Book: American Missionary, Volume 43, No. 1, January, 1889
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Various >> American Missionary, Volume 43, No. 1, January, 1889
The American Missionary
JANUARY, 1889.
VOL. XLIII. NO. 1.
CONTENTS
PICTURE OF MR. DANIEL HAND
EDITORIAL.
NEW YEAR'S GREETINGS
FINANCIAL--LARGE GIFTS OF THE WEALTHY
THE SOUTHERN SITUATION
PARAGRAPHS--ITEMS FROM THE FIELD
DEATH OF MRS. GEO. A. WOODARD
SYSTEMATIC SPENDING. REV. C.J. RYDER
THE CHINESE.
SCRAPS FROM CORRESPONDENCE
BUREAU OF WOMAN'S WORK.
STATE ORGANIZATIONS
ANNUAL MEETING
MOUNTAIN WHITE WORK. MRS. A.A. MYERS
NEEDS OF COLORED WOMEN AND GIRLS. MRS. G.W. MOORE
RECEIPTS
* * * * *
NEW YORK:
PUBLISHED BY THE AMERICAN MISSIONARY ASSOCIATION,
Rooms, 56 Reade Street.
* * * * *
Price, 50 Cents a Year, in Advance.
Entered at the Post Office at New York, N.Y., as second-class matter.
* * * * *
American Missionary Association
PRESIDENT, Rev. WM. M. TAYLOR, D.D., LLD., N.Y.
_Vice-Presidents._
Rev. A.J.F. BEHRENDS, D.D., N.Y.
Rev. ALEX. MCKENZIE, D.D., Mass.
Rev. F.A. NOBLE, D.D., Ill.
Rev. D.O. MEARS, D.D., Mass.
Rev. HENRY HOPKINS, D.D., Mo.
_Corresponding Secretaries._
Rev. M.E. STRIEBY, D.D., _56 Reade Street, N.Y._
Rev. A.F. BEARD, D.D., _56 Reade Street, N.Y._
_Recording Secretary._
Rev. M.E. STRIEBY, D.D., _56 Reade Street, N.Y._
_Treasurer._
H.W. HUBBARD, Esq., _56 Reade Street, N.Y._
_Auditors._
PETER McCARTEE.
CHAS. P. PEIRCE.
_Executive Committee._
JOHN H. WASHBURN, Chairman.
ADDISON P. FOSTER, Secretary.
_For Three Years._
J.E. RANKIN,
WM. H. WARD,
J.W. COOPER,
JOHN H. WASHBURN,
EDMUND L. CHAMPLIN.
_For Two Years._
LYMAN ABBOTT,
CHAS. A. HULL,
J.R. DANFORTH,
CLINTON B. FISK,
ADDISON P. FOSTER.
_For One Year._
S.B. HALLIDAY,
SAMUEL HOLMES,
SAMUEL S. MARPLES,
CHARLES L. MEAD,
ELBERT B. MONROE.
_District Secretaries._
Rev. C.J. RYDER, _21 Cong'l House, Boston._
Rev. J.E. ROY, D.D., _151 Washington Street, Chicago._
_Financial Secretary for Indian Missions.
Rev. CHAS. W. SHELTON
_Field Superintendents._
Rev. FRANK E. JENKINS.
Prof. EDWARD S. HALL.
_Secretary of Woman's Bureau._
Miss D.E. EMERSON, _56 Reade St., N.Y._
COMMUNICATIONS
Relating to the work of the Association may be addressed to the
Corresponding Secretaries; letters for "THE AMERICAN MISSIONARY," to
the Editor, at the New York Office.
DONATIONS AND SUBSCRIPTIONS
In drafts, checks, registered letters, or post-office orders, may be
sent to H.W. Hubbard, Treasurer, 56 Reade Street, New York, or, when
more convenient, to either of the Branch Offices, 21 Congregational
House, Boston, Mass., or 151 Washington Street, Chicago, Ill. A
payment of thirty dollars at one time constitutes a Life Member.
NOTICE TO SUBSCRIBERS.--The date on the "address label," indicates the
time to which the subscription is paid. Changes are made in date on
label to the 10th of each month. If payment of subscription be made
afterward, the change on the label will appear a month later. Please
send early notice of change in post-office address, giving the former
address and the new address, in order that our periodicals and
occasional papers may be correctly mailed.
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,' of 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.
[Illustration: Daniel Hand]
THE AMERICAN MISSIONARY.
VOL. XLIII. JANUARY, 1889. No. 1.
* * * * *
American Missionary Association.
* * * * *
We present to our readers, on the opposite page, a picture of Mr. Daniel
Hand from a photograph taken some time ago. It presents the likeness of a
man of fine physical proportions and with energy and intelligence
impressed on the features. The signature at the bottom of the picture is
copied from one of Mr. Hand's recent letters, and shows the remarkable
physical vigor of a man in his 88th year.
* * * * *
NEW YEAR'S GREETINGS.
The New Year opens upon us auspiciously, and we send forth our joyous
greetings to our patrons at home, and to our fellow workers in the field.
Above all we thank God for putting us into this ministry for the poor and
the ignorant, and for the success granted to us in prosecuting it. We
have had sorrows and anxieties, but they have been followed by
consolations and deliverances. The hand that penned the "Happy New Year"
in our MISSIONARY for last January, is now silent in the grave, but the
memory of Brother Powell's life and character is so precious that it
mitigates our loss. The yellow fever prevented the opening of many of our
schools, and awakened fears of widespread hindrance to our work
throughout the South; but the scourge was restrained, and the work now
goes on prosperously. Our last fiscal year drew towards its close with
the cloud of a large debt looming up, but our friends responded so
generously to our appeals, that the year ended with a debt so small as to
be only a salutary warning.
But the crowning mercy of the year came at our Annual Meeting, when we
were able to announce the gift of over a million of dollars from that
generous friend of the poor Negro, Mr. Daniel Hand. It is a wonderful
gift, and comes in a good way. The income only can be used, and that will
do just so much more for the Negro, and will not be applied to work now
in progress. We are tempted to fear that our patrons will diminish their
gifts because Mr. Hand has been so liberal. But we will have faith in
God, who has entrusted us with this great work, and we will enter upon
our new year with the full confidence that every friend of the
Association who appreciates our responsibilities to Christ and the
Nation, will decide that his gifts to us shall be increased and not
diminished in this year of grace 1889.
* * * * *
_Financial._
Emphasis is added to the closing words of the preceding article by the
report of our Treasurer for the first two months of our fiscal year,
October and November. The receipts for those two months were, from
donations, $31,261.99; from estates, $3,961.29; from income, $1,822.72,
making a total for current work of $37,046. The Association needs $62,500
for these two months. Let us remind our patrons that Mr. Hand's gift will
do its own work and not theirs. We think they will feel that it is only
honorable to let Mr. Hand's benefaction add so much new work, and that it
should not be used simply to relieve others. The great, pressing, and
stupendous work which rests upon this Association as the representative
of the churches, must not stand still. Patriots and statesmen are
becoming alarmed at the Southern situation, and while they will do what
they can to meet the emergency, we believe that the grand solution of the
problem is in the Christian enlightenment and the industrial progress of
the Negro. May God grant that the Christians of this land may not fail to
see their special responsibilities and to meet them in the spirit of
Christian liberality and self-sacrifice.
* * * * *
_Large Gifts of the Wealthy._
It is refreshing to find in this grasping, selfish and money-making world
that there are wealthy men who amass fortunes and use them for noble
purposes. It is said that growing wealth only tightens the grip on the
money and hardens the heart against the calls of benevolence. But the
examples are accumulating that give shining evidence that there are noble
exceptions. Mr. Hand has added his name to the number. He knows the needs
of the colored people, and he devotes a vast fortune to their benefit.
But Mr. Hand has not exhausted the opportunities, even in the range of
the work of this Association, for blessing needy races of men, or of
aiding in the varied forms of effort for the colored people. The mountain
regions of the South present an unique and promising field of effort. The
inhabitants are a noble people, descendants of some of the best races
that settled America. Their mountain isolation separated them from the
people around them. The want of schools and churches left them ignorant,
their thin mountain lands kept them poor; but they never held slaves and
they were loyal to the Union in the war. Railroads now penetrate their
mountains and valleys, and the hitherto unused wealth of mines and timber
is brought to light. A new future opens out to these people, and the
question is, "Shall that future be one of prosperity and piety, or one of
intemperance and infidelity?" Some other man wise and wealthy can do for
these people what Daniel Hand has done for the primary and industrial
education of the Negroes. But this does not exhaust the opening for large
investments in the work of the Association. The Indians are fewer in
number than the blacks or whites of the South, and their future will
sooner be determined by their being incorporated into the national life
as citizens, yet that problem is not settled, and a large fund could be
wisely used for their benefit. Then, too, our higher schools and colleges
need endowment, and our church work should be _indefinitely_
expanded.
If this review does not succeed in drawing large gifts for these several
objects, it may at least serve to show that our wants are not all
provided for, and that smaller contributors have still the duty and the
privilege of aiding by gifts and prayer this good work of patriotism and
Christianity.
* * * * *
THE SOUTHERN SITUATION.
The position of the South is becoming once more clearly defined. Before
the war, it was fully formulated thus: The Negroes are an inferior race,
and slavery is their divinely ordained condition. To this was added: The
Negro question is purely local, and with it no one outside of the South
has any right to interfere. To these axioms agreed the press, the pulpit
and the politician. But the war came as an earthquake, with the utter
upheaval of these firm foundations.
During the years of reconstruction and political agitation, uncertainty
prevailed, but now again the Southern position is becoming settled. It is
the old position with a variation. It runs: The Negroes are an inferior
race, and must be held as a peasant class in subjection to the superior
white race. To this the warning is again added: This is purely a domestic
affair, and all outsiders must keep tongues and hands off. This revised
version of the old theory is proclaimed by Senator Eustis in his now
somewhat famous article in the _Forum_. More recently it has been
re-affirmed in the fervid eloquence of Mr. Grady, of Atlanta, in his
address at Dallas, Texas.
This is the same orator (he is an orator) who a few years since
electrified the whole country by his speech at the New England dinner, on
the "New South." But the logic of Southern events has driven him down
again to the platform of the "Old South." More recently still, the
Governor of South Carolina, in his message to the Legislature, has taken
the same position.
These three gentlemen, representing the press and the politician, are
sustained by the pulpit in the South. For example, the Presbyterian
church South repels all overtures for re-union with the Presbyterian
church North, because such a re-union would involve a practical
recognition of the equal manhood of the inferior race. The Presbyterian
church South does not stand alone on this platform. Other denominations
are arrayed side by side with it, and we fear that even the
Congregationalists in the South, with two Conferences in the same State,
one white and the other black, are in danger of being numbered with them.
This is the Southern position. It portends the renewal of the old
antagonism. It repels the North, denying its right to interfere, and thus
draws again the sectional line; and above all, it sets up sharply the
antagonism of races, consigning the Negro permanently to an inferior
place. This implies, of course, that if the Negro will not quietly accept
this place, he must be compelled to do so by force of arms, and in this
struggle the North is notified that it has no right to interfere. We can
only express our amazement at this theory! With the memory of the war so
fresh, when the North broke over all warnings against interference, and
stepped in to aid the helpless slave, can the South now hope to make
these warnings any more efficacious? Can it hope that the North will
acquiesce in a quasi slavery, that sets aside substantially all that it
gained and established by the long war?
And if the struggle comes again, what hope of success can the South
cherish? If in the last national struggle, it was overpowered when the
slave, as Mr. Grady acknowledges, guarded the house while his master
fought for his perpetual enslavement, what can it do when the Negroes
have tasted freedom for a quarter of a century, and now number nearly as
many as the whites in the South? It is for the white people of the South
to say whether that struggle shall come. The North does not desire it,
the Negro does not desire it, and we sincerely believe that a large share
of the people of the South do not want it. Rev. Dr. Haygood, the
efficient agent of the Slater Fund, in a recent article in _The
Independent_, in reply to Senator Eustis, voices, as we hope, the
sentiments of thoughtful and influential Southerners. But it remains to
be seen whether these wise counselors will be heard. Such voices were
uttered before the war, but they were drowned in the noise of sectional
hatred and the imperious demands of slavery. God grant that the sad
lesson of the past may be heeded.
In the meantime, the A.M.A. will continue its efforts at what it believes
to be the true solution of the Southern problem--the Christian,
educational and industrial advancement of the colored people. With the
help of the great benefaction of Mr. Hand, whose money was made in the
South, and is now consecrated to the South, we shall go forward with
greater zeal and encouragement. We are not partizans; we are not
sectionalists. We are working for the good of both whites and blacks, and
for the peace and prosperity of our common country.
The election of Benjamin Harrison as President of the United States, and
the restoration of the Republican party to power, awakens special
attention to the probable attitude of both towards the great Southern
problem. We have no opinion to express on the subject, and we have no
interest in it as a mere party question, but only as it may lead to the
sober and earnest investigation of that transcendently important problem
which requires the unbiased and honest consideration of the patriot, the
statesman and the Christian.
* * * * *
The combination of the Christian powers of Europe for the suppression of
the nefarious African slave-trade is a measure sanctioned by Christianity
and humanity, and is in the interest of the world's commerce. The effort
can be hopefully undertaken. The abolition of slavery in the Western
Hemisphere--once the great slave mart--confines the outlet of the traffic
to the eastern coast of Africa, and the blockade can be made more
effective than when both sides of the great continent had to be guarded.
* * * * *
An esteemed Christian brother, who made his wife a Life Member of the
Association in 1854, and who has added a member to the list each year
since by his personal gift, speaks of the pleasure he finds in thus
contributing to our treasury, and at the same time enlisting others in
our work. We commend to our patrons this helpful and agreeable way of
doing good. Try it.
* * * * *
ITEMS FROM THE FIELD.
From a teacher in one of our schools in the mountain country:
"As I go among the homes I continually see something new which shows me
how great are the needs of the people here. The primitive ways and
simplicity of the mountain people strike me and I sometimes imagine that
I am in a country a century behind the times. Last week I made a call at
the home of one of my pupils whose mother was sick. As I entered the room
I could not distinguish the faces of those who sat about the fire, for
the room had no windows. The only light that came in was through a door
in an outer room, and it seemed to let in more cold than light. I
wondered how much work or enjoyment could be got out of such dark, small
quarters, while the sick woman told of her struggle with sickness and
poverty. She also gave me some history of her early life, which showed a
great lack of necessary instruction in what are the best things. The
children of this home look like sickly plants which have always lived in
the dark and which have never felt the invigorating influence of God's
beautiful sunshine. We are praying that the sunshine of God's love may be
felt in the hearts of this people, even if there are no windows in their
homes to let it in."
From a pastor in Kentucky:
"We are busily at work in this mountain country, and as we think of wider
possibilities for the mountain boys, you cannot imagine our gratitude in
view of our hopes that a new industrial department will be opened. It has
been the subject of many a prayer in the closet and in teachers'
meetings, and we feel that all that is needed will be supplied according
to His riches who gave himself for us. He has heard our united petitions
for a pastor to gather the straying flock and relieve our overworked
missionaries. We held our weekly teachers' meeting on Friday. Last
evening as we were sitting together as usual, one spoke of the coming
pastor, when lo, he was ushered in. He has really come. We rejoice in our
work, but we see so much just ahead. I long for the time to come when
this interesting people shall be a 'peculiar' people in the better
sense."
From a teacher at Jonesboro, Tenn.:
"Each week brings new accessions to the school: there are now nearly a
hundred enrolled. All the seats in the primary room are in use, so that
when Miss Smith has a full school she has to seat some of her scholars in
chairs. The seats in Miss Page's room are also full. We have eight pupils
who room here and board themselves. Four of them come from Scott Co.,
Va., coming ninety miles. They are young men and women, but they have had
very little opportunity for education. They are anxious to learn and try
to carefully obey the rules of the school. We hope they will gain much
from church and Sunday-school and the influences thrown around them here,
as well as the lessons from the school room. Yesterday we had
applications from four others from the same region for accommodations--a
young married man and his little daughter, seven years old--a young man
and a young woman. We said, 'Come and we will do our best for you;' but
if others apply we shall have to tell them we are full. These are just
the kind of people we want; eager to learn and willing to do the best
they can."
From a school in North Carolina:
"Your letter of the 28th, informing us that we can have assistance from
the Hand Fund for a certain number of pupils, is received, and we have
had a continual thanksgiving ever since. If I could tell you how the
mothers looked when I told them, and if I could put down the tones of
their voices as well as their words, you would be sure that the help is
appreciated."
The pastor of the church and teacher of the Theological Department of
Straight University writes us:
"The religious interest has so deepened that for several weeks I have
been preaching three times a week. Four or five prayer meetings have been
started by the students of their own accord in each other's rooms. Eleven
united with us on profession of faith at our last communion, and as many
more have made a start at different meetings, and will unite with us at
the next communion. A remarkable feature about the work is the fact that
numbers of the older students who are most deeply interested are Roman
Catholics. One young man who united with us is a Spaniard from Matamoras,
Mexico, and has been educated as a Roman Catholic. I believe he may be
counted on to do loyal service in his native city. In this way the A.M.A.
is ever doing 'foreign work,' and work which I believe will tell in
Mexico, Cuba, and the Central American States.
"If some benevolent friend in the North would send us twenty-five copies
of Stalker's Life of Christ, it would be of great help in this work."
Information respecting a very interesting revival of religion comes to us
from Sherwood, Tenn.
Increased religious interest is reported from Fisk University, Nashville,
Tenn.
The teachers in the Normal School at Lexington are taking new courage in
their work in view of their increasing facilities.
* * * * *
One of our young men who expects to take up missionary work this fall
thus expresses himself: "I don't suppose that I know very much; but one
thing I know, and that is the Dakota Bible. I can read that to the people
and talk about it in my own language, and they can understand me, and
that is what they need; they need the Bible."--_Word Carrier._
* * * * *
A CHINAMAN'S VIEW OF A FAMILIAR TEXT.--The writer was for a time a pupil
in the White Street Mission School in New York, but he is now a
prosperous laundryman at Kingston, N.Y. In a recent letter to one of his
former teachers, he gives the following bit of New Testament exegesis: "I
led the Young Men's Christian Association meeting on the Sunday before
January 11th. The subject which I gave out: 'The Christian must be born
twice;' and also read the Scriptures in chapter iii of the Gospel St.
John, and explain to them. I said if a man in this world born twice, he
only die once, and if a man born once he die twice. I mean if a man born
twice he must born again of the spirit; his soul shall save; that is, he
only die once. If a man born once his body shall die and his soul also
perish; that is, he die twice. After the meeting was pass one of the old
gentleman came to me and said, 'Are you a missionary?' I answered him
'No.' I said 'I am a laundryman.' And good people thought I was
missionary."--_The Foreign Missionary._
Full of encouragement to the workers for the Chinese here in America is
the fact that most of the students entering the new Christian college in
Canton were formerly Sunday-school scholars in America. Most of these
converted Chinamen who return to their own country are said to take their
part in various forms of Christian work. What an inspiration to the
patient teacher, who spends an hour or more every Sunday in trying to
Christianize a single Chinaman, to think that, in this indirect way, he,
or more frequently she, may be helping on the conversion of China.--_The
Congregationalist._
These very just remarks are equally applicable to the work the American
Missionary Association is doing so largely and effectively among the
Chinese on the Pacific coast. A letter from Mr. Pond gives us this
corroborative item:
"On Monday evening, November 26, we expect to hold a farewell meeting for
Joe Jet, once one of our missionary helpers, who is going back to China
to superintend missionary operations for our Chinese Missionary Society.
He takes over $1,100 with him, contributed for this purpose by the
Chinese connected with our mission. To this Missionary Society, our
Christian Chinese contribute regularly each month, from twenty-five to
fifty cents. They aim to do quite a large work, which they hope that the
representatives of the Board will superintend, but the whole expense of
which they mean to bear."
* * * * *
The American Missionary Association has been greatly afflicted in the
death of Mrs. George A. Woodard, the wife of the Principal of Gregory
Institute, Wilmington, N.C. She was a most devoted missionary,
consecrating her earnestness and fidelity to the cause of Christ. She
will be sadly missed by the colored people of Wilmington, and by those
who are inmates of the Teachers' Home at Gregory Institute.
* * * * *
SYSTEMATIC SPENDING.
BY REV. C.J. RYDER.
The pastor of a Boston church recently handed to the District Secretary
of the A.M.A. $1, saying as he did so: "That one dollar is really more
than some hundreds of dollars. It is the gift of a poor woman in my
congregation who depends upon her own labor for support. She gives this
dollar to the A.M.A. from her hard economy." It may be that God's decimal
pointing is not the same as ours in many cases.
On a table of the same district office of the A.M.A., there stands a
little brown pasteboard box. In it are some tracts offered for sale. All
the proceeds from their sale go into the treasury of the Association.
These tracts were printed at the expense of a poor woman who has spent a
long and useful life in service for others. She comes into that office
now and again to see if her gift is increasing. She is not fashionably
dressed. No! She never drives to the Congregational House in a carriage.
I doubt if she often enjoys the luxury of a street-car ride, although she
is upward of seventy years of age; and yet she never comes through that
office door but she brings with her the bright glory of spiritual
sunshine, and the wealth of her Lord's own presence. She is pinching
herself in almost painful economy that she may have $100 to give to this
great mission work before she dies, and