The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1867-03-23
Alta irs at the South,
LECTURE OF GEN. HOWARD.


an interesting lecture at the First Baptis
Church, i'll Washington, on tho 18th inst.
! on the condition Of the South aud its peo
pie, as observed by him during his recent
tour in that section. The lecture was de.
! livered under the auspices of the Young
Meu 4 Christian Association, and, in addi-
ton to the desire Of our citizens to benefit
! this worthy organization, the prominence of
the lecturer and the interesting nature of
! the subject served to attract the large audi.
cnce, from which We copy q few extracts. -
The speaker opened his remarks as follows:
Ny Frieads-l will present you this even.
ing dlscursivo account of Il journey in the
Southern States during the holidays, refer.
ring especially to the condition Of the freed.
men, but incidentally to the events of the
past, and feeling necessarily awak ened in
the mind OF Il soldier by Il trip through
section of country made more than familiar
to HIM by the operations Of war.
joined Congressional party from Wash.
ington bound for New Orleans. As the
party was to stop at the larger places for
the purposes OF observation and endowment
sufficient time to enable me TO make in.
quirlcs and take notes, considered myself
fortunate in an invitation to accompany
them.
We stopped for few moments at Culpcp.
per Court House. hal time to make in.
qniries of white and colored. The one arm.
ed Freedmen ) Bureau officer there joined
The party on the train and went as far as the
next station. He reported ''all classes gen
orally in good condition; colored people
con,enled; good coored schools, taught by
tN.6 l,1,
schools had nearly ceased AtCharlottes.
vile, Gordonsvillc, Lynchburs, and other
small places en- route here was similar ties.
timony, accompanied, however, with an oc.
casional shrug Of the shoulders, and some
expressions or signs Of great contempt for
the niger bureaus and ''nigger schools"
AS the cars halted at Bristol, town on the
boundry line between Virginia and Tennes.
see, two colored girls went through the train
with subscription papers to raise money to
establish . colored school. They pleaded
hard: eve have no school. If we can get
one hundred dollars to buy lot our people
will build the house This indicates the
spirit everywhcre "Give us schools for
our children and ourselves = "We want
to learn it is almost universal inspira.
ton. hrlcave it was at Jonesborough that
Lhe Knoxville delegation met us, composed
young ncn of EastTcnncssee are all aglow
with loyalty,
The next morning found our party On the
road to Nashville. Near Murtreesboro' the
train stopped, and all the party visited q
second National Cemctery. This is finely
laid out in plats on level ground. \ notice
able feature Is the numerous ranks or head.
boards of unknown dead.
At Nashville we were all welcomed with u
diuner aud speeches. After saying 4 few
words, as loyal as | could make them,
escaped to the State House, where the color.
I'd people met us in public assembly. They
were quite contcntcd herc--good schools,
fair wages. soon to have suffrage. | think
il must have been the colored aristocracy
that came out, for the dresses Of the ladies
would have done hcnor TO the Presidents
reception. Who would mako these pdople
slaves again?
Our pleasant party sct out for Memphis
over the Memphis and Charleston Railroad
In the morning Of Christmas day We found
ourselves skirting the northern line of Ala
bama. At every station where the train
stopped mingled with the curious crowd
that had assembled to catch n glimpse of
that great Radical, Ben Wade. There
were plenty ot co!nrcd men TO tell me of
wages, schools and Justice. The white men
were generally rough and frank, and treated
me well for the most part, Occasionally a
young man would shout for jeff Davis, and
ycx himself at my foreign uniform.
The shrcwdest viliaiEy practiocd by some
very respectable men upon the poor freed
men is the kecring stores for them on the
places WHARF they work, and generally cred
Ting them with supplies at cxorbilant nrices
Yon should have seen and heard a Iouisiano
freedman pleading with me to ston these
wrongs along the river countios In my
own liability to defend them, | could not !
beln rcpeatinr to myself the scrIpture-I'I
will repay, saith the Lord
At Chattanooga left the Congressional
party. end took nv way with General Snwall
southwark At hight again we traversed
the fields where. for more than n hundred
DAYS, our men had fought and Ganked and
driven back our persistent foo,
A meeting of the colored people. held at
Montgomery during nv STAY at that place,
was remarkable one A LARGE poon, ,ro,
filed with men from The c;tv and rom d,f
fercnt PARTS If the STATE After U vnr;o o,'
sneakers had Denoted to me- somawhat IN
detail the poverty, suflerinps. and ill.nsoro
to which they had been subjected bv nrou1
naughty, dominecrinc, selfish men. / asked
them suddenly. whats the remedy OIL
Some answered "Giye us tho r;ghts r.
protect ourselves" Ithen said: stDo Won
wish the colored peonl, to yote9,, Wiz
one voice they said ives" Butone oftheir