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 have 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 telegraph"
was kept busy night and day. The news and mutterings of great events
were swiftly carried from one plantation to another.
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