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VOL. XXXV. DECEMBER, 1881. No. 12.
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_American Missionary Association._
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We present our readers in this issue of the MISSIONARY, which
is a double number, an account of the proceedings of the 35th
Annual Meeting of this Association. For want of space we have only
given the important points of most of the papers and addresses,
endeavoring to preserve their spirit.
The paper of Pres. E. H. Fairchild will appear in the “Weekly
Witness” of Nov. 17, of which copies will be supplied gratuitously
to persons applying by postal card to the author at Berea, Ky.
Rev. Lysander Dickerman’s address may be looked for in the
“Congregationalist” at an early date.
The papers read by Miss Sawyer and Miss Emery will be reserved for
mention in the January MISSIONARY.
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We send this number of the MISSIONARY to some persons whose names
are not among our subscribers, with the hope that they will read
it, and that their interest in the work which it represents will
be deepened. We believe that if any such will send us their
subscription for the Magazine, they will find themselves amply
rewarded for the outlay.
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The inquiry is sometimes made as to the reasons for the steadily
increasing support given to the A. M. A. In answer we suggest:—1.
The increasing prosperity of the country. People have more to give
and they give more. 2. The careful management of the affairs of
the Association has probably given it a stronger hold upon the
confidence of the public. 3. The great reason, we believe, is
that the nation, after many fluctuating opinions in regard to the
Freedmen, has settled down to the conviction, voiced repeatedly
by Pres. Hayes and reiterated so emphatically in Pres. Garfield’s
inaugural, that the only safety for the nation and the Freedmen
is in their thorough education. The A. M. A. is now seen to have
steadily pressed forward from the beginning in this only true
method, and hence its work has come to be more fully appreciated.
The rapid growth of the colored population gives emphasis to the
demand for their Christian education. 4. Another reason is the
awakened conviction in Great Britain and America that the freed
people are destined by Divine Providence to take an important part
in the redemption of Africa. Our schools and churches, so well
fitted to prepare them for this work, are felt to deserve not only
support but enlargement.
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