20 



ALABAMA. 



I have the honor to be. your Excellency's most 

 obedient servant, " W.M. H. SEWARD. 



On the same day the Secretary addressed the 

 following despatch to the newly inaugurated 

 Governor, Patton: 



DEPAKTMENT OF STATE, WASHINGTON. Dec. 18, 1865. 



SIR : By direction of the President, I have the 

 honor herewith to transmit to you a copjr of a commu- 

 nication which has been addressed to his Excellency 

 Lewis E. Parsons, late Provisional Governor of Ala- 

 bama, whereby he has been relieved of the trust here- 

 tofore reposed in him, and directed to deliver into 

 your Excellency's possession the papers and property 

 relating to that trust. 



I have the honor to tender you the cooperation of 

 the Government of the United States whenever it may 

 be found necessary in effecting the early restoration 

 and the permanent prosperity and welfare of the State 

 over which you have been called to preside. 



I have the honor to be, with great respect, vour 

 obedient servant, WM. H. SEWARD. 



At the close of hostilities and the recognition 

 of emancipation by the white inhabitants, the 

 freed men, in large numbers, left the plantations 

 and resorted to the cities. Of this class a meet- 

 ing was held in the neighborhood of Mobile, 

 on Sunday, August 13th, of which the "Adver- 

 tiser " of that city gave the following report : 



Nine hundred of them assembled to consider their 

 condition, their rights and duties under the new state 

 of existence upon which they have been so suddenly 

 launched. Our informant was surprised at the hard, 

 practical sense and moderation of tone with which the 

 spokesmen of the meeting urged their views. After 

 long talk and careful deliberation, this meeting re- 

 solved, by a vote of seven hundred voices to two nun- 

 dred, that they had made a practical trial for three 

 months of the freedom which the war has bequeathed 

 to them ; that its realities were far from being so flat- 

 tering as their imagination had painted it ; that they 

 had discovered that the prejudices of color were by 

 no means confined to the people of the South, but, on 

 the contrary, that it was stronger and more marked 

 against them in the strangers from the North, than 

 in the home people of the South, among whom they 

 had been reared ; that negroes, no more than white 

 men, can live without work, or be comfortable with- 

 out homes ; that their northern deliverers from bond- 

 age had not, as they had expected and been taught 

 to expect, undertaken to provide for their happy ex- 

 istence in their new state of freedom, and that their 

 old masters had ceased to take any interest in them 

 or have a care for them ; and finally, that their " last 

 state was worse than the first," and it was their de- 

 liberate conclusion that their true happiness and well- 

 being required them to return to the homes which 

 they nad abandoned in a moment of excitement, and 

 go to work again under their old masters. And so 

 the resolutions were passed, and at last accounts the 

 wanderers were packing up their little stock of mov- 

 able goods, preparatory to the execution of their sen- 

 sible purposes. 



Near the close of the year, on November 22d, 

 a Convention of colored persons was held at 

 Mobile, at which the following series of resolu- 

 tions was adopted : 



WKweae, Under the providence of a gracious God, 

 the colored people of the United States are permit- 

 ted to enjoy the inestimable boon of liberty, and now 

 have the privilege of demonstrating what they can 

 do as a people ; and 



Whereat, The unprecedented privilege is now 

 granted us of peaceably assembling in convention in 

 this city of Mobile, and conferring and deliberating 



upon matters involving our common interests; there, 

 fore 



Resolved, That we shall ever inculcate the trnth 

 that our freedom is the gift of God, and that we ar 

 under the highest obligations to Him so to improve 

 our new privilege as that His gift shall not be in vain. 



Resolved, That we shall labor to foster in the hearts 

 of our people sentiments of peace, friendship, and 

 good will toward all men especially ' toward our 

 white fellow-citizens, among whom our lot is cast: 

 and while we would relinquish none of the rights of 

 our common manhood, we will studiously, according 

 to our best knowledge and ability, so conduct our- 

 selves as to be profitable to them and to ourselves. 



Resolved, That we know and admit the fact, that 

 labor, faithfully and judiciously performed, is the 

 only just foundation of wealth, and that it will con- 

 tinue to be our purpose and effort to work industri- 

 ously and honestly for the support of our families 

 and the prosperity of the community in which we 

 live. 



Resolved, That we will perform faithful labor for 

 every man who will pay us just wages ; nor do we 

 either expect or desire to receive any man's property 

 without giving him a just equivalent. 



Resolved, That we feel that our new condition of 

 freedom not only presents new motives to industry, 

 but also imposes new obligations upon us to cultivate 

 all the virtues of good citizenship, and that, therefore, 

 it is our purpose to fulfil all the duties of our new 

 positions according to the ability which God has 

 given us. 



Resolved, That we recognize civil government as 

 an ordinance of God, and that it shall be a matter of 

 conscience with us to obey the laws, and to discoun- 

 tenance in every way all violation and all contem- 

 plated violation of law. 



Resolved, That the assertion made in certain quar- 

 ters, that there is a plot among our people to rise in 

 insurrection, is utterly without foundation, incon- 

 sistent with our history as a people, and the farthest 

 from our desires and possible intentions. 



Resolved, That we feel in our hearts the glow of 

 gratitude and the purpose of unfaltering fidelity to 

 the Government of the United States, and shall ever 

 regard as pledged to its support our lives, our for- 

 tunes, and our sacred honor. 



Resolved,, That we regard the education of our 

 children and youth as vital to the preservation of our 

 liberties, and true religion as the foundation of all 

 real virtue, and shall use our utmost endeavors to 

 promote these blessings in our common country. 



The principles upon which the Freedmen's 

 Bureau was organized are stated under the pro- 

 ceedings of Congress. The plan of its operations 

 in each State is described under the title FKEED- 



During the existence of the Confederate 

 Government, the Protestant Episcopal Church 

 South was organized, and the prayer for the 

 President of the United States and all in Civil 

 Authority in the Book of Common Prayer was 

 changed to one for the Confederate authorities. 

 Upon the restoration of the United States au- 

 thorities, the prayer for the President was omit- 

 ted altogether by the recommendation of Bishop 

 "\Vihner. "Whereupon Maj.-Gen. Woods issiu-d 

 an order, of which the following is an extract : 



It is therefore ordered, pursuant to the directions 

 of_ Maj.-Gen. Thomas, commanding the Military Di- 

 vision of the Tennessee, that said Richard Winner, 

 Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church, of the 

 diocese of Alabama, and the Protestant Episcopal 

 Clergy of said diocese be, and they are hereby sus- 

 pended from their functions, and forbidden to preach 

 or perform divine service. 



