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zeal for books continues unabated.  We have to but open a School and it is crowded at once.  The following extract from a letter received while writing this report will substantiate this remark.  The Haynesville Colored school was opened by me on Monday last,15th inst.  On the first day I had 34 pupils, second day 40, third day 48 and closed on Friday evening, the first week, with 55 pupils.  When you are informed that this school is located in a little town in a County filled with bitterness towards the Government and hostility to Colored Schools, when you are told that this School is taught by a Southern man, selected from that very town and known to the parents of the pupils as a Southern teacher, you will understand how willing these freedmen are to lay aside their prejudices, how eager to access the rightful claim of their children to education.
It has been observed also that prejudice against Schools on the part of the Whites is ephemeral in its character.  When a school has been once established the hostility soon ceases.  The best way to overcome it is to start a school, start it with a colored teacher if by no better.  The way will soon open for others.  This mutual forbearance, on the part of the freedmen, in the