The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1869-02-24

JOR EELlLUAl AM
-ZSLsxryaroN, Va, February Y, 1863.
rhara was perpetrated near here on Sa-
,nrdav evening most atrocious robbery.
ns9ro named Lee Morrison followed 8
yonns man by the name Of Beaver out OF
Town knocked him down with an axe,
dragged him in the bushes, and left him
for dead, after robbing him Of oil the mo-
new he had (asmall amount} and portion
Of his clothing. Young Beaver is in q crlti Il,
cal situation, but it is thought that he will
recoyer. The negro was arrested on yes
tsrday and lodged in Jail. There was great
indignation against him among the negroes,
and thrests made by them to lynch him.
Considerable excitement was created here
on Saturday morning by the arrival of q
colored brass band from Richmond, who
ssrenaded the orators for the 22d and Gen
cral Lee, and performed for the cadets at
their dress parade, to the great delight Of
the small boys white and oolored).
But to-day has been the great day Of the
year with our colored people. At an early
hour they began to pour into town and line
our streets until the crowd was estimated
at. fully three thousand. A procession
with several societies in uniform in the
lead-was formed, which paraded the prin.
cipal streets and escorted to the courthouse
yard the orators of the day, who rode IN
the best carriage which the town affords.
The sidewalks along the line Of the process
sion were lined with students, cadets, citi-
zens. and negroes, but not the slightest dis
turbance occurred. Fortunately the day
was very favorable for out-of-door speak
ing, and the courthouse yard was crowded
with an audience white and black which
gave most excellent attention to the speak
ers.
Rev. Mr.. Pratt, pastor of the Presbyte-
r;an church here, was first introduced, and
made most telling speech. He hailed
the presence of this immense crowd
here to-day, and the fact that they had in
yited representative citizens of the town to
address them, as good onen-the sign Of
returning good feeling. There had been
some alienation after the war, which vas
perhaps natural and to be expected.
Foreign strangers had come in protesting
to be their friends, seeking to prejudice
them against the white people and making
them large promises. But they had net
got their "forty acres Of lane" or their
"mule," and we're beginning to see how 1t
was.
The real interests of the whites and
blacks of Virginia arc the same. We are
all in the same boat, and the sooner this is
understood the better: I" If we prosper you
qoil, and if you prosper we ShaA."
He then went on to show in q clear and
convincing light the condition Of their fore
fathers in Africa as compared with the con-
dition of the negro in the South-the fact
that slaves were introduced into Virginia
against her will, and that the slave trade
was carried on by Yankees.
He showed most conclusively that the
abolition party originated and was sus-
tanned, not by love for the negro, but jea-
lousy and hatred Of their masters.
He then proved that the Yankees were
not the true friends Of the negro-quoting
from Seward, Lincoln, and Helpers No
ioque-citing the refusal Of Ohio, Illinois,
Indiana, Michigan, &C., TO grant negro suf-
fragc, and Of Congress to admit Menard-
and giving striking illustrations in his own
observation ct the North of the prejudice
Of the Yankees against the negroes.
The speaker drew vivid contrast of the
condition of the negro before the WARMTH
his hog and hominy, big wood pile, good
clothes, comfortable houses, attention in
sickness and old age, all costing him no
care or anxiety-with his condition now,
and asked him to seriously consider how
much the Yankees had done for him. But
although his present condition is aUorSe, the
speaker, for one, did not despair of the
future of the negro, if he could only see
7o'to his true friends were, and 1chere his
true interests lie. The speaker then laid
down the following propositions, which he
briefly but most conclusiyely established.
First. The men who own the soil must
and will rule.
Second. The men who have the intelli-
gence will rule.
Third. The landless and the ignorant
must do the work,
Fourth. But they may become prosper
Gus. How?
/. BY industry. "Time is money" only
If it is properly improved.
2. BY honesty and integrity. By getting
good character.
3. By economy. Start Savings Bank,
and save your money.
4. BY preserving friendly relations be-
tween employer and employed.
5. BY educating your children IN the
school and the Church.
Mr.. Pratt spoke for about an hour and
quarter, and was listened to with the deep
est attention, and frequently greeted with
expressions of decided appreciation.
Major Yellott was next introduced, and
made one of his best speeches. BY way OF
introduction he passed eulogy on George
Washington, and reminded his hearers that
he was q Shareholder. He then briefly
sketched the history of slavery in America,
and brought out strikingly the fact that the
Yankees were responsible for the introduo-
ton Of slavery into the country-that they
only got rid of theirs when they found it
would not pay in their country-and that
they did this not by setting them free but
by selling them. He gave some most
striking incidents to show the prejudice
at the North against negroes, and showed
most conclusiycly that the negroes, are
not indebted to the whites, either North
or South, for their freedom.
He reviewed the history of things since
the war, and showed that the Yankees had
been working for themselves, and not for
the interests of the colored people. lie
gave ludicrous and scathing review of the
operations Of the Bureau, and showed that
while it promised everything, it had given
them nothing. He urged them now to look
out for their own interests, and as they are
TO live in Virginia with the white people
here, to seek to promote good feeling and
their common interests.
He urged that native Virginisns-not
carpct-baggerS or scslawags-are the true
friends Of the negro, and warned them
against allowing mean white men to become
their masters by binding them by the
oaths Of the Union League to vote as they
told them. VOTING WAS not necessary for