The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1867-08-30
Correspon ience OF the Richmond Dispatch.
kambEeB In Virginia.

oSVooi kos ACols
This is, dietically, the luxurious season
in Old Virginia-that is, in the rural dis
tricts, unless people are very lazy-for,
with little care and attention in the
spring and early summer, we may have On
abundance and variety Of the best vegeta-
bles in the world, good watermelons and
fruit, and plenty of chicken, if not also q
supply Of lamb and bacon. In some fami-
lies, in spite Of the times and the inevita-
BILE niggers, we find the evidences of thrift
and good management on the farm, at the
cOw-pen, and among the gardens, truck
patches, and chicken coopS. Energy will
tell. 1t is that quality in human nature
which, more than any other, seems to re-
move mountains; and no where else do its
fruits more evidently appear when you are
visiting among the farmers than on the
table.
Around some houses you see falling
fences, tumble-down stables, the gaunt,
hungry pigs astray, and you hardly hear
the chirp Of chicken, while your ap-
proach to the door is noticed by q feeble
bark from poor old dog, who seems al
most too feeble to open his mouth and give
forth this miserable sound. When the
master Of this establishment appears, you
will see sad face, and hear the complaints
of sad and discouraged heart. The ne
groes wont work; the news from Wash
ington is untavorable the times are out
of joint; money is scarce; the wheat crop
is Il failure; the corn is burning up; the
tobacco is poor; the hogs have the cholera
and the chickens are dying from a new
disease. 1t is difficult to see where this
gentleman's sorrows will end, or what con-
junction Of circumstances would improve
his condition. A pocket full of greenbacks
would probably, in the end, increase his
miseries tenfold.
His neighbor has good deal of trouble
with the darkies; but by dint Of coaxing
and encouraging in one way and another,
feeding we'll and paying punctually, giving
little attention to the political sky and
great deal to his farm, he has made good
crop of wheat, and has fine promise of
corn and tobacco. His pigs are lively,
and amid the cackling of the madam's
hens, the quacking of her ducks, the jab-
bling of the geese, the lowing of the herds,
the .hippy de flop Of that old churn, and
the marching and countermarching of Sc
veral lively darkies who seem well-to-do
in the world, the squalling of the twin
babies as they roll about the floor, the
hustle of the larger ones as they 60 about
their work, and the gossip of two or three
maiden aunts and half dozen younger
cousins from town, you almost forget that
the land is desolate, the people are starv-
ing. and the negroes are free. But energy
will tell.
The negroes are more demoralized this
year than in all the preceding years that
have elapsed since their emancipation.
Politics and political meetings were the
baue Of the whites in better days, and the
village statesmen Of the sabler hue are
falling into the footsteps of their illus
trious predecessors. One of these Union
Leaguers told his wife, when she inquired
why he needed to attend the meetings so
often, that if he did not 60 he would be
put upon the same footing aoith the ,chite
people. What he meant is inferential.
Some of the patriotic white co0perationists
who have joined the leagues have been
told that they must take the back seats
the colored gentlemen are to have all the
offices. This, perhaps, is the footing Of
white man.
The devotion to public affairs will yield
bitter fruit this winter. The people of the
North form their opinion Of the condition
to which the negroes have been translated
by the rose-colored letters of schoolmis-
tresses in towns and villages, who tell
sweet stories Of sprightly little colored
boys and girls, and send to the journal of
the " Freedmen's Aid Association +" copies
OF their incipient essays in letter-writing
and composition. All very we'll and no
humane person will wish that such efforts
may be fewer or less successful. But the
truth viii come out by and by. Want and
starvation will cease to be confined to the |
crowded cellars and mean suburbs Of the
cry. Inc country negroes will suffer for
bread, and this will come to pass fearfuliy
Inns winter. It is already begun.
what are these patches Of corn
here 10 an acre which may yield
abushel. The owner Is at the courthouse
listening to the, vile haraugue of some
strolling seekers Of Office or notoriety
whose names deserve not even to be
printed. The OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES of a
family of ten-comes back with vague
Ideas OF what he has heard, building cas-
Ties In the air. His wife returns from a
days visiting or an unsuccessful effort to
peg or borrow little meal, and his chill
dren from the fields, where they have been
TO feed on berries and fruits. Let the
saDgnine emancipationist look into this
cabin In the depths Of the next winter.