VOL. XXXII. No. 5.
THE
AMERICAN MISSIONARY.
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“To the Poor the Gospel is Preached.”
* * * * *
MAY, 1878.
_CONTENTS_:
EDITORIAL.
PARAGRAPHS 129
IN A NUT-SHELL—OUR FINANCES 130
OUR NEW CARTRIDGES 131
THE BOARD OF INDIAN COMMISSIONERS 132
KING DAVID AND KING SOLOMON 133
GEN. O. O. HOWARD 134
NEWS FROM THE CHURCHES 135
NOTES: FREEDMEN 136
INDIANS 137
THE PRESS.
CONSECRATION OF CONTRIBUTIONS. Rev.
James Powell 137
THE FREEDMEN.
TOUGALOO UNIVERSITY, MISSISSIPPI 139
VIRGINIA: The Church and School at
Franklin—Beginnings and Results 140
GEORGIA: A Large Sunday
School—Faithful Teachers—A Temperance S.
S. Concert.—The Old Midway
Church—Returning Courage and
Prosperity.—Interest in Church and
Sunday-School.—Needs of this
Field.—Ogeechee 141
ALABAMA: The Alabama Conference—Science and
Religion 143
LOUISIANA: Part of a Day Among the Poor 145
KENTUCKY: Temperance and Evangelistic
Work 146
THE AFRICAN MISSIONARIES.
THE FREEDMEN’S MISSIONS AID
SOCIETY—A Public Meeting in Liverpool 147
WANTED—Cloth, Bibles and School-books 148
THE INDIANS.
S’KOKOMISH AGENCY, W. T.:
Sunday-School Progress—An Indian
Festival—Temperance and Order 148
GREEN BAY AGENCY: Education Among the
Menomonee Indians 149
THE CHINESE.
A REBUKE AND A RESPONSE 150
THE CHILDREN’S PAGE 151
RECEIPTS 152
WORK, STATISTICS, WANTS, &c. 156
* * * * *
NEW YORK:
Published by the American Missionary Association,
ROOMS, 56 READE STREET.
* * * * *
Price, 50 Cents a Year, in advance.
* * * * *
A. Anderson, Printer, 23 to 27 Vandewater St.
_American Missionary Association_,
56 READE STREET, N. Y.
* * * * *
PRESIDENT.
HON. E. S. TOBEY, Boston.
VICE PRESIDENTS.
Hon. F. D. PARISH, Ohio.
Rev. JONATHAN BLANCHARD, Ill.
Hon. E. D. HOLTON, Wis.
Hon. WILLIAM CLAFLIN, Mass.
Rev. STEPHEN THURSTON, D. D., Me.
Rev. SAMUEL HARRIS, D. D., Ct.
Rev. SILAS MCKEEN, D. D., Vt.
WM. C. CHAPIN, Esq., R. I.
Rev. W. T. EUSTIS, Mass.
Hon. A. C. BARSTOW, R. I.
Rev. THATCHER THAYER, D. D., R. I.
Rev. RAY PALMER, D. D., N. Y.
Rev. J. M. STURTEVANT, D. D., Ill.
Rev. W. W. PATTON, D. D., D. C.
Hon. SEYMOUR STRAIGHT, La.
Rev. D. M. GRAHAM, D. D., Mich.
HORACE HALLOCK, Esq., Mich.
Rev. CYRUS W. WALLACE, D. D., N. H.
Rev. EDWARD HAWES, Ct.
DOUGLAS PUTNAM, Esq., Ohio.
Hon. THADDEUS FAIRBANKS, Vt.
SAMUEL D. PORTER, Esq., N. Y.
Rev. M. M. G. DANA, D. D., Ct.
Rev. H. W. BEECHER, N. Y.
Gen. O. O. HOWARD, Oregon.
Rev. EDWARD L. CLARK, N. Y.
Rev. G. F. MAGOUN, D. D., Iowa.
Col. C. G. HAMMOND, Ill.
EDWARD SPAULDING, M. D., N. H.
DAVID RIPLEY, Esq., N. J.
Rev. WM. M. BARBOUR, D. D., Ct.
Rev. W. L. GAGE, Ct.
A. S. HATCH, Esq., N. Y.
Rev. J. H. FAIRCHILD, D. D., Ohio.
Rev. H. A. STIMSON, Minn.
Rev. J. W. STRONG, D. D., Minn.
Rev. GEORGE THATCHER, LL. D., Iowa.
Rev. A. L. STONE, D. D., California.
Rev. G. H. ATKINSON, D. D., Oregon.
Rev. J. E. RANKIN, D. D., D. C.
Rev. A. L. CHAPIN, D. D., Wis.
S. D. SMITH, Esq., Mass.
Rev. H. M. PARSONS, N. Y.
PETER SMITH, Esq., Mass.
Dea. JOHN WHITING, Mass.
Rev. WM. PATTON, D. D., Ct.
Hon. J. B. GRINNELL, Iowa.
Rev. WM. T. CARR, Ct.
Rev. HORACE WINSLOW, Ct.
Sir PETER COATS, Scotland.
Rev. HENRY ALLON, D. D., London, Eng.
WM. E. WHITING, Esq., N. Y.
J. M. PINKERTON, Esq., Mass.
CORRESPONDING SECRETARY.
REV. M. E. STRIEBY, _56 Reade Street, N. Y._
DISTRICT SECRETARIES.
REV. C. L. WOODWORTH, _Boston_.
REV. G. D. PIKE, _New York_.
REV. JAS. POWELL, _Chicago, Ill._
EDGAR KETCHUM, ESQ., _Treasurer, N. Y._
H. W. HUBBARD, ESQ., _Assistant Treasurer, N. Y._
REV. M. E. STRIEBY, _Recording Secretary_.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.
ALONZO S. BALL,
A. S. BARNES,
EDWARD BEECHER,
GEO. M. BOYNTON,
WM. B. BROWN,
CLINTON B. FISK,
A. P. FOSTER,
AUGUSTUS E. GRAVES,
S. B. HALLIDAY,
SAM’L HOLMES,
S. S. JOCELYN,
ANDREW LESTER,
CHAS. L. MEAD,
JOHN H. WASHBURN,
G. B. WILLCOX.
COMMUNICATIONS
relating to the business of the Association may be addressed to
either of the Secretaries as above.
DONATIONS AND SUBSCRIPTIONS
may be sent to H. W. Hubbard, 56 Reade Street, New York, or, when
more convenient, to either of the branch offices, 21 Congregational
House, Boston, Mass., 112 West Washington Street, Chicago, Ill.
Drafts or checks sent to Mr. Hubbard should be made payable to his
order as _Assistant Treasurer_.
A payment of thirty dollars at one time constitutes a Life Member.
Correspondents are specially requested to place at the head of each
letter the name of their Post Office, and the County and State in
which it is located.
THE
AMERICAN MISSIONARY.
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VOL. XXXII. MAY, 1878. No. 5.
* * * * *
_American Missionary Association._
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We are glad to recognize in the columns of papers friendly to our
work, articles, items and condensations from the pages of the
MISSIONARY. It is a matter of far less moment to us to
be credited than to be copied. What we want is, to have the minds
of the American people filled with the facts which may lead them
to appreciate the importance of the work in which we are engaged.
Further than that, we shall be glad to have them use the A. M.
A. as the almoner of their charities, so far as they may prefer
this channel. But, above all, we want the general work to be known
and prosecuted. Use us, then, friends—use us freely—we feel
no cuts, even of sharpest scissors, if you insert us into your
own circulation. Only, when it will serve your ends, as well as
ours and the common good, add at the end: “For particulars, see
AMERICAN MISSIONARY.”
* * * * *
One of our missionaries in the South, who has had long experience
in the work, and has made close observations, writes thus in
respect to the need of a female missionary:
“BROTHER STRIEBY: I feel that it is necessary to have a
female missionary in this city. There is work to be done which only
such a worker can do—a work in the homes of the people, with the
_women_, young and old. We are not reaching the women as we should.
A man cannot do the needed work. The women of the North want to
do something for their colored sisters of the South. Here is an
opportunity for them. The homes of these people must be reached.
As many of them are, morality is well-nigh impossible. The vice
that is engendered in them is frightful. Do, my brother, give me a
missionary. Do beg the Christian women of the North to help in this
matter. Oh, the fearful degradation and ruin that stream from some
of the homes of these people!”
* * * * *
Rev. Mr. Cutler, of Chattanooga, Tenn., desires to acknowledge,
through us, the receipt of one dollar, from “Tennie’s Yankee
Friend,” West Medway, Mass. Mr. C. has received from various
sources, in response to his plea for this poor girl, sums amounting
to about seventy-five dollars.
While temperance revivals, under various auspices—of men and
women, of ribbons red and blue—are noted through the land, our
Southern field is not neglected. Our readers will see, in a
majority of the communications from our schools and churches in
this number, references to the increase of a temperance sentiment,
and an abstinence practice; here in a church, and there in a
school; here in the reformation of dissipated lives, and there
in the preoccupation of the minds of the young. Intemperance is
a giant evil South, as well as North, among the colored people
and the Indians, as well as with the whites. Thank God for every
victory. Pray God for wisdom and patience with which to withstand,
and then to stand.
* * * * *
IN A NUT-SHELL.
The only caste-oppressed races in America are the Negroes, Indians
and Chinamen.
—The quarrels of the white people in America over the negro have
caused more bloodshed, and wasted more treasure, than all other
causes combined, and we are not yet at peace among ourselves about
him.
The South contains a little more than one-third of the population
of the country. It has 3,550,425 persons over ten years old who
cannot read; the West has only 409,175. The South has 1,137,303
_voters_ who cannot read their ballots; the West has only 217,403.
Have _patriots_ no duties here?
The Negroes in the South are more accessible to the Gospel than any
other people on earth; they welcome it; they are near us, speak our
language, their fervency will add a warmer element to our piety,
and they seem called of God to carry the Gospel to the land of
their fathers. Have _Christians_ no duties to them?
—The American Missionary Association bears to these
caste-oppressed races the help they need in education, practical
morality and piety. It has founded or fostered permanent
educational institutions for training ministers and teachers. In
its forty-five schools are 6,962 scholars, and its former students
are now teaching 100,000 pupils.
Its church work lays sure foundations. Sixty-two churches are under
its care, with 4,127 members—an average of sixty-six—nearly
all the growth of fifteen years. It has seventy-four theological
students in training; has prepared many ministers of the colored
race, and has sent out nine colored missionaries to Africa.
Seldom, if ever, has so much been accomplished in so short a time
at so small a cost.
* * * * *
OUR FINANCES.
We have reached the half-way station in our annual journey. The
statement of receipts, in this number of the MISSIONARY,
is the sixth since the last annual meeting. Our friends and patrons
naturally desire to know how we have weathered the stormy seas, and
what the prospect is of reaching port in good condition, and we
desire to tell them frankly and fully. We might refer them to the
monthly report, but we know that many of them are too busy to keep
accounts for us, their agents.
We know too well how the financial pressure of the year has
crippled one and another of them. Their letters—not empty,
either—have told us, in confidence, from time to time, of their
losses, and we know that their gifts this year have testified to
unusual self-denials, and to deepening convictions of the greatness
of their work through us. And the best of it all is, that these
gifts have not diminished from either of the classes from which
our work is supported, the living or the dead. For the ability
to make this statement, and in times like these, we thank you,
generous friends, and we thank Him whose money you are permitted to
administer. We take courage, and congratulate the poor for whom we
labor, and whose hope is in your remembrance of them.
In addition to the receipts above mentioned, we have received,
towards the payment of our debt, to April 1st, $8,921.72, and
also pledges, for the same purpose, of $6,950, the most of which
is conditioned on the payment of the whole debt within the year.
These figures encourage us to hope that our friends will go on, in
the same quiet and inexpensive way, until our whole debt shall be
entirely extinguished, and our hands unloosed for a more earnest
grapple with the great task of lifting up the needy and ignorant,
and yet hopeful races, for which we labor in America and in Africa.
Brethren, we may not be thought politic by all, but we believe in
perfect frankness with our donors and the whole public. We have a
diminishing debt, curtailed expenses, and an increasing revenue.
What, then? Shall any one withhold a dollar designed for us on
that account? By no means. Rather continue to endorse our policy
of economy and thrift. You are showing your confidence; do not
withhold it. And the need? The work is pressing on us from all
sides. We have to plan continually how to make each dollar do the
work of two.
The facts given in this number of the MISSIONARY, and
those of the past few months, show some of the wants which crowd
upon us continually. A new and commodious building must be erected
at Tougaloo, Miss., to accommodate the overflow of students, whose
beds have crowded into recitation rooms and out-buildings, and who
are now sheltered in temporary barracks of rough boards. A new
building is greatly needed at Atlanta, to accommodate its enlarged
work, and to meet the just expectations of the State Legislature,
which has granted it $8,000 a year, for several years, for current
expenses. The finishing of the church at Golding’s Grove, and the
enlargement of the school building there, are absolute necessities.
These are but specimens of the claims of this sort pressing upon
us. Added to these, is the imperative demand for the extension of
our church work in new and promising fields, stretching down to
the farthest limits of Texas. The enlarged African work is making
increasing demands upon our treasury. Besides all this, the three
coming months will witness the return of our Southern workers, when
the payment of their last bills and traveling expenses must be met.
With such an outlook before us, we are compelled, while uttering
our gratitude for the liberality of our friends, to entreat them
not to forget the pressing wants near at hand.
* * * * *
OUR NEW CARTRIDGES.
We have prepared with much care, and have in hand, a series of
pamphlets, to which we desire to attract the attention of our
readers.
No. 1 is a brief history of the origin and growth of the A. M. A.
It is contained in sixteen pages; shows the Providential opening
up of the work on this side and on that, and serves to answer many
questions—_e.g._, how we came to have a mission in Africa—many
of our friends, even, being ignorant of the fact that this was our
first work, and that we have a permanent fund set apart by its
donor for this very purpose. The same is shown to be true, in part,
as to the work among the Indians and Chinamen; while the demands of
the freedmen, and the opportunities after emancipation, are their
own vindication in the statement of the facts.
No. 2 is the African pamphlet, and contains (1) a history of the
Mendi Mission, carefully compiled by Dr. Dana, now of Minnesota. It
is much more full and detailed than that read by him at Syracuse,
and printed in the December MISSIONARY. The valuable
suggestions at the close of the paper are repeated only in their
headings. (2) A brief supplement brings the history down to the
departure of the second party of colored missionaries, Feb. 23rd,
1878. Large extracts are given (3) from the sermon by Dr. Scudder,
of Brooklyn, full of information, quaintly put, as to the land,
its products and its people; (4) from an address by Dist. Sec.
Pike, on “The Relation of the Freedmen to Tropical Africa”; (5)
from Secretary Strieby’s address, before the National Council, on
“America and Africa”; and (6) from a paper by Dr. Bevan, of the
Brick Church, New York, on the “Relations of England and America
to Africa”. The history, the present aspects, and many important
relations of the African Mission, are set forth with great fulness
in this pamphlet of forty-eight pages.
No. 3 contains the address by Rev. Joseph Cook, at the Annual
Meeting in Syracuse, revised and corrected by him. Those who heard
it will not need to be reminded how vividly, in his own inimitable
way, he set forth the perils to the nation from the three despised
races, if suffered, by neglect, to remain in ignorance and
degradation.
No. 4 is on the educational work of the Association. Its contents
are excerpts from various papers, sermons and addresses. (1) “The
Negro and his Needs,” by Gen. S. C. Armstrong, of Hampton, Va.;
(2) “Who are Affected?” by Rev. Dr. Brown, of Newark, N. J.;
(3) “Can he Care for Himself?” by Dr. Noble, of New Haven, Ct.;
(4) “The Weapons of our Warfare,” by Rev. Washington Gladden,
of Springfield, Mass.; (5) “Southern Attitudes,” by Dr. Rankin,
of Washington, D. C.; (6) “A Southerner’s Approbation,” by Col.
Preston, of Virginia; (7) “Rome in the South,” by Dist. Secretary
Powell, of Chicago; and (8) “The Special Needs of the A. M. A.,” by
Secretary Strieby.
These four pamphlets are not intended for indiscriminate
distribution, nor for a temporary need. Rather, we have prepared
them to serve as fixed ammunition, to be drawn upon by requisition,
according to need. They are cartridges which will fit any gun,
anywhere. If sent to individuals from our office, it will be always
with a purpose, and for an end. But they will be most gladly sent
in answer to requests from pastors, or from friends who may be
seeking information on the special departments of our work. If we
find these useful, and in demand, we may hasten the publication of
other four, which are in process of preparation; on (5) The Church
Work in the South; (6) The Chinese Work; (7) The Indian Work; and
(8) Systematic Beneficence.
* * * * *
THE BOARD OF INDIAN COMMISSIONERS.
The Ninth Report of the Board of Indian Commissioners is full of
condensed information and valuable suggestion.
The tabulated results of the peace policy during nine years
appeared in the MISSIONARY for March. In view of these
figures, the Report says:—
“These results in industry, education, and Christianity in the
short space of nine years confirm our belief, often expressed in
former reports, that the peace policy is the only right policy,
and there should be no longer any doubt as to its continuance as
the permanent policy of the government. And yet every year the
proposal is renewed to recommit the management of Indian affairs
to the War Department, and abandon the work of civilization
so well begun. The grounds upon which the transfer is urged,
namely, greater economy, a more honest purchase and distribution
of Indian supplies, more complete protection of the frontier
settlers from Indian massacres, and a more effectual prevention
of Indian wars—these are repeated year after year, in Congress
and in the public press, and as often patiently answered and
fully refuted.”
As to economy, a tabular comparison is published, which shows that
“supplies contracted for and furnished to military posts have cost
much more—in some cases thirty-eight to seventy-eight per cent.
more—than at the neighboring Indian agencies.”
It is asserted that the quality of goods supplied, as well as
the prices paid, command the approval of all competent and
disinterested judges, while the vigilance exercised over the
transportation and delivery of these supplies has been productive
of most satisfactory results in securing for the benefit of the
Indians the appropriations made in their behalf.
The Report refers to the conclusion of the wars with Sitting Bull
and Joseph, and calls attention to the fact that, though it may
have appeared as though the disturbances had been quite general, in
fact only a few hundreds, even of the Dakotas and Nez Perces, have
been engaged in them. The wars of the last nine years (of the peace
policy) have been more limited, and have cost far less than in any
other equal period of our history as a nation. During the forty
years preceding 1868, the direct cost of the Indian wars averaged
twelve and a half millions a year. Even the war with Joseph
demonstrated the effect of civilizing agencies, in its freedom from
the barbarities to women and children, which have attended such
outbreaks in former years.
Civilization and ultimate absorption into the body politic should
be the one purpose steadily pursued. Military means cannot
accomplish it. “Civilizing agencies must come from civil life.” The
testimony is that the influence of military posts in or near Indian
reservations is generally prejudicial to good morals, good order,
and progress in civilization. To teach Indian children to read and
write, or Indian men to sow and reap, are emphatically civil and
not military occupations.
The summary of recommendations, which are not new, but none the
less worthy of consideration on that account, is as follows:
1st. Government of Indians by law.
2d. Division of reservation lands and homestead rights.
3d. Larger appropriations for the support of schools.
4th. Consolidation of agencies, and reduction of expense.
5th. Gradation of salaries on an equitable basis.
In view of the excellent results, and the greater promise _of
the peace policy_, and of the imminent danger of the speedy
transfer of the Bureau of Indian Affairs to the War Department, it
behooves every friend of the red man, who hopes for his ultimate
civilization and citizenship, to bring every legitimate influence
to bear upon our legislators to prevent the consummation of this
scheme.
Reader, do you know the mind of your senator and representative
upon this subject? If you do not, will you not find it out, and do
all that you can to make him a minister of peace, and not of war,
to these poor people?
* * * * *
KING DAVID AND KING SOLOMON.
The fourth article in _Scribner’s_, for April, is entitled “King
David.” That regal personage proves to be only David King—a
long, lank, awkward, shy, near-sighted Yankee, who, up among the
New Hampshire hills, felt an inward call to go South and teach
the blacks. He was a man not much missed from his old home, and
not warmly welcomed at his new one. He was good, but not wise
nor practical. The blacks came to him, young and old, in flocks,
to learn to read, and he taught them morning, noon and night.
But all the while the white planters “regarded the schoolmaster
as an interloper, a fanatic, a knave or a fool, according to
their various degrees of bitterness.” He tried the experiment of
offering work to the idle blacks, but with little success. And now
a Northern carpet-bagging politician, of the baser sort, came into
his vicinity, and finding him an honest man, with some influence
over the poor freedmen, set himself to overthrow it by offers
of whiskey and promises of power. And poor David, innocent, and
ignorant of human nature, makes weak and ineffectual fight with
him, as he had before with haughty planters and ignorant negroes,
yields the ground and goes home again, baffled and discouraged.
This charmingly told story has but one fault, and that, probably,
is without intention. It may give the impression that King David
is a fair sample of the Northern teachers in the South, and that
his ill-success is the record or the prophecy of their general
disaster and defeat. The true lesson of the story, and that which
may have been, if any, in the writer’s mind, is only this: That
this David was no Solomon. That goodness, unsupported by wisdom,
is not sufficient capital for educational work. That a man who is
a failure at home, amid favorable surroundings, will not be likely
to succeed abroad, alone, with everything against him. That the
lame, the halt and the blind do not make good recruits for the war
against ignorance and sin.
Just to offset this story, which has doubtless had its counterpart
in Southern as in Northern schools and villages, we give the
story of one of our teachers in the State of South Carolina,
as written to us by himself only a few months ago. Its simple,
straight-forward truthfulness will, we think, make amends for its
lack of the spiciness and crispness of expression, which give so
delicate a literary flavor to the story of King David:
“I was born in Western New York, and, as all my friends continue
to reside there, I still call it my home. I have been a member of
the Household of Faith since 1859; I have been engaged in teaching
the freedmen since the fall of 1866, and, for the greater part of
the time, my salary has been quite small; but I love the work, and
expect my reward hereafter.
“I came to this place in 1872, and organized a Normal school, and
am still at its head. I met with much opposition, but I put my
trust in God, and went on doing what I thought was right, and soon
saw a change coming over the people. Students began to come in from
neighboring counties, and those who had talked most against me now
came to visit me. I organized the first temperance society for the
colored people in this part of the State, and thus got quite a hold
on the people. The organization is still continued, and is doing
much good. Several of our students, who are out teaching, have
organized similar societies, and I hear good reports from them.
“Early last fall, a couple of young men from another county, asked
me if they could not stay in a vacant room in the building and do
their own cooking. I, of course, gave them permission, and did
what I could to assist them in preparing the room. I had some old
lumber in the wood-shed, and from it we made a bedstead and table;
had boxes for chairs and newspapers for window shades. It was soon
reported that we had good accommodations for boarders, and, before
winter had fairly set in, there were nineteen men living in the
room, which measured 30 x 22. We had only enough lumber for four
bedsteads, and on these the nineteen men slept for four months.
A part of them would retire at 8 o’clock, and sleep till after
midnight; then arise and let the others take their places. They all
did their own cooking, and, as we had but one cooking vessel, they
were all night doing their cooking for the next day. Those who sat
up the fore-part of the night spent the time in cooking, and while
they were asleep the others were cooking in the same room.
“Twenty-three of our students are teaching in three counties, and
over 700 pupils are under their care. One of these closed his
school for a week, and walked sixty miles, in order to be present
at our closing exercises in June.
“We have a weekly prayer-meeting, which is well attended, and is
very interesting. We also spend an hour and a half each Sabbath
afternoon in reading and explaining the word of God.”
* * * * *
GEN. O. O. HOWARD.
We wish to add our congratulations, to the many which have already
been given, to Gen. Howard, upon his final release from the legal
difficulties that have so long perplexed him. It is not easy to
understand the reasons for the persecutions heaped upon Gen.
Howard’s head. His Christian life, so kind in its spirit, and so
efficient in its activities, should not, in this day, provoke
enmity. His record as a soldier, making one among the bright pages
in the history of our Civil War, and his recent campaign among the
Indians, in which he was conspicuous for his active energy, as well
as for his courtesy to a brother officer, do not find critical
censors. It is in his connection with the Freedmen’s Bureau that
the rock of offence is found. We claim to know something about
that Bureau, and, therefore, speak the more freely. We believe
that no appropriation made necessary by the results of the
rebellion was more wise, nor has any trust under the Government
been more conscientiously executed than that of Gen. Howard in
its administration. So far as any part of the sum was used to
relieve physical suffering, it was divided impartially; and, in
the appropriation of the larger part of it to the education of
the colored people, there was the clearest comprehension of their
highest wants. The money was appropriated with just reference to
the claims of the different religious bodies co-operating with the
Government, and the educational institutions founded by it will be
perennial sources of blessing to this people, and will bear their
testimony more and more distinctly, as the years roll on, to the
wisdom of the Government in its bestowment, and of Gen. Howard in
its disbursement.
* * * * *
NEWS FROM THE CHURCHES.
RALEIGH, N. C.—“About twenty united with the church April
6th. Seven were members of the choir.”
WOODBRIDGE, N. C.—“A wave of the Gospel temperance
revival has reached Woodbridge. Brother Peebles printed two large
pledges, one for the ‘Band of Hope,’ and the other the ‘Murphy
Pledge.’ He also promised to print all the names that would sign
either pledge, and to-day there are upon the chapel walls the names
of eighty under the Band of Hope pledge, and it is expected soon
to have fifty names under the other. Already more than half that
number have signed.”
MACON, GA.—The church and Lewis High School have, after
an interval of a little more than a year since their buildings were
burned, a home again, in a substantial brick building, together.
The upper story is for the church. The hall will seat about 450
persons, and is neat and tasteful. It was dedicated a few weeks
ago, with appropriate services. Rev. S. S. Ashley, of Atlanta,
preached the sermon. A description of the lower part of the
building, which is designed for the High School, we hope to furnish
in our next issue.
SAVANNAH, GA.—Church building needs to be enlarged. One
hundred and eighty scholars present in Sunday-school, and good
teachers, “as faithful as Moses and as zealous as Peter,” always on
hand in time.
EAST SAVANNAH, GA.—Will be recognized by council
very soon. Three united with the church March 17th. Has eighty
Sunday-school scholars.
WOODVILLE, GA.—“Still in the midst of a revival. Nine
school children and four adults received to church membership April
7th. Six were baptized by immersion in the Savannah River—nearly
500 people were present; and one was baptized by sprinkling in the
church—the edifice could not hold the people. All the persons
baptized are members of Twichell School, held in the church.”
OGEECHEE, GA.—Received five members March 10th.
Sunday-school doubled in last four months.
LOUISVILLE and BELMONT, GA.—Numbers and interest
increasing.
MARION, ALA.—Mr. Hill writes: “The work is increasing
in interest. Our Sunday-school has more than doubled since we
came, numbering seventy-one. Twelve or fifteen had never been in a
Sunday-school or church before. Last Sabbath I visited a mission
organized, about a year since, by one of our church members, four
miles from here. The average attendance is forty. I found an
audience of seventy-five crowding the little school-house.”
ATHENS, ALA.—A larger number of scholars than heretofore
is reported, and a deepening religious interest. Several have
professed faith in Christ, and many more have been seeking the Lord.
SAND MOUNTAIN, ALA.—The church has no pastor, and only
about a dozen members, but meets every Sunday, and a sermon is read
by one of the members. The Sunday-school is also kept up.
* * * * *
NOTES—FREEDMEN.
—There are in the State of Georgia 81,164 colored voters, who own
457,635 acres of land, valued on the tax list at $1,244,104, and
city property valued at $1,790,525, and about $1,000,000 worth
of horses, cattle, etc., and $2,100,000 on other property not
enumerated.
—The Atlanta _Republican_ asserts that a Campbell county negro
farmer raised, last year, seventeen bales of cotton and thirteen
hundred bushels of corn on nine acres of land, his only help being
a bob-tailed yearling.
—A Kentucky law orders the sale of certain convicts for a term of
servitude to the highest bidder. A negro was sold for six months
the other day at Hickman. It seems to many that the aim of the law
is altogether at the colored people. Is it not a dangerous weapon,
even if constitutional?
The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, in 1874, decided,
after thorough discussion, to continue its Freedmen’s Committee,
as then located and constituted, for five years (_i.e._, until
1879), “during which period its affairs shall be conducted with the
view to the final merging of the Committee with the Board of Home
Missions, the churches to be transferred as soon as possible to the
Board.” During this fourth year of the proposed five, this last has
been done; all the missionaries exclusively engaged in preaching,
and their churches are thus transferred. Evangelical work is still
retained by the Committee.
—The shrinkage in value of real estate has reduced the income of
the Peabody Educational Fund from $100,000 in 1876, to $60,000 in
1877. It may be still less this year.
—The Congressional Committee on Education recommend that the
proceeds of the sale of all public lands be set apart as a fund for
school purposes, the income for the first ten years to be divided
among the States on the basis of illiteracy.
—The Kentucky Legislature propose to make of their share an
endowment for the State University, against which the colored
teachers of Fayette County protest, as a gross injustice to the
common-schools, in the following resolutions:
“WHEREAS, The _per capita_ for each colored child in
this Commonwealth is only forty-five cents, while that of a white
child is at least four times as great; and, whereas, the passage
of the proposed education land bill by Congress presupposes the
granting of equal school facilities to all; therefore, be it
”_Resolved_, That we regard the attempt, both of the Legislature
of this State and the friends of Kentucky University, to maintain
that institution at the expense of the colored common-school
system of Kentucky, as an act unjust to the colored people of
this Commonwealth, unworthy of the chivalry of the age, and as an
act deserving the execration of a generous and magnanimous people.
“_Resolved_, That we urge the friends of humanity in Congress to
defeat the bill now pending in the Senate of the United States,
unless it can be so modified as to render futile all efforts of
the enemies of the colored common-school system to misapply the
aforesaid funds.”
—At a meeting held in Baltimore, March 3d, under the auspices
of the P. E. Board of Missions, it was stated that there are in
the South thirty-seven chapels for colored worshippers of that
denomination, fifty-seven clergymen and teachers (five of whom are
colored) and one colored evangelist.
—In this Assembly it was held that of the 5,000,000 colored
people, one-third had, since the war, risen to a higher
civilization and a higher life; one-third had gone down to a lower
plane, and one-third were left victims of circumstances. If this
last estimate be correct, the upper third will work more and more
effectually upon the lower two-thirds to lift them to its level.
* * * * *
INDIANS.
—General Howard testified the other day, as the result of his
personal observation among the Indians, that “wherever there has
been faithful teaching of the Scriptures, there have been most
abundant and remunerative results in civilization.”
—The representatives of the Five Nations, in the Indian Territory,
in their memorial to Congress, opposing the transfer of the Indian
Bureau to the War Department, appeal to the history of the more
than half century in which that department had complete control of
the Indian affairs. After setting forth the evils connected with
that period, they say, “May God spare us, and our race, from even
the possibility of ever again witnessing the recurrence of such
scenes.”
* * * * *
THE PRESS.
* * * * *
CONSECRATION OF CONTRIBUTIONS.
BY REV. JAMES POWELL.
Not long since, I spent a Sabbath in a well-known Ohio town, where
are two of the largest Congregational Churches in the State. In
one, the annual offering to the work of the American Missionary
Association was made that day. But, before the contribution
was taken, the pastor offered a prayer that both impressed and
instructed me. It was a prayer of special consecration of the
offerings that were about to be made. He prayed that the people
might give thoughtfully and intelligently; that God’s blessing
might rest upon the gifts, accompany them to the treasury, and
out upon the mission field of the society. No mere formality was
this petition, but a glowing, heartfelt prayer for the object
in view. I am quite prepared to hear that many other pastors
are equally thoughtful to publicly consecrate the benevolent
contributions of their congregations, although my observation leads
me to believe that such fidelity is exceptional. But why should
it not be the rule? Indeed, when one comes to think of it, the
wonder is that it is not. So large and important are the interests
involved—interests connected with the extension of Christ’s
kingdom; so sacred are many of the gifts—the devising of generous
hearts and the fruits of self-denial—surely very tender should be
the spirit of the occasion when the offering is made.
Yet not only on account of this should consecrating prayer be
offered when church contributions are taken, but also on account
of the money that is thoughtlessly, and often unwillingly, thrown
into the contribution box. It would be an interesting revelation
to have placed before us just what proportion of the so-called
benevolent contributions is consciously given as an offering to
the Lord. I fear it would be startlingly small. Now, all this
money that is thrown into the Lord’s treasury, by givers who have
no higher prompting than that which governs them when they toss a
nickel to an organ-grinder on the street, needs to be consecrated.
It is rather sarcastic to couple the word “benevolent” with such
contributions; they sadly need prayer before they go out on their
mission of benevolence.
Consecrating prayer would tend to correct this great evil by
inspiring thoughtfulness. “How much owest thou thy Lord?” would
have a recognized place in deciding the amount to be given. The
Lord is a party in the transaction. In the persons of the poor
and the perishing, He stands over against the treasury, and
rightfully asks for evidence of loyalty to His cause. Are crumbs
that fall from an over-supplied table, are drops that trickle
from an overflowing cup, a sufficient evidence? Christ knows the
heart. Think of what it is to bring to Him the mere waste of our
plenty, and call that charity. There is a possibility of actual sin
here, whose guilt is but increased by explanation. It was given
thoughtlessly—no reference to the debt owed, no reference given
to the needs of the cause to be aided—thoughtlessly! That is
precisely where the Christian conscience should sting most keenly.
For thoughtlessness in what is paid to Christ, is a most aggravated
form of sin. Grocery bills, clothing bills, rent and taxes shall
be paid with thoughtful reference to what is justly due, and the
world shall label him dishonest who tries even to quibble about the
point; but upon this transcendently higher plane of obligation,
involving the question of what the soul owes its God and Saviour,
many Christian men will do what, on the lower plane, they would
scorn as highly dishonorable. Prayerful thoughtfulness will work
reform in this respect, and develop a more genuinely benevolent
Christian character.
The money, too, that comes from unwilling hands needs consecration.
Many of the dimes and quarters that keep the deacons so long after
the service laboriously counting, had they voices and permission to
speak, would tell a story complimentary neither to the generosity
nor benevolence of their donors. They would say: “We are here
chiefly because the contribution box was passed, and our donors did
not like to appear niggardly. The hand that dropped us was so held
that the man passing the box could not see us had he wished to, but
we made quite a noise as we clinked down into our places, and by
our clatter produced an impression that there was a good deal more
to us than there is.” The hypocrisy entering into this portion of
the contribution needs casting out by prayer.
Another good would be secured by the offering of a consecrating
prayer when benevolent offerings are made in the churches. The
contribution box would be held in worthy esteem as a genuine
means of grace. By many it is so held; it should be by all. It
is no intruder in the sanctuary; it has the sanction of Divine
appointment, and is the necessary outgrowth of “pure religion
and undefiled” in the heart. Its visits to the pews should be
hailed with delight, for it brings even a greater blessing to the
giver than it carries away to the receiver. Still, it is not thus
welcomed by every one. Indeed, such an aversion have some people to
it that an announcement a week beforehand that it is to be used, is
to make certain that Sunday will find them sick. The nature of the
contribution-box sickness need not be particularly inquired into,
but “indisposition” is a good-sounding word with which to designate
it, and it is so elastic in meaning withal, that it can be made
to stretch over into the domain of conscience. Yet a very serious
sickness it is, and should be so regarded. Next to willingness
and ability, is opportunity to do good. To turn away from the
opportunity is to confess unwillingness; and such confession, the
Apostle James unqualifiedly affirms, is denial of having love to
God. Indisposition, therefore, means, on apostolic authority, that
the love of God dwells not in the heart.
I desire to commend the example of the Ohio pastor to all
pastors who desire to increase the benevolent contributions of
their churches. Let the contributions be consecrated by special
prayer. It interferes with no method that may be in use to take
contributions. It will impart new power to all.—_Advance._
* * * * *
THE FREEDMEN.
* * * * *
TOUGALOO UNIVERSITY, MISSISSIPPI.
REV. G. STANLEY POPE.
General View.
This is one of the youngest of the A. M. A. schools. Some of our
sister institutions have the advantage of us by four or five years.
None have had such frequent changes in managers and instructors.
At the commencement of the present year, there was almost an
entire change in the workers. In the face of many discouragements,
there is a remarkable degree of confidence on the part of the
pupils. This is manifest in the increased attendance, which, in
the Normal and Intermediate Departments, is sixty per cent. larger
than last year, and this without special effort on our part. The
ladies’ hall is full, and some are compelled to occupy a room in
the mansion. The young men’s dormitories have been more than full,
so that we have been obliged to put up some rough barracks, for
the accommodation of twenty young men. Before the building could
be finished, half the rooms were taken. Recitations are heard
in Professor Miner’s office and private sitting-room, as well
as in the public sitting-room at the ladies’ hall. Letters are
continually coming in, asking for work with which to pay board. It
seems more like the first two or three years after the surrender
than anything I have since seen. One young man walked fifty miles,
carrying his trunk on his back, to get here. There ought to be
means furnished us to help all such “tramps.”
The school will accomplish the work intended by its founders, when
it shall send out each year a class of well-trained teachers, who
will build up good schools and churches. It is not proposed, at
present, to enter upon a higher course of training than is given in
our best Normal schools.
Our location could not well be bettered, being almost in the very
centre of the State, and upon the great through line from New
Orleans to Chicago. The place is both beautiful and healthful. The
ground is high and rolling, and the great oaks, with their heavy
hanging moss, lend a grandeur and charm to the place. There are
only two schools of similar grade in the State open to colored
people—Alcorn, in the extreme south-west, and Shaw University,
in the extreme north. The field is before us. Mississippi, with
her 350,000 souls, over sixteen years of age, who cannot read
and write, is calling for our teachers. Chicago and New Orleans
are ready to consume our berries and hay just as soon as we can
produce them in sufficient quantity to ship. The farming community
around us is calling for shoes and harnesses. But our buildings are
entirely inadequate. The _immediate need_ is a plain, substantial
three-story brick building, that will cost $12,000, the first floor
for recitation rooms, and the second and third for dormitories
for young men. We ought to have it before our opening next year.
The ladies’ hall must also be enlarged, for we cannot put the
young women into barracks as we have the young men. There is every
indication of greatly increased attendance another year. We must
not close our doors. Will the readers of the MISSIONARY
give us the means to open them wide? The demand is for a forward
movement. Shall the demand be met?
* * * * *
The Farm.
PROF. D. I. MINER.
Since the present school year commenced it has been a matter
of a good deal of study with us, who are now in charge of this
institution, how to so employ the labor of the students as to have
it a source of _some_ income to the school. During the past year,
the farm brought in very little revenue, owing to drought and other
unfortunate circumstances, and we have been compelled to purchase
largely some things which the farm ought to produce in _excess_ of
our needs.
We are expecting to cultivate seventy or eighty more acres than was
attempted last year, and, with better cultivation and the blessing
of God, it is hoped we shall produce as much corn, hay, potatoes
and vegetables as we consume during the year, even if there should
be no surplus to sell. On April 1st we had over sixty acres of corn
planted.
During the winter term we have had forty-six young men working for
half their board. The principal work in January and February was
preparing wood for a year to come; but since the 1st of March, the
farm and garden have taken all the labor. And this will be true for
the remainder of this school year, which closes in June, when our
heaviest crop (corn) will be “laid by.”
We are hoping gradually to work into crops which will occupy less
ground, and still be more remunerative than corn and potatoes. To
this end, last fall, we commenced in a small way with strawberries
by setting some two thousand plants, which are doing remarkably
well. From these, we expect to increase till we have several acres
in strawberries. Being on the line of the Illinois Central and New
Orleans Railroad, we have direct communication with a good Northern
market for such fruit.
The prime want of the farm is fences. During the war, and the
few years immediately succeeding, the fences in this part of the
country were nearly annihilated, in consequence of which the
plantations are almost all connected together, with no line of
fences between them. We need at least four hundred rods of fence
to divide this farm from neighboring plantations. If there was
_rail timber_ on the place, we would soon have the fences; but such
timber is scarce here, and lumber must be obtained for this purpose
from the pine region, fifty or sixty miles south of us. Much is
lost every year, in consequence of the exposed condition of our
crops.
* * * * *
Industrial Department for Girls.
MRS. G. S. POPE.
We deem it of the greatest importance that the girls be taught how
to do all kinds of housework and sewing, neatly and thoroughly. So
our house and laundry work is nearly all done by the girls, their
work being changed every month, as for example: a girl who was last
month in the laundry is in the sewing-room this month, the next
is sweeping and dusting, the next washing dishes, etc. Our sewing
department has only been in existence a part of the year, and we
can hardly tell how it will pay financially. The girls have made
some bedding and done other sewing that was needed; have made and
sold some shirts. If materials are donated for sewing, I know we
can accomplish very much. One of the girls said the other day:
“Well, I have learned to make button-holes this month, any way.”
Another thought she could go to work and make a shirt all alone.
They are all willing and anxious to learn, and to work to help pay
their board.
A great deal yet remains to be done for the girls of Mississippi.
They need our help. We must throw about them such influences as
will restrain them from the terrible evils around them, and lift
them into a better life.
* * * * *
VIRGINIA.
The Church and School at Franklin—Beginnings and Results.
MISS M. A. ANDRUS, CARRSVILLE, VA.
Ten years ago, the 10th of last month, I was sent by the American
Missionary Association to Franklin, Va. The building I occupied
they called their church. It was a slab building, without any
windows, so that the light had to be admitted by an open door. The
school was large, having, I think, some sixty scholars, and was the
first school ever taught there for the freedmen. After teaching two
sessions, I was providentially called to another place.
In the building spoken of, I also taught my first Sunday-school in
the South. Soon a revival of religion followed, and a number were
added to the church, many of whom are members still, though some
have gone to their reward. One of these converts, after living
three years a happy Christian life, said, to those around his dying
couch: “As a little child rests in the arms of its mother, so I am
resting in the arms of Jesus,” then sweetly fell asleep.
Some three weeks ago, God in his providence brought me again to
Franklin. Instead of the old slab building, there was a new church,
well lighted, lathed, plastered, comfortably seated (they sat on
boards when I went there), and nicely warmed with two large stoves;
and a minister, to whom they pay $400 a year.