VOL. XXXII. NO. 8.
THE
AMERICAN MISSIONARY.
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“To the Poor the Gospel is Preached.”
* * * * *
AUGUST, 1878.
_CONTENTS_:
EDITORIAL.
OUR GRADUATES 225
PARAGRAPHS 225, 226
THE LAW OF RESTITUTION 226
S. S. AND M. M. CONCERT 227
ADDRESS AT THE BOSTON ANNIVERSARY 228
ITEMS FROM CHURCHES AND SCHOOLS 230
GENERAL NOTES: The Freedmen, Africa, The Indian 232, 233
THE FREEDMEN.
VIRGINIA—Religious Interest at Hampton: Rev.
Richard Tolman 235
NORTH CAROLINA—Contrasts and Progress: Rev.
D. D. Dodge 235
SOUTH CAROLINA—Brewer Normal School: J. D.
Backenstose 237
GEORGIA—Atlanta University, by a Georgia
Editor.—Lewis High School at Macon: Miss
Annette Lynch.—A Bright Day in Athens: Mr.
John McIntosh.—The Religious Work in Georgia:
Rev. F. Markham 237-241
ALABAMA—Two Ordinations at Talladega: Rev. Geo.
E. Hill.—Closing Days of Emerson Institute:
Miss S. J. Irwin 242
MISSISSIPPI—The Year at Tougaloo University:
Rev. G. Stanley Pope 243
LOUISIANA: “Here am I: Send Me, Send Me.”—From
New Orleans to New York: Rev. W. S. Alexander 244
AFRICA.
THE MENDI MISSION—Converts Added to the New Church;
Death of Mrs. Dr. James: Rev. Floyd Snelson 246
THE CHINESE.
ITEMS AND INCIDENTS: Rev. W. C. Pond 247
THE CHILDREN’S PAGE 249
RECEIPTS 250
CONSTITUTION 253
WORK, STATISTICS, WANTS, &c. 254
* * * * *
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 THACHER, 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,
E. A. 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.
* * * * *
VOL. XXXII. AUGUST, 1878. No. 8.
* * * * *
_American Missionary Association._
* * * * *
OUR GRADUATES.
The colleges of the land have just now been sending forth their
classes of graduates, equipped for further study and for new work.
The young men and women have passed their examinations and taken
their degrees and made their speeches in hundreds of academic
halls. Parents and patrons have gathered—these to see the gain and
growth of their children, and those to rejoice in the good which
their generous benefactions have accomplished. It is the harvest
time in the collegiate year; though the crops are not gathered into
garners, but scattered and sown at once for other growths.
Our schools and colleges, too, have come to the end of another
year. Examination and commencement times come to all impartially
under the fifteenth amendment. We do not profess that the graduates
of our seven colleges go out equipped, for depth and breadth of
culture, on an equality with the sons of Yale or Harvard, but we do
believe that they are fitted, and fitted well, for the work that
is before them, and to be the leaders first of their own people.
We do know that the religious impression made upon them is more
general and more deep than in most Northern colleges, and that
the influences under which they work and study foster and develop
seriousness of purpose and that highest of all ambitions—the
ambition to be useful. And so, in this our humbler work, we rejoice
and take pride.
Our Normal-school work is still the largest and perhaps the most
important that we have to do. And when we follow in imagination,
and occasionally by visitation, and frequently by communication,
the pupils of our schools out into the little hamlets and
cross-roads all over the Southern States, where they are teaching
the mysteries of the A, B, C, to the little children, and the
larger ones, who come from humblest homes, where the dark-skinned
father and mother look with wondering admiration at the child—their
child—who can tell “round O” from “crooked S,” we are filled with
the sense of the magnitude and importance of this work of laying
foundations on which are to be built the towers of intelligence
and virtue. And we pray devoutly that God may bless each one of
those who are going forth this year to teach the children of a long
neglected race.
* * * * *
We see that Stanley’s story of his journey, “_Through the Dark
Continent_,” is published by Sampson, Low & Co., London. We have
not yet examined it, but are sure that it will be of great interest
and instructiveness even to those who have read his vivid letters
in the _Herald_ from time to time.
* * * * *
It is with deep regret that we record the death of Mrs. Dr. JAMES
of the Mendi Mission, of which the tidings is given in another
column. The other members of the mission are all well, and the work
progresses both materially and spiritually; and the brave band who
went back to carry the light of life to the dark land of their
fathers, have not lost heart or hope because one of their number
has gone up higher.
* * * * *
We made a very full and frank statement three months ago in regard
to our finances. We recognized the fact that the receipts up to
that time had been better than for the corresponding months of
the previous year. It gave us peculiar pleasure to make that
statement. And now, having spoken so, we wish to be heard on the
other side. For it is equally true now, that the receipts have
been diminishing, and for two months have been less than in the
same months of the previous year. Friends, do not leave us in the
lurch now, or spoil in the last two months of our fiscal year the
improving record of the first ten. Our needs as your agents are
very far beyond the means you furnish us.
* * * * *
THE LAW OF RESTITUTION.
The law of restitution is one which the religion of the Old
Testament enforces, and which the New Testament does not relax. It
applies, as all laws do, most pressingly to individuals, but it
reaches out, as all laws do, to nations and to races.
We have wronged the Negro, the Indian and the Chinaman—all
three—and they therefore call on us, on our American nation, and
on our English-speaking people, for redress, and for all that we
can do to atone for past neglect—not only for past neglect, but
injustice. Need I recite?
It was in 1620 that the first slave ship landed her human freight
upon the shores of Virginia, and, from that time for more than two
centuries the deadly traffic was continued, and men, women and
children were bought and sold like animals. We need not say, “But
this was a Southern crime; we and our fathers were not guilty.”
For two-thirds of that time, the whole nation were alike in it.
Northern ships and Northern capital carried on the importation
later than that. Our Northern fathers gave it up largely, it is
true, as it is charged, because what was for the time profitable
in South Carolina and in Georgia, did not pay in Massachusetts and
Vermont. It was not until 1825 that the slaves were set free in
the State of New Jersey. We do not propose to depict the evils and
the sins of slavery. Thank God, they are in the past, save as the
consequences are upon us still.
I grant that good may have been done; that, in the end, it may be
shown that elevation and enlightenment have followed from even this
contact with a superior civilization and religion. God causes the
wrath of man to praise Him; and even the sinful and the selfish
acts of men are made the servants of His will. But that is hardly
to be put to the credit of the thus indirect instruments of good.
Rather, by what this good lacks of that which Christian motive and
effort might have accomplished, we are guilty before God.
The horrors enacted and still enacting on the dark continent of
Africa—for the slave trade still continues—the enforced ignorance
and enforced vice of two centuries and a half, the engrafting of
the vices of civilization upon those of heathendom, are the charges
which this nation has to meet before the bar of God. It is a debt
which never can be paid. Is there no claim on us from the American
Negro?
How is it with the Indian? The original occupants of the territory
now covered by these United States, and its possessors, as much as
wandering hunters can be the owners of the soil, our fathers found
them. What have they gained from us? The greed of the white man has
pursued them from that day to this. From place to place they have
been driven. Bargains have been broken and treaties violated, in
almost every instance, first by the white man. The true history of
almost every Indian war (so called) has been begun by the violence
or provoked by the faithlessness of the white man. It was true
of the Modoc, the Sitting Bull and the Nez Percès wars, and that
evidently.
What have we given the red man? Whisky and powder; the vices of
civilization, and the means of war. A few missionaries have been
among them, devoting themselves, with heroic self-denial, to the
work of educating and elevating them, and, wherever the tribes
among which they have labored have been far enough away to escape
the too frequent trader and the settler, they have been teachable,
have come to occupy farms, and learned to labor and to pray.
Perhaps the halting and uncertain policy of the government has been
its worst crime toward them for these last thirty years. And now,
even under the peace policy, which has done very much for them,
their disabilities are of the greatest.
How can you expect to rouse ambitions for industry and intelligence
among men who are not allowed to hold a title to the farms they
have cleared, or the houses they have built, and who may be
ordered, at the will of the government (which is often only the
will of envious neighbors), to a new Reservation? How can you
expect to Christianize a man, whose wrongs are unavenged, and who
is hunted by an army if he avenges them himself? And yet, of the
less than 300,000 Indians, over 40,000 can read, 12,000 attended
school last year, 27,000 are church members. The government spent
about one dollar a head in their education last year. It has cost,
for forty years, about forty dollars a head—$12,000,000 annually—to
fight them. Do we owe them anything?
And the Chinaman? He is not a very large factor yet in our
population. He owes the opium habit in some degree, at least, to
the exigencies of English commerce. His account with this country
has not been running very long yet. But it will be all we can
do, if we do our utmost to Christianize him, to keep the account
current balanced.
He is met on the Pacific Coast (where his industry has already been
of great value) with the cry, “Away with him back to China!” It has
just been decided that he, being neither white nor black, cannot
become a citizen in California.
A few Christian men and women have opened schools to teach John
the English alphabet; the New Testament has been his reading book.
Already some 300 are converted men, and members of the churches,
and have formed Christian associations, in which they live in
Christian ways.
And the question is: Shall we run in debt to the Chinaman, as we
have to the Negro and the Indian? Would it not be well to keep in
mind the Scripture saying now—“Owe no man anything, but to love one
another”?
If wrongs emphasize claims, surely the three races of men in our
own land have a most convincing claim upon the people of the United
States. Who will respond to it, if the Christian people fail to
hear and heed it?
* * * * *
S. S. AND M. M. CONCERT.
REV. J. W. CHICKERING, D. D., BOSTON, MASS.
These numerous initials form the shortest mode of designating an
interesting, if not unique, meeting I had the pleasure of attending
yesterday, in the Congregational Church at Amesbury, Mass., Rev.
Pliny S. Boyd, pastor.
They stand for “Sabbath-school and Missionary Monthly Concert”;
the plan being to let the scholars do the reporting and the
singing, with prayers from several teachers, and remarks from the
superintendent, pastor and a visiting brother.
The triple work of the American Missionary Association was
assigned for this occasion; and it was encouraging for the future
of benevolent effort in the church, to see how promptly class after
class repeated the answers allotted them.
Each will probably remember through life his or her part in the
programme; and, from the whole, a very clear outline was furnished
to the assembly of the numbers, needs, and capabilities of the
Indians, Mongolians and Negroes within our borders.
I was happy to be able to confirm and illustrate some of those
statements, and to urge upon that intelligent church, and the
flourishing Sabbath-school, from which seventy were received into
communion last year, the pressing, may we not say paramount?
importance of that department of missionary effort.
If the “four millions” are suffered to live in vice and ignorance,
and the superstition which is already seeking to overshadow them
like the old fetichism of their ancestors, the American Church—yes,
the nation—will find too late what a mistake they have made.
Ten thousand such “Monthly Concerts” as this would go far in the
direction of instructing the children and awaking their parents,
respecting one of the great duties of the hour. Why not let it be
tried?
* * * * *
ADDRESS AT THE BOSTON ANNIVERSARY.
BY REV. GEORGE R. MERRILL, BIDDEFORD, ME.
I am to suggest three considerations which give _permanent_
importance to our work among the despised races. The evangelization
of six millions of people, one-seventh of our entire population,
cannot be safely left to the enthusiasm aroused by special pleas,
but must be grounded in such truth as shall make its prosecution a
Christian and patriotic duty of supreme and abiding urgency.
I.—The Test of our Christianity.
If you please, let us call upon this platform four representative
men. The first shall be of Anglo-Saxon lineage, the inheritor
by birth of our ripe Christian civilization, and bearing upon
him the marks of our characteristic civilized vices,—a man self
sufficient, profane, intemperate and dishonest. Next him place an
Indian, in all the brutality, sottishness and despair to which
our guardianship of two centuries has brought him. The next is
a Freedman, touched with his ancient race-superstitions, and
possessed by the usual vices of a subject people. Last in the group
set a Chinaman, just from the Joss House and the opium den.
Now, do you, who represent the Christianity of the nineteenth
century, stand before them with the gospel in your hands. Man of
God, look upon these slaves of sin! Nations and languages, look on
this man of God! and do you tell us what Christianity can do for
these. What can it do for this white man? Triumphantly, you answer,
“It can save him; can break down his self-sufficiency and pride,
redeem him from his cups, make him an honest man, and, if he have
committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.” What can it do for the
Indian? “It can save him; make him sober and industrious, a servant
of God.” What for this Negro? “It can save him, lift him out of his
race-corruptions, and save him to God and man.” And what for this
Chinaman? “The same. It can make him a man, reverent and devout
to God, and useful to his fellows. The gospel is the power of God
unto salvation to Mongol, Negro and Caucasian, and no barriers of
race avail to hinder it.” Is this all? Has your gospel nothing more
that it can do for this company? Then is it not the true and full
gospel! That full gospel at the first gained wondrous victories.
The proud pharisee and the despised publican, they of Cæsar’s
household and the bond-slave—Jew and Gentile alike—came under its
power. The Christianity of that day, the full gospel, not only
saved them as individuals, made each one an heir of eternal life,
but also fused and bound them into a true brotherhood.
The Christianity of the nineteenth century is on trial as to
whether it can do this. Its power to redeem the individual has been
grandly illustrated before our eyes, and now the other question
comes forward. Its answer will have many forms indeed. One of them
is the attitude that Christian capital and Christian labor take
to each other. But its marked test, the most illustrious triumph
or conspicuous failure, is to be here among the despised races,
whose representatives are before us. God has reserved for American
Christianity this grand opportunity to show the world, that after
eighteen centuries the gospel is shorn of none of its honor—that
under its inspirations we are able to bind these despised races,
regenerated and lifted up, into a true fellowship with ourselves.
The American Missionary Association is your representative and
servant to this end, and worthy such support as the gospel itself
should receive.
II.—The Test of our National Life.
Mr. Matthew Arnold, in a recent essay, uses these words: “When we
talk of man’s advance towards his full humanity, we think of an
advance not along one line only, but several. The Hebrew race was
pre-eminent on one great line. The Hellenic race was pre-eminent on
another line.”
Taking for truth the conception involved in these words, but with
a Christian interpretation, it follows that a true Christian
patriotism will not have respect to the permanence of party or the
development of resources; these are means to its nobler ends.
It will see in all history the developing thought of God, and in
its own history a particular increment of that thought.
These eighteen centuries, and those that are to follow, are the
development of Christianity, and that development covers three
zones, which circle and complete the globe—God’s relation to man,
man’s relation to God, and man’s relation to man. During the five
centuries nearest Christ, about the centres of Alexandria and
Constantinople, influences rose and were moulded whose resultant
was that view of God in his relation to man which is the common
property of Christendom. For eleven centuries following, Divine
Providence was shaping especially under the impulse of the
Reformation, the confession of the scriptural relation of man to
God. Then, with the seventeenth century, history passed into the
third zone, in which is to be illustrated the Divine idea of man’s
relation to man, which is, that the race is an organic brotherhood,
because having one father, God, and one elder brother, Jesus Christ.
From the first planting at Plymouth, God has been shaping our
national experiences to draw the confession from us. Little by
little the problem has grown upon us, as we were able to meet it.
Two centuries and more were required to illustrate, through us, how
the sublime socialism of the New Testament, could blend together
in one brotherhood, representatives of all the white and dominant
races of the world. And it is done, though not perfectly, indeed.
English, Scotch, Irish, French, Dane, German and Russ—all over our
land—are companies of them cemented into the equal brotherhood
of a Christian Church and a Christian State. And now the deeper
conditions of the problem are upon us. Within our borders are three
races, neither white nor dominant. They are men; the Saviour died
for them; the Holy Spirit calls them, one by one, into membership
in the kingdom of God; they are our brothers by New Testament law.
We are to make them organically one with us in a Christian state.
Here, in the despised races, is the _test of our national life_.
The American Missionary Association appeals to you, not only as
Christian men in the name of the Christianity that is on trial
as to its social power, but as American men in the name of God’s
thought for the land, which it is working out as to the Negro, the
Chinaman and the Indian. It says, “One is our Master, even Christ,
and all we are brethren.”
In the jail record of one of our cities, there are these entries
after a convict’s name: “Occupation, _Statesman_; Religion,
_None_.” Is it not a reproach to our Christianity, waiting for its
grandest testimony; to our Christian patriotism, on which is laid
the thought of God for the land, that in these years we have been
so content to leave the care of the despised races, these “wards
of the Almighty,” the elect for His noblest purpose, to those
whose fit record is: “Occupation, _Statesmen_; Religion, _None_”!
Two hundred and fifty years have been given us with the Indian to
carry out “the great hope and inward zeal” of our fathers, a score
of years almost with the Freedman and Chinaman. How long can we
expect the Divine patience to delay ere it shall take away our
opportunity, and give it to a nation bringing forth the fruits of
righteousness?
III.—The Example of Christ.
There were despised classes among the Jews eighteen hundred years
ago—publicans and sinners, from whom their betters withheld
even the touch of their garments. But our Master, Jesus Christ,
consorted with these, until they called Him, “the friend of
publicans and sinners.” The Samaritans were a race despised of the
Jews, yet to one of them our Lord made the earliest and clearest
declaration of His Messiahship. Nay, at the outset of His mission,
passing by the needy cities of Judah, He, our Lord, went to preach
His gospel among the despised and dispersed who dwelt on the border
of Zebulon and Napthalin, where “darkness covered the land and
gross darkness the people.”
The appeal that is made for the American Missionary Association, in
the name of the witness to the gospel, and in the name of Christian
patriotism, gains its height when it is made in the name of Christ.
Every argument by which this work appeals to us to-day, is a
prophecy of its success in our hands. Work among the despised
races, work that sets the seal of power on the Christianity of our
time, work that is to realize God’s thought for the land, work so
Christly cannot fail!
The American Missionary Association, to which this work is
committed of God and the churches, needs but one thing of you. That
is, money? No! It is but needed that there should be such incomes
of the Holy Ghost into Christian hearts as shall lift up church
membership from membership in a religious club to its true dignity
of citizenship in the kingdom of God; such incomes of the Spirit as
shall fill the heart of each citizen with the grand thought of the
kingdom—brotherhood. Then, consecrated purses will be opened, and
gold and silver, and greenbacks and bonds, will flow into the full
treasury of the Lord.
* * * * *
ITEMS FROM CHURCHES AND SCHOOLS.
MCLEANSVILLE, N. C.—Five persons joined the church the last Sunday
in June. Eighty-three communicants were present, all but three
members of this church.
DUDLEY, N. C.—Seventeen united with the church, Rev. D. Peebles,
pastor, June 16. This church numbers over eighty members. Mr.
George S. Smith, of Raleigh, and Miss Carrie Waugh, of Woodbridge,
assisted in revival work.
ORANGEBURG, S. C.—A deep religious interest is reported in
this church. The school was closed June 18th, with appropriate
exercises, and in the presence of a crowded audience.
ATLANTA, GA.—On the third Sabbath in June six young people united
with the college church upon profession, and as many more will
probably unite during the vacation with churches at their homes.
It has been a good year in the religious culture of the school,
and a great gain is manifest in the earnestness and steadiness of
Christian character attained. The Sabbath-school at this church
found itself last Sabbath with _eleven_ less teachers than the week
before; the reason being that nearly that number of young people
had gone into the country to teach summer schools for three months.
The fact suggests one of the sources of influence such a church
has, as well as one of the difficulties of carrying it on.
—Mr. S. P. Smith, of Chicago Seminary, has taken up the work
with the First Church, during Mr. Ashley’s vacation, under very
favorable auspices. The people are united and hopeful.
GOLDING’S GROVE, GA.—School closed June 20th.
CUTHBERT, GA.—The school at this place, re-opened two years ago,
reports a good year’s work. Over a hundred pupils have been in
attendance, some of them adults and elders and deacons of churches.
A reading-room has been kept up. A large attendance witnessed the
examinations and closing exercises. Mr. R. R. Wright, from Atlanta,
is the teacher.
WOODVILLE, GA.—“Little Aubor (one of our school girls) is very
ill. During the late revival she had made up her mind to become
a Christian, but her father was a stumbling-block in her way. He
gave her a severe whipping, and kept her away from the protracted
meetings. Shortly afterward she was taken ill, and said to him,
‘Oh, father, I wanted to give my heart to Christ, but you have
kept me away.’ Yesterday, when I asked her if she was praying, she
answered in a whisper, ‘I am praying, I am praying, I am praying.’”
ANNISTON, ALA.—Rev. Peter J. McIntosh was ordained pastor of this
church June 18th. Sermon by Rev. D. L. Hickok, of Talladega.
The proprietor of the hotel showed his good-will by giving free
entertainment to all the white visitors. The indications for
spiritual prosperity are encouraging.
CHILDERSBURG, ALA.—Rev. Alfred Jones was ordained June 20th. The
church building has just been plastered. A series of special
services are in contemplation. Congregations average from fifty-six
to eighty.
TALLADEGA, ALA.—The following indicates the vacation work of some
of the students for the next three months: J. D. Smith goes to
preach at Savannah, Ga.; H. S. Williams to Montgomery; Andrew
Headen to Selma, to begin work at once; J. B. Sims to Marietta,
Ga., to begin the last Sunday in June. P. W. Young has charge
of the church at Kingston; John Strong, of the Lawson Church,
organized last summer; Barbour Grant of the Cove Church; Thornton
Benson of the church at Alabama Furnace. They receive from $20 to
$25 a month. Peter J. McIntosh was ordained pastor of the church at
Anniston, and Alfred Jones at Childersburg, and are referred to in
Rev. Mr. Hill’s letter.
MOBILE, ALA.—Emerson Institute finds its new building admirably
adapted to its uses; has received evidences of increasing favor
with the white citizens of Mobile; is under great obligations to
Dr. Morrell for placing his professional skill as a physician at
the disposal of the teachers, and refusing all compensation. Its
teachers are doing good service in the various Sunday-schools of
the city.
MEMPHIS, TENN.—A permanent library, to which the colored people
may have free access, has been begun by the faculty of Le Moyne
Normal School. Some hundreds of books have been secured, and during
the coming summer vacation a commodious reading-room is to be
fitted up. More volumes will be added from time to time, as means
are secured, and it is confidently expected that the near future
will see this excellent project firmly established, and doing the
work for which it is designed. During the closing week at the
school the junior-class gave an exhibition, the proceeds of which
are to be used for the library. Donations of books are solicited.
* * * * *
GENERAL NOTES.
The Freedmen.
—The _Congregationalist_ says, in its report of the examination
of the students of Andover Theological Seminary: “One of the
best recitations made in Greek was by a young man from Atlanta
University, a suggestive item for the churches interested in that
institution.”
—The Presbyterian General Assembly has transferred its eighty
colored churches from the Board of Home Missions back to the
Committee on Freedmen. The committee, having somewhat enlarged its
educational work, appeals to the Presbyterian churches for more
liberal and more general contributions.
—The Southern Presbyterian General Assembly reported as contributed
for the evangelization of the colored people, during the last year,
$416.75, to which the Reformed (Dutch) Church added $359.25.
—The _Christian at Work_ describes a colored church, south, of
which it says: “It was an aristocratic institution, as it seemed,
and a failure. The preacher read his sermon, the singing was
operatic, and the whole thing a ludicrous burlesque. White people
go to an unhealthy extreme, often, in suppressing emotion, but for
the colored folks to imitate this folly is death outright.”
—The same correspondent says of a missionary to the freedmen, whom
he chanced to meet: “I said to him, as we were taking our leave,
‘It takes a good deal of grit and grace to stand the pressure here,
don’t it?’ ‘One can get _very near the Lord here_,’ he replied;
‘indeed, he has to get very near Him to do any good.’”
—A Louisiana correspondent sums up a letter to the
_Congregationalist_ thus: “In spite of all drawbacks, the tendency
of the colored churches in Louisiana is upward. The Sunday-schools
are well attended, and properly taught. The church members are
orderly and industrious citizens, respected in the communities
in which they live, and ready and willing to contribute, to the
full extent of their means, for any Christian purposes. Take
them altogether, the progress of the colored churches has been
sufficiently rapid to gratify any one who prays that the beams
of the Sun of Righteousness may illumine the dark corners of the
earth.”
—“There is no teacher so wholesome as personal necessity. In South
Carolina a few men and many women cling absolutely to the past,
learning nothing, forgetting nothing. But the bulk of thinking men
see that the old Southern society is as absolutely annihilated
as the feudal system, and that there is no other form of society
now possible except such as prevails at the North and West. The
dream of re-enslaving the negro, if it ever existed, is like the
negro’s dream, if he ever had it, of five acres and a mule from
the government. Both races have long since come down to the stern
reality of self-support. No sane Southerner would now take back as
slaves, were they offered, a race of men who have been for a dozen
years freemen and voters.”—_Col. Higginson in the Atlantic._
* * * * *
Africa.
—The barque _Azor_, which sailed April 21st for Africa, arrived
at Sierra Leone, May 19th. There were several cases of measles
before the sailing, and this malady spread rapidly. The ship fever,
which came from overcrowding, was worse, however, and increased
by scantiness of water and lack of proper medical attendance.
Twenty-three of the emigrants died on the way. The barque was towed
to Monrovia by an English steamer.
—A despatch to the _Herald_ represents the emigrants as being
almost destitute of money, some of them holding notes of the Exodus
Association, which is said to be unable to meet its obligations.
—Another ship load of freedmen are waiting at Charleston to take
passage as soon as the _Azor_ returns. She is probably on her way
before this date.
—It is a gratifying fact to the friends of the American
Colonization Society that in sending over 160 expeditions to
Liberia, no serious casualty has happened either to vessel or
emigrants. Special care has been taken to make their passage
safe and comfortable, and kind Providence has given prosperity.
The last expedition of the society left New York, June 19, with
sixty-nine emigrants on board the barque _Liberia_ from Virginia,
North Carolina and Florida. When four days out, in a heavy fog, she
collided with an Austrian vessel, and, losing her bowsprit, put
back for repairs. She left again, Monday, July 1st.
—France has just appropriated 100,000 francs for a scientific
expedition to Central Africa, under M. L’Abbé Debaize. He is a
young man of thirty-three, of fine education and attainments,
familiar with Arabic, Coptic and some East African languages; and
having passed special courses in divinity, astronomy and natural
history, much is anticipated from his investigations. He sailed
from Marseilles about two months ago, and is now probably at
Zanzibar, fitting out for the proposed journey across Equatorial
Africa.
* * * * *
The Indian.
We reprint the following from the N. Y. _Tribune_, as giving the
best and most consecutive account of the reported outbreaks among
the Indians of Oregon, Washington Territory and Idaho, which we
have been able to find. It ascribes the origin of the difficulty to
the lack and scantiness of appropriations for the Indian Service.
We do not vouch for the exactness of the report. It accords with
the dispatches received from day to day:
The last report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs shows that
the savage tribes of Idaho and Eastern Oregon, which are taking
part, more or less, in the present war, number about 7,400 souls.
They are capable of sending into the field 2,500 warriors; and
the telegraph dispatches, printed above, indicate that about that
number of savages have already joined the two great war parties
which are menacing the settlements of that region, and with which a
heavy battle may be fought any day now by the troops under command
of General Howard. The census of the tribes is as follows:
Fort Hall Agency Bannocks, Shoshones 1,507
Lemhi Agency Sheepeaters, Bannocks, Shoshones 940
Idaho Indians, not under an agent Pend d’Oreilles, Kootenais 600
Grande Ronde Agency 819
Malhewr Agency Piutes, Snakes 759
Umatilla Agency Walla-Wallas, Cayuses, Umatillas 849
Roving Indians on the Columbia, renegades, etc. 2,000
The Indians at these agencies have been kept in a state of
constant agitation for more than a year by the singular delay
of Congress in making appropriations for the Indian service,
and by the scantiness of the appropriations when made. For the
Malhewr Agency in Oregon, the Indians of which have gone to war,
the appropriation was $50,000 in 1873, and $40,000 for the two
successive years; but in 1876 it was reduced to $25,000, and in
1877 to $20,000. The agent begged that if Congress intended to
persist in this course it would build a saw and grist-mill for the
Indians, but it was not done. At the Fort Hall and Lemhi Agency in
Idaho, where the present uprising began, the Indians were nearly
starved by the government. About 500 had to leave Fort Hall to
hunt up a subsistence for themselves; and last May the agent at
Lemhi was studying how to remove the band to a new location, to
protect it from the government. The outbreak on the part of the Nez
Percès, a year ago, did not affect these Indians at the time. They
all remained quiet and loyal, but they have had their own troubles
since, and have grown impatient at the failure of the government to
feed them.
The present outbreak began the latter part of May, when Buffalo
Horn, a noted scout, took out 200 Bannocks, and camped in the lava
beds between Big Camas Prairie and Snake River, in the southern
part of Idaho. The news of this rising spread over Idaho and
Eastern Oregon very quickly, and, in a fortnight’s time, all the
Indians of that region were in a state of excitement, and began
raiding the valleys and driving off and killing stock by the
hundred head. The United States troops in that region consisted
of a few companies of cavalry and infantry, scattered about the
two territories at the military posts. This was an insufficient
protection, and the citizens of Boise City, in Idaho, Walla-Walla,
in Oregon, Camp Harney and elsewhere, formed themselves into
volunteer companies for active operations. About June 1, Colonel
Bernard, with seventy cavalry and twenty citizens, started on a
forced march to Big Camas Prairie. The Indians did not await them
there, but began moving westward along Idaho River in straggling
bands, dining off the stock and killing occasional settlers on the
march. Howard sent orders at once to Bernard to return, which he
did, pursuing the Bannocks into the Owyhee country in the southeast
corner of Oregon. One incident of this movement on the part of
the Indians was a fight between seventeen citizens and about 100
Indians, about June 6, in which two volunteers and eight Indians
were killed.
A concentration of Indians took place in Southeastern Oregon, and,
on June 23, Bernard came upon a camp of them 1,500 strong. He had
only 200 men, but he surprised the camp, routed it and chased
the band for ten miles. A large number of Indians were killed.
Bernard lost four killed and three wounded. The savages retreated
to Stein’s Mountain. General Howard arrived on the field after the
fight, with Miles and Downey, having marched forty-five miles a day
to catch up with Bernard. From Stein’s Mountain the Indians moved
northward toward Camp Harney and Canyon City. They attacked neither
place, but concentrated on John Day River, where they are in camp,
1,500 strong, according to the dispatches printed above.
The other band of hostile Indians is on what is called Camas
Prairie, north of the Salmon river, in Central Idaho, the scene
of the outbreak by Joseph’s band of Nez Percès last year. The
dispatches just received state that this party is composed chiefly
of Snakes, and is about 1,000 strong.
The Klamaths at the agency in Southwestern Oregon began to commit
depredations about June 25. The band then numbered about 800.
—Some of those most intelligent in Indian affairs believe that
a general Indian war is an impossibility, unless the General
Government shall adopt some strangely unwise and hostile
policy. Even then the various tribes would not unite, but fight
independently, so much stronger are their mutual antipathies and
feuds than their hatred of the whites.
—The transfer of the Indians to the War Department has not been
accomplished. The whole matter has been referred to a joint
committee, consisting of three members of the Senate and five
members of the House, to investigate and report next January upon
the expediency of such a transfer.
—The _Advance_ says: “If the report shall be in its favor, the
transfer will be because the religious press and the friends of the
peace policy neglect their duty. It is stated that a majority of
the House branch of the Commission is opposed to the change.”
—The _Christian Union_ offers this suggestion: “The various
missionary bodies ought now to confer with each other, agree, if
possible, on the policy to be pursued toward the Indians, and then
send to Washington a delegation of the ablest men of the respective
denominations to urge its adoption. The fact that Secretary Schurz
is out of favor with Congress, is a poor reason for shifting the
Indians from his department, and we have yet to see any better
one assigned. The simple question is: How can the Indian tribes
be most easily civilized and Christianized, and so brought into
assimilation with Americans? And that is a question on which the
churches of America ought to have something to say.”
—The _Independent_ gives its testimony thus: “It is entirely clear
to our minds that the peace policy adopted in 1869, for which
great credit is due to General Grant, and which, not without some
imperfections, has been pursued ever since, is the best that ever
was adopted in this country, and in its principles and purpose the
only one that ever should be adopted. The statistics show that the
condition of the Indians, in all the elements that go to make up
the idea of civilization, has immensely improved within the last
ten years, under the benign influence of this policy. Our idea
on this subject is, that it is best to let well enough alone,
especially since we cannot make it better. Let us do right by the
Indian for the present, observing our treaties with him, dealing
justly by him, and fighting him only when compelled to do so by
a stern necessity, and then trust the providence of God for the
future.”
* * * * *
THE FREEDMEN.
* * * * *
VIRGINIA.
Religious Interest at Hampton—Missionary Zeal.
REV. RICHARD TOLMAN, HAMPTON.
Six of our students united with the church by profession June 9th,
the last Sabbath of the school-year, making twenty-seven who have
joined us since November 1st, besides those who have connected
themselves with other churches. After Commencement, May 23d, two
more of the graduating-class came out on “the Lord’s side,” so that
all but four of the boarding-pupils of that class are hopefully
Christian; and one of these four seems now “not far from the
kingdom of God.”
An interesting example of what Christian faith and perseverance
may accomplish, is that of a colored brother connected with our
printing-office. About a year since, he proposed starting a
Sabbath-school in a destitute neighborhood, but was told that it
would be of no use. He determined to try. Beginning with three
pupils, the number has constantly increased, until now he has a
school of more than eighty deeply-interested members. We need many
such laborers in these harvest-fields.
NORTH CAROLINA.
The Church—Contrasts and Progress—Two Prayers.
REV. D. D. DODGE, WILMINGTON.
Our church-work is distinct from the school, the latter being
not in any sense sectarian. We think we see marked improvement
in the character of those who have been longest members of the
church. They seem to hunger for truth for the purpose of living
it, and their progress is, of course, steady and rapid. We are
often thrilled by the rich experience as manifested by unconscious
expressions in the prayer-meetings. We have received six new
members during the year:
It may be well to hear what impression is made upon a new comer, so
I quote from one of our teachers who has been with us only a year.
“To hear of the degradation of the colored people of the South is
to know but little of it, for ‘the half can ne’er be told.’ It is
humiliating to think that in our own beloved land there exists so
much of barbarism and heathenish superstition. This is realized by
looking at the homes and home-life of the poor people, but much
more by noticing their form of religion.
“I had visited lowly cots and abodes of poverty, seeming devoid of
even the bare necessaries of life. Sometimes, in one small house
several families huddled together, the little ones swarming in
the yard like bees from the hive on a sunny day. I had seen poor
sewing women trying to earn a bare subsistence—trying to keep by
that little weapon, the needle, the wolf from the door. And I had
thought what must life be worth to such suffering ones? And yet the
degradation of this poor people never came to me with such force as
when, for the first time, I entered a colored church, and witnessed
scenes such as I had heard of, but never could realize without
_seeing_.
“The meeting was in progress when we entered, many talking or
standing ready for a chance to be heard, others jumping and
clapping their hands. One man, who gesticulated fiercely and
screamed hoarsely, exhorted the brethren and sisters to ‘look out
for the devil—he’s after yer—he’ll run yer inter the briers, but
yer mus’ put on yer shoes—he’ll knock yer down, but yer mus’ get
up an’ run, an’ put on yer shoes.’ Finally, in his frenzy, we
could distinguish nothing except, in broken utterances, ‘put on
yer shoes! put on yer shoes! put on yer shoes!’ amid the shouts of
laughter and cheers which urged him on, coming chiefly from the
female portion of the audience. He at length sat down exhausted,
when a woman rose in mid-air, with a wild scream, coming down
head-foremost, while all around were others shouting or jumping up
and down. This, with variations, continued amidst quavering, weird
music, the big cape bonnets bobbing to and fro, keeping time. At
length the minister, who seemed to prefer order, wished to close
the meeting, when immediately the people began to disperse, he
calling to them to keep their places until after the benediction
should be given, but they paid no heed. Whereupon he proceeded
to lecture them on this wise: ‘If I were at one of your houses
and should take my hat and leave without saying good day, you
would think it was a piece of very ill politeness,’—and more to
the same effect; but the tide not being stayed, he called upon
a fine-looking young man to pronounce the benediction, which he
did with such an air of ease and grace as contrasted strangely
with all the surroundings, and I turned away in silent wonder at
him, as being one of such a crowd. I never felt so truly thankful
for a better way that is opened to them, and that even a few are
struggling to elevate themselves,—are found sitting ‘clothed and in
their right mind,’ learning truth.
“For there _is_ a brighter side, and it is only by keeping in
mind the motto, ‘_look_ on the _bright_ side’ that there is
encouragement to make continued efforts for the uplifting of those
who do not wish it for themselves. That there are noble exceptions
we are glad and thankful. The little church planted here, as a
branch from the true vine, though in number small, is noble in its
strength of purpose, and the willingness of heart found in each
member. So eager to learn, so thankful to be taught, it has been a
pleasure to teach them as they have come to our night-school.”
At the closing session of our Sabbath-school, five young men
made short addresses. Their words were hearty and stirring, and
expressed a deep satisfaction with what they had gained in the
school, as they looked back over the time they had attended, one
of them adding modestly, “Not that I would have you think that I
have learned so _much_ of the Bible, for I don’t know anything of
any great account.” Ah! but what he has learned he has practiced
so faithfully that he is a shining light to all who know him, and
his words are eloquent with the power behind them of a consistent
life. All of these young men are a power for good in the city. Two
others, members of the church, are not in town, but we believe they
are living true lives elsewhere.
I close by giving you the quaint words of two prayers, offered
when the family was away, and jotted down by the one teacher who
was left in charge. The excellent spirit shines through the strange
clothing:
“O, Lord! please make us wise enough to see sin before we get to
it, that we may shun it; and won’t you please cause people to fall
out wi’ their ways and accept your ways.”
For the teachers gone North: