The American Missionary

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.

THE AMERICAN MISSIONARY ASSOCIATION.

PRESIDENT.

Hon. Wm. B. Washburn, LL.D., Mass.

CORRESPONDING SECRETARY.

Rev. M. E. Strieby, D.D., 56 Reade Street, N.Y.

TREASURER.

H. W. Hubbard, Esq., 56 Reade Street, N.Y.

AUDITORS.

M. F. Reading. Wm. A. Nash.

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.

John H. Washburn, Chairman; A. P. Foster, Secretary; Lyman Abbott, Alonzo S. Ball, A. S. Barnes, C. T. Christensen, Franklin Fairbanks, Clinton B. Fisk, S. B. Halliday, Samuel Holmes, Charles A. Hull, Samuel S. Marples, Charles L. Mead, Wm. H. Ward, A. L. Williston.

DISTRICT SECRETARIES.

Rev. C. L. Woodworth, Boston. Rev. G. D. Pike, D.D., New York.

Rev. James Powell, Chicago.

COMMUNICATIONS

relating to the work of the Association may be addressed to the Corresponding Secretary; those relating to the collecting fields, to the District Secretaries; letters for the Editor of the “American Missionary,” to Rev. G. D. Pike, D.D., at the New York Office.

DONATIONS AND SUBSCRIPTIONS

may be sent to H. W. Hubbard, Treasurer, 56 Reade Street, New York, or, when more convenient, to either of the Branch Offices, 21 Congregational House, Boston, Mass., or 112 West Washington Street, Chicago, Ill. A payment of thirty dollars at one time constitutes a Life Member.

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.

THE

American Missionary.

American Missionary Association.

BUREAU OF WOMAN’S WORK.

APPOINTMENT OF SECRETARY.

It gives us pleasure to announce that in following out the arrangements fore-shadowed in the May “Missionary,” the Executive Committee of the A. M. A. has made choice of Miss D. E. Emerson as Secretary of its Bureau of Woman’s Work. Miss Emerson is well known in the mission fields of the Association, having been a teacher, a lady missionary and also at the New York Office doing service in connection with the correspondence for the Southern work. In the latter position, covering a period of several years, she has had occasion to visit localities occupied by our lady missionaries, and in these and many other ways has gained a very extensive knowledge of the wants and the methods of help needful for the elevation of the colored people. Her ability for her new position has already been tested, and the Association has great confidence in her capacity to meet the requirements of all interested in the great work that lies before her. Correspondence relating to the Bureau should be addressed to Miss D. E. Emerson, at the office of the A. M. A., 56 Reade St., New York.

METHODS OF WORK.

Our Bureau inaugurates no new woman’s missionary society. It is simply a plan for giving more efficiency to the work already in hand. We leave the mode of co-operation on the part of the ladies of the North entirely to themselves, and we can think of no better plan for such co-operation than that given on the next page in the letter of Miss M. E. Smith of Gorham, Me., which describes the methods in use the past year in that State.

Neither are the means for promoting the objects of our Bureau new; they are based on twenty years’ experience and extend to all the branches of home, school and church life. We can aid directly in the[162] elevation of women and children through the varied work of the ladies engaged in our different mission fields. Our method of giving information to the Christian women of the North will be not only by correspondence through the Secretary of the Bureau, but also by direct information from the lady missionaries and teachers, who will attend the meetings of ladies at the conferences, associations, and, as far as practicable, local societies in connection with the churches.

METHOD OF CO-OPERATION.

FROM MISS MARY E. SMITH, MAINE.

In answer to your inquiry as to the mode of collecting, I would say that we have no organization. The ladies talked the matter over and decided that as there are so many organizations already as to be almost bewildering, we would carry on this work with as little “red tape” as possible. At each annual conference a meeting of all ladies interested is held, a report read of the amount collected the past year and a committee of three chosen to carry on the work for the following year. This committee appoints a collector for each conference, and each conference collector engages a collector in each church in her conference. The collectors of the several churches report progress and send money obtained to the conference collector, and she forwards it to the chairman of the State Committee, who keeps the bank account and forwards the money in due time to the A. M. A.

By so simple an arrangement we also save in expense. With the exception of a very slight amount for printing of circulars for distribution through the States, the only expense is that of postage, etc., which being divided among so many is borne by the several collectors and does not take from the sum collected. So far the working of our plan has been, I think, as successful as we could reasonably expect.

LETTERS OF SYMPATHY.

FROM MRS. HENRY L. CHASE, IOWA.

It is with great satisfaction that I learn that a “Bureau of Woman’s Work” has been organized in connection with the A. M. A. It seems to me that such an organization is not merely a valuable help but a manifest necessity in the effective prosecution of “Woman’s Work for Woman” in the South—a work which lies upon the hearts of very many of the Christian women of the North and which ought to lie upon the consciences of all.

A very limited experience teaches that in every kind of benevolent work information is the root from which interest and action grow. Probably in no other way can the facts which will quicken the interest of the ladies of our churches in work among the Freedpeople be so thoroughly and influentially presented as by means of this Bureau. Specific objects of effort, concerning which details may be furnished, will often win the practical attention of those who are comparatively indifferent[163] to the idea of general needs. And the sanction of the A. M. A. being implied in any appeals made thorough the Bureau for definite objects, will give assurance that our gifts and our labors are to be applied in the wisest way and where the need is most urgent. But perhaps nothing accomplished by this organization will be more gratefully appreciated or more productive of the desired results than the visits of missionaries to the churches which support them, and their statements by word of mouth in regard to the appalling needs and encouraging successes in their various fields. This new branch of work has my warmest good wishes and my earnest prayers for its fullest success.

BRIEF RESPONSES.

Miss A. W. Johnson of North Brookfield, Mass., writes: I am very glad that a “Bureau of Woman’s Work” has been organized, and believe it will open up new avenues for work among our ladies. I respond at once, hoping I can do something to interest them in this direction.

Rev. S. E. Lathrop of Macon, Ga., writes: I rejoice in the new “Bureau of Woman’s Work.” It is a necessary and hopeful acquisition.

BUREAU REPRESENTED IN OHIO.

At the Ohio State Association which convened at Akron, May 8, Dist. Sec. Pike in his address set forth the plans of our Bureau of Woman’s Work, referring especially to the methods proposed for bringing the condition of the colored people more fully before the Christian women of the North. He was accompanied by Miss Rose M. Kinney, who had just returned from her field of labor at McIntosh, Liberty County, Ga., and who, in behalf of our Bureau of Woman’s Work, gave an interesting account of her mission services, which had included that of organizing a Woman’s Missionary Society among the colored women. Miss Kinney also addressed the Woman’s meeting held during the sessions of the Association. Arrangements have been made, as far as practicable, with other States for a like presentation of the varied work carried on by this Association.

In the next and future numbers of the Missionary, the details of the “Bureau of Woman’s Work” will appear in a separate department under the above heading.

The Lord’s Blessed Ones.—A recent visitor to the Teachers’ Home, Storrs School, Atlanta, writes that on his arrival, about nine in the evening, he was met by the lady teachers, who were returning, two by two, from attending cottage prayer meetings in the parish, of which there had been six that night. “Coming in,” he says, “from such work in the lowly homes of a despised people, cheerful and delighted with the meetings, they made a profound impression upon me as the Lord’s blessed ones. If He hasn’t got any mansions up there quite worthy of them He’ll go to work and fix up some especially for their use.”

[164]

The readers of the Missionary are not ignorant of the benefactions of Mr. J. J. H. Gregory, of Marblehead, Mass., to this Association. The following extract from a Wilmington paper indicates the appreciation in which he is held not only by the colored people, but also by leading citizens South.

“The reception of Mr. Gregory took place in the Mayor’s office in the City Hall yesterday at noon. There was quite a large attendance of our prominent citizens, including a few colored men, all of whom gave evidence of the esteem entertained for the distinguished visitor and their pleasure at the opportunity thus afforded them of forming the acquaintance of one who has devoted so much of his fortune to the advancement of the educational facilities and interests of Wilmington. Mr. Gregory was introduced to those present by Mayor Hall in a few brief and appropriate remarks, which were responded to by Mr. G. in fitting terms. Short speeches were also delivered by Rev. Drs. Taylor and Wilson, in the order named, and at the conclusion of their remarks, Mayor Hall again spoke, and at more length. The meeting was a very pleasant one, and we have reason to believe that Mr. Gregory was much pleased at the heartiness of his reception.”

The Trustees of the John F. Slater Educational Fund met in New York April 25 and 26. It was voted to appropriate $20,000 during the coming year to such schools as are best fitted to help young colored people to become useful to their race, preference being given to those institutions which furnish industrial education. Over seventy institutions have already reported to Rev. Dr. A. G. Haygood, the Secretary. It is not conclusive from the reports that have reached us that the sum named above is the entire amount that will be applied the coming year for educational purposes, or that the income of the fund will be principally used for industrial education. We believe the plans of the Trustees are as broad as the necessities of the colored people for education in every department. The meeting of the Board was fully attended, and the place made vacant by the death of Wm. E. Dodge was filled by the election of his son. We commend the Trustees for their careful and conscientious endeavors to provide for the uplifting of the colored people and the welfare of the nation.

The average attendance at the 30 conventions of the Co-operative Societies in Connecticut was 136. The number of churches represented was 230, of the 297 in the State. The average attendance of similar meetings in 1872 was 104. On the whole the recent meetings were of marked interest, and of much encouragement to the missionary work done by Congregationalists.

[165]

Our Finances.—During the seven months of the fiscal year closing April 30, our receipts from collections and donations have amounted to $109,275.73. The collections and donations for the same months last year were $138,094.35, a decrease of $28,818.62. The legacies for these months last year were $23,447.81, while for this year they have been $42,121.18, an increase of $18,673.37. The total receipts thus far this year in collections, donations and legacies have been $151,396.91 against $161,542.16 for the same period last year, a decrease of $10,145.25. We earnestly urge the friends of this Association to study these figures. Our last annual meeting, in view of the pressing work before us, recommended the increase of our receipts 25 per cent. for the present fiscal year. The added expenses of our Indian work and the pressing calls for enlargement of our school and church work South, make this increase imperative—and especially as the openings before us in these lines of effort are exceedingly auspicious and encouraging. If the increase named is received, we can go forward; if not, we must leave undone what ought to be done. Under these circumstances, we ask individual donors whom God hath blessed with the means and the heart to help, to give special attention to the facts we present, and we also respectfully request pastors to bring before their people our financial necessities, so that during the next five months we may be able to go forward without debt or diminution of work.

The Church Book, Hymns and Tunes, for the Uses of Christian Worship, prepared by Leonard Woolsey Bacon. New York: D. Appleton & Co. Several novelties are presented by this book. The more prominent of these are (1) the typographical arrangement, which allows the hymns to go in without the usual limitations of space, (2) the number of hymns, which is less than half that usually found in books of the kind, (3) a combination of the standard tunes with the best of the English lyrical compositions. We believe there is common sense in Dr. Bacon’s idea that the church will be better served with a smaller number of the choicest hymns. As both the standard and (so called) classical tunes are selected with excellent judgment, we see no reason why the Church Book may not prove a valuable addition to the hymn-and-tune-ology of the day. The typography and binding of the book are of the best.

General Liturgy and Book of Common Prayer, prepared by Prof. Hopkins, is the title of an attractive volume of 137 pages, published by A. S. Barnes & Co. A feature of especial interest is the “Table for Scripture Readings for Divine Service on every Lord’s Day throughout the year,” embracing a period of two years. The volume is tastefully[166] prepared and printed in red and black, thus assisting the eye in selecting the different parts of the service. We believe it will be found helpful in the pulpit, in families and in mission work at home and abroad.

The Home Missionary for May appears with new cover and an addition of eight pages, four of which are devoted to advertisements. The reading matter, embraces a wide range of discussion on the different interests of home missionary work, and as usual was prepared especially for this excellent organ of the Home Missionary Society. It gives evidence of an advance along the line, and will be welcome in its approved appearance among its numerous readers.

The Church Building Quarterly, No. 2, is out, and gives to its readers a hundred pages of excellent reading relating to the interests of the Congregational Union. Plans, specifications and cuts of 26 varieties of church edifices are given with suggestions as to cost, materials, conveniences, title to property and other information of value. Cuts and specifications for three varieties of parsonages are also given. The Quarterly is attractive and we congratulate the brethren who manage the affairs of the Society on their enterprise and success.

A VALUABLE BOOK ON INDIAN MISSIONS.

Indian Missions is a volume of 270 pages, published by the Am. S. S. Union, from the pen of Rev. Myron Eells, missionary of the A. M. A. among the Indians in Washington Territory. Mr. Eells is the son of a missionary, who gave himself to the work on the Pacific Coast in 1838. He grew up in that country, and is perhaps as well qualified as any man living to write the history and results of the work of different benevolent societies among the Indian tribes of that section. In the book before us he gives in order the history of the early missions of the Methodist Episcopal Church and those of the American Board, making mention of the development of the work in ten localities among as many different tribes. The progress of civilizing agencies is recorded with a fidelity and minuteness that adds much to the value of the volume. It appears that most of the missionaries believed that the Bible and the plow should go hand in hand, and that through their influence the Indians were stimulated to cultivate lands, build houses, abandon polygamy, become temperate, connect themselves with churches, and place their children in schools. The author expresses the fear that his statistics relating to such matters may be considered too large, but affirms that they have been taken from official reports. He comforts himself, also, in the words of another, to the effect that “if one-fourth of all that is reported has been accomplished, a great work has been done.”

[167]

Part II. of Mr. Eells’ book treats of the reflex influence of the mission upon the whites. His claims are no less interesting than surprising. He says: “Indian missions brought the first white woman overland to Oregon, opened the first emigrant wagon road to the Columbia River, furnished Oregon with the first United States officer, gave the first governor to the Territory, established the first permanent American settlement here, so that without this aid the Provisional Government would, without doubt, never have been organized, brought the first American cattle to the Willamette Valley, and saved the country, or, at least, an important portion of it, to the United States.”

Indeed, when he tells the story of Dr. Whitman’s winter journey to Washington, pursuant to the vote of the missionaries, “to make a desperate effort to save the country to the United States,” he is not only graphic but eloquent. His description of the hardships of the winter’s campaign and of the grand success of the return journey with scores of emigrants, who illustrated beyond question that women and wagons could cross the mountains, and that missionaries at least had the enterprise needful to provide the agency for establishing a provisional government at the focal point in the history of our western territories, is full of interest.

It is impossible, however, in our limited space, even to allude to all the topics touched upon. We must ask our readers to purchase the volume. It is well suited for Sabbath-school libraries, and will be welcomed by good men everywhere who love mission work. As a testimony in behalf of the far-reaching influences of missionary endeavors, it is of rare excellence. We hope its circulation will be swift and extensive.

BENEFACTIONS.

Hon. Peter Cooper left by will $100,000 to the Cooper Institute, New York.

Senator Joseph E. Brown, of Atlanta, has donated $50,000 in bonds to the University of Georgia.

The late Jos. J. Cook, Esq., of Providence, left to Trinity College $5,000 for the purchase of books.

Carleton College, Minn., has received a gift of $12,000 from Mr. E. H. Williams, of Philadelphia.

Mrs. Jonathan Adams, of Concord, N.H., bequeathed $5,000 to Holderness Academy as a scholarship fund.

Middlebury College, Vt., has come into possession of $1,500 by the death of the widow of Rev. T. A. Merrill, D.D., by which it offers three prizes to the sophomore class.

The will of the late Hon. J. N. Hungerford, of Corning, N.Y. bequeaths[168] $25,000 to Hamilton College, in addition to $15,000 given by him to that institution a year or more ago.

A gentleman in New York State has recently contributed $5,000 to the Atlanta University to be used as a fund, the interest of which can be applied for annual scholarships.

Mr. Moody’s Mount Hermon School for Boys is to receive the entire cabinet of fossil footprints, shells and minerals belonging to the late Roswell Field, of Gill, Mass., and also the sum of $1,600 to provide for its preservation and enlargement.

The Vermont Academy at Saxton’s River, Vt., has just received a gift of $12,000 from four prominent Vermonters—$3,000 each from Lawrence Barnes, Julius J. Estey, Jacob Estey and Levi K. Fuller.

The widow of John Evans, of South Meriden, has given $2,000 to Wesleyan University to found the John Evans scholarship, open to candidates for the ministry in junior or senior classes.

It has been estimated at Washington that the annual profit to the country by the conversion of illiterate into educated labor cannot be less than $400,000,000. If so, money given for the endowment of educational institutions at the South, like those of the A. M. A., would yield a hundred fold in half a generation.

GENERAL NOTES.

AFRICA.

—The caravan of English missionaries conducted by Mr. Stokes has reached the extreme south of Victoria Nyanza, a little to the west of Kaghei.

—Mr. Resteau has established at Ambrisette the first factory of the Belgian Company for African commerce. He has sent the plans for another establishment that the company will found in the region south of the Congo.

—The Committee of English missions has accepted for its stations on the Niger the services of Dr. Percy Brown, who offers himself for work in any part of the mission field.

—The new king of Cayor has made a visit to the Governor of St. Louis, promising to aid with all his power the construction of the railroad. In two or three weeks the section from Dakar to Rufisque will be finished.

—The British and African Steam Navigation Company, which has already 20 ships for service on the west side of Africa, has constructed[169] two others of less draught that they may leap the sand banks of the lower rivers. They will be named the Lagos and the Calabar.

—Unwilling to yield to any one the territory of Liberia, the Senate of Monrovia is prepared to place the question of the southern limits of this State, a subject on which it disagrees with England, to the arbitration of the United States.

—Mr. Piazzi Smythe has communicated to the English journal Nature, from a correspondent at Santa Cruz, capital of Teneriffe, that the peak of Teyde, which has not had an eruption since 1798, has broken out again since the commencement of 1883. A river of lava descends from its summit, still covered with snow.

—The Baptist missionaries settled at Manyanga and Stanley Pool, where their stations have taken the names of Wathen and Arthington, in honor of the two principal supporters of their work, have felt more and more obliged to free themselves from the protection of the armed Zanzibarites of the Belgian expeditions. Since the attack in which M. Peschuel Locsche was wounded they have felt that the route along the northern side of the river from Manyanga to Stanley Pool was safe only for strong caravans well armed, and they have sought one upon the southern side. There the Belgians, after having burned Ngombi, whose chief was disposed to attack the caravans, have made a new route to Stanley Pool, and Lieut. Valcke has founded a station at Ngombi and organized a service of caravans between that point and Stanley Pool. The missionaries have one independent of the Belgians, so that caravans pass every four or five days. The security of transport is greater, but the price of everything is greatly increased.

—The combats between the people of Stanley and the natives have arrested the advance of the missionaries of the Livingstone Inland mission. After having gone 50 kilometres beyond their station, they were obliged to found a new station upon the Loukounga in the midst of a population always well disposed toward them. Also the missionaries of this mission have decided not to establish themselves at Stanley Pool, and have actually gone to work in the region near their stations, 50 or 60 kilometres apart, over an extent of 170 kilometres. During the five years in which they have lived there they have never had a quarrel with the natives, who respect them and confide their children to them. They have learned the language of the country, prepared many pupils to become teachers, and found the natives eager to furnish them the products of the country and at their service for porters along the route from one station to the other.

THE INDIANS.

—The last session of Congress appropriated $300,000 to the Cherokees as payment for the lands now occupied by the Nez Perces, Poncas, Pawnees and Otoes.

[170]

—The Indian Homestead Colony at Flandreau, D.T., reports that ninety-four homesteads have been taken by the Indians to be held at least five years by them.

—Four hundred thousand dollars have been appropriated by the general government for the support of Indian day and industrial schools and for other educational purposes.

—Capt. R. H. Pratt is to receive $68,500 for the support of the Indian Industrial School at Carlisle, Pa. This amount is to cover all expenditures for transportation of Indians, and for the salary and support of teachers and students.

—A new Industrial School for Indian girls has been started by the Government at West Branch, Iowa. Mr. Benjamin Miles is to have charge of the enterprise. The school has capacity for fifty pupils, and by the terms of the appropriation, none can be received who are under fourteen years of age.

THE CHINESE.

—According to Missionary Butler, of China, as Buddhism has no heaven for women, the Chinese damsels labor with might and main to lay up merits that they may prevail with the judges of the lower world to let them be born again as men, so that they may have a chance to get there.

—More than 280 Christian women are banded together in England, daily praying for blessing to rest upon the work among the poor, degraded and down-trodden women of China. Three of the members of this Woman’s Prayer Union for the Women of China have been accepted by the China Inland Mission, and are hoping soon to leave for their future sphere of work.

—A happy thought for a Christian wedding party found expression at Norwich, England, on the occasion of the marriage of Rev. J. O. Hoare, son of Canon Hoare and Principal of the C. M. S. College, at Ningpo. After breakfast it was proposed to make a special collection for the China mission, which resulted in subscriptions amounting to about $2,200.

—The edict against Christianity in Japan has never been repealed. At first, only teaching was permitted, and that was to be secular; then preaching in private was tolerated; then followed assembles for Christian worship, and the organization of Christian churches; and in October, 1880, the natives held a meeting in the open air on the grounds of a hotel in the public park at Uyeno; some four or five thousand people were present, and the meeting lasted two days. It was openly advertised in the native newspapers and publicly announced by large post-bills which met the eye in all parts of the city, and one of which was on the very spot where the old edict board used to stand. And yet the government does not interfere.

[171]

THE SOUTH.

Rev. Joseph E. Roy, D.D., Field Superintendent.

Prof. Albert Salisbury, Superintendent of Education.

A REMARKABLE TRIBUTE.

HOW IT PAYS TO EDUCATE COLORED MINISTERS.

REV. W. W. PATTON, D.D., WASHINGTON.

Facts are worth more than abstract theories. Let the people have the facts. Howard University has for a number of years been carrying on a theological department, which has educated many colored ministers for all the evangelical denominations in this country, besides sending several missionaries to Africa. This department is mainly supported by the American Missionary Association, and its principal professorship has been partially endowed by Mrs. Stone. From this institution went forth a few years since, a young man (Rev. A. J. Henry) of unmixed African blood, who took as his field of labor a benighted county in Virginia. As the result of his patient, self-denying toil, several churches and schools have been established, and a new character has been given to the whole community. In proof of this, I am permitted to quote the following letter, voluntarily sent by the Prosecuting Attorney of the county to Mr. Henry:

This statement speaks loudly, not only as regards the particular case mentioned, but as regards the system which we are pursuing to elevate the colored people. Mr. Henry, during his studies in Howard University, was aided by funds contributed in Great Britain for the assistance of needy colored students, and it will be cheering to those benefactors to hear of the good which is being accomplished by this beneficiary. Will not other benefactors come to our help by furnishing other endowments and scholarships?

REVIVAL WORK AT FISK UNIVERSITY.

REV. H. S. BENNETT.

The religious history of Fisk University divides itself into two portions, that before New Year and after. Before the New Year, the week given to the Young Men’s Christian Association passed, and the work of holding nightly prayer meetings was taken in hand by the students. Several conversions resulted. After the new year had set in and I had returned from my Northern trip, I felt that the time had come for direct effort for the conversion of the students. I, therefore, directed my preaching to that end and held nightly meetings for inquirers. As a result two or three of the students were converted. At length, being convinced that I could do little more, I made no appointment for other meetings. At this point the young men in Livingstone Hall came forward and offered to carry on the meetings in their own way. I was glad to give them the opportunity to go forward. This they did, visiting from room to room and inviting the unconverted out. The result was that there was a large increase in the interest. The inquiry meetings were full, and from ten to fifteen were seeking Christ every night. This work went on for several weeks and resulted in the conversion of fifteen or more—twenty-two for the whole year. There is still some interest, although other things have interfered to divert the minds of the students from the direct effort for the salvation of souls.

EMERSON INSTITUTE.

BY MISS EMMA CAUGHEY, MOBILE, ALA.

The accompanying cut of Emerson Institute presents it in its new and enlarged proportions. Oct 3d, 1882, with much joy and thanksgiving, we dedicated its new walls, “Pro Christo et Humanitate.” It is a fine substantial building, well adapted to our school work. A basement play-room under the entire building furnishes protection to the children on rainy days. The first floor contains three pleasant school-rooms, four halls and a library. Four stair-ways lead to the play-room, and the same number lead up to the second floor, where are three more cheery, well ventilated school-rooms, separated from each other by uplifting sash doors, by which the entire upper story may be thrown into one large hall. Here we assemble for morning devotions, hold our public rhetoricals and evening socials. Contributions from friends at the North have enabled us to place a reading table in one corner of the normal room, furnished with the best weeklies and monthlies, a handsome clock and some tasteful mottoes on the wall, each of which we may hope is a little rill flowing into that stream of silent influences which[174] serves not only to brighten the lives of the pupils but to help them to a nobler manhood and a purer womanhood. We have enrolled during the year three hundred and twenty-one different pupils under the care of six teachers. We have an industrial department connected with our school, in which sewing and fancy work are taught. We meet for two hours each Friday evening at the close of the regular session of school. This evening hour is a happy climax to the week for the girls, but is a great tension upon the nervous force of the teachers at the end of the week’s wear and tear. We close this department of our school with a fair, where the articles made by the girls are offered for sale, the proceeds of which are to be divided between foreign missions and our own worthy poor.

EMERSON INSTITUTE, MOBILE, ALA.

INDUSTRIAL WORK AT ATLANTA UNIVERSITY.

MR. H. M. SESSIONS.

Having been connected with this institution more than a year, we have learned from the boys in school from all parts of the South, as well as from our own observation in the State, of the limited scope of the agricultural products in this section. Most of the boys have been accustomed to farm work, and in answer to the question, “What kind of crops have you been used to raising?” they reply invariably, “corn and cotton.” It has been the custom of the planters here to use their means, men, teams and credit to raise cotton. While they are raising crops they run in debt for provisions, and at the end of the year frequently fail to realize enough from the crops to pay the bills. Some are learning the better way of raising a variety of crops for the family, and a few acres of cotton for a money crop. The great want of successful farming is fertilizers. The land is so impoverished that there is no use in trying to raise a crop without. With plenty of manure, we can secure as good crops as can be raised anywhere. Our tables were supplied last summer with a great variety of vegetables and our barns filled with fodder. Twelve acres only out of the sixty owned by the Institution have been under cultivation, our own table with 240 boarders making a market. The advantages of climate enable us to raise two or three crops a year on the same land. The soil is capable of producing any and every variety of crops that can be raised elsewhere in the United States.

Whatever possibilities may be attained in literary pursuits for generations to come, most of the manual labor at the South will be performed by the colored man. The great want at the present time is skilled laborers. The abundant resources are awaiting men as well as means for their development—men skilled in all the useful trades, educated in both muscle and brain, such as can plan as well as execute. There is a surplus of ignorant laborers South who cannot set themselves to work at anything but the most menial service. If the present generation can be instructed by skilled labor how to get a good living and earn money to educate their children, then the next generation can take a step higher. The opportunities offered the boys here to learn the useful arts will be enlarged. At the present time we are only developing the agricultural department in a small way for want of means. We are trying to utilize the labor of the boys for their advantage, as well as profit to the Institution. With a fair supply of mulberry trees, we propose to commence the culture of silk. This spring we have twenty-five boys competing for the premiums offered for the largest product of early garden vegetables grown on the square rod. The work is to be done during play hours and the crop harvested before the close of the term, the 15th of June. Monthly lectures on important farm topics are given to the students. We need an endowment of $30,000 for a school of agriculture, and the same amount for the mechanic arts.

[175]

AFRICA AT ATLANTA.

In a private letter Mrs. Chase writes about a young man from the west coast of Africa as follows: I must tell you about Philip. We had very interesting meetings last week. Thursday the topic was for the church. Philip who had not had courage to speak in meetings before this year, got up and said he was ashamed of having been so afraid of being laughed at by the boys; he expected in a few years to teach about Jesus in his own country—and it is your country, too. He then went on with his intense earnestness and broken English to tell of his home—how dear it was to him and how dear his people were—how sad it was that they did not know about Jesus, till I do not think there was a dry eye in the room. The meeting the next night was a larger one, as we have no study hours Friday night. We saw the effect of Philip’s thrilling words. More than one referred to them. A young woman who decided to be a missionary to Africa last year, said every word Philip spoke seemed meant for her. “To think that boy, who was a heathen such a little while ago, could justly say such things to us with our privileges, made me feel condemned. I want to preach the gospel to the heathen. I pray that I may be fitted for the blessed work. I don’t want money, I don’t want fame, but I do want such a spirit that it shall be my meat and drink to do my Father’s will.” Philip’s Bible, which he brought with him, is very fine print, and has no references. He wanted a new one, so as he had earned some money in summer, one of the teachers purchased him one. He is so pleased with it he takes it to bed with him. One day he asked his teacher if he could not buy some silk to cover it with. When she suggested covering it with paper, he did not like it at all. I am so glad he is with us, he is a great power.

ONE DAY.

BY MISS ADELE BREWER, RALEIGH, N.C.

Would you like to spend Sunday with us among the colored people at the South? The bell for Sunday School sounded at nine o’clock. At three, we answered the call for church. We saluted the sexton, a pretty girl, who was ringing the bell as we entered. The neat little church still had its Christmas trimmings. We were delighted with everything, the earnest minister, the good organ, the well-trained choir. Every word of the responsive reading was so clearly enunciated that it was a pleasure to listen. The pastor’s wife came in with her manly son and her wee baby. That smallest auditor behaved well. The missionary was there with the orphan she is training. Notices for the week were given out—Lyceum, Church prayer meeting, and the Women’s prayer meeting.

After the benediction, before we had hardly thought of turning in our places, we felt the pressure of a baby’s hand. Little Clara, aged five, had hastened to us. She had come to church alone. It was sweet to look at her and know what an angel of light she is. Her mother, though an invalid, takes in washing. She hires some one to carry the clothes. Clara wishes to grow. “Why?” “So I can tote de clothes.” In former days, long before she came to earth, her parents were prosperous. They bought land and built two houses, one for themselves and one to rent. Her father, still in the prime of life, is paralyzed and blind. Day after day he sits by the fire, unable to read, or work, or move. We have seen his blind, twitching face light tenderly at the touch of his only child. Clara led us along slowly, and we chatted with the missionary and her friends. One young lady has bought land, built a house for herself and furnished it well with carpet and organ. She is helping her sisters in their education. We met many whose friends were at school. We shook hands with the good deacons.

[176]

Some young girls were waiting at home for us. They wished to talk about “going North.” As soon as they had left, a friend sent by us an orange to Mrs. Knowles. In her one dark room, over a smoky fireplace, she was sitting, paralyzed, rheumatic and very “painy,” without kith or kin to help her, dependent on neighbors for food, wood and water; her lot did not seem an enviable one. “The children are mighty kind to me.” Boys come in and cut a stick of wood at a time. She cooks meal, her chief article of food, in three different ways, “so as to have a little variety, you know.” Often suffers for “suthing t’eat;” seldom knows whence the next dinner will come.

As we left the room we heard crying. Leaning by the fence, alone and screaming, was a little girl. “What is it?” “A boy threw a rock and hit me here,” showing her side. “Where is your home?” “Right over yonder.” “Shall I take you there?” “No; mother is not there.” It proved that her sister and friend were frolicking and helping (?) Mrs. Knowles. Her sister answered the appeal for help. “Hush, Queen; quit making such a fuss.” The friend explained: “She never did like to be hit by a rock, nohow.” We noticed the feet of the friend. A piece of leather tied around them, showing the bare toes. Many children can not go to Sunday-school because they have no shoes.

After tea we went to the S. S. Concert. In giving out the subject, the teacher said she did not want to call it a Lying Concert, though the verses were about lying, so she called it a Truth Concert. The room was full. Little Clara’s mother could not go, so the wee maiden invited a young lady to be her escort. The concert was excellent. The texts were well recited and the pastor’s remarks summed up the matter. At the close an appeal was made in behalf of a poor and sick scholar. A member of her class carried around the basket, and a dollar and seventy-nine cents was given in response. This little church takes up three collections a day, yet its members are very poor and the winter has been hard on all. One family stayed in bed till late in the afternoon to save wood to cook supper. A young man, sick with consumption, had nothing provided for him but bacon and cornmeal, which his delicate appetite loathed. It is hard to earn much, receiving thirty cents a week for a washing. We asked a widow if she was comfortable when her husband was alive. “Oh yes; I had plenty to eat, plenty to eat. He was cross sometimes, as men are, but I always had plenty to eat.” We lay down to rest that night with new feelings of gratitude and shame. “What shall we render unto the Lord for all His benefits?”

COLOR LINE IN FLORIDA.

BY REV. ALBERT P. MILLER.

While the “color-line” is being freely discussed in the leading Christian journals of the day, as to so-called “mixed churches,” the following incident may show to the Christian world the attitude taken by the African Methodist Episcopal Church—400,000 strong—with whose work I was very pleasantly connected last year. One of our preachers, a Rev. C. J. Croom, having charge of the Hamburg circuit in the East Florida Conference, was last year holding a series of revival meetings. The spirit waxed hot, and large numbers came rolling in from every quarter night after night. Conversions began to crown the efforts of the pastor, among the colored members of the congregation. As is very often the case several white friends were in attendance. One night after a soul-stirring sermon the preacher called on all who wanted to be prayed for to come and bow at the front seats. A great many came, and among these a white woman, who that night was deeply convicted. Her mother, brother and sister were terribly enraged, that she should be out so late at a “nigger meeting,” and came down on her very heavily. The next night, however, found her, more anxious than ever, at the “nigger revival.” The mother, who would not go herself, sent her son and daughter to bring their sister home. On arriving they became so much interested in what was going on that they decided to remain. They began to feel “funny.” Still they sat and looked on and saw their sister again press forward for prayer. They still felt “funny,” but[178] couldn’t go. By and by the sister, who sat in the audience, went to get her anxious sister, and take her home. No sooner had she put her hands on her than she herself fell under conviction, and both that night were happily converted to God. Their brother at once became deeply concerned, and was soon rejoicing with his sisters and the Negroes in the “liberty wherewith Christ doth make his children free.”

“Big Sunday” came, day for communion and reception of members. Candidates received on profession were to be baptized, either by sprinkling or immersion. Our white brother and his two dear sisters having been received into full membership chose to go down under the water, which they did with several others, being baptized by Bro. Croom. Some of the white neighbors were a little offended at the conduct of both the colored preacher and his white brother and sisters in the Lord, and asked him to leave. But he told them frankly that he didn’t convert the candidates, and that if the same God who had changed their hearts, led them also to seek admission into his church, there was nothing, either in his Bible or his discipline, that would prohibit their becoming regular members of his church. Bro. Croom tells me that these three converts are among the most faithful of his members, and that he “would be glad to receive many more such members into the African Methodist Episcopal Church, for God is no respecter of persons,” and why should we be?

WOMAN’S MISSIONARY ASSOCIATION.

BY MISS M. K. LUNT, SELMA.

The Alabama Branch of the Woman’s Missionary Association held its annual meeting in the Normal room of Talladega College, March 27. The attendance was good, and the reports from the local societies very encouraging. The officers, with but two exceptions, were re-elected to serve for the coming year. After devotional exercises, Mrs. De Forest gave an address of welcome, in which she reminded us of the important work God had put in our hands to carry on, and that our part is to be doers, leaving results to Him. The local societies have given considerable time to industrial work, disposing of clothing, quilts, and fancy articles, aggregating the sum of $175, disbursing for Foreign Missions and home interests $116.85, leaving a balance for further distribution. Mothers’ meetings, children’s meetings, and sewing classes have received their share of attention. At the public meeting in March, in Selma, Mrs. McDougal, correspondent of the New York Weekly Witness, was present, and all enjoyed her fresh, practical and inspiring words.

Several papers were listened to with interest, the first read by Miss Jillson, on “Our Duty to Foreign Missions and the means by which an interest may be Promoted.” Miss Plimpton and Mrs. A. W. Curtis followed in discussion on the subject. Mrs. Curtis spoke of the joy her husband’s mother felt in giving three sons to the missionary fields; how this love had been awakened in her children by reading to them from the Missionary Herald. Mrs. Andrews read letters of greeting from the President and Secretary of the Boston Association. Miss Chafin sent a paper, on “Do we owe a Tenth to the Lord?”

A poem was read by Miss Partridge, “So Much to do at Home.” In this an African Chief is begging for some Christian teachers to go with him to lead his people to the Saviour, but is denied because there is so much at home to be done. Mrs. Fay gave a talk on “How to organize Missionary Societies,” urging the members of those churches who have no such organization to form one at once.

Miss Mickle presented another paper on “Hath She Done what She Could?” Mrs. Steele of Chattanooga, Tenn., was present and offered the closing prayer. Singing was interspersed, and we felt that the hours had brought to us an encouragement and strength which will make us more hopeful for the future.

[179]

NOTES FROM THE FIELD.

—A Welsh Cong. Church has been organized at Rock Creek, Tenn., with 22 members, by the Rev. Wm. H. Thomas.

—Rev. L. C. Joell, a recent graduate of the Theol. Dept. of Howard University, has been appointed for church work at Greenwood, S.C.

—More than two score souls are reported to have been converted at a series of meetings conducted by Revs. Imes and Fields at Memphis, Tenn.

—A revival is reported in connection with the labors of Rev. B. F. Foster at Fayetteville, Ark.

—Rev. Milus Harris, of Talladega, is conducting school and church services at Tecumseh, Ala., in the building erected by the Tecumseh Iron Co.

—A church of fourteen members has been recognized by Council at Jackson, Miss. The sermon was by Supt. Roy. Most of the members had been students at Tougaloo University.

—The Mississippi Association of Cong. Churches and ministers was organized at Tougaloo, Miss., March 31. Pres. Pope and Rev. C. L. Harris were elected as delegates to the National Council. A missionary committee was appointed to take charge of two missions already established.

—Supt. Roy has organized a church of ten members at Knoxville, Tenn., which was recognized by Council April 22. Rev. Simon Peter Smith, from Washington, has been assigned to this charge. A church edifice has been secured.

—The Central Church, New Orleans, under the ministration of Rev. Dr. Alexander, has received forty new members during the year. The church pays $50 a month towards the pastor’s salary.

—Miss Gerrish, who has been sustained by the ladies of Iowa, as missionary, in connection with the Central Church, New Orleans, has been greatly blessed in her work done in the mothers’ meeting and the sewing class. Twelve hundred calls were made by her during the first six months of her service.

—A church was organized at Fayetteville, Ark., with nine members, April 15. Supt. Roy and Rev. B. F. Foster, the pastor of the church, were in attendance. At the first communion season the church was made happy in the use of a new communion set and an outfit of chapel lamps from Rev. Geo. M. Boynton’s people, Jamaica Plain, Mass.

—The Spirit of God has been poured out upon both church and school at the Le Moyne Institute. In the normal department of the school there are but six or eight who do not profess Christ. Eighty per cent. of all the students are reported to be seeking to lead Christian lives. Over fifty souls have recently professed faith in Christ, about twenty of whom will soon be added to the church.

—Prof. Hitchcock, of Straight University, New Orleans, has interested parties on the ground to provide for orange and other fruit trees to be planted on the square in connection with the University buildings. He is anxious, however, to secure additional funds in order that the planting may be sufficient and immediate.

—A new church has been organized at Birmingham, Ala., under the guidance of Supt. Roy. Rev. Andrew J. Headen has been chosen pastor, and the work is now being carried on with good success.

—Rev. C. W. Francis, of Atlanta, reports the conversion of eighteen students in connection with the University. One is a member of the graduating class and another has been a Roman Catholic.

[180]

THE CHINESE.

THE NEW MISSION IN SOUTH CHINA.

BY REV. W. C. POND.

The memorable event of the month of February—so far as our work is concerned—is the inauguration of the mission of the American Board to Hong Kong, and through Hong Kong to those districts of South China from which most of our Chinese have come. Rev. C. R. Hager, a recent graduate of our Pacific Theological Seminary, and for more than a year past a very successful and greatly beloved pastor at Antioch, in this State, having offered himself to the Board as a Foreign Missionary, was at our own suggestion and request appointed to take charge of this new work, and was ordained as a Missionary at Bethany Church, on Friday, Feb. 16. One of the exercises at the ordination service was an address by Jee Gam, a portion of which, I trust, can be crowded into the space allotted in the Missionary to our work. It will scarcely be necessary for me to add anything, unless it be to say that to my faith this work thus begun looms up in grand proportions, as fraught with most beneficent results. I am prepared in spirit patiently to wait—prepared, if such be God’s will, utterly to fail—but my faith feels so strong, my hopes are so high, so bright, so confident, that I seem to myself already to be entering on the harvest, and the joy of harvest fills my heart.

JEE GAM’S ADDRESS.

It was ten years ago when our Chinese brethren first felt the need of a mission in China at or near the districts from which most of our brethren came. They grew more and more anxious for this mission, when they heard of the aid and refuge given to the persecuted Christians by the other mission in Canton city.

The first three years we often expressed our great desire among ourselves for this mission, but never thought of telling our superintendent, Rev. W. C. Pond. Not a word was said to him until at our usual Wednesday afternoon Bible class, about seven years ago, when the subject of foreign missions was accidentally mentioned. We then told Rev. W. C. Pond what we so much desired. He at once approved of it. Hong Kong was chosen for the seat of this mission, and Mr. Pond requested that those who were able to write a letter should do so, explaining why this mission was so much needed. He accordingly forwarded these letters to the American Missionary Association. Though the Association sympathized with us in our want, yet how this mission could be established looked very doubtful. The matter was left to stand; but we remembered that James tells us to ask in faith, nothing wavering, and we knew that God was able to supply all our needs; so we kept on praying. In the first part of October, 1879, I was greatly surprised by the very generous invitation which the American Missionary Association tendered me to attend its annual meeting at Chicago. I started for the East, but thought nothing of this Hong Kong mission until at the annual meeting, when I felt moved by the Holy Spirit to make an earnest plea for it. I also spoke for it at all the meetings I attended while East.

On the evening of the 4th of August, 1882 (the same day the Chinese Restriction bill went into effect), the good news came through our superintendent that the American Board had consented to establish the Hong Kong Mission. Oh, how my heart, filled to overflowing, went out to God in thanksgiving and praise! Immediately we called the brethren to tell them the good news. Christ has told us to ask and we shall receive; yet, when this ten years’ prayer was answered, it[181] seemed almost too much to believe, and we are here this evening to praise God once more for his love to us and our benighted countrymen in China. * * *

Having Hong Kong for headquarters, missionaries and teachers can be sent from there to preach and teach in the villages from which our young men come. Besides this, the English language is used more in Hong Kong than in any other part of China, and the Chinese living there, or those visiting that place, could not be reached in a more efficient manner than by opening the same kind of free schools for them that you have opened for us here. They need to know the English language. Of course there are public schools, where both the English and Chinese languages are taught by the British Government, but all have their sessions in the daytime: consequently, the children are the only ones benefited by these schools. There remains the laboring class unreached. If a free evening school is opened, I have no doubt that much good could be done among them. Moreover, Hong Kong is a great highway to all foreign ports, especially San Francisco. Through Hong Kong nearly all the Chinese in the United States have come and will return. If a general mission could be established at this port, much co-operating work could be accomplished between our missions here and that at Hong Kong. Christian Chinese returning home would receive letters of introduction to the superintendent of the Hong Kong mission. This superintendent would have pastoral care over them, and would be a very great help in time of persecution. Converts would be made firmer in faith, and more earnest in leading others to Christ.

The Congregational Association of Christian Chinese, at its last annual meeting, voted to give $500 toward the establishing of this Hong Kong mission, and do all in its power to help in the future. God be praised, for he has shown his wonderful love to China. He is to be praised for this beloved brother, who so kindly offers himself for the Master’s service. He is to be praised for the American Board which sends him. May the Lord raise up many more like workers, who shall devote their lives to China.

Let me add that besides this gift of money, our mission sends with Mr. Hager one of our very best helpers, Lee Sam. We shall miss him greatly, but we have plead for this new work, expecting that it would draw upon us in that way largely. To raise up and train men for Gospel work among the millions beyond the sea, will now be one of the chief ends to be kept in view in our work in California. And because of this, we ask with an intensity of desire scarcely known to us before, a place in the prayers of God’s people throughout our whole land.

CHILDREN’S PAGE.

THE COMING OF THE ORGAN.

BY MRS. WALTER E. C. WRIGHT, BEREA, KY.

“Pine Grove College,” as it is called in Jackson County, needed an organ; there was no doubt about that. But the likelihood of obtaining it seemed small. Away up there in the mountains of Kentucky, there were few who had ever seen an organ, and only the teacher knew how much it would help in the day school, the Sunday-school and the preaching services. So Miss Barton sang herself hoarse trying to teach the children to sing by rote, and on Sunday the minister had to[182] line the hymns for want of books. (Your grandmamma can tell you what I mean by “lining the hymn.”) In all the mountain churches, both colored and white, the people always sing in that way, and having no organ to keep them together, they come out at the end one behind the other, like the “rounds” you sing at school.

MOUNTAIN FAMILY SINGING PSALMS.

One day a teacher from Berea went up to visit the school, and when she saw the bright, eager faces of the children, and the effort the teacher was making to have them learn to sing, she said, “Why, how much you need an organ here. It would lift these children into a whole new world of ideas.” “Yes, I know it,” answered Miss Barton, “but where is it to come from?” Well, Miss D. went home and thought it over, and then wrote to Miss Barton that if the people there would raise thirty dollars, she would see that they had an organ. Miss Barton did not feel much encouraged, for the people in that region are not rich, and one dollar looks very large to them. However, she read Miss D.’s letter to them at Sabbath school, and explained what an advantage it would be to have the instrument to use. To her great surprise they pledged the amount at once, though many of them cannot afford sugar in their coffee, or butter on the corn bread, which, with bacon, is the staple of their living. I have not time to tell how Miss D. raised the rest of the money, how she found a dealer who had a very fine organ to sell at second hand,[183] and who threw off fifteen dollars when he found for what she wanted it—nor how one friend in Tallmadge and another in Akron helped on, and at last the organ was ordered and sent. It was expected on a certain Saturday, and on Sunday morning you might have seen the people gathering in unusually large numbers. All who did not walk came on horseback. There a mother with her baby on her arm, and a little girl behind her on the family horse. Here the father, with a three-year-old boy behind him on the colt, and yonder three older children on another horse, all sitting with that easy security they express when they say “I was born on a horse,” and thinking no more about it than you do when you ride in a street car.

But when the people reached the school-house their faces fell as they came in one after another and saw there was no organ on the platform. The wagon had broken down bringing it over the almost impassable roads from the station twenty miles away, and at last Sunday-school was commenced with a feeling of disappointment in all hearts. Even brave Miss Barton felt a lump in her throat, for she had counted on it like the meeting of an old friend in a strange land. But just in the middle of the lesson the creaking of wheels was heard and some men came in with something still encased in the box in which it was packed. No more lesson that day. Every boy and girl, colored and white, was as eager and curious as if this was a stray cage from some menagerie. Finally, with some little trouble, the packing-case was removed, and there was a plain, quiet little walnut thing, looking some like a small cupboard, and now the question arose on which side was it made to stand? The teacher, seeing the dilemma, suggested the proper base, on which it was firmly placed. Then a chair was brought, some books piled on it—and then they found there was no key. But somebody produced a nail, the cover was lifted, and there was their organ smiling at them and showing every one of its pretty white teeth. And oh, when the wonderful thing began to sing, how pleased they were! The children forgot that they too could sing

“Praise God from whom all blessings flow,”

while listening to the beautiful, strange voice. Presently they gained courage and joined in the Gospel hymns (which the common people do sing gladly), and sang, and sang, and sang, all through the time for Sabbath school and all through the time for preaching.

I think the angels hearing the sounds must have rejoiced that day with great hope for the souls that might be won to repentance through the Coming of the Organ.

RECEIPTS FOR APRIL, 1883.

H. W. HUBBARD, Treas.,

56 Reade St., N.Y.

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 toward the Indians.

STATISTICS FOR 1882.

Churches: In the South—In District of Columbia, 1; Virginia, 1; North Carolina, 9; South Carolina, 2; Georgia, 14; Kentucky, 7; Tennessee, 4; Alabama, 14; Kansas, 2; Arkansas, 1; Louisiana, 17; Mississippi, 5; Texas, 6. Africa, 3. Among the Indians, 2. Total, 88.

[189]

WANTS.

1. A steady INCREASE of regular income to keep pace with the growing work. 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 accommodate the increasing number 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.

PROPOSED CONSTITUTION OF THE AMERICAN MISSIONARY ASSOCIATION.

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. Members may be constituted for life by the payment of thirty dollars into the treasury of the Association, with the written declaration at the time or times of payment that the sum is to be applied to constitute a designated person a life member; and such membership shall begin sixty days after the payment shall have been completed.

Every church which has within a year contributed to the funds of the Association and every State Conference or Association of such churches may appoint two delegates to the Annual Meeting of the Association; such delegates, duly attested by credentials, shall be members of the Association for the year for which they were thus appointed.

Art. IV. The Annual Meeting of the Association shall be held in the month of October or November, at such time and place as may be designated by the Executive Committee, by notice printed in the official publication of the Association for the preceding month.

Art. V. The officers of the Association shall be a President, five Vice-Presidents, a Corresponding Secretary or Secretaries, a Recording Secretary, a Treasurer, Auditors, and an Executive Committee of fifteen members, all of whom shall be elected by ballot.

At the first Annual Meeting after the adoption of this Constitution, five members of the Executive Committee shall be elected for the term of one year, five for two years and five for three years, and at each subsequent Annual Meeting, five members shall be elected for the full term of three years, and such others as shall be required to fill vacancies.

Art. VI. To the Executive Committee shall belong the collecting and disbursing of funds, the appointing, counseling, sustaining and dismissing of missionaries and agents, and the selection of missionary fields. They shall have authority to fill all vacancies in office occurring between the Annual Meetings; to apply to any Legislature for acts of incorporation, or conferring corporate power; to make provision when necessary for disabled missionaries and for the widows and children of deceased missionaries, and in general to transact all such business as usually appertains to the Executive Committees of missionary and other benevolent societies. The acts of the Committee shall be subject to the revision of the Annual Meeting.

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

[190]

Art. VII. No person shall be made an officer of this Association who is not a member of some evangelical church.

Art. VIII. Missionary bodies and churches or individuals may appoint and sustain missionaries of their own, through the agency of the Executive Committee, on terms mutually agreed upon.

Art. IX. No amendment shall be made to this Constitution except by the vote of two-thirds of the members present at an Annual Meeting, the amendment having been approved by the vote of a majority at the previous Annual Meeting.

Transcriber’s Notes

Obvious printer’s punctuation errors and omissions silently corrected. Period spellings and authors’ grammar have been retained. Inconsistent hyphenation retained due to the multiplicity of authors. The following printer’s errors were corrected.

Images have been moved outside of paragraphs, causing page numbers for cuts to be slightly off.

Restored missing “o” in “to” on page 176 (so as to).

Restored missing “f” in “of” on page 181 (any other part of).

Corrected “grmer” to “firmer” on page 181 (firmer in faith).

Restored missing “0” in the Memphis entry on page 187.

Restored missing “5” in the second Wilmington entry on page 187.

Changed “Fragance” to “Fragrance” on page 190 (Beauty and Fragrance).