Vol. XXXIV.
AUGUST, 1880.
No. 8.
American Missionary Association.
The next Annual Meeting of the American Missionary Association will be
held in Norwich, Ct., in the Broadway Church, commencing Tuesday, October 12,
at 3 P. M.
Rev. Wm. M. Taylor, D.D., of New York City, will preach the Sermon.
Other addresses and papers will be announced hereafter.
The time is fixed to meet the convenience of those who wish to attend our
meeting as well as those of the American Board, the State Conference, and the
National Council.
Only two months remain of our fiscal year. We regret to say that a debt of
nearly $20,000 is impending. This arises from the encouragement which the
prosperity of the country at the beginning of our fiscal year gave us to make some
additional appropriations to meet the most urgent calls that pressed upon us from
the field. A decline in that prosperity has been intensified by the drought in
many parts of the country, and our receipts for our regular work have fallen off.
We give the notice thus early that pastors and churches who sympathize with
us and in our work, and in our effort to avoid a debt, may take immediate steps
to avert the danger. We are confident that if the collections of churches that
are behind in their offerings, and those that are set down for August and September,
are promptly and generously made, the deficiency will be covered; but, fearing
this may not in all cases be done, we venture to ask individuals having our
cause at heart to assure the certainty by additional contributions.
The pastors and officers of the churches can be our most efficient helpers by
securing collections and making remittances promptly. We earnestly invoke the
aid of our friends. A debt at the close of this year (September 30) will compel
harmful retrenchment for the next. The field has never been more fruitful in good
results. The command of the Master is, “Go forward.” We cannot go into the
Red Sea of debt. Will our friends wield the rod of Moses and open the waters
for us?
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Mrs. Sarah Spees, who died at York, Nebraska, June 10th, was for many years
one of our faithful workers among the Indians at Red Lake, Minn. Born in 1832,
at Nelson, Ohio, she was converted at the age of fourteen years, and took at once
strong and decided grounds for Christ. She was for a time a pupil of Mr. Sturgis,
of Micronesia, who inspired her with missionary zeal. Soon after her marriage to
the Rev. Francis Spees, she went with him to his missionary field among the
Chippewas of Minnesota, bearing the severest privations. The journey required
great fortitude. The Indians were in the rudest state of heathenism, and life
itself was not secure. Amid scenes of danger and peril, she never shrank or
wavered, or regretted that she had entered on so arduous a work. For three
years, Mr. and Mrs. Spees labored among these people, and then left them for a
quieter work at Tabor, Iowa. Ten years later, the way was opened for their
return, and no sooner were they back among the red faces than a precious revival
was enjoyed among the Government employees. In addition to her work as missionary,
Mrs. Spees added the care of the Girl’s Boarding School. This was too
great a tax upon her, and after a few years her strength gave out, and she was
obliged to rest. For three years she waited by the river. Her pastor says that
often, when visiting her in her feebleness, he found her wearied with the slow
progress of the work of Christ on earth, and turning over in her mind how money
could be raised for the spread of the Gospel. Her work well done, she has now
entered upon the “rest that remaineth to the people of God.”
The Pastor of the Central Congregational Church of Brooklyn must take a great
deal of solid satisfaction in the noble missionary work of its Sunday-school. Thoroughly
imbued as he is with the mission spirit, he does not fail to impart something
of it even to the lambs of his flock. This school is also blessed with one
of the most earnest and successful Christian workers of the city as its superintendent,
and, therefore, it is not surprising that, in addition to its own local
missionary work, it supports, this year, four missionaries—one in the foreign field,
and three among the Freedmen. We take great pleasure in referring to this
school, whose example might be followed by many others with great benefit to the
cause of missions, and, also, to the schools themselves.
If the person who sent us a card, post-marked “Hartford, Conn., June 24,”
but without name or signature, will send us his name, we will gladly answer his
inquiry.
A Burst of Patriotism.—On the Confederate Decoration Day, at Montgomery,
Alabama, this year, the Memorial Address was delivered by Tennent Lomax, Esq.,
son of Gen. Lomax, who fell at the battle of Seven Pines, and whose monument,
the principal one in the cemetery at the capital, received the special floral attentions
of the day. We give an extract from the oration as printed in the local
daily:
“Let us again to-day, standing upon this sacred spot, extend the hand of perfect
reconciliation to our fellow citizens of the North, and ask them to clasp that
hand in the true spirit of fraternal love, and to live with us as a band of brothers,
united in one grand enterprise, the advancement of the honor, the interest, and
the glory, of our common country; and to pray with us to almighty God to hasten
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the advent of that day, for it must surely come, when the star-spangled banner,
‘with not a stripe erased or polluted, nor a single star obscured,’ shall float, not
over ‘a country dissevered, discordant, belligerent,’ but over a union of co-equal
States, re-united and bound together by a golden chain of unbroken friendship.”
At the meeting of the North Carolina Conference at Dudley, in May, one of the
delegates, Deacon Stevens, of Beaufort, as he was preparing his pipe, heard the
little children of his host remarking to themselves about the poison of tobacco,
and the bad practice of using it. His thought was started. He went out to get
away by himself for a smoke. He observed that the people about him were not
indulging in that habit. At the end of the three days’ meeting, he searched about
the audience room to see if there were any of the defilements of tobacco. He
found none. That church, (Rev. D. Peebles, pastor,) and its Band of Hope eschew
tobacco as well as all intoxicating drinks. The deacon went home convinced,
as he said, that it was a “dirty, ugly, mean habit.” He joined in starting a
Band of Hope, and told his experience as above narrated. “A little child shall
lead them.” The little ones did not address him, but he thought that they intended
their remarks for his benefit.
Mr. Spurgeon finds caste even in England. He says: “I know several half-sovereign
people who would not think of asking a half-a-crown to tea, and there
is a very strong aversion on the part of the half-crowns to the three-penny pieces;
and, perhaps, a stronger aversion still on the part of the three-pennies to anything
coppery. I have heard of a Christian minister in this country now, who, I am
told, is humble and useful and talented, but there is not a congregation that will
have him for its minister. He was nearly starved to death a few years ago, and
the great sin he has committed is that he married a black wife. Now, you would
not like a minister’s black wife; you know you would not. Up comes the caste
feeling directly. We condemn it in the Hindoo, and here it comes in this country.
We like a negro if he has been a slave, and we raise money for him when we
would not for a white man. Now, I do not think a black man is any better than
a white man, and I do not think that because a man is green he is at all superior.
I believe that we are all pretty nearly equal, and that God made of one blood all
nations on the face of the earth. But we want to hear these stories about caste in
India that we may be taught to avoid it here; and if it were not for these follies,
vanities, and prides of human nature, carried out to extremity abroad, we might
not so readily see them to be evils in what is thought to be a mild form at home”.
During the sitting of the Virginia Republican Convention at Staunton, the
members were as free from molestation as they would have been at Worcester,
Mass., and the hotels were open for their entertainment, white and black alike.
For three days, colored men took their meals in common with white men and
women in the public dining-rooms of houses kept by life-long democrats. One
day, at the principal hotel, a black man was seen dining with representatives of
some of the oldest families of the State; other colored men sat at different tables
around the room; while a large number of staunch democrats, men and women,
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went on with their meals as if the scene was not an unusual one. Whether this
is due to a change of sentiment, or to policy induced by fear of the re-adjusters,
may be open to doubt, but the fact is significant. No less so is the fact that not
a single colored man had a seat in the Convention at Cincinnati. If the unusual
treatment of the negro voter in Virginia is due to a change of sentiment, this
change is not so observably great in the Union at large. If due to fear, this fear
is not so great in other States as in this where the colored line has been broken.
This would seem to indicate that a solid front will be maintained longer on
national than on State issues. We have discharged our duty in regard to these
facts when we have simply stated them. Their cause and significance we leave to
others; while we take the opportunity for saying, that not until the negro voter, by
his intelligence and virtue, commands the respect of his fellow-citizens, can he be
other than an object of contempt and abuse when weak, and of fear when strong;
and a source of danger, whether weak or strong.
“The destruction of the poor is their poverty.” This is illustrated not alone
in the history of families, but of missionary enterprises. Poverty, long continued
and excessive, breeds a thousand evils more destructive and more difficult to
overcome than poverty itself. The very features of a given case which constitute
its strongest appeal for help, are the ones which render it almost impossible
to afford relief, however much help is given. This, the experience of all philanthropists,
is many times repeated in the history of our work, and the wisest
discrimination is necessary to ensure that our efforts shall be made where the
greatest good can be done; not necessarily where misery and ignorance utter
their loudest wail.
One of our missionaries writes from a field where the people are living very
near the line of absolute starvation. They are as ignorant as could be inferred by
the most logical mind from their whole past history; they are as bigoted and superstitious
as their training can legitimately make them; they are as much in need of
what the missionary offers them as a people can be. If he partially educates the
children, the Stygian darkness of their homes seems to blot out what they have
learned; if he enrolls them in the temperance army, they lose step when they
pass the boundary of childhood; if a hopeful revival comes to cheer his heart,
causing him to forget his past toils and despair, the converts over whom he
rejoiced are swallowed up by the old churches about him, which teach salvation
through loud shouting or semi-occasional feet-washing; and his hopes would die,
only that there are a few bright ones among the children who have twined themselves
about his heart.
Amid the almost universal chorus of rejoicing from all parts of the field over
abundant and cheering results, there comes, once in a while, a note like this from
one who labors, not less abundantly or acceptably than others, but with more
doubtful success.
From another field, the missionary tells of a revival commencing among his
own people, which was the signal for desperate rival as well as revival efforts in
the other colored churches, directed largely to the end of drawing away from him
the results of his labors. He notes a fact which seems to him strange, but one
which, we apprehend, is destined to repeat itself with great frequency as the work
of education goes on. The colored people seemed less responsive to the efforts
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which the church, unusually active, puts forth. As the negro becomes more
intelligent, we hope and believe that he will prove less highly inflammable; and
he should comfort himself with the assurance that the results of all genuine
religious revivals belong to the Lord, and we will rejoice in it all, under whatever
banner the new recruit marches. The bigotry of sectarianism, which is of ofttimes so
trying, should be classed with other sins which the Gospel, rightly preached and
broadly illustrated, will in time remove; and, if under educational influence, the
negro kindles more slowly to religious zeal, he will doubtless burn more steadily,
and in the end yield more light and heat.
The Natal Mercury, South Africa, paints a dark picture of the Caffres, even of
those who have professed Christianity. Many fathers, it says, still sell their
daughters in marriage for cattle as in years past, and many practice polygamy,
which still has a very strong hold upon those of whom better things ought to be
expected.
This is, indeed, cause for deep regret, but ought not to be of great surprise.
It may be true, that by one supreme exercise of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ,
the results of a whole life of debauchery can be corrected in a single moment;
that impure imaginations and dominant appetites and perverted tastes may all be
utterly eradicated, and the degraded slave of many years restored to the normal
condition of an uncorrupted child. This may be, for men assert that it has
been done; but, most assuredly, it is not so common as to be expected ordinarily.
The prodigal who has gone into a far country has a long journey to retrace,
and he comes back with many swinish tastes and habits of thought which he
masters, if at all, by most persistent, prayerful and painful efforts.
The grace of Christ comes in as most stimulating and efficient aid in these
efforts; but it comes as aid to effect, and not in the form of accomplished result.
What the exact, literal truth may be in the poet-prophet’s prediction, that “a
nation shall be born in a day,” we do not know; what new forces may be called
into play, or what added efficiency may be given to those now employed, when the
kingdom advances with millennial power and celerity, we know not; but as yet,
no labor-saving machinery is known to the Church militant. The Gospel has still
to be carried by laborious, self-denying effort into the homes of the degraded,
and it gains its victories, if surely yet slowly, over the vices and evils of man’s
corrupted heart and life, and he comes to the stature of a perfect man in Christ
Jesus by a gradual growth.
The Sandwich Islands afford the striking illustration of the
prophecy to which allusion has been made. But, in this case, the “day”
covers more than half a century, and has not yet reached its meridian,
and even there deplorable facts prove that the mass of the people might
be “born again and again,” as the good colored preacher has it, with
advantage. We are told that in the homes of the people are yet to be
found many of the fruits of their long degradation—much impurity of life,
little of the spiritual strength and elevation of character which the
Gospel produces as its ripened fruit.
The question comes, and often with a pressure from our friends, as to the
multiplication of missionaries, and, of course, because of our limited means,
corresponding diminution of educational work. Our work is limited by the
money put into our hands, and, therefore, we are compelled to choose between
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them, when we cannot do both of two desirable things. It would be
pleasant, and a source of great spiritual comfort and social advantage
every way, if we could send an excellent Christian woman into every
negro cabin of the South, who should bring her refined womanhood into
loving and sympathetic contact with the ignorant and lonely aunties,
who never see a cultured white woman socially. It were easily possible
to organize an evangelistic movement which would set the religious
nature of the negro ablaze, and gather the people by tens of thousands
into the churches which could be erected with the money now employed to
sustain our schools; but all this would leave the negro helpless, at
the mercy of the bulldozer or debaucher, and still under the control of
his licentious and dishonest habits.
The work must be more thorough, and, therefore, more tedious than this. The
negro character needs to be created in germ, and then developed into a worthy
manhood and womanhood by thorough Christian culture, and the best and only
adequate missionaries are the Christian teachers in our schools.
Conversion, as the negro in his ignorance understands it, is not the most
important or desirable thing to be accomplished. We must first secure an enlightenment
of the understanding, a toning up of the moral constitution, which
shall give value to conversion when it does occur. Conversion is but the beginning
of a new life—a beginning which is utterly worthless except in connection
with an adequate conception of what that life is, and unless that life follows.
No one who at all comprehends the nature of the work to be done, will advocate
other policy than the one we now pursue of “hastening slowly.” We must
enlarge, equip and multiply our educational facilities through the South. When
this has been done, the number of missionaries may be multiplied manifold with
advantage; but to displace or weaken educational agencies for those that aim at
conversion and spiritual comfort, would prove utterly disastrous.
The removal of the Poncas from their reservation, and the failure of Congress
to pass the bill for their relief, illustrate the facility with which crimes, and
blunders which have all the fateful results of crime, have been committed by us
against the Indians; also, the criminal tardiness with which we correct such
blunders.
The Government in 1868 made a new treaty with the Sioux, and settled them
upon reservations in Dakota, which included 96,000 acres of land belonging to
the Poncas, one of the most peaceable of all the Indian tribes, who had held and
had been dwelling upon this land ever since they were known as a tribe—held it,
too, as an absolute grant from the United States, under a guaranty of peaceable
possession during good behavior. Without their knowledge or consent, as also
without a shadow of complaint against them as a tribe, their reservation was set
apart and given into possession of the Sioux. Failing to gain their consent to a
removal, the Government forced them, without compensation, for their homes and
fields, or other losses, to abandon their own and settle upon a reservation in the
Indian Territory, where the climate was to them inhospitable. As a result of
this, their numbers have been greatly diminished, they have become discouraged
and disheartened, and are making no progress toward self-support. This alienation
of their lands was an acknowledged blunder, due to ignorance of boundaries
on the part of Congress; but their arbitrary and cruel ejectment from their homes,
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without charge of crime, and in violation of most solemn pledges, is more than a
blunder; it is an act of high-handed injustice and robbery.
The bill reported by Senator Dawes, of the Senate Select Committee, to investigate
their removal, requires the Secretary of the Interior to return the
Poncas without delay to their Dakota reservation, and provides that their
title to the same shall be deemed valid, anything in the Sioux treaty to the contrary
notwithstanding. It also requires the Secretary of the Interior to restore to
the Poncas “use and enjoyment in the same condition, as nearly as may be, when
left by them, all houses and other improvements and personal property belonging
to the tribe when removed from Dakota, and for all the foregoing purposes provides
an appropriation of $50,000.” The minority report proposed simply to compensate
them for losses sustained by removal, but hints at no remedy for the
wrongs they have suffered in this removal.
And now Congress has adjourned without action of any kind for their relief,
and they are left to brood over their wrongs, and mature such plans of revenge as
suggest themselves to savage minds.
The appointment of a commission to China to investigate, report upon, and
adjust the difficulties growing out of Chinese immigration, suggests the propriety
of a commission of like character, as regards its members, to take into consideration
the agitating questions relating to the Indians. There is nothing which
more nearly touches our honor, or more intimately affects our peace and prosperity,
than does the condition of these people. We believe that a commission of statesmen
would devise some solution of our difficulties, and suggest a remedy for the
wrongs and injustice which have characterized our treatment of them, and thus
bring to an end their wild and lawless mode of life.
The negro teacher of the Indian boys at Hampton pithily says some things
which go right to the heart of his subject, and are well worth repeating and
remembering. The following extracts are from Prof. Robbins’ Report to the
Trustees of Hampton Institute. The much-abused negro, forgetful of his own
wrongs, stands before the Anglo-American to plead for the Indian and urge a
more excellent treatment of him. We commend the whole report to the thoughtful
consideration of those who yet doubt the capacity of either the negro or
Indian for Christian civilization:
“The Indian problem which the people of the United States have so long been
trying to solve may be briefly stated thus: Shall we be able to teach the Indians
to surrender their lands and their houses to us, when we want them, without fighting?
It is a singular fact that the American people require more Christian charity
from the Indians than they themselves are ready to give.”
“The question is not, can the Indian learn, but will he put his knowledge to
practical use? The answer to this question depends upon the future policy of the
Government. The white man, to put his knowledge to the most practical and
profitable use, has a choice of location. He goes where his services are most demanded,
and where he can get the best returns for his labor. Are these Indians
to be bound to get their living on one reservation, or will they be left free to
choose homes for themselves?”
“Unless education is made to mean more than brain culture, it may yet prove
the curse of the Anglo-Saxon race. Thousands of young men and women who
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leave our high schools, seminaries and colleges, all over the land, graduate a degree
higher than their social surroundings. The majority of them return to their homes
unprepared to put their philosophy and literature into every-day practical life.
With them, life becomes one continued grind, and the long list of intelligent
criminals is only a sad sequel of it. The education which will nerve and strengthen
a man for his calling in life is the most practical, and is the most needed
to-day.”
“The condition of the Indian is unlike that of any other people in the world at
present. He is not only banished from the best contact with civilization, but he is
hated, hunted, envied, and yearly the boundaries of his place of exile are growing
smaller; his rights are conferred by a superior power, and are so limited that his
gun is his only defence, for the awful judgment of the nation is always against
him.”
“It should not be asked, how can we avoid war, but how can we introduce the
arts of peace and throw the Indians on their own resources? Every man should
be made to supply his own wants. The Indian question can only be solved by
meeting and conquering its difficulties.”
“We want to make savages Christians in a day, and after a short trial we see
that it cannot be done. Christianizing is not the work of a day or a year, or a
spasmodic effort in any direction; it is a continued and constant effort.”
“The Indians should be allowed to assimilate with, and become a part of, our
nation’s life. Are there always to be national prison pens for them; or will they
some day enjoy those ‘certain inalienable rights’? It is wonderful how slow the
Anglo-American has been to perceive that this Declaration refers to no particular
race or color, but speaks of ‘all men.’”
“It takes a higher degree of civilization than all Anglo-Saxons possess, to give
up an opinion to which one stands committed, even when he knows it is false.
But it is grand to think that neither fears nor prejudice can be a final obstacle to
the work. The greatest revolutions in popular opinion which the world has ever
known have been the outgrowth of a few strong hearts that have believed in, and
have achieved, success.”
“We can afford to wait; the American public cannot be educated in a day
any more than the Indian. The people will be ready by and by to lay aside legends
two hundred years old, and accept facts as they are. The ideal Indian is dead;
the true Indian is living and progressing. It is time to concede that he is a man.
Take from him what you will in the scale of civilization, but do not subtract his
manhood; it is his by Divine right.”
“The answer to the Indian question must be broader than his reservation and
broader than his territory; it must be as broad and as long as these United States;
with all their rights and privileges.”
What this means we do not know, but lack of room alone prevents a reprint
in these pages of the entire contents of the second number of this charming little
paper, published at Carlisle Barracks, Pa., in the interest of the Indian Training
School, and to some extent by the Indians, since we are told that a Pawnee boy
set up about one-half of the type, and much of its contents was written by them.
There is a letter from White Thunder to his son in Capt. Pratt’s school, in answer
to some complaints he had made, telling him: “Your letter did not please me. I
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am ashamed to hear from others in the school that you act bad, and do not try to
learn. I send you there to be like a white man, and I want you to do what your
teacher tells you. Remember the words I told you. I said if it takes five or ten
years, if you do not learn anything you should not come back here.”
Under “Our Progress,” the declaration is made that, so far, results show
“that these boys and girls have come to a determination to throw aside the
Indian’s mode of thought and feeling with the old dress and way of life. This
seemed apparent in the beginning, but we feared that the older ones, at least, would
soon grow weary of the restraint, which they must find very irksome. We have
between sixty and seventy pupils over sixteen years of age. With few exceptions,
these young men and women are helpers in discipline, as they are in all the manual
labor necessary for their mutual comfort.
“Some time ago, one of the young men came to the girls’ quarters and asked to
see his sister. The interview was in the presence of an interpreter, who reported
that he gave the little girl a kind but very serious talk. He told her that he had
noticed that she was noisy and idle, and that she laughed too loud on the playground.
Said he, ‘We came here to learn. I do not know the white man’s way
very much yet, but if I do wrong it is because I do not know what my teachers
want me to do.’ Several instances of the same kind have occurred since, showing
that these boys consider themselves the guardians of their sisters. These are
Sioux boys just from their tribes. The interpreter tells us that among the Sioux,
the boys and girls of the same family seldom or never speak to each other; this
makes it the more remarkable. They are far from indifferent to each other’s comfort
and happiness, however, as is invariably shown in time of sickness or any
kind of trouble. The letters received by the children from their parents almost
invariably counsel obedience to teachers and submission to all the regulations of
the school.
“An intimate acquaintance with these children, and through them a better
knowledge of their people at home, have increased our respect and deepened our
sympathy for the Indians.
“We believe that the beginnings of a new life are stirring in many hearts.
What outward developments this life may assume, time will show. The good seed
is germinating. The air is full of promise. We can afford to wait.”
Again, how like “our girls” these promise to be under Christian culture:
“It is gratifying to watch the interest manifested by the little girls in the new
arrivals. They are so anxious for them to be washed and dressed anew, and want
to loan their own clothing until new can be made.
“Ruth, Grace and Rebecca seemed to feel themselves especially called
upon to watch over and teach the ways of the family to the little Nez
Perces girls, ‘strangers in a strange land’. They went with them to
put them to bed, and then got up early in the morning, to show them
how to dress themselves and put their room in order. For several days
these little girls watched over them, even leading them by the hand to
their meals, when the bell rang to call them together. They could not
understand one word of each other’s language, but they chattered away
like little birds; and yet six months ago, these same children were
quite as wild and uncivilized as the little Nez Perces, Harriet and
Sophia.”
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Hear what Tsait-Kopeta has to say of his old life and new, showing that
Indian nature, both old and new, is human nature:
“My life was pretty rough and sharp before I came this way, just like the
waves of the ocean, unsteady and not sure. I always was stumbling, but again
I would get up. I was a very smart servant for Satan. I was like an ox with his
yoke on me; but I worked for him willingly, just same he was my father. But what
kind of pay did he give me? Nothing, only shame and danger, and I think when
I suffered he laughed at me. I hope now I am free from him, and I think he is
sorry he lost me, but he can’t help; and now I have found the Great Master,
the Rock of Ages; and I saw His words, and He says, ‘Come unto me, all ye that
labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and
learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your
souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.’ And therefore I shall fall at
His feet and worship Him, and have confessed Him before men, and want to serve
Him only all life long.
“Now I can boast, Satan is my enemy. I return to him the shame he give me.
He used tell me, ‘You do what you want in earthly life, nothing hurt you; you only
got this life, by and by you die; so anything you want good or bad you do.’ Oh,
poor Tsait-Kopeta, how Satan kept me down and tempted. I don’t want something
to hurt or do bad and he ridicule me and lie. He said, ‘Ah, you coward!
only women feel that way.’ Satan made me prisoner; but Christ was sorry for
me and picked me out of his hand. He give me free, and told me go and no more
sin. I think very strange, Capt. Pratt, why I not know more then, why I did not
ask myself who make me and all the wonderful things. My life is very strange
and different from my past life. Little good at that time; often I hungry, thirsty
and cold, sorrowful, all the time I restless, and afraid of the enemies or trouble;
but this part of the Indian life I like sure, riding and hunting.”
Susette La Flesche (Bright Eyes), in the following extract from a letter to a
friend, illustrates what culture has done for an Indian girl, and discovers the
fountains of yearning and of hope in the heart of her people:
“I am coming more and more to the conclusion that the surest and almost
the only way of reaching the parent is through the children. Almost the only
comforts they have in their lives consist in their children. For them they are willing
to lay aside their arms and take up the plow and mower, all unused as they are
to labor. For them they are willing to pass over injuries, lest the wrath of the
Government be aroused and their children slain. For the sake of their children
they are willing to break up their nationality, their tribal relations, and all that
they hold dear, to become citizens. Said one man to me, ‘I wish I had had
the advantages in my youth which you have. I could then have had a chance
to become something other than I am, and could have helped my people. I am
now helpless and ignorant; but I shall die content if my children after me live
better than I have done.’”
We are in danger of quoting the whole of this paper after all, but must
give the following extract from a letter from the wife of one who was stationed
at what is now Post Fort Sill. The incident occurred in 1869. We do not
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envy him who can read this without shame, that during the 260 years of our
contact with these people we have done so little to call forth their finer qualities,
glimpses of which we catch in such a scene. We have done much to
degrade and brutalize them; almost nothing to save them:
“One bright spring morning I had just dressed my fair girl-baby in her
first short dress, then carefully placing her upon the bed, stood back, mother-like,
to admire. The outer door of my room was wide open, and I saw approaching
what seemed to me then the most miserable-looking squaw I had yet seen.
On she came with the grace and tread of an elephant; and oh, how revolting
she looked as she stood in the doorway! Her hair was cut short and hung
over her forehead to her eyes. Her face, neck and breast were painted in
narrow stripes of different colors. About her waist was fastened a short skirt
made of a part of a buffalo robe. She saw my darling, and before I knew what
she intended she had her in her arms. What did I do? Why, I sprang forward,
saying, ‘You horrid, dirty thing,’ and took my baby into my own arms. The
poor miserable woman looked at me in the most pitiful manner, and then gathering
up the corner of her blanket, she held it in her arms as one would hold a sick
infant, and at the same time with a mournful cry, she made a sign that her
baby had died; and to show how great her grief had been, she held up her hand
so that I could see she had cut off her little finger, which is one of the extreme
mourning customs of the Kiowas, and she also pointed to the deep scars on her
breast and arms. Tears ran down her cheeks, and my sympathies were so moved
that almost unconsciously I placed my baby back in her arms. How carefully she
handled her, and how tenderly she passed her hands over her plump limbs. After
some minutes she handed her back to me, and with a grateful look and smile,
giving me a hearty hand-shake, she departed. In a week she came again, and
placed in my lap about a peck of ripe wild plums, which ripen there in the early
spring. They had been freshly washed, and were brought to me in a piece of new
pink calico. Again she held the baby, and this time with signs asked permission,
and got it, to kiss our darling, for she was no longer disgusting to me. She left
me as before, and in another week she came again, this time bringing two buffalo
tongues. All she wanted in return was the pleasure of holding baby. This was
her last visit. Where she came from or where she went, I never knew. She
came and went alone.”
REV. G. D. PIKE, D.D.
If God “hath set bounds to the habitations” of the different races of men, or
to any race, that fact should enter into our plan of missionary work. It is our
duty to succeed. How to do it, is worthy of our greatest thought and most
earnest prayer. When we take the road to success in God’s work, we find heavenly
attendants all along the way, and abundant supplies of grace and every needful
thing. Just now the great question before the Christian world is, “How to succeed
with missionary work among the recently discovered Pagans in Equatorial
Africa.” Attempts have been made on the borders of this country for hundreds of
years, but no permanent success has been achieved inland. We have learned,
however, two things. One is, that white men and mulattoes are, as a rule, incapable
of preserving their health and lives in the climate of tropical Africa; and the
other, that the genuine negro has a constitution entirely fitted for its vicissitudes.
“Negroes for Negroland” must be emblazoned on the banner of the successful
missionary army, as it goes forth to battle against sin through the Dark Continent.
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The history of every missionary endeavor of long continuance among the
negroes in tropical Africa warrants this conclusion. But have negroes succeeded
as missionaries? They have not had much opportunity for doing so, as but few
missions have been committed to their care. Public sentiment has been against
them. The theory of manning stations by black men is comparatively recent.
Our great societies, however, are forced by the unfolding of providential events
to weigh the evidence in favor of the theory. The only question left to be
settled pertains to the negro’s aptitude and capacity. Can he achieve success
in the domain of missions? We are fortunate in having an illustration which
enables us to answer this question in the affirmative.
In 1821, an African lad was captured in a village about 100 miles from the
Bight of Benin, and put on board a slave-ship, from which he was subsequently
rescued by the English government and landed at Freetown. Here he was
received into a mission school under the care of Mr. Weeks. In 1825, when 15
years of age, he was baptized, and sent to England to study. Soon after, a Bible-school
for training native students to preach was established at Sierre Leone, and
the young African, who had been named Samuel Crowther, was recalled and
placed in this school, where he remained as student and teacher until 1841. At
this time, Lord John Russell’s famous Niger Expedition selected Mr. Crowther
as interpreter, and while exploring the territory on the west bank of the Niger,
he became exceedingly interested in the people living in the villages of the
country. When the purpose of that expedition was abandoned, Mr. Crowther
gave himself to missionary work in the towns he had visited. To fit him more
thoroughly for this, he was sent to England, where he remained till 1843. He
then returned to his chosen field, reduced the language of the people to writing,
and preached the Gospel to them in their native tongue. At one of his preaching
stations, he discovered his mother, brother and two sisters, who had been held in
slavery for many years, and procured their ransom. Among his first converts in
the great town of Abeokuta, was his own mother. At this place, he commenced
preaching in 1845. In 1861, there were reported to be 1,500 converts as the result
of his labors. In 1864 he was consecrated “African Bishop of the Niger.” Since
then he has proceeded with his great work with many additional facilities.
Some friends in England have secured for him a steamboat, valued at more than
$22,000, by which he is able to visit his mission stations, now nine in number,
located along the river, and superintend some 22 native preachers and helpers
under his charge. At an early age he married Asano, a girl delivered from bondage
at the same time with himself, and instructed in the same school. Several
children were born to them, and some of these, at least, are very worthy and helpful
to their father.
Here we have in a nut-shell an illustration of how the work may be done. Representatives
of the inland tribes may be gathered into suitable schools, taught
the things which pertain to the Christian faith, and practiced in the arts of
teaching and preaching, under the supervision of wise and experienced missionaries,
and then returned to their tribes to declare the good news of a salvation
which, through the blessing of God, they have experienced. The illustration we
have chosen would indicate that it were wise to establish the training-school in
Africa itself; and the fate of scores of white missionaries and others of our race,
who have perished on account of the climate of Africa, points to the wisdom of
selecting black men as teachers in these training-schools, whenever suitable persons
for the position can be found among the colored people.
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The venerable Dr. Moffat affirms that black missionaries for Africa is the
“Divine plan.” Dr. Blyden tells us that the climate of Africa recognizes only
pure negroes with favor. It conforms to no prejudices or customs of society in
assigning mulattoes to the negro race. Unmixed black men alone are welcomed
with long life and happiness.
God sets bounds to habitations, but the love of Christ in God is unbounded.
The good tidings of great joy has no metes. The heathen and the uttermost parts
of the earth are within the borders of the kingdom. The elect and precious are
separated by no climate or partition walls. They shall come up from the North,
South, East and West. We can only hope to succeed in doing our part towards
hastening the consummation when we have fallen into line with the logic of events,
and have accepted the new phases of work for the negro as they are providentially
unfolded.
Savannah, Ga.—The pastor of the church at this place writes: “The standard
of piety among the colored people about us is so low that it is difficult to
create a moral conscience in our own people, and this fact shows the great need
there is for our churches.” There has been an unusual work of grace among his
people, and the “meetings have been quiet and orderly, as with a New England
congregation.” A number have been brought into the church whose experience
has been most satisfactory; none of them have had dreams or visions, but all tell
of simple faith in the Saviour, and express the purpose of a new life of intelligent
obedience to Him. “We are beginning to rise above the superstitious notions
which once prevailed.”
Atlanta, Ga.—June 20th, Rev. M. E. Strieby, D.D., preached the dedication
sermon of the First Congregational Church. The dedicatory service had
been delayed until all debt should be cleared off the house—a beautiful structure
in brick, with slate roof and tower, having cost more than $5,000. This done,
and a $300 Troy bell secured, all was ready. In the afternoon, a thanksgiving
service was held, consisting of music, the responsive reading of appropriate
Psalms, and addresses by the pastor, Pres. Ware, Prof. Francis, Supt. Roy, and
Mayor Calhoun. The latter, referring to the early days of trial, said that he had
always been glad that this people had friends, wherever they came from, who
were willing and able to help them.
—Rev. T. E. Hillson, of New Orleans, has been located at Flatonia and
Luling in Texas, to have charge of the two churches in those places, which are
far out upon the “sunset” route to San Antonio. Miss M. E. Green is in charge
of the school in Flatonia.
—Rev. Mr. Roberts, a recent graduate of the Talladega Theological Department,
has been appointed to take the pastoral charge of the church at Paris, Texas.
Mr. White, another student of Talladega, will probably take the school at Paris.
—Rev. L. C. Anderson, of Fisk, is teaching and preaching near Austin, Texas.
—Rev. B. A. Jones, a recent student in the Theological Department at Oberlin,
will take the pastorate of our church at Memphis, Tenn., in September.
Mr. Williams, whose health is not equal to the permanent charge, will continue
as a supply until that time.
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—Rev. G. W. Moore, of the Fisk University, is supplying at Florence, Ala.,
for the vacation; while Rev. S. N. Brown, another student, supplies the Howard
Chapel in Nashville.
—Rev. J. W. Strong, of Talladega, takes the place of Pastor O. W. Crawford at
Mobile during the vacation.
—Mr. Geo. Clark, of the Divinity School in Howard University, is supplying
Pastor Lathrop’s pulpit at Macon, Ga.
—Rev. J. W. McLean, of Ogeechee, is filling Rev. R. F. Markham’s place in
Savannah, Ga., during vacation.
—Rev. H. W. Conley is supplying at Marion, Ala., during the absence of the
pastor, Rev. Geo. E. Hill.
—Col. C. E. Gordon, who was for a time Governor-General of Soudan for the
Khedive of Egypt, made strenuous and successful efforts to suppress the slave-trade
in those parts of Equatorial Africa which came within its influence. He
was forced, as our readers know, to resign his position, and in a pamphlet, published
by the British Anti-Slavery Society, states that the Khedive has permitted
the resuscitation of the slave-trade in Central Africa, and “every order he gave
for the suppression of this abomination has been cancelled.” He thinks that a
decided message from the French and English governments to the Egyptian ruler
would have great effect, but that the slave-trade will never be put down voluntarily
by the Khedive.
This slave-trade is one of those evils which time alone will not cure. Nothing
but bringing all the influences of Christian missions and Christian governments
to combine for its destruction, will overthrow it. We are glad that the British
and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society continues its holy war against it.
—The Church of Scotland Mission at Blantyre, on the Shiré River, Africa, has
opened another station. The new station is at Zomba, on the west side of the
Shiré River. It is a very elevated and secure spot, where thieves could be barred
out. The station is on the borders of Chemlumbe and Malemia, whose respective
chiefs are hostile to each other. The design is to reach both tribes. The neighborhood
is quite a populous one, and 4,000 people have asked the missionaries to
become their protectors. The Arabs carry on their nefarious trade between Blantyre
and Zomba, and frequently kidnap people from the latter place to fill out
their gangs. Refugees are almost constantly coming in at Blantyre, but none are
received at Zomba. A school has been opened at Zomba, and it has forty scholars.
The people are very attentive to the preacher, and sit a long time unwearied.
—Encouraging news continues to come from Bishop Crowther’s mission on the
Niger. The station at Bonny, which was founded fourteen years ago, and which
for some years past has encountered opposition and severe persecution, now is become
a bethel. Archdeacon Crowther says the voice of prayer is heard in nearly
every house, night and morning. Several persons have been baptized and there
are over 200 candidates for the sacrament.
Our friends who are interested in the Advertising Department of the
“American Missionary” can aid us in this respect by mentioning, when ordering
goods, that they saw them advertised in our Magazine.