roud and independent man, and one who could not brook
dictation from any one or bear to be under obligation to any one. He
had the tenacity of a bulldog. His capacity for incessant work and his
unswerving pursuit of a purpose once formed, were a constant marvel to
those who surrounded him. While he was without conceit or vanity he
had almost unlimited self-confidence. While it cannot be said that he
overrated his own abilities, neither can it be said that he underrated
them. His sympathies were easily aroused and he was abnormally
sensitive, but he never allowed his emotions to get the better of his
judgment. He forgave easily and always tried to find excuses for
people who wronged, insulted, or injured him. In repartee he could
hold his own with any one and enjoyed nothing more than a duel of wits
either with an individual or an audience.

Less than a month before he died, when he was wasted by disease and
suffering almost constant pain, he received this letter of appeal from
Madame Helena Paderewski:

_New York, October 26, 1915._

MY DEAR MR. WASHINGTON: I am writing you a very personal
letter on a subject that is close to my heart, and I know
the message it carries will find a response in your generous
sympathy. It is with great pleasure that I recall our
meeting, some years ago, and I have watched the success of
your work among your people with sincere satisfaction, for I
have always been an advocate of the principles for which you
stand, the uplift of the colored race.

It is because I know you have ever directed your broad
influence toward the most worthy causes that I am asking you
in the name of the starving babies and their helpless
mothers, to tell your people that we need them in our work
of sending food and medicines to Poland. We need, my dear
sir, even the smallest contribution that your beloved
followers may offer, and I beg of you to make an appeal to
your people. Tell them, for they may not all know as well
as you, yourself, that it was a Pole--Kosciusko--who, in
addition to fighting for American liberty, gave that which
he needed himself to help the colored race. As you will
recall, after refusing the grant of land offered him in
recognition of his services in the War of the Revolution, he
returned to Poland, not wishing to accept a reward for doing
what he considered a sublime