Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1885-11-08
NEGRO SUPERsTrIoSS.
tnsysrs.i Bsiicf IN Sercssx -fssw an Ecs-
exsoa t,sasmss WIS " Trickcd.-


al hain't got no money. but ] specs
10 hab' right smart heap oh cotton in
de fall, and I want TO buy suit OBJ
olo' 10 my ole man." The speaker
was an old negro woman addressing
The owner Of yariety-store in Grenada,
Miss, town which divided the homer
Cor dishonor) Of the highest death rate
IN the yellow-ferer epidemic Of 1881
with Shreveport, La. IL is in the
heart Of the cotton-belt. ] bad come
down 20 the place from Memphis
to make little study Of negro life in
the far South, and lad drifted into this
little shop as afording . good post Of
observation. II was Saturday night.
Negroes Of al classes and conditions
were buying their Sunday supplies on
fhe apparently flexible, but really In
exorable. system Of southern credit;
the system Of the pawn-shop applied TO
the produce OF tbs field. Their dis
tinctive characteristics were immense
muscular development, overlooking
good humor, and clothing whose tatters
and colors were beyond the language
of mortal man to describe. In this
merry mob, had noticed the old wo-
man / have quoted, fdgeting restlessly
among some empty barrels, waiting for
her turn TO trade. At last. when her
chance came, she sprang forward with
moDkey-like agility, rested her elbows
on the counter, planted her chin in the
palms Of her hands, and, in a curiously
hollow and nnear:hly voice, like voice
from the throat OF en- animated
mummy, which she greatly resem-
bled. made her demand with
much solemnity and earnestness.
q But sunty," said the shopman,
"your old man has been dead this ten
years, and surely you are not going to
get married again" Without moving
her body, the old woman rolled her
eyes till she fixed them full on the
traders face, and then replied with vest
dignity, 4" Go long 60 long now with
your foolishness. l specs | knows
what ] wants for Cynthy! She done
gone say dis afternoon she's gwine to
raise my ole man tomorrow from de
grave, and / wants some decent clo'
TO- him to wear when folks come roun'
to shake him by de ham,"
Twill not dwell on the good-natured
tact shown by the shop-keeper in put
ting aside aunty's demand, for | had
only related the incident 20 show how
intensely real was the joint hold Of
Cyntby and superstition on the mind Of
the Grenada negro. AS ] afterward
learned, this Cynthy was q Degress Of
great eloquenoe and some insanity, who
was regarded by nine tenths Of the
blacks in the vicinity in the double
light Of conjurer and prophecies. The
negro Of the far South is strange COM
pound Of hereditary pagan and emo
tiopal Christian, and this completely Of |
character leads him blindly and in
stinctively to follow any leader who can
invest himself or herself with an Rtmos- |
phere Of
RELIGION AND MYSTERY.
This role Cynthy filled to perfection, |
lived il, looked it, was it. In word, |
she embodied the genius Of her race in
tensified by little madness that only |
added to her supernatural personality /
IN the eyes Of her followers. She was
an old woman at any rate old enough |
to have so far outlived the friends Of /
her youth that her admirers found /
il easy TO invest her origin in mar
vellous fables without having some |
envious aunty rise up to disprove |
them. Her habits Of life were odd |
and uncAnpy. She lived in a soil
tary cabin outside the town, with no /
visible means Of support. As she
could have levied an unqualified tax on
every ounce Of -four and bacon in q
hundred negro cabins, this last per-
Torrance does not seem so very super
natural, but it helped to fill the bill Of
mystery. When she came into town
she was always Enthusiastically dressed,
and invariably carried upon her Shout
der staff decked with many colored
ribbons. When asked why she carried
this appendage, she would reply in
an oraculAr way that she was bearing
the world on her shoulders. She
was powerful preacher, and drew vast
crowds whenever she spoke in the fields
or cabins. Her discourses contained
much good sense and sound advice,
mixed with some fantastic exhOrtstion.
One would have expected her &c preach
the narrowest and hottest creed, but,
curiously enough, some Of her doc
trines sounded much like liberal Bos-
ton faith. For instance, instead of
holding out the terrors Of an indis-
criminate hell TO all evil-doers, she care
fully insisted on graduation Of punish
ments. :" II yeus Ibis right, yous viii
git to heben; if yous Lbs wrong, yOus
will 20 TO hell sho'; but if yous goes
to hell, yous viii git what you deserve
no mo-, no less-according to de deeds
yous done in de body. Now, hOneys,
don't forget that when you feels like
cutting up Ii is not hard to see that
. weird, eloquent old creature of this
sort would have more or less influence
IN any rustic community, but with the
Grenada negro it was absolutely I'M
bounded.
The incident which l have related of
the old negress wanting TO buy suit
Of clothes for her husband, whom Gym
thy would raise from the dead, was
only an illustration of common be-
lief in her power to call departed dar-
kies back to life. greatly doubt whe-
ther the shrewd Cynthy ever laid claim
to such mighty power, but rumor did
it for her. and the credulo1s blacks &C
cepted il without question.
Another awful gift accorded to Gym (
thy by popular belief was her power to
cast an evil eve, or, as the negroes call
il, ito trick" This curious belief in
trucking meets the observer Of negro
character throughout all the old slave
section, but becomes more intense and
fanAtical as one goes South. To be {
g. tricked," in negro dialect, CORE {
spends very nearly to being bewitched 1
in the speech Of the North. The
q. tricking" applies not only to persons, /,
but to places and things, and means I
that {