Year: 1865

the views we take Of the mutual re-
lations of the two races in the South.
You, Judging from this distance, say,
g Deliver the four millions Of freed
people into the hands Of their former
now embittered by their
defeat, and they will make their con
dition worse than before" /, start.
ing from the same principles, and
after four years Of close and thought
full observation Of the races where
they are, say l am unwillingly forced
to the conviction that the effect of the
war has not been simply to "embittcr"
their relations, but to develop root
ed antagonism which makes their per-
manent fusion in ono political COM
munity an absolute impossibility.-
The sole difference between us then is
in the degree of hostility we find ex-
isting between the races, and its prob
able pcrmanence. You assume that
the extension of the right of suffrage
to the blacks, leaving them intermixed
with the whites, will cure all the trou-
BILE. / believe that il would rather be
like the decisions in that outer dark
ness of which Milton speaks, where


"Chaos empire sits


Andby decision more embroils the ffay."


Yet, as 1 believe with you, that the
right of life and liberty are inaliena-
BILE, and more than admit the danger
of leaving q laboring class at the en-
tire mercy of those who formerly
owned them as slaves, you will say l
am bound to furnish some solution of
the problem which shall not deny the
right or incur the peril. So l am,
and the only real solution which ]
can see is the peaccable separation Of
tho races. But, you will reply, for
eign colonization will break down
hopelessly under the very vastness OF
the labor, even if it were not tyran-
nical enough to expel these unfortu-
nato people from the land Of their
birth. ] grant the full weight of the
objection, and therefore say the solu.
ton is thus narrowed down to a peace
able separation of the races on the sol
phere they noW are.


The essential point in the discussion
thus appears to be tho actual relations
of the two races in the Southern
States as a question of fact, and the
probable future consequences of thosC
as a question of theory.


Upon the question of fact l think
may with all modesty claim that my
anteccdents and my opportunities o.
observation entitle my testimony tc
have some weight, even with the mos
radical anti.slavery men of the North


The antagonism of which have
spoken is not entirely one.sided. Or
the part of the former master it takes
the form of an indomitablc pride
which uttorly refuses to entertain tn,
idea Of political or social equality
mingled with hatred intensified by
the circumstances and the results O.
The war. The feeling is not confined
to the slave.owners alone, but thu
poor whites share it fully, and Otter
show it more passionately.


On the part of the freedmen, it il
manifested in an utter distrust of th'
dominant race, and an enmity which
although made by circumstance
more passive and less openly mani
tested, is as real and implacable as tn,
other. They have the mutual attrac
tion of race among themselves, ant
repulsion of the whites rs another
people, developed to degree which
surprised me. 1t is not as individual
ofa nation common to us all that they
speak of themselves, but to use tn
Language of ono of them, speaking t
myself, they feel that they :" hav
long been an oppressed and down
troddcn people,"


HiIdroth, in his "Despotism in Am
erica" declared slavery to be in itsel
a state of war, and this character
indelibly impressed upon both race
in the South. The captive learns du
plicity towards his captor, and in tn
slave it has become marked charac
terstic. 1t is a fair stratagem fo
which he feels no guilt [ have scel
u master boasting of tho fidelity G
his servant, and discussing the subjec
of slavery in his presence, while tn
negro waited upon him with an i'm
passive humility which would max
you believe no intelligent idea of free
dom had ever penetrated his brain
Yet have seen the same negro after
ward in camp, transformed into


lear,headed ally of our troops, lead
ing them to his masters buried stores
or guiding them to the fanks Of til
enemy's lines, with an intelligenc
and steadiness Of purpose which lei
no doubt as to his understanding
the conflict between himself and hi
master. tr.


The daily and hourly repetition
proofs of this fact, many of them to
subtle for description, but none th
less convincing to the observer, hG
fully convinced me that never bC
tween Norman and Saxon, nor b.
tween Gaul and Frank, was there


moro conscious hatred, or an antagC
nism more likely to provo inveterat
than between black and white on on
Southern soil. The negroes will hav
no sense Of security nor faith in the


former masters, even if they otft
them political rights; they will fcf
them as DanaoS dOna ferenteS. ,t.


What docs history teach us in r


gard TO the pormanencc and durabi


ity of such prejudiccs and enmities