The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1900-10-10

when freedom came. "My old master
was a good old man." he said. "Dar
was good people den and bad people
les like dar is now-blacA and white
but dc black has got wusser and wus-
sur since doy got free. I.ifcn black
man had good master he was mighty
we'll off, Fer he didn't have no sponsi-
bility. Effcn bin sho Of a good mas
ter and my wife and children been sho
of one and We all live togcddcr ontill
VIC die | wouldcnt kccr anything bout
freedom. Niggcrs got too much free
dom anyhow. My old master used 10
make dc niger gals get married and
take man and stick to him, but now
adays dcy don't marry at all hardly.
got lot of grandchildren what haint
got no daddy to speak of and l don t
know my sons-in law. Dcy don't come
about in daytime. OATS what killed
my old woman. She jcs' so mortified
and SO shamcd she never got over it.
So many spurious children all round
calm her granny. Eifcn white wo-
man do dat way she is disgraccd, but
a black oman don't kccr; she shine as
big as ever and dcy don't turn her
outen de church. In dc old times she
got whippin and dcy ort to have it
yet. White folks dun quit whippin
bad niggcrs dcy send en- to chain
gang, and dcy don't kccr for dat. l
hear dat dar is four or five thousand in
dar from Gcorgy. How dat didcnt
have nary one before dc war. Gwinc
TO school too much l spcck and work
too little. Don't know what is gwinc
to come Of all desc CROWN up niggcrs.
Oar is dozen or more round dc depot
or trampn' around town doing uuthin
all dc timc-livin' often dcy mammics
and smokin' desc little paper see
gars."
Old Uncle Sam didcnt talk too
much, but sometimes he would lean on
his hoe or his ak and sprcss his fcelins.
1t did him good. He has been chop
ping my wood and helping me in the
garden for thirteen years and we will
miss him. He fell down paralyzcd
with his hoe in his hand. lie was
the man with the hoe TO tho very
last, but he never was poor, for he
made good living and had many
friends ard ow cd comfortable house
on,i lot. hey sent to my wife for
some grave clothes and he will be
buried in right decent suit of mine
and we will go TO his funeral.
L was ruminatipg about this good
old negro who had seen thirty three
years Of slavery and thirty-sevcn OF
freedom and knew the good and the
bad of both conditions and then my
thought wandered to the malignity Of
those who have slandcrcd us so long
without o cause. Here is a book of |
poems by John G.. Whittier and thir /
yscven of them arc pitiful appeals
for the poor slave and invoking heav
en- 8 curses upon his master. lie knew
no more about slavery as it really was
than he did about Barbara Frcitchic
and he fed the young people Of New
England upon poetic lies for thirty
years and instillcd into their hearts
chat hatred from which they nave
never recovered. Strange it is that
smart people will write about things
they have never seen. Now, the idea
of an uncducatcd negro slave getting
down on his knees and making an
apostrophc TO the north star-and yet
that istbc title of one of the poems
"Thc Slaves Apostrophc to the NortL
Star" That niger was possum hunt
ing right then, but the poet makes him
TO say:
''Star of the North. look to thee,
"Thy light and truth shall set me
free"
But enough Of this. The question
still survives what will become of the
negro. And that other question still
looms up before us, what will we do
with 100000 more of them over in
Che Philippines? A. more sensclcss
war was never wagcd. 1t was con-
cciyed in sin and is being carried on
in iniquity. Prosperity! Yes, it is
war that CLOSES over suffering and
death and grief with coat of prosper
ity. But it is nothing but coat.
War always produces scmblance Of
prosperity, for armies have to be fed
and clothed and equipped. Ships
have to be- built and cannon made and
q thousand things collateral to these
show activity and give employment to
labor and to capital. This activity
f..s.o x,,;k1, 4ho Nuboo o~,brouEo .xJ