ptions, were quite
illiterate and knew nothing of the outside world? No wonder that a
certain amount of gloom and misgiving soon took the place of that
exuberance of joy which the sense of freedom had at first inspired. The
crisis was sufficiently serious for those who were young and strong, but
what was to become of the aged or those who were worn out in the hard
service of the plantations?

Probably the gloom which now overtook so many of the coloured people was
as exaggerated as their wild ideas about their good fortune when
freedom first came to them. These coloured folk were apt to run into
extremes. Booker Washington well remembers them in both moods; and he
also can call to mind how they came to see that, after all, liberty was
an inheritance of sterling worth when it was fairly estimated. One
advantage of the new-found freedom consisted in possessing the right to
choose a respectable surname; and another gain was the right, if they
felt so disposed, to leave the old haunts and, in some measure, to look
round the outside world. Otherwise, they could hardly tell how it might
feel to be free. As is the case with agricultural labourers in general,
these poor coloured slave folk, with whom Booker Washington was
acquainted, had never been far afield from the place of their birth,
and, having seen so little of the world, they found that the world was a
wide place and, in some respects, different from what they had expected.
Of course, a large number were glad to return to the plantations and to
agree with their old employers to work as labourers. In choosing their
new names, the ex-slaves showed some good taste as well as ambition.
Having the patronymic list of presidents, statesmen, soldiers and others
to select from, they bedecked themselves in becoming style, not
forgetting a middle and, apparently, an initial letter, which usually
did not represent a name at all, but, as showing the American manner,
was still indispensable. Even in the case of the distinguished negro, an
account of whose life and work is given in this volume, he had no such
name as Booker T. Washington while he remained in a state of slavery; he
chose it for himself after he became free, and all must admit that he
made a good selection.

Mrs Washington--as by courtesy she may be called--did not return to the
fields after gaining her freedom, as was the case with so many of her
old companions. Circumstances led to her removal to Malden, in West
Vi