ver look upon these monuments of education,
without a feeling of regret, that so few of our own race can find a
place within their walls. And this being the fact, I see more and more
the need of our people being encouraged to turn their attention more
seriously to self-education, and thus to take a respectable position
before the world, by virtue of their own cultivated minds and moral
standing.

Education, though obtained by a little at a time, and that, too, over
the midnight lamp, will place its owner in a position to be respected
by all, even though he be black. I know that the obstacles which the
laws of the land, and of society, place between the coloured man and
education in the United States, are very great, yet if _one_ can break
through these barriers, more can; and if our people would only place the
right appreciation upon education, they would find these obstacles are
easier to be overcome than at first sight appears. A young man once
asked Carlyle, what was the secret of success. His reply was, "Energy;
whatever you undertake, do it with all your might." Had it not been for
the possession of energy, I might now have been working as a servant for
some brainless fellow who might be able to command my labour with his
money, or I might have been yet toiling in chains and slavery. But
thanks to energy, not only for my being to-day in a land of freedom, but
also for my dear girls being in one of the best seminaries in France,
instead of being in an American school, where the finger of scorn would
be pointed at them by those whose superiority rests entirely upon their
having a whiter skin. But I am straying too far from the purpose of
this letter.

Oxford is indeed one of the finest located places in the kingdom, and
every inch of ground about it seems hallowed by interesting
associations. The University, founded by the good King Alfred, still
throws its shadow upon the side-walk; and the lapse of ten centuries
seems to have made but little impression upon it. Other seats of
learning may be entitled to our admiration, but Oxford claims our
veneration. Although the lateness of the night compelled me, yet I felt
an unwillingness to tear myself from the scene of such surpassing
interest. Few places in any country as noted as Oxford is, but what has
some distinguished person residing within its precincts. And knowing
that the City of Palaces was not an exception to this rule, I resolved
to see some of its lions. Her