Cincinnati daily press. [volume] (Cincinnati [Ohio]) 1860-1862, 1861-10-31

done. who assumed one day to give him
orders. She had let him work where he
pleased, and he was TO bring her q fixed
sum, and appropriate the surplus to his
own use. She pleaded with him to go away
with her from Hampton at the time of the
exodus, but she would not force him to leave
his family. Still he hated to be a slave; he
talked like philosopher about his rights
No captive in the galleys Of Algiers, not
Lafayette in an Austrian dungeon, ever
| pined more for free air. He had saved
, eighteen hundred dollars of his surplus
earnings in attending on persons at Old
Point, and had spent it all in litigation to
secure the freedom of his wife and children,
| belonging to another master, whose will
had emancipatei them, but was contested
| on the ground Of the insanity of the testa-
tor. He had won verdict, but his law
yers told him they could not obtain o judg-
ment upon it, as the judge was unfavorable
to freedom.
THEIR KNOWLEDGE OF THE WAR.
The most frequent question asked of one
who has had any means of communication
with the contrabands during the war is in
relation to their knowledge of its cause and
purposes and their interest in it. One
thing was evident-indeed, you could not
talk with o slave who did not without
prompting give the same testimony-that
their masters had been most industrious in
their attempts to persuade them that the
Yankees were coming down there only to
get the land-that they would kill The
negroes and manure the ground with them,
! or carry them off to Cuba or Hayti and sell
them. An intelligent man who had be-
Low oH 10 n n
only Union man at heart in that region, and
who, for that reason, being in Washington at
the time the war began, had not dared to
return to Hampton-served the staff of Cen
eral Pierce. He bore the highest testimony
to the kindness of his master, who, he said,
told him to remain, that the Yankees were
the friends of his people, and would use
them well. "But," said David, (for that
was his name, " I never heard of any other
master who talked that way, but they all
told the worst stories about the Yankees, and
the mistresses were more furious even than
the masters" David, l may add spite Of
his good master, longed to be free.
The masters, in their desperation, had
within q few months resorted to another de-
vice to secure the loyalty of their slaves.
The colored Baptist minister had been
U
had obtained subscriptions from some be-
nevolent citizens to secure the freedom Of
| handsome daughter of his who was exposed
! to sale on an auction block, whore her
beauty inspired competition. Some leading
Secessionists, Lawyer Hope for one, work.
ing somewhat on his gratitude and some
what upon his vanity, persuaded him to
offer the services of himself and his sons,
Il, l. H.
of Virginia and the Confederate States
| The arti6ce did not succeed. He lost his
hold on his congregation, and could not
have safely remained after the whites left.
He felt uneasy about his betrayal, and
tried to restore himself back to favor by
saying that he meant no harm to his people;
but his protestations were in vain. His
was the deserved fate of those in all ages
who, victims of folly or bribes, turn their
backs on their fellows.
Notwithstanding all these attempts, the
negroes with rare exceptions, still believed
that the Yankees were their friends. They
had learned something in Presidential cleo
tions, and they thought their masters could
not hate us as they did unless we were their
friends. They believed that the troubles
would somehow or other help them, although
they did not understand all that was going
on. They may be pardOned for their wan
of apprehension, when some of our public
men, almost venerable and reputed to be
very wise and philosophical, are bewildered
and grope blindly. They were somewhat
perplexed by the contradictory statements
of our soldiers, some Of whom, according tC
their wishes, said the contest was for them
and others that it did not concern them at
ALL and they would remain as before. l
ii was explained to them that Lincoln was
chosen by party who were opposed to ex
tending slavery, but who were also op
posed to interfering with it in Virginia
that Virginia and the South had rebelled
and we had come to suppress the rebellion
and although the object of the war was no
to emancipate them, yet that might be its
result-they answered, that they understood
the statement perfectly. They did not seen
inclined to fight, although willing to work
More could not be expected of them whilt
nothing is promised to them. What lateu'
inspiration they may have remains to bt
seen. They had at first mysterious dreaC
of firearms, but familiarity is rapidly re
moving that
The religious element of their life ha
been noticed. They said that they haC
prayed for this day, and God had sent Lin
coin in answer to their prayers. We useC
to overhear their family devotions, some
what loud according to their manner, il
which they prayed earnestly for our troops
They built their hopes of freedom on Scrip
tural examples, regarding the deliveranc
of Daniel from the lions den, and of tn
Three Children from the furnace, as sym
bolic of their coming freedom. One saic
to me that masters, before they died. b,
their wills sometimes freed their slaves, an
he thought that a type that they should be
come free.
THE SLAVES AND THE BIBLE.
One Saturday evening one of them asket
me to call and see him at his home the mex
morning. l did SO, and he handed me
Bible belonging to his mistress, who haC
died few days before, and whose bier
had helped to carry to the family vault. H
wanted me to read to him the eleventh chap
ter of Daniel. 1t seemed that, as one of tn
means of keeping them quiet the whit
clergymen during the winter and sprin
had read them some verses from it to shoV
that the South would prevail, enforcing pas
sages which ascribed great dominion TO tn
"king of the South" and suppressing thos
which subsequently give the supremacy
, the "king of the North" A colored ma
who could read had found the latter pal
sages and made them known. The chaptt
is dark with mystery, and my audito
quite perplexed as l read on, remarke
"The Bible is q very mysterious book"
| IL L. A. aha o,aNi