Talks for the times, p. 168

144 TALKS FOR THE TIMES.

ored men and women, who are oftener addressed as

"uncle" and "auntie." In vain surely does Shake¬

speare ask, " What's in a name?" In vain does he

tell us

" That which we call a rose

.By any other name would smell as sweet."

Verily, there is much in a name. There is hatred

in a name. There is degradation in a name. There

is just as much in a name to-day as there was in the

days of Cavalier and Roundhead, and Puritan and

Methodist.

Since the surrender at Appomattox, however, the

Negro has found a name or made one. Since then he

has gotten him some clothing. He has raised twice

as much cotton under freedom as he did under slavery,.

and so can afford to dress pretty decently. On the

9th of last August I was standing in a depot at Wash¬

ington, waiting for the train for Ocean Grove. The

depot was crowded with well-dressed colored people.

It was an excursion. They were going off to enjoy

themselves as only colored people can. A young

German with whom I had, so to speak, scraped an

acquaintance, said to me, "These people are as or¬

derly, and look as neat as the same number of peas-