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[Illustration:
The American Missionary
January, 1884.
VOL. XXXVIII.
NO. 1.]
CONTENTS
* * * * *
PAGE.
EDITORIAL:
ANOTHER YEAR--THIS NUMBER 1
PAMPHLET--AMERICAN MISSIONARY--JOINT COMMITTEE 2
ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS A DAY 3
PARAGRAPHS 4
WANTED--BENEFACTIONS--GENERAL NOTES 5
TRAVELING IN AFRICA (CUT) 6
CHINESE WOMEN (CUT) 8
BUREAU OF WOMAN'S WORK:
THE INDIAN WOMAN, BY MRS. A. L. RIGGS 9
THE CHINESE, BY MRS. W. C. POND 11
MOUNTAIN WHITE WORK IN KENTUCKY, BY MRS. A. A. MYERS 12
COLORED PEOPLE OF THE SOUTH, BY MISS IDA M. BEACH 16
REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 19
FORM OF CONSTITUTION--THE BUREAU IN THE WEST 21
CHILDREN'S PAGE:
CHRISTMAS GIVING AT MYSTIC, CONN. 23
CHILDREN BEARING CHRISTMAS GIFTS (CUT) 24
RECEIPTS 26
CONSTITUTION 30
* * * * *
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.
* * * * *
THE AMERICAN MISSIONARY ASSOCIATION.
PRESIDENT.
Hon. WM. B. WASHBURN, LL.D., Mass.
VICE-PRESIDENTS.
REV. C. L. GOODELL, D.D.;
REV. F. A. NOBLE, D.D.;
REV. A. J. F. BEHRENDS, D.D.;
REV. J. E. RANKIN, D.D.;
REV. ALEX. MCKENZIE, D.D.
CORRESPONDING SECRETARY.--REV. M. E. STRIEBY, D.D., _56 Reade Street,
N. Y._
TREASURER.--H. W. HUBBARD, Esq., _56 Reade Street, N. Y._
AUDITORS.--WM. A. NASH, W. H. ROGERS.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.
JOHN H. WASHBURN, Chairman;
A. P. FOSTER, Secretary;
LYMAN ABBOTT,
A. S. BARNES,
J. R. DANFORTH,
CLINTON B. FISK,
S. B. HALLIDAY,
EDWARD HAWKS,
SAMUEL HOLMES,
CHARLES A. HULL,
SAMUEL S. MARPLES,
CHARLES L. MEAD,
S. H. VIRGIN,
WM. H. WARD,
J. L. WITHROW.
DISTRICT SECRETARIES.
Rev. C. L. WOODWORTH, D.D., _Boston_.
Rev. G. D. PIKE, D.D., _New York_.
Rev. JAMES POWELL, _Chicago_.
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. G. D. Pike, D.D., at the New York Office;
letters for the Bureau of Woman's Work, to Miss D. E. Emerson, 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.
FORM OF A BEQUEST.
"I BEQUEATH to my executor (or executors) the sum of ---- dollars, in
trust, to pay the same in ---- days after my decease to the person
who, when the same is payable, shall act as Treasurer of the
'American Missionary Association' of New York City, to be applied,
under the direction of the Executive Committee of the Association, to
its charitable uses and purposes." The Will should be attested by
three witnesses.
* * * * *
[Illustration: COUNT RUMFORD.]
HORSFORD'S
ACID PHOSPHATE.
(LIQUID.)
FOR DYSPEPSIA, MENTAL AND PHYSICAL EXHAUSTION, NERVOUSNESS,
DIMINISHED VITALITY, URINARY DIFFICULTIES, ETC.
PREPARED ACCORDING TO THE DIRECTION OF
Prof. E. N. Horsford, of Cambridge, Mass.
There seems to be no difference of opinion in high medical authority
of the value of phosphoric acid, and no preparation has ever been
offered to the public which seems to so happily meet the general want
as this.
It is not nauseous, but agreeable to the taste.
No danger can attend its use.
Its action will harmonize with such stimulants as are necessary to
take.
It makes a delicious drink with water and sugar only.
Prices reasonable. Pamphlet giving further particulars mailed free on
application.
MANUFACTURED BY THE RUMFORD CHEMICAL WORKS,
Providence, R. I.,
AND FOR SALE BY ALL DRUGGISTS.
* * * * *
MANHATTAN
LIFE INS. CO. OF NEW YORK,
_156 and 158 Broadway._
THIRTY-THIRD YEAR.
DESCRIPTION--One of the oldest, strongest, best.
POLICIES--Incontestable, non-forfeitable, definite cash surrender
values.
RATES--Safe, low, and participating or not, as desired.
RISKS carefully selected.
PROMPT, liberal dealing.
GENERAL AGENTS AND CANVASSERS WANTED in desirable territory, to whom
permanent employment and liberal compensation will be given.
Address
H. STOKES, President.
H. Y. WEMPLE, Sec'y.
S. N. STEBBINS, Act'y.
J. L. HALSEY, 1st V.-P.
H. B. STOKES, 2d V.-P.
* * * * *
THE AMERICAN MISSIONARY.
VOL. XXXVIII. JANUARY, 1884. NO. 1.
* * * * *
American Missionary Association.
* * * * *
Another year. Are we ready for it, ready to work and to win? The
harvest is still plenteous and every increase of store is precious.
Who can measure such privilege? And what of opportunities? The
swift-winged events of our civilization are continually hurrying us
into the midst of them. It is a day of speedy rewards. Christ comes
quickly in these times. The business of the Church is helped as
absolutely as secular business by the development and use of material
agencies for advancement. What is wanted is the good seed of the
word. It is that--the light which shines forth from _that_--which
gives life and growth and masterly power. We want faith in the
promises. It shall be said, "The kingdoms of this world are become
the kingdoms of our Lord and His Christ." The truth of it is not to
be doubted or eclipsed. We want power from on high, and that is
neither distant nor subject to unseasonable delay. What the year
shall be is for us, under God, to determine. Let us labor and pray
that the word of promise--the divine imbuement--may make rich and
fruitful, and place the great religious interests of our land on the
foundation of God which standeth sure.
* * * * *
We devote considerable space in this number of the _Missionary_ to
the papers and reports presented at the Woman's Meeting held in
connection with our Annual Meeting in Brooklyn. The topics considered
related to the wide range of work conducted by this Association. They
were treated by persons having much experience in our mission fields,
and will be welcomed not only as interesting reading, but as
furnishing authoritative data for the encouragement of the friends of
our work. The constitution proposed at the meeting, for Women's
co-operative societies is given, and is commended to the attention of
those ladies who desire to aid mission work in our own country.
The valuable Paper on "Woman's Work in Modern Charity and Missions,"
read by Rev. A. H. Bradford at our Annual Meeting, not published
elsewhere, has been put in pamphlet form, with a view to general
distribution. We will be pleased to furnish copies gratuitously, in
such numbers as may be desired, to those wishing it for the promotion
of woman's work.
* * * * *
We are happy to report that the practice of paying for subscriptions
for the _American Missionary_ is becoming more general year by year.
This is as it should be. We try to make the _Missionary_ worth the
price, which is fifty cents annually. We believe the information it
contains is of value to all, and that most of it cannot be found
elsewhere. Will not our friends kindly aid us in its circulation,
remitting to our treasurer at once what may be gathered for that
purpose?
* * * * *
JOINT COMMITTEE.
The Joint Committee appointed by the American Home Missionary Society
and the American Missionary Association for the consideration of the
relation between the two societies, met by adjournment at
Springfield, Mass., Dec. 11. The committee on the part of the A. H.
M. S. consisted of Rev. J. E. Twitchell, D.D., Rev. Lyman Abbott,
D.D., Rev. Geo. L. Walker, D.D., Rev. C. L. Goodell, D.D., and A. S.
Barnes, Esq. The Committee on the part of the A. M. A. consisted of
Rev. J. L. Withrow, D.D., Rev. Washington Gladden, D.D., Rev. D. O.
Mears, D.D., Prest. S. C. Bartlett, and Rev. W. H. Ward, D.D. All
were present except Dr. Goodell, and his place was filled by Mr. S.
B. Capen. A letter from Dr. Goodell was read. Dr. Barrows,
representing the Home Missionary Society, and Dr. Strieby,
representing the American Missionary Association, were also present
by invitation.
It was manifest that the members of the Committee were equally
friends of both societies and sought only their greatest efficiency.
No partisan feeling found utterance. The members of the Committee are
men of independent views and judgment, and examined the subject
before them from different standpoints, and yet reached in the paper
presented below a remarkable degree of unanimity--every item
receiving a unanimous vote. The result will command and deserves the
attention of the churches. The following is
THE ACTION OF THE COMMITTEE.
Consulting the principle of comity between the two societies--the A.
H. M. S. and the A. M. A.--and that traditional policy of
Congregationalists which ignores caste and color lines, and also in
view of the present relative position and strength of the two
societies, we, the Joint Committee, give as our judgment:
1. That, as heretofore, the principal work of the American Home
Missionary Society should be in the West, and the principal work of
the American Missionary Association should be in the South.
2. Whatever new work may be called for in any locality should be
under the charge of the society already occupying the ground. No
exception to this rule should be allowed unless it be by agreement
between the two societies.
3. Concerning work already established by either society, we would
recommend that if either comity, economy or efficiency will be
advanced by it, such a transfer of the work should be made as shall
bring the work of the societies into harmony with the preceding
recommendations.
4. We would recommend to the two societies to consider the
practicability of using a common superintendent in those portions of
the field where an economical and efficient administration will be
secured by it.
* * * * *
ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS A DAY.
What can be done with it? We can sustain efficiently our current work
of educating teachers and preachers and the planting of churches. In
the progress of development, more requires more. If the Association
did not need increased receipts it would be evidence of lack of
growth. There is no such lack. New demands are springing up at every
point, and it is wise economy to meet these demands. They are simply
the healthy development of legitimate missionary work.
Just now there is urgent demand for the increase of facilities for
promoting industrial education. The South is arising into a new life.
New fields of labor are rapidly opening. Skilled workmen are wanted.
The possibilities of agricultural prosperity are becoming better
understood. The aspiring youth of both sexes are comprehending their
opportunities, and the industrial departments in connection with our
institutions are patronized as never before. We ought to make the
most of them now.
We need more means for supplying the minds of those hungering for
knowledge with good reading. The colored people have few, if any,
books or periodicals. We ought to have the means at once for
furnishing fifty libraries and reading-rooms at as many different
points. Such help to those willing to help themselves to some extent
should be provided.
The students leaving our schools to go forth as teachers may be
numbered by thousands. These explore the dark places of the land.
They open schools in such buildings as can be found, or, finding
none, teach out of doors. We need means to aid many such with
supplemental support, making it possible for them to continue their
schools longer than the few months provided for by the limited State
appropriations. Thousands of dollars could be used wisely in this
way. The opportunity now for temperance work is more promising than
ever. A temperance wave has been sweeping some portions of the South.
Our students are thoroughly indoctrinated in the principles of total
abstinence. They make the best advocates of the cause that can be had
for many localities. It is a crucial period. The time to do this work
is now--now, while the great questions at issue are being agitated
and settled. We ought to have means for extending our efforts to the
utmost in this direction.
Of more importance still is evangelistic work, supplemental to the
labors of our pastors. This is coming into more than usual
prominence. Our students have had thorough training for it, and no
little experience in it during their course of study. A score of them
in every Southern State could be set to work with profit, if we had
the money for such outlay. Nothing could do more for immediate
results in developing a pure Christianity among the untaught and
unsaved poor of the South.
We might also, with a thousand dollars a day, do more than we have
ever done to foster the growth of right and permanent institutions in
all our fields of labor. This is the great and urgent necessity. Out
of Christian churches and schools will flow all the benefits demanded
by a Christian civilization. For this especially we emphasize our
appeal. To what better use can the Christians and patriots of our
country devote a thousand dollars a day?
* * * * *
A friend, noting the annual average addition of churches as five or
six, raised the question whether the time had not come for doubling
that rate. The Association is glad to recognize this worthy
aspiration and itself to avow the spirit of it, and still further to
remind the friends that the disposition of leaders on the field to
magnify the work of each year is also in the same line. Nevertheless,
we find that those who become in some sense responsible for the
nurture and support of these ecclesiastical children born to us
become conservative instead of becoming rash, as is sometimes
averred. Yet we are able to give assurance that the Field
Superintendent and his associates, with their eyes upon the whole
field, watching the germs and their unfolding, are only anxious to
set out these plants of the Lord's house as fast as is at all
consistent. We also see, in no far-away future, a large church work
for us as the fruitage of our school work.
* * * * *
A prize of $75 is given annually to the best male Greek scholar in
the High School at Newport, R. I. The best examination this year was
by the daughter of George Rice, the colored steward of the steamer
Pilgrim. As she was not eligible to the award a gentleman from New
York sent her $75 in gold.
* * * * *
WANTED!
--We greatly need a new school building, for the lower grades at
Tougaloo University, a two-story building with school rooms below and
a chapel above. Who will give $3,000 for ---- Hall at Tougaloo?
--We need also a steam engine for the Industrial Department at
Tougaloo, a portable engine of ten or twelve horse-power. Who will
give it, or the money needful?
--We need twenty or more sets of carpenters' tools for schools of
carpentry at Talladega and elsewhere. Who will give one or more sets?
--We need illustrated books and magazines for our Reading Rooms. Who
will give us subscriptions to _Wide Awake_, _St. Nicholas_, etc., or
money to buy such books as will help to create the reading habit?
* * * * *
BENEFACTIONS.
Rutgers College has received $1,000 toward an endowment fund from Mr.
R. H. Ballentine, Newark, N. J.
Mayor Low, of Brooklyn, has given the city of Salem, Mass., $7,500,
the income of which is to be applied in aid of needy students in
college.
Illinois College has recently received a gift of $1,000 from Mr. E.
W. Blatchford, of Chicago, who was a member of the class of '65.
Mr. George W. Dixon, of Bethlehem, Pa., has given $20,000 to Linden
Hall Female Seminary, to build a Gothic chapel in memory of his
daughter.
Mr. Roland Mather, of Hartford, Conn., has given $10,000 to Olivet
College, Mich.
Joseph Dean, of Minneapolis, has placed in the hands of the trustees
of Hamlin University $25,000 to increase the endowment of that
institution.
Mrs. Robert L. Stuart has given $150,000 to Princeton College to
endow the department of philosophy and pay the salaries of professors
in logic, ethics and psychology.
_Among the wants specified in the report of the Executive Committee
of the A. M. A. for the coming year was $10,000 for a new hall for
the Edward Smith College, at Little Rock, Ark. It is proposed that
the donor of the amount name the hall at his discretion._
* * * * *
GENERAL NOTES.
AFRICA.
--Among the Belgians no less than six commercial societies have been
constituted to explore the Congo.
--The Livingstone Inland Mission has founded a new station at Ngoma's
Town, one hundred kilometers up the river from Stanley Pool.
--The merchants of Lisbon have constituted a company for the
navigation of the Quanza. They have constructed to this effect in
England a steamer, the Serpa Pinto, which was to be delivered in
September.
--The Scotch Presbyterian Church have decided to furnish a steamer
for the use of the Old Calabar Mission. The young people throughout
the church have been requested to take up the matter and secure the
money by the time the steamer is ready.
--According to a dispatch from Sierra Leone the Queen of Massah, with
the consent of the native chiefs, has authorized the annexation of
the neighboring territory of Sherbro to the English possession, which
will thus extend without interruption from Sierra Leone to Liberia.
[Illustration: TRAVELING IN AFRICA.]
--The fever of speculation reigns at Axim and in the districts of the
Golden Coast. From the climate and the conditions of exploration, the
working of the mines proceeds slowly. Commander Cameron, director of
the West African Goldfields Company, has introduced upon his grant
the hydraulic processes employed in California.
--The _Journal_ of Geneva announces that the International African
Association is occupied at present in seeking colonists who will
receive gratuitously land in the countries of the Congo, of which
Stanley has taken possession. It is negotiating to attract the
Germans, and already the Prussian journals speak of the creation of a
German Consulate.
--Flegel has offered to the African German Society to make a new
exploration in a region entirely unknown, which extends to the Congo;
or, if they choose, to return toward the west to Mount Cameroon. The
Government of the German Empire has granted a sum of 50,000 francs
for this exploration. On the other hand, some private individuals of
Lagos, where Flegel has resided since his last voyage, have furnished
him funds with which to conduct an exploration to the basin of the
Niger and to Benoue, in the advancement of science and commerce.
--Mr. Petersen and Dr. Sims have founded at Stanley Pool a new
station for the Livingstone Inland Mission. Dr. Sims very quickly
commenced to heal the sick, which gained him the confidence of the
natives. These latter do not labor hard enough to produce from their
land the provisions necessary for the number of Europeans established
at Stanley Pool, and the price of provisions has greatly increased.
The steamer, Henry Reed, destined for the Upper Congo was to start
out the first of August.
THE INDIANS.
--Of the 6,000 Pi-Utes it is said that there are never more than 600
on their reservation at one time. Not more than fifty attend the
agency school.
--The National Indian Association, an organization composed
exclusively of ladies, has for its object to obtain for the Indians
the rights of citizens, and to induce the Government to allow them to
own farms.
--The General Council of the Choctaw Nation, recently closed,
appropriated $100,000 for the erection of a new council house, the
old one to be used as a manual-labor school for the education and
training in industrial pursuits of fifty orphan boys.
--The ceremony of receiving Sitting-Bull into the Catholic Church at
Fort Yates has been indefinitely postponed because Sitting-Bull
cannot make up his mind which of his two wives he will let go. Bishop
Marty has had him under his care for several months, and his
instructions were being rapidly absorbed by the Chief; but separation
from his wives proved too much, and he will probably return to
heathenism.
THE CHINESE.
--The missionaries in China, to the number of 231, have presented
another petition to the House of Commons against the infamous opium
traffic.
--There is a Chinaman at work in Tahiti, in the South Sea Islands,
who is said to be a whole Bible society in himself, expending twenty
dollars a month out of a salary of twenty-five dollars, for Bibles to
distribute among his countrymen there.
--The largest bell in the world is in Kiota, Japan. It is 24 feet
high and 16 inches thick at the rim. It is sounded by a suspended
piece of wood, like a battering ram, which strikes it on the outside,
and its booming can be heard for miles. Nobody knows when or by whom
it was cast, and though its surface is covered with characters, no
scholar has yet been able to translate them.
--The _Foreign Missionary_ says the great secret of success in
teaching the Chinese in America lies in the direct personal influence
of the teacher over the pupil. Generally each pupil is provided with
a teacher, and the chances of spiritual benefit are in direct
proportion to the cordial sympathy and manifest kindness evinced. The
first important revelation that dawns upon the Chinaman is that there
are those in this land who are not hoodlums, and that brutality is
not the universal law in America; that Christianity is higher and
purer than the enactments of Congress, and that Christ is the friend
of all men, and has died for Chinamen as well as "Melicans."
[Illustration: CHINESE WOMEN.]
* * * * *
BUREAU OF WOMAN'S WORK.
MISS D. E. EMERSON, SECRETARY.
* * * * *
PAPERS READ AT THE WOMAN'S MEETING IN BROOKLYN.
* * * * *
THE INDIAN WOMAN.
BY MRS. A. L. RIGGS.
To describe an Indian woman is no easy task for one who lives among
them, for every peculiarity becomes so familiar, and so interwoven
with our common everyday experience, that we forget how strange and
unlike white women she appeared to us at first. But she is a woman,
even though she wears her shawl over her head and carries her baby on
her back.
How uninteresting, you must think, and she probably thinks the same
of you. She does not know that you care for her. She feels that she
is different in some way, and most likely if you smile upon her she
will not know it, for she is too modest even to look at you; but
speak to her in a pleasant tone and offer to shake hands with her and
notice her baby, and she begins to think that _you_ are a woman. In
her no trace of dignity nor Pocahontas beauty are discernible, but
she is untidy in person and attire, her movements are decidedly
lackadaisical. An uninteresting object, indeed, to one who does not
care to help her. But _we_ believe that she has a woman's heart; and
more than that--she has a soul.
Her aspirations for herself are limited, but she wants her child to
grow up in the white people's way. Yet how small her conception of
how this is to be accomplished!
She is a heathen--hemmed in on every side by fear and superstition.
Her gods are gods of fear. She believes in witchcraft, is afraid of a
world full of evil spirits. Under a pagan religion her place is next
to the mere animals. She goes with her husband to the hunt, not as a
companion, but as the drudge, the human pack-horse; she prepares the
food, and her husband devours it regardless of her needs; he may
boast of his "old woman" as being "nina mimi heca" (swift or good to
work) for that is the only accomplishment required in his selfish,
egotistical mind. "The Indian woman comes into the world under a
species of protest--every Indian parent desiring to have boys, rather
than girls, hence she grows up into a condition of servitude." "In
the Indian nation to purchase a wife is the honorable way, all other
ways are dishonorable, and the man having bought his wife, although
the custom of the country does not allow him to dispose of her to
another, yet he may put her away, or leave her, at his pleasure. He
may also whip her and beat her, for she is his money." I never shall
forget one poor woman who came to me soon after we went to the Indian
country. She showed me her back covered with the marks where her
husband had beaten her.
Now I have given you a brief description of the Indian woman _as we
find her_. What can be done for her? What would _you_ do for her?
There is only one thing. _Help her to become a Christian._ This is
not to be accomplished in a hurry, for she is in bondage to her
husband--to her religion. But faith and prayer, together with a
genuine interest in the Indian home, can accomplish much. Desolate
and comfortless though that home may be, it can be transformed, and
the husband even can be made to see that there is something more
real, something that is more satisfying, something that is more
comforting than this life of fear and bondage to his heathen gods.
"The man has more to give up than the woman if he becomes a
Christian. If a woman changes her gods and her religion, no one cares
very much; it is 'only a woman.' But a man must abandon his ancestral
faith, which binds him more strongly than the woman, for the very
reason that he is a man, and has been inducted into manhood through
the ceremonies of his religion."
He can be led to see that his wife is worth more to him than his
horse or his dog; and he begins to see that he can do some of the
work which she has been obliged to do, and thus she is enabled to
make home more attractive. With the dawn of Christianity comes the
first effort toward civilized ways. The husband now brings the wood
and water, and little by little a few household conveniences appear,
such as chairs, a table, a few dishes; also knives and forks are used
instead of fingers; even lambrequins are sometimes seen--hung,
however, in the most absurd way, outside the shades--and we are
astonished to see in some of the houses white counterpanes and
ruffled pillow-shams. Also a U. S. T. D. blanket is often spread down
for a carpet, and the rude, rough walls are covered with pictures cut
from illustrated newspapers.
We find them ready and anxious to be taught many simple and needful
domestic arts, such as making light bread and preparing wholesome
dishes of food for the sick. The teaching of making light bread
became quite an important part of my duties as a missionary's wife,
and for the Indian women to take lessons in bread-making became quite
fashionable.
Then she shows a desire to dress like white women, and instead of the
broadcloth skirt tied around her waist with a string and the short
calico sack, and moccasins upon her feet, she appears with a kilt
plaiting around her dress skirt, and, what probably in her mind is an
improvement upon white woman's taste, the plaiting is headed with two
or three rows of bright worsted skirt braid. As she admires the thin
and lightly covered head of the white baby, she closely clips her own
baby's hair so as to have it as nearly like a white baby as possible.
But all this is the mere outside of life--one benefit which
Christianity brings to her personally. She begins to show that she
has become a missionary at heart and that she has a desire to send
this great blessing which has wrought such a change in her home into
other homes; and as others like herself, near at hand, have been
treasuring up the blessed words of the Lord Jesus, "Go ye and preach
my gospel," they begin to think that they can do something to send
the good tidings to those who are in the darkness which so recently
surrounded themselves.
Now, in the Dakota mission, we have thirteen churches, and in every
one a woman's missionary society, and the money raised is used to
support native missionaries--that is, Christian Indians are sent out
among the heathen Indians as missionaries, and are supported by
Indian societies. The Indian woman's society is conducted very much
like any sewing society among white women. Some woman is appointed to
lead the devotional exercises, and we have our officers appointed
annually. They make children's clothing after the white woman's
fashion, and many useful articles similar to those usually made in
sewing societies. Those women who are able make articles after their
own styles, such as moccasins, pretty bags handsomely ornamented with
porcupine, bead or ribbon work. These articles are gifts to the
society, and we have no difficulty in disposing of them to those who
wish specimens of Indian woman's skill in fancy work, or who may wish
to help this native missionary work which is being so nobly carried
on. Some of these women are really wonderful in their zeal and
faithfulness, walking six, seven, or eight miles to the meeting every
week. I could tell you many things about these faithful Christian
Indian women, but do you wish any better proof of the hold
Christianity has upon Indians?
As I said before, an Indian woman's aspirations for herself are
limited, but she wants her child to grow up in the white people's
way. Now, if we are to elevate the Indian nation, let us plant in the
homes the desire for the Gospel, and as we do it gather the children
as fast as they are old enough to leave their mother's care into
Christian training schools. Now out in the Indian country we are all
the time carrying on missionary work in the homes, planting schools,
organizing churches, and sending out native missionaries.
We have at Santee Agency, Neb., a large school of advanced grade,
well established for the education of children and youth. So well
known is this school among Christian Indians that our accommodations
have become very limited, and last year we were obliged to refuse
many who wished to come. I think you cannot know how hard it is for
us to say, We cannot take you.
The great Dakota nation is ready to receive the Christian religion.
We have the Bible in the Dakota language--a monument grand and
beautiful to one who has just gone to his reward. Years of patient,
quiet toil were spent in translating the precious words from the
Greek and the Hebrew into the language of over fifty thousand
savages. Then what hinders the work? We have hymns in the Dakota
tongue. Who will go and sing these precious words to those who never
heard them? There are those who are ready to go, but where is the
money to send them? If you cannot go, what hinders you from sending
some one? To be sure, this is a work of difficulty, for how can we
expect a few years of training to so revolutionize a savage's live
that he can withstand the heathenism which still permeates his native
home? But we have those whom we can trust, and who are filling places
of responsibility and usefulness. Besides those who have gone out as
missionaries and teachers, we have in our school at Santee native
teachers, and our own children are taught by them. One of our pupils
is assistant matron in the Dakota Home. One who has been under our
care is in the little city of Pierre, D. T., giving music lessons to
white pupils. I give only a few instances, to show that we are
beginning to see the results of our work.
Then give the free Gospel of the love of Christ to this great heathen
nation right here so near us. Here is the Bible, here are the hymns;
who will provide the means to scatter them, and who will go to carry
them? We are preparing those who will go with you as assistants and
interpreters. We hear of those who wish to get rid of the Indians;
the surest way to do it is to educate them and Christianize them.
* * * * *
THE CHINESE.
EXTRACT FROM ADDRESS OF MRS. W. C. POND.
I will not waste time upon an introduction. I will only say that I am
glad to be among you; glad that you are interested in the Chinese
work, with which we have been connected so many years in California.
We feel that we are greatly privileged in having these dark souls
within our reach. We can obey our Saviour's last command, "Disciple
all nations," without having to go far from our homes and native
land. They are with us and we have but to open our hearts and our
churches to them and they will come in. They _are_ coming in; not in
large numbers but one by one. In the church of which my husband has
been the pastor for nearly ten years there are over seventy Chinese
members--about one-third of our whole membership.
Many inquire how Chinese converts are tested. They join the Christian
Association on probation and after a test of six or eight months are
recommended to the church. Then they come before a committee of the
church and are examined, and after studying the articles of faith, in
their own language, for several weeks they are propounded for church
membership, and if they prove satisfactory are baptized and come into
full fellowship with the church. They are not hurried into the church
and are themselves timid and prefer to wait.
We have no work among the Chinese women that we can call our own.
Both Presbyterians and Methodists have such a work in San Francisco,
and it divides into very little sections what can be at best but a
small work, because there are only three or four hundred Chinese
women in San Francisco, and not a tenth of these accessible. But if
means would allow we would be glad to attempt a work among the women
at Sacramento, where nothing is done for them. With our very limited
resources we can save more by working among the thousands of men and
boys.
But we have much work _by women_ of whom I would like to make
mention. Patient and heroic, prayerful and soul-saving have been
their efforts among the Chinese. I would like to tell you of one who
has recently gone to her reward. Before leaving my home two months
ago I called upon her and found her strength failing. But she was
hopeful respecting her recovery, and the strongest incentive she had
to get well was that she might have more opportunities to tell the
story of Jesus to her boys, as she called those in the Chinese
school. And when death came to her, six Chinese acted as pall-bearers
at her funeral, at her own request. The church was more than half
filled with Chinese, and the scene was touching in the extreme, as
one by one they went to look upon her face for the last time.
You are all, doubtless, more or less familiar with the _American
Missionary_, and read from time to time Mr. Pond's reports found
therein. I will give a few statistics quoted from my husband's
report, read recently before the General Association of California,
convened in Santa Cruz. They are as follows:
Nineteen schools, as against 15 the last year; total enrollment of
scholars, 2,823, as against 2,567 the former year; 40 teachers, of
whom 14 were Chinese, as against 31 teachers the previous year, of
whom 11 were Chinese; number of those who have professed to cease
from idolatry, 175, as against 156 the year before; number of those
who have given evidence of conversion, 121, as against 106 the former
year, and the whole number of those who have turned to Christ during
the history of the Mission, 400, who are scattered over the United
States and in China. We hear of many of them who are doing good work
for the Master and for the salvation of their countrymen.
Toward the expense of the Mission during the past year the Chinese
themselves have contributed $730.05.
I would like to have you remember the name of our church. It is
"Bethany." Remember us in your prayers, for God has laid a great work
upon us. We started in much weakness, but God has been with us and
blessed us. We have felt His presence in our Bethany as Martha and
Mary of old did in theirs. We have heard the Master's voice saying
unto us frequently, "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the
least of these, My brethren, ye have done it unto Me."
* * * * *
MOUNTAIN WHITE WORK IN KENTUCKY.
BY MRS. A. A. MYERS.
There is an unnoticed class of people dwelling almost in the very
centre of the settled portion of the United States. "Our brother in
black" has been held up to the view of two continents for the last
fifty years. And what is America going to do with him and for him,
has been a question which has interested the whole civilized world.
This same question for a still longer time has been propounded in
regard to the red man of the forest, and in later years concerning
the Chinese. And right nobly has the Christian brotherhood evidenced
its purpose to make men of these degraded classes. But until recently
it has escaped the notice of these Christian workers that we have
another class as needy perhaps as any. No spice of romance is
connected with them. No barbarous tale of cruelty could be told to
awaken sympathy in them. They are simply poor people, who during
slavery were unable to obtain large plantations and so were driven by
the arrogant Bluegrass slaveholder on the one side, and the greedy
cotton-planter on the other, back into the mountains, where they are
shut away from the rest of the world by mountain barriers, and still
more hopelessly by the haughty caste spirit of the slave-holding
monarchs, who disdain to have anything to do with them except to seek
their votes.
These people are not really poor. Most of them own farms of three or
four hundred acres; and the soil, if properly tilled, would be quite
productive. Their plowing is done in the most primitive manner. A
single horse attached to a little shovel plow simply tears the sod a
little, enough so the weeds spring up luxuriantly, and the women and
children must work hard in the hot sun to destroy them, while the
lord of the home saddles his horse and rides to town, to sit on store
boxes and tell low stories. This people, especially the male portion,
seem to have a natural distaste for labor. They would be aristocratic
if they could. In days of slavery they had their household servants,
and tried to imitate the more wealthy slave-owners by living in
idleness, and they still look upon labor as degrading.
They make no effort to get themselves homes. The large majority live
in log cabins, with no windows. The doors stand open winter and
summer. The women in cool weather always sit with a little shawl
around them and a sunbonnet on.
There are generally two rooms to each house, usually with a chimney
or open hall between them, so you have to go out of doors to pass
from one to the other. In the kitchen (which also serves as
dining-room) is a large fireplace and a cook stove, if they are the
happy possessors of one.
The other is the sitting and sleeping-room. You will often see three
beds and one or two trundle-beds in a single room. Here the whole
family and all the visitors sleep. We have sought to rest with
thirteen of us in a room, perhaps 15 by 20 feet, and not a window in
it and the doors shut. Fortunately the large-mouthed fireplace gave a
pittance of ventilation. No carpets are used, and furniture is very
limited. I believe nine-tenths of the people could put all their
goods on a couple of loads and be ready to move at an hour's notice.
Families are large, numbering twelve, fifteen or even nineteen
children. Girls marry young, and seem to be entirely satisfied with
their condition. You seldom hear a desire expressed for anything they
don't possess. Give them a box of snuff and a stick to chew it with
and you never hear a murmur escape their lips. Tobacco is
indispensable. Old and young, male and female, are wedded to it. I
have known of an old gentleman working all day for fifty cents and
spending forty cents at night for tobacco for himself and wife and
nine children.
They seem to be without a standard in the land. They live so
isolated, and have measured themselves by themselves until they have
lost all idea of accurate judgment. Morality and sobriety are hardly
looked for, even among church members and ministers. "Religion may be
up to fever heat, while morality is down to zero." People "confess,"
as they call it, and join the church, and in their entire life
thereafter you could never know any difference.
They are satisfied if their names are on the church book. I don't
think they ever question their eternal salvation after they are once
inside a church. If a person dies without having joined a church his
friends frame some theory on which they rest their hope of his
salvation. A young man was shot a little while ago in a drunken
broil. As he fell mortally wounded he cried, "Oh, Lord!" His mother
is sure he is safe because he called on the Lord. They have no
conception of _living_ religion. They have no prayer or conference
meetings. Aside from our own I doubt if there is a prayer meeting
nearer than Berea, seventy miles away. There is no family prayer in
all the land. I asked my class of boys, twenty or more in number, how
many had ever heard their mothers' voice in prayer. Not one of them
could raise a hand. At another school I asked a still larger class
the same question, and only one girl raised her hand. There is no
gathering of the little home nestlings together and instructing
them--no Bible instruction given in the family. It has ceased to be a
wonder to me, to ask nearly grown boys some of the most simple Bible
questions, and hear them answer, "I don't know."
An M. E. minister in one of his pastoral visits took occasion to
dwell with some stress on the blessedness of _walking in the light_.
The mother showed how she literalized by promptly remarking, "Yes;
I've told John I wanted a hole sawed in this end of the house, but he
won't do it." During the same call he asked a young lady if she was
preparing to go to judgment. She replied, "No, I reckin I won't go.
If I do I'll have to walk, for we hain't got but two nags, and Rachel
and Becky always ride them."
The prevailing churches are the Reform or Campbellites, the
Methodists, and the Missionary and Anti-Missionary Baptists. The
latter church is strong all through the mountains. They are bigoted
and ignorant, and boast that their knowledge comes direct from the
throne, and they have nothing to do with man-made theories, as they
call education. Their preaching is a sort of canting reiteration of
the text and what few Scripture verses they chance to know and some
hackneyed expressions. They are great on arguing, and it would be
laughable if it was not so pitiful to hear the profound questions
they discuss. Last season one of these preachers nearly broke up one
of our mission Sunday-Schools, which we could attend only each
alternate Sabbath. In the passage that reads "And anon they tell
Him," he contended that A-non was an angel, and _they_ referred to
the angel A-non. Each Sunday when we were not there that important
question had to be discussed.
One of these same preachers took his children from school because
they were taught the heresy in geography that the world is round.
They do all they can to prejudice the people against our work. They
call our religion railroad religion. They are great barriers in our
way. Still we have been cheered this year to see that their hold on
the young people is loosening, and we are getting their hearts in
spite of the protests of their parents. One of our mission
Sunday-Schools, which has averaged this season one hundred, is
composed almost entirely of young people and children, seldom ever a
parent there.
The Smith American Organ Co. have honored God and themselves, and
will ever be held by some hearts in grateful remembrance by their
gift to that society of a new organ. I have some times thought, as I
have heard the young voices ring out with such enthusiasm, that,
though critics might smile at our endeavor, Heaven would not disdain
our offering of praise. The dingy low walls, the glass-less windows,
the tobacco besmeared floor, become transformed to a holy temple,
where God deigned to make visible His presence, and it has been a
sacred place. Our hope of this people centres largely in the young.
If it were not for them, we could not feel it right to stay among
them.
Another barrier to be overcome is their habits of worship. They have
meetings but once a month during the summer and none at all during
the winter. When they have service it is more for a visit than
worship. Their churches are rough log houses, and so small that the
greater part of the congregation remain out of doors. Four or more
ministers are always in attendance, and all must preach. The
congregation expect a tiresome time, and from the first are restless.
They go out and come in, and they keep a constant march to and from
the water pail, which usually sits on the desk in front of the
speaker. Several grown people at a time will be standing waiting on
each other at the pail. The speaker seems to be used to such things,
and not at all disconcerted. Nearly all their services are funeral
services for those who may have been dead for years. They bury their
dead the same day or the day following death. They have no religious
service, except a prayer at the grave, if there chance to be a
minister present. Generally about a year after death, but often from
five to fifteen years after, they have the funeral sermon preached.
In regard to healthfulness of our mountain home, we have felt
somewhat disappointed. Up so high, with nice springs and spring
streams, one would expect a healthy climate. On the contrary, almost
every one is ailing. Coughs and colds are universal. It is no wonder
the natives are unhealthy; their habits of living would seem to
prohibit health. They eat corn bread or hoe cake and bacon; some have
flour, but it is always made up into hot biscuit, shortened with
lard. They have this, with little variation, three times a day, 365
days in a year. In summer, green beans cooked with bacon is added to
the bill of fare. Of course the blood becomes impoverished, and
almost every one has scrofula. Calomel and pills are the great
panacea for all their bodily ills. Pills are brought on by the quart,
and sold by the merchants like any other commodity. Cleanliness of
the person is an unheard of luxury; I doubt whether they ever bathe.
Children come to the table with unwashed faces. They are put to bed
with the same clothes they wear during the day. Then add to all this
the fact that tobacco is used almost from the cradle, and whiskies
and toddies from the time the poor child opens its eyes to this
world, and it's no great marvel that gray-haired men are exceedingly
rare, and it's the "_old man_" and the "_old woman_" when one has
reached the age of twenty-five.
Now comes the question, What are we doing for the people? We have
been with them nearly two years, and this has been our effort from
the first, to get them to see that religion is a life rather than a
sectarian belief. We have sought to impress upon them that joining a
church is not Christianity. We have succeeded in getting a few to
take part in our prayer meetings, and we have the assurance that
_all_ the people are awaking to the fact that God has some demands
upon them. We have from the first kept up regular Thursday night
prayer meetings; have had good attendance, but often only Mr. Myers
and myself to take part in them except as others read Scripture
verses.
On the Sabbath we have Sunday-school at 9:30. Average attendance,
100; preaching at 11. I hasten home, saddle my horse, and ride six
miles to the next railroad station (Pleasant View). Here I have met
100 or more young people. I have been surprised that in a land where
a woman isn't expected to _know_ anything, or _be_ anything but a
doll or a drudge that there has been so little prejudice against my
school. Some, of course, have thought a woman entirely out of her
sphere to undertake such work and have taken occasion to remark to my
friends: "Why, Mrs. Myers opens the school by prayer, just as Mr.
Myers would. I don't know but it's all right, but it don't seem just
the proper thing for a woman to do."
Mr. M. has a mission in South Williamsburg or the mills, where
numbers of children are growing up in the midst of gambling and
shooting. Prof. W. has, about the same hour, a school two miles out
in another direction. At night we have services again in
Williamsburg. At these services we have more than can get into the
house, and many are obliged to leave for lack of accommodation.
Tuesday nights we go to Pleasant View and help them learn the Gospel
Songs. Each alternate Wednesday evening, church socials; each
alternate Friday afternoon, Band of Hope; Saturday evening, choir
drill; Covenant Meeting once a month on Saturday afternoon.