R. to Frederick Douglass, January 21, 1859

INCIDENT IN A MASSACHUSETTS SCHOOL.

MR. EDITOR:—It is pleasant, in these days of multiplied wrong and abuse, of colonization schemes and Dred Scott decisions, to be able to record an instance where humanity was recognized and respected, even though clothed in a colored skin.

At a recent Exhibition of the Auburn Street Grammar School, Springfield, Mass., a school ranking among the first in the city, a little colored boy—Willey Montague—instead of being thrust aside in a corner, had a conspicuous part assigned to him, which he performed with credit to himself and the school, playing the piano with much taste and skill.

The Mayor of the city, Hon. Wm. B. Calhoun, was present on the occasion, his own daughter being a member of the school, and taking part in the exercises, on the same platform with the despised colored boy, "with no rights that white men are bound to respect."

I could hardly refrain from tears as I looked upon his bright, intelligent face, lighted up and radiant with smiles, and thought of the bitter lessons of insult and outrage—lessons not in his school books, nor on his music sheets, but yet lessons that he must learn by heart. I was glad to see this colored boy occupying the place he did—glad for Massachusetts, whose laws make no distinction of color—doubly glad for Springfield, whose municipal regulations and social customs place no barrier to the thorough education of all her children, black and white, male and female alike—and thrice glad for the colored race, whose only hope, whether free or in slavery, is in education and self-improvement.—The colored boy or girl who becomes refined and cultivated, and who, in spite of prejudice, wins honor and respect from his fellows, becoming a POWER in the community, does more towards undoing the fetters of the slave, than it is possible for any white man or woman to do.

Let the free colored people, by their independence and respectability, give the lie to the oft-repeated taunt, that negroes are only fit for slaves, and that they cannot take care of themselves. The destiny of the slave is emphatically in the hands of the free colored man; let him not be recreant to the trust.

R.