The old relations of dependence and loyal obedience on the
part of the colored people, the responsibility of protection and
kindness upon that of the whites, have passed away forever. The young
negroes are too self-assertive. Education is spoiling them, Jane; they
have been badly taught. They are not content with their station in life.
Some time they will overstep the mark. The white people are patient, but
there is a limit to their endurance."
"Dat's w'at I tells dese young niggers," groaned Mammy Jane, with a
portentous shake of her turbaned head, "w'en I hears 'em gwine on wid
deir foolishniss; but dey don' min' me. Dey 'lows dey knows mo' d'n I
does, 'ca'se dey be'n l'arnt ter look in a book. But, pshuh! my ole
mist'ess showed me mo' d'n dem niggers 'll l'arn in a thousan' years! I
's fetch' my gran'son' Jerry up ter be 'umble, an' keep in 'is place.
An' I tells dese other niggers dat ef dey'd do de same, an' not crowd
de w'ite folks, dey'd git ernuff ter eat, an' live out deir days in
peace an' comfo't. But dey don' min' me--dey don' min' me!"
"If all the colored people were like you and Jerry, Jane," rejoined the
major kindly, "there would never be any trouble. You have friends upon
whom, in time of need, you can rely implicitly for protection and
succor. You served your mistress faithfully before the war; you remained
by her when the other negroes were running hither and thither like sheep
without a shepherd; and you have transferred your allegiance to my wife
and her child.
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