The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1904-02-14

| wearing gay uniforms, cooked hats with
| feathers, long-legged boots. militart
| gloves, red sashes, white sabres, that
| looked TO me as long as scythe blades
dangled at their sides If | had had the
| eyes of Angus himself, | could have
kept them busy taking in all that was
new to me. On the riders came. the men
| IN line presented arms the officers their
| swords. and 1 knew that the big event OF
| the day was taking place or soon would
| be.
That's the Colonel the man in the
middle on the bay horse | heard some
one say, and of course looked, and my
brother and l said at the same time.
why that's father"
Your father, honey?" queriei we'll
dressed negro nanny, who held two prat-
" children by their hands. rs the Cot
onel your father?'
Yes, ma'am,'' / said.
well, fore de Lawd, he's putty man;
he's putty huff to be a gineral. What's
your name, honey?"
l told her and then she made the two
little children she had in her care, shake
hands with de Kernels sons" and az!
vide with us the cakes she had III It
| basket for their lunch.
l have thought Of the incident often, and
I bring it into review here for the pur-
| pose of giving the reader some idea of the
| ride and Importance of the DID time
| negro. especially the old tine negro
| nanny In my young days there were
! as many grades in negro society MS there
| we're slave owners; and the grades de-
pended upon the number of negroes on
| y11. ntDti
| / used to know one of the finest look
| ing negro men in my young days who was
| honest and Industrious, who dressed we'll
| and behaved well, and all things consider
! ed he was to my mind, a good catch for
| my negro girl But, strange to say
| among the negroes, he was rated avg
| Town; in fact called dat poor niger. a"
| when alluded to by the negro girls belong
| ms to men who owned ten. twenty, or
| ,erhaps fifty slaves What was the mat
| err with him? A great deal in the est
| nation of other negroes; his master was
| poor. Ben was the only negro his master
| owned, therefore Ben was poor. There
was no class of people in the old time VINO
| lad more pride than negroes; and no
| class that paid more homage 10 wealth
| md position. There We're other children
| standing near by that day, when that Old
| nanny divided her childrens cakes With
ne and my brother but they we're not
| de Kernels sons SO she offered them
| 10 cakes
| "Aunt Rose was the nanny ut orr
| home and she was always telling us chill
| lren Of ''old marster' and 3f our unclos
| md aunts, and / am sure that, according
0 her views. no such people ever lived
| in her day and time" as 'Old Narster
| md his folks" Ii had the glft. OF Joel
| Chandler Harris. | would reproduc
aunt Rose" ncarnate her as Uncle
| aemus'' has BEEN and let the reader look
| Upon and listen to the old time nanny
| 8ho. fifty years ago, was quite as regal
| in her views and opinions as Victoria ever
| vas, and had more Influence 49, us
| children than mother herself, in certain
| hings. Harriet Bcecher Stowe wrote
| )ook that fired the Northern mind and
| hearts to the extent of making the North
| rate us; but it was as untrue as were
| atan's words to Eve, when he beguiled
| ier into believing q lie. | am glad that
| lavery has been abolished, but I wish
| > write it that children may hear what
| old man says, that slavery was a
| ,ood thing for the negro: and with COM
| 1aratively few exceptions, negroes were
| S we'll cared for as were the masters
| .hlidren. And so long as the Old time
| egro lives, he knows that the old time
| master, who played with him. and worked
| With him, when they were boys together
| VIII never let him suffer. Burt came in
| o see me the other day, and ave him
| he best rocking chair; and what memo
| les were revived, as he and talked!
.ould see the old home as it was VIXEN
Burt and l were boys, father and mother
With the care of home and large pan
alton, so intent upon the faithful per-
ormance of the many duties and obiga.
ions that devolved upon them going
lere and there, looking after everything;
he children, (all of u.s. the servants, the
logs and the cats the horses, the COWS.
the hogs, the geese, the turgeys, the
;hickens, yea, everything. Yes, Burt and
talked and fifty years were blotted out
Is We went over the old plantation. We
vent down to the copper mine field
where we first plowed together, and over
IN the goose nest field, where we as
oung men, helped to cut down the tim
Der and clear up the land; and over 20
he Avery field where the corn rows
we're so long it seemed like days jour
lev to us to make a round; down 10 the
AXE field where We made our first money
cutting bitches at night. In short we
vent to every place so well remembered
" us-and connected with each there was
something that made its recollection
very sacred to us AS I sat and looked
It the old man Burt, whose head IS gray,
Ind whose face is wrinkled, and rcmem-
)ered that he and l were hoys together,
played together, and many times in the
ield, ate together from the same wooden
ray, he felt so much like a brother-ole
ii u.s. Deep down in my neart I said
God bless the faithful, old time negroW
While we were talking wife came in and
said, Uncle Burt l have fixed break
fust for you in the kitchen" "Thankee,
Missus, thankee" and cutting his eye at
ne, with the old time smile on his face,
lie went out following wife, repeating as
he went, '"Thankee, Missus!"
When Burt left he had on his arm
suit of clothes and an overcoat, auJ said,
u he closed the gate: I'm coming to
ee you again if the good Lord spares my
ife. 1t l don't, I'm gwine to try tC N Aet