Amulet Report on Douglass

Yo1... I'll. Ne, 2. STATE NORMAL SCHOOL, WEST CHESTER, PA. MARCH, 1895. CONTENTS.EDITORIALS, 19 THE GYMNASTIC ExHIBITION, 30 33A FEW COMMON SHELLS, 20 SHAKESPERIAN EvENING1 33\"KING LEAR\" AND \"THE CENCI,\" 23 BESSIE RATH, 190, 35AN EvENING WITH HOWELLS, 25 ALUMNI DEPARTMENT, 35 36FREDERICK DOUGLASS, 26 SNOW,THE SENATE, 28 MISCELLANEOUS, •THE HOUSE, 29 OHHTIII,MOIININQ fll,UILIOAN lltfMNT1 WIIT 114.

THE AMULET.ated from the Normal in 18861 and has improvement over that �n .former occa­since made a specialty of elocution. She sions of this kind, owing to the fact thatis now· teaching Reading in Philadelphia. according to a new rule passed by �he so­ ciety, only the young lady students. of Her selection was the scene from the school will hereafter be admitted toShakespere's Cymbeline in which the gallery, except on nights of specialImogen hears of the charge of unfaithful­ meetings; when the young men of:theness brought against her by· �er husband, school will also be admitted.Posthumus. Miss Eshleman's interpreta­tion of the scene was excellent, and she Frederick Douglass.held the attention of the audience through-out. In response to an encore. she gave Frederick A. Douglass, who lectureda short humorous selection. for us February r, died aH1is home in Washington, February 20. Miss Helen Frame of West Chesterthen sang a solo, \"A Winter's Lullaby,\" Mr. Douglass, as near as he can tell,which was encored by the audience. Both was born in 1817. .His.father was a whiteMiss Eshleman and Miss Frame were pre­ man, his mother a negro slave. He wassented with handsome bouquets by the bomin the eastern part of ·Maryland, andSociety. lived there until he was about ten years old, when he was sent to Baltimore as a Mr. E. P. Conley then delivered his servant in a household. Here he learnedoration upon William Dean Howells. He to read from printed words wherever hegave a full account of the author's life, and found them, and from the boys on thealso some critical remarks upon his poems, street.novels and farces. When he was about twenty-two years The program was concluded by the of age he made his escape to the Nor�h,acting of one of the most popular of Mr. where he married a colored lady and set­Howells farces, \"The Ganoters.\" It kept tled down in Massachusetts, Here hethe audience laughing from beginning to was soon recognized by the anti-slavery party as an able exponent of its prin­end. The cast was as follows : ciples. He was connected with the John Mr. Roberts-Mr. Joseph Gallagher. Brown raid and only escaped arrest and Mrs. Roberts-Miss Katherine Wagner. punishment by going to Europe. Willis Campbell-Mr. Wm. McLaugh- Mr. Douglass has been an importantlin. factor in securing equal rights to the .col­ Aunt Mary-Miss Eva Le Fevre; ored race, and perhaps is one of the most Mr. Bemis, Junior-Mr. Owen Miller. widely known men of his time. He has Mrs. Bemis, Junior-Miss Della Moyer. held many important offices of honor and Dr. Lawton-Mr. H. E. Heckler. trust and has always acquitted himself Maid-Miss Gertrude Baker. with honor. His memory will ever be The acting on this occasion cannot be dear to his people.too highly praised, the characters of Mrs. His lecture on \"The Race Problem,\"Roberts, Mr. Roberts, Willis Campbell,and Aunt Mary w�re especially welltaken. The order in the audience was a great

THE AMULET.of which ·the following is an abstract, the South alone, hut it is invading thewas the last lecture but one that he ever North. Witness,NewYork, Brooklyn, anddelivered. Pittsburg. Disregard of the law is bound to breed crime, and lawlessness in The- lecturer ibegan his discourse by re­ one section of the country is bound tomarking that·the view the Southern man spread over the entire area.holdS\"<:if·the negro· is universal, naniely,that the · colored race is an . inferior peo­ We go to church and thankGod thatple. we live in a land of liberty and freedom. We do this in the face of all these apall­ Mr. Douglass holds that the view of ing facts. It is true we .are the best fed,the Southern people in regard to tqe best clad, and the best housed people onblack man is neither just, frue, nor final; the face of the earth; that is the whiteand in the ·name of common sense,. in the man is-the black man does not enjoyname of common justice, and in the these blessings. The lecturer said hename of comiµ.on wisdom, the black man had been in many countries but was freeshould have a hearing before he is con­ to confess-that America is the best coun­demned. Truth is so large that it re­ try on the face of the globe if she wasquires more than one man to tell it. They free from mob violence.say emancipation was an experiment.This is not true, slavery was the experi­ The ·great misfortune of the coloredment, liberty is the normal condition of man is-that when one person is foundman. guilty of an offence, the whole race suf­ fers; and since the colored man is looked The South is responsible for the con­ upon with suspicion, his progress is re­dition of the negro, for the uegro was as tarded.clay in the hands of the potter for morethan two hundred years,-the South be­ In many instances the black man ising the potter. itttposed upon by men who black their faces in \"Jim ·Crow\" style and commit a -This problem is not a race problem, crime which is charged to some poor inno­nor a local problem, and its solution will cent negro, who pays for the crime withbe the ·honor or disgrace of .the American his life.people. The negro was not accused of such Think of 81000,000 people of a free crimes until he began to make longcountry ostracized, treated with contempt, strides in the van of civilization. Whenthe sport of·mobs, the playthings of mad the men of the South buckled on theirmen, despised, their rights ignored, and broadswords and advanced on the Norththen you are confronted with a condition the negro was left in charge of theirthat is not only shocking, but an element helpless women and children. Do wethat is a danger to the community and a hear of them being charged with anymenace to the whole country. such crimes as they are now charged with? Never. In the South mob law is licensed. Itlaughs at courts, juggles with justice, and Thenegro has passed through three stagesdances in the whhpool of turbulence, of persecution. During the reconstruc­murder, and app,alling outrage. This tion period he was charged with causingHydra headed monster is. not confined .to

THE AMULET.insurrections; and his cabin was visited in the South the colored man owns news­and every weapon was taken from him, papers and shows that he appreciates theand merchants were not allowed to sell advantages given him by that man ofhim weapons or ammunition. Then it glorous memory, Abraham Lincoln.was that the negroes were like the locustsof Egypt; the South began to fear their \"All we want,\" said the speaker, \"ispower and many were killed, just to keep to be treated like other citizens of thethem within bounds. country. We ask to have the same chance as men who are enemies of this This died out and is succeeded by this country and who receive political prefer­third persecution. The negro is now ment. We who helped to hold the Unioncharged with immorality, and the together, only ask to be treated as well asspeaker cited instances to prove this an you treat those who tried to destroy it.\"unjust accusation. He said it is uncredit­able that within a period of thirty years The Senate.trusted moral slaves could be transform­ed into assailants of innocent women and \"If the boys are able to form a Housechildren. of Representatives, why cannot we girls form a Senate? Let us ask with Dr. In an outburst of eloquence Mr. Doug­ Philips about it.\"lass made a strong plea for this down­trodden negro, and said that the white This was done and the result was thatpeople should not look· at them from their the following morning, February 12th,own exalted plane, but remember that the 1895, the announcement was made inblack man was in bondage thirty years Chapel that there would be a meeting ofago and degraded by the whims of their the young ladies· at 1.15 P. M. for themasters below the level of the beasts, like purpose of organizing a Senate. Smileswhich they were treated. The whites lighted up many of the boys' faces, andshould not wonder at their lack of pro­ it was evident that they were highlygress, but should marvel rather at the amused.improvement he has madt!; remembering At the appointed time the girls as­the depths from which he has risen. You sembled in the Chapel, where Dr. Philipsmust remember that they were not freed met them and acted as Chairman of theas an act of humanity but as a punish­ meeting. The first step taken was toment on their masters; and they were appoint a committee of five to draw up a plan of organization, and after a fewthrown out upon the world without remarks by the Chairman and Prof.money, without clothes, and without im­ Flickinger, concerning the benefit to be derived from such an organization. theyplements with which to make a living. adjourned to meet the next day at theEvery convict when he is released is given same time.a suit of clothes and some money, but not The committee appointed met at fiveso with the black man. He was destitute. o'clock that afternoon and under the direction ot Dr. Philips made rules for Thirty years ago the black man was organization, apportiodng a certain num-not allowed to read the Bible. He wasgiven no education; now there are300,000 black children attending school;