Produced by Cornell university, Joshua Hutchinson, Donald
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The American Missionary
JANUARY, 1889.
VOL. XLIII. NO. 1.
CONTENTS
PICTURE OF MR. DANIEL HAND
EDITORIAL.
NEW YEAR'S GREETINGS
FINANCIAL--LARGE GIFTS OF THE WEALTHY
THE SOUTHERN SITUATION
PARAGRAPHS--ITEMS FROM THE FIELD
DEATH OF MRS. GEO. A. WOODARD
SYSTEMATIC SPENDING. REV. C.J. RYDER
THE CHINESE.
SCRAPS FROM CORRESPONDENCE
BUREAU OF WOMAN'S WORK.
STATE ORGANIZATIONS
ANNUAL MEETING
MOUNTAIN WHITE WORK. MRS. A.A. MYERS
NEEDS OF COLORED WOMEN AND GIRLS. MRS. G.W. MOORE
RECEIPTS
* * * * *
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, Rev. WM. M. TAYLOR, D.D., LLD., N.Y.
_Vice-Presidents._
Rev. A.J.F. BEHRENDS, D.D., N.Y.
Rev. ALEX. MCKENZIE, D.D., Mass.
Rev. F.A. NOBLE, D.D., Ill.
Rev. D.O. MEARS, D.D., Mass.
Rev. HENRY HOPKINS, D.D., Mo.
_Corresponding Secretaries._
Rev. M.E. STRIEBY, D.D., _56 Reade Street, N.Y._
Rev. A.F. BEARD, D.D., _56 Reade Street, N.Y._
_Recording Secretary._
Rev. M.E. STRIEBY, D.D., _56 Reade Street, N.Y._
_Treasurer._
H.W. HUBBARD, Esq., _56 Reade Street, N.Y._
_Auditors._
PETER McCARTEE.
CHAS. P. PEIRCE.
_Executive Committee._
JOHN H. WASHBURN, Chairman.
ADDISON P. FOSTER, Secretary.
_For Three Years._
J.E. RANKIN,
WM. H. WARD,
J.W. COOPER,
JOHN H. WASHBURN,
EDMUND L. CHAMPLIN.
_For Two Years._
LYMAN ABBOTT,
CHAS. A. HULL,
J.R. DANFORTH,
CLINTON B. FISK,
ADDISON P. FOSTER.
_For One Year._
S.B. HALLIDAY,
SAMUEL HOLMES,
SAMUEL S. MARPLES,
CHARLES L. MEAD,
ELBERT B. MONROE.
_District Secretaries._
Rev. C.J. RYDER, _21 Cong'l House, Boston._
Rev. J.E. ROY, D.D., _151 Washington Street, Chicago._
_Financial Secretary for Indian Missions.
Rev. CHAS. W. SHELTON
_Field Superintendents._
Rev. FRANK E. JENKINS.
Prof. EDWARD S. HALL.
_Secretary of Woman's Bureau._
Miss D.E. EMERSON, _56 Reade St., N.Y._
COMMUNICATIONS
Relating to the work of the Association may be addressed to the
Corresponding Secretaries; letters for "THE AMERICAN MISSIONARY," to
the Editor, at the New York Office.
DONATIONS AND SUBSCRIPTIONS
In drafts, checks, registered letters, or post-office orders, 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 151 Washington Street, Chicago, Ill. A
payment of thirty dollars at one time constitutes a Life Member.
NOTICE TO SUBSCRIBERS.--The date on the "address label," indicates the
time to which the subscription is paid. Changes are made in date on
label to the 10th of each month. If payment of subscription be made
afterward, the change on the label will appear a month later. Please
send early notice of change in post-office address, giving the former
address and the new address, in order that our periodicals and
occasional papers may be correctly mailed.
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.
[Illustration: Daniel Hand]
THE AMERICAN MISSIONARY.
VOL. XLIII. JANUARY, 1889. No. 1.
* * * * *
American Missionary Association.
* * * * *
We present to our readers, on the opposite page, a picture of Mr. Daniel
Hand from a photograph taken some time ago. It presents the likeness of a
man of fine physical proportions and with energy and intelligence
impressed on the features. The signature at the bottom of the picture is
copied from one of Mr. Hand's recent letters, and shows the remarkable
physical vigor of a man in his 88th year.
* * * * *
NEW YEAR'S GREETINGS.
The New Year opens upon us auspiciously, and we send forth our joyous
greetings to our patrons at home, and to our fellow workers in the field.
Above all we thank God for putting us into this ministry for the poor and
the ignorant, and for the success granted to us in prosecuting it. We
have had sorrows and anxieties, but they have been followed by
consolations and deliverances. The hand that penned the "Happy New Year"
in our MISSIONARY for last January, is now silent in the grave, but the
memory of Brother Powell's life and character is so precious that it
mitigates our loss. The yellow fever prevented the opening of many of our
schools, and awakened fears of widespread hindrance to our work
throughout the South; but the scourge was restrained, and the work now
goes on prosperously. Our last fiscal year drew towards its close with
the cloud of a large debt looming up, but our friends responded so
generously to our appeals, that the year ended with a debt so small as to
be only a salutary warning.
But the crowning mercy of the year came at our Annual Meeting, when we
were able to announce the gift of over a million of dollars from that
generous friend of the poor Negro, Mr. Daniel Hand. It is a wonderful
gift, and comes in a good way. The income only can be used, and that will
do just so much more for the Negro, and will not be applied to work now
in progress. We are tempted to fear that our patrons will diminish their
gifts because Mr. Hand has been so liberal. But we will have faith in
God, who has entrusted us with this great work, and we will enter upon
our new year with the full confidence that every friend of the
Association who appreciates our responsibilities to Christ and the
Nation, will decide that his gifts to us shall be increased and not
diminished in this year of grace 1889.
* * * * *
_Financial._
Emphasis is added to the closing words of the preceding article by the
report of our Treasurer for the first two months of our fiscal year,
October and November. The receipts for those two months were, from
donations, $31,261.99; from estates, $3,961.29; from income, $1,822.72,
making a total for current work of $37,046. The Association needs $62,500
for these two months. Let us remind our patrons that Mr. Hand's gift will
do its own work and not theirs. We think they will feel that it is only
honorable to let Mr. Hand's benefaction add so much new work, and that it
should not be used simply to relieve others. The great, pressing, and
stupendous work which rests upon this Association as the representative
of the churches, must not stand still. Patriots and statesmen are
becoming alarmed at the Southern situation, and while they will do what
they can to meet the emergency, we believe that the grand solution of the
problem is in the Christian enlightenment and the industrial progress of
the Negro. May God grant that the Christians of this land may not fail to
see their special responsibilities and to meet them in the spirit of
Christian liberality and self-sacrifice.
* * * * *
_Large Gifts of the Wealthy._
It is refreshing to find in this grasping, selfish and money-making world
that there are wealthy men who amass fortunes and use them for noble
purposes. It is said that growing wealth only tightens the grip on the
money and hardens the heart against the calls of benevolence. But the
examples are accumulating that give shining evidence that there are noble
exceptions. Mr. Hand has added his name to the number. He knows the needs
of the colored people, and he devotes a vast fortune to their benefit.
But Mr. Hand has not exhausted the opportunities, even in the range of
the work of this Association, for blessing needy races of men, or of
aiding in the varied forms of effort for the colored people. The mountain
regions of the South present an unique and promising field of effort. The
inhabitants are a noble people, descendants of some of the best races
that settled America. Their mountain isolation separated them from the
people around them. The want of schools and churches left them ignorant,
their thin mountain lands kept them poor; but they never held slaves and
they were loyal to the Union in the war. Railroads now penetrate their
mountains and valleys, and the hitherto unused wealth of mines and timber
is brought to light. A new future opens out to these people, and the
question is, "Shall that future be one of prosperity and piety, or one of
intemperance and infidelity?" Some other man wise and wealthy can do for
these people what Daniel Hand has done for the primary and industrial
education of the Negroes. But this does not exhaust the opening for large
investments in the work of the Association. The Indians are fewer in
number than the blacks or whites of the South, and their future will
sooner be determined by their being incorporated into the national life
as citizens, yet that problem is not settled, and a large fund could be
wisely used for their benefit. Then, too, our higher schools and colleges
need endowment, and our church work should be _indefinitely_
expanded.
If this review does not succeed in drawing large gifts for these several
objects, it may at least serve to show that our wants are not all
provided for, and that smaller contributors have still the duty and the
privilege of aiding by gifts and prayer this good work of patriotism and
Christianity.
* * * * *
THE SOUTHERN SITUATION.
The position of the South is becoming once more clearly defined. Before
the war, it was fully formulated thus: The Negroes are an inferior race,
and slavery is their divinely ordained condition. To this was added: The
Negro question is purely local, and with it no one outside of the South
has any right to interfere. To these axioms agreed the press, the pulpit
and the politician. But the war came as an earthquake, with the utter
upheaval of these firm foundations.
During the years of reconstruction and political agitation, uncertainty
prevailed, but now again the Southern position is becoming settled. It is
the old position with a variation. It runs: The Negroes are an inferior
race, and must be held as a peasant class in subjection to the superior
white race. To this the warning is again added: This is purely a domestic
affair, and all outsiders must keep tongues and hands off. This revised
version of the old theory is proclaimed by Senator Eustis in his now
somewhat famous article in the _Forum_. More recently it has been
re-affirmed in the fervid eloquence of Mr. Grady, of Atlanta, in his
address at Dallas, Texas.
This is the same orator (he is an orator) who a few years since
electrified the whole country by his speech at the New England dinner, on
the "New South." But the logic of Southern events has driven him down
again to the platform of the "Old South." More recently still, the
Governor of South Carolina, in his message to the Legislature, has taken
the same position.
These three gentlemen, representing the press and the politician, are
sustained by the pulpit in the South. For example, the Presbyterian
church South repels all overtures for re-union with the Presbyterian
church North, because such a re-union would involve a practical
recognition of the equal manhood of the inferior race. The Presbyterian
church South does not stand alone on this platform. Other denominations
are arrayed side by side with it, and we fear that even the
Congregationalists in the South, with two Conferences in the same State,
one white and the other black, are in danger of being numbered with them.
This is the Southern position. It portends the renewal of the old
antagonism. It repels the North, denying its right to interfere, and thus
draws again the sectional line; and above all, it sets up sharply the
antagonism of races, consigning the Negro permanently to an inferior
place. This implies, of course, that if the Negro will not quietly accept
this place, he must be compelled to do so by force of arms, and in this
struggle the North is notified that it has no right to interfere. We can
only express our amazement at this theory! With the memory of the war so
fresh, when the North broke over all warnings against interference, and
stepped in to aid the helpless slave, can the South now hope to make
these warnings any more efficacious? Can it hope that the North will
acquiesce in a quasi slavery, that sets aside substantially all that it
gained and established by the long war?
And if the struggle comes again, what hope of success can the South
cherish? If in the last national struggle, it was overpowered when the
slave, as Mr. Grady acknowledges, guarded the house while his master
fought for his perpetual enslavement, what can it do when the Negroes
have tasted freedom for a quarter of a century, and now number nearly as
many as the whites in the South? It is for the white people of the South
to say whether that struggle shall come. The North does not desire it,
the Negro does not desire it, and we sincerely believe that a large share
of the people of the South do not want it. Rev. Dr. Haygood, the
efficient agent of the Slater Fund, in a recent article in _The
Independent_, in reply to Senator Eustis, voices, as we hope, the
sentiments of thoughtful and influential Southerners. But it remains to
be seen whether these wise counselors will be heard. Such voices were
uttered before the war, but they were drowned in the noise of sectional
hatred and the imperious demands of slavery. God grant that the sad
lesson of the past may be heeded.
In the meantime, the A.M.A. will continue its efforts at what it believes
to be the true solution of the Southern problem--the Christian,
educational and industrial advancement of the colored people. With the
help of the great benefaction of Mr. Hand, whose money was made in the
South, and is now consecrated to the South, we shall go forward with
greater zeal and encouragement. We are not partizans; we are not
sectionalists. We are working for the good of both whites and blacks, and
for the peace and prosperity of our common country.
The election of Benjamin Harrison as President of the United States, and
the restoration of the Republican party to power, awakens special
attention to the probable attitude of both towards the great Southern
problem. We have no opinion to express on the subject, and we have no
interest in it as a mere party question, but only as it may lead to the
sober and earnest investigation of that transcendently important problem
which requires the unbiased and honest consideration of the patriot, the
statesman and the Christian.
* * * * *
The combination of the Christian powers of Europe for the suppression of
the nefarious African slave-trade is a measure sanctioned by Christianity
and humanity, and is in the interest of the world's commerce. The effort
can be hopefully undertaken. The abolition of slavery in the Western
Hemisphere--once the great slave mart--confines the outlet of the traffic
to the eastern coast of Africa, and the blockade can be made more
effective than when both sides of the great continent had to be guarded.
* * * * *
An esteemed Christian brother, who made his wife a Life Member of the
Association in 1854, and who has added a member to the list each year
since by his personal gift, speaks of the pleasure he finds in thus
contributing to our treasury, and at the same time enlisting others in
our work. We commend to our patrons this helpful and agreeable way of
doing good. Try it.
* * * * *
ITEMS FROM THE FIELD.
From a teacher in one of our schools in the mountain country:
"As I go among the homes I continually see something new which shows me
how great are the needs of the people here. The primitive ways and
simplicity of the mountain people strike me and I sometimes imagine that
I am in a country a century behind the times. Last week I made a call at
the home of one of my pupils whose mother was sick. As I entered the room
I could not distinguish the faces of those who sat about the fire, for
the room had no windows. The only light that came in was through a door
in an outer room, and it seemed to let in more cold than light. I
wondered how much work or enjoyment could be got out of such dark, small
quarters, while the sick woman told of her struggle with sickness and
poverty. She also gave me some history of her early life, which showed a
great lack of necessary instruction in what are the best things. The
children of this home look like sickly plants which have always lived in
the dark and which have never felt the invigorating influence of God's
beautiful sunshine. We are praying that the sunshine of God's love may be
felt in the hearts of this people, even if there are no windows in their
homes to let it in."
From a pastor in Kentucky:
"We are busily at work in this mountain country, and as we think of wider
possibilities for the mountain boys, you cannot imagine our gratitude in
view of our hopes that a new industrial department will be opened. It has
been the subject of many a prayer in the closet and in teachers'
meetings, and we feel that all that is needed will be supplied according
to His riches who gave himself for us. He has heard our united petitions
for a pastor to gather the straying flock and relieve our overworked
missionaries. We held our weekly teachers' meeting on Friday. Last
evening as we were sitting together as usual, one spoke of the coming
pastor, when lo, he was ushered in. He has really come. We rejoice in our
work, but we see so much just ahead. I long for the time to come when
this interesting people shall be a 'peculiar' people in the better
sense."
From a teacher at Jonesboro, Tenn.:
"Each week brings new accessions to the school: there are now nearly a
hundred enrolled. All the seats in the primary room are in use, so that
when Miss Smith has a full school she has to seat some of her scholars in
chairs. The seats in Miss Page's room are also full. We have eight pupils
who room here and board themselves. Four of them come from Scott Co.,
Va., coming ninety miles. They are young men and women, but they have had
very little opportunity for education. They are anxious to learn and try
to carefully obey the rules of the school. We hope they will gain much
from church and Sunday-school and the influences thrown around them here,
as well as the lessons from the school room. Yesterday we had
applications from four others from the same region for accommodations--a
young married man and his little daughter, seven years old--a young man
and a young woman. We said, 'Come and we will do our best for you;' but
if others apply we shall have to tell them we are full. These are just
the kind of people we want; eager to learn and willing to do the best
they can."
From a school in North Carolina:
"Your letter of the 28th, informing us that we can have assistance from
the Hand Fund for a certain number of pupils, is received, and we have
had a continual thanksgiving ever since. If I could tell you how the
mothers looked when I told them, and if I could put down the tones of
their voices as well as their words, you would be sure that the help is
appreciated."
The pastor of the church and teacher of the Theological Department of
Straight University writes us:
"The religious interest has so deepened that for several weeks I have
been preaching three times a week. Four or five prayer meetings have been
started by the students of their own accord in each other's rooms. Eleven
united with us on profession of faith at our last communion, and as many
more have made a start at different meetings, and will unite with us at
the next communion. A remarkable feature about the work is the fact that
numbers of the older students who are most deeply interested are Roman
Catholics. One young man who united with us is a Spaniard from Matamoras,
Mexico, and has been educated as a Roman Catholic. I believe he may be
counted on to do loyal service in his native city. In this way the A.M.A.
is ever doing 'foreign work,' and work which I believe will tell in
Mexico, Cuba, and the Central American States.
"If some benevolent friend in the North would send us twenty-five copies
of Stalker's Life of Christ, it would be of great help in this work."
Information respecting a very interesting revival of religion comes to us
from Sherwood, Tenn.
Increased religious interest is reported from Fisk University, Nashville,
Tenn.
The teachers in the Normal School at Lexington are taking new courage in
their work in view of their increasing facilities.
* * * * *
One of our young men who expects to take up missionary work this fall
thus expresses himself: "I don't suppose that I know very much; but one
thing I know, and that is the Dakota Bible. I can read that to the people
and talk about it in my own language, and they can understand me, and
that is what they need; they need the Bible."--_Word Carrier._
* * * * *
A CHINAMAN'S VIEW OF A FAMILIAR TEXT.--The writer was for a time a pupil
in the White Street Mission School in New York, but he is now a
prosperous laundryman at Kingston, N.Y. In a recent letter to one of his
former teachers, he gives the following bit of New Testament exegesis: "I
led the Young Men's Christian Association meeting on the Sunday before
January 11th. The subject which I gave out: 'The Christian must be born
twice;' and also read the Scriptures in chapter iii of the Gospel St.
John, and explain to them. I said if a man in this world born twice, he
only die once, and if a man born once he die twice. I mean if a man born
twice he must born again of the spirit; his soul shall save; that is, he
only die once. If a man born once his body shall die and his soul also
perish; that is, he die twice. After the meeting was pass one of the old
gentleman came to me and said, 'Are you a missionary?' I answered him
'No.' I said 'I am a laundryman.' And good people thought I was
missionary."--_The Foreign Missionary._
Full of encouragement to the workers for the Chinese here in America is
the fact that most of the students entering the new Christian college in
Canton were formerly Sunday-school scholars in America. Most of these
converted Chinamen who return to their own country are said to take their
part in various forms of Christian work. What an inspiration to the
patient teacher, who spends an hour or more every Sunday in trying to
Christianize a single Chinaman, to think that, in this indirect way, he,
or more frequently she, may be helping on the conversion of China.--_The
Congregationalist._
These very just remarks are equally applicable to the work the American
Missionary Association is doing so largely and effectively among the
Chinese on the Pacific coast. A letter from Mr. Pond gives us this
corroborative item:
"On Monday evening, November 26, we expect to hold a farewell meeting for
Joe Jet, once one of our missionary helpers, who is going back to China
to superintend missionary operations for our Chinese Missionary Society.
He takes over $1,100 with him, contributed for this purpose by the
Chinese connected with our mission. To this Missionary Society, our
Christian Chinese contribute regularly each month, from twenty-five to
fifty cents. They aim to do quite a large work, which they hope that the
representatives of the Board will superintend, but the whole expense of
which they mean to bear."
* * * * *
The American Missionary Association has been greatly afflicted in the
death of Mrs. George A. Woodard, the wife of the Principal of Gregory
Institute, Wilmington, N.C. She was a most devoted missionary,
consecrating her earnestness and fidelity to the cause of Christ. She
will be sadly missed by the colored people of Wilmington, and by those
who are inmates of the Teachers' Home at Gregory Institute.
* * * * *
SYSTEMATIC SPENDING.
BY REV. C.J. RYDER.
The pastor of a Boston church recently handed to the District Secretary
of the A.M.A. $1, saying as he did so: "That one dollar is really more
than some hundreds of dollars. It is the gift of a poor woman in my
congregation who depends upon her own labor for support. She gives this
dollar to the A.M.A. from her hard economy." It may be that God's decimal
pointing is not the same as ours in many cases.
On a table of the same district office of the A.M.A., there stands a
little brown pasteboard box. In it are some tracts offered for sale. All
the proceeds from their sale go into the treasury of the Association.
These tracts were printed at the expense of a poor woman who has spent a
long and useful life in service for others. She comes into that office
now and again to see if her gift is increasing. She is not fashionably
dressed. No! She never drives to the Congregational House in a carriage.
I doubt if she often enjoys the luxury of a street-car ride, although she
is upward of seventy years of age; and yet she never comes through that
office door but she brings with her the bright glory of spiritual
sunshine, and the wealth of her Lord's own presence. She is pinching
herself in almost painful economy that she may have $100 to give to this
great mission work before she dies, and
"Her great Redeemer shall call her to inherit
The heaven of wealth long garnered up for her."
Now let us turn a moment to the other side of the A.M.A. work. I hold in
my hand a letter written upon this scrap of paper by a colored boy in the
South and sent to one of our missionaries who had come North:
"_Oct. 21._ My Dear Friend, Mr. Brown--I wish you would if you please if
you please send me three dollars and a half now if you please send it I
want to buy a good little shot gun please send it."
These facts present the double responsibility which the A.M.A. sustains
to its constituency in this vast and complex missionary work. None of
these facts are exceptional in character. The Association must so present
its work to the churches as to "constrain" them to give; drag them by the
chains of Christian duty to give; those who can of their abundance
abundantly; those who must of their penury, with this tremendous
self-sacrifice.
An old colored preacher in Georgia, in my hearing, preached on
"Pasteboard Christians." He said: "Brethren, did you neber see a
pasteboard box? It's mighty nice; maybe all covered with gilt paper;
looks right stiff and stout, but you just set it out in the rain and see
it when it goes 'pooh,' and am all omnatiously busted. It am jest so with
some Christians. They comes to meetin' with good clothes on; they looks
drefful fine! But you just pass the contribution box 'round, da goes
'pooh!' and dar ain't nothin' left of 'em." It has not been my experience
that there are many pasteboard Christians in the district of New England.
Systematic giving, giving constantly, giving because the safety of our
country requires it, and the kingdom of Christ demands it; this is the
sort of giving which I have found to be the rule.
But there must be systematic spending as truly as systematic giving. The
gifts of the churches must be husbanded, and the churches must be warned
from time to time against wasteful and unwise efforts, by which others
are seeking to do the work, which is being done systematically through
your agent, the American Missionary Association.
My personal experience as Field Superintendent, has pressed upon me the
imperative importance of this side of the responsibility which this
Association holds to the churches. One must pass back and forth often,
and become personally familiar with this great field, before he can
understand the importance of the systematic spending of this Association.
Wrecks of schools and churches are not few in the Southland. Godly men
and women and godless adventurers have experimented in many places. Money
has been and is being wasted, that might be used to great and permanent
advantage if contributed through the A.M.A. and disbursed according to
the principles which long experience has proved to be sound.
It is the purpose of this paper to emphasize some of the facts concerning
this great missionary field, and to point out the advantages of
systematic spending, which you secure when you commit your funds to this
society rather than to the hap-hazard efforts which you have no power to
supervise and no control over.
An organized society controlled and directed by those who contribute is
the surest possible way of securing this systematic spending. This method
has both negative and positive advantages:
I. It prevents waste.
(a.) Waste in administration of funds. Its accounts are open to and
audited by those whose money is being spent. Reports of the financial
standing, receipts and expenditures to the half-penny are presented every
year. Look them over and note how minutely your accounts are kept.
Officers and missionaries are held by you to strictest responsibility.
This is sound business sense applied to missionary work. But one
naturally asks why, when such absolute safeguards are thrown around the
administration of the funds committed to the A.M.A., some of those who
established those safeguards give a considerable portion of their money
to individuals over whose expenditure they have absolutely no control,
and where funds may be, and often are, wasted? And in this way the
percentage of the cost of administering the funds committed to the A.M.A.
is also increased. This can scarcely be called sound business wisdom.
(b.) Waste in field work. It requires wide experience and knowledge of
the whole field in order to adjust and direct, without waste of laborers,
the force of missionaries. Those who know only one locality cannot do
this. It is often remarked that each missionary thinks his particular
field the most important, and the one especially needing help and
enlargement. This is a grand tribute to their faithfulness and Christian
enthusiasm. But the systematic investigation of the whole field,
constantly and patiently carried on as it is by the A.M.A., determines
with larger wisdom whether work should be strengthened and developed in
Tennessee, or Georgia, or Texas. Gen. Grant was familiar with the whole
field, and placed his men according to the varying exigencies of the
campaign. Just so the systematic methods of this Association place these
noble missionaries where there will be least waste of labor.
But there are also positive advantages secured by the systematic methods
of the A.M.A. in expending the money committed to its treasury.
II. It secures proportion in different parts of the work.
(a.) In appeal.--This Association, constituted, as it is, the immediate
agent of the churches, ought to be your watchman on the tower.
Every pastor is crowded with parish duties. Few intelligent laymen can
give time enough to study thoroughly the whole field covered by the
missions of the A.M.A. It is now an enormous field. Representatives of
five distinct races, Japanese, Chinese, Indians, Mountain Whites and
Negroes wait for Christian instruction very largely upon the missionaries
you are sending out.
Now, no one who is not compelled by official duties to do it can find
time, nor has he the information at hand, to investigate thoroughly each
department of this missionary work. The A.M.A. is your agent to discover,
through careful and patient investigation, the exact facts, and so to
direct its appeals to the churches that the department of work which is
especially pressing may be given due prominence. Systematic spending
involves this.
(b.) Greatest care is required and exercised in planting new work. Let us
in fancy plant a new school in the South, as the Association does it.
Exhaustive correspondence is of course, the first step. Then the Field
Superintendent visits the field. He gathers every possible fact bearing
upon the question: The population; schools, if any; the opinions of white
and colored citizens; the religious complexion of the community, etc.,
etc., etc. Now this Field Superintendent has studied maps and statistics
and school reports, and been back and forth until the whole field is in
his mind, not simply this one locality. These facts _in extenso_ are
reported to the officers in New York. Conferences many and patient are
held over them until finally it is settled that this place rather than
some other shall be selected for the new school. Now such care as this
would be impossible except as the A.M.A., through its officers and
teachers, knew the whole field. By independent or individual effort this
could not be done. It is not the absolute, but the comparative need and
hopefulness that determine the wisdom of fixing upon a certain place for
a school or church. This comparative need can only be known by an
organized society which has frequent and abundant communication with the
whole field, and has officers whose business it is to know that field.
The experiments being tried in different places have already been made by
the A.M.A., and proved to be either absolutely failures or relatively an
uneconomic use of funds.
The saving to you who furnish the money is very great by this method of
systematic spending. Let me illustrate by a single example which occurred
only a few months ago. Two towns, only a few miles apart, were clamoring
for help in school work. We opened a school tentatively in one of these
places, as we had one missionary there already, and I visited the other
place. This is what I found: A teacher independent of any society, and
consequently knowing only a small part of the South, had opened a school.
She had labored very faithfully, but very unwisely, putting money and
years of hard work into a field which, from its very conditions, could
not be largely successful. She had a poor building for teachers' home, a
rough school-house with no desks, a narrow strip of land, and an
enrollment of about eighty pupils. She was anxious to have the A.M.A.
take the work. She informed me that in order to secure it, it would be
necessary to pay out from $2,500 to $3,000 in paying debts and putting
the buildings in shape for advantageous use. This was the case then: A
fairly good house, a rough school-house, a bit of land, and a school of
less than one hundred pupils, costing at least $2,500. At the other point
under discussion, there were five acres of land, five buildings, an
enrollment of about 250 pupils, and the whole property could be secured
for $600! $2,500 vs. $600.
These are not very exceptional cases. It is only fair to the generous
constituency of this Association to know that their funds are being thus
guarded, and that those who give through independent agencies may have
their funds squandered because they cannot hold those doing this
independent work to strict account as they do the Association, nor can
these independent missionaries know the whole field as the A.M.A. knows
it. Here are nearly 500 missionaries in constant correspondence with this
office, besides the field officers appointed especially to gather
information.
(c.) Again, this systematic method of disbursing funds secures a
methodical arrangement of field work. Take the mountain field as an
illustration of this. This field has been divided into two general
districts; one having for its base the L.N.R.R., the other lying along
the Cincinnati Southern Railroad. Each department has its general
missionary, who goes back and forth in his district to lay out new work,
and to superintend the old. The missionaries, pastors and teachers are
all busy in their own places. Here then is systematic development of
this whole work. These noble missionaries in this way form a
well-organized army, and are not guerrillas fighting behind trees and
stones, and scattered hap-hazard over the mountains. We shall hold these
lines of railroad in the name of the Lord. Churches and missions and
Sunday-schools will supplant the saloons and gambling hells if you as
churches generously support this painfully urgent work. But when
school-houses shall stand in all their fertile coves and church bells
shall call to intelligent Christian worship on all those mountain sides,
and the people shall be lifted up into spiritual citizenship, it will
simply be the victory under God of the systematic planning and execution
possible only when funds are disbursed on the sound principles of this
Association.
III. This systematic spending of benevolent funds also secures
permanency. How few deaths there are in the family of A.M.A. schools and
churches! Why? Because these missions are born through wisdom and sound
judgment. These schools and churches are not only permanent but they will
also perpetuate the great fundamental principles of the churches whose
prayers and money have gone into their establishment.
These missions cannot become Roman Catholic or infidel. They cannot drift
away from the safe moorings of evangelical truth, unless the churches to
which they are tied up give way. The churches control these missions
forever. Local management in this work often means mismanagement, on
account of the peculiar surroundings in which these schools are placed.
They differ radically from schools and colleges planted among the new
settlers in the West. Here in the South there is no considerable
intelligent Christian constituency to direct their work, manage their
affairs and keep them in close connection with Congregational conferences
and councils.
IV. Lastly. By means of this systematic spending you keep step with the
grand onward movement of God's providence in the marvelous openings of
this great missionary field. How wonderfully this work develops! The
primary schools of the early period have grown into normal and
preparatory institutes and colleges and theological seminaries, although
the primary work is still being done and well done! New schools are being
planted. "Enter the mountains with your mission host," came the command,
and it was done. Industrial training became necessary to the best
furnishing of these young people for their life-work and their largest
intellectual development, and now thorough training in these departments
is furnished by the schools of the American Missionary Association. The
grand work has kept step with the developing needs.
I asked one of the most experienced teachers and missionaries in the
South what feature of the A.M.A. especially impressed him. He replied at
once, "The wonderful and consummate statesmanship displayed in its
management. The wisdom manifested in planting schools and churches, and
in keeping pace with the new and constantly changing conditions of this
great and perplexing field, absolutely astounds me." This is no tribute
to those of us who have recently entered this service.
To sum up this argument, then: By the systematic method of spending
through the A.M.A., you avoid--
I. Waste, (1.) In administration. (2.) In field work.
II. You secure the wisest apportionment of the work, (1.) Appeals are
systematic. (2.) The work is developed proportionately. (3.) And each
department is systematically conducted.
III. You can secure permanency in the work, (b.) And perpetuate the
principles you believe to be of fundamental importance in uplifting these
races.
IV. You keep step with God's providence in the development of these
fields.
It is told us that during the days that immediately preceded the capture
of Richmond, Sheridan was in hot pursuit of Lee's retreating troops. He
telegraphed to Grant, "I think if the thing is pushed Lee will surrender."
There came flashing back this laconic message from that silent soldier,
"Push things." They were pushed, and within a few weeks Lee's army was
annihilated, and the sword of the haughty rebel was in the hands of the
loyal Grant. The Union army had pushed through the broken fortifications
around Richmond and planted the grand old stars and stripes,
battle-stained and bullet-torn, above the dome of the rebel capitol,
never, never, never to be pulled down again by disloyal hands.
My brethren, there comes flashing to us to-day from this army of
Christ-like men and women away out yonder in front of us, from out the
heat of battle against ignorance, and prejudice, and misery, and sin,
these stirring words: "We can take these lowlands and mountains and
prairies and ocean coasts for our Lord, and for his Christ, now if the
thing be pushed."
What message shall we send back to them, O people of God?
Shall it not be this? "We pledge you our prayers, our sympathy, our best
sons and daughters and five hundred thousand dollars in consecrated money
this year; and in the great name of the Lord our God let the thing be
pushed."
* * * * *
THE CHINESE.
SCRAPS FROM MY CORRESPONDENCE.
BY REV. W.C. POND.
Our limited space forbids the publication of extended correspondence; and
yet, often, in the familiar and unstudied letters which I receive from
our workers, there are paragraphs or sentences which I greatly desire
that our Eastern friends and helpers might share with me. The following
are a few of these.
Mrs. Carrington, our very faithful and efficient teacher at Sacramento,
writes as follows: "Our school seems in better condition than for many
months. Chin Toy [missionary helper] is true and watchful. Two joined the
church at the last communion, one has given his name to join the
Association, and others seem almost ready."
Our school at Oroville has been for a year past in the hands of two quite
young, but true hearted and enthusiastic teachers, from one of whom I
hear in this way: "We have had a very good school this month. The
attendance has been very good; the scholars seem to feel better, and I
think the teachers do too. We had quite a re-union one evening last
month. There was one brother who had just returned from China, and
another from away out in the country. The former had not been here for
years, nor the latter for more than twelve months. It would have done any
one good to see how glad they were to meet each other. I never saw so
much hand-shaking, and talking, and laughing. Both these are good
scholars and will help us much. We have the Bible lessons twice a week,
and they are very interesting to us both. We have nearly finished the
Gospel of Mark, and it gets more interesting towards the last."
Other extracts shall be from letters of our Chinese brethren. Here is one
who has evidently gotten over into an American way of thinking. He is so
much in earnest that his English is badly wrenched in the effort to
convey his views, but I give his words very nearly as he wrote them.
"What I think and what often I observed is that the Chinese very meanness
and sordidness, just exactly what were the Jews. Scatter all round the
world, and still they feel very proud of their country, despise the
foreigners, close all their sea-ports, would not allow the poor celestial
to go out or have civilized men to enter the happy country. On account of
their ignorance of Christ, unhappy, miserable, wretched. Some of them
think good deal of their improvement, national, naval, but if the
Government will not adopt the Christianity and put behind their ancestor
and evil ways and the wicked custom, they will not be very flourishing
what they look for." For himself he says, "I hope I will have a good
opportunity while I am working for the Lord and looking for some souls to
bring to the Lord, as His will be done."
Another writes: "I speak in Chinatown yesterday. Then we had very good
singers of American Christian young men (they were five) and Chinese
brethren (they were eight.). All go on to sing with me. Then I have a
good chance. I pray God to help and hope our countrymen immediately come
to repent and follow Christ and worship Him." And again, "I thank God for
His blessing. This school now is increasing. Last evening we had
twenty-three scholars. Six new ones came in this month. I like stay here
two or three months more and talk this gospel of Christ."
Another translated for me a letter just received from his father-in-law
in China--a letter which gives him great joy. "Dear Son-in-law:--Your
letter was reached me some ten days ago, and glad to read it and that you
are all right in California, _doing Jesus work_. But there was a fellow
named ---- ---- who had come back from San Francisco last year. This
fellow came to me with some news to tell me, so he said. So I asked him
to sit down and gave him a cup of tea. Then he commenced his false story
about you _being poisoned by the Jesus doctors_, and that your heart had
been poisoned so that you don't want to come back any more. After the
length of his false talks, I commenced to ask him questions which he
cannot answer. I told him that I had known my son-in-law too much about
his faith in Jesus. People with the same report came to me from time to
time, before you [i.e., the son-in-law addressed in the letter,--W.C.P.]
came back the last time. At first I have faith in their talks, but since
you came home, I have found you all right. Now a mission is near my
house, and I have time to talk and to read the Jesus books, and have
found that Jesus is like our Confucius, and I believed Jesus words all
right and so my son-in-law all-right too. Thus I have told the dog,
[i.e., the tale-bearer] to get off from my door and not call on me
again."
I hope there may yet be space for this extract from a letter from Jee
Gam, who took a vacation of two weeks, spending it not far from a Chinese
fishing village near Monterey. "Sunday morning, accompanied by about ten
American friends, I went to Chinatown to hold a preaching service. After
singing several times and offering prayer, I took the stand and preached
to a large crowd of my countrymen, of both sexes and all ages, drawn by
our loud invitation and our songs. Before I began my sermon I told them
what we had been singing about, also what we prayed for, and to whom we
prayed, and asked them to see the difference between these Christian
Americans who sang and prayed for us, and those who would crowd us out
Then I preached on Gal. 6:7, for nearly an hour, and all listened
attentively. Not one of the hearers said anything against us. I was told
that two years ago a Chinaman had tried to preach there, but the people
drowned his voice by beating their tin cans, and drove him off with
various missiles. When I heard this I said, 'I am not afraid, God will go
with us; with his help I will preach Christ to them.' And he did help,
and oh, may he bless the seed sown! On Sunday evening one of the Chinese
came out decided as a Christian, and one other seemed almost persuaded."
* * * * *
BUREAU OF WOMAN'S WORK.
MISS D.E. EMERSON, SECRETARY.
* * * * *
WOMAN'S STATE ORGANIZATIONS.
CO-OPERATING WITH THE AMERICAN MISSIONARY ASSOCIATION.
ME--Woman's Aid to A.M.A., Chairman of Committee,
Mrs. C.A. Woodbury, Woodfords, Me.
VT.--Woman's Aid to A.M.A., Chairman of Committee,
Mrs. Henry Fairbanks, St. Johnsbury, Vt.
VT.--Woman's Home Miss. Union, Secretary,
Mrs. Ellen Osgood, Montpelier, Vt.
CONN.--Woman's Home Miss. Union, Secretary,
Mrs. S.M. Hotchkiss, 171 Capitol Ave., Hartford, Conn.
N.Y.--Woman's Home Miss. Union, Secretary,
Mrs. William Spalding, Salmon Block, Syracuse, N.Y.
ALA.--Woman's Missionary Association, Secretary,
Mrs. G.W. Andrews, Talladega, Ala.
OHIO.--Woman's Home Miss. Union, Secretary,
Mrs. Flora K. Regal, Oberlin, Ohio.
IND.--Woman's Home Miss. Union, Secretary,
Mrs. W.E. Mossman, Fort Wayne, Ind.
ILL.--Woman's Home Miss. Union, Secretary, Mrs.
C.H. Taintor, 151 Washington St., Chicago, Ill.
MINN.--Woman's Home Miss. Society, Secretary,
Miss Katharine Plant, 2651 Portland Avenue, Minneapolis, Minn.
IOWA.--Woman's Home Miss. Union, Secretary,
Miss Ella E. Marsh, Grinnell, Iowa.
KANSAS.--Woman's Home Miss. Society, Secretary,
Mrs. G.L. Epps, Topeka, Kan.
MICH.--Woman's Home Miss. Union, Secretary,
Mrs. Mary B. Warren, Lansing, Mich.
WIS.--Woman's Home Miss. Union, Secretary,
Mrs. C. Matter, Brodhead, Wis.
NEB.--Woman's Home Miss. Union, Secretary,
Mrs. L.F. Berry, 724 N Broad St., Fremont, Neb.
COLORADO.--Woman's Home Miss. Union, Secretary,
Mrs. S.M. Packard, Pueblo, Colo.
DAKOTA,--Woman's Home Miss. Union, President,
Mrs. T.M. Hills, Sioux Falls; Secretary,
Mrs. W.R. Dawes, Redfield; Treasurer,
Mrs. S.E. Fifield, Lake Preston.