THE FREEDMEN.

REV. JOS. E. ROY, D. D.,

FIELD SUPERINTENDENT, ATLANTA, GA.

ATLANTA UNIVERSITY.

The Tenth Anniversary—Commencement—Alumni Meeting—Going Forth to Work.

REV. C. W. FRANCIS, ATLANTA, GA.

The tenth anniversary of Atlanta University, which has just occurred, was an occasion of special interest to all its patrons and friends. The fact that the school was closing a year of prosperous work, during which a larger attendance than ever had been secured and maintained, and that evidences were multiplied of increasing confidence and respect on the part of all classes of people in the State, so that opportunities for usefulness were never greater, while generous gifts had recently come to provide needed facilities for the work, together with the real merit of the exercises and the large attendance of graduates, gave all a feeling of satisfaction which did much toward making the week one of great pleasure.

The exercises were introduced by a thoughtful and instructive sermon on the Sabbath, addressed to the graduating classes by the Rev. Mr. Bumstead, in which he set forth the occasion and motives for a high standard of attainment in life according to “the pattern shown on the Mount.”

Three days of examination followed, which were attended by a board of examiners, appointed by the Governor of the State, and by a committee of citizens, invited by the Board of Trustees, and a large number of patrons and friends. The chairman of the Board of Examiners, a prominent editor of the State, who has attended these exercises in his official capacity for six successive years, spoke, in an address to the students at the close, of his increasing satisfaction with the progress in education exhibited, and the substantial work done, with the spirit and management of the institution, and the zeal and skill of the students in their work, in different communities. He assured them of the liberality and friendliness of the people, and pledged the hearty co-operation of the State authorities and leading citizens with all their efforts at self-improvement, and for the elevation of the poor and ignorant so long as the present high standard of doing good was maintained. For all their work in these directions thus far, he had nothing but praise to give.

The Commencement exercises upon the last day were brief, sensible and entertaining. Five young men were graduated from college and two young women from the normal course, and degrees were conferred upon six young men who were graduates of three years’ standing. The music was a pleasant feature of the occasion, being well selected and well rendered. A report, which was highly commendatory, was read by Rev. J. M. Martin, D.D., of Atlanta, who had been in attendance upon the examinations by request of the Board of Trustees.

The gathering of the graduates in their meeting in the afternoon was the most striking feature of the occasion, as it was their first formal meeting, and secured the attendance of a large portion of them, and was marked by the warmest expressions of devotion to the school, its aims, discipline and culture, and affection and gratitude for its instructors. A singularly sober and earnest feeling pervaded their utterances, and it could plainly be seen that the conflicts of life in the difficult work nearly every one has taken up, have led them to appreciate as never before the value of work done for them here.

A finely framed portrait of Pres. E. A. Ware was presented by them to the school, as an expression of their appreciation of his sacrifices and devotion to its interests, as well as a testimonial of personal affection.

The next day witnessed the busy scenes connected with the departure of more than 150 young people, who, for the most part, go to teach summer schools of three months’ duration throughout the country regions of the State. There is something peculiarly interesting in the separation and departure of a large company of young people anywhere, but a special interest belongs to this occasion. These go with such a simple faith to difficult work among strangers, with so few facilities and so many obstacles of many kinds; and yet they seem to win favor, even from those naturally opposed to their work: they find places open for them, gather schools in churches, log-cabins, or brush arbors, make furniture, black-boards and charts, give lectures, lead Sunday-schools, Bible classes and meetings, teach ministers and elders, and become “all things to all men,” that they may save some from the degrading bondage to ignorance, superstition and sin in which they find the mass of those for whom they labor. It is rare that any are unable to find schools through lack of money to travel and friends to aid them, but the absence of any efficient system of schools makes the burden heavy, and brings to a few sad disappointments. But the fact that so many young people, with no experience and little money and few friends, accomplish every year such a great work, seems to prove that the hand of the Lord guides and protects them, and that His purpose is to make them a leavening power at the base of society in this State, to regenerate and bless and save the whole mass.

The religious work of the year has been prospering, twelve having united with the school church, and more than as many more, who were hopefully converted here, being expected to unite with churches at their homes. All the members of the graduating classes are professing Christians, as has been the case with all who have been graduated thus far. The opportunities and possibilities for good were never greater nor the outlook more hopeful; and we may well set up at the end of the year another stone of witness and say, “Hitherto hath the Lord helped us.”

We append the following statements from the Editorial correspondence of the Macon Telegraph and Messenger:

This institution has been conducted with singular wisdom and propriety, and has already proved an inestimable blessing to the colored people of Georgia. Gradually, but surely, all the prejudices of the whites have been overcome, and the predictions of many that it would eventuate in a mere nursery of Radicalism and hate to the superior race, have not been justified by the facts. On the contrary, we have the testimony of our own School Superintendent, Mr. B. M. Zettler, that some of the most efficient and conservative teachers in the Bibb County schools were educated at the Atlanta University. Moreover, he favors the appointment, by the various Boards of Public Education, of teachers of their own race for the colored children of the State, in every instance where they show themselves competent.

Accordingly, we find from the official report of President Ware, that of the fifty-one alumni of the University, forty-two have engaged in teaching as a profession, while three are pastors of churches, two theological students, and one, Nathaniel D. Harris, of Washington, D. C., is pursuing the study of law. Of the teachers, four only have located beyond the limits of the State.

In addition, over ninety of the more advanced pupils employ their time during vacation in teaching.

The institution is in a more flourishing condition than at any previous period of its history. Its matriculates number two hundred and forty, representing ten different States and forty-seven counties in Georgia. The trustees hold sixty acres of valuable land adjoining the college edifices, which is in itself a splendid endowment. The other revenues cover $8,000 per annum from the State of Georgia, tuition fees (only $2 per month), and donations usually amounting to $2,500 from charitable institutions at the North. But recently the trustees have had quite a windfall from the Stone estate at Malden, Mass. The widow of Mr. Stone, who, by her husband’s will, was made the almoner of his bounties, has given $50,000 to the University. They have fallen heir also to another sum exceeding $10,000, from the estate of the late R. R. Graves, of New York, who had previously donated a valuable library to the University.

With these subsidies it is proposed to erect immediately another College building between the two present structures, to cost $40,000, and a large addition to the Girls’ Dormitory, which will include a dining-room capable of seating 300 pupils. The estimated cost of this improvement is $15,000.

The library of the Institute comprises 4,000 volumes, most of them excellent selections, with a balance on hand in cash of $700 for further augmentation, derived from the interest on the permanent library endowment, which is $5,000.

It will be seen from the above that the Atlanta University is on the high-road to prosperity.

TALLADEGA COLLEGE.

The College, Farm, and Theological Seminary.

REV. TEMPLE CUTLER.

Talladega is beautifully situated among the hills of Alabama. It reminds one somewhat of Andover, Mass., only the hill on which the college stands is not as high. There is, however, the same outline of mountains in the distance, and the same soft light falling on the village nestling below, hidden among the rich foliage of trees. Talladega is by far the prettiest site for a college that I have seen in the South. Nature has done her part in fitting up the place for purposes of instruction. There is every incentive to mental improvement that nature can afford. If man will do his part, we may expect to find here one of the most important of those springs which are sending forth streams of moral and mental influence through all the wastes of this south country.

A week spent here has been exceedingly enjoyable. The teachers are an agreeable set of finely educated gentlemen and ladies, who spare no pains to make one’s stay a pleasant one. The hospitality is not made burdensome either to host or guest, but one quietly falls into the routine of life, and feels immediately at home.

There is a farm here of about 180 acres of land, most of which is under cultivation, called the Winsted Farm. This is being rapidly reclaimed from the waste of former mismanagement. The difference between Northern and Southern agriculturists is, that the land is improved under the former management, and wasted under the latter. In New England it is a sure sign of shiftless husbandry when the land runs out year by year. In the South there are but few farms or plantations that are not becoming poorer every year. The effort is begun on this farm to restore fertility, and in a few years we may expect to see a fine specimen of Northern enterprise in the products of its hitherto barren acres. The students work the farm in part payment for their education. How far this industrial department is going to succeed financially is a question that must wait for an answer. It is easy to theorize about the advantages of such a measure, but the surest proof that the pudding is good is found in the eating of it. One thing is certain: four or five hours a day of work in the hot sun does not fit a young man to bone down to real hard study. It takes a good deal of the remainder of the day to get rested and ready for work. It sounds pretty to talk about a man’s catching up his book between works, and so using up the odds and ends of time, a la Elihu Burritt; but unfortunately there are not a great many Elihu Burritts left, and I am afraid they are not indigenous to this climate, nor found among boys and girls in these schools. It is a question whether we can afford to run a farm and school together. The drain on both the treasury of the college and the physical powers of the student must be taken into our calculations.

The collegiate exercises of the school were creditable to the students and their instructors. The examination exhibited the usual enthusiasm of these students in their studies. The day is past when we need to parade proofs that the negro has a brain capable of improvement. We can now quietly assume that the color of a man’s skin does not necessarily affect his mental calibre, and there we may leave it. I must say, however, that I have not attended a closer and more satisfactory theological examination in many a day than that of the nine theological students who will graduate from Talladega next year. I have attended examinations in seminaries and associations and councils, and been through several such trials myself, but I never was present at one that gave me better satisfaction than this. If all our theological teachers will pass over to us men as thoroughly posted in the fundamental doctrines of the Bible as these young men appeared to be, we will gladly put them into the ministry. Prof. Andrews has solved the question of the practicability of a theological department in this school. We have henceforth no excuse for putting men into the ministry who cannot answer the questions usually propounded to candidates for the sacred office.

The public appointments of this week embraced literary exercises by the Soronian Society on Monday evening, public exercises of the Model School on Tuesday afternoon, and College Address in the evening: Wednesday, graduating exercises of the theological department at 2.30 P. M., and at 8 o’clock, prize declamations and essays, closing with a spelling match: on Thursday, 10 A. M., the graduating exercises of the higher Normal department; at 2 P. M., an exhibition of the agricultural department; and at 8 P. M. a concert by the Musical Union closed the week. I was not able to remain through all the exercises of Thursday. Those that I attended were of a high order, and compared favorably with similar exercises of the same grade in other schools.

The attendance of the citizens from the town through all the public exercises was a very pleasant feature. Talladega has made a deep and lasting impression on the white people. They acknowledge the good work that it has done and is doing, and believe in the possibilities that are before it.

Last fall, arrangements were made for an Industrial Fair, which called together some of the best specimens of work done by colored men and women in this State and a part of Georgia. This, probably, gave more impetus to the industrial enterprise of the people than anything that has been done since freedom. May the good work go on. That is just what we want to see—the people waking up to do their level best.

BEREA COLLEGE.

A Commencement Crowd—A Mixed School—Free Speech—Self-Support.

PRESIDENT E. H. FAIRCHILD, BEREA, KY.

Wednesday, June 25th, was a beautiful day. The dust had been laid by a grand shower the evening before, and the whole day was cool and bright.

At half-past seven in the morning the neighboring people began to enter the college campus, a beautiful grove of forty-five acres. At half-past nine, when the exercises commenced, they were bringing extra seats into the tabernacle, a rough but very substantial and commodious building, which accommodates two thousand people.

At half-past ten there were thought to be three thousand in and about the tabernacle, and nearly a thousand horses on the ground. As Berea embraces but eight hundred inhabitants, including students and infants, it appears that more than two thousand came from abroad.

But what came they out for to see? An exhibition of an impartial school in the centre of Kentucky. Sixteen students—twelve young men and four young ladies—delivered orations and essays. Only three of these were colored. This disproportion is accounted for partly by the fact that the great demand for colored teachers calls colored students away before they reach the higher classes. But it was partly accidental. It has never occurred before, and probably never will again. The colored students outnumber the white.

There were ten graduates—six from the classical department, three from the scientific, and one from the normal.

Two-thirds of the audience were white. A large portion of them were mountain people, but many were from the blue-grass region. The colored people generally gravitated to one side of the building, thus keeping up their country customs and gaining the approbation of their white neighbors. This is one of the relics of slavery. Generations must die before either white or colored people will feel like treating each other as equals. As master and slave they made no objection to the closest contiguity; as equals they cannot eat in the same dining-hall, though forty feet apart. This feeling has nearly passed away in Berea, as was perfectly manifest in a social farewell gathering of about three hundred of both races at the ladies’ hall in the evening. Equal rights, to the full extent, will never be enjoyed till this feeling is extinguished.

“Democracy Restored” was the subject of one oration, delivered by the only democrat in the institution. It was cheered by ex-rebels, and the college gained popularity among them for its liberality. Some of them thought the Faculty must have hired him to deliver his harangue to make a show of toleration. One young son of the democracy decided to attend the school. It will be a good place for him. The author of the oration has two years yet to study, and trying years they will be for him. His party had better get his faith insured.

The graduates are all professing Christians, though one has had his faith somewhat shaken, as was shown by his oration. He would be glad to study theology at an orthodox seminary. He is a son of the mountains, and an honest, earnest thinker, and a superior scholar.

The effort of the college to get on alone, without aid from the American Missionary Association, taxes all its energy and faith; but, thanks to God and its faithful friends, the past year it has not been left to suffer. The erection of the new chapel will commence immediately, though the necessary means are not all secured.

Berea College is a miracle of God’s grace and power. No other being could have established such a school, in such a community, with such instrumentalities, and made it such a power.

In this voting precinct of five hundred voters, where whiskey has reigned for many years, three-fourths of all the inhabitants have signed the Murphy pledge. Arrangements are made for a grand temperance rally on Friday, the 4th, which, it is confidently believed, will fill the tabernacle to its utmost capacity. Berea, a beautiful spot by nature, is growing more and more beautiful every year. It is a charming place for a college, and nothing but poverty prevents a thousand youth from flocking here for education. Expenses are very low: Tuition, $9 a year; board, $1.50 a week; free tuition for ninety pupils; yet many students must leave, unless they can contrive a cheaper way to live, and find work to meet their small expenses.

SOUTH CAROLINA.

School Closing—Religious Life.

REV. W. L. JOHNSON, ORANGEBURG.

Our scholastic year closed on the 5th inst. Appropriate exercises were held at the “Independent Hall.” There was a very large and respectable audience of the children’s parents and white citizens who felt interested in our work. The exercises began about 8 o’clock, consisting of declamations, orations and music. After the exhibition, Rev. Professor Larrence, of Claflin University, by an eloquent address, in which he paid a splendid tribute to the value of learning and the excellence of the A. M. A. schools, its Principal and teachers proceeded to make the presentation of six silver-plated vases and beautifully ornamented butter-dishes to as many pupils. Those gifts were awarded by the Superintendent. Five were given for sustaining perfect examinations, and one for excellence in delivering a declamation. The whole affair was closed by a bountiful collation for the children and friends of the school.

During the term we have maintained religious meetings among the children, several of our scholars taking part by offering prayer. It has been a pleasure to see others mourning to know Christ as their Saviour. The neighboring ministers have, in general, been present, and expressed deep interest in our undertaking, besides impressing valuable lessons and pious sentiments upon the minds of the children.

Six pupils taught this year, in the free schools of Orangeburg County, an aggregate of 575 children, and were very acceptable to trustees and patrons of the schools. The whole number of days taught by them is about 375.

GEORGIA.

A Revival—Call for a Lady Missionary.

REV. FLOYD SNELSON, M’INTOSH, LIBERTY CO.

We have had, and are still having, a precious work of grace. On Sunday, the 25th, our communion season, nearly a thousand people were present. The weather was very delightful, and everything else connected with the occasion. Sixteen persons, hopefully converted, united with the church. The church is much encouraged, and its future looks very hopeful. I am almost broken down in this long and hard pull, still I believe that with this interest around me I could go on five months longer.

In summing up the converts during this campaign we find twenty at Cypress Slash, 14 miles above in our new field, and thirty-five here, making fifty-five in all. Most of these are not only young in grace but young in years, being from eleven to twenty. Therefore, in order to make them successful and useful Christians, I deem it very necessary to give them uncommon care. A special meeting of a social and religious nature is held Friday evening of each week in my house for them, and each one is required to take a part and is made to feel at home.

A Literary Society is also held at the church on the second and fourth Wednesday evenings of each month. In the former meeting much is sometimes said to correct the errors of home life. The necessity of this arises from the secluded situation of their parents and themselves from the white people. They were not at all situated like those in the upper part of the State among the whites, whose ways they generally imitate, but were left to themselves, with no training except such as was given by overseers and drivers.

This important work is, therefore, left still undone. My wife did what she could in this line before we left for Africa, but since our return her health has been such that she has not been able to do anything. This work is of so much importance, and in such a promising field, that I now earnestly ask, Will not some one of our churches or Sunday-schools send us a lady missionary who can do it?

Actions and Reactions—Temperance and Religion.

WM. F. JACKSON, FORSYTHE.

Our school year closed May 30th, with encouraging results.

This was the first year of real systematic work in the Academy, the building having been finished too late to open at the beginning of last school year.

There is a growing interest in the work. Upon the close of the war, the schools established by the American Missionary Association were everywhere crowded with our people thirsting for knowledge: in the whole South the feeling for education ran high, so that the zeal of the Freedman for education became proverbial. But this proved to be not so much zeal as blind impulse. It is not so now. By a bitter experience, our people have been brought to see the errors of the past. Their present ideas respecting education plainly show this discovery. The people of our community feel that they and their children need it to make them useful. In our school were three women and two men of advanced age, who were diligent in studying, and compared favorably with younger pupils in their advancement, and who are now exerting their influence to bring in others, that a permanent class of aged persons may be formed. Again, many parents have sent children to school to me, evidently for no other purpose than to have them cared for; but now, some of these same parents express a different purpose, viz., to have them prepared for the duties of life. Then, too, there is a public spirit in favor of a better and higher education, manifested in the efforts now being made to establish here an African Methodist Episcopal College and a Methodist Episcopal High School.

Our pupils have been very regular in attendance compared with past years. There have been 113 students in school during the year, many of whom came from the adjoining counties, and will go out to take schools for the summer. There has been much earnest study done by these pupils, who seem determined to surmount the difficulties which present themselves. They have been encouraged to organize a Temperance society, which they manage themselves with credit. This organization is doing much in the school and community to encourage those who are striving to be temperate.

Amid all the flattering results of the year not much could be considered gained were it not for the great revival of religion among the pupils of our school. In April, very many became serious about their souls. They made earnest inquiries after the way of life. The Lord poured out his spirit in copious showers upon these precious souls, and nine were happily converted and added to the church. Thus we feel that God has richly blessed our labors, and that His approving smile rests upon us.

ALABAMA.

Corner-Stone of a Church Laid—The School Work.

REV. WM. H. ASH, FLORENCE.

This week has been a blessed one for us. On Saturday last the corner-stone of the new chapel was laid, and on Sunday appropriate services were held. It was an occasion long to be remembered.

On the walls, at the front of the building, was erected a temporary platform, and on it a table. In the centre of it was a Bible and a large vase of beautiful flowers; back of this were seats for the speakers, and at the right was seated the choir.

The Rev. M. L. Frierson, of the Presbyterian Church, opened the services by reading the second chapter of Nehemiah, and led in prayer. The Choir then sung “What shall the harvest be?” The clerk of the church read the list of articles which were to be placed in the box prepared for the corner-stone, which has this inscription: “First Congregational Church, A.D. 1879. A.M.A.”

Next in order was an address by Hon. W. B. Wood, who said that he was a Methodist and a sectarian, too, but he loved all who loved the Lord Jesus Christ. We are not of the same denomination, but Paul said, Be ye brethren. He said that the times were better, that some old fogies would have us believe that we are not as progressive as they were 40 or 50 years ago, but his experience was, that we are moving onward, for he, as a judge, did not have as many cases to decide as he had five or six years ago. Not that the people were afraid of the punishment of the law, but controlled by the power of the Gospel and its morality.

He said that he took pleasure in aiding to build churches, that he had an interest in every church of Florence, and that if a subscription book should be carried around and his house passed he would feel slighted; and he advised all present to aid in behalf of the church.

He said that he believed he could speak for the entire white population, that they, in sympathy, would encourage every good work.

Rev. Mr. Frierson also spoke. After a collection was taken, “Ye Christian heralds, go proclaim salvation in Immanuel’s name,” was sung by the choir, and the benediction pronounced.

On Tuesday the examination of the school took place, and on Wednesday night the exhibition occurred. We had many visitors during the examination, and on the night of the exhibition our building, used for church and school, was filled to overflowing; all around the building, at the windows and doors, there were many who were eager to see and hear the exercises.

It is the first year of school work in connection with the church. At the beginning of the year we had three scholars; at the end we closed with thirty-five.

TENNESSEE.

Teachers’ Institute—Practical Education.

The Shelby County Teachers’ Institute or Convention was held in June. In regard to it the editor of the Memphis Appeal writes:

The teachers of the colored schools of the city and county deserve especial commendation for the interest they take in the leading educational questions of the day, and for the efforts they are making to reach wise and correct conclusions, and if we may judge of the nature of their entire proceedings and discussions from the paper on practical education presented before the Institute yesterday, and printed in another column of this morning’s Appeal, the Institute has certainly been a success in point of ability. It is not often that teachers take the initiative in educational reforms, but we are glad to notice here that a company of teachers speak boldly and plainly in favor of a more practical course of study for the preparatory and common schools of the country. We would call the attention of educators and school boards to this paper, and urge that some system be devised for our schools, whereby the simpler of these plans, at least, be at once carried into effect with the opening of the schools in October. The actions and words of this Institute have an especial significance, coming as they do from the teachers of our colored schools, themselves belonging, with few exceptions, to the colored race. They certainly indicate a commendable earnestness in matters pertaining to the educational interests of the country and community, and they richly merit the encouragement and co-operation of all good citizens.”

The paper referred to was by Miss Laura A. Parmelee, of the Le Moyne School, and, after a historical sketch of much value, ended with the following recommendations:

After careful inquiry into the various methods adopted by different schools, your committee feels justified in recommending: That in every school-house a room be furnished with mechanical appliances, where, for an hour each day, the boys and young men may receive lessons in the art of handling tools and methods of work, under the direction of a practical workman; that all girls spend three-quarters of an hour daily in learning to do plain sewing, to cut garments neatly and economically, and to judge of the value and appropriate use of fabrics commonly made into clothing; that the first lessons in free-hand drawing be given to every student, and classes for further instruction organized for those who display special aptness for the work. One competent teacher could attend to this branch in all the schools, and still have time to assist in private schools, if desired. A plan of co-operation in these extra branches would greatly lighten the expense, while stimulating healthy competition to excel on the part of pupils; that the older girls study the science of nursing from a regular text-book, reporting to the teacher for criticism and advice their own experiences in neighborly watchings with the sick. Your committee note, with pleasure, an awakening interest in this subject, and would endorse the “Hand-Book of Nursing,” arranged and prepared by the New Haven training school for nurses, as a suitable work to be introduced for this purpose. In connection with the usual study of physiology, there should be discussions as to proper foods and best methods of their preparation. That in city and country schools, young children be encouraged to observe the habits of animals and plants; that no school-house be considered complete without a small microscope, and at some time in the course of study, the usual reading books be laid aside for a series of child’s books of nature, treating of the first principles of botany, philosophy and zoology; that all methods of teaching bend toward educating the senses to observe quickly and accurately, the mind to think independently, and the hands to work dexterously.

A cordial letter from the Hon. W. H. Fonte, Superintendent of Schools, closed with the following words:

Especially, I may add, do I desire to encourage and forward in every way, every plan or purpose which has for its object the elevation and progress of the colored race, believing with Frederick Douglass, that “without intelligence there is no independence, without independence no leisure, without leisure no progress.”

THE BY-WAYS OF TENNESSEE.

In February, 1878, we printed a letter from our Bro. Cutler, in which he spoke of a young girl who wanted to get an education, but who was entirely without means. He procured for her half enough to keep her at study for a year, started her on her course, and pronounced her “the happiest girl in the land.” The following description of her first field and work as a teacher will certainly interest those who aided Tennie Morford, and, we think, many others.—Eds.:

There is situated in the eastern part of Tennessee a beautiful, lonely, little valley, called the Sequatchie Valley. It is sixty miles long and five miles wide, containing about four hundred inhabitants. This is one of the by-ways of Tennessee, or, as it seems to be, from the condition of the people, Africa at home. It is hedged about with mountains, and its inhabitants scarcely hear of any other place than their own valley. They are very ignorant, and their chief occupation is farming.

I spent my last vacation among them, and tried to teach and show them the need of an education. There were persons who were forty and sixty years old who could not count a hundred. Scarcely any of them had seen a steam-boat or car. They know only of the wilds of Sequatchie, where they have spent their lives. Near the head of the valley was my place of work, principally inhabited by drunkards of both colors, who spent their Sabbaths in intoxication and in the use of profanity. Their places of enjoyment were three still-houses about half a mile apart, where the price of their labor was given in liquor.

On my arrival at Pikeville I was conducted to a little house on the main street, where I remained one week. I was examined three days after my arrival. My examination seemed very simple, and I received first grade certificate. During that time it was noised abroad that school would open Monday, June 10th. Bright and early Monday morning I commenced my summer’s work; but as I met only twelve bright faces I felt somewhat discouraged, and was beginning to think that I would go elsewhere if I did not have more next week. To my surprise, by that time I found nineteen, and felt more reconciled. After I had taught a while I visited some of the children’s parents, and found that every body wanted to go to school, both young and old. Every one began to show an interest, and the number of scholars grew to fifty-seven, a few of whom had been to school before, while the others were only making a beginning. My most advanced pupil studied only the Third Reader and the Elementary Speller, which was considered by him quite an education. The most of them said that they did not want to go any higher than the Speller. Others only wanted to get as far as “publication.” In one case a lady came and brought a little girl to me who did not know the alphabet, and asked me to get her to “baker” as soon as possible, for she wanted her, as they say, to “help to lay by crop.” She said that if she got as far as “baker” she would be half through the Speller, which she considered half of an education; but I told her that that was only laying the foundation for the great work intended for them to do. They had often heard of schools, and half realized that they had minds to be cultivated, but not until last summer had they become interested in the real work of learning. They had a very good school-house for dry weather, but when it rained we had to shelter ourselves the best we knew how. The house would seat about sixty scholars comfortably, and was beautifully situated on a small hill called “Cedar Bluff,” which was surrounded by large oaks.

The people do not have very much preaching, but when they do have it it must be by daylight, on account of the white people stoning them at night. The colored people are still living as slaves, and are afraid to live otherwise. The laborers do not work by the day, as they do here, but as they are told. They get up about three or four o’clock in the morning and work until about midnight, and sometimes later if their employers desire to have the work finished. This is what they consider a day’s work. They have the same idea about teaching. They wanted that I should teach from sunrise to sundown. They know nothing of the eight or ten hour system of labor.

Those who live along the highways of trade and culture in our State, that are participating in the active work of the world, would scarcely believe that some parts of their own State are half civilized if they did not occasionally see it; but one has only to cross the Cumberland mountain to find his mistake. The Sequatchie Valley is only catching a ray of light now and then from the sunrise. When the sun comes up in the east it is first seen by those who live on the mountain tops and those who live in the highest places; but it keeps rising until it shines on valleys and plains. So with the morning that has dawned upon the people of the South; it is first grasped by those on the highways, and then it begins to shine into the hidden corners until all shall be lighted. What can be expected of the children of the next generation if their parents are not more than half civilized? We need educated parents, so that the children may be properly trained. In order to do this we must go into these by-ways of our State and sow our seed, though it be on untilled soil. I think that the time is fast approaching when the public school system, carried out by earnest teachers, shall reclaim these valleys, and make them an honor to the State instead of haunts of ignorance and vice.