—The colonies of Natal, discontented with their form of_The American Missionary

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[Illustration:

VOL. XXXVI. MARCH, 1882. NO. 3.

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.

* * * * *

EDITORIAL.

PAGE.

SO FAR—PAMPHLET NO. 7 65

PARAGRAPHS 66

ARTHINGTON MISSION—A PARALLEL 67

LATEST NEWS FROM REV. H. M. LADD.

BERBER, ON THE NILE, Dec. 31, 1881.—“We arrived in

Berber, safe and sound, day before yesterday, the 29th, being

sixteen days from Korosko. We were nine days to Aboo Hamed, making

forced marches of twelve and thirteen hours, and averaging, to that

place, thirty-three miles a day. At Aboo Hamed we rested one day,

and from that place to Berber averaged twenty-one miles a day. I

have only time for a few lines now, as we go on board our dahabuyeh

for Khartoum to-night. The Atmoor desert is a trying one, and

nobody had better undertake it who has not a large amount of pluck

and endurance. We, however, are in perfect health and good spirits.

On our arrival we found all the merchant boats engaged. There

was here only one dahabuyeh belonging to the Governor. We went

to him and asked for it. He refused. We fell back on our orders

from Cairo. He changed his mind, and said we might take it _if_ we

could get an order for it from Khartoum. We telegraphed to Raouf

Pasha, Governor-General of Soudan. This morning the order came by

telegram, and also a telegram of welcome to the Soudan. The Reis

has reported to us. The dahabuyeh now lies in front of our tents,

subject to our orders and ready to sail. In a few minutes we go on

board, and hope to reach Khartoum by the 5th. I will try to send my

journal from there, and bring it up to date. We are highly pleased

with Berber and the people we find here. Everything so far has gone

well. We are pressing forward just as fast as is possible.”

[Illustration: _Map of Mission in Eastern Africa._]

* * * * *

THE SLAVE MUSIC OF THE SOUTH.

* * * * *

BY REV. GEORGE H. GRIFFIN, MILFORD, CT.

* * * * *

If ever the real genius for music seems to have been born in the

soul of an entire race, that race is the African. Explorers of the

dark continent speak of a marked musical taste among the negroes on

their native heath, but the American type of African is still more

largely developed in that direction.

Some of the European races are naturally full of song, but in them

the culture of music as a science is also illustrated.

The light and pleasing melodies of Italian operas or the grand and

sonorous chords of German symphonies and sonatas show the results

of a high degree of musical education.

But, in searching for that undefinable entity which is sometimes

called the “soul of music,” or, in other words, that kind of music

which finds a responsive thrill in every human breast, because

it speaks most clearly the language of man’s best impulses and

tenderest feelings, it seems to the writer that the slave songs

of the South meet the demand more nearly than any other style of

musical expression. These children of bondage knew nothing of

the methods of the schools, yet, in the harmonious blending and

balancing of the four parts, their vocalization is seldom equalled;

while their skill in translating heart throbs into the descriptive

language of the diatonic scale is rarely surpassed.

No exhaustive analysis of the slave music is here attempted.

It is, however, a very rich mine to explore. Suffice to indicate

its principal features, namely these, among others: great

simplicity, but richness in the harmony, coupled with much variety

and originality of melody. Many of the “resolutions” of chords

are abrupt and startling; some of them doubtless contrary to the

principles of “thorough bass,” but all the more expressive on that

account of the rough and rugged experiences which gave them birth.

While the _tempo_ of these songs is largely common, or four-four,

there are strange points of emphasis put upon syllables and

unexpected cadences in rhythm, which are well nigh unreducible to

musical notation.

The _ad libitum_ passages are numerous, and the musical intervals

often abnormal, as in rapid changes from major to minor, and

conversely, like “Roll, Jordan, Roll”; also in the use of a minor

third, while singing on a major key, as in “Run to Jesus.”

Their general style is recitative and chorus, though a few are pure

solos or unisonal measures.

The music and words of many of these songs were born together.

This is true, especially, of those associated with social worship,

which, having been produced by the sudden inspiration of religious

fervor came forth spontaneously from one voice, while the multitude

caught the refrain and sang it out with a mighty chorus, as the

sound of many waters.

Assuming the correctness of Geo. MacDonald’s definition of a song,

as a composition in which the emotional largely overbalances

the intellectual element, their songs, with their fullness of

sentiment, seem to realize the ideal.

A proper classification of these products of slavery should

distinguish between those songs which groan with the agonies of a

hard and cruel thralldom, and those which palpitate with the joy

of a present salvation, and the hope of a glorious home of freedom

beyond the grave.

Among the selections belonging to the first of these divisions, the

minor key naturally predominates. Indeed, this is the pitch upon

which the majority of human hearts, the world over, are tuned. A

more exquisite minor melody than “Nobody Knows the Trouble I See,”

can hardly be conceived. So, too, for pure pathos nothing can excel

“You May Bury Me in the East.” But for bold and thrilling grandeur,

scarcely anything in all the musical conceptions of the ages can be

considered superior to “Go Down, Moses, way down in Egypt Land.” As

the slaves used to roar it out, it must have seemed like the very

voice of Jehovah himself.

In these songs it is easy to trace the effects of a galling yoke

crushing the poor body to the dust, while the soul rises triumphant

over circumstances in the conviction of its true nobility and in

the hope, though long deferred, of realizing, even on earth, its

full liberty. The sweetest utterances of the sacred poets of all

the centuries have been those “songs in the night” that came forth

from the bitterest experiences of human woe.

It is related of a certain German nobleman that he had a number of

wires stretched from turret to turret of his castle which acted

like a great Æolian harp, bringing forth richest music, but _only_

when the tempests played upon its quivering strings. So may it be

said of the slaves in their forlorn condition, that they sang most

sweetly when the storms of adversity beat upon them most fiercely.

Happily the days of slave music are past. The system which brought

it into existence is abolished; but the world owes a great debt of

gratitude to those who have made a study of these songs and put

them in print for the benefit of future generations.

This article would not be complete without a single mention of the

Fisk Jubilee Company, whose wonderful history—more romantic than

the wildest fiction—furnishes a living illustration of our theme.

Their first performances doubtless represented the native music of

the South more perfectly than the present cultured state of their

voices will allow; but, while art has refined their methods, it has

also served to adorn nature with a chaste and quiet beauty which

wins a way to every soul that comes under its magic spell.

The evident enjoyment with which they pour forth their music like

birds—their marvelous power of _crescendo_ and _diminuendo_—their

faultless articulation both of notes and words, even in the most

_piano_ and prolonged chords—stamp their style as a model for

church choirs and all who engage in the service of sacred song.

God be praised that we live to see this day, when these

long-despised and down-trodden sons and daughters of toil can visit

our Northern cities in the full enjoyment of American citizenship,

and teach us of the alleged and boasted superior race how to sing

most expressively and effectively the Lord’s song in a strange land.

* * * * *

ROUND THE WORLD.

—New York.—There are 489 churches and missions of all

denominations laboring for the spiritual welfare of the City of New

York, of which about 400 are evangelical Protestant churches.

—Chicago.—The number of churches in Chicago has increased in ten

years from 156 to 218. The Congregationalists and Presbyterians

have each lost one church in that time.

—Omaha.—The largest Congregational Church in Nebraska is at

Omaha. During the past year 49 persons were admitted to its

membership by its pastor, Rev. A. F. Sherrell.

—Ogden.—The influx of Mormons to Utah is indicated by the fact

that more than 2,000 recruits left Liverpool for that Territory

last summer.

—San Francisco.—There were 1,682 pupils enrolled in the schools

of the A. M. A. in California last year, of which number 140 were

hopefully converted.

—Sandwich Islands.—A $6,000 church for the Chinese has been built

at Honolulu, $500 being given by a Chinaman who was formerly hired

out for $4 per month.

—Yokohama.—The Reformed Church in America has at its Yokohama

station 158 members, 8 preaching places, 3 Sunday-schools, 131

scholars, with a boarding department.

—Hong Kong.—The Mission of the Basle Society at Hong Kong has 145

communicants. The London Missionary Society has 32 missionaries,

native and foreign, at the same point.

—Calcutta.—A sect of Hindoo dissenters has recently made an

attack on the idol of Juggernaut. They profess belief in Hindoo

deities, but do not respect their images.

—Bombay.—The native dispensary of the St. John’s Mission,

Bombay, has an average attendance of about 60 patients, who are

read to daily by the missionaries of the English Church.

—Cairo.—The Mohammedans at Cairo have a very extensive

training-school, in which 10,000 students are taught annually the

doctrines contained in the Koran.

—Naples.—The Wesleyan Methodists sustain regular preaching in 96

preaching places in Italy. In the Naples district they have 575

members and 196 probationers.

—Rome.—The Free Church of Italy has 15 ordained ministers, 15

evangelists and 1,800 communicants. Its theological college,

attended by 16 students, is situated at Rome.

—Turin.—The village of Bertrolla, near Turin, in Italy, has

renounced Romanism and accepted the Protestant faith. The

archbishop suspended the priest and closed the church against the

2,000 parishioners.

—Paris.—In Paris there are said to be 89 Sunday-schools, with

7,596 scholars. The international series of lessons is used in 32

of these schools.

—London.—Three Congregational churches in the north of London

have opposed the application of the Salvation Army for permission

to occupy their chapels as centres for religious work.

—Liverpool.—Bishop Ryle has delivered a strong charge to his

clergy in consequence of the existence of a body of churchmen who

seemed determined to un-Protestantize the church.

—New York.—Rev. Albert B. Simpson, with a company of associates,

has undertaken a new evangelistic work for the masses in the

Academy of Music, New York.

* * * * *

REVIVAL NEWS.

—Meetings have been held every evening during the week for some

time at Talladega College. Several conversions are reported.

—A precious revival has been in progress some weeks in Fisk

University. Nightly meetings have been held, and at last report

twenty-five students had given evidence of conversion.

—Special meetings were held during the week of prayer at the Le

Moyne Institute. Three persons have been hopefully converted, and

others are inquiring the way of life. The church also has advanced

to a better spiritual condition.

—This month has been characterized by a great awakening in

Straight University, New Orleans. It is believed that ten of

the young lady boarders have been hopefully converted. The good

influence is widely felt throughout the school.

—Professor Francis writes from Atlanta University: “For some days

past our school has been much moved by the presence of the Holy

Spirit, who has brought quite a number to confess their need of

a Saviour, and quickened greatly the zeal of many who had before

borne the name of Christ. We are holding extra meetings, and the

interest deepens from day to day, so that we have good reason

to hope that a good harvest may be gathered in, if we exercise

due fidelity and patience. The impressions of the gracious work

we enjoyed last year have remained with us, and already quite a

number have this year taken their stand for Christ, and we rejoice

greatly at the good dealings of the Lord with us, and seek greater

blessings.”

* * * * *

GENERAL NOTES.

AFRICA.

—A dispatch from Cairo announces the death of Mgr. Comboni,

Apostolic Vicar of Central Africa.

—The colonies of Natal, discontented with their form of

government, demand the institution of a parliamentary rule upon the

model of that which has been granted the colony of the Cape.

—The Queen of Madagascar has named for the first time the

ministers and secretaries of state, and at the same time given a

law relative to their functions.

—A steamer with two helixes has been ordered by an English house

for the civilizing station of the Portuguese which is to be

established upon the Congo.

—A society is formed in Liberia, under the title of Liberia

Interior Association, with a view of developing commerce with the

interior, of seeking means of transportation and the employ of

beasts in some parts of the country, and of bestowing attention

upon the commercial, agricultural and political interests of the

colony in the interior.

—The College of Liberia will be transferred into the country,

where to classical studies will be joined instruction in manual

labor, to teach the natives the use and practice of the instruments

of European industry.

—P. Autunes, Professor at Braga, set out the 15th of October,

with two assistants and three workmen, to establish at Hailla,

near Humpata, where the Boers are, schools for the children of the

colonists, the Boers and natives, under the direction of chosen

teachers. He will also establish an industrial and professional

school of arts and trades necessary for African life. The

Portuguese government has granted lands to him, reserving to itself

the approval of the rules which will regulate these different

establishments.

MR. A. E. JACKSON, of the Mendi Mission, in appealing

for supplies, says: “There are persons here who desire to unite

in matrimony. They are just emerging from paganism, and any favor

shown them by the Mission adds so much to its influence for good.

They ought to have plain white dresses, white gloves, shoes or

slippers, and a little underwear; and for encouragement, some

bedding—sheets, pillow-cases, and such like. We have a young

couple with us who were married this year, and Mrs. Jackson is now

preparing clothing for another couple who will marry in about two

weeks.”

* * * * *

THE INDIANS.

—The American Baptist Home Missionary Society reports 90 churches,

with nearly 6,000 church members, among the Indians in the Indian

Territory.

—Santiago Reino, an Indian from the Taos Pueblo, was recently

baptized and received into the church at Cenecero, Colorado. So far

as known, he is the first from that Pueblo to receive Christian

baptism.

—Rev. Mr. Hicks, of McAllister, Indian Territory, has selected

a site for a church, and reorganized a Sunday-school with 40

scholars. He hopes soon to reorganize a church with 20 members.

Four infants have already received the rite of baptism.

—The presence of fifteen civilized Indians at the Presbytery of

Idaho—one of them an ordained minister, four ruling elders, two

licentiates, three applying for licensure, and all of them church

members—speaking and singing the praises of God, was a grand

testimony to the power and influence of the Christian religion.

* * * * *

THE CHINESE.

—China proper is said to be entirely open to the missionary and

the Bible colporteur with the exception of Hunan.

—Miss H. Carter, a teacher among the Chinese in Boston, writes:

It is not unusual to find a man who learns the alphabet and a few

words in a single lesson. One pupil of more than twenty-five years

learned to read so rapidly at his weekly lesson that he could study

intelligently the Sunday-school Bible lesson in Isaiah lv. at the

end of five months.

—A Chinese named Wang, aged sixty-two, applying for baptism said:

“I should not like to die without having obeyed the commandment

of the Lord Jesus.” When asked what name he intended to choose at

his baptism, he said: “Lazarus was a poor man, just as I am a poor

man; I should like therefore to be called by his name.” He was

accordingly baptized by the name of Lazarus.

* * * * *

BENEFACTIONS.

—Mr. Haskell, editor of the Boston _Herald_, has subscribed $1,000

to Bates College.

—Mr. John P. Howard has given $28,000 to the University of

Vermont, for rebuilding its main edifice.

—Amherst College is to receive about $50,000 for its library from

the estate of the late Joel Stiles, of Boston.

—Mr. C. H. McCormick has added $50,000 to his already liberal

gifts to the Presbyterian Theological Seminary of the Northwest.

—The Boston University has come into possession of the $2,000,000

estate bequeathed to the institution ten years ago by Isaac Rich,

of Boston.

—The will of the late Cornelius Sweetser bequeathed $10,000 to

the Thomaston Academy, the income of $15,000 for public and school

libraries, $5,000 for a Sweetser school fund, and $12,000 to the

York Institute.

—St. Johnsbury Academy has received from Thaddeus Fairbanks an

additional $40,000 as a permanent fund. To this a gift of $50,000

is added from the estate of Governor Erastus Fairbanks, making,

with sums otherwise secured, an endowment fund of $100,000.

—_The Executive Committee of the A. M. A. reported at its annual

meeting that $15,000 were needed for a Boy’s Dormitory at Straight

University, New Orleans, La. One individual offers $5,000 of this

amount on condition that the remaining $10,000 be secured._

* * * * *

A volume of 420 pages, entitled “Missionary Papers,” by

Rev. John C. Lowrie, D.D., is the work of a man well qualified to

write on a broad range of missionary topics. Dr. Lowrie was once

a missionary in India, and for many years has been the senior

Secretary of the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions. These

papers are, therefore, the results of extended observation and

of long and varied experience. They, like their author, are not

sensational, but scholarly and practical. We subjoin a quotation

from the paper on “Less Favored Races.”

“As to passing by the degraded, ignorant and uncivilized races, in

order to reach those who are in some degree intelligent, polite and

civilized—well, we do not so understand the example of the first

Christians. The Apostle Peter might have made a splendid argument

for the Hebrews as the main people to be first evangelized,

pointing to their wonderful history, their unrivaled geographical

position, their intellectual force, their widely-spread settlements

in other countries; so the Apostle Paul might have spent a part of

his unequaled eloquence in a plea for the Greeks as the people of

culture, and of the Romans as full of energy. But how little do we

find in the first missionary records of ethnographic, political,

commercial, conventional ideas as motives for evangelizing labor.

We ought to understand, moreover, the lesson of our own Anglo-Saxon

history; where were men and women to be found who were less

attractive than the early inhabitants of Great Britain and Ireland?

The same Gospel that brought them to their present standing can

change the people of Africa and make them intelligent, cultured,

devoted Christians.”

* * * * *

A BLIND SAMSON.

* * * * *

FROM ADDRESS OF REV. A. J. BIDDLE, AT WARSAW, N.Y.

* * * * *

Years ago, when the negro was a bondman, Longfellow thus spoke of

him:

“There is a poor blind Samson in the land,

Shorn of his strength and bound in bands of steel,

Who may in some grim revel raise his hand

And shake the pillars of the common weal.

Till the vast temples of our liberties

A shapeless mass of muck and rubbish lies.”

Well he is blind enough yet, poor enough, a Samson, too, and what

is more, he is no longer bound. His locks are beginning to grow,

and he is beginning to place his brawny hand upon the pillars of

our common weal; not angrily, but ignorantly. We placed them there

hoping that he would prove a support, and he will if we watch and

direct him. But thus far he has been a menace to our liberties; not

from malice, but because he is what he is. We have not dealt with

him wisely; but from the fatal day over two hundred years ago, when

that thrifty Dutchman landed the first negro on the hanks of the

James River to this, we have blundered. Our treatment of him has

been a mixture of stupidity and wickedness. We never should have

brought him here, but we did.

It should have been our endeavor to raise him from his barbarism by

careful education, but that was forbidden by law. We should have

emancipated him gradually, but that we could not do. We should have

fitted him for citizenship before giving him the ballot, but we did

the opposite. When emancipated, we should have educated him, but

that was too much trouble. So from the outset we have done those

things we ought not to have done, and left undone those things we

ought to have done. We can see it now, but it requires little wit

to see our blunders after they are made, and we are suffering the

consequences. But note three points:

1st. The negro is a part of our nation. One person in every eight

of our population is of African descent. He is going to stay a

permanent part of our population. You cannot colonize him. He will

not die out. The exodus is but a ripple, and that from one part of

the nation to another. In the South he will live and thrive. His

race increases with frightful rapidity. It does no good to grumble

about it. The problem we must solve is to build up a peaceful,

prosperous nation with such a population as we have.

2d. They are citizens; they have the right to vote; they will

vote; the votes will be counted. The time will soon come when they

will hold the balance of power in every Southern State. Political

parties will bid for their vote, cater to their wishes and

prejudices, and shape legislation to catch their votes.

3d. They are as a class miserably poor, densely ignorant and low

in their moral conception and practice. Seventeen years ago they

were turned loose without a cent of their own or a letter of the

alphabet. That they have done well in acquiring property and

knowledge under the circumstances, is the testimony of all who know

them. Many of them have little homes of their own, and those who

can read and write are numbered now by the hundred thousand. Take

them altogether, it is estimated that they own on an average above

$11 worth of property. It is an encouraging fact that in seventeen

years they have accumulated so much as that. But what poverty does

that indicate, with $11 for each man, woman and child among them!

Here we must not forget that they are six hundred years behind the

white race in civilization. They as a rule must be separated from

the whites. We cannot absorb them, as we do the German, or Irish.

They will be clannish by the nature of the case. The more ignorant

they remain the more clannish they will grow, and our only safety

lies in making them feel that their interest is not separated from,

but identical with the other citizens of the Republic. I tell you,

friends, that the mightiest question of the nation yet, is what to

do with that great mass of half civilized, impoverished, ignorant

people that cover the South.

THE FREEDMEN.

REV. JOSEPH E. ROY, D.D., FIELD SUPERINTENDENT, ATLANTA,

GA.

* * * * *

TWENTY YEARS AFTER FREEDOM.

It is worthy of note that near where the first slaves disembarked

in our country, bondmen were first disenthralled by the events

of our civil war. Gen. Butler, in May, 1861, issued his famous

proclamation, declaring the negroes about his camp in Hampton

contrabands.

At that time, and later on, thousands of them gathered in near

proximity to his headquarters, living for the most part in an

improvised city, christened Slabtown. Twenty years have wrought

many changes in the condition of these people. Slabtown has

disappeared, and in its place and for miles around, cottages with

garden plots, and even considerable farms, are found. A large

number of these are owned by the freed people, who constitute a

majority in Elizabeth City county, and form a quasi-negro republic.

The blacks are courteous in their deportment toward the white

citizens, who in return display much kindness and good will. One of

the negroes, when asked recently by a Northern gentleman how his

people were treated by the whites, is reported to have said. “Oh,

we are largely in the majority, and the white man knows how to keep

his place.” They seem willing that the white people should hold

the important offices, and the most cordial relations apparently

exist between all classes. Not long after the recent election in

Virginia, the black people about Fortress Monroe were observed to

be intently reading the newspapers. A ministerial-looking colored

man, of fifty or upward, was asked by the writer if there was any

law forbidding the white people to read. “Why do you wish to know

that?” he inquired. On being told that the colored people were seen

reading the papers while the white laborers were standing idly

about, he replied pertinently, “These white folks don’t like the

way the election went much, but it just suited us.”

[Illustration: ASSEMBLY-ROOM AT HAMPTON.]

The improvements about Fortress Monroe and Hampton during the

past twenty years have been considerable. New buildings have been

constructed inside of the fort, and Mr. Harrison Phoebus has built

near the government wharf a mammoth, hotel, the Hygeia, capable of

accommodating a thousand visitors. The Soldier’s Home at Hampton

has extensive grounds, and accommodations for over 600 people.

A large and tasteful building has just been completed, with an

audience room seating from six to eight hundred. The grounds and

buildings connected with the Soldier’s Home are kept up with much

care and expense.

The Hampton Institute, which has done much to work all the changes

mentioned, is a village by itself, and Gen. Armstrong, its

principal, has 704 students under his supervision. The village of

Hampton, which was burned early in the war, has been rebuilt, and

recently Newport News has come to the front in consequence of the

extension of the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad to that point. Already

the company has constructed a pier said to be the largest in the

United States, and land is held at $16,000 an acre at a point where

scarcely a dozen houses can be seen. The harbor facilities at

Newport News are unrivaled.

These varied developments have created a demand for labor and

given to the negro, especially as he is the recognized laborer, a

grand opportunity for securing property. A canvasser for a sewing

machine company, who has spent three years in Eastern Virginia,

testifies that the negroes have most of the money to be found in

that country. He says they are prompt in paying their instalments,

whereas when he sells to the poorer white people he fails to

collect his money, for the reason that they have none.

[Illustration]

The manners and customs of the people are still unique. It is no

uncommon thing to see a heifer or a steer harnessed to a cart and

driven by one or two women who bring supplies to market. Possibly

one-half of the conveyances seen by a visitor during a month’s stay

are of this fashion; but the proprietors do not seem to be unhappy.

Indeed, a Wall street broker, who had been spending a month at

the Hygeia hotel, and who was fond of the recreation afforded by

visiting Hampton on market days, affirmed that these negroes were

the happiest people he ever saw.

If twenty years of freedom can work such changes all over the land

as are manifested here, where emancipation first dawned, surely the

future is full of hope.

* * * * *

EMERSON INSTITUTE, MOBILE, ALA., BURNED.

Emerson Institute is lying in ruins. For the second time in her

history she is smoldering in ashes, and we are in mourning for the

destruction of our little church, made dear by so many sacred and

hallowed associations, and our beautiful school building, in which

so many happy hours of toil have been spent and labors of love

performed. November 21 a vain attempt was made to burn the little

Congregational church at Mobile, but the fire, being set at an

early hour in the evening, was discovered and soon extinguished.

The insurance company repaired damages at an expense of $30. Now,

when our minds were relaxing this tension, and lapse of time was

giving us a degree of security against further molestation, the

enemy approaches again and applies the torch—this time with

marvelous success.

The fire was discovered about two o’clock on the morning of January

23 by one of the teachers, who was startled by the crackling sound

of the flames. Arousing her room-mate and looking out to make sure

of the evidence, they discovered the flames and gave the alarm

of “fire” to the household. It was set at the northwest corner

of the church, facing toward the house, and when discovered the

whole end was a sheet of flame. In an incredibly short space of

time Mr. Crawford was throwing an acid stream from our “Babcock

Extinguisher” into the devouring flames, but they had gained so

great an advantage before discovery that the “Babcock” alone could

not avail. The alarm boxes being out of order the tower bell could

not be struck. The Hook and Ladder Company were early on hand, but

had no fire buckets. When we found ourselves powerless to quench

the consuming flames on the church, we turned our attention to

the school building standing near. Danger to that did not seem

great as the building was of brick, the night was still and damp

and the engines had arrived. But thinking it better to err on the

safe side, most of the movable furniture was carried out. Before

this was fully accomplished, however, the cornice had caught and

the flames rapidly spread over the roof, leaping higher and higher

in mock derision of the little shower bath from the hose. Not

until the roof had fallen and the flames had spread to all parts

and our hopes were buried in despair, did the engines succeed in

getting water enough to throw a respectable stream. Help delayed

was unavailing. It seems almost incredible that our school building

should burn down before our very eyes, under such circumstances.

Was it an enemy did this foul deed? Who can tell? God only, who

reads the hearts of men, can answer. The expressed sentiments of

the best people of the city are in severe condemnation of the act,

and a reward of $300 has been offered for the arrest and conviction

of the incendiary.

The question which presented itself to us, even before the smoke

had died away, was, “What shall we do?” For a time we felt

constrained to utter the language of Gideon: “O, my Lord! if the

Lord be with us, why, then, is all this befallen us?” The answer

came clear and unmistakable: “Go, in this thy might, and thou

shalt save Israel from the hands of the Midianites; have not I

sent thee?” The way was made plain to us at once, when Rev. Mr.

Owen, pastor of the Third Baptist Church (colored) threw wide open

its doors and said: “We gladly make room for you here.” The offer

was as thankfully received as it was generously given. Scholars,

patrons and friends seem as anxious that the work should be

continued without delay as we ourselves. So that we re-open school

again on Monday, Jan. 30, with three departments, at the Third

Baptist Church, about one mile from the “Home,” and two departments

in the basement of Little Zion Church, about three blocks distant

from the Home. Of course, the accommodations now will be in sad

contrast to those enjoyed in our well-arranged and convenient

school-room, and our labors will be much more arduous and trying;

but the Lord has said, “As thy days so shall thy strength be,”

and we go forward relying on His strength. Our school seemed in a

most prosperous condition, over two hundred pupils enrolled, and

everything moving on to the satisfaction of all. The Sunday-school

has not had a larger attendance for three years than now. There

seemed to be a constantly growing interest manifested, and the

outlook was very encouraging.

Nothing at all was saved from the church. The cabinet organ, the

Sunday-school library of over two hundred volumes, a valuable chart

used by the primary department of the school, together with Bibles,

singing-books, etc., all perished in the flames.

In our now pressing needs we cannot close this article without

an appeal to the earnest, hopeful and sympathetic friends at the

North. “Come over and help us.”

MISS EMMA CAUGHEY.

* * * * *

THE INDIANS

* * * * *

CHRISTMAS AT SPOKAN FALLS, W. T.—SCHOOL WORK, Etc.

_By Rev. H. T. Cowley._

Christmas is always the greatest occasion of the year with these

Indians, and its recent recurrence was unusually enjoyed. The

principal attraction is the opportunity to worship, hear anew

the story of the Saviour’s birth, renew their consecration and

participate in the ordinance of the Lord’s Supper. A social

festival follows all, tribal affairs are discussed and efforts are

made to heal jealousies and alienations.

On this occasion there was a marked religious interest and a very

visible improvement in outward condition. The school-house, which

is as yet our only place of meeting, was densely crowded; many had

come over twenty miles in sleds and on horseback.

Father Eells, their former missionary, was present and addressed

them, renewing old associations. There were seven infant and one

adult baptisms; and two others, a wife and husband, expressed a

desire to unite with the church at our next communion. It was

altogether a precious occasion, which we shall all long remember.

The school now numbers sixteen scholars equally divided between

the sexes, and is making reasonable progress considering the

disadvantages we contend with. A day school among Indians, as a

general rule, fails of the best results. The imperative demand is

for a boarding and industrial department and a matron. I have been

calling the attention of the Indian Department to this necessity

for the past six years, but as the Spokans are a small tribe and

peacefully inclined, Congress has overlooked them, while at the

same time their country is being rapidly filled by white settlers

and no adequate provision has been made for their permanent

location or education. Commissioner Price has, however, recently

informed me of his recommendation to secure an appropriation of

$5,000 to enable Spokans who wish to avail themselves of the

provisions of the Indian Homestead Act to pay the land fees and

commissions.

We are also much in need of a house of worship, as the school-house

(18×24) is too small and inconvenient for that purpose. Dr.

Atkinson informs me that he raised $50 while East to help in this

object, but about $200 more will be required to supplement the work

of the Indians.

* * * * *

THE CHINESE.

* * * * *

CLIPPINGS FROM THE FORTHCOMING ANNUAL REPORT OF OUR CALIFORNIA

AUXILIARY.

[BY REV. W. C. POND.]

GENERAL VIEW.—“The past year has been one of blessing at

almost every point of our experience. We have to record our roll of

members unbroken, so far as we know, by any stroke of death; our

schools increasingly prosperous, on the whole, from the beginning

of the year to its close; our work larger and better, we trust,

than ever before; a deeper and more general interest in it, we have

reason to think, on the part of the churches, and our receipts,

especially in the way of gifts made directly to our own treasury,

much larger than in any preceding year.”

OUR WORK AS A WHOLE.—“Fifteen schools have been sustained

for a longer or shorter period in the year, a gain upon last year’s

work of three schools. Of these fifteen, nine were sustained the

entire year, with no vacation at all, except for two or three days

at the annual holidays. Of the other six, all except one were

commenced during the year, and all but two are still in operation.

One of them is still an experiment, and may be discontinued; the

others give such promise of usefulness—are, indeed, already

bearing such good fruit—that I think they are experiments no

longer.”