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