[Illustration: SEPTEMBER, 1888.
The American Missionary
VOL. XLII.
NO. 9.]
[Illustration: CONTENTS]
EDITORIAL.
ANNUAL MEETING—FINANCIAL, 237
A CREED—PARAGRAPHS, 238
MR. MOODY—AFRICA—SIOUX BILL, 239
MOUNTAIN WORK AND THE COLORED PEOPLE, 240
EMANCIPATION IN BRAZIL, 241
INTER-BLENDING OF MISSIONARY WORK, 242
SCHOOL ECHOES—EXTRACT, 244
DEATH OF MRS. L. A. ORR, 245
ON TO JESUS; ON TO GOD, 246
THE SOUTH.
NOTES IN THE SADDLE. By District Secretary Ryder, 246
THE BUSY WORKERS, 248
TALLADEGA COLLEGE, 249
TRINITY SCHOOL, ATHENS, ALA., 251
STUDENT’S LETTER.
HOW I WON MY SCHOOL, 252
THE INDIANS.
SPEECH OF AN INDIAN CHIEF, 255
FORT YATES, DAKOTA, 255
THE CHINESE.
CHRISTIAN CHINESE EN ROUTE TO CHINA, 256
BUREAU OF WOMAN’S WORK.
LETTER FROM SAN FRANCISCO, 259
OUR YOUNG FOLKS.
LITTLE INDIANS, 260
RECEIPTS, 261
* * * * *
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., LL.D., N.Y.
_Vice-Presidents._
Rev. A. J. F. BEHRENDS, D.D., N.Y.
Rev. F. A. NOBLE, D.D., Ill.
Rev. ALEX. MCKENZIE, D.D., Mass.
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._
_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._
LYMAN ABBOTT,
CHARLES A. HULL,
J. R. DANFORTH,
CLINTON B. FISK,
ADDISON P. FOSTER,
_For Two Years._
S. B. HALLIDAY,
SAMUEL HOLMES,
SAMUEL S. MARPLES,
CHARLES L. MEAD,
ELBERT B. MONROE,
_For One Year._
J. E. RANKIN,
WM. H. WARD,
J. W. COOPER,
JOHN H. WASHBURN,
EDMUND L. CHAMPLIN.
_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.
_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.
FORM OF A BEQUEST.
“I BEQUEATH to my executor (or executors) the sum of —— dollars, in
trust, to pay the same in —— days after my decease to the person
who, when the same is payable, shall act as Treasurer of the
‘American Missionary Association,’ of New York City, to be applied,
under the direction of the Executive Committee of the Association,
to its charitable uses and purposes.” The Will should be attested
by three witnesses.
* * * * *
THE
AMERICAN MISSIONARY.
* * * * *
VOL. XLII. SEPTEMBER, 1888. NO. 9.
* * * * *
American Missionary Association.
* * * * *
The next Annual Meeting of the American Missionary Association will
be held at Providence, R.I., commencing at three o’clock Tuesday
afternoon, October 23d. Rev. Arthur Little, D.D., of Chicago,
will preach the sermon. On the last page of the cover will be
found directions as to membership and other items of interest.
Fuller details regarding the reception of delegates and their
entertainment, together with rates at hotels, and railroad and
steamboat reductions, will be given in the religious press and in
the next number of the MISSIONARY.
A meeting of great interest is expected, and we trust our friends
will make their preparations in due time to be present.
* * * * *
OUR RECEIPTS for the ten months ending July 31st are $235,884.73,
an increase of $6,377.40 as compared with the corresponding months
of last year. The increase from collections is $12,628.92, and
the decrease from legacies is $6,251.52, leaving the net increase
as stated. This increase from collections is gratifying; but our
expenditures during the last ten months have been $27,079.89
greater than for the same months last year.
This increase has been due not only to the imperative demands for
the enlargement of the work, but to the added facilities afforded
by the contributions of friends who have realized these needs and
have provided the necessary buildings and improvements.
The patrons of the Association have been wont to rally in the
month of September to save us from debt. Our average receipts
from _collections_ for that month for the past three years have
been $38,000, which is nearly double the average of our monthly
collections for the past year. We hope our friends have not lost
their zeal in our work, and that their hearts are as warm and their
hands as liberal as ever.
We ask their attention to the two items that follow:
_A Practical, Thoughtful Man._
A gentleman once said to a Secretary of this Association: “I
contribute regularly to all our Congregational societies, and in
addition to that I lay aside $100 for the society that stands
in the greatest need. I notice that one or the other of these
societies comes to the close of its fiscal year threatened with
debt, and this year I think the American Missionary Association
must have the $100.”
Thanks were duly expressed.
_A Creed._
We believe that there are many such practical, thoughtful men in
our churches who lay by money, some more, some less, for this good
purpose.
We believe there are many more Christian people, who, while they do
not plan so definitely, yet keep watch of the benevolent societies,
and come to the rescue in time of need.
We believe that some give out of their abundance, and others,
feeling themselves somewhat straitened yet realizing the
difficulties of a benevolent society in like circumstances, decide,
in the spirit of Christian self-sacrifice, to aid with their mite
the embarrassed society.
We believe there are pastors, devoted and efficient in their parish
work, who yet are broad-minded and large-hearted enough to keep a
watchful eye on the interests of the great missionary societies,
and, at the appropriate time, to urge upon their churches liberal
contributions for the hour of need.
We believe that, at this time, the American Missionary Association
is the society needing special help at the close of its financial
year, and we earnestly exhort practical, thoughtful Christians and
churches to make special remembrance of our wants by prompt and
liberal contributions during the month of September.
* * * * *
WE begin this month the publication of a series of letters received
from students or graduates of our various institutions in the
South. They will be found very readable. Those of our friends who
begin the one we publish in this number will read it through, we
are very sure, and will be glad to read the others as they come in
successive numbers.
* * * * *
HOW BRIEF the passage from life to death. This number of THE
MISSIONARY contains a very interesting sketch of the Commencement
exercises at Talladega College, written by Mrs. L. A. Orr; and
yet, on another page, will be found the record of her death. Happy
are they who are toiling in the Master’s vineyard when the summons
comes.
* * * * *
WE had the pleasure of an intimate acquaintance with Rev. G. D.
Pike, D.D., for nearly twenty years. We knew that his studies ran
beyond the range of official work, but we never suspected that he
indulged in writing verses. Since his death, several hymns have
been found, written by him, and, on another page, we present one
of these. It was written during his absence for his health and when
he regarded the end of life as not far off, and indicates his faith
and hope. The many friends of Dr. Pike will be glad to read this.
* * * * *
MR. MOODY.
Mr. Moody as a lay evangelist has made a marvellous, a unique,
record in modern Christian labors. No layman, and few clergymen,
have surpassed him in this peculiar work. But Mr. Moody’s efforts
in another line are attracting the attention and admiration of
Christians in all parts of the world. We venture the prediction
that one hundred years hence Mr. Moody will be better known by
the schools he has founded than by the evangelistic work he has
done. There is something about a permanent institution, like the
opening of a living spring on the hillside, that is refreshing
and perennial. John Harvard and Elihu Yale opened such fountains.
Other men of to-day are doing the same thing in the South, either
by the consecration of permanent funds or the founding of permanent
institutions. May their number be multiplied.
* * * * *
AFRICA.
Alas for poor Africa! The day of her redemption lingereth. The
rebellion of the Mahdi hindered the progress of civilization in
the vast regions of the Upper Nile. It occurred precisely at the
time that Rev. Dr. Ladd was making his explorations near the mouth
of the Sobat, with a view to the establishment of the Arthington
Mission. The hope that was entertained that this sudden and
disastrous outbreak would soon be quelled has been disappointed.
The Mahdi is dead, but he has a successor, Khalifa Abdullah,
who, if he does not inherit the Mahdi’s remarkable powers, yet
can suffice to keep the Soudan in turmoil. Emin Bey has not been
rescued and Stanley’s whereabouts and safety are uncertain. Is
it not time that the duty of the American of African descent to
the land of his fathers should be pressed upon him, and that the
Christian church should help to prepare him for that duty?
* * * * *
THE SIOUX BILL.
The friends of the Indians have sought earnestly and successfully
to secure proper legislation looking to the civilization of the
Indians. The Dawes Bill and the Sioux Bill have been hailed with
joy as important steps in this direction.
But Senator Dawes himself and other intelligent friends of the
Indians have foreseen the possible difficulties in the way. The
refusal of the Indians to sign the treaty at the recent council
at Standing Rock, and the indication at this writing that the
same refusal will meet the Commissioners at the Cheyenne, Rosebud
and Pine Ridge Agencies, present the picket lines of these
difficulties. But beyond all these lie the stronger hindrances.
The great trouble is that the Indian is still an Indian, in his
ignorance, his want of training for civilized life, his dislike
of work, and his incompetency to make profitable use of the lands
and teams and implements proffered to him. Of what use to any
man, white or Indian, is 160 acres of land if he doesn’t want it,
if he doesn’t know how to use it, and can’t make a living on it?
After all that has been said and done, the thing that the Indian
needs is a _Christian education_. If he has that, he will know how
to work and will be inclined to work, and will become a good and
self-supporting citizen. Christian friends of the Indian! rally to
the great work of Christianing these Indians. The primer and the
New Testament are their great want.
* * * * *
THE MOUNTAIN WORK AND THE COLORED PEOPLE.
There are three things which give special emphasis to the
importance of pushing forward the “Mountain Work.”
1. The great material, intellectual and spiritual destitution of
the more than two million people of our Southern mountains—a people
of good natural endowments, who respond readily to the life-giving
impulses of a pure gospel—is the thing which appeals most directly
to our sympathy.
2. Many well-informed business men are confidently declaring that
this is the richest mineral region of the world. Already they are
either building or planning railroads through every part of the
mountains, which are made profitable not only by the wonderful
mines which open at their approach, but also by the great forests
of black walnut, poplar, and other valuable timber. This, of
course, means that the present primitive condition of things
cannot long remain. It must give way to something else. Whether it
shall be to godlessness and wickedness of every form, or whether
the natural religiousness of the people shall be met with pure
and uplifting gospel influences—with the Church and the Christian
school—depends in a large measure on what our churches and
individual Christians say through the treasury of this Association.
What will take years of work and thousands of dollars in the future
can now be done in months and with hundreds.
3. But this work has a connection with our other Southern work
which has been little noted. These mountains extend down into the
very heart of the South, in a territory 200 miles broad and 500
miles long. In the late war, the people were loyal to the Union
almost to a man, and thousands of them fought for its preservation.
Slaves were few among them, and colored people are now scarcely
more numerous than they are in the North, though the proportion
is increasing. The result is a natural affiliation with what
are known as “Northern Ideas.” The feeling against a Christian
treatment of the colored people is neither so bitter nor so
deep-rooted as elsewhere in the South. It has been demonstrated
that no-caste churches and schools can be established and
maintained, and the general sentiment of the whole region can, by
vigorous missionary work, be moulded to the Christian view.
The people of this region—vivified and developed, intellectually
and spiritually, on the broad basis of Congregational Christianity;
believing in, and practicing, the doctrine that all men were
created free and equal and should have equal rights in all
public matters; and, in their new and fast-increasing commercial
importance, in constant contact with other portions of the
South—would furnish an unanswerable argument against the fears of
the Southern white people with reference to the amalgamation of
the races, and other direful results, which would follow a just
treatment of the colored man. “And seeing the man which was healed
standing with them, they could say nothing against it.”
* * * * *
EMANCIPATION IN BRAZIL—WHAT IS TO FOLLOW?
It is a curious fact that, in precisely the last fifty years,
slavery has been abolished by the four great nations holding the
greatest number of slaves and representing the three great forms
of the Christian religion—the Protestant, the Greek and the Roman
Catholic.
Thus England, a Protestant power, emancipated her slaves in the
West Indies in 1838; Russia, of the Greek Church, freed her serfs
in 1861; the United States, a Protestant nation, emancipated her
slaves in 1863; and now, Brazil, a Roman Catholic empire, completes
the circle by emancipating her slaves in 1888.
While these facts are remarkable, and present cause for profound
gratitude to God, there is yet a lesson of vital importance to be
learned which Brazil needs to understand, and which, indeed, the
other nations are not fully practicing.
In the British West Indies, very few white people remained after
emancipation, and the blacks lacked their guidance and example; and
besides this, it was years afterwards before the British Government
made any adequate provision for the education of the ex-slaves.
From these two causes have come nearly all the evils that have
grown out of the emancipation.
Russia presents a still more striking lesson. In 1861, as the
result of a great national movement towards constitutional liberty,
her fifty millions of serfs were emancipated. The next year, she
celebrated the thousandth anniversary of her national existence,
and the enthusiasm for a free government was intensified. But all
these hopes were dashed—no new constitution was given, the Czar
ruled autocratically as before, the serfs were not educated or
enfranchised, and largely sunk into ignorance and intemperance.
The result of all has been nihilism, and the Czar lives in hourly
fear of death, and rules his people by terror, the prison and
Siberia.
The United States has done far better. It enfranchised the slave
and made him a citizen; the National Government, through the
Freedmen’s Bureau, expended several millions of dollars for his
education; the States organized public school systems, and the
benevolent people of the North rendered still more effective
service, being the first to introduce the work, acting always, when
permitted, in co-operation with the Bureau and with the States,
and continuing its work, blending the educational largely with the
religious. But in spite of all this, a dark cloud gathers on our
horizon—the blacks are not allowed the free enjoyment of their
guaranteed rights, and the facilities for educational and religious
enlightenment are entirely inadequate. Three millions of the
blacks of ten years of age and upward, in 1880, could not write.
America needs not only to ponder these facts, but to act upon them
promptly, if it would avert the impending danger.
In these facts Brazil should read her warning. If her ex-slaves
are left in ignorance and vice, she has her work only begun, and
the last end may be worse than the beginning. The laws of Brazil
have favored gradual emancipation. It was the work of a woman that
completed it. In the absence of the Emperor, who was sick in Italy,
his daughter, as Regent, issued the final decree.
May we not hope that the womanly wisdom and philanthropy which
dictated the initial act may prompt to the persevering use of
the means of the last great duty? And may we not hope that, as
thousands of the educated women of the North devoted themselves
to the uplifting of the blacks in the Southern States, so their
sisters in Brazil may give the crowning glory to emancipation in
Brazil?
* * * * *
INTER-BLENDING OF MISSIONARY WORK.
The great London Missionary Conference, recently held, awakened
much enthusiasm on the spot in behalf of foreign missions, and we
believe that the published records and addresses will intensify
and perpetuate that salutary influence. The Christian world needs
arousing to the great work of the church in heathen lands.
There is, however, an inter-blending in all parts of missionary
work that should never be overlooked. The home field is the source
of the means, and men, and prayers, that must energize the work
in the foreign field. Dead churches at home cannot give life to
mission work abroad.
There is another form in which the home and foreign fields are
blended. The American Missionary Association is ranked, and
properly, as a home missionary organization, but it has its
relations to the foreign field.
1. It is called to train the Freedmen of America for mission work
in Africa. White men meet a speedy death in malarial Africa, and
they come to the natives as strangers. The Freedmen can better
endure the climate of their fatherland and will be welcomed by the
people as brothers. We believe that the great problem of African
evangelization is destined, in the providence of God, to be largely
solved by the ex-slaves of America.
2. The Indians of the United States have been ranked heretofore as
coming under the work of foreign missions. At one time the American
Board had the largest share of its work among these people. Other
Christian denominations so classed their Indian missions, in part,
at least—and all this properly, for the mass of the Indians are
still heathen. The day will come when the Indian will be lost in
the man, and then gospel work for him will be home or parish work.
But at present the American Missionary Association is doing foreign
mission work in the home field, among these Indians.
3. The Chinaman in America, like the Negro in America, is cultured
and Christianized here very largely for the sake of China. He comes
here not to stay, but to go back to the home of his fathers. Now,
if we don’t stone him, or mob him, but imbue him with the gospel,
he goes back home as a missionary. A specimen of the spirit in
which he returns can be seen in the touching letter from a Chinese
convert in another column of this magazine. The Hong Kong Mission,
established under the auspices of the American Board, and to which
our converted Chinamen on the Pacific Slope contributed both men
and money, is an illustration of the way in which the American
Missionary Association touches the foreign field in China.
4. Last, but not least. The battle against caste must be fought,
and the victory won, in America. As the last battle against
slavery was fought and won here for the world, so we must fight
the battle of caste here for India as well as for America. Fifty
years ago very wise and good brethren said: “You Abolitionists are
right _theoretically_, slavery is wrong and ought to be abolished
immediately; but _practically_ you are a set of visionaries.
Slavery is a local institution, and if you wish to push your
denominational interests in the South, you must establish your
churches there and let the question of slavery alone.” We have
lived long enough to hear these brethren confess their mistake.
There are wise and good brethren now that say: “_Theoretically_,
caste is all wrong, but it exists and can’t be overthrown, and if
you wish to press your denominational work in the South, you must
ignore that question and plant your churches on the color line.”
Somebody will live to hear those who take this position confessing
their mistake. The American Missionary Association stands now on
the caste question just where it once stood in regard to slavery.
It will neither dodge nor compromise, and will plant schools and
churches in the South, if at all, openly and avowedly disregarding
class distinctions. It makes no effort to bring the races together,
yet any man, woman or child, otherwise qualified, will be welcomed
to its schools and churches, even if God has made him black. In
waging this warfare in America, it is doing a Christian missionary
work against caste in heathen nations of the old world.
SCHOOL ECHOES.
Question.—“When and how long did Solomon reign?”
Answer.—“10,000 years before Christ. He rained forty days and forty
nights.”
Question.—“Susy, can you tell me what I read to you about
yesterday?”
Answer.—“Christ and the twelve opossums.”
In Mississippi, one of our teachers taught her class faithfully the
golden text, “Put off thy shoes from off thy feet; for the place
whereon thou standest is holy ground.” The next Sunday, only one
girl could remember it, and she recited it thus: “Moses, Moses,
take off them shoes.”
The colored preachers of the old time, in selecting their
illustrations from Bible characters, are wont to give them a
strongly imaginative turn; as for instance when one, in a long
story of Abraham’s trial in offering up Isaac, represented him as
“going along, holding on and not making any fuss during the journey
by day, but at night when Isaac was not by, as praying and crying
all night.”
ENGLISH AS SHE IS WRITTEN BY INDIAN STUDENTS.
THE RACES.—They are five races, which are the white and yellow, and
black and red and brown. The yellow race likes to eat rat, and the
black race likes to eat man, and the white race likes to eat frog,
and the red race likes to eat buffalo.
The Caucasian is the strongest in the world. The semi-civilized
have their own civilization, but not like the white race.
The savage race kept their own ways, and they have had three
occupations: they were hunted, fished and foughted to the other
people. They beat, too. The white race have three occupations:
agriculture, manufacturing and commerce.
The white people they are civilized; they have everything, and go
to school, too. They learn how to read and write so they can read
newspaper. The yellow people they half civilized, some of them know
how to read and write, and some know how to take care of themself.
The red people they big savages; they don’t know anything.
* * * * *
EXTRACT.
We do not print the extract given below because it has our
approval, but because it is taken from a newspaper published by
colored men, and is significant.
We have yet to learn that unless we organize for self-protection
and make use of our organization, we shall continue to be used as
foot-balls, and a target for infuriated white mobs. Unless we take
active and aggressive measures for our safety, we shall continue to
receive treatment which should not be administered to the beasts
of the field. We do not believe there should exist one law for
the white man and one law for the black man, as there exists in
the South to-day. We are all sovereign citizens, and should be
protected by the laws alike. The present dispensation of the law
in the South is an infamous outrage, and is unworthy of a great
country like ours.
What is the remedy for this state of affairs? History shows that
sooner or later oppressed people arise from their lethargy, and
take by force that which is denied them by the laws of their
country. What we need to do, is to organize such societies as the
one so earnestly advocated by the editor of the late _Freeman_, and
use such societies for the enforcement of the law and the obtaining
of our rights when they are denied us.
The colored people of this country need not expect that their white
fellow-citizens are going to aid them in this struggle, so we might
as well put our shoulder to the wheel, buckle on our armor and
go forth to the conflict with stern faces and undaunted courage.
Blessings never come to those who recline upon the indolent couch
of ease and wait for them; the honors of this life do not come
unsought; a tree planted does not grow to maturity and produce
abundant fruit unless nurtured and cared for until it is able to
withstand the changes of the seasons. So with our condition in this
country. As long as we remain silent while our rights are being
filched from us, we may expect a continuance of this kind of thing.
Let us organize ourselves into a powerful and extensive
organization and then we shall be in a position to make a
systematic and aggressive, as well as harmonious, struggle for our
rights. If we do this, we shall command the respect of all men,
even if we fail in obtaining what we struggled for. But we shall
not fail. Truth and justice sooner or later triumph, if those who
champion them are only true to themselves.
* * * * *
DEATH OF MRS. L. A. ORR.
In the rest and quiet of vacation, death has come to the little
band left at Talladega.
On July 15th, Mrs. Orr passed suddenly away from earth. The day
before, while riding with a friend, the horse stumbled, and falling
forward pulled her out of the buggy to the ground. It was not
supposed she was seriously hurt, but later it was found that the
fall had produced concussion of the brain. In about two hours she
became unconscious, and lay in that condition through all the hours
of the night. At 9:30 on Sabbath morning, without a word or look
of recognition, she passed away. Thus has ended a most useful and
consecrated life. She was president of our W. C. T. U., and none
will be more missed. Tired teachers ever found a warm welcome, rest
and quiet in her pleasant rooms, and guests of the college will
remember with gratitude Mrs. Orr’s careful thoughtfulness for their
comfort.
Leaving a pleasant home at the North and remunerative occupation,
Mr. and Mrs. Orr came into this missionary work with but a single
aim, that of doing good, and nobly has it been accomplished.
By their efforts, mission schools in two out-stations have been
established and funds obtained for a school and church in one,
to be called Clinton Chapel in honor of the donors, most of whom
lived in Clinton, Mass. Mrs. Orr visited these schools. Her
personal presence cheered and encouraged them, and she gave from
her own means with no unsparing hand to further the work. The
death of their friend brings great sorrow to the people of these
neighborhoods, and they are greatly cast down. “Shall we have to
give up our new chapel?” and “What can we do without Mrs. Orr?” are
questions asked on all sides.
Dear friend! God help us to more faithfully and prayerfully carry
on the work you have laid down.
A. R. D.
* * * * *
ON TO JESUS; ON TO GOD.
BY REV. G. D. PIKE, D.D.
Holy Spirit, comfort me:
I am sadly stained by sin;
Help thou mine infirmity,
Lead me where the Lamb hath been.
Thou canst guide me o’er the road,
On to Jesus; on to God.
I have grieved thee oft and sore,
Quenched thy gentle, kindly voice;
Take, O take me evermore,
Let my soul again rejoice.
Set my feet upon the road;
On to Jesus; on to God.
Finish thou the work in me,
Now so graciously begun;
Thanks and praise my song shall be
To the blessed three in one,
As I hie me o’er the road,
On to Jesus; on to God.
When my mortal days are done;
When I meet the Lamb that died;
Grant, O grant thy erring son
Rest among the glorified,
Ransomed, saved, along the road.
On to Jesus; on to God.
MATLOCK BANK, ENG., July 1, 1882.
* * * * *
THE SOUTH.
* * * * *
NOTES IN THE SADDLE.
BY REV. C. J. RYDER, DISTRICT SECRETARY.
The Sunday-school work of the A. M. A. has always been an important
element of that work. The rapid development of this department
within the past few years has been somewhat remarkable. Our
friends expressed grateful surprise at the Portland meeting that
the statistics were so exceedingly encouraging along this line.
“The total Sunday-school enrollment, as it appears in the Annual
Report of 1882, was 7,835, but we are able to report this year an
enrollment of 15,109, an increase in five years of 7,274, or nearly
100 per cent.,” was the very satisfactory showing as given in the
last Annual Report.
Two interesting bits of history have recently come to me, which
indicate that the Sunday-school work of the Association is
developing with still greater rapidity and success. Reports were
gathered from twenty-two of the students of Straight University,
New Orleans, who taught school during the summer vacation. These
students were not so busy with their work in the day-school
as to neglect their duty as Christians in the organization of
Sunday-schools. They were scattered throughout Louisiana and
Mississippi, and reached many needy fields. They reported the
following facts:
Number of pupils in the day-schools which were taught by them 1,398
Number of Sunday-schools organized 13
These students were superintendents or teachers in 22
Number of scholars in these Sunday-schools 1,574
Number of hopeful conversions to Christ 168
Five Bands of Mercy were organized with a membership of 181
Four Temperance Societies were formed with a membership of 241
These facts furnish us excellent evidence of the judicious and
enthusiastic efforts of these colored students to save and elevate
their own people. _Fifteen hundred and seventy-four_ children
gathered into Sunday-schools, most of whom were absolutely
unreached before, by these twenty-two under-graduates of a single
A. M. A. school!
It is not strange that the President of Straight University, in
giving these facts, adds, with evident satisfaction:
“If a complete record could be made of all the work done in one
year even, by past and present members of our school, or any of the
A. M. A. schools, it would make an aggregate most wonderful.”
* * * * *
Turning now to the progress of Sunday-school work in our great
Mountain field, we find the same remarkable development. Calvary
Congregational Church was organized at Pine Mountain, Tenn., Nov.
26, 1887, with thirteen members. The following striking facts are
just reported as the results secured in the past few months by the
energetic Christian workers in this church. Sunday-schools have
been established in the following places, with the enrollment given
below:
Calvary Church Sunday-school enrolled 142
Shiloh “ “ 127
New Prospect “ “ 68
Lick Creek “ “ 78
making a grand total of 415 children and young people gathered
into these Sunday-schools on the mountain, and only _ten pupils_
of this whole enrollment _had ever been in Sunday-School before_!!
Another school is soon to be formed in this neighborhood. This
“Pine Mountain” field is about 20 × 60 miles, and the little church
which the A. M. A. built during the past few months is the only
framed “church house” in the whole region. Think of it, O Christian
friends, you who hold the Lord’s money in trust, 1,200 square
miles, with cabin homes scattered along every “cove” and fertile
valley, left, to this year of our Lord 1888, with only one suitable
place of worship!
In building this new church, the people themselves have strained
every nerve and made large personal sacrifices. They have had the
occasional services of the General Missionary of the A. M. A. for
that locality, and I visited them once when Field Superintendent.
They have also been assisted from the A. M. A. treasury, but they
have labored in season and out of season themselves in order
to establish this splendid work. The rapid development of the
Sunday-schools is not the only feature of this work that merits our
attention. One member of this church has distributed during the
year 424 new Bibles and 145 second-hand Bibles. He has visited 500
families personally. He found that 60 per cent. of these people
were without the Word of God in complete form. A few had mutilated
copies of the Bible.
* * * * *
There are hundreds of fields in the Mountain Work of the A. M. A.
just as needy and just as hopeful as Pine Mountain. All the facts
indicate that God has now opened this field to us. An intelligent
mountaineer said to me, some months ago: “Our great and only hope
lies in the A. M. A. and the Congregational churches of the North.”
Surely these churches will not disappoint this hope, nor refuse to
heed the voice of God speaking to them in all the stirring events
of this Mountain Work.
* * * * *
THE BUSY WORKERS.
The hive of the American Missionary Association in the South
has no use for drones. The bees are at work summer and winter,
and they improve not only the “shining hour,” but have to be
busy in rainy days as well. One of our workers who has long
been in the field, and who deserves to be kept there still
longer, writes as follows in accepting re-appointment:
I most cheerfully accept the work for another year, and to show you
that it means work for me I will just give you my programme for the
past two weeks: A rough ride two weeks ago this P.M. to the top of
the mountain, and then on foot down the mountain to Spring City, to
take the night train for Lexington. Got into Lexington Wednesday
morning in a rain. Looked at this and that piece of property during
Wednesday and Thursday, it raining most of the time. Came back
Friday to Helenwood. Made some calls on Saturday and preached at
night. Preached at 11 A.M. next day, and walked eight miles to
Robbins and preached at night. Got up at 3 o’clock and walked four
miles to catch a train that would stop at Glen Mary. Reached Spring
City for breakfast at 6:30. Came up home and answered what letters
I needed to, and went back to Spring City to stay all night. Took
train at six o’clock Tuesday morning for Sunbright. Rode out to
Deer Lodge. Made four pastoral calls, walking four miles to do it,
and was ready for an eight-mile ride in lumber wagon, Wednesday
morning, in the rain to Mt. Vernon to deliver the oration of the
day. Went back to Sunbright next morning and found your letters
of the 3rd. Went to Emory Gap that evening. Walked out two miles
in mud to see Bro. Clark. Came back to Sunbright Friday, so as
to reach Deer Lodge for a church meeting that night. Made some
calls Saturday morning, and then walked three miles to call on a
Congregational family that ought to unite with our church here,
and came back to preach at night. Taught a lesson in Sunday-school
next morning, and preached. Walked to Sunbright, seven miles,
and preached at night. Got up at 2 o’clock to walk seven miles
to Glen Mary to take the early train to reach home and attend to
correspondence so I can get off to Crossville to-morrow.
I do not always have it put on quite so thickly as this, but it is
a pretty fair average.
* * * * *
TALLADEGA COLLEGE.
MRS. L. A. ORR.
Talladega College has just passed its eighteenth annual
Commencement which, in many respects, was the most successful ever
held.
The exercises began on Thursday night, June 7th, with an exhibition
in the chapel by the second and third grades of Cassedy School,
followed on Friday by exercises in the Primary Department, and
at night by an exhibition by the fourth and fifth grades of
Cassedy School, all of which reflected credit upon the teachers
in charge. To many of our Northern friends, these may seem a very
insignificant part of Commencement exercises, but to these parents,
who consider all school work a failure which does not close with an
exhibition, and who will travel miles to hear their children “say
their pieces,” they are a very important part. At these exercises
the chapel was crowded almost to suffocation, the hall and windows
were full, and many went away, as they could not find even standing
room.
On Sunday, in the absence of Pres. DeForest, the baccalaureate
sermon was preached by Rev. J. M. Sturtevant, D.D., of Cleveland,
Ohio, and was full of rich thought and practical suggestions.
At night, Rev. G. M. Elliott, of Selma, preached an excellent
missionary sermon, very helpful to the students who go out into the
dark places to labor among their people.
The mornings of Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday were occupied with
public examinations in the different departments, and they all gave
evidence of faithful work having been done by teachers and pupils.
The examinations in theology and moral philosophy were especially
fine, and would do credit to any Northern white students.
Monday night was given to the exercises of the three literary
societies connected with the college and these were conducted
wholly by the students.
On Tuesday afternoon was the inspection of the industrial classes,
printing office, barns, &c. In the large airy sewing-room were
samples of work done by the girls, including quilts, garments of
all kinds, and some very neat darning. In the printing office
several young men were engaged in type-setting, presswork, etc.,
and the neatness of the printed programmes testified to the good
work done by the “college press.” Visitors to the Slater shop
found the blacksmith at his forge, the painter, the glazier and
the cabinet-maker busy at work, and the wonder was that one small
shop could accommodate so many trades. The brick masons were laying
the foundation for an addition to the building, which will give
better facilities for work. The fine stock on the farm, the new and
improved farming tools, the steam engine in operation, and neat
barns, attracted many visitors.
A lecture at night by Dr. Sturtevant, on the subject “Manners,”
closed a very busy day.
Thursday was Commencement and the fullest day of the week. First
came the graduating exercises; the class numbered seven, three
young women and four young men from the Normal Department. Next
came the alumni address and essay, after which the treasurer gave
a brief statement of the resources of the college. The increase in
attendance as compared with last year was more than eighty.
At the alumni dinner, in Foster Hall parlor, were present the
alumni, the Faculty, and friends from the North, South, East and
West, to the number of seventy in all. After supplying our physical
wants, next in order came the toasts and responses. Dr. Andrews was
master of ceremonies and in response to the toast “Our Theological
Work,” Rev. Spencer Snell, of Birmingham, spoke of the great need
of an educated ministry among the colored people, and told an
amusing story of the “call to preach” of a colored man. He was at
work in the field, but soon got tired, and leaning on his hoe, he
said to himself, “Dis hoe am _so_ heaby, an’ dis row am _so_ long,
an’ dis sun am _so_ hot, I tink dis nigger am called to preach de
gospel.”
Next Paul Bledsoe of Laredo, Texas, spoke for “Our Normal Work,”
James Brown for “Our Students,” and Mr. Stephen Childs, of Marion,
for the “Parents of our Students.” Rev. J. Silsby, of Tenn., who
was personally acquainted with the early history of the college,
responded to the toast “The Founding of Talladega College.” “Our
Churches” was responded to by Rev. C. B. Curtis, of Selma, and J.
R. Sims, of Shelby Iron Works. Dr. Andrews closed with a few words
for the college.
At night, W. P. Hamilton and J. A. Jones, who were graduated from
the theological department in 1887, were ordained to the work of
the gospel ministry. This closed the exercises of the week. During
the week, many kind words were spoken for the college by friends
from different parts of the State, showing that the best colored
people in the State appreciate the thorough work done here.
During the week President DeForest was very much missed, but we
all hoped that what was our loss would be his gain in health and
strength from his trip across the ocean.
* * * * *
TRINITY SCHOOL, ATHENS, ALA.
Another year of pleasant work has just closed. Teachers and
students, though looking rather worn and weary, are in the happiest
mood, for all feel it has been a _good year_. The latter part of
this school year has been specially characterized by very earnest
study, and an ambition to reach one hundred per cent. in every
thing. _One_ student has done this with a single exception, and
says that he “shall surely make that up during vacation.” All have
attained a higher standing than usual, and our final examinations
were excellent.
Our sending a class to Fisk University this year, with favorable
reports of them coming from month to month, has proved a constant
inspiration to our classes here, and we hope as the years go by, to
send many more in the same direction.
But the great struggle with us is to hold our students long enough
to take them through even an elementary normal course. Parents in
their ignorance and extreme poverty, are in such _a hurry_ to have
their children teach and earn money to help support the younger
ones, that, as soon as they can get a third grade certificate to
teach in the public schools of the State, they are supposed to be
_educated_.
And, too often, the people in the rural districts, impressed with
the wonderful attainments of the young teacher, add to the folly
of the parents in making these young people themselves, (only the
weaker ones), think “they know enough, without going to school any
more,” and so they drift into the ranks of those who “think they
are something, when they are nothing.”
This is one of our discouragements, but we have very much for our
encouragement in the beautiful _homes_ that are springing up all
over this fair South-land, and in the noble band of intelligent,
consecrated, Christian workers who, in pulpits and school-houses,
and in the conscientious and successful management of business, are
leading their people to a higher plane of living and to a truer
citizenship.
Our closing exercises were held on Monday night, May 28, our
twenty-third anniversary. Our large and beautiful hall was
packed as never before. The audience was appreciative and very
enthusiastic. There were visitors from Birmingham and Decatur, and
all the towns along the lines of railroad. They expressed great
interest in what they saw and heard, promising to send us many new
students in October; but the difficulty is to find suitable places
for them to board, as the parents all prefer to have their children
in the Institution under the constant supervision of teachers.
Our exercises were quite novel, and had some unique features that
greatly pleased the patrons. In all that was attempted, the pupils
acquitted themselves well, and the _little_ children especially
pleased the patrons of the school in their beautiful and perfect
Scripture recitations. All the Sunday-school Golden Texts from
October to June, were recited without a mistake, also several
Psalms and an entire chapter from Isaiah. Bible truth planted in
the hearts of these young children, will, we trust, bear precious
fruit in their future lives.
M. S. WELLS
* * * * *
STUDENT’S LETTER.
* * * * *
HOW I WON MY SCHOOL.
MR. W. B. ROSS.
In the spring of 1881, I left Fisk University in search of a summer
school. Knowing nowhere else to go, I went to the southwestern
part of Arkansas. I had been informed by a Fisk student that there
were vacancies in Hempstead county, and thither I bent my way in
company with two other young men, also seeking summer employment,
both of whom opened subscription schools in the State. I had taken
two lessons a day in Latin during the school year just ended, and
expected to “double my Greek” the next year. This would necessitate
my being in at the beginning of the school year. I had always been
politically inclined, and so had studied almost every artifice to
win among strangers.
We three rode from Hope, Arkansas, to Washington, a distance of ten
miles, in an old-fashioned ambulance.
On arriving at Washington, we were taken to the house of the
colored teacher of that place. I looked at him; he extended his
hand; I explained our business, and immediately he volunteered to
assist us.
I had a particular school in view on leaving Nashville. On arriving
at Washington, I learned from Mr. Shepperson, the teacher referred
to, that one of the trustees of that school was in town.
I immediately started out in search of him. In a short time I was
presented to a stoutly-built, heavy-set man, who was introduced as
the gentleman I desired to see. I forthwith explained to Mr. Holt,
for such was his name, that I had been informed that there was a
colored school to be taught that summer in his district, and that I
had come hoping I could get it.
“Yes,” said he, “there is a school there, but it will be a month
before it can open.”
“Is that so?” said I. “I don’t see what I’ll do. Have you any
objections to its being opened now?”
“Oh, no; if the colored people are willing, I am,” said he.
But I could see in the tone of his voice something that showed an
unwillingness to have the school begin before Mr. Holt’s cotton
was worked out. However, I took him at his word, and set out in
the hot sun and sand, with my satchel on my back, to the desired
plantation. On the way, I saw two million lizzards, one billion
spiders, and a trillion scorpions, to say nothing of tarantulas
and centipedes that appeared in countless numbers along my path.
I arrived at Mr. H.’s house about six o’clock in the evening, and
proceeded immediately to the cabin where the colored people lived.
Finding no one at the cabin, I went to the field.
“Good evening,” said I to an old colored lady.
“Good evenin’,” said she.
“I am from Fisk University, Nashville, Tenn. I have come out here
to teach this school for you.”
“Whar’s ’Fesser Thomson?” said she.
“I don’t know where the Professor is, but I’ll teach for you. My
name is Ross.”
“Yas, sah.”
“And your name?”
“Daffney.”
“Mrs. Daffney, will you show me how to find the rest of the colored
people in this settlement?”
“Yas, sah. Go down here and cross yonder, and you’ll come to a big
field and some trees, sah.”
Before leaving Nashville, I put on my best. I knew, in case of any
difficulty, my clothes would be an important factor in obtaining
success. I went to an old colored man, plowing in that field,
opened my duster, showed him my nice coat and shirt-stud, at the
same time telling him, as fast as I could, whence I came, my
object in coming, and reading the Fisk catalogue to let him learn
something about the school.
He seemed satisfied with me. His countenance had changed from its
troubled appearance to a pleasant one. But for ten minutes we
argued the possibility of a cotton crop being made there if school
opened then. I made point after point, but could not convince
him, so put out after his wife. She was readily convinced of the
desirability of having school open immediately; she promised to
send three children, and to turn the old man.
I next encountered Jack Davis. “If you open school now, we’ll
starve next winter,” said he.
I tried to show him differently, but was unsuccessful. I asked him
for a drink. On reaching the house for it I explained my mission
to his wife, and obtained her consent to open the school, with her
promise to send two.