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[Illustration: VOL. XXXVI. SEPTEMBER, 1882. NO. 9
THE
American Missionary
“THEY ARE RISING ALL ARE RISING, THE BLACK AND WHITE TOGETHER”
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.]
CONTENTS.
PAGE.
EDITORIALS.
ANNUAL MEETING—Financial 257
AMENDMENTS TO CONSTITUTION—School Work for Indians 258
CASTE ON THE CARS 259
ADDRESS OF THE REV. GEO. M. BOYNTON 260
MISPLACED BENEVOLENCE—Benefactions 263
GENERAL NOTES—Africa, Indians, Chinese 264
ITEMS FROM THE FIELD 266
THE FREEDMEN.
SOUTHWESTERN CONGREGATIONAL ASSOC. 267
TEACHERS’ INSTITUTE AT MEMPHIS 269
SUNDAY-SCHOOL INSTITUTE AT TOUGALOO 269
GO HOME TO THY FRIENDS—A Rice Plantation (Cut) 270
WORK AT FLORENCE, ALA.—Topeka, Kansas 271
THE INDIANS.
VARIETY IN MISSIONARY LIFE 272
INDIANS SPEAKING ACROSS A CHASM (Cut) 273
INDIANS AT HAMPTON 274
THE CHINESE.
THE PENALTY OF PROSPERITY 275
YAKUT VILLAGERS (Cut) 277
CHILDREN’S PAGE.
THE BOY WHO GREW UP IN A COTTON PATCH 278
RECEIPTS 279
THE PROPOSED CONSTITUTION 284
* * * * *
American Missionary Association,
56 READE STREET, NEW YORK.
* * * * *
PRESIDENT, HON. WM. B. WASHBURN, Mass.
CORRESPONDING SECRETARY.
Rev. M. E. STRIEBY, D.D., _56 Reade Street, N.Y._
TREASURER.
H. W. HUBBARD, Esq., _56 Reade Street, N.Y._
DISTRICT SECRETARIES
Rev. C. L. WOODWORTH, _Boston_.
Rev. G. D. PIKE, D.D., _New York_.
Rev. JAMES POWELL, _Chicago_.
COMMUNICATIONS
relating to the work of the Association may be addressed to the
Corresponding Secretary; those relating to the collecting fields,
to the District Secretaries; letters for the Editor of the
“American Missionary,” to Rev. G. D. Pike, D.D., at the New York
Office.
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, Rev. C.
L. Woodworth, Dist. Sec., 21 Congregational House, Boston, Mass.,
or Rev. James Powell, Dist. Sec., 112 West Washington Street,
Chicago, Ill. A payment of thirty dollars at one time constitutes a
Life Member. Letters relating to boxes and barrels of clothing may
addressed to the persons above named.
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 Annual Report of the A. M. A. contains the Constitution of the
Association and the By-Laws of the Executive Committee. A copy will
be sent free on application.
THE
AMERICAN MISSIONARY.
* * * * *
VOL. XXXVI. SEPTEMBER, 1882. NO. 9.
* * * * *
American Missionary Association.
* * * * *
ANNUAL MEETING.
The next Annual Meeting of the American Missionary Association
will be held in Cleveland, Ohio, commencing Tuesday, October 24,
at 3 P.M. On Tuesday afternoon the annual report of the Executive
Committee, including the Treasurer’s report, will be presented, and
on Tuesday evening the annual sermon will be preached by Rev. C. L.
Goodell, D.D., of St. Louis, Mo.
On Wednesday morning the report of the Committee on the Amendments
to the Constitution will be presented. The succeeding sessions of
Wednesday and Thursday will be occupied with papers and reports of
committees, with addresses. On Wednesday and Thursday evenings,
addresses will be given by Rev. A. J. F. Behrends, D.D., Rev.
Atticus G. Haygood, D.D., and other distinguished speakers. The
names of other speakers and further details will be published in
the October _Missionary_ and in the religious papers. The report of
the Committee on the Revision of the Constitution will be found on
the page following the receipts in this number of the _Missionary_.
* * * * *
FINANCIAL—CLOSING MONTH—PROSPECTS.
This month (September) closes the fiscal year of the American
Missionary Association, and will decide whether it is to receive
the $300,000 asked for at the annual meeting. The figures show
that the receipts for the ten months, ending July 31, were
$262,829.31; leaving a balance of $37,170.69 to be made up in
August and September. The receipts from legacies in the ten months
were $74,152.29, but for the remaining two months none of large
amount are anticipated, and as August is usually unfavorable for
collections, and as our receipts at the date of going to press
(August 14) are small, we must depend ultimately upon the receipts
of September to make up the sum needed.
We are anxious to secure the $300,000. It will not only cheer the
officers and the constituency of the Association, but the _work
absolutely demands that amount_. The fear of debt alone deters us
from making needed repairs, improvements and additions. The details
would convince our friends that economy and efficiency would be
promoted by the expenditures we have thus far withheld.
Permit us then to ask; (1) that treasurers of churches and
executors of estates remit to us at their earliest convenience
monies in their hands intended for us; (2) that pastors and church
committees take up collections that are on the list for September,
or that have been neglected during the year; and (3) that generous
friends send us contributions to meet the emergency.
* * * * *
AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION.
The Committee appointed at the last annual meeting of this
Association, to consider and report on Amendments to its
Constitution, have held two meetings during the year, and have
given very careful thought to the subject. Their report is given
in the form of “The Proposed Constitution,” which will be found on
another page. We ask for it the deliberate consideration of our
constituency, in the hope that a unanimous decision on the subject
may be reached at the next annual meeting. The Committee consists
of the following persons: Col. Franklin Fairbanks, Pres. E. H.
Merrill, Hon. Wm. B. Washburn, Rev. L. W. Bacon, D.D., Rev. L. T.
Chamberlain, D.D., Rev. Geo. M. Boynton, Pres. E. H. Fairchild,
Hon. C. I. Walker, S. R. Heywood, Esq., Rev. A. E. P. Perkins,
D.D., Col. C. G. Hammond, Rev. A. H. Plumb, D.D., J. G. W. Cowles,
Esq.
* * * * *
SCHOOL-WORK FOR THE INDIANS.
The regular correspondent of the _Tribune_, in reporting a
conference with Mr. Teller, the Secretary of the Interior, upon his
Indian policy, gives this question and answer:
“What is your view of Indian education, and of the Hampton and
Carlisle schools in particular?”
“I recognize the usefulness of those schools, but I insist that
they are entirely inadequate, as any number of them would be, to
accomplish what is desired. The Hampton and Carlisle schools no
more meet the exigency than Yale and Harvard supply education to
the youth of the whole United States. There are 50,000 Indian
children. We must furnish means for their education. Hampton and
Carlisle will do for the training of teachers. But we must get the
schools, which are to educate the masses of Indian children, out
nearer to the tribes.”
This is our view, exactly. Use these and similar institutions at
the South for training the young people brought to them from the
Indian country to become teachers and mechanics. Then let them go
back to their people and serve as teachers of the home schools and
leaders in the mechanic arts.
THE reports from our schools have crowded our limited pages for
the last two months, and have compelled us to leave over a number
of articles which will be found in the pages of this number. Our
readers will agree with us that these articles contained so much
of spice that they have not become mouldy by the delay. We wish,
however, to notify our teachers and missionaries that we desire
as speedily as possible the renewed use of their pens. Nothing,
however good, can be a substitute for their fresh views and facts.
* * * * *
CASTE ON THE CARS.
Our new-made fellow-citizens at the South are coming to such
consciousness of their civil and political rights as leads them to
demand the protection of law. The Cincinnati Southern Railway has
recently paid a fine of $1,000 for putting a colored man who had
a first-class ticket into a second-class car. The Atlanta & West
Point Railroad, for a similar offence, has been compelled to pay a
fine of $400. The Georgia Railroad, having been sued, thought it
best not to stand a trial, and paid $700 to a colored young woman
who was put off its train because she was in a first-class car
with a first-class ticket. At Nashville two or three suits have
been entered in the same line. Bishop Payne, as is well known,
having been put off from a Florida road, is seeking legal redress.
Bishop Cain, also of the African M. E. Church, having purchased
a first-class ticket on the Sunset route, in Texas, was about to
enter the car to which his ticket authorized him to go. Some white
people who were also getting aboard said that they would not go if
the black man should take a seat in that car. He then entered the
parlor car, paying the extra dollar for his seat, and now has sued
the company for $20,000.
It is a clear case that the law for common carriers requires the
companies to allow passengers who have first-class tickets to ride
in first-class cars. The 14th amendment declares that “no State
shall deprive any person of life, liberty or property, without due
process of law, nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction
the equal protection of the laws.” Justice Strong, of the Supreme
Court, referring to this language in the recent case of Strander
_v._ Virginia (10 Otto, 307), which related to the exclusion of
colored men from juries, said: “What is this but declaring that the
law in the State shall be the same for the black as for the white;
that all persons, whether colored or white, shall stand equal
before the laws of the States, and in regard to the colored race,
for whose protection the amendment was primarily designed, that
_no_ discrimination shall be made against them by law because of
their color.”
It is clear that the railway companies are doing better and
better in this matter. Some allow colored passengers to go
without hindrance where their first-class tickets would take
them. Other railway officials have instructed their train men
that if colored people with first-class tickets make request to
enter the first-class cars, they shall be allowed so to do, though
the brakemen will keep them out as long as they can. Our colored
friends must be patient while public sentiment is advancing and the
law is coming to their help. Many colored people are as sensitive
to the nicotine poison as any white ladies, and it is a cruelty,
aside from the injustice, to thrust them into the smoking-car.
* * * * *
ADDRESS OF THE REV. GEO. M. BOYNTON
AT THE BOSTON ANNIVERSARY, MAY 31, 1882.
There are four ways in which a race in the enjoyment of power
and prosperity may deal with a race which is under the burden of
weakness and temporary debasement; God forbid that I should say
with an inferior race; for it is not ours to measure gifts until
the scale of opportunity shall have been equalized; God forbid
that I should say with a despised race, though that too nearly
represents the fact among large portions of people, even in our
own land and day;—I say, in dealing with races which are for the
present weaker and in inferior position to our own. I used to
read, when I studied geography, that the inhabitants of the world
could be classed under four heads: as barbarous, half-civilized,
civilized and enlightened. And I think the four methods in which
this race may be treated correspond somewhat with these four
divisions of human progress.
The first and barbarous cry which meets a weaker race is, “_kill
them_; put them out of existence.” The first impulse of savage
men—the question is when the savagery is all expelled from human
nature—is to put out of the way that which is offensive, that which
is in your way, that which seems in any way to compete with your
full satisfaction and enjoyment.
The next way of dealing with those of a weaker race is to _use
them_, subordinate them to your own service, make bondsmen of them,
let them be your hewers of wood and drawers of water, command their
labor and their persons, control even their instruction and their
religion, and make them absolutely yours.
The third way in which a superior race may deal with a weaker race
is by the gentler, but perhaps no less harmful, process of _letting
them alone_,—withdraw from them, hands off! Shut them out, keep
them away, make the barrier between yourself and them impassable.
There is one way more in which a race higher in circumstance and
condition and endowment may treat those who for the time are weaker
than they, and that is to _lift them up_ to its own plane just so
fast and just so far as God shall make it possible.
If we read in the Old Testament, as many are increasingly disposed
to do, a progress of development which recognizes the training of
mankind from its lowest possible basis up to its highest possible
attainment, we may find illustrations of these four methods of
treatment in that record. The first conviction of their duty, and
with Divine consent, toward the races which occupied Canaan, was
to exterminate the people of the land. At a little later stage,
when Joshua had entered the country, he made his league with the
Gibeonites and the people of the central confederacy, by which
they became his hewers of wood and drawers of water. As we read on
still further in the story, we find the Jews shutting themselves
out from all mankind, and shutting all men off from them, having no
dealings even with the Samaritans. But, when the Lord Jesus Christ
came, bringing the light of the gospel and the character of God
and heavenly opportunities on to the soil of our earth, his last
command is, “Share my gifts in every land with every creature,”
and the last word he promises that some of us shall hear before we
enter into the lasting joy of heaven, is, “Because ye have done it
unto the least of these, my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”
Our country has illustrated all these methods of treatment of the
weaker races. Its cry has been toward the Indian—its characteristic
cry almost from the very first—“Kill him; there is no good Indian
but a dead Indian;” and that sentiment, that barbarism, has not yet
altogether been exterminated from the land. Our country has said
of the great African race, “Enslave them; use them; subordinate
them to our own uses; make them our hewers of wood and drawers of
water, our chattels, our breeders of children; use them without
conscience; subordinate them to our own supposed good.” And even
now our land, this land of freedom, to which we all came strangers
at some past time, has issued its edict through its highest
courts that the Chinaman shall be shut out from all access to our
civilization and our Christianity. Brethren, the glory and joy of
this American Missionary Association is that its work has been from
the beginning to reach out to those who were weakest, who were
most in need, who were most neglected. Thank God that there is one
place where the sentiment may be centred and emphasized that “God
hath made of one blood all nations of men that dwell upon the face
of the whole earth;” and though it may be true that for a time “He
hath fixed the bounds of their habitation,” yet it is not so sure
that these bounds were in his purpose fixed to outlast the breaking
down of those barriers which the progress of Christian civilization
surely brings.
* * * * *
And now, what is it that makes these races weaker, less prosperous,
less independent than our own? It is the lack of education; it is
the lack of developed intelligence, not of native ability. And what
are the claims which ignorance may make upon intelligence? It may
not claim a right to power; it may not claim a share in property;
it may not claim an equal social position with intelligence; but
it may claim an opportunity to fit itself for all these things.
Suppose a man had been born and had lived his life at the bottom
of a pit; and he cries out, as you listen to him at the brink,
“Give me a voice in the control of your affairs up there. I am
in the United States as truly as you are, if I am at the bottom
of this hole. I want to vote and have a voice in the affairs of
the nation.” You may properly suggest to him that until he has
seen the lay of the land he can hardly decide which way the roads
had better run, that until he has lived in the upper air he can
hardly know what institutions for the general control of society
are best and wisest. He cries out to you again from the bottom of
the pit, “Give me some money; I have had no chance to earn any
down here. Throw down some greenbacks.” And you remind him that
greenbacks as a circulating medium from one pocket to another are
not a particularly profitable investment, and that if deposited in
the clay bank, in which his hole is dug, they would yield him no
great return. He says to you, “At any rate, throw down a broadcloth
suit; I want to dress as well as you.” You intimate again that even
goodly raiment would not add greatly to his comfort in his present
state. But if that much-to-be-pitied man is wise, he will cry out
for one thing only: “Reach me down a ladder, by which I may climb
up to where you are.” If he is wise, the one thing he will ask of
you is not a share in the control you have, not a share in the
possessions you have acquired, not a share in the social position
you may have attained, but it is an opportunity to fit himself for
the acquirement and use of all these things. It is our business,
brethren and friends, and it is the work of this Association, to
reach that ladder down. If you will but let our brother get his
hands upon the lowest round, he will come up and stand with us in
God’s sunshine, as we have already seen him do. If we forbear, if
we refuse, we are more guilty than the priest and the Pharisee
who went by on the other side; we are as guilty as were Joseph’s
brethren who lowered their brother into the pit and left him there
and went their way.
We are not here to-day to plead rival claims and rival causes; but
amid the whole circle of Christian graces and Christian charities,
the last in all the world to leave unfilled is that which, when
all the other miracles and glorious works of Christ had been
catalogued, was added as the crowning gem of all—“The poor have
the gospel preached unto them.” God help us ever to have sympathy
with this grand work; and in this era which is coming, an era
which will call for greater sacrifices and greater gifts than any
that have gone before—for it must be an era of endowment for these
institutions—let its claims be heard among all the rest in fair and
true proportion.
MISPLACED BENEVOLENCE.
“The sympathies of Christian people are always deeply stirred when
they come into personal contact with individuals who, in foreign
lands, have come out of the superstitions and darkness in which
they were reared and are seeking help for themselves or their
people in this country. The touching stories that can be truthfully
told of struggles in the past, and of difficulties under which they
now labor, appeal strongly to all who hear them, and it is quite
natural that gifts should be made in response to these pleas with
little thought of certain nearly inevitable results which, were
they aware of them, the donors would deeply deplore. The matter is
a delicate one to treat. On the one hand, we would have earnest
sympathy expressed for those who are seeking to elevate themselves
and their people, whether educationally or religiously, and would
have them wisely aided. It seems ungracious to do or say anything
to check the outpouring of money in response to these appeals. But,
on the other hand, when we see how, by reason of the reception
given to these special appeals, the work of our missionaries is
hindered, and their plans for the education and elevation of the
people to whom they are sent are imperiled, we are constrained to
utter again a word of caution.”
The above is quoted from a thoughtful article in the August number
of the _Missionary Herald_. It presents in a very careful manner
a warning that is at once delicate and needful. We find the same
difficulties in our work at the South, and take this opportunity
of adding our word of caution to our friends in regard to special
appeals from that quarter. Money intended for our mission work in
the South, or for student aid, can be more judiciously dispensed
by us, knowing the whole field and its wants, than if sent by the
donor directly in response to an appeal that may be overdrawn,
or relatively less important than some others, and in some cases
entirely unworthy of confidence. We have no reference in these
words of caution to the professors and representatives of our
Institutions, who visit the North duly accredited by us.
* * * * *
BENEFACTIONS.
Col. Alfred Shorter, of Rome, Ga., has left $45,000 to Shorter
College, the income to be used in aiding students.
R. G. Peters, Esq., of Manistee, Mich., has given $6,000 toward the
Professorship Fund of Chicago University.
Miss Louisa Howard, of Burlington, Vt., has given $5,000 to the
University of Vermont, to establish five scholarships, to be known
by her name.
John P. Howard, of Burlington, Vt., gives the Vermont University
$25,000 for the Lafayette statue, $50,000 for rebuilding the main
edifice, making a total of $125,000, besides $150,000 given to
other religious and benevolent institutions in the city.
Mr. Moses Hopkins lately gave $50,000, and $3,000 for repairs, to
the Golden Gate Seminary, at Oakland, Cal., which is hereafter to
be called Hopkins Academy.
The estate of Christopher R. Robert, of New York City, by a
decision of the New York Court of Appeals, is now to pay $100,000
more to the endowment of Robert College at Constantinople.
Senator Jos. E. Brown, of Atlanta, Ga., has given the State
University $50,000, to be used in aiding indigent worthy young men.
Paul Dulane, of Princeton, N.J., has given $2,000,000, to be used
in building and endowing at New Orleans an institution for the
education of white young men in languages, science, literature and
art.
_We learn that a man in the South has made provision in his will
to leave $25,000 or $50,000 toward the endowment of one of our
chartered institutions in that region. This is a grateful foretaste
of what is yet to come, when the people of that land shall join
with those of the North in supporting these schools of higher
learning for the benefit of our newly-made fellow-citizens. It
also makes to other high-minded and patriotic men at the South the
suggestion—“Go thou and do likewise.”_
* * * * *
GENERAL NOTES
AFRICA.
—Mr. Grattan Guinness honorable director of the Livingstone Congo
Inland Mission, has published a grammar and dictionary in the
language now spoken by the natives.
—The Bible in the Basuto language, has been issued by the British
and Foreign Bible Society at a cost of $20,000. This is the ninth
completed Bible in the native languages of Africa.
—Both roads from the coast to the level of the Upper Congo, that on
the north side of the river and that on the south, are reported to
be now open all the way. The vast basin of the Upper Congo, with
its 900,000 square miles of territory and its 150,000,000 of idol
worshippers may therefore be said to be overcome.
—Between the Zambesi River and Lake Bangueola a Missionary station
is to be established by M. Ceillard, a French Missionary, and his
wife, who have recently gone there for that purpose.
—Seven different nations are embraced by the Berlin Missionary
Society in the area of their South African Work, which extends 1000
miles in length by 500 miles in width. They have forty-two stations
within this boundary.
—Great Britain has twenty-three times as much trade with Africa
as the United States has, and France fifteen times as much. Great
Britain’s commerce on the West Coast alone amounts to over twenty
millions of dollars, and that of France to over fifteen millions.
—The C. M. S. has recently sent six men to the Nyanza Mission. They
were accompanied by Mr. and Mrs. Lane and Miss Havergal, who went
out to be married to the Rev. A. D. Shaw. The same steamer took out
a large party of missionaries for the London Missionary Society’s
mission on Lake Tanganyika, and the two parties together formed a
considerable majority of the passengers.
—News has been received from Zanzibar of the death of Rev.
Charles Albert Janson, University College, Oxon, a member of the
Universities’ Mission to Central Africa. Mr. Janson died near Lake
Nyassa, making the nineteenth death among the members of this
mission.
—The Council of the Royal Geographical Society have decided on
equipping an expedition to Eastern Africa for the exploration of
the snow-capped mountains, Kenia and Kilimanjaro, and the country
between them and the eastern shores of the Victoria Nyanza. Mr.
Joseph Thomson is to be the commander, and, according to present
arrangements, he will leave England for Zanzibar to organize his
party early in the ensuing year.
—The African Lakes Company, which was formed not so much with a
view to financial profits as to co-operate with various missions
in furnishing stores for them, is developing the legitimate trade
of the country. The 2,000 miles of coast, river, and lake, which
this company are endeavoring to keep open, reaches from Quillimane
up the Kwakwa River to the Zambezi at Mazaro; from Mazaro up the
Zambezi and the Shire to Katwnga, then on towards Blantyre and
Matope on the southern shore of Lake Nyassa. Here the small steamer
“Ilala” (which is to be purchased by the company) takes goods,
etc., to the north-east of the lake, from which point Stevenson’s
Road is to be constructed, and thus unite Lake Tanganyika to this
extensive line of communication.
THE INDIANS.
—The U.S. Congress has set apart $5,220,674 for the ensuing year
for the Indian Department. Of this amount nearly $500,000 is
appropriated for the education of Indian children. Last year the
only general appropriation was $85,000.
—The Pima Indians have undertaken the erection of a small chapel at
Black Water Village. The head chief has cut his hair short, dresses
in American clothes and regularly attends church.
—At the Carlisle Indian School, “well” was given one of the boys to
incorporate in a sentence. This was the result: “Last week I sick,
and he doctor catch well for me and some other boys, too.” Another
was given “blind.” He wrote, “Blind means ‘not see’—yesterday I
was blind my marbles.”
THE CHINESE.
—The Chinese of San Francisco contributed last year $44,142.53 for
the support of the City and State governments.
—For several years past, members of the Central Presbyterian Church
of Denver have given special attention to the Chinese of that city.
They now have over 60 Chinamen in attendance at Sabbath-school,
seven of whom have been baptized and received into the Church.
—A poor Chinaman became blind, and went into the hospital. While
there he learned to read the Bible in the raised printing used
for the blind. He said to the missionary, “God make me no see
here” (pointing to his eyes); “but he make me see so muchee here”
(placing his hand on his heart), “I welly glad.”
* * * * *
ITEMS FROM THE FIELD.
PARIS, Texas.—A church has recently been dedicated here. Dr. Reed
preached the sermon, and all the white pastors took part in the
services. The house could not begin to hold the people. $313 was
subscribed towards paying the debt.
CEDAR CLIFF, N.C.—At this place Rev. A. Connet organized a
Congregational church of a dozen members, using the Confession,
Covenant and Constitution of Roy’s Manual, inserting a temperance
clause. A white citizen gives half an acre of land for the church.
A dozen white people attended service. Rev. J. N. Ray will become
the pastor of the church.
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn.—In the wake of a revival, which had already
added forty or fifty persons to our church in this city, Mrs.
Steele, the missionary, writes: “We are still wonderfully blessed.
I have been in the Howard school some as a substitute for the
principal, when he was sick. Pastor Smith thought in that way I
was prosecuting my special work, as I was getting close to the
children’s hearts. After teaching in one of the rooms for a week my
scholars asked if we might not have a prayer meeting at the close
of school on Friday afternoon. I said ‘Yes, if you will go over
to our church,’ as that was the hour for our sociable. And so the
crowd went over there, and twenty-three professed conversion. I
never before witnessed such a sight.”
MEMPHIS, Tenn.—“The little ones are quite enthusiastic over the
temperance concerts, and of course are interesting their elders. We
find the charts a great help. I have been using for supplementary
reading the ‘Gospel Temperance Book,’ and have been surprised at
the interest manifested. Yesterday I asked how many enjoyed it, and
nearly every hand went up. One young man said: ‘A while ago I tried
to talk with a young fellow about drinking, and couldn’t meet his
arguments, but since we have taken up this book I have a great deal
more to say.’”
TOPEKA, Kansas.—The relief work proves quite a tax on our time
and strength. Six mornings out of the seven are devoted to the
people for their instruction and improvement. Monday evening we
hold prayer meeting; Tuesday evening is devoted to Bible study
for the young people. A good number attend. Friday evening I have
a class in singing. The Sabbath is a busy day for each of us. We
have a full Sunday-school and need twice as much room, and Sabbath
evening the Chapel is well filled. With not a few worthy exceptions
the people are ignorant and wicked, but this does not discourage
us. Already we can perceive a change for the better. In all our
exercises the people are more orderly and attentive.
WASHINGTON, D.C.—“I have organized a Doing Good Society in the
girl’s school, which is doing effective work and interesting all.
We appoint a committee of two to visit the sick every week. I
give them something to carry in food and clothing, playthings and
picture-books, for the sick, and taking the Bible and song-book
they read and sing, often gathering a whole family in to hear them.
Each Saturday a report of their visits is read, and once a month
the school brings pennies to buy food. My prayer meetings among
the mothers and girls are often very full of tenderness. And yet,
among this people it is so easy to have good prayer meetings that I
don’t think as much of it as I used to at the North. More and more
I feel the importance of teaching them that temperance, purity and
a desire to do something for others is true religion.”
* * * * *
THE FREEDMEN.
REV. JOSEPH E. ROY, D.D., FIELD SUPERINTENDENT, ATLANTA, GA.
THE SOUTHWESTERN CONGREGATIONAL ASSOCIATION.
BY REV. W. S. ALEXANDER, D.D.
The time and place (June 1, New Orleans) proved propitious. They
gave the ministers and delegates an opportunity, by anticipating
the meeting, to be present at the anniversary exercises of the
University. I think a fire has been kindled which will not be
quenched when our brethren reach their homes, and we shall find,
when the new school year opens, that new connecting lines have been
established between Straight University and the interior towns.
The Association last met in this city, in the spring of 1877.
In 1878 and 1879 we met in New Iberia, and in 1880 and 1881 in
Terrebonne; so this is our sixth annual meeting without a break,
and we are able to report not only continuity of life, but real
progress. A little advance in the church work of this Association
means more than a far greater advance in our older religious
bodies. Here the fight has been, first upon the question, “Have
we, as Congregationalists, a right to live in Lousiana?” The
denominationalism among the colored people has been, and still is,
intense. As the Baptist and Methodist Church once covered this
entire Southern field, the Congregationalist is looked upon as
a traitor to a holy cause, who has enlisted under a strange and
piratical banner. “Who are you, anyhow?” “Where do you come from?”
“What strange faith have you picked up now?” are questions which
salute our brethren constantly, and which are designed to cover
them with confusion and discomfiture. But this battle has been
bravely and patiently fought, and the right to exist “established.”
There were 31 pastors and delegates present. The reports from the
various fields were cheering and hopeful. It has not been a harvest
year, though some churches have been refreshed by the gracious
visitation of the Holy Spirit, and all have, we hope, felt the
quickening of a new life. A revival of wonderful preciousness and
power was reported from Central Church, New Orleans, beginning with
the “Week of Prayer,” and continuing five weeks, during which time
nearly 100 souls were awakened.
Brother Clay’s church in Terrebonne has been blessed and
strengthened. There have been many hindrances in the year. The
floods have caused great suffering among the poor. Cabins have been
washed away, crops destroyed, and the plans of labor disarranged.
When the laboring class of the colored people suffer, the churches
suffer in their resources.
Let me summarize the result of our annual meeting.
I. From the reports of the churches we find that there have been
numerical losses, which, though seemingly serious, are really
gains, so far as the purity and vigorous life of the Association is
concerned. The Association has not yet laid down the pruning knife,
and it may be that more dead branches will be clipped off in the
year, without which the tree will be more beautiful and fruitful.
II. A higher stand was taken for an educated ministry. One of the
brethren, on his own volition, presented a resolution to this
effect: “That from this day we, as an Association, will neither
license nor ordain any man to preach in our churches who is not
fitted by education to perform all the sacred duties of his
office.” The brethren in the discussion preceding the vote said
that while there was formerly an excuse for an ignorant ministry,
we now have our colleges and theological seminaries, and with
a little self-denial, all who wish may fit themselves to guide
intelligently the minds and hearts of the people.
III. The necessity was deeply felt and freely expressed, of taking
a clearer and stronger denominational position, with all charity
and fellowship for all who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity.
We, as Congregationalists, should know the ground on which we
stand, and be able to give a reason for the hope within us. It was
voted that a Manual be prepared, answering more fully than any yet
issued, the local needs of our Louisiana churches. This Manual will
be prepared during the summer, and submitted in manuscript to the
Association at its next meeting.
We were fortunate in having the presence and cordial aid of Rev.
O. D. Crawford, of Mobile. He gave an address, Wednesday night,
on the subject: “Why am I a Congregationalist?” It was scholarly,
judicious and effective.
The Moderator, yielding to the kind and earnest desire of the
brethren, occupied the evening session of Thursday in an account
of his visit to Europe, with especial reference to the Jubilee
Meeting of the Congregational Union of England and Wales, held at
Manchester in October last.
After prayer and song, and with deep gratitude to God for His
blessing upon our annual meeting, the Association adjourned, to
meet in New Iberia the first Wednesday in April, 1883.
I desire, in concluding this statement, to say that if our Northern
friends wish to see a vigorous Congregational Association in
Louisiana, the _helping hand_ must be extended, with the “God
bless you” from the lips. Weak points along the lines need to be
strengthened, the faint and weary to be encouraged and the streams
of benevolence to be directed into the barren wastes, where men of
God have only their lives to offer.
TEACHERS’ INSTITUTE AT MEMPHIS.
BY MISS ELLA A. HAMILTON.
I have thought that perhaps the readers of the MISSIONARY would
be interested to know something of the Institute held at LeMoyne
for the colored teachers of Shelby and the adjoining counties.
The Institute was continued for two weeks, beginning on the first
Monday in June. Prof. Steele was appointed conductor by the State
Superintendent. Teachers were present not only from western
Tennessee, but also from Mississippi and Arkansas. On the first day
our enrolment list reached eighty-nine, and increased during the
succeeding days to one hundred and fifteen. Our daily session began
at quarter before nine with short devotional exercises. These were
followed by the recitations in the different branches. The lessons
were given and studied by topics, and each teacher was provided
with a blank book, in which he kept the topics for study and also
any notes which he wished to remember. The Rev. Mr. Imes had charge
of reading, Prof. Steele of arithmetic, grammar, penmanship and
geology, while I took history and geography. A certain time each
day was devoted to any matters of interest which we should wish to
present. At this time several talks on school organization were
given, an object lesson on coal was presented by Miss Lovell,
principal of one of the public schools, the temperance charts
showing the effects of alcohol upon the stomach were exhibited,
and Miss Wadsworth, a worker under the W. C. T. U., addressed
the teachers, answering many questions which they asked her. The
teachers present were, without exception, earnest, enthusiastic and
anxious to get good, that they might do good. One young man said to
me at the close of the Institute: “This Institute has given me work
to do for twelve months to come; it was just what I needed.” Many
others told us of the good they had received during the Institute,
and seemed to feel that they should do their work in their
school-rooms better for the work they had done there. The county
superintendent, who was with us for two days, told us that the
colored teachers would average quite as high as the white teachers,
who were then in attendance at a similar Institute at Bartlett, the
county seat. This is about the first work of the kind that has ever
been done in Tennessee, but if the results are as good as we have
every reason to hope, we are sure it will not be the last.
* * * * *
SUNDAY-SCHOOL INSTITUTE AT TOUGALOO.
BY MISS J. KELLOGG.
It was thought that the last Sabbath of the school year could not
be better spent than by calling in the Sunday-school workers among
the colored people and holding a Sunday-school institute.
Providence smiled upon the exercises with a most beautiful day, and
at an early hour the chapel was filled with an attentive though
miscellaneous throng, whose intelligent looks and interested,
orderly demeanor were a surprise to some of the newest workers and
evidence of progress to all.
The regular exercises of the Sunday-school were first attended to.
The lesson, “Following Christ,” with its golden text, “Whosoever
will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross
and follow Me,” seemed to furnish a peculiarly appropriate theme
for the last conference of the teachers with their classes, and
called forth thoughts and experiences, exhortations and warnings,
calculated to be helpful alike to the Christian of years, the score
or more of young converts, and the few who, with all their calls
and opportunities, still refuse the yoke of Christian service.
In closing the review the superintendent gave a blackboard
exercise suggested by the verses, “What shall it profit a man if
he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Or what shall
a man give in exchange for his soul?” This formed an impressive
introduction to the first subject brought forward—the use of
the Blackboard. Other topics presented were, Opening and closing
exercises, Duties of the superintendent, Use and abuse of lesson
helps, How to get the children in, Conversion and training of
pupils, Individual responsibility.
Two of these topics were well presented by former graduates of this
institution. The only topic which evoked general discussion was
that of success in gathering the children in and winning them to
continued attendance. Of the many who volunteered a statement of
methods to this end, all spoke briefly, pointedly, correctly and
sensibly, and the question-box when opened revealed nothing but
practical, intelligent queries.
The Institute closed with the repetition by Miss Koons of one
of our regular Sabbath-afternoon course of lectures, a lecture
on Temperance, illustrated by Sewall’s charts. A quantity of
temperance literature was distributed, to be carried away for
circulation. May the blessing of God render it very influential!
* * * * *
GO HOME TO THY FRIENDS.
Four years ago a little ten-year-old native on the west coast of
Africa had a hungering for “big America,” and a captain beguiled
him, by false promises of educating him, to come aboard his ship.
The poor waif seemed providentially cared for in Brooklyn and
Connecticut, till an A. M. A. friend picked him up and sent him
to Atlanta University. During the winter our little Philip has
often spoken of his purpose to live for God. Last night, in his
broken English, he told us of the impression made on him by the
Sunday-school lesson of the day—the demoniac made happy and sent
home to tell what great things the Lord had done for him. Said
Philip: “It is God who put me here, where I have learned of Christ,
and now you must pray for me that I may be a good Christian and
grow strong and wise, for I must sometime go home to my friends
in Africa and tell them how the Lord had compassion on me.” His
artless words touched all hearts and turned our prayer meeting
into an impromptu missionary concert. One young man said: “Philip’s
friends are our friends. Though there is much for us to do here our
250 years of trial in America may have been only a discipline to
fit us for our greater work in Africa.”
[Illustration: A RICE PLANTATION.]
* * * * *
THE WORK AT FLORENCE, ALA.
BY REV. W. H. ASH.
The closing year has been peculiarly blessed. We commenced with
dark clouds over our work in the beginning of the year, but ere
the work was well started they proved to contain blessings. The
good which the Association, under God, has accomplished here for
the poor, is only seen vividly as we compare the results of the
present year with those of four years ago. Then we had no church
edifice; begun a day-school with three scholars in an old shell of
a building for a school-house; the Sabbath-school had about ten
scholars. Now we number nearly forty. Since that time a beautiful
chapel has been built and a snug parsonage, and we now have an
enrolment of seventy scholars in the day-school.
Some of our pupils have passed a very satisfactory examination
before the Board of Examiners, and received certificates to teach
in the public schools this summer. Our work has grown this year
more than ever in the favor and confidence of both white and black.
I believe that the good effect of the closing exercises will make
the school very large next fall. One pleasing fact in connection
with the exercises was the young organist we presented to the
public. Ours is the only colored church here that has an organ, and
my wife is the only colored woman, so far as I know, in the county,
who plays the organ. Now that she has taken one of the girls and
taught her how to play, one of the colored churches has ordered an
organita for its Sabbath-school.
Another fact of interest is that the county Superintendent of
Education has consented to give to our school a portion of the
public money, so that we may teach it as a public school.
The interest of the church and school has been very much increased
by a fine bell, given by Mr. F. W. Carpenter, of the Central
Church, Providence, R.I., also a beautiful communion service,
presented by the ladies of the same church.
We have received a barrel from the ladies of the church at
Yarmouth, Mass. Many of the pieces will go to assist a poor girl
who intends entering Fisk University next fall.
We have received a box from Rev. C. L. Woodworth, which enabled us
to help worthy ones in the Sabbath-school.
My wife has planted a flower garden in front of the parsonage. I
have planted a vegetable garden, which has given me an opportunity
for physical exercise. We have every variety of vegetables, and as
fine as I ever saw anywhere. My white potatoes are particularly
fine.
* * * * *
VISIT TO TOPEKA.
BY GEN. O. O. HOWARD.
On last Sabbath, at 3 P.M., by the invitation of your missionary
at Topeka, Rev. Mr. Markham, I visited the Tennessee Mission and
participated in the exercises of the occasion. I found a large
meeting room filled with young people, with a sprinkling of older
heads.
I had seen some thirty girls, with perhaps half as many boys, over
at the S. S. Convention Park. They had stood behind me on the
platform Sunday morning and backed me up with their inimitable
melodious songs of Zion. The large multitude of people—perhaps a
thousand—were touched by their enthusiasm, where a little of art
has not robbed nature of her best effects. So here again I find the
same bright, happy faces and more of them.
Many of the regular school exercises were set aside for my
address. They sang “Hold the Fort,” and others of Sankey’s
collection, with spirit. The young lady who teaches them, Miss
Gerrish, is remarkably faithful, full of tact and good sense. Your
missionary himself interested me a good deal. I saw him first
at the young men’s rooms at a prayer meeting. He gave a little
personal experience, showing how a child comes to the Master’s
arms. Professor Stearns, of Washburn College, spoke highly of his
disinterested work at the mission. He has worked great changes for
good. The people, for the most part, own their houses and lots.
Some houses are very neat. One soldier’s wife said: “Yes, this
little stone house is mine. My husband is a common working man.
Yes, we have paid for the house. It is little, but, you know, there
is nothing like home, if ’tis only so small!” Her husband had been
through the war near me. On Sunday, every child was well dressed,
and generally the blacks had as good clothing as the whites. I
urged these good people, who are struggling up into respectable
ways of living and moderate prosperity, to stand up for the Lord,
that He may bless them more and more.
* * * * *
WHAT THE STRAWBERRY-BED DID.
Rev. A. Connet, of McLeansville, N.C., tells the story. Last year
we canned 12 gallons, and the people stared. This year we have
canned 20 gallons, sold $11.39 worth and have had all we wanted to
use for the last 35 days. A white neighbor whom we feasted in the
patch, and whose children were also fed on berries, said, “You have
astonished the natives.” Ours are the only cultivated strawberries
in this neighborhood. Now for the fruit. 1st, a new industry.
Example is contagious. A number, some white and some colored, have
spoken to us for plants. 2nd, the strawberry-bed is helping to
bridge the social chasm. Some of our white neighbor ladies called
on us in strawberry time. 3d, the children have just come in with
a basket of cherries and a lot of dewberries given them by the man
whom we feasted in the patch.
* * * * *
THE INDIANS.
* * * * *
VARIETY IN MISSIONARY LIFE.
REV. M. EELLS, SKOKOMISH, W. T.