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follows: He advised them (the Freedmen) to do all they could to keep the Yankees from coming here, that they only designed mischief, and that they (the whites of the South) were their only true friends. He told the Freedmen, that they might look to Massachusetts as the parent of slavery in Virginia, and other like remarks. He closed by indulging in a bitter harangue against New England particularly, but the North generally, and the "Yankee Congress".

When he retired, I was called upon, by the crowd, to address them; After repeated calls, I responded in a few, brief and impromptu remarks, substantially, as follows; "My friends and fellow Citizens; it is with reluctance that I appear before you to offer any remarks, knowing the prejudices that exist here toward the North, and between the races. I wish to see Virginia with the whole South, step forth upon this New Era, a happy and prosperous people, with these old prejudices and issues forever
buried, disenthralled, where bows no cowering

Transcription Notes:
---------- Reopened for Editing 2023-11-03 14:24:09