CHAPTER XXIV.
MRS. CHARLOTTE SCOTT.
When the rumor of war had wrought this country into anxious excitement; when the men of the North had been called upon to take up arms on the one side, and when the men of the South were being trained to keep time with drum and fife on the other side, the slave-holder, no doubt, had some fears as to the results of the proposed bloody conflict.
But there was another class of beings who also predicted the results; the slave saw fully as far into the future of this war as did his master. By the eye of faith he knew the days of a wonderful change would soon come.
As strange as it may seem, thousands of bond-men and bond-women assembled together at the dead hour of night, when patrol and master were victims to sleep, and prayed with full confidence for this war to result in the breaking of their shackles. Their belief that this long-prayed-for day would come was as strong as if God had, in an audible voice, promised it to them.
They declared that it would so end, and although many died without the sight, yet it did come, to the glory of the God in whom they trusted.
During this long and fearful struggle, that drenched this Southland with some of the best blood of the nation, there lived an old slave woman who fully believed in the providence of God. She was born in Campbell county, Va., and was the slave of a Mrs. W. P. Rucker, who at the close of the war, possibly, lived at Marietta, Ohio.
Charlotte Scott at this time was about sixty years old. Her father was named Thomas Scott. When the news of Lincoln's proclamation was flashed over the country Charlotte Scott, with four millions of her brethren, rejoiced. When the news of the death of the immortal hero was heralded throughout the country she, with the rest of her brethren, was sad.
It was through this proclamation that she had been declared free, and now, unlike the nine that were cleansed, she desired to return and "give thanks," for she knew he had died in the cause of justice. When her former owner informed her of this sad fate of her immortal deliverer and friend, she exclaimed, "The colored people have lost their best friend on earth; Mr. Lincoln was our best friend, and I will give five dollars of my wages towards erecting a monument to his memory." She was first to propose a monument and first to contribute to the carrying out of her proposal to erect the famous Lincoln Monument which now stands in Lincoln Park, Washington, D. C., and was unveiled by General U. S. Grant, April 14, 1876. It cost $20,000.
Is there any honor in her actions and love for the dead Chieftain? Is there any glory in the efforts for this monument? Has any sacrifice been made for which the world would give praise? If so, let them all fall first and heaviest upon the head of Charlotte Scott. She showed a gratitude characteristic only of a true heart and a well-trained conscience.
When this monument shall have crumbled and fallen; when the hands that placed it there shall have been forgotten in the grave, and when the spot upon which it now stands shall be used for other purposes not now known to mortals, the deed of this woman, the emanation of a thankful heart in kind remembrance and sacrifice, shall not be forgotten by the God in whom the bonded slaves trusted for deliverance.