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186 SLAVERY IN THE SOUTH.
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Transcript
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
4 Sion Neio To Call Orleans On A , Lad F...
an old story , and you must take it , " & c . & c . I went again at seven in the evening , and heard the same preacher and singing .
Sonie voices were most exquisite . I asked _albout the singers , and found they were a family of free negroes who lead , and have all
fine voices . The minister thanked me for going ; they always seem so thankful for a sympathizing face . Afterwards they made a
collection for building a new church and schoolroom . I saw dollar notes and cent bits pouring in , and could not help adding a bit . I always
wish I had money when I visit these churches : they seem to me to give more comfort to negroes than anything else—in fact , it is their
only mutual improvement association—and I gave my little mite with real pleasure . The church is in mourning for an old black
preacher , lately dead ; black is hung over everything . The pulpit and curtains behind all black , and the black preacher , in a black
coat , looked very diabolic ! The evening * sermon was not remarkable except for being very short : " My brethrenI can only say a
, very few words to you , because it is half-past seven , and by the rules of the town we must stop at eight o ' clock . " Tlie voices of the negroes
are beautiful ; some day great singers will come out of that people . They sing all the negro songs and melodies about the street ,
putting in musical sounds at the end of the verses , which are very peculiar ; not yells or cries , but allied to these and very affecting . On
board the steamboats they imitate musical instruments very well—so ¦ well , that , for the first time , I thought one was an instrument , though
I could not conceive what . I often think of Longfellow ' s Negro Singing at Night . " Sometimes , when I hear them sing , the thought
of slavery , and what it really is , makes me utterly miserable : one can do nothing—nothing , and I see little hope ; it makes me wring
my hands with anguish , sometimes , being so helpless to help ! There are seven slaves in this house ; not one can read . These work
all day and all Sundays , and rarely go to church , or out at all . The girl of thirteen , who waits on us , is a nice girl , but dulled by
overwork ; and oh ! so tired every night . The other day , near the spot where I was drawing , were two old women slowly picking out
the moss for mattresses . We went up and talked to them ; one could speak a little French to X . I said , How much do you
get ? " "We get nothing ; we pay away our wages : but we are old , so they set us to this . " Near in a clearing , we saw a black
man ploughing up the light sandy soil very briskly . I asked him what crop , & c . He said " For maizewith melons between . " I said ,
, , " Who are you working for ? " " For myself . I have this bit of land ! " And I am sureby his clothes and well-to-do aspecthe
, , will get on . March 3 rd . —Yesterday we walked out four and a half miles along
the plank road into the forest . It was wonderfully beautiful , the trees _, immenseand such a jungle of creepers of all sorts , and moss matted
, and heaped together in the wildest manner . Sometimes the trees
met over the road , and the moss hung down like Gothic ornaments ,
186 Slavery In The South.
186 SLAVERY IN THE SOUTH .
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Citation
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English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), Nov. 1, 1861, page 186, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01111861/page/42/
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