56 READE STREET, N. Y.
PRESIDENT.
CORRESPONDING SECRETARY.
DISTRICT SECRETARIES.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.
relating to the work of the Association may be addressed to the
Corresponding Secretary; those relating to the collecting fields to
the District Secretaries; letters for the Editor of the “American
Missionary,” to Rev. C. C. Painter, at the New York Office.
may be sent to H. W. Hubbard, Treasurer, 56 Reade Street, New
York, or when more convenient, to either of the Branch Offices, 21
Congregational House, Boston, Mass., or 112 West Washington Street,
Chicago, Ill. A payment of thirty dollars at one time constitutes a
Life Member.
AMERICAN MISSIONARY.
American Missionary Association. — SIX PREACHERS, ALL OF THEM CALLED. — NEW INDUSTRIES AND SIGNIFICANT FEATURES OF A NEW LIFE IN THE SOUTH. — THE NEGRO, ON THE STATUS AND EXODUS OF THE NEGRO. — CONDITIONS OF INDIAN CIVILIZATION. — AFRICAN NOTES. — ITEMS FROM THE FIELD.
As we go to press, we are happy to announce the safe arrival of
Prof. Thomas N. Chase, from our Mendi Mission.
That 20 per cent. increase in our appropriations, voted at
Chicago, and voted also by the Executive Committee, has not as
yet been furnished by our friends. We are compelled to urge it
upon their attention that we are in danger of falling behind the
appropriation, to our grief and the detriment of the work, unless
they come gallantly to the rescue.
Who Will do It?—One of our missionaries in North Carolina
suggests, and we cordially second the suggestion, that some of our
friends send us the means for distributing 1,000 copies of the
Missionary to as many prominent men, clergymen and others,
through the South. We are confident that a like sum of money could
not be expended in a way to tell more favorably upon our work after
the means have been supplied to carry it on. Will not some generous
friend of the South send us the money?
Tougaloo’s Plea.—Through its workers, this Institution puts in a
most pathetic plea to the Executive Committee for an appropriation
for a new building. How they inquire, can 120 persons be seated in
a dining-room large enough for only 80? Or how can fifty girls be
put into 16 small dormitories? The Executive Committee gives it up,
and sends it along as too much of a 15-puzzle. The plea melts the
hearts of us who have no money, so we make it to those who have,
hoping some one will help to a solution of this problem.
Fully as difficult is that propounded by President Ware, of
Atlanta: Sixty-two girls in rooms fitted for forty, and prospects
that the number cannot be kept down to that. It could be easily
increased to one hundred next year. The $10,000, given from the
Graves estate for a building, must be supplemented by $5,000 to
make it adequate to pressing need. Who gives the answer to this?
[162]
The Christian Recorder, Philadelphia, (organ of the A. M. E.
Church,) in noticing the “Fool’s Errand,” refers to the fact that
the Fool found himself limited to the society of the teachers of
the colored schools and a few Northern families, and asks: “Why
so? Were there no colored people there? The South ostracised him
because of his opinions, while he ostracised the negroes
because of their color.” Of the two, the Recorder believes the
South the more rational and consistent.
Laws of Heredity.—One of the—not fathers, but great-grandfathers,
in Israel, writes a pleasant note from Jewett City, Conn., to say
how much pleasure he takes in reading the “Receipt pages” of the
Missionary, finding them the most interesting of the
whole. He notes as an especially pleasant feature, the increasing
number of “friends,” who send, as in the last number, from $2.00
to $1,747.50. He mentions with great satisfaction that he has
learned to look regularly in the May number for a contribution
from the grandson of an old French Huguenot, who fifty years ago
hobbled regularly to the parsonage on the morning after missionary
meetings, and asked him (the writer) to get 25 cents out of his
purse for the work, which always left the purse empty. The grandson
now sends $20. Of him, he says, with Leigh Hunt, “May his tribe
increase.” We shall be glad if investigation on the part of some
missionary Darwin shall establish the fact that such tendencies are
transmitted with accumulating force from father to son.
In Southwest Texas, at a Freedman’s country home, our
Superintendent found a Bible which had this inscription, printed
upon a fly-leaf at the front:
“One of 10,000 Bibles presented to the Freedmen of America by
the Divinity Students’ Missionary Society, connected with the
United Presbyterian Church of Scotland. Printed at the University
Press, Oxford, for the National Bible Society of Scotland.” So
does religious beneficence percolate the most distant regions.
Our colored fellow-citizens have been made the recipients of an
immense amount of material and spiritual sympathy on the part of
British Christians. These Divinity Students will be glad to know
that this Bible, sent by their Society some ten years ago, is used
for morning and evening family worship in an interesting household,
which possesses its own farm, and which furnished hospitality to
our representative.
A dozen years ago, one of our lady teachers at a Southern
capital had a shower of stones driven through the window of her
school-room. At another time, some “fellows of the baser sort”
brought in some drunken Mexicans to annoy the school. A guard of
soldiers was placed at the school-house, and she was escorted to
and from the school by the same. Now she has so many friends among
the Southern white people that she says she doesn’t like to hear
them spoken against. She has not time to reciprocate their social
attentions. The school has proven a great success. She has her
fifty teachers out at work and she is as enthusiastic as ever.
Rev. Geo. E. Hill, of Marion, Ala., mentions a few facts in a
private note which doubtless he deemed too commonplace for formal
communication to the Missionary, yet significant and
hopeful. Not every pastor, even in favored New England, is so
fortunate in his young people.
[163]
On a recent Sabbath, one of his boys, who is to graduate this
summer from Talladega, preached for him, and proved himself a good
speaker, possessed of a clear, logical mind, with the promise of
being a useful man. On the next day, he and another member of his
church, also a Talladega student, spoke at the meeting of the Young
Men’s Christian Association extemporaneously, but with great beauty
and force. His missionary meetings are conducted in a way that
might be profitably followed by such of our churches as have like
helpers. The subject of the last one was “Africa,” illustrated by
a large map. Miss M., a graduate of Fisk University, read a paper
on the Mendi Mission, “which would have done honor to any of our
Northern churches.” She is possessed of a true missionary spirit
and Bro. Hill hopes she will find her way into the mission field,
notwithstanding a misfortune which has partially disabled her.
He has also a Young People’s Club for intellectual culture. At
its last meeting, the programme included: A sketch of Gen. Grant;
a paper on Mormonism; a sketch of Eli Whitney; a history of
Umbrellas; a reading, recitations, etc.
He seems to have a church of “Holy Endeavor,” with the athletics
and pastimes left out.
A Confederate and a Man.—He was a colonel. He is the editor of a
leading journal of the South. Some years since, an educated mulatto
woman from Ohio went South to secure a position as a teacher. She
was thrust into the smoking-car to endure the commingled filth and
ribaldry of the place.
After securing her position, it was necessary to return home
before entering upon her duties. She sought the intervention of
the colonel. He went to the local superintendent, who sent orders
along the line over three roads which gave her admission to the
ladies’ car, both on her way home and on her return. She proved a
splendid teacher and noble woman, and the colonel is proud to have
championed her cause, when to do so was unpopular.
The same colonel is now wielding a great influence in the South in
favor of negro education, and recently, both in his paper and at a
public meeting, has expressed thanks to the A. M. A. for work it
has been doing in the South.
The influences multiply and reach out in every direction, which are
destined soon to bring a total and wholesome change of sentiment,
North and South.
We have received the proceedings of the Colored Men’s State
Immigration Convention, held in Dallas, Texas, the latter part
of February. An association was formed whose object is to locate
colonies of colored people on Government lands in that State. Mr.
S. H. Smothers, editor of the Baptist Journal, of Dallas, said
in his address, as explanatory of the Exodus movement among his
people, what seems to have escaped the attention of the Senate
Exodus Committee, that the negro may act from the same motives that
influence white men. His address is full of good common sense, as
the following may show:
“Only a few weeks ago, in a conversation with a colored immigrant
from Georgia, I asked him why he left that State and came to Texas.
He replied that a great many of his white neighbors were moving to
Texas, and he thought that whatever was good for them would be good
for him.
“Much has been said in regard to the wrongs and oppressions of
which our people complain. While, doubtless, there is some ground
for their [164]complaint, their hardships, in my opinion, are more
the result of their illiterate condition than all things else.
If a class of white laborers were as illiterate as our people,
they would be equally oppressed as are the Irish tenants to-day.
Capitalists look out for their own interest, and will, if they can,
oppress one man, be his color what it may, as soon as another. We
should remember that knowledge is power and ignorance is weakness.
The protection which we most need is the power which education and
property give. For my own part, all I ask of any man is an equal
chance, and then if he can outstrip me in the race of life, let him
do it.”
Lovedale Missionary Institute, South Africa, is said to be the
busiest industrial college in the world. During the session which
closed with 1879, there were in all 393 pupils of both sexes, many
of them boarders, who paid in fees £1,006, beside £510 still due.
Livingstonia and Blantyre sent 6 pupils; 19 came from Natal; 11
from the country of the Barolongs. The carpenter had 30 apprentices
and journeymen under him; the wagon-maker 8;the blacksmith 5; the
printer 4; the bookbinder 2. On the farm were raised 1,054 bags of
corn, beans, potatoes and wheat.
Twenty-one students, of whom eleven were Kaffir
certificated-schoolmasters, were under theological instruction. Dr.
Stewart thinks the home churches will hardly continue the present
number of missionaries beyond the lifetime of those now in the
field, and that the work will be done by a native ministry.
A “Livingstonia Central African Company,” for promoting legitimate
traffic among the natives, has been organized by a society of
gentlemen interested in the civilization of the “Dark Continent”
and in the development of its resources. Direct communication is
to be opened with Central Africa, and a road has already been
constructed a distance of sixty miles around the cataracts of the
Shiré, which, connecting with a line of steamers, will constitute
a line of 800 miles from the coast. Two Christian gentlemen of
Edinburgh, Messrs. John and Frederick Moir, are at the head of
the company. It is to be no less a missionary than a commercial
enterprise, and there is every reason for believing that in both
respects it will prove a success. The natives are becoming fully
awake to the advantages of the extensive and solid business
facilities possessed by the company, whose future will be watched
with great interest.
The West African Reporter, of Sierra Leone, in announcing changes
in the officers and probably in the location of the Liberia
College, (Dr. Blyden having been appointed President; and the
trustees, leave being given by the legislature, having voted to
co-operate with the American Board in a plan to remove the college
further into the interior,) expresses itself strongly in regard to
the injury done to natives who have been sent to Europe to receive
their education. It sums the result thus:
“We find our children, as a result of their foreign culture—we do
not say in spite of their foreign culture—but as a result of
their foreign culture—aimless and purposeless for the race—crammed
with European formulas of thought and expression, so as to astonish
their bewildered relatives. Their friends wonder at the words of
their mouth. But they wonder at other things besides their words. [165]
They are the Polyphemus of civilization—huge, but sightless—cui
lumen ademptum.”
To some extent the same holds true of negroes from the South,
educated in the North for work in their old homes.
Onondaga and Oneida Indians.—There are in the State of New York
eight Indian reservations, aggregating 86,336 acres of land, a
little less than 18 acres to each of the 5,093 Indians who occupy
them. These lands are held by tribal and not individual titles. A
few of these Indians have become thrifty farmers, but the most of
them are idle and poor; probably one-half are still pagans. A bill
has been introduced into the Legislature to abolish, with consent
of the Indians, the treaty of 1788, and distribute these lands
in severalty to these people. This would end the fatal communal
system, which has proved in this, as it must in all cases, so
deadly to all prosperity. Each Indian would thus become, under the
laws of the State, a land-owner, and amenable to the laws on the
same footing as other citizens.
Under the present tribal system, the father has nothing but his
tomahawk and scalping knife to leave to his children, and transmits
only a disposition to use them. Give him the right to acquire a
title to something else, and he will doubtless acquire and bequeath
it.
There is a poor blind Samson in this land,
Shorn of his strength and hound in bands of steel,
Who may in some grim revel, raise his hand,
And shake the pillars of this commonweal,
Till the vast temple of our liberties
A shapeless mass of wreck and rubbish lies.
That same “blind Samson” is in the land to-day. It is the Negro,
uneducated, immoral, with a ballot in his hand. It is the white
man, uneducated, immoral, with a ballot in his hand. For it makes
no difference. The harm lies back of the color. The consequences of
ignorant suffrage, by whomsoever exercised, can be only detrimental
to the peace and welfare of the State. Free institutions can be
built up only on the basis of intelligence and integrity. Without
intelligence and integrity, the best cannot long survive. If there
be large numbers on whom this right has been conferred, but who are
densely ignorant, especially if these large numbers are grouped in
a single section, like these millions of negroes and poor whites
in the South, it is an official notice served on the nation that
no time is to be lost in imparting the mental and moral training
requisite for the right discharge of these sacred functions of
voting. Men are not left to settle this question of helping with
schools and churches, merely on the ground of humanity or Christian
duty. Their interest is challenged, and their very selfishness is
under contribution. We do not put matches in children’s hands, and
then leave them to play about hay-mows. If we give them matches
we train them in the use of them. With an instrument in his
hands so potent as the ballot, and with the possibility of using
the leverage of it in contingencies easy to be foreseen for the
overturning of the nation, it takes but half an eye to see that
the man who wields it ought to have an instructed mind and an
instructed conscience, and the State is not secure until he does.
—[Dr. Noble in Advance.
[166]
[The following letter reveals the condition of one out of many
neighborhoods scattered all over the South, densely populated
with negroes, neglected by the whites, excepting as the agent or
overseer of the plantation looks after the owner’s interests as
connected with the labor of the people. No schools, no churches,
excepting such as are ministered to by preachers as ignorant and,
in many cases, as licentious as the people themselves. Just think
of it! The visit of this Sunday-school agent the first visit of
a white Christian to the hundred families; their religious and
other culture such as those six preachers could give! And this
not in Central Africa, but in the very heart of the southwest
portion of our own land! These people citizens of our republic, and
voters!—Ed. Miss.]
A missionary of the American Sunday-School Union in the Southwest
writes:
“I recently organized a Sunday-school for the colored people at
Homan Station, on the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern R. R.,
in Miller County, between Texarkana and the Red River, where is
a large cotton plantation, and two others are near, having in
all more than one hundred families. Among them is one Baptist
church, and six preachers, every one ‘called!’ Only two of them
can read, and the pastor or ‘head-preacher’ is blind; and so are
all, in spiritual things, preachers and people. After delivering
an address, I found that only seven in the audience could read.
In all, fifty adults and children joined the Sunday-school and
promised to learn to read. I furnished them with primers, Bibles,
Testaments, etc., which seemed to please the plantation agent or
overseer as well as the people.
“After the school was organized, the blind preacher gave a sermon
from Rev. xxii. 1, 2, another preacher doing the reading. I shall
not attempt to characterize the sermon, singing and responses. When
will white Christians, who know the way of life, surrender their
prejudices and teach these poor, benighted people the truths of the
Gospel? My visit was the first made by a white Christian worker to
this place, and will be remembered.”
It is a good indication of the movement of the South to manufacture
its own staples, that since 1866 it has set in motion 600,000
spindles, of which Georgia has 213,157, a third of them being in
Columbus, and that the cotton mills at Augusta, Ga., alone turned
out $4,000,000 worth of manufactured products last year, paid ten
to twelve per cent. dividends, and carried a handsome surplus to
the sinking-fund accounts.
The president of the large mills at Nashville, Tenn., assured us
that his mills in 1878–9 had earned fifteen per cent. dividends.
One of our wealthiest manufacturers of New England, who has
recently been to Eastern Tennessee, where he has an interest in a
new mill, says if twenty years younger, he would certainly go South
and invest largely in manufacturing. Everything is favorable for
such enterprise.
This is in striking contrast with the time when the papers, voicing
the sentiment of Virginia, compelled the founders of Lowell, Mass.,
to abandon their purpose of building their mills in Richmond,
because such industries were in deadly hostility to Southern
institutions.
[167]
Another significant, but almost unnoted feature of the new South,
(for the old is passing away more rapidly than is generally
believed,) is the increasing favor with which the town system, but
more especially the common-school system, is regarded by the people.
Under the old régime both were unknown. Virginia (and we believe
she was in harmony in this with all the other slave States)
pauperized the pupil who received aid, by making the overseer of
the poor the disburser of such funds as were appropriated by the
County Court for educational purposes.
The business, which in New England is transacted by the citizens
of a town, assembled in town meeting, duly warned, and notified of
the business that could be brought before it, was, in the South,
transacted by the County Court for a whole county. Surprise is
often expressed that the people of the South can be led, in almost
solid masses, to the polls, to vote for men and measures which
those who know the private sentiments of the people are sure they
do not approve.
But conceive of New England as having never sent her children to
a common school; as having never gathered in town meeting; as
having never known even a Congregational Church meeting, and,
at the same time, as having free thought on all questions of
public policy overshadowed, fettered and ruthlessly throttled
by an interest which enthroned itself as supreme in commercial,
political and social life, before which good society did homage,
and politicians sacrificed, and divines worshipped, without whose
approval nothing was right, and without whose protection nothing
was safe. Conceive what, under such circumstances, New England
would have been, and then cease to wonder that the pro-slavery
disunionist was not crushed, and that the Bourbon politician is not
buried under the new sentiment which lives in the South to-day.
But it is manifest to anyone who knew the South under the old state
of things, and who has had opportunity of seeing it to-day, that
these two agencies which have made New England what she is, but
were unknown to the South—which were thrust upon her as a part
of the reconstructive machinery, against her sullen but helpless
protest, and were hated accordingly—are coming more and more into
favor with the people.
It is noteworthy and significant that the Legislature of Tennessee,
last year, in all its frantic, unwise, and dishonest efforts to
reduce expenses, did not reduce her school appropriations. He must
be a blind observer and a dull reasoner who does not see that this
is most significant as showing that old things are passing away,
and all things are becoming new in a regenerated South.
It is significant that the leading article in the current number of
the South Atlantic, the élite literary magazine of the South,
is by a colored man. His topic is, “The Status of the Negro, and
the Exodus.” It is able and fair in its treatment of the subject.
The editor disclaims responsibility for its statements, and
slightly apologizes for its publication; would have been glad, had
it not seemed unfair to the writer, to modify a few paragraphs; but
has given a negro full leave to tell his white readers just what he
thinks of negro status and exodus. This fact is one which should
not be forgotten.
On the other hand, it would be well for us to hear just what an
intelligent negro has to say on this topic. The writer, Rev. D. J.
Sanders, indicates the difficulties[168] in the way of his people’s
progress; obstacles thrown in the way both by his friends and
his enemies; asserts that because of what he is, the negro has
made commendable progress in spite of these hindrances, aided by
missionary preachers and teachers who paid but little attention to,
and took no part in, the political events which were transpiring
about them. Evidently, in his estimation, the improved condition of
his people has not been due to political action, but to schools and
moral influences.
He asserts that the Exodus has not been brought about by political
causes, though a certain class of politicians have done something
to spread the movement; nor is it due to the fact that educational
or religious privileges have been withheld, for, strictly, it
cannot be asserted that such has been the case. Persons who were
pronounced in their opposition to negro schools are, when this
movement begins, laboring side by side with those who have devoted
themselves to negro education. Whatever of politics, or education,
or religion may enter into the movement is merely incidental.
Political abuse there has been, but the Exodus movement began after
this had for the most part ceased, and has raged most where this
abuse has been least known, as near the home of the writer, in
North Carolina.
There have been, and are now in some States, unjust laws regulating
labor and wages. The script system, which permits the employer to
pay the laborer in script redeemable at his store, has been known,
and is ruinously unjust to the laborer, but in the two States
where this movement has been greatest, regulative legislation has
been in the one exactly the reverse of what it is in the other. In
Mississippi the landlord must fulfil his engagements before he can
force his tenant to quit. In North Carolina the tenant must fulfil
his before he can leave.
Fundamentally, it is the impoverished condition of the people,
conjoined with restlessness, and supplemented by idle curiosity,
making change easy and desirable, which has exposed these poor
people to the designs of unscrupulous sharpers and demagogues. They
have inherited poverty, ignorance, improvidence, to say nothing
of positive vices. They have been hindered by positive efforts to
keep them down. They have been discouraged by the fact that success
would give them no social or political advantage, and so they
have either refused to labor, or have squandered in pic-nics and
cake-walks, for tobacco and whiskey, it is estimated, about eighty
millions of dollars annually.
There have been, so far, about 28,000 of these exodusters who
have paid an average of about $16.65 to the railroad companies
for transportation. Out of this the companies have paid to the
unscrupulous agents who promote the movement, one dollar for full,
and fifty cents for half fares.
The roads have received about $500,000 from these people, and
hope for at least half as much more from a return movement. The
emigrants have received in charity about seven cents each, as an
offset to the $16.65 which they have paid for transportation alone.
We know not what report the Senate Exodus Committee will make, but
are confident that it will come no nearer the truth in regard to
this movement than has the writer of this article. So long as the
negro is thus ignorant he will be helpless against the oppressor,
whether he be the old master or the pretended new friend. When we
know the possibilities yet undeveloped in the negro, and give full
scope to them, we shall know also what an element of wealth and
strength here is in what is now known as an incubus on prosperity
and a menace to our national life.
[169]
Before the Indian can become civilized, the conditions of
civilization must exist. For him, at present, these are scarcely
possible. No mere tribe can attain to a civilized state, yet the
tribal relation is fostered and perpetuated by our policy. Such
agencies of a civilized life as civil courts, town meetings, common
schools, railroads, telegraphs, etc., these are simply impossible
so long as tribes of men are forced or permitted to wander over
vast territories to which they have no other title than that of
tribal occupancy. The prime condition of a home is an exclusive
title to the land upon which it stands and from which its support
can be drawn. Without a home, a high civilization is impossible,
but our policy has been to discourage, and too often render
impossible, the creation of a home by the Indian.
He is the ward of the nation—a ward who has never been taken to
the maternal bosom as a child, who is not permitted to reach his
majority, or to care for himself, who is cheated by his guardian,
and unfitted by the whole course of his education for the duties
and responsibilities of manhood. There has been no false principle
of politics but has been applied to his regulation. There has been
no species of wrong, or injustice, or folly, which has not been
practiced upon him, and regarded by him as the exponent of our
Christian civilization.
It is time this foolish and wicked treatment should cease; time
that we showed something like an honest desire to do justly by him,
even though incapable of wise statesmanship. The principles which
have lifted up savage tribes and made of them civilized nations are
historic, and might be known to, and their application attempted
by, the Government. Our Congressmen should be compelled to hear
other demands than those made by reckless adventurers who find the
Indian occupying lands he would possess.
Judging from all past experience we have every reason to believe
that, under secure conditions of life and property, these tribes
would settle down and become worthy and excellent citizens. The
protection of the Indian must be individual and not tribal; it
must be found in courts which administer impartial justice, not in
longer-ranged rifles and fleeter ponies. In short he must have the
opportunities and defences of manhood, and thus be prepared for the
responsibilities and duties of citizenship.
—The Mission church at Old Calabar, Western Africa, where the Rev.
E. P. Smith was buried, is spontaneously aiming at self-support.
—A few French Protestant missionaries from South Africa, have
penetrated the great Barotse Valley, North of the Zambesi, with a
view to establishing a mission in this unevangelized region. M.
Coillard, the leader, is now in Europe, endeavoring to awaken an
interest in the new enterprise.
—At the new San Salvador Congo Mission, excellent work has been
done during its first six months of labor. A school has been opened
and the scholars have made good progress. One hundred and fifty
on the average have attended preaching services; about a thousand
words of a hitherto unwritten language have been collated, and the
missionaries thank God and take courage.
[170]
—Mr. Adam McCall, a converted engineer, with seven years’
experience in African life, has gone out from the East London
Mission Institute, in charge of an expedition, planned to reach
Stanley Pool this summer. Here he proposes to establish a
good, strong industrial station, to which the natives from the
surrounding country may be attracted, and where they may gather
round a centre of civilizing and Christianizing influence.
—The mission of the United Presbyterians in Egypt has been signally
blessed. They have thirty-five stations, nearly one thousand
communicants, and over twelve hundred pupils in their schools,
and have received, in all, assistance equal in value to $120,000.
$40,000 of this was from the late Viceroy, and $80,000 from His
Excellency Maharajah Dhuleep Singh.
—According to Mr. Stanley’s report, the population in the upper
Congo region is very dense. The towns in some places are two
miles long, with one or more broad streets between rows of neat
well-built houses, superior to anything in East Africa. Mr. Stanley
is constructing a good road, ten feet wide, on the lower Congo,
past the rapids and cataracts. Relief stations are to be built at
intervals for the benefit of merchants, missionaries and explorers,
according to the original plan of the King of the Belgians.
—Coal is said to exist in abundance in the vicinity of St. Paul
river, Liberia, West Africa, and a survey for a railroad has
recently been, made on the St. Paul river.
—“The conditions of health in the Gaboon, West Africa,” says
Rev. S. H. Murphy, a Presbyterian missionary, “are good living,
godliness, cleanliness, tranquillity, patience, and quinine.”
—A Trans-Sahara Railway from Algeria to Soudan, across the Desert
to Timbuctoo on the Niger, and another line from Senegal to the
Niger, are proposed by the French. The necessary explorations
for the first of these schemes are being made by Duponchel, a
celebrated engineer, and for the second by Soleillet, another
celebrated engineer and explorer.
—The Dutch Church in South Africa began on January 2d the
publication of their first weekly religious paper, in the Dutch
language, called “De Christen: Weekblad voor Kerk en Maat
schappij;” (or the Christian; a Weekly for the Church and
Society.) It is well gotten up, and is indeed quite an attractive
sheet.
There are several large and enterprising secular sheets published
at Cape Town.
Hampton, Va.—“I am glad to tell you that two of your
Indian boys, Murie and Hustice, are to unite with our church on
next Sunday.”
Raleigh, N. C.—The spiritual condition of the church is
still very encouraging. Fifteen persons entered into covenant last
Sunday, which made it a day of rejoicing. Six others have been
voted into the church, and will enter into covenant at the next
communion.
Wilmington, N. C.—A pleasing incident occurred at our
communion season last Sabbath. Four generations in one family were
represented, from the aged great-grandmother to the infant who
was presented for baptism by its grandmother, a close-communion
Baptist; her impenitent son, the father, and the young mother, who
is a member of our church, standing by her side. The grandmother
afterward communed with us.
[171]
Charleston, S. C.—Mr. Cutler writes: “Yesterday was a
grand day for us. The church renewed its covenant. About 100 were
present. Some 30 or 40 others sent word that they wished to do so.
We are now in a condition to go forward. I trust the renewal was
made sincerely.”
Augusta, Ga.—“At one place where I called, an old lady had
the care of several grandchildren. One evening she said, ‘I don’t
know what I shall do to-morrow, for I’ve only one nickel left.’
Then, one of the grandchildren replied, ‘Grandma, don’t you know
you always say, “the Lord will provide”? Don’t you worry; it will
be here in the morning.’ And sure enough she went over to the depot
the next morning, and two ladies asked her to wait on them, and
gave her fifty cents, and another said, ‘Here, auntie, take this
basket and empty it for me,’ and there was provision enough to last
all day and part of the next. ‘Children, you just trust the Lord,’
is a remark she often makes.”
Woodville, Ga.—“Our revival is still going on. God is with
us. Brother Markham preached here last Sunday, and four persons
were admitted to membership.”
Milledgeville, Ga.—A society for little children has
recently been formed in this town, known as the “Rising Youths’
Society.” It promises well. The Sunday-school is still flourishing.
McIntosh, Ga.—The church work is growing. Five have been
added to the church since last July, and a number are to unite at
the May communion.
Miller’s Station, Ga.—From Miss Douglass: “You see by the
date that I am once more out of Savannah. It was hard to get away,
for there were many who were inquiring, and needed to be sought out
and led to the Saviour. I came out to fill an appointment for a
Bible reading here last night. There were only thirteen present, as
it was rainy. One of these was an old gray-headed man, who suffers
much from rheumatism. He walked nearly two miles to get here, yet
expressed himself as ‘very much satisfied’ with the pay he received
for his walk.”
McIntosh, Ga.—Rev. A. J. Headen writes: “I have a great
deal of walking to do because I have no horse, and I am not able to
go as much as I might if I had one. Please see if you can help me
to secure one through some friend. I give you my word it would add
a hundred per cent. here to our work if a horse could be put in the
field. Some days I walk from eight to nine miles to see the people
and to attend to church work.”
Macon, Ga.—Rev. S. E. Lathrop writes: “When Brother Rogers
was here he told us we ought to ‘pray for a missionary horse.’
Whether that is the best way to get one or not, I am not sure, but
I do wish we had one. When I see a serviceable horse, I sometimes
feel like breaking the tenth commandment, and saying, as the
disciples said to a certain colt’s owner, ‘The Master hath need of
him.’ We feel the need of some kind of locomotive power, as the hot
weather of spring has begun. Our long walks under the burning sun,
take the starch out of our linen, to say nothing of the lassitude
and fatigue of body. There are no street cars now running in
Macon; they are bankrupt, defunct and buried (i. e. the tracks)
under sand and gravel. Some of our members live two miles in one
direction and some three miles in another. The whole congregation
are scattered far and wide, hence they are somewhat irregular, and
the labor of visitation is much increased. If we had a horse we
could accomplish much more, besides saving something on draymen’s
bills, etc., etc. All our workers need the recreation of riding
for the sake [172]of health, and we can’t afford to hire hacks. Now I
don’t know why I wrote this, except that I do feel like ‘praying
for a missionary horse.’ Join your prayers with ours.”
Talladega, Ala.—The theological students at Talladega
College have just been favored with a course of lectures on
Eschatology by Rev. H. S. De Forest, President of the College. The
students manifested a lively interest in these lectures, and in
the study of the intricate and somewhat obscure field of thought
traversed by them. The lecturer having positive views, combined
with much classic and theologic learning on the themes discussed,
and possessing a warm, Christian heart, did not fail to make a deep
impression on all who heard him.
Eight young men will be graduated from the Theological Department
of the College this year, all of whom will enter the Congregational
ministry in the South. They are now warmly welcomed to the pulpits
of all denominations, and are recognized as an important factor in
the elevation of the colored people in this region.
Kymulga, Ala.—A very interesting temperance meeting is
reported. Sixty persons were present. The exercises consisted of
singing, addresses and selections by the members of the Society.
Rev. H. S. De Forest, of Talladega, visited the Sunday-school and
preached for the people.
Childersburg, Ala.—Rev. Alfred Jones writes: “My work is
in a lively condition. I have a full house. My people seem to study
the Bible with greater interest than they ever have before. Some
come to my church who did not like it at first.”
Anniston, Ala.—Rev. P. J. McEntosh has been the victim of
a very pleasant “April Fool.” On returning from Conference he was
invited into the chapel, and found, to his great surprise, that
an excellent stand for the choir had been erected, with banisters
and place for books. The work had been done with the proceeds of a
surprise party given while he was away.
THE FREEDMEN. — A TOUR OF THE CONFERENCES. — NORTH CAROLINA CONFERENCE. — SOUTH-WESTERN CONGREGATIONAL ASSOCIATION. — GEORGIA. — ALABAMA.
REV. JOS. E. ROY, D. D.,
FIELD SUPERINTENDENT, ATLANTA, GA.
It took six weeks. Other pens were engaged to write up the details.
Some notes by the way, may be in place. The Kentucky Association
did not elect delegates to the National Council. There will be yet
another chance at the July meeting. Rev. John G. Fee is opposed
to any representation in that body beyond that of an honorary
character. Membership in it, he thinks, would be an endorsement
of the sect principle, and inconsistent with the position of the
Kentucky Association, which is simply a body of Christian ministers
and churches. He claims that testimony must be borne, if only in a
small way. At the National Council in Oberlin, I was delighted with
the catholic and non-sectarian spirit with which the delegates of
this body were welcomed to membership. I should say now: Keep on
sending delegates to encourage and emphasize that testimony. That
is the only ecclesiastical body in the United States that would
offer such organic fellowship.
[173]
You have been told of the new era in our work, marked by the
opening of half a dozen of the homes of the first families in
Selma, Alabama, for the entertainment of the white members of the
Conference. It was not merely the offer of their houses as eating
and sleeping places, but it was a delicate and attentive Christian
hospitality, which invited the guests around from home to home in
order to the extension of acquaintance. When grateful words were
said to Major Joseph Hardie for having led the way, he answered
that that gave him too much credit; that the places had all been
opened cheerfully, and that, after the sessions were over, other
families had said: “Why didn’t you give us a chance? We would
like to have had some of those folks.” Another host, referring
to the mutual satisfaction, said: “It is just because we are
getting better acquainted.” In the same line was the opening of
the Presbyterian pulpit, morning and night. The exercises of the
Conference, with a printed programme and prepared articles, were of
a high order and well sustained throughout. It was much like one of
the Western General Associations.
In the Louisiana Conference, at Terrebonne, of the twenty-six
members, the only two white men were Pres. Alexander and the
Superintendent. It was not a literary tournament, but a glowing
religious convocation. Before the adjournment, eight or ten souls
were inquiring the way of life, and some fervid spirits remained
to extend the flame. Our dear brother, Rev. Daniel Clay, the
entertaining pastor, with his own home and his church upon the same
plantation where for thirty-seven years he had served as a bondman,
is a very patriarch among the young ministers, loved and revered
by us all. The last meeting of this Conference, at New Iberia, was
followed by a revival that added one hundred to the company of the
disciples. Next year we are to go back to Terrebonne.
The regular time for the meeting of the Association of
South-Western Texas is in July, which in the South is the slack
time of the year, with the corn and the cotton “laid by,” and which
is the usual period, among both colored and white, for revival
meetings, as is the winter at the North. This year the brethren
undertook to bring it forward to April, so that the Superintendent
might be with them, but, as everybody was plowing corn and chopping
out the cotton, the effort brought to Helena only the two pastors,
B. C. Church and M. Thompson. Yet we had a glorious four days’
meeting, with preachings, conferences, a communion, a season of
baptizing, and a class meeting, which, according to the custom
of the church, precedes the communion as a preparation. People
came six, nine, or twelve miles. The native pastor, Mr. Thompson,
preached an able and moving sermon upon trust in God. The regular
meeting will be at the same place in July. This Church has a
dignified and efficient deaconess, who looks after the many little
things in the parish, which a woman can do better than anybody
else. It did seem appropriate that a woman’s taste should be
employed to arrange her Lord’s Table. I took pleasure in pointing
out to her, once a slave, the likeness of her work to that of
“Phebe, the servant of the Church at Cenchrea.” I had the pleasure
of a ride in the nice missionary buggy which Bro. Towne had given
to our presiding elder, Church. It is a good deal better, now that
he is sixty-seven, though straight and spry, when he camps out,
to have this vehicle to lie under, than to have only the starry
firmament over him. It helps to keep company on the prairie for the
preacher and the picketed pony.
For ingenuity of swindling, can any pale face beat the darkey when
he tries? [174]
Down this way, one was going about selling tickets to Kansas for
five dollars down, and four upon arrival. In one place he took in
some forty of his confiding brethren. Some came to the railroad
agent, my informant, to learn of the cheat. Others, at another
place, had got on board to find that their tickets were a sham.
Another black sharper, for one dollar and a half, was making out
the papers for land which Queen Victoria was to give them, since
Uncle Sam had failed on the “forty acres and a mule.”
On the way, making one hundred miles north by hack to Austin, I had
my desire satisfied in overtaking one of the great droves of cattle
moving northward. It numbered three thousand. We struck them as
they were passing across a valley, so that every creature was in
view. A grand sight it was, preceded by the four-mule commissary
prairie schooner, attended by the twenty cow-boys in saddle, with
cracking whip and awful spurs, and with the relay of sixty horses
in drove, each driver having a change of four. The dreadful drouth
of the last year, which carried corn up to 25 cents a bushel, was
apparent in the poverty-stricken quality of the beasts and in the
scraping up of old scalawags and yearlings and two-year-olds to
make out the drove. Out of three counties here last year, 25,000
horses were taken. These go in droves of from twelve to fifteen
hundred. Multitudes of them, as they run from colts upward, are
sold for five dollars each. Mine host, a colored man, while I was
with him, sold eight head of broken horses for $155, to be paid
next fall, without interest. In some droves, fifty sucking colts
are sometimes shot in a day, as impediments of the march.
The Parker farm has in it 24,000 acres. Six thousand of these are
to be cultivated to raise grain for fattening the 4,000 cattle
which are to be shipped by rail. Collins Campbell, Esq., twenty
years from Vermont, has his 15,000 acres, with 7,000 fenced. I
found him a stated reader of the American Missionary,
and retaining those well-balanced sentiments which his own Green
Mountains had bred. He sells land to the Freedmen. One of his
neighbors, whose hospitality I enjoyed, is Gabriel Washington. I
wonder if that archangel has not sufficient regard for “the Father
of his Country,” and for this, its dusky citizen, to be pleased
with this collocation of names? Our Gabriel is so much of the earth
earthy, that he owns 1,260 acres of its soil, and has a model farm,
with its orchard, cotton gin, and its big Yankee woodpile, the
finest one I have seen in the South. His buxom wife had been down
the day before, twelve miles, to our big meeting.
Austin is picturesquely located on the north bank of the Colorado,
and is a city of 12,000 inhabitants, half of whom are said to
be colored; and the finest, most sightly spot about the Capital
has just now been crowned with the much admired “Tillotson
Institute.” It is to be opened October 1st. Mrs. E. G. Garland,
whose marriage with one of Gov. Davis’ judges did not interfere
with her school work, has for several years been in charge of the
Evans school-house, built by the Freedmen’s Bureau, and called
by her maiden name. The last year, fifty of her scholars were
out teaching. Her school numbered the last term 120. Surely, it
was time for the living institution to take to itself ampler
accommodations, and to advance to a higher grade. With all my heart
I commend this struggling enterprise. Texas has been neglected. It
must now be brought into the line of our educational work. Rev.
Dr. Wright, pastor of the Northern Presbyterian Church, which
was planted by Dr. Daniel Baker, is one of the trustees of the
Tillotson Institute, and is working for it heartily. A sermon at
Paris and a lecture at Memphis will complete the work of the tour.
[175]
This is the Benjamin of the Congregational Israel. Its first
meeting was held one year ago at Raleigh. Its second occurred June
7th–9th at Dudley. The opening sermon was preached by Rev. Geo. S.
Smith, a graduate of the Atlanta University, pastor at Raleigh,
upon Paul’s determination to know nothing but Christ, and Him
crucified. It was an able, stimulating, faithful discourse, urging
that ministers in fidelity to this doctrine must not be afraid
to preach against current sins. The morning prayer-meeting that
followed, throbbed and warmed with the idea of Christ as a present,
personal Saviour, and all the meetings had a spiritual glow.
Rev. D. D. Dodge was made Moderator, and Rev. D. Peebles, Scribe.
The five churches had come to be six, the new one being at
Hilltown, in the west part of the State, and having as pastor Rev.
Islay Walden, a graduate of the New Brunswick Seminary, ordained
by the Dutch Classis of that locality, who had been a slave in the
region where now he is preaching the Gospel. A gracious revival,
and a meeting-house under way, are the fruits of the first six
months of the life of this church. These six churches and the five
schools of the A. M. A. in the State, were all represented.
McLeansville was fixed upon as the place of the next meeting,
where Bro. Connet has his church and high-school. The Conference
was favored with the presence of Miss Farrington, lady missionary
aided by the ladies of Maine, and located at Wilmington, and also
with a visit from Misses Waugh and Barker, located at Newbern as
missionaries of the Chicago Baptist Ladies’ Society. These ladies
are doing a blessed work in the region round about. In April last,
going together, they had traveled 300 miles, and had held 80
meetings.
Two colored young ladies of rare cultivation, one an Episcopalian
from Philadelphia, the other a Presbyterian from Long Island, sent
down by the Society of Friends to teach in this neighborhood,
reported the happy working of their Bands of Hope, the idea of
which they had taken from Mr. Peebles’ Band in Dudley.
Do the friends of the American Board and Home Missionary Society
know that we down here are broadening their field for harvest? Some
of these little churches reported contributions to aid the white
people out West in supporting the Gospel and to send missionaries
abroad. The one at Wilmington claimed itself to be the Banner
Church of all the constituents of the American Board, having given
more than any other, according to number and means, as judged by
the report of Dr. Alden.
And so the good friend, “Howard,” who is about to help this church
to a house of worship, will see that he is sowing seed in good
ground.
Rev. H. E. Brown, Secretary of the Freedmen’s Dept. of the
International Y. M. C. A., in his work at the South, has this
season held six of his union Bible meetings at Washington,
Richmond, Raleigh, Dudley, Wilmington, and Savannah, three of
which, as will be observed, were in this State. The series has been
one of great interest and profit. There are three points of special
notice. The first is the quickening of the spirit of Christian
union among these people, whose sectarianism is quite intense.
The second is the great honor which is put upon the word of God
by the constant service of Bible readings, with the plans of the
same multiplied for the people by his portable copyist. The third
point in this work is, that revivals of genuine Bible religion are
usually the result. This was true at the meeting at Raleigh, where
there were about 300 conversions among the colored people. There
is manifest an abiding increase of regard for the word of God. The
quality of the converts[176] is also hopeful. As another perceptible
result, union meetings, led by an Evangelist, have since been
held by the white Churches of that city, and there were about 200
hopeful conversions in these. We congratulate the Y. M. C. A. upon
this successful inauguration of their work among the Freedmen.
And we make grateful recognition of the influence of Maj. Joseph
Hardie, of Selma, Ala., a member of the Y. M. C. A. Committee, in
selecting and introducing Mr. Brown to this work in his own city.
I am happy to make mention also of the work of Rev. E. E. Rogers as
an Evangelist in our Church at Macon, Ga. He has proven himself a
judicious and successful laborer, wise, earnest and loving. Pastor
Lathrop is very emphatic in commending him. Resulting from the
stimulus of this meeting, special services were projected in all
the other colored churches of the city. And as a matter of fact,
revival meetings in the white churches followed. Mr. Rogers had
also been a worker of the A. M. A. in former years. We hope that
his services in the future may be secured in this line of special
movement in our churches at the South. They have come to a degree
of intelligence and of steadiness that will encourage such endeavor.
Annual Meeting at Terrebonne, La., Apr. 7–10.
REV. W. S. ALEXANDER.
The fact that our meeting was to be at Terrebonne, where we have
a live, growing church, and a vigorous, devoted minister, gave
promise not only of a hospitable welcome, but of a profitable
season of communion.
Brother Clay and his church had made every preparation. One hundred
and fifty dollars had been raised and expended in putting the
church and parsonage in perfect order. A long room in the house
adjoining the church had been provided with a table sufficient
to accommodate the delegates, and the table was furnished with
new tumblers, knives and forks and spoons, and the kitchen with
a new stove, all involving a good bill of costs, but met with
the greatest cheerfulness, and without the thought of hardship;
and then the members of the church and congregation brought in
chickens, hams and bread, and everything to satisfy the appetite of
hungry men, and I find that Louisiana Congregationalists eat with
the same relish as their brethren in the New England Associations.
So much for the material part of the feast, for which Brother Clay
and his flock deserve all praise and thanks.
With the exception of two of the small mission churches, every
church was represented. Terrebonne is central, and the Morgan
R. R. extension (finished to New Iberia), makes communication
easy and rapid. There is something delightful about a new church
organization. There is an inspiration in building upon newly-laid
foundations, and every member feels that he is essential to the
success of the movement. In an organization representing many years
and great numerical strength, a man of quiet, retiring spirit is
lost to view; but in the first years, every heart and hand are
needed.
The reports from the churches indicate a pure and steady growth.
The process of cutting off dead branches has gone on, so that
although nearly two hundred have been received during the year, the
numerical gain over all losses has been very small. We are glad to
believe that the sixteen hundred members in the churches of the
Association represent more solid moral worth than in any previous
year. In the business sessions, when questions requiring wisdom and
prudence were presented, and in the discussions of vital religious
topics, I was gratified to observe real progress in the ability,
self-control and kindly Christian spirit of the brethren.[177] These
annual meetings serve as a profitable school, and are attended by
willing and eager learners. It was a great joy and blessing to have
Dr. Roy with us this year. The brethren have already learned to
love him, and to confide in his counsels. The Association placed
him under heavy tribute at this meeting. At their request he give
an address on “Our Country,” and with his large illustrative map
indicated the vast extent and marvelous resources of what is now
their country, and of which they are citizens. But a few years
ago the plantation was all the country they knew anything about,
and from the law of the plantation there was no appeal. But now
they belong to Uncle Sam’s family of 50,000,000, and can look to
him for protection.
Dr. Roy gave an address on our Congregational polity, which
greatly delighted the people. Hitherto, many of them have loved
Congregationalism without being able to give a reason for it. The
address was timely and profitable, because the brethren, while not
waging a denominational warfare with other churches, desire to be
intelligent in regard to their own faith, and to be able “to give a
reason for the hope that is within them.”
The annual sermon, by Rev. W. P. Ward, of Gretna, was earnest and
practical, and prepared the large audience for the sermon of the
Moderator which followed it. But few congregations in the North
would bear two sermons on the same evening, but they not only
did that at Terrebonne, but by song and prayer and exhortation
continued the service another hour. The brethren seconded the
appeals of the preachers from the pulpit, and went down among the
people, entreating them to come to Christ by repentance and faith.
Eight came forward and kneeled down for prayer, and many hands went
up in the audience. God put honor upon His truth that night, and
the hearts of the people were touched.
The sermon of Dr. Roy on the last morning was tender and searching,
and the tears of the people showed that he had not spoken in vain.
The Church in New Iberia called Rev. W. R. Polk, and he has already
entered upon his work. He has a good field. May God give him grace
to cultivate it.
Five “missionaries at large” were chosen. Some of them already
have churches, and take on all the supplementary work for which
they can find time. These men are unsalaried, and depend, in their
missionary tours, upon the thoughtful kindness and hospitality of
those to whom they go. Hospitality is a virtue among this people.
They exercise it “without grudging.” They have a real love for
sharing their “loaf” with him, be he stranger or friend, who calls
at their door. It is only necessary that he have the “password” of
the Christian Church.
Rev. W. S. Alexander and Rev. Isaac H. Hall were elected delegates
to the National Congregational Council.
The next meeting of the Association will be held in Terrebonne the
1st Wednesday in April, 1881. Brother Clay said: “I haven’t been
half paid for my trouble. You must come back next year.”
Greeting to all the sister Associations in the North! Perhaps we
should say filial rather than fraternal, but the infant of five
years ago is a good, strong child to-day, and we claim a seat at
the family table.
Our Revival.
REV. S. E. LATHROP, MACON.
Our church observed the week of prayer, and there seemed to follow
an unusual tenderness in the regular prayer-meetings. The people
became more united and earnest, and it was evident that the way
for better things was being prepared. In February, some of the
brethren suggested sending for the aid[178] of Rev. E. E. Rogers, of
Orange, Conn., who was pastor here from 1869 to 1873. I wrote and
found that the way was open for his coming, and we began at once
to hold extra prayer-meetings. Brother Rogers came during the last
week of February, and remained five weeks, preaching and laboring
with uncommon earnestness and consecration. The Lord has evidently
fitted him for this special work. The church took hold with
remarkable unanimity. I never have known any church in the North
to be so thoroughly united in revival effort. The contagion spread
to other churches, many of them soon beginning to hold special
services. This somewhat lessened our audiences, but a general
revival spirit spread through the city, and still continues. During
one or two weeks we held union afternoon prayer-meetings with a
colored Baptist church, a very uncommon thing in this country.
The meetings were quiet, tender, impressive throughout. The
people are beginning to get out of their old ideas of a noisy
conversion. Some of the “old-time” quaint, plaintive songs are,
however, wonderfully apt and appropriate in such seasons, ranking
among the most effective “spiritual songs.” We held neighborhood
meetings in various localities, which seem more necessary here as
the people are so widely scattered. One disadvantage we found was
the necessity for late hours at night. Some of our people are “in
service,” and cannot get away early, and the rest do not finish
their work until night, and afterward must go home and get supper,
and walk from one to three miles to church. Our little band,
however, were remarkably faithful in attendance, though we could
not often begin the preaching until half-past eight or nine o’clock.
One peculiarity which I discovered during the meetings was, that so
many of the colored people labor so long under conviction before
conversion. I had formerly supposed them to be a very religious
people, easily persuaded to become Christians; but my experience is
(confirmed by that of other workers), that very many labor under
intense conviction for many days, and even for weeks, coming to
the “anxious seat” every night for long periods, and seeming, for
some reason, unable to yield themselves up. No doubt this is in
part owing to the traditions handed down from the older ones, and
in part to ignorance of the true way. Yet, even after much personal
labor and explanation is given, they often remain unenlightened. It
is a phenomenon to me, especially as it is seen in the case of some
of the most intelligent.
There have been from twelve to fifteen hopeful conversions. Ten
have united with our church, four of whom are heads of families,
and the rest promising young men and women. Some have united with
other churches. It is the custom here with some to seize hold of
converts at once and endeavor to persuade them into other churches.
Sometimes the different denominations (of the old-time churches)
wrangle over converts.
One Saturday night we held a neighborhood meeting in the house
of a well-to-do colored family. The strains of song floated out
from door and windows, and the sound fell upon the ears of a “poor
white” woman of the lowest class, who was living illegally with
a deaf colored man. Her heart was stirred. She asked permission
to attend the next prayer-meeting, held at the same house on the
following Saturday. There she rose, and, with tearful voice,
confessed Christ, in the midst of her dusky audience. It seems
to be a genuine conversion. She brought in one night three other
degraded white women, one of whom was also living illicitly with
a colored man, another, who had not attended church for fourteen
years, and the third, who had never before in her life entered the
doors of a church! And now comes[179] the question, like that of the
famous novel, “What will He do with it?” This poor, erring woman
is in frail health and hardly able to earn her living. She lives
with a colored man whom, she says, she is willing to marry. She
wants to marry him and join our church. But here the civil law
steps in and says, “Thou shalt not.” It is a crime in the eyes of
this commonwealth for white and colored persons to inter-marry,
and whoever celebrates such a marriage lays himself liable to a
thousand dollars fine. Of course, we cannot admit her to the church
while living in her present relations. She cannot marry, according
to the law; she has no friends, and is not able to support herself
if she should leave him. Even now she is so poor that she has to
borrow shoes and other clothing in order to attend church. The
white churches here have no room for such persons. She is in a more
pitiable condition than even the lowest of the negroes. Such are
some of the problems that beset us. Another of these white women is
the prodigal daughter of a good family, and we are endeavoring to
persuade her to return to her friends.
Our revival has strengthened the church, and has caused us all to
“thank God and take courage.” Brother Rogers returned to his home
with the benedictions of a multitude. We trust the work has not yet
ceased.
Missionary needed.
REV. C. E. CURTIS, SELMA.
We are in the midst of a great union effort here that has been
opening the eyes of all the churches to the great need of
missionary work right at our doors. The whole city has been
districted off and workers assigned from one of the different
churches to each district. These are expected to visit every
family, take down the name and residence of each person five years
old and upward, with his religious condition and needs, present
those who may not be in the habit of attending Sunday-school with
a card of introduction to the superintendent of any school they
may prefer, have religious conversation, Bible reading and prayer,
wherever it can be done to advantage, and urge upon all, young and
old, a regular attendance on Sunday-school and church services.
Every week, we hold meetings to hear reports from the workers
in the different localities, and these meetings are intensely
interesting. It would rejoice your hearts, I know, to hear the
uniform testimony of delight in the work from those who, in many
cases, entered upon it with fear and trembling. At the same time,
the amount of religious destitution, intemperance and superstition
brought to light in this city of churches and schools (there are
eight churches and four schools for the colored people here), is
alarming. Out of twenty-one families, visited by one worker, only
two had Bibles, all but two used tobacco, and the majority whiskey.
Of twenty-two families visited by myself, only eight had any church
members among them, and the great majority used both whiskey and
tobacco. Very few attended Sunday-school. One hadn’t been inside
of a church for five years but once, and then only to attend the
funeral of a friend. One, who admitted that he habitually used both
whiskey and tobacco, claimed to be a minister in good and regular
standing among his brethren, and he is not the only such example in
the city. Several of the workers, particularly a young student from
the Baptist Theological School here, made stirring appeals to the
churches that they more earnestly endeavor to bring in the poor and
degraded, and make them feel at home in the house of God.
Last Sabbath a young man came to us to inquire, “What must I do
to be saved?” On asking what he had been trying to do, we learned
that he had endeavored to follow the plain, simple[180] directions of
the Bible at first, but so many of his friends had told him that
he must stop reading his Bible and go to praying for visions and
dreams, that he had become very much confused about the way. Many
of them say plainly that they “don’t believe in Bible religion.”
They believe firmly in personal revelations from God, and that
these are superior to those in the Bible. There is more excuse for
them than for others, when we consider that so few can read and
judge for themselves, and that for generations the Bible has been,
and still is, represented to them by so many to be the bulwark
of slavery. But when I think what abundance of material there is
among these millions in the South for religious fanaticism to feed
upon, it is a wonder to me that they have, on the whole, wandered
so little from the truth, that some imposture has not spread among
them before this—as Mormonism did at the North and West—and swept
thousands of them away. I fear it will be the case yet, if the
churches are not more faithful in preaching and teaching the pure
Gospel.
Now, to make the matter practical, what can we do about it? Surely,
much more ought to be done here by educated Bible Christians; but
our teachers are already nearly breaking down with overwork in
their regular school duties, there being one less teacher than
usual on the force this year; the missionary and industrial work
they have been doing, and in which they feel such an interest, they
will probably not be able to keep up another year, and Mrs. C. will
be compelled to give up much that she has been doing. In short, I
am more than ever convinced that we need a lady missionary here,
to devote her whole time to personal work among the classes not
now reached by our schools and churches, and to take charge of the
industrial work among the women and girls. We have in mind just the
one we need if her support can be assured. Our church will, I am
sure, assume a share of the expense, though it will be impossible
for them to do much more than they are doing. Now, who among the
friends of the work in the North will help us in this matter, which
seems so important?
THE CHINESE. — “CALIFORNIA CHINESE MISSION.”
Auxiliary to the American Missionary Association.
President: Rev. J. K. McLean, D. D.
Vice-Presidents: Rev. A. L. Stone, D. D., Thomas O.
Wedderspoon, Esq., Rev. T. K. Noble, Hon. F. F. Low, Rev. Dwinell,
D. D., Hon. Samuel Cross, Rev. S. H. Willey, D. D., Edward P.
Flint, Esq., Rev. J. W. Hough, D. D., Jacob S. Taber, Esq.
Directors: Rev. George Mooar, D. D., Hon. E. D. Sawyer,
Rev. E. P. Baker, James M. Haven, Esq., Rev. Joseph Rowell, Rev.
John Kimball, E. P. Sanford, Esq.
Secretary: Rev. W. O. Pond. Treasurer: E.
Palache, Esq.
Politics and the Mission.—Our Legislature, the first one convened
under our new Constitution, has adjourned, and the Chinese are
yet here. Denis Kearney has been made to “go,” and his party is
just “going;” the former, in prison attire, to break stones on the
public highway, and the latter to befitting insignificance and
complete disintegration. But how to assure it that “the Chinese
must go,” is a problem by which, now as heretofore, our Californian
statesmanship(!) finds itself sore baffled. Among our newly-fledged
legislators, there was scarcely one, at the opening of the
sessions, but had his pet scheme,—a sure cure for the Chinese ail;
and the river of Egypt scarce brought forth frogs more plentifully
than did our noisy Legislature its anti-Chinese bills. But most
of them died before they were fairly, fully born, and the rest
are either squelched under the weight of the U. S. Constitution,
or else, not daring to face that foe, have retired into prudent
dormancy. The gassy proclamation of our Board of Health, declaring
Chinatown a nuisance, has dissolved into thin air,[183] and that
district of our city is just as populous, just as busy, just as
noisy, and almost as filthy as it was before. Our Mayor, and the
doctors associated with him, may possibly have caused a little more
of the Chinese gold to be “placed where it would do most good;”
but, no other effect of their bombastic demonstration seems now to
be even dreamed of.
All this helps us hope that we shall be able to pursue our
mission-work with no special molestations, and that the result of
our summer campaign may be as bright as the out-look is just now.
A Touching Farewell Service.—the following paragraph which
appeared in the Pacific of April 14th, over the initials of
the Principal of our Central school, I am sure will interest our
readers. It explains itself:
“A very interesting and impressive meeting was held in Bethany
chapel on Thursday evening, April 8th. A large number of the
Chinese friends and scholars of Mrs. S. A. Worley and Misses Jessie
and Florence Worley, who for some years have been teachers in the
schools of the California Chinese Mission of this city, had met
together to bid these teachers farewell, as the family intended
going to their new home in Stockton on the following day. After
the regular exercises of Thursday evening, consisting of singing,
prayer and a short address in Chinese, the meeting was thrown open
to any who wished to speak or lead in prayer. The first who rose
spoke of his regret at their departure and his gratitude for their
kindness. He then said: ‘One year ago I hated Christian Chinese,
and I hated the name of Jesus Christ. Then Miss Worley came to
teach me, and read and explained the Bible to me, and by and by
I came to love Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and all those who
worship him.’ One after another the Chinese brethren came forward
to bear witness to their love for these devoted teachers, and their
sorrow for their departure. Many of them, like the first speaker,
testified that they had been brought to the knowledge of the saving
power of Christ’s love by the words and the example of their loved
teachers. More than one tremulous voice and dimmed eye, gave
evidence that their words were not the complimentary exaggerations
of Chinese courtesy, but came deep from hearts filled with love
and gratitude for kindness that had been bestowed upon them, and
overflowing with grief at parting from their benefactors. ‘We have
nothing to repay you, our dear teachers,’ they said, ‘for all your
kindness in teaching us your language, and in leading us to Christ;
but we can pray God that He will bless you and keep you wherever
you may go. You will go to Stockton and we will go to China, and
may never see one another again on earth; but in heaven we will
meet again.’
The frequent brief prayers, offered in Chinese, were unintelligible
to the Americans present, but the frequent recurrence of the words
‘Stockton’ and ‘Worley’ showed that these men, just awakened
from heathen darkness, had grasped the idea of an omnipotent and
loving Father, to whom they might confidently intrust their absent
friends. What an ample reward to these teachers for their earnest
and prayerful devotion must such testimony have been! What a
foretaste of heavenly bliss they experienced in seeing this fruit
of their labor in the redemption of so many souls from idolatry and
heathenism!
H. M. P.”
More about Oroville.—I give, perhaps, more than its share of
notice to our new work in Oroville. But this is our first attempt
to reach the Chinese engaged in mining, and, probably, the first
systematic attempt ever made in California. On that account it
has a special interest and importance. The number thus engaged is
large, and no man careth for their souls. We have our first fruits
of the work there, in the person of Jee Kane, a[184] very interesting
young man. He has joined the Association, thus professing faith in
Christ. Miss Waterbury is disposed to commence a work among the
women and children, and has one woman already under instruction who
seems thoroughly interested. Lee Haim, our greatly-valued helper
at Oroville, is obliged to return to China, and Lem Chung, of the
Sacramento Mission, takes his place for a time. Miss Waterbury
reports that there was a good attendance and evident attention at
his last preaching service, and after service his hearers crowded
about him asking him questions about the miracles of Christ, of
which he had been speaking. He told her, “I feel so proud of
Christ. He was with me, helped me speak, put words into my mouth.”
& 
R.
LAMB,
FURNISHERS
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