Delaware tribune. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1867-1877, 1867-02-14
MISCELLANEOUS.
THE COLORED YOUTH OF PHILA
DELPHIA.
BY A MASSACHUSETTS TEACHER.


to an institute for colored people, of which
had never heard till about a fortnight ago,
when attended its exhibition in National
Hall. This institute has been in existence
about ten years. 1t was founded by two
Quakers, who left money in their wills to
form school in which colored children and
youth should be thoroughly educated from
the primary up to the collegiate department.
1t has an excellent building, three stories
high, with large halls for school-rooms.
The primary departments are on the first
floor; the academic on the second and in
the third story are recitation-rooms, with
blackboards all round.
The exhibition was in the second largest
hall in the city. Next year 1t is to be in the
great Opera House. Every one of its pres
ent teachers Is colored. The principal is
Mr.. Bassett, who was educated in the Nor
NAL School of Connecticut. He is broad
faced, very dark mulatto, in whom the ne
gro nearly puts out all trace of the white.
Nothing can be more modest and unassum-
ing than his manners were at the exhibition.
We had Latan salutatory, Greek oration,
and several fine English essays and poems,
twelve to twenty years. The exercises
showed wit, humor, pathos, admirable
thought and eloquencc, and were well de-
livered. The primary classes recited stimuli
taneously, first poem, and then
psalm, making a really beautiful exercise.
Nothing could have been more creditable
than all the performances and they received
rounds of applause from an audience of two
thousand people, all of whom went in by
ticket. In the two days before these per-
formances, there had been most searching
examinations before the trustees and some Of
the best educated gentlemen of fthe city. And
,t, ttta I, ,tV6 fIux haf fbnr had i.navr
meeting of the alumni of the institute, on
which occasion there were orations and po-
ems. understand that these were quite
marvel, and sufficient, as Mr.. Turner said,
to set at rest any doubt as to the equality Of
he negro to the white; for pure negroes did
IS well as any white do on similar occasions.
was able to attend the meeting of the alum
al, but | was desrous to see the school In
undress so, after a weeks vacation, went
to Mr.. Bassett's. AT my request he called
his second Latin class, and heard the pupils
say their last lesson, at which they had not
looked since three weeks before. 1t was
page Of Viri Rom@ which they had read,
translated and parsed. never heard se-
verer recitation, and myself never tasked
my class with such questions. Their appli-
cation Of rules, theoretically and practically,
was of the highest order. The class consist
ID of about twenty, half of them girls, and
ive-sixths pure negroes, many of them very
lgly and stupid looking; but even these
were marvellously minded. After lis
tening half-an-hour / went into loom
where class in the Greek Testament was
geciting TO q Miss jackson, mulatto girl
who had graduated ut Oberlin College.
She is in person of elegant form and man
ners, with most pleasing face. Hei man
ier of teaching was a model, SO courteous,
minated and encouraging was it, and such
.vident mastery Of the language did it show.
1t was the p0rsing which was most won-
lerful. There were here also about twen'y
young men and women, all prepared in t. e
theory of the Greek moods and lenses. /
do not believe that there was ever mole
thorough and brilliant recitation in any
school or college. But the Latin and Greek
classes had their respected grammars at their
tongues ends, and thoroughly in mind too.
| next entered a mathematical room, where
class of about thirty boys, about twelve
years old was examined in Colburn's Men al
Arithmetic in section in which the ope g.
| tion was four and five-fold. The teacher of
this class,a Mr.. Alien, was as handsome and
| refined looking as Mr. Puryis must have been
in his prime, with an expression of sweet
ness and of subtle intellectually that l have
hardly seen combined in any face ever
saw. He was graduate Of this very insti-
tute, and seemed to be very fond of his
profession, and was evidently very much
loved by the boys. They went through the
exercises splendidly, repeating the question,
then giving the theory of the operation
and if there occurred the least slip every
hand in the class was thrust out. Then a
stranger who was present, great mathe-
matician, explained to them some curious
methods of analyzing numbers, which they
eagerly attended to, and Immediately
caught and performed themselves. They
multiplied such numbers as thirty-five
times twenty-eight instantaneously, as it
seemed to me, so quickly did they take the
idea of the rule, although it was the first
| time that they had ever been tried. The
questioner said that he had never seen a
better arithmetical class.
/ next went into the room of the girls
primary class, taught by Miss Douglas.
She is full-blooded, uncrossed negro. As
the girls were all sewing, would not let her
call them into class
To all doubters of the mental equality of
he negro to the white, would commend u
visit to this school, on Shippen and Tenth
streets, Philadelphia. There are always
there from two to three hundred scholars.
Those who go through four years academic
course receive diploma and a degree. AL
though the school is an endowed one, the
StHothts puJ ufC oointo nht WV
others ten dollars year. There are at least
six teachers, and French, Spanish and Ger
man, besides all the English branches, are
ught
some of the students at the University oi
Pennsylvania told the following story 10 a
,oung lady, who told it to me One day
three of them were disputing about the
translation of very difficult passage ii
Greek, which they could not make out, wher
black girl, who was securing the floor
rose up, and said with perfect modesty, 81
J can help you out ofthat difficulty, gentlemen
if you will allow me-" They laughed, and
thinking she was crazy, they gave her tht
book, when, to their amazement, she transla
ted the passage and explained the constrnc
! tion.
They asked her how she knew. She sail
that she was very fond of the Greek classics
She had worked in the daytime to earl
money to go to certain evening school, a
which she had learned Latin and Greek.
On Thursday and Friday went to TIN
Anti-Slavery Convention, where they wer'
denouncing the Philadelphia barbarism o
= excluding the colored people from the horse
4 cars. A gentleman told me Of colore'
e girl who was studying Greek with him Il
a the intervals of laboiious daily life, an
who had to .Yalk two miles to get to hin
d and rccite. because she was not allowed I
s ride in the cars that aumit drunken Irishmen
= On Thursday night went to the annus
:, meeting of the Freedmens Education Con
u mission, presided over by Judge Chase, VIII
y made good speech. Lyman Abbot rea
e the report, and made a fine speech. So di
/ Philips Brooks, Gen. Howard and judy
!, Bond They all insisted that universal su
: frage was the one thing indispensable to til
y negro and loyal white Of the South. Gel
o Howard said if the negroes had the vot'
II they would support the schools themselye
:, Already the negroes Of Arkansas paid nea
= ly five dollars head for all the scholars tn,
o were taught and Judge Bond said that II
N negro children of Maryland paid ten cents
m week under al. their difficulties. But hay
:, neither room nor time for more tonight
II Boston Comm nlo7laDedlth.
a. The new style of short dresses a
N "mighty deceivin." A benevolent old gel