CHAPTER XXI.

_A General Review of the Writer's Entire Life and Work, and an

Optimistic View of the Whole Subject, With Reflections and Observations

and Forecasts of the Near Future._

When I left the place where I was born, in the year 1855, and made my

lucky escape to a land of freedom, in company with my fiancee, Thomas

Lincoln, I had no idea whatever of the future that lay before us, and of

all the pleasant ways by which the Lord would lead us. It was well for

both my darling Tom and me that we were the children of religious

mothers, who taught us from our earliest infancy to love the Lord at all

times, and to put our entire trust and confidence in Him. Tom and I had

been accustomed to a delightful home at Riverside Hall, on the banks of

the Ohio, and we knew nothing about the evils of slavery, like millions

of others.

In the midst of such pleasant surroundings on the banks of the

"Beautiful River," it seemed easy enough for us at the time to love the

Lord and put our trust in Him; but whilst the great Creator was working

out his sure decrees, we considered ourselves perfectly justified in

taking the law into our own hands, and whereas we could not get our

rights by fair means, to take them by foul. It has been well for Tom and

me that we acted as we did; and the blessings thus vouchsafed to us in

that way have descended to our dear children in a full state of freedom.

But while we had little risks to run compared to many refugees, there

were millions left behind us who could not get along. For what could

frail and feeble women do surrounded as they were by every device and

scheme that slavery and Satan could invent to keep their hold on what

they presumptuously called their "property?" Thus our distressed

brothers and sisters were obliged to wait for the coming of the Lord,

and the wisest among them knew that His coming could not be long

delayed, because the signs of the times pointed to a speedy deliverance,

and a child could almost hear the loud and heavy rumblings in the

heavens.

But, my dear reader, the "Lord works in mysterious ways His wonders to

perform." We fondly expected and hoped to see freedom in our own

day--"some sweet day"--but our minds were little prepared for its coming

so soon. We heard the rumblings of the storm, indeed, but there had been

other storms before, and they had blown over, and why should not this

one go the same as they? That is the way that we poor, limited, erring

human beings are likely to go aside and miss the mark. We judged of the

rising storm of 1860 that it would be like those that had gone before

it, but there was not a single being on the face of the earth who ever

dreamed that we were at last drifting into a mighty war, that was to

continue for over four years, and would sweep away slavery and all its

belongings, as the mighty tides of the ocean wash away the foot-prints

on the sands. It became clear as time and war went on, that the Almighty

Ruler of the Universe had risen up to strike the earth, and that He

would not smite a second blow, but finish things up now. He says in His

sacred word that He will hear our prayers; our oppressed people had been

crying to Him for many years, "How long, O Lord, how long!" The prayers

of the distressed, their tears and cries, had been heard; they had all

been duly chronicled in heaven; the day for settlement with the

slave-holders had now fully come, and one of those mighty changes that

have followed each other these last forty years with such rapidity was

now at the door. Like the prompt railroad train, or, better still, the

tide of the sea, the Lord of Heaven and Earth was ready and armed from

head to foot; freedom was at the door, indeed and in truth, and the

doors must be opened that captives should go free!

[Illustration: _DICKENS' OLD CURIOSITY SHOP._]

"What hath not God wrought?" Those more than four decisive years, so

heavy with fate and destiny, looked long, very long, in passing, but ah!

they brought changes to the entire colored race, both collectively and

individually; and as slavery had grown more and more even down to the

very year when the war began, so was the joy all the greater when it was

all over, and bright shining freedom came suddenly at last. There was

joy and rejoicing all over the United States at the result; dancing and

singing from the Potomac to the Rio Grande in particular. So much for

the whole race taken collectively. To us individually as a family, that

mighty upheaval, the war, brought great and varied experiences--both

sorrows and joy. When the first rush of wild enthusiasm against the

rebellion was over, we all found out that we had to settle down to hard

work, and four full years of war and fighting were before us. Thus the

children and I saw Tom leave for the seat of war, and after many a

hard-fought field, Tom was wounded so badly that he lay for a long time

at New Orleans. We had done an immense quantity of correspondence by

this time, but more changes wrought through and by the war were at hand.

The whole American nation was undergoing changes, and so were we! The

children and I longed with all our hearts to see husband and father once

more. He was not yet well enough to travel to Buffalo; indeed, the

military authorities forbade it, and so we three determined to tear up

stakes at Buffalo for a time, and make a sudden and unexpected march on

the city of New Orleans. This was not my first visit to the Crescent

City of the Sunny South. As my dear reader is already well aware, I went

there about the year 1856, and rescued my dear mother from slavery,

which I consider one of the very best things that ever I did in this

world! This journey to New Orleans was a most glorious experience, for

the girls in particular, and they are even talking of it now. When we

were in the Lower Mississippi, we had a good time to look about us and

see what a mighty work the sword of the North had already done for that

section of the Union. The colored people were all free, and thousands

were flocking to schools just newly set up, and learning as people had

never learned before. The rebels, and all those that sympathized with

them, used to say that if the slaves were set free, they would turn in

and massacre their former owners, and become regular heathens and

savages. This was, of course, nothing but a silly parrot-cry that nobody

seriously believed, as no colored man had any other intention than to

become a peaceable citizen. But during our delightful residence in the

Sunny South we saw those who had been slaves in that section all working

away upon the lands, and in the towns and cities, in perfect freedom,

and their lives were both orderly and exemplary. But what surprised us

most was to see them going to work with first readers, spelling books,

slates and pencils, and all the other appliances of education, and

gathering knowledge like the sands of the sea. This, indeed, augured

well for the future--to see people even seventy and eighty years of age

learning to read, write and figure like the rest! Here was a field of

bright promise for the near future. Here was a race of people, just set

free, grasping at the lowermost round of the ladder of education, and

ambitious to mount higher every day.

[Illustration: _TOWER OF LONDON._]

Behold, indeed, the mighty changes that the Lord has brought about in

this dear land of ours! We have already lived long enough not only to

see all the captives set free, but a second generation, fifty per cent.

of whom are armed, from head to foot, so to speak, with education. We

have already brilliant men and women competent to shine like stars, in

all the different walks and departments of life, which my two girls and

I saw such abundant promise when we went to Louisiana. In due course of

time Tom was pronounced completely cured, was discharged from the

hospital, and our two precious children and we took our homeward journey

by way of the Gulf of Mexico, the city of Havana, in Cuba, West Indies

and the Atlantic Ocean to New York, after which we took the train for

Buffalo, where we all arrived safe and sound in due time, and had such a

welcome home as is still green in our memories. This sea voyage and land

journey were delightful experiences in the young lives of our two

daughters, and showed them what a great, varied, and beautiful world the

great Creator had made. We thanked Him with full and grateful hearts for

having laid our lines in such pleasant places, and giving us this sweet

home of ours at Buffalo, where we have resided in peace, pleasure and

plenty. Lo! these many years! and we are at Buffalo, still. It is a

great comfort to our hearts and minds to think that the entire colored

race are no longer compelled to reside, to dwell, and sleep where they

are bidden, as in the bad old times of slavery; but that here again a

mighty change for the better has come over all our people, inasmuch as

many of them nowadays have comfortable and pleasant homes of their own,

where beautiful furniture and musical instruments can be seen--yes, even

fine pianos, along which the supple fingers of the rising generation can

fly with the best! I bless and praise the goodness of the Lord for all

these changes for the better. Instead of operating on the fiddle and the

banjo, our clever musical sons and daughters can sing lovely

accompaniments to the piano and the organ. The race is full of music,

and their fame has reached the ends of the earth. Our churches and other

institutions have a great name for sacred music and song, and I have

heard good judges among the white population declare that there are no

such singers as the colored race in the United States. We may at least

congratulate ourselves that the entire press of the United States and

the British Isles have completely endorsed the above sentiments of my

own, and therefore I do not think that any conscientious man will

dispute them. It is an old and a true saying that variety is the spice

of life, and the beauties of the different races of people appear to the

greatest advantage where their separate traits of character most differ

from one another. Music and song, indeed, are quite a distinguished

feature in the colored race, and there again we have seen mighty changes

wrought out through and by our freedom, and again I thank the goodness

of the Lord for even such changes as these.

And yet we are only at the beginning of our improvements, associated as

we also are with the white race of the United States--one of the most

talented and ingenious peoples that the world has ever seen! It is well

for us in a way that we are so associated, because our progress in these

past years, and at the present time, is all the greater on that account.

And yet when we consider that it is only yesterday, as it were, that all

our people were set free, that our unbroken progress is still going on

along the whole line, and that our progress will continue to be more

marked in the future as the years gone by, who can tell to what glorious

heights of elevation our people shall attain, even within the next

twenty or twenty-five years? Because in our own day and generation, all

the arts and sciences seem to be coming to the front; learning,

education and inventions are farther and farther advanced day by day,

and every kind of improvement grows and flourishes like the green

bay-tree. Progress indeed must be made; things will not go backwards,

but must go forward, onward and upward. Such is the inevitable fate of

the colored race. With so very much accomplished already; with fifty per

cent. of our entire people throughout the whole Union who can read and

write and work arithmetic, we may well wonder at the advancement still

in store for our race, when education shall cover the whole land, as the

waters cover the sea; when the remaining fifty per cent., who are still

destitute of education, are brought into the fold, as it were, and an

ignorant colored man or woman will be difficult to find in our nation.

The unparalleled progress that we have made reminds me of the progress

of a great river. Take for example the Mississippi. How small it is when

it issues from Lake Itasca, away up at its headwaters in Minnesota. It

is of truth very small indeed, when it begins its journey to the sea.

But the river advances boldly upon its long way, and keeps on and on,

and still on, while every now and then a branch comes flowing in, now on

the right hand, now on the left, sometimes nothing but a small rivulet,

then a large and swelling stream. Thus the Mississippi still keeps

advancing on mile after mile on its journey, till the great Ohio swells

its waters, and then the greater Missouri comes rolling down from the

Rocky Mountains, and now the Mississippi is growing large, indeed--yes,

very large. And here comes the Arkansas and the Red River, with many

smaller streams from the east, and thus the mighty Mississippi, that

began so small in Lake Itasca, has now reached the Crescent City, and

whole fleets of ships can float upon its bosom before its great and

swelling waters reach the Gulf of Mexico. And thus it is with the

advancement that has already been made by the colored race along the

whole line. We began, indeed, very small in the year 1865, when the war

closed, and the appliances of education and improvement were put into

our hands. But here is the year 1902, and, like the Mississippi river,

we have advanced far, very far upon our way; and yet we have by no means

attained the goal of our expectations, by any means, but great changes

are under way, and we are still advancing.

Many travelers have left it on record how they turned round upon the

ever-ascending mountain way to mark progress, and see how far they had

come. Then with fresh resolution they again turned their faces to the

road that still lay before and above them, and that with renewed

interest and courage. I don't know how it may be with anybody else, but

as I am now about sixty years of age, I am at times given to look back,

and to muse not only over all the way the Lord has led me, but also how

He has led the entire race in my own days. The rising generation knows

little of the thoughts and feelings, and the sufferings of their fathers

and mothers on their way to freedom, and the present happy condition of

things. But I am like that mountain traveller of whom I have just

spoken, and I sit at times and muse and muse upon the tremendous

excitement all over the North on the slavery question, and how the

Abolitionists demanded freedom, and the South would not listen to any

such thing. Then my mind runs back to Fred. Douglass, Henry Ward

Beecher, and all those heroes and heroines who fought the good cause of

liberty, and were faithful unto the end. We were in for a great and

stirring time.

Little does the present generation know of the times we went through in

the years immediately before the war, when I used to travel over the

States of the North, assisting in the lecturing and agitation against

slavery. It is a very great gratification to me nowadays to look back

and think of all the wonders of that most wonderful and lengthened

campaign when William Lloyd Garrison, and all the other "big guns" were

thundering away, and the discharge of their mighty artillery shook all

the land, even to the Gulf of Mexico! I am not so strong and supple in

body now as I was in those glorious, Halcyon days; but I praise and

bless the Lord that I was then endowed with health, and strength, and

vigorous life to lay on the axe of liberty, and to help bring down that

foul and deadly upas tree called "Slavery," that was the curse of the

whole land--the public disgrace of the United States. Since then I have

contributed many articles to the papers and magazines of the day to help

my own people to rise up and start upon their feet; but there is nothing

that I ever did that left so much pleasure upon my memory as the

campaign wherein I played, sang and lectured against slavery in the

South. Well, to be sure, how the surging crowds did come! It was a

wonderful time that we had. The excitement was also most exhilarating.

But above all, those mighty changes were on the road, that we see around

us to-day. The Lord has done great things for us already, and still we

can say that there is a good time coming!

Upon the whole my life has been a happy one--at least, as happy as could

be expected in this shady world of ours, where ever-changing clouds and

sunshine chase each other all through our pilgrim journey to our home in

heaven. I have tried to make the best of things, and to consign myself

to the Lord's will as nearly as my infirmities will let me. Mercy and

goodness have followed me all the days of my life, and I have been most

abundantly blessed by the Lord above all that I could either ask or

think. My dear reader will no doubt think that I am in a very

contemplative frame of mind at the present time, thus looking back and

musing upon the active years of my past life. No doubt the greater part

of life's long day has gone by, and the evening and night are coming on.

But in my time I have learned to trust in God, to lay hold upon eternal

life, to keep hope alive in my heart for all times for myself and all my

people, not only my immediate family, but the entire colored race.

I am therefore able to look forward with calmness, and even joy, to the

time when the great Lord will take me home to Himself. But still, as the

evening and shadows of life are coming on, I will converse with my own

family and friends upon the stirring events of the past years, and keep

musing upon them, also. If variety is the spice of life, I am sure I

have had plenty of it for my own part. I can never complain of the want

of variety. And it has been a downright blessing to me, too; for it has

added to my knowledge and blessing in every way. My travels and varied

experiences have brought me into contact with strange and interesting

peoples, and countless individuals, worth far more than their weight in

gold. My many delightful journeys to the dearly beloved friends in

Canada, and their return visits to me, have been like glorious rainbows

that spanned the heavens of my happiness on earth. Then there is the

permanent love and friendship of the many brave and true hearts that

have thrown light and pleasure upon my path all along the line--good and

faithful friends who assisted in pulling down the powers of slavery, and

who now rejoice, in common with myself, that the mighty work was done at

last, and that all our grand destiny is still before us. Thank God for

this splendid prospect before us! It has been the joy of my life to see

the improvements introduced into the American Constitution in our favor,

and the celebration of the Fifteenth Amendment all over the land,

including the one we took a part in at Louisville, Kentucky, was a

series of brilliant events that can never be forgotten.

As I am by nature a great lover of the ocean, I have made two voyages

from New Orleans to New York, and have even crossed the great Atlantic,

and visited the British Isles upon the happy occasion when my daughters

were married. But above all things, I have had the pleasure of seeing

the entire colored race set free; have seen them make incredible

advances in every walk and department of life, and the promise is held

out that they will still go on in the path of progress. We must still

trust in God and ourselves, and march forward!

And now, my dear reader, wishing for you all that is good, health and

prosperity, I am

Yours most sincerely,

BEULAH LINCOLN.

[Illustration: __FINIS.__]

THE AMERICAN-SPANISH WAR--I.

Indulgent reader, I had grown accustomed to think that I should now live

and die, and never see any more war, either foreign or domestic, on the

part of the United States. All things were running smoothly on the part

of our nation, and there hardly appeared the most distant cloud in our

peaceful-looking skies. But, as Robert Burns, the famous Scotch poet,

most truthfully says, "The best-laid schemes of mice and men gang aft

aglee, and leave us nought but grief and pain for promised joy." In the

month of February, 1895, the oppressed and robbed people of Cuba once

more raised the standard of rebellion against Spain, and entered upon

another struggle with the mother country. The tyrant Spain had broken

all the promises she had made at the close of the Ten Years' Cuban War,

in 1878, and thus it came to pass, after an useless truce of seventeen

years, that the Cuban leaders once more decided to raise the standard of

rebellion against the tyrant, considering it better to die in a war for

freedom than to sit down any longer in a state of endless oppression.

[Illustration: _GEN. ANTONIO MACEO._]

As our own nation had had a fearful war with England, in the days of

George Washington--a war that lasted over seven years--all citizens of

the United States felt a great deal of sympathy for the Cuban leaders,

and for all the Cuban people--"a people who now devoted their lives unto

death on the high places of the field"--and myself, my own family, and

all my beloved race, felt very, very deeply for them.

And not only did the people of the United States, but all lovers of

freedom throughout the world felt the greatest sympathy for the Cubans.

Thus long, weary months came and went, and poor, proud, decrepit old

Spain, in her antiquated way, continued to borrow many millions of money

at home and abroad, till at last "Pobre Espagna" (poor Spain) was hardly

able to pay the mere interest upon the money she had borrowed, let alone

the principal. The patriotic Cubans fought long, well and nobly; so did

the Spaniards, but no real advantage was ever gained upon either side,

because the Cubans had neither seaport nor fleet, and were never able to

get the Spaniards out of their ancient and powerful fortifications,

whilst the Spaniards were never able to beat the Cubans off the field,

get them out of their strongholds among the mountains, and their

inaccessible retreats amidst their grand, primeval forests.

The Cubans of the United States, assisted by many of our own people,

gathered money, and loaded filibustering vessels that ran the feeble

Spanish blockade off the island, and safely landed an untold number of

cargoes of arms and ammunition for the struggling patriots, while our

own national feeling against Spain still increased as the days went by.

It is very true that the Government of the United States did all that it

was able to preserve neutrality, and to keep the peace with Spain--nay,

more than that--we were at last obliged even to police the seas around

the Southern States to prevent those blockade-runners from slipping away

from our parts with their loads of arms and ammunition for that devoted

island, and we were hardly able to stop them when we had done our best.

Thus we were put to endless trouble to watch the seas for a foreign and

cruel country, and that country was always laying complaints at our

doors because we could watch no better!

[Illustration: _THE DEFENSE OF SANTIAGO._]

When Campos was Captain-General of Cuba, the war for independence in

that unhappy island was conducted with some regard to decency and

civilized ways; but the Spanish arms made no progress, and the mother

country sent over the cruel General Weyler, usually called "The

Butcher," and gave him a free hand in putting down the islanders in any

way he saw fit. The mind of this bad man seems to have been imbued with

all the old Spanish cruelties of the dark ages, and all that tiger-like

love for cruelty and bloodshed for which Spain and the Spaniards have

always been so notorious. The readers of the public press are no doubt

well aware already of the treacherous acts, cruelties and medieval deeds

of barbarism to which that monster and his soldiers resorted for the

purpose of suppressing the Cuban rebellion. The worst of them all was

his gathering the country people into seacoast towns and cities--mainly

women, children and old men--where they subsequently died by tens of

thousands; and thus the poor, oppressed Cuban nation was weakened at

last to the number of at least 200,000, if not more; and by such

cold-blooded deeds, and others on a smaller scale, quite as cruel, did

that black-hearted Spanish butcher wear down the population of Cuba. He

made war upon nature, and shocked the moral sense of the whole world.

And yet, this Weyler had the entire approval of the mother country while

he thus caused the non-combatant part of the Cubans to perish, when they

had the unblushing impudence to carry on the barbarities of the dark

ages all over the Island of Cuba, and right before our front door! The

false and wilfully-lying messages that even this butcher sent home to

Spain from day to day about victories that he had gained over the

insurgents were usually contradicted by the American, and other foreign

presses next day. Weyler excelled in nothing but writing false

dispatches, while the hatred against him increased, both in Congress,

and all over the United States. So great, indeed, was the outcry against

the Spaniards, that the proud and scornful Dons kept sending more and

more soldiers over the Atlantic, to give us to understand by that, that

if we Americans dared to interfere between her and what she called "The

Ever-Faithful Isle," she would there fight Uncle Sam to the death, and

never surrender Cuba!

Captain-General Weyler's want of success, his cruelties and countless

false reports were at last so revolting to the feelings of Uncle Sam

that Spain decided to withdraw her faithful butcher, and send another

Captain-General over, and his name was General Blanco. He was admonished

to bring the Cuban leaders and the Cubans to terms by wiles, bribes and

flattery; but the patriotic Cubans refused to swallow any such baits,

and war went on the same as before--all our trade with Cuba being now

destroyed, almost the whole island being reduced to the condition of a

wilderness, while the silence of the grave seemed supreme everywhere.

Spain continued to make more and more fresh promises from month to

month, both to ourselves and to the Cubans--promises made in deceit and

craft, which she never meant to fulfill.

It is calculated that at one time there were two hundred thousand

Spanish soldiers in Cuba, when the Cuban troops became so numerous that

they even threatened Havana, and whipped the Spanish outposts in the

suburbs of the stronghold. Affairs at last became so unsafe and

threatening for the numerous American colonists in Havana, and

throughout Cuba, that the United States battleship "Maine" was sent to

the island, by way of protection, and she was duly anchored by the

direction of the port authorities, in a certain specified position

within the harbor of Havana.

Alas, alas! we little knew what we were doing! And yet, for the very

life of me, I cannot but see that the hand of Providence was in some way

or other connected with the anchoring of the Maine in the harbor of

Havana. It is true that we might at some time or other have interfered

in the Island, and there put an end to the medieval and murderous

practices of "Old Spain," carried on at our front door here in the end

of the nineteenth century; but war, in its best state, is a serious

business, and Spain might have succeeded for a long time in gulling us

with fair-faced promises she never meant to fulfill. In the pride of her

heart she regarded the poor Cuban patriots as nothing but a gang of

rebels, who, had they laid down their arms at her request, would have

been treated as so many footballs--as deserving less consideration than

mere dogs and cats. Thus it appears to me very doubtful whether we would

have embarked upon a war with that proud, haughty and impoverished

nation, that loves to talk of her former grandeur, four hundred years

ago. But the Spaniards viewed the coming of the Maine to Havana with

hatred and disgust. Whispers in high places in the Cuban capital

declared that she should be destroyed, and so in fact she was, for on

Tuesday night, the 15th of February, 1898, the Spaniards blew her up

with torpedoes planted underneath her in the water.

This destruction of a splendid American battleship, with the

accompanying loss of 266 lives, brought much comfort and joy to the

cruel Spanish heart; for the head gentlemen of Spain at Havana were

known to laugh and be jolly, and to drink champagne wine over the

destruction of our devoted vessel! But with us it was otherwise. We were

overwhelmed with the most profound sorrow and grief. Every man, woman

and child in all Uncle Sam's far-spreading Union was bowed down under

this sudden blow that supplied so much comfort to the heart of the

Spaniard. He looked upon us as his enemy because of our own sympathy for

the Cubans; and so that ship was another "enemy" out of his way. His

mirth did not prevent our national grief over the sudden murder of our

266 men, and the loss of the poor ship, so we sat down and cried real,

sincere tears, while the naval commission were in session at Key West

over the cause of the destruction of the unfortunate vessel. The finding

of the court of inquiry was that the vessel was not blown up from within

(as the Spaniards pretended), but was blown up from without, and that by

the hands of the Spaniards, and done on purpose by them.

Then we wiped our tears away, and every man, woman and understanding

child, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and from the Lakes to the Gulf,

arose and took an oath that that cruel and bloody nation of Spaniards

should leave this hemisphere, bag and baggage, and that we should make

them! Then the shout, "Remember the Maine!" was heard all over the land.

Congress demanded Spain's withdrawal from American waters; or else that

war should be levied on her forthwith. Now did the regent mother country

send letters to all the magnates of Europe, begging them to intercede,

and make peace between the Americans and Spaniards. But from all

quarters came the same reply, "You and the Americans help yourselves;

this is not our war. Hold the Ever-faithful Isle--if you are able!"

While the war clouds were gathering the Spaniards still ran around

Europe, praying and screeching for help. Uncle Sam went swiftly to work

laid down fifty million dollars instantly, and quickly bought up a

number of newly-built and powerful men-of-war from foreign

nations--bought and hired swift and powerful merchant vessels, and

swiftly clad them round their sides and all over their decks with

steel-mail, so that they might boldly plough the waves, and do as useful

service as the very best of iron-clads of effete Old Spain. Uncle Sam

made two swift calls for troops, and almost every white and colored man

replied, "We come, we come!" So terrible, indeed, was the impression

produced by the loss of our poor ship, and the murder of 266 men at

Havana, that almost every colored and white man in this nation seemed

even to sigh and thirst to go and fight with Spain! Women by thousands

and tens of thousands offered themselves as nurses, and to be used in

any way that the Government pleased. Our colored men, once slaves, or

the children of slaves, but now loyal freemen, came forward almost to a

man, and with quite as much patriotism as their white brethren, at

least, offered themselves as ready, quite ready to march to the war.

Uncle Sam's great difficulty lay in his having too many offers on his

hands, so he picked and chose, and did his best. The fleet, of course,

encountered a little more difficulty in filling up; but the flower of

our youth--even the sons of millionaires among the rest--came trooping

on in thousands, and our fleet was manned splendidly. Men were sent

South by thousands and tens of thousands; the trains carried them down

every day, accompanied with immense loads of ammunition, and all the

appliances of war. Our new and old war vessels were gathered about Key

West, etc., and others were placed near our great harbors, which harbors

were defended by torpedoes and other means of offense and defense. By

this time our demand upon Spain to get out of the West Indies had been

received by the proud Dons, and had been refused by them, as we

expected. So we moved on with the war, and our own four regiments of

regular colored United States troops, the Ninth and Tenth Cavalry, and

the Twenty-fourth and Twenty-fifth Infantry, which had been brought from

the far West to Chickamauga Park, were brought down to Key West, in

order to be at hand to sail over to Cuba along with their white brothers

when the "Ever-Faithful Isle--Fair Cuba, the Queen of the Antilles,"

should be invaded by all the boys in blue.

I am not aware that even the most rabid misanthrope in the United States

believed in his heart that there was one colored man who was not willing

to go to the war, and also able to do yeoman service in knocking down

the Spaniards, if he were allowed to get at them. It is true that

charges were made against some of us, but charges were also made in the

same way against the whites. It is true that some of our men made their

marching to war conditional on their now having their own colored

officers; but that demand was right, and they only asked their own.

Our hereditary enemies are not all dead by any means, yet! Either they

are less formidable, or we ourselves are growing more independent. The

small pettifogging journalist tried to make the usual capital out of our

men holding out for his most undoubted rights, for what would a white

regiment, indeed, think, if the law was that none but colored officers

should be placed over white men? And yet, that was the very thing that

certain men--white men--in our nation demanded, namely, that none but

white officers should be placed in command of colored soldiers!

[Illustration: _BATTLE OF SAN JUAN HILL._]

It is very true there were a few colored officers in the ranks, and

colored chaplains; but, like angels' visits, they were few and far

between. But the Spanish war was on, and colored men had to go or stay.

Some demanded officers of their own race, seeing they were competent to

fill such positions as the whitest of men. It was only the dregs of

slavery in the bottom of the cup that were left. It was only the

difference between a dark skin and a light one, don't you know. Well,

quite a number of the governors granted the colored regiments their

petitions; gave them all the officers of their own race, from Colonel

down, and it has been proven that they have acted and succeeded as well

as white officers could ever have possibly done. Other governors

hesitated about granting their just demands, and claimed that white

officers ought to be placed over colored men.

But, as I said before, the war was now under way, and as too much time

could not be lost in wrangling in this unseemly manner over a matter,

after all, no greater than the color of the skin, our brave fellows in

some of the States said they were willing to give way, and go and fight

the Spaniards under command of white officers. In some States there was

no dispute. It is a well-known fact that colored men have often been

greatly attached to their white officers, and in like manner, these

officers have been greatly attached to their own soldiers, and thus they

have got along harmoniously together at all times. At the same time,

this knotty point has been settled once for all in many a State, and the

men--colored men, I mean--have been allowed to have the officers of

their own choice. No doubt the time will come when all these "trumpery

distinctions" will be done away! The dregs of slavery washed out of the

cup! The time will come in the United States when white men will be led

by colored officers, and colored men will be led by white officers. Life

is really too short for such foolishness as squabbling over small

trifles like these. One thing I know, the Bible tells us that God has

made of one blood all the races that dwell upon earth.

The readings in the public papers about the enthusiasm of colored men

for the war against the Spaniards was most refreshing. Taken as a whole,

white men of every walk in life, awarded them the very highest possible

praise for their love of drilling--for their great willingness to be

drilled, and for the great progress they made in drilling. Some of them,

indeed, seemed to be drilling both in season and out of season, because

even after their officers had given them all their needful drilling for

the passing day, they would themselves get together and drill themselves

for a whole hour, or for an hour and a half at a time. I must not forget

a most unusually lively letter I saw from Key West at the time that our

four regiments of regulars (United States) were lying there in readiness

to sail over to Cuba. This letter stated that they were regiments of

grand men; tall, powerful, splendid fellows; full of life, humor and

enthusiasm, and that they looked as if they would be able to lick three

or four Spaniards apiece! No doubt our glorious fellows were far more

than a match for the Spaniards, who only weighed about 130 pounds

apiece, stood five feet, six inches in height, and few of them seem able

to shoot straight; while our men stand six feet, are powerful, and can

hit the mark almost every time.

Thus time passed on, while the entire colored race all over the land

took the deepest interest in the war, calling upon the war department,

or sending to the President, whenever there was occasion for the same. A

Conference of the Zion A. M. E. Church, at the commencement of the war,

sat in Baltimore, at which time a notice was sent forth throughout the

nation that ten new cadets, for some military reason or other, were to

be brought forward. The Conference here stepped forward, and did the

right thing. They drew up a most respectful and patriotic address upon

the subject to the President, and asked that three cadets out of those

ten should be men of color. The address was then sealed up, and sent to

McKinley. At Baltimore, also, under the leadership of Dr. Bryant, a

regiment of colored men was organized and drilled in good earnest. At

first many of these young volunteers were awkward enough, but we are all

awkward in the beginning. So they persevered, and in the course of time

became quite proficient; and I have no doubt, had the war lasted, and

they had gone to the front, and met the Spaniards in the open field,

that they would have whipped them hip and thigh, as other colored troops

did later on. The spirit of all our people was most excellent; we were

determined to see ourselves righted, and there were none but a few old

soreheads that stood in our way.

[Illustration: _COLORED SOLDIERS AND MUSICIANS_]

While we are getting ready to give the Dons a proper knock-down on his

own ground, it may not be amiss to notice the most unusual display of

American flags--the "Stars and Stripes"--that was made here all over our

beautiful city of Buffalo, where we still reside. At first we thought

that "The Queen City of the Lakes," as our city is called, was simply

ultra-patriotic, and wanted to be ahead of all our neighbors, but soon

all eyes were opened wide at our grand mistake, for we learned that

there was hardly a city, town, village or hamlet in the Union where the

self-same grand array of "Star-Spangled Banners" did not obtain. It was

flags, flags, flags, from one end of the nation to the other--nothing

but flags! I think I am safe in saying that in any moderate-sized city

of the Union there were ten thousand flags flying at least. And these

national emblems of faith, loyalty and love were all sizes, from the

smallest to the largest. And not alone upon the broad street did the

banners fly, but in all the smaller streets and alleys--away up the

narrow and crooked alleys, where the poorer families of both races were

found, these self-same beautiful banners fluttered to the breeze, and

plainly said, "We are here in defense of our native country! No more

oppressive Dons for us! Freedom for Cuba, and for all the world. 'Tis

the Star-Spangled Banner, O Long May it Wave!"

But the national feeling was exhibited in thousands of other ways

besides the flags in the open streets. Great meetings were held all over

the land; sermons were preached, and public prayers ascended to the

Throne of Grace for the speedy triumph of our armies over the oppressive

Spaniards. The very envelopes that went through the Postoffice were

stamped with miniature flags, and pictures of the Maine were hung up in

almost every house. No doubt many an ingenious man cleared a good, round

sum by a newly-brought-out device that was cast upon the public, and

eagerly bought up by almost everybody. An immense quantity of patriotic

poetry was also written, and scattered broadcast to all the four winds

of heaven; and it was read and quoted with most unbounded enthusiasm.

Music came in now for its full share. All the patriotic songs we had

were sung and played in public and private to their own well-known

tunes. The Star-Spangled Banner, indeed, "took the cake," and seemed to

be everywhere floating in the air. Even "John Bull," our true and

faithful friend across the seas, fell into line with us, and he placed

the Star-Spangled Banner from one end of the British Isles to the other.

"Mother England," indeed, was most loyal to us, even before we struck a

blow at the Spaniards, for she set down her foot against privateering on

the high seas, and Spain submitted to her against her own will!

THE AMERICAN-SPANISH WAR--II.

_The Brave Exploits of our Colored Regiments Around Santiago de

Cuba--Their Rescue of the Rough Riders--The Wounded in the

Hospitals--Regiments That Never Went to War--Great Flag Presentations at

New Orleans--The Colored Chaplains--The Killed, Wounded and Sick of the

War--Coming Home and Disbanding, Etc.--The Glorious Results of the

War--Colored Men Did Their Duty--Glory to God in the Highest!_

The reader will naturally expect an account of marching and

counter-marching, pitched battles, skirmishing, and all kinds of

military operations, such as I have already described in the war of

1861-'65. And the reader is justified in such expectations; but this

American-Spanish War was one of the very shortest conflicts ever

recorded in history, for the whole affair was over in less than four

months, having begun towards the end of April, and concluded on the 12th

of August, 1898. The readers of my own people will now ask if there was

no opportunity given us whereby we might show our prowess upon the

battle-field, like our Anglo-Saxon brothers. Well, yes, we had

opportunities given us to show of what kind of material we were made,

and I believe that all the generals, officers and soldiers in the army

awarded us the most unstinted praise for what we did, and they did it

with a most hearty good will.

[Illustration: _SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR._]

The heaviest fighting by land was done around the city of Santiago de

Cuba, the second city of the island, and the old Spanish capital of the

same. Santiago (which means "St. James," in Spanish) was very strongly

fortified, and pretty well defended by the ancient and modern methods of

an old nation going down in the world. On account of the great danger of

assaulting a city built upon hills, and thus strongly defended by nature

and art, Uncle Sam wisely decided to send his veteran troops there--not

merely the pick and cream of the volunteers--but first of all, the old,

well-seasoned regulars of the American standing army, of which there

were four regiments of colored men, that is to say, the Ninth and Tenth

Cavalry, and the Twenty-fourth and Twenty-fifth Infantry. Among the

first that went to Santiago in General Shafter's expedition were those

four regiments--brave, powerful, well-built fellows, big, brawny men,

who could knock Spaniards over like ninepins, and smite them hip and

thigh like the heroes of old. In the different engagements that took

place while the enemy was being driven into his beleaguered city, and

was being pushed back, back farther and farther, into the fortifications

of Santiago, these colored regiments did splendid service, laying on

with might and main, and making their enemy flee before them into his

last retreat. Our troops were usually mixed up with the whites in the

days in the end of June, and the beginning of July, and thus the history

of the one is the history of the other.

Seeing, therefore, that they had been so well trained as regulars, we

need not wonder that they acquitted themselves so well in the

preliminary assault, that occurred before preparations were made for the

final advance on the doomed city. That part of the operations of our men

that caused most noise to be made in the newspapers and elsewhere took

place when Colonel Roosevelt and his Rough Riders advanced up one of the

hills that was overgrown with dense brushwood, where the Spaniards had

dug trenches along the face of the hill, and had run powerful wire

fences along the front of those trenches, from which they fired upon the

Americans as they came up the hill-side. The Rough Riders had a hard

time of it as they advanced in the face of the showers of balls that

were poured down upon them. Little progress did they make, although they

lay down again and again to let those leaden showers pass over their

devoted heads. Colonel Roosevelt had a horse killed under him, jumped

off the animal before it carried him under as it fell, and advanced up

the hill in advance of all his men, shouting to them to come on. Well,

of course, the men did come on; but some were killed here, and others

were wounded there; while as for the Spaniards, they went down like

grass before the scythe. As a general thing they were bad shots--as

might be expected of a dying nation still bragging of the deeds of their

ancestors four hundred years back; and they themselves swollen with

ignorance and pride, too haughty to be taught better ways! Thus the

Rough Riders gravely struggled up the hill-side, cutting the wire fences

as they went, clearing the retreating Spaniards out of the rifle-pits

(or trenches, rather), lying down and advancing again and again as best

they could. It was evident that they must suffer great losses, or might

even fail altogether.

At this very crisis the Ninth and Tenth Cavalry, or United States

colored troops, were ordered forward to the rescue of their dismounted

brothers, and so dismounted, they advanced up the hill-side, laughing

and hurrahing with as much trained ease, and as cheerfully as if they

had been upon their old parade grounds in the far West! Success against

the enemy was now assured. Our brave, well-seasoned veterans from the

West fired, advanced, lay down, chatted and laughed with their white

brothers, as they lay upon the ground, partly hidden among the

brushwood, tall grasses and bushes of the Cuban jungle; and thus the day

there was saved, and the white men were saved by the Ninth and Tenth

Cavalry, just in the self-same way as white and black had often saved

one another during the Civil War in the sixties. The wire fences were

cut, the trenches were cleared of their occupants, the hill-top was

gained, the Spaniards were set upon the run down the hill, on the other

side, and now our men could see their enemies, and have a straight shot

at them as they ran down the open, in full retreat and rapid flight. Our

own trained heroes followed fast after them, dropping on one knee every

now and then, to get a steadier aim at the fleeing Spaniards and thus

they fell at a rapid rate before our guns.

While it is true that there was no desire among our own men to be vain

of their achievements when they had thus timely assisted in saving and

winning the field, still, the wild and hearty cheers that were there and

then given to the black soldiers by their white comrades were very

encouraging, indeed, to the hearts of the former. Many of the letters

sent home and published in the papers were quite unstinted in their

praise, and showed how the white men shouted their loudest huzzas to the

colored men, swung their arms and caps in the air, and made other

demonstrations of mutual good will and delight. Most of the Republican

papers, and even some of the Democratic and others wrote editorials and

other shorter and well-pointed paragraphs, too numerous for me either to

mention or extract. With the exception of the soreheads and those whose

stubborn natures love to hide all such promising things and keep them

from public favor, there were none who failed to do us that justice to

which we were entitled.

As for the Twenty-fourth and Twenty-fifth Colored Infantry, they lent a

hand in the different actions that were fought around Santiago, and are

well spoken of by one and all whose duty, love or pleasure it was to

record the details of the fighting that took place in the environments

of Santiago de Cuba.

But what shall we say of all those many regiments of colored men who

were raised in many different States, and drilled and put in a state of

readiness to march forward to the war, and assist in knocking down the

tottering powers of old and bigoted Spain? Did those men do nothing for

their country, after all their drillings and other mighty preparations

for the purpose of going to the field? What was the use of Camp This, or

Camp That, or Camp the Other Place to them? Either for good luck, or bad

luck, as it turned out, all those camps were of no use at all to them.

And it was just the same with the white volunteers and their camps. All,

indeed, were drilled, and lay to be called away at any moment--all were

in perfect readiness to go, and even very greatly desired to go; but few

went, for their services were not required, as the war came to an end on

the 12th of August, because "Old Spain" was fast going to the wall, as

the Bible says of the wicked, "I will laugh at your calamity, and mock

when your fear cometh." In fact, most that had been done in the war so

far had been done upon the sea. Dewey and Schley had sunk Spain's best

war ships, which circumstance placed the Spanish peninsula entirely at

our mercy. Then she was bankrupt and inferior to the United States in

every way. We had lost 264 men in the war, who were killed outright; but

how many thousands Spain lost, she is probably too proud ever to let us

know. She probably lost at least fifty to our one.

A great deal has been written about the hospitals in and around

Santiago, and the conduct and sufferings of the patients who were

treated there. It has been universally stated of the colored men who

were treated for wounds that they were most exemplary and patient in

every way, and even ready and willing to give way in favor of those

white soldiers who lay side by side with them, waiting to be treated by

the doctors on hand. It is really touching to read in the public papers

how our own men insisted on their unfortunate suffering neighbors being

treated first, and that they themselves would wait. "He is worse than I

am, I can wait!"--and--"He is shot through the body, while I am only

wounded in the arms; save him first!" This is the very essence of all

generosity. This, indeed, is the most tender-hearted mercy and

Christianity. If there is any bravery and nobility of character upon

earth, this, indeed, is it. And the white Americans in the hospital were

quite as generous as the colored men--to both their colored and white

companions, according to the direct testimony and eye witness of foreign

and domestic correspondents right there and then on the ground. There

was no color line even dreamed of in the fields and hospitals of

Santiago. It is only in the day of health and pride that people can

afford to draw that line. But in the day of distress, and when death is

hovering over us, then all that kind of foolishness is driven far away,

and we only know that God has made of one blood all the nations upon

earth.

It is quite refreshing to look back even now, and think upon the grand

times we had when flags were raised on our houses, or flags were

presented to regiments of volunteers getting ready to go to fight the

Spaniards. I here select from the Southwestern Christian Advocate, of

New Orleans, an organ of the M. E. Church, the following vivid

description of the presentation of a flag to colored troops at New

Orleans:

"A GLORIOUS DAY AND A GREAT CROWD.

"On Wednesday of last week, July 20th, there took place in this city,

the most patriotic demonstration that it has ever been my privilege to

witness. It was the occasion of the formal presentation of the

regimental flag, the national colors, and a Red Cross flag to the Ninth

Infantry Regiment of United States Volunteers, by the Afro-American

citizens of New Orleans. Fully ten thousand people took part in what has

been said to be the most enthusiastic gathering around the Nation's flag

that has ever assembled in the Crescent City for years, if ever before.

Political parties and denominational antagonisms were lost sight of in

the fixed purpose to do honor to our boys in blue. It was thrilling,

inspiring, to see a thousand black soldiers standing in line before the

grandstand, with eyes to the front, and ears attentive to the words of

the speakers.

"The committee on programme had done their work well in selecting such

an array of talent for the occasion. The Hon. J. Madison Vance, was

master of ceremonies. The grace and dignity with which he conducted the

exercises were worthy of the occasion.

"Rev. W. R. Butler, pastor of the First Street M. E. Church, led in a

fervent and earnest prayer for the protection of our boys, and the

success of our army. Rev. Dr. Scott, the editor of The Southwestern

Christian Advocate, was the orator of the day. His speech was scholarly,

burning with eloquence, and full of patriotism, and words of advice for

the black boys in blue. Again and again he was interrupted by the

wildest applause by the vast concourse of people.

"I am sorry that space forbids the giving of the whole address. I simply

give this. He said: 'We shall always look to you as our regiment, our

boys. We are glad to see you here; glad to have you respond so readily

to your country's call; glad you had the opportunity to do so. We

present this flag, hoping it will ever signify to you the interest we

feel in you, and impress you with your responsibility to your country

and your race. We are a part of a great nation, and there are many

reasons why we should be patriotic and true. The strength of a nation is

largely measured by its patriotism. If the citizens of a country are

devoted to the highest and best interests of that country there is

little cause to fear. Patriotism enlists armies and develops martyrs.'

"The flag was presented by Dr. L. H. Reynolds, editor 'The African

Methodist,' published in this city. Dr. Reynolds is gifted as a speaker,

and the thrilling occasion warmed his heart. His words, patriotic and

weighty, stirred the entire assembly, which cheered him to the echo.

"At the conclusion of the address, Mr. Vance introduced Major Armand

Romain, 'as a remarkable son, from one of the best homes of the South,'

who received the beautiful and costly flag with well-chosen words. As

the flag was unfolded, the cheering was deafening. The officers and

soldiers joined with the people in cheering the colors of the Ninth

Regiment. This flag was purchased by a committee of ladies and gentlemen

organized for that purpose.

"The Red Cross flag was presented by Miss Emma M. Williams, who

represented the donor, 'The Phillis Wheatley Club,' and it was received

on behalf of the regiment by Lieutenant Barnett. The National colors

were given by the Israel Lodge of the Grand United Order of Odd Fellows,

and they were presented in a happy speech by the Rev. R. A. Alston, of

this city. Major Harrison, in his characteristic and earnest way,

received the colors for the regiment amid great applause. Colonel Crane,

Major Harrison, and the other members of the staff, were called forward

and given three cheers, most heartily.

"The Rev. T. A. Wilson, on behalf of the A. M. E. Church, presented the

regiment with a number of small Bibles and song books. Resolutions

pledging loyal support to President McKinley and the country were

unanimously adopted.

"Among others who served on the programme were Miss E. V. Edwards, Miss

Ida Cohen, Miss Naomi Kitchens and Mr. A. Lewis. The soldiers seemed

happy over the way their friends and loved ones remembered them, and I

am sure they will sustain the confidence of the friends at home--never

letting the old flag touch the ground.

"R. E. J."

The above article is taken from the Southwestern Christian Advocate, of

New Orleans, for Thursday, the 28th of July, 1898. There is more of it,

but the lines that follow are only taken up with the names of those who

were on the different committees.

The careful reader must have observed in the article given above what a

large share the preachers of the gospel had in the above flag

presentations at New Orleans. And right here it may be proper for me to

remark that the entire press of this country, so far as they have

written on the subject, had given the greatest praise to the colored

chaplains of the four regular regiments, United States cavalry and

infantry, and mention what a deal their fatherly care and guidance had

to do with the building up of the troops. And the same is equally true

of those chaplains of those volunteer regiments that got ready for the

field, but never went to the war, because they were not called upon to

do so.

Although the war with Spain is now over, at this writing (September,

1898), I know not what may be the ultimate destination of the numerous

colored volunteer regiments that were organized for the war, which will

be retained for the country's service, and which will be disbanded and

sent home. There is, however, one regiment from Illinois, all the

officers being colored, from the colonel down, who have been sent to

assist in the garrisoning of Santiago de Cuba.

The authorities at Washington have not been slow to reward bravery in

the late war with Spain, as the following short article from an exchange

will show:

"NEGRO BRAVERY REWARDED.

"Washington, D. C., August, 1898.--Six colored non-commissioned

officers, who rendered particularly gallant and meritorious service in

the face of the enemy in the actions around Santiago on July 1st and

2nd, have been appointed second lieutenants in two of the colored immune

regiments recently organized under special acts of Congress. These men

are Sergeants William Washington, of Troop F, and John C. Proctor, of

Troop I, of the Ninth Cavalry; and Sergeants William McBonjar, of

Company H; Wyatt Hoffman, of Company G; Mason Russell, of Company H, and

Andrew J. Smith, of Company B, of the Twenty-fifth Infantry, commanded

by Colonel Daggatt. These two Negro regiments were in the thick of the

fierce fighting at El Caney and San Juan, and won high praise for their

courage and efficiency. The Ninth Cavalry was also with the Rough Riders

at La Quasina."

As the above extract will show, there has been a disposition shown at

Washington to reward bravery, and reward it at once. People have not

been wanting to point out who ought to be honored, and honor has been

forthcoming on all hands.

While I am engaged writing these pages, the war is practically over, and

a great many of the regiments are being disbanded and sent home. It is

expected, however, that a larger army will be maintained at the national

expense than ever before. We used to support 25,000 men, but now we have

the Philippine Islands, Cuba and Porto Rico on our hands, besides home

duties and the Hawaiian Islands, and therefore we shall need more men

than before; at least, for some time to come. But all these things must

be settled by the authorities at Washington.

While it is now my mournful task once more to revert to the 266 men

killed on the Maine, and the 264 killed in battle, our list of wounded

was much higher; while those who died of fevers contracted in the

tropical climates, and came home sick, were, indeed, a mournful subject

for us to think about. Our men were not used to the heat and rains of

the East and West Indies, or even to the lowlands of Florida, and other

far Southern States, which rendered them more helpless than children, so

that many died far away from home, while others were too weak to be

moved. Some died on the way, and many were carried into our hospitals as

soon as they arrived at their destinations. Most of those who could

stand the journey were sent on their way home, and all seemed to be glad

that the war was over.

It is hardly necessary for me to say that this war has largely had the

happy result of greatly elevating the character of the United States

before the whole world. We are now a second-class naval power, and our

praises are sung in all lands, from one end of the world to the other.

Our armies that fought on shore at Manilla and Santiago have been

honored by the nations of the earth, "Mother England," and all the

rest--no matter whether they are willing or not. Immense good will

follow to Cuba, Porto Rico, the Philippines, and, indeed, all mankind,

for we will teach them what a moral, Christian and talented people we

are. And we have done all this in less than four months--at the loss of

very few lives, indeed, and not at much expense. I feel that Almighty

God has been the head and spring of all this; and I am also proud that

my own people have done their whole duty, and done it well.

BEULAH LINCOLN.

[Illustration: __FINIS.__]

BLACKS IN THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR AND IN 1812.

I now undertake to write a history of the part which the colored men

took in the great American Rebellion. Previous to entering upon that

subject, however, I may be pardoned for bringing before the reader the

condition of the blacks previous to the breaking out of the war.

[Illustration: _THE BOSTON MASSACRE._]

The Declaration of American Independence, made July 4th, 1776, had

scarcely been enunciated, and an organization of the government

commenced, ere the people found themselves surrounded by new and trying

difficulties, which, for a time, threatened to wreck the ship of state.

The forty-five slaves landed on the banks of the James river, in the

colony of Virginia, from the coast of Africa, in 1620, had multiplied to

several thousands, and were influencing the political, social and

religious institutions of the country. Brought into the colonies against

their will; made the hewers of wood, and the drawers of water;

considered in the light of law and public opinion as mere chattels,

things to be bought and sold at the will of the owner; driven to their

unrequited toil by unfeeling men, picked for the purpose from the lowest

and most degraded of the uneducated whites, whose moral, social and

political degradation by slavery was equal to that of the slave--the

condition of the Negro was indeed a sad one!

The history of this people, full of sorrow, blood and tears, is full

also of instruction for mankind. God has so ordered it that one class

shall not degrade another without becoming themselves contaminated. So

with slavery in America. The institution bred in the master insulting

arrogance, deteriorating sloth, pampered the loathsome lust it inflamed

until licentious luxury sapped the strength and rottened the virtue of

the slave owners of the South.

Never were the institutions of a people, or the principles of liberty,

put to such a severe test as those of the American Republic. The

convention to frame the Constitution for the Government of the United

States had not organized before the slave-masters began to press the

claims of their system upon the delegates. They wanted their property

represented in the National Congress, and undue guarantees thrown around

it; they wanted the African slave-trade made lawful, and their victims

returned if they should attempt to escape; they begged that an article

might be inserted in the Constitution making it the duty of the general

government to put down the slaves if they should imitate their masters

in striking a blow for freedom. They seemed afraid of the very evil they

were clinging to closely to. "Thus conscience doth make cowards of us

all."

In all this early difficulty, South Carolina took the lead against

humanity, her delegates ever showing themselves the foes of freedom.

Both in the Federal Convention to frame the Constitution, and in the

State Conventions to ratify the same, it was admitted that the blacks

had fought bravely against the British, and in favor of the American

Republic, for the fact that a black man (Crispus Attucks) was the first

to give his life at the commencement of the Revolution, was still fresh

in their minds. Eighteen years previous to the breaking out of the war,

Attucks was held as a slave by Mr. William Brown, of Framingham, Mass.,

and from whom he escaped about that time, taking up his residence in

Boston.

The Boston Massacre, March, 5th, 1770, may be regarded as the first act

of the great drama of the American Revolution. "From that moment," said

Daniel Webster, "we may date the severance of the British Empire." The

presence of the British soldiers in King street excited the patriotic

indignation of the people. The whole community was stirred, and sage

counsellors were deliberating, and writing, and talking about the public

grievance. But it was not for "the wise and prudent" to be the first to

act against the encroachments of arbitrary power. "A motley rabble of

saucy boys, Negroes and mulattoes, Irish teagues, and outlandish

Jacktars" (as John Adams described them in his plea in defence of the

soldiers) could not restrain their emotion, or stop to inquire if what

they must do was according to the letter of any law. Led by Crispus

Attucks, the mulatto slave, and shouting, "The way to get rid of these

soldiers is to attack the mainguard; strike at the root; this is the

nest!" with more valor than discretion, they rushed to King street, and

were fired upon by Captain Preston's company. Crispus Attucks was the

first to fall; he and Samuel Gray and Jonas Caldwell were killed on the

spot; Samuel Maverick and Patrick Carr were mortally wounded.

The excitement which followed was intense. The bells of the town were

rung; an impromptu town meeting was held, and an immense assembly was

gathered. Three days after, on the 8th, a public funeral of the martyrs

took place. The shops of Boston were closed, and all the bells of Boston

and the neighboring towns were rung. It is said that a greater number of

persons assembled on this occasion than were ever before gathered on

this continent for a similar purpose. The body of Crispus Attucks, the

mulatto slave, had been placed in Faneuil Hall, with that of Caldwell,

both being strangers in the city. Maverick was buried from his mother's

house, on Union street, and Gray from his brothers, in Royal Exchange

Lane. The four hearses formed a junction in King street, and there the

procession marched in columns six deep, with a long file of coaches

belonging to the most distinguished citizens, to the Middle

burying-ground, where the four victims were deposited in one grave, over

which a stone was placed with this inscription:

"Long as in Freedom's cause the wise contend,

Dear to your country shall your fame extend;

While to the world the lettered stone shall tell

Where Caldwell, Attucks, Gray, Maverick fell."

The anniversary of this event was publicly commemorated in Boston by an

ovation and other exercises every year until after our national

independence was achieved, when the Fourth of July was substituted for

the Fifth of March, as the more proper day for a general celebration.

Not only was the event commemorated, but the martyrs who then gave up

their lives were remembered and honored.

For half a century after the close of the war, the name of Crispus

Attucks was honorably mentioned by the most noted men of the country,

who were not blinded by foolish prejudice. At the battle of Bunker Hill,

Peter Salem, a Negro, distinguished himself by shooting Major Pitcairn,

who, in the midst of the battle, having passed the storm of fire without

mounting the redoubt, and waving the sword, cried to the rebels to

surrender. The fall of Pitcairn ended the battle in favor of liberty.

A single passage from Mr. Bancroft's history will give a succinct and

clear account of the condition of the army in respect to colored

soldiers, at the time of the battle of Bunker Hill:

"Nor should history forget to record that as in the army of Cambridge,

so also in this gallant band, the free Negroes of the colony had their

representatives. For the right of free Negroes to bear arms in the

public defence was at that day as little disputed in New England as

their other rights. They took their place, not in a separate corps, but

in the ranks with the white man; and their names may be read on the

pension rolls of the country, side by side with those of other soldiers

of the Revolution."--Bancroft's History of the United States, Vol. VII,

p. 421.

The capture of Major-General Prescott, of the British army, on the 9th

of July, 1777, was an occasion of great joy throughout the country.

Prince, the valiant Negro who seized that officer, ought always to be

remembered with honor for his important service. The exploit was much

commended at the time, as its results were highly important; and Colonel

Barton very properly received from Congress the compliment of a sword

for his ingenuity and bravery. It seems, however, that it took more than

one head to plan and to execute the undertaking. The following account

of the capture is historical:

"They landed about five miles from Newport, and three-quarters of a mile

from the house, which they approached cautiously, avoiding the

mainguard, which was at some distance. The Colonel went foremost, with a

stout, active Negro close behind him, and another at a small distance;

the rest followed so as to be near, but not seen.

"A single sentinel at the door saw and hailed the Colonel. He answered

by exclaiming against and inquiring for rebel prisoners, but kept slowly

advancing. The sentinel again challenged him, and required the

countersign. He said he had not the countersign, but amused the sentry

by talking about rebel prisoners, and still advancing till he came

within reach of the bayonet, which, he presenting, the colonel suddenly

struck aside and seized him. He was immediately secured, and ordered to

be silent on pain of instant death.

"Meanwhile the rest of the men surrounding the house, the Negro, with

his head, at the second stroke, forced a passage into it, and then into

the landlord's apartment. The landlord at first refused to give the

necessary intelligence, but on the prospect of present death, he pointed

to the general's chamber, which, being instantly opened by the Negro's

head, the Colonel calling the general by name, told him he was a

prisoner."--Pennsylvania Evening Post, August 7th, 1777 (in Frank

Moore's "Diary of the American Revolution," Vol. I, p. 468).

There is abundant evidence of the fidelity and bravery of the colored

patriots of Rhode Island during the whole war. Before they had been

formed into a separate regiment, they had fought valiantly with the

white soldiers at Red Bank and elsewhere. Their conduct at the battle of

Rhode Island, on the 29th of August, 1778, entitles them to perpetual

honor. That battle has been pronounced by military authorities to have

been one of the best-fought battles of the Revolutionary War. Its

success was owing, in a great degree, to the good fighting of the Negro

soldiers. Mr. Arnold, in his "History of Rhode Island," thus closes his

account of it:

"A third time the enemy, with desperate courage and increased strength,

attempted to assail the redoubt, and would have carried it, but for the

timely aid of two Continental battalions despatched by Sullivan to

support his almost exhausted troops. It was in repelling these furious

onsets that the newly-raised black regiment, under Col. Greene,

distinguished itself by deeds of desperate valor. Posted behind a

thicket in the valley, they three times drove back the Hessians, who

charged repeatedly down the hill to dislodge them; and so determined

were the enemy in these successive charges that the day after the

battle, the Hessian colonel, upon whom this duty had devolved, applied

to exchange his command, and go to New York, because he dared not lead

his regiment again to battle, lest his men should shoot him by having

caused them so much loss."--Arnold's History of Rhode Island, Vol. II,

pp. 427, 428.

Three years later, these soldiers are thus mentioned by the Marquis de

Chastellux:

"The 5th (of January, 1781), I did not set out till eleven, although I

had thirty miles' journey to Lebanon. At the passage to the ferry, I met

with a detachment of the Rhode Island regiment--the same corps we had

with us all the last summer; but they have since been recruited and

clothed. The greatest part of them are Negroes, or mulattoes; they are

strong, robust men, and those I have seen had a very good appearance."

When Colonel Greene was surprised and murdered near Point Bridge, New

York, on the 14th of May, 1781, his colored soldiers heroically defended

him till they were cut to pieces; and the Negro reached him over the

dead bodies of his faithful Negroes. That large numbers of Negroes were

enrolled in the army, and served faithfully as soldiers during the whole

period of the war of the revolution, may be regarded as a

well-established historical fact, and it should be borne in mind that

the enlistment was not confined, by any means, to those who had before

enjoyed the privileges of free citizens. Very many slaves were offered

to and received by the army, on the condition that they were to be

emancipated either at the time of enlistment, or when they had served

out the term of their enlistment. The inconsistency of keeping in

slavery any person who had taken up arms for the defence of our national

liberty had led to the passing of an order forbidding slaves, as such,

to be received as soldiers.

That colored men were equally serviceable in the last war with Great

Britain is true, as the following historical document will show:

"GEN. JACKSON'S PROCLAMATION TO THE NEGROES.

"Headquarters, Seventh Military District,

"MOBILE, September 21st, 1814.

"To the Free Colored Inhabitants of Louisiana:--

"Through a mistaken policy, you have heretofore been deprived of a

participation in the glorious struggle for national rights, in which our

country is engaged. This no longer shall exist. As sons of freemen, you

are now called upon to defend our most inestimable blessing. As

Americans, your country looks with confidence to her adopted children

for a valorous support, as a faithful return for the advantages enjoyed

under her mild and equitable government. As fathers, husbands and

brothers, you are summoned to rally around the standard of the Eagle, to

defend all which is dear in existence. Your country, although calling

for your exertions, does not wish you to engage in her cause without

amply remunerating you for the services rendered. Your intelligent minds

are not to be led away by false representations. Your love of honor

would cause you to despise the man who should attempt to deceive you. In

the sincerity of a soldier, and the language of truth, I address you. To

every noble-hearted, generous freeman of color, volunteering to serve

during the present contest with Great Britain, and no longer, there will

be paid the same bounty in money and lands now received by the white

soldiers of the United States, viz: one hundred and twenty dollars in

money, and one hundred and sixty acres of land. The non-commissioned

officers and privates will also be entitled to the same monthly pay and

daily rations and clothes furnished to any American soldier.

"On enrolling yourselves in companies, the Major-General commanding will

select officers for your government from your white fellow citizens;

your non-commissioned officers will be appointed from among yourselves.

"Due regard will be paid to the feelings of freemen and soldiers. You

will not, by being associated with white men in the same corps, be

exposed to improper comparisons or unjust sarcasm. As a distinct,

independent battalion or regiment, pursuing the path of glory, you will,

undivided, receive the applause and gratitude of your countrymen. To

assure you of the sincerity of my intentions, and my anxiety to engage

your invaluable services to our country, I have communicated my wishes

to the Governor of Louisiana, who is fully informed as to the manner of

enrollment, and will give you every necessary information on the subject

of this address.

"ANDREW JACKSON, Major-General Commanding."

Three months later General Jackson addressed the same troops as follows:

"To the Men of Color, Soldiers:--

"From the shores of Mobile I collected you to arms. I invited you to

share in the perils, and to divide the glory of your white countrymen. I

expected much from you, for I was not uninformed of those qualities

which must render you so formidable to an invading foe. I knew that you

could endure hunger and thirst, and all the hardships of war. I knew

that you loved the land of your nativity, and that, like ourselves, you

had to defend all that is most dear to man. But you surpass my hopes. I

have found in you, united to these qualities, that noble enthusiasm

which impels to great deeds.

"Soldiers, the President of the United States shall be informed of your

conduct on the present occasion, and the voice of the Representatives of

the American nation shall applaud your valor, as your General now

praises your ardor. The enemy is near! His sails cover the lakes. But

the brave are united, and if he finds us contending with ourselves, it

will be for the prize of valor and fame--its noblest reward."

Black men served in the navy with great credit to themselves, receiving

the commendation of Commodore Perry and other brave officers.

Extract of a letter from Nathaniel Shaler, commander of the private

armed schooner General Tompkins, to his agent in New York, dated--

"AT SEA, January 1st, 1813.

"Before I could get our light sails in, and almost before I could turn

round, I was under the guns, not of a transport, but of a large frigate,

and not more than a quarter of a mile from her! Her first broadside

killed two men, and wounded six others. My officers conducted themselves

in a way that would have done honor to a more permanent service. The

name of one of my poor fellows who was killed ought to be registered in

the book of fame, and remembered with reverence as long as bravery is

considered a virtue. He was a black man, by the name of John Johnson. A

twenty-four pound shot struck him on the hip, and took away all the

lower part of his body. In this state, the poor, brave fellow lay on the

deck, and several times exclaimed to his shipmates, 'Fire away, my boy!

No haul a color down!' The other was also a black man, by the name of

John Davis, and was struck in much the same way. He fell near me, and

several times requested to be thrown overboard, saying he was only in

the way of others. When America has such tars she has little to fear

from the tyrants of the ocean."

"NICK" BIDDLE.

The title of "First Defenders" has been given to the five companies of

Pennsylvania troops, two of which were from Schuylkill Co., one from

Reading, one from Allentown, and one from Lewistown, Pa., that marched

through Baltimore on the day before the Massachusetts soldiers were

mobbed in the streets on the way to defend the national capital. After

running the gauntlet of a furious rabble, the five companies reached

Washington on the evening of the 18th, and were quartered in the Capitol

Building. A pool of blood, which ran from the wounded cheek of "Nick"

Biddle, marked the spot on the Capitol floor, where he lay that night.

It was the first blood shed in the war for the Union. His grave is in

the colored churchyard in Pottsville, Pa.

The grave of "Nick" Biddle a Mecca should be,

To Pilgrims who seek in this land of the free,

The tombs of the lowly as well as the great,

Who struggled for freedom in war or debate;

For there lies a black man distinguished from all

In that his veins furnished the first blood to fall

In war for the Union, when traitors assailed

Its brave "First Defenders," whose hearts never quailed.

The eighteenth of April, eighteen sixty-one,

Was the day "Nick" Biddle his great laurels won,

In Baltimore city, where riot ran high,

He stood by our banner to do or to die;

And onward, responsive to liberty's call--

The Capital City to reach ere it fall.

Brave Biddle with others as true and as brave,

Marched through the wild tempest, the nation to save.

Their pathway was fearful, surrounded by foes,

Who strove in fierce madness their course to oppose;

Who hurl threats and curses defiant of law,

And think by such methods they may overawe

The gallant defenders, who nevertheless

Hold back their resentment as forward they press,

And conscious of noble endeavor, despise

The flashing of weapons and traitorous eyes.

Behold now the crisis! The mob thirsts for blood!

It strikes down "Nick" Biddle, and opens the flood;

The torrents of crimson from hearts that are true,

That shall deepen and widen, shall clean and renew,

The land of our fathers by slavery cursed.

The blood of "Nick" Biddle--yes, it is the first,

The patter of raindrops presaging the storm,

That will rage and destroy till the nation reform.

How strange, too, it seems that the Capitol floor,

Where slave-holders sat in the Congress of yore,

And forged for his kindred chains heavy to bear,

To bind down the black man in endless despair,

Should be stained with his blood, and thus sanctified,

Made sacred to Freedom, through time to abide,

A temple of justice, with every right

For all of the nation--black, red men and white.

The grave of "Nick" Biddle, though humble it be,

Is nobler by far in the sight of the free

Than tombs of those chieftains whose sinful crusade,

Brought long years of mourning, and countless graves made;

In striving to fetter their black fellow-men,

And make of the Southland a vast prison pen,

Their cause was unholy, but "Nick" Biddle was just--

And hosts of pure spirits watch over his dust.

[Illustration: _THE GRAVE OF NICK BIDDLE._]

Deeds are indestructible; ideas are imperishable, and mind is immortal.

"Children," says George Eliot, "may be strangled, deeds never; they have

an indestructible life, both in mind and outside of our consciousness."

It is not to be wondered at, therefore, that many of the ancients of the

distant past should have predicated eternal life upon deeds and ideas.

Deeds which are formidable, and ideas which grow and expand, and gather

strength, until they become the very life of the social, moral and

religious structure of the nation. To my mind there can be no truer

measurement of a man, or a race, or a nation, than the standard of ideas

which formulate themselves into deeds. "Deeds and ideas," which,

according to Disraeli, "render a man independent of his constituencies,

independent of dissolution, independent even of the course of time."

[Illustration: _THEODORE ROOSEVELT._]

Measure from this standard Theodore Roosevelt, the President of the

United States of America, is the most unique figure before the American

people to-day. No President since the days of Lincoln, the emancipator,

merits in a larger degree the unselfish praise and devotion, not only of

his countrymen, but of the whole civilized world. In the strictest sense

of the term, he is a man of destiny. Born, like all true leaders and

reformers, at a particular time, for a particular purpose; endowed by

nature with a constitution which defies the encroachment of disease;

with an intellect which craves the most rigid discipline; with a courage

which knows no daring, and a conscience which repels the slightest

innovation which might result to the detriment of his fellow-man,

regardless of race, color or creed. It was for Abraham Lincoln to issue

the proclamation of freedom, and thus save the nation from

disintegration; it is for Theodore Roosevelt to preserve that

proclamation, and preserve the amendments to the Constitution, which is

the very life of the freedom guaranteed to the emancipated. From the

time of President Grant down to the present time, there has been a

persistent attempt on the part of the South to paralyze the spirit and

practice of the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments to the

Constitution, without which freed men would have no legal standing in

the nation.

The amendments received a dangerous wound during the administration of

President Hayes. From the effects of this wound it hardly ever

recovered. When, by a strange Providence, Theodore Roosevelt was called

suddenly to occupy the place of the martyred President McKinley, a most

lovable and peaceful man, black men and their friends, all over the

country, rejoiced in the hope of a better day, when right and justice

would succeed policy and conciliation. In this we were not mistaken. Not

that Theodore Roosevelt loves the black man any more than any of his

predecessors, but that Theodore Roosevelt has convictions and the

courage of his convictions, regardless of consequences. The appended

correspondence, which explains itself, will render him immortal, and

will keep his memory fresh in the recollection of his fellow-men, and

when future historians chronicle his acts, they shall speak of him as

"Theodore, the Great and the Good."

COLOR IS NO BAR TO OFFICE.

_President Roosevelt Defines His Attitude--In a Letter to a South

Carolinian, Who Includes in a Number of Objections to the Appointment of

Dr. Crum as Collector of the Port of Charleston the Statement That He is

a Negro, the President Declares That He Will Continue to Appoint Colored

Men of Intelligence and Standing--Incentive to Good Citizenship._

Washington, November 27.--The President has sent the following

communication to a prominent citizen of Charleston, S. C.:

"Personal.

"WHITE HOUSE,

"Washington, November 26th, 1902.

"My Dear Sir:--I am in receipt of your letter of November 10th, and one

from Mr. ----, under date of November 11th, in reference to the

appointment of Dr. Crum as collector of the port of Charleston.

"In your letter you make certain specific charges against Dr. Crum,

tending to show his unfitness in several respects for the office sought.

These charges are entitled to the utmost consideration from me, and I

shall go over them carefully before taking any action. After making

these charges, you add, as a further reason for opposition to him, that

he is a colored man; and after reciting the misdeeds that followed

carpet-bag rule and Negro domination in South Carolina, you say that 'we

have sworn never again to submit to the rule of the African, and such an

appointment as that of Dr. Crum to any such office forces us to protest

unanimously against this insult to the white blood,' and you add that

you understood me to say that I would never force a Negro on such a

community as yours. Mr. ---- puts the objection of color first, saying,

'First, he is a colored man, and that of itself ought to bar him from

the office.'

"In view of these last statements, I think I ought to make clear to you

why I am concerned and pained by your making them, and what my attitude

is as regards all such appointments. How anyone could have gained the

idea that I had said I would not appoint reputable and upright colored

men to office when objection was made to them solely on account of their

color, I confess I am wholly unable to understand. At the time of my

visit to Charleston last spring, I had made, and since that time I have

made, a number of such appointments from several States in which there

was considerable colored population. For example, I made one such

appointment in Mississippi, and another in Alabama shortly before my

visit to Charleston. I had at that time appointed two colored men as

judicial magistrates in the District of Columbia. I have recently

announced another such appointment for New Orleans, and have just made

one from Pennsylvania. The great majority of my appointments in every

State have been of white men. North and South alike it has been my

sedulous endeavor to appoint only men of high character and good

capacity, whether white or black. But it has been my consistent policy

in every State where their numbers warranted it to recognize colored men

of good repute and standing in making appointments to office. These

appointments of colored men have in no State made more than a small

proportion of the total number of appointments. I am unable to see how I

can legitimately be asked to make an exception for South Carolina. In

South Carolina, to the four most important positions in the State, I

have appointed three men and continued in office a fourth, all of them

white men--three originally Gold Democrats; two of them, as I am

informed, the sons of Confederate soldiers. I have been informed by the

citizens of Charleston whom I met that these four men represent a high

grade of public service.

"I do not intend to appoint any unfit man to office. So far as I

legitimately can I shall always endeavor to pay regard to the wishes and

feelings of the people of each locality, but I cannot consent to take

the position that the door of hope--the door of opportunity--is to be

shut upon any man, no matter how worthy, purely upon the grounds of race

or color. Such an attitude would, according to my convictions, be

fundamentally wrong. If, as you hold, the great bulk of the colored

people are not yet fit in point of character and influence to hold such

positions, it seems to me that it is worth while putting a premium upon

the effort among them to achieve the character and standing which will

fit them.

"The question of 'Negro domination' does not enter into the matter at

all. It might as well be asserted that when I was Governor of New York,

I sought to bring about Negro domination in that State because I

appointed two colored men of good character and standing to responsible

positions--one of them to a position paying a salary twice as large as

that paid in the office now under consideration; one of them as a

director of the Buffalo Exposition. The question raised by you and

Mr.---- in the statements to which I refer is simply whether it is to be

declared that under no circumstances shall any man of color, no matter

how upright and honest, no matter how good a citizen, no matter how fair

in his dealings with all his fellows, be permitted to hold any office

under our government.

"I certainly cannot assume such an attitude, and you must permit me to

say that in my view it is an attitude no man should assume, whether he

looks at it from the standpoint of the true interest of the white man of

the South or of the colored man of the South--not to speak of any other

section of the Union. It seems to me that it is a good thing from every

standpoint to let the colored man know that if he shows in marked degree

the qualities of good citizenship--that the qualities which in a white

man we feel are entitled to reward--then he will not be cut off from all

hope of similar reward.

"Without any regard as to what my decision may be on the merits of this

particular applicant for this particular place, I feel that I ought to

let you know clearly my attitude on the far broader question raised by

you and Mr. ----, an attitude from which I have not varied during my

term of office.

"Faithfully yours,

"THEODORE ROOSEVELT.

"Hon. ----

"Charleston, S. C."

[Transcriber's note: Original spelling varieties have been maintained.]