THE ADDRESS OF AN "OLD MASTER" TO EX-SLAVES The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.), 02 Sept. 1913 Contact: Myrtle Bridges June 8, 2018
Text of Major Henry A. London's Speech Delivered on Occasion of Reunion of "Old Issue Darkeys' Held at Rockingham, Richmond County, August 14. Tells Them Who and What "Freed" Them. (Special to the News and Observer) Rockingham, Aug. 30.-Following is the text of the touching address delivered by Maj. H.A. London of Pittsboro, at the reunion of ex-slaves here August 14, and which has never before been presented to the public in print: "My friends, it gives me much pleasure to be with you today, and to unite in the exercises of this most novel and pleasant occasion. I address you as friends, because in North Carolina there is a greater friendly feeling between the races than in any other State in the American Union. This same assertion was in the mind of the leading colored man of the South, Booker T. Washington, when he so declared it at the State Fair in Raleigh several years ago. And it is true. This occasion today is an evidence of the fact. There has been, ever since the close of the war, a most kindly feeling between the former slaves and their masters. And today the same kindly feeling exists among the sons and daughters of the slaves, and the sons and daughters of their former masters, and I pray God that it may ever continue. Made His First Speech to Darkies. The first public speech I ever made was to an audience of colored people. It was in the Spring of 1867, during the reconstruction period, when there was an act of Congress giving them right of suffrage to the colored people. They held a large meeting in my town of Pittsboro, and although I was almost a boy, they honored me with an invitation to address them. On that occasion I said to them what I say now to you, that the best friend of the colored man in the South, is the Southern white man. Those of you who have gone North have experienced the truth of that by painful experience. Why, up North they will not even allow a colored mechanic to work with white mechanics. Down here colored man and white men work toether, in the same building for instance, or in partnership, each knowing his respective place. But up North they do not allow that. "I say that I am called to be with you on this occasion, most novel as it is. I do not remember another such occasion in this State, at least. It does credit to the men, both white and colored, who started it, and there is no reason why it could not be an annual reunion, and bring them together, and the presence of these old gray heads will be of benefit to the young men of your race. If the rising generation will take you as their exemplars, the country is saved, and there is no fear of the future. "Who "Freed" You? " I wish to give you a few points in history for you to take home and remember. Every one of you, not doubt, thinks that President Abraham Lincoln freed you all. Well, now let me give you a few points in history, and then you can decide that for yourselves. When Mr. Lincoln was inauguarated as President of the United States on the 4th of March 1861, he stated: " 'It is not my purpose' directly or indirectly to interfere with the institution of slavery in any of the States where it exists. I believe that I have no lawful right so to do, and I have no inclination to do so." "Now those were the words of Mr. Lincoln, when he stood before the Holy presence of Almight God, and took the oath to execute the laws of our country. "Congress when it met in special sessesion in July 1861, soon after the battle of Manassas, passed a resolution to this effect:" 'That this war is being prosecuted, not for the purpose of interfering with any of the institutions in any of the States.' "So that the President, the Congress, the Legislative, and Executive Departements of Government were not waging a war for the purpose of freeing the colored people. Far from it. "In August, 1861, John C. Freemont, Major General of the Federal Army, with headquarters at St. Louis, issued a proclamation declaring free all the slaves of men engaged in the (rebellion.) As soon as President Lincoln heard of that, he issued a declaration, declaring that proclamation null and void. "Again on the 9th of May, 1862, General David Hunter of the Federal Army, with headquarters in South Carolina, issued a similar proclamation, declaring free all the slaves in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, over which he had command. "As soon as President Lincoln heard of that proclamation, he at once issued another proclamation, in which he declared that order null and void, and that no man was authorized to issued a proclamation declaring slaves free in any part of the United States. "On the 22nd of September, 1862, Mr. Lincoln issued a proclamation , stating that on the 1st of January 1863, all the slaves would be declared free in the States in "rebellion" excepting certain ones which I will tell you of in a moment. He stated in his proclamation that this issue and this act was done as a war measure for the purpose of suppressing a "rebellion," and that it was an absolute necessity, which was issued not through any love of you, my colored friends, but in order to impede a surrender. Lincoln's Proclamation "And so on the first of January, 1863, the proclamation was issued, and in that proclamation he did not attempt to free all the slaves of the South. He ommitted the Slave States of North Carolina, Georgia, Kentucky, and Tennessee, and also expressly excepted from it certain counties in the State of Virginia, and certain parishes in the State of Louisiana. Now, if he wanted us people in the South to free the slaves, why in the name of common sense and justice did he not say so, and free them all. "They got Congress to propose an amendment to the constitution of the United States, known as the thirteenth amendment, prohibiting slavery in the United States. In order for that amendment to become a part of the consititution, it had to be ratified by three-fourths of the States, just as any amendment is required to be ratified. And bless your soul the ten Southern States that had been fighting them to keep you in slavery, were the ones to vote for that amendment and have it adopted, and six or eight Northern States never did vote for it. South Not Resp0onsible for Slavery. "Again the Southern people are not responsible for your having been slaves, and I want you to remember that they never brought your ancestors to this country. Mr. Lincoln, declared that the people of the South are no more responsible for the introduction of slavery into this country, than are the people of the North, and he told the truth. "When the constitution of the United States was adopted, and the Union formed, every State in it had slavery. All those New England States, Massachusetts, and New York, and Maryland emancipated or set free their slaves. Why? Because it did not pay. "So you were brought here not by the Southern people, but by the Yankee Slave Ships. These ships went to Africa and brought them here and sold them, got the money, went back home and raised a great howl about this cruel treatment. "Mr. Lincoln also said in the same message, from which I have quoted, that the people of the North are also responsible for the continuance of slavery, because they helped to consume the cotton, sugar, and tobacco, the Southern products raised by slave labor. "So that the people of the South were not responsible for your coming here, but when you were brought here by our Yankee brother, and sold to us, we did the best we could for you, and say this without fear of contradiction, that no other people in any country in the world emerged so quickly from barbarism to civilization, as did the colored people, brought from "the jungles of Africa, and made slaves to the South. And I am glad today that the colored people of this country, I mean of the South, of North Carolina, of Richmond county, I am praising meritoriously, and I hope morally and materially. Friendly Southern White People. The white people of North Carolina have done what they could for you. They have established an asylum for your insane at Goldsboro, an institution that any people, white or black, may be proud of. They have established an institution at Raleigh for your deaf and dumb, where they may be cared for, and they have established schools all over North Carolina for the education of the colored, as well as the white children. There is no reason in the world why the colored people and white people of North Carolina could not dwell together in brotherly love, in honor perfect with one and other. "My early recollection are of the good old uncle and colored mammy at my home. How often have I gone out to his cabin after supper, and heard him tell some of the most amazing yarns, but I liked them, of course, and how I took my old blue back spelling book and tried to teach him how to read. I have the tenderest feeling for all of these gray heads. They remind me of my dear old Uncle Alex gone to his reward in Heaven. The "Old Black 'Mammy.' " "Well do I remember, if I could not get anything in the house good to eat, or was in trouble, I knew who to go to, and she said 'Come to me, honey, come to your mammy." And, so, when I see the old woman with the handkerchief on her head, it reminds me of my old black mammy at home. May God bless them all, and may they rest together in Paradise. And you young men and the young women, try to live that you may join them in the hereafter. "I am not here to preach a sermon to you, but I cannot let the opportunity escape, and not give the young and the old both some words of advice. I am not as young as I have been, and yet I hope I am not as old as I may be. It may seem strange to you that one who wore the gray, and followed Lee to Appomattox, should be here praising the colored people, but it is not. There is no better friend to the colored people today than the Confederate soldiers. "I want to say to these young men, and there young women, that your destiny, and the destiny of your race is in your hands. You can make or unmake just as you try, and the Good Lord helps those who try to help themselves. Taught Them Their Duty to God. "I remember after the war, some of us thought that the colored children should be taught in the Sunday Schools, and I invited them to our church, and up in the gallery every Sunday afternoon, I endeavored to teach them of the Master in particular. Teach the colored children their duty to God and to man. "In my practice as a lawyer, I have seen so many bad effects, the results of children not being taught when they should have been, to travel in the right road. How true is the old saying, 'How the twig is bent the tree will grow.' So you old men and women, impress upon the rising generation the obligations of manhood and womanhood, and strive to be worthy sons of noble sires, that they may take your place and be like you. "My friends, it is getting late, and I never talk to a hungry crowd, and I know that a feast has been prepared for you, and it would be curelty to you for me to impose much longer upon your time and patience. As the Shadows Lengthen. "Again, my friends, I want to say that I am more than pleased to have had the opportunity of being with you today. I trust that you may have another reunion next year. I trust that time may deal gently with you, that your last years may be your happiest. The snows of many Winters have whitened your heads; your step is feeble and infirm; but within your breasts are hearts as warm, as big as they ever were, and that will never grow cold. And I hope that as you go down the road of life, as your shadows lengthen with the sunset, each may safely cross the river and rest under the shade of the trees, and be in the land where glory eternally reigns.
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