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THE AMERICAN MISSIONARY
May, 1889
VOL. XLIII. NO. 5.
CONTENTS
EDITORIAL.
FINANCIAL
CENTENNIAL
CONGREGATIONALISM IN GEORGIA
NOTES FROM THE SOUTH
ILLUMINATED SPOTS
THE GOVERNMENT AND THE INDIANS
NOTES FROM NEW ENGLAND
WHAT THE WORLD SAYS
PARAGRAPHS
SOUTHERN ECHOES
BOOK NOTICE
THE SOUTH.
THE GEORGIA CONGREGATIONAL ASSOCIATION
EVANGELISTIC LABORS
THOMASVILLE, GA.
DEATH OF MRS. BENNETT
THE INDIANS.
PERILS OF MISSIONARY LIFE
FIRST FRUITS
THE CHINESE.
LOS ANGELES CONGREGATIONAL CHINESE MISSION
BUREAU OF WOMAN'S WORK.
WOMAN'S HOME MISSIONARY ASSOCIATION
ALABAMA ASSOCIATION
THREE NEW ORGANIZATIONS IN THE SOUTH
OUR YOUNG FOLKS.
HOW THE PENNIES GREW
RECEIPTS
* * * * *
NEW YORK:
PUBLISHED BY THE AMERICAN MISSIONARY ASSOCIATION.
Rooms, 56 Reade Street.
* * * * *
Price, 50 Cents a Year, in Advance.
Entered at the Post Office at New York, N.Y., as second-class matter.
* * * * *
American Missionary Association.
President, Rev. WM. M. Taylor, D.D., LL.D., N.Y.
_Vice-Presidents._
Rev. A.J.F. BEHRENDS, D.D., N.Y.
Rev. ALEX. McKENZIE, D.D., Mass.
Rev. F.A. NOBLE, D.D., Ill.
Rev. D.O. MEARS, D.D., Mass.
Rev. HENRY HOPKINS, D.D., Mo.
_Corresponding Secretaries._
Rev. M.E. STRIEBY, D.D., _56 Reade Street, N.Y._
Rev. A.F. BEARD, D.D., _56 Reade Street, N.Y._
_Recording Secretary._
Rev. M.E. STRIEBY, D.D., _56 Reade Street, N.Y._
_Treasurer._
H.W. HUBBARD, Esq., _56 Reade Street, N.Y._
_Auditors._
PETER McCARTEE.
CHAS. P. PEIRCE.
_Executive Committee._
JOHN H. WASHBURN, Chairman.
ADDISON P. FOSTER, Secretary.
_For Three Years._
J.E. RANKIN,
WM. H. WARD,
J.W. COOPER,
JOHN H. WASHBURN,
EDMUND L. CHAMPLIN.
_For Two Years._
LYMAN ABBOTT,
CHAS. A. HULL,
CLINTON B. FISK,
ADDISON P. FOSTER.
_For One Year._
S.B. HALLIDAY,
SAMUEL HOLMES,
SAMUEL S. MARPLES,
CHARLES L. MEAD,
ELBERT B. MONROE.
_District Secretaries._
Rev. C.J. RYDER, _21 Cong'l House, Boston._
Rev. J.E. ROY, D.D., _151 Washington. Street, Chicago._
_Financial Secretary for Indian Missions._
Rev. CHAS. W. SHELTON.
_Field Superintendents._
Rev. FRANK E. JENKINS.
Prof. EDWARD S. HALL.
_Secretary of Woman's Bureau._
Miss D.E. EMERSON, _56 Reade St., N.Y._
* * * * *
COMMUNICATIONS
Relating to the work of the Association may be addressed to the
Corresponding Secretaries; letters for "THE AMERICAN MISSIONARY," to the
Editor, at the New York Office; letters relating to the finances, to the
Treasurer.
DONATIONS AND SUBSCRIPTIONS
In drafts, checks, registered letters, or post-office orders, may be
sent to H.W. Hubbard, Treasurer, 56 Reade Street, New York, or, when
more convenient, to either of the Branch Offices, 21 Congregational
House, Boston, Mass., or 151 Washington Street, Chicago, Ill. A payment
of thirty dollars at one time constitutes a Life Member.
NOTICE TO SUBSCRIBERS.--The date on the "address label," indicates the
time to which the subscription is paid. Changes are made in date on
label to the 10th of each month. If payment of subscription be made
afterward, the change on the label will appear a month later. Please
send early notice of change in post-office address, giving the former
address and the new address, in order that our periodicals and
occasional papers may be correctly mailed.
FORM OF A BEQUEST.
"I bequeath to my executor (or executors) the sum of ---- dollars, in
trust, to pay the same in ---- days after my decease to the person who,
when the same is payable, shall act as Treasurer of the 'American
Missionary Association,' of New York City, to be applied, under the
direction of the Executive Committee of the Association, to its
charitable uses and purposes." The Will should be attested by three
witnesses.
* * * * *
THE AMERICAN MISSIONARY.
VOL. XLIII. MAY, 1889. NO. 5.
American Missionary Association.
* * * * *
FINANCIAL.
THE AMERICAN MISSIONARY presents its greetings for the month of May. Six
months of our fiscal year are now in the past. The half year which we
anticipate includes the summer time, when many of the friends of the
ignorant millions to whom we are sent, are absent from their churches.
The months of May and June ought to swell the stream of love and service
against the season when the demand will continue and income will be
small.
We appealed last month for an increase of the contributions in _church_
collections. We renew and emphasize that appeal, for these collections
are the steady streams on which we rely to keep in motion the wheels of
the large and ever enlarging work of the Association. We believe that
the interest in this great work is on the increase. We rejoice that "the
most prolific missionary field ever opened to any Christian people--
right here at our doors," is gaining upon the interest and benevolence
of the churches year by year. Never were the friends of the cause mote
responsive; never was the work more hopeful. The work enlarges, and the
people's faith enlarges. Their gifts to Christ for his poor were never
freer.
We have been greatly favored with special gifts. Every one of them is
needed. It is a blessed thing that one can plant his benevolences in
some special institution or feature of work, and know that the
influences are to follow on after the giver has gone to a higher world.
But we do hope that the CHURCHES OF CHRIST, AS CHURCHES, will not fail
to keep step with the providences of God in their church contributions.
It is also true that some fear that the day of LEGACIES is to come to an
end. Indeed, there are those who take a solemn comfort in bewailing and
fearing that everything is to come to an end. They mix a pound of
forebodings with an ounce of faith. If, for some unseen reasons in the
movements of life and death, legacies do not appear with the regularity
of insurance tables, they think the day of legacies is dead.
Nevertheless legacies will continue as long as Christians pass from
earth to heaven. There will always be faithful souls who will remember
Christ and his cause in their wills. There will always be those who may
not be able to divide their estates and to dispose of portions of them
while they live, who will yet provide that they may see their works
following them, when they shall look down from a world redeemed, to a
world for whose redemption Christ lived and died. There will always be
legacies, and the American Missionary Association, so long as it follows
in the steps of Christ in such mission as it has, will not be forgotten.
The legacies will come, because they ought to come. The people of God
will remember this work in their wills because they ought to do this,
and God will take care that what Christian stewards ought to do, shall
be done.
We thank God for SPECIAL GIFTS. We thank God for LEGACIES. We also thank
God for the ability and faith and sacrifices of those who cannot plant
institutions or build or endow schools, but who live and give that which
provides for the unceasing CURRENT EXPENSES. Almost every one can do a
little more, and it is the many littles that make the difference between
a debt with a crippled work, and freedom from debt with healthful
growth. All along the lines, the calls for help are so urgent, that it
is painful for us, in the name of the church, to be constantly saying
"No!"
OUR RECEIPTS for the past six months (ending March 31) are as follows:
Church contributions $95,843.37
Estates and legacies 15,194.10
Tuition from schools 18,781.58
Income from invested funds 4,829.21
Income from the United States Government 9,540.87
----------
Total $144,189.13
OUR PAYMENTS for the past six
months are $171,237.64
OUR DEFICIT is 27,048.51
The churches can easily take this out of the way if they will. We
believe that they will.
* * * * *
CENTENNIAL.
These pages will come before our readers amid the enthusiastic
rejoicings of a great nation celebrating the one hundredth anniversary
of its Constitution--a Constitution that has been tried and found
worthy.
The greatest strain to which this great charter has been subjected in
the past hundred years has been occasioned by slavery. The crisis cost
untold blood and treasure. The great strain of the next hundred years
will be what slavery has left behind it--a vast and growing black
population, and an imbittered race prejudice.
There is but one way to meet this strain of the coming century, and that
is by the education of the blacks. The task is great, but if the
American people will awake to its urgency and put forth the needed
effort, the crisis may be averted. We call upon all Christian people,
and upon all patriots, to begin this new century with the purpose to
increase their contributions for this great object. We ask them to begin
at once and to continue steadily--in church contributions, in personal
gifts, and, not to forget the object in the making of wills.
* * * * *
CONGREGATIONALISM IN GEORGIA.
Our readers are aware that there are two Congregational Organizations in
the State of Georgia. The Georgia Congregational Association was
organized in 1878, and is composed of about a dozen colored churches,
some of their pastors being white and some colored. The United
Congregational Conference of Georgia was formed a little more than a
year ago, is a much larger body, and is composed of white pastors and
churches. With a view to a possible union of these two organizations,
committees have been appointed by each, and, in another column, we lay
before our readers the propositions to that end, made by the Committee
of the Georgia Association. We cannot withhold our expression of
satisfaction with the Christian spirit exhibited in this document, and
the readiness to accept any possible alternative to secure the union.
The Congregational Churches of the country will feel an interest in
marking the progress of these negotiations, and will hail with delight a
consummation that will relieve the denomination from the embarrassment
of sanctioning two organizations in the same State that seem to be
separated only by the color-line.
* * * * *
NOTES FROM THE SOUTH.
BY SECRETARY A.F. BEARD.
Once more in Nashville. There is no question in my mind but that
Nashville is the educational leader in the South. It is a city of hills
which are crowned with institutions for white and black. These are the
beginnings of greater and better days for this part of "our country." My
duties have taken me to Fisk University. It is a college which has
justly won very high praise. Jubilee and Livingstone Halls are
significant names. One speaks of an historic event, and the other of an
historic person, but the work that goes on in both these large buildings
does no dishonor to one name or the other.
* * * * *
When Congressman Kelley, of Pennsylvania, was in Nashville, he visited
Fisk University. He afterwards told me that he could not conceal his
surprise at what he saw and heard and only with difficulty his emotion
when he arose to address the students.
I have now visited Fisk several times. I am each time more impressed
with the fidelity and quality of the work on the part of the students,
and the patient enthusiasm of the professors and of the teachers. If
there were to be no other or greater results than those of the past and
the present, all that has been done for Fisk University would be
justified.
* * * * *
From Nashville to Sparta, Tenn., and then a rough, tough ride up the
mountain side, "rattling the bones over the stones" until at length we
have climbed the Cumberland Plateau. We arrive at no-where in
particular, which is named Pleasant Hill. Here are a neat church, which
is both church and school, and a sightly building of two stories with a
third under the mansard roof, which will accommodate forty boys. A few
houses are visible from the top of this building, but no one could guess
where forty mountain boys and as many girls might be living.
Nevertheless they have been discovered, and it was none too soon.
Missionary Dodge did not locate in Pleasant Hill before the time. He
realized this. He looked about him and looked up and down. He saw things
which were invisible. He saw castles in the air. It must be confessed
that the office at Reade Street, fearing lest it might "trust the
churches" too much, had not the faith which could take hold of these
castles in the air and anchor them to the soil of Pleasant Hill; but
Brother Dodge got his grapples out and pulled down a church building
from the heavens. Well done; now surely he should rest from his labors
and give himself and us time to breathe. No; a visible church only
stimulated his faith, it did not satisfy it. This church was a place in
which he could read the eleventh chapter of Hebrews every Sunday. The
result was the "Hall" for young men and for the teachers. Now we are in
it and are glad. The Massachusetts Principal gave us welcome, the
Oberlin Vice-Principal endorsed it, while the Matron materialized the
spirit of welcome in a way calculated to excite gratitude, from the fact
that missionaries cannot live absolutely on faith.
Next the young men were introduced. One of them was seized with
undisguised curiosity to behold a minister whose theological system some
institution had found it necessary to doctor. It is, perhaps, the first
instance on record in modern times where these semi-lunar fardels have
been looked upon with respect and curiosity. When "Brother Dodge" came,
congratulations were in order over his Church, his School and his Hall,
but he would have none of it. He was seeing another building floating in
the clouds, and could only talk of the invisible. It will, however, soon
be among things visible, for the missionary has his grapples out. It is
to be a Boarding Hall and Industrial Home for girls who will come into
it and learn to live and to be. "But, Pleasant Hill is not a town, it is
not a village, it is only by courtesy a hamlet. Where are your pupils?"
"The woods are full of them and they will come from near and from far,"
replies their young missionary of more than three score and ten years.
On Sunday, the church was filled; on Monday, the school was full; and
our heart was full of thanksgiving that God had come to these mountain
people, that hope would enter their lives and their cabins, and that
these boys and girls would now step up in Christian manhood and
womanhood.
* * * * *
One of the impressive thoughts which a visit to an institution like Fisk
University is sure to excite, is the relation of all this work to the
future. Apropos of this, the Rev. J.O.A. Clark, D.D., LL.D., of Macon,
Ga., has just written a little tract of fifty pages on "The Future of
the Races." He does not vote in New England, nor is he a Yankee; but he
is a good and true witness. He says, that the Races are running races
along the paths of knowledge and up the hills of science. These are his
words (pages 19 and 20): "Have they" [the colored people] "availed
themselves of the educational facilities? Have they profited by them? We
answer that they have been incalculably benefited. They have shown not
only that they can receive education, but education of a high order.
Their improvement has been so astonishing as to silence doubt and
caviling. Our Southern eyes have been opened to see it. Southern candor
is free to admit it. There are none who do not admit it but the
hopelessly prejudiced. I am persuaded that the _average_ examinations in
the colored schools are better than the average in the white schools,
for teachableness is the basis of all education, and this universally
distinguishes the negro." Dr. Clark is not saying that the white boy may
not learn more easily and master more rapidly, but rather is telling how
the hare came out second in the race with his competitor not so fleet of
foot, but which had the gift of patient continuance in well-doing. Still
he accentuates the fact that "their improvement is astonishing." I am
sure that no one can visit Fisk University without having all his doubts
dispersed as to the future of the negro race. It is to have a future.
This leads me to quote the closing words of Dr. Clark's significant
pamphlet (page 52): "All Africa stretches out her hands to God; to the
work of delivering her fatherland from heathenism. God is calling the
blacks of these Southern States. They are to be the chief instruments in
giving the Gospel of Christ to the benighted land of their fathers.
Wherefore, let the work of Christian, and so sanctified, education go
on."
All this is true, and it means that in our American Missionary
Association the ministerial education must now be made more prominent.
When white missionaries can say, as one whose bones are in the soil of
the Dark Continent did say, "Let a thousand fall before Africa shall be
given up," the children of Africa must respond, "Africa shall be
evangelized by Africans." That is, we must have more and better
theological schools for the Negro people. The demand for educated Negro
ministers, who know what religion is, and what purity is, will be
greater and greater.
The demand for _missionaries_ of the negro race who can realize that
"Christianity is a missionary religion," will be greater, also. We can
scarcely expect that those who came out of Egypt will become
missionaries to Egypt. The apprehension of missionary responsibility
comes with a developed Christianity. The missionary sense came to the
Apostles themselves very slowly. It came to the Christian Church slowly.
The African people in America, I trust, will seize upon it more rapidly,
for they have a large emotional nature and great faith. What they now
need is education and intellectual character, and those qualities which
give shape, and tone, and persistence, to the forces which direct and
control events.
Men who have been slaves may not take on this, and their children may
not in great numbers. But their children's children are coming on
multitudinously, and from them must go those who shall preach the Gospel
to their own race in Africa. For psychological as well as physiological
reasons this must be. Not only because they can live, and whites cannot,
in Africa, but because, other things being equal, they can do this work
better with their own race. Said Christ, "Go home to thy friends, and
tell what great things the Lord hath done for thee."
All of which says that the Fisk must now add to its great work a
thorough theological school, and must urge its students to listen to the
voice of God and to answer when God calls, "Speak, Lord, thy servant
heareth." More and better ministers are needed both for Africa in the
United States and Africa across the sea. He will give wisely who will
give quickly for this.
* * * * *
ILLUMINATED SPOTS.
A Northern visitor in the South, writing in a recent number of _The
Advance_ speaks of the rapid improvement of the Negroes in that
locality. He says that the Negro is prosperous; that commercially he is
honest; that one house has had no less than thirteen hundred names of
colored people on its books, each having a credit from a few dollars to
forty or more; that the Negro respects education--even if he is unable
to read himself, he wants, with all the determination of his soul, that
his children shall be educated; that the merchants say that they are
buying better and better goods, are learning the value of money, are
exercising wiser judgment, are becoming farmers and mechanics, are
becoming better men.
These items, taken from a long article, show the bright light glowing in
that locality. Of course the writer gives some dark touches to the
picture, and thus modified, it may be repeated of thousands of places
throughout the South. Some of our friends, we fear, look too much upon
the dark side. There _is_ a dark side, and it is dense. But if we can
only continue and enlarge the sphere of these bright spots, and kindle
others in new localities, the time will come when the light will
displace the darkness and the dawn of a new era will come. Friends of
the Negro race, patriots and Christians! furnish the oil for these
bright spots and help to multiply them.
* * * * *
THE GOVERNMENT AND THE INDIANS.
On the 13th of March, some of the Secretaries of the missionary
societies, and others interested in the welfare of the Indians,
had an interview with President Harrison and with Secretary
Noble, of the Interior Department. We were kindly received, and
the Secretary solicited information from us as to the methods in
which he could aid in furtherance of Indian civilization. A
number of suggestions were made in response, and the following
outline is given as a summary of the points presented to the
Secretary:
1. That the appointment or retention of all officers and employés in the
Indian service of the Government shall be on the sole ground of
fitness--that ability, integrity and an interest in the welfare of the
Indians, shall constitute the only required conditions. We are not
ignorant of the difficulties involved in securing such persons,
especially with the low salaries paid to some of these employés; and we
shall be abundantly satisfied with the purpose of the Government to
reach the nearest attainable success in this direction.
2. That the Government shall make adequate appropriations for the
establishment and maintenance of suitable schools for the education of
all Indian pupils--whether these schools be sustained and controlled
wholly by the Government or in co-operation with missionary societies.
The millions of dollars now due to the Indians by treaty stipulations,
for educational purposes, should not be idle in the National Treasury,
but should, as rapidly as possible, be devoted to their legitimate
purposes, and they should be supplemented as far as need be by direct
grants from the Government.
3. That the co-operation of the Government with the missionary societies
in what are known as _Contract_ schools should be continued and
enlarged. We believe that no better teaching has been afforded to the
Indians than that given in these Contract schools. The educational
qualifications of the teachers, together with their disinterested and
self-denying characters and their religious influence and instruction,
render them pre-eminently fit for their places and successful in their
work. The experience of the past and the testimony of all unprejudiced
persons bear witness to this fact.
4. That compulsory education of Indian pupils be enforced, with liberty
of choice to the parents in the selection of the schools to which their
children shall be sent. The Indians are generally averse, or
indifferent, to the education of their children. The withholding of
rations in case of failure or neglect is usually an all-sufficient
motive for prompt compliance. Then, too, the parent, if a Christian and
intelligent, should be allowed to select the school for his child, and
not be compelled to send it to a Government school simply because that
may happen to be nearest.
5. The Government should adopt a liberal policy in regard to the use of
the vernacular in the Indian schools. We are all agreed that the English
language should be brought into use among the Indians at the earliest
practicable period. But the experience of all the past, in Indian
civilization among the ruder tribes, has shown that Christian influences
have been most successfully brought to bear by the use of the
vernacular, in giving them the knowledge of the Word of God, in teaching
them a practical morality, and in preparing them for civilized life. We
ask, therefore, that no restrictions be placed upon Christian people in
their efforts for this great object.
6. We ask that the Government exercise an absolute impartiality in
dealing with the different denominations of Christians, in the
distribution of appropriations, in the granting of lands for missionary
uses, and in the appointment of officers, agents, teachers and employés.
We ask no favors in these respects, and we desire that none shall be
granted to others.
* * * * *
NOTES FROM NEW ENGLAND.
BY REV C.J. RYDER, DISTRICT SECRETARY.
"_Miss_ ----:
"DEAR MADAM: I understand you have got the school, but I can't possibly
board you, as social equality is not custom in this country. I don't
think it would be pleasant for you nor for us, either. I wrote this in
order for you to look out some other place. You need not depend on
getting board with us.
"FEBRUARY 2, 1889."
This letter was written to a cultivated Northern young lady who had
graduated at one of the best high schools in the country and held a
special recommendation, besides her diploma, on account of her
excellency as a student and practice teacher. She went South to help
these people in their great need. It was for Christ's sake and in "His
name" that she entered this field. She secured board of a white family,
but when they learned that she was going to teach the blacks and seek to
lead them to Christ, this letter was sent her. Every door was closed
against this Christian woman because she was trying to save the poor and
ignorant! And it is eighteen hundred and eighty-nine of the Christian
era and in free America!
But this plucky Yankee girl did not so give up her school. She found a
boarding place in the home of one of our missionaries, two miles away,
and she tramps across these two miles twice a day, patiently putting in
her best services, to bring light into the dense darkness of the very
community whose doors were closed against her!
In connection with this incident of narrow prejudice read these words
from Dr. Haygood's "Pleas for Progress." "In all truth and common sense
there is no reason for discounting in any respect a white man or woman
simply for teaching negroes. It is absurd. I believe it is sinful."
These earnest words were spoken by the eloquent divine to his Southern
brethren, August 2, 1883, six long years ago. If they only carried the
conviction of the people to whom he appealed! How strangely they sound,
standing so close to this letter refusing board to a young lady because
she is teaching these very negroes! "How long, O Lord, how long?"
* * * * *
The semi-annual meeting of the Woman's Home Missionary Association met
in the Beneficent Congregational Church, or "Old Round Top," as the
street car conductor called it, Providence, April 3d. The weather was
extremely unfavorable, as New England weather has been lately, as a
rule, but there was a good attendance and deep interest. All the
missionary societies of the Congregational churches which do work in
America were represented. The field work of the Woman's Association has
passed into the control of the national societies. The future looks very
bright for its increasing usefulness.
* * * * *
And now Pleasant Hill, Tenn., rejoices in the sweet music of one of the
Smith organs. Mr. S.D. Smith is making many schools happy and adding
greatly to their efficiency by his generous gifts of organs.
* * * * *
WHAT THE WORLD SAYS.
BLACK SAINTS AND WHITE.
Do colored folks retain their complexion when they go to heaven? This is
a question of some importance to the members of the Diocesan Convention
of the Protestant Episcopal churches of Charleston, S.C. Not long ago
the Convention appointed a special committee to consider and report upon
the subject of the admission of negro clergymen and laymen as members of
that body. Their action was taken with the view of bringing the
Charleston churches, if possible, into harmony with the other Episcopal
congregations of the State. In 1887, the former had seceded in
consequence of the adoption of a resolution which the Charleston
brethren regarded as a virtual obliteration of the color-line.
Thursday, the report of the committee was made public. It proposes a
separate convocation for the colored churches under the ministration of
the bishop, and consents to the admission to the Convention of colored
clergymen who have been associated with the church for twelve months
prior to May, 1889. If the report is adopted, three negro ministers will
sit as members, but no lay delegates will be eligible. The committee
were willing to forego their prejudice out of deference to the holy
office. They felt that the color of a clergyman's skin, although it was
no doubt a very serious ground of objection when it happened to be
black, should not overcome the respect due to the sanctity of his
official calling. His cloth, so to speak, saved him, and what would have
been denied to the man it was possible to concede to the priest.
Under these circumstances the gravity of the question, "Do colored folks
retain their complexion when they go to heaven?" is obvious. The
concession which the committee of the Diocesan Convention make is but a
re-affirmation of the Charleston brethren's aversion to anything that
smacks of an approach to association of the two races on terms of
equality. If there are colored saints in Paradise, it will be utterly
impossible for the Charleston white saints of the Episcopal denomination
to feel at home there. The only chance of reconciling them to a heaven
so liberally disposed would depend on the adoption of some such plan as
that recommended by the committee as a _modus vivendi_ in the church on
earth. That is to say, if the colored saints were corraled by
themselves--if their convocations were separate from the convocations of
the white saints--if they were not admitted to the white circles of
celestial society as equal partakers of the privileges of the heavenly
kingdom--the Caucasian angels from Charleston might be willing to pass
their eternity in such a place.
It is very essential for them, therefore, to know whether there are in
fact any colored saints in heaven; and, if there are, whether the
divisions of the Father's house into "many mansions" admits of an
arrangement whereby the angelic brunettes may occupy one set of quarters
and the Charleston blondes another. Until these problems are solved to
their satisfaction, we do not see how our Christian friends of the chief
city of South Carolina can contemplate a future life with any degree of
equanimity. Their faith may be equal to the removal of mountains and
their virtues may entitle them to all the felicity of the spirits of
just men made perfect, but if it is the rule of the "happy land, far,
far away" that a black saint is just as good as a white one, how much
more rational it would be for them to prefer annihilation to
immortality.
_Brooklyn Daily Eagle._
* * * * *
PARAGRAPHS.
We would continue to remind pastors and churches of our Leaflets, which
we will be happy to furnish, on application, to those taking collections
for our Association.
* * * * *
The _Daily Standard-Union_, of Brooklyn, is a good judge. It says:
THE AMERICAN MISSIONARY for April, published by the American Missionary
Association, New York, is full of information useful and edifying to all
interested in domestic missions.
* * * * *
The "Student's Letter" found on another page is worth attention. The
writer, Rev. Spencer Snell, gives a modest and yet vivid picture of his
struggles for an education, and he is now--we say it for him, as he does
not--the able and acceptable pastor of our growing church in Birmingham,
Alabama. We wish in a quiet way to suggest to our friends in the North
that "it pays" to spend money to educate such men.
Rev. James Wharton, the evangelist, who has been efficiently preaching
to the American Missionary churches in the South this winter, has left
this country for England, where he will remain until the first of
October, when he will return again to his specific work in which the
churches have been greatly blessed. The churches which he has visited,
and which have added to their numbers through his ministration, are
Louisville, Ky., Sherwood, Nashville and Memphis, Tenn., Athens,
Florence, Mobile and Montgomery, Ala., Jackson and Tougaloo, Miss., and
New Orleans, La.
Many prayers will go with him across the sea, and many welcomes will
greet him on his return.
* * * * *
SOUTHERN ECHOES.
PRAYERS OF WOMEN AT THE MEETING OF FAREWELL TO A MISSIONARY.
"O! Lord, thou knowest how I love her. Thou knowest how I have run to
her in every trouble, as a chicken does to its mother."
"O! Lord, you know what she has been to me in the greatest trouble I
ever had. You know I think more of her than of any being in the whole
world, except my husband. Will you please to be with her when she gets
ready for the train, and when she goes from the house to the train, and
on the train, and when she goes to the house from the train, and bless
her all the time."
* * * * *
Mrs. W----, an old lady, said: "My old man ax me every night when he
come from work if there be a meeting up yonder. He do like to go to
meeting. He think a heap of that young preacher up yonder. Last
Wednesday night after meeting, he say to me, 'Mary, I'll be good to you
after this,' and I say the same to him. It do me a heap of good to go up
yonder. I learn more than I ever knowed before. I knows what the texts
means now."
* * * * *
SATISFACTORILY EXPLAINED.--A few days since, during a recitation in
geography, a teacher was endeavoring to explain the subject of
electricity in the lesson on "Thunder and lightning." It had been stated
that when a flash of lightning darts to the earth it is said to
_strike_. A precocious lad of twelve summers (winters included), raised
his hand and upon recognition said: "Do _people_ have any electricity?"
Upon being informed that every one possessed the subtle force in a
greater or less degree, his dusky, good-natured face lighted up, and he
added, "Then is that the reason why some people always want to strike?"
* * * * *
BOOK NOTICE
_Pleas for Progress._ By ATTICUS G. HAYGOOD, D.D. Publishing House of
M.E. Church South, Nashville, Tenn. Price, $1.00.
Dr. Haygood is a Southern man who stands with his face toward sunrise
and not sunset. As a writer, he is interesting and vigorous. He
sometimes forgets to take off his "Titbottom spectacles" when he looks
southward, but he puts in tremendous blows against the wrong which he
sees. This volume before us contains papers and addresses delivered at
various times and places, both North and South. It is a very valuable
book for those who desire to learn what the really Christian people of
the South think on these great National problems that the American
Missionary Association is helping to solve.
The lecture on "The Education of the Negro," delivered at Monteagle,
Tenn., and published in this volume, is a sample. Dr. Haygood states
"four root objections" to negro education: 1--Ignorance; 2--Stinginess;
3--Prejudice; 4--Fear that education will "spoil the negro as a laborer"
and bring him into "social equality" with the whites. The author shows
the absurdity of all these objections.
The volume is full of statistics and will prove a valuable mine of
facts. The discussions are clear and generally convincing. We commend
the book highly.
* * * * *
THE SOUTH.
* * * * *
THE GEORGIA CONGREGATIONAL ASSOCIATION.
_Rev. S.C. McDaniel and others, Committee of the United Congregational
Conference of Georgia._
DEAR BRETHREN.--Having been appointed by the Georgia Congregational
Association as a committee to confer with you in reference to a union of
the two bodies represented by you and us, we desire to express to you
our gratification at the receipt of your request for such a conference,
and our earnest desire that such a union should be consummated. With
this end in view, we would respectfully submit for your consideration
the following propositions:
1. We cordially invite the churches composing the United Congregational
Conference to become members of the Georgia Congregational Association.
Upon the acceptance of this invitation by the United Conference, we
agree to recommend to the Association the passage of a vote immediately
placing upon the roll of the Association the names of all the churches
of the United Conference.
2. In case the foregoing proposition should not be acceptable to you, we
propose that each of the bodies represented by us should pass a vote
disbanding its organization, with the understanding that all the
churches of both bodies should then come together and form a new
organization. Upon the agreement of your committee to recommend to the
United Conference the adoption of this proposition, we agree to make a
similar recommendation to the Association.
3. If neither of the foregoing propositions should be acceptable to you,
we propose that the United Conference place upon its roll the names of
all the churches and ministers of the Georgia Association. Upon the
agreement of your committee to recommend such action to the United
Conference, we agree to recommend to the Association the adoption of a
vote declaring its organization disbanded as soon as the churches
composing the same are received by the United Conference.
With reference to the foregoing propositions we would say further:
It is our conviction that any union between the organizations
represented by our respective committees should be as comprehensive and
thorough as possible, and that to this end the churches of the Georgia
Association should be enrolled as members of the District Conferences,
in fellowship with the United Conference within whose respective
boundaries the Association churches may be located. And the foregoing
propositions are made with the understanding that a vote shall be passed
by the United Conference recommending the District Conferences to
receive the Association churches as hereby suggested.
Of these three proposed methods of union, our own preference is for the
first. As the Georgia Congregational Association is the older body and
represents the historic Congregationalism of the State, going back not
only to the early years succeeding the Civil War, but even, in the
record of one of its churches, to the colonial period preceding the
Revolution, we feel that a respect for the traditional usages of our
polity would suggest the absorption of the newer churches by the
Association as being the older State organization. But as in our opinion
the result to be achieved is of more importance than the method by which
it shall be achieved, we would not insist upon the method of our choice.
If more acceptable to you, we should gladly form a union on the basis of
either the second or the third proposition already stated. Our chief
desire is for a complete and hearty union, in which, acknowledging the
fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man, we may live and work
together in the love of Christ, the Elder Brother of us all. That our
Heavenly Father may graciously help us all in perfecting and maintaining
such a union, is our earnest prayer.
Your brethren in Christ,
GEO. V. CLARK, HORACE BUMSTEAD, GEO. C. ROWE, L.B. MAXWELL, EVARTS KENT,
FLOYD SNELSON, C.F. SARGENT.
* * * * *
EVANGELISTIC LABORS.
REV. JAMES WHARTON.
You last heard of my work, I believe, from Memphis, Tenn., where God
revealed his gracious power among the students of LeMoyne, and also at
the Congregational church. Altogether, some one hundred and thirty-four
professed a hope in Christ during my visit there. I then went to
Jackson, Miss., to hold services in the new church there; a pretty
little building, situated in a very central and prominent part of the
city. For eleven nights, I preached to not a very large, but to an
interesting congregation. Twelve professed conversion, their conversion
proving a source of great joy, not only to themselves, but to their
friends and acquaintances.
I also visited Tougaloo University and spoke to the students. Between
fifty and sixty at the close of the address arose for prayer. I feel
sure if I could have spent a few days with them, that most of them would
have decided for Christ, but they remain under the good and wise
instruction of the President, Rev. F.G. Woodworth. I hope to visit them
again.
I then went to New Orleans, to find the Central Congregational Church
recovering itself under the leading of the pastor, Rev. Geo. W.
Henderson. We believe that it will steadily grow, and be a great
influence for good in that large and wicked city. At Straight
University, I found the religious interest going on quietly and steadily
under the care of Professor Hitchcock and Rev. W.L. Tenney, some cases
of conversion taking place during the week of prayer.
I came to Montgomery three weeks ago, and a revival there has surpassed
any I have seen for the last thirteen years among the colored folks of
the South. In fact, many of the old-time people say they never saw such
a deep interest manifested in this city. The third night the church was
filled to overflowing, and hundreds were outside the door who could not
get in. The power of God came down upon the people in such a way that at
the close of the preaching the seekers fairly ran to the front benches,
taking them by storm. All around the front they sat or knelt. We placed
chairs in rows on the platform, and the crowd was so thick I could
scarcely get a place to stand. The pastor, Rev. R.C. Bedford, and the
Christians, worked hard among the unconverted, and now at the close of
the three weeks' services, more than two hundred are rejoicing in a new
found hope.
One case was that of a young man, the son of a Methodist preacher, both
deaf and dumb, who gave reasonable evidence of conversion as the love of
God filled his heart, and another was a young man who had been a wild
young fellow, who had at the time of his conversion a five barrel loaded
revolver in his pocket, and which I now have. One whole family is now
rejoicing that God has brought salvation to that house; father, mother,
son and four daughters are among the converts. Another father rejoices
over four of his sons and daughters converted. Husbands and wives have
started together on the road to Zion. On the streets and wherever you
go, the people are talking about, and rejoicing over, the conversion of
some of their friends or relations.
This finishes another winter's work among the dear colored people, which
has been one of the happiest and most successful I have known for many
years.
* * * * *
THOMASVILLE, GEORGIA.
The Connecticut Normal and Industrial School, Thomasville. Ga., closed
its winter term, for a few days' vacation, on March 26th, with
appropriate exercises. The _Thomasville Daily Times_ says, "The growth
and management of the school is very gratifying to our people, and
everyone wishes it continued success and prosperity." The _Thomasville
Enterprise_ speaks of "the results of the seven sweet-faced patient lady
teachers," and adds, "If yesterday's exhibition was a fair sample of
what the pupils can do, the American Missionary Association, and the
corps of teachers it has employed, have not labored in vain; that a
great deal of hard, honest work has been done, was fully exemplified."
Again we are reminded that _Thomasville_ is not _Quitman_, and also of
the fact that Southern people are generally quite generous in their
appreciation of the work and the methods of our Association.
* * * * *
MRS. LYDIA HERRICK BENNETT.
On Saturday, March 16, the great household at Fisk University was
suddenly saddened by the announcement of the death of Mrs. Bennett, who,
after an illness of four weeks, was called to her rest.
In 1867, Mr. and Mrs. Bennett gave up their work in a pleasant Northern
parish, and came to Fisk University, where they have labored together
for almost twenty-two years. During these years, Mrs. Bennett has been
not only an efficient helper to her husband and a wise and tender mother
to her children, but has contributed much to the work of the school. Her
strong mind and fine intellectual tastes especially fitted her for life
in an institution of learning. During the last few years, she gave much
time and labor to the preparation of a botanical collection for the
Scientific Department of the University.
Mrs. Bennett was also the warm personal friend of the young people.
Since her death, many tender expressions from present and former
students bear witness to appreciation of her quiet, earnest, Christian
character, as manifested both in her own life, and in her ministry to
others. Why such a life, apparently so indispensable to her husband and
children, and so helpful to a large body of young people, should be thus
suddenly terminated we cannot understand. We can only accept the
dispensation of Him "Who doeth all things well."
H.C.M.
* * * * *
STUDENT'S LETTER.
HOW I WAS EDUCATED, LED TO CHRIST AND INTO THE MINISTRY.
BY REV. SPENCER SNELL.
My first lessons from books I received in night school. At this time I
was employed as dining-room servant by a family in Mobile. I did my work
during the day, taking a little time here and there for study as best I
could, and went to school at night. I was first employed at $3.50 per
month. Fifty cents of this I took each month to pay tuition. The tuition
in this school was one dollar per month, but I was receiving such small
wages that a woman who was employed in the same yard, and who went to
the same school, persuaded the teacher to let me go for fifty cents. I
remained with this family about four years, and went to night school
much of the time. I suppose they considered my services more and more
valuable as I became more enlightened, for, during the four years, my
wages were increased from $3.50 to $10 per month. As my wages increased,
I had more tuition to pay also, for during my study in the night school
I had several teachers and paid some of them as much as two dollars per
month, and so anxious was I to acquire an education that I would have
paid five dollars had it been required, even at a time when it would
have taken all my wages to do so. While I was a student in one of these
night schools, I chanced one day to see a newspaper which a colored man
who knew me had thrown into the yard for me. In this paper I read an
article telling about Emerson Institute, a school of the American
Missionary Association, and the commencement exercises soon to occur
there. The school had been in Mobile for several years, but I had heard
nothing of it till now. As soon as I read of these exercises, I
determined to see them, for I had never heard of such exercises before.
When the time came, I went one night, accompanied by a few of my fellow
night-school students. We were well pleased with what we saw, and I said
to them that I meant to enter that school when it opened the next fall,
and that I meant to be an educated man if I could. I soon began to carry
out my purpose, for in a few weeks I left my employment in that family
and went back into the country, from whence I had gone to Mobile, and
took the examination and began teaching public school. By this means, I
earned money enough to go back to Mobile and become a pupil of Emerson
Institute, not in the fall of 1873, as I had hoped to do, but in the
spring of 1874. I shall ever feel grateful to the man who threw over the
fence for me the article from which I learned about that good school,
for I am sure I am quite a different man to-day from what I would have
been but for reading that article. Precious to me is the memory of those
days during which I took tuition in the night-school, where the key was
put into my hand and the door of knowledge was opened to me.