STARTLING REVELATIONS FROM THE Department of South Carolina.

In regard to the publication of this article, it is proper to remark, that Mr. Goodell, the "Editor of the Principia," desired me to give him the first copy for publication. At the earliest moment, I coincided with his wishes, and gave him the first copy, which he refused to insert in his paper, because the Managers of the "Freeman's Relief Association" had desired him not to publish it. This article, in proof, was then handed to the "New York Tribune," "New York World," "New York Herald," "Anglo-African," the "Hartford Times," "Boston Commonwealth," and the "St. John's Freeman;" all of which declined its publication, with the exception of the "Anglo-African." That journal, to its credit be it said, published it in part; also the "St. John's Freeman" made a commendable editorial, which is inserted.

T.P. KNOX.

STARTLING REVELATIONSIn Reference to the Management of the MilitaryDepartment of South Carolina.

The undersigned, in August last, was invited and urged by his friends, to visit the Military Department of South Carolina with a view to taking the position of Assistant Surgeon in that Department. I was then residing in the city of Boston, Mass., where I have been a citizen for the last eleven years. Having concluded to go on and take the position named, I wrote to my friend there to that effect, and soon after received a pass to the Department from Gen. R. Saxton, the Military Governor of the post. I sailed from New York, in the steamer Fulton, the latter part of October, and arrived in Beaufort on the 1st of November; and on the 18th of the same month, received my appointment from Gen. Saxton, as Assistant Contract-Surgeon.

Having performed the duties of the office for two months, on the 19th of January, I was summarily removed from my position, without previous notification or any reasons being assigned for the act. Being now without official duties, I employed my time in instructing the colored people in their rights and duties, and in serving them in the capacity of Physician, giving my services wholly without charge, making my home in their cabins, and partaking of their homely fare. While engaged in this work, on the 20th of May, I received an order from General Saxton, to leave the Department in the next steamer North. To this order I sent Gen. Saxton the following reply:

"General R. Saxton.

"Dear Sir:--I have this moment received your order to leave this Department. I was intending to leave on the 1st of June. I must confess my great surprise at this procedure, from the fact that I have violated no law in your 00034Department. Nothing that I have said or done militates against or is incompatible with the military code, to my knowledge. I therefore pray for a hearing, or to be allowed to depart in peace, on the 1st of June. However great the sacrifice, I feel that I must be true to the dear God of liberty and justice and my colored brother.

"Yours Respectfully,"THOS. P. KNOX."

The answer I received to this letter was an order from Gen. Saxton for my immediate, arrest, which was done, and by an armed guard I was taken to Hilton Head and turned over to the Provost Marshal as a prisoner, who thrust me into prison with one hundred and twenty rebel prisoners, where I was held in close confinement for four hours, the Provost Marshal supposing I was a rebel, as the order of Gen. Saxton gave no explanation of the case. In about two hours after my incarceration, the Captain of the Guard sent his Lieutenant to demand the key of my trunk. I gave him the key, at the same time requesting that I might be present when they opened my trunk, and followed the officer for that purpose. But the Captain refused to let me be present, and with a harsh voice said to the Lieutenant, "take him back to prison."

After examining my trunk, and finding I was a loyal man, and learning the relations I had held in the Department, the Captain of the Guard came and released me from my confinement among the rebels, apologizing for the rough treatment I had received, saying he supposed I was a rebel prisoner. I remained in the office that night, sleeping on the floor. About 10 o'clock next morning the Provost Marshal General came to me and said, that General Hatch, General Saxton's superior officer, had decided that he had no right to order me out of the Department, and directed that I be discharged from close confinement, and be allowed to go out on my parol until further orders. In the meantime General Hatch was superseded by General Foster, who sustained Saxton's arbitrary conduct, thus degrading himself by gratifying the personal animosity of an inferior officer, instead of investigating the matter, and acting on his own judgment. Therefore, on the 4th of June, I received, through the Provost Marshal General, the following order:--

COPY."Headquarters Department S.C.Hilton Head, June 1st 1864.

"Dr. Knox will be sent North on the next steamer, by the desire of Brig. Gen. Saxton.

[Signed]"J.G. FOSTER,"Maj. Gen. Commanding."

To this order I sent the following protest:

"Hilton Head, June 6, 1864."Maj. Gen. Foster."Sir:--I have violated no law in your Department. I have honored and defended the President's Proclamation of freedom, as a loyal citizen. I therefore protest against my expulsion and the violation of my personal liberty as an American citizen. My appeal is now to the President of the United States!"Respectfully yours, under protest,"Thos. P. Knox."

On the next day, June 7th, I went on board the Arago, when my arrest terminated, having been in duress for eighteen days. I arrived in New York on the 10th inst., driven out from the open port of South Carolina, in violation of my civil rights, by the petty despotism of the Military Governor of that Department.

00045

And now, why have I received this treatment at the hands of Gen. Saxton? As no reasons have been assigned in any of his official orders, the real reasons will be found in the following facts, which I feel bound, though reluctantly, to place before the public under my affidavit.

After receiving my appointment as Contract-Surgeon, as above stated, I was assigned to Coosaw Island for official duty. On entering on the field of my duties, I found the small pox in almost every dwelling. I also found the people, and especially the children, in a most wretched and destitute condition in regard to clothing. Mothers were obliged to let the children go naked or wrap them in coarse bagging, while their squalid clothes were being cleaned of the infection of their disease, for the children had no change of clothing, and many of the mothers were in the same condition.

In view of this condition of things, I inquired why they did not get clothing of Mr. Judd, the agent of the "Freedmen's Relief Association," at Beaufort, as large quantities had been given by the Northern people to be distributed gratuitously among them. They all replied that they had tried to get clothing of the agent, but had been driven away without any, because they had no money to buy. I went to Corn Island, another settlement of the colored people, and found the same state of things, small pox and destitution of clothing. At Eddings Point Plantation, the condition of the people was in no wise different. There I found an aged woman, with nothing but an old bagging skirt, and that in tatters, to cover her. I inquired why she did not apply to the agent of the Northern donors of clothing, at Beaufort for a supply of garments. She said, she had made application, and had been driven from the door, because she had no money with which to buy, and with tears in her eyes, the old woman prayed for her old master to come back and give her some clothes. I went to Ladies' Island, and there found the same condition of things. At St. Helena Island I also found the same destitution. At St. Helena Ville, I met a Mr. Thorpe, the superintendent, in the presence of whom it was remarked by a gentleman, that the people seemed to be very destitute of clothing. To this I replied, that if they had received the clothing sent to them from their friends at the North, they would not be in this wretched condition. Whereupon Mr. Thorpe asserted that he could show me plenty of people who had received these donations from the North. I replied that I would go with him twenty miles to see them. To make his word good, he took me into a cotton house where there were about twenty men and women, who had just been carrying cotton on board the steamer. Mr. Thorpe, addressing one of the company, said, "Here is a man who says there is nobody here who has received second hand clothing;" adding, with emphasis, "you know you have, and I want you to tell him so, for you know Mrs.--gave you clothes the other day, and I gave you a pair of stockings." The old man dropped his head in silence. I saw his embarrassment, and said to him, "Did you do anything for these things?" He replied, "Yes, I worked for them." I said, "Then it was no gift." Mr. T. not seeming inclined to appeal to any other, I spoke to all present, and asked them if there was one of them who received from any of the agents for the distribution of clothing, any garments as a gift. They all replied that they had not. I then said to Mr. Thorpe, "You are condemned by your own witnesses." Whereupon a sharp altercation took place between us, in which I charged him with deceiving and defrauding these poor colored people, who had escaped from bondage only to fall into the hands of God-forsaken Northern sharks. As I went on board the steamer to leave the place, these people, to show their gratitude for my defence of their cause, came to the bank of the river, and cheered me as I departed. On this Mr. Thorpe went away and reported that I was making the people discontented, and creating disturbance among them, tending to insurrection, or something of that kind.

At Beaufort, I met five old slaves, Jennie, Scipio, Killis, Molly and Anna, 00056who had been kidnapped in Africa in their childhood, who told me they could get no clothes from the Freedmen's Association without buying them, and that they could not do. I found Scipio, who is not less than one hundred years old, lying one night on the bare floor, suffering from the cold. I went and obtained a blanket, the fruit of a Christmas Fair gotten up for the benefit of the poor colored people who could get no assistance from the Freedman's Relief Association, and gave it to him, which filled him with gratitude, and brought from him a hearty, "God bless you, massa."

The above Association keep a store in Beaufort for the sale of their goods, and also, from time to time, make sales of their clothing at public auction, some of which auctions I have myself attended. Several persons have told me that they have declined to buy at this store, and have gone, in preference, to the suttlers, and bought of them, because they could buy cheaper.

I have been informed by reliable persons that all moneys obtained from these sales of the Association, are paid into the hands of Gen. Saxton, to whom all goods are assigned.

Seven months of intimate relations with the people of the Department of South Carolina, has enabled me to communicate with many thousands of the colored inhabitants, and all, with one accord, confirm the gross violation of public faith and charity of the National Freedmen's Relief Association. And I will add that among all these thousands, I have not found a single person who had received a garment from the Association as a gift.

In the commencement of the establishment of schools in Beaufort, both colored and white children met together in the same schools; but recently they have introduced the odious Northern system of caste, by establishing separate schools for the negro children, thus perverting the very object of this mission among the freedmen of the South, which was to elevate the colored people, break down the prejudice against color, and thus produce a homogeneous society, as the basis of freedom and peace.

I will also add a word in respect to the general management of the plantations. These plantations are monopolized by Northern speculators to the almost entire exclusion of the freedmen, who are made the mere serfs of these lords of the soil. On the plantations, the highest price paid to colored laborers, to my knowledge, is thirty cents a day, they subsisting themselves. Many have told me that they have worked all the year, producing from three hundred pounds to five hundred pounds of cotton, and have received only from $5 to $15 for their years toil. They who plant a small patch for themselves, are often denied the use of mules and necessary implements unless they will plant the same amount, gratuitously, for the superintendent; and in some cases they have been driven off the plantations because they would not work on the agent's terms. I have met with hundreds of these poor laborers, and all say they have never received the amount of wages secured to them by act of Congress, * viz: $8 per month for men, and $4 per month for women.

*This pay was promised, however by the Commander of the post.

Colored laborers, on the wharf at Beaufort, get out $8 per month, and not fully paid at that, while white men, doing the same work, get from $30 to $50 per month.

Capt. Isaac Simmons, Black Isaac, as he is called, is a pilot, and the best in those waters, and who has more brains than nine-tenths of the whites, gets only $45 a month, while the white pilot gets from $60 to $75; a wicked and oppressive discrimination against the black man.

Under this unrighteous and oppressive treatment, universal sadness is written on every countenance. Many have told me their present condition under these "Buchramen," as they call them, is worse than under their old masters; proving to them what "Old Massa" told them, that the Yankees were not their 00067friends. Cheating these people is in proportion to their ignorance, and as a consequence universal ill-will prevails among them towards the whole horde of plunderers who have come down there, not for the good of the freedmen, but for their own profit. The cry of these suffering people comes up: "Pay us for our labor, and treat us as free men and women, giving us an equal chance in the participation of the soil, and we will buy our own lands, keep our own store, and relieve the Freedmen's Association of the benevolent task of drawing on the charities of our real friends in the North, for donations for our benefit, which we never receive as a free gift, as the donors designed."

Witnessing for many months, these high handed acts of oppression under the rule of General Saxton, I have not failed, in season, to lift up my voice against them, and rebuking their authors, to their faces. As a consequence, a conspiracy was formed among these guilty officials against me, prominent among whom was the Quartermaster John A. Moore, formerly a slaveholder of Augusta, Ga., and a slaveholder still in spirit, as his acts do testify. These men clamored against me, carrying their complaints to Gen. Saxton, who was very willing to join with them to further their designs, feeling himself, no doubt, implicated in the censure I had brought against the mismanagement in the Department; for upon their representations it was that he so summarily removed me from my position of Assistant Contract Surgeon. The injustice of Gen. Saxton, in his treatment of me, is more fully demonstrated by his own statements, in an interview I had with him on the subject of my removal.

After receiving notification from him of my removal from office, I called on him, on the 2d of February, to learn the reasons of his action, when the following conversation took place. I said, "Gen. Saxton, I have been condemned, it seems, without a hearing." To which he replied, "Did you ever tell the colored people that they did not get as much pay as the whites?" "Yes, I have." "Have you ever told them that second hand clothing has been sent to them that they never got?" "Yes. "Then," said he, "that is enough; I don't want to hear any more; I did appoint you clothing inspector." I replied, "I have nothing to regret, nothing to retract; I thank God I have spoken the truth. I serve the same God here that I did in Boston." He then advised me to leave the Department.

Not chosing to take the advice of the General, I continued in my work among the colored people, who universally and gratefully accepted my services, and gave me their sympathy and support, while I became more and more obnoxious to their Northern oppressors, until my office culminated in the part I took in the Convention that met on the 17th of May, held for the purpose of electing delegates to the Baltimore Convention. This Convention was called, without distinction of color; I accordingly instructed the colored people as to their rights in the Convention. On the assembling of the meeting, the colored men were largely in the majority. Judge Smith was chosen President by the votes of both whites and black. I was nominated for Vice President and elected, but only in consequence of the excess of colored members, for on the vote being taken, every colored man voted for me, and every white man voted against me. The Convention then proceeded to the election of delegates, sixteen being the number required. I proposed that four of these should be colored men. Several white men were first nominated and elected. Then the colored men nominated their four delegates, whereupon great confusion prevailed, and the chair directed that the white and colored members be divided, the whites taking one side of the house and the blacks the other. The vote was taken, and the colored delegates were elected almost wholly by colored votes, the whites being almost unanimously opposed to the election of any colored delegates.

The part I thus took in the Convention in rallying the colored men to the exercise of their rights as freemen, in securing men of their own color to represent them in the Baltimore Convention, seemed to set on fire the wrath of their white 00078lords against both me and them, and especially against me, and set them to work with fresh machinations to procure my expulsion from the Department; in which they succeeded by securing the ready sympathy and co-operation of Gen. Saxton, who, on the third day after the Convention, put me under arrest, as before stated, and ordered my immediate departure for the North. The sequel of that arrest has already been laid before the reader; and the reasons for that arrest and expulsion are also now apparent, showing that my rights were no better protected under the rule of the present Military governor of South Carolina, than if the old despotism of the Slave lords--the Rhetts, the Barnwells, the Phipps--still held sway as in farmer times.Thomas P. Knox, M,D.

STATE OF NEW YORK.City and Countx of New York, ss.Be it remembered, that on the sixteenth day of June, A.D. 1864, personally appeared before me Thomas P. Knox, and made solemn affirmation that the foregoing statements, by him subscribed, are true. In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and affixed my official seal.Charles Nettleton,Notary Public in and for the City, County and State of New York.

From the St. John's Freeman.A long statement, headed "Startling Revelations in reference to the Military Department of South Carolina," has been sent us for publication. It would occupy much more space than we could spare for it. The statement is made by Thomas P. Knox, M.D. who was employed in the department, and expelled for creating dissatisfaction amongst the negroes, whose condition under their new taskmasters he describes as most deplorable. Small pox prevailed largely, and little or nothing was done for the relief of the sufferers. The clothes sent down so abundantly by the people of the North, were sold by Mr. Judd, agent of the "Freeman's Relief Association," at Beaufort, and those who had no money were left to rot in the miserable remnants of the clothes once given them by the slaveholders. Many children and many mothers had no change of clothing, and had to go naked while their rags were cleansed of the infection. The white and negro children are now separated in the schools. The plantations are monopolized by Northern speculators, and the highest price paid to the colored laborers is 30 cents a day, out of which they have to provide their own food. The act of Congress provides that men shall get $8 a month and women $4, but this they never get. The whites, too, are not willing to allow the blacks the enjoyment of the political rights given them by the acts of Congress. For exposing and resisting all this wrong doing, and for laboring to teach the negroes what they were entitled to, he was denounced as a dangerous person, and sent out of the department by order of Gen. Saxton--who, he says, shares largely in the plunder--confirmed by Gen. Foster.

The Rejection of the South Carolina Delegation, (colored.)THE COLORED DELEGATES WERE THE REJECTED STONE BY THE BUILDERS.

To "The Commonwealth."Mr. Editor:--Since so much has been said by "Mr. Phillips," the "Independent," and "T.W.H.,"I desire to give you the facts in reference to the Beaufort Convention held on the 17th of May. I'll commence with the beginning.

I noticed in the "Free South," a paper edited by Mr. Thompson, (a brother-in-law of the petty tyrant Saxton,) a call, without distinction of color, for a convention to elect sixteen delegates to the Baltimore Convention. I then said to 00089the colored men, "Now is the time to strike for and exercise your political rights." They thought it could not be done. My reply was, "Rally the men; be sure of an early majority over the whites, and I will lead you on to victory."

Between 9 and 10 A.M., I went to the Saxton House where the Convention was to convene. On entering the hall, I found the colored men in force, two to one. On the left were standing the few whites. I took my seat with my colored friends on the other side of the house.

The Convention was called to order by Mr. Judd. Judge Smith was elected President by a fusion vote. I was then elected Vice President by the vote of every colored man, while every white man voted against men. After taking my position, I felt bound to thank my constituents for the honor they confered upon me. Such an honor, no Saxon can boast of in this country. I defended their equal rights before the law and under the Proclamation as loyal citizens, and advised them to elect four delegates to Baltimore. Now the rage of the negro-haters was great. Cries of "Put him out--put him down," was heard. But nothing daunted, I went on; and why should I fear? I had the balance of power of this country with me. Speeches were made by others, disparaging the liberty of the colored men, after which the meeting was adjourned till 3 P.M., to hear the report from the Committee on Resolutions, and also to get, as I suppose, a majority of whites. I met the colored men at Henry Bram's at 1 P.M. We organized for action under any emergency. We selected our delegates. They selected me as one, making five delegates. On reaching the house, I found a very mean specimen of a man by the name of Hyat, who so signally failed in putting me down in the convention. So vindictive was he, that he placed himself in the front door, with a number of shoulder-strappers behind him, to prevent my entrance. I said, by the grace of God, I will take that copperhead battery. Notwithstanding their abuse, I passed by them, receiving a liberal supply of G.D.GG. lover, and on entering the hall, I found the colored men had carried out my plan of having the colored men in majority of more than one third.

The resolutions were then read and adopted, after which Col. Ashman, a rebel of North Carolina, who had taken the oath of "ALLOWANCE," was called upon for a speech by the " Lincolnites." The substance of his speech was that he "owned seventy-five slaves," that "the colored men in this Convention were not free," that "the colored soldiers were cowards." For this foul slander he was called "a liar" by a colored sargeant. This infamous speech was applauded by the Gideonitish and Ephraimitish whites of the Convention. My blood boiled. I thought of Fort Wagner, of Fort Pillow. I was ashamed that I had a white face. I sprang to my feet to reply to this outrageous abuse of my colored brothers who had so nobly, so heroically, so bravely and so victoriously clung to the nation's emblem--the Stars and Stripes; and had never, NEVER wavered or faltered; when the President said to me, "Wait a little while, and you shall have an opportunity to reply." I yielded in good faith.

At this moment one of the Northern sharks from Boston, by the name of Tumbleson, (I do not know if I have spelt his name right,) arose, and charged me with making trouble with the colored people, deceiving them, and that I was not their friend. I replied by challenging him to meet me, and prove his assertion, or I branded him as a coward, for I could have proved on the spot, by every colored man in the Department (except one, whose name was Lynch, and who was a contemporary of Tumbleson's) that he knew his assertion was false. This Lynch is a Northern traitor, dispised by his own color, and is regarded only as a lickspittle by the whites. As for Tumbleson, the charge he made against me I only wait the opportunity to meet him, and make him eat his words or else make them good.

The whites then nominated and elected their first delegate by the votes of both white and colored. The second third and forth were elected. Now we spring the nomination of Jackson Bram as our first delegate on the Convention. 000910Immediately the meeting was a perfect bedlam. Some four or five surrounded Henry Bram, who nominated Jackson, confusing him as much as possible. But the cry of "Jackson Bram" was kept and the Convention could not proceed. At length Jackson Bram was dropped for Robert Small, and the latter was elected. The whites then elected four others. We then nominated and elected Sargeant Rivers, and thus we continned nominating and electing until five (including myself) were elected. But Judge Smith having gone to the copperheads, would not take my name, until the Convention was brought to a dead lock by the vehement cries of the blacks, whereupon my name was put, and the vote declared adversely, to gratify the whites, for I had the same majority that elected the others. I would not speak of this, only to show more fully the spirit of the Convention. The delegates were all chosen, and the President, instead of giving me an opportunity of denouncing the rebel Col. Ashman, as he promised me he would do, dissolved the meeting. Thus ended the first public meeting ever held in a Southern State wherein a colored man dared to exercise his rights. My reward was a consciousness that I had done my duty to my colored brothers, and their grateful acknowledgment to me of it.

Now follows my punishment for doing my whole duty in the fear of God to these colored people, who have no one to teach them their privileges as citizens under the proclamation act. The third day after this Convention, and at a moment when I was writing to Capt. Small to inform him of his election, I received an order from General Saxton to leave the Department. As a man, I could do no otherwise than repudiate his bogus order. At ten o'clock the same night, I was arbitrarily arrested by a mounted armed guard. Seven o'clock the next morning, I was surrounded by an armed guard, and taken to Hilton Head, and given into the Provost Marshal's hands as a prisoner, who insulted me, and threw me into a rebel prison. I was held eighteen days a prisoner, and was then expelled because I was loyal to liberty, to a common humanity, and loyal to the Proclamation.

The South Carolina delegation was rejected because of the colored element, is manifest. The Baltimore Convention had no right to admit the colored delegates, because the Proclamation is dead. Mr. Lincoln was compelled to declare it, and then voluntarily killed it by reconstruction, in excluding the colored men from the ballot box. Therefore these persons are still contrabands, and contrabands could not be admitted to seats in such an august body. What is to be the future destiny of these colored people in such hands? What can be done but to hold up these wicked parties to scorn, contempt and execration.Your true friend for equality in human rights,Thomas P. Knox, M.D.

The above article received the following notice:From the Commonwealth.

Alleged Arbitrary TreatmentWe have received a lengthy communication from Thomas P. Knox, M.D., stating the part he took in promoting the appointment of the South Carolinian Delegation (colored,) and complaining of subsequent harsh and arbitrary treatment at the hands of General Saxton. Dr. KNOX states that, by the part he took in causing the appointment of the Colored Delegation, he incurred the violent hostility of the whites at Beaufort. Dr. Knox concludes as follows:

"The third day after the meeting (for the election of delegates,) and at the moment when I was writing to Capt. Small to inform him of his election, I received an order from General Saxton to leave the Department. As a man, I could do no otherwise than repudiate his bogus order. At ten o'clock the same 001011night, I was arbitrarily arrested by a mounted armed guard. At seven o'clock the next morning, I was surrounted by an armed guard and taken to Hilton Head, and given into the Provost Marshal's hands as a prisoner, who insulted me and threw me into a rebel prison. I was held eighteen days a prisoner, and was then expelled because I was loyal to liberty, loyal to a common humanity, and loyal to the Proclamation."

Mr. Knox adds that the "South Carolinian Delegation was rejected because of the colored element, is manifest." It is only fair to remark that the above is the first complaint against General Saxton that has a come to our knowledge. We have always regarded Gen. Saxton as a meritorious officer, a friend to the oppressed race, and an impartial administrator between white and black.

The following reply is from Col. Higginson:Gen. Saxton and Dr. Knox.Editors of the Commonwealth:--

I observe in your last week's issue a complaint of Dr. Thomas P. Knox, against Brig, Gen. Saxton, for sending him out of the Department of the South. It does not appear on what ground he was originally ordered to leave the Department, but as he went there knowing it to be under martial law, it was of course his duty to obey the order when once given; and if he disobeyed it, he became a fit subject for the Provost Marshal, and had no cause to complain. By his own showing, he undertook to set the military authorities at defiance.

I do not know why he was sent away, but can conceive of several very good reasons why he might have been. It has always been the custom in that Department, to order North those citizens who had no adequate means of support, or no useful occupation. If one quarter of those who have gone there in the guise of philanthropists could have been sent away without landing, it would, in my judgment, have been a great gain to all, and especially to the freedmen. Having some acquaintance with both parties, I can safely say that Gen. Saxton at least equals Dr. T.P. Knox in Anti-Slavery fidelity, while he infinitely exceeds him in practical judgment. The attempt to represent the election of colored delegates as being the ground of any one's banishment, is an entire injustice, as the leading white Republicans in Beaufort approved that measure.T.W.H.

The following rejoinder to Col. Higginson's malicious attack was most cowardly rejected by the Commonwealth:To the Commonwealth.MR. EDITOR:--

You have seen fit to allow Col. Higginson to malign me to his heart's content. I fondly hoped to have had an impartial hearing in your journal, and still trust I may.

In your last issue, Col. Higginson remarks, first, that I complain that Gen. Saxton ordered me from the Department. This is untrue. I make no complaint. I only state facts. Gen. Saxton usurped the power of expulsion, but Gen. Hatch stopped his mad career, and ordered that I should not leave, for Gen. Saxton had no right to send me from the Department. Therefore, as a loyal citizen, I could not submit to such Austrian despotism at the hands of Gen. Saxton. Had I committed any infraction of the law, court martial and punish me by expulsion or otherwise. But this cannot be done. I defy Saxton, Higginson, and the whole Department combined, to show cause other than personal hatred, because of my loyalty to humanity and the proclamation, which they have ignored for the almighty dollar. It is one thing to have "flippant 001112lips" in Worcester, and quite another to have them "hermetically sealed" in Beaufort. The Colonel can conceive so readily of "several very good reasons why I should have been ejected." With his prolific mental powers, and "great knowledge of martial law," in fact such a "military genius" from the clerical order, (for knowledge is power.) I wait for his first good reason.

I must inform Col. Higginson that martial law does not invest despotic power in a Brig. General, or in any other officer. Martial law must be violated to incur penalties. I violated none; and Saxton did, by usurpation,--therefore he is subject to an arrest and removal.

The Colonel's implication that I "had nothing to do," was a gross slander, for which I hold him responsible; for daily was I in medical attendance upon the sick.

As to "practical judgment," I PRACTICE what they profess, hence the hostility. Antagonism must of necessity exist between the practical and the doughface, hypocritical Abolitionist.

Fearless of contravention, I assert, that every white man in the Convention opposed the nomination of the first colored delegate Jackson Bram.

I hope, Mr. Editor, you will be kind eenough to publish the facts i reference to the Convention, together with this, and obligeYour true friend for liberty,Thomas P. Knox, M.D.

From the Anglo-African.The "Startling Revelations" of Dr. Thos. P. Knox.Mr. Editor:--

Your issue of the 2d inst. contains a lengthy article, to which is affixed an affidavit, emanating from Dr. Knox, which I take the opportunity of noticing, for the purpose of correcting some statements so manifestly untrue, as to warrant the charge of absolute ignorance or maliciousness.

1st. "Moneys obtained from these sales of the Association are paid into the hands of Gen, Saxton." Now, that Gen. Saxton has never rereived a cent from the sales of this or any other Association, is a fact as well known by every intelligent man in the Department of the South, as that the sun shines. The consignment to him consists only in a direction to his "care," to better provide for prompt and sure delivery, just as dozens of us have had letters and boxes directed to his "care."

2d. "They have (the N.F.R. Asso.) introduced the odious Northern system of caste, by establishing separate schools for the negro children." The fact is that the National Freedmen's Relief Association have established and sustained no schools in the Department of the South, except those for the education of freedmen, which schools the children of the white Union refugees have attended with the colored. Very recently, a school was established exclusively for white children, but it owed its existence to private enterprise alone, the Association having no more to do with it than I have with the domestic affairs of the Doctor's family. A young lady, whose connection with the Association was severed for some reason unknown to me, got up this school for her own support. Thus is this circumstance (we trust ignorantly) used to cast odium on our Association, which is maintaining nearly seventy schools in South Carolina, and has been the means of teaching over a thousand children (who before the war had never seen a book) to read and write.

3d. Speaking of laborers on plantations, he says, "They were not allowed the $8 per month secured to them by act of Congress." Now, every one knows there never was Congressional legislation about pay for plantation labor. There never was a cent appropriated. The pay of the laborers was the result of an 001213organized system of labor, instituted by Gen. Saxton, for to meet the immediate wants of the people, the cotton gathered being sold, and the cotton fund paying laborers, superintendents, and all other expenses--no price for labor was fixed by law of Congress. Certainly the most ignorant know this.

Having noticed three statements which are totally false, a few words on the remainder of this solemnly affirmed article will suffice. What he says about laborers in the Quartermaster's Department is, doubtless, true; the responsibility, however, is on the government, and not its executive officer, or the National Breedmen's Relief Association.

In regard to the giving away clothing and rations, the best friends of the freedmen of the Souch would never advise that it be done indiscriminately. When these people were freed, the masses of them had to learn the responsibilities of freedom--to be self-reliant--hence their friends divided them into two classes--those who were self-sustaining and those who were paupers. The paupers who were such from circumstances beyond their control, were cared for, while the only solicitude for the others was to put the means of getting a living into their hands. But my patience becomes exhausted in the refutation of this ill-tempered article of the Doctor's. Either one of two things is certain--that every abolitionist, white and colored, from the North, laboring in the Department of the South, is wrong, and Knox is right, or he is wrong and they are right in the unanimous testimony they give concerning the improvement of the people, as the result of the judicious and zealous labors on the part of those who were foremost to interest themselves in their behalf.

That some men betray their trusts--that some men who are unprincipled oftentimes have the interests of these people confided to them, is by no means surprising. Imperfections exists everywhere this side of heaven.

We beg the reader to consider the source from whence these "startling revelations" come. However zealous the Doctor may be as an Abolitionist, his friends will testify that he is visionary, irritable, impulsive, of great bias, and so little reflective power of mind, that unfortunately, he is just one of those capability of being inflicted with mania in a given direction. My experience in South Carolina is that he did the colored people more harm than good. Unable to dewise anything himself--never giving them practical advice, but forever haranguing and abusing others.

The colored people of South Carolina have accumulated more property since the war commenced, than an equal number of any class of emigrants to this country have ever accumulated in the same space of time.Yours,James Lynch,Minister of African M.E. Church.Philadelphia, Pa., July 9, 1864.

While the Anglo-African is to be commended for publishing in part the original article, it is regretted that this reply to Mr. Lynch was rejected.Mr. Editor:--

Mr. Lynch made an invidious personal attack on me at the house of Mr. Crews, in Beaufort, and now, with the pretence of correcting my statements, he makes another. I therefore feel bound to show this man up as far as my knowledge will warrant.

The first time I saw Mr. Lynch, I handed him a letter of introduction from the Rev. Mr. Rue, of Boston. My first impressions of this man were, you are too unfixed in vision--too serpentine in motion--too changeable in purpose--too eel-like in principle to be a "servant of God," for I fear in the hour of trial you will prove yourself to be like "a broken tooth or a foot out of joint."

Not long after this first interviews, Mr. Hall (who by the way, is an honor to the ministry,) in speaking to me of Mr. Lynch's intrigues, said, "Mr. Lynch 001314said to me, HE HAD FOUND THE ONLY WAY TO GET ALONG WAS TO GET INTO THE GOOD GRACES OF THE OFFICERS." To this miserable sycophant, Mr. Hall nobly and emphatically replied, "No! I must do my duty."

Before I proceed farther, allow me to dispose of Mr. Lynch's criticism. First, Mr. Lynch makes a false assertion,--see article Anglo-African. I said, "I had been informed by reliable persons" that such was the fact.

Second, all persons in Beaufort disposed to act as my witnesses in proving my statements, can do so by visiting the Pray's house in school hours, and there find a white school. And the children of the freedmen, (so called,) for whose benefit the schools were established by the "Association," PROSCRIBED, EXCLUDED and cast out by the secesh children. The reason given for this pro-slavery conduct is this: It is said, the colored children quarrel and fight the secesh children so that they could not get along. By enquiring, I found the colored children only repelled insults, as they had a right to do in self-defense. (For it is a notorious fact that not only the secesh children, but their fathers and mothers are the inveterate enemies of the blacks; and the secesh men and women, I do assert, to my knowledge are favored by the officers in the Department, to the proscription of the blacks.) This charge, therefore, lies at the door of the Association until they demand and secure the equal school rights of which those colored children have been robbed. With the private enterprise of an individual, I have nothing to do; but when this militates against the public school rights, by proscribing the children of the so called freedmen, under the dogged submission of the Association, I have much to say.

Third, speaking of plantation laborers, I was charitably disposed towards the government. I regret exceedingly to find my impressions erroneous, because it leaves the people in a more deplorable condition, exposed to the devouring, avaricious maws of the Northern sharks, with no power of restraint upon them as masters.

As for Mr. Lynch's discriminate giving of clothing to which he alludes, I assert that not a thread of a garment is given to that class which he so unchristianly calls pampers. I have met them begging in the streets of Beaufort, and ministered to their comfort. The most effectual "self-reliance" for those persons, I would inform him, is to CEASE FROM PLUNDER, and pay them for their labor.

In returning to Lynch's traits, I find one that may properly be called a compound double-distilled, doughface, clerical intrigue. On entering Mr. Hall's church, and finding the Rev. Mr. Lewis in possession thereof, by the appointment of Bishop Paine. The Bishop having obtained authority from the Secretary of War to enable him to execute one of the most gigantic religious usurpations ever seen. Namely, that of taking possession of all the Methodist churches built by their slaveholding brethren. Confession of slaveholding fellowship cannot be more palpable. I therefore took the responsibility of meeting the colored class leaders in their houses twice a week, presenting the history and spirit of the thirty year's proscription, non-fellowship and wicked persecution of Lewis' church, and their christian duty to leave him alone. My efforts were soon crowned with success, and I now hold a petition to the General Conference in this regard, signed by Mr. Frazer and others. By my labors, the people left the church, and were ready to sustain Mr. Hall's independent church. Mr. Lynch's intrigue is now perceptible. Not having opened his lips, to my knowledge, for a separation, he calls a meeting at his room. Mr. Camel invited me to attend. At the door I met Mr. Lynch, who prevented me from entering by saying, it is a private meeting. Soon after, Mr. Lewis finding the colored leaders and people had left, called a meeting at his house. Whereupon he took occasion to misrepresent his church, for the purpose of getting them back, saying they would disgrace themselves by setting up nigger churches. Mr. Crews was my informant. I desired Mr. Crews to call a meeting at his house for me, and invite Mr. Lewis 001415with those that attended his meeting, and I would show them why colored churches were built. We met. Mr. Lewis, although twice invited, did not attend. When convened, Mr. Lynch came in, and called out Mr. Crews; was absent ten minutes perhaps, learning probably the object of the meeting. They returned, and in a moment after Mr. Lynch was seated, he arose with floating vision, and stated what I believe to be false, that he did not know the object of the meeting. He advised them to be cautious about holding meetings, and what they said and done to offend, as they could not get away and I could; the inference was, that it was dangerous for them to serve God, and safe for me, and in the next breath acknowledging what all slaveholders do, that my motives were good, but that I was too fast, and was doing more hurt than good to the people. In this manner he went on, leaving but a few moments for a reply. When I charged him with vindictiveness, uttering that which was utterly false, that if he had come to South Carolina to make shipwreck of his faith, and bring reproach on the cause of Christ, if he was disposed to forsake Christ, turn traitor to God's law, and act the part of a hypocrit and sycophant, that was no reason why I should. That I wielded the two edged sword of God's truth, and if he gets in the way of that weapon, his head must come off. Whereupon he arose, and commenced speaking, and continued speaking, interrupting me, and thus broke up the meeting called especially for me. The next morning, on Bay Street, this forlorn, God forsaken minister had the impudent audacity to make to me a low bow, which I treated with silent contempt.

In conclusion, the facts are, I never heard a single colored man or woman either on the Islands at Beaufort, Hilton Head, or at Mitchelville, speak one word in his favor, but all regard him as a sneaking enemy of his own race, and a lickspittle of the whites. All that I said or done in South California was practical, as my persecution and expulsion proves. Theory and the oppression and plunder of God's little ones, is like the Siamese twins in that Department. My prayer to the dear God of liberty and justice is, that He will continue "my mania" in this direction, and give me grace and strength to hold up to scorn and execration such treason to God's law.Your true friend for God's equal justice,Thomas P. Knox, M.D.

The lines from Mrs. Knox were written impromptu, the first when she heard of my removal, and the second at the hour she heard of my imprisonment. A copy of each she handed to the Liberator, and solicited their insertion, with the promise she would pay for the last one at whatever cost, as she wished to send a copy of it to Gen. Saxton. But that paper also declined her publication. The reason is obvious.

To my Husband at Beaufort.Although there's darkness here and there,Think not there's darkness everywhere.Thy lot seems lonely--footstep's night;Yet in thy bosom there's a lightWhich beams upon poor Afric's son.And cheers thee onward with "Well done."

Then up and doing, husband loved;And like the sunlight from above,Go scatter brightness on the way,Dispel the darkness, haste the dayWhen bond and free alike shall tellThe blessings that thy steps befel

001516

Thy work all done, then hasten home,And bring thy sheaves, I'll find them room;And for that hour, I'll gladly wait,Will share thy trials--bear thy fate,Until the negro, proud as we,Can shout in truth, "I'm free! I'm free!"

To my Husband in Prison at Hilton Head.Though the words of the tyrant*thee to prison did send,All alone, without money, mid strangers, no friend;Yet God, my dear husband, is Omniscient to save;Then stand, my beloved one, O stand by the slave!

* Gen. Saxton.

'Mid rebels he placed thee, and thought he'd controlTry words, NOBLY SPOKEN, the thoughts of thy soul;But heed not the tyrant--his threats do not fear;Cling, cling to the bondman, my husband so dear.

And fear not the present--thy future fear not;The bondman--the freedman for them hast thou wrought,For them stood up bravely their cause to defend;In prison hen suffer for being their friend.

Let thy eye pierce the darkness, beyond is a light,It shineth above thee, (within all is bright;)'Tis a beacon to tell thee, go forward and dare,To brave every danger, thy trials to bear.'Tis "he that o'ercometh alone wears the crown."WORK, WORK, O my husband, trample tyranny down;No prison can told thee--God's angels are nigh;We'll trust Him who ruleth "our God from on high."59 Anderson Street.ANGELINA J. KNOX.