Spring Will Come (70 page)

             
Thomas turned a look of disbelief on the doctor.  “Surely you have heard about the Emancipation Proclamation!  The whole city is aware of it.”

             
“Yes,” Dr. Wild said carefully.  “I’ve heard of it.”

             
Carrie thought about trying to change the subject but knew it would be futile.  Until her father had vented his frustration, there would be no way to simply have a dinner party.  She should have known it wasn’t possible to pretend war wasn’t affecting every area of their lives.   She had read President Lincoln’s document and was thrilled such a huge step had been taken.  She was not surprised her father didn’t feel the same way.

             
“Surely you know what the result of that heinous document is going to be!” Thomas fumed.  “Why, there will be a slave insurrection such as we have never seen.  The North has for all practical purposes invited millions of slaves to rise up while their masters are away.  The South is soon to go through a reign of terror such as we’ve never imagined.”

             
Carrie stared at her father and was stunned by the edge of fear in his anger.  “Surely you don’t think all slaves are simply waiting for the time when they can kill white people,” she protested.  “These people simply want to be free.”

             
“You mark my words,” Thomas responded sternly.  “For years the South has feared uprisings such as the one Nat Turner led years ago.  The same thing will happen again.  All over the Confederacy.”

             
Uncomfortable silence settled on the room.  Carrie cast about in her mind for some way to ease the tension. 

             
Thomas turned to Pastor Anthony.  “I’m sure you’ve heard plans being made by the blacks you work with down by the river.”

             
Pastor Anthony shook his head calmly.  “I’m afraid my parishioners down by the river are simply interested in surviving the winter.  They are thinking about food and staying warm.  That’s about all they can handle.”  He paused.  “They’re not alone.  The whole city is under a terrible burden.”

             
“Don’t you understand what will happen soon?”  Thomas demanded. 

             
“I’m afraid I don’t, Mr. Cromwell.  It’s not just that I don’t understand it - I simply don’t believe it.  I do think I understand why you’re frightened, though.”

             
“I’m not frightened,” Thomas sputtered.  “I’m furious the North thinks they can try to destroy our country this way.”

             
Carrie smiled to herself as Pastor Anthony merely nodded.  Her respect and admiration for the pastor grew daily.  She was ready to strangle her father for being so blind.  Pastor Anthony was giving him plenty of room to have his beliefs while firmly disagreeing with him. 

             
“I simply don’t think most blacks in the South have violent uprisings on their minds.  I don’t deny some have been driven to violence, but the vast majority of them simply want to lead their lives in freedom.  They want to stay in their homes and remain in the South but be able to dictate their own lives.  My church down by the river is comprised mostly of free blacks.  They want for the rest of their people what they have been able to claim for themselves in a limited way.  And they want for themselves, not only freedom, but equality.”  He paused.  “Basically, all they want is what any of us would want if we were in their place.”

             
The only sounds that could be heard in the room when Pastor Anthony finished were the crackling of the fire and the chiming of the clock. 

             
“May I add something?”  Dr. Wild asked. 

             
“Please,” Thomas responded quickly, his tone of voice saying he hoped he was about to get some support.

             
“I can appreciate your views on slavery, Thomas, even though I don’t personally agree with them.  It seems to me, however, that Lincoln’s proclamation is little more than a political move on his part.  As long as the South remains in the hands of the Confederate military, there is little that Lincoln can do to enforce his proclamation of freedom for slaves.  There are millions of blacks in the South who will be content to wait and see if the North wins the war.  Only then will they begin to exercise the freedom Lincoln has granted them.  If the South wins, I think life will pretty much go on as it has before.”

             
“But so many of the slaves are running away!”  Thomas stated angrily.

             
“Exactly,” Dr. Wild said mildly.  “Those slaves aren’t looking to start an insurrection.  They’re trying to start a new life.  In the North, where equality is a little easier to come by.   The slaves who are determined to be free are going to run away - proclamation or not.”

             
Thomas stared into the fire for a long moment and then barked a laugh.  “To say I’m outnumbered here would be an understatement.”  His voice was not bitter, just resigned.  He straightened.  “Carrie, I’m sorry.  I had no intention of spoiling your dinner party.  I most certainly do not agree with your guests’ feelings on slavery, but I have learned to accept yours.  I can accept theirs as well.”  He paused.  “I can also see what Dr. Wild is saying.  Maybe our fear is not well founded.  He is right.  As long as the Confederate military continues to control the country, Lincoln has no way to enforce this heresy.” 

             
Carrie was proud of her father. He was struggling with his beliefs, and yet she also knew he was making a choice to be a gentleman in his home.  “I hear May ringing the bell,” she said with relief.  “Why don’t we all go in to dinner?”

             
Carrie stepped back to join Matron Pember.  “I’m sorry things are a little tense,” she said apologetically.

             
“No need to apologize,” Matron Pember replied quietly.  “I’m quite used to the passions sweeping our country.  I see the results of it every day.  I, too, experience some fear about what will happen if the blacks truly become free, but I also realize it is inevitable.  I’m afraid - by the very act of slavery - we have put ourselves in a most unfortunate situation.  I believe it will be the responsibility of white people to ease the transition of former slaves into our society, but I fear far too few of us will take up the challenge.”  She shook her head.  “We are going to be in for a long period of storms, I’m afraid.  The war is just the beginning.”

             
Janie stepped forward to direct everyone to their seats. 

             
“Let’s pray,” Thomas said.  All bowed their heads as his voice rang through the room.  “Our gracious Father, we need you to help make sense of the world we are living in.  Thank you for your continual blessing and your supplying of our needs.  May we find ourselves worthy of your love.”

             
Carrie looked up as a quiet ‘
Amen’
echoed through the room.  “I want everyone to know the sweet potatoes were a gift from Janie and my patients down by the river.  It took great sacrifice on their part.  I do hope you enjoy them.”  

             
There was silence for a few minutes as everyone began to eat.  Carrie caught herself playing her father’s prayer over and over in her mind.  She knew his faith was important to him.  How could they both value God and still hold such opposing beliefs? 
I love all my children...
  The truth came as a gentle whisper in her heart.   Love made room for opposing beliefs.  Love was not confined to specific doctrines or church teachings.  God may not like some of the things his children believed and did, but his love was big enough to encompass even that.  And because he loved his children, he would never quit trying to show them truth.  Carrie suddenly realized she was not big enough to understand God - how dare she judge the ones he had created.  If he chose to love - could she do any less? 

             
The truth smacked her hard in the face.  She loved her father, but she had been judging him because they didn’t share the same beliefs.  She had been feeling superior to him because her understanding was more advanced than his. 
I love all my children...
  Carrie suddenly understood that God’s love was not a love
in spite of
- it was a love that simply valued what he had created.  Her arrogance left her breathless.   

             
“Mr. Cromwell, may I ask you something?”

             
Thomas wiped his mouth with his napkin and smiled.  “Certainly, Mrs. Pember.  What is it?”

             
“I received a letter from my sister recently.  You know she was banished to Ship Island, I suppose.”

             
“Yes, Carrie told me Beast Butler was continuing his reign of terror in New Orleans,” her father replied.  “I was sorry to hear your sister has been adversely affected.”

             
“Oh, she’ll be all right,” Matron Pember laughed.  “I rather feel for the Union soldiers guarding her.  I can assure you she has lost none of her spirit.”  She paused.  “There was something in her letter I found rather curious, though.  She overheard some of the Federals talking.  New Orleans is shipping out thousands of bales of cotton.  From what she can tell, they are not seized property.  They seem to have been purchased from Louisiana planters.  How is that possible?  I understood no trade was allowed between the North and South.”

             
Thomas sighed heavily.  “I’m afraid that is a rather touchy issue - even here in Richmond.  I will make an attempt to explain what cannot really be explained.”  He paused for a long moment.  “There is an age-old rule of war that one simply does not trade with the enemy in wartime.  The issue becomes much more complicated in this present war.  The North and the South are not foreign enemies; rather we are the estranged half of an economic whole.  We have depended on each other for years.  I’m afraid both sides have discovered declaring war has not ended that interdependence.”

             
“Which is why the South was so confident the North would not actually declare war on us?”

             
“That’s one of the reasons, Janie,” Thomas agreed.  “We believed the North depended on our cotton and tobacco too much to risk losing it.”

             
“They don’t appear to be losing it if my sister’s letter is right,” Matron Pember observed ruefully.

             
“I’m afraid your sister’s letter is correct,” Thomas said heavily.  “The necessity of exchange of goods between the North and South is an overwhelming economic force.  Even though we’re at war, we still have to have the other’s goods.”  He grimaced.  “The North needs our cotton, sugar, rice, and tobacco as desperately as we need their salt, clothing, and munitions.”

             
“The North is selling arms to us?”  Carrie gasped.  “I find that difficult to believe.”

             
“It’s not that simple,” Thomas replied.  “They are providing us with many other goods, but no, with the exception of a few smuggled loads, the North is definitely not providing us with arms.  At least not directly.  Many of the planters, especially in New Orleans and Nashville, the two biggest occupied cities, refuse to accept United States money for their payment.  They accept gold or nothing.”

             
“I’m sure that makes some people hopping mad,” Dr. Wild chuckled.

             
“You bet,” Thomas agreed.  “But, most of the time, they simply go along with it.  The people operating the trading are so greedy for the huge profits they are reaping they will give the planters whatever they demand.  The planters, most very loyal to the Confederacy, take the gold and use it to buy arms.  Boat loads are coming up from Nassau.  I’m afraid without Yankee money our armies would be in much worse shape than they are now.”

             
Carrie shook her head.  “It just doesn’t make any sense.  The South hoped the North would not declare war because they would be hurt by being cut off from what we produce, yet we’re selling it to them anyway.  The North is trying to destroy our armies in order to bring us back into the Union yet is providing us with the very things we need to keep fighting.”

             
“War never makes sense,” Pastor Anthony said thoughtfully.  “But you’re right.  The whole situation seems ludicrous.  Is President Davis aware of what is happening?”

             
Thomas laughed abruptly.  “He’s aware.  He hates it as much as anyone, but there seems to be no way around it.  I’m sure he hopes by keeping our armies strong, we will eventually drive Yankee troops off our soil.”  He sighed.  “The profits being made are phenomenal.”

             
“By the extortionists?”  Janie asked.

             
“Yes.  Let me give you an example from figures I saw recently.  Right now a sack of salt can be bought in New Orleans for a dollar and twenty-five cents.  A trader can take it over to the other side of the lake still in Confederate territory and sale that same sack for sixty to one hundred dollars.”

             
Pastor Anthony whistled.  “That’s a markup of over six thousand percent!”