Produced by Cornell University, Joshua Hutchinson, Ralph Janke and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. The American Missionary JANUARY, 1890. VOL. XLIV. NO. 1. * * * * * CONTENTS EDITORIAL. NEW YEAR'S GREETINGS "NOW, CONCERNING THE COLLECTION"--THE CORINTHIAN CHURCH AFRICA--ITS SHADOW AND SUNSHINE CONVENTIONS OF COLORED PEOPLE--SCHOOL ECHOES ADDRESS OF PRESIDENT EATON THE SOUTH. FIELD NOTES, BY REV. F.E. JENKINS REVIVAL AT WASHINGTON, D.C. A GLAD THANKSGIVING STRAIGHT UNIVERSITY, NEW ORLEANS TILLOTSON INSTITUTE THE INDIANS. MISSIONARY LIFE AMONG THE DAKOTA INDIANS NEW CHURCH AT FORT YATES, DAKOTA THE CHINESE. CHINA FOR CHRIST BUREAU OF WOMAN'S WORK. MASS MEETING OF THE WOMAN'S HOME MISSIONARY UNIONS WORDS FROM OUR ANNUAL MEETING WOMAN'S STATE ORGANIZATIONS RECEIPTS * * * * * NEW YORK: PUBLISHED BY THE AMERICAN MISSIONARY ASSOCIATION. Rooms, 56 Reade Street. * * * * * Price, 50 Cents a Year, in Advance. Entered at the Post Office at New York, N.Y., as second-class matter. American Missionary Association. * * * * * PRESIDENT, Rev. WM. M. TAYLOR, D.D., LL.D., N.Y. _Vice-Presidents._ Rev. A.J.F. BEHRENDS, D.D., N.Y. Rev. ALEX. McKENZIE, D.D., Mass. Rev. F.A. NOLLE, D.D., Ill. Rev. D.O. MEARS, D.D., Mass. Rev. HENRY HOPKINS, D.D., Mo. _Corresponding Secretaries._ Rev. M.E. STRIEBY, D.D., _56 Reade Street, N.Y._ Rev. A.F. BEARD, D.D., _56 Reade Street, N.Y._ _Recording Secretary._ Rev. M.E. STRIEBY, D.D., _56 Reade Street, N.Y._ _Treasurer._ H.W. HUBBARD, Esq., _56 Reade Street, N.Y._ _Auditors._ PETER McCARTEE. CHAS. P. PEIRCE. _Executive Committee._ JOHN H. WASHBURN, Chairman. ADDISON P. FOSTER, Secretary. _For Three Years._ S.B. HALLIDAY, SAMUEL HOLMES, SAMUEL S. MARPLES, CHARLES L. MEAD, ELBERT B. MONROE. _For Two Years._ J.E. RANKIN, WM. H. WARD, J.W. COOPER, JOHN H. WASHBURN, EDMUND L. CHAMPLIN. _For One Year._ LYMAN ABBOTT, CHAS. A. HULL, CLINTON B. FISK, ADDISON P. FOSTER, ALBERT J. LYMAN. _District Secretaries._ Rev. C.J. RYDER, _21 Cong'l House, Boston._ Rev. J.E. ROY, D.D., _151 Washington Street, Chicago._ Rev. C.W. HIATT, _64 Euclid Ave., Cleveland, Ohio._ _Financial Secretary for Indian Missions. Field Superintendent._ Rev. CHAS. W. SHELTON. Rev. FRANK E. JENKINS. _Secretary of Woman's Bureau._ Miss D.E. EMERSON, _56 Reade St., N.Y._ COMMUNICATIONS Relating to the work of the Association may be addressed to the Corresponding Secretaries; letters for "THE AMERICAN MISSIONARY," to the Editor, at the New York Office; letters relating to the finances, to the Treasurer. DONATIONS AND SUBSCRIPTIONS In drafts, checks, registered letters, or post-office orders, may be sent to H.W. Hubbard, Treasurer, 56 Reade Street, New York, or, when more convenient, to either of the Branch Offices, 21 Congregational House, Boston, Mass., 151 Washington Street, Chicago, Ill., or 64 Euclid Ave., Cleveland, Ohio. A payment of thirty dollars at one time constitutes a Life Member. NOTICE TO SUBSCRIBERS.--The date on the "address label," indicates the time in which the subscription is paid. Changes are made in date on label to the 10th of each month. If payment of subscription be made afterward, the change on the label will appear a month later. Please send early notice of change in post-office address, giving the former address and the new address, in order that our periodicals and occasional papers may be correctly mailed. FORM OF A BEQUEST "I bequeath to my executor (or executors) the sum of ---- dollars, in trust, to pay the same in ---- days after my decease to the person who, when the same is payable, shall act as Treasurer of the 'American Missionary Association,' of New York City, to be applied, under the direction of the Executive Committee of the Association, to its charitable uses and purposes." The Will should be attested by three witnesses. * * * * * THE AMERICAN MISSIONARY. VOL. XLIV. JANUARY, 1890. NO. 1. AMERICAN MISSIONARY ASSOCIATION. * * * * * NEW YEAR'S GREETINGS. The New Year opens upon this Association auspiciously. The setting sun of our old year went down in a bright sky. Revivals of religion and an increased membership was the joyful record of our churches; by the generous aid of the Daniel Hand Fund, our schools showed a greatly enlarged attendance, and the faithful work of the teachers brought forth most satisfactory results; the threatened debt that darkened several months of the year was happily averted by good showing on the right side of the ledger. It is from this bright setting sun of the last year that we turn with faith and hope to the opening of the new year. We believe, the work is the Lord's and that he will provide. But our faith alone will not save us. It is our duty to inform and arouse our constituents as to the needs and urgency of our work. We will specify in a few particulars: 1. As to funds. Our last year's favorable showing was due in large part to legacies. These are variable, and we must rely on the gifts of _living donors_. Unless, therefore, the churches and individuals make larger contributions than last year, we have no assurance of an escape from debt, even if the work be maintained merely as at present. We wish most earnestly to press this fact upon the friends of the Association. 2. But this is not all. Growth is imperative. The people at the North are alarmed by the disturbed condition of the South, and are awakening afresh, as they were at the close of the war, to a sense of responsibility to the colored people. The aroused feeling at that time took a practical turn, and money, men and women were sent without stint to enlighten and elevate. Shall it be so now, or will mere sympathy or useless regret suffice? No! Something, the _right thing_, can be done. Fair-minded men, both North and South, realize that all schemes involving fraud, violence, disfranchisement or deportation, are impracticable, but all are agreed as to the value of Christian enlightenment, enabling the Negro to earn property and to become an intelligent and virtuous citizen. This is the line on which the Association has perseveringly toiled since it opened its first school at Fortress Monroe in 1861, and it is not too much to say that nothing more effective has been done in all these years. Can anything of a better sort be done in the future? Amid all the jarring discords at the South, the people there, both white and black, welcome the efforts of the Association. They feel that we are not disturbers, that we have a single honest aim, and are working at the only true solution of the great problem. We ask the people of the North, therefore, to come to the rescue once more by practical, self-denying liberality. 3. But this is not all. A work so vital to the interests of the nation and of the cause of Christ needs to be uplifted by the prayers of God's people. Deliverance cannot come from political parties, governmental authority or theories of industrial reform. The power of God must be in it. We therefore respectfully but earnestly ask our brethren in the ministry to remember this work in their prayers in the great congregation, and we ask our fellow Christians to remember it in the prayer-meeting, at the family altar and in the closet. * * * * * "Now, concerning the collection." These are not the words of a begging agent, but of Paul the Apostle, and they come from his pen just after he had closed that wonderful fifteenth chapter of First Corinthians on the glorious resurrection and the victory over death and the grave. These words are fit, therefore, in any assembly and at the close of any discourse however exalted. Brethren remember the "collection." * * * * * The Corinthian church seems, like some churches in recent times, to have been remiss in sending on the "collections," and hence we find Paul, a year later, to be "After Money Again." He writes so nobly, so kindly, that we are tempted to quote a few sentences: "For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich. And herein I give my advice: for this is expedient for you who have begun before not only to do but also to be forward a year ago. Now therefore perform the doing of it. As it is written, He that had gathered much had nothing over; and he that gathered little had no lack." * * * * * The National Council has appointed Committees to take into consideration the consolidation of the missionary magazines and the re-adjustment of the work of the several Congregational missionary societies. We are happy to furnish these committees with all the facts in our possession on these subjects, and this Association will, in accordance with its fundamental theory, cheerfully acquiesce in what shall be found to be the deliberate and ultimate decision of the churches. In the meantime, it may not be out of place for us to say that missionary periodicals and missionary societies are growths and not manufactured articles, and that plans for modification should be very carefully considered. We venture, therefore, to suggest that counsel be taken of the Town Clerk of Ephesus, "to do nothing rashly." * * * * * AFRICA.--ITS SHADOW AND SUNSHINE. The shadow is still broad and dense, well nigh covering the continent. The heroic Stanley has found that shadow as dark as when he first traveled beneath it. The malarial climate and the bitter hostility of the natives are there yet. The accursed slave trade is as extensive as ever, embittering the lives of its victims, instigating wars among the tribes and obstructing agriculture, commerce and civilization. The failures to suppress it are discouraging. Sir Samuel Baker's well-equipped military force, Col. Gordon's intrepid courage, and Emin Pacha's brave endurance have all succumbed before it. Its flow, pushed back for a time, now returns with its old-time flood. Then, too, the Mahdi uprising, seemingly suppressed, still lives and is likely to hold the Soudan if not to harass Egypt. When Emin Pacha, under the protection of the heroic Stanley, abandoned his little sovereignty, it was a farewell, humanly speaking, to a speedy establishment of missions in that territory. But there is a bright lining around all this darkness. For one thing the eyes of the civilized world are turned toward Africa with increasing intensity. The rainbow fringe of missions around the coasts is still sustained by the gifts and prayers of Christians, and by the blessing of God. The multiplied efforts of the European States to colonize the dark continent are facts full of encouragement. The motive may be selfish; the method sometimes unwise and cruel, and the conflict of contending interests may be hindrances, but the results will be good. All these movements aim at commerce, and commerce can only flourish on the ruins of the slave-trade, and among peaceful tribes with growing industries, intelligence and civilization. The Congo Free State, with its railroad in construction, its steamboats on the rivers and its civilized settlements, is a bright omen of the future. Surely God's people should pray for Africa, moved by pity and by hope. Christians in America can do more than pray--they can help to answer their own prayers. They can raise up the sons and daughters of Africa, trained in our schools, to go forth as missionaries and colonists to the land of their fathers. The experiment has been tried with success. Missionaries of African descent can endure the climate better, and can more readily reach the people than those of the white race. There is a call in these facts for the means to give special instruction in Biblical truth to those who can thus be prepared for this great mission work. * * * * * CONVENTIONS OF COLORED PEOPLE. The proposed National Conventions of colored people to be held in Chicago and Washington are significant facts. They indicate that the colored people are suffering wrongs, and that they feel a call to seek redress. Their right to hold such conventions is unquestioned; the wisdom of holding them will be vindicated, we hope, by their just and reasonable utterances and plans. Intemperate language and rash and impracticable measures will not help, and we have so much confidence in the discretion of our colored friends that we believe none such will be said or proposed. Our colored brethren must not forget that much is being done for them and that they are doing much for themselves. It would be unwise to overlook this in any attempt to reach something less tangible. Their appeal to the justice of the Nation, to the Constitution and the laws can be made invincible, but it will be well to keep in touch with the sympathy of the North and with the conscience of the South, for in spite of all the wrongs inflicted on the colored people in the South, we believe there is a large and growing number of Southern people who look upon this whole question conscientiously, and although perplexed desire that the right shall be done. For the colored people themselves, while conventions are good, yet the accumulation of property, growth in intelligence, and character are better. * * * * * SCHOOL ECHOES. A boy in one of the arithmetic classes was given an example which began with the statement, that a man deposited a certain sum of money in a bank. He was asked if he knew what a bank was. He replied; "Yes, it is a place where you dig coal." "What is the shape of the earth?" "The earth is square. Pap says so, and he says the Book says so too. He says if there warn't four corners, how could the four angels stand on 'em." "I hear you'uns have taken your children out of school. What did you do that for?" "I'll tell ye. I yaint goin' to send my child to any such fool-teacher as that ar. Why, he tole 'em that the world was roun', an' any fool knows better." A Methodist minister in North Carolina, preaching from the passage about standing at the corners of the streets to pray, told his people that if they wanted to see a "first class hypocrite," see anybody who would stand up to pray. The _standing up_ was what he thought Jesus reproved. A man in the South writes to us as follows, making an unusual inquiry: "I write you this to ask you do you take married ladies in your school, and if so I want to send my wife at once. Please send me the terms of the school and what she will need. My wife wants an education and my desire is to give it to her. You will greatly oblige me to answer this on return mail." * * * * * ADDRESS OF PRESIDENT EATON, AT THE ANNUAL MEETING IN CHICAGO. God, who writes his thoughts in the development of a nation, not less than in the grouping of constellations or in the drama of the physical world, has spoken in the birth and history of our land with startling distinctness. In every people we may see an ideal of God embodied, however imperfectly realized by human achievement. Happy is that people who can see God's ideal for them, and those statesmen who have it in their hearts to lead the people along the line of God's thought. To get at something of God's thought for us, we must go back even into those dark Teutonic forests into which the Roman world peered with so much fear and awe, and out of which came those freemen who knew how to leap upon that Roman world in its pride and its weakness and re-assert human liberty. Those old ancestors of ours knew what freedom was; but as they came against that Roman world, they themselves were in part conquered by it, and they lost something of that freedom. But God set apart one corner of the European world for them, and called over the English Channel in the fifth century those forefathers of ours, there to watch for a century and a half that tremendous conflict in which the very plow-share of the Teutons went through the roots of the Roman life in Britain and left nothing but Teutonic fields remaining. And then God brought into this Britain, thus set apart, the gospel of Christ, and our forefathers became Christians--not Christians such as there were in other parts of Europe, but having that free and independent Christian life that shone forth in men like Wyckliffe, denying the power of the keys to Rome except where Rome spoke with Christ's voice, and in men like Latimer, before whom the proud Henry trembled. All over England were sown these seeds of a free Christian faith; so that when Luther came, it was in England as in our country when the forest fires have ceased, and suddenly there spring up from the sod a new forest because the seeds lie in the prairie from age to age. So in our English soil there were those seeds of Christian freedom that sprung forth and gave us a free and Protestant England. And then, in the reaction, when Mary was on the throne, and the fire at Smithfield was kindled, the Christian men of England went to Geneva and there met John Calvin, whose system of Christian thought set the soul of man forth, in his awful agony of sin, and in God's redemption for him--set him forth independent of kings and rulers, and in whose sight a king was but God's vassal. When Englishmen had to come in contact with John Calvin, the iron of his free spirit became steel, and then Puritanism was born, and at that time God raised the curtain that hung over a whole hemisphere, and gave that hemisphere to these free Teutonic English people. We know how they conquered the country for this free spirit, and how the Revolutionary War came on, and Samuel Adams, awakening to the sound of those cannon at Concord on that spring morning, said, in spite of all the forebodings of a long and deadly struggle, "How glorious is this morning," because he foresaw what God could work here in a free Christian land. And so on that following Fourth of July those men assembled in Philadelphia and put forth the Declaration of Independence. There is no better commentary on it than Lincoln's words when he said, in those dark days just before the war: "In their enlightened view nothing stamped with the divine image and likeness was sent into the world to be trodden on or degraded or imbruted by its fellows." They set up a beacon for their children and their children's children. Wise statesmen as they were, they knew the tendency of prosperity to breed tyrants, and so they established these great self-evident truths, that when at some remote time some man, or faction, or interest should arise, and say that none but rich men, or none but white men, or none but Anglo-Saxon white men were entitled to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, their children's children should look back to the Declaration of Independence, and should take heart to begin again the battles their forefathers fought, that thus truth and liberty and righteousness and justice and all the Christian virtues might not be lost in the land; and none might dare limit and circumscribe the principles on which the temple of liberty was being built. Thus, by these centuries of growth and life God said to our people, "I have given you this key to your history, the union of liberty and an enlightened faith--faith and freedom. Be true to these. This do and thou shalt live." It seems plain enough. And yet, in this garden of liberty there were sown tares. In the bosom of this free land the deadly foe of freedom, slavery, was here. In slavery was the evident and necessary foe of all that God had foreplanned for our Nation, because slavery denies the rights of men. Men tried to deal with this problem; they tried to circumscribe it; they said it was a local question, and Webster stood in the Senate and boasted that he had never spoken of slavery on that floor. How the way of liberty was choked, how the tree of liberty withered! And then God spoke in the earthquake, and the fire, the war came on, and the slave was set free; and it seemed as if again we had come into sight of God's plan for the race, that liberty and Christian faith should be the watchword of our national life. Now again, at last, it seems as if that which we are accomplishing and that which God has spoken in all these ages is again jeopardized, and as if this human right shall be denied in the South. Men doubt whether there is in the Negro more than the capacity of a subordinate race, and say that to educate him is to lift him out of his sphere. Brethren and friends, there is manhood in the Negro race. There was humanity in those slaves who toiled their way over mountains and through swamps before the war, with their eyes focussed upon the North star of freedom. And there was humanity in those mothers who clasped their babes to their breast and fled before the bloodhounds that they might escape the enslavers of men. There was manhood in those one hundred and seventy-eight thousand Negro soldiers who seized their muskets and went to the front and fought for us, and with us, in those dark days of 1864, when the draft was failing and when volunteering had failed, that there might be soldiers to stand in the front and to dig in the trenches, and of whom eighty thousand gave their lives for us. There was manhood in those cabins in which all over the South, our fleeing soldiers, escaping from prison, never failed to find support, help, and guidance. Oh! how disastrous a business it is that that manhood, which all those years of slavery could not extinguish, should now be extinguished by the priests of a proud, arrogant, and selfish aristocracy. But, my friends, as we felt in those days, and feel to-night, there is still no help for us but in the Christian solution of this problem and in the Christian destiny God has given to us. Liberty and faith, the two elements, must be conjoined. For us to deny the rights of the Negro now is to say that God did not make man in his image. It is to say that liberty is not a sacred right, but a selfish acquisition; that government does not exist to establish rights, but to protect privileges, and that mankind are not brothers, but foes. It is to turn the shadow upon the dial of human progress backward toward the ages of oppression and chaos. And just there is the problem that confronts us, South and North together. What shall be done in this dire extremity? I remember years ago hearing of a fire in Charleston in which that beautiful spire of St. Michael's took fire and some one had to be found to go up beyond the reach of the hose to put out the flame kindling and flickering there. No one was found until a Negro stepped forth and climbed that tower, taking his life in his hands, and put out that flame. And when he came down again, one man said, "Name your reward," and he replied, "Let me but be counted a man." And that we have got to do, or God will shake down our civilization and our Nation as he shook down that spire of St. Michael's in the earthquake three years ago. It is certain to come unless we follow the line of God's appointing that this must be a free Nation, absolutely free, free everywhere. As yet, emancipation is but an outward and formal thing. What we wait for now, is the emancipation of a true and an elevated will in the South, and Christian citizenship. Into that, this Association pours its strength, its money, and its life. It took half a million lives to emancipate the slaves outwardly, and it may yet take hundreds and thousands of lives--our lives--our children's lives--poured in upon this problem, that so we may lift the Negro to that point where he feels himself, and where we feel him to be, a man--taught to labor, protected in the enjoyment of the fruits of his labor, without which the strongest arm grows palsied, trained in a strong, self-reliant Christian manhood, holding the reins firmly on the neck of all passion--a man. And that we will do; and the very greatness of the problem, I believe, is our redemption. It was the greatness of the crisis that thrilled the Nation's heart when the war burst upon us. It is the very greatness of our present problem that calls in trumpet tones to men and women and children all over the land; "Come and help solve this problem for Christ." A few weeks ago, in one of the beautiful towns of Northern Illinois, a young man, the only son of his father and mother, hearing at Sabbath evening the alarm of fire, sprung forth and took his place upon the burning building and there did the work of a fireman. In the attempt to put out the fire he was hurled headlong and in one moment his life had gone hence. A few weeks afterward, as a friend was talking with his mother about it, she said, "Our son was always so swift to heed any call of need or duty, it seems to me as if he heard suddenly some call from God from some farther clime and sprung forth and was gone from our sight." Blessed, heroic faith! But, brethren and friends, fathers and mothers, we need that same faith for our living sons and living daughters, to send them forth into this work of God. When the Christ child was on the back of the giant Christophorus crossing the stream, how heavy he grew as the giant plunged his way through the waters. God weighs heavily upon this Nation this greatest of all national problems, what to do with these despised ones. But bear the burden we must, and bear it through we must to the farther shore of a Christian solution, or we and it will go down the flood together. There is no help for us except in this solution which makes brothers of these men. I see a possible issue in this large Christian faith of our land; and I see the time coming when the black and the white shall dwell together in a mutual helpfulness, with a more complete national feeling, a deeper dependence upon him from whom alone comes strength, less display of material resources, but more faith in God. That time must come. And then I see the army enlisting for the conquest of that dark continent of Africa, shrouded in gloom, so long robbed of her children, but now at last finding that, like Joseph, they were taken from her that they might come back to save life. So our Nation shall be not a mirage awakening the hopes and aspirations of mankind but to mock them, and leaving the sands of human experience still more arid and barren; but it shall be a mountain of God, its base resting on the eternal foundations of law and liberty; its summit drawing down from the willing heavens the streams of prosperity which shall enrich all the lands of the earth. * * * * * THE SOUTH FIELD NOTES. BY REV. FRANK E. JENKINS. I reached Little Rock, Arkansas, late one Saturday night and on Sunday morning found my way to our church service. Arriving a few minutes late, I found the service already begun. It was a fine looking audience and as quiet and orderly as any New England congregation. The service was well arranged and conducted in a very happy manner. The sermon was thoughtful, earnest and inspiring. The pastor, Rev. Yancy B. Sims, is a graduate of Talladega College and an honor to his Alma Mater. On Monday I visited, with the pastor, several of the homes of the people. What a contrast between these refined homes and the hut of the slave quarters of twenty-five years ago! The ladies of this church had just finished a silk block for a quilt which a home mission church in Washington Territory is making from blocks made in each State in the Union, with the hope of selling it to increase its fund for building a house of worship. It was a beautiful block of rich material and the most delicate workmanship. The faces of these ladies showed great delight in the thought that they were helping others who needed help. "Do the colored people vote here without opposition?" I asked of an intelligent colored man. "Oh, yes!" he replied. "And are the votes always counted?" "Yes, _except in a pinch!_" was the answer. This is much better than in most places which I am called upon to visit. From Little Rock I went to Paris, Texas. This growing city has a population of about twelve thousand, five thousand of whom are colored. Our pastor here is a graduate of Fisk University, as also is his wife. The need of our church work in this city and in the State is two-fold, direct and indirect. Our Congregational churches are quite as useful for toning up other churches and their ministry as in the direct work done by them. Dodds, Roxton and Dallas in Northern Texas were next visited, and in each a small church is established and doing a good work. At Austin, I found our Tillotson Institute rapidly filling with students--bright and earnest. A girls' hall is greatly needed here at once. This institution with its unlimited opportunities in the great State of Texas ought not to be cramped in any way, but to be given every facility. Who will give it at once what it so urgently needs? I found several intelligent people here greatly desiring a Congregational church in the city--the school-church being too far away to reach the mass of the people. Said an educated colored man to me: "Our most intelligent people cannot endure the ignorant worship of these old churches much longer. We want Congregationalism, but if we can't have that, we must look elsewhere. We must have something to hold our educated young people from falling into infidelity." And so they must, for that is a coming danger. At Helena, I found a most interesting state of things. Our church is in a country place called "The Colony." The church and the colony began their existence together, and a more prosperous community of colored people it would be hard to find. They own several thousand acres of land, and are in every way ahead of their white neighbors. The school house of the latter was a poor tumble-down affair and the children were untidy, while the school house of the former was a neat, painted and well-kept building, crowded in school hours with bright, enthusiastic children--clean and polite. The teacher was from Talladega College and has taught here for five years. His school is pronounced the best in the region for white or colored. The pastor of this church has charge also of the Congregational Church at Goliad. Corpus Christi is a curious town on the Gulf of Mexico. It has about 6,000 people--Americans, Mexicans, Negroes, Italians, Greeks and Chinese. The Negroes here hold an unusual position, being regarded as in every way superior to the Mexicans and Italians. Our pastor here is popular with all classes and has been chosen an alderman of the city, and is treated with as much consideration as any other of the City Council. Our church is one of the oldest Congregational churches in the South, and has had a very interesting history. With the exception of the Roman Catholic church it has the best house of worship in the city. On Sunday afternoon, Rev. Mr. Strong, the Congregational pastor, and myself attended service at the Roman Catholic church. We went into the body of the church and took a first class seat, and the fact that one was colored did not even draw attention to us. It was taken as a matter of course. The colored people of Texas are taxed for $20,000,000 of property. In the cities they make up about one-third of the population. An enlargement of our church work in this State is greatly needed. Straight University in New Orleans, La., is an inspiring place. I found the buildings packed full--seats full, chairs in the aisles, in the corners and on the teachers' platforms--all full. About one hundred and fifty applicants had already been sent away for want of room, and they were still coming, as many as ten often being refused in a single day. They were here not only from the States, but also from Mexico, the West Indies and Central America. I saw here some remarkable work in moulding done by a student in the fifth grade, who had never been trained, but who seems to be impelled by real genius. Straight University has a unique position and opportunity. Its influence is now great; it is destined to be boundless. From the Chicago meeting I made this trip. The meeting was inspiring, but what I saw in the field, of character-building and the uplifting and refining of a race, was more than inspiring--it was thrilling. At Dodds and Roxton a few hymn books are needed. A dozen or two Gospel Hymns or other singing books for each church would do great good. Papers for the children are also needed. They should be sent to Rev. Mark Carlisle, Dodds, Texas. Papers for the children could be well used at Paris, Texas, Rev. J.D. Pettigrew; Dallas, Texas, Rev. Mr. Holloway; Helena and Goliad, Texas, Rev. M. Thompson; Corpus Christi, Texas, Rev. J.W. Strong. * * * * * REVIVAL AT WASHINGTON, D.C. BY REV. GEO. W. MOORE. There have been over forty conversions reported and thirty have been added to our church on profession of faith. There is a revival now in progress at the Freedmen's Hospital as a direct outgrowth of our meetings. Several of the young people of our church, including some of the converts, were instrumental in leading a number to the Saviour. I am planning to assist them in dealing with inquirers there, to-night. There have been revival services in three other churches. The meetings held in our place were indeed a season of refreshing from the presence of the Lord. Our chapel was crowded on Thanksgiving morning; the sermon was preached by Rev. Dr. Grimke, pastor of the Fifteenth Street Presbyterian Church, followed by an address by myself. The pastors of the Berean Baptist Church, Methodist Church and the Lutheran Mission were on the platform, the Plymouth Church holding a service of their own. In the evening we held a Thanksgiving praise service, in which about one hundred persons, including thirty-five of the converts, gave short thanksgiving testimonies. Last Sabbath I baptized fourteen by immersion and received twenty-seven into the church on profession of faith, and three since, making a total of thirty. Rev. Eugene May of Osage, Iowa, one of the delegates I met at the World's Sunday-school Convention this summer in London, gave us a powerful sermon on the characters of "Dives and Lazarus Contrasted." In the evening I preached a sermon to the church on "The Christian Armor" and we had the Lord's Supper. Last night, after addressing the young Christians on "The Way to God," as illustrated by the worthies of Hebrews eleventh, we had them testify on how they came to Christ, the one thing they did and what they got. The answers were all intelligent and to the point. _Decision_ was what they did, and _Christ_ was what they got, were the answers put in various forms. At the close of the meeting I asked a gentleman, a member of another church, the Berean Baptist, who always attends our special services, to say a few words. He testified to the help and inspiration he had received from the meetings; that he had never listened to clearer testimonies of conversion than those given by the converts, and that they were doubly blessed in having "_our pastor_," "yes," he said, "I will say our pastor, for he is pastor to this whole community and city, lead you to Christ, and train you for service." His remarks were warm and sympathetic, but too personal for me to report more than the above, which is but the key-note of the kindly feeling that many of the best Christian people of other churches have toward us, as they have seen our little church come up from almost nothing to its present position of service in this community. It has been the Lord's doings and it is wondrous in our eyes. We have already begun the work of training these young disciples for service, while we have our nets still spread to catch sinners for Christ. Our motto for the year is: To win souls for Christ and to train them for His service. * * * * * A GLAD THANKSGIVING. BY MISS MARY A. BYE, WILLIAMSBURG, KY. If any one had been the least bit homesick or unhappy from any cause on Thanksgiving day, it would have done him good to spend the day at Williamsburg Academy. Our boys and girls were so happy all the day that no one could feel tired or sad. After breakfast the boys thought it hardly fair for them to have all the holiday while the girls had to work, so they borrowed aprons and helped the girls. Dishwashing, sweeping and all the various branches of housework were done in a very short time, and everybody was as merry as could be. The boys declared that they were glad to have learned something which they did not know before, about the work the girls had to do. Our very tallest boy, over six feet in height, was instructed in the mysteries of scouring knives. He said he had no idea how knives were cleaned, and thought his Thanksgiving lesson worth learning. After the housework was done the boys gathered a great quantity of holly, and our pretty new dining-room was profusely decorated. All the family then attended the Thanksgiving services in the Christian Church; that is all except the "Mother," who must needs watch the dinner in process of preparation. We had a real Thanksgiving feast, in all except that our turkey was fried chicken. Mr. Tupper contributed oranges, which were quite a treat. One of the girls came to mother very much excited, eyes wide open and hands up, exclaiming "O, Mrs. Bye, what are them big yeller things in the dining room?" When told that they were oranges, she said, "Law! I never seed none before." There were others who had never tasted them, and they watched closely to see how the teachers managed them, before they ventured to eat theirs. Two of the teachers had written Thanksgiving verses on cards tied with ribbon, and placed at each plate. After dinner we moved our chairs back and read our verses, after which we sang "Praise God from whom all blessings flow," and I think it is rarely sung more heartily. Then again the boys donned the aprons and cleared the tables and washed the dishes, while the teachers watched the fun and laughed until we were tired. While the molasses was boiling, the scholars played games in the sitting-rooms. Then came the "candy-pull," and very _sweetly_ closed the day's festivities. I am sure we went to prayer meeting in the evening with very thankful hearts. Some of the scholars said it was the happiest day they had ever known. It is a constant wonder to me to see the improvement in our girls, and their interest in their work. They are so eager to learn to do things well that I cannot think of my work as one of sacrifice, as some work may be, for the joy of it overcomes all such thought. * * * * * STRAIGHT UNIVERSITY, NEW ORLEANS. REV. C.H. CRAWFORD. Much interest is manifest in our meetings for prayer, a number of students having expressed a desire to become Christians. I have organized a class for the instruction of Christian workers. It is composed of both teachers and students, and numbers about twenty-five. A young man came to my study to be shown how to become a Christian. After instructing him and showing him the promises, there still seemed to be something in the way. Questioning him, I found that he was expecting some wonderful experience. He had specially in mind the remarkable conversion of a certain young man of his acquaintance. He was hoping for the same. I said to him, "Now you want to know that you are a Christian. Which would you rather have for evidence, an experience such as that young man had, or God's word for it?" After waiting a moment to take in my meaning he replied, "God's word." "Do you believe on Jesus Christ?" "Yes." "Well, here you have God's word, John, 3:36, 'He that believeth on the Son hath eternal life.' Will you take God's word?" After a moment's deliberation came the answer, "Yes, I will." Then we knelt down and prayed. This, I trust, was a soul born into the kingdom. One of our theological students reports the following admonition from an ignorant preacher much older than himself: "You go to school and get education. In five or ten years the people will not listen to such preachers as I am." TILLOTSON INSTITUTE, AUSTIN, TEXAS. Our school is opening very auspiciously. Never before have so large a number been here at the beginning of the term. And the requests for the privilege of coming are numerous, so that if all come who are asking to do so, we shall be over-full. We are greatly pleased with the spirit with which the new year's work is taken up. There are more each year who come prepared to enter the higher grades, which shows that the common schools of Texas are improving. The Christian Endeavor Societies, of both the young men and the young women, have elected their officers and are ready to begin work again, and the Temperance Society will do the same, this week. One of the students who has been with us from the beginning of our school, has left us this year and gone to Oberlin, where he has entered the Sophomore class. We miss him much, but bid him "God Speed," for the need of workers is great, and we are hoping much from him in the way of work among his own people. R.M.K. * * * * * THE INDIANS. MISSIONARY LIFE AMONG THE DAKOTA INDIANS. BY MRS. J.F. CROSS. It is hard to get the most interesting experiences of a missionary's life, because they belong to the daily routine and so are often unmentioned. But here is a description of life and travel among the Indians, by the wife of a missionary just going to the Dakotas: The land of the Dakotas--what a distance! How long the miles seemed from my home! How frightful the land seemed to me, from the tales of blizzards and cyclones! How strange to go to live among the Sioux Indians, known to me principally for the Minnesota, Fort Fetterman and Custer massacres; to be a friend to Sitting Bull, Brave Bull, Gall, Grass, Swift Bear, Red Cloud and many others with names no less picturesque! With such impressions I left my home to accompany my husband to his home and work at Rosebud Agency, South Dakota. I was soon relieved of the idea of the distance, for only a few hours took us across Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota to the border of Dakota. Here we left the railroad to attend the general conference of the Dakota Mission at Flandreau. How quickly all the impressions of years can be changed, when the impressions are wrong and we see the true state of affairs. In this case, seeing hundreds of bronzed faces, lighted up with joy, as they sung "I hear Thy welcome voice" in their own tongue, there was enough to change all my former opinions of Indians in general and of the Dakota Indians in particular. It was like coming into a new world. That is, it was finding those whom I thought belonged to another, lower, baser life, living the same life with myself; rejoicing in that which is my greatest joy--childhood with God the Father. And after meeting Ehnamani, Grey Cloud, John Wakeman, Spotted Bear, and many others; after hearing them discuss living topics--living topics to them because they belong to the change from heathen to Christian life; after hearing them pray--though I could not understand a word, yet from their earnestness I could understand the spirit of their prayer; after all this, I could scarcely believe that these men had ever been Indians in paint, feathers, dances and on the war path. Thus I spent my first four days among Indians. And even if preaching, prayers, discussions were in an unknown tongue, I perhaps, understood as much as I would at many a Presbytery or Conference meeting. And I got as much good from the Dakota sermon as I have from many an English sermon. Not the least pleasing of my new impressions were those made by the missionaries present. Rev. John P. Williamson, of Yankton Agency; Rev. A.L. Riggs, D.D., of Santee Mission and Normal School; Rev. T.L. Riggs of Oahe, or rather the apostle to the Tetons, were the life of the meetings whether in English or Dakota. They came from and returned to the work to which their lives are given. I did not meet these men with the greetings of a certain minister there, who asked, "How many years have you been in the Indian work." "About twenty," was the reply. Then the minister said: "Well, you have been in the work so long that you would not be much good anywhere else." My impression was that such men would be now, as they always have been, successful in any field of labor. But I must leave Flandreau with its citizen Indians, ready to vote for prohibition in the Constitution of South Dakota, for this is not our field of labor. The next scene is one which I shall long remember--our reception at a mission home. Other homes may be happy and other people may welcome me to their homes; but few--none that I have met--can welcome one so cordially as Mrs. Riggs welcomed us to her home at Oahe. This is a long-to-be-remembered experience. And after spending a week at Oahe, meeting the teachers and pupils of the school, and the citizen Indians there we started for our own home and work, Park Street Church Station. This place has been the home of my husband for a year. Crossing the Missouri is one of the first of our experiences. The team and wagon are loaded on the boat, the men row a few rods, then the boat stops. "Bar," remarks Mr. Cross, "got to tow;" when, horrors! "Is this a missionary I see?" Mr. Cross is in the water, sometimes to his knees, sometimes to his waist. Thus they tow the boat a half mile. From the way they hold their breath the water must be cold. Well, it is October 10, in blizzard-swept Dakota. But after two hours of work we are safely landed on the west side of the river and soon we are toiling slowly out of the _breaks_ of the river. After a ride of a few hours we come to a creek with no water but plenty of wood. Here dinner is announced. This is camping in earnest. This is not play. Camping in the East is generally within sound of the cackle of the hen and the low of the cow. But here you must live off of the land or out of your mess-chest. We combine the two. Many hotels and families could learn a good lesson from an experienced traveler and camper. In less than thirty minutes from the time we stop, horses are unharnessed, fire built, prairie chicken dressed and cooked, coffee made, table spread, blessing asked and we busy with the tender and juicy chicken. This is the same order at each meal. At night we sleep on the earth and under the sky, with
{'title': 'The American Missionary — Volume 44, No. 01, January, 1890 by Various', 'source': 'Project Gutenberg', 'lang': 'en'}