Title: The American Missionary — Volume 44, No. 06, June, 1890
Author: Various
Release date: June 11, 2005 [eBook #16036]
Most recently updated: December 11, 2020
Language: English
Credits: Produced by Cornell University, Joshua Hutchinson, Erika
Q. Stokes and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
https://www.pgdp.net
Relating to the work of the Association may be addressed to the Corresponding Secretaries; letters for "THE AMERICAN MISSIONARY," to the Editor, at the New York Office; letters relating to the finances, to the Treasurer.
In drafts, checks, registered letters, or post-office orders, may be sent to H.W. Hubbard, Treasurer, Bible House, New York, or, when more convenient, to either of the Branch Offices, 21 Congregational House, Boston, Mass., 151 Washington Street, Chicago, Ill., or 64 Euclid Ave., Cleveland, Ohio. A payment of thirty dollars at one time constitutes a Life Member.
Notice to Subscribers.—The date on the "address label," indicates the time to which the subscription is paid. Changes are made in date on label to the 10th of each month. If payment of subscription be made afterward, the change on the label will appear a month later. Please send early notice of change in post-office address, giving the former address and the new address, in order that our periodicals and occasional papers may be correctly mailed.
"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,' of 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.
| Vol. XLIV. | June, 1890. | No. 6. |
The Rooms of the American Missionary Association are now in the Bible House, New York City. Correspondents will please address us accordingly.
Visitors will find our Rooms on the sixth floor of the Bible House, corner Ninth Street and Fourth Avenue; entrance by elevator on Ninth Street.
Not long since Rev. R.S. Storrs, D.D., preached a sermon in his own pulpit, presenting the claims of the American Missionary Association for the annual collection in its behalf from the Church of the Pilgrims, Brooklyn, N.Y. This sermon appeared in print in one of the daily papers, and attracted the attention of a benevolent gentleman deeply interested in the Christian education of the colored people, who was so impressed with the great value of the address, that he has furnished the Association with the means to print a large edition for general circulation. This we have done, and we presume that already, many of our readers have had the opportunity of reading this eminently wise and timely utterance on one of America's greatest problems. Should any one desire an extra copy, we will gladly furnish it on application.
Although the discourse has had large circulation, we cannot resist the temptation to extract a few of its forcible utterances on some very important points.
Permanent popular liberties have their only sure foundation in sound moral conditions practically universal. We must secure these among those to whom we have given the ballot, and who are to be henceforth citizens with ourselves. Otherwise, we are [pg 172]building our splendid political house on the edges of the pestilential swamp from which fatal miasmatic odors are rising all the time. Yes, we are building our house on piles driven into the thick ooze and mud of the pestilential swamp itself. We are building our cities, which we think are so splendid, and which are so in fact, as men built Herculaneum and Pompeii, on a shore which ever and anon trembled with earthquake, over which was hung the black flag of Vesuvius, and down upon which rolled, in time, the lava floods that burned and buried them.
We have got to meet this immense problem, which is not far off, but right at hand; which is not a problem of theory, or of distant history, but of practice and fact; and which concerns not the well-being alone, but the very life of the nation. Noble men and women at the South are engaged in it already, with all their hearts; and we must help, mightily! It would be the craziest folly of the age for us to be indifferent to it.
Some men may say, perhaps, "But this is a work that cannot be done. It is too radical and vast to be hopefully attempted." Nonsense! There is no work for the kingdom of God and the glory of His name, which cannot be done! With the Gospel in our hand, we can do everything.
There has been a good beginning made already. This Society, to which we are to contribute to-day, the American Missionary Association, has four established colleges, three of which are entirely supported by itself, have been founded by it and are carried on by it; and the fourth very largely so. It has multitudes of high schools, normal schools and primary schools.
First of all, we want men trained, and women too, in the knowledge of the truth as it is in Christ, and then to have them teaching others. And that is precisely the line along which the Society to which we are to contribute to-day, as we have done gladly and largely heretofore, is carrying its incessant operation.
Now I affirm absolutely that if ever there was a work of God on earth, this is his work! If there was ever anything to which the American Christian people are called, they are called to this. If there was ever a great opportunity before the Christian church, here it is.
Ah, my friends, don't say "It is too great a work." It is going to be done! You and I may do or may not do our part in it. It is going to be done!
As announced in the last number of the MISSIONARY, we have appointed two men as missionary teachers for the new station to be opened at Point Prince of Wales, Alaska. The names of these brethren are H.R. Thornton, of Hampden Sydney, Virginia, and W.T. Lopp, of Valley City, Indiana. The credentials furnished by these young men are very satisfactory, and they enter upon the field with the full realization of its difficulties and even dangers, and yet, cheerfully trusting themselves to the hand of God, are ready to go forward with undaunted faith. We bespeak for them the prayers of God's people. It is expected that they will leave home about the middle of May and sail from San Francisco June 1st. Dr. Sheldon Jackson and Dr. Pond will aid them in providing materials for the building and the necessary outfit. They will, therefore, be well provided for, though long months must elapse before they can again have communication with the civilized world.
There are some people who seem to see only the ignorance and vice of the Negro, and the inveterate race-prejudice against him; or at least they appear to be so occupied in dilating upon these hindrances that they have no time to devote to their removal, and, so far as their influence goes, they discourage others from doing anything.
On the other hand there are those who, while they see all these difficulties, only find in them the strongest incentives to the most earnest efforts to relieve the Negro from them. Which of these two classes is the wiser?
Some persons propose as the solution of the race problem, disfranchisement; and they point to the bad legislation of the blacks in South Carolina and Louisiana a quarter of a century ago, when scarcely any of them could read, and almost none owned property. On the other hand, there are those that are industriously trying to educate the blacks and inspiring them to the acquisition of property, and not in vain. More than two millions of the blacks can now read, and more than two hundred million dollars' worth of property is now owned by them. They are thus being prepared to vote wisely.
Which of these two classes of persons is solving this problem to the best purpose?
There are other persons, in Congress and out, urging the deportation of the blacks to Africa, a thing impossible to be done, and, if possible, it would be harmful to those that were sent, as well as useless to benighted Africa. On the other hand, there are those who are training the colored people of this country in education, industrial habits and stable Christian character, thus preparing them as missionaries to Africa.
Which of these two classes has the wiser theory?
The eagerness of our colored population for education is strikingly shown in the reports given on another page from our institutions in the South—reports of over-crowded rooms, and students dismissed by scores, and even hundreds, for want of accommodations.
We call special attention to the report from Fisk University, in reference to the higher grades of education. It will be seen that, even in that place, a relatively small number are in the higher classes, and yet there is a sufficient number of these to indicate that some of the pupils are seeking what is absolutely essential to the race, to wit, that some should have the best education attainable.
While it is true of this race as of all others, that the masses can receive only primary training in letters and in industry, there must be some [pg 174]of their number who can be leaders in thought and influence. No race can make progress without such leaders, who can command the line of march. There must be the inspiration that comes from the success of the leaders. Hooker's men did not ascend Lookout Mountain in a steady line. There were some far ahead of others, cheering and encouraging those following at greater or less distances, till at length the whole array stood on the brow, and thus won their position.
The warfare is different, but human nature is the same. The Negroes are no more of equal capacity than white men, and there is just the same call for differences in their attainments in scholarship and in general influence. And if those advanced in scholarship shall have Christian character as well as education, it will render their leadership all the more safe for their people and the nation.
Five of our Conferences in the South have held their spring meetings. The reports we have had from them indicate that they were of unusual interest. Almost without exception they are pronounced to have been the best ever held. The high character of the sermons, addresses and discussions shows that these ministers are fit leaders of the people. Their reports of the progress of the work among the churches is encouraging. On another page of the MISSIONARY will be found some brief sketches of revival scenes and of individual experience and effort. This branch of the work of the Association deserves and will receive increased attention and assistance.
We alluded in a recent number of the MISSIONARY to the attractive advertisements of railroad and immigrant companies in the South, and we expressed the fear that many colored people might find the change to be disappointing. But the process goes on, and the rich bottom-lands in the State of Mississippi are attracting many hundreds and thousands of new settlers. Perhaps there is no better place to which they can go, for there are no better lands in the South. The great point is whether these people shall be herded together in rude homes, tilling the soil without skill, and rearing their children in ignorance and vice. It is the part of Christian wisdom and the duty of the Christian churches of this land to see that the people in this densely-packed and fertile region shall be promptly met with the means of Christian education. Our school at Tougaloo should be enabled to meet in some degree the opportunity it has to prepare and furnish preachers and teachers for this growing population; and schools and churches should be multiplied to meet the emergency.
Nothing stimulates to good deeds more effectively than good deeds themselves. I copy the following notice, which was circulated on a neatly printed sheet among the members of a certain church in Boston:
The "Felice" circle of "King's Daughters" will hold a sale for the benefit of the Williamsburg Academy, established for the education of the "Mountain Whites" in Kentucky, on Friday, March 21, from 8 to 10 P.M., and on Saturday, March 22, from 3 to 10 P.M., at Miss Maxwell's, 37 Allen Street, Boston. Admission 10 cents.
The enthusiastic leader of this circle of "King's Daughters" thought that possibly she might raise $30 and so constitute one of their number a Life Member of the American Missionary Association. Imagine our surprise and delight when, as the result of this effort, $125 were brought in, as their splendid offering to this work!
Take another fact of unusual interest in the religious life in New England. Five leading pastors here in Boston chose a particular Sabbath, upon which they would each preach upon the Negro Problem. Several sermons were reported at length in our daily journals, and aroused much interest and comment. One found its way down into the South, and was commented upon by a Southern editor in true Southern style. Hard words were used with the recklessness that characterizes Southern editors, and often Northern as well. The funny thing about it was, that two gentlemen of the same name, who are both ministers and reside in Boston, were confused in this comment. The one, who had recently been South, but who did not preach the sermon, was read a severe lecture, because after partaking of the hospitality of the Southern people, he had spoken in so severe terms of them. It was an amusing blunder, but illustrates the fact that more and more even the Southern editor is coming to feel the importance of Northern criticism. It is a very hopeful sign. It is sometimes said that time will settle these monstrous inequalities that prevail in the South, but time never settles anything. Mischievous forces only increase in power, the longer they are permitted to operate. There must be set in operation beneficent forces, in order to make the element of time useful. Agitation is needed, patriotic, prayerful agitation, and such united effort as was made in these Boston pulpits, helps in this agitation.
The new book which comes from the pen of G.W. Cable, under the title of "The Negro Question," puts old truth in a new dress, and renders it more attractive and presentable. If any man has the right to write upon this "Negro Question," it is Mr. Cable. If I had to prepare a liturgy for the Congregational churches, I would put in it the following petition: "From the superficial views and misleading statements of tourists through the South, or those who reside in a single locality, good Lord, deliver us!" [pg 176]Mr. Cable is not of either of these classes. He speaks from an intimate acquaintance with, and a long residence in, the South; better than this, he is familiar with the whole territory, and not with a single locality simply. This little book ought to be in the hands of every conscientious student of this Southern problem. Take a single quotation:
"To be governed merely by instincts is pure savagery. All civilization is the result of subordinating instinct to reason, and to the necessities of peace, amity and righteousness. To surrender to instinct, would destroy all civilization in three days. If, then, the color-line is the result of natural instincts, the commonest daily needs of the merest civilization require that we should ask ourselves, is it better or worse to repress or cherish this instinct, and this color-line?" There are forces at work, regenerative and ennobling, that will lead the Southern white people to be ashamed of their attitude toward the Negroes, and not the least of these are the life and works of Mr. Cable.
A letter came into my hand, when I was in the South, which is not only a commentary, but also throws a ray of sunlight where there is much darkness. It was a letter from an old mistress to her former slave. He is now a successful business man in Chattanooga. This earnest, Christian woman, rising above her prejudices, wrote her former slave a cordial invitation to visit her in her home. Her husband, his old master, had died in the Confederate service. She had seen her servants taken away from her through the success of the Union armies. Her property had been depleted, and her fertile plantation overrun by the loyal troops. It must have been with great sadness and a bitter heart, that she looked out upon this ruin, wrought as she believed, throughout the invading of the sacred soil of Virginia. But in these years that have passed, this bitterness has largely gone, and this sweet, Christian letter comes to her former slave. The ex-slave told me with tears in his eyes that he paid her this visit, and that she welcomed him, not to the Negro quarters, nor to the kitchen-chamber, but to her best guest-chamber, and said: "I want you to feel that you are welcome to the best hospitality of my home." "And she treated me almost as tenderly as she would one of her own sons," said the colored man. And so light is coming, little by little.
Dr. Haygood expresses a regret that the white women of the South are so slow to appreciate the importance of the moral elevation of the Negroes, and so slow to join hands with their Northern sisters in his education. But such facts as this kind, Christian letter furnishes, lead us to hope and to believe that better times are coming, and that the Southern Christians, interested as they are in the Negro in Africa, will, little by little, appreciate and minister more and more to the terrible need of the Negro in South Carolina and Alabama.
Suggested by the following words by Rev. B.A. Imes in the May Missionary:
"The Mozart Society at Fisk treated us to an excellent rendering of Haydn's great oratorio, 'The Creation.' Many came over from the city (Nashville),—whites from the "best families," all crowding in, listening, wondering, enjoying! How the music of those well-tuned instruments and voices caught us up and carried us away! Color-line melted and faded out. How we wished the politicians all might have been brought under that magic spell of solos and choruses!"
Everywhere the colored contestants in Civil Service examinations succeed admirably in their work. In March just past, there was a competitive examination held in the Custom House at Newark, N.J., for clerkships. Out of forty-three contestants, Mr. J.N. Vandewall, a well known young colored man, [pg 178]stood No. 1, 96 per cent. There was only one other colored contestant, Mr. G.W. Harris. He stood fifth, with an average of 86 per cent.
Mr. A.C. Garner, our colored representative in the Chicago Theological Seminary, passed an excellent examination last week, and received praise not only from his Professors but from his student friends as well. Out of a class of forty, he was one of seven chosen by the Professor of Elocution to represent the class in oratory at the closing exercises held last week.
During the recent illness of one of our teachers in the South, the pastor of the Church called every Sunday for volunteers as watchers during the week. There was always a ready response from the church members. The teacher relates that before leaving him in the morning, these watchers would almost invariably kneel down by his bedside and offer up earnest, fervent prayers for his recovery. He was impressed with the simple faith and trust in God of these colored Christians, their belief in prayer and the contrast between them and an equal number of white brethren under the same circumstances.
From Wilmington, N.C.—Instead of sixty pupils as a year or two ago, we now have over ninety, and next year the number will be fully one hundred or more, if we have room. The classes are very large.
From Grand View, Tenn.—The classes are full and the accommodations inadequate. The school numbers one hundred and eleven. It is necessary to crowd four boys into each room of the Boys' Hall. Four boys are boarding themselves in a shackly log building at the foot of the hill. Their grit is admirable.
From Tougaloo, Miss.—Both the dormitories are crowded. The Ladies' Hall is supposed to accommodate seventy-five girls. One hundred and six are crowded into it to-day. We have turned away nearly one hundred more because we had not room for them. Every indication is that the crowd of applicants will be greater next year than ever. Already applications are coming in. The American Missionary Association has the lead in Mississippi to-day.
From Marion, Ala.—We need another grade established. Our primary has numbered nearly or quite one hundred pupils. The average attendance [pg 179]has been large and the school-room over-crowded. Three grades are now virtually working in the primary department. We may look for a large increase of attendance in all grades next year.
From Florence, Ala.—We need a building if the school is to be continued. We are now inconveniently crowded, one hundred and sixty children in a 20 x 40 room, with all the teaching to be done in the same. To fail in giving us a building will certainly narrow our usefulness in this field. Our school is constantly increasing in popularity. We can safely count on an enrollment of over two hundred next year, with someplace to accommodate them.
From Meridian, Miss.—The work of the school is hindered by lack of room. We have enrolled this year two hundred and thirty two pupils, and many have been turned off because we could not seat them. We opened in December of 1888 with twenty-eight pupils. A school for more advanced pupils is needed in this part of Mississippi. We have thirty young people in school who come from the five adjoining counties. They are boarding in good families and I have every reason to believe that they have used their time and opportunities well; most of them are this summer to teach.
From Straight University, N.O.—It has been a golden year for Straight University. Financially it has been our best year. A larger proportion of students able to pay came to us. We want to grow, and have every opportunity to do so save that our quarters are too small. We have turned away during the year probably two hundred applicants, many of them for the boarding department. We have had to put cots in nearly all the rooms, packing them too full for comfort, as it was very hard to say No! to young people who came hundreds of miles and begged tearfully for admission. The school has grown during the last eight years from two hundred to six hundred, and only is not one thousand because we had no room for them. Our graduates are filling important positions all over the South. Several are Superintendents in Texas, Kansas, Mississippi and Louisiana. One holds an important office in Honduras; others are doing good work in Cuba and Mexico. Eight are filling important positions in this city. We have no trouble in getting positions for our young people. Indeed, we cannot supply as fast as demanded. Often as many as twenty are called for when we have none to send.
From Fisk University, Nashville.—The evidence of progress in the educational department of the University is found in the very marked increase of numbers in the first year of our normal course and of our college preparatory department. Last year there were fifteen in the first year of the latter department; this year there are [pg 180]thirty-one. Last year there were thirteen in the first year of the normal department; this year there are thirty-one. Last year there were in the normal, college, preparatory and college departments, one hundred and forty-five students; this year there are one hundred and seventy-six. At the coming Commencement, we expect to graduate twelve young men, and from the normal ten young women and one young man; making a total of twenty-three. This is a little more than one-sixth of the entire number of present graduates from these departments.
From a Teacher in the Tennessee Mountains:—Let me tell you of the general interest manifest in several of the counties west and north of us in attending this school. One of our students visited many cabins over the mountains during his vacation, and found that school advantages were very scarce and poor. He found poverty and ignorance of the world and of books. Some of the people are still using the old-time method of kindling their fires by flint and steel instead of matches. He met many young people who were thirsting for books and schools, also numbers who had struggled up through the darkness to become teachers in the neighborhoods. These almost invariably wish to come to our school, and say they shall be here as soon as their schools close. Many are too poor to come. This is true of a large number of young girls, who would come if they could work for their board or in any possible way pay for it. Whoever will provide funds to meet the expenses of these neglected girls, and place them at our school, and prepare them for the future duties of life, will be doing an angelic work, and in the end will do the greatest good that can be done to this people. Very much of the money spent for this mountain people will be the same as thrown away, if this effort is not made to educate the girls.
A letter from Rev. F.R. Sims of the Medway Congregational Church, McIntosh, Ga., reports that seventy persons have been added to that church on confession of faith, within the last four months.
From Knoxville, Tenn.:—Our attendance at preaching services has been large and attentive. On the second Sabbath of March the members and friends made special efforts for collection and raised $30. There has been a happy increase in the Sunday-school and the prayer meetings.
From Dudley, North Carolina;—It gives me much pleasure to write you that the Lord has abundantly blessed us in our work at this point.
For three weeks a revival, with much success, has been going on in my church, the Lord has been with us disturbing the slumber of the sleeping Christians and bringing sinners unto repentance. We have ten converts and ten more seeking the Lord. We are all very much encouraged and are now looking forward for a brighter and more encouraging future.
[pg 181]From Macon, Ga.—At our last communion we baptized and received four into our fellowship on confession of faith. They were all young people who are in school and full of promise. Others are expected to unite with us next month. There have been seventeen additions to the church in the last eleven months. There has been some real progress made by the church in all directions. I find in our church meetings a much more gentle spirit between the members than when I first came here, and I feel that this outward improvement is due to inward spiritual growth. I can see this growth in the prayers and testimonies of the weekly prayer meetings.
The revival which took place in this church the latter part of the winter was, in some respects, a model one.
At the close of one of the Wednesday evening prayer meetings, our pastor spoke to us with the view of ascertaining if the church were ready for special work; then he appointed another prayer meeting for Friday night. With faith, and resting upon the promises of God, the work was begun the next week. At first the attendance was small; but, as the meetings continued, the interest increased, and it became necessary to move into the large hall of the school.
It was evident throughout that God was in the work and that the Holy Spirit was striving mightily with sinners. A deep, quiet emotion pervaded the meetings, in strong contrast with the revivals held in many of the colored churches of the city, where the excitement becomes intense, and the confusion great. Their meetings are often continued until long after midnight, in a crowded, unventilated room, whereas ours never closed later than ten o'clock.
As a result of our revival, although other revivals were going on amongst the colored people at the same time, upwards of forty were born into the Kingdom, for some of whom, many, many prayers had been offered up; and all was done in answer to prayer. Among these were several cases of interest, two of which I will mention. One is that of an intelligent young man employed by the leading dentist of the city, for whom he does the mechanical work, which previously had to be sent North. Although of excellent character, he was a skeptic, reading the writings of Ingersoll, Paine, and others. For years, our teachers had taken a special interest in him laboring with him and praying for him, that he might come into the light He was induced to attend these meetings, and was finally led to believe that these things are so and to accept of the Saviour. He has gone earnestly to work to bring in other young men, teaches in the Sunday-school and is ready for any Christian work.
The other is that of a brawny brick mason, a great sinner, who, while earning excellent wages, often failed to bring home sufficient to feed and clothe his [pg 182]children; and when remonstrated with by his wife, would answer; "They are your children, you take care of them." All is changed now. He gets up early Sunday mornings, assists in getting the children ready for church, where the family, all neatly dressed, can be seen regularly every Sunday; and in the prayer meeting his voice is usually heard.
As a further result of this revival, the church has been greatly quickened, the members have been brought closer together in brotherly love, and God has given a fresh outpouring of his spirit.
On Easter morning, when a special communion service was held, twenty-nine of the new converts were received into our church, amidst the most touching and impressive services. But the revival has not stopped with the special meetings. After every Sunday evening service, an after-meeting has been held, in which several have been led to give their hearts to God. All of these meetings have been marked by the earnestness with which the church has labored for the salvation of those who were yet without, and more fervent prayers never ascended to the throne of grace.
The opening of the New Year saw manifestations of the Holy Spirit in our midst, and during the week of prayer there appeared to be a deep interest among the pupils. Our prayers seemed to take a new meaning, and we felt that they were about to be answered.
Nothing but God's Spirit could have laid the burden of souls upon so many hearts at once, or have bidden us speak to different ones, while our movements were almost unknown to one another.
In the meetings that were held in the different rooms, and those conducted in the High School, which were attended by some of the pupils from other grades, a large number expressed a desire to become Christians; and there were about sixty who gave their hearts to Christ. We rejoice greatly over the work of the Spirit, and have the assurance that "there is joy in the presence of the angels of God."
The study of the Bible is an important feature in the school work. One hour each week is set apart for it. A visitor, passing from the lower grades up, on Friday afternoon, would find Bible work going on in every room. The work of the little ones is largely memorizing. The older ones have a systematic course. The outlines of Bible history are first carefully studied, then the more important events and characters in detail. Work in map-drawing is done in connection with all the lessons.
A short time ago, a middle-aged woman applied for admission to our school. She had been teaching for several years, but wanted to prepare herself for the teachers' examination by taking a short course of study. She was permitted to try the sixth grade examination and failed; then the fifth with like results; finally she was placed in the fourth grade, where it was discovered that she did not know the multiplication tables, and evidently [pg 183]had never heard of division. Her knowledge of spelling would not exceed that of an average third grade pupil, and she is called one of the best colored teachers in the county from which she came.
In the Industrial Department nearly two hundred and fifty girls sew from a half hour to an hour every day. Excellent work is being done and they are very much interested, some of them begging for the privilege of sewing at other times than those designated for that purpose. The industrial teacher finds difficulty in keeping the supply of work equal to the demand.
Friends have kindly sent us donations of work, and much more will be acceptable. Sheets, pillow cases, underclothing or patchwork, basted ready for sewing, will be very thankfully received. The work in the sewing classes includes patchwork, the making of dresses, all kinds of other garments, and quilting.—From the Ballard Record.
The country is low and flat, with here and there a small elevation on which is a house or log cabin. For miles and miles the country is dreary and monotonous. The swamps have a funereal aspect as one looks upon the live-oak and cypress, hung with long Spanish moss swaying to and fro in the gentle breeze.
Back in these pine woods are hundreds who have never seen the railroad, a boat, carriage, or even a mail-bag. Sometimes a few will go to the little obscure station on Saturdays and stand gazing at the train as it goes thundering by, and many comical remarks are made, as: "Dat am de train 'pon which no darkies nor crackers kin ride; dat am all de heben dat dem buckra want and am gwine ter git."
Most of the people own their homes, which are poorly constructed of pine poles with clapboards to cover the cracks, through which the dampness and cold winds make it uncomfortable for the occupants, who are seated before a clay chimney and a great lightwood fire. Very few of the houses have any windows. A lightwood torch furnishes the light by day and by night. Some of them are improving each year, but the most of them are satisfied with a roof, and a few acres under cultivation.
The country people seem to be naturally religious, as they are all church members, are so from childhood, and are great believers in the "sperit," which must be the evil one. They are not denominational in the sense in which enlightened people are. The church which allows the greatest number of privileges, and the minister who will just be preacher and make the most noise and have the greatest number of "big meetings," are the most popular. They have a burial service, and several months or a year after, they have a funeral service, which is always a big time.
[pg 184]Cæsar is considered the best preacher that has ever been in ——. He comes once a month, and cannot read a chapter; "nor need you expect me to get the one-thousandth part of the ingrejience out of this text," is his introduction to every sermon, but he can get up steam enough to be heard half a mile. One of the preachers wanting to be known as a licentiate, said in meeting: "I want you to know that I am a licentious preacher,"—which is the truth.
Our work has done an amount of good, even among those outside, and our schools and the two churches have done more good in the country than all other work combined. The recent fanaticism in the county did not get one believer from our church.
Our year's work is rapidly drawing to an end. The older scholars are doing well and are remaining with us through the year. They certainly are gaining in this direction. They become very restless as soon as it is "put in crap time." They sigh for the fields and "shovel plow," and often look from the school-room windows with a longing for the log cabin and the ground surrounding it. In many cases we have to be very persuasive to have them remain, yet they seem thankful for the advice and remain. The older scholars seem to manifest an earnest ambition to obtain situations through the summer, so that they may procure clothing and help pay their tuition. We try as far as possible to obtain situations for our girls. The better class of the people will come to us for help, feeling that our girls have been educated in the home and kitchen.
In our temperance meeting last Friday, I asked the question, "What would you do if you were forced to take whiskey?" A little girl rose and said, "My father asked me to take some and said 'you must.' I said, 'I can't. God would not be pleased.' He said, 'Well, I 'lows how you're 'bout right." What a happy girl she was. She knows if she will keep on refusing, he will give up strong drink. Our greatest hope is in the children.
A poor woman had some articles of clothing to take home with her. I offered to wrap her parcel in newspaper. She said, "If you don't care, I would like to have that ar paper." She never has a piece except what is given her by some kind person. She utterly refused to have the parcel wrapped. The people use the papers to keep the cold out. I have seen pieces of paper four inches square and parts of letters pasted on the boards. We save all the papers we receive, and have assisted in making many poor homes comfortable.
There is a good Sunday-school in a neighboring town. The people listen very attentively, and seem to be thankful for the Sunday-school and church services. The average attendance for the last five Sundays has [pg 185]been forty-two. The thought of leaving this school during the summer is a cross. There are fathers and mothers who are present every Sabbath. The children show the need of a good school.
Our Christian Endeavor Society interests me very much, as I have given more time and thought to that than to anything else outside of school work. It has increased in numbers, and the members have for the most part gained a great deal in interest and courage, and this term quite a number of associate members have become Christians. We are working now to send a delegate to the St. Louis Convention, and I anticipate great pleasure in watching the effect upon our delegate of the enthusiasm of the Convention and the sight of the city, and think it will be worth the year's work to be with him, for we hope to send one of the boarding boys.
About a year ago, ten or fifteen girls might have been seen sitting in their teacher's room, at Tougaloo University, while she spoke to them of forming a society. The members of this society, she said, were to do all the good they could in every way they could.
Now, of course, we want a name for our society. If we are going to do all the good we can, we are worthy to be called followers of Christ, and as he is a King, we call ourselves "King's Daughters." When our society began, we had but eight or ten members, but at almost every meeting there was some one who wanted to join. The meetings were carried on every Sunday evening, and some one of the members was appointed to lead the next meeting. During the week we try in every way to do something definite to please our King; to go to no place in which we would be ashamed to have our King see us, and to keep no company with which we would be ashamed to have him see us. Our society continued to grow and prosper, and finally the young men concluded to organize a King's Sons Society. During the summer the two societies held joint meetings. New members were continually joining. As the meetings were new to us when we first began, they were not as interesting as they grew to be at a later date; but generally the time was all occupied. Some one would read a portion of Scripture and offer prayer, after which a story would be read or told by one of the members, who had prepared it during the week. Then we would tell how we had kept our pledge, or in what way we had been helped by being King's Daughters. Sometimes, when we had broken our pledge, we would leave off our badge for a week.
The first Sunday in every month we have what we call our consecration meeting. The President calls the roll and each one answers by giving a [pg 186]verse of Scripture, or her experience as a King's Daughter. The third Sunday in every month we elect the officers who are to serve during the next month. These consist of President, Vice-President, Secretary, a sick committee, whose business it is to visit and help any who are sick, and a committee on invitation, whose business it is to find out who would like to join our society. They report the names at the next meeting. Sometimes we have a question-box into which we put questions regarding the society. These are written on small slips of paper and read by one of the members. If they are directed to a particular one, that person answers them; but if not, any one in the Society answers them.
During the school year of 1888, we made a box of clothing to send to the Indian mission school in Dakota. We would meet every Saturday evening and sew until we had made enough to fill our box. Whenever one of us finished a piece we would write our name and pin it on. One of our girls wanted to sew a little on every article, so as to have her name on all of them. Well, when we had finished our box of presents, we each wrote a letter and put into it. We intended to make this a Christmas present, but severe snow-storms prevented it from reaching its destination in time. They received it about a month after Christmas, and the things were divided among the Indian girls. Some of them wrote to us, thanking us for the presents which they had received. After our society grew to about twenty or thirty, we were divided into tens. Each ten had a name given it, such as the Truthful Ten, the Judge Not Ten, the Do Without Ten and the Polite Ten. Most of us find it hardest to be Judge Not Tens and Truthful Tens.—From the Tougaloo Quarterly.
The S'kokomish Reservation is at the extreme southwestern corner of the Puget Sound, where the S'kokomish River empties in, and is three miles square, with five thousand acres, embracing rich bottom land and mountain timber land, the river and the sound furnishing the best means of transportation to the market. On the place I measured the stumps of red cedar that were eight, ten and twelve feet in diameter. The waters at hand are of the best for fishing. As we—Mrs. Roy was with me—were going up from the river where we had been set across after a ten-mile mountain drive from Shelton, we saw a Mr. Lo lugging a three-foot salmon into the missionary home; and at Olympia, the capital, and another point on the sound, the fishmonger told us they did not sell such fish by the pound, but by the piece, twenty-five cents each. When, in 1855, this reservation was set apart by the treaty, it was for the three bands of this tribe and for [pg 187]the Clallams up at the entrance of the Sound, who, because of variance with one of the other bands, never left their ancestral habitation to go to the selected spot. The people belonging to the Reservation now number about six hundred and twenty.
The handling of the Indians here was one of the first fruits of President Grant's Peace Policy, by which the agencies were assigned to the several missionary societies, which were to nominate their respective agents. This was one of those which were assigned to the American Missionary Association. In 1871 the Association nominated to this Agency Edwin Eells, Esq., the eldest son of Rev. Gushing Eells, D.D., who was one of the mission band that crossed the Rocky Mountains in 1838, under commission of the American Board, to be associated with Dr. Marcus Whitman's series of Indian Missions. Here is an illustration of the wisdom of that policy, which has secured a highly successful management in all the secular, educational and religious affairs of the Agency, and one that has been continued on through the changes of governmental administration, and also one that has resulted in repeated promotions, until now Agent Eells has charge of five of the seven distinct Reservations in the State of Washington. His present headquarters are at the Puyallup Agency, near Tacoma, where he has just completed an eight thousand dollar building to displace an old one, for the Government Boarding School. In all these five reservations, lands have been secured in severalty to the Indians, and largely through his persistent devotion to their welfare. For two or three years his father had care of the S'kokomish Mission under the American Missionary Association, and in 1874, his brother, Rev. Myron Eells, was appointed to the same work, in which he still abides. Besides the preaching, the care of the Sunday-school and the prayer meetings and the pastoral work, in which he gets around among his people as often as once in a month, he has also the charge of the Indian Church among the Clallams, near New Dunginess, the brethren of that station, in the pastor's absence, maintaining stated worship. The people at S'kokomish have gotten beyond Government payments; they live on their own allotted lands, in cabins or frame houses, wearing citizens' dress, and doing business as white men do it. One of Pastor Eells's first Sundays at the mission was noted for the celebration of Christian marriage on the part of seven or eight couples who had been living together under their heathen way of taking up. So they have been shuffling off their polygamy. While we were there, a man of middle life came to the pastor's house with his first wife, to be married to her after the Christian form, having made a satisfactory pecuniary arrangement with the second, who was a sister of the first. In this case there were no children to complicate settlement. After I had addressed the church upon their duty of doing more for the support of their pastor, even as I had betimes had to do before in white home missionary churches, the several responses were as decorous and assuring as could be desired.
[pg 188]As another advantage of this Grant plan, the Government School and the Mission are found to be in entire harmony, the principal, Mr. Foster, and his assistants and the industrial teacher all being Christians and caring for the moral advancement of their pupils. Nor does the missionary administration come in any way to overlie the governmental. From the herd of cows kept for the service of the boarding school, neither is one set aside for the pastor's family, nor is he allowed to buy their milk. He gets his supply from outside. Nor does the preacher use from Uncle Sam's wood pile. He buys from the Indians.
Some may wonder how a man in such a field can keep from drying up. Come with me into this missionary study. The first thing that strikes you is a growth of English ivy, from its root in the earth outside creeping through a crack in the siding and climbing up one corner and then around the upper corners of the four sides of the room. That evergreen wreath is a symbol of the fresh intellectual life in that study, which has all the air and fix of a workshop. On the shelves, besides the ordinary outfit, there is an extensive geological collection, which in its classification and nomenclature shows scientific investigation. Then there is a fine cabinet of Indian relics and curios, appropriate to the calling of the incumbent: and there is a supply of Indian literature, historic and scientific, out of which this student is transmuting the essential elements of the Indian problem of the Pacific Northwest. And so it is a small library of his own that has thus been elaborated. The first is a "History of Indian Missions on the Pacific Coast," published by the American Sunday-school Union; and the second is "Ten Years at S'kokomish,"—1874-1884—published by our own Congregational Sunday-school and Publishing Society. These books would make an enrichment of any Sunday-school library, giving the very essence of romance and of heroism along with Christian instruction. The others are monographs, among them the following:
"Marcus Whitman, M.D.: Proofs of his Work in Saving Oregon to the United States, and in promoting the immigration of 1843;" "Justice to the Indian;" "Indian Traditions as to Religion;" "Hand of God in the History of the Pacific Coast;" "Papers on the Anthropology of the Indians of Washington," as published in the Smithsonian Report of 1886-7. Another such monograph he now has ready for the press—"God's Hand in the Missions to the Indians beyond the Rocky Mountains," a paper read at the recent fiftieth anniversary of the organizing of Dr. Whitman's church. And beyond all this literary work is the occasional supply of destitute white congregations round about, and service as a Trustee of the Pacific University in Oregon, and of the Whitman College, at Walla Walla, Washington. Surely in literary work, to the names of Jonathan Edwards among his Stockbridge Indians, and John Eliot among his Naticks, and S.R. Riggs among the Dakotas, and not a few others, maybe added this of Myron Eells among the S'kokomish.
If I were to attempt to place before the readers of the MISSIONARY, in such setting as would be needed for a comprehension of them, all the interesting minor facts and scenes that pass under my observation in our work, there would be no room on its pages for anything else. Let me give a few examples of these.
A young Chinaman is being examined with reference to baptism, and is asked why he decided to turn from the worship of idols. "God is true" is the reply, a very simple reason,—a trite one possibly; but there was something in the tone and emphasis of it which thrilled me. I saw the emptyness of heathen worship at a point from which I had never looked at it before. A God that is true, that can be absolutely trusted! Where will you find one in any heathen Pantheon? Conceive now a thoughtful, honest man passing from the timorous worship of such gods to the rest and comfort and courage which come from knowing and trusting Him who is true, and you will begin to realize what that simple answer meant.
"What are your people making such a noise for?" was asked of a Chinese brother at Ventura, during the Chinese New Year's Festival. "To scare away the evil spirits," was the reply. "And why don't you scare them away?" was the next question, for all was quiet at our little mission house, "Evil spirits stay away when Holy Spirit comes," was the reply. I am not confident that I recall the exact words, but I have certainly given the idea, and it meant emancipation for the man that uttered it, an entrance into the liberty wherewith Christ makes us free.
"When I get discouraged, as I often do," writes a teacher, "I think of the five who are studying the Testament, and of a remark one of them made to me, 'I love Jesus more all the time when I read about him.'" This brother took his religion with him to China, and brought it back unharmed.
One of the brethren worked in a hotel where to specially toilsome service was added a treatment far from kind. He said to his teacher that he remembered how much Jesus had to bear and so he "had patient." The wages received he spoke of as the "hardest money" he had earned since coming to California, and so he took part of it to buy a nice Bible. An American said scoffingly to him: "Are you one of the Christian Chinamen?" "Yes," he replied. "I love Jesus; I am not ashamed that I love Jesus."
One of our Santa Barbara brethren rents quite a tract of land, much of which he devotes to the culture of small fruits. On a visit to his place a year or two ago, friends saw strawberry plants heavily laden with luscious looking fruit so arranged in front of our brother's door as to spell out this sentence, "God loves the earth."
[pg 190]"It seems," said Jee Gam once, "as though I could recall his very words, and hear the tones of his voice as he prayed for the conversion of his countrymen." It was the closing prayer of a gospel service among the Chinese in Oakland. The brother who offered it was a Chinese merchant of that city. Two days afterwards he was shot in his own store by a Chinaman because he refused to submit to blackmail. A policeman hastened to the spot and saw him die, and testified in court that his last words were those of prayer to our true God; this testimony, though given probably by an ungodly man, being such as to draw tears from many who listened. Yet some say there are no real Christian Chinamen; that you can't convert a Chinaman; that they are throughout a race of hypocrites.
It may not be safe to say every month without exception, though that is the impression made upon me, but it is certainly safe to say almost every month brings some report to me of pupils beginning to believe in Jesus and professing their faith in him. This extract from a letter will serve as an example: "I have some very good news for you concerning my scholars. Two of them have promised to join the Association [i.e. of Christian Chinese] next week. One of them I have been praying for especially, for nearly a year.... There are three more who, I trust, are born of God, but are not yet brave enough to take a stand for him. One says his brother will kill him if he joins in Christ's name." And here is a word from another teacher: "Five of the brethren unite with the church at the coming communion. I do not feel that this is through my effort, as I have not known how to work individually. It is the Lord that 'giveth the increase.' Two of them have been ready to come into the church for a long time. The others show their conversion by face and manner as well as by testimony and prayer."
I fear that I have exhausted my space, though I am far from the end of possible "jottings." I will close with a few sentences from a letter received from a Chinese Christian living at a roadside tavern beyond Oroville. "Since I am determined to be a Christian, has very much surprised my elder brother. When he heard about I join the Association he make a great deal of trouble to me. Then I ask our brothers to pray for that matter, till one day I go and entreat him; also, tell him all about the gospel of Christ how good for us and redeem us from our sins. Then he said, 'Do not talk such things to me; we are Chinese; must keep our customs.' I say, 'I cannot keep anything wrong; idol worship is against God. Four thousand years ago our Chinese population have no idol to worship. Don't you search a thing before you keep it?' Then he answer: 'If good then you keep it,' and then I received baptism; then do no more persecution to me afterwards." This extract merely hints at facts which, if related, would show that for our Chinese Christians at least, the days that try men's souls are not yet past.
The thirteenth Annual Meeting of the Woman's Missionary Union of Alabama met with the Congregational Church in Marion, March 31. This Union has contributed during the year to the A.M.A. for Indian work, to the A.H.M.S. for Bohemian work, besides aiding a missionary in China, and one in South Africa. All the auxiliaries have also done good work in aiding the churches and the poor in their respective localities. The meeting was pleasant and profitable, and the Union starts upon another year with the prospect of adding greatly to its strength and efficiency.
The first Annual Meeting of the Louisiana Missionary Union, held at New Orleans, April 3, was also full of encouragement. The new interest awakened, simply by the gathering together to report the progress of the year, indicates how much can be accomplished. Not only will the missionary cause receive direct benefit, but there will be a reflex, healthful influence upon the churches thus represented.
The first Annual Meeting of the Woman's Missionary Union of the Central South Association, held in Nashville, Tennessee, April 5, was in all respects encouraging. One of the peculiar features of these Southern Unions is that the State Association is always likely to meet at a school centre, as in this case at Nashville, Tennessee, and the older students thus are enthused and stimulated to missionary purpose and activity, whether in the ordinary experiences of church life at home, or as special missionaries.
There was a good representation of auxiliaries, and encouraging word of new ones soon to be received. The interest in the meeting was intense, and the reports from the different societies showed a deep and heartfelt sympathy with the cause of missions. It was very interesting to note how anxiously some of those who represent a people burdened with poverty, planned for the work of the coming year, taking for their field—the world. Considering that this Union is only a year old, its growth seems remarkable.
The question is sometimes asked, whether the Mountain girls appreciate the opportunity of education that is now afforded them. We reply by giving extracts from the letter of a pupil obliged to leave school. The letter was written to a school-mate, and is but one of many instances of the kind.
"My Dearest Friend:—I would have written sooner, but I thought I might get a chance to go to school, and that is why I have delayed so long. It is impossible for me to go now, the boys are preparing 'for to make a crap,' and I can see how much they are needed at home. We have but one horse, and I cannot go alone. Oh! how glad I would be to see my teacher. I know I shall never be able to reward her for her kindness to me, but the Lord will reward her. I never have met the people who were so kind to [pg 192]me as those people. I still have a desire to get an education; sometimes I think I will not get to go to school any more, but where there is a will, there is a way, and I know I have a good will. My sisters all married before they were twenty. I am twenty-two now. I want an education more than I want to marry. My folks tell me I have enough education, but I think I know better than they. To be sure, I can read and write a little, but that don't satisfy me, I have a hope yet that I may still get higher, that is if the Lord is willing. We cannot do anything unless the Lord is willing and will help us. Give my love to all the girls. Please write and tell me about the school. Remember me in your prayers.
Your true friend, —— ——."
Dear Children:—The first morning I entered my school-room South, such a mass of little dark faces as greeted me! At first it seemed so strange to me, they all looked alike, but in a short time I was able to pick out Simon, and Tommy, and Mollie, and Janie. Most of them want to learn, and are quite tidy in their appearance. One of the exercises they enjoy most is the singing. It would be hard to find a colored boy or girl who does not sing, and many of them have very sweet voices. They are able to sing the alto with very little practice. It often surprises me to find how well they keep their parts. One day we had a very severe shower, and it was so dark we could not see the black-boards or see to work, so I let them sing for nearly an hour. All over the building, if you could have visited the different rooms, you would have enjoyed listening to them. One of their own pieces which they like to sing, is "Roll, Jordan, roll." They pronounce it "Jurdon."
Many of the parents are working very hard to give their children an education, and I am glad to say that the children themselves are glad to learn. One little girl said, "I've got on a terrible bad looking shoe, and the big girls out doors were laughing at me yesterday, but I thought I'd rather come to school with the bad shoe, than stay away a day and not come at all. I pray every day that God will help me to do right and be a good girl in school. Last night papa was out of a job, and I prayed that he might get another one, and now he's got another one." Then looking at her shoes, she said: "I'd rather wear these ragged shoes than not to pay for my schooling at all."
And now, children, will you come with me for a little drive? We are going in a phaeton with our good horse, Maud. We drive about a mile out of the city, cross a little bridge, and finally drive through a gateway. The ground is sandy, in some places so white that it almost reminds one of snow. The trees are still green. Our attention is attracted by a procession [pg 193]moving slowly forward. There is one carriage and the friends, men and women, are walking. The words they are chanting show it to be a funeral procession. Every one wears a green badge, for most all the colored people belong to some order. Finally they come to a stop and gather about the grave. The mourners break out into a wail, and they begin to chant the words: "And must my trembling spirit glide into a world unknown?" The chant I can never describe, for there is no music in it, and we cannot distinguish any tune. Then the minister preaches, and they begin another chant. Let us look around a little. I am sure you are already interested and surprised at what you see. Here is a group of three little graves; on one, we find three dolls' heads, a quantity of shells, marbles, dishes and other toys with which the children used to play. On another, is a tin kitchen, a bell, a doll in a chair, a marble under a sugar-bowl cover, and part of a tea-set. On another, that of a grown person, is a long pipe with a paper of tobacco, medicine boxes with powders. A little further away we find one on which is a tooth-brush, ten medicine bottles, two lamps, a basket filled with sand, vases, tumblers, a toy boat made out of bark, and pieces of glassware. Among other decorations we find a ball and bat, pitchers, bits of colored glass, pill boxes, teapots, etc. But it is already growing dark, and Maud is anxious to start; I think you have seen enough to make you wonder at the curious customs, and I am sure that you want to help them to know a better way.
One day a little girl said to her teacher: "I got religion last night." Shall I tell you just here, something of what they mean by "getting religion?" It means bad air, late hours, shouting, screaming, and general excitement. Sometimes they sit for hours, and go night after night saying over and over the same words. When they finally do "get religion," they jump up and shout, and run about the church, falling into the arms of those standing nearest. I think the children are looking for some strange experience. They expect, from what they are taught, to see some vision, or hear some voice. I try to show them the simple way of salvation by just taking Jesus at his word.
And now let us turn to a brighter scene. One Sunday about a month ago, our pastor preached a sermon, which led us to feel that the Lord was especially near us, and that we had only to do our part to receive an outpouring of God's Spirit. Some of us agreed to pray for this. Then we began to pray for our scholars, and to invite them to our meetings. At first only a few came, but more kept coming every night, and we kept bringing in seats, until the mission room was so full we had to change to the large hall up stairs. Every night some would rise for prayers, and we would stay and talk with them quietly, and try to show them the way to Jesus. I think there are about forty now, who have expressed a desire to live a Christian life. Many of them are children and young people. Four are boys in my Sabbath-school class. We have held prayer meetings for this after school, [pg 194]and many are glad to come. About twenty joined our Christian Endeavor Society as active members, at our last consecration meeting.
And now, dear children, do you know that this is all given us in answer to prayer? We have simply asked and received. I knew that the home friends were praying for us. Their prayers are a constant help. Will you not pray this month that these little ones may be kept from falling, and that they may grow to be bright and shining lights in the world, to lead their own people out of the darkness of sin and ignorance?
Sincerely your friend,
Minnie T. Strout.
[A] For the purpose of exact information, we note that while the W.H.M.A. appears in this list as a State body for Mass. and R.I., it has certain auxiliaries elsewhere.
We would suggest to all ladies connected with the auxiliaries of State Missionary Unions, that funds for the American Missionary Association be sent to use through the treasurers of the Union. Care, however, should be taken to designate the money as for the American Missionary Association, since undesignated funds will not reach us.
| Income for April, 1890 | $960.00 |
| Income previously acknowledged | 7,489.85 |
| ————— | |
| Total | $8,449.85 |
| ========= |
H.W. HUBBARD, Treasurer,
Bible House, N.Y.
A new Fabric for Underwear superior to Silk or Wool. A protection against Colds.
Sold by leading Merchants.
Catalogues sent on application.
WARNER BROS. 359 Broadway, N.Y.
$60 SALARY. $40 EXPENSES IN ADVANCE allowed each month. Steady employment at home or traveling. No soliciting. Duties delivering and making collections. No Postal Cards. Address with stamp, HAFER & CO., Piqua, O.
THE BURTON HOUSE,
PRIVATE BOARDING.
Summit St., CRESCENT CITY, FLA.
Open all the Year. Charges Moderate.
D.W. Burton, Prop.
"Don't on any account omit to mark plainly all your sheets, pillow cases, napkins and towels. Mark all of your own personal wardrobe which has to be washed. If this were invariably done, a great deal of property would be saved to owners, and a great deal of trouble would be spared those who 'sort out' clean pieces."
MENEELY & COMPANY,
WEST TROY, N.Y., BELLS.
For Churches, Schools, etc., also Chimes and Peals. For more than half a century noted for superiority over all others.