[Illustration:
The American Missionary
VOL. XXXIX
NO. 7
July, 1885.]
CONTENTS
* * * * *
PAGE.
EDITORIAL.
THE FIGURES--FINANCIAL 187
EXERCISE OF BENEVOLENCE 188
THE COLORED PEOPLE AT THE NEW ORLEANS EXPOSITION. 189
PARAGRAPHS 191
CONGREGATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF OHIO--GRAVE OF LOVEJOY--WHAT
SHALL WE DO WITH THE CHINESE? 192
THE SOUTH.
FISK UNIVERSITY 195
ANNIVERSARY AT HAMPTON INSTITUTE 196
GREGORY INSTITUTE 198
RELIGIOUS INTEREST AT TALLADEGA 199
LETTER FROM REV. J. H. PARR, AUSTIN--THE OLD COMMISSARY
BUILDING 201
STUDENT'S LETTER 202
OBITUARY: MRS. H. M. STEVENS 203
OBITUARY: MISS O. E. GOODRIDGE 204
BUREAU OF WOMAN'S WORK.
STATE ORGANIZATIONS--VERMONT SCHOOL AT MCINTOSH, GA.--ILLINOIS
HOME MISS. UNION 205
A TRUE INCIDENT 206
CHILDREN'S PAGE.
THE LITTLE BLACK GIRL'S SACRIFICE 207
RECEIPTS 208
* * * * *
NEW YORK:
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., as second-class
matter.
* * * * *
American Missionary Association.
* * * * *
PRESIDENT, Hon. WM. B. WASHBURN, LL. D., Mass.
_Vice-Presidents._
Rev. C. L. GOODELL, D. D., Mo.
Rev. F. A. NOBLE, D. D., Ill.
Rev. A. J. F. BEHRENDS, D. D., N. Y.
Rev. ALEX. McKENZIE, D. D., Mass.
Rev. D. O. MEARS, D. D., Mass.
_Corresponding Secretary._
Rev. M. E. STRIEBY, D. D., _56 Reade Street, N. Y._
_Assistant Corresponding Secretary._
Rev. JAMES POWELL, D. D., _56 Reade Street, N. Y._
_Treasurer._
H. W. HUBBARD, Esq., _56 Reade Street, N. Y._
_Auditors._
W. H. ROGERS,
PETER McCARTEE.
_Executive Committee._
JOHN H. WASHBURN, Chairman.
A. P. FOSTER, Secretary.
_For Three Years._
LYMAN ABBOTT.
A. S. BARNES.
J. R. DANFORTH.
CLINTON B. FISK.
A. P. FOSTER.
_For Two Years._
S. B. HALLIDAY.
SAMUEL HOLMES.
SAMUEL S. MARPLES.
CHARLES L. MEAD.
ELBERT B. MONROE.
_For One Year._
J. E. RANKIN.
WM. H. WARD.
J. L. WITHROW.
JOHN H. WASHBURN.
EDMUND L. CHAMPLIN.
_District Secretaries._
Rev. C. L. WOODWORTH, D. D., _21 Cong'l House, Boston._
Rev. J. E. ROY, D. D., _112 West Washington Street, Chicago._
Rev. CHARLES W. SHELTON, _Financial Secretary for Indian Missions._
_Field Officer._
Prof. ALBERT SALISBURY, _Superintendent of Education._
_Bureau of Woman's Work._
_Secretary_, Miss D. E. EMERSON, _56 Reade Street, N. Y._
* * * * *
COMMUNICATIONS
Relating to the work of the Association may be addressed to the
Corresponding Secretary: those relating to the collecting fields, to
Rev. James Powell, D. D., or to the District Secretaries; letters for
the "American Missionary," to the Editor, 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.
* * * * *
THE AMERICAN MISSIONARY
VOL. XXXIX. JULY, 1885. NO. 7
* * * * *
American Missionary Association.
* * * * *
$365,000
NEEDED FOR THE CURRENT YEAR.
* * * * *
Your Committee are convinced that not less than a THOUSAND DOLLARS a
day are imperatively demanded to perfect the admirably organized
plans of the Association, even for the present, to say nothing of the
pressing needs of the early future.--
[FINANCE COMMITTEE'S REPORT ADOPTED BY ANNUAL MEETING AT SALEM.]
* * * * *
THE FIGURES.
_Receipts._ Donations. Legacies. Total.
Oct. 1, 1884, to May 31, 1885 $136,972.82 $21,784.35 $158,757.17
Oct. 1, 1883, to May 31, 1884 132,507.66 21,710.40 154,218.06
----------- ---------- -----------
Inc. $4,465.16 Inc. $73.95 Inc. $4,539.11
* * * * *
Our financial storm signal is still out. That threatening forty
thousand dollars' deficit does not let up in its indications of
approach. The black clouds are plainly discernible. We have been for
months anxiously watching their movements. Our prayers and efforts
have been steadily turned towards their dissipation. We do not lose
faith. We believe in our work. We believe in our friends. The work
has merit. Our friends have ability. The two will come together and
the merit will cause the ability to stand forth. There are many
things very decidedly encouraging.
Never in all our history has the work been more abundantly blessed.
Our schools have been crowded and God's Spirit has come down in great
power upon the hearts of our pupils. In one school the revival
character of the religious services had to cease, because there were
none left to be converted! Our churches have been revived and
enlarged. A spirit of joy and thankfulness is in the hearts of our
missionaries.
Notwithstanding the hard times, our receipts from the churches and
living donors are larger by several thousand dollars than they were
at this time last year. These facts are the indications of a living
cause and an able constituency. They call upon us to lift our heads
in hope and to inspire one another to still greater activity, and, if
need be, to self-denial. We have no legacies in sight, and we
certainly do not desire our friends to die. Our prayer is that they
may live; that they may live long. Apart from their gifts in money we
desire the strength and the grandeur of their lives to aid us in
carrying forward the great and growing work on hand. We again call
upon them to help us round out this year without a debt.
We take the liberty to point out one way in which they can do this.
Our missionaries are, many of them, returning at this time of year
for a brief rest at the North. They need it. They have earned it. It
may seem wrong to tax these brave workers, but we venture to say that
if they are invited to tell the public the story of their experience
they will not refuse to do it; and we venture to say further, it will
be a story the public will be glad to hear. Let them have a royal
welcome home by the churches. In the language of Rev. Sam Jones, the
noted Southern Evangelist, as he counseled the churches to receive
the new converts, "Let it not be on the tips of your fingers or on
the palms of your hands you receive them, but, on your hearts," and
God will bless the welcome to the churches, to the missionaries and
to the work. Hear their story, heed its lessons, and it will not be
long before the clouds shall roll away and our financial storm-signal
be taken down.
* * * * *
The exercise of benevolence Christ never conditioned on human
recognition. The publicans and heathen furnished examples on that
plane. When Christianity uncovers its roots there is never anything
commercial even hinted at. Sinners need salvation. That is enough.
Divine love moves in the presence of necessity. Its movement is
electric. Even if ingratitude smite it in the face; nay, worse, if
malignancy would summon forces for its crucifixion, without relaxing
an iota it breathes the prayer, "Father, forgive them, for they know
not what they do." Unswervingly Christ held along, doing right
because it was right. Passion in all its forms of unbalanced feeling
lay far beneath His holy life. A righteous indignation against
Phariseeism He felt; He was moved with compassion when He saw the
people scattered abroad as sheep without a shepherd; in numberless
forms in the presence of sorrow and want His emotion was stirred, but
the machinations of wicked men against the establishment of
righteousness, He contemplated with imperturbable equanimity. It was
not merely that He had a strong faith that all such opposition was
the imagination of a vain thing. He knew that it was so.
It may not be given His disciples to walk so much by knowledge as
did the Master, but where He leads, they can follow in a faith that
shall sustain them and give them triumph in every path of duty.
Opposition may meet them. Difficulties may lie in the path. Evil men
may oppose them, and good men, misinterpreting their motives and
misunderstanding their work, may misrepresent them. But what matters
it? Conscious in the strength that they are doing right, they will
work on unhindered and undisturbed. Christian virtue finds in its own
development all the reward necessary to stimulate continuance in well
doing.
* * * * *
THE COLORED PEOPLE AT THE NEW ORLEANS EXPOSITION.
The colored people of the United States are just twenty years out of
the house of bondage. With long centuries of barbarism and two
hundred and fifty years of slavery behind them, they started out
homeless, landless, moneyless and experienceless. The New Orleans
Exposition was to have exhibits from all lands: Asia, with its
millennium of transmitted achievements; Europe, with its centuries of
enlightened development; the United States, with their wonderful
improvements on the best the world had produced, were all to be
there. What show could the twenty-year-old freedmen make in such
company? The very idea of their attempting to put in an appearance
would seem absurd.
But the colored people desired at least to stand up and be counted.
They determined to be there. The entire gallery in one end of the
immense Government building was assigned them, and the specimens of
their skill more than filled it. They came from nearly every State
and Territory in the Union. Their exhibits represented almost every
department of mechanical, agricultural and artistic skill. Excellence
in workmanship, fertility in invention, tastefulness in the fine
arts, were all displayed to a remarkable degree in the large
collection. Southerners and Northerners were alike astonished at what
their eyes beheld. Those who thought that the negro has no higher
mission than to be a "hewer of wood and drawer of water," were
compelled either to change their minds or else to say they did not
believe that the colored people did the work. It was amusing to hear
the remarks of some of the latter class, as they looked at some
beautiful specimens of negro handicraft or ingenuity.
It may interest the readers of the MISSIONARY to glance at the great
variety of lines along which negro ability put itself on exhibition.
Examination papers from schools were very numerous, showing
proficiency in penmanship, spelling, arithmetic, algebra, geometry,
free drawing, grammar and translations from the classics; fine
needlework of all kinds; millinery; dress-making, tailoring; portrait
and landscape painting in oil, water-colors and crayon; photography;
sculpture; models of steamboats, locomotives, stationary engines, and
railway cars; cotton presses, plows, cultivators, and reaping
machines; wagons, buggies; tools of almost all kinds, from the hammer
of the carpenter to the finely-wrought forceps of the dentist; piano
and organ (both pipe and reed) making; carpentry, cabinet-making;
upholstery; tin-smithing; black-smithing, boot and shoe making;
basket and broom making; pottery, plain and glazed; brick-making;
agricultural products, including all the cereals and fruits raised in
the country; silk-worm culture; fruit preserving; flour from a mill,
and machinery from a foundry owned by a colored man; patented
inventions and improvements, nearly all of them useful and practical,
were quite numerous; drugs and medicines; stationery, printing and
publishing.
Some of the articles on exhibition are worthy of special mention--a
black walnut pulpit, in design and finish as beautiful and tasteful
as any church might wish; a sofa finely upholstered, and the covering
embroidered with artistically-executed needlework, showing four
prominent events in the life of Toussaint l'Ouverture; a chandelier,
very beautiful in design and finely finished; a complete set of
dentist's instruments, in polish and finish remarkable; a little
engine, made by a silversmith of Knoxville, who was a slave, and who
has become a skilled workman of local reputation. He never worked in
a shop till he had one of his own. He learned the use of tools
without any instruction. These articles would certainly merit
attention, even if put in competition with similar specimens of the
very best workmanship.
Neither the negroes nor their friends have any reason to regret that
an exhibit was made. It was in every sense of the word creditable. It
marks a progress simply wonderful, when all the circumstances are
taken into the account. It is prophetic of a very hopeful future. It
demonstrates that the negro race can enter every profession and
calling in which the white man is found. It proclaims in tones that
no one should misunderstand, that he who writes or speaks of the
colored people should be careful how he pronounces judgment in regard
to their capacity. They should be given a white man's chance. No
trade nor occupation should be closed against them. Open doors should
welcome to honorable competition, white and black alike. Let this be
so, and in less than half a century there will not be a trade, nor
profession, nor calling, in which black men will not be found in the
front. There will be preachers and professors, and editors, and
physicians, and lawyers, and statesmen, and teachers, and bankers,
and business men, and artisans, and mechanics and farmers, of
African descent, of whom, as brethren, the very greatest of white men
will not need to be ashamed. Let writers on the negro stop theorizing
about his capacity for this or that calling, and unite in demanding
that he have a fair chance to become what God has made him capable of
becoming. It is wrong, it is wicked for men who by voice and pen
influence public sentiment, to conclude that because the negro is now
a waiter, a boot-black, a barber, a laborer, that therefore he cannot
be anything else, or even that he cannot probably be anything else.
By the very force of circumstances he has been compelled to occupy
these positions. By an unjust public sentiment he has been shut out
from even an opportunity to prove his capacity to stand beside his
white brother in every calling.
Public sentiment should be reformed at this point; and the colored
people's exhibition of what they have achieved in the short space of
twenty years, in spite of opposition, and in spite of lack of
opportunity, assures us that if they are permitted they will
contribute no small share in securing the reformation. We advise all
leaders of public sentiment who do not desire twenty-five or thirty
years hence to be found eating their words of to-day, or explaining
how it was that they came to be on ground so untenable, to heed the
lessons of this Exposition, and range themselves with those who look
at facts, and who recognize the prophetic power of facts, and
heartily accept the prophecy, even if this prophecy run counter to
what have been _their_ fancies.
* * * * *
The Colored People's Educational Day at the World's Exposition called
out an immense crowd and proved to be of very great interest.
Speeches were made by representatives of both races. Rev. Dr. Palmer,
the eloquent Presbyterian divine, of New Orleans, and Col. Wm.
Preston Johnson, President of the Tulane University, represented the
Louisiana whites, and in their speeches not only complimented the
colored people on the progress they had made, but assured them of the
hearty sympathy and co-operation of all good people in the South. The
Rev. A. E. P. Albert, a graduate of our Straight University,
represented the colored people. The newspapers published his speech
in full. We have read it with much interest. It is a speech of
considerable power. It is an honor to the man, to his race and to the
A. M. A.
* * * * *
Our Student's Letter this month is from Talladega College. The
memories it portrays are not pleasant, but it is fitting to remember
the pit out of which we have been digged. The darkness of the picture
makes the present opportunities and privileges of the colored people
to shine out all the brighter. Heartily can we thank God that these
terrible things are now only a memory.
* * * * *
CONGREGATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF OHIO.
After the address of Secretary Powell before this body, May 13, 1885,
a committee consisting of Rev. James Brand, Rev. Enoch F. Baird and
Thos. C. Reynolds was appointed to report upon it. We subjoin the
report, which was adopted:
Your committee appointed to report upon the speech of Secretary
Powell beg leave to call attention to but one of the many points
of interest in the address. That is, that the American
Missionary Association is now in debt to the amount of $30,000,
and that unless special efforts are made by the churches, the
end of the year will see a debt of $40,000. It is manifest that
this will necessarily mean the suspension of some forms of
mission work, the crippling of others and the sad embarrassment
of this grand organization for years to come. It _need_ not be;
it _ought_ not to be; if Christian men and women do their duty,
it _will_ not be. Your committee therefore propose this
resolution:
_Resolved_, That we, the members of this association, will
individually urge upon the churches under our charge the duty of
making earnest and special efforts during the remainder of the
year to relieve the American Missionary Association from this
impending calamity.
* * * * *
"GRAVE OF LOVEJOY"--CORRECTION.
EDITOR AMERICAN MISSIONARY.--DEAR SIR: Did Brother Imes (June No., p.
168) misunderstand Father Johnson, or has the old man forgotten?
There was no "hasty burial by the river." The body remained all night
in the warehouse, was taken to the house the next day and buried from
the house in the cemetery. Johnson dug two graves there; the first in
a spot afterward taken for a road or walk, and the second where the
remains now lie. The memorial tablet was put there in good faith by
an editor of Alton, who greatly admired Lovejoy's defense of the
freedom of the press. But will there never be a more appropriate
monument? Is "Spare him now he is buried" all that is ever to be said
over the grave of Elijah P. Lovejoy?
H. L. HAMMOND.
* * * * *
WHAT SHALL WE DO WITH THE CHINESE?
A momentous, an urgent, and a very hard question!
_Exclude them_, said the politicians, and close out thus forever the
problem their presence involves. This seems, at first sight, a simple
and easy, albeit a rather rough, answer. And so the Exclusion bill
became a law. But it is almost certain that there are more Chinese in
America to-day because of that law than there would have been without
it. They came in such great numbers after the law was enacted and
before it went into operation that (as I think) the decrease in
immigration since that date has not as yet offset that increase.
For nearly three years on our shore our King Canute has sat in his
royal chair forbidding the tide to rise. As long as ebb-tide lasts
his authority seems to be respected, and the problem of these
diurnal encroachments of the sea upon the land seems to be solved.
But when the time for flood-tide comes again, Canute will have to
move his chair, his mandates to the contrary notwithstanding.
Already, if rumor is to be believed, a profitable business is
conducted upon Puget Sound in smuggling Chinese from Vancouver's
Island to our forbidden soil. Certain it is that many Chinese,
failing to get tickets at Hong Kong for San Francisco, buy them to
Victoria. Already it becomes a serious question what fence can be
built along our northern frontier so close, so strong, so high that
no Chinese can anywhere climb over, or crawl under, or work through.
Mexico wants the Chinese, we hear. How far is it from the northern
line of Mexico to the southern line of California and Arizona? And
once across that line our Chinese invaders, coming slyly one by one,
have won the fight and go and come at their own pleasure.
Exclusion has not solved this problem, and it is safe to add that, as
it should not, so it never will. For this policy is in contradiction
to the vital principles of our national existence; and either it must
be abandoned, or sooner or later this contradiction will develop into
conflict irrepressible. Those vital principles are two: "All men
created equal," and "All men endowed with certain inalienable
rights," etc. Our fathers counted them to be self-evident, and placed
them as twin pillars in our temple of liberty. Now, a nation cannot
knock out its own foundation stones, cannot defy the laws of its own
organic life without becoming divided against itself; and in the
conflict ensuing, either its vital principles will be reaffirmed and
rehabilitated, or else the nation dies. We have had one lesson at
this point, and we ought not to need another for a dozen centuries.
Exclusion is only a make-shift of the politicians, not the offspring
of real statesmanship. It has not solved the problem, and it never
will.
What then shall we do? Educate and Christianize these heathen, we
reply: So you will make them to be Chinese no longer, but Americans.
This is the right answer, but, alas, how much easier said than done!
The undertaking, hard enough at first, grows harder, in some
respects, as the years roll on.
One added difficulty is the wider diffusion of these strangers over
our whole country. The prejudice which their peculiarities excite is
thus extended, while the number to be reached in any one locality is
diminished. Work for the Chinese ought now to be prosecuted, not
simply in Sunday schools, but in Mission schools, kept in session
every evening and alt through the year in most of the principal
cities of the whole Union, as well as on the Pacific Coast. But the
outward and visible encouragements will be smaller, because each
Mission finds its particular field reduced in size.
Another added difficulty is in an increased and deepened antagonism
on the part of the great mass of Chinese to real Christianity.
Multitudes have seen enough of the true light to reject it; and
having rejected, now to hate it. Oh, it drives one back to God in an
agony of mingled longing and despair to see this mighty multitude
that will not come and be saved, drifting along in darkness and
wretchedness through this life to the blackness of darkness beyond!
And this is intensified by the thought of the children now quite
numerous in our Chinese communities. We know to what the daughters
are destined. We know what it is that gives them, in this country, a
special money value; and as to the sons, one can scarcely conceive
circumstances more perilous than those in which they are placed.
Breathing our free American air, entering readily into the Young
America spirit, they will not brook the harsh discipline which, in
their native land, would have been submissively and perhaps with
profit accepted. At the same time, the parents ill understand that
discipline of love which adjusts itself to these new circumstances,
and when it can no longer compel, succeeds in wooing and winning and
molding aright the boyish heart. Demons incarnate, both American and
Chinese, tempt these boys, while they are unprotected by any
reverence either for the ancestors and idols of their own people or
for the American God whom Americans by their conduct so cruelly
belie.
And this suggests another added difficulty: the contrast which our
Chinese Christians cannot but observe between the precepts of the
Bible, the example of Christ, the exhortations of those who led them
to Jesus, and the practices of multitudes of American professors of
religion. And, too often, they are led to do as we do, and not as we
say. While at the same time the indifference of many professed
Christians to the salvation of this Chinese, and the attitude of many
churches toward those already converted, loads the problem down with
difficulties such as might well drive us to despair.
But, no; nothing shall drive us to despair. This problem must be
solved. This mountain mass of heathenism must be--not removed and
cast into the sea, but transformed into the mountain of the Lord's
house, and made an element--an element of untold value and
efficiency--in our American Zion. Let us have faith as the grain of
mustard seed. Let us hear the voice which adds to our great
commission the promise: "Lo, I am with you alway." Let us take
courage at the remembrance of mercies past. With all these
difficulties upon us it still remains true that no other
non-Protestant foreigners are as accessible to us as the Chinese; and
that in proportion to the resources of men and money used, scarcely
any evangelistic work yields equal visible returns. There is only one
thing to do--for Christ's sake, for our country's sake, for the sake
of the uncounted millions beyond the sea--we must, and we will, claim
and conquer these precious souls for their Redeemer and our Lord.
WM. C. POND.
* * * * *
THE SOUTH.
PROF. ALBERT SALISBURY, SUPERINTENDENT OF EDUCATION.
* * * * *
FISK UNIVERSITY, NASHVILLE, TENN.
A CLASS OF FIFTEEN GRADUATED FROM COLLEGE.
Anniversary week at Fisk University is closed. Its alternate shower
and sunshine have fairly represented the rejoicing and the sadness
that always come with this harvest time of the year. The week began
on the evening of Friday, May 22, with the exhibition of the Senior
Preparatory Class, and was followed by the Baccalaureate and
Missionary sermons on Sunday, the anniversaries of the literary
societies and the alumni association, and the graduating exercises of
the Normal Department on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, and the final
great day of the feast, the College Commencement, on Thursday, May
28.
This programme has become so fixed that to go over it in detail would
be monotonous; let us rather note a few of the significant and
interesting facts that belong particularly to this anniversary week.
The comparatively large size of the classes entering and leaving
college has been one marked feature and a source of great
encouragement. Thirteen young men and three young women were received
into the Freshman class, and a few days later thirteen young men and
two young women, having completed four years of college work, took
the degree of B. A. This is more than double the largest class ever
before graduated from Fisk, and while the increase in numbers cannot
yet be sustained with regularity from year to year, it does show a
growth in our work and a strengthening of purpose on the part of our
young people. In 1874, a class of six young men entered college, but
only two ever got beyond the threshold: the others lost heart and
purpose; of the present class three have fallen by the hand of death
within the four years and only three have dropped out for other
causes.
Commencement day revealed in the tone of the graduating orations a
moral earnestness and uprightness of principle that called forth the
commendation of our stranger guests. The best record of the class,
however, is in the influence its members have exerted in the school
during the whole of their Senior year.
It may be remembered that a year ago the Alumni Association adopted a
plan by which, beginning three years after graduation, at least one
per cent. of the earnings of each member is to be appropriated to an
endowment fund for Fisk University. Whenever the sum reaches $1,000,
it is to be devoted to some chair in the University. This year the
Treasurer reported $140 on hand. The beginning seems small, but who
can tell to what the stream may grow? Part of the Alumni anniversary
was given up to a memorial service for one who, after six years of
faithful work among her people, has died within the year.
On the evening devoted to the Normal Department, Prof. Salisbury was
expected to address us on some educational topic. In his absence,
Prof. Smith, of the chair of Greek in Vanderbilt University, kindly
filled the place and gave us an excellent address on Thomas Carlyle.
Prof. Smith is of Southern birth, but has manifested a cordial
friendliness and an interest that has led him to really investigate
the work of Fisk University.
On Commencement Day, Rev. R. G. Hutchins, D. D., of Minneapolis,
Minn., honored us with his presence and with an address, both wise
and eloquent, on "Sublime Motives," holding up three as especially
worthy to prompt to action: responsibility for the architecture of
our own character, responsibility for the development of latent moral
power, and the conservation of moral forces.
Few who heard it will forget the solemn charge given to the
graduating class by President Cravath, illustrated by an incident, as
told by the Rev. Sam. Jones, of the battle of Nashville. General Hood
saw a Federal battery making dreadful havoc in his army, and sent to
a subordinate general a messenger, saying, "Give him my compliments,
and tell him I ask at his hands the battery in the Locust Grove." The
general was in the thick of the battle and could not be found. The
same message was sent to another with the same result. Finally to a
third he sent the messenger, saying, "Give him my _love_, and tell
him I ask at his hands the battery in the Locust Grove." The battery
was speedily taken and the message of affection returned to General
Hood. So are these young people sent out with the love of teachers
and friends, to capture the batteries that are dealing moral death to
this people.
After the degree of B. A. had been conferred on the fifteen
graduates, that of M. A. was given to fourteen former graduates, who
for three years or more have been engaged in scholarly employments.
To add to the interest of Commencement, Gen. Fisk arrived the evening
before, and closed the public exercises of Thursday with an address,
whose pleasantry made every one forget the fatigue of five
consecutive hours of speech-making. Several members of the
Legislature, now in extra session in the Capitol, were present both
at the Commencement exercises and at the collation which followed.
A new and interesting feature of this anniversary was the part taken
by the Girls' Industrial Department. A basket of cake made by members
of the cooking class graced each table at the Commencement dinner and
was by general consent pronounced excellent. In the Assembly Room of
Jubilee Hall were displayed various garments and household articles
neatly made by the sewing classes.
Nothing has been said about examinations; they are like the bread of
our daily meals, always expected and very important. A more thorough
examination than usual was given the classes in drawing and in vocal
music. One exercise in the latter examination was the singing at
sight of a tune, in four parts, composed by a member of the class.
Our halls are already deserted; nothing holds our students after
Commencement: they scatter at once for work, and within a few weeks,
in at least half a dozen States, miniature Fisk Universities will be
in operation.
ANNA M. CAHILL.
* * * * *
ANNIVERSARY AT HAMPTON INSTITUTE, VIRGINIA.
In beauty, interest and enthusiasm Hampton anniversary days abate
nothing as years go on. The seventeenth anniversary exercises were
held on May 21, with a graduating class of forty-two, of whom five
were Indians. Visitors were present from North and South, East and
West, and such expressions as "The half was not told me!" and "Why
didn't I bring my wife?" were frequent, as usual.
Of the morning examinations, one of the most interesting was a
general exercise conducted by the chaplain, in review of the current
news of the world, which is daily read and discussed with the
students. Victor Hugo, French and English politics, the Afghan
trouble, Russia and Nihilism, Irish Nationalists, France and China,
England and Egypt, were touched in the questions, and the answers and
general interest showed the value of this daily exercise. In the
ancient history class, printed questions were shuffled and
distributed among the students, and question and answer were spoken
out promptly by each scholar, giving an attractive quickness and
vivacity to the recitation. The class of little Indian geographers
stood before a table on which was a miniature United States made of
sand, with its Eastern elevations, its great central plains, and its
high Western ranges. A thread of blue worsted, put in place by the
young world-builders, simulated the Mississippi, while cities (in the
guise of white buttons) sprang up with a rapidity unknown even in the
great West. The practice-teaching class is always of especial
interest and significance, as over ninety per cent of Hampton's
students devote themselves to teaching as their life mission. A dozen
little bright-eyed, brown-faced primaries from the "Butler" training
school received a geography lesson from one of the senior girls,
criticised by her class-mates. Its grand _finale_ was a miniature
volcanic eruption, creating a sensation among the Butler mites.
The industrial exhibits and the training shops, with their Negro and
Indian apprentices, attracted interested attention, as usual.
The emotions of anniversary day culminated in the afternoon
exercises, in which were several incidents of unusual interest. The
pretty and graceful salutatorian, fair as most of her hearers, was
introduced as a young representative of the family of faithful Mary
Peake, who, just escaped from slavery herself, taught the first
"contraband school" at Hampton. This introduction roused the
war-memories of Rev. Dr. Strieby, who, greeting the young girl as she
stepped on the platform, told the story of the first missionary sent
down to Old Point by the American Missionary Association, his
reception by the contrabands as an angel of deliverance, and his
first school, opened Sept. 17, 1861, with Mary Peake as its teacher,
till she gave up her life in the work for her people.
The pastor's class was represented by a Baptist minister from
Hampton, who gave an account of the Old and New ministry, somewhat
characteristic of both. This pastor's class has become an interesting
feature of Hampton, with a mission of peace and good-will to both
races and all sects and sections. Now in its second year, it numbers,
as pupils, 17 colored pastors of Hampton and vicinity. Baptist and
Methodist; and as teachers Rev. Mr. Frissell, chaplain, and Rev. Mr.
Tolman, ex-chaplain of the school, Northern Congregationalist
ministers, with Miss Alice Bacon, who thus worthily wears her
venerated fathers mantle, and the Southern white ministers from
Hampton, Episcopal, Baptist and Methodist, in unity of spirit that is
verily "a good and a pleasant thing to see." The studies are the
Bible and Bible history, pastoral theology and composition. In
cultivating better understanding and kindly relations between these
colored and white neighbors, and the relations of the school with
both, as well as in helping meet the great need of an intelligent
ministry, this pastor's class is doing important work. Some of its
members board at the school, working their way in part like the other
students, sometimes entering their classes. Some are helped to come
by their congregations, who appreciate the opportunity.
A handsome gold medal, presented by Mr. W. J. Demorest, of New York
City, was awarded to Harris Barrett, of the senior class, for
excellence in the junior elementary studies, the three R's,
geography, grammar and spelling, in which the whole class were
examined for the prize without special review, only one falling below
an average of 50 per cent. on all, and five averaging above 90--a
better showing than some Northern college seniors could make, I fear.
As usual, some of the school's former graduates returned to tell the
story of their labors, and nearly fifty were present on the
invitation yearly renewed to all.
The valedictorian was the youngest of a family of one sister and four
brothers, children of a minister, who have graduated at the school,
the last two with the honor of the valedictory.
The Indian graduates were represented by two of their number, a young
man of the Sac and Fox tribe, Indian Territory, who gave his own
reasons for claiming and desiring citizenship for his people, which
were: 1st, that the Indian also is a child of the Father; 2d, that
he was once owner of the land; 3d, that without this protection and
help he must perish; 4th, that with it he can become a useful member
of the nation, a man among men. An Indian girl plead eloquently for
the Indian woman, and protested against the use of "savage" as a
synonym of Indian, since "there are also yellow savages, black
savages and white savages." The representations of the past, present
and future of Indian life will not soon be forgotten by those who saw
them. The past's barbaric glories were typified by a tall young brave
and Indian girl in the beautiful dress of the wilderness. They stood
silent, like a vision of the ancient days, while their story was
told. The present's pathos was represented by "_Lo_" the _very_ "poor
Indian" and squaw in shabby blankets, bewailing--as their Indian
interpreter explained--the loss of lands and buffalo, asking where to
go next--"white man everywhere"; the future's hope by a promising
pair of Hampton students, able to speak for themselves, work for
themselves and teach their people, with their white brethren's help,
in the Christian's road. As the three groups stood in striking
tableau--a visible embodiment of truth which I wish every white
citizen of the United States could have seen and taken to
heart--their comrades of the Indian school rose behind them, and
started a Dakota hymn, recognized by the melody as "From Greenland's
Icy Mountains," or, as interpreted to Indian understanding, "From the
very distant cold land--from the hot land far away." As the plaintive
strain died away, it was taken up in English in the richer chorus of
their colored schoolmates, and the whole audience, rising, joined in
the grand third verse, "_Shall we whose souls are lighted_," with
effect not to pass from their hearts.
Diplomas were presented by Rev. Dr. Strieby, vice-president of the
Board of Trustees, to the graduating class of seventeen colored and
three Indian young women, and twenty colored and two Indian young
men, 42 in all. Eloquent addresses were made also by Rev Dr. McVickar
of Philadelphia, and Rev. Dr. Armstrong of Norfolk, imprisoned once
by General Butler because he would pray for Jefferson Davis, but now
thanking God for the new order, and rejoicing in Negro education.
* * * * *
GREGORY INSTITUTE, WILMINGTON, N. C.
The year at Gregory Institute, as usual, has been a busy one, both in
school and out. As a worthy colored member of our church expressed
it, "We are tormented with Christian work at Wilmington." We have had
this year a total enrollment of 284 pupils, and the percentage of
attendance has never been greater. The pupils have, as a rule, worked
well, and in many cases the progress has been very marked. While we
are not completely satisfied with the results, yet there has been
very much to encourage our labors. The Lord has been merciful in
keeping the workers in good health, and there has been no death and
but few cases of sickness among the pupils.
The last week was taken up with examinations, both oral and written,
and in perfecting arrangements for the anxiously looked-for event
among our people, the closing exhibition.
Such a clamoring for tickets one never heard. Of course, not
one-fourth asked for could be issued, for lack of room; but, as far
as possible, the parents were admitted. Although a thunder-storm,
lasting about an hour, came up just as the doors were opened, the
people continued to pour in until the hall was as full as an egg,
upwards of 500 finding seats.
The programme, which was a long and varied one, was carried out
without any drawback whatever, thanks to the untiring efforts of the
teachers and of Mr. and Mrs. Dodge, who all planned so well to make
it a success. For three and one-half hours the audience gave the
closest attention, and the comments since have been very flattering.
Several, including some Northerners, have declared it to be the best
exhibition they ever attended.
It would tire you to read the entire programme, so I will mention and
describe briefly only a few of the pieces, though all were as
creditably rendered as if it were a white school, with the singing
perhaps better. The pupils, without exception, acquitted themselves
nobly, and their neat appearance was worthy of special mention.
You would have been pleasantly entertained had you witnessed the
Missionary Colloquy, in which 20 girls, some taken from each
department of the school, took part. First came a girl bearing the
American flag and representing America, who spoke, and was then
followed by another girl with a Bible, representing Christianity.
Next came singly nine girls in costume, each to represent a heathen
nation, and making an earnest plea for the Gospel. Then followed a
band of nine little American missionary workers, each stepping to the
front and telling how she had earned her money which she was about to
give to the noble cause. After dropping her gift in a basket held by
"America," she repeated these words: "O happy, happy child am I, to
serve the Lord of earth and sky;" then taking her place, another came
forward in the same way until all had spoken. "America" now hands her
basket, with its treasure, to Christianity, whom she addresses; then
both turn and address the heathen in concert. In the time, missionary
hymns were sweetly sung by the girls, and the piece, as presented,
was one of the finest I ever saw.
The doll drill was another interesting part of the evening's
entertainment. The little primary girls went through the different
evolutions with almost military precision, eliciting rounds of
applause.
So I might name many pieces of almost equal interest, but suffice it
for me to mention further only the closing. This was "The Cross and
Crown," consisting of tableaux and recitations taken mostly from "The
Cross-Bearer." The time occupied in this was fully 45 minutes; and
although the hour was so late, our audience did not fail to
appreciate this beautiful piece. Several of the older people being
asked which piece they liked best, replied, "I believe I liked the
one with the angel best."
A very important part of the evening's work must not be omitted from
mention. This was the presentation of certificates to the graduating
class on the completion of the Elementary Normal Course ending with
the 10th year or grade. The members of this class, one young man and
two young ladies, have been reared up in our school, and would be a
credit to any school. This is the first graduation from the course;
and although the class is small, it has incited others to say, "I
mean to stick to the school until I can stand where they did."
We think the entertainment was filled with sermons, and we trust that
the influence produced may be all for good.
GEO. A. WOODARD.
* * * * *
RELIGIOUS INTEREST IN TALLADEGA.
The second Sabbath in May was a notable day with our college church
at Talladega. It was a feast of ingathering.
As early as eight o'clock a band of young men assembled on the banks
of Talladega Creek, that three of their number might be immersed. It
was a lovely spring morning, and the green banks, the running waters,
the sweet air, the bright sunshine, the hymns, the prayers, the
remarks of the pastor, and the Sacrament itself (administered by Rev.
Spencer Snell, the pastor having had a congestive chill the preceding
week, and being forbidden to go into the water) were full of
solemnity and sweet instruction.
Two hours later we met again in the college chapel. One of the most
pressing needs of this church is a house of worship. There has not
been, rain or shine, since I came here, a Sabbath congregation that
was not too large for our chapel. Growth is impossible. How it will
be during the college vacation, I cannot say; but during this college
year it has always been uncomfortably crowded, and every Sabbath has
overflowed up on to the platform. This morning all seats were filled
and extra benches occupied. The Lord's table was spread for His
people, and after a sermon from the text, "How can this man give us
his flesh to eat?" forty were received into the fellowship of the
church and welcomed to the table. Of these, thirty were baptized by
sprinkling. To those acquainted with the ways and prejudices of these
people, the fact that we sprinkled thirty, while we immersed only
three (these three were mature men), will be full of significance.
None others asked to be immersed, or suggested it.
This addition to our church embraced about one-third of the number
professing conversion during our recent series of meetings, conducted
by Brother Field. Others will come to us, but many who are students
here will join the churches at their homes. The success of those
meetings, reaching as they did every student in the college
buildings, with a single exception, was so notable that a word as to
the manner in which they were conducted may be of interest.
The beginning of the extra meetings was providentially postponed more
than once. They did not begin with the coming of the new pastor in
the fall, nor with the week of prayer, nor with the day of prayer for
colleges. These occasions were all used, but our extra meetings did
not begin until the desire for them and the feeling of our great need
of the Divine blessing had grown strong in the church, nor until they
had been talked and prayed over, prepared and planned for.
The meetings were held for a special purpose. They were for the
salvation of the students of the College. Students and church
members, teachers, professors, president and pastor--we all felt this
truth. But when every member of the College who felt that he was not
a Christian, was asked to write his or her name on a slip of paper,
and put it into the contribution basket at the chapel door when
coming into the first meeting--and lest any should fail, from any
cause, to give us his own name, every student was asked to furnish
the name of any unsaved fellow-student of whom he knew--the real
object sought in the meetings was brought home to every member of the
College and Church. When we had the list of names (with hardly an
exception they furnished their own names), we were vividly reminded
of the individuals for whom we were working and praying, and they
knew, every one, that we were definitely working and praying for
them. This gave a feeling of practical, concentrated work, such as
seldom attends such meetings.
Excepting this, there were no unusual means employed. The truth was
very earnestly and simply preached. Immediate decision for Christ was
pressed. Personal efforts were conscientiously made by teachers and
students. Little prayer meetings, where from two to a dozen met for
special prayer, were frequent, and the Lord blessed all the means
used.
Since the close of the protracted meeting, each Sabbath-school class
has had its own weekly prayer meeting--a means of great good. Also a
general young Christians' prayer meeting has been held weekly. In it
effort has been made, not only to lead these new converts to take
part in prayer and conference, but to instruct them upon some points
too often neglected. Those who on this day united with the church
could each, I think, give an intelligent statement of reasons why
they should unite with the church; and, in so uniting, why they gave
public assent to a confession of faith, and why they joined in
covenant with God and his people.
MASON NOBLE.
* * * * *
LETTER FROM REV. J. H. PARR, AUSTIN, TEXAS.
Marked revivals have been in progress in all the colored churches of
the city. With all the noise and superstition, we cannot doubt that
there are not a few genuine conversions. And yet, while our students
attend these meetings only to a limited extent, the influence upon
them tends to interfere with our religious work.