way was found open, and the new Principal, Rev. S. D. Gaylord, one of
the foremost educational managers of the interior, was greeted on the
first day, the 29th of September, with an attendance of 258, which
was an advance of 40 or 50 upon former opening days. The prospect was
for a continued accession through the month. The _News and Courier_
gave a handsome notice. I found that the Avery was an occasion of city
pride, not only on the part of colored but of white citizens. The
authorities of Claflin University, at Orangeburg, S. C., have visited
and complimented the institute, seeking to pattern after some of the
methods. Prof. A. W. Farnham, who has been at the head of the Avery for
four years, bringing it up to its high standard, will do a like work on
a more general scale in the Normal department of Atlanta University.
The Plymouth church, during the Summer, under the care of the pastor’s
assistant, Rev. Mr. Birney, a former fellow-servant with the members,
had been prospering. Under the lead of Rev. Temple Cutler, the church
will enter upon a career of enlargement. The new principal and the
Field Superintendent preached in the Centennial M. E. and the Zion
Southern Presbyterian churches, the largest for the colored people of
the city, as well as in the Plymouth. These three churches form the
bulk of the constituency of the Avery.
At Orangeburg a repeated visit and a preaching service prepared the
way for the coming of the new pastor, Rev. T. T. Benson, a graduate of
the Talladega theological department. A pleasant church and a rallying
people were ready to greet him.
On the way I stopped off at Chester, S. C., to visit my seminary
classmate, Rev. Samuel Loomis, who, in ten and a half years, has gotten
under way his “Brainerd Institute,” and has helped to plant nine
Presbyterian churches within that county. Blessed is the man who is
permitted to lay foundations in that way. At Charlotte, N. C., I ran
out to visit the Biddle University, which is the principal collegiate
and theological institution of our Northern Presbyterian brethren in
the South. Rev. D. S. Mattoon, the president, is supported by Rev.
Messrs. R. M. Hall and S. J. Beatty. Rev. Thomas Lawrence, of Penn., is
to take the place of Rev. Dr. John H. Shedd, who has returned to his
mission work among the Nestorians. The current catalogue shows eight
students in theology, twenty-one in the college classes, and a total
of 155. This institution is for males alone. Its mate, for females, is
Scotia Seminary, at Concord. The glory of the Biddle is, that in these
ten years it has planted a whole Presbytery of thirty churches in the
region round about, besides raising up teachers and preachers for the
regions beyond.
In the back country of Randolph County, N. C., twenty-five miles away
from the railroad, I looked up Rev. Islay Walden, a former slave in
that region, a recent graduate of New Brunswick Seminary, N. J.,
who had been ordained by the classis of New Brunswick. The A. M. A.
had sent him down to make a field in his native State. The Field
Superintendent assisted him in organizing a Congregational Church of
thirty members. The ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s Supper were
administered. This is in the neighborhood of one of the churches of our
antebellum missionary, Rev. Daniel Worth, whom all our colored friends
and some of the whites remembered affectionately. His church, a former
Wesleyan, has been taken up by the M. E. Church, so that they are well
cared for.
We were waited upon by two committees, one from Hill Town, seven miles
away, and one from Troy, the county seat of Montgomery, thirty miles
off. The former had one man to offer three acres of land and timber
in the tree for all the lumber needed for a church school-house, and
that man was an ex-slave. The latter committee consisted of three men,
who were the trustees of the “Peabody Academy,” whose erection they
had secured at Troy. They wanted a teacher and a preacher. Living
twelve or eighteen miles away from Troy, they intended to send in their
children and have them cared for in a boarding club by an “Aunty.” In
token of their good faith, all of them interesting men, they united
with our new church, intending to transfer their membership to their
own localities when we get ready to organize there. Who could forbid
that their requests should be granted? So we organized a circuit for
Brother Walden, one Sabbath at Troy, and the other at Salem Church and
Hill Town, with one sermon at each place. The Quakers promise a school
at Salem. A public school will serve Hill Town for the present, and a
competent teacher must be secured for the Academy. It was a delight to
witness the pride of the people in their educated _fellow-servant_.
Even the old master gloated over the diploma of his “boy.”
Running into McLeansville early this Monday morning, thinking to make
it a minister’s rest-day, with only this article and other letters and
a sermon for the night on hand, I found the church at the opening of a
protracted meeting with the visiting preacher announced for forenoon,
afternoon and evening; house crowded all day, with two hundred people
in it by count; all remaining with lunch in hand, between the first and
second services, and many holding over between the second and third.
And this is the habit of the people at such a time. All unnecessary
work is put aside and the entire time given up to religious service.
This habit they take from that of the white churches, with the
exception that the colored people have added the third service. Pastor
Connet had held a similar meeting in another part of his field this
fall, and yesterday, as a result of it, twelve members were added to
this church. One of those converts, an old man, testified, bearing
himself with the air of a conqueror: “I have fought the devil, and I’ve
got the victory. Jesus helped me. I have fought the devil, and I’ve got
the victory.” The meetings are orderly and solemn—congregational, only
warmed up by the African glow. The membership now numbers one hundred
and fifty-six. Pastor Connet is also superintendent of the school,
which is doing a good work in raising up teachers.
* * * * *
CONTRASTS.
The Past and the Present.
L. A. P.
“Reminiscences” in the October MISSIONARY have recalled a host
of buried memories concerning the days of pioneer work, with its
swiftly-changing experiences of humor and pathos.
I might draw a picture of the good man who often asked the Lord to
“bless these teachers that have left their homes in foreign lands and
come a far distance to destruct us;” of the old aunties who came to
inquire about friends and old masters in Virginia and the Carolinas,
thinking we must know the history of each family, because “didn’t you
come right by there on your way down from the North?” of the romances
and tragedies connected with the hundreds of letters we wrote inquiring
for lost friends, sold away in the days of slavery; but one picture is
more vivid than others, and as the days of quaint prayers are rapidly
passing, I am tempted to commit it to print.
Almost a dozen years ago, I found myself one of two teachers in a night
school varying from forty to sixty pupils. The roughly-ceiled room
was long, low and dimly lighted. The scholars were hard-working men
and women who walked one, two, three or four miles, after the day’s
labor, for the sake of acquiring a bit of book learning. At ten o’clock
lessons closed with a Bible reading, singing and prayer.
One evening, after books and slates had been laid aside, my attention
was attracted by a voice, liquid and rollicking, as it carolled a
popular “spiritual.” In the gray room—for the light wood fire was
nearly out, and the two lamps in the rear gave little brightness—it was
some time before I distinguished the singer.
He was a jaunty little man, very black, very lithe and very much
dressed up. A blue round-a-bout coat was trimmed with two rows of
yellow braid; a crimson dress braid made his neck-tie, the long ends of
which floated over the shoulders. His hands were folded over a stout
walking-stick; his head nodding and feet patting time to the music.
My thoughts instantly went back to childish days, to a certain tree
where a golden oriole’s nest used to swing, to a field of red-winged,
chattering bobolinks, not one of which ever seemed so deliciously happy
in his song as my dusky scholar. I liked to look at him. It put me into
communion with friends and influences hundreds of miles beyond the piny
woods.
He often spoke and prayed in the regular prayer-meetings. We soon
learned the words of his petition, for it was always in the same form,
reverently intoned with an indescribable, inimitable cadence:
“Our Father, who art in heaven, hollowed be thy name; thy kingdom
come, thy will be done on earth as is in heaven. Father, Father—this
evening—of all grace, look down upon us and hear us and bless us. O
Saviour, come riding around this evening upon the milk-white horse and
wake up sinners. Touch and tender about every heart. Teach ’em that
they have a soul to be saved or to be lost to all eternity. Bless my
old mother. Teach her that she has a soul to be saved or one to be lost
to all eternity. Strike her with the hammer of conviction. Shoot her
with the arrow of love. Bless families and families’ connections. Give
us more grace, more faith, more love. Make us humble. Teach us to pray,
and teach us to love it, too. Be our guide and leader and protector.
Bless the sinners who are standing with one foot upon the grave and one
upon the land of the living.
“Father! Father! when Gabriel shall stand with one foot in the sea and
one upon the land to blow his horn, and he shall say, ‘How loud must
I sound?’ and Thou say, ‘Sound calm and easy so as not to disturb My
children,’ then shall we link and lock our eagle wings to march upward
to the golden gate.
“And when You see us fail below, help us to say, ‘Here, Lord, I give
myself away, ’tis all that I can do. Welcome dis solisted band and bear
my soul away.’ And when You have done suiting and serving Thyself of us
here, hand us to our graves in peace, where we shall praise the Father,
Son and Holy Spirit in a world that never ends, is _my_ prayer for
Jesus’ sake. Amen.”
At that time this man was one of the more intelligent of his people.
In contrast, let me introduce a younger man of the same size and
color, also endowed with unusual gift of song. Neatly dressed, quietly
mannered, he seems no kin to the earlier types of his race.
From under the very shadow of Yazoo he writes these lines: “I have
subscribed for the _New York Tribune_. My school numbers 112 pupils,
with a daily attendance of 85 or 90. I have Cutter’s Physiology, from
which I give oral lessons daily. I will state the studies of my most
advanced pupils: Robinson’s Practical Arithmetic, Harvey’s Grammar,
Swinton’s Geography and Educational Readers. School closes next Friday
with a concert. I do wish you could be with us Thursday and Friday to
attend the examinations.”
Lest any one may infer from the above that “the schoolmaster is abroad”
in the land, let me quote one sentence of a prayer uttered a few months
ago by the pastor of a large church in a leading Southern city: “O
Lord, bless us individually and _respectfully_.”
* * * * *
GEORGIA.
An Economical Industrial Department.
MRS. T. N. CHASE, ATLANTA, GA.
The demand for industrial departments connected with our schools of
learning has developed so rapidly of late, that it appears like one of
the fever heats of our American civilization that may soon subside.
Friends of the A. M. A. institutions have been specially anxious that
their students should learn trades and home industries while at school,
fearing that they would have little opportunity to learn them except
from their Northern instructors, and thinking that they could be
acquired from them outside of school hours without much thought, time
or trouble.
On the other hand, some have felt that our immediate, pressing need was
young colored men and women with minds developed by long and thorough
training in the text-books used in our schools and colleges. They are
not ignorant of the students’ deficiencies in practical knowledge, but
feel that close and continued application of the mind to books is the
best and surest way to acquire all knowledge. They believe that if the
brain power of a child is developed, the hoe, the cook-stove and the
sewing-machine will be well managed when occasion requires.
Again, these students are to be the teachers of their race in the
South. These friends believe that nothing will so quickly convince
the intelligent men of the South that the negro has power which they
are bound to respect, as to see him well versed, not only in the
sciences he teaches, but his mind broadened by a familiarity with
subjects beyond. To secure this training, through an ordinary course
suitable for an average teacher even in Northern schools, with supposed
superior material, has generally been found to require all the time and
strength of pupils under 18 years of age. Principals of the different
schools, however, differ much both in theory and practice, in regard to
combining manual with literary work.
In Atlanta much has been done during the past ten years in a quiet
way, by the business manager, matrons and preceptress, toward giving
practical instruction in a variety of home industries, making specially
prominent the importance of _good_ work. Every student, during the
entire course, works an hour a day, generally with careful supervision.
While visiting the Massachusetts Agricultural College at Amherst,
recently, I learned that less time for manual labor was required of its
students.
During the past year, however, at Atlanta, it was thought best to give
more time and thought especially to sewing, cooking and care of the
sick. How to secure a practical knowledge of these without much expense
of material or instruction, and without taking much of the student’s
time from literary pursuits, was the problem. The sewing was arranged
in this way: Sometime before graduation the girls are required to
make, under the eye of the preceptress, a small garment of calico
or other inexpensive material. This garment is to contain all the
varieties of plain sewing, machine-stitching, hand-hemming, ruffling,
etc. More than this, it must have the bugbears of all beginners in
sewing—a buttonhole, a patch and a darn. Each girl writes her name in
indelible ink on the garment, and it is kept in the institution as a
record of her standing in sewing.
In a catalogue I received lately from the hands of the matron of the
Mt. Holyoke Seminary are these words: “It is not part of the design
of this seminary to teach young ladies domestic work. This branch of
education is exceedingly important, but a literary institution is
not the place to gain it. Home is the proper place for the daughters
of our country to be taught on this subject, and the mother the
appropriate teacher.” I think I remember reading the same words from a
catalogue twenty years ago, and presume they were first penned by the
immortal Mary Lyon. So we hoped the emulation created by the prospect
of leaving a beautiful specimen of needle-work upon graduation would
inspire our girls to faithful painstaking in sewing at their homes
even before entering school. The matron has the graduating class
spend their required hour of work in learning to make good bread
and to do other plain cooking. When any student is ill, opportunity
is given for practical instruction from the preceptress in nursing
the sick. In addition to this, the time of one recitation was taken
during a part of the year for giving instruction in household science.
A teacher prepared talks upon general rules for good housekeeping,
general principles of good cooking, care of the sick, care of children,
economy, etc. The class took notes, and were examined from their notes
before the visiting board at the close of the school. We hoped thus to
convince them that we were not educating our girls above the homeliest
duties of the household, as some of them had accused us of doing.
I have given these details to show how much may be done in this
direction without any additional expense.
* * * * *
Revival—Work and Results.
S. B. MORSE, SAVANNAH
The Congregational church of this city has been blessed with a visible
outpouring of God’s Spirit. Many of our old members have been quickened
in their religious feelings and have reconsecrated themselves to their
Lord and Saviour. Many who have been lingering and shivering on the
brink of doubt, and many, too, who were waiting a plainer manifestation
of their acceptance with God by “dreams and travels,” suddenly, as the
truth struck them, yielded their ways to _His_ ways, and are now, we
trust, walking in accordance not with their own, but with God’s plans.
We had an extra series of meetings for over two weeks, which were well
attended by Christians of all denominations. These meetings closed last
week. On Sunday morning, September 7th, one was baptized by immersion,
and at night five others were by sprinkling. Still another was received
who was a fallen member of some other church. Five children were at the
same time baptized, after which all those who loved the Lord Jesus, and
who wished, met around His sacramental board and feasted with Him. The
church was so crowded that many were compelled to stand outside. It was
a high day in Israel. Many hearts were gladdened.
Most of those we received were young people. Some of them teachers
of our Sabbath-school, and nearly all of them at some time had been
under the influence of some good Northern lady teacher. Perhaps those
teachers were disheartened and feared that their good seed had fallen
upon stony ground, but in this they were deceived. We are too anxious
often to see results. God’s logic extends through years, but His
conclusions are nevertheless sure and true.
Rev. Floyd Snelson officiated at the sacraments of baptism and the
eucharist. Bro. Clarke was directly instrumental in bringing about this
revival.
* * * * *
ALABAMA.
Our New Church Building.
REV. WM. H. ASH, FLORENCE
Our new church is getting on nicely. The outside is nearly finished,
with the exception of the belfry, which I hope will be done this week.
The work has been carried on strictly with reference to economy as
well as to the finish, and yet it is so well done that it is simply
beautiful. Almost everybody has something to say about the church.
One says, “You are going to have a nice church, and your church
will be well attended when it is done.” Another says, “This is the
greatest thing the colored people ever accomplished in Florence.” I am
constantly greeted by my white fellow-citizens with, “You are going to
have the only modern church in town;” and they visit the scene of the
building to watch the progress of the work and speak friendly of it. A
gentleman who lives in Fryar’s Point, Miss., and belongs to one of the
first families here, has just asked me to let him look at the plan. He
said, “This is going to be a credit to the town.” I have put on a large
portion of the first coat of paint myself.
The people have made great sacrifices to build their house of worship.
I don’t believe that the same number of members in any church North
could have done better with all the discouraging circumstances. They
have struggled hard to help themselves, giving when really they needed
it at home.
We shall need a bell and pews, also a communion service, and money to
buy paint for the finishing of the inside and out. Who wants to help
those who help themselves?
* * * * *
Letter from a Student—Vacation Supply at Mobile.
J. W. ROBERTS, TALLADEGA.
Our protracted meetings lasted during three weeks. The Holy Ghost has
given us five souls for our hire; besides He has warmed up our hearts
with His sacred love as a church. I am thankful to Him that my health
is kept all right.
Since and during our revival our audiences have been steadily
increasing both at afternoon and evening services. There is also an
unusual interest in our Thursday praise meetings. In short, the “fold”
is in a good condition if the shepherd will come soon.
* * * * *
AFRICA.
* * * * *
THE MENDI MISSION.
Annual Meeting of the Missionaries—The Board of Counsel and Advice.
The annual meeting of the Board of Counsel and Advice of the Mendi
Mission was held in the Good Hope Chapel, at Sherbro Island, July 14,
1879. Rev. A. P. Miller presided, and Dr. Benjamin James was elected
Secretary.
The Moderator made the following introductory remarks:
Before we proceed to our business, you will please indulge me with
a few preliminary remarks, inasmuch as we are about to enter upon
that part of our missionary work which will tell most plainly to
the civilized world as to the wisdom and good judgment of colored
missionaries in devising plans for the furtherance of a work of so
great importance, sacredly intrusted to our care.
In the performance of our several duties in the second annual meeting
of our Board, let us not forget that body of devoted men of the A.
M. A., by whose unwearied zeal and toil means are procured for the
furtherance and extension of this well-begun work.
Let us not forget the thousands of Christian men and women who give of
their means for the support of Missions, especially in Africa.
Let us not forget the five millions of our own race in the South, from
whom the shackles of slavery have been torn asunder, to whom Africa is
now looking for the light of the Gospel and a Christian civilization,
of whom we are the advance guards.
Let us not forget that the problem of Africa’s future is now under
solution and that we are the solvers. Our failure to arrive at a
conclusion in her favor, as Freedmen, would bring everlasting disgrace
upon us as a race, while on the other hand we should most shamefully
wrong unenlightened manhood, whose blood would be required at our hands.
As a slave, the negro served well his oppressors. As a soldier, he
served well the cause of freedom and his country. The tyrant’s chain
of oppression, which held five millions in bondage, has been broken,
and to-day the grand duty as well as privilege of carrying light and
life to his benighted brethren in his fatherland lies before him and
calls him onward. It remains yet for him to prove himself a man in this
important relation that he holds to his fellow-countrymen and to the
world.
In view of these great responsibilities incumbent upon us in this
Council assembled, in the discussion and decision of matters of
importance, may God, in mercy, so guide each one that he shall be
unprejudiced and deeply sincere, as well as conscientious, throughout
all these deliberations, with due regard to their bearing upon the
interest of the benighted whom we come to serve and enlighten. In view
of all these things, may each one give the weight of his influence to
the furtherance of our work, exercising patience and charity one toward
the other.
Committees were appointed on the various interests of the Mission,
while the subject of the extension of the work was referred to a
committee of the whole.
The _Committee on Church Work_ reported forty-four members in the
church at Good Hope Station, one having died during the year; seven
infants baptized; attendance on services good, and showing earnest
desire to hear the Word; advance in the Christian life of converts;
prayer-meetings valuable. Some persons, under watch and care, will be
received to membership as soon as legally united in matrimony.
At Avery there are forty-one members; under watch and care, three
adults; eleven children baptized. Increasing willingness on the part
of the people to attend church, and growing interest in the cause of
Christ give encouragement.
At Debia, Mr. Goodman conducts religious services on the Lord’s day. A
chapel is hoped for here, books at Good Hope, and repairs of building
at Avery.
Our Sunday-school is in a flourishing condition, being well attended,
most of the scholars attending church services. Bradford friends in
England sent our Sunday-school a nice present in the shape of copies of
the Gospels, pamphlets, papers, etc., which we used as prizes for good
attendance, to encourage the little ones. We need singing books for
this work.