The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1881-12-08
WHOLE NO. 1898.

black-snake, and ebery morning he as
de snake: Who been off de place i
de night?' Den de snake point 'en
all out, and de oberseer tell 'em wha
dey been and what dey been doing
Pretty soon old master buy some ney
hands, and 'mong dem was an old AT
rican, and de fust thing he do he xii
de snake, and den his owner soon gi
sick and die. Him teach me den.
And, as these things were afterwar'
authenticated to me, | suppose tn,
overseer may have had really SOM
clairvoyant power, and have combined
it with the pet snake in order to con
troll the large Negro element unde
his care. His death was very proba
bly, caused by some drug or herb actu
ally mingled in his food or drink.
Old Uncle Archy, who lives in Man
chester, Va, is perhaps as queer :
specimen of his class as could b.
found, though he is modest enough tc
admit that he is not so powerful as
some of the Richmond coniurers. z
suppose no one could guess his age
He says he served George Washing.
ton, and he looks old enough to have
served Columbus. His house is just
big enoug to turn round in. Outside
it is covered, walls and roof, with tin;
inside, every distinction is lost in the
sensation of all-pervading dirt; but he
exhibits it with a kind of dignifed
pride, saying: 81 amt got nobody
here to bother me-neider man,
'ooman, nor chile, bless de Lordr'
His hearing is quick, his sight keen,
and he is fond of telling stories.
my son Joe," he said to me, went
as body servant to Massa Ed in de war.
Joe, he was mighty hot and peart fur
glory; so he got Massa Ed to let him
go to de fight at Bull Run. Fust he
done purity well; but long bout whar
de real fighting come in Joe disappear,
and Massa Ed didn't see no more OBJ
Joe till two days after de fighting
ober. Den in walk Joe, as big as Sun
day.
"'Whar you bin, Joe?' asked Massa
Ed. I done fote you killed
"'Well, no; not 'zactly, cap'en.
You see, long as dem plaguey Yankees
use dem little guns, like white gen'le-
mans, [ fighted as good as any one;
but when dey let go dem big guns,
what say 'W-h-o-y-o-ur' fote you
like cup oh strong coffee, Massa Ed,
so [ jist run down to Manassa juno
ton, to see if | could git it fur you
Old Archy cultivates his acre Of
lon h. b
patch of tobabco; but he is, like the
rest Of his class, intensely miserly.
The Scotch have a proverb "Of the
breed of the witches, they can do no
good to themselves" but this proverb
will not apply to Negro wizards and
witches. As a rule, they are very
rich, and, as a rule almost without an
exception, they hide away their gold
where it does no good, even to them
selves. They are simply hoarders.
Archy's charms were very silly, and
could only have appealed to the most
ignorant and credulous Of his race.
One that he exhibited with great pride
was double piece of twine, with sew
en- knots in each end, and small bum
die of herbs in knotted bag in the
center. This charm had been prepar-
ed for especial use among church
and was to be taken out of
the pocket night and morning, with
prayer for the owners OtCn acay-a
prayer which | should not like to
write nor any good person to read 1t
must be noted, however, that knots
hold high place in Negro witchcraft;
and many Negroes have told me that
during the war they were used to
transmit intelligence they burst not
speak, also that in slavery times they
were an Ineligible language on some
points, well understood by every slave
in the South.
Whatever that faculty is which the
Scotch call second sight" and others
clairvoyance, the Negro race possesses
it in a remarkable degree. There is a
kind Of prescience, not the growth of
as in the Saxon, but the
result of simple instinct, in even Afri-
can women that cannot fail to attract
the attention. Instances abound; but
the following, being beyond dispute,
will illustrate well enough what |
mean. The late pastor of the African
Church in Richmond Ia church with
a membership of five thousand), pre-
dicted in his pulpit that he would
preach no more till he preached in
Zion, as he would die that week. He
was then in perfect health, but he was
in his grave the following Sabbath.
The same man heard three young Ne
gro men jesting about religion, and
stepped up to them and said: Before
three weeks are over | shall preach
one Of you a funeral sermon" And
he did so. | heard from indisputable
numerous instances of the
same kind, and the gift, if it be gift,
is one very common, both among men
and women.
| must observe that the Church de-
cidedly condemns conjuring in any
form, and refuses membership to all
who countenance or practice it; but,
for all that, | know that large ma
jority of Negroes think it good thing
to worship God publicly and the Devil
nor have those working for
the elevation Of the Negro taken suf-
into their consideration this
stupendous hinderance in his upward
course.
RICHMOND, VA.
AFTER New Years no child under
twelve can be employed in any manu-
featuring establishment in New
L., h.