This letter caused me to think of Anthony and his trouble much more seriously than before.  It was clear to me why he was popular.  I had never met any young man who was by nature more sympathetic and attractive.  The reserve and sadness which had recently come upon him were not to his disadvantage socially.  They rather tended to gain attention and win the kindness of strangers.  The question which his position presented, and about which he desired my counsel, troubled me.  But, fortunately, after thinking of it almost constantly for two days, I gave him advice which I still think correct under the circumstances.  I argued that he was not under any obligation to advertise himself to the public as a colored man.  The public did not expect or require this of any one.  But I urged that if he made any special friends among those who entertained him socially and with whom he was intimate, he should frankly make known to them the facts in regard to his family.  I thought this would be expected, and I was convinced that such a presentation of his position, made without affectation, would win for him respect even from those who might cease to court his society.  I further urged that he ought not, as a teacher, to isolate himself or shun those relations with families which would place upon him the obligation to make known his parentage.

Anthony sent a brief note in reply to my letter, thanking me heartily for what he termed my convincing statement, and expressing his determination to act in accordance with it.

Nearly two months passed, and then my friend communicated the further fact that he had gone so far, in several instances, and with several families, as to carry out the suggestions I had made.  He thought it was too soon to assert what the ultimate result would be, but stated the immediate effects so far as he could see them.  When he first made the announcement in regard to his color, many had disbelieved it.  When his persistent and repeated declarations upon various occasions had convinced his friends that it was not a jest, but a reality, they had been variously affected by it.  He thought some were politely leaving him, while others seemed desirous of continuing his acquaintance.

Ten days later I was not a little surprised to receive a letter conveying the information that Anthony’s mother had arrived in Philadelphia in response to his invitation.  He stated, in his letter to me giving this news, that he had now carried out his entire plan and was satisfied.  His mother had visited his school, and he had introduced her to his various friends in the city.  It seemed to me a mistake thus unnecessarily to run the risk of offending social preferences or prejudices; but I did not feel at liberty to comment upon the matter at the time.

In addition to the information conveyed, the letter contained an invitation which delighted me.  Anthony wrote that he and his mother were about returning home.  The long vacation would begin in a few days, and they wished that I should go with them for a visit.  Few things could have afforded me greater satisfaction than this.  The wild forest-country, of which my school-mate had told me much, I regarded as peculiarly a region of romance and adventure.