THE COUNTRY. 131

 devils of their own. They are used with wild
 cries and groans that gradually produce that
 excitement or stupor which is happiness. Not
 infrequently a point is reached where these
 catch-words are dropped entirely, and it is only
 necessary to continue the low chanting moan,
 and consciousness of self is caught and drowned
 in a great blind force which cannot be under- ,i
 stood, but which is not feared.
 It is curious to find how soon the anticipation
 of this condition of mind begins to show itself
 in negro children. This is, of course, because
 they observe the extraordinary expression of
 religion in their elders. Emotion and expres-
 sion are synonymous in the mind of the Afri-
 can, -and reserve in Religion, or Love, or
 Grief can hardly be imagined for him, so
 the negro child takes his own conversion for
 granted, and the manner of it also, yet he is
 apt-for he is keener than his white brother
 of the same age--to discriminate in a droll
way, sometimes, between religion and conduct.
This promise of perception in him is not usu-
ally fulfilled; for mental growth ordinarily