Charleston In 1860

i ue immiíome city, rfsintr pnaidly f rom the hay, bet ween is twin rivers, wlth ts Battery Square ut tlieïr jmiotion, reminded us in sitiiation of the (ireat metropolis we had Just lift ; but it brautifully shaded streets, its quaint old houses,- with wealth of veranda and balcony, standing at an nngle to the Street the better to eatch the sea foreeze, and siinounded by hijib-walked gardens,- its semi-tropical air, were all ts own, and had no parallel North. So, too, the multitude of negroes was B listinctive feature; and there was to us n gieat vaiiety and novelty ibout the Southern specimens of the artlcle. It was the eustom to visit the public market in the very early moniing, to see to the best advantages one of the sights of the place. Few were more attractive or more picturesque tliau the long building, filled with stalls of fruit and flowers, prerided over by portly colored women wearinggay tuibans, each one of whom was invariably addressed as "iiintie." Aain, the höasetroW gerf Bttf, RlU; iinct; times as nunieroiis as iu limitar establishinents at the North, were an amusing stndy. Tlieir phenomeual slownes9 may tic lllnstrated Dy a single Incident. Our host, as we were going to drive, found no whip in the rarriage, and said to the groom it the horse's hcad, "Sam, go to the siaMe, and bring me the whip !'' "Yes, massa!" reptlfd Saín, m he leisurely dis appeared. Hardly was he out of sight, wben the 41 ater aldr s lag :inoth(r negro, íaid, Toni, go and stir up bain!" "les. massa I mswered Torn as he slowly fnllovred in the v;ike of Sam. No sooner hail he f ided f rom view thau our tiieiid, in the tnost mutter-of-eourse way, called to one more of hla peopie, "Jim, you go and sur up TnmP' "Yes, maMnt" vvas llie bedient response, as the third messeneer shuffl.-d alonjf the stabl(; pnth. ve liad waited long enougli lor a Northern man tu maké a whlp, the lliree negroes returned tojrether, the last sent cariying the desired article. And yet, despite sueh experiences, wlilch must liave been the rule of their daily life, the I:itence of the masters seemed never to fail, and Iheir care of their servunts, as we t-aw t, was somethlng wonderful. ín almost every house we visited there was a group of oíd and utterly useless slaves, who were malntalued by their owner in comfort. The relation between the famlly and the seryants of the house was one of friendship, and seemingly almost of cquality. The term "abolitionist1' liad evidently been sed to ulann the blaeks, and the younger ones, especially, were firmly conviuced thnt it meant a terrible creature, intent upon evil to them. Some waggish youths spread the story arnong the Africíin members of the households in which we visited that we were what they o-illed "Bobolitionists." For some time our appearance at the gateway of any of these houses was the signal for the instant disappearance of the crowd of yonnr negroes who but a moment before had been basking on the steps or on the piazza, or in the doorway; and our entrante to the mansión was enlivened by the frightened glances of the sooty images iiiding hehind hat-stands, or peeping around corners. On one occasion, when a specially bright yonng darkey had been sent for to give us a specimen of :i plantation dance and song, he bolted at the p.irlor door, and firmly refused to enter the H)oin, lest the "Bobolitionists" should carry him "Norf." Very earnest elForts were made by our fnends to couvince us that the patriarchal Institution was absolutely the best possible arrangement for the black men. In fact we even suspected, sometimes, that picturepque tableaux had been arranjred for our particular benefit. After a dinner part3-, for instance, at which slavery had been demonstrated, from Scripture and nature alike, to be wholly right, and just at the point when our eloquent host was asserting that his negroes were treated like his own ehildren, an apparently accidental drawing aside of the cloth revealed his little son and a black bo3', each about six years of age, fast asleep in one another'8 arms, under the table. Thcre was, however another side to this matter, which could not escape our ittention, although we were lelt to h'nd it out lor ourseives. ineciiy 01 imit;ton had at tliis time a population of forty thousancl, alinost cqually divided between the two races. There ere several large sione barracks in different parts of the city, each one u fort in itself. These were inanned by policemen, drilled and armed as soldiers. The men were mainly of Iiïsh birtl), and were rcquired to bc unmarried and to live in the barracks. At'ter eunset each block was patrolled by one niember of tuis forcé, and a niounted guaid was assigned to each three block?. The signáis and Communications were perfect. The offlcers were graduates of the South Carolina military schools, and thelr discipline was rigid. At lllght the whole city was onder martial law, so far as the blacks were concerned. Any negro found u the strcets after nine in the evening, without a pass f rom his master, was arrested foi thwith. At ten minnien before ninc, a drummer in front of each pólice station began to beat the long roll, and the strcets were full of colorc(l men, woinon, and children, flylng to tbelr homes. Daring the last minute a succession of sharp taps was given and as these rang out the confusión This was the opportunity foryoung and active daikies to have a little sport at the expense of the pólice It so happened that the duties ,f scavengers, bont the uuirtcet and other pwts of the city, nere peiformed by use til l but unsijfhtly birds, called l.uzz.u ils. 'l'lie nejrroes nsed to ippjy this „ame to the policemen, whose llcu-cst wiatli was arouaed by theunsavory tille A jiivenile Africim, hivinf(, with masterly generalship, prorMed a safe line of retieat, vvpulJ sally trom liïs entrenchment just ut the forbidden liour, dancing, turiiing KOineiaults, and shoutiii{r Mie liated name of buzzard, as the pntrolmen came in sight. The maligned officials, ;lfter secunng the gateway whence the oflender had emerged, would close In upou him, appaiently leaving no chance for escape, but at the critical moment, a sudden rush for tree, or vine, or sorue footway known only to the boy, would carry hiin safely over the garden wall, from which, as he disappeared from view, a parting cry of "Good-nlght, buzzard!" taunteil the