[Illustration: AUGUST, 1883.
VOL. XXXVII.
NO. 8
The American Missionary]
CONTENTS
PAGE.
EDITORIAL.
ANNUAL MEETING—THIS NUMBER—VACATION DAYS 225
CONGREGATIONALISM SOUTH 226
GENERAL NOTES 228
BENEFACTIONS 230
THE SOUTH.
ANNIVERSARY REPORTS—BEREA COLLEGE 231
ATLANTA UNIVERSITY 232
CUT OF ATLANTA UNIVERSITY BUILDINGS 233
LEWIS HIGH SCHOOL 234
AVERY NORMAL INSTITUTE 236
BEACH INSTITUTE 237
BREWER NORMAL INSTITUTE 238
GOLIAD, TEXAS—FAYETTEVILLE, ARK. 239
A COTTON PLANTATION (cut) 240
THE INDIANS.
TESTIMONY OF AN INDIAN AGENT 241
THE CHINESE.
MISSION WORK IN MAY 243
BUREAU OF WOMAN’S WORK.
NOTES ON MEETINGS OF STATE SOCIETIES 245
GLEANINGS FROM CORRESPONDENCE 246
WORK AT THE DAKOTA MISSION 247
CHILDREN’S PAGE.
A LITTLE MERCHANT 248
RECEIPTS 250
* * * * *
NEW YORK:
PUBLISHED BY THE AMERICAN MISSIONARY ASSOCIATION,
Rooms, 56 Reade Street.
* * * * *
Price 50 Cents a Year, in Advance.
Entered at the Post-Office at New York, N.Y.,
as second-class matter.
THE AMERICAN MISSIONARY ASSOCIATION.
* * * * *
PRESIDENT.
Hon. WM. B. WASHBURN, LL.D., Mass.
CORRESPONDING SECRETARY.
Rev. M. E. STRIEBY, D.D., _56 Reade Street, N.Y._
TREASURER.
H. W. HUBBARD, Esq., _56 Reade Street, N.Y._
AUDITORS.
M. F. READING.
WM. A. NASH.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.
JOHN H. WASHBURN, Chairman; A. P. FOSTER, Secretary; LYMAN
ABBOTT, ALONZO S. BALL, A. S. BARNES, C. T. CHRISTENSEN, FRANKLIN
FAIRBANKS, CLINTON B. FISK, S. B. HALLIDAY, SAMUEL HOLMES, CHARLES
A. HULL, SAMUEL S. MARPLES, CHARLES L. MEAD, WM. H. WARD, A. L.
WILLISTON.
DISTRICT SECRETARIES.
Rev. C. L. WOODWORTH, D.D., _Boston_.
Rev. JAMES POWELL, _Chicago_.
Rev. G. D. PIKE, D.D., _New York_.
COMMUNICATIONS
relating to the work of the Association may be addressed to
the Corresponding Secretary; those relating to the collecting
fields, to the District Secretaries; letters for the Editor of
the “American Missionary,” to Rev. G. D. Pike, D.D., at the New
York Office; letters for the Bureau of Woman’s Work, to Miss D. E.
Emerson, at the New York Office.
DONATIONS AND SUBSCRIPTIONS
may be sent to H. W. Hubbard, Treasurer, 56 Reade Street, New York,
or, when more convenient, to either of the Branch Offices, 21
Congregational House, Boston, Mass., or 112 West Washington Street,
Chicago, Ill. A payment of thirty dollars at one time constitutes a
Life Member.
FORM OF A BEQUEST.
“I BEQEATH to my executor (or executors) the sum of —— dollars, in
trust, to pay the same in —— days after my decease to the person
who, when the same is payable, shall act as Treasurer of the
‘American Missionary Association,’ of New York City, to be applied,
under the direction of the Executive Committee of the Association,
to its charitable uses and purposes.” The Will should be attested
by three witnesses.
* * * * *
[Illustration: ESTEY ORGAN
J. ESTEY & CO
Brattleboro Vt.]
As musical culture increases it demands in musical instruments for
home, church, or school, excellence in tone, tasteful workmanship,
and durability.
SEND FOR ILLUSTRATED CATALOGUE.
* * * * *
THE
AMERICAN MISSIONARY.
* * * * *
VOL. XXXVII. AUGUST, 1883. No. 8.
* * * * *
American Missionary Association.
* * * * *
The thirty-seventh Annual Meeting of the American Missionary
Association will be held in the Central Congregational Church,
Brooklyn, New York (Dr. A. J. F. Behrends’), commencing Tuesday,
October 30, at 3 o’clock P.M. Rev. J. L. Withrow, D.D., of Boston,
will preach the sermon. Other addresses and papers, and also
arrangements relating to the meeting, will be announced hereafter.
* * * * *
We give in this number of the MISSIONARY additional reports of
eight of our educational institutions, and also a cut of the
college buildings of Atlanta University. The new Stone hall, which
is the centre building, is 124 feet in length, three stories
high, with a basement, and contains president’s and treasurer’s
offices, class rooms, Graves library room, chapel, which will seat
comfortably 400, besides lecture rooms, dormitory room, etc., etc.
* * * * *
VACATION DAYS.
By the time this issue of the _Missionary_ reaches our readers,
a large number of those in the service of this Association
will be enjoying a season of needed rest. As the climate South
is enervating to those who have been raised at the North, it
is essential that our missionaries working in that portion of
the country return every year or two to their former homes and
associations for recuperation and courage for future work. Many
of them need also contact with Northern society to refresh their
hearts and minds, and to gain a stimulus not imparted by the circle
of acquaintances found on the Southern field. These visits North
afford opportunities for our workers to make known the wants of
the people with whom they labor, and to show the deep interest
they take in their welfare, and the sacrifices they are willing
to make in their behalf. The return of a missionary to the church
from which he or she went forth, often gives a spiritual uplift to
the whole congregation. We are happy to recognize the willingness
manifested by pastors, by Sabbath-schools and by local missionary
societies, to afford these returned missionaries the privilege
of explaining the needs of their work and of enlisting a deeper
sympathy for it. We wish, however, to make it known that these
missionaries greatly appreciate kindly attention. Many of them have
felt the want of it on the Southern field, and sometimes on their
return after protracted absence receive it with glad surprise.
We are sure that if those with whom they meet will be forward to
express their pleasure in seeing them and their interest in their
sacrifices and success, they will find that the little effort
put forth to give cheer will go a long ways in strengthening the
heart, and adding to the ability of the missionary to do more
valiantly the work of Christian patriotism in which he is engaged.
Invitations to literary and social circles, as well as to more
strictly religious meetings, will almost always be grateful to
the tired worker, and we are very sure that the information, the
unconscious influence, imparted by the missionary, as well as the
satisfaction in having done a good and kindly service, will amply
repay for any effort Christian friends may make to render the
missionary’s vacation agreeable and profitable.
* * * * *
CONGREGATIONALISM SOUTH.
RY REV. J. E. ROY, D.D.
When the American Missionary Association went “down toward the
South,” Congregationalism was hated by the ruling class, as coming
from the hot-bed of New Englandism, and was absolutely unknown
among the people to whom the Northern evangelism then had access,
and even on their part, as a system, it had yet to encounter the
densest opposition which ignorance, superstition and sectarianism
could combine. And when, like John the Baptist, it laid the ax at
the root of the tree, demanding morality as well as pietism, it
confronted the momentum of generations of pagan vice confirmed
by the indurations of the system of slavery. In order to get any
foothold on this basis, it has to begin with the spelling-book, as
the key to the incarcerated Bible. But the hunger for letters, for
ideas, forced a way into the word of God. Schools followed the army
across the Southland. Revivals, like the Northern clover, sprang up
in the same track. Every teacher, by his or her vow, entered into
with the A. M. A., became a missionary.
Talk about women’s work for women. Here, for a score of years, have
been from 150 to 200 gifted consecrated women, of whom the world
was not worthy, sacrificing youth and beauty, going for a time into
places where men could not stand, with their names cast out as
vile, yet lifting up their lowly sisters and starting scores and
scores of young men on into a religious life and into the ministry
of the Lord Jesus. As converts multiplied, many of them took to the
old churches, and not a few desired to have the way which their
dear teachers represented. And so, gradually there came on these
churches, each one a miniature republic, and each, in almost every
case, an outcome of the school process.
In that early time, not a few of the best tried friends of the
Association grew uneasy at the slow progress of the church work,
only in late years to admire the wisdom of the administration in
not picking the pear before it was ripe. The M. E. church going
South had only to open its doors to receive 200,000 of the old-time
Methodists, with their clinging immoralities and their corrupting
ministers. Grandly has that patriotic church wrestled with its
problem. But ours has been a call to a different task.
In five years after the close of the war, besides the three
John G. Fee churches in Kentucky, which had flung themselves
upon the serried ranks of the slaveholders, compelling a vast
region to behold what sort of stuff this Puritanism was made
of, the Association numbered _eleven_ churches among the sable
brethren, whose teachers and preachers usually joined with them
in fellowship. In ten years these had come to number _forty_. And
now, eighteen years after the war, the total is _eighty-nine_, an
average of five for each year. Nor are these merely nominal or
skeleton churches. Their average membership is _sixty-five_, while
that of all our churches west of the Mississippi is _thirty-five_.
Nearly every one has its own place of worship and its own pastor.
Their own ministers have had to be grown, converted and trained
up from the alphabet, while multitudes have been prepared in our
schools for service in the old-time churches, the small number
that we have taken (a half hundred, besides several foreign
missionaries) serving only as the toll for grinding the grists. A
high wisdom was that which was displayed by the early workers in
seizing upon the strategic points, so that one can now hardly go to
a principal city of the South without finding there a fully-working
Congregational church, such as those at Washington, Hampton,
Charleston, Raleigh, Savannah, Macon, Atlanta, Mobile, Montgomery,
Birmingham, Meridian, Jackson, New Orleans, Austin, Little Rock,
Memphis, Nashville, Chattanooga, Knoxville, and Louisville. So it
seems that this work has gone on in every State of the South, for
in Florida, which might seem an exception, the noted church at
Jacksonville was organized by one of the actuaries of the A. M. A.,
and nourished by another. Nor have these churches been left to the
weakness of an isolated independence. For the better training of
them, and for the consolidating of their strength, they have been
organized into regular State associations, which have sought to
introduce the methods of the North, which in their varied services
often come to an intellectual and spiritual glow that astonishes
us, and which come to a consciousness of their national fellowship
when they each elect their delegates to the annual meeting of the
A. M. A., and to the National Council, one of their own members
having served at the last triennial as an assistant moderator.
These State bodies now number _eight_, which nearly cover the
whole South. So, then, the physical geography of the land is quite
well mapped out, Congregationally. There remains much space for
filling.
No view of the Congregationalism taken into the South by the A. M.
A. will be complete without considering the pervasive influence
of all of these churches and institutions of learning, that have
come to be a power universally recognized. Almost every member
going forth from them is, in some sense, a representative of the
Congregational idea, though he does not himself take the name.
In all the South, among the whites as well as the blacks, these
principles have been made known, so that the way, in great part, is
prepared for carrying on there a spiritual propagandism that shall
yet recognize the essential feature of this past dispensation,
which, at the North, has been up-borne by sympathy and prayer, the
consecration of substance and the offering of sons and daughters,
and which, at the South, has bravely stood, this score of years,
for this sublime act and testimony, in sacrifice enduring hardness,
ostracism and scorn, viz., the features of the brotherhood of
man in Christ Jesus, the real unity of all Christian believers,
irrespective of race, color, or social condition.
THE CONGREGATIONALIST.
* * * * *
GENERAL NOTES.
AFRICA.
—The French government will shortly submit to the Chamber a project
for the construction of a railroad from Soukarras to Tebessa.
—Dr. Schweinfurth will soon come to Halle to confer with Dr.
Riebeck upon the results of their exploration of Sokotora.
—The English missionaries sent to reinforce the station of Roubaga
have all been detained by the fever at Msalala to the south of
Victoria Nyanza.
—P. Livinhac, who for five years has directed the station of
Roubaga, has been appointed apostolic vicar of Victoria Nyanza.
—According to a communication from Rohlfs to the Geographical
Society of Berlin, Dr. Stecker has vainly attempted to traverse the
Gallas country and will return to Europe.
—Mr. Herisson has reported from his new archæological exploration
in Tunis, two grand mosaics from Carthage, the most beautiful that
have as yet been found in Africa.
—Hicks Pasha has defeated over 5,000 Arabs in the Soudan, killing
500. The Arabs fight bravely, but their spears are useless against
shells and cannon. The Egyptian loss was two killed.
—Captain Casati has traversed the country of the Niams-Niams,
following several routes not frequented as yet by European
travelers. He has encountered great dangers, was detained a
prisoner for two months in the house of Prince Azanga, and only
rescued himself from his captivity by flight.
—The Wesleyan missions on the West Coast of Africa in Sierra Leone,
Gold Coast, Yomba, Popo and Gambia have contributed about $150,000
in the last ten years. The number in church fellowship is 15,044;
in attendance on public worship, 53,474.
* * * * *
THE INDIANS.
—The Indian School at Carlisle has 137 acres of wheat, from which
about 600 barrels of flour will be made for the use of the boarding
department.
—There are Indian girls in the Indian Territory University who
are studying German, French, Latin, and Greek, geology, moral
philosophy, political economy and other branches of the College
course.
—The Indian Mission of the Methodists in the Indian Territory is
organized into a conference with four presiding elder’s districts
and twenty-nine pastoral charges. There are 112 local preachers,
1,100 white members, 30 colored members, 5,107 Indian members, 58
Sunday Schools with 1,602 scholars.
—The Presbyterians have arranged to establish next September a
boarding school among the Creek Indians where they have never been
reached by Christian influences.
—The capacity of Indian children for learning English is shown by
the fact that at Carlisle quite a number who came in August without
knowing the language were able to converse in it the next May.
—It is said that the Indians of Alaska do not belong to the same
race as the North American Indians, but they are probably an
offshoot from Japanese Coreans. The missionaries who have been
laboring among them say that in many respects their conceptions of
moral law are better than those of civilized nations.
* * * * *
THE CHINESE.
—There are Chinese Baptist churches in Guiana, South America.
—The English Presbyterian Synod Missionary Society, having its
field of labor principally in China, reported for last year an
income of $425,000.
—The Trinity Baptist Church of New York has twelve Chinamen among
its members. At the baptism of J. Sing recently, some twenty other
Chinamen were present. One of these converts, Kun Sing, is about to
go as a missionary to his countrymen in Canton, China.
—A number of Japanese have prepared a formal paper, asking that in
the work of translating the Old Testament the Japanese Christians
may be represented by a committee of their own countrymen, selected
by themselves.
—The Stockton (Cal.) _Herald_ gives the following account of a
Chinese bride: The other afternoon a strange procession of hacks,
with gay colors flying, with a scent of burning spices about them,
drew up at the shed of the California Steam Navigation Company,
where the steamer Mary Garratt was loading. In the first hack was
a lone female, with her head in a bundle of bright-colored Chinese
silk, which concealed every feature. Behind was another hack, in
which several Chinese boys rode, each carrying a burning taper.
Then came two more hacks, each filled with Chinese women. All
alighted at the wharf, and the hooded woman was assisted out and
led on board the steamer, her course being conducted by the boys
with the lighted tapers and the women. The woman was so closely
veiled as to be practically blindfolded. Then it was ascertained
that she was a daughter of “Sonora George,” and was going to
Bedouin Island to be married.
* * * * *
BENEFACTIONS.
Mr. Deering has given $50,000 to the Northwestern University of the
Methodists at Evanston, Illinois.
Mr. John C. Phillips has given $25,000 for the further endowment of
Phillips Exeter Academy.
Wm. H. Vanderbilt has added $100,000 to the endowment fund of
Vanderbilt University.
Lafayette College has received from Mr. T. W. McWilliams of New
York a contribution of $10,000 toward the endowment of the March
Chair of Philology.
Mr. J. H. Cassedy of Thiells, N.Y., has given $5,000 to Talladega
College for a model school building, to bear his name.
Miss Susie Bartlett of Oshkosh, Wis. has given $500 to Beloit
College for the purchase of scientific books.
By the will of Amasa Stone, Adelbert College is to receive $100,000
in addition to the half million given during his lifetime.
The Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute of Troy, N.Y. has received
from Mrs. Wm. Howard Harts, as a memorial of her late husband,
$60,000 to endow a professorship to bear his name.
Mrs. Dr. Griffin of Troy, N.Y., a former preceptress at Cazenovia
Seminary, has given $5,000 to that institution.
Oberlin College has received $5,000 from Miss Sturges of Mansfield,
Ohio, for a new building for the use of ladies’ societies, to be
called Sturges Hall.
By the will of Lucy O. Bowditch, late of Boston, a bequest of
$5,000 is made to the industrial school for girls, at Dorchester,
to be added to the permanent fund, the income to be applied to
paying the expenses of the school.
_Endowments for the Christian education of the coming generations
are the best bulwarks of our free institutions._
* * * * *
THE SOUTH.
REV. JOSEPH E. ROY, D.D., FIELD SUPERINTENDENT.
PROF. ALBERT SALISBURY, SUPERINTENDENT OF EDUCATION.
* * * * *
ANNIVERSARY REPORTS.
* * * * *
BEREA COLLEGE.
Prof. W. E. C. Wright.
The seventeenth year of Berea College closed on June 30th with
most satisfactory marks of the sustained usefulness and increasing
importance of the school.
The Commencement festival really began with the joint exhibition
of the Ladies’ Literary and Phi Delta Societies on Friday evening,
before a large audience, in the chapel. The pupils of the lower
schools gave their interesting exhibitions in the same place on
Saturday evening. President Fairchild’s baccalaureate discourse on
Sunday morning was a vigorous and comprehensive rehearsal of the
religious and moral ideas of consecration to God and love toward
all men, which this college has ever sought to impress on its
students; his text, Phil. iv., 9, “Those things, which ye have both
learned and received and heard and seen in me, do.” No Christian
man could have heard it without feeling how supremely important
for the educational regeneration of the South is such a spirit of
religious earnestness.
On Tuesday evening the Literary Societies were addressed on the
subject of “Progress,” by Col. Swope, who is the Internal Revenue
Collector for this district, and a native of Kentucky.
On Wednesday came the final exercises, which gathered a great
multitude from mountain and from plain. The season has been very
rainy, but this was the most perfect of June days—its unclouded
sun tempered by a cool breeze from the south. Soon after sunrise
vehicles of every description, and saddle-horses carrying one, two
or three passengers, began to pour in toward the Tabernacle, most
visitors bringing luncheon for a noon-time picnic in the oak grove.
Besides the three graduates—one from the classical, and two from
the scientific course—fourteen other students from the higher
classes presented orations or essays. All were listened to by the
great audience with interest, and some with enthusiasm. In the
afternoon nearly as many gathered again to hear a most suggestive
and interesting address from Rev. R. T. Hall, of Mount Vernon,
Ohio, on “The Abuse of Liberty.” Short addresses followed from Rev.
Mr. Simmons of the (colored Baptist) Bible Institute of Louisville,
and Rev. Mr. Barnett, a Methodist minister from College Hill.
It suggests the interest of our neighbors in the work of Berea
that the Kentucky _Register_, published at the county seat and
a representative paper of the Kentucky aristocracy, gave nearly
a column the next day to a strongly commendatory notice of the
exercises. A gentleman of a well-known old Kentucky family
passing this way toward the mountains turned aside to see what
the Commencement was like, and spent the day in such unexpected
approval of what he saw and heard that he declared at night that he
might be set down hereafter as for Berea every time. This is the
more noticeable as the appearance of blacks and whites in about
equal numbers and with entirely equal respect on the same platform
must at first have given a great shock to his Southern prejudices.
A Northern visitor, remarking on the perfect pronunciation of the
speakers, said, “A blind man could not tell to which race the
several speakers belong.” The “color blindness” which still keeps
the students of Berea about equally divided between the two races
is one of the most important elements in its work for reducing the
illiteracy of Kentucky (28 per cent. of the voters and almost as
much of it white as black), and settling the problems the nation
has inherited from slavery.
* * * * *
ATLANTA UNIVERSITY.
PROF. THOS. N. CHASE.
Our annual examinations are made interesting and exciting by the
presence of visitors appointed by the Governor, who this year,
as usual, attended the three days of examination and one day of
literary exercises.
The grades were examined in South Hall and the normal preparatory
and college classes in the new Stone Hall. Some of the visitors
evidently thought the interior of Stone Hall most too fine for
poor students, and so we often felt moved to call attention to the
simplicity of its construction, and the fact that good Boston desks
do not cost much more than the very cheapest kind.
On each day quite a large number of spectators was present.
While numerous complimentary remarks were made we do not think
that some features of the school were fully appreciated. Latin,
Greek, higher mathematics and metaphysics still possess a charm for
scholars, both South and North, while modern methods in the lower
grades attract the attention and win the admiration of only an
appreciative few.
The specimens of map drawing and of original designs in industrial
drawing were considered good by competent judges.
For several years a large part of the public have had object
lessons from nature and in form of a daily exercise, with especial
reference to teaching them to make simple and exact statements in
clear and correct language; and in their examinations they were
said to show marked ability in making nice distinctions and using
good English.
The experiment of the senior normal girls in cottage housekeeping
under the direction of one of the teachers meets with universal
favor. Everybody in these United States thinks every girl ought to
know how to keep house well, and the best way to learn how to do a
thing is to do it. The outcome of the work in this department is
highly satisfactory, and we wish we had a larger cottage for next
year.
The silk culture has been worth the while for the sake of the
entertainment and instruction it has afforded, even if no pecuniary
benefit came from it. The worms “wound up” their business, at about
the same time the rest of us did ours, and everybody said “Well
done.”
The competitive gardens formed another feature in our work. These
were a rod square and thirty-six in number. Beets, beans, peas,
potatoes and onions were the crops. The potatoes were dug on the
last day of examination, and it was found that our native African
had gained the first prize, having 82½ pounds on his square rod.
How about slavery’s developing the African race?
As the visitors inspected the new barn, the twelve full kits of
carpenters’ tools donated by a friend in New York City, though
still unused, were not concealed from view. Funds for a shop have
now been pledged, and a teacher of carpentering is to be employed,
even if some other department is suspended, and the boys are to be
taught the use of tools, in obedience to the prevailing sentiment
of what ought to be, and in the hope that such instruction will
help the colored man to hold his present position in the mechanical
field.
[Illustration: ATLANTA UNIVERSITY BUILDINGS.]
On Commencement day “everything passed off well,” and a clergyman
from Boston was heard to say, “Good thoughts well expressed.”
Sixteen young men and women received diplomas or certificates, and
listened to parting words from the president.
Governor McDaniel honored us with his presence, and sent a verbal
message to the graduates, saying that he had been much pleased with
their exercises and felt a warm interest in them.
At the alumni meeting an excellent paper was read by an alumnus
upon the subject of industrial education, and several speeches were
made, showing intellectual growth and telling of good work done.
Within ten days from Commencement, as many as three-fourths of
our students will be scattered all over the State, and in many
places in neighboring States, metamorphosed into dignified and
wise pedagogues. May they all meet with great success in their
day-school, Sunday-school and temperance work, and in their efforts
to stimulate the people to acquire property and make for themselves
pleasant and pure homes.
We were glad to have with us Prest. De Forest and Prof. Ellis, of
Talladega College, the former of whom preached the baccalaureate
sermon, that abounded in gems of deep and practical thought,
incased in clear and transparent language.
At the meeting of the Board of Trustees, Sec’y Strieby was
re-elected, and one of Atlanta’s most prominent men in business,
social and religious circles, who had recently declined the office
of Mayor, consented to become a member of the Board. Resolutions
were passed, thanking Messrs. King, Cassedy and Sessions, and the
representatives of the late Hon. W. E. Dodge, for gifts to the
school.
Crowded halls, continued success in old lines of work, and
encouragement in new, added buildings, generous gifts, growing
favor among the people, good reports from graduates and the
constant presence of the Divine Spirit lead us to thank God and
take courage, believing that the school is accomplishing its
mission in the main, and that the financial clouds that lower will
be dispelled in due time, as others have been in the history of the
institution.
* * * * *
LEWIS HIGH SCHOOL, MACON, GA.
A missionary villa, picturesque and interesting, is comprised of
the Lewis High School, Church, Library Building and Teachers’ Home,
occupying the summit of a beautiful street in Upper-Central Macon.
The Anniversary exercises were inaugurated on Sunday evening, May
27, with a lecture by Hon. Walter B. Hill, a lawyer of Macon,
who, in urgent language worthy of his profession, argued that
ignorance is the cause of the faults of those partially educated.
His subject, therefore, named the remedy, Christian education.
In closing, the speaker said he had searched for and chosen the
best poem for the conclusion of his address, the author of which
was the worthy pastor of the church, Rev. Stanley E. Lathrop—“The
Rain-Drop’s Lesson”—ending with the lines:
“Never tempted
Work to stop
Though my cup hold
But a drop.
Rising Heavenward,
Pure to grow,
Coming earthward,
Joy to sow!”
Rev. J. W. Burke, a prominent Southern Methodist clergyman, of
Macon, in earnest and well-chosen words, corroborated Mr. Hill’s
arguments.
The examinations began on Tuesday, culminating in an exhibition on
Thursday. Prof. W. A. Hodge, principal, examined the classes, with
four lady helpers, who would take high stand in our best Northern
schools, in their several departments. There have been 298 pupils
enrolled, an increase of fifty per cent. As we listened to the
highly creditable results we learned better how to teach, and were
filled with equal regard for the field which is “white already,”
and for those laborers whom the Lord of the vineyard, through the
A. M. A., has sent forth into His harvest.
The work of adding to knowledge, understanding, requires patient
toil here, yet we learned from the assistant principal, Miss
Lindsley, who has taught in four States, that she has never before
accorded the highest mark (100) to two scholars, in any one
school, for deportment and scholarship. Miss Sprague, teacher of
the Intermediate Department, has shown good results in the common
English branches and declamation, and has a bright, stimulating way
of interesting her pupils. Miss Pingree has won in a few months the
love of the primary class so heartily, that two of them meeting
a visitor, a stranger in this city, anxiously inquired, “Do you
think Miss Pingree will come back?” Her success as a missionary
has led her to feel called to that work; and could such a need
here be filled, the A. M. A. have one who is already beloved among
this people in such capacity whose labors have been voluntarily
given outside of school hours. All the teachers seek to know their
pupils in their homes, taking long walks “without the camp.” We
wish that a missionary horse and carriage could be an auxiliary!
Miss Woodworth has developed the music to an astonishing degree.
They have performed a cantata, sing accurately in difficult parts,
and the primary class reminded us of a full band of music! These
teachers are much beloved, and the young women of the school gave
them a surprise party at the Home, furnishing ice cream and cake.
This was a voluntary certificate of esteem.
The Exhibition Day filled the church with an audience of 400.
We noticed in the dialogues an apparent enjoyment, evincing the
imitative faculty and love for diversion. In these they seemed
to feel at home. The exercises were listened to with unbroken
attention throughout. The last feature of the occasion was the
presentation of a Wheeler & Wilson sewing machine, costing $65
(through the Macon agent, Judge M. R. Freeman), awarded by the
company to the girl who produced the best work; five machines
having been furnished during the winter for practice. Mrs. D. W.
Job, daughter of the late Rev. Nehemiah Adams, D.D., of Boston, in
the name of Mrs. Lathrop and Mrs. Hodge whom she called the “Woman
in Proverbs,” and “Dorcas”—told the story of the sewing school and
awarded the machine.
For three years Mrs. Lathrop, the worthy “minister’s wife,” has met
nearly every week with girls to teach them to sew. They have made
about 500 garments, and one of their patch-work quilts has been
given to the oldest scholar, _aged_ 93! Ten competed for the prize.
Mrs. Prof. Hodge, matron of the Teachers’ Home, has assisted this
winter in this benevolent and important work.
Prof. Hodge, with some earnest words of fitting counsel, presented
certificates of graduation to the senior class of three boys and
four girls.
After a beautiful chorus, all were invited to adjourn to the
dedication of a gem of a building, which we will call “The
Emerald,” in chaste tints of green and olive, set in the rear of
the grounds on the brow of the hill. This might be appropriately
termed “The Lathrop Library,” for the pastor in the last two years
has collected the books and the money which now constitute a public
library for the colored people and their friends.
The building cost $350, and contains about 3,600 volumes, and
is furnished with book-cases, chairs, table and a cabinet. What
publishers or friends will now supply magazines and papers,
imparting religious instruction and profitable information? The
lower story, it is hoped, will be converted into a workshop, where
trades may be taught. Money will be needed for this.
The evening was devoted to a concert, conducted by Miss Woodworth.
We recognized one of the best and most difficult Harvard songs, nor
could the Glee Club sing it with better expression.
In social, educational, moral and religious growth, this year’s
work of the A. M. A. in Macon cannot be estimated. God bless the
North! God bless the South! God bless the colored people of Macon,
and cause His face to shine upon them all.
BOSTON, Mass. D. W. J.
* * * * *
AVERY NORMAL INSTITUTE, CHARLESTON, S.C.
PROF. A. W. FARNHAM.
Our Commencement exercises began with the sermon, Sunday, June
24, which was preached by Rev. Prof. A. G. Townsend, of Claflin
University. The following, with reference to the sermon, is from
the _News and Courier_:
“The sermon to the graduating class at Avery Institute was
delivered last evening at 6 o’clock to a full audience by the Rev.
Professor A. G. Townsend, of Claflin University, who is also an
alumnus of Avery. After a brief salutation to old and new friends,
which was conceived in good taste and just feeling, the preacher
announced his text, Prov. iv., 13: ‘Take fast hold of instruction;
let her not go; keep her, for she is thy life.’ The discourse was
straightforward and of substantial interest.”
Monday, June 25, was “Children’s Day.” This day, organized by the
present Principal seven years ago, has become almost as popular as
“Graduation Day.” The leading features this year were selections
from the Kitchen-Garden exercises, as taught by Miss Huntington
of New York, and the exhibit of two quilts, a rug, and a quantity
of holders, which were made by the children. In these exercises
and the use of the needle, the boys have engaged as heartily and
successfully as the girls. This industrial showing was enlivened
with singing, several recitations, a dialogue, and two class
readings. “Children’s Day” is given to the primary and intermediate
classes. To these classes have been devoted two hours a week for
industrial work.
The grammar school exhibition occurred June 26. The 1st years gave
Miss Andrews’ geographical play of the “United States,” and a
dialogue, in a manner that reflected credit upon their teacher, who
had prepared them. The 2d years gave two class readings (a scene
from “William Tell” and “The Charcoal Man”); and the 3rd years
gave the comic opera of “King Alfred.” The industrial work of this
department has been confined to inventive and perspective drawing.
In inventive drawing the pupils made their designs with sticks,
first of equal then of unequal lengths, and when these designs were
accepted by the teacher they were drawn first on slates, then in
drawing books.
On Graduation Day, June 29, six young men and the same number of
young women read essays. Their subjects were: “Our Common School
Law,” “After Graduation, What?” “Chemistry of Common Things,” “The
Relation of Geography to Other Sciences,” “The Action of Alcohol on
the Body and Mind,” “Water,” “Why Do You Use Tobacco?” “Industrial
Education,” “Should Cooks be Educated?” “Physical Culture,” “Heat,”
and “Some Evidences of Christianity.” This class chose for its
motto, “Nothing great is lightly won.” The young men all intend to
go to college.
The results of the industrial work in the normal department were
a surprise to all on account of the quantity, variety and beauty
of the work displayed. It consisted of colored designs for dadoes,
borders and embroidery; useful and ornamental articles of scroll
sawing; leaves, animals, vases, a bust and other articles modeled
in artists’ clay; samples of printing, including the commencement
programmes, and a fine display of crochet and art needlework. An
average of an hour a week was given to the industrial work in the
normal department.
The music, both vocal and instrumental, on each occasion, was good.
Special mention should be made of “Inflammatus,” from “Stabat
Mater,” which was well given and well received. Bible recitations
by classes took the place of Bible readings in the devotional
exercises of each day. On graduation day the graduating class
recited the 12th chapter of Ecclesiastes.
On July 4th the Avery Alumni Association meets, has literary
exercises, a business meeting, and gives a $50 cash prize to
that member of the class of ’83 who has the best record; its
members exchange greeting, vow new devotion to their _Alma Mater_,
pronounce a benediction upon her, and then go their ways for
another year of honest work in behalf of less favored humanity.
Referring to our visitors the _New Era_ has the following:
“During the exercises of the week, a number of prominent white
citizens were in attendance and evinced genuine interest in the
proceedings. It is very gratifying to see this attention on the
part of the white element. It betokens a hopeful outlook. And why
should there not be the pleasantest relations between all good
citizens? We are all destined to dwell together. The quicker, under
reasonable progress, that the past is forgotten, the better for
all. We are sincerely glad that Prof. Farnham gives cordial welcome
to all who are interested in the work in which he so intelligently
and sincerely engages his intellectual and moral forces.”
* * * * *
BEACH INSTITUTE.
MISS IDA M. BEACH.
For weeks we had looked forward to these last hours! And now all is
over!
Four days of written examinations were very tiresome, but I wish
my readers could have seen the earnest workers. Oral examinations
occurred on Friday, May 25. A pleasant hour could be spent in the
Primary Department. Here are little folks reading now so smoothly
in First Reader, who eight months ago knew nothing of A B C work.
Words never seen before are placed on the board with diacritical
marks. The little hands come up, and the correct pronunciation is
given. In another room pupils are engaged in writing a spelling
lesson. Examined slates prove that attention has been given to
careful instruction.
Hurrying on, we find older pupils reciting in arithmetic and
geography; others, more advanced, in algebra and literature. The
same earnest spirit fills each room, and all seem striving to do
their best.
On Sunday evening, in the Congregational Church, Rev. Dana Sherrill
preached a sermon to the members of the graduating class, taking
for his text Phil. iii., 13, 14. Gathering up the lessons learned,
but forgetting past attainments, they should be ever striving for
something better beyond. The kind, practical counsel found, at
least, attentive listeners. Said one graduate: “That was our New
Year’s motto. I shall never forget it now.”
A new feature of our anniversary exercises was a juvenile concert.
On Monday night a goodly company gathered in our chapel. One
hundred and forty children greeted them with a song. The choruses
were rendered with enthusiasm. Of particular interest were the
solos and action songs by the little Primaries. A solo, “I’se
gwine to Alabama,” given by one of the older boys, was thoroughly
enjoyed. The net sum of $32.00 was raised for the increase of our
library fund.
It was interesting to watch the delighted parents during the
sociability of the “breaking up.”
Wednesday came, with clouds in the morning, and at the hour
appointed for the public exercises, rain falling in torrents. Yet
nearly every child was in place, and extra chairs were brought for
the gathered spectators. The exercises consisted of recitations,
dialogues and songs. As the children performed the parts assigned
each, I did not wonder that both teachers and mothers “felt proud.”
An invitation to examine work done by members of the sewing class
was generally accepted, giving the happy parents fresh cause for
pride.
We decided to hold our graduating exercises on Wednesday evening.
At an early hour every seat was taken, while numbers were standing
in the aisles and halls. Girls in pretty white dresses and boys
in fresh spring suits, march in and take seats reserved. A sweet
song by the girls opened the exercises. Prayer was offered and
the Lord’s Prayer chanted. Reading, declamations and recitations
followed. Conversation between several girls concerning their plans
for life brought “sincerity,” a fairy, into their midst. Her waving
banner proclaimed to each the simple words, “Be true.”
The graduates read their essays and received their diplomas,
accompanied by kind words from the Superintendent. Mr. S., rising,
called to him a boy of fifteen years and said: “A scholarship
was offered to the one who should excel in general scholarship,
punctuality and deportment. I hold in my hand a paper stating that
you, having done this, are entitled to the same.” Amid hearty
applause the gift was received with smiles and thanks.
A few words from Mr. Callen, a colored preacher, and one of our
pupils; a parting song, a gathering in the school-room for the
“good-night,” and then we said good-by.
* * * * *
BREWER NORMAL INSTITUTE.
REV. L. C. JOELL.
Greenwood is located at the junction of the Augusta & Knoxville
Railroad with the Columbia & Greenville. The town is one of the
prettiest in the upper part of South Carolina. With a population
of one thousand, with one hotel, four white schools, two colored
schools and several churches, a newspaper and other evidences
of thrift, it offers an attractive locality to settlers, and
especially as its climate is very healthful. The eleventh
anniversary of the Brewer Normal School, which is located in this
town, was observed June 28. This always creates a profound interest
in the vicinity, and long before the hour of commencing, an
anxious throng of every imaginable description of vehicle is seen
wending its way thitherward. On Sunday the 24th, a special sermon
was preached to the students and a large number of friends, from
Galatians 5:9.
The exercises on the closing day were attended by an unusually
large number of citizens and visitors from far and near. The
students in attendance during the sessions were 157, an advance
upon that of any previous year. The programme of the day was
inviting. The principal, Mr. J. D. Backenstose, presided; vocal
and instrumental music for the occasion was supplied by Mrs. W.
W. Frazier, formerly Miss Mary Clark of Fisk University, and the
trained classes of the school. Rev. E. W. Williams of the Second
Pres. Church in Abbeville gave the address, taking for his subject
“Reality in Morals, in Education and in Christianity.” It enlisted
earnest attention during the hour consumed in its delivery. At the
intermission between the morning and evening sessions, friends held
fellowship with friends and betook themselves to the contents of
abundantly laden refreshment baskets. Everybody seemed to manifest
that the lines had fallen to him in pleasant places.
The afternoon exercises consisted of singing, recitations and
dialogues from the little ones of the primary department.
The evening was occupied with similar exercises by the older
students of the school. The audience room was by far too small to
accommodate the immense throng seeking admission. The year’s work
has been a grand success.
* * * * *
GOLIAD, TEXAS.
BY MR. J. R. S. HALLOWAY.
School closed here on the 31st of May with an examination and
exhibition. The house was packed to its utmost. Prominent white
people of Goliad were in attendance, and returned home surprised
and astonished, exclaiming “We saw more than we came to see. We
had no idea that the Congregational school could come up to this.
That anthem ‘Strike the Cymbals’ sung by the teacher and school
was splendid. We would advise all those who are sending their
children to this school to continue.” Goliad is acknowledged to
be the greatest educational centre in western Texas. The prospect
of building up a good school here is seventy-five per cent
better than it was a month ago. There is an educational society
instituted about a year ago which is doing all in its power for
the advancement of the school, and we look forward to the day when
the much needed school building will be provided. We are about to
organize a Band of Hope.
* * * * *
HENDERSON SCHOOL, FAYETTEVILLE, ARK.
BY MRS. H. D. FOSTER.
The Henderson School closed its first year of nine months with
examinations Thursday, May 24th. A large number of interested
parents and friends came in to inquire and see for themselves what
their children had been doing for the year. After listening to
various recitations and exercises, they expressed themselves highly
pleased.
Thursday evening the annual exhibition came off, and about 400 were
present. At half past eight o’clock, the pupils marched into the
primary room. They made a grand appearance, being neatly and some
of them very prettily dressed. The programme consisted of nineteen
parts, interspersed with good music. Some of the pieces given were
very pleasing. The calisthenic exercises and the selections were
all well rendered and won many complimentary remarks, not only from
colored people, but also from prominent white families of the city.
It is something unusual to see the ladies of the latter class out.
Those who had seen the scholars at the beginning and at the end
of the session noticed a striking improvement in their personal
appearance. The intellectual, moral and spiritual culture had left
its stamp upon their countenances, and it was exhibited in their
deportment.
Throughout the year special attention has been given to our Mission
Sunday school, out of which has grown a little church. During the
precious revival of January, some of our pupils gave their hearts
to Christ. In all our successes and discouragements the Heavenly
Father has been very near us. Hon. J. H. Van Hoose, a correspondent
of the _Arkansas Democrat_, the leading journal of the State, which
is published at the Capital, a citizen of high standing in the
State for forty years, and thirty years in this place, asked to
give an impromptu speech, in which he expressed his surprise at the
progress made. The following, clipped from the above-named journal,
written by this gentleman, will explain the sentiments of the
citizens here toward our work:
[Illustration: A COTTON PLANTATION.]
“Prof. Foster (colored) and his wife, formerly of Little Rock,
have just closed a nine months’ school at the brick school-house
in the northeast part of Fayetteville. They were at first employed
by our school directors to teach a three months’ school for the
colored portion of our district, but they continued to teach six
months longer for a very small consideration paid them by the
patrons of the school and the American Missionary Association.
The examination exercises closed Thursday night with a public
exhibition. The school room was neat and clean and gorgeously
decorated with festoons and wreaths of evergreens and flowers, and
the house filled with an appreciative audience, the best of order
prevailed, and your correspondent was delighted with the evidences
of improvement in the manner and conduct of all who had been so
fortunate as to be under the influence and training of Prof. Foster
and his accomplished assistant, Mrs. Foster.”
* * * * *
THE INDIANS.
* * * * *
TESTIMONY OF AN INDIAN AGENT.
[Major Gassman, who was formerly engaged in the ministry at Omaha,
Nebraska, but who now is serving as Indian agent in Dakota,
recently paid a visit to Hampton, where he gave to the students an
interesting account of his experience in Indian work, which was
published in the _Southern Workman_, and from which we make the
following extracts.—ED.]