The western sentinel. [volume] (Winston-Salem, N.C.) 1887-1926, 1889-02-07

school. He is one Of the few survivors
of class which will soon be extinct
the former body servant of an ante
bellum Southern planter. Fortunate
ly for him as we'll as for future gener-
ations this type of the Southern negro
has been immc rtalized in the books OF
Harris and Page. But for them our
children would be unable to form an
adequate conception of the Colonel and
his contemporaries, since the negro of
these degenerate days offers no parallel
to the negro of thirty years ago. No
one realizes this more thoroughly than
Col. Lane. He often laments the fact
that even his own sons are in no wise
worthy to fill his place in the world.
When I saw him last summer, he con-
sumed fully two hours Of time and
about a quarter of pound of my best
tobacco discussing the negro problem
in the South, his idea being that the
race was fast degenerating into "'lat-
ter niggers" and "corn-ield hams" :"
He ihtimated to me that this question
was causing him no little trouble both
for personal and philanthropic ressons.
The personal reason seemed to be his
boy Tim, a bright negro lad of some
fifteen years "You jes look at dat
boy Nv mine," he said "Kaise he dun
been to school md got little larnin'
he 'magines hisself able to 'spute wifi
his Ole Daddy ON pints of conduc' an
'ligion. Mo- ZEN dat he even hav' de
imperrence to low as how his ole
Daddy bin md do what he call
stultuousfy hisself kaise he fout in de
ayrmy. Encose 1 amt lay no gret
sto' by what de chile say, bein' as I
knowed his talkin' dat way all cum
long Nv his 'sotiatin' wifi dat stuck up
black school teacher Nv hissen, but it
caused me some oneasiness in my mine
when I gifts to ponderin' on what dis
worp comm to-" Among the Colonel's
many troubles not the least appears to
be schism which has lately sprung up
in his church, and is endangering
some of its fundamental doctrines.
The Colonel is a Baptist and firmly
adheres to the tenets of that persuasion
as they are expounded by the Rev.
William D. Robertson. When l had
the pleasure of communing with him
last, he was returning from religious
council called together by this rever-
end gentleman for the purpose of en-
quiring into certain unorthdox views
held by the younger lights about the
altar of the Thumb Run Baptist
church. Last September the congre
cation divided, and there is now as
every one knows two Thumb Run
churches old and the new. The
old,is very strict in all its rules aud
regulations. No member on pain of
accommodation can attend any
church but his own. The New Light,
as they call themselves, believe or rath-
er hint on the other haud that there
may be possibility in the mercy of
God by which some fugitive souls out
side the Thumb Run Tabernacle may
be saved so, as l said, these liberal
members went off and focked by them
selves. In spite of opposition the New
Light grew and waxed strong in the
error Of its ways, while the old and
original branch ls very small branch
indeed, there not being more than
fifty left in the congregation. But
these are a Spartan band, made up en-
tirely of old family servants from the
surrounding plantations. All these
narrowing circumstances have render
ed the Colonel very touchy on the sub
ject, and he never speaks of his relig-
ion to strangers. But as I am NUM-
bered among that very select body of
persons whom the Colonel calls his
friends, he spoke to me freely of his
trouble. feel, however, in duty
bound to confess here that no personal
merit of my own attained me this dis
tinction, it being due entirely to the
excellence of the Durham tobacco
which smoke, and to the fact that
the Colonel was my body servant dur
ing the war.
So the Colonels righteous indigna.
ton being kindled against sin and sim
ners, I was favored with q full cata-
logue of his wrongs, and was further
instructed in the only true interpreta-
tion of the divine plan Of salvation.
My strict regard for the condolences
of my friends alone restrains me from
giving the Colonel's explanation o1
the scripture IN toto to the readers ol
The SENTINEL. Suffice it to say
however, that he closed his harangue
in a spirit of dogmatism which would
do honor to many more enlightened
If not more sincere, expounders O