f, I have
entertained the idea that, notwithstanding the cruel wrongs inflicted
upon us, the black man got nearly as much out of slavery as the white
man did. The hurtful influences of the institution were not by any means
confined to the Negro. This was fully illustrated by the life upon our
own plantation. The whole machinery of slavery was so constructed as to
cause labour, as a rule, to be looked upon as a badge of degradation,
of inferiority. Hence labour was something that both races on the slave
plantation sought to escape. The slave system on our place, in a large
measure, took the spirit of self-reliance and self-help out of the white
people. My old master had many boys and girls, but not one, so far as
I know, ever mastered a single trade or special line of productive
industry. The girls were not taught to cook, sew, or to take care of the
house. All of this was left to the slaves. The slaves, of course,
had little personal interest in the life of the plantation, and their
ignorance prevented them from learning how to do things in the most
improved and thorough manner. As a result of the system, fences were
out of repair, gates were hanging half off the hinges, doors creaked,
window-panes were out, plastering had fallen but was not replaced, weeds
grew in the yard. As a rule, there was food for whites and blacks, but
inside the house, and on the dining-room table, there was wanting that
delicacy and refinement of touch and finish which can make a home the
most convenient, comfortable, and attractive place in the world. Withal
there was a waste of food and other materials which was sad. When
freedom came, the slaves were almost as well fitted to begin life anew
as the master, except in the matter of book-learning and ownership of
property. The slave owner and his sons had mastered no special industry.
They unconsciously had imbibed the feeling that manual labour was not
the proper thing for them. On the other hand, the slaves, in many cases,
had mastered some handicraft, and none were ashamed, and few unwilling,
to labour.

Finally the war closed, and the day of freedom came. It was a momentous
and eventful day to all upon our plantation. We had been expecting it.
Freedom was in the air, and had been for months. Deserting soldiers
returning to their homes were to be seen every day. Others who had been
discharged, or whose regiments had been paroled, were constantly passing
near our place. The "grape-vine telegr