Part 3

There is no room in the South for our church system if its work be simply to transfer the people in bulk from other communions, with all their prevalent views and practices. Our brethren of the Baptist and Methodist churches are to be congratulated upon their large membership, and so upon their opportunity for doing good. They have the responsibility of purifying from within. Many are struggling nobly, as exhorted by the _Christian Recorder_, “to thin out the ministry of the church until there shall not be found an ignorant man, nor a bad man in the ranks. Thin out the church itself. Expel the vicious. Drive out the notoriously bad. Have a clean church.” Starting as a new church-life, we have no call, no excuse for sweeping in such material. It would be no gain to the kingdom to effect such a transfer in bulk. Our mission is, through our blended educational and Christianizing process, to help raise the standard of Christian and church character. By the stimulus of such example, we are doing more to help the old churches in their eliminating process than we could in any other way. That same article in the _Recorder_, from which I have quoted, shows this.

The editor also sets down the A. M. A. as the greatest rival of the A. M. E., and no doubt rejoices in this provoking of his church to love and to good works. But our churches, if they would attain to much of this helpfulness, must gain it upon the standard of intelligence and of Christian character, without the risks of wildness and superstition. And so, if God be with us, if we be humble and spiritually minded in our work, by and by we may expect large accessions of members. The president of a Baptist Colored University, himself a New England educator, remarked to me, a while ago, that he could see that in twenty-five years the Congregationalists would have a large church-work among the Freedmen, simply as the result of their educational process.

Our young pastors, who have not as yet the stimulus of the large congregations of some other communions, must remember that the influence of their churches is not measured by numbers, and that if they secure quality, this may go further than quantity.

But, as it is, our church-work is not destitute of encouragement now in regard to numbers. Fifteen years ago there was not a colored Congregationalist in all the South, except in the two ancient white Congregational churches of Charleston, S. C., and of Liberty Co., Ga. The system itself was utterly unknown, as it is to this day, except where it has crept in since the war. The experiment, in one single locality, of swallowing down the old-time churches, proved a failure, and taught us a lesson. The only gain has been by the slow process of enlightenment and of assimilation, mainly by the Christian-school process. A high official in the M. E. Church said of us: “You can afford to wait for the youth; we cannot.” He was right. That great Church, which is doing so grand a work for the Freedmen, had already on its hands hundreds of thousands of adult members, who must be cared for at once. By our policy of waiting, the last Annual Report set down sixty-seven churches, and 4,300 church members, an average of 69 members to each. As this is all new work, let us compare it with new work at the West. Alas, for the lack of church statistics in our last Year Book! By that of the former year, we find that the churches of Missouri and Nebraska had an average in each State of 27 members; Kansas had 34; Iowa had exactly our average of 69; and Illinois, which has been under Home Missionary culture for sixty years, has an average of only 25 members more than that of the churches of this Association.

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THE HAMPTON ANNIVERSARY.

Distinguished Visitors—Speeches by Pres. Hayes, Sec. Schurz, and Others—Natural Development—Three Questions Settled.

REV. ADDISON P. FOSTER.

The graduating exercises at the Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute, on May 20, were of even unusual interest. A large and distinguished company was in attendance, including Governors and other notabilities from Massachusetts, and President Hayes and Secretary Schurz from Washington. A military parade by the students under the inspection of the President, recitations, and an exhibition of the various industries of the school, occupied the morning. The work of the Indian boys excited special interest. A farm-cart, complete in all its parts, tin-ware, tables and large silicate globes, were among the articles which they had made.

Whitin Hall was crowded in the afternoon. The students, 300 in number, seated on benches rising toward the rear in front of the audience, were a picture of neatness, intelligence and content. Those who remembered the squalor and ignorance of the colored people as they sought refuge in the Union lines during the war, could not fail to recognize the value of the work done by the noble educational institutions which the American Missionary Association has brought into existence through the South. This thankful feeling was deepened as the students took up the parts assigned them. Their addresses were not mere essays, but the expression of their opinions on practical, vital themes, concerning the welfare of their race. These utterances were marked with rare good sense, a freedom from bitterness for past or present ill-treatment, and a hopeful courage for the future. More than once some expression unexpectedly pathetic, or forgiving, or consecrated, brought tears to the eyes of those who heard.

The exercises of the students were followed by admirable addresses from some of the dignitaries present. President Hayes showed how the relation of the different races and nationalities in the land was one of our most vital problems, and how Hampton was solving it. Secretary Schurz considered at length the experiment of Indian education, which is being tried at Hampton, and showed why it might succeed now when it had not in the past. Governor Long, of Massachusetts, referred to the presence of these educational institutions in the South as one of the most important results of the war. Ex-Governor Rice, of Massachusetts, regarded the Institution at Hampton as the natural development of advancing civilization, which is breaking down the barriers of the races and bringing all nationalities together as brethren.

The concurrent testimony of these speakers, and the manifest conviction of the visitors present, was that Hampton is doing a grand work.

Its diversified departments are conducted with such careful attention to detail, with such consecrated, self-denying enthusiasm, with such genius in teaching, and with such faith in God, on the part of its principal, Gen. Armstrong, and his corps of teachers, gathered from the best families of the North, that the school could not be otherwise than successful. This language may seem extravagant, but, if any one is inclined to regard it so, let him visit the school next May, and he will appreciate the self-restraint of one who says no more than what has just been said.

The Hampton Institute has settled two or three questions very satisfactorily.

From the experience of this Institution, it is plain that it is quite possible to combine industrial with intellectual and religious education without injury to any one of these branches of knowledge. Nothing is more prominent to a superficial observation than the industrial side of Hampton.

The saw-mill, which since September last has cut over a million feet of lumber, the knitting-room, which has produced this year 12,000 dozen mittens for a Boston firm, the market-garden, from which have been sent this spring thirty barrels of peas a day to Baltimore, and from which have been raised peas and asparagus, together amounting in value to $1,500, the ice house, in which are stored 180 tons of ice, the industrial room, where are made the students’ uniforms, the cooking school, in which the girls are taught the culinary art, the printing office, from which is issued monthly “The Southern Workman,” the shoe shop, the blacksmith’s shop, the wheelwright’s shop, the carpenter’s shop, the repair shop, the brick-yard, which has supplied all the bricks used on the buildings of the Institution, the $6,000 barn, where fine blooded stock is kept, the farm of 330 acres—these departments of activity, wonderful for their variety and completeness, are steadily training the students and the inhabitants of the surrounding region in ways of industry. But this is not all, nor the principal benefit, the students receive. If we may judge from a hasty inspection of classes, from the scope and skillful expression of thought in the graduating exercises, and from the testimony of teachers, a thorough and sufficiently extended education in all mental departments is given. Best of all, as the crown no less than the beginning of wisdom, the students, entering the school without special religious impressions, seldom leave it without becoming devoted Christians. The result of the combination of industrial with other forms of training, is seen in the evident union in Hampton students of hard good sense with scholarly intelligence and unostentatious piety.

Another question is most satisfactorily settled, whether it is possible to educate the Negro and the Indian together. On graduation day, in sight of the audience, was a stand on which rested a fragment from the building recently burned. It was a mass of red and black bricks cemented together, and prettily draped with vines. If this was designed to be emblematic, it was truthfully so. The red and the black races do harmonize most happily at Hampton, and cultivate together the graces of character. They are a mutual help to each other, especially the Negro, as farther advanced in civilization, to the Indian. Their dispositions supplement each other. The Negro is enthusiastic, demonstrative and dependent, the Indian reserved, bashful and self-contained. Each finds in the other, qualities that he needs and that attract him. As a consequence, there is great friendliness between the two races. When the colored boys were asked if any of their number were willing to room with the Indians, that the latter might learn to speak English more readily, there was no lack of volunteers. And no one can doubt the kindly feeling pervading the school, who has seen, as we have, Indian and Negro boys walking together, or chatting on the green with arms lovingly about each others’ necks.

Other questions, such as the wisdom of educating the Indians away from their tribes, or of the coeducation of the sexes, we have no time to discuss. It is sufficient to say that the experience of Hampton is thus far entirely satisfactory in these regards.

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FISK UNIVERSITY.

Examinations—Ode to Jubilee Bell—Dr. Willcox’ Address—Prosperous Year.

The Nashville _Daily American_, whose proprietor is the Honorable Secretary of the U. S. Senate, gives a full report of all the commencement exercises of this school, from the Sabbath morning sermon by Prof. Bennett, the baccalaureate by Pres. Cravath in the afternoon, and the missionary sermon by Dr. Twichell, of Cleveland, Ohio, in the evening, to the doxology with which the Alumni dinner closed on Thursday afternoon, making in all at least five full columns.

Monday was given to examinations. The _American_ says: “These examinations were held in different recitation-rooms of Jubilee Hall and were attended by interested visitors.

“We stopped a while in the room where the Senior Class was being examined in Geology by Prof. Chase. One student was giving the names of sixty or seventy specimens of minerals, ores, rocks and fossils. Another was determining the nature of certain minerals by means of the blow-pipe, while another gave the classification of the mineral kingdom as he had written it on the board. Prof. Morgan was hearing a class in Cicero as we entered the library, and one of the students was reading in a sonorous tone the impeachment of Cataline by Cicero.

“In another room, Prof. Spence was hearing a class in Phædon. Prof. Bennett conducted a class through the United States History within the hour and a half allotted to him. Other classes were examined in Astronomy, Virgil, and the Greek Testament. In Normal School, under the care of Miss H. Matson, assisted by Misses E. M. Barnes and S. M. Stevens, classes were examined in Arithmetic, Grammar, Physical Geography, and Reading. A person passing from one room to another would be impressed with the thought that hard and conscientious work had been done, and that the examinations were impartially conducted in order to draw out the exact knowledge of the pupil upon the subject under consideration.

“In the evening came the Common School Normal Exhibition, beginning promptly at 8.30 o’clock. The beautiful song, “The Morning Freshly Breaking,” was sung by a well-trained chorus. The music of the entire week, consisting of thirty pieces or more, was under the charge of Miss Mary O. Swift, who combines with great ability as an instructor, a voice of rare sweetness and power.

“Those who took part in this exhibition had finished the normal course, which is adapted to the demands of the State schools, and received a certificate in which their standing in the studies of the Common School Normal Course is given. Most of these will continue to pursue their studies further. The examination of the day, together with the exercises of the exhibition, promise well for the remainder of commencement week.

“On Tuesday, examinations were continued. We spent a good deal of time in the Model School, an important attachment of the Normal Department of the University. The presiding genius of this school is Miss Irene Gilbert, a lady who seems to have been born for the position she holds in the Model School.

“She has had upwards of a hundred children from the city under her charge during the past year, and has carried them forward with an unflagging enthusiasm, which has secured the best results. The Normal Class, which received certificates on Monday night, have paid daily visits to her school to witness the drill which she gives her juveniles in the mysteries of reading, spelling, and rudimentary mathematics. Details of students from the Normal School have been made daily, who instructed the Model School pupils, under the critical eye of Miss Gilbert. When it is remembered that Fisk University contributes one hundred and fifty teachers to the schools of the South, it will be seen that the drill thus received is especially valuable to those who receive it.

“In the evening came the Union Literary Society Exhibition.

“Wednesday afternoon, at 3 o’clock, occurred the presentation of the great Bell given to the University by the Jubilee Singers and Mrs. Gen. C. B. Fisk, of New York. These were of an exceedingly interesting character. Speeches were made by Prof. White and Mr. Loudin, on the part of the singers, and by Pres. Cravath, Prof. Willcox, and others; after which a poem by Prof. Spence of the University was read. A number of pieces were sung by the Jubilee Singers, who furnished much of the music for all the exercises.

ODE TO THE JUBILEE BELL.

BY PROF. A. K. SPENCE.

I.

Ring the bell! Let it swing and swell, Peal on peal, with a joyous knell, Till it thrills and throes and quivering goes, Like a thing of life, that feels and knows! To and fro, with a surging tide, Let it send its greetings far and wide!

II.

Ring the bell, with thy swing and swell, For thou hast a joyous tale to tell, And gladder yet than the chime of old That once the birth of our nation told: For thou dost tell of a race set free. Thou dost tell of the Jubilee!

III.

Ring, ring, and thy music fling, As thou dost sway, and quiver, and swing! Peal o’er the town with its din of men, Wake the echoes in lonely glen! Ring by Cumberland’s classic tide, Scatter thy melody far and wide!

IV.

Knell, knell, with thy swing and swell, Oh, glorious, liberty-loving bell! In tones prophetic, sepulchral, slow, In dirge of warning, in dirge of woe. Solemn and deep let thy tones be cast Over the grave of oppression, past!

V.

Well, well, dost thou swing and swell, Oh, welcome and well-beloved bell! Thou comest to greet us with loving hands! Thou comest to bind us with loving bands! When hearts are weak and our fears oppress, Thou comest to cheer, thou comest to bless!

VI.

When the time shall come, as come it must, And we shall crumble away in dust, Thy voice shall ring on and on, for aye, As it peals out on the air today! And ancient sire to child shall tell Tales of yore of the Jubilee Bell!

“The evening was given to the

SENIOR PREPARATORY EXHIBITION.

The programme was a full one, and well carried out.

“In some respects the Senior Preparatory Exhibition of Fisk University is _the_ night occasion of commencement week. The interest rises from the first, and culminates with Wednesday night. This was specially true of this year. The knowledge of the fact that the Jubilee Singers were to sing contributed to crowd the chapel with such an audience as has not been assembled in it for months. Every inch of available space was occupied, and many were compelled to stand at the entrance unable to find seats. The Jubilee Singers opened the exercises by a song, “Sweet Music”—Beethoven.

“Thursday, commencement proper:

CLOSE OF THE MOST PROSPEROUS YEAR IN THE HISTORY OF THE INSTITUTION.

“According to announcement, the commencement exercises took place Thursday morning at 10 o’clock, in the presence of a crowded house. In addition to the decorations of the previous day, the wall back of the platform was tastefully set off with the folds of the Dutch and English flags, the American flag being on duty on the border. Upon the folds of the flags were arranged in letters of cedar the words, ‘The Class of 1880.’ Six young men then gave their graduating addresses. These are kindly and appreciatively spoken of, as able and well delivered.

“Prof. G. B. Willcox, D. D., of Chicago, was introduced and spoke to the graduates in reference to those things which scholars hold in common. The ideal of a college graduate is that he has come to the possession of his manhood. It is impossible to give the spirit of this most able address. It abounded in wit, humor, and pathos. These kept the audience on the alert for an hour, after they had sat two hours during the previous exercises.

“Then came, what is now a feature of Fisk commencement day, the Alumni dinner, with its post-prandial wit and wisdom. And thus closed the most successful and prosperous year in the history of Fisk University. The catalogue shows an aggregate of 350 students. The work done in the class-room has been unusually satisfactory. There have been abundant evidences of growth in character and mind on the part of all the students.”

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STRAIGHT UNIVERSITY.

Why No Graduating Class—Threatened Suspension of Public Schools.

REV. W. S. ALEXANDER, NEW ORLEANS.

The anniversary of Straight University was observed at Central Church. The audience, both in numbers and intelligent appreciation, was one of the best ever gathered for such a purpose in the city. The literary exercises were exceptionally fine. The original orations, one on “Charles Sumner” and the other on “Our Glorious Union,” were, both in composition and delivery, worthy of high praise. All who heard them were proud of the young and promising orators. A cultivated lady in the audience said to me, at the close of the evening, “You don’t tell me that those orations were written by the young men?” “Certainly; why not?” “Why,” she replied, “I have never heard better.”

There was no graduating class this year. Those who in order would this year have finished their course, were persuaded to remain another year that their graduation might signify a higher grade of scholarship.

The year has been crowned with the Divine favor. Three hundred students have been in attendance, real progress has been made in all departments of study, and the Institution stands higher today in the estimation and affection of the New Orleans public than in any previous year.

Unless all signs fail, the ensuing year will bring to our doors a greatly increased throng of eager and earnest students. The public schools of New Orleans, and of Louisiana, are threatened with the evils of indefinite suspension. The doors will be closed June 30th, and the wisest friends of education cannot predict the time of their re-opening.

So far as adequate support is concerned, the public school system in this State has been an uncertain quantity for many months. Its fate trembles in the balance today. A subscription list is now in circulation among the merchants and bankers to raise money to pay the public school teachers the monthly salaries long since due. The most plaintive appeals are made to public sympathy in their behalf. It is a time to press forward our work.

Applicable to the impoverished State of Louisiana, so far as her public schools are concerned, are the words: “The fields are white already to the harvest,” and “The laborers are few.”

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TOUGALOO UNIVERSITY.

More than a Thousand Visitors. Promise of the Coming Year.

The commencement exercises of this growing and popular University were held on Thursday, June 3d, and drew together an unusually large company of visitors within its wide grove of moss-draped oaks.

Many parents were present on this day, and also at the annual examinations, which continued from Monday till Wednesday evening. Two old men came from the northeastern corner of the State, a distance of 200 miles or more, to see their sons graduate.

The pains and thoroughness with which the examinations were conducted, aiming to exhibit the pupil’s real knowledge of his studies, the evidence throughout all of great care and constant drill in the use of clear, simple and correct English, and the plain indication of independence on the part of the students in their studying and in their own thinking, made these class exercises of unusual interest. The Senior Class passed creditable examinations in Natural History, Science of Government, The Theory and Practice of Teaching, and Natural Philosophy. There followed on Wednesday evening the exhibition of the Primary and Intermediate Departments, combined with that of the strong Temperance Society—an organization extending through the whole school, and representing a work of great importance yet to be done in this State, where nearly all people are in the habit of drinking, and that to excess.