No observing man can have failed to notice the traces of care nd anxiety on the faces f the once happy negro. We no longer hear th "loud laugh that speak the vacant mind." A moody and anxious expression marks their countenances. It is not surprising it should be so, for a gloomy time is before them in the coming winter.

The fate of the poor negro is a hard one. Their professed frends in the North have cut loose the ties which bound them to their masters and secured for them comfortable homes and ample provision for all their wants in sickness and in health. . .

The negro now seems now destined to be crushed between the upper and the nether millstone. The South does not want him, and the Northw ill not have him. What is the poor darkey to do? He must live in some way. He will not willingly starve. If he cannot get work, he mut steal.

This brings before us the question: "What is the policy and duty of the South in regard to him?"

We are inclined to think that if the legislature will pass a system of wise laws to fulfill the system of labor contracts, similar in its general features to the regulations prescribed for the freedmen of Tennessee, it will be best for Southern people to employ negroes. they are among us--they are accustomed to the cultivation of our staples--they suit our climate--and they delight in corn bread and bacon, the peculiar diet of Virginia. When the intoxication of freedom passes, and the pressure of want come, they can be made to work. . .

We pray pur people not to take counsel from their prejudices, but to consider this suggestion calmly and carefully. . .