look at that fat old +squire on that tall hunter! I'll wager dollars to doughnuts that +he won't get over the first fence!" + +It was a very good bluff, but did not deceive me. Under his mask +of unconcern, Baxter was anxious to learn what we thought of his +poem, and had stationed himself in the hall that he might overhear +our discussion without embarrassing us by his presence. He had +covered up his delight at our appreciation by this simulated +interest in the hunting print. + + +When the night came for the review of the Procrustes there was a +large attendance of members, and several visitors, among them a +young English cousin of one of the members, on his first visit to +the United States; some of us had met him at other clubs, and in +society, and had found him a very jolly boy, with a youthful +exuberance of spirits and a naive ignorance of things American +that made his views refreshing and, at times, amusing. + +The critical essays were well considered, if a trifle vague. +Baxter received credit for poetic skill of a high order. + +"Our brother Baxter," said Thompson, "should no longer bury his +talent in a napkin. This gem, of course, belongs to the club, but +the same brain from which issued this exquisite emanation can +produce others to inspire and charm an appreciative world." + +"The author's view of life," said Davis, "as expressed in these +beautiful lines, will help us to fit our shoulders for the heavy +burden of life, by bringing to our realization those profound +truths of philosophy which find hope in despair and pleasure in +pain. When he shall see fit to give to the wider world, in fuller +form, the thoughts of which we have been vouchsafed this +foretaste, let us hope that some little ray of his fame may rest +upon the Bodleian, from which can never be taken away the proud +privilege of saying that he was one of its members." + +I then pointed out the beauties of the volume as a piece of +bookmaking. I knew, from conversation with the publication +committee, the style of type and rubrication, and could see the +cover through the wrapper of my sealed copy. The dark green +morocco, I said, in summing up, typified the author's serious view +of life, as a thing to be endured as patiently as might be. The +cap-and-bells border was significant of the shams by which the +optimist sought to delude himself into the view that life was a +desirable thing. The intricate blind-tooling of the doublure +shadowed forth the blind fate which left us in ignorance of our +future and our past, or of even what the day itself might bring +forth. The black-letter type, with rubricated initials, signified +a philosophic pessimism enlightened by the conviction that in duty +one might find, after all, an excuse for life and a hope for +humanity. Applying this test to the club, this work, which might +be said to represent all that the Bodleian stood for, was in +itself sufficient to justify the club's existence. If the +Bodleian had done nothing else, if it should do nothing more, it +had produced a masterpiece. + +There was a sealed copy of the Procrustes, belonging, I believe, +to one of the committee, lying on the table by which I stood, and +I had picked it up and held it in my hand for a moment, to +emphasize one of my periods, but had laid it down immediately. I +noted, as I sat down, that young Hunkin, our English visitor, who +sat on the other side of the table, had picked up the volume and +was examining it with interest. When the last review was read, +and the generous applause had subsided, there were cries for +Baxter. + +"Baxter! Baxter! Author! Author!" + +Baxter had been sitting over in a corner during the reading of the +reviews, and had succeeded remarkably well, it seemed to me, in +concealing, under his mask of cynical indifference, the exultation +which I was sure he must feel. But this outburst of enthusiasm +was too much even for Baxter, and it was clear that he was +struggling with strong emotion when he rose to speak. + +"Gentlemen, and fellow members of the Bodleian, it gives me +unaffected pleasure--sincere pleasure--some day you may know how +much pleasure--I cannot trust myself to say it now--to see the +evident care with which your committee have read my poor verses, +and the responsive sympathy with which my friends have entered +into my views of life and conduct. I thank you again, and again, +and when I say that I am too full for utterance,--I'm sure you +will excuse me from saying any more." + +Baxter took his seat, and the applause had begun again when it was +broken by a sudden exclamation. + +"By Jove!" exclaimed our English visitor, who still sat behind the +table, "what an extraordinary book!" + +Every one gathered around him. + +"You see," he exclaimed; holding up the volume, "you fellows said +so much about the bally book that I wanted to see what it was +like; so I untied the ribbon, and cut the leaves with the paper +knife lying here, and found--and found that there wasn't a single +line in it, don't you know!" + +Blank consternation followed this announcement, which proved only +too true. Every one knew instinctively, without further +investigation, that the club had been badly sold. In the +resulting confusion Baxter escaped, but later was waited upon by a +committee, to whom he made the rather lame excuse that he had +always regarded uncut and sealed books as tommy-rot, and that he +had merely been curious to see how far the thing could go; and +that the result had justified his belief that a book with nothing +in it was just as useful to a book-collector as one embodying a +work of genius. He offered to pay all the bills for the sham +Procrustes, or to replace the blank copies with the real thing, as +we might choose. Of course, after such an insult, the club did +not care for the poem. He was permitted to pay the expense, +however, and it was more than hinted to him that his resignation +from the club would be favorably acted upon. He never sent it in, +and, as he went to Europe shortly afterwards, the affair had time +to blow over. + +In our first disgust at Baxter's duplicity, most of us cut our +copies of the Procrustes, some of us mailed them to Baxter with +cutting notes, and others threw them into the fire. A few wiser +spirits held on to theirs, and this fact leaking out, it began to +dawn upon the minds of the real collectors among us that the +volume was something unique in the way of a publication. + +"Baxter," said our president one evening to a select few of us who +sat around the fireplace, "was wiser than we knew, or than he +perhaps appreciated. His Procrustes, from the collector's point +of view, is entirely logical, and might be considered as the acme +of bookmaking. To the true collector, a book is a work of art, of +which the contents are no more important than the words of an +opera. Fine binding is a desideratum, and, for its cost, that of +the Procrustes could not be improved upon. The paper is above +criticism. The true collector loves wide margins, and the +Procrustes, being all margin, merely touches the vanishing point +of the perspective. The smaller the edition, the greater the +collector's eagerness to acquire a copy. There are but six uncut +copies left, I am told, of the Procrustes, and three sealed +copies, of one of which I am the fortunate possessor." + +After this deliverance, it is not surprising that, at our next +auction, a sealed copy of Baxter's Procrustes was knocked down, +after spirited bidding, for two hundred and fifty dollars, the +highest price ever brought by a single volume published by the +club. + + + +THE HEART OF THE RACE PROBLEM +by Quincy Ewing + + +"And, instead of going to the Congress of the United States and +saying there is no distinction made in Mississippi, because of +color or previous condition of servitude, tell the truth, and say +this: 'We tried for many years to live in Mississippi, and share +sovereignty and dominion with the Negro, and we saw our +institutions crumbling. . . . We rose in the majesty and highest +type of Anglo-Saxon manhood, and took the reins of government out +of the hands of the carpet-bagger and the Negro, and, so help us +God, from now on we will never share any sovereignty or dominion +with him again.'"--Governor JAMES K. VARDAMAN, Mississippi, 1904. + + +During the past decade, newspaper and magazine articles galore, +and not a few books, have been written on what is called the "Race +Problem," the problem caused by the presence in this country of +some ten millions of black and variously-shaded colored people +known as Negroes. But, strange as it may sound, the writer has no +hesitation in saying that at this date there appears to be no +clear conception anywhere, on the part of most people, as to just +what the essential problem is which confronts the white +inhabitants of the country because they have for fellow-citizens +(nominally) ten million Negroes. Ask the average man, ask even +the average editor or professor anywhere, what the race problem +is, the heart of it; why, in this land with its millions of +foreigners of all nationalities, THE race problem of problems +should be caused by ten million Negroes, not foreigners but native +to the soil through several generations; and in all probability +you will get some such answer as this:-- + +"The Negroes, as a rule, are very ignorant, are very lazy, are +very brutal, are very criminal. But a little way removed from +savagery, they are incapable of adopting the white man's moral +code, of assimilating the white man's moral sentiments, of +striving toward the white man's moral ideals. They are creatures +of brutal, untamed instincts, and uncontrolled feral passions, +which give frequent expression of themselves in crimes of horrible +ferocity. They are, in brief, an uncivilized, semi-savage people, +living in a civilization to which they are unequal, partaking to a +limited degree of its benefits, performing in no degree its +duties. Because they are spatially in a civilization to which +they are morally and intellectually repugnant, they cannot but be +as a foreign irritant to the body social. The problem is, How +shall the body social adjust itself, daily, hourly, to this +irritant; how feel at ease and safe in spite of it? How shall the +white inhabitants of the land, with their centuries of inherited +superiority, conserve their civilization and carry it forward to a +yet higher plane, hampered by ten million black inhabitants of the +same land with their centuries of inherited inferiority?" + +To the foregoing answer, this might now and again be added, or +advanced independently in reply to our question: "Personal +aversion on the part of the white person for the Negro; personal +aversion accounted for by nothing the individual Negro is, or is +not, intellectually and morally; accounted for by the fact, +simply, that he is a Negro, that he has a black or colored skin, +that he is different, of another kind." + +Now, certainly, there are very few average men or philosophers, to +whom the answer given to our question would not seem to state, or +at any rate fairly indicate, the race problem in its essence. +But, however few they be, I do not hesitate to align myself with +them as one who does not believe that the essential race problem +as it exists in the South (whatever it be in the North) is stated, +or even fairly indicated, in the foregoing answer. In Northern +and Western communities, where he is outnumbered by many thousands +of white people, the Negro may be accounted a problem, because he +is lazy, or ignorant, or brutal, or criminal, or all these things +together; or because he is black and different. But in Southern +communities, where the Negro is not outnumbered by many thousands +of white people, the race problem, essentially, and in its most +acute form, is something distinct from his laziness or ignorance, +or brutality, or criminality, or all-round intellectual and moral +inferiority to the white man. That problem as the South knows and +deals with it would exist, as certainly as it does to-day, if +there were no shadow of excuse for the conviction that the Negro +is more lazy, or more ignorant, or more criminal, or more brutal, +or more anything else he ought not to be, or less anything else he +ought to be, than other men. In other words, let it be supposed +that the average Negro is as a matter of fact the equal, morally +and intellectually, of the average white man of the same class, +and the race problem declines to vanish, declines to budge. We +shall see why, presently. The statements just made demand +immediate justification. For they are doubtless surprising to a +degree, and to some readers may prove startling. + +I proceed to justify them as briefly as possible, asking the +reader to bear in mind that very much more might be said along +this line than I allow myself space to say. + + + +I + + +That the Negro is not a problem because he is lazy, because he +declines to work, is evidenced by the patent fact that in +virtually every Southern community he is sought as a laborer in +fields, mills, mines, and that in very many Southern communities +the vexing problem for employers is not too many, but too few +Negroes. In certain agricultural sections, notably in the +Louisiana sugar district, quite a number of Italians ("Dagoes") +are employed. The reason is not dissatisfaction with Negro labor, +but simply that there is not enough of it to meet the requirements +of the large plantations. There is, perhaps, not one of these +plantations on which any able-bodied Negro could not get +employment for the asking; and as a rule, the Negroes are given, +not the work which demands the lowest, but that which demands the +highest, efficiency: they are the ploughmen, the teamsters, the +foremen. If any one doubts that Negroes are wanted as laborers in +Southern communities, very much wanted, let him go to any such +community and attempt to inveigle a few dozen of the laziest away. +He will be likely to take his life in his hands, after the usual +warning is disregarded! + + + +II + + +The small politician's trump-card, played early and late, and in +all seasons, that the Negro is a black shadow over the Southland +because of his excessive criminality, serves well the politician's +purpose,--it wins his game; but only because the game is played +and won on a board where fictions, not facts, are dominant. +Nothing is easier than to offer so-called proofs of the contention +that the Negro's tendency to crime is something peculiar to his +race; there are the jail and penitentiary and gallows statistics, +for instance. But surely it should not be difficult for these so- +called proofs to present themselves in their true light to any one +who takes the trouble to consider two weighty and conspicuous +facts: this, first, that the Negroes occupy everywhere in this +country the lowest social and industrial plane, the plane which +everywhere else supplies the jail, the penitentiary, the gallows, +with the greatest number of their victims; and secondly this, that +in the section of the country where these penal statistics are +gathered, all the machinery of justice is in the hands of white +men. + +No Negro is a sheriff, or judge, or justice of the peace, or grand +or petit juryman, or member of a pardoning board. Charged with +crime, again and again, the black man must go to jail; he is +unable to give bond; he is defended, not by the ablest, but by the +poorest lawyers, often by an unwilling appointee of the court; he +lacks the benefit of that personal appeal to judge and jury, so +often enjoyed by other defendants, which would make them WANT to +believe him innocent until proven guilty; he faces, on the +contrary, a judge and jury who hold him in some measure of +contempt as a man, regardless of his guilt or innocence. He is +without means, except occasionally, to fight his case through +appeals to higher courts, and errors sleep in many a record that +on review would upset the verdict. In the light of such +considerations, it would seem impossible that criminal statistics +should not bear hard upon the Negro race, even supposing it to be +a fact that that race of all races in the world is the LEAST +criminal. + +Let it be admitted without question that in most Southern +communities the crimes and misdemeanors of the Negroes exceed +those committed by an equal number of white people, and we have +admitted nothing that at all explains or accounts for the race +problem. For is it not equally true that in every other community +the doers of society's rough work, the recipients of its meagrest +rewards, are chargeable, relatively, with the greatest number of +crimes and misdemeanors? Is it not true, as well in Massachusetts +and Connecticut as in Louisiana and Mississippi, that the vast +majority of those occupying prison cells are members of the social +lowest class? that the vast majority condemned, after trial, to +hard labor with their hands were accustomed to such labor before +their judicial condemnation? Nothing is more preposterous than +the idea that the race problem means more Negroes hanged, more +Negroes imprisoned, more Negroes in mines and chain-gangs, than +white people! If the Negro did not furnish the great bulk of the +grist for the grinding of our penal machinery in the Southern +states, he would constitute the racial miracle of this and all +ages! + +My own conviction is, and I speak with the experience of forty +years' residence in Southern states, that the Negro is not more +given to crimes and misdemeanors than the laboring population of +any other section of the country. But be this as it may, it is +abundantly certain that no race of people anywhere are more easily +controlled than the Negroes by the guardians of law and order; and +there are none anywhere so easily punished for disobedience to the +statutes and mandates of their economic superiors. Courts and +juries may be sometimes subject to just criticism for undue +leniency toward white defendants; but that courts and juries are +ever subject to just criticism for undue leniency in dealing with +black defendants is the sheerest nonsense. + +The frequent charge that the Negro's worst crimes partake of a +brutality that is peculiarly racial, is not supported by facts. I +need not enlarge upon this statement further than to say that the +Negro's worst crimes, with all their shocking accompaniments, are, +not seldom, but often, duplicated by white men. Let any one who +doubts the statement observe for one week the criminal statistics +of any cosmopolitan newspaper, and he will have his doubt removed. + +Assuredly we do not hit upon the essence of the race problem in +the Negro's propensity to crime! + + + +III + + +Do we hit upon it in his ignorance, in the fact that an immense +number of the black people are illiterate, not knowing the first +from the last letter of the alphabet? Hardly. For, almost to a +man, the people who most parade and most rail at the race problem +in private conversation, on the political platform, and in the +pages of newspapers, books, and periodicals, are disposed rather +to lament, than to assist, the passing of the Negro's ignorance. +Ex-Governor Vardaman, of Mississippi, used the following language +in a message to the legislature of that state, January, 1906:-- + +"The startling facts revealed by the census show that those +[Negroes] who can read and write are more criminal than the +illiterate, which is true of no other element of our population. . +. . The state for many years, at great expense to the tax-payers, +has maintained a system of Negro education which has produced +disappointing results, and I am opposed to the perpetuation of +this system. My own idea is, that the character of education for +the Negro ought to be changed. If, after forty years of earnest +effort, and the expenditure of fabulous sums to educate his head, +we have only succeeded in making a criminal of him and impairing +his usefulness and efficiency as a laborer, wisdom would suggest +that we make another experiment and see if we cannot improve him +by educating his hand and his heart. . . . Slavery is the only +process by which he has ever been partially civilized. God +Almighty created the Negro for a menial, he is essentially a +servant." + +This is the reply of an ex-governor of one of our blackest states +to those who contend that the negro is a problem, a "burden +carried by the white people of the South," because of his +ignorance and consequent inefficiency; and that the lightening of +the burden depends upon more money spent, more earnest efforts +made, for the schooling of the black people. According to this +ex-governor, and there are thousands who agree with him in and out +of Mississippi, the race problem is heightened, rather than +mitigated, by all attempts to increase the negro's intellectual +efficiency. The more ignorant he is, the less burdensome he is to +the white man, provided his heart be good, and his hands skillful +enough to do the service of a menial. Nothing but slavery ever +partially civilized him, nothing but slavery continued in some +form can civilize him further! + + + +IV + + +If we listen vainly for the heart-throb of the race problem in the +Negro's laziness, and criminality, and brutality, and ignorance, +and inefficiency, do we detect it with clearness and certainty in +the personal aversion felt by the white people for the black +people, aversion which the white people can no more help feeling +than the black people can help exciting? Is this the real +trouble, the real burden, the real tragedy and sorrow of our white +population in those sections of the country where the Negroes are +many,--that they are compelled to dwell face to face, day by day, +with an inferior, degraded population, repulsive to their finer +sensibilities, obnoxious to them in countless ways inexplicable? +Facts are far from furnishing an affirmative answer. However +pronounced may be the feeling of personal aversion toward the +Negroes in Northern communities, where they are few, or known at +long range, or casually, there is no such thing in Southern +communities as personal aversion for the Negro pronounced enough +to be responsible for anything resembling a problem. How could +there be in the South, where from infancy we have all been as +familiar with black faces as with white; where many of us fell +asleep in the laps of black mammies, and had for playmates Ephrom, +Izik, Zeke, black mammy's grandchildren; where most of us have had +our meals prepared by black cooks, and been waited on by black +house-servants and dining-room servants, and ridden in carriages +and buggies with black hostlers? We are so used to the black +people in the South, their mere personal presence is so far from +being responsible for our race problem, that the South would not +seem Southern without them, as it would not without its crape +myrtles, and live-oaks, and magnolias, its cotton and its sugar- +cane! + +It is very easy to go astray in regard to the matter of personal +aversion toward the members of alien races, to magnify greatly the +reality and importance of it. What seems race-aversion is +frequently something else, namely, revulsion aroused by the +presence of the strange, the unusual, the uncanny, the not- +understood. Such revulsion is aroused, not only by the members of +alien races, alien and unfamiliar, but as certainly by strange +animals of not more terrifying appearance than the well-loved cow +and horse; and it would be aroused as really and as painfully, +doubtless, by the sudden proximity of one of Milton's archangels. +It was not necessarily race-aversion which made Emerson, and may +have made many another Concord philosopher, uncomfortable in the +presence of a Negro, any more than it is race-aversion which makes +the Fifth Avenue boy run from the gentle farmyard cow; any more +than it is race-aversion which would make me uncomfortable in the +presence of Li Hung Chang. The Negro, simply, it may be, was a +mystery to Emerson, as the farmyard cow is a mystery to the Fifth +Avenue boy, as the Chinaman is a mystery to me. + +The Negro is NOT a mystery to people whom he has nursed and waited +on, whose language he has spoken, whose ways, good and bad, he has +copied for generations; and his personal presence does not render +them uncomfortable, not, at any rate, uncomfortable enough to +beget the sense of a burden or a problem. + +It may be very difficult for Northern readers, to whom the Negro +is in reality a stranger, a foreigner, to appreciate fully the +force of what has just been said; but appreciated by them it must +be, or they can never hope to realize the innermost meaning of the +race problem in the South. + + +So much for what the race problem is not. Let me without further +delay state what it is. The foundation of it, true or false, is +the white man's conviction that the Negro as a race, and as an +individual, is his inferior: not human in the sense that he is +human, not entitled to the exercise of human rights in the sense +that he is entitled to the exercise of them. The problem itself, +the essence of it, the heart of it, is the white man's +determination to make good this conviction, coupled with constant +anxiety lest, by some means, he should fail to make it good. The +race problem, in other words, is NOT that the Negro is what he is +in relation to the white man, the white man's inferior; but this, +rather: How to keep him what he is in relation to the white man; +how to prevent his ever achieving or becoming that which would +justify the belief on his part, or on the part of other people, +that he and the white man stand on common human ground. + +That such is the heart of the problem should be made evident by +this general consideration alone: namely, that everywhere in the +South friction between the races is entirely absent so long as the +Negro justifies the white man's opinion of him as an inferior; is +grateful for privileges and lays no claim to RIGHTS. Let him seem +content to be as the South insists he shall be, and not only is he +not harshly treated, not abused, and never boycotted, but he is +shown much kindness and generosity, and employment awaits him for +the asking. Trouble brews when he begins to manifest those +qualities, to reveal those tastes, to give vent to those +ambitions, which are supposed to be characteristic exclusively of +the higher human type, and which, unless restrained, would result +in confounding the lower with the higher. The expression "Good +Nigger" means everywhere in the South a real Negro, from the +Southern standpoint, one who in no respect gets out of focus with +that standpoint; the expression "Bad Nigger" means universally one +who in some respect, not necessarily criminal, does get out of +focus with it. So, stated differently, the race problem is the +problem how to keep the Negro in focus with the traditional +standpoint. + +But we are very far from needing to rely upon any general +consideration in support of the proposition advanced above. It is +supported by evidences on every hand, waiting only the eye of +recognition. Scarcely a day passes but something is said or done +with this end in view, to emphasize, lest they forget, the +conviction for both white man and Negro that the latter is and +must remain an inferior. Let me instance a few such evidences. + +Consider, first, the "Jim Crow" legislation in the manner of its +enforcement. Such legislation is supposed to have for its object +the separation of the races in trains, street-cars, etc., to save +the white people from occasional contact with drunken, rowdy, ill- +smelling Negroes, and to prevent personal encounters between the +whites and blacks. How is this object attained in the street cars +of Southern cities? Members of the different races occupy the +same cars, separated only by absurdly inadequate little open-mesh +wire screens, so tiny and light that a conductor can move them +from one seat to another with the strength of his little finger. +Needless to add, these screens would serve to obscure neither +sound, sight, nor smell of drunken rowdies who sat behind them! +In summer cars black and white passengers may be separated not +even by a make-believe screen; they are simply required, +respectively, to occupy certain seats in the front or the back end +of the cars. + +In Birmingham, Alabama, the front seats are assigned to Negroes in +all closed cars, and the back seats in all open ones. Why the +front seats in the one case, and the back seats in the other, it +is not easy to understand in the light of the letter and alleged +spirit of the Jim Crow law! The underlying purpose of the law is +clearly not the separation of the races in space; for public +sentiment does not insist upon its fulfillment to that end. The +underlying purpose of it would seem to be the separation of the +races in status. The doctrine of inequality would be attacked if +white and black passengers rode in public conveyances on equal +terms; therefore the Negro who rides in a public conveyance must +do so, not as of undoubted right, but as with the white man's +permission, subject to the white man's regulation. "This place +you may occupy, that other you may not, because I am I and you are +you, lest to you or me it should be obscured that I am I and you +are you." Such is the real spirit of the Jim Crow laws. + +Why is it that in every Southern city no Negro is allowed to +witness a dramatic performance, or a baseball game, from a first- +class seat? In every large city, there are hundreds of Negroes +who would gladly pay for first-class seats at the theatre and the +baseball game, were they permitted to. It can hardly be that +permission is withheld because theatres and baseball games are so +well attended by half the population that first-class seats could +not be furnished for the other half. As a matter of fact, +theatre-auditoriums and baseball grand-stands are seldom crowded; +the rule is, not all first-class seats occupied, but many vacant. +Surely as simple as moving from seat to seat a make-shift screen +in a street-car, would it be to set apart a certain number of +seats in the dress-circle of every theatre, and in the grand-stand +of every baseball park, for Negro patrons. The reason why this is +not done is perfectly obvious: it would be intolerable to the +average Southern man or woman to sit through the hours of a +theatrical performance or a baseball game on terms of equal +accommodation with Negroes, even with a screen between. Negroes +would look out of place, out of status, in the dress circle or the +grand-stand; their place, signifying their status, is the peanut- +gallery, or the bleachers. There, neither they nor others will be +tempted to forget that as things are they must continue. + +How shall we account for the "intense feeling" (to quote the +language of the mayor or New Orleans) occasioned in that city one +day, last July, when it was flashed over the wires that the first +prize in the National Spelling Contest had been won by a Negro +girl, in competition with white children from New Orleans and +other Southern cities? The indignation of at least one of the +leading New Orleans papers verged upon hysterics; the editor's +rhetoric visited upon some foulest crime could hardly have been +more inflamed than in denunciation of the fact that, on the far- +away shore of Lake Erie, New Orleans white children had competed +at a spelling bee with a Negro girl. The superintendent of the +New Orleans schools was roundly denounced in many quarters for +permitting his wards to compete with a Negro; and there were broad +hints in "Letters from the People" to the papers that his +resignation was in order. + +Certainly in the days following the National Spelling Contest the +race problem was in evidence, if it ever was, in New Orleans and +the South! Did it show itself, then, as the problem of Negro +crime, or brutality, or laziness? Assuredly not! Of the Negro's +personal repulsiveness? By no means! There was no evidence of +Negro criminality, or brutality, or laziness in the Negro child's +victory; and every day in the South, in their games and otherwise, +hundreds of white children of the best families are in closer +personal contact with little Negroes than were the white children +who took part in the Cleveland spelling bee. The "intense +feeling" can be explained on one ground only: the Negro girl's +victory was an affront to the tradition of the Negro's +inferiority; it suggested--perhaps indicated--that, given equal +opportunities, all Negroes are not necessarily the intellectual +inferiors of all white people. What other explanation is +rationally conceivable? If the race problem means in the South to +its white inhabitants the burden and tragedy of having to dwell +face to face with an intellectually and morally backward people, +why should not the Negro girl's triumph have occasioned intense +feeling of pleasure, rather than displeasure, by its suggestion +that her race is not intellectually hopeless? + +Consider further that while no Negro, no matter what his +occupation, or personal refinement, or intellectual culture, or +moral character, is allowed to travel in a Pullman car between +state lines, or to enter as a guest a hotel patronized by white +people, the blackest of Negro nurses and valets are given food and +shelter in all first-class hotels, and occasion neither disgust, +nor surprise in the Pullman cars. Here again the heart of the +race problem is laid bare. The black nurse with a white baby in +her arms, the black valet looking after the comfort of a white +invalid, have the label of their inferiority conspicuously upon +them; they understand themselves, and everybody understands them, +to be servants, enjoying certain privileges for the sake of the +person served. Almost anything, the Negro may do in the South, +and anywhere he may go, provided the manner of his doing and his +doing is that of an inferior. Such is the premium put upon his +inferiority; such his inducement to maintain it. + +The point here insisted on may be made clearer, if already it is +not clear enough, by this consideration, that the man who would +lose social caste for dining with an Irish street-sweeper might be +congratulated for dining with an Irish educator; but President +Roosevelt would scarcely have given greater offense by +entertaining a Negro laborer at the White House than he gave by +inviting to lunch there the Principal of Tuskegee Institute. The +race problem being what it is, the status of any Negro is +logically the status of every other. There are recognizable +degrees of inferiority among Negroes themselves; some are vastly +superior to others. But there is only one degree of inferiority +separating the Negro from the white person, attached to all +Negroes alike. The logic of the situation requires that to be any +sort of black man is to be inferior to any sort of white man; and +from this logic there is no departure in the South. + +Inconsistent, perhaps, with what has been said may seem the defeat +in the Louisiana Legislature (1908) of the anti-miscegenation +bill, a measure designed to prohibit sexual cohabitation between +white persons and Negroes; to be specific, between white men and +Negro women. But there was no inconsistency whatever in the +defeat of that bill. In all times and places, the status of that +portion of the female population, Lecky's martyred "priestesses of +humanity," whose existence men have demanded for the gratification +of unlawful passion, has been that of social outcasts. They have +no rights that they can insist upon; they are simply privileged to +exist by society's permission, and may be any moment legislated +out of their vocation. Hence the defeat of an anti-miscegenation +measure by Southern legislators cannot be construed as a failure +on their part to live up to their conviction of race-superiority. +It must be construed, rather, as legislative unwillingness to +restrict the white man's liberty; to dictate by statute the kind +of social outcast which he may use as a mere means to the +gratification of his passion. To concede to Negro women the +status of a degraded and proscribed class, is not in any sense to +overlook or obscure their racial inferiority, but on the contrary, +it may be, to emphasize it. Precisely the same principle, in a +word, compasses the defeat of an anti-miscegenation bill which +would compass the defeat of a measure to prohibit Negro servants +from occupying seats in Pullman cars. + +At the risk of reiteration, I must in concluding this article take +sharp issue with the view of a recent very able writer, who asks +the question, "What, essentially, is the Race Problem?" and +answers it thus: "The race problem is the problem of living with +human beings who are not like us, whether they are in our +estimation our 'superiors' or inferiors, whether they have kinky +hair or pigtails, whether they are slant-eyed, hook-nosed, or +thick-lipped. In its essence, it is the same problem, magnified, +which besets every neighborhood, even every family." + +I have contended so far, and I here repeat, that the race problem +is essentially NOT what this writer declares it to be. It is +emphatically not, in the South, "the problem of living with human +beings who are not like us, whether they are in our estimation our +superiors or inferiors." It may be, it probably is, that in the +North, where the Negro is largely a stranger, a foreigner, very +much to the same degree that the Chinese are strangers and +foreigners in the South; and where, consequently, the Negro's +personal repulsiveness is a much more significant force than it is +in the South. Assuredly there would be no race problem, anywhere, +were there no contact with others unlike ourselves! The +unlikeness of the unlike is everywhere its indispensable +foundation. But we get nowhither unless we carefully distinguish +between the foundation of the problem and the problem itself. +There is nothing in the unlikeness of the unlike that is +necessarily problematical; it may be simply accepted and dealt +with as a fact, like any other fact. The problem arises only when +the people of one race are minded to adopt and act upon some +policy more or less oppressive or repressive in dealing with the +people of another race. In the absence of some such policy, there +has never been a race problem since the world began. It is the +existence of such a policy become traditional, and supported by +immovable conviction, which constitutes the race problem of the +Southern states. + +There was an immensely tragic race problem distressing the South +fifty years ago; but who will suggest that it was the problem of +"living with human beings who are not like us?" The problem then +was, clearly, how to make good a certain conviction concerning the +unlike, how to maintain a certain policy in dealing with them. +What else is it today? The problem, How to maintain the +institution of chattel slavery, ceased to be at Appomattox; the +problem, How to maintain the social, industrial, and civic +inferiority of the descendants of chattel slaves, succeeded it, +and is the race problem of the South at the present time. There +is no other. + +Whether the policy adopted by the white South, and supported, as I +have said, by immovable conviction, is expedient or inexpedient, +wise or unwise, righteous or unrighteous, these are questions +which I have not sought to answer one way or another in this +article. Perhaps they cannot be answered at all in our time. +Certain is it, that their only real and satisfactory answer will +be many years ahead of the present generation. + +In the mean time, nothing could be more unwarranted, than to +suppose that the race problem of one section of this country is +peculiar to that section, because its white inhabitants are +themselves in some sense peculiar; because they are peculiarly +prejudiced, because they are peculiarly behind the hour which the +high clock of civilization has struck. Remove the white +inhabitants of the South, give their place to the white people of +any other section of the United States, and, beyond a +peradventure, the Southern race problem, as I have defined it, +would continue to be--revealed, perhaps, in ways more perplexing, +more intense and tragic. + + + +NEGRO SUFFRAGE IN A DEMOCRACY +by Ray Stannard Baker + + +In this paper I endeavor to lay down the fundamental principles +which should govern the Negro franchise in a democracy, and to +outline a practical programme for the immediate treatment of the +problem. + +As I see it, the question of Negro suffrage in the United States +presents two distinct aspects:-- + +FIRST: the legal aspect. + +SECOND: the practical aspect. + +It will be admitted, I think, without argument, that all +governments do and of a necessity must exercise the right to limit +the number of people who are permitted to take part in the weighty +responsibilities of the suffrage. Some governments allow only a +few men to vote; in an absolute monarchy there is only one voter; +other governments, as they become more democratic, permit a larger +proportion of the people to vote. + +Our own government is one of the freest in the world in the matter +of suffrage; and yet we bar out, in most states, all women; we bar +out Mongolians, no matter how intelligent; we bar out Indians, and +all foreigners who have not passed through a certain probationary +stage and have not acquired a certain small amount of education. +We also declare--for an arbitrary limit must be placed somewhere-- +that no person under twenty-one years of age may exercise the +right to vote, although some boys of eighteen are to-day better +equipped to pass intelligently upon public questions than many +grown men. We even place adult white men on probation until they +have resided for a certain length of time, often as much as two +years, in the state or the town where they wish to cast their +ballots. Our registration and ballot laws eliminate hundreds of +thousands of voters; and finally, we bar out everywhere the +defective and criminal classes of our population. We do not +realize, sometimes, I think, how limited the franchise really is, +even in America. We forget that out of nearly ninety million +people in the United States, fewer than fifteen million cast their +votes for President in 1908--or about one in every six. + +Thus the practice of a restricted suffrage is very deeply +implanted in our system of government. It is everywhere +recognized that even in a democracy lines must be drawn, and that +the ballot, the precious instrument of government, must be hedged +about with stringent regulations. The question is, where shall +these lines be drawn in order that the best interests, not of any +particular class, but of the whole nation, shall be served. + +Upon this question, we, as free citizens, have the absolute right +to agree or disagree with the present laws regulating suffrage; +and if we want more people brought in as partakers in government, +or some people who are already in, barred out, we have a right to +organize, to agitate, to do our best to change the laws. Powerful +organizations of women are now agitating for the right to vote; +there is an organization which demands the suffrage for Chinese +and Japanese who wish to become citizens. It is even conceivable +that a society might be founded to lower the suffrage age-limit +from twenty-one to nineteen years, thereby endowing a large number +of young men with the privileges, and therefore the educational +responsibilities, of political power. On the other hand, a large +number of people, chiefly in our Southern States, earnestly +believe that the right of the Negro to vote should be curtailed, +or even abolished. + +Thus we disagree, and government is the resultant of all these +diverse views and forces. No one can say dogmatically how far +democracy should go in distributing the enormously important +powers of active government. Democracy is not a dogma; it is not +even a dogma of free suffrage. Democracy is a life, a spirit, a +growth. The primal necessity of any sort of government, democracy +or otherwise, whether it be more unjust or less unjust toward +special groups of its citizens, is to exist, to be a going +concern, to maintain upon the whole a stable and peaceful +administration of affairs. If a democracy cannot provide such +stability, then the people go back to some form of oligarchy. +Having secured a fair measure of stability, a democracy proceeds +with caution toward the extension of the suffrage to more and more +people--trying foreigners, trying women, trying Negroes. + +And no one can prophesy how far a democracy will ultimately go in +the matter of suffrage. We know only the tendency. We know that +in the beginning, even in America, the right to vote was a very +limited matter. In the early years, in New England, only church- +members voted; then the franchise was extended to include +property-owners; then it was enlarged to include all white adults; +then to include Negroes; then, in several Western States, to +include women. + +Thus the line has been constantly advancing, but with many +fluctuations, eddies, and back-currents--like any other stream of +progress. At the present time the fundamental principles which +underlie popular government, and especially the whole matter of +popular suffrage, are much in the public mind. The tendency of +government throughout the entire civilized world is strongly in +the direction of placing more and more power in the hands of the +people. In our own country we are enacting a remarkable group of +laws providing for direct primaries in the nomination of public +officials, for direct election of United States Senators, and for +direct legislation by means of the initiative and referendum; and +we are even going to the point, in many cities, of permitting the +people to recall an elected official who is unsatisfactory. The +principle of local option, which is nothing but that of direct +government by the people, is being everywhere accepted. All these +changes affect, fundamentally, the historic structure of our +government, making it less republican and more democratic. + +Still more important and far-reaching in its significance is the +tendency of our government, especially our Federal Government, to +regulate or to appropriate great groups of business enterprises +formerly left wholly in private hands. More and more, private +business is becoming public business. + +Now, then, as the weight of responsibility upon the popular vote +is increased, it becomes more and more important that the ballot +should be jealously guarded and honestly exercised. In the last +few years, therefore, a series of extraordinary new precautions +have been adopted: the Australian ballot, more stringent +registration systems, the stricter enforcement of naturalization +laws to prevent the voting of crowds of unprepared foreigners, and +the imposition by several states, rightly or wrongly, of +educational and property tests. It becomes a more and more +serious matter every year to be an American citizen, more of an +honor, more of a duty. + +At the close of the Civil War, in a time of intense idealistic +emotion, some three-quarters of a million of Negroes, the mass of +them densely ignorant and just out of slavery, with the iron of +slavery still in their souls, were suddenly given the political +rights of free citizens. A great many people, and not in the +South alone, thought then, and still think, that it was a mistake +to bestow the high powers and privileges of a wholly unrestricted +ballot--a ballot which is the symbol of intelligent self- +government--upon the Negro. Other people, of whom I am one, +believe that it was a necessary concomitant of the revolution; it +was itself a revolution, not a growth, and like every other +revolution it has had its fearful reaction. Revolutions, indeed, +change names, but they do not at once change human relationships. +Mankind is reconstructed not by proclamations, or legislation, or +military occupation, but by time, growth, education, religion, +thought. At that time, then, the nation drove down the stakes of +its idealism in government far beyond the point it was able to +reach in the humdrum activities of everyday existence. A reaction +was inevitable; it was inevitable and perfectly natural that there +should be a widespread questioning as to whether all Negroes, or +indeed any Negroes, should properly be admitted to full political +fellowship. That questioning continues to this day. + +Now, the essential principle established by the Fifteenth +Amendment to the Constitution was not that all Negroes should +necessarily be given an unrestricted access to the ballot; but +that the right to vote should not be denied or abridged 'on +account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.' This +amendment wiped out the color-line in politics so far as any +written law could possibly do it. + +Let me here express my profound conviction that the principle of +political equality then laid down is a sound, valid, and +absolutely essential principle in any free government; that +restrictions upon the ballot, when necessary, should be made to +apply equally to white and colored citizens; and that the +Fifteenth Amendment ought not to be, and cannot be repealed. +Moreover, I am convinced that the principle of political equality +is more firmly established to-day in this country than it was +forty years ago, when it had only Northern bayonets behind it. +For now, however short the practice falls of reaching the legal +standard, the principle is woven into the warp and woof of +Southern life and Southern legislation. Many Southern white +leaders of thought are to-day CONVINCED, not FORCED believers in +the principle; and that is a great omen. + +Limitations have come about, it is true, and were to be expected +as the back-currents of the revolution. Laws providing for +educational and property qualifications as a prerequisite to the +exercise of the suffrage have been passed in all the Southern +States, and have operated to exclude from the ballot large numbers +of both white and colored citizens, who on account of ignorance or +poverty are unable to meet the tests. These provisions, whatever +the opinion entertained as to the wisdom of such laws, are well +within the principle laid down by the Fifteenth Amendment. But +several Southern States have gone a step further, and by means of +the so-called 'grandfather laws,' have exempted certain ignorant +white men from the necessity of meeting the educational and +property tests. These unfair 'grandfather laws,' however, in some +of the states adopting them, have now expired by limitation. + +Let me then lay down this general proposition:-- + +Nowhere in the South to-day is the Negro cut off LEGALLY, as a +Negro, from the ballot. Legally, to-day, any Negro who can meet +the comparatively slight requirements as to education, or +property, or both, can cast his ballot on a basis of equality with +the white man. I have emphasized the word legally, for I know the +PRACTICAL difficulties which confront the Negro votes in many +parts of the South. The point I wish to make is that legally the +Negro is essentially the political equal of the white man; but +that practically, in the enforcement of the law, the legislative +ideal is still pegged out far beyond the actual performance. + +Now, then, if we are interested in the problem of democracy, we +have two courses open to us. We may think the laws are unjust to +the Negro, and incidentally to the 'poor white' man as well. If +we do, we have a perfect right to agitate for changes; and we can +do much to disclose, without heat, the actual facts regarding the +complicated and vexatious legislative situation in the South, as +regards the suffrage. Every change in the legislation upon this +subject should, indeed, be jealously watched, that the principle +of political equality between the races be not legally curtailed. +The doctrine laid down in the Fifteenth Amendment must, at any +hazard, be maintained. + +But, personally,--and I am here voicing a profound conviction,--I +think our emphasis at present should be laid upon the practical +rather than upon the legal aspect of the problem; I think we +should take advantage of the widely prevalent feeling in the South +that the question of suffrage has been settled, legally, for some +time to come: of the desire on the part of many Southern people, +both white and colored, to turn aside from the discussion of the +political status of the Negro. + +In short, let us for the time being accept the laws as they are, +and build upward from that point. Let us turn our attention to +the practical task of finding out why it is that the laws we +already have are not enforced, and how best to secure an honest +vote for every Negro and equally for every 'poor white' man, who +is able to meet the requirements, but who for one reason or +another does not or cannot now exercise his rights. I include the +disfranchised white man as well as the Negro, because I take it +that we are interested, first of all, in democracy, and unless we +can arouse the spirit of democracy, South and North, we can hope +for justice neither for Negroes, nor for the poorer class of white +men, nor for the women of the factories and shops, nor for the +children of the cottonmills. + +Taking up this side of the problem we shall discover two entirely +distinct difficulties:-- + +First, we shall find many Negroes, and indeed hundreds of +thousands of white men as well, who might vote, but who, through +ignorance, or inability or unwillingness to pay the poll-taxes, or +from mere lack of interest, disfranchise themselves. + +The second difficulty is peculiar to the Negro. It consists in +open or concealed intimidation on the part of the white men who +control the election machinery. In many places in the South to- +day no Negro, how well qualified, would dare to present himself +for registration; when he does, he is rejected for some trivial or +illegal reason. + +Thus we have to meet a vast amount of apathy and ignorance and +poverty on the one hand, and the threat of intimidation on the +other. + +First of all, for it is the chief injustice as between white and +colored men with which we have to deal,--an injustice which the +law already makes illegal and punishable,--how shall we meet the +matter of intimidation? As I have already said, the door of the +suffrage is everywhere legally open to the Negro, but a certain +sort of Southerner bars the passage-way. He stands there and, law +or no law, keeps out many Negroes who might vote; and he +represents in most parts of the South the prevailing public +opinion. + +Shall we meet this situation by force? What force is available? +Shall the North go down and fight the South? You and I know that +the North to-day has no feeling but friendship for the South. +More than that--and I say it with all seriousness, because it +represents what I have heard wherever I have gone in the North to +make inquiries regarding the Negro problem--the North, wrongly or +rightly, is to-day more than half convinced that the South is +right in imposing some measure of limitation upon the franchise. +There is now, in short, no disposition anywhere in the North to +interfere in internal affairs in the South--not even with the +force of public opinion. + +What other force, then, is to be invoked? Shall the Negro revolt? +Shall he migrate? Shall he prosecute his case in the courts? The +very asking of these questions suggests the inevitable reply. + +We might as well, here and now, dismiss the idea of force, express +or implied. There are times of last resort which call for force; +but this is not such a time. + +What other alternatives are there? + +Accepting the laws as they are, then, there are two methods of +procedure, neither sensational nor exciting. I have no quick cure +to suggest, but only old and tried methods of commonplace growth. + +The underlying causes of the trouble in the country being plainly +ignorance and prejudice, we must meet ignorance and prejudice with +their antidotes, education and association. + +Every effort should be made to extend free education among both +Negroes and white people. A great extension of education is now +going forward in the South. The Negro is not by any means getting +his full share; but, as certainly as sunshine makes things grow, +education in the South will produce tolerance. That there is +already such a growing tolerance no one who has talked with the +leading white men in the South can doubt. The old fire-eating, +Negro-baiting leaders of the Tillman-Vardaman type are swiftly +passing away: a far better and broader group is coming into power. + +In his last book, Mr. Edgar Gardner Murphy, of Alabama, expresses +this new point of view when he says,-- + +'There is no question here as to the unrestricted admission [to +the ballot] of the great masses of our ignorant and semi-ignorant +blacks. I know no advocate of such admission. But the question +is as to whether the individuals of the race, upon conditions or +restrictions legally imposed and fairly administered, shall be +admitted to adequate and increasing representation in the +electorate. And as that question is more seriously and more +generally considered, many of the leading publicists of the South, +I am glad to say, are quietly resolved that the answer shall be in +the affirmative.' + +From an able Southern white man, a resident of New Orleans, I +received recently a letter containing these words:-- + +'I believe we have reached the bottom, and a sort of quiescent +period. I think it most likely that from now on there will be a +gradual increase of the Negro vote. And I honestly believe that +the less said about it, the surer the increase will be.' + +Education--and by education I mean education of all sorts, +industrial, professional, classical, in accordance with each man's +talents--will not only produce breadth and tolerance, but will +help to cure the apathy which now keeps so many thousands of both +white men and Negroes from the polls: for it will show them that +it is necessary for every man to exercise all the political rights +within his reach. If he fails voluntarily to take advantage of +the rights he already has, how shall he acquire more rights? + +And as ignorance must be met by education, so prejudice must be +met with its antidote, which is association. Democracy does not +consist in mere voting, but in association, the spirit of common +effort, of which the ballot is a mere visible expression. When we +come to know one another we soon find that the points of likeness +are much more numerous than the points of difference. And this +human association for the common good, which is democracy, is +difficult to bring about anywhere, whether among different classes +of white people, or between white people and Negroes. As one of +the leaders of the Negro race, Dr. Du Bois, has said,-- + +'Herein lies the tragedy of the age. Not that men are poor: all +men know something of poverty. Not that men are wicked: who is +good? Not that men are ignorant: what is truth? Nay, but that +men know so little of each other.' + +After the Atlanta riot I attended a number of conferences between +leading white men and leading colored men. It is true those +meetings bore evidence of awkwardness and embarrassment, for they +were among the first of the sort to take place in the South, but +they were none the less valuable. A white man told me after one +of the meetings,-- + +'I did not know that there were any such sensible Negroes in the +South.' + +And a Negro told me that it was the first time in his life that he +had ever heard a Southern white man reason in a friendly way with +a Negro concerning their common difficulties. + +More and more these associations of white and colored men, at +certain points of contact, must and will come about. Already, in +connection with various educational and business projects in the +South, white and colored men meet on common grounds, and the way +has been opened to a wider mutual understanding. And it is common +enough now, where it was unheard of a few years ago, for both +white men and Negroes to speak from the same platform in the +South. I have attended a number of such meetings. Thus slowly-- +awkwardly, at first, for two centuries of prejudice are not +immediately overcome--the white man and Negro will come to know +one another, not merely as master and servant, but as co-workers. +These things cannot be forced. + +One reason why the white man and the Negro have not got together +more rapidly in the South than they have, is because they have +tried always to meet at the sorest points. When sensible people, +who must live together whether or no, find that there are points +at which they cannot agree, it is the part of wisdom to avoid +these points, and to meet upon other and common interests. Upon +no other terms, indeed, can a democracy exist, for in no +imaginable future state will individuals cease to disagree with +one another upon something less than half of all the problems of +life. + +'Here we all live together in a great country,' say the apostles +of this view; 'let us all get together and develop it. Let the +Negro do his best to educate himself, to own his own land, and to +buy and sell with the white people in the fairest possible way.' + +It is wonderful, indeed, how close together men who are stooping +to a common task soon come. + +Now, buying and selling, land ownership and common material +pursuits, may not be the highest points of contact between man and +man, but they are real points, and help to give men an idea of the +worth of their fellows, white or black. How many times, in the +South, I heard white men speak in high admiration of some Negro +farmer who had been successful, or of some Negro blacksmith who +was a worthy citizen, or of some Negro doctor who was a leader of +his race. + +It is curious, once a man (any man, white or black) learns to do +his job well, how he finds himself in a democratic relationship +with other men. I remember asking a prominent white citizen of a +town in Central Georgia if he knew anything about Tuskegee. He +said,-- + +'Yes: I had rather a curious experience last fall. I was building +a hotel and couldn't get any one to do the plastering as I wanted +it done. One day I saw two Negro plasterers at work in a new +house that a friend of mine was building. I watched them for an +hour. They seemed to know their trade. I invited them to come +over and see me. They came, took the contract for my work, hired +a white man to carry mortar at a dollar a day, and when they got +through it was the best job of plastering in town. I found that +they had learned their trade at Tuskegee. They averaged four +dollars a day each in wages. We tried to get them to locate in +our town, but they went back to school.' + +When I was in Mississippi a prominent banker showed me his +business letter-heads. + +'Good job, isn't it?' he said. 'A Negro printer did it. He wrote +to me asking if he might bid on my work. I replied that although +I had known him a long time I couldn't give him the job merely +because he was a Negro. He told me to forget his color, and said +that if he couldn't do as good a job and do it as reasonably as +any white man could, he didn't want it. I let him try, and now he +does most of our printing.' + +Out of such points of contact, then, encouraged by such wise +leaders as Booker T. Washington, will grow an ever finer and finer +spirit of association and of common and friendly knowledge. And +that will inevitably lead to an extension upon the soundest +possible basis of the Negro franchise. I know cases where white +men have urged intelligent Negroes to come and cast their ballots, +and have stood sponsor for them, out of genuine respect. As a +result, to-day, the Negroes who vote in the South are, as a class, +men of substance and intelligence, fully equal to the tasks of +citizenship. + +Thus, I have boundless confidence not only in the sense of the +white men of the South, but in the innate capability of the Negro, +and that once these two come really to know each other, not at +sore points of contact, but as common workers for a common +country, the question of suffrage will gradually solve itself +along the lines of true democracy. + +Another influence also will tend to change the status of the Negro +as a voter. That is the pending break-up of the political +solidarity of the South. All the signs point to a political +realignment upon new issues in this country, both South and North. +Old party names may even pass away. And that break-up, with the +attendant struggle for votes, is certain to bring into politics +thousands of Negroes and white men now disfranchised. The result +of a real division on live issues has been shown in many local +contests in the South, as in the fight against the saloons, when +every qualified Negro voter, and every Negro who could qualify, +was eagerly pushed forward by one side or the other. With such a +division on new issues the Negro will tend to exercise more and +more political power, dividing, not on the color line, but on the +principles at stake. + +Thus in spite of the difficulties which now confront the Negro, I +cannot but look upon the situation in a spirit of optimism. I +think sometimes we are tempted to set a higher value upon the +ritual of a belief than upon the spirit which underlies it. The +ballot is not democracy: it is merely the symbol or ritual of +democracy, and it may be full of passionate social, yes, even +religious significance, or it may be a mere empty and dangerous +formalism. What we should look to, then, primarily, is not the +shadow, but the substance of democracy in this country. Nor must +we look for results too swiftly; our progress toward democracy is +slow of growth and needs to be cultivated with patience and +watered with faith. + + + + + +BIBLIOGRAPHY OF SOURCES +----------------------- + +SOJOURNER TRUTH, THE LIBYAN SIBYL +by Harriet Beecher Stowe +Atlantic Monthly 11 (April 1863): 473-481. + +RECONSTRUCTION +by Frederick Douglass +Atlantic Monthly 18 (1866): 761-765. + +AN APPEAL TO CONGRESS FOR IMPARTIAL SUFFRAGE +by Frederick Douglas +Atlantic Monthly 19 (Jan. 1867): 112-117. + +THE NEGRO EXODUS +by James B. Runnion +Atlantic Monthly 44 (1879): 222-230. + +MY ESCAPE FROM SLAVERY +by Frederick Douglass +The Century Illustrated Magazine 23, n.s. 1 (Nov. 1881): 125-131. + +THE GOOPHERED GRAPEVINE +by Charles W. Chesnutt +Atlantic Monthly 60 (Aug. 1887): 254-260. + +PO' SANDY +by Charles W. Chesnutt +Atlantic Monthly 61 (1888): 605-611. + +DAVE'S NECKLISS +by Charles W. Chesnutt +Atlantic Monthly 64 (1889): 500-08. + +THE AWAKENING OF THE NEGRO +by Booker T. Washington +Atlantic Monthly 78 (1896): 322-328. + +THE STORY OF UNCLE TOM'S CABIN +by Charles Dudley Warner +Atlantic Monthly 78 (1896): 311-321. + +STRIVINGS OF THE NEGRO PEOPLE +by W. E. Burghardt Du Bois +Atlantic Monthly 80 (1897): 194-198. + +THE WIFE OF HIS YOUTH +by Charles W. Chesnutt +Atlantic Monthly 82 (1898): 55-61. + +THE BOUQUET +by Charles W. Chesnutt +Atlantic Monthly 84 (1899): 648-654. + +THE CASE OF THE NEGRO +by Booker T. Washington +Atlantic Monthly 84 (1899): 577-587. + +HOT-FOOT HANNIBAL +by Charles W. Chesnutt +Atlantic Monthly 83 (1899): 49-56. + +A NEGRO SCHOOLMASTER IN THE NEW SOUTH +by W. E. Burghardt Du Bois +Atlantic Monthly 83 (1899): 99-104. + +THE CAPTURE OF A SLAVER +by J. Taylor Wood +Atlantic Monthly 86 (1900): 451-463. + +MR. CHARLES W. CHESNUTT'S STORIES +by W. D. Howells +Atlantic Monthly 85 (1900): 699-701. + +PATHS OF HOPE FOR THE NEGRO +PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS OF A SOUTHERNER +by Jerome Dowd +Century Magazine 61.2 (Dec. 1900): 278-281. + +SIGNS OF PROGRESS AMONG THE NEGROES +by Booker T. Washington +Century Magazine 59 (1900): 472-478. + +THE MARCH OF PROGRESS +by Charles W. Chesnutt +Century Magazine 61.3 (Jan. 1901): 422-428. + +THE FREEDMEN'S BUREAU +by W. E. Burghardt Du Bois +Atlantic Monthly 87 (1901): 354-365. + +OF THE TRAINING OF BLACK MEN +by W. E. Burghardt Du Bois +Atlantic Monthly 90 (1902): 289-297. + +THE FRUITS OF INDUSTRIAL TRAINING +by Booker T. Washington +Atlantic Monthly 92 (1903): 453-462. + +THE NEGRO IN THE REGULAR ARMY +by Oswald Garrison Villard +Atlantic Monthly 91 (1903): 721-729. + +BAXTER'S PROCRUSTES +by Charles W. Chesnutt +Atlantic Monthly 93 (1904): 823-830. + +THE HEART OF THE RACE PROBLEM +by Quincy Ewing +Atlantic Monthly 103 (1909): 389-397. + +NEGRO SUFFRAGE IN A DEMOCRACY +by Ray Stannard Baker +Atlantic Monthly 106 (1910): 612-619. + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg Etext of Project Gutenberg Anthology #1, +The Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, 1994, Memorial Issue. + diff --git a/old/1mlkd11.zip b/old/1mlkd11.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..206ccb5 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/1mlkd11.zip |