VOL. XXXIII. No. 8.
THE
AMERICAN MISSIONARY.
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“To the Poor the Gospel is Preached.”
* * * * *
AUGUST, 1879.
_CONTENTS_:
EDITORIAL.
ANNUAL MEETING 225
PAINS OF RETRENCHMENT 225
FREEDMEN’S MISSIONS AID SOCIETY 227
MISSIONS IN CENTRAL AFRICA 228
EDUCATION OF FREEDMEN 229
CONGREGATIONALISM IN THE SOUTH--ITS RELATION TO THE
AFRICAN RACE 230
DEATH OF A TEACHER 232
ITEMS FROM THE FIELD 232
GENERAL NOTES 233
THE FREEDMEN.
ATLANTA UNIVERSITY--Tenth Anniversary 235
TALLADEGA COLLEGE--College, Farm and Seminary 237
BEREA COLLEGE--Crowded Commencement 238
S. C., ORANGEBURG--School Closing--Religious Life 240
GEORGIA, MCINTOSH--Call for a Lady Missionary 240
GEORGIA, FORSYTHE--Temperance and Religion 241
ALABAMA, FLORENCE--Corner-Stone of a Church Laid 241
TENNESSEE--Teachers’ Institute 242
TENNESSEE--By-ways of Tennessee 243
AFRICA.
MENDI MISSION--Explorations--Industrial Work 245
THE CHINESE.
NOTES AND CLIPPINGS: Rev. W. C. Pond 246
CHILDREN’S PAGE.
MY HOME IN INDIAN TERRITORY 249
LETTERS TO THE TREASURER--Words of Cheer 250
RECEIPTS 251
WORK, STATISTICS, WANTS, &C. 254
* * * * *
NEW YORK.
Published by the American Missionary Association,
ROOMS, 56 READE STREET.
* * * * *
Price, 50 Cents a Year, in advance.
American Missionary Association,
56 READE STREET, N. Y.
* * * * *
PRESIDENT.
HON. E. S. TOBEY, Boston.
VICE-PRESIDENTS.
Hon. F. D. PARISH, Ohio.
Hon. E. D. HOLTON, Wis.
Hon. WILLIAM CLAFLIN, Mass.
Rev. STEPHEN THURSTON, D. D., Me.
Rev. SAMUEL HARRIS, D. D., Ct.
WM. C. CHAPIN, Esq., R. I.
Rev. W. T. EUSTIS, D. D., Mass.
Hon. A. C. BARSTOW, R. I.
Rev. THATCHER THAYER, D. D., R. I.
Rev. RAY PALMER, D. D., N. Y.
Rev. J. M. STURTEVANT, D. D., Ill.
Rev. W. W. PATTON, D. D., D. C.
Hon. SEYMOUR STRAIGHT, La.
HORACE HALLOCK, Esq., Mich.
Rev. CYRUS W. WALLACE, D. D., N. H.
Rev. EDWARD HAWES, Ct.
DOUGLAS PUTNAM, Esq., Ohio.
Hon. THADDEUS FAIRBANKS, Vt.
SAMUEL D. PORTER, Esq., N. Y.
Rev. M. M. G. DANA, D. D., Minn.
Rev. H. W. BEECHER, N. Y.
Gen. O. O. HOWARD, Oregon.
Rev. G. F. MAGOUN, D. D., Iowa.
Col. C. G. HAMMOND, Ill.
EDWARD SPAULDING, M. D., N. H.
DAVID RIPLEY, Esq., N. J.
Rev. WM. M. BARBOUR, D. D., Ct.
Rev. W. L. GAGE, Ct.
A. S. HATCH, Esq., N. Y.
Rev. J. H. FAIRCHILD, D. D., Ohio
Rev. H. A. STIMSON, Minn.
Rev. J. W. STRONG, D. D., Minn.
Rev. GEORGE THACHER, LL. D., Iowa.
Rev. A. L. STONE, D. D., California.
Rev. G. H. ATKINSON, D. D., Oregon.
Rev. J. E. RANKIN, D. D., D. C.
Rev. A. L. CHAPIN, D. D., Wis.
S. D. SMITH, Esq., Mass.
PETER SMITH, Esq., Mass.
Dea. JOHN C. WHITIN, Mass.
Rev. WM. PATTON, D. D., Ct.
Hon. J. B. GRINNELL, Iowa.
Rev. WM. T. CARR, Ct.
Rev. HORACE WINSLOW, Ct.
Sir PETER COATS, Scotland.
Rev. HENRY ALLON, D. D., London, Eng.
WM. E. WHITING, Esq., N. Y.
J. M. PINKERTON, Esq., Mass.
Rev. F. A. NOBLE, D. D., Ct.
DANIEL HAND, Esq., Ct.
A. L. WILLISTON, Esq., Mass.
Rev. A. F. BEARD, D. D., N. Y.
FREDERICK BILLINGS, Esq., Vt.
JOSEPH CARPENTER, Esq., R. I.
CORRESPONDING SECRETARY.
REV. M. E. STRIEBY, D. D., _56 Reade Street, N. Y._
DISTRICT SECRETARIES.
REV. C. L. WOODWORTH, _Boston_.
REV. G. D. PIKE, _New York_.
REV. JAS. POWELL, _Chicago_.
EDGAR KETCHUM, ESQ., _Treasurer, N. Y._
H. W. HUBBARD, ESQ., _Assistant Treasurer, N. Y._
REV.M. E. STRIEBY, _Recording Secretary_.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.
ALONZO S. BALL,
A. S. BARNES,
EDWARD BEECHER,
GEO. M. BOYNTON,
WM. B. BROWN,
CLINTON B. FISK,
ADDISON P. FOSTER,
E. A. GRAVES,
S. B. HALLIDAY,
SAM’L HOLMES,
S. S. JOCELYN,
ANDREW LESTER,
CHAS. L. MEAD,
JOHN H. WASHBURN,
G. B. WILLCOX.
COMMUNICATIONS
relating to the business of the Association may be addressed to
either of the Secretaries as above; letters for the Editor of the
“American Missionary” to Rev. Geo. M. Boynton, at the New York
Office.
DONATIONS AND SUBSCRIPTIONS
should be sent to H. W. Hubbard, Ass’t Treasurer, No. 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.
Correspondents are specially requested to place at the head of each
letter the name of their Post Office, and the County and State in
which it is located.
THE
AMERICAN MISSIONARY.
* * * * *
VOL. XXXIII. AUGUST, 1879. No. 8.
* * * * *
American Missionary Association.
* * * * *
Our readers will see, on the last page of the cover, that the next
Annual Meeting of the Association is to be held the last week of
October, in the city of Chicago. We suggest to our Eastern friends,
or those from the far West, who have in their plans a visit to that
city within the next three months, that, if possible, they delay
their going until that time, that they may prove to our friends of
the interior their interest in the work, and add to it the impulse
of their presence.
* * * * *
THE PAINS OF RETRENCHMENT.
We do not propose a treatment of this topic in the abstract, to
tell of the internal pressure for retrenchment from the collapsed
condition of our treasury, or of the outcries which accompany the
red line made by the surgical knife. We simply lay before our
readers the facts in regard to our latest efforts in this direction.
We have had a school for fourteen years at Athens, Alabama.
Miss M. F. Wells has been the principal from its beginning, and
has been one of our most faithful and most successful teachers
and missionaries. Miss Underwood has been her assistant for two
years, and Rev. Horace Taylor has been pastor of the vigorous and
enterprising church which has grown up by the side of, and indeed
out of, the school. Some 150 scholars have been in attendance at
the school, and its work has been more and more satisfactory year
by year.
We had a building there which was, however, in bad repair: its
walls had been propped up these last months, and it was becoming
really unsafe, so that it must be abandoned or replaced. But to
erect a suitable and permanent building would cost $5,000, and we
had no such sum to expend; and the question came to be, Shall we
build, or close the school and transfer the teachers to some other
field? Reluctantly this latter decision was made:--indeed, we
did not make it; it was made for us. We could not build, and the
decision was sent on to Athens.
On the first of July, Miss Wells wrote from a sick bed, of the
shock which this decision gave to her, though it had been intimated
beforehand. She said:
We thank you cordially for the delay in the announcement of your
decision, for had it come in the midst of our closing exercises,
students and teachers would have been unfitted for the work upon
them.
Our examinations continuing through four days were largely attended
throughout, a crowded house greeting us every day.
The general voice of the people was: “Examinations grow better all
the time;” “This is the best we have ever had;” “I will send _all_
my children the _first day_ next year, and not keep them out for
_anything_;” “Bless the Lord for this school;” “It makes me cry
for joy when I see what it has done for our people;” “We are _all_
going to help build a new house;” “Will start a brick-yard next
week, if you say so, right in these grounds;” “_All_ will help;”
“Even the idle boys on the street will gladly lend a hand;” etc.,
etc.
On the whole, our examinations and closing exercises were more
satisfactory _to us_ this year than ever before. There has been a
deeper earnestness in study, and a higher grade of scholarship has
been reached.
On the day following, Miss Underwood wrote:
It is pitiful to witness the grief of the people. In the faces
of young and old one seems to read, “A calamity has fallen upon
us.” Some of them go silently about with bowed heads and spirits,
“clothed in sackcloth and ashes.” Others say, “We will arise and
build; surely the Lord will help those who help themselves.” The
universal feeling is that the school _must_ not close and _Miss
Wells must not go_. Without consulting her, they have called a
mass meeting for to-morrow night, to see what can be done towards
the erection of a new building. You will be promptly notified of
results.
On the 4th of July, Mr. Taylor, pastor of the church, wrote as
follows:
That night, at a lecture at the Court House, I read a note from
Miss Wells announcing your decision. The people were much pained.
The open rejoicing of many of the white people hurt the colored
people more than anything else. They asked me, “Can nothing be done
to prevent this?” I told them I thought not, for the orders were
positive. “If we build the school-house, can Miss Wells stay and
the school go on?” I said I didn’t know about that, and asked them
if they knew what they were talking about; that a school-house such
as ought to be put up there would cost $5,000? They said, “We can
do it, and we will do it.” So I telegraphed you, “If people put up
school building, will school be maintained?” That night, Wednesday,
was our preparatory lecture. The people decided to hold a meeting
Thursday night, and notice was given at preparatory lecture; so
last night the church was filled by an earnest, quiet audience.
Colored men were elected chairman and secretary. A committee of
five colored men was appointed to draft resolutions, of which the
following is a copy as nearly as I can remember:
“Whereas the maintenance of Trinity School is necessary for the
education of the colored people of North Alabama, therefore be it
“_Resolved_, 1st. That we hear with deep sorrow the decision of the
American Missionary Association to discontinue the school, sell
the property, and send the teachers to other points. 2. That we
earnestly request the American Missionary Association to reconsider
this decision, and permit Miss Wells to remain at the head of the
school. 3. In order to enable the school to be kept up, we propose
to put up a good substantial school building, and as an assurance
of our purpose and ability to do this we forward the following
subscription list.”
The resolutions were immediately and unanimously adopted. Two men
then spoke with trembling voices and tears in their eyes, and in
thirty minutes names were taken with pledges to the amount of
$2,196. We then checked the movement, and explained that $5,000
was necessary, but that we had raised the $2,000 we wished to
raise there. A unanimous vote authorized me to make the report
of the meeting to the American Missionary Association, and that
they wished the house and lot to be held forever for the education
of the colored people of North Alabama; that if the American
Missionary Association would permit them to buy the land at a
reasonable price they would do it; or the American Missionary
Association might hold the land and the people the house, neither
to sell out without the consent of the other. An old blind man
said, “An old blind horse ain’t good for much, but when you get
him into the tread-mill he is as good as any other; so when you
get to making brick I will turn the crank to draw the water.” We
got another $100 subscription and immediately adjourned. This
morning I have received another subscription of $12, making in all
$2,308. I ought to have mentioned that a committee of seven was
appointed to solicit subscriptions on the streets. If you say so,
the school-house shall be completed January 1st, 1880. I earnestly
request that the petition be granted.
At the last meeting of our Executive Committee these letters were
read. All were deeply moved, and the response was hearty and
unanimous, _Let them arise and build_, and the funds needed for the
continuance of the school shall be appropriated and paid. We cannot
stop such a work. We cannot refuse such a plea. Why, the educating
power of this movement upon the colored people of that place, and
its effect, perhaps, upon the white population as well, is worth
ten times the money involved in both the building and the school.
And yet we are told that the blacks are becoming indifferent to
education.
And now, dear friend, you who are thinking how the Lord has not
prospered you quite as much as he did a few years ago, when you
have read this, will you not put back that $100, or that $1, you
were going to take from your usual gift to us, that such work as
this may go on? It is your retrenchment that compels ours.
* * * * *
FREEDMEN’S MISSIONS AID SOCIETY.
The annual meeting of our English Auxiliary took place at Union
Chapel, Islington (Rev. Dr. Allon), June 6th. The Earl of Aberdeen
presided. The Rev. Dr. O. H. White read the general report of work
done in the United States and to be done in Africa. The Rev. J.
Gwynne Jones presented the financial statement. The total receipts
had been £5,270; £4,727 had been expended in direct mission work,
and the balance in hand was £205. £3,000 had been promised by
Mr. Arthington, of Leeds, towards the establishment of a mission
in Central Africa. The American Missionary Association had fully
considered the proposal and deemed it practicable, and they desired
now to raise another £3,000 in this country, trusting that they
would be able to command funds in America for carrying on the work,
if its outfit should be substantially secured here.
Miss Jennie Jackson, of the Jubilee Singers, then sang one of
their plaintive hymns, after which the presiding officer addressed
the meeting, referring to his personal observation of the slave
trade in Africa. The Rev. Dr. Moffat followed, saying that he had
been the servant of Africa for sixty years. Since he went out as
a missionary in 1816 he had been incessantly engaged in advancing
the Redeemer’s kingdom in Africa. He had had many opportunities of
witnessing what the Gospel could do in Africa, and he could testify
that it was the salvation of every one that believed. Mr. J. B.
Gough then spoke in his usual entertaining and forcible way.
On the motion of the Rev. Dr. Allon, seconded by the Rev. Dr. F.
Billing, the following resolution was adopted:
That this meeting desires to express the deep sense it entertains
of the favoring providence of God in connection with the
education of the emancipated slaves of America, for teachers
and missionaries to their own race, and also in connection with
the mission work accomplished by some of the society’s students
(ex-slaves) on the West Coast of Africa. And this meeting
would renewedly record its conviction that in the Christian
education of the Freedmen we are working in the line of a
special providential arrangement for a native agency for the
evangelization of Africa.
* * * * *
MISSIONS IN CENTRAL AFRICA.
At the recent anniversary of the London Missionary Society, the
Rev. W. F. Clarkson, B. A., of Birmingham, made the following
remarks upon Missions in Central Africa:
“And now, turning to Central Africa, what a solemn responsibility
has been thrown upon the Church of Christ in connection with that
vast continent! True it is that the North of Africa has been
connected with European history ever since Europe had a history,
and Egypt, especially, is rich in associations of the most remote
antiquity. South Africa has been colonized by modern European
nations, and the East and the West Coasts have furnished the
material for that iniquitous slave trade in which Christian nations
have not been ashamed to join hands with Mohammedans in order to
rob their fellow-men of their liberties.
“But all this has touched only the fringe of this vast continent,
and the interior has been practically unknown. Look at the maps of
a few years ago and you will see blank spaces, relieved only by
imaginary rivers and unverified mountains, and the letterpress of
the geography books was just as meagre and as unsatisfactory. I
chanced to light upon a school geography, the other day, published
in 1847, in which this was the description given: ‘The interior
of Africa is little known. The climate is so bad that the few
Europeans who travel there generally die before they return.’ And
it concluded by saying: ‘Most of the inhabitants are negroes.’ I
think that the young people of to-day may congratulate themselves
that they have not to study the text-books of thirty years ago--at
any rate, on this question. I need not remind this meeting how,
by the labors of eminent geographers and explorers and, not the
least, missionaries, this reproach has been rolled away, and
Africa promises to be as widely known as is Asia. But it is more
to the purpose of this meeting to express the admiration and the
thankfulness with which we witness the Church of Christ, of divers
denominations, taking up the solemn responsibilities thrown upon
her, and addressing herself to the evangelization of Africa.
“The Church Missionary Society advancing to Lake Nyanza, the Scotch
Church taking possession of Lake Nyassa, the Baptist Missionary
Society establishing itself on the banks of the Congo; and, not to
mention other kindred societies, our own London Missionary Society
advancing to Lake Tanganyika--are so many distinct columns of the
great invading army which has gone forth to rescue Africa from the
power of the prince of this world, and to bring it into subjection
unto Christ. Surely this is the dawning of the day which David
Livingstone rejoiced to see and was glad. And I hope that I may
take upon myself, in your name, respectfully to congratulate our
venerable father and apostle, Dr. Moffat, upon the advent of a time
so rich in promise, and so glowing with hope, for that Africa which
he has so long and so lovingly served. The report has spoken to us
in forcible terms of the anxieties of the directors concerning the
establishment of this Central African Mission, and I think you will
feel that nothing shows that anxiety more clearly than the action
of the directors in regard to the offer of Dr. Mullens, that they
should have accepted that offer and dispatched him, if not to the
front, at any rate to the base of operations for this new campaign;
and he will carry with him to Zanzibar our best wishes and our most
earnest prayers in the enterprise which he has so promptly and so
generously undertaken.
“I think nothing can exaggerate the seriousness of the enterprise
to which we, as a society, have committed ourselves in connection
with Central Africa. To have to travel 600 or 700 miles, every
mile of it measured out by the weary tread of human feet, and to
be accompanied by 200 or 300 porters, not simply to carry your
luggage, but even to carry the very money with which you have to
pay your way, is no holiday excursion; and to have to deal with
native chiefs of difficult and capricious tempers, with differing
and oftentimes opposing interests, demands qualities of the
highest statesmanship. To establish a mission like that of Lake
Tanganyika, the lake itself being of the length of the distance,
say from London to Carlisle, and twenty miles broad, with all its
shores lined with populous villages--to establish a mission in
such a centre of such a district demands an energy and a zeal and
a patience equal to those of the greatest missionaries that have
ever lived; and to do this, with the certain loss of the comforts
and conveniences of civilized life, and with the equally certain
risk of losing life itself, demands a heroism equal to that of the
ancient martyr. All honor to the brethren who have responded to the
demands of Christ, and have given themselves to this sacred work.
We sympathize with those that are living and working, and we shall
never forget those that have laid down their lives in this blessed
service. Dr. Black in the South, Lieut. Smith in the North, and our
own J. B. Thomson, and others who have fallen with them in this
warfare--shall not the Church of Christ register them, each one, in
the roll of heroes and of martyrs, by whose immortal example she
will seek to stimulate the generations to come?”
* * * * *
THE EDUCATION OF FREEDMEN.
Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe has contributed two articles with the
above title to the June and July numbers of the _North American
Review_, tracing the history of this work, and giving a valuable
summary of its present status.
We reprint a brief paragraph and the six general propositions, of
which the facts given are offered as the proof:
“For years patriots, statesmen, conscientious and Christian men,
had toiled and agonized over the inscrutable problem, _How_
could slavery be abolished without ruin to the country? Madison,
Jefferson, Washington, all had their schemes--all based on the idea
that after emancipation it would be impossible for the whites and
the blacks to live harmoniously together. Sudden emancipation was
spoken of as something involving danger, bloodshed and violence;
and yet, as no one could propose a feasible system of preparation,
the drift of the Southern mind had come to be toward indefinite
perpetuation and extension.
“Our emancipation was forced upon us--it was sudden; it gave no
time for preparation; and our national honor forced us to give not
only emancipation, but the rights and defenses of citizenship. This
was the position in which the war left us. We had four million new
United States citizens in our Union, without property, without
education, with such morals as may be inferred from the legal
status in which they had been kept; they were surrounded by their
former white owners, every way embittered toward them, and in no
wise disposed to smooth their path to liberty and competence.
“That in such a sudden and astounding change there should have been
struggle and conflict; that the reconstruction of former slave
States, in such astonishingly new conditions of society, should
have been with some difficulty, wrath and opposition; that there
should have been contentions, mistakes, mismanagements, and plenty
of undesirable events to make sensation articles for the daily
press, was to be expected.
“But wherever upon God’s earth was such an unheard-of revolution in
the state of human society accomplished with so little that was to
be deprecated?
“For in this year, 1878, certain propositions of very great
significance bear assertion, and can be maintained by ample proof:
“1. The cotton crop raised by free labor is the largest by some
millions that ever has been raised in the United States. That
settles the question as to the free-labor system.
“2. The legal status of the negro is universally conceded as a
_finality_ by the leading minds of the South.
“3. The common-school system has been established throughout the
Southern States, and recognized in theory by the wisest Southern
men as to be applied impartially to whites and blacks.
“4. All of the large religious denominations are conducting
educational movements among the Freedmen on a large scale. There
are scattered through the Southern States, under the patronage
of different denominations, thirty-nine chartered and endowed
institutions for the higher education of colored people as
teachers, ministers, physicians, farmers and mechanics. Besides
these, there are sixty-nine schools of a lower grade. It is
calculated that in the last sixteen years twenty million dollars
has been contributed and invested in the work of educating the
Freedmen.
“5. Leading and influential men at the South are in many cases
openly patrons of these educational efforts. Several of these
institutions have been generously assisted by the States in which
they are founded. The last reports of all these institutions
represent them as in a successful and flourishing condition.
“6. The colored race is advancing in material wealth and
prosperity.”
* * * * *
CONGREGATIONALISM IN THE SOUTH.
4. Its Relation to the African Race.
DIST. SEC. C. L. WOODWORTH, BOSTON.
Beyond any sentiment of honor, or of ambition to do our share of
the immense work thrown in an hour upon the churches of this land,
is the higher aim to introduce our faith and our polity to the
African race. Not only is it our reproach that we have been, almost
exclusively, confined to a small part of the English-speaking
people, but we shall deserve our littleness if we consent to be
limited to this nation, or even to this continent. The world needs
the principles we have in trust, and will not reach its best until
it attains them. And, now, before us is an open field, rich in
resources of life and wealth, all untilled. One-sixth of the human
family waits to be moulded by Christian influence. A continent
bares its bosom and asks Christianity for her strongest and best.
Why should the Church, which took possession of _one_ continent
and gave it the most benign institutions earth ever saw, hesitate
to lay hold of _another_, and plant it with the good seed of the
kingdom?
There is something immensely stimulating in the thought of
breaking forth after a lost race. All we need is an infusion of
the enterprise which guided the Pilgrims to Plymouth Rock. A new
continent for Christ is what we need to take up as our watch-word,
and pass along the lines till our membership is fired with a
holy zeal to win its 200,000,000 unto the Lamb that was slain.
And if we were intent on this, how easy it would be to connect
the work _here_ with the work _there_. If, when the door opened
into the South, we had gone in with our plans to save the African
race, we could hardly have done differently from what we have.
We have planted our schools and our churches in the very centres
of population and of influence. We have a large force of young
men and women in our schools, and our churches are constituted
almost wholly of young Christian scholars. How easy it would be
to turn the whole tide of their study and thought and influence
towards Africa! There is in the African mind of the South now a
strong drawing toward the land of their fathers. The schemes of
colonization afloat all through the South show it. The hundreds
of young men and young women banded together in our schools and
churches to go to Africa as teachers or as preachers, if the way
shall open, show it. They only need the guiding intelligence to
undertake to plant on Africa’s shores another Plymouth Colony and
Massachusetts Bay.
And this opportunity comes to the Congregational church and finds
it well prepared to enter on the training of Christian scholars
and preachers for this work. Our churches on the ground are few in
number, but filled with young, fresh, intelligent, pure material,
and co-operate with our schools to bring forward the teachers and
leaders of the African race. Is it all chance that puts us in this
position and gives us this advantage in laying the foundations of
education and religion for another race and another continent?
God’s plan may include _black_ as well as _white_ pilgrims, and
it may be ours to impart the pilgrim spirit and prepare the men
who shall make a new Africa, as our fathers made a new America.
This is possible to us as a church, and we ought to work towards
it with unflagging zeal. We can only lose our advantage by our own
neglect and lack of enterprise. We are in the front of workers for
Africa. Eight or ten of our young Christian scholars are already
on African soil. They send back a call for reinforcements, and the
reinforcements will be ready as soon as our churches furnish the
equipments and give them marching orders. The work may be long and
rough; our fathers found it so here. Congregationalism is used to
that. Indeed, she does best when on the strain. She is grand when
she leads the forlorn hope. Easy, comfortable, self-pleasing life
is not the atmosphere in which she grows tough, sturdy, courageous
and aggressive. Show her something to do for Christ, something
calling for sacrifice, some mighty battle to be fought for her
King, and she will cover herself with glory.
Out at the front--among the ranchmen, herdsmen, miners, soldiers,
savages--she is at home. This Southern work, which has taken the
feet of her toilers as near the thorns, and their heads as near
the crown of martyrdom, as any work of the century, has shown her
splendid qualities. Her faith and meekness, love and heroism, have
won her praises even in the gates of her enemies. And now we ask
her to make the whole African race the object of her endeavor. This
is the mission offered to her; let her not decline it. Let her lead
the hardest and perhaps the grandest movement in modern missions.
The young colored scholars of the South have learned to trust her,
and they will follow her.
Now is the time: Africa swings wide open her long barred gates;
commerce and science are moving to possess the land; foundations
are being laid for the centuries: let the church that can build so
wisely and so well, build this new temple of a regenerated Africa.
* * * * *
DEATH OF A TEACHER.
It is with painful regret that we are obliged to record the
untimely death of Miss Laura S. Cary, one of the teachers of the
Fisk University. She was the daughter of John J. Cary, Esq., of
Nashville, well known as cashier of the Freedmen’s Savings Bank,
and as a trustee of the Fisk University from its organization.
Miss Cary pursued the full course of study at the University,
and was graduated with honor in the class of 1877, receiving the
degree of A.B.; after this she engaged in teaching in the classical
department as an assistant to Professor Spence.
She was very attractive in person, cultured in manners, dignified,
quiet and winning. Her character as a Christian was unobtrusive and
consistent. As a teacher she was proficient, kindly and patient,
adding to exact scholarship a grace of demeanor and a voice of such
rare sweetness as to attract constant attention to it. In her death
the institution has lost one of the most valuable members of its
corps of workers, and the African race a representative of rare
merit and promise.
She died of typhus fever, June 28th, after an illness of ten days,
aged 23.
* * * * *
ITEMS FROM THE FIELD.
RALEIGH, N. C.--After the closing of the Conference, Pastor Smith,
with the assistance of Rev. Mr. Peebles, of Dudley, held special
services for three weeks. The church was greatly revived. Two
young men have been received into the church. Others have been and
are interested. The congregation is increasing, especially in the
attendance of young men.
GREENWOOD, S. C.--The Brewer Normal School, under the care of Mr.
J. D. Backenstose, closed, June 26th, a successful year’s work.
Examinations and exhibition were very creditable and largely
attended. The annual address was delivered by the Rev. F. E.
McDonald, on “Culture.” Ministers of other denominations, graduates
of the school, and many prominent citizens, showed by their
attendance, and expressed in words, their deep interest in the work
and gratification with its results.
ATLANTA, GA.--The teachers and students of Atlanta University
contributed about $75 at their monthly missionary meetings during
the past year, and have employed that sum in aiding the work of
the National Temperance Society, from which they have received a
large supply of the best temperance literature. As nearly 150 of
the students are at present engaged in teaching summer schools,
and nearly all enter into the temperance work, they will find
such a supply a valuable help, and can give it wide and effective
distribution. About an equal sum was given at weekly school
meetings, and will be sent to aid mission work among the Indians.
A State Teachers’ Association was organized in Atlanta, during
commencement week, by the young colored teachers of Georgia.
There was an attendance of more than one hundred, and all parts
of the State were represented. The proceedings were dignified
and appropriate, and wise and useful plans were set on foot for
future action. A large portion of the participants were graduates
of Atlanta University, and were in attendance upon its closing
exercises.
Rev. S. S. Ashley has resigned the care of the First Church in
Atlanta, and Rev. Geo. E. Hill, of Marion, Ala., is supplying the
pulpit during the summer.
WOODVILLE, GA.--The Sabbath-school is growing, and God is with
us. It is in a better condition now than ever before since its
organization. Last Sunday we had both white and colored people,
who came seven miles to our Sunday-school. The day-school has
never been as prosperous as it is this year. Truly we ought to be
thankful. Our Sunday night meetings have been crowded for some time.
NEW ORLEANS, LA.--A very complete manual of the Central
Congregational Church, neatly printed, is in our hands. The order
of admission and of administration of the church is very complete.
The present membership is 149. Rev. Walter S. Alexander has been
pastor of the church as well as President of Straight University
for the past three years.
* * * * *
GENERAL NOTES.
The Indians.
From a recent report to the Department of the Interior, we extract
the following items of information in regard to our Indian
treaties, which may be to many as novel as they are striking:
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, }
OFFICE OF INDIAN AFFAIRS, WASHINGTON, _April 28, 1879_. }
TO THE HONORABLE THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR, Washington, D. C.
SIR: By reference to the treaties now in force with our nomadic
tribes, it is found that a clause, in like terms, in reference to
education, appears in seven (7) of our most important ones, while
manifestly the same spirit of educational help from the Government
pervades them all.
One of the clauses referred to is as follows (see revision of
Indian treaties, page 132, Treaty with the Cheyennes and Arapahoes,
1868):
“Article 7.--In order to insure the civilization of the tribes
entering into this treaty, the necessity of education is admitted,
especially by such of them as are or may be settled on said
agricultural reservation, and they thereby pledge themselves to
compel their children, male and female, between the ages of six and
sixteen years, to attend school; and it is hereby made the duty of
the agent for said Indians to see that this stipulation is strictly
complied with; and the United States agrees that for every thirty
children between said ages, who can be induced or compelled to
attend school, a house shall be provided, and a teacher, competent
to teach the elementary branches of an English education, shall
be furnished, who will reside among said Indians and faithfully
discharge his or her duties as teacher.
“The provisions of this article to continue not less than twenty
years.”
These treaties were all confirmed in 1868, and, as will be seen,
the educational clause is respectively limited to twenty years.
The _intent_ was unquestionably to gather into schools _all_ of
the children of the tribes who became parties to the treaties. By
reference to the last annual report from this office, it will be
found that the total population of the tribes having this clause
in their treaties, on the date of that report, was about 71,000,
and their children of school age numbered 12,000; and that ten
years after making these treaties, of this great number of children
entitled to educational privileges at Government expense, only 944
were really provided for.
The following extracts from said report have a direct bearing upon
this subject, and merit special attention in this connection:
“Experience shows that Indian children do not differ from white
children of similar social status and surroundings, in aptitude or
capacity for acquiring knowledge; and opposition or indifference to
education on the part of parents decreases yearly; so the question
of Indian education resolves itself mainly into a question of
school facilities.
“But the figures contained in the tables herewith fall far short
of indicating a purpose on the part of the Government to make this
question one of speedy solution.
“At a low estimate, the number of Indian children of school-going
age, exclusive of those belonging to the five civilized tribes
of the Indian Territory, may be placed at 33,000. Of these, not
less than 8,000 could, within a short time, be gathered into
boarding-schools, except for the fact that the teachers are yet to
be employed, the school buildings are yet to be erected, and the
funds for both, and for feeding and clothing the scholars, are yet
to be appropriated.
“The whole number of children who can be accommodated in the
boarding-schools now provided at the various agencies is only
2,589. To these may be added 5,082 more, who can find room in
day-schools--those expensive make-shifts for educational appliances
among Indians,--making a total of only 7,671 Indians who have
yet been placed within reach of school facilities. And when it
is considered that the fifty youth who spend from one to _three_
years in a boarding-school, must step from that into the social
atmosphere created by 500 youth and 2,500 other members of the
tribe who are still in ignorance, it can readily be seen that the
elevation of an Indian tribe is being attempted by a method at
least as slow as it is sure; and that what should be the work of a
year will be protracted through a decade, and the work of a decade
through a generation.
“In many cases this policy is not only short-sighted, but in direct
contravention of treaty stipulations, as, for example, the treaty
of 1868 with the Kiowas and Comanches (heretofore noted). The
one boarding-school at the Kiowa and Comanche Agency, which will
accommodate 75 pupils, is filled, and the other 425 children are
waiting their turn. To comply with treaty stipulations with these
two tribes would more than absorb the entire fund appropriated for
the civilization and education of all the Indians in the Indian
Territory, exclusive of the five civilized tribes. Even more
glaring violations of educational clauses in Sioux treaties might
be cited.”
The experience of the Department has been that the best results are
obtained by a removal of the children from all tribal influence
during the progress of education, so that educators can command all
the time and attention of their pupils.
Youth so educated return to their tribes as teachers, interpreters
and examples in farming, etc.; and if properly sustained and guided
thereafter, prove far more effective guides than whites of the same
capacity.
Nothing is more essential than that Indian youth, while passing
through school, should have thorough instruction in some practical
branch of labor that will meet their needs for obtaining a
livelihood after leaving school.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
E. J. BROOKS, _Acting Commissioner_.
* * * * *
THE FREEDMEN.
REV. JOS. E. ROY, D. D.,
FIELD SUPERINTENDENT, ATLANTA, GA.
* * * * *
ATLANTA UNIVERSITY.
The Tenth Anniversary--Commencement--Alumni Meeting--Going Forth to
Work.
REV. C. W. FRANCIS, ATLANTA, GA.
The tenth anniversary of Atlanta University, which has just
occurred, was an occasion of special interest to all its patrons
and friends. The fact that the school was closing a year of
prosperous work, during which a larger attendance than ever had
been secured and maintained, and that evidences were multiplied
of increasing confidence and respect on the part of all classes
of people in the State, so that opportunities for usefulness were
never greater, while generous gifts had recently come to provide
needed facilities for the work, together with the real merit of the
exercises and the large attendance of graduates, gave all a feeling
of satisfaction which did much toward making the week one of great
pleasure.
The exercises were introduced by a thoughtful and instructive
sermon on the Sabbath, addressed to the graduating classes by the
Rev. Mr. Bumstead, in which he set forth the occasion and motives
for a high standard of attainment in life according to “the pattern
shown on the Mount.”
Three days of examination followed, which were attended by a board
of examiners, appointed by the Governor of the State, and by a
committee of citizens, invited by the Board of Trustees, and a
large number of patrons and friends. The chairman of the Board of
Examiners, a prominent editor of the State, who has attended these
exercises in his official capacity for six successive years, spoke,
in an address to the students at the close, of his increasing
satisfaction with the progress in education exhibited, and the
substantial work done, with the spirit and management of the
institution, and the zeal and skill of the students in their work,
in different communities. He assured them of the liberality and
friendliness of the people, and pledged the hearty co-operation of
the State authorities and leading citizens with all their efforts
at self-improvement, and for the elevation of the poor and ignorant
so long as the present high standard of doing good was maintained.
For all their work in these directions thus far, he had nothing but
praise to give.
The Commencement exercises upon the last day were brief, sensible
and entertaining. Five young men were graduated from college and
two young women from the normal course, and degrees were conferred
upon six young men who were graduates of three years’ standing. The
music was a pleasant feature of the occasion, being well selected
and well rendered. A report, which was highly commendatory,
was read by Rev. J. M. Martin, D.D., of Atlanta, who had been
in attendance upon the examinations by request of the Board of
Trustees.
The gathering of the graduates in their meeting in the afternoon
was the most striking feature of the occasion, as it was their
first formal meeting, and secured the attendance of a large portion
of them, and was marked by the warmest expressions of devotion
to the school, its aims, discipline and culture, and affection
and gratitude for its instructors. A singularly sober and earnest
feeling pervaded their utterances, and it could plainly be seen
that the conflicts of life in the difficult work nearly every one
has taken up, have led them to appreciate as never before the
value of work done for them here.
A finely framed portrait of Pres. E. A. Ware was presented by
them to the school, as an expression of their appreciation of his
sacrifices and devotion to its interests, as well as a testimonial
of personal affection.
The next day witnessed the busy scenes connected with the departure
of more than 150 young people, who, for the most part, go to teach
summer schools of three months’ duration throughout the country
regions of the State. There is something peculiarly interesting in
the separation and departure of a large company of young people
anywhere, but a special interest belongs to this occasion. These
go with such a simple faith to difficult work among strangers,
with so few facilities and so many obstacles of many kinds; and
yet they seem to win favor, even from those naturally opposed to
their work: they find places open for them, gather schools in
churches, log-cabins, or brush arbors, make furniture, black-boards
and charts, give lectures, lead Sunday-schools, Bible classes and
meetings, teach ministers and elders, and become “all things to
all men,” that they may save some from the degrading bondage to
ignorance, superstition and sin in which they find the mass of
those for whom they labor. It is rare that any are unable to find
schools through lack of money to travel and friends to aid them,
but the absence of any efficient system of schools makes the burden
heavy, and brings to a few sad disappointments. But the fact that
so many young people, with no experience and little money and few
friends, accomplish every year such a great work, seems to prove
that the hand of the Lord guides and protects them, and that His
purpose is to make them a leavening power at the base of society in
this State, to regenerate and bless and save the whole mass.
The religious work of the year has been prospering, twelve having
united with the school church, and more than as many more, who were
hopefully converted here, being expected to unite with churches
at their homes. All the members of the graduating classes are
professing Christians, as has been the case with all who have been
graduated thus far. The opportunities and possibilities for good
were never greater nor the outlook more hopeful; and we may well
set up at the end of the year another stone of witness and say,
“Hitherto hath the Lord helped us.”
We append the following statements from the Editorial
correspondence of the Macon _Telegraph and Messenger_:
This institution has been conducted with singular wisdom and
propriety, and has already proved an inestimable blessing to
the colored people of Georgia. Gradually, but surely, all the
prejudices of the whites have been overcome, and the predictions
of many that it would eventuate in a mere nursery of Radicalism
and hate to the superior race, have not been justified by the
facts. On the contrary, we have the testimony of our own School
Superintendent, Mr. B. M. Zettler, that some of the most efficient
and conservative teachers in the Bibb County schools were educated
at the Atlanta University. Moreover, he favors the appointment, by
the various Boards of Public Education, of teachers of their own
race for the colored children of the State, in every instance where
they show themselves competent.
Accordingly, we find from the official report of President Ware,
that of the fifty-one alumni of the University, forty-two have
engaged in teaching as a profession, while three are pastors
of churches, two theological students, and one, Nathaniel D.
Harris, of Washington, D. C., is pursuing the study of law. Of the
teachers, four only have located beyond the limits of the State.
In addition, over ninety of the more advanced pupils employ their
time during vacation in teaching.
The institution is in a more flourishing condition than at any
previous period of its history. Its matriculates number two hundred
and forty, representing ten different States and forty-seven
counties in Georgia. The trustees hold sixty acres of valuable
land adjoining the college edifices, which is in itself a splendid
endowment. The other revenues cover $8,000 per annum from the
State of Georgia, tuition fees (only $2 per month), and donations
usually amounting to $2,500 from charitable institutions at the
North. But recently the trustees have had quite a windfall from the
Stone estate at Malden, Mass. The widow of Mr. Stone, who, by her
husband’s will, was made the almoner of his bounties, has given
$50,000 to the University. They have fallen heir also to another
sum exceeding $10,000, from the estate of the late R. R. Graves,
of New York, who had previously donated a valuable library to the
University.
With these subsidies it is proposed to erect immediately another
College building between the two present structures, to cost
$40,000, and a large addition to the Girls’ Dormitory, which will
include a dining-room capable of seating 300 pupils. The estimated
cost of this improvement is $15,000.
The library of the Institute comprises 4,000 volumes, most of them
excellent selections, with a balance on hand in cash of $700 for
further augmentation, derived from the interest on the permanent
library endowment, which is $5,000.
It will be seen from the above that the Atlanta University is on
the high-road to prosperity.
* * * * *
TALLADEGA COLLEGE.
The College, Farm, and Theological Seminary.
REV. TEMPLE CUTLER.
Talladega is beautifully situated among the hills of Alabama. It
reminds one somewhat of Andover, Mass., only the hill on which the
college stands is not as high. There is, however, the same outline
of mountains in the distance, and the same soft light falling on
the village nestling below, hidden among the rich foliage of trees.
Talladega is by far the prettiest site for a college that I have
seen in the South. Nature has done her part in fitting up the place
for purposes of instruction. There is every incentive to mental
improvement that nature can afford. If man will do his part, we
may expect to find here one of the most important of those springs
which are sending forth streams of moral and mental influence
through all the wastes of this south country.
A week spent here has been exceedingly enjoyable. The teachers are
an agreeable set of finely educated gentlemen and ladies, who spare
no pains to make one’s stay a pleasant one. The hospitality is not
made burdensome either to host or guest, but one quietly falls into
the routine of life, and feels immediately at home.