to circumstances immediately around her as she was
when she rose to a more exalted pitch of laudation
of the “Union,” or of execration of
the old slavery system. Her voice was remarkable—as
sweet as any woman’s voice we ever heard, and
so clear and distinct as to pass every syllable
to the most distant ear in the house.
Without any effort at attentive listening
we followed the speaker to the end, not discerning
a single grammatical inaccuracy of speech, or
the slightest violation of good taste in manner
or matter. At times the current of thoughts flowed
in eloquent and poetic expression, and often her
quaint humor would expose the ivory in half a
thousand mouths. We confess that we began
to wonder, and we asked a fine-looking man before us,
“What is her color? Is she dark or light?”
He answered, “She is mulatto; what they
call a red mulatto.” The ‘red’
was new to us. Our neighbor asked, “How
do you like her?” We replied, “She is
giving your people the best kind and the very wisest
of advice.” He rejoined, “I wish
I had her education.” To which we added,
“That’s just what she tells you is
your great duty and your need, and if you are
too old to get it yourselves, you must give it
to your children.”
The speaker left the impression on our
mind that she was not only intelligent and educated,
but—the great end of education—she
was enlightened. She comprehends perfectly the
situation of her people, to whose interests she
seems ardently devoted. The main theme of
her discourse, the one string to the harmony of
which all the others were attuned, was the grand opportunity
that emancipation had afforded to the black race to
lift itself to the level of the duties and responsibilities
enjoined by it. “You have muscle power
and brain power,” she said; “you must
utilize them, or be content to remain forever the
inferior race. Get land, every one that can, and
as fast as you ean. A landless people must
be dependent upon the landed people. A few
acres to till for food and a roof, however bumble,
over your head, are the castle of your independence,
and when you have it you are fortified to act
and vote independently whenever your interests
are at stake.” That part of her lecture
(and there was much of it) that dwelt on the moral
duties and domestic relations of the colored people
was pitched on the highest key of sound morality.
She urged the cultivation of the “home life,”
the sanctity of the marriage state (a happy contrast
to her strong-minded, free-love, white sisters of the
North), and the duties of mothers to their daughters.
“Why,” said she in a voice of much
surprise, “I have actually heard since I
have been South that sometimes colored husbands positively
beat their wives! I do not mean to insinuate for
a moment that such things can possibly happen
in Mobile. The very appearance of this congregation
forbids it; but I did hear of one terrible husband
defending himself for the unmanly practice with
Print
Word
PDF
