Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1875-12-22
Fran the Galaxy for December.
Ny FRIEND PHIL.

EAdAu lAt NaAaAy lOf OeCSuOeT.
MY FRIEND PHIL.
To begin with, Phil was black; and
the reader will please understand that
the work black is here used in its literal,
not its conventional sense. Phil was
actually as well as ethnologically black.
There was no trace of lighter tint any
where III his complexion. Not a sus-
p1clon OF brown appeared in his cheeks,
and even his great thick lips, protrud
ing far beyond the outposts OF his nose,
were as sable as the rest of his face. III
was all dead black, too, unaccom-
panied by the lustre which, by surface
reflection. relieves the shadow upon
commonplace African faces.
And nobody knew all this better than
Phil did.
:" Phil amt none O. yer coffee-colored
niggas, The would say in moments of exul-
tatlon, when his mood was to straighten
his broad shoulders and boast little
Phil amt non O. yer coffee-colored
nlggas, ner mono of yer alapncke7 Mig
gas nuther. rs black. I is. OATS
sho'. Amt got no bacoa-rind shine in
my skin; but [ jes' tell you what, massa,
Phil can take de very shut often dem
shiny niggas, an dem hoff an hoff mig
gas, when't comes to do wuk."
(By "shut " and "wuk," Phil meant
"shirt and 's work." just as he meant
E'birds when he said "buds.
Drive Kin L? Kin Phil drive !?
What do you mean, mosta, by axing
such a question On. B.-Nobody
had asked anything of the kind, but
Phh had his own ideas on the subject of
his accomplishments In this respect,
and, Like the witnesses in recent great
trial, was disposed to answer what he
wished somebody would ask. ssDrive
Course [ kin. Der never was a boss
ner mule yit what ever had mouf an
two legs dat Phil can't handle, an you
better b'ieve, mosta, Phil kin plant de
wheel 'twixt de acorn an de shell"
If 1 report Pills boastings, it is
only because they constituted too large
proportion of what he said to be omit
ted. LIDO so to confirm, not to gainsay
them, or to hold their author up to ridi-
Guile. he was my friend, the faithful,
est one I ever knew-and he sleeps now.
lie he boosted now and then, no one
could have better right. His was
the pride of performance, and not the
vanity Of pretension.
Phil was Vrginian-a gentleman in
his way-and slave, though I doubt
if he ever suspected his gentility, or
felt lis bondage as a burden in the
Least. He had nc aspirations for free
dom, or for ANYTHING else, I think, ex-
sept jollity and comfort I co not say
that this was we'll, but it was fact.
The reader will understand that this pa
per is to be In no sense an essay on
slavery. The institution " is certainly
past praying for, or against either, for
that matter, and if I speak at all of some
of its phenomena, { do so precisely as I
should describe fossil remains of any
other sort, with none but an antiquarian
interest In their peculiarities. It is
simply one or the accidents of the hum
BILE biographical sketch herein attempt
Ell, that its subject was a slave. and
perfectly content to remain SO; and I
mention the TACT just as / should state
that Mr.. Greeley was printer, if Was
writing of that gentleman g life.
My acquaintance with Phil began
when 1 was half-grown boy. Until
that time had lived in free state; so
that when returned to the land Of my
fathers and became an inmate of the old
family mansion, In one Of the south side
counties of Virginia, the plantation ne
gro was fresh and very interesting
study to me.
On the morning after my arrival. as
lay in the antique carved bed assigned
me, wondering at the quaint pictur-
esqueness OF my surroundings, and the
delightful strangeness of the life with
which WIS now Ii contact for the first
time, q vIerd, musical sound, of singu-
lar power and marvellous sweetness.
featedlt through the open dormer win
dows borne upon the breath of June
morning as / had never before seen. I
listened, but L conld make nothing of
it by guessing. It was music, certain
ly,-ahsolute music, If Mr.. White will
allow me the phrase, and yet it was
not music in the ordinary sense at ALL
1t rose and fell Like the ground swell of
the sea, and ives as full Of melody and
sweetness rs is the sore of RS but
was as destitute as they of anything
like tune. 1t began nowhere and
went nowhither. I listened entranced
and wondering, but could make nothing
OF 1t. | had no memory of anything
with which to compare it, anu could
conceive of no throat or instrument ca
pable Of producing such a sound.
Springing out of bed. made hasty
toilet and descended to the great piazza
at the front Of the house. There sat
the master Of the mansion, and of him
etraightway made inquiry.