The Newberry herald. [volume] (Newberry, S.C.) 1865-1884, 1865-11-29
Gov. Marvin to the COlOred People Of
Florida.

Gov. Marvin recently addressed large
crowd of negroes at Marianna, Fla. He told
them that they had fought no battles; that
the blood of no man was on their hands, that
it had been white mans war; that it had
unintentionally resulted in the abolition Of
slavery, and that nobody. but God was to be
thanked for it.
He further said:
If you ask me the question, whether the
W hite men of the North or the men Of the
South is your friend, will answer you by
saying that hope and believe both of them
are but ifit comes to question of certainty
as to whitd OF the two is your better friend,
| shall answer plainly and tell you, the white
man ofthe South. l was born in the North,
raised and educated there, but l have spent
the last thirty years of my life in the South,
and consider myself capable of judging be-
tween the two people, particularly in refer
ence to Yourselves. know the Northern
man or Yankee, as you call him, from the
crown of his hat to the sole Of his foot, and
tell YOU to-day as your friend, that the South
ern white men, with whom you were raised,
and who is acQ TAINTED with your habits and
customs, is the best friend yon have got:
Now, after you shall have found your free
dom, and, driven by stern necessity to do
something for yourselves, the question is,
what is the best for you to do? Ny advice
is to remain on tbe, plantation where you have
been accustomed to work, with Tour Former
owners, if they will nakea contract with you.
Make the best contract you can with them,
and show them that you are willing to work
fhot pH
YOUR work, than you ever have done before.
Be faithful, be honest, be interested in the af-
fairs Of the plantation see that the mules
are well fed, that the hogs get good attention,
and that the things entrusted to you be not
neglected.
fyou wish to be esteemed as ladies and
gentlemen, you must conduct yourselves &C
cordingly Cali your old master, master, and
your old mistress, mistress. It is right you
should; it is proper, it is polite, You do not
mean by calling them so that you belong to
them but that you wish to be respectful and
polite, and to give no cause Tor offence, but
rather desire to please. don't say that you
mast call them master or mistress; but say
it is civil and polite to do it, and you must,
therefore, do it. I have known many white
servants, and there are thousands in the
North, where was raised, and it is so is En-
gland, too, who call those who employ them,
master and mistress. 1t is term of respect
and Difference. and they call them thus be-
cause this is So. There they, as I said before,
are white sergants and they till the land,
feed the stock, and do other work that is done
here, and they are respected, and all OF them
find employment, as you may do II you con-
duct yourselves properly.
But YOU must not think, because you are
as free as the white people, that you are their
equal, because you are not. You will have to
be able to write a book, build railroad, a
steam engine, steamboat, and thousands Of
other things you know nothing Of They
are far ahead Of you, and it is foolish to think
they are not superior to you and will ever be !;
b;it' they will help you rise ifyou try to raise
yourselves and you must try, and make fast
friends of them, and not, by bad behavior to-
wards them, make them hate you.
:: X
The President will not give you one foot Of
land, nor mule, nor hog, nor cow, nor even
a knife and fork or spoon. 4 voice-"Dar !!
old man, hear dat? OATS bad egg Dat
chicken won't hatch no how,'l He has Civ
en- YOU your freedom, aAd that IS every thing
he intends to give you, and tha: is enough !;
and some of YOU will understand me when |
tell you why Before the war, each one o?
YOU was worth in dollars and cents to your
owners eight hundred or a thousand or fifteen
hundred dollars; worth more than fifty acres
or eighty acres ofland, and a mule thrown in.
Well, the President has, in giving you your
freedom, taken so many dollars and cents
from your old masters; and he thinks, as
do, they have lost enough, and you by it have
had enough given you. If he were to give
YOU more it would prove a curse to you.
The Governor concluded as follows: 81
believe have covered the whole ground and
said all that is necessary. If, however, have
left anything out, let me know what it IS.
Come up! you have right to ask; so speak
out! There a few .unimportant questions
were asked, which were satisfactorily an
swered7 Now, before l conclude, wish to
ask you, are you satisfied? Arey you? we
are by all. Will you promise me to do the
best you can, be kindly disposed to all to be
good men and women? I'VE Will Goc
help you do it,"
TO tell lies before you get up in the NOR
ming is no sin. It is only lying IN bt@.