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��Reminiscences <s/ the Sunny South.
��inflict, and at times indulged in vig- orous denunciation of the "Abolition- ists." He inquired what kind of looking people they were, quite in the manner one would do who had heard of some horrid species of savage no- wise like to ordinary humanity. Like others, too, who better comprehended what was involved in a fight to pre- serve slavery, he frequently cursed William L. Yancy and Jefferson Da- vis. But the loyalty of the Southerner generally to the South was a double distilled patriotism which did not in anv like degree embrace their coun- try. This spirit smothered Union sentiment by its aggressive force.
During the secession agitation and the prevailing excitement that follow- ed Lincoln's nomination, it was won- derful to discover how positively the negroes looked to " Massa Linkum " as their sure deliverer. When an oc- casion offered for private communica- tion, I was frequently asked if 'Linkum' was elected," and "how- soon he would set us free."
If I tried to explain that Mr. Lin- coln as president Avould have no power to set them fiee, they would look sad and thoughtful for a little while, but invariably would close the interview by saying in the most con- fident manner, "But Massa Linkum he '11 set us free," and this conviction seemed equally pungent in the minds of white people.
At the time the attack on Fort Sumter was in progress I witnessed in Mobile the embarkation of a com-
��pany sent as a body-guard to Davis; at Montgomery, when the Confeder- ate administration was in that city. They were a picked and splendid dis- play of physical manhood and milita- ry accomplishment. As a young man stepped on deck, and was grasped by the hand of some city official appar- ently acting as host, the soldier said with an imperial air of assurance, " I 'U bring you one of his eye teeth !" meaning Lincoln's.
It was as if the voice of fate had whispered in every soul, of the mas- ter and the slave, the white and the black, that Lincoln was the man cho- sen of God to break in pieces the sys- tem which had been their inheritance, and to remove the curse of the nation and the wrongs of the slave.
It was a poignant sorrow to witness the opening of that deadly strife be- tween brother and brother, friend and friend. The kindness received in that land, and up to the moment of de- parture, when a richly filled lunch basket, and a carriage my friends of a. short acquaintance would not allow me to pay for, were provided, will re- main a sweet remembrance forever.
When my thoughts revert to that beautiful land and its kind-hearted people, I dream of the time when the blight of slavery and war will have disappeared, and the social life and institutions of the sunny South shall harmonize with its natural beauties and delights, and its wealth of re- sources. God and human wisdom speed the day !
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