Those who have not thus witnessed the frenzy of a Negro
revival in the untouched backwoods of the South can but
dimly realize the religious feeling of the slave; as described,
such scenes appear grotesque and funny, but as seen they are
awful. Three things characterized this religion of the slave,
--the Preacher, the Music, and the Frenzy. The Preacher is
the most unique personality developed by the Negro on Amer-
ican soil. A leader, a politician, an orator, a "boss," an
intriguer, an idealist,--all these he is, and ever, too, the
centre of a group of men, now twenty, now a thousand in
number. The combination of a certain adroitness with deep-
seated earnestness, of tact with consummate ability, gave him
his preeminence, and helps him maintain it. The type, of
course, varies according to time and place, from the West
Indies in the sixteenth century to New England in the nine-
teenth, and from the Mississippi bottoms to cities like New
Orleans or New York.
The Music of Negro religion is that plaintive rhythmic
melody, with its touching minor cadences, which, despite
caricature and defilement, still remains the most original and
beautiful expression of human life and longing yet born on
American soil.
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