Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1878-09-19

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grant Teachers ccriiacates. there seems
10 have been = considerable thinning
out Of Old Teachers. Some ofahese
have taught Eve. some ten and others
as much - seventeen years. 4 myself
bad the presumption or rather andaciiy.
il might Be supposed. 70 present an sP-
plsrasion. Most Of these Teachers had
never been examined since i was done
by the late worthy examiner Benj TIP
petit. They had heard from The bcgin~
uine ofihe present examines terra abOal
anAsard ID isu1 aAiuns beina rliA a. appai"
canfs at examinations. Perhaps to name
a few would mol be amiss. "What was
horse Latitude 20 s'Fish Longitude 2"
"Wrile out verbatim ct literatim the
Constitution Of the United States" (of
course from memory. "Name the
signers to the declaration OF Indepen-
dence."
These and similar questions ] have
heard many times going the rounds,
but the truth of which I cannot vouch
for. But whether true or false, il had
the effect of creating in the minds of
Teachers grave apprehensions concern
ing their fate. Two at least of these
old Teachers told me, before the exami-
nation took place, they had heard, and
also fad good reason 10 believe. that they
would be ousted and for whats Pnn-
cipally because the examiner had q
dislike for them. We therefore natur-
ally and with good reason upon our side
believe that he could and would get up
a set of questions which possibly we or
all might fail to answer satisfactorily,
that is, in a manner which he as exam
iner, acting almost as sole judge, might
not think fit or proper. That some
would be passed We also had no doubt,
for it seems to be the intention TO dFon
half dozen or so oithe most obnoxious
yearly, and eli up with favorites, nor
NAL school Teachers and foreigners, un-
iii, ere long, our native Teachers, not
of the right stock, shall disappear from
the profession.
With somewhat Of fear and tremb-
ling we came before the august tribu
nal, with great solicitude for the result,
for we all know that Teachers general
ly have small means and most Of them
depend wholly upon il for livelihood, !,
therefore the character Of the man, the
nature Of the question, .he great solicit
tude for the result had natural ten
drncy 90 intimidate and oyerawes 20
confuse and defect; that the timid and
difFident, especially the prescribed ones,
stood but a slim show.
The FIRST day's examination passed
of and report made TO the Board dis
closed the remarkable fact that = half
dozen or more old and well tried Teach
ers had not only failed for a second
Grade but were entirely unfit for per-
mits or third Grade, these same Teach
ers possessing unimpeachable moral
characters and were perfectly satisiac-
tory to Trustees and patrons.
The second Examination took place
and lasted two days. Again has sword
and pruning knife were brought into ac-
ton. This being the last OF the season.
/ suppose he thought he would crown
il with an insult, which was not the
FIRST, as shall by and by show.
was one Of the applicants in the
last and 1 know the venom in his heart
for me and another. had been Teach
er for thirteen years, commencing from
the time when the Hon. b. G.. Harris,
Judge Ford and George S. King were
examiners, running down TO the pres
ent time, holding seven certificates,
two Of which were granted under the
present Board.
This time a promotion down the lad
der with an insult free was deemed suf-
fcient.
received certificate, q whole 2nd
class 2nd grade, as was told, but on
receiving the thing itself, found /
had been misinformed. II was one
third only a certificate and two thirds
at least an insult Upon Its face, bears
the inscription-"This certificate gran
ted on low grade Is good only for the
e0Iored school in which Mr. Duke Is
now teaching andrequires re-examina-
ton twelve months hence" Signed
Geo. Thomas. It seems, Mr.. Thomas,
| was to be retained for a while Ion ger
as fit subject 10 receive your insults.
Not qualified of course for any white
school, not qualified for any other colored
school and but partially iit for the one
at Eeonardtown, that Of course in your
estimation being the most degraded in
the county,
What authority in the law had you
to limit any Teacher to a particular
school, Ifnot qualified TO teach in any,
why did you not reject me entirely
rather than force upon an uno6eBding
school the victim of your wrath IL
proves very coRclusively that your
heart must have been devoid Of all char
isy and good viii. Instead Of sympa-
thy for my misfortune. with words Of
comfort. you Deliberately added insult
to injury.
Again, on another occasion. Mr Ex-
afniner, whom did you intend 20 insult,
the colored people Of myself, or was il
both, when you asked how ] stood the
smell, this same inteEF0gatory being put
once, twice, three different times. con
nected once with the temark that you
could not possibly visit the .colored
schools in warm weather = Dad YOU
not know. whea you accepted the posi-
.ioa that i was a part Of your duty to
Aisit these coIoFed schools in any sea-
son If your sense Of smell n so acute