Part 1

VOL. XXXIV. No. 2.

THE

AMERICAN MISSIONARY.

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“To the Poor the Gospel is Preached.”

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FEBRUARY, 1880.

_CONTENTS:_

EDITORIAL.

PARAGRAPHS 33 ARRIVAL OF MR. NURSE IN AFRICA—KNOWING, GIVING, PRAYING 34 TILLOTSON C. & N. INSTITUTE, AUSTIN, TEXAS 35 WHO SHALL CIVILIZE AFRICA—ITEMS FROM THE FIELD 36 GENERAL NOTES 37 NEW APPOINTMENTS 39

THE FREEDMEN.

GEORGIA CONFERENCE REVIEW 44 EDUCATIONAL REPORT 46 ATLANTA MISCELLANIES 47 FLORIDA—Letter From Rev. Geo. Henry 48 LOUISIANA—Schools and Churches: Rev. W. S. Alexander 49 TENNESSEE—Labor among Convicts: Rev. H. S. Bennett 50 TENNESSEE—Woman’s Work among Women: Miss Hattie A. Milton 51 TENNESSEE—Student-Teachers from Le Moyne 52

THE INDIANS.

BOYS FOR HAMPTON FROM FORT BERTHOLD: Rev. C. L. Hall 53

THE CHINESE.

THE ROMANCE OF MISSIONS: Rev. W. C. Pond 54

RECEIPTS 56

CONSTITUTION 61

AIM, STATISTICS, WANTS 62

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NEW YORK.

Published by the American Missionary Association,

ROOMS, 56 READE STREET.

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Price, 50 Cents a Year, in advance.

Entered at the Post Office at New York, N. Y., as second-class matter

American Missionary Association,

56 READE STREET, N. Y.

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PRESIDENT.

HON. E. S. TOBEY, Boston.

VICE-PRESIDENTS.

Hon. F. D. PARISH, Ohio. Hon. E. D. HOLTON, Wis. Hon. WILLIAM CLAFLIN, Mass. ANDREW LESTER, Esq., N. Y. Rev. STEPHEN THURSTON, D. D., Me. Rev. SAMUEL HARRIS, D. D., Ct. WM. C. CHAPIN, Esq., R. I. Rev. W. T. EUSTIS, D. D., Mass. Hon. A. C. BARSTOW, R. I. Rev. THATCHER THAYER, D. D., R. I. Rev. RAY PALMER, D. D., N. J. Rev. EDWARD BEECHER, D. D., N. Y. Rev. J. M. STURTEVANT, D. D., Ill. Rev. W. W. PATTON, D. D., D. C. Hon. SEYMOUR STRAIGHT, La. HORACE HALLOCK, Esq., Mich. Rev. CYRUS W. WALLACE, D. D., N. H. Rev. EDWARD HAWES, D. D., Ct. DOUGLAS PUTNAM, Esq., Ohio. Hon. THADDEUS FAIRBANKS, Vt. SAMUEL D. PORTER, Esq., N. Y. Rev. M. M. G. DANA, D. D., Minn. Rev. H. W. BEECHER, N. Y. Gen. O. O. HOWARD, Oregon. Rev. G. F. MAGOUN, D. D., Iowa. Col. C. G. HAMMOND, Ill. EDWARD SPAULDING, M. D., N. H. DAVID RIPLEY, Esq., N. J. Rev. WM. M. BARBOUR, D. D., Ct. Rev. W. L. GAGE, D. D., Ct. A. S. HATCH, Esq., N. Y. Rev. J. H. FAIRCHILD, D. D., Ohio. Rev. H. A. STIMSON, Minn. Rev. J. W. STRONG, D. D., Minn. Rev. A. L. STONE, D. D., California. Rev. G. H. ATKINSON, D. D., Oregon. Rev. J. E. RANKIN, D. D., D. C. Rev. A. L. CHAPIN, D. D., Wis. S. D. SMITH, Esq., Mass. PETER SMITH, Esq., Mass. Dea. JOHN C. WHITIN, Mass. Hon. J. B. GRINNELL, Iowa. Rev. WM. T. CARR, Ct. Rev. HORACE WINSLOW, Ct. Sir PETER COATS, Scotland. Rev. HENRY ALLON, D. D., London, Eng. WM. E. WHITING, Esq., N. Y. J. M. PINKERTON, Esq., Mass. E. A. GRAVES, Esq., N. J. Rev. F. A. NOBLE, D. D., Ill. DANIEL HAND, Esq., Ct. A. L. WILLISTON, Esq., Mass. Rev. A. F. BEARD, D. D., N. Y. FREDERICK BILLINGS, Esq., Vt. JOSEPH CARPENTER, Esq., R. I. Rev. E. P. GOODWIN, D. D., Ill. Rev. C. L. GOODELL, D. D., Mo. J. W. SCOVILLE, Esq., Ill. E. W. BLATCHFORD, Esq., Ill. C. D. TALCOTT, Esq., Ct. Rev. JOHN K. MCLEAN, D. D., Cal. Rev. RICHARD CORDLEY, D. D., Kansas.

CORRESPONDING SECRETARY.

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

DISTRICT SECRETARIES.

REV. C. L. WOODWORTH, _Boston_. REV. G. D. PIKE, _New York_. REV. JAS. POWELL, _Chicago_.

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

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.

ALONZO S. BALL, A. S. BARNES, GEO. M. BOYNTON, WM. B. BROWN, C. T. CHRISTENSEN, CLINTON B. FISK, ADDISON P. FOSTER, S. B. HALLIDAY, SAMUEL HOLMES, CHARLES A. HULL, EDGAR KETCHUM, CHAS. L. MEAD, WM. T. PRATT, J. A. SHOUDY, JOHN H. WASHBURN, G. B. WILLCOX.

COMMUNICATIONS

relating to the work of the Association may be addressed to the Corresponding Secretary; those relating to the collecting fields to the District Secretaries; letters for the Editor of the “American Missionary,” to Rev. Geo. M. Boynton, at the New York Office.

DONATIONS AND SUBSCRIPTIONS

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., or 112 West Washington Street, Chicago, Ill. A payment of thirty dollars at one time constitutes a Life Member.

THE

AMERICAN MISSIONARY.

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VOL. XXXIV. FEBRUARY, 1880. No. 2.

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American Missionary Association.

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_A Public Opportunity to Contribute Once a Year._—That is, we think, a modest claim for the almoners of your bounty to make. Will you secure it for us in your church this year?

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We need very much two communion services—one for the Midway church, Golding’s Grove, Ga., and the other for the new church at Cypress Slash. Who will send them to us?

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A pastor of an M. E. Church South, in Georgia, asked us by mail, the other day, for a hundred copies of the AMERICAN MISSIONARY to put on a Christmas tree for members of his church, that he might thus awaken more interest in the missionary cause. We sent them. This is the first time we were ever asked to send our publications as “Christmas greens.”

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How the angels must smile when they see a man whom God has greatly prospered carefully take a hundred dollars out of a hundred thousand that he has laid away, and hear him say to himself, with a chuckle of self-complacency: “Yes, we are only stewards; we must deal generously by these good causes; I will give that to the Lord.” A pauper giving crumbs in charity to the King on whom he depends for daily bread! But then there are some who do not give even the crumbs.—_Congregationalist._

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In this month of February, we publish, according to our custom, the list of our missionaries and teachers in the field; and we are proud of it, not for its length or numbers, but for the high and approved character of those who constitute it; nay, rather, we are thankful to Him under whom we all labor, that He has given to us and to each other so worthy a band of co-laborers, so intelligent and so devoted. We do not forget that these pastors and teachers are far from their homes, and that each is known personally to but a limited number of the friends of the Association, and we bespeak for them not only a general but a personal remembrance. Would it not be well to select some one whose work you, reader, will follow with especial interest, to whom you will some time write, assuring of your interest and prayers, and with whom you may establish and maintain a personal friendship? Pray for some one at least in this list by name, and you will be less likely to forget to pray for all the rest.

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“_Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion; build thou the walls of Jerusalem._”—So, in that hour of unearthly experience as recorded in the fifty-first Psalm, does David’s heart leap from the state of penitence and of forgiveness to take in the welfare of Zion. So, evermore, does the truest devotion inspire the missionary spirit. The first burden of our Lord’s Prayer is for a heavenly Kingdom on earth. His last prayer with and for His disciples, that they might be kept, and sanctified and glorified, was, “that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.” It is the instinct of a soul in communion with God, that in every prayer it should utter at least one petition for the coming of his Kingdom. So often do our lyric hymns, which are but a transcript of Christian experience, glance off from almost any line of thought and of feeling, to utter the great aspiration for the crowning of Christ in His spiritual realm. The nearer we come to God, the more do we long to have Him enthroned in all hearts.

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ARRIVAL OF MR. NURSE IN AFRICA.

Mr. Miller writes: “I am very glad to be able to announce to you the arrival of Bro. Nurse from America to join our work in Western Africa. His voyage was rather longer than had been expected, and he doubtless grew impatient as the ship neared this place, and stood several days under the silent influence of a calm.

“Yesterday was Thanksgiving-day with you at home—not less so with him and his mother, from whom he had been separated for many years, as they met in warm embrace. How freely the tears rolled down the cheeks of that overjoyed mother, as she looked upon her son returned to her and the ‘dark continent,’ a missionary of the Gospel to assist in lifting up degraded, perishing mankind. Bro. Nurse is a little worn-out from his long voyage, but will soon get well rested, and we shall leave for Sherbro.”

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KNOWING, GIVING, PRAYING.

These are the three strands of the rope by which the car of missions is drawn. This is the trinity of Christian work. The three are one, and each one is only itself fully as it is with the three.

One can have little interest in knowing of a work for which he neither gives nor prays. His knowledge will be indefinite and easily forgotten. It has no grip in it such as comes from a personal connection. In the nation’s war, men and women thought of it, read of it, were eager to know the latest tidings, because their sons and their wealth had been given to the cause which they believed was God’s, and their prayers were daily following as they traced the progress of the day.

No one will give generously or sufficiently when he has not taken pains to know. You cannot get up much enthusiasm over a mere list of stations or catalogue of workers. Dr. Albert Bushnell says that half the Presbyterian churches in the United States give nothing to the cause of foreign missions, and that many who do not give do not pray. We should be willing to go further than that and say that none who do not give can pray effectually. They may repeat prayers possibly in public for missions, because that is the proper thing to do, but such are but “vain repetitions” against which we are warned.

We all agree that missions need the prayers of Christians; that such prayer is the duty of all who bear the name of Christ. Then it is equally a duty for all such to fulfil the conditions by which they may be able to pray aright. It is a duty to know about the progress of the Redeemer’s cause. If He bids us say, “Thy kingdom come,” He will not be content with us if we sit with closed eyes, indifferent to the signs of its coming. But how many Christian people take pains to keep themselves informed of the affairs of the nations of the earth, their wars, their acts, their commerce, and skip the paragraphs which tell of the contests and conquests of Christ’s kingdom! How many who know of the strifes and supremacies of parties in Maine and Mississippi, know nothing at all of the religious state or progress of our land! Is it likely that such will give much, or pray earnestly?

Nor will they pray aright unless they give. That makes it their work. That establishes their interest in it. That, if it be real giving—not mere throwing away to avoid the trouble or the embarrassment of saying No—based on intelligent appreciation of the need, enlarges and emphasizes and doubly underscores the prayer which, then, with the alms ascending, will surely find their way to God together.

Friends, we want your prayers for us, for our workers and for our work. But we want prayers that are weighted by your gifts—they will rise the better for it; and that are illuminated with your intelligence—they will be read the better for it, even by the Father who “dwelleth in light.”

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TILLOTSON COLLEGIATE AND NORMAL INSTITUTE, AUSTIN, TEXAS.

This school was founded on the same comprehensive scale as the other chartered institutions of the American Missionary Association. In 1876, a beautiful site of eight acres, overlooking the valley of the Colorado River and the mountains beyond, was secured in the city of Austin, the capital of Texas, and subsequently paid for by the originator of the enterprise, Rev. Geo. J. Tillotson. Efforts were commenced at once to raise the funds for the first building, which is to serve all the purposes of a boarding school until the growth and ability of the institution shall necessitate and provide others. Dea. David Allen, of Connecticut, headed the subscription with $1,000, and to this amount has since added $250. David Banks, of Stanwich, Conn., a gentleman over 80 years of age, raised $1,200 more, subscribing one-third of it himself. The remainder of the amount we now have on hand was collected for the most part by Mr. Tillotson, who has kindly added the gift of his services to the enterprise founded by his liberality. The principal benefactors of the institution are all over seventy years of age.

Work on the new building was commenced last summer, and is still going on. It is being constructed of brick, with some trimmings, and will have accommodations for seventy boarding students. The funds at our disposal for the object are barely sufficient to inclose the building. We need $7,000 additional in order to finish and furnish it for occupation by the 1st of October. The money already given, amounting to about $11,000, exclusive of the $5,000 paid for the site, was subscribed largely in sums of $400 each by persons who are to have the privilege of naming the students’ rooms, of which there will be thirty-five. A grand example has been given. Are there not others ready to follow?

The burden of debt, and the struggle required to maintain the institutions already under way, has deterred this Association, during the past three years, from pressing the claims of this, our only school in Texas; but we believe the time has now come when we should earnestly solicit the gifts needful for its speedy completion. Already we have received the written indorsement of seventy-six of the leading citizens of Austin, saying, “We believe that such a school is very much needed, and that the enterprise will be hailed by very many of our best citizens as of great importance to the welfare of the State.” Texas has a territory larger than France, and constitutes no mean part of “the whole world” where we are commanded to go and teach. Will our friends aid us to go up at once and possess the land?

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WHO SHALL CIVILIZE AFRICA?

We copy from the _Tribune_ the following opinion of Col. C. Chaillé Long, the African explorer, who preceded Stanley by a year in visiting Mtesa:

If the heart of Africa is ever reached by civilizing influences, Colonel Long thinks the work must be done by intelligent colored people from the United States. They, if anybody, could keep communications open, introduce trade, and gradually train the natives in habits of systematic industry. Last spring, when public attention was attracted to the exodus of negroes from the Southern States, Colonel Long wrote a letter to the King of Belgium, who is President of the principal European society for exploring and civilizing Africa. In that letter he proposed that the King should stimulate, through the medium of his society, a movement to take a large body of the discontented blacks from our Southern States and settle them in Central Africa, opening with them a line of trading and missionary posts from the West Coast to the lake country.

Colonel Long believed that thousands of the most industrious and best educated colored men in the Gulf States could be induced to go. Their presence in Africa would, he wrote, create no surprise or hostility among the natives, and they would soon acquire influence over the native tribes and start the work of civilization. In this way the experiment of opening the dark continent would be tried under the only conditions that afford the least promise of success. King Leopold wrote in reply that the project deeply interested him, and that he should give it his careful investigation, but nothing further has been heard from him. Colonel Long says it would cost a great deal of money to carry out the scheme, but the African exploring societies in Europe could raise it if they tried. He is not enthusiastic about the success of his plan, but is confident that it is the only one not foredoomed to failure. Equatorial Africa, he insists, will never be civilized by white men.

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ITEMS FROM THE FIELD.

MACON, GA.—Pastor S. E. Lathrop is getting under way his Circulating Library for the colored people. He sends out a circular, printed on his own “Gospel Press,” that was given him as a home missionary in Wisconsin, appealing for the gift of new or second-hand books for this purpose. Gov. Colquitt and Senators Gordon and Hill have furnished some. Pres. A. L. Chapin, of Beloit, Wis., is putting up a trunk full. Sup’t Roy sent in a “carpet-bag” full. Who’ll follow up?

MACON, GA.—A graduate from the Lewis High School writes: “I have worked faithfully for three months. I was assigned to a place where there was no school-house or church. The people had their meeting under an arbor. I worked with the patrons of the place until they built me a school-house. Since that they have erected a church at the expense of $350. It is 35 by 45 feet. We are holding protracted meetings. Three persons have been received in full connection, and many more are hovering around the altar. Our Sunday-school is prospering. Many are coming in. The old folks are more interested in this great work than the young. We are hammering down upon them. My school numbers thirty-nine scholars. I have received several petitions from the colored people, asking me to come again and teach for them.”

MCINTOSH, LIBERTY CO., GA.—A pleasant and profitable Sunday-school concert and Christmas exercise was held in the Dorchester Midway church. Mr. McIntosh, the superintendent and teacher, and Miss Douglass, the missionary, are doing good and successful work. Rev. Floyd Snelson is the pastor, and his children gave some exhibitions of their African treasures and experience. A watch-night prayer-meeting was held at his house New Year’s eve.

CYPRESS SLASH, GA.—The people are getting up timbers for their new meeting-house.

TOUGALOO, MISS.—We have had a blessed work here this week. Several of our pupils had been very thoughtful for a great while, some of them a year, and one or two even longer. They had held out stoutly, but last Sabbath afternoon one yielded. Saturday night, several asked for prayers. After church, three young men were converted. Monday morning, twelve more yielded. Monday afternoon, one of the most stubborn cases I ever met came into the fold. She had been trying to climb up some other way for more than two years. Tuesday afternoon another gave up, making in all eighteen within two days. Our term closed on Wednesday. Several went to their homes very anxious. I hope they may still be brought within the fold.

FLORENCE, ALA.—The new church edifice mentioned in our last number was first planned through the benevolence of Mrs. J. Fowler, of Mendon, Ill., who contributed fully one-third of the total cost, and thus laid the foundation of this good enterprise. The completion of the work was made possible by “Howard.”

WASHINGTON, D. C.—The American Missionary Association has called Rev. Simon P. Smith to a missionary work among the colored people of Washington. The Lincoln Mission, a Sabbath-school enterprise connected with the Congregational Church, has offered its capacious building, and here may yet arise a colored Congregational church. Mr. Smith is a colored clergyman, a graduate of Howard and then of Chicago Seminary, and well fitted for his work.—_Congregationalist._

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GENERAL NOTES.

The Freedmen.

—The school work of the Presbyterian Church among the Freedmen reports 39 schools, 4,184 scholars, 58 (or, including 16 ministers and 6 catechists engaged in teaching in addition to their other duties, 80) teachers; making in both departments, including a few assistant teachers, 140 missionaries. Five of their higher schools report 1,126 pupils, of whom 145 taught part of the year, reporting 7,513 pupils. Of the teachers from four of these schools, 77 superintended Sabbath-schools while teaching, and reported 4,043 Sabbath-school scholars. These four schools report also 51 students preparing for the Gospel ministry.

—The M. E. Church, through its Freedmen’s Aid Society, has aided in establishing and supporting 6 chartered colleges, 3 theological and one medical school, and 9 institutions not chartered. In these institutions the number of pupils taught during the year is classified as follows: Biblical, 453; law, 20; medical, 60; collegiate, 74; academic, 270; normal, 1,020; intermediate, 242; primary, 371. Total, 2,510.

—A colored lawyer was recently admitted to practice in the Court of Appeals of Virginia. He is the first colored man who has ever enjoyed this privilege in that State. The motion for his admission was made by the son of ex-Gov. Wise.

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Africa.

—On the 8th of July, Mr. James Stewart, C. E., then in charge of the Nyassa Mission, wrote to the Convener from Livingstonia. After building a dwelling-house for the head of the mission at Livingstonia, he sailed north to visit the stations of Marenga and Kaningina. He found all well. The Mangoni chiefs had presented the mission with eleven cows, but insist on their being used only in the country around Kaningina. Our own cattle—most precious property—were in good condition. At Livingstonia, advancing cultivation had driven off the pestilent and fatal tsetse fly. After a fortnight’s holiday, the school-boys and girls had returned to Christian instruction. Mr. Stewart had distributed toys and handkerchiefs as prizes at the examination. Namalambi, “a fine, promising boy,” was dux of the school. Mr. Stewart had already started for Lake Tanganika before the request of the London Missionary Society was telegraphed, and was hoping to meet and, if necessary, aid Messrs. Hoare and Hutley.

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The Indians.

—The Hon. Carl Schurz, Secretary of the Interior, devotes a large portion of his annual report to the Indian question. He states that the hostile Indians at the West are few compared with the whole number of the race. He states the Indian policy of the Department to be as follows: