THE
AMERICAN MISSIONARY.

American Missionary Association,

56 READE STREET, N. Y.

PRESIDENT.

Hon. E. S. TOBEY, Boston.

Corresponding Secretary.

Rev. M. E. STRIEBY, 56 Reade Street, N. Y.

District Secretaries.

Executive Committee.

COMMUNICATIONS

relating to the business of the Association may be addressed to either of the Secretaries as above.

DONATIONS AND SUBSCRIPTIONS

may be sent to H. W. Hubbard, 56 Reade Street, New York, or, when more convenient, to either of the branch offices, 21 Congregational House, Boston, Mass., 112 West Washington Street, Chicago, Ill. Drafts or checks sent to Mr. Hubbard should be made payable to his order as Assistant Treasurer.

A payment of thirty dollars at one time constitutes a Life Member.

Correspondents are specially requested to place at the head of each letter the name of their Post Office, and the County and State in which it is located.

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THE

AMERICAN MISSIONARY.

American Missionary Association.

OUR GRADUATES.

The colleges of the land have just now been sending forth their classes of graduates, equipped for further study and for new work. The young men and women have passed their examinations and taken their degrees and made their speeches in hundreds of academic halls. Parents and patrons have gathered—these to see the gain and growth of their children, and those to rejoice in the good which their generous benefactions have accomplished. It is the harvest time in the collegiate year; though the crops are not gathered into garners, but scattered and sown at once for other growths.

Our schools and colleges, too, have come to the end of another year. Examination and commencement times come to all impartially under the fifteenth amendment. We do not profess that the graduates of our seven colleges go out equipped, for depth and breadth of culture, on an equality with the sons of Yale or Harvard, but we do believe that they are fitted, and fitted well, for the work that is before them, and to be the leaders first of their own people. We do know that the religious impression made upon them is more general and more deep than in most Northern colleges, and that the influences under which they work and study foster and develop seriousness of purpose and that highest of all ambitions—the ambition to be useful. And so, in this our humbler work, we rejoice and take pride.

Our Normal-school work is still the largest and perhaps the most important that we have to do. And when we follow in imagination, and occasionally by visitation, and frequently by communication, the pupils of our schools out into the little hamlets and cross-roads all over the Southern States, where they are teaching the mysteries of the A, B, C, to the little children, and the larger ones, who come from humblest homes, where the dark-skinned father and mother look with wondering admiration at the child—their child—who can tell “round O” from “crooked S,” we are filled with the sense of the magnitude and importance of this work of laying foundations on which are to be built the towers of intelligence and virtue. And we pray devoutly that God may bless each one of those who are going forth this year to teach the children of a long neglected race.

We see that Stanley’s story of his journey, “Through the Dark Continent,” is published by Sampson, Low & Co., London. We have not yet examined it, but are sure that it will be of great interest and instructiveness even to those who have read his vivid letters in the Herald from time to time.

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It is with deep regret that we record the death of Mrs. Dr. James of the Mendi Mission, of which the tidings is given in another column. The other members of the mission are all well, and the work progresses both materially and spiritually; and the brave band who went back to carry the light of life to the dark land of their fathers, have not lost heart or hope because one of their number has gone up higher.

We made a very full and frank statement three months ago in regard to our finances. We recognized the fact that the receipts up to that time had been better than for the corresponding months of the previous year. It gave us peculiar pleasure to make that statement. And now, having spoken so, we wish to be heard on the other side. For it is equally true now, that the receipts have been diminishing, and for two months have been less than in the same months of the previous year. Friends, do not leave us in the lurch now, or spoil in the last two months of our fiscal year the improving record of the first ten. Our needs as your agents are very far beyond the means you furnish us.

THE LAW OF RESTITUTION.

The law of restitution is one which the religion of the Old Testament enforces, and which the New Testament does not relax. It applies, as all laws do, most pressingly to individuals, but it reaches out, as all laws do, to nations and to races.

We have wronged the Negro, the Indian and the Chinaman—all three—and they therefore call on us, on our American nation, and on our English-speaking people, for redress, and for all that we can do to atone for past neglect—not only for past neglect, but injustice. Need I recite?

It was in 1620 that the first slave ship landed her human freight upon the shores of Virginia, and, from that time for more than two centuries the deadly traffic was continued, and men, women and children were bought and sold like animals. We need not say, “But this was a Southern crime; we and our fathers were not guilty.” For two-thirds of that time, the whole nation were alike in it. Northern ships and Northern capital carried on the importation later than that. Our Northern fathers gave it up largely, it is true, as it is charged, because what was for the time profitable in South Carolina and in Georgia, did not pay in Massachusetts and Vermont. It was not until 1825 that the slaves were set free in the State of New Jersey. We do not propose to depict the evils and the sins of slavery. Thank God, they are in the past, save as the consequences are upon us still.

I grant that good may have been done; that, in the end, it may be shown that elevation and enlightenment have followed from even this contact with a superior civilization and religion. God causes the wrath of man to praise Him; and even the sinful and the selfish acts of men are made the servants of His will. But that is hardly to be put to the credit of the thus indirect instruments of good. Rather, by what this good lacks of that which Christian motive and effort might have accomplished, we are guilty before God.

The horrors enacted and still enacting on the dark continent of Africa—for the slave trade still continues—the enforced ignorance and enforced vice of two centuries and a half, the engrafting of the vices of civilization upon those of heathendom, are the charges which this nation has to meet before the bar of God. It is a debt which never can be paid. Is there no claim on us from the American Negro?

How is it with the Indian? The original occupants of the territory now covered by these United States, and its possessors, as much as wandering hunters can be the owners of the soil, our fathers found them. What have they gained from us? The greed of the white man has pursued them from that day to this. From place to place[227] they have been driven. Bargains have been broken and treaties violated, in almost every instance, first by the white man. The true history of almost every Indian war (so called) has been begun by the violence or provoked by the faithlessness of the white man. It was true of the Modoc, the Sitting Bull and the Nez Percès wars, and that evidently.

What have we given the red man? Whisky and powder; the vices of civilization, and the means of war. A few missionaries have been among them, devoting themselves, with heroic self-denial, to the work of educating and elevating them, and, wherever the tribes among which they have labored have been far enough away to escape the too frequent trader and the settler, they have been teachable, have come to occupy farms, and learned to labor and to pray.

Perhaps the halting and uncertain policy of the government has been its worst crime toward them for these last thirty years. And now, even under the peace policy, which has done very much for them, their disabilities are of the greatest.

How can you expect to rouse ambitions for industry and intelligence among men who are not allowed to hold a title to the farms they have cleared, or the houses they have built, and who may be ordered, at the will of the government (which is often only the will of envious neighbors), to a new Reservation? How can you expect to Christianize a man, whose wrongs are unavenged, and who is hunted by an army if he avenges them himself? And yet, of the less than 300,000 Indians, over 40,000 can read, 12,000 attended school last year, 27,000 are church members. The government spent about one dollar a head in their education last year. It has cost, for forty years, about forty dollars a head—$12,000,000 annually—to fight them. Do we owe them anything?

And the Chinaman? He is not a very large factor yet in our population. He owes the opium habit in some degree, at least, to the exigencies of English commerce. His account with this country has not been running very long yet. But it will be all we can do, if we do our utmost to Christianize him, to keep the account current balanced.

He is met on the Pacific Coast (where his industry has already been of great value) with the cry, “Away with him back to China!” It has just been decided that he, being neither white nor black, cannot become a citizen in California.

A few Christian men and women have opened schools to teach John the English alphabet; the New Testament has been his reading book. Already some 300 are converted men, and members of the churches, and have formed Christian associations, in which they live in Christian ways.

And the question is: Shall we run in debt to the Chinaman, as we have to the Negro and the Indian? Would it not be well to keep in mind the Scripture saying now—“Owe no man anything, but to love one another”?

If wrongs emphasize claims, surely the three races of men in our own land have a most convincing claim upon the people of the United States. Who will respond to it, if the Christian people fail to hear and heed it?

S. S. AND M. M. CONCERT.

REV. J. W. CHICKERING, D. D., BOSTON, MASS.

These numerous initials form the shortest mode of designating an interesting, if not unique, meeting I had the pleasure of attending yesterday, in the Congregational Church at Amesbury, Mass., Rev. Pliny S. Boyd, pastor.

They stand for “Sabbath-school and Missionary Monthly Concert”; the plan being to let the scholars do the reporting and the singing, with prayers from several teachers, and remarks from the superintendent, pastor and a visiting brother.

The triple work of the American Missionary Association was assigned for this[228] occasion; and it was encouraging for the future of benevolent effort in the church, to see how promptly class after class repeated the answers allotted them.

Each will probably remember through life his or her part in the programme; and, from the whole, a very clear outline was furnished to the assembly of the numbers, needs, and capabilities of the Indians, Mongolians and Negroes within our borders.

I was happy to be able to confirm and illustrate some of those statements, and to urge upon that intelligent church, and the flourishing Sabbath-school, from which seventy were received into communion last year, the pressing, may we not say paramount? importance of that department of missionary effort.

If the “four millions” are suffered to live in vice and ignorance, and the superstition which is already seeking to overshadow them like the old fetichism of their ancestors, the American Church—yes, the nation—will find too late what a mistake they have made.

Ten thousand such “Monthly Concerts” as this would go far in the direction of instructing the children and awaking their parents, respecting one of the great duties of the hour. Why not let it be tried?

ADDRESS AT THE BOSTON ANNIVERSARY.

BY REV. GEORGE R. MERRILL, BIDDEFORD, ME.

I am to suggest three considerations which give permanent importance to our work among the despised races. The evangelization of six millions of people, one-seventh of our entire population, cannot be safely left to the enthusiasm aroused by special pleas, but must be grounded in such truth as shall make its prosecution a Christian and patriotic duty of supreme and abiding urgency.

I.—The Test of our Christianity.

If you please, let us call upon this platform four representative men. The first shall be of Anglo-Saxon lineage, the inheritor by birth of our ripe Christian civilization, and bearing upon him the marks of our characteristic civilized vices,—a man self sufficient, profane, intemperate and dishonest. Next him place an Indian, in all the brutality, sottishness and despair to which our guardianship of two centuries has brought him. The next is a Freedman, touched with his ancient race-superstitions, and possessed by the usual vices of a subject people. Last in the group set a Chinaman, just from the Joss House and the opium den.

Now, do you, who represent the Christianity of the nineteenth century, stand before them with the gospel in your hands. Man of God, look upon these slaves of sin! Nations and languages, look on this man of God! and do you tell us what Christianity can do for these. What can it do for this white man? Triumphantly, you answer, “It can save him; can break down his self-sufficiency and pride, redeem him from his cups, make him an honest man, and, if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.” What can it do for the Indian? “It can save him; make him sober and industrious, a servant of God.” What for this Negro? “It can save him, lift him out of his race-corruptions, and save him to God and man.” And what for this Chinaman? “The same. It can make him a man, reverent and devout to God, and useful to his fellows. The gospel is the power of God unto salvation to Mongol, Negro and Caucasian, and no barriers of race avail to hinder it.” Is this all? Has your gospel nothing more that it can do for this company? Then is it not the true and full gospel! That full gospel at the first gained wondrous victories. The proud pharisee and the despised publican, they of Cæsar’s household and the bond-slave—Jew and Gentile alike—came under its power. The Christianity of that day, the full gospel, not only saved them as individuals,[229] made each one an heir of eternal life, but also fused and bound them into a true brotherhood.

The Christianity of the nineteenth century is on trial as to whether it can do this. Its power to redeem the individual has been grandly illustrated before our eyes, and now the other question comes forward. Its answer will have many forms indeed. One of them is the attitude that Christian capital and Christian labor take to each other. But its marked test, the most illustrious triumph or conspicuous failure, is to be here among the despised races, whose representatives are before us. God has reserved for American Christianity this grand opportunity to show the world, that after eighteen centuries the gospel is shorn of none of its honor—that under its inspirations we are able to bind these despised races, regenerated and lifted up, into a true fellowship with ourselves. The American Missionary Association is your representative and servant to this end, and worthy such support as the gospel itself should receive.

II.—The Test of our National Life.

Mr. Matthew Arnold, in a recent essay, uses these words: “When we talk of man’s advance towards his full humanity, we think of an advance not along one line only, but several. The Hebrew race was pre-eminent on one great line. The Hellenic race was pre-eminent on another line.”

Taking for truth the conception involved in these words, but with a Christian interpretation, it follows that a true Christian patriotism will not have respect to the permanence of party or the development of resources; these are means to its nobler ends.

It will see in all history the developing thought of God, and in its own history a particular increment of that thought.

These eighteen centuries, and those that are to follow, are the development of Christianity, and that development covers three zones, which circle and complete the globe—God’s relation to man, man’s relation to God, and man’s relation to man. During the five centuries nearest Christ, about the centres of Alexandria and Constantinople, influences rose and were moulded whose resultant was that view of God in his relation to man which is the common property of Christendom. For eleven centuries following, Divine Providence was shaping especially under the impulse of the Reformation, the confession of the scriptural relation of man to God. Then, with the seventeenth century, history passed into the third zone, in which is to be illustrated the Divine idea of man’s relation to man, which is, that the race is an organic brotherhood, because having one father, God, and one elder brother, Jesus Christ.

From the first planting at Plymouth, God has been shaping our national experiences to draw the confession from us. Little by little the problem has grown upon us, as we were able to meet it. Two centuries and more were required to illustrate, through us, how the sublime socialism of the New Testament, could blend together in one brotherhood, representatives of all the white and dominant races of the world. And it is done, though not perfectly, indeed. English, Scotch, Irish, French, Dane, German and Russ—all over our land—are companies of them cemented into the equal brotherhood of a Christian Church and a Christian State. And now the deeper conditions of the problem are upon us. Within our borders are three races, neither white nor dominant. They are men; the Saviour died for them; the Holy Spirit calls them, one by one, into membership in the kingdom of God; they are our brothers by New Testament law. We are to make them organically one with us in a Christian state. Here, in the despised races, is the test of our national life.

The American Missionary Association appeals to you, not only as Christian men in the name of the Christianity that is on trial as to its social power, but as American men in the name of God’s thought for the land, which it is working out as to the Negro, the[230] Chinaman and the Indian. It says, “One is our Master, even Christ, and all we are brethren.”

In the jail record of one of our cities, there are these entries after a convict’s name: “Occupation, Statesman; Religion, None.” Is it not a reproach to our Christianity, waiting for its grandest testimony; to our Christian patriotism, on which is laid the thought of God for the land, that in these years we have been so content to leave the care of the despised races, these “wards of the Almighty,” the elect for His noblest purpose, to those whose fit record is: “Occupation, Statesmen; Religion, None”! Two hundred and fifty years have been given us with the Indian to carry out “the great hope and inward zeal” of our fathers, a score of years almost with the Freedman and Chinaman. How long can we expect the Divine patience to delay ere it shall take away our opportunity, and give it to a nation bringing forth the fruits of righteousness?

III.—The Example of Christ.

There were despised classes among the Jews eighteen hundred years ago—publicans and sinners, from whom their betters withheld even the touch of their garments. But our Master, Jesus Christ, consorted with these, until they called Him, “the friend of publicans and sinners.” The Samaritans were a race despised of the Jews, yet to one of them our Lord made the earliest and clearest declaration of His Messiahship. Nay, at the outset of His mission, passing by the needy cities of Judah, He, our Lord, went to preach His gospel among the despised and dispersed who dwelt on the border of Zebulon and Napthalin, where “darkness covered the land and gross darkness the people.”

The appeal that is made for the American Missionary Association, in the name of the witness to the gospel, and in the name of Christian patriotism, gains its height when it is made in the name of Christ.

Every argument by which this work appeals to us to-day, is a prophecy of its success in our hands. Work among the despised races, work that sets the seal of power on the Christianity of our time, work that is to realize God’s thought for the land, work so Christly cannot fail!

The American Missionary Association, to which this work is committed of God and the churches, needs but one thing of you. That is, money? No! It is but needed that there should be such incomes of the Holy Ghost into Christian hearts as shall lift up church membership from membership in a religious club to its true dignity of citizenship in the kingdom of God; such incomes of the Spirit as shall fill the heart of each citizen with the grand thought of the kingdom—brotherhood. Then, consecrated purses will be opened, and gold and silver, and greenbacks and bonds, will flow into the full treasury of the Lord.

ITEMS FROM CHURCHES AND SCHOOLS.

McLeansville, N. C.—Five persons joined the church the last Sunday in June. Eighty-three communicants were present, all but three members of this church.

Dudley, N. C.—Seventeen united with the church, Rev. D. Peebles, pastor, June 16. This church numbers over eighty members. Mr. George S. Smith, of Raleigh, and Miss Carrie Waugh, of Woodbridge, assisted in revival work.

Orangeburg, S. C.—A deep religious interest is reported in this church. The school was closed June 18th, with appropriate exercises, and in the presence of a crowded audience.

Atlanta, Ga.—On the third Sabbath in June six young people united with the college church upon profession, and as many more will probably unite during the vacation with churches at their homes. It has been a good year in the religious culture of the school, and a great gain is manifest in the earnestness and steadiness of Christian character attained. The Sabbath-school at this church found itself last Sabbath with[231] eleven less teachers than the week before; the reason being that nearly that number of young people had gone into the country to teach summer schools for three months. The fact suggests one of the sources of influence such a church has, as well as one of the difficulties of carrying it on.

—Mr. S. P. Smith, of Chicago Seminary, has taken up the work with the First Church, during Mr. Ashley’s vacation, under very favorable auspices. The people are united and hopeful.

Golding’s Grove, Ga.—School closed June 20th.

Cuthbert, Ga.—The school at this place, re-opened two years ago, reports a good year’s work. Over a hundred pupils have been in attendance, some of them adults and elders and deacons of churches. A reading-room has been kept up. A large attendance witnessed the examinations and closing exercises. Mr. R. R. Wright, from Atlanta, is the teacher.

Woodville, Ga.—“Little Aubor (one of our school girls) is very ill. During the late revival she had made up her mind to become a Christian, but her father was a stumbling-block in her way. He gave her a severe whipping, and kept her away from the protracted meetings. Shortly afterward she was taken ill, and said to him, ‘Oh, father, I wanted to give my heart to Christ, but you have kept me away.’ Yesterday, when I asked her if she was praying, she answered in a whisper, ‘I am praying, I am praying, I am praying.’”

Anniston, Ala.—Rev. Peter J. McIntosh was ordained pastor of this church June 18th. Sermon by Rev. D. L. Hickok, of Talladega. The proprietor of the hotel showed his good-will by giving free entertainment to all the white visitors. The indications for spiritual prosperity are encouraging.

Childersburg, Ala.—Rev. Alfred Jones was ordained June 20th. The church building has just been plastered. A series of special services are in contemplation. Congregations average from fifty-six to eighty.

Talladega, Ala.—The following indicates the vacation work of some of the students for the next three months: J. D. Smith goes to preach at Savannah, Ga.; H. S. Williams to Montgomery; Andrew Headen to Selma, to begin work at once; J. B. Sims to Marietta, Ga., to begin the last Sunday in June. P. W. Young has charge of the church at Kingston; John Strong, of the Lawson Church, organized last summer; Barbour Grant of the Cove Church; Thornton Benson of the church at Alabama Furnace. They receive from $20 to $25 a month. Peter J. McIntosh was ordained pastor of the church at Anniston, and Alfred Jones at Childersburg, and are referred to in Rev. Mr. Hill’s letter.

Mobile, Ala.—Emerson Institute finds its new building admirably adapted to its uses; has received evidences of increasing favor with the white citizens of Mobile; is under great obligations to Dr. Morrell for placing his professional skill as a physician at the disposal of the teachers, and refusing all compensation. Its teachers are doing good service in the various Sunday-schools of the city.

Memphis, Tenn.—A permanent library, to which the colored people may have free access, has been begun by the faculty of Le Moyne Normal School. Some hundreds of books have been secured, and during the coming summer vacation a commodious reading-room is to be fitted up. More volumes will be added from time to time, as means are secured, and it is confidently expected that the near future will see this excellent project firmly established, and doing the work for which it is designed. During the closing week at the school the junior-class gave an exhibition, the proceeds of which are to be used for the library. Donations of books are solicited.

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GENERAL NOTES.

The Freedmen.

—The Congregationalist says, in its report of the examination of the students of Andover Theological Seminary: “One of the best recitations made in Greek was by a young man from Atlanta University, a suggestive item for the churches interested in that institution.”

—The Presbyterian General Assembly has transferred its eighty colored churches from the Board of Home Missions back to the Committee on Freedmen. The committee, having somewhat enlarged its educational work, appeals to the Presbyterian churches for more liberal and more general contributions.

—The Southern Presbyterian General Assembly reported as contributed for the evangelization of the colored people, during the last year, $416.75, to which the Reformed (Dutch) Church added $359.25.

—The Christian at Work describes a colored church, south, of which it says: “It was an aristocratic institution, as it seemed, and a failure. The preacher read his sermon, the singing was operatic, and the whole thing a ludicrous burlesque. White people go to an unhealthy extreme, often, in suppressing emotion, but for the colored folks to imitate this folly is death outright.”

—The same correspondent says of a missionary to the freedmen, whom he chanced to meet: “I said to him, as we were taking our leave, ‘It takes a good deal of grit and grace to stand the pressure here, don’t it?’ ‘One can get very near the Lord here,’ he replied; ‘indeed, he has to get very near Him to do any good.’”

—A Louisiana correspondent sums up a letter to the Congregationalist thus: “In spite of all drawbacks, the tendency of the colored churches in Louisiana is upward. The Sunday-schools are well attended, and properly taught. The church members are orderly and industrious citizens, respected in the communities in which they live, and ready and willing to contribute, to the full extent of their means, for any Christian purposes. Take them altogether, the progress of the colored churches has been sufficiently rapid to gratify any one who prays that the beams of the Sun of Righteousness may illumine the dark corners of the earth.”

—“There is no teacher so wholesome as personal necessity. In South Carolina a few men and many women cling absolutely to the past, learning nothing, forgetting nothing. But the bulk of thinking men see that the old Southern society is as absolutely annihilated as the feudal system, and that there is no other form of society now possible except such as prevails at the North and West. The dream of re-enslaving the negro, if it ever existed, is like the negro’s dream, if he ever had it, of five acres and a mule from the government. Both races have long since come down to the stern reality of self-support. No sane Southerner would now take back as slaves, were they offered, a race of men who have been for a dozen years freemen and voters.”—Col. Higginson in the Atlantic.

Africa.

—The barque Azor, which sailed April 21st for Africa, arrived at Sierra Leone, May 19th. There were several cases of measles before the sailing, and this malady spread rapidly. The ship fever, which came from overcrowding, was worse, however, and increased by scantiness of water and lack of proper medical attendance. Twenty-three of the emigrants died on the way. The barque was towed to Monrovia by an English steamer.

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—A despatch to the Herald represents the emigrants as being almost destitute of money, some of them holding notes of the Exodus Association, which is said to be unable to meet its obligations.

—Another ship load of freedmen are waiting at Charleston to take passage as soon as the Azor returns. She is probably on her way before this date.

—It is a gratifying fact to the friends of the American Colonization Society that in sending over 160 expeditions to Liberia, no serious casualty has happened either to vessel or emigrants. Special care has been taken to make their passage safe and comfortable, and kind Providence has given prosperity. The last expedition of the society left New York, June 19, with sixty-nine emigrants on board the barque Liberia from Virginia, North Carolina and Florida. When four days out, in a heavy fog, she collided with an Austrian vessel, and, losing her bowsprit, put back for repairs. She left again, Monday, July 1st.

—France has just appropriated 100,000 francs for a scientific expedition to Central Africa, under M. L’Abbé Debaize. He is a young man of thirty-three, of fine education and attainments, familiar with Arabic, Coptic and some East African languages; and having passed special courses in divinity, astronomy and natural history, much is anticipated from his investigations. He sailed from Marseilles about two months ago, and is now probably at Zanzibar, fitting out for the proposed journey across Equatorial Africa.

The Indian.

The last report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs shows that the savage tribes of Idaho and Eastern Oregon, which are taking part, more or less, in the present war, number about 7,400 souls. They are capable of sending into the field 2,500 warriors; and the telegraph dispatches, printed above, indicate that about that number of savages have already joined the two great war parties which are menacing the settlements of that region, and with which a heavy battle may be fought any day now by the troops under command of General Howard. The census of the tribes is as follows:

The Indians at these agencies have been kept in a state of constant agitation for more than a year by the singular delay of Congress in making appropriations for the Indian service, and by the scantiness of the appropriations when made. For the Malhewr Agency in Oregon, the Indians of which have gone to war, the appropriation was $50,000 in 1873, and $40,000 for the two successive years; but in 1876 it was reduced to $25,000, and in 1877 to $20,000. The agent begged that if Congress intended to persist in this course it would build a saw and grist-mill for the Indians, but it was not done. At the Fort Hall and Lemhi Agency in Idaho, where the present uprising began, the Indians were nearly starved by the government. About 500 had to leave Fort Hall to hunt up a subsistence for themselves; and last May the agent at Lemhi was studying how to remove the band to a new location, to protect it from the[234] government. The outbreak on the part of the Nez Percès, a year ago, did not affect these Indians at the time. They all remained quiet and loyal, but they have had their own troubles since, and have grown impatient at the failure of the government to feed them.

The present outbreak began the latter part of May, when Buffalo Horn, a noted scout, took out 200 Bannocks, and camped in the lava beds between Big Camas Prairie and Snake River, in the southern part of Idaho. The news of this rising spread over Idaho and Eastern Oregon very quickly, and, in a fortnight’s time, all the Indians of that region were in a state of excitement, and began raiding the valleys and driving off and killing stock by the hundred head. The United States troops in that region consisted of a few companies of cavalry and infantry, scattered about the two territories at the military posts. This was an insufficient protection, and the citizens of Boise City, in Idaho, Walla-Walla, in Oregon, Camp Harney and elsewhere, formed themselves into volunteer companies for active operations. About June 1, Colonel Bernard, with seventy cavalry and twenty citizens, started on a forced march to Big Camas Prairie. The Indians did not await them there, but began moving westward along Idaho River in straggling bands, dining off the stock and killing occasional settlers on the march. Howard sent orders at once to Bernard to return, which he did, pursuing the Bannocks into the Owyhee country in the southeast corner of Oregon. One incident of this movement on the part of the Indians was a fight between seventeen citizens and about 100 Indians, about June 6, in which two volunteers and eight Indians were killed.

A concentration of Indians took place in Southeastern Oregon, and, on June 23, Bernard came upon a camp of them 1,500 strong. He had only 200 men, but he surprised the camp, routed it and chased the band for ten miles. A large number of Indians were killed. Bernard lost four killed and three wounded. The savages retreated to Stein’s Mountain. General Howard arrived on the field after the fight, with Miles and Downey, having marched forty-five miles a day to catch up with Bernard. From Stein’s Mountain the Indians moved northward toward Camp Harney and Canyon City. They attacked neither place, but concentrated on John Day River, where they are in camp, 1,500 strong, according to the dispatches printed above.

The other band of hostile Indians is on what is called Camas Prairie, north of the Salmon river, in Central Idaho, the scene of the outbreak by Joseph’s band of Nez Percès last year. The dispatches just received state that this party is composed chiefly of Snakes, and is about 1,000 strong.

The Klamaths at the agency in Southwestern Oregon began to commit depredations about June 25. The band then numbered about 800.

—Some of those most intelligent in Indian affairs believe that a general Indian war is an impossibility, unless the General Government shall adopt some strangely unwise and hostile policy. Even then the various tribes would not unite, but fight independently, so much stronger are their mutual antipathies and feuds than their hatred of the whites.

—The transfer of the Indians to the War Department has not been accomplished. The whole matter has been referred to a joint committee, consisting of three members of the Senate and five members of the House, to investigate and report next January upon the expediency of such a transfer.

—The Advance says: “If the report shall be in its favor, the transfer will be because the religious press and the friends of the peace policy neglect their duty. It is stated that a majority of the House branch of the Commission is opposed to the change.”

—The Christian Union offers this suggestion:[235] “The various missionary bodies ought now to confer with each other, agree, if possible, on the policy to be pursued toward the Indians, and then send to Washington a delegation of the ablest men of the respective denominations to urge its adoption. The fact that Secretary Schurz is out of favor with Congress, is a poor reason for shifting the Indians from his department, and we have yet to see any better one assigned. The simple question is: How can the Indian tribes be most easily civilized and Christianized, and so brought into assimilation with Americans? And that is a question on which the churches of America ought to have something to say.”

—The Independent gives its testimony thus: “It is entirely clear to our minds that the peace policy adopted in 1869, for which great credit is due to General Grant, and which, not without some imperfections, has been pursued ever since, is the best that ever was adopted in this country, and in its principles and purpose the only one that ever should be adopted. The statistics show that the condition of the Indians, in all the elements that go to make up the idea of civilization, has immensely improved within the last ten years, under the benign influence of this policy. Our idea on this subject is, that it is best to let well enough alone, especially since we cannot make it better. Let us do right by the Indian for the present, observing our treaties with him, dealing justly by him, and fighting him only when compelled to do so by a stern necessity, and then trust the providence of God for the future.”

THE FREEDMEN.

VIRGINIA.

Religious Interest at Hampton—Missionary Zeal.

REV. RICHARD TOLMAN, HAMPTON.

Six of our students united with the church by profession June 9th, the last Sabbath of the school-year, making twenty-seven who have joined us since November 1st, besides those who have connected themselves with other churches. After Commencement, May 23d, two more of the graduating-class came out on “the Lord’s side,” so that all but four of the boarding-pupils of that class are hopefully Christian; and one of these four seems now “not far from the kingdom of God.”

An interesting example of what Christian faith and perseverance may accomplish, is that of a colored brother connected with our printing-office. About a year since, he proposed starting a Sabbath-school in a destitute neighborhood, but was told that it would be of no use. He determined to try. Beginning with three pupils, the number has constantly increased, until now he has a school of more than eighty deeply-interested members. We need many such laborers in these harvest-fields.

NORTH CAROLINA.

The Church—Contrasts and Progress—Two Prayers.

REV. D. D. DODGE, WILMINGTON.

Our church-work is distinct from the school, the latter being not in any sense sectarian. We think we see marked improvement in the character of those who have been longest members of the church. They seem to hunger for truth for the purpose of living it, and their progress is, of course, steady and rapid. We are often thrilled by the rich experience as manifested by unconscious expressions in the prayer-meetings. We have received six new members during the year:

It may be well to hear what impression is made upon a new comer, so I quote from one of our teachers who has been with us only a year.

“To hear of the degradation of the colored people of the South is to know but little of it, for ‘the half can ne’er be told.’ It is humiliating to think that in our own beloved land there exists so much of barbarism and heathenish superstition. This is realized by looking at the homes and home-life of the poor[236] people, but much more by noticing their form of religion.

“I had visited lowly cots and abodes of poverty, seeming devoid of even the bare necessaries of life. Sometimes, in one small house several families huddled together, the little ones swarming in the yard like bees from the hive on a sunny day. I had seen poor sewing women trying to earn a bare subsistence—trying to keep by that little weapon, the needle, the wolf from the door. And I had thought what must life be worth to such suffering ones? And yet the degradation of this poor people never came to me with such force as when, for the first time, I entered a colored church, and witnessed scenes such as I had heard of, but never could realize without seeing.

“The meeting was in progress when we entered, many talking or standing ready for a chance to be heard, others jumping and clapping their hands. One man, who gesticulated fiercely and screamed hoarsely, exhorted the brethren and sisters to ‘look out for the devil—he’s after yer—he’ll run yer inter the briers, but yer mus’ put on yer shoes—he’ll knock yer down, but yer mus’ get up an’ run, an’ put on yer shoes.’ Finally, in his frenzy, we could distinguish nothing except, in broken utterances, ‘put on yer shoes! put on yer shoes! put on yer shoes!’ amid the shouts of laughter and cheers which urged him on, coming chiefly from the female portion of the audience. He at length sat down exhausted, when a woman rose in mid-air, with a wild scream, coming down head-foremost, while all around were others shouting or jumping up and down. This, with variations, continued amidst quavering, weird music, the big cape bonnets bobbing to and fro, keeping time. At length the minister, who seemed to prefer order, wished to close the meeting, when immediately the people began to disperse, he calling to them to keep their places until after the benediction should be given, but they paid no heed. Whereupon he proceeded to lecture them on this wise: ‘If I were at one of your houses and should take my hat and leave without saying good day, you would think it was a piece of very ill politeness,’—and more to the same effect; but the tide not being stayed, he called upon a fine-looking young man to pronounce the benediction, which he did with such an air of ease and grace as contrasted strangely with all the surroundings, and I turned away in silent wonder at him, as being one of such a crowd. I never felt so truly thankful for a better way that is opened to them, and that even a few are struggling to elevate themselves,—are found sitting ‘clothed and in their right mind,’ learning truth.

“For there is a brighter side, and it is only by keeping in mind the motto, ‘look on the bright side’ that there is encouragement to make continued efforts for the uplifting of those who do not wish it for themselves. That there are noble exceptions we are glad and thankful. The little church planted here, as a branch from the true vine, though in number small, is noble in its strength of purpose, and the willingness of heart found in each member. So eager to learn, so thankful to be taught, it has been a pleasure to teach them as they have come to our night-school.”

At the closing session of our Sabbath-school, five young men made short addresses. Their words were hearty and stirring, and expressed a deep satisfaction with what they had gained in the school, as they looked back over the time they had attended, one of them adding modestly, “Not that I would have you think that I have learned so much of the Bible, for I don’t know anything of any great account.” Ah! but what he has learned he has practiced so faithfully that he is a shining light to all who know him, and his words are eloquent with the power behind them of a consistent life. All of these young men are a power for good in the city. Two others, members of the church, are not in town, but we believe they are living true lives elsewhere.

I close by giving you the quaint words of two prayers, offered when the family was away, and jotted down by the one teacher who was left in charge. The excellent spirit shines through the strange clothing:

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“O, Lord! please make us wise enough to see sin before we get to it, that we may shun it; and won’t you please cause people to fall out wi’ their ways and accept your ways.”

For the teachers gone North:

“Bless those who is absent; be with ’em and keep an eye on ’em, and bless ’em week in and week out; bless those who is afflicted and isn’t feeling well; help ’em to get out of the state which they is in; prop ’em up in strength and also in grace, and prepare ’em for the work they is calkerlated for. Teach us Thy way, and make us more wiser in reading Thy word. Help us to grow more steadfaster, more loviner, more sincerer, and more wiser.”

SOUTH CAROLINA.

Brewer Normal School—The Year’s Work.

J.D. BACKENSTOSE, GREENWOOD.

This institution has just closed the best year of its history, and looks out upon the year to come more hopefully than ever before. The examinations on Tuesday and Wednesday were close, and eminently satisfactory to all present, and there was a good attendance.

The great day, July 4th, dawned. The morning was a little cloudy, the air was cool and delightful. A great crowd of people assembled at eleven o’clock in the morning, to hear orations from four of our former students: W. W. Frazier, R. J. Holloway, B. H. Wimms and L. C. Waller, who are now engaged in teaching. The young men acquitted themselves nobly, and all who were present speak highly of them.

The dinner given by the patrons and friends of the institution equalled anything of the kind ever given in this place. The table was loaded with everything that heart could wish for and that loving hands could provide. An exhibition, consisting of speeches, recitations and dialogues, interspersed with singing, took place in the evening. The house was filled to its utmost capacity, and it was with difficulty that the speakers could make their way to the stage. All present seemed delighted with the exercises.

Prizes were awarded to Miss Louise Griffin and Miss Maria Logan for being the best speakers.

Several of the white citizens of the place, including Rev. Mr. Smart, of the M. E. Church south, and Prof. Hodges, of the Male Academy of this place, were present at the exhibition, and expressed themselves as pleased with what they saw and heard. All the colored pastors of the place, with the exception of the African Methodist, were present during most of the exercises, and seemed delighted with the proficiency exhibited.

During the year the students’ rooms have been neatly furnished, and are now quite comfortable. The students have made gratifying progress in their studies, and we feel that a year’s advancement has been made. Twenty-six of our students are now engaged in teaching, and over eleven hundred pupils are under their care.

We have met with hindrances. We have been accused of prejudicing our students against their church, and of punishing them if they did not attend our Sunday-school; but, despite all this, our school has been unusually full, and our Sunday-school large and interesting. The students have all gone to their homes, or to some work, to make preparation for their return next fall.

GEORGIA.

Atlanta University—Examinations and Commencement.

REPORT AND COMMENTS BY A GEORGIA EDITOR.

[From the Macon Telegraph and Messenger.]

For several days the Board of Visitors, appointed by the Governor to the State University, have been diligently attending the recitations of the several classes of this colored seat of learning, and are greatly pleased with what they have seen.

The pupils are perfectly orderly, well behaved and respectful in their demeanor, and not a few are good scholars, and give satisfactory evidences of progress.

A large preponderance are of mixed blood, and several would pass for white anywhere. There is no perceptible difference, in the[238] aptness to learn, between the mulatto and his coal-black associate. Perhaps the latter sticks closest to the text-book, and is less disposed to investigate. But this may be owing to his superior tractability and habits of obedience. Some of the best students, male and female, are full-blooded Africans.

They read Greek and Latin, demonstrated problems in mathematics, discoursed upon international law and the Constitution, recited history, geography and grammar, and, in short, pursued successfully the curriculum of our highest schools.

To the questions propounded by the Board, too, they usually gave sensible and intelligent replies, showing powers of thought and self-reliance not commonly attributed to our colored people. Indeed, while it would be wrong to say that the recitations were perfect, yet it can truly be affirmed that they were highly creditable, and compared well with the examinations of our white institutions. Again we repeat, the decorum and behavior of the entire body of students indicated a most marked improvement, as compared with former years, and was unexceptionable.

The teachers are inferior to none in the State for thoroughness, patience and skill in imparting knowledge. They possess the confidence of the pupils, and, under the wise administration of President Ware, everything moves like clockwork, and no serious outbreak has ever occurred.

The discipline is mild, but resolute and excellent. We could detect, after seven years’ operation, not a stain upon the spotless floors, and no pencil defacement or knife-marks upon walls or furniture, while, on the contrary, everything was in print throughout the building.

There are now in attendance upon the Atlanta University 244 students in its various classes and departments, as follows: Regular College Students—Seniors 4, Juniors 10, Sophomores 3, Freshmen 7; total 24. In the Scientific School there are 6 students; in the Preparatory Department, 37. In the High Normal School, 72. In the Normal School proper, 104, and one post-graduate student. These sum up 244 pupils, as above stated.

Thirty-seven Alumni have gone forth from the University, thirty of whom are engaged in teaching, four are ministers or pastors of churches, two are mothers of young families, and one has deceased. It is a noteworthy fact, also, that every graduate is a professor of religion.

The resources of the University are derived from the annual appropriation of $8,000 made by the State, the donations of the American Missionary Association, amounting in the past year to $1,615.28, and one permanent scholarship of $300. Board per month, including tuition, room, fuel, lights and washing, is only twelve dollars, hardly sufficient to cover bare expenses, and certainly not affording one cent of revenue.

The students are required to sign a pledge to abstain from the use of liquor and tobacco; they enjoy the advantages of an excellent miscellaneous library, which contains some illustrated volumes and standard works very rare, and of great value. It was for the most part the gift of the late R. R. Graves, Esq., of New York, and contains 5,000 volumes.

On Tuesday, His Excellency, General A. H. Colquitt, was pleased to spend the morning in attendance upon the examinations of the University, and expressed himself highly gratified with the progress made by the pupils. At the close of the day’s exercises, President Ware invited him to address the assembled school. The Governor responded, in one of his emphatic, eloquent, sensible and touching talks, which was listened to with breathless attention, and repeatedly elicited unbounded applause. His advice to the pupils was paternal and faithful, while as a Christian he did not fail to point out to them the value and supreme necessity of the salvation of their immortal souls. It was an address that reflected more credit upon our worthy and popular chief magistrate than the grandest oration pronounced before the most august assemblage in the land. After he had concluded, several members of the Board of Visitors were invited to[239] make remarks. Among those who responded were Judge W. D. Harden and Rev. T. G. Pond.

The exercises of the University of Atlanta closed June 27th with the usual commencement programme, and the delivery of diplomas and certificates to fifteen graduates.

The Lloyd Street Church was probably as closely jammed and artistically packed as ever were the contents of a sardine box. There were no vacant spaces, no possible squeezing in of another auditor, no interstice, window or aisle opening that did not have two occupants where one only could be comfortably accommodated. As a rule, too, the colored assemblage was well dressed and orderly, barring the occasional plaintive wails and impassioned screams of sundry pickaninnies who their mothers would insist should have a place in the picture.

The writer, unavoidably detained by other duties, did not arrive upon the scene until the exercises were considerably advanced. Then came the tug of war to reach his associates on the stage. He charged two or three times, but was ignominiously repulsed and hurled back, like chaff before the wind. But the bonhommie of those simple people was excellent, and tumbled and panting for breath, your correspondent at length reached the rostrum, and obtained a comfortable seat hard by.

It is sufficient to say that those it was our privilege to hear acquitted themselves with credit, and their enunciation and training as elocutionists evinced much care and skill on the part of the teachers of belles lettres in the University.

Some of the graduates, both male and female, are intelligent looking young people, and really exhibited powers of original thought in their essays and speeches that would have done no discredit to any institution in the country. Their manner and demeanor, too, was uniformly courteous and unexceptionable, and we confess to a very deep interest in their future welfare and career.

It is just as well that our people should at once fully grasp and comprehend the problem of the negro’s future. He is a citizen both of the United States and of the Commonwealth of Georgia, and possessed of equal rights and privileges with the most favored of the Anglo Saxon race. No law can be enacted which does not include and apply to him, and the freedman is now an essential and integral portion of the community. Hence, it should ever be the mission and duty of the superior race to treat him kindly, and to spare no pains to elevate this new element to its proper place in the body politic. They, equally with ourselves, help to make the law-givers and rulers of the country, and how can they act intelligently in the premises unless educated and duly qualified for the responsible trust, which, doubtless, was prematurely and unadvisedly thrust upon them by the gift of the ballot.

We must deal with circumstances as we find them, and not look backward, but forward and upwards. The negro race is a fixture in the South and will never die out, either by emigration to Liberia or from natural causes. It is susceptible of great improvement, and can be made largely conducive to the welfare and prosperity of the country.

The exercises over, President Ware, after a short, but singularly appropriate address, delivered the diplomas and certificates of scholarship to the fifteen graduates, remarking, that as they were printed in English they would not be in the predicament of some bachelors of arts who could not translate their own Latin diplomas. Thus ended the examinations and commencement of the Atlanta University.

We cannot, in all candor, pass on without again commending this institution to the good will and sympathy of the white people of Georgia. It is conducted upon proper and conservative principles. Its president and corps of instructors are honest, faithful and capable. Its pupils well behaved and exemplary. Its influence, we fully believe, will be for good to the African race, and it is to be hoped that the State will ever continue to bestow her patronage upon a foundation which is doing more than[240] any other to elevate and bless the African race, which is destined to form an important element in the future politics and government of the country.

Lewis High School at Macon. Examinations and Entertainments.

MISS ANNETTE LYNCH.

It has been my happy privilege to visit this institution, after an absence of two years, and note the progress made by the pupils, as shown in the recent examinations and closing exercises of the school-year of 1878.

As a former teacher in the school, I was better able to judge of that progress than a stranger; and truly, looking back to those who were promising pupils then, but in lower classes, and seeing so many of them now in the highest class, and doing credit to themselves and teachers, is not only gratifying, but an encouragement to all who have taken an interest in the work here through all its vicissitudes. The school is now under the very able management of Rev. M. O. Harrington and wife, with Miss L. A. Abbott as assistant, and has ninety-three pupils enrolled. It is answering well the purpose of its establishment, viz.: To provide for colored pupils at Macon and surrounding places a higher education than the common-school, without the expense of going elsewhere.

The examinations on the 13th and 14th were listened to by a large number of the more intelligent of the colored patrons and friends of the school. Members of the press were also present, and showed themselves highly pleased. The pupils went through their examinations in all their various studies in a manner which showed they were perfectly familiar with all they had gone over in their text-books. All showed thoroughness and promptness, from the lowest to the highest class. Problems in algebra were demonstrated, axioms given, translations from Latin and English sentences analyzed and parsed, in a manner that did credit to teachers and scholars.

On the night of the 14th, a literary entertainment was given by the pupils, which included vocal and instrumental music, with essays, declamations, etc. Two allegories, “The Pilgrim’s Choice,” and “Light Hearts’ Pilgrimage,” deserve special notice, for not only the beautiful manner in which they were rendered, but for the life-lessons they taught, and the mental power developed by those who had so successfully learned their long and difficult parts. The essays, “Missed Lessons,” and “Little by Little,” and “No Excellence without Labor,” showed marked ability in the pupils, and a strong desire to aim high and persevere in their efforts to obtain greater advancement. The quartette singing was listened to with almost breathless attention; and, indeed, one could not help thinking that here was a band that, with proper training, might in time rival the famous Jubilee Singers. I am sure little Miss Kitchen, the youngest of the singers, would even now create a sensation in any audience; her fearlessly clear, high tones give promise of a “star” singer, could she have proper training.

Teachers and scholars deserve great credit for their efforts, and their merit is appreciated to that degree that they have been called upon to repeat the entertainment on the 17th.

A Bright Day in Athens.

MR. JOHN MCINTOSH.

May 24th, the closing exercises of my school came off. Between the hours of nine and four o’clock, over two hundred persons gathered into the Knox’s Institute, to witness the closing exercises and a spelling-match between my school and another from a different section of the city. Prof. A. Brumby, of the Georgia University, and the Mayor of Athens, were present. These distinguished visitors remained some hours, and, on leaving, spoke very encouragingly to my pupils and patrons. They said that they noticed many indications of progress and thoroughness.

Prof. Brumby said he was perfectly astonished,[241] and so were his pupils who came with him. He said good work was being done at the Knox’s Institute, and he hoped that this work would continue. The Mayor said many good things, among which were these words: “You are not only being taught lessons in books, but also lessons of virtue and morality.” He bade us go on. My school beat in the spelling-match, and this encouraged my pupils greatly. The Athenians are awake. I shall return the latter part of June to labor for three months under the free-school system.

The Religious Work in Georgia.

REV. F. MARKHAM, SAVANNAH.

The religious work of the A. M. A. in Savannah and the vicinity has never been in as prosperous a condition since I have been here as at the present. The increase in the congregations and the membership has been greater than any previous year.

At Savannah, twenty-four have united with the church; fourteen children have been baptized. The Sabbath-school has more than doubled in numbers. Over two hundred scholars are enrolled; the average attendance is about one hundred and sixty.

Ogeechee Church, which is ten miles from Savannah, has received nineteen members. Brother McLean has the confidence and support of his people. He is doing a good work in the Sabbath-school. His wife is a good worker, and a great help, especially in the Sabbath-school. There are about fifty scholars in the school. They also teach a day-school and a night-school.

Plymouth Church, at Woodville, three miles west of Savannah, Rev. J. H. H. Sengstacke, pastor, has had an interesting work of grace in the Sabbath-school. Twenty-eight united with the church, mostly from the Sabbath-school, which has about seventy-five scholars. The day-school numbers now about fifty; in the winter it had a hundred; now the children have to work.

East Savannah is two-and-a-half miles from the city—a little village of colored people. A few whites are there, who live by selling liquor to the colored people. There are nearly three hundred children in that vicinity. The A. M. A., by the assistance of a Boston friend, built a little church there. J. H. Stephens, a student in my theological class, started a Sabbath-school, and preaches to the people. The children are very wild, though some have bright intellects, and can make useful men and women; but they are as uncultivated as the children in the centre of Africa. It is very hard to keep the attention of such children, and secure a regular attendance at school. Mrs. Markham and Hattie B. Markham and Mr. Floyd have been going out regularly every Sabbath to work in the East Savannah Sabbath-school. Sometimes they have had eighty or ninety scholars, then only forty or fifty; the average has been about sixty.

I can see a decided improvement in the conduct of the scholars. They come in and go out orderly, pay better attention, and begin to understand what a Sabbath-school is for; when they leave for home, they do not make such hideous noises, but go along the street more quietly. They have to be taught everything. There are thousands upon thousands of children in Georgia in the same condition. We hope soon to be able to organize a church at East Savannah, of twelve or fifteen members.

Belmont is four miles south-west from Savannah. The church here is supplied by Wilson Callen, a very faithful man of God. The church suffered here by a bad man, who preached for them, but was last year expelled from church. He claims to be a preacher still, and is doing what he can to draw the people away. The work is gradually improving, both in the church and Sabbath-school.

Louisville, two miles south-west of Savannah, has a church of about twenty-five, and a Sabbath-school of about the same number. Brother Callen supplies this work also, and is growing in the confidence of the people, and his school and congregation are increasing. We hope for a revival here.

Midway Church, in Liberty Co., is about thirty miles from Savannah; Rev. J. E.[242] Smith, a graduate of Atlanta University, is pastor. This church is in a healthy and prosperous state. Since Rev. Floyd Snelson left here, to go to Africa, there have been added nine members. I hear many encouraging things about Brother Smith’s work there. There are now about two hundred and forty members. Here is a fine opportunity to do good. The most of the people are securing permanent homes. The colored people need to be taught to act and think for themselves, and feel responsibility.

There is great need of more help here. The day-school ought to have additional help. There is a necessity for a woman of cultivation. All mission work is like a child—it must grow or die. I hope the people at the North are not willing we shall die.

ALABAMA.

Two Ordinations at Talladega—How Churches Begin and Grow.

REV. GEO. E. HILL, MARION.

I have just had the pleasure of attending two ordinations of colored men, the first of the kind I ever witnessed. These young men were recent graduates of Talladega College, and, having only last week attended the examinations in the Theological Department of this institution, in charge of Prof. Andrews, I was prepared for at least a respectable appearance on their part.

But the event exceeded expectation. In the first instance the examination of the candidate continued through two hours and was very searching and thorough, the council consisting in part of three college professors.

The young brother maintained his self-possession, and appeared almost as much at home in theology as if he had been a professor himself. Indeed, I may say of both these brethren, in all my remembrance of ordinations at the North, I have seldom seen a candidate for the sacred office appear better on the whole.

It is truly inspiring to behold the work which such a college as this is doing for the colored race, not only in providing good schools and teachers, but in raising up an intelligent ministry, and in planting the right kind of Christian churches.

Here, for example, at A., where we were the other day, there is the old established Episcopal Church, for white folks, and, perhaps, a colored church or two, where “faith” is more insisted on than “works.” A new order now comes in, which is at first looked upon with distrust as an innovation. A church is organized with eight or ten members. Preaching is statedly kept up by students from the college. The congregation steadily increases; and, in three years, partly through the exertions of the members, and partly by the kindly aid of the “Iron Company,” a neat little chapel is built, with a miniature parsonage alongside. A pastor is called, and an ordination takes place, conducted with as much solemnity and decorum as if it were in the suburbs of New York or Boston. The people outside look on. Strangers are attracted in. Distrust gives place to respect. The influence is contagious. Shiftlessness and immorality have been exchanged for industry and thrift. Society is reconstructed. “The tree is known by its fruits.”

May the good work go on, and such trees and such fruit be multiplied a thousand fold!

I was grieved to learn that, in the case of one of these young pastors, with a wife and child, all the pay he expects to receive is fifteen dollars a month from the A. M. A.

Closing Days of Emerson Institute—Algebra—“Lower ’Strumties” and the Ledger.

MISS S. J. IRWIN, MOBILE.

The school at Mobile closed satisfactorily. Public examinations were held on the last two days. The interest manifested by the attendance of the people was highly gratifying, and as some of the examinations were beyond the understanding of the majority of the audience, it was noticeable that they should have remained during the day at the expense of their dinners, and a number of the working men at the expense of a day’s income, in[243] order to show their appreciation of what was being done for their children.

There were examinations in all studies pursued during the year; and the commendable degree of faithfulness and zeal which has been the marked characteristic of the scholars, was evinced at the close.

The advanced grammar-class ended its lesson with the correction, on the black-board, of a letter by a colored candidate for office, recently published; the class gave rules for its criticisms and explanations.

An algebra-class was reported by a Southern lady of high intelligence, who had taught that branch for a number of years, as the best she ever heard, doing credit to any class or grade of scholars.

The exercises of the primary room, also, elicited much comment on the careful drill that had been bestowed in the endeavor to convey the spirit of study, and not alone the “letter” thereof, although the “Busy Bees” were not far in advance of that fundamental branch of education. They could readily grasp the fact, in the physiological lecture, of the different parts of the body, although their undeveloped articulation could only pronounce the arms and limbs as the “upper” and “lower ’strumties.”

A white gentleman of much educational experience, who has charge of an academy for young men, left his own duties to be present during the last day; and his final address to the pupils was pleasingly commendatory of their progress and attainments.

In his original and epigrammatic manner he told them to go ahead, and get beyond these lazy white boys, who liked to have so much done for them—for you can do it! He had tried to shame his boys before, by telling what the Emerson Institute scholars could do, and he surely could now. He concluded, urging them not to forget to bring, and the parents to send, the little tuition money which came due once in a while, and was so small a recompense for what they received.

A paper was read by two of the oldest scholars, entitled “Emerson Institute Ledger,” for which the subscription price was readily paid, which was announced to be “undivided attention, payable in advance.” Some members of the audience offered to pay for the paper if it could be regularly issued.

Addresses by ministers and others followed the examinations; the school sang “Gathering Home”; the circulars announcing the next year’s school-work were distributed; the hope was expressed of seeing the familiar faces again after these intervening months of vacation; the Lord’s Prayer chanted; the benediction; warm and tearful words of farewell between pupils and teachers, and the doors closed upon another year’s work.

MISSISSIPPI.

The Year at Tougaloo University—Results and Reforms.

REV. G. STANLEY POPE, PRINCIPAL.

As we look back over the school-year, we have every reason to feel that it has been a successful year.

The health of the teachers has been good; their devotion to the work unsurpassed, and their success in the school-room everything that could be expected.

The general health of the school has kept up well. There were only two serious cases of sickness, and no deaths, for which we are very thankful to our protecting Father. None were even obliged to leave school on this account.

The attendance from abroad has been much larger than usual, and those attending have uniformly been anxious to remain during the whole session.

We graduated our first class this year, and there has been quite a class spirit developed, so that there is a strong desire on the part of the pupils to remain in school and graduate in the classes that they are now in.

The religious work has not been marked by as many conversions as we had hoped to see; but there has been great progress made in Christian activity in certain directions, especially in Sunday-school Work and Temperance Reform.

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The Sabbath before Commencement we spent in Sunday-school Convention. Steps were taken to organize a Sunday-school Union, which promises to greatly enlarge our usefulness to those in the surrounding country. No such work has ever before been undertaken.

In our temperance work we were opposed at the outset by the leading students. For some time it looked as though we were not going to bring them to the point of taking a stand, even after they were brought to see that the people were being ruined by strong drink. But the victory was most complete. Students who had to leave before the year closed, sent back for pledges. They were hard at work in the temperance reform. When school closed, every one who was going out to teach, and many others, took pledges, and went out enthusiastic to their new field of labor. This seems to us the peculiar feature of our work this year outside the school-room.

The work in the school-room has been marked by thoroughness. Gen. J. A. Smith, State Superintendent of Education, writes me: “Only having attended your exercises one day, I am hardly prepared to give anything more than impressions hastily formed. I will say, however, those were all favorable. The examinations of the classes, so far as I heard them, especially in mathematics, surpassed my expectations * * * Judging from the order and system exhibited, I was led to believe that the discipline of the institution was excellent.”

Nothing could more fitly have followed the instructions of the year than Rev. W. S. Alexander’s address, on Commencement Day, on “Natural and Acquired Right.” It was full of interest and wise application.

LOUISIANA.

“Here am I; Send Me, Send Me.”

One of many Applications.

June 24, 1878.

Prof. A. K. Spence:

Dear Sir—I just received a catalogue from Fisk University, and I must frankly express myself as gratified at the noble work that is being accomplished by Fisk University.

I am anxious to attend the University so as to prepare myself as a missionary to Africa. I have a poor mother, and I am her only support, and I know not how I shall ever be able to make preparations.

Let me know the provisions made for those preparing to go on mission.

I have made quite an advancement in the English branches, but desire to pursue the High Normal course proscribed in your institute, and also the studies of the theological course.

I feel that I must go to Africa. “Here am I; send me, send me.”

See what can be done for me. I can bring certificates of my advancement made, and also of character. I shall patiently wait to hear from you, and trust you will not forget me.

Your brother in Christ,

F. C. L.

FROM NEW ORLEANS TO NEW YORK.

REV. W. S. ALEXANDER.

The Commencement season, marking the completion of a year’s work and the beginning of welcome and needed rest to the teachers in the South, is now well over, and those who have wrought so faithfully during the year, are enjoying the quiet of their Northern homes. While en route to New York, it was my pleasure to visit several of our most prominent institutions, and I shall be glad to speak of what I saw. By way of preface, let me say of

STRAIGHT UNIVERSITY

that the school-year closed happily and successfully. The examinations, which are the best test of scholarship and progress, gave great satisfaction to our friends, and the teachers were glad and grateful to feel that the year’s work had been a good one. We graduated ten young men from the Law Department, of whom eight were white, showing the appreciation of the manner in which this department is conducted. It is entirely self-supporting, the professors accepting the fees of the students as their compensation. Next year we anticipate a[245] class of twenty-five. We graduated three young ladies from the Academic Department. They were superior scholars, and will be successful teachers. At our annual exhibition, and at the Commencement exercises on a subsequent evening, an audience of 800 were in attendance, to show by their presence their deep interest in the prosperity of our beloved institution.

Leaving New Orleans on Tuesday evening, June 4th, we were met at Jackson, Miss., by Brother Pope, with whom we went to

TOUGALOO.

What a delightful location! my first thought was. It does not require a great degree of self-denial to spend the winter in such a retreat as this. The mission-house is situated in the centre of a plantation of five hundred acres, and the approach to it is through a superb grove or forest of oaks, festooned with Spanish moss. Coming from parched and dry New Orleans, where the sun smites so fiercely in midsummer, the country around Tougaloo seemed delightfully fresh and cool. I found teachers and pupils in the midst of their annual examinations. I was impressed with the faithfulness and thoroughness of the instruction given here. There was no “coaching” and no prompting, but every student was put to a fair test of scholarship and proficiency. The singing was an important and interesting feature of Commencement week. Tougaloo could send out its troop of Jubilee Singers, who would win general favor. Great credit is due to the teachers of vocal and instrumental music. The institution, already in such good condition, should have, at the earliest day, increased accommodations for boarding-scholars, enabling them to receive a larger number of mature pupils from all parts of Mississippi. From Tougaloo I went to

SELMA, ALA.,

for a day only. This is one of the prettiest towns in Alabama. The county has a dense negro population, so that the school must always have abundant patronage. It was pleasant to find here Mr. Silsby, whose father was an efficient worker in the same field many years. Mr. Burrell, who is still living, has the great satisfaction of knowing that his benevolent gift has been so fruitful of good results. I reached

TALLADEGA

in time for my appointment on Sunday. This was another surprise to me. Situated in the mountain region of Alabama, with a grand outlook on every side, with fresh breezes from the hills, and with valleys clothed with verdure, it certainly seemed as though a Divine hand guided in the choice of this favored site. The Baccalaureate sermon by the college pastor, Rev. Mr. Hickox, was able and timely. The examinations were full of interest, and brought out the real merit of the instruction and the zeal and diligence of the students. I was particularly pleased with the theological examination conducted by Rev. Mr. Andrews. It covered a wide range of study, and showed that the young men had been taught to think and reason for themselves. I noticed with great satisfaction, in the boarding department, the orderly and polite deportment of the seventy-five young men and women who gather three times a day in the same dining-hall. It was like a quiet Christian family. The training received here will be beyond value, and will reach many families in the State. Were a boarding department not necessary, it would be very desirable for the culture of manners and the direct influence on character of the association of the sexes.

MEMPHIS.

It was a long and wearisome journey to Tennessee. I was never sure of making a railroad connection, as we do on the grand trunk lines. Le Moyne Institute has an interesting history. Dr. Le Moyne, the noted Cremationist, was the generous benefactor of this institution. Without him, it would not now exist. I was too late for the examinations, but in time for the Commencement exercises. They were held in the pretty Congregational Church, and were highly creditable. I found here a company of live, enthusiastic teachers. The mission-house[246] is a most home-like place, and it was not difficult for me, on inquiring of citizens, to ascertain that Le Moyne Institute is thoroughly prized in Memphis. With the same corps of teachers as now, they can hardly fail of success. Here, as in many other points in the South, dormitories are urgently needed. They cannot secure, without them, the best class of students, and the school will remain, at best, a High or Normal School, when it might be the College, in West Tennessee, for the colored people. If some man of Dr. Le Moyne’s generosity would put up a fine building for a dormitory, he would be planting seed-corn which would yield many harvests in the coming years. A fact which touches our hearts at every repetition of it, is that, years ago, during the yellow-fever epidemic, two of the teachers heroically remained at their posts and ministered to those smitten with the fever, and cheerfully paid the forfeit with their lives. Such men and women are made of “good stuff,” and the cause they represent has a right to popular sympathy and support.

With regard to our general work in the South, I was glad to notice everywhere quickened zeal, followed by greatly increased prosperity. I believe the good work among the freedmen was never so efficient as to-day, and never so richly deserved the hearty sympathy and generous benefactions of the good people of the North. As it is no time to sound a retreat when an army has gained its earliest victories, so it is no time, in the work of education and evangelization among the freedmen in the South, to repress zeal or to slacken effort, or to retrench where retrenchment would be fatal; but to push forward till the highest results are achieved.

AFRICA.

THE MENDI MISSION.

Converts Added to the Church—Death of Mrs. Dr. James.

REV. FLOYD SNELSON, GOOD HOPE.

The church-work is progressing very well. At our last communion, the first Sabbath in May, eleven natives united with the church, all hopefully converted. It was a great day with us. One of the old sisters, who had been here from the beginning, cried out, “Thank God! I’ve never seen it so before,” with many other expressions of joy. This is the result of steady work. Others are seeking admission; but it was thought best that they should wait until another opportunity. One child was baptized. Pray that the Lord may bless us.

With painful regret I must inform you that Death has entered our ranks, and has taken away one of our missionaries—our sister, Mrs. James. I wrote you in my last that she and her little daughter were unwell. I learned by a letter May 20th from Dr. James (who is stationed at Avery), that his wife was seized with a convulsion on the morning of Sunday, the 19th, while engaged in her domestic business, was taken to her room, and that one convulsion succeeded another rapidly, and with such violence that she could not speak, until two o’clock in the night, when she died.

Brother Jackson is well again, and he and his wife have returned to Avery Station, to resume their work. All are now comparatively well, and the work is going on. We feel its importance more and more, and we are not discouraged by the fact that one has fallen, but will close up our ranks and march forward, hoping to be reinforced from time to time, until the victory is won.

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THE CHINESE.

“CALIFORNIA CHINESE MISSION.”

Auxiliary to the American Missionary Association.

President: Rev. J. K. McLean, D. D. Vice-Presidents: Rev. A. L. Stone, D. D., Thomas C. Wedderspoon, Esq., Rev. T. K. Noble, Hon. F. F. Low, Rev. I. E. Dwinell, D. D., Hon. Samuel Cross, Rev. S. H. Willey, D. D., Edward P. Flint, Esq., Rev. J. W. Hough, D. D., Jacob S. Taber, Esq.

Directors: Rev. George Moor, D. D., Hon. E. D. Sawyer, Rev. W. E. Ijams, James M. Haven, Esq., Rev. Joseph Rowell, E. P. Sanford, Esq., H. W. Severance, Esq.

Secretary: Rev. W. C. Pond. Treasurer: E. Palache, Esq.

Items and Incidents.

REV. W. C. POND, SAN FRANCISCO.

Statistics.—Our schools have not yet recovered, so far as attendance is concerned, from the shock they received through the riots of last July. But they are gaining, and should no untoward event occur, I hope that before this summer is ended they will be as large as ever before—as large, that is, as we can possibly sustain without an increase of means. Ten schools are now in operation, and seventeen teachers are employed. The aggregate number of pupils enrolled May 31st was 467, and the average attendance was 242. This is a gain over months preceding, and June promises something better still. The total number of Chinese who had attended the schools, for a longer or shorter period, from September 1st (the commencement of our fiscal year) to May 31st, was 1,178. Seventy-eight of these pupils give evidence of conversion. The whole number whom we have reason to believe have been born of God, during the last five years of our work, cannot be much less than two hundred.

Baptisms.—Six of our pupils were baptized and received to Bethany Church, San Francisco, on Sunday, June 2d. This makes the Chinese membership of that church number forty-four. These brethren had studied diligently the Confession of Faith and the Covenant, which they were called publicly to accept, and had approved themselves well through their five to eight months of “probation” in our “Association of Christian Chinese.” I have no doubt that both the Confession and Covenant contained words which they could not define; but I have also no doubt that “for substance of doctrine,” they assented to the one and consented to the other intelligently, honestly and devoutly. I shall never forget the evening I spent with them, questioning them as to their views and purposes and experiences as Christians. Not one of them but had come out of more or less tribulation, into this decided and outspoken Christian life. Friends turn their backs upon them and load them with reproaches, but they seem to harbor no feeling of resentment—only longing to impart to their persecutors the same blessing they have found for themselves.

On the same day the first Chinese child of our church was baptized, under the “Christian name,” as her father phrased it, of Lily Lee. This father was one of the first group of Chinese converts whom it was my privilege to receive to the church. He returned to Canton about two years since, and sought out, at one of the missions, a Christian wife; and so, in his one room in California, he has now a Christian home. On the same day, also, Wah Yin was baptized and received to the Congregational Church in Petaluma—the first-fruits, so far as church membership is concerned, of our mission there. He is a very interesting Christian, and has endured hardness, as a good soldier. He has been not only reproached, but whipped, by his countrymen, for the name of Christ. But he says “it didn’t hurt much,” and we should never have known of the fact, but that one who took part in it boasted of it openly.

Lu Lune, for nearly a year a missionary helper, was offered by his uncle a position as Chinese foreman at the salmon fisheries near Collinsville. The work there knows no Sabbath, and the Chinese settlement[248] abounds in gambling and opium dens and in petty idol shrines. The position was, in a worldly point of view, very desirable, but Lu Lune refused to go unless he could have his Sabbath, and could be permitted to be just such a Christian there as he would be at the mission-house itself. It is a token of Lu Lune’s own desirableness that his terms were accepted, and he is there, trying, as opportunity offers, to preach Christ, and letting the light of a Christian example shine all the while. I may add that this is the fourth among the Chinese members of our church who has been placed in a position of trust by persons who knew nothing and cared nothing about their Christian professions. It is a tribute paid to their trustworthiness.

Lee Haim, recently appointed as a helper, has now been for two months in Sacramento. The increase in attendance and interest at the school speaks well for his zeal and aptitude. Under his influence, the Christian members of the school have rented a small building for a sort of Home, and he uses it as a chapel. I will quote a few words from his letter of June 6th, correcting his English a little, for, while he, like Wong Sam, excels most of his countrymen here in knowledge of Chinese, he is also like Wong Sam in his trouble with English idioms:

“Now, dear brother, Mr. Pond, I am happy to say to you a few words how the mighty God has done to us. He has prepared us a home, and leads many Chinese to come to learn the Word of Him, and to study your language, also. When the Sabbath-day is come, I am happy to go down to preach to them on “I” street, where the Chinese dwell. Some of our countrymen very anxious to hear, and some are not. I think our congregation of Christian Chinese will become large, though I am weak, and no one can help me to take a part on Saturday and Sunday evenings. Yet I remember a certain man in Cesarea, called Cornelius, had feared God, with all his house, and prayed to God always, and then God heard his prayer, and said to him, ‘Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God.’—Acts x. 18. So I will ask God what we need. Then we receive. Oh, how glorious! So I wish you pray for me; so I will pray for you, and all your family and teachers.”

An Indian Gift.—Such gifts were not in good repute in the days of my childhood, but for me the name is now redeemed. A venerable Presbyterian pastor in the State of New York, who had himself previously made a generous donation in aid of our work, writes a second time as follows: “After reading the account of your work on page 150 of the May number of The American Missionary, at our missionary meeting, last evening, an Indian came forward and handed me fifty cents for your mission, with tears in his eyes. I hasten to enclose his offering, with those of others, making out for you a postal order for five dollars.” I know not what others may see in this brief epistle, or how others would receive that Indian’s gift; but to me it came as something surpassingly sacred. I certainly mean to make every donation go as far as possible; but some have in them their par value—simply that and nothing more. This came to me fragrant with incense and wet with tears—a vial full of odors, which are the prayers of saints—and to use it except with utmost care and earnest supplication seemed like sacrilege.

Our Stockton School.—Mrs. M. C. Brown, teacher at Stockton, says:[249] “Ah Gun (otherwise Jimmie), one who had gladdened my heart by his consecration to Christ, left us December 29th, to go to Oregon. He had been a regular attendant at my school for eighteen months, and for the last three of his stay, I have every reason to think he was a true Christian. Three weeks since came the news that the vessel on which he sailed was wrecked, and Jimmie was among the lost. May he not even now be singing that song, known only to those who have ‘washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb’? This is the first ripe grain, so far as I know, gathered from this school into the garner of the Good Husbandman.”

THE CHILDREN’S PAGE.

AN UNCONSCIOUS JONAH.

The following correspondence will explain itself. A letter sent by mail to buy Wellsprings, and enclosing the necessary money missed its way, and was brought with waste paper to a mill; there it was found by a boy of ten years. The sender of the letter was sought out by the boy’s father, and, as a result of it all, the money, somewhat increased, has through us purchased Wellsprings to supply the school at Ogeechee, Ga., for six months. So at last this Jonah has arrived at his Nineveh. We think this singular discovery and pleasant correspondence has in it several suggestive lessons. If some of our young friends will write us what they think it teaches, we will be glad to print their suggestions in the next Missionary.

“N. A., Mass., May 17, 1878.

“Mr. D. O.: Sir—The letter written by yourself, which I enclose in this, will explain the reason for my wishing to ascertain your address. My little boy found the letter, with the money enclosed, in the paper-mill in this place, as he was looking among the old waste for some fancy scraps of paper. He came to me with it, to know what was to be done. I thought it a good opportunity to impress upon his mind the value of strict honesty, and told him that of course we must try to find the owner. Thus, after being tossed about among old rags for nearly two years, the money will if not again miscarried, return to its original owner. If the money is received, please acknowledge the same.

“Yours truly,

C. R. D.”

The Lost Letter.

“New York, July 19, 1876.

“Moses H. Sargent, Esq.:

“Dear Sir—Enclosed find one and 20/100 dollars. Please send me by return (if possible) the value in Wellsprings—the latest issue. I want to use them next Sabbath.

“Yours very truly,

D. O.”

“New York, May 20, 1878.

“Mr. C. R. D.: Dear Sir—Yours of the 17th, with the money enclosed, reached me, for which please accept my best thanks.

“Due inquiries for the letter were made at the post-office here at the time, but without success, and of course I concluded that it had been opened and money stolen by some post office official. Even now there is some mystery, which perhaps might be removed if the (original) envelope could be found.

“The amount at the time was designed for a good cause, in connection with Sunday-school work, and I feel, after what has happened, that the Lord, having delivered it from the jaws of the paper mill, has an additional claim upon it, and so I propose that your little boy (with your help, if necessary) name an object to which he would like it applied.

“Jonah, when appointed to do certain work, was disobedient and, you know, soon found himself in the ‘fish’s belly.’ From this uncomfortable situation, however, he was soon delivered, and one more opportunity given him to obey orders—with better results. Now, suppose we call our dollar and twenty cents the disobedient Jonah, and our little friend the fish; and now that our Jonah has landed safely, suppose we give him one more opportunity for obeying his orders?

“Please say to my little friend that I appreciate what he has done in this matter, and congratulate the son on having a good adviser, and the father on having a son inclined to take good advice.

“Should you reply to this note, please give me the boy’s name and age, and photograph likeness if you have one.

“Yours respectfully and truly,

D. O.”

“N. A., Mass., May 25, 1878.

“Mr. D. O.: Dear Sir—Your very happy acknowledgement of the receipt of that money (or I might, say, of that ‘Jonah’), which went so far astray from the first direction given to it, was duly received, and the reaching of it listened to by our little boy, or the ‘fish’ with much delight.

“Our son’s name is Edwin H. He is ten years of age. He is quite pleased that the money is going to be used to do missionary work and that you have given him the privilege of deciding what direction it shall take in starting on a second trip.

“Now, Eddie thinks that if this Jonah has not done the work which he was first directed, and has had such a wonderful escape from a terrible death, that, he can do no better than to follow the directions[250] given to the Prophet Jonah, who was saved by a much bigger ‘fish’ than himself, and those directions are found in Jonah iii. 2, viz.: ‘Arise; go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee.’ Therefore, this Jonah must go and sell himself for as many good little papers as he can, and be distributed among the little boys and girls of some mission Sunday-school; and may the good resulting be proportionate to that accomplished by Jonah of old.

“We have no recently-taken photograph, but such as we have I enclose, in compliance with your request.

“Yours very truly,

C. R. D.”

Constitution of the American Missionary Association.

INCORPORATED JANUARY 30, 1849.

Art. I. This Society shall be called “The American Missionary Association.”

Art. II. The object of this Association shall be to conduct Christian missionary and educational operations, and diffuse a knowledge of the Holy Scriptures in our own and other countries which are destitute of them, or which present open and urgent fields of effort.

Art. III. Any person of evangelical sentiments,[A] who professes faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, who is not a slaveholder, or in the practice of other immoralities, and who contributes to the funds, may become a member of the Society; and by the payment of thirty dollars, a life member; provided, that children and others who have not professed their faith may be constituted life members without the privilege of voting.

Art. IV. This Society shall meet annually, in the month of September, October or November, for the election of officers and the transaction of other business at such time and place as shall be designated by the Executive Committee.

Art. V. The annual meeting shall be constituted of the regular officers and members of the Society at the time of such meeting, and of delegates from churches, local missionary societies, and other co-operating bodies—each body being entitled to one representative.

Art. VI. The officers of the Society shall be a President, Vice Presidents, a Recording Secretary, Corresponding Secretaries, Treasurer, two Auditors, and an Executive Committee of not less than twelve, of which the Corresponding Secretaries shall be advisory, and the Treasurer ex-officio, members.

Art. VII. To the Executive Committee shall belong the collecting and disbursing of funds; the appointing, counselling, sustaining and dismissing (for just and sufficient reasons) missionaries and agents; the selection of missionary fields; and, in general, the transaction of all such business as usually appertains to the executive committees of missionary and other benevolent societies; the Committee to exercise no ecclesiastical jurisdiction over the missionaries; and its doings to be subject always to the revision of the annual meeting, which shall, by a reference mutually chosen, always entertain the complaints of any aggrieved agent or missionary; and the decision of such reference shall be final.

The Executive Committee shall have authority to fill all vacancies occurring among the officers between the regular annual meetings; to apply, if they see fit, to any State Legislature for acts of incorporation; to fix the compensation, where any is given, of all officers, agents, missionaries, or others in the employment of the Society; to make provision, if any, for disabled missionaries, and for the widows and children of such as are deceased; and to call, in all parts of the country, at their discretion, special and general conventions of the friends of missions, with a view to the diffusion of the missionary spirit, and the general and vigorous promotion of the missionary work.

Five members of the Committee shall constitute a quorum for transacting business.

Art. VIII. This society, in collecting funds, in appointing officers, agents and missionaries, and in selecting fields of labor, and conducting the missionary work, will endeavor particularly to discountenance slavery, by refusing to receive the known fruits of unrequited labor, or to welcome to its employment those who hold their fellow-beings as slaves.

Art. IX. Missionary bodies, churches or individuals agreeing to the principles of this Society, and wishing to appoint and sustain missionaries of their own, shall be entitled to do so through the agency of the Executive Committee, on terms mutually agreed upon.

Art. X. No amendment shall be made in this Constitution without the concurrence of two thirds of the members present at a regular annual meeting; nor unless the proposed amendment has been submitted to a previous meeting, or to the Executive Committee in season to be published by them (as it shall be their duty to do, if so submitted) in the regular official notifications of the meeting.

FOOTNOTE:

The American Missionary Association.

AIM AND WORK.

To preach the Gospel to the poor. It originated in a sympathy with the almost friendless slaves. Since Emancipation it has devoted its main efforts to preparing the Freedmen for their duties as citizens and Christians in America and as missionaries in Africa. As closely related to this, it seeks to benefit the caste-persecuted Chinese in America, and to co-operate with the Government in its humane and Christian policy towards the Indians. It has also a mission in Africa.

STATISTICS.

Churches: In the South—In Va., 1; N. C., 5; S. C., 2; Ga., 11; Ky., 5; Tenn., 4; Ala., 12; La., 12; Miss., 1; Kansas, 2; Texas, 4. Africa, 1. Among the Indians, 2. Total, 62.

Institutions Founded, Fostered or Sustained in the South. Chartered: Hampton, Va.; Berea, Ky.; Talladega, Ala.; Atlanta, Ga.; Nashville, Tenn., Tougaloo, Miss.; New Orleans, La.; and Austin, Texas, 8; Graded or Normal Schools: at Wilmington, Raleigh, N. C.; Charleston, Greenwood, S. C.; Macon, Atlanta, Ga.; Montgomery, Mobile, Athens, Selma, Ala; Memphis, Tenn.; 11; Other Schools, 7. Total, 26.

Teachers, Missionaries and Assistants—Among the Freedmen, 209; among the Chinese, 17; among the Indians, 16; in foreign lands, 10. Total, 252. Students—In Theology, 74; Law, 8; in College Course, 79; in other studies, 5,243. Total, 5,404. Scholars taught by former pupils of our schools, estimated at 100,000. Indians under the care of the Association, 13,000.

WANTS.

1. A steady Increase of regular income to keep pace with the growing work in the South. This increase can only be reached by regular and larger contributions from the churches—the feeble as well as the strong.

2. Additional Buildings for our higher educational institutions, to accomodate the increasing numbers of students; Meeting Houses, for the new churches we are organizing; More Ministers, cultured and pious, for these churches.

3. Help for Young Men, to be educated as ministers here and missionaries to Africa—a pressing want.

Before sending boxes, always correspond with the nearest A. M. A. office, as below.

MAGAZINE.

This Magazine will be sent, gratuitously, if desired, to the Missionaries of the Association; to Life Members; to all clergymen who take up collections for the Association; to Superintendents of Sabbath Schools; to College Libraries; to Theological Seminaries; to Societies of Inquiry on Missions; and to every donor who does not prefer to take it as a subscriber, and contributes in a year not less than five dollars.

Those who wish to remember the American Missionary Association in their last Will and Testament, are earnestly requested to use the following

FORM OF A BEQUEST.

“I BEQUEATH to my executor (or executors) the sum of —— dollars in trust, to pay the same in —— days after my decease to the person who, when the same is payable, shall act as Treasurer of the “American Missionary Association,” New York City, to be applied under the direction of the Executive Committee of the Association, to its charitable uses and purposes.”

The Will should be attested by three witnesses [in some States three are required—in other States only two], who should write against their names, their places of residence [if in cities, their street and number]. The following form of attestation will answer for every State in the Union: “Signed, sealed, published and declared by the said [A. B.] as his last Will and Testament, in presence of us, who, at the request of the said A. B., and in his presence, and in the presence of each other, have hereunto subscribed our names as witnesses.” In some States, it is required that the Will should be made at least two months before the death of the testator.

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