Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1861-05-28
FIR the Enquirer.
TO Ecnry Ward Beecher, Rampant.
aniIha lnnr Nprr0I

Sir:-Your Reverence is greatly exercised
upon the condition Of our Southern slaves,
and you invoke war, redGer than blood" TO
punish us here in tue South for being lnhu'
,nan enough to hold them in bondage. Just!.
fed, us sc are, By tie example of Gods PEG
pie 10 all ages BY the D~ecalogue-5y Apostolic
teaching, rs we'll as 10y the cUmnun law and
Common sense Of mankind, and tho very he
~crsSirleS q! the races, We commIsserate the lgnor.
ance you constantly display upon this %suo)ect
Of Southern slavery, 80 much US re hold your
purltanlcal progu.atlsu' and monomanlacal sen-
t!mentalism in contempt
The following letter, which publish Tor
your benefit aua That Of your congregation,
Will throw some light upon tine rsai state 81
things among Us here N the South. Inc au
thor of This letter is 4 Virginia Slave, and
tho uncle ola slave woman, whom [ purchased
last summer in Portsmouth,, Va, and TO whom
be writes rs his dear niece" | hope you
will note tho whole tone Of the letter, as indi'
cat,ve OF virtue and cOuteutmeDt, nor 1ail 10
give especial attention to that part Of it which
S, faithfully reflects the opinions and feelingso Of
our intelligent and happy negroes, touching
your philauthropIc Federal raid against our
peaceful homes and civil and political rights.
DSlIcfc LlC, III. OscSJcl, UOSSpll iiSuoii
Is Il better, a wiser and 4 happier man than you
are, as his niece, my faithful and pious slave
woman Eliza, is infinitely 4 superior woman
10 your sister, Uncle ToIu' Harriet B=echcr
Stowe.
I give you tho letter -~erJGtvm, and with
only q leT slight corrections OF lie cr!hog.
raphJ:
"PoRTsNorru, Va, Mny 18th, 1861.
NY Dear Niece: Il g:Ye Inc great s~stisfac.
ton 70 hear from you, that you were we'll and
doing as well az you are. / um glad 10 state
you that | have received both Of your very
kind and afrectionate letters on the same day,
1.-THE 18th inst.) We are t~olerably well. except
your aunt. who is still feeble as usual but,
thauk God, she is still able to go about and
attend TO the house matters. She sends much
love to you and your little Rosa, who will soon
be n little woman. You must take good care
Of her. sad bring her up in the rigut gay.
I'VE have G great many soldiers here. There
are about ,GUU at the Hospital, and also a,
OIL er sta,inrs-a great many from Georgia
I find among The colored some Tsry nice people,
with whom | have had III. pleasure to btcvme
.xcquainted. Things have changed very much
since you left. Oar beautiful navy yard was
burned down, md badly disigured. Several
Ene vessels wore burrsd. So you must know
there mus, haze been great Confusion with US
at that time Among the ships burnt were,
the Pennsylvania, The New York, The brig
Dolphin. Both the ship yards Ters all de
stroyed, and then, after doing go much damage,
they blockaded our harbor and lett there on
this day Two weeks ago.
Great was the distress Of our people. Al.
most all the families left Norfolk and Ports.
mouth for fear OF being blown 10 atoms by
Com. Crolly, bn. lie did not dare 10 carry his
evil design iuto practice. So all is quiet so far,
but We are still on the lookout for q re.appear-
ance OF them troublesome fellows ! have re-
moved my family TO near SuffJlk in case ofdif.
fcul,y, but | trust in God ;hst there will be
none.
Il an still at Tie Hospital and occupy Ey
Same position rs either cook, nurse or waiter.
Is old serSunts uho haze been reared by oar
good matters ars Teady to stand ny them "a
long as ue ean stand w.
Give my lose 10 all and write IS soon as
you gst this, and believe me-, your adectlonale
uncle. JOSEPH LASGHoES.
"P. s-:94ke good care Of yourself. AS
soon as things get better, / will try to come
and see you. IL.
This poor slave" Joseph Langhorn, don't
appreciate your Boston picty. Now, Mr..
Beecher, allow NE 10 tell VOL, that h1r. Lang
horn and his niece, E!'E', ore noe eS.
c~eptions to tho rule, but illustrations
of it: that Gu, slaves comprehend per.
fectly your philanthropy -desPise your
cant-dsprecate your mldchievous inter-
ference 10 their IL .rs-nbominatc your van:
dali~sm-shuddcr at your blasphemous and
blood thirsty diabolism, AMI are willing to
work at home, TO support their masters, while
they fight your beaslly hirelinss, and to guard
their homes, With their lives, o., if permitted
to do so, would rejoice to share with them the
perils ard privations Of the camp and bloody
conflict They are people Of keen instincts
and have seen Yankee masters enough to know
there is but little d ference between one Of
them and your uaster-Me DeTW
May %, 1861. MARLBOROUGH.