liturgy for the Congregational churches, I would put in it the
following petition: "From the superficial views and misleading
statements of tourists through the South, or those who reside in a
single locality, good Lord, deliver us!" Mr. Cable is not of either of
these classes. He speaks from an intimate acquaintance with, and a
long residence in, the South; better than this, he is familiar with
the whole territory, and not with a single locality simply. This
little book ought to be in the hands of every conscientious student of
this Southern problem. Take a single quotation:

"To be governed merely by instincts is pure savagery. All civilization
is the result of subordinating instinct to reason, and to the
necessities of peace, amity and righteousness. To surrender to
instinct, would destroy all civilization in three days. If, then, the
color-line is the result of natural instincts, the commonest daily
needs of the merest civilization require that we should ask ourselves,
is it better or worse to repress or cherish this instinct, and this
color-line?" There are forces at work, regenerative and ennobling, that
will lead the Southern white people to be ashamed of their attitude
toward the Negroes, and not the least of these are the life and works
of Mr. Cable.

A letter came into my hand, when I was in the South, which is not only
a commentary, but also throws a ray of sunlight where there is much
darkness. It was a letter from an old mistress to her former slave. He
is now a successful business man in Chattanooga. This earnest,
Christian woman, rising above her prejudices, wrote her former slave a
cordial invitation to visit her in her home. Her husband, his old
master, had died in the Confederate service. She had seen her servants
taken away from her through the success of the Union armies. Her