The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1903-02-26

eyes, sab, ebry night. / s'pose dar ism
IN hour O. de day dat ism study'H bout
'em. 1 wish could see 'em gen."
That was the longest speech had ever
heard from Greed, and it showed more of
his inner feelings. My answer was:
well, Creed, I hope We shall go back
there together by and by"
''Yes, sah," he said, as he passed out of
the cabin, and / saw that he realized
that the dwellers at the North were not
all Yankee ghouls. This world was an
other world to him. Heaven was not all
beyond. 'The bundle of contradictions"
was being unraveled in his case.
MASTER AND SLAVE.
kindly by their Owners" and that they
were warmly attached to those who con-
trOlled them, was a fact beyond question.
Many Southern masters were even more
considerate of the slaves than the North
erners, in the army and out of it. / had
occasion to know of some outrageous ILL
treatment of negroes, in their property
and their persons, by riOtOus Union sol
diers on st. Helena Island while / was
there; and on the other hand, knew ne
grOes in most of the States Of the Allan
tic coast who were considered tenderly
by their Owners" and who in return
sincerely loved those who gave them this
treatment.
Yet the slaves as class We're in sym.
pathy with the Union army in the progress
of the war, and were opposed to the efforts
OF the Confederate army-nOt because
they loved Southerners less. or Northerners
more, but because they really believed that
God was working by means of the North
ern army for the carrying out of his plans
for the freeing of an oppressed people
in his own good time and way. In this
great issue, as they saw it, the negroes
were on Gods side, even though they had
to work against masters to whom they
We're attached, and to befriend Union SOL
diers who were not personally kind or
fair toward them. 1t was with them not
a question of mere feeling, but one of posi-
tive duty.
This putting of religion as above mere
personal interests was more prominent
with the negro than was commonly under
stood. 1t often showed itself in other
things besides the question of emancipa-
ton. For instance, in ST. Augustine there
was little negro girl about eight or 10
years old, who had been brought out of
slavery, and was in the care of North
erners, where she was affectionately treat
ed and ministered to. But she had been
brought up a Roman Catholic, and was
now being trained as Protestant. One
day when the freedmen" about her were
ton, some one asked this child, without a
doubt as to what the answer would be:
"Rebecca, would you like to go back
into slavery again!"
IF could have my own religion again,
l would" was the unexpected reply.
Slavery with all its privations was to
that little negro but a small matter in
comparison with the being deprived, as
now, of the privilege of wOrshiping God
as she thought he would have her wor-
ship. This may seem to some strange
and unreasonable, but it must be recog-
nized as in accordance with the nature of
many Southern negro; nor is it really to
be wondered at, with the strength of the
religious sentiment in human nature as
it is.
1t is said by many Southerners that
great majority of the slaves were faith
full to their masters, working for them in
the army, or while they were absent
from home in the war; and it is known
that in many instances they helped to pro-
vide for their impoverished masters after
the war was over and they We're free.
Yet it is Enthusiastically true that the slaves
were as class always ready to befriend
a Union soldier in prison at great per-
sOnal risk, or to conceal one who had
escaped, and to assist him to regain the
Union lines. These things may seem to
be inconsistent, but they were a not
unnatural part of the negro bundle of
contradictions" and they can be under
stood by one who studies them in the light
of these leading facts and principles.
After President LincOln's Proclamation
of Emancipation was made known among
the slaves, they seemed to have no doubt
of its sure realization, even though it was
yet but a declaration on paper, and its
value was dependent on the issue of the
war. On Jan. ], 1864, l was in st.
Augustine. The freedmen" in that
quaint old town had joyous celebration
of this first anniversary of the PrOclama-
ton of Emancipation. The idea was
wholly their own, and they had charge of
all the details of the plan, including the
preparation of the entertainment, although
the military authorities gave them help
as they requested it.
The blacks, old and young, were out in
full force, and bedecked in all the finery
they could command. They gathered on
the old Spanish plaza in the center of the
town, and had exercises appropriate to the
occasion. Then they invited their white
guests, military and civic, to a collation.
spread in the upper room of the old Gov
ernment Building, just west of the plaza.
1t was astonishing what a generous dis
play of fine cakes and confectiOns those
pastry-cOOks and other blacks had prOvid-
ed for the occasion, and what delight they
had in serving it in their best style, out
of their overlooking joy and gratitude.
One old Uncle TOm," white-haired,
and tearful-eyed, after
passing from group to group of the merry
throng, with fuller appreciation of the
import of the whole affair in contrast with
his past, and in earnest of the future of
his lOng-enslaved and now emancipated
people, said to me. out of the depths of
his trimming heart:
II JUS tank de Lord I cher libed to
member dis day. Dress de Lord! Dress
de LOrd!'
Like Simeon Of old, welcoming the
coming of the Holy Babe, lie was
sure that Gods promised Deliverer had
come ito proclaim liberty to the captives,
and the opening of the prison to them
that are bound; to proclaim the acceptable |
year of the Lord" From that day to this
his trembling voice has sounded in my ears,
as if he were saying, in rejoicing over
fulfilled prophecy:
Now lettest thou thy servant depart, o |
Lord,
According to Thy word, in peace;
For mine eyes have seen Thy salvation"
The Emancipation Proclamation bore
date of Jan. !, 1868; it was sealed and
delivered at AppOmattOX Court House,
April g. 1866. What had before been Il |
glad promise, then became an accom-
piished fact. Only those who witnessed |
the scenes following that event can have !
any appreciation of the mighty outburst
4 100000 of slaves enfranchised in a mo-
ment.
RETURN FROM AFFIRMATION.