e old home? Not that, either. Many
thousands _did_ cross the line to freedom; many other thousands (200,000)
fought in the ranks for freedom, but none of them--those who went and
those who stayed--those who fought and those who worked,--betrayed a
trust, outraged a female, or rebelled against a duty. It was love, the
natural wellings of affectionate natures.

_He has great endurance, both dispositional and physical._ So true is the
first that his patience has been the marvel of the world; and, indeed,
many, regarding this trait manifested in such an unusual degree, doubted
the Negro's courage, till the splendid record of the '60's and the equal,
but more recent, record of the '90's, wrote forbearance as the real
explanation of an endurance seemingly so at variance with manly spirit.

Of his physical powers, his whole record as a laborer at killing tasks in
the most trying climate in America speaks so eloquently that nothing but
the statistics of cotton, corn, rice, sugar, railroad ties and felled
forests can add to the praise of this burden-bearer of the nation. The
census tables here are more romantic and thrilling than figures of
rhetoric.

_He is courageous._ His page in the war record of this country is without
blot or blemish. His commanders unite in pronouncing him admirable for
courage in the field, commendable for obedience in camp. That he should
exhibit such excellent fighting qualities as a soldier, and yet exercise
the forbearance that characterizes him as a citizen, is remarkable.

_He is cheerful._ His ivories are as famous as his songs. That the South
is "sunny" is largely due to the brightness his rollicking laugh and
unfailing good nature bring to it. Though the mudsill of the labor world,
he whistles as he hoes, and no dark broodings or whispered conspirings mar
the cheerful acceptance of the load he bears. Against the rubber bumper of
his good cheer things that have crushed and maddened others rebound
without damage. When one hears the quaint jubilee songs, set to minor
cadence, he might suppose them the expressions of a melancholy people.
They are not to be so interpreted. Rather are they the expression of an
experience, not a nature. Like the subdued voice of a caged bird, these
songs are the coinage of an occasion, and not the free note of nature.
The slave sang of griefs he was not allowed to discuss, hence his songs.
This cheerfulness has enabled the Negro to live and increase under
circumstan