l of time in trying to teach him the fundamental principles that
underlie life; but this is not the case. There are exceptions to all
rules, however, and here and there one may find noble and patriotic
white men laboring for the uplift of fallen humanity without regard to
race, color, or previous condition.

During the summer of 1893, after returning from Tuskegee, being anxious
to learn more of the real condition of our people in the "Black Belt," I
visited most of the places in Wilcox County and a few places in the
counties of Monroe, Butler, Dallas, and Lowndes, making the entire
journey on foot.

It was a bright and beautiful morning in June when I started from my
home, a log cabin. More than two hundred Negroes were in the near-by
fields plowing corn, hoeing cotton, and singing those beautiful songs
often referred to as plantation melodies. Notably, I am Going to Roll in
my Jesus' Arms; O Freedom! Before I'd be a Slave I'd be Carried to My
Grave, etc., may be mentioned. With the beautiful fields of corn and
cotton outstretched before me, and the shimmering brook like a silver
thread twining its way through the golden meadows, and then through
verdant fields, giving water to thousands of creatures as it passed, I
felt that the earth was truly clothed in His beauty and the fulness of
His glory.

But I had scarcely gone beyond the limits of the field when I came to a
thick undergrowth of pines. Here we saw old pieces of timber and two
posts.

"This marks the old cotton-gin house," said Uncle Jim, my companion, and
then his countenance grew sad; after a sigh he said: "I have seen many a
Negro whipped within an inch of his life at these posts. I have seen
them whipped so badly that they had to be carried away in wagons. Many
never did recover."

From this our road led first up-hill, then down, and finally through a
stretch of woods until we reached Carlowville. This was once the most
aristocratic village of the southern part of Dallas County. Perhaps no
one who owned less than a hundred slaves was able to secure a home
within its borders. Here still are to be seen the stately mansions of
the Lydes, the Lees, the Wrumphs, the Bibbses, the Youngbloods, and the
Reynoldses. Many of these mansions have been partly rebuilt and
remodeled to conform to modern styles of architecture, while others have
been deserted and are now fast decaying. Usually these mansions are
occupied by others than the original families. The orig