Camp Lee and the Freedmen's Bureau [pp. 346-355]

CAMP LEE AND THE FREEDMEN'S BUREAU.
cession. The wave went over you. You yielded. Grant that
you were wronged, grant that you suffered; do you not mistake your remedy? Those who opposed the old Revolutionary
War returned after peace, and their children and children's
children reaped the glories of that event. Even the property
that had been sequestered was restored. Your condition would
have been much better than these. There are stronger reasons
now to ignore the past. There is room enough in the country
for all. We can all prosper, grow rich, and according to merit
share political power. Better the friendship of your neighbor
across the road or in the next county, than your neighbor in
Boston or New Hampshire. You cannot successfully oppose
an overwhelming public opinion. Insist upon it, and sooner
or later you go down. Acknowledge the fact; graciously,
manfully, generously and intelligently, and you will be received back into the family fold, and in a few years all that
existed of strife and bitterness will be things of the past, trifles
light as air in the comparison of our harmonious Union and
accord. We are not without hope. The Convention which
was recently held in Philadelphia, where all of the States from
the St. Lawrence to the Pacific affiliated harmoniously after
six years of separation, was a magnificent and stirring event,
and will cast its influences over all the land. Good and true
men will look up. Hope will revive, and even the worst radical, we care not who, will see the necessity of bending to the
storm. If you have sinned, sin no more "While yet the lamp holds out to burn,
The vilest sinner may return."
ART. II.-CAMP LEE AND THE FREEDMEN'S BUREAU.
CAMP LEE, about a mile from Richmond, is but a branch or
appendage of the Freedmen's Bureau in that city. For this
reason, and because we ourselves live at Camp Lee, and until
recently held our court in Richmond, we have thought it
would be appropriate to treat of the two in connection. Admitted behind the curtains, were we curious, prying, or observant, we might have collected materials for an article at once
rich, racy and instructive; but we are, unfortunately, abstracted, and see or hear very little that is going on around us.
What we have seen and heard, so far as we deem it interesting,
we will relate, without breach of confidence, because nothing
has been told us in confidence, and we have seen or heard nothing at all discreditable to any officer of the Bureau.
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