As to _property_, the desire is coming to be very strong among both Indian and colored for the possession of land. It is well known that many Indians on Western reservations are seeking an ownership of land in severalty. A similar desire has long stimulated the colored man. We had the honor of talking with a man of unmixed negro blood, who owns in fee simple, about twenty miles from Norfolk, a good farm of 171 acres. He and a friend purchased together an estate of 342 acres of woodland, paying $1,300 for it. He took one-half, paid in cash $200, which he had saved up during the war, and the remainder in three years. He has since fairly stocked his farm, built him a little house, comfortably fed his family off his farm, and secured about a hundred dollars a year in cash. When we met him, he was on the way to Hampton to see his son graduate with valedictory honors. Geo. Sykes, of Lake Drummond, Va., is a man whose name deserves to go on record. Mr. Sykes affirms that eight years ago he was the first colored man in his township who owned land. Now twenty-five own from five to thirty acres each, and have their deeds without encumbrance, while twenty-five others have bought land and are paying for it. As to _self-help_, we heard the most encouraging words from speakers on graduation day. “We must stand on our own feet,” said one speaker, “and must not trust alone to missionary societies or State or individual aid.” “No talk,” he added, “will make me equal to other men, but I must equal them, if at all, by my own exertions.” A striking instance of self-help is more conclusive testimony. We conversed with a certain young Hampton graduate who gave us a remarkable history. He was an orphan. After saving up $125 by farm work, he went to Hampton for study, receiving no aid, and working summers. At the end of two years, he found he had not more than forty dollars left, so he went to teaching. But he was paid only in orders on the State Treasury, which he could not get cashed except at a discount of generally twenty per cent. With business wisdom, he secured a living by farm-work in summer, saved up his orders on the Treasury, till at the end of three years the State cashed them in full, and then he went back and graduated. Not even Dr. Goodell, of missionary fame, carrying his trunk on his back to Andover for the sake of an education, showed more heroism than this colored boy. The colored people’s desire for _education_ has long been known, and the incident just related well illustrates it. The same spirit appears in the support of the “Butler School,” situated on the grounds of the Institute, and taught by its graduates. The State of Virginia furnishes funds to keep this school open only five months; but the parents of the children, finding employment in a canning establishment on the Institution’s property, gladly pay ten cents a week for each child from their slender wages, and so keep the school open the rest of the year.