Litchfield enquirer., 1877-06-14

that had come to help him; so I went at it with all my might. This inspired him to work faster, and by night we had all the holes stopped. . eo4 I'd.
 Not long after we got everything in or der, some bad white boys came along and broke the glass but of every window. and took the stove down, and threw the pipe into the street. l went to one of the trus. tees. and told him what had happened; he told me to get the stove put up as well as could, and he would give me more glass at his own expense. He sent the glass the next day, and very soon we were as comfortable as ever. To make sure the same thing should not happen again, raised another subscription. and had blinds made; and when school was out they were closed and fastened. Every thing went on smoothly after that. My little school house was crowded with chil- dren; some of them were very poor, hav- ing scarcely clothes enough to keep them selves warm-and in the mountains of Vrginia the winters. are cold and the 'snows are deep. Some of the children had to walk five miles every night and morning. In saying that the chil- dren were poor and ragged, I do not mean that their parents were indolent and lazy; the were not. and in fact they had to work very hard to earn living, The best working men only got BIO 8 month, and out of that they had to pay rent and support their families. So you see teach ing is not an easy work. My own exper- fence, was not as severe as many have had. * We may not all have such hardships; but whatever comes to us we must make the best of it for the sake of our work. Whatever it's difficulties may. be, they are more than made up by the happiness we shall find in it. can assure you that the pleasantest hours I ever spent in my life were spent in my log cabin school house.
 Henry B. Rice, the writer of the follow ing..was born in West Virginia, February. 2d. 1856. and is now 21 years of.age. His father, keen sighted man. feeling that the first requisite for washing away the stain of slavery from his home and com- munity, was intellectual improvement, opened a school in his own house, and assisted in getting teacher to take charge of it. Henry therefore got the benefit of this teaching. In 1870 he was sent to Hampton, where he remained two sessions; he then left to take charge of a school near his home, where he succeeded admirably. His friends urged him to re. main, but, longing for a higher education he returned. this year. to finish his course here, competed in the essay writing, and was successful. His object in life is to do something for the elevation of his race.
 -FOUR DUTY AS GRADUATES. .'-BY HENRY B.
 RICE.
 "Dear Classmates, s,-This day, with it's mingled joy and sadness, has very diff ferent meaning to us, from that which such day bears to college graduate ot another race. He receives his degree and goes out into the world in pursuit of hap piness; that happiness which for tune or culture may bestow; or if he feels the call to work, that call does not mean to him, go work for your race in particular, but go work fol the world To you it means just the op. posiee. He goes ont as a soldier to meet his comrades and equals, you go as gen. eral to lead your people. Great are the responsibilities of your position. To meet them requires the most implicit obedience, and the strictest performance of the du- ties devolving upon you
 "What then IS our duty after gradua- tlng? For our people, life is great bat tie to be fought, requiring oneness of purpose and effort-the purpose and ef- fort must ours. We wish to be known to to the world as race, free indeed and in dependent-equal to any other. Consid- erlng the present condition of our people, this may seem to be an unreasonable wish; but the higher we direct our aims, the nearer we shall approach their accom- plishment. When is a people said to be independent? When 1t has arisen from the necessity of depending upon another race to take care of it. To see how near to, Or how far from this point we are to day, let us suppose that the entire population of the United States have gone to Africa, where some of them want us to go, on a grand three years visit. We are left to take care of the great house of America, till they return; How many of!us, do you think, can keep up the great mercantile and commercial interests of the country? How many of us can administer justly and wisely the government? Who are to build and repair the locomotives and steam-boats and build the new Pacific Railroads? Who are to keep in operation the great and various manufacturing es- tablishments? and now, to see how im- mense is our work, let us imagine that the visiting population have concluded to remain away, permanently, and have therefore transported all the products of their civiiization-their fine houses and their inventions and discoveries-and you at once perceive what your work IS, in re- ality. You see that before you can claim the recognition of the world as an inde- pendent race, you have a mighty battle to fight, a mighty victory to achieve. Yet we go out from here determined to ac. complish this end; God, who presides over the fate of nations, will direct our upward course
 ''There are four steps to our desired in. dependence as race--The first. ls gen. eral industry. Uuless we can become an industrious race, there is no hope for 8 bright or welcome future. There must not be an impulsive movement, which ceases as quickly as it began; sallying forth for two or three weeks, and an idling for 8 month; but we must engage in our
  and continue with all diligence. We must urge our people not to labor to make living. but to become skilled workmen. If they are working in mason. ", let them learn to be masons; if in the carpenters shop, to be carpenters; if in the factory, to be manufacturers. If the minds of our people are- once stirred on these points, great change will early be seen.
 "Having excited spirit of general in- dustry. we want corresponding care of the effect of our industry, We must not be miserly, but we must save our earn ings. - z
 sInamorality is the evil on which we must, with united force, make the assault For in this evil men not only invest their hard earned means. ~but their immortal lives. It is the "blind-ditch" through which souls of men hurry to destruction. I,,temperance is next of kin to immoral ity. What we most need is brains, but how many insist on letting a thief in al the mouth to steal away their brains. Il