lmost 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 w