Nashville union and dispatch. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1866-1868, 1867-07-31
RonrKrs, w1TTERsoE q PGETis.
A DAY OF SORE TROUBLE.
A CoIOred Prophet FOFeteIIs the Woes
of sis PeOpIe---The white Wan shall
Join with n Strange Nation.
- a.. NF..,.tss A-aFo,,cba ~


of ETIs PeOpIe--The white Wan shall
Join with n Strange Nation.
From the Memphis Avalanche.
A correspondent living in Iiawamba
county, Mississippi, has sent us a curious
prophecy recently made by a oolored
preacher named Lewis SaKton De Costa.
and causing, il is said, immense sensation
among the blacks in that part Of MISSES
sippi. De Costa is a very old man, who
claims 10 be the son Of African parents I:
his father, who was prince, having been,
with SaKton's mother, kidnapped some
distance up the Niger, by a SLAYER, who
sold them 70 Pedro Blanco, the great
trader, AZ the Gallinas They su5se-
quently belonged TO the De Costa estate,
ia Florida, where Lewis was raised. Az
ter forty years Of slavery, he got his free
dom by saving from a burning building
the children Of his mistress. He is said
10 be man Of remarkable purity Of life,
and an army officer captain Van Nleet, }
Who heard him preach in Georgia, de-
clares that he was the most eloquent man
he ever heard in his life During the
war he could not be induced to give aid TO
either the Federal or Confederate side, HE
unvarying reply being that it was his mis-
sion 10 comfort the hearts Of his people.
Widely known and everywhere regarded
with extreme veneration by the blacks, it
j. not strange that they should be deeply
moved by his words.
A VISION.
Lol my eyes are opened and l see clear
w. For many days tasted and prayed |
put away from me all malice and sought TO
make my heart clear my life pure before
God. Alas, the heart of man is prone to
evil Like the dumb OK, he learns wisdom
slowly. confessed my sins / trusted not
in myself Then wisdom came my eyes
saw the present aud the future. The great
book Of time were opened. So profound
was my astonishment that l hungered not,
although I had tasted long. ] asked the
one who stood by me what means these
records"
The shining one said, They are the lives
Of nations-mighty people that passed
away and left no trace"
Don't God always raise mp those who
have been debased," ! asked. "No," he
replied, more often debasemenI goes before
extinction open thine eyes and see the
future Of thy people. They are proud.
They trust in themselves rather than in
God. They have forgotten the gospel rule
Bless your enemies, pray for those who
wrong you They speak bitterly. They
are led TO hate. They arc made to stand in
hostile array Look abroad now and see
the vision Of the future
Then ] was lifted up, and through the
blue sky Of summer day saw all my
people. saw them working on plania-
lions and in shops saw them in schools
and churches. They were sometimes
wr0nged, sometimes cheated, sometimes
shamefully abused because they were black,
bat men wanted their labor, and they were
slowly rising above wrong and prejudice.
Then there went forth two bearing yials
of wrath and these they poured out upon
labor became hushed. My people left the
field and the workshop. Weeds choked up
the cotton. The weeds smothered the corn.
The workshops slept Some men lay all
day under the shade trees in the vain hope
of sometime taking all the property Of the
white man. Others crowded into liquor
stores and spent their time in speaking Bit
terly of the bad past aud wishing for re.
venge.
The white people upon whom the walls
Of wrath were poured became bitter against
the eolored man. They said there are ten
millions of ms whites, while there are only
i've millions Of these blacks. Why should
We bear with them longer They seek now
20 Cypress us. They are our enemies. We
will put such burdens upon them that they
will be driven out OF blOtied out as a peo-
Pile We no longer need their labor. We
can hire men from Asia. We can get these
men who will work harder, and be glad TO
get for years work what we now pay to
black man for working one month.
Then | saw millions of people brought
with exceeding swiftness from Asia. and
they filled mp the whole Southern country,
and they were everywhere preferred to
colored men, and they settled in the land.
Then hard laws were made against blacks,
and they became outcasts and vsgabonds.
Then the angel brought me back to my
own place and said, They that seek strife
and bitterness shall perish thereby" aud !
wept much for the calamities Of my people.
A remnant may he saved il they seek peace
with AL men, and labor as God has app
pointed them.
LOUIS SANVON De COSTA.