Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1866-10-04
THE NEGROES AND THEIR MASTERS.
A Confederate Generals Charge to q Grand


Jury.
Judge I'll. D. Clayton, an ex-Confederate
General, in his charge to the Grand Jury
of Pike county, Ala, on the 9th of Sep
TENDER, used the following language in re-
gard to the late slaves
There is a class of population clothed with
certain civil rights and privileges, which
they did not possess until recently and in
dealing with which you may experience
some embarrassment. I, of course, allude
TO the negroes. Among the terms upon
which the Confederate States terminated
their heroic struggle for separate and in
dependent nationality, was one which guar
anteed freedom to this race. Although we
deplored the result as alike injurious to
the country and fatal to the negroes, the
law has been placed upon our statute books
IN solemn form byus, through our delegates
The laws for their government have been
repealed and others substituted, adapted to
their new condition. We are in honor
bound to observe these laws. For myself
do not hesitate to say in public or in pri-
vate, officially and unofficially, that after
having done all could to avert it, when
took off my sword in surrender, I deter
mined to observe the terms of that surren-
der with the same earnestness and fidelity
with which I first shouldered my musket
True manhood requires no deception, but
that as we say with our lips, we shall feel
in our heart, and do with our hands.
There is nothing in the history of the
past of which we need be ashamed. While
We cherish its glorious memories, and that
Of our martyred dead, we pause here and
there to drop a tear over their consecrated
ashes, but remember there is still work foc
the living, and set ourselves about the work
of re-establishing society and rebuilding
our ruined homes. Others, unwilling to
submit to this condition of things, may
seek their homes abroad you and I are
bound to this soil for life, for better or for
worse, and it must at last cover our remains.
What, then, is our duty? To pine at our
lot? To sit down night and day, cursing
and gnawing our chains That is not the
part of manliness, but to rise up and go
forward performing our high mission as
men. "He that does the best his circum-
stances allow does well-acts nobly-angels
could do no more" Is it not enough that
the blood of the best and bSavest has been
shed in every valley throughout the land
Is it not enough that the bones of our ia
theirs and brothers and sons lie whitening
on every hilltop? Is it not enough that
the voice of lamentation has been heard al
every freside ? Is it not enough that the
wailings of the widow and the orphan still
sound in our ears Have we not suffered
enough Have we not done all that was
in the power of human nature =? In oul
own bosoms let us wear this consciousness
as jewel above price.
Now let us deal with the facts before us
as they are. The negro has been made
free. It was no work of his. He did not
seek freedom, and nominally free as he is
he is helpless beyond xpression-helpless
by his want of habits and self-reliance-
helpless by his want of experience; anG
doubly helpless by his want of comprehen
sion to understand and appreciate his con
dition. From the very nature of the sur
Iroundings, so far as promoting his welfare
and adapting him to his new relation tc
society, are concerned, all agencies from
abroad must prove inadequate They may
restrain in individual instances, but we are
the only people in the world who under
stand his character, and hence the only
people in the world capable of managing
him.
To remedy the evils growing out of the
abolition of slavery, it seems two things are
necessary. First, recognition of the free
dom of the race as fact, and the willing
enforcement of them. Secondly, by treat
ing them with perfect fairness and JUS
tice in our contracts, and in every way in
them. By the first we convince the world OF
our good faith, and get rid of this system OF
espionage, by removing the pretext of its
necessity ; and by the second we secure the
services of the negroes, learn them then
places and how to keep them, and convince
them, at last, that we are indeed their best
friends. When we do this, let us hope that
society will revive from it's present shock
and our land be crowned with abundant
harvests. We need the labor of the ne
groes all over the country, and it is worth
the effort to secure it. If it would not be
extending this charge beyond what [ con
ceive to be a proper limit of time for it,
delivery, might enlarge upon this subject
by showing the depressing effect upon the
country which would be produced by the
sudden removal of SO much of it's produc
tive labor It's first effect would be the de
creasing value OF the lands-decreased ag
ricultural products-decre&sed revenue tC
the State and county, arising from these
sources with their thousand attendant re
suits.
Besides all this, which appeals to our in
r terests, gentlemen, do we owe the negro
any grudge? What has he, himself, done
to provoke our hostility? Shall we be angry
with him because freedom has been forced
upon him Shall it excite our luminosity
GlldG TIC UOCH dHu N1UAOu
any effort on his part, torn loose from the
protection of his master? You may have
been that master He is proud to call you
master yet. In the name of humanity, le
him do SO. He may be older than you
and perhaps carried you in his arms wher
you were an infant. He may have been the
companion of your boyhood. You may bt
bound to him by thousand ties which only
Southern man knows, and which he alone
can feel in all its force. It may be tina
when only few years ago, you girded OF
! your cartrigde-box and seized your trusty
rifle to go forth to meet the inva
ders of your country, you committed t.
his care your home and your loved ones
! and when you were far away up
: on the weary march, upon the dreadful bat
tlefeld, in the trenches and on the pickle
line, many and many time you though
of that faithful old negro, and your hear
warmed towards him. Did he not raise thu
corn and meat that fed your wife and child
I rem And when you returned home, die
3 he not welcome you with tears of JOY p
. Was he not faithful to the last? believ
I there was scarcely ever such a picture o
fidelity in the world as was exhibited b,
the negroes towards us during the war