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Missionary — Volume 32, No. 05, May, 1878
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Title: The American Missionary — Volume 32, No. 05, May, 1878
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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE AMERICAN
MISSIONARY — VOLUME 32, NO. 05, MAY, 1878 ***
Vol. XXXII. No. 5.
THE
AMERICAN MISSIONARY.
“To the Poor the Gospel is Preached.”
MAY, 1878.
CONTENTS:
EDITORIAL.
Paragraphs 129
In a Nut-shell—Our Finances 130
Our New Cartridges 131
The Board of Indian Commissioners 132
King David and King Solomon 133
Gen. O. O. Howard 134
News from the Churches 135
Notes: Freedmen 136
Indians 137
THE PRESS.
Consecration of Contributions. Rev. James Powell 137
THE FREEDMEN.
Tougaloo University, Mississippi 139
Virginia: The Church and School at Franklin—Beginnings and
Results 140
Georgia: A Large Sunday School—Faithful Teachers—A
Temperance S. S. Concert.—The Old Midway Church—
Returning Courage and Prosperity.—Interest in Church and
Sunday-School.—Needs of this Field.—Ogeechee 141
Alabama: The Alabama Conference—Science and Religion 143
Louisiana: Part of a Day Among the Poor 145
Kentucky: Temperance and Evangelistic Work 146
THE AFRICAN MISSIONARIES.
The Freedmen’s Missions Aid Society—A Public Meeting in
Liverpool 147
Wanted—Cloth, Bibles and School-books 148
THE INDIANS.
S’kokomish Agency, W. T.:Sunday-School Progress—An
Indian Festival—Temperance and Order 148
Green Bay Agency: Education Among the Menomonee
Indians 149
THE CHINESE.
A Rebuke and a Response 150
THE CHILDREN’S PAGE 151
RECEIPTS 152
WORK, STATISTICS, WANTS, &c. 156
NEW YORK:
Published by the American Missionary Association,
Rooms, 56 Reade Street.
Price, 50 Cents a Year, in advance.
A. Anderson, Printer, 23 to 27 Vandewater St.
American Missionary Association,
56 READE STREET, N. Y.
PRESIDENT.
Hon. E. S. TOBEY, Boston.
VICE PRESIDENTS.
Hon. F. D. Parish, Ohio. Rev. G. F. Magoun, D. D., Iowa.
Rev. Jonathan Blanchard, Ill. Col. C. G. Hammond, Ill.
Hon. E. D. Holton, Wis. Edward Spaulding, M. D., N. H.
Hon. William Claflin, Mass. David Ripley, Esq., N. J.
Rev. Stephen Thurston, D. D., Rev. Wm. M. Barbour, D. D., Ct.
Me. Rev. W. L. Gage, Ct.
Rev. Samuel Harris, D. D., Ct. A. S. Hatch, Esq., N. Y.
Rev. Silas McKeen, D. D., Vt. Rev. J. H. Fairchild, D. D., Ohio.
Wm. C. Chapin, Esq., R. I. Rev. H. A. Stimson, Minn.
Rev. W. T. Eustis, Mass. Rev. J. W. Strong, D. D., Minn.
Hon. A. C. Barstow, R. I. Rev. George Thatcher, LL. D., Iowa.
Rev. Thatcher Thayer, D. D., R. I. Rev. A. L. Stone, D. D., California.
Rev. Ray Palmer, D. D., N. Y. Rev. G. H. Atkinson, D. D., Oregon.
Rev. J. M. Sturtevant, D. D., Ill. Rev. J. E. Rankin, D. D., D. C.
Rev. W. W. Patton, D. D., D. C. Rev. A. L. Chapin, D. D., Wis.
Hon. Seymour Straight, La. S. D. Smith, Esq., Mass.
Rev. D. M. Graham, D. D., Mich. Rev. H. M. Parsons, N. Y.
Horace Hallock, Esq., Mich. Peter Smith, Esq., Mass.
Rev. Cyrus W. Wallace, D. D., N. Dea. John Whiting, Mass.
H. Rev. Wm. Patton, D. D., Ct.
Rev. Edward Hawes, Ct. Hon. J. B. Grinnell, Iowa.
Douglas Putnam, Esq., Ohio. Rev. Wm. T. Carr, Ct.
Hon. Thaddeus Fairbanks, Vt. Rev. Horace Winslow, Ct.
Samuel D. Porter, Esq., N. Y. Sir Peter Coats, Scotland.
Rev. M. M. G. Dana, D. D., Ct. Rev. Henry Allon, D. D., London,
Rev. H. W. Beecher, N. Y. Eng.
Gen. O. O. Howard, Oregon. Wm. E. Whiting, Esq., N. Y.
Rev. Edward L. Clark, N. Y.
J. M. Pinkerton, Esq., Mass.
CORRESPONDING SECRETARY.
Rev. M. E. STRIEBY, 56 Reade Street, N. Y.
DISTRICT SECRETARIES.
Rev. C. L. WOODWORTH, Boston.
Rev. G. D. PIKE, New York.
Rev. JAS. POWELL, Chicago, Ill.
EDGAR KETCHUM, Esq., Treasurer, N. Y.
H. W. HUBBARD, Esq., Assistant Treasurer, N. Y.
Rev. M. E. STRIEBY, Recording Secretary.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.
Alonzo S. Ball, Clinton B. Fisk, S. S. Jocelyn,
A. S. Barnes, A. P. Foster, Andrew Lester,
Edward Beecher, Augustus E. Graves, Chas. L. Mead,
Geo. M. Boynton, S. B. Halliday, John H. Washburn,
Wm. B. Brown, Sam’l Holmes, G. B. Willcox.
COMMUNICATIONS
relating to the business of the Association may be addressed to
either of the Secretaries as above.
DONATIONS AND SUBSCRIPTIONS
may be sent to H. W. Hubbard, 56 Reade Street, New York, or, when
more convenient, to either of the branch offices, 21 Congregational
House, Boston, Mass., 112 West Washington Street, Chicago, Ill.
Drafts or checks sent to Mr. Hubbard should be made payable to his
order as Assistant Treasurer.
A payment of thirty dollars at one time constitutes a Life Member.
Correspondents are specially requested to place at the head of each
letter the name of their Post Office, and the County and State in
which it is located.
THE
AMERICAN MISSIONARY.
Vol. XXXII. MAY, 1878.
No. 5.
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.
While temperance revivals, under various auspices—of men and
women, of ribbons red and blue—are noted through the land, our
Southern field is not neglected. Our readers will see, in a majority of
the communications from our schools and churches in this number,
references to the increase of a temperance sentiment, and an
abstinence practice; here in a church, and there in a school; here in
the reformation of dissipated lives, and there in the preoccupation of
the minds of the young. Intemperance is a giant evil South, as well
as North, among the colored people and the Indians, as well as with
the whites. Thank God for every victory. Pray God for wisdom and
patience with which to withstand, and then to stand.
IN A NUT-SHELL.
The only caste-oppressed races in America are the Negroes, Indians
and Chinamen.
—The quarrels of the white people in America over the negro have
caused more bloodshed, and wasted more treasure, than all other
causes combined, and we are not yet at peace among ourselves
about him.
The South contains a little more than one-third of the population of
the country. It has 3,550,425 persons over ten years old who cannot
read; the West has only 409,175. The South has 1,137,303 voters
who cannot read their ballots; the West has only 217,403. Have
patriots no duties here?
The Negroes in the South are more accessible to the Gospel than
any other people on earth; they welcome it; they are near us, speak
our language, their fervency will add a warmer element to our piety,
and they seem called of God to carry the Gospel to the land of their
fathers. Have Christians no duties to them?
—The American Missionary Association bears to these caste-
oppressed races the help they need in education, practical morality
and piety. It has founded or fostered permanent educational
institutions for training ministers and teachers. In its forty-five
schools are 6,962 scholars, and its former students are now teaching
100,000 pupils.
Its church work lays sure foundations. Sixty-two churches are under
its care, with 4,127 members—an average of sixty-six—nearly all the
growth of fifteen years. It has seventy-four theological students in
training; has prepared many ministers of the colored race, and has
sent out nine colored missionaries to Africa.
Seldom, if ever, has so much been accomplished in so short a time
at so small a cost.
OUR FINANCES.
We have reached the half-way station in our annual journey. The
statement of receipts, in this number of the Missionary, is the sixth
since the last annual meeting. Our friends and patrons naturally
desire to know how we have weathered the stormy seas, and what
the prospect is of reaching port in good condition, and we desire to
tell them frankly and fully. We might refer them to the monthly
report, but we know that many of them are too busy to keep
accounts for us, their agents.
We know too well how the financial pressure of the year has crippled
one and another of them. Their letters—not empty, either—have told
us, in confidence, from time to time, of their losses, and we know
that their gifts this year have testified to unusual self-denials, and to
deepening convictions of the greatness of their work through us.
And the best of it all is, that these gifts have not diminished from
either of the classes from which our work is supported, the living or
the dead. For the ability to make this statement, and in times like
these, we thank you, generous friends, and we thank Him whose
money you are permitted to administer. We take courage, and
congratulate the poor for whom we labor, and whose hope is in your
remembrance of them.
In addition to the receipts above mentioned, we have received,
towards the payment of our debt, to April 1st, $8,921.72, and also
pledges, for the same purpose, of $6,950, the most of which is
conditioned on the payment of the whole debt within the year. These
figures encourage us to hope that our friends will go on, in the same
quiet and inexpensive way, until our whole debt shall be entirely
extinguished, and our hands unloosed for a more earnest grapple
with the great task of lifting up the needy and ignorant, and yet
hopeful races, for which we labor in America and in Africa.
Brethren, we may not be thought politic by all, but we believe in
perfect frankness with our donors and the whole public. We have a
diminishing debt, curtailed expenses, and an increasing revenue.
What, then? Shall any one withhold a dollar designed for us on that
account? By no means. Rather continue to endorse our policy of
economy and thrift. You are showing your confidence; do not
withhold it. And the need? The work is pressing on us from all sides.
We have to plan continually how to make each dollar do the work of
two.
The facts given in this number of the Missionary, and those of the
past few months, show some of the wants which crowd upon us
continually. A new and commodious building must be erected at
Tougaloo, Miss., to accommodate the overflow of students, whose
beds have crowded into recitation rooms and out-buildings, and who
are now sheltered in temporary barracks of rough boards. A new
building is greatly needed at Atlanta, to accommodate its enlarged
work, and to meet the just expectations of the State Legislature,
which has granted it $8,000 a year, for several years, for current
expenses. The finishing of the church at Golding’s Grove, and the
enlargement of the school building there, are absolute necessities.
These are but specimens of the claims of this sort pressing upon us.
Added to these, is the imperative demand for the extension of our
church work in new and promising fields, stretching down to the
farthest limits of Texas. The enlarged African work is making
increasing demands upon our treasury. Besides all this, the three
coming months will witness the return of our Southern workers,
when the payment of their last bills and traveling expenses must be
met. With such an outlook before us, we are compelled, while
uttering our gratitude for the liberality of our friends, to entreat them
not to forget the pressing wants near at hand.
OUR NEW CARTRIDGES.
We have prepared with much care, and have in hand, a series of
pamphlets, to which we desire to attract the attention of our
readers.
No. 1 is a brief history of the origin and growth of the A. M. A. It is
contained in sixteen pages; shows the Providential opening up of the
work on this side and on that, and serves to answer many questions
—e.g., how we came to have a mission in Africa—many of our
friends, even, being ignorant of the fact that this was our first work,
and that we have a permanent fund set apart by its donor for this
very purpose. The same is shown to be true, in part, as to the work
among the Indians and Chinamen; while the demands of the
freedmen, and the opportunities after emancipation, are their own
vindication in the statement of the facts.
No. 2 is the African pamphlet, and contains (1) a history of the
Mendi Mission, carefully compiled by Dr. Dana, now of Minnesota. It
is much more full and detailed than that read by him at Syracuse,
and printed in the December Missionary. The valuable suggestions at
the close of the paper are repeated only in their headings. (2) A
brief supplement brings the history down to the departure of the
second party of colored missionaries, Feb. 23rd, 1878. Large extracts
are given (3) from the sermon by Dr. Scudder, of Brooklyn, full of
information, quaintly put, as to the land, its products and its people;
(4) from an address by Dist. Sec. Pike, on “The Relation of the
Freedmen to Tropical Africa”; (5) from Secretary Strieby’s address,
before the National Council, on “America and Africa”; and (6) from a
paper by Dr. Bevan, of the Brick Church, New York, on the “Relations
of England and America to Africa”. The history, the present aspects,
and many important relations of the African Mission, are set forth
with great fulness in this pamphlet of forty-eight pages.
No. 3 contains the address by Rev. Joseph Cook, at the Annual
Meeting in Syracuse, revised and corrected by him. Those who heard
it will not need to be reminded how vividly, in his own inimitable
way, he set forth the perils to the nation from the three despised
races, if suffered, by neglect, to remain in ignorance and
degradation.
No. 4 is on the educational work of the Association. Its contents are
excerpts from various papers, sermons and addresses. (1) “The
Negro and his Needs,” by Gen. S. C. Armstrong, of Hampton, Va.;
(2) “Who are Affected?” by Rev. Dr. Brown, of Newark, N. J.; (3)
“Can he Care for Himself?” by Dr. Noble, of New Haven, Ct.; (4)
“The Weapons of our Warfare,” by Rev. Washington Gladden, of
Springfield, Mass.; (5) “Southern Attitudes,” by Dr. Rankin, of
Washington, D. C.; (6) “A Southerner’s Approbation,” by Col.
Preston, of Virginia; (7) “Rome in the South,” by Dist. Secretary
Powell, of Chicago; and (8) “The Special Needs of the A. M. A.,” by
Secretary Strieby.
These four pamphlets are not intended for indiscriminate
distribution, nor for a temporary need. Rather, we have prepared
them to serve as fixed ammunition, to be drawn upon by requisition,
according to need. They are cartridges which will fit any gun,
anywhere. If sent to individuals from our office, it will be always with
a purpose, and for an end. But they will be most gladly sent in
answer to requests from pastors, or from friends who may be
seeking information on the special departments of our work. If we
find these useful, and in demand, we may hasten the publication of
other four, which are in process of preparation; on (5) The Church
Work in the South; (6) The Chinese Work; (7) The Indian Work; and
(8) Systematic Beneficence.
THE BOARD OF INDIAN COMMISSIONERS.
The Ninth Report of the Board of Indian Commissioners is full of
condensed information and valuable suggestion.
The tabulated results of the peace policy during nine years appeared
in the Missionary for March. In view of these figures, the Report says:
—
“These results in industry, education, and Christianity in
the short space of nine years confirm our belief, often
expressed in former reports, that the peace policy is the
only right policy, and there should be no longer any doubt
as to its continuance as the permanent policy of the
government. And yet every year the proposal is renewed
to recommit the management of Indian affairs to the War
Department, and abandon the work of civilization so well
begun. The grounds upon which the transfer is urged,
namely, greater economy, a more honest purchase and
distribution of Indian supplies, more complete protection
of the frontier settlers from Indian massacres, and a more
effectual prevention of Indian wars—these are repeated
year after year, in Congress and in the public press, and as
often patiently answered and fully refuted.”
As to economy, a tabular comparison is published, which shows that
“supplies contracted for and furnished to military posts have cost
much more—in some cases thirty-eight to seventy-eight per cent.
more—than at the neighboring Indian agencies.”
It is asserted that the quality of goods supplied, as well as the prices
paid, command the approval of all competent and disinterested
judges, while the vigilance exercised over the transportation and
delivery of these supplies has been productive of most satisfactory
results in securing for the benefit of the Indians the appropriations
made in their behalf.
The Report refers to the conclusion of the wars with Sitting Bull and
Joseph, and calls attention to the fact that, though it may have
appeared as though the disturbances had been quite general, in fact
only a few hundreds, even of the Dakotas and Nez Perces, have
been engaged in them. The wars of the last nine years (of the peace
policy) have been more limited, and have cost far less than in any
other equal period of our history as a nation. During the forty years
preceding 1868, the direct cost of the Indian wars averaged twelve
and a half millions a year. Even the war with Joseph demonstrated
the effect of civilizing agencies, in its freedom from the barbarities to
women and children, which have attended such outbreaks in former
years.
Civilization and ultimate absorption into the body politic should be
the one purpose steadily pursued. Military means cannot accomplish
it. “Civilizing agencies must come from civil life.” The testimony is
that the influence of military posts in or near Indian reservations is
generally prejudicial to good morals, good order, and progress in
civilization. To teach Indian children to read and write, or Indian men
to sow and reap, are emphatically civil and not military occupations.
The summary of recommendations, which are not new, but none the
less worthy of consideration on that account, is as follows:
1st. Government of Indians by law.
2d. Division of reservation lands and homestead rights.
3d. Larger appropriations for the support of schools.
4th. Consolidation of agencies, and reduction of expense.
5th. Gradation of salaries on an equitable basis.
In view of the excellent results, and the greater promise of the
peace policy, and of the imminent danger of the speedy transfer of
the Bureau of Indian Affairs to the War Department, it behooves
every friend of the red man, who hopes for his ultimate civilization
and citizenship, to bring every legitimate influence to bear upon our
legislators to prevent the consummation of this scheme.
Reader, do you know the mind of your senator and representative
upon this subject? If you do not, will you not find it out, and do all
that you can to make him a minister of peace, and not of war, to
these poor people?
KING DAVID AND KING SOLOMON.
The fourth article in Scribner’s, for April, is entitled “King David.”
That regal personage proves to be only David King—a long, lank,
awkward, shy, near-sighted Yankee, who, up among the New
Hampshire hills, felt an inward call to go South and teach the blacks.
He was a man not much missed from his old home, and not warmly
welcomed at his new one. He was good, but not wise nor practical.
The blacks came to him, young and old, in flocks, to learn to read,
and he taught them morning, noon and night. But all the while the
white planters “regarded the schoolmaster as an interloper, a fanatic,
a knave or a fool, according to their various degrees of bitterness.”
He tried the experiment of offering work to the idle blacks, but with
little success. And now a Northern carpet-bagging politician, of the
baser sort, came into his vicinity, and finding him an honest man,
with some influence over the poor freedmen, set himself to
overthrow it by offers of whiskey and promises of power. And poor
David, innocent, and ignorant of human nature, makes weak and
ineffectual fight with him, as he had before with haughty planters
and ignorant negroes, yields the ground and goes home again,
baffled and discouraged.
This charmingly told story has but one fault, and that, probably, is
without intention. It may give the impression that King David is a fair
sample of the Northern teachers in the South, and that his ill-
success is the record or the prophecy of their general disaster and
defeat. The true lesson of the story, and that which may have been,
if any, in the writer’s mind, is only this: That this David was no
Solomon. That goodness, unsupported by wisdom, is not sufficient
capital for educational work. That a man who is a failure at home,
amid favorable surroundings, will not be likely to succeed abroad,
alone, with everything against him. That the lame, the halt and the
blind do not make good recruits for the war against ignorance and
sin.
Just to offset this story, which has doubtless had its counterpart in
Southern as in Northern schools and villages, we give the story of
one of our teachers in the State of South Carolina, as written to us
by himself only a few months ago. Its simple, straight-forward
truthfulness will, we think, make amends for its lack of the spiciness
and crispness of expression, which give so delicate a literary flavor
to the story of King David:
“I was born in Western New York, and, as all my friends continue to
reside there, I still call it my home. I have been a member of the
Household of Faith since 1859; I have been engaged in teaching the
freedmen since the fall of 1866, and, for the greater part of the
time, my salary has been quite small; but I love the work, and
expect my reward hereafter.
“I came to this place in 1872, and organized a Normal school, and
am still at its head. I met with much opposition, but I put my trust in
God, and went on doing what I thought was right, and soon saw a
change coming over the people. Students began to come in from
neighboring counties, and those who had talked most against me
now came to visit me. I organized the first temperance society for
the colored people in this part of the State, and thus got quite a hold
on the people. The organization is still continued, and is doing much
good. Several of our students, who are out teaching, have organized
similar societies, and I hear good reports from them.
“Early last fall, a couple of young men from another county, asked
me if they could not stay in a vacant room in the building and do
their own cooking. I, of course, gave them permission, and did what
I could to assist them in preparing the room. I had some old lumber
in the wood-shed, and from it we made a bedstead and table; had
boxes for chairs and newspapers for window shades. It was soon
reported that we had good accommodations for boarders, and,
before winter had fairly set in, there were nineteen men living in the
room, which measured 30 x 22. We had only enough lumber for four
bedsteads, and on these the nineteen men slept for four months. A
part of them would retire at 8 o’clock, and sleep till after midnight;
then arise and let the others take their places. They all did their own
cooking, and, as we had but one cooking vessel, they were all night
doing their cooking for the next day. Those who sat up the fore-part
of the night spent the time in cooking, and while they were asleep
the others were cooking in the same room.
“Twenty-three of our students are teaching in three counties, and
over 700 pupils are under their care. One of these closed his school
for a week, and walked sixty miles, in order to be present at our
closing exercises in June.
“We have a weekly prayer-meeting, which is well attended, and is
very interesting. We also spend an hour and a half each Sabbath
afternoon in reading and explaining the word of God.”
GEN. O. O. HOWARD.
We wish to add our congratulations, to the many which have already
been given, to Gen. Howard, upon his final release from the legal
difficulties that have so long perplexed him. It is not easy to
understand the reasons for the persecutions heaped upon Gen.
Howard’s head. His Christian life, so kind in its spirit, and so efficient
in its activities, should not, in this day, provoke enmity. His record as
a soldier, making one among the bright pages in the history of our
Civil War, and his recent campaign among the Indians, in which he
was conspicuous for his active energy, as well as for his courtesy to
a brother officer, do not find critical censors. It is in his connection
with the Freedmen’s Bureau that the rock of offence is found. We
claim to know something about that Bureau, and, therefore, speak
the more freely. We believe that no appropriation made necessary by
the results of the rebellion was more wise, nor has any trust under
the Government been more conscientiously executed than that of
Gen. Howard in its administration. So far as any part of the sum was
used to relieve physical suffering, it was divided impartially; and, in
the appropriation of the larger part of it to the education of the
colored people, there was the clearest comprehension of their
highest wants. The money was appropriated with just reference to
the claims of the different religious bodies co-operating with the
Government, and the educational institutions founded by it will be
perennial sources of blessing to this people, and will bear their
testimony more and more distinctly, as the years roll on, to the
wisdom of the Government in its bestowment, and of Gen. Howard
in its disbursement.
NEWS FROM THE CHURCHES.
Raleigh, N. C.—“About twenty united with the church April 6th. Seven
were members of the choir.”
Woodbridge, N. C.—“A wave of the Gospel temperance revival has
reached Woodbridge. Brother Peebles printed two large pledges, one
for the ‘Band of Hope,’ and the other the ‘Murphy Pledge.’ He also
promised to print all the names that would sign either pledge, and
to-day there are upon the chapel walls the names of eighty under
the Band of Hope pledge, and it is expected soon to have fifty
names under the other. Already more than half that number have
signed.”
Macon, Ga.—The church and Lewis High School have, after an
interval of a little more than a year since their buildings were
burned, a home again, in a substantial brick building, together. The
upper story is for the church. The hall will seat about 450 persons,
and is neat and tasteful. It was dedicated a few weeks ago, with
appropriate services. Rev. S. S. Ashley, of Atlanta, preached the
sermon. A description of the lower part of the building, which is
designed for the High School, we hope to furnish in our next issue.
Savannah, Ga.—Church building needs to be enlarged. One hundred
and eighty scholars present in Sunday-school, and good teachers,
“as faithful as Moses and as zealous as Peter,” always on hand in
time.
East Savannah, Ga.—Will be recognized by council very soon. Three
united with the church March 17th. Has eighty Sunday-school
scholars.
Woodville, Ga.—“Still in the midst of a revival. Nine school children
and four adults received to church membership April 7th. Six were
baptized by immersion in the Savannah River—nearly 500 people
were present; and one was baptized by sprinkling in the church—the
edifice could not hold the people. All the persons baptized are
members of Twichell School, held in the church.”
Ogeechee, Ga.—Received five members March 10th. Sunday-school
doubled in last four months.
Louisville and Belmont, Ga.—Numbers and interest increasing.
Marion, Ala.—Mr. Hill writes: “The work is increasing in interest. Our
Sunday-school has more than doubled since we came, numbering
seventy-one. Twelve or fifteen had never been in a Sunday-school or
church before. Last Sabbath I visited a mission organized, about a
year since, by one of our church members, four miles from here.
The average attendance is forty. I found an audience of seventy-five
crowding the little school-house.”
Athens, Ala.—A larger number of scholars than heretofore is
reported, and a deepening religious interest. Several have professed
faith in Christ, and many more have been seeking the Lord.
Sand Mountain, Ala.—The church has no pastor, and only about a
dozen members, but meets every Sunday, and a sermon is read by
one of the members. The Sunday-school is also kept up.
NOTES—FREEDMEN.
—There are in the State of Georgia 81,164 colored voters, who own
457,635 acres of land, valued on the tax list at $1,244,104, and city
property valued at $1,790,525, and about $1,000,000 worth of
horses, cattle, etc., and $2,100,000 on other property not
enumerated.
—The Atlanta Republican asserts that a Campbell county negro
farmer raised, last year, seventeen bales of cotton and thirteen
hundred bushels of corn on nine acres of land, his only help being a
bob-tailed yearling.
—A Kentucky law orders the sale of certain convicts for a term of
servitude to the highest bidder. A negro was sold for six months the
other day at Hickman. It seems to many that the aim of the law is
altogether at the colored people. Is it not a dangerous weapon, even
if constitutional?
The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, in 1874, decided,
after thorough discussion, to continue its Freedmen’s Committee, as
then located and constituted, for five years (i.e., until 1879), “during
which period its affairs shall be conducted with the view to the final
merging of the Committee with the Board of Home Missions, the
churches to be transferred as soon as possible to the Board.” During
this fourth year of the proposed five, this last has been done; all the
missionaries exclusively engaged in preaching, and their churches
are thus transferred. Evangelical work is still retained by the
Committee.
—The shrinkage in value of real estate has reduced the income of
the Peabody Educational Fund from $100,000 in 1876, to $60,000 in
1877. It may be still less this year.
—The Congressional Committee on Education recommend that the
proceeds of the sale of all public lands be set apart as a fund for
school purposes, the income for the first ten years to be divided
among the States on the basis of illiteracy.
—The Kentucky Legislature propose to make of their share an
endowment for the State University, against which the colored
teachers of Fayette County protest, as a gross injustice to the
common-schools, in the following resolutions:
“Whereas, The per capita for each colored child in this
Commonwealth is only forty-five cents, while that of a
white child is at least four times as great; and, whereas,
the passage of the proposed education land bill by
Congress presupposes the granting of equal school
facilities to all; therefore, be it
”Resolved, That we regard the attempt, both of the
Legislature of this State and the friends of Kentucky
University, to maintain that institution at the expense of
the colored common-school system of Kentucky, as an act
unjust to the colored people of this Commonwealth,
unworthy of the chivalry of the age, and as an act
deserving the execration of a generous and magnanimous
people.
“Resolved, That we urge the friends of humanity in
Congress to defeat the bill now pending in the Senate of
the United States, unless it can be so modified as to
render futile all efforts of the enemies of the colored
common-school system to misapply the aforesaid funds.”
—At a meeting held in Baltimore, March 3d, under the auspices of
the P. E. Board of Missions, it was stated that there are in the South
thirty-seven chapels for colored worshippers of that denomination,
fifty-seven clergymen and teachers (five of whom are colored) and
one colored evangelist.
—In this Assembly it was held that of the 5,000,000 colored people,
one-third had, since the war, risen to a higher civilization and a
higher life; one-third had gone down to a lower plane, and one-third
were left victims of circumstances. If this last estimate be correct,
the upper third will work more and more effectually upon the lower
two-thirds to lift them to its level.
INDIANS.
—General Howard testified the other day, as the result of his
personal observation among the Indians, that “wherever there has
been faithful teaching of the Scriptures, there have been most
abundant and remunerative results in civilization.”
—The representatives of the Five Nations, in the Indian Territory, in
their memorial to Congress, opposing the transfer of the Indian
Bureau to the War Department, appeal to the history of the more
than half century in which that department had complete control of
the Indian affairs. After setting forth the evils connected with that
period, they say, “May God spare us, and our race, from even the
possibility of ever again witnessing the recurrence of such scenes.”
THE PRESS.
CONSECRATION OF CONTRIBUTIONS.
BY REV. JAMES POWELL.
Not long since, I spent a Sabbath in a well-known Ohio town, where
are two of the largest Congregational Churches in the State. In one,
the annual offering to the work of the American Missionary
Association was made that day. But, before the contribution was
taken, the pastor offered a prayer that both impressed and
instructed me. It was a prayer of special consecration of the
offerings that were about to be made. He prayed that the people
might give thoughtfully and intelligently; that God’s blessing might
rest upon the gifts, accompany them to the treasury, and out upon
the mission field of the society. No mere formality was this petition,
but a glowing, heartfelt prayer for the object in view. I am quite
prepared to hear that many other pastors are equally thoughtful to
publicly consecrate the benevolent contributions of their
congregations, although my observation leads me to believe that
such fidelity is exceptional. But why should it not be the rule?
Indeed, when one comes to think of it, the wonder is that it is not.
So large and important are the interests involved—interests
connected with the extension of Christ’s kingdom; so sacred are
many of the gifts—the devising of generous hearts and the fruits of
self-denial—surely very tender should be the spirit of the occasion
when the offering is made.
Yet not only on account of this should consecrating prayer be offered
when church contributions are taken, but also on account of the
money that is thoughtlessly, and often unwillingly, thrown into the
contribution box. It would be an interesting revelation to have
placed before us just what proportion of the so-called benevolent
contributions is consciously given as an offering to the Lord. I fear it
would be startlingly small. Now, all this money that is thrown into
the Lord’s treasury, by givers who have no higher prompting than
that which governs them when they toss a nickel to an organ-
grinder on the street, needs to be consecrated. It is rather sarcastic
to couple the word “benevolent” with such contributions; they sadly
need prayer before they go out on their mission of benevolence.
Consecrating prayer would tend to correct this great evil by inspiring
thoughtfulness. “How much owest thou thy Lord?” would have a
recognized place in deciding the amount to be given. The Lord is a
party in the transaction. In the persons of the poor and the
perishing, He stands over against the treasury, and rightfully asks for
evidence of loyalty to His cause. Are crumbs that fall from an over-
supplied table, are drops that trickle from an overflowing cup, a
sufficient evidence? Christ knows the heart. Think of what it is to
bring to Him the mere waste of our plenty, and call that charity.
There is a possibility of actual sin here, whose guilt is but increased
by explanation. It was given thoughtlessly—no reference to the debt
owed, no reference given to the needs of the cause to be aided—
thoughtlessly! That is precisely where the Christian conscience
should sting most keenly. For thoughtlessness in what is paid to
Christ, is a most aggravated form of sin. Grocery bills, clothing bills,
rent and taxes shall be paid with thoughtful reference to what is
justly due, and the world shall label him dishonest who tries even to
quibble about the point; but upon this transcendently higher plane of
obligation, involving the question of what the soul owes its God and
Saviour, many Christian men will do what, on the lower plane, they
would scorn as highly dishonorable. Prayerful thoughtfulness will
work reform in this respect, and develop a more genuinely
benevolent Christian character.
The money, too, that comes from unwilling hands needs
consecration. Many of the dimes and quarters that keep the deacons
so long after the service laboriously counting, had they voices and
permission to speak, would tell a story complimentary neither to the
generosity nor benevolence of their donors. They would say: “We
are here chiefly because the contribution box was passed, and our
donors did not like to appear niggardly. The hand that dropped us
was so held that the man passing the box could not see us had he
wished to, but we made quite a noise as we clinked down into our
places, and by our clatter produced an impression that there was a
good deal more to us than there is.” The hypocrisy entering into this
portion of the contribution needs casting out by prayer.
Another good would be secured by the offering of a consecrating
prayer when benevolent offerings are made in the churches. The
contribution box would be held in worthy esteem as a genuine
means of grace. By many it is so held; it should be by all. It is no
intruder in the sanctuary; it has the sanction of Divine appointment,
and is the necessary outgrowth of “pure religion and undefiled” in
the heart. Its visits to the pews should be hailed with delight, for it
brings even a greater blessing to the giver than it carries away to
the receiver. Still, it is not thus welcomed by every one. Indeed, such
an aversion have some people to it that an announcement a week
beforehand that it is to be used, is to make certain that Sunday will
find them sick. The nature of the contribution-box sickness need not
be particularly inquired into, but “indisposition” is a good-sounding
word with which to designate it, and it is so elastic in meaning
withal, that it can be made to stretch over into the domain of
conscience. Yet a very serious sickness it is, and should be so
regarded. Next to willingness and ability, is opportunity to do good.
To turn away from the opportunity is to confess unwillingness; and
such confession, the Apostle James unqualifiedly affirms, is denial of
having love to God. Indisposition, therefore, means, on apostolic
authority, that the love of God dwells not in the heart.
I desire to commend the example of the Ohio pastor to all pastors
who desire to increase the benevolent contributions of their
churches. Let the contributions be consecrated by special prayer. It
interferes with no method that may be in use to take contributions.
It will impart new power to all.—Advance.
THE FREEDMEN.
TOUGALOO UNIVERSITY, MISSISSIPPI.
REV. G. STANLEY POPE.
General View.
This is one of the youngest of the A. M. A. schools. Some of our
sister institutions have the advantage of us by four or five years.
None have had such frequent changes in managers and instructors.
At the commencement of the present year, there was almost an
entire change in the workers. In the face of many discouragements,
there is a remarkable degree of confidence on the part of the pupils.
This is manifest in the increased attendance, which, in the Normal
and Intermediate Departments, is sixty per cent. larger than last
year, and this without special effort on our part. The ladies’ hall is
full, and some are compelled to occupy a room in the mansion. The
young men’s dormitories have been more than full, so that we have
been obliged to put up some rough barracks, for the accommodation
of twenty young men. Before the building could be finished, half the
rooms were taken. Recitations are heard in Professor Miner’s office
and private sitting-room, as well as in the public sitting-room at the
ladies’ hall. Letters are continually coming in, asking for work with
which to pay board. It seems more like the first two or three years
after the surrender than anything I have since seen. One young man
walked fifty miles, carrying his trunk on his back, to get here. There
ought to be means furnished us to help all such “tramps.”
The school will accomplish the work intended by its founders, when
it shall send out each year a class of well-trained teachers, who will
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