As these facts express the thoughts and feelings, and the
growth, of a people, they become the language in which that people
writes its history, and the work of the historian is to read and
interpret this history for the benefit of his fellow men.
Borrowing a second illustration from the work of the artist, it may be
said, that as nature reveals her secrets only to him whose soul is in
deepest sympathy with her moods and movements, so a people's history
can be discovered only by one whose heart throbs in unison with those
who have made the history. To write the history of any people
successfully one must read it by the heart; and the best part of
history, like the best part of the picture, must ever remain
unexpressed. The artist sees more, and feels more than he is able to
transfer to his canvas, however entrancing his presentation; and the
historian sees and feels more than his brightest pages convey to his
readers. Nothing less than a profound respect and love for humankind
and a special attraction toward a particular people and age, can fit
one to engage in so sublime a task as that of translating the history
of a people into the language of common men.
The history of the American Negro differs very widely from that of any
people whose life-story has been told; and when it shall come to be
known and studied will open an entirely new view of experience.
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