The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1902-10-29
SUMTER. s. c. WEDNESDAY. OCTOBER go. 1902.

cent profit. Rev. John Newton, one of
the sweetest poets who ever wrote a
HYMN, the author of Amazing grace,
how sweet the sound, that saved a
wretch like9'' "Saviour, Visit Thy
Plantation, ''' "Safely Through An
other Week, ,, and many others, was
for many years deck hand on slave
ship and saw all its horrors. He be-
came converted, but soon after became
captain of a SLAYER and for four years
pursued it diligently and mitigated its
cruelty. Then he quit and went to
preaching, and says in his autobi-
ography that it never occurred to him
that there was anything wrong or i'm
moral in the slave trade where it was
humanely conducted. The Saviour
said 's Offences must needs comey but
woe unto them by whom they come. :"
In Appletons' long and exhaustive
article on slavery it is said that slavery
in some form has existed ever since
human history began. And it appears
to have been under the sanction OF
Providence as far back as the days OF
Noah and Abraham. The latter had
very great household and many ser
wants, whom he had bought with his
naonep The word slave appears but
twice iii the Bible. It is synonymous
with servant and bondsman. There
has beensno time since the Christian
era that the dominant nations have
NOT owned slaves sometimes the bond
age was hard, but as general rule
the master found it to his interest to
be kind to his slaves. AS Bob Tombs
said in his Boston speech: " 1t is not
to our interest to starve our slaves any
more than it is SO starve our horses
and horned cattle. - Shortly after the
little cargo that the Wanderer brought
were secretly scattered around saw
some of them at work in o large gar
den in % Columbus, Ga, and was told
that they were docile and quickly
learned to dig and to hoe, but that it
was hard to teach them to eat cooked
meat. They wanted it raw and bloody.
They were miserable little runts,
:. Guinea negroes, - with thick lips and
fat noses, but they grew up into better
shape and made good servants, and /
know were far better OFF than in their
native jungles, the prey OF stronger
IrIOSS, anu mace IOO0 1OI Cdnu1 Lis.
No, there was no sin in slavery as
Instituted in the South by our fathers
and forefathers, and that is why I
write this letter-perhaps the last |
shall ever write on this subject. /
wish to impress it upon our boys and
girls, SO that they may be ready and
willing to defend their Southern an
cestors from the baseless. charge of
suffering now for the sins of their
fathers. A Northern friend writes:
Do please let up on the negro. We
up here are tired Of him. Give us
more of your pleasant pictures of
domestic life, etc., but let the negro
go dead. -
He does not know that the negro and
what is to become Of him is ques-
ton Of tremendous moment with US
and it must be written about. But I
viii refrain as long as. it is prudent.
Just now ] would like to hire man
to cuss the black rascal who came in
to my back yard the other night and
stole my grind stone. For FIVE years
I have let every darkey grind his ak
who wanted to, and now I can't grind
my own. The fact is I have no ak to
grind, for they stole that first.
Bill Arp.