Part 5

“_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.”

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THE CHILDREN’S PAGE.

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“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._

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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._

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RECEIPTS

FOR MAY, 1878.

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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.