The occurrence
I suppose somewhat affected my spirits, for soon after we got into the
drawing-room, no one else being present, my friend addressed me, no
doubt observing my depression, nearly as follows. "Sir, you seem to have
a tender compassion for my poor countrymen; would to God white men were
all as feeling here. The system is an accursed one, but what can we do
but bear it patiently? Every hand seems against us, and we dare not
speak for ourselves." I told him I deeply sympathised with his
oppressed countrymen, and lived in hope that before long the public mind
in America would be aroused from its apathy, and the accumulated wrongs
of the race be redressed. His only reply was, "God grant it, I hope so
too."
In Charleston there exist several charitable institutions, but these, I
believe, with only one exception, are for the benefit of poor white
people. The innate benevolence of the human heart is thus, in the midst
of dire oppression, wont to hold its sway, notwithstanding the poisonous
influences that surround.
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