The Opelousas journal. [volume] (Opelousas, La.) 1868-1878, 1873-07-19

the requirements of society and custom
so imperative.
Once, | remember but too well-as it
was very annOying-I was refused adj
mittance and unceremOniOusly turned
away from the door of COvent Garden
Theatre, London, simply because | was
not in full dress" !. e: black swallow
tail coat and white cravat. C'Choker"
the door-keeper called the latter.) Is
the social point here seen?
Some years since, in 1851, my wife
and myself sat down to a 6 o'clock
dinner, at the restaurant of the "TrOis
Freres Provencaux,7 Palais Royal,
Paris-that city oar excellence" of re-
finement and civilization. At an ad-
joining table We're a couple, man and
wife apparently-the dar ,est Black-a-
MOOrs | ever set eyes on. No Congo
couple on my plantation could match
them in ebony and thick lips. They
comported themselves remarkably well
ate and drank Champagne frappe) like
other people. The same garcOn, Gan
elegant, neat, polite lite white French
man, waited on II respective tables.
Noticed no difference in the Service
and the attention. This was, mark yOu,
$50 far as ae were concerned, in Stare
times,) and yet, neither were we shocked
terribly, nor did we get up indignant,
leave the restaurant and loose a good
dinner. 1t all seemed very natural and
proper. And why? Simply because
we had "trdrelled," and knocked about
some in different parts of the world.
Travel cures many prejudices-sO should
a disastrous a | mention zen pas
SAINT that my restaurant neighbOr, the
Black-a-Moor, was the Minister from
Hayti to President Louis, afterwards
Napoleon III, Emperor. Why not, to-
day, Fred Douglas to President Mae
Mahon l? Our Minister, Mr.. Mason, of
Virginia, met the Hayti PlenipO at a
Court Reception. He vas fairly daz-
zled with jewels, crosses, stars and
"Grand CordOns." "Mr. MasOn,n said
the British Ambassador, with a sly
twinkle in the eye, and pointing to
"Hayti, 1"What do yOu think of that?"
d" Mr.. NJ after a scrutinizing look
through his eyeglass, "Well, I think he
is worth about five hr 1dred dollars
ct nos mutamurin Ills
Z, It is p ssing strange, Incompetent
sible, that so many of us of the South
will not look facts, "faits accOmplis,"
squarely in the face. Is there any sac
ritice of manhood in bowling gracefully
to the inevitable-tO the stern logic of
events?" throw not.
At all times, in all countries, dema-
gOgues have existed, possessed with
certain "~Crotchets for revOlutiOnizing
the elements of human nature.n Some
Of that pestiferOus scum are with us
now. But they will fail-fail as surely
ciety cannot be changed in a day-it re-
| quires long years of siege and batter
ing to do that. On the other hand, a
= political system can be carried by
e stOrm-by a "cOup-de-main.n And
there lies the difference.
j., The freedmen and ourselves have a
e common country, common interest.
Our prosperity, or poverty, is a part
= nershiD. AS n succeeds, or fails, so
does tle other. The freedman of the
South is not migratOry-where he is he
wishes to stay. He has an attachment
to his old home of slave times, singular
as it may appear. Witness how many
: have returned from the army, and from
e Texas, where they were moved during
the war. If he returns not actually to
the "Old Place. he fingers in the neigh
| bOrhOod. 1t is clear, therefore, that
. the colored people and ourselves are
destined to be joint occupants of the
country-provided we can get along to-
s gether. Is there any insurmountable
obstacle in the way to harmony and a
mutual, equitable understanding
There may Oe, from the difference Of
races. Be this as it may, our duty is
plain. Let us grant all the rights ana
privileges enjoyed b. Uhite people, equally
l. and beyond cavil, to the freedman. til
IT his business, like others, to establish
his social status-as he makes his sOcia
j. bed he must sleep on it. We must no
lie taboo" him Or place any distractions
in his way. Give him a free field and
s fair chance. Encourage him in habits
y Of industry and economy; advise him il
r matters domestic; treat him politely
- and kindly; help him to build churchei
and keep up his schools, Chat is so ia
as We" poOr white folks" CAM instruct
e educate, elevate the freedman, and then
5" if he be not of us and Witb us, for tn
IS country, for his own and our welfare
le and that of his and our descendants
why, then, it will be about time for u
to "strike tents" and migrate to-GOC
1t only knows where. For there is moth
ing more certain in this world than tn
coming ruin of the present landed in
terests if enmity between the two a C
ut is kept up and permitted to live.
v One word more, Mr.. Editor, and
Or am done. 1t is a common thing TO
Radical politicians to say, and Radica
newspapers to publish, that there ex
:" lists at the South a strong prejudic
% against Northern men," so-called. I
is a mistake and a SANDER. That W
a. have some prejudice against thieves, n
is matter where they come from, is, per
it haps, true-but that we have any agains
Id honest men, whether they come frOn
the NOrthOr elsewhere, is positively no
u true. The intelligent and representa-
N tive men of the South respect the goo
Id and true men of the North. We admir-
ergy, industry, enterprise, vitality an
vast wea-,jh. They are truly "live men,
er and make things lively wherever the
tie go-and on what spot of this rather ex
70. tensive globe are there not some O
le, them to be found? Far from shuttin
the door in their faces, we want theI
Le. to come down here and infLS" some O
their indOmitable business spirit an
u ever-sleepless vitality into our dorman
-. faculties. We want them to brin
their capital here [for we have no mon
wv ey), and keep on, as they have alread
lie. done to a great extent, building oil
railroads, steamships, steamboats,, Open
by ing our rivers and developing the al
most incalculable geographical and eli
as matte resources of the great South.
wv Fancy an INTELLIGENT SOutherner an
OF ex-Confederate s~04dier-once a gentle
1t man and o man of wealth (mOstOf the1
aUere so)-th0ugh now poor, dispirite
Wr and Respondent, objecting to, and OF
ed posing the advent into the South, n
Iy matter from what quarter of the Worl(
of men charged with such q mission an
n, filled with such high purposes. TIL
idea is DrepOsterous. "Vale.n