VOL. XXXII. No. 11.
THE
AMERICAN MISSIONARY.
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“To the Poor the Gospel is Preached.”
* * * * *
NOVEMBER, 1878.
_CONTENTS_:
EDITORIAL.
THE ANNUAL MEETING 321
PARAGRAPHS 321, 322
MR. STANLEY’S INTEREST IN CHRISTIAN MISSIONS 322
THE INDIAN AGENTS WE NEED 325
“HAMPTON TRACTS.”—CONGREGATIONALISM IN THE SOUTH 327
SUNDRIES.—GENERAL NOTES 328
THE FREEDMEN.
ALABAMA—Florence: Rev. L. C. Anderson.—A
Memphis Letter.—A New Orleans Letter.—Scholarship
Letters 331–334
AFRICA.
THE MENDI MISSION: Rev. A. P. Miller 334
THE INDIANS.
FORT BERTHOLD, D. T.: Rev. C. L. HALL 337
LAKE SUPERIOR AGENCY: I. L. Mahan 339
RED LAKE AGENCY, MINN: C. P. Allen, M. D. 341
THE CHINESE.
CHINAPHOBIA: Dr. M. C. Briggs 342
THE CHILDREN’S PAGE 343
RECEIPTS 344
* * * * *
NEW YORK:
Published by the American Missionary Association,
ROOMS, 56 READE STREET.
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Price, 50 Cents a Year, in advance.
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A. Anderson, Printer, 23 to 27 Vandewater St.
_American Missionary Association_,
56 READE STREET, N. Y.
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PRESIDENT.
HON. E. S. TOBEY, Boston.
VICE PRESIDENTS.
Hon. F. D. PARISH, Ohio.
Rev. JONATHAN BLANCHARD, Ill.
Hon. E. D. HOLTON, Wis.
Hon. WILLIAM CLAFLIN, Mass.
Rev. STEPHEN THURSTON, D. D., Me.
Rev. SAMUEL HARRIS, D. D., Ct.
Rev. SILAS MCKEEN, D. D., Vt.
WM. C. CHAPIN, Esq., R. I.
Rev. W. T. EUSTIS, Mass.
Hon. A. G. BARSTOW, R. I.
Rev. THATCHER THAYER, D. D., R. I.
Rev. RAY PALMER, D. D., N. Y.
Rev. J. M. STURTEVANT, D. D., Ill.
Rev. W. W. PATTON, D. D., D. C.
Hon. SEYMOUR STRAIGHT, La.
Rev. D. M. GRAHAM, D. D., Mich.
HORACE HALLOCK, Esq., Mich.
Rev. CYRUS W. WALLACE, D. D., N. H.
Rev. EDWARD HAWES, Ct.
DOUGLAS PUTNAM, Esq., Ohio.
Hon. THADDEUS FAIRBANKS, Vt.
SAMUEL D. PORTER, Esq., N. Y.
Rev. M. M. G. DANA, D. D., Ct.
Rev. H. W. BEECHER, N. Y.
Gen. O. O. HOWARD, Oregon.
Rev. EDWARD L. CLARK, N. Y.
Rev. G. F. MAGOUN, D. D., Iowa
Col. C. G. HAMMOND, Ill.
EDWARD SPAULDING, M. D., N. H.
DAVID RIPLEY, Esq., N. J.
Rev. WM. M. BARBOUR, D. D., Ct.
Rev. W. L. GAGE, Ct.
A. S. HATCH, Esq., N. Y.
Rev. J. H. FAIRCHILD, D. D., Ohio.
Rev. H. A. STIMSON, Minn.
Rev. J. W. STRONG, D. D., Minn.
Rev. GEORGE THACHER, LL. D., Iowa.
Rev. A. L. STONE, D. D., California.
Rev. G. H. ATKINSON, D. D., Oregon.
Rev. J. E. RANKIN, D. D., D. C.
Rev. A. L. CHAPIN, D. D., Wis.
S. D. SMITH, Esq., Mass.
Rev. H. M. PARSONS, N. Y.
PETER SMITH, Esq., Mass.
Dea. JOHN WHITING, Mass.
Rev. WM. PATTON, D. D., Ct.
Hon. J. B. GRINNELL, Iowa.
Rev. WM. T. CARR, Ct.
Rev. HORACE WINSLOW, Ct.
Sir PETER COATS, Scotland.
Rev. HENRY ALLON, D. D., London, Eng.
WM. E. WHITING, Esq., N. Y.
J. M. PINKERTON, Esq., Mass.
CORRESPONDING SECRETARY.
REV. M. E. STRIEBY, _56 Reade Street, N. Y._
DISTRICT SECRETARIES.
REV. C. L. WOODWORTH, _Boston_.
REV. G. D. PIKE, _New York_.
REV. JAS. POWELL, _Chicago, Ill._
EDGAR KETCHUM, ESQ., _Treasurer, N. Y._
H. W. HUBBARD, ESQ., _Assistant Treasurer, N. Y._
REV. M. E. STRIEBY, _Recording Secretary_.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.
ALONZO S. BALL,
A. S. BARNES,
EDWARD BEECHER,
GEO. M. BOYNTON,
WM. B. BROWN,
CLINTON B. FISK,
A. P. FOSTER,
E. A. GRAVES,
S. B. HALLIDAY,
SAM’L HOLMES,
S. S. JOCELYN,
ANDREW LESTER,
CHAS. L. MEAD,
JOHN H. WASHBURN,
G. B. WILLCOX.
COMMUNICATIONS
relating to the business of the Association may be addressed to
either of the Secretaries as above.
DONATIONS AND SUBSCRIPTIONS
may be sent to H. W. Hubbard, 56 Reade Street, New York, or, when
more convenient, to either of the branch offices, 21 Congregational
House, Boston, Mass., 112 West Washington Street, Chicago, Ill.
Drafts or checks sent to Mr. Hubbard should be made payable to his
order as _Assistant Treasurer_.
A payment of thirty dollars at one time constitutes a Life Member.
Correspondents are specially requested to place at the head of each
letter the name of their Post Office, and the County and State in
which it is located.
* * * * *
THE
AMERICAN MISSIONARY.
* * * * *
VOL. XXXII. NOVEMBER, 1878. No. 11.
* * * * *
_American Missionary Association._
* * * * *
THE ANNUAL MEETING.
We take this last opportunity to invite our friends to meet us
in Taunton, Mass., October 29–31. We shall hope to see a goodly
number of the old teachers and early friends of the work. Wednesday
evening will be mainly in their hands. Among the speakers will be
Revs. George R. Merrill, Martin L. Williston, C. M. Southgate,
Svlvanus Haywood, W. S. Alexander, and O. W. Demick, Esq.
The speakers for the closing meeting on Thursday evening will be
Rev. J. L. Withrow, D. D., Rev. C. D. Hartranft, D. D., and others.
Among those who will read papers on Wednesday will be Rev. M. E.
Strieby, D. D., Rev. George Leon Walker, D. D., Rev. Ebenezer
Cutler, D. D.
As we go to press, everything promises well for a meeting of
unusual interest and power. The people of Taunton are large
hearted, and will be glad to have their hospitality taxed to the
utmost.
* * * * *
—The new Chinese Ambassadors are men from whose intelligence,
experience and wisdom we have much to hope. Chin Lan Pin, first
ambassador, is a man of deep learning, being a graduate of the Han
Lin College, of the highest class, and a man of extensive travel
and observation as well. In 1872, he visited this country as Chief
Commissioner in charge of the Chinese students sent to be educated
in the Connecticut colleges, and he subsequently visited England
and Spain on similar missions. In 1874, he was one of the three
Commissioners who were sent by the Chinese Government to Cuba, to
investigate the condition of the Chinese laborers there. After
locating the several consulates appointed for the United States, he
will visit Spain and procure the recognition of a Consul for Cuba,
and thence proceed to Peru for a similar purpose. He will then
return to Washington and take up his abode as resident Minister.
The Vice-Minister, Yung Wing, is even better known in this country.
He was graduated at Yale College with high scholastic and literary
honor, receiving the degree of LL.D. He subsequently devoted
himself to awakening his countrymen to the needs of reform in
education, and his efforts gained official recognition. He has been
Commissioner of Education and in charge of the Chinese Educational
Mission in Hartford, Conn., and of the 112 Chinese students
connected with it.
We have been glad to read a very clear report published in the
Inverness _Courier_ of an address made by Prof. Spence, of Fisk
University in that city, in Scotland. The many friends of the
University and of Prof. and Mrs. Spence will be interested to know
of the work they are doing in Great Britain, and that they are
so fully recognized in the Scottish press. We learn from private
advices, that they have been very warmly received and cordially
heard, and from the places in which they have presented their
cause, have reaped fair, if not large, results. What effect the
recent failure of the Bank of Glasgow may have upon their future
success we cannot tell, but we fear it may dry up many of the
streams from which they had hoped to draw.
* * * * *
MR. STANLEY’S INTEREST IN CHRISTIAN MISSIONS.
It was a remark of Dr. Livingstone’s, that “the end of the
geographical feat is the beginning of the missionary endeavor.”
And, although all African explorers are not animated with the
missionary idea, yet it is easy to believe that an over-ruling
Providence uses their efforts for missionary ends.
Mr. Stanley asserts, that the object of his desperate journey was,
“To flash a torch of light across the western half of the Dark
Continent.” “If the natives allow us a peaceful passage, so much
the better; if not, our duty says, go on.” “We are always under
the eye of God.” “The one God has written that this year the river
[Lualaba] shall be known throughout its length. ‘Think,’ he says,
to Frank Pocock, ‘what a benefit our journey will be to Africa.’”
From these different quotations, taken from Mr. Stanley’s recent
book, we have a right to infer, that the interests of missions were
prominent in his mind throughout his journey. Indeed, his book
indicates that he was not only governed by a desire to complete
the explorations commenced by Dr. Livingstone, but also to further
the missionary endeavors of that godly man. This was evidenced
first on his arrival at Uganda on the shores of the Victoria
Nyanza, where he wrote the following: “A barbarous man is a pure
materialist, he is full of cravings for possessing something that
he cannot describe. My experience and study of the pagan, prove
to me, that if a missionary can show the poor materialist that
religion is allied with substantial benefits and improvement of
his degraded condition, the task will be rendered comparatively
easy. The African, once brought in contact with the European,
becomes docile and imbued with a vague hope that he may also rise
in time to the level of this superior being who has challenged his
admiration. He comes to him with a desire to be taught, and, seized
with an ambition to aspire to a higher life, becomes docile and
tractable.” “I find them,” he says, elsewhere, “capable of great
love and affection, and possessed of gratitude and other traits of
human nature. I know, too, that they can be made good, obedient,
industrious, enterprising, true and moral—that they are in short,
equal to any other race or color on the face of the globe in all
the attributes of manhood.”
King Mtesa, the despotic ruler over 2,000,000 of people, appeared
to Mr. Stanley the most desirable object for his first efforts.
“Mtesa has impressed me,” he says, “as being an intelligent and
distinguished prince, who, if aided by philanthropists, will do
more for Central Africa than fifty years of gospel teaching,
unaided by such authority, can do. I think I see in him the light
that shall lighten the darkness of this benighted region. In this
man I see the possible fruition of Livingstone’s hopes, for with
his aid the civilization of equatorial Africa becomes feasible.”
Mr. Stanley further informs us how he followed up his convictions:
“Since the 5th of April, I had enjoyed ten interviews with Mtesa,
and during all, I had taken occasion to introduce topics which
would lead up to the subject of Christianity. Nothing occurred in
my presence, but I contrived to turn it towards effecting that
which had become an object to me, viz., his conversion. There was
no attempt made to confuse him with the details of any particular
doctrine. I simply drew for him the image of the Son of God
humbling himself for the good of all mankind, white and black,
and told him how, while He was in man’s disguise, He was seized
and crucified by wicked people who scorned his divinity, and yet,
out of His great love for them, while yet suffering on the cross,
He asked His great Father to forgive them. I had also begun to
translate to him the Ten Commandments, and Idi, the Emperor’s
writer, transcribed in Kiganda the words of the Law, as given to
him in choice Swahili by Robert Feruzi, one of my boat’s crew, and
a pupil of the Universities’ Mission at Zanzibar.”
“The religious conversations which I had begun with Mtesa, were
maintained in the presence of M. Linant de Bellefonds, who,
fortunately for the cause I had in view, was a Protestant. For,
when questioned by Mtesa, about the facts which I had uttered,
and which had been faithfully transcribed, M. Linant, to Mtesa’s
astonishment, employed nearly the same words, and delivered the
same responses. The remarkable fact that two white men, who had
never met before, one having arrived from the south-east, the other
having emerged from the north, should nevertheless both know the
same things, and respond in the same words, charmed the popular
mind without the burzah as a wonder, and was treasured in Mtesa’s
memory as being miraculous. As the result of these conversations,
Mtesa, who can read Arabic, caused the Ten Commandments of Moses
to be written on a board for his daily perusal, as well as the
Lord’s Prayer and the command of the Saviour, ‘Thou shalt love thy
neighbor as thyself.’”
The encouragement given to Mr. Stanley by his success with
Mtesa, caused him to send forth his famous appeal, resulting in
the establishment of a mission station at Uganda by the Church
Missionary Society of London. He seems, also, to have pursued his
work during his stay of several months with Mtesa. Meanwhile, an
opportunity was afforded him of testing the genuineness of Mtesa’s
conversion. The Wavuma were waging fearful warfare upon Mtesa,
during which, his scouts succeeded in capturing one of their
principal chiefs. Mtesa was in high glee, and caused to be gathered
a large quantity of fagots with which to burn his prisoner. “Now,
Stamlee,” he said, “you shall see how a chief of Uvuma dies. He
is about to be burnt. The Wavuma will tremble when they hear the
manner of his death.” “Ah! Mtesa,” I said, “have you forgotten the
words of the good Book, which I have read to you so often—If thy
brother offend thee, thou shalt forgive him many times,—Love thy
enemies,—Do good to them that hate you?” “Shall this man not die,
Stamlee? Shall I not have blood for him, Stamlee?”—“No, Mtesa, no
more blood; you must stop this pagan way of thinking. It is not
Mtesa the good. It is not Mtesa the Christian. It is the savage;
I know you now.” “Stamlee, Stamlee, wait a short time and you
shall see.” “An hour afterward, I was summoned by a page to his
presence, and Mtesa said: ‘Stamlee will not say Mtesa is bad now,
for he has forgiven the Mvuma Chief, and will not hurt him.’”
Mr. Stanley, however, though he had translated for Mtesa the Gospel
of St. Luke entire, prepared for him an abridged Bible, selected a
site for a church, and detailed the boy Dallington—a pupil of the
Universities’ Mission at Zanzibar—to remain at Uganda and serve as
a missionary, did not feel that he had provided sufficiently for
the spiritual wants of his convert. “A few months’ talk,” he says,
“about Christ and His blessed work on earth, though sufficiently
attractive to Mtesa, is not enough to eradicate the evils which
thirty-five years of brutal, sensuous indulgence have stamped on
the mind. This, only the unflagging zeal, the untiring devotion to
duty, and the paternal watchfulness of a sincerely pious pastor,
can effect. And it is because I am conscious of the insufficiency
of my work, and his strong evil propensities, that I have not
hesitated to describe the real character of my ‘convert.’ The grand
redeeming feature of Mtesa, though founded only on self-interest,
is his admiration for white men. By his remarks, he proved he had
a very retentive memory, and was tolerably well posted in his
articles of belief. At night I left him, with an earnest adjuration
to hold fast to the new faith, and to have recourse to prayer to
God, to give him strength to withstand all temptations that should
tend to violate the Commandments written in the Bible.”
Mr. Stanley’s long intercourse with the tribes of the interior
enabled him to discover many traits of character that indicate
the aptitude of the negro to receive religious truth. On one
occasion, he had dwelt a long while in giving account of great
works of art and science, commerce, agriculture, and material
wealth; when he turned to the discussion of the grand themes of
Scripture and Divinity, the interest in the latter subject was so
intense that Mr. Stanley determined to devote himself, with renewed
energy, to the promulgation of the doctrines of the Christian
faith, discovering—what others had learned before—that the negro
has a remarkable appreciation of the things of religion. He gives
an incident, which occurred at Mowa Falls, on the Livingstone
River, that displayed a quality of heart very suggestive to those
interested in the salvation of the pagan.
Uledi, the faithful coxswain who had dared every danger, and
proved dutiful and faithful for years and months, having robbed
the Expedition of a quantity of beads, a council of chiefs was
called, and the question was submitted as to what his punishment
should be. One of the most reliable and steady men replied, “Well,
master, it is a hard question. Uledi is like our elder brother,
and to give our voice for punishing him, would be like asking you
to punish ourselves; yet, master, for our sakes beat him only just
a little.” Mr. Stanley then inquired of Shumari, who was Uledi’s
brother, what punishment he should meet to the thief. “Ah, dear
master,” Shumari said, “it is true Uledi has stolen, and I have
scolded him often for it. I have never stolen. I am but a boy.
Uledi is my elder. But please, master, as the chiefs say he must be
flogged, give me half of it, and, knowing it is for Uledi’s sake,
I shall not feel it.” “Now, Saywa, you are his cousin. What do
you say?” Young Saywa advanced and said, “The master is wise. All
things that happen he writes in a book. Perhaps, if the master will
look in his book, he may see something in it about Uledi—how he
has saved many men, whose names I cannot remember, from the river;
how he worked harder on the canoes than any three men; how he has
been the first to listen to your voice always. Uledi is my cousin.
If, as the chiefs say, Uledi should be punished, Shumari says he
will take half of the punishment; then, give Saywa the other half,
and set Uledi free. Saywa has spoken.” It would seem that persons
with such instincts as these indicated above, would readily come to
appreciate and accept the sacrifice of Him by whose stripes we are
healed.
A thorough perusal of Mr. Stanley’s “Through the Dark Continent”
can hardly fail to arouse in the hearts of those yearning to heal
“that open sore of the world,” sympathy and fellowship with him.
He had his imperfections, and met with obstacles which brought
them sharply into view; but the good he accomplished will be the
longest remembered. His noble self-denial, after reaching the West
Coast, as seen in his fidelity to his pagan followers, indicates
characteristics worthy of profound admiration. Instead of leaving
their conduct round the Cape of Good Hope to Zanzibar to the charge
of others, and rushing on himself, to receive the plaudits of the
proudest courts of the civilized world, he quietly and patiently
cared for all their wants, for weary months, returning them to
their homes and friends, and rewarding them with the liberality
of a father’s affection, which will be lovingly remembered among
the tribes from whence his servants came, long after his rich and
costly gifts of material things have perished.
All this will be worth something yet to the cause of missions.
“When we were gliding,” he says, “through the broad portals [of the
Congo] into the ocean, turning to take a farewell glance at the
mighty river, I felt my heart suffused with the purest gratitude to
Him whose hand had protected us, and who had enabled us to pierce
the Dark Continent from east to west, and to trace its mightiest
river to its ocean bourn.” That gratitude, we believe, is shared by
a mighty host of the followers of Him who shall have dominion from
sea to sea—who are already echoing the last words of Mr. Stanley’s
book—_Laus Deo, Laus Deo_.
* * * * *
THE INDIAN AGENTS WE NEED.
The vacancy in the Indian Agency, referred to in the last number of
the MISSIONARY, has been filled; but, as other vacancies are likely
to occur from time to time, applications, with proper credentials,
may be forwarded to this office.
As to the qualifications necessary, we can state nothing more
clearly than we find it given in an article, which we republish
below, from the Springfield _Republican_, written by a gentleman
who seems thoroughly familiar with Indian affairs. We will
only repeat that an Indian Agency is no sinecure, and should
be undertaken by no man who is not thoroughly competent and
self-sacrificing:
A residence of two years at an agency in Dakota gave the writer
unusual opportunities for observation of the requirements of this
service. The popular impression seems to be that this office is
a sinecure, affording retirement for decayed politicians and
inefficient goodies, whereas the service is, when faithfully
performed, an arduous one, requiring exceptional and diversified
ability.
The agent must have executive capacity, together with that rare
selective faculty that recognizes at sight a competent man for a
given place. The character of the agency force of employés, and
the quality of their work, reflects the personality of the agent.
The progress of the Indians in the schools, and in learning to
work for their own support, is in proportion to the efficiency of
the agent as an executive. A vigorous, capable man infuses his
spirit into his subordinates, and, in a more limited degree, into
the natives.
The agent needs judicial knowledge. No laws are in force on
Indian reservations, with a few exceptions, but the treaties with
the Government. The administration of justice and the punishment
of crime are left to the agent, with such coöperation as he
can secure from the Indian chiefs. He settles family quarrels,
neighborhood disputes, complaints against Indians by neighboring
whites, questions of the boundary of lands and the ownership
of property. He receives acknowledgments of deeds, executes
contracts, administers estates and takes depositions. Crimes of
all degrees, from petty theft to murder or arson, come under his
jurisdiction, and he is often compelled to administer punishment
almost as arbitrarily as the captain of a man-of-war. He is even
called upon sometimes to prepare a code of laws for a tribe in an
advanced state of civilization.
Business ability and experience are indispensable qualifications.
The agent has to purchase miscellaneous supplies amounting to
from $5,000 to $50,000 annually, on contract or in open market.
The opening of bids and awarding contracts on sample requires
actual acquaintance with the market, and experience in judging of
the quality of goods of every variety. He needs the experience
and judgment of a first-class country merchant. If the agent is
an incompetent buyer, contractors and merchants are quick to
discover the fact and profit by it. A knowledge of accounts is
essential. Accurate returns of every item of cash and property
received and expended, are required by law, and are subjected to
most rigid scrutiny. Absolute correctness, in both matter and
form, is required, and ignorance of methods is not admitted as an
excuse for errors.
The diplomatic qualifications of the position are by no means
inconsiderable. A copious official correspondence is required
with the Indian office at Washington, and must be conducted
with due formality and dignity. All matters of importance are
submitted to the Indian Office for action, and it often requires
skilful presentation of a subject to make a clerk at Washington
take a view that seems self-evident to the agent on the frontier.
Great tact and patience are requisite in dealing with the various
outside influences that embarrass the agent, and often bring him
to grief. Frontier settlers are continually having difficulties
with the Indians that require attention. Liquor-sellers,
claim-agents and swindlers lie in wait for the Indian, who
must be protected. Scheming half-breeds and “squaw-men” create
dissension among the natives. Then there are the contractor
and sub-contractor; the man who failed to get the contract he
wanted, and the man who is planning to get the next contract.
There is the ex-agent, who corresponds with the employés and
Indians, and criticises his successor, and the man who wants to
be agent, and watches for a lever to oust the incumbent. (There
are always twenty of them!) There is the dissatisfied employé,
who corresponds with outsiders about agency affairs, and the
meddlesome clerk at Washington, who gives him private assistance.
The agents are few who meet all these difficulties without
serious trouble.
Especially, high moral character is a prime requisite, not only
on account of the agent’s influence upon a people just rising
from barbarism, but to enable a man to maintain his integrity
under the extraordinary temptations that surround the place. Said
an ex-agent of unimpeachable integrity: “I know of no service
that tries a man’s principles so severely as the Indian service.”
In spite of all precautions, opportunities for peculation, direct
and indirect, are frequent, and present themselves in the most
seducing forms possible.
Having shown the requirements of the position, we may consider
some of the obstacles in the way of securing agents who are
thoroughly competent for the work. First comes hard work. No
branch of our civil service draws more heavily on a man’s time
and strength. The agent is involved in a constant round of
wearisome details, varied only by frequent hard journeys by wagon
or stage, or worse, by frontier railroads.
The responsibilities of the place are onerous. The agent is held
accountable, under a heavy bond, for all funds and property that
come into his hands, as well as for all the acts and failures of
his subordinates. He may be ordered away for months at a time, on
public business, and in the meantime he must depend entirely upon
the fidelity of the agency clerk, who is not a bonded officer, to
discharge his duties and care for agency property. Release from
bonded accountability can only be had after complying with all
the forms of law and going through a long and tedious process
of examination of accounts. Two years after closing his term of
service, an agent was required to account for one iron wagon-bolt
(purchased by a subordinate, three years before), in order to
secure release from his bond, and five hundred dollars arrears of
salary. The agent’s family must endure practical exile, separated
from society, schools and churches.
Every agent, honest or dishonest, suffers in reputation. If a
man is thoroughly honest, dishonest contractors and jobbers
invariably slander him, to get rid of him. This consideration
keeps many competent men out of the service. The salary paid is
entirely inadequate. It is that of a country postmaster, an army
lieutenant, a school-teacher or a traveling salesman. Here is the
root of the whole difficulty. Even in the present state of the
labor market, it is impossible to get a $2,500 man for $1,500.
The expenses of the position are high. The agent keeps open house
for all strangers, newspaper correspondents, army officers,
Indian inspectors, and others. His family supplies are brought
from a distant market, at a heavy expense. This matter has been
presented to Congress by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, each
year for several years, but without effect.
In spite of these disadvantages, the service is much better
manned than might be supposed. Indian-Inspector E. C. Watkins
said to the writer: “I have visited a large number of agencies,
and, in view of the meagre salary paid, and the difficult service
required, I have been surprised at the capacity and fidelity
displayed. As a class, the agents nominated by the religious
societies perform their duties with ability and success.” When
a thoroughly competent agent is found in the service, one of
three things will almost invariably be true: Either he enters
the service with the idea of supplementing his salary (honestly
or dishonestly); or he is in search of novel experience or a
change of climate for himself or family; or (as is often true)
he has the spirit of a missionary, and seeks the advancement of
the Indian race. If we wish to escape the burden of providing for
idle Indians, we shall have to employ competent agents, at fair
wages, to train them to habits of industry.
* * * * *
“HAMPTON TRACTS.”
Among the excellent devices which have proceeded from the fertile
brains and earnest hearts of our fellow-workers for the freedmen,
none has for a long time commended itself to our hearty approbation
more than the one indicated in the above heading. It appears that
an English Sanitary Association has for twenty years been engaged
in publishing and distributing simple sanitary tracts and leaflets,
intended for use in schools and families. Following this excellent
example, an editing committee, consisting of General Armstrong, his
sister-in-law, Mrs. M. F. Armstrong, Miss Ludlow and Dr. Stephen
Smith, of New York, propose, and have already begun, the same good
work. They say—
“These publications will provide as simply and in as attractive
a manner as possible, carefully prepared information upon all
points directly connected with physical life, as, cleanliness of
the person and house, ventilation, drainage, care of children and
invalids preparation of food, etc., and, as in the case of their
English forerunners, they are to be sold for a sum just sufficient
to defray the cost of publication and to permit a certain amount of
gratuitous distribution. They will be issued in a series, printed
at the office of the Normal School Press, Hampton, Va., and will be
known as ‘Hampton Tracts.’”
The need and use of such information among the homes and families
of the Southern negroes is most apparent, though by no means
confined to them. It is in their midst, doubtless, that they will
first be distributed.
The American Social Science Association, convened in Cleveland
this year, having examined the first three numbers of the proposed
series of tracts in manuscript, by a unanimous vote passed the
following Resolution—
“_Resolved_, That the American Social Science Association learns
with pleasure of the work undertaken at Hampton, in Virginia,
to spread among the people of Virginia, and of the South in
general, a knowledge of Sanitary Science popularly set forth;
and that from an examination of the three Sanitary Tracts of the
proposed series, viz.: _The Health Laws of Moses_, _The Duty of
Teachers_, and _Preventable Diseases_, the Executive Committee
of this Association is persuaded that the important task, thus
undertaken, will be well performed. We would, therefore, commend
these Tracts to all readers, at the North as well as at the
South, and would recommend their wide distribution in the way
best suited to promote the circulation of them.”
Again, we desire to express our cordial commendation of the plan,
and doubt not it will be carried out in all its details with wisdom
and energy.
* * * * *
CONGREGATIONALISM IN THE SOUTH.
That God holds the denomination which stands as the constituency
of the American Missionary Association to a large measure of duty
in this line, is evident from the fact that by His providence He
had been preparing this instrumentality against the day of freedom,
and that He has given it now so wide and effectual a door of
entrance. At first it entered with physical relief; then with the
very first school that was opened among the “contrabands”; then
with its system of Normal schools and colleges and professional
departments and church organizations. All this was the drift and
drive of Providence. To have halted anywhere up to this point
would have been to disobey marching orders. And now can anything
but the spirit of desertion fail to hear the command ringing on:
Go; go, preach; go, disciple the people; go, organize them into
the life and fellowship of the churches of Christ? Having started
them in the way of Christian education, shall we deny them that
school of Christian nurture, the self-governing church? Having
given them the elements of the Puritan system, shall we fail to
give them its full fruitage? The founding of such churches is but
the natural out-growth of this scheme for the elevation of the
emancipated race. As in the Interior and in all the West, these
ideas and institutions have been a leavening force, so will they
be at the South, interpenetrating and uplifting. They will be an
example, a stimulus. They will help other communions. Already,
our institutions have put not a few educated preachers into
the pulpits of the Methodist and Baptist colored churches; and
we are glad thus to help in their work. “Expository preaching,
with warm application,” says Col. Preston, “should be the
preacher’s mode.” Our church members there are gaining the title
of “Bible-Christians.” Let churches of such material have a
chance.—_Dr. Roy, in the Congregationalist._
* * * * *
SUNDRIES.
Iowa Lands, Louisiana Churches, Theological Books.
Of the 6,040 acres given to the American Missionary Association by
the Rev. Charles Avery, 1,500 yet remain to be sold. Any person who
would like to make a good investment in land, can do so by applying
to Secretary Strieby at New York. I found that the railway company
were pushing their track along from Algona to Shelby on the Sioux
City & St. Paul Railroad. So the branch from Huntington on the same
road has been built to Sioux Falls in Dakota.
Since the meeting of the Louisiana Conference in April, Rev.
Daniel Clay, and his people at Terrebonne, have enjoyed a revival
of religion which has added thirty-four to the membership. This
sable brother has been the instrumentality in bringing several
of the other pastors of that region into the ministry. Rev. W.
S. Alexander, pastor of the Central Church in New Orleans, and
President of the Straight University, somehow finds time once a
year to visit these brethren and these churches which he broods,
in the Louisiana Conference. He says they are Congregationalists,
_ex-animo_. This Christian worker, who was turned back from his
mission to the nominally Christian lands in South Europe, finds an
admirable substitute in the extreme South of our country.
Those young men who in our Southern institutions are coming on to
be Congregational divines, ought to have access to the theological
literature of the fathers. The common text-book used by their
instructors is Pond’s Theology, issued by our Congregational
Publishing Society. They ought to have in their libraries, as
reference books, the works of Robinson, and Edwards, and Hopkins,
and Bellamy, and Park on the Atonement. Now, these books are
on the shelves of the C. P. Society, and can be had cheap. The
Society has not in hand the means to make the appropriation, but
are there not some of the stanch friends of the old Congregational
Board and its stanch theology, who will be glad to put those works
within the reach of these young theologians of the South? That
would be a handsome thing to do, and grand results may follow
in solidifying the views of those coming preachers. There are
five of these institutions which are teaching theology, and as
many libraries that await such an accession of the wisdom of the
fathers.—_Pilgrim, in Congregationalist._
* * * * *
GENERAL NOTES.
The Peabody Educational Fund.
The Board of Trustees of the Peabody Educational Fund—George
Peabody’s gift of $2,100,000 in aid of education in the
South—held its annual meeting October 2d, in New York City. The
Treasurer reported receipts of $80,000, and disbursements of
$77,000. The principal statements of Dr. Sears’s annual report
were the following:
The year just brought to a close has been one of unusual pecuniary
embarrassment to all the schools of the South. While every
branch of the department of education has been affected by it,
that relating to the employment of teachers has suffered most.
Notwithstanding these discouraging circumstances, the schools
in most of the States, instead of deteriorating, have advanced
in almost every respect. The attendance was never so great;
the interest of the people never so general. An approximation,
near or remote, in the great mass of teachers, to the standard
of those professionally educated, has been effected, sometimes
by county organizations, under State supervision; sometimes by
bringing together teachers from all the counties of a Congressional
district; and, in one instance, by assembling the teachers of a
whole State to receive instruction for a period of six weeks. This
is a new feature in the school operations of the Southern States,
and is now more rapidly revolutionizing modes of instruction than
any other measure that has been tried. No part of the funds at
our disposal has produced greater or better results than that
contributed to this object. The scholarships established last
year have had an excellent effect. Those given to the New Orleans
Normal School, in amounts of $150 each, were used for the benefit
of pupils from the country parishes. They were ten in number. Those
of the Nashville Normal College, of $200 each, were for pupils from
beyond the limits of Tennessee.
The number of white children in Virginia, December 1, 1877, between
five and twenty-one years of age, was 280,149; that of colored
children, 202,640, making in all, 482,789. Of these, 139,931 white
children and 65,043 colored were enrolled in the public schools,
amounting to 204,974, or somewhat less than one-half. The average
daily attendance was only 117,843. The current expenses for the
public schools and school officers were $949,721; and for permanent
improvements in real estate, houses and furniture, $100,625.
Although the current expenses were reduced $36,000, the school work
was increased, and the number of pupils was 5,000 greater than the
year before. It is well known that the State is largely in debt;
and the courts have decided that the school fund may be used for
the benefit of the creditors.
In North Carolina the provisions for education are altogether
inadequate. There is a great lack of funds, and also of proper
organs to execute the law. So long as a meagre State tax is the
sole reliance for the support of schools, they will inevitably
languish. Double the amount of money now raised would be a scanty
supply. The organization of boards of education, and of the other
branches of school administration, is radically defective.
The report of the new Superintendent of South Carolina for 1877
shows that 2,483 schools, with an attendance of 102,396 children,
out of 228,128, were in operation for a period averaging three
months. The State had appropriated $100,000 for their support.
In Georgia, English branches only are taught in the public schools.
The total enrolment in 1877 was 191,000. Of this number, 64,000
were colored children. The school funds amounted to $434,000,
including $143,000 which was raised by towns and cities. There is
a prospect that, under the new Constitution, there will be a large
increase of funds.
A letter from Florida reports that in 1877 there were 30,406
pupils in the public schools—about 4,000 over the number reported
the previous year. There is an improvement also in the quality
of teachers, in the average length of school terms, and in the
interest taken by the people.
Few well-graded and well-taught schools are to be found in Alabama.
The number of children of school age, in 1877, was 369,447; the
number enrolled in the public schools, 141,230, about three-fifths
of whom were white. The school expenditures for teachers and
superintendents were $384,993.
In Mississippi, the Superintendent regards the situation as hopeful
and encouraging. The statistics are very imperfect, as only
sixty-five of the seventy-five counties made any report. These
give 160,528 as the number of children in school, and $481,251 as
the amount of money expended. The enumeration of persons of school
age, giving the number of 324,989, is said to “fall far short of
the actual number.”
In Louisiana there has been a period of careful re-organization
of the public school system, rather than of marked success in
achieving decided results in the educational work of the State.
The loss of the interest on the trust fund for the year, by an
unconstitutional act of the Legislature, and the failure to collect
much over half of the $500,000 appropriated by the State, proved
very prejudicial to the country districts, where the number of
colored children required a much larger number of schools. In the
parishes reported, the aggregate attendance of white children was
16,042, and of colored children, 17,511. There are about 20,000
more colored than white children in the State.
The Secretary of the Board of Education of Texas, writing July 30,
after saying that the reports giving the statistics of the schools
the present year have not yet been received, adds: “Under our
present law, our schools have prospered as they never have before.”
Arkansas has provided for 237 Normal beneficiaries, who are
entitled to four years’ free tuition. There were last year twenty
Normal students in the collegiate course, and thirty-one in the
preparatory school. At Pine Bluff there is a branch Normal college
for colored teachers, arranged on nearly the same plan, and
entitled to the same number of beneficiaries.
The school population of Tennessee, in 1877, was 442,458; 111,523
being colored. The enrolment was 227,643—43,043 being colored; an
increase of 33,463 over the enrolment of the previous year. The
schools have improved as much in the quality of the instruction
given as in the attendance. The amount of school money during the
year was $718,423, which is $120,311 less than that of the year
preceding. Notwithstanding this diminution of funds, the number of
schools was increased by 807, and that of teachers by 791.
West Virginia is one of the least fluctuating of the Southern
States in regard to education, and its history is that of a slow
but steady growth. The number of persons of school age, or from
six to twenty-one years, for the year 1877, was 192,606, being
an increase over the previous year of 7,810. Of these, 125,332
actually attended school, being a numerical increase of attendance
of 1,828 over the preceding year, and an increase in the average
daily attendance of 11,191. There was an increase, also, of 161 in
the number of teachers employed. The total value of school property
in the State is $1,714,600, being an increase on the preceding year
of $54,132. The total expenditure for the year was $921,307, being
a decrease of $65,270, caused mainly by a reduction in the rate of
teachers’ salaries, and in the number of school-houses built during
the year.
During the past year, the income of the fund was distributed as
follows: Virginia, $15,350; North Carolina, $4,500; South Carolina,
$3,600; Georgia, $6,000; Florida, $3,900; Alabama, $1,100; Texas,
$8,550; Mississippi, $600; Louisiana, $8,000; Arkansas, $6,000;
Tennessee, $14,600; West Virginia, $5,050.
* * * * *
—A general press dispatch from Washington reports that Mr. Keating,
editor of the Memphis _Appeal_, having had his attention called
to a statement by Dr. Ramsey, of Washington, that white women in
Memphis have had to take colored men for nurses, or go without,
and that the latter have abused their opportunities, pronounces
the story utterly untrue. He says that white women have not been
put to the necessity of taking colored men for nurses; the other
part of the statement is a libel upon the negroes of Memphis. He
says: “All honor to them. They have done their duty. They have
acted by us nobly as policemen and as soldiers, as well as nurses;
they have responded to every call made upon them, in proportion
to their number, quite as promptly as the whites. A few of them
threatened trouble at one time about food, but they were at the
moment suppressed by a company of soldiers of their own color. The
colored people of Memphis as a body deserve well of their white
fellow-citizens. We appreciate and are proud of them.”—_Tribune._
—There is an Episcopal “Theological Seminary and High School” in
Virginia. Several colored young men applied for education for the
ministry, and were turned away, rather than allow them to receive
education with white people.—_Independent._
—A General Missionary Conference will be held in London, Oct.
21st–27th. Among the topics to be discussed are the following,
which bear especially upon the work of the A. M. A.: “Results of
Emancipation, Social and Religious: Probable Influence on Africa,”
by E. B. Underhill, LL.D.; “Discovery in Africa as bearing on the
new Mission Schemes in Central Africa,” by Sir Fowell Buxton. Rev.
Dr. O. H. White, Secretary of the Freedmen’s Aid Society of Great
Britain, will represent the Association in the Conference.
—A company for developing commerce with Africa has been organized,
under the title of the American and African Commercial Company.
Articles of Incorporation have been filed by Congressman Cain, and
Messrs. Watts and Porter, well-known colored men. The Capital Stock
is 500,000.
—The French Roman Catholic Mission here [Zanzibar] has lately
established a station fifteen or twenty miles from Kidudwe, in
the Nguru Country, and now a party of ten Jesuit missionaries are
leaving Bagamoyo to establish a mission at Ujiji.
—The Methodist Mission at Boporo, Africa, east of Liberia, has met
with unexpected repulses. The people wanted trade, and in their
disappointment became hostile to the missionaries. They can obtain
no site for a mission building. The people were forbidden to give
or sell them anything, even to eat, and this interdict had to be
bought off. But the missionaries do not despair.
* * * * *
THE FREEDMEN.
* * * * *
FLORENCE, ALABAMA.
A Good Work Well Finished.
REV. L. C. ANDERSON.
I closed up my work at Florence on the first Sabbath of September.
Rev. William H. Ash was present, to take charge, in good time. The
Lord blessed the end more than the beginning of my labor at F. We
were permitted to work in a revival, beginning about the middle
of August and lasting up to September 1st. This brought out great
numbers of the people, and gave opportunity to reach many. The
Spirit was manifested from the beginning, in converting power.
About twenty were converted, fifteen of whom joined our branch of
God’s Church. So you see that we had great cause to be thankful,
when, on the 1st inst., we came together at the Lord’s Table, to
re-dedicate ourselves to Him who first loved us and gave Himself
for us, to make to Himself a people zealous of good works.
Nothing is more potent than the Spirit of God to break down
opposition and remove prejudice. The outpouring from on high turned
away the stream of opposition, and so melted the hearts of the
people that we could say with David, “Behold, how good and how
pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!”
The first part of my labor at F. was a work of sowing, and stirring
up the hearts of Christians, so that, in God’s time, we should
be prepared to enter and gather sheaves for the Master. During my
labor, twenty-one were added to the church, nineteen on profession
of faith. Seven children were christened, and two unworthy members
were cut off. In these seventeen months, the little church of
twenty members became thirty-nine.
Brother Ash enters upon the work with good promise of success, and
has a live church to work with.
* * * * *
A MEMPHIS LETTER.
The following letter, from Rev. Mr. Mallory, will explain itself.
It was written immediately after his recovery from the yellow fever:
MEMPHIS, September 27, 1878.
REV. M. E. STRIEBY: _Dear Brother_.—Your kind favor, dated
September 2d, has to-day come to hand, with the $50 all right.
I have not been able to go so far as the post-office before
this, and it lay in the registry office. Thank you for your warm
sympathy. May God reward your kindness. I was quite sick; suffered
considerably from want of proper care, but none from lack of means;
was among the first in our neighborhood to have the fever, and the
people were afraid. With two or three exceptions, every member of
the church remaining in the city had an attack of the fever. A. J.
Barker—one of the oldest, and, as it seemed to me, the man whose
life was most important to the future of the church—has died, and
one other. The loss seems an irreparable one; but the Lord has done
it, and we try to say, “Let Him do to me as seemeth good unto Him.”
In this vicinity, and I think throughout the city proper, the
sickness has greatly abated, but is spreading and increasing
fearfully in the outskirts and adjacent country.
The supplies in the hands of the Howards and Relief Committee are
ample, but there is such a routine imposed upon the poor colored
people that many of them get out of heart before they reach the end.
I will not appropriate any of the $50, but use it among the people.
Had already bought a barrel of meal and side of meat, and begun
work; and now that I can write, will let you hear oftener.
Yours, in hope,
W. W. MALLORY.
* * * * *
A NEW ORLEANS LETTER.