I will conclude by mentioning an incident which occurred on old Fort Plantation, Port Royal. There was a grove there of live oaks, in one of which was a seat, on which a Boston minister had sat while writing a book on the beauties of slavery, called the “South-side View.” On the first day of January, 1863, the commanding officer of the Union forces appointed a meeting in that grove, at which the declaration of emancipation would be read. There was quite a program marked out, but which was somewhat interrupted by a remarkable incident. When the proclamation was read, the many Negroes present suddenly broke out singing the national hymn: “My country ’tis of thee; Sweet land of liberty.” That hymn they never could sing before, and now that they were free they sang it with swelling hearts; but how they learned it was unknown. Their hearts thrilled with joy at the thought of being free, and rose in gratitude to God. Transcriber's Note: Every effort has been made to replicate this text as faithfully as possible. Italic text has been marked with _underscores_. On page 7, in “the religious sentiment”, “religious” is a correction of “religous”.