Part 4

[_Editorial Note._--A son of the Mr. Jowett, referred to in the above letter, has just landed in this country, on his way to Fisk University. Believing that he is to figure in the future history of missions in Africa, we give a brief sketch of him, and a glimpse at life in an African village, prepared by himself. This will be found in the juvenile department. Just here we wish to say that Albert Miller shows his appreciation of a liberal education and also his devotion to his divine Master, two things very hopeful in a missionary. He found this young man helpful as a Christian, and useful as an interpreter, and believing he would make a good missionary, he has sent him to his Alma Mater, and authorized the Association to pay his expenses out of his own small salary. When such a spirit of self-denial and thorough consecration characterizes the church, we shall have no trouble either in getting or maintaining teachers and missionaries.

We wish also to say that this is a most hopeful movement; that of the emancipated Christian and cultured African, with a constitution which enables him to live there, going back with the blessings of the Gospel to his fatherland; and that of the native, fully acquainted with the language of that people, rescued from paganism, to this country for Christian education. The meaning of slavery, under the Divine administration, is beginning to unfold itself.]

THE INDIANS.

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INDIAN BOYS AT HAMPTON.

MISS ISABEL B. EUSTIS.

Mr. Hall’s account in the February MISSIONARY of the departure of his Fort Berthold boys for Hampton, was a vivid picture to us who welcomed them here. We could almost see them bidding a sad good-bye to their friends, waving their blankets from the deck of the boat, and sympathized with their consciousness that they had “a long way to go, and a long time to stay, and it would be hard.”

We wish the friends, who bade them good-bye that cold October morning, could see them to-day. If they could hear their quick and intelligent replies in the school-room, and watch them at their trades, we think they would recognize the record which the new thoughts and self-control of the year have left on their faces, and would feel that they have already gone a long way and a good one.

Almka (White Wolf), would show them the blue farm-cart of which he is rather shyly proud, because he made it, wheels and all, with his own hands. White Breast would lay down the doors of a new wardrobe, he is finishing neatly, and Karunach would come from mending shoes, to tell them about Hampton, till their ideas out-stripped their tongues, and the old Indian sign-language came to the rescue. I think E-cor-rup-ta-ha would stop a minute, with a nonchalant air, to polish lovingly the big Corliss engine, before he shook hands even with them. Laughing Face and Ka-what would tell them how much they have made of the new carriage-house, the Indians are building. Tom Smith would throw away his plane, and meet them with a joke and his merry boyish laugh; and little Ara-hotch-kish would look up from his painting, with a quick shy glance of welcome, going straight to the warmest place they have saved in their hearts. Most of our Indians have gained a sufficient command of English to receive any idea which can be put in simple words; and if any reader of the MISSIONARY is troubled with ennui or thinks of searching for a new sensation, I advise him to come to Hampton, and try telling the old children’s stories to Indians. Even Washington’s little worn-out hatchet gets a new sharp edge. Columbus on his voyage of discovery is followed with a slightly incredulous but intense interest, and all the Bible record reveals again a new force and fire.

Imagine telling the story of David and Goliath for the first time to a school full of Indian boys and girls. The room is breathlessly still. Only kindling eyes and fixed attention show that the courage of the shepherd boy for his unequal contest, his cool disregard of his brother’s scoffs, his disdain of Saul’s armor and spear, his dauntless confidence in God, are meeting, one by one, a hearty response in the minds of the boys, a more timid one from the girls. Scarcely a suppressed Indian grunt or guttural disturbs the narrative, till the first slung-stone lodges fairly in the giant’s forehead, when little Ta-ta-ton-ka-skah on the back seat forgets all traditions of Indian stoicism, jumps about a foot in the air, and claps his hands in an ecstasy of delight.

The bell rings, and the scholars must go to their classes, and fight their own giants, strong ones, that will by no means down at the first blow. May God bless every one, and grant them His faith, and courage, and patience, till “little by little” their enemies shall be driven out.

THE CHINESE.

* * * * *

“CALIFORNIA CHINESE MISSION.”

Auxiliary to the American Missionary Association.

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

DIRECTORS: Rev. George Mooar, D. D., Hon. E. D. Sawyer, Rev. E. P. Baker, James M. Haven, Esq., Rev. Joseph Howell, Rev. John Kimball, E. P. Sanford, Esq.

SECRETARY: Rev. W. C. Pond. TREASURER: E. Palache, Esq.

* * * * *

A CHAPTER OF ITEMS.

_Chinese New-Year’s._--Our Chinese brethren observed their national New-Year’s festival very happily, in their usual Christian way. With great pleasure do I remember my visit to the very comfortable head-quarters which our Oakland brethren have established. It is a two-story house, very neatly furnished with whatever is necessary to a Christian home, except that the male sex alone is represented there. It bears witness to the strength of the _home impulse_ in Chinese hearts, such of them, at least, as have been touched by the love of Christ, and shows how soon--if only these immigrants were treated as others are--Christian homes, in the full sense of that good word, would spring into existence among them. When I reached the house, the rooms were already full of Chinese, and their teachers and friends. After greetings were over and refreshments tasted, several hymns were sung, and then I spoke to them of the “new commandment” which our Saviour gave us, and led them in prayer. Just as I was leaving, Rev. Dr. McLean, their pastor, entered with other friends. Before I had gone far, I met Rev. Mr. Condit, a Presbyterian missionary among the Chinese, on his way to the same place. And thus with greetings and exhortations, and good counsel and prayer, the day passed away. At our Central Mission House and the Bethany Home in this city, similar exercises were held, at which the same duty of brotherly love--for us “the lesson of the hour”--was pressed on their attention, and made the object of earnest and united prayer--prayer to which I, at length, see the beginning of a glad response.

Of this same festival, as observed at Sacramento, Mrs. Carrington writes: “The rooms were very tastefully decorated, and called forth much praise from the many who called. The scholars began the week by holding prayer-meetings; and during the week, as friends called, much of the time was spent in prayer and song. At a union meeting on Thursday evening, Dr. Dwinell was present and spoke to them.” Similar reports come from Stockton, Santa Barbara, etc. This festival calls, of course, for a few days of vacation in the schools, and involves a temporary diminution in attendance, but, in my view, the religious uses to which it can be put, amply compensate for any inconveniences it may involve.

_Additions to the Churches._--Two of our pupils at Santa Barbara were baptized and received to the Congregational Church in that city, at its last communion. Three are expecting to be baptized and received to the Congregational Church at Sacramento, and seven to Bethany Church, San Francisco, at their April communions. Let me quote Mrs. Carrington once more: “I cannot tell you how my heart has sometimes been thrilled with joy at the faithfulness of those so recently brought out from darkness into the marvelous light. If people all through the land could know what devoted Christiana many of them are, they would feel condemned, as I do, for their own unfaithfulness.”

_The Barnes School._--Dea. and Mrs. Simeon Hackley, who have so long and so usefully conducted the Barnes Mission School, have found that other cares, that cannot be thrown off, make it impossible for them longer to continue in the work. Both of them have been engaged in it steadily for nearly six years. Dea. H., a graduate of Hamilton College, having been forced by a disease of the eyes to suspend study at the Union Theological Seminary, and thus to give up his hope of becoming a foreign missionary, carried into secular life the missionary spirit. What he hoped for thus in youth, he found at length in this work, and to him and his like-minded wife have many souls been given as seals of their service here.

It is a real blessing that Mrs. C. A. Sheldon, who so successfully conducted the Bethany School for several years, has been restored to health, and, with the assistance of her daughter, is able to fill this vacant place. The school is growing in size and interest, and, we may hope, will be as useful in the future as it has been in the past.

_Oroville Once More._--Miss Waterbury, from Oroville, gives an interesting account of some “great idol Masonic festival,” which occupied the last week of February in the Chinese quarter of that town. She says: “Crowds of people have come in from the country for miles around, dark and rough-looking, many of them. There were processions, day after day, in which I recognized some of our scholars walking. Some of the forms were tall and fine as you will ever see. They carried a huge monster, serpent or dragon of unearthly hideousness, designed to keep away the evil spirits. At their temple there was an unceasing din of cymbals and gongs, with the firing of crackers and bombs, and the outlandish shouts of a mob-like throng; and nearly opposite, across the narrow street, stands our humble mission-house, where on the three Sabbaths previous, Lee Haim had preached, at eleven o’clock, to a room-full of his countrymen. On the Saturday and Sunday evenings of this festival, the Chinese crowded in so that we dismissed school, and Lee Haim preached and sung to them in Chinese. Every seat and every standing-place was filled. They wanted to hear. I am sure some poor, dark minds got a little Gospel truth for the first time, and, with some of them, all they will ever hear until the revelations of the future world shall be made to their astonished vision. It was soul-inspiring to see the earnestness and energy with which he threw his whole soul into the work, and even more so, to see all the eyes, and ears, and mouths open to catch the new and strange things of which the preacher spoke. I could not understand a word, but I was refreshed in spirit and made stronger by it.” Of course, this crowd no longer hangs upon the word. In two or three days, most of them scattered to their little mining camps, and the school resumed its comparatively diminutive proportions. But God’s word will not return to Him void; and while we know not which shall prosper, either this or that, we know that “he that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall _doubtless_ return again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.”

CHILDREN’S PAGE.

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ALBERT BURTON JOWETT.

I was born, in 1860, in a little town called Mocolo. They have no houses there, but little mud huts covered with thatch. There are no roads, nor horses, nor cows. The people walk, or ride in little canoes on the rivers. Not much work is done. What little clothing they wear is made of native cloths. They have no cradles, and no clothing is needed for their children. My father was away in the country to buy rice for the Mendi Mission, and was taken prisoner a little before I was born. The town was destroyed and the inhabitants killed, but my father’s life was spared. He was redeemed by Mr. Burton, one of the missionaries, who paid twenty-five shillings, English money, for his release. My father moved to Good Hope when I was quite young, and I attended school and studied the English language.

Not far from the school-house there are groves of limes, pine-apples, plums, and bacon-fire, and the boys amuse themselves by battling each other with limes. The principal holidays are Christmas, New-Year’s and Good Friday. They celebrate Christmas by having a big dance out of doors, lasting all day and often all night. The music is made by beating drums, and by women who sing and clap their hands. The place was lighted through the night by an immense fire in the centre. Pots of rice are cooked, and a sauce made of palm-oil, rice and fish, is served with it. They always have rum and gin, which is supplied them very much more freely than the Gospel. We have no stoves in our country. The fires are built either out of doors or in the corner of the hut. As there are no chimneys, it is sometimes very smoky. The natives have no lamps, but use palm-oil in a dish. For a wick they wrap a piece of cloth around a stick. They have no tables, but sit down around a large mat and eat their food from wooden bowls, making one spoon do for the whole family. On funeral occasions they have a big dance, which they sometimes keep up two or three days. All the people of the village attend, and the nearest relative is expected to furnish all the rum he is able to pay for, and a liberal supply of food, but they have no religious ceremonies. When a big man marries, if he has sufficient money, he keeps up a dance for a week. The missionaries are welcomed, and are doing a great deal to break up these old customs. In 1877, the Rev. Mr. Snelson and two other Freedmen came to our mission, and it was under their instruction that I was urged to give my heart to the Saviour. When Mr. Snelson asked me to try and become a Christian, I told him I couldn’t do it.

He took me to his room and prayed with me, then he called my father, and we all knelt down and he prayed again. He told me to go up to my room and think over the matter. At first I did not know what to do; then I fell down on my knees and prayed; I went to bed and prayed nearly the whole night. The next day I went to see Mr. Snelson, and he spoke to me on the same subject; I told him I felt greatly relieved from the burden of sin, and he prayed with me again that evening. Soon after I connected myself with the church. After Mr. Snelson’s return to America, Rev. Albert Miller, a Freedman from the Fisk University, was my pastor.

Before leaving Africa I acted as interpreter for Mr. Miller, translating his sermons, as he delivered them, into the Mendi language. My father, who has been a native preacher for more than twenty years, is anxious to have missions planted far into the interior, where there are supposed to be two million Mendi people, occupying a country about 7 degrees north latitude. All he could do is to give me up to the work. Among this vast number, there is but one mission at present, and that is conducted by Freedmen from America.

After spending three years in this country, at the Fisk University, it is my purpose to return to Africa, and assist in establishing missions in large villages in the wooded country, far from the coast. I feel that I need your prayers. I have been treated very kindly since I left Africa, and I pray earnestly that I may not disappoint my friends who have assisted me in coming to this country, and who are anxious that I should prepare myself to be a successful missionary in my native land.

RECEIPTS

FOR MARCH, 1880.

* * * * *

MAINE, $432.47.

Augusta. Cong. Ch. and Soc., ($30 of which from BARRETT EDWARDS POTTER to const. himself L. M.) $53.56

Bluehill. M. E. Johnson 5.00

Foxcroft and Dover. Cong. Ch. and Soc. 10.00

Hampden. C. E. H. 1.00

Kennebunk. Union Cong. Ch. and Soc. 12.00

Lewiston. Pine St. Cong. Ch. 17.77

Machais. E. G. L. and Mrs. H., 50c. each 1.00

Orono. Cong. Ch. 1.04

Portland. Ladies in Maine, _for Lady Missionary_, by Mrs. W. E. Gould 300.00

Portland. Nathalie Lord, package, _for Rev. A. E. White, Mendi M._

Saco. D. J. 1.00

Saint Albans. Rev. W. S. Sewell, $2; Cong. Ch., $1 3.00

Thomaston. Cong. Ch. and Soc. 5.00

Weld. Rev. D. D. T. 1.00

Wells. Second Cong. Ch. and Soc. 11.10

Winthrop. Isaac N. Metcalf 2.00

York. First Cong. Ch. and Soc. 8.00

NEW HAMPSHIRE, $159.68.

Bristol. Cong. Ch. and Soc. 3.95

Concord. Mrs. A. F. and Mrs. C. L. G., 60c. each 1.20

Farmington. Cong. Ch. and Soc. 10.90

Francestown. R. G. C. 0.50

Hanover. Dartmouth Religious Soc. 25.00

Hillsborough Bridge. Mrs. J. G. and Mrs. N. T., $1 each 2.00

Hinsdale. Cong. Ch. and Soc. 9.60

Lancaster. Mrs. A. M. Amsden 5.00

Lebanon. First Cong. Ch. and Soc. 17.25

Manchester. First Cong. Ch. and Soc. 58.73

Marlborough. Cong. Ch. and Soc. 15.05

Meridian. Mrs. Lucia Wells 5.00

New Ipswich. “Hillside Gleaners’ Sewing Circle,” by Carrie B. Wilson, Treas. 5.00

Petersborough. A. M. C. 0.50

VERMONT, $154.93.

Barre. Cong. Ch. and Soc. 10.12

Bradford. Rev. Mrs. and Mrs. Elliot 12.00

Burlington. Third Cong. Ch. 20.00

Chelsea. Cong. Ch. and Soc. 20.00

Clarendon. Mrs. N. J. Smith 5.00

Danville. Cong. Sab. Sch. 10.00

Essex. L. C. B. 1.00

Ludlow. Mrs. L. H. C. 1.00

Lyndonville. Cong. Ch. and Soc. 5.00

Northfield. O. D. E. 1.00

Royalton. Sab. Sch. of First Cong. Soc., _for Student Aid, Atlanta U._ 17.97

Sharon. Mrs. A. F. and Miss S. P. F., $1 each 2.00

West Dummerston. A. B. B. 1.00

Weston. Mrs. S. A. Sprague and Lucy P. Bartlett, $2 each 4.00

West Rutland. Cong. Ch. and Soc. 22.84

West Westminster. Elvira M. Gorham 2.00

---- “A Friend” 20.00

MASSACHUSETTS, $4,869.39.

Amherst. Girls’ Prayer Meeting, by Mrs. Mary H. Scott, $30.05, _for Student Aid, Fisk U._;--First Cong. Ch., $25 55.05

Andover. Calvin E. Goodell 25.00

Ashland. Mrs. Mary F. Cutler 5.00

Attleborough. Second Cong. Ch. and Soc. 30.00

Beechwood. Cong. Ch. and Soc. 1.31

Boston. Old South Cong. Ch. and Soc., $574.76; Miss R. A. F., 50c.; F. W., 50c. 575.76

Boston Highlands. H. W. T. 0.50

Bradford. Ladies’ Bible Class, bbl. C.

Brimfield. First Cong. Sab. Sch. $10.00

Brockton. Mrs. I. N. 0.50

Cambridgeport. Pilgrim Cong. Ch., $581.54; N. H., 50c. 582.04

Charlemont. First Ch. 3.00

Chester. Second Cong. and Soc. 6.00

Clinton. First Evan Ch. and Soc. 75.00

Danvers. Mrs. S. S. 1.00

Dedham. Allyn Cong. Ch. and Soc. _for Chinese M._ 16.54

Dorchester. Mrs. Susan Collins 2.00

East Charlemont. Cong. Ch. 13.75

East Longmeadow. Cong. Ch. 22.00

East Medway. Ladies of First Ch., B. of C. and 25c., _for freight_ 0.25

Essex Co. “Howard,” _for Chapel at Wilmington, N. C._ 2,000.00

Fall River. First Cong. Ch., $84.04; M. E., $1 85.04

Feeding Hills. Cong. Ch. and Soc. 7.81

Franklin. Peter Adams 2.00

Georgetown. First Cong. Ch. and Soc. 25.90

Grafton. Evan. Cong. Ch. and Soc. 28.78

Grantville. Cong. Ch. and Soc. 11.26

Greenfield. Jeanette Thompson 5.00

Greenwich Village. Daniel Parker 5.00

Groton. Union Ch. and Soc., $83, and Sab. Sch., $17; Elizabeth Farnsworth, $20; “Mother and Daughter” (of which $5 ea. _for Chinese and Indian M._) $20 140.00

Groveland. Mrs. M. A. R. 0.50

Holyoke. Second Cong. Ch. and Soc. 15.75

Hyde Park. Mrs. H. W. Bidwell, to const. MRS. FISK P. BREWER, L. M 30.00

Jamaica Plain. “A Friend” 4.00

Lee. Cong. Sab. Sch. 75.00

Leominster. Orthodox Cong. Ch. and Soc. 11.42

Lowell. Mrs. A. S. C. 0.50

Lynn. First Cong. Ch. and Soc. 13.00

Mansfield. Orthodox Cong. Ch. and Soc. 18.56

Marblehead. J. J. H. Gregory, large package of flower and vegetable seeds, _for Talladega, Ala._, and box garden seeds, _for Tougaloo, Miss._

Marlborough. T. B. P. 1.00

Medway. J. D. Ellis 100.00

Millbury. Second Cong. Ch. and Soc. 24.00

Montague. Cong. Soc. 6.85

Newbury. First Cong. Ch. and Soc. 24.51

Newburyport. “Friends,” _for Student Aid, Talladega C._ 10.00

Newton Centre. Mrs. M. B. Furber’s Bible Class, _for Student Aid, Atlanta U._ 50.00

North Abington. “A Friend,” $15;--One and a half bbl. of C., _for Lady Missionary, Nashville, Tenn._ 15.00

North Adams. Rev. C. S. S. 1.00

North Amherst. W. L. R. 1.00

Northbridge Centre. Minnie A. Winter 2.00

North Brookfield. Miss Abby W. Johnson, _for Student Aid, Fisk U._ 25.00