Part 2

I wish simply to emphasize a single thought, viz., that these institutions of higher learning have their chief use as being aids to direct force. When you have mentioned what these higher institutions have done for individuals--when you have followed the individuals to their work in their various fields, you have only begun to tell the story of their importance. If you go up into Wisconsin, along the lower Fox river, you will see one of the finest water-powers in the world. It is often called the Merrimac of the West. I don't know how long that water-power has been there unappropriated. It was there when the Mound builder was there. God proffered it to him with all its resources, and asked him to improve it; but failing to regard the heavenly admonition, he passed away, leaving but few traces behind; only a few rude instruments and pieces of pottery. All other marks of him are gone. After him came the Indian. He also has passed, to all intents and purposes. Then came the Anglo-Saxon in blood and the Puritan in civilization and culture, and applying his inventive ingenuity to the banks of this river, he set the water-wheel, and the wheel has converted the power of the river into product, and the product has turned into property, and the property into intelligence, and the intelligence under this same productive ingenuity of the Puritan has turned into morality, and that into religion. So we have this great native force, directed to the account of the kingdom of God, transmuted into higher forces for His glory.

Now, my friends, the higher institutions of learning in the midst of these great original forces all about us in the new communities are that product of inventive ingenuity which turns these forces to account, giving them direction and transmuting them from the lower to the higher. The local church cannot do it. Individual labor cannot do it. The institution of higher learning is the only thing that can accomplish it. More than this, not only does this higher institution planted in new fields turn to account the force which already existed, but it has the power of enlarging this force and creating new forces, and after creating, transmuting them and turning them to the account of the kingdom of God. The institutions of this Association in the South not only create an enthusiasm and desire for learning, but they are turning the money acquired and the material prosperity attained by our colored brethren into those higher influences which effect the upbuilding of the kingdom of God. That is what these colleges are for.

It is impossible now to amplify the thought, but I wish in connection with it to name three particulars. And first, it is entirely possible for us, in heeding the Scripture admonition to preach the gospel to every creature, to neglect those great and overwhelming forces in new communities which are sweeping the youth away. I read in a Providence paper last Saturday evening that there are no infidel books published in the Welsh language. I know those Welsh people well. This statement may be true; but meanwhile, forces outside of them which they cannot control are threatening to sweep their youth away into the gulf of materialism and atheism in the new communities. The children speak English, and are thus led into the outside drift.

The second point is this: It is wise to put our directive force where the power is. It is utterly impossible to build institutions in the State of Massachusetts or in New England that will answer the purpose for the South. The children of this world build their water-wheel where their water-power is. The children of light sometimes build their water-wheel where the power is not, or where it has already been appropriated. We must put healthy, strong institutions into the South. They are worth even more than the local churches we are planting. They stand in need of support. The local churches give them character.

Third, I think we have need of a larger Christian sagacity in the distribution of funds for this purpose. In my appeals for educational work, no one has heard me say I would have less money given for older institutions, I believe there can be a wiser distribution of money with reference to the kingdom of God. Any one looking upon this field will tell you that one dollar put into an institution of learning in the Southern field--conditions being as they are, these forces being yet undirected--one dollar in one of these institutions will often accomplish more than one hundred in an old one. I have told people frequently--and I believe those who have studied this problem will assent to it--that one dollar for a Christian college in the Western field, will accomplish more than ten put into some of the older institutions. What I say then is, that if we wish to have a larger sagacity, if we wish to give our money with wiser heed to results, we shall put more into those institutions on the Southern field which are to determine what the South shall be; we shall put more into those institutions in the great Mississippi valley which are to determine what the Mississippi valley shall be, and which, two generations hence, are to determine what this continent shall be. Let not less be given to the old; but, my friends, the most economical giving is the money given to your higher institutions in the South and in all our new communities.

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PURITANISM AND THE DESPISED RACES.

Address at the Annual Meeting.

BY REV. C. M. SOUTHGATE, DEDHAM, MASS.

What I have to say will be upon this point: Why Puritanism is especially fitted to elevate the despised races. I say Puritanism; I might say Congregationalism; but that word sometimes means a polity, while this means something higher--clear thinking, strong believing, pure living, solemn and earnest acting; that spiritual life, in a word, which expresses itself in Congregationalism, not anything developed by its machinery.

(1). It has peculiar power and fitness to elevate the despised races. First, because we know so little of the capacity of either of these races. In the geographies of twenty years ago the centre of Africa was marked "Unexplored Region." The race that dwells there is still unexplored. When we say Persia, Greece, Rome, the word represents not only a people but an idea. Each of these nations has flashed forth before the world and left its mark upon it. But of Africa we have heard nothing; it has not displayed itself or impressed itself upon the world outside. It has given nothing of civilization or religion. And so of the Indians. Of their predecessors we learn much from the mounds they built; of themselves we know little. We know more of the former from their graves, than of the latter from their lives. The Chinese we have called our antipodes, in spirit as well as locality, and let them go at that, with this meager record, that grown men spend their lives in carving toys and find their pleasure in smoking opium. To lift up these races we want that power which conquered the conquerors of Rome, and put the destiny of the world into the hands of the Anglo-Saxon. We want the power which shall convince them of manhood within and God above, and bring them face to face with the Almighty.

(2). We want Puritanism brought to these despised races, because there is in them such a tendency to degradation. This is seen abundantly in all of them; let us speak of it especially among the Freedmen. The Association has no feelings of mere romance in doing its work. Those who have been engaged in it for years look with open eyes on depths of degradation which you at a distance can hardly comprehend. In the cities, the colored people are influenced by the civilization around them. In some cases they have made excellent progress by themselves, as in the old Dorchester settlement in Liberty County, Georgia. But as a rule, when left alone, there is a terrible settling downwards. It is seen in Louisiana on remote sugar plantations, where their cabins, if before the war like cattle-pens, are now pest-houses; in Mississippi swamps, where their worship is fetichism and their lives savagery. Slavery was a great leveler; it leveled many down, but it also leveled many up in physical condition. I sat one memorable week, day after day, in company with teachers who had spent eight or ten years in hard work with these people. As they gave their accounts of those outside their influence, it seemed like standing on a jutting crag at night, an inky sky above, an inky sea below, and wave after wave rolling in, black, with scarce a gleam of brightness. No ecclesiastical polity, no scenic shows, can do anything for a people sinking like this. We need a faith which grasps with intense reality the fact that sin leads to remediless destruction; that it needed the Son of God to die for its victims, and believes the Son of God did die for them; and with these convictions is not afraid of any darkness He bids it enlighten, or any devils He bids it cast out.

(3). We want, again, the power of Puritanism for these despised races, because it has done so much for them. We heard words of hearty praise this afternoon telling of the success of the work. They told hardly enough. But these efforts should be redoubled. We want more institutions like those at Atlanta, New Orleans, Charleston, and the other large Southern cities, where high culture and intelligence rule. The scholarship can be compared without fear with similar grades at the North. I never heard in our boasted common schools such recitations as I have heard from boys as black as the blackest. I know what Yale and Harvard and Dartmouth can show; but in Greek and Latin those colored students can rival their excellence. The culture in morals and manners is at least not inferior, nor the religious instruction less fruitful. The report from the churches shows as large and as healthy success as we can show here. The young men and women in these institutions have an intense longing to be at work for the Master. The desperate condition of their race rests upon them like a pall. God is making them His prophets and speaking through them, and sending redemption. It is Puritanism which has done this.

It seems to have been put upon us to prove what Christianity can do for these races. Our fathers came to this land, breaking the winter's silence with hymns of lofty cheer. After them came the negro, with groanings inexpressible and clanking of chains. Then the Chinaman, famine pressing him. Let us not forget that it was the great famine in Ireland which drove one hundred and fifty thousand emigrants to this country in a single year, almost as many as had gone out in a decade before; now, ten million Chinese have died of starvation, and a few seek this land that God gave to fugitives. These races, which have never done anything for themselves, nor had anything good done for them, which have been the tool, the victim, the plaything, the despair of civilization, are now brought face to face with us--us, with our indisputable Anglo-Saxon conceit, which cannot bear that others should differ from us, backed by Northern grit and Western energy, stirred by a solemn conviction that we have a destiny to fulfil in this matter, inspired by that command to preach Christ to dying men. Puritanism, as embodied in this Congregational Missionary Association, proposes to have a hand in shaping the fate of these races.

One of the earliest pictures in the annals of the world is that of an altar. Around it stand three brothers; behind them the ark and the deluge; in their midst the sacrifice of gratitude and consecration; before them the bow of promise on the face of the retreating storm. Ages pass on. The three brothers become three races. One goes to the East and hides himself behind his wall. One goes to the South and hides himself behind deserts and jungles. The third goes to the West, and becomes the torch-bearer to flash the light of Christ's glory over all Europe. In forty centuries they girdle the earth and come together once more upon its opposite side. Behind two of the brothers, little but the deluge. Behind the third, the ark. In their midst the great sacrifice, the cross of Christ. And before them--in the name of Puritanism, in the name of this Association, shall it not be said--before them ALL, the bow of heavenly promise.

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RE-DEDICATION OF THE BEACH INSTITUTE.

REV. J. E. ROY, D.D.

The rebuilding of the holy and beautiful house which was burned up with fire, and its dedication, as now recalled by the current Sunday-school lessons, have found a counterpart in the replacing and reconsecrating of this temple of learning by the American Missionary Association for the _ex-captives_ of this city. In February last, under unexplained circumstances, it was burned. Rev. R. F. Markham, the pastor, instead of going North for his needed recuperation, remained through the heat of summer to play the part of Ezra in rebuilding. This was accomplished so that the Institute was opened on time, October 1st. It is a comely structure, 60 x 80, two stories high, adjoining the "Home" that was saved.

Prof. B. F. Koons, at the public service, reported that he had now four accomplished lady assistants, Misses Twitchell, Daly, Markham and Ferris, and 290 pupils, including those of the night school. He also stated that the object of the teachers was to afford the advantages of higher education to those who desire to go beyond the public school course; that it was their purpose not to influence the pupils as to any change in their denominational relations; and that they were not to seek any diversion in political matters. He would also say to their white brethren that their sympathy and co-operation were earnestly invited in this work, as it is purely a Christian and missionary enterprise. Mr. Markham offered the prayer of dedication. Several colored ministers were present and participated. The Field Superintendent made an address upon "The Bible religion a teaching religion in the family, the church and the school."

The singing was accompanied by a new nine-stop "American Organ," presented by Mr. S. D. Smith, president of that manufacturing company in Boston. I find in the South many of these souvenirs of his practical interest in this work. He must be a happy man if he knows anything of the amount of joy which his benevolence brings to these lowly ones, who are yet so fond of music, and so gifted in it, too.

In the evening, after a sermon, the Lord's Supper was administered at the Congregational Church. To-night there is to be the regular monthly meeting of the colored Sunday-school workers of all denominations in the city. This is a very useful and enthusiastic affair. To-morrow night we are to have a lecture upon the growth of our country, to be illustrated by the big map of the same. While I write, the colored militia, to the number of ten companies, in gay uniform, with glorious music, are having their annual parade at the Park, their own Georgia artillery firing the salute of thirty-eight guns. This afternoon, at three o'clock, we are to join with the Executive Committee at New York, and all the A. M. A. workers in the annual concert of prayer for the blessing of God upon this scheme of evangelism. The week of prayer is to be observed in the white churches by a union service, held at night by rotation, in their several places of worship.

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ITEMS FROM THE FIELD.

CHARLESTON, S. C.--The first convention of the Charleston Teachers' Union met at Avery Institute January 2d, 3d and 4th. Essays were read on the Art of Teaching; the Culture of the Intellect; How to Teach; Incentives to Study; Our Duty as Teachers; Our Common Schools; the Mind its own Educator; the Best Methods of Discipline; Classification; Vacations; Mind and Matter; and the Drama as a Means of Education. Many of these varied themes were treated by graduates of Avery Institute. General discussions were also participated in on Prizes, Moral Instruction in Schools, and "What's the use of Schools?" It must have been a busy and stimulating three days' meeting.

MIDWAY, GA.--Arrangement has been made whereby Rev. Floyd Snelson has resumed the pastoral charge of his old church at Midway. Rev. Joseph E. Smith, who had served as pastor during the absence of Mr. Snelson in Africa, and who by his cultured ministry had won the people greatly, has gracefully retired from the pulpit, and will receive immediate appointment to another field.

SAVANNAH, GA.--Mr. Markham wrote some time ago: "There is progress here, and I can see the result of our work in Savannah just as easily as you can see the change made by a carpenter in planing a board. Though we have had hard work, rough times, and many head winds, still there is progress. More than five hundred children are gathered into the Sabbath Schools of our churches in and around Savannah."

CHILDERSBURG, ALA.--The church had a Christmas supper to help procure a bell for the church. The pastor wants us to ask our friends to aid in the endeavor.

SHELBY IRON WORKS, ALA.--A Bible Concert Exercise and "a magnificent Christmas Tree" on Christmas day. Solid foundations for church work are being laid. Three inquirers.

NASHVILLE, TENN.--FISK UNIVERSITY.--The last Annual Catalogue showed a total attendance of 338. Of these, 25 were studying theology, 26 were in the College, 54 in the College Preparatory, 11 in the Higher Normal, 153 in the Normal Department, and 95 in the Model School. Notwithstanding the "hard times," this was the most successful year in the history of the University. Correspondence was had with 108 teachers, who were then or had been formerly students in the Institution, and it was found that they had taught during 1877 _nine thousand three hundred and thirty-two_ pupils. Many of the teachers taught in two separate districts during the year, as the public schools, in most places, are continued only from three to five months. Total salary received $18,643.53. Ninety-four of these teachers superintended or taught in Sunday-schools, and reported a total attendance of 7,780. They also stated the number of conversions in day and Sunday-schools at 371. These statistics represent but a part of the actual teaching done by persons educated at Fisk University, for there was no means of learning the address of many of the early students.

THE INDIANS--SISSETON AGENCY.--The Manual Labor Boarding School has 56 scholars, more than can be comfortably accommodated. The scholars and parents show an unprecedented interest. During three months past not one child has run away from the school. This has never happened before. Several Indians have recently come into the office desiring to send their children to the Manual Labor Boarding School, and we have been obliged to refuse them admittance. The Good Will School is also crowded, 46 scholars--26 being regular boarders. Mrs. Renville has 28 scholars in her day-school, as many as can be managed. These three schools are now all full, and it is estimated that there are over 150 children of school-going age on the reservation who have no opportunity to attend school.

SANTA BARBARA, CAL.--The Chinese Mission held its fourth annual meeting on Sunday, December 15. The darkness of the evening did not prevent a large attendance. The report of the Secretary showed good work done. Nearly sixty Chinese have attended the school for a longer or a shorter period during the year. The average attendance, however, has been a little less than twenty. The exercises by the pupils, consisting of recitations of Scripture and the singing of hymns in English and Chinese, were listened to with much interest. Addresses were made by Rev. Dr. Hough and Rev. W. C. Pond. Judge Huse is the President, and B. B. Williams, Esq., the Secretary, of this auxiliary for the ensuing year.--_Pacific_, December 26.

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GENERAL NOTES.

The Freedmen.

--The sum total of the money reported as sent for yellow fever relief to the South is as follows:

Contributed by the North $1,069,000 Contributed by the South (including $85,000 by St. Louis) 251,000 Contributions from foreign lands 39,000 ---------- Total money contributions from all sources $1,359,000

The total value of contributions, including clothing and supplies, will aggregate about $2,000,000.

--THE COLORED MAN DURING THE YELLOW FEVER.--It gives us genuine satisfaction to be able to publish the following impartial testimony to the courage and faithfulness of the colored people during the yellow fever. Says the Memphis _Avalanche_: "Men worth hundreds of thousands of dollars have left their property in charge of blacks, and never provided a dollar for their support. _They faithfully guarded the property of their employers._ And yet if the Citizens' Relief Committee cut off the supplies from the servants of these rich men, what in God's name will they do?" The Nashville _American_, speaking of their conduct during the prevalence of the yellow fever, remarks: "If the negro is found to be true and reliable when he is entrusted with the grave responsibilities of citizenship, if he discharges faithfully the duties devolved upon him, and shows, in such trying times, that he may be entrusted with the preservation of order and the guarding of homes from the criminal classes even of his own race, it will go far towards giving new views on this subject." Col. Keating, of the Memphis _Appeal_, indignantly repels a charge by Dr. Ramsay, seriously damaging to the character of the colored yellow fever nurses in Memphis, and warmly declares: "The statement is a libel upon the negroes of Memphis, who have stood by us nobly as policemen and soldiers." Chief Athey has resolved to recommend that the colored citizens be represented on the police force in proportion to population. Nor did they fail to furnish their quota of physicians, among whom were two former students of the Central Tennessee College, of this city, Drs. Key and Bass, who were acknowledged through the papers to have rendered efficient services, the former at Mason, and the latter at Chattanooga, Tenn. Nor were there wanting among them, ministers ready to lay down their lives, as the deaths of the following clergymen, Mr. Madison, of New Orleans, Mr. Green, of Vicksburg, Mr. Ventris, of Tuscumbia, Mr. Henderson, of Florence, and others, sufficiently testify.--_Fisk Expositor._

--The negroes who were formerly slaves of the Choctaws and Chickasaws, and who still reside among those tribes, were emancipated by the United States, and part of the common domain apportioned to them. The operation of the treaty has, however, been evaded. These Freedmen are deprived of citizenship, the right to hold office and to vote; nor have their children any privilege of education under the school laws. It seems there is a ring of Indians as well as an Indian ring, and that they will not consent to have the land divided and held in severalty. This not only keeps the Freedman out of his rights, but prevents the common Indians from coming to understand their own.

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The Chinese.