The Project Gutenberg EBook of The American Missionary -- Volume 32, No.
5, May, 1878, by Various

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Title: The American Missionary -- Volume 32, No. 5, May, 1878

Author: Various

Release Date: October 1, 2016 [EBook #53188]

Language: English

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THE
AMERICAN MISSIONARY.

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.

CORRESPONDING SECRETARY.

Rev. M. E. STRIEBY, 56 Reade Street, N. Y.

DISTRICT SECRETARIES.

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.

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.

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THE

AMERICAN MISSIONARY.

American Missionary Association.

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.

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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.

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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[132] 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:—

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[133] 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[134] 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[135] 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:[136] “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:

—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[137] 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[138] 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.

[139]

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[140] 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:[141] “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.

I had the privilege of being in the Sabbath-school. After the lessons were over, the superintendent said, “The founder and first teacher of the school is with us this morning, and we should all be glad if she would address the school.” I arose and spoke to them some words of encouragement, then took my leave. I there saw some who were once my little ignorant scholars, now teachers in the Sabbath-school. The superintendent himself was under my instruction, and the preacher also. I commenced while there a Woman’s Prayer-meeting, which is still continued, and in which, last winter, began a revival, the largest they have ever had.

The day-school is now taught by Miss Delia Irving, a young woman who graduated last June at Hampton, and received the first prize, awarded to her by the hand of Mrs. President Hayes.

And now, in looking back upon these events and scenes, we behold some of the little streams which have flowed out of the American Missionary Association, and which are designed, no doubt, to widen and deepen, through time and through eternity.

GEORGIA.

A Large Sunday-School—Faithful Teachers—A Temperance S. S. Concert.

MRS. R. F. MARKHAM, SAVANNAH.

For several months past, our Sabbath-school has been gradually and steadily increasing in numbers and interest. Last Sabbath morning there were one hundred and eighty-six present. We have a very faithful and efficient class of teachers—twelve in number. They are scarcely ever absent. We as much expect to see all our teachers in their places each Sabbath morning as to see the minister in the pulpit, and we are almost never disappointed. And their hearts are evidently in the work. We suggest the example (not boastingly) as worthy of imitation by some schools at the North, where the superintendents must, every Sunday, apply to the Bible-classes for substitutes to fill the places of absent teachers.

Last Sunday evening the school gave a temperance concert. The programme contained many passages of Scripture condemning the use of wine and strong drink, also showing the terrible effects and the final consequences of its use. In addition to the Bible showing of the matter, we had declamations, dialogues, recitations, music, and remarks by the pastor, all pertaining to the same subject.

All our classes (except one of very little children) were represented. We were almost proud of our scholars, they performed their parts so well, and we had given them very little time for preparation. We had a crowded house, many stood about the doors, and many others left, unable to gain admittance. The audience gave marked attention, and evinced much interest during all the exercises, and excellent order was maintained, though the house was crowded. During some of the performances there were indications of rather noisy demonstrations of delight, which, however, were readily restrained. The music contributed much to the interest of the occasion.

We hope that good may result from the effort, as intemperance presents formidable obstacles to the progress of our work here.

McIntosh, Liberty County.

The Old Midway Church—Returning Courage and Prosperity.

SILAS DANIELS, GOLDING’S GROVE.

When Brother Floyd Snelson was first taken from us to go to Africa, we almost believed that we should have to strike camp in the wilderness. It gave us much pain to have him go, and the church did become very feeble at one time. Since Brother Jos. E. Smith took the place, we have[142] had fresh courage, and have been going forward again. Yesterday was our Communion Sabbath. As usual, we had about 500 persons at the church. One young man was received to its membership. At the three communions since Brother Smith came, nine persons have joined the church. The people are coming up to their church duties with much zeal, and becoming more and more attached to their minister, and he is doing a good work among them. Our Sabbath-school, also, has been re-organized, and, with four teachers added, has an average of twenty-three or more scholars in each class. We have for the first time introduced the International Sunday-school Lessons, and all seem to be very much delighted with them.

We have a large church built by the A. M. A. that can seat five hundred persons comfortably, and it is pretty well filled every Sunday with people from all denominations, anxious to hear the true Gospel preached.

Interest in Church and Sunday-School.

REV. JOSEPH E. SMITH.

As the weather grows warm, and the wet, muddy roads become dry, thus favoring travel, the people from all directions flock in great crowds to the house of God, eager to hear the “words of eternal life.” I preached to a crowded house on last Sabbath, and many wanted to know what they “must do to be saved.” God is with us. Every Sabbath brings new signs for encouragement. There are marked evidences of a growing interest on the part of the people to learn of God through His Word. Especially has this been true since the “International Lessons” were introduced in our Sabbath-school. It makes a peculiar impression upon one to see persons fifty, sixty, seventy, and sometimes eighty years of age, whom slavery has worn out, sitting in their Sunday-school classes, with white heads and bent over bodies, with their dim, sunken eyes fixed on the teachers, and sometimes lips and throat moving as if to swallow every word. None of them can read, and it is quite amusing at times to watch them trying to recall the kings of Judah in their order, telling who the good ones were, and naming some of the good things they did. The joy and satisfaction which one shares, in being an instrument in God’s hands for the revealing of His Word unto such babes, are inestimable.

Needs of this Field.

REV. S. S. ASHLEY.

Not only is this field needy, but promising. A majority of the people, and those living about the old Midway Church, are nearly all colored. Many of the white landed proprietors are non-residents. Rice culture is the principal employment. The colored people are rapidly becoming land owners, and are remarkably successful in making their payments. Just now, their means are mostly consumed in this effort, consequently they can expend very little in improving their habitations; yet there is improvement in this respect. They are beginning to come out of the swamps and build by the roadside. As slaves, they were not allowed to dwell near the “big road”; therefore, the woods and the swamps seem to them more like home than the roadside. But without instruction they will not achieve much domestic improvement. In fact, they need instruction in every direction—in house-building, in road-making, in agriculture, in domestic economy, in the improvement of time, in business, as well as in schools and churches. A missionary to this people should be an Oberlin. An Oberlin’s work will pay richly. The whole field is accessible to missionary labor. Very many desire instruction. They listen eagerly to kind, plain, Christian advice, and will travel many miles for the privilege. Certainly these are the marks of a good missionary field.

But to energize this prosperity, the meeting-house should be put into comfortable condition. It is a large but unfinished structure. In damp and chilly weather, it is uncomfortable—so much so, that the pastor doubts about the propriety of holding, in the winter, meetings at night. The place of Divine worship should be, not only comfortable, but refining and elevating. The people[143] who have good meeting-houses will have good dwelling-houses. The meeting-house should be a teacher of neatness, care, attention, thrift and reverence. Unless the house is attractive, attractive preaching is well-nigh impossible.

Again, the school-house should be removed to the road, beside the meeting-house, and enlarged. Its present situation is out of the way, and it is too small to accommodate the pupils.

These are my impressions concerning the A. M. A. work in Liberty County. Brother Smith is succeeding well, but he needs the improvements I have mentioned. I hope that you can aid in completing the meeting-house. If the building stands a year longer without attention, it will require repairs as well as finishing. A portable saw-mill would be a grand civilizing and missionary agency.

Ogeechee.

REV. JOHN K. MCLEAN.

Rejoice with me, for the Lord has answered our prayer for an old man, who has spent sixty-five years in the service of Satan, but is now rejoicing in the great grace and love of a forgiving Saviour. It is quite a change in the old man, to see him in Sunday-school and at preaching service, and to hear him using his tongue in telling how good God has been to him, instead of taking His name in vain, as he used to do. But while we rejoice with this one, there are others for whom we are praying, and for whom we ask an interest in your prayers, that they may be brought into the fold of Christ.

I hope to be able to help a few of the young people, but the way seems dark at present. One of our Northern friends, who is here in the work, said to me not long ago, “The people North know nothing of the real condition of the people here; it is so unlike anything there, that they cannot realize just how it is. Before I came here I had heard a great deal about the state of things, but had no thought of finding the people in the condition in which they are.” I know that what she said is true, and that many of our friends North, and in England, have but little idea of the real condition of our people.

I am sure that if the representations that Christ and His disciples gave of the Christian life be true, there must be a much greater and deeper work among the people here before the Spirit of God can make them His. I have thought and said often, and I say it yet, that the work of the A. M. A., or a work of the same kind, is the only thing that will save the people of the South. Nine out of every ten know but little or nothing of what it is to live an upright life, and, therefore, they have no real communion with God, such as all His true children do have.

If the people here could be made to see the wrong there is in rum, and to put it down, there would be some hope for them; but so long as rum takes their labor, their money, their brains, and their God from them, there is no hope for them, and but little chance of doing them good. This is saying a great deal, but the truth is light, and that is what we want. Fourteen persons have been received into the church since I came here, and more are expected to come in with us. I am sure the Lord is waiting to bless this place.

THE ALABAMA CONFERENCE.

Papers, Reports, Sunday-School Convention, Theological Institute.

REV. CHARLES NOBLE, MONTGOMERY.

The Alabama Conference met Friday evening, March 29th, in the college chapel at Talladega; the exercises opening with the annual sermon, by Rev. Mr. Ash, of Mobile, and an address of welcome to the delegates, by Prof. Lord. Rev. Mr. Andrews read a paper of very great interest, on the “Mission of Congregationalism in the South.” He first dwelt upon the history of Congregationalism, especially in its freedom from complicity with slavery, its prominence in the anti-slavery movement, and its comparative freedom from the sect spirit, as peculiarly indicating its call to work among the freedmen. He then brought out the peculiar features of the polity, independence and fellowship, and[144] showed how they tend (1) to develop and sustain republican institutions, and to fit the church member for his duties as a citizen; (2) to promote intelligence; (3) to sustain an unshackeled pulpit, and (4) to develop personal piety, including moral reform and revivals. This is a very bare abstract of an essay which aroused great interest, and tended to encourage and cheer on the workers very much. Other papers were read, on “How to Develop Benevolence in our Churches,” by Rev. Fletcher Clark, of Selma; on the “Relation of Talladega College to our Church Work,” by Prof. Lord; and on the “Mission of the Young Ministers in the South,” by Rev. P. J. McEntosh—himself one of those young colored men who have gone out from Mr. Andrew’s teaching to work among their own people.

The reports from the churches showed a very encouraging condition of things. One new church has been organized during the year, making a total of thirteen within the bounds of the State. All are, at present, supplied with ministers. Almost all reported additions on profession of faith, and evidence of the special presence of the Spirit. Though it has not been a year of remarkable revivals, it has been one of hopeful and vigorous growth. The feeling seemed general and strong, that these little churches have “come to stay” in Alabama, and have no idea of dying whatsoever. A great deal of missionary activity was reported. Talladega College sustains twenty-five Sabbath-schools; Montgomery and Selma, four each; and others are not behind, according to their means and opportunities. It is certainly a suggestive and encouraging fact that, in the very heart of Alabama, a body of men could come together so full of enthusiasm for Puritan ideas, and should, without exception, report that their hold upon the communities in which they labor is manifestly strengthening.

The Sunday-school Convention opened Monday night, with an address on “The Object of Sunday-school Effort, Winning Souls,” by Rev. George E. Hill, of Marion; followed by a lecture on the “Geography of the kingdom of Judah,” by Rev. G. W. Andrews. Tuesday, Mr. Clark, of Selma, gave a Bible Reading on Faith; Prof. Lord taught the lesson for the following Sunday; Mr. Hickok opened the question box, and gave a variety of helpful answers; and the delegates from the different Sunday-schools made their reports. These showed that the work of our churches rests on a good foundation, in numerous live, growing Sabbath-schools; and that, in trying to save as many as possible of the present generation, the men and women of the next thirty years are not being forgotten.

Tuesday night, the Theological Institute began with a very elaborate paper on the “Relation of Mental Philosophy to Theology,” by Rev. D. W. Hickok. Wednesday, we were treated with examinations in Smith’s O. T. History, and the Psalms, conducted by Prof. Andrews and Mr. Hickok, and a paper on “Future Punishment,” by Rev. Mr. Hill. Thursday, there were plans of sermons offered for criticism by Mr. Clark and Mr. Hickok; a paper on “Joseph Cook,” by Mr. Noble; and an examination on the “Patriarchal Period,” by Mr. Andrews; closing with a free conference of workers in the evening.

Even more interesting to many of us than the proceedings of Conference, was our observation of the work of Talladega College. The Conference met Prof. Lord, for formal consultation in regard to the College work by a committee; and that committee’s report will be published. We met the students and faculty constantly at table, and in the meetings; had a very pleasant picnic gathering in the woods of the College Farm, and listened to a very entertaining concert by the “Musical Union.” I cannot forbear expressing, what I feel sure was the universal feeling, interest and admiration for the good work Prof. Lord and his co-laborers are doing. Many of us were specially interested in the “Industrial Department,” and wish the brethren of the College the greatest success in that effort to build up manly,[145] womanly, self-reliant characters in the pupils.

My visit at Talladega, and my intercourse with the workers there, have made me feel more deeply interested in the work than ever. I could not ask a happier lot than to be permitted to give my life to this field. It seems to me so unmistakably the work of Christ.

ALABAMA.
Science and Religion.

REV. G. W. ANDREWS, TALLADEGA.

The Theological Department of Talladega College has just been favored with a special course of lectures on the “Relation of Science to Religion,” by the Rev. D. L. Hickok, recently of Kingsville, Ohio. The lectures were full of instruction, and awakened a great deal of interest among our pupils. Mr. Hickok is an able thinker, and an inspiring and enthusiastic speaker.

Skepticism has little footing here, and will have still less now that we have such a flood of light thrown upon what was before mysterious, and supposed to be known only to the scientist. Let the scientist give us the “living” from the “not living” if he can, and let him bridge the frightful chasm between different species of the animal kingdom, before our faith in his new theories is much strengthened. We believe in Mr. Cook, and wish we could see him face to face to thank him a thousand times for his three published volumes. We hail with joy these lectures by Mr. Cook, and mean to do our part to reflect the light he is shedding, until it finds its way, as it is sure to do, into the hearts of the masses, to bless them with the “rest of faith.” His powerful arguments are taking strong hold of us all.

Rev. Mr. Hickok is an original thinker, and has done us a good service by his lectures. It is such men, of commanding influence and power, that we need in this work of peculiar difficulties among the freedmen. We wish other and similar institutions might be favored as we have been.

LOUISIANA.

Part of a Day Among the Poor.

MISS JOSEPHINE PIERCE, NEW ORLEANS.

In the rear of St. Charles Avenue you may enter and see an old man. He says he has been converted since he was ninety years of age. The Psalms are all his delight. There has not been a chip of wood nor a grain of coal in his room all this winter. With the strength of a hundred years in his muscles, he grasps a crust of bread, and asks for more. His daughter replies: “Father, you should put your mind on the Lord, and then you wouldn’t be so hungry; people that pray all the time don’t have such an appetite.” As if this were not enough, in this same room, the worse than fatherless baby, Leopold, has come into New Orleans life, with that stain upon his birth, which all the waters in the ocean cannot wash away. For these four generations, from the great-grandfather to the babe of yesterday, only one woman’s frail hands to keep the wolf from the door, and hers held from going out to work, by the sickness that cannot spare her from home. With all Father H’s ever-flowing liberality, there have been weeks in succession, this winter, when there has not been twenty-five cents’ worth of corn-meal to give the old man; for if he had it, Aunt Deborah, who has seen General Washington many and many a time, would have to go without; and if she had it, blind Aunt Bagatelle would have to go without; and if she had it, blind Aunt Milly would have to go without.

Perhaps it will be easier to breathe in the next house. Over the way, as the mother’s hand is clasped in greeting: “You miss your boy?”[146] “Yes, James is dead. He wanted white sugar in his tea, and I couldn’t get it for him. He wanted medicine, and I couldn’t get it for him. He was hungry-like. So it’s good the Father has taken him; I gave him the medicine your minister sent him. I put a spoonful of the medicine that didn’t need sweetening into the medicine that did need sweetening. It seemed to do him good.”

Let us go to the sunny side, three miles away. “God bless you, my child,” was all the mother’s gift to Baby Vasa. A foster-mother welcomed the orphan to her heart and her home. As she stands by the tub—“I have no bonnet,” she says; “but we have the baby. We used to have milk in the family, but since the baby came we haven’t stopped the cart. I don’t know how to make clothes for him, but I think I can learn.” God bless thee, Baby Vasa, for all the unselfish love thy little fingers work out in the daily life about thee! A can of milk for Baby Vasa brought a never-to-be-forgotten light into the foster-mother’s eyes.

Here is a house without a number. As you lift the wooden latch, you feel that some one is waiting for a coming step. “I was sick last night,” Aunt Jemima says. “I thought the angels would come for me; I sometimes think they will come very soon.” Her bed is under the rafters, just at the head of those narrow stairs. The room, without a door, is the only thoroughfare for another family. There is no sheet on the bed; cotton was given for it, but was saved for something else. She goes on: “People won’t come in one of these mornings, and say, ‘Aunt Jemima’s dead, and she’s very poor, and we’ll have to go right out and buy her some clothes,’ for I have a skirt and a white dress, and a pair of new stockings.” “But the stockings were given to you year before last—ar’n’t they worn out yet?” “Oh, no! you don’t think I would ever put them on. When the sun shines, I hang them on that pole to air them.” A piece of sugar-cane is in the ashes for fuel. The old limbs failed the last time they went out to Lake Pontchartrain for drift-wood. A satisfied smile lights up the whole face—the ear bends close to the lips, and they murmur: “I am rich; when the angels come for me, I have a pair of new stockings.”

KENTUCKY.

Temperance and Evangelistic Work.

REV. JOHN G. FEE, BEREA.

For more than two months we have had weekly meetings on the subject of temperance, attended by large audiences, and securing more than a thousand names to the Murphy Pledge. The moral effect of the movement is strengthened by the fact that each pledge is made whilst invoking the assisting grace of God, and is accompanied by reading the Scriptures, and Christian song. Taking this one step in the right direction is a preparation for a complete surrender to Christ.

During a part of this time Brother Myers, from Hillsdale, Mich., has been here preaching at night. Our chapel is occupied during the day as a recitation room, and though the weather has been peculiarly unfavorable, yet a goodly number have been in attendance each night, with some nineteen or twenty conversions, and many other persons deeply impressed.

Each day brings to us fresh grounds of hope, and enlarged prospects for usefulness. At no other time since its organization has Berea College had so hopeful a prospect as now. Once or twice we have had as many pupils, but at no other time so many of high moral worth and social influence. Daily, the prejudice against a school of colored and white pupils is subsiding; and young men and young women of good habits and character are coming in, and such as appreciate an education, in connection with just and righteous sentiments. We feel that the demonstration here—that God leads and is over us for good—is important for society and our country. We have an abiding conviction that our heavenly Father approves, and that we may, in faith, ask for grace and means.

With the people around us, our association is free and pleasant. With many of the neighboring towns and congregations, exchange of laborers and speakers is frequent, and to mutual advantage. What we need is good men, discreet, self-sacrificing and earnest; and this land will be brought under the power of the Gospel, and of a Jesus who loves all impartially.

[147]

THE AFRICAN MISSIONARIES.

THE FREEDMEN’S MISSIONS AID SOCIETY.

A Public Meeting in Liverpool.

On the evening of March the 8th, a large congregation came together in the Great George street church (formerly Dr. Raffles), to welcome to Liverpool four colored missionaries, ex-slaves, from Fisk University, and also to bid them farewell on the eve of their departure; under the care of the American Missionary Association, for the Mendi Mission, on the west coast of Africa. The missionaries were very cordially greeted by many of the old, and also the new, friends of the African race.

William Crosfield, J. P., a life-long friend of the oppressed race, presided. After an appropriate hymn, prayer was offered by the Rev. Stanley Rogers. Then the chairman said: “It gives me great pleasure to preside at such a meeting of this society. These missionaries before you are the first-fruits from the Fisk University, which was established at Nashville, Tenn., for the education of those who were freed from slavery by the late Civil War in America. And now, here they are ready for work in that great mission field of Africa. It is a vast field. And it is to be hoped that the British people will do their part in the aid of this most important enterprise. Fisk University was introduced to the English people a few years ago by the Jubilee Singers, who have done wonders towards its support.” The chairman then turned and added: “We must not forget the wives of these young missionaries; we must give them a shake of the hand, as a token of our interest in them.”

The Rev. Dr. O. H. White (one of the secretaries of the Freedmen’s Aid Society), then gave an interesting statement of the origin of the American Missionary Association, of its plan and work for the African race, and of the formation of the Freedmen’s Missions Aid Society, with the Earl of Shaftesbury as President, to be auxiliary to the Association in New York. And he stated that the united societies are now making a special effort to send missionaries from among the freedmen to that dark and long-plundered continent beyond the sea—Africans to teach and to save Africans!

The Rev. Andrew Jackson, one of the missionaries, then spoke, and gave a very interesting account of their call to the work, and of the great increase of the missionary spirit in Fisk University during the year, and of the great self-denial on the part of the colored parents and of pupils, that larger numbers may get an education, and so be prepared for a greater usefulness among their own benighted people.

The chairman then called on the Rev. Hugh Stowell Brown, pastor for many years of the Myrtle street Baptist Church. He stated his great interest in the Jubilee Singers, and in the efforts making to send the Gospel to that long-neglected Africa, which is now so wonderfully opening up to trade and commerce, and especially to Christianity. He expressed his strong hope that these young missionaries would be brought safely to their field of labor, and that they might be greatly successful in their work, and that many more might follow their example, and go forth to that great African field.

Rev. Albert Miller (a true type of the African race), then addressed the meeting, with the warmth and glow peculiar to the sable children of the summer and more genial climes. He spoke of the depressed condition of his people in America, and of the need on that dark continent, to which he and his associates were now going, under the Divine lead. He expressed the desire of his heart that all Christians should pray and give for the evangelization of the benighted millions of Africa.

The Rev. Mr. Pearson, M. A., pastor of the church, next spoke, in the most cordial[148] manner, of his great pleasure in welcoming these young missionaries and the freedmen’s cause to that ancient historic church. He commended the plan for sending educated Africans to that great work to be done in those vast fields, which have proved so fatal to Anglo-Saxon life. He said the British people had special reasons for taking part with the American people in this effort to redeem Africa from the darkness and doom of the past centuries. If the work so well begun was followed up, as it ought to be, the time was not distant when we should see a far better day for that dark continent with its millions of people.

In the absence of the Rev. Mr. Wech, M. A., who was expected to speak, his Elder, John Patterson, Esq., was called to fill the place. He spoke with the pith and pathos characteristic of those from the Emerald Isle. He recalled a little of the past history of Liverpool and contrasted it happily with the present state of things, when so many, from the different denominations of the city, could come together so harmoniously to greet the young missionaries from Fisk University, on their way to the west coast of Africa to teach the knowledge of the Gospel to the benighted of their race.

The Rev. Wardlaw Thompson, in a few words, cordially commended the Freedmen’s cause to the hearts and to the pecuniary support of the friends of Africa. He then led the congregation in an earnest prayer for the blessing of God upon the missionaries, in their voyage to their distant home, and upon their work for many years among their own people.

An appropriate hymn was then sung, and the services, which had been highly satisfactory, were closed with the Benediction.

Wanted—Cloth, Bibles and School-books.

REV. FLOYD SNELSON, SHERBRO ISLAND, W. AFRICA.

I must “strike while the iron is hot.”

There is very little of anything found here. Most of the children and parents go naked, with the exception of those who wear a handkerchief or country cloth. When you ask them to send their children to school, they show a willingness, but render, as excuse, that they have no clothes, and that they are unable to furnish them. Cloth here is very high, and in most cases their excuse is reasonable. If some person would be so kind as to send out a quantity of cheap cloth, to be made up for clothing, it will prove a blessing to many a suffering one.

The disadvantages and sufferings through which this people have to pass are indescribable. I have had many calls for Bibles, but regret to say I have been unable to honor any. We have a very flourishing Sabbath-school, and are in great need of Sabbath-school papers and tracts. The day-school is larger. Some of the scholars are unable to pursue their studies for want of books. We cannot keep the number together we now have, unless this evil is removed.

THE INDIANS.

S’KOKOMISH AGENCY, W. T.

Sunday-School Progress—An Indian Festival—Temperance and Order.

REV. MYRON EELLS.

Our Sabbath-school is accustomed to make a specialty of inducing the children to learn the lesson in the Bible, believing that the Bible is the best Sabbath instruction with which we can store their minds. Learning six verses places a child on the roll of honor, and reciting them perfectly gives him two credit marks. For four Sabbaths during the past year there was no Sabbath-school, hence the highest number which a child could receive was ninety-six. That[149] number was received by one Indian girl, and it is the best that has ever been done in the school. Last year the highest number was eighty-six, and that was better than the year before. Ten others, out of about thirty who can read English, received over fifty credit marks.

In January and February, I was absent some three weeks at an Indian festival, ninety miles from here. They are wholly heathenish, but thus far it has been about as impossible to prevent them as it is to prevent a river running down stream; hence, the next best thing is to guide them. Drunkenness at such places is one of their worst dangers, and the principal Indians are beginning to realize it. About 550 Indians were present, seventy-five of whom went from this reservation. I have made the trip by canoe several times in the summer, and in the winter by steamer, but the prospect was not pleasant of traveling 180 miles in an open canoe; camping out when it might rain, snow or freeze all the time. But the chiefs there and here urged me to go, and assist in guarding against worthless white men and Indians. There was no one else to go, and it did seem that if they should get on a “big drunk,” and I should be asked why I did not go and try to prevent it, and should reply, because I was afraid it would be stormy, it would be a poor excuse. It was a hard place to attempt to elevate the Indians, though I held several services with them, but there was a prospect that I might prevent their falling as deep into the pit as they would otherwise. The result justified the work. One drunken Indian was arrested, one drunken white man and wife were sent home; and it was plain that, had I not been there, no one could have told where it would have ended. Out of the seventy-five who went with me, I do not know of more than half a dozen who have been drunk within four years, although nearly all drank more or less previous to the adoption of the present policy; and it is considerable to say that 550 Indians were together for a week, and that there was only one case of drunkenness, and only one of quarreling.

GREEN BAY AGENCY.

Education Among the Menomonee Indians.

JOS. C. BRIDGMAN, KESHENA, WIS.

Education among the Menomonee Indians is making very perceptible headway. At the suggestion of Colonel E. C. Watkins, United States Indian Inspector, the three day-schools upon the reserve were merged into a boarding-school, in September, 1876. This has proved a success beyond our most hopeful expectations. No like school among white children, so far as my observation goes, shows more enthusiasm on the part of the scholars, more zeal on the part of the teachers, or better progress, when the obstacles to success are taken into consideration.

It is almost impossible to induce the children to talk English. Only when forced to do so, will they speak in other than their vernacular tongue. Naturally very timid, a proper and pleasant familiarity with them is a sure inroad to their confidence, and the knowledge of them thus gained convinces us that they are capable of comprehending and grasping ideas of knowledge. We have no difficulty in filling our limited accommodations; and, could they be increased sufficiently, we should expect an average attendance of one hundred children. This tribe very enthusiastically voted $6,000 of their own funds, to be expended in the erection of a school boarding-house; but the possibility of part of the tribe becoming citizens within a few years, leads the Indian Bureau to delay the building, so much needed and desired.

The Indian problem will never be satisfactorily solved until education and citizenship are brought to the foreground, and take the prominence they deserve.

This is strictly a government school. The two teachers are Protestants, the assistant matron a Catholic. When first established, the Romish priest attempted to break it up; but understanding the agent’s aim, that it should be free from sectarianism on the part of both teachers and matron, he has kindly and wisely withdrawn all opposition, and is in pleasant harmony with both agent and school.

[150]

THE CHINESE.

“CALIFORNIA CHINESE MISSION.”

Auxiliary to the American Missionary Association.

President: Rev. J. K. McLean, D. D. Vice-Presidents: Rev. A. L. Stone, D. D., Thomas C. Wedderspoon, Esq., Rev. T. K. Noble, Hon. F. F. Low, Rev. I. E. Dwinell, D. D., Hon. Samuel Cross, Rev. S. H. Willey, D. D., Edward P. Flint, Esq., Rev. J. W. Hough, D. D., Jacob S. Taber, Esq.

Directors: Rev. George Moor, D. D., Hon. E. D. Sawyer, Rev. W. E. Ijams, James M. Haven, Esq., Rev. Joseph Rowell, E. P. Sanford, Esq., H. W. Severance, Esq.

Secretary: Rev. W. C. Pond. Treasurer: E. Palache, Esq.

A Rebuke and a Response.

The following communication is clipped from the San Francisco Chronicle. The club which expresses its mind after this sort, is a society of so-called (miscalled) “workingmen,” followers of Dennis Kearney. Bernal Heights is in the immediate vicinity of Bethany Church, of which Rev. W. C. Pond is the pastor. The production has marked peculiarities, not only in moral tone, but in grammar and rhetoric as well, and affords to our readers all the elements necessary for a correct and vivid picture of its authors:

Justice to San Francisco demands that we append to this deliverance of the club the following editorial response, which appeared the same week in the Mission Mirror,[151] a paper published in the section of the city in which Bethany Church and Bernal Heights are located:

FOOTNOTE:

THE CHILDREN’S PAGE.

ALBERT, THE SLAVE BOY.

MRS. A. K. SPENCE, NASHVILLE, TENN.

Twenty-three years ago, in one of the northern counties of Mississippi, there was born a little slave boy. No white blood coursed in his veins. No one cared for his birth save, perhaps, his weary slave mother. Some one called him Albert, and that was all, for slave children had only one name. No future opened before him, for slave children had no future, but service to a master. He grew up to a life of poverty and toil and neglect, and early learned what it was to be cold and hungry and sorrowful.

By and by began the fierce struggle between slavery and freedom. The slaves were sent from place to place, to prevent their escape to the Union army. Albert wandered about with them—to Tennessee, to Texas, to Georgia—till the close of the war found him back in Tennessee, and near the city of Nashville. Here he picked up his letters, and, at the age of fourteen, learned to read. In 1869, he went to a school taught by one of the first student teachers from Fisk University, who encouraged him to look to something higher than the spelling-book and reader.

In 1870 he entered that institution. Then began the long, hard struggle for an education. For two years he groomed horses and did housework. For two years more he took care of a drunken young man, the son of wealthy parents in Nashville; and often might Albert have been seen with his Greek or Latin book, far into the night, sitting in some saloon or grocery, waiting for the young man, whose aged mother had made him promise that he would never leave her son in a saloon at night. Poor, awkward, and dressed out of missionary barrels, often the recipient of student aid, sometimes well-nigh disheartened, but always pressing on; once bought off by Mr. Spence for the sum of ten dollars, when his father wanted him to work in the field, he toiled slowly on, step by step, winning honor and respect, and loved by his teachers as, perhaps, few students of Fisk University were ever loved.

Always good in scholarship, always among the first of his class, in nine years he passed from the alphabet to within three mouths of a college diploma.

He was converted in 1872, and at once gave himself to the ministry. In common with most students of Fisk University, he had thought, though not very definitely, of missionary work in Africa.

On the 1st day of February, there came a call for two men for the Mendi Mission. Albert had his plans. He hoped to graduate from college, a thing few colored youths[152] have attained. He had two orphan brothers and a little sister, to whom he purposed to give an education and Christian training. Perhaps he had also his ambitions in the ministry, where educated colored men will soon rise so high; but he laid them all aside when God called, and with a fellow-student, whose soul was mightily stirred by that call, he said, “Here am I, Lord, send me.” He said, “How I should feel, to have God call, and I not be ready!”

His last request to the students of Fisk University was that they would make this its motto:

To-day Albert Miller is on the shores of Africa. The prayers, the tears, the affections of the institution, are with him. The prayers of the Christian heart of America will be with him, and his companions, in that distant land. Did not God, who chose Abraham and David, and Paul and Luther, choose him for such a time as this, and make all the years of his slavery—his privations, and his discipline—but the means to fit him for this great work of carrying the Gospel to Africa?

RECEIPTS

FOR MARCH, 1878.

The American Missionary Association.

AIM AND WORK.

To preach the Gospel to the poor. It originated in a sympathy with the almost friendless slaves. Since Emancipation it has devoted its main efforts to preparing the Freedmen for their duties as citizens and Christians in America and as missionaries in Africa. As closely related to this, it seeks to benefit the caste-persecuted Chinese in America, and to co-operate with the Government in its humane and Christian policy towards the Indians. It has also a mission in Africa.

STATISTICS.

Churches: In the South—In Va., 1; N. C., 5; S. C., 2; Ga., 11; Ky., 5; Tenn., 4; Ala., 12; La., 12; Miss., 1; Kansas, 2; Texas, 4. Africa, 1. Among the Indians, 2. Total, 62.

Institutions Founded, Fostered or Sustained in the South. Chartered: Hampton, Va.; Berea, Ky.; Talladega, Ala.; Atlanta, Ga.; Nashville, Tenn.; Tougaloo, Miss.; New Orleans, La.; and Austin, Texas, 8; Graded or Normal Schools: at Wilmington, Raleigh, N. C.; Charleston, Greenwood, S. C.; Macon, Atlanta, Ga.; Montgomery, Mobile, Athens, Selma, Ala.; Memphis, Tenn., 11; Other Schools, 7. Total, 26.

Teachers, Missionaries and Assistants—Among the Freedmen, 209; among the Chinese, 17; among the Indians, 16; in foreign lands, 10. Total, 252. Students—In Theology, 74; Law, 8; in College Course, 79; in other studies, 5,243. Total, 5,404. Scholars taught by former pupils of our schools, estimated at 100,000. Indians under the care of the Association, 13,000.

WANTS.

1. A steady Increase of regular income to keep pace with the growing work in the South. This increase can only be reached by regular and larger contributions from the churches—the feeble as well as the strong.

2. Additional Buildings for our higher educational institutions, to accomodate the increasing numbers of students; Meeting Houses, for the new churches we are organizing; More Ministers, cultured and pious, for these churches.

3. Help for Young Men, to be educated as ministers here and missionaries to Africa—a pressing want.

Before sending boxes, always correspond with the nearest A. M. A. office, as below.

MAGAZINE.

This Magazine will be sent, gratuitously, if desired, to the Missionaries of the Association; to Life Members; to all clergymen who take up collections for the Association; to Superintendents of Sabbath Schools; to College Libraries; to Theological Seminaries; to Societies of Inquiry on Missions; and to every donor who does not prefer to take it as a subscriber, and contributes in a year not less than five dollars.

Those who wish to remember the American Missionary Association in their last Will and Testament, are earnestly requested to use the following

FORM OF A BEQUEST.

“I BEQUEATH to my executor (or executors) the sum of —— dollars in trust, to pay the same in —— days after my decease to the person who, when the same is payable, shall act as Treasurer of the “American Missionary Association,” New York City, to be applied under the direction of the Executive Committee of the Association, to its charitable uses and purposes.”

The Will should be attested by three witnesses [in some States three are required—in other States only two], who should write against their names, their places of residence [if in cities, their street and number]. The following form of attestation will answer for every State in the Union: “Signed, sealed, published and declared by the said [A. B.] as his last Will and Testament, in presence of us, who, at the request of the said A. B., and in his presence, and in the presence of each other, have hereunto subscribed our names as witnesses.” In some States, it is required that the Will should be made at least two months before the death of the testator.

[157]

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[From the “Rod and Gun,” Nov. 18, 1876.]

The Remington Gun.—Judge H. A. Gildersleeve, of the American Rifle Team, 1874, 1875 and 1876, thus writes under the date of November 10:

“I have just returned from the Big South Bay, where I have been gunning for ducks. I tried, for the first time, the Remington 10-gauge Gun I purchased from you last summer. My success with it was excellent. In my judgment, its shooting capacity cannot be surpassed. I want no better gun, and if I did, I don’t believe I could find it, even among the expensive grades of English guns.

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[158]

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No other paints for structural purposes equal ours in richness and purity of color, covering capacity and durability. They are especially adapted for exposed wood and iron, but are equally desirable for inside and general work. Two coats of these paints form a handsomer and more durable protective coating than three coats of the best white lead and linseed oil, or any other paints in use. We can therefore guarantee a saving of from 20 to 40 per cent. of the usual cost of painting.

The Contract for Supplying Paints for the Gilbert Elevated Railroad of New York City was Awarded to Us. This is the largest contract ever made for painting any single structure in this country.

ROOF PAINT for tin and shingle roofs, iron work, agricultural implements, fences, out-buildings, etc. We guarantee this to be a better and more economical paint than has ever before been offered to the public for similar purposes.

This Paint was used with entire success, when all others failed, upon the roof of the Exhibition Buildings at Philadelphia, the largest area of Tin Roofing in the world.

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This Paint has been applied to more than four and a half acres of wood-work in the two immense Dry Goods Stores of Messrs. A. T. Stewart & Co. of New York City.

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The Asbestos Roofing is used in preference to all others by the Kingsford Oswego Starch Factory, Remington & Sons, Cheney Bros., Columbus Car and Wheel Works, and by the most extensive Manufacturers, Builders, Railroad Companies, etc., in the United States.

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The public are cautioned against purchasing worthless imitations of these materials.

[159]

BROWN BROS. & CO.

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These Credits, bearing the signature of the holder, afford a ready means of identification, and the amounts for which they are issued can be availed of from time to time, wherever he may be, in sums to meet the requirements of the Traveler.

Application for Credits may be made to either of the above houses direct, or through any respectable bank or banker in the country.

They also issue Commercial Credits, make Cable Transfers of Money between this Country and England, and draw Bills of Exchange on Great Britain and Ireland.

[160]

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We continue to make a discount of twenty-five per cent. from our prices on these well-known Cooking and Parlor Stoves, to Clergymen and College Professors. Orders and letters in response to this notice, addressed to our New York house, will receive prompt attention. Special terms to Clergymen on all our Goods.

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Transcriber’s Notes:

Punctuation, spelling and grammar were changed only where the error appears to be a printing error. The punctuation changes are too numerous to list; the others are as follows:

“our” changed to “four” on page 135 (doubled in last four months).

“thec ontribution” changed to “the contribution” on page 138 (the contribution needs casting out).

“fa ar” changed to “a far” on page 148 (we should see a far better day).

“Cougregational” changed to “Congregational” on page 156 (Room 21, Congregational House).

“aud” changed to “and” on page 160 (Hall Chairs and Hanging Glasses).

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