Part 4

Our closing exercises were of the usual nature, the Junior classes having their exhibition for the benefit of the library, and netting $50 for that purpose. Then followed the public session of the Literary Society, under the management of its members, and the graduating exerciser, at which three young men received diplomas. The address given on this occasion by Judge Pierce was heartily appreciated and enjoyed by a large audience of both colored and white people. He also presented the diplomas in a manly, earnest address to the graduates.

The final, and perhaps most significant, meeting of commencement week was the Alumni, at which about a dozen of the graduates of the school—nearly all who have been sent out—gathered, with teachers and a few friends, for a pleasant evening. The refreshments were followed with the usual orations and speeches, and did much to gain for the school an earnest working constituency.

We are rejoiced that Mr. B. A. Imes, of Oberlin, accepts the call of the church here, and hopes to enter upon his work in October. Mr. Williams, of Talladega, who has supplied the pulpit this year, has done faithful, earnest work, but his health will not allow him to serve the church longer than till a regular pastor can be found to relieve him.

Everything, the interest of our students, the appreciation of the colored people, and the growing sympathy of the best class of the white people, as indicated in the lecture course given by prominent gentlemen to the school during the year, and by their aid to the school in other ways, points to a successful and growing work for the future.

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Flower Mission and Care for the Sick.

MISS HATTIE A. MILTON, MEMPHIS.

[The training school for nursing, at Le Moyne Institute, is doing good work, not simply in giving instruction that will fit the pupils to become intelligent and efficient nurses when they have gone to their homes, but in visiting and caring for the sick now. Under instruction from their teachers, they have done much for the sick among the poor of the city. Miss Milton tells below of the Flower Mission she started in the City Hospital.—ED. MISSIONARY.]

Yesterday I asked the girls in the sewing class to bring me flowers for the sick at the City Hospital. They were very glad of the opportunity and brought sixty bouquets of our lovely roses and some honey-suckles, I took them to the Hospital, where I met, by previous appointment, the lady-missionary among the whites, and assisted her in conducting the services in the white ward. Then we went to the colored ward, which she had not been in the habit of visiting, gave each patient a bouquet, which was very gratefully received, after which we had a short service consisting of Bible-reading, prayer and singing. We then passed through all the white wards, giving each inmate a bouquet. We came away leaving many happy hearts and smiling faces. One old colored man, who was dying when I gave him the flowers, and passed away shortly after I left, said to the nurse with his last breath, “Take these three spring-chickens” (sent to him by a friend from the country) “and give them to the teacher who gave me the flowers.” The chickens came, and I shall have an opportunity of making some of the sick ones happy with them. The girls are very much interested in working for the comfort of the poor and sick, and have asked permission to go with me on my visits. They have been making some garments for orphans, in the sewing class, and have enjoyed the work. They ask me to tell them about the poor and sick while they are sewing. I trust the Holy Spirit has touched their hearts.

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AFRICA.

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MENDI MISSION.

MR. NATHANIEL NURSE, GOOD HOPE STATION.

We have about a mile of land connected with this station. On this the natives have built a number of “fackies” in which they live. I noticed one afternoon, as I entered one of them, a man before the front entrance; and upon going to see what he was doing, my attention was attracted to a large piece of country cloth spread outside, and in front, of the door.

I asked the man what it was there for. He could speak English, but did not want to tell me; however, when he saw that I could not be put off, he said that it was there to keep away sickness and death from their facki; that they put their trust in it as their God. I said, “Would you like me to put you on the ground, walk on you myself, and let other people do the same, too? Would you think that I liked you very much?” He said “No.” I said, “Now you say that you put your trust in this cloth to keep away sickness and death: if a person has anything, as silver or gold, which he values, he will keep it in a secure place, because he values it. Now you show how you value what you put trust in; you are walking on it yourself, and others are, too; the rains will soon come, which will cause it to rot, and then it will be thrown away.” The head woman of the facki was there, (they were without a head man, as he died only a few weeks before this,) as I spoke to this man, and another one who would explain what I said to her. I asked if this cloth was here when their head man was alive. They said it was. I added, “Then, you see, he got sick and died; this cloth was not able to save him.” They admitted it. I said, “There is nothing man can make that can be worshiped as God, neither silver nor gold, nor anything; God made all, and has made man. If you worship a tree, and say that man has not made that, God made it. He lives in Heaven, and has made man, and there is nothing that man can take in place of Him, and if you will believe that, and put your trust in Him, He will save you through His Son. If at any time you believe what I have told you, but are afraid to take away the cloth yourselves, send for me, and I will come and take it up.” They explained it to the head woman, and while I was there, they took the cloth up and threw it away. I thought it was best to have it at the Mission, as a memorial. I asked one of the men to bring it to the yard some time when he was coming that way.

The head woman of this facki now comes to our church every Sabbath, and on the first Sabbath, when she was dressed for church, she brought the cloth in her hand. The act of doing that showed that she gave up all. I was speaking that day on the long-suffering of God, and inviting sinners to accept Christ who was waiting to receive them. I said that although the heathen cannot read His word, they have a conscience, and naturally know that there is a God. In speaking about that, I referred to this case, and had one of the brethren bring the cloth into the church and show them. I exhorted them concerning the life that we should endeavor to live among these people. Many could not refrain from tears. I was much encouraged myself. I had almost given up, thinking I could not do anything, and that the Lord had not called me here. I have trouble in getting the people to church, but, when visiting them in their fackies, I have a chance to bring the truth home to them, and have made it my special duty to visit the fackies twice a week. While I cannot speak the language myself, I endeavor to avail myself of every opportunity of doing all the good I can. In many of the fackies I find some that can speak broken English, so I speak to these and ask them to tell the others what I say. Sometimes I have a chance to speak to the parents about bringing up their children, especially if I see any that are disposed to accept civilized dress, but allow their children to go anyhow, and do not even send them to school. An ordained missionary is greatly needed for the advancement of the work here.

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THE INDIANS.

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LA POINTE AGENCY.

DR. I. L. MAHAN, U. S. INDIAN AGENT.

I have just returned from Lac Courte d’Oreille, where I have been to deliver the annual goods and supplies, and to superintend the farming operations carried on upon that reservation. Garden and field seed had been sent forward early in the season, and the farmer and assistant had progressed finely with the work. I found a larger number of Indians gathered upon the reservation than at any time since the first year I came to the agency. This is accounted for by reason of the late visit of three of their chiefs to their great father at Washington. The report had gone abroad among the roving bands that the bills had passed Congress, and they expected to meet the Indian Commissioners to counsel upon the sale of their timber, from which they believed they were to receive large sums of money.

All the roving Indians within a hundred miles had gathered, and were awaiting my arrival. I soon put their minds at rest, however, on that score, and informed them that those who helped themselves the Government would help, but no others. In looking over their patches, for their farms are in miniature as yet, they were seen to be well tended and well fenced; and as I looked upon the nearly twelve hundred Indians as they received their goods, for which the males between the ages of 18 and 45 had worked under the direction of the farmer, I could not but compare them with the same number gathered in the fall of 1873. Then they wore long hair, blankets, feathers, paint, &c.; they were dirty, filthy and almost eaten up with vermin. Now they are clean, with short hair, blankets rare, little paint, no feathers, and most of them well clothed. The dresses of the females were in the latest fashion; and many of them had on hats. The men wore clean white or colored shirts, and hats or caps. They prized the agricultural implements, hoes, rakes, scythes, plows, grub hoes, &c., all being in great demand. Some years ago they wanted blankets, beads and trinkets. They seemed delighted with the idea of a boarding-school such as we agreed upon while I was East. There was an entire absence of that domineering spirit which characterized them in ‘73. They received the goods with thankfulness. Mildness and gentleness were pictured upon every face. They respected their agent and loved the Government that dealt with them so bountifully. This is the reservation on which Mr. and Mrs. Holt commenced the work of civilization. Truly the seed was well planted, and although for years we have only been able to hold our own, now, as the times look favorable, we hope for grand results.

These are the Indians who must go to the personal care of another. I leave them with sadness, yet cherishing a grand hope of their future. I have done what I could, and hope they may fall into good hands, for the field is ripe for the harvest. Give them a good agent who understands them and will toil for them, and I have no fear. The Lac de Flambeau are much in the same condition, but the other Indians of this agency are able to care for themselves.

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THE CHINESE.

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“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 Rowell, Rev. John Kimball, E. P. Sanford, Esq.

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

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SERMONS BY OUR CHINESE HELPERS.

It seemed to me that no better use could be made, this month, of the columns set apart for our Chinese Mission, than to introduce to our friends some of our Chinese helpers, by giving a sample or two of their work. Let it be remembered that they have been taken from the kitchen, and set, at once, in the missionary service; and that whatever of special training they receive, comes along with the work itself. They are assisted in the study of the Bible by the teachers with whom they serve respectively, but learn to preach, mainly, _by preaching_.

Lee Sam, in our missionary work but four months as yet, sends the following:

Matt. xxvi., 41.—Jesus says to his disciples, “Watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” When we first become Christians then our own hearts are evil. It often seems much easier to do wrong than to do right; without Jesus we can do nothing. We must pray without ceasing. Jesus says, “If a man love Me he will keep My words, and My Father will love him and make Our abode with him.” Hear what He says: “If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me, for whosoever will save his life shall lose it; and whosoever will lose his life for My sake shall find it.” If we know of Jesus and His love we shall be willing to give our life that we may bring others to love Him and to accept Him as their Saviour. We must pray to Jesus to help us love the Lord our God with all our hearts, and with all our soul, and with all our mind, and love one another and keep His commandments; and we must pray that we enter not into temptation, and we may ask Him for whatever we need. We may ask Him to heal us if we are sick, to help us if we are weak; for food to eat and clothes to wear. We must ask His care when we go to bed, and His wisdom and strength when we rise in the morning to the labors and duties of another day. We must rely upon Jesus Christ as long as we live. Most of all must we beg of Him to blot out our sins and give us a new heart. If we live a life of prayer, God will love us in this life and when we die we shall have joy, and after death our souls shall be full of joy for ever and ever. We cannot live near Jesus without much prayer; but we must watch as well as pray. We have many enemies that we must watch. Our own hearts lead us away from Jesus. Jesus says: “If thy right hand offend thee, cut it off and cast it from thee, or if thy right eye offend thee pluck it out.” This means that we should part with anything, no matter how dear, if it makes us sin. We must watch our thoughts; if we know they do not please Jesus, we must put them from us. We must love only good things, and delight only in what we can have with our heart full of love to Jesus. If we know that anything will tempt us to sin, we must watch against it and keep away from it. We must not go to any place where we know Jesus would not wish us to go. We must watch our tongues that they do not speak any wrong words, and we must watch that in all that we think, in all that we say, and in all that we do, we please Jesus. “The spirit indeed is willing but the flesh is weak.” If we are true Christians, we desire more than anything else to follow Jesus. We mean to love Him always, to work for Him always, and to turn from everything that is wrong. But how many times we do not do things we mean to do, and how many times we do things that make us sorry: and we go to Jesus and we ask Him to forgive us. Our spirit is willing. In our heart, our very soul, we love Jesus, but the flesh is weak. The flesh is our sinful self, the old wicked heart, anything in this life that makes us do wrong. Sometimes we want to speak good words for Jesus. We would like to tell our brethren of His love, but we are not wise; we do not know the right words to say. “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” That is, in our own selves, without Jesus we are very weak, we cannot do anything right. But He will give the Holy Spirit to help us, so we may be strong in Him, though we are in our own selves, without His spirit, very weak. He will help us be strong to do right, and wise to say the right word.

Lena Chung, our Sacramento helper, who has been in service about one year, sends the following:

John xiii., 34. “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another.”

What does this mean? Our Lord was on earth; His disciples had followed Him three years. Jesus knew His hour was come that He should depart out of this world unto the Father. The disciples had been with Him so long; they might know how to love God and follow Christ, but when their Light should go away then they would be troubled and offended because of the world. Jesus knew they would receive persecution; be cast out of the synagogues and despised and hated of men; so He gave them this new commandment that they should love one another in this world.

I. We ought to love one another. It is our duty to obey this command. Some may say: he may be a Christian, but he is not my countryman, not near to me. I am a white man, he is black, or he is a yellow man, he does not belong to my family or friends. I will not love him. It can be no sin to hate him. Not so, my friends. It hath been said, “Thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy.” But Christ tells us: “Love your enemies and bless them which curse you.” If so, we must love all who love God, and are trying to serve and please Him, whatever their place in life.

The body has many organs. The head is upward, feet downward, hands at the sides; they must work in harmony with each other—they must love one another. So with us. There are many kinds of people in the world; but God is the Father of all, though same are in Europe, some in Asia, some in Africa and some in America. The color may be different, the figure also different; but all must work for the same object, and all must love one another as members of one body—which is Christ.

Oh, my friends, I hope you will turn to love and not hate. If any love Christ they must love all people in the world, not only those they know, but spread it wider and love all who come to Christ,

II. Love one another truly with our hearts. Paul said: “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal. Though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.” So, then, we must love truly, honestly, and freely. “If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar.” When Christ saw the people love outwardly, not with the heart, He said: “Beware of false prophets which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.” We may learn from this, unless we love one another truly and honestly, we cannot get the blessing of God.

III. Love one another continually. This is like God, whose love is unchangeable. He loves us all the time, gives us our daily bread, our clothes, and all we have. He gave His only begotten Son to the world to die for us. If we hate Him, He does not hate us, but loves us still. There was once a father in China who loved his son like the precious diamond. His son did all things to dishonor his father, but his father loved him still, and would not change his love. After a time the son left his father and came to California, where he grew worse and worse; never wrote any letters to his father. At last, a friend came to California whom the father knew, and sent word by him to his son. He said: “When you meet my son please tell him for me, I love him continually. I never forget my love.” A few months after, this friend met the son. He said to him, “You are doing all things vain. The precious time is almost gone. Soon you will feel gloomy and sad. When I left home your father sent a short message to you. He said he loves you continually.” When the son heard this his face changed, his heart became like a piece of ice on the hot fire. He started at once to see his father. When he reached home, his father was so happy to see him he forgot all the wrong his son had done. The father represents the true living God; the son, the people of the world; and the friend represents Jesus Christ. The bad son leaving his father and doing wrong, is like the people of the world disobeying God and going far away from Him. God sent us word by our Saviour that He loves us continually. This word should melt our hearts and make us return to God. He will receive us joyfully and forgive us our sins.

Brethren: If God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.

[The third sketch, which is by Jee Gam, to whom, during his recent visit to the East, many of our readers listened with great interest, must be deferred to another issue.—ED. MISSIONARY.]

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CHILDREN’S PAGE.

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A TRIP UP THE YANG-TSE-KIANG.

REV. G. W. PAINTER.

By the last mail, I wrote that I was in Shanghai for my health. Since then, I have been up the Yang-tse-Kiang to Hankow, a distance up and back of 1,200 miles, first-class passage $8. This included board for a whole week, and it may startle you to hear that we had genuine strawberries (the first I have seen during seven years’ residence in China), which cost the steward five cash each (half a cent), and shad at a cost of $2 per pair. We always had five or six kinds of meat, and several kinds of fruit. How this could be afforded was a mystery, but to me a charming one.

The fare provoked even a sick man’s appetite, and the pure sweet river air conduced to sleep; the weather was fine, and the scenery, for one half of the route, superb. Part of the way the banks of the river were flat, and the view was cut off by tall reeds with which they were lined, but during the latter half of the upward journey the mountains rose, often abruptly from the river, not unfrequently to great heights, and it was true of some of these, what I supposed before coming to this country was true of all mountains, that they were terraced and cultivated to their summits. Much of the scenery was equal to that on the Hudson, minus the residences.

The country houses along the river are much poorer than in our Province of Hanchow, and the cities seem older and more dilapidated. The river annually overflows the low grounds from April to August, and as it often rises 50 feet above its winter level, the people build only rude huts. The missionaries at Hankow inform me that for months they are compelled to use canoes for travel on their streets. It was the busiest season (May) when I reached Hankow, which until recently was the most interior treaty port of the Empire. It is separated from Han Yang and Wa-Chang by the Yang-tse-Kiang and Han rivers, and each of them is an immense city. There are some two hundred foreigners here. The Bund (River) St. has houses only on one side, and is the finest in China. It stands 50 feet above the river, which for half a mile is faced with splendid stone masonry. It offers the busiest and most _Chinesy_ sight yet seen in this country. Fourteen steamers were lying at the wharves. There is a great rush to get the first new tea into the English market. The fleetest steamers are chartered at fabulous prices: $32 per ton is paid for transportation, and $1,600 for river pilots, on the round trip from Shanghai to Hankow and return—a trip of one week. This year the season opened on the Sabbath, some taking advantage of the fact that others were at church to begin lading. Neither heat, night, nor anything else checks the work. The Russians do the biggest business. They deal chiefly in the coarsest and poorest qualities of tea. Stem, leaf, and often extraneous matter, are ground to powder, steamed and pressed into bricks of convenient size for transportation, and these are used for money in Mongolia and Siberia.

Hankow is a filthy city. Wa-Chang is much better in this respect, has fine hills, and a lofty pagoda from which a magnificent view of the surrounding country is obtained.