Page:The black man - his antecedents, his genius, and his achievements (IA blackmanantecede00browrich).pdf/198

 give only the last two verses of "Hope and Confidence."

"There's nothing so lovely and bright below, As the shapes of the purified mind; Nought surer to which the weak heart can grow, On which it can rest as it onward doth go,  Than that Truth which its own tendrils bind.

"Yes, Truth opes within a pure sun-tide of bliss, And shows in its ever calm flood A transcript of regions where no darkness is, Where Hope its conceptions may realize,  And Confidence sleep in the good."

CHARLOTTE L. FORTEN.

In the autumn of 1854, a young colored lady of seventeen summers, unable to obtain admission into the schools of her native city (Philadelphia) on account of her complexion, removed to Salem, Massachusetts, where she at once entered the Higginson Grammar School. Here she soon secured the respect and esteem of the teachers and her fellow-pupils. Near the end of the last term, the principal of the establishment invited the scholars to write a poem each, to be sung at the last day's examination, and at the same time expressing the desire that the authors should conceal their names. As might have been expected, this drew out all the poetical genius of the young aspirants. Fifty or more manuscripts were sent