, 1862-04-22


An officer in New England regiment, now
On service with General Burnside. writes to
his father letter, which We find in the Hart
ford Press, and from which we extract as fol-
lows:
j was in negro house yesterday, and had
some conversation with the inmates. 1asRed
one gray-headed old negress if she ever had
children sold away from her: ,''sold! Dey
al sold! chil'en, and grandchil' 'en, aud great
grdadchire rea, dey sell eb'ry one!" She clasped
her bony hands over her head and looked up
at me as she spoke" Derc was ene-de last
one-de only grandchi1e did hab lef7. He
he dat little. / bringed him to Massa, and I
say, Massa, lis my little granchile, may | keep
him bout heah p And he say, i don't care
what you do Wid him. So take him; he
dat little. Den one rnornin', when he all rolled
up in blanket tween my knees, Massa Green
him 'seay ! Oh, Lord Jesus, help me pray!"
lcan't begin to do justice to the way in
which she told me this, nor describe the earn
estnees Of voice and gesture which made it
impressive. I wish some of our Northern cd
itors who cringe just as abject1y. IS erer be-
fore their old masters, and howl in such con-
stcrnalion whenever it seems likely that the
war may interfere, directly or indirectly, With
their pet dcyiltry-I wish some Of them could
have heard and seen her.
A few moments after, stout negro man,
apparently rs Or 26 years old came ID: be had
an Intelligent face, but dovncast, dogged
| expression, as Of MAD who felt injustice. I
| aBked him If the slaves Of the vicinity consid-
| cred themselves free, now that their masters
| were gone? Swell, they didn't quite know
| about that-fome men said that bF and by
they would all come back and take them
again" His master, he said, WIS an officer in
the Rebel army: I told him he might be sure
Of one thing--that no slare would Be returned
| to master who had been in arms against US !;
| that, whatever was done st the close Of the
| tion. You ought to have seen his face light
up. "De Lord grant it !'' saidhe told him
hoped it would be SO with all; that the OBJ
lection made to it VAS, that the freed slaves
would ahnse their freedom, commit crimes,
and at best be o good-for nothing, idle set o.
vagabonds, and asked him II he Thought that
| wonld be 60 'Well," he said, "taere were
bad men everywhere; some 1ooatld be idle; but
most Of them, after working bard all theil
lives without encouragement, would work
brought up to work, ~ said he, 'tand shouldn'
live easg without something to do. know
can take care Of Myself y and he looked, as he
said It, ten times the man that most Of these
Southern whites are, or ever will be. Had be
eyer tried to escapes No, be had wife and
fore he would leave them.
The man was Of more than ordinary inte1l
gence1 unable like all the rest, to read Or write,
but evidently one who had thought, and fell
deeply the wrong done to himself and hif
race.
It can't b but this war VIII kill slavery; anG
II 1tdoes, cost what it will OF our blood, aue
your tears, and every man's money, it won
be too much: Don't you think go? knoR
you do: Not that I've changed my ideas as K
the ultimate object Of the war; butI am NOR
firmly convinced than ever that the destruc
tton OF slavery is one Of the means fndispensa