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  VOL. XXXII.                                           No. 7.

                                THE

                       AMERICAN MISSIONARY.

                 *       *       *       *       *

               “To the Poor the Gospel is Preached.”

                 *       *       *       *       *

                            JULY, 1878.




                            _CONTENTS_:


  EDITORIAL.

    PARAGRAPHS                                                   193
    PERMANENT, INTEREST-BEARING INVESTMENTS.—THE CLAIM OF
      NEED                                                       195
    “THESE STUPID BLACKS.”—AN AGED MINISTER’S ENTHUSIASM         197
    THREE EXTRACTS                                               198
    OBITUARY.—ITEMS FROM CHURCHES AND SCHOOLS                    200
    CHINESE ITEMS.—GENERAL NOTES                                 201


  THE FREEDMEN.

    COMMENCEMENT AT HAMPTON INSTITUTE                            203
    FISK UNIVERSITY COMMENCEMENT                                 205
    KENTUCKY: Then and Now                                       206
    GEORGIA: Religious Life in Atlanta University.—A
      Photograph with Lights and Shades                          207
    ALABAMA: Dedication of Emerson Institute.—The Church
      and the Literary Club.—Montgomery—Swayne School—A
      Year’s Work—Closing Exercises.—A Surprise Party in
      a Southern Church—Another Female Missionary Needed.—A
      Blessed Work                                               210


  THE CHINESE.

    JEE GAM’S LETTER                                             215


  THE CHILDREN’S PAGE                                            216


  RECEIPTS                                                       218


  CONSTITUTION                                                   221


  WORK, STATISTICS, WANTS, &c.                                   222

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                             NEW YORK:

         Published by the American Missionary Association,

                      ROOMS, 56 READE STREET.

                 *       *       *       *       *

                Price, 50 Cents a Year, in advance.

                 *       *       *       *       *

           A. Anderson, Printer, 23 to 27 Vandewater St.

                 *       *       *       *       *




                _American Missionary Association_,

                       56 READE STREET, N.Y.

                 *       *       *       *       *


  PRESIDENT.

    HON. E. S. TOBEY, Boston.


  VICE PRESIDENTS.

    Hon. F. D. PARISH, Ohio.
    Rev. JONATHAN BLANCHARD, Ill.
    Hon. E. D. HOLTON, Wis.
    Hon. WILLIAM CLAFLIN, Mass.
    Rev. STEPHEN THURSTON, D. D., Me.
    Rev. SAMUEL HARRIS, D. D., Ct.
    Rev. SILAS MCKEEN, D. D., Vt.
    WM. C. CHAPIN, Esq., R. I.
    Rev. W. T. EUSTIS, Mass.
    Hon. A. C. BARSTOW, R. I.
    Rev. THATCHER THAYER, D. D., R. I.
    Rev. RAY PALMER, D. D., N. Y.
    Rev. J. M. STURTEVANT, D. D., Ill.
    Rev. W. W. PATTON, D. D., D. C.
    Hon. SEYMOUR STRAIGHT, La.
    Rev. D. M. GRAHAM, D. D., Mich.
    HORACE HALLOCK, Esq., Mich.
    Rev. CYRUS W. WALLACE, D. D., N. H.
    Rev. EDWARD HAWES, Ct.
    DOUGLAS PUTNAM, Esq., Ohio.
    Hon. THADDEUS FAIRBANKS, Vt.
    SAMUEL D. PORTER, Esq., N. Y.
    Rev. M. M. G. DANA, D. D., Ct.
    Rev. H. W. BEECHER, N. Y.
    Gen. O. O. HOWARD, Oregon.
    Rev. EDWARD L. CLARK, N. Y.
    Rev. G. F. MAGOUN, D. D., Iowa.
    Col. C. G. HAMMOND, Ill.
    EDWARD SPAULDING, M. D., N. H.
    DAVID RIPLEY, Esq., N. J.
    Rev. WM. M. BARBOUR, D. D., Ct.
    Rev. W. L. GAGE, Ct.
    A. S. HATCH, Esq., N. Y.
    Rev. J. H. FAIRCHILD, D. D., Ohio.
    Rev. H. A. STIMSON, Minn.
    Rev. J. W. STRONG, D. D., Minn.
    Rev. GEORGE THACHER, LL. D., Iowa.
    Rev. A. L. STONE, D. D., California.
    Rev. G. H. ATKINSON, D. D., Oregon.
    Rev. J. E. RANKIN, D. D., D. C.
    Rev. A. L. CHAPIN, D. D., Wis.
    S. D. SMITH, Esq., Mass.
    Rev. H. M. PARSONS, N. Y.
    PETER SMITH, Esq., Mass.
    Dea. JOHN WHITING, Mass.
    Rev. WM. PATTON, D. D., Ct.
    Hon. J. B. GRINNELL, Iowa.
    Rev. WM. T. CARR, Ct.
    Rev. HORACE WINSLOW, Ct.
    Sir PETER COATS, Scotland.
    Rev. HENRY ALLON, D. D., London, Eng.
    WM. E. WHITING, Esq., N. Y.
    J. M. PINKERTON, Esq., Mass.


  CORRESPONDING SECRETARY.

    REV. M. E. STRIEBY, _56 Reade Street, N. Y._


  DISTRICT SECRETARIES.

  REV. C. L. WOODWORTH, _Boston_.
  REV. G. D. PIKE, _New York_. REV.
  JAS. POWELL, _Chicago, Ill._

  EDGAR KETCHUM, ESQ., _Treasurer, N. Y._
  H. W. HUBBARD, ESQ., _Assistant Treasurer, N. Y._
  REV. M. E. STRIEBY, _Recording Secretary_.


  EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.

    ALONZO S. BALL,
    A. S. BARNES,
    EDWARD BEECHER,
    GEO. M. BOYNTON,
    WM. B. BROWN,
    CLINTON B. FISK,
    A. P. FOSTER,
    AUGUSTUS E. GRAVES,
    S. B. HALLIDAY,
    SAM’L HOLMES,
    S. S. JOCELYN,
    ANDREW LESTER,
    CHAS. L. MEAD,
    JOHN H. WASHBURN,
    G. B. WILLCOX.


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.

                 *       *       *       *       *




                                THE

                       AMERICAN MISSIONARY.

                 *       *       *       *       *

              VOL. XXXII.    JULY, 1878.       No. 7.

                 *       *       *       *       *




_American Missionary Association._


       *       *       *       *       *


We are happy to state that the “New Cartridges” are in frequent
demand, and from sources which insure their best and most judicious
use. By the way, that name, which was used quite casually, appears
to have clung to them, so that they are called for under that title
more than as the Pamphlets. One brother writes: “I am the only one
in our religious society that fires the American Missionary gun
at the mission meetings, and I want cartridges to suit.” Another
says: “I will fire them at my people in the course of a month or
two, and you shall have the game.” And a third: “I hope they will
kick enough to have you feel the effect.” We refer any who may not
understand these allusions to the list of new Pamphlets on the last
page of the cover. We send them free to all who will use them and
let us “have the game.”

       *       *       *       *       *

The question is frequently asked, especially at our Boston
office, “What is the price of the Questions and Songs prepared
for Sunday-school concerts?” We answer: They are furnished
gratuitously, and gladly, to any pastor or superintendent who will
use them as designed. Only send in your requests for them for this
purpose, and you shall receive them free. The interest and the
gifts which they incite pay us a hundred fold.

       *       *       *       *       *

At the Boston Anniversary, held May 23d, addresses were made by
Rev. George R. Merrill, of Biddeford, Maine, and by President
Buckham, of the University of Vermont. The remarks of the latter
appear in full in the _Congregationalist_.

       *       *       *       *       *

The season of the year has come again, when the schools are
closing, and teachers returning North for the summer. The year’s
work being ended, the laborers must be paid. Just at this time the
receipts grow less, and the income is not so well adapted as at
other times to the unusual outgo. If the churches which have taken
their collections recently will forward them promptly, and if those
who are purposing to send us money soon will send it a few days
sooner, we may be saved considerable embarrassment. We do not want
to have a single teacher’s or preacher’s claim unpaid the day it
becomes due and is presented.

       *       *       *       *       *

We have referred recently more than once to special wants among our
Southern institutions, especially at Tougaloo and Talladega. Both
of these, and Straight University as well, are in pressing need
of new dormitories, to accommodate the students from abroad, who
come to them for instruction unless deterred by the well-known want
of room. Several thousands of dollars have been pledged for the
Tillotson Normal School in Texas, an eligible site for which has
been already secured; and it is important that this stock should
grow speedily to be a fruit-bearing tree. These special needs must
be kept in mind, and if there should be, during the summer months,
some special pleas for help in meeting them, we trust the friends
of the freedmen will be ready to respond, if not waiting impatient
to be asked. Some of these college presidents and professors will
be in the North before very long, and may think it worth while to
tell the things they know and the things they have not got, which
are often harder to bear than the things they have. The pleasantest
way of all would be for their friends to lay by in store something
for them, that there be no gatherings when they come.

       *       *       *       *       *

Special exigencies during the past year demanded of us that we
should have a special agent in the field. It was necessary that the
burned buildings at Macon, Mobile, New Orleans and Savannah should
be replaced as speedily as it could be wisely and intelligently
done. It was not merely to rebuild, but to build better, both as
to location and adaptation for the work, with a constant view to
economy and the limits of insurance money. The Executive Committee
persuaded Prof. T. N. Chase to leave his chair, at Atlanta
University, temporarily, and undertake the general supervision
of the educational work, and, especially, the oversight of these
important measures for replacing, improving and enlarging the
school buildings. We have now gratefully to record the achievement
of this latter work, in great part, and its forwardness so far
as it is not yet fully done. Three of the locations have been
changed, involving the sale and purchase of lands. Plans have been
made, altered, adapted, in all cases, we believe, to the excellent
accommodation of the schools and churches, and to the entire
satisfaction of the teachers and missionary pastors.

As Prof. Chase returns to his chosen and preferred work at Atlanta,
we desire to express our appreciation of the great value of
his services in this special work. Nor has his usefulness been
limited to the supervision of buildings alone. He has always
had more interest in the schools themselves than in their mere
habitations; and his suggestions in regard to them have been
valuable and practical, while in many other ways he has rendered
important service to the executive officers of the Association. The
wider acquaintance which he has made during his journeyings and
sojournings with the work at large, will, we doubt not, increase
his usefulness to the institution with which he has been so long
and honorably connected.

       *       *       *       *       *

It may be remembered that we said, at the beginning of the year,
that we should be glad to make the enlargement of the Southern
church work the characteristic work of 1878. We have not done very
much as yet in this direction, though the subject has constantly
and increasingly received attention and earnest thought. And yet
it is a matter which, for practical results, must be considered
in detail, rather than at large; in the concrete, rather than in
the abstract; and in the field, rather than in the office. This
consideration, in part, as well as the frequent need of speedy
communication with the various departments of our Southern work,
have led us to be on the lookout for a man peculiarly qualified
for the position of Field-Superintendent of the Southern work.
Providentially, in the changes going on in the Home Missionary
Society, the Rev. J. E. Roy, D. D., of Chicago, was at liberty to
consider the claims of this position, which was tendered to him.
And we are glad to announce, as the weekly press has already done,
that Dr. Roy has accepted the position, and will enter speedily
upon its duties, making his home at Atlanta, Ga., during the larger
part of the year.

It must not be expected by our friends that there will follow this
new appointment a rapid and spasmodic enlargement of the Church
work, or that the first few months will add largely to the small
list of Congregational churches in the South. The Doctor is too
wise and experienced a field-marshal to design or desire any such
sudden and apparent gain. Nor shall we estimate his efficiency by
any such shallow measure. But we can assure the friends of the A.
M. A. that the whole subject will receive a consideration careful,
patient, and detailed, the results of which will appear in a policy
which, we trust, may be consistent and approved. For fifteen years
we have been laying foundations with care, in the education of the
freedmen and their preparation for citizenship in the State. We
believe that this same education is fitting them for a church in
which all are most fully citizens. But, after these years of toil,
efficient, as we think, and full of promise, we wish to build on
these foundations—not wood, hay, stubble, transient and perishable
things, deservedly short-lived and weak;—but the gold, the silver,
and the precious stones of Christian character and Christian
churches, which shall be able to stand all the tests of time and of
temptation.

       *       *       *       *       *


PERMANENT, INTEREST-BEARING INVESTMENTS.

Many persons, affected by financial disasters, have at least one
consolation—what they have given for Jesus’ sake is saved. More
than this, it is bearing interest, and no human power can lessen or
destroy it. It is not like a bond, payable in full at the option
of the one who issues it. It draws interest throughout eternity.
The grain sown will multiply, some thirty, some sixty, and some an
hundred fold, and the sheaves will aggregate a much larger amount
than the seed. Those who have sown bountifully, will reap also
bountifully.

The only bags that wax not old are those woven by gifts. These
are stored away in the heavenly garners, and will add to the
exceeding weight of glory. Gifts do give relief to the recipients;
they further the work for man’s redemption. This fact is the
objective reason for them; it lies upon the surface, and is soonest
comprehended. There are times, however, when it is proper to
consider how our charities may abound to our own account—how we
may secure for ourselves enduring mansions, spotless robes, and
imperishable crowns.

If we have been tempted to trust unduly to uncertain riches, which
have made for themselves wings and used them, it is time to ask,
what investments are safe—what are the treasures that never fail?
Bountiful givers cannot be absolutely poor. They may be called to
wait a little for their inheritance, but only for a little, for
their Master’s word is sure: “Behold, I come quickly, and my reward
is with me, to give to every man according as his work shall be.”

       *       *       *       *       *


THE CLAIM OF NEED.

What claim on us of the Caucasian race—us of the Christian
Church—have the Negro, the Indian, and the Chinaman, the three
despised races in the United States? We, who have the leaven, what
do we owe to those who have it not? We, who are the leaven, what to
that which is a foreign and corrupting mass, that we may transform
it into not only that which is leavened, but, as all which is
itself leavened becomes, into leaven itself?

What claim on us have they?

We answer, the claim of _need_. We do not even say, of want, which
is conscious need, but of need; the mere absence of that which we
have to enjoy, the mere contrast of their want with our plenty,
that of itself is, perhaps, the greatest of all claims.

That is not the truest generosity which waits to be besieged
with tears and cries for help, which lingers behind the closed
door of its comfortable home, until it is called out by special
application, and its sympathies are moved by loud appeals—as that
is not the truest need which proclaims its wants most loudly—but
that which goes and looks, and, knowing or suspecting want, seeks
it out, patiently and lovingly, to relieve it.

So God has treated this sinful world. He looked from heaven, he
saw, he bowed the heavens and came down. It was the need, and not
the prayer, of the world which brought the Lord Jesus to its relief.

Once here, He sees a man lie in the porches of the pool Bethesda;
He only sees him, and He asks at once, “Wilt thou be made whole?”

He sees the multitudes in the wilderness, and it is only bread they
lack, and He has compassion on them, and from the storehouse of the
Father’s wealth, supplies their need.

He sees the sins of the world, in which the world is taking
pleasure and rejoicing, and against their rejection, their
blasphemy, and their persecution, dies by their hands to free them
from their sins.

And if need _be_ a claim, then the claim is in proportion to the
need. That is the loudest call which comes from the deepest depths.
But what are these? Not poverty, for that may consist with all
which is best and worthiest in this life—with intelligence, virtue,
and faith in God. But the opposites of these—ignorance, immorality,
and superstition.

We need not tell you that the 5,000,000 of freed men in the South,
the 300,000 Indians of the Northwest, and the, at least, 150,000
Chinamen on the Pacific Coast, are, by our standard, in this direst
want. The negroes and the Indians, unlettered and unintelligent,
given over by the habits of their lives, these to the vices which
are found among the degraded classes which are domesticated, and
those to the immoralities which attend a wild life, and in both
cases, made worse by the neighborhood of those possessing greater
knowledge and power, but who have used this knowledge and power
only to depress them, and to make them serve the interests of
intelligent greed and lust.

The negro, religious, but full of superstition and sensuousness,
whose religion consists largely in seeing visions and dreaming
dreams, and singing songs of a heaven they are unfit for—a
religion, too, which has been almost utterly divorced from
morality. As General Armstrong says: “The story of the devout old
Auntie who would go to the communion service, and not let one poor
old goose (that she had stolen) come between her and her blessed
Lord, shows how little a broken commandment disturbs the peace of
the unenlightened.” The Indian, with a vague and dreamy notion of
a Great Spirit, and a happy hunting ground, and a definite fear
of the medicine men, who send evil spirits to possess them, and
drive away disease with a dance. The Chinaman, with the remains of
an ancient civilization, which has taught him to imitate and to
worship his ancestors and to burn Josh-sticks to Confucius, and,
though temperate as to the use of alcoholic liquors, has learned
the worse drunkenness of the opium pipe, and to whom the thought
of a Saviour from sin, and a life of doing good, is an unheard-of
gospel. But we may not dwell longer here. This depth of need may
only be hinted at. That it is real and pressing, no one can doubt.

It is a claim which these races have in common with all who are in
want. We merely ask the question: Can you find needs more real,
degradations more deep, and therefore claims more pressing, than
these we need only not shut our eyes to see, for which we need not
cross the ocean, nor even our own continent—the needs of the three
despised, oppressed, and largely neglected races in these United
States?

       *       *       *       *       *


“THESE STUPID BLACKS.”

BY REV. G. B. WILLCOX, D. D.

That they are not altogether idiotic, is occasionally made to
appear rather significantly. In a class in Yale College, not long
ago, was a colored youth of high scholarship and fine promise. In
the same class was a white student from South Carolina, with nearly
or quite the same name, and consequently a seat at recitation
next to the sable scholar. Anent which occurred, substantially,
the following correspondence between the Southern father and a
gentleman of the faculty:

                                            “——, South Carolina.

  “PROF. ——

  “DEAR SIR:—My son informs me that he is obliged to sit next
  a negro day after day, which is highly disagreeable to him
  and offensive to me. Will you please provide some different
  arrangement? Yours, etc.,

                                                          ——.”

                                      “YALE COLLEGE, New Haven.

  “——, ESQ.,

  “DEAR SIR:—Your favor is at hand. It is true that the students
  are arranged alphabetically for the present term, and a colored
  student has his place next to your son. But, at the commencement
  of the next term, the arrangement will be in the order of
  scholarship, in which case, the colored youth will be so near the
  head of the class, and your son, I regret to say, so near the
  other extremity, that there will be no farther embarrassment on
  that score. Yours, etc.,

                                                           ——.”

Speedy result: A note from a disgusted father, calling home a
disgusted son.

       *       *       *       *       *


AN AGED MINISTER’S ENTHUSIASM.

Having commenced my ministry among a class whom it was my lot to
know as slaves, your privilege to know as freedmen, no sooner does
the AMERICAN MISSIONARY cross the threshold of my house than one
pair of eyes is running over its pages. The report of the Alabama
Conference in the May number just received, thus closes a record
that has “stirred a fever in the blood of age”: “I could not ask
a happier lot than to be permitted to give my life to this field.
It seems to me so _unmistakably_ the work of Christ.” I met in the
report one name with which I am familiar, and it occurred to me
that if the sainted mother of him who bears the honored name were
living to-day, she could not ask a happier lot “for her son than to
be permitted to be a laborer in a field where the germinating seed
is giving promise of an abundant harvest in due season.” I have
before me, while I write, a card which that mother, as the wife of
the Treasurer of the American Board, put in circulation, in her own
handwriting, nearly fifty years ago. I have preserved it carefully
during this long period, and it has struck me that it may still do
good service reproduced in the columns of the AMERICAN MISSIONARY.
I will transcribe it in substance. It is a fine specimen of _multum
in parvo_: “Expect great things, and attempt great things. Little
causes produce great effects. The poor heathen are perishing. We
may be the means of saving them. What we do we must do quickly.
‘Love thy neighbor as thyself’ is a Divine command. ‘The Lord
loveth a cheerful giver.’ ‘The liberal soul shall be made fat.’
Who would live to be ‘creation’s blot, creation’s blank, whom none
can love, whom none can thank?’ Rather let the heathen rise up and
call you blessed. The noblest object in the world is the surest of
success. The young and the old, the rich and the poor, may aid it.
The child’s penny, the widow’s mite, will be acceptable. If you
have no money to give, offer a jewel, a second-hand dress, a book,
or if you have none of these, your influence and your prayers.”

Let me repeat one sentence from Mrs. Hill’s card, and emphasize
its application to the work in which the American Missionary
Association is engaged: “_The noblest object in the world is surest
of success._”

                              REV. T. L. SHIPMAN (ordained 1826.)

  JERSEY CITY, CONN.

       *       *       *       *       *


THREE EXTRACTS.

From a paper read by MR. J. H. ALLEY, of Boston, before the Essex
South Conference. The writer testifies, from his own observations,
as to


The Africans in Africa.

The African, in his native land, is little known by us; but a year
among that people gave me opportunities for observation. They are
far from being the stupid race we so often hear them called. Keen
at a bargain, they are often a match for some of us in that boasted
Yankee trait. Apt to learn, quick to understand and to appreciate
advantages, they are a people easy to assume and appropriate the
best results of civilization—brave in the defense of their rights
and homes, yet not aggressive, except when forced by circumstances
and their teachings. We forget the whole history of this people in
looking only at some particular phase or trait. Their land, the
field of the slave-stealer for centuries, has been the scene of
cruelty, fraud, and all the worst forms of vice. A people educated
by so long a course of schooling in its vicissitudes might well
be cruel and vicious. The land has been hunted, from Egypt to the
Cape of Good Hope, by foreign and native stealers. Tribes have
been driven for self-protection, or by greed of gain, to make
captures from other tribes or other parts of their own. To show the
debasing power of slavery and slave-hunting, let me say that I have
seen slaves brought to the coast from the central parts of Africa
who were the most abject specimens of the human race I have ever
known—brought by a strong, stalwart tribe, noble in bearing, and
brave in war; and these, too, were the same tribe or people only
a comparatively short time before. Why this great difference? A
simple explanation is only required to show it all. Together and at
peace, they had a generous and varied diet of animal and vegetable
food, for they had extent of territory in which to hunt and gather;
but divided and at war, fighting for self-protection, one party
gained the supremacy. Then the other were a defeated people;
circumscribed within small limits, unable to hunt, they were soon
confined to a vegetable diet alone, and then to a single kind,
and often to a few simple roots; courage gone, they were reduced
to servitude and slavery, and brought to a market. This is no new
theory, for the same effects have followed the same causes over and
over again.

After references to the evils of slavery in this land, and the good
to be accomplished by it under the Divine overruling, follows this


Thrilling Incident.

One of the most thrilling incidents of the late war was one in
which I was an observer and part participant. I never more wished
for the powers of a great painter than then, or even now, for I can
see it to-day as vividly as when it occurred, fourteen years ago;
for to me it seemed to contain a history of slavery, embodied in
a single act. The army, in suddenly swinging round, had enclosed
within its lines a large number of slaves who could not be taken
further South before this was done. As we could not encumber
ourselves with the women and children, the steamers bringing
supplies for the army were prepared to take them to Washington. A
very large steamer was brought as near the shore as possible, and
a plank gangway, some fifteen feet in length, and at an angle of
about 45°, was laid from the shore to the entryport of the steamer.
Just back from the shore, the bluff, at about the same angle, rose
some 100 feet, and this bluff and the plain above were occupied
and covered by some three or four thousand slaves. All being made
ready, the order was given for embarkation; the women and children
were to go on board first. For some moments no one started, and
then a single figure, that of a woman of some sixty years, was
seen slowly advancing alone up the plank; no one else followed. A
perfect hush seemed to hang over the scene, as if some great event
was to take place, and if ever an emblematic scene was enacted it
was here. Slowly the bent form went forward, bearing the weight of
years of toil in the field—years of bodily and heart suffering such
as you and I never knew, and pray God _never_ may. Her face, her
whole frame, was a perfect picture of a doubt. All eyes seemed to
watch her in silence; officers and men waited—they probably knew
not for what; her own people—as though she was their “path-finder.”
At last she reached the side of the steamer; the open port was
right before her, and just then it seemed to her as the open portal
to all her heart’s longings, and God’s open door. She and her race
had poured, for long years, their tales of trial and suffering into
His ear, “who never slumbers nor sleeps.” _Was this the answer to
her prayers?_ That seemed to be the question of her heart all the
way up. Suddenly the bent form straightened, the homely, wrinkled
face glowed with a new light, her coarse, ragged garb was a royal
robe, as she turned and looked towards her people, raising her hand
and eyes to heaven, and exclaiming, in tones so loud and clear that
they reached every ear, and made the very hills ring: “_I’s free!
Thank God, I’s free! Come on!_” For a single instant there was
perfect silence, and then cheer on cheer rent the air, and, with a
shout, the rest followed up the gangway till the steamer was full.
It was, indeed, their way to liberty and happiness even in this
life, and by such efforts as this Association is making and aiding,
shall it not be to the life to come?

The paper closes with a plea for the liberal support of our work
among the freedmen, enforced by


Two Examples of Liberality.

About giving, let me relate two incidents and I close, for if they
appeal to you as they did to me they will be more effective than
any mere words of mine. As I sat in Mr. Woodworth’s office, the
other day, an elderly lady came in and took a chair by his desk,
saying, as she opened her bag, that she had come to bring her
offering. Her dress was not of the latest fashion, her bonnet was
not of the spring style; but her face was one of those beautiful
motherly faces you and I used to look into years ago, and which,
though years have come and gone since they were covered from our
sight, are still as sweet to our memories as ever—such faces as
we know will greet us lovingly in heaven, for they are watching
and waiting for us, and our entrance there will be, in no small
measure, in answer to their prayers. From her pocket-book she took
a bill and handed it to Mr. W., saying, she wished it were more,
and in such a tone that I knew it was a heart gift, and that the
wish was almost a prayer, which might go with the gift and make
it as effectual as if it were all she had desired it to be. Gifts
made in such a spirit, in His hands, who multiplied the bread of
old, grow to wonderful results. The bill, to my surprise, for I had
imagined the circumstances of the donor to be very limited, was
twenty dollars.

I have another: A poor woman, with an income of less than one
hundred and fifty dollars a year, whose yearly offering had been
a single dollar, came and laid down on the secretary’s desk (I
had almost said at the Master’s feet, for the place seemed sacred
ground) ten dollars, saying that she could not be here long, her
journey was almost ended, and that she felt she must do all the
could while she stayed, for she could not give after she had gone
home, and so, after prayer, long and earnest, she had been enabled
to make this, perhaps her last gift. What a gift from such scanty
resources! It meant the giving up of many necessaries, as we should
call them. Have _we_ so given? She had cast in of her want, and may
well expect to hear the Master’s commendation. May she not have
cast in more than we all?

       *       *       *       *       *


OBITUARY.

We are called to notice the death of REV. SILAS MCKEEN, D. D.,
of Bradford, Vt., whose name, for fourteen years, has stood upon
our list of Vice-Presidents. Mr. McKeen was born in Corinth, Vt.,
March 16, 1791. His education was obtained amid many difficulties.
So great was his desire for knowledge that, in his father’s
grist-mill, he occupied his leisure moments in studying, without
a teacher, Latin and the higher mathematics. During an illness
which caused him to abandon all thoughts of a collegiate education,
he was led to devote himself entirely to the service of Christ;
and, in the following spring, he commenced the study of theology
with Rev. Stephen Fuller, of Vershire. In 1814 he was licensed by
the Orange Association to preach the gospel. His first sermon was
delivered in Vershire, and his second in Bradford, where, shortly
afterwards, he was installed as pastor. Twelve years later, he
was dismissed from this church, but in less than three months was
recalled, and remained its pastor five years longer, when he was
again dismissed, this time that he might accept a call to Belfast,
Me. After nine years of labor in Belfast, he was a second time
invited to return to Bradford. His whole ministry in this place
was about forty-three years, he finally resigning when he was
seventy-five years old. During these years, there were added to
the church three hundred and forty-two members. A man of great
diligence and decision, with tender sympathies and warm affection,
true and judicious, his ordinary work among his own people, as
well as in protracted meetings and in revivals, was eminently
successful. He took a lively interest in education, and was a true
and eloquent friend of the colored people. Full of years, with his
work well done, he was ready to leave it for the reward.

       *       *       *       *       *


ITEMS FROM CHURCHES AND SCHOOLS.

DUDLEY, N. C.—“A deep and increasing religious interest is
reported. The work of conviction and conversion is going on.
Backsliders have been restored. Brother Peebles was assisted for a
time by Rev. Mr. Smith of Raleigh.”

GEORGIA.—Of the thirty-seven graduates from Atlanta University,
thirty are teachers, two are pastors, one is a missionary in
Africa, one a theological student at Andover. Only three are not
teaching or preaching—two who are wives and one who has died.

ALABAMA.—The Trinity Church, Athens, Rev. Horace J. Taylor, pastor,
received one on profession at the May communion. This church has a
flourishing missionary society, which contributed in February $16
for the support of colored missionaries in Africa. It has sustained
during the year just closing, thirteen mission schools, in which
over 700 have been taught.

LOUISIANA.—The Minutes of the Southwestern Congregational
Conference, which met at New Iberia, April 3-5, have been printed.
The statistics give fourteen churches, with a total membership of
865.

—The following relates to a recent convert in one of our churches:
“Mr. K. proves a very strong man in the church. He is evidently
of the material which makes a first-class sinner or a first-class
saint. He was lately invited to a dinner-party by his brother, who,
when he entered the room, began in a mocking way to give an account
of his (Mr. K’s) conversion. Mr. K. listened patiently, and when
the account was finished, said it was true, but all had not been
told. He then gave his own story in such a way that one of the
company there determined to follow his example.”

MEMPHIS, TENN.—Miss Woodward writes: “For the past thirteen weeks
the Murphy temperance movement has been very successful among the
white people of Memphis. A few earnest workers, seeing the need
of a like effort among the colored people here, inaugurated a
series of meetings at the Second Congregational Church. From the
first there has been a very decided interest manifested, and the
meetings are productive of great good, both directly and as a means
of awakening thought on this important subject. Some two hundred
in all have signed the pledge, and new names are added at every
meeting.”

TOUGALOO, MISS.—A teacher writes: “I think there is not one in the
school who has not signed the pledge. They came in one by one, till
last week one who has stood out all these months, came and put
his name on the list of total abstainers. He said: ‘You all got
away with me at the meeting last night, and I am going to sign the
pledge, for I cannot teach others to do what I will not do myself.’”

—The following is a good illustration of perseverance among the
colored people of the South. While the missionary was persuading
a sick woman to put her trust in Jesus, the husband came in, when
the following conversation took place: “Mr. Williams, are you a
Christian?” “No, Miss, I’s left on de docket yet.” “Do you ever
think about becoming one?” “Yes, Miss, I thinks a heap about it
sometimes. I tries a while, then I stops.” “I fear you do not seek
for it as you do for money; you should keep at it all the time, as
you do when working for money.” “Yes, Miss, that is jes the way I
works for money. I works a while for the ole man, then I stops. Jes
the same way, Miss.”

       *       *       *       *       *


CHINESE ITEMS.

—Wong Sam has returned from China, and has resumed his place in the
Barnes School. Lee Hame, who was there before, has been sent to
Sacramento. There are now four Chinese helpers regularly employed.

—Mr. Dakin has retired from the Central School, having removed to
Arizona. Mr. Henry C. Pond, a son of our efficient superintendent,
takes his place. He is a graduate of the State University, and well
qualified for the work.

—Mr. Gilbert is doing good work at Woodland, and approving himself
to all.

—Six Chinamen were received to Bethany Church June 2d, making
forty-four Chinese members in all. There are two Chinese Christian
families in the church.

       *       *       *       *       *


GENERAL NOTES.

The Negro.

—Howard University, for colored students, Washington, D. C., shows
a strength of two hundred and twenty-five in all departments.
There are thirty-two theological students, fifty medical, six law,
twenty-two academical, eighteen preparatory, and ninety-five in the
Normal department.

—The Reformed Episcopal Church has organized fourteen colored
congregations in and around Charleston, S. C. Some of them meet in
log buildings. One church is staggering under a debt of ten dollars.

—The Baltimore Annual Conference of the A. M. E. Church passed
resolutions denouncing the action of the School Commissioners of
that city, in refusing to employ colored teachers for the separate
schools for colored children. Two colored delegates, representing
the African Methodist Church, were most cordially received.

—Prof. Bennett, of Nashville, makes an important contribution to
the question of negro mortality, in the _Independent_. He sums up
the causes of its large percentage: (1) The old and sick, broken
by slavery, are dying as the effect of former hardships; (2) they
lack vital force, are scrofulous, and readily succumb to disease;
(3) ignorance of the laws of health; (4) late and excited religious
meetings; (5) inadequate clothing and food; (6) crowded tenement
house life. He also names the following grounds for expecting an
improvement: (1) They are gradually improving their condition,
as to homes, food and clothing; (2) they are progressing in
intelligence and knowledge of the laws of health; (3) the younger
ministers are leading them to earlier hours and quieter modes
of worship; (4) boards of health are securing better sanitary
conditions.

—The first negro who has sat on an important jury in New York, in
many years, was accepted May 22d, in the Supreme Court circuit, in
a case involving $6,500.

—Should the barque _Azor_ make four trips a year, it would take one
hundred years to transport to Africa the 100,000 now ready to go,
and able and willing to pay $20 each for passage and food. It is
most important that the 99,000, at least, should neither give up
home nor work.

—A French Roman Catholic mission is to be established at Lakes
Victoria and Tanganyika, in Central Africa, with government aid to
the amount of $20,000. Ten missionaries, who have seen service in
Northern Africa, will soon set out for Zanzibar. They have already
large and extending missionary enterprises in the north and in the
south.

       *       *       *       *       *


The Indian.

—It is hard to tell, from the contradictory accounts, whether
Sitting Bull will continue seated over the Canada lines, trading in
the spoils of raids on Black Hills trains, or will issue from his
camp of 1,500 lodges to take possession of his old home and fight
out his claim to the end. Authorities differ.

—Meanwhile, the Bannock Indians, numbering about 200 warriors,
under the command of Buffalo Horn, the noted scout, are encamped in
the lava beds, between Big Campus Prairie and Snake River, and have
ordered the whites to leave the prairie on penalty of death. The
Indians on the Upper Columbia are equally hostile, and the Sioux
still threatening.

—General Sherman says that, if the present indications of an Indian
war are realized, and he fears they will be, the army, as it now
stands, would be entirely insufficient to cope with the weight of
Indian strategy and valor that would be thrown against it.

—The Commissioner of Indian Affairs is about to try a new
experiment with the Indians. He has given orders forbidding further
gratuitous issue of coffee and sugar to them at their agencies.
In order to secure application to duty on their part, he says
that only as they work, and in payment for their labor, will they
receive coffee and sugar rations in future.

—The _Tribune_ says: “The Senate will certainly raise the army to
25,000 men, and concur in the transfer of the Indian Bureau to the
War Department. The first will almost certainly be yielded by the
House in Conference Committee, and the other has already received
its approval.” The same paper contains this paragraph, also:
“Before the Indian Bureau is transferred from the Interior to the
War Department, however, Congress should strive to comprehend the
fact that even the War Department can have very little success in
managing Indian affairs unless we contrive to attain some settled
Indian policy. We have been in the habit of putting the Indians
by turns under the immediate care of missionaries and thieves,
of Quakers and Catholics, of army officers and contractors. We
have made solemn treaties, and broken them. We have moved them to
reservations, and then crowded them off whenever they were found
to be in the way. We have pauperized them by promising supplies,
and starved them by breaking our promises. We have made a pretence
of civilizing them, without furnishing them with any code of law,
and of educating them, without furnishing them with any teachers.
After supplying them with rifles to fight with, and worrying them
into hostilities, we have made war upon them; and when they have
proved so conspicuously cruel and treacherous as to deserve swift
retribution, we have tried moral suasion. No one ever dreamed that
the same tribe was to receive the same treatment for two successive
years, and no two tribes ever received the same treatment at the
same time. What is first needed is a definite and persistent policy
of some kind, so that both Indians and white men will be able to
form some clear idea of what will probably happen the day after
to-morrow. A bad system is better than no system; any system is
better than caprice.”

—A small Indian church was dedicated at Jamestown, Clallam County,
Washington Territory, Sunday, May 12th, by Rev. M. Eells. The idea
of erecting it originated entirely with the Indians, who bought
the lumber, and have done all the work. The windows and casings,
nails, paint, oil, and lime came as annuity goods. They have also
had encouragement, pecuniarily, from white friends. It is the first
church building in the county, although it has been settled for
about twenty years, and the first white house in the Indian village.

       *       *       *       *       *




THE FREEDMEN.

       *       *       *       *       *


COMMENCEMENT AT HAMPTON INSTITUTE.

BY TELESCOPE.

This always interesting occasion came on the 23rd of May. The
special feature of public interest this year was the attendance of
the President of the United States, with his private secretary,
Rogers, and General Devens and Mr. McCrary of the Cabinet. A large
party went, also, from New York and Boston on this most enjoyable
and instructive excursion.

The trustees were in session on Wednesday, the 22d, on which
day also was held the first meeting of the graduates of Hampton
Institute. There were assembled in the beautiful “Whittier Chapel,”
on the upper floor of Virginia Hall, a large representation of
the 277 who had gone out, most of them as teachers of their race.
Of that whole number, not a complaint has been made. They have
become good and useful citizens, maintaining the high moral tone
of Hampton, and evidencing that growth in character which is the
best witness to the existence of a true life within. Says the
correspondent of the Springfield _Republican_:

“All this was abundantly manifest by their general bearing on this
occasion, the prompt organization of their meeting, the dignity
and good sense of their presiding officer, a negro black as night,
the secretary likewise, but models of courtesy and tact, their
self-possessed and orderly manner of conducting their business
in a large presence of trustees, teachers, and visitors, in the
accounts they gave of their work, their trials, their methods, and
successes.”

After giving reports of their varied experiences, hindrances, and
hopes, a discussion followed as to the desirableness of raising the
educational standard of Hampton and making it a real college. There
was a good deal of feeling in favor of such a move, and the alumni
came, finally, to a standing vote requesting such a change of the
trustees and faculty.

General Armstrong, the Principal, seconded by Secretary Strieby,
the President of the Board of Trustees, with a good deal of
frankness and tact, managed to bring the meeting to a feeling of
the sensibleness of just such a course as that they had enjoyed,
and to receive finally, in response, hearty expressions of approval
of that which had been already done, and of the general sufficiency
of the advantages provided.

Early on Thursday morning the Presidential party arrived, and were
welcomed by a salute from the guns of Fortress Monroe. With other
guests, they were escorted over the farm to the new barn, 100×150
feet in size, and covering the stables, the agricultural and other
machinery, blacksmith shop, etc. The cash balance against the farm
for the year is $326.03. The printing-office shows a credit balance
of $400. The students have earned during the year $12,236.75 in
the varied industries, which, though not profitable in the net
pecuniary result, are among the most important educational agencies
of the institution; for the knowledge of practical work, and the
ability to perform intelligent labor, are among the most important
attainments for the colored students, both as citizens and as
teachers.

The catalogue shows 332 pupils on the roll, of which 202 are young
men, and 130 young women. The graduating class numbered 57. In the
examinations of Thursday morning, the teachers showed the tact
and thoroughness for which they have been always noted, and the
results in the intelligence and interest of their pupils were most
gratifying.

The new class of fifteen Indians attracted much attention. Their
history has been already given. Five of these Indians are going, in
September, to Bishop Whipple’s school in Minnesota. Ten remain at
Hampton as permanent students. Bear’s Heart, White Goose, Squint
Eyes, High Forehead, Wild Horse, and Big Nose will probably change
their names, although the Indian for each has a romantic sound. The
negro students take very kindly to their new friends, and there
is promise of entire harmony between the two races. Proposals
are in discussion between General Armstrong and the Government
at Washington that include the education of more Indians, and
the co-education of an equal number of Indian girls, so that the
experiment may not be one-sided in its future developments.

We abbreviate from the admirable letter of an editor of the
Baltimore _American_ his account of the commencement exercises:

“At 1:30 P. M. a procession, headed by the Normal School brass
band, was formed on the lawn. President Hayes and the trustees of
the school took the lead, while the invited guests and visitors
followed after, in rather irregular order. Seats were reserved on
one side of the hall for the pupils of the school. The platform was
occupied by distinguished visitors, with President Hayes as the
central figure. The audience was composed of the most intelligent
and highly cultivated people of Hampton and the surrounding
country, reinforced by the _élite_ of Norfolk, who came in two
excursion steamers. Nearly all the educated people of this section
of Virginia are friendly to the Hampton Normal School, and take
much pride in its success.

“Four essays were read by members of the graduating class, and four
speeches were made. The subjects discussed were of a practical
nature, and were treated with vigor and originality.

“I can barely mention the speeches that were made in Virginia Hall
after the graduates received their diplomas. Rev. Dr. Strieby, of
New York City, President of the Board of Trustees, briefly reviewed
the work of the year, and commended the spirit of liberality shown
by the Virginia Legislature in providing for the support of the
Institution. After he had concluded, Attorney-General Devens was
introduced by General Armstrong, and made an impromptu speech of
remarkable directness and force.

“In speaking of the historic associations of the place, he alluded
to the fact that, fourteen years ago, he had been brought here
immediately after the great battle of Cold Harbor, and had remained
three months. At that time there were sixty officers and more
than four thousand soldiers in the hospitals erected upon these
same grounds. The natural surroundings were then the same as now;
the river ran lazily along; the roadstead, which glitters to-day
under the Virginia sun like a sea of molten silver, was filled
with ships. They were not ships of a broad, peaceful, prosperous
commerce, such as are now resting upon its bosom, but ships filled
with supplies for the great army that was lying up the river. The
army has gone; the bugles of war have sounded their last notes; the
sick and wounded soldiers that were camped on these grounds have
struck their tents. Three or four hundred of them remain in yonder
cemetery, where stands the monument erected by Miss Dorothea Dix
to commemorate their heroism. But I regard this Institution as a
more fitting monument to the army that fought for law, and order,
and civilization, to the patriotism of the men that rushed to the
defense of a constitutionally elected President when his authority
was defied and his office menaced.”

The President, also, made a telling little speech, expressing his
deep interest in the education of the freedmen, and his approbation
of the things which he had seen and heard.

Thus ended another memorable day for Hampton.

       *       *       *       *       *


FISK UNIVERSITY COMMENCEMENT.

A. R. MERRY, STUDENT.

The commencement exercises of Fisk University began on Sunday,
May 19th, at eleven o’clock A. M. Addresses were made before the
Society for the Evangelization of Africa, by Professors Spence and
Chase.

As the readers of the MISSIONARY doubtless know, from this Society
already have gone forth four young consecrated souls to bear the
light of the Gospel and civilization to the perishing ones on the
west coast of Africa; and in the future we are sure that many more
will verify the prophetic saying of one of those already gone: “Her
sons and her daughters are ever on the altar.”

At three P. M. the baccalaureate sermon was preached by the Rev. H.
S. Bennett, from the text, Matt. xxii. 21: “Render, therefore, unto
Cæsar the things that are Cæsar’s, and unto God the things that are
God’s.”

On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, commencing at 9.30 o’clock,
examinations were held in all the departments of the University,
and were, on the whole, unusually satisfactory.

On Monday evening the Common-school Normal Exhibition took
place, at which time those who have completed that course were
granted certificates of ability to teach in the common-schools.
The exercises of the evening consisted of essays and original
declamations.

On Tuesday evening the Union Literary Society held its ninth
anniversary. The exercises were unusually interesting, especially
the debate, “Should the colored people of the United States migrate
to Africa,” which was well sustained on both sides, by Mr. J. C.
McAdams, of Tennessee, in the affirmative, and Mr. R. H. Harbert,
of Texas, in the negative.

On Wednesday evening the Senior Preparatory and Higher Normal
Exhibition took place. Six young men were admitted to college, and
three young ladies secured the Higher Normal diploma.

On Thursday, College Commencement day, the interest of the week
culminated. At an early hour the chapel of the University began to
be filled, until all available space was occupied. The audience
room was tastefully and elaborately decorated. At the back of
the platform, extending its entire length, was the national
flag, gracefully folded and festooned. Above, on one side, was
the portrait of the hero, Livingstone; on the other, that of the
statesman and philanthropist, Wilberforce; from the centre, the
generous, open countenance of General Clinton B. Fisk smiled
benignly down; above all, in evergreen, were the words, “CLASS OF
’78.”

At eleven o’clock the exercises commenced with the chorus, “Hail,
Festal Day,” well rendered by the University choir, after which
prayer was offered by Rev. Mr. Baird, of Ohio. Mr. H. S. Merry,
one of the two graduates, then delivered his oration, “Beyond
the Alps our Italy.” The young man acquitted himself with honor.
The manuscript of Mr. Miller, the other graduate—now absent as
Missionary to Africa—not having arrived as expected, extracts from
letters recently received by various members of the University
were read instead. These letters breathed forth a spirit of zeal
and devotion, and a courage unabated, even in the presence of the
obstacles and difficulties with which he must daily combat, thus
showing that his was not a mere romantic sentiment, but a deep,
controlling principle.

After a well-rendered instrumental solo, Mr. John H. Burrus,
candidate for the Master of Arts degree, read a carefully prepared
thesis on “American Citizenship.”

Rev. A. J. Baird, D. D., of Nashville, then delivered the
Commencement Address, which was full of wholesome, practical
advice, interspersed with happy illustration. He dwelt largely upon
the great tendency of young men to rest upon their laurels won in
college, and to expect afterward to float with folded arms into a
haven of prosperity and success. He maintained that substantial
success is achieved only by unmitigated toil. After the address,
the degree of A. B. was conferred upon Messrs. H. S. Merry and A.
P. Miller, and the degree of M. A. upon Mr. Jno. H. Burrus and
Mrs. Virginia Walker Broughton. After a few pertinent remarks by
Prof. A. K. Spence, Dean of the Faculty, a shield, bearing in
golden letters upon a blue field the parting words of one of our
missionaries, which have been unanimously adopted as the motto
of our institution—“Her sons and her daughters are ever on the
altar”—was suspended upon the wall of the chapel amid sounds of
hearty applause. The benediction was then pronounced by Rev. L. N.
Merry.

In one hour, professors, students of boarding department and
invited guests assembled in the dining hall to partake of a
carefully prepared collation. After all had partaken heartily,
remarks were interchanged by invited guests, professors and
students. Among the many pleasant features of the occasion was
the presence of two old friends of the Institution from Great
Britain—Rev. George Crow, of Belfast, Ireland, and Rev. William
Bathgate, of Kilmarnock, Scotland, who gave many words of cheer
and congratulation. Thus pleasantly closed the most prosperous and
eventful year in the history of the institution, with a clear gain
of thirty-five per cent. in attendance over last year. On the day
after commencement, the 24th, the Union Jack floated from the tower
of Jubilee Hall, in honor of the birthday of Queen Victoria, and
significant of the close relation the institution sustains to its
friends in Great Britain.

       *       *       *       *       *


KENTUCKY.

Then and Now.

_Berea College._

The builder working day after day placing stone upon stone,
polishing here and there, might well get discouraged if he stopped
to look at each day’s work. Progress in all great things is slow,
and nowhere slower than in building character.

Twelve years ago, two little black children made their first
appearance in our Berea School. The scholars, all of whom at that
time were white, scattered before those two little bits of color,
as if scared by the plague. The school that in the morning numbered
fifty, by noon scarcely counted a dozen. Then commenced the long
and weary work of rowing against the stream of prejudice. With a
whole State against us, with even our country, so far as it knew
us, looking on in doubt, with colored people, who held the most
absurd notions of freedom and learning, flocking to us, we found
ourselves under a heavy burden.

Our students were fresh from town and country, plantations and the
army; some with misty thoughts that education was a good thing, and
that about all they had to do was to open the pores and let it soak
through. When the restraints of the school-room came, and the study
that brought slow results, the courage of this class flagged, and
they were easily wooed back to their first love, where the liberty
of the corn-field and the swing of the axe was much more to their
fancy.

There were some, however, of sterner stuff, who, counting the cost,
came through poverty and self-denial, and are remembered as among
our best students and graduates. One man, the father of fifteen
children, came to Berea years ago, and has somewhat educated almost
all his children. Some have taught, and others are preparing to do
so. How, in their poverty, they have managed to keep four or five
in school at once, we can hardly imagine. We, who are mothers, and
know how the little shoes wear out, and the clothes always need
a button or patch, stand almost in awe of a mother who not only
prepares her children’s daily bread, but helps to earn it. If their
little ones have had less than others more favored, they do not
seem to mind it. Their laugh is just as merry, and their appetite,
perhaps, better for the work that helped to earn the meal. On last
Thanksgiving-day, the father spoke of his trials and hindrances,
but counted them all as nothing for the joy that the children had
gained the privileges he had so longed for, but had been denied.

Only this winter a noble girl, well on in her course of study,
whose influence over her companions was always good, the help and
stay of the principal, was, inexplicably to us, called to leave her
work below and go to the mansion prepared for her. Another sweet,
dark-eyed girl, frail in health, but strong in spirit, for two
years has not only paid her own way, but has had something left to
send to a tired and over-taxed mother. Last year, directly after
Commencement, she engaged a school where for months she taught very
successfully. At the close of her school, mounted on horseback, she
rode to Berea to make final preparations for a new term, telling
gleefully how she had secured this and that comfort for the year,
and that now she could give herself wholly to study. Imagine her
surprise and distress to find, on her return to her boarding
place, that all her possessions were burned to ashes, her clothing
all gone; and this with only a little money due her. But, though
stunned and almost broken-hearted, her courage never failed. Using
her means with the greatest economy, willing to deny herself, she
is here with us, though how she manages to get along, only she and
her Lord fully know.

These are but few cases out of the hundreds that might be
mentioned, showing heroism of a very quiet sort; but in God’s own
time, when faithfulness in little things is appreciated, many
of these poor people will wonderingly receive the crown of the
blessed, astonished to find that their plain, hard lives had aught
of glory in them.

Missionaries to heathen lands are glad to give their lives to plant
Christ’s banner on foreign soil, and we, looking back through these
years, take courage, thinking of the souls which have been helped
here, and are going out, carrying the good seed, and planting it in
all the waste places about us.

Berea opens her arms to the poor about her, with a welcome for
all. Those who come here rarely go away without benefit, and many
outward signs of improvement. The old people gaze with delight on
their children. Weary mothers who have toiled over the wash tubs,
fathers who have worked alone in the field while their children
studied, are more than rewarded for their toil. Through these hard
times, when expenses are great and money comes in slowly, we have
had to learn anew the lesson of waiting on the Lord; but we know in
whom we trust, and that for the sake of His poor He will supply all
our needs.

                                                            L. R.

       *       *       *       *       *


GEORGIA.

Religious Life in Atlanta University.

MRS. T. N. CHASE, ATLANTA.

The other day, when one of our young men handed me a letter to
read from a dear old lady “up North,” in which was the sentence,
“I’m so disappointed when the MISSIONARY comes, not to read of a
revival in your school,” I felt like saying to her: “Dear, praying
mother, if you could be here one week, you would go home rejoicing,
even though there were no revival.” As the years go by, there is
less inclination here to come in flocks to the Lord’s side, or to
be led into the kingdom by impulse or excitement. Our students act
more and more upon the spirit of the motto that hangs in each of
our buildings—“Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart
from iniquity.” They look upon religion less as a Sunday garment,
and more as a robe of righteousness, that transforms our selfish
natures into earnest, self-denying lives of obedience.

Let me give a week’s religious duties. Sunday, two of our young men
preach in an adjoining town. Quite a number go out to neighboring
Sunday-schools, and return about eleven o’clock, when our
preaching service begins. Our pastor, a graduate of Yale College
and Theological Seminary, came South at the close of the war, to
build the first Congregational church in Atlanta. For years he did
foundation-work there that placed it in the front rank of A. M.
A. churches. The past four years he has been our college pastor.
With such a knowledge of the needs of this people as his experience
gives, you may have an idea of the kind of sermons we enjoy.
Simple truth, such as young people, with such a history and such a
future, need, is presented so forcibly, that often the meal, which
immediately follows, is almost a silent one, owing to the serious
thoughtfulness produced.

In the afternoon, all meet for Sunday-school, which is
superintended by the President, who is also a graduate of Yale.
As his rich tones come to us in the hymns and Bible readings,
both in Sunday-school and at morning devotions through the week,
we are thankful for the rare gift—a good reader. In a large
school-building, of course each class can have a separate room, and
so secure a delightful hour of quiet, uninterrupted Sunday-school
work.

In the evening, all assemble in a general prayer-meeting. I do
not think it would be possible to give an adequate idea of this
meeting, or of similar ones in other A. M. A. schools. It is simply
an inspiration to one who realizes what a part these pioneers have
in shaping the destiny of their people. In all the meetings I have
attended here during these years, I do not recall ever hearing the
remark, “Improve the time, brethren,” or any other expression of
like import.

Monday, most of the school devote the time of one
recitation—three-fourths of an hour—to Bible reading and study in
classes. After school there is held a female prayer-meeting of a
half hour, led by a lady teacher.

Wednesday evening is the regular church prayer-meeting, led by the
pastor, attendance upon which is voluntary. The last half hour of
school, Friday afternoon, is devoted to a prayer-meeting, led by
the President, and attended by the entire school. This is the only
meeting at which the day scholars are required to be present, and
so is the most important of all the week. At its close almost every
member of the school deposits in the box an envelope containing his
regular weekly contribution toward paying the debt of the A. M. A.

A very profitable meeting is announced on Sunday in this way: “On
Friday evening bring your Bibles, and tell us what it says about
the evils of the tongue;” or, at another time: “Select passages
referring to the Sabbath, the Holy Spirit, Repentance,” etc.
Most of the family gladly come, each reading one of his selected
passages, and discussing it. Familiarity with the Bible and
Concordance is a very apparent benefit of this exercise. It is
also remarkable how they improve in clearness of expression, and
in confining their thoughts to one point. Best of all is the broad
view they get of Bible truth, by looking at it from all sides.
No disputed points—as Baptism or Perseverance of the Saints—are
discussed in this Bible exercise, or in Sunday-school, or any
other religious meeting. No Baptist or Methodist need fear being
proselyted in Atlanta University.

Saturday evening is the teachers’ prayer-meeting of a half hour.
The best test of the religious interest is the number of voluntary
students’ meetings. Sunday evening, just before the general meeting
of an hour, the young men always gather for another hour in a
meeting of their own. The burden of this meeting is praying for the
Spirit’s blessing on the sermon and Sunday-school, and pleading for
His presence in the general meeting that follows.

There are many other students’ meetings, among both the young
men and women, whose interest, and existence even, depend upon
circumstances. Nearly every summer term these meetings multiply.
As the pupils realize they are soon to leave this peaceful home,
and for three months take on the responsibilities and trials of
teachers, they seem impelled to a new consecration. Many, each
year, go out to teach for the first time, and all feel it is a
solemn undertaking. Another occasion for extra meetings is to plead
for those so soon to leave us, and not yet in the fold.

This is a hasty view of what may be seen of our religious work.
Eternity alone will reveal the number and effect of the private
personal appeals, or of the pleading notes written to the timid
ones. So, dear friends, do not think, because no revival is
announced, that souls are not often coming into the kingdom, and
that Christians are not receiving a most careful culture.

I have often thought that the prayers of Northern friends, more
than anything else, have been the occasion of such a deep Christian
spirit in the A. M. A. schools. Think of that old lady watching the
MISSIONARY to see if her prayers for us were answered! I once knew
a man, who was not rich, or even a professing Christian, who, for
some years, gave $300 each year for the support of a teacher, who,
as he said, “would teach a knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ” to
the freedmen. Many of our best friends are in such haste for us to
do simply church work, that they can hardly wait in patience for
us to build on an intelligent, educational basis. If God has so
burdened hearts for the spiritual welfare of the freedmen, may it
not indicate that, in His plan, He may have a glorious part for
them, in bringing the nations to His feet?

       *       *       *       *       *


A Photograph with Lights and Shades.

MR. JOHN MCINTOSH, TEACHER, ATHENS.

The lights and shades are the things which make the photograph
appear natural; and so, in attempting to give a true, and thus
natural, picture of my field of labor, I must give the lights
and shades. But, in order that my picture may leave a favorable
impression upon the mind, I will first give the shades, and then,
the lights. I came to this place October 6th, 1877. On the first
day only two pupils met me, and the increase, during this and
the following months of the same year, was so very small that I
began to be discouraged. I called several educational meetings,
and, to my surprise, there was no response. I became still more
discouraged. Failing to get as large a day-school as I desired,
I offered my services at night, for one dollar per month each to
those who could not come in the day. A few accepted the offer, and
when these few became weary in well-doing and fainted by the way,
I offered to teach at night, free of charge, any young man who was
not able to pay his tuition. Only one accepted this offer. I then
offered to teach vocal music, free of charge, to any who would meet
me every Saturday. The first Saturday, none came; the second, eight
came, far behind time; and this has been the greatest number that
has ever accepted the offer. In my day-school the variety of books
was large; the number of misused books was great. I had for several
months to labor very hard to reduce chaos to form and order.

But why did I not have a full school all the while? The assigned
reasons were various. Many did not know whether I was Baptist,
Methodist, or something else; and so sectarianism kept some away;
some parents said their children were just out of school, and
their minds needed rest—these, and many excuses less plausible,
were rendered for non-attendance. After my school was pretty well
established and my scholars were somewhat classified, one other
fact became apparent, and this was, and is, indeed, a sad fact,
viz.: in the acquisition of knowledge, the teacher is considered
one distinct party, the parent another, and the child another.
Sad fact that, in the pleasant and most beneficial work, teacher,
parent, and scholar are not one. When Christmas-day came, most of
my patrons said: “It is Christmas, and there should be no school
for one week;” and, indeed, I had but little. A short time ago
a circus drifted down this way. “Of course,” said many of my
patrons, “the children must go to the circus, and omit going to
school until the circus is over with”; and they went.

But all shade, says the photographer, makes no picture; and so I
will show the lights, and thus complete my picture. Many of my
pupils, who were once, apparently, ignorant of what punctuality
was, have learned to be punctual. Those who once thought it best
to be disorderly, disrespectful, disobedient, careless, idle,
and the like, now think it their duty to act differently; and so
a much better state of things exists than formerly. Some months
ago, when I would ask a reason for working an example in a certain
way, the answer invariably was, “because”; and if I asked “because
what?” the reply would be lengthened, thus: “because that gets the
answer.” But now my pupils can not only work their examples, but
tell why.

Strange to say, my third class (by name) is my best class in
arithmetic, and the best scholar in this class is the smallest,
and probably the youngest—not thirteen, perhaps. This same class
is very good in geography, and, indeed, as a class, good in all
their studies. My class in composition, for three months, have
been endeavoring to understand the theory of composition, and now
they are writing, or learning to write, essays according to the
theory which they have learned. A few in the class compose very
well already. In nearly all of my classes, strange to say, the dark
pupils are the ones that stand at the head. In composition, good
morals, geography, reading, grammar, writing, the leading scholars
are dark—dark in color, but bright in intellect. I think it must be
acknowledged that color has no influence over mind. I have several
grown men, who have left their farms in the country that they may
attend school and receive instruction, which they may impart to
others. They are getting along fairly. When I asked my scholars
what I should write concerning them, they said, with one accord,
“The truth, and nothing but the truth;” and I think I have done
just as they said. Clouds still hang over me, but they are not so
dark as they were some months ago.

       *       *       *       *       *


ALABAMA.

Dedication of Emerson Institute.

MR. B. F. KOONS, PRINCIPAL, MOBILE.

Since the burning of Emerson Institute in 1876, our school has
passed through some very dark clouds of discouragement. All of last
year, and the first four months of this, it occupied an old store,
very poorly fitted for school purposes.

In December last, the A. M. A. purchased property known as Holly’s
Garden, located near the centre of the city. There are nearly three
and three-quarter acres of ground, covered by over one hundred
beautiful live oak, cedar, and various other trees, and near the
centre of the lot is located quite a comfortable and commodious
frame dwelling. Into this we moved the school in January, and have
since occupied three rooms, some sixteen by eighteen feet square.
In these, we have accommodated about one hundred pupils.

Readers of the MISSIONARY will recall the account in the March
number of the breaking ground for a new school building upon this
lot December 26th. Since that time the proposed structure has
steadily grown, and on the 30th of April we were able to pronounce
it completed. It is a well constructed two-story brick building,
34×64, with wings at the centre of each side 10×21. The lower
story is divided into two school rooms, 28×31½ feet, and between
these is what may be called a hallway, divided into four hat and
cloak rooms. From this floor there are two stairways, occupying
the wings, and leading to the second story. At the head of each
of these is a commodious hat and cloak room, through which the
pupils pass as they enter the chapel, or large school-room, of the
second floor. This room is 31½×48; at one end, on each side of the
teacher’s desk, are doors leading into two recitation rooms, each
15×15½. The building is surmounted by a very neat belfry, which
awaits the new bell daily expected from New York, via the ocean.
The original plan was to place above the whole a weather-vane in
the shape of a large gold quill, but just as it arrived here from
New York the railroad depot was burned, and with it our quill. We
sincerely hope that the burning of this is not an indication of the
fate of our building.


THE DEDICATION.

At last the 1st of May arrived, the day set apart for the
dedication of our new building; and to the teachers and pupils,
and all friends of the school, it was a glad day indeed. Just in
proportion as the former days of the school were dark, so this was
bright and joyous. It seemed that the sun never shone more clearly,
that the sky was never brighter, and that all nature rejoiced with
us. At an early hour the people began to gather, and at eleven
o’clock, the doors of the new building were thrown open, and the
chapel was soon filled by an eager, expectant multitude. A few
moments later the school, about one hundred in number, filed in,
and took seats in front and to the right of the platform. Upon this
were seated Rev. Drs. Burgett and Walden, pastors of the First and
Third Presbyterian Churches of Mobile; Rev. W. S. Alexander, of
Straight University, New Orleans, and Rev. Wm. H. Ash, pastor of
the Congregational Church of Mobile: and to the left were several
ladies of Mobile, invited guests; the Rev. Mr. Owens, pastor of one
of the Baptist Churches; Dr. Murrell, a leading physician of the
city; Mr. Wheeler, the oldest merchant of Mobile; D. S. Richardson,
Principal of Mobile Military Academy, and others.

The exercises were opened by a chant—the 121st Psalm—sung by the
school; appropriate passages of Scripture were read by Rev. Mr.
Walden, and prayer was offered by Rev. Mr. Ash. The little folks
then sang “Marching On!” after which a short oration was delivered
by one of the boys of the school, and an essay read by one of
the girls. One spoke of the past, and the other, of the present
and future of our school. After this, the principal gave a short
history of the school, and in a few words explained the object for
which it was established, and the aims of the American Missionary
Association in the South.

We told them that we are here for no political ends, but that our
whole aim is to cultivate the minds and hearts of our pupils, to
lift them up to higher planes of true manhood and womanhood, and to
fit them for usefulness to themselves, to their people, to their
employers, to all with whom they come in contact, to the world,
and especially to God. That our aim is to send forth cultivated
and Christian hearts, endowed with the nobler aims and aspirations
in life, and fitted for efficient work in the vineyard of our
Master. If mistakes had been made in the past by workers under
the Association, it was not in accordance with the will of its
officers, their expressed wish being that we ignore politics. That
ours is a mission work, and finally, that if the people of the
South and we have not fully understood each other in the past, we
hope that in the future we may know each other better. As for us,
we earnestly and sincerely ask the sympathy and co-operation of the
Christian people of the South; we need it.

The school then sang one of the Jubilee Songs, “We shall walk
through the valley and shadow of death,” after which Mr. Alexander
offered the dedicatory prayer. The original plan was to have one
regular address, and possibly a few words from others present, but
the plan was changed, and it was concluded to have an informal talk
from the invited guests, the colored ministers present, and others,
and as the programme was carried out it became more and more
evident that the latter was a fortunate choice.

Dr. Burgett, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, Mobile, was
first called upon. He said: “I fully endorse all the efforts of
the A. M. A., and congratulate it, and all present to-day, because
of its high and praiseworthy efforts, its success in the past,
the immediate present, and the bright prospects of the future. I
have visited the school in former years, and never heard better
recitations anywhere, nor saw greater advancement.” His speech was
full of good thoughts, as his talks always are; and just before he
closed, he turned to the teachers, and said: “I cannot understand
the composition of a man who will oppose your efforts here. As
a representative of the Christian people of Mobile, I speak
authoritatively when I say you deserve their sympathy and hearty
co-operation, and you have it. Deep down in the heart of every
Christian here, there is a kindly feeling for you and your work.”

The next person called upon was Rev. E. D. Taylor, one of the
oldest colored ministers of the M. E. Church in this place. He
said “I have cautiously watched the movements of these teachers,
and their school work, and I am convinced that they are here for
lifting up of my race, and as I go down the steps of life, I look
back upon this school, and these teachers, with a great deal of
pleasure, knowing that they are leading my people out from a
bondage worse than slavery. I thank God that we have these friends
to help us.”

Rev. Mr. Bryant, a former pupil of Atlanta University, spoke of
the many thousands of children taught in the South, as the direct
result of the work of the A. M. A. through its teachers and pupils.
Some of the white brethren expressed much surprise at the figures
he presented, and were astonished at the magnitude of the work,
both direct and indirect, of the Association.

Rev. Mr. Walden said: “Deep down in my heart there is a little
niche held sacred to the memory of that good old mother who cared
for me when a child, and for that little colored boy who was my
playmate in childhood. I have lost sight of them, but their memory
is still sacred, and I hope to meet them in eternity. There is much
in common between the white and colored people of the South. We
cannot afford to be anything but friends, for we must be saved by
the same blood, we must walk through the same ‘valley and shadow of
death,’ and if saved, we must spend eternity in the same kingdom.”
And then, turning to the teachers, he said: “May God bless you in
your noble work—Christian work. Yours is a Christ-like calling, and
I say that you not only deserve the hearty sympathy, co-operation,
and support of the Christian people of the South, but you have it.
I repeat it, _you have it_.” At this point all sang, “Hold the
Fort.”

Dr. Murrell said: “I endorse every word of Drs. Burgett and Walden,
but I feel just a little jealous, as I would like to stand in the
place of those who have contributed to erect this building; and if
I had the means, I would have just such a building in every county
in Alabama. I heartily feel with you, and ask God to bless you.”
After the exercises closed, he showed us his good will by offering
his professional skill to the teachers free of charge.

Mr. Wheeler was not in the habit of making speeches, but he
heartily sympathized with us in our work, and wished us a great
deal of success.

Rev. Mr. Owens said: “My heart is full of joy to-day at being able
to be here. I can only endorse all that has been said.” And, after
the exercises were over, he showed his sincerity by asking me to
meet his people in their church, and talk to them of our work.

Many good words were spoken by Rev. Mr. Ash, and Rev. Mr. Evans,
of State Street M. E. Church. Rev. Mr. Wilson, of Little Zion
Church, was called upon, and said: “Since listening to Dr. Burgett,
and others, whose words were like drops of gold, I must decline.
I am like the uncultivated pear-tree which Dr. Burgett spoke of.
Education knows education, therefore I must keep silent lest I
betray myself.”

Mr. Alexander, as the closing speaker, made some very happy
remarks. He told the colored people that by trying to get on too
fast, and to begin at the top instead of the bottom, and by seeking
to fill positions which they could not, they had set themselves
back twenty-five years. He advised them to claim the right to
nothing till they had earned that right; to work patiently, and
_wait_ for results.

A spirit of earnestness and sincerity pervaded all the exercises,
and, as the old colored man said, the words that fell from the lips
of Dr. Burgett, and others, were truly _drops of gold_, utterances
from the depths of sincere hearts, and all went away feeling that
it had been good to be present, and that during those three hours a
new era had dawned upon the work of the A. M. A. in this city.

       *       *       *       *       *


The Church and the Literary Club.

REV. WILLIAM H. ASH, MOBILE.

I found my church in rather a discouraging condition, when I came
in November last; since that time, I have been greatly encouraged
to see the work prospering in my hands.

My congregation has increased to three times the number which I
found when I came to Mobile, and principally of people who have
never visited our church before. But the great difficulty is that I
am not able to hold a permanent congregation of the better class,
or to reach the young people, because of the want of a church with
better facilities for the needed work. The Sabbath-school has
increased from about a dozen to forty scholars. This is remarkable,
because one half of the time I have had no one to assist me in the
work of teaching. Four have united with the church, one of whom is
a young lady, who promises to be of great service to the church.

The prayer-meetings have been kept up well, considering that
my members are hard laboring people, and there is a growth in
spirituality and purity of life, such as is consistent with the
Bible. It is a custom in the fairs here to have a table devoted to
the punch-bowl, and different kinds of wines, to raise money for
the church or minister’s salary; but my church is a model so far as
temperance is concerned, feeling that it cannot encourage a demon
that destroys the happiness of so many homes, both North and South.

Another fact, to show the influence of our church, is the
organization of a literary club among the young people, which has
proven a success. About three months ago, I sent out notices to the
ministers, and some of the better class of colored people, to meet
at my church for this purpose; an organization was completed, and
since that we have met from church to church.

Last night the club gave its first special entertainment. It was
certainly a credit to the members who took part, and compared well
with similar entertainments which I have seen in New England. The
following notice is from the Mobile _News_:

  “THE ARISTOTLE LITERARY CLUB.—This club, whose members are
  among the most cultivated of Mobile’s colored citizens, gave
  its first entertainment, last night, at St. Emmanuel Church, at
  eight o’clock. The exercises consisted of literary and musical
  recitations, debates, etc. The programme was a choice one, and
  the large audience in attendance enjoyed the occasion very much.
  The ‘Aristotles’ are the true representatives—or rather, the best
  representatives—of the colored population in our city, and we bid
  them God-speed in their earnest efforts to elevate themselves
  above the low standard that generally prevails among our colored
  people.”

       *       *       *       *       *


Montgomery—Swayne School—A Year’s Work—Closing Exercises.

MISS MARTHA J. ADAMS, PRINCIPAL.

My first school year’s work among the colored people at the
South, has just closed. What a history it has! How rich in new
experiences!—experiences which I should deeply regret to have
stricken from my life.

How vividly do I recall that sunny morning, the first day of
October, 1877, as I stood upon the steps of “Swayne School”
building, with five lady teachers at my side, while before us, in
almost military lines, were drawn up some three hundred colored
children and youth. These were our pupils. What a work lay before
us! We have been repeatedly told, since our arrival, that the
general feeling was, “No woman can control this school.” We, too,
knew, in the depths of our hearts, that without Divine aid, we
should utterly fail. But God has been true to His promises, and has
given us a quiet, happy and successful year in our work, and one
full of kindly, appreciative testimony from those among whom we
have labored.

Our school, with only a few days’ notice, closed half a month
earlier than we had expected. This, of course, interfered greatly
with preparations for the closing exercises. Besides, two or
three Sunday-school May festivals and picnics had been previously
arranged to take place the same week, and so many of the pupils
were absent; but we did the best we could, under the circumstances,
each teacher having in her own room reviews and examinations of
her classes, which have borne abundant testimony to the earnest,
faithful and kindly work they have done.

On Thursday night we had an exhibition in the Congregational
Church. It was a lovely moonlight night. The church was crowded to
its utmost capacity; many, indeed, were unable to gain admittance,
so great was the throng. The exercises, consisting of declamations,
essays, recitations, and songs, were listened to with great
interest and apparent delight.

One young woman read an essay upon P. P. Bliss, whose visit here is
lovingly remembered, closing with reciting the last hymn he set to
music:

      “I know not what awaits me;
      God kindly vails mine eyes.”

The Secretary of the City Board of Education, now acting
Superintendent, and another member of the Board, were present the
entire evening, and expressed gratification at what they had seen
and heard. As they passed out of the church, they were heard to
remark to each other: “That was _good_.” “Yes, it _was_ good.”

I will close in the words which one of the colored boys printed in
large letters in colored crayons upon the Sunday-school blackboard,
“GOD BLESS SWAYNE SCHOOL.”

       *       *       *       *       *


A Surprise Party in a Southern Church.

REV. CHARLES NOBLE, MONTGOMERY.

That our people can do a pleasant thing, and do it gracefully,
they proved the evening before our departure. The Sunday previous,
we had had a business-meeting of the church, and at its close
one of the brethren requested me to leave them, as they had some
business on hand in which my absence would assist them more than
my presence. Of course, we inferred from this that “something was
up”; but were unable to discover what it was. Nothing happening,
however, until the close of the Wednesday night prayer-meeting,
we had all come to the conclusion that whatever was intended had
probably proved impracticable. We were sitting together at the
Home, talking over the experiences of the year, when the notes
of a guitar struck our ears, and a few voices began singing the
“Sweet Bye-and-Bye” very softly and sweetly. I supposed that some
of the people had come down to give us a little serenade, and
stepped to the door to return thanks for the pleasure the song
had afforded. When I opened the door, instead of the half-dozen
singers I expected, a perfect throng of merry faces met me. The
yard was crowded, and they seemed to reach out indefinitely down
the road. I had barely sufficient presence of mind to ask them
in, and then met the wave of increasing congratulations with very
much the sort of feeling with which one meets a good big wave at
the sea-shore. It was exhilarating, but bewildering. An enormous
freezer of ice-cream, and strawberries, raspberries, and cakes
_ad infinitum_, were brought in, and our rooms were soon crowded
with about one hundred and fifty as happy-looking people as I ever
saw. Young and old, grave and gay, Christians and worldlings,
Methodists and Baptists, as well as Congregationalists—it was a
thoroughly representative gathering. Our own people were out in
force, and there were prominent members of all the other colored
churches. For about two hours they amused themselves and us with
conversation, singing, and playing. There was not a rude word or a
boorish action. It was a gathering that would have done credit, in
its behavior, to any community. They made the pastor and his wife,
with the teachers, gather together and partake of the delicacies
so generously provided, and then attacked them (the delicacies,
not the teachers) on their own account, with right good will. For
two hours they made the house echo with merry laughter and with
singing—patriotic, sentimental, and religious—and then, after a
siege of hand-shaking, which made me realize somewhat the trials
our popular Presidents have to undergo, and with many pleasant
words of kindly appreciation, they took their leave.

       *       *       *       *       *


Another Female Missionary Needed.

The work at Montgomery stands greatly in need of more visiting
than the pastor can accomplish. While the church and congregation
are small, the field includes the whole colored population of the
city and suburbs—not far from 10,000 souls—and no form of labor
seems so likely to be fruitful as the work of a good woman in
the homes of the people. One of our good teachers has kept up a
Bible-reading in one of the poorer neighborhoods, and has thus
reached a number whose ignorant prejudice renders them inaccessible
to the Congregational minister. She has been able, also, to reach
the hearts and homes of many others, and has shown herself to have
the power to win their affection and sympathy, and lead them to
higher thoughts and purposes. The attempt to combine this labor
with her school duties, and the vexatious responsibilities of the
matron of the Home, had its natural result in broken health and
depressed spirits. Is there some church or society, or generous
individual, who, in addition to regular contributions, would be
willing to provide for the maintenance of a “Woman Missionary”
in this field, that this faithful worker may be able to use her
talents more efficiently, or, if she cannot return, that some other
good woman may take her place? “But when He saw the multitudes, He
was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were
scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd. Then saith He unto
His disciples: The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are
few. Pray ye, therefore, the Lord of the harvest, that He will send
forth laborers into His harvest.”

       *       *       *       *       *


A Blessed Work.

REV. GEORGE E. HILL, PASTOR, MARION.

We had an interesting day last Sunday. Seven were admitted on
profession and six children were baptized—a new thing here. The
audience was the largest we have had, quite filling the church, and
the floral decoration of the pulpit and its surroundings added to
the effect.

Our Sabbath-school is flourishing. Mrs. H. and my daughter both
have classes. A few Sabbaths since, I drew a map of Palestine
on the blackboard, and proposed to the scholars to “go and do
likewise.” They have brought in twenty-five maps; some of them
would do credit to any school at the North. There is a good promise
for the future of the church in the children, many of whom already
give evidence of a change of heart.

At a recent “praise-meeting,” we had testimony from twenty-five
different persons, who mentioned special causes for gratitude.
The people all seem eager to be helped, and to improve every
opportunity. We enjoy our work more and more. It is a blessed,
blessed work!

       *       *       *       *       *




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 O. Wedderspoon, Esq., Rev. T. K. Noble, Hon.
  F. F. Low, Rev. I. E. Dwinell, D. D., Hon. Samuel Cross, Rev. S.
  H. Wiley, 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.

       *       *       *       *       *


Last month I gave an account from the pen of our missionary helper,
Fung Affoo, of the Sabbath services at our Mission House in San
Francisco. Jee Gam, at my request, has prepared the following
statement respecting the method pursued at Oakland, where his
labors are specially centred. I am sure that it will be read
with interest, the very simplicity with which details are given
rendering more vivid and distinct the picture.

                                                “OAKLAND, CAL.

  “REV. W. C. POND:

  “_Dear Friend_—As I am requested to give you a little outline
  about our manner of conducting the Christian work in Oakland,
  I will try to do so. On Sunday morning, those brethren who
  can get out in time from their occupations generally attend
  church, but this number is comparatively small, owing to the
  way in which they are situated. Our Chinese Sunday-school is
  held immediately after the morning service in the church, and
  continues till fifteen minutes of two P.M. The average number of
  scholars during the last few months was about fifty-five. Mr.
  E. P. Sanford is our superintendent, and I am the assistant.
  The school is generally opened by singing two hymns in Chinese
  and two in English, followed by a prayer. After the latter,
  each teacher proceeds to take charge of his own class; and when
  the lesson ends, passages of Scripture are recited by most of
  the Bible-reading pupils. Then the notices are given for all
  the exercises of the following week. The Lord’s Prayer is then
  recited in concert, and the school is dismissed.

  “From 6.30 to 7.15 P.M., we assemble at our Christian Association
  Room (a small house of five rooms) for prayer-meeting. This
  meeting is conducted by the president of the Association. The
  exercises consist of singing, praying, and speaking from two of
  the members who are appointed by the president at the previous
  meeting. After these speakers get through, eight to ten minutes
  are allowed to all who wish to speak or pray. The meeting is
  closed with the Doxology and prayer. From this meeting we go back
  to the chapel where we held our Sunday-school. There we open our
  regular Sunday evening service. The average attendance is about
  twenty-five. The first part of this service is singing from 7.25
  to fifteen minutes of eight. The singing is conducted by Mr.
  Sanford, assisted by Miss L. Gill and Miss Sanford. To these
  persons we are greatly indebted for their kindness in teaching
  us, especially Mr. Sanford, whose labors for us are unspeakably
  great. After the singing and prayer, Mr. Sanford takes the Bible.
  He then reads, and explains to them in English; I take the same
  lesson and explain to them in Chinese, after which the meeting
  is closed with a prayer in Chinese. On Wednesday evening our
  prayer-meeting is conducted entirely by myself. Its average
  attendance is about the same as that of Sunday evening. Thursday
  evening I have the whole Bible-class, consisting of from ten to
  eighteen pupils. Beside this Bible reading we also have another
  very interesting Bible exercise in the Association Room every
  evening throughout the whole week, with the exception of Saturday
  and Sunday evenings. This exercise commences immediately after
  the brethren get back from school and continues until ten P.M.
  We begin by reading and explaining the Scripture alternately.
  If one fails to explain his verse correctly, the one who sits
  next to him follows it up, and if he fails also, the third,
  fourth, and so on to the last one in the class. If he fails to
  succeed, I then explain the verse to them again. When this lesson
  is through, I read and explain to them the new lesson for the
  following evening. Then this exercise is closed with a prayer in
  English by one of the brethren successively.

      “Yours respectfully,                              JEE GAM.”

       *       *       *       *       *




THE CHILDREN’S PAGE.

       *       *       *       *       *

“KING DAVID’S DANCE” AND THE “HOLY MARCH.”

The signification of the above terms may not be familiar to
all our readers, and hence a description of them may prove of
interest. They are religious exercises, and constitute a part of
the regular Sabbath worship of the colored Baptist Church of Mount
Vernon, Ala. The members of this church are very emotional, and
exceedingly demonstrative in their religion. The order of services
each Sabbath are as follows: A Union Sabbath-school is held from
nine to half-past ten A.M., after which one of the leading brethren
conducts a prayer-meeting for about an hour.

Then preaching begins. The young minister preaches a sermon first,
and he is followed by the old minister, who preaches another sermon
from the same text. Mourners are then called for, the doors are
opened to receive members, and other necessary business transacted,
after which the benediction is pronounced.

It is then about three P.M. Instead of going home, the members
all remain, move the benches aside, and prepare for “King David’s
Dance” and the “Holy March.” The first consists in forming a
circle—or “ringing up,” as they term it—joining hands, and jumping
up and down, keeping time to the tune of some lively “spiritual
song.” This performance is carried on for some time, and then they
march the “Holy March.”

This is done by forming in single file, each one placing his hand
on the other one’s shoulder, and marching around and around, going
through a number of bodily contortions, better seen than described.
They march and dance alternately until about sundown, when,
completely exhausted, they go home.

During these exercises they shout and scream vehemently. The above
is a true statement of the manner in which the colored people here,
of the Baptist connection, worship. The so-called “King David’s
Dance” would remind one more of the war-dance of some savage tribe.
Several other churches in the neighboring settlements carry on
these performances.—_The Southern Sentinel._

       *       *       *       *       *


NEGRO RELIGION.

Negro religion is as varied as the character and grade of its
professors: some as dignified as African princes, others as wild
as children playing at church. And yet, who shall say that either
extreme is the more acceptable to Him who looks through outward
demonstrations at the hearts of worshippers? One of their own
utterances perhaps best expresses the idea:

“We has our own ways ob doin’ things; white folks don’t allus
understand us, but de Lord seems to get along with us putty well,
an’ dat’s all we need care fur.”

White folks do not understand, and certainly cannot but be amused
at seeing an old black woman, whose gray wool is bound up in a
brilliant turban, moving in slow, undulating waves of a mystic
dance up and down the church aisles, and round its altar, as
she chants forth her testimony to “de leadin’s of de Lord all
dese eighty years”; but they can quite appreciate the reverence
which sends every one to his knees at the words, “Let us pray,”
and sometimes wish that the custom might prove possible of
transplantation. Quaint and racy words sometimes come from these
colored preachers. “Ta’n’t no use dodgin’,” said one the other day;
“yer may poke yer head dis way and stick yer feet dat way, but yer
can’t go round yer grave; yer may shut yer eyes and make b’lieve
yer don’t see it, but ye’s got to tumble inter it, after all. Dere
it is, right in yer path. Is yer all ready?”

“I can’t read much,” said a preacher; “I can’t say all dem long,
hard names. I couldn’t read a word when the good Lord Jesus found
me, in the South Caroliny cane-brake; but I taught myself to spell
out de name ob Jesus, and now I can read all ’bout how He carries
sinners to heaven; dat’s ’nough.”

We were present at a communion service in which there was nothing
calculated to draw a smile. Tears of apparently genuine earnestness
stood in many eyes, and suppressed sobs mingled with the rich,
quaint hymns in many parts of the room. The preacher was a young
man, who drew a moving picture of the crucifixion, which, in its
pathos, simplicity, and correct diction, would have done honor
to any white preacher in the land. But one point, that of the
substitution of _w_ for _r_, marked the speaker as one of that
subject race, which, in thus slowly rising from barbarism, while
it loses much that is amusing to the merely curious observer, is
steadily gaining in what pertains to the dignity of manhood, and
the well-being of immortal souls.—_Illustrated Christian Weekly._

       *       *       *       *       *




RECEIPTS

FOR MAY, 1878.


       *       *       *       *       *


  MAINE, $111.42.

    Augusta. John Dorr                                        15.00
    Bangor. First Cong. Ch.                                   31.42
    Brewer. First Cong. Ch. $6.40, and Sab. Sch.
      $2.50; Dea. J. Holyoke $5.10                            14.00
    Hallowell. Miss Mary Flagg $10; Hon. H. K.
      Baker $2, _for Printing Press, Talladega
      C._; “A Friend” $1, _for Student, Tougaloo,
      Miss._                                                  13.00
    Houlton. Cong. Ch. and Soc.                                2.00
    Oak Hill. ——                                              30.00
    Wells. “A Friend”                                          5.00
    Wild. Rev. D. D. T.                                        1.00


  NEW HAMPSHIRE, $254.02.

    Concord. R. P. S.                                          1.00
    Exeter. Second Cong. Ch. and Soc., _for a
      Teacher, Wilmington, N. C._                             70.00
    Greenland. Cong. Ch. and Soc.                             20.85
    Hanover. Cong. Ch. Dartmouth Col.                         50.00
    Henniker. Cong. Ch. and Soc.                              17.00
    Hooksett. Union Soc.                                       3.87
    Littleton. Cong. Ch. and Soc.                             37.00
    Marlborough. “Ladies’ Freedmen’s Aid Soc.”                16.00
    New Boston. Ladies, bbl. of C. and $2, _for
      freight, for Wilmington N. C._                           2.00
    New Ipswich. “Hillside Gleaners,” _for
      Memorial Inst., Wilmington, N. C._                      16.00
    West Concord. Cong. Ch. and Soc.                          20.30


  VERMONT, $259.62.

    Brookfield. First Cong. Ch. and Soc.                      15.00
    Brownington and Barton Landing. Cong. Ch. and
      Soc.                                                    13.25
    Clarendon. Mrs. N. J. Smith                                5.00
    East Arlington. Rev. Chas. Redfield                       10.00
    Jericho Centre. Miss J. Graves                             2.00
    New Haven. Cong. Ch. and Soc.                             39.37
    North Springfield. Chas. Haywood                           5.00
    Peru. Cong. Ch.                                           10.00
    Rochester. Cong. Soc.                                     15.00
    St. Albans. Mrs. J. Gregory Smith                         10.00
    Thetford. Cong. Ch. and Soc.                              19.00
    Wallingford. Cong. Ch. and Soc.                           69.00
    Wells River. Cong. Ch. and Soc. $30; C. W.
      Eastman $10                                             40.00
    Westminster West. Mrs. A. S. G.                            1.00
    Woodstock. Cong. Ch. and Soc.                              6.00


  MASSACHUSETTS, $4,078.34.

    Andover. Free Cong. Ch. and Soc. $30.81, to
      const. CHARLES W. CLARK, L. M.—“Friends”
      $25, _for Student Aid, Talladega C._                    55.81
    Ashby. Cong. Ch. and Soc.                                  6.25
    Ashburnham. M. W.                                          1.00
    Belchertown. Cong. Ch. and Soc.                           32.00
    Boston. Central Cong. Ch. and Soc.
      $600.40.—“Howard” $500, _for two
      Chapels_.—Mrs. N. B. Curtis $200; Mrs. S. A.
      Bradbury $25.—Juvenile Class of Phillips
      Cong. Ch. $18.75, _for Student, Talladega C._        1,344.15
    Brocton. ——                                               15.00
    Brookline. Howard Ch. and Soc.                            92.50
    Cambridge. Geo. H. Fogg                                   20.00
    Charlestown. Ivory Littlefield (of which $25
      _for Chinese M_)                                        50.00
    Chelsea. Mrs. P. N. P.                                     1.00
    Conway. Cong. Soc., to const. DEA. EDWIN
      COOLEY and Mrs. L. L. LEE, L. M ’s                      70.45
    East Bridgewater. Union Ch. and Soc.                      25.09
    Easton. Cong. Sab. Sch. $30, to const. EVERETT
      C. RANDALL, L. M.; Cong. Ch. and Soc. $10.70            40.70
    Egremont. Cong. Ch.                                       19.50
    Everett. Cong. Ch. and Soc.                               33.88
    Florence. Florence. Ch.                                  108.88
    Foxborough. D. Carpenter                                  80.00
    Framingham. Mrs. T. F. $1; Mrs. S. M. B. $1                2.00
    Georgetown. “A Friend”                                    10.00
    Greenfield. Ladies’ Miss. Soc. of First Ch.
      $18, _for Student Aid, Atlanta U._—Ladies,
      Box of C.                                               18.00
    Hinsdale. Cong. Ch. and Soc. $66.40; J. H. $1             67.40
    Ipswich. First Cong. Ch. and Soc.                         15.00
    Lancaster. ESTATE of Miss Sophia Stearns, by
      W. W. Wyman, Ex.                                         7.00
    Leominster. Orthodox Cong. Ch. and Soc.                    5.62
    Linden. Cong. Ch. and Soc.                                 4.00
    Lowell. M. Moore and wife $20.—Ladies of First
      Cong. Ch., bbl. of C. and $1 _for freight,
      for Wilmington, N.C._                                   21.00
    Lynn. North Cong. Ch. and Soc.                             9.47
    Malden. Mrs. C. F. Belcher, pkg. of papers.
    Mittineague. Cong. Ch. and Soc.                           14.35
    Natick. Mrs. S. E. Hammond                                10.00
    Needham. N. S. R.                                          0.50
    Newburyport. Mrs. T. C. Tyler $10; Miss P. N.
      50c.                                                    10.50
    North Andover Depot. F. D. F.                              0.50
    North Beverly. Mrs. Rebecca Conant                        15.00
    North Hadley. Cong. Ch. and Soc.                           2.48
    North Orange. Cong. Sab. Sch.                              3.00
    Norton. Wheaton Fem. Sem., _for Student Aid,
      Atlanta U._                                             21.00
    Norton. ESTATE of John Hunt, by E. T. Jackson,
      Ex.                                                    804.75
    Orleans. Cong. Sab. Sch.                                  10.00
    Paxton. Cong. Ch. and Soc.                                11.00
    Peru. Cong. Sab. Sch.                                      3.50
    Phillipston. Mrs. J. L.                                    0.50
    Plainfield. Albert Dyer                                    2.00
    Pittsfield. JAMES H. DUNHAM, to const. himself
      L. M.                                                   30.00
    Rochester. First Cong. Sab. Sch.                          30.00
    Salem. Tabernacle Ch. and Soc. $46.13; South
      Cong. Sab. Sch. $21.32                                  67.45
    South Abington. Cong. Ch. and Soc.                        22.07
    Somerville. Broadway Ch. and Soc.                         12.25
    South Weymouth. Union Cong. Ch. $55; Second
      Cong. Ch. and Soc. $36, to const. MRS. ELLEN
      A. CHANDLER, L. M.                                      91.00
    Springfield. Olivet Cong. Ch. and Soc.                    27.67
    Ware. East Cong. Ch. and Soc. $313.85; First
      Cong. Ch. and Soc. $21                                 334.85
    Watertown. Phillips’ Ch. and Soc. $37.50;
      Phillips’ Sab. Sch. $10                                 47.50
    West Cummington. Rev. J. B. B.                             0.25
    Westfield. First Cong. Ch. and Soc. (of which
      $5 from the late Mrs. Dickinson and $5 from
      Miss Lizzie Dickinson)                                  31.40
    West Newbury. First Cong. Ch. and Soc.                     7.00
    West Newton. Ann Miller                                    5.00
    West Springfield. Prof. M. S. Southworth, _for
      Student Aid, Atlanta U._                                25.00
    Wilbraham. Cong. Ch. and Soc.                              8.00
    Winchendon. North Cong. Ch. and Soc.                     101.00
    Winchester. Cong. Ch. and Soc.                           101.31
    Woburn. Mrs. G. A. B.                                      0.25
    Worcester. Central Cong. Ch. and Soc.
      $55.56.—Plymouth Ch. $15, _for printing
      press, Talladega_,—Mrs. C. M. F. and Dr. W.
      D. 50c. ea.                                             71.56


  RHODE ISLAND, $81.15.

    Little Compton. Cong. Ch. to const. REV. WM.
      D. HART, L. M.                                          81.15


  CONNECTICUT, $698.87.

    Bristol. By Mrs. H. L. Bartholomew, _for Ind.
      Dept. Talladega C._                                     20.00
    Berlin. Rev. J. Whittlesey                                10.00
    Bozrahville. Cong. Sab. Sch.                               2.50
    Buckingham. Cong. Sab. Sch.                                8.50
    Cheshire. G. K.                                            1.00
    Colchester. Mrs. C. B. McCall, _for Tougaloo
      U._                                                      5.00
    Cornwall. First Cong. Ch. Sab. Sch.                       20.00
    East Hartford. First Cong. Ch.                            32.00
    Ekonk. Elizabeth W. Kasson                                10.00
    Enfield. First Cong. Ch.                                  11.40
    Guilford. Mrs. Lucy E. Tuttle $50; First Cong.
      Ch. $20                                                 70.00
    Hanover. Cong. Ch. and Soc.                               20.95
    Hartford. D. R. Howe $30, _for Ind. School,
      Talladega C._—Mrs. L. C. Dewing, $20; “Armor
      Bearers” in Talcott St. Cong. Sab. Sch. by
      M. K. Stevens, $3                                       53.00
    Harwinton. EVELINE S. BARKER to const. herself
      L. M.                                                   30.00
    Meriden. Box of papers, by Edmund Tuttle.
    Middletown. South Cong. Ch. and Soc.                      39.96
    Mt. Carmel. Cong. Sab. Sch., _for a Student,
      Atlanta U._                                             26.71
    New Haven. North Church $118.—Rev. Wm. Patton,
      D. D. $25 (ad’l), _for Howard U._—College
      St. Ch. $10; Mrs. Julius Gale $5                       158.00
    North Branford. J. A. P.                                   1.00
    North Haven. Elihu Dickinson                               2.00
    Norwich. Broadway Cong. Sab. Sch., _for
      Student Aid, Atlanta U._                               100.00
    Rocky Hill. Mrs. U. C. D.                                  0.25
    Rockville. G. P.                                           0.55
    South Killingly. Rev. W. H. Beard                          4.00
    Thomaston. Cong. Ch.                                      29.58
    Wallingford. Mrs. C. P. Hall                               2.00
    Washington. Cong. Ch.                                     20.00
    West Haven. Cong. Ch.                                     19.32
    West Stafford. Cong. Sab. School                           1.15


  NEW YORK, $1,282.03.

    Antwerp. First Cong. Ch.                                  24.05
    Binghamton. First Cong. Ch.                              151.00
    Brooklyn. Mrs. M. E. W. $1; J. E. $1                       2.00
    Gilbertsville Academy. Rev. A. Wood                       15.00
    Goshen. F. E. C.                                           1.00
    Greigsville. Mrs. S. J. C.                                 1.00
    Hamilton. O. S. Campbell, Mrs. M. Tompkins and
      Mrs. S. K. Bardin $5 ea.                                15.00
    Harris Hill. ESTATE of Thomas Hutchinson, for
      _Freedmen Foreign and Home M.,_ by John Berry           18.00
    Irvington. Mrs. R. W. Lambdin                              5.00
    Lisle. Cong. Ch.                                           5.34
    Madison. Cong. Ch. and Soc.                                6.00
    Morrisville. Cong. Ch.                                    30.14
    New Lebanon Centre. Ladies, by Miss E. W.
      Frary, Bbl. of C.
    New York. ESTATE of Edwin S. Dewing, by Mrs.
      L. C. Dewing                                           250.00
    New York. Mrs. Hannah Ireland $50; Miss J. F.
      $1                                                      51.00
    Niagara. Ladies’ Benev. Soc., Bbl. of C., _for
      Tougaloo_
    Orwell. Cong. Ch.                                         11.00
    Oneonta. Mrs. H. Slade and others                          1.90
    Philadelphia. W. C.                                        0.75
    Poughkeepsie. Mrs. M. J. Myers                            30.00
    Rochester. Emily Boardman, _for Student Aid,
      Atlanta U._                                             20.00
    Rodman. Cong. Ch.                                         17.25
    Sag Harbor. Mrs. A. E. Westfall                           10.00
    Syracuse. Mrs. S. J. White                                10.00
    Union Valley. Sab. Sch., by Dr. J. Angel, Supt.            1.25
    West Brook. T. S. Hoyt                                     3.00
    Westmoreland. First Cong. Sab. Sch.                        2.85
    Williamsburgh. ESTATE of Lewis Chichester, by
      John M. Stearns and E. C. Wadsworth,
      Executors                                              594.00
    Windsor. Mrs. Julia Woodruff                               5.00
    Wyoming. H. S. S                                           0.50


  NEW JERSEY, $128.40.

    Newark. Belleville Ave. Cong. Ch.                         38.39
    Orange. Trinity Cong. Ch.                                 70.01
    Trenton. Misses A. P. and S. T. Sherman, _for
      Indian pupil_                                           20.00


  PENNSYLVANIA, $47.75.

    Farmers’ Valley. Mrs. E. C. O.                             1.00
    Pittsburgh. E. P.                                          0.50
    Prentiss Vale. Rev. M. W. Strickland $20; C.
      L. Allen $10.25, to const. MISS ABBIE L.
      SPILLER L. M.                                           30.25
    Providence. E. Weston                                      5.00
    Sewickley. Miss Lucy Bittinger                             6.00
    Washington. Mrs. H. H. Templeton                           5.00


  OHIO, $368.71.

    Berea. Cong. Sab. Sch.                                     1.30
    Belpre. Cong. Sab. Sch.                                   16.50
    Cincinnati. Western Tract and Book Soc., Books
      and Tracts val. $45.18, _for Savannah
      Mission_
    Cleveland. S. W. Pierson                                   5.00
    Clifton. J. K.                                             1.00
    Collinwood. Union Sab. Sch., _for Student Aid_            21.00
    Eagleville. E. M. T                                        0.50
    Elyria. First Presb. Ch. $61.28 and Sab. Sch.
      $40                                                    101.28
    Fredericktown. A. H. Royce                                10.00
    Madison. Cong. Ch. and Soc.                               43.66
    Marietta. Rev. I. M. P.                                    0.25
    Martinsburgh. Church Property                             74.62
    Norwalk. Cong. Ch.                                         8.55
    Oberlin. Second Cong. Ch.                                 12.02
    Paddy’s Run. Cong. Ch.                                    20.25
    Ravenna. Young People’s Miss. Soc. $10, _for
      Student Aid, Talladega C._—Howard Carter $10            20.00
    Seville. Mrs. Julia Hulburt                                5.00
    Sharon Centre. Mrs. R. A.                                  0.25
    Sheffield. Cong. Ch.                                      10.50
    Springfield. First Cong. Ch. (Quar. Coll.)                 7.03
    Willoughby. Miss Mary P. Hastings                         10.00


  INDIANA, $25.

    New Corydon. George Stolz                                  5.00
    Orland. Union Sab. Sch., _for Student Aid_                 5.00
    South Bend. R. Burroughs                                  15.00


  ILLINOIS, $1,243.29.

    Aurora. First Cong. Ch. Sab. Sch., _for Fisk
      U._                                                     25.00
    Batavia. Cong. Ch.                                        36.93
    Bondville. “A Friend,” _for Mendi M._                     10.00
    Chicago. Plymouth Ch. $83.57; Mrs. M. C. S.
      50c.                                                    84.07
    Chillicothe. R. W. Gilliam                                 5.00
    Cobden. E. W. T.                                           0.50
    Danvers. Cong. Sab. Sch.                                  10.63
    East Waupaunsee. Cong. Ch.                                10.00
    Evanston. J. M. Williams, _for Fisk U._                   25.00
    Galesburg. Mrs. Julia T. Wells $20.—“Friends”
      $15; Mrs. D. Hurd $5, and Box of C., _for
      Ind. Dept., Talladega C._                               40.00
    Galesburg. ESTATE of Warren C. Willard, by
      Prof. T. R. Willard                                     17.00
    Galva. Cong. Ch. Sab. Sch., _for Fisk U._                 30.00
    Geneva. Mrs. G. F. Milton, _for Ind. Sch.
      Talladega C._                                            5.00
    Hampton. Cong. Ch.                                         4.00
    Lisbon. G. K.                                              0.50
    Macomb. Cong. Ch. and Sab. Sch.                            5.80
    Morris. Cong. Ch. $14.45 and Sab. Sch. $4.05              18.50
    Morrison. Mrs. E. H.                                       1.00
    Nora. Cong. Sab. Sch., _for Student Aid_                   2.26
    Oak Park. Mrs. J. Huggins, _for Student Aid_              20.00
    Onargo. Mrs. L. C. Foster                                150.00
    Payson. Cong. Ch.                                         50.00
    Polo. Robert Smith                                       500.00
    Port Byron. Cong. Ch.                                     20.00
    Princeton. Cong. Ch. Sab. Sch., _for Fisk U._             16.50
    Princeville. Mrs. Olive L. Cutter                         20.00
    Quincy. Mrs. E. T. Parker $30, to const. MRS.
      GEORGE T. HOLYOKE L. M.;“A Friend” $5                   35.00
    Rockford. First Cong. Sab. Sch. $20, _for Fisk
      U.;_ Ladies of First. Cong. Ch. $13, _for
      Ind. Dept, Talladega C._                                33.00
    Rock Island. “A Friend”                                   10.00
    Sparta. P. B. Gault                                        2.00
    Tonica. Cong. Ch. Sab. Sch, _for Fisk U._                 26.50
    Wheaton. First Church of Christ                           14.00
    Winnebago. Cong. Ch.                                       5.10
    Woodburn. A. L. Sturges, bal. to const. MRS.
      CLARISSA E. STURGES L. M.                               10.00


  MICHIGAN, $202.75.

    Benzonia. “Friends” $10 bal. to const.
      CHAUNCEY BUSH, L. M.; “A Friend” $1                     11.00
    Chelsea. John C. Winans                                    5.00
    Clinton. Ladies’ Miss. Soc.                                5.00
    Covert. Cong. Sab. Sch., _for Talladega_                   8.00
    Detroit. Rev. C. C. Foote $25; J. C. H. $1                26.00
    Flint. First Cong. Ch. Sab. Sch., _for Fisk U._           10.00
    Grand Rapids. T. B. W.                                     0.25
    Hillsdale. Mathews Joslyn                                100.00
    Lansing. Ag’l Coll., Mrs. R. C. K., Mrs. W. J.
      B., Mrs. G. T. F., Mrs. A. J. C. and Mrs. R.
      G. B. $1 ea.; Mrs. C. L. I. 50c. _for a
      Missionary, Memphis, Tenn._                              5.50
    Oceola. B. F. Batchelder and Mrs. Sarah E. A.
      Batchelder $2.50 ea.                                     5.00
    Romeo. Cong. Sab. Sch. $20; Mrs. J. T. $1,
      _for Missionary, Memphis, Tenn._                        21.00
    Royal Oak. Cong. Ch. $5.—Mrs. C. S. C. $1,
      _for Missionary, Memphis, Tenn._                         6.00


  IOWA, $215.85.

    Ames. Cong. Ch. and Soc.                                  10.50
    Bowen Prairie. ——                                          7.00
    Clinton. First Cong. Ch. Sab. Sch. $15, _for
      Fisk U._—H. R. W. 50c.                                  15.50
    Cincinnati. Wm. T. Reynolds                                2.00
    Cresco. Cong. Ch. and Soc.                                 8.65
    Denmark. Cong. Ch. Sab. Sch., _for Fisk U._               22.00
    Dubuque. Mrs. S. N. M.                                     0.50
    Genoa Bluff. Cong. Sab. Sch., _for Student Aid_            4.27
    Grinnell. Cong. Ch. $37.50; “Friend,” gold
      ring and 43c.                                           37.93
    Hampton. “A Friend”                                        2.00
    Kellogg. Cong. Sab. Sch., _for Student Aid_                5.00
    Keokuk. Mrs. E. M. Wilson                                  5.00
    Mason City. First Cong. Ch.                                5.70
    McGregor. Cong. Ch. $12.42; Woman’s Miss. Soc.
      12.01 bal. to const. MISS CATHARINE
      GILCHRIST, L. M.                                        24.43
    Monticello. Cong. Ch.                                     16.50
    Muscatine. Cong. Ch. Sab. Sch.                            25.00
    Oskaloosa. Rev. Asa Turner                                10.00
    Stuart. Cong. Ch.                                          6.00
    Tipton. William Coutts                                     5.00
    Traer. Mrs. C. H. B.                                       1.00
    Williamsburg. Welsh Cong. Ch.                              1.87


  MISSOURI, $35.

    St. Louis. First Cong. Ch.                                35.00


  WISCONSIN, $266.40.

    Albion. S. G. A                                            0.25
    Arena. Cong. Ch.                                           5.00
    Fon du Lac. Cong. Ch.                                     42.93
    Hartford. R. F.                                            1.00
    Keshena. S. J. Marshall, M. D.                             6.00
    Madison. Cong. Ch.                                        68.47
    Mazo Manie. Cong. Ch. $8.10; Cong. Sab. Sch.
      $2.40                                                   10.50
    Menomenee. “A Friend”                                     50.00
    Milwaukee. Spring St. Cong. Ch.                           25.00
    Oconomowoc. J. S. Kenyon                                   5.00
    Plymouth. Cong. Ch.                                        5.00
    Wauwatosa. Cong. Ch. $37.—Cong. Sab. Sch.
      $10.25, _for Student Aid_                               47.25


  MINNESOTA, $25.43.

    Minneapolis. Plymouth Ch. $22.80; Pilgrim
      Cong. Ch. $1.38                                         24.18
    Morris. Cong. Ch.                                          1.25


  KANSAS, $1.

    Burlingame. A Friend                                       1.00


  NEBRASKA, $14.65.

    Linwood. Union Sab. Sch.                                   1.00
    Weeping Water. Cong. Ch.                                  13.65


  COLORADO TER. 50c.

    Littleton. H. C. W.                                        0.50


  CALIFORNIA, $30.

    Madison. MRS. TYLER THACHER to const. herself
      L. M.                                                   30.00


  OREGON, $32.

    Salem. Cong. Ch. to const. DEA. JOHN J.
      MCFARLAND, L. M.                                        32.00


  MARYLAND, $50.

    Baltimore. Rev. Geo. Morris, _for Fisk U._                50.00


  TENNESSEE, $193.50.

    Covington. H. C. Gray, _for rebuilding S. U._              1.00
    Memphis. Le Moyne Sch.                                   119.65
    Nashville. Fisk University                                72.85


  NORTH CAROLINA, $231.22.

    Raleigh. Washington Sch.                                 126.22
    Wilmington. Normal Sch. $98.73; Cong. Ch. $6.27          105.00


  SOUTH CAROLINA, $228.50.

    Charleston. Avery Inst.                                  223.50
    Orangeburgh. Ladies’ Miss. Ass’n of Cong. Ch.,
      _for Mendi M._                                           5.00


  GEORGIA, $214.20.

    Atlanta. Atlanta University $103.—M. Blanche
      Curtiss $5, _for Student Aid, Atlanta U._              108.00
    Columbus. R. P. Lewis, _for Atlanta U._                    5.00
    Macon. Lewis High Sch.                                    51.20
    McIntosh. Rev. Jos. E. Smith, _for Student
      Aid, Atlanta U._                                        50.00


  MISSISSIPPI, $65.55.

    Tougaloo. Tougaloo U.                                     65.55


  LOUISIANA, $152.75.

    Houma. Rev. A. E. P. A.                                    0.50
    Lake Peigneur. Cong. Ch.                                   2.00
    New Iberia. Cong. Ch.                                      5.25
    New Orleans. Straight University $144.50; W.
      A. C. 50c.                                             145.00


  TEXAS, 50c.

    Goliad. S. M.                                              0.50


  ALABAMA, $746.

    Mobile. Emerson Inst.                                    154.75
    Montgomery. Pub. Fund                                    420.75
    Selma. Cong. Ch.                                          11.35
    Talladega. Talladega Col. $126.15.—Cong. Sab.
      Sch. $30; B. L. $1, _for Farm_; Willis Ferry
      $2, _for Ind. Dept. Talladega C._                      159.15


  INCOME FUND, $3,511.82.

    Avery Fund, _for Mendi M._                             2,286.82
    Le Moyne Fund                                            770.00
    Hammond Fund                                             350.00
    ESTATE of Dr. M. C. Williams                              35.00
    ESTATE of Sarah J. Nason                                  35.00
    ESTATE of A. Miner                                        35.00


  CANADA, 16.08.

    Guelph. Rev. J. H.                                         1.00
    Sherbrooke. Cong. Ch. Sab. Sch.                           15.08
                                                          —————————
    Total                                                 14,812.30
    Total from Oct. 1st to May 31st                     $118,122.26

                                                 H. W. HUBBARD
                                                     _Ass’t Treas._


  RECEIVED FOR DEBT.

    Amherst, Mass. Mrs. R. A. Lester                          50.00
    Barnstable Co., Mass. “A Traveler”                         5.00
    Holbrook, Mass. Mrs. C. S. Holbrook                      100.00
    Holbrook Mass. Miss Sarah J. Holbrook                     25.00
    North Abington, Mass. Mrs. A. S. Reed                     20.00
    Hartford, Conn. “A Friend”                               500.00
    Brooklyn, N. Y. Julius Davenport                          25.00
    Goliad, Texas. Rev. Mitchell Thompson                      5.00
    Helena, Texas. Cong. Ch.                                   5.00
    —— Payment on Land in Mich.                              150.00
                                                             ——————
                                                             885.00
    Previously acknowledged April receipts                 9,637.72
                                                           ————————
    Total                                                $10,522.72

       *       *       *       *       *




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:

[A] By evangelical sentiments, we understand, among others, a
belief in the guilty and lost condition of all men without a
Saviour; the Supreme Deity, Incarnation and Atoning Sacrifice
of Jesus Christ, the only Saviour of the world; the necessity
of regeneration by the Holy Spirit, repentance, faith and holy
obedience in order to salvation; the immortality of the soul; and
the retributions of the judgment in the eternal punishment of the
wicked, and salvation of the righteous.

       *       *       *       *       *




_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.

  NEW YORK   H. W. Hubbard. Esq., 56 Reade Street.
  BOSTON     Rev. C. L. Woodworth, Room 21, Congregational House.
  CHICAGO    Rev. Jas. Powell, 112 West Washington St.


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.


                 *       *       *       *       *


                        DURING THE SUMMER,

                [Illustration: The Christian Union]

         Will Publish Articles Appropriate to the Season.

                    A STORY OF CALIFORNIA LIFE.

                         By R. W. RAYMOND.

               THE CITIES IN SUMMER.
                               THE PARIS EXPOSITION.

                           STAR PAPERS.

                      By HENRY WARD BEECHER.

                    “LETTERS FROM MY LIBRARY.”

                           By “LAICUS.”

                    “NEW YORK STREET LABORERS.”

            IN A SERIES OF INTERVIEWS WITH THEMSELVES.

            “OUR NEIGHBORS—THE POOR:
                            WHERE AND HOW THEY LIVE.”


                       _LECTURE-ROOM TALKS._


               INTERNATIONAL SUNDAY-SCHOOL LESSONS.

                       By REV. LYMAN ABBOTT.

      Correspondence from Missions in all Parts of the World.

     Terms, $3.00 per annum, postage prepaid. For four months
       on trial, $1.00. To Clergymen, $2.50. Sample Copies
                 sent on receipt of 3-cent stamp.

                   FOR SALE BY ALL NEWSDEALERS.

           THE CHRISTIAN UNION, 27 Park Place, New York.

                 *       *       *       *       *

                     How to Spend the Summer.

            WHERE TO GO; HOW TO GO; HOW TO SAVE MONEY.

 A Neatly Bound 32mo. Pamphlet, Comprises a Series of Articles on
                        Summer Recreation.

                             CONTENTS.

PERIPATETICS; by HOWARD CROSBY, D. D. COTTAGE HOUSEKEEPING; by A
COTTAGE HOUSEKEEPER. SUMMER SCHOOLS; by C. F. THWING. A SHORT TRIP
TO EUROPE; by AUSTIN ABBOTT. TROUT FISHING; by LAICUS. CAMPING OUT;
by W. H. H. MURRAY. THE MODERN CANOE; by THE COMMODORE OF THE NEW
YORK CANOE CLUB. SHORT TRIPS AROUND NEW YORK; by GEORGE ELLINGTON.
SUMMER ON A FARM; by DONALD G. MITCHELL. HARD-SCRABBLE; by H. H.
THE SEA-GIRT ISLE; by FRANK H. CONVERSE. ON WHEELS; by the REV.
SAMUEL SCOVILLE. SUMMER CAMP MEETINGS; by LYMAN ABBOTT. HOW TO STAY
AT HOME WITHOUT GRUMBLING; by GAIL HAMILTON.

                     PRICE, TWENTY-FIVE CENTS.

                Sent postpaid on receipt of price.

           THE CHRISTIAN UNION, 27 Park Place, New York.


                 *       *       *       *       *


                        A. S. BARNES & CO.

                      Educational Publishers.

TEACHERS are requested to send for our Descriptive Catalogue of 400
Text Books and Professional Manuals.

                   A. S. B. & Co., also publish

Dale’s Lectures on Preaching:

As delivered at Yale College, 1877. Contents: Perils of Young
Preachers; The Intellect in Relation to Preaching; Reading;
Preparation of Sermons; Extemporaneous Preaching and Style;
Evangelistic Preaching; Pastoral Preaching; The Conduct of Public
Worship. Price, postpaid, $1.50.

Chas. G. Finney’s Memoirs:

Written by Himself. 477 pp., 12mo, $2.00.

“A wonderful volume it truly is.”—_Rev. T. L. Cuyler, D. D._ “What
a fiery John the Baptist he was.”—_Rev. R. S. Storrs, D. D._

Ray Palmer’s Poetical Works:

Complete. With Portrait. 8vo, full gilt, rich, $4.00.

Memoirs of P. P. Bliss:

By Whittle, Moody and Sankey. With portraits of the Bliss Family,
on steel. Price $2.

Lyman Abbott’s Commentary

ON THE NEW TESTAMENT (Illustrated). Matthew and Mark (1 vol.),
$2.50; Acts, $1.75: others nearly ready.

“Destined to be _the_ Commentary for thoughtful Bible readers....
Simple, attractive, correct and judicious in the use of
learning.—_Rev. Howard Crosby, D. D._”

                   PUBLISHERS’ PRINCIPAL OFFICE,

                111 & 113 William Street, New York.


                 *       *       *       *       *


                         E. D. Bassford’s

                 COOPER INSTITUTE, NEW YORK CITY,

Just received from European and Domestic Manufacturers complete
new stock of fresh and beautiful goods. Every department of this
great emporium is being re-stocked with the Newest and Best
=House-Furnishing and Table Wares, in Hardware, China, Glass,
Cutlery, Silver= and =Wooden-ware,= and everything in these lines
for the complete furnishing of =House and Table—Dinner= and =Tea
Sets, Chamber-ware, Cooking Utensils, Tin-ware= and

                            BASSFORD’S

                            CELEBRATED

                     =Nonpareil Refrigerator=,

The best made. Goods promptly delivered in city, or shipped daily.
Complete Price Lists and Refrigerator Lists sent free, and every
attention paid to inquiries by mail.

                        Edward D. Bassford,

               Nos. 1, 2, 3, 12, 13, 15, 16, and 17

                        _COOPER INSTITUTE_,

                          NEW YORK CITY.


                 *       *       *       *       *


                        =“Weekly Witness.”=

The New York “Weekly Witness” possesses a unique feature of
remarkable interest in its Home Department, namely: About three
columns of original letters from Ladies each week, on almost
every subject of social interest, and one column of letters from
Children. The “Witness” Commercial Reviews, Produce Price Currents
and Financial Articles are unsurpassed; and it has a great amount
of reading matter suitable for the Family, including three columns
for Farmers and Gardeners, and the weekly Sabbath-school Lesson, by
Rev. Dr. Wm. M. Taylor.

Terms, $1.50 a year, or $1 for eight months.

                           JOHN DOUGALL,

          “Witness” Office, No. 7 Frankfort St. New York.


                 *       *       *       *       *


                      Established A. D. 1850.

                                THE

                             MANHATTAN

                        Life Insurance Co.,

                      156 Broadway, New York,

                             HAS PAID

                            $7,400,000

                           DEATH CLAIMS,

                             HAS PAID

                            $4,900,000

                Return Premiums to Policy-Holders,

                         HAS A SURPLUS OF

                            $1,700,000

                         OVER LIABILITIES,

               _By New York Standard of Valuation_.

    _It gives the Best Insurance on the Best Lives at the most
                         Favorable Rates._

           EXAMINE THE PLANS AND RATES OF THIS COMPANY.

                     HENRY STOKES, PRESIDENT,

  C. Y. WEMPLE,
           _Vice-President_.

  J. L. HALSEY,
           _Secretary_.

  S. N. STEBBINS,
           _Actuary_.

  H. Y. WEMPLE,
  H. B. STOKES,
           _Assistant-Secretaries_.


                 *       *       *       *       *


                    The most extensive stock of

                    Theological and S. S. Books

                  In the Country, Good and Cheap.

We publish books upon the “Clark” plan. In the regular way, DR.
ARNOLD’S 84 Rugby Lectures are $3.50—on the “Clark” plan, =$1.20=,
postpaid.

Besides our general stock of Sunday-school Books, we have one
Library of shop-worn and second-hand Books, $50 retail, for
=$12.50=, and 10 Libraries of New Books of the best quality, and
cheaper than any offered.

Also, Books sold by Agents only. Just ready, =The Old and New Bible
Looking-Glass=, with =280= Beautiful Emblem Engravings. The work is
written by Drs. CROSBY, GILLET, CHEEVER, PUNSHON of England, and
others. It has received, from the ablest Divines and the religious
press, the best indorsements of any book we have had.

                       SEND FOR PARTICULARS.

             N. TIBBALS & SONS, 37 Park Row, New York.


                 *       *       *       *       *


                       _THE BOOK OF PSALMS._

Arranged according to the Original Parallelisms. For responsive
reading in Sabbath-school, or Social or Family Worship. The current
version is strictly followed, the only peculiarity being the
arrangement according to the Original Parallelisms, for convenience
in use for responsive reading. Two sizes. _Prices_: 32mo., Limp
Cloth, 30 cts. per copy, $25 per 100; 16mo. Cloth, 70 cts. per
copy, $56 per 100. Sent postpaid on receipt of price.

TAINTOR BROTHERS, MERRILL & CO., Publishers,
                                           758 Broadway, New York.


                 *       *       *       *       *


                        Case’s Bible Atlas.

Quarto Size. Accurate and _up to the times_. =16= Full Page Maps,
with Explanatory Notes and Index. Designed to aid Sunday-school
Teachers and Scholars. Every family needs it. Price $1.00. Sent by
mail on receipt of price.

=AGENTS WANTED= in every Township. _Liberal terms given._ Address
=O. D. CASE & CO., Hartford, Ct.=


                 *       *       *       *       *


                            CRAMPTON’S

                             PALM SOAP

                          IS THE BEST FOR

                       The Laundry,

                               The Kitchen,

                              AND FOR

                    General Household Purposes.

                          MANUFACTURED BY

                        CRAMPTON BROTHERS,

               _Cor. Monroe & Jefferson Sts. N. Y._

                 Send for Circular and Price List.


                 *       *       *       *       *


                          CABINET ORGANS

HIGHEST HONORS AT ALL WORLD’S EXHIBITIONS. _Only American Organs
awarded such at_ ANY. _Before buying or renting, send for our_
LATEST CATALOGUES and CIRCULARS, with NEW STYLES, REDUCED PRICES
and _much information. Sent free._

                     MASON & HAMLIN ORGAN CO.,
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                 *       *       *       *       *


                              ORGANS

Splendid _=$340=_ ORGANS for _=$100=_. _=$300=_ for _=$90=_.
_=$275=_ for _=$80=_. _=$200=_ for _=$70=_. _=$190=_ for _=$65=_;
and _=$160=_ for _=$55=_. PIANOS—_=$900=_ Piano Forte for _=$225=_.
_=$800=_ for _=$200=_. _=$750=_ for _=$185=_. _=$700=_ for
_=$165=_. _=$600=_ for _=$135=_, _=cash=_, not used a year, in
perfect order. Great Bargains, Unrivaled Instruments, Unequaled
Prices. Send for Catalogues. =HORACE WATERS & SONS, _40 East 14th
Street, New York_.=


                 *       *       *       *       *


                         BROWN BROS. & CO.

                             BANKERS,

              59 Wall St., New York,
                  211 Chestnut St., Philadelphia,
                                66 State St., Boston.

Issue, against cash deposited, or satisfactory guarantee of
repayment,

Circular Credits for Travelers,

In DOLLARS for use in the United States and adjacent countries, and
in POUNDS STERLING, for use in any part of the world.

These Credits, bearing the signature of the holder, afford a ready
means of identification, and the amounts for which they are issued
can be availed of from time to time, wherever he may be, in sums to
meet the requirements of the Traveler.

Application for Credits may be made to either of the above houses
direct, or through any respectable bank or banker in the country.

They also issue Commercial Credits, make Cable Transfers of Money
between this Country and England, and draw Bills of Exchange on
Great Britain and Ireland.


                 *       *       *       *       *


                     Young America Press Co.,

35 Murray St., New York, manufacture a variety of hand, self-inking,
and rotary printing presses, ranging in price from $2 to
$150, including the =Centennial=, =Young America=, =Cottage=,
=Lightning=, and other celebrated printing machines. Our new rotary
press, the =United States Jobber=, for cheapness and excellence, is
unrivalled. Other presses taken in exchange. Lowest prices for type
and printing material. Circulars free. Specimen Book of Type, 10
cts. A sample package of plain and fancy cards, 10 cents.

[Illustration]


                 *       *       *       *       *


[Illustration:

  MARVIN’S
  FIRE & BURGLAR
  SAFES
  COUNTER PLATFORM WAGON & TRACK
  SCALES
  _MARVIN SAFE & SCALE CO.
  265 BROADWAY, N. Y.
  627 CHESTNUT ST. PHILA._
]


                 *       *       *       *       *




                    THE THIRTY-SECOND VOLUME OF

                                THE

                       American Missionary,

                      ENLARGED AND IMPROVED.


                 *       *       *       *       *

                     SUBSCRIPTION DEPARTMENT.

We publish =25,000= copies per month, giving news from the
Institutions and Churches aided by the Association among the
Freedmen in the South, the Indian tribes, the Chinese on the
Pacific Coast, and the Negroes in Western Africa. Price, =Fifty
Cents a Year, in Advance=.

                        OUR NEW PAMPHLETS.

No. 1.—=History= of the Association.

No. 2.—=Africa=: Containing a History of the Mendi Mission, a
Description of the Land and the People, and a presentation of their
claims on America.

No. 3.—=The Three Despised Races in the United States=; or, The
Chinaman, the Indian, and the Freedman. An Address before the A. M.
A., by Rev. Joseph Cook, of Boston, Mass.

No. 4.—=The Educational Work.= Showing the nature and reality
of the black man’s needs; the way to help him; the sentiment of
Southern men; the work of the Romish Church; the wants of the A. M.
A.

_Will be sent free to any address, on application._

                   H. W. HUBBARD, Ass’t-Treas., 56 Reade St., N. Y.


                      ADVERTISING DEPARTMENT.

A limited space in our Magazine is devoted to Advertisements, for
which our low rates and large circulation make its pages specially
valuable. Our readers are among the best in the country, having an
established character for integrity and thrift that constitute them
valued customers in all departments of business.

To Advertisers using display type and Cuts, who are accustomed
to the “RULES” of the best News-papers, requiring “DOUBLE RATES”
for these “LUXURIES,” our wide pages, fine paper, and superior
printing, with =no extra charge for cuts=, are advantages readily
appreciated, and which add greatly to the appearance and effect of
business announcements.

We are, thus far, gratified with the success of this department,
and solicit orders from all who have unexceptionable wares to
advertise.

Advertisements must be received by the TENTH of the month, in order
to secure insertion in the following number. All communications in
relation to advertising should be addressed to

                               J. H. DENISON, Adv’g Agent,
                                         56 READE STREET, NEW YORK.


       *       *       *       *       *


[Illustration:

  KINGSFORD’S
  OSWEGO
  CORN STARCH
  —FOR—
  PUDDINGS | BLANC MANGE | CAKE, ETC.
  PURE AND DELICATE.
  PREFERABLE TO BERMUDA ARROW ROOT.
  ☞Inferior and spurious articles are often sold for =Kingsford’s=.☜
  To avoid GROSS IMPOSITION, see that =T. KINGSFORD & SON= is on each
    =BOX= and on each =PACKAGE=.
]




Transcriber’s Notes:


“Darmouth” changed to “Dartmouth” on page 218. (Hanover. Cong. Ch.
Dartmouth Col.)

Extra “(” removed from E.D. Bassford’s ad on page 224. (COOPER
INSTITUTE, NEW YORK CITY)