[Illustration: MAY, 1883.
VOL. XXXVII.
No. 5.
The American Missionary]
CONTENTS
PAGE.
EDITORIAL.
THIS NUMBER—BUREAU OF WOMAN’S WORK 129
MOZART SOCIETY OF FISK UNIVERSITY 130
COMMITTEE ON CONSTITUTION—GENERAL NOTES 131
BENEFACTIONS 132
ANNIVERSARY ANNOUNCEMENTS 133
ALABAMA CONFERENCE 134
LOUISIANA CONFERENCE 135
BROADSIDE ON TEMPERANCE.
CONCERT EXERCISE 136
CUT 139
TEMPERANCE WORK IN CHURCHES 141
HINDRANCES 142
TEMPERANCE OUTLOOK AT MEMPHIS 143
TEMPERANCE IN TEXAS 144
TOUGALOO AND TEMPERANCE 145
NEGRO CABINS (cut) 146
HIGHER LAW AND INDIVIDUAL RIGHT ON OUR SIDE 147
NOTES AT ALA. STATE S. S. CONVENTION 148
TEMPERANCE AMONG OUR CHINESE 149
HOODLUMS AT STREET CORNER (cut) 149
CHILDREN’S PAGE.
SEQUEL TO TED’S TEMPERANCE SOCIETY 150
RECEIPTS 151
PROPOSED CONSTITUTION 156
* * * * *
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PUBLISHED BY THE AMERICAN MISSIONARY ASSOCIATION,
Rooms, 56 Reade Street.
* * * * *
Price 50 Cents a Year, in Advance.
Entered at the Post-Office at New York, N.Y.,
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THE AMERICAN MISSIONARY ASSOCIATION.
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PRESIDENT.
HON. WM. B. WASHBURN, LL.D., Mass.
CORRESPONDING SECRETARY.
Rev. M. E. STRIEBY, D.D., _56 Reade Street, N.Y._
TREASURER.
H. W. HUBBARD, Esq., _56 Reade Street, N.Y._
AUDITORS.
M. F. READING.
WM. A. NASH.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.
JOHN H. WASHBURN, Chairman; A. P. FOSTER, Secretary; LYMAN
ABBOTT, ALONZO S. BALL, A. S. BARNES, C. T. CHRISTENSEN, FRANKLIN
FAIRBANKS, CLINTON B. FISK, S. B. HALLIDAY, SAMUEL HOLMES, CHARLES
A. HULL, SAMUEL S. MARPLES, CHARLES L. MEAD, WM. H. WARD, A. L.
WILLISTON.
DISTRICT SECRETARIES
Rev. C. L. WOODWORTH, _Boston_.
Rev. G. D. PIKE, D.D., _New York_.
Rev. JAMES POWELL, _Chicago_.
COMMUNICATIONS
relating to the work of the Association may be addressed to the
Corresponding Secretary; those relating to the collecting fields,
to the District Secretaries; letters for the Editor of the
“American Missionary,” to Rev. G. D. Pike, D.D., at the New York
Office.
DONATIONS AND SUBSCRIPTIONS
may be sent to H. W. Hubbard, Treasurer, 56 Reade Street, New York,
or, when more convenient, to either of the Branch Offices, 21
Congregational House, Boston, Mass., or 112 West Washington Street,
Chicago, Ill. A payment of thirty dollars at one time constitutes a
Life Member.
FORM OF A BEQUEST.
“I BEQUEATH to my executor (or executors) the sum of —— dollars, in
trust, to pay the same in —— days after my decease to the person
who, when the same is payable, shall act as Treasurer of the
‘American Missionary Association’ of New York City, to be applied,
under the direction of the Executive Committee of the Association,
to its charitable uses and purposes.” The Will should be attested
by three witnesses.
* * * * *
“I THINK I’D LIKE TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS WHEN I’M SIXTY.”
The gentleman who made the above remark carries a $10,000 endowment
policy in the STATE MUTUAL LIFE ASSURANCE COMPANY, of Worcester,
Mass. That sum will be paid to _him_ at “sixty,” or to his family
if he dies before reaching that age.
Thousands of men now living will _need_ $10,000 when they become
“sixty”—and their families will need it should they die before
attaining that age. Both of these objects can be secured by the
payment of a small sum each year to
THE STATE MUTUAL LIFE ASSURANCE CO., OF WORCESTER, MASS.,
Which is one of the OLDEST, STRONGEST and BEST companies in the
United States.
This Company guarantees a CASH-SURRENDER value of every policy it
issues after the second annual payment.
EXAMPLE.
1. An ordinary life policy, issued at the age of 30 for $10,000,
annual premium $226.30. (The second and all subsequent premiums
will be reduced by dividends.) After ten annual premiums have been
paid, the guaranteed cash-surrender value is $909.80; the paid-up
value $2,387.70, or more than gross premiums paid. The _net_ cost
for the past ten years of all similar policies has been $1,692.77,
which reduced the cost of the insurance to $7.83 per $1,000 for
each year.
This Company never disputes, or resists, an honest claim. It has
been a party to only four suits in thirty-eight years—and in _no
case_ have the courts held a claim, resisted by the company, _to be
valid_.
For full explanations, please call on or address
CC. W. ANDERSON, General Agent,
145 BROADWAY, NEW YORK.
THE
AMERICAN MISSIONARY.
* * * * *
VOL. XXXVII. MAY, 1883. NO. 5.
* * * * *
American Missionary Association.
* * * * *
We place before our readers in this issue of our magazine a
considerable number of communications on the subject of temperance.
We believe, our missionaries are in the best possible position to
reach not only the children but adults, and to train them in habits
of virtue and sobriety. We have from the first put great stress
on the importance of abstinence from the use of alcoholic drinks
and tobacco, and the encouraging reports given herewith indicate
the success we have achieved. We publish also a concert exercise
relating chiefly to temperance work in the missions of the A. M.
A. It is our purpose to issue this in an eight-page circular which
will contain the recitations in full, and the words and music of
the Jubilee song known as _Rise and Shine_. The circular will be
illustrated with cuts. Further particulars are given in connection
with the concert exercise on another page.
* * * * *
BUREAU OF WOMAN’S WORK.
It has become an axiom in missionary work that no race can be
lifted out of ignorance and degradation except as its women are
elevated. One of the marked features of this age in mission work
is the clearness with which this is seen and the enthusiastic and
successful efforts put forth by the noble women of the churches
in this behalf. It is not merely the money which these efforts
bring to the missionary societies, but the zeal for the conversion
of the world infused by them into the church and the home. The
Christian mother catches the enthusiasm, and the children feel its
inspiration. Missionary education becomes the life-work in the
family.
The American Missionary Association has from the outset realized
the indispensable need of the elevation of woman in its work in
the South, among the Indians, and, as far as possible, among
the Chinese at the West. Its workers, largely women, have been
specially adapted to it. The lady teachers have reached not merely
the girls in their schools, but the mothers in their homes. The
lady missionaries have labored for the purification of the home
through direct visits, in mothers’ meetings, in industrial work
taught to the girls, in the Sunday-school, and in temperance work.
We have become so impressed with the importance and success of
this part of our work that we are constrained to give it a broader
basis and a more thorough organization. Our aim is not only to do
more work for woman, but to give the Christian ladies of the North
and West more full information as to the way in which they can
co-operate with us. We wish to show that not only in varied ways,
but with small sums of money they can reach the women for whom we
labor.
To attain these results the Executive Committee of the A. M. A. has
organized a BUREAU OF WOMAN’S WORK. The object is:
1. To give information to the ladies in the churches of the variety
of work now sustained by the Association, and to assist in devising
plans of help.
2. To promote correspondence with churches, Sabbath-schools,
missionary societies, or individuals, who will undertake work of a
special character, such as the support of missionaries, aiding of
students, supplying clothing, furnishing goods, and meeting other
wants on mission ground.
3. To send to the Churches, Conferences or Associations desiring it
some of our experienced and intelligent lady missionaries, who can
address them giving fuller details of our methods.
We believe that such a Bureau will meet a felt want and be welcomed
by the earnest Christian women of the country. The selection of
the head of the Bureau will be made and announced soon, and in the
meantime inquiries can be addressed to Bureau of Woman’s Work,
American Missionary Association, 56 Reade street, New York.
* * * * *
THE Mozart Society of Fisk University tendered a complimentary
concert to the members of the Tennessee Legislature. The invitation
was accepted; and on the evening of March 15, the members with
their ladies, and other friends to the number of three or four
hundred, filled the University chapel. The concert was excellent,
and the guests were deeply impressed. Complimentary speeches were
made at the close by the Speaker of the House and the President
of the Senate; and both houses afterwards passed a resolution of
thanks. One member sought an introduction to President Cravath
after the concert, saying, “This evening marks an era in my life.
You have converted me on the negro question.” Much credit is due to
the Mozart Society and to Prof. Spence for the manner in which the
whole entertainment was rendered.
* * * * *
At our last annual meeting, held in Cleveland, a committee was
appointed to report amendments to the Constitution of this
Association. The Committee consisted of Hon. Wm. B. Washburn, Rev.
G. M. Boynton, A. L. Williston, Esq., Rev. W. T. Eustis, D.D.,
Rev. A. H. Plumb, D.D., of Mass., Austin Abbott, Esq., John H.
Washburn, Esq., of New York, Jacob L. Halsey, of New Jersey, Rev.
L. W. Bacon, D.D., Rev. L. T. Chamberlain, D.D., of Conn., Rev. C.
T. Collins, of Ohio, Rev. A. H. Ross, of Mich., Rev. F. A. Noble,
D.D., of Illinois. Feb. 21, the above Committee met at the rooms of
this Association, all the members being present except Drs. Noble
and Chamberlain, who were detained by sickness in their households.
After protracted discussion and the earnest advocacy of various
views, the Committee unanimously agreed to report a draft of
a Constitution, which we give elsewhere in this number of the
MISSIONARY. The Committee will submit the Proposed Constitution
to the different State Conferences and Associations for action in
accordance with the instructions given at the annual meeting.
* * * * *
GENERAL NOTES.
AFRICA.
—There is thought of founding at Natal an industrial and
agricultural school for the natives.
—Efforts are being made for the erection of a machine for the
manufacture of fire-water at Bailunda, West Central Africa.
Christians! which shall the poor negro have first, strong drink or
the gospel?
—The missionaries of the Livingstone Inland Mission have multiplied
their stations along the lower Congo. Invited by several chiefs
along the left bank of the river, they have founded one at Kimorie,
another upon the same river and on the other side of the Loukoungou.
—Mr. C. Gregory has started to explore the regions east of
Abyssinia. From Khartoum he went up upon the Abyssinian plateau,
from whence he descended toward the territory inhabited by the
Afars and traversed by the Gualima and the Melli rivers, flowing
from the Haowasch.
—A society has been established at London under the title of the
Congo and Central African Company, with a capital of 250,000 livres
sterling, to traffic along the western side of Africa, especially
upon the Congo, using the road constructed by Stanley.
—A letter from Cairo announces that Mr. Wissmann had arrived in
that city the first of January. Between the lake Moucambe and
Nyangoué, he passed through the territory of a tribe of dwarf
negroes. From lake Tanganyika to Zanzibar, his journey was made
without great difficulty, owing to the aid given by Mirambo.
THE CHINESE.
—The Methodist Episcopal Church has founded a university at Japan,
through the liberality of Rev. Mr. Goucher, of Baltimore. The
Theological Seminary has been removed from Yokohama to Tokio, and
incorporated with it.
—The Presbyterian Board is about to open a new mission in China, in
the province of Shautung. It will be located at Wei Hein, a city
midway between Tsinan and Tungchon. There will be three laborers.
There are now forty missionaries of all denominations in the
province, among a population of 30,000,000.
—An Anti-Opium Prayer Union has been formed in Great Britain, of
which the members residing in different parts covenant to pray at
least once a week, on Thursdays, for the overthrow of the appalling
and accursed opium trade in China and elsewhere.
—Of the Chinese students at Yale ordered home two years ago,
Mum Yew Chung, who was coxswain of the crew of 1881, is in the
office of the United States Consul-General at Shanghai; Wong is
in partnership with Spencer Laisim, of the class of 1879, they
having opened a translating agency; Chang, of the class of ’83, is
at leisure, and desirous of returning to America; and Low, of the
class of ’84, is married to a daughter of a merchant prince, and is
likely to attain official honors. Tsoy Sin Kee is also married.
THE INDIANS.
—The rightful residents of the Indian Territory have forwarded to
Washington a list of 2,400 names of intruders.
—Martin B. Lewis, a missionary of the Sunday-School Union, writes
that on a recent Sunday at the Sisseton Reservation, half of the
children at the Sunday-school came without shoes, their feet being
sewed up in cloth; yet they were happy. A woman walked four and
a half miles when the mercury was ten degrees below zero to make
arrangements about organizing a school at her house. She had been
five years in a family of eight without hearing a sermon or a
prayer, and asserted that she could no longer live as a heathen.
* * * * *
BENEFACTIONS.
The will of Mr. Peter Ballentine contains a bequest of $5,000 to
Rutgers College.
Alida V. R. Constable bequeathed $4,000 to Union Theological
Seminary, New York.
Miss Mary Blake, of Kingston, N.H., has made a bequest of $10,000
to Tufts College.
Mr. A. E. Kent, of San Francisco, a member of the class of ’53, has
given $60,000 to Yale College.
Mr. Henry Winkley has added $10,000 to his previous gifts to
Andover Theological Seminary, making $60,000 in all.
Hon. Frederick Billings, of Woodstock, Vt., has given $75,000 to
Vermont University for a library building.
The late S. L. Crocker, of Taunton, Mass., bequeathed $5,000 to
Brown University to endow a scholarship to be called “Caroline
Crocker.”
By the will of the late Henry Seybert, the University of
Pennsylvania is to receive $120,000 for the endowment of a chair of
mental and moral philosophy and the endowment of a ward in the wing
for chronic diseases.
_The Committee on Education and Labor made a unanimous report last
winter to Congress that the people of the Southern States are
absolutely unable to provide the means necessary for sustaining
sufficient public schools without assistance. The A. M. A. has long
recognized this fact. Endowments for its schools and others similar
to them, whose object is to raise up Christian teachers, would
assure assistance of the most helpful and enduring character._
* * * * *
ANNIVERSARY ANNOUNCEMENTS.
Berea College, Berea, Ky.—Baccalaureate Sermon, June 17;
examination and anniversary exercises, June 14 to 20; Commencement,
June 20.
Hampton N. and A. Institute. Hampton, Va.—Examinations will be
conducted May 21, 22, 23; Trustees’ Meeting, Wednesday, the 23d,
and Anniversary, Thursday, the 24th.
Atlanta University, Atlanta, Ga.—The annual examinations will
be conducted by the State Board of Examiners, June 11, 12, 13;
Commencement, June 14.
Fisk University, Nashville, Tenn.—Baccalaureate Sermon, May 20;
examinations, May 21, 22, 23; Commencement exercises, May 24.
Tougaloo University, Tougaloo, Miss.—Baccalaureate Sermon, May 27;
examinations and Commencement exercises through the week.
Straight University, New Orleans, La.—Baccalaureate Sermon, Sunday,
May 27; Anniversary of Alumni, May 28; Commencement exercises, May
29.
Talladega College, Talladega, Ala.—Baccalaureate Sermon by
President H. S. DeForest, D.D., Sunday morning, May 27; missionary
sermon, Sunday evening; examinations, Monday, Tuesday and
Wednesday; address by Rev. C. L. Woodworth, of Boston, Wednesday
afternoon; closing exercises, Thursday.
Howard University, Washington, D.C.—The Theological Department
will hold its Anniversary in the Fourth Presbyterian church on
Ninth street, on Friday evening, May 4, when seven young men will
graduate and make addresses, and will be addressed by Rev. William
A. Bartlett, D.D.
Le Moyne School, Memphis, Tenn.—Sermon, Sunday, May 20; Anniversary
exercises, May 22, 23 and 24.
Avery Institute, Charleston, S.C.—Sermon, Sunday, June 24, by Rev.
A. G. Townsend, class of ’72; Monday, June 25, Children’s Day;
Wednesday, June 27, Address by Rev. C. C. Scott, class of ’72;
Friday, June 29, Graduating exercises.
Beach Institute, Savannah, Ga.—Sermon, Sunday, May 27; Anniversary
exercises from May 23 to May 30.
Storrs School, Atlanta, Ga.—Examinations, June 12 and 13;
Exhibition, Friday night, June 15.
Wilmington, N.C.—Examinations, May 24, 25 and 28; closing
exercises, Tuesday evening, May 29.
Brewer Normal School, Greenwood, S.C.—Examinations, June 25, 26 and
27; closing exercises, Thursday, June 28.
Emerson Institute, Mobile, Ala.—Examinations, May 8, 9, 10, 11;
public oral examinations, May 23, 24, 25; closing exhibition,
Friday evening, May 25.
Lewis High School, Macon, Ga.—Annual Address to the students by
Rev. J. W. Burke, of Macon, Tuesday evening, May 29; closing
exhibition, Thursday afternoon, May 31; closing concert, Thursday
evening, May 31.
* * * * *
ALABAMA CONFERENCE.
BY PRES. H. S. DE FOREST, D.D.
The Cong. S. S. Association held its fourth, and the State
Conference its eighth, annual meeting in the chapel at Talladega
from the 23d to the 28th of March. This body, hereafter to be known
as the Congregational Association of Alabama, numbers thirteen
Churches, two in the northern part of the State being associated
with the Central South Conference of Tennessee. Seven of these
fifteen Alabama churches have grown out of Talladega College.
Naturally the desire to see the mother church was strong, and more
than eighty delegates and guests were in attendance. From beyond
the State, we had Supt. Roy, Rev. A. E. Dunning of Boston and Mrs.
A. S. Steele of Chattanooga, to each of whom the Conference is
indebted for efficient help. Sec. Dunning, the first of all our
society secretaries to visit the body, preached a sermon before
the Sunday-school Association good enough and fervid enough to
direct much of the thought of the four days that followed. His
theme was “The Holy Ghost the Source of Power,” and while much
in these meetings was delightful, nothing gave such hallowed
experiences or left such tender memories as the manifest presence
of God. Some thought they were breathing a revival atmosphere, and
one, it is hoped, who took that occasion to visit a daughter in
college, will regard Talladega as the Damascus gate. Other sermons
were by Rev. R. C. Bedford of Montgomery, by Rev. O. D. Crawford
of Mobile, before the sacrament, and by Dr. Roy at the ordination
of Rev. J. R. Sims of Shelby Iron Works, one of the sons of this
theological department and Church. These sermons were spoken and
not read. The aim of the preachers was evidently to do good on the
spot and at that time. There was little talk about the new light,
but a profound conviction that in these dark places there is need
of the light of the Gospel. The programme had been prepared with
a practical intent. Different phases of the Sunday-school work
took the strength of the first day. One evening was given to the
Sunday-school and Publishing Society and the American Missionary
Association, when the speakers were Sec. Dunning and Dr. Roy.
Another evening was devoted to missions, home and foreign. The
addresses were by Rev. A. W. Curtis and Rev. C. B. Curtis, who
have a brother in the foreign field, and one of whom was a home
missionary before coming South.
Such themes as Giving and Worship, Through what Societies—not
less than seven it was claimed, Is our Worship too Formal and
Unimpassioned, Temperance Economy and Industrial Education, were
well presented and discussed. Prof. Ellis read a very suggestive
paper on the Reciprocal Relation of the College to the Churches
of Alabama. The recommendations of this paper were indorsed by
special resolutions, and it is evident that Talladega College,
first and foremost among the schools open to Freedmen in Alabama,
was never more strongly intrenched in the love of the brethren than
now. Two hundred and ninety pupils have been in attendance during
the last year, and new buildings and appliances are called for.
Many and tender references were made to Prof. Andrews, temporarily
absent from ill-health, and he was a dull observer who could attend
these meetings, look upon these ministers, delegates, students and
graduates of the College, hear their words and drink their spirit,
and not feel that work in these reconstructing States is as heroic,
as hopeful, as imperative as any done in the great vineyard of the
Lord.
* * * * *
LOUISIANA ASSOCIATION.
Annual Meeting at New Iberia, La.
BY REV. W. S. ALEXANDER, D.D.
This is the seventh annual meeting of this association I have
attended, and I am glad to be able to say that for sustained
interest, for vigorous thought expressed in the discussions, and
for wise planning for the future, the meeting of this year outranks
the previous ones. This is as it should be. It shows a degree of
study and fidelity on the part of the ministers which promises well
for the churches.
We are always glad to come to this beautiful Teche country. These
broad prairies are fertile as a garden. The soil is so easy of
cultivation, and yields such abundant harvests, and its market
value is so low, that it is within the power of every industrious
man to be a “proprietor of the soil,” and to own his homestead.
That is what the colored people are doing in this garden district
of the State, and it tells upon the character of the people and the
respect which they claim from the community.
It has been a year of quiet growth in most of the churches. Central
Church of New Orleans reports the largest accession, 46, of whom 40
came on profession of faith—the ingathering of the revival of last
winter. Some of the churches have been repaired and beautified;
debts have been paid off, or greatly reduced; disturbing elements
have been eliminated, and the way opened for a larger and more
healthful growth in the coming year.
One new church has been organized at Belle Place, near New Iberia,
and by the timely help of the A. M. A. will soon put up a tasteful
chapel, and will become, we hope, the center of religious influence
for a large colored population. Mr. Samson, the white planter,
encourages the enterprise by kind words and generous donations.
There are other open doors which we should enter at once. We can
hear the word of command: “Go up and possess the land.” How much
good a little financial aid would do just now in the beginning of
church enterprises, which, by God’s help, would grow into important
centers of good for the race.
I believe so thoroughly in the comity of churches, that where
the field is already occupied by other churches, and vigorously
cultivated by them, and the religious needs of the people are met,
I would not favor the establishment of another church, though its
creed and polity were more to our inclination. But the field is so
broad, and the destitution so great, that there is room for the
expenditure of the largest sympathy and the most vigorous effort
toward church enlargement. This missionary spirit was felt by the
Association, and the session of most tender interest was the last,
when the broad subject of missions was presented by eight speakers
selected by the business committee. The meeting had a glow to it
that was refreshing. Every one seemed to catch the inspiration and
to respond heartily to it.
Our field agent, Dr. Roy, always welcome, and always charged with
just the message which these churches and brethren need, brought
to us again this year, vigorous words, wise counsels, and the
kindest, most sympathetic spirit. Our association would hardly seem
complete without him.
Thus another year of effort, of struggle and of self-denial for
Christ, has left its record upon the churches, and has, we trust,
made a record in heaven, which we shall be willing to meet.
* * * * *
CONCERT EXERCISE.
[This Concert Exercise will be enlarged and published in separate
form, and supplied gratuitously to any who may wish it for concert
purposes, on application to Rev. G. D. Pike, 56 Reade street, New
York.]
TEMPERANCE WORK IN MISSIONS OF A. M. A.
Singing. “Dare to do right. Dare to be true.”
Responsive Readings.
Leader. “Do not drink wine nor strong drink, thou, nor thy sons
with thee when ye go into the tabernacle of the congregation, lest
ye die; it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations.”
Lev. 10:9.
Girls. And the angel of the Lord said to the mother of Sampson:
“Thou shalt bear a son. Beware and drink not wine nor strong drink;
for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God to the day of his
death.” Judges 13:3, 4, 7.
Boys. “We will drink no wine, for Jonadab, the son of Rachab, our
father, commanded us, saying, ye shall drink no wine, neither ye
nor your sons forever.” Jer. 35:6.
Leader. “It is not for kings to drink wine, nor for princes strong
drink.” Prov. 31:4.
Girls. “Lest they drink and forget law and pervert the judgment of
any of the afflicted.” Prov. 31:5.
Boys. “Blessed art thou, O land, when thy king is the son of
nobles, and thy princes eat in due season, for strength and not for
drunkenness.” Eccl. 10:17.
Leader. “They shall not drink wine with a song; strong drink shall
be bitter to them that drink it.” Isa. 24:9.
Girls. “For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty; and
drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags.” Prov. 23:21.
Boys. “Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor
extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.” I Cor. 6:10.
Leader. “Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who
hath babblings? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of
eyes?” Prov. 23:29.
Girls. “They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek
mixed wine.” Prov. 23:30.
Boys. “At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an
adder.” Prov. 23:32.
Leader. “But now I have written unto you, not to keep company, if
any man that is called a brother be an idolater, or a railer, or a
drunkard; with such a one, no, not to eat.” I Cor. 5:11.
Girls. “Restore such an one in the spirit of meekness, considering
thyself, lest thou also be tempted.” Gal. 6:1.
Boys. “Young men likewise, exhort to be sober minded.” Titus 2:6.
Leader. “And every man that striveth for the mastery, is temperate
in all things.” I Cor. 9:25.
Girls. “Therefore let us not sleep as do others; but let us watch
and be sober.” I Thes. 5:6.
Boys. “For they that sleep, sleep in the night; and they that be
drunken, are drunken in the night.” I Thes. 5:7.
Leader. “Whether therefore ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do
all to the glory of God.” 1 Cor. 10:31.
Prayer.
Singing.
POSITION SUSTAINED BY A. M. A.
Leader. What has been the attitude of the American Missionary
Association since its organization in 1846 on the temperance
question?
Girls. It has always taken a decided stand against the use and the
sale of intoxicating drink.
Boys. Its missionaries have been instructed to advocate the
cause of temperance, and to organize societies to promote total
abstinence from the use of alcoholic drink.
Leader. Does the Association assist missionaries, or students, who
refuse to abstain from the use of ardent spirits?
Girls. It is the rule of the Society in its work among the Indians,
the Chinese in America, and the Negroes at the South, to employ
only those who have good habits and settled convictions on all
moral subjects, including that of temperance.
Boys. In its collegiate and normal schools, where there are large
numbers of boarding students, all are required to observe habits of
total abstinence.
TEMPERANCE WORK AMONG INDIANS.
Leader. Have the Indians been subject to peculiar temptations to
intemperance?
Girls. Yes. On many of the reservations, our agents complain that
whiskey is a great curse. At the Leech Lake Agency, six Indians
were killed in drunken quarrels among themselves in six months.
Boys. Rev. Myron Eells, of Washington Territory, says he convicted
quite a number of persons for selling liquor to the Indians, which
aroused the fierce opposition of the whiskey ring, which had done
its utmost to prevent his success.
Leader. What has resulted from efforts for their reformation?
Girls. So much was accomplished by Rev. Mr. Spees and his wife at
Red Lake, that not a drunken Indian had been seen for many weeks.
Boys. At the Skokomish Agency, about 130 Indians took the
temperance pledge. Since then those who came under the influence of
the missionary abandoned the use of strong drink. The opposition,
however, by the liquor sellers was such that they burned seven
Indian houses by way of retaliation.
Leader. Do Indian youth readily accept temperance principles when
brought into the training schools of the Association?
Girls. They do. Those brought to Hampton by Capt. Pratt gave up
their tobacco and whiskey during the first year, held prayer
meetings together, and pursued the industrial occupations required
by the school without serious objection.
Boys. At the Green Bay Agency, within a few years, a great work has
been done in the way of temperance reform, so that Mr. Wheeler, the
missionary on the ground, says that a more temperate community of
its size cannot probably be found in the State of Wisconsin.
Singing.
Address on the Work of the Association among Indians.
[See April AMERICAN MISSIONARY for 1883.]
TEMPERANCE WORK AMONG THE CHINESE.
Leader. Are the Chinese on the Pacific Coast exposed to temptations
to intemperance?
Girls. Gen. C. H. Howard, writing from Sacramento, says: At their
groceries, liquors are always to be found. The older persons have a
prevalent habit of constantly smoking opium when in from their work.
Boys. The increase of traffic in opium in the United States has
been very great during the past twenty years, which is no doubt
partly accounted for from the presence of the Chinese.
Leader. Do Christian influences make the Chinamen better?
Girls. At an annual festival in Sacramento, a converted Chinaman
said of the converts among his countrymen: “Oh yes, all much better
men, do not steal, do not gamble, do not do any bad, no opium,
some not even smoke cigars. We can tell, all other Chinamen watch
Christian Chinamen. When he is converted and believes truth, it
makes him good inside. He don’t want to go wrong anymore. If all
Chinamen be Christians then no more trouble about ‘must go.’”
Boys. Among the 2,567 Chinese students in the schools of the
American Missionary Association last year, religious work was very
encouraging. About one in ten of those who came under the influence
of the society are converted. These abandon their evil habits as
readily as converts among other races.
Recitation. By a little girl. “Washee Washee.”
[See January MISSIONARY, 1883.]
TEMPERANCE WORK AMONG THE COLORED PEOPLE OF THE SOUTH.
Leader. Are temptations to intemperance common among the colored
people?
Girls. Yes. More so now, than in the days of slavery. When slaves,
it was not for the interest of their masters to furnish them strong
drink as a beverage, and the Negroes had but little opportunity or
money to purchase it for themselves.
Boys. They now have the privilege of working for wages, and most of
the grocery stores as well as the saloons keep liquor, and are glad
to get the Negro’s money for it.
Leader. Are there not laws in the different Southern States,
prohibiting the sale of intoxicating drinks to minors and to
drunken persons?
Girls. There are in quite a number of those States, but these laws
are not often enforced.
Boys. In some States they have local option laws in which the
counties can vote prohibition, and when temperance measures are
carried it is largely the result of Negro votes.
Leader. Has the American Missionary Association found an open door
for temperance work in its missions South?
Girls. It has. Some years the pupils in attendance have numbered
40,000, among whom were persons of all ages.
Boys. Not unfrequently the enthusiasm for establishing temperance
societies has been very great. Middle-aged and gray-haired men and
women have eagerly sought to enter the Bands of Hope established
by the children, and when admitted have been lifted up from their
vices and advanced in sobriety and usefulness.
Leader. Can you give some statements relating to the work in
particular missions?
[Illustration]
Girls. At Talladega, Ala., they have a Union Temperance
Society, which holds monthly meetings full of interest. All the
Sunday-school and all the College students are members. They keep
the work lively among all their mission schools.
Boys. At Marion, Ala., there is a regular temperance catechising
in the day-school against rum and tobacco, also in three mission
Sunday-schools. For several weeks before Christmas, mass meetings
are held in different churches, at which addresses are made on the
subject.
Leader. Are the churches of the Association committed to the cause
of temperance?
Girls. They are. Many of the churches have distinctive rules,
requiring abstinence from the use as a beverage of intoxicating
drinks, and forbidding the selling of such.
Boys. The churches and conferences of the Association are
practically temperance societies. They hold temperance as an
article of their faith and undertake to exercise discipline on that
principle.
Leader. Are they peculiar in their treatment of the subject of
temperance?
Girls. They differ from many churches South in this particular. A
pastor in Savannah writes: “No one can tell the importance of these
Congregational organizations here except those on the ground. Our
church has taken an open bold stand against liquor drinking and
liquor traffic. Our little temperance society has become a power in
the city and surrounding country. It has provoked others to good
works. Two other societies have been organized in the city and one
at Belmont.”
Boys. At Childersburg, Ala., Rev. A. Jones had his church burned
after giving a temperance lecture, but instead of surrendering, his
people have rallied and they are building better than before.
Leader. What has been the success of the work for temperance in the
Sunday-schools of the Association?
Girls. Among the 7,000 scholars in the Sunday-schools, a very
encouraging work has been carried on year by year. Bands of Hope
have been organized and temperance gatherings held and pledges
signed by a very large number of children.
Boys. Mr. Curtis writes from Alabama as follows: “Temperance at
Anniston booming. The whole country thoroughly aroused. Temperance
taught in the Sunday-school. Band of Hope meetings, temperance
prayer-meetings and mass meetings with lectures and discussions.”
Leader. Do those who go forth from the schools of the Association
to teach and preach promote the cause of temperance?
Girls. They do. Over 150 who were converted to the cause of
temperance while at Tougaloo, Miss., signed the pledge and did
temperance work in connection with the teaching in the common
schools, and in various other ways.
Boys. During a single year the total number of signers to the
pledge obtained by the students connected with one of the
institutions of the Association was 1,300. The teachers sent forth
from the normal classes exert great influence, not only in the
schools where they give instruction, but also among their friends
and neighbors in the localities where they carry on their work.
Singing.
Recitation by a little girl. “_Question of Color._”
[See AMERICAN MISSIONARY for October, 1882.]
Address on Temperance Work of the A. M. A.
[See AMERICAN MISSIONARY, May, 1883.]
THINGS NEEDFUL.
Leader. What is needful in order that the American Missionary
Association may succeed in its great work among the Indians,
Chinese and Negroes?
Girls. Above all things it is desirable that those in its schools
should give their hearts to the Lord Jesus Christ, in order that
they may have a great teacher and helper to guide and assist them
in all their efforts for the practice of Christian virtues.
Boys. They need also a larger number of well educated missionaries
to go among them to instruct and encourage them in all that
pertains to right living.
Leader. What two things can all those who have taken a part in this
Concert Exercise do to assist the American Missionary Association?
Girls. Every one can pray that the Lord will send forth laborers
and pour out his Holy Spirit upon the schools and churches
established for the Indians, Chinese and Negroes in America.
Boys. Each one can contribute money for the support of missionaries
and to help those who are studying to become teachers and ministers
among three great races represented in the work of the Association.
Recitation by boy. “_Missionary Music._”
[See AMERICAN MISSIONARY, Feb., 1883.]
Singing. Jubilee Song, “_Rise and Shine._”
Collection.
Prayer.
Benediction.
* * * * *
TEMPERANCE WORK IN CHURCHES.
BY REV. JOS. E. ROY, D.D.
Our Churches, Conferences and Associations are practically
temperance societies. Many of the churches have distinctive rules
requiring abstinence from the use as a beverage, and from the
selling, of intoxicating drinks. As new churches are organized they
are more and more inclined to start with a special, stringent rule.
Other churches interpret, as requiring the same, the common law
of their covenant, by which the members “promise to walk with the
disciples in love, and denying all ungodliness and worldly lusts,
to live soberly, righteously and godly in this present world.” All
hold temperance as an article of their faith, expect to have it
faithfully preached in their pulpits, and undertake to exercise
discipline on that principle.
In connection with many of our churches, Bands of Hope were early
organized; and these have done great good in bringing up the rising
generation in the way of sobriety. Some of these have shown great
effectiveness and great tenacity of existence. Some have gained
property and have become permanent fountains of blessing.
In the old times the master’s will was a prohibitory law to his
slaves. When that law was repealed, to many liberty seemed to imply
freedom to drink as much whiskey as they pleased. Experience has
been teaching them better. The means used for their moral elevation
have taken effect upon the prevalence of this habit. But still
liquor drinking is the devil’s best hold upon this people. And
so perpetual vigilance is required to meet these satanic wiles,
even within the precincts of the church. But our pastors have been
faithful, and the churches have been ready to respond to right
principle in the execution of discipline. In a rice-swamp region,
where the whiskey shops seem to be the regular attendants of the
old-time churches, standing hard by the same and finding the
Sabbaths their best days of business, our church there has no such
an annex, for it furnishes no such patronage.
In North Carolina, during the great canvass for prohibition in that
State, one of our pastors was surprised to find laxity in principle
and practice among his members on this subject. He took hold of the
matter vigorously. Church meetings were held. Discussion ran high
until stringent rules were enacted and the members brought into
line to vote for the prohibitory law. When that election came off
and the mass of the colored people shamefully joined with the enemy
and voted against the constitutional inhibition, our pastors and
churches were firm and solid on the right side—our pastor at the
Capital being on the State Executive Committee along with the first
citizens of the State and doing valiant service at home and afield
for the reform.
Our Conferences and Associations, at their annual meetings, have
temperance almost as a standing subject for discussions and for
public meetings. An evening is often spent in ten-minute addresses.
In these the laymen prove very effective speakers. These bodies are
diligent in urging upon the churches fidelity as to the preaching,
practice and discipline upon the subject of temperance.
* * * * *
HINDRANCES.
BY REV. DANA SHERRILL, SAVANNAH, GA.
The hindrance occasioned by intemperance in connection with
our work, in church and school, differs only in intensity from
similar evil found elsewhere. The social and spiritual atmosphere
is depressing to our work, because of drinking habits. Total
abstainers number less than ten per cent. of our population, all
colors. A well-informed colored man assures me that not one in
a hundred among men between 18 and 45 years of age are, in his
judgment, total abstainers. Of arrests by our city police during
the year 1882, 1,460 were for offenses usually arising more or less
directly from drink, against 538 for all other crimes and 536 for
drunkenness only. Drinking on our field is not yet driven to the
dramshops, but is common in homes. A father is known to drink every
day in the presence of his children. His name is Legion. The shops
are closed in many country places hereaway where there is little
total abstinence. The demijohn is all-present. The way-trains out
of our city are whiskey trains. Of fourteen men in a car with your
missionary recently, twelve drank spirits from one to four times in
an hour.
At present the great majority of influential people are not only
_not_ total abstainers, but by example and often by precept teach
our colored people, who naturally pattern after the ruling class,
that drinking is the correct thing. This is a sample hindrance.
A promising convert was found to be giving intoxicating drink to
wife and children. When remonstrance was made he asked: “How can it
be wrong when my employer, a good church member, makes me pass it
to his guests every day?” It is needless to say that he is still
outside the church.
Here the general church opinion does not demand total abstinence;
in fact, rebels against such a doctrine. Until very recently the
ministers of our colored churches in no case known to me would be
able to enforce anything like total abstinence however earnestly
they might desire so to do. This, then, is the atmosphere in which
your agents and a very small but earnest band of fellow-helpers
are attempting to build churches and schools demanding total
abstinence. An ignorant, but careful mother, said only a few days
since: “I don’t know but I must leave my church and come over to
you, there is no other temperance church here.” This after one
of our usual monthly total abstinence meetings, and she added as
reason, “I never knew drunkards could not go to heaven before.”
Standing, then, as our church has, as the only religious society
refusing continued membership to drinking men and women, and that
in the presence of the spirit and customs named, it is not strange
that we have been opposed by the uninstructed as interfering with
their liberties, and righteous over much. One at least of our small
churches finds the “social unions” and similar societies, which are
very numerous, almost breaking up their Sabbath service once each
month. The charm in these society meetings is the _wine provided_.
* * * * *
THE TEMPERANCE OUTLOOK AT MEMPHIS.
BY PROF. A. J. STEELE.
“It was in evidence to-day that Marianna’s place was going full
blast all day Sunday last, and that it was crowded with men and
boys, some of them not more than twelve years old, shooting dice
and playing cards. The specific charges against him were keeping
house open, selling liquor on that day, and allowing minors to
gamble.”
The above item, taken from a late daily paper of this city, may
serve to introduce my observations in the matter of temperance—or
rather of intemperance—for the ten years of my life at Memphis. The
place above referred to is prominently located, rather to one side
of the business portion of the city, and almost literally within
the very shadows of two of the largest colored churches of the
city. If there exists now in Memphis any distinctively temperance
organization other than the W. C. T. U. and the Band of Hope of
Le Moyne Institute, I can find nothing of it. If the churches
speak with other than very uncertain tones on the subject, when
they speak at all, I am not aware of it. I know of but one church,
the Second Congregational, that makes abstinence a condition of
membership. I know of many whose members may and do drink steadily,
sometimes to drunkenness, unmolested. If there is any practical or
emphatic or systematic teaching in Sunday-schools in general on the
subject, I have not known of it. Strangely enough, our strongest,
most effective temperance sentiment and teaching comes through
the courts, and through business men and interests, where in the
majority of cases no moral responsibility or solicitude is felt or
expressed in the matter in question.
The legal argument and phase of the subject is the one that most
readily finds a hearing and a following here; this was recently
shown by the marked interest manifested in several able addresses
given on the subject by Mrs. Foster, the lawyer-temperance
advocate of Iowa. In the South, at all events, there is no doubt
as to the _right_ or _power_ of legislative bodies and courts to
deal with the matter. By a curious mistake some years since the
General Assembly of Tennessee passed a law known as the “Four Mile
Law,” which prohibits the sale of liquor within four miles of any
chartered institution of learning. It was supposed that the law
would be of only local force, but it so happened that the State
Constitution declared that any general act of the Legislature must
be of general application throughout the State. Hence in time we
came to realize that we had a very effective prohibitory law, or
what amounted to that. To the everlasting honor of our courts it
must be said that this and such other temperance legislation as we
have is fearlessly enforced and under very severe penalties in such
cases as are presented for trial.
This is, to say the least, a very anomalous condition of affairs.
I account for it in two ways, chiefly from the fact that in
general the liquor interests of the South are poorly organized
and consolidated for any purposes of opposition or defense;
and secondly, in communities where the formative process is
largely going on—(and be assured the new South will not be the
old)—especially in all questions of public import, the _heroic_ is
oftener resorted to than is just common or fashionable in a more
settled state of society. There is less allowing of quibbles and
more coming straight to the end in view. So stringently have the
courts applied these laws that there are several counties in East
Tennessee where no liquor is now sold.
In this county many country liquor stores have been run out, a
fine of $150 being not unusual for a first offense in violation
of law; this was the fine inflicted in the instance at the head
of this letter. In general the newspapers cast their influence on
the right side; usually edited by men of position and at least
of local importance, their influence is not small. In Memphis
the W. C. T. U. is the strong moral force for temperance work
and influence. Concerning our own work, Colman’s Temperance text
book, is regularly used and taught in the school, and almost
invariably our students go out earnest believers in, and workers
for, temperance, accomplishing no small amount of good among their
people, who almost universally suppose liquor necessary to laborers
and indispensable to _free men_, and therefore drink as much of it
as can be obtained.
* * * * *
TEMPERANCE IN TEXAS.
BY PRES. WM. E. BROOKS, TILLOTSON INSTITUTE.