The spectacle of thousands of half-naked, empty-handed,2 despairing men, women, and children fleeing as for their lives from one part of the country to another, and preferring to risk starvation and death by the way rather than remain where they naturally belong, is one calculated to move pitying Heaven, and to awaken all that is sympathetic and generous in the human breast. Their claims for immediate charitable relief are equally just and imperative; and it is most gratifying to perceive a disposition in various directions to minister to the wants of these poor outcasts. By nothing that they have done, on the score of idleness, dissipation, or disorderly conduct, have they brought this suffering and exposure upon themselves. On the contrary, they have been the only industrious, unoffending, law-abiding, and loyal portion of the population in that quarter, with but few exceptions; and yet their safety is only in flight!
While, therefore, grave, exciting, and relatively important as the present exodus of a few thousands of colored refugees from Mississippi and Louisiana may be, it is only an incident of the hour, demanding succor and aid in various forms until they have time to select their dwelling-places. But what of the four