The South.
COMMENCEMENT AT TALLADEGA COLLEGE.
BY MISS ESTHER A. BARNES.
Never can the teachers and students of Talladega College forget the Commencement of 1898, when so many brave young men left their cherished plans to engage in the war with Spain. Those laughter-loving boys, earnest in study, but full of fun, and careless sometimes, as boys will be—one hardly knew them when the war spirit rose and they stood in line with that new, steady light of resolution shining in their dark eyes. In 1860, young men of Anglo-Saxon blood left that same building to fight against the Union. One of those young men, now governor of the state, thirty-eight years later, telegraphs to the same school asking Negroes to defend that same Government, and they cheerfully respond. Is not this a revolution of the wheel of time?
The governor's telegram came Wednesday, almost two weeks before Commencement. All the volunteers were promoted, having completed satisfactorily the work of the year with the exception of the closing exercises. Thirty in all volunteered, three or four of whom were not students, but a third of this number were unable to pass the severe physical test. A farewell meeting was held in the chapel, and the young soldiers told in stirring words the motives that led them to offer their lives to their country; their resolve to fight for the freedom of bleeding Cuba, their love of the Stars and Stripes, in spite of the wrongs they themselves had suffered, their strong desire to show that Negroes could not only live and work, but die, like men. Many earnest appeals were made for prayers, that they might never turn their backs to their enemies, nor yield to the temptations of camp life. At last, a quiet little woman with an earnest face arose and told in trembling tones her determination to go as a nurse if she could find any opportunity. She was called to the platform and it was beautiful to see the reverence with which the tall, young fellows gathered about her.
Talladega College had reason to be proud of her sons as they marched to the station with a flag and a band and went off with a ringing cheer. Nor were her daughters wanting; their hearts were aching, but their faces dressed in smiles as they sent their brothers away as patriotically as those of fairer hue.
The Talladega students have not been permitted to meet any Spaniards in battle, but their record in camp at Mobile has been true to their promises. They have shown to everyone the advantage of education. Their officers prize them highly, and the rough, ignorant men who are their comrades, have felt their influence, so that the governor has publicly commended their behavior.
After losing so many of the best students, it seemed hard to go on in the ordinary routine of the school, but those who were left did their best to fill two places at once, and the exercises were quite up to the average in excellence. The written examinations were successfully passed by large classes. The public examinations, as usual, attracted much attention. A minister who attended Dr. Andrews' examination in Homiletics, says: "Thorough instruction had led the students to such a grasp of the subject as to make them independent thinkers. If these young ministers will use the knowledge they have acquired by this study, their sermons will be well prepared, well delivered, and they will be faithful pastors as well as good preachers."