Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1862-12-06

Z sunlight OF June, or SAut out the howl OF
the November blast. Lock into that room
It's black as midnight Dids't ever see a
bed like that? A shelf against the wall,
q nest Of old mouldy moss upon it, matted
/ into hills and holloWs, that declare to you
with dumb mouths they have not had the
! publication of a stirring up for many
months. Oh, the dark, wretched, filthy
| den not a ray Of light only as you throw
! back the board blind Fragments Of old
blankets begrimed by the wear of years,
old coats that belonged to masss Judging
from the CUT in the palmy days of CAL
| houn, bits and ends Of the most ancient of
carpets, make the bed of old Jack. His
eook-room or kitchen has not been swept
for q long time. His quart pot of iron
sits on the corners Of three bits of brick
over a little fire., is cooking a few oys-
ters for old Jacks dinner. And this is all
his housekeeping arrangement
Are you his granddaughter 2" we ask
of 3 young girl. 'No, missus; only one
of de people, and comes in cause he don
ANY children, Jack ?" we venture
again.
"Chil en-, missus; chilen oh no no |
where ue bSb ChAA SA4 OHl WEOul OWA
Ia kind Of groan1. Old Jack chile all
long ago. Me one, me one, wild God. no
body, nobody. Me one means alone. Got
no bacca, missus2 little, missus, just wee
bit for old Jack 2''
"No tobacco"
Let us go on. We shall enter twenty
cabins, and in half of them we shall see
no evidence Of thrift or neatness.
We're they ever whitewashed2 were
they ever cleaned? Did these people ever
wash their faces or clothes? Can they use
thread or needle?"
Cease thy questionings. One word an
swers them all, "Slavery." These are its
fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns,
or figs from thistles2
These were only field hands that knew on
ly how to handle that big hoe you see lean
ing against that door cheek-that hoe, ten
inches wide and ten deep, and almost as
heavy as cultivator should be- or to pick
the cotton when it opened its white bolls to
the autumn sun; what would they know of
brooms, whitewash, needle or thresd2 The
lash and the neck-yoke were more familiar.
Peep into that old shed. Do you know
what those two circular stones are for Do
you remember that Christ said, two wo-
men shall be grinding at the mill, and one
shall be taken and the other left"2 That
is the mill that tyrants had for slaves, and
between those two stones was ground out
by women's hands, the meagre mess of corn
meal dealt ont to the tiller Of the cotton
field. " The Secesh took my mother andmy
daughters and left me" says the one who
turns the upper stone.
Have not theologians seen the fulflment
of the prophecies too soon2
Are they not rather just now coming to
their full fruitage2 eris humanity the same
" yesterday, to-day and forever2
Horace Mann once said that wicked
government made agony epidemic in space
and chronic in duration. Even so. But
every picture has two sides, and we are
looking at the darkest, now.
Come, good Tom, art ready for the home
ward flight. Goodbye Nora, goodbye Phe-
be, goodbye Cora.
"God bless you, missis," "Bress the
Lord, missis, that you come" "GOd bless
you" 4" God bless you"
Did such a shower Of blessings ever fall
upon us before2 In all our life, did our
hearts ever well up with such overlooking
for Him who careth for the meanest of his
own2
Oh, guilty nation Bend thyself low in
sackeloth and ashes, for the wrong thou
hast done to these simple and grateful
creatures, who when reviled, revile not
again. Who bless them that curse them,
pray for them that despitefully use them,
and who when smitten on the one cheek
turn tho other also.
In our next we will draw a picture
from another standpoint.
FRANCES D. GAGE.
BEAUFORT, November IL