The state chronicle. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1883-1893, 1885-09-04
For The state Chronicle
''IIORNS IN THE FLESH.r
\ Review of Capt. ". j. Floyd'> Book
OF Southern Romance and History

OF Southern Romance and History
The office Of reviewer is by no means an
eny liable one, for. where he would like to
sing poems Of praise, frequently he has 70
condemn, and where, for many reasons,
his feelings would urge him to breathe
maledictIOn, a strict sense Of justice con
strains him TO say kind words. Thus We
feel that We are beset with many dltficul-
ties, as We begin our task Of commencing
the good qualities Of this ~ Olce OF vlndI-
cation from the South, lest we do 50 at
the risk Of not condemning its errors for
many errors it most surely has. Like
some other books-especlally novels and
more especially American novels, We find
in this work much to admire and much or
more not To admire; and while we shall
charge the author with some of his sins of
commission. we also trust to give HIM
credit for the many merltOrlOuS parts OF
his handiwork Hence, We viii begin
with the credit column of olAaccount with
Captain Floyd, and conscientiouoly en-
GcaVOr to make due Acknowledgement Of
such items Of worth as he IS entitled 10
credit for, waving all charges against
him ''tll a more convenient season
The story opens in 81, that most mem
orabIe of all times in the history Of ouf
so-called republic, that sstime Of times
X
horrors was about to pour out 1.-THE walls
Of its wrath" upon our devoted South
land. y group Of Young men typical
Young SOutherners-ha gathered together
1T railway station and were Vehcmently
discussing the situation. Says one of
these, who seemed to be 4 sort Of spokcs
man for the crowd IT matters not what
our fathers did They did their duty IN
their times, and We shall do our duty in
ours. They made ''the old liag' to rep
resent truth and honor and we all loved
it. 1t has been seized by fanatical fac
ton and prostituted to the purposes of
political wrong, injustice and treachery
towards us, and we spit upon it. We'll
and truly said" Q youthful hero and at
least, here you are true to the spirit of the
times in which YOU ''llycd and moved and
had your being Yea, you are vOicing
the spirit Of that past when states We're
Sovereign States that good ''auld lang
sync" ere a fanatical olgarchy had blottcd
out the inalienable and constitutional
rights of the people of these United
States, But we pass on, and here Will
give cur author credit for Very useful
though startling piece Of lnformatlon
Vide page 2:}.
''ln the Spring of the year 1861, Md
shipman McCook, son or nephew of Major
General on the Union side, was in Rich
moud Va, attending the sitting Of the
L. 5 Court as a witness against the
Captain and crew of SLAYER which his
vessel, the san -]acinto had captured
crowded with Africans, packed almost
like Sardines in Il box, as Mr.. McCook eN-
pressed it, and bound for the Gulf coast
Of louisiana The poor creatures were
taken back, sent up the Congo river and
liberated ana a crew furnished from ;iIt
san Jacinto under the command Of Mr.
McCook to take the captured vessel, Off
GERS and crew to Norfolk Va. Mr. Nc
Cook stated to DR.. Granville K. Lewis, a
gentleman Of the highest character, :
That the vessel was owned wholly by Bos-
ton capitalists philanthropists. and that
the officers and crew We're all New Eng
landcrs afd We're most of them from BOs-
ton New Bedford and Marblrhead <
In our opinion, the above is
a VERY significant piece of information. C1
! ON page 66. we find that when the SLAVES
! Of lankeedom were emancipatcd by
law, III ,,all New England only fifty three
| negro slaves were liberated, the others
/ being sold before the time appointed for
/ The law to go into effect
Another useful piece Of information and
which the Puritanical hi>toriograp pliers of
slavery have wholly ignored is the follow
/ ing on page 81: The first abolition So
cirty ever organized there New England
had for its president a retired skipper,
/ who had made his fortune kidnapping
negroes in Africa, and selling them in
/ America, and the first negro insurrection
| IN Virginia was inStigated and brought
about by that society" Again, our au-
thor makes happy hit in the following,
| which Will be recognized as being pecu
| harly pointed by every Southerner: THE
| ReYoIutlon-Nirg irglnlas real rebellion,
(mranng our first great struggle for local
| self government, which was a true rebel
| lion in the lust sense of the word
on page 10. he puts into the mouth OF
| "old NANNY" the following lofty senti-
| mcnt readily recognized as being true tC
the character Of the old time family ne
| gro by I'LL who have ever been thrown
ntocontact with this nearly extinct species
| OF the genus homo: 'Es for richness dat
don make quality. Its fam bly, niger
ON page 2S0 he describes the feelings, &c
Of a negro when under the power of {
Puritan Nephistopheles. who is melting
| him to arson and murder. The negro
made his exit from the presence of the ole
mistress, whose house only twenty foul
! hours previously he had believed he wa.
willing to see fired over her head; not be
CtllSt Oh ttlN Nttul OIL lOhe dlltl respect IO
the inmates, towards whom he had neNt
entertained one feeling Of resentment o
unkindnesS, but because he had beer
made, under the influence of Il malignan
and superior intelligence, to believe tha
the mastery of the white people over th,
African was the one great obstacle in tn,
way OF lie advent OF 4 social millennium
in which there would be no more care
worry and toll; no more sin, SORROW an,
suffering forever. We unhesitatinyl
say the above idea is Well expressed an,
explained.
ON page 1872 the following occurs an,
has the true Southern, States rights ring
"Our people consider constitutions Il
above and superior TO governments. ant
when government violates and make
itself superior to its constitution we hav
no more respect for it than any othe
powerful organized mob or band of revo
lutionists A sentiment scarcely un
worthy Of a Toombs' But we pass on t
page 209 on which we find this pertnen
limplied) advice: ..Our Southern peopl
have been very much to blame for allow
ing the Peter Parleys' Of literature t
write all the school histories" hint ou
Carolina pedagogues might profit by eS
f pecially when we have our lamented Ste
phens ''lIistory of the United States a
we'll as our own Moores s'HiStory of Mort
Carolina. Again, on the same page