Mr. Chase followed, in a few words of calm advice, as to the necessity of industry, economy, study and the like. When he added that, for his own part, he believed, too, that the best way to teach them to swim in the ocean of suffrage, was to throw them in and let them take care of themselves, the emphatic nods and smiles, and cries of “yes,” “yees,” showed that the figure was not thrown away upon them. More singing followed, in which they were led by a white teacher, from one of the schools, and the ordinary hymns of the church were used. The great volumes of sound rang like organ peals through the arches of the oaks. Once the teacher asked to have the children gathered in front of the platform, that they might sing “My country, ’tis of thee, sweet land of liberty,” etc. Mothers passed up their little four-year olds, decked in all the cheap finery they could command; fathers pressed forward and made room for sons and daughters, whom they followed with eyes of paternal pride; and there was a general smiling, and bustling, and eagerness to show off the shiny-faced, large-eyed little creatures. When they were once collected, it was just about as difficult to keep them still as it would be to silence so many parrots. Presently one of the Northern ministers, who have devoted themselves to working among these freedmen, made them such a sermonizing talk as seems to be the common mode of instruction. There was something too much, perhaps, of glorification over the fact that at last the slaves were free from the clutches of the wicked and tyrannical slaveholders; but, in the main, the address was judicious, and seemed to be in a vein to which the negroes were accustomed. At the request of different members of the party, he asked several questions, such as: “You all seem to be better dressed than when your masters ran away. Now tell us if you are able to afford these clothes, and how you get them?” “Yes,” “Bought ’em wid our own money,” “Bought ’em down to Hilton Head,” “Got ’em at Bufor,” and a further medley of confused answers came back from the open-eyed, open-mouthed crowd. “You bought them? Well now, you know at the North people think you are starving beggars, dependent on the Government? Is it true? How many of you support yourselves without any help from the Government? All that do, hold up their right hands.” In an instant every adult in the crowd held up a hand, and not a few of the boys and girls, supposing it to be some new play, held up their hands, too! “Now, before your masters ran away, you all say that your wives were not as attentive as they should be to the wants of the household; that they required a great deal of beating to make them do their work; that they didn’t mend your clothes and cook your meals. Perhaps freedom has made them worse. All who say it has, hold up your right hands.”