VOL. XXXV. NO. 1.
THE
AMERICAN MISSIONARY.
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“To the Poor the Gospel is Preached.”
* * * * *
JANUARY, 1881.
_CONTENTS_:
EDITORIAL.
SALUTATION—FINANCIAL 1
PARAGRAPHS 2
RETIRING FROM BUSINESS—WORDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT—ARTHINGTON
MISSION 3
MORE MISSIONARIES—THE GOSPEL WAY 4
WEEKLY OFFERINGS—OBJECTION CONSIDERED: Rev. Geo. Harris 5
A FEW WORDS TO THE CHURCHES 6
DISCUSSION OF INDIAN AFFAIRS 7
WOMAN’S WORK FOR WOMAN: Miss Mary E. Sawyer 9
BENEFACTIONS 12
GENERAL NOTES—Africa, Indians, Chinese 13
ITEMS FROM THE FIELD 15
THE FREEDMEN.
THE “CENTRAL SOUTH”: Pres. G. F. Magoun, D. D. 16
SOUTH CAROLINA, CHARLESTON—“Tannerism” in Church
Work—Charm of Old Songs 18
GEORGIA—Atlanta University 19
GEORGIA—Georgia Conference 20
ALABAMA—Visit to Marion 21
TENNESSEE—Revival at Memphis 22
THE CHINESE.
LETTERS FROM PUPILS 23
CHILDREN’S PAGE.
CHRISTMAS GIFT LIKE BELL BENNET’S: Mrs. T. N. Chase 25
RECEIPTS 28
AIM, STATISTICS, WANTS, ETC. 32
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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,
56 READE STREET, N. Y.
* * * * *
PRESIDENT.
HON. E. S. TOBEY, Boston.
VICE-PRESIDENTS.
Hon. F. D. PARISH, Ohio.
Hon. E. D. HOLTON, Wis.
Hon. WILLIAM CLAFLIN, Mass.
Rev. STEPHEN THURSTON, D. D., Me.
Rev. SAMUEL HARRIS, D. D., Ct.
WM. C. CHAPIN, Esq., R. I.
Rev. W. T. EUSTIS, D. D., Mass.
Hon. A. C. BARSTOW, R. I.
Rev. THATCHER THAYER, D. D., R. I.
Rev. RAY PALMER, D. D., N. J.
Rev. EDWARD BEECHER, D. D., N. Y.
Rev. J. M. STURTEVANT, D. D., Ill.
Rev. W. W. PATTON, D. D., D. C.
Hon. SEYMOUR STRAIGHT, La.
HORACE HALLOCK, Esq., Mich.
Rev. CYRUS W. WALLACE, D. D., N. H.
Rev. EDWARD HAWES, D. D., Ct.
DOUGLAS PUTNAM, Esq., Ohio.
Hon. THADDEUS FAIRBANKS, Vt.
SAMUEL D. PORTER, Esq., N. Y.
Rev. M. M. G. DANA, D. D., Minn.
Rev. H. W. BEECHER, N. Y.
Gen. O. O. HOWARD, Oregon.
Rev. G. F. MAGOUN, D. D., Iowa.
Col. C. G. HAMMOND, Ill.
EDWARD SPAULDING, M. D., N. H.
Rev. WM. M. BARBOUR, D. D., Ct.
Rev. W. L. GAGE, D. D., Ct.
A. S. HATCH, Esq., N. Y.
Rev. J. H. FAIRCHILD, D. D., Ohio.
Rev. H. A. STIMSON, Minn.
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.
Dea. JOHN C. WHITIN, Mass.
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.
E. A. GRAVES, Esq., N. J.
Rev. F. A. NOBLE, D. D., Ill.
DANIEL HAND, Esq., Ct.
A. L. WILLISTON, Esq., Mass.
Rev. A. F. BEARD, D. D., N. Y.
FREDERICK BILLINGS, Esq., Vt.
JOSEPH CARPENTER, Esq., R. I.
Rev. E. P. GOODWIN, D. D., Ill.
Rev. C. L. GOODELL, D. D., Mo.
J. W. SCOVILLE, Esq., Ill.
E. W. BLATCHFORD, Esq., Ill.
C. D. TALCOTT, Esq., Ct.
Rev. JOHN K. MCLEAN, D. D., Cal.
Rev. RICHARD CORDLEY, D. D., Kansas.
Rev. W. H. WILLCOX, D. D., Mass.
Rev. G. B. WILLCOX, D. D., Ill.
Rev. WM. M. TAYLOR, D. D., N. Y.
Rev. GEO. M. BOYNTON, Mass.
Rev. E. B. WEBB, D. D., Mass.
Hon. C. I. WALKER, Mich.
Rev. A. H. ROSS, Mich.
CORRESPONDING SECRETARY.
REV. M. E. STRIEBY, D. D., _56 Reade Street, N. Y._
DISTRICT SECRETARIES.
REV. C. L. WOODWORTH, _Boston_.
REV. G. D. PIKE, _New York_.
REV. JAS. POWELL, _Chicago_.
H. W. HUBBARD, ESQ., _Treasurer, N. Y._
REV. M. E. STRIEBY, _Recording Secretary_.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.
ALONZO S. BALL,
A. S. BARNES,
C. T. CHRISTENSEN,
H. L. CLAPP,
CLINTON B. FISK,
ADDISON P. FOSTER,
S. B. HALLIDAY,
A. J. HAMILTON,
SAMUEL HOLMES,
CHARLES A. HULL,
EDGAR KETCHUM,
CHAS. L. MEAD,
SAMUEL S. MARPLES,
WM. T. PRATT,
J. A. SHOUDY,
JOHN H. WASHBURN.
COMMUNICATIONS
relating to the work of the Association may be addressed to the
Corresponding Secretary; those relating to the collecting fields to
the District Secretaries; letters for the Editor of the “American
Missionary,” to Rev. C. C. PAINTER, at the New York Office.
DONATIONS AND SUBSCRIPTIONS
may be sent to H. W. Hubbard, Treasurer, 56 Reade Street, New
York, or when more convenient, to either of the Branch Offices, 21
Congregational House, Boston, Mass., or 112 West Washington Street,
Chicago, Ill. A payment of Thirty dollars at one time constitutes a
Life Member.
THE
AMERICAN MISSIONARY.
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VOL. XXXV. JANUARY, 1881. NO. 1.
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American Missionary Association.
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SALUTATION.
We know of no Society that has more occasion for expressing
cheerful congratulations than the American Missionary Association;
and we wish its patrons and workers a thankful and prosperous Happy
New Year.
By the merciful blessing of God and the prayerful liberality of
His people, we have been sustained in our work. The number of our
pupils has multiplied. The Holy Spirit has been poured out upon
our churches. A great improvement in public sentiment South has
been witnessed. Questions relating to the policy of the government
have been settled. We have escaped the bondage of debt, and, better
still, have received a munificent gift for additional school
facilities, and, like the prophet of Israel, are ready to exclaim,
“The God of Heaven, He will prosper us, therefore we, His servants,
will arise and build.”
Our missionaries and teachers at home and abroad have been spared
and blessed abundantly. Let us rejoice, but not stop in our work.
Our best joys spring forth from busiest toil. The work before us is
great—greater than ever.
We are called most encouragingly to stand on our Western shores,
and in the name of Christ to welcome the Chinaman. We bear good
tidings amidst ice and snow in the Northland to the American
Indian. Kansas utters a voice for her Freedmen refugees; while
the sunny South, we believe, has almost passed its winter of
discontent. Seed time, with more favoring skies, is right upon us;
and Africa—land of shadows, land of trouble and wrong—from her vast
domains is stretching out her hand for our Freedmen to come over
and help. There is no quarter of the globe where the principles
we advocate are not wanted. The millennial year rushes on to our
view. It is a question of prayer—a question of sacrifice and
thanksgiving—a question of the patience of hope and the labor of
love.
God grant us all a preparation for the hour and all its
possibilities.
* * * * *
FINANCIAL.
The receipts in our treasury for the two months of the present
fiscal year (Oct. and Nov.) are $29,258.57, as against $26,577.05
for the corresponding months of last year, showing an increase
of $2,681.52, and are gratifying as a response to our appeal for
enlargement, made at our annual meeting at Norwich. Never before
was such an appeal of ours met in a more business-like way than
at that meeting. There was no hasty vote calling for large sums
of money the coming year, but a discriminating examination, and a
strong setting forth in reports and addresses of the great need
of enlargement. We have since ventured to suggest twenty-five per
cent. of an advance over last year. This is indeed inadequate to
the pressing and increasing claims made upon us by the wants of the
field, but it will be a great relief. The advance as shown in these
two months is but nine per cent. We are persuaded that a thoughtful
purpose on the part of pastors, churches and individual friends
will easily secure the larger percentage.
* * * * *
The story we publish in our children’s department, by Mrs. T. N.
Chase, is worthy of a word of explanation. The account she gives of
the Georgia colored school-teacher, her efforts for a school-house
and for the education of her sister, is strictly true; but as Mrs.
Chase wrote before Christmas, she was obliged to anticipate a
little. The fact is, the girl never got the $300, which Mrs. Chase
says, in a note to us, is needful for the school-house alone. We
see no way out of the difficulty now, unless some good Christian
mothers will send us the sum named. If they will do this, we will
warrant there will be more than a large school of colored children
who will believe that Mrs. Chase’s narrative is a very good one.
And what would Mrs. Chase think to get $300 for her story?
* * * * *
President Fairchild of Berea, Ky., in a private letter, gives
a very interesting account of a convention of the Young Men’s
Christian Association at Bowling Green. Two Berea students, one
white and the other colored, attended the meeting, and gave a
report of the proceedings on their return. It appears that both
were welcomed by the Association, while Mr. Titus, the colored
man, was treated with marked attention, many taking pains to make
his acquaintance. The feature of chief interest at the meeting was
the discussion of questions relating to the religious education of
the Freedmen. Mr. Titus was urged to assist in the organization
of Christian Associations among the colored people in Louisiana.
The tone of the meeting was exceedingly favorable. Pres. Fairchild
concludes as follows: “A glorious time for work in the South is
just before us.”
* * * * *
It is said that the tendency now is for the few to give largely,
while the gifts of the churches, as such, are less. Sad, if true.
The recent large gifts of the generous few are as gratifying as
they are surprising. They are one of the hopeful signs of the
substantial growth of Christian liberality and consecration. But
if they are to be purchased by the drying up of the charities
of the many, it is in the end no boon, for woe to the churches
when they do not share in giving, even to the widow’s mite, for
the spread of the Gospel. A piety that delegates its charities
and self-sacrifices to the few will die. Such a state of affairs
is like the Sahara of parching sands with a few green oases, as
compared with the fertile and well cultivated lands where each
spear of grass and blade of corn does its part towards the golden
and abundant harvest.
* * * * *
RETIRING FROM BUSINESS.
It is a debated question whether a man should retire from business
when he has accumulated a competency. On the one hand, tired
nature pleads for rest, and on the other it is claimed that the
retired man is not only useless, but unhappy. A gentleman gave us
the other day what seems to be the true solution—and the charm
of his plan is that he is carrying it out in his own case. It is
that the wealthy man while still active, should retire from his
secular business and give himself to efficient service in mission
and charitable organizations, and in Christian work for the poor,
and the advancement of Christ’s kingdom. There is wide room for
such workers. We venture to say that among those most efficient on
mission, college and charitable boards in this country are such
men, and there is need of many more. A still larger share of the
reliable members of such boards are men yet in active life, whose
business will not permit them to devote the time needed to the most
efficient service in charitable work. The man who has accumulated
his fortune, or at least his competence, has also accumulated an
amount of experience and practical knowledge that would be of
immense value in Christian work. Is it not, then, wise to retire
from work, and yet work? The change would be rest and usefulness.
* * * * *
WORDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT.
We have received many cheering words since our Annual Meeting at
Norwich, through the press and by letters from the long-tried
friends of this Association.
The following, from our honored Vice President, Col. G. C. Hammond,
is a good illustration of the appreciative and hopeful tone
exhibited by the many of those who give bountifully and prayerfully
for our work.
“Dear Brother: I was anxious to be at your anniversary at Norwich,
and disappointed that my health prevented. You may well suppose
with what relish I have devoured the last ‘Missionary.’ I feel
constrained to write you a word of congratulation, not intended
to tax your valuable time for a reply, but to assure you that,
so far as I can judge, the papers presented to you at that
time, and now printed, by far exceed any heretofore presented
within my recollection. The obstacles that lie in your path, the
encouragement to work, and the plans and principles which govern
the Association in their labors, are laid down so plainly, and so
commend themselves to the appreciation of Christians, that it would
seem that means must flow into the treasury in no stinted measure.
But, alas, how true it is that the love of money shuts out even
from Christian souls the just appreciation of the Saviour’s claims.
My prayer is that God will, by His spirit, make His children
appreciate the great joy of giving. How much they would gain by
liberal giving!”
* * * * *
ARTHINGTON MISSION—A SIGNIFICANT ANSWER TO PRAYER.
It will be remembered by our readers that a little more than a year
since, the Executive Committee of this Association voted that on
receipt of £3,000 from Mr. Arthington and a like amount from the
British public, raised through the efforts of Dr. O. H. White,
it would undertake the establishment of a new mission in Eastern
Africa. Dr. White has been laboring patiently with fair success,
and from present indications we judge he will be able to secure the
balance needful during the coming season.
The following extract from a recent letter from him is very
significant. “A gentleman in London, who heard me preach six months
ago in Scotland, came to our office and said, ‘I will give £100 to
your Arthington Mission on condition that some other person will
give another £100.’ So I went in to find the person. After seeing
some, and writing to others, I found a man who also heard me in
Edinburgh, and he gave the £100. I then saw the first man and told
him I had the money, and he said, ‘I will not give in the money
just now, but I will pledge another £100 on the same condition.’
But I had called on so many in the past year, that really I did not
know which way to turn. So I laid the case before God, and had in
that connection the most _direct answer_ ever given to me.
“The very next day a lady came to the office and said, ‘I felt all
the afternoon yesterday that I ought to go to London and give you
£100 for the proposed new mission, and here it is.’ It was a £100
bank-note. I asked her name, that I might write a receipt. She said
‘No.’ I said ‘Give me your initials.’ She said ‘No, put it down to
“a friend,” and you may see me again.’ So when the London gentleman
pays in his £200 we shall have £400.”
* * * * *
MORE MISSIONARIES—THE GOSPEL WAY.
There never before was a time when the openings for missionary
endeavors were so abundant. Barriers which formerly opposed, have
been broken down almost everywhere. In many places there is some
condition of things that invites the Gospel directly or indirectly.
This is notable on the Pacific coast, where the Chinese are so
eager to learn English that they are more than ready to use
the Bible as a textbook. Nor are the Chinese peculiar in this.
Knowledge of the English language is equal to a competency in other
lands, and the Bible can be freely used in teaching it.
Commerce has also removed many barriers; and what is of equal
importance, it has necessitated the building of ships, the
construction of railroads, the laying out of highways in the
desert, and a telegraph for every quarter of the globe. The press
has done its share of work as well. Through it, intelligence has
penetrated almost to the remotest bounds of heathendom. All these
things have made way for more missionaries. To this it must be
added that the increase of missionary organizations and the natural
development of their operations, all multiply the demand for more
men to run to and fro throughout the world, heralding the tidings
of joy unto all people.
Still another barrier has been virtually removed. Once _money_ was
lacking, but now the church of Christ has the means needful to
send forth all the men that the new condition of things demands.
Not that the wealth is yet consecrated, but it is in possession,
and by the simplest gift of grace from the Lord of the harvest, it
will be forthcoming when required. The men have also been raised
up. They have not enlisted, but they have been trained. The records
of our colleges show now, and have shown, an increased number of
students as the years go by. New colleges have been springing up
over the country, until the list can be reckoned by scores and
hundreds. From these classic halls armies of men march forth,
brave, sacrificing, full of life and hope, fitted for missionary
endeavors, and able—God helping them—to capture the world for
Christ.
There is neither lack of opportunity, money or men for the domain
of missions. The trouble is that the men and the means have not
as yet been transferred. There is some one thing lacking which no
human power can supply.
It is a question of _disposition_ on the part of those who hold the
wealth, and of the men fitted for the service. God only is able to
deal with this question of disposition successfully. He can do it,
and we can help.
This brings us directly to our part in the work. How we are to
do it is no mystery. Our Saviour has pointed to us the way—“Pray
ye, therefore, the Lord of the harvest, that He will send forth
laborers into His harvest.” Our call is a call to prayer. That
is the one thing lacking. Not that no prayers are offered, but
that, as yet, the prayers of God’s people for this object are not
sufficiently abundant. The church has not qualified itself to pray
as it ought, by right living. More Godly sincerity, more humility,
more faith, more charity, are needful to elevate the tone of piety
in the Church, until its prayers shall lay hold on the promises,
with a power that God himself has already rendered irresistible.
Then He will send forth the laborers into His harvest. Then the
money and the men for the grandest and most complete missionary
enterprises will be lifted from their moorings amidst worldliness,
and transported, freely, graciously, from sea to sea, and up
the rivers to the ends of the earth. In these days, when we
are especially reminded of the advent of Him who came to bring
good tidings of great joy for all people; when we solemnly and
joyfully set apart a week for prayer; in these days when the great
heart-beatings of those who manage our missionary organizations
find vent only in unceasing calls for more missionaries, it is a
great relief—indeed, a rest and assurance—to follow right on in the
Gospel way.
Already the day has dawned, and as we pray, joining with the angels
and the heavenly host, deep calling unto deep, over against the
prayer we are taught to utter will follow the certain interrogation
from the Captain of our salvation, which answers itself, lovingly,
royally and sufficiently: “Whom shall I send and who will go for
us?”
* * * * *
WEEKLY OFFERINGS—AN OBJECTION CONSIDERED.
REV. GEO. HARRIS, PROVIDENCE. R. I.
It is objected to the system of weekly offerings, that it
practically does away with the presentation from the pulpit of the
claims of our missionary societies. The objection is not a serious
one, and serves only to show that the real difficulty lies further
back than the method of giving. It proceeds on the assumption
that in churches where occasional collections are taken, sermons
are preached annually by the pastor or by the secretaries on the
claims of all the principal societies. This is not true. There
are very few churches, with whatever methods of giving, where
sermons are frequently heard on missionary subjects. The objection
assumes that under the system of weekly offerings sermons are not
and cannot profitably be preached on the claims of our missionary
societies. This, also, is not true. In these churches such sermons
are sometimes preached, and may be very effective, taking the years
together.
The objection assumes that people are to be interested in missions
chiefly by listening to frequent discourses on the subject, while
the truth is, that preaching is only one method among others. The
real difficulty, I have said, lies further back than the particular
method of giving which may be used by a church. The difficult thing
is to produce an intelligent and sustained interest in Christian
work beyond local limits. This difficulty has been felt for years
and cannot be met by simply making public appeals from time to
time. There are various methods which may be employed with some
success under any system of giving, but which will leave much to
be done anywhere. It should be well understood, first of all, that
it is the duty, not of secretaries, but of pastors, to keep the
people alive to the progress of Christ’s kingdom in the world. The
first condition is, that pastors be well informed about missionary
enterprises and deeply in sympathy with them. If it were certain
that the pastors know the progress and plans of missions, and that
they are really solicitous to remove the ignorance and apathy of
the people, the battle would be more than half won. Now, when the
pastor has an intelligent interest in missions at home and abroad,
the following suggestions may be useful:
A sermon devoted to this subject may be preached occasionally, and
the preacher may enrich sermons on other subjects by illustrations
from the multiform conditions and incidents of missionary work,
and thus accomplish two objects at the same time. But the second
service, which should be devoted to instruction rather than
persuasion, may frequently become a missionary meeting.
The prayers of the pastor may be made more effective for missions
than his sermons. If he makes mention in his prayers of the
servants of Christ who are toiling among the heathen, or the
Freedmen, or the Western settlers, and prays, not with a tedious
enumeration, but with fervor and definiteness, he will put missions
on the hearts of the people. What has a place frequently in our
prayers has a place in our sympathies. Yet how often the petitions
of public worship are confined to the boundaries of the parish.
Something may be done by increasing the circulation of missionary
magazines. Let the annual contribution make as many life members as
possible, to whom these publications will be sent.
Thus there are various means to be used in the interest of
missionary work. What is needed is the flavor of missions in
the life of the churches, the vision of Christ’s kingdom kept
continually before the imagination and faith of the people, the
proportions of the local, not magnified into excessive size, but
brought into true harmony with the greatness of our Redeemer’s
work for the race. Not all people can be aroused into interest for
missionary work by any methods; whatever the zeal of the pastor,
some indifference will remain. But if he has the missionary spirit,
he will not be contented with an occasional preaching. He will
determine the tone of worship and the direction of all endeavors
by his enlarged view of God’s plan for the redemption of men. New
suggestions, allusions, illustrations and prayers will swell the
current of sympathy for missions, and increase contributions under
any method of giving.
But, at all events, if the pastor thinks it wise to preach on the
subject, or introduce a Secretary when collections are to be taken,
there is no reason why he may not pursue the same course when
pledges of money are made only once a year.
* * * * *
A FEW WORDS TO THE CHURCHES.
It is customary for our District Secretaries at this season to
send to the churches letters and circulars containing statements
of receipts and appeals for future co-operation. We give below
extracts from circulars issued from our offices at Boston and
Chicago, commending them as pertinent, timely, and fitted to
provoke unto love and good works.
The following comes from Secretary Woodworth:
The battle for the Republic and her institutions will be fought
_in the South_; and for the simple reason that the battle will be
fought where the causes of the battle exist, and the principles
which underlie our free institutions encounter most of opposition
and danger.
And this battle for the foundations of the Republic, and for the
administration of every public right and interest, is now upon
us. The war itself involved no graver questions, and called for
no higher style of patriotic sacrifice and zeal. Every appliance
of Christian education and of moral power must be enlisted to
uplift the people and unify the nation; and for this work the
time favors. For four years, at least, we have an open course;
the political signs are more auspicious; and we may hope to _push
far ahead_ the forces of intellectual and moral regeneration.
The colored people are intensely loyal to the rule of majorities;
they believe, heart and soul, in those who broke their chains;
they accept their principles, and receive joyfully the lessons
of their teachers and their preachers. With them we can build
up free schools, Christian churches and homes, and plant and
develop the seeds and forces which have their type and prophecy
in Plymouth Rock. Now is our time.
Arm them with a true manhood; educate them into a true knowledge
of their duties to God and to man, and they will bring peace and
strength to our land, now threatened with storm and wreck, and
prepare the way for the redemption of the Dark Continent itself.
Secretary Powell’s appeal concludes with special requests, inviting
immediate attention. He says:
The Executive Committee ask for an increase of twenty-five per
cent. this coming year to the contributions from churches and
individuals.
1. If your Church has not yet made a contribution to the American
Missionary Association during the year, will you please ask them
to do so before the year ends?
2. When your Church reviews the benevolence of the past year, and
plans for the next, will you please see to it that the A. M. A.
is placed on the list of causes for which contributions are to be
made, and that the time of year when the contribution is to be
taken is chosen with a full view of the great importance of our
work? The time of year selected often makes all the difference
between a large and a small contribution.
3. At the monthly concert will you please plan so that the work
of the A. M. A. will have a place in the prayer and thought of
your people, and that some field or branch of our work shall be
reported? The despised races of America, and those who, in great
self-denial, privation, and sometimes opposition, labor for them,
should not be forgotten when God’s people meet to pray for the
conversion of the world.
4. Will pastors please arrange so that at some time during the
year they will preach a sermon to their people on the work of the
A. M. A.? The November number of THE AMERICAN MISSIONARY will be
found rich in fact and suggestion for such a discourse. The theme
will prove to be of great interest both to preacher and hearer.
5. Will you endeavor to enlarge the circle of the readers of our
monthly magazine, THE AMERICAN MISSIONARY?
Specimen copies in any number will be sent you free if you so
request. The Magazine gives reliable information respecting our
work, and notices the current events that relate to the welfare
and progress of the races for whom we labor. It will be found a
helpful factor in the development of an intelligent, patriotic
and tender piety to the membership of the churches.
May we not confidently look for the co-operation of every one
into whose hand this appeal comes to make certain that the
increase asked for by our Executive Committee shall be secured?
Plan for it, pray for it, talk about it, interest others in it,
and don’t forget to _give_ for it.
* * * * *
DISCUSSION OF INDIAN AFFAIRS.
We rejoice in the continued agitation of the Indian problem. It
is only under the shelter of popular indifference that wrong
and revenge become the order of the day—with murders, wars and
boundless expense. Under “the sunlight of publicity” the wrongs
are detected and the remedies are projected and applied. Just
now we are favored with three valuable papers on this subject.
In the first place we have the report of the Committee of Indian
Affairs, giving a very encouraging statement of the progress of the
Indians in the arts of civilization. We have next the elaborate
report of Hon. Carl Schurz, Secretary of the Interior, in which,
with a frankness as rare as it is commendable, he acknowledges the
change of views and policy of the Administration in relation to
Indian affairs. He then with great clearness outlines its present
policy, and takes occasion to speak minutely of the case of the
Poncas. The injustice done to them in their original removal from
Dakota is admitted, but it is also clear to him that it “would
be contrary, alike to their own interests and to those of the
country at large, to remove them from their present homes. This
conclusion is arrived at by reason of various considerations, such
as the fact that their present condition in the Indian Territory is
prosperous; that they do not themselves want to return North, and
also because if they are removed back to Dakota, the other Northern
Indians now in the Indian Territory would be made restless with a
desire to follow their example. This would, in all probability,
result in an extensive evacuation of the Indian Territory, and of
that part of it which contains the lands coveted by the intruders,
and which lands are held against them on the ground that they are
reserved for Indian settlement. It is obvious,” says the Secretary,
“that the evacuation by the Indians of the region held for Indian
settlement, and defended on that very ground against intruders,
would be apt greatly to encourage and stimulate the projects of
invasion, which, although repeatedly repelled, are pursued by
evil-disposed persons with persistent activity.” The last of these
papers is the President’s message, in which he endorses and briefly
recapitulates the views of the Secretary of the Interior in regard
to the Indians. We clip from this a few paragraphs presenting the
attitude of the Administration:
“It gives me great pleasure to say that our Indian affairs appear
to be in a more hopeful condition now than ever before. The
Indians have made gratifying progress in agriculture, herding and
mechanical pursuits. The introduction of the freighting business
among them has been remarkably fruitful of good results, in
giving many of them congenial and remunerative employment, and
in stimulating their ambition to earn their own support. Their
honesty, fidelity and efficiency as carriers are highly praised.
The organization of a police force of Indians has been equally
successful in maintaining law and order upon the reservations,
and in exercising a wholesome moral influence among the Indians
themselves.
“Much care and attention has been devoted to the enlargement of
educational facilities for the Indians. The means available for
this important object have been very inadequate. A few additional
boarding-schools at Indian agencies have been established, and
the erection of buildings has been begun for several more, but an
increase of the appropriations for this interesting undertaking is
greatly needed to accommodate the large number of Indian children
of school age. The number offered by their parents from all parts
of the country for education in the Government schools is much
larger than can be accommodated with the means at present available
for that purpose. The number of Indian pupils at the Normal School
at Hampton. Va., under the direction of General Armstrong, has been
considerably increased, and their progress is highly encouraging.
The Indian School established by the Interior Department in 1879,
at Carlisle, Pa., under the direction of Captain Pratt, has been
equally successful. It has now nearly 200 pupils of both sexes,
representing a great variety of the tribes east of the Rocky
Mountains. The pupils in both these institutions receive not
only an elementary English education, but are also instructed in
house-work, agriculture and useful mechanical pursuits.
“The interest shown by Indian parents, even among the so-called
wild tribes, in the education of their children, is very gratifying,
and gives promise that the results accomplished by the efforts now
making will be of lasting benefit.
“I concur with the Secretary of the Interior in expressing the
earnest hope that Congress will at this session take favorable
action on the bill providing for the allotment of lands on the
different reservations in severalty to the Indians, with patents
conferring fee-simple title inalienable for a certain period, and
the eventual disposition of the residue of the reservations, for
general settlement, with the consent and for the benefit of the
Indians, placing the latter under the equal protection of the laws
of the country. This measure, together with a vigorous prosecution
of our educational efforts, will work the most important and
effective advance toward the solution of the Indian problem, in
preparing for the gradual merging of our Indian population in the
great body of American citizenship.”
We have never doubted the honest purpose of President Hayes’
Administration to deal justly and wisely with the Indian problem,
and the plan it now proposes must meet the approbation of all
good citizens. The great question still remains: How far will the
Nation insist on the necessary legislation by Congress to carry
out these plans? It is in this point of view that we hail with
gratification the continued agitation of the subject, even if it
should involve differences of opinion among the warmest friends
of the Indians. And there are such differences. For example, it
is said that the claim of great improvement among the Indians, as
shown in their making demand for lands in severalty, and in their
progress in agricultural industries, is mere rhetoric, for it has
been repeated over and over again for years, in the reports of the
Indian Department. “Fine words butter no parsnips” for the Indian,
any more than for the white man. Give to the Indian his patents and
secure to him his rights. The _doing of it_ is the thing demanded.
Then, too, Mr. Tibbles and Bright Eyes are still on the war
path, with a following so earnest and respectable as to command
attention. We do not pronounce on the justice of their claim, but
we do welcome the agitation. The great thing to be dreaded is the
relegation of the Indian question to indifference and neglect. It
has many aspects, and its permanent and righteous settlement is the
immediate and imperative duty of the nation.
* * * * *
WOMAN’S WORK FOR WOMAN.
MISS MARY E. SAWYER.
A Paper read at the Women’s Meeting, held in connection with the
Annual Meeting of the American Missionary Association at Norwich,
Ct.
Before every Southern teacher to whom comes the opportunity of
presenting this cause, so dear to us, to the Christian women of the
North, two pictures rise.
Looking upon the one, you would shrink back in dismay, wondering
if it be not hopeless to try and illumine a darkness so gloomy,
to raise a class so utterly buried in ignorance, superstition
and sin. But, could we turn to you the other view, show the work
done, acquaint you with the trials, the sacrifices, the glorious
victories over fiery temptations, the patient continuance in
well-doing in the face of obstacles almost insurmountable, then,
indeed, you might be tempted to take the other extreme and feel
that missionaries are hardly needed among a people whose Christian
record shines brighter than our own. So, coming as pledged
witnesses before you to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing
but the truth, we shrink from the vastness of the undertaking, for
while exactly fulfilling the last requirement and telling nothing
but the truth, we keenly realize the many contradictions, and know
that the whole truth cannot be told in a single hour—can never,
indeed, be fully known till seen in the light of eternity.
We read of nations with no word for home. Come through the cabins
of the South and you will find not the name but the reality
wanting. You will not find there any incentive or help to personal
modesty, any retirement or any sense of impropriety in the state of
things. From these influences and homes many of our girls come to
us with minds and characters such as might be expected from such
surroundings. We sometimes speak of them as _children_, but the
comparison is hardly just. Never do I realize more keenly their
deprivations than after talking with Northern children—little
children whose precocity, to one fresh from the South, seems
almost alarming, suggestive of brain fevers and early death. From
babyhood their wits have been quickened by contact with other and
mature minds, their many questions wisely answered till they have
_absorbed_ knowledge enough to be intelligent companions before
their so-called education begins. But put them in the place of
the colored children, remove all books, all papers, all pictures,
let them have no knowledge of the outside world, let all their
questions be addressed to people as ignorant as themselves, and you
will find the youth of sixteen far behind the child of six.
To many of the girls, entering school is like entering a new world.
They sit for the first time in their lives at a well ordered table,
utterly at a loss as to the proper manner of conducting themselves.
The refined manners of the older students bewilder them.
The door of a teacher’s room is suddenly and unceremoniously thrown
open, and two or three girls march silently before her to the
fire, and standing with vacant faces by its warmth, are perfectly
unconscious of any impropriety in such a mode of entrance, or of
the need of a single word of explanation. It is no uncommon thing
for a girl to throw herself, fully dressed, on the outside of her
freshly-made bed and there pass the night, having no conception of
properly undressing and going to bed.
Our school work, then, includes much more than one would at first
imagine. Each girl has some part in the household work, and must
be taught the neatest, quickest and best method of doing it. This
does not mean once showing, but careful, patient oversight for
days and weeks. Her room, clean and tidy, when given her, must be
kept in the same condition, and this necessitates very frequent
and very thorough inspection, till she at length comprehends fully
that a hasty use of the broom, leaving the sweepings under the bed
or behind the door, a scrambling up of all loose articles into one
pile on the closet floor, or a set of drawers with finger marks
outside and a motley collection of clean and dirty clothing within,
will not satisfy the requirement.
The same care is exercised over her person; clean, whole clothing,
well-kept hair and thorough bathing transform her outwardly, while
the loud, boisterous tones, the coarse expressions, the uncouth
manners are toned and softened by constant care.
Sewing, in which they are woefully deficient, receives due
attention, and girls whose hands can manage a plough or a cotton
bag much more easily than they can hold a needle, become at the
end of the course very nice seamstresses, whose work would rejoice
the hearts of the advocates of hand sewing. In these classes,
besides plain sewing of every description, the girls are taught
patching and darning, and the cutting and putting together of
garments, and in at least one of the colleges, each girl who
graduates must leave behind a garment cut and made entirely by
herself, as a specimen of her skill.
A few minutes daily are spent in giving the assembled school a
brief summary of the important items of news in the great outside
world, and more or less time is devoted to plain talks on practical
matters, manners, morals and care of the health,—the last a
subject, by the way, with which they seem wholly unacquainted, and
which the girls especially need to become familiar with. Dress
reform in two directions needs to be impressed upon them, as the
uncouth garb of the girls from the woods, and the thin slippers,
cheap finery, powder, paint and corsets laced to the last verge of
human endurance donned by the city girls, bear testimony.
But this is not all. These girls are sent to us to be trained for
Christ, and knowing the utter folly of attempting to build up
a pure, noble womanhood on any other foundation than Christian
principle, we try by all our system and watchfulness and oversight
to establish them in this, earnestly praying the Master to send
from on high that blessing without which all our labors will be
nothing worth.
Have you never in some late Spring watched the brown leaf-buds, as
day after day they seemed to remain unchanged, till you were tired
of waiting for the fulfilment of their promise? And do you remember
your joyful surprise when, leaving them thus at night you woke to
find the whole tree aglow with the fresh, tiny bits of color from
the bursting buds? So we feel often as we wake to realize that the
rough, awkward girl who came to us has developed into the quiet,
refined Christian woman, leaving us for her life work. Nor are we
the only ones to see the transformation.
“I am looking to see what kind of a woman you are,” said a child to
one of the Talladega students as she opened her log cabin school in
the pine wood. “You look to me like a white lady.” The teacher’s
face was of the most pronounced African type, and black as ebony,
but her quiet dignity and refined manner excited the child’s wonder
and elicited the unconscious compliment.
As teachers, these girls carry the missionary spirit with them,
and feeling their responsibility, open Sunday-schools and engage
in temperance work as surely as they begin their day schools. Into
the cabins they carry, as far as may be, a regard for neatness,
order, and those little adornments which make home what it is.
Happy the young colored minister who wins one of them for his wife,
thus establishing a home which shall supplement his sermons and
act as leaven in the homes of his people. More than one graduate
of the colored theological seminaries is gravely hampered in his
usefulness by an ignorant, careless wife. As one frankly expressed
the matter to a brother minister, “My wife is more trouble to me
than all my work put together.” And in thus training our girls to
be careful, efficient housewives, we know we may be moulding not
them alone, nor their immediate households, but the whole community
of women over whom, as ministers’ wives and the most thoroughly
educated women, they will exert a powerful influence.
But we have deeply felt the need of more direct and personal
influence over the women. The work of the school needs to be
supplemented by that of the missionary: mother and daughter must
work together for the best result. But the teacher had little time
after the school duties were performed, and the lady missionaries
so sorely longed for, were very few in number. Why not, then, work
through our tried colored helpers? The description of the way this
has been done in other States I leave to those whose experience
is wider than my own. In Alabama, we have a “Woman’s Missionary
Association,” holding annual meetings in connection with the State
conference of churches, and having auxiliary societies in these
several churches. The colored women who compose these societies
have heartily and faithfully assumed the duties devolving upon
them, and helping others have themselves been helped.
The work done is varied, no rigid plan being laid down. Sewing
classes for the women and girls, prayer-meetings for the mothers,
Bible-readings, visiting from house to house, bearing food and
medicine for the sick, clothing for the destitute, and comfort
and sympathy for all, health talks—than which nothing can be more
needed,—literary societies to develop their untrained minds,
foreign missionary meetings to broaden their sympathies; all these
and other ways of working for the Lord are reported at their last
meeting. In April, for the first time, this annual meeting was
visited by several white Southern ladies. Our surprise at their
coming was only equalled by their amazement at the revelations.
“You put our ladies to the blush,” said one. “You are far ahead of
us in Christian work.”
“Only to think,” exclaimed another as she listened to the carefully
prepared papers and systematic reports,—“Only to think that we have
kept such women as these in slavery!”
There are bright, promising girls all over the South, who, to make
just such women as these, need only your help. You cannot leave
your home duties to go yourself to them, but you can provide the
means by which they may be fitted to act as your substitutes among
their people. “Ten times one is ten,” you know, and the girl to
whom you lend a hand may win many more souls into the kingdom. They
stand to-day on the border: your arm lifting, they will come into
power and usefulness: your heart closed to them, they will sink
back into the old life. There must be many in this room to-day who
have aided this work by gifts dearer to them than their own lives.
Does not the scene come back to you, when through blinding tears
you looked for the last time on brother or husband or son, as for
love of God and country the dear ones marched away to find a grave
beneath the Southern skies? They rest from their labors. It remains
for us, for their dear sake, to see that this work they so nobly
begun shall be as honorably carried on.
Doubtless the Lord could perfect this work without our aid, but He
has chosen to entrust it to our keeping. And with every instinct
of humanity, every impulse of patriotism, every principle of
Christianity urging us to the work, shall we not receive it as from
our Saviour’s hand, holding fast that which we have, that no man
take our crown?
* * * * *
BENEFACTIONS.
Mr. Cyrus H. McCormick has given $100,000 to the Presbyterian
Theological Seminary of Chicago, to place it entirely out of debt.
The late David N. Lord, of New York City, left by will $100,000 for
foreign missions, and $50,000 to the American Bible Society. He
also bequeathed $62,500 to local objects of charity.
Mr. R. L. Stewart, of New York City, has given $200,000 to be
divided equally between Princeton College and Princeton Theological
Seminary, to be applied for the endowment of Professorships.
By the will of Mrs. Altana Wescott, of Jersey City, nearly $100,000
is given to institutions connected with the Episcopal Church.
The widow of the Cologne banker, Von Oppenheim, has given $150,000
for a hospital for poor children of all denominations, in memory of
her late husband.
Mr. Wm. B. Spooner, of Boston, left by will $3,000, the income of
which is to be expended for the education of the colored people
at the South. He also made liberal provision for the State Total
Abstinence Society and the National Temperance Society of New York,
besides other bequests to worthy objects.
Mr. John T. Crawford, of Cincinnati, has left an estate valued from
$30,000 to $100,000, to be applied for a home for aged colored men.
His directions were that the institution be built on College Hill.
There seems to be some doubt about the ability of the executors to
carry out the conditions of the bequest.
The American Presbyterian Board of Missions has received from the
estate of the late Mrs. Lapsley, of New Albany, Ind., the sum of
$215,000, with the prospect of receiving $60,000 or $70,000 more
from the same source.
* * * * *
GENERAL NOTES.
Africa.
—Sir Garnet Wolseley has given to the Berlin Missionary Society
a large tract of land in South Africa to be used for a Mission
Station.
—The mission at Frere Town, East Central Africa, has proved an
inviting rendezvous for run-away slaves. The missionaries have
no power to keep them, but have opportunity to expostulate with
their owners for any cruelties they may inflict upon them. The
practical result is that the masters become intimidated and angry,
and would make an end of the missionaries if they had the power.
The settlement has already been threatened with destruction. It is
hoped, however, that the impending calamity may be over-ruled, to
the overthrow of slavery on the coast.