THE
AMERICAN MISSIONARY.

We have told our friends that for the last three months our receipts, in common with those of our sister societies, have been less than for the corresponding months of the preceding year. January did better, but we would still have had some anxieties if there had not come to us from an aged friend, who had given us no reason to expect so large an offering, a check for ten thousand dollars. The letter which accompanied the gift, referred to his observance of our efforts to reduce the debt and our success in that direction, but asking us to expend this money, the savings of a lifetime, in carrying on our work. It was a gift from the Lord by the hand of His servant, and again, as often before, we are called to make record of His faithfulness who has promised to help those who are in His work. Should not this generous gift strengthen our confidence that God has yet other treasures with which He will enable us to commend His love to the despised, and to preach His gospel to the poor?

THE CALL TO GO FORWARD.

We thank our friends for their noble efforts to conquer the Debt. As we feared, however, the help thus given has diminished the supplies for our regular and pressing work. We have wrought with only one hand on the work and with the other held a weapon. But now that the debt is well nigh vanquished, we must gird ourselves not merely to repair the neglected gaps, but to push forward along the whole length of the wall.

THE DEBT PROVIDED FOR.

Relying upon the payment of the money pledged, our actual indebtedness is reduced to only $6,440. Against this amount our Executive Committee has set apart our remaining Iowa lands, which at a low valuation fully balance it, as a sinking fund, to be held for this purpose only. The debt is thus provided for, and we have no more pleas to urge for its extinction,—save as we suggest for this last time, there is a noble opportunity just now for some generous friend to step in and claim the honor of giving the finishing stroke to this Goliath, so setting free [66] those lands again to aid our current work. We praise the Lord that we can now turn from this accomplished effort to other

DEFERRED AND URGENT WORK.

The debt effort has enforced an economy in field work that has been rigid—nay, hindering. For example, one of our higher institutions has become so full that while it has accommodations for only 40 girls it has 60 in attendance, and one of the recitations must be held in a bed-room. Another instance is found in one of the brightest towns in Georgia, where we have planted a church and opened a school. The place is so near our Atlanta University that its pupils can readily supply it with both teaching and preaching force; but for the lack of a few hundred dollars to erect a cheap, and yet adequate building for school and church, both are hindered in growth and usefulness, and if the means be not soon furnished, might as well be abandoned.

Our industrial schools suffer for want of funds. The colored students are so poor that unless aid can in small amounts be furnished them, either by facilities for work or by help in money, many of them must abandon the effort for an education. These items as to school and church work are but samples of what come to us from all parts of the field. But there are other calls of special importance. No State in the South is growing more rapidly than Texas. A generous friend of the colored race has purchased an eligible lot of eight acres in Austin, Texas, and given it to us as the site of a colored institution. He and other friends have added gifts amounting to nearly $10,000, towards the erection of a substantial building. We shall begin the structure this spring, but will only enclose it, unless the means are furnished to complete it. We will make no debt. We hope—nay, we plead—that the money may be speedily forthcoming to finish this building and prepare it for immediate use.

The noble offer of Mr. Arthington, of Leeds, England, to which we call attention below, opens another avenue for the efforts of the Freedmen in the Evangelization of the land of their fathers. The proposed mission lies in tropical Africa, and is desolated by the slave trade. It thus appeals to our deepest sympathies as the life-long opponents of slavery, and to the millions from whom we shall select the missionaries who were themselves its victims.

In view of these facts, we press our appeal on the hearts of our friends. Let us go forward in the work so well begun, and let us enter the new fields opened to us in the providence of God. We ask not merely for special gifts for special objects, but also for the regular work so well in hand, and needing so greatly the means of enlargement.

MR. ARTHINGTON’S OFFER TO THE A. M. A.

The name of Robert Arthington, Esq., of Leeds, England, has already become familiar to all good people who are interested in the evangelization of “The Dark Continent.” His gift of £5,000 each to the Church Missionary Society and the London Missionary Society, of £1,000 to the (English) Baptist Missionary Society, and his offer last year of a similar amount to our own American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, all for the founding of new evangelizing agencies in Equatorial Africa, have been among the most marked events in the recent history of Christian giving. These various gifts and offers have all been parts in the prosecution of a wisely comprehensive plan, which his subjoined letter clearly sets forth, and in furthering which he has now come to our Association with an offer of three thousand pounds ($15,000), and a plan for our occupation of an important territory with an efficient mission.

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The region which he carefully describes and commends to our care lies north and east of the Victoria Nyanza Mission of the Church Missionary Society; west and south of which lies the Tanganika Mission of the London Society; west of this the region which he has asked the American Board to occupy, and the Baptist Mission still further toward the western coast. These five divisions nearly cross the continent between 10 degrees north and 10 degrees south latitude. Of course they are large tracts, and only five starting points for evangelizing effort.

We have felt that there was a special claim on our Association, which has from its beginning been so intimately associated with the African race, and which has so long kept up its mission on the West Coast, to consider prayerfully and intelligently the proposal to enter into the far-reaching plans of this steward of the Lord. It is not a matter for hasty decision. The conditions which he imposes in regard to the liquidation of our debt we believe will be fully met before we can do more than consider and plan. The Executive Committee have appointed a sub-committee consisting of four of its members, with three of its officers, who will study into the matter with all care and report. The result of their investigations, with a map of the region, may be looked for in the April number of the Missionary, to which, in connection with the valuable letter of Mr. Arthington in this, we ask the careful attention of all who are interested in the evangelization of Equatorial Africa.

We print herewith a large portion of

Mr. Arthington’s Letter

In your thirtieth Annual Report, page 15, you indicate a desire, on the part of your Society, to enter on some suitable field for missionary enterprise in Eastern or Central Africa; and again, in the thirty-first Report, I find in the first pages of the volume a similar desire expressed for extension, so as to bring the African Continent within the range of the mighty power of the Gospel—Christ risen again, in all his reality set forth as the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth.

If your Society can so enter into the scheme I am about to propose as to assure me that the debt of your treasury—see the 31st Report—is extinguished, and that your members adopt the proposal of it prayerfully in all faith, I am impressed that I should be glad in the Lord to offer to your Society towards the carrying it into execution the sum of three thousand pounds.

The unevangelized region of Africa to which I would call your earnest attention, and invite you to accept as a field for missionary labors (to be conducted with all energy in the Spirit—very judiciously fixing your positions for holding forth the word of Life so as to command the whole area, and diffuse throughout it the light of the Gospel—you and a great multitude of true believers continually standing on the watch-tower of the church and fervently praying, “Thy kingdom come!”) is situated and extends from the 10th parallel of north latitude to the point southwards where the 40th meridian crosses or cuts the river Jub (or Godschob), west to east from the right (east) bank of the White Nile to the said 40th meridian, and from the parallel of longitude of that point on the Jub southwards west and east from the White Nile to the right (west) bank of the Jub, down to the 3rd parallel of north latitude, and from the 3rd parallel of north latitude down to the 1st parallel of north latitude, west and east from the 35th meridian to the Jub. We thus avoid Somali Land, which is not at present eligible as a mission field. The territory south of the parallel 1 degree north latitude, it is hoped, some other society will evangelize. West of the 35th meridian, from 3 degrees [68] north latitude and southwards, appears suitable for the Church Missionary Society of England, in connection with the Victoria Nyanza district.

The general object of this method of arrangement is to assign the whole of Africa, so far as not Mohammedanized, to different sections of the Christian church, that they may see that their several areas are evangelized. You would thus have a great and highly promising field for missionary labor, the most important and interesting people of which are: 1. The decayed Christian Remnants (remnants of the ancient Abyssinian church), Wolawo and Cambay, Muger and Gurague, and the places Euarea, Kaffa, Susa, Tuffti, Kullu and Doko. 2. The great and wide-spread Gallas tribes. 3. Dinkas. 4. The inhabitants of the Berri country. 5. The Latookas. 6. Fatiko and the Madi country.

The great interest and importance of the Christian Remnants and of the Gallas tribes is well known. The Berri people it is especially desirable should be early instructed in Christian truth. They are situated not very far to the east of Gondokoro, outside of the traders’ route. They have never been reported, I believe, but as a fine people comparatively, and are mentioned in Werne’s work, published many years ago.

The Latookas will appear interesting when we peruse Sir Samuel Baker’s account of them, and see “The Albert Nyanza,” 1866, vol. 1, pages 204-6, in which he writes: “One of the principal channels, if not the main stream of the river Sobat, is only 4 days’ march, or fifty miles, east of Latooka, and is known to the natives as the Chol.” See also, for accuracy of the places, Sir Samuel Baker’s “Ismailia,” the map. The east bank of that stream (the Chol) is occupied by the Gallas. The Gallas (in their attack on the Latookas) were invariably mounted on mules, &c., “the cavalry of the Akkara,” &c. In a note to me, dated August, 1878, Sir Samuel Baker says: “The Berri country has never been visited by Europeans; although it is not far from Gondokoro, it lies out of the way of traders’ routes. It would be comprised between north latitude 5 degrees 20 minutes and 6 degrees 50 minutes, and commences in east longitude about one degree east of Gondokoro, which is absolutely correct on the maps.” “Fatiko is a small district situated in 8 degrees north latitude, in the Madi country. You will find all places laid down with extreme accuracy in the maps in my last work, ‘Ismailia.’”

The linguistic aids for the evangelization of some of the tribes or populations—say Gallas, Dinkas, Christian Remnants, People of Euarea, Kaffa, Susa, &c.—already exist, I believe, in considerable degree.

The proffered gift, then, if accepted by you, should be regarded as a nucleus to which the Church of Christ around you shall pour its offerings, and I think that two thousand pounds of the amount should be specially applied towards the purchase and perpetual maintenance of two river steamers, one to navigate the Sobat and command the mission to the Dinkas—to such of the Gallas tribes as are their neighbors on the east, between them and Euarea—to the Gallas tribes on the Chol branch of the Sobat (east or right bank), and to the Latookas west or south-west (of the Chol), if accessible from that river; and the other steamer to navigate the Godschob (called the Jub at its mouth) and command the missions to the Christian Remnants, Wolawo, &c., and to the Gallas, who are to be found in large numbers in the country west of, and up to, the right or west bank of the Godschob. And it is understood that the people of the Berri country shall claim a place amongst your earliest evangelistic efforts. Fatiko, with the Madi country and Lake Samburu and population, are included in the area, but need not claim a first place in your labors. Possibly the Gallas on the upper course or waters of the [69] Ozi—if geographers are right as to the position of the source of this river—may be reached from the Jub (Godschob) or from the Sobat. Your staff of missionaries for this work, so full of promise of great results, should be a well-chosen band, some of them men skilled in some of the arts, say two in the use of scientific instruments, and they should be most thoughtfully and prayerfully selected.

I ask that two or three of your very best and ablest men—men of large hearts, of enterprise and great faith, with several of the best maps before you—will study the description of the area I have delineated, and if it is not in any point perfectly clear, that you will at once ask for the missing details.

I really desire a thorough and permanent occupation of the field.

Yours most truly, in the Lord Jesus Christ,

A NEW RECRUIT FOR THE MENDI MISSION.

It will be remembered that Rev. Floyd Snelson was compelled to return to this country, after a sojourn of about a year in our African mission, on account of the rapidly failing health of his wife. He has resumed the care of the Midway Church in Georgia, from the pastorate of which he was taken, against the wishes of his people, for the foreign work.

It was deemed necessary to make good the vacated place as soon as possible. In accordance with the expressed judgment of the missionaries on the field, the first want was of a man specially adapted to take charge of the saw-mill and other industrial interests at Avery Station, of which Mr. Jackson has had charge as well as of the church and school. Inquiries were instituted at once among our higher institutions for the right man, and we think we have found him.

Elmore L. Anthony was born a slave in Allen County, Kentucky, June 8th, 1848. Early in the progress of the war he ran away to join the Union army, but being rejected as a soldier on account of his youth, he returned to his old master, who was a stock trader, preferring, if he must be a servant to anybody, to serve him. In 1863 he left again, and soon after entered the regular army, where he served three years. He was promoted to be a sergeant, and while at Fort Duncan, in Texas, was detailed to be superintendent of laborers, having the oversight of over two hundred men. He says that he got on well in the army, simply because he was perfectly temperate and sober. He bears testimonials from his officers as to his moral character and faithfulness.

In 1870 he made his way to Berea, Ky., and entered the primary class. He has been there ever since, teaching during the last six years in his vacations; and was a member of the senior class when he came, at our call and by the advice and hearty commendation of the president and faculty of the college, to give himself to work in Africa. That he held, nearly from the beginning quite to the close of these years, the trusted position of janitor of the Ladies’ Hall, is no small evidence of the confidence which has been reposed in him. He is a man of stalwart frame, has been medically examined and pronounced perfect in health. He seems to us admirably adapted to the place as our “man of affairs,” competent at the same time to fill a gap in school as teacher when needed, and while not a preacher in any sense of the word, yet of such honest purpose to do good that he will be no less a missionary for that. He sailed the 13th of February via Liberia.

THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL CONCERT.
GENERAL CLINTON B. FISK.

It was a happy thought on the part of somebody to prepare a Sunday-school Concert exercise, which should embody so much valuable information and afford so great pleasure and holy joy, as does that of the Jubilee Concert exercise, prepared by the Rev. G. D. Pike on substantially the same basis as that first introduced by Rev. A. E. Winship, of Massachusetts.

It was my good fortune on Sunday, January 12th, to participate in the exercises of a concert, conducted in accordance with this exceedingly well arranged programme, in the Sunday-school of the Congregational church at Stamford, Conn., Rev. G. B. Willcox, D. D., pastor. It was a glad day in that, to me, the most attractive of all New England villages. If any other town in the East can furnish a roll of better men, women and children than those who adorn the beautiful Christian homes of Stamford, then I want to go there and attend a Jubilee Concert exercise.

The preparation at Stamford was complete. All, from the excellent pastor up to the oldest deacon, and down to the youngest child, took part. The able and enthusiastic superintendent, Mr. Junius Smith, is a born missionary, and he led his Sunday-school host into the work with great earnestness. The church was filled at an early hour of the evening, and when the great throng sung that sweetest of all Jubilee Songs, and one which has stirred the hearts of the best people on two continents, “Steal away to Jesus,” that wonderful, weird, plaintive melody fell upon my ears with almost the effect with which the Jubilee Singers have a thousand times rendered it with their matchless voices and marvellous power. Hon. Oliver Hoyt, one of Connecticut’s wisest and best senators, impressively invoked the Divine blessing. The facts in relation to the organization, successful progress and grand achievements for the Master of the American Missionary Association were admirably brought out by the tersely-prepared exercises. The pastor, superintendent, teachers and scholars all had their part and did well. Rev. G. D. Pike, whose head and heart are crammed full of well-devised plans for the up-lifting of the Freedmen, and through the uplifted Freedmen of America the redemption of Africa, made one of his most forcible pleas in behalf of the Association. The writer of this imperfect sketch followed with an exhortation in his Methodist way. The collection was taken and a happy day closed.

The Sunday-school Jubilee Concert exercise, if generally used, will be instrumental in fixing facts in the minds of young and old. I bespeak for it the examination of Sunday-school superintendents, and I most heartily bespeak the generous consideration of all good people in behalf of the American Missionary Association.

THE WILDERNESS AND THE SOUTH COUNTRY.
A Discourse on the Duty of the American Churches to the Despised and Outcast Races.

PREACHED IN THE INTEREST OF THE A. M. A. TO THE 1ST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, JACKSONVILLE, ILL.,
BY THE PASTOR, REV. E. CORWIN, D. D., DEC. 22, 1878.

Joshua xii. 8: “In the mountains and in the valleys, and in the plains and in the springs, and in the wilderness and in the south country.”

We owe nobody an apology for following the example of the Great Teacher in the latitude and longitude he allowed to himself in the use of Old Testament texts. I honor by following a Divine example when I use this passage from Hebrew [71] history as marvellously suggestive of our broader heritage and of our responsibilities as a people coming into fuller possession of a goodly land; in the mountains and valleys of the Atlantic and Pacific seaboard; in the vast plains of the interior; in the springs and great river sources of the lake region; in the wide reaches of wilderness, comparatively worthless but for their exhaustless resources of mineral wealth; and last, but not least, in the sunny south country.

If, with emotions of patriotic pride, Joshua, the great captain, could speak of the wide extent and the varied resources of that goodly land, into the possession of which he was leading the descendants of a whole nation of fugitive slaves, how much more, with devout gratitude and patriotic pride, may we dwell upon the wonderful resources and the wide reaches of a free empire in which there are forty million sovereigns, and on whose territory you might place, in patch-work, three hundred and twenty-eight states as large as Palestine, and have scraps enough left over to cover the two dwarf sisters of the Union—Delaware and Rhode Island! Corresponding most nearly in area with Maryland, five Palestines might find comfortable quarters in the single State of Illinois; yet so wonderful was the fertility of that land, now comparatively barren and desolate, that it at one time sustained a population so dense that if the vast territory of the United States were thus thickly settled, it should have not merely forty millions of inhabitants, but one thousand one hundred and forty millions. Who doubts that such a population might be sustained on the fat valleys of the interior and the plantations of the south country, even though the waste places of the wilderness were left out of the account as utterly unfit for the dwelling-places of men? And, as though this vast heritage of ours were not enough for a free and industrious people, God has over many portions of the land practically doubled its area; piling its resources of wealth layer upon layer; rivaling and redoubling the riches of the surface soil by the exhaustless stores of coal, iron and copper, lead, silver and gold, treasured up for the use of many generations; for there is the hiding of His power who is the bountiful God of Providence.

But my purpose is only so far to hint at the resources of this most favored of lands, as to make the marvellous facts a basis for the proposition that ability is one measure of our responsibility for the hearty and liberal doing of what we can for the highest development of this whole land. And let us never forget that a great, civilized and Christian State is made and measured, not by its physical resources merely, not by its accumulated material wealth, but chiefly by the mental and moral stature of its inhabitants. The best products and the richest resources of any State are in its crop of men. If these, even on a sterile soil and under frowning skies, are liberal, large-hearted, industrious, patriotic and pious, they make of the desert a paradise, and amid the clefts of the rocks there may be rootage for great ideas. If everywhere, for a single generation, such a populace could have and hold possession of this planet, the old alien orb would shine so that the shortest-sighted angel could see it without a telescope, and the inhabitants of other worlds might intelligently covet it as a dwelling-place for the society which it would afford. But wealth without good society is worthless. That city might be a hell upon earth in which there were no churches and schools, though every man had a gold mine in one corner of his cellar and a diamond mine in another. Mexico, with its mountains streaked with silver, has but few attractions as the family residence of a man who cares to live out more than half his days, or who esteems it no luxury to live among an ignorant, bigoted and revengeful people. California to-day, with all its discovered treasures, could not be so safe or so attractive a [72] place of residence as it was before those discoveries, but for the better class of enterprising, intelligent, honest, law-abiding citizens, who have come into possession of that land. Nor are political institutions, however desirable, of much practical worth, except as they are worked by men of moral principle, not for the selfish advantage of the few, but for the protection and enriching of all.

In considering the claims of the American Missionary Association to our prayerful interest and our liberal benefactions, these preliminary thoughts have practical force as applied to moral science; for it is distinctively the aim of this Association to lift society as a whole by lifting at the lower stratum. Its work is confessedly not with the most promising material, out of which the most may be made in the shortest time, but with the most degraded, unpromising and despised of the outcast races. This is the great alchemist among our charities; seeking to transmute the baser metals into gold. For the transmuting of character the mission of Christ was a witness to the universe that the last might be first, and that the lowest might be lifted to the highest position of honor and glory, as the result of the Divine condescension, the deep down-reaching love of the Son of God. He came not to honor the lordly, but to lift up the lowly. For gaining influence and establishing his kingdom he sought out not the ruling classes; but, himself despised and rejected of men, he knew how to condescend to men of low estate. He dispensed his largest blessings to the despised and the outcasts, who, conscious of their vileness, felt their need of salvation. Not unfaithful to the self-satisfied Scribes and Pharisees, he came especially to seek and to save those who felt themselves to be lost sheep of the house of Israel. Read the record anew, with this thought in mind, and see if his special aim was not to seek and save the lost, in the sense of the despised and abandoned, who were, perhaps, without hope for themselves, and whose case might have been regarded as desperate by others.

We are not the true followers of Christ if we are wanting in the Christ-like spirit, and seek not to save the despised and outcast races who dwelt in the wilderness and in the south country. Do you tell me, as an excuse for neglecting them, that the Indians, instead of being the noble red men, such as the sickly sentimental fancy of the poet and the moralist too often paint them, are, for the most part, ignorant and vile, dirty and degraded, lazy, mean, treacherous and revengeful? My familiarity with the better class of frontiersmen prepares me candidly to admit it all as a statement of fact. But I draw from those facts a very different conclusion than that they are not worth saving. All the more do they need to be saved. I might, without encroaching upon the regions of romance, tell, by the hour, tales of horror, as they have been related to me by reliable witnesses, that would make the blood fairly curdle in your veins. And if I had the gift of eloquence I might so vividly depict those horrors that you would find yourselves, right here in the house of God, clenching your fist and threatening vengeance upon wretches so base, upon savages so merciless, upon mockeries of manhood so gross and beastly.

But let me remind you that an intelligent Indian might with more eloquent tongue inveigh against the crimes of those who profess to be better than savages. He might truthfully speak of the perfidy of those who break the faith of treaties almost before the ink is dry in which the plausible yet one-sided contract is written. He might with indignant sneer point to the great army of vagrants claiming better blood, as filthy and vile, as dangerous and degraded as the worst savages were ever charged with being. But in saying all this he has not made out his case. No criminal can make even a plausible defence in any court by the plea that he is no worse than the worst men he can find in society; though, somehow, quite respectable sinners do seem to gain some comfort from this sort of scavenger’s logic.

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It is absurd to suppose that ignorant and brutal savages should be so much better than civilized men that there should not be found in every tribe, as there are with us in every community, a dangerous class, selfish enough to plunder and murder those who have never wronged them, and desperate enough to take any risk and to commit any crime. It were most surprising if it were not so. All the more, then, I insist upon their need of saving. With all the stronger emphasis I urge that this nation cannot afford, on its undefended borders, any more than it can afford in its strong centres of population and of well organized police, to be indifferent to the needless multiplying of such a class. Has our civilization much to boast of if it admits that there is no better way for forty millions of people to deal with four hundred thousand Indians than to exterminate them? If it were not true, as it is, that it costs more to kill them than to civilize, convert and by moral forces control them, what less than savages are we if we adopt the creed of the worst class of frontiersmen as the creed of the churches; that the best thing we can do with the savage is to kill him; and that there are no good Indians but dead ones?

Let us be intelligent enough to know, and candid enough to confess, that in estimating their possibilities of social, industrial and moral development, we have taken too much account of the exceptional cases in which they have made trouble, and not enough of the many tribes that, for long years, have lived in peace, grown thrifty, maintained self-control, cared for the education of their children, and honored their profession of religion. What this and kindred associations have successfully achieved among the Indians alone, entitles them to the gratitude of the nation, and the liberal support of all who have faith in the Christ-like work of saving the lost.

I have not time to speak at length of the work of the Association among the Asiatic immigrants upon the Pacific coast. Many of you know how honestly and earnestly I contend that in many respects this serf population that is sweeping in upon our Western border is a most undesirable element, morally, socially and politically. But by as much as they are, in the mass, vile and degraded, the worst sort of stuff out of which to make American citizens, by so much the more are we bound not to outdo them in violence that would dishonor a savage, and in intolerance and prejudice that is worse than heathenish. Here, too, the argument of this discourse finds its fullest illustration. It is the strongest proof of the bounty of our religion that its brightest trophies are secured and its grandest victories achieved upon the most hopeless fields, and in saving the very chief of sinners.

But the work of the Association among the Aborigines of the wilderness is as nothing to their more important mission, and their more signal success among the colored people of the south country. Here is a population vastly more numerous and more dangerous if left in ignorance; for, wisely or unwisely, they have been invested with the right, and in some places they freely exercise the power to vote. Admit, now, all that may be said of the utter unfitness of the great majority of them to exercise this privilege of freemen. Yet since, beyond recall, they have the right, and in some way must be counted as a very important factor in the forces that are to shape our destiny, we can no more afford to let them remain in ignorance, than we can afford to let the same class grow up in ignorance and vice among us, with so little sense of their responsibilities, and with so little self-respect as citizens, that they can be bought like cattle by the highest bidder. The more debased, indolent and ignorant they are, the greater the danger to our free institutions, and the stronger the motive for seeking to elevate, educate and save them. They constitute more than one-tenth of our population. If directly or [74] indirectly we were accessory to the placing of so dangerous a weapon in their hands—a weapon, as respects their own interests, liable to kick back—we are bound to help fit them so to exercise the right that they shall not be the ignorant tools of corrupt and crafty men in either party as ignorant and unprincipled as themselves. This the A. M. A. is striving wisely to do in accord with the sentiments and sympathies of many of the former slave-owners, who in good faith accept the situation, and sincerely desire the temporal and spiritual well-being of the colored people.

But its highest aim and ours is such a spiritual elevation of the colored people as shall carry all the most salutary influences into their social, political and domestic life. Our honest and intelligent aim is to lift them out of their degradation by bringing them to Christ. Our work among them is with no sectarian, as it is with no partisan political purpose. We propose to help make them intelligent and worthy Christian people. There our responsibility ceases. As to parties and sects, they must learn wisely to choose for themselves.

Whatever the shading of their creed, we do care that they should be sincere in their love to God, close in their following of Christ, and honest in all their dealings with their fellow-men. We do care that their moral training shall be such that their religion shall mean not emotion merely, but character; not noise and bodily exercise, which profiteth little, but practical godliness, which leads one to earn an honest living for himself and his household, and suffers the neighbor’s chickens unmolested to roost low; not a religion of the lips and the tongue alone, but of the head and the heart controlling the life.

Nowhere is a mere profession of godliness of much account, if virtues tried and true are not the proofs of an intelligent love and a sincere devotion. No creed can be accepted as a substitute for character. Christ must be wrought into the life or we are not true Christians, and the more completely self-deceived we are, the greater will be our surprise, when, by and by, he who is infallible in his judgment shall say, “I never knew you.” The cross worn upon the neck, or perched upon the steeple-tops, or set up at every crossing, is at best a mocking reminder of our impiety; if ever so loudly we profess to be saints, and yet live as though our religion were a polite theory with which to compliment our Maker, and to befool our fellow men, and not a thing of practical worth, to help one stand fire in the conflicts of temptation and in the furnace of affliction. Such a genuine religion, warranted to keep in any climate, is wanted everywhere alike; in the East and the West, the North and the South country. The lofty and the lowly, the honored and the despised, the respectable and the degraded, we and everybody, need it. It is the only kind worth propagating. For it, and it alone, of all the world’s religions, has vital force and saving power enfolded in every root-fibre of doctrine, and in every seed-germ of truth.

ITEMS FROM THE FIELD.

Greenwood, S. C.—School fuller than ever before; boarding-school overcrowded. Mr. Backenstose is compelled to make arrangements in neighboring families for students.

Orangeburg, S. C.—“Our school has 196 pupils enrolled. We have a large normal class. Six are teachers now. We have some who have begun in music, and this week we have resolved to form a choir. Can you help us with a musical instrument? We greatly need one for the church. Our organ has been injured by taking it back and forth to church.”

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Macon, Ga.—Pastor Lathrop has printed on his “Gospel Press,” (given him while a Home Missionary in Wisconsin by a lady at the East), a stirring pastoral address. It includes a warm greeting, notice of services and invitations thereto; also of the Lewis High School and the Sunday-school, enforced by appropriate Scripture. We quote one paragraph:

“No sectarian gospel will be taught from this pulpit. The pastor heartily believes, and endeavors to preach, the broad, liberal, helpful Gospel of ‘peace on earth, good-will toward men,’ through our Lord Jesus Christ. This gospel of the ‘Prince of Peace’ does not agree with quarreling among Christians, or strifes between churches. ‘If My kingdom were of this world, then would My servants fight,’ said the Master. Our great aim will be to show how this glorious gospel and this blessed Jesus will help every needy heart to bear all its burdens; how every soul may be freed from the bondage of sin, and filled with love, meekness, temperance, patience, purity, righteousness, and joy, ‘which the world knows not, neither can give nor take away.’”

Talladega, Ala.—Some recent conversions and cases of special interest in religious things are reported in the college. One student, at least, has declared his desire to go to Africa some day, if the Lord shall open the way.

Selma, Ala.—A happy work of grace is reported from the Burrell school, resulting in a considerable number of conversions.

GENERAL NOTES.

The Freedmen.

—Senator Windom has introduced a bill providing for the colonization and distribution of the colored people of the Southern States in new States and Territories as they may select. Some interest and sympathy with the project has been expressed by prominent colored men, though we think the great majority of the most intelligent of them are persuaded that by patience and industry they can conquer peace and a place for themselves anywhere.

—Henry M. Stanley, the explorer, was present at the recent meeting of the Conference on the Civilization of Africa, and said that he would lead the Belgian Exploring Expedition, which is soon to start for Africa.

The Indians.

—The Board of Indian Commissioners held its regular yearly meeting for the preparation of its annual report in Washington last week. Besides the members of the Board there were representatives of the religious bodies interested in the management of Indian affairs through their missionary operations among the different tribes, and also because many of the Indian agents are appointed on their recommendation. From the tenth annual report of the Board to the President, it appears that more than one-half of the Indians have discarded the blanket and donned a civilized garb; that about one-half have moved out of their lodges and wigwams into houses, the number of which has increased nearly threefold in ten years; that the number of pupils in Indian schools has more than doubled; that nearly one-sixth of the Indian population can read; that the number of acres of land cultivated by the Indians is about five times as great as ten years ago; that the production of wheat has increased nearly fivefold, of oats and barley nearly fourfold, and of hay nearly ninefold; and that the Indians own about three times as many horses and mules, six times at many cattle, seven times as many swine and [76] about seventy-five times as many sheep as they did ten years ago. The Board remarks: “This exhibit of results is certainly encouraging, and presents a strong argument against any radical change of policy.” The Conference urge three measures upon the President and Congress: 1. That courts of law be established on Indian reservations, with jurisdiction in all cases where both parties are Indians. 2. That common schools be provided for Indians the same as for white children, under some regular system. 3. That the homestead law be so modified that an Indian may select his homestead within the limits of the reservation to which he belongs.

—The joint committee, consisting of three Senators and five Representatives, to whom the question of the transfer of the Indians to the War Department was submitted, being equally divided, have made two reports. Congressional experts have been trying to decide which of the two should have precedence as a quasi majority report.

Senator McCreery and Representatives Scales, Hooker and Boone favor the transfer. Their report claims that the present system actually prevailed even before (in 1848) the Indians were given in care of the Interior Department, as the War Department neither appointed nor supervised the agents, but only received their reports. All past evils are therefore traceable to this system. The peace policy in 1868 was a confession of its failure. The army control will be better, because of the high character of army officers, and the system of accountability to which they are subject, because it will cost less money and avoid wars.

Senators Sanders and Oglesby, and Representatives Stewart and Van Voorhes report against the transfer, because of the abuses when the management was in the hands of the War Department down to 1849; because the Indians and the army officers agree in personally disliking the proposed transfer; because of the progress in civilization already made; on the ground of economy and appropriateness; and because not one-third of the Indians need military supervision in any form. They ascribe the failures of the past to the unwise recognition of the tribal relation, exclusion from the protection of civil law, and of landed rights. They recommend that the Indian Bureau be made a distinct department, with a Cabinet officer at its head, and that the President be authorized to transfer temporarily the control of hostile tribes.

The proposal to transfer was rejected by a vote of 101 to 88.

The Chinese.

—The Committee on Education and Labor has introduced a bill, which has been passed in the House, forbidding the master of any vessel to bring more than fifteen Chinamen at any one time to the United States, under a penalty of $100 fine for each passenger, and imprisonment for six months. We hope the Senate will have the good sense to refuse its consent to such action, which is a slight upon the Chinese Embassy here, and may easily lead to a withdrawal of the privileges to American citizens in the Flowery Land, which it was thought worth a good deal of effort to obtain.

OUR QUERY COLUMN.

We print with great satisfaction the two following answers to the question about the training of nurses. The first tells what is being done in Le Moyne Institute; the second lays down foundation principles.

Training for Nurses.

I note with interest the “query” in the January Missionary relative to the training of nurses. It is but one of many indications of a rapidly growing dissatisfaction [77] with the present system of education in this country. More and more it is coming to be the feeling that education, in its true sense, is not designed, as has been thought in the past, to fit people for “higher positions,” but rather to fit them to make the most of life in the positions they do occupy, and which must, in any event, be filled by some one. To satisfy this most reasonable feeling, more of the things that pertain to practical life must be thought and talked and taught in our schools. It is no doubt a serious question as to how a safe transition can be made from the present highly artificial system to one that will have a more practical bearing on the every-day life of the masses. In this case advice of a similar nature to that which Horace Greeley gave about resumption will prove, at least, the most reasonable. The best and only way to make the change is to change.

But for the query. At Le Moyne School, where we have one almost continuous daily session from 9 A. M. to 3 P. M., at least an hour of this time each day must be given by the pupils to some branch of practical or industrial knowledge. We cannot wait for all the desired appliances in this work, or to have a beaten track pointed out to us. We are beginning with such appliances as are at hand, and we expect to learn from our own experience as well as from other sources; but at any rate in time to earn success.

In the direct line of training nurses, each girl in the school, sixteen years old or over, will devote the industrial hour, for two days in each week, to studies under this head, including special lessons in anatomy, physiology and hygiene. For the present, at least, no text-book is to be placed in the hands of the students. They are to gain their knowledge from lectures, which are to be followed by general and familiar conversation between instructor and pupils on the same subject. Each girl will be required to take notes of the lecture, and to write out what she can of the knowledge imparted. After a subject is completed, each member of the class is required to prepare an essay, putting in the best possible form her knowledge of the entire subject in all its bearings.

This is, in a general way, to effect the theoretical training. We hope to find opportunity to give members of the class at least a little practice: First, in their own homes or circle of friends; second, possibly in the woman’s ward of the city hospital, located near us; third, in private families desirous of forwarding our work; or fourth, among the destitute poor really in need of such services. Our work is to commence with the simpler and more commonly occurring complaints of this section, as colds, accidents that happen often, chills and fever, etc.

I should like to write more fully of our plans as they relate to other industrial matters, but space forbids. We are thoroughly convinced, however, that in this matter of practical teaching, something more effective than “tracts” is required to make sure of accomplishing any great amount of good. We must come to closer quarters in this struggle; it must be made a hand-to-hand conflict. Along our part of the line we should have no fears of success if we could have placed at our disposal the appliances really needed for the work. In the training of nurses, we need and must have a good manikin, a human skeleton, some forms or models of different organs of the human body, etc., etc. Who will come forward and help us to them?

A. J. Steele,           
Le Moyne Normal Institute, Memphis, Tenn.   

The treatment which preserves health is the best treatment for its recovery. We should lead our pupils to see that wholesome diet eaten at proper hours, and sufficient sleep taken at the time which God appointed for sleep, will impart more [78] physical vigor than any other two agencies; and that a disregard for them is a fruitful source of much sickness, especially among colored people.

Sunlight and pure air are important factors in making the sick well, and keeping the well from being sick. The temperance pledge is also a cheap and safe medicine. A knowledge of the chemistry of food, of digestion, circulation and respiration is important, and may be taught to comparatively young pupils. Nature, like a sensible dame, resents an insult; and sickness is the punishment she imposes to avenge her injuries. Nor will punishment cease until reparation is made.

Amos W. Farnham,           
Avery Institute, Charleston, S. C.   

We are happy to make mention, which is all it would be proper for us to do in this place, of the book for boys written by Gen. O. O. Howard. Our friends are so largely his friends, that many of them will want to read “Donald’s School Days,” published by Lee & Shepard, of Boston.

THE FREEDMEN.

REV. JOS. E. ROY, D. D.,
FIELD SUPERINTENDENT, ATLANTA, GA.

SOME FIRST IMPRESSIONS.

1. I find this school and church work in more forward condition than I had expected. I had known of the slow process of building up educational and church institutions at the West. I knew of the greater difficulties in this line at the South. I am gratified to find the schools in such substantial buildings, and almost all the churches in houses of their own, some of them attractive, and some very rough.

2. I find that these people handle the Congregational system better than I had expected. They even excel in parliamentary tactics; and what is the course of Congregational usage but the wise procedure of a deliberative assembly? In their reaction from the experience of bondage they rejoice in the full liberty of Christ’s house. If this system was good enough to be given by the Apostles to the early churches round about the Mediterranean, which had not, as I believe, been trained in New England, and whose members had to take from them some severe rebukes in the line of morals, surely it is good enough for these lowly people.

3. I find an improvement of feeling among Southern people, both towards the Freedmen and our work among them. As the students come back from vacation service to our several institutions, they report this advance in good-will. The people are learning that ours is a philanthropic and missionary, and not a political process, and so their prejudice is abating. It is natural that some worthy people should feel a little chagrin at the slipping of this work out of their hands; but not a few of them are glad to see it carried on by anybody. They say, now that these people have been made citizens, they must be made the best of citizens.

4. I find that the school work is the almost indispensable prerequisite to the church work. It fixes the place. It draws out the material. It qualifies for church activity. It is no gain to the Kingdom for us simply to transfer the old-time church members to our system. Our work is to train up the youth, to develop intelligence, and to organize a fellowship of congenial material. A judicious man of another denomination, [79] speaking upon this subject, said that the Congregationalists could afford to wait for the young; that his church could not wait. It is surprising to see how rapidly the young people come forward, for the mass of our congregations are of that class.

5. I find a philosophical reason for our call to the church work. This people have been taught to seek dreams and visions at conversion; to think that there can be no regeneration without a dreadful physical process of “coming through.” Now, there are not a few persons of strong minds and strong wills who say that they never can come through in that way. Some such have been delighted to find the quiet way of submission and faith. Some of the noblest natures now in our churches were of that sort. Happy have been the preachers and teachers who have led them in this way of peace.

6. I see a wise Providence in the opening of “Homes” for our workers. It was impossible to get board among the white people. The Freedmen had not the accommodations. It became necessary to provide “Homes” which should be the property of the A. M. A. They become castles of safety and abodes of comfort. They also bring to bear the example and influence of home, which is a valuable adjunct to the missionary scheme.

7. As the soldiers once took this country, so now the women seem to be taking it over again. In all our chartered institutions, men are at work, affording the masculine quality to the workmanship. But in all these, ladies are employed as teachers in the higher as well as in the primary departments. Many of the normal and high schools are under the exclusive control of ladies. In the earlier conflict their sex was their protection. In all the movement their patience and tact and heroism, and their loving devotement to the good of the people, have secured a crown of success. Our country will never know its debt to these patriotic women.

8. That whatever in politic or personal estate may betide the Freedmen, our business is to keep pegging away at the up-lifting process. Whether for the time their vote is allowed them or not; whether they be ku-kluxed or bush-whacked or bulldozed; whether the South favor this work or not, this one thing we have to do—to go forward patiently, kindly, and strongly in this rudimental work of Christian civilization.

9. That we are not to repress the emotional nature of this people, but to give it a basis of intelligence. This element, which is a beauty and a power in the endowment of man, abounds in the African mind; enriched by culture it may yet add a glory to our civilization. Barnabas Root and Prof. Blyden both argued that we should develop their race according to their idiosyncrasies; and yet the tendency seems to be that as they advance in cultivation they re-act to the more severe and logical style, and so lose somewhat of their power. We ought not to contribute to this result by our training process. Let them sing some of their rich “spirituals.” Give them our hymns and tunes that have an enlivening glow. Be not afraid to appeal to their hearts as well as to their heads. Let them be allowed the Pauline privilege of saying “Amen” to the “giving of thanks.” It is a robbery of this people to bring them down to the intellectual severity of the Puritans. It has been argued that we of the Caucasian blood have weakened ourselves by this ruling down of our emotional sentiments. It was a friend who said at Taunton, that what the Congregationalists needed was consecrated emotion. At the same place it was incorrectly argued that our system was not adapted to the freed people because of their tropical nature. Was it so with the Oriental nature 1,800 years ago?

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10. That those who, in this work, during the years past, have gone on in the face of prejudice and ostracism and persecution, have made the way comparatively easy for those of us who join them now.

THE CENTRAL SOUTH CONFERENCE.
The Annual Meeting at Chattanooga, Tenn.
REV. S. S. ASHLEY, ATLANTA.

This body held its annual meeting at Chattanooga, Tenn., on the 15th, 16th and 17th of January, the prevalence of the yellow fever having prevented its session at the regular time in November. Owing to the withdrawal of most of the Alabama and of all the Georgia churches, to form conferences in their respective States, the Conference now consists of the Congregational churches in Mississippi, Tennessee and Northern Alabama, twelve in number. The churches in Mississippi were not represented. Rev. Horace J. Taylor, of Athens, Ga., was chosen Moderator. Each evening of the session was occupied with preaching; Rev. S. S. Ashley, Dr. J. E. Roy and Prof. H. S. Bennett officiating. Papers were read as follows: “On the Diaconate,” by Dr. Roy; on the “Congregational Polity,” the Scriptural authority therefor, and its advantages, by Rev. Temple Cutler of Chattanooga; and interesting discussions were awakened by them. This Conference evidently believes that the time has come to push Congregational church extension in the South. The experience of those who have been long in this field is, that Congregationalism is eminently adapted to the South.

The narratives of the state of religion in the Conference developed several interesting facts concerning Chattanooga. That city was severely smitten by the yellow fever. Through all the autumn, business and meetings were suspended. The citizens had largely fled away, and the place was left to the sick, the dying and the doctors. The Chattanooga church consists of about eighty members; several of them were smitten, but not one died. “The Band of Hope,” a society pledged to abstinence from intoxicating drinks, tobacco and profanity, having between two hundred and three hundred members, lost only two members by the fever. This “Band” was organized by Rev. E. O. Tade some ten years since. Its object is to gather in and hold under strict New Testament temperance principles the youth of both sexes. Some twelve hundred names have been enrolled upon its records. Its power has been felt far and wide. A branch of the mother band has been organized in the city. It may be safely said that through its agency Chattanooga is more free from intemperance than any other Southern city hereabouts. Its elections are less noted for rioting and drunkenness than those of the cities of Georgia. Here is one result of A. M. A. work. Every church should have connected closely with it a kindred organization. The steadiness of this church in Chattanooga is largely owing to the temperance principles of its members, adopted while they were young.

Bro. Taylor gave the Conference an interesting description of his former mission field on the Gilbert Islands, pointing out their peculiar coral formation, the customs and character of the inhabitants, and the success of Christian missions among them.

Prof. Bennett gave encouraging statements concerning Fisk University. Prof. Spence is in Scotland; Prof. Cravath at his post, and the machinery is running smoothly. The number of students is about as large as usual; the religious interest not quite so decided as in former years.

It was voted to invite the Congregational churches of the South to meet in convention at Atlanta in November, 1880.

GEORGIA.
Atlanta University, Alumni and Students.
PROF. J. F. FULLER, ATLANTA.

This is the tenth year since the organization of this school. The first class graduated from the higher normal course in 1873, and the first from the college in 1876. Classes have graduated regularly from both departments each year since. The alumni number 52, of whom, at graduation, 50 were professing Christians. With the exception of three who are now pursuing a higher course of study, and one who has died since graduation, these are all doing active work for the Master among their own people, and, with others who have left school before completing the regular course of study, are selecting and sending to the University the more promising of their pupils.

The present year shows a larger number of students in attendance and of a better class. Besides those already established in different parts of the State, over a hundred of the students teach during the long summer vacation in the public schools, and also engage in Sabbath school work. It is estimated that during the year 1878 over ten thousand pupils in the State of Georgia were taught by those educated at this University. The influence of the school is commensurate with the number of its workers, and that influence, now very marked, is constantly increasing. The last catalogue shows 30 in the college classes, 37 in the preparatory, 72 in the higher normal, and 104 in the normal. The buildings are of brick, plain, substantial and convenient, but inadequate to the present and prospective needs. The grounds are ample—nearly sixty acres—and beautifully located in the outskirts of the city.

Revival among the Students.
REV. C. W. FRANCIS, ATLANTA.

You will be glad to know that at this school we are in the midst of a deep and effective work of grace, which has already brought into the kingdom a goodly number of precious souls. There has been a good degree of religious interest since the school came together in October, and during the week of prayer, which we faithfully observed, that interest was deepened; and since that time some have been committing themselves to Christ’s service. The day of prayer for colleges, just observed, was an occasion of deep and solemn interest, and a considerable number took a step forward. A few extra meetings have been held; but, for the most part, affairs have gone on as usual, with no interruption of school work; and but for the greater quiet and improved order and discipline of the school, and increasing fidelity to duty, an observer would not know how thorough a work was going forward. Our reliance has been mainly upon the truth, earnestly and plainly presented, rather than upon any unusual measures, and our aim to reach the conscience, and thus secure an intelligent and thorough submission to the claims of God. All the members of the classes to graduate this year now profess to be Christians, and we hope will be well prepared to do effective work for the Master in the wide and needy field open before them. Some who have long withstood every good influence are already affected, and we hope will soon yield to Christ’s claims; indeed, there are hardly any in the family who are not ready to acknowledge a deep interest in the subject. We do not like to give numbers, but we may reasonably hope that as many as twelve have already begun the new life, and more than as many more are deeply serious. We hope for a greater work and a deeper consecration, and that the Lord may baptize afresh for the great and growing work pressing upon us. There are constantly, even at this season, calls for teachers in all parts of this State which cannot be answered, and in almost all cases Christian character is one of the first qualifications sought.

ALABAMA.
Christmas Festival—Bearing One Another’s Burdens.
REV. WILLIAM H. ASH, FLORENCE.

From the depletion made in September by many of our members going to Kansas, a dark cloud for a time gathered over the work here; but I believe the crisis is past, and some that were active in opposition are now working in harmony with us, and endeavoring to take part in every good work. The faithful few are ever encouraged by these cheering words: “But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be found even to fight against God.”

Up to the Sabbath previous to Christmas we were undecided as to whether it was best to have a Christmas tree; but I found so many willing hearts and ready hands eager to help, and particularly some not members of the church, but friendly to it, that I threw all my influence in this direction to make it a success. At first we planned to have it in the church; but finding that the building used for our Sunday services was too small, it was removed to the court-house, where we had ample room. The church would only accommodate about one-fifth of the people who came with their children to receive the gifts, for we had something for nearly every Methodist and Baptist boy and girl, as well as every Congregationalist in town.

On Friday night, the ladies of our church gave an entertainment to aid in defraying the expenses incurred by the burial of a member of the church who had died very suddenly. He would have been buried by the town but for a few loyal and faithful brethren who revolted at any such idea, and at once assumed the responsibility, though there was not one cent in the treasury. At the supper they cleared enough to pay the debt, and quite a little sum in addition. Our polity is guarded with the same sacredness as in New England.

LOUISIANA.
Straight University and the Central Church— A Week of Prayer and Work of Grace—Revival Incidents.
REV. WALTER S. ALEXANDER, NEW ORLEANS.
New Orleans, La., Feb. 1st, 1879.

The terrible epidemic which held this city in its relentless grasp for five months and created general gloom and depression, delayed the opening of the University till December 1st. When we closed the last term and planned for another year—our first year in the new University building—our hopes were strong and enthusiastic, and we said, “With the attraction and novelty of a fresh, beautiful building in a central position, and the tide of public sentiment strongly in our favor, the new year will be a marked period in the educational interests of our State.” These brilliant expectations were changed to grave uncertainty and anxiety. But God is with us, and our fears are already dissipated. In the first place, the colored people were wonderfully exempt from the ravages of the fever. There were instances of the fever, but the mortality was slight. The only disadvantage was the uncertainty regarding the time of opening the term, which induced a large number to enter into other school arrangements. At this writing we have in the Academic Department 175, and in the Law Department 25. New students are enrolled every week, and we have great occasion for satisfaction and gratitude. Our friends will be glad to know that the new University building suits our needs to perfection. We could hardly suggest a change in the arrangement of rooms. In many respects it is a model house. If our friends could understand how earnestly we desire to furnish our beautiful chapel and two additional recitation rooms, into which we are almost ready to “swarm,” and how we long to see a neat fence surrounding the lot, isolating and protecting us, situated as we are on the grand boulevard of the city, I am sure that some [83] good heart would suggest the means of accomplishing these things. But this is God’s work, and He will send relief if we can only wait.

We shall graduate a class of six, of whom five are young men. They all have bright minds and are first-class scholars. It is a real pleasure to teach them. I hear them every morning in Upham’s Mental Philosophy, and the most exacting teacher would ask no better recitations than are uniformly given. The inducements for young men and women to qualify themselves for teachers of the highest grade are all that could be desired. It is impossible now to answer the demands for competent teachers for the colored schools of Louisiana. I have received an application for a principal of a large parish school, with a salary of $1,200, and two are now in hand for lady teachers, with salaries of $30 per month, in a town where good board can be obtained for $7 per month. This demand will constantly increase both in Louisiana and Texas. Two of our last senior class are teaching in Texas, and receiving $50 per month.

When I returned to the church, after an absence of more than five months, the people greeted me with enthusiasm, and said to me, “You find us a united people. God has kept us together during this sad summer. We are ready for work. When will the revival begin?” I told them we should begin special meetings with the “Week of Prayer;” but the time for earnest labor was already at hand to prepare the people for the work of grace, which I felt sure God had in store for us. Our prayer meetings were largely attended, and I could see that the Church were longing and praying for a glorious revival. What a joyful duty it is to preach to such a people! The “Week of Prayer” came, and with a deep feeling of dependence upon God we gathered for our first special meeting. Night after night the attendance increased. Christians yielded themselves to the spirit of the meetings; the flame of religious fervor burned more brightly; and when, in sympathy with the Christian world, we had considered the topics assigned by the Evangelical Alliance, we felt ready to enter upon the holy work of winning souls, and of directing all our thoughts and energies to this object. For four weeks we gathered every night, with an attendance ranging from 80 to 150, seldom falling below 100. Members of other churches flocked in; unconverted men and women heard the good news and joined the waiting throng. The result has been joyful—blessed—glorious. In some respects I have never witnessed a revival of greater spiritual power. The work has been quiet as the under-current of a river, but deep, heart-searching and vital. The number of converts has been less than in some previous revivals; but when the position and influence of those who have been reached, one-half of them heads of families, is considered, the general result is highly important. A few instances will illustrate the nature of the good work. During a previous revival a fair young girl was one of the joyful converts. She has been a steadfast Christian, honoring by a consistent, holy life her vows as a church member. One year ago she was married to a young man of many attractive qualities, and the centre of influence in a wide circle of friends. During this revival not only the husband, but the mother have found Christ, and to-day there is great joy in that household. On the night when the mother uttered the exultant cry, “Christ has set me free; I am redeemed!” the child, who had prayed for her husband’s and her mother’s conversion, fainted from excess of joy and emotion. Another mother is made happy by the conversion of her son, and expresses her joy with fast-falling tears. Now a student from one of the country parishes yields to conviction and takes his stand as a Christian. Another, a [84] painter by trade, who says he knew nothing of Christianity before, seeks earnestly till he finds the Saviour. We shall never forget his impassioned eloquence when he announced his conversion. It was the utterance of a deep, overwhelming joy. A young man, whose home teaching has been all wrong, walks for days beneath the dark shadow of doubt and fear. On one night he rose in meeting, and weeping freely said, “Why do I not find peace? Why will not God have mercy? Oh, pray for me and help me!” Such agony of soul cannot continue long. It was the profound darkness before the dawn. To-day his faith is strong and joyful.

There came into our meeting a wife, in whose conversion peculiar interest was manifested. Listening with eager interest from the first, she soon became intensely engaged in her own salvation. Near the close of one of our services she exclaimed, so soon as her emotion would permit her to speak, “God, have mercy! Everybody pray for me!” Earnestly she inquired the way of life, and after a brief but bitter struggle the light came beaming in upon her soul, and she goes from house to house, spreading the glad tidings and telling what great things the Lord has done for her. Last year a married woman—a public school-teacher—experienced this blessed change of heart, and the religion of Christ has been the absorbing theme of her life since. Now her daughter, an interesting girl of sixteen, shares the faith of the mother, who says, “Have I not reason for loving God as I do?” One who became a Christian years ago, but who, through indifference, had lapsed from the enjoyment of the Christian life, has been recovered. When she sought my counsel, I said, “Don’t expect to be converted over again. Take your place as a Christian woman, and live as a Christian should live.” The change with her has been like a new conversion. The cloud has been dispelled, and she rejoices in the restored favor of God.

On the last night of our special services fully 150 people were present. I think we shall begin another special campaign the 1st of March. Pray for us that a great light may be kindled here, which God will never suffer to go out. Oh, the progress of this dear church these last three years! Their self-respect, their pure lives, their faith in. God, give cause for Christian confidence, affection and recognition. The true church of God will not withhold them.

TENNESSEE.
Fisk University—The Day of Prayer, etc.
PRES. E. M. CRAVATH, NASHVILLE.

The meeting for prayer for the Association and its work was held on Monday afternoon, January 6, at three o’clock, in the chapel. The number in attendance was very large, and there was an unusual freedom in prayer and a deep and tender interest in all the exercises. Prof. Bennett spoke of the falling off in receipts, of which you had made mention in a recent letter to him, and this called forth very earnest supplication that God would move men’s hearts to liberal giving, so that the good work among their people might not suffer. The occasion was one of unusual interest.

There have been two very clear and interesting cases of conversion since Christmas, and some among us are anxious. There has not yet been so large an increase in the number of students since New Years as we had expected. The weather has been intensely cold and money seems to be very scarce.

The health of teachers and pupils is good. At the Baptist Institute they were compelled to suspend school on Monday because of sickness resulting from the unusual cold and exposure.

Woman’s Work—Relief Fund—Health Matters—
Cottage Meetings—Northern Helpers.
MISS HATTIE A. MILTON, MEMPHIS.

The outlook seems much more encouraging this year than last, for several reasons, one of the most important of which is, that the relief fund gives us [85] access to many more families. Last Sabbath five new scholars came to Sunday-school, all from families which had been benefited by the relief. One of the boys, eleven years old, who belongs to a very poor family, but who is quite a hero among his neighbors, because of his honesty and industry, I often met last year with others on the commons, but he could not come to Sunday-school because he was so ragged. As he was very anxious to attend, a suit of clothes was given him last week, and Sabbath morning he came to the church before his teacher was dressed for breakfast, and waited patiently during the three hours until the exercises began, enjoying his improved appearance.

The past few weeks have been very cold for this climate, and many a widow with her little children has been made to rejoice as she gathered her family around the bright fire and partook of the wholesome food provided by the A. M. A. relief. The yellow fever made terrible havoc in many families—indeed in some none are left to tell the tale of woe! For a few days, now, the weather has been very warm and there is much sickness, and the death rate is very high among the colored people—in many cases, no doubt, resulting from want of proper attention. A few days since I visited a man suffering with indigestion and cold; he had called a doctor, but was not relieved; his wife was anxious to help him, but knew not what to do; so she was told to let the light in from behind, instead of in front of the patient, as it was very painful to his eyes, then to apply cloths wet in hot water to the aching head and chest, and hot bricks, steaming with vinegar, to his feet. In half an hour he was relieved and the next day was almost well, only needing directions about food and ventilation. This is but an instance among many of those who suffer for the want of such simple remedies, of the use of which they have no knowledge. As the demand for nurses has been very great during the past year, we propose giving some attention to this branch in our school, which has filled up since Christmas and is doing well.

The industrial department is getting in good working order. I have about forty women and girls under my general supervision, the more experienced assisting me in teaching the others to cut and make garments. They seem much interested in the work. This department is looked upon with approval by most of the people, as but few mothers are capable of teaching their daughters these accomplishments, though they are very anxious that they should learn them.

My field of work is already twice as large as last year. Members of the different churches welcome me into their houses, and invite their neighbors to our cottage meetings, of which we have five every week in different neighborhoods. The pastor of the leading Methodist church here gave me the names of several members of his church who would be glad to have me hold mothers’ meetings in their houses, which was a great help in my work, as it did much to remove the suspicion with which they have regarded me. Some who are not professed Christians have invited me to their houses, saying they hope by so doing they may see the way more clearly. Many colored people look upon the epidemic of the past season as a judgment from God on account of their sins, and try to be more religious lest a worse evil befall them.

The Ladies’ Missionary Society, of Roseville, Ill., have become interested in this work, and have forwarded a box, for which we are thankful.

The “Little Girls,” of Crete, Ill., who last year sent a box, have this year formed a society, which they have named “The Milton Busy Bees,” have met every two weeks, and with their friends have [86] prepared a box of very valuable clothing, which has been received, and has made many a heart beat warmer. May God bless all our kind friends at the North who aid us so much by these substantial signs of their sympathy.

THE CHINESE.

Summary of Mission Work among the Chinese.
REV. WM. C. POND, SAN FRANCISCO.

At the annual meeting of the California Chinese Mission I was requested to append to the report then presented an account of the work of other missions. I venture to hope that that account will be of interest to the readers of the Missionary, and offer it as my contribution for this month. The facts were obtained not from printed reports, but by special inquiries.

The Presbyterian Mission reports four evening mission schools, one in each of the cities of San Francisco, Oakland, Sacramento and San José, with an average attendance of 70, 60, 35 and 24 respectively. Four American missionaries, speaking the Chinese language, are employed, four Chinese preachers, and six other teachers. There is also, in San Francisco, a day school for boys and girls, with two teachers, one English and one Chinese, and an average attendance of twelve pupils. There are six preaching places, three in San Francisco, three in Oakland, two in Sacramento, and two in San José. Twenty religious services are held each week, with an attendance which varies from a very few to one hundred. Two Chinese churches have been organized, one in San Francisco and the other in Oakland. The former has 40 members, of whom two were received the past year. The latter has 29 members, of whom six were added the last year. The San Francisco church has been in existence many years, and has received to membership from its organization 103 persons. In connection with the Sacramento Mission, 21 Christian Chinese have been received to the Presbyterian Church of that city; fifteen are still members of the church, and of these, eight were received last year. In connection with the San José school there are seven Christian Chinese, members of the Presbyterian church of that city.

The Ladies’ Foreign Missionary Society of the Presbyterian church sustains in San Francisco a Home for Chinese women, which has now eleven inmates, who must, of course, be not only taught, but sheltered and boarded, and, often, protected from the brutes in human form who claim to be their owners.

The total number of laborers connected with the Presbyterian Mission is thus seen to be fifteen. The total average attendance at the schools, 212. The total number of church members, from the first, is 160, of whom 69 have been removed by dismissal to churches in China, by death, or by the dropping of their names from the roll. The total number who hear the gospel from the lips of the missionaries or native preachers cannot be estimated, but must run far up into the hundreds, if not into the thousands.

Of the Methodist Chinese Mission, Rev. Dr. Gibson, Superintendent, makes the following succinct and clear report:

“Five evening and day schools, with a total average attendance of 149; five Sunday-schools, with a total average attendance of 246; four preaching places, with a total average attendance of 170; public preaching, daily prayer meetings, praise meetings, class meeting and Bible class, weekly, 78 Chinese members and 10 probationers; baptisms last year—adults, 19; children, 3; cost of girls’ boarding-school, $1,900; cost of all other work, $7,600.

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“One of our schools is a boarding school for Chinese girls and women. We call it the ‘Asylum.’ As to churches, our plan is a little different from yours. We have classes at different places, but all are members of the one church at San Francisco.”

At Los Angeles, from a Chinese Mission School, which was sustained for many years by the California Chinese Mission, twenty in all have united with the Presbyterian church in that city.

The United Presbyterian Church.—This church, also, sustains a mission school in Oakland, which has an average attendance of about forty pupils.

The Woman’s Union Mission to Chinese Women and Children has been in operation nearly nine years. As its name indicates, it is a union work, and is sustained for the most part by ladies in the different churches of San Francisco and Oakland. The Society has been aided materially this last year by the Chinese themselves, having received a gift in money from the “Six Companies,” and also from the Chinese merchants.

The special work of this Mission is among Chinese children, and for them a day school is sustained in the second story of the old “Globe Hotel,” at the corner of Dupont and Jackson streets. With this special work is also combined visitation among Chinese families. The number of scholars on the roll the past year is fifty-two. Thirty-two of these are boys and twenty girls. There are two teachers employed, an English teacher and a teacher of Chinese. The running expenses of this Society are about eighty-five dollars a month.

If, now, I add to this statement the following statistics touching our own Congregational Mission, the exhibit of missionary work among the Chinese in California will be complete.

We maintain 11 schools: at Oakland, Petaluma, Sacramento; in San Francisco, the Central, Barnes and Bethany; San Leandro, Santa Barbara, Stockton, Visalia and Woodland; in which 16 teachers are employed. 1,492 pupils have been enrolled during the year. The average attendance for the 12 months’ has been 244–647 being the largest number reported in any single month. 93 profess to have ceased from idol worship, and 75 give evidence of conversion.

There is, outside these organized missions, considerable work done by the churches in Chinese Sunday-schools, no complete or reliable statistics of which could be easily obtained. At those sustained by Congregational churches the total average attendance is, of pupils about 250, and of teachers about 100.

There is furthermore, we may trust, in Christian households scattered throughout the State, a work done for Chinese employed in them, which cannot be reported here, but whose record is on high. There, too, its fruit will appear, gathered into everlasting life.

AFRICA.

A CHRISTMAS IN AFRICA.
MRS. H. L. JACKSON, AVERY STATION.

To-day we have celebrated the birth of our dear Saviour. The first thing was the giving of presents to the laborers, which Mr. Jackson did from his own earnings. It was the custom of the former missionaries to give the laborers each a Christmas present, and they are not a people who forget very soon any favor shown them by the former missionaries. This present consisted of two goats and two bushels of rice, which was divided among them. I watched with pleasure their happy faces as each one received his portion.

At ten o’clock the first bell rang for services, and at the ringing of the second bell the chapel was filled to its utmost capacity with the heathen, who came from miles around to hear and learn of Jesus, and why we celebrate this [88] eventful day. There were so many present that we were obliged to bring in extra seats. They gave very good attention and seemed to drink in the truths of Jesus Christ as they were given them. It would have been encouraging to you could you have seen them when they were told that this dear Saviour whom we celebrate is a God who hears in Mendi, Sherbro, Timony and all other languages, and if they come to Him with pure and contrite hearts He will wash away their sins and make them white in the blood of the Lamb. From their cheerful countenances one could read that their happy hearts sung forth praises to God. I am, as you may know, a lover of singing, so we selected some of the most beautiful and appropriate hymns for the occasion. As we sung, I, like the heathen, could but exclaim praise to God in the highest. Surely Africa will be redeemed from the curse of ignorance and sin, and her sons and daughters learn to bow in reverence to the true and living God.

After service, Mr. Jackson and I prepared a dinner, to which we invited the chiefs of the Bargroo river. They seemed to enjoy themselves very much indeed. The dinner consisted, as nearly as possible, of their country dishes and a plenty of pure cold water. Having a country cook, the dishes were all served up in regular country style. We had our interpreter to dine with them, so that we might be able to converse with them on the meaning of Christmas day and how they should celebrate it.

We are greatly encouraged to go forward in the work. It is true that it is a hard and tedious one, but when we lean on Jesus it is made light. You would, perhaps, be pleased to know of some of our encouragements. There is an unusual amount of interest manifested on the part of the natives in religion. They take hold of the truths imparted to them as if their souls were thirsty for the living bread of heaven. They are also gradually laying aside their country fashions, such as gregrees, charms and fetiches. All of these are features of interest to one who labors among them.

Although we are thus encouraged, the habit of drinking rum is spreading among them. This is a great curse to Africa. No evil could be perpetrated among these people more injurious to them than the selling of rum. Really, many of them seem to think that rum is the staff of life, and in order to exist they must have it. This idea has been brought to them through the medium of a civilized people, whose highest aim should be to wipe this evil practice out of existence. Mr. Jackson endeavored to impress upon their minds as clearly as possible the great sin of drinking rum, and I am sure that many were convinced of it.

The church is progressing both in interest and in strength. The first Sunday in this month was communion day. The presence of the Lord seemed near each one. Five persons joined the church and were baptized. Among the number was one chief. We have now three chiefs belonging to our church, and we believe that they are really converted men.

CHILDREN’S PAGE.

LITTLE SALLIE.
PROFESSOR A. K. SPENCE, OF FISK UNIVERSITY.
(Written from Dundee, Scotland.)

Little Sallie was born a slave, but became free through the Emancipation Proclamation of Abraham Lincoln. She had learned to read elsewhere, but came to the school connected with Fisk University to pursue her studies still further. There she soon saw she was a sinner, and needed a Saviour. She sought long, but did not find peace to her soul. She [89] was very sorrowful, and her trouble appeared in her down-cast face. She often sighed and sometimes wept. She prayed much and read her Bible. Her teachers felt sad for poor little Sallie.

At last light came. The Bible says, “Sorrow continueth for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.” Her joy was great. Any one could see that she had met a change. Her countenance was all aglow. A sweet smile played on her lips. Her voice was full of music as she told what God had done for her. Her eye kindled as she spoke of her dear Saviour. All the affection of her young heart was given to him. It was sweet to listen to her prayers, in which she often said, dear Jesus.

But Sallie wished to do something for Him who had done so much for her. All young converts feel in that way. Old Christians feel so, too. Paul says, “The love of Christ constraineth us.” But what could she do? She was so young, and only a girl. Even if she were a woman, she could not go into the pulpit and preach. Only men do that. What could she do! This perplexed little Sallie.

One of her teachers, knowing her trouble, said to her, “Well, Sallie, you can read, can you not?” “Oh, yes!” she replied, for she was a good reader. “There are many colored people who were long slaves, and cannot read, are there not? Would not you like to read the Bible to some of them?”

This thought pleased little Sallie. Soon after she put on her hat, took her Bible, and went out, Christ’s little missionary. She stood erect, she stepped light, she looked happy; she was going out to do good for Jesus. No doubt His love was warm in her heart just then. We always feel love to God when for His sake we try to do good to men.

She did not know it, but the teacher who suggested her mission followed to see what she would do. When she turned a street corner, he turned it soon after her. At last she entered a little house, such as many of the colored people live in. It was made of boards, one story high, and had only one room. The day was warm. The door was open. He went to it and looked in. I will try to tell you what he saw.

Sallie sat in a chair with her Bible in her lap, reading. One colored woman was, seemingly, busy at a table, ironing clothes. But her iron went back and forth nearly in the same place, while she looked away, eyes and mouth open, to little Sallie, to whom she listened attentively. Another had ceased from her work, and, leaning against the wall, looked down upon our little missionary in a most loving, motherly way. A third was sitting at her feet and gazing with her great, dark face into the face of Sallie, who, in a low, sweet voice, was reading: “He was wounded for our transgressions; He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed.” Was it not beautiful? You know this is a prophesy of Christ, written many hundred years, before the sufferings it describes, which Jesus bore for us. Find the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah and read it for yourselves, my young friends, and think that Sallie read it to those poor colored women; and as you go over these verses, may the same love and joy fill your hearts as filled hers.

Remember, also, that you, too, may be workers for Christ in some way. It may not be in Sallie’s way. She used to sing “There’ll be something in Heaven for children to do.” There is something for them to do on earth, too. Seek God’s guidance and He will show you what. Christ says that if we give even a cup of water to any one, for His sake, we shall not lose our reward. Sallie did not work for pay, but she had her reward in the consciousness that she was pleasing Jesus and doing good to those women.

Many years have passed since the time of this narrative. Little Sallie is now a [90] young woman. Through the aid of kind friends she completed the course of studies in the Normal department of Fisk University, and is now teaching colored children in the far-off State of Texas. The freed people of the South need such teachers; they need also ministers of their own race; and many missionaries are needed for Africa.

One way, my dear young friends, in which you can serve the Lord, is this: Help us to educate these young people. When you put a little piece of money into the box for this cause and for Jesus’ sake, He sees it and will say to you in the last day: “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”