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against them. The sanctity of this matter was was seldom if ever taught them during their bondage, and in their new sphere, they are unable to fully comprehend the importance of it. In the City of Meridian, a petition was presented to the Mayor signed by several colored residents, asking him to remove beyond the City limits, all colored women of lured characters; he consented to do so but as it required the oath of some one that they were of such characters, yet, whilst there was no dout of certain ones, it was impossible to get the required oath, and no action was taken in the matter. I mention this merely to show that they are, as a class, aware of the importance of establishing a character for morality.

In some portions of the District the white people accord the Freedmen all the rights guaranteed them, but in the interior and at places remote from the immediate influences of the Bureau they

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---------- Reopened for Editing 2024-04-02 18:10:13